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StephieNorthCo
Guest
Agreed. I think I’ve heard of that before. When it showed up as a screen saver, I chuckled and thought… I know exactly where to post that one.
It seems we can have the tendency to hear many voices that make religion seem to be complicated, wouldn’t you agree? But how do we find clarity? Where is a voice of clarity, amidst the ambiguity that develops by so many voices?Religion is a complicated thing and it’s no wonder some people don’t believe in it.
According to [Holy Scripture and Orthodox Tradition], world history will culminate in an almost superhuman “Christian” figure, the false Messiah or Antichrist. He will be “Christian” in the sense that his whole function and his very being will center on Christ, Whom he will imitate in every respect possible, and he will be not merely the greatest enemy of Christ, but in order to deceive Christians will appear to be Christ, come to earth for a second time and ruling from the restored Temple in Jerusalem. "Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away (apostasy) first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God… even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all lying wonders, and with all deceivableness in them that perish … (II Thessalonians 2:3-4, 9-12)."
…Our Savior Himself has warned us: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold I have told you beforehand. If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness, go not forth; Behold, he is in the inner chambers, believe it not. For as lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matt. 24:23-27). The Second Coming of Christ will be unmistakable: it will be sudden, from heaven (Acts 1:11), and it will mark the end of this world. There can be no “preparation” for it - save only the Orthodox Christian preparation of repentance, spiritual life, and watchfulness. Those who are “preparing” for it in any other way, who say that he is anywhere “here” - especially “here” in the Temple of Jerusalem - or who preach that “Jesus is coming soon” without warning of the great deception that is to precede His Coming: are clearly the prophets of Antichrist, the false Christ who must come first and deceive the world
…often appears like anti - Christ is already here.It’s later than we understand. As predicted, Judgement Day approaches “like a thief in the night,” and we do not see it coming.
"For behold, the kingdom of God is among you. " Luke 17:21
Joseph’s brothers killed their father’s son and, after a period of time, were thrown into jail for 3 days, comparing Christ’s death. What caused the sons to come back to their brother, reunite, and acknowledge he was alive? It was the desperation of famine. I can’t help but remind people of the precarious world-wide financial situation in 2008. Obama “saved” the banks by lending money to them, but in the long-term, causing the economy to kick the can down the road some more and put a temporary bandaid on an entire world economy that is growing trillions in debt. You’d have to be a fool to think this is not a dangerous problem. Will it somehow convert the Jews? I have no idea how it would. Just some thoughts. I do know it will cause desperation on a spiritual level. That is a good thing.The biblical basis for this expectation is found in Romans 11:25-26a:
The meaning of Romans 11:25-26a has been disputed. Douglas J. Moo calls Romans 11:26a “the storm center in the interpretation of Romans 9-11 and of New Testament teaching about the Jews and their future.”[8] Moo himself interprets the passage as predicting a “large-scale conversion of Jewish people at the end of this age”[9] through “faith in the gospel of Jesus their Messiah”.[10]
Pope Benedict XVI in his book Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week [11] (2011) has suggested that the church should not be targeting Jews for conversion efforts, since “Israel is in the hands of God, who will save it ‘as a whole’ at the proper time.”[3]
Some mistakenly think the end of The Cold War, ended this idea. Many do not see the aftermath, is extremely dangerous; which is why we see the ‘fission’ ‘wormwood’ divisiveness increase so much lately.“We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine Providence; it is trial which the whole Church, and the Polish Church in particular, must take up. It is a trial of not only our nation and the Church, but, in a sense, a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization with all of its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, human rights and the rights of nations.”
This was a halting statement. Note the line, “We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through.”