Why is God so mean? I mean, to the people that don't believe? (again, I am not saying I don't believe)

I have the same hope too Slimland. In a general sense I guess you could call us God's weathermen and trying to let others know of the approaching storm so they can seek shelter in God's grace. We are not trying to tell everyone exactly when it will hit, just that it is on the way and to be ready. I hope many will read this thread and take something good from it to further His kingdom.

kimahri, this is a tough question you ask because it will open up to more than just non-believers. For example, many believers have suffered and still suffer for their testamony in Christ. It's not just unbelievers that suffer for their lack of belief. Present day suffering believers can be found in many third world countries where the Good News is not accepted or allowed because of existing belief. Saudi Arabia is one such country where anyone who believes in anything except Islam can face imprisonment, torture, and death.

Some people ask why is God so mean at all. For example when a tragedy like the tsunami that killed thousands, 9-11 that killed thousands, or the murder/robbery of someone you know. I wish I had an answer to everything that happens but then I would probably still not understand it. But I will tell you this story and see if it helps answer your question.

I heard a story from a preacher who had seen this wonderful missionary from the jungles of South America. This one South American missionary was responsible for sharing the Good News of Christ with untold numbers of other South Americans bringing them to salvation. What was interesting about the story was how the missionary himself was saved.

You see he was in a tribe in the South American jungle when an American missionary came in to share the Gospel. The American missionary was slaughtered by the tribesmen. It was only after other American missionaries came to the tribe and finally made contact did this South American man know that he had murdered a messanger of God. He accepted Jesus and repented of his sins and then proceeded to share the Gospel with others in his tribe and in nearby tribes and then all over South America and the world.

Yes, the tribal man who murdered the first American missionary became a successful missionary himself. The preacher who told the story was the murdered American missionaries son! There is a movie out that I understand is based on a similar story. It's called "the End of the Spear."

What on the surface appeared to be a very mean action allowed by God turned out to be literal salvation for thousands of souls that may have never known the love of Jesus otherwise. What a testimony to the love and foregiveness Jesus stood for than for the murdered missionaries son to stand side by side with the murderer (in foregiveness) and both working to save others.

Sorry for the long post. In short, we don't always know why God allows some bad things to happen. To us it seems totally wrong or illogical. But God has His plan and it works to the benefit of all who love Him. Sometimes we see it in our lifetime. Sometimes we may not see it till we get to Heaven.

Hope that helps some.

That was excillent, God gave man and Angels free will, this can explain a-lote of what you see and hear. Wars and strif come about because of what we as the human race want's. Not relying on the giver of Life. It is a missplaced dependancy. Depending on other things to make you happy, when they are a temporary fix.

God does work His plan to benifit his believers, it might be a bad situation, but in the end it will benifit someone, therfor bringing Glory to God. The fall of man and expulsion from the garden, gave us the redemtion of Jesus Christ. The Law of God flows through man and kills him, but the gift of life through Jesus Christ is givin to man who believes. Soo forth and soo on.

So that bring the point of God not being mean, but man.

Well spoken!!!

He isn't. Christians made the whole thing up when they assigned human characteristics to God.

Aligator gald you could stop by, but don't come in here attacking, thats not what this thread is for.

We did not assign human characturistics to God, "God mad man in His image and His likeness" So you are mistaken."Let US make man in Our Image" Thus the Holy Trininty Spoke to it self. It was an agreeinse between The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.


This is a thread for prophecy not debate.

Heh, heh....Guy asked a question, I offered an answer in defense of God!. This irritates you?

I took offence to it yes. I am a Christian, if I went by what you said, that would mean that God hates non-believers, and I would have to support that. BUT that is not the case, God Loves non-believers also, therfor you are sterio typing Christians, by what a majority seems to think. Wich is not the case again God loves Non- believers also. Maybe I jumped the Gun, I will give you the benifit of the doubt and think you meant organized religion, if this is the point you where making then I will have to agree with you. But the way you put it is ALL Christians. That is why I got offended, that would put myself in that catagory and everyone else thats a Christian.

Slimland,

Going back to the end times topic let me ask you this question. Do you see any particular actions or events going on at this time that point to the time being at hand?

