Tim Moore, head of Lamb and Lion Ministries and Christ in Prophecy TV, encapsulates the essence of my new book of compilation, I think. He mentions in his chapter in this new book, Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention by Jesus Christ, the words of Dr. Adrian Rogers, the late pastor of Belleview Church of Memphis, Tennessee. So I guess I will give credit to Adrian Rogers, as well as to my great friend Tim for capturing my thoughts as I began praying and thinking about this volume as it progressed.

Tim writes the following in opening his chapter:

The storm clouds of the Tribulation are gathering. The signs of the times are increasing in frequency and intensity. Even those who are spiritually blind can discern that our world is hurtling toward a chasm.

For those who are awaiting Jesus Christ—our Blessed Hope—even these foreboding signs point to the imminence of His return. As Adrian Rogers once said, ‘It’s getting gloriously dark!”

Indeed, movement toward the time on earth the Lord Jesus Himself declared would be the worst of all human history is storming upon this generation. Jesus said about that coming era that if He didn’t intervene, no flesh would be saved; all of humankind would perish. But He added that for the sake of the saints–believers in Christ—the days of that terrible time will be shortened.

And this is in fact the essence of Tracking Toward Tribulation.

Tim Moore was agreeing with Dr. Rogers that the times are growing “gloriously dark,” meaning the Lord Jesus Christ has assured believers He will intervene so we who accept Him as our Savior and Lord will not perish in that coming time of unalloyed evil. And I am convicted that, in some sense, Jesus was referring to the Rapture of the Church as well as to the rescue of Tribulation saints.

It is glorious to think of the moment of Rapture when Jesus calls us into the clouds of Heaven’s domain to be with Him forever.

That promise, of course, is reinforced in the words given to John, the writer of Revelation, by the Ascended Christ:

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

This book is a bit different from my many previous books of compilation—compilation meaning a number of authors writing chapters. It is different in that, in the previous books, I assigned topics I requested each author to write. The chapters were based largely on each writer’s area of expertise and interest.

For Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention by Jesus Christ, I asked each author to choose material they’ve recently produced, with the only direction from me, the general editor, being that they stay within bounds of our basic title (Tracking Toward Tribulation). And our main thrust, of course, was implicit within my request. The glorious part about all the darkness in considering the time of Tribulation is the Heaven-guaranteed promise by Jesus, Himself, that He will suddenly interrupt that movement into the evil-spawned darkness by removing believers of the Church Age from this judgment-bound earth.

Within the past two weeks, we taped television programs for this book at SkyWatch TV in Crane, Missouri. Defender Publishing is the publisher of this and many of my books, is, along with SkyWatch TV, a part of my great friend Tom Horn’s inspired and brilliant vision for a corporate Christian media entity that deals largely in matters of Bible prophecy. Preparing for the programs, and actually doing them, I think, helped me to understand just how special this particular book effort is in covering where the world stands at this moment on God’s prophetic timeline.

The SkyWatch TV program’s host, Joe Ardis Horn, always manages to bring out in these interviews the most pertinent and fascinating information from among the authors involved during the tapings of the books Defender publishes. This was no exception. The book is one of the best volumes of its type of my experienced memory. And it’s due to the great writers and their acumen and expertise in God’s prophetic Word and in observation of prophetic import they see developing as this generation moves more deeply in the direction of the coming time of trouble described by Jesus and the prophets.

In my view, the Holy Spirit’s imprint is heavily on this joint effort. Each author, I believe this book validates, has been given special insight while addressing the topics they chose to present.

Anyone familiar with today’s writers, broadcasters, preachers, and teachers of God’s Word in general and in Bible prophecy in particular will recognize this line-up of contributors as God’s people, gifted to do His prophecy-oriented work. I believe the reader will agree this book is meant to be released in this late hour of this fleeting Age of Grace.

In addition to my own contributions, here are the authors of Tracking Toward Tribulation. I give them here in the order of their chapters as presented: Jan Markell, Brandon Holthaus, Jonathan C. Brentner, Mike Gendron, Dr. Nathan E. Jones, Pete Garcia, Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, Bill Salus, Tom Hughes, Daymond Duck, Tim Moore, Dr. Randall Price, Jim Fletcher, Wilfred Hahn, and Mondo Gonzales.

With the words, “And when you shall see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28), Jesus, God Himself, gave the formula for knowing just how close is His coming to receive unto Himself those who believe.

The key in this statement by the Creator of all that exists are the words “all these things.”

There are many things to consider included with in this framework given by Jesus Christ, in answering his immediate disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the age?”

We who have determined to enter this examination prayerfully look at each of “all these things” in order to give the reader of this volume an accurate as possible picture of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline.

Most who observe these times as Jesus commanded—“What I say unto one, I say unto all, watch” (Mark 13:37)—agree. All these things we are to “watch” have accelerated significantly within the recent months, weeks, and days. The ominous foreshadows of the Tribulation–Daniel’s seventieth week—hang heavily above every point on earth.

Yet the gathering darkness that closes in gives those who are in God’s family the opportunity to shine the light of His Truth that Jesus Christ alone is the hope for mankind. Christians are to be the light that reflects from our Savior’s heavenly luminescence. We are to be both salt and light to a decaying, darkening world.

We are to be looking up all the while for our redemption, which is growing ever nearer.

That moment—the twinkling-of-an-eye moment of Rapture—is indeed imminent!

There is one and only one way to go to Jesus in this glorious event when He calls—the one and only way of escaping the coming time of trouble such as people of the earth have never endured:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)

Order Tracking Toward Tribulation: And the Any Moment Intervention By Jesus Christ at the ministry website of your choice, or at the following: AMAZON

The mullahs who drive the hatred for Israel have, through Iran’s foreign minister, warned the newly inaugurated US president, Israel’s government, and the world that any attack on Iran’s nuclear development facilities will be met with catastrophic consequences for the region and the attackers.

Iran will react immediately and decisively if its nuclear facilities come under attack, an action that could trigger an “all-out war in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Friday.

