Peter the Roman

I'm one of those closet prophecy junkies. I imagine there are a lot more out there among my Christian brethren. So, like many of you I sat up and took notice when the Pope announced his retirement. While a Protestant like myself isn't effected by a change in management in the Catholic Church, the significance of a retiring Pope cannot be ignored. As I understand it, the last time this happened, in the 15th century, had more to do with a rift in the church and the existence of two men claiming the title of Pope than any real desire to spend more time on the golf course.

That alone is enough to make one think. For those of you who've toyed with prophecy, you also know of the prophecies naming this next Pope as the last. Now, I try not to get too caught up, because prophecy is a funny thing. It is written in such a manner that you don't understand it's significance until after the fact. Most of the prophecies about Jesus were somewhat useless in predicting when He would arrive on Earth, but in hindsight their accuracy was amazing.

Then there is the problem of the Peter the Roman prophecy not existing anywhere in the bible itself. It's a Catholic prophecy, and I don't believe it's recognized by the hierarchy of the church herself. The prophecy comes from two sources--Nostradamis and St. Malachy. Hardly basement conspiracy theorists.

What I take from prophecy and the times we live in is this: we are heading toward Earth's final chapter. But God's time is not our time. When I say time I mean it in the literal sense. For those who saw The Genesis Code movie, you have a fantastic understanding of time from God's perspective. The engineer in me rejoiced when I saw this movie (though the movie critic thought the plot a bit thin). I rejoiced because I've never seen the theory of relativity explained so well outside my college physics classes. They nailed it.

My point is this: we shouldn't stop working toward our goals, give up on our dreams, empty our 401k's because of this prophecy, or any. Remember, Moses took 80 years to come back and free the Israelites. The shepherds at Jesus birth probably wondered what happened to the baby in the manger. I wonder how many of them remembered thirty-three years later.

My new novel uses the concept of time as a focal point. I believe prophecy is being fulfilled and the little things that occur in our world are actually pivotal in the fulfillment of God's plan. I hope you'll join me on this little journey through our future. It will bring together the almost unnoticed events of the day and point them toward a final event that will close the book on all prophecy.

So I'll watch with some excitement as they announce the next Pope. If his name is Peter, I'll get somewhat more excited. If not, I'll write it off as another prophecy that was really no prophecy at all. What I am confident in is what's written in God's word. I can assure you that His time is coming.

Are you ready?

Mountain Guides

I've been listening to Seth Godin's Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us on CD during my dr on CD during my morning drive in to work.

Seth has made a name for himself as an innovative thinker and marketer. I suspect they'll erect a bronze statue of him at the soon-to-come SEO hall of fame. While I don't intend on becoming a leader among internet marketing circles, there is value for a writer to listen or read guys like Seth. He ranks up there with Zig Ziglar and Stephen Covey as the great motivational writers of our time.

I'll save my marketing speech for another day. For now, I'd like to talk about this little habit I've gotten into of starting my day with positive input. I'm a lot of things--husband, father, Christian, engineer, writer, blogger--and each of those jobs requires a certain amount of motivation to get me going. It's easy to become discouraged by the negative impulses of the world, making our dreams and goals seem insurmountable, to the point where we become just like the other millions of Americans who drag themselves in and out of work five days a week, nothing to look forward to in their lives other than the weekend and two weeks of vacation.

I have been there. I shall not return.

Am I living the dream yet? No. But I would argue that living the dream and pursuing the dream are not too far apart on the "satisfaction scale." I like what Joyce Meyer says: "If you can't be happy where you're at, you're not going to be happy with where you want to go."

We have to find peace in our current situation, or the weight of our frustration will never allow us to move forward.

Which brings me back to Seth. Writers and speakers like Seth Godin stir us to think beyond the four walls we've built around our minds. But few of us have the discipline to get up each day and say, "I will overcome and achieve great things!" For one thing, my wife would make me sleep on the couch if I woke her up with that little speech at 5am.

Because few can be self-motivating, we rely on the great thinkers to give us a jolt of confidence. To me, it's better than a cup of coffee. I need my spirit stimulated more than my heart.

So I shut off the morning news (after I get the traffic report), and plug into a devotional, a uplifting blog on my Feedly reader, and a book on tape in the car, or at least the Christian FM station. I know the bad news is out there. If it's important, it will catch up to me eventually during the day. But I refuse to start my day without hope or encouragement.

While Seth and Zig are not writers by trade, they do wonders for writers like me who see a mountain of rejection in our future. The good news is that mountains are made for climbing. Guys like Seth Godin are always behind us shouting "Just one more step!"

Thanks, Seth. And Zig. And Stephen. I'm glad you're there. It makes those mountains look less like an obstacle and more like an adventure.