End times

In a recent article in The Futurist magazine, writer Laura Lee catalogues some of the worst predictions of all time:

"Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments." —Roman engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus, A.D. 100

"The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." —John Eric Ericksen, surgeon to Queen Victoria, 1873

"Law will be simplified [over the next century]. Lawyers will have diminished, and their fees will have been vastly curtailed." —journalist Junius Henri Browne, 1893

"It doesn't matter what he does, he will never amount to anything." —Albert Einstein's teacher to Einstein's father, 1895

"It would appear we have reached the limits of what it is possible to achieve with computer technology." —computer scientist John von Neumann, 1949

"The Japanese don't make anything the people in the U.S. would want." —Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, 1954

"Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years." —Alex Lewyt, president of the Lewyt Vacuum Cleaner Company, quoted in The New York Times, June 10, 1955

"Before man reaches the moon, your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail." —Arthur Summerfield, U.S. Postmaster General under Eisenhower, 1959

"By the turn of the century, we will live in a paperless society." —Roger Smith, chairman of General Motors, 1986

"I predict the Internet . . . will go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse." —Bob Metcalfe, InfoWorld, 1995

The one source that we can trust concerning predictions for the future is the Bible.

Talking about prophecy and the end times is kind of mixed bag. There are those who become obsessed about the subject and read and discuss it continually. Then there are those who rarely, if ever speak about what is coming in the future under the guise that we have enough going on right now - "why concern ourselves with something that may or may not happen?"

I like to stay some where in the middle. Keep and guard a good biblical foundation of what prophecy means.

Here's what I know: There are seven signs of the end times.

1. The return of the Jewish people to Israel. That one particular event is a prophetic "tipping point."

The Bible predicts over and over again that the Jews must be back in their homeland for the events of the end times to unfold (Jeremiah 30:1-3; Ezekiel 34:11-24; Zechariah 10:6-10).

2. Jerusalem establish as the "ground zero" for the end times.

A total of 802 verses in the Bible speak of Jerusalem and of these, 489 are prophetic.

As the end times near, we should expect to see mounting tension and conflict between Israel and the surrounding countries.

3. The reuniting of the Roman Empire.

I still stand back in awe of the fact that Europe is now basically united around one currency: the Euro. Having lived in Europe, and knowing the sense of nationalistic pride that each country has, you can't help but believe that somehow there is a prophetic hand in all of this.

4. The Middle East peace process (or lack thereof)

Continual conflict in the Middle East sets up the party for the rise of the Antichrist. Don't forget that the Bible in 550 B.C. predicted that Antichrist would come to power on a platform of peace for Israel.

5. Iraq

Zechariah 5:5-11 prophecies that Babylon will be rebuilt in the end times.

6. The World is Flat

Thomas Friedman has written a book entitled, "The World is Flat" signifying the fact that all nations are now on the same plain because of the Internet and other business tactics such as outsourcing.

We truly give in a global world that is moving toward a global economy, a global religion (Christianity and Islam duking it out) and a global government.

7. A turning away from God

1 Timothy 4:1 tells us that, "...in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons."

Jesus is coming soon!