When Life Tumbles In, What Then?

Ray Pritchard

Job 1

When his wife died, he didn’t know at first how he would survive. Although he was a minister and had helped many others through times of crisis, now he faced his own personal moment of truth. How would he reconcile his own loss with the Christian faith he claimed to believe? What would he say to his own grieving congregation?

The year was 1927. The place, Aberdeen, Scotland. The man, Arthur John Gossip, pastor of the Beechgrove Church. He was fifty-four years old and at the height of his powers.

Historians tell us that he was humble and sincere, possessing a keen wit and deeply devoted to his family and friends. A bit of an eccentric, he sometimes scandalized his staid Scottish congregation by appearing in public with a floppy fisherman’s hat perched on his head. He was a man of strong opinions who never held back from expressing them to any and all who cared to listen. History also tells us that he was beloved as a pastor and preacher.

From Tradition to Truth

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:2-5)

Is there actually a divine purpose behind the bad things that happen in your life? Could it be that the sicknesses and calamities you experience are somehow a part of God's plan for you?

Never a Better Time Than the Worst Time

Nevin Bass

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” Gal 4:4

In our fast paced world convenience is a premium. Fortunes have been made be those who cater to man’s desire for ease and convenience. We have instant pudding, instant potatoes, microwave ovens, and direct deposit. And yet some things are just not as convenient as we would like. As a matter of fact, usually the best things take time. The best things are also not always convenient. I know there are those who speak about the recognizing the will of God by its ease and convenience. Yet the unvarnished truth is that the will of God is not always convenient. In fact God often does not check man’s schedule before executing His plan.

Speaking about convenience, how many times have parents commented that Christmas could come at a more convenient time? I want to tell you about some parents that where hoping for a more convenient Christmas.

Tax Time

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” Luke 2:1

I will admit that that tax-time is not my favorite time of the year. I suppose tax-time has never been a popular time. In the days of Caesar Augustus tax-time was extremely unpopular. Not only was it time to pay out for “services” that folks didn’t agree with, but you had to travel for the privilege to do so.

Aren’t you thrilled when Uncle Sam does all kinds of ridiculous stuff and then sends you the bill? Do you realize how much frustration there would be if every American had to write a check to the government every time they got paid? I will remind you students of American history that some red-blooded Yankees held the Boston Tea party over a 3% tax on tea! You heard me right; the spark that ignited the American Revolution was a 3% tax on tea! How far we have come!

Not only was it tax-time in Luke chapter two, but every one in Israel that was from somewhere else had to return to their hometown. You couldn’t crank up the ‘puter and efile over the Internet. You couldn’t even just fill out a form and mail in a check. Nope. You had to pack your bags and return to the town you were from. Oh yeah, you didn’t have an SUV to throw all your luggage into. Your mode of transportation was old Clyde the donkey.

Did I mention that the wife was due any day? How many of you ladies like to travel when you are great with child? Why did your husband have to be from another place? This is probably one of the worst days of your life!

And when you get to the tiny hamlet of Bethlehem, there are no vacancies in any of the inns. Great! Oh my, … a contraction. And another … and another. It’s time! It is the worst day of your life. Your firstborn is about to come into the world, and you don’t even have a roof over your head.

 Convenience?

Did someone say that the will of God is always convenient? Was that you that said we should just wait for the door to open and waltz into glory? Can’t God make it easier for me? Why does it have to be so hard? Well, on the worst day of Joseph and Mary’s life, God made His appearance.

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” Gal 4:4

God’s time was not man’s time.

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7

Is it possible that God was in control of this situation all along? Not only is it possible, it is absolutely certain. God’s purpose was to bring Mary and Joseph to a stable and the precious babe that was born to be laid in a manger. No, He was not born in a convenient way. This was not the birth of a conventional king. He is the Great Shepherd and He came into this world at the worst of times. And yet it was God’s perfect time. This was the fullness of time - God’s perfect time.

All of the disasters that went into this day from Mary and Joseph’s perspective were indeed the plan of God from the beginning of time.

Invite Jesus Into Your Calamity

I want to encourage you to recognize the sacredness of your calamity. Perhaps the political environment is not to your choosing. I know the economy has not been this poor for many years. Maybe it is a hard time for your family. It might be that Christmas is not coming at a convenient time for you this year.

