The End of Times is Near

By Dr. Miguel Angel Contreras

I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8, NIV)

I have been moved by the Holy Spirit to write about sin, apostasy and the end of times.  The first two subjects are normally ignored and rejected by our modern preachers when delivering their sermons from their pulpit because of the preconceived idea that their church membership and financial contributions (tithes and other types of love offerings) will diminish.  No wonder our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 7:13-14 stated, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (NIV)

Today it is generally believed 75-80% of Americans identify themselves as Christians.  We have a dozen or so Christian mega-church denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, with hundreds of small denominations and independent and non-denominational churches different, and thousands of evangelists, pastors, preachers, bible teachers, missionaries, Christian schools (from elementary up to doctoral degree granting institutions).   Yet, when comparing social issues, Christians mirror non-Christians in statistics regarding divorce, stress, job burnout, depression, bankruptcy, debt, and a host of other social conditions.  We believe that shouldn't be the case. 

Throughout the Scriptures we are given very practical guidance that should influence the manner in which we choose to live our lives.  For instance, Jesus tells us that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.  He tells us that we should emulate the actions of the Good Samaritan by instructing us to "go and do likewise."  He also makes it very clear that we cannot serve both God and money. 

Jesus' "Greatest Commandment" (Love your God with all your heart, your neighbor, as youself) is being ignored by our Christian leaders, and instead of serving and loving God and their neighbors, they are servants of money, of the devil.  It is one of the reasons people in America are staying away from the church.  The lack of love among the brethren.  In 2004, The Barna Research Group reported the following statistics:

 "There has been a 92% increase in the number of unchurched Americans in the last thirteen years. In 1991 there were 39 million unchurched Americans compared with 75 million currently."

What is happening in today's society is that specific groups with different agendas are using Christianity is a way to reach their ultimate goals:  financial enrichment.  Secular groups and individuals identify themselves as Christians only to obtain their self-gratification needs achieved, whatever their needs are.  Christian churches and organizations use God and the Holy Scriptures to make money.  I don't want to get into the national newsworthy scandals that have plagued our Christians televangelists, and other prominent national Christian leaders, but the facts as are being reported are nothing but a prophetic sign that we are experiencing a modern apostasy, similar to the apostasy that saint Jude wrote approximately 2000 years ago, and whose book bearing his name is contained in the New Testament.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee, a truly man of God, who went to the Lord in 1988, stated that one of the problems within our churches is that 50% of our credentialed ministers (pastors, preachers, evangelists) are not qualified to preach the Gospel, and that 50% of truly Christian believers qualify for ordination as ministers and be credentialed but for whatever reason their church would not ordain them.

"Love" within our Christian community has been replaced with hate, pride, ambition, and competition among our fellow pastors and church members.  Corruption is no longer a cancerous disease within our government or private corporate organizations but corruption has been spread into our most sacred sanctuary:   the universal church of God….the church that was born over 2000 years ago after our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the son of man in full human flesh to pay for our sins with His life.

Today, our national evangelical protestant church leaders are more concerned about following their "rule of law" written in their so-called "constitutions" and "bylaws" than following the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Our modern churches are turning into "rock and roll" musical theaters where our people spend hours listening to their favorite "gospel" music, instead of emphasizing and focusing their sole attention to listening to the Word of God.  Pastors and preachers are spending less time preaching the Gospel than spending their time in raising funds for a number of projects, all in the name of God.  In some cases, this fund rising activity from the pulpit is legitimate, but for the most part is personal in nature.

We are seeing more and more "false Christian pastors, preachers, evangelists, teachers and missionaries" – It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul told Timothy wrote:

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.  They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.  For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed." (1 Timothy 1-6, NIV)

Hypocritical liars are what the Apostle Paul foresaw, in the early church during his apostleship and teaching of his young student and fraternal son Timothy – and this is what we are seeing in our churches now.  Wolves wearing sheep clothing is what we have now in our churches whose number one priority is worship money.  It is no strange to see whole family members being placed in selected positions within the church, i.e., deacon, musical band member, chorus group, church board member etc. if the head of the family is a big financial contributor to the church in question.  This is a serious sin being committed by the pastor and the money contributor.  God cannot be bought nor can He be bribed.  

Brothers and sisters in Christ don't misunderstand my message.  Don't think that I am trying to disunite or destroy our church.  The church is no longer united in several communities in the continental United States.  We have churches that belong to the same church denomination and district area whose church leaders would not talk or connect with each other.  We have pastors who try to control the lives of their church members by asking them to request permission to do certain things that are not church related.  My friend, this is being a pastor of a "cult" where church members' lives are being controlled by their church leader. 

However, there are still some areas where Christian associations are being created to form coalitions of churches of different denominations where the pastors of a particular city regularly meet in fellowship and as brothers and sisters in Christ.  Further, church members are encouraged to meet with other church members of other churches regardless of church denomination and church members are being taught not to gossip about other churches, especially during church services.  Such Christian communities exist in Greenville, South Carolina.  I want to be part of this type of a Christian community.