Have You Ever Given Yourself Away?
All of life is about giving on one level or another. We spend our lives giving to people each day. We give to people at home, work or school. And yet, while many may not realize it, all of this giving to others is just a dress rehearsal and practice for giving ourselves to the Lord. The best place to see that going on is in the story of marriage between a man and woman. This past weekend, my beloved daughter got married. I had the privilege of giving her away to her new husband. Both of them had the joy of giving themselves away to one another. The story of giving our lives to another, as seen in marriage, is the narrative of how the Lord gave Himself away for His Bride on the Cross.Now if you look at our society today, it seems increasingly harder for people to give themselves away to anyone or anything. Ours is a society that fears commitment and sacrifice. Ours is a culture that is dominated by the self. So, the idea of completely giving oneself away to another out of love and altruism seems hard to find. That problem extends far beyond marriage to every relationship. Instead it seems that many people are more conditioned to seeing how much they can get from others. Sacrifice and giving of one's life to and for another is foreign.
Over the past couple of years, The Carlson Report has Biblically explored some of the great issues and questions of the day. However, the most basic issue in life is not about politics, prophecy, morality, new technology or something else in the news. The most basic issue of life is, "Why Are We Here?" All the rest of the issues and questions in our lives don't mean much if we can't answer that one. It seems we often end up with TMI (Too Much Information), but too little meaning and purpose about our lives. People will try to solve and deal with every issue they face each day, but their ultimate purpose for even being here on planet earth is left unsolved. If you stop and think about it, this is THE great problem of the human condition and life itself....we don't know why we are here.
On this Resurrection weekend, we pause and reflect on the greatest event in human history, the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian Faith has always rested on the simple truth of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Simply put, without an empty tomb we have an empty faith. Without an empty tomb the Christian Faith collapses and is a fraud. The Bible is very clear on this subject according to I Corinthians 15:12-26. Christianity is the ONLY faith that builds everything on a single event... the Empty Tomb. Other faiths and religious systems have complex systems of belief and doctrine that are hard to understand, even for their own followers. On the other hand, the Lord has made the Christian Faith so simple that even a young child can understand it. Christ is raised from the dead!
As Palm Sunday approaches this weekend, millions of Christians will be celebrating our Lord's ride into Jerusalem as the Savior of the world. This event marks the beginning of what is known of as "Holy Week," culminating with Easter Sunday or First Fruits the following Sunday. And while millions of people will be gathering for celebrations around the world, few may see the deeper meaning of Palm Sunday and our Lord's ride on the donkey as it relates to our lives in Christ.
If you want to understand how to make sense of the current culture wars and the spiritual meaning behind them, you need look no further than the current nomination battle over Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In what may turn out to be the most contested fight to seat a Supreme Court Judge in America history, the Lord is giving us a glimpse into the greater spiritual conflict between Heaven and Hell that is going on all around us. You see the candidacy of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court is a lightning rod that defines how people see not only politics and the Constitution, but ultimately the Lord Himself.
Recently, a story broke that should get everyone's attention in the Church world. That story was the closing in late February of Family Christian Stores, the nation's largest chain of Christian book and merchandise stores after 85 years in business. The announcement will affect more than 3,000 employees at more than 240 stores around the nation. For many, a story like this is "no big deal." After all, in an age of Amazon.com and less serious reading by the public, one might not think too much on this story. Few would think that such a financial bankruptcy pointed to an even deeper spiritual one in the Church. You see, what we are watching today are signs of a major spiritual decline in the American Church and a movement away from Biblical foundations and literacy.
One of the most interesting words that have emerged in our culture in the last year or so has been the use of the word "fake." The word came out of the last Presidential campaign. The word was used to describe the chaos that was created by the media, in which few seemed to really know what was genuine or fake news. This movement away from reality and truth to the counterfeit and fake is at the heart of a growing spiritual climate going on today. This emergence of the "fake" has begun to transform everything in our world from Presidential elections to our relationships with others and even the Lord Himself.
One of the most incredible things to watch today is the changing role of Donald Trump as President. When Donald Trump first announced his desire to be President, it was considered a "bad joke" by many people. More recently the laughter has died down. Not only did Donald Trump become President against impossible odds, but his first address to a joint session of Congress this past Tuesday surprised many. Some people simply could not believe that President Trump's speech sounded "Presidential." In slightly over an hour, President Trump delivered one of the more powerful, substantive and effective speeches to the Nation in recent memory. People from all political persuasions were shocked at how well the speech came across. Simply put, something is underway now that is surprising almost everyone, except the Lord of glory that planned it all for His purposes and our good.
One of the most deadly and destructive forms of public discourse today is rooted and grounded in accusation. Accusation is the idea that someone has done something wrong, sinned or broken the rules without any clear and verifiable evidence, facts or truth to establish it. In a way, accusation has become the new public courtroom in America where everyone is on trial for something that goes against what the cultural agenda has established by the media and those in power. If someone dares to stand up for anything these days they are often torn apart under a torrent of media attacks, fake news and accusations by nameless sources with unproven facts. These personal attacks have changed the world as we know it, and the worst is yet to come.
