[SkyPilot]

The new and improved phoenix will rise from the ashes at some point

That's a self generated hope because it is not what the Bible says. Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation all tell us the world will get much, much, much worse.

World wide totalitarianism is coming, and we all can now visibility see it's framework under construction: gun data bases, health care controlled by the government, food supply controlled by government, NSA Big Brother watching our book purchases, on-line viewing, e-mails, and phone calls, cameras everywhere, drones in the sky with cameras, and 1st, 2nd, 4th Amendment rights dead or dying a slow death.

The DOMA decision by the "supreme" court "justices" will usher in swift and brutal persecution of Christians, because it is that group that will refuse to bow. They will be charged with "discrimination" and "hate speech" and pastors and believers harassed and jailed.

Revelation tells us of coming plagues, famine, war, torture, and incredible outbreaks of calamity in nature (drought, earthquakes, increased heat of the sun, poisoned water supply, the list goes on).

It also warns that no one who is still around on the earth will be able to escape these trials. No one.

"Prepping" is never bad advice in terms of stocking food, water, medicine, etc. But it is no substitute for prepping one's soul before Jesus Christ.

[who knows what evil?]

That's a self generated hope because it is not what the Bible says. Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation all tell us the world will get much, much, much worse.

Exactly...I see people looking for some 'great revival', but there is nothing in the Scriptures about such an event.

[Old Sarge]

So many questions, so little time...

[Cold Heat]

The Bible is real good as a history lesson. But it's not too good at predicting future events..

If you want to know what will happen generally speaking in the future you can extract this from history, as history always repeats it's self.

Civilizations rise and fall....always, like a perpetual clock. We are not the exception to the rule.

So yes, I believe the phoenix always rises from the ashes only to die later, as predicted. The only exception that I can see to this rule is a scenario where the planet is actually destroyed by a event strong enough to do so. We can predict that will happen when the milky way collides with another galaxy or it could be sooner with a collision between earth and another chunk of rock big enough to do serious damage. But we can't predict when this will happen.

However history tells us something we can predict and that is the continual demise of sequential civilizations for as long as recovery is possible.

What we are seeing today is nothing more than the downhill slide of another one biting the dust.