mmhmm
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It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
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Post by mmhmm on May 17, 2011 10:19:05 GMT -5
I really can't help but face a bit of consternation over this whole thing. Those of us who don't believe in the Rapture will go happily onward without a backward glance if the day of the 22nd dawns without incident. On the other hand, those who have placed themselves on the line for this concept will face a very difficult personal crisis of faith. I feel for them very deeply. Not enough, of course, to find myself hoping they turn out to be right, but enough to worry about them when they must face the continuance of status quo.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on May 17, 2011 10:27:35 GMT -5
I really can't help but face a bit of consternation over this whole thing. Those of us who don't believe in the Rapture will go happily onward without a backward glance if the day of the 22nd dawns without incident. On the other hand, those who have placed themselves on the line for this concept will face a very difficult personal crisis of faith. I feel for them very deeply. Not enough, of course, to find myself hoping they turn out to be right, but enough to worry about them when they must face the continuance of status quo. "The Lord works in mysterious ways" is the answer to all such happenings.
[glow=blue,1,300]ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, bra[/glow]
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mmhmm
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It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
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Post by mmhmm on May 17, 2011 10:32:59 GMT -5
I hope this poor guy, and others like him, are more able to accept that idea than I am, billis!
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on May 17, 2011 12:20:07 GMT -5
If the religious right disappears, will we only be left with progressives? Are we going to turn the earth into some sort of commune? Or are there enough free-market atheists out there who will fight for fiscal conservation? I'm wondering if I should rethink my desire to stay. So much annoyance gone - so much unknown annoyance out there to discover.
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Post by ty on May 17, 2011 12:40:47 GMT -5
I think I will wear good underwear just in case.Do you have to be outside to be raptured? You don't need them. It's gonna be a nude party/event that day.
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floridayankee
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Post by floridayankee on May 17, 2011 13:53:15 GMT -5
"All Dogs Go to Heaven is the name of an animated movie, not a line from the Bible." For all you pet lovin', gun totin' bible thumpers worried about your loving pets as you ascend to heaven....apparently this weekend...better quit wasting time. Your darling critters can now be well cared for during your eternal absence....for a fee of course. Good old entrepreneurial spirit right to the end. If God tells Fido: StayBy John Kelly Bart Centre does not believe in heaven, but he’s pretty sure that if there is a heaven, your pet is not going there. After all, he points out, All Dogs Go to Heaven is the name of an animated movie, not a line from the Bible. Not that Centre believes in the Bible. Or God. He is an atheist, and proudly so. But he knows that plenty of people do believe in God and do believe in heaven. And some of them believe in the Rapture, the day when true Christians will be called up to Jesus Christ. Some people think the Rapture is coming Saturday. The Rapture could leave a lot of dogs and cats looking longingly at their food bowls after their owners have floated off to heaven. That’s where Centre comes in. In 2009, he launched Eternal Earth-Bound Pets USA. Centre guarantees that if or when the Rapture comes he or one of his 44 contractors in 26 states will drive to your home within 24 hours, collect your dog, cat, bird, rabbit or small caged mammal, and adopt it. (Florida isn’t covered yet.) Rapture rescue for horses, camels, llamas and donkeys are limited to New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho and Montana. The cost is $135, plus $20 per additional animal. Payable up front, of course, and good for 10 years. (On its website, the service said it’s raising rates because of “increased activity” linked to this week’s Rapture prophesy. The cost wasn’t announced.) “Right now, we have over 250 clients,” said Centre, 62, who is retired from a major retailer and pens antireligion books under the name Dromedary Hump. Most customers are in the Bible Belt. Centre said he can handle relatively secular western Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire, where he lives, all by himself. Centre says he has carefully screened all the rescuers. They have to love animals, of course, but just as important is that they don’t love Jesus. For obvious reasons, they’re all atheists. “These are people not likely to be Raptured under any circumstances,” Centre said. “Not that we think anybody is going anywhere anyway, which we make perfectly clear on our Web site.” After a background check, each rescuer must satisfy Centre by