I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet, but the forecast for the new year is going to be a good year… or a bad year! It is going to be hot one… or a cold one! Jesus is going to come in 2026 …or he’s not coming in 2026! I’m writing most of this update on December 22nd. I have been listening, watching and reading predictions from both religious and secular pundits about their predictions for the coming year. I’m going to give you mine toward the end of the blog. Let me offer you a rule of thumb. This isn’t hard and fast, but it is almost always correct. When an expert on the television or podcast tells you something, believe the opposite. I wonder where some of these prognosticators come up with their credentials. The test of a true prophet in the Old Testament was simple. Is he right all the time? 100% accurate, bats 1000%, never whiffs on his prediction.

Soul Voyance. Sounds like a concept from a gender studies class at the university. Soul Voyance is actually a woman, I think. Seems she is a TikTok personality who makes predictions. The Birmingham (England, not Alabama) Live website published her predictions for 2026. She gave ten. I won’t share all of them but I will share and laugh at three. The vagueness of these is humorous. One, there will be a “new king.” That is astounding. She went on to say “I don’t know whether this is a new king or a coronation but it is something.” She is right about this, it is something. Two, the Conservatives in the United Kingdom will take back power. Nigel Farage has been the most popular politician in Britain in the past year and his party is the odds-on favorite to win in the next election. Throw into the mix discontent with crime, Islam taking over major cities, along with extremely high taxes due mainly to the “greens,” it is no wonder the conservatives are popular. Three, World War III will begin with an incident involving the Statue of Liberty. I’ll be watching closely for any news about that one. I’m thinking perhaps Lady Liberty’s torch will fall off, hitting a Chinese boat, sparking an international incident. Didn’t Jesus say there would be wars and rumors of wars? Let me throw in a fourth bonus prediction from Ms. Voyance. There will be a state funeral this year. Wow. There are 195 nations in the world as of this morning. One of those heads of state may pass away and a state funeral happen. That is awful bold of her with that prediction. Every minute of the world 107 people pass into eternity. The percentages are in favor of a political leader dying from one of those 195 countries. It is extremely high in any given year, not just this coming year. My advice is to be careful before swallowing everything you hear, whether on the news, a podcast, the internet, and yes, even the pulpits. Now let me put on my seer hat and give you some iron clad predictions for this coming year.

1. The Bible will not finally, after thousands of years of effort, be found to be wrong. This year I am asking the church family to read the Bible chronologically. We will take the scriptures and read from the beginning in Genesis 1 and walk through the Bible year by year of man’s history. People have studied the Word of God various ways since books of the Bible began to be compiled. Skeptics have for thousands of years claimed the Bible is flawed and mistake ridden. Every proof of error they have offered has an explanation and rebuttals. I have told teens and college youth on many occasions “there is always an answer” when professors with great sounding titles, teachers and critics of Christianity try and rip apart their faith. When all else fails, the Word of God will stand forever (I Peter 1:25).
2. Prayers will still be answered. There have been many prayers offered to the Lord this past year. There have also been many prayers answered this past year. I am not speaking hyperbolically when I say this. Every week I have someone tell me they have had a prayer answered. Over and over the Lord answered the prayers of the saints this past year. No reason to think God won’t continue to answer if we are trying to live obedient lives. The Lord hasn’t changed; His arm hasn’t shortened that He can’t hear (Isaiah 59:1).
3. People will still be saved. I am amazed at some of the letters we receive each week from missionaries and the work the Lord is doing on the mission field. Often the Lord saves souls from areas that seldom cross our minds. The hottest spots militarily and those with the harshest penalties for being a Christian seem to be the places the power of God is seen in the greatest ways. The number of souls saved in the west may be dwindling, but the Lord is still in the soul saving business.
4. The Church isn’t going anywhere. When I make that prediction, I am speaking of the Church dying and another organization taking her place. I am fully aware the Church could be taken in the rapture at any moment. See I Thessalonians 4 and I Corinthians 15 for that great truth. The Church has been around now for about two thousand years, since the time Jesus walked around Israel. Over that time people have sought to destroy the Church and strangle Christianity from the face of the earth. Satan and his ilk are haters of the greatest degree. They failed and will continue to do so. But often, some people on our team, the Christians, have faulty thinking also. Statements such as “The church is a relic, a thing of the past. What we need is a new organization that will galvanize God’s people, and we can change things more effectively.” Organizations like Promise Keepers and the Moral Majority had leadership made up of dedicated men and women of God. Some of them thought their group was the future. They weren’t. They may still be in existence in some form, but we know nothing about them publicly. While they eventually passed from having great influence, the Church of the Lord Jesus just keeps clicking along. Don’t forget this. The only organization that the Lord Jesus ever promised perpetuity is His Church. Matthew 16:18b says “…I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” If the church isn’t the place, then there is no place.

So, those are four of my predictions for the coming year. Now, I know they are earth shattering, but I wanted to get them out there so you will know that I can predict with the best of them. My guess is that you too could have come up with those same predictions. Why? They are biblical.