Will the world end December 21?

Vol. 8, No. 98

 

The Mayan Apocalypse by James Emery White
 

With echoes from REM’s “The End of the World as We Know It” reverberating through our cultural psyche, the Mayan apocalypse – predicted for December 21 – is looming large.

 

According to the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, December 21, 2012, is the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle.

 

What might be called a “New Age” interpretation is that this date will inaugurate a new era marked by massive spiritual transformation.

 

Or it will bring the catastrophic end of the world.

 

As in the arrival of the next solar maximum, Earth being swallowed by a black hole at the center of the galaxy, or the collision with another planet.

 

Sound far-fetched?

 

Not to a lot of people.

 

Consider the reports coming from across Russia’s nine time zones.  Inmates in a women’s prison near the Chinese border are said to have experienced a “collective mass psychosis” so intense that their wardens summoned a priest to calm them.

 

In a factory town east of Moscow, panicked citizens stripped shelves of matches, kerosene, sugar and candles.

 

A huge Mayan-style archway is being built – out of ice – on Karl Marx Street in Chelyabinsk in the south.

 

Russia’s government decided to put an end to the doomsday talk by having its minister of emergency situations say that he had access to “methods of monitoring what is occurring on the planet Earth,” and that the world was not going to end in December.

 

Before you laugh, the U.S. government just did the same thing.

 

In a blog post on USA.gov, it was announced that the “world will not end on December 21, 2012, or any day in 2012.”  Why the declaration?  Apparently NASA officials are getting messages from children as young as 11 who say they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday.

 

So how are we to think Christianly about this?

 

First, let’s just think.  The most rudimentary understandings of the Mayans reveal that they did not view time as linear, but cyclical.  So whatever they meant to forecast for December 21 was simply the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.  In fact, there is not a concept of “apocalypse” in Mayan culture at all.

 

Second, the date itself has been debunked.  An excavation of a Mayan timekeepers’ workroom in Guatemala recently revealed calendars that destroy any notion that the Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012.

 

So what is keeping it alive?

 

Many speculate it is little more than profit.  It sells books, has created a booming tourism industry in Mexico, and is fostering a demand for survival kits, insurance policies and reserved seating in “doomsday-proof” bunkers.  Further, as cultural historian Paul Boyer notes, the more people feel marginalized or alienated from society, the more apocalyptic ideas will find fertile soil.

 

But now to the thinking “Christianly” part.

 

The Christian view of time is linear.  The Bible paints a clear picture of a beginning, and an end.  Many Christians believe that end is imminent.  A 2011 Pew Center poll found that 41% of Americans believe the rapture will occur before 2050.

 

It doesn’t matter.

 

When the end comes, the Bible doesn’t suggest fear or anxiety, but rather spiritual readiness and hope.

 

As for spiritual readiness, Jesus said that the most important matter was to keep watch and be prepared, ending his “little apocalypse” teaching in Matthew 24 with the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents, and the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25).

 

And as for hope, the Psalmist writes, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1-4, NIV).

 

So yes, the world will end.  The real question is whether it will be met with faith in the living God.  As the late Chuck Colson wrote, “Christians know that God is working out His purposes in history, and that faith removes all anxieties.”

 

Even those sparked by obscure and misunderstood ancient prophecies.

 

James Emery White

 

 

Sources    

 

“2012 Phenomenon,” Wikipedia, read online.

 

Synthia Andrews and Colin Andrews, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to 2012.

 

“U.S. Government: Apocalypse Not Destroying The World In 2012, So Stop Scaring The Kids,” Nick Wing, The Huffington Post, December 3, 2012, read online.

 

“In Panicky Russia, It’s Official: The End Isn’t Near,” Ellen Barry, The New York Times, Sunday, December 2, 2012, p. 1, read online.

 

“Mayan calendar room found,” Brian Vastag, The Washington Post, Friday, May 21, 2012, p. 8A.

 

“The Mayan apocalypse,” The Week, February 10, 2012.

 

“2012 or Bust,” Chuck Colson, Breakpoint, November 3, 2009.

 

 

Editor’s Note

 

James Emery White is the founding and senior pastor of Mecklenburg Community Church in Charlotte, NC, and the ranked adjunctive professor of theology and culture at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, which he also served as their fourth president.  His newly released book is The Church in an Age of Crisis: 25 New Realities Facing Christianity (Baker Press).  To enjoy a free subscription to the Church and Culture blog, log-on to www.churchandculture.org, where you can post your comments on this blog, view past blogs in our archive and read the latest church and culture news from around the world.  Follow Dr. White on twitter@JamesEmeryWhite.

