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Locked on 10/27/2009 12:40:43 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
Childish behavior. |
Posted on 07/25/2009 2:40:04 AM PDT by Quix
The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):
"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."
This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times.
Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for — signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man — that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).
A Personal Experience
Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time.
He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return."
He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound — the sound of a trumpet!"
The First Sign
One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917.
This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires.
The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people — an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.
In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people."
The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12).
Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment."
Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule.
There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state.
Since 1917
Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time.
I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments.
I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs. We will explore these catetories beginning in Part 2 of this series.
I’ve enjoyed some of her books. Some folks just have to criticize, criticize, criticize. Don’t think God is very pleased with them.
Gag!
My eyes! my eyes!
"...The end result of this preparation was that she was ready for the most magnificent hour of her life. While all men deserted Our Crucified Lord, Our Lady stood at the foot of the Cross. In spite of the terrible suffering, at no moment was she disoriented. She did not lose her self- control or wish to flee. All these vile passions would be unbefitting for her, filled as she was with the most excellent virtues elevated to the highest degree. No one had ever suffered so much while maintaining such complete self-control and understanding of the logic of what was happening. Our Lady did this with so much strength and poise, and hatred of evil. We can even sense her hatred for evil in that she knew that evil would be entirely crushed at the moment that her Divine Son expired..."
Oh, yeah. Him. I almost forgot.
I must have. What post was it first posted on?
INDEED.
lol. The picture of Jesus appears like a temporary afterthought. The statue of Mary looks permanent.
***Or this one in Poland...***
I must have as well. What post was this posted on previously?
And then when you indicate that, can you translate for me please?
With CREATOR OF ALL THAT IS
looking UP to Mary.
Talk about blasphemy. Sheesh.
Here...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2300721/posts?page=758#758
Face it, Mark. All these images are real...and they’re spectacular. (Assuming you watch Seinfeld.)
Meant to ping you to 792 (I’m watching the Angels get robbed. Boo)
***”...The end result of this preparation was that she was ready for the most magnificent hour of her life. While all men deserted Our Crucified Lord, Our Lady stood at the foot of the Cross. In spite of the terrible suffering, at no moment was she disoriented. She did not lose her self- control or wish to flee.***
Are any of these words wrong? Did all men desert Jesus? Did she remain?
Your mockery would be most appropriate and barbed except for the fact that your words speak to what Mary went through at the foot of the Cross as Jesus suffered and died.
Harken back to the the Gospels. Harken back to the Passion of the Christ, if you saw it. Did Mary suffer and yet not back down? I have sympathy for your mockery; I pray for you. May God soften your heart so that you can finally understand the great price He paid. May He also soften your heart as to Mary’s sacrifice for you and for all as well.
You scorn, yet reap the benefit of His Passion and Death and Resurrection. If a sports article mentions the mother of a great player, do you huff and puff?
Sure.
B*L*A*S*P*H*E*M*Y.
thx.
I’m not seeing Mary on a cross in that picture.
I know that some people are Maryphobic. Nothing that shot of Haldol this month won’t cure.
But I have no problem at all with a statue of Mary caressing the Christ child being the focus of an altar. She was a very loving mother and it seems fitting that she should be bigger than Him if she is an adult and He is a child.
Except for the fact that Christ died for their sins, one would almost think that a gentle thought was wasted on them. Yet He is not willing that any should perish.
Mary points us ever to His Salvation, no matter if they spit on her, revile her, mock her, as they did Christ. In love she waits to welcome them to Christ’s mercy, no matter the ridicule, vicious untruths, whatever.
Ever she is the first Christian, leading by example, lost souls to her Son, aiding in His work as do all of us who give in His Holy Name.
It's the rest of that paragraph that is howlingly absurd. We don't know Mary's demeanor. We have no idea whether she did or did not "lose her self-control or wish to flee."
Or this line...
"No one had ever suffered so much while maintaining such complete self-control and understanding of the logic of what was happening."
Not only is that phrase, "the logic of what was happening" mind-numbingly absurd, but I can think of ONE PERSON who "suffered more while maintaining such complete self-control and understanding..."
Pity Rome seems to forget His name so easily and so often.
There is no proof that it is Mary, no proof that it is Catholic and it sure isn't in a church.
However, I'm sure that this "Butter Jesus" is representative of the Idolatry of every Protestant church /s/
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