tuco22

I always wondered about that for a long time. I mean, how could someone like the AC be "Christ" to apostate Christendom, and yet reconcile the Muslims and Buddhists, etc. I think he will be everyone's "savior" to everyone. To apostate Christendom he will be Christ; to the Muslim he will be the Mahdi; to the Buddhists he will be Budda. The magic show that accompanies him will confirm that in their minds. I don't see how else the entire world accepts him.

I am not amillenial. I would be "classified" as premillenial, pretribulational (regarding the rapture). I believe in a literal rapture of the church prior to the tribulation period, and I believe in a literal tribulation period of 7 years, 3-1/2 of which is referred to as the "great tribulation", and I believe in a literal 1000-year period where Christ will reign on earth after He comes back to earth at His second coming.

Hey, add 2 cats to the mix and see what you get!

The paper of John's day wasn't like our paper today. Paper in those days was made of the papyrus plant, where strips of it were peeled, soaked, pounded, smoothed and dried, and then they were attached together to form a sheet. One side of the paper was smoother than the other, and it was this smooth side that was written on. Our "books" came into being only around the 3rd or 4th century AD. Prior to that, "books" were rolled sheets of papyrus paper, or scrolls. The fact that both sides of this scroll were written on is important in that it usually meant the scroll was a title or deed, in this case, the title or deed to the earth. Revelation 5:1-4: And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne (God the Father) a scroll written within (the smooth side) and on the back (rough side), sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll, and to loose its seals? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look on it. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look on it. John wept because until someone was found to open the scroll, the earth still belonged to Satan. Satan assumed "ownership" of the earth from Adam when Adam sinned in Eden. Rev 5:5-7: And one of elders (representing the church which is in heaven at this time, pretribulation) saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David (Christ) hath prevailed to open the scroll, and to loose its seven seals. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders (the church), stood a Lamb as though it had been slain (Christ), having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. Christ was of the tribe of Judah, of the line of David. As man and God, he was the "kinsman redeemer" of man, the only one able to "reassume" ownership of the earth from Satan. A "kinsman redeemer" in Hebrew is a "goel", and there were four requirements of a goel. He had to 1) be a kinsman, 2) able, 3) willing, 4) to assume all obligations of a kinsman. Christ was a kinsman of Adam in that he was physically descended from Adam, and only He was able and willing to perform the obligations of redeeming mankind from sin, which He did with His blood. Sin requires death, so someone who wasn't dead had to die to pay the price of death for the sin Adam had brought into the world and passed onto all of mankind. Only Christ could do that, since all of mankind was, and is, dead in their sins. Hope this helps!

Mine's from Eli Wallach's character in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. That was the nickname he had. It's also the name of one of our cats. The other one is named Eli, after Eli Wallach's first name, not the prophet.

I have heard, too, that the AC may be from the Middle East. In fact, Chuck Missler seems to think so. We're all so focused on him being European because he's the "prince of the people that shall come" in Daniel, and he'll be the head of the revived Roman empire. But maybe he's not European. The Middle East was under Roman rule, too. In any event, I personally believe he's on the political scene right now, because he can't be some unknown guy that just steps onto the stage one day when everything hits the fan and says, Follow me, I have all the answers. Who's going to believe him if he doesn't have a track record? I think he will be revealed as antichrist after the rapture.

Tithing was instituted in the Old Testament to support the Levite priests because the Levites were the only tribe out of the 12 tribes that were not given a portion of the land when the Israelites crossed the Jordan. They were supposed to tend the temple and be the priests of the temple. They didn't have any means of support. They had no land to work or in which to plant crops, and they had no livestock. But they still had to eat. So the remaining 11 tribes were supposed to give 10% of their crops, etc., to the Levites to support them. Tithing is not taught in the New Testament. Tithing was adopted by the churches to support what I call the professional pastorate, those who make being pastors a full time job, and to upkeep church buildings, which are also not biblical. The whole concept of a congregation meeting in a building dedicated to the sole purpose of worship was taken from pagan Rome, when Constantine legalized Christianity. The Christians simply left the homes they were meeting in and moved into the vacated temples. In fact, in the 4th century AD, house churches were actually made illegal. There is a revival of house churches taking place in the US today. In China, most Christians meet in each other's homes. The danger with "church" buildings is that it takes a lot of money to upkeep them, pay the mortgages, heat and light bills, etc., and as persecution increases in the US and Christians are forced underground, there will be less and less of them financially able to support the church buildings. Also, since most church properties are tax exempt, they will be increasingly pressured to go along with what the state wants them to preach or lose that tax exempt status. What does that say for a pastor who makes preaching his sole source of support? In short, eventually churches in their present form will become unsustainable, and Christians will have to find other places to meet, anyway.

