The year was 2001. I went to the office as was my routine. Helen (my wife) phoned me from her workplace to alert me of a terrible disaster. I quickly returned home and turned on CNN. The video footage was shocking as I watched planes crashing into the twin towers of New York City. It left me with an uncertainty in terms of safety. It was September 11th.
Today I received a call at the office once again from Helen to inform me of another devastating disaster - an 8.9 earthquake hit Japan. Northern Japan suffered the most devastation; and even as I write this blog, a tsunami is pushing miles inland. The video footage is riveting, but at the same time difficult to watch. Again, I am left with a feeling of uncertainty in terms of safety. Today is March 11th.
I am reminded of the same nagging feeling that I have had each time I watched such disasters: Is God trying to tell the church something through such disasters? I suppose over the next number of weeks modern day prophets will surface and speak of God's judgment upon the wickedness of Japan and the Japanese people. My question in response to that is always, "Why would God enforce His wrath upon a place like Japan and not upon our North American society?"
Most 'natural' disasters can be 'naturally', geologically explained. The earth's crust is constantly changing and shifting. I am no expert on geology or global warming, but I can't help but think that global warning is having a progressive effect on the changing and shifting of the earth's crust; especially in terms of speeding up the process.
I mention this because we so quickly blame God and His wrath for the happening of such disasters. But maybe we should place the greater part of the blame upon ourselves.
Greed, capitalism, affluence, and the like are all contributors to global warming. Greed and capitalism all feed into our affluent lifestyle that we are not willing to give up. Debates about global warming are political agendas that we hear about during elections and then become swallowed up into bureaucratic red tape once the elected party is in power.
God blessed His creation from the beginning to have dominion over all things. He has placed the power of responsibility into our hands (believers) to care for every aspect of His wonderful creation. He wants us to depend upon Him, to show us how to carry out that responsibility. It seems to me that we should take at least part of the blame when such disasters happen around the world; especially if we are silent on such issues as global warming.
The easy thing to do is blame Japan for its sin, and blame God for His wrath. However, this is not great theology on our part if this is our thinking. Instead, let us rise up as intercessors for the Lord. Pray for Japan and the surrounding area. Be willing to stand in the gap on their behalf. Pray for the rescue that is taking place. Pray for miracles. Pray for families who will be devastated because of the loss of loved ones. And be willing to give your support in whatever way God leads you to help Japan to rise above the devastation that has hit them. My suggestion is to freely give financially to either the Sharing Way or the Red Cross for relief and and the rebuilding of Northern Japan.
Let us pray.
Blessings,
-Leo
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday
Good Morning,
Today is Ash Wednesday, and it represents the first day of Lent. Lent is observed as a period of repentance leading up to Passion Week - the last week of Jesus' life.
Ash Wednesday is a sacramental exercised traditionally practiced in the Roman Catholic Church, and some Protestant Churches as well. It is sacramental in that the tradition of marking the sign of the cross in ashes may be bestowed upon anyone; as opposed to a sacrament which is normally reserved only for members of the church.
The tradition is derived from Old Testament practices such as found in Job 42:6 which says,
"Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
In Old Testament terms, to mark oneself with ashes was a sign of great sorrow and remorse for sin, and an intentional act of repentance. In today's modern day Christian churches, people will attend a service to have their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross in ashes by the Priest. The cross is to supposedly stay on the forehead until it naturally wears off.
I think the practice of Ash Wednesday is wonderful as long as the meaning is significant, and not held exclusive to its ritual practice of only once a year. There is really nothing significant to having one's forehead marked with ashes, except in terms of what it should represent. There is no supernatural power in the ashes themselves that suddenly removes the conviction of one's sins. This can lead to a false sense of security in the practice itself. In other words, one can practice the rituals of Ash Wednesday and Lent and never inwardly repent of their sins.
True repentance is an act of the will. It is to feel remorse and sorrow in your soul, which leads to repentance of your will before God. And we do not have to wait until Ash Wednesday to initiate the act of repentance. The Holy Spirit wants to work His redemptive ministerings in your life 24/7, 365 days a year.
Rituals are useful as long as they are recognized as just rituals. We should not see any siginificant power in the ritual itself. They should simply act as reminders of the power of God upon our lives, and serve as examples that continually lead us into His will. On the other side of things: rituals that are practice without any significant meaning at all to the person practicing them are nothing more than empty practices serving no real purpose.
I think the author of Hebrews has it right when he says:
"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonial unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished before God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:13-14)
Have a great Wednesday, because this too is the day that they Lord has made and we should be glad in it,
-Leo
Today is Ash Wednesday, and it represents the first day of Lent. Lent is observed as a period of repentance leading up to Passion Week - the last week of Jesus' life.
Ash Wednesday is a sacramental exercised traditionally practiced in the Roman Catholic Church, and some Protestant Churches as well. It is sacramental in that the tradition of marking the sign of the cross in ashes may be bestowed upon anyone; as opposed to a sacrament which is normally reserved only for members of the church.
The tradition is derived from Old Testament practices such as found in Job 42:6 which says,
"Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
In Old Testament terms, to mark oneself with ashes was a sign of great sorrow and remorse for sin, and an intentional act of repentance. In today's modern day Christian churches, people will attend a service to have their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross in ashes by the Priest. The cross is to supposedly stay on the forehead until it naturally wears off.
I think the practice of Ash Wednesday is wonderful as long as the meaning is significant, and not held exclusive to its ritual practice of only once a year. There is really nothing significant to having one's forehead marked with ashes, except in terms of what it should represent. There is no supernatural power in the ashes themselves that suddenly removes the conviction of one's sins. This can lead to a false sense of security in the practice itself. In other words, one can practice the rituals of Ash Wednesday and Lent and never inwardly repent of their sins.
True repentance is an act of the will. It is to feel remorse and sorrow in your soul, which leads to repentance of your will before God. And we do not have to wait until Ash Wednesday to initiate the act of repentance. The Holy Spirit wants to work His redemptive ministerings in your life 24/7, 365 days a year.
Rituals are useful as long as they are recognized as just rituals. We should not see any siginificant power in the ritual itself. They should simply act as reminders of the power of God upon our lives, and serve as examples that continually lead us into His will. On the other side of things: rituals that are practice without any significant meaning at all to the person practicing them are nothing more than empty practices serving no real purpose.
I think the author of Hebrews has it right when he says:
"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonial unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished before God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God." (Hebrews 9:13-14)
Have a great Wednesday, because this too is the day that they Lord has made and we should be glad in it,
-Leo
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