Perilous times... Our Redemption draws closer

While I am not one to set dates I do know that God is coming back to rescue his own. The unrest and turmoil of the masses and the wars and rumours of wars all point to a central event. The coming of Jesus Christ to rapture his own.  We are comforted by this in Matthew 24, He tells us, "When you see these things come to pass look up for your redemption draws night!"  Wow what a  promise!  Never in the history of man has the convergence of things (events technology, and natural events). have led us to today.
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The Bible tells us that famine, pestilence, natural disasters, would accelerate toward the end. People tell me that they are worried about the world, and our country. The media assaults us every day with bad news, cataclysms, disasters  so it is imperative that we do a mental cleanse. We cant insulate ourselves from  events, but we can exude an outward calm that teaches the world that we have  a hope. A hope that  is every bit as sure as the  sun rising tomorrow morning. Many people express fear and anxiety about the future and who can blame them.  The good thing is that we can have the bedrock certainty of a bright and glorious future. A future that not only is peaceful in heaven, but a Comforter that is with us during the interim.

Matt 24 is an expose of the modern times,  I Peter 1:4. We have a inheritance that fadeth not away. we also have reason to be glad today. Times like these drive people to know and hunger for the truth, a truth that we can use to inform them about the truth.

Review of the movie Limitless

The other day I had the chance to go watch Limitless, a movie starring Bradley Cooper and Robert Deniro. The basic theme of the movie was that Cooper, a broke and down on his luck writer ran into an old childhood buddy, who introduced him to the "break" of his life, or so he thought.

This wonder drug was supposed to dramatically improve the memory and recall of his brain, and open up the floodgates of his memory. He had nothing to lose so he tried it, and shazzam he was transformed into superman overnight. He was able to write books in days what it  might take him a year, learn piano in days, languages the same. It all came to him effortlessly.

Only problem was, the drug wore off within a couple of days, and he was always in need of replenishment. One thing led  to another, and he developed a craving  for it, so much that he borrowed money from a loan shark/mobster. It was a  wrong move and one he would regret later. After a meteoric rise to the top of the trading world, he discovers Mr Koon a Wall Street legend who wants to meet him, He signs on with Koon as his adviser, and together they build a monopoly on the Street. Only problem is that his powers desert him when the drug runs out of his system.. During the movie powerful questions emerge about power and its nature that most peope never really think about.

At the beginning Cooper stands on the ledge of a high rise ready to take his life, at the end he looks at his life from the same vantage point only for a different reason. Life as we perceive at the top is not the same as it is really is.

What would you do if you had access to all that money and power?

If you had that power how would you use it?

Would you have safeguards in place that would or would not reinforce your belief system?

Would you use that same power to enrich yourself and bank account or would you choose nobler goals?

Do you think that Bradley Cooper could have anticipated all the problems his decisons brought him?

Drug addiction issues are front and center here

Doesnt money power and drugs bring dangerous bedfellows?

At the end of the movie he ran for Senate and his Wall St pal  shewd up (ostensibly to donate money tohsi campaign) trying to blackmail him. In the end was he able to overcome his demons, if so how?

How does genius, power and success blind us to the truth about reality?

What does this tell Christians about the deceitfulness of riches??

IN summary, the quest for power and its attainment is rife with its own pitfalls. What we say we want or yearn for is sometimes not what we want at all.

Solomon, said paraphrased, I pursued and explored it all, and said it was all vanity.

The conclusion of the movie was refreshing, for it showed a man that had kicked the opressive hold that the drug had on him, and gained back his "right" mind.

Tiger by the Tail?

It seems only yesterday that Tiger Woods was the toast of the golfing world. Kids wanted to be like him, fellow PGA golfers stood in awe of him, or at least had a healthy respect as this kingpin of the golfing universe. Not so anymore.. if anybody has been remotely up on PGA these days, (which I am not), they know that Tiger appears to be a broken man.

Several months ago, he confessed to having muliple affairs with other women. He turned his back on the beautiful Ellie         and their marriage and now is quite a different man. No longer the threat he once was, it appears that the scandal did more than break up his marriage. It also broke up his golf game!  Now am I saying that just because he has an affair, he loses his edge?  No.. but one cant argue that Tiger Woods has been very unremarkable since he was a married man.

I am not saying he didnt have respect for his marriage and his wife, but somewhere along the way, he thought he could lead a double life and get away with it. He tried to convince us that what he did had nothing to do with the public and was his private business, True Tiger, BUT when you are one of the richest ever to play professional sports, you pay a much higher price than your average Joe!

First insight:  When you are in a very visible position, you fall much harder. The higher you are, the harder you fall.

Second insight:  When you see celebrities that fall take note, that they are going through a adjustment period . their value system is being recalibrated .. I bet Tiger misses his wife, and the relationship they had badly; he cannot get it back with all the money in the world! He has passed the point of no return. Learn that with choosing your actions that consequences will come it is just the severity of it that may surprise us!

Third insight  Tiger life has been irrevocably changed, it is up to him to reframe his life in the best possible ways. He has nearly unlimited financial resources has his disposal,but all that aside he still has the power to inspire many people. This is the same with us; no matter what has happend to you. It is not what happens to you, it what you do with it that matters!!  Christians have the additional comfort to know that God is soverign in their life, and will work things out for their own good and His glory, if we remain flexible to His guidance.