DISCIPLESHIP IS PRIMARILY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENTS

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Unfortunately it is not according to a Barna Survey. 51% of American Christian parents surveyed “expected the church to take the lead.” Only 49% of parents considered teaching their children about reason, faith, and Biblical Christianity to be their responsibility. Correctly children’s ministry leaders state that discipleship should begin at home.

The findings reflect another concerning trend, which shows 86% of parents “feel under-equipped” to teach their kids the Bible and basic theology.

There’s a deep challenge here, Barna stated. “If children’s ministry is going to be healthy, pastors must help both parents and their ministry leaders find common ground.” Discipling children should be a joint effort. For example, the Gospel is lived out in the home, alongside the Church, not just taught on Sundays.

The church needs to encourage parents to embrace their primary role, by teaching them how to have everyday faith conversations. Properly discipled mums and dads will be better prepared to disciple their kids.

Families, Barna continued, should be encouraged “to practice their faith together in everyday life—serving others, praying as a household, and applying Scripture in real situations.” This is “so the next generation grows resilient and ready to follow Jesus in the world beyond church walls.”

Barna’s insights are nothing new. They point back to the Puritans, who understood that every home was to be a little church. “A family is a little Church, a little commonwealth,” said William Gouge in 1622. “It is a school where first principles and civics are learned; whereby men are prepared for greater matters of Church and State.”

Or as Charles Spurgeon preached in 1875, “Men are as much serving God in looking after their own children, and training them up in God’s fear, as they would be if they had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts.” This includes “minding the house and making their household a church for God.” “It is a grand event when a family is saved!” Spurgeon cheered. “Oh, if households enter into Christ, the very bells of Heaven may ring again and again and again with a joy that has many joys within it!”

WHY BELIEVE IN SOMETHING YOU CANNOT SEE?

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“Science unequivocally requires that all things are composed of matter and energy. Therefore, immaterial substances—such as God or the human soul—cannot exist.”

However, science itself does not provide any substantiation for the premise. After all, if science can deal only with matter and energy, it can’t possibly show that other things can’t exist. Rather, this claimed requirement is a philosophical position called materialism, and there are substantial grounds for doubting it. ‘Materialism’ in philosophy doesn’t mean striving for material goods, but the belief that matter (or mass/energy) is all there is.

Immaterial Creator of the universe

Among the reasons for rejecting materialism are the compelling arguments that support the existence of an immaterial Creator of the universe. These include the design of living things, the fine-tuning of the universe for life, and the evidence that it has a finite age, among other arguments.

These features of reality are best explained by the biblical teaching that God is the Creator. If these arguments are successful, materialism fails.

Humans are more than mere machines

If materialism were true, humans would consist merely of organized matter, which we have reason to doubt. The renowned atheist Richard Dawkins eloquently articulates his perspective on human nature:

On one planet [Earth], and possibly only one planet in the entire universe, molecules that would normally make nothing more complicated than a chunk of rock, gather themselves together into chunks of rock-sized matter of such staggering complexity that they are capable of running, jumping, swimming, flying, seeing, hearing, capturing, and eating other such animated chunks of complexity; capable in some cases of thinking and feeling, and falling in love with yet other chunks of complex matter.

However, this materialistic perspective faces serious philosophical and scientific challenges. If humans are reduced to purely physical objects devoid of any immaterial aspect, it becomes exceedingly difficult to explain many basic truths about human beings.

Intrinsic value

The first of these is a person’s value. Physical objects have value only because we assign value to them. They are tools, not ends in themselves. Their value is extrinsic and dependent on changeable factors. Human beings, on the other hand, possess intrinsic value merely by virtue of being human, independent of external factors. We do not lose our value even if we lose significant capabilities—declining mentally or becoming comatose, to give a couple of examples.

Christians know that our intrinsic value comes from being made in God’s image We are not merely bodies but souls that can relate to God. Yet even non-Christians will often recognize the value of human beings, whether they recognize the source of that value or apply it consistently to all people.

Without intrinsic value, it would be hard to make sense of human rights, for example. We know it’s wrong to treat people as mere objects. But the evolutionary materialism of our age insists we have emerged unaided from animals, which originally arose randomly from simple chemicals. That means that people lack souls and do not bear the image of God. In other words, they can only be mere physical objects. In such a view, the intrinsic nature of our value cannot be accounted for.

