I was raised in a church era when evangelists had a consistent message for the Church: “Get your heart right with God. Based on Bible prophecy, we face a certain time in which the World will turn on the Church and Christians. There will be unspeakable atrocities levied on Christians who refuse to ‘fall in line’ with the Government mantra. Public denigration, isolation, brain washing, and even torture and death will become commonplace events. You must ‘get your heart right with God’ to be prepared for the worst.”
Of course, I’m paraphrasing the message. But as a young boy, I listened: petrified, afraid, but absolutely certain I better keep my personal relationship with God THE principle that never changed.
I listened, I heard, I acted, and have peace today that “if” what we were told again and again actually happens, I’m prepared spiritually.
“There’s No Way!”
How many times have we seen and heard through the years that what I shared above that came from the 60s was just a tactic of control of people so insecure, uneducated, and gullible that this would actually be believed by millions on the Planet.I will agree that there have been many who have used this message as a weapon to do exactly what these allegations claimed were the motives for the message. But I’m not a junior high student that reacts based on these emotions. In my almost seven decades, I’ve acquired knowledge and understanding on many levels. I understand that evil and evil people DO exist in every area of our lives.But the fundamental message I adopted in my life stands solid today: It is imperative to have a personal relationship with God. Living in that relationship guarantees I have a path through circumstances that will be beyond my control with a certainty that no matter the outcomes, I’ll be OK.
“There IS A Way”
How many times have you heard our leaders warn us of the probability of totalitarianism taking over our nation, and, with it, would come isolation, ostracization, total control over our entire lives, and even torture and death? I’ve heard it from time to time. But it only comes from a few political leaders and revival evangelists. BUT…I’m hearing and seeing it happen in nations across the World. And not just in remote, African villages as their leaders slaughter those who disagree.
It’s happening across the Globe, even in advanced 21st Century World History:
Okay. Now you KNOW what’s out there that is no longer an old evangelist’s sermon topic. We are no truly living that old song lyrics: “They’re coming to take us away, Uh Uh…they’re coming to take us away!”
There’s no guarantee for any type of soft landing in this. In fact, it’s likely the landing is going to be really hard for millions of us. As I see it, we have few possible outcomes if (or “when”) we find ourselves in this Armageddon.
The first is this: our government and military leaders adopt an all-in philosophy to quickly unify with our allies from around the world to quickly put in place all resources necessary to tackle this and eliminate this enemy.
We all know that is not a real possibility. Today’s divisiveness from top to bottom in our nation, and our nation with others, would never allow the unity needed for the task. Political politicization of everything alone makes it impossible to amass resources necessary to beat this beast of totalitarian rule.
“Totalitarianism” has been little more than the boogeyman — until now. The boogeyman has hidden in the shadows for decades and even a century or two. There’s been lots of evil, no doubt. But the ogre tempting us to steal, lie, cheat, and steal is a novice compared with what and who’s ahead.
What are the other options? One is to scream, cry, and quit in desperation. Another is to pull “It” — whatever “It” is — together sufficient to successfully defeat our foe in this — with a “whatever it takes” unity and commitment. We’ve done it before — several times. But can we do it again? More apparently, WILL we do it again?
The final option is simply to sit still and wait — wait for the results of all of our evil acts through centuries to come calling with the inevitable results we’ve ignored. Will it be Armageddon? Will it be like WWI, WWII, Vietnam, or Iraq?
Let me give you in olive leaf as we go. There’s a way for each of us to prepare for ANY or ALL of these possibilities. Turn to God. Create a relationship with God if you don’t already have one. Dare to believe what God says is true.
To learn how this olive leaf “thing” works, Pray! Yes, prayer is a necessity. Why? Prayer is the only way to begin a two-way communication process with God, which is a must.
- When you pray, ask God to forgive your past shortcomings and ask for guidance going forward. Expect answers to this requests!
- Let God know how you feel: confused, angry, and afraid. You’ll get answers and help.
- Ask others you know who trust God to get together and talk this through. You’ll be surprised at the positive results you get.
Summary
It is possible that all of this is nothing more than conjecture. But I doubt it. I’m convinced that even if there are more reprieves from the inevitable, it’s just a matter of time. There’s one constant throughout all of humanity: people will always be people doing things that people do. And we never learn.
Don’t let fear consume you. Turn to God for strength. Trust God for answers to your prayers. Here’s a closing thought: whatever we need to walk through any trial, no matter its level, we either already have right now, or we’ll have in the nick of time.
To quote one basketball coach on his way out, “Don’t you give up. Don’t EVER give up.”
