A Title Defined

Thunder. Thunder resonates. Thunder permeates. Thunder can be heard many miles beyond its location of origin. Thunder strikes fear in the most gallant knights and spawns whimpers in the tiniest babe. Thunder echoes off of monstrous mountains and cascades through bottomless valleys.

What images and emotions are awakened in your heart when you think of thunder? Fear? Awe? Respect? Honest adults will admit a fear of thunder that haunted their childhood. Violent storms and warm blankets, pulled tightly around ones’ chin, are inseparable memories of growing up. Then we awake one day no longer terrified of the piercing rumble. Now we understand the cause and effect, explaining it away as just a part of nature. Still, it frequently catches the bravest off guard as it splits the evening sky with flashes of brilliance and deafening cracks.

The word ‘thunder’ is used in a myriad of descriptive forms. The dictionary defines thunder as, “A deep prolonged loud noise; a loud, explosive, resounding noise; a threatening or startling utterance, denunciation, or the like.” Thunder can be used to describe the explosion of air colliding, galloping horses, a startling bang, gunfire, etc.

Three particular images used for thunder encompass all that is envisioned for the title and purpose of this new blog. First, Scripture declares that the voice and presence of God thunders (Exodus 19:16, Job 37:2, Psalm 18:13, Psalm 81:7). The entire temple in Isaiah 6 violently shuttered when Holiness Itself was praised.

Second, thunder describes a proclamation or admonition when it is said, “Her voice thundered through the auditorium.” When a person wants to convey urgency and importance, do they whisper? When danger is present and a loved one could be harmed, do we speak quietly? Of course not, we yell, scream and cry out as loud as possible!

Finally, imagine an army. Picture the movies you have seen in which an army rides to battle. Do the warriors step the hooves of their horses softly in order to avoid being heard? No, they usually blaze ahead in a full gallop, thundering across an open plain to oppose the enemy. They are not silent. They are not afraid. They have a cause to defend. And they are willing to risk their lives for their people and their king.

Perhaps thunder is used to illustrate God’s voice because He wants us to fear Him and listen. Perhaps when we hear God’s voice our proclamation to others should reflect urgency. Perhaps it is time to arise as an army and confront the evil that wages war against what God says is true.

Thunder IS rumbling in the heart of this generation. It may be a distant thunder, but it exists all the same. Can you hear it?

It is not time to be comfortable. It is not time to seek wealth. It is not time to pursue fame. It is not time to warm the church pew, donate to charity and write checks.

It is time to stand for truth. It is time to know God. It is time to believe what He says is true. It is time to suffer, as Christ did. It is time to be selfless, as Christ was. It is time to confront everything that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Confronting evil is risky and dangerous.

A Distant Thunder will not be for the weak of heart, those who want to remain comfortable or anyone who is content with where they are at spiritually. A Distant Thunder will dive into topics like abortion, neo-theism, discipleship, Islam, home education and captivity to Christ.

I do not claim to have reached perfection, no, instead to learn as I write and write as I learn. I do not claim to have answers, but to somehow challenge those who follow Christ to do so- with everything that they are.

A distant thunder can be heard…

“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. A voice says, “Cry out. And I said, “What shall I cry?” You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!” ”
(From passages in Isaiah 40)