As you may have already heard, Harold Camping has been getting his small army of volunteers to spread the word that the world is going to end tomorrow, 5/21/2011, at 6am. So, naturally, this will be could be probably won’t be my last blog post ever.

My first reaction is to dismiss this. In fact someone first mentioned something back in November when they heard an ad on Star 99.1. And I didn’t think about it again until I heard it on ESPN radio, where they were mocking the guy about a month ago. I didn’t think about it much because I feel like the more that we pay attention to these things, the more they don’t go away.

But then, somehow, it’s hit the mainstream media. It’s on about every news outlet. Even the CDC released a tongue-in-cheek Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse primer just 4 days ago.

So, if CNN is talking about it, then I perhaps my mentioning it in my blog won’t make a remarkable difference in the amount of attention that this is getting.

First of all, as soon as you hear about someone saying that they know that the world is going to end on a certain day or a certain time, I think, “well scratch that one off the list…” because the Bible says,

“But concerning that day and hour  no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” ~ Matthew 24:36 (ESV)

Look, if Jesus doesn’t know, then why would God reveal it to this guy. Also, this is the same guy that said that the world was going to end in 1994. Plus, we’ve been through this before. I remember someone telling me that it was going to happen in 1989. And then I heard about it in 1992. And then with the Millennium. And now this. Besides, we all know the world is gonna end in 2012, right?

But, just because he was wrong before  doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong again right? Retest, anyone.

So, should we pay attention to what this guys is saying at all?

• NO! Clearly, the world is not gonna end tomorrow. And if I’m wrong, then I’ll be the first to admit it. Wait—how does that work?—okay, nevermind. I Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For you yourselves are fully aware that  the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” I’m pretty sure that the original Greek does not translate to “billboards and radio ads”. So, don’t pay any attention to him.

• But wait! YES! We shouldn’t necessarily sell our possessions and paint our vehicles with dates and times on it. However, the Bible is pretty clear that we should be thinking about the end of the world. Matthew 25:13 says,

Watch therefore, for you  know neither the day nor the hour. (ESV)

We should be living in such a way that makes us prepared for the end of the world. And here’s the kicker: We live that way, specifically because we don’t know the day or the hour.

So, let’s recap.

• The world is not gonna end tomorrow.

• We don’t know when it’s gonna end.

• Because we don’t know when it’s gonna end, we should live as though it may end at any time.

So, I guess the question is: It’s the day before May 21st, 2011. Have you thought about your eternity?

See you Sunday, everyone!!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely of the individual and are not necessarily that of Bethany Well Church.

* I love my job.

Pastors are called to build their church. Not the dozen churches in his town. Not the hundred churches in the surrounding towns. Not the thousands of churches within driving distance from his church. Just his church.

But pastors are also called to build the Church. The universal Church made up of all believers, all places, all time. So, he is called to build up the dozen churches in his town and the hundred churches in the surrounding towns… and the thousands of churches within driving distance. Not just his church.

Just his church. And not just his church.

Confusing, eh?

But that’s not all. You see, the way that he builds the universal Church is by faithfully building his own church. And at the same time, the way that he faithfully builds his own church is by remembering that he is building the universal Church. Even as I write it, I’m getting confused.

All that is to say, a balance must be struck when you’re serving in the church, whether you’re a pastor or volunteer.

The tendency for pastors is to get caught up in building their local church. They place too much of their value in the size or success of their churches. The get depressed when people leave their church. Or they get angry and bad mouth them. The temptation  is to believe that they are competing with the other churches in the area. We need to be reminded that we are all serving the same God and building the universal Church.

So, how can you ask someone who is in charge of the success of a local church to not be overly focused on its success but at the same time be focused enough to not neglect it? Where is that perfect balance between serving both the church and the Church?

Ultimately, we have to do what we can do and trust in God to do what he’s gonna do. I once asked Tim Keller about power in preaching. He said, “you have to ask God for the power.” And then he said, “And then you have to be content with the apportioned amount.” So true! There are some things that I can do as a pastor and some things that I can’t. All I can do is what I can and I have to trust that God is gonna do what he’s gonna do.

The way that I see it is that all I can do is bring my 5 loaves and 2 fish. God is the one who feeds the 5000. Some of you might have 10 loaves. Some 2 loaves. Some of you will feed 10,000. Some maybe 500. We do what we can do. Let God do what he’s gonna do.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ~ Mark 6:41

And all of that takes faith. Which, I guess, is why we’re doing what we’re doing in the first place.

