Wars and Rumors...

 Daily message of hope...
For Thursday, September 11, 2025:

Matthew 24:6...8 NIV: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning.”

I remember when 911 was only the phone number you’d dial in an emergency. Nowadays, 9/11 (2001) is remembered as the day the United States was attacked by radical Muslims, killing about 3,000 people and destroying the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the worst attack ever on the continental US. In retrospect, we should not have been surprised.

Jesus told us that there would be wars and rumors of wars until he returns. We’re often told to pray for world peace, but I pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” That’s when we’ll see peace! Currently, the goats and the sheep are roaming the earth together. When Jesus returns, he will separate the goats from his flock. Evil will be sent down, and believers will enter God’s eternal Kingdom, where Jesus has already prepared a place for us. This is God’s plan, and in the end, God always wins. A created being who became evil can never overtake its creator (God.)

People tend to be stubborn, stuck in their ways. If Hamas returned the Israeli hostages, Netanyahu could back off on trying to capture Gaza City. Neither side will budge, neither wants to lose face, and so the war continues. 64,000 (some say 84,000) innocent civilian lives have been lost in this conflict. God cannot be pleased.

Three years ago, Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine. There was no good reason. Putin just wanted a bigger chunk of our planet. Over 1M people have died in the fighting. Despite US attempts to broker peace, the war continues. Nowadays, a drone can be dispatched to blow-up the opposition, with no risk to the sender. Ukrainian people are quite religious, exalting Jesus. Putin doesn’t believe in any god, so the conflict continues. Again, our Lord cannot be pleased.

What is your territory, and what is mine? The lines on a globe separating different countries were drawn by mankind, often the result of harsh conflict. These lines and country names mean little to God. He has no obligation to honor mankind’s divisions. But he did give the promised land to the Jews!

With over 40 conflicts worldwide, it would be easy to surmise that we’re nearing the beginning of the end. Only God knows the exact date. But I can promise you that each day we’re one day closer to the end of the age!

Pastor Norton Lawellin
Jesus In the City Fellowship

Pray for World Peace!

For Sunday, October 22, 2023:

Romans 12:19 NLT: “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the Lord.”

There’s another war being fought in Israel. Hamas, an Islamic Resistance Movement, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 and injuring 4,500 others. 203 hostages were captured by Hamas. For some reason, Israel’s intelligence didn’t see this coming. Of course Israel retaliated to protect their citizens and defend their country, resulting in 3,400 Palestinian deaths and 12,000 injured in Gaza. Whether you call it Hamas, Hezbollah or Jihad, these radical militant Muslim groups are causing a lot of trouble in the world, and they certainly don’t speak for the majority. But make no mistake, this is a religious war!

These radicals have hijacked airplanes, even the ones that took down the World Trade Center in New York, which was an attack on the United States. So the US is against them, Israel is against them, and even the run-of-the-mill Islamic citizens don’t like the violent attacks because they result in defense retaliation. To protect themselves, Israel will decimate all of Gaza because that’s Hamas’s headquarters.

As Christians headed for church today, we can pray for the citizens of both countries and pray for a speedy end to the conflict. We can pray that citizens of Gaza would clean their own house, putting an end to the radical’s attacks. Then Israel wouldn’t have to do it.

We can pray for world peace! God bless each and every one of you today!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

Peace!

For Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Psalm 141:5c NLT: “I pray constantly against the wicked and their deeds.”

In context, David was trying to stay one step ahead of those trying to kill him, a lot of mean people with sharp pointed spears. God answered David’s prayers, and kept him safe. God had anointed David to be Israel’s leader. The opposition thought they could stand against David, but they could not stand against God. David survived and became king just as God intended, and the history is well-documented in our Bibles.

Today we witness a war against Ukraine. Rockets and gunfire have killed hundreds, and hundred of thousands have been forced to flee their homeland. Following David’s example, we can and should pray against the wicked and their deeds. We should pray for persecuted people everywhere. We should pray that God would give them hope. World peace should be more than a buzz-word. It should be a sincere prayer on all our lips.

We’ll know the peace that passes all understanding when Jesus returns!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship, 3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

Peacemakers

For Wednesday, September 9, 2020. 

Matthew 5:9 NIV: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

This verse is part of Jesus’ greatest message, the Sermon on the Mount, which includes ‘The Beatitudes,’ lessons of extreme joy, blessedness and happiness. 

You’ve seen contestants on TV being asked their one wish, and the typical answer is for world peace. That sounds good, but Jesus is asking for a lot more than that. This isn’t just about those who wish for peace or those who live in peace. This is God’s call on those who bring about peace, those who overcome evil with good.

One way we accomplish this is by sharing the Good News of Jesus with others. Jesus charged believers with a ministry of reconciliation with the Father, making peace between mankind and the God so often rejected and offended by some. 

The apostle John wrote that all who believed in Jesus would become like children of God, adopted into the Holy Family. These should be the peacemakers.

Working toward peace is good, but Jesus promised that there would be wars and rumors of wars until he returns once again. I’m looking forward to it! 

Peace to you today - Shalom!

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship

3249 30th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55406

World Peace?

July 21, 2014 Monday Message:

Jesus: “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matt. 10:34b ESV

If you’re in the business of making new Christians – and we all should be – you might step on a few toes as you lead people to the Lord. Jesus did.

But Jesus did not want us to hold back, to make a wimpy presentation on his behalf. Rather, we are told to go boldly.

We are filled, and often re-filled with the Holy Spirit. This protects us and fills us with courage to speak up, even when it’s not popular.

Generally, non-believers feel threatened by Christianity. It was so even during Jesus’ time. If the Old-Testament prophecies were all fulfilled through Jesus, the Temple leaders would no longer have power over the people. They took Jesus and his followers to be a threat to their authority.

The Romans thought they were above everyone else, and their leader, Caesar, claimed to be Lord. This new Christian sect claimed that Jesus was Lord, flying in the face of the Roman government.

If the world could all be Christian and live by the Acts 2 church model, we would truly love our neighbors and know peace. But that hasn’t happened, and so we have wars and rumors of war, and it will be that way until Jesus returns.

We could pray for world peace, or we could pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”

Norton Lawellin

Let’s worship together! Jesus in the City Fellowship (JICF) meets every Sunday, at 10:30am, in the North end (gym) of the Oliver Ministry Building, 2647 Bloomington Ave., Minneapolis. This week, I’ll wrap up Acts 4 - the believers were of one mind, which gave them power to change the world!