Habakkuk 2:2-4 says "Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith."
It is an interesting saying, starting with a command. Write the vision and make it plain on tablets. Ok...this is a word for Habakkuk, not for ME, right? Well, yes...and...no. God is not using YOU as a writing prophet in Old Testament times, and as far as I have ever learned, the canon of Scripture is closed, and God isn't giving you a vision and expecting YOU to write Scripture. So, this isn't for you.
Yet...it is. What has been YOUR story? How has your faith changed and developed YOU? Is it just a set of data you agree with, that anyone can research and learn for themselves, or NOT? Or...is it rather YOUR story...an intimate journey of change that God has taken YOU on? If that is true, it is YOUR vision. Should we do any less for the vision God has given US? Shouldn't we write it down, work on it, communicate it to others? 
Then the part about making it plain so that he who runs may read it. Some scholars say that the writing is to be BIG- plain, easy to read even if running. Or...simple, so that a runner can voice it with limited wind. Your testimony should be honest, and open, but it can be CLEAR...memorable...effective. You should be able to tell it ANYWHERE, and others should be able to remember it. If it is TOO complicated, with TOO many details, it won't work. Have you thought that out?
Is the story ONLY about you, or does it lead to Christ? Does it call to someone to look to Jesus? Does it show what He has done to help you? The passage talks about the vision coming to pass in its appointed time...does our testimony do that? Does the same Jesus who called to us call THROUGH us to others? 
At the end of the passage, it talks about the proud NOT listening to it. Well, it says the proud in their pride, is not upright. In contrast, the just will live by faith. What that means is that there WILL be people who hear God's Word, who see the power of a testimony, and CHANGE. Then there will be others who refuse to listen OR change. In their pride, they see no reason to believe. We cannot make them listen. But we can still tell them the story.
Are you ready?

This might sound a little...well...silly, but I was reading Hosea 1:4-9, and that made me think. It says, "Then the LORD said to him: "Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. It shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen.” Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then God said: “Call his name Lo-Ammi, for you are not My people, and I will not be your God."
The Scripture doesn't sound silly at all...in fact, it is kind of sobering. Three kids given names of a prophetic nature, messages from God for His people who were running away from Him so very fast. What sounds silly, perhaps, is my consideration of the process. Hosea is given a word from God about each child's name...and the first name isn't that hard. Jezreel is the name of a strategic, fertile agricultural valley in Israel. People in our culture name kids after places all the time.
But the second kid was named "No mercy." Yes, you can say Lo-Ruhamah if you want, but when that is said in Hebrew, what is heard is "No Mercy". That is one odd name for a child.
The next child is named "Not My People". Hmm...how are the neighbors supposed to interpret THAT name? These poor kids are going to have to deal with those names for a long time...and that won't be easy.
God GAVE them those names. Yes, again, I know I am the one quoting it. But imagine Gomer, the mother, dealing with these names! Maybe naming was solely and ONLY a paternal prerogative...mommy never EXPECTED to name them. And...maybe not. Either way, whether she had an expressed opinion about the names or didn't, she had to have a feeling about those last two names once Hosea assigned them. Cannot see those being very popular choices.
Imagine those kids in school. Again, I know it is a different culture, and maybe they HAD no school. But just imagine those two answering to "No Mercy" and "Not My People" for the rest of their academic career. Yikes! Harsh.
But the REAL problem was not the names...it was the disaster coming, and God wanted everybody else to hear that message and change. It was that important! We just talked about hearing the message last week. What about the other side of the question. Can we BE the message of God for other people? Through a name, a hobby, a choice, a job, a relationship...can we BE the message. Do people see us and hear us and ask questions, or do they assume that you are like everyone else anyway...and stop paying attention?
You probably DON'T have a weird name...but we still have a reason to attract attention!

How much does it take to get the message in sometimes? And WHY does it take that much? I am reading a passage I have written about before- Daniel 4:19-22. It is in the middle of a longer passage I will summarize, but not try to quote here. But this specific section says "Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished for a time, and his thoughts troubled him. So the king spoke, and said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation trouble you.” Belteshazzar answered and said, “My lord, may the dream concern those who hate you, and its interpretation concern your enemies! “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home—it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth."
