Behold, I Come Quickly: Hang On!

Do you have the art of watchful waiting?

We're going to talk about it, this hour. A Blessed Hope. When Jesus Christ comes again, those who are saved and still living will be miraculously transformed, will be given a glorified body, impervious to gravity, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The greatest news there is to the believer, I mean I couldn't function from day to day if I didn't believe that our Lord's return was literally imminent at any moment.

When you were here we had a long conversation about how much mail we get from people who say that they used to believe in the pre-trib rapture and they've given up on the idea. One of these days Jesus is going to rise from His throne in the lofty heaven. He's going to hear the Father say to Him, Son, go get your bride. And Jesus is going to come, stepping on the clouds, when He descends from heaven, a shout will come from His lip, the trumpet will sound, and His voice will echo through the subterranean tombs of this earth.

And those who know the Lord Jesus Christ will have their ears tuned to Him, and we will be glorified and rise to meet the Lord. This is Understanding the Times Radio with Jan Markell. Jan meets this hour with Gary Stearman from the TV program Prophecy Watchers.

In his early years, Gary Stearman was drawn toward engineering and aviation, but the Lord shifted his passion toward Bible study, eventually making him a pastor, a Bible teacher, writer, and broadcaster. Jan and Gary are going to be discussing themes you do not want to miss. Here now, Jan Markell. And welcome to the program.

I am so glad you could join me today. And my guest for the hour is going to be the familiar voice of apologist and TV host Gary Stearman. Gary is heard weekly on the popular TV program Prophecy Watchers, and I was privileged to be featured on two TV programs last month, month of July, and you can find them posted now at YouTube or prophecywatchers.com or olivetreeviews.org. But before I get to Gary, and I want to set the stage here, and I'm referring to an article that Terry James over at the Rapture Ready website has written. I'm not going to read the entire article. I'm going to read a couple of paragraphs because I believe Terry has summed up a problem that both Gary Stearman and I encounter really on a daily basis. And that would be the fact that a lot of churches are simply not preaching the whole council of God. Let me just get into this Terry James article.

I'm going to keep it real brief, and then I want to get over to Gary Stearman. But Terry writes, among true believers, there are many views of how things will play out prophetically speaking. At the same time, there are also many who don't know, and many who don't care about Bible prophecy, what God has foretold about the future. They are too busy living out their increments of life, one heartbeat and breath at a time.

Terry James goes on to say, sadly, the latter by far constitute the majority. That is, most don't know about eschatology, and most don't care. They are aided and abetted in their willful ignorance by the pastors and Bible teachers within their church bodies in this disregard for the prophetic portion of God's word.

That prophetic word is almost one third of the scripture the Lord has given us through his love letter to mankind, the Bible. Terry James goes on to say, and I'm going to wrap this up, but he says, of those who have truly become believers, there are few in number who know about the rapture in concrete terms or who grasp that there will come that moment of being called into heaven by their Lord. In America, even those who do understand that the rapture is an event prophetically scheduled according to the Bible, resist embracing the promise intrinsic within the doctrine of that imminent call from Jesus Christ.

That is, rather than desire to hear Christ's call come up here, these want to first live life on earth and fulfill all of the anticipated pleasures it offers. Terry concludes, it is in America that this attitude is not embracing the rapture among Christians is most pronounced. Proof of that statement is made clear through the thousands upon thousands of sermons that are preached each week. The number of prophetic messages among those thousands of sermons, infinitesimal. People don't want to hear that Christ's call is imminent.

The pastors in overwhelming numbers demonstrate that they don't want to delve into that portion of biblical truth, even if indeed they in fact believe that the rapture is an imminent event. I'll stop there. And I want to welcome to the microphones of Understanding the Times Radio for the first time, Gary Stearman. Gary, welcome to the program. Gary Stearman Thank you, Jan. Good to talk with you again. Jan Gary Stearman Yeah, thank you. And so enjoyed getting to know Oklahoma City here back in July as I visited you folks. Gary Stearman We're just a little warmer than you are in Minnesota. Jan Gary Stearman Yep, you and Dallas and I was there both places at the same time almost weeks apart. And but listen, Gary, I have to go to Oklahoma City and Dallas to thaw out from our Minnesota winters. So that's what I did as I visited you folks. So you heard me read that article, part of an article from Terry James. And look, you and I host a popular Bible prophecy conferences.

We'll talk about that later. And another thing you and I have in common is you and I started in ministry about the same time. And we have seen huge changes since we started in ministry. And would I be correct in that? Well, first of all, one of the greatest changes in my world is what I just read about the church really wants to drop the topic that the king is coming. Would that be an experience in your world as well?

Gary Stearman It would be indeed. Prophecy Watchers, we receive a great deal of email, snail mail, phone conversations from people who have questions. And what we hear from the world over is that why don't they teach this material in my church?

