Signs of the end, are they so clear that we don't see them anymore?

by JH 55 Replies latest jw friends

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  Catren

  When it comes to natural disasters like volcano eruptions and earthquakes, I saw a program the other night on PBS about Krakatoa and its eruption in 1883. It was such an incredible eruption that it has been called the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded history. It created a Tsunami greater than the one in 2004. With special effects they were able to recreate the disaster, plus there was some actual footage of volcanic eruptions, and they went to the rim of a volcano created by the eruption, and inside you could see the magma roiling and boiling. It was fascinating. To think that these are natural phenonema of our planet from inside its core is absolutely amazing and humbling. The worst volcanic eruption known to man took place over 100 years ago and who knows what and how many devastating events took place before that.

  When it comes to the end and Jesus saying nobody knows when it is coming, not even He knew, it tells me not to spend too much time mulling over it. When people do all kinds of math and estimating to try to figure out when the end is coming, I find that I am not interested in their religion. To me, it is a waste of time. Why are they doing that? The JWs were always trying to predict the end, and I am so glad I am out of that cult. For so many reasons. I know that I am basically pretty ignorant about prophesy and so on, but I think that I can know that I should always try to be on my toes, so to speak, without fretting about what is going on in the world. We don't have the answers. We just don't. Horrible things have been happening on earth for centuries. All kinds of horrible things. Look at the Crusades and all other kinds of things that have occurred. I know I must sound like I am rambling away here. I don't always know how to express what I think. Thanks for your patience.

  Catren
• 

  seattleniceguy

  seattleniceguy, if you count yourself as one "in this generation", how can you say that WE are wrong, since your end has not come?

  LOL...Okay, would it make you happier if I said that every generation from Jesus until the generation that has just died? We're talking about the difference of a few years out of two thousand.

  But it was generous of you to admit that if this generation dies before the Lord returns, that it will indeed have been added to the ranks of those that were wrong about it. I'll make a similar concession: If it turns out that I'm wrong about Jesus not coming, then I will have been proven to be wrong about that.

  SNG
• 

  Siddhashunyata

  Doesn't it seem odd that the Bible has two diametrially opposed ideas about "TIME". On the one hand we are not to be concerned about time ( "who can add a cubit to his life span?", "don't be anxious over anything" ) on the other hand ( "be on the watch", "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" and all the time related prophecies). Could it be that this inconsistency shows the deep contrast between the Jewish Messianic hope of a time related deliverence and the Spiritual message of Jesus as a Buddhist for which there is some evidence in that during his youth ,in Egypt , there was a Buddhist monastc community at Alexandria.

  In Jehovah's Witnesses I was never able to reconcile the tension that I felt between the spiritual pursuit of peace and the obsessive anxiety over time . In my opinion , if the Bible is your guide, you have a choice to pursue its spiritual teachings , which lead to peace, or its time and reward related teachings , which lead ,among other things, to anxiety. Taking all of it together produces the madness of "Fundamentalism" which we see today.
• 

  Hondo

  JAVA

  I don't quite understand the point you are trying to make with your analogy. As you probably know, being alert simply means being ready, prepared, etc. Some folks stay alert, stay prepared, to a greater degree than others. In the case of the bible, I think all would agree, it means being spiritually alert, or spiritually ready, or spiritually prepared. Done this mean we should all go around screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" as the JW's do, no! of course not. Or, does it mean that we should jump at every shadow in the night, no!. It does mean, to any Christian who believes in and understands the bible, to be ready, live a life with purpose and direction espousing those good things that the bible outlines. Pretty simple, be prepared.
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  jaffacake

  Hondo

  I wish I'd said that! I'll save a copy of your post.
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  jaffacake

  Michelle

  My post was simply to demonstrate there is no truth in date formulae, so we are agreed. I mistakenly thought perhaps that's why you thought "the due time has approached" (Luke 21:8) Then there is no need for me to say how Jesus responded to the many people who would say in his name things such as "the due time has approached" I try to follow His warning "do not go after them". I think Hondo put it so well.

  Sorry for the misunderstanding.
• 

  myelaine

  jaffacake,

  We certainly are agreed. And in response to the title of the thread, yes. That's why I also say "the due time has arrived". I'm not panicing and my intention was to draw attention to another sign that some may not realize because they haven't dug into the riches of the Bible. There's tonnes more.

  michelle

  Isaiah 35:1

  the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, AND THE DESERT SHALL REJOICE AND BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE....
• 

  Golf

  Soon ! But not soon enough!
  
  
  Golf
• 

  dh

  like other people have also said, my opinion (and the reality according to me) is that as long as there have been humans there have been human conflicts, and as long as there has been an earth, there have been natural disasters.
• 

  Hondo

  dh

  You hit the nail on the head. There will be earthquakes, there will be floods, there will be rain, there will be wars and conflicts, and there will be those who think they have all the answers, like the JW's, based on a off there wall interpretation of the bible. The bible is not the rule book for life, it is a guide to lead us through the time allotted to us. Live life as best a possible, doing as much good as possible (for some all they may be able to do is simply help someone across the street. For some it may a life similar to that of Mother Theresa. Both acts, I believe, find equal favor in the eyes of God). An unfortunate fact of life is death; it will happen. The "end" will come to us all at some point in time. As we do not know when the all earthly end will come, nor should be go about trying to predict this day, so to we do not know when our own individual end will arrive.