Araqchi, speaking to Al Jazeera TV and quoted by Reuters, cautioned that any military strike by Israel and the United States on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would be “one of the biggest historical mistakes the US could make.”…

Iran recently informed the IAEA of its intention to “significantly increase” its production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent.”

The Biden administration sought to return to the 2015 deal and held indirect talks with Iran on a return to compliance, but those talks failed due to Iran’s insistence on the closure of the UN nuclear watchdog’s investigations of its nuclear sites…

Top Iranian officials have become increasingly concerned that Trump might grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the green light to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. (“Iranian FM warns: We will react decisively if our nuclear facilities are attacked,” Israel National News, Arutz Sheva, Elad Benari, Canada)

While the radical Islamic regime continues to grow as the greatest threat for initiating all-out war in the Mideast, the Iranian government grows ever closer to Russia in setting up for hegemony over all the region. The mullahs, not the people of Iran, intend to wipe Israel from the earth. They say so almost daily.

Iran (Persia), of course, is to be one of the primary members of the invading force in attacking Israel, according to Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog prophecy (Ezekiel chapters 38–39). We believe Russia, Togarmah (Turkey), and Iran (Persia) will lead many other peoples in the assault on Israel in order to take “great spoil.”

The diplomats of the world approach the matter of Iran and its drive to develop nuclear weaponry from a totally humanistic perspective. No doubt, none among that community give much thought to Ezekiel’s prophecy. The only thing most diplomatic sorts care about is that all-out war won’t be initiated in the region. Israel—and now America, in particular, under the Trump administration—insists that Iran never gets a nuclear-weapons capability to make good on their wanting to erase the Jewish state from the world. I doubt seriously that many within the new administration give much thought to Ezekiel’s prophecy about the coming attack.

Well, Mike Huckabee, now the ambassador to Israel, certainly knows all about the Gog-Magog prophecy. He will, I hopefully presume, explain it to those in the new administration. And I have hope for the new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He declares without any hesitation that Jesus Christ is his Savior and Lord. That is quite heartening, to be sure. How deeply he understands the Ezekiel prophecy…another question.

Whether there is understanding by Secretary Hegseth or within the new administration, they have vowed—along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most all of Israel’s government and military—that Iran’s getting nuclear weapons capability is not going to happen.

Thus the mullah-driven, carrot-and-stick approach. Again, Iran’s foreign minister has threatened all-out war that will be catastrophic for the world—especially for those who attack their nuclear-development laboratories, etc. At the same time, Iran is slyly reaching out with the carrot, trying to “reason” with President Trump to come to the table of negotiation to assure that peace remains the order of the day. All the while, Iran feeds military assets to its proxies–such as, for example, Hamas, the terrorists who incessantly afflict the Jewish state in attacks such as those that took place on October 7, 2023.

I really am convinced that soon, Israel, led by Netanyahu, backed strongly by the new US president, both of whom have vowed there will be no nuclear Iran, and the American military in some way will destroy the nuclear-weapons labs deep in the mountainous caverns of Iran. I base this on the Ezekiel 38–39 Gog-Magog prophecy.

Iran (Persia), as a major military force in the Gog-Magog coalition, apparently has no nuclear weapons in that attack. As a matter of fact, Ezekiel seems to go out of his way to present the assault as one of a conventional sort. He even uses the antiquated warfare methodology of his own time—horses, etc.—to describe the attack.

Now I know that “fire on the coastlands,” which might indicate involvement of nuclear explosions, is part of the attack, but it seems, almost certainly, that this “fire” is God’s own doing as the Gog-Magog forces invade His land.

This lack of nuclear weaponry in the attack upon Israel is why I titled this commentary “The Nuclear Iran Non Sequitur.”

It does not follow logically. That there is a nuclear Iran (Persia, in the Ezekiel prophecy) doesn’t seem to be the case in the least.

On this premise, and on the strength represented by America’s 47th president adamantly backing an immovable Israeli prime minister, I believe it’s relatively reasonable to conclude that Iran’s nuclear program will soon be no more.

All of this, and the Elam prophecy that a powerful destruction of some sort in the mountainous area where Iran’s nuclear facilities are located, gives backing to this likely scenario. The Iranian nuclear-weapons development will somehow be brought to a halt.

And, all of this prophetic progression means Christ’s call to the Church into the clouds of Glory must be very near indeed.

For when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your head, for your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21: 28)

Tell all the people you know about how near is the coming of Christ. Witness to them the saving power that’s only found in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did on the old rugged cross at Calvary.

Tell those God gives you the opportunity to witness to the following:

That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)

Sometimes, as a morning routine, I listen to the Chris Plante national radio show. The other morning, he played sound bites of a typical anti-Trump night-time comedian saying, with sarcasm, that it is now, since the election and inauguration, 24/7 coverage of Donald Trump, whereas before it was only 24/7 coverage of Donald Trump.

Chris Plante then said in his own humorous way: “Ahh yes…mental illness is such a terrible thing, isn’t it?  When did they all come down with the same mental illness?”

Plante was, of course, talking about what long ago became known in pseudo-psychological vernacular as the “Trump derangement syndrome” (TDS). Certainly, that widespread hatred for the now forty-seventh president of the United States wasn’t stanched by his overwhelming win in the 2024 presidential race. The Trump bashers, which include the radical left on the political spectrum, mainstream media, and almost the entire entertainment industry, continue apace in manifesting the syndrome.

One of the more amusing aspects of the ongoing hatred these TDS entities project is that they now–after Donald J. Trump’s win—seem to be joining in agreement with those of us who study Bible prophecy from the pre-Trib view. I’ve heard some of these anti-God types refer to Trump as “the Antichrist” a number of times, so I guess they now believe in Bible prophecy.

Of course, I’ve also read the charge that Mr. Trump will be the Antichrist put forward by more than a few who are presumably Christians claiming Bible prophecy as their source for such a proclamation. These, too, seem to have been infected by the Trump derangement syndrome.

Truly there has never been such a man as Donald J. Trump to so dominate presidential political headlines most every day since he came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York City. Since that moment in 2016, never has any person endured at one and the same time such hatred and accolades on the national stage.

