Signs of the Times - They Just Keeping Exploding

I just wanted to begin this week's blog with a follow-up to last week's writings which focused on the rise of robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI).  This week, Jan Markell, in an article titled, "We Are Summoning Up Demons," and published at the Olive Tree Views website (www.olivetreeviews.org), writes of the troubling threat of AI.  Let me just share a couple of paragraphs from Jan's article.


"We're all aware of the biblical prophecy found in Daniel 12:4 that knowledge will increase in the last days.  But machines smarter than people?  Surely God would never allow that to happen.  He created mankind in His image and He didn't create them to be superseded by computer chips. That is not stopping man from trying!


"In 1948 there was a milestone event as it concerns 'signs of the times.'  That was the re-birth of Israel 70 years ago.  Are we in the generation of a more current sign that could involve end-time technology, the 'image of the beast,' 'mark of the beast', etc?  Could this wave of technology be as relevant as the stirring of the dry bones?  We look at that 1948 happening in a rear-view mirror.  Technology is a 21st century fulfillment. 


"Young people are particularly drawn to artificial intelligence.  Some will tell you that they can get an answer more quickly from Google or Alexa than they can from God.  Who needs God in an age of artificial intelligence?  Who needs an invisible God?  And Google or Alexa may tell you what you want to hear in Technicolor, 3-D, and instantaneously!"


Friends, science-fiction is no longer fiction; it is becoming a reality.  Will God allow His creation to be governed by artificial intelligence and robots?  We certainly see some evidence of robotic activity, especially with the description of the image of the beast as described in Revelation 13.  But, I do believe we are getting closer to that point where the coming of the Lord is very near.


I had been watching the movement of a bill through the Senate known as the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 2311).  The house had approved a similar bill earlier this fall.  The purpose of the bill was to ban abortions after five-months when research showed that an unborn child was capable of experiencing pain.  It just would seem that this would be the right thing to do - to give protection to an unborn child when he/she reached that stage of development when they were capable of feeling pain.  But that was not the thinking of the United States Senate who last week voted 51-46 against sending this bill to the floor of the Senate for a vote.  There was a need for 60 votes in order to overturn a possible filibuster.  According to the Family Research Council's report, "The Senate's failure to pass the bill keeps the United States in league with only seven other nations in the world, including China, North Korea, and Vietnam, that perform elective abortions after five months.  President Trump, who addressed attendees of this year's March for Life, expressed disappointment with the outcome of the Senate vote.  'We must defend those who cannot defend themselves.  I urge the Senate to reconsider its decision and pass legislation that will celebrate, cherish, and protect life,' he said in a statement released by the White House."  You can read the entire article at www.fraction.org/get.cfm?i=WA18A47&f=WU18A01.


And so the wanton slaughter of unborn children continues.  It appears that the hearts of so many of our leaders are hardened toward the unborn.  I believe that someday they will stand before the judgment bar of God and have to give an accounting for the murder of these innocent babies.  America has sold its soul for convenience.  It is for that reason that God's judgment will fall upon this land.


Finally, I want to share with you another article from the folks at Family Research Council.  This article is titled, "Atheist Group Seeks Bible Study 'Secrets'".  You can find the article at www.fraction.org/get.cfm?I=WA18A48&f=WU18A01.  "The latest dust-up over the mention of religion in the public square involves Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, whose big crime is attending a Bible study with other members of President Trump's cabinet.  The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), whose feathers are ruffled over this, is purportedly concerned about staffers being 'coerced' into the Bible study, or public funds being spent on it.  Secretary Carson got that out of the way up front, writing on his Facebook page: 'First of all, taxpayer funds are not used to support the ministry, ... And secondly, no staff are involved in the Bible study.'  He continued: 'I refuse to be intimidated by anti-religious groups into relinquishing my spirituality or religious beliefs [...] One of the principles of our nation's founding is freedom of religion.  I will not stop being a Christian while in service to this country [...]  In fact, it is my faith that helps me serve the nation even better.'  Secretary Carson also drew a lesson from the history of the Cold War between the U.S. and former Soviet Union: 'Joseph Stalin, the Russian tyrant who said the United States could be destroyed from within by eroding three things: our patriotism, our morality, and our spirituality [...]  These things are currently under severe attack.  We the people must decide who we are and what we stand for.'  Amen."


I, for one, am grateful that some of our nation's leadership are in the Word and on their knees for our nation.  We would do well to follow their example.  The article concludes with a strong statement that should awaken us from our slumber: "But the larger issue and more important issue at play here is that some people and groups simply can't stand the idea of a visible Christian presence in our country.  They oppose any public display of Christianity or prayer, offering various attempts to legally justify their opposition, most often that such displays 'establish' a religion (they don't).  Their ultimate goal is to either drive Christians from government or at minimum force them to hide their faith so that the net result is the same - government devoid of godly men and women."


Friends, I don't have to tell you that our country is under attack.  Its moral structure is nearly destroyed.  Its foundation of patriotism has been assaulted and the history of our nation is now being rewritten thus making the intent of those who came here so many years ago for freedoms that they were missing in Europe being seen as something evil, not something beneficial.  And, its spiritual foundation has also been attacked with Christians being vilified by the main stream media and the liberal left.  It is time for us to hold strong to what we believe.  This is why I teach two apologetics classes at my church.  This is why our church teaches its young people the reality of a Christian worldview.  They need a foundation - we all need a foundation. 


As the darkness of our culture intensifies, how we need the light of truth to shine more brightly.