This could take longer than we thought...

The more and more I spend time in the world, looking at the state of things, I find my mind split between two points of view. View one is telling me that things are so screwed up that Jesus MUST be coming back real soon. All the signs point to the impending of the Rapture (Israel becoming a nation again, Russia/Iran rising in Power, China and India rising as powers, the EU turning itself into a new version of the Roman Empire, an increase in Earthquakes, knowledge vastly increasing almost daily, etc.) and I acknowledge all of it.

But the other view is that "The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) and "But You, O Lord, [are] a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth." (Psalm 86:15) God is "Longsuffering" towards humanity, towards those who don't know Him, towards those who aren't even thinking about things like sin and repentance. This word in the Greek is makrothumia from makros, meaning "long," and thumos, meaning "temper". Strong's Bible Dictionary states the following: "Longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate or promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger, and is associated with mercy, and is used of God."

Hold onto these ideas as we move forward here...as Christians, we have this tremendous tendency to hold condemning, judgmental attitudes toward this broken, sinful world and the people who live in it. We surround ourselves with people who feel and think just like us and this can lead to elitism, smugness, and disgust toward all the rest of humanity who are lost in sin and either don't know or more likely don't believe there is such a thing a sin or Hell.

We must remember that there are only 2 types of people in the World: Sinners saved by Christ and Sinners who are lost. That's it. So we need to approach evangelism (sharing Christ) with a deep sense of humility and understanding of who we are in Christ. 2 Peter goes on to tell us that "the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2Peter 3:15). We remain saved from Hell, despite sinning nearly every day in either thought, word or deed, through our earnest repentance to God on the basis of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. This is the "Longsuffering of God"...not wiping us out, even in the face of us provoking him with our sins that we struggle with continually. But instead, Him looking at the cross, and seeing who we will eventually grow into in Christ, and showing us mercy when we deserve judgment.

How can we do any less with the people of this broken world around us?How can we not live out the mercy and longsuffering of God, speaking the truth in love and bringing the liberating, healing message of the Gospel to all who will listen? So then, as far as "The End" goes, in light of God's unsearchable depths of mercy and longsuffering found in Jesus Christ...This could take longer than we thought.

Pastor Mike