If I've heard that question once, I've heard it 10,000 times. And I think there are several good answers to that question, going all the way back really to several church conferences at the beginning of the 20th century, when there was a real divide between intellectual Christianity and Bible believing Christianity. And I suppose it was around 1910. And it was in that year that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at that time issued what they call the Statement of the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. Those five are, number one, the scriptures are inspired, number two, the virgin birth of Christ, number three, divine substitutionary atonement, number four, the resurrection of Jesus, and number five, the miracles. So if you believe in those five things, that makes you a quote unquote fundamentalist. Now, I know you would believe in those five articles, and I know I do. And when you believe that way, and you really and truly believe in Jesus as the Son of God who came to earth for 33 years and walked among men, suddenly you're in a different regime, you're in a different realm, you've entered the spirit realm, and nothing is the same again.

And there's where the division comes in, I think, Jan, a lot of people are uncomfortable with the spiritual side of Christianity, and they would like to keep it pragmatic and make Christianity a kind of book of rules for daily living. And I suppose that's where our discussion starts. Well, and you told me when I was down there visiting, actually, that was the last couple of days of June, you told me that at one time, and you headquarter there in Oklahoma City, at one time, there was literally a Baptist church on every corner of Oklahoma City here in Twin Cities, would be a Lutheran church in every corner here locally. But you told me, and of course, all that's changed now, when you even said that many of them have been replaced by casinos. Here they're being replaced by mosques. But all right, the point is the churches seem to be fading. And when I hear that solid Baptist churches in Oklahoma City are being replaced by casinos, this is telling me we are in a new day, and it's not a good day. Well, I mean, the day that we live in is the day that worships mammon, just as Jesus talked about.

And you know, I'd like to get back to this at some point in our conversation. But if you've noticed lately, it is the super rich, the movers and the shakers in the world of computer design and artificial intelligence, and the big investors, people who count their money in the hundreds of billions of dollars, who are really the most, if you will, influential people in society today. Great spiritual leaders have dropped into second, third, fourth and fifth place. We live in a world that literally worships mammon. Well, another place I want to head to before our hour closes today, and that is because you and I talked extensively about the passage out of 2 Timothy 3. And I want to get there eventually because of course, that talks about this love of money also, that in the last days, and people are going to be despisers of good traders, lovers of pleasure, lovers of money have a form of godliness, it's going to be a world entirely devoted to self.

As we talk, I mean, people are obsessed with their selfie photos, etc. And as we talked a few weeks ago in Oklahoma City, you were really emphasizing how the 2 Timothy 3, and that's a passage to the church. It's really talking about the church and it's talking to the church, not so much the world. Yeah, 2 Timothy 3 starts out with that very telling phrase in verse 1, this know also, and of course, Paul's writing to Timothy as a young preacher, this know also that in the last days, perilous time shall come. Well, Paul uses the term last days. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind, Jan, that we're living in the last days. I don't even hesitate to say that.

And I'm pretty sure you're on the same page there. And Timothy is urged to understand one thing, he says, in the last days, perilous time shall come. Well, years ago, when I was doing a expository teaching of 2 Timothy, I looked up and did a deep study on this chapter. I was really shocked when I looked at the Greek dictionary for the word perilous, this know also the last days, perilous time shall come. And it's a very definitive Greek word chalapas that's translated perilous. And I discovered that that word chalapas is found in only one other place in the entire New Testament. And that is, it's found back in Matthew, in Matthew 18, where Jesus has an encounter with a demonized man. And the fascinating thing about this is that this demonized man is described as possessing that same spirit.

He was called chalapas. And what can you say after that? In other words, what Paul was warning Timothy about was, look out, Timothy, there is going to be a time of insanity coming up in the last days. Now, if you've watched a little TV lately, what do you see? You see insanity on the streets of America, on the streets of Europe. You see crazy people with crazy signs, and you see people burning political figures in effigy and lopping off their heads and mouthing slogans that you and I, you know, it just sort of burns our ears as Christians.

We're not used to hearing language like that. And so those perilous times have really arrived. Again, when Jesus came across the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gergesenes, and that's in Matthew chapter 8, there were two men possessed with devils coming out of the tombs, and they're called exceedingly fierce. And of course, the rest of the story is that Jesus casts the demons from these people. But that exceeding fierceness is using the same word that you find in 2 Timothy chapter 3, chalapas.

So I just take that literally. And when I see all of the amazing stuff that I see in street marches, just look back to Paul and what Paul wrote to Timothy, and I'm saying, Okay, it's here. You're listening to Understanding the Times Radio. I'm Jan Markell. I have on the line from Oklahoma City, probably a familiar voice to many of you, Gary Stearman. And you catch him on Prophecy Watchers. That's the television program. You can learn a lot more and where it airs at prophecywatchers.com.

We'll say a little bit more about his October conference a little bit later in the program. Gary, I'm not quite finished yet with this 2 Timothy 3 because you're focusing, you're directing our thoughts to some of the insane things going on in the world today. And, you know, I catch myself saying all the time now I never thought I'd see the day I'd never thought I'd see the day that this transgender movement would take front center stage of everything. I never thought I'd see right versus left at war with each other like it is in America right now. And the left is now the resistance. Well, what are they resisting? I think they're resisting sanity is what they're resisting.

I mean, they would say they're resisting Donald Trump, but they don't like anything about the way normal society functions. We're looking at the deception in the church. We're looking at the earth simply groaning with natural disasters.

They're heartbreaking. And then, you know, you said something too. You said this happens, meaning the 2 Timothy 3 environment. This happens at the end run of a democracy.

