|
I feel compelled to point out that it is now 2026. You say, “So what?” It’s now just 7 years until 2033. Again, “So what?” Well, something about the End Times is increasingly being thought about, but rarely said. Someone will blurt it out soon, so I might as well prepare you for it. Besides, if it happens to be true, then it would be fair to ask, “Why didn’t somebody warn us?” Well, here is my warning, just in case. With some nuance to notice, please. In Matthew 24, about His Second Coming, Jesus said:
Therefore it is good to look around and ponder what is happening in our days, and to err on the side of readiness rather than scepticism. I offer this heads-up with the same wonder and reserve in which Christians since Jesus’ day have wondered if their times are the End Times. For instance, they must have wondered during the persecution under the Romans, Nero, the Fall of Jerusalem & the desecration & destruction of the Temple. Or when Byzantium fell. Or later, around World War 1. During or after World War 2 with Hitler, the crushing of Jews, and the reconstitution of the state of Israel. Likewise, in our point in time, here is something to ponder: Could it be that, like His seven-day creation and His seven-day week, God is working on a seven-millennium timeline? 2000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2000 years to Christ, 2000 years to His Second Coming, 1000-years of shalom/rest, before the final Judgment. (Isaiah 65, Revelation 20). And if 33AD was the year of Jesus’ atoning death, resurrection, ascension, and sending His Spirit, then 2033 would mark the Second Coming and the start of the seventh millennium. Now the “Second Coming” can include a series of events over perhaps seven years, including the rapture, a deal with Israel, a betrayal followed by the Great Tribulation, culminating in His Triumphal Return. So would 2033 mark the end of the seven years or the start? If the end, then when do the seven years start? As I said, it is now 2026. Or 2033 could mark the start of the seven years, so be watchful over the next 14 years. There are other calculation problems to consider. Some say that Jesus was born 2-6 years before 0 BC/AD. In that case, the 2000 year mark could be as early as 2027. Which means mathematically the time could already be unfolding. “What are we meant to be looking for?” Now that’s a better question. I will answer below in my graphic on the many relevant verses... But first this huge caveat: there are other views of interpreting the relevant passages. This graphic illustrates:  Below is a grid of the relevant passages, as interpreted from a Premillennial view. Note that the timeline below the grid is not to scale but sectional. And the timeline is only "Plausible." But the Second Coming more generally - that's "Confirmed."  Signs Premillennials watch for:
. Israel will have a period of significant peace; . A northern invasion will end with the destruction of the invaders; . A treaty between Israel and an Antichrist; . A third Temple… There are more, but by this point, the seven years would be happening, and it would be obvious to watchful Premillennials. . The rapture might have happened at the start, middle or end of the 7 years. But since the rapture will take us by surprise, it's a difficult sign to look for until it happens. As for these other signs, however, if we see developments moving in those directions, we should take note! Could I be wrong? Yeah - on many aspects! Even the model. But possibly being wrong about the details doesn't mean we should say nothing about the End Times. The main point is still confirmed: Jesus is coming again - soon - so be watchful and ready. Being watchful and ready includes discussing what the scriptures say, and what the signs might be. What's the difference this all makes? 1) Be watchful. Do your own study on which view of the End Times you think is plausible. Notice when something happens that advances one of the signs of the end. 2) Be ready. Whichever view you favour, the main point of Jesus telling us all this is not correctness, but to be ready all the time - whenever he returns. Because every day we draw closer to His Second Coming. And it could be anytime. It could be soon, very soon. Even 2026. Or during the next 14 years. Life, dignity, equality, liberty, and justice for all. Os Guinness speaks personally and summarily about what has proven over time to be able to turn back the decline of our times, and produce a human-friendly future. - Nominate Foundations needed for freedom, dignity, justice - or they will not last. - Name Character. Let's not be naive about oppressions and promises from bad character. - Consider worldviews. Reality requires us to search truth, not merely what we find convenient. Here are Os's hard-won truths: 1. The Will to Power is very dangerous. 2. Answers to the meaning of human existence produce culture and civilisation. 3. The West's greatest social debt is to the Hebrews. 4. Confession is strength, not weakness. 5. Cultural change is a by-product of how we each live life. 6. This task is for everyone everywhere. 7. Biblical faith is uniquely the key to renewal. Return home. There can be restoration. The humanity of our future depends on what we do with these realities. One reason some people don't get involved with groups, is a fear of getting "sucked into a cult." So rather than simply stay away from everyone, here's a list to help you assess any social group on its cult-like-ness.
