Everybody Freak out! Or Maybe Not.

Ebola, ISIS, Houston pastors' sermons being subpoenaed (wow! I spelled that right without spellchecker), ongoing moral meltdown of society, intolerant tolerance, mid-term elections with control of congress at stake, scaled-back religious freedom, etc. (Sorry if I missed your favorite crisis du jour.) What's a Christian to do?

1. Be informed, not panicked. Don't stick your head in the sand; being informed is wise. If you had known the storm was coming you could have gotten to the basement in time. Being panicked and inducing panic in others, however, is foolish. Running around like chickens with heads cut off and screaming about it does no good when the storm is coming. It doesn't even get you to the basement. 

2. Get up, pray, go to work, go to class, love your wife, raise your children, go to church, worship, fellowship, be a friend that sticks closer than a brother, walk closely with your God. He has given you various callings - Christian, husband, wife, parent, student, etc. Fulfill your callings with all your strength for the glory of God. 
1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 "Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." 
See also 2 Thes.3:11-12 and 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

3. Remember Psalm 2 and Romans 8:28 and 8:29-30 and 8:31-32 and 8:35-39 and the entire book of Revelation and lots of other passages and don't be afraid. This will help immensely with #1.

4. Pastors and churches, let's equip our people to do #s 1-3. And we must not forget 2 Timothy 4:1-5. We must proclaim sin as sinful, God as sovereign, Jesus as Savior and Christ, salvation as free to all who truly repent and believe, and saints as ultimately victorious through Christ the risen and reigning Savior.

Is there bad news in the news? Sure. There has been since Adam and Eve decided they knew better than God. But is there also good news? Absolutely. There has been from all eternity when God determined to save his people. That news is as good today as it was when God first promised it to Adam in Genesis 3:15. And so the most frequent command in all of Scripture comes to us: fear not.