So what do you mean by that? Well, democracy, as we understand it, the word itself was, of course, more or less invented and standardized by Plato, in which he visualized a democratic rule, an ideal city, which of course never came to pass. But it was not until our founding fathers founded a republic. And the two key words in the foundation of our republic are under God. And under God, it is possible to create a, if you will, a working democracy, a working republic. But the minute that God is taken out of the center of the Constitution, that the Republic begins to disintegrate.

And this is the one thing that people don't understand. They think that you can have a nice, sweet, democratic, cooperative society without God. And God to them is a bother. God to us is an absolute blessing. And he is the one who loves us, and we love him. To them, God is a troublemaker, a meddler, and that the sooner they can get rid of him, the better they like it.

And that's where we find ourselves today. Gary also has a chapter in The Deceivers book that we carry. That is the newest book put out by Terry James. It talks about the deception and all sorts of things from the church, the media, the schoolroom, and many other places as well.

You can find that in our web store, OliveTreeViews.org, OliveTreeViews.org. The book is titled Deceivers and talks about the deception of our day. My goodness, we've sold so many of those books, and I appreciate the great interest that you, my listening audience, has had in that particular product.

Gary, here's where I want to go. I want to talk a little bit more about the topic that the church has chosen to drop, and that would be eschatology or Bible prophecy. And I'm going to talk more specifically, I think, and we'll do it in segment number two when that comes up here in a moment, about the topic of the greatest news there is to the believer. Honestly, Gary Stearman, I couldn't function from day to day if I didn't believe that our Lord's return was literally imminent at any moment.

And I was just reading some headlines here recently, just this morning, as a matter of fact. You know, they were heartbreaking, some of the things that's going on in the world as it concerns fires, floods, you name it. And the great blessed hope in my world is that the rapture is at any moment and yet we've got the naysayers saying that no, we got to go through part of the tribulation, all the tribulation and all those kinds of things.

And I want to talk about that for just a few minutes when we come immediately back. Folks, don't forget, our conference is just on the horizon. It is Saturday, September the 29th, and we're going to be live streaming it free. We are 98% sold out of tickets. We still do have tickets in the chapel area and those are very reasonably priced, just $10. Otherwise, most of the seats are taken in our 4300 seat church venue, Grace Church Eden Prairie, Minnesota, outside Minneapolis.

However, you can live stream it at no cost. There'll be a short promo coming up in just a minute or two. And when I get back, I'm going to continue on here with Gary Stearman. You can learn a lot more about what Gary's ministry and life is all about. It's fascinating.

His family goes back to the Stearman airline business, all the way back to World War II. So we'll talk more with Gary when we get back in just a couple of minutes. Don't go away. Hi, Gary Stearman coming to you from Prophecy Watchers. In studio with me today is Jan Markell. I'll bet you've heard her on Christian radio.

She broadcasts coast to coast, border to border, and she brings the gospel to life with lots of guests and lots of great programs. Jan Markell, welcome to Prophecy Watchers. Jan Markell- Thank you, Gary.

Always happy to be here, thank you. Gary Stearman- And for those who may not have heard you on the radio, tell us what you do. Jan Markell- I started Understanding the Times Radio in 2001. It's heavily an interview program. We cover apologetics, current events very heavily, eschatology because it's just needed out there, it encourages the flock. We cover politics, I have some good politicians on every now and then. So we just talk about what in the world is going on, always from a biblical perspective. Gary Stearman- And so it's a time when everything's being unleashed. And that's why we at Prophecy Watchers, and I know, having talked with you for a while, I know you have the same feeling, we think that it's imperative to get out the message not only of the gospel but of the condition of the church and the destination of the church, get on board, because the church is where it's at. Jan Markell- The church is where it's at.

And to continue feeding the remnant, I mean, that's my goal. And we do it through radio, we do it through conferences. Announcer- Stay tuned to Understanding the Times Radio as we offer you hope for today with an eye on tomorrow and the hope of His return. Announcer- As a reminder, all our radio programming is available on our website. Just visit olivetreeviews.org and click on the radio archive tab. To order your own compact disc recording of Jan's conversation today with Gary Stearman, just phone 763-559-4444. When you call 763-559-4444, ask about our monthly CD subscription.

With every subscription, twice a month, all our current programs for the month will be mailed directly to you. Also remember, this fall our annual conference will be streamed live from our website free of charge. This will give you an opportunity to see the September 29th conference without leaving your own home. You might also want to get a group together to watch the conference at your church or other venue.

There'll be more on that coming up in just a minute. Don't forget this is a listener supported ministry. All your gifts are tax deductible. You can write to us at Olive Tree Ministries, Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311. Understanding the Times 2018 is almost sold out now. Why don't you consider getting a group together to live stream the event at your computer or perhaps put it on a big screen?

There is no cost or registration involved for streaming. Our speakers include Amir Sarfati, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Pastor Billy Crone, Pastor JD Farag, and Eric Barger. We will help you understand that nothing is falling apart. In fact, things are all falling together. Events that could be interpreted as chaotic and dark are really a herald of his return. We'll also help you contend for the faith. Fellowship with like-minded is essential for spiritual health and to stay optimistic and looking up.