Could it be that the hand of God is at work behind the scenes? Might the Lord not be found directing some of the very things that are troubling you? Why would He do this? God does His greatest work in your life sometimes on your worst day.

Would you welcome Him into your calamity? Would you push aside the hay and give the Lord Jesus the position of honor in your stable? Place Him there in the manger. When you do, you discover that He was born to reign in a world of uncertainty and trouble. Other kings are born for a palace, but Jesus came for the worst day of your life. And He will take you home to glory.

Christmas is the time that we celebrate the advent of our Savior into the world. I must remind you that the first Christmas was a very tumultuous time. There is never a better time to celebrate the presence of Jesus in your life than the worst time.

http://truthstreams.com/?p=92

When Prophecies Fail (even in 2012) by Elwin R. Roach

"Charity never ⁽¹⁾ faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall ⁽²⁾fail..." 1 Corinthians 13:8 " (even in 2012).

Many people are in quite a stir these days. Calamities have been streaming through the nations that have left them more than a little unsettled. There have been earthquakes, a tsunami that caused thousands of deaths and three uncontrollable nuclear reactor melt downs, political upheavals and corruption everywhere, economic woes, nations going bankrupt, and immorality running rampant in all walks of life. Moreover, many believe that the catalyst for an imminent, worldwide meltdown has to do with the Mayan calendar that ends on this year's winter solstice December 21, 2012. There have been an unprecedented amount of prophecies, fearful predictions, and speculations concerning this upcoming date.

According to credible researchers, it is said that the Mayans studied the heavens extensively and were very interested in world ages. But they also say that the record has been distorted, leaving several possibilities open to interpretation. In the Maya Long Count calendar, the one causing so much consternation and debate, the previous world ended after 13 b'ak'tuns, or roughly 5,125 years. This means that the fourth world, or age, will also have reached the end of its 13th b'ak'tun, on December 21, 2012. In 1957, Mayanist and astronomer, Maud Worcester Makemson, wrote that "the completion of a Great Period of 13 b'ak'tuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon.)

Tsunami Prone Areas In The Philippines

Where Did AIDS Come From?

AIDS suddenly appeared about 25 years ago and quickly spread around the world. Today there are about 33 million cases of AIDS worldwide.

What Is AIDS?
AIDS (an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a deficiency in the immune system caused by HIV (an acronym for Human Immuno-deficiency Virus). Because of this deficiency there is inadequate resistance to various diseases which then cause sickness and death.
AIDS suddenly appeared about 25 years ago and quickly spread around the world. Today there are about 33 million cases of AIDS worldwide.1 But where did HIV come from? Did God suddenly create it or has it always been around? And if so, why didn’t it erupt as an epidemic until relatively recently?

Origin Of HIV
We can say that the Lord created it, because He has created everything: “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made” (Jn. 1:3 NIV). And the “all things” includes viruses and microorganisms. Scripture does not tell us why He created them, but some of them are absolutely necessary for our health. For example, we need germs in our bowels for their proper functioning; and much of the vitamin K we need for blood clotting is produced by intestinal germs. Scripture does not say that He created germs to cause sickness and death!
We should note that the Lord rebuked the pharisaical attitude of those who automatically consider calamities to be punishment for sin. He said, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way ... or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!” (Lk. 13:1-5).
God protects His creatures from disease! He gave mankind and animals their amazing immune systems to protect them from microorganism-caused diseases. If these immune systems worked “perfectly” we would never get sick. In fact, it is quite possible for people to be “carriers” of a load of disease-causing microorganisms and be symptom free. For example, ninety percent of the people infected with the tuberculosis-causing germ will never have tuberculosis!2 Could HIV then have been around for ages in carriers? Yes, but the carriers have not been human.

Non-human Carriers
HIV apparently has been present in chimpanzees for thousands of years,3 and evidence has just been announced2,4 which confirms what has long been suspected, namely, that the virus came originally from chimpanzees living in Central Africa where AIDS got its start in humans.1,3 Most interestingly, HIV would never have gotten into humans and spread so rapidly if Old Testament regulations were heeded and New Testament sexual morals were practiced.