First-person perspective

Second, physical objects lack a first-person perspective. They lack consciousness and self-awareness and are incapable of having a truly subjective point of view, using the self-reflexive pronoun ‘I’. Even complex computers and robots with artificial intelligence lack real awareness.

In contrast, human beings do possess a first-person perspective. We are conscious agents, capable of not only awareness but even self-awareness and the ability to articulate our point of view. It is difficult to explain this universal experience if humans are merely physical objects.

image of brain

“DAILY, WE ENCOUNTER MENTAL STATES THAT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED BY BRAIN MATTER ALONE.”

Intentional mental states

Third, humans possess intentional mental states. ‘Intentionality’ is a technical term in philosophy that refers to the power of the mind to represent or refer to other things. That is, some mental states can be ‘of’ or ‘about’ something else. Whenever people think, believe, desire, fear, or wonder, they direct their thoughts toward a specific subject or concept. They may think about breakfast, or experience a fear of spiders, for example. Physical events by themselves are not ‘of’ or ‘about’ other things in that same sense, so what happens in our minds is not physical. Daily, we encounter mental states that cannot be explained by brain matter alone.

Human emotion and other ‘felt’ experiences

Fourth, when a person feels joyful, upset, or anxious, the brain is part of the neural circuitry that plays a role in giving that person such experiences. The brain itself, though, is not joyful, upset, or anxious; the person is. The brain is only a complex organ—a physical object with physical properties, similar in that sense to a computer. A computer might be programmed to say, “I’m sad”, but the computer would not really feel sadness. Emotions like happiness, sadness, and fear are not material entities. They can only be experienced by conscious, sentient creatures who have a non-material aspect to their being, like humans and many animals. This is evidence that we are not merely brains in bodies.

Brain research subjects

Empirical studies show results consistent with the above philosophical arguments. For example, pioneering neuroscientist Wilder Penfield conducted over 1,100 brain surgeries in which he stimulated areas of the brain while patients were awake, and noted their responses. He was able to induce bodily movements, sensations, emotions, and memories. But the patients invariably testified that the response was like a reflex, not an action they chose to do. Penfield found he could not stimulate their will. Also, he could not cause them to draw conclusions, make decisions, or even think abstract thoughts (about, say, mathematics). Such experiments suggest that it is the immaterial self which is ultimately responsible for these activities, rather than the physical brain.

IMAGE BEARERS

God developed and populated the earth, which was initially empty (“without form and void”), as described in Genesis 1:2. He executed this task with exceptional precision and skill, thereby establishing a magnificent stage upon which to showcase His most significant creative accomplishment, humankind. Not only did God reserve the best for last, but He also created humans in a manner that distinguished them from animals. According to Genesis 1:26, humans were created to have a unique relationship to God. This was accomplished through the divine plan (“let us make man”), the divine pattern (“in our image”), and the divine purpose (“let them have dominion”). The attribute of being in the image of God (imago Dei) is not merely bestowed by God and retained by humans. It is what gives people special value (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9), and it is part of God’s design for human beings, who were specifically created to represent God on Earth and reflect many of His attributes.

TRUMP ALLY WINS IN POLAND, SHOCKING ALL OF EUROPE

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God is moving in Europe, and the latest move is in Poland. In 2022, it was in Hungary and Italy.

POLAND: Meet Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, who is pro-life, pro-Trump, pro-Poland, and unashamedly pro-Christian. Nawrocki’s shock win was unexpected.

Commiserating the loss, the left-wing news organisation said Nawrocki’s win was a “significant blow to Tusk’s fragile government.” Poland’s new president is now head of the opposition. Even though the role is ceremonial, Nawrocki has the power to veto legislation, and veto he will. For context, Tusk is an ally of the previous President, anti-Christian Rafał Trzaskowski. Both favour de-Christianising Poland, prefer the European Union over Polish sovereignty, and are ideologically aligned with Marxian globalist ideology, such as LGBTQ+ism, climate catastrophism and abortion.

For AP News, the win was more about Donald Trump than Donald Tusk. Trump supported Nawrocki’s candidacy. While not outrightly suggesting Trump had interfered in the Polish election, AP did make a point of noting that Nawrocki “was at the White House last month.”

HUNGARY: In 2022, Katalin Novak, a pro-life, pro-family mother of three, became Hungary’s first female president.

