Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness! - Isaiah 5:20
For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace. - Jeremiah 8:11
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, - 1 Timothy 4:1-2
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. - Matthew 24:9-14
Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. - 1 John 4:3
During a time of fasting in 2008 I had two dreams, which at the time, seemed slightly far-fetched in that present day. In one dream I was interviewing a Christian High School student who had his Bible confiscated by his teacher at school. He told me the story of how no Bibles were allowed on campus because of their offensive content, and only one Bible was placed in the administrative office next on a shelf with a copy of every other major religious text.
In the second dream, I was walking through the capital of some state and it was an election year. I watched a TV screen with the news where the political candidates campaigned about what they would do eliminate the "intolerant Christians," as if Christianity had become a form terrorism. This is hard for us to imagine in America, but it happens ALL the time around the world. Back to the dream, it was clear that the church was about to make its final stand. Nationwide, the church decided to launch a final large-scale evangelism outreach where believers took to the streets in groups trying to share the gospel to whomever they could find. It was clear that this was the last chance the church had before the doors were closed. We were about to take our final action as a free religion.
Thus we took to the street, and very quickly riots began to break out across the nation. The evangelism outreach was met by unprecedented opposition. Protestors violently persecuted the groups of believers and the police rushed the scene immediately to arrest the believers for our own safety. I watched in the dream as some of my own friends were hauled off to jail, bleeding from the beatings they had just taken from an angry mob. Again I watched the news about the event and saw that there were a few places in the nation where the evangelism was met with signs and wonders and revivals actually broke out in some places and many were saved, but over all, the church took its last stand. Then I looked at the street where the riot had just taken place and I saw the Bibles that the believers had carried scattered through the street. Cars would purposefully run them over and passers by would step on them purposefully. I picked one up, that had belonged to my friend, and a person walking by said, "Can you believe it? They actually believe that stuff! I'm glad their gone." Then I woke up.
Those dreams seemed a little extreme when I first had them, but in the years since, I've realized a sobering reality that this kind of persecution might come sooner than we think. I recently read some very troubling news articles regarding Governor Perry's call to fasting and prayer. I repeatedly saw the phrase "Christian extremists" and "intolerant Christians," and I suddenly remembered my dreams. These "Chrsitian extremists" written about in the news were some of our more grounded, faithful church leaders, such as James Dobson of Focus on the Family.
The trends in the media are beyond bashing morality but are actually taking a stand against fundamental Christianity. The news articles applauded the efforts of the universalist church pastors who's banner is unity. The nation is actually openly taking a stand against Christianity and Scripture. Now, I'm pretty young, maybe too young, but I see no more time for apathy. Governor Perry's call to prayer and fasting is exactly what we need.
The New York Times did a fairly gentle article on the International House of Prayer where we were criticized for believing that God actually hears our prayers. Of all the things to be criticized for (like that Jesus is the only way to God), we were criticized simply for believing in prayer!
All that to say, we ought to take a serious look at the Scriptures I listed at the top and come to turns with the reality of what we're about to go through. Whether you believe in pre-tribulation rapture or not, this is where our nation is headed apart from a supernatural move of God, and this is the Biblical description of where we're headed, so don't expect to be spared.
I won't get into the doctrine of glory of the church in persecution and participating in the sufferings of Christ (Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 4:13, Matthew 5:11-12, among others), but as Christians this is what the Bible says to expect. The church in America has largely failed her duty as the 'ekklesia,' but the persecution of the church is always accompanied by the spread of the gospel and the power of God being made manifest in our midst, and we could use some of that.
