I usually tend to stay away from lengthy debates about whether or not we are in the end times. It just seems that most of the arguments are based on Hollywood theology and not the Bible itself. (I guess kids aren't the only ones watching too much TV.) So, why am I discussing this now?

Well, my wife and I were at a wedding last week in Florida, and over the course of the wedding, and during the plane rides there and back, the topic of end times kept coming up. Each time the topic entered the conversation, the same two things came to mind.

1. Revelation was written by a man in exile in order to share the good news of Jesus Christ with a church that was persecuted. The cryptic language and code-like writing would seem to be more about both parties staying alive in difficult times than about predicting some kind of doomsday. (Not unlike secret correspondence about the gospel in some parts of the world today.)

2. Many of the things that have been referred to as signs of the end times seem to parallel not the book of Revelation but rather the period just before the exile in the Old Testament. (Read the prophets and decide for yourself.) I can almost hear the words of the ancient prophets speaking out against the Church's consumerism, greed, selfishness and neglect for the poor, saying to us, "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me" (Isaiah 1:13).

So, how do we react to things that look like the end times? Do we predict the end of the world based on grocery store tabloids or do we hear the warning of the prophets before the exile and "learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow" (Isaiah 1:17)?

Consider for a moment that perhaps what we are experiencing is not the signs of the end times, but the warning of a coming exile because, just as in the Old Testament, "Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 53:3).

Lieutenant Peter Lublink and his wife, Alison, are the corps officers of High Point Community Church in Victoria. Prior to entering The Salvation Army’s College for Officer Training in Winnipeg, Peter managed a small marketing and business solutions firm in the Toronto area. For more details on Peter and his community of High Point, visit www.pointful.ca.