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Anticipating the End of the World

Doomsday End Times Second Coming

Source: USA Today Online

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2014-09-20

Author: Tom Krattenmaker
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ILLUSTRATION

"When some Christians look into the near future, they see a wondrous fate for themselves and fellow evangelical believers: a rapture in which God sweeps the true Christians up to heaven. According to this reading of the Bible's Book of Revelation, what awaits those on the wrong side of the ecclesiastical line is not so wondrous: seven years of unimaginable suffering, war and destruction that ends with the Second Coming of Jesus.

Opinion surveys over the past decade show that more than half the American public believes that the end times are coming.

A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that roughly four in 10 Americans believe the Second Coming will happen by 2050. Those enraptured by the rapture tend to view current events through the lens of biblical prophesy, reading everything from the Obama election to the oil disaster in the Gulf Coast as fulfillment of one or another cryptic passage from Revelation.

You can imagine the implications this might have for someone's approach to the here, the now and the times ahead. Work for a better future? What future?

In this view, staving off wholesale destruction is viewed as a distraction from evangelism or, worse, as faithlessness, as getting in God's way.

At the extreme end of this thought train come figures such as Todd Strandberg, founder of the Rapture Ready website, who opposes environmental protection on fatalistic grounds.

"The Bible predicts that during the tribulation hour, the world will come to near complete ruin," Strandberg writes. "I am strongly against Christians embracing the environmental movement."

For liberal religionists or non-believers, this kind of stance is one of the least appealing aspect of evangelicals' popular image. It's as if one group is rowing the boat in the direction of species betterment (or, at least, survival), while another group sits idly as the vessel drifts closer to the precipice of the waterfall, convinced that the divine hand will pluck them and their religiously correct fellows from disaster."

APPLICATION

In an article titled What If The End Isn't Near, Author Tom Krattenmaker reports on the efforts of a young evangelical pastor, Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, who leads the charge to get Christians involved in the mission of nuclear dissarmament.  "Because of language, culture, and politics, the threat of nuclear weapons has been a difficult issue for evangelical Christians to engage," says Wigg-Stevenson, founder and director of the Two Futures Project, a Christian campaign to abolish nuclear weapons. "It's been my mission to carve out space for evangelicals to engage this issue on their own terms."  Krattenmaker then goes on to give his assessment of why evangelicals have not been supportive of nuclear dissarmament efforts. He implies that evangelicals actually desire the world to end and therefore will not actively engage in efforts to stave off a nuclear holocaust. 

While this is a gross overgeneralization, as Christians, we must be careful to not package our expectation of the Return of Christ in such as way as to suggest we are "wishing for" the end of the world or are unwilling to work for a better future for all mankind. We must also recognize that whether we package our views this way or not, the modern press will inevitably chose to package our views for us in the most unattractive and/or sensationalistic light possible. We must therefore be ready to answer such accusations according to scriptural principle. 

"Always be ready, to give a reason for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." 1 Peter 3:15

Near Earth Asteroid Tracking Records Near Misses

End Times Doomsday God's Judgment

Source: "Earth-Crossing Asteroids: How can we detect, measure and deflect them?" by David K. Lynch on Geology.com, 2007

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Contributed By: Fred Gates | Date Posted: 2012-11-23

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:10 ; Isaiah 51:6

Author: Fred Gates
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ILLUSTRATION

For decades now, Hollywood has tried to fill us with fear at the prospect of asteroids hurtling through space, bent on destroying life on Planet Earth as we know it. Remember ARMAGEDDON? DEEP IMPACT? How about the recent indy film MELANCHOLIA? But Hollywood's science fiction isn't so fictional after all:
 
Can we do anything about an asteroid that is destined to hit the Earth? The answer is, yes, providing that it is small enough and that we have enough time to send a spacecraft to deflect it. ...
 
Astronomers have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to save the Earth from an asteroid impact. First you have to find all the asteroids, calculate their orbits and see which ones come dangerously close to Earth. Once you know the orbit, you can figure out when it will hit. This tells you how much warning time you have. And finally, if you can figure out the asteroid’s mass, you can compute how hard you have to push it in order to change its orbit just enough to miss the Earth. ...
 
Finding asteroids is relatively easy. The first one was found by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801. Several observatories are presently dedicated to finding asteroids and tracking them (Spacewatch, NEAT, Pan-STARRS, LONEOS and others). At the present time, about 80% of asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter have been found. None of these have orbits that would carry them to a terrestrial bulls-eye. In 2004, a 250 m size asteroid was discovered that is expected to pass close to Earth on April 13, 2029 (Friday the 13th!). Named Apophis, the asteroid’s impact probability is 1 in 45000 and is expected to decrease as the orbit is refined in coming years. Asteroid 1950 DA will come very close to the Earth in 2880. In view of the uncertainties in its orbit, impact remains a possibility.
 
