BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

(Photo: Gustave Doré )Troy Anderson is the executive editor of Charisma, one of leading Christian evangelical publications in the world. He appears totally sincere in his beliefs. He's not a purveyor of Harold Camping-esque End Times predictions, savvy enough not to be trapped into telling us exactly when The End Times is coming. He will, however, tell you that there are abundant signs, that it could be any day now: "The signs—the last of the four blood moons, the biblical Shemitah, rise of end-time 'Babylon,' the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, the dangerous Iranian nuclear deal and a world drowning in debt and dangling on the edge of economic catastrophe—seem unmistakable now."

Then again, given that the Charisma magazine website featuring Anderson's story is carrying advertisements for investing in Solar panels for homes – an investment that will take a while to pay off, leadership training that "will positively impact your church, business or ministry," and subscriptions to the magazine, the End Times could be a ways off.

Ever since Harold Camping stirred up his flock into selling their worldly possessions and hunkering down for The Rapture, and subsequently becoming the subject of scorn and ridicule when it didn't happen, most End Times evangelicals are smart enough not to go there.

They are, however, not reluctant to warn Christians – and I suppose other innocent bystanders – that "harbingers of the apocalypse have been gathering for decades" but "most of the world has been largely oblivious to the gathering tempest and prophetic warnings." Now, however, "global instability—geopolitically, financially and culturally," more people are paying attention.

Franklin Graham, the controversial son of the Rev. Billy Graham and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, says America has reached a "defining moment": "As a nation we have arrogantly turned our back on God, and I believe God's judgment will come against our country."

Bestselling author Rabbi Jonathan Cahn sees "a perfect prophetic storm": "For years, I have been warning that America was progressing down a course of apostasy and judgment. The harbingers have all manifested, the national departure from God is accelerating almost exponentially, America's relationship with Israel is at an all-time low, and now with the striking down of the biblical definition of marriage, the very order of God, we have a crossed a fateful line. It is all converging."

Dr. Jack Graham, pastor of the 40,000-member Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, says that, "this very well could be the terminal generation": "People are talking about it everywhere that something big is about to happen, and so this is just another element of awareness—the blood moons' phenomena—that we can't go on the way we're going."

For his Charisma magazine piece titled "Is the End Really Near?," Anderson, co-author of The Babylon Code: Solving the Bible's Greatest End Times Mystery conducted interviews with what he characterized as "several dozen highly respected Bible prophecy scholars ... [and] they agree the world is now experiencing an unparalleled acceleration and convergence in end-time signs."

According to Anderson, "Dr. Tim LaHaye, Joel C. Rosenberg, Dr. Chuck Missler, Paul McGuire, Pastor Greg Laurie, Dr. Robert Jeffress, Sid Roth, Rabbi Jonathan Bernis, Dr. Thomas Ice, Dr. Ron Rhodes and others said that while they may disagree on the prophetic significance of the blood moons and Shemitah prophecies, they overwhelmingly agree that the world is in the run-up to the end-time events predicted by the biblical prophets."

"'The polls show the highest percentage of both Christians and the general public who recognize we may well be living in the very times our Lord and His prophets warned would exist just prior to the end times,' says [Tim] LaHaye, a renowned prophecy expert, minister and co-author of the Left Behind series of end-time novels that sold 80 million copies."

In an attempt to buttress his thesis that globalization is leading to the much-dreaded New International Order, or New World Order, Anderson hands over the reins to Dr. Jack Graham who unequivocally states "There is no question that there is now the potential of a world government—the New World Order, the kingdom of the Antichrist. All these (recent events) point to this reality."

Anderson also throws in some quotes from such folks as the highly controversial Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boykin, and the disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker.

Boykin, executive vice president at the Family Research Council and former U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense, says, somewhat predictably, that the world is "definitely moving toward global Marxism": "Remember, Karl Marx's goal was to dethrone God and destroy capitalism. Once you remove God, you are on the path to Marxism, and I believe very much that this is an end-time strategy of the enemy."

Bakker, the ever-sincere scam artist who served prison time for bilking his followers out of scads of money, now tells us that "more fulfilled biblical last days" prophecies are coming together than ever before. "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are out of the barn. They are riding," Bakker says. "I believe with all my heart that this year, in the next few months, that it's the 'beginning of sorrows.' I believe we are moving full-blast into that event. America is not going to be the same. The world is not going to be the same."

Don't be alarmed says Tim LaHaye. "Obviously, those who know Him as their Savior and Lord need not worry or be troubled, for we are waiting for His soon call to heaven," LaHaye says. "How soon? No one knows. But of this I am persuaded: We are very close to the 'end times.'"

Like LaHaye, none of the charismatic, prophetic preachers will dare answer the "How soon?" question. After all, you can't sell magazine subscriptions, apocalyptic novels, and solar power panels if it's all going up in smoke at any moment.