Boyd Avenue Baptist Church

January 2012

Dear Church Family,

Well, here we are in another year. I hope that your 2011 was blessed and fruitful. Our family considered the blessings we have received this past year more numerous that we can count. But, 2011 in now in the past and 2012 lies before us.

Now we need to understand that we are not standing on the brink of just any old year. No sir, this is 2012. Recently, much has been made to this new year that we are beginning. The Mayan calendar ends in 2012. I guess you could say that the Mayan use of their calendar ended a long time ago, for no Mayan has used their calendar for hundreds of years. I guess Nostradamus made some dire predictions that could be scheduled to come true this year. And at least one Christian student of prophecy identifies 2012 as the "big one."

What should we make of all this? Are we living in the end times? Is this the last year that we will make a bunch of New Year's resolutions only to break them quickly? Who knows? I sure don't know. If the Mayans were so smart, why aren't they still around? If sooth-sayers and modern prophets knew what they were talking about, they could sell their predictions concerning the stock market and we could all retire.

Actually, the biblical teaching on this is quite simple. We should live as if Jesus were returning today, but prepare as though we would live to be 100. This is simple wisdom. Only God knows when and how all this will end. But, we can rest assured that the ending He has already prepared will be the appropriate way for this world to end. In a very real sense, all of us are close to going into eternity. Even babies being born in the near future will not likely live to see the turn of another century, (unless they press the 90 year mark before their deaths). Most of us are much closer to eternity than that.

So, how do we live as if Jesus' return is immanent? Jesus told His parents that He must be about His Father's business. This is a simple idea that should drive our daily activities. Do we get up in the morning and ask ourselves, "What would the Father have me do today?" It is an important question. That is rarely asked. Most days, God would have us get up, go to work, interact with friends, co-workers, classmates, family, and so forth. But, we must understand that it is in that interaction that we are to be about our Father's business. Our Father's business is people. It is every person with which we have contact. People need what we Christians have. We have Jesus, or more importantly, Jesus has us. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. It is that relationship that gives our lives meaning. It is that relationship that most of the folks we contact everyday is missing. If we are doing our Father's business, we will be motivated to minister to them in whatever ways possible, so that they too can know the grace that Jesus has brought into our lives.

Over the next few months, we will hear much of the possible end of time. I would not count on 2012 being the last year of human existence as we know it. But if it is, "Glory to God"! For the new heaven and earth that God will prepare will be vastly superior to this one. So don't worry about what dead civilizations may have thought. Rather live today for the glory of God and His kingdom.

Have a Happy New Year!!

Pastor Quin