Despite the Trump derangement, the election on November 7 seems to indicate powerfully that most of America’s voting public didn’t fall for the mainstream and entertainment media-fueled Trump hatred. In spite of everything thrown at Donald J. Trump, including the proverbial kitchen sink, he has emerged as the leader that even many of his former hate-filled enemies in many cases now eagerly seek to embrace.

Those who exclusively attribute to his charismatic persona this mercurial political entity’s rise to the ultimate governmental position in the world, then his nation-rendering fall, then his rocket-like rise again is, I believe, as blind spiritually as I am physically. I, you see, am not downcast by the Trump derangement syndrome. Rather, I’m spiritually enlightened and uplifted by understanding what I call the “Trump arrangement syndrome”–a thing, as believers, we must avoid, as I hope to make clear.

This understanding begins with the knowledge that God raises up kings and brings them down:

He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. (Daniel 2:21)

Donald Trump is, as I’ve written many times, not a godly man. He is, however, there is no doubt in my thinking, God’s man for this late hour of the Church Age (Age of Grace). In this sense, the term “Trump arrangement syndrome” is the right one that encapsulates this president’s ascent to the ultimate, earthly, geopolitical power. The present Trump arrangement is a matter only our Mighty God could bring into this, the prophetic hour just before He again begins dealing in a final prophetic way with His chosen people and nation, Israel.

Proof of this heavenly action–arranging Trump’s positioning–I now believe, was when God spared Trump’s life on that August 14, 2024, afternoon in Butler, Pennsylvania, for the entire world to witness. It was the God of all creation making a statement and preparing the way to get back to “business as usual,” rather than allowing the reprobate thinking to be unchecked—the anti-God insanity that was moving too quickly toward satanic stage-setting for Antichrist’s rise to power.

Now let me explain. By saying “business as usual,” I’m not referring to the business of returning to normalcy in the human sense so that we can all just live happy, secure lives. That would mean God approves of the wickedness that “business as usual” has produced–business that has taken us far from Him.

The “business as usual” to which I refer is the exact kind that was going on at the time Lot, his wife, and daughters were removed from Sodom. That activity was, I believe, very much like it will be here in America—and by extension, the world—at the moment Christ next breaks in to the wicked affairs of humanity on earth.

We see how quickly this arrangement is shaping up following Trump’s return to the Oval Office. Even the technocrats–the billionaire producers of the great, advancing technologies are on board this man of destiny’s Trump Train. The president has announced the AI wonders that will constitute what he termed Stargate, which he says will be funded by $500 billion, and immediately produce more than 100 thousand jobs.

I believe Mr. Trump truly believes this will lead to making America great again and will bring about an American Golden Age, as he puts it. Indeed, America might for a time experience an unusual uptick in economic achievement. But we must not be deluded. It all smacks of preparing the post-Rapture world for AI technological controls for the era Jesus said will be the worst of all human history.

So the Trump arrangement taking place is, I believe, Heaven preparing the world for fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy as recorded in Luke 17:28–30.

The Lord said it will be “as it was in the days of Lot” when He is next “revealed.” Then, just like in Lot’s day, judgment will begin falling on a world that has rebelled against God.

It will be, Jesus said, at “a time you think not.” We’re told in Scripture that “It will come upon the world” “like a snare (a surprise snatching-up).”

For the Christian, we are to be watching all these developments (Mark 13: 37) We’re to notice that Israel is again in the center of all things, and that the desire for peace also is at the center of all things. We are to take notice that the world is not in as dire a situation, economically speaking, as it was looking when the Biden era came to a close. Yes. The world continues to be in an anti-God spiral downward morally, culturally, and throughout society. But now we see an almost exponentially upward spiraling economic and technologically advancing situation in America—and, by extension, worldwide—we are assured by Mr.  Trump and others.

At the same time, there are wars and rumors of wars, and all of them revolve around major players in God’s prophetic Word for the time of the end. Russia, Iran, Turkey, China–all are poised to fulfill their disastrous destinies during the Tribulation—the last seven years leading to Christ’s Second Advent.

We do not want, as believers in Jesus Christ, to get caught up into the Trump arrangement syndrome. This term means Donald Trump is going to make America great again. That syndrome is as wrongheaded as what those with the Trump derangement syndrome suffer.

I am, like you, thankful the 2024 presidential election went the way it did. The Lord arranged it, no doubt. All thanks and glory be to Him! This heavenly arrangement perhaps gives believers time to work to bring more souls into God’s family through salvation in a culture and society that remains free to do so.

At the same time, we are to be “looking up,” for our Redeemer is drawing near. The Rapture is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar!

Here again is the message to share as we go about witnessing the soul-saving power of our Lord:

That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10: 9-10)

I’m hearing it proclaimed in the strongest terms that God is judging California and punishing that area with the horrific fire because of the wickedness it embraces. I disagree. I say God is not yet judging, not in the sense that His judgment produces punishment from Heaven.

Indeed, the parts of California that are, as of this writing, being devoured by the fires—fanned by 100 mph winds, in some cases—are the center of wickedness the likes of which might make the people of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah blush.

One observer writes the following in that regard:

There is so much anger about the unprecedented fires that are ravaging the Los Angeles area, because there is a widespread belief that they could have been prevented.  Some are blaming mismanaged forests, some are blaming the extreme incompetence of our leaders, some are blaming “climate change”, and some are blaming budget cuts.  But could it be possible that the real reason why Los Angeles is burning is not related to any of those factors?

What is the one thing that sets Los Angeles apart from any other city in the world?

Needless to say, it is the entertainment industry…

Most people living in the western world consume entertainment that originates from Los Angeles almost every single day.

Most of us are literally opening up our minds and pouring in filth on a regular basis, and that has had absolutely devastating consequences.

Of course much of the filth that the entertainment industry produces openly mocks God and misuses His name.

Sadly, the entertainment industry was even mocking God at the Golden Globe awards just 48 hours before the fires hit.

