Online ministry efforts have doubtless expanded exponentially since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It expedited my own plans for engaging in online ministry—and I am sure it did the same for many others.

I shared quite a few of my own thoughts on this theme in parts two and three of this series. I have also described at length how the shutdowns provided the time and opportunity—and compelled me by necessity—to launch the type of online outreach that I had envisioned from the beginning of my service with The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

Now, I believe that our next question as church and ministry leaders ought to be: How can we think strategically and prepare ourselves and our ministries before we are ambushed by the next crisis?

Once again, we’re drawing on the experience of Steven Lee, the founder of SermonAudio.com, in looking at this question. I interviewed him regarding The Vault, which SermonAudio is building on the campus of Bob Jones University, and related issues.

“This whole pandemic—there is a lot that we can say that’s negative about it,” Lee stated. “But, obviously, I think that churches and ministries are seizing upon this tool to get the gospel out far and wide.”

Lee was referring to using the tools of technology in broadcasting our message—a practice that many ministers embraced during the shutdowns of 2020.

“As far as the actual technology goes, it has gotten people aware—there are other ways, and very good ways that we can be using these tools for our advantage. I think that the pandemic served that purpose,” he said.

“Maybe previously they were sitting on the fence, or they did not see it as important—it was sort of a secondary or side thing,” Lee stated. “Well, for a period there, it was the only way of reaching people. Now they can see, ‘Wow, this is actually very useful.'”

Lee is also seeing a difference in the quality of the media that churches are producing since the pandemic, as well as watching the number of churches that utilize it continue to grow.

“We have had a number of churches that have come on board to broadcast with us, and they are finding it to be a wonderful tool,” he said. “But I also think—and I find this interesting to watch on the site—it has introduced these churches, especially the smaller ones, to experimenting with more content. Yes, they are still preaching their Sunday messages. But they are now putting out podcasts; they are now putting out videos—short videos that people can consume. They are understanding that people like to listen to content, and they are putting a little bit more polish into their content, and I think it is a good thing.”

What other effects are these “perilous times” (2 Tim. 3:1) having upon ministries?

Lee said that the pandemic and the corresponding shutdowns have “heightened” our “appreciation for the local assembly of God’s people.”

He stated: “It certainly has made us a lot more appreciative of the gathering together of God’s people. That has become a lot more well-defined in people’s minds.”

Looking ahead, Lee reiterated the need to learn from the last set of crises—and become prepared to negotiate future ones.

“I think that we have to be careful not to fearmonger, but it would be naïve to think it’s just sort of this blip that happened and we’ll just continue on the way we’ve always continued on,” he explained. “I think this is something of a test, with the powers that be—that’s just my opinion—and I think that leaders around the world have gotten a taste for power like they have never had before, and it is going to be really hard for them just to say, ‘Well, that was nice for the few years that we had it, and let’s just move on to the way it used to be.'”

He added, “I think that what we are all finding is that people are very easily controlled. Christians have to be like those that are awake—we can’t be people that are just putting our heads in the sand and just assuming that there is no agenda that is being driven. I think that is very naïve.”

SermonAudio is preparing a colossal response of its own to these challenging times—in the hope that it will equip churches all around the globe before another crisis falls. Their project, of course, is The Vault. We’ll conclude this series next time by considering how cancel culture demonstrates the immediacy of its necessity.

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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.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

It’s fascinating that most of us who consider such things have inevitably thought of the person of the Antichrist as coming out of the ranks of the elites. Why would we do this? Probably because we figure that anyone rising to such influence must have some base of power to begin with.

Think about some of the candidates that have been put forth for this remarkable end-times position as the man who will rule the earth during the Tribulation. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is a popular figure whom many point toward as the Man of Sin. After all, didn’t he walk on water, according to the Economist Magazine in 2017 while being labeled “Europe’s Savior?” We have some folks who think Pope Francis could be the man, while others have pointed toward Prince Charles. I postulated back in May that perhaps Bill Gates could be this infamous figure.

We link – and I think rightly so – the man riding the white horse when the 1st Seal is opened with Antichrist, a political figure who will be seen as “the man with a plan,” as Jan Markell has said. The world will be in turmoil, and in some way, this man gains authority with the means of both attracting belief in him plus the adoration of the entire planet. What an amazing rise to prominence!

Yet, perhaps there’s a flaw in our thinking as to who this mesmerizing person might be. Many people are waking up to the engineered harm done by COVID and the so-called vaccines. They know something is wrong, and it starts at the top. They can see that authority figures in government, huge corporations, noted institutions like the WHO, NIH, CDC, and FDA, plus most of the medical establishment – among them hospitals, doctors, and nurses – have lied to the extreme.

These are all official bodies and people in positions of great influence in society. They are among the elites: the globalist rulers and power brokers.

Given this fact and many people’s realization of it, the question that comes to mind for me is: Why would anyone trust a person emerging from this morass of lies and deceit? It’s true that after the Rapture, great deception will come upon the earth; and maybe people will be that stupid to place their lives in the hands of someone with the background credentials of someone like a Macron or Gates.

But… but… what if we’ve got it wrong? What if the Antichrist… comes from “We the People”?

Consider how Antichrist is pictured in Revelation 13:1:

“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.”

What does it mean that he rises out of the sea? The sea in ancient Israelite thinking represents chaos and even a place of evil.

Biblically, the sea also can represent humanity, i.e., the sea of humanity. And isn’t humanity’s mass of peoples one of chaos and evil given the deceitfulness of man’s heart?

Could the possibility exist that because of the potential fact that most people wouldn’t trust an elite globalist figure to be their leader, given the last couple years of COVID turmoil, that Antichrist comes from what might effectively be called the grassroots?

Think about that. He’s a trusted figure among those who have pushed back against the COVID narrative, and he becomes seen as one who won’t just go along with what everyone is told by the media. He becomes a darling of the “resistance,” and because of his supernatural credentials, impresses even those who might be in opposition. Thus, as I say, perhaps he comes forth from We the People, literally rising out of the (ocean) blue.

What a populist figure he would be! Contrary to all the government and elitist rulers, he might be able to say anything that doesn’t fall in line with their talking points and get away with it. He could be something like a Donald Trump persona only without even the reality show and real estate mogul background that he had.

Of course, the trick is that he would be known and numbered among the highest of the globalist cabal, i.e., a Trojan Horse for the masses. Nothing would separate him from our betters who would rule over us other than the appearance that he isn’t one of them.

Can you see it? How he would emerge from the wilderness of flyover country as the champion of the people? Chaos is the order of the day, and somehow he appears as the savior of the human race.

As I like to say: We’ll see… but we really won’t, that is, those of us who know Jesus Christ as true Lord and Savior. Whatever the scenario, we’ll be snatched away before all this interplay comes to fruition.

I’m ready. This evil, unbelieving, alien world holds no allure for me. It’s ripe for judgment for the abomination it’s become. Surely, God must be close to having had enough. I’m just so glad I don’t have to wait and endure in my own power until Christ comes. It’s His, and His alone.

Once more, all I can say is, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

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Gary Ritter website: books & blog

http://garyritter.com/

Kindle Vella story: Tribulation Rising

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099Z462WD