This question is kinda broad and I know in this thread we have already hit on things like Israel becoming a nation and the 9/11 attack. Do you see anything else happening that you would put in that same catagory? I have a few of my own but would like to hear yours.

I'll give it a shot. I'm not 100% on the whole middle east situation but I know that God said everything will revolve around Israel especially in the end times. Israel is in the news everyday about something or another.

The crazy weather thats going on around the world, 2005 was record setting in all categories. 2006 is starting off the same way. Some folk will say its a cycle, but everything that the bible talks about mostly in Matthew 24 is happening all at once, compared to previous generations.

The bible uses the word pestilence,, In truckdriver terms(lol) disease is running wild, increasing insect problems around the world..ect..

Dormant(sp?) volcanoes coming back to life around the world.

Apostacy, Other religions trying to "shut down" christians when it comes to Christ, when those other religions are okay.

I'm not sure where its found but the Bible talks about "people being lovers of their self" in the end times... Man, isn't that the truth nowdays.

This is probably a touchy subject for some, but the rise of the new world order. you can't do anything without being watched/tracked. Its all leading up to the rise of the anti-christ.

Theres some of my thought in a nutshell.

Well I see quiet a few thing's to take into consideration. The above is already mention, so I wont have to put that down,"just makes it easier on my fingers lol".

I know befor the great and terrible day of the Lord "tribulation", there will be a sign of blood and smoke, This I believe was also attributed with 9-11, every eye seen it. Here's one in particular We have 2 asteroids that swing by the earth every 3 years, These 2 asteroids are actualy joined together "kinda looks like a dumb bell" any way the closest they ever come to earth was 2004, They say that the path of the big rock goes through the asteroid belt around mars, goes wherever it goes then returns through the asteroid belt back to earth. 2008 will be the next time it it comes by earth again, whose to say that when it goes through that belt again it don't get knocked around, get off course and hit earth. Just a thought.
here is a link to this story, also the name of the Asteroid is touatitis, there is other stories on this just use your search engins.


http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules...er=0%26thold=0


Mention above is the fact of people falling away "Apostasy" this word also means to defect, to defect from the truth, and to be removed. Thats good news, while some are rejecting Christ, Christ is removing His own.

The expansion of New age religions, which we know not to be new, but old sumerian, and babylonian beliefs.
Also and not to mention, it will be like the days of Noah, well what were the days of Noah like, they where Godless, not knowing God and not carring of who He is. Then we have as mention above the New world Order, the rising of the Holy Roman Empire, we know it as the European Union, the Original states of the union was exactly 10 countries. I believe I kindo expounded on this earlier at least in the spiritual.

I will say this, I truly believe that the seals have been opened, and the Four Angels holding the winds "4 horsmen" so they dont harm the earth yet, untill the servants of God are sealed "wich is the 144 thousand Jews", will soon be released, after the Rapture, but I think it will be mild at first, Cause I think there just might be a short period after the Rapture, until the Tribulation, the Tribulation will start when the covenant is made between the Antichrist and Isreal, then they shall say peace and safty, then sudden distruction.

Oh look at that, I got kinda off the subject of the question you asked Sorry.

Signs in the Sun and moon and heavens.
I think we are seeing these, the sun is sending out more burst than ever, the heavens we are learning more about and not to mention the chances of the Asteroids. They say Global Warming, bull crap, there is a Angel that is over the Sun who has Power to scorch men on earth, I think he's just getting ready.

So take your pick, and I am sure I have missed some.


Y'all let me know if this link works, if not just type toutitis in you search.

Man, Slimland and Brotherman you both hit on some major ones. Especially Brotherman on those that are lovers of themselves. I don't have my Bible handy but if my poor memory is right I thing you find that in 1st or 2nd Peter.

The first thing that hits me (other than what you two already listed) is the return of some countries to the world stage that were mighty kingdoms in past history. The European Union is fast approaching the original land size as the old Roman Empire and if Turkey ever gets into the EU then it will include the capital regions of both the old western empire (Rome) and the eastern empire that was run out of Constantinople (now Ankara, Turkey). I believe that the European Union will play a major role in end-time events as a revised Roman Empire.

