WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING?

SCRIPTURE OF INTEREST

John 8:12 (KJV) “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

MY COMMENTARY

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

What is really happening on the world’s stage? Here I am sitting in my office contemplating this subject. I am pondering on what I have gone through in the last year and also considering what has been happening all around me. If I didn’t know better I would say that the world has gone mad. Everything that is happening is affecting every human being on the face of the earth. Oh I know there are those who would say “It’s not really that bad. Just trust God and you will be okay.” Unfortunately, there is more to the story.

Let’s look at some of the things. Covid-19 virus has hit our world with vengeance. Many have died due to the virus, especially the elderly. Now, I don’t know whether this happened because of some phenomena or is this planned because there is a far bigger picture of which most of us have no idea. Based on information that is coming out this is part of the agenda to have any peoples or nations surrender to a one world government. Look at what is happening to the United States in various cities where there is violence basically creating anarchy. You have peaceful protestors but you also have Black Lives Matter organization along with Antifa creating the environment in which there are incredible problems. All this to overthrow anything and anyone who is in resistance to their movement including the police. And now we have businesses and government leaders who are in support of these groups and anyone who opposes will either lose their job and their livelihood.

Let me add to this list as to what is happening. With the Covid-19 virus we have the medical world trying hard to find a vaccine to combat the virus. Again, here we have information coming out as to what is in play here, creating a question mark as to why many governments are pushing the idea that nothing will return to normal. Or this is the new normal until the vaccine is available and will be made mandatory. Really! Why not make it available and let the people decide whether they will take it or not?  Why push the ‘mandatory’ agenda? What’s really in play? I see another problem that exists and that is so many people are in a fear mode that they will comply with whatever the government pushes. Let’s not assume that everything the government says is gospel. What if there is another motive behind making this mandatory?

Oh, there is more. There are groups of people that are pushing to change sports team names because they find them offensive. What about groups that are trying to rewrite history by demolishing statues that represent the history of leaders of the past. Whether we agree or not with what happened in the past, history tells us what took place and we are to learn from our previous wrong decisions and mistakes that were made. We are to let go of the past through forgiveness not destroy it. 

Even laws are being passed so that certain groups can be silenced. It is called “the cancel culture.” The reason for that is that the ruling class can go ahead with their agenda without any resistance. Now we see that cities are passing laws to defund the police because the police are regarded as the bad guys. Christians are regarded as bad for society because they represent morals that are contrary to what is being practiced and sanctioned. According to capforcanada.com and I quote “According to a clause introduced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pro-life Christians are barred from federal funding unless they support a woman’s right to an abortion. ‘I have met Justin Trudeau three times,’ said Pastor Long, a Canadian Baptist pastor. ‘Sadly my last meeting with him in his office was very disappointing. He told me that evangelical Christians were the worst part of Canadian society.’” As Christians we must understand that our world is not Christian friendly. However, that being said, we still are salt and light in this world.

For us Christians it should not be surprising that we will face opposition. We definitely are living in a sick world which is going downhill fast. But this also reflects on us as to how we are living because there are problems within the church as well. As I think on this statement I am reminded of two words that are part of the problem. Deception and confusion. It is not simply the world that is experiencing this but it is our problem as well. In many circles we are not sure what the actual truth is concerning everything from end times, morals and sin. Paul said in Galatians 3:1 ESV “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched (deceived) you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.” Let’s look at this closely. Paul is saying, “Who has deceived you into believing that what Jesus accomplished on the cross was not enough?” Come on, Jesus came and give His life as a ransom, as a sacrifice for our sin and we are allowing the devil to deceive us. How dare we take this lightly? He did it because of His love for us.

You see, we as a church are not to be a part of the problem but rather we are to be part of the solution. Unfortunately, many of us as leaders in the church are afraid to step out and preach the Word of God because we are afraid to offend. Many churches are comprised of Christians who are not sure what sin is and how it really affects their testimony and their lives. As a result the Church is itself weak and afraid to stand for what is right in the face of opposition. We are called to live holy lives and of course we can’t do it in our own strength but through His grace which is available through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is there to convict us of sin, help us to understand that we need to repent of it and depend on Him for strength to live above sin.

So, what’s happening? Well, as I mentioned already there is deception and confusion in the world but it doesn’t have to be in the Church. The spirit of anti-Christ is definitely working hard and doing everything possible to weaken us by using its sinister tactics. But through the Word of God we can know the truth and be able to decipher what the enemy is doing and we can rise above his tactics by dealing with our sin, learning to embrace the Word of God and learning as well to bask in His presence to be refreshed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to make a difference in this world. We have a message of hope. Jesus made it very clear what that message is in Luke’s Gospel 24:46, 47 KJV “Thus it is written, and thus it was fit for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Let me add one more verse to stress that in spite of what is happening in the world our trust must be in Christ “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 KJV).

 Q AND A

Question: If Christianity is the largest religion in the world who would be considered the second largest?

Answer: Islam comprises about 25 percent of the world’s population about 1.9 billion adherents. The countries with the largest number of Muslims would be Indonesia and Pakistan with over 200,000,000 and India, Bangladesh and Nigeria with approximately 100,000,000. There are numerous other countries, primarily North Africa and the Middle East who have very large number of Muslims.

Islam was instituted in 610 A.D. when Muhammad, supposedly received revelations from the angel Gabriel, that were recorded and later became part of the Quran, Islam’s sacred book. Muhammad doubted the origin of the revelations at first, but his wife convinced him that they were divine and encouraged him to teach what he had learned. Muhammad quickly gained a following. In 630 A.D. he took control of Mecca, and within a year he brought all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula under the religion of Islam. Today the religion has two major sects – Sunni and Shiite – and several minor ones.

When it comes to beliefs Muslims have both beliefs and obligations. The obligations are required practices such as reciting the shahadah, a statement of commitment, praying, fasting, giving alms and making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime. Other core beliefs include:

• There is one true God, whose name is Allah
• Between God and humans there are angels, two of them are assigned to each person, one to record his good deeds and one his bad
• God has spoken through the ages through prophets, but Muhammad is the last and great of all.

TIDBITS FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE

To have a happy marriage one must apply certain truths to make it happened. So far we have considered the following:

• Say goodbye to singleness
• Consider the feelings of your spouse – learn to be selfless
• Learn to listen
• Be quick to forgive
• Learn to laugh
• And today, Put God in the mix.

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

We are spiritual beings which long for a connection with God. If we turn to our spouses for that connection we will be greatly disappointed.

Everyone was created to have fellowship with God, and when we enter into that relationship with Him through Jesus Christ He will give us peace when we are going through struggles, He will give us joy when sadness wants to grip our hearts, He will give us strength when we feel weak, and He will give us purpose when the negative happens. He truly loves us.

There is a saying that goes like this, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, but there is another saying that is very pertinent in a marriage relationship “The family that prays together stays together.”