We Are Still Here...

For the first time in two years, I don't have a count down clock.  There is not a bright red date on my calendar that I am anticipating. Everything we were watching for in September happened, except the thing we were really watching for... Daily, I lament to my husband, "I can't believe we are still here!"  I'm not alone.

Looking Up in Bewilderment

I know of no one who was led by the Holy Spirit that there was a certainty.  In the months leading up to September, I'd call out to the Lord for confirmation and I never got it.  The best I got was, "Discern the times".  He is just bigger than we are and His ways are higher than ours.  So we move forward.  Surgeries are being scheduled.  Resumes are being written.  Houses are going on the market.  Fitness regimes are being resumed.  All of life's disruptive events that folks hoped they would not have to endure are back on.  Along with a profound sense of disappointment that we are indeed still here.

Day 29 of the Birth Pangs series, the Lord gave me a line that has echoed in my heart for weeks, "The Watchers on the Wall are tired; hoarse from beseeching a world that no longer hears, fighting an enemy whose time has come, and tamping down a desire so fierce just to be done. All the while going about 8-5 life like tomorrow is going to matter and being afraid that it actually does."

Finally, we rest in the absolute conviction that we were not wrong.  Any fool can read the headlines and know that even though we are still here, He isn't far off.  As Jack Kelley was fond of saying, "You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah."  Maranantha, Friends.

Living an Authentic Life on Social Media

I've read a couple of good articles in recent months regarding the "Perfect Life" people post on social media.  Our Double Lives and I'm Not a Liar but Facebook Sure is are excellent examples of how social media portrays perfection when the reality is far from it. Both articles above do an excellent job of discussing the realities, social ramifications, and personal price tag that goes along with this false life and I'll not seek to rehash them.  The question becomes, how do you live an authentic life and what, if anything, do you share on social media?

In days gone by, the perfect life lived before the cameras was reserved for Hollywood stars; their reality like ours, was a striking dichotomy between what the public saw and what the private life truly was.  (Just watch any random episode of "Behind the Music".)  Today, everyone has access to that platform and the expected corollary has manifested.

What We Present to the World

Choreographed wedding dances, Jumbo-tron engagements, and Disney style family commercials disguised as vacation videos are nauseating because they are staged.  Events, videos, and pictures that the sole purpose of their creation is to upload to the internet reek of desperation and narcissism.  We've become actors in our own lives; stop it.

On the converse, social media is not your diary, nor is it a place to seek mental health advise.  If most of your posts are about your next drink, you might need to seek help.  So if you would not call me with your problem, perhaps it's best to keep some things private.

What Our Lives Really Look Like

In the end, it takes wisdom and discernment.  Be brutal, look through your posts, are they interesting?  Are they well rounded?  Are they varied?  Are they honest?  Do they convey interesting points?  How many photos have you posted and how many of those are selfies?  Do you joke about yourself, do you reveal your flaws?  Are you real?

Our question remains, how do you live an authentic life on social media?  It's difficult because a well lived life does not play well; but neither does the fake one.

The Doctrine of Imminent Return

As the final hours of the highly anticipated 2015 Fall Feasts draw to a close, it is inconceivable to think that the Lord will wait, a year, or seven, or fifty (another fall feast, another shemitah, another jubilee).  I have never been dogmatic about times and seasons; heightened awareness?  Oh, yes, for sure but dogmatic, no never.  As such, I am again adopting the doctrine of imminent return.   The blessed hope that we are to comfort each other with - the Lord is coming back and it could be today. Todd Strandberg of Rapture Ready has an excellent article, here's an excerpt, for the full article click here.

In doing some research on the doctrine of imminency, I noticed few people take the time to actually define what prophetic imminency means. First, let us look at the general definition of the key word "imminent:" "The quality or condition of being about to occur."

Imminency, as it relates to Bible prophecy, simply means that the return of Jesus Christ for the Church can happen at any moment. No warning signs will indicate a short-term countdown. We as Christians remain on alert 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If a wife knows her husband normally gets home from work shortly after 4:00 PM, she knows that beginning at 4:00 PM, his arrival is imminent. If the woman knows her husband has to work overtime, the imminency of his 4:00 PM return is then in doubt.

The only way for the rapture to be truly imminent is to have it transpire before the tribulation. If the Church were required to wait until after the manifestation of certain events, then there would be no doctrine of imminency.