- Southbrook Church may have brought the biggest group ever to Unleash! But more importantly—If God asks them—this group is literally ready to charge Hell with water pistols! Watch out—they’ve been unleashed!
- Started Impact this week with the message, “Mark the Body.” Different from last year; however, I talked about the things that make for a healthy Body—a healthy church. It has a lot to due with the quality of your nutrition—what goes in the body determines the course of its future. For the human body, that’s good food and vitamins, etc. For Christ’s Body, the Church (big ‘C’), it’s their ‘Core Values.’ We have nine of them and we talked about each one and how they help keep us on course and pointed toward Jesus. You can see them all here.
- Next week is “Mark the Community.” Join us as we talk about ways we can minister to those around us—the people in our own communities.
- Been thinking a lot lately about ‘end times.’ No, I’m not going to strap on a cardboard sign and start screaming on a street corner in uptown Charlotte, “Repent, the end is near!” But that doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it. How can one not when you consider the signs of the times as laid out in such passages as, Matthew 24:3-14…
“ 3As he sat on(C) the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him(D) privately, saying, “Tell us,(E) when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your(F) coming and of(G) the close of the age?” 4And Jesus answered them, (H) “See that no one leads you astray. 5For(I) many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am(J) the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you(K) are not alarmed, for this(L) must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For(M) nation will rise against nation, and(N) kingdom against kingdom, and there will be(O) famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of(P) the birth pains.
9“Then(Q) they will deliver you up(R) to tribulation and(S) put you to death, and(T) you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10And then many will fall away[a] and(U) betray one another and hate one another. 11And many(V) false prophets will arise(W) and lead many astray. 12And because lawlessness will be increased,(X) the love of many will grow cold. 13(Y) But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom(Z) will be proclaimed throughout the whole world(AA) as a testimony(AB) to all nations, and(AC) then the end will come.”
Look at the last five words in bold, “then the end will come.”
Not before. Not during.
After.
So what are these signs?
1. False Messiahs –
Question? Have you ever seen more fruit-loops running around claiming to be just that? Or their version of it? Whether it be the 12th Imam, or the Jewish version, or cultish schisms of true Christianity. There’s no shortage of claimants to the role—and the list of people offering themselves up for candidacy only seems to be growing. Click here for Muslim messianic claimants, here for Jewish ones, and here (careful with this list. It includes the true Messiah, Jesus, as though He were just another claimant. That’s Wilapedia for ya.) for Christian ones (although only Jesus as Messiah puts one in the Christian camp so I’m not really sure what these folks are claiming). There’s even a catch all ‘hodge-podge list here.
Pretty long lists, eh? And more and more are crawling out of the woodwork everyday. At the very least, it makes you think long and hard about what Jesus said in verse 5…
“. 5For(I) many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am(J) the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.”
2. Then Jesus says that we will hear of “wars and rumors of wars.” In other words, nations will rise up against each other at an alarming rate and actual war will start breaking out everywhere! Man! I look at the total implosion of the Arab world right now and again, at the very least, it makes me want to spend more time in the Bible and preach with ever increasing intensity.
3. Next comes the famines. Food shortages will start happening everywhere—even in places we all thought would always be just fine. This too is on the rise, but it’s really the next one that has even this, California Earthquake Boy sitting up straight and taking notice, “and earthquakes in various places.” I googled, “The last five major earthquakes,” a few minutes ago—thinking to get a breakdown of the last decade or so and you know what I got? The last 7 days! So I changed my search to 6.0 or greater and the results weren’t much different. You have Chile, New Zealand and the ‘big one’ in Japan.
4. Finally, it seems Christians will become persona non grata in the ‘Last Days.’. Look at verses 9-10 again,
“ 9“Then(Q) they will deliver you up(R) to tribulation and(S) put you to death, and(T) you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10And then many will fall away[a] and(U) betray one another and hate one another.”
Defying all logic, it seems people will start harassing, torturing, imprisoning, and even killing people simply because they are Christ followers.
Now, I know we Americans find this almost impossible to imagine, but the rest of the world is living this right now. In fact, did you know that more Christians are dying for their faith today then even in the horrific days of the early church? It’s true, places like Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Tunisia, Indonesia, Yemen, Egypt… the list is long—very long. For a complete list, go here.
But more importantly, Christians in America need to know that the freedom to worship Christ is non existent in many places in the world today and yes, even today, people are dying for their faith in Jesus Christ.
How many?
Are you ready for this?
Around 175,000.
We often think of the days of Christians fed to lions in the coliseum or dying at the hands of lunatics like the emperor, Nero, when we think of dark days of persecution and suffering for Jesus. But these were relatively few compared to how many die for Jesus today.
Put all this together and how do you answer your children when they ask, “Daddy, are we living in the last days?”
I won’t answer that for you–at least not until you consider these things for yourselves, Christ follower.
But admit it…something to think about. And no matter what your answer Christ follower—I hope that recent world events will, at the very least, instill in you a sense of urgency for the gospel—a love for a lost and dying world, and an excitement to meet Jesus!.
That day may be closer than you think!