The Day of the Lord.. Is it Close at Hand?

As we begin this new year and we enter a new presidency, there are so many bad things going on that it makes me wonder how close Jesus' return really might be. They (the media, the great deceiver!) claim our economy is the worst it's ever been and they talk about how bad all the job loss is. They tell us how our leaders have brought all this bad stuff down on our heads and everybody should blame the now previous president for everything because he was the devil. Well, I've been studying the book of Joel and I notice a lot of similarities between the times of Joel and the times of America today. Jerusalem faced a plague of locusts unlike they had ever seen and it destroyed their food, their livestock, and ruined the economy. The overall mood of the country was dismal and the people probably believed they would all die shortly. Joel told them that they had never seen anything like this and they would never see anything like it again. I'm sure that a lot of people had a lot of ideas on how to fix the problem, but very few of them had to do with God. That sounds like today to me. We're hearing all of these great plans for fixing the economy and getting us out of the war and creating more jobs, but I don't hear anything about turning to God to get our country going in the right direction. We've become a nation that tolerates idolatry, condones immoral behavior, and condemns anyone who doesn't tolerate the heresy that is coming out of our country.
Joel warned the people that it was time for them to repent from their evil ways, and to turn back to God. He warned them that if they didn't humble themselves before the Lord and turn from all the idolatries and hedonisms that they were engaged in, then the Day of the Lord would soon come and it would be far worse for them than this.
I couldn't help but notice yesterday the boos lobbed at Rick Warren and the Bushes, and wonder if we are approaching the Day of the Lord in our time. How can you boo a man of God unless you are child of the devil himself? Because he has stood up for what is right according to the one true God, this man who was once revered by a lot of casual wannabe Christian hypocrites, is now being turned on because he refuses to stand silent on God's truths. As a preacher myself, I wonder how long it will be before we are all told by our new leadership that we cannot proclaim the truth because it might hurt someone's feelings or it comes into conflict with someone else's views. I know that we are to support our country's leadership and for now, I have no problem doing that. But I will have a hard time standing by them if they begin to step on the truth of the Lord.
I honestly believe that our nation needs to hear God's call to us. Just like He told the children of Israel to turn from their idols and their sins, the call is ringing out to us now. We have become a country that is fat on our own successes and we have become lazy and complacent. We have replaced golden calves and snakes with televisions, SUV's, large houses and mountains of debt. We allow our children to focus on video games and sports rather than on school and church. We build big houses and big churches, but we never invite God to come into either of them. We are a nation about me, myself and I. So many people don't even care about the blessed children given them by the Lord while so many of us don't even have the chance to have children of our own. I watch people who pawn their children off on their parents and babysitters because they need some "me" time. I feel like the only "me" time I need is time for me to get alone with God and let Him humble me. Isn't it sad that we have people who will go further to save a cow or a tree than they will to save a child?
I truly believe the Day of the Lord is close at hand. I just wonder how many people will be ready for that day?

A New Year, A New Hope

I know that I sounded a little pessimistic in the first post I made on this blog, but I am a lot more optimistic than I used to be. As we've looked back on the year, Amanda and I made a promise to each other and to the Lord that we were going to do our best to have a much more positive and loving year. We are ready to move on from the troubles of the past, and to see that things can only get better from here. As we listened to Bro. Van Sunday evening, Amanda said that the Lord was just touching her throughout the service. He asked us to pray for our church family for different reasons, and as he discussed each topic, he asked one of the men of the church to come up and pray. It gave me a peace and a joy unlike any you could imagine. He read this scripture. Jeremiah 29:11-14 11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
As I listened to those words, I reflected on the last year, and you know, it did feel like we had been in exile. It seemed like every corner we turned there was some unexpected problem that would bring us down. We did have good moments too, though, as we saw between 10-15 kids saved in our church in the last year. We had opportunities to show them Christ's love, and we were loved back by them so much. That was what made it hard to leave. But God is in control, and He has great plans for us in the new year. It has been on our hearts to start a group that would comfort and reach out to those who may have gone through the things that we have in the last year.
It is so difficult for someone to know the pains of childlessness when you have children of your own. We have watched people who we once considered friends become distant and afraid to speak to us, as if they didn't want to make us feel uncomfortable or they didn't want to feel uncomfortable themselves. There were people who were going through the struggles we did, and they turned to us and we were grateful to help them, but when they were able to have children, we were almost shunned by them. That's a very hurtful experience. I watched as my wife would come home from baby showers in our home church, and she would be crying. It would hurt me so bad, knowing that there is nothing that I can physically do to help her experience what these women felt. No one knows that pain, but we do. And we want to help others who are going through that. I don't know if anyone will read this, but if you do, I want you to know that there is hope in spite of all the bad in this world. Yeah, it may seem unfair that God has chosen not to bless us with the beauty of natural childbirth, but God never promised that life would always be fair. He did promise, though, to be there for us, and to comfort us and to give us the strength to overcome. I hear so many people say that God will never put more on us than we can bear, but I disagree with that. The reality is this, if we try to bear anything alone, it will become overbearing for us. God doesn't want us to bear our burdens alone. When our burdens begin to weigh us down, we need to go to Him right then and ask Him to help us carry our burden. It may be our burden, but it's not ours to bear alone. It's ours and His together. Just as a husband and wife must bear all their joys and sorrows together, so must the Christian bear all their joys and sorrows together with Christ. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
I plan on talking about this topic of infertility and loss a lot throughout this year, and I hope that I can help someone who is going through what we have gone through. Amanda and I have talked about starting a support group for folks who go through this pain this year, so please be in prayer for us. It's going to hurt a lot to go through it again and again, but it's part of God's plan, and we know that He has great plans for us, because He told us so in His word.