blaspheming in accordance with Mark He gets grief from people who say Jesus will make sure their pets are taken care of, come what may. 3:29, the part of the New Testament that reads: “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” Said Centre: “We leave it up to the imagination of the rescuer to come up with a blasphemy that would be offensive to a Holy Spirit — if there were one.” He wouldn’t say what sort of blasphemies his rescuers have committed. “I can tell you it involves language that most religious people would find hair-raisingly offensive. . . . If the Holy Spirit wants to beam people up who take Its name in vain, more power to Him, I say.” Centre said all sorts of people contact him, mostly atheists who want to offer their services. (About 8,000 at last count.) He gets grief from people who say Jesus will make sure their pets are taken care of, come what may. (“God didn’t take care of the animals during the flood,” Centre tells them. Not that he thinks there was a flood.) He also hears from folks angry that he’s taking money from fundamentalist Christians under false pretences. “Who’s providing the false pretences?” he said. “I do not promote the Rapture. If I were promoting it, then soliciting people to take my services, I could see that being a scam. I let the religious people promote it. I am offering them peace of mind. We can commit to you that we have the resources and infrastructure to rescue your pet from certain slow starvation or thirst, at just over a dollar a month. I do not feel like I’m taking advantage. I am satisfying a demand.” Centre said it’s a pretty good deal. “Who knows whether I’m taking advantage of them,” he asked, “or they’re taking advantage of me?” He takes PayPal. tampabaytimes.fl.newsmemory.com/ - Pg31-32 of this "virtual paper".
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Post by lakhota on May 17, 2011 18:14:20 GMT -5
Harold Camping: 5 Facts About The May 21 Judgment Day Predictor Harold Camping really believes the world is going to end. And while you may not personally buy into the May 21 judgment day prediction, the California-based religious figure and radio broadcaster has followers around the world preparing for the impending rapture. When asked by New York Magazine whether he would start getting nervous if "six o'clock rolls around" nothing is happening, Camping responded, "It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. I don’t even think about those kind of issues. The Bible is not — God is not playing games. I don’t even want to think about that question at all. It is going to happen." More: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/17/harold-camping-5-facts-ab_n_863189.html
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cme1201
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Post by cme1201 on May 17, 2011 18:19:26 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I am more disturbed by the fact that there is a website named refutecamping.com or the fact the HuffPo thinks enough of this guy to give him press.
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Post by lakhota on May 17, 2011 18:26:18 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I am more disturbed by the fact that there is a website named refutecamping.com or the fact the HuffPo thinks enough of this guy to give him press. If you click on the HuffPo link, you'll see that there are several source links from other sources.
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cme1201
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Post by cme1201 on May 17, 2011 18:46:06 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I am more disturbed by the fact that there is a website named refutecamping.com or the fact the HuffPo thinks enough of this guy to give him press. If you click on the HuffPo link, you'll see that there are several source links from other sources. I clicked the link, end of the article is where I found the refutecamping.com. I can't believe that people think this is news. If this is what passes as news the next stories we are going to be reading is "Idiot does something stupid, people laugh", basically pointless.
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Post by lakhota on May 17, 2011 21:43:50 GMT -5
Well, the 21st is on Saturday - there goes the weekend.
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Post by lakhota on May 19, 2011 18:37:16 GMT -5
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Post by ty on May 19, 2011 19:03:04 GMT -5
Those women holding those signs up don't look all that happy for the Rapture. Their life before the Rapture...
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Post by ty on May 19, 2011 19:15:28 GMT -5
... have seen to bouncing and jiggly boobs, they are plump, luscious and well proportioned too, they have made men happy and that's what they are suppose to do... Those boobs are made for you... Lawrdy, lawrdy, helluvapalooza, lawrdy, lawrdy, helluvapalooza, lawrdy, lawrdy, helluvapalooza these boobs are made for you...
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handyman2
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Post by handyman2 on May 19, 2011 19:23:34 GMT -5
Well I have dusted off my Angels wings and ready to fly into the heavens. Is that ready enough?
