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THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

1/29/2012

Ever so often, I come across a piece of information that really challenges me in regard to my perspective on the world at large. Recently, just such a piece was brought to my attention. It is titled “Nine Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime”.

The original appears to have been posted on March 11, 2011 by Charles Scott Kimball, aka: the “xenohistorian”, on his website at: http://xenohistorian.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/9-things-that-will-disappear-in-our-lifetime/.

If you are like me, it will probably make you stop and think about both the amount and the pace of change that is occurring in the world in which we live. I re-post it here for your consideration. Mr. Kimball writes:

NINE THINGS THAT WILL DISAPPEAR IN OUR LIFETIME

I have talked before about how society is changing faster than ever, to the point that we can no longer expect one generation’s lifestyle to be much like those before and after it. For example, I remember the time when I told my daughter what television used to be like: we had a black and white TV, which only had three channels if you didn’t count the occasional UHF station. Cartoons were mostly confined to Saturday morning, and because we didn’t have remotes, we had to walk all the way across the room to change the channel. Alas, my daughter didn’t have much sympathy for my plight.

Anyway, in previous messages (May 28, 2009, December 15, 2009, and January 7, 2011), I posted lists of things that are disappearing fast, and will probably be gone in our lifetime. Now here’s a fourth list, which I’m sharing because most of the items did not appear on the others. Unfortunately I couldn’t find out who wrote it; if you’re like me, you will find some of these disappearances disturbing.

9 Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime…

Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come.

1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. e-mail, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn’t read the newspaper. They certainly don’t subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.

4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music fromiTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can’t wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you’re holding a gadget instead of a book.

5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don’t need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they’ve always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.

6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It’s because innovative new music isn’t being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is “catalog items,” meaning traditional music that the public has heard for years, from older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, “Appetite for Self-Destruction” by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, “Before the Music Dies.”

(Unquote: No wonder my home town doesn’t have a top 40 station. However, the University of Kentucky has two radio stations playing artists you don’t hear elsewhere, and that gives me a spark of hope. And some new artists are turning to nontraditional sources to get their music out, like YouTube. Did you hear how the band Journey picked up a new member that way, out of a slum in the Philippines?)

7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they’re playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It’s time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

8. “Things” That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in “the cloud.” Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest “cloud services.” That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That’s the good news. But, will you actually own any of this “stuff” or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big “Poof?” Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That’s gone. It’s been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, “They” know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And “They” will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.

All we will have that can’t be changed are memories.

This piece has circulated fairly widely on the internet and by e-mail. It has sparked considerable discussion over the unfolding future. For my parts, I do not know all tomorrow holds. Nor do I know how comfortable I will be living in that brave new world. But I do know Who holds tomorrow.

And I am confident that, as long as He delays His coming, the world will go on, and it will continue to change. As long as it does, the church must ever find ways to adapt her techniques for reaching people. In short, our METHODS must always change because the world always changes. What stays the same, however, is the MESSAGE. It does not and must not change.

As Paul said in I Corinthians 9:22-23: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” We hold fast to our message: the gospel. We readily adapt and change our methods: all things to all men. And we must be willing to do this for one reason above all others: that some may be saved!

TALKING WITH GOD

1/26/2012

We are continuing our study of Genesis on Wednesday night. One can only wonder what it would have been like to be present and witness God creating this vast universe. One day, when I am in Heaven, I know that there are lots of questions I will want to ask God about that marvelous event.

Recently, I received the following poem via e-mail. It is about a man who dreamed he was given the opportunity to interview God. While I recognize that it is always a bit presumptuous to speak on behalf of God, the poem is nonetheless thought provoking.

I post it here for your reflection.

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”
“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered...
“That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future.”

"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons
you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another,
but they must also forgive themselves.”

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.
"Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said,
“Just know that I am here... always.”

This poem can be viewed in an animated form by clicking here: "The Interview with God".

GOD’S ETERNAL WORD

1/22/2012

In Ephesians 6:14, Paul challenges us to put on the “belt of truth”. He had in mind what Jesus referred to in His great High Priestly prayer in John 17. Here, Jesus prayed for His followers: “Sanctify them by the truth…” As He did, He affirmed the truth of the Bible; for He also said (to God the Father), “Your word is truth.”

