Reach for the Skies!

When we were kids, my brother and I used to play all kinds of games together...

"Reach for the skies!
Wait... Let me get my gun ready...
Okay, REACH FOR THE SKIES!"

Cowboys and Indians... 

Karate Kid... 

Batman and Robin... 

G.I. Joe..

Every day was an adventure, it seemed, and of course, we always had to have the right costumes/accessories, no matter what the game was!

The Final Pope?

Generally, I prefer not to talk much about my thoughts on End Times stuff or the Catholic Church, but I decided to make an exception and talk about both at the same time today!

Black smoke - try again.
White smoke - a new pope is elected.
For more info, read this.

After a recent church service, someone asked for my thoughts on the upcoming selection of the new pope. To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought. Not being Catholic, why should I? Then he asked what I thought of St. Malachy's prophecy concerning "Peter the Roman", but I had to admit I had no idea what he was talking about. I listened as he briefly explained what he understood about these things, offered a few thoughts, and decided to do a little research when I got home.

St. Malachy was the Archbishop of Armagh (Ireland) back in the 12th century, and the legend says that in 1139 AD, he saw a vision predicting who every pope would be from then until the Apocalypse. His "Prophecy of the Popes" doesn't give names or dates; instead it gives a cryptic phrase in Latin to describe each pope - 112 in all, starting with Pope Celestine II. Supposedly, for several of these, their descriptions have been surprisingly accurate!

The reason this was brought to my attention was because - did you guess it? - Pope Benedict XVI was Pope #111 since Malachy's day, which means if the prophecy can be trusted, the new pope - whomever he may be - will be the last pope before Jesus returns! If that's not exciting enough, apparently many believe this last pope (referred to in Malachy's prophecy as "Peter the Roman") will also be the second beast - the false prophet in Revelation 13 - who rises up and performs miracles in order to cause everyone to worship a false religion and take the mark of the beast!

Can this be true?!

Godly Correction

When was the last time you said something and wished you could take it back? Whether you intentionally lied or said something hurtful, or whether you were simply misunderstood, I think we've all been there more often than we'd like to admit!

Yesterday afternoon, I received an e-mail with the text of a letter from Bishop Lindsey Davis (of the UMC - not a Catholic bishop) calling on Methodists to pray for our Catholic neighbors as the conclave gathers in Rome to elect a new pope. (To read the bishop's letter, CLICK HERE.)

As I read this letter, I was reminded of the way I began and ended my post yesterday morning about the Prophecy of the Popes, and I decided it was important to be clear about some things.

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood
A beautiful day for a neighbor...
Would you be mine?"

For years as a kid, I remember turning on the local PBS affiliate, and there were a few shows I always liked to watch: Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street... and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. My favorite at the time was probably Sesame Street, but I loved all three. Eventually, of course, I grew up and began to feel like I grew out of those shows, and I haven't watched any of them in ages. But looking back, I think I have more happy memories of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood than any of the others.

I remember a few of the educational segments, I remember the trolley ride into the "Neighborhood of Make-Believe", and some of the fun characters there. I remember the sweaters, feeding the fish, and fun songs like "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" and "It's Such a Good Feeling". But most of all, I remember how Mr. Rogers seemed to genuinely care about the children watching his show. He spoke in a way that would be easily understood - in a calm, clear tone. He talked about things that were important to us as kids - about hopes and fears of all kinds. And his messages were always reassuring and uplifting.

"You are special."          

          "You are loved." 

"I like you, and I hope you like you, too!"

God's Valentine

I thought it was interesting that Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day are back to back this year.

Ash Wednesday, of course, marks more than just foreheads - it marks the beginning of Lent, which is the 40-day period (minus Sundays) that leads up to Easter. It's a time to consider our own mortality, and to focus on repentance and spiritual discipline as we meditate on the truth that Jesus died to save us from our sins and rose from the dead to offer us the gift of eternal life. Many people practice fasting or other forms of self-denial during this season as a way of honoring Christ's sacrifice and remembering that the Gospel message ought to change every part of our lives. The tradition dates back to the early church.

While St. Valentine's Day has become a day for couples to celebrate their love, this day also has roots in the early church. Originally, it was a day to remember a couple men who were so transformed by the Gospel that they were eventually martyred for their faith. People didn't start sending flowers and cards on this day until sometime in the Middle Ages.

Because these two holidays are so close together this year, I've been meditating on the fact that what Jesus endured on the cross was the ultimate example of God's love.

Unexpected Crosses

Recently, I talked about the controversy in Jackson, OH, over the display of a portrait of Jesus in a middle school. This is only one in a long list of cases where groups have been trying for some time to remove Christian symbols from public spaces. At the end of my comments on the Jackson situation, though, I talked about the blessing of remembering that - even if all our symbols were somehow taken away - no one can ever take Christ away!

As the hymn says...     "He lives within my heart!"    

That said, I don't believe there will ever come a time when - just as I did here with the examples of sunlight and snowflakes, or as I do on my other blog with popular music, movies and TV - a discerning Christian won't be able to see symbols of God's love wherever he goes.

"For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities

 - his eternal power and divine nature - 

have been clearly seen,  

being understood from what has been made, 

so that men are without excuse."

            - Romans 1:20 (NIV)

If you expect it and look for it, God will reveal himself even in some of the most unexpected places. Here are four places where I've seen the cross on public display, and neither the ACLU nor anyone else can do anything about it!

Snowflakes

It snowed at our house today.

I hate having to go out in it, but I love to sit and look at it from a nice warm place in the house!

Have you ever looked closely at a snowflake?

No two (paper) snowflakes are alike!

From a distance, they all look the same - just a bunch of little white dots - but up close, a snowflake can be an interesting thing to see. I had a snowflake land on my nose one time, and I just kinda stood there and stared at it, and it was neat to see how there seemed to be so much detail in such a tiny thing!

I would have taken my snowflake home and kept it, but - sadly - when I tried to pick it up, I crushed it, and it melted right on my nose. A single snowflake by itself is a delicate thing... but look outside when it's been snowing, and see what happens when they all stick together!

Similarly, there are a lot of Christians in this world, and from a distance, maybe we all look alike, but when you get up close, there can be some big differences from person to person! But I'm not just talking about differences in physical appearance or what denomination you belong to...