I'm currently involved in a study of Revelation through Koinonia House, so the more I learn there the more I will post here, but so far what I've been through is Chuck Missler says that elements of all 7 churches are to be found in the church general today. They were not only literal churches in the area we know today as Asia Minor, or Turkey, they were also a picture of the church general throughout the ages. All 7 letters were sent to all of those 7 churches, it wasn't just the church at Ephesus that got the letter specifically addressed to it. All of them got the letter addressed to Ephesus, etc. He also gave a lot of history about Ephesus itself, which I found fascinating. It evidently was quite a city in its time. It was involved in the Peloponnesian Wars. I'll post more as I learn more and have more time.

That makes 3. James "Scotty" Doohan, Bob Denver and now Don Adams.

I believe in a pre-trib rapture. I think there are too many verses that point to it in scripture. I do not believe the church will go through the tribulation, although I do believe we will see persecution beforehand, the harbingers of which are already present.

Yeah, you can be physically attacked, usually through demons working through other people. Remember Paul was physically attacked many times during his ministry. I was physically attacked at an Ozzie Osborne concert I attended many years ago. He was playing at the Coliseum in the city in which I lived at the time, and I thought I'd do my brother a favor and take him to the concert. Boy, what a mistake that was! I was threatened and physically struck by people who didn't even know me. It wasn't until later that I realized that the demons that were there didn't want me there, and I had been disobedient by even attending the concert. I've never been back there. I've had 3 different people even hiss at me when I've come upon them unawares, not like a snake, but more like what a cat does. Let me tell you, that will set you back a few steps!

I heard a sermon once a long time ago on why Adam deliberately sinned after Eve had eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was because he loved her and didn't want to be without her. She was the first one to eat of the tree, and when she did so she died spiritually, but Adam was still alive spiritually. I believe Adam ate because he didn't want to be without her, and if he didn't eat, he would have been. Eve said the serpent beguiled her. I believe this is an excuse, but I also believe there is some truth to it. Up until that time, Adam and Eve had had no experience with lies and deceit. They believed everything they were told. They had had no experience with death, since death did not exist before the fall. Satan used that innocence against them to get them to disobey. Yes, they knew what they were doing was wrong, but I don't believe they fully understood the consequences until afterwards. Like us. I don't believe they were "predisposed" to sin. God doesn't create imperfection.

Everyone is physically born spiritually dead. We're all born with dead souls. The bible calls this the "natural man." Natural people don't have any interest in the things of God. Their main interest is materialism; acquisition, what's in it for me, the things of the flesh, satisfying their appetites, etc. That's the natural man. The closest natural people come to anything "spiritual" is an interest in the occult or religion. They're into "religion" because "religion" puts forth sets of rules, those rules varying according to which religion they adhere, that spell out how they can earn their way to heaven. All religions have rules by which men believe they can earn their way to heaven. Christianity says that no one can earn their way to heaven. To be born again is to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, who died and rose again after 3 days. It is to believe that you're a sinner, that there isn't anything you can do to earn your way into heaven, that nothing you do, no matter how good the intentions, is really "good" in the sight of God (all our righteousness is as filthy rags). It is to repent of your sins, confess them to God, and receive Christ. Only then will you be born again. It requires faith, which is in itself a gift of God, because the natural man doesn't have any faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The natural man puts his trust in the rules of his religion and in the things he can see, smell, touch, taste and feel. When you're born again, your soul is made alive, and you now have an interest, even a hunger, for the things of God. You don't stop sinning. The old nature is still there. But now it bothers you when you do, whereas before it never did.

On another note, I don't know if this belongs here or not, but none of the Tyme machines were working in Janesville tonight. None of them. I went to 3 different ones. Even the one at my credit union wasn't working. I find that extremely interesting. I don't recall this ever happening before.

Under its current leadership it is, yes. What I find ominous is the fact that so many world leaders want its involvement in world affairs. It's a de facto acknowledgement that they can't handle the world's increasing problems themselves, that they want a "third" party, if you will, to handle things. I think this is the beginning of what's prophesied about the "kings" giving the antichrist power over their "kingdoms." He doesn't seize power, it is given to him by the world's governments. That's why he has a bow but no arrows. He conquers through "peace." At first. Wow! Are we close or what?!