Blazing Like a Torch

Having commented on the looming environmental catastrophe in the Gulf in my most recent post, the blog was seemingly incomplete. Some sense of troubled awareness lay deep in my subconciousness. My alarm was set at 3:00 a.m. this past Monday. At 2:50 I was already awake contemplating the five hour drive to the project office in Tennessee. Many things can pass through the mind of the wayward traveler during these early morning hours on I-65. I was recalling the news of the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon, the eventual sinking of this $350,000,000.00 offshore exploration drilling rig (photo attached was taken from the internet and source was not indicated), and the days following with media speculation of this event surpassing the Exxon Valdez spill in the Prince William Sound of Alaska. We love the Emerald Coast of the United States and the real threat of ruin from the continuing uncapped wellhead is heavily burdening my family. Traveling to the beach as often as possible all seasons of the year, we enjoy fishing, viewing the abundance of marine life, and relaxing on some of the whitest sands on earth. During the drive it finally dawned on me that I have studied scripture with unprecedented parallels to the potentially unsurpassed marine disaster. I feel a sense of urgency and invite you to continue reading the following:

The apostle John wrote of a Holy Spirit inspired vision in Revelation 8:10-11 "Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter." (NKJV) When this prophecy becomes fulfilled, the world will be in the period of the Great Tribulation. This writing is not to imply that we are in this period today because this is not the case. The bible also teaches in I Thessalonians 4:16-17 "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." This event is the Rapture. Many years ago I surrendered my life and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I know what I know: I am a child of God. I believe in the inerrant, infallible Word of God. I will not be on the face of this earth at the onset of the Great Tribulation.

My friends, surely you are cognizant of the days we are now living. Wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes occurring daily. It is written "Blessed is he that readeth, they that hear the words of the prophecy of this book, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." Revelation 1:3 (KJV) I am thankful that I was not called to be an evangelist and certainly am not attempting to become one today. I am thankful more so for having been given the opportunity to work in places of quiet isolation. "Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10. If you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, I urge you to evaluate your destiny in eternity today. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..." Revelation 3:20 You were born with a soul to live forever. There are only two alternatives: accept the gift of enternal life through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on a cross at Calvary or eternal separation from God the Father. Hell is a real place of unimaginable sorrow and despair - a great chasm where no man can cross. An Atlanta pastor teacher once stated in his sermon about Hell, "Not believing in Hell is like standing on the beach with an approaching tital wave and stating I don't believe in that huge wave." I have not lived a perfect life, not even close. Those of you who know me personally realize that I am rebellious in my nature. This remains an ongoing battle within. I can say with certainty that having rededicated my life back in '01, the Lord has never failed to meet me in times of my greatest need. I invite you to seek the Lord Jesus Christ today!