The fact is, we are under a constant barrage. Some 2,000 pounds of space dust particles strike the earth each hour, and every few hours a mass as large as a baseball pelts the earth's surface. It's the bigger asteroids and comets that pose the greatest risk. For instance, an impact by an object larger than a mile in diameter could cause significant climate and environmental disaster worldwide (not to mention the immediate devastation at the point of impact). 
 
The problem is that no number of high-powered scopes can comb more than a small fraction of the sky at any given time. Even so, scientists say time is on our side, since most sizable asteroids can be located years, even decades, prior to potential impact. 
 
The real danger, they tell us, lies with comets:
 
Comets are the wild card of the terrestrial impact game. They are usually only discovered a few months before approaching the inner solar system. With diameters of a few kilometers and speeds up to 72 km/s, they represent a potentially unmanageable threat. With less than a few years of warning, there probably would not be enough time to mount a deflection mission.

APPLICATION

While we're all busy gazing into the sky, the Scripture has already given us a fair warning that a cataclysmic end is indeed coming, but it won't be a result of an errant asteroid or a colliding comet. It will come as God pours His judgment out on our fallen earth. In that day, there will be no near misses, and there will be no deflection of the inevitable.

But don't despair. "The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare" (2 Peter 3:10). Nevertheless, "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail" (Isaiah 51:6).  

Luxury Doomsday Bunkers?

Doomsday Grace Preparation

Source: “Luxury 'Doomsday Bunkers' Promise Survival, and Pampering” By Teke Wiggin, AOL Real Estate, Posted Apr 10th 2012

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2012-04-12

Scripture: Psalms 27:5 ; 1 Thessalonians 5:4

Author: Illustration Exchange
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ILLUSTRATION

What’s the newest craze to hit the real estate market? Why, Doomsday Bunkers, of course! 

Several companies across the nation (like Deep Earth Bunker Company, Vivos, and Larry Hall Development) are rising up to meet the growing demands of “preppers” looking to increase their chances to not just survive, but to thrive in the wake of a variety of doomsday scenarios. Solar flare disruption, nuclear war, world economic collapse, and global food crisis are but a few of the possibilities that give “preppers” cause for pause.

Planning and preparing for every eventuality, the “preppers” are willing to spare no expense to ensure a secure outcome—spending anywhere from $50K to $100K for a room in a multi-unit bunker complex, or as much as $2 million for a 2 bedroom “condo” built into a reclaimed Cold War missile silo. Indoor vegetable gardens, stocked fish farms, and dry goods stockpiles round out a few of the life sustaining necessities. Indoor pools and movie theaters round out a few of the luxury upgrades.

The movement is not as fringe as you might think. “The ‘prepper’ phenomenon has inspired a Discovery Channel TV show, ‘Doomsday Bunkers,’ which follows the Deep Earth Bunker company of Dallas through the process of constructing fortified shelters, like those offered by Vivos and Hall, and also provides a window into the ‘prepper’ subculture. The movement draws ‘radical folks who really take these precautions to the extreme, to the average person who is using their common sense and taking responsibility for what could happen,’ the TV's show's executive producer, Anna Geddes, told FOX411's Pop Tarts column. The new show follows in the footsteps of ‘Doomsday Preppers,’ a National Geographic Channel show that debuted in February.”

APPLICATION

 The Bible has its own name for “preppers”—they’re called Children of Light!

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (1 Peter 3:10, NLT). “But you aren't in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won't be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. … let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8, NLT).

Doomsday is coming—the day when Christ Himself will return for His children and bring judgment upon all those who did not choose to walk in “the light.” For the believer it is a day of salvation. But for the unbeliever, no bunker can shield him from the wrath to come.

Be a “prepper”—hide yourself in the bunker of the love and grace of God! “For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock” (Psalm 27:5). 

A Need For Seed

Comfort End Times Doomsday

Contributed By: Pat Sage | Date Posted: 2011-06-07

Author: Pat Sage
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Restoring the Church of God

Restoration Church/Body of Christ End Times

Contributed By: Marcelle Smith | Date Posted: 2024-05-28

Scripture: Ephesians 4:16 ; Colossians 3:14

Author: Marcelle Smith / Illustration Exchange
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The Deadline for the Soul

Salvation Urgency God's Judgment

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2023-08-24

Scripture: Hebrews 9:27 ; 2 Corinthians 6:2

Author: Illustration Exchange
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Perfect Puffer Fish Creation Points to a Perfect Creator

Creation/Creationism Apologetics Wrath

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2023-04-17

Scripture: Romans 1:18 ; Psalms 19:1

Author: Illustration Exchange
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No Consolation In Someone Else's Demise

God's Judgment Trials Warnings

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2023-04-04

Scripture: Luke 13:2 ; Job 42:7

Author: Illustration Exchange
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Blind To The Raging Fires

Complacency Revival End Times

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2023-03-27

Scripture: Romans 13:11

Author: Illustration Exchange
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The Bible Message In 217 Words

God's Patience End Times Hardness of Heart

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2022-10-05

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:4

Author: Mitchell Dillon
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