Facing Our Uncertain Future

A Conversation with Author Jim Fletcher

Jim Fletcher admits to having a fascination when it comes to end of the world. Will it come in a cataclysm, in an inferno? Will it come at all? Is Al Gore right...will we melt like slumbering snowmen or are we truly running to a place of bliss?

Fletcher has spent much of his adult life in search of the truth about the Bible, biblical prophecy, and in his latest book, It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine), he clearly demonstrates just how relevant (and true) the Bible really is, showing how…

• Despite the mockery of the Bible today, we are in fact living in the last days of world history, as outlined in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
• God has plainly revealed Himself in the Bible.
• You can satisfy that human longing to know who is "out there" and what is happening in our world today.

With humor and a keen eye for pop culture, Fletcher walks you through the opinions of people from the famous to the obscure, and then demonstrates conclusively that the Bible's predictions are true...and there's nothing to be afraid of.

What was your vision for writing this book?

I felt there was no bridge between the classic Bible prophecy books and, say, the presentations from authors like Rob Bell and Donald Miller. I wondered what it would be like to jam very conservative theology into an edgy package. With this approach, I thought there was a chance to reach newer and broader audiences.

With the rise in popularity of books like The Left Behind Series in both the Christian and general market, do you think that they are foretelling the nearness of the end of the world?

I’m certain we’re approaching the end of the world, but it has nothing to do with those books. It has to do with the fact that this theme — this warning — is ubiquitous in Scripture.

In End Times theology, Israel plays an important role. What exactly is that role,  and what in your opinion is the reason that programs such as the “Roadmap to Peace” have not been successful?

Bless you for asking; this is my favorite subject. In the book, I devote a great deal of time to explaining the sensational signals being sent that Israel is primary in God’s plans for the end. God intends to use a reborn Israel as His judgment for the nations who have opposed His direction. It’s comical to me that it’s comical to Bible prophecy critics that Israel is anything but a coincidence of history. This is patently false, demonstrably false. Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; study the history of the founding of the state of Israel and her subsequent history, then tell me they are a coincidence.

The “Roadmap” is another matter. Although we know from Scripture that God gave the land in question to the Jews forever, the primary reason today that all the various peace initiatives have been disasters is because the Arab states are radicalized against the lone Jewish state in the region. In a secular world devoid of Islam, the “Roadmap” is a perfectly fine idea. In the real world, it is madness on a colossal scale.

In our modern world, a great deal of fear about the future exists. As Christians, what should the response be when facing uncertainty?

As I point out in [It's the End of the World as We Know It], there is massive empirical evidence — for those who need it — that Bible prophecy is true in total. Logically, then, if that is true, then God’s “other” promises are also true. He has promised not to forsake us or forget us. He has also said quite clearly that He intends to end things the way He sees fit. I believe Him.

Today, the concept of human secularism has been become very popular in America’s educational institutions. Do you think that this is one of the precursors to Armageddon?

Spot-on. Peter, John, Jesus, and Paul predicted in the New Testament that apostasy would combine with humanism to flex its muscles in the last days. Read II Peter 3. It is quite ironic that the haters/skeptics of Bible prophecy fulfill the very prophecy they deny.

About the Book Author:

Jim Fletcher, author of It’s the End of the World as We Know It, has a BA in journalism from College of the Ozarks and spent six years as a small-town newspaper editor. From 1993 to 2007, he served as senior editor for New Leaf Publishing Group. Jim is also a member of the executive committee of the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel (NCLCI). He and his wife, Dianna, have four children and two grandchildren and live in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas.