Do you wish for me to whisper polite words of encouragement at all times, even those when fire is lapping at the hem of your garment or enemy forces are scouring the courtyard, searching for whom they might devour?  There will be times when my love for you requires, demands that I grab you by the scruff of your night shirt and bid you run to the woods for concealment.  Am I to restrict the appropriate demeanor or necessary force to awaken you from slumber to save your skin, just to respect some foolhardy, overly correct worldly brand of tolerance?  Look, the time of danger has either arrived or is marching, momentously toward us at breakneck speed.  There is no single thread of my spirit that would allow me to lie in complacence and watch you be overrun without warning.  I love you and just as in the military, compatriots, soldiers, brothers watch each others back.  Simply said, the time of preparation has not only come it is rapidly ebbing toward showtime.  If you must be angry with me for telling you the truth and shaking you from certain destruction, then I must accept your angst, with the knowledge that some day you will thank me in reflection.  So for now I say, either Run as you’ve never run before or stand in good courage knowing that the Lord your God shall prevail in the coming battle.

This is not a popular thing that I take upon myself as my duty prescribed by scripture.  I do not wish my name slandered, my family disturbed/threatened or the loss of friendship.  But when one smells fire it arouses internal mechanisms, when he sees the fire it calls for action, but when the crippling heat is felt upon ones skin there is no more time for standing in thought or indecision.  The time for action has arrived.

Act according to your belief.  What is that belief you say?  Well I must ask from whom do you gather wisdom.  Is it perhaps from a brief cable preacher bidding you send more money to buy you favor, providing twenty minutes of encouraging prattle that resembles Christianity.  Is it from a romance or fictional novel, maybe nightly news or worse yet council of the ungodly that bids you be scared but to do nothing with that fear?  Or have you sat in prayer, meditation and study with other believers, seeking the indwelling of God to fill you with Spirit and provide wisdom to calm the gathering storm?  Do you know what you believe and what you are meant to do with that belief?  If so, then do not expect me to stand idly, politely offering a cold drink on a hot summers day as the fire approaches our dwelling.  For I shall be the one who yanks you to attention and bids you man your position on the wall waiting for the dawn to arrive.  I am your friend and my love is real.  Do not ask me to be someone that you heard about in a movie.  I am real and I serve God and you, even when you wish it were not so.

Praise God, be patient, but be ready for whatever comes over that hill.  If I am wrong I will stand your derision, but if I am right then perhaps you will know how much I loved you when your lamp fires and we are ready for the Master’s Night Arrival.  Lord Jesus help us to be clear as the darkness approaches.