Executive Producer Roderick Podcast Introduction Today we will complete the book of  2 Thessalonians. I’ll have comments on both chapters after the reading, and I’m calling today’s episode “Keep Your Eye On the Ball.” Design: Steve Webb | Photo: The Lovely Lady LeeAnn Comments on 2 Thessalonians Paul was telling the church at Thessalonica that they shouldn’t panic when people come around saying that Jesus had already returned. Yes, Jesus is coming back, to be sure. And it will be a very good thing when He does, but there are some things that must happen before that takes place. And then Paul tells them a few things to look for. We’ll look at them again, but it’s important to know that these are not the only things that must happen before the Lord returns. Some people have made a career trying to decipher all of the prophecies given in the Bible about the “end times”, and while it is interesting to study this subject, it’s more important to live our lives in such a way that we fulfill our part of the Great Commission, the last thing Jesus said before he was taken up to Heaven. In Matthew 28:19-20 He said: “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Some people have gotten off the track. They’ve forgotten about those parting instructions of Jesus and focused on watching for His return, and in the process have gotten so off the mark that they have ruined lives…their own and their followers. Don’t do that. Be aware of the signs, but stay focused on doing the business that Jesus gave us to do. And with that, let’s look at the signs Paul pointed out here in 2 Thessalonians. In the second chapter, verses 3 and 4 Paul said: “Don’t let anyone trick you in any way. That day will not come until people rise up against God. It will not come until the man of sin appears. He is a marked man. He is sentenced to be destroyed. 4He will oppose everything that is called God. He will oppose everything that is worshiped. He will give himself power over everything. He will set himself up in God’s temple. He will announce that he himself is God.” From that description, it sounds like this could happen any day, doesn’t it? People are turning against God all around the world. Church attendance has been trending down here in America for some time, and of course the pandemic made it worse.  But this is not just an American phenomenon. Much of Europe has already turned its back on God. The sa