What on Earth is Happening: Is There Any Hope?

From these blogs, it is obvious that I am engaged in a ministry called Encouragement for End-Times Endurance. You can't encourage anybody if the message is always negative. Conversely, encouragement can't produce any lasting benefit if it is bereft of truth. Encouragement is nothing like euphoria. (This means a false sense of well-being and is the stuff political campaigns and way too many church services are made of). Therefore, this blog is an attempt t0 encourage with the truth. The only way to do that is to, from time to time, introduce matters of faith, for which no apology is made.

This morning's yahoo news headline stated that the political situation in Illinois vexes Obama. It seems as though the seat he vacated for the presidency has no clear-cut favorite, with the 2010 elections looming. The governorship of Illinois is up for re-election also. The pundits say that democratic losses here would greatly overshadow what recently happened in Mass. The sad thing is that the GOP front runner in the senatorial race is pro-abortion rights and favors more gun control. This can leave a person wringing their hands, wondering how things can ever get better. This writer states that from a natural viewpoint, they can't. Remember the third lens of Scripture? That's where faith comes in.

In a recent op-ed piece for the New York Times, columnist Ross Douthat sais: "If you treat your faith like a hothouse flower, too vulnerable to survive in the crass world of public disputation, then you ensure that nobody will take it seriously." There are a number of excellent Christian Apologists (they don't apologize for being Christian; they defend the Christian Faith), whose writings I will make no attempt to duplicate here. Check out the writings of Ravi Zacharias, Chuck Colson, Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell, among others. In the meantime, I will just make my faith statements.

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As bad as things will get, Jesus will return and set things right. Those who have died throughout the centuries trusting in Him for forgiveness of sins and eternal life will be resurrected and those believers alive at the time of His return will be changed; and both will be removed from the earth to be with the Lord forever. The earth and its unbelieving population will then undergo a terrible time of judgment known as the Day of the Lord. This is why the return of Christ is labeled as "the Blessed hope" to those who are anticipating it.

The strength of my belief is this has already been mentioned - it is the amazing accuracy with which Bible prophecy has thus far been fulfilled. I have no reason to believe that prophecy yet future won't be similarly By faith in Christ, we have a time to look forward to in which every wrong will be righted and there shall be no more death, crying or pain. There will be peace on earth because the Prince of Peace will reign.

What on Earth is Happening: Today's Headlines Written in Advance

Nearing the end of his life, the Apostle Paul wrote these words to his younger protege, Timothy: "But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days, People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God---having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." (2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV)

Today, not even in the peaceful hamlets and villages of New England are exempt from such things dominating the daily news. Here's just a sample from today's Norwich Bulletin: "Man pleads not guilty in Yale killing." "Man who tormented families gets 3 years." ""Facebook, MySpace ax offenders' profiles." "Convicted murderer charged with rape.""Physicist: Tiny aliens may inhabit Earth now." "North-South Korea exchange artillery fire." The world is shrinking and we are connected to what is happening everywhere. It is becoming more and more obvious that government social engineering projects do little to slow down these predicted trends, much less eliminate them. In fact, we have ample evidence that most government attempts to "fix things" in this country only make them worse, even for the people who were supposed to benefit most from the fix. Unfortunately, during tonight's State of the Union address, we will probably hear about more plans to fix things.

All great civilizations of the world have passed through a series of stages from their birth to their decline to their death. Some historians have listed these in ten stages.

1. From bondage to spiritual faith

2. From spiritual faith to great courage

3. From great courage to liberty

4. From liberty to abundance

5. From abundance to selfishness

6. From selfishness to complacency

7. From complacency to apathy

8. From apathy to moral decay

9. From moral decay to dependence

10. From dependence to bondage

This is not to say that every citizen of the USA experiences this regression. There are still those in this country possessing great faith, who take courageous stands for liberty. However, it must be stated that the root problem for any civilization is never political, economic, educational or spiritual; it is spiritual. The Scriptures declare: "Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a disgrace to any people." (Proverbs 14:34, NIV) Unfortunately, righteousness has been on the decline in this country for decades. Some point to the Supreme Court case in 1962 which eliminated prayer in public schools as the watershed moment. [Ironically, Madeline Murray O'Hare, who instigated that case died in obscurity, a broken woman. Her son, William Murray, became a Christian and is the founder and chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition.] Eleven years later, there was the infamous Roe vs. Wade decision, resulting in the killing of more than 50,000,000 babies in our country. It appears that the USA is rapidly approaching, or perhaps has entered, the ninth stage.

