Return of the King

Revelation 22:20 "He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.'
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."

I remember reading The Left Behind series. Well, not really. I wasn't allowed to read the big ones, so my mom bought me the kids versions. I remember reading them and thinking how dumb they were. God bless Tim Lahaye for his time and work on the books, but those things were not for me.

I don't do well with the whole scare tactics. Maybe that's a defense mechanism because I don't want to think about this world, and more specifically my world, ending. That's probably the scariest thing in the world to think about.

I also remember how my brother and his friends started a Bible study in elementary/middle school called "Operation Revelation" where they went through the book and talked about the end times. They would meet once a week in Mrs. Knox's room, and I guess they just talked about all that stuff.

For whatever reason, either Left Behind or "Operation Revelation," I avoided reading the Book of Revelation. I didn't like the scary imagery. I didn't like the weird animals in the oceans. I didn't like the whore of Babylon. I didn't like any of it really. It just seemed like some senile, old man "prophesying" about the future. My great grandfather thinks that John, the writer of Revelation, was tripping LSD when he wrote this book. Honestly, I could see that. It's weird as crap.

But weird or not, the premise remains true: Jesus is coming back. The disciples thought so (Acts 1:11), Paul thought so (1 Thess. 4:16), and now John says it too.

And I think it's true that Jesus is coming back. I don't know the when or where, but I just know that Jesus will return to earth.

That's my hope. When the government shuts down. When schools have shootings. When trains explode. When businesses lie, cheat, and kill. When children continue to go hungry. When babies continue to be murdered. When elderly are denied healthcare. When...

Christ is coming back.