Signs of the Times

Okay, one of the topics I stated that I wanted to discuss here was signs of the times.

I've been watching what's been going on in the world, in this country, and around me here at home, for quite a few years now.

Some of the things I've noticed and/or done a little online research on are as follows:

1> Both the frequency and intensity of natural disasters have been visibly increasing over the last 120 or so years. Volcanic activity has reached a point where, if there are any "dormant" volcanoes any more, it may not be long before there are none. Weather is going crazy, no matter where you look.

2> Animals, birds, and insects that can be considered as scavengers are increasing in number, and moving into increasingly more populated areas.

3> In a book called "Our Headlong Rush to Oblivion", the author (before 9-11) wrote that progress alone would destroy us within 50 years, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. (Interestingly, I bought the book some years ago at Wal-Mart, and now I can't find reference to it on the internet.)

4> Spiritually, our nation, and perhaps the whole world (I can only attest to the United States of America's downward spiral) has been following the path found in Roman's 1:18-32.

5> Closely related to both 1> and 3> is the fact that we have not been very good stewards of the resources of this earth. Various resources are converted into forms that cannot be recycled, or are more toxic than the materials that went into them. We take no thought as to what we are doing when we overpackage products, drop trash on the ground, waste energy, drive when we could walk, build our cities to discourage use of bicycles and scooters (and nearly force people to own automobiles in order to get to work or to stores). We publicly claim we want to encourage conservation (promoting savings of 2-20% as wonderful), while privately we discourage anyone who really comes up with something that could save us 200% or more in any area of energy production/consumption.

6> Politically, whether we want to believe the conspiracy theories or not, we see power grabs and infringement of rights, nearly on a daily basis, in the name of "Homeland Security" and "Disaster Recovery". We've come to the point where a court can force someone to put their child through chemo-therapy, when they would rather try an alternative, first. Criminals have more rights than their victims. And it's legal for the military to experiment on our own citizens, while at the same time it's not legal for them to experiment on our enemies.

One may discount a few things as "coincidental", but each of these areas have an overwhelming number of things happening which point to the age that Christ spoke of in which, unless God shortened that age, there would be no flesh left on the earth.

Christ is returning, and it's sooner than you think.

What are you doing to prepare your family, friends, co-workers, strangers you meet at the bus stop, people you have contact and influence with, for the times to come? Are they ready? Do they know the Lord? You may be the only witness they will listen to. Be sure that your testimony is like a trumpet with a certain sound, for if the sound of the trumpet be uncertain, how will the people know to prepare?