Servant of the Lion

It appears that there are some passionate people in this thread... so in the interest of not stepping on any toes, the only personal opinion I will offer is that I do believe in a pretrib rapture, but I also believe that we may not escape persecution, or that it may come in a different form. While I do not think the U.S. Christians have problems anywhere near what is happening in the Middle East and India right now, we are seeing situations where the media is covering Westboro and ignoring the Christians who live a life of loving and serving others. We are not allowed to pray or bring Bibles to some schools, or jobs. I was told that if I identified myself as a Christian I would be denied a promotion at work, and though they would never say that was the reason when I got the denial, I was warned that it would be "Very unwise" to bring it up. (I did not get the promotion). We are not being killed here yet, but the enemy is hard at work none the less to push people away from Christ, and I imagine this is only the beginning. I in no way bring this up to compare it to what is happening in the Middle East. Those people are dealing with the worst humanity has to offer, and still they die with the Lord's name on their lips. I am not sure how many who have not known that level of suffering here in the U.S. could do that. I cannot say that I would not be shaking in fear were I in that situation. I say pray, for their sake, that there is a pretrib rapture. Noah, and Lot both were saved before great destruction was done by God, pray that he does the same for us, but be prepared for the worst if that does not happen soon. I only wish to add a couple things to this thread. I have mentioned this in another thread. Matthew 24:26 "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of Heaven, but my Father only." This is not a perfect defense against trying to predict when the rapture would occur. This line of scripture, is also (I have read) a Jewish idiom that has two meanings. The first refers to a wedding when after building a house, the Groom would wait for his father to inspect the house, when he felt the house was good, he would tell the Groom to get get his bride. Now in that sense, yes it makes sense, we are the bride, The Lord said there are many mansions and he goes to prepare a place for us, and he cant know when he will return because his father has to approve the house first. The second way this is used though, actually points to an exact time. More specifically, the Feast of Trumpets. The Jewish calendar relies on the new moon to begin a new month. The Feast of Trumpets is the only feast that is not on a set day, but rather will not start until the new moon in the proper season. The day the feast begins is therefore unpredictable at that time, only the Father would know when Israel would return, when the Feast would begin, etc. I wish to further back this by saying that Peter spoke of this in ... Thessalonians I believe, when he spoke of the end times and that he did not need to speak of feasts and seasons because they already knew them. They were part of their culture, and they knew how the Feasts would work and when. (My quoting may not have been exact on that, my apologies if it wasn't). Why, would Christ use an idiom that has two meanings, if he only intended for one of them? That does not seem like something that Christ in all his perfection would do, that he would intentionally leave room to be responsible for leading us astray. I have to conclude then, that he intended for both meanings to be true. The feast itself lasts for eight days (It lasts a week but it took two days to light the signal fires to let all of Israel know it started in those times) so you still cannot predict the day or hour, but you have a general sense of when it may happen. Here are another couple odd coincidences below, that I read about but ultimately cannot yet prove though I believe that if you have time to kill you could do it yourself. 1. Using the Jewish calendar, and counting up Daniel's 70th week (Assuming the Fig tree is Israel, because it does not always represent Israel in the Bible), the date you will get for the Lord's return, is the Feast of Trumpets this year. 2. If you want signs in the Heavens, we will see the first super blood moon in a very long time, the last one, was supposedly during the crucifixion(I have not had the time to do the math and confirm this one, nor do I have the resources). That will also happen during the Feast of Trumpets this year. The second fact I wanted to add in, is that 666 is the number you get when you convert the name "Nero" whom was the Roman Emperor at the time into number using the... the name escapes me. The numbering system the Hebrews used to number words... in any case, the sum of the name "Nero" adds up to 666. Which seems like a big coincidence. I personally do not believe Nero is the mark. I have my own ideas about what that is but prefer not to start another debate. Anyway, I am off to bed. I hope this gets people thinking and gets other people who choose not to search for a season or watch for signs of his coming to think of a better argument than Matthew 24:26. If you did not have that one line of scripture, what would your defense be? I love you all, and will pray for clarity and guidance in these troubled times for all of us sojourners.

