Mainstream Christianity is under fire around the globe, even in traditionally “Christian” nations. This week, a new report underscored the growing marginalization of traditional Christianity in the United Kingdom. “A two-year commission, chaired by the former senior judge Baroness Butler-Sloss and involving leading religious leaders from all faiths, calls for public life in Britain to be systematically de-Christianised.

“China announced on Thursday that it would establish its first overseas military outpost and unveiled a sweeping plan to reorganize its military into a more agile force capable of projecting power abroad. The outpost, in… Djibouti, breaks with Beijing’s longstanding policy against emulating the United States in building military facilities abroad” (New York Times, November 26, 2015).

The financial and immigration crises gripping the EU are putting great strain on the “European Experiment.” In a sobering interview, the Dutch prime minister evoked prophetic language as he talked “seriously about the EU collapsing like the Roman Empire” (Business Insider, November 29, 2015). He was making a case to close borders to international immigration.

We are often asked why we take time each week to discuss news in the light of Bible prophecy. Some feel that Bible prophecy can be depressing or scary, especially to children. So why do it? Jesus Christ warned several times in the gospels, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42; cf. 25:13; Luke 21:36). The Apostle Paul warned “let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).