Scoffers Abound
By Jan Markell
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.
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 isRapture 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."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 ourWeb 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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