So they mocked God on Sunday at the Golden Globes, couple days later their houses burn down…

The entire planet has been corrupted by the movies, television shows and music that come out of Los Angeles.  On top of all that, L.A. is the epicenter for the global pornography industry. (“Could There Be A Reason Why Los Angeles Is Burning That Nobody Really Wants To Talk About?” by Michael, End Of The American Dream, January 12, 2025)

President Trump said recently the area destroyed by the fires look as if they’ve been hit by a nuclear attack. It sure seems like the judgment of God is being visited on America’s Pompeii, doesn’t it?

No. I think not. I believe what we see happening—the fiery devastation ravaging one of America’s most desirable place to live in terms of environment—is actually an expression of God’s love.

Now, that seems almost as wrong in reasoning as the woke thinking that comes out of California, that state of upside-down, reprobate insanity!

Here I want to say that we are to have love and concern for the people who are suffering so desperately from these catastrophic fires. And they are catastrophic, with entire neighborhoods across a vast expanse having been completely burned to the ground. Let us reach out in compassion, knowing that, but by the grace of God, we could be in the same circumstances.

That said, I’m of the thinking proffered by my friend Tom Hughes, whose ministry is located in California.

He likened what’s going on there to the terminal health dilemma of someone he once witnessed to about the saving power of Jesus Christ.

The man had only days to live when he went to visit him, Tom said. The man wanted to know that if there was a God, why he was suffering such pain.

Tom lovingly and gently told the cancer patient that God had blessed him all his life with a successful life and wonderful family. Despite all the opportunities to accept Christ, the man had rejected God’s offer. The pain was given to call the man one more time. The pain was necessary as a strong measure because God knew the place the man was going without Christ was many times worse than the pain from cancer he was suffering. In other words, God was using the pain to call him to salvation one last time.

Tom’s words to this terminally ill man might sound harsh, but the Lord sometimes works His love and mercy even through the pain of life.

Thankfully, the man did accept Christ before passing into the Lord’s presence just several days later. (The following is the link to Tom’s recounting of this conversion experience: https://youtu.be/kDvItdgONFM?si=OEvKS0bITAoc0Oj7)

Tom Hughes said:

It’s the same thing I see going on right now in America. You see it in the heart of Hollywood. God is shouting to people, “Hey, you better turn to me.” The Bible tells us what’s coming during the Tribulation period.

Wow, folks. God is screaming to us. He has blessed this country with great things–with so many good things, and instead of turning to the Lord, they are turning from Him. And God is shouting to us, because He knows the pain is coming [when His true wrath must punish those who reject His Son.]

For anybody…if you don’t know the Lord, ask Him to forgive you. He will forgive anybody who will come to Him.

Amen! The fires are a merciful call to repentance–perhaps a last, loving call to accept God’s order, rather than the anti-God way of wokeness and rebellion.

What painful calls to repentance might we expect as the time of the Tribulation grows closer by the hour? Once Jesus calls all believers to Himself in the Rapture, the pain will grow infinitely worse as God’s wrath pours out on God-rejecting humankind.

You don’t want to be part of that wrath and of Antichrist’s unprecedented evil.

Here’s how to accept Christ and be kept from that worst time of human history AND from the eternal, truly horrific fire—the lake of fire—following the final punishment of lost humankind at the great white throne judgment.

That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10: 9-10) 

While thinking on the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States on this 20th day of January 2025, I reflect on things more than a decade earlier.

I wrote in January of 2010 the following. Peace is more than the absence of war in which blood is shed while weapons destroy and death tallies their toll. Peace is contentment, with prospects for a future free of worry that conflict will disrupt tranquility. There is neither contentment nor tranquility upon this fallen sphere:

Conflict is everywhere one looks. Unsettling issues assault the eyes and ears—the senses—of the world community. Anxieties and perplexities inundate societies and cultures, nations, and continents. The voices of humanity cry “Peace! Peace!” when there is no peace. As much as I would like to bring tidings of great joy—having just celebrated the birth of Christ—I cannot do so from the perspective of what is going on here on earth. The year 2010 just ahead looks bleak for a world of inhabitants who, by and large, reject the only One who can bring peace. The rejection portends the ascent of evil that is prophetically scheduled to grow worse, according to the apostle Paul: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

That forecast certainly has proven accurate. But it is God’s prophetic Word, not this poor messenger’s predictive acumen, that made the 2010 prognostication an easy one. The times here at the beginning of 2025 have changed only in that the outlook for peace this darkening world seeks flees farther distant by the hour.

While seducers are on the scene in this generation at every level of human interaction, deadly conflict lurks just around the geopolitical corner in the region of planet earth foretold to be the host geographical area of man’s most horrific war. The prince of Persia foments rage against God’s chosen nation, inciting the likes of Iran’s Islamic leadership to create weapons that can destroy Israel, thus hoping to derail God’s prophetic plan to install the King of all kings upon the throne of David. Alliances form that make the wary student of Bible prophecy know that the prophet Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog coalition is coming together. One day the “evil thought” of Ezekiel 38:10 will come to a Russian leader’s mind. All hell will break loose in the most volatile region on earth.

Politicians in America and in other nations lie to their publics, promising resolution to civil and economic strife and perplexities that have no chance of improvement, based upon those leaderships’ self-serving motives and intentions. They seduce the publics they are supposed to serve, and instead rule with deluding words that flow from the mind of the great deceiver himself—the father of lies.

Religious leaders—even supposed Christian leaders—move their flocks in directions away from, not toward, the God of Heaven and His prescription for living a peaceful life on this ever-darkening planet. Indeed, the seducers of religiosity grow worse and worse, and the gospel light dims for America as it has been dimming for so long in Europe, out of which the American republic burst under God’s great providence.

Still, the self-delusion that man-made peace can prevail over this sin-blackened world persists. The cry for peace and safety is exponentially ratcheting up in the region prophesied to host the worst and final war of the age—Armageddon. That cry for peace and safety predicted to characterize the end of the age is front and center in today’s headlines.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to the 79th session of the UN General Assembly September 27, 2024, laid out the opposition to peace God’s chosen nation faces in this time so near the end of the age:

Mr. President, Ladies and gentlemen, I didn’t intend to come here this year. My country is at war, fighting for its life.

But after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I decided to come here to speak for my people. To speak for my country, to speak for the truth. And here’s the truth: Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again. Yet we face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against them.

These savage murderers, our enemies, seek not only to destroy us, but they seek to destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror. When I spoke here last year, I said we face the same timeless choice that Moses put before the people of Israel thousands of years ago, as we were about to enter the Promised Land.

Moses told us that our actions would determine whether we bequeath to future generations a blessing or a curse.

And that is the choice we face today: the curse of Iran’s unremitting aggression or the blessing of a historic reconciliation between Arab and Jew.

But, that cry for peace isn’t working—not yet, anyway. One day the “prince that shall come” (Daniel 9:27) will confirm such a covenant of peace that will temporarily induce euphoria for a fearful world. But the present Israeli prime minister isn’t fooled into thinking such a covenant is at hand. His words haven’t changed since back in 2010. He said at that time: “There’s no more time for excuses. It is time for action.” Netanyahu also said that Israel’s most important challenge is Iran’s attempt to get nuclear weapons.

We have witnessed since that time now fifteen years ago not the trending toward peace between Israel and its enemies, but a severe ratcheting-up of terrorism and war-making. The Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023, have thrown fuel on the fire of Middle Eastern volatility.

Iran continues to be at the center of all of it, with the new president of the United States, as of today, January 20, 2025, promising quick and devastating action against Iran’s nuclear threat, and against the Hamas perpetrators of the most heinous evil against the Jewish state since Hitler’s holocaust.

All of this gloom for this new year is depressing, you say. What a downer to begin 2025! The hope in all of this is glorious beyond imagination, however. It is the “blessed hope” of Titus 2:13 who remains in complete control. For the student of Bible prophecy, whose Lord is the King of kings, all of the foreboding for this world that is passing away means Christ’s return to make all things right on planet earth must be near indeed. The Prince of Peace is about to intervene dramatically into the disastrous affairs of humanity.

Margaret and I were leaving Highland Heights Baptist Church after a Sunday service sometime in the 1980s. As we turned to trek down the side of the church on the road leading to the parking lot, I heard the voice: “Terry! You and Margaret come here. I want to introduce you to Mike Huckabee.”

It was our pastor, Robert McDaniel, who was standing near the frontage road talking with Mike Huckabee, who had delivered the sermon that morning as a guest speaker.

“Mike is running for lieutenant governor,” the pastor said. “I wanted you to meet him and shake hands with him.”

We did so, and spent a few minutes in pleasantries, with my thanking him for his sermon.

Little did I imagine Mr. Huckabee would achieve the level of national and international prominence the Lord chose for him, of course.

He was, and remains, the personification of a Christian gentleman, according to all I have known from reports all these years. This, despite his being engaged in the rough-and-tumble (some would say “wicked”) business of political warfare in our state of Arkansas and in the nation.

There were many in the Christian community in those days when Mike ran for lieutenant governor and later for governor who either questioned a Baptist preacher becoming intertwined with the often nefarious art of politics, or who adamantly opposed such engagement by a Baptist preacher.

I, myself, remember asking why a Baptist preacher would want to become a part of the politicking in our state and nation.

My question has since been answered in my spirit. The Lord has had his hand on Mr. Huckabee–as well as on his daughter, Sarah, who was a youngster when Margaret and I shook hands with her father. She, of course, became President Trump’s press spokesperson and is now governor of Arkansas.

Mike, of course, ran for president, and he and the rest of the GOP field were defeated by one Donald J. Trump. Trump went on then to be elected president in defeating another who was once part of Arkansas government–Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton’s First Lady when he was governor here, and, later, when he was president of the United States.

The 2016 election was, as we recall, a complete surprise to many–especially to the Hillary Clinton presidential-aspiration camp. The shock of that victory continues to reverberate with wave after wave of political and cultural impact.

Point is that God’s mighty hand continues to be on display as He restrains evil, has that “wickedness in high places” in derision, and especially as He brings all into focus for the prophesied wind-up of this Church Age (Age of Grace).

To those who observe developments through the prism of Bible prophecy, no instance of God’s great hand of providential direction and control is more profound than the dynamics involving Israel taking place at present.

We’ve seen God moving powerfully since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. Remember, for example, the strategic brilliance employed by the IDF in the exploding of communications devices, killing many enemy terrorists in the process. We who believe Israel’s God neither slumbers nor sleeps know this seeming miraculous action was orchestrated by Heaven, while the Supreme Maestro, Israel’s God, continues to direct the prophetic stage-setting.

That same Supreme Maestro has placed in the president-elect’s mind, I’m convinced, to appoint Mike Huckabee to be the next ambassador to God’s chosen nation. Here is a news brief framing that appointment.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Israel, has long rejected a Palestinian state in territory previously seized by Israel and has repeatedly signaled his staunch support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Huckabee, a former TV host and Baptist preacher, frequently visits Israel and once said he wanted to buy a holiday home there. He has maintained throughout the years that the West Bank belongs to Israel, and recently said “the title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs.”

His argument for a so-called “one-state solution” contradicts longstanding official U.S. support for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state.

He has described the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas as “horrific” and “beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed in my lifetime” and argued that the U.S. needs to stand firmly behind Israel. (“Trump picks Mike Huckabee to serve as US ambassador to Israel,” AP News, Adriana Gomez Licon, November 13, 2024)

The most important thing about Trump choosing Mr. Huckabee is not that a Baptist preacher will be in the position to wholeheartedly bring America’s full support to God’s chosen nation. Even more profound is that he will have this president’s ear in such an influential way.

This message isn’t only for Mike Huckabee. I want to implore others as well who have Donald J. Trump’s ear. That is, I implore other godly men to advise without reservation as Mr. Trump performs the duties God has appointed him to carry out. That is a main reason they’ve been placed by the God of Heaven into the pathway of this unusual man who will soon again be the most powerful human leader on planet Earth.

God’s men who have this president’s ear, such as John Hagee and Robert Jeffress, have, like Mike Huckabee, a responsibility to inform the president, at every opportunity, about Heaven’s ultimate control over things at this prophetic hour. Your advice in that Holy Spirit sense, gentlemen, is far beyond the Senate’s “advice and consent authority” under America’s constitutional prerogative. Please do not shirk that great responsibility.

