Humanity collectively has felt helpless to do anything about it. We can sound the warning most times, but not always. We have our first responders and many others who line up to provide help after the disaster. We can only dream of having a global weather net to control the weather and lessen the earthquakes and volcanoes, but no such technology exists and mankind is really helpless to do anything about it. It appears that our world is coming apart and to use biblical language it is “wearing out” and about ready to be “rolled up like an old robe.” We know that the prophets have been speaking about the end of days now for over three millennium and almost everyone now agrees that day is fast approaching.  So what should be our response?

The simple answer to this question is we must stand on the rock! It’s time we laid a firm foundation in Jesus Christ by knowing what we believe and believing what we know. As the foundations begin to crumble we must hang on to the truth that our gospel is without beginning or end; that it’s exclusive being only one way to heaven; that there is a literal hell and non-believers will be banished there by a merciful and just God; and to follow Christ we must pick up our cross, die to self, and live for Him. This is only the first step toward the solid rock as we learn to trust in God exclusively to make us into a new creation; by rejecting any systems of philosophy to modify our behavior or solve our multitude of emotional and psychological problems. We take our place upon the rock by learning from Jesus Christ all of His beautiful commands and putting them into practice as He continues the process of growing us from one degree of glory to another. We never lose hope that He will make us into the perfect image of His Son Jesus Christ.

Now when the great and mighty powers are unleashed upon the planet in the form of tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, firestorms, and floods we take our stand firmly upon the solid rock. As the medal enters the furnace of affliction we must not falter through disbelief. We must not waiver in our commitment to Christ. We must not allow our foundation to crumble through the integration of worldliness. So with our face toward the wind we fear God and not anything else. We glorify God in all things and worship Him as the Creator of the universe. We may lose our home. We may lose our business. We may lose our loved ones. We may even lose our life, but our hope must remain strong as we think of all that awaits us in heaven above. Dear children, as the world falls apart we must grow stronger in Christ. And it’s through that great strength that we’re able to encourage others to stand firm.

No one sends soldiers into the field without first being trained. Therefore, it is essential that we first have revival in the Christian community if we are serious about engaging the real enemy. And if we are successful in engaging the enemy then through God’s grace we may still have an opportunity to turn this country around before it’s destroyed by those in power. The revival I am talking about is the one that begins in your life, not the life of your neighbor, your friend, or your relative, but that begins in your life. When it starts there then it will spread, but it must begin with you first. Each of us must look into the mirror and see who we really are. How much have we gone into the world and sampled the pleasures the world has to offer?  Or how much have we ignored God’s will for our own selfish ambition? First, we must take a hard look at ourselves.

What does revival look like? What does it really look like? We see mass transformation in process, everyone growing, everyone is becoming holy, everyone is repenting, and everyone is getting excited. We also see people returning to those foundational truths of Christianity and applying those truths to their life. We see people expecting God to do great things and remembering what He has done in the past. What a glorious thing to sit and recall all that Christ has done for you. If we search our heart we all have stories where God has delivered us from danger, filled our hearts with love, witnessed His miracles, and many other things. Let them be landmarks that you return to again and again in your Christian pilgrimage. Dear friend, you will know when revival comes in your life, because your face will be lit with the glory of God, your heart will beat more strongly, and your excitement for knowing Jesus Christ will return in a wave of exhilaration. When revival comes in your life then join with us by calling on every Christian in your church, through social media, and beyond to start praying for revival in their life. But again, let it begin in you first!

How bad has this country become? First the homosexuals came out of the closet, then the baby killers, and now the atheist. I watched some of the interviews with these atheists who marched on the State Capitol and I cannot say that I am surprised at their overwhelming support for our current president, Barack Obama. When a country turns her back on God then all manner of evil and wickedness will abound, then they will raise up their own leaders to lead them. I say it’s time to bring revival back to America. Let’s start right here right now in the name of Jesus. Don’t wait for my war manual (Stand Firm) to be released in August, but start today by training in spiritual warfare. Encircle the camp of the enemy and lift your prayers to the God of heaven; plead with Him to change their heart. Let us pray for all those who are still in bondage to the old life unable to break the chains that hold them to the old sin nature. Let us pray that their every thought will be taken captive by the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s holy people can no longer look upon sin but must come out and be separate from a world that is engulfed in all manner of sin. In so doing we will be made strong to engage the enemy and deliver the day. God help us!

As we follow the trail of martyrs up through the present day, in each case they were not persecuted for being peace loving people but for some drummed up charges against humanity. Christians throughout the centuries were burned at the stake, sawed into, hung, drowned, decapitated, and their books burned not because they were God fearing people, but because they were accused of breaking the law of the land and threatening the security of an empire. In every case Christian persecution was precipitated on charges of unlawful behavior by garnering public opinion in the favor of the persecutors over the persecuted. This truth was self evident even with the death of our Lord by allowing the crowd to cast their public opinion for or against. To this day and down through the annals of history we hear that heart-stopping cry: “Crucify Him!” “Crucify Him!” One cannot overemphasize the importance of public opinion. This matters much to those in power so the mass media and social networks are being manipulated to lead the world’s population to garner the right opinion, or the accepted opinion of the establishment.

For those living in a free society with certain inalienable rights it’s even harder to imagine how we could be arrested as a lawbreaker and treated as a criminal. But as the laws change, public opinion changes, and Christianity is put more in the crosshairs then we need to do more than imagine, we need to prepare! To be arrested on bogus charges will be enough to send most into a state of panic and uncontrollable fear. For those who have never broken a law and have always strived to live a holy life you might question how can this happen to me. As the handcuffs bite into your wrist and your rights are read we must stay calmly focused on the risen Lord remembering that nothing can separate us from the love of God. As public opinion mounts against you for breaking one of their laws, we must remember that there is a higher law that must be obeyed. This higher law of God is to love one another through the proclamation of gospel in every place, both public and private. Already the Christian witness is nearly impossible in the public square. Make no mistake the next step will be to silence the internet and social networks in expressing the truth and our Christian testimony, especially if we do not demonstrate an acceptance of the new tolerance. We can no longer blindly follow all the new laws that would keep us silent even if it means being arrested and treated as a criminal.

It’s also holding to the testimony that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness and that we have no need for their counselors or their psychotropic drugs, even though public opinion may see us as unloving and haters of humanity. This is especially difficult when many in the Christian community hold to the opinion that God has given us the world’s counselors and their therapeutic drugs, because they believe that His Word is inept in solving all of our emotional and psychological problems. The state can already order us to counseling (especially if you have been arrested) who almost always prescribes a psychotropic drug for your supposed condition and to refuse it will be seen as breaking the law. Again whose law will we follow, the law of public opinion and the state or will we follow the law of God even if it means being arrested and treated as a criminal. In conclusion, we must ask ourselves will we be supportive when a Christian is arrested by the state for breaking one of their laws and join the masses in his condemnation or will we look deeper than the public opinion that cries out. “Crucify Him!” “Crucify Him!”

Perhaps it’s not surprising that we have a president of the United States of America that has also embraced this new tolerance and has said as much in an interview on March 27, 2004 with Cathleen Falsani, a reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.  When she asked about what he believes, he responded in part: “So, I’m rooted in the Christian tradition. I believe that there are many paths to the same place (speaking of heaven), and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people. That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and there’s an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived”. When she asked if he was a born again believer, he responded in part: “Yeah, although I don’t — I retain from my childhood and my experiences growing up, a suspicion of dogma. And I’m not somebody who is always comfortable with language that implies I’ve got a monopoly on the truth, or that my faith is automatically transferable to others. I’m a big believer in tolerance. I think that religion at its best comes with a big dose of doubt.” Obama’s view on the new tolerance was confirmed in his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo before the Arab Spring, where he put the Torah, the Koran, and the Holy Bible all on the same level.  (See my blog post: President Obama Denies the Exclusiveness of Christianity). The new tolerance cares not which religion or god you worship as long as you don’t make one more superior than the rest.

