“Life is
filled with guns and war and everyone was trampled on the floor. I wish we'd
all been ready. Children died. The days grew cold. A piece of bread would buy a
bag of gold. I wish we'd all been ready.” This is the first line of a song written by Larry
Norman in 1969. It was a time when one of the most popular Christian books
written was by Hal Lindsey. It was entitled The Late Great Planet Earth.
There was a great concern that the end of the world was about to happen. Israel
had become a nation in 1948 and many Christians felt that the Bible had
expressed the idea that Jesus would be coming back within 40 years or so after
this event. The world did not end in 1969 or even a few years after that but as
we head into the latter part of 2022 we see the world moving toward the true
fulfillment of what Larry Norman wrote in his song. Currently, Ukraine is
fighting Russia, China is saber-rattling over Taiwan, and there are famines,
floods, and droughts happening all over the world. Children are being
trafficked and abused on a large scale. In school, children are encountering Critical
Race Theory, drag queen shows, and being encouraged to question their gender.
What used to be anathema to the majority of Americans has in the last few years
been shoved down our throats as normal behavior. We're told by the World Economic
Forum that we should give up our liberties so that we can have a one-world
government that will take care of us. Their mantra is “You will have nothing
and be happy”. The Zero Population Growth (ZPG) of the 1970s has morphed into
population control by the elites. These evil individuals, want to drop the
current 7 billion people of the world down to a mere 500 million. Their way of
doing this is by providing vaccines that are not vaccines but rather are used
to eliminate large swaths of the population. The most vulnerable are the
elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions. They are using health
crises to crumble economies and to eliminate further population growth because
the vaccines tend to make those who take them infertile. Those who wish to
control our world attempt to convince us that they're doing this for our
benefit.
Larry Norman
continues: “Man and wife asleep in bed, she hears a noise and turns her
head, he's gone, I wish we'd all been ready. Two men walking up a hill, one
disappears and one’s left standing still, I wish we'd all been ready. There's
no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been left behind.”
This is a reminder of what Jesus said in Matthew 24:40-42, “Two men will be
in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding
with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore, keep watch
because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Just like in the days
of Noah, life will be going on its normal course. Those in Noah's time
disregarded and mocked Noah’s warnings. When it started to rain, and the door
of the ark was shut, the people suddenly realized their folly. Just as it was
too late after the door was shut for the people in Noah's time, when the end
comes in our time, it will be too late for those who do not heed the warnings.
Our response
may be that we are Christians and attend church therefore we should not have to
worry about when the end comes and whether we're ready or not. Really? A recent
poll has shown that only 38% of pastors have a biblical worldview. Another poll
points out that of all those who claim to be Christians, a mere 10% hold a truly
biblical worldview. Jesus addressed this issue in Matthew 25 verses 34-46. Here
he says, “Come you who are blessed by my father and inherit the Kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you
gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink I was a stranger
and you invited me in, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you
took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will
answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give
you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or
naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And
the king will answer them, I will tell you the truth, just as you did it for
one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine you did it for me. Then
he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you accursed, into the
eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was
hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to
drink. I was a stranger and you did not receive me as a guest, naked and you
did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they too
will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked
or sick or in prison, and did not give you whatever you needed? Then he will
answer them, I tell you the truth, just as you did not do it for one of the
least of these, you did not do it for me. And these will depart into eternal
punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” This is an indictment
against those who think that just doing good works will get them to heaven. Being
a good person and doing good work is admirable. however, that is not the
requirement that God asks for us as our passports into heaven. God requires in
addition to works for us to confess our sins and believe in Jesus as our Savior.
Our salvation is to be based on grace and not works, lest we are opened up to
boasting about our works being our means to heaven.
Syncretism
seems to be the word that best defines a good share of the church today. It is
the marriage of culture and Christianity. We see syncretism in the early
church. Paul warns both the Ephesian church and the Corinthian church against
the false teachers and false doctrines that are trying to creep into the church.
It is well known that the Catholic Church, to make the gospel more acceptable
to the pagans, incorporated some of the Pagan belief systems into the Catholic
Church. We see this expressed in the example of overlaying Saturnalia with
Christmas. That is one of many examples. Today, we see our culture invading our
churches. New age beliefs are rampant. There are churches, having added New Age
teaching, that extends their spiritual leadership to include Angel boards in
place of Ouija boards, and in place of tarot cards Angel cards, Things like
astral projection, and in the place of the true moving of the Holy Spirit, the
chaotic rendering of the kundalini spirit is passed off the as the moving of
the Holy Spirit. Culture has invaded our churches, encouraging things like
abortion, same-sex marriages and attractions, and even drag queen shows in the
sanctuaries. So few Christians know truly what the Bible says on these topics, since
a large share do not avail themselves of Bible study therefore, are easily led
down this pathway.
Larry Norman
ends his song, “There there's no time to change your mind, how could you have
been so blind? The father spoke the demons dined, the Son has come and you've
been left behind.” Norman expresses there will come a time when it will be
too late. In the meantime, however, an effort should be made to prepare the
church. The question of today's church should be, “How can we prepare our
people for the times they will be facing?” What pastor wants to stand before
their church and have to say “I wish we'd all been ready? “
