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Vanished!

I have been so taken with the reports of the Malaysian Airline plane that is missing. Since I first noticed the story on the news “crawl” at the bottom of the screen on Friday. At first I thought it was unbelievable and not a real news story. Planes don’t just disappear! But as the hours passed and the reports grew stronger, I was deeply saddened and intrigued. Secondly, I began to wonder if I knew any missionaries, acquaintances or family that might be traveling such a route. I didn’t.

How can a large jet, in good repair, with good weather just vanish with all 239 passengers on board and not one distress signal or amount of debris? Just vanish. We don’t know yet. There are far more questions than answers. No terror group has claimed responsibility…

I know there are teams of experts headed out to the South China Sea to investigate and eventually we will get an answer.

But there are so many family members grieving…shock, disbelief and the reality has yet to set in that life has been forever altered for them and there is no explanation. No body. No casket. No grave. No closure. Just gone. How does one adjust?

It made me think of the time when many of us will vanish in the Rapture when Jesus comes to claim His own. St. Paul describes it this way: “For the Lord HImself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord i the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Part of me wondered for a minute if that had happened to that airplane! But too many saints I know are still on earth!

When the time comes will non believers hear the trumpet? Will they have a last-minute opportunity? Or will they just wake up to the reality that all the believers are gone? They will have lots of questions, no doubt. (Sort of like the books and movie of the Left Behind series.)

I don’t want to get into an eschatological theology discussion. That’s way above me. But I do know Jesus is going to return and He will call His own to join Him. I am one of His so if I am alive, I’ll hear that trumpet and my name called and I’ll be out of here! How exciting!

If, however, I am dead and buried I’ll be in that group to rise first!

Either way, I get to spend eternity with the Lord!

How ’bout you? Are you sure of eternity? Don’t be left out. Make Jesus your Lord today!

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Divorcing Parents

There has been a story in the news about an 18-year-old girl in New Jersey who wants to be free of her parents. She took them to court. She accused them of harsh treatment – not abuse, mind you, but stuff like obeying the rules in the same way her siblings were required to do. Nothing unusual. Curfew. Rules about dating. Things like that. But to her it was cruel and unusual.

She is an intelligent young lady who makes good grades. She just found her parent’s house rules too burdensome for her taste. She left the house of her own free will but now wants her parents to financially support her. She has a sympathetic friend whose father is a lawyer and sued her parents on her behalf.

I am making a complicated story very simple. I cannot begin to imagine the heartache… the wounds that have been inflicted on this family. I pray they will be able to move on in grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Most reasonable people would find this story bazaar. If a child is under your roof and you are paying the bills it is not unreasonable to expect certain standards of behavior. If at 18, she wants to go out on her own then she can make that choice but a parent is not obligated to support her or her lifestyle. She wants the goodies but not the rules.

Fortunately, there was a judge who had common sense.

There was much discussion about it. And as I listened to the discussions, I thought we treat God exactly the same way. We want His blessings but not His rules. We want our independence. We want own way. We want “freedom”, emancipation. We do not want restrictions. Like a good parent, God does not let us get away with that. There are consequences for our choices.

The sooner we learn that, the better it will be. God always wins.

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Middelsboro – again – and again!

This has been a busy week but I wanted to tell you the “rest of the story”…

As only God could do, I was in Middlesboro, Ky. this past Sunday for worship! It was not planned or even contemplated.

I am privileged to be part of a 4-generational family friendship. Our grandmothers were friends, our mothers were friends, we are friends and our daughters are friends. It has spanned continents and years. What a joy! My mother’s friend has been suffering from Alzheimer’s and her daughters, my friends, have been taking care of her – with the support of the other siblings.

It is a precious family and the grandmother, whom I call “Aunt Millie”, is one of the most cheerful, unselfish people I have known. No stranger to deep heartache, she has always been cheerful and giving. For several years she lived nearby and I counted it a privilege to care for her in small ways. And always enjoyed when her daughters would visit her – they were like sisters to me. They remember me in my crib – that’s how long the relationship – and how precious.

I was at Carson Newman University for a Friday – Saturday event for their Women of Vision of which I am the honorary chairperson. They seek to nurture truth, enhance beauty and enrich goodness on the campus and beyond. I am honored to be a part of such a great university. It is a joy to interact with their students and faculty and staff – lead by Dr. and Mrs. Randall O’Brien who have become sweet friends.

Anyway, my friend read my post about “snakes” and emailed me to say that she was visiting her sister in Middlesboro – only 1 and 1/2 hour from Carson Newman. So I decided not to let this opportunity pass me by. On Sunday morning I got up early, got the car packed up and drove to Middlesboro. We had a sweet reunion – I just don’t see these dear ladies nearly enough! The husband of the older sister is a pastor in Middleboro. I arrived in time to attend church at Grace Fellowship Church. Don Aven, my friend’s husband and the pastor of that church preached on the covenant God made with us and we enter into by baptism. He had us flipping back and forth through the scriptures as he gave a rich Bible study on the subject.

I couldn’t help but think of Pastor Coots who died from a snakebite in that same town two weeks before. Pastor Coots had only one reference on which he based his theology. My friend, Don, had many from both the Old and New Testaments. It is far better, safer, to let the scriptures corroborate themselves as we develop a theology.

And I will be back in Middlesboro the 26th of April to speak at Binghamton Baptist Church. We’ll see what God has in mind. Stay tuned!

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Snakes!!

I heard on the news that Pastor Jamie Coots of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Christ of Middleboro, KY died at his home as a result of a snakebite he received while handling a deadly poisonous snake. He refused medical treatment believing God would heal him. I am sad for his family and community. Not only have they lost a husband, father, friend, and pastor but no doubt they will struggle with their faith. God did not meet their expectations in this case.

They believed God would protect him when the handled the snakes. They believed God would heal him. He had survived other bites. They believe God’s Word when it says, in Mark 16:17, “And these signs will accompany those who believe in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (This text is not in the earliest ancient manuscripts.)

That is an interesting scripture and difficult to understand. So what do we do with it? We can ignore it. We can take it literally. We can build a theology of snake handling on it. Or we can try to understand it. We can find corroboration in other scriptures about casting out demons, speaking in new tongues but nothing about picking up deadly snakes or drinking poison in other scripture.

A viper attached to Paul’s hand after he was shipwrecked on Malta. He shook the viper off and he suffered no ill effects. (Acts 28) I don’t think we can build a theology on the basis of one story. Yes, I know Moses’ rod turned into a snake and he picked it up…but that is quite different from picking up snakes and drinking poison on purpose to “prove God”.

We can be misguided and misinterpret what scripture says – that is why it is very important not to build a theology on one or two verses. I think Pastor Coots was sincere. I believe he believed he was serving God in some way. But I think he was wrong. Deadly wrong.

I pray his family will find comfort in God and His word at this difficult time.

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