Others countries now on the world stage are Iran (formerly Persia) and China which is quickly taking over the spot of the 2nd super-power from Russia. When I think of China I think of the passage in Revelation that refers to the "kings of the east" crossing the great rivers to join in the final battle. Clearly we have more "wars and rumors of wars" at this time than ever before except for just prior to World War II. But strange that the players starting to rise up at this point have histories going back into ancient history.

There are some other things that come to mind but I keep coming back to how the love of man has grown cold and how we have allowed good things to be called bad and vice versa. On average I don't see the human race as being more caring or concerned for each other. And there are too many examples to list of things that used to called bad and now are accepted. The language that is tolerated in public, radio, and television now compared to even 5 years ago is worse and that is just one example.

Just a couple of mine but there are more.

I stumbled across this, it takes some of the research out of current events... but its still a good read.


http://www.rapturealert.com/2006/012...screaming.html

I hope that I can find God soon because its coming!

Yes, we are the terminal genaration, it is comming we know the signs and the generation just not the time or day, that being said. I have got a question and a answer. Why do you think that the earth is doing what it is doing? Doesn't Peter say the world will rock and roll like a drunkerd, this will explain the polar ice caps changing, the scientist say our earth tilt is changing, this would explain all of these exspecialy in conjunction with the sun. The reson the earth is acting this way, is because unwillingly it has been subject to corruption that we humans have willingly subjected to it. Therfor like us in groans for the day of Redemtion. Just like us. I think that is so neat in it self.

Lets go to Revelations, and the Book of Daniel, those two go hand in hand. I think we need to talk about those things, because alot of people do not understand them.

I just woke up so my writing and thinking ability is not up to par. So I will get on here later, and see what has been said.

Here is another site that I belong to and where I have learned lots from:

http://www.raptureready.com/

I also like Jack Van Impe:

http://www.jvim.com/

Gotta go back and reread the posts before I respond to anything. Just kinda skimmed through them - had my 4 year old nephew this past weekend, not much time for myself :wink:

Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ died for your sins, Arose on the 3rd day to give you new life in Him. And you shall be saved. it is so simple, that the pharasis and saducees stumble at this. "The chief cornerstone, has become a rock of offense".

Jesus said " He that believes in Me, Even though he is dead, Yet shall he live"

What that means is we as people are dead spiritualy, when we believe in Christ we become alive through Him. because of His Ressurection. He forgave the whole world of there Sin, but there still dead, the new life is in Him. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the Sin of the World"

" I will take away the old covenant, and give them a new covenant, not like the former that I gave them on mount sinia, with Mosses. The new covenant, I will be merciful, and there sins and lawless acts I will Remember no more"

Kammarri did you read what I asked you too?

......666 (# of the beast) = microchip?.....hmmmmmm.......

You guys are having a good discussion about what can typically be a volatile subject. We appreciate that it is being handled calmly and cooly. That said, let me interject a couple of quick points to consider and spark more discussion. ;)

Israel became a state again in 1948, I believe, and scripture states that not a generation will go by before He returns. So how do you figure a generation? Is it 40 years as indicated in Psalms? Is it 78 years, as is the standard today? Is it hundreds of years, as compared to the general ages of many prophets in the Bible? No one has the answer there, but it's the cause of many debates. Regardless, the end (or the beginning, depending on how you view it) is probably quite near.

Regarding the Rapture, many Christians do not believe in the Rapture and believe that there is more scripture debunking the Rapture than there is supporting it. Food for thought, there.

Several times, I have heard mention that the key to everything is Israel. That point is indisputable. So, how about last week's bomb about Russia inviting Hamas up to talks in Moscow on their new government? Check out the Book of Ezekiel for how big that little invite could be.

Coming as a thief in the night is simply a reference to be prepared. In literal terms, if you are not prepared and a thief breaks into your house, you will lose possessions, money, maybe more. In regards to His return, if you are not ready, you could lose your salvation. It's a good analogy.

Carry on. ;)

The scriptures actually hold up the view on the Rapture. I have put some on here and most of those were Old Testament. I figured everyone who knows a little already knows of the New Testament ones. here is some of them.


Isaiah CH30:25-26

"There will be on every high mountain and on every high hill Rivers and streams of waters, In the day of the Great Slaughter, When the Towers Fall. Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, As the light of seven days, In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people And heals the stroke of their wound."

