GODLESSNESS = LAWLESSNESS

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George Washington. In his farewell address, he says, “Of all of the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.” He continues, “And let us with caution, indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion …” In other words, the very thing the USA needs is being driven out, and that is a recognition of God and religion — allowing people to live out their faith in such a way that it affects the world around them. That is the answer to incivility, lawlessness, and division. What is happening in the USA is the opposite at the highest levels of government.

High-ranking officials like former Attorney General Eric Holder seconded Hillary Clinton’s call for incivility, telling a rowdy crowd to start roughing up conservatives in 2018 — two years before the supposed genesis of all political violence. “Michelle [Obama] always says, ‘When they go low, we go high,’” Holder told the audience. “No. No. When they go low, we kick them!”

This is the same party who told Americans to get up in people’s faces. “You have to be ready to throw a punch,” former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said. “Push back on them,” Democrat Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) coached the crowd. “Tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere!” “[We’ll] fight Trump… in the streets,” Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) vowed. “Get up in their face,” Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) demanded. Even the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, encouraged the Left to loot, burn, and torment their opponents. “I support them,” she said.

And what about the hostility toward the newest members of the Supreme Court? Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) openly declared that Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh “will pay a price” for not supporting abortion. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” he fumed, escalating tensions that were already evident outside the justices’ homes. But sure, it’s Trump supporters who “embrace political violence.”

As God is jettisoned from governments and the lives of the majority of what were previously nations that upheld Judaeo/Christian values, Christians are coming under increased persecution. Thank goodness God told us in advance that this would happen.

When the disciples asked Jesus about the time when He will return, what was His response?

“Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus gave the disciples a lot of information about what the world will be like before Jesus’ return.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8

Jesus makes it clear that for Christians it will be a time of intense persecution and great tribulation.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.” Matthew 24:9-11

We are fast approaching this time when lawlessness will abound as it did in Noah’s day before God poured out His wrath upon the Earth for the first time. Let me assure you, God will as prophesied, pour out His wrath a second time on this unrepentant world with the trumpet (Revelation 8) and bowl judgements (Revelation 16).

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:12-14

IS THERE STILL A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR THE USA?

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Sadly, we know the end of the story for this era before Jesus returns. Satan, Antichrist, and demons are in power, particularly for the last three and a half years when tribulation will be intense for believers and Jews. In my opinion, we are fast approaching the last Biblical prophesied seven years of Daniel’s 70th-week prophecy. Hence, the answer to the question is no, America as a nation is and will continue to be under God’s judgement. It is no longer the United States and there will be some states like Louisiana that will uphold God’s values but they are in the minority. Note Landry won with a slim majority 52%.

Conservative Jeff Landry was Inaugurated as Louisiana’s 57th Governor – a stalwart conservative Christian dedicated to faith, family, and freedom. On Sunday, Jan. 7th, 2024 former Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) was sworn in as the state’s 57th governor, succeeding Democrat John Bel Edwards. Landry was elected governor in an October primary election, winning with 52% of the vote and averting a runoff election.

Family Research Council President and former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives Tony Perkins delivered an inaugural prayer for Landry Sunday night, praying,

“Father, we break with the ways of the past, where we leaned on governmental schemes and political power; today, we declare we look to You and the power of your Holy Spirit!”

He prayed for Landry and all of Louisiana’s elected officials, saying,

“Above all, we pray that the words and deeds of our leaders would glorify you so that your blessing upon our state will be so bountiful it will be undeniable to the rest of the nation.”

Speaking on “Washington Watch” Monday night, Perkins explained that when he first moved to Louisiana as a young man, “We didn’t have any Republicans to speak of.” Even when elected to the Louisiana state legislature, Perkins noted that there was only one statewide Republican in office and Republicans “were in the extreme minority in the legislature.” Now, he said, Republicans hold “supermajorities” in both chambers of the legislature. “Every statewide elected official is Republican,” he declared. “But it’s not just Republican. It’s about policy initiatives. It’s about ideology. It’s about commitment.”

As Louisiana’s attorney general, Landry fought hard for pro-life and pro-family values. He supported the state’s 2022 abortion ban, and urged Louisianians to “simply respect the legislature and Louisiana’s constitution,” adding, “And if you don’t like Louisiana’s laws or Louisiana’s constitution, you can go to another state.” He opposed the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, calling the requirements an “unconstitutional and immoral attack” on Americans.

In 2018, Landry teamed up with now-speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) to support Christian prayer in public schools, following lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State alleging that school districts were “teaching” Christianity. The attorney general has also been a vociferous opponent of the LGBT agenda, including encouraging the state legislature to override the governor’s veto of a bill banning transgender surgeries for minors.

Landry announced his gubernatorial campaign in 2022 and was endorsed by the Republican Party of Louisiana, former President Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and others. In Louisiana, all candidates for governor appear on the ballot, regardless of party affiliation; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a runoff election is triggered between the top two contenders. Landry won handily with 52% of the vote, with Democrat Shawn Wilson placing second with about 26%. In his victory speech, Landry declared, “Today’s election says that our state is united.” He continued, “It’s a wake-up call and it’s a message that everyone should hear loud and clear, that we the people in this state are going to expect more out of our government from here on out.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson attended Landry’s inauguration on Sunday, saying in a press release, “Governor Landry has been a longtime friend and champion for the people of Louisiana, and he will serve our state with dignity and a steadfast commitment as he tackles the many challenges we face.” He added that he hopes to work with Landry to “restore” Louisiana “as the best place to work, live, and start a family.”

Perkins said that Christian conservative values are core to the new governor, saying, “If you believe it, say it. And if it’s really who you are, you should not, quite frankly, you can’t hold it back. And this is who Jeff is. He spoke it. He was unafraid of it.” The FRC president also noted that mainstream media is not giving much focus to the first governor inaugurated in 2024. “It does not fit the national media’s narrative, it’s not what the Left is telling us America is, it is the total opposite,” he said. “But there’s hope that if all of us will vote, will stand, will pray, we’re going to see these same results across the nation in 2024.” We need to pray but based on Biblical end times prophecy the USA as a nation will not turn back to God.

‘MEN HAVE FORGOTTEN GOD; THAT’S WHY ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED’

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In 1983 Solzhenitsyn said, “If I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’

Marxist ideology places no moral constraints on those in power. All those regarded by the ideology as ‘reactionary’ could be arrested, sent to labour camps and worked to death. Families were separated.

There was no recourse to ‘justice’. Anyone judged to be an ‘enemy of the revolution’ was, effectively, dehumanised, but that category was infinitely expandable. One suspect conversation or joke might condemn you. Children were encouraged to inform on their parents. One of the ‘heroes’ of the Soviet Union was Pavlik Morozov, who allegedly informed on his father to the Party in 1932. His father was sent to a work camp and then executed. Pavlik was, in turn, murdered (under disputed circumstances). Four members of the family were accused of his death, rounded up, and shot. A statue was erected in Pavlik’s honour. Children were taken to the statue and shown Pavlik as a hero of the Revolution because he had informed on his father and they must do likewise if necessary for the sake of the Party.

We are in the same situation today but for different reasons. During the twentieth century, first universities, then all the institutions of Western society, were invaded by the ‘virus’ of radical doubt built upon the theory of evolution that argues the Cosmos derived from the Big Bang. Critical theory hijacked certainty about everything. This theory was built on a lie. It began with the false premise that there is no transcendent reality – no Creator God. From that, they concluded that the world of perception is a product of human activity. We make our own reality. According to critical theory, all hierarchies are oppressive. The world is descending into chaos as a result and Christians will experience tribulation even great tribulation just as Biblical prophecy said they would prior to Jesus’ return to first rapture the Saints, pour out His wrath upon unrepentant earth, and then return to earth with glorified Saints to defeat the Antichrist’s army and begin His 1000-year reign on this earth.

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:7-14

“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.“ Revelation 20:6

HOW TO BE A LAST DAYS OVERCOMER

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Let’s look at how Christians are reacting in real-time to Great Tribulation-like persecution. The primary responses we see in Arab Spring countries, some of which Jesus endorsed, include:

1. Running from the persecutors.

2. Remaining on-site and taking up arms.

3. Remaining on-site and insisting on legal protection. ​

4. Yielding to persecutors while actively ministering to them

Option 1: This has occurred in several Middle Eastern countries over the past decade and threatens the extinction of Christianity in that region of the world. Even prominent government leaders are beginning to acknowledge this fact.
Option 2: Sadly, this option has gained a little headway, due to calls like Greek Orthodox Bishop Lukas al-Khoury in Syria to have Christians take up arms “to protect Syria, churches, and convents.” Some believers undoubtedly have, but the loudest voices have decried this exhortation, saying that it violates the spirit of Christianity. Syrian Catholic Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo responded to the call to arms in this way: “As men of the Church, we cannot incite Christians to take up arms and to take part in the conflict. We cannot say these things; it is insane. It goes against the gospel and Christian doctrine.” I have not come across any reports that indicate Syrian Christians are standing and being resistant militarily to Islamist attacks.

