The end of the world is old news.

Today another doomsday prediction was proven false. Those 18 to 21 year olds who are coming of age in America right now will be able to tell their grandchildren they survived the great Mayan apocalypse. You know, the day when one of their ancient calendars ended so surely that meant impending doom for the rest of humanity. Yet, here we are! Look at us now! We have beaten the calendar!

It is like in my day when those of us coming of age at the turn of the century survived the "Y2K Crisis." You remember, we weren’t sure if we would survive the computers turning their numbers from 1900’s to 2000’s. Would the world be able to go on with all those zeroes? The end of the world panic sent many to stockpile weapons and canned goods and wait for the computer blue screen of death to spread like the bubonic plague. Yet, humanity endured! We showed those computers who was boss! Man over machines!

It seems like even Hollywood is getting over this end of the world hype. How many times can we act like our planet is going to be destroyed only to have Bruce Willis save it? And so, movies are taking it to the next level. This week I saw two previews back-to-back about heroes who would dare to explore the previously destroyed planet earth. That’s right we are going to send in the surest bets we have in Hollywood to save us post-apocalypse, Will Smith and Tom Cruise. Have no fear America! Our world will be destroyed, but we can still go to the movies and watch the aftermath!

These two movie previews stood out from our normal diet of interplanetary star travel and alien invasion. The end of the world is such an expected part of our pop culture that somehow zombie training is making sense to many. These days Call of Duty gamers are shooting down the undead first-person style. Our Angry Birds are going into Space and Star Wars. Even in our entertainment, it is like we know the planet will only be available for a limited time.

And yet, in all of our doomsday conspiracy theories and end of the world entertainments, we have failed to see the scariest thing humanity is going to face: God. God has promised he is going to judge us. He will judge both our planet and many individuals. He will use fire. It is a destruction no special effect could duplicate or IMAX screen could possibly portray. This may not be a pop culture phenomenon or a summer blockbuster movie, but it belongs in a category many have forgotten about: truth.

Like I said, the end of the world is old news. All you have to do is read the Bible and you will come across what Jesus taught about it. He said we will not know the day. There is no way to predict it or count down until it comes. Jesus said he is coming and he said it would be soon. Many scoff at this since it was around 2,000 years ago now but they miss his meaning. Soon means imminent. It means it could happen at any moment. When we least expect it, Jesus will come like a thief in the night.

The question is this: Are you ready?

Jesus says that when he returns many will mourn. They will know in that moment that they don’t know Jesus and that judgment has come upon them for their sins. It is a scary and sobering thought, not entertaining or humorous at all. It is the kind of thing Americans don’t like to think about, but there will come a day when we can’t keep pushing God out of our nation. He is coming to us!

For those who know Jesus, we need not fear. We believe he already came once to save us from our sins. He died in our place on the cross and faced God’s judgment on our behalf. We believe he rose again victorious over death so that we could have a new kind of life that lasts for eternity. We are ready to meet him when he returns and know he will welcome us to be with him. We look forward to the moment he comes to take us home.  We call it the rapture. It will be the delight of our souls and the fulfillment of our joy, to see Jesus!

So, I’m going to spend my 2013, the year that wasn’t supposed to be, teaching people the old news of the end of the world. I will use a simple word that has summed up the Christian hope for centuries: Maranatha! It means “Come, O Lord!” It is the desire of every one of us Jesus has saved, to see our Savior! He has saved us from the end of the world before it happens. Jesus faced our judgment on the cross, so now we can face the coming judgment with confidence.  We know he loves us and his perfect love casts out our fear.

Our mission is to tell as many people on our planet this good news. Yes, the world is going to end. The bad news is true. We cannot deny the fact that global apocalypse is on its way and no one can escape by themselves. But there is one who will rescue you from the wrath to come. He will save your soul so that even if you die tomorrow, you will still live with him. Put your faith in him now before it is too late and you see him coming on the clouds.  Listen to the ancient cry of all the Jesus people as they say, "Maranatha!"

Spread the word.

Fall is officially here. And to all of you who say that we don’t have this season here in California, we definitely have its main ingredient: Pumpkin Spice.

