Echoes From the Campfire

Evil men must not be allowed to persist in their evils…they are a blight upon the land.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Brionne)

    “But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.”
              –2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NKJV)
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What in the world is going on?  That may be the question on your lips.  In some places, mass hysteria–“we’re all gonna die.”  Stay home, don’t go out.  No groups of ten or more, and in some places no groups at all.  I remember hearing of Moscow during the Cold War.  Moscow was one of the largest cities in the world, but few people could own a phone.  The phonebook fit the size of a town of 8,000.  However, on the other side, almost everyone had a television.  Was that to appease the masses, to keep them entertained?  No, it was for control!  Stop the communication, don’t let people get together so they can’t plan.  However, feed them propaganda, keep their minds from the truth.  Is that part of what is happening today, in this hour?
    What is this–communist USA–where churches cannot meet?  Where there are restrictions of how many can enter a store?  Who and where people can go?  Is “shelter-in-place” the politically correct term for martial law?  I have always been one who does not believe in large scale conspiracies, but now I’m beginning to wonder.  But in one sense, I believe in the spirit of antichrist and that there is a satanic agenda and conspiracy out there, is what is happening now part of it?  I would say most definitely.
    We are living in the “last days.”  But didn’t Paul believe he was living in the last days?  Absolutely!  The last days began with the ascension of Jesus to His Father’s side.  Every believer, of every time, should believe that they are living in the last days and they would be right.  The last days, sometimes called the “Church Age” or the “Time of the Gentiles,” is upon us and will be until the Rapture of the Church.  One thing for sure today is certainly closer to the Rapture than Paul was, yet he was expecting it.
    One of the signs of the “last days” is that people will scoff.  They will laugh at such a notion of the Rapture.  Many in the church will not believe.  They will say it is but a myth.  They are simply fulfilling prophecy of the last days.  People no longer want sound doctrine and much prefer a church that will appease their vanity.  Again, a fulfillment of prophecy about the “last days.”
    Paul wrote to Timothy telling him to “guard”:  “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” (1 Timothy 6:20, NKJV)  Don’t listen to the babblings today, and if you watch much of the news, that’s what it is – “babblings.”  Don’t heed the lies, the things that contradict the eternal Word of God.  Guard what was placed in your trust, make sure your children know the truth.  Be ready, for that “Day” is at hand.