* That’s about the distance from the Empire State Building Observation Deck to the ground.

The weeks following today’s rescue will be filled with a mixture of elation, relief, rest and gratitude. I imagine it will be days, if not weeks, before any of the miner’s lives get back to any semblance of normal. In fact, one of the miners, only 19 years old, has written a letter stating that he believed God had a purpose for him to be down there and his life will not be the same afterward.

However, imagine, if you would, that many days from now, one of the miners decides that he actually prefers his life in the mine shelter and finds a way to climb back down the mine shaft and plans to live the rest of his life down there. At first, there would be curiosity and probably ridicule. However, eventually, there might even be outrage over the gargantuan effort it took just to extract him from that very shelter in the first place. Eventually, however, I think sadness would be the prevailing sentiment that would rule the day. How could this man, who was rescued from that prison, still desire to live in it?

It is with the same ridicule, outrage and sadness that we must view ourselves when followers of Christ return to a life of sin. You see, we have been rescued from a pit of darkness from which we could not rescue ourselves. However this pit was not just 1000 ft deep. And we were not just at risk of death. And it wasn’t just 69 days. The pit we were trapped in is our sins… and it rendered us spiritually dead.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.
~Ephesians 2:1

Having been rescued from that pit of death and raised to life, through Christ, how could we return to a life of sin? God rescued us by climbing into the pit and saving us. And the new life that we have been given is to be lived for him… for his glory.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
~ Galatians 5:1

So, remember, you have been set free by a God who rescued you and who died in your stead. He did it to rescue from the pit of death called sin and he also did it to give you a new abundant and fulfilled life. So, live with a new purpose and new perspective. And stop climbing down the mineshaft again.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
~John 10:10

We did a bunch of sightseeing including Tiananmen Square (somber), Temple of Heaven (ornate), Summer Palace (huge), and Maidonglao (McDonald’s).

But the place that I was looking forward to the most was the Great Wall of China. We had an opportunity to choose which Great Wall we wanted to visit: the restored Great Wall or the original Great Wall. Luckily, we were persuaded (by me) to visit the Original.

There was something profound and ponderous about sitting on a wall that had been built millenia before me. It took longer to drive to. We had to climb through shrubs to get to it. The steps were ridiculously steep. It wasn’t as pretty (and certainly more dangerous) as the rebuilt wall. But it was the authenticity of the Wall that made it profound. It was the knowledge that these stones were carried and laid here by people that had long since passed on that led to it’s impact. Rather than a reconstructed version that was better suited to sell souvenirs and keepsakes. There was something undeniably real about this wall.

I was reminded about the Great Wall of China this week because of a conversation that I had with someone. I was challenging this person to be authentic in their community at church. For too long, they had chosen the safe route and kept people at a distance. Is it any wonder that they had not felt like a part of the church community? They had not connected with anyone in any authentic way. You cannot be part of a community unless you let the community be a part of you. To choose to be real, no matter how hard or risky that may be.

It might take longer to get there… you might have to climb through some pretty thorn thicket to get there… it won’t be as pretty… and it’s certainly more dangerous. But it the authenticity that makes it profound.

So, if you are presented with the choice of being real and authentic in your community or hiding under the safety of public perception and platitudes, then choose Authenticity.

And, if you have a chance to see the Great Wall of China… choose Authenticity.

To read more of Pastor Richard’s blog posts, check out his blog at www.richleeblessed.com.

People will very easily link this to the story of Jesus, seeing how someone put themselves in harm’s way in order to ‘save’ us. However, I would like to remind us all, that this story doesn’t come close to what Jesus did.

What Jesus did would be tantamount to climbing on the bus. And then in saving the 22 people on board, he would be shot. And die.

The football player is heroic, no doubt. But let’s not forget the magnitude of Jesus’ heroism and sacrifice for you.

Video after the jump.

To read more of Pastor Richard’s blog posts, check out his blog at www.richleeblessed.com.

As soon as the story broke, I tweeted, jokingly, that “Bill takes the lead as the most culturally-relevant Clinton!” While that may be true. I think, at least in one sense, he has got me thinking of an even greater person.