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Post by lakhota on May 19, 2011 22:00:32 GMT -5
HARRISON, N.J. -- Circled dates dot a calendar on John Ramsey's refrigerator door. They show the busy life of a 25-year-old: dinner parties, birthdays, holidays. But only until May 21. Every month after May has been crossed out. As has all of 2012. Ramsey is one of thousands of followers of a loose-knit Christian fringe movement whose members are increasingly found on sidewalks, in parks and at transit hubs in major cities throughout the United States. They recite passages of the Bible line-by-line and say they have decoded a message for humanity: The world is about to end. "God says when you see the sword come upon the land, you blow the trumpet and you warn the people," says Ramsey, paraphrasing Ezekiel 33:3. "All I'm doing is telling what I know." Ramsey and the movement's followers say that at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 21, the ground will quake, graves will open and many of the dead will ascend to heaven. Two hundred million of the 'saved' -- dead or alive -- will float up. Those left behind will be doomed to live among blood, destruction and disease for five months before God annihilates the Earth on Oct. 21. More: www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/19/may-21-end-of-the-world_n_863938.htmlMy bags are packed...
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handyman2
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Post by handyman2 on May 19, 2011 22:16:54 GMT -5
If these people are such bible scholars where do they get this stuff when the bible says (No man will know the day nor the hour) seems to me they are not really bible experts. Secondly there is no such thing in the bible that says there will be a rapture.
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Post by lakhota on May 19, 2011 22:25:55 GMT -5
If these people are such bible scholars where do they get this stuff when the bible says (No man will know the day nor the hour) seems to me they are not really bible experts. Secondly there is no such thing in the bible that says there will be a rapture. I agree. I've heard it said many times that religious zealots know less about the Bible than most Atheists. Purgatory is also not specifically mentioned in the Bible - yet here we are...
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Post by nutterbutter on May 19, 2011 23:00:47 GMT -5
If these people are such bible scholars where do they get this stuff when the bible says (No man will know the day nor the hour) seems to me they are not really bible experts. Secondly there is no such thing in the bible that says there will be a rapture. I agree. I've heard it said many times that religious zealots know less about the Bible than most Atheists. Purgatory is also not specifically mentioned in the Bible - yet here we are... If it happens it happens, but I doubt it will. These people are religious freaks that like to use scare tactics to try and conform others into believing in their nuttiness. Hopefully this will open the eyes of the people to see what a fraud religion truly is.
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burnsattornincan
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Post by burnsattornincan on May 19, 2011 23:44:43 GMT -5
This thread is getting a little too stuffy. You need a fresh injection of Burns right about now; Attachments:
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Post by lakhota on May 20, 2011 4:39:02 GMT -5
And the nuts just keep on coming... Noah's Ark Theme Park Gets Final Go-Ahead In KentuckyThings are about to get Biblical in Kentucky. On Thursday, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority gave final approval to grant $40 million in tax rebates to build a biblical theme park called "The Ark Encounter." The controversial museum, backed in part by Mike Zovath, a co-founder of the Answers in Genesis ministry which previously built Kentucky's 70,00 square-foot Creation Museum, got the funding after months of back and forth over the legitimacy of a religious attraction being funded by a state government. No matter, the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority voted unanimously to grant more than $40 million in tax rebates for the project, which is scheduled to cost $172 million (visitors to the Ark's website see a "donate here" tab). More: news.travel.aol.com/2011/05/19/noahs-ark-theme-park-gets-final-go-ahead-in-kentucky/
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Post by lakhota on May 20, 2011 8:41:14 GMT -5
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on May 20, 2011 8:55:28 GMT -5
I will be so pissed if the world does end and I lose my vacation deposit.
I'm a non-believer so I know I'm stuck here with all the blood and destruction. My dry cleaning bill is going to be so high for the next five months!
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on May 20, 2011 8:56:54 GMT -5
I think I will wear good underwear just in case.Do you have to be outside to be raptured? I'm planning on getting raptured tonight. Hey-o! Can I get a high-five? Anyone???