Jesus certainly didn’t condone option 2 as He spoke in Matthew 24. He recommended option 1, in this specific circumstance: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.” Matthew 24:16-20

But in other passages involving persecution, He argued for option 4. Christ never encourages a running towards martyrdom. Paul, too, never seemed to advocate seeking to be killed for Christ’s sake. Rather, he fled several times when he knew that his life was threatened, twice within the space of a few verses in Acts 9 (Acts 9:25, 30; 14:6, 17:10)! We know of Paul purposefully leaving at least four towns because of threats to his life. If you count other places where he left soon after starting an uproar, that number could climb to nearly ten. Don’t let anyone tell you that Paul never ran. He did! Self-preservation, the most basic human instinct, seems to be compatible with sold-out Christian living. I think we can make a very strong biblical case for running in the midst of persecution. In a similar way, I do not see convincing biblical evidence for having a death wish and actively seeking martyrdom, something Muslims do to “guarantee” a place in paradise. God does not call us to be cowardly, but Christ Himself advocated flight, and Paul lived out that commandment many times in his ministry. Remember these truths when the heat turns up and someone near you is insisting that God wants everyone to stand and fight, be outgunned, and go down in a blaze of glory. Once you are gone from this earth, you are gone, and you won’t be able to win anyone else to Christ. You also might leave your family heartbroken and in great need. We need to be careful that we don’t adopt a martyr complex, as Muslims have heartily done around the world.

Reverend Khalil Fawzi, the pastor of the largest evangelical congregation in the Middle East, Kasr El Dobara Evangelical Church, said recently that Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt want to begin a civil war and would be helped in their quest by Christians turning violent. “They hoped the Christians will retaliate by killing and a civil war would start. I praise Christians for their patriotic attitude.”

Turkey’s defense of its mass killing of Armenians in the early twentieth century is a prime example. So if we do stand and fight, Muslims will have an easy out for killing men, women, and children who would otherwise be innocent bystanders.

Options 3 & 4: We can learn much from our brothers and sisters in the Middle East who have selected options 3 and 4. Here are the primary lessons I see from where Christians are being persecuted by Muslims: ​1.  ​They understand once and for all that the church is not a building. Two days after the famed Archangel Michael Church was destroyed in Cairo, Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II reminded his flock of what Jesus preached: “If the hands of evil kill, destroy and torch, then God’s hands are greater and they build. Christ’s commandments to us are to love your enemy, bless those who curse you, and do good to those who abuse you.”
The reaction to this charge, and other similar exhortations, has been Christians calmly meeting for worship in the areas of their churches that have not been completely burned to the ground, as seen in the 60 Minutes segment on Coptic Christians. The moving sight of Christians sitting in a room with one wall missing and the smell of burned wood still lingering, worshipping Jesus in a simple service, speaks volumes about understanding that the church is not a building. I think many Americans have come to realize this truth, as small groups have gained popularity over the past twenty years or so. That is a good realization to hold onto because we could very well come to a time when we are not allowed to meet in buildings.

Ralph Stice, author of Arab Spring, Christian Winter recounts this story: “I was struck by this possibility as I toured a literal underground church in Turkey’s Cappadocia region, mentioned in Acts 2:9 and 1 Peter 1:1. Our Muslim tour guide took us down a hole through which the four members of my family could barely squeeze. We walked among intricate hallways carved from stone and were told where meals were prepared and where people slept. It was an incredible experience to imagine living under the earth with brothers“.

In these last days as persecution intensifies we need to heed the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25. Be watchful. Be ready. Be found faithful. Be on His mission, to spread the Good News.

Remember, Biblical prophecy tells us that Jesus is coming back and we are already seeing many of the prophecies playing out in our time. You can use these prophecies in your evangelism efforts to show unbelievers that God’s Word is true. We know the end of the story and for believers it is wonderful but for unbelievers, they will undergo the terrible wrath of God; the Trumpet Judgements outlined in Revelation 8 and the Bowl Judgements outlined in Revelation 16.

PARENTS DEMONISING THEIR CHILDREN

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Children as young as 8 years old were dressed in drag and Teletubbies danced with a man wearing a skirt at a Los Angeles drag convention this past weekend.

Thousands of people were estimated to attend the DragCon LA event May 12-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, which featured over 180 drag performers, along with dance performances, wig and sewing workshops and, yes, even the popular children’s TV characters.

Sponsored by Teletubbies, Paramount+, Los Angeles Public Library, Postmates, Cash App and others, DragCon’s organizers described the convention as an “all ages event,” with children ages 8 and younger allowed in for free if accompanied by an adult with a paid ticket.

Videos posted on social media showed several underage drag performers on stage with adults, including one performer whose parent shared a video showing him wearing makeup and dressed in women’s clothing while he danced on stage.

The caption for the video reads in part: “To think ANYONE would say this child is FORCED to perform. ❤️ Your child wants to be an astronaut, mine wants to be an entertainer and she has said that from the moment she could formulate a sentence ❤️ PURE HAPPINESS ❤️ Thank you Drag Con for opening up the stage for a short time, so the kids could show the world their joy!”

Another video from the event included an interview with an independent journalist Right Now Views and a mother and her 8-year-old son dressed as a girl. When asked how he became interested in drag, the boy said “accidentally” before his mother explained, “I was watching drag and she kinda just got into it.”

We live in a world that is increasingly rejecting God and His values and they scoff at any suggestion that God has judged the world previously with the worldwide flood of Noah’s day and that God’s Word clearly spells out for us the judgement in store for the unrighteous.

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.” 2 Peter 2:4-10

“Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.” 2 Peter 3:3-6

A WORLD IN CRISIS

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 The following article Russia’s Putin gambles that the West is weak by Australia’s Prime Minister (2013-2015) appeared in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL February 28, 2022

Tony Abbott as prime minister speaks during a national memorial service to honour victims of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014. Picture: AAP

Ukraine’s fate was probably sealed when President Biden said last month that America might not respond to a “minor incursion” and definitively ruled out “boots on the ground”.

No consideration whatever appears to have been given to declaring a “no fly” zone for Russian military aircraft over Ukraine, even though that had been done to protect Iraqi Kurds against Saddam Hussein and would have given the Ukrainian army a much fairer fight against the Russians’ greater numbers.

America’s unwillingness to take risks to protect Ukraine, a democracy of more than 40 million people, is now fuelling doubts about the risks the US might run to help defend other countries that were once controlled by Russia — especially the Baltic states, which are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

It’s obvious that small countries are largely helpless in the absence of collective defence and that countries that won’t or can’t fight an aggressor are doomed to negotiate the best possible surrender.

Yet the West’s bigger surrender has been economic and cultural. For at least 15 years, much of Western policy has been directed to reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. In Australia, former prime minister Kevin Rudd declared that climate change is the “great moral challenge” of our time.

The British parliament, along with many others, has officially declared a “climate emergency”. Last week, as the air raid sirens wailed over Kyiv, John Kerry worried that the Ukraine crisis would produce “massive emissions” and distract the world from climate change.

Reducing emissions is an important policy objective but should never be governments’ main task — especially when it entails risking significant economic damage and putting national security at risk. Europe has been busily closing down coal-fired power stations (and in Germany even emissions-free nuclear ones) only to become dependent on Russian gas that Mr Putin can turn off and on like a tap.

Here in Australia, we’re set on closing coal-fired power stations without any base-load substitute even while our thermal coal exports surge to record levels (including to China, an even more dangerous strategic competitor than Russia).

It’s the private sector that’s doing this, an unforgivable folly reminiscent of Lenin’s reported quip that the “capitalists will sell us the rope by which we hang them”.

Then there’s globalisation, which has undoubtedly made the world richer but at the cost (as we’ve only lately come to realise) of strengthening the West’s competitors and exporting its manufacturing base. Free trade should continue to be promoted but principally between countries with comparable standards of living and only between democracies that respect the rule of law.

The worst contemporary folly is the constant undermining of Western civilisation, history and national virtues.

Partly it is deliberate subversion by cultural Marxists, but mostly it’s the polite acquiescence of diffident and historically ignorant people conditioned not to give offence.

These days the rights of men who want to be women routinely trump those of women who don’t want to face unfair competition in sport. Religious free speech is still OK, as long it’s not the Bible you’re quoting.

Martin Luther King’s famous plea that his children be judged by the content of their character, not the colour of their skin, would be denounced on most Western campuses as an example of “colourblind racism”.

“Monty Python’s Life of Brian” couldn’t be made today due to politically correct wowserism. And I wonder how many students are still taught to take pride in Australia Day, which celebrates the founding of a country that’s as free, fair and prosperous as any on earth.