I am not sure if that is accurate or not. Its not a bad guess though, and it seems to fit with the whole Daniel's 70th week theory though I believe that falls more around the 23rd of September, and this is assuming of course that the fig tree in that prophecy really is a metaphor for Israel. The fig tree is used several times in the Bible, and not always as a way to represent Israel. Even so, I hear that if you go by the Jewish calendar and count up the years in the prophecy to the various events, that they add up perfectly to the events prophesied, both those already fulfilled, and unfulfilled, and would mean that this would be the year. Yet here I am, still a little skeptical. Now the favorite argument of people to put down any idea of trying to determine a day or season is Matthew 24:36 (No offense Giggling Appy), however, that quote, is also a Jewish idiom concerning two things, one being, a wedding, the second being, the Feast of Trumpets. It was and I believe still is used for both. The wedding well, that one is almost self explanatory being that we are the bride of Christ, but that saying also refers to the first day of the Feast of Trumpets being unpredictable because it always starts on the new moon, no matter what day that happens to be, in the correct season. The favorite defense of anyone trying to refute a day or season therefore, may be pointing to the exact day he was going to return... or two days considering that is how long it took to light all the signal fires to let all of Israel know that it has started in those days. Peter later backs up that it may be that day, by saying he does not have to tell them of days and seasons because they already know. He didn't have to tell them Feast of Trumpets because that was part of their culture, and they knew when it would be. In any case, with this, the 70th week, and even the tetrads which I do not believe for a second are anything other than signs in the heavens at the most (Even though the last super blood moon was during the crucifixion and the next one is guess when? The Feat of Trumpets.) and various other things coming into play, I think that we will see more possibility of his return this year, and more signs that tell us this may be the season, than in previous years, and in the near future years should nothing come to pass. After this, if nothing happens, you may as well kick back and do your best, because you may be here for the long haul. I in no way want to discourage you from remaining vigilant, but I don't think we will see this many signs again all at once anytime soon. Which would not be the worst thing in the world, there are still plenty more to bring the word to and save. Take it all with a grain of salt and use discernment.

Katrina your situation is something no one should have to endure. I am sorry that you are having these trials. I think it is important in these times to remember that Christ is good, and the world did not make his life on Earth easy either. I have been in similar situations. My mother and her friends were drug users rather than dealers, I recall sleeping in cars growing up, and my mother carrying me into the mall during the winter because it was too cold outside to be in the car and we needed to warm up. What my experiences have taught me... and I may get a lot of disagreement here... is that it is much easier to be a Christian when all of your needs are met. When you have to do without, I have found it much harder to cling to faith. It can be difficult to reconcile a loving God who loves you, a God who can change and fix everything in your life, yet you are left to suffer and there is no reassuring voice, no feeling of heavenly love in your long dark night of the soul. I think that we all experience this to one degree or another, and some more than others. I see others who have never had to do without even in my own Church and I wonder how they would fare at times, and wonder why they were set up for life when I was not. Here is what I came up with, we endure harsher trials, not because he wants us to suffer, but because he wants us to be stronger. The question then changes to, for what great task are we being tempered for that we should have to suffer so when many of our fellow Christians do not? If that is not enough, remember that we are blessed to live in a country where we are not killed for our faith, as opposed to the 90 or so Christians kidnapped from a village in Syria just yesterday. Things could be undeniably worse. Remember also, we are not of this world. We are hand picked, to carry out his will and bring others to him. This world hates us for what we are, and we are on what amounts to a rescue mission of souls behind enemy lines right now. The Lord is close. Just hang on.

Hall7 the pagan community in that area was small. Mostly new aged stuff that had no roots in anything and a single practicing family, so they came from all manner of pagan beliefs.

