2012 and the Christians

From the beginning of the church, man has speculated about Jesus’ return, and the end times. In almost every generation we find that numerous people have said that Jesus’ return was imminent and would occur within their time. In almost every generation we find that there have been numerous people who have distorted God’s Word to control, frighten and confuse many of this very powerful event that will occur. However, although it is NOT for us to know the exact date, by paying attention to the events that are happening and will happen in the world, we will soon discover that the Word of God is being fulfilled. I think everyone here will agree when I say that we are living in prophetic times. With each passing day we get closer to the Lord's return, but it will definitely not be 21 December 2012.

Are we betraying Jesus?

Although the disciples all said that they were willing to die for the Lord, fear caused them to flee. Fear is what destroys and stops God’s blessings for His people. The fear of the things of this world is what distances us from God’s presence.

The fear and intimidation of what people might think or say about us enslaves to the world. And this same fear is what stops many from acting the way that God expects and demands that we act. The fear of what people might think or say about us leads us to deny Jesus by our actions. The fear of what people might think or say about us leads us to betray our faith. The fear of what people might think or say about us leads us to flee naked without God’s protection.

Let us never forget what the Lord tells us in Mark 14:21 when we read: “...The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."

Is spiritual war real?

At this very moment there is a devastating war that is being fought, and thousands of people are falling either dead or seriously wounded in the battlefields. Unfortunately this war is something that many do not want to recognize, or perhaps just simply choose to ignore.

The news media don’t show us graphic pictures or films of the attacks; the newspapers don’t print or publish any statistics about the death toll; and the radio definitively won’t broadcast any reports about the deaths, mutilations, and casualty counts that is experienced on a daily basis. But regardless of the lack of information being disseminated, the war rages on, and it is a war that is being fought since the beginning of human kind.

The grim reality that exists is that there are two armies that participate in the war, the army of God, and the army of the devil.

Church rapture

There is a great controversy concerning the rapture of the church, and said controversy has caused a division among God’s people. Some say that the rapture will not happen, and they base their doctrine on the fact that the rapture was not known by the primitive church. According to some theologians, the concept of the rapture is completely false. They indicate that this doctrine was introduced in the Christian church by John Nelson Darby around the 1830’s, and that it was made popular by the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in and around the year 1909. Furthermore, they also justify their belief on the fact that the word “rapture” cannot be found in the book of Revelations. Will the rapture really happen?

Can a Christian really rob God as many preach?

The answer is yes; do they rob Him by not tithing? The answer is a definitive NO! This may sound a little confusing but in reality it is not. It is not because just as the non-Jews in Paul’s time were not under the covenant of Moses law, and they did not have to follow the Mosaic laws and traditions, we are not under the obligation of the law to tithe. We all live under the new covenant, we live under the covenant of grace.

I can tell you that in my study about the tithes, I have been unable to find any instruction or demand for the tithes of the church in the new covenant. The method presented in the New Testament deals with giving voluntarily, with joy and thankfulness according to how God has prospered us. This is something that Paul left very clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 9:7 when we read “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

There is no mandate to tithe under the new covenant; in other words we can not find something telling us an exact figure or percentage. In the New Testament we find the principle of supporting God’s work financially, and in the Mosaics laws we find that ten percent is a good beginning for our support. But let’s never forget that our support must never be because we feel obligated to the law, but because of the love that we feel for God’s work.