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Perhaps the hard work of our diplomats lull us into complacency so that we don't bother thinking much of the dangers that surround us, and probably that is a good thing because we can't keep Canada strong if all we do is wring our hands. But as Christians, we know that peace and prosperity are not the normal state of events. When we hear that conflict in the Korean peninsula could occur and that tensions with Iran are heightened and that the economic recovery is threatened by the weak economy of Greece and … who knows what tomorrow's news will bring … well, a thoughtful Christian might wonder what the immediate, not to mention the long-range, future might hold.
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Jesus pointed to signs of God's activity in saving the world |
And yes, it is good to say that God knows, for he does know. But it is also good to remember that Jesus told us that sailors could read the sky and know what tomorrow's weather would be and he told us that we should be able to read the signs of the times and know how God is moving.
What signs should we be looking at? Through the past 50 years, some folks have built whole careers on telling church people that they knew the signs and they had to do with how many nations in Europe were joining the common market or who was doing what elsewhere in the world. I know of books that claimed that prophecy showed that communism, that the European Union or the United Nations would take over the world—and none of it has happened.
So may I suggest that Jesus did not point us to signs about who was going to take over the world. In fact, while Jesus was alive there was an empire that had taken over much of what is now Europe, namely Rome, and Jesus showed little concern about it. What Jesus pointed to were signs of God's activity in saving the world. God's saving activity, his calling the nations to himself, is what we should watch.
God is calling people to himself. Jesus prophesied: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). There are less than a thousand groups with a population of 100,000 or more who have not yet heard the gospel in any form. But there are still many smaller groups still waiting to hear. This is the sign we should keep our eye on. This is the task, and as we finish it we bring in the last act of history. Watch this. Get involved in this. |
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Summer 2010 |
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Also included in this issue:
• Mission Update: Spreading the Word in Germany
• Family Happenings: Updates from Indonesia, Toronto, Poland
• Financial reports:
May 2010
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Table Talk © |
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