In October 2021, Novak shared Hungary’s “pro-family mindset” with reporters from the United States as she described how the country established a new constitution in 2011 — replacing a former communist constitution recognizing Hungary as a “People’s Republic.” The 2011 Hungarian Constitution protects “the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman,” supports family systems and caring for the elderly, and recognizes life from conception.

ITALY: In 2022, Giorgia Meloni makes no secret that she is eager to go down in history as Italy’s first female prime minister under the slogan “Dio, patria, famiglia” (God, fatherland, family).

As a politician, she is a skilled debater. In addition to her undeniable charisma, she possesses a comprehensive dossier and language skills. The latter came in handy during the recent campaign when she addressed critical foreign media directly in English, French and Spanish.

She claimed her opposition attacked national identity, religious identity, gender, identity and family identity. I can’t define myself as Italian, Christian, woman, mother. Now I must be citizen X, gender X, parent one, parent two. I must be a number because when I’m only a number, when I no longer have an identity or roots, then I will be the perfect slave at the mercy of financial speculators. We will defend the value of the human being -every single human being.”

She says of herself, “I am Giorgia, I am a woman, I am Italian, I am Christian. You can’t take this away from me!”

TRUE TRUTH BRINGS JOY UNSPEAKABLE

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  1. Truth exists and is knowable.
  2. Truth upheld brings blessings.
  3. Truth disregarded brings consequences

I am more convinced than ever that embracing a biblically informed worldview of “true truth” brings “joy unspeakable” (1 Pet.1:8) and “abundant life” (John 10:10) as Jesus promised to obedient followers.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Erroneous thinking and anti-biblical worldviews have consequences. For many, it leads to addictions, health problems, and even premature death or suicide. For everyone serious about aligning with the radical and amazing plan God ordained for your life, let me strongly encourage you to fulfil your destiny by embracing a biblical worldview.

More than 30% of the Bible is Biblical prophecy, and much of it is now fulfilled, which proves that the rest of the prophecies—there are about 2000 of them—are about Jesus’ second coming to Earth, to defeat the Antichrist and his army at the battle of Armageddon, and to initiate His Millennial reign with the glorified Saints.

Have you read my recent post – Will you escape the wrath of God? If not, I urge you to do so.

GOD IS LOOSENING SATAN’S HOLD ON THE U.S.A.

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In November, Trump was elected President of the USA largely on the basis of putting God back in His rightful place (In God We Trust). In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bible sales were up 22% while sales of other books were essentially flat. In fact, in 2019, 9.7 million copies of the Bible were sold in America. Last year, that number approached 14 million, with most sales driven by “first-time buyers.”

Then there is football, with Ohio State players preaching to students last summer and on national television after winning the national championship, Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson praising Jesus at the Fiesta Bowl, and Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh leading his team in the Lord’s Prayer, God-talk on and off the field has been conspicuous this season. 

Or consider the “moment” God is having among secular thought leaders. Richard Dawkins and Elon Musk, recognizing the importance of Christianity to the West, have labeled themselves “cultural Christians.” Former New Atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali experienced and defended a conversion to the Christian faith, as did her husband, well-known historian and Hoover Institute fellow Niall Ferguson. Former atheist and popular historian Tom Holland’s bestselling book has changed the narrative about the positive role Christianity has played in making the Western world. Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson often references Scripture and just released a 500-page book attempting to draw lessons and meaning from the Old Testament. And, of course, podcaster Joe Rogan recently interviewed Christian apologist Wesley Huff for his 14 million subscribers. 

Justin Brierley, co-host of the “Unbelievable” podcast and author of The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God, thinks we are seeing something significant: 

[T]hey say God moves in mysterious ways. I see signs that he is moving in the minds and hearts of secular intellectuals. Many of them are recognizing that secular humanism has failed and, against all their expectations, seem to be on the verge of embracing faith instead. 

Brierley thinks this “wider turning of the secular tide in the West,” is a result of secularism’s failed predictions. A couple of decades ago, the New Atheists promised a rational utopia in the wake of religious decline. Instead, we got a crisis of meaning, widespread “confusion, a mental health crisis in the young, and the culture wars.” Now, a “New Theist” movement has sprung up, and even those not converting to Christ have toned down the anti-Christian rhetoric. Some are even suggesting that faith is good for the world.  

