Yesterday I read Ezekiel 14:21, which states, "For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?" Of these four sore judgments, three make perfect sense to us today. The sword is war, famine is lack of food and/or water, and pestilence is disease in epidemic proportion. All of these are present concerns. However, we do not much think of the "noisome beast" as a threat. Of course, these beasts might come in the form of insects. However, we are seeing more conflicts from larger beasts. Today's newspapers report of a rash of alligator attacks in Florida. After only 17 deaths from such attacks since 1948, three people have been killed in separate incidents just this week. If God removes His protecting hand from us, we may have more to fear than we think from the "noisome beast."
It turns out that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President who insists on building nuclear weapons and who promises the extinction of Israel, gains his inspiration from a Islamic messianic cult. This cult fervently prays for the coming of the Moslem Messiah by way of the Twelfth Imam who disappeared in the year 873 as a five year old and is expected to return to inaugurate an era of perfect government on earth. This "Hidden Imam" is also called the Mahdi and his return is expected by various groups within Islam. Some expect the return of a new or Thirteenth Imam. President Ahmadinejad has put 20 million dollars into building a hugh mosque for the Thirteenth Imam. Personal speculation: I wonder if the antichrist might not seek to fulfill the expectations of the Jewish Messiah, the Islamic Imam, and messianic expectations in other religions for the purpose of bringing all religions together in the tribulation. Read more at http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=21520.
More and more, preachers are departing from doctrinal preaching. A church sign recently read, "Doctrine divides but Christ unites." We think that we are doing people a favor by skipping the doctrine and preaching the sermons on finances, health, friendships and family. The fact is that sound doctrine is the foundation for sound practical living. If you have false doctrine it will lead to false practice. A perfect example of this is found in Simon Peter. We read in John 18 about Judas and his men coming to get our Lord, but before they could take Him, Simon Peter takes out a sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus. Jesus rebuked Peter and healed Malchus. Later in the same chapter Jesus makes a statement that gives us some insight as to what Peter's problem was. In verse number 36 Jesus says "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight". Obviously, Simon Peter believed that this was the timing for the kingdom. His faulty interpretation of doctrine led him into faulty practice. Obviously good doctrine leads to good practice. So what kind of practical living does your doctrine produce?
I was just looking over an angry response to my article on men wearing ties and people dressing up a bit for church. I have not reread my article, but this person seemed to think me a Pharisee and one not concerned for souls because of my take on this. I do not recall making ties a requirement, but this responder acted as if that were my position. Anyway, I still think we should clean up and dress up for meeting at church. The dressing down tendency of today is one of the signs of worldliness in our churches. A hundred years ago, everyone dressed up a bit for church. Are we more spiritual and godly today because we do not? Ties and suits are not obligatory and other cultures will use them less or none at all. That is fine. But they can still dress up a bit. Neither are we talking about the ostentatious show that was a trend at one point in the spiritual decline of the churches. Our clothing is to be moderate in every case. How we dress for something indicates how important that occasion is to us. Though we should work to make everyone welcome, we should dress as if meeting with God in the presence of God's people is also important to us. That may be different for different people, but it is still an expression of our love to the Lord and the importance we place on the occasion.
Today's paper reports that Lew Anderson, the last actor to play Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody show, died in N.Y. at the age of 84. No disrespect meant to Lew Anderson (Or Clarabell), but I am sure that we will continue to have plenty of clowns. Many are in government and many stand behind pulpits. One of the signs of the last days is that men "shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:4). Whether those fables are the Chronicles of Narnia or the Da Vinci Code, they have to have some clowns who will declare their significance in order to survive.
