End of Times...

Nope! Time doesn't end. The world may be destroyed, but *time* would still continue.

Besides, what's the point in preparing for the END of the world?? What would you even *do*?

I believe we have been in the "end times" for about 2000 years-since Christ died. However, I do not believe the popular "left behind" doctrine of end times.

I do believe that no one knows the exact moment/time Christ will return. But, do I believe that the earth is ripening for destruction? Absolutely. The book of Revelations tells us signs, and signs are completely evident in this world today.

I wished everyone lived each day as it were their last...maybe we would have more people focused on what matters most and not wrapped up and ensnared in what matters least.

Sooo, do I believe the end times are happening right now? Not sure. Do I believe Christ will come again? Yes. I believe in the Bible and scripture says we will not know the hour of His coming. I also believe that many prophecies mentioned in scripture have happened and continue to happen...the Last Days covers a looooong time.

I don't fret...I don't fear...the scriptures say that if ye are prepared ye shall not fear. Prepared does not mean a stockpile of food and water that you sit on...or an arsenal to protect your home. You prepare your heart and live a faithful life focused on loving your neighbor(mankind) and knowing that strength and hope comes from God.

Good luck and best wishes!

Anyone who knows the Bible knows that no one knows when Christ will return. Spending time preparing for something that may not happen keeps you from doing what God wants you to do.

No, I don't. I am religious and come from a family of devout Catholics. While some religions may be looking at the recent violence and weather as the end of the world... older world religions (and scholars) see these things for what they are... part of the ebb and flow of history. There have always been great wars. There have always been evil people. There are have always been natural disasters.

There hasn't always been an "internet" and instant access to information. We see and hear everything now and I truly think this is the major shift. There was a time when things happened across the world and it took months (if not longer) for the "news" to reach the other side of the globe. By then the episode was over and the "news" was modified and not widely shared. There were no graphic images sent instantly to our handheld devices.

To each his own, but I'm not planning for the end of the world. What exactly does that involve by the way? Just curious.

My SIL believes it is here too. If you read the bible however...we will not know the when, minute, hour or day.
We are not to waste our lives, we are to live them with purpose at all times. We are to always act as though this day we will breath our last breath and to make what we do and say matter. We should be kind, helpful to all and when we are feeling down for our lives to go and do something for someone else. I am not a highly religious person. I believe in God, I believe in being a good human being. If you live too much waiting for gloom and doom you lose out on the life that should be lived here and now.

I don't believe in it, and I'm extremely pissed at the super right wing that like to "help it along" - as if they have that power. I have no problem with people people who believe in the end times and that God will come, BUT, it's according to HIS schedule and not ours, so trying to "make" it happen is an act of extreme arrogance on their part trying to influence God's schedule.

I don't get the planning part. If she's being taken up, what's she planning for anyway?

Doesn't the end of times for each individual basically start the instant they're born? Everyone's going to eventually die, isn't every second one second closer to death? I don't believe in all the dramatic "end of times" stuff, although it makes for entertaining movies. It's more important to concentrate on the here and now, our loved ones, living a decent life, doing the best we can with the life we have and having a bit of fun every once in a while. Why live life with doom and gloom? Ridiculous.

Yes, I do. However, I don't know exactly what that means. Meaning, end times could mean 2 hours, 2 days, years decades, 2,000 more years, etc. We don't know. I don't worry about it, I don't "prepare" for it. I could be during my lifetime, or not. No one gets enlightened and just know when it happens. I think the whole "Thief in the night" thing would be pointless, if some people just knew.

I am a Christian and I believe in what the Bible says..
There will be and end time and no one will know but the Christ.
The Bible speaks of things that were written ages ago but are happening as we type! I am convinced and press in to be prepared in my heart.

My parents were bible thumpers so we always prepared for the end. So far three end dates have come and gone and alas we are all still here. Granted maybe we are all just so evil that no one went but I have read the bible so many times, highlighted and scoured for any evidence that these predictions are correct. Unless they are channeling someone of authority it isn't true, at least according to the bible.

I find it interesting that every time they set a date and it doesn't happen they just change the date. Never does it occur to them that the bible is correct, we will not know the hour or the day......

My mil fully thought that Bush waging war in the middle east was going to usher in the rapture and she was Happy about it! So.....doesn't that make G.W. Bush the anti-christ? lol I believe our time on Earth may have an expiration date, but only because it will become unlivable. If we don't get this global warming thing under control, we very well may be looking at the end. Obviously not in my lifetime, but look at how much damage we have done, just since the industrial revolution. It just started 60 years ago and we have done so much damage. What will it be like in another 60 yrs at this rate?

I think that the earth is showing us in many many ways that it is suffering. Like the numerous earthquakes, especially ones that are in areas that are normally very dormant. I think the droughts and floods and other odd weather patterns are telling us something. I am a Christian and do believe in the Prophets teachings about the times.

I do think that if people want to prepare for extremely hard times then they should, they are coming. With the economy going like it is I think more and more people are going to lose their jobs and possibly become homeless, become hungry, I think the USA is headed for a serious crisis.

I worry about people saying that the poor and unhealthy should be left to die. It makes me think of Marie Antoinette and how she ended up. The USA has already had one civil war and I see where there are a lot of the groups of survivalist who are prepared to fight today if needed, think Waco Texas. I worry what will become of us if we are not prepared for the loss of our incomes and lifestyle as we know it. People will be swayed into doing many things they normally would not consider when the mob mentality is yelling for rebellion.

One of my dearest friends is one of those who lives each day prepared for disaster. She lived in OKC during the May 3rd tornadoes and opened her food storage to the church that was open as a shelter for all those left homeless.

She gives food each month to local food banks and spends time volunteering. She knows first hand about it because she is disabled and lives on just a few hundred dollars each month. She is the epitome of a giving caring Christian.

I wish we could all understