The Tribulation has already started, the Seals are being opened.

reply to post by Sky watcher


I don't feel like the tribulation is or will be like a grocery list to check off. I do think we are living through it right now.

reply to post by MatrixProphet


Wow I really dig your posts, thanks for the input I do have a question about man being a loving experiment. I just don't see much love in our history. I do feel a change coming for sure, like a approaching storm, but I feel no fear, just anticipation and a warm fuzzy feeling. Sic considering that millions or even billions could perish.

reply to post by Mystery_Lady


That is very interesting about people turning 64 in 2012, thanks for the reply

Originally posted by mr-lizard
Buddhism is quite positive.

The first noble truth of Buddhism: "Life is Suffering."

Doesn't sound too "positive" to me.

Also, I'm taking it you haven't read too much on the degenerate age of Mappo according to Buddhism. Be sure to check out Saicho's Candle of The Latter Day of the Law for some Buddhist doom n' gloom.

[edit on 5/13/09 by silent thunder]

reply to post by LDragonFire
[JJuJusJm

Just believe in Jesus.

It is that easy.

Originally posted by mr-lizard

Originally posted by LDragonFire
reply to post by mr-lizard

 

I do see your point, however there are 100 of millions of people all over the world that believe, and their beliefs just can't be discounted, cause and effect.

Absolutely true, but answer me a question.

Does believeing in something therefore make it true?

Have you ever considered that 100 millions of people used to believe in Santa Clause? Hundreds of millions of people believe in Allah, hundreds of millions of people used to believe that the earth was flat....

Can you see my point?

but what good is the truth....when belief shapes REALITY!

And you know right off the bat.....that ....therefore RELIGION is just an OPTION for Strength among many belief systems....

So why would you argue this point to somene who derives their strength from these beliefs........you know one can not simply just jump ship from such a strong belief........do you want to make people doubt themselves and WEAKER.......or face a some sort of breakdown that gets them to shift into some other "true" belief system that you hold

i am playing mostly devils advocate here....Mr. Lizard....but it seems you have some knowledge but not wisdom

and also i have long viewed buddism as having some critical insights but the biggest flaw IMO is that it hold's to much of a glass is half empty perspective........

[edit on 13-5-2009 by cpdaman]

Originally posted by mr-lizard

Buddhism is quite positive. It certainly doesn't imply that we are all born of sin and ultimately have to repent or risk falling into fiery doom.

Also, in addition to my post above listing some of the more negative and apocalyptic aspects of Buddhism, it should also be noted that Buddhism very much does believe in the need to "repent or risk falling into firy doom:"

The first hell, known as the "Hell of Retributive Justice"h, is 8000 kilometres below the human world and is a place where people who have destroyed any form of life, or eaten meat are sent. Here, sinners hack at one another with iron claws until there is nothing left of them but bone or are beaten by devils from head to foot with iron bars until they are the consistency of mincemeat. Less severe punishments include being covered in mud and excrement and being stung by millions of insects while being made to eat boiling hot fecal matter. The shortest of the Ojoyosh's hells, it lasts a mere 12,500,000 years.
In the second level, the "Hell of the Black Rope", murderers and thieves are lashed with whips of fire and hewed with burning axes...

The third hell is reserved for rapists, spouse beaters and people who watch tentacle anime. Although it sounds more than a little unfair, if you have sex with children, your own children will be tortured here while you watch.
Genshin must have been a guy who liked his sake because the fourth hell, or "Hell of Screaming," has a special section for merchants who watered down the sake that they sold. They are afflicted with 404 diseases and thousands of insects enter their bodies to eat their skin, bones and flesh from the inside.
The fifth level, the "Great Hell of Screaming" is exactly the same except that your suffering will be ten times worse. The people here are guilty of the same crimes as those in the fourth hell, but they have compounded their suffering by lying or deceiving others about their crimes. The next hell is the Hell of Burning, which as the name suggests, involves turning people into human yakitori.
The "Great Hell of Burning" is the deluxe edition of the sixth hell. People here are going to get a burning stick up the butt, just like those in the sixth, but the fire is twice as hot and lasts for half of eternity (whatever that means).
The eighth level, or "Great Hell of Unlimited Suffering," is so far down that the fall to its bottom takes 2000 years...Sinners here are burned with unimaginably hot fires, eaten alive, and dropped repeatedly off the top of 80-km high mountains. This hell is reserved for poisoners, Buddhist priests who burned altars, people who let others die of thirst when they had water, and children who killed their parents...

Source:
www.quirkyjapan.or.tv...

This is the sino-Japanese version, but there is also an Indo-Tibetan version of Buddhist hell that is equally hair-raising.

Let it be noted that I, myself, am a Buddhist. Nevertheless, I have a particular distate for all attempts to whitewash or "new-age-ify" some of the darker aspects of the religion.

reply to post by LDragonFire


If you got to this verse you'll see our days have been shortened in our life time.


