by Dan Jones<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In case you haven’t noticed, the world did not end last Saturday. <\/span><\/p>\n Steve Ware and Allen Jones, during their morning chat time on Kinship Christian Radio on Monday, also made note that we’re all still here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As SRN News and many others reported last week, a man named David Meade claimed that “Planet X” would crash into the earth on September 23, bringing about the end of the world as we know it. Meade was identified by the pillars of the journalistic universe (such as “The Sun” ) as a “Christian Numerologist” while simultaneously ignoring the obvious oxymoron inherent in such a title. SRN correctly identified Meade’s prediction as “ignorable hucksterism.”<\/span><\/p>\n You would think hucksters like Meade would eventually figure out that predicting the end of the world is a recipe for certain disaster. I would be far more interested in knowing\u00a0how anyone claiming to be any kind of “Christian” at all would step forward into the eclipsing light of the media and predict the one thing the Bible clearly says is impossible to predict (see Matthew 24:36), without\u00a0ever considering the consequences to one’s reputation of being so inevitably, irrevocably, unmistakably, flat-out wrong<\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n But, here’s the funny thing. \u00a0While every Christian I know would have easily predicted that Meade was going to be wrong, every one of them (including me) would also agree that we draw closer to the end each day. I’ve written before about all the hand-made signs that dot the Dominican Republic saying, “Cristo Viene” which means Christ is coming back– and soon.<\/span><\/p>\n We know.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We can feel it. We have this “tingling” as we can almost hear all of creation groaning for His return. <\/span><\/p>\n We all have this sense that the signs are being fulfilled, and more rapidly than in the past. But is it verifiable?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Numerous websites report an increase in climatological disasters like storms, fires, floods, and mudslides. Many report that the number of natural disasters due to climatic conditions has more than tripled since the 1980’s but that’s a very short time period in which to draw a “big picture” conclusion. And, most websites are quick to name man-made global warming as the probable cause. (Those same statistics also show that even though the number of such events is increasing, the number of deaths as a result are dramatically declining.)<\/span><\/p>\n But what about natural disasters that cannot be blamed on human activity?<\/span><\/p>\n A website called “The Extinction Protocol” claims earthquakes increased 38.9% between 1989 and 2009. “The Costa Rican News” reports exactly the same statistics using exactly the same words, but neither site cites a source. Other sites claim no great increase in seismic activity while still others warn of imminent, cataclysmic events. (Especially if the “supervolcano” in Yellowstone National Park should blow.)<\/span><\/p>\n How about lawlessness? Can we document an increase in world-wide crime rates? A 2014 report from the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice says that property-related crimes have actually decreased, while violent crime declined only a very little, and drug-related crimes continue to increase. The UN notes that while the number of people in prison had reached 10.4 million as of 2012, the number is fairly stable in comparison to the global population.<\/span><\/p>\n Likewise, the numbers on divorces rates show a decline since the 1980’s. The long-cited statistic that half of all marriages end in divorce just isn’t true. Marital infidelity is also actually decreasing. Teenage sex, pregnancy, abortion, and out-of-wedlock births are also on the decline since the 1980’s according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Abortion rates have been declining for some time.<\/span><\/p>\n Even wars and rumors of wars have declined since the end of the Cold War, according to numerous studies.<\/span><\/p>\n Life expectancy continues to rise all over the world.<\/span><\/p>\n But surely injustice and poverty are on the increase because of all the capitalist greed in the world, right?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to the latest United Nations Human Development Report, published in 2015, the number of people living in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 per day) fell from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million in 2015.\u00a0During this same time, global inflation-adjusted average income per capita increased from $8,510 to $13,551; the global child mortality rate dropped from 90 deaths per 1000 live births to just 43; the global youth literacy rate (ages 15-24) increased from 83% to 91%; and the number of children enrolled in primary education increased in all regions, and more than doubled in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n What these statistics show is that people are changing their beliefs and attitudes after a period of\u00a0\u00a0moral decline that began in the sexually promiscuous and drug-addled era of the 1960s and which continued into the 1980s.\u00a0The media’s continued attempts to promote these attitudes and lifestyles are\u00a0an indication that is not the American people who are out of touch with reality at all, but the media itself.<\/span><\/p>\n So, even though we know the End Times began the minute Jesus ascended into heaven, I will go out on a limb and predict that the world will indeed NOT end at precisely 2:14:14 PM tomorrow. (If I’m wrong on that, I will gladly accept your rebuke in heaven.)<\/span><\/p>\n Yes, the world is not perfect and Jesus absolutely is coming back. Yes, we should absolutely not miss an opportunity to witness to anyone who is not saved. And, we certainly should\u00a0not neglect the Great Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n But we should also not believe the enemy’s lies that it’s useless to fight for souls because the world is going to end tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n Today’s Praise<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,\u00a0<\/span>teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.\u201d Matthew 28: 19-20 (ESV)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dan Jones In case you haven’t noticed, the world did not end last Saturday. 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