Still, Brierley cautions that what we’re seeing is far from a revival. Many of the “cultural Christians” of our moment are not believers, nor are they claiming to be. There’s a big difference between regarding Christianity as a “useful fiction,” able to restore vigor and cohesion to the West, and submitting to it as the ultimate truth that demands our allegiance and devotion. For the millions of new Bible owners, the difference is between looking for sage advice and looking for God. Neither a better world nor a better you is what Christianity fundamentally offers.  

Though a “vibe shift” in favor of religion is welcome, and cultural Christianity is genuinely a good thing, Christ does not claim to be “useful.” He claims to be the risen Son of God and King of kings, before whom every knee must bow. Those hoping to make Him “useful” overlook that the West did not become a great civilization because people believed Christianity offered good advice, but because they believed it was true. Anyone who tries to use the God of the Bible to some earthly end will only be repeating the blunder of Mainline Protestantism, not doing something genuinely new or important. 

At the same time, the truth about Christ is compelling. Thus, the renewed interest in this cultural moment can be welcomed and celebrated. Secularism has failed to satisfy the human soul or build the utopia that was promised. But Christ will not fail, not in this world nor in the age to come. Our task is to point insistently to the full and glorious truth of His rule and reign.  

We can direct the curious to resources like The Bible Project, or Graeme Goldsworthy’s classic book, According to Plan, both of which explain what the Bible is and what it teaches. Proven apologetic classics like C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity are incredibly helpful resources for those willing to give God a new look. Most importantly, the Church must be the Church, with the Word faithfully taught and lived. After all, we know that God’s Word will not return void, and He is at work through His people in this and every cultural moment.

FAMILY BURNED ALIVE FOR FOLLOWING CHRIST

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NAIROBI, Kenya — A Muslim couple and their adult son who received Christ in November were burned to death on Dec. 26 in eastern Uganda, sources said.

In the Budini Nyanza area of Kaliro town, Kaliro District, 64-year-old Kaiga Muhammad, his wife, Sawuya Kaiga, and their son, Swagga Amuza Kaiga, 26, put their faith in Christ on Nov. 22, 2024, when members of an undisclosed church visited their home and shared the Gospel.

The pastor of the church, undisclosed for security reasons, said that after the three family members received Christ’s salvation, they requested prayer for Swagga Amuza Kaiga, who was suffering from malaria. “We prayed for the son, and immediately he was restored to good health,” the pastor claimed in an interview with Morning Star News. “The three members of the family who gave their lives to Christ decided to keep their faith secret for fear of Muslims of the area, since Muhammad himself was a committee member in one of the mosques in Budini Nyanza zone.”

On Dec. 15, area Muslims noted Muhammad leaving the church’s worship service in a nearby village and informed area chairperson Wangule Abudu. The chairperson on Dec. 16 went to Muhammad’s home to question him, and Muhammad openly told him that he and other family members had given their lives to Christ, the pastor said.

The angry Abudu gave Muhammad one week to renounce Christianity, saying that if he refused, he would mobilize the Muslim community against the family, according to a relative who was away when the parents and son accepted Christ.

“Abudu said that our family had blasphemed the name of Allah and embarrassed the Muslim community,” the family member, whose name is withheld for security reasons, told Morning Star News.

Area Muslims on Dec. 26 set the family’s house ablaze with gas and burned the three members of the family beyond recognition, said a neighbor who had arrived with others too late to save them and the structure.

Kaliro police arrived after the lives had been lost and, after investigating, arrested Wangule Abudu, 62, and Ismail Njagi, 20. The two Muslims were being kept at Kaliro central police station on charges of murder and arson, sources said.

The bodies of the deceased were taken to Bumanya Heath Centre for postmortem.

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Jesus told us that persecution comes with being a Christian and that prior to His return, it will escalate to refine the church, and only those totally committed to Jesus will be saved.

“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.” Matthew 24:9-13

Also, it is hard to understand how the Pope and so many others who call themselves Christians believe that we all serve the one God. The Christian God says to love our enemies, and Allah says to kill them.

