My family has roots in the Iron Range in Minnesota, and I am actually a relative of another former resident, Bob Dylan, who, as far as I know, remains a believer in Jesus. Many of his songs are legends now. But his classic song contains this accurate message: The times they are a-changin’.
Sometime in the last 25 – 30 years, the church took its attention off of the incredible message that the King is coming. The days are gone when to be an evangelical Christian was nearly synonymous with being pro-Israel and pro-prophecy. It’s a new day and not a happy one, and this ministry has heard from hundreds of you affirming this.
Dispensationalism Decline
Eschatology and pro-Israel sentiment have always found a home within Dispensationalism. This teaches a literal rapture, tribulation, Millennium, and separate role for Israel and the church.
Twentieth-Century teachers John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Chuck Missler, Mark Hitchcock, Ron Rhodes, Dave Reagan, Thomas Ice, Ed Hindson, and many more, have educated millions. I’m just one of many who have learned from these scholars. Since 2001, I have featured many of them on air and at conferences.
Jim Showers is President of an organization I love and respect, Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. He states, “The next generation of ministry leaders, at best, sees no value in studying future prophecy and, at worst, views it with disfavor or as something to be avoided entirely.”
He suggests even those who hold to Dispensationalism and a Christian Zionist view of Israel, borne out of a literal interpretation of the Bible, are distancing themselves from these topics.
The Church Yawns and Not Yearns
At a time in history when headlines are, at best, maddening and bleak, the very theologies that make sense of them are declining in favor of theologies that fill pews and increase donations. As I like to say—and say it often, sadly—I never thought I would see the day.
What incredible times we live in—like no previous generation. The world is heading pell-mell for a conclusion, and today there is a classic yawn within the church. The hoofbeats of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are heard faintly in the distance and they are fading out, not rushing in.
It is a privilege and a challenge to be born for such a time as this. Very little that is predicted to happen in the “last days” is good news, and who wants a steady dose of bad? But if one can “look up,” one can bear the heartache of looking around as the signs of the times explode on our news outlets.
Convergence!
The Bible asks us to be “watchmen” (Ezekiel 33). We’re to be sounding an alarm. Trouble is ahead. Time is short. And I have never felt such a sense of urgency as it concerns this message.
I am watching signs “converge.” They are stunning and breathtaking. But most pastors will not talk about them!
Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees and Sadducees for not discerning the times. “When it is evening you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:2-3 NKJV)
But if you wish to be silent, pastors and teachers, you are marginalizing up to one-third of the Bible. Would a church leader marginalize this much of the Bible on other relevant key topics? I doubt it!
The Open Door Has Closed
When I began Olive Tree Ministries years ago, I ministered in hundreds of churches, home fellowships, women’s groups, and even some men’s groups. Every week I would pile in my vehicle with a 12-string guitar, sound and audio-visual equipment, books, newsletters, and head toward destinations large and small.
My audiences were enthusiastic as I shared messages focusing on Bible prophecy, Israel, Israel in prophecy, Christ in the Passover, Jewish evangelism, and current events. This spanned almost all church denominations. Now and then, even a Catholic fellowship invited me.
Today, about 90% of open doors have simply closed. It is not just indifference—it is outright hostility towards topics that a few years ago generated great enthusiasm. Yes, there are small pockets of interest that remain made up of remnant believers, but opportunities are not what they used to be.
Thankfully, enthusiastic students of eschatology now have the vast Internet from which to learn—as long as they can discern the credible from false teachers! The latter abound, offering sensationalism!
Mocking and Anti-Israel Today
We are now in the days of 2 Peter 3:3: The mocking and scoffing generation as to end-time events. We are in a time when Israel has been so maligned that even within evangelicalism, she is seen as an “apartheid occupier” more than a special, called-out people.
Anti-Israel sentiment is global. Antisemitism is raging. Entire denominations are engaging in the Boycott, Divest, Sanction Movement that harms Israel economically. At the same time, there are so many prophecy-related events happening daily and hourly that it presents a major dilemma for those of us watching the signs of the times to know just where to focus.
I am told such topics will scare people. That Bible prophecy will marginalize church giving. That it may offend. That it is not politically correct. That it will even make the teacher look like he or she represents “the fringe”—whatever that means!
Please, Sound the Alarm!
If you believe that the King is coming any day, do not be silent. Keep sounding the alarm. Yes, it will cost you something. But your rewards are eternal. The prophecies of the first coming of Christ were fulfilled. They stand as evidence that the Bible can be trusted. Prophecies of His second coming work the same way, except we get to witness these events in our time, often with our own eyes.
The nations of the world seem moved, as though by a hidden hand, into exactly the right positions on a global chess board. What an amazing thing to see it happening before our eyes!
I hope you’re excited about it! And I hope your pulpit is proclaiming it!
