A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in my den and heard what I thought was a piece of heavy equipment moving through the neighborhood. But after a couple of seconds, I realized that it wasn’t machinery; but a 3.6 earthquake that was vibrating the house, which has become a common occurrence around here. A couple of days after this, I read a U. N. report stating, that because of several issues (i.e.; the war in Ukraine, rising food prices caused by inflation), there is a very real danger of global food shortages and that as many as 250 million could face starvation. Then, just yesterday, I hear news that Iran is reporting they have reached the nuclear threshold of enriched plutonium and are now capable of producing a nuclear bomb. Because of this, there is very real possibility of a major war erupting in the Middle East to go along with the one raging in the Ukraine. Add to that, the threat that China poses to Taiwan and the almost total lack of leadership in Washington, and it makes for some very unsettling times. When I start considering all that’s going on around us, I can’t help but be reminded of Jesus’ words to His apostles in Matthew 24 about the initial ‘signs’ that would point to His 2nd coming and the end of the world (age). He said it would begin with wars and rumors of wars and nation rising against nation; with famines, pestilences (Covid?), and earthquakes in diverse places. He then told them that this would be followed by world-wide persecution of Christians. While I can’t say that persecution is a definite for us in America in the near future, with the current attitude toward morality in the U. S., it is nowhere near as far-fetched as one would have thought just 10 years ago. While I’m not predicting that we’re entering into the days that Jesus warned about, I’m not saying we’re not, either. Paul said in II Tim. 3:1 ‘In the last days, perilous times would come’ and then describes 20 moral attributes characteristic of that time that seem to fit in with what we are seeing today. It seems that darkness has more and more taken over the minds and hearts of people all around us. Jesus said in John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day, the night is coming when no man can work.” Jesus has given His church the only light available that can penetrate this darkness. Come join us this Sunday, as we discuss what His servants are expected to be doing in this darkening world until He comes.
For God’s glory and God’s alone,
Pastor Terry.