Ball of Confusion

It was May 7, 1970 when a song by one of my favorite musical groups, the Temptations, was released. "Ball of Confusion" was the title of the song , and it rose to #3 on the pop charts that year. Hard to believe the words of the song that were written 46 years ago, sound so familiar today:

People moving out, people moving in
Why, because of the color of their skin
Run, run, run but you sure can't hide
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Vote for me and I'll set you free
Rap on, brother, rap on

Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher
And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher
Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration
Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation

Ball of confusion
Oh yeah, that's what the world is today
Hey, hey

Sure does sound like our world in 2016. The words have a prophetical nature to them.

I'd like to share some other words that sound prophetical, and describe many attributes of our society. These words were written almost two thousand years ago from a wise aging Christian apostle to a young preacher, named Timothy:

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away." (II Timothy 3:1-5)

If I didn't know better, I'd say that Paul's words to Timothy were actually taken from a modern editorial or song lyric, like Ball of Confusion. The good news is that, since these secular cultural attributes were foretold, it means God was (and is) fully aware that our world will embrace these behavioral patterns. Looking around, I find no other religion, except for Christianity,  that even attempts to provide a remedy for this ball of confusion.

I once heard a preacher say that you only need to know two things about the book of Revelation in the Bible: God's team wins and Jesus is coming back and He is going to straighten this mess out. A pretty simple, and yet effectively simple summary. This is good news for some, but not so good news for others. One of my seminary professors once said, "Bible prophesy comforts the afflicted, but afflicts the comfortable". Those that are finding favor, wealth, fame, fortune, advantage, and refuge apart from God on this ball of confusion don't want to see it end.

We, as followers of Christ are comforted in these prophesies because to us, it proclaims the hope and joy yet to come, while acknowledging and predicting the difficult times preceding them. In the time to come, the ball of confusion becomes the restored and new creation, referred to as the new earth in Revelation. I had a co-worker tell me once that his Christian wife felt depressed sometimes as she observed the ungodliness becoming more pronounced around her. I told him to tell her, don't worry, God's going to fix it one day soon. Remember how Jesus said, "cheer up, I have (already) overcome the world".

So, hang in there on that "ball of confusion", for it's days are numbered, and the "new ball" will be fantastic!

Blessings,
George