Have you thought about where we are headed as a global society, what needs to change, and is there really an Armageddon?There was a pretty good discussion about who is going to Heaven a few days ago, maybe you read it. The Bible says on the great and mighty day of the Lord, we'll find out. Before that day comes, Jesus said the following would take place.
Matthew 24:5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
Some of our commenters are of the mind that Christianity is hoax because Jesus never really lived. Others are fine with Jesus the man, Jesus the prophet, but not with Jesus the God - and that's OK with me. However; in the last year we've had some really devastating quakes, and they weren't from Ted Kennedy rolling over in his grave because Scott Brown was elected.
Here is a list of quakes for 2009 and another for 2010. Except for 1 in Illinois; a 3.8, they were all over 6 on the Richter Scale with Haiti being a 7.0. As Jerry Lee Lewis once said, there's whole lotta shakin' going' on.
Famine? According to Bread.org an estimated 1.02 billion, 1/6 of the world's population, goes hungry and 16,000 a day are dying of starvation daily.
Wars? We have a few going on besides Iraq and Afghanistan. HERE are the details. Rumors of war? Let's see, North Korea, Pakistan with both China and the former Soviet Union doing some saber rattling as well.
Without trying to decipher the symbolism in Revelations, there is some more plain talk about the last days in the Bible. See if any of it resonates with you.
2 Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
Here are a couple of sites that are bolder than I am in interpreting the End Times if you care to look. 28 Signs and 26 Signs.
Armed the potential knowledge that Jesus is really coming back - and soon, I have some real issues with the following articles on Yahoo News. (And you thought Pat Robertson was off his rocker!)
It is wrong on so many levels, I don't know where to start - but I'll try:
"Praying and singing, the group was trying to conjure spirits to guide lost souls when a crowd of Evangelicals started shouting." (and throwing rocks)
Are you kidding me? Flesh against flesh - what a horror show. When Elijah confronted evil (1 Kings 18), he called on God to prove himself - sure, he did a bit taunting, but really rocks and shouting?
"Religious tension has also increased: Baptists, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, Mormons and other missionaries have flocked to Haiti in droves since the earthquake to feed the homeless, treat the injured and jockey for souls. Some Voodoo practitioners have said they've converted to Christianity for fear they will lose out on aid or a belief that the earthquake was a warning from God."
Ah yes, the every religion melting pot. It really bothers me that the writer of this article lumped them all together - but as Christians we should take note. If all we have to offer is a different deal devoid of power, maybe it's best we are lumped together.
"Many missionaries oppose Voodoo. I hope this does not start a war of religions because many of our practitioners are being harassed now unlike any other time that I remember."
Where in the Bible does it say we should harass people? I'm just asking.
"We would give food to the needy in the short term but if they refused to give up Voodoo, I'm not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn't want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the Gospel."
-Pastor Frank Amedia
Help me out here Frank, where in the Bible does it say that we should not feed the poor if they participate in voodoo or any other sin for that matter. Isn't the point of ministry to show the love of Jesus and go beyond that which the world would do? When we are different, it is easier for them to see what they are doing as futile, no? Even Paul let the slave girl be - well, for a little while. (Acts 16:15-20)
Carnal weapons can only be used in a carnal war.
2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
I think it's time for a revival, how about you?
Comments
I realize there is a lot more detail to the prophecies contained in the Bible - but I just want to do my part and offer up a little End Times milk. I chose a couple of the ones that are in plain English because you can’t be accused of interpreting them for your own purposes. I do, however; understand there is a LOT more in Daniel, Joel and Revelations just to name a few books pointing at the last days.
I am thinking Feast of Trumpets in a year of Jubilee.
If you think about it, We are fast approaching the end times considering the current Chaos in the world today.
True, there's currently a global depression, but that's getting better all the time. Smallpox and polio are close to being extinguished from the world. The wars in Sri Lanka and Iraq are largely done.
And why are things getting better? Well, one possible reason is the spread of the Christian faith through Asia, particularly in South Korea and Japan. And Europe, for all its socialism, seems to finally have settled into a comfortable middle age spread, wherein they will do Good Works.
- A gnawn on moose