I LOVE JORDAN PETERSON: GOD IS USING HIM MIGHTILY

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There are very few people walking the earth today who can claim to have engaged the minds of millions in the way that Jordan Peterson has, and his influence isn’t based on political power or obscene wealth, but his diamond-cut intellect. Having garnered notoriety from his decidedly anti-mainstream takes on news and culture, Peterson has been tempered by the fires of public opinion and left stronger than ever. That isn’t to say however that the man is made from stone, and when the conversation turns to his father, and by extension fatherhood, Peterson has no shame in letting the tears flow. Together, he and Piers Morgan conjure up a meaty dialogue on Trump, America, family, and God as they discuss Jordan Peterson’s latest book We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine. ENJOY

REMEMBER GOD APPOINTS LEADERS OF NATIONS

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With the American presidential election imminent Christians must remember that God appoints leaders for His purposes. The bible records for us how God used the leaders of the most powerful nations: Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the Babylonian Empire 600 years before Christ. He received a vision from God. Why?

“in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men. gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men” Daniel 4:17

The Bib;le clearly shows that God will place terrible leaders in positions of great power for the explicit purpose of fulfilling His plans. This was certainly true of the pharoah of the Exodus, whose heart God hardened time, after time. God had Moses tell Pharoah:

“Indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Exodus 9:16

One of the most convincing proofs that the Bible is the inspired word of God is fulfilled prophecy. God inspired the prophet Isaiah to announce 150 years in advance the rise to power of Cyrus the Great to fulfill His purpose to bring God’s people back to their land after 70 years in exile for their rebellion and not keeping 70 Shemitah’s. 2 Chronicles 36:21 says, “The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.”

“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Isaiah 45:1-7

Know that whoever is elected, it is God’s choice for this season: if Trump, maybe a short repreive from escalating judgement; if Harris it will be escalating judgement.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH AND THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

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Possessing no absolute or true existence of its own, evil is, by nature, parasitic. Being not of the created order, it can exist only by drawing its existence from that order. Evil must use the good. And so though good can exist without evil, evil cannot exist without good.

Truth can exist without falsehood, but falsehood cannot exist without truth.

Laws can exist without crimes, marriage without adultery, and life without murder. But crimes cannot exist without laws, adultery without marriage, and murder exist without life. Destruction requires structure, immorality requires morality, and sin requires the holy.

The good is primary. Evil is the parasitic inversion of the good. And so the existence of evil inadvertently testifies not against the existence of the good—but for it. It bears witness, unwillingly, to the existence of the good—the existence of God.

If evil is uncreated, how did it come to exist? God did not create evil, but He did create personhood, consciousness, and volition—free will. Free will is a necessity. If one does what is good because one has no choice in doing so, then it is not good. The good must be freely chosen and thus requires free will. And therein is the risk. To allow the choosing of good, one must allow the choosing of its opposite. And the opposite of good is evil. It is the allowance and risk of the good that allow for the risk of evil.

Evil requires personhood, will, consciousness, and volition.

Therefore, when looking for the source of evil we are looking in the direction of personhood, toward a conscious entity. It must be a created being that by its volition turned against the created order, against existence itself, a being that became an anti-being, an inversion. And this is exactly what the Scriptures reveal. There are two entities with the ability to choose good or evil: one, human, and the other, angelic. Since evil is spiritual and beyond flesh and blood, its origin must be found beyond flesh and blood, beyond the human, in the realm of the spiritual and the angelic. And in that realm, we see it, the entity that fulfills all the prerequisites—consciousness, volition, free will, and inversion and yet not of flesh and blood—an angelic being that turned against the fabric of the created order and against existence itself. In his inversion, he became the anti-being, the parasitic inversion of the good, the nemesis of reality. He became the one who should not exist and yet does. He became the Devil.

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” Isaiah 14:12-14

This information is in Jonathan Cahn’s new book The Dragons Prophecy: Israel, the Dark Resurrection, and the End of Days‘. God is using Jonathan mightily as a prophet to America, but we can learn from him as well.

GODLESSNESS IN THE LAST DAYS

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Like many others in the O.T. and N.T., the following Scripture warns us about what will happen before Jesus returns to restore righteousness. We cannot say that God has not told us what is ahead

“But understand that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.” 2 Timothy 3:1-17

The Bible lists several events that will lead to the great tribulation period. Humanity will increasingly adopt a negative attitude toward God’s laws and reject keeping them. This lawlessness will cause people to greatly lack mercy, forgiveness, and love..

“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 24:9-14

It will be a trying, testing time but note the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed throughout the whole world so God has His disciples doing the work they’re called to do right up to the time God raptures the Saints to heaven and pours out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (Revelation 8) and Bowl judgements (Revelation 16).