How Did HIV Enter Humans?
Viruses like HIV can easily mutate (change) into different strains, and they often do. When this happens, viruses that live in animals without infecting humans may produce strains that can cause human disease when they jump into people. Thus, “swine flu” resulted when a mutated virus jumped from pigs into people and produced a new “flu” against which the old vaccine was ineffective.
The evidence is that a mutated virus in chimpanzees jumped into humans at least three times.1,3 There is also a plausible mode of transmission. In Central Africa chimpanzees are hunted for food, and blood from the carcasses could easily have entered the hunters’ bodies through superficial wounds.1 The continued practice of hunting chimpanzees may possibly introduce new viral strains into the human population!

God’s Protection Plan
God gave Israel a variety of seemingly arbitrary food and health laws to protect them. Specifically, He commanded, “You must therefore make a distinction between clean and unclean ... Do not defile yourself by any animal or bird ... those which I have set apart as unclean for you” (Lev. 20:25). For example, a monkey was forbidden food and its carcass defiling (Lev. 11). Even touching a carcass made the person unclean (Lev. 5:2; 11:27). Therefore, a law-abiding Israelite would never dress a monkey for food and would never run the risk of coming into contact with blood from an infected animal.
Note that God’s so-called “arbitrary” laws also protected His people from other viruses, such as the Ebola virus. A few years ago this mysterious disease appeared. It caused death from massive hemorrhaging while physicians watched helplessly. It threatened to become a dangerous epidemic, but was stopped when it was recognized that the disease was caused by the Ebola virus. This virus was spread by contact with the bodies of the victims. A quarantine was established, and the spread of the virus was stopped. God protected His people from disease present in dead bodies by commanding, “Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days. He must purify himself with water” (Num. 19:11-12).

Why The Sudden Spread?
For years HIV did not spread. Travel was difficult, people stayed where they lived, and tribal customs regulated sexual contact - the primary mode of transmission. Then came roads, rails, and airplanes - and travel increased. People moved around, moved into cities where tribal influences were lost, and promiscuous sex became much easier.
In Africa AIDS is a heterosexual disease. However, because it was introduced into the United States by homosexuals, many perceive of it primarily as a homosexuals’ disease - but this is wrong. As people carrying the virus travel and engage in promiscuous homosexual and heterosexual sex, the disease is being spread rapidly around the world.

What Can We Do?
Not widely known is the fact that the greater the opportunity for transmission of an infectious agent, the greater its virulence (deadliness). Thus, today’s widespread sexual promiscuity is playing a big part in the deadliness of AIDS. As scientists explain in Scientific American: “Theory predicts that ... safe sex will do more than save numerous individuals from HIV infection. If humanity’s behavior itself slows HIV transmission rates, strains that do not soon kill their hosts ... then die with their hosts, denied the opportunity to spread.”4 In other words, if people were to heed the scriptural admonition to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor. 6:18), not only would they avoid AIDS themselves but their “collective choices (would) change the very nature of HIV.”4 God is not responsible for the deadliness of HIV, we are!

Listen To God!
The more we learn about sanitation and disease, the better we appreciate the wisdom and love which God showed in the seemingly arbitrary regulations He gave to His people. They were told to “observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations” (Dt. 4:6). They were told they would have good health if they obeyed, and disease if they disobeyed (Ex. 15:26; Dt. 28:58-61).
The principles underlying His commandments are as valid today as they ever were. The origin and spread of AIDS is dramatic proof!

Grace & Truth Magazine February 2000

When Prophecies Fail (even in 2012) by Elwin R. Roach

"Charity never ⁽¹⁾ faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall ⁽²⁾fail..." 1 Corinthians 13:8 " (even in 2012).

Many people are in quite a stir these days. Calamities have been streaming through the nations that have left them more than a little unsettled. There have been earthquakes, a tsunami that caused thousands of deaths and three uncontrollable nuclear reactor melt downs, political upheavals and corruption everywhere, economic woes, nations going bankrupt, and immorality running rampant in all walks of life. Moreover, many believe that the catalyst for an imminent, worldwide meltdown has to do with the Mayan calendar that ends on this year's winter solstice December 21, 2012. There have been an unprecedented amount of prophecies, fearful predictions, and speculations concerning this upcoming date.