Vince Lombardi, the famous Green Bay Packer coach of the 1960s, known for his draconian training regimen in preparing his players, said: “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” He put his observation to practical use against his opponents by making sure it was the opponents, not his team members, who were fatigued by game’s end. Each Packer player was totally spent at the end of each practice session; he left all he had on the field of preparation. 

When strength was returned and fully pumped up on game day, there was more than enough to overpower those not as intensively conditioned. The result was a championship team that continues to be memorialized in sports lore all of these years later. There was no team that could match Lombardi’s Packers when the fatigue set in during the later stages of the games they played during the height of their power. There were teams that could match their natural athletic abilities, but none could match their endurance.

The game was won by the intensive time of preparation as much as it was won on the actual field of play.

The use of the above sports analogy is not far-fetched. Paul, the great champion for taking the gospel of Christ forth, used just such an analogy to describe his life, death, and glorious future in God’s kingdom:

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:4-8).

Paul, it is obvious by studying his writings, was a sports fan. He used things like running a race, beating the air, finishing the course, and other terms that give us insight to the fact that he at least took interest in the society of his day. That society was one filled with sports activities, and that would have been a natural subject for the great teacher to interject as he presented the gospel and matters of Bible doctrine.

The games of the day included Olympics-type events. The races in particular turned on the cheers of fans of the day. Crowns of laurels (wreaths of leaves) were placed upon the victors’ heads by the judges.

Paul linked the races of his time to the bema (judgment seat of  Christ), at which children of God will receive  crowns of victory based upon how they ran the race in Christ’s cause during their lifetimes. The very nature of such a race indicates the necessity of enduring–persevering–through the long, sometimes uphill miles of living a life of righteousness.

Most often, Paul used such analogy to indicate, as in the verses above, the fact that the Christian should be willing to endure. In many places, he taught how to build endurance. That preparation most often was wrapped around prayer, Scripture study, and practical action–witnessing and teaching truth to others.

God’s Word telling us to endure is one area of Bible prophecy that has caused anxiety-ridden questions among some. It seems to those who question that the command to endure, according to the language used, is a requirement to assure salvation. One must “endure unto the end” to be saved–to win in the game of life, thus secure one’s place in Heaven for eternity.

Endurance is one of the things God requires of His children. As a matter of fact, He demands it. But, what does the term “endurance” used in the Scriptures, causing anxieties among some believers, mean, exactly?

A close examination of the key verses involved is necessary to understand the term “endurance” in God’s prophetic lexicon. One such reference is found in Paul’s words about a departure from Bible doctrine during the end of the Church Age:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Timothy 4:3-5).

Paul was prophesying a time–indeed, I am convinced we are in that time—when many within the very heart of the Christian church will move away from preaching and teaching that humankind is lost and needs the Savior, who is Jesus Christ, alone (John 14:6). This failure to endure the sound doctrine taught by Jesus, Paul, and the other apostles would, Paul indicated, be a fatigue that would make cowards of many, causing them and those they teach to turn to lies.

We see this very thing today. The gospel that humanity is lost in sin, thus must turn to the shed blood of Jesus Christ for remission of that deadly sin, has been changed to give the feel-good message that God is love and would never condemn those He knows to be less than perfect. The fable-makers teach and preach the do-good message that we must go along with the world of philanthropists who preach a social gospel to feed, clothe, and, in general, show the have-nots that humanism is their savior.

Much of the Church today thus has failed to “endure until the end.”

Jesus pronounced, in strong language, the role “endurance” will play in the days leading up to His second advent:

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:11-13).

Jesus even asks in one instance whether He will find any faith on earth when He returns. And, this is where the anxiety comes in for some. Is Jesus saying that those who do not hold to absolute Bible truth until the very end won’t be “saved”? Must we–and those of the tribulation era—never slip up and sin, thus departing from truth, or else suffer the eternal damnation of hellfire?

The answer is found within the character of the One who issued the solemn statement. Jesus, who said “It is finished” when He completed the redemption plan of God on the cross at Calvary, also said:

“My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29).

Saints “endure” through Christ. We haven’t the ability to resist this fallen world apart from the strength found only in our Savior. The supernatural endurance required to “endure unto the end” is not in us, but in Jesus, who paid the full price for our eternal souls:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

When we are “in” Christ, we will “endure,” because Christ “endures.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Now, this does not excuse the Christian from remaining faithful to God. In that sense, “endurance” is our responsibility. It is our responsibility to the very end–of our lives, or until the Rapture of Christ’s body, the Church. We are to strengthen ourselves for spiritual battle in order to not become fatigued through prayer, Bible study, and exercising our witness before our fellow man. We put on the whole armor of God as we are directed to do in Ephesians, chapter 6.

God equips us. He doesn’t demand such a hard thing without providing the ability–even the absolute guarantee–of that sort of “endurance” that takes His child “unto the end.”

Those who fail to exercise their witness, in whatever way God directs, become flabby, ineffective ambassadors in Christ’s royal service. There is always a heavy price to pay for such sloth. Not loss of salvation for those who are truly in Christ’s grip, but a loss of position within the kingdom of God.

Those who fail to endure in the center of God’s will will suffer loss of rewards when kneeling before their Savior at the judgment seat of Christ.

That is one primary reason we at Rapture Ready exhort Christians to join in our efforts in these closing days of the Age of Grace–the Church Age. There are many, many opportunities to labor, to “endure,” during these trying times that are presented by this dynamic website effort to reach the lost world for Christ.

Many are writing articles, many are writing encouraging emails, and some are giving in other ways to God’s work on raptureready.com.

One area we very much need help is in finances. Donations have dwindled, yet the ministry-associated needs of Christ in these closing days of the age have never been more pronounced. Enduring to the end also means supporting Christ-centered ministries with our financial offerings. If hundreds of millions of dollars can be contributed to so-called  secular causes–many of which  are of little help to hurting humanity–why don’t those who hold to Bible truth support faithful ministries with greatly abundant offerings?