Our event and live streaming is Saturday, September 29th, but you will be able to access the archived programming following that event. I promise our speakers and their topics will keep you focused on the bigger picture. God has everything under control. The King is coming right on time.

He's never early, he's never late, and he wants none to be left behind. Teaching Bible prophecy would be one of the greatest things that a church could do to its congregants because one, it gives them the hope of Christ's soon coming. Secondly, it motivates them to get the job done. That is to get out there and tell their friends and their family and their co-workers that Jesus Christ is coming. And then thirdly, it brings people great, great confidence, confidence in knowing that God's word never fails. It will never fail because what God has said in the past has been confirmed by his prophetic fulfillment.

Study Bible prophecy and get excited about the future. If you were to take some metal, let's say all kinds of metal, take some silver and some gold and some zinc and some copper and some iron and sprinkle it on the ground, bits of it. Put some of it beneath the surface of the ground, and it's all there in the ground. And then take one of these giant electromagnets and sweep it over those bits, those particles of metal there in the ground. Some of the metal would rise to meet the magnet. Other of the metal would stay in the ground. The gold would stay in the ground. The silver would stay in the ground. The zinc would stay in the ground. The copper and the bronze would stay in the ground. But the iron would do what? It would rise. Now why would the iron rise?

Because it has the same nature as the magnet. When Jesus comes again, those who are heaven born will be heaven bound. Since 1983, Gary Stearman has been the pastor of the Bible Church in Oklahoma City Grace Fellowship. Gary is also the moderator of a television program focused on Bible prophecy, Prophecy Watchers.

Gary is Jan's guest for this entire hour. Let's return now to their conversation. The prophecy of the rapture is still in the future as well, but there's no prophecy that has to be fulfilled before the rapture could potentially occur. Now there may be some things that will be fulfilled before the rapture, but they don't have to be.

It could happen at any time, at any moment. The trumpet could sound. The archangel could shout. Before we finish this conversation. And zoom, we're out of here to the glory of God.

All right. So let's talk to Christ followers out there because it is a, Paul talked about in Romans, a groaning planet, agonizing world that we live in. This, we read the scriptures, we learn of a blessed hope of seeing Jesus. We sing about heaven. We sing about that wonderful worship and read the Bible about that wonderful eternity we're going to be spending. But there is a prophetic calendar moving, a prophetic clock ticking.

What is your challenge? What is our responsibility as Christ followers before the church's rapture, which could occur at any moment? Well, I'd say first of all, read the Bible. Get your idea about the coming of Christ right out of scripture itself. You don't read the Bible through the newspaper.

You read the newspaper through the Bible. So if you understand what the Bible says about the future, then you can look at the news and say, oh wow, it looks like the stage is being set. We don't want to run ahead of God and set a timetable. That's in the Father's plan. But we also want to be alert to the fact that Israel's back in the promised land. The Bible said they would return and they did after nearly 1900 years.

That's never happened before in history. That the Middle East would be in crisis in the end times, and it is. That there'd be a global economy that could potentially be controlled by one individual. And that there would be weapons of mass destruction that might bring about the kind of things predicted in the book of Revelation.

And they already exist. Those things get my attention to say the clock is ticking. We have a date with destiny. But we also have a job to do in the meantime to reach the world for the cause of Christ while there's still hope, while there's still time.

And welcome back. And that was the familiar voice of Dr. Ed Hindson. He's going to be on air with me in a few weeks. And we're actually going to talk at that time about his newest book, Can We Believe in the Rapture? Can We Still Believe in the Rapture?

And I never thought we'd have to ask that kind of a question. That's the title of a brand new book by Dr. Mark Hitchcock and Dr. Ed Hindson. Can We Still Believe in the Rapture? My background goes back a lot of years in a church when I was very young. This is what we talked about on a regular consistent basis.

Things have changed substantially in the church. And I'm talking about that for the hour with Gary Stearman, Prophecy Watchers, prophecywatchers.com. I had the privilege of being down there the last few days of June to record two television programs. Find them at prophecywatchers.com or olivetreeviews.org.

And you can find them on the television as well as they I believe they aired in the month of July. Gary, let me just revisit this topic here for a few minutes. And I think the essence of the problem is and we've already touched on it, I just don't want to let it go quite yet. And that more people are living for today, rather than focusing on tomorrow and our eternal home. And maybe that's because and if we focus on, let's say the Western world, and particularly America, North America, we are so comfortable here that why would we want this lifestyle interrupted and suddenly be in heaven?

I know it sounds crazy to you and me, but I'm trying to understand this. Well, Jan, let me answer first by saying I attended a conference which Chuck Missler, our late friend Chuck Missler was speaking and Chuck stood up in front of a very large audience. And he said today, I want to talk about the rapture. And he paused for a moment. And then he said, I just want to tell you that the rapture is a preposterous idea. And then everybody laughed. And then he said it again, the rapture is a preposterous idea.

And the audience caught on to what he was saying. In other words, if you had not been introduced to the topic, the fact that our Lord is going to come back in the clouds of glory and take believers home to be with him, and this is going to happen in an instant twinkling of an eye, the whole thing would just sound preposterous to you. But if you take it in stages, and you really study what the New Testament says, it's not preposterous at all. And it is our blessing and hope. And I've got to tell you, that as comfortable as I am in 21st century America, I would still rather go home to be with my Lord.

