When is Jesus Coming Back?

As you watch the news you will see how much things have changed in such a short period of time. Everything is completely different than when I was a child, and as I look around now I realize that in just a few years things have changed dramatically. Since 9-11 this country has not been the same, yes, we learned that we are vulnerable but more than that we started to change as a nation. It seems that we let our fears of an attack change who we are, we traded our freedom for more security. There should have been a balance between the two but that balance never happened. We have just gone on and given away more and more of our freedoms. All my life I was never afraid that admitting to being a Christian could cost me my life but we have seen more and more Christians being persecuted all around the world. It is only a matter of time before that persecution reaches the United States. We are already seeing it happening in small doses, especially in the military. Chaplains are facing punishment or removal from the military for speaking about Christianity, the army defines christian ministry as a domestic hate group. Under the Obama administration the military has become harder and harder for Christians to serve in. Soldiers are being told that they could face punishment for being associated with any “hate groups” which includes Evangelical Christians and Catholics. This country was founded on religious freedom and now those freedoms are being taken away.

Another way this country has changed in my lifetime is the destruction of the family unit, when I was growing up there were all sorts of shows on TV that taught valuable moral lessons. There was a family unit and the love they shared helped them to deal with problems that came up in their lives. Look around at the shows on TV now, there are few shows that have a normal family unit and those that do are dysfunctional. Most shows feature kids, teens or young people without the guidance of a family, they get through their problems in other ways. This only promotes the idea that you don’t need a family, it is all about you. And don’t get me started on the selfishness of this generation and their unhealthy obsession with taking “selfies” the ultimate in vanity and self love. Take a look at kids these days, they are glued to their electronics, their conversations are digital, I don’t think even a quarter of them could have a decent conversation off their devices. It is sad.

Of course there is the same sex marriage/equality issue and the abortion issue as well. When I was a child I did not even know what gay was. The first time I heard about it was when I heard about AIDS, it was a completely foreign concept. Now suddenly everyone is gay, they are coming out of the closet in droves. I think a lot of it is nurture rather than nature. Kids and young people are seeing more and more gay characters on TV and in books, it has become “cool” to be gay. More people have come out or decided they were gay since 1997, when Ellen DeGeneres came out on her TV show. Do I hate gay people? No. I have friends that are gay. Do I agree with their choices? No, but the choice is not mine to make, it is theirs. That is why God gave us free will. I love everyone whether their views are the same as mine or completely different. You have to model Jesus, He did not come to earth and hang out with his disciples, He came and hung out with sinners because He loved them and that was who He was trying to reach. As followers of Jesus we should strive to be like Jesus and show love to all.

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Mark 2:15-17

This is why churches like the Westboro Baptist Church is such a bad example of Jesus love. They are a congregation of hate. They claim that they love God and follow the Bible, but they leave out the most important part, the love that you are supposed to show to your fellow man. They do not have to agree with what everyone does, but they do need to show love. This church is one that is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, they claim to be a Christian Church but when you look underneath there is only ugliness and hatred.

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. ²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  Matthew 7:15-23

Now for the topic that divides too many of us, abortion. Do I think abortion is wrong? Yes. Abortion is murder, plain and simple. Once the baby is conceived it begins to grow inside the mothers womb, a child is growing inside of the mother and it is depending on the mother to love it and nurture it. When you choose to abort you are being selfish, you are thinking of yourself and what you want rather than the baby. Now there are exceptions to every rule, if the baby threatens the mother’s life then that would be a decision that would have to be made by weighing the facts. If you are not ready to be a mother than you should not have been having sex in the first place, but if you did and have become pregnant then you should carry the baby and give it up for adoption, there are many that can’t have children that would love to take care of the one that you don’t want. You may ask, what if the woman is pregnant because of rape or incest, the pregnancy is not your fault, but it is not the child’s fault either. This is a trickier point, you would still be killing an innocent baby, so when making a decision this is something you should remember. Now those that are Pro-Choice are always saying that it is their body and they should be able to choose what happens to it, who stands up for the life inside of you? You conceived a child through your own actions, whatever you think,  when you choose to abort you are taking the baby’s life. Abortion may be quick and easy for a woman but imagine the baby that is being ripped from your body. In 2012 there were around 1200 babies that survived the abortion procedure and were then left to die. Things have even gone so far that killing newborn babies is being promoted as an after-birth abortion. What will be next, killing them after a few years because you could have aborted them so you should still be able to? Now I don’t hate women that have gotten abortions, I pray for them. I do not agree with the decisions that they made but that does not mean that they are not loved by Jesus, and if I am following Jesus then I love them too.

When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Exodus 21-22-25

In Biblical times, if you caused the death of a baby in the womb and the child has been harmed you would be punished. Each child is a living being even inside the womb, and killing of the child is murder.

You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. Leviticus 18:21

They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons; they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Psalm 106:37-38

You may think this has nothing to do with abortion, but what is abortion? It is murder. Who is the one that promotes abortion? Satan. When you kill your child, you are in fact sacrificing it to Satan. You are killing your child so you are not inconvenienced, this is an act of selfishness and murder.

The world is an evil place and it is becoming more evil. People think nothing of killing babies or living in a sinful lifestyle. There is very little love left in the world, people are too self-centered to think of others. How did Jesus describe the time we are living in?

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited,lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. ⁶ They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷ always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹ But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. 2 Timothy 3:1-9

This verse describes the time we are living in perfectly. People are selfish and proud, people will kill over money. You constantly hear of kids killing their parents or parents killing their partners or their kids. People want to do what they want, they do not want anyone telling them what they can or can’t do. We live in a very selfish, vain society where most people just do what they want not caring who they hurt or any consequences of their actions.

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.  Matthew 24:3-14

This is another verse where Jesus describes what it will be like in the end times before He returns. Many will come claiming to be Jesus, that has been happening for years. Many cult leaders have claimed to be the reincarnation or new carnation of Jesus and they have fooled many people. Wars and rumors of wars, well I think this world has had war of one kind or another somewhere on the globe since early days, but now there is the threat of nuclear attack. Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, many other countries already have nuclear weapons. Unlike the Cold War period there is an imminent threat of nuclear war today, there are people who’s ideology is more important to them than the lives of their people.  There will be famines and earthquakes in diverse places, there have been more large earthquakes in the last 50 years than there have ever been. Larger earthquakes are becoming more common and they are occurring in places that have never had any large earthquakes before. Christians will be handed over to be persecuted and killed, we only have to look at the news to see the persecution of Christians all over the world. As you can see, everything that Jesus predicted for the end times has already come true. It is just a matter of time before the end comes.

Now many people say that Jesus said these words thousands of years ago and they still have not come true so how do we know He will ever come back. Jesus gave us the signs to look for before his return, this is the first time in history that everything that was predicted has come true. The ones that make fun of you for believing that Jesus will return are trying to turn you away from following Jesus. Have faith that Jesus will return. He said He would and so He will!

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”  2 Peter 3:3-4