 

Lotteries are Bad for the Poor. Please Don't Celebrate or Participate

Lotteries are Bad for the Poor. Please Don't Celebrate or Participate.

by Ed Stetzer

There is not really a verse that says, "Thou shalt not gamble," but Christians and their love for the poor should keep Christians away from lotteries and, I think, lead them to oppose efforts to expand the lottery.
Many studies have been done, but let me point out one study and then share one quote from a well-known community organizer and activist.
This 2008 study from Carnegie Melon explains "poverty's central role in people's decisions to buy lottery tickets." The article goes on to say:

Although state lotteries, on average, return just 53 cents for every dollar spent on a ticket, people continue to pour money into them -- especially low-income people, who spend a larger percentage of their incomes on lottery tickets than do the wealthier segments of society. A new Carnegie Mellon University study sheds light on the reasons why low-income lottery players eagerly invest in a product that provides poor returns...
"Some poor people see playing the lottery as their best opportunity for improving their financial situations, albeit wrongly so," said the study's lead author Emily Haisley, a doctoral student in the Department of Organizational Behavior and Theory at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. "The hope of getting out of poverty encourages people to continue to buy tickets, even though their chances of stumbling upon a life-changing windfall are nearly impossibly slim and buying lottery tickets in fact exacerbates the very poverty that purchasers are hoping to escape."...

In the study, the researchers note that lotteries set off a vicious cycle that not only exploits low-income individuals' desires to escape poverty but also directly prevents them from improving upon their financial situations. 

A few years ago, then State Senator Barack Obama explained that the lottery is a "form of regressive taxation" and harmful to the poor.

"One of the concerns that I have, obviously, is that a disproportionate number of people who consistently buy lottery tickets tend to be lower-income and working-class people who can least afford it," he said. "Even if they're not compulsive gamblers, they are probably spending money that they don't necessarily have."
Obama also suggested that state lotteries' marketing practices made them complicit in fleecing the low-income crowd.
"Now, we might say that this is their entertainment dollar the same way that somebody else has entertainment dollar and spends it on a movie," he said. "But I think the fact that the state systematically targets what we know to be lower income persons as a way of raising revenue is troublesome.
"I would argue that if you look at it as a whole, in most states across the board, this tends to be a form of regressive taxation, and I don't think it's necessarily the fairest way for us to raise revenue for us in the state," he said.

I agree... so, while someone is going to get rich this week, a whole lot of people are going to get a little poorer. We don't need another "tax on the poor" and we don't need the government supporting and promoting such efforts.

Sermon November 25, 2012

I began a new series of messages yesterday for this Christmas season "Unwrapping the Gift You've Always Wanted" using Isaiah 9:6 as our text for the entire series.

Yesterday, "The Gift You've Always Wanted:  Guidance".  Here are the  notes of that message.

Here is the audio:

Blessed is The Man

Blessed Is The Man

Bubba Stahl Nov 19, 2012

Psalm 1 and 2 are both the introduction to the book of Psalms as well as the conclusion. They combine to reveal the outcome of a person who allows God’s Word to shape their prayers and life.

Psalm 1 begins with the phrase, “Blessed is the man who…”  The first thing about the blessed man is seen what he has said “no” to. He has seen that a person cannot serve God and the world; the two are opposites. The ways of God are not the ways of man.

The ways of man are seen in the downward progression of first listening, “…does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly,” then in keeping company with, “…nor stands in the way of sinners,” then in sharing the influence that has been received and reinforced by that company, “nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.” That way has been rejected by the blessed man because God’s way has been chosen.

God’s way begins with His Word. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.”  The delight he has developed in God’s Word is the result of meditating on it. At first God’s Word seems hard to understand. Understanding does not come from more and more study, it comes from the Holy Spirit. He and He alone reveals the truth and delight of His Word. Meditation on the Word means asking the Holy Spirit over and over, as the Word is mulled on over and over, for light and meaning.

The Hebrew word for “delight” is hapes (pronounced hop-is) and means to feel great favor and pleasure in something because of its intrinsic qualities. It is mostly used in the Old Testament of God and the “delight” He has for various things. For example in 1 Samuel 15:22 when Samuel told Saul that God has greater delight in obedience than in sacrifice. This means that the delight you develop for God’s Word actually comes from His Holy Spirit in you. He delights in His own Word and shares that delight with you!