Jesus said: ”For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Again, Christ’s Great Commission that we as Christians must deliver to the end has at its center the following message to those who need Jesus to be saved from the sin that otherwise will separate them from the Heavenly Father forever.

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). 

It has been said, and proven, that life often imitates art. Seems to me this might have been the case, at least to an extent, in the matter of the mysterious drone invasion, if that is the proper term for the sightings that have so held the attention in recent days–and particularly, the attention of so many during the nights…

I heard mention Lakehurst, New Jersey in conjunction with some of the most prolific sightings of the drones that suddenly began appearing in the New Jersey-New York area a week or two ago.

A real-life horror story took place in that very place in 1937, when the German dirigible, the Hindenburg, was ignited when contacting its mooring tower and collapsed in a fiery crash, killing some and injuring many more. Then, a year later, much of the nation became panicked when H. G. Wells’ novel was adapted as a radio program and narrated by Orson Welles. Again it was New Jersey that Wells placed the fictional invasion of invading forces from Mars.

The October 30, 1938, Halloween radio play was broadcast on CBS as a series of realistic-sounding news bulletins that reported the fictional invasion. Only the public didn’t understand it as fiction. The public quickly became panicked, thinking Martians were about to take over. 

Since that time, programming has been governed to prevent a repeat of such fearful confusion.

Reports about the strange drones didn’t quite reach the level of panic that War of the Worlds set off, but the fear in some cases was considerable and remains somewhat concerning.

[New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy] urged Congress to give states more authority to deal with the drones.

Meanwhile, the FBI and New Jersey state police warned against pointing lasers at suspected drones, because aircraft pilots are being hit in the eyes more often. Authorities also said they are concerned people might fire weapons at manned aircraft that they have mistaken for drones.

But do the drones pose a threat?

The growing anxiety among some residents is not lost on the Biden administration, which has faced criticism from Trump for not dealing with the matter more aggressively.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that the federal government has yet to identify any public safety or national security risks.

“There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States,” Kirby said. “And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with.”

The federal government has deployed personnel and advanced technology to investigate the reports in New Jersey and other states, and is evaluating each tip reported by citizens, he said.

About 100 of the more than 5,000 drone sightings reported to the FBI in recent weeks were deemed credible enough to warrant more investigation, according to a joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense.

Speculation has raged online, with some expressing concerns that the drones could be part of a nefarious plot by foreign agents or clandestine operations by the U.S. government.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said it’s unlikely the drones are engaged in intelligence gathering, given how loud and bright they are. And he repeated Tuesday that the drones being reported are not being operated by the Department of Defense. (“Mystery drones in New Jersey and the US: What we do and don’t know about the sightings,” AP News)

I will only say in my own speculative way that something strange is going on–and I mean strange in the fact that such a sophisticated government as ours is acting like Ned in the Third Reader in explaining or dealing with the situation.

They are treating us like members of Ned’s third-grade class, as a matter of fact.

Some believe the drones to have demonic dimension to their activity. I agree, but here’s how…

Most everything going on at this late prophetic hour, I’m convinced, has an element of demonic influence at its dark center. For example, it is possible that the minions, both human and demonic, within deep-state high places are likely trying different tactics to diffuse the incoming presidential administration’s intention to change things from the nefarious ways that cabal has been operating.

Also, the stage-setting for the coming Antichrist regime continues, as the Lord allows. Lucifer the fallen one, I’m convinced, knows the Rapture is very near. Like us, he doesn’t know when, but he, of all of God’s created beings, knows God cannot lie. Satan knows that DISAPPEARING event is about to occur.

Perhaps, just perhaps, all of the strangeness the New Jersey folks and others are seeing in the night skies is a foreshadowing–preparing for the fulfillment of the terrors that await those left behind in the wake of the Rapture of Christ’s Bride into Heaven.

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (Luke 21: 25-26)

You don’t want to be here when such terrors from the skies are assaulting left behind humanity. Here once again is how to go to the safety of the Lord Jesus when He calls believers to Himself in the Rapture.

That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10: 9-10)

To my way of thinking, the next events of end-times importance outlined in God’s Word are front and center at this very moment. Two things are about to be fulfilled that Bible prophecy specifically details for those who “watch,” as commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The first on the cusp of fulfillment is encapsulated within a book my friend Pete Garcia and I wrote a few years ago: The DISAPPEARING: Future Events That Will Rock the World is described by the following pulled from its back cover.

Each hour brings troubling headlines from the many news sources now available. Every report seems more intrusive upon our daily lives than the previous, and all accounts appear to be setting the end-time stage for soon fulfillment of God’s prophetic Word…

A dramatic presentation of the Rapture…

Vivid depiction of unfolding events immediately following the Rapture and beyond—through planet earth’s judgment and its ultimate restoration…

My presentation titled, “Rapture Ready,” delivered at the Prophecy Watchers’ conference at Branson, Missouri, on December 7, was meant to cover the reasons believers should be ready for that great event–and why.

That session was devoted to the proposition–the exciting and, yes, the comforting certainty—that all the signals around us today indicate all is in “Rapture readiness.” We who are believers and in God’s eternal family should be “Rapture ready.”

Using Power Point, I tried to make clear what it means to be ready for the Rapture by presenting the following:

• First, being Rapture ready means we who have accepted Jesus Christ are automatically, by default, Rapture ready through salvation—for redemption from sin. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We will all, without exception, go to Christ when He calls!
• Second, being Rapture ready means we are watching for signals by understanding the times we live in as we anticipate Jesus coming for us. We are expecting the any-moment call of Christ into the clouds of Glory. The Rapture is a salvation issue. We are redeemed by the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Believers have a commission to “watch” (as recorded in Mark 13:37). So we know the Holy Spirit will give us a heads-up on the nearness of the end of the age. Those signals are everywhere at present.
• Third, again, we are to be living lives that are righteous in God’s holy eyes as we anticipate Christ’s call. This, too, is being Rapture ready.