The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Psalm 90:10

That gives us 70 years then anything else is by our strengths which could even mean modern medicine.

The longest generation in the bible is 70 years. The parrable of the fig tree is considered to be about Israel becoming a state again. Which as another poster brought out was in 1948. If you take that into consideration that 60 generations have already come and gone that brings us to no later than 2018. Which then we have to take into consideration that our calendar is off by anywhere from 1-7 years. So I guess when the bible says the wisdom of men is foolishness we don't even really know what year we are in is pretty accurate.

Anti-christ means not Christ.
1 John 2:18 -
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Which means I agree with the other posters that think we've been heading this way since the accession of Christ. We are just waiting for the big one to appear. Which IMHO he is already here. Many do recognize him for who he is.

There are other things that people forget as to warnings of the end of times drawing near.


And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: Acts 2:17

How many people do you know that have prophetic dreams, know things before they happen? How many people right now make a living this way. Not so many years back you wouldn't of been able to do this without fear for your life or being an outcast of society. Today its very acceptable.

Another part of the bible tells us of parents not knowing how to love and nuture their children. Father turning against son, son against father, mother against daughter etc...

Every day we read in the newspapers or online about family members killing each other. We read of child abuse daily and the acts are more worse and worse all the time.

As for the book of revelation being about the time of Rome. I have problems with this theory. The end times talks about most of mankind being destroyed. Not all but most. Did Rome have the techonology to do this back then? Not until recent history have we. They use the number 666 as the main reason for this theory. They should check back more into the bible and see that number was also used as the amount of gold that solomon took in during the year. Only twice is that number in the bible. Those are the two times. The mark of the beast is not neros address in revelation. It is our monetary system. I will give them this at the time of Rome we were on our way to where we are today.

Yes the seven seals are being broken. Many people are waiting for 1/3 of the world to perish by the different seals. I think what they fail to see is that while they are waiting for 1/3 of the world in one place for this to happen thats its happening but not all in the same place as they think. It's spread out world wide so we don't realize that we are loosing a 1/3 to this part of the prophecy and a 1/3 to that part of the prophecy etc.

Many people are waiting for the two witnesses. Well again IMHO they've already been here and they've already left.

I believe July 9th well see more of the seven seals. Most won't relate it to them because they are looking for that big number of 1/3 being gone all at once or don't see that it leads up a sign of one of the seals at that time.

Remember the fires in Austrailia? Terrible thing but most people turned a blind eye to the fact it could of been part of the prophecy about 1/3 of the earth consumed by fire since the fire didn't burn 1/3 of the earth. Yet the conditions the day the fire took most lives was said to be the perfect fire storm conditions. The bible states no where that the 1/3 of the fire would happen all at the exact same time. That again is just the foolishness of mans knowledge of what he reads.

So yes my friend you are very right in your observations of what is going on.

[edit on 13-5-2009 by napayshni57]

reply to post by LDragonFire

Wow I really dig your posts, thanks for the input I do have a question about man being a loving experiment. I just don't see much love in our history. I do feel a change coming for sure, like a approaching storm, but I feel no fear, just anticipation and a warm fuzzy feeling. Sic considering that millions or even billions could perish.

Thank you! I appreciate you doing this thread. It takes guts to go against the tide.

In answer to the experiment idea, you may want to check out my thread below:

Are We Humans an Experiment in a Petri Dish? I am attempting to create an explanation that may ring true with many. It makes sense to me as I agree with you. I would love your input on my thread!

My thread also makes it more palatable as to why many may not make it. Scientists would understand this whole concept as they periodically have the need to clean out their Petri dishes! Who is to say that the dross won't have another opportunity to be re-born in a different dimension or universe? So they can try it again? To me a more accurate understanding of reincarnation than what the eastern beliefs teach.

Look at all of it in a more evolutionary way. (Not the; "We evolved from monkeys" theory). Evolution is real. So where is the evolution of man going? This is the question and the need for the Great Scientist in the sky to determine it.

I never accepted the Christian explanation regarding Satan, either. I now feel I have a better understanding as to "why" or "how" he fits the Game. HE is on the same team! They are not opponents and are not in opposition to each other as we have been taught to believe. The Gods each fit their own role or designation.

Jah/God/Source cannot do that which Satan can do. Satan plays the role of human adversary for us to be refined and defined by. He does it well. So this indeed does make him the ruler of the world (a lesser God). He is not our friend, yet, when all is said and done, can actually be instrumental in helping us grow.

I feel so pleased that you came forward and spoke your mind and what you sense! Thank you.

Originally posted by LDragonFire
I have often wondered about the difference in time measurement in the bible to modern day time. A generation in the bible is 40 years but we know a generation as 100 years.

This is just a quibble, and probably won't have any effect on your overall argument, but that's not correct.

