Are We Ready?

As is obvious when you notice the posting dates on this blog, I don't just make posts constantly simply because I'm in love with expressing my opinion on something every day.

However, over the past few weeks, there are things that have played on my mind and heart that I feel compelled to share with you. I have been interested in the subject of "End Times." My most recent posting about watching the Eastern sky expresses my thoughts on being ready for Christ's return at any time.

Over the past week or so, I have re-read "Revelation," as well as the comments of Jesus in Matthew 24. He warns us about false prophets, but he also warns of a great tribulation before He returns.

Have "Revelation's" four Horsemen already begun their assigned tasks? In the last century the world suffered a major plague in the early 1900s with a Flu epidemic that wiped out millions of people world-wide. Then with World War I and World War II millions more people were wiped out with horrible deaths from conventional bombings, gassing, firestorms and nuclear bombs as well as bullets. I find it so difficult to believe that with all the documentation that's available that there are people who do not believe that the Holocost against Jews, Gypsies and others happened.

Millions of soldiers, sailors, airmen and innocent civilians lost their lives due to the fighting. Some families lost all their members and entire bloodlines were ended. Since then we have had Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanastan, Iraq and countless wars including Iran/Iraq, Pol-Pot's genocide in Cambodia, recent and current turmoil in various portions of Africa, and the on-going war between Israel and her Arab neighbors.

There has been drought and famine in areas of Africa and Southeast Asia with starvation on a scale that is almost unbelievable.

Earthquake activity seems to have picked up in that past decade.

All of this can be scary or it can be exciting. We followers of Christ look forward to His return. However, I sometimes wonder if we are indeed ready for it. In America we have been conditioned to have everything go our way, without suffering in any way. There are churches that teach that as Christians we will always have everything taken care of for us. If we only will donate to our church, we'll be rolling in the money and that God will return much more money than we give. Many people have been conditioned that we "deserve" to have it all.

In Matthew, Jesus talks of tribulation before He returns. When we look around us today, there is a lot of turmoil in the job market and housing market. People are either losing their home because of job loss or if they are still employed, they are one paycheck away from losing it all.

If we have been expecting to "have it all" and not be affected by hard times, will we lose faith when it all starts to fall apart?

This morning in my devotional time I read Amos 8:11-12. "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord God, "When I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and from north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, but they will not find it."

With a potential financial meltdown, will donations to churches and other ministries dry up? Will the potential "Fairness Doctrine" that many Democrats want to re-instate for broadcasters bring about an end to Christian radio as we know it? Will churches in the U.S. be told what they can and cannot preach so as not to offend someone with the Gospel?

Are we ready for potential hard times that will make us need to go underground as many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in China and across the Muslim world must do? Can we hold up and hold out for Christ? We need to be ready. Keep encouraging each other. Share the gospel with non-believers but we should be polite, patient, encouraging, not defensive, and be sincere.

I recently saw a video of comedian/magician Penn Gillette sharing a story about a man who had seen his show and gave him a bible. Gillette, an avowed athiest who, even though he wasn't swayed by receiving the bible, said that he was not at all offended by the man's kind overture. Gillette said that if you're a believer, you must share your faith. I love his quote "How much to you have to hate someone to not proselytize?"

We must share His love and we must stay strong in our faith. Let us not fight among ourselves over our individual church doctrine when our central message is that God so loved the world that He sent His only son to die for our sins.

WE MUST BE READY AND WE MUST STAY STRONG IN THE FAITH. DO NOT FALL AWAY. Pray for each other. Pray for those who don't believe. Pray for pagans, pray for Muslims, pray for Jews, that everyone will come to know the love that God has for His creation by giving us Christ. STAY STRONG. BE READY.

Watching the Sky

In Matthew 24 Jesus tells about his return. For a number of years I have been hearing people telling how Jesus is "close" to returning. I read "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey back in 1975 or there about. I was convinced then that we were within about five years of the return of Christ. It didn't happen as I had it figured.

I do believe today though that it is possible that we are within the "shadow" of his return. I will not fall into the trap of saying that it is within the next x number of years, because Jesus warned us not to do that.