This post is not about beliefs so much as behaviours. Not only religious groups can behave like a cult - so can businesses, employers, government institutions, even social groups. So be aware of these simple criteria of a cult. Make your own assessments if you're wondering about any group of people. Fore-warned is fore-armed. Here are the criteria: 1. Authoritarian, dominating structure, vs Empowering structure. 2. Allegiance to one person’s teaching, vs Various input. 3. The only group with the way to paradise, vs Recognizing other groups. 4. Submissive & unquestioning loyalty, vs Critical loyalty. 5. Suspicious of “outsiders,” vs Open to all. 6. Closed secrets, or even deliberate lies (justified deception), vs Honesty, Open access. 7. Mind control techniques, to control members: fatigue, repetition, intimidation, manipulation, threats, vs Fair argument encouraged. 8. Total control over all aspects of members lives; Abuse of members’ freedoms & rights to choose: theological, spiritual, social, psychological, choices, etc. vs Empowering to work out implications. 9. Require substantial financial support to the group, vs work for Financial freedom & responsibility. 10. Lives totally absorbed in group activities, vs Encouraging wider life involvements. 11. Lose personal identity (including name changes), vs Individuality valued. 12. Personality changes, paranoia / persecution complex, vs Healthier self-image. 13. Social disorientation, unable to socialize outside the group, vs Interaction outside group encouraged. 14. Severe guilt complexes, [vs Acceptance of fallen-ness. List adapted from www.culthelp.info / The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion wants to hear from us citizens about what is causing social division, above and beyond antisemitism. Submissions open until the end of May. Make a submission. My submission starts like this:
In my professional work, I teach widely about worldviews and their influence on how we behave, individually and as groups and societies. Subcultural groups and government departments are no exception. Our worldviews prompt our behaviours. I offer six causes of antisemitism and social division in Australia, and specific solutions to them.
The Compass is me.
North is God. I’m made for him, to point to him. We’re to glorify him through all the earth. God gently pulls us towards Himself, the true fulfiller of all our desires. Sin is what happens when something else becomes magnetic to us. We desire it instead, as a shortcut to fulfilling our desires. But the shortcuts cannot fulfil, they only ensnare us in an addictive spiral of diminishing returns. Pride - Desire for significance pulled toward self-glory. x Greed - Desire for security pulled toward money/things. x Lust - Desire for acceptance pulled toward consumption. x Envy - Desire for flourishing pulled toward comparison. x Gluttony - Desire for enjoyment pulled toward excess/addiction. x Wrath - Desire for justice pulled toward revenge. x Sloth - Desire for rest pulled toward avoidance. x The desire itself isn’t evil, and the object of desire may not be either, but being pulled away from God is evil. The magnets are misplaced worship. Sin is desire pulled away from its true fulfilment. Sin means missing the mark, falling short of the glory of God. So, with every “no,” God is removing a magnet, so I can receive His greater “yes,” so my heart can turn to Him again. Here’s a list of "No to the magnet → Yes to the desire fulfilled in Christ": No to pride’s self-glory → Yes to significance humbly in Christ No to greed for things → Yes to security from the Father No to lust to have → Yes to deep acceptance as one betrothed to Jesus No to envy’s comparing → Yes to flourishing in gratitude for Jesus No to gluttony’s addiction → Yes to the pleasure of being mastered by Jesus No to wrath’s revenge → Yes to trusting the justice of Christ No to sloth’s avoidance → Yes to the rest that Jesus gives to His servants Holiness realigns my life, submitting my life back to The Creator’s intent - filling the whole earth with His glory in Christ. Holiness causes my life to expand, to reach its proper goal. In Philippians 2, The Cross shows us the properly functioning compass: Power under control. Desire submitted. Glory through surrender. Jesus had every legitimate desire yet never misaligned them. And He is not just our example, He is our magnetic reset. When my heart comes near to Jesus, my desire needle steadies on Him. The only true, gentle, life-giving Fulfilment of all our deepest desires.  Nationalists need to be much more specific about the VALUES they want to maintain in Australia.