A Western world that has spent two years sacrificing freedom to preserve life is hardly going to sacrifice life to preserve freedom. Or at least that’s how it must look to the hard men in Moscow and Beijing.

As Churchill said of the Munich sellout in 1938, this is “the first foretaste of a bitter cup that will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time”.

Tony Abbott was prime minister of Australia, 2013-15.

Fortunately for Christians what is unfolding has been prophesied by God in His History book, the Bible. He told us how His world came into being and why.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26

It is the habitation for the people He made in His image to be sovereign over His creation but under His authority. He told our ancestor Adam what the consequences would be of disobedience but he and Eve chose to disobey God. SIN and death were the outcomes that we are dealing with today.

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16

Fortunately, God provided a way out by Jesus’ substitutionary death for us and yet most reject God’s offer of eternal life. They foolishly want to control their own destiny for the short time they have on God’s earth and we have history to show us what sinful man has accomplished. For those of us that have realised our sinfulness, repented and submitted our lives to Jesus Lordship, we have received the Holy Spirit that God the Father has sent to indwell the Spirit of each believer. How blessed we are, without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to live a Christian life. The unbeliever has no understanding of what they are missing out on.

HIGH COST OF REJECTING GOD AND HIS CREATIVE ORDER

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Having rejected our Creator, society is hell-bent on rejecting His created order. Society is intent on self-harming.

As I see it, the big cost to rejecting God is missing out on eternal life with our Creator in a new heaven and earth, but I am amazed at the number of people who are interested in only the here and now. Moreover, they seem totally oblivious to the enormous costs that are manifesting now across those nations that are abandoning God’s laws.

Devaluing life:

In the USA, in at least two States including New York, in 2019 it is legal now to terminate a baby’s life at birth. 

Book image: Snubbing God - The High Cost of Rejecting God's Created Order

In its twin Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, which were handed down on January 22, 1973, the Court federalised the issue and legalised abortion for any reason. Tragically, 45 years later, National Right to Life estimates that over 60 million unborn children have lost their lives as a result of those decisions.

Suicide rates rose in all but one state in the USA between 1999 and 2016, with increases seen across age, gender, race and ethnicity, according to a recent report  by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In more than half of all deaths in 27 states, the people had no known mental health condition when they ended their lives. Increasingly, suicide is being viewed not only as a mental health problem but a public health one. Nearly 45,000 suicides occurred in the United States in 2016 — more than twice the number of homicides — making it the 10th-leading cause of death. Among people ages 15 to 34, suicide is the second-leading cause of death.

“At what point is it a crisis?” asked Nadine Kaslow, a past president of the American Psychological Association. “Suicide is a public health crisis when you look at the numbers, and they keep going up. It’s up everywhere. And we know that the rates are actually higher than what’s reported.

Sexually transmitted diseases:

Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the United States. Last year, 2.3 million cases of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis were diagnosed — 200,000 more than the previous record number, from 2016, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the CDC director said, the increase has been “steep and steady” for the past four years, calling it “a persistent and troubling trend.” The most common STD has been chlamydia, with 1.7 million diagnoses last year, with nearly half of those cases in women and girls ages 15 to 24.

Family breakdown:

A huge, painful hash of gender, sex, marriage and family is obvious. In 1960, the height of the post-World War II baby boom, there was one dominant family form. At that time 73% of all children were living in a family with two married parents in their first marriage. By 1980, 61% of children were living in this type of family, and today less than half (46%) are. The declining share of children living in what is often deemed a “traditional” family has been largely supplanted by the rising shares of children living with single or cohabiting parents. The decline in children living in two-parent families has been offset by an almost threefold increase in those living with just one parent—typically the mother. Fully one-fourth (26%) of children younger than age 18 are now living with a single parent, up from just 9% in 1960 and 22% in 2000. The share of children living without either parent stands at 5%; most of these children are being raised by grandparents. Could family breakdown be a cause for the increased suicide rate in young people? The link is inescapable.

Environment

Alternately, idolising and brutalising the environment and living creatures is what we see happening. Moreover, as the world continues to reject God, judgement will escalate exactly as prophesied with increased natural disasters, famine and pestilence.

What we see happening in the world is exactly what Jesus said would be signs of the “end times’ and His soon return to rule and reign with a rod of iron during His Millennial reign on earth. His Kingdom will have come to earth as it is in heaven. The prayer Jesus taught us to pray will finally be answered.