New Year Resolutions

Resolutions can be likened to road maps, in that to be effective, they must be considered in light of where we've been, where we're at now, and where we're hoping to go.

I don't know about you, but looking back it occurs to me that I've been relying extensively on the "Columbus model" to navigate through most of life. History buffs will recall that the famous explorer started out not sure of where he was heading and (upon returning) he wasn't too certain of where he'd been -- and he financed the whole trip on borrowed money. Well if that approach describes your experience as well, I have some good news...there's a better way.

So this month, in keeping with the New Year's tradition of making resolutions, we consider some timeless principles for charting our course in light of the "Christ event," an accomplishment so significant -- that the world restarted its calendar. Then we follow-up Scripture's advice on planning with a sobering assessment of where we are on God's prophetic clock, as it relates to facts on the ground in the volatile Middle East and the promise of the Rapture.

Given your personal ambitions for the New Year and the larger aspirations of this generation, let's resolve to redeem the time we're allotted for our good and God's glory.

May God continue to richly bless you throughout the New Year.

Roy Tanner



Pressing Toward the Goal

Effectiveness in the Christian walk

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

While we all resolve to do better in the new year, nothing is more common than holiday season resolutions that are abandoned before Spring. Rather than discard the notion of resolutions altogether though, let's revisit some sage advice on the topic. In the opening Scripture passage the apostle Paul has penned some of God's most practical admonishments to us all. Simply applied, these truths deal effectively with life's past, present and future, and are summarized as follows:

Remember to forget.
If we want to make the best of the present -- in light of God's grace, let's resolve neither to rest on the laurels of past achievements, nor dwell too long on previous shortcomings. In God Came Near, Max Lucado writes, "In the cellar of your heart lurk ghosts of yesterday's sins. Sins you've confessed; errors of which you've repented; damage you've done your best to repair...but do yourself a favor. Purge your cellar. Exorcise your basement. Take the Roman nails of Calvary and board-up the door. And remember...He forgot." In the final analysis, we need a Savior not a second chance, for "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17)

Answer the call.
The most basic question everyone faces in life is, Why am I here? What is my purpose? Self-help books suggest that people should look within, at their own desires and dreams, but in The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren suggests our starting place must be with God and his eternal purposes for each life. Real meaning and significance comes from understanding and fulfilling God's purposes for putting us on earth. This manifesto for Christian living affirms a lifestyle based on eternal purposes, not just cultural values.

Using biblical precepts and principles, Warren amplifies God's five purposes for each of us, as follows:
1) We were planned for God's pleasure, to offer real worship.
2) We were formed for God's family, to enjoy real fellowship.
3) We were created to become like Christ, to learn real discipleship.
4) We were shaped for serving God, to practice real ministry, and
5) We were made for a mission, to live out real evangelism.

And press toward the goal.
Regardless of whether you share my presuppositions about life, everyone desires to know that life has meaning, that we have a significant destiny awaiting us, and that we are accepted and belong in our community of relationships. If you've come-up empty in your search though, realize that these objectives will only be completely satisfied in a personal relationship with your heavenly Father, as we stay at the center of His will.

Dr. John MacArthur affirms that God calls us individually to be saved, sanctified, Spirit-filled, and ready to suffer for our uncompromising faith in this life. And if we are careful to pursue the goal of "Christlikeness," the preferences in life are left up to you. Said differently, "delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps. 37:4)"

In terms of how we meet our goals, my advice wouldn't be complete unless I also referred to The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, where Steven Covey identifies seven timeless principles, which characterize effectiveness. These are as follows:

1) Be proactive - This is the characteristic of self-awareness, as seen in the ability to choose your response in any given situation. Between what happens to you and your response -- is a degree of freedom. And in this freedom to choose our response, by the power of the Holy Spirit we can make choices that lead to growth and happiness.

2) Begin with the end in mind -- This speaks to the goal of "Christlikeness." It suggests that preceding any physical creation or reality, is the mental image or visualization of that end. Covey's research supports the idea that this endowment unleashes the potential to self-actualize regardless of the conditions we are presented with.

3) Put first things first -- This speaks to the endowment of willpower. For Christians it can be summarized as "What would Jesus do?" A highly disciplined life that focuses heavily on important, but not necessarily urgent activities of life, is one characterized by leverage and influence. Taken together, these first three principles speak to achieving the type of "personal" success that precedes "public" effectiveness as follows...

4) Think "win-win" -- This refers to an abundance mentality versus zero-sum gaming in life. Everything is seen through principles. And as people become increasingly principle-centered, they love to share recognition and power. This abundance mentality suggests we have a vested interest in the success of others, which produces more effectiveness and recognition for everyone.