Here we clearly see The Living Word of God, Jesus Christ, giving affirmation to The Written Word of God, the Bible. Thus, we can have full confidence in the Bible as the truth, for the One Who said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” also said the Bible is the Truth of God given for our benefit.

In the Bible, therefore, we have the authoritative standard for our lives, which will last for all eternity. Many years ago, this fundamental truth was captured in a beautiful poem written by a man named John Clifford. I post it here for your consideration.

The Anvil of God’s Word

“Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

“‘How many anvils have you had,’ said I,
‘To wear and batter all these hammers so?’
‘Just one,’ said he, and then with twinkling eye,
‘The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.’

“And so, I thought, the Anvil of God’s Word
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The Anvil is unharmed, the hammers gone.”*

As Peter said in first epistle (I Peter 1:23-25):

23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

Amen!

*Source: http://thebiblestands.org/poetry/anvil.html

THERE IT STANDS

1/19/2012

We recently began a study of Genesis on Wednesday nights at our church. As we did, I underscored the fact that we can be thankful for certain traits that the Bible has. Among them are it's simplicity, it's accuracy, and it's reliability.

In the process, I quoted a poem that I had once encountered. It is titled “The Bible: There It Stands”. My copy comes from R. G. Lee’s book, A Charge to Keep, where he cites the original author as Congregational Pastor A. Z. Conrad. I post it here as many people have requested of me.

The Bible - There It Stands.
Century follows century - There it stands.
Empires rise and fall and are forgotten - There it stands.
Dynasty succeeds dynasty - There it stands.
Kings are crowned and uncrowned - There it stands.
Despised and torn to pieces - There it stands.
Storms of hate swirl about it - There it stands
Atheists rail against it - There it stands.
Agnostics smile cynically - There it stand
Profane prayerless punsters caricature it - There it stands.
Unbelief abandons it - There it stands.
Higher critics deny its claim to inspiration - there it stands.
Thunderbolts of wrath smite - There it stands.
An anvil that has broken a million hammers - there it stands.
The flames are kindled about it - There it stands.
The arrows of hate are discharged against it - There it stands.
Radicalism rants and raves against it - There it stands.
Fogs of sophistry conceal it temporarily - There it stands.
The tooth of time gnaws but makes no dent in it - There it stands.
Infidels predict its abandonment - There it stands.
Modernism tries to explain it away - There it stands.
Devotees of folly denounce it - there it stands.

Amen. Praise God for the dependability of His Word!

TAKING A STAND

1/16/2012

Today is the day in which we rightfully recognize the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The reason we do this, as a nation, is that this man decided to take a stand against the wrong he knew was being perpetrated in his culture. He worked hard to undo the injustice that was entrnched toward his own people. Ultimately, he even gave his life for the cause in which he believed so deeply.

Dr. King is obviously named after his father, Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. Both of them, however, share a common namesake. They are each named for the famed reformer of the sixteenth century: Martin Luther.

Few people today know much about Martin Luther, other than perhaps that the Lutheran church is named after him. Martin Luther was a sixteenth century monk who lived in Germany. He concluded that the doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church of which he was a part were not correct.

As a result, he decided to take a stand against what he saw as a religious (and a resultant political) system that was ill founded and corrupt. History records that he drew up 95 theses and posted them to the door of the church in Wittenberg, inviting public debate with anyone over the validity of such things as the sale of indulgences, the existence of purgatory, the necessity of the priesthood for an individual’s salvation, etc…

As he anticipated, his actions incited violent opposition from many within the status quo of his day. He, himself, was jailed and faced both prosecution and persecution. Nonetheless, he believed in the principles upon which he chose to take his stand. In fact, he drew up his defense under the title of “Here I Stand”.

Thankfully, his courage in doing so eventually brought about much needed changes in the religious and political situation of Europe in the sixteenth century and beyond, and resulted in what we know today as the “Protestant Reformation”.

