Merry Christmas means that God ALWAYS keeps His promises!

Dear Friends and Family,

           

I think that I started using this basic “Merry Christmas” message around 1990. I bring it to you again because I am more convinced of the premise behind this letter than ever before! Here’s that premise – if God promised to send His Son to be our Savior and He kept that promise; then His promise to return is sure.

If the birth of Jesus was orchestrated by God according to the fullness of time and there were signs that indicated that time (which few saw and recognized); and, if all of the major events of Jesus life, death, burial, and resurrection were also ordained and “signs” were given to reveal those times…then Jesus’ Second Coming will not be a random event that goes without events that provide insight into the time (not a day or hour!) of Jesus’ return and the end of all things. If we celebrate Jesus’ birth at “Christmas” and He was born at the appointed time will not His coming also be at an appointed time?

This is so vitally important and I share this message at Christmas because it seems that everything Jesus talked about in Matthew chapters twenty – four and twenty – five concerning His Second Coming, (which was given as the answer to the three part question the disciples asked in Matthew 24:3) is being fulfilled right before our eyes. So, the question WE must ask is whether or not the “signs” that Scripture provides us do in fact determine where on history’s time line we live. If prophecy is being fulfilled, as it was when Jesus was born and if we are at the end of time it would be of utmost importance to make sure we understand those “signs.” I don’t think that I have ever listed the prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled regarding Jesus’ return in my Christmas letter. For the sake of space, the list begins after the rebirth of Israel as a nation. That fulfilled prophecy seems to be that which catapults all other prophecies into fulfillment.  The budding of the fig tree in Matthew 24 was Israel becoming a nation in 1948. Jesus said that the generation that saw that event would also see “…all things fulfilled.” (BTW, this “list” is not in chronological order.)

1. The destruction of Damascus. (Have you been paying attention to the news and Russia’s involvement in Syria? Bone chilling!)

2. The Gospel to be preached in the whole world; Matthew 24. (Can anyone deny that there is a Gospel witness even now in every nation?)

3. The Jews will come to believe in and accept Jesus as the Messiah; (This is seen in all of the prophets in one way or another.)

4. The “tares” will be eliminated at the time of the harvest; Matthew 13.

5. Nations will come against Israel. Again, there is much to say in the Prophets.

But here is the BEST news of all!

6. The church being raised up to be in the end as it was in the beginning (primarily the church revealed in the book of Acts!) Daniel, Isaiah, Micah and in fact, most of the OT talks much about what God is going to do in the latter days! This end – time church has often been called “The Evening Light” church because God will work in and through the church as He did at the churches’ beginning!

There is a sense of urgency in my heart that I cannot ignore. I suppose my plea to all of those in my life, whether family or friends, is to make sure that we don’t miss the things all around us to help us determine where on the time line of history we live. Time is a linear line with a beginning and an end. Each generation should consider where it is on that line and live accordingly. Except for some shepherds, a group of “Wise men,” and a few others, the “signs” that revealed the time of Jesus’ birth were missed. There are billions now who are missing the “signs” of Jesus’ Second Coming. No one can know the day or hour, but we can know the time. It is time. Begin today to make sure your lamp is trimmed and full of oil! Those without oil will be shut out of the wedding feast. The parable of the wise and foolish virgins, which was Jesus’ last parable, is the most terrifying of all. Be ready. And, help everyone you know to get ready!

Share the Gospel with wild and reckless abandon!

Merry Christmas? A Zombie Jesus? Really?

Hmmm....

I HAVE to be over thinking all of this. I am, aren't I? But, on the other hand, maybe not...over thinking all of this that is...

Let me start with a verse from the Bible that will help address the questions I posed in the title of this post - (It's from John 1:14)

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (NKJV).

I'm sure you know this, but this verse from the Gospel of John is talking about Jesus, the Christ; God in the flesh who once walked on the earth with a human body but now lives in Spirit through His body, the church, just as surely as He did when He walked in a physical, temporal body! And, I must add that the biblical Jesus who DOES, IN FACT live in His body, the church, through His Spirit lives in and with the SAME glory He had when the disciples gazed upon Him. 

Beholding His glory...seriously, think about it. BEHOLDING HIS GLORY!

Why, in America, would there be two ridiculous, outrageous, and even dangerous ends of a spectrum that have the issue of the glory of Jesus Christ at their root? Track with me for a minute -

On one end of a "spectrum" society rages against the phrase Merry Christmas because it points to Jesus Christ. Now we can't have that, can we? Whether or not Jesus was or wasn't born on December 25 is not the issue. The issue is that it's pointless to ignore the fact that Christmas IS about Jesus. Just saying "Happy Holidays" does absolutely nothing to erase the point of Christmas being about the first advent of God in flesh coming to abide with us!

Hey world...rage all you want, seriously, it's STILL all about Jesus! 

Like it or not, (and this is why I don't have my comments section available), it is, without question the churches' fault that this controversy has arisen over the last few decades. Intentionally, or, unintentionally, we have conspired to cloak the biblical Jesus by ignoring His Word and rejecting His Spirit. It is really just that simple.

IF we sought out the biblical Jesus and walked in His Spirit and thereby beheld HIS glory, then, without question the world would also SEE HIS GLORY! And let me tell you, when one sees HIS glory, well, there just ain't no question about who the season is about!

And now for the other end of the spectrum...

Have you seen this? Zombie Jesus! (Clickable link!)

