Preparation For The Coming Days: Part 1 - What Should I Prepare For? - By Duncan Conner

In this series of articles I plan to lay out for you the exact steps that my family has taken over the last couple of years to get ready for what is more and more looking like the beginning stages of the very last of the final days.

A Little Background
When I write those words it feels almost surreal-and yet we as believers should not be surprised. The Lord told us numerous times in the scriptures that one day he would return, and he gave us clear signs to look for that will precede his second coming. Couple these statements with all the prophecies in the Old Testament, and you have quite a detailed roadmap as to what the final days will look like.

In 2007 I felt very convicted in my Spirit to begin a web site, with the aim of proving my and other’s insights into Bible prophecy, as well as provide resources for people to prepare for what will most certainly be dire pre-rapture conditions. As I have stated numerous times, we don’t know what life prior to the rapture will look like. Most Christians who believe in the rapture have classically assumed that they would see no trial, hardship, persecution, or difficult times, before the catching away mentioned in I Thessalonians 4:17. 2 Timothy 3:1 says that in the last days “difficult” times will come.

A very intriguing passage is the one in 2 Peter 3:3-4, 3 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with [their] mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For [ever] since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

I have personally always taken this passage to mean that in the last days, as we begin to see Bible prophecy start to be fulfilled and as we begin to see the pieces of the puzzle line up, Christian will no doubt begin to get excited more and more about their faith and the soon return of the Lord. However, the Bible says that there will be the naysayers, the mockers, the one who will challenge us and call us crazy and “Christian fundamentalists.” We’ve all heard it before right? “Every generation thinks there is the one where Jesus will come back,” “People have been setting dates for years,” etc.

The Bible teaches us clearly what the attitude of Christians will be toward the end of the age. Again, Paul warns in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 1 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…”

Are we not heading down this path? Anyone who sees what is going on in the world knows clearly that we are. And in terms of persecution, Jesus guarantees that those who stand up for their faith will be persecuted. Jesus says in John 15:20, “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…’

Jesus also mentioned the signs that would immediately precede the time of the tribulation. He said in Matthew 24:6-8, 6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars . See that you are not frightened, for [those things] must take place, but [that] is not yet the end. 7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 “But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs.”

The question is then, when will the rapture take place? Will it take place before or after the beginning of these birth pangs?

As many of my readers have e-mailed me recently, I am becoming aware that more and more people are starting to read the handwriting on the wall. Things have really ratcheted up over the last couple of years. I have always been someone to read the news headlines. I think and see in associations. When I see a list of news headlines I can easily see lines of connection running throughout them, and lines of connection that connect with other stories in the previous months or years. I also see the lines of connections from these stories and the many prophesies in the Bible that relate to the end times and the things that must be in place before the end times scenario can occur.

I can tell you, never in my life have I seen so many pieces of the prophetic puzzle coming together all at once. I remember the time when it would literally take months before I would see a news story that was relevant to Bible prophecy. And now I can’t hardly keep up!

Think about it. Look at what has occurred in human history just over the last hundred years. Knowledge has increased exponentially, the world is moving at an ever more rapid pace toward regionalization and globalization, American for the first time ever is moving toward Socialism, we are on the verge of having our entire financial system collapse, the decline of the U.S. has already begun, the world is clamoring and calling for One World Government, Israel is becoming more and more isolated, especially now under the Obama administration-which has shown itself to not be an ally for Israel. Iran is allying with Russia, and everyone believes that Iran and Israel will go to war soon.

Everything is moving toward the final goal that God has for mankind-the second coming of Jesus Christ! These are indeed exciting times.

Preparation 101
Now before we get into the basics of preparation, let me just say, the very first thing you have to do is determine what you are preparing to survive and how each disaster threatens you and your safety. That will give you the parameters necessary for the following steps.

This initial exercise isn’t hard as it only takes a few minutes of thought. I suggest you jot down some notes or switch into your word processor while you work.

But first, it’s important to realize that you cannot prepare for everything. There are a lot of preparedness resources out there with lists as long as the eye can see for things you should buy, get, etc. It’s important when you first start off to only prepare for those things that you think you will personally potentially face, and prepare ahead for things you could be facing within the next 5 years.

As yourself this question: What do you think it likely to happen in my town, around my area, etc. within the next five years? You will have to do your best on this one. I suggest spend some time in prayer over it. But you will need to extrapolate, evaluate trends, read the newspaper, and conduct your own research. At the very least, take a few minutes and consider your location. Pull out a map and look what’s within a 2-mile, 5-mile 10-mile and 25-mile radius of your home and place of work. Put on your pessimist hat and consider what might go wrong that could directly impact you and decide if that’s something you want to prepare for.

For example, if you live a “safe” distance outside of a flood plain, your house might still gets flooded in the 100-year flood, so should you prepare for it? I, but it’s your call. That nuclear plant 20 miles away has an excellent safety record. Should a nuclear disaster be on your list? Again, you make the call. Are you worried about a meteorite crashing into your house? Well, it has happened, but it’s probably not worth preparing for.

Finally, if you’ve been afraid of something since you were a child — whether it’s a raging fire or nuclear war–prepare for it. At the very least, you’ll sleep better at nights knowing you have done all you can.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1.) What natural disasters or extreme conditions, taking into account the times we are living in, taking into account all that is going on in the world, my country, my state, my city, my neighborhood, am I (we) likely to face in the next five years?

Make a list and rank them in order of most to least likely to impact you. You can review my list of possible natural disasters below if you need to.

If you are quite optimistic and you are not too concerned with the economy, your list might look like this:

1.) Heavy Thunder Storms
2.) Severe Winter Weather
3.) Nearby Flash Flooding

If you are like me, the top 3 on my list are:

1.) Collapse Of The Dollar
2.) Civil Unrest
3.) Martial Law

Obviously there is a big difference between the two lists, and how you prepare will be contingent on the kinds of things you put on your list.

2.) What other disasters or emergency situations might I face?

Add to your list the man-made or other disasters that you might face in the next five years (again, you can refer to our list, if necessary). Let’s say you have added these categories:

1.) Toxic Material Emission/Spill (From A Train Derailment)
2.) Riot Or Other Civil Disorder
3.) Nuclear Plant Problems
4.) Terrorism

3.) What are the ramifications of each item on my list?

Now, take your list and create a second column. Put the ramifications of each disaster in the second column. What do we mean by ramification? How the disaster or emergency situation could affect you. Think this one through very carefully, as everyone’s situation is different. For example, families with children have different concerns than those without children or single people.

Once you are done with that, finally, note if the ramifications could require evacuation (which is what we will cover in the next article, i.e. “Bugging Out”).

To keep using our example, results in a table might look like this:

Once you’ve created a chart like the one above, you know what situations you are most likely to face and can prepare your survival plan. For the next steps, go on to Part 2 (Will be published soon).