Watchman on the Wall

Guest (Male): Welcome to Watchman on the Wall, a daily outreach of Southwest Radio Ministries and swrc.com. Today, Josh Davis shares the latest headlines from the end times.

Southwest Radio Ministries: Friends, when you order books, DVDs, magazines, and other resources from Southwest Radio Ministries, you're doing more than adding to your library. You're helping advance a ministry. Every purchase helps support the outreach of Watchman on the Wall, Prophecy in the News, and our efforts to proclaim biblical truth through radio, television, print, and digital media around the world.

You'll receive resources that inform, encourage, and strengthen your faith while helping us reach others with the Gospel. Order today at swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Thank you for partnering with Southwest Radio Ministries.

Guest (Male): Each week, Josh Davis examines the latest news from around the world through the lens of Bible prophecy, connecting today's headlines to God's prophetic word. From developments in the Middle East and global government to technology, culture, and religious trends, you'll gain valuable insight into the events shaping our world. Join us now as we separate the hype from the headlines and explore what these developments may mean in the light of Scripture.

Josh Davis: Greetings, fellow watchmen on the wall, and welcome to another Headlines from the End Times, helping you to connect what God's word says with what's happening in today's world. As I've said numerous times, we always start with Scripture. We start with what God's word clearly says, and when that's rightly divided, properly understood, then we can begin to see how the signs of the times are pointing in that very direction.

It's amazing to see how God's promises always come true, and he allows us to just get a glimpse of how he's bringing the pieces of the puzzle together. In my mind, it's a lot like gazing into the sky. You look up at all the stars and we get a glimpse of how magnificent they are. Humanity has built telescopes and measuring instruments, and we can gaze even closer at these things. We can learn something about their size, something about what they are made of, and we can get a glimpse to these kinds of things.

But we don't see the whole picture. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows all of creation. The heavens declare the glories of God and how awesome that is. I want to say that God has a prophetic plan, and just as he has a plan for creation, and just as he designed everything that exists, he is the one who designed time and eternity. He knows exactly where things are moving, how things are heading, and he knows the end that he's bringing it to. It's a beautiful and a glorious end.

But as we take steps in that direction, we understand what Jesus declared and what Scripture properly says will be some of these signs of the times. In the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, we read in 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verses 1 and 2. It goes on to list so many of the characteristics that will mark the last days' mindset. It's not a pretty picture, dear friends, and we understand the rise of lawlessness, the rise in disrespect, the rise in unholiness.

We see these things happening in our world today. Technology is enabling a lot of people's unholy ambitions to become a reality. Quite frankly, a lot of Christians are starting to depend more and more on AI, even as a spiritual authority. That's where we go with our first story today. AI is becoming a spiritual authority even among practicing Christians. This is from the Barna Group, which does wonderful Christian research and bringing lots of information so that the church is aware of trends and what people are thinking about particular issues within churches and among different citizen groups.

According to the Barna Group, practicing Christians are willing to trust AI with their spiritual growth. They are also deeply worried about what happens when AI starts acting like a spiritual authority. It's a weird dichotomy that's going on with this particular story. On the one hand, they're willing to trust AI with spiritual growth, but on the other hand, Christians are worried about what AI could do. New research from Barna finds that the Christians most open to AI are often the same ones most unsettled by it.

But it gets a lot more personal. Some say that they would trust AI with feeling happy, with feeling content, even when it comes to spiritual growth. 48% of practicing Christians say that they would trust AI and the advice that AI gave them for helping them to grow spiritually. But that trust has a ceiling. As this Barna survey discovered, 83% of practicing Christians worry about AI misinterpreting Scripture. 72% worry about AI replacing the role of pastors or spiritual leaders.

Even so, one in three US adults say that AI's spiritual guidance is as trustworthy as a pastor's. Let me say that again. I know I'm throwing a lot of numbers at you. Sometimes when I'm hearing numbers, it just goes in one ear and out the other because it's just so much information at once. I get that. Forgive me for throwing all of this at you at once, but understand what I just said. One in three US adults say that AI's spiritual guidance is just as trustworthy as a pastor's.