Because “Australia first,” on its own, is an exclusive standard that only we can adopt. It excludes based on nationality, which mostly can’t be chosen. Plus, it just begs the question, “What does Australian mean?" But if we tell them what we mean, if we champion specific, critical Aussie values, anyone can choose those values, regardless of nationality, ethnicity or even religion (in many cases). Values become an invitational standard. Q: So which values set creates social cohesion in Australia? A: Those consistent with: - an originalist reading of the Australian Constitution; - a Judaeo-Christian reading, upholding ‘natural/common law’, freedom to do the right thing; - servant leadership (ie ministries not departments); - seeking the blessing of Almighty God (to prevent tyrannical rulers who imagine themselves answerable to no-one); - yes, ‘secular' government with no religious test; - Menzies' We Believe statement(s). These values make for uniquely civil societies. They’re the values that make space for freedom of conscience. That’s why they were chosen for the foundations of Australian society at Federation. Around those values, we can gather people from any background, even people not committed to the Bible that underpins them. For example, the value of the separation of state and church in our Constitution: Section 116. Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. This value ultimately came from a Biblical heritage: - Yes, humans are fallen (Genesis 3), and will try to exploit others for self-interest (repeatedly throughout the Bible and global history). Which is why we need a Saviour (the main point of the Bible) - and why nations must maintain a governing value of “under God," not under the latest tyrant. (Romans 12,13.) - People are equally valuable because we’re made in the image of God (Genesis 1); - so all should be respected, not forced to live against conscience (Romans 14); This all means that a person’s religion (which at the time of Federation largely meant Anglican or Catholic) should not prevent them from participating in the decision-making processes that affect the whole civic body. Rather, anyone affected by the decisions may participate in the decisions. But of course, this value ceases to work if it is removed. So we must protect the value from those who would remove it. For example, how should we respond if Sharia Law seeks to take over some Australian precinct? We protect the VALUE of open civic participation. Since Sharia violates the VALUE, by making a religious test for the public precinct, we can’t allow Sharia. We defend the value. Likewise, if Socialist governments declare that private, religious institutions or citizens must teach and adhere to new, non-Biblical State moralities… we protect the VALUE against imposing any religious observance; in that instance, the State is imposing its neo-religious morality, and prohibiting the free exercise of others. So we defend the relevant VALUE of freedom to uphold 'natural law.' (Claims that socialism is "a-religious" are merely semantic distractions from the main point of Section 116. Socialists often fail to separate their worldview from state power because, for socialism, the state IS its religion/worldview/reference-point.) Again, when state schools impose transgender morality upon minors, we should be able to make the case for the higher VALUE of truth: biological reality, not fluid, mis-identities. To teach otherwise does more harm than good. Defend the relevant Aussie VALUES that preserve truth and goodness. Here are some of the most contested values of our time:
Australians should invite others to join our particular protected values set. 1) Defend the values we already know we need to uphold, from destructive values; 2) Enact: resolve how to forgive, and live peaceably with, people of different value-sets. (Such civility is also derived from our Judeo-Christian heritage.) Make a list: 1) What do you mean? - Which values are we to defend? 2) How do we know they're true? How are they defended? 3) What differences do they make to our society? These differences can build up over time. Then invite people to gather around those socially cohesive, Aussie values. (Aussie in the sense that Australia federated around them, but they’re not exclusive to Australia; they should be universal.) Even though we may have to resist people who violate them, they constitute the good standard by which anyone could join us, the critical difference being not race or nationality, but whether they accept such protected values. PS - A better way I confess that trying to identify the core values from scratch can be hard - indeed, it's impossible without a worthy reference point. A much simpler way exists - go to the worthy reference point. The better way to learn the values is directly from their credible Source. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” This involves the Person of Jesus. And "persons can forgive you, whereas values cannot - values can only judge you,” (Glen Scrivener, The Air We Breathe.) The impersonal/unforgiving nature of values is why, when people reject the Person of Jesus, they tend to redefine the values in ever more self-serving ways. Thus, the malaise in modern Aussie society. Nonetheless, for people who appreciate these values though not yet willing to seek Jesus, we can still meet around the values critical to respecting our shared humanity and community. A good article of Christian nationalism well-defined. (This is a repost from 2013, with updated links.) One can easily research Jesus’ resurrection. Mainstream media ignores it, but maybe just because it's such old news. :-) It is a matter of public record. Anyone can find sufficient historical evidence. Given the importance of the Resurrection, look into it for yourself - and live in the light of its implications.
