And Now For Something Really Scary

Today is Halloween and I just had my first kids dressed in scary constumes to my door.  These little globlins and monsters still looked cute.  But there are scary things happening in the world right now that simply seems out of people's control.  People are scared about the upcoming Presidential election and who is going to win.  Whoever wins, I pray for God's best for them and the nation as well as all nations around the globe.  Today I went to the local jail to visit someone who is locked away from society for a non-violent crime.  This young man seemed to have a peace about him as he was trusting God and Jail is not a scary place when God is there among even the least and the forgotten.
People have been watching there TV sets viewing the terrible destruction on the East Coast by a devastating hurricane.  Watching people screaming and fleeing their homes in terror as either fire or water was sweeping through their neighborhood leaving a huge path of destruction that will cost billions to replace and repair.  People are scared about the economy and the future yet there is a wonderful peace and sense of joy that goes before me as I know God who holds the future for us.  Maybe even some people are scared of God.  Scared of hell and judgement or think that God is somehow mad at them.  As I have been reading the book of Job, here is a man who lost everything and still put his trust in God.  I wonder if we lost everything, homes, security, lifesavings, insurances, water, power, and the like, is God enough?  Or is our personal happiness and success and prosperity all tied up with the things God has given to us rather than in God?  For Job, the one thing he could not stand was God not being with him in his adversity.  All Job wanted in the end was God.  What do you want in the end?

Final Destination and the Twilight Zone

"YOU'RE MOVING INTO A LAND OF BOTH SHADOW AND SUBSTANCE, OF THINGS AND IDEAS. YOU'VE JUST CROSSED OVER INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE!" - Rod Serling

Twice this week I have found myself hiding in the basement. Why? Because the forces of nature were unleashing their powerful winds in the form of a tornado. We had a young family that called us at almost eleven at night and asked if they too could hide in our basement. They waited about five minutes too long as they came running in our house with winds up to 70 and 80 miles per hour. The mother clutching her children, I saw what looked like absolute fear and sheer terror on her face. I wondered in that moment, why so much fear? Fear of what? Do we fear death that much?

What happens after we die? Is death such an enemy, especially to those who claim they follow one who overcame death? And why do people focus so much on what happens when they die when Jesus himself talked more about not that we go to him but that He is coming to us. There were several movies called 'Final Destination" which were basically about the fact that nobody can escape in the end the grim reaper. Have you ever sensed death knocking on your door?

Scripture says that God's love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Do we really believe that? More importantly, are we living it? I am reminded of two classic twilight Zone episodes which always had moral to the story. The first one was about an old lady trying to escape death. She let no one in her home because she knew death was her enemy. She finally succumbs to compassion as she helps an injured police officer into her house. Death has a face and its Robert Redford! What this woman discovered was death came to escort her on a wonderful journey, not to be an enemy scorned but like a friend to be embraced.

The other Twilight Zone episode was about a town that thought it was being invaded from beings from another world. What they found out is they suspected everybody, let their fear run amok, and began destroying one another's lives. Again, who will win out in the end? Will it be fear or will it be love?