Sing God's Praise

A couple of months ago, I read in someone's email: "When it comes to martyrdom, I'm a card carrying member of Cowards Unlimited. I don't relish the idea of physical pain. The dentist is bad enough, but martyrdom is something else. Jesus warned His followers of terrible tribulation in the end times. Many Christians believe that the church will be raptured before it happens.

"Frankly, I don't believe that. I don't think the Scripture teaches it. Of course, I might be wrong. Believe me, I want to be wrong. I don't feel like hanging round and being “tribulated.” However, the fact remains, should Jesus ever require you and me to be crucified, how will we react? My prayer is that He will strengthen me to accept it as from His loving hand. I don't think there is any other way."

At which point, the following poem streamed from my fingertips whole-cloth. It is past time I shared it with my readers.

When times of trouble
Come flowing our way
Many of Faith will look
For Blessed Rapture Day
But what if, at that time
Lord Jesus asks us to stay?

There are two Witnesses
Called to stay behind
And share the Truth that
Others could not find
For many repentant hearts
Is what GOD has in mind

Before that final period
As in the words you give
Comes the time of Martyrs
Brightness shining thru a sieve
But what if during this time
Request is not to die, but live?

There are many in the world
Who suffer acute chronic pain
There is no cure, no correction
No hope being pain-free again
Tho they pray and have Faith
Their agony is still the same

 Yet, these chronic sufferers
Are also bright points of Light
They keep their eyes on GOD
Tho in agony day and night
It is through their example
They bring others some delight

For through their days of pain
Their tears are more than few
They still sing God's praises
For all they are still able to do
Not a minute or movement is
Taken for granted by them too

While some may die Martyrs
In one of many horrible ways
There are also chronic pains
For some all of their days
No matter what our life holds
May we always sing God's praise!!

~ ESA

Challenging Question

There is a question that should be asked. Whether the end-times will occur in 2012, this afternoon or some point in the distant future, many across several beliefs believe it will happen. Of which, many describe this period as turbulent, including large natural and man-made devastations.

Some fervently hope to escape from these fearful visions of doom and destruction. Many choose to become followers, clinging to the understanding that to follow means to avoid these worldly horrors - to become "raptured."

I find it amusing that there is a similar mindset in the Cthulhu mythos. It's said that the following is a conversation with a follower of this belief:

• "Why do you follow this faith?"
• "So I can be a chosen one."
• "And what do you believe?"
• "When Cthulhu rises, mankind will face horrors beyond knowing, there will be death, destruction, and a period of time when people will BEG to die."
• "And what about the chosen of Cthulhu?"
• "We will be the first to be eaten."
• "WHAT?"
• "Think about it carefully. If all that will follow is true, would you want to stick around for long and have to live through it?"

While it may disgust some of my readers that I parallel Christians with followers of some squid-headed deity, I hope it illustrated the point.

Many will convert just to get the ticket-out-of-hell-on-earth via Rapture.

What if you were asked to stay?

Yes, if you are a good follower with a loving heart committed to Christ, and you were asked to stay behind after the Rapture.

Those left behind would need some guidance.

If the world is going to go through such dark times, one can safely assume a complete disruption in our current technology. Forget about the internet, the phone may not even work - landline as well as cell.

It would be a dark world on many levels...

All that could help people "left behind"... are people, face-to-face and hand-in-hand, particularly those with a loving forgiving heart willing to face a future far more horrifying than Hollywood could conspire to create.

If you were presented the choice to Love God, Love Jesus / Yeshua with such a commitment that you were willing to literally face hell-on-earth for Him, would you?

Or would you flee for the next one selling the easy-way out?

This is a challenging question indeed.

~ ESA