Jan’s article this week really hit close to home. (Excerpt below, full article below.)
Excuse me while I rant. I think Bible prophecy gets a bad rap. I think that those of us who long for Jesus’ return are marginalized in the church today. I even think there is a war on Bible prophecy starting in our seminaries. The carnage is played out in our churches that across-the-board stay away from the subject. The fact that the King is coming is seen as bad news to many because the event is shrouded in the world’s bad news.
But my perplexity goes beyond this. As a ministry, we have asked ourselves just how we can get the under age 45 crowd out to our events. Todd Strandberg of Rapture Ready writes about this as well. He says, “Every time I go to a prophecy conference, I can’t help but notice the sea of gray hair in the main meeting room. A few years back, at a conference in South Carolina, there wasn’t a single person under age 50 — and we had over 500 people in attendance.”
As one of the few in the younger segment, I can definitely relate to what the quotes listed below say about our generations. I have pondered this quite a bit as I attend conferences. I feel most of it is the falling away prophesied. There is another more practical piece as well. Most of those I know in that age group are very “busy” with life trying to survive, hold on to what they have, and provide for their families. I think part of it could simply be a matter of time, or better put, lack of time. Those that are on their second or third career, maybe in “retirement” with families grown, simply have more time to be vocal about their beliefs, do the studies needed, have radio shows, start websites, or attend conferences. Shoot, even finding time to read a book can be challenging for those working 2-3 jobs, raising a family, and attending to their spousal duties, etc.
This “busy-ness” is too, I feel, prophetic and may be a tool used in the “falling away” we are experiencing. God said in the latter days, knowledge will increase and many will run to and fro. At some point the economy will also be so bad that a man would have to work all day for a single days worth of food. Could we be starting to see this ramp up? It seems like we have to stretch every dollar we have further each day and there is so much information (and dis-information) thrown at us everyday that it can take every waking hour to just filter through and digest it all. There are more “distractions” streaming at us 24/7 than ever before in history. It’s hard to imagine that even 50 years ago the expression “has time on his hands” was common and used often to describe a young person. Could this just be another way the evil one distracts the young and less wise from God’s word and promises?
With the speed at which things have crescendo’ed, a person has to make a strong stand to actively seek God and study His word (which includes prophecy, especially) or be swept away in the current of life and leisure. I am afraid that most do not chose to make that stand and fight daily upstream to wrestle with God’s word daily, opening their hearts to the Holy Spirit so that they can properly and more quickly discern the truth and filter through all the disinformation that is spewed constantly. Could this “lack of time” or maybe better put lack of wisdom and priorities, be causing so many in this age group to miss God’s prophetic word? I know it is a daily struggle, personally, and something I have had to sacrifice to maintain from a time stand point (No TV and little to no worldly entertainment), though the reward has been overwhelming.
Without God, how can we expect to keep up this insane pace and discern correctly. Most roll over when nudged awake and go back to sleep, not wanting to bother with the effort required to resist this world’s distractions and fight upstream. It is a sad state, but we should not dwell on it. It is why Christ said “when we see these things begin (just start, not complete) we should look up, and lift up our heads because our redemption draws near. Our Blessed Hope!
Luke 21:28
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
28 But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Maranatha, Lord come quickly!
myblessedhope
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By Jan Markell
Excuse me while I rant. I think Bible prophecy gets a bad rap. I think that those of us who long for Jesus’ return are marginalized in the church today. I even think there is a war on Bible prophecy starting in our seminaries. The carnage is played out in our churches that across-the-board stay away from the subject. The fact that the King is coming is seen as bad news to many because the event is shrouded in the world’s bad news.
But my perplexity goes beyond this. As a ministry, we have asked ourselves just how we can get the under age 45 crowd out to our events. Todd Strandberg of Rapture Ready writes about this as well. He says, “Every time I go to a prophecy conference, I can’t help but notice the sea of gray hair in the main meeting room. A few years back, at a conference in South Carolina, there wasn’t a single person under age 50 — and we had over 500 people in attendance.”
