From Brother Bill Boldham

          For most of my Christian life, I have heard it preached, and I have myself, often encouraged my brethren to get ready for the Lord Jesus’ return, because He’s coming. At God’s appointed time, Jesus will come. His coming will usher in a day of everlasting rest, peace and joy for His saints; it will bring in a day of everlasting destruction for the wicked.

          An Old Testament saint, Enoch, describes His coming concerning the ungodly: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 1:14-15

          The apostle Paul describes the Lord’s coming for His church: “…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.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

          Enoch was only one of two men who never died, the other being the prophet Elijah. Concerning Enoch, who was the seventh generation down from Adam, Scripture tells us this: “Enoch lived 65 years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah…Enoch walked with God three hundred years…and he was not, for God took him.” Genesis 5:21-24 And then this: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, and was not found, because God had taken him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5

          In the brief history of Enoch, I don’t see a man scrambling to get ready for the Lord to take him. Rather, I see a man who was ready, who stayed ready; a man whose heart was steadfast by faith, always ready to please God. In the Bible, I see that God used people for His purposes, whose hearts were ready; they didn’t get ready, they were ready.

          Some prominent characters in the Old Testament testify. Abraham was ready when the Lord called him to be the father of the lineage of His Son, Jesus Christ. Moses was eighty years old when the Lord called him to lead His people out of Egypt; he was ready. David was just a young shepherd boy when the Lord had Samuel anoint him as the next king of Israel; He was ready. Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord say, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then Isaiah said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 He was ready.

          When the Lord was ready to send His Son into the world, He found ready hearts in the parents of John the Baptist; He found a ready heart in a young virgin to bear His only begotten Son. And, when Jesus entered into His public ministry, He found ready hearts for His message of salvation; a people eager to hear and receive what he had to say. Jesus also found a people who were ready to reject His words, despise Him, and kill Him in a most cruel manner.

          How can you tell if you are ready for His coming? Jesus commanded us to love one another as He loved us. He said that it would be this love that would define His disciples to the world. Do you stay ready to love God with all your heart, mind and soul? Do you stay ready to love your brother and sister, your neighbor and your enemy? Do you stay ready to help and encourage them? Your answer measures your readiness. If you are avoiding, ghosting, or have unforgiveness towards anyone, you ain’t ready.

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net

From theepochtimes.com

A Plainwell, Michigan, high school junior has gone to federal court to fight for his right to talk about his religion.

The case arose when Plainwell High School student David Stout was suspended for three days for expressing his Christian beliefs and opinions in a private conversation with a like-minded student on school property and in private text messages outside of school with friends.

In his conversations and text messages, Stout put forth the biblical teaching of the love of God through Christ for sinners and expressed his own love for his peers. He shared the Judeo-Christian doctrine that homosexual conduct was a sin and that God created only two biological genders—man and woman.

Before being suspended, Stout alleges he was asked by a faculty member why he had not “self-reported” his sharing of his religious and political beliefs with fellow students to school officials.

Stout also alleges he was told that talking about religious or political beliefs was not allowed anywhere on campus for fear of hurting someone’s feelings. He alleges the faculty member told him that he must stop all religious conversations with other students because, if overheard, they might feel offended and unsafe.

Stout said the whole thing seemed to him to be a one-sided method to shame, intimidate, and silence conservatives and Christians.

The superintendent of Plainwell Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

The complaint, which was filed Jan. 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, states that the school’s principal and assistant principal allegedly explained to Stout that it was a student’s responsibility, not only to stop hurtful comments and behaviors, but to preempt such conduct.

Stout said that the administrators warned him that anything he did or said in school, outside of school, or on social media could negatively affect his future employment prospects—a statement that Stout alleges was a threat.

On Oct. 25, 2021, Stout’s parents received notice that their son had been suspended.

David’s father, David Stout, Sr., stated, “We have always taught our son to be respectful of everyone’s opinion and to be polite to others…(He) is entitled to properly express his faith and beliefs without being disciplined and suspended by Plainwell schools. We trust the court will uphold David’s constitutional rights and his school record will be cleared.”

The Stouts’ attorney, David Kallman of the Great Lakes Justice Center, said, “David was suspended for three days last fall for stating his Christian beliefs in a private text conversation and in a hallway at school. He is also being punished for not policing and reporting the inappropriate jokes of fellow students. He was instructed to stop posting his religious comments on all his social media platforms, and was disciplined for the offensive behavior of some other students; something he was unaware of and did not participate in.

“David is a good student with a clean record. Nothing he did caused a disruption or any problem at the school. He has the right to express his opinion in accordance with his religious beliefs without vilification or punishment from the government.”

Stout asked the court for a declaratory judgment that the Plainwell School District violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, and his civil rights under the Michigan Constitution, and other state statutes. He is asking his suspension be expunged from his school record and is seeking compensatory and/or nominal damages, costs and attorney fees. Source

Brethren, we will see more and more of this intolerance of Christians sharing our faith. Jesus warned us of this in Matthew 24. We MUST stay strong and we must understand that sharing the Gospel of Christ is what we are here for. And we must also understand that this comes with a cost.

We share in His sufferings. I can’t think of anything more glorious than that.

MARANATHA!

MARANATHA!