October 14, 2010

10-14-10 Thursday, 4:44 am Springfield, 41 degrees, clear, frost beginning to form.

I had been awake for quiet a while, and finally after the clock turned 4:00 I decided to get up on what I am calling “Wesley time”. John Wesley’s instructions to his travelling preachers was to get up at 4 when they had a 5 am preaching service, and no later than 5 on all other days. I do not have a 5 am service this morning, but lots of work in preparation for this day and for this weekend.

II Thes. 2:1-17
This chapter begins with Paul desiring to “clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.” I am using the Tim LaHaye Prophecy Bible, with the Book introductions written by Jim Combs. This particular edition of the Bible zeroes in on the prophecies, and this chapter is rich in prophecy.

Recently I heard a spiritual leader state that “the rapture is simply a theological construct.” I recoiled at this statement, and I realize that it is foundational to liberal theology, minimizing the message of scripture and the truth of God’s past, present and future interaction in human lives and civilization. My own understanding is that the prophecies about Christ’s return speak of a visible, point-in-time return of Jesus to earth, rapturing the church as part of the end of time as we know it. I lean to a “mid-tribulation” rapture, followed by the 1000 years reign. Clearly the anti Christ has a prominent role in the end times.

I apply this to my devotional time this morning: Jesus is coming back, time is shorter than we think, I must “labor for the Master from the dawn to setting sun.” He could come today or this year, or in the next few years. The events of the Middle East, with Iran gaining a nuclear capability and all the conflict surrounding that area, highlights for me the possibility and reality of an Armageddon.

Use me holy Lord on this autumn day as I invest my life in the pastoral ministry of the Wesley UMC, training servant leaders, ministering your grace, and obediently surrendering my life and my will to your divine purpose. Come Lord Jesus, come.