By Larry Young

Only a few are alive now who were adults during World War II in the 1940’s. In spite of the Korean War and the decades-long Viet Nam war that followed, the Russian cold war era began shortly after World War II in 1947 and ended 2 years after the tearing down of the Berlin wall in 1989. Internally, our U.S. motherland has been at relative peace and growing prosperity ever since WWII. Only 2 generations later, the U.S. and the world around us is rupturing and on the brink of another world war. But this time, nuclear proliferation and high tech can threaten the very existence of any and all civilizations. Biblical prophecy accurately predicted all this would happen and end poorly. So how do we as Christians fit into all of this now, and where will our safety come from?

Remember Jesus words to both the disciples and to us in our time: “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24: 6). But then Jesus gives us more critical details: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24: 7-8) We are now experiencing this part of that prophecy, but look carefully at what Jesus said next: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” (Matthew 24: 9-10) We are seeing this prophecy unfolding right in front of us today.

Writers and preachers of prophecy usually whistle quietly as they quickly pass through Matthew 24, verses 9 and 10, because it’s just too awful to contemplate, not only individually, but especially for families with our deepest needs for safety and a dignified future. But Jesus is addressing us directly… that because of His name’s sake… we will be hated by ALL nations, and we will be afflicted and even killed. Jesus then adds that many will be offended, and turn on one another, and be filled with hatred. Consider how that could impact our churches and our personal lives.

My opinion is that we (as the end time church) are already “majoring in minors and minoring in majors”. In other words, our focus and priorities might very well be upside down from what Jesus was warning us about. Are we (figuratively) still on board the “unsinkable” Titanic, quibbling over the best seats to hear the orchestra play as the ship is sinking and ripping in half? The devil must be overjoyed when that happens. Our country’s military has missiles of every sort, autonomous drones, lightning fast fighter jets, bunker busting bombs and bombers, and over 50,000 of our finest young men and women in uniform huddled on aircraft carriers and ships at sea in the Middle East right now, working to protect our freedoms and our future, so that we can continue to express our opinions openly and freely.

Then there is an inconvenient truth: United we stand; divided we fall. That applies equally to our nation and our church, because if we aren’t actually following Jesus as our example and we aren’t reflecting His love to others, we are just going through the motions. Our only safety is to look to Jesus every day, the living captain of our souls. Everything else is like the “unsinkable” Titanic, sitting on the deep ocean floor, torn in half and disintegrating into nothing.