That experience was a long time ago, but it was not a dream. As I said though, it could have been coincidence. There are very logical explanations for it and let's be honest here, if a band pulled up at your work or something and started a concert right then and there, would it not draw a crowd? Especially if they had talent, which the mysterious flute player did. I long since made my peace with God and have rededicated myself again. I do not have any other experiences like this one. It was a once in a lifetime thing. The Lord and I are on great terms these days. We speak daily... well... I think I may do most of the talking, he just kind of quietly listens, though sometimes I swear I can see his humor at work in my life. I have to say my home life is blessed. As far as what I had been told about angels speaking to us. I heard something similar about... the spirit understands the Lord even when we do not, which I do believe is in one of Paul's writings, but that is as close as I could come to the idea of Angels speaking to us, even though they are often called "God's messengers". Still, it was a comforting thought at the time, that we are less alone than we thought. That is about all I have though. That was one of the very few times where its possible God came in with a strong hand. I have long debated on if that was a talented tune carried on a breeze that day, or an impromptu concert by the heavenly court that during a difficult trial in my life, I was allowed to remember. I will have to wait to find out. In any case, thank you all for sharing your thoughts and ideas on this.

When I was in High School I attended a Christian play, and though at that point in my life through bad influences I had been convinced that God was an enemy who made my life difficult to punish me. As a result, I did my best to cause no harm, to prove he was unjust. At that play, after it ended, they called out for anyone that wanted to be saved to come up and receive Christ. I got up, though I could not say why. I said the words, and I meant them, but I meant them out of fear, not out of joy. I never had that "Receiving the Lord with joy" experience. I simply didn't want to go to hell. My life was difficult enough. I thought I was making peace at the time. Things continued their downward spiral in my life though. I started reading about religions. Any religious text I could get my hands on. I was convinced God did not want peace with me, so I fell in with a pagan church. I was living in a christian/catholic community, and one day was walking by a small park. The sun was out, the weather cool, the park was small enough that you could see straight across it, and it was packed with people. The playground was full, though there were two full basketball courts, they had four games being played on half court. There was a rather large soccer game going and several people having picnics. As I was walking past this park. I began to hear a flute, or some kind of flute like instrument. Whoever was playing it was doing a beautiful job. The sound went out across the entire park, and I could not actually see anyone playing it though it sounded like they should have been right there in the park. Then the oddest thing happened, all activity in the park, stopped. Everyone who was not already standing, stood, and looked up towards the sky. Basketballs were abandoned and left to roll where they will. No one spoke a word. Dozens of people, if not more, stood as still as statues as they gazed towards the sky, and quietly listened to this flute player. The music lasted for maybe a minute or so, and was beautiful, but I noticed what everone was doing. I noticed everyone looking towards the sky quietly, and that everything had stopped. When it was over, everyone went back to what they were doing as if nothing had happened. I heard no one talking about it. I stood there, dumbfounded, just waiting for someone, anyone, to talk about what had just happened. No one did. I was as far away from God as I thought possible at that point in my life. Sure, you could say this was all a coincidence, that the music was good enough that it caught the attention of everyone in the park, that because of the slight breeze the sound was carried on the wind and that is why everyone looked up, and their curiosity satisfied, they had no reason to speak of it. I had once been told, and yet I have found no scripture to back this up, that angels speak to us all the time. They appear visibly, speak to us vocally, and that we are just not allowed to remember what is said, but that the spirit within us does, and that when we begin the next life we will remember those conversations. I kind of wonder if that is what happened here, and I wonder how many conversations or little concerts each of us have experienced, that we simply cannot remember? What do you think? God? Or a coincidence? I have to lean towards God on this one.

Mathew 7:2 and up I believe. Katrina had the right of it. Do not preach anything that you yourself cannot follow. The scripture should be enough for anyone, but if it is not, how does that look if you preach do not commit such and such sin to someone then the person you are preaching to sees you commit that same sin? You may become the reason someone does not find salvation.