I found this interesting.


I am going to quote myself and double post!


This scripture is referring to the fall of the Towers on 9-11-01. This is the only time since Israel became a country, that 2 Towers have Fallen Thus "The Great Slaughter, When the Towers Fall". The sun and moon light is God's word going out into the world bringing people to him after the Fall of the 2 Towers. From my opinion of the scripture this will last for about 7 years, (1 year for 1 day, This is also found in Isaiah) if you keep reading vrs 27-33, you will notice that God makes the Nation to Error, then after that the Rapture this is the mountain of the Lord and the Music spoken about, Then on earth the Lord releases his Judgments on the earth and ungodly who denied him, during this time people will still be able to save their souls by accepting what Christ did on the Cross, but they will have hell on earth.

The reason I put the Kings!

It is the makeup of the kingdom of darkness, it's also physical as it is spiritual. The king that was presently sitting on the beast was Lucifer "Satan" the beast that is to come out of the abyss is the Destroyer. His spirit is the one who flows over the earth, the one John told us about, the Spirit of the Antichrist. Before he comes out of the abyss he gets 10 kings "fallen Arch Angels" to attack Satan, When Satan falls or fell his Image fell with him. What is his Image? The same reason he fell from heaven Pride what gave him pride? his beauty, what gave him his beauty His Trading, The love of money is a root to all kinds of Evil. This all can be found in Ezekiel Ch 28 vrs 11-19. So now we know that the money systems of the world where made by Lucifer. When he fell his trading fell. Thus the 2 Towers. Rev ch 18 exact description, How many times does the Angle say Fallen? 2 Times vrs 2 "Babylon the Great is Fallen, Fallen" how much time does it take? 1 Hour vrs 10 "for in one our your judgment has come".

God called his people out before it fell "come out of her my people, so you do not participate in her plagues". Did God cause this to happen? No, The beast in the pit did.

Now what? Well, first the rapture then Satan has the key to the bottomless pit, he will open it releasing the 2 beast that reside in there, there names are Abbadon, and Apollyon, both mean destroyers. This is your Antichrist and False Prophet. They will heal the wound that was caused to the Kingdom of darkness "The neck wound" and they will reign, first the false prophet then the Antichrist."7&8" Notice the 8th one is of the 7, the 5th kingdom on earth was the Holy Roman Empire, it is reborn in the European union which originally consisted of 10 country's."10 Kings".

any questions?


The arguments of wich trib is correct can be singled out by reading and asking God to show you the truth. The bible is explisit in its teaching on these subjects. I figure you know of what I talk about, I let the Holy Spirit teach me not man. But I found something interesting take a look at it, it supports the pre-trib argument which I believe to be the thruth.

Isaih Ch 57 vrs1&2, After this comes Judgment.3-21.

I go with the psalms generation, because it is reapeted over and over again, not just in psalms but in Genisis. Mosses and the people where in the wilderness for 40 years a generation passed. Alot of scriptur is based on 40, 40 days 40 nights it raind on the earth, Jesus went into the wilderness for the same amount of time etc. Like I said Israel is the Key including there time's. You said 1948, that is correct, but when they got thier land back was 1967 after the 6 day war.

Now Eziekiel has alot to do with Now times, you just gotta know your history, same with Isiah, Jerimiah has some, but most of it has to do with what we know as past, then you have the smaller books, Joel, Zacharia, etc.
But anyway I think the scripture's actualy support the Rapture, Paul was spacific about it as was Peter, 1John, Jesus, Luke, Mathew, and Mark, Revelations, Daniel, Isiah, Eziekiel, etc. You have to look at the scripture as a whole, and what the context is, some people just take a verse and say this is it. Therfor it is out of context and they do not know what the arthur was talking about.

8)

What ya think TF?

ahaa, the 666.

I have got a view on it, it is simular to what you have, but it goes deeper, I'll take a shot at here in a little bit. I've got to get off for a while, gotta clean the house befor the woman gets home, Don't want her to think I have been on the computer all day :) .

Not only that it give's some others to tell what they think.

kimahri1114 wrote:
I wanted to respond to this with my thoughts.

