Victor Font

Realm of Possibility—Part 1

Harold Camping, President of the Family Radio broadcasting system, has been exposed as a false prophet and heretic. When I was growing up in the Northeast, Family Radio was by and large the only Christian radio station I could receive. In my listening area, it broadcasts as WFME on 94.7 on the FM dial. When I first started listening to the station, I enjoyed listening to Harold Camping’s Open Forum program. That is, until I started hearing things that don’t align with Scripture. For example, he teaches there is no literal hell. Upon death, an unbeliever enters the grave and no longer has any consciousness. Or when speaking of his salvation, Camping said he’s always been saved since birth because he stands as one of God’s elect. It’s statements like these that demonstrate he’s probably not saved at all. He doesn’t understand God’s salvation plan. And there’s so much more that he’s taught in the name of God that God never wrote in the Bible.

Camping was wrong when he predicted the end of the world would happen in 1994. He is wrong again with his latest prediction of the Rapture occurring on May 21, 2011. Since that date has come and gone, he has since revised his prediction that the world is due to end on October 21st of 2011. He’ll be wrong again of course. Matthew 24:36 says, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself didn’t know the time of the end while He was living His life here on earth as a man. It’s just not for humans to know. No matter how smart we think we are or what kind of math we use to determine the date of the Rapture or end of the world, we’ll never be right. God is the only one who knows and He’s not telling. So as far as Harold Camping being a false prophet is concerned, beware of him, pray for him and know that he’s under God’s condemnation although he doesn’t even realize it.

But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.—Deuteronomy 18:20, (AV)

Yet, even though Camping has been exposed as a false prophet and teacher, the Rapture is a real future event. The word “Rapture” does not appear in Scripture. It is the term given to an event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

The term “Rapture” is an English noun derived from the Latin verb rapiō, with a literal meaning of “I catch up” or “I snatch.” As far as I’ve been able to discover, the term was first used by Philip Doddridge in a sermon preached at Welford in Northamptonshire, March 9, 1737 titled Practical reflections on the character and translation of Enoch. Enoch, as you may be aware, is the first person in the Bible to be translated (raptured) and not experience a physical death. Enoch was 365 years old when he was raptured. (see Genesis 5:23-24, Hebrews 11:5)

Paul continues this thought in 1 Thessalonians 5 tying it to a discussion of Christ’s second coming. But again, Paul warns, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”—1 Thessalonians 5:1–3, (AV)

Christ talks about the end times in Matthew 24. He speaks about the false prophets who will rise up and say here is Christ or there is Christ just as Camping did when he predicted the Rapture on May 21st. The Rapture is a “here is Christ” event. And as we get closer to His return, (and I do believe we are closer than ever before), we need to be very careful about who we listen to for spiritual guidance. We need to study the Bible for ourselves and not take everything a so called “Bible scholar” says as Gospel. God meant His Word to be in the hands of the common man. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth if we call upon Him.

Most Christian leaders will say there’s nothing left in the prophetic calendar that needs to be fulfilled before Christ returns, but I disagree and I could very well be wrong. I believe there’s one event Christ talks about in Matthew 24 that has not been accomplished yet. Our Lord speaks of it in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

The Gospel has been preached for ages, yet there are still unreached people groups in the world. And according to Matthew 24:14, when these people are reached, the end will come. I believe there’s a real urgency for men and women all over the world to stand up and be counted for God. People who teach the Gospel truth. People with soul winners’ hearts. Not false prophets and teachers like Mr. Camping, but real men and women of God who share Jeremiah’s fervor when he said, “…But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. ”—Jeremiah 20:9(b), (AV)

So when will Christ return? I don’t know. But, we will explore this topic in greater depth as we continue with Part 2 of the Realm of Possibility.

Part 2 of the Realm of Possibility =>

The Passing of My Brother, David James Font

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Arriving home from a wonderful family getaway this week at Atlantic Beach, I flipped on my computer and found an urgent Facebook message from my nephew to call ASAP. Instinctively, I knew what the call was about. The police had visited him this afternoon to make the notification that his father and my brother, David James Font, was found dead in his trailer in Lorain, Ohio. My brother was 55. He died alone, his body undiscovered for several days.

For all of us, death is as individual as our births. At birth we are surrounded by those we love. At the moment of our death, some of us may be fortunate enough to be surrounded by our loved ones as well. However, in many cases, who we are with when we die is a matter of the choices we’ve made in this life. In my brother’s circumstance, it was his choices in life that led to being alone at his death.

My brother did live a hard life. He was born physically challenged. He is the younger half of a set of fraternal twins. His older by one minute brother Julio was born with severe mental retardation. Julio lives with us and through the consistent, loving guidance of my wife and daughter, he has become a productive member of society and at home.

