I readily admit that I’m the Joel Osteen lovers worst nightmare. Instead of pie in the sky by and by, I preach the sky is falling. Yet, I’m no Chicken Little, since, as the Apostle Peter declared, “The end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7). 

Many of my posts are purposely intended to convince the reader that America has passed a point of no return with God and that our fallen world is now in its downward spiral into the Biblically predicted end-time scenario. There is no turning back! No man on earth, no angel in Heaven, no devil in Hell can prevent what is coming to pass. It is all predicted and predestined by divine providence. To attempt to thwart it, especially by political means, is to kick against the pricks; it is to foolishly engage in the ultimate exercise of futility. What is occurring before our eyes is out of our hands. It is being orchestrated under the sovereignty of God by spiritual powers, to whom men are mere pawns being utilized to bring to pass God’s inevitable and immutable plans and purposes.

This is not to say that we are irrelevant in the rush of our fallen world to the climatic conclusion of the battle of the ages. Far from it, we, the church, are at the center of it. We are, according to the Apostle Paul, the eternal purpose of God (Ephesians 3:2-13). The reason God has done everything He has done is to secure for His Son an eternal companion, a bride, a forever lover, which is the church. 

Why did God create the universe? So that He would have a place to hang the earth. Why did God create the earth? So that He would have a place to put man. Why did God create man? So that He could choose for Himself a chosen people. Why did God choose for Himself a chosen people? So that His Son could come into the world through them. Why did God’s Son come into the world? So that He could secure for Himself an eternal companion, a bride, a forever lover. And who is this bride of Christ? It is the church, which is the eternal purpose of God and what God has been about all along.

The climax of the ages is fast approaching. It will occur when Christ returns for His bride, to consummate and celebrate their eternal union at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9). However, the church for which Christ will return is not the contemporary church, the old carnal hag we’ve been calling church for so long now. Instead, Christ will return for a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle, washed in the water of His Word, and adorned and prepared as a bride for her Husband (Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelations 21:2). 

The all-important question, then, is how will today’s church be transformed into such a beautiful bride, all readied and prepared for her Bridegroom’s coming. The answer, though unpopular to all and unbelievable to most contemporary Christians, is the fiery refining fires of end-time tribulation. We are on the precipice of unprecedented persecution. Far from being delivered from it, as is popularly believed, by being secretly snatched up into the safety of Heaven before we stub our toe on the slightest pebble of end-time peril or persecution, the church is actually predestined to be purified by passing through it. Our faithful perseverance through the plethora of end-time perils and persecution will not only weed the church of its tares, but will also transform us into a triumphant church for which Christ will not be ashamed to return. 

Although I, like John the Baptist, feel like a voice crying in the wilderness, I am compelled to continue to cry, regardless of whether or not my voice goes unheeded. We must ready and prepare ourselves now for what’s soon to come. The traditional, conventional, and denominational church is about to disappear from the American landscape. Soon, the only churches permitted to operate in public will be those sanctioned by the state. Furthermore, the only ones sanctioned by the state will be those subjected to it and subservient to state imposed apostasy. The true church of Jesus Christ will be forced underground. We’ll have to return to the New Testament blueprint for the church. No longer will we meet publicly in multimillion dollar church houses, but privately in the houses of individual Christians. Only by doing so will we be able to make ourselves less vulnerable to persecution, as well as make ourselves as formidable a force for Christ as we can possibly be in an end-time world possessed by the spirit of antichrist (1 John 4:3).

You should start your own house church now, while you can. You should begin with your immediate family and closest friends. Hopefully, converts will be won to Christ by the personal witnessing of house church members. In turn, these converts can be counseled to start house churches of their own, comprised of their immediate families and closest friends. Eventually, a network of house churches can be formed, which can cooperate and pool resources in an attempt to better edify the saints and evangelize sinners. While you may opt to stay in your traditional and conventional church while you can, you need to start your house church now, realizing that in the very near future it will be your church, since your traditional church will be either shutdown by the state or subjugated to it.