Free speech? Are you kidding me? Is this not frightening if not absolutely terrifying? This goes WAY beyond God's prohibition of making graven images. This is taking the very crux of history and the reality of the "Lamb that takes away the sin of the world" and associating Him with something dark, sinister, and evil. Honestly, I would be shaking in my boots to even think of making a zombie jesus, much less actually doing it.

Are you telling me that such a project could so easily be undertaken and displayed in front of thousands of people if Jesus' glory was clearly and unmistakably displayed in the church instead?

This is beyond tragic...

Here's the thing...

There is coming a day, when God's glory, IN JESUS, is going to be revealed in ways that many, who claim to be Christians, will not even be able to believe. EVERY eye is going to see and EVERY tongue is going to confess that HE IS LORD. For those who want to pretend that Christmas is just a holiday and has no connection to Emmanuel, God With Us; and, for those who would dare associate Jesus with evil, their confession will be too little too late...

BUT...how much responsibility will be placed on US if we cloaked Jesus' glory by ignoring God's Word and rejecting His Spirit?

I don't even want to consider the implications.

No Holding Back! A Tribute to Billy T. Ball

“As for me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord (Isaiah 59:21 NIV).

The backstory -

It really started on a Saturday night. I don't know WHICH Saturday night but I do know I was 15. The church our family attended was in deep spiritual trouble. Our once thriving youth group had dwindled to just 4 or 5 students, 2 of which were my brother and I. We lived out in the country, maybe 10 or 12 miles from Middletown, Ohio. (One would think that after living there for years, at some point, someone would have clocked the actual mileage...)

My sisters attended the Grand Ave. Church of God in Middletown. They encouraged me to begin attending the youth service held on Saturday nights. The church had a growing bus ministry and a dear lady, Connie Centers, drove a few miles out of her way to pick me up for the Saturday night youth service. (JB Walters was the youth leader. JB has gone home to be with the Lord but as I've written in the past, in a very short period of time I was hooked! on Saturday nights because of the ministry of JB and Nina Walters!) 

Another couple, Rod and Juanita Montgomery, had a route in Preble County on Sunday mornings. I started attending the church on Sunday mornings also. When I turned 16 and got my driver's license, I began attending regularly. Billy T. Ball was not only my pastor, but was a preacher that spoke a Thus Saith the Lord message with a power and authority that I had never heard OR experienced before and I grew up in the church.

How could I or anyone possibly recount the impact of his messages, his life, and love for Jesus and His church. How could those who had Bro. Ball as a pastor recall the years of Sunday mornings and evenings, the Thursday night prayer meetings, and the Tuesday morning Bible studies...who could forget?

Bro. Ball laid my theological foundation. He also helped me lay the bricks that became the doctrinal building that sits on that foundation and, on which my life and ministry are now based. As I said, I have grown up in the church and always believed in the basics. (No need to list them here.) It was under Bro. Ball's ministry, however, that the Gospel opened up to a whole new level. There were things connected to those basic doctrines that could take one higher, deeper. longer, and wider than one could have imagined at the start. One would have to listen though...one had to listen intently, purposefully, passionately, and with single - mindedness to God through His Word, and His Spirit.  There were no shortcuts, or express lanes to drive in to understand His - Story (history).

I do not remember a time when the Word came without God's anointing. Bro. Ball walked in the Spirit and the Spirit worked through him in ways I had not seen and have rarely seen since. Bro. Ball, not only preached God's Word with power, but left us (those who were under his ministry) with a ravenous hunger for that Word. He helped us develop a thirst to know God and to speak about Him with authority. We developed a soul burden for the lost. Race, color, creed, ethnicity, or language - across the street, across town, or across the globe - it didn't matter. Winning the world was not only THE cause for which one's energies should be directed, but a cause that would end in a revival unparalleled in history. That revival would lead to the coming of Jesus.

Volumes could be written about anyone who has had a great and positive influence on others. Time nor space would allow the re-telling of a life who changed others' lives. This is a blog. I have a natural propensity to be wordy. I'll close with a Scripture that embodies what Bro. Ball imparted to me. I shared Isaiah 59:21 at the top of this post. I suppose if 100 people tried to summarize what impact Bro. Ball had on their lives, there would be 100 different ways that a tribute could be written. These words from Isaiah, to me, provide us with the promise that God's Word will always be on the lips of a new generation because of the faithfulness of the last generation. Being filled with and walking in God's Spirit and proclaiming HIS Word is THE most important gift anyone could give to others. Bro. Ball gave us this gift unreservedly. 

Part of the "title" for this post is "No Holding Back!" I too believe that a global revival is SOON coming. This revival will be the result of God's work in His last days church that will not only equal the work He did when the church was born but surpass it. This revival will lead to the Second Coming of Jesus and the end of all things. I can no longer be silent and I cannot hold back what I believe to be absolute truth. Billy T. Ball's legacy for me, was a message of extreme hope! A hope generated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The coming of God, in flesh, into this world has changed everything. His birth, death, resurrection, and soon coming is the Good News that the whole world needs. The Church, armed in God's Spirit and with His Word can, and will, storm the gates of hell and take back those who have been trapped by satan's lies in unprecedented numbers. The Kingdom that Jesus brought to this world will be presented back to God when He comes. And that, will be the end of all things.

I do not want to miss out on the work of God in these last days. I do not want to hear the cry, "The Bridegroom comes," only to be shut out of the wedding feast because my lamp has run out of oil. When it is all said and done, I want to hear God say to me, what He has already said to Bro. Ball; "Well done good and faithful servant..."