"Perspective on Osama and Current Events" - God Solution 5/8

Listen to the MP3 of "The God Solution" show #9 - "Perspective on Osama and Current Events" below! Get all our previous shows here. We are on the air Sunday mornings at 8:30 am. "The God Solution" is an interactive show that will discuss answers to humanity's questions about God and God's answers for Humanity's questions. I really hope you'll tune in and listen and share the program with friends as well. If you live in the area listen to the show on 91.9 or 93.9 FM. If you don't live in the area, feel free to check out the show online at http://kdur.org/. If you like the show please let the wonderful folks at KDUR know. You can contact them by clicking here. Thanks a ton and tune in every Sunday at 8:30 am!

Perspective on Osama and World Events!

What a week! The news of Osama's demise has consumed most of the media this week and I won't get into that any more. You can read some thoughts on that here. I thought it would be good to talk about current events across the board and what the Bible has to say about it all.

Check out this week's God Solution show on this topic below!

So the big question, is this world getting better or worse? Well, just turn on the news. Scripture tells us to be ready for these types of times. Daniel 9-12, Isaiah 13 and 34, Mt.24, Mr.13, Lk.21 and the book of Revelation all tell us what to expect. 



Things are going to get worse! 
People will be happily ignorant, lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, they will have a form of godliness but deny its power; they are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desire and always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
 What we should do about it: 
Mt.24:42-44 - keep watch, understand, be ready and Pr.3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 


What about nations and politics. 
Globalization is happening like never before. 
The political climate is chaotic. There's been a resurgence of socialism and communism, dictatorships prevalent and a global secular worldview is being pushed. There is uncertainty everywhere. What God’s Word tells us nations will rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms, and eventually, the Antichrist will establish a one world government and a new world order. 
What we should do about it? Exercise your freedoms, pray for your leaders, take a stand for the right issues, vote your faith and recognize your only lasting hope is in Jesus.
 The people of Jesus’ day sought a political savior in the Messiah and didn't recognize Jesus.
 Pr.3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart.


What about peace and security.
 We're experiencing wars and rumors of wars, like Jesus promised. God’s Word tells us to be ready for warfare becoming so fierce that at one point there will be a lake of blood several feet deep and 200 miles long and finally, Armageddon. 
What we should do about it: 
 Mt.24:6 - don’t be alarmed and, again, Pr.3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart.


What about the environment.
 Pollution is everywhere.
 Many argue Global warming is occurring (and even though I think the science is out on that right now, there are Biblical references to extreme global warming in the last days).
 Resource scarcity is a real issue.
 We're losing nature and wilderness at an alarming rate. 
What God’s Word tells us:
 Get ready for sickness and disease, earthquakes and famines, tsunamis and hurricanes, hail and fire will destroy most of earth’s plant life, some hail reaching up to 100 lbs, metorites, death of sea life, rivers turning into blood, hard core Global Warming, darkness, drought (the Euphrates dries), the largest earthquake in history, islands and mountains being devastated and eventually the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light; metorites will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
 What we should do about it:
 Pr.3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart.


What about the economy.
 The DOW has had one of the the biggest drops in history. 
Total unemployment at ~10%, Unemployment including those underemployed and given up searching - near 20%. 
Numerous bank failures including some of the largest in history. Home values are plummeting; some areas have seen values drop over 20%. 
Foreclosures are at their highest level in history. 
Many other economic indicators are down and multiple economists, politicians and leaders are fearing and predicting a recession at best and a global depression at worst.
 The president and congress have passed hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts which so far have done close to nothing and world leaders are scrambling for answers. Either way, we’ll be in debt for centuries. 
What God’s Word tells us to prepare for (in Mt.24, Mk.13, Lk.21, and Rev.6 and 13):
 Famines in various places, terrible poverty - it will take about a days wages for enough bread for one person for a day and eventually a one world economy and the mark of the Beast. 
What we should do about it:
 Trust Phil.4:19 - “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
 Mt.6:25-34 - “Therefore I tell you, do not worry...but seek first His kingdom...”
 Share with others! Pr.3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart.


What about morality and society.
 We're seeing crime, mass shootings, kidnappings and rapes, abortions, sexual perversion, porn, etc. G.K. Chesterton said, “You are free in our time to say that God doesn’t exist. You are free to say that He exists and is evil. You are free to say, like poor old Renault, that God would like to exist if He could. You may talk of God as a mystification or metaphor. You may boil him down with gallons of words or boil him down to the rags of metaphysics. And it is not merely that nobody punishes but that nobody protests. But if you speak of God as a thing like a tiger as a reason for changing one’s conduct, then the modern world will stop you if it can. We are long past talking about whether an unbeliever should be punished for being irreverent; it is now thought irreverent to be a believer.”
 We've removed God from society and in this society without standards, morality is virtually non-existant. God's Word tells us to be ready for increasing wickedness (
Mt.24:12). What we should do about it:
 Pr.3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart.


Keep world issues in perspective 
(2Cor.4:18) - the BIG picture: this world is not our home.
 Read Ps.91 - DO NOT FEAR!!!
 Do vote, but remember, the election in 2012 is not THE answer. 
Walk by faith, live with hope, love God and others actively (Mt.28:18-20). 
Lk.21:36 - Watch and pray
. 1 Cor.16:13-14 - Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.


Finally, you have real hope that few around you have so as things get crazy, share the Good News with those around you!!!

I hope that encourages you!

Osama Bin Laden is Dead!!!

How could you not post about this? Osama Bin Laden is dead, killed by US special forces. Lest you think it is wrong to be glad about this news, read Rom.13:4! We should never be glad for someone's death but rather that justice has been upheld and lives protected. Check out our Evangelism ideas for how to share Christ in a conversation about the news here - you might just get to share Christ in a conversation about this!

Here are a few easy ways to start transitioning a conversation about this story to the gospel. You could talk about what inspired Bin Laden and contrast that with scripture (Mt.5:44, Lk.6:27, 31 and Mk.12:30-31 will do). You could mention that you pray for our troops and president. You could get the conversation going in a spiritual conversation by asking where they think Bin Laden is now and/or what they think his eternity will be like (hell is real and the ultimate justice)? You could also watch the video at the bottom of this post which highlights key differences between Christianity and Islam and ask people what they know of those. Finally, you could share one of the proverbs listed below. Each of these ideas will transition the conversation to a spiritual conversation and you can work through the sound barriers from there.

As promised, here are a few proverbs that come to mind:

Pr. 11:19 - He who pursues evil goes to his death.

Pr.5:22 - The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast.

Pr.6:16-19 - There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Pr.10:24-25, 30 - “What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted. When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever. The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land.”

Pr.21:15 - When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

Pr. 24:19-20 - Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

Give credit where it's do (and definitely don't forget to be praying for our president and troops!!!):

Don't forget 9/11!

Finally, here is a video that will no doubt cause controversy so be careful how you talk about it's content. Be respectful. If you do find yourself in a conversation about this topic some of what is in this video might be good to know. If you are offended by this video please note it isn't ours; I'd love to talk with you about what you think about the video.

Hope all that helps.