We Live In The Last Days


Sandra D I am not alone in saying that we are in the last days. But, we must remember that the last days began when Jesus went to the Father after He was resurrected. However, we see signs of the appearance of the anti-christ all around us. Many are now following other christs, believing they have found some secret way to God.



In II Corinthians 11: 3-4, Paul warns these people about those who preach "another Jesus". And this is just what the emerging church people and other groups are doing today. The Bible warns that in the days before Jesus Christ returns, truth will be abandoned for a wider spiritual road that gives "heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (I Timothy 4:1) A new form of Christianity will replace biblical faith with a faith that says man can find his own path to God and create a perfect kingdom of God here on earth. The Word will become secondary to a system of works and rituals driven by ancient mystical experiences. (Faith Undone)



An ecumenical pattern toward unity with other religions has already become quite apparent. Many people will consider those who refuse to embrace this direction as spiritual oddballs who need to be reprimanded. These resisters who stand up for biblical faith will be seen as obstructions to a one world spirituality and global peace. Now, do we want to be singled out as people who keep this world from becoming a world of peace? Ask yourself what this will mean in your life. If you stand firmly for the true faith taught in the Bible, how will it affect your work, your social life, your church life? Are you ready to stand? Are you strong enough? Am I? We all must ask these questions of ourselves.



The emerging movement is not really a church. It is rather a dialogue or conversation. Brian McLaren, a leader of this movement, explains the objective of the movement:



We are "exploring off the map" -- looking into mysterious territory beyond our familiar world on this side

of the river, this side of the ocean, this side of the boundary between modern and postmodern worlds.

We are looking into an exciting, unmapped world on the other side of all we know so far. (Faith Undone)



In II Timothy 4:3-4 we read: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall the heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables."



This is what we are seeing in our own nation today, even in some of our churches. People are not finding fulfillment in the truth of the Bible. And this is because they never had a life-changing expierence of salvation in Jesus Christ. Paul says in one of the Scriptures they "they went out from us" but he also says that they were not of us to begin with or they would not have gone out from us. When people pretend at being saved, they can find no satisfaction in being a so-called Christian. It is only when a person has been truly born again, and the Holy Spirit is living in him, that he can learn the truth and become free from the ties of this world.



The churches of today are filled with people who just endure the sermon and go their own ways all the days of the wreek. They think they have done their duty by going to church. These people don't have the joy of the salvation in Jesus. No one who has known Jesus can ever go back.



(Faith Undone) One young pastor who participated in the early stages of the emerging church said the old traditional church is bein replaced with an "emerging, missional [church] and bound together by the following traits:



* The cultural context is postmodern and pluralistic.

* The church accepts that it is marginalized in culture.

* Pastors are local missionaries.

* Church services blend ancient forms (Mysticism) and local styles.

* Missions is "glocal" (global and local).



These new types of missional emerging leaders want to break away from what they view as a dead, traditional church. More on this next time.



Sandra