If this was the only dream, the only prophetic situation Nebuchadnezzar ever found himself IN, then maybe we could forgive him. Doubt can be pretty strong sometimes. We can doubt those who help us understand. We could simply forget.
But this is NOT the only such situation, is it? Even if you are no Daniel scholar, you probably remember the highlights so far. Nebuchadnezzar demanded his advisors (that is what magicians means in this case) tell him his own dream. No one had ever been asked THAT...yet Daniel nailed the dream down to the finest details AND interpreted it. Then...Nebby warped he dream into idolatry...but we won't go into that now. 
Next was the whole 'three...no FOUR guys in the fire" experience where Nebuchadnezzar realizes that God is in charge...not him, and that God can work the impossible. Daniel, over this time, is made Neb's chief advisor, the governor of the main, capital territory of the empire, and is given power to promote people in his territory as he pleases. Big stuff!
Then we get into chapter four and Neb even STARTS the chapter by remembering how cool Daniel's abilities under God are. He plays the story back, if you will. THen...we get into THIS vision about the tree. He shares it, of course, with the guy who nailed the last big dream and who has been a good advisor so far...and Daniel tells him that this vision is SERIOUS. Daniel wishes it could apply to Nebuchadnezzar's enemies, not the king himself. 
We didn't read the whole thing, but the simple point is that Nebby is going to become proud, and need a reminder of the power and place of God as King of Kings. Terrible things would happen to bring about that reminder. Neb would lose his mind, think he was one of the cattle, and eat grass. This would last for SEVEN YEARS. Yes, he would get his mind back, yes, he would remain king, but seven years is a good chunk of any life! The warning was for pride, and Daniel DOES kind of tell Neb to watch out for that.
The warning holds for...a year. Then, Nebby looks at his city and gets all inflated in the head...until it pops and he goes nuts. Why didn't he remember? Did the situation, the warning, seem unlikely? Did he think he was too powerful a ruler to have THAT happen? He was, after all, the "head of gold." Did he suddenly doubt his chief advisor? Was it political pressure? 
WHo knows. But, the message did NOT stick, and Nebby had to get used to grass casserole. Yuck. There is more to the story, of course, and it is worth considering. But, for us, who don't rule kingdoms and probably don't have national treasures telling us God's will and warnings, for us who won't be joining the cows anytime soon, what can we learn from the story? 
Well...how much will it take for US to get the messages God is trying to send US? Maybe it comes through a friend, a teacher, a worship song, a life situation, a pastor, a parent...well, from anywhere. But when it comes, will we LISTEN? Let's consider King Neb...and choose to listen!

I love Ecclesiastes. I know, I know- not everyone's favorite book. But there is SOOOOO much good stuff in there, and I know I have, over the years, written about quite a lot of it. Here I go again, back to one I have camped on before. 
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 says "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted..." I think when we read a familiar passage like that, we tend to think about it like this: Issues, good and bad, come into your life. Thank God for the good times, and trust God in the bad times. Understand that you are NOT in control, and that God brings these experiences along as HE determines.
That is true. Nothing wrong with that analysis- and if you need that today, I hope it helps. But I want to look at it in another way. Instead of "experiences" that God brings into your life, what about DECISIONS? What about the times He tells you to "suck it up and stop fighting with your spouse or kids?" What about the nudge God gives you to change jobs when you are pretty comfortable? What about the conviction that it is time to stop a habit, start or stop a relationship? 
How many of us have had THOSE impressions? God telling us that it is time NOT to "accept an experience" but to "make an obedient choice?" Since a choice is before us, we DO have power, to a degree, to OBEY or REFUSE. Can we accept God's choice in telling us that it is TIME to DO something or other...or will we tell Him, in effect, that we will NOT be doing what He leads us to do? 
The two are very different things. Accepting what you cannot control is difficult- and some never do this- but the experience is UPON you and where will you go? Choices are different...and our WILL can so easily get in the way. If God tells you that it is time to choose, especially when you know what He is after in your case, WILL you recognize the appropriatness of THAT time, and do it?

