We live in perilous times that scripture speaks of reflecting rebellion against God, authority, and all things wholesome and peaceful between individuals even society at large. The Apostle Paul identifies our period as “The Last Days” in Second Timothy chapter 3 verses 1-5 says:
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers,
disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
Does any of this sound familiar to what is happening in this day? We are in similar times as in Luke’s Book of Acts but just amplified at this last hour of the “End Times.” Today, we are seeing blatant attacks upon the family. Our children are being victimized by malicious acts of indoctrination rather than the sound edification of their young minds to prepare them to take their place as wholesome leaders in a sane world we bequeath to them. Instead, we see many young people who are becoming sociopaths in our streets with lawless attitudes toward authority, destruction of property, escalation of disrespect toward the opinions of others and lives.
You may ask, “how did we get here?” I believe upon reflection; you might already know. A garden left unattended will eventually grow things harmful toward its demise. Years ago, I worked for the Los Angeles City Fire Department. I recall some firefighters at a particular station, mentioning a prank they played upon one of our co-workers who had purchased a new home without sod in the front yard. This individual sowed grass seed in his front yard, but while he was away a few days, a couple of his fellow firefighters performed a joke sowing other seed in his soil. Overtime, he witnessed his labor of grass sprouting up, but with it came strange looking shoots that were out of place. He pulled one up and upon inspection he found that someone had sown carrots throughout his front yard. Needless to say the rabbits and gophers were quite pleased with their new neighbor. The moral of the story is be careful what gets sown in your garden. The garden is your soul, the soul of your family, your community, your country.
What is the solution? The Western Church, particularly here in America, has been too comfortable sitting in the pews allowing the “professionals”—those pastors, teachers, and evangelists to do the job of “The Great Commission” (Matthew 28:19-20) for them. We all should be attending to the Lord’s business at hand before His return. The time is now! As in some lyrics from the Play Le Misérables—“Can’t you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men . . .” That is what is currently being done before our eyes and ears worldwide. Wouldn’t it be better if they were singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs of praise and worship? My appeal to pastors, teachers, and evangelists is let us equip the laity for service outside the four walls of the church. Prepare them for sharing the Gospel as Christ commanded. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matt. 11:12 NASB). People are desperate for truth and change. Let’s give the Gospel to them where they are. We need to get from the seat to the street! As Christians, Christ has given a command, responsibility, and opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others who are lost because LOST LIVES MATTER!
