The Watchman's Diary

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14 ESV)

The end is here!!!

You may be reading this and shaking your head with a “this guy is crazy” smirk on your face, or maybe not. It all depends on your biblical literacy and faith in the written word.  It would seem as if the world is asleep while the cruise ship slowly drifts toward stormy waters. We have set our cares aside, trusting in the captain and crew, and spend our days eating, drinking and being merry.  There is just one problem, the captain is liar and a thief and his crew is obedient to him, even to death. If we would just look up; if we were familiar with the navigation system in the skies, we would know that we are heading in the wrong direction. There is yet another problem; we have taken the navigation system to be nothing more than a fascinating in-dash entertainment system.

Not sure what I am talking about? Take a close look at the condition of the world and the events that are unfolding; consider the recent blood moons and the one yet to occur; all of which took and will take place during a Jewish holiday. Did you, like the rest of the world, treat it as if it was just another celestial occurrence with no significance? I believe it to be much more than that!

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, (Genesis 1:14 ESV).

I believe that God is warning us of the times and that the “signs and seasons” element of this verse is in effect. Yet, these occurrences have become no more than good for news ratings and a bit of excitement for many.

I’m sure there are many other opinions on what is happening and some may even argue that there have been worse times than these in the past. There have been some absolute horrors that have transpired throughout human history; I completely agree. Which is more of a reason we should take seriously the warnings in the skies and the activities throughout the world.

It is becoming more and more difficult to share the gospel with others. Just talking about Jesus can get us in quite a tough spot; yet, people say there is no persecution of Christians taking place here in the United States. My recent mission trip opened my eyes to this reality when I experienced how open the people there were to discussing their faith and Jesus. Even the visitors from other countries I met there were more apprehensive to this topic than the locals were.  How did we get here? No need to answer, we already know.

Evangelism is quickly being stifled out of our culture and we are replacing Christian etiquette with laws; a great nation of laws! Seems we haven’t learned much, have we?!

So where do we go from here? There is only one direction for a nation that pushes God out of the way and replace him with whatever they think is appropriate. Politics cannot fix this and no president, congress, or government can change the direction we are going in. This may be a shock to some of us who treat politicians a little gods; they are not the answer to our moral and spiritual decay. The change has to come from our hearts and must be ushered in by the Holy Spirit; not some deep spiritual enlightenment or empty meditation.

Back to the issue at hand; we are being warned and have been for the last few thousand years.  We have lost sight of these things and the further away we push God the more blind we become to them. It is time for us to re-dedicate and consecrate ourselves in preparation to meet our God.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. (Matthew 24:32-33 ESV)