Peace Be With You

Life can be hard.  Sometimes it feels as if its overwhelming.  You may be working two jobs and taking care of your family by yourself.  The kids may ask a million questions and have all these needs and wants.  Plus all the other things that add on to our lives that cause it to be stressful.  It might get to a point where we don’t feel like we have the patience to deal with the things in life after a while. 

This reminds me of a time when Jesus after his death said to the disciples, “peace be with you”.  When I read the Bible,  I don’t put myself in the place of the people.  The gospels don’t really tell us of all the problems the disciples went through, but is very vague.  The death of Christ might have been the piece of straw that broke the camels back. 

The Bible leads me to believe that the crucification of Jesus was too unbearable for the disciples.  They thought that He was there to redeem them and free them to a new kingdom on earth.  They must have thought about all the time they invested in by following Christ and now there is nothing to show from it.  He was the strong leader and now he was gone. Their lives have fallen apart and there was nothing on earth to heal that.  Their leader was vanished from the face of the earth and everything they were taught from Him was dead to them too. 

But Christ returns to them and from the grave and says, “peace be with you”.  Before He says this, they were in mourning and perhaps questioning their purpose and life as a whole.  When Christ returns to give them this message, their whole demeanor changes.  All of a sudden they have hope and are empowered to take on the world again.  They just needed a little motivation. A sentence so small, it changed their lives forever.

Perhaps your life feels like everything is caving down on you and you just can’t take it any more.  Christ came here, to give peace to all man kind.  If you need peace.  All you have to do is ask.  If you don’t believe in Jesus, try it anyway.  What do you have to loose.  If it doesn’t work, then tell your friends that the Bible is a lie.  If he is God, he will deliver, and if He does let someone else know. 

The Last Holocast

I remember when I was in elementary school, probably fourth or fifth grade, and the teacher was teaching us about the devastation of WWII.  We were reading the book Anne Frank and the teacher took us to the restroom, which probably had the measurements of 5X5 ft.  There were about 25-30 of us in our class, we just read how the Jewish people had to board the train and how some had barley enough room to breath. There was no room to lay or sit, only to stand up strait for days until their destination.  When we entered the restroom, with the door shut, I noticed that it was getting hotter and how everyone was next to each other so tight that we were touching each other, I’m one to like distance.  During this time, our teacher told us that we had more room than the people during the Holocaust and how they had to stay in their position for days. Children didn’t know where their parents were and spouses didn’t know where their spouse was.  It was a time of trial and test. Our teacher told us the reason she wanted us to understand this time was so that nothing like this would happen again during our time or the future.

During my youth at this age, I remember going to church and being taught about the end of times.  Its like that’s all we were ever taught.  We watched movies about the mark of the beast and how the rest of the world treated those who were saved. I pictured it in my mind it would be like what the Jews went through, only worse.  These people in the end of times did only what the society told them to do, they had no choice to speak freely or voice their thoughts. It would be a time of bondage and trial, and I couldn’t picture being there. 

When our teacher told us we were being taught about the Holocaust so it wouldn’t happen again, I remember thinking how the Bible taught that there would be a time like this again, only I pictured it as being worse. 

I pictured people coming to my house with guns and asking everyone if they were Christians and how the neighbors would tell the authorities who was Christians.  I pictured this time as a time with no law, no amendments, and full of hate of a religion, but why? Because a group of people believe differently than others? It was taught as if it were to happen during my life.  Perhaps it will. 

 If it is to happen during my life, then why would the world hate this religion? What did they do that was so wrong?  If you ask me, they are as much like the world than you might think.  They do the exact same things and have the same sins. 

In order for the coming of Christ to occur and the Antichrist to rise up, surly the Church must do something radical. Something that is noticed to all the world.  In order to be hated for their belief they will have to act out their faith.  When they do, the world will see heaven on earth.  Those opposed to Christ will hate what they see and those who are of the faith will rise up. 

I am one to believe the book of Revelation is a book of encouragement and not a book to scare Christians. Many times in the Bible, it tells the believers to encourage each others in the Lords return.  I think that we have forgotten to do this. So, I encourage you to be ready during these times and remember to keep your faith.  Help those in need and visit those who are unable to get out and visit others.  This is the love of Christ. 

Has the Pastor become a God?

Throughout my life I have always heard about the role of the Pastor.  The pastor is the Shepard of the  flock, who guides the sheep (the followers) to the way of life which God has for them.  These people with the role of the Pastor always sound to be in a higher position than they rest of the followers and I don’t think that is right.

Keep in mind that I am making statements about my personal experiences.  I have in the past watched people praise the Pastor of the church as if they were God Himself.  I guess they forget the passage in the Bible, “for all have fallen short of the glory of God”.  I would think they would take into consideration the headlines in the news about the pastors and priest who have went to jail and got in trouble with the law because of their problems that they have faced in their personal lives.  I am not mentioning this to bring them down, but to show that they are just like you and me.

I think it is important to notice this issue so we don’t put these people in this role in a position that they can’t handle.  When we do this, I believe we put them above God. Not to mention how this can cause us to feel as if we have no part to God’s purpose in this life.