Apparently, as the weather turns colder and the days grow gloomy, just a touch of pumpkin spice will make everything nice. These days we’re adding it to a lot more than coffee. Yes, even more than chai or tea. Trader Joe’s is leading the charge in this revolution with Pumpkin Butter and Pumpkin Ravioli. Even something as bland as granola is suddenly exciting when you add the seasonal spice. Yesterday my wife made Pumpkin Spice Truffles that were absolutely mind blowing! I’m pretty sure the ingredients were a seasonal blend of Proverbs 31 and Psalm 103!

All of this leads me to ask the question: Do we have pumpkin spice in the Christian life?

Seriously, we are entering the time of year where life seems to grow a little colder. We are all well into the routine of school by now. Busyness and deadlines abound, yet at the same time things seem to have slowed down. It appears like some people are just going through the motions.

This can happen in the Christian life when we approach Bible reading and prayer like chores. We look at encouraging others at church or evangelizing the lost as obligations. Does Jesus really want us thinking of our obedience to him as a to-do list we check off when we can get to it?

Romans 12:11 – Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Zeal is our pumpkin spice. Basically, this verse is saying don’t be slow to get urgent. Don’t delay to get speedy. As we are serving the Lord, we should have a sense of heat and passion. There is an element of excitement in living for Jesus that should be a part of every life season.

Our zeal flows straight from what Jesus has accomplished for us in the gospel:

Titus 2:14 – Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Jesus died for our sins. He washed us by his blood and cleansed us from all unrighteousness. Now we are his people and this verse describes us as zealots! This is how we should think of ourselves because it is who Jesus saved us to be! It is clear from gospel passages like Ephesians 2 or Titus 3 that our response to salvation is a lifestyle of good works (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 3:8).

So the question comes to you today: Are you going all out for the one who gave himself for you?

We all know the temptation to shift into cruise control, but this fall put your foot down. As the weather grows colder, make sure you are hot in your heart to serve and on fire for pleasing your Savior. Every time you see the words Pumpkin Spice this season pray that you will be zealous for Jesus. It won’t just make things taste nice, it will go down well in your soul.

As you can tell from this picture, I was not the cool kid in Junior High.

But I was smart, as you can see by the glasses.

So I figured out how to be cool by association. I would become friends with the cool kids. I would stand next to the popular crowd. If I could just blend in with them no one would notice that I wasn’t cool.

I am convinced that many young people are doing this same thing in church. They become friends with Christians. They stand next to those who are spiritually on fire. They are blending in with the youth group around them.

It’s salvation by association. And it doesn’t save.

Every one of us must stand before Jesus on our own.

When Jesus was here on earth he interacted with some Jews who hated him. They thought they were right with God because they were children of Abraham. They couldn’t see they needed the Savior standing right in front of their face because they were blinded by the thought they were already saved.

In the same way, many young people today assume salvation. They think this way because they are children of Christian parents. They’ve worn the uniform and gone to Christian school. They’ve been to church for most of their life and know the answers to the Sunday School questions. They don’t really listen to the preaching for “non-Christians” on what it means to be saved by the gospel because they already consider themselves a part of the association.

This is the worst-case scenario: To assume you know Jesus only to be surprised that you don’t when you actually meet him!

Matthew 7
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Jesus says that on the day of judgment many who claim his name will not enter heaven. He gives us two reasons why here. One is they say Jesus is their Lord but they don’t live like it. Their profession does not match their practice. There is no repentance. Or second, they are pointing to spiritual things that they have done as to why they should get into heaven. They have mistakenly associated things done in the name of Christianity with trusting in Jesus himself! They don’t have faith!

There is only one way of salvation. It is in knowing Jesus! We have to know who he is as the Christ: the One sent by God to save us! We have to know him in his suffering by dying for our sins and in his power by rising again to give us new life. When we truly know Jesus through his gospel then we will not be surprised when we meet him. Instead, he will welcome each one of us personally in to the place he has prepared for us. Well done good and faithful slave. Enter in to the joy of your Lord.

This weekend at True North I warned our high schoolers to beware of salvation by association. Afterwards I was able to talk with two young men who thought they were saved but later realized they were not. One discovered this a few weeks ago because his life did not match up to his profession. Another discovered it in my office on Sunday afternoon when we went through the gospel together.  He realized good things like reading his Bible and being nice to others did not mean he loved Jesus! My prayer in writing this blog is for you to be sure that you are saved. Not because you are a part of the Christian association. But because you know you know Christ!

