I am not one of those kooky end times kind of guys, in act I often dismiss the claims of 'THE END IS HERE' before I even read them. with that said there is something happening in our country that disturbs me greatly, something that the Bible said about division among the people that makes me wonder just how far off 'the end' actually is.
Let me be clear, I am not saying we need to build bomb shelters, stock the shelves within that shelter and frantically watch the stars for the signs to go and hide. In fact, scientists today are worse today when it comes to predicting the end of time than most religious people. Just google the doomsday clock and watch the news when they bring on their environmental experts that always predict great destruction if we do not heed their warnings.
What I am saying is that perhaps the division happening in our country is God separating His people in anticipation of whatever's coming next.
Matthew 24:7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and their will be famines and earthquakes in various places."
Mark 13:12 "And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death."
Luke 12:53 "They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother in law against daughter in law and daughter in law against mother in law."
The prime minister of Canada recently declared that if you wish to receive funding from the summer job grant you must check a box that reveals where you stand on the issue of abortion, if your position differs from what Trudeau claims is the Canadian position of pro choice...no grant money for you. Naturally this sparked online controversy with everyone weighing in with their opinions of women's rights and when life begins.
School curriculums have also been radicalized by the liberal governments ruling much of Canada, with pro LGBT agendas and the teachings of gender fluidity, gender identity, feelings that trump biology and the false teachings of acceptance and tolerance. I say false because they do not actually believe in tolerance because they do not practice it.
Speaking out against either abortion or homosexuality always leads to a backlash, a very angry intolerant backlash from their supporters. Name calling, insults and even physical harm are what people like me can anticipate if we just stand up in disagreement. There are even cases where people have lost their jobs, their reputations slandered and the most extreme cases headed towards the highest court in the land. This is in spite of most Christians saying they do not hate gay people, they do not hate the women who have had an abortion, they (we) simply disagree with their view of the world. In fact most Christians practice love and tolerance towards the rest of the world, it's the rest of the world that responds with anger and hate.
Donald Trump has been accused of many things, his character coming under fire, his mental stability questioned and so on. One thing everyone can agree on is how polarizing he is. Polarizing just being a fancy way of saying that most people either love him or hate him and that the line that divides the lovers from the haters is more of a canyon. In other words, there are almost no people who would describe themselves as in between. The byproduct of polarization is division. You will either find yourself strongly agreeing with him or strongly disagreeing with him. And that's where we find ourselves today - one side vs the other.
Here in Canada Justin Trudeau is also polarizing politics with his extreme left agenda, some even call it radical. Where we find ourselves today is the U.S government going in one direction and the Canadian going in the other.
Personally I like Trump and the direction he's taking the U.S, but the division he brought comes at a cost. We are heading towards a time when we no longer see the opposition as people but rather as something to be conquered. Trudeau and his Obama-esque way of ruling does the same thing to his side - makes them see us as backwoods, outdated and something that needs to be put in the past. Both sides demand that people choose, either you're with us or you're against us and that worries me because of what Jesus said "Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me." Matthew 12:30. I am not worried about what Jesus said, but what it means for our world, I believe the invisible line that divides those who belong to Jesus and those who don't is becoming more and more apparent and soon, we will know who stands where. I fear a segregation is coming, not black and white but Christian and everyone else. Which I could live with, but if it's the kind of segregation we see in other countries where Jesus is illegal, we won't be living an independent life off to the side, we'll be imprisoned, or worse.
What concerns me most is what this all means for our kids. By raising them Christian we automatically place them in the line of fire from the angry, hateful side of those who hate what we stand for, Who we stand for. But maybe, just maybe, what they see from them is what will help them choose Jesus.