That's vastly superior to be with him than to be in any country on earth, no matter how good the lifestyle happens to be at the moment. But the whole idea of the rapture starts in John 14, where Christ is breaking the news to his disciples that he's going to be going away. And everybody knows in John 14, you know, he says, if I go to prepare a place for you, I'll come again, I'll receive you to myself where I am, there you may be also. And many people say this is the first reference to the rapture in the New Testament. And then of course, doubting Thomas speaks up and says, Well, Lord, how can we know what you're saying is true?

How can we know the way? And he looks Thomas in the eye and he says, Thomas, I am the way, the truth and the life. And you know, that's really the introduction to the rapture right there. And it's so comforting. It is given in the spirit of love. It's Jesus talking with the disciples whom he dearly loved, and they loved him.

And this is kind of an insider's conversation. Don't worry, I'm going to come back. And you'll find out more about it later. But then you go to Acts chapter one, when Jesus ascends before the giving of the Holy Spirit to the general church, and Acts chapter one, verse nine says, And when he had spoken these things, Jesus talks to them, he tells them the Spirit is coming. And when he has spoken these things, while they be held, he was taken up in a cloud received him out of their sight. And to me, that it's almost humorous what follows, the disciples are looking up into heaven where Jesus has gone and two men in white, that is angels appeared beside them and says, Why are you looking up there? He's going to come back just as you've seen him go up into heaven.

And then the angels say, it's time for you guys to get to work and work until he comes back. Well, that sets the whole scene for me. But I'm trying to figure out how and when and where things changed. If I can offer some thoughts and observations from my own experience, I think that evangelicals now are beginning to stray into social justice type topics and emphasis. I think that younger people have little interest in what we're talking about.

Now, you know, every now and then some younger folks turn up at your event in mind, perhaps 10%, but that would be the max. I think that the church growth movement has moved into the evangelical church and for that matter, mainline Protestants as well. Church growth would emphasize a whole lot of other issues because the message that you and I are bringing, which is ultimately good news, is looked upon as scary. It's looked upon as a little bit ominous and pastors don't want to go there, as we talked about in that first segment. And then the apostasy today is so much more rampant than it was, say, 30 years ago, even 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, which is the basis of the new Terry James book.

Deceivers is, you know, the deceivers are everywhere. These are some of the things that I have noticed. The seeker friendly, the church growth movement, the fact that the topic that you and I are talking about right now is considered controversial.

Give me a break. Controversial that we could be whisked out of here at any moment. That's controversial.

But it is. In the minds and hearts of many people, it's controversial. Well, let me respond to that very quickly because you and I talk, and if you recall, when you were here, we had a long conversation about how much mail we get from people who say that they used to believe in the pre-trib rapture, and they've given up on the idea. And my understanding of that, I've tried to figure it out, and there was a huge wave of pre-trib rapture excitement back in the 80s, in 1980 through about 1995. There's about a 15-year period there where there was just an absolute sense in Bible-believing churches that Jesus was coming back in just a very few years.

They had watched events in Israel, and read books like Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth and others, and they were really excited. And then came burnout, and several books at that point, just going into the 21st century, several books came out that said, Hey, folks, all of this pre-trib rapture stuff, for you who are watching and you were disappointed, there's not going to be a pre-trib rapture. It's going to come either in the middle of the tribulation or after the tribulation. So get ready to go through the tribulation. And that, through cold water, on the whole idea of waiting for the imminent return of Jesus Christ, didn't discourage me, but it did a lot of people. And I think a lot of people who have not been taught, systematically taught the doctrine of the rapture, are easily discouraged. And they turn back and they say, Well, I'm tired of watching for this. I'm going to go back and try to do as much good as I can while there's still time.

And so that set, I think, the stage for what we're seeing now, which is people walking away from the spirit-filled life and moving toward the social life of those who can do good for society in any way possible. Yeah, I would absolutely agree with you there, Gary. You're listening to Understanding the Times Radio Jam. Arkell here on the line with me from Oklahoma City is Gary Stearman. And some of you have attended his annual conference held in various locations. And let's just give a plug for that right now, Gary, because yours is coming up mid-October. Give me the dates and location.

We are having the second annual Blessed Hope Prophecy Forum, October 12th through 14th. It's going to be in the Embassy Suites Hotel, Norman, Oklahoma, which is right on the south side of Oklahoma City. And of course, that's going to come in October when the weather in Oklahoma is absolutely wonderful.

And not the usual hot and windy weather we have in the summer. And people love Oklahoma, and they love the Oklahoma hospitality. One thing we have here, Jan, is people who love to meet people and welcome them and greet them. We're going to have a number of speakers. I don't think we have time to read all the names. You're going to be among them. Bill Koenig, Dr. Tommy Ice, and Bill Salas, L.A. Marzulli, and just so many people you're familiar with. Again, 30 speakers, I think, or over 30, perhaps.

That's right. That's a logistics nightmare. As a conference planner, Gary, I guarantee my audience that is a logistics nightmare.

Just picking them up at the airport and getting them to the right location. I don't know how you do it. That's your buddy there, Bob Ulrich.

