Good evening brethren, happy Sabbath and happy Memorial Day weekend!

Meeting Canceled...

If you work in the business world, sometimes, those are great words to hear.  But in the political arena, it can be quite the cause for alarm. As you have no doubt heard, the U.S. has pulled out of a summit where it was to meet with North Korea in June.  This meeting had been advertised, and possibly would have been, a huge step toward softening tensions between North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., and the rest of the world. However, due to the strong statements by North Korea, President Trump felt the talks would not be wise at this moment

Whether you view President Trump as a strong, wise leader, or as a reckless, loose cannon, this move certainly will have implications.  While he did leave the door open to future talks with North Korea, the door certainly seems closed for now.

Now what?

It's hard to hear news like this without thinking of Matthew 24:6-8 (NKJV), "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows."

While it's not hard to see that this sort of 'saber rattling' fits the description of what we see happening between the U.S. and North Korea, what is sometimes more difficult to do, is to know what to do about it?  Should I change where my retirement funds are invested? Do I need to stockpile groceries in case war breaks out? Should I try to 'go off the grid' so no one can find me?

Hopefully none of us lost too much sleep over this canceled summit meeting, but there's no doubt things like this will continue to happen as the return of Christ draws near.  The noise of the sabers, tanks, planes and missiles will only become louder as time marches on. So what should we do?

A clear answer

The answer is given in this same section of scripture.  In fact, Christ gives the answer before telling us about all of the bad things that will happen.  In Matthew 24:4-5, "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."  The answer is to watch, and be aware of religious deception. It isn't about where to invest our money, or how to protect our bodies. It's how to protect our minds.  

As the rattling of sabers gets louder and louder, let's be diligent to heed Christ's warning to remain spiritually pure, so we may obtain the promise in verse 13, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  God speed the Kingdom!