Dear Brethren,

Who in today’s world truly appreciates the things of God?  Few folks notice, but God is beginning to turn up the heat – pun intended.  With a third of a million acres burning, you would think that people would begin to take notice of the warnings coming our way.  Will God send more big earthquakes, storms, drought and natural disasters?  The worst curse by far to strike us is the ever-increasing element of those who despise our culture, society, belief in God and His ways.  Will the growing hordes of ungodly people threatening to destroy all that we have increase or abate?  Our culture is moving farther and farther away from God and His principles each day.  One thing is for sure, our nation is rapidly moving away from savoring the things of God.  The love of God and country is precipitously disappearing.  Jesus said:

Matthew 16:23  …You savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Mark 8:33)

Loving the things of this present evil world more than the things of God is a danger to God’s people today just as it was to Peter (1John 2:15).  It is we in God’s Church who should be setting the highest example in our lives for all to see—especially among ourselves.  We ought to recognize that all too often genuine care for the brethren within the Church of God has not been taught and practiced as much as it should be.

1John 4:11-12  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another... If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.

Perhaps God is giving us – the Body of Christ – additional time to grow up spiritually in areas in which we still come short.  Sure, we know doctrine, we know prophecy, we keep the Sabbath, etc., but there is much more.  Paul tells us that we still have a lot of growing to do:

Ephesians 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

In this selfish world, we often witness the "every man for himself" attitude that permeates society.  We should certainly understand the extent to which Jesus Christ demonstrated His love for us in giving His life.  But to what degree have we followed His example in demonstrating our loving concern for each other?  Who in the Church of God today is willing to suffer in order to help another person into the Kingdom of God?

1Peter 2:21  For even hereunto were you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.

Ezekiel speaks of the time when “the sword comes upon the land.”  (Ezekiel 33:3)  It is a wakeup call.  Terrorist’s attacks in the United States show that the time to “warn the people” and to “cry aloud and spare not” is at hand.   Acknowledging that time is short, let's be motivated to real Christian action.  We are told to watch, and be ready (Matthew 24:42).

Men of influence are beginning to say that our country is dying.  What will be the straw that breaks the camel's back?  Our infrastructure is disintegrating, but no single factor will bring down our nation.  Why?  Because, it will not be the failure of one single system that will bring about the ultimate destruction of the end time.  If that were the case, people would be able to say, "If only such and such... none of this would have happened, and Jesus Christ would not have had to return."  No, brethren, there is going to be total failure of all worldly systems at the same time!  All men, including the Israelitish nations, will realize the utter hopelessness of this world's God-less ways.

Revelation 1:7  Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.

Men will finally realize how futile all existence is without Jesus Christ ruling in their lives.  There will be no second guessing the need for the Kingdom of God because history will have recorded that the result of mankind's best efforts was always ruin, failure, and devastation.

We need to realize that the root cause of our demise is the lack of Godly character—not savoring the things of God.  It is rejection of the True God, and disobedience to His Commandments.  The degeneration of the English-speaking peoples in areas such as morality, secular education, and spiritual values is rapidly taking place.  This ever-growing trend has made us a people ripe for destruction.  The moral decline within America and the other Israelitish countries is the real cause of the coming obliteration of our society.

Zechariah 7:9-10  Thus says the Lord of hosts, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

Look at the obvious signs of how our society is weakening from within:  Anything and everything passes for "spirituality" in the area of religion.  Astrology and witchcraft are acceptable and "God" is not.  Occultism and mysticism are applauded while the Ten Commandments are looked down upon with utter contempt.  One-parent homes are the norm, and same sex "unions" are politically correct.  "Fatherless" births are increasing.  The gambling industry is growing, and the war against drugs is almost forgotten.  Greedy agricultural practices and the medical profession’s overuse of antibiotics are setting us up for the prophesied pestilence and disease epidemics of “Biblical” proportions.

God prophesied of Ephraim, as a type of all Israelitish nations, that these pervasive and ungodly trends will finally result in a people that has made itself to be without substance.

In Hosea 13:2-3  Now they sin more and more... according to their own understanding... Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passes away.

We need to recognize these and other end-time signs, for what they are – a warning to us, brethren, to be lively Christians in a dying world.