He does an absolute fantastic job. Folks, here's the number. Here's the number that you need to call. Or you can just go online, ProphecyWatchers.com.

It's a lot easier. Or you can call. Here's the total frame number. It's 888-722-0008. That's 888-722-0008. That's to register for Gary Stearman's conference. Don't get it mixed up with mine. Mine's September 29th.

Saturday, September 29th, right outside of Minneapolis. It's a lot of dates. It's a lot of locations. Just to understand they're two separate events, but the subject matter is quite similar. The goal is the same.

And Gary, here's the thing. The goal is to, again, minister to that remnant who feels so alone. And that's the most frequent email I get. Got several this morning saying same thing. They feel alone.

They feel marginalized. Let me just read an email here I got this morning. And it's from Carol. And she says, there seems to be such a small amount of people who believe we're living in the last days and are teaching it and proclaiming it. Carol says, we have lost even more friends since I last wrote you.

And it appears to be either over our care and concern about Israel or the last days and time belief. Carol goes on to say, I cannot believe so many people have left us. And then I wonder if we ever truly had any friends. What I don't understand is why can't we be friends just because we believe that part of the Bible, in other words, that one third of the Bible. She concludes, but it appears now that you cannot be friends with people who do not believe what we believe, what you and I believe, Gary, and what Carol believes, or you will be considered fringe. At least that seems to be the case. And that's how Carol signed off her email. Just got this here recently. Sort of summed that up in one email.

Because she's considered fringe, she's lost most of her friends. Hmm. And I know that.

I know the feeling very well. Because having pastored a church, a Bible church, where expository teaching was the word of the day, I mean, and that's what I did for a number of years, and sprinkled through that expository teaching was Bible prophecy. And you know, I disagree with a lot of people who say the Bible is the third prophecy. I always believe the Bible is 100% prophecy, because it begins with, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and it ends with, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. And in between, it's all either fulfilled prophecy or prophecy that which is about to be fulfilled. And so I see prophecy everywhere. And it's sprinkled all through the Bible in places that you wouldn't even expect.

And every bit of it says one thing. God is not going to forget you. He's not going to leave you. He's not going to forsake you. But before he judges this world, you are going to be taken up to be with him. And that message is literally all throughout Scripture. You know, and you said something, and I want you to clarify it here.

And we've just got a few minutes left in this segment on the we've got a closing segment. But you said that I'm quoting you here. You said watchful waiting may be the most difficult thing we can do.

Can you explain that in about three minutes? Well, and I'm kind of chuckling because I can't tell you how many Christians I've counseled over the years and who have a malady and we have finally come up with a name for it. It's called pre rapture dysfunction.

I can't remember when I first talked with a gentleman who came up to me and he says, Gary, I think I've got it pre rapture dysfunction because I've waited and I've waited and I've waited so long and I got my hopes built up and I really believe in the pre trip rapture. But you know, lately I'm just tired. I have got problems at work.

I've got money problems to worry about. And I just want the rapture to come. And now it may come later than I expected.

And I am just worn out. So Jan, I don't know whether you've talked to anybody like that, but I've talked with a lot of people who have watched very, very excitedly and then they've gotten kind of tired of watching. And that's why I think watchful waiting is is at the heart of your faith. You've got to approach each day as the day that the Lord is coming for you personally.

And I have learned to do that and I've taught a number of other people to do it. And I think it's where the Lord wants us to be. I appreciate you summarizing that I really do. Here's where I'd like to go Gary in my closing segment.

It's a little bit of a shorter segment. And that is we are watching some amazing headlines. We're watching some amazing news stories breaking on a regular basis. My goodness, whoever would have thought that President Donald J. Trump would move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem right on Israel's 70th anniversary, May 14th here a few weeks ago, months ago now, we've got geopolitical things happening, just breaking right and left. We've got the Middle East. Well, it's not in chaos, but boy, it could head into chaos at any time. And I'm very concerned about it.

In other words, we've got stories breaking that really sort of leap out of the Bible. And I want to talk about that as we kind of wrap our conversation down a little bit. And we will do that folks again, my conference understanding the times 2018 encourage you to get a group together and live stream it that Saturday, September 29th. My speakers include Amir Sarfati, Eric Barger, Pastor JD Farag, Pastor Billy Crone, Pastor Jack Hibbs, and I'll be there my whole team will be there. You can meet my radio producer who's makes all of this noise that we do every week and makes it sound absolutely brilliant. So you can meet Larry as well. Lots of people will be there that you can get acquainted with on Saturday, September 29th.

And if not in person, you can watch it on the live streaming. And I'm coming back in just a couple of minutes. We're going to wrap up my discussion with Gary Stearman. Again, you've seen or heard about Prophecy Watchers, look it up online prophecywatchers.com.

I'm back in just a couple of minutes. One of the ways we can stay in touch with you is through our website. At OliveTreeViews.org you can gain access to our newsletter, e-news alerts, news headlines, all the resources in our web store, and a whole lot more. For your convenience, at OliveTreeViews.org you can also download current and past radio programs. And at OliveTreeViews.org you can also contact us. There online you can also give securely to help maintain this ministry in your neighborhood. You can also reach us by mail at Olive Tree Ministries, Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311. Thank you for your faithful listening, praying, and giving to this radio outreach.