Often you can follow the footnotes to primary sources:
For example they sometimes simply reject any texts written by Christians. This unfairly rules out any source by anyone who was convinced by the evidence, regardless of the quality of their history. Ridiculous! Imagine if Luke (a first-rate historian) had been agnostic when he set out to write his “orderly account for Theophilus,” and then became a believer during his research. Under this standard his writings would be admissible before he believed, but suddenly inadmissible after he believed – the exact same material! It’s clearly dishonest to rule out historical material on the grounds that the writer believed what they wrote to be true! So don’t be bluffed - be informed. In the most important article I've read this election so far, Greg Sheridan (The Australian 5/4/23) clarifies the problem with Big Government (vs responsible citizenship.) Big Government is what Socialism creates - Labor calls itself a socialist party and accordingly works for a bigger state (with the unions of course.) We suck ourselves deeper into this socialist quicksand every time we say, "the government ought to..." This article itself is a vote decider because it exposes the real-world economic & social consequences of socialism. Greg shows how big welfare makes us irresponsible and lazy while increasing the social problems it claims to fix. Read the stark facts:
 How about this record of Albanese's term. This is Australia's 8% decline in disposable income per capita 2022-24 compared to the rest of the developed world. He doesn't admit it much less apologise for it. This is not by mistake but by policy. Australian Christians How to Vote cards here. Further topics are covered here: THIS IS THE ELECTION THAT WILL MAKE OR BREAK OUR AUSTRALIA. Peta Credlin - The Sunday Telegraph, March 29, 2025 ...Peter Dutton is right: This election is a sliding doors moment. Re-elect Anthony Albanese and his green-left government and we will be poorer, weaker, and more divided: de-industrialised, thanks to an uncertain and expensive energy supply; increasingly estranged from our traditional allies; socially fractured thanks to the uncontrolled migration of people who aren’t expected to share our values; and saddled with deficits and a trillion dollars of debt. Change the government and we still have serious challenges: How does a small economy like ours maintain resilience in a much less globalised world; how does a multiethnic society maintain social cohesion; and how do we defend ourselves as America retreats? But at least the Liberal-National Coalition has largely avoided falling under the spell of the climate cult, identity politics and the strange notion that communist China is our friend.... ...Nuclear, not renewables; one flag, not three; education, not indoctrination; much lower immigration; 40,000 fewer bureaucrats; superannuation for homes; a defence of biological sex to protect women and girls; cracking down on foreign criminals; and more real support for defence. As Dutton made clear in his budget reply, countries can’t tax their way to prosperity or subsidise their way to success. Under Dutton, Australians could expect something like Howard 2.0: Steady, predictable, incremental government; without the climate indoctrination and the energy madness that refuses to use here the coal and gas we still export to others (but won’t if Labor is re-elected with Greens support). ...Unlike Anthony Albanes ...who has overturned 70 years of bipartisan support for Israel at the UN, we could expect the former Queensland cop to be strong and sensible in a crisis.  And australiavotes.org.au - is where to read parties' policy responses on the following matters:
Click for the christianvalues.org.au checklist for WA in the Federal Election. REMEMBER:
Vote 1 for your preferred minor party, then vote for your preferred major later in your preferences. Then your preferences will be counted as votes down to the final winner. Here's a 9 minute video on the importance of preference voting. Post-election comment: Uh-oh. Here is an excellent review of the movie Oppenheimer. I haven't even seen the movie, I'm not even advocating you see it either, it's not family friendly including some gratuitous sex scenes apparently. So why am I recommending this review?
Because the review names some very important questions that need answering about immanent dangers in our own time, like AI and biotech, and more importantly whether we can or will listen to wisdom from minority voices, rather than simply cancel them. Same with any big issues, like referendums. It's better to get all the facts & ideas on the table... Here, look, just read: Two Lessons from Oppenheimer | Evolution News A current case in point. Hollywood is cancelling a needed view: ending Child Slavery requires open conversation about the facts, yet some players in Hollywood have resisted the release of the movie Sound Of Freedom by Angel Studios (The Chosen), labelling it 'controversial.' Ha! I'm booking my tickets to this one: Sound of Freedom - Daily Declaration (canberradeclaration.org.au) It matters to a lot of people: about half of Aussies surveyed said the matter of science and evolution prevents them from taking the claims of Christianity seriously.
First let me caution anyone in that situation, don’t make creation timing the issue that determines your eternal destiny. The eternity-breaker is whether or not you trust the living God. There are other good & sufficient reasons to believe in and trust the Creator. Such as: . the manuscripts and archaeology of the Bible, which indicate it was reliably transmitted. . the prophecies and storyline within it which indicate a divine source. . the historicity of the life, death & resurrection of Jesus, the latter giving further evidence of the divine. Thus a supernatural Creator is still evident even without addressing the timing issue. Maybe that's why I used to be ambivalent about creation timing - because I had those other anchor-points for trusting God through Jesus. Maybe that's why other Christians leave the timing question unanswered too, or even settle on long-age interpretations, because they have these other good foundations for their faith instead. However... for Aussies without any of those anchor-points, it’s understandable that "science and evolution" is a problem for their belief, because what we read in Genesis 1 is so shockingly different from what most of us are taught in school about billions of years and evolution. So it is fair to ask, “which timing is right?” Let’s start here: "it is reasonable to expect the Creator's Account to interpret ALL observations consistently.” I'll defend that, but for now I'm saying we do not have to discard the Bible in favour of simplistic assertions about what "the science says.” If truth is true, truths from both sources should match. Truth should be able to research-and-uphold ALL the legitimate observations, of both sciences and the Bible. But equally logically truth should not be able to uphold all interpretations, because some interpretations will contradict others. So when I finally did examine enough of the observations (both Biblical and scientific), I found that when it comes to origins, most of us were not given some critical information. Like:
So where can normal people like us find specific observations with interpretations that are Biblically consistent? I recommend creation.com. On closer inspection as an adult, contrary to what I was taught at school and most media outlets, I have found that Bible-based interpretations of origins involving special creation are more consistent with all the relevant observations than any naturalistic interpretation. After all, it's reasonable that The Creator’s Account would interpret ALL observations consistently. |
Categories
All
Archives
October 2026
|
RSS Feed