(October, 2001)
A friend in the U.S. recently wrote to say that Christians in the U.S. are "incapable" of repenting, and so the key to spiritual revival there will have to come through "praise" rather than repentance. In other words, he is suggesting that shouts of "Lord! Lord!" will act as a substitute for doing the things that Jesus said, and that God will fall for such a swap, because they can't help it. What insanely blind wishful thinking! (See Luke 6:46.)
The country is on an emotional roller coaster to hell, and everyone tells themselves that there is nothing they can do about it. But that's not true.
What is it that you think you cannot do? You can't stop committing adultery? You can't stop over-eating? You can't stop running up bills? You can't quit your job? You can't sell your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor? You can't go out on the streets and witness to the masses faithfully each day? Nonsense! You can do all of those things and more.
Give me a gun, and let me follow you around all day, on the understanding that I will shoot you in the head the moment you fail in any one of those areas, and I guarantee that your life will be revolutionised as a result. With a gun to your head, you will change, and you will change in some absolutely amazing ways.
But, of course, that's not how God does it. Oh, he wants a gun to your head all right; but he wants you to be the one holding it! The whole notion of death and of eternal punishment is intended to motivate us to make drastic changes in the way that we live life now. We are going to die, and we need to be ready for it. No other creature on this planet is able to ask themselves 'Why?' with regard to its existence, and then to anticipate death with the understanding that death (and our preparation for it) are part of the whole plan for our lives.
Obviously, most of the world has covered their eyes and plugged their ears, in order to block out any thoughts of death and judgment. But the greater tragedy is that professing Christians do the same thing. They whine about not being able to change, while preaching doctrines that have one all-consuming goal, and that is to blot out of their minds any thought of ever having to answer to God for their behaviour. Yet that is the one thing that would enable them to pull out of their apathy.
In our book, Survivors, we show how the religious world has been primed to accept the Mark of the Beast on the grounds that (a) they do not have the ability to resist it; and (b) a loving God would never punish them for taking it. But when world events reveal where it's all heading, who is behind the Mark, and what we are going to suffer for having taken it, a revival happens.
The gun of God's righteousness is pointing at your head right now. You will pay for your greed, your selfishness, your pride, your laziness, your stubborn refusal to change. God is lovingly and patiently waiting for you to come to your senses and repent. But he will not wait forever. Each time someone dies, it is a reminder to the rest of us that we could be next. Loving God or not, death is out there waiting for us. It is real and it is inevitable. And after death comes the judgment.
Don't you think it is about time that you did something to prepare yourself for that day? (And we're talking about more than a two minute ritual prayer here!)
(See also Fire and Brimstone, Free Will, Deathbed Conversions, and No Fatties in Heaven)