Jan Markell is founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries and host of the radio program "Understanding the Times." Many churches, she says, never broach the subject of the End Times.
"The pulpits are pretty silent on this topic, I think because pastors probably see the whole topic … perhaps is a bit doom and gloom," she tells AFN.
She suggests that many pastors have their eyes on more immediate and earthly concerns. "I think they feel [teaching about] it won't fill the pews or the offering plates, or it won't be seeker-sensitive," she states.
Then there are some who have given eschatology a bad name. "Remember Harold Camping, some 10, 12, 13 years ago? He was date-setting – and my goodness, people were following him diligently and losing everything they had because of his nuttiness," Markell recalls.
But the ministry founder says so much that is happening today is pointing to the Second Coming of Christ and the winding down of history – wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, the rise of false religions. She contends there's never been a better time to delve into a study of the End Times – and share the good news of the gospel.
"[Those of us who have accepted Christ] reign with the Lord Jesus here on Earth – and then we move on to the New Heavens and the New Earth," she reminds. "We finally get rid of all the suffering and the sorrow and the heartache and the illnesses."
In a recent column, Markell points out 2 Thessalonians 2 warns of a vast "falling away" from the faith as Christ's return nears. That, she writes, is happening in real time as proper theology is under siege within the Church.
