In These Last Days

Very early on after becoming a Christian I began to write music that revolved around themes concerning the Last Days. In fact, some of my best and earliest songs were about end time events and the second coming of Jesus. So prolific was my writing that I literally have scores of these prophetic songs sitting in folders waiting to be recorded and released.

I find it extremely interesting to watch the things God has spoken to me in the past unfold now before my eyes. In my own life, and in the world I see around me, God is at work to bring about His purposes. I believe my end times music is “for such a time as this”. The principles of “times and seasons” in scripture is a very important one. God does things on a very precise timetable. The entire bible is filled with this truth. Even Jesus came to earth “when the time had fully come”.

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son…” -Galatians 4:4

This truth applies to us more than we sometimes realize. If we have open ears and hearts we may hear God speak to us about many things throughout our life. He may reveal His plans for us just as He did for those we read about in the bible. There have been many things that I believe God has revealed to me that I have literally watched unfold before my eyes!

Does this make me somehow special?

Not at all! Every child of God who is in relationship with Him has the capacity to hear His voice and be led by Him.

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”  -Romans 8:14

We should expect that God will speak to us and be ready and willing to hear Him. The fact that God is still speaking to His people today is especially important as it pertains to the time we’re presently living in.

 

In These Last Days

“In These Last Days” is a song that I wrote more recently compared to other end times music that I’ve written. God willing, I’m hoping to begin working on a collection of songs that focuses on the second coming of Christ. During this time, however, I’ve been centered on a theme that runs parallel to His return- The world is in flux and in decay at an ever increasing rate. The ramifications of that are alarming for anyone who’s awake to the times we’re living in. Perhaps one of the most glaring signs that we’re living in the last days is the exponential increase in knowledge we’re seeing all around us. Because of this “knowledge explosion” the opportunities we have today are contrasted with ever more virulent dangers. While it might seem like more knowledge could only be a good thing, it’s cost may be higher than any of us can imagine. The world is being deluged with knowledge at an unprecedented rate. We are being exposed to anything and everything we can think of at a rate that is unprecedented.

A good example of how this “knowledge explosion” is affecting us in the moral realm is the  birth of the internet and the subsequent flood of internet porn that followed. A study by Professor Simon Louis Lajeunesse at the University of Montreal sought to learn how porn affected men but had trouble finding a control group that had never seen it! “We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn’t find any.” said Lajeunesse.

At any given moment anyone of almost any age can access the most explicit sexual material that’s ever been produced. This will have a profound effect on present and future generations. Future generations will grow up never knowing a world where easy access to explicit porn did not exist. Does this matter? It probably matters more than we really realize. Even though we as individuals or as a society may come to accept our changed behavior as the new normal, it nevertheless changes us.

“Righteousness makes a nation great, but sin diminishes any people.” -Proverbs 14:34

We are always moving either toward greatness or being diminished in some way. This biblical proverb tells us that “sin diminishes any people”. We may find ourselves with freedom to do whatever our hearts desire and yet end up being diminished by our choices.

 

The Promise Of Technology And The Last Days

Technology at face value seems to be innocuous and appears to hold the promise of a brighter tomorrow. Just look at the medical strides! Lurking below the surface, however, is the horrific truth that these discoveries may be used against us. The Daily Mail recently reported, “Scientists used magnetic stimulation to shut down parts of people’s brains“. They even discovered they can change people’s belief in God through magnetic stimulation. That could never fall into the wrong hands, could it?

We’re living in a world filled with malevolence. This means that advances in technology will find their way into the hands of those bent on doing evil. The news in America is constantly focused on random shootings by unstable people toting guns as if this is our biggest problem, but random shootings are only a symptom of something much, much worse to come. While people are worrying about a lone shooter showing up at the mall or movie theater we’re blissfully numb to the fact that we’re all an EMP attack away from living in the dark ages!

The Wall Street Journal asks, “What would a successful EMP attack look like? The EMP Commission, in 2008, estimated that within 12 months of a nationwide blackout, up to 90% of the U.S. population could possibly perish from starvation, disease and societal breakdown.”

The exponential increase of knowledge is decentralizing power. Greater power is finding it’s way into the hands of small groups and individuals because of advances in technology.

The day is coming when wielding a gun will seem like child’s play. Individuals bent on destruction will use a keystroke to bring terror to the nations. Whether we want to face it or not these are the times we’re living in, and this new reality is being ushered in by an explosion of knowledge.

 

An exponential increase in knowledge is a key prophetic sign

The exponential increase in knowledge we are witnessing is a key prophetic sign that we are living ever closer to the end of the world as we know it.

But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.” -Daniel 12:4

This biblical passage is not referring to a small incremental increase of knowledge, it is referring to a travel and knowledge explosion! Hear is the headline of an article posted by industrytap- Knowledge Doubling Every 12 Months, Soon To Be Every 12 Hours

The article explains, “A transition from the linear growth of human knowledge to the exponential growth of human knowledge has taken place.”

While this may sound like good news it has profound implications. The increase of knowledge is leading to extreme power made available in the hands of the individual or small group. I mentioned earlier how that reality is making it possible for me to do at home with music what could have previously only been possible with an entire orchestra, recording studio, and team of audio engineers. I can do all that sitting at home with my computer! But what happens when the guy next door or across the world is also sitting at his computer and with a few keystrokes empties my bank account, or brings down the electrical grid, or builds a WMD?

We’re living in a very dangerous world and the risks are getting exponentially worse!

It’s against this backdrop that Peter writes about “the last days”. He envisions a time when this whole thing comes crashing down upon us, when God says, “Enough!” and sudden destruction falls upon the world.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.” -2 Peter 3:11

 

It’s Time To Live For God

I took a long time getting to my point today, but the point is clear- It’s time to live for God. This is what the Word of God is trying to tell us. The world is going crazy and it’s only going to get worse. We’re all prone to comfortable complacency, it’s called “normalcy bias“. It’s nothing new, people have always had it.

“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” -2 Peter 3:3-4

It’s right there in the phrase, “all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” Life goes on just as it always has and we’re unable to conceive of it being any different- that’s normalcy bias. That’s what God is trying to wake us from.

There’s one line in my song that asks, “What kind of lives ought we to live?” and it’s really just echoing the Apostle Peter’s words when he talked about the last days. It’s worth reading again and pondering the question…

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.” -2 Peter 3:11

It’s hard wake from our sleep but we need to be aware of the times we’re living in and do our best to direct our hearts to God and live for Him.