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Honeylioness
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Post by Honeylioness on May 20, 2011 9:48:09 GMT -5
Well, ever one not able to keep myself from adding my thoughts to a perfectly good "Christian Bash-fest" but the quote above is one of many made here that I completely disagree with.
The Rapture is mentioned several times throughout Scripture - although not in that specific word. The word itself comes from the Latin verb raptare, and the Greek word harpizo, both meaning "to be caught up" or "to be snatched up." Jesus will "snatch us" out of harm's way.
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
While I do believe these events will take place it makes me cringe when ANYONE - Christian, Historian, DaVinci Code devotee, etc. claims to know the exact day when they will occur. Scripture is very clear on this point that only The Father (God) knows.
Christ himself said that he was not even privy to this information and to be leery of such people who claimed to know.
After spending much time on the signs of end Jesus gave a warning about false Christs and VERY DECEPTIVE false ideas about his return. Near the end of the world Jesus prophesied that some people would say that He has returned and is appearing in various places on earth, and others will be saying that He has come, or is coming, in a secret way.
"Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not."
Jesus says: Don't believe them, and then gives a description of what His second coming will be like:
"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
The second coming of Jesus will be so bright it will be like lightning, it will not be a secret to anyone. You won't have to read about it in the newspapers.
The Bible also says: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Revelation 1:7
Matthew 24:29,30,31 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, ... and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." And (vs. 31) "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." After the tribulation, Christ will appear, and then all the tribes will mourn, and then the angels will gather the saints. Notice there will be a great sound of a trumpet, there will be angels, the wicked will be mourning, and all will see Jesus coming in the clouds with power and great glory." Is that secret? No. The saints will be gathered, but it will not be secretly!
However at the end of the day what this discussion really comes down to is FAITH. You either have faith that God is who He says He is - or you do not. You believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God or merely an interesting collection of writings and poems. That the world was not formed from random coincidence and a theory - or it was. That striving to live your life in a Christ-centered way that respects others and His creations is worthwhile - or just "common sense"
This is not a new concept nor an unexplored one. Common men and great minds have had to struggle for themselves to answer these questions.
Pascal's Wager (or Pascal's Gambit) is a suggestion posed by the French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Blaise Pascal that even if the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a rational person should wager as though God exists, because living life accordingly has everything to gain, and nothing to lose. Pascal formulated his suggestion uniquely on the God of Jesus Christ as implied by the greater context of his Pensées, a posthumously published collection of notes made by Pascal in his last years as he worked on a treatise on Christian apologetics. The Wager was set out in note 233 of this work.
Following his argument establishing the Wager, Pascal addressed the possibility that some people may not be willing to sincerely believe in God even after acknowledging the enormous benefit of betting in favor of God's existence. In this case, he advises them to live as though they had faith, which may subvert their irrational passions and lead them to genuine belief.
In other words: "If you incorrectly believe in God, you lose nothing, whereas if you correctly believe in God, you gain everything. But if you correctly disbelieve in God, you gain nothing, whereas if you believe in God, you lose nothing." - Pascal
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on May 20, 2011 10:03:17 GMT -5
... a rational person should wager as though God exists... If God exists, do you think he is impressed with this wager?
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shelby
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Post by shelby on May 20, 2011 10:05:56 GMT -5
"The Haddad children of Middletown, Md., have a lot on their minds: school projects, SATs, weekend parties. And parents who believe the earth will begin to self-destruct on Saturday. The three teenagers have been struggling to make sense of their shifting world, which started changing nearly two years ago when their mother, Abby Haddad Carson, left her job as a nurse to “sound the trumpet” on mission trips with her husband, Robert, handing out tracts. They stopped working on their house and saving for college. Last weekend, the family traveled to New York, the parents dragging their reluctant children through a Manhattan street fair in a final effort to spread the word. “My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.” www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43106614/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/?GT1=43001What is the mom going to say to her daughter come sunday. Quite disturbing I must say.