Happy Valentine's Day! If you go to a store today you will see a frenzy of people buying cards, flowers and candy for the people in their lives. Valentine's Day is the third biggest day in the floral industry, following Christmas and Mother's Day. Valentine's Day is the second largest greeting card holiday after Christmas. Valentine's Day is the fourth largest candy day following Halloween, Easter and Christmas. So, Valentine's Day and the love connected to it is BIG business. The holiday has its roots in the early history of the Church. According to Wikipedia,
There is no question that this past Sunday's Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons was one of the greatest football games ever played, some are saying THE greatest. But the reason the game was so amazing and memorable was because of what the superstar of the game, Patriot quarterback Tom Brady, did in rallying his team back to a comeback victory from a 25 point deficit in the 3rd quarter to win in overtime. Nothing like it had ever happened in Super Bowl history. People will be talking about this game for a long time. It was the kind of game that no one could forget. Some sports writers are calling it a, "Game for the ages." It was a game that seemed for a moment to move from a sporting event to mythology and legend.
Ever since Donald Trump was sworn into the office of President of the United States on Friday, January 20, 2017, the world has somehow changed. Do you feel it? Never in our lifetime has a President been more controversial, colorful or courageous. Things are happening so fast in just his first week in office that the press and world at large is dumbfounded. Whatever is under way now with President Trump, it will surely have a major role in shaping prophetic events and our Lord's return. Hang on everybody; this is NOT going to be boring.
We are surely living in exciting days as we watch the Lord's purposes for Israel unfold before our eyes. Some of the most prophetically important moments for Israel in her history are under way right now. In the past, the United States has been a stalwart friend to Israel from her beginning as a nation in 1948. However, recent actions by the outgoing Obama Administration and Secretary of State John Kerry reflect a deep enmity against Israel that has seemingly been hidden and building for the past eight years.
One of the great mysteries of life is time. Nobody really knows much about it, other than it passes by and people get older and die. But outside of the obvious, the real meaning of time is hidden from us right now. One day there won't be any more time because we will be living in the eternal now forever. You see the Lord doesn't wear a wrist watch and there aren't any wall clocks in Heaven. The Lord operates outside of time as we know it, and as His people that will be our experience of time one day as well.
As Christmas approaches this year, one must wonder what most people are really thinking about this holiday based on what we see going on in our society and even the Church. For many, Christmas does commemorate Christ's birth, but beyond that one is not really sure who they think is in that Manger. For some, it is a dusty throwback to a time gone by when people used to believe in traditional "religious stuff." All of that seems to be increasingly less important today in an age of tolerance and multiculturalism. For others, about all the holiday symbolizes is shopping, busyness and a season of parties and families getting together.
As the dust finally begins to settle from our recent Presidential election, a fairly scary phenomenon has emerged.....Fake News. This is a term that we are just beginning to hear about more and more every day. While campaigning in the recent election for Hillary Clinton here in Michigan, President Obama said,
The original Thanksgiving holiday we are celebrating this Thursday had its roots with 90 Indians and 53 Pilgrims at a meal in the fall of 1621 on the Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts. This thanking of the Lord for His many blessings was continued by Presidents Washington and Lincoln in national proclamations after great battles that helped to keep the Nation free. Eventually, the idea of a national thanksgiving was fixed on the calendar to the last Thursday of November by President Lincoln on October 3, 1863.
Every election, including this coming one, is ultimately about a choice that people make regarding the rule of law over their lives. So when America goes to vote this coming Tuesday in the presidential election, people will NOT just be voting for a candidate. In the end, people will be voting for whether or not the rule of law will be upheld. This is true because the next President will be deciding what happens to the Supreme Court through their nomination of a judge to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. America's entire Supreme Court and the rule of law hangs in the balance.
With so much attention focused on the next President and the coming new administration in January 2017, it might be a good time to look at what is going to happen in the future. A thousand years from tonight there won't be any more partisan politics. The media and self-seeking politicians won't have any power or influence. Christians tend to get lost in politics and fail to see the key lessons that politics teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ and His Coming Kingdom. Perhaps this Biblical perspective can help us weather the coming election results and new administration and give us real hope for the future. If the Christian Church talked more about the coming new Administration, we might have fewer problems with the current ones.
If there is one spiritual principle in play during this year's Presidential election cycle it is the power of the media to corrupt the truth. Simply put, the media and the press are now defining the "truth" and creating reality for most people. They have the ability to make anyone into a sinner or a saint and to get the public to believe just about anything, whether it is true or not. What everyone needs to understand in this hour is that the patterns we are seeing rapidly emerging in our nation have a prophetic fulfillment in the Bible.
In what has to be one of the most astonishing cases of moral hypocrisy in political history, Democratic Candidate for President, Hillary Clinton has asked the voters of America to abandon Republican candidate Donald Trump over a recently released video/audio tape. The tape in question shows Mr. Trump engaging in a sexually explicit and degrading conversation about women with a reporter that was recorded over 10 years ago while he was a private citizen.
Well, the countdown has begun. In a few weeks another President will be elected. The nation has been obsessed with this election, perhaps more than at any other time in recent memory. The stakes are large for all of us and the world. And yet, whoever is elected President they will fail on some level. It always turns out that way. Anytime people are placed in elected office it seems that many of us end up disappointed. Has there ever been a President that always did the right thing? We vote people in with high hopes for great things and often sit back 4 years or so later with sadness and regret over what went wrong. Such is the state of politics in America and the world.
Do you like surprises? Most people might say "Yes," but then again, it might depend on what kind of "surprise" you are talking about. Now when it comes to our Lord, all of us should be asking ourselves if we think the Lord has any "surprises" left for us. The answer to that question is the foundation of the Bible, our Faith and the future of the world.