Jan and Gary will be back in just a moment as they talk about this. The King is coming and probably soon. Well, for those of us who are watching for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we understand that what sets up the conditions around that return is a global apostasy. I am so pleased that this ministry is carrying the new book titled, Can We Still Believe in the Rapture? The co-authors are Dr. Ed Hindson and Dr. Mark Hitchcock. I did not think I would ever have to ask such a question, but today many churches marginalized this message.

Many scoff and mock about the glorious good news that the King is coming again, and perhaps today. Check it out in our web store at OliveTreeViews.org. You can call us Monday through Friday and order it by phone at 763-559-4444, 763-559-4444 Central Time. We will be in our print and e-newsletter.

Sign up online. Look for Can We Still Believe in the Rapture? We want you to rejoice in the hope of His return and this new publication will help you do just that. Things are all falling into place.

We want you to look up and know that His return is right at the door. Hello everyone, this is Bill Salus, the founder of Prophecy Depot Ministries, and I've been honored to be a guest on Jan Markell's radio show, and I listen to it on a frequent basis. She covers so many different diverse topics, not only prophecy, but dealing with the signs of our times and the political things that are going on with excellent guests.

I've seen her show grow from several hundred radio stations up to, I think it's 830 some now, if not more, because people are interested in this show, I highly encourage you to listen to Jan Markell on a frequent basis. And I'm thankful for the Bible, and I'm also thankful for the spirit of prophecy, because the spirit of prophecy gives us an enormous amount of information as well, but also it gives us spiritual guidance for the last days so that we may know how to navigate those unique and difficult circumstances that God's people will face. Here to wrap up today's conversation with pastor, teacher, writer, and broadcaster Gary Stearman, once again, Jan Markell. We have seen Israel come back as a nation. We've seen World War I fought to give the land to Israel, World War II fought to bring the Israelis back to the land, and I think World War III is in the wings, and it will be fought to bring the kingdom at the end of World War III and all of the horrific things that will accrue out of it. The return of Christ will come.

He'll set up the kingdom, and there will be a thousand years of peace on earth. And welcome back, and let me just make a couple of comments or announcements that I'm going to return and wrap up my conversation with Gary Stearman. And remember, you can get a CD of any program. Hundreds of you are CD subscribers, and you just need to call us on that.

It's a very limited charge. Please check out my print and e-newsletter, won't you? Remember, this program is always posted to my website, SaturdayMorningOliveTreeViews.org, OliveTreeViews.org, or just sign up for the OnePlace.com mobile app, and it'll be downloaded to your various devices Saturday morning.

Check out OnePlace.com for their fantastic mobile app. And talking for the hour with Gary Stearman, and Gary's got a chapter in the book where we're carrying deceivers exposing evil, seducers, and their last day's deception. And we've been talking a little bit about that for the hour. We've kind of focused on, well, the church and the fact that the church has chosen to drop one of the greatest, most uplifting and encouraging messages there is. The King is coming, and probably soon.

And the church would rather, well, deal with some seeker issues and perhaps not talk about this good news. And that's just something that's happened here in the last probably 20 years. But Gary Stearman, I just played a clip of you, and you were talking about what happened after World War I, and then after World War II. And then you said World War III, well, it's in the wings.

And why don't you just describe what you meant by that? Gary Stearman Well, for those of us who are watching for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, we understand that what sets up the conditions around that return is a global apostasy. We know all about the seven churches of Asia Minor, the Laodicean Church, the falling away from belief. That is time to coincide with the rise of false doctrine. And the Bible speaks obliquely of the rise of Islam. And it talks about Middle East wars in so many different places that are affiliated with or associated with, I would say, the return of Israel to the land, Ezekiel 38 being one of them.

And the thing that strikes me about the invasion of Israel in Ezekiel 38 is that it happens in association with the growth of the religions of the Middle East, and that would be Islam. And as we watch Islam today, it's infiltrating the countries in the world that are becoming apostate. In other words, the apostasy of the church has opened a gap that has allowed Islam to march in to communities that were formerly Christian. Almost all of Europe has gone this way. The Europeans are now essentially overwhelmed because their churches died. America is in the process of being overwhelmed in the same way as our churches are dying.

And the bright side of this, Jan, is that Jesus is coming soon. Because when we read about things like the burden of Damascus in Isaiah 17, we have a 24-hour war waged that destroys Damascus, and it destroys biblical Samaria, which would go all the way down to Jordan. The Bible is calling for a series of wars, and they all happen in the context of the rise of the religions of the Middle East. And I'm not talking about Judaism, I'm talking about Islam. You can't look at the Middle East and Europe today and not see it happening.

We're both watching Europe. Obviously, Europe made huge mistakes some 50, 60 years ago. It became godless and became socialist. And that's a real warning for America, I think, because we're being tempted to do the same thing. You have no resistance. If you become godless, you have no defense.

That's right. So my concern is, as we speak anyway, is an impending war in the Middle East. I'm moving us right now from Europe back to the Middle East. Granted, it's the turmoil in the Middle East that sent all these refugees into Europe and fiasco that's resulted as a result of the turmoil in the Middle East, heavily Syria and Iraq, too.

