10,000 Years from TodayIf you believe the Bible, then you will know that you will be alive and conscious somewhere 10,000 years from today. Oh, your current existence will be behind you and you will have probably passed through death into the new creation, but you will be alive again with the memory of the year 2024. Your current concerns about a stock market crash will seem silly then. For that matter, all your worries will be exposed as a complete waste of time and energy. You will be in the new kingdom of the Lord Jesus, the undisputed victor of the war for the world. He will reign in the New Jerusalem forever.On that day, you and I are going to really wish we had done a better job with this season in our lives. We will be in the group that can tell the story of what it was like to live in the post-Covid era of total surveillance, the early dominance of technology, and the open worship of Satan at the Grammys, the Olympics, and a host of other formerly normal events. These were the beginning of the sorrows.Some disciples will be highly honored for letting their light shine and using these days to evangelize and share their testimony daily. Others won’t have much to show for their life as a believer. They basically lived as quiet and comfortable a life as they could and they went to church sometimes.Persecution Prepares us to Face the LordNo matter your view of the end times (I’m mid-trib) you cannot escape the reality of persecution.“…All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Ti.3.12 NKJVChristians have always been persecuted. Sometimes it's cultural pressure fueled by the devil. He always resists the message of Jesus and the true embrace of the kingdom of God. At other times persecution is bloody. We’ve have 2000 years of Christian blood shed across the world.When Sherry and I moved to Asia in 1990, that region of the world was averaging 250,000 martyrs a year. The 90’s saw the resurgence of radical Islam and many precious believers were killed from Saudi Arabia to Iran for following Jesus.Persecution in America???—Never!I never dreamed there could be federal persecution of Christians in the United States of America. When I heard this preached as a boy, it just seemed totally impossible that churchgoing America could ever become a place where believers might be persecuted. The behavior of the government from President Clinton using RICO extortion laws to jail abortion protesters, to the weaponization of the FBI justice department, and the collaboration of internet media giants from Google to Facebook reveals that the persecution of believers has, in fact, already started. The only question is how far, how fast?You can lose your job now for simply stating what the Bible says. In England, over 3,000 people were arrested last year for something “offensive” they said on Facebook, Twitter, or on a post-it note on their desk. One man’s crime was posting Bible verses on a screen in his small store.First, we are witnessing a campaign to silence us and get our voices off the internet. Then the narrative can be controlled and all the “breaking news” stories can paint Christian individuals and groups to be dangerous monsters, intolerant, and right-wing extremists with no one to say differently.What Should We Do About it?The #1 thing Jesus said about living in these days was to not be anxious from overthinking about it. Sherry and I have seen a spirit in people from the persecuted church that is bold and confident, hardened by their own response to the pressure that wants them to bend. Those who will not bend become stronger from the pressure. Think of the three Hebrew boys when threatened by the fire of the king. “16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Dan. 3.16-18 NKJVFire hardens steel. Persecution prepares God’s true people to shine.Let’s not waste these days. Let this early pressure steel our resolve to sit among the valiant ones 10,000 years from today. Sherry and I are determined to live more confidently and boldly than ever. We want to be more loving and careful in all our words, especially toward those who are opposed to our Lord, but to make certain that everyone in the heavenlies and those around us know that we honor Jesus for all he has done for all of us. We want everyone we meet to receive a chance to know him too. That’s what’s keeping Jesus from coming already so let’s get stronger and bolder day by day.In His Love,Chuck and SherryThe attached video is about believers overcoming the rise of the Beast in Revelation 13. Hope it ministers ...
