Shot across the bow. A warning.

WOW. Can anybody say they saw that coming? And many say, saw what coming? What happened?

We just went from business as usual, to all schools, churches, social gather, any meetings of greater than 10 people (in many cases that is 2 families) being not permitted. Ill-legal. Against the law. Enforceable with National Guard, or military action. And you can’t go to the grocery store to get toilet paper because there is none to be found. That all happened in the month of March. Early March, I had most of March, April and May, scheduled with bus trips, either for the University or Academy. Between them were Pathfinder camp-outs and fair and I had just gotten back from a winter backpacking trip with a group of 32 teens and their staff. I had one weekend I’d be at my home church. Two weeks later my schedule is wide open. I can’t go anywhere, but it is open. No trips, no school, no church, no Pathfinders. And no, you don’t have to tell me to stay home. I don’t want to get out and catch it or spread the virus. I may consider myself strong enough to get it and get over it, but what about someone I could pass it on to that might not be? Take it home to your grandparent or a child, cost them their life and you would never get over that. It is serious, and the sooner we all take it seriously, the sooner the medical personal can hopefully get it under control.

Now, I don’t consider myself an alarmist. And with a son that is a cyber information security specialist, there are very few things that surprise me. But when a missile crosses the path of my boat, (that was not a rifle shot), I tend to look to see where it came from.

As Seventh=day Adventist Christians, and students of prophecy we tend to think we have it worked out as to how things will happen in the “end time events”. And I’m not saying we don’t. We do have a good handle on what will take place, it is just that what gets us to that point may very well “blind side us” if we are not careful. We do know we will lose our religious liberty. We do know we will lose the ability to buy and sell. But did you see how fast this event happened? Wow. And out of necessity.

We went from business as usual, to no evangelistic meetings, (I know It Is Written had a very large one planned for Indianapolis that had to be canceled). All in about two weeks. Actually, they are still going to have it online, but can you imagine having a baptism and only being able to invite your immediate family? We are barely seven months from Oshkosh Pathfinder Camporee and seeing 1,200+ show their commitment to the Lord in baptism in front of an audience of 57,000. Yes, we are resourceful, and we will work thru the internet and other media to continue the gospel commission. We will be able to view it on line, though not in person. But for how long?

With all the push for political correctness, and the “don’t say it if it is going to offend anyone” crowd, how long are we going to be able to call the dragon of Revelation, a dragon? Or will it have become somebody’s cute little pet that some just happen to be afraid of?

I grew up in rural East TN and during my childhood we were on an eight-party line. You may have to look that one up to see what it means, but ask Dolly Parton, she had one too, after they got a phone. It simply meant you had eight families that shared the same phone line. Which meant that if you picked up the phone and someone was talking, you simply placed the phone back on the receiver (it’s base) and waited awhile, trying again to see if they were off the line. It also meant that you never said anything on the phone that you didn’t want the rest of the world to know. Because you can bet that among that eight families there was going to be at least one or more busy bodies that had nothing better to do that set and listen in on their neighbor’s phone conversations. I was never so glad to see any advancement as I was to see them develop the ability to send more that one conversation along one line at the same time without being heard by the other parties. And was delighted that it happened before my dating years. Now every child feels deprived if they don’t have their own phone. Why did I put that in here? To say the following; somethings never change. There is always someone wanting to listen in on your conversations and will devise some means to do so. Point being. Three years ago, I was putting my thoughts together for a teen program I had coming up soon. I was using my phone to dictate an email to myself so when I got home, I could cut and paste into Word my notes. So, I’m talking when my phone makes an unusual series of clicks. Thinking I had an incoming call I tried to pause my email and switch to phone. Apparently, something I had said triggered it and, in my switching, I did something that was never supposed to happen. A glitch. I put something out there in cyber space into playback mode and for the next few minutes I sat there with my mouth open as I listened to a conversation that I had with my grandson about four months earlier. I recognized the conversation though I was only hearing my end of it. It had taken place the last week of January and we were discussing the upcoming caving trip that weekend. I know if you nail them down and they admit anything, they say it is only computers listening and only to pick up on certain words or phrases, and yes, I understand the need for our security, but it is out there and there are ways to retrieve it. You let something become Ill-Legal, if it is nothing more than a meeting, and see how long it take for it to become known. When I told my son about it, his reply was, dad, are you really surprised? We live in a digital age, and if we have done more than think about it, it’s probably recorded somewhere.

This should be a real wake-up to many of us. If not, then there is no hope of us being awakened, I fear.  Again, this was not a rifle shot, nor was it a training maneuver. We just had front row seats as to how fast things can go from 0 to 200+. From everything is good and lots of plans in the works, to a screeching halt with no school, no church, no gatherings, limited travel, all within the space of two weeks. That is another wow.

I remember reading there would come a time that those with money would contact the church and say here is my resources, put it into the Lords work. But there was no place to put it to use, as things had closed up to the gospel work. I went by my bank this week to make a deposit and withdraw a little money. The office was closed, do to the virus. The only part open was the drive through and the ATM, and the ATM was down. Computer problem. There will be some that say that I’m reading to much into what is taking place, it’s necessary and we will recover. Did I say this was the end? NO. I said it was and is necessary for the safety of us all. We may recover, rebound, and be stronger than ever for a while. But if we didn’t look to see the direction that shot came from, we are not just asleep, we are dead. No, I’m not talking about China as the direction, I’m talking about the secular world and the fact that when a problem arises, the power that comes to play to enforce the position, “for the better good of all”. Sleep on that thought tonight.

Until next time