The End Is Near! The End Is Near! Or... Is It?

And so we are finally nearing then end.  Just look at the middle east- it is going up in flames.  Absolutely insane are the happenings, as no one seems to know what the word "peace" means over there anymore.  Governments are being overthrown, riots in the steet, leaders killing their own people...  And at the end of the day, we are left wondering who to cheer for.  Do we applaud the uprising of the people who are attempting to break free of oppresion from dictators?  Or do we hope for the dictators because we see lurking in the shadows, those who are attempting to take control- and in seeing them, we realize that the dictator may be the lesser of two evils...  All the while the reality that our one true mideast ally, Israel- may be soon facing a war they are not wanting... And we are reminded in our minds that in the end times, there will be wars and rumors of wars.

Add to that the recent earthquake and tsunami that recently shook the very foundations of Japan.  Death, destruction, despair.  A quake so powerful that the tsunami even reached U.S. shores.  In this short time after, we have yet to see just how many people have been killed, how many homes have been lost, at the hand of the 5th most powerful quake since 1900...  And our minds are reminded that in the end times there will be earthquakes and natural disasters...

Then we cast our gaze to our own land.  This Christian nation that boldly proclaims, "In God We Trust" on the money we spend on pornography.  This Christian nation that proudly sings "God Bless America" at every ball game while we stay too busy with our entertainment to give God any more time than that.  This Christian nation that bends over backwards to make sure that a criminal's rights are not violated, while refusing the basic right to life to our own children.  And our minds are reminded that in the end times, it shall be like the days of Noah...

And so we wait.  We cast our eyes to the heavens, anxious and looking for His return.  We just know that we know that Jesus is coming to rescue us from this land!  Any year now; any month now; any day now; any minute...  Ah, yes- we are committed to this belief.  Look, there on the nightstand- we have a book explaining all the last days signs sitting right next to our Bible.  We watch the news with disdain, trying to see the signs we have read about in every newscast...  LOOK THERE!  Wasn't that a prophecy fulfillment from Daniel about the end?!  On the rare occasion that we do take our gaze off the skies, we look around and get depressed at the state of affairs.  We become filled with sarcasm and cynicism; our eyes become dark to the idea of hope for this world.  Just look at the sexual deviants, the killers, the vile filth, on and on we just want to SCREAM!!!  So we quickly return our gaze back to the heavens, choosing to remain silent except to utter those famous words- "come quickly, Lord...  Come quickly and save your servant..."

It is at this time that I must interject a thought...  What if...  What if we are wrong?

I quickly try to push that thought, that heresy from my mind!  I quickly shut my mouth as soon as I utter the words, for fear that I may be shunned as a non-believer...  And yet, still- the question lingers...

Now let me clear something up before your mind wanders too far- I am not suggesting we are wrong about GOD, or His Word.  But rather, I think we may have some things a little screwy when it comes to our view of the end times, and the current times.  Allow me to explain:

I know there is a lot going on in the world right now.  I know we are in some, shall we say, frightening times.  Uncertain times.  Dark and sinful times.  I agree that at times it seems there is little hope for this world.  But I am not quite convinced that our eyes should be cast upward just yet.  I am, in fact, a little less than concerned about it.  How can I dare utter this, you ask?  Do I not realize that any moment Jesus could appear from the clouds and catch me in my heresy of not believing it is the end times?  The answer to the second question is, Yes.  I do believe He COULD return any minute.  But my answer to the first question explains why I am not convinced He WILL return any minute. 

I think Paul said it best, put into words better than I could, why I feel the way I do.  He writes in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 the following:  "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word; nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall NOT come, except there come a falling away FIRST, AND that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as god sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is god."

I think this passage should be self explanatory; but I think the most interesting point is the thought that the day of Christ shall not come till the man of perdition- that is, THE Antichrist- be revealed...  Last time I checked, we still haven't seen his ugly mug... 

Call me nieve, perhaps- but until the day that we can say, "Hey WOW that guy HAS to be the Antichrist" and actually BE right as opposed to guessing- I will hold to a different perspective on our times.  And what, persay, is that perspective you ask?

It is simply this (in the words of the great Yogi Berra):  "It ain't over til it's over!"

I think that we need to get our head out of the clouds.  The American Christian has been hung up on this idea for the past few decades that Christ is gonna rescue us any minute now.  So we look up, we reach up, we hope up...  In the meantime, there are lost people who need to hear the Gospel walking right under our nose.  In the meantime, there are people who desperately need the Hand of Christ to reach out to them, walking beneath our upwards and outstreched arms.  There are people who need to know that there is hope for the sinner, hope of a love that can set them free, who don't even understand our hope stretched into the atmosphere...

My friends, it is so easy to get caught up in the idea that this is the end times.  But the reality is, we don't know that.  We can't say that for sure, because as Paul pointed out, not all the signs are there yet.  And while we sit on our virtual mountaintop for Jesus we are completely missing out on opportunities to be used by God in changing lives in the valley.  I would daresay that we even border on dwelling in pride and self pity, believing that we are here to wait for God to rescue us from this garbage that surrounds us, from these heathens that  pester us, from these unrighteous souls at our doorstep...  Oh, that God would free us from their putrid filth that vexes our souls!!!

I will end this with a question: Why are you here?  Why are you on planet earth?  Is it to wait for the King to rescue you when you have already been rescued from darkness?  Is it to sit on a mountaintop, refusing to use your talent that he has given you because you are too busy wating for His return- and besides, it would just be wasted on those infidels anyways?  Is God really o.k. with that?  Or would He rather us be down in the valley, answering the times the way Isaiah did when asked by God "Who will go for us"- answering with those solem words, "here am I Lord, send me"?  Would He rather us take the good news of His grace, His mercy, His freedom to this dark world than to sit on our hands asking Him for more freedom from those around us?

Think about it.  Then ask yourself if the reason there is no revival in America is because our head is in the clouds...