Okay... I am going to try and tread lightly with this one and I am not sure if anyone will like what they read, but here we go. Regarding the reasons that Scott is in the situation he is in, I have doubts it had anything to do with a love of JayZ music or throwing up the "Horns" as they were. The symbol for the horns as you called them, used to also be for "Hang loose". As far as Anton Levay using the symbol. Well how would Anton even know? If Anton Levay instead decided to use hugs and claim they were the symbol for the devil would anyone believe him? I don't think it would even be a discussion. It doesn't matter if it is the horns/hang loose hand sign, or a golden calf, these symbols are only as damaging as the faith or worship you put in them. The same could be said of anything that is put before God. As far as JayZ and and his wife. I doubt Scott even knows that JayZ said any of that. I have over 400 saved songs on my grooveshark account. I know the lyrics or meaning of maybe twenty of those. That includes songs from my favorite artists. I have read or watched maybe five or six artist interviews in my life. Regardless of what a music artist may sing about, we have free will to make our own decisions of believing or agreeing with what they sing about. Scott is a born again Christian despite what you said JayZ is singing, and that does not make Scott guilty of anything, in fact, more of us should be strong enough to not go along and agree with what is currently being said in mainstream music or media. Also, the satanic bible doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the devil. Openly embracing evil doesn't appeal to many and those who are embracing evil are probably already heading for destruction. That book tries to target good people who are just tired of seeing evil in the world and wish they had the power to change it. Like the serpent in the garden trying to befriend Eve, it tries to teach elevation of self to Godhood by "good" deeds. I do not reccomend telling people that say they do not follow a religion because they believe that as long as they are good people they will be fine, that that is the same teaching written in the Satanic Bible. It doesn't go over very well with them. The dream you had of Christians being hunted is a pretty common one. I had a similar dream myself. It was the exact same way too. Christians dubbed terrorists in the media, and hunted down. Entire churches rounded up on Sunday. In my dream though, we were warned. He told us when they would come for us, what to pack, and when we need to flee. Pray that is so if it ever does happen. I hope this post was not offensive to anyone, but there was a bit of misunderstanding there and I hope our OP has a better understanding now of what God was trying to tell him, in fact, I hope this was just what he needed for everything to click into place. Pray for Scott and his family, and remember that they need the love and support of Christians right now more than being told God is punishing them for listening to certain music or making hand gestures. Love is always our first priority.

I have doubts that the angels and fallen are killing each other. Perhaps when the fallen were kicked out of heaven it was a matter of physical combat between immortals. I am only guessing, but I imagine that we are the weapons, and we are the battlefield for now because while they cannot kill or affect each other, they can affect us. The devil is probably trying to prove himself right and get that worship he so desired by battling to turn us away from God.

I was definitely one who had to change the mind. For me, I was lucky enough to find a fantastic pastor and a great church. This pastor... he could just lay spritual wisdom out so that it is so easy to understand. Actually... I am not sure if you are a big sermons guy. I will leave a link at the bottom where you can listen to them if you are interested. His name is Danny Box. There are a couple others who fill in, but I do not relate to them as well. Anyway, for me there had to be a mentality change. I hated my job. The Bible teaches us though to remember that while we work, to remember that our purpose has changed. We live for him now, and that includes when working, so work at your job, as though your boss was not there, and at the end of your work day you had to answer to your Lord. When my mentality shifted from, "I hate my job, I hate this company." to "I work here because the Lord has placed me here, and it is him I serve." I found that not just my feelings on the job changed, but how I treated people at work changed as well. A second step I had to take, and this one took a lot longer, and was actually the most important, and the most difficult. The simple command to love each other. Now... seeing all the evil in the world, I was not a huge fan of humanity. Adjusting my mind set to hate sin, and not the people commiting the horrible sinful acts you see today in the news, that was tough. To forgive, and love my enemies, to love people. I did not think that was possible for me. It happened though. The third change, and these are just the three that come to mind. There are many others I am too tired to recall right now, was to become a servant. I changed my mind, and with my new found love for people, and like our Lord as he walked upon the world chose to live my one life serving others. I don't mean I became a nurse or anything like that. I am saying that my life changed from "How can I get ahead today?" to "How can I elevate my brothers and sisters today in a Christ like manner?" It became about emulation of Christ, and taking no actions that are not taken out of love. I am not perfect at it mind you, but it is something that is always on my mind. The link if you are interested in hearing the simple wisdom of Pastor Danny Box http://www.hcbcpf.com/sermons

The crown is meant to be a political symbol, the white horse is usually associated with good. Take those two together I believe it is a politician who gives an appearance of being someone good. The bow is an interesting part. That could have several meanings and I am only speculating at this point. Someone mentioned he was given no arrows meaning that he conquered without firing a shot, but right after him I believe is war, so that doesnt seem as likely to me. A bow is used to strike at range, and your target often does not see it coming. To me this says that a politician pretending to be the good guy will indeed conquer, and the conquered will not suspect this "good guy" of being behind it so I agree with the others who have said that is the Antichrist.

