A diabolical counterfeit of God's ultimate plan of salvation seems to be spreading across the Middle East-and is playing out just as foretold in the Bible. While Western Christians seem to be growing more complacent and concerned with their personal comfort and success, a prophetic storm is gathering in the Middle East. Radical Islamists are preparing for the final battle, believing it will usher in a new age of Islamist supremacy.

Do you find these events as chilling as I do?

I have been a Middle East correspondent for more than three decades and an advisor on the Middle East for just as long. In that time I have written almost two-dozen books on the Middle East and radical Islam, many of them discussing their relationship to the events of the book of Revelation. I have studied the prophecies about the end of the age given by Jesus, the Old Testament prophets, and the New Testament apostles. I have read and reread books on Bible eschatology written by experts, teachers, and scholars. And in all my research and years of experience, there has been no other time when the signs of Jesus' imminent return were happening with the intensity we are seeing today. Bible prophecy after Bible prophecy points to the likelihood that the last generation before Jesus' return is now on the Earth, and the last lap for the Church has begun.

I know many wise men and women will take this declaration with at least a grain of salt. In fact, someone declared that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011, only to be proven spectacularly wrong. He was ridiculed by both believers and non-believers. At the same time, popular Christian leaders are suggesting that the book of Revelation actually has more to do with the Romans of John's time than as a prognosis for what will happen at the end of the age, throwing many into confusion. Others have touted that no one is going to be "left behind" in the Rapture. All will be saved in the end, despite what Scripture says. It is eerily reminiscent of the days before the flood, as Noah called on humanity to repent. They ridiculed and scoffed, only to realize too late that Noah had had their best interests at heart.

Personally, I have neither the desire to be a prophet of doom nor someone crying "wolf" about something that is still in the future. However, when I see the handwriting on the wall, I feel the obligation to speak up. Neither am I here to tell you to ready your bomb shelter, but I am here to say you may need to change your thinking.

The early church called the message of Jesus' soon return "The Blessed Hope." They saw it as a message of liberation that gave them the resolve to live righteously before their God. That is the message I want you to get from reading this book. When you put it down, I don't want you to be filled with dread; I want you to be excited about what God is doing to seek and save the lost. I also want you to be more determined that as few as possible will be left on Earth the day Jesus calls us home.

In order to understand that message, we must first understand the gravity of where we are on God's timeline. Time is of the essence. There is no more room for the "business as usual, let me work out my own personal salvation" complacency that grips our culture, our marketplaces, our political arenas, and-unfortunately-far too many of our churches today. Our own personal pursuits of life, liberty, and happiness will not get us through the twenty-first century as they did in the last half of the twentieth.

The American dream is turning into a nightmare right before our eyes, blinding many to the converging prophetic storms gathering before us. People, including many Christians, have grown dull of hearing. As Solomon warned us in Proverbs, now more than ever, "the complacency of fools shall destroy them" (Proverbs 1:32).

Jesus said that the final days before His return would be like those of Noah before the flood. Humanity would be obsessed with the issues of prosperity, entertainment, and self-fulfillment: "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage" (Matthew 24:38). In Luke, Jesus expanded further on this saying:

"It was the same as happened in the days of Lot:
they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying,
they were selling, they were planting, they were
building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom
it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed
them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son
of Man is revealed.
Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life
will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."
-Luke 17:28-30, 32-33

We must wake up to the realization that the Bible prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation are quickly moving into position for God's final checkmate of Satan. Israel is likely within a decade or less of facing the greatest threat to its existence: the development of an Iranian nuclear bomb. Not only that, but the framework for a one-world government and common world currency is already in the minds of many-just as Ahmadinejad outlined before the United Nations last fall, to the accolades of most of the delegates in the General Assembly. A perfect storm of religious extremism and those who would profit from it is gathering to oppose Judaism, Christianity, and Western Secularism alike, while the U.S. and the E.U. take the course of appeasement.

The Honorable Benjamin Netanyahu,
Prime Minister of Israel "Mike Evans is a fighter for freedom in a world of darkening and narrowing horizons. In his devotion to Israel, Mike has consistently demonstrated the moral clarity that is necessary to defend Israel against the lies and distortions of its enemies, and championed the Jewish people's claim to the Land of Israel... I look forward to strengthening our friendship on his many future visits to Israel."

The Honorable Danny Ayalon,
Ambassador of Israel "The Prime Minister (Ariel Sharon) would like to express his personal appreciation to you, Mike Evans, for being such a great friend of Jerusalem and the State of Israel, speaking out with courage and compassion for over two decades. He salutes your achievements and wishes you continued success."

The Honorable Ehud Olmert,
Former Prime Minister of Israel "I have known Mike Evans for more than two decades, and I consider him to be a great friend of Jerusalem and the State of Israel. He has always been there for us in our time of need speaking out with courage and compassion. Mike Evans is a true ambassador of Jerusalem, representing millions of Christians in America."