Slow down, there is so much more.

This time of year brings many things. For me it brings fantasy baseball, playoffs for basketball and hockey, the end of the school year, and a missions trip. Everyday at work i see many people rushing in and out of Martins Supermarket. Everyone is in a hurry to buy their groceries whether it is one item or one hundred. Some neglect their children and don't care to be respectful. Their only desire is to get to the next thing, whether it is a spring concert for their child, someone's birthday, a child's baseball practice/game or even home to relax. Not many stop and think. What's there to think about? Here's a few:

So often I hear of the father's in families neglecting their children and becoming a missing part in many children's lives.
I see people disciplining their child in front of the world without a care, as long as they are pleased.
Someone slips and falls but no one stops to pick them up.
People try to gain the riches of the world, of which none will leave this earth with their soul.
Men can't find enough time to set aside sports for one night to spend with their family. On the ride to a restaurant they have to check the score or even check while they are eating.

God calls us to do HIS WILL, not ours. His will is for us to LOVE. Everything above can be seen as selfish to some extent. In Mark 1:6 we see a man portrayed as a true LOVER. John the baptist wears camel's hair and eats locusts and honey. I can't imagine eating a bug or wearing an animal as clothing. Yet this man's desire is to be with the ONE who created him. He doesn't care how he looks or if he hears the "outcome of the big game". GOD created us to be unselfish. As HIS creations, our job is to LOVE HIM and LOVE OTHERS. Stop and think for a second, when Jesus returns do you want to be watching a baseball game? or do you want to be sharing time with the poor and giving up what you have? The latter is exactly what GOD calls us to do. Someday there will be 1000 years of heaven on earth. Someday Jesus will return and save us all. Until that day our job is to reach out and LOVE OTHERS.

Join me in this mission to change our desires from self-centeredness to others-centeredness (those are words now).

Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Hope

This is why I call myself a Christian. I recently began reading Understanding Bible Prophecy for Yourself by Tim Lahaye. As you could guess, it is about the future and prophecy in the Bible. Courtesy of only a few chapters in this book, ive learned much. I've had clarity on what I believe and what is to come. The second coming of Christ must be important, the apostle Paul mentioned it 50 times! That is only one person. He spoke of communion only twice and baptism 13 times. Overall the Bible mentions it over 300 times!

Why don't people speak of His returning as much as they should? Isn't this the foundation of our beliefs? We place communion and baptism at such a high importance because Jesus said to be baptized. Didn't He also say He is going to return to save us all? Actually He even said to "sell everything you have and give it to the poor" Luke 18:22. As Christians we ought to believe He is going to return. We think of and even speak of witnessing or evangelizing to others but never know what to say. Why not talk about this hope we have? Instead of trying to convert so many people, I feel I can show more Love to others by telling them what I believe will happen and how we can be saved. Here are a few things I believe and have began to ask God to remind me of these throughout my days.

I believe that someday Jesus will return.
I believe that Jesus will take with Him the believers and saved to be in His father's house that He has prepared (John 14:1-3).
I believe He will resurrect the dead believers then rapture those alive (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).
I believe after the rapture, Jesus will judge the believers (Romans 14:10).
I believe there will be the Tribulation period of 7 years, where the world is ruled by the antichrist (Daniel 9:27).
I believe Jesus will then initiate the Kingdom Age, where there will be 1000 years of heaven on earth (Revelation 19:11-20).
I believe there is God who created all these people with the most delicacy possible, He created every single leaf on an Elm Tree (thats 6,000,000 leaves!) of course He created us with precision.
I believe His desire is to have a personal relationship with every person.
I believe He created a divine plan to rescue His people from the earth.

He will return someday!