Share that climbs among younger adults, approaching two in five among Gen Z. 39% of Gen Z say that they trust AI as much as they would trust a pastor. Half of Millennials, 44%, say that they would trust AI's spiritual guidance as much as they would trust a pastor's spiritual advice. Again, according to one of the Barna leaders for this project, he said, "This is where the data gets genuinely confounding. Christians say that they trust AI with spiritual growth and a meaningful share say its spiritual guidance is as trustworthy as a pastor's."

"Yet large majorities are at the same time concerned about AI misinterpreting Scripture, replacing God, or undermining the role of spiritual leaders. So the use case and the underlying fear are both present and they're pointing in different directions. In the same breath, the use case and the underlying fear are both present, and they're pointing in different directions." It's like we're going forward with great trepidation, wondering how far can we push the boundaries? What is acceptable use of AI? What is not acceptable use of AI?

For me, I am concerned that it will become a crutch for many churches and for many pastors. I believe that it could inhibit spiritual growth. There are some wonderful tools that are out there, resources, books, research volumes, that can be a great benefit and a great asset to the church. Many technological features can expedite that process. For instance, I have a Bible study software program that I love to use and it saves me countless hours. Instead of finding a book on a shelf, flipping to the right page, I can just search and understand where I can find these certain things.

I can compare one resource with another. I can do a word study that would have taken me an hour. Back in the day, I used to do all of this using paper. I've still got the books on my shelf and I still want to keep those printed copies of books because you never know what's going to happen with the electrical system and technology and all those kinds of things. I still have those and I still know how to use those, but technology has just made it so easy. You click a button and what used to take me an hour to do by manually flipping through various books and volumes and cross-referencing that with another work and another work and another work, I can do in just a few minutes.

I can compare that just clicking a few buttons here and there. It is a major time saver. I get those things, but I'm afraid that if we don't understand how to rightly divide the word of God on our own, that AI will become a crutch. Someone has built all the various AI systems and there are many and there are many developers who have their hands in these things. Some are good. Some have a biblical worldview, but others do not.

The AI system is calibrated with a particular worldview background. How can it rightly divide the word of God and teach us things accurately if it's not even been built by someone or a group of people who understand what a biblical worldview really is? If it's analyzing data that is harmful to the proper understanding of Scripture, it could be a very deceptive way to twist the Scripture. Beyond that, for pastors in our local churches, as they begin to develop sermons, if they rely more and more on some of the AI tools that are out there to even write their sermons for them, to structure their sermons for them, I think that it could in the long run be to the great detriment of the pastor himself and of the local church.

We have to be very cautious and very careful. I'm glad that so many pastors are and they have this same mindset and that's a wonderful thing. I pray that that would continue. Speaking about technology and the advances that it's making in the world, I've reported multiple times about different nations and how they're pushing for digital identifications. Just last week I talked about the European entry and exit system and how that's come on board and how they're getting much more efficient with that system.

About six months into it being operational, at least in part, they're getting much better at these kinds of things. I believe this is just the big view, the large picture view of where this is all headed. I believe that our world is heading to an international database of all the world's citizens in the name of safety and security. Everyone is going to be coalesced, whatever country you're from. It may be housed by your individual country or maybe even in the United States your individual state would have that information, but it could be shared and easily accessed with cross-border checks between various countries and various groups.

All of this could be easily coalesced into one global standardized database of all the world's citizens, again, in the name of safety and security so that the bad guys are caught and they're not allowed to even enter your country and come across into your country's borders. Many countries are moving in this direction. I want to bring you a story out of South Africa, how they are looking for nearly one billion US dollars. That's one billion US dollars, with a B. That's going to be their budget for developing a digital ID and a biometric visa.

South Africa's Department of Home Affairs has tabled a budget of nearly one billion US dollars in Parliament for the 2026-27 fiscal year to support the expansion of smart IDs, as they call them, the digital visa system, and an imminent launch of a national digital ID. The Home Affairs Minister, Leon Schreiber, noted that the successes of their reform initiatives so far have been very strong. He said this new model partnership with banks was interesting, that South Africa's approach has been to partner with banks and helping to facilitate access to smart IDs with these financial institutions.

