God Sounding Alarm Through the Signs of the Times?
WASHINGTON -- Christians may wonder how God fits in as they hear the alarming news of the day. Well, a big clue might be right in the word "alarming."
At least one prominent religious leader is saying God is sounding an alarm as it appears the shield of protection over the Western world is crumbling.
"God is giving us signs that we should wake up," Bishop Harry Jackson told CBN News.
Jackson is presiding bishop over the 1,800 congregations in the International Communion of Evangelical Churches. Hes been telling those congregations God is trying to shake awake a slumbering Christendom.
"An alarm has been going off and folks have been, like we do some mornings, just rolling over in the bed and hitting the alarm, saying 'I've got time. I'll wake up later,'" Jackson said.
He pointed out Jesus sounded alarms in the Bible for future times.
"Nation will rise up against nation. In the Greek, that is 'ethnic groups will rise up against ethnos - ethnic groups,'" Jackson explained of one such example. "And were finding that within the United States recently as we looked at the Ferguson situation. But we can shift that whole thing to Russia and the Ukraine, or we could go to places in Africa."
Then theres the roiling Muslim world.
"Many of the divisions within Islam itself are tribal in their nature," the bishop said.
Jackson told CBN News he worries much more division will come in the earth unless God's people repent.
He also said recessions and economic troubles can be seen as today's version of biblical famines and droughts. God would use those to warn His people their spiritual shield was crumbling.
"Our recessions aren't anchored in agriculture," Jackson said. "But they, in this time and season, have a spiritual root."
Family breakdown and rising addictions are often signs of spiritual decay and are certainly increasing in these days. Then there are epidemics like Ebola and AIDS, which are both today's physical plagues and spiritual alarms.
"If we dont have the character and blessing of Jesus operating in our lives, we wont have protection from these things that are ultimately going to come upon the earth," Jackson warned.
But the bishop said that rather than curse a people, God would much prefer to speak a blessing.
Jackson then put into words what he believes God wants to say to believers:
"Instead of letting all these terrible things happen to you that are going to come upon the rest of the world, I am going to put a force field of blessing around everything you have and all that you do because I want to glorify My name and show favor to you because I love you."
