I could not believe what I saw tonight. It broke my heart. Most of you know that we live in a very rural area, and are blessed that it's mainly Christian. The towns surrounding us are not though, and one town in particular has grown quite big and is full of "liberal", "tolerant" people, if you get my drift. Unfortunately, that's the town both of my girls live in. Tonight we went to hear one of our granddaughters sing in the school's chorus program. The first part of it was great. They did a song I'd never heard before called Ezekiel's Wheel which was really neat. That right there should have tipped me off as they never sing Christian songs, even at Christmas! I looked at the program and was so appalled I didn't know what to say! The last song they sang,was a muslim worship song to the demon allah and they were singing it in Arabic! I just couldn't believe it....This just couldn't be happening...not here, not with my granddaughter singing! Bruce and I both wanted to get up and walk out. Actually, we wanted to rant and rave first, and then walk out. It wasn't easy, but we sat through the thing till it was over and then left. Bruce noticed that there were a number of people besides us that were not clapping and not happy about it either, so that's good at least. I felt dirty, like I needed a bath. Mostly though I felt horrified that a teacher would be teaching the kids to sing this song to the kids! The English translation was in the program and the teacher was just so very proud of herself. Well, if looks could have killed, she'd have been dead and I KNOW she saw me since we were in the second row and she kept looking right at me.

I prayed through the entire thing. But it's even worse then that. The teacher had the kids write about how music "made connections" for them, and different kids read what the wrote. That was fine. Till one girl read hers and I just wanted to cry. She has apparently had a pretty hard childhood and she told us that "music was her Savior". Those were her words at the end of her little speech and the S was capitalized when she said it. I prayed for her until the muslim song started, asking the Lord to stay by her and teach her what a Savior really was and to save her.

The whole night made me aware of something else I'd been feeling but hadn't put my finger on....there was like a darkness present in that school. Enough of it to just give you the creeps. It reminded me of what I'd been reading just before I had to get ready to go.

2 Timothy 3:1 —But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. *

The word translated "terrible" or in some versions, "perilous" is actually the same word used to describe the two violent men who were possessed by demons in Gadara in Matt. 8:28. That seems to suggest that the times we're living in aren't just "bad times" but are bad because they're being energized by demons. In other words, all the crime, the hate, the false teaching and all the other things we've been seeing, aren't just your regular run of the mill sin. Instead, demons are influencing people and events, giving sin more power then usual. So perhaps someone who hates someone else but under normal circumstances would have never even dreamed of killing them, because of the demonic influence and drive, they do wind up killing the person. I felt that was even behind the school presenting that worship song tonight too. I know Satan was loving it, that's for sure. All I could do though was pray. I did ask the Lord to forgive the children that didn't know what they'd done and to convict those that did so they wouldn't do it again.

When I looked around at the people though, many seemed so smug and proud of themselves for being so "tolerant" and "civilized". I realized that they didn't have any idea what was really happening. I felt like I was literally watching these people walk toward a cliff with their noses so far in the air that they didn't see the cliff right in front of them and they were about to fall off. I wanted to jump up and explain what was happening to them, but I knew they'd just laugh and think I was crazy, including some who call themselves "Christians". They had no idea that they'd just fed their children poison that could kill them if they didn't get the antidote. It just made the tribulation so very real to me and made me realize again just how close it is - only in a more personal way if you know what I mean. It also made me realize that Satan will have no trouble at all getting people to believe His lies then, because they already do. Satan wants to destroy them and their own parents and teachers are feeding them to him!