As I perused some of the images on the internet of Clinton’s trip to North Korea (DPRK – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — How is this country called Democratic, the People’s or a Republic???), I was struck at some of the similarities of my own experience.

I was once a prisoner, convicted of crimes that my freedom could not pay. And so I was sentenced not just to 12 years of hard labor, but to a life sentence. In fact, we all are given the same sentence.

“For the wages of sin is death” ~ Romans 6:23

Mr. X-President left his place of prestige (and celebrity), traveled to a foreign land, spoke up on behalf of prisoners and mediated their release from their sentence. In the same way, Jesus was one who was willing to leave his rightful place, traveled to earth, spoke up on my behalf and mediated my freedom from my punishment.

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!” ~ Philippians 2:6-8

However, there are some very distinct differences between Clinton and Christ. [ed note: Shocking, I know!] First of all, it seems that North Korea actually made the plea for some sort of envoy like President Clinton to come and ask for amnesty. But, we didn’t ask God for salvation; God granted it graciously. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of my own need for salvation. Yet, God granted it graciously.

Second, at the end of his humanitarian trip, Bill returned safely on the same plane as the freed prisoners. Jesus did not walk away scot free. Instead, he had the punished that I deserved exacted upon himself in my stead. If Clinton really wanted to model Christ, then he would have worked those 12 years (x2 = 24yrs) in the labor camp in order to free Ling and Lee.

But that would be crazy!

Well, that was the length to which Christ was willing to go, the price which Christ was willing to pay in order to purchase our freedom from our sins. It wasn’t 12 years in a labor camp. It was dying a criminal’s death on a cross, which should have been reserved for each one of us. Instead, we are free because of Christ’s mediating our freedom through his death.

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” ~ I Timothy 2:5

To see footage of Laura Ling’s offering of gratitude to her supporters, check out the video. **Warning: Emotions may ensue.** [Oh, and the tall Korean guy standing next to Lisa Ling in the background, Paul Song, used to go to Bethany Church when we were growing up.]

To read more of Pastor Richard’s blog posts, check out his blog at www.richleeblessed.com.

If you would like to donate, please click on the 6 glasses on the right.

If you’ve ever wondered what Jesus’ passion week would have looked like in this day of technology and status updates, then wonder no longer.

Jesus is on facebook! Follow the last days of his life in a format that is familiar to many of us.

Click on the picture to check it out.

Can God forgive this man?

This man is known as Hang Pin, a high-school Math teacher. He is also a pastor who has baptized numerous Cambodians and started a church in his home.

This man is also know as Kaing Guek Eav. He is on trial for his part in the deaths of over 1.7 million people under the Khmer Rouge party in Cambodia from 1976-1979, led by Pol Pot.

This man is most (in)famously  known as Comrade Duch.

Today, he issued an 18 minute apology expressing his “regret and heartfelt sorrow.” However, the NY Times article covering this trial makes no mention (surprise!) of his conversion to Christianity. For that full story, check out Rick Warren’s new magazine, Purpose Driven, for that story.

It reminds me of my conversion story. I was explained the Gospel at the age of 12. However, the promise of heaven and grace despite all of my sins was almost too good to be true. My Bible Study teacher lead us through the sinner’s prayer. But before the ‘Amen’ could even settle in the air, I turned to my teacher and asked him:

Do you mean I could go out and kill 27 people and still go to heaven?

Thankfully, my teacher said, “Yes.”

I was confronted with a God that would base his forgiveness on his grace alone and not on my feeble attempts at righteous action.

Does God care that Comrade Duch oversaw the torture and death of over 14,000 people personally?  Of course he does.

Does God’s love still offer forgiveness and eternal life? Does Jesus’ death pay for all of those murders? Of course it does.

The problem lies in the fact that if God forgiveness is dependent on our actions even in the slightest degree, then we create a heretical Gospel. God’s grace is not (and never) earned by us. It is earned through Christ’s death on the cross.

No matter what you have done, you can turn to God for forgiveness and receive his grace of salvation.

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. ~ Titus 3:5

I feel sorry that the world’s water crisis has only recently invaded my consciousness. If you would like to make a donation to charity: water to help provide clean water to the 1.1 billion people in the world, please click on the 6 glasses to the right and help us build a well. Our goal is to raise $5000. If you’ve already made a pledge at church, then feel free to donate online now.

A charity: water promo video after the break.