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Documentation for every aspect of this report may be found on the corresponding topic pages in Prophecy Central
and Apologetics Central.
Scripture quotations are from the New International Version. Hypertext links to Scriptures are to the King
James Version in the Blue Letter Bible.
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2 Timothy 3:1-5
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APOSTASY AND REVIVAL
8 - Alarming Developments
Corruption of Christianity
Apostasy, or “falling away” of Christians from truth and godliness, is a serious and
growing problem.
- The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow
deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. – 1 Timothy 4:1
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control,
brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have
nothing to do with such people. - 2 Timothy 3:1-5
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Apostasy
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In this section we will show how these Scriptures describe the decline of faith in America
(as we follow the lead of Europe), but we will see that there is hope for an End-Times
revival. Furthermore, Christianity is vigorous and growing in many parts of the globe.
George Barna and his organization have identified six major trends in the Church in
America, and they are mostly negative. Here are their major findings:
- 1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
- 2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
- 3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more
desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
- 4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
- 5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
- 6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.
Total attendance in churches in America has declined, but megachurches are generally
growing at the expense of smaller churches. People with a consumer mentality are
attracted to the churches they think can offer bigger and better programs for their benefit
instead of being willing to stay and make their own churches more effective.
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Many pastors, in an effort to be please people, ignore the pressing moral issues of the day
and fail to teach the Scriptural truth about the consequences of sin. They avoid anything
that is controversial. They need to remember what Paul told Timothy:
- Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and
encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come
when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching
ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to
myths. -2 Timothy 4:2-4
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Abortion
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Abortion
The killing of millions of babies in their mothers’ wombs continues to violate the
Scripture’s teaching about the sanctity of life. Visit our Abortion section for helpful
news stories and statistics like this one:
“It would have taken about 342 Hiroshima type nuclear attacks to kill as many people
as abortion has killed since Roe vs. Wade.”
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Homosexuality
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Homosexuality
Old mainline denominations continue to drift away from clear biblical teaching against
homosexuality (Genesis 19:1-26; Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:24-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-
11; 1 Timothy 1:10). The Episcopal Church has gone so far as to ordain a lesbian
assistant bishop, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which lifted its ban on
noncelibate gay clergy a year ago, is experiencing massive defections. Many other
denominations are either silent or conciliatory on the issue, following the culture shift
instead of leading people to the truth.
A new federal hate-crimes law specifically allows ministers to be critical of
homosexuality from the pulpit, but many pastors use this law as an excuse for not
teaching what the Bible has to say about the problem.
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Christianity
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Organized Atheism
The American Atheists group spent $20,000 for a billboard in New York that says, "You
KNOW it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!"
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Apostasy
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Negative impressions about Christianity
A proposal to build an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero has caused national
outrage. The debate resulted in some harsh rhetoric and actions from Christian leaders.
One response brought negative attention to the church when a Gainesville, Florida, pastor
threatened to burn copies of the Qur’an in protest.
Pope Benedict XVI was accused of delaying church action against pedophile priests in
Ireland, Germany, the United States and other countries when he led the Vatican office in
charge of discipline from 1981 to 2005.
The world was startled to hear about the bankruptcy of the Crystal Cathedral during the
year. Poor offerings have affected most churches, and many are actually facing
foreclosures.
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One-World Religion
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Blending of Religions
A G8 World Religions Summit was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba from June 21-23. The
multi-faith event included Hindu swamis in flowing orange attire, members of the Saudi
Ministry of Islamic Affairs dressed in desert garb, Jewish yamakas, cross pendants and
clerical collars, Shinto robes, and Orthodox priests in black. There were even some
Protestants, including Evangelicals, at the summit.
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Revival
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9 - Encouraging Signs
Is the apostasy so great that there is no hope of revival? Actually, there is reason to
believe that there will be a great revival in the End Times. One way of expressing this
is the saying, “As the darkness gets deeper, the light shines brighter.”
From this year’s news we glean two encouraging signs.
- 1-There is hope for revival in America.
- 2- Christianity is growing very rapidly in parts of the globe where the Gospel is least
known.
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2 Peter 3:8-9
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Revival in America
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand
years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his
promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:8-9
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2 Peter 3:11-12
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In the same passage (2 Peter 3:11-12) Peter wrote that we can speed the Lord’s return.
This must mean that by winning other people to Christ we shorten the wait for His
return.
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Apostasy
Revival
Moral Issues and the Elections of 2010
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There is a connection between the Great Apostasy and an End-Times revival.
