In 1952, Mad Magazine made its debut and lasted until 2018. It featured the picture of a young man on every cover with a smile showing a tooth missing, large ears, and he was given the name Alfred E. Neuman. He became famous for the saying, “What, Me Worry?” The magazine was total satire, which Oxford Languages defines as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” (ESV – all emphasis mine)

With the state of everything that is taking place in our politics today, Mad Magazine could be a reference guide to all that we are presently experiencing. Sad part is, what’s happening isn’t all that funny. In fact, there’s nothing humorous about the direction the supposed leaders are taking this country and the world in general.

Isaiah 5:20-21 is ringing out loud and clear; “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight.”

Jesus told us in Luke 21:28, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing nigh.” In John 15:18-19, Jesus told us what we can expect, especially in these changing times: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Considering the above messages from our Savior, should we be surprised that we’re being called “haters”? The reason behind this is non-believers are suspicious of us because we don’t participate in all of their activities. They don’t realize that we love everyone because of their immortal soul, but we don’t have to like what they do.

Our Savior loved, and still loves, everyone. Even as He was being nailed to that cruel Roman cross, He asked the Father to forgive them. However, He did not hesitate during His ministry to criticize the religious leaders for their faux worship. They were more interested in being personally worshiped rather than truly honoring and glorifying their Heavenly Father.

Jesus, Paul, John Peter, and others told of what we could expect as we approach the end of this age. The Bible tells us there would be those claiming to be the Christ, but their goal would actually be to lead others astray.

We have this going on in today’s world. We’re told there would be wars and rumors of war, nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be pestilences and terrors and great signs from Heaven. People will be fainting with fear over what’s about to come. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places; false prophets and antichrists will come out as never before and lead many astray. The best evidence of this today would be the rise in satanism, more particularly, “churches of Satan” that are forming in numerous places around our country.

Going to 1 John 2:15-16, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life – is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

Then 1 John 2:22-23, “Who is the liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” Then 1 John 4:2-3, “By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

This was written by John nearly 2,000 years ago, and he is telling us that Satan’s antichrists were already at work. Just within the past decade or so, they have been coming more and more out of the closet, and the evil activity is increasing.

In 2 Peter 2:1-3, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destination is not asleep.”

Paul has a good explanation about this in 1 Corinthians 1:18; “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

The world is developing an attitude that will bring out the ultimate evil antichrist and his false prophet. Paul states in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” It’s obvious that the delusion has already started.

And as Paul Harvey used to say, “And now for the rest of the story.” Starting with 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Then 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain Salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with Him.” And then Revelation 3:10, “Because you have kept My word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.”

Before the evil antichrist can make his appearance, all who are true believers and have received and accepted Jesus will be caught up in the air to meet Him in the clouds. This is not the second coming when Jesus will physically return to earth, but it will be an event known as the Rapture.

While the rest of the world will be going through the absolute worst seven years this planet has ever seen, Jesus’ flock will be with Him in brand new immortal forever bodies with a mindset such as He has. And the absolute best part is that each and every person on earth is able to choose to be with Jesus if they so wish. Romans 10:9-13 gives the simple steps with the final promise in verse 13 of “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

God will force no one to accept His Son, but all who do will have an eternal Home in Heaven. All who do not receive and accept Jesus will spend eternity in darkness in the lake of fire with Satan and his demons (Revelation 20:11-15).

We are seeing end-of-age prophecy being fulfilled faster than ever before, and it won’t be long until the Trumpet of God sounds and there is a cry from an archangel. It could be any day, any hour now.

To read about the Rapture, go to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15-51-53. To delay calling on Jesus to forgive you and to be your forever Savior could be very costly. Once the Rapture starts, it will be over faster than anyone can call out to be saved at that time.

Today would not be too early to become a part of His precious flock. It’s a decision you’ll be forever be thankful you made.

B’AHAVA! (With Love!)

huebshman46@gmail.com

It’s always a great privilege to speak in a new church, but it’s a privilege that also requires precise preparation!

