The Thursday Update

NOVEMBER 22, 2023

LAKESHORE FRIENDS—

I hope you enjoyed the Relational Vampires series and learned some important lessons on how to respond in love to those people who 'suck the life out of us,' whether it’s the critic who hurts us, the needy person who drains us, the manipulator who uses us, the hypocrite who frustrates us, or the gossip who tries to put us down (to lift themselves up).  Maybe this series was perfectly timed for the holiday season and all the people we will be relating to over the next few weeks. 

I also want to thank those of you who filled a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child.  Lakeshore contributed 323 boxes and in total we collected 1,656 boxes from the area.  You will make the Christmas of many children around the world brighter, all while pointing them to Jesus.

Speaking of that, we will have another opportunity for everyone to help the poor as we begin a new series on Sunday, From Hunger to Hope.  We’ll learn more about the poverty crisis in our world and how we will help meet needs through Making Waves 2024.  This Sunday, we’ll focus on the second biggest beneficiary of our Making Waves giving, ORPHANetwork, and we'll be privileged to host Bob Cleary, OPRHANetwork's CEO.  You will love his heart and learn more about what God is doing in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the western hempisphere.  The following Sunday, December 3, we’ll celebrate Feed My Starving Children weekend and close out this short series.

I want to wish you all a fantastic Thanksgiving!  In 1621, the first Thanksgiving was held by the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony (present-day Massachusetts).  In search of religious freedom, the Pilgrims had left their home in England for the New World.  After enduring a difficult first year, they held a feast to thank God for His provisions and blessings.  What an important lesson and reminder.  Even when times are hard and life is difficult, we can always find thousands of reasons to thank Godd, and I hope you will every day (1 Thessalonians 5:18), especially on Thursday as we celebrate this important holiday with family, friends, food, football, and faith!

One thing I truly thank God for is you!  Thanks for being a great part of Lakeshore.

Warmly,
Vince

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

LAKESHORE FRIENDS—

It's a question that people who believe the Bible (and even many who don’t) are asking with respect the war between Israel and Hamas: does this war mean we are close to the end times?  It’s an important question, so I want to give the best answer I can from the Bible.  Let me share a few biblical truths that should guide us:

1. No one knows when the Lord will come back. We must be very careful to never set dates.  Jesus told us in Matthew 24:36-44 that no one knows when He will return.  Despite this, people still try.  Many cults have tried and failed.  But one very famous evangelical pastor and leader of a large group of churches in our country, who is now deceased, wrote a book a few years back saying that Jesus would come back within 40 years (one generation, in his view) of Israel’s regathering as a nation in May of 1948.  When Jesus did not return in that time frame, he quietly republished his book without that false prediction.  He misinterpreted the Bible, ignored the passage above, and misled people.  Don’t set dates and don’t listen to those who do.

2. The next great event predicted in the Bible is the Rapture of the church. Before Jesus comes back to earth (His Second Coming), He will come back to the clouds for the church just over seven years before then (The Rapture of the Church).  While not all Christians believe in the Rapture, it is very clearly taught in places like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58, and John 14:1-14.  This Thursday at Midweek Bible Study, I will teach on this subject in depth and help you understand these two central events of biblical, end-time prophecy.

3. Israel is the place we must focus our attention when it comes to the end-time prophecy. Israel was, and still is, God’s chosen nation.  It has been at the center of God’s plan since Abraham lived about 4,000 years ago (Genesis 12) and it will continue through the 7-year tribulation (which follows shortly after the Rapture of the Church; see Revelation 6-19, Daniel 9:24-27) and even into the 1,000 year reign of Christ (Revelation 20).  Today, the church is God’s primary focus but at the Rapture, His plan for Israel resumes with hyper-fast speed.  So don’t focus on China, Russia or anywhere else above Israel when it comes to end time events.  God’s future plan centers on Israel (though China and Russia are mentioned in the book of Revelation).

4. The current war may be setting the stage for the "Battle of Gog and Magog" predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This prophecy describes an invasion of Israel by a collection of nations with names we don’t use today featuring the likely current-day nations of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya and other former Soviet Union nations still aligned with Russia.  When you consider that Russia and Iran are already involved in the current war, using Hamas and Hezbollah as proxies for their desired takedown of Israel, could this somehow be the precursor to this Gog and Magog war against Israel?  Only time will tell.  But we do know this war will happen as part of the end times, perhaps very early after the Rapture in the view of many Bible teachers (myself included).

5. God is in control of everything and has a plan cleary spelled out in the Bible. He tells us again and again that if we are Christians, we should not fear or be afraid.  Instead, we should be ready for the Rapture by living a holy and godly life.  We should be telling people about the gospel and what will happen in the future for those left behind, and we should be students of Bible prophecy.

So, please be absolutely sure that you are a Christian and are sincerely living for Him.  He will return like a thief in the night and many who think they are Christians will be left behind to endure the 7-year tribulation, which will be “hell on earth”. God calls us to learn what He says about the future and that’s why we’re teaching through the book of Revelation right now in Midweek Bible Study.  If this subject interests you, join us! It’s on select Thursday nights for about an hour.  You can get the full schedule and catch up on the previous three messages here.

Let’s be ready for whenever the Lord takes His church and begins His final seven year campaign to set up His return to earth to rule and reign from Jerusalem. Let’s also tell others and invite them to church.

Warmly,
Vince

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

LAKESHORE FRIENDS—

What's the most common thing people say about those of us who are Christians and love Jesus?  Any guesses?  Once I tell you what I think it is, you’ll almost certainly agree that this one has to be at the top of the list.

Ok ready?  Here it is: “The church is filled with hypocrites”.  Any time that the church does something wrong, or does something that people don’t agree with, or just takes a moral stand, you’ll hear this phrase. 

It makes sense for people who don’t believe in Jesus to say that.  First off, it’s easy to just criticize without trying to understand.  Second, it’s a way for them to justify to themselves that they don’t need or want to go to church.  Third, it is a way to deflect from the fact that they are hypocrites themselves.  That’s because we all are, at least at some level.  Yes, some people in the church are huge hypocrites who give those of us who are garden-variety hypocrites a bad name. 

So with that all said, let me share a few ways to respond to this charge about the church aand Christians:

1. Let’s have short and small accounts with hypocrisy.  We all sin and fall short of the standard, but let’s aim to do so in small ways and to course-correct it as soon as we can.

2. Let’s remember who is saying this about us.  People will say this because they want to feel better about themselves without turning their lives over to Jesus.  And we should never expect someone to act upright until they have a relationship with Jesus by faith.  Often the issue is not really the issue when people say this (though sometimes it is very accurate).

3. Let’s help people realize that we are all in need of help when it comes to hypocrisy.  Let’s remind people that we are all hypocrites and the only remedy is Jesus Christ.  He can change us, help us grow and mature, and keep our hypocrisy accounts short and small.  Receiving the Good News of Jesus is the only hope.

To be clear, hypocrisy in the church is real and damages our witness for Jesus, but it’s also an opportunity for us to help others see their own hypocrisy and point them to the only One who can do something about it.

Warmly,
Vince