[RJR_fan]

Other than the final resurrection of the dead, which all SANE (orthodox, normal, creedal) Christians look forward to, I believe the Bible is a book of fulfilled prophecies. I take Rev. 1:1-3 very literally, for example. The only two "outstanding" things on the menu are (A) an ongoing process, described in Psalm 110 and in I Cor. 15:20-30, of the King ruling and subjugating His enemies one by one, and (B) one last big event -- the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting, amen.

Since the King is now ruling, we can face the future with confidence, joy, and faith that relies upon and rejoices in, the goodness and power of God, no matter what kinds of temporary setbacks arise.

It's strange, but for the last 1000+ years, the fortune tellers, who attempted to use God's Word as a tool of divination, always read it in such as way as to place themselves at the apex of history. After all, how would God dare do anything as important as the Second Coming, while leaving someone as crucial as ME out of His plans? You can see why this perspective hath its appeals to some element of our fallen humanity! Yet all of these prognosticators have had one thing in common -- they've been wrong, and eventually died.

[Genoa]

I don't know if I would say that I have to be at the apex of history. I do believe that Christ teaches all of us (not just his own contemporaries) that his eschatological coming is to be considered imminent. That is, it could be at any time. But not that it must be immediate. Just that it could be. The point is that we are to be prepared, ready, and waiting. (I trust you won't be disappointed if he comes before you die. I know I won't.)