A record four million of them issued in 2025. Four million smart IDs issued through partnership with banks in the year 2025 in South Africa. This success has pushed them forward to an electronic travel authorization system that involved four different countries testing this system out with South Africa and the release of a digital ID that they are moving toward. The minister there in South Africa had this to say: "Given the astonishing success of this project, we have raised our ambitions accordingly. I can announce today that by the end of 2026, we aim to roll this smart ID application service out to at least 750 bank branches, extending them into every corner of South Africa."

He went on to say: "Over the next few weeks, we will roll out first-time smart ID and passport applications through this new system. We will introduce a doorstep delivery of IDs and passports for the first time in South African history." I found this interesting as part of the story as well. Part of the budget is going to help organize upcoming local elections in South Africa by promoting a national biometric voter registration system. In order to vote, they can use this biometric system now.

According to my research, from everything that I could find, this is not mandatory at this particular time. It's something that they are allowing people to use if they choose to do so. A national biometric voter registration system coming to South Africa. Friends, it shows you that the digital ID is not just for policing, not just for entry into certain places. It extends far beyond these kinds of things. We understand the direction that our world is moving and how rapidly we are moving in that direction.

Friends, I want to remind you that Headlines from the End Times is a feature in every single issue of the Prophecy in the News magazine. I want to encourage you to check out the Prophecy in the News magazine today. There are some free sample issues available at prophecyinthenews.tv. Maybe you want to go ahead and get a subscription. You can do so. We have one year, two year, three year, even lifetime subscription options available at prophecyinthenews.tv. Don't forget about the weekly episode of the Prophecy in the News TV show, new episodes released every single Sunday.

There is a variety of ways that you can watch that. If you like to watch or even listen to things on YouTube, check out the Prophecy in the News YouTube channel. After you're done there, head over to the Southwest Radio Ministries YouTube channel and you can check out some of the content on both of those YouTube channels. Also, we have the free mobile app. That's right. You can go to your App Store, type in four letters, SWRC, in the search bar. Again, SWRC. It'll pull up the Southwest Radio Ministries' free mobile app.

Inside of that mobile app, you'll get new content six days a week. We're talking about the Monday through Friday Watchman on the Wall episodes and every Sunday, that brand new episode of the Prophecy in the News TV show will be uploaded to the SWRC mobile app. Thank you so much to those who have downloaded that and who are joining us, and maybe some of you listening right now through the mobile app. Thank you so much for that. Maybe you're a new listener. Welcome to the family. Welcome to Southwest Radio Ministries. We are so glad that you are listening.

Reach out to us and request your free welcome packet. In that, you'll get a Prophetic Observer newsletter, and you'll start receiving those in your mailbox every single month as part of the ministry from Southwest Radio Church. We do that to keep you informed of what's happening from a biblical perspective. Typically, Pastor Larry Spargimino and myself will write articles for the Prophetic Observer newsletter. Give us a call today, 1-800-652-1144, and request your free welcome packet. Again, our phone number is 1-800-652-1144.

Now, don't forget to check out all the wonderful resources we have available, including some of the things that were featured on Watchman on the Wall this week at our website, swrc.com. While you're at the website, click on events. That'll show you what's happening soon. We're going to be in Northfield, Minnesota, just south of the Twin Cities, in September, and also in Bristol, Virginia, part of the Tri-Cities area of Tennessee-Virginia, Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol. Yes, we're coming there in October. We're looking forward to these Prophecy in the News live events.

September in Minnesota and in October right on the border of Tennessee and Virginia. Then in November, November 1st through 12th, we're going on our Israel tour. I would love to have you join us. We had a wonderful time last year. Looking forward to this year's tour, November 1st through the 12th. More information is available at swrc.com. As we continue with more headlines from the end times, I want to note how a prominent church in East China was demolished amid an escalating crackdown. Here's the details on this story coming from The Washington Stand and from China Aid News.

Only days after US President Donald Trump left a Beijing summit with the Chinese Chairman, Xi Jinping, where religious freedom and jailed religious leaders were discussed, authorities in Eastern China demolished a prominent church, razing the building with large excavators. This particular church is an unregistered Protestant church in Eastern China, a region known as China's Jerusalem because of the large Christian presence there. This church has been under siege since late last year. Going back to December 14th and 15th, local authorities arrested 103 church members and held them in custody, at least temporarily in most cases.