The blessed man is described “…like a tree, planted by the steams of water,” A tree that is planted by the steams of water speaks of intentional planting. God plants us in His Word. His will is that we stay in His Word with the Holy Spirit teaching us all the days of our lives.

When you stay in the Word, the Word grows in you and, like a tree, produces leaves and fruit. Leaves and fruit are the only two things a tree produces. Without leaves and fruit a tree is just firewood.

The first one is “…that yields fruit in its season,” The fruit that the Word produces is the glory of God. God designed our lives to glorify Him and Him alone. The way that He designed this to take place is by being planted in His Word. His will and ways have not changed since the beginning. Every occasion and situation in life is another opportunity for the glorious light of God’s characteristics to shine forth from your life, if you are planted in His Word. Whether it is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…it all reveals God’s glory.

The other thing is tree produces is leaves. The promise of God for the blessed man is “…and its leaf does not wither,” So, what are the leaves of our lives in Christ? There are two references to the leaves of the Tree of Life, Ezekiel 47:12 and Revelation 22:1-2. The Ezekiel reference describes the Tree of Life during the Millennium (the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth following the battle of Armageddon in Revelation 20:1-6), while the Revelation reference describes the Tree of Life in the New Heaven and Earth following the Great While Throne judgment.

In both passages it describes the purpose of the leaves as healing for the nations. One thing we all know about the shade of a tree; it is refreshing. To sit under the shade of a great tree is restful whether there is a hammock involved or not!

The promise of God for the blessed man is that his life will always be an invitation to others for them to enjoy the rest and refreshment of God in his life. There is something about just being around someone who is planted in the Word. It is refreshing just to be near and to listen to someone like that.

Psalm 1 sums up the blessed man by saying “…in all that he does, he prospers.”The Hebrew word “prospers” is tsalock (pronounced tsa-lock), which means to complete, to triumph, to be strong, to overcome. It does not mean that you will have an abundance of things; this is the “American” definition of prosperity. Prosperity in the Bible is more related to being faithful than the accumulation of things or having it easy. Being prosperous, according to God’s definition, means that you will rise above every circumstance in your life with God-honoring and Christ-exalting glory!

Be sure that you stay in God’s Word, meditating in it, growing by it, and being fully aware of God’s beautiful purposes being carried through to fullness by it. You will be blessed just like God designed from the very beginning.

©2012 Bubba Stahl. Originally posted on Nov 14, on Bubba Stahl's Blog.

Happy Thanksgiving

The Every-Day-Ness of Praise

The Every-Day-Ness of Praise

Bill Elliff Nov 19, 2012

There are some things I do every single day: get up, take a shower, brush my teeth, comb my hair. I’m glad these are routine to me (and I imagine others are too!) But the Psalmist had another daily regimen.

“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. (Psalm 145:1-3

When things go the way I think they should or not... “Every day I will bless you.”

When governments rise and fall... “Every day I will bless you.”

When conflict arises within and without.... “Every day I will bless you.”

When I can see the way clearly and when I am confused... “Every day I will bless you.”

When people like me or hate me... “Every day I will bless you.”

When I am applauded or persecuted... “Every day I will bless you.”

When my heart is grieving or rejoicing... “Every day I will bless you.”

When the church is weak or strong... “Every day I will bless you.”

When we are in a day of judgment or of revival... “Every day I will bless you.”

The key to David's rightness was the consistency of His praise and his simple faith in the sovereignty of God. It did not mean that he did not know sadness and grief and a realm of emotions (just look though the Psalms!) and that he did not cry out for help and mercy. But in everything he gave thanks and praise to the One who is above all and sovereignly moving in the affairs of men.

The greatest leader other than Christ in the New Testament observed the same thing. "In everything give thanks," Paul said. Even when his heart was "burdened beyond meausure" and when he "despaired even of my life" he continued to "rejoice in the Lord always." He knew God was in control and his life and human history was in God's sovereign hands.

God is marching toward the final consummation of this age and He is right in His judgments and on time in His movements. He is worthy of our praise every day!

©2012 Bill Elliff. Originally posted Nov. 7, 2012 on Bill Elliff's Blog.

Sunday Sermon, November 11, 2012 "Man of Sorrows"

This past Sunday, November 11, 2012, I preached "Man of Sorrows" from Isaiah 53:3-4.  Here are the notes from the sermon.  Below is the audio of the sermon.