Scoffers Abound
By Jan Markell
April 19, 2013
Excuse me while I rant. I think Bible prophecy gets a bad rap. I
think that those of us who long for Jesus' return are marginalized in
the church today. I even think there is a war on Bible prophecy starting
in our seminaries. The carnage is played out in our churches that
across-the-board stay away from the subject. The fact that the King is
coming is seen as bad news to many because the event is shrouded in the
world's bad news.
But
my perplexity goes beyond this. As a ministry, we have asked ourselves
just how we can get the under age 45 crowd out to our events. Todd
Strandberg of Rapture Ready writes about this as well. He says,
"Every time I go to a prophecy conference, I can't help but notice the
sea of gray hair in the main meeting room. A few years back, at a
conference in South Carolina, there wasn't a single person under age 50
-- and we had over 500 people in attendance."
Strandberg
concludes, "I'm very concerned about the state of leadership in the
field of prophecy. I'm 47, and I am a spring chicken when compared to
the ages of my peers."
So I threw the dilemma out to my radio listeners this past weekend. I
asked that if they were of the "younger generation," and loved the
topic of eschatology (end-times), would you please send me a note? I
cannot say that I am inundated! I've had less than a dozen replies thus
far. Here are a few examples.
Nick
is 27 and writes, "I'm very concerned with the young generation. We are
moving into the 'end times' at such a rapid rate and this young generation is in a coma." Those are his words, not mine! I am certain
that not every young person is in that condition.
Mike is 34 and writes, "You asked on your program today for young people to let you know if end-time prophecy is an issue. End-time prophecy is not AN issue, it is THE issue. You can look at it as I do as the blessed hope or you can look at it as frightening."
Ashley
writes, "I am completely enthralled about learning about end times and
how events in our world are carrying us closer to the return of our
King. It thrills me!! Most of my (young) friends know nothing about it
and have little desire to learn. They say it
scares them. Personally though, I am filled with hope that we could be
caught up with Jesus and not have to taste death. I can't wait to meet
Jesus face to face!"
Russ, who is 32, writes, "It
is surprising to me that there are so many people I have tried to talk
to about prophecy who have brushed me off by saying that they consider
it 'doomsday talk.' It is difficult to get anyone to even talk about it.
Even my own family doesn't want to hear about it and this includes all ages."
Jenni
writes, "I am 37 and want you to know that we ARE out here! I also
thought I'd let you know that my 14 year old daughter is also just as
interested in both the Rapture and end-time prophecy, and has become
quite a missionary for Christ! One of our other favorite sites is Rapture Ready. Thanks for having Terry James on."
Leah made my day by writing, "I
see a real remnant among the church here in our military community who
are actively searching Bible prophecy and discussing end-time things.
We belong to a Bible study and I have personally had many conversations
with some of the 30+ folks that attend, mostly the other young moms,
and am surprised at how many of us really are feeling the urgency in
the air. Many of us have taken our kids out of public school and are
homeschooling in order to get our kids grounded in God's Word so that
they can take a stand in their faith, whatever comes. Your broadcast
has helped us to ask important questions about our times and what our
stance should be. THANK YOU! Take heart, the next generation does,
indeed, have a remnant that is awake, listening and watching for
Christ's return. God Bless!"
These few replies out of a potential audience of millions, tells me there is a problem.
I am told that younger people want to "live out their life." This world
is not our home and I thought we didn't WANT it to be our home. This is
the home of the Antichrist and everything evil. If I am off base here, I
am hoping folks will tell me so!
Another
e-mail emphasizes how terrified young mothers are concerning our times.
They simply interpret all current/prophetic events as doom and gloom.
Their world and their families must not be touched. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. A sanitized world!
Then there are the mockers. Grant writes to me saying,
"An early 30's pastor friend of mine I brought to your conference 2 years ago openly scoffed at what was said and argued against a lot of it when I tried to show him the realities of what is happening in this world today. I don't have a lot of people to discuss these topics with."
"An early 30's pastor friend of mine I brought to your conference 2 years ago openly scoffed at what was said and argued against a lot of it when I tried to show him the realities of what is happening in this world today. I don't have a lot of people to discuss these topics with."
Eschatology spells out the devil's demise and thus he is putting up a war against it. So the world asks -- and scoffs, "Where is the promise of His coming?" just as the Bible predicted in II Peter 3:4. Don't bother me with this info. Don't depress me with it. Don't enlighten me with it. Don't bore me with it!
God
has asked us to be His ambassadors in this depraved world. He asks us
to stand for truth; to be light in the dark; to be salt in a world that
is decaying. He asks us to distribute hope.
When you review all the road signs of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus was giving us some warnings, not to scare us, but to prepare us. A
loving God keeps us informed on the days prior to the era of
Antichrist. The warning is not to give in or to give up, but to endure.
Whether anybody gets excited about it or not, Jesus is coming again and soon. Whether those who are excited about that are young, middle age, or old, is irrelevant. His coming will be right on time. Then the final days will play out exactly as the Bible outlines. It's a sure thing that those days will be frightful.
Let's prepare ourselves for perilous times. We're in them. The signs of the times are screaming at us! As a headline reads that I posted to our Web site headlines early today, "The Rapidity With Which the World Is Descending Into Chaos Is Amazing."
That is why God's end-time promises are so important and why it is tragic that they are now marginalized.
Whether anybody gets excited about it or not, Jesus is coming again and soon. Whether those who are excited about that are young, middle age, or old, is irrelevant. His coming will be right on time. Then the final days will play out exactly as the Bible outlines. It's a sure thing that those days will be frightful.
Let's prepare ourselves for perilous times. We're in them. The signs of the times are screaming at us! As a headline reads that I posted to our Web site headlines early today, "The Rapidity With Which the World Is Descending Into Chaos Is Amazing."
That is why God's end-time promises are so important and why it is tragic that they are now marginalized.
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