That was in a pre-dawn raid, and they took control of the church building back in December. That same week, at a public event, an unidentified government official announced, "We will see this campaign through to the end," according to reports. Five months later, Sunday, May 17th, heavy construction vehicles passed through tightly controlled security checkpoints set up by authorities, according to multiple sources confirmed by China Aid News. On May 18th, crews began to demolish the multi-level structure from the top down. By 11:00 AM Beijing time, Tuesday, May 19th, this beautiful ornate sanctuary had been reduced to rubble.

At the same time as this demolition was going on, the authorities arrested four more church members. They join 18 other members of this church previously jailed by the Chinese Communist Party authorities. The families of all detained individuals reportedly received official warnings instructing them to remain silent. Authorities reportedly imposed strict information controls ahead of the demolition, measures that sources said appeared intended to limit public scrutiny. They were doing things like shutting off their access to the internet to various platforms where they could share that this kind of thing was happening.

They intentionally silenced their voices so that they could not notify other people what was going on at this particular time. But the news was able to get out through some backdoor channels and now it's being published far and wide by various groups, including the fact that you're hearing it right now. What kick-started all of this? Well, the conflict originated when the church resisted what the congregants perceived as increasingly aggressive methods of religious repression imposed by the Chinese Communist Party authorities.

According to members of this particular church, tensions escalated significantly during last summer. They refused to put up a Chinese national flag. They were required to display it inside of their sanctuary, and the Chinese Communist Party wanted them to put a flagpole on church grounds as well to fly their flag. Believers at this church regarded this as an infringement on the sanctity of their faith, and they refused to do so. In June 2025, the government took matters into its own hands as personnel entered the church property by force.

They demolished part of an outer wall, installed a flagpole, and raised the flag upon it, and that started a standoff between the church and local authorities. People have noted that in this region of China, the authorities have been pretty aggressive over the past decade at pushing this kind of business going forward. Only churches affiliated with the state-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement are officially sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party. Bob Fu with China Aid News had this to say in commentary: "Any Christian church unwilling to submit to state power, even this one without any political involvement, the Chinese Communist Party feels it has to silence and even destroy."

But he went on to say: "Our sources confirm that this beautiful and sacred place of worship has been destroyed, but our prayers are not reduced to rubble. May this loss wake up the global church to what's happening in China, a great conflict between faithful believers and state power." I love that line: "Our prayers are not reduced to rubble." That's why we say here at Southwest Radio Ministries that God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Friends, it's not our ability to pray that changes things. It's not that we can call the fire down from heaven, so to speak, but no.

It's the God that we're praying to. That's what made the difference in Elijah's day as he stood on Mount Carmel and prayed that simple prayer that takes less than a minute to read out loud. God sent the fire from heaven, not because Elijah called it down with a powerful prayer, but it was the difference in the one that he was praying to. Even when Christians are outnumbered, even when Christians are threatened by their government or by whatever group it may be, we have a great resource, the likes of which no one else ever has, and that's the powerful resource, the powerful spiritual weapon of prayer.

God has given us this wonderful tool that we can use and engage in this spiritual battle today. That's why we place such an emphasis on prayer at our ministry. Friends, I want you to keep that in mind, that God is still on the throne and prayer changes things.

Guest (Male): In a world filled with uncertainty, you need a source you can trust for biblical truth and prophetic insight. That's why Southwest Radio Ministries invites you to watch Prophecy in the News television each week. Join our hosts and special guests as they examine current events, Bible prophecy, apologetics, and the issues shaping our world through the lens of Scripture. And don't forget the Prophecy in the News magazine. Each issue is packed with in-depth articles, biblical analysis, and faith-building content designed to help you understand the times and strengthen your walk with Christ.

Watch Prophecy in the News. Read Prophecy in the News magazine and stay informed from a biblical perspective. Visit swrc.com today. That's swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Southwest Radio Ministries, proclaiming God's truth in a changing world. Thank you, my friends, for your generous support this week. To help Southwest Radio Ministries continue reaching lives, give today at swrc.com or call 1-800-652-1144. Lord willing, we'll be back here Monday, ready to once again bring clarity to the chaos. So head into the weekend with the encouragement that God is still on the throne and prayer changes things. Watchman on the Wall is a production of Southwest Radio Ministries and is supported by faithful listeners like you. To learn more, visit swrc.com.