Words can be scary. Getting a bad report from the doctor. Learning that some bill is NOW due and if not, then well.... Hearing that your job is over isn't any fun. Hard discussions with a spouse or someone you are dating. The words used in these discussions can be threatening, can leave you feeling powerless. But God is bigger than words.
And He always will be. Look here at part of a familiar text found in Isaiah 37:5-7. It says, "So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”
Outside the walls was a large army from Assyria, one that had been destroying or capturing city after city on the way to Jerusalem. It surrounded them now, and it didn't take much for the Juden officials to realize that there werent any options left. They would starve eventually. They had no allies which could even HOPE to drive off the Assyrian army. 
All the observable facts told them that the city WOULD fall. But...God. God was still bigger. Then the Assyrian official in charge outside began trash talking. He wasn't BLUFFING. He had EVERY reason to expect that this was merely a matter of time. If he could scare the Jews and get them surrender, this would be time and lives saved. If not, they would fall anyway. His trash talk, in the hearing of the soldiers on the walls, was not ineffective. But...God is bigger.
King Hezekiah spreads out the taunting letter before the Lord. He sends the question to Isaiah. What will happen? What should we do? (My paraphrase) Here was the reply...well, in Pastor Jeff style: "Don't worry about all those scary words. I've got this. Already a plan in motion to take care of business." 
Events would show that this was true. 185,000 Assyrians die and the King returns home...where he is killed as well. God INDEED had this situation taken care of. He always does, 
That last statement is a dangerous one, NOT because it is NOT true, but because it IS. We tend to like when it works out like this- with stunning victories and amazing miracles. I sure like that sort of result. But one way or another, God ALWAYS has issues well in hand. When we trust that, words become less scary. 
Remember, God's got this.

Rough times come to all. As I read through the Book of Isaiah, I realize that he is living in rough times himself. Judah isn't in the best shape, and trouble is brewing all around. How should these problems be fixed?
As people, we tend to defer to human solutions. People should LEARN more about God. They should REPENT of the decisions they make which cause judgment to come. Laws sould be passed...regulations set up...politics changed. Now, I am not saying that these solutions are all wrong. It makes sense to learn. Repentence is called for repeatedly in the Bible, as people tend to do what THEY want rather than doing what God commands. And sometimes, governments NEED a good dash of reform. 
But...notice what Isaiah says in Chapter 62:6-7. "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth."
The "I" can be a bit confusing. If the I is God, then God is both setting the watchmen and saying that people should give Him "no rest." Not an impossible piece of grammar, but clunky. If the "I" is Isaiah, it does get easier to process. 
Isaiah isn't in CHARGE of Jerusalem (it might have been better if he was, but he was a prophet, not a King), but he DOES have influence and some clout. So...perhaps HE has set watchmen on the walls. They keep an eye out. They warn people about events happening both outside and inside the walls. The command from Isaiah to them is "don't stop warning." No matter whether you re popular or not, no matter whether they want to hear you, just keep sharing the truth. In a sense, evangelists and teachers at least.
Then, "You who make mention of the Lord."Who are they? Well, they are told to "give Him no rest until..." Give WHO no rest? Well, who else can establish Jerusalem and make it a praise in the earth. Even the mightiest kings failed to do that so far. So...not a political or military figure. 
The "Him" referred to here is God. Give God no rest? What? Forget the fact that God doesn't NEED rest, and that if He did, YOU and I wouldnt be able to stop Him from getting it. But the words themselves show me that Isaiah is calling on prayer warriors, intercessors, to keep on praying to God and asking Him to change the nature and status of Jerusalem. 
Don't try to change tough times yourself all the time. Keep on trusting God. Keep on praying. Get others involved. Even when issues seem BAD, keep holding on to the truth and telling others about that truth. Don't quit on God to try to fix it yourself. Don't quit on God because you feel frustration. God WILL work it out (though maybe not in the way you hope and expect) in the right, the BEST way.

