Jeremiah - Is this the end?: signs of Gods providence in a disturbing new world

In 2011, I wrote a book titled I Never Thought Id See the Day. In that book I discussed the changes occurring in America that, in my younger days, I never dreamed possible. Throughout the first half or more of my life, the principles of Christianity provided the underpinnings of our culture. That foundation was laid two centuries earlier, and most of us thought it was too solid and enduring ever to crack.

But crack it did. As I wrote in that book, I never thought Id see the day when marriage would be obsolete, morality would be in free fall, and the church would become irrelevant to society.

But now, only five years later, I almost think I wrote that book too soon. The changes that shocked me then were soon to grow even more appalling. In the ensuing half-decade since that book, those cracks that riddled Americas foundation have spread into gaping fissures, and many more have appeared. Morality in the United States is no longer in free fall; it has hit bottom. In todays America, anything goes. Christianity is no longer merely pushed aside; American Christians are now experiencing overt repression and even persecution. Civility in politics and tolerance of opposing ideas has disappeared. Corruption and dishonesty in government is rampant and open. Race relations are deteriorating, earnings are declining, civic disorder is accelerating, and the national debt is beyond control.

We no longer feel safe in our world. Our national borders are being overrun. We have turned our back on our greatest ally; our other allies no longer trust us; our enemies no longer fear us; and the world no longer respects us. Our national leaders seem impotent in the face of a reconstituted, ambitious Russia; nuclear proliferation in rogue states; and the rise of militant terrorism.

Instability now plagues our world both nationally and internationally in ways we have not before witnessed in our lifetimes, creating a nationwide wave of anxiety and insecurity. According to Brookings Institution polls, 49 percent of Americans think our countrys best days are in the past.

So as you can see, many in our nation share my perception that our culture, security, morality, religion, economics, and civility are in the process of serious deterioration. In my conversations with people of all ages, races, and professions, I find deepening anxiety and even fear that things cannot go on as they are for long. It is clear to many people that ominous clouds are darkening our future and events are coming to a head. Many are asking, Is this the end?

Christians and secularists alike are asking this question. Christians wonder whether the end times prophesied in the book of Revelation are upon us. Is the rising disorder we are experiencing a precursor of the approaching Rapture of the church and the final return of Christ? Secularists wonder whether the nation is on the verge of collapse into economic, racial, and political anarchy; or whether a hostile nation such as Russia, China, or Iran might unleash its atomic fury on our cities; or whether militant Islamic terrorists flooding through our porous borders might inflict enough damage to bring us to our knees.

Our current anxiety reminds me of a story that came out of the Nazi blitz on London that began in late 1940. Londoners quickly set up an emergency system of air-raid sirens and bomb shelters. Children were later sent away to safety in other towns. But before this evacuation could be organized, children and adults alike had to endure the terrifying screams of falling bombs, the roar of planes overhead, the staccato bursts of antiaircraft gunfire, and the booming explosions of bombs destroying London targets.

One little girl was returning home from school when the sirens suddenly sounded. She knew what to do, for she had done it several times before. She dropped her books and ran headlong toward her home. Nazi planes buzzed low over the city. Royal Air Force gunfire shattered the air. A bomb exploded a block away. When she arrived home, her frantic father scooped her up and rushed the family to the nearest shelter. There they huddled in the darkness with other families as the terrifying cacophony of war raged outside.

The little girl clung to her father and said, Daddy, can we please go somewhere where there isnt any sky?

Perhaps you are wishing the same thing. The sky seems ready to fall, and you wonder whether there is any place left where you can feel safe. The sky fell on the Puritans of England when the authorities stifled their freedom to worship. They came to America and found the religious liberty they were looking for. Now it seems the sky may be falling in America, and when we look at the state of the world as a whole, we wonder if there is any place of refuge.

To most of us, it is clear that things cannot go on as they are, and we wonder, is everything we have known coming to an end? Is it too late to save our nation? Our world? Where can we go to find a realistic reason for hope?

These are questions I will address in this book. But to avoid the possible accusation that I am promising more than I can deliver, let me be quick to say that some of the answers we seek are hidden in the mind of God. Only He knows whether the flickering ember of Americas flame can be fanned back to life. And only He knows the timetable for Christs return.

But the question Is there hope? I can answer with an unqualified and resounding yes! You must, however, take care that your hope is accurately placed.

America has been written off before. In the Revolution of 1776, manypossibly the majoritythought the patched-together citizen army of the Colonies was no match for the seasoned British troops. When the British captured Washington, DC, in 1814, many thought the fledgling nation had died an early death. In the dark days of the Civil War, many doubted whether the United States would survive intact. The same sense of doom marked the Great Depression of the 1930s. Even in the first years of World War II, the outcome was far from certain. But each time, the nation survived the crisis and surged forward with renewed strength.