How fittingly, then, that his namesake hundreds of years later, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would follow a similar path. Both men believed it was important to take their stand, even if they appeared at first to stand alone (or at best, in the minority). Fortunately, they both soon realized that they did not stand alone, but that a whole lot of people stood with them. They also realized that in standing for what they knew to be right, they could make a difference and affect change.

I trust in these two examples we will see the importance of taking a stand whenever we know that what is happening around us is clearly in the wrong. Yes, it takes courage to take a stand. Nevertheless, change can never occur unless and until we are willing to stand in the face of evil.

As Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-20:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

“DUST” THOU UNDERSTAND?

1/12/2012

We have begun a study of Genesis on Wednesday nights. I thought I would post a humorous little story from my files that I came across in preparation for this series of studies. Enjoy.

A little boy came home from Sunday School and went into his room to change his clothes.

It was obvious that he had been paying attention to the lesson for that day, which was on Genesis 3:19: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

When he emerged, he asked his mother, “Is it true we come from dust?” “Yes dear,” replied mother.

“Is it true that when we die we go back to the dust?” “Yes dear, that's right.”

The little boy ran into his room once again and came out all excited.

“Mom,” he announced, “I just looked under my bed; and there's someone either coming or going!!!”

A PICTURE OF GOD’S GRACE

1/9/2012

Our Student Minister, Tyler Campbell, spoke this past Sunday in our evening service. His message was on the first chapter of 2 Peter. In it, he referenced a wonderful story about a man named Henry Moorhouse and a little girl who had broken her pitcher of milk.

His source for the story was Robert Jeffress’ book, Grace Gone Wild (Colorado springs: Waterbrook Press, 2005, p. 9). I thought I would post that story here today. I hope you enjoy it. Dr. Jeffress (who serves as Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas) writes…

One of my favorite illustrations of grace is from the story of a social worker names Henry Moorehouse who lived in the very worst of slum districts in London, England, in the 1800s.

One evening as he was walking home, Moorehouse saw a little girl carrying a pitcher of milk. Suddenly she fell, and the pitcher slipped out of her hands and shattered. As the milk flowed into the gutter, the little girl began to sob uncontrollably.

“Honey, don’t cry,” said Moorehouse as he helped her get up. But the tears would not stop. “I’ll get a whipping from my mommy,” the girl said between sobs. “No, you won’t. I’ll help you put the pitcher back together again,” Moorehouse assured her.

Suddenly the tears stopped, because the girl had seen other broken pitchers repaired. But every time it looked as if Moorehouse would succeed, the pitcher would fall apart again. After several unsuccessful attempts, the girl began crying again.

In the end, Moorehouse lifted the girl in his arms and carried her to a crockery store, where he bought her a brand-new pitcher. Then he carried her to the store where she had purchased the milk and paid to have the pitcher filled once more. Finally, he carried her home.

Then Moorehouse asked the little girl if she thought her mother would still whip her.

“No sir,” she smiled. “This pitcher is much nicer than the one we had before.”

Dr. Jeffress goes on to point out God has done something even greater than this for us. Although we were originally created in His likeness, sin shattered His image within us. We can try to mend that image through good works and religious ritual but we are broken seemingly beyond repair. But God has done what we cannot do. He has fixed our brokenness. In Christ Jesus, we have been made whole. We have become a new creation!

Praise God for His Son Jesus Christ! Without Him, we would have no hope whatsoever. But with Him, we have new life, eternal and abundant! Amen!

WARNING THOSE IN DANGER

1/5/2012

At the conclusion of the book of Revelation, John adds what scholars call an epilogue. After detailing the eternal destruction of the Devil and all who follow him in chapter 20, John devotes all of chapter 21 and part of chapter 22 to a description of Heaven. Then, in the remainder of chapter 22, he extends one final plea for all to come to Christ while there is still time. In verse 17, he writes:

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!” And let him who hears say, "Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

I am reminded by these words that it is clearly the responsibility of the church (as the bride of Christ) to join with God in calling people to repentance. As followers of Christ, we not only have the privilege of sharing Christ's love; we also have the responsibility to lovingly confront sin and warn people of the consequences of saying no to God.

A couple of stories serve to illustrate our responsibility in this regard.

