Despite being early days in the month of February 2021, the gloom and doom malady has virtually permeated every society across continents. This hard to fathom trend has been most unkind to almost anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ. Notably, in North America, the despondency level amongst the faithful is nothing but a morose refrain that manifests itself in alarming cases of severe depression. Quite many of these have degenerated into self-inflicted fatalities!
It could easily be said that the fallout from the prevailing pandemic made things look bleak. There is surely more to this cursory explanation – the ever-growing lukewarm characteristic inherent in a vast majority of pulpits has been a significant contributory factor. Preachers are ignoring the critical elements of Holy Writ, notably in the rapidly evolving prophetic picture. Sermons have little relevance to the realities of the average day under the new abnormal. The average attendee leaves the pews in a state of confusion largely driven by cognitive dissonance, which is powered by Laodicean largesse!
These individuals are, therefore, seriously lacking where coping skills and strategies for an alien scenario matter. Being in the dark for an excessive period of time takes a heavy toll on all psyches, and the situation is aggravated by the unavailability of genuine tidings of comfort. Before long, hopelessness and despair set in, these being fertile ground for false hopes to sprout up. When people throw in the kitchen sink on these phony pieces of inspiration, they are automatically deceived. But then, the buck does not stop here – it is like being hooked to a carcinogenic narcotic. This dope has power plus grip over the addicted person in ways unimaginable. Herein is the sheer force of delusion.
Delusion is definitely in the devil’s playbook. It is the hallmark of his destructive hurrah in the last days.
“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders” (2 Thess 2:9).
The wicked one will make the most out of this allotted timeframe so stated in Revelation 12:12. “Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time.”
The evil one sure did a whole lot of groundwork in preparation of his dastardly moments. It all began with his minions’ infiltration of mainstream churches that boasted of burgeoning congregations. They fed the minds of countless worshipers with a yearning for preferences based on the flesh versus the Spirit.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
Before labeling the clergy as the culpable party in the ensuing downtrend that leads to doom, the attendees are by no means devoid of exoneration from the Lord’s lambast! As the old adage says, it takes two to tango. Pastors who firmly held on to the contrarian view and chose not to deviate from the truth have done a wonderful service for His Kingdom and Glory. But at what price? There is always the risk that there would be lots of empty pews; so, few preachers choose this path. On the other hand, there are preachers who get sidetracked into celebrity status – they follow the style of movie stars, which leads them to embrace popularity over responsible shepherding. Such a practice allows the deceptive venom to more than skirt numerous shores – live streaming big time is part of the game!
It has truly been quite a while if we talk about the deception that crept in way back over a decade ago. The dirty job is as good as done, with the deception reaching a point-of-no-return phase as the month of February 2021 progresses. What’s next is anybody’s guess, if we are referring to the remnant that faithfully awaits the twinkling of an eye moment. As we see things unfold with incredible speed and magnitude, we truly know how short the waiting is.
Maranatha
Edwin
Contact me at edwinuk13@gmail.com