By U.S. Army Chaplain (Col.) David J. Giammona, Ret.
If you’re like me, you’ve experienced your share of natural disasters, such as the recent wildfires in California – “the most destructive wildfires the state has ever seen,” according to CBN.com.
In 2017, I had the unfortunate experience of two back-to-back hurricanes: Harvey in Texas and Irma in Georgia. I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas when Irma hit Texas and then we headed to Georgia just in time to get hit with the remnants of Irma.
With all the natural events hitting this planet, many are asking questions about the scope and nature of these natural disasters.
I’ve traveled around the world and been in multiple combat zones. I’ve experienced the horrors of war along with the soldiers I accompanied. When soldiers go off to war, they might not come back the same.
They leave with their faith intact, knowing all is well with their world, families, and relationships, but many come back with a shattered faith, broken spirits, and at a loss for how to explain the shock of war, the unrelenting stress, and the brokenness in their lives.
Many are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and others come back with a fractured worldview and sense of hopelessness. How could God allow all this to happen? Was I prepared enough?
As a counselor once told me, “The Army does a great job of preparing us for war, but not for death.” The soldiers weren’t prepared for what they saw and experienced.
It’s the same as we near the end of the end times and the return of Jesus Christ. If we, as believers, are not ready for the coming earth-shattering events, will our faith survive?
Will we recant our faith in the face of persecution? Will we have the strength to overcome diabolical schemes, political turmoil, and financial ripples? These things already are beginning to take place.
God has specifically given me my marching orders: “Warn the world and prepare the church for My coming.”
Is the Church Ready for the End Times?
I’m here to help prepare us for what is about to take place and in fact is taking place right now. The church in America, in its current state, is not ready or prepared for the end times or the return of Christ. We have paralyze with fear of what man may do to us.
If we’re not prepared, then like many of our soldiers, we’re going to falter, or even worse, reject our faith and succumb to the world system and the worship of the Antichrist.
Whether you know it or not, we’re at war right now. The forces of light and darkness are line up in battle array. You’re either on one side or the other; there is no neutral ground. Physical war has been going on for the last 5,000 years of recorded history with only a few hundred years of actual peace.
Ephesians 6:12 says: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Powerful forces are line up for battle. You see it every day in the news. The battle rages for supremacy in the political, social, environmental, religious, and governmental spheres. Just when you think you have heard and seen it all, new deadly attacks appear.
Where Are We Now?
We’re at the end of the end times, according everything I’ve studied, read, heard, and experienced. I grew up spiritually in the 1970s, a product of the Jesus movement in California. One of the first books I read was Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth. It had a deep impact on the culture and me.
Unfortunately, there were so many predictions about the end of the world, as in the book, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. Many great leaders also put a date on the end. Christian leaders like Chuck Smith, Pat Robertson, and a host of others made predictions that failed. When the end didn’t come, many in the church and the world became disillusioned with the study of the end times and the return of Christ.
This disillusionment was a tactic use by Satan to sway the church and put the church to sleep.
The world is at a very precarious point right now. The rise of Israel as a nation in 1948, the 1967 Six-Day War and 1973 Yom Kippur War, Jerusalem now the capital of Israel, the Arab Spring, the realignment of the Middle East, Iran and Turkey as major players, Saudi Arabia and its transformation, the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem, the alignment of economic powers in the nations, the moral decline of the United States and Europe, the potential wars that could erupt at any time — and on and on it goes.
We’re on the precipice on some extraordinary events that will take place in the world – the rise of the Antichrist and the rise of Islam. We’ve been given time to repent, to make the church stronger, to advance in fulfilling the Great Commission, but time is running short. Just as God gave time to Israel to repent in Isaiah and Jeremiah, He is giving us time — a window.
The days of great evangelists and preachers such as Billy Graham, Dwight L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, Billy Sunday, and similar figures seem to be over. The church in America, I believe, is at its lowest moral and spiritual point in history. We no longer make disciples. and we make converts that sit in the pews and don’t know how to follow Christ.
We need to be on a war footing, preparing to enter spiritual warfare, much like the Army is now preparing for war with our peer nations such as China, Russia, and North Korea.
I’m using Army terminology to present to you the kind of preparation that we will need in the days to come. The church in Germany under Adolf Hitler was not ready or prepared for what was about to come.
I believe that if we don’t prepare now that we are doom to repeat history. German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of the lone voices that stood against the Third Reich and he paid for it with his life.
It’s Time to Get ‘Battle Ready’
The Army’s number one priority is being “Battle Ready.” “Battle Ready” sets the conditions for victory in Christ. Since the number one priority for the Army is readiness, there is no other number one, and there should not be a higher priority for us as well. Readiness is a state of mind, a worldview, a way of life for the believer.
Let’s look at the parable of the virgins in the Matthew 25. In the parable of the ten virgins, we find the keys to battle readiness in our lives. Jesus makes it very plain that the key to success and readiness in the last days is a story that mirrors the state of our culture today as we watch the end times unfold.
Jesus tells us this story:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible. When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take olive oil with them. But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. Since the groom was delay, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ The sensible ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell and buy oil for yourselves.’ When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open.’ But he replied, ‘I assure you: I do not know you!’ Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.”
Notice that this parable comes right after Matthew 24 in which Jesus talks at length about the end times. Jesus himself told this parable to reveal to us the utmost importance of readiness. Five were ready, able, and willing to go on a moment’s notice. The other five were unprepared, unwilling, and unable to respond to the Master. All were virgins, but the five who weren’t ready didn’t make it into the wedding banquet.
Being prepared as a believer follows the same pattern of basic training in the Army. The first thing we need to do in the morning is put on our spiritual (physical training) clothes. Put on Christ, ask what He would have you do, get in tune with His commands for the day, dive into His Word, and listen to and obey His commands.
How Do We Prepare?
Start! Just start.
When the Army throws you into boot camp you become a solder. You’re no longer a civilian.
Today, the church is making converts not disciples. To be a disciple, determine to follow Christ every moment of every day by putting to death the flesh — that part of us that doesn’t relate to Christ.
In the Army you follow the orders of your superiors. Throw out all the idols in our lives — those things we put before God. In the Army your focus is on the mission, period. Fill your lamp with oil, which is the power of the Holy Spirit. We need power-packed disciples, listening to Him every moment of every day.
Read the Word, obey the Word, walk in the Word, and abide in the Word.
Draw your power, joy, and strength from Him. Find others that have strong faith that will support you in rough times. Prepare by gathering resources, including books that will inform and enlighten you.
In writing The Army Guide to Armageddon: Military Tactics to Prepare Your Life and Soul for the End Times, the working title of a book I’m co-writing with Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist and Prophecy Investigators Founder and Editor-in-Chief Troy Anderson, we provide a great resource that is design to prepare you for the coming reality. We use realistic military and spiritual warfare tactics that will greatly increase your capacity to endure to the end.
Founder and president of the Warrior Refuge, U.S. Army Chaplain (Col.) David Giammona retired in June 2018 after 32 years of military service in the Army. His last assignment was the Installation Management Command (IMCOM) in San Antonio, Texas. He was responsible for religious support at all 75 Army installations around the world. An ordained Assemblies of God minister since 1988, Giammona has dedicated his life to writing and speaking with a focus on preparing the church and warning the world regarding the end times. Learn more about him at www.warriorrefuge.com, https://www.facebook.com/GiammonaDavid,www.facebook.com/TheWarriorRefuge.
