I want to avoid both the empty and bombastic sensationalism that is given by so many, while at the same time, focusing on the seriousness of our present and dire situation. There simply is no other way to say it, this is how it ends. The last days are not way off into some unknown, distant future as certain Christian financial planners mockingly (and ignorantly) allude to; they are today. The days of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30) are not decades from now; they are today. The season of the Rapture of the Church is not years away; it is now.
But how can we know for certain if the Rapture is a signless event?
Because we can see that Day approaching. We can see all the geopolitical, technological, theological, economic, and logistical requirements necessary for the 70th Week of Daniel to begin, already being finalized in our own day. In other words, the technological capabilities described in the book of Revelation are the technologies of now, not ten years from now. We don't need to wait thirty years into the future for some brand new "SkyNet" technology to emerge, it's already here.
Current sampling of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS)
Current Artificial Intelligence programs
The skies above CERN, 2017, restarted again in 2022
Current Russian nuclear warhead capable of producing a radioactive Tsunami
We don't need to wait decades for some new authoritarian political future to emerge, we have now it. The American political left has already weaponized most of the federal government, academia, and media and is using it to enforce its own dark version of an Orwellian future. The globalist aspirations of Revelation, are being felt now with things like the Great Reset, Agenda 2030, the Green New Deal, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. All they have left to do is collapse the current financial system (when not if) and bring in the new central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to cement their authority forever.
As of September 14, 2022 (Top left: $30T national debt; Bottom Right: $171T unfunded liabilities)
We don't have to wait for the United States to collapse way off into the distant future so that some new world order can arise. We have been collapsing in stages since September 11, 2001 (2008-09, 2020-21, 2022-??). The once "shining city on a hill" has since been shuttered and darkened due to the stratospheric national debt. The lights are off due to the energy cuts and rolling blackouts. IOW, they are intentionally suiciding our economy to usher in a "new world order."
It doesn't take a prophet to see the rise in all manner of natural and cosmological disasters. The earth is shaking in places it never used to shake. Droughts, floods, blizzards, heatwaves, and the whole laundry list of natural phenomena are striking this planet in both increasing frequency and intensity. However, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who understands the biblical implications of trying to divide the land of Israel (Joel 3:2, Zech. 2:8, 12:3, etc.).
Meanwhile, crime, violence, and lawlessness are wreaking havoc in every major American city. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who understands the biblical position on the sanctity of life. When the womb becomes the most dangerous place in a nation (at 64,000,000+ deaths), it should come as no surprise that death and violence should come so quickly upon everyone else.
Around the world, nations are building massive armies and weapons of mass destruction, while we in the US are hyper-focused on the usage of proper gender pronouns, implementing critical race theory, and forcing untested medical experiments on our troops. We are geopolitically double-minded. At the same time that we are giving away/ leaving behind billions of dollars worth of military weapons and equipment to known terrorist groups and corrupt governments, we are also driving political schemes meant to keep the status quo of the present world order. We should know we can't have it both ways.
Concurrently, while our government is busy being distracted by our inclusivity and diversity, our leaders have failed to notice the collapse of Western Civilization all around them. When a society is no longer able (or willing) to define when life begins, what a woman is, why pedophilia is wrong, what marriage is, what truth is, or even that bugs aren't real food, then you're in a failed state. This is what happens when man abandons God; he is left to his own devices. When man does this, it always leads to greater and greater examples of lunacy and debauchery.
Yes, this is how it ends for America.
Assessment
So how did the most Christian nation on the planet go from the puritans and pilgrims, to here? I mean, how could the end so suddenly creep up upon the Church which had been charged with proclaiming Jesus' death until He returns (i.e., communion) whilst being busy making disciples of all nations (i.e., the Great Commission)?
Well, as one astute reader noted, the Church fell asleep at the wheel during the glory days of America (the late 1940s through the 1980s). The mainline churches drifted on cruise control and missed the turnoff. Instead of following the road, we went straight into the dark and haunted woods of progressive, post-Christian, post-modernism (where nations get lost and die). We got invaded and subverted by numerous false religions and false ideologies, which began to promote things like cultural relativism, cultural marxism, and post-modernism. My friend John B. had an accurate observation regarding this subtle subversion. In referencing the "Endgame" interview I did earlier with Tyler on his Gen2434 Channel, John said:
What you guys said about the Isis and Osiris stuff, bringing back paganism, the Gottard Tunnel grand opening, the Commonwealth games with the Bull last month, Hillary Clinton and the 14 pieces search, invading Iraq to find Nimrod's body, etc .. really tied some things together for me. You mentioned how the Marvel movies fueled the fire for some of this ancient paganism to be brought back. I remember watching a show on Hinduism being brought to America in the 60s and sold as fitness and mental health and relaxation techniques rather than a religion.