Based on all we sense in our spirits–that something profound is about to happen—I am convinced the disappearing is now at the very prophetic moment Paul the apostle foretold:

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:2–6)

As we now watch soberly, with great anticipation of Christ’s call, the signals we are commanded to look for by Jesus are profound.

There is a growing cry for peace in various places where wars and rumors of war are threatening nuclear holocaust. And now the one city on earth–the longest-inhabited in human history, according to historians—is front and center in an unmistakable signal of the lateness of the prophetic hour.

The second matter covered under our article’s title, Damascus, Syria, as we all know from news accounts that proliferate daily with reports of tremendous turmoil in that ancient city, is a powder keg unlike no other possible ignition point for nuclear war outbreak. This city is known to be the headquarters for most every Islamic terrorist organization, to one degree or another.

Russia, in effect, having been evicted from influence by Assad’s removal, means tensions will ratchet up in days to come, with Russia’s Putin suffering yet another embarrassment under the scrutiny of the Russian government underlings hungry for power. His position becomes more and more tenuous.

The great prophet Isaiah’s words seem on the verge of fulfillment:

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. (Isaiah 17: 1)

A recent statement issued by terrorists who are now taking over that ancient city makes understandable why it is destined to be obliterated, never to rise again. Again, most every terrorist organization headquarters is there, and now they have seized almost total power. Their statement shows why God will allow the destruction that is so complete, I believe: “This is the land of Islam, this is Damascus, the Muslim stronghold. From here to Jerusalem. We’re coming for Jerusalem” (Israel 365 News).

The forcible abdication of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad and the powerful geopolitical turbulence created in its wake should alert every believer to just how near we are to the instant of disappearing. The Apostle Paul fervently told the generation of his day–and we who are now seeing all these things begin to come to pass—about that disappearance, the great rescue Jesus commanded us to look for when His coming for us is at the very door of eternity (Luke 21:28).

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–18)

Author’s note: In preparing for speaking on the topic RAPTURE READY! at the Branson conference a couple of weeks ago, I looked through my files of articles I’ve written over the years. This one is most appropriate. I share it again here.

We have looked a number of times in this column at those who mock the end-times message and the Rapture in particular. Because those who scoff have been of the abrasive, unbelieving variety for the most part, there is a standard Bible verse reply I’ve usually employed in response.

The scriptural reply has most often been intended to let those mocking know that they are, in actuality, fulfilling Bible prophecy.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

As of late, however, such a reply doesn’t quite fit that which should compose an appropriate response. That is because the questions are coming weekly from genuine believers in the Pre-Trib Rapture of the Church. These Christians are worried–some very worried.

These look around them and on every side they see and feel the satanic pressures from this fallen sphere closing in. Issues and events –the very ambience in which they find their lives engulfed–generate thoughts that their circumstance is beginning to look much like the Bible’s description of the Tribulation itself.

To illustrate the growing angst, I’ve chosen the email of one such Christian brother who wrote this past week. His words pretty much get right to the point of the many other emails expressing like emotion. Here it is in its entirety:

Why is the Lord delaying the rapture? It should have happened years ago. We would be in the millennium now enjoying true peace and prosperity without the suffering. I don’t get it. It’s God call of course but 58 million aborted babies in the US since 1973, Christians tortured and murdered worldwide, people who believe in Jesus longing for his return suffering immensely. I don’t get it where is our Lord and Savior?

The emailer didn’t use any soft nuances of greetings or any other niceties. He just laid his spirit-distressed emotions right out there.

You don’t answer such gut-wrenching concern with the apostle Peter’s prophecy as given above. This child of God is worried. He is puzzled; he is perplexed. It’s the kind of questioning I’ve heard in my own kid’s anxieties when they were young and felt disappointed for one of my failures or the other to keep a promise. “Dad should never let me down like that” is the tone.

Only, this perceived unkept promise isn’t from an imperfect, human father. I say “perceived unkept promise” because the promise isn’t unbroken whatsoever. The error is in the question of the imperfect child asking it. His Perfect Father will, as always, be one hundred percent faithful to keep every promise made.

The Lord Jesus, Himself, in His ascended position, said the following to John the Revelator:

Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

Jesus said it, and that means the Heavenly Father said it–promised it! Jesus said that He and the Father are One. They are inseparable–one and the same–the first and second Persons of the Godhead–the Trinity.

God cannot lie, the Scripture tells us. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God keeps His promises. So, this brother in Christ, like all the other believers who look to the “blessed hope” of Titus 2: 13, who are in fear and worry while watching this fallen world closing in, need an answer from the Word of God.

The Heavenly Father gave the answer to Peter to pass along to us, just a bit farther on in Scripture. The answer to why the Rapture hasn’t occurred as soon as almost all of us wish it would occur is, at least in part, wrapped up in the following:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

The Tribulation that will follow this Age of Grace will be filled with horrors that even John, under divine inspiration, had trouble describing. The Lord wants to provide every moment possible during this present dispensation for those lost in their sin to come safely into the shelter who is His beloved Son Jesus Christ. God wants this for the lost, because, following the Rapture, making the decision to accept Christ for salvation will be more difficult by a multiple of factors. Facing beheading is but one of those factors!

That is the reason–or at least a primary reason–the Rapture hasn’t yet occurred in this generation, according to God’s Word.

That said, I must take notable exception with the emailer’s contention that God is “delaying” the Rapture. You can take this to the bank–well, to the banks the way they used to be–God is not delaying the Rapture. It will happen precisely in the twinkling of the eye at the moment the Father has determined.

Jesus said: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Matthew 24:36)

God knows exactly the instant He will send His Son to get His Bride, make no mistake. There is no delay.

On that note, issues and events closing in on us show that we are almost certainly very near that exhilarating moment of instantaneously finding ourselves face to face with the Lord Jesus. Just how near we are to the Rapture–if we could indeed know–would likely allay all fears.

We want all people to come to the Lord Jesus for Salvation, thus to be Rapture Ready when He Calls believers to Himself.

Let’s tell everyone with whom we contact how to leave this Judgment-bound earth and to be with Jesus and the safety of Heaven. Here again is that message.

That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10: 9-10)