What on Earth is Happening: Sign of the Times or Time of the Signs

When one looks at the times in which we live through the third lens of Scripture, one can hardly escape the notion that we are living in a unique age. Jesus compared certain signs to birth pangs and buds on a fig tree. In one case, you know that the birth of a child is near, in the other you know that summer is near. Jesus went on to say that when these signs were apparent that His Second Coming was near.

It is interesting to note that Jesus used the analogy of birth pangs and that yesterday (January 24, 2010) was Sanctity of Life Sunday. Maybe I'm just on overload here, but for me it is a quick connection between that and the fact that abortion on demand has been legal in this country for 37 years now. Mainstream media did little to point this out in the past week. I believe two big reasons why abortion is legal in this country are: 1) sacrifice made to the god of convenience, and 2) apathy on the part of the church. Rev. Flip Benham, director of Operation Save America has said, "Abortion will end in this country when the church of Jesus Christ says so, and not one day sooner." The connections don't stop there. One of the signs of Christ's soon return is earthquakes. For every decade since records have been kept, earthquakes have been increasing in intensity and severity (just like birth pangs). All the while, real birth pangs have decreased by some 50 million in this country over the past 37 years. In 2 months, as many babies will be killed in this country as people who died in Haiti's earthquake. Not that Haiti shouldn't be helped, but the genocide in our back yard is virtually ignored.

Jesus spoke of a last-days generation that would be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, ungrateful, brutal, not lovers of the good, lovers of pleasure and not lovers of God. He spoke of events that presumed the existence of national Israel and a third temple. National Israel was born on May 14, 1948, and during the six-day war in June, 1967, Israel took possession of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Today, Islam has two mosques located on the Temple Mount and much political complexity surrounds who can enter that sacred ground and when. Jerusalem and the Temple Mount continue to be at the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Yet at the same time there is a group in Israel preparing the implements needed for Temple worship, ready to move forward with the building of the Temple.

Events are spoken of which presume present-day technology, because the prophecies imply the whole world having knowledge of them. Prophecy speaks of an army, 200,000,000 strong moving from a position east of Israel. Bible prophecy speaks of an alliance between members of the former Soviet Union and Persia (Iran) attacking Israel and being supernaturally defeated. Such an alliance is visible today. Russia is known to be heavily involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran hates Israel and Israel is preparing for such an attack. One doesn't have to be an extremist to see that we are living in a unique time.

One specific sign given in Matthew 24 is that before the end, the gospel of the kingdom would be preached to all people groups as a witness. This holds dual significance, since: 1) several missions organizations estimate 10-20 years before the task is accomplished, and 2) faith in this gospel is the only means of escaping the worst of what is to come. This can be viewed as alarmism, or as good news - the choice is ours.

What on Earth is Happening: The Macro Picture

Since so many of the Bible's yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecies concern national Israel, directly or indirectly, the possibility of their being fulfilled has existed only since 1948. Some people have tried erroneously to date the Second Coming of Christ, using that date as a starting point. Jesus said that no man knows the day or the hour of His return, but that we should be aware of the times and the seasons. To that end, this blog is dedicated. So, with that matter settled, what about this coming unity (one-ness) in the areas of government, economics and religion?

In this 21st Century, government and economics are closely tied together, especially in those countries which have adopted some form of central banking. (For the USA, that would be the Federal Reserve Bank). Representatives from countries with the world's largest economies regularly meet. This has been done in G8 Summits (there is a G7 Summit scheduled for northern Canada this year), recently expanded to the G20 - 19 countries plus the European Union - with summits scheduled for 2010 in Toronto and Seoul. The world is becoming unified with respect to economics, right before our eyes. Autumn of 2008 demonstrated that an economic crisis in one nation could quickly become a crisis in many nations.

For millennia people and nations have risen, attempting to gain control of the world (usually meaning "the known world"). Only with the advance of technology in the 20th Century were wars labeled as "World Wars" in the global sense of the world. Yet no one nation emerged from the 20th Century as the one world ruler. Instead, we have the United Nations, whose mission is peace as opposed to war. The UN recently spearheaded a global warming summit in Copenhagen. While no binding treaty resulted, the handwriting is on the wall that this summit was more about spreading the wealth and diluting national sovereignty than it was about melting icecaps.

