Prophecy

The World Is In A Mess, But God Is On The Throne

by John Clark 
08/22/16
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Anyone who is up on what is going on and knows the things the major media does not tell us, knows that there is a "perfect storm" brewing. Waves and winds are converging from four directions: politically, economically, morally, and spiritually, especially persecution against Christians. I can guarantee that unless you are well informed you have no idea how bad things really are, but none of it is catching God by surprise because his word, the Bible, has predicted that these things would come about at some point in history.

     Before you call me cynical, negative, or using scare tactics, let me share with you some recent headlines.
 

     POLITICALLY

     "Franklin Graham: We Are On The Precipice of Anarchy"

     "12 Times Pope Francis Has Openly Promoted A One World Religion Or A New World Order"

     "Obama Wants A Third Term-And This Is The Way It Could Happen"

     
     ECONOMICALLY

     "Barak Obama Is On Track To Be The Only President In History To Never Have A Year of 3% GDP"

    "Painful To Watch: This Is The Weakest U.S. Economic Recovery Since 1949"


     MORALLY

     "Govt. To Christians: Don't You Dare Speak Out Against The Sexual Sins in Society"

     "California Forces LGBTQ Family Lessons On Second Graders"


     SPIRITUALLY/RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

     "Pope Francis: A Fool Or A Liar For Islam"

     "California Could Deprive Students From Attending Christian Universities"

     "Regular Christians Not Welcome In America"

     "Satan Temple Launches 'After School Satan Club' In Attempt To Counter Christian Groups"

     "Tennessee Newspaper Lifts Ban On Word 'Christain' Deemed To Offensive To Print"

     These kinds of headlines are appearing every day from independent news sources. Add to this the following: Satanism is on a dramatic rise in America with public gatherings, diseases that have been eradicated for decades are returning, lawlessness is out of control, some public schools are teaching common core, eliminating cursive writing, and allowing Islam and the gay agenda into the classroom, there is a refugee crisis, and hopelessness and depression are reaching epidemic proportions. 

     Much of what is not being reported, however, is the persecution of Christians. Churches have not only become gathering points for the new Pokemon craze, but the target for ISIS. The radicals of the Islamic State have targeted thousands of Christians and are getting their names from church directories. See the article, "ISIS Kill List Names 15,000 Christian Americans Targeted for Death." Another article reports that "ISIS Has A New Focus-Killing Christians And Bombing Churches Wherever They Find Them."

     Everything mentioned above is going on just in America. What about the rest of the world? In the Middle East, Christians have been run out of their homes and countries, and have been burned alive, crucified, and beheaded. Another headline reads, "Middle East Christians: Don't Pray For The Persecution To End." Instead, they are encouraged to pray for strength to endure it. Persecution has spread into Germany where thousands of Christians have been attacked by Muslim guards and migrants. According to Volker Baumann of the organization, Action for Persecuted Christians, "up to 40,000 Christians are being persecuted for their faith in Germany." In Berlin refugees were threatened after refusing to participate in Islamic prayer. 

     In Russia, Putin recently made it illegal to evangelize outside the walls of a church. The country is now closed to public religious gatherings of any kind. In China, the government has told its young people that if they want to go to college, they must stop attending church. Now, a lot closer to America, it has just been reported by CBN News that Cuba has destroyed over 1,400 church buildings and is imprisoning pastors. 

     In some of the latest news, World Vision, the world's largest Christian relief organization, has been infiltrated by Islam. Mohammad El Halabi, the organization's director of Gaza operations since 2010, was arrested June 15, 2016, charged with diverting over 7 million dollars to Hamas, that had been designated for civilian projects. 

     Pages could be written about what is really happening, and much of it affects or could soon affect Christians like you and me, especially born-again Christians who refuse to compromise their beliefs and practices. There is a spiritual battle going on like never before. The world has gotten to the point where decades and even centuries of rejecting God is bringing the consequences. The depraved and prideful heart of humanity is running its course. Deception is rampant. The world has gone mad!  But with all of this, many Christians and churches are remaining silent and going about their daily business and routines like nothing is happening. 

     Praise the Lord that there is also much revival going on. The Church worldwide is dramatically increasing in numbers as new converts are coming to know the Lord , even many Muslims. Much of this increase is the direct result of persecution. But this should not minimize nor overshadow the mess the world is in.  

     For Christians these should be exciting times (though uncertain). Prophecy is being fulfilled, literally, before our very eyes. Whether it is the result of decisions by governments, the fallen and sinful nature of man, man's rejection of God, or God giving humanity over to its own devices, like it says in Romans 1, the Bible has predicted that at some point in human history these things would occur. We are at that time! The Bible has predicted that these things would literally happen. For people who don't take the Bible literally this is not welcome news. Even though some prophecy is symbolic or difficult to understand and interpret, some is very clear. Here are only several passages from the Bible, one-third of which is prophecy. 

     MATTHEW 24

     Deception is mentioned 3 times, along with wars, famines, earthquakes, hatred of Christians, falling away from the faith, and lawlessness. 


     LUKE 21

     This chapter of prophecy lists deception, wars, earthquakes, plagues, famines, terrors, and persecution .


     ROMANS 1

     Verse 28 says that "God gave them over to do those things which are not proper." It is not proper to promote Islam and the LGBTQ agenda in public schools; to change the Pledge of Allegiance to "one nation under Allah