If you have any questions about your salvation I encourage you to read the book of 1st John. Please feel free to talk with me or any of our other True North leaders. Also, please share this blog with others so they can be confident to stand before Christ before it is too late!

If you want to listen to the entire sermon from True North this weekend click here.

By Jonny Wright

In today's SOTD of Exodus 9, the plagues are really heating up (literally, there is a hailstorm of fire) God demonstrates his power again to both the Israelites and the Egyptians so that they may know who God is. In verse 3 God promises to bring his whole hand to fall on Egypt if they continue to refuse Moses. If you remember from yesterday, the magicians were outdone by God and his gnats and they described that plague as "the finger of God". Well, these plagues are the hand of God coming down on all of Egypt. We see in this chapter a glimpse of God's wrath, but in the midst of this outpouring of wrath God provides mercy to the Egyptians by warning them of the seventh plague (hailstorm). Knowing what the Lord of Israel has already done, some Egyptians responded correctly, yet some still refused to act:

"Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field." (Exodus 9:20-21)

All the Egyptians had the same message from the LORD: "A hailstorm is coming and will kill all things outside; bring in your livestock, slaves, and yourself so that you may not die." Though the message was the same, the response wasn't. Some Egyptians did absolutely nothing after hearing God's word. They kept going on with life without any change in action. How crazy must those Egyptians have been who did not listen to God and act! As God said, all those who did not "fear the word of the LORD" were killed in the hailstorm.

Sadly, we too easily read this passage and don't see the connection. God speaks, people don't respond to the message, and they are destroyed. Think about the Bible: God speaks, people don't respond to the message, and they are destroyed. To all those who read the Bible and do not respond, let the Egyptians be a warning. As for the Christians, we must see the importance of being in the "word of the LORD" daily and responding correctly. That's why SOTD is so important. It is an opportunity for all of True North to fellowship over God's Word and become accountable to it. We are not called to be distant readers of the Bible, but are commanded to live in a new way because of what we read. As James puts it: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22). Every Egyptian heard the word of God, but it was to those who put it into action who received the benefit.

By Jonny Wright

We are now in the second chapter of Exodus and honing in on Moses' family during this difficult time in Israel's history. As you will read, Moses will live through some turbulent events that will determine both his life and Israel's. Before continuing I suggest that you take the time to read today's SOTD and then come back and read the rest of this.

http://www.compasschurch.org/sotd

Crazy stuff, huh? Moses' life could definitely not be labeled as normal. I mean, who else do you know who was thrown in a basket down a river when he was only 3-months old? Without a doubt, Moses would make one of the best "2 Truths and a Lie" players ever! As you read the story, it must have seen like all his life Moses was surrounded by coincidences. I mean, how coincidental was it that he was drawn out of the water by Pharaoh's daughter and not killed (remember it was her daddy who wanted to kill all the Hebrew babies)? Then, you realize that it was his mother that is commanded to take care of him, plus she gets paid to do it. Tell me about coincidence. However, the Bible never talks about coincidence being the reason that Moses lived and was able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (sorry for the spoiler). In fact, in Psalm 105 the psalmist reveals that the reason for Egypt's hatred towards the Israelites and Moses' subsequent calling was all planned and done by God (see verses 23-26). Instead of reading Moses' life as a big coincidence we need to see how God's sovereignty was the reason for Moses' eventful life.

When I say that God is sovereign I simply mean that he is in control of all things and all things are subject to his will. The clearest explanation of God's sovereignty is described in Romans 9. Paul is explaining the calling of Israel to his readers and makes a powerful claim concerning God's sovereignty: "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" (v. 21). Because God is creator he has full authority to do what he pleases. Moreover, he doesn't do what he pleases without any reason, but all things have been made with a purpose (Proverbs 14:6). His plan is great and covers all time and people. Therefore, nothing surprises God and nothing happens outside of God's authority. All things are sustained and controlled by a God who is all-powerful and good.

Because of this, God's sovereignty is the anchor for our hope and joy. If God was not sovereign but only good then he would have a lot of nice things to promise without having the power to fulfill them. It is because of his sovereignty that we are able to trust that if we repent and place our faith in Christ we can be sure that we will be glorified in heaven as sons of God. When this world seems to be chaotic, let us remember that the sovereign God who planned Moses' birth and life is working "all things...together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

By Hunter Adamske

Theophobia

Do you remember this word?