The Beatles really blessed it with their trip to India and meeting with the yogis and delving into the hallucinogenic drugs and transcendental meditation...it was a way to deceptively push Hinduism into our culture and spread it in a Christian nation like the United States was going out and sending missionaries to other countries to spread Christianity. Now every big corporation and half the commercials show someone doing yoga and all pushing mental wellness which is just indoctrination into a false religion.
The Church was not on its toes. The American church was not a good steward of the truth and we had poor discernment in seeing what was happening. Instead, we embraced the word faith movement and big business tactics to merge the church and world thru leadership seminars and interfaith movements to make the church run like a corporation instead of a living body.
Exactly. Instead of the Church going out into the world, the world came into the Church...again. The first time this happened (300-400AD), Roman Emperor Constantine merged the early church with the pagan Roman system, and we ended up with Roman Catholicism. However, this time will be far worse. The world's obsession with taking over the Church will result (after the Rapture) in the formation of the bloodthirsty Harlot global religion headed by none other than the False Prophet.
Even though many decades have crept by leaving the mainline church "fat, dumb, and happy," God began using individuals to stir up the body of Christ. Men like Hal Lindsey, Chuck Smith, Tim LaHaye, Jack Kinsella. Dave Hunt, Chuck Missler, Renald Showers, J. Vernon McGee, and many others began sounding the alarm. Like the lonely voices of those crying out in the wilderness (in a truth-famished land) these often stood alone in calling the world's attention that the end of all things was at hand. Nevertheless, they were shunned and mocked by the world, and even a growing number within so-called Christendom.
Conclusion
However, things are not all doom and gloom. What used to be exclusively only available to established ministries with television and radio ministries, is now available to the average layperson. In their faithfulness, many have heard the call and have turned away from the world. This has led to one of the most underrated signs of the end of the age, that being the dynamic use of social media to share the Gospel and proclaim the soon coming of our Lord. So even when church pulpits (televised and otherwise) grew tired of sounding the clarion call and abandoned the prophetic word for church growth movements, God raised up the living stones (you and I) to proclaim the message of His soon coming to hundreds of thousands across this planet (Luke 19:39-40, 1 Peter 2:4-6).
Many are coming forward with dreams and visions. Many are coming forward with discerning words about the times in which we live. Many who had been dulled by the decades of dead orthodoxy are now waking up from their spiritual slumber. God is stirring those who are watching and waiting and we can collectively sense the nearness of His return. This collective stirring is not some form of mass psychosis as the world would claim, it is the outpouring work of the Holy Spirit who is energizing those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. It is this blessed hope, which for many who have been mercilessly ground down by this world, is all they have left to hold onto in these trying times.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Titus 2:11-14
The Blessed Hope, by Pete Garcia
Hold on to the Blessed Hope we must, because, for us, this is how it ends.
In a world filled with men who care not for the things of God or salvation, God will give them over (Romans 1:18-31) to a debased mind; unable to reason and recognize the lateness of the hour and coming destruction they're racing towards. In the goings-on of this modern day and age, where men ignore the drawing of the Holy Spirit and reject His servant's pleas, God will honor their wishes. God will first remove His bride from amongst their midst...and then plunge the unbelieving into a terrible hour of testing that will come upon the whole earth for which they will not escape.
For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief... 1 Thess. 5:3-4
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36
God has graciously gifted you and me with this one life to live at the end of all things. Make no mistake about it, we are the final generation. This world is quickly coming undone, and the time we have left to be zealous for good works is quickly drawing to a close. The long dark night is coming soon upon the earth, and even now we are watching the sun setting on the horizon. Before the darkness fully comes, we must be like those faithful servants going out to the highways and byways, sharing the good news about the free gift of salvation through Jesus' finished work upon the cross.
That by Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, eternal salvation has come freely to any who calls out upon the name of the Lord. Therefore, let us be zealous in our prayers, lifting up our family, our friends, and all we come across pleading their redemption to God almighty! And the results are not ours to be concerned with...that is God's domain. We must simply be faithful in the telling, faithful in the praying, faithful in the encouraging, faithful in the burden sharing and exhorting of each other to good works. Therefore...
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25
Maranatha!