12 January 2024
Most church folks never really think about this: Following Christ is a radical change in your orientation on this life. We can hear and read talk using such language, but the pool of meaning is absent. Instead, most people simply incorporate Jesus into their existing orientation. They don't have any trouble making Him the new CEO of their existing business structure of life, but it's a mighty battle to get them to shift over to the fundamentally different outlook Christ demands.
Following Christ is the definition of paradox. We value individual people most of all in this world, but we do not hold this life as precious. We don't bat an eye when thousands are slaughtered by natural or man-made disasters. Tragedy is built into the fabric of human existence. Humanity is not here to build civilization, nor to tear it down. We are here to find our way to the Creator, and to point out that path to others. And finding His path means rejecting every human ambition for self-preservation.
Do you understand that death is a reward for giving yourself to the Master?
We are warned to discard any ambition for fundamentally changing the human situation in any way. Our only ambition is to escape it, and on our way out, to leave a testimony of God's glory. In this world, "His glory" is mostly a matter of asserting His value system, so radically different from anything cooked up by humans. Meanwhile, in contrast to hope in this life, we can reliably predict that it will only get worse. But within that expectation, we know that there are numerous symphonic cycles of rise and fall decreed for humans who ignore divine revelation.
Right now, we are in a major decline. Moreover, it is the confluence of several overlapping cyclical declines at once. It's the end of a political system, the end of a civilization, and the end of several natural epochal cycles of natural destruction, as well. All of this has been decreed by powers far beyond us. There is no hope for tomorrow. That is, if your hopes hang on human accomplishments, then all is in vain.
If your hopes hang on God's agenda to reveal Himself, then you have unlimited opportunities to exploit the situation. Can you grasp this? The radical difference between how humans face disaster versus how Eternity sees it is the message. Worldly people see it all coming apart so that they despair, crying about all that they lose. We see the massive opportunity to win souls. The contrast between their way and our Lord's way is always greatly highlighted by tribulation. When the world prospers materially, it's much harder to find only a few here and there who are moved by the experience of dissipation to hit bottom and seek a way out. But when tribulation comes, everyone is in a panic, and many more are likely to seek a better answer.
Do you understand that this is a mighty miracle of God, a sweet blessed gift? He is not leaving people in their Babylonian comfort to be deceived to death. Babylon is falling, and it needs to fall, or people will not wake up. What does it take to shake them loose from their false comforts? We are about to witness that, whatever it is.
We are not like the survivalist Preppers, groveling in their material comforts. Eternity Preppers are invested in the opportunity to win the release of lost family from the grip of the Big Lie. Sure, stock up on canned goods and a collection of implements that support your particular mission and calling. If you have significant wealth, let me suggest you do more with silver than with gold, because the latter is harder to exchange for daily survival. Silver is easier to spend on basic necessities. But always keep an eye on how everything you own in terms of material property is just a means to an end.
That end on which we keep an eye includes letting people see that we do not cling to this life. Our human existence is also just a means to an end, not of paramount importance in itself. Portraying the otherworldly orientation is a major part of our testimony.
This world is coming apart. Don't get lost in panic. We should have seen this coming a long time ago. If anything, it will be entertaining to see the particulars of how it unravels. Of course, weep for the losses of those you love. But shed no tears for the bigger sorrows. God has saved up His wrath for a long time, and it's all justified.
The crazy part? I know that some who read this will somehow manage to miss the point.
Side note: It's not that this year is when everything breaks. Rather, this year begins a long series of breakages, each more catastrophic than the last. It's not even really a shift in the nature of our troubles, but rather a time when a significant portion of the people suddenly awaken to the reality of evil in ways they have conveniently ignored in the past. It's not that we were doing okay in the past, but that everyone is going to realize this, in the sense of a significant threshold of awareness. People are going to recognize that they have nothing to lose, that it's all gone. In other words, they will finally grasp that, from a human perspective, violence is all that's left.
That's what will change the political landscape. How the masses react is impossible to calculate. Many will despair, seeing no way out, but a few will fight. See this for a human oriented analysis.
Comments
Dan D.
"Silver is easier to spend on basic necessities."
I would state for the record that last week in town I asked the barber if she would like cash or an ounce of silver for a $25 haircut. "Silver of course!" So it was done, since I keep some in the Jeep. If you don't ask and help spur the non-fiat money economy the answer is always no. Plus it is a good long term investment in her.
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