Parenting Kids God’s Way – Part 4

Parenting Kids God’s Way – Part 3

Parenting Kids God’s Way – Part 2

Parenting Kids God’s Way – Part 1

It was not Jonah’s lack of knowledge that Jonah said NO – but it was Jonah’s lack of compassion.  And herein lies the connection between Jonah and us.  The Spirit of Jonah is a rebellious spirit that flows from a heart that is out of sync with the gracious heart of God.  (Ezekiel 33:11; Psalm145:8,9; I Tim 2:4; II Peter 3:9).  Use the following characteristics of the Spirit of Jonah as a “heart checkup” today.  You may have the Spirit of Jonah if:

• You have knowledge of God but lack the compassion of God
• The knowledge of God fills your brain but does not capture your heart
• Your personal comfort takes priority over your compassion for another
• You have been forgiven but you are not forgiving
• You are a recipient of God’s grace but not a conduit
• You view lost sinners as the enemy
• You are self-centered rather then soul-centered
• What others think is more important than what God thinks
• You are angry at God for his plan for your life
• You know God’s will but you are not obeying God’s will
• You are more concerned about your reputation then someone else’s salvation
• You need to be pushed to obedience
• Your thankfulness has not kept pace with God’s graciousness (Lam 3:22,23)

I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” – I am praising God for His mercy in my life TODAY!

The Unsaved Christian

If you enjoy playing sports, watching sports or have a child that plays sports you need to take an hour and sit down with your family and watch this video. Skip or DVR your favorite TV program and see what God and the Bible has to say about sports.

Saturday night was a public testimony to the truth of  II Corinthians 5:17 – “if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creation, old things pass away and behold everything becomes new!”  God has already used the “Rejoice” event with several women receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Savior that evening.  Just one hour ago Jen trusted Christ as her personal Savior as a result of being at Rejoice!  Luke 10:20 “…but rather REJOICE, because your names are written in heaven.” Is your name written in heaven?  If you are unsure about your relationship with God, please contact me at dave@lakesidefellowship.com

A couple weeks ago Pastor Dave taught on the order of events in the end times. We have updated the graphic and handout that was presented with that message and want to make it available for download here. There are two versions. The first is the full size graphic in .jpg form and the other is a .pdf that is ideal for printing and handouts.

At Lakeside we try to interpret the Bible literally in its historical context. While we do our best we do realize that we don’t always get it right and the topic of the end times is one where good Christians have differed in opinion. The staff and leaders at Lakeside are united in our positions and we believe through our own personal study and the study of many others smarter than us that the positions we are presenting are the most faithful to the Scriptures.

Ultimately whatever position you hold you will stand in front of Christ and account for your life. If you are a believer you will be judged for what you did and didn’t do on this earth and then you will enjoy the Kingdom forever. If you are an unbeliever you will be judged for your lack of faith and belief in what Jesus did on the cross and you will suffer forever.

That said I want to do a quick run through of the info graphic. For more information please listen to Pastor Dave’s sermon entitled “Glimpse of Heaven” or check out the recommended reading at the bottom of the post.

1. The Rapture

We believe the next event to happen in the Biblical time line of events is the rapture of the church. This is seen primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 where Paul is comforting believers who have loved one die. He says that they will see them again when Christ comes back for the Christians on earth. In verse 17 it says that we will be “caught up together” and will meet Jesus in the clouds.

This is where a lot of bad theology starts to happen when imagining heaven. We don’t stay in the clouds with halos and harps floating around like those ridiculous toilet paper commercials, we actually keep going. The clouds are just the bus stop.

2. The Bema Seat and Marriage Supper of the Lamb

After we are caught up together in the clouds with Jesus we will all meet up in heaven and have a personal audience with Jesus. This special time is often called the “Judgment Seat of Christ” but a better way to think of it is the “Bema Seat.”

In ancient Greece the Bema Seat was the place where an umpire or judge would sit and would reward Olympic athletes based on their accomplishments. In this same manner Jesus will reward Christians for their lives lived on earth. The Bible mentions in several places that crowns or reward will be given during this time. We are not told if these are literal crowns or something else. I personally believe that the “crowns” will be our ability to “reflect” or “image” glory back to Jesus.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is ceremony that celebrates the coming together of Christ and His bride the church. Traditionally a Jewish wedding would last at least a week so we can expect a lot of food, fun and good times as we are re-united with loved ones and ultimately our Savior.

3. The Tribulation

While heaven is experiencing joy and celebration there will literally be hell on earth. The period of tribulation as seen in Revelation 4-18 will be the worst times the earth has ever seen. God will pour out his wrath and judgment on the nations and people that have rejected His Son.

4. 2nd Coming

At the end of the seven years of tribulation Christ will come back with His bride the church.

5. Armageddon

With a single word Jesus will destroy every person and nation that has gathered at the valley of Meggido to fight Him. When it is all over there will be no one on earth except for those who believe in Jesus as Lord.

6. The Millennium

When Christ comes back with His bride he will set up a literal kingdom on the earth where He will reign as supreme ruler for 1000 years. It will be a utopia where things are as good as they can possibly be.

When the millennial kingdom begins there will only be believers – those who have returned with Christ and those who trusted in Christ during the Tribulation period. During the 1000 years those who came into the kingdom by way of experiencing the Tribulation will have children. These children will need to choose to follow Christ as they will still have the old sin nature. The idea is to show us that even in the most perfect conditions with Christ ruling on a visible throne mankind is utterly depraved and will choose to reject Him.

7. The Great White Throne Judgment

The Great White Throne Judgment is a time when all the unbelievers of all time will stand before Jesus and because of their unbelief and rejection of Him as Savior and Lord will be condemned to suffer eternally in Hell. No believers will take place in this judgment.

8. Eternity in the Lake of Fire

After all unbelievers are judged they will be sent to the Lake of Fire for eternity. Good scholars disagree on whether or not the descriptions of hell given in Scripture are literal but what they do not disagree on is that it will be a place that no one wants to be. The picture of hell in the Bible is not a place as depicted in cartoons where the Devil is in charge of making everyone miserable, its not a place where you and your friends will get to just sin and hang out but it is a place of indescribable horror.

9. Eternity in the New Heaven and New Earth

Contrary to a lot of thinking we will not be spending our time floating around singing to God all day long forever. We will be living on a real earth in a real city in real space and time. Though we don’t know exactly what it will be like we will want to be there and the glory and awesomeness of it all is also indescribable.

More Resources

Heaven by Randy Alcorn
Things to Come by Dwight Pentecost
Heaven Is a Place on Earth by Michael E. Wittmer

Last week a man from our church named Bob came in with a small treasure chest in his hands.  He put it on my desk and said “I want to give the contents of my little treasure chest to help pay for a teen to go to bible camp this summer.”  I opened up that little treasure chest to find 405 -  $1 gold coins! (The cost of a child to go to camp for a week is $400).  Bob said to me “God put it on my heart late last summer and this is a fun way to help a young teen.  If you cash those in and give me the chest back I will start filling it again!”  After Bob left I was so uplifted and encouraged by his simple act of  generosity and compassion.  The apostle Paul was filled with this same thankfulness when he wrote to the Corinthian believers – “I testify that on their own, according to their ability and BEYOND their ability they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to believers, and not just as we had hoped.  Instead, they gave themselves especially to the Lord, then to us by God’s will.” I pray that God would give this Pastor that same “heart of gold.”

II Corinthians 8:3-5