5) Seek first to understand, then to be understood -- This represents an endowment of courage balanced with consideration. This capability acknowledges that the root cause of almost all problems in personal interaction involves self-centeredness -- or listening without the empathy that advances mature two-way communication.

6) "Synergize" -- This is the endowment of creativity by way of respectful minds communicating effectively, to produce solutions that surpass original positions. This acknowledges that most negotiation is positional bargaining, which at best results in compromise. Synergy however, suggests that "win-win" solutions can almost always be found to satisfy both parties, affirming (along with the previous three principles) that "it's more blessed to give than receive" (Acts 20:35). And last but not least, there's...

7) Sharpen the saw -- This final capability focuses on the concept of continual improvement or self-renewal to overcome entropy, which represents closed systems of thinking. This endowment acknowledges that success in life is more a journey than a destination, as you're transformed from one level to the next "by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2).

Being personally invested in a biblical, principle-centered approach to life, is the best way to realize personal effectiveness. It is also important to note that this paradigm doesn't embrace just the latest thinking in a continuum of transitory fads. Instead it inculcates the greatest of biblical wisdom and classic sociological truth ever put into practice.

In their defining work on this subject Right from Wrong, McDowell and Hostetler affirm that the Bible is filled with precepts for an individual's faith and practice, for our good and God's glory. They explain that acknowledging biblical precepts allows us to apply the principles that emerge. And it's in practicing godly principles that we're able to experience the Person and work of Jesus in our lives -- as we conform our attitudes and actions to God's character and nature.

Confirmed by history and tethered to the eternal, biblically based, principle-centered resolutions meet the test of effectiveness and integrity for individual and societal advancement. This realization, after years of fruitless trial and error approaches, spurred a personal awakening in me. And it's on this basis, that I resolve to conduct myself and engage others.

Happy New Year,

Roy Tanner



The Bush Doctrine and Armageddon
Prophecy - Signs
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor

An Israeli senior military analyst told Israeli lawmakers recently that the terrorist group, Hezbollah, has grown so powerful that it has actually achieved a state of deterrence against Israel.

Hezbollah has acquired a missile arsenal so large that the Israelis are actually afraid to provoke them for fear of retaliation. Israeli senior commanders estimate that Hezbollah has as many as 15,000 rockets and missiles of varying ranges that could blanket most of the Jewish State.

As a consequence, it is Hezbollah -- and not Israel -- that is calling the shots along the Israeli/Lebanese border. An Israeli Defense ministry study found that, should Hezbollah launch an all-out attack on Israel, much of the northern part of the country 'could be destroyed'. Several Israeli communities would be wiped off that map. Hezbollah rockets within range of chemical plants in Haifa could unleash a toxic cloud that would kill everyone for miles around the facilities.

In the event of a war with Syria, Israeli military commanders say, a Hezbollah attack could flatten northern Israel and open up a second military front that could force Israel to use non-conventional weapons to prevent the country from being destroyed.

Senior Palestinian officials in Gaza say that Hezbollah is trying to recruit terrorists from among the Palestinians in Gaza while Iran works to undermine any renewal of the diplomatic process between the PA and Israel.

Israel has arrested 19 Palestinian activists recruited or controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. In addition, security services have identified Hezbollah's smuggling weapons and other military equipment through tunnels connecting the Sinai to the Gaza Strip.

Israeli security services attribute 21 attacks to Tanzim cells controlled by Iran. Some 50 Israelis have been killed and 216 injured in those attacks.

According to intelligence estimates, Iran and Hezbollah will concentrate their efforts in undermining any chance of renewing the peace process, and if a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians is achieved, they will seek to destroy it.

Iran is opposed to negotiations between Israel and Syria and the possibility that an interim agreement may result in Hezbollah's withdrawal from Lebanon's southern border with Israel.

Intelligence information also suggests that Iran is passing over millions of dollars to Palestinians via Hezbollah contacts, picking up where Saddam Hussein left off when he was overthrown by the coalition.

The Palestinian organization with which Iran has the closest affiliation is Islamic Jihad. Hamas maintains a permanent representative in Iran.

Hamas also gets significant financial and technical assistance from Tehran and its agents.

Hezbollah is dedicated to the destruction or removal of all non-Islamic influences in the Middle East, especially that of the United States, and in particular, Israel. It was Hezbollah, backed by the Islamic authorities in Iran, that was behind the bombing of the US Marines in Beirut in 1983.

In his September 20, 2001, speech to Congress, President Bush pledged that the U.S.-led war on terror “will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”

Hezbollah’s cells outside the Middle East, its reported involvement in the January 2002 attempt to smuggle a boatload of arms to the Palestinian Authority, and its role in the 1992 and 1994 attacks in Argentina make it a 'terrorist group of global reach'.