The first comes from Duncan Larcombe, who reported a story in the New York Post ("Quake Angel," www.nypost.com, 1-1-05) a few years ago about a little girl whose persistent pleas saved over a hundred lives during the infamous 2004 Indonesian Christmas tsunami.

In Phuket, Thailand, Tilly Smith, a determined 10-year-old girl, saved her parents and dozens of fellow vacationers from the deadly tsunami because she had studied a school geography lesson, and then courageously spoke what she knew to be true.

As Tilly's family enjoyed a day at Maikhao Beach, the sea began to bubble and rush away from the shore. While the adults were merely curious, Tilly was petrified with fear. "Mummy, we must get off the beach now!" she said. "I think there's going to be a tsunami."

The adults didn't even understand her warning until Tilly referred to it as a tidal wave. Once they understood, they all believed the youngster and evacuated the area. Minutes later the water surged right over the beach and demolished everything in its path. The resort was destroyed, but that section of beach was one of the few places along the shores of Phuket where no one was killed or even seriously hurt.

Tilly was praised for raising the alarm. "I think it's phenomenal that Tilly's parents and the others on the beach are alive because she studied hard at school," said the hotel's manager. "She's a hero."

Tilly gave the credit to her geography teacher for his lesson on how earthquakes cause tsunamis. She explained, "I was on the beach, and the water started to go funny. I recognized what was happening and had a feeling there was going to be a tsunami."

By contrast, the October 28, 2010 edition of Smithsonian Magazine carried an alarming story about the 2010 Indonesian Mentawai tsunami, titled "Did Broken Buoys Fail to Warn Victims of the Mentawai Tsunami?"

On October 25, 2010, a massive earthquake set off a tsunami that struck some Indonesian Islands. The tsunamis leveled whole villages, leaving hundreds dead or missing. According to the survivors, the deaths could have been avoided, or at least minimized. Unfortunately, the tsunami warning system—two buoys off the island—weren't working properly. As a result, they didn't alert the islanders to the coming danger.

Since 2004, experts have improved the tsunami detection network. The DART buoys (as they are called) measure wave height. If a buoy measures an unusual wave, it transmits that information to the shore. This system often provides the only warning signal for islanders to prepare for the oncoming danger.

Unfortunately, according to the report, the buoys "have become detached and drifted away. Sensors have failed. As many as 30 percent have been inoperable at any one time.” As a result, the buoys often fail to awaken people to the reality of future tragedy.

It strikes me that here you have the choice for the church. We must either remain silent like the buoys or else cry out desperately like little Tilly Smith. If, like the buoys, we "have become detached or drifted away," and if our love has grown cold or apathetic, we may very well leave others unprepared for the consequences of sin for, both this world and the next.

If, however, we recognize the seriousness of sin and the consequences of rejecting God, then we will remain ever vigilant in our quest to warn people of the judgment to come. The question for us, the church, is “Which will it be?’’ How will we respond? Whose life will we save? Whose salvation will we neglect?

Remember, church, why we are here. In the words of the Apostle Jude…

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire… (Jude 1:20-23)

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THROUGH

1/2/2012

I love the old story that is told about an insightful little boy and his father out fishing. It seems that the two were having a conversation; but the son was waxing a bit more philosophical than the father was. As the story goes…

The boy told his father, "Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a limb that hung over a pool, and one frog decided to jump off into the pool, how many frogs would be left on the limb?"

The dad replied, "Two." "No," the son replied. "There’s three frogs and one decides to jump, how many are left?"

The dad said, "Oh, I get it, if one decides to jump, the others would too. So there are none left."

The boy said, "No dad, the answer is three. The frog only DECIDED to jump."

How familiar is that? And convicting?! Does it not sound a lot like the New Year’s Resolutions that many of us made at this time last year? For so many of us, we find ourselves with great inspiration and great resolutions. But far too often, I fear, we only decide; and months later, we find ourselves having done no more, only to be still sitting on the same old limb of “do-nothing”.

As you make your New Year’s Resolutions this year, remember that they will have no efficacy if they are only decisions. Whatever things you decide to do must thereafter be followed by you actually doing them!

SOURCE: Help4Sunday Newsletter, January, 1999.