David was a spina-bifida baby. Despite enduring a number of experimental operations as a small child, the doctors predicted he would never live past his teen years. The doctors were wrong. Regardless of the physical challenges my brother faced, he adapted and thrived. But something else went horribly wrong in his life.

In 1985, he worked for me at the computer store I owned in Bayonne, NJ. He lived right around the corner from the store. One day, he doesn’t show up for work. Neither did he call to let me know he’d be out sick. I decided to cut him some slack. After all, he is my brother. When he didn’t show up or call on the second day, I called Denise, David’s third and then current wife. She said, “What? Don’t you know? He came home from work the other day and announced he was leaving us. He packed his bags and left. We haven’t heard from him since.” None of us had ever heard from him again. David Jr., the son he abandoned, was 7 years old. My brother was 30.

Over the years, I tried to track him down and discovered he had settled in Ohio and became a locksmith. All attempts to contact him failed. He didn’t want anything to do with his family. Then as I was talking to my nephew, I learned my brother had sent Denise a letter about three or four years ago. My brother had suffered a ruptured bladder and was fighting a massive infection in his body. I suppose it gave him time to think about the choices he had made over the years and the people that were hurt by those choices. Whatever was going on in his mind, he wrote Denise and asked if he could come home. Both Denise and David Jr. rejected the overture. From what I understand, he never did recover from the infection and it ultimately took his life earlier this week. We’re not quite sure if he died before Monday or not. His neighbors hadn’t seen him for a few days, waited a few more days and then decided to call the police to investigate. The police ruled no foul play. Death by natural causes.

It’s really hard to mourn for my brother’s passing. For us, he passed in 1985 when he abandoned his family and the hope of ever seeing him again faded. We mourned his loss then. It’s hard to mourn his loss again. What does bother me though is that he may have very well gone on to a Christless eternity. As bad as his actions were in this life, he didn’t do anything Christ could not and would not forgive through His blood. The only sin that sends anyone to hell is unbelief. I don’t know if my brother believed or not. He did pray once with Pastor Zeron to receive Christ as his personal Savior. I was there and I witnessed it. If he was sincere in his belief that night, david’s in Heaven now awaiting the reconciliation with the loved ones he abandoned on earth.

Lent

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“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”—Psalm 51:10, (AV)

Lent means many things to different people and is often about sacrifice. Lent is a 40 day period prior to Easter that originated for practical reasons: in days gone by food stored away in the previous autumn was running out or had to be used before it went bad in storage and little or no food crop was expected soon. Since it precedes Easter it is a way to identify with Jesus in His suffering until its culmination on Good Friday and then followed joyously by the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In addition to the concept of sacrifice, Lent is also a good time to begin a period of reflection. “Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over, and over again, expecting different results.” This saying, found in many 12 step programs, expresses a form of wisdom. In order to change what we are doing over and over (insanity), we need to have a “change of heart!” Nothing changes until the heart changes and then ingrained patterns can change.

Leadership is one area that is subject to a world of insanity. Just look around! You see it everywhere – people going to jail for “cooking the books,” workers are losing retirements while bosses enjoy luxuries, etc. Leadership needs a heart change.

You want to be different – you want to lead like Jesus but it is hard and the road is long. Change is difficult at best and on a good day. How would you like your leadership to be different tomorrow, next month, in six months or one year from today? What needs to change first? Second? Third? Create a new heart in me today, O God!

Expressions of Love

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February is the time of year when the world focuses on the human emotion of love and how we might and do express it to each other. It is frequently found in the symbol of the heart.

One of the most powerful verses about the love of God is found in Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

In the Habits material of Lead Like Jesus, we talk of accepting and abiding in the unconditional love of God. Many would find this an unusual concept in leadership material or even in the traditional listing of many of the Christian habits (disciplines).

We have found, however, that this love from the heart of God to sinful humanity is what makes the difference in combating the pride and fears of life and leadership. When I know, really know, that there is nothing I can do or say that will separate me from the love of God (Romans 8:39) then I can freely offer love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy to others and apologize from a sincere heart for my own wrongdoings. Do you enjoy the blessing of being unconditionally loved? You can! Trust Jesus as your Savior for a lifetime of love that never changes!

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”—Romans 5:6–8, (AV)

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Modern-Day Jonahs

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Jonah the son of Amittai of Gathhepher was a prophet of Israel who foretold the restoration of the ancient boundaries of the kingdom of Israel, a prophecy fulfilled in 2 Kings 14:25–27, very early in the reign of Jeroboam II. For months now, the Lord has been leading me to deeply study the Old Testament book that bears this prophet’s name. Let there be no doubt, Jonah was an angry, bitter and bigoted man.

