What is an Apocalypse?
According to the folks at Oxford, an apocalypse is defined as “an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale.” In most Fundamental circles, this specifically means the destruction of the world by violent means. The problem is, that apocalypses happen more often than many think, and some are occurring now. Catastrophic and horrendous things are happening in Ukraine right now. That is Apocalypse. Catastrophic and horrendous things occurred in Darfur in the Sudan. More Catastrophe occurred in Rwanda in the 90’s, during the crack epidemic in the 80’s and during both world wars.
Apocalypse is happening right now as a single mother doesn’t know how she is going to fill up her tank at 4.99 a gallon and pay for daycare so she can get to work. What is Apocalypse? Its perspective.
What a different world it would be if we looked to Jesus to come into those lives on his white stallion. Imagine if we allowed God to let us be the stallion on which Christ rides into these situations, the victor over death and the grave. Let us focus on the hurt around us. Let Revelation take care of itself. Preach the gospel through your deeds and shine the light of Christ into the darkest places, instead of being excited for the darkness to come.
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Whoa, Nellie, apocalypse can also mean revelation rather than total destruction. It may be that we are getting a chance to see undisguised the consequences of the path we’re on BEFORE we follow the Gadarene swine over the cliff to drown. We are being confronted by the truths we’ve been trying to cover, drown in cacophony or fudge in a way we cannot deny. So? So what are we going to do? Are we going to look away and hope that if we can’t see it, it doesn’t exist? Or are we going to face it and change? I’m not only referring to the evangelicals but also Jews, Catholics, mainline denominations…Americans as a whole. We are being gifted by a revelation to the effect that we have gotten ourselves in a world of hurt.
Right on, brother John! I have been advocating this very same message for quite some time. The modern-day christian church is nothing more than a pernicious, vengeful dooms-day cult… obsessed by an us-vs-them nativism (Trump), consumed with a prosperity gospel theology (Osteen), and delusioned due to the mis-guided prophecies of deranged charlatans (Robertson). If the church concentrated more on the “here and now”, and less on the “if and when”, it would hold much more legitimacy and might actually offer true ministry and comfort to humanity!
– JTJ –