Many believe the US economy is built on a house of cards and that legislation such as cap and trade, healthcare reform, or another stimulus bill could cause it to crash. Jerry Robinson, author of Bankruptcy of Our Nation declares that the USA is already bankrupt (morally and financially). It seems logical that a much weakened United States would be necessary for a one world government/economy to be possible. Interestingly, not only does the Bible predict this, but it says that it will take place under a so-called banner of peace.

Completing this tri-part-macro-picture of the future is religion. The World Council of Churches, in a December 22, 2009 posting on its website, presents a theology that is helpful in the movement to counter so-called global warming. This theology does away with many of the religious distinctives, promoting the idea of "going along" so you can "get along." It promotes a social gospel, widely accepted because it includes "good works" while mostly leaving out sin, the cross of Christ and repentance. This is based on the notion that man is basically good, and getting better; a notion that does not square with reality.

What on Earth is Happening? - Why I Believe What I Believe

Obviously this blog represents one man's opinion, but it is an opinion shared by many who have made the same journey as I have. Whether I knew it or not, the first half of my life was devoted to searching for truth and meaning. Eighteen years of formal education, serving in the military during the Cold/Vietnam War era, two decades plus in my own business and even more decades of organized religion were all part of this quest. It all started to come together the day I

yielded to the authority of Scripture, 34 years ago. Since then the journey has been more of truth being revealed rather than sought.

That may sound presumptuous, but I am actually humbled as I see the Bible proving itself to be a supernatural book whose writing was inspired by an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful God. The Bible is full of history written in advance (prophecies) that were later fulfilled, some in great detail. Dr. Peter Stoner (Science Speaks, 1958) estimated the odds against just 48 of the 300 or so Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah being fulfilled in one person, such as Jesus of Nazareth. He calculated the odds at 1 in 10 to the 157th power. Since already fulfilled prophecy speaks so loudly about the veracity of the Bible, it stands to reason that prophecy concerning still future events will be fulfilled just as accurately as it always has. To believe otherwise would be betting against the odds.

A wrap-up here will serve as a segue to the next blog. The Bible gives us a macro-view of the future, plus it fills in many of the details. On a macro-scale, the Bible says that concerning the last days of history as we know it, there will be a movement towards world unity in three major areas: government, economics and religion. In the middle of all this there is the Middle East, Israel, Jerusalem and finally the Temple Mount - as though we were moving in on the epicenter of a major earthquake (by the way, earthquakes increasing in intensity and frequency factor heavily in end-times prophecy). Suffice it to say here that from A.D. 1948, national Israel did not exist; then in one day it burst forth as a nation, in fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah 66:8.

What on Earth is Happening? - Why Bother?

There’s no doubt about it, we live in a time of great turbulence and anxiety. Disturbing events and images flood the media every day. If we had forgotten that fact, the recent earthquake in Haiti quickly brought us a painful reminder. Suddenly our attention was pulled to a trouble spot hundreds of miles away. Closer to home we find our own cities and states dealing with crises we could never have imagined 30 or 40 years ago.

Man is concerned about his existence and his future in ways that are without precedence. “What on Earth Am I Here For?” is the title of the opening section of Rick Warren’s record-breaking book (over 30 million hardcover copies sold!), The Purpose Driven Life. The movie 2012, just released in November 2009 is already #34 on the all-time gross receipts list. Nostradamus’ book, The Prophecies, has seldom been out of print since it was first published in 1555.

There’s no question, people are interested in their origin and their destiny, and these interests are peaked in times of uncertainty. This is human nature and it is aptly described in “The Manufacturer’s Handbook,” commonly called the Bible. Right after a series of verses which make up the song Turn, Turn by the Byrds, we read in Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Man innately knows that there is more to life than just the temporal, but he cannot find out what it is by natural pursuit. Only the eternal God can reveal the eternal.


This is said, not to provoke the reader to anger or even debate; only that this writer will be examining our topic through three different lenses. Author Joel Rosenberg states in his book, Epicenter, “While it is fashionable in our times to analyze world events merely by looking through the lenses of politics and economics, it is also a serious mistake, for it prevents one from being able to see in three dimensions. To truly understand the significance of global events and trends, one must analyze them through a third lens as well: the lens of Scripture. Only then can the full picture become clearer.”