If you recall, Jonah was called by God to preach to the Ninevites. Nineveh is first mentioned in the Bible as a city that Nimrod built in Genesis 10:11. We don’t hear of Nineveh again until the days of Jonah when it was Assyria’s populous and flourishing capital city. We can’t be certain about the population of Nineveh during Jonah’s day, but God does say in Jonah 4:11:

“And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?”

It’s generally understood that young children and infants are those that can’t “discern between their right hand and their left hand.” Sixscore thousand is 120,000. Now if the city had 120,000 infants and young children, how large was the entire population? Some estimates place the entire population during Jonah’s time at 600,000 to 1,000,000 people. The prophet Nahum later foretells the city’s ruin and utter desolation; and Zephaniah also predicts its destruction and the fall of the Assyrian empire. Jonah was told to go and preach to these people before their destruction was foretold.

Jonah’s response to God’s direction was to run and hide. He tried to get as far away from God as he could. Even if you’ve never read the Bible for yourself, you’ve probably heard of the story of Jonah and the whale. Ultimately, Jonah ended up in the belly of a great fish for three days and three nights before repenting and telling God He would obey. The fish spit him out on dry land and Jonah went and preached to the Ninevites. The city turned away from their sins and people got saved! And Jonah’s response? He got angry because the people were believing his message.

There are many Christians today who are modern-day Jonah’s. I’m not sure about the anger and bigotry part, but I am certain about the running and hiding part. Political correctness has been so drummed into our minds that we are gripped with fear whenever God presents us with an opportunity to share our faith.

Twice in a former job, I was led directly by a prompting of the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel with a young woman who worked for me. Our policy at work forbade us from initiating a conversation about our faith unless the other person asked us a question, then we were free to answer. As a person with seven direct reports, I feared the consequences of a potential job loss or disciplinary action if I brought up the topic of someone’s salvation. As a result, I ran from God’s direction. Little did I know that just a few weeks later this young woman would leave work before lunch not feeling well and die at home at the age of 33. I was devastated that I disobeyed God.

I might not have spent time in the belly of a fish, but I may have been the last chance for this young woman to hear a clear Gospel presentation. I purposed in my heart right then and there that I would never disobey God again when He gives me an opportunity to present the Gospel.

I want to encourage you today not to be a modern-day Jonah. Don’t run and hide when God gives you an opportunity to share your faith. And please, don’t let the fear of political correctness cloud your judgment and turn you away from obedience to God. The ramifications may be eternal.

The Christmas Story

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This has certainly been a challenging year. And wow! Has it flown by fast. Laid off a little over a year ago, it’s difficult to know what God’s will is concerning His direction for our life. The one thing we do know is that whatever God’s will is, we want to be right in the center of it and not shift an iota to either the left or right. This is the only way to assure His blessings and continued success.

This year He gave me a book to write which is now on the marketplace. I’m still seeking my next full-time role, if that’s His will. We’ve gotten very involved in outreach ministry where I get to present the Gospel regularly. And this past Sunday night, Susie and I had the chance to narrate our church’s Christmas Cantata. What a privilege and joy it is to share God’s Word with 300 or more people!

But Christmas isn’t about us and what we’ve done. Christmas is about Jesus Christ and what He’s done for us. He’s given the greatest gift any human being can ever accept as their own. The gift is called salvation. He bought it for us on the cross of Calvary about 2000 years ago.

Salvation truly is a gift. There’s nothing we can ever do to earn it or merit it. All of our good works are as filthy rags before the Lord the prophet Isaiah tells us. If we need to depend on our good works to get into Heaven, then how many good works are enough?

We only need to depend upon Jesus Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”—Ephesians 2:8–9, (KJV)

Jesus did it all for us when He died on the cross. Through His resurrection, He proved once and for all that He is Who He claimed to be—God come in the flesh. If He truly is God, then He told us the truth. We are all destined for an eternity in hell unless we accept His free gift of salvation.

Christmas is a season when we give gifts one to another. We take our time and put a lot of thought into picking out exactly the right gift for our loved ones. Don’t you think God has done the same for us? He loves us more than any human can love. His gifts are greater than any human can give. His gifts are perfect because He is perfect. His greatest gift to us is the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

But when does a gift actually become ours? If you picked out a special gift for someone this year and go to their home to offer it to them, does it become theirs when you enter the door? No it doesn’t. You can stand there all day and hold it in your hands and offer it to them, but until they actually receive it from you and accept it as their own, it never becomes theirs does it? How would you feel, if they never accepted your gift and you had to return home with it. Pretty rotten I’ll bet. How do you think God feels when someone rejects the gift of salvation.

Don’t go to a Christ-less eternity. Accept God’s gift of salvation today and know with 100% certainty that if you were to die today, you’ll spend your eternity in Heaven.