Most people (at least most statisticians and sociologists) consider a "generation" to be about 30 years, as shown in this quote from the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Generation time is the average interval between the birth of an individual and the birth of its offspring. To determine the mean generation time of a population, the age of the individuals (x) is multiplied by the proportion of females surviving to that age...

Think also of the use of terms like "Generation X", "Baby Boom Generation", etcetera in popular culture. In these cases generations are defined not by the time from birth to reproduction, but as a cohort of people born during a certain defined period, whether that period is defined in terms of historical events (from the end of WWII to the assassination of RFK, for instance) or with hindsight by measuring increases and decreases in birth rates.

Originally posted by LDragonFire
I have often wondered about the difference in time measurement in the bible to modern day time. A generation in the bible is 40 years but we know a generation as 100 years.

We don't know a generation as a hundred years, it is still roughly the same as biblical times.

The average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring

sorry for the same reply as above, I started to answer and got called away by the kids and by the time I finished it had been answered.

[edit on 13-5-2009 by munkey66]

I agree with the OP. All other points of views are valid as well. We are being tested right now. We get to choose which we serve. Good or Evil. In my mind, this is the tribulation. At this point I might as well welcome an all out war in the physical, to change the status of the world. To me it is a very difficult time as I've outgrown these games we play on this earth. The structures, and belief systems are all designed around controlling each other. Only some have no control over themselves. I'm done playing the game, and it creates great distress for me to watch others daily engage in fruitless struggles that are all control mechanisms to keep them caged in thought process.

This is the tribulation to me. I pray daily that GOD cuts it short for the sake of me. I'm trying to endure through the end without losing love in my heart.

Not buying it . . .

Fires in Australia and California =/= 1/3 of the Earth.

Many things that are supposed to happen in the Tribulation have not happened yet.

lets forget about my perfectly plausable theory then

I do wonder how much of the Earths oceans and fresh water has been contaminated by pollution, or just dead zones, is it 1/3 or approaching that? Same thing about our atmosphere and land??

I've been listening to Perry Stone teach about prophecy - if anyone wants to listen, he is worth your time. He knows his Bible, and prophecy.

He also uncovers odd things in the Bible - like if you take the first 10 mentioned men in the Bible, then take their name's Hebrew meaning, it makes a complete sentence that is a prophecy in itself.

PerryStone

The Bible does speak about two different 'generation' time frames - one is 40 years, and the other is 70. We've passed the 40 year obviously but the 70 year is coming up. Israel celebrates its 60 year anniversary this year.

And yep, Israel is the place to watch if you are interested in the end days time frame. It all involves/surrounds Israel.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
But you don't need an outdated religious text to tell you that the world is screwed.

Common sense should tell you those things, without having to believe in fantastical figures and angels.

No offence of course.

Ahhhhhh Dunno man, there's that new bill that may become law ... Don't be too offensive there or you'll end up in a FEMA camp...

Originally posted by mr-lizard

Originally posted by LDragonFire
reply to post by mr-lizard

 

Have any of you seen any positive future outlooks? It seems the motto today is things will get much worst before it gets better.

Buddhism is quite positive. It certainly doesn't imply that we are all born of sin and ultimately have to repent or risk falling into fiery doom.

Hi/
what Christianity teaches/early fathers belief as follows...
Quote///''Sin is not about breaking some set of rules; rather, it is the name for any behavior which "misses the mark," that is, fails to live up to the higher goal of being like God.''

Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve...breaking God's only Commandment given to man, and therefore all mankind has the inclination to (sin)'miss the mark' ...Falling short of the mark; not reaching your goal; not attaining your purpose is sin. When a Christian does things that keep him away from Christ he sins, because he does not live up to his purpose-and that is, to live in Christ. When we do not live up to our goal-being the image and becoming the likeness of God, then we sin....quote

O.P

As the time of the end of this world comes near,
it is true that there will be a time of tribulation such as the world has never seen [Matt 24:21]:
there will be famines, plagues, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, persecutions, false prophets and false Christs, and the love of many (including Christians) will grow cold.
But at the same time the Gospel will be preached to all nations, and those who endure to the end with the aid of Christ will be saved.

.........μη τις υμας εξαπατηση κατα μηδενα τροπον οτι εαν μη ελθη η αποστασια πρωτον και αποκαλυφθη ο ανθρωπος της αμαρτιας ο υιος της απωλειας..
.........Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;thess2:2,3

There is also another warning given to us to know...."Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught,
whether by word,
or our epistle" (2 Thess. 2:15).
"There be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you,
let him be anathema. As we said before, so say I now again: If any preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1:8-9).
The Gospel has to be preached to all the world and this yet has not happened...

helen

reply to post by imd12c4funn


Armaggedon is about to happen - it has not happened yet.

Hi, my friends. This is true. We are probably in the last days.