Russia-Ukraine war: Some pastors wonder about ‘end of days’
"A 'Rapture Index' — on which any reading above 160 means 'Fasten your seatbelts' — was raised this week to 187, close to its record high of 189 in 2016." - RNS
"A 'Rapture Index' — on which any reading above 160 means 'Fasten your seatbelts' — was raised this week to 187, close to its record high of 189 in 2016." - RNS
"It’s those with long experience who are in a position to “keep calm and carry on”—to focus on executing the fundamentals when it looks like the other team is just going to run up the score. To be the tortoise rather than the hare." - Olinger
"...no one will be looking, expecting, or prepping when Jesus returns. No books, math equations, or solar moon eclipses will give us any hint when this will be." - Treg Spicer
"Both! This world is getting better and it is getting worse at the same time! The good seed is growing and producing an abundant harvest. The grain on one stalk is much more than the little seed that was cast into the ground. And the weeds are growing too." - Colin Smith
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How are we as Bible-believing Christians—especially those who love Biblical prophecy and interpret it literally from the premillennial, dispensational perspective—to evaluate the boastful claims and outrageous proposals of the promoters of the Great Reset?
We have been examining that question during these days that have included the Davos Agenda—a rather ominous sounding name for an online conference held at the end of January.
For those who may be unfamiliar, I should remind us that these titles do not come from a dystopian novel, nor from a Christian B movie destined to be shown in church basements. Instead, both the Agenda and the Reset are campaigns offered by the World Economic Forum. They are backed by many of the world’s richest and most powerful people—who are deadly serious about implementing them.
Does such talk of a Great Reset mean that end-time events are near? It is natural for us to consider such a question. The answers that we provide, however, must be crafted carefully.
We have previously established that the Bible strictly prohibits date-setting. No person alive during this church age can predict “that day and hour” (Matt. 24:36)1 of Christ’s return.
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In order to properly evaluate the proposed Great Reset in the light of Biblical prophecy, we must first make certain that we understand the world from the vantage point of God Himself.
We must recognize, first, that nothing in this world is out of control. The Lord God of heaven and Earth, at this very moment, “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). Speaking specifically of the Second Person of the Godhead, the Apostle Paul instructs us that “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:17). According to the author of Hebrews, He is actually “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3, NKJV).
Psalm 103:19 states:
The Lord has established His throne in heaven,
And His kingdom rules over all.
As one of my theology professors, Dr. Rolland McCune would say it, this means that “every speck of cosmic dust” in the universe is under His sovereign control. Dr. McCune would remind us that this verse speaks of the universal kingdom of God—of which the coming theocratic, millennial kingdom of prophecy will be one major element.
In our first three installments on the Great Reset—proposed for the world by the global elite, including politicians as well as many influential corporate leaders—we have looked at some of the basic concepts involved in the Reset, as well as two extremes to avoid when evaluating it from a Christian perspective.
We need to move on from there to discern how we should properly evaluate these global trends through a Biblical lens (to use a phrase made popular by Ken Ham)—yes, even through the lens of Biblical prophecy.
But before we deal with that specifically, let’s take a moment to reflect and remind ourselves where we are today—and just how far we’ve come in the past 12 months.
We’ve all seen how governments across the world have instituted sweeping new regulations in the wake of a pandemic. Here in the United States—where, perhaps, we assumed that such measures would be untenable—much of the country continues to struggle through imposed shutdowns or other severe restrictions. Yet major questions remain as to both the Constitutional authority to mandate such policies as well as the scientific evidence supporting their efficacy.
The physical, emotional and spiritual effects of these policies have, however, been enormous. This is not to mention the financial ruin suffered by many. One might think that there would be a robust public debate regarding all of this cultural upheaval.
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We have been considering the potential importance of the Great Reset, which has been promised to the world for this year of 2021, and is being discussed this week in virtual meetings for all who care to watch the proceedings unfold.
The Reset is a production of the World Economic Forum, and is backed by many leading figures from around the planet. Its planks include nearly every item that any globalist or climate-change activist could dream of placing on a wish list.
It is worth noting that—at one level—the gurus of the Reset have already foiled their own efforts by making such ostentatious guarantees that the movement could never live up to all of them. But perhaps they have already taken that into account—and are just trying to catch our attention.
Prof. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, has invested his life in this defining moment, and offers the following admonition—which sounds much more like a warning than a promise:
People assume we are just going back, to the good old world which we had, and everything will be normal again, in how we are used to normal, in the old fashioned. This is, let’s say fiction, it will not happen….1