Strandberg concludes, “I’m very concerned about the state of leadership in the field of prophecy. I’m 47, and I am a spring chicken when compared to the ages of my peers.”
So I threw the dilemma out to my radio listeners this past weekend. I asked that if they were of the “younger generation,” and loved the topic of eschatology (end-times), would you please send me a note? I cannot say that I am inundated! I’ve had less than a dozen replies thus far. Here are a few examples.
Nick is 27 and writes, “I’m very concerned with the young generation. We are moving into the ‘end times’ at such a rapid rate and this young generation is in a coma.” Those are his words, not mine! I am certain that not every young person is in that condition. /span>
Mike is 34 and writes, “You asked on your program today for young people to let you know if end-time prophecy is an issue. End-time prophecy is not AN issue, it is THE issue. You can look at it as I do as the blessed hope or you can look at it as frightening.”
Ashley writes, “I am completely enthralled about learning about end times and how events in our world are carrying us closer to the return of our King. It thrills me!! Most of my (young) friends know nothing about it and have little desire to learn. They say it scares them. Personally though, I am filled with hope that we could be caught up with Jesus and not have to taste death. I can’t wait to meet Jesus face to face!”
Russ, who is 32, writes, “It is surprising to me that there are so many people I have tried to talk to about prophecy who have brushed me off by saying that they consider it ‘doomsday talk.’ It is difficult to get anyone to even talk about it. Even my own family doesn’t want to hear about it and this includes all ages.”
Leah made my day by writing, “I see a real remnant among the church here in our military community who are actively searching Bible prophecy and discussing end-time things. We belong to a Bible study and I have personally had many conversations with some of the 30+ folks that attend, mostly the other young moms, and am surprised at how many of us really are feeling the urgency in the air. Many of us have taken our kids out of public school and are homeschooling in order to get our kids grounded in God’s Word so that they can take a stand in their faith, whatever comes. Your broadcast has helped us to ask important questions about our times and what our stance should be. THANK YOU! Take heart, the next generation does, indeed, have a remnant that is awake, listening and watching for Christ’s return. God Bless!”
These few replies out of a potential audience of millions, tells me there is a problem. I am told that younger people want to “live out their life.” This world is not our home and I thought we didn’t WANT it to be our home. This is the home of the Antichrist and everything evil. If I am off base here, I am hoping folks will tell me so!
Another e-mail emphasizes how terrified young mothers are concerning our times. They simply interpret all current/prophetic events as doom and gloom. Their world and their families must not be touched. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. A sanitized world!
Then there are the mockers. Grant writes to me saying,
“An early 30’s pastor friend of mine I brought to your conference 2 years ago openly scoffed at what was said and argued against a lot of it when I tried to show him the realities of what is happening in this world today. I don’t have a lot of people to discuss these topics with.”
Eschatology spells out the devil’s demise and thus he is putting up a war against it. So the world asks — and scoffs, “Where is the promise of His coming?” just as the Bible predicted in II Peter 3:4. Don’t bother me with this info. Don’t depress me with it. Don’t enlighten me with it. Don’t bore me with it!
God has asked us to be His ambassadors in this depraved world. He asks us to stand for truth; to be light in the dark; to be salt in a world that is decaying. He asks us to distribute hope.
Whether anybody gets excited about it or not, Jesus is coming again and soon. Whether those who are excited about that are young, middle age, or old, is irrelevant. His coming will be right on time. Then the final days will play out exactly as the Bible outlines. It’s a sure thing that those days will be frightful.
Let’s prepare ourselves for perilous times. We’re in them. The signs of the times are screaming at us! As a headline reads that I posted to our Web site headlines early today, “The Rapidity With Which the World Is Descending Into Chaos Is Amazing.”
That is why God’s end-time promises are so important and why it is tragic that they are now marginalized.
NOTE: We surf the Internet and post current headlines each morning. Find them here. Sign up for the RSS feed and get them in your in-box daily. Here’s the symbol to look for.
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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.
In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile. He writes:
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5
What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law. But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved. It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.