Well...I am reading in the Book of Jeremiah right now. Much of this book has a sad sound...the people of Israel are a mess, spiritually rebellious, and the nation is on the brink of final judgment. Not cheery stuff...but the text I have for today DOES give us something to think about!
Jeremiah 21:8-10 says, "Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good,” says the LORD. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.”
Putting it in the clearest and quickest way, God tells the people of Judah to either accept judgment and live- to surrender their independence to the Babylonian King and army, or to refuse and die. Yay! Not an easy choice. 
You see, nobody LIKES to surrender. There is always the hope that SOMEHOW they can win...or the enemy will tire and leave...or God will forget how badly we all trated Him and how unfaithful we were and will pull out some miracle to save the day.
THOSE are the types of story changes we like. WE don't have to surrender. WE don't have to accept judgment. WE don't have to CHANGE. If we were wrong, it is no big deal...just accept the formal little slap on the wrist and go on with living. But God...
...had HAD ENOUGH. God saw that the problem in Judah wasn't a temporary problem. They weren't CONFUSED, or LACKING DATA. They weren't doing what they chose to do because of an emergency stress from the outside. No one FORCED them into sin. They WANTED to be here...the rot was at the heart, not on the surface alone. 
And God had decided that this was the way to bring His people back into faithfulness. History would show that it was the right course to cure Israel from idolatry. But it was a hard road. And no one, including this guy writing at the moment, LIKES the hard road. No one, including myself, LIKES to have to surrender. 
Sometimes, though, surrender is the right choice. Surrendering our self-will. Surrendering our RIGHTS. Surrendering our plans. Surrendering our "logical view of the world." Oh, how people struggle with that last one! 
I am not saying that surrender in all situations is the greatest good- it is not. There are "hills to die on", fights worth all that is in us. But usually, when fighting God...something we do too easily and too often, surrender is the only sensible option. Surrender and live. Surrender and learn. Surrender and change. 
If you had lived at this time in Scripture...what would YOU have chosen?

Galatians 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
In the last few weeks, I have once again observed something that always makes me scratch my head. I was part of a discussion on the question of certain choices that people could make in life- I did not start OR finish this discussion, and my participation or observation had nothing SPECIFICALLY to do with my role as a pastor. As with so many of these discussions, this was taking place around the "Can We or Can We NOT do Action X as a Christian."
I understand this- having asked these questions myself more than once in life. We all have things we want to do- or see- or be part of. When we start asking these questions, there is usually DOUBT. We WANT to do it, and are afraid at some level that we should NOT...and there is a hope that some solution will convince us that we CAN so we can lay that doubt aside.
The question in discussion is not relevant to this post- but one of the participants expressed something like "Well, if God doesn't want me to be happy, then I would not want to follow Him." Not the first time I have heard such a sentiment.
By itself, that is not a remarkable statement- many people, especially those who don't believe to begin with, express such thoughts on occasion. But later I was brought into another discussion, that of God, or religion, or some church or another manipulating or controlling people. Can this happen? Sadly, religions and churches and officials CAN do so. God doesn't need to manipulate you. He commands, and you do, or there may be problems ahead, and your attitude in rejecting that won't change the realities involved in a positive way! Where humans are, there tends to be problems!
Where am I going with this, and how does it connect to Galatians 2:20? We have a desperate tendency to want to CONTROL our life our own way. Our happiness is of central importance to us. Our WILL is of central importance to us. Our PLANS and PERSPECTIVES are of central importance to us. We surrender these very slowly. Some people never do. My personal guess is that we hold on to that sense of "I am the center of my Universe" more tightly than any baby does their pacifier. I do, you do, they do.
When it comes to those who are unbelievers, I get it. I don't AGREE with them, but I get it. If you do not believe in God or an afterlife, then why surrender your control to anyone else? Saying this, unbelievers often surrender to experts or officials or those they are in relationship with. Few trutly stand alone as much as they claim to. But when it comes to self-identified believers, all this desire to retain control is actually a sign of a struggle with internal dishonesty.
