We can see certain signs, or clues (see Matthew 24:3, Luke 21:7), that His coming is approaching. Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars, revolutions, widespread famine, disease, and earthquakes in many different places (see Matthew 24:6-7, Luke 21:10-11). There would be an increase of lawlessness and anarchy. The apostle Paul said, "That day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God" (II Thessalonians 2:3-4). Along with the "man of sin" will come what is called an apostasy, or a falling away. Many of the believing people will grow cold in their faith (see Matthew 24:12). There will be persecution of Christians and a time of general trouble. I think all these things are happening with increasing frequency.
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| Sodom and Gomorrah . Where is the Voice calling you? |
In recent days, I've been further impressed about the coming of Jesus. And why wouldn't anyone with any sense of God's word not feel the same way. Times are a comin.....
Look around you. My gosh, there is such a divison in our country and in our world. The difference between right and wrong, truth and outright lies are so drastic. Why's this so hard to see?
And in these times, it's now politically correct to suppress the truth and let our flesh take over. Let freedom ring....but freedom of what and for what?
Let me take you back a few years to 1996. I want you to read the prayer given by Reverend Joe Wright to the opening session of the Kansas Senate:
Heavenly Father,
We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good", but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism; We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice; We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable; We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted, the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today, try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will. I ask in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ.
The response ro his speech was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright was pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on "The Rest of the Story" on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other he ever aired.
It seems prayer upsets people. It was true then and it sure is today some nineteen years later.
If you think longer and harder about Rev. Wright's eloquent words, it's hard to comprehend this didn't signal a change in our lives, our political system and in our faith. It could have been a turning point for sure. But it wasn't. And given where we are today... that's sad. Yet hardly unexpected.
So what's this mean? Frankly, it's all up to you. Not your wife, husband, son, daughter, mother, father, pastor or anyone else of prominence in your life. This is your decision. You can sit on the fence and think time is on your side....because you're not ready to be "all in".
Do me a small favor and shuttle back up to the picture and take a gander. And then ask yourself. What am I going to do? Because the Times a Comin.......that I'm certain of.
YGG,
John
