Dear Editor,

Each of us are born into a particular epoch of history that God has chosen for us.

It’s not the luck of the draw. The Bible says that there are seasons of life… a time to reap, a time to sow, a time to live and a time to die. The history of man is found in the scriptures and we, who love the Lord and understand His teachings realize we have been selected by God for this particular period of time called “the great falling away.”

It is a frightening time but also a most glorious and honorable time. Think upon it in such a way as if you are going into a battle. You and I have been chosen for the most dangerous time in history as soldiers for God. We are General McAuliffe, who defended Bastogne, Belgium, during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge. There he famously replied “Nuts!” to German demands that the U.S. force surrender to Germany. We are Leonidas, the Spartan king, who defended the pass at Thermopylae against the hordes of Persia with the brave 300. “We are Sparta!” We are men, women, and children, who unceasingly pray and step into the battleground held by Satan. Are we merely religious or do we have a relationship with Christ? A religious man or woman will sit in the church pews and think of sports, fishing, or work. But someone who is in a relationship with Jesus will sit at work, fishing or sports and think of Jesus. We hear the words love is love spouted by those souls so lost in sin that they cannot fully understand this trick of satan. Love is love but love is also Holiness. Love is also Righteousness. Love is Justice. And Love is Absolute Truth. Each of those words epitomizes the other. You cannot have Holiness without Love. You cannot have Truth without Righteousness. One word cannot stand without the others. Each word is the meaning of the other. And as we are so reminded by those who practice evil, words do matter. Satan disguises himself as light. I know the world will get worse. The Bible is the Word of God and He says before His Son returns man will continue to “fall away.” (2nd Thessalonians) The Scriptures tell us that even during the time of Tribulation they will curse His name all the way to Hell. (Revelation 16) We live in a time of “falling.” This is unlike the time of Hitler or Napoleon, Ghegis Khan, or Charlemagne. This is the time of the return of Israel as a nation. This is a time when the prophetic time clock ticks near midnight for the church age. So we Christians, chosen for this time, stand in our own Bastogne and tell the devil and his minions we will not surrender and we stand at the figurative pass of Thermopylae and shout in defiance, “We belong to Christ!!” Will you join us?

Randy Marple

Shadyside