God’s News In The News

Week One Hundred Sixty-Seven

Prophecy Update: Converging Signs

I Told You So

There is a phrase that you hear when a person is so exasperated about warning not being heeded, they have nothing else to say. The phrase? I told you so. If you’re like me, I try to never say that since it tends to make the situation worse and not better. However, it fits all too often when talking about future prophetic events, events that are converging in rapidity, so fast that even skeptical people are noticing. When you have groups or individuals that admit that the list of things Jesus predicted are actually occurring around the world, that is special. And that is what we are seeing. Before we start celebrating being right, we need to realize that this is less a time to congratulate ourselves and more a time to take advantage of the moment and lift up Jesus more and more. Can we even pause to feel even a tinge of happiness? Count to three now. Ok, that’s enough exhilaration.

False Prophets Abound

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand. (Mark 13:22, NKJV)

As I’ve mentioned many times, this sign is all three iterations of the Olivet Discourses or the end time response by Jesus to His disciples when on the Mount of Olives is used not only first in the list, but often in the list of signs just before He will return for the second time. While we’ve seen many false teachers and prophets come and go since Jesus told us what to look for, only now do we have the ability for these religious charlatans to rise up so quickly and capture the attention of the populace. False teachers can get a following in seconds if a video they make goes viral. While I know that what I just said may not be easy to verify, it remains the truth anyway. I did an Internet search to see if anyone does try and list such false messiahs and actually did find one although it was hardly exhaustive. It mentioned an early influencer who gained 5 million followers seemingly overnight and flamed out. It is just one example of how it can happen now, but if dance videos sprout up overnight, so can people claiming to be Jesus or making messiah-like claims.

Not Exactly Jesus

When we look for false Christs we tend to make the criteria strict and some people even add the way a person looks to those conditions which is more than a little stretch. But the standards of qualifying for being an example is really much simpler than that. If Jesus said or did something, we look for people who try and do the same thing, but without acknowledging the real Jesus or distorting His teachings. We can point out the many cults that are around us, like Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and the like and they are examples of false Christs, but there are so many teachings abounding that either water down the Bible or distort it, teachings that are even heard and promoted in pulpits today. And, going back to my original premise, social media can disperse these teachings and the people who espouse them in seconds. Now, how enduring these messages are depends on the populace which can just as easily leave them to follow the next fad as they glommed onto them in the first place. Such is the fleeting nature of fame now where the infamous 15 minutes of fame can turn into 15 seconds of fame.

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Now I pivot to attempts to bring all religions together like the gathering in August of 2023 in Chicago, Illinois at the Parliament of the World’s Religions. It’s been happening for 30 years and is always in Chicago. While the topics of discussion seem to remain the same, the focus of the gathering this year is noteworthy as we see trends that mirror the World Economic Forum’s philosophies. Here is one telling quote from their web site:

But it was also a week of recognition of the threats facing our communities and the world. The call to conscience of the 2023 Parliament is not just a public service announcement, it’s a flashing emergency light affirming, to the world, that faith and spiritual communities are vital partners and first responders in this fight for justice, for freedom, for a healthy environment, for human rights, and for democracy.

The buzz words are easy to see and parse, but words like justice, healthy environment, human rights, and democracy are just ways to promote climate change and championing sinful lifestyles that the Bible talks about. Some of the sessions have titles that pretty much tell us how they feel about things. Titles like Paganism Rocks: Inspirational Symbols for Your Life's Journey and Climate, Racism, and…Property?: The Call to Climate Justice for Religious Property Owners should give you a clue. Climate justice is another way of saying climate change.

Held In The United States, But Not Supporting America

This class, titled Abolition, Feminism, and Faith: Multicultural Perspectives on the Global Carceral System takes issue with our justice system and attempts to make an argument against it. Here is a blurb from the class description:

Rooted in punitive theology, the carceral system in the United States causes the very injustices it claims to address, particularly violence against women. Yet the U.S. system of punitive justice has long been a prototype for carceral systems around the world, perpetuating economic inequality, healthcare disparities, racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ hatred, and violence against Indigenous peoples.

I could list more classes or tracks, but the trend to be all inclusive is seen everywhere. And the trend to promote the same social ideas and mores that dominate our current world is incorporated into their teachings as well.

Those Pesky Fossil Fuels

As would be fitting for the parliament, there was a class titled A Treaty to Stop Fossil Fuels and somehow this is a religious issue. Here is how they describe how it fits:

We have been granted a gift, an earth created in all its diversity, vitality, and abundance. Instead, we have let neglect, exploitation, and unsustainable consumption threaten the natural balance, social harmony, and existence of life on earth. The current scale of the climate crisis requires a cooperative global solution that addresses the fossil fuel industry directly. We call on governments to urgently commence negotiations to develop and implement a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. We hail from many faiths and beliefs, but together we can remedy the decades of negligence to safeguard our coexistence with this earth. Just as our beliefs are entrenched in religious and spiritual teachings, our response to the climate crisis must be deeply rooted in science and equity to heal the planet and people alike. Attend this session to learn more about the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and how you can support it.

How they justify killing the economies of developing countries and making people poorer as a noble thing is lost on me.

Jesus Is Nowhere To Be Found

Christianity is given short shrift in all this and that figures and He is a very divisive man who taught a divisive message. Telling people of all faiths that they are good and need only lift up their fellow man sounds good, but leaving out that there is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun, well that is downright verboten. And yet, Jesus did exactly that. He told the world that there is only one way to Heaven and it was Him and Him alone. Hardly inclusive is it? I did a search on their web site for Jesus and it came up with bupkis, nada, nothing. It is not a stretch to say that Jesus looked into the future and saw conferences like this abounding where He was not lifted up or even mentioned in a derogatory way. Seeking salvation any other way is a true sign of false messiahs and false prophecies. Of all the signs given in the various Olivet Discourses, this one takes top billing. When I researched about this and studied this gathering of religious leaders I knew how Jesus would fare before I read a single word. And I was right. You must, by Biblical definition be divisive when you tell people that all roads don’t lead to peace or eternal bliss. And Jesus did exactly that when He told His disciples, Thomas in particular this:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6, NKJV)

The Coming World Religion

I certainly am not going do a long dissertation on this now, but there will be a false prophet as part of the unholy trinity of the Tribulation and there is a one-world religion to go along with it, a religion that is being advertised even now. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see it and yet there are some who are blind to it as we speak. There are pulpits around the world that are literally loving people into an eternity without Jesus and it is shame. We should not only recognize this world religious movement but pray against it and every influence it has over our families, friends, and co-workers. We need to let Holy Spirit give us the ability to see the opportunities to speak life into those in our circle of influence and then give us the right words to speak to shine the light on them. The Word of God has more power than mere words, more power than even Shakespeare envisioned. But they need to be uttered to go anywhere. That’s our job now and it is a vocation that is not only divinely encouraged, but divinely empowered. Are we up to the task? I think we are, but the call needs to be trumpeted regardless.