Hezbollah was even named specifically by President Bush by name as a terrorist group of global reach during his 2002 State of the Union speech.

Indeed, in June, 2002, Singapore accused Hezbollah of recruiting some of its citizens in a failed plot to attack U.S. and Israeli ships in the Singapore Straits.

Following the September 11 attacks, the president outlined his policy, known as the Bush Doctrine, which says the United States will "make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them".

It was under the authority of the Bush Doctrine that the United States went into Afghanistan and ended the terrorist regime of the Taliban. The US demanded the Taliban hand over Osama bin-Laden. When the Taliban refused, the Bush Doctrine required the US to view Afghanistan as an enemy state.

Under the terms of the Bush Doctrine, so are Iran and Syria.

The Bush Doctrine was fully delineated in a National Security Council text entitled the National Security Strategy of the United States issued on September 17, 2002.

The Bush Doctrine can be broken down into its component elements; the first of which is also the most controversial -- preemption. A preemptive attack is defined as "an attempt to repel or defeat an imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending and unavoidable war."

The Bush Doctrine gives the United States the right to take unilateral action without the approval of the United Nations, if necessary.

Despite the declaration of the Bush Doctrine, Iran and Syria continue to arm and equip Hezbollah with relative impunity. As a consequence, Hezbollah, estimated to number only a few thousand fighters, is in a position to hold Israel hostage by virtue of its ability to decimate the northern part of their country.

Thanks to the efforts of Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian backers, the United States has been rendered all but useless as a legitimate peace broker between Israel and her Islamic enemies.

Under the Bush Doctrine, the states with which peace must be negotiated are not just Israel's enemies, they are the declared enemies of the United States.

As a consequence of that fact, the Bush administration is aggressively pushing the Europeans to take a wider role in the process, something that the Europeans have been eyeing for years.

Having Europe on board would pay dividends because the Europeans are believed to be capable of influencing the Palestinians.

Of course it isn't going to result in a genuine peace. The prophet Daniel says that the Roman antichrist 'confirms' a seven year covenant (such as the failed, seven-year Oslo Accords) but that covenant also collapses halfway through.

There can never be peace between Israel and the forces of Islam, no matter who confirms it or how badly Israel wants a peace agreement to work.

The Bible says so, but so does logic.

For the forces of Islam to recognize Israel's right to exist would be tantamount to admitting that Allah lied. That the Koran is wrong. The Koran says once Islam takes root in a nation, that nation will always be Islamic.

Any non-Islamic entity is therefore, by definition, a temporary 'occupation' by a foreign power or it means the Koran is wrong.

Islam can no more recognize Israel's right to exist than Israel can recognize Islam's right to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The side that gives in not only gives up territory, it must also give up the basic fundamentals of their religion.

It is a war, not between nations, but between gods. Specifically, the God of the Bible and the god of this world. It cannot be settled by negotiations between nations, or by the threat of the imposition of force, as the impotence of the Bush Doctrine regarding Iran and Syria makes painfully obvious.

The war that began with Israel's declaration of statehood in 1948 is the same war that the Israeli prophets predicted would be settled, not at the negotiating table, but on the plains of Megiddo.

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till ALL these things be fulfilled." (Matthew 24:34)

Excerpted from the Omega Letter Daily Intelligence Digest, Volume:39 Issue: 38



Nearer than when we first believed

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John. 14:1-3)

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words." (1Thes. 4:16-18)

God has put eternity into the hearts of men (Ecc. 3:11), as evidenced by the abundant speculation about the afterlife. But why be concerned with ages to come and worlds unknown, when there are so many pressing issues to contend with in the here and now? Without losing our current focus, it's because mankind was created to live forever--that there's an insatiable curiosity about the hereafter.

Do you remember how General Maximus rallied his troops in Gladiator with, "What we do in life echoes in eternity." This tagline has the ring of truth, even if the comparatively few years we spend on earth will pale in significance to an unending eternity. As such, every person should pause and examine life in the light of this "blessed hope." For Christians, "eschatology," or the "doctrine of last things," can be a powerful factor in shaping our present conduct, and motivating service for God and man. [1] In this regard, we've been given considerable insight into what the future holds.

With predictive prophecy comprising fully one quarter of Scripture, the Bible stands alone as divinely inspired--as only God knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:9,10). From God's eternal vantage point, prophecy is merely history provided in advance. The prophetic passages like the ones above (along with 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52) support the Biblical basis for what's referred to as "the Rapture" of the church. This event includes complete transformation (Phil. 3:20, 21) and union with the Lord Jesus Christ that never ends.