Back to Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." If I say I am a Christian, it is not MY life to control. It is HIS life to control. I died to that life. Yes, I wake up and I hurt or enjoy the day. I work, I save, I prepare, I obey or disobey, but it is no longer MY life to control. MY happiness is NOT central. MY will and plan and perspective is NOT the definition. Jesus is.
Don't jump ahead. The leadership of Sonrise Church doesn't run your life. I don't. The staff doesn't. The Assemblies of God is not on your command chain...or any other human spiritual organization. We can all point out truth, try to be the best examples we can be for you, but WE are not in charge. Jesus is in charge. His Word is in charge.
How you feel about that has a lot to do with how you surrender to it- swift or slow. But as a believer, trying to control your own life and happiness RATHER than trusting their development to God is a sign that you are struggling to believe what you claim to believe. Struggle is not sin...unless you let it run your life.
So...check that human tendency to demand control. We ALL have things we want...me too...but you and I don't run the show. When humanity does so, going ALL the way back to the beginning,, we don't do it well enough at all.

Philippians 2:12-15 says "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world..."
I have surely discussed this phrase before: "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." But it deserves another unpacking. So many people want to take this from the perspective that somehow, salvation is something YOU determine. That YOU decide what it will look like and then put the pieces YOU choose together to somehow fit the need. From a human control and creativity perspective, that sounds great...but it is NOT what this passage means. Not at all. 
Instead of seeing this as a declaration that WE are in control of the future, understand it in the other direction. GOD gives us salvation through the work of Christ. That is WAY beyond our pay grade! All we can do is, by faith, accept what we are given. We do NOTHING other than extend faith to "work" that out. What the passage MEANS is that ONCE we are saved, what is now IN us CHANGES us. It begins to bubble OUT of us. 
So...what we work out is the way in which God's salvation comes out to affect the world. THAT has something to do with human choice and creativity. How will YOU use your talents to reach the people around YOU? How will YOU choose to express hope to those who are lost? That will look different for almost everyone who ever comes to Christ. And it will take time to work that expression out!
The passage also gives instruction for that process. It starts with "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless..." The first thing to do is to "work out" your attitude. Do what must be done, what GOd is changing you to be able to do, without grumbling about it. Quit your arguing. Work out a clear motivation and intention to do God's work in your life. 
You see, God is the One who makes even that possible. Note that the passage says "it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." He saved us. He empowers us to do what is good and right and necessary...even to WANT to do those things. It is far more HIS story than MINE, or YOURS. 
So all that theory about what YOU will choose to make salvation work for you is just wasted time and thought. You are not in charge. I am not in charge. He is. He is changing us, and we need that change. And as He changes us, what comes out of us will be different. What you get to do is to work out how that difference is expressed in the world. Get to it!

I remember preachers and teachers saying, back in days before, that people would fall for, be deceived by ideologies that seemed to make no sense to me. Part of me rebelled at the idea. You mean that sensible human beings can be fooled by such ridiculous ideas? That they would lose grip on obvious reality and decide to follow self-destructive plans? That we could be so easily strung along by leaders and thinkers and led to false values?
I didn't think so back then. People were too smart for that. We had all this education, all this technology to use. We could access "truth" at our fingertips (yes, even back then, but we had to use library card catalogs to do it!). SURELY, people were not so dumb as that. It MUST be that those teachers and preachers were making assumptions, or that SOMEONE was unfairly assessing human intelligence.
Then we find 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, which says "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Ok- those old time teachers actually got this out of the Bible (I know that now, of course, and so do you!). As a Christian, I have to say, and I BELIEVE, that the Scripture is true BECAUSE it comes from God. But I know all sorts of nice people who still think like I did so long ago. People aren't that easily swayed! We are not that dumb!
Then I see the news. All the time. On TV, on the web, in print. I see government officials blandly stating absolute lies, and their fans follow along with no question, even OFFENDED if anyone else suggests the lies are, well, lies. I see people choosing to believe the improbable- questioning obvious biology and sanity and replacing them with ideologies with ALL SORTS of PROBLEMS. People who no longer see the benefits of family, or faithfulness. People who see truth as relative, and even as some sort of private concern, maybe even a liability.
