Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, they did. We overcame COVID, we’re taking a collective breath together, and now there’s this conflict over in Ukraine.
I’ve been following the news, and it’s alarming; we’re hearing things we never thought we would. We’re hearing threats of using biological weapons, chemical warfare, and there’s even mention of a nuclear option—I haven’t heard that in a while.
When I was a little kid in the 1960s, there was a big conflict between President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. During that time, there was concern that the third world war would break out, and we were told, “If you hear the siren of the warning, get under your desk,” as if that would help.
Now, with Russia and Ukraine, we’re left to wonder what we should do.
What to Do
I have three things that I think we should all consider, and they all happen to start with the letter P. First, pray. Pray for an end to this crisis, protection of all citizens and that God moves leaders to make the right decisions.
Second, we need to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ. I know that word is often thought of in a negative way. “Hey man, don’t preach to me,” we say. Yet Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Use another word, if you’d like: “proclaim,” “recommend.” All the time we see people on Yelp giving their reviews, so give your own recommendation, proclamation or preaching, if you will. People are afraid, but we can give them hope by pointing them to Christ.
And we should prepare. I’m not a prepper, but I want to be prepared to meet God. The Bible says, prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12b) because heaven is a prepared place for prepared people, so make sure your life is right with God.
What This Isn’t
Sometimes Christians are falsely portrayed as people who want Armageddon to come, as if we get excited when bad things occur in the world because Bible prophecy is being fulfilled. That is not how we see this at all. We’re peacemakers and lovers of peace. We’re told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9, NKJV).
Death is going to come to every person. Nobody gets out of here alive, but if you’re prepared and you have Christ living inside of you, you will go to heaven. Don’t be afraid, but pray, preach and prepare because ready or not, Jesus is coming back. {eoa}
Greg Laurie is an author, evangelist, pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and Harvest Crusades. He is the bestselling author of several books, and his newest book is Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon.
For the original article, visit harvest.org.
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