I always felt a little wiser after I heard his stories. Whether it was relevant or not, I knew something that I did not know before and it empowered me.
I set myself up to for a Paul Harvey type of story in my last blog. Hence, I felt some added pressure in what was next, so I pondered a little longer before putting pen to paper hoping to glean some greater insight into my next blog. I took a vacation to Maine with my husband and I came across a book called “All The Places To Go” by John Ortberg. On the front cover the author poses a question: “God has placed before you an open door, what will you do?” On the back cover he states, “All you need to do is walk through the door and you just might do something that lasts for eternity.”
I wondered if John Ortberg had seen the Lego Movie and been following my blog! Highly unlikely, but the concept of the open door is a divine adventure and the book will undoubtedly make it’s way into my blog several times.
Another interesting thing I read concerning a door was written by Rabbi Winston, a presumed “end of times” expert. He stated “the final redemption is at the door” and declared “without question Moshiach is around the corner… Without question he’s here already. I don’t know how old he is, where he’s sitting, what he’s doing, what he’s learning. But he’s here. He’s not going to be born tomorrow. We’re just too close to the end. Way too close to the end. He has to be here right now!” Rabbi Winston goes on to ask rhetorical questions on behalf of his followers: “So why hasn’t he revealed himself? Why are we still fighting? Why are we still struggling? Why are we still suffering? Why is there still terrorism?”
While on our Maine vacation, my husband and I met an interesting couple with whom we engaged in deep conversation. They are not of any particular faith, but they asked us these very same questions ~ why all the suffering, why this sudden wave of terrorism and hatred?
The answer lies in the story that has already been written … in the prophecy!
In the beginning of the Lego movie Lord Business says that the prophecy is just a made up legend, a bunch of hippy dippy bologna.
“For you this whole vision is nothing but words … sealed in a scroll” (Isaiah 29:11)
At the end of the Lego movie, Emmet says to Lord Business “The prophecy is made up, but it is still true, and it’s about you! And YOU can change everything!”
At the end of Rabbi Winston’s article on Why Hasn’t the Messiah Revealed Himself there is space reserved for comments, subject to certain rules and limitations. I offered what I thought were valid considerations to the Rabbi's questions based on Old Testament scripture, but my comments were removed. Do we want answers or not?
“The Lord says ...‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.’” (Isaiah 29:13)
Today we celebrated the birth of my country, the USA. Our founding fathers rejoiced over our freedom and independence just as the Jews did when Israel became an independent and sovereign nation. Our freedom to seek truth is what allows us to prosper. When rules get in the way of truth, then we have lost our power and astonishing things take place ... what is next?“When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.” (Daniel 12:7)In my opinion, the power of our Christian nation was finally broken in our last presidential election; but I have to wonder if the 'holy people' might be Israel, whose power needs to be broken, humbled, in order to bring back the Messiah.