12-30-19 Famine in the Land
Famine in the Land - By Hal Lindsey -
A study released late last year showed that in the United States, 3-in-5 millennial's believe life is more stressful now than ever before. We are not in the middle of a recession or a world war. We are not presently experiencing famine, plague, or bloody revolution.
So why do they think they are the most stressed generation in history? Slow wi-fi, not enough "likes" on social media, battery power running low on their smartphones, fear of identity theft, and the check engine light coming on in their cars all made the list.
Imagine telling someone from two hundred years ago about such problems. It would be difficult for them to imagine a future that includes computers, social media, cellphones, smartphones, or cars - much less check engine lights. Imagine trying to explain the implications of these things to someone whose letter might take months to get to its destination.
"You say that you can just pull a little machine from your purse and talk to any of your family whenever you want? You can send the image of a letter anyplace in the world and it will arrive in seconds? This machine gives you access to vast catalogs and old friends? You can talk face to face if you want? You have a carriage that goes 70 miles in an hour, keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer, and it doesn't have horses? These things must make life easy!"
In other words, they would see the tools that induce our stress as Utopian dreams.
We might ask if millennial's really understand what previous generations encountered. But, in fact, I agree with them. I think American young people today are under more stress than previous generations. The number of suicides and the magnitude of the mental health crisis back up their claim.
But I disagree with them on the source of the stress. Yes, modern gadgets do increase the pace of life. But they also make life easier.
The primary stress on today's young comes from a battle - a great spiritual battle being waged all around them and even in them. They sense the battle and sometimes feel engulfed by it. But our society gives them no context in which to process an understanding of what they feel. They are being taught (in some cases the word brainwashing is not too strong) to laugh off God's answers to their predicament.
The spiritual battle rages between the forces of good and evil. As we go deeper into the end times, the battle will widen, deepen, and intensify. The answer is Jesus Christ - not a politically correct pseudo-Jesus - but the real and living Lord of the universe.
To most Americans, few things sound as commonplace or dull as Sunday School. But America must take to heart the lessons being taught there - even to small children. Those lessons include prayer, Bible study, and most of all, a turn to Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Seven hundred and fifty years before Christ, God spoke to the nation of Israel through the farmer-turned-prophet named Amos. "'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord God, 'When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the Lord.'" (Amos 8:11)
In today's media landscape, we can pick and choose what we want to see and hear. We can avoid anything that makes us uncomfortable. So, despite Bible preaching across more media than ever, much of America is experiencing a self-induced famine of God's word. And its effect on the young is profound. In verse 13, God says, "In that day the fair virgins And strong young men Shall faint from thirst."
That prophecy was directed toward ancient Israel, but with clear implications for us. We're experiencing it right now in the United States. The young faint from thirst for the word of God
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