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- Herausgeber: epubli
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017
We live in a time of breaks. The omnipresence of the internet, the imminent loss of personal freedom, elderly poverty and overpopulation, climate change, terrorism, the decay of any moral values, the loss of the own identity to sexuality and luxury, the God Loss of the modern human. That are only a few keywords which can scare us. For me these phenomena are a sign for that we are at the end of the end time. But there is no place for resignation and despondency. Just as little as for a senseless dance at the brim of the erupting volcano. I illuminate with my sermons our present situation and show that we in face of the breaks in our society not have to become desperate but can go hopefully into the future to change it actively with our actions. Thereby God stands in the center, who became in Jesus Christ humanly and powerless. He offers us reconciliation.
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Volker Schunck
Apocalypse Now
Christ: “I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Rev 2:17)
Copyright
Apocalypse Now
by Volker Schunck
Texte: Copyright by Volker Schunck
Cover: Copyright by Volker Schunck
Published: 08.05.2017
Publisher: Volker Schunck
gottundzen.wordpress.com
Impressum
Apocalypse Nowby Volker Schunck
Texte: © Copyright by Volker Schunck
Covergestaltung: © Copyright by Volker Schunck
Verlag:
Volker Schunck
Albert-Wolf-Platz 2, 13/01
01239 Dresden
Mail:
Homepage:
gottundzen.wordpress.com
Apocalypse Now
Predigten zum Weltuntergang
Volker Schunck
Table of Contents
CopyrightImpressumTable of ContentsAbout mePrefaceApocalypse NowBelieving in GodGod’s powerlessnessSexuality and FreedomWe are still here!Realm of HeavenChristmas EveLast daysAnother dimensionThe freedom of the heartI believe: God in CreationI believe: God in ChristI believe: God in HumansUnderstanding the Revelation of John
About me
I live in Dresden, Germany. First I was a merchant, then I studied theology for a few years. Through my engagement with Zen I became aware of the Christian mysticism. Meanwhile I go my own way. Faith is for me not only a world-view but a mode of being.
My Christian faith and my experiences in meditation influence my everyday life, in which I try to be attentive. My books arise from this spirit too.
Table of Contents
Preface
We live in a time of breaks. The omnipresence of the internet, the imminent loss of personal freedom, elderly poverty and overpopulation, climate change, terrorism, the decay of any moral values, the loss of the own identity to sexuality and luxury, the God Loss of the modern human. That are only a few keywords which can scare us. For me these phenomena are a sign for that we are at the end of the end time. But there is no place for resignation and despondency. Just as little as for a senseless dance at the brim of the erupting volcano. I illuminate with my sermons our present situation and show that we in face of the breaks in our society not have to become desperate but can go hopefully into the future to change it actively with our actions. Thereby God stands in the center, who became in Jesus Christ humanly and powerless. He offers us reconciliation.
God’s presence for today!
Yours Volker
Table of Contents
Apocalypse Now
I talked always in my books and my blog about God who shows us his human face. Through his Son Jesus Christ, his love, goodness and mercy come near to us. God wants reconciliation, neither death nor ruin of the individual human but his / her salvation. What I talked about seldomly is that Jesus was an apocalypticist. What does that mean? Jesus was someone who knew the gravity of the situation. “God is near. The realm of God has begun... Therefore turn back.” At that time the reaction of the bulk was: “We are still religious, so what do you want?” Today the reactions reach from “I also don’t believe in the easter bunny, why should I believe in God?” to “Faith is a private matter.” The times of a popular piety are over. Something like a Christian “groundwater level” which gives vitality and comfort in times of drought hardly exists.
We live in a society of shameless egoists, which are unable to sympathize with other humans. What a shame!, thousands of refugees are drowning because Europe cannot come to an agreement. How come that the rich always get richer and the poor always get poorer? A tax evader gets an amnesty, while welfare recipient always must be afraid that the government makes deduction of his / her small income because he / she misses an appointment with the labor bureau. But the super rich get tax reliefs by politics, because it is afraid that they could dislocate their production site into another country. Who wants to be honest today have to be willing to accept pauperization. The saying “honesty doesn’t pay” again makes sense. Of course you can’t all lump together, but unfortunately these generalizations are mostly right.
Jesus was an apocalypticist. His appearance has something of a shot across the bow, or when the father or the mother counts to three and at three it gets serious. Or when you startle because you have forgotten the appointment is today and you didn’t tidy up your appartment and the doorbell is ringing. Beside God’s goodness and love the message “God is near” not only means joyfulness but also comes along with fright and consternation. The holy God is near. Therefore turn back! Already Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke about “cheap grace” (“billige Gnade”). Human, it’s about your soul! God doesn’t simply say: “No hard feelings!” “IS-Terrorist, it doesn’t matter how many people you dismembered and killed - no hard feelings!” “Adolf Hitler, it doesn’t matter how many Jews you killed - no hard feelings!” “You child abusers, murderers, egoists and tax evaders - no hard feelings!”
NO! There is a higher justice. You cannot live as if it was all about you and spurn the dignity of other humans. You cannot live as if there was no God. At the end you have to bear responsibility for your deeds. I don’t know what that exactly means for the individual human. If the human facing God can come to his senses and can convert, or if there is a kind of purgatory where he / she gets cleaned and than is able to open his / her heart for God, I can’t say. But however I don’t believe in an eternal hell. But I also can’t believe in an automatism of salvation (final reconciliation), which treats all humans equal - no matter if offender or victim. That would really too cheap. The evil or the devil has no place in heaven and becomes annihilated (Annihilatio). But all these last things are hidden for us and lay beyond our earthly lives.
As well the future of our planet is hidden. Physics assumes that the universe itself expands since the big bang like a balloon who is blown up and than, so in a few billion years, completely contracts again.
I’m not so optimistic, that our earth still exists such long. When I look at the world’s problems (aging, overpopulation, pollution, climate change, poverty, hunger), the increasing God Loss of the people and the decline of any values in the last twenty years - the people’s obsession by the hunger of power, the addiction to consumption and to sexuality are obvious - it seems to me as if we were at the end of the end time.
