When Utter Lawlessness Visited My Home Town

Do you have “crisis fatigue” yet? That happens when we get overwhelmed by constant unrelenting pressures, images, dilemmas, and heartaches. And that describes our state of affairs since early March, 2020. This year is not for the faint-hearted!

Gun shops are selling out. Those in the know warn of a serious revolution in America. Such confusion reigns that, in some cities, police officers are joining the side of the protesters and rioters! Mix some strong delusion in there, because there is serious talk of cities like mine dismantling their police departments! Others are slashing their police budgets. Parts of America will resemble the wild West!

On January 25, I spoke at Pastor Barry Stagner’s annual Proximity Prophecy Conference in southern California. I reviewed ten top stories that people should keep their eyes on in the new year. Number one on my list was the rise of the spirit of the Antichrist around the world! You can find that teaching here.

Little did I know at that time that such lawlessness was going to come to my home town – Minneapolis/St. Paul, and that these two cities would become “ground zero” in the rioting and looting scenario that broke out right after Memorial Day.

I’ve had an up-close-and-personal look at mankind at his worst. Thankfully, I am 30-40 minutes from the mayhem, although there have been constant threats to move the turmoil to the suburbs.

In the Twin Cities, 1,000 properties have been vandalized, looted, burned, or totally destroyed along with apartments above these businesses and homes.

Our media shows business owners staring in stunned disbelief as many were reeling from Coronavirus destruction, but now they face the result of rampant anarchy. The media adds insult to injury by calling the destruction “peaceful protests.”

How peaceful was it to spray a wheelchair-bound woman with a fire extinguisher?

So the Twin Cities looks like Somalia. I hope Rep. Ilhan Omar, in whose district a great majority of the damage resides, is finally happy. We are Mogadishu on the Mississippi.

Our liberal politicians cry crocodile tears while their loyalties are with the demonstrators. They seem detached from reality by obsessing over proper social distancing of all involved, and the looting thugs realize they can get away with literal murder in such a climate of lunacy.

To Minnesota politicians, demonstrating is “essential,” but being with sick and dying loved ones is not, visiting our elderly is off the list, funerals and weddings are put on hold, and church is but an inconvenience. What bizarre reality is this?

In the meantime, mile after mile of landscape has been changed in the Twin Cities that will take years—and perhaps a decade or more—to reconstruct. The rent-a-mob business is alive and well, very organized, and brutal. And lawless—but nothing like the lawlessness that is to come.

The smoke and tear gas are gone now, and I have had time to reflect. Though I am many miles from ground zero, I have seen enough film of the rioting that I had the opportunity to look at the faces of the lawless. I could sense their heartlessness and brutality.

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).

One of the names of the Antichrist is the “lawless one.” The term was coined by Paul in II Thessalonians 2 where he warns the Church of the soon arrival of this man who would come on the scene and deceive the masses in the latter days during the Tribulation.

Two verses read, “Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God” (II Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Again, this occurs during the Tribulation from which the Church is absent. Yet what we have seen playing out on the streets of America in May and June is a dress rehearsal, though subdued compared to the lawlessness and turmoil in the Tribulation. It is still setting the stage.

The Antichrist won’t have to rent-a-mob. When he reigns, much of the world will be lawless, godless, tumultuous, and confused. Antifa will be the normal! The burned and looted sections of my home town will be the gold standard around the world.

With the restrainer gone, there will be absolutely nothing to hold back the evil, selfishness, and out-of-control behavior! The world can go crazy, and will. They will glory in utter chaos. What we have now is a trial run that is a weak firecracker in comparison. Multiply it by ten or a hundred or a thousand!

In Matthew 24, Jesus reminds us that the last days will be as the days of Noah. They will resemble Noah’s time of lawlessness, violence, wickedness, and depravity. Satan is working overtime today to prepare the way for the man of the hour who will, in the near future, make his grand appearance. The Church does not get to witness this, thankfully.

The good news is that God will consume the Antichrist and his minions at the end of the Tribulation with the brightness of His coming!

Author Terry James writes, “The rage makes clear the existence of the Antichrist spirit in high places that continues to do everything to bring America and the world into the configuration Satan wants to establish for his soon-coming Antichrist platform. At the heart of the minions’ (both human and supernatural) effort is destruction of moral values and norms based on Judeo-Christian precepts/concepts.

“Cultures and societies throughout the world—especially in America—must be altered drastically to pave the way for the coming Antichrist regime.”

James states, “This nation, therefore, is the chief obstacle to Satan’s plans in forming the one-world order he wants to set up for the coming Antichrist. That’s why we’ve endured insane rage while the powers in high places strive to get power back into the formerly established order by getting rid of this president.”

He concludes and rightly so, “Just as we witness the Antichrist spirit surging, we, as born-again believers, should have a surging sense of excitement and comfort. Redemption is near” (Titus 2:13).

 

• Prisoners would be let out of jail at the very same time Christians were being kept out of church.

• It would be so obvious why America is not a prominent player in Bible prophecy. Something had to neutralize us, or a series of events would weaken the superpower.

• People I admired and trusted told me they were going to report good people to authorities who weren’t keeping the “letter of the law” such as proper social distancing. Friends reporting friends? Neighbors reporting neighbors? Has love grown cold?

• The Coronavirus would do us all a favor and put “Drag Queen Story Hour” out of business for a season!

• It would be so blatantly obvious that we are in the absolute last of the last days—in fact, the last hour—but our pulpits still insist on being quiet about that. For the first time, many people truly want to understand the times and how the Bible applies to them!

• The media would call Republicans “the party of death” when they just want to open businesses and save the lives of millions who are in total despair. Suicide, alcoholism, and drug abuse are soaring.

• The one institution pushing back on the despair, the church, would be declared “non-essential” but not marijuana shops or some abortion clinics.

• In just a matter of weeks, people accepted surveillance in the name of safety and security. No one questions drones, cameras, and apps watching our every move.

• Businesses that took a lifetime to build and that even spanned three generations, were destroyed in a few weeks—not just in America but around the world.

• Some cities are asking churches to keep logs of every person who enters their building so they can then be tracked and traced.

• Some churches can re-open but with limitless restrictions including how you handle communion, but Costco and Home Depot are allowed hundreds of customers with just a couple of restrictions.

• Amidst the Coronavirus crisis, many would rush to the defense of China who caused it all to happen!

• Vaccines, that once saved lives, would get so corrupted that they now risk lives, yet there is talk that all Americans must get a vaccine for the Coronavirus. Constitutional scholar, Alan Dershowitz, says the government absolutely can “plunge a needle into your arm.”

• The rugged American spirit that drove pioneers to fend off Indians, would get so diminished that many caved to the whims of politicians, who obsessed over masks and social distancing. And we let them.

• Two unknown doctors appeared daily in press briefings presenting their evidence to ruin our great country and it seemed like our leaders never gathered a second opinion. And when some spoke up to differ, they were shut down.