Way back in 1973, I read a book called The Vision by David Wilkerson. Wilkerson was a rather famous preacher who left the tiny town of Philipsburg, PA to minister to troubled teens in Brooklyn, New York. His exploits were covered in a b
ook and later a movie entitled The Cross and the Switchblade starring Pat Boone and introducing young Eric Estrada (Shows you my age!)

Then the Lord gave Wilkerson a vision of things that would befall America before Jesus’ return. At the time, it was so foreign and so scary that I had to put the book down several times just to catch my breath. Well, nearly every part of that vision has come to pass. There were a few things that remained. One of the major ones was rioters setting our cities aflame. And then this week the Baltimore uprisings began …

Let me give you a little bit about Wilkerson’s vision so you can get a glimpse of how far we have come. His first prediction was economic confusion: “It’s not really a depression I see coming—but a recession of such magnitude that it will affect the lifestyle of nearly every wage earner in America and around the world.” Sound familiar?

He also foresaw the following:

• Drastic weather changes and frequently breaking old weather records. “The world is about to witness … history’s most dramatic weather changes, floods, terrible calamities”
• A moral landslide coming to America. Wilkerson saw X-rated movies pumped into people’s homes, sexual immorality and scandal in the ministry, and a falling away of church members.
• A rise in Christian persecution
• The IRS making inroads to tax and control churches.
• A rise in hatred for all things Christian due to its perceived intolerance.
• A sharp rise in terrorism.
• Disenfranchised youth.

Most of what Wilkerson foresaw has come to pass. To date there are only a few things waiting to happen. He saw our cities burning as young Americans take to the streets. Until Ferguson and Baltimore, I thought maybe we were years away from the fulfillment of his terrifying message. But now, the burning has begun.

He also saw famine in the United States. California provides a sizable portion of the food for our nation and the drought there is unprecedented. It will take years and years to replenish the devastated aquifers. At some point, I fear in the near future, our supermarket shelves will show us this horrible reality.

He also saw the rise of a global, watered-down Christianity that will fold to social pressure to be more inclusive and less focused on Christ. At the same time he saw the rise of a supernatural church of believers who hold true to Christianity’s traditional beliefs.

What follows? The End Times scenario that ushers in the return of Jesus to set things straight before we blow the world right to hell in a nuclear exchange. Have I mentioned that scientists have moved the hands of the famed doomsday clock to two minutes till midnight?

Baltimore is another sign of the times, and a symptom of the depths to which this world is sinking. The Vision is coming to pass, friends.

My This Generation novels explore what got us to where we are and what lies ahead in the near future. Take a moment to check out the first novel in the series: PRECIPICE at http://amzn.to/1CQOgpT.