We talked all about it last summer at Revival 11. We learned that theophobia, or fearing God, is an essential part of being a Christian. If someone is not afraid of God’s awesome power and deity, and as a result refuses to turn from their sin and place their faith in Jesus, then that person is not saved plain and simple. They have refused to submit to God’s authority and would rather submit to their own desires and think of themselves as the authority of their own lives. We see the exact opposite in Exodus 1 with the example of the Hebrew midwives refusing to obey Pharaoh's command to kill the Hebrew males that were born.

Exodus 1:16-17 “‘When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter then she shall live.’ But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”

These midwives had a serious case of theophobia! Their fear of God was so strong that they refused the direct sinful order of the king of Egypt and instead did as God desired and let the Hebrew baby boys live. This is a great example of what theophobia looks like in our lives. If we really fear God and His discipline then we will say “no” to sin, realizing that whatever the sin is, it is never worth offending the perfectly holy Creator of not just you, but also of everything that exists. The Hebrew midwives understood that the Pharaoh, even though he was the king of Egypt and could have them executed if he wanted, was not nearly as terrifying as the all powerful God that they worshiped who could punish them eternally.

Do you understand this? Do you follow the righteous example of the Hebrew midwives and fear God rather than man? This is what Jesus commands us in Matthew 10:28

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

God wants you being afraid of who He is, and therefore doing what He says, rather then fearing other people, and doing what they want you to do.

At the worst people can kill you if they don’t like you. Here in OC you most likely you aren’t facing this kind of persecution, instead you are more likely to lose your friends, reputation and/or “cool points”. God has promised that if you don’t fear Him He will let you live your sinful life and send you to hell when you die(Proverbs 1:23-32). Is that what you want? Is having a few more friends worth living a life of sin and going to Hell? Is being cooler than the next person (there is always someone cooler, trust me) really worth the fate of your soul and the rest of your life? I hope you truly understand who God is and choose to fear Him rather than the Pharaohs in your life.

Keep reading chapter 1 and you will see how God bless the midwives (vv.20-21); there is blessing and life in knowing God and choosing to obey Him rather than fearing man and doing what you want to do! Choosing the fear of the Lord has been of immense benefit in my life. It has saved me from the heart ache, sickness, hopelessness, and wasted life that most people my age have experienced. It has led me to choose godly friends and it has motivated me to be highly involved at my church and to get good grades at school. Please, live in the fear of the LORD today! It is the path to great blessing!

Proverbs 14:27 - “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.”

Abstinence is better than sex.

You probably don’t believe this now but please keep reading.

Maybe you think that abstinence is an old-fashioned, fundamentalist idea. It doesn’t work. It’s not realistic. There are better ways to educate teenagers about sex.

This is what most people (including teachers at high school and the President of our country) are saying today, but there is an even higher authority on the subject:

God. Abstinence is his idea. In fact, he commands it in the Bible:

1 Thessalonians 4:3 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

To abstain means to “separate from what they are having.” For high schoolers, it means no sex before marriage. But it’s not just talking about going all the way. It means no inappropriate touching. No wandering eyes. No lustful thoughts. It means nothing that could be considered sexual outside of husband and wife for the rest of your life.

At first, this might seem impossible. How could a young person keep his way pure like that? As Christians our answer is Jesus Christ. In Christ we are new creations. The old has passed, the new has come. We are more than hormonal teenagers. We now have the grace and the strength to say no to sexual temptations and yes to abstinence.  We want to follow Jesus and loving him means keeping his commands.

Psalm 119:9 – How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

If you commit to obeying God’s command of abstinence from this day forward your life will be blessed:

Not having sex is the best way to never get sexually transmitted diseases or pregnant outside of marriage.

You will never wake up in the morning with the guilt of sexual sin, with someone else in your bed who shouldn’t be there or the crushing burden that you just gave away your virginity and can never get it back (Psalm 32:3-4, Psalm 51)

You will never have to live with the burden of knowing you destroyed someone else’s life by encouraging them to go too far or by cheating on them with someone else (1 Thessalonians 4:6, Matthew 18:6).

You will not have to live with the knowledge that you are going to be judged by God. That his wrath is coming for sins like this, sins that you are not going to get away with (Ephesians 5:6, Colossians 3:5-6).

You will know the power and joy of a clean conscience (Acts 24:16, 2 Corinthians 1:12).

