In a recent podcast, Ann Graham Lotz [Billy’s daughter] and Joel Rosenburg [popular author] asserted that God is shaking America to spiritually awaken us. Rosenburg said that while 911 was not caused by God [it was caused by fanatics devoted to a false religion], He did allow it to happen to wake us up. However, we pretty much ignored the warning and within a couple of months reverted back to our national pre-911 sins. He mentioned abortion, pornography, drugs, gay marriage and the utter defiance of God. Then Rosenburg reviewed other warnings that should have awakened us over the past 10 years…. hurricane Katrina, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that have cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars. He referenced our economic woes and our political divisions/gridlock. He asserted that 2011 has already been the worst year in history for natural disasters….killer tornadoes in Alabama and Missouri, the earthquake on the east coast [the biggest in decades]. Hurricane Irene flooded the Northeast, and we have suffered the worst fires and drought in Texas history.
The American economy seems to be imploding. Thousands of factories have closed. Nearly 15,000,000 jobs have been lost. Home foreclosures are epidemic. Our national debt is increasing by the minute [literally] and we see no way out of the crisis. 8 of 10 people surveyed say our country is on the wrong track. Preacher Bob Russell recently described it like being in the middle of a frozen lake….we hear the ice cracking, but don’t know which way to run for safety.
But, it is not just the U.S….the whole world is being shaken. Japan just experienced a series of terrible earthquakes, one large enough to trigger a tsunami that killed thousands, damaged several nuclear energy facilities and crippled their economy. Australia has had flooding described in one newspaper as a ‘Biblical flood.’ Haiti experienced one of the deadliest earthquakes in history, which killed thousands. Russia is living through the worst drought in 100 years….and China the worst drought in 200 years. There is extreme political unrest and even revolution in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia. The entire Middle East is in turmoil.
People everywhere are asking big questions: “Are we living in the last days?” “Will America survive?” I have not seen such apocalyptic interest and concern in my lifetime. Many are anxious….troubled. Joel Rosenburg is a scholarly student of prophecy and a frequent guest on national talk shows. He has plainly said, “I believe God is trying to warn us to repent, to stop living such immoral, self-centered lives.”
God has a mission for his church – and that is to warn the world that Jesus is coming back and that the time is short. So, are we living in the last days or not? Absolutely, we are. We have been ever since the Day of Pentecost. The Apostle Peter quoted the prophet Joel when he preached the Gospel for the first time on the day the church was born. The quote from Acts 2:14, “In the last days, God said, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” And that is exactly what happened on Pentecost. We have been living in the last days for over twenty centuries! The question is…. Are we living in the last days of the last days? My answer: I don’t know. But, what I do know is that unprecedented things are happening globally, in rapid sequence, and that could well be interpreted as warnings to “repent the end is near.” But, whether the end is near or not, as Christians we should live each day as though it were our last, faithfully and zealously being a Great Commandment/Great Commission people…. loving the Lord and one another/making disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them.
Pray with me…. Our loving Father, we know that we were not made to live life on this earth permanently. This world is just our temporary home. We are destined to live with You in the place that Jesus has promised to prepare for us. We praise and thank you that He lives evermore, and that because of who He is and what He has done for us, we have the promise of a greater life. We pray to wisely invest ourselves in Your eternal purpose in these days when the uncertainty of this life is being impressed on us by what is happening in nature and in the governments of men. We trust you Father. In Jesus’ dear name, amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
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