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billisonboard
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Post by billisonboard on May 20, 2011 10:10:40 GMT -5
“When the day comes that I must account for my life, I will not be asked: ‘Why weren’t you Moses?’ I was not equipped to be Moses. But I dread the question, ‘Why weren’t you Zusia?’
—Reb Zusia of Anipoli
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Post by lakhota on May 20, 2011 12:05:03 GMT -5
I think I will wear good underwear just in case.Do you have to be outside to be raptured? I'm planning on getting raptured tonight. Hey-o! Can I get a high-five? Anyone??? I believe rapture and rapeture may be two different things.
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on May 20, 2011 12:46:43 GMT -5
Well, ever one not able to keep myself from adding my thoughts to a perfectly good "Christian Bash-fest" but the quote above is one of many made here that I completely disagree with. The Rapture is mentioned several times throughout Scripture - although not in that specific word. The word itself comes from the Latin verb raptare, and the Greek word harpizo, both meaning "to be caught up" or "to be snatched up." Jesus will "snatch us" out of harm's way. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 While I do believe these events will take place it makes me cringe when ANYONE - Christian, Historian, DaVinci Code devotee, etc. claims to know the exact day when they will occur. Scripture is very clear on this point that only The Father (God) knows. Christ himself said that he was not even privy to this information and to be leery of such people who claimed to know. After spending much time on the signs of end Jesus gave a warning about false Christs and VERY DECEPTIVE false ideas about his return. Near the end of the world Jesus prophesied that some people would say that He has returned and is appearing in various places on earth, and others will be saying that He has come, or is coming, in a secret way. "Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, [he is] in the secret chambers; believe [it] not."Jesus says: Don't believe them, and then gives a description of what His second coming will be like: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."The second coming of Jesus will be so bright it will be like lightning, it will not be a secret to anyone. You won't have to read about it in the newspapers. The Bible also says: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they [also] which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Revelation 1:7 Matthew 24:29,30,31 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, ... and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." And (vs. 31) "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." After the tribulation, Christ will appear, and then all the tribes will mourn, and then the angels will gather the saints. Notice there will be a great sound of a trumpet, there will be angels, the wicked will be mourning, and all will see Jesus coming in the clouds with power and great glory." Is that secret? No. The saints will be gathered, but it will not be secretly! However at the end of the day what this discussion really comes down to is FAITH. You either have faith that God is who He says He is - or you do not. You believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God or merely an interesting collection of writings and poems. That the world was not formed from random coincidence and a theory - or it was. That striving to live your life in a Christ-centered way that respects others and His creations is worthwhile - or just "common sense" This is not a new concept nor an unexplored one. Common men and great minds have had to struggle for themselves to answer these questions. Pascal's Wager (or Pascal's Gambit) is a suggestion posed by the French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist Blaise Pascal that even if the existence of God cannot be determined through reason, a rational person should wager as though God exists, because living life accordingly has everything to gain, and nothing to lose. Pascal formulated his suggestion uniquely on the God of Jesus Christ as implied by the greater context of his Pensées, a posthumously published collection of notes made by Pascal in his last years as he worked on a treatise on Christian apologetics. The Wager was set out in note 233 of this work. Following his argument establishing the Wager, Pascal addressed the possibility that some people may not be willing to sincerely believe in God even after acknowledging the enormous benefit of betting in favor of God's existence. In this case, he advises them to live as though they had faith, which may subvert their irrational passions and lead them to genuine belief. In other words: "If you incorrectly believe in God, you lose nothing, whereas if you correctly believe in God, you gain everything. But if you correctly disbelieve in God, you gain nothing, whereas if you believe in God, you lose nothing." - PascalNice post. I believe in the rapture, too- and my wife was just noting this morning that she's horrified about how bad it's going to look for Christians when this guy is inevitably proved wrong. My thought is this: Currently, the entire country is having a conversation about the rapture- a coming event that many are not even aware is prophisied in Scripture. People are Google searching, reading posts like this on the internet, maybe even finding legitimate Christian ministries to make inquiries. And it's never a bad thing when people are honestly searching the Scriptures and inquiring of God.
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