Looking back through the Bible, we se that The Lord warned people and gave them a
chance to repent before his judgment. Difficult times often bring people to their senses
about spiritual things. There are several judgments recorded in the Bible where The
Lord gave opportunity for people to repent before the catastrophe occurred. The Flood
of Noah’s time, Sodom and Gomorrah, and especially the story of Jonah and Nineveh
are all examples of this truth. Sometimes they repented, and sometimes they did not.
The Midterm Elections in the US were a repudiation far-left ideology, wasteful
spending and socialistic tendencies in the nation. Some of the most prominent newer
politicians are strong believers in Jesus Christ and are not ashamed to declare their
beliefs.
There are some powerful prayer movements, such as the International House Of Prayer
that could blossom into a much-needed revival in our country.
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Missions
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Growth of Christianity Worldwide
Whether or not America will be revived, great things are already happening in many
parts of the globe. Contrary to popular opinion, it can be shown that evangelical
Christianity is the fastest growing religion in the world.
According to the book "Megashift," by Jim Rutz, Christianity is overlooked as the
fastest-growing faith in the world because most surveys only look at the traditional
Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church, while ignoring Christian
believers who have no part of either.
Rutz claims there are 707 million "switched-on disciples" in this exploding "church,"
and that if present trends continue, the entire world would be composed of such
believers by the year 2032.
Western Christianity is no longer the primary source of missionary activity. Non-
Western evangelicals now outnumber Westerners by seven to one! They are nearly
invisible to Western observers because they are not associated with the institutional
churches at all. In fact, for the most part, they meet in secret, and their evangelism is
often validated by miracles.
It is difficult to confirm many of the claims of this book and the movement it describes,
and it could lead to the unbiblical conclusion that these new evangelicals will usher in
the Millennial Kingdom without the well-known prophecies of the End Times being
fulfilled first. We should watch this trend prayerfully and evaluate it biblically.
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Matthew 24:9-14
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Final harvest during the Tribulation Period
The Bible says that during the Tribulation there will be a great multitude that no one
could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-10).
Jesus taught that Gospel would finally be preached to the whole world.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be
hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the
faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come. - Matthew 24:9-14
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Revelation 11
Revelation 7
Revelation 13
Revelation 14
Mark of the Beast
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When you study this passage in its context, you find that the setting is the first half of
the Tribulation, just before the defilement of the Temple and the institution of the Mark
of the Beast. During the Tribulation it is likely that all true Christians will be
“witnesses” for Christ and many will be “martyrs” (same Greek word, martureo).
The two prophets and 144,000 witnesses will be protected by God’s power so that they
can effectively preach the Gospel during the Tribulation (Revelation 11; Revelation 7;
Revelation 14).
The “Mark of the Beast” (Revelation 13) will force people to finally make up their
mind, resulting in many brave conversions in spite of the consequences.
Finally the lord will use angels flying in the heavens to finish evangelizing the people
during the tribulation (Revelation 14). They will proclaim the eternal gospel to all
people and warn them of judgment.
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Concern About the Year 2012
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MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
10 – 2012
Declining Concern about 2012
In recent years there has been growing interest in the fact that the Mayan calendars end at
2012, and the assumption that this would mean that the Earth would be destroyed at that
time. In 2010 there seemed to be a decline in attention to this matter.
According to Mayan historians, the year 2012 would not be the end of the world, but just
the end of their long cycle of time based on their study of the stars. The Egyptians had
similar beliefs about this cycle. Both cultures were aware of the fact that the position of
the constellations changes very slowly over time, due to the tilt of the Earth’s axis. The
time it would take for the Constellations to make a complete cycle would be nearly
26,000 years. At the end of that cycle the Earth and Solar System would supposedly be
aligned with the galactic plane of the Milky Way.
The 2009 movie “2012” was the ultimate action film. The special effects were numerous
and amazing throughout the show. The plot revolved around the idea that huge
explosions on the surface of the Sun, known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) will
increase, causing overheating of the Earth’s core and result in worldwide disaster.
NASA, the preeminent authority on space science, says that there is no scientific reason
for these dreaded events to take place. They have posted a special website to answer
questions about the movie’s claims.
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Fearful Events
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Solar Eruptions
NASA and other authorities do say that the normal 11-year cycle of solar
activity will reach its peak in 2010, and that it seems more intense than ever this time
around. In August they observed an unusually significant event. They say that explosion
affected an entire hemisphere of the Sun all at once, sending billion-ton clouds of hot gas
into space.
"The August 1st event really opened our eyes," says Karel Schrijver of Lockheed
Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Lab in Palo Alto, CA. "We see that solar storms
can be global events, playing out on scales we scarcely imagined before.”
We will continue to monitor these CMEs this year. It should be obvious that if the
Tribulation Period were to begin in the near future that these disturbances could account
for some of the predicted plagues of that time.
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