Greetings to you brothers and sisters in Christ, I am rather new to the forums (I just discovered the introduction section about 5 minutes ago) but I have been poking around the Questions and Answers a little bit. While I have some answers I hope I will get to share with you all one day, I have one question that I have not been able to answer no matter how hard I look, so I am going to let you all take a swing at this one. The Lord tells us to honor our father and mother. Allow me to open the door to myself a bit here. My father was out of my life when I was eleven and was a sociopath seemingly incapable of love. Sometimes it seemed he had to fake emotions just to pass as normal. He is dishonest, uncaring, violent, prideful, and that is the tip of the iceberg. My mother was a drug addict with paranoia schizophrenia. She destroyed lives with her habit, and kept me in line throughout my childhood by threatening to send me to live with my father whom she said would kill me one day. As you can imagine, I never felt love for my father, only fear. They are both out of my life currently because I do not want my daughter exposed to that. However, the Lord says to honor them and I am at a loss as to what I should be honoring about them or how. My mother wants a relationship with me, but she has tracked me down in the past and when she shows up, chaso ensues. Am I dishonoring her by not at least talking to her? When people close to me ask about my parents am I supposed to not mention any of this and just ask to change the subject? God is the only father I have ever loved as a father, and I will do my best to honor him to my dying breath and beyond. What exactly though are my obligations as far as honoring my biological father and mother go though? I wish to also add, that despite all of this, myself, my sister, and my brother though he got the worst of it, all three of us came out our childhoods fine, and all three of us found Christ.

I do not believe God changes his mind. If you are going to be disobedient when he wants to bless you, he would know that you were going to be disobedient, and if that was really a reason not to bless you, you would not have been receiving that blessing in the first place. If that was a bit confusing... let's try this.... God wants to bless you, and he doesn't need to make it conditional because he already knows if you will meet those conditions or not. He will either bless you despite disobedience, or not. If you refuse, let us remember Jonah, and that God will use extreme measures to get you to carry out his will if he feels he needs to. Jonah was swallowed by a whale. It could not have smelled that great in there, and I doubt the cuisine was very good either. How much better his life would have been if he had not refused. I hope this helps brother. God bless you.

There is no marriage in Heaven but there will be one very large wedding feast. Be sure that you are dressed up for it. Marriage and sex were for procreation and family but the latter is not always done, even in marriage, with the explicit intent of procreation. I am not saying there will be sex, I am saying I don't know if there will be or not. If we are in our new bodies that are like The Lord's glorious body and have 360 vision then we wouldn't need eyes would we? If we speak with our minds in Heaven then we wouldn't need vocal cords. Now correct me if I am wrong, but when John in Revelations described the glorious body of The Lord. I believe he did mention eyes and a voice. Yes God will be all we need, but he commanded us to love each other too, and though there will be no need for procreation, he will make all things new. Many things that have one purpose now will be repurposed. Just food for thought. We really cannot presume anything will or will not be in Heaven unless the word specifically calls it out. While we are rooting for what we hope will and will not be there though, hopefully we will see an end to body hair.

I think Clark Thompson pretty much nailed it. I will add though, God doesn't have to be somewhere to see everything that is going on there and have total knowledge of it. The word "Presence" is often used to describe something that isnt physically there but their influence can still be felt or at least the effects of their influence are still in play there. The Government around tax time for instance. They may not be hiding in your closet, but when you find out how much you owe and start writing that check to them you might say you could feel their presence. I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a "Present" literal and a spirit of the word "Present". I dont think we will be able to fully understand how it works with God until we are joined with him in the next life. Probably not the absolute certain answer you wanted, but it is as close as I could get. Peace be with you brother.