Brian Luna
The Lunatic Preacher

News of the Absurd

I was just reading an article about a 2-year-old child who was killed while on a hunting trip with his 29-year-old father, who apparently is a big child himself. Maybe it's just me, but my first question is this: Why is a 2-year-old child on a hunting trip with his father? I know that I'm not a big-time hunter, but I know that hunting is something that requires quiet and observation. How can a man be observant of what's going on when he's trying to keep up with a 2-year-old in the woods? How can he expect that child to be quiet? I've yet to meet a 2-year-old who can be quiet for more than about 15 seconds. It's just not in their nature. Not only that, but consider the risks you are putting your child at by having them in this environment. First and foremost is the potential for the child to be accidentally shot. Children are not known for standing still and he could see that deer and take off running toward it. Then there's the matter of the child's hearing. Think of the damage a shotgun blast could do to the ears of a child. I have a hard time thinking this irresponsible father had enough forethought to bring earplugs for the child and at that age, ear damage can be very permanent. Not only that, but the father was bragging about letting the little boy shoot his .22 caliber rifle for the first time. OK, who is going to let a 2-year-old child shoot a real gun? Please, someone answer that for me. I have no concept of the sanity of this whatsoever. We wonder why our kids grow up with an obsession with guns. Give them one at 2, and let's see what they can do. Excuse me? Children shouldn't be anywhere near a real gun of any kind at that age. Then, there's the matter of allowing him to ride on the ATV with him. This is something that I see a lot of people do, and I have a real problem with that. Children love to touch stuff, and you have to pay close attention to what they're doing. This man was reading a text message while barely creeping along talking to his brother-in-law, completely disregarding the child. Then when the child hit the throttle, it threw the dad from the ATV. They said they were amazed that he was able to hang on until he hit the tree. I would have been hanging on for dear life too. The child didn't have a helmet on, of course. Maybe I'm out of bounds here, but I feel like this man needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for neglect and complete disregard for human life. I fully support the right to bear arms, but when I see cases like this, I just have to shake my head. How completely absurd. Here's a link to the article on Fox News' website. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,476104,00.html

A look back on the year that was.

Well, this is something new for me. I have heard so much about blogging and have been encouraged by a lot of my friends to try my own blog. I wasn't so sure if this was my thing, but we'll give it a shot and see. As I look back on 2008, I hate to say that I am glad to be past a year because we don't know how many we'll be given. But, this was truly one of the most difficult years of my life and definitely the toughest of our eight years of marriage. We had to make a tough decision to begin the year with Amanda's hysterectomy, and it was one that grieved us greatly. We were so completely devastated by that, but I would rather give up having children than give up living with my beautiful wife. She is so strong and such a good Godly woman. I couldn't ask for a better wife. I know that if God wants us to have children, He will provide a way. We were able to get through that, though, because of the love of good Christian church and family members. I am so thankful for the folks of Maranatha and Pleasant Hill Baptist Churches. They have been so supportive of us and kept us in their prayers, and we couldn't have made it without them. If anyone ever asks how I know God is real, I can always point to this situation and show where He was there for us.

We were also dealing with a church without a pastor. This was the first time that I had ever been at a church as an adult that didn't have a pastor. When I accepted the youth pastor at Maranatha in June of 2007, I never imagined that four months later, my pastor and friend would be stepping down due to disagreements in the direction of the church. That was a tough thing for us to deal with, and left us unsure of what our next move should be. God kept us there, though, and we grew so much through this trial, as well. I gained so much insight into the workings of a church and how much work goes into being a pastor. Finding a new pastor was a grueling process, but it proved to be a rewarding process, as I gained a new friend in our new pastor, and someone who I can go to with questions and concerns. Unfortunately, though, we have left this church because I felt God was leading me in a different direction in my ministry. That was a very tough decision for us. Even though we had only been at this church for about a year, I felt like God had other plans, and that He was through with us at Maranatha. I tried to resist and stay, but the more I resisted, the more I could see the direction he had intended for us. I had gone to the same church for most of my 35 years, but now we're changing churches again that was a little tough for me. It was a taste of life as a pastor and preacher, and I know that it will make us stronger in the long run.

Then the Lord led us to a new church, and it was the last place I ever expected us to land. One of my wife's co-workers invited us to the First Baptist Church in Fayetteville. Now, being raised in a country church where everyone is family, you just don't wind up at First Baptist churches. But, we went and were so blown away by the love and warmth that we were showed. The people made us feel right at home and God showed us that this was the place He wanted us to serve. I believe that God is going to grow us this next year in ways that we've never seen, but I'll save that for my next blog.

Our year has ended on several sad notes though, as we've been touched by death to some good friends and church members, and that is somehting that we don't expect at Christmas, but this year we were hit especially hard. There is comfort in knowing that the friends we lost are now with Christ in Heaven, but it is sad to know that they will not be here to make us laugh and smile in the next year. But, I know that God is in charge and He will help the friends and families of these loved ones to carry on, and we will be stronger for the influence they had on our lives.

I don't want anyone to think that I am whining and complaining, for I am truly grateful. I have been blessed with good parents and a wonderful wife, a house to live in and more stuff than I deserve. I am so grateful that God chose to use me as one of His humble servants, and I hope that He will continue to use me in the coming years. I know that this will be a better year, and life is going to be full of interesting adventures and new experiences that I can't wait to see. Here's to a great 2009!