As I have written previously in this series, I strive to ask the following questions before I go into a church to speak for the first time:

– Does the congregation have a strong preference regarding dress in the pulpit?

– Does the congregation have a strong preference regarding Bible translations?

– Is the congregation used to having a media slide presentation (i.e., PowerPoint, Google Slides, etc.) during the sermon, and how is that system set up?

In this article, we’ll examine the third of these questions—a very practical one, indeed.

Media Slide Presentations

I have seen virtually every kind of setup used to run media slide presentations in churches of all sizes and shapes.

On the low end, there is the woefully outdated projector seated precariously on a stack of hymnals—forming a tilting picture. You can probably visualize the cords coming out from it, forming a pile of electronic spaghetti. And when I show my prayer card, it turns my face into a beautiful shade of green!

On the high end, there are state-of-the-art systems controlled by a team of techies in the audio-video booth—who appear to have enough equipment and manpower to guide us safely through the next moon landing.

However, you might be surprised to know which of these systems might actually work the best for teaching the Bible.

But first, let’s back up. How does one use tools like PowerPoint or Google Slides in teaching or preaching? The answers to that question will be as varied and diverse as the number of people supplying them.

Some preachers, for instance, will preach an entire sermon using five or six slides—a cover slide, a photo or chart or map, a quote, a verse, and that’s about it.

This is not my style. For me, I tend to go all or nothing. I can easily preach or teach with no slides at all. But when I use them, I usually make it a slide-based presentation—and seldom use additional notes. That means that I could have up to 100 or more slides for a single message. Keep in mind that this will include lists and outlines, where I am building on one basic slide multiple times. Also, it is vital for me to be able to see and advance my own slides, and I really want to be able to read them clearly and view the slide that is coming next, as well.

So, in that light, there are some setups that simply do not work well with this kind of presentation. Sadly, some of them are the most expensive, high-tech arrangements out there. Sometimes, the church has designed the entire system to be run from a sound booth in the back of the auditorium—with no ability to connect near the pulpit (and thus no opportunity to see and control the slides). In essence, the church has put in place a wonderful video projection system—great for showing movies but of little use for actual Bible teaching.

There is one thing that makes it even worse, however. That is when there is no screen on the back wall, which allows me to see even the current slide without turning my back to the congregation. Depending on the size of the auditorium and other factors, sometimes this situation can be overcome if I can connect my laptop to run the presentation from the sound booth and set it up in the back of the church where I can see it as much as possible, and also control it myself.

Remember, it always works best for me to run my own presentation off of my own laptop. Putting my presentation on a thumb drive to run through the church’s computer entails the added risk that fonts and graphics will become corrupted in translation.

If the presentation must go through the church’s computer without the ability for me to run my own remote clicker to advance the slides, I will usually just forgo using slides at all. (Although, if the problem relates to the placement of the USB connection for the clicker, this challenge may be solved through the use of a USB extension cable.)

Oh, the tales I could tell about the predicaments I’ve encountered trying to use media slides in churches! As Dr. Whitcomb would say, “These are troubles the Apostle Paul never experienced!”

One additional note: I am certainly not a techie, but there is one piece of advice I always try to spread far and wide. Sometimes, someone in a church (usually a small church) with one of those antiquated projectors sitting on a bundle of hymnals will say longingly, “We just have to get a new projector!” In my mind, I can visualize them spending a huge sum of money on a system that may well end up being impractical for preaching and teaching. I always tell them not to do it. Instead, I say, just go buy a big-screen television and a nice cart so the speaker can plug into it right where he stands, and the small congregation will be able to view a perfect picture with ease.

And here’s my advice for the guest speaker: If you plan to use media slides, set it up ahead of time—the day before if at all possible. There is really no such thing as being too early.

What have you learned from using presentation slides in a new church as a guest speaker? I would be glad to know of any lessons you can share.

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Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.