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Locked on 10/27/2009 12:40:43 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
Childish behavior. |
Posted on 07/25/2009 2:40:04 AM PDT by Quix
The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):
"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."
This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times.
Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for — signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man — that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).
A Personal Experience
Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time.
He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return."
He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound — the sound of a trumpet!"
The First Sign
One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917.
This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires.
The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people — an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.
In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people."
The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12).
Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment."
Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule.
There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state.
Since 1917
Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time.
I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments.
I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs. We will explore these catetories beginning in Part 2 of this series.
But do you think the intent was to degrade Christ?
Because that is what this all comes down to. Intent.
Exactly.
Ok! (smile)
I don't know if the title is engraved on the statue or if it's the photographer's impression. If it is the latter, then he reacted to the image much as I did, that the image was depicting "Mary's Sacrifice."
So taking it all at face value, it offends me for the reasons I've given.
Because we love Him, anything that is important to Him should be important to us.
The cross was prophesied in Psalms 22 and Isaiah 53. And Jesus' fulfillment changed everything forevermore.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.
For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, [I say], whether [they be] things in earth, or things in heaven.– Colossians 1:15-20
It certainly is, to me.
Just as I show some degree of reverence for the printed Word of God . . . though I still mark the pages up etc.
And I don’t even begin to worship either a cross or a Bible.
I once did get close to idolatry of the Bible, but The Lord brought me up short about that.
Symbols can be useful. They can be hazardous. The attitude of the heart, imho, is crucial.
I prefer a kind of reverence for THE TRUTH OF THE CROSS . . . not per se any physical representation of it.
Though I would take care to protect a cross or treat it with respect OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE TRUTH OF THE ORIGINAL CROSS.
If I had to break up and burn a cross to feed a starving child a hot meal and warm them a bit, I would not hesitate more than a few seconds.
I know you haven’t.
I doubt that any title is engraved on the statue for the simple fact that this is seldom if ever done for statues at grave sites.
Truly I would not go ballistic over needing to retire a cross or a Bible, though I confess to keeping all of them. I specifically collect the deceased family member's Bibles (with lots of notes and inserts), wall crosses, cross jewelry, rosaries and such - all for any future generations who might want to remember what was important to them in this life.
But none of it is to be worshiped.
The symbols are important though to me. I would not use the wall crosses to aerate my potted plants.
So then it’s correct for all those African American Libs to be offended by Rush’s “Barack the Magic Negro” song, eventhough the intent was not to offend blacks. It’s just a consequence and they are right.
Is that correct?
On of the realities of dealing with marble (which this statue is) is that it is very soft and fragile (go to a cemetery sometime and you will see that the marble headstones all look worn, but the granite ones look brand new regardless of age). This is the main reason that Michelangelo's "David" in Florence was moved inside. It would be very difficult to sculpt a marble cross of a significant size and not support it, it would simply collapse during a major storm. Something had to support the cross out of structural necessity. Also, the Blessed Mother is looking AWAY from the cross, that would lead me to believe that she is watching as her Son is taken to His tomb.
I would not expect the things that offend you to offend me or someone else. Nor would I expect the degree of offense to be something which can be conveyed by words.
Technically speaking that is called "qualia" - like pain or pleasure, love or hate. It can only be experienced, it cannot be conveyed. Qualia, btw, is the "poison pill" to artificial intelligence.
Amen to that.
>>As far as I know there is not a right or wrong to offense just a matter of fact, either a person is offended or he is not<<
So the African American libs had a reason to be offended by the song or were they just using that to stir up trouble? Eventhough finding an offense in it is hard to do?
And is it correct to come into a discussion on Rush’s bigotry and use “Barack the Magic Negro” as an example of it?
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