As we have approached Resurrection Sunday aka Easter this year, I’ve seen many advertisements about specials in theaters on television and online about Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Over the past year or so I’ve seen an increased interest in the Bible, Christian missions, and Evangelical discipleship programs.
Why are we seeing all this activity now? I’ve been writing a weekly column for about 20 years. In the early days I wrote opinion-editorials (op-eds) about cultural and social trends and news from an Evangelical perspective. In those days other writers wrote columns on faith topics. Typically, editors ran those columns on weekends beside “church” news and announcements.
I almost always made a biblical point somewhere in my columns because I knew readers in the South liked to discuss popular news and current topics in biblical or faith contexts. I received warnings from a host of editors not to include Bible or faith in my columns particularly if the columns were about politics!
Well, I wrote and distributed the columns for free and saw no reason not to continue following a spiritual format. Of course, some editors asked me to stop sending the column, and I suppose even more never printed it. Nevertheless, some editors and readers enjoyed the column and encouraged me to keep on writing.
The past few years I’ve observed something akin to a revival among college students. When I was college student myself, I was always involved in numerous parachurch and church ministries. Most of the time those involvements kept me from getting into too much trouble.
I was never particularly interested in politics, but the 2008 race for president attracted my attention. I remember hearing Barack Obama speak at the Democrat National Convention in 2004. At that time, I knew very little about the junior senator from Illinois, but I knew he would be the 2008 Democrat candidate for president! He was a good speaker and obviously very popular with the crowds.
The 2008 race for president was fun for me to watch. The Republicans had a bunch of candidates. I’m sure the Democrats had a bunch too, but Senator Obama seemed to rise above all the rest. The joke was that if Obama won, we’d all be socialists! I wondered how a candidate with a Muslim name could win a national election just 7 years after 911. But that’s what happened, and I’ve seen a lot stranger things since then.
I had planned to write this week’s column about troubles here and abroad. Here because of all the politics over ID voting and recent alleged Islamic terrorist attacks. Abroad because of America and Israel’s war against Iran and all the intrigue about relationships between nations in the Middle East as well as the ramifications about America’s relations with China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and nations in South America.
Jesus warned His disciples to watch for the signs of His coming. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.” (Mark 13:31-33) “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” (Revelation 22:21)
Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.
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