Global Warning

Do you remember where you were on New Year’s Eve before the turn of the new millennium? Where you partying “like its 1999”? I spent the night at the hotel where my father was working as the general manager. He had to work that night in case the Y2K bug crashed all of the hotel’s computer systems. Media and popular culture had us convinced the world was going to shut down once the clock struck midnight. Fear was resonating in the hearts of millions of Americans.

I remember watching Dick Clark do the traditional New Year’s Eve countdown as the ball dropped in Time Square. Next thing I knew, I was giving my wife a Happy New Year’s kiss and thanking God that all of the lights were still on. The new millennium was here and there was no bug to be found in the computers. However there was still fear to be found in the hearts of people.

The events in the new millennium have done anything but eliminate the fear that permeates our society. In 2000, we had the “hanging chad” election where a majority of people were convinced there was some kind of conspiracy determining the result. In 2001 on 9/11, terrorists hijacked planes and used them as weapons of mass destruction on U.S. soil.

In 2004, the hurricane season was notable as one of the deadliest and most costly Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, with at least 150 deaths and roughly $42 billion (2004 US dollars) in damage. The most notable storms for the season were the four hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. state of Florida, three of them with at least 115 mph (185 km/h) sustained winds: Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne.

In 2005, Southeast Asia was be devastated as many people lost there lives during a tsunami. Also in 2005, the world watched as Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans died on national television after being left stranded for days without food and water.

In fact, as I type this blog, the news stations are reporting on a bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis and fell into the Mississippi River. It seems that we can’t even travel across our bridges anymore without worrying about their stability.

It was during the hurricane season of 2005 that I recall overhearing conversation after conversation in the gym about the topic of “end times”. The men in the locker room were certain that all of these events were signs that we are living in the last days. People seemed to be facing the fact that we are not invincible. This shaking was definitely stirring the God conscious in all who witnessed these tragedies.

In this new millennium, could God be using these misfortunes to give us a global warning?

Hebrews 12:25-27 says, “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? (26) At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” (27) The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (29) for our “God is a consuming fire.”

What does it mean to worship God acceptably with awe and reverence? It means that the most important and serious activity we should attend to in life is worship. Worship is homage or reverence paid to God, and it is complete adoration and devotion to Him.

If there is anything our society lacks today, it is a reverence and awe for God. We tend to think that God will always extend us the same amount of grace no matter what decisions we make. In other words, all we have to do is ask for forgiveness and God will not make us suffer the consequences of our bad decisions. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Stay tuned for part two of Global Warning and come visit us for part two of our Global Warning series at Every Nation Tallahassee. Service times are 9am and 11am. I look forward to seeing you there.