You will be able to know the nearness of God in a relationship more powerful and important than any we can have with another human (Psalm 73:26-28).

You will be able to know true love with a member of the opposite gender for the rest of your life. And in that relationship you will be able to enjoy sex without any guilt or fear. The two of you will become one:

Hebrews 13:4 – Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Do you now see why abstinence is better? Why we would even go so far as to say it is awesome? Don’t believe the lies that the joy of sex is in “hooking up.” Don’t turn love into lust. God intended for all of the passion and intimacy of sex to be experienced in the context of marriage. It is to be enjoyed by a husband and wife for the rest of their life. You don’t want to miss out on that because of what you are doing now!

If you are convicted because you have already sinned sexually, know that there is forgiveness in confessing your sin to God. He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness so that you can commit to abstinence from here on out:

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you believe that abstinence is better and want to obey God’s command, please help us spread the word by linking to this blog or leaving a comment.

ABSTINENCE IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jesus Saves!

Perhaps the most exciting example of this in all of history is the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul is a killer of Christians, on his way to a new city to spread persecution when Jesus stops him. Jesus radically changes him into an all-in apostle and aggressive evangelist. But this story also raises a question…

The question is not if Jesus can save. The question is will we love those he has saved?

In the book of Acts, the Christian community had a hard time receiving Saul into their fellowship. Ananias definitely expresses his hesitation in Acts 9:10-16. Certainly we can understand their concern as Saul had led the efforts to kill them or throw them in jail. We know that when Stephen was murdered, the first Christian martyr, the killers laid down their garments at Saul’s feet (Acts 7:58). He was the church’s foremost hater but now he wanted to become one of their brothers in Christ. Unfortunately, they forgot the fact that even haters need love:

Acts 9:26 – And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

How do you respond when someone professes faith in Jesus? Do you doubt them? Do you keep your distance until they prove it to you? Or do you welcome them in with love?

Thankfully, there was one man who reached out his hand to Saul:

Acts 9:27-28 – But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.

I wonder where Saul would have been if Barnabas didn't reach out and bring him in?

This has been such an exciting month for us at True North. Over the last month, especially at Revival, there have been many professions of faith. Jesus is saving. Lives are changing. But I wonder how we are doing at reaching out to these new brothers and sisters in love? What will happen to them if we don’t welcome them in?

I am praying that Jesus will continue to save and I have faith that he will. There is no question. So it is awesome that we are building a new room for True North that is twice as big! I am praying for the 120 project and I am ready to give to it this weekend! But if True North is going to have double the room, then we need to have double the love!

The truth is if the revival is going to spread, then you and I will need to be a Barnabas!

Luke 15:20 – And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way of, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

He saw his son and ran to him.

This is what happens when the prodigal comes home. The prodigal wished his dad was dead, took his money and spent it all away on sin and extravagance. Yet his father does not bring any of this up with his son. He welcomes him home with love and joy.

This is how God loves us through his Son, Jesus Christ. He forgives us for our sins and gives us salvation instead. In the parable of the prodigal son, it is like the father has been waiting for this moment and is ready to celebrate. In the same way, Jesus tells us there is a celebration in heaven over one sinner who repents.

I think we know it is God’s will to save, but we often underestimate how much joy it brings him. We could see the father taking his son back perhaps with some conditions or after a penalty period. But instead we see the father running out to his son, kissing him and killing the fattened calf so that all can come to the party of his son’s homecoming. Jesus tells us that the angels rejoice this same way when one sinner repents. And angels only rejoice when God does.

You might be familiar with Zephaniah 3:17 because it says that God is mighty save. But that verse also says, “He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” What an awesome picture of God singing over all of his sons and daughters that he has saved!

Let us be careful that we do not underestimate the love of God. It is intimate in that he is now our “Abba” or our “Daddy” (Romans 8:15). It is permanent in that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus (Romans 8:35-39). As Christians, there is nothing in this life we can have more confidence in than the fact that God loves us!

Last Saturday night at Revival: Winter Edition we had an awesome night of considering how wonderful the Father’s love is for us. We had an extended, passionate time of worship and several students professed faith in Jesus Christ. I know that it is a night many of us will not forget. We sang praises to our God. He sang over us. Here is the sermon from that night: The Father.

Luke 15:24 – ‘For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Take the money and run.