However, there have been several things lately that are making me think that it's possible that it could happen in what would be my natural lifetime. Whether I live to see it in person remains to be seen. Nearly every generation since the first century church has believed that it would happen in their lifetime.

We hear daily the horrible news of things happening leading to a collapse of the economy and possible food shortages. Prices for all the essentials are going up all the time. Some of the doomsdayers are saying that famine is likely in the next few years. People in areas where there never were food shortages are starting to feel a pinch like they've never felt before when it comes to feeding a family. Some folks are talking about massive grain shortages because of "global warming" or some other weather event that is causing crops to not come in on time. Some areas are so dry that nothing will grow, while at the same time there places where there has been so much moisture that the ground is too soggy to plant for a timely harvest. This is driving up grain prices. Other say that because we are growing grains to turn into fuel for our automobiles that we are creating a food shortage.

You can search news sources from television and print media to internet blog sites that quote "reliable" scientists telling you the human race is driving itself into extinction because of climate change, while at the same time you can find "reliable" scientists who claim that there is no such thing as global warming. Both sides of the issue can produce people much more learned than I with convincing arguments to back up their theses.

Events in the Middle East are pointing to a potential Armegeddon in the "next few years." I personally remember thinking in 1967 with the Six Day War between Israel and her Arab neighbors that we were ushering in the final battle. Then in the mid 1970s there was the Yom Kippur War, and once again I was convinced that we were on the threshold of the end.

Our current political climate shows people on all sides of the political spectrum making arguments pointing to how they have the answer to all our problems in this country. However, putting all our hope in one man or one woman to solve our problems is folly. We do need to make sure that we choose properly when we choose our leaders. However, don't forget that God has told us that whoever leads a nation was raised up by Him for a reason.

The main thing is this. We who follow Christ must remember his warnings. There will always be false prophets claiming to have the answers. There is only ONE Christ. Unless we see the sky light up with the Son of Man, we are not seeing the Messiah. We must always be ready. We must stand guard on the wall, looking for the signs. I personally believe that we are seeing many of the signs that are pointing to his return, but I don't know how long it will be before he returns. I would really like to see it happen, but at the same time, I fear the hard times that will lead up to it. The Bible also tells us that these signs, no matter how bad, will be like the labor pains of a woman about to give birth.

Being a man, I have never gone through labor pains. But having been there to see a woman go through labor, I can tell that it is intense. However, her joy when the pains end and her baby is delivered make it all worthwhile. So, if we are about to go into "labor" and experience some very tough times, we must continue to serve Him. We must continue to study the Word. We must continue to see to it that others come to know Christ as Savior. We serve the Risen Lord and perhaps, soon we may see him, either through the end of our life here, or when the "Lightening lights up the entire sky" with His return. Let us be ready always.

In whatever ways we are able, we must continue to support our church and ministries. Someone needs to be there to get the Word out.

Share the message in LOVE. Do not condemn sinners for their shortcomings. We must Love them to Christ. He will do the rest. Just as he did it for this sinner.

Beware of the false prophets. There are false prophets taking people into false religions and there are false prophets within the community of believers leading the "elect" down the wrong paths at times. Be alert, don't be fooled. Whether Christ returns tomorrow or in another one hundred years, someday will be judgement day for each of us.

Be blessed today and every day. Thank you for being there for Him.

I stand in His service daily,
Dan Schaffer

Liberty Belle

Last Monday, St. Patrick's Day, Matt Pelishek and I joined other media folks from Bakersfield and took a ride in the historic bomber "Liberty Belle."

I have walked through static displays of B-17s before, but this was my first time to ride one. The Liberty Foundation is the non-profit organization that is currently on a 50 city tour with the plane. If you'd like info on the "Liberty Belle" the website is http://www.libertyfoundation.org/.

The experience is something that I'll never forget. My Uncle Gerry was a tail gunner during World War II. His plane was shot down near the end of the war. He spent the last six weeks in a POW camp. The deck is a very uneven surface for walking. I looked at the tail-gunner's section, and looked at the area that he had to crawl through to get to the door so he could bail out. I'm sure the plane was tumbling as it fell, so he had to fight the force of gravity trying to keep him in the plane.