Occurring at a time different from the coming of Christ in judgment, the Rapture has been described as pre-tribulational. Those who are left behind, having not previously placed their trust in Christ as personal Lord and Savior, will face an increasingly horrific seven-year interim period that's punctuated by persecutions, wars and natural disasters--of a type never before experienced on earth. Feeling vulnerable? While God wants all of mankind to be saved from this fate, justice will ultimately be visited on those not under grace.

Many have asked, "When is Christ expected to return?" While the Lord's return for His Church could happen at any time (i.e. doctrine of imminence), specific estimates may be relative to our culture. For example, 2005 on our Western calendar is also the year 4703 for the Chinese, and 5766 for the Jews. [2] Most people also don't realize that the West has not kept an unwavering record of time. Anyone wanting to chart, 100 BC to 2000 AD for example, would have to contend with the fact that 46 BC was 445 days long, there was no year 0 BC, and in 1582 we switched from Julian Years (360 days) to Gregorian (365 days).

Because most prognosticators are not aware of all of these errors, their math is immediately off by several years. But when it comes to knowing the general time frame of Christ's return for His Church, the Word of God is more generous. Jesus forewarned us of a number of events that will take place prior to His return. When we see the predicted events coming together, we can conclude that time is short (Mark 13:30). Most of these prophecies will take place during the tribulation. So any forewarning of their arrival, would make the Rapture all the more likely because it will occur before the start of the seven-year tribulation period. [3]

More specific estimates of the Lord's second coming rely upon a determination of both: a basis year, which initiates a predetermined countdown, and the length of a generation. One compelling theory suggests that we look to the year 1917 (with the signing of the Balfour Declaration), which coincided with international support for founding the State of Israel. To 1917 then add a 50-year jubilee increment (Lev. 25:11) to get to 1967, where history records that the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War resulted in the Jewish control of Jerusalem. If we use 1967 as our basis year, another jubilee increment takes us to 2017--suggesting the rapture event would occur before 2010 (by subtracting a 7-year tribulation).

Approximating a biblical generation of 50-years can also be supported through simple extrapolation. By dividing the historical period from Abraham to Christ by 42 generations (see Matt. 1:17), we come up with roughly 52-year increments. I also find it interesting that even the ancient Mayans approximated generational epochs of this duration. And although I put no real credibility in the calendars of pagan societies, mysteriously the ancients also reckoned the end of recorded history--in our generation.

Ultimately, the Lord tells us that we cannot know the day or the hour, however He does expect us to be mindful of signs of the times (Matt. 16:3), and to look for His appearing (Matt. 24:42). With this in mind, by my basis of estimate, the Rapture is very near. Starting with the fulfilled prophecy of Israel being re-established as a nation (occurring in 1948), I add the relative length of a generation (e.g. 70 years), and then subtract a tribulation period (i.e. 7 years)--leaving a not to exceed date approximating 2011.

If we are the rapture generation, then anytime between now and the next 6-years, in a moment's notice, believers will be transformed. Whether the events that have transpired in this generation--Israel's re-gathering, the revived Roman Empire (i.e. European Union), the Middle-East Road Map, etc.--are prophetic triggers [4] or not, this much we know for sure..."now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2).

By the way, the admonishment to act "now" acknowledges the brevity of life and the closing window of opportunity for accepting God's offer of salvation--by grace through faith in Christ. This passage also represents an aspect of biblical prophecy that deals more with forth-telling (i.e. proclaiming truth) than foretelling (i.e. describing a future event).

Inspired, prophetic foretelling ended with the Revelation (e.g. at the closing Canon). However, prophetic forth-telling continues throughout Christendom today, pastor to congregants, believer to seeker--everytime we espouse biblical precepts and principles that govern our faith and practice. So while knowing the exact timing of foretold events is exclusively reserved for the Almighty, you and I are expected to be about the business forth-telling in the here and now.

And frankly, something of the prophet in me wants to emphasize to others that life is short and unpredictable (Jam. 4:14). So if you have a talk to give, a message to write, or a song to sing for the Lord--we are to fulfill our individual missions before the dispensation of grace draws to a close. The catastrophic events recently in the news remind us of how fragile and uncertain this life can be. And a simple glance in the mirror daily affirms that time marches on.

Either at the Rapture or the end of this mortal life, we all have an appointment to keep with the Lord (Heb. 9:27). And the apostle Paul captured the sense of urgency that we should make our own in these last days when he penned, "...understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed" (Rom 13:11).

Roy Tanner

1) All the Doctrines of the Bible, Lockyer
2) http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar.html
3) http://raptureready.com/ (James)
4) http://www.harpazo.net/news.html



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