(with apologies to Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan…)

HUH? If the world is indeed ending, then why the heck do they CARE about earthly things like cash?

The delicious irony of how Rev. Dallas Henry starts his piece- with a big blue “$ CONTRIBUTE” button at the top. Who says they don’t have a sense of humor in the Christian Civic League?

Henry then goes into full-blast “Fire and Brimstone Land (TM)” as the driving reason WHY the sheeple should hock over their money, either not realizing the irony of his quotes or not caring, if it rakes in the bucks.

First the fear-mongering and “end of the world” mention, part 1:

“Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

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 24:4-13

Now the MAJOR guilt trip on having money (if one is indeed lucky enough to be in that position), spending money on yourself or your family- and many more mentions of the world’s impending doom, in case you missed it the first time.

Could make a fairly good drinking game!

Today there are lovers of pleasure and lovers of money.  Even the richest people in the world need more money.  They can have millions, even billions of dollars, and still they want more.

People are also boastful and proud.  How sad is it that we can’t be truly happy for someone else’s good fortune.  When someone we know (even someone we love) has had good fortune we tend to say “Why couldn’t that have been me instead?”

People today “expect” certain things as rights that once were regarded as privileges.  Everybody “owes” them something.  You don’t have to work hard and make good grades to go to college – just get a student loan!  It’s your “right!”  You don’t have to get a job and buy a car – your parents “owe” it to you to provide one!  And it’s your right also to not just have clothes, but designer clothes.  Oh, and don’t forget the cell phone – we don’t know how any of us ever made it without a cell phone in grade school!

Vs 3  “without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”.

That pretty much speaks for itself.  This world IS without love and unforgiving.  But we are called to a higher standing!  All of these things are totally opposite of what we need to be.  

Vs 7 “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” It’s time for Christians to “acknowledge the truth”!

In the original text in Matthew, Jesus speaks of wars and rumors of wars.  It’s happening today.  Nations are rising against nations, and there are famines and earthquakes everywhere! This world is falling apart – coming to an end.  Jesus said “Do Not Be Deceived!  Stand fast in the truths that you have learned!

Vs 14  “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.”

Now, more than ever, with satellites and all the other various forms of communications, more of the whole world is enjoying the opportunity to hear this gospel.  Of course there are areas of the world where certain people groups, living in “the bush”, have no knowledge of electricity or any of the other comforts that most of us enjoy.  For them, missionaries are going in, learning their language and eventually translating the Bible in their own tongue.  

This project used to take decades but now, with computers, this project has been shortened to years. The end is certainly coming.  

Eph 4:12-15 says we need to “prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  

God’s Church is in serious need of revival.  A need to turn back to the “old paths”, the place of holy living that the church proclaimed a generation or two ago.  God wants to show us off to a dark and dying world.  If the church looks the same as the world, how can we shine our light?  

So what is it God needs, anyways? A computer and stuff for missionaries, a new church (as the old one is apparently looking run-down), or simply the sheeple’s open checkbooks?

Is the world ending or NOT?

I’m reminded of Jim Kirk’s line in ‘ST5: The Final Frontier’: “What does God need with a spaceship?”

But speaking of “trips”, there’s more below…If indeed the world is ending, why is Mike Heath  and wife heading off for Tanzania- and is that the real reason for the “Flaming Brimstone Hat of Doom (TM)” being passed around?

Mike Heath and his wife Paulie are finalizing plans for their second trip to Africa. The couple will leave for the East African nation of Tanzania in another two weeks.

During the trip, Mike and Paulie will travel from village to village in a heavily Muslim region, spending two days in each village for outdoor evangelistic services and witnessing. Paulie Heath will use her gift for singing during these services to reach people for Christ.

Paulie Heath says that Tanzanian women face many challenges. Many men have multiple wives, and the women are worn down with daily chores, and grueling farm work.

Mike Heath will deliver several sermons in the villages, and he will emphasize the need for healthy family practices, the same message the Lord has called on Mike to give in Maine and beyond.  

There is still time to contribute to this important work. You can receive a tax deduction for your gift, when you write your checks to the Maine Family Policy Council Foundation (MFPC Foundation).

Send your checks to: MFPC Foundation, PO Box 5459, Augusta, Maine 04332

Not satisfied with annoying the hell out of people in Maine, Mike has decided to go mess with others in foreign lands. And Paulie is gonna sing at them, going forth and being annoying on an international scale.

Pity they’re wasting all of this time and effort though, considering the world is about to end and all…