Yet, the whole spirit and tenor of the New Testament proclaims Jesus Christ as the Only Begotten Son of God, who is the only way to salvation. Indeed He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Will you deny that truth or uphold it in the face of violent opposition? The early Christians did, because they were convinced that no one other than Jesus Christ would receive their unswerving allegiance or worship; that no king on earth would usurp that place of authority. Will you be willing to die for that truth? Or will you be swept away by the new tolerance which opens the gates for the Antichrist to proclaim himself as being above everything that is worshiped. You might ask: how will that happen? It does so in the same way that it allowed Caesar to proclaim himself as a god and be accepted by the pagan masses. If you make all religions equal in the sight of man as this new tolerance does, then it’s an easy step for any man to proclaim himself to be a god and entitled to your worship.

This is why it’s absolutely essential for every Christian to stand against this new tolerance sweeping the planet by proclaiming the old truth that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father and the only name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  (See John 14:6; and Acts 4:12) This is one dogma that’s worth fighting and dying for! Let me encourage you to reject any notion that we should create a dialogue with other world religions for the sake of peace thus giving them credence that they worship the same God as Christians. We must not lose our testimony and witness to a dying world for the sake of unanimity and peaceful coexistence. Let us come out and separate ourselves from those who want to follow this new tolerance. To do so my friends, may well classify us as religious fanatics allowing us to take our rightful place alongside those early Christian martyrs. I write this with a heavy heart, because I know that the time is short. We must stand firm.

The Bible gives a brief illustration as to why the law is holy, righteous, and good (see Rom. 7:7-12) which we should pay close attention to, because it will help us to identify the sin or evil in our life and pluck it out as a gardener does an unwanted weed. The Bible also says we should put off the old life as we would pull off an old tattered set of clothes giving multiple illustrations about the different sins that can easily beset a Christian. Notice that in either case the number and types of sins are not exhaustive, so it is imperative to search the Scriptures and allow the commands of God to penetrate our souls bringing about conviction and repentance. To do so will bring us to the realization that there are over 121 express commands in the New Testament alone for the believer in Christ to grapple with, digest, and use to purge the unwanted sins in our life. The good news is that Christians can count on God through His Holy Spirit to have the strength in Him to turn away from sin and purge it completely. Dear friends, this is only the first step in achieving holiness that God desires.

Unfortunately many Christians stop at this point and then can’t understand why the besetting sin comes creeping back into their miserable life.  It is so heart breaking for me to see meaningful Christians slip back into their old sins and taken captive to do its will. How tragic it is to see them controlled by their old sin nature once again.  And the reason why in almost every case, is they have not put anything in place of the old sin. To press the gardening analogy the gardener must now plant good seed and keep it fertilized so that the strength of the lawn will keep out the unwanted weeds. Once again, the Bible is our best authority giving us multiple illustrations on what to put in place of the old sin (See Eph. 4:22-32). Take a moment and read through this list of illustrations again keeping in mind that this list is not exhaustive. For example, in verse 25 it says, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood” but it does not stop there; it continues by telling us what needs to be put in the place of falsehood by saying, “and speak truthfully to his neighbor” and then adds a reason why it needs to be accomplished by saying, “for we are all members of one body.” So here is the point, God’s command will show us our sin, convict us of it through His Holy Spirit, and then lead us to repentance, but then we must continue on by putting something in place of the old sin. Put off the sin, put on a righteous act.

Jesus Christ also gives us another illustration (or parable) about an individual who sweeps his house clean and then does not put anything in the place of it; so along comes Satan bringing with him many more demons to occupy the place making his state much worse than before (See Mt. 12:43-45). So you see it is very important not only to follow the “shall not’s” thus cleaning your house, but also to follow our religious duties driven by the spirit of love. Jesus Christ is always our best example. He lived His entire life not for himself, but for the sake of others. Out of love He fed the poor. Out of love He healed the sick and counseled the hurting with words of truth and life. His brother James also wrote: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). The point is my friends, we should be so busy doing good to others that we never have enough time left in a day to follow our evil desires or be enticed by the many evil influences coming at us from the world. To be holy is our sure defense to stand firm as we fast approach the end of days.