I don't think that it is God being "mean". God uses all types of ways to bring people closer to Him. But I also think that when you are living an unholy life, you are subject to the laws of earth and the Bible and do not have the same type of protection that God offers. Not sure if that's the right wording for that, just the only way I know how to explain it.

That being said, I know several non-believers who have had miracles occur in their lives. They were not looking for God and yet they found Him. My husband is included in this. He has an awesome testimony and should not be living to tell it.

God knows who will come to Him and who will reject Him no matter how many times He tries to touch their hearts and lives. So maybe that has something to do with it.

I know some people say, "Well, that person was a Christian, why did they die?" Even though the people left behind are sad, I sincerely doubt that the person God took home is sad. They are rejoicing in their new bodies waiting for their families to join them :)

Just my thoughts.

Well I have been TRYING to find him, but I can't seem to. I don't know whats wrong with me. Any thoughts about this?

What is the ministry of calling down fire from heaven?

Prophet!!!!
Now, there was a good prophet named Elijah who called down fire from heaven to say somthing like this,"My God is greater and I'm going to call down fire from heaven, you should worship my God".

This bad beast is going to have that same function of a prophet, he is going to call down fire from heaven and say somthing like this,"Look, my God is greater. You worship my God here" This beast.

But guess what he is a false prophet. one of the fallen Angelic Beast is the false prophet."as I said earlier with the kings"

You see, our mindset is to think that a prophet has to be a man., But this is a beast. It says so right in vrs 11."Revelations ch13", It is a beast. He's the false prophet and he is not a man he is a fallen angilic beast.
Now vrs. 16 "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to recieve a mark in their right hand, or in heir foreheads: vrs 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had",: ONE OF THREE THINGS
THE MARK
THE NAME OF THE BEAST OR,
THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME.

We know what the name of this beast is, Because it tells us that in Recelation Ch 9. The name of the beast is Abaddon, and that name means destroyer, so his name actualy is DESTROYER.

The number of his name

The number of his name is the number that means what his name means.
What is that number?
Well it tells us it is 6
It is 666
It tells us..."here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast"
E.W.Bullinger in his book Number in Scripture. He said that counting the number of the beast has to do with calculating the number. Numbers have meaning, and it is more than just counting up of the gamatria of a name.

The number has to have a symbolic meaning. It is figuring out what the meaning of the number is. and when the symbolic meaning of that number matches the meaning of the name itself, then that's it. Thats the answer.

OK, The number of his nam is 6, it's 666.
The number is also the number of man. Now, has anybody studied numbers?
Grace=5
kingdom=4
perfection=7
new beginnings=8
Man=6

"Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of man"


The numbe of man is 6.

if 6 is a bad number then 666 is realy bad.
So the next step is if we can find in scripture if the number6 means the same thing that his name means, which is DESTROYER, then thos puzzle pieces fit together, and our mystery is solved.

Genisis ch6 vrs 7 the Lord says "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth: both man, and beast"
he repeats this in vrs s7 " and, behold, I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh" Again in ch 7 once again he says " and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

And in vrs 6, Noah was HOW MANY hundred years old when the flood came to destroy the earth? 600 years old, in vrs 11, it repeats it in the SIX hundreth year of Noah's life the earth was Destroyed.
Exodus ch 14 vrs 6 They went out to Destroy Isreal. Guess how many chariots did Pharoah take out to be the destroyer of Isreal? 600.
It is like a rating on a movie XXX is worst thatn X, so we now that 666 is worst than 6.
An angel is called a Son of man, therfor the number of Angels is 6.

And just think 2 beast are in the Bottom less pit, Abadon and Apollyon, Both names mean destroyer, destroyer, what will they do? Destroy.

Their number is that of man it is 6. 666.
The mark is counterfit to the mark that God puts on his people, but who ever does not have that mark, or his name, or the number of his name, cannot buy sell or anything, So is the wound heald in the economy of Lucifer. Thus the Kings post.

Any Question?

Well, with all due respect, even though I find the subject quite interesting, I'm not going to get into the discussion about it, for the simple fact that mods are better served by staying neutral, particularly about a subject where emotions can run high. ;) Suffice it to say, I don't believe in the rapture (after much study and prayer of my own) and we'll leave it at that.

