Bearers of Hope

What's the best thing about summer? You got it - NO SCHOOL!

Or so I thought...

Well you know I just love school SO much that I just couldn't go 3 months without it, so I had to take a summer class. Yeah, something like that. Anyways...

So I'm taking a summer online class - World Literature. Might as well make the best of it, right?

This is a Discussion Board posting assignment after reading Dante's Inferno. The assignment was to place someone in whichever circle of Hell (as described by Dante) they deserved. It is a difficult thing to write of, so I decided to put a little spin on it. See what you think...

You may recognize the name Rahab. Well, you may know her better by her full name: Rahab the Prostitute. Rahab lived in the city of Jericho - a pagan, godless nation. Jericho was a city surrounded by walls, hence the song, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came a-tumblin’ down.” Anyways, Rahab was known for her profession, be it wholesome or not.

Rahab lived just inside the wall of the city. Perhaps she was in a corner or just on a wall. Either way, her location undoubtedly helped her business. Her “clients” knew exactly where she was, and word-of-mouth advertisement was easy to describe her location.

Not only was she a pagan (which would have left her in Circle one, melancholy and hopeless), she was a panderer, a seducer. According to Dante, Rahab’s final resting place would be in Circle VIII, in Bolgia 1. Her punishment would have been, as Dante described it, “whipped by devils.”

The cool thing about Rahab’s story is that it doesn’t end with her eternal punishment. After a rendezvous with a couple of Israelites (the people who followed the one true God, Jehovah), her heart was changed. She also became a God-follower, thereby escaping the perils of Hell. Whether or not Dante’s description was accurate, she was prevented from eternal punishment. You can read Rahab’s story in the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapters 2 and 6.

(The Good News is: You don’t have to wind up in any part of Hell, either.)

Perhaps it will cause some to ponder the afterlife and their final destination. Perhaps it will open some discussion. Or maybe it will just fester in someone's heart. I'll never really know, but one thing I do know - we are called to bring hope to a lost world and if I can, I'm going to slip that hope into any corner I can find. Even in a discussion board based on a secular piece of literature.

Getting Excited for the End of the World

Well, the end of the world is happening on Saturday, or so they say. Are you ready? Are you excited? Are you scared? Do you have enough food and water in your basement to last the next seven years?

(I will leave the discussion of eschatological and theological problems with this latest world judgement prediction to the pros. Read an excellent article by theologian and professor Dr. David Mappes here http://baptistbulletin.org/?p=15913 .)

What would you do if you knew the end of the world was coming in two days? If anyone had "end of the world" feelings, it was Moses. He was faced with several huge crises in his life. I mean, he was the leader of an entire race of people. No pressure there!

Moses was asked to stand up to the most powerful ruler of his time and proclaimed ten devastating end-of-the-world plagues on his country. Finally, when they gained freedom from Egypt, they came to an enormous body of water which would surely seal their doom by their quickly approaching enemy army...Seemingly another end-of-the-world feeling for Moses (not to mention the million people behind him). Fast forward a few years to see Moses coming down from the mountain after talking with God and what does he see? The entire nation having a party over a gold statue, forgetting about the Almighty God who had brought them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea...perhaps another day of confusion and end-of-the-world thoughts for Moses.

But in Exodus 33 we see Moses ask a special question that we've never seen anyone else ask before. In the midst of a life of end-of-the-world thoughts and feelings, Moses asks a huge favor: He wanted to see God's glory. "Please let me see your glorious presence." (Exodus 33:18)

Moses wanted above all else to see God's glory. He desired to see and know God for all that He is. God did allow Him to see all of His goodness, showing His backside, because no human can see the I AM and live. God's goodness alone was undoubtedly overwhelming for Moses; His face glowed for some time after His intimate encounter with the Almighty Elohim. (Exodus 33:19-23; 34:29-30)

Through experiences that maybe felt like the end of the world for Moses, he had a one-track mind. He was excited to see God's glory. He was ready for it, and it was surely an experience that he could find few words to describe.

So, when we are faced with the thought of "the end of the world," what do we do or think first? Freak out? Fear? Confusion? Disappointment? As Christians, there is no reason for these feelings; We have so much more to look forward to, whenever it happens! Do we get excited about seeing God in all His indescribable glory? Does that get us exhilarated? Are we thrilled by the scene we picture in our minds? Are we completely enraptured (pun intended) in the idea of finally seeing God's glorious presence?

While we do not know when Christ will return (Matthew 24:36, 25:13; Acts 1:7), we DO know that Christ's return could happen at any minute. We should be living with such expectancy every single day, regardless of whatever the latest judgement day date setters are saying. Get excited! Moses face glowed with simply seeing God's goodness; Imagine what God's GLORY will be like!