I Wish We'd All Been Ready

 

“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? “