As far as scriptural prophecy goes, I honestly think it's a bit of a stretch to say that we know exactly what a certain prophecy is referring to, ie. the Towers. Biblical prophecy is vague, perhaps more out of the thousands of years seperating the writer and we readers, than intentionally vague. I suppose it's possible that the Tower reference is referring to 9/11. Then again, it could be a reference to something entirely different. It is always a good thing to proceed with caution when trying to dechiper scripture. People have been doing it for hundreds of years and are generally proven wrong, as time passes. Best bet is to just always be aware of prophecy and what's going on around us.

Overall, though, while we may differ on some of our opinions, we are not in disagreement that the endtimes are upon us.

Twilight Flyer wrote:
You've peaked my curiosity. Since you do not believe in the Rapture, what do the end times mean for you?

I believe the same that you do - that we are in the final days before He returns. However, I just don't believe we are going to be raptured away before His return, which means we'll be in for some very difficult times ahead.

I know of some people who hold this belief, I respect that, I too held this belief for a while, untill I stopped listning to man and started listning to the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying your not, I just have a diffrent opinion I guess, either way where still on the same page, Jesus Christ "Every knee shall bow, and every toung confess that Jesus is Lord of ALL" That in the end is what matters, whether believing in the rapture or not. That don't make a hill of beans when it comes to Salvation from the Highest.

Soo, on with the Subject. 8)

kimahri, you pose some very deep questions for being 15. There are people who dedicate their entire lives trying to find God and never succeed. I hope this will make sense when I say this but God does not have to be found, He has to be accepted. Let me try and explain.

God is always here. He was here before time, when the earth was new, and he will be forever. We were in perfect friendship with God until the first sin in the Garden of Eden. Then man was eternally separated from Him. Why? Because God is perfect and can not tolerate sin.

But God being perfect that he is set about His plan to bring us back into perfect friendship with him. That was through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. He shed His sinless blood to pay for the sins of you, me, and the whole world. With God knowing that we alone could never find our way back to Him, He sent out a search party for us in the form of Jesus Christ.

Now the only thing we need to do is accept God's gift, become humble and admit that we will never find God by ourselves because of our sins, and then ask forgiveness of our sins by Christ sacrifice for us. You see, you don't need to go find God.....He already knew where to find you.

kimahri, if you have not already you can restore that perfect friendship with God by asking for God to forgive you of your sins by the blood Jesus shed for you. There is no set statement to make or special prayer to say. Confess your sins, ask forgiveness, ask Jesus to live inside of you to help you because you can not do it on your own. If you believe this in your heart, you will be saved. That is a fact that no one can deny nor can they ever take it away from you. If you have already done this and believe then you have found God my friend.

Now, once you do this will it make everything magically alright, solve all your problems, and make you a perfect person just like Jesus. I'm sorry to say it wont. But by your faith in God you will have a helper, a counselor who will help guide you in the right direction. Will you still sin. Yes. Will you have times of doubt that make you question your salvation? Yes. Even some of the worlds great preachers and teachers of the Gospel have had doubts. But that same helper and guide, the Holy Spirit that lives in you when you accept Christ, will help you. Along with believers just like you find here who suffer the same things. We all share a faith in God and a love for each other to help us through our day to day problems till Jesus returns or till we meet Him in Heaven earlier.

Once you have taken this step then you need to find a strong Bible believing Church that lives by those same beliefs. I will not tell you a particular denomination because you may find a good group of believers to worship with and help you grow in just about any kind of denomination or in an independent church. Just start looking, praying for God to lead you to the right one, and ask questions about what they believe. Use the Bible as your guide.

And you have more than a couple of folks here who will help if they can.

Godspeed, kimahri.

Thank you TF for the good words about the thread and your comments on the subject.

If pre-trib I will see you on the way up,
If post-trib then we can pray together for the strength to withstand the upcoming trials.
Either way we do it together with God.

Bible Prophecy and the Rapture

Q. Why is Bible prophecy so important? And what do you mean when you talk about the "rapture" of the church?

A. Prophecy is important because such a significant amount of Scripture is devoted to it: about one-quarter of the Bible was prophetic when it was written. Bible prophecy proves beyond any reasonable doubt that God knows and controls the future, and the fact that He included so much prophecy in His Word shows that He wants us to understand the things to come. Most of the events prophesied in Scripture have already come to pass, but some remain to be fulfilled at a later date, including the Rapture of the Church.

