Saturday, September 10, 2011

LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS (INTERESTING...PERILOUS) TIME

Hello friends..."May you live in NON-INTERESTING TIMES." (misquote of a Chinese curse) The quote is actually "May you live in INTERESTING TIMES."

However the saying is quoted or misquoted...the times are at the very least dangerous and perilous. Of course as King Solomon observed,
"That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done...and there is NOTHING NEW under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9) The only thing new is if THE SON is in you.


"But know this, that in the last days PERILOUS/TIMES OF STRESS will come." (I Timothy 3:1)

PERILOUS: capepos (khal-ep-oss)= harsh, savage, difficult, dangerous, painful, fierce, grievous, hard to deal with. The word describes a society that is barren of virtue but abounding with vices."
(Thanx and a Tip O Da Hat to The Spirit Filled Bible Word Wealth)

Paul describes these dangerous/perilous times in I Timothy 3:2-5..."For men will be:
(1) lovers of themselves (2) lovers of money (3) boasters (4) proud
(5) blasphemers (6) disobedient to parents (7) unthankful
(8) unholy (9) unloving (10) unforgiving/irreconcilable (11) slanderer (12) without self-control (13) brutal (14) despisers of good
(15) traitors (16) headstrong (16) haughty (17) lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (18) having a form of godliness but denying it's power.

I would say that those times would be DANGEROUS...INTERESTING...PERILOUS times. Of course this book was written in A.D. 66/67...but it sure does look like A.D. 2011 to me. Many would say...well those times have always been this way...and that it only looks worse because of telecommunications and internet access...along with 24 hour news coverage. Also it is said that those "religious nuts" only use these scare tactics to get your money.

Maybe so...but I beg to differ. There is a reported time...called THE LAST DAYS...when Jesus is returning...and it appears to me that we are in those LAST DAYS. It is also reported that Jesus will be returning in Acts 1:9-11...and until then we are called to be witnesses...Acts 1:8)

There are a couple of Bruce Cockburn songs that really point me to the return...and how to respond to the PERILOUS/DANGEROUS TIMES.

The first one is LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS TIME. You can go to You Tube and watch Bruce sing this song. A couple of lines in the song again really touch my heart. "These fragile bodies of touch and taste...this vibrant skin...this hair like lace...SPIRITS OPEN TO THE THRUST OF GRACE...never a breath you can afford to wast...when you're lovers in a dangerous time." Another line really touches me..."But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight...got to KICK AT THE DARKNESS...'til it bleeds daylight."

As I am writing this...the next song that I was going to reference came up on my player called PACING THE CAGE. "Sometimes the best map will not guide you...you can't see what's round the bend...sometimes the road leads through dark places...sometimes the darkness is your friend...Today these eyes scan BLEACHED-OUT LAND...for the COMING OF THE OUTBOUND STAGE...pacing the cage."

Bob Dylan told us..."the times they are a changing." The question is...what are you going to do as the times change from "the good old days."...to these dangerous, interesting, perilous times?

NOTE: To those who went through bad times...the good old days...may not have been so good...unless you were of another class or color.

Jesus spoke often of his death, his burial, his Resurrection and the fact that we would be hated because we named Him as Lord...and that we would have TRIBULATION in this world. "These things have I spoken to you, that IN ME you may have PEACE. In the world you WILL have TRIBULATION...but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." This does not mean that we hide our hands in the sand and avoid or deny the perilous world or the CREEPS (those who creep in)...but we put on the whole armour of God and fight the enemy...that is NOT flesh and blood (people) but the spirits behind the people. (Ephesians 6:1-1-20)

Love and Kickin' Kisses
Rodney "Breaking The Curse" Boyd

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