The men who fought the air war over Europe from 1939 through 1945 have my utmost respect. The terror that they must have faced each day they went up must have been tremendous. They didn't know at the time they took off whether or not they'd return . They were young men in their late teens and twenties, for the most part. The bomber crews had a mission of delivering high explosives onto targets deep inside Germany and Nazi-held territory. They were up against young men on the other side who were fighting to defend their homeland. Never having faced combat, I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be twenty-five to thirty thousand feet in the air fighting for my life. I'm sure that everyone who did that job experienced great fear at times. "War is Hell" is the oft-quoted statement from General Sherman. I thank God, though, that during times when we have had to go to war, there have been young men and women willing to put their lives on the line for us. This current generation of young folks also has my respect. I thank my Uncle Gerry Dickerson, and the men like him who did that job, to bring down Hitler.

The job done by those bomber crews during WWII helped to bring an end to a terribly devastating time in our history. Only when Christ returns, will we as a people never have to go to war with each other again. I look forward to that day.

We continue to tell the story of the B-17, B-24, B-29 (in the Pacific T/O) crews. We do it, not to glorify war, but to remember the sacrifice made by a generation, who saw fit to pay whatever it cost to stop Hitler and the Axis powers. It is something that MUST always be remembered. They weren't just a bunch of slow moving old men. They were young, and so alive. Men who had so much to live for. Many never came home. They are heroes. Gentlemen, thank you. God bless you.

Chili for Breakfast?

coming up on March 1, 2008, Matt Pelishek and I will be among the judges for the annual Salvation Army Chili cook-off. Yesterday, we were contemplating a way to tie-in with that event and perhaps share our favorite chili recipes. Bush's makes a pretty decent canned chili... however, that's not my favorite recipe (just one of the easy ones). I do use canned stuff in my chili, but it gets its "kick" from other sources.

I like my chili to be a little spicy, but not "blow your face off" spicy. I also prefer chunked beef to ground beef.

I take a pound of chunked (small cubes) beef and brown it in a big skillet using either olive oil or corn oil to cut down on the sticking. While it browns, I crush up a dried red pepper and a little garlic (about a clove to a clove and a half) during the process. I will then add the beef to a stew pot (or large crock pot) and put in a large can of kidney beans, and a can of Hunt's diced tomatoes. I will even add some quartered tomato to the mix. I will put in one full can and a half can of water. crush up some more red pepper (be careful on the amount). There have been times when I have added a little corn flour to thicken it a little bit. However, I like a little more liquid.

I suppose that in order to maintain "heart health" I should consider turkey or chicken instead of the beef, but... hey, I'm a beef man in my chili.

What's your favorit recipe? Wendy's? Hormel? Let me know and maybe we'll share it. Also, bring the family to the Salvation Army Citadel on Wilson Road just east of Stine Road on Saturday March 1, at about 4pm and enjoy a great variety of chili recipes.

WAKING UP BEFORE BREAKFAST

after being off work for the past couple of weeks, I'm just getting back into "shape" for getting at 3:15am each morning... I praise God for His hand being on me in the past few weeks. My father died at age 48 from a heart attack, and I was heading there as well, before we discovered the 99% blockage in one of my coronary arteries... Three angioplasties and two stents later, they (cardiologists) say that I'm good as new. Thanks to Dr. John Young for insisting that I go in for the Angiogram to have the closer look. the staff at the Heart Center (Dr. Kumar et al) as well as Dr. Sherman who did the proceedure.

I am so blessed to be able to get back to work. I was off last week because one of the medicines I was taking was slowing my mind a little (I don't need any more slowing there)...

Thank you, also, to everyone who wrote to me or called to let me know they were praying. several churches here in Bakersfield have let me know they were holding me up in prayer.

My prayer is that I will be able to get back to normal real soon (normal, being a relative term). I missed working last week. I felt as though I was playing hookie.

We are so blessed here at KAXL to have people with the talents of Matt Pelishek and Jason Pine who were able to pick up the slack for my program.

It's almost bed time, I think... 3:15 gets here REALLY early.