The Watchman's Diary

Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand; “Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm (Joel 2:1, 12-13 NKJV)

Last night in my dream, I saw a great tornado sweep across South Carolina, on the main highway leading to Hilton Head Island. It swept across the highway taking with it cars, trucks, and people. It destroyed buildings and uprooted trees. The results were devastating as it just came suddenly out of nowhere. No one had time to prepare, evacuate, or escape. I began to make my way back home and as I did there were some Asian women seeking shelter and running around in fear or what just happened. It seemed strange to me that these Asian women were there and I wondered where they came from. I then came upon a very tall building. Inside the building there was a politician seeking to gain access to a specific room but behind the dark window were agents manipulating the circumstances. He was told to stay where he was until someone came out to see him, so he went and joined a party that was taking place in another part of the building. Suddenly, there was an explosion of some sort and the building began to collapse. People began to jump into the water that was behind the building but as they attempted to swim away huge pieces of concrete would fall on them and crush them. It was a horrifying scene but there was no indication it was an act of terrorism. Instead, it all seems to be the hand of God creating a tumult upon a sinful people.

I have seen wars on American soil and engagements abroad by American troops. I often wake up wondering how much of this are residuals from my deployments and how much are visions of things to come. While I am still praying for better discernment of my dreams, I believe that we are nearing a time of national turmoil. We have seen an increased level of earthquake activity, strange weather patterns, increased storm and hurricane intensity, flooding, massive bird, fish, and animal die offs, and other tragedies that have been quickly reduced to scientific anomalies. I say not so fast! Let’s take a step back and look carefully into all of this. Yes, science has brought forth much understanding of the world we live in but before there was science the word of God revealed to us these things would occur. So while science may be able to explain how a storm develops and global communication can aid in tracing the developments of wars to a root cause, they don’t acknowledge the One who truly foretells all things; nor do they credit the fallen one for the evils of this world.

Yet, we who are in Christ do not despair. We have read the book and know the end of it all. Christians must stand boldly and proclaim what we know to be true. We must hold fast the promises of God and spread the good news to those who are not yet saved. The Lord tells us to turn to Him with all our hearts, He promises forgiveness of sins and mercy. There is no sin that the blood of Christ hasn’t purified if we are willing to turn to him and repent.

Instead of demonizing and belittling those we disagree with, pray for them. Instead of gossiping about your neighbor, share the gospel with them. Do you not love your neighbor? Who is your neighbor? If your actions require you to ask Jesus to close His eyes you are sinning against Him.

Time is short and we must be blameless in the sight of the world and before our God. A skeptical world seeks to point out our blemishes but we must be holy to our God. We must examine ourselves daily and go out with pure hearts and minds to pray and share the gospel; without exemption!

Pray Always!