People are willing to believe almost ANYTHING they are told, by whatever leader they admire. Yes, people, including you and me at times, CAN be dumb. Don't waste time being offended...it is a simple truth. And it almost ALWAYS comes from a simple issue. Human beings don't really LOVE the truth by nature. We love...what we WANT. If the truth conflicts with what we want, we try to find SOMEONE, anyone, with ANY idea that lets us keep what we WANT in sight.
Maybe YOU aren't doing that at the moment. I hope that I am not. But the truth is that there is another issue that can trip us up. You see, loving truth and SEEKING truth takes...effort. Attention. Even a bit of sacrifice. At the least, when we FIND truth and it stands against what we WANT, we have to decide whether we will sacrifice what we want. Tough choice. All this effort is, at times, unpleasant. We may not BE lazy in general, but we can struggle with it HERE. We have to work to keep food on the table and a roof overhead. We need to focus to keep the kids out of trouble and to bless our family. Why this extra work to "get hold of truth?" We CAN slip at times.
My point is not to blame anyone. I put myself right here as well, and part of what I DO is all about seeking and communicating truth. It is more a diagnostic warning. Is what you hear and see in the media making SENSE? How much of it makes sense? If it seems that it does, even from your own favorite outlets, it MAY be that you are lazily accepting what you are told...because it sounds like what you WANT.
Maybe it is time to get into the Word and dig deeper...

So many Christians are fascinated with the Book of Revelation. Some always have been. It is a pretty cool book...the very idea of a look forward, even if it is a story told with a rich use of symbolic language, is very cool. Who doesn't want to know what may come tomorrow?
We want to know because we can then make plans. We like to know because we feel like we have a bit more control. We like to know because, let's face it, it makes us feel better informed or even smarter than other people who are less aware. 
There are about a zillion theories and timelines proposed by various scholars. A few denominations make a lot of noise about the reliability of their favorite theory. Our denomination has a few statements of its own, which I am not trotting out today, though I agree with them.
Instead, I want to go to Revelation 10:1-4. It says, "I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”
Why THIS passage? It is dramatic enough, I suppose. But it LITERALLY doesn't tell us much. All we know is that an angel cries out...something...and seven "thunders" said...something...back. John heard what was said, and was getting ready to write it down so that his audience could know...and then he was told NOT to write down what he heard. 
Weird text. In the end, we DON'T know. I think it is interesting that, in the middle (almost perfectly) of a book which tells us what lies ahead, the human author CANNOT tell us something, and so we do NOT know it. How strange is that?
But it is NOT strange, really. Though God knows EVERYTHING, how often does He report to you? How often do you know ALL the details? Not very often, right? He does not OWE us the knowledge. We cannot always HANDLE the knowledge. We can seldom ever DO ANYTHING about it. And sometimes, the trial of NOT knowing is the most important part of the growing experience. 
If you knew WHEN Jesus was coming back, do you think you could REALLY convince everyone else that you knew and that they should pay attention? Good luck with that! If you knew who the AntiChrist was, could you stop him? Could you reconfigure the final plan of God for Earth and its inhabitants? I don't think you could. 
So, often, we just DON'T KNOW. God knows. We are left without access to the schedule, or the controls. But we can still read the book, not JUST Revelation, but ALL of it, and KNOW that HE knows what has to be known. He is in control. It will work out as He determines.
What we CAN do is to trust the One Who KNOWS.

Genesis 4:11-15 shows us an interesting art of human behavior. It says "So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” And Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”
I find this passage VERY interesting, and I have written about another element of it before- the beginning element, in fact. In this "episode", however, I want to talk about this ending element. Cain has committed murder. Does he know the word for it? Are there any human powers with laws about such things yet? Probably not. 
But Cain knows that he has done wrong. He has heard God say that He is aware of the deed. He has heard that killing his brother Abel is a choice which comes with a real judgment. And he is REALLY whiny about that judgment.
I have never liked to be "punished." Sometimes, I have been left with the feeling that whatever punishments have been levied against me are unfair or unjust. The ticket you get when others escape? The teacher calls you out for doing nothing? That sort of thing? Not that I understand Cain and his choice, but we are both human, and even way back then, it seems people did not like penalties for something they chose to do.
