Signs of the Times?

I know very little about bible prophecy concerning the end times, but here are a few things I’ve been pondering lately. Contender Ministries has an excellent listing of prophetic signs that we are in the end times. And especially now that the President of Iran a)has called for the removal of Israel from the map and says the Holocaust never happened, b)is quite close to obtaining nuclear weapons and c)”believes that the end is not only near but nearer than the next American presidential election,” I think it behooves us to consider these things and assess our daily lives accordingly.

Matthew 24:3-42
And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world? (4) And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you. (5) For many will come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.
(Sun Myung Moon claims to be the Messiah.)
(6) And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must occur; but the end is not yet.
(Everywhere from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe)
(7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places.
(Famines, pestilences: AIDS, bird flu, earthquakes.)
(8) All these are the beginning of sorrows. (9) Then they will deliver you up to be afflicted and will kill you. And you will be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.
(Persecution)
(10) And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another. (11) And many false prophets will rise and deceive many.
(Benny Hinn and a host of others. But a more complete listing is a post for another day.)
(12) And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will become cold.
(Church divorce rates are just one indicator of how the church more closely resembles the world than ever before.)
(13) But he who endures to the end, the same shall be kept safe. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations. And then the end shall come.
(The number of unreached people groups is diminishing, and air travel, TV, radio, and the internet make evangelism easier than ever before.)
(15) Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
(If this refers to the desecration of the temple, that’s been going on for some time. And now even the Wailing Wall is in dispute.)
(16) Then let those in Judea flee into the mountains. (17) Let him on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; (18) nor let him in the field turn back to take his clothes. (19) And woe to those who are with child, and to those who give suck in those days! (20) But pray that your flight is not in the winter, nor on the sabbath day; (21) for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be. (22) And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.

(36) But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels of Heaven, but only My Father. (37) But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. (38) For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. (39) And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man. (40) Then two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (41) Two shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (42) Therefore watch; for you do not know what hour your Lord comes.