By: Larry Young
As a little boy growing up in the Seattle area, black and white television, vacuum tube AM radios, and vinyl LP record players were the technologies of the day. Transistors were still being invented at Bell Laboratories in the late 1940’s, so anything electronic still only used vacuum tubes. There was tremendous optimism following WWII; peace, prosperity, and opportunity were all around us. There was a ‘car in every garage’ and fresh milk (with cream floating on top) delivered by our milkman every morning.
Then came the harsh reality that big wars were still an ever-present danger with the Korean War in the early 1950’s. Handheld transistor AM radios started to appear in late 1954, and I really got excited to see the first color television studio at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. I snapped my first photos of the Space Needle being built, using my new Brownie film camera. Wow, what a time to be alive and growing up! The “American Graffiti” generation had arrived, complete with rock music, muscle cars, and reel-to-reel tape recorders. So where were we with God during all this “modern” optimism?
The Cold War era with Russia was also quietly building up after WWII, and continued until the early 1990’s. This was a time of relative peace on the surface, but huge build-ups of nuclear weapons were being hidden from sight. This was also the era of 8-track players and cassette recorders. You know you’re getting old when middle-aged adults have no idea what an 8 track or cassette player was. Churches were slowly losing members as the “American Dream” lulled many into a false sense of safety and security, even though prophetic messages of end times and the soon return of Jesus was booming from church pulpits.
It's hard to believe that the September 11th attack on the twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the heroic crash of an airliner sent to try to destroy the White House happened 24 years ago. That era brought in cell phones and the internet, which has morphed into smart phones with HD cameras and “apps”, video streaming and podcasts, and an explosion of AI (artificial intelligence). Instead of heralding peace and safety, the entire world is now absorbed in preparation for both conventional and nuclear warfare at a frenzied pace. Unmanned military drone swarms are beginning to rule the skies.
Regardless, church membership continues to stagnate and fall, even though end time biblical prophecies are actually being fulfilled right under our noses. Many church pulpits ignore their calling and focus instead on useless trivia and uninspired messages. The Bible predicted all of this would happen: “For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
In Nostalgia Part II, we will continue with the next three verses in 1 Thessalonians 5: 4 -6: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.”