While the term rapture is not used in the New Testament, the concept of a "catching away" is vividly described. It refers to a future event when the church-all members of the body of Christ, past and present-will be reunited with Jesus. First Thessalonians says, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ [Christians who have died] will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (4:16-18; see also 1 Cor. 15:51-52).

When will this take place? Although no one knows the day or the hour, the Bible describes the time period immediately preceding. I have written extensively about why I believe that the generation that is alive today will see the mass ingathering of believers commonly called the Rapture. The Bible says that as they did when Noah was building the ark, people on earth will be conducting their daily affairs, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling, right up to the moment of His return. And just as God set apart His chosen ones by placing Noah and his family into the ark for safe-keeping, He will remove his Church from the seven years of tribulation that will follow the Rapture.

The Rapture will also protect the church from Satan's ultimate delusion. (See 2 Thess. 2:9-12.) Jesus prophesied that before His return there would be many false messiahs and false christs (Matt. 24:23). Think about it. Anyone can stand up and say, "I am Jesus." Anyone can wear a white robe and claim to be the descendant of King David. Anyone can place surgical scars in his hands and feet. How can you tell the real from the false Jesus? Not by dramatic displays of supernatural power. Remember this: a man with supernatural power is not necessarily from God; the devil has supernatural power too, as do his demons.

So how will you know when the real Jesus comes to earth? I'll know Jesus has reappeared when my glorified body sails through the heavens past the Milky Way into the presence of God. I'll know I'm with the real Jesus when I stand in His glorious presence with my brand new disease-proof, never-dying, fatigue-free body!


Just my view!!!

I could not have said this better!!! :)

I see. 8)

Why does everyone say bad things about Catholics?

Well I don't rightly know, but it could be that in the dark ages, the Holy Roman Church is the one who persecuted the Christians, the Jews, and everyone else who did not follow there system of belief.



Not only that, but in essence,and in my opinion, this is where the false prophet will make his stand and proclomation, when the Antichrist is revealed. but that goes even deeper.

Then you have some of the priest, who are pedifiles, being protected by that church, so forth and so on.

here is a more simple answer if 7 is perfection so 777 would be total perfection Father, Son Holy ghost. so anything that a person can or hangs on to or worships in this life over the true son of God will not bring him to perfection. simpler and says the same thing you just said.

Slimland already said it. There is some bad reputation that goes back a long long time. There are some prime examples where they went very wrong. The inquisitions and persecutions for one example.

But some don't like them because of the stands they take. Abortion for example.

Also, there is alot of rumors about Catholics spread by people who don't know any better.

So basically, they say bad things for many of the same reasons that people say bad things about other religions and denominations.

But there are good people in the Catholic church as well. I have a very good friend who is Catholic. She is very much Christ centered, placed her faith in God's graceful gift, and believes in the same things as a Christian that anyone else believes.

There are good and bad everywhere when man is involved.

Well put. Anything that gets in the way can be a "mark" so to speak. In reference to end-times I believe this will still take place and then be manifested in an actual person. Just like you compared 777 to the perfection of God's Trinity the 666 will be the unholy trinity. Satan, the anti-christ, and the false prophet.

Both of you said it great, I guess I've got a bad problem of just trying to hit it home, with trying to explain it to death.

It is true, there is some real good Christians in the Catholic beliefe. I don't agree with some of the Catholic belief. "like praying to Mary, Even though she is blessed among women, the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ, NO other name has been given to man, but the name of Jesus Christ" and "not only that, some sects say the Pope is infallable, Thats Bolongia, he is a man, and all men fall short of the Glory of God, He is no diffrent than you or I." That is why I like John Paul, he was down to earth, and stated that he was just a man.

But in the Dark Ages, the had to think the Pope was like Christ himself, and if you didn't see it that way you where put to death. Luther was a prime, example and Huss, They even went as far to say that the Catholic Regime was the AntiChrist, in a sense they where correct. Revised Roman Empire!!!