But what a lot of whining. The ground wont grow crops- and that is inconvenient, but it is not the only way to get food. People WILL have attitudes- they are Cain's family, and many know he killed Abel. They MIGHT take revenge. BUT WHAT DID HE EXPECT? He KILLED a family member!
This had never happened before. What is the big word? Unprecedented? Did Cain expect this to go off without a hitch? Did he expect others to let bygones be bygones? Cain sure didn't. The funny thing is that God actually set up a system to prevent this murderer from being murdered by others. More grace than Cain deserved from a human perspective, but God is bigger than any of us.
The disconnect between Cain's choice to end the life of Abel versus his whining about how hard the judgment of God is, judgment which did NOT demand his life in return, is amazing to me. Then...I remember all those times I have chosen the wrong option and faced penalty...and whined about it, too. 
Same old story. Cain, and I, could face the punishment and understand that it could be FAR worse. Or, we could accept it and trust Him to move us forward. 
I hope that you never face any sense of judgment or penalty- that God's grace wraps you completely. But...if you mess up and God allows you to face some tough repercussions, don't whine about it. Understand that God is trying to help you see, and to make a positive difference next time!

Have you ever been in a situation where the issues in front of you just seemed...impossible? If that word is NOT ACCEPTABLE in an honest spiritual discussion, then  how about...."extraordinarily difficult to the point of making successful resolution highly unlikely?" Yes, that is a lot of words...but you get the point! 
I LOVE stories of extraordinary faith found in Scripture. I appreciate the fact that occasionally there are people that we read about, or even MEET, that show faith of the same intensity. But...I have to say that, in my experience, those people are not your average reference points for expression of faith. They are UNUSUAL.
In Genesis 18: 10-14, I see someone closer to the average. Sarah, an 89 year old woman, is confronted with data that she finds HIGHLY unlikely. I will let the Scripture speak for itself..."And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD?"
But...you might say..this is GOD Who is promising this child. And the promise has been issued for the last 24 years. God is not going to fail with this promise. Of course He isn't. But YOU and I have the narrator's point of view. WE can read ahead. It already HAPPENED- and a whole nation exists in the world on the map because of this promise- so we have an advantage.
We don't know what Sarah's relationship with God was. We know that Abraham is one of those rare individuals who have extraordinary faith. We know that Abraham heard God and responded in faith ALREADY. But...we don't have much evidence about Sarah at all, other than her marital status, age, and one past attempt at getting a kid which did not work as she expected. 
She is 89. Even if people lived a bit longer back then, it is a big number. She KNOWS her body. None of the neighbor ladies are cranking out babies at anywhere near 89. She hears the promise repeated, and it simply seems...silly. God could have done this at any time in the last 24 years, maybe back when HAVING a baby seemed at least...possible. Now, it is just silly.
I have heard a few teachers throw her under the bus over this. I mean...Abe believed, right? Of course, he had the easy part. She heard the long repeated promise and said..."this is impossible now."  You know, her response isnt the RIGHT response, the response of total confidence in God, but I UNDERSTAND it. There are situations in my own life which seem kind of impossible at times. Of course, I don't have Divine promises connected to those situations. No guarantees. But when I look at those and see what God seems to have done so far, the resolution seems a bit too far away.
That I am not Abraham is to no one's surprise. Abes dont coe around that often. And you might have struggled a few times, too. So...why mention this passage? Why not do the normal thing and blame Sarah and praise Abraham? Well...I am fascinated by the fact that her struggle with God's promise doesn't end the story. Maybe that is because Abe still DID have faith. Maybe, it is because this is part of the Promised Story that God plans to make happen. Maybe...just maybe...it is all about grace. I am not sure. But the baby HAPPENS. The pregnancy takes place, the delivery is celebrated. 
Maybe YOU are struggling with something today...something that looks...impossible. Something you have no promise relating to. But hold on. THe same God Who has done the impossible so many times before isn't off duty yet...