2566) Raised in the church, I have been leery of “scare” tactics in the church’s evangelism. No, I don’t think that all of it is bad, but I’ve noticed that an overly emotional commitment isn’t always the best because once the emotions die down, so does the commitment.

Having said that, I believe it’s good to study passages in the Bible that can lead to an emotional reaction because they stir an urgency, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5 is noteworthy.

Here, Paul is writing about what the world is going to be like in the end times; the end times being when Jesus returns and starts the process of bringing world history to a conclusion.

Paul gives a specific description of what the culture of the world will be when God says, enough. Here is the list:

People will be lovers of self and money. They will be prideful, arrogant, abusive, and disobedient. People will be ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, and slanderous. They will have little to no self-control, be brutal, and not lovers of good. People will be treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure, and outwardly godly.

As I read the newspaper and newsfeed every day, I can’t help but check each one of these regularly.

We don’t have to fear these last days because Jesus died for us. If we ask him to forgive us our sins because Jesus paid for them, God will come to dwell within us, and nothing can touch us without God’s permission. The world is winding down. Are you ready?