But as I speak, Gary Stearman, and Gary's been my guest here for the entire hour, my concern is, as I speak, is you referenced Isaiah 17. Of course, that would be the destruction of Damascus. But just a general overall conflict buildup in the Middle East, it's begging for a major war. I don't mean Armageddon. I'm not even sure.

I mean Gog Magog. It could just be another war, like Israel's had so many wars. Well, look, you have the Ayatollahs of modern day Iran, which is biblical Persia, standing up and calling America the great Satan and Israel the little Satan and pledging each and every single day to destroy both Israel and America. And the battle lines are clear of what's happening. And it's right in the Bible.

All of this was predicted so perfectly. And Persia plays, and we don't have time right now, but Persia plays a role prophetically in so much of the Old Testament that refers to the wars that take place just before Jesus returns. Well, I find it sad because, you know, the people of Persia or Iran, many of them are good people. And they're actually a friend of Israel. I mean, they were friends back before 1979 and the whole Shah ordeal, Shah of Iran, and then Ayatollah Khomeini came in in 79, and suddenly the leadership of Iran turned on Israel. But the people of Iran have never turned on God's people.

Israel never turned on them. And yet it's the people being crushed right now, the people of Iran, the insane Iranian leadership. And again, they're part of the spark of Gog Magog.

But I just got a burden. And there are lots of Christians in Iran as well. Indeed.

In fact, there are little revivals, pockets of revival happening everywhere, including Iran. Yes, exactly. Gary, we're down to a few minutes here. How would you want to sum up what we've talked about? We've talked about various things in this hour. We've talked about a little bit of the dysfunction of the church. And Gary, let's quickly say that not every church falls into that category, because we have pastors who are standing for truth, and we're very grateful for those who are.

But we talked about various things, including the hope of his return and how marginalized that is. And, you know, maybe you could give a word of encouragement to pastors who are listening. You are a pastor. You were a radio host.

Now you're a TV host. You're a writer. You have some incredible books out. Find out more folks at ProphecyWatchers.com.

But how would you want to sum up what we've talked about? Well, as we're speaking, I've flipped my Bible open to Revelation chapter three, and the message to the Philadelphia church, the church of brotherly love. And I think this is a prophecy for the church of the latter days. And it speaks of, in verse 10, because you have kept the word of my patience, I will also keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Behold, I come quickly. Those are Jesus' words. And what he's saying there is, keep hanging on to your faith, because I am coming. And when he says, I'm coming quickly, he means you're not going to expect it.

You won't have time to prepare for it. It'll happen in a moment, a twinkling of an eye. And his word to his church, his believing church, is, when you see these things begin to happen, do not give up. Meaning that you may be tempted to give up, because things look pretty bad.

And it may look like you're losing the battle, but you're not. And I think those are Jesus' words to us in this day. I'm not sure that I believe in a general revival just ahead. I'm praying that it'll happen. But if it doesn't, there are enough of us who are still believers, I think, to hold that line.

And that's what we're supposed to do. Well, I'm not convinced about an end time revival. I know when I say that, I dishearten some listeners.

I've had some emails that, because they really feel that. And you know, I think individual churches can have revivals. I think there are parts of Europe, certainly parts of Africa, that seem to be having some revivals.

I think they're probably very legitimate. But I read heavily about end time apostasy, so it's hard for me to get into this revival mode. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope I'm wrong. You know, there's always time, and there is that last believer out there who's going to come to Christ just before Jesus steps out of the heavens and says, Come up hither. And again, I would stress for our audience right now, to me, the art of studying Bible prophecy is to study it systematically and to try to cultivate the art of watchful waiting so that you don't become discouraged, but rather you become excited at the nearness of his return. Okay, folks. Well, again, I'm just going to give a shout out for Gary's conference, which is October 12, 13, 14. I'll be there.

30 other speakers will be there. Prophecywatchers.com. Here's the number, toll free. 888-722-0008. 888-722-0008. And be a great type of a family reunion if you'd like to come.

October 12, 13, 14. I'll have a table there. I'll bring some of our olive tree products. And by the way, Gary, thank you for sharing on air with me today. I really appreciate it. We'll be looking forward to seeing you here.

Not that far away. I kind of want to close here, though, with just a little saying I use every now and then. And it goes like this. When the time was right, the sea parted. The walls fell down.

The lions went hungry. The sun stood still. The waves were calm. The stone was rolled away. The clouds were parted. The Lord ascended. And when the time is right, the King of Kings will return. God is never early. He's never late. He's always right on time.

And His plan for you is good. I want to thank you for listening, and we will talk to you next week. Thank you for joining us for today's Understanding the Times radio with Jen Markell. Across America and across the world wide web, we continue to report current events from a biblical perspective.

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Week after week, Jen Markell brings you a compelling hour pointing out the dangers in today's culture. We're asking you to join us in this listener-supported ministry as our financial partner. Please write with your tax-deductible gifts to Olive Tree Ministries, Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311. Contributions are also welcome at OliveTreeViews.org or by phone when you dial 763-559-4444. Don't forget global updates with a biblical worldview are yours around the clock at OliveTreeViews.org. We look forward to hearing from you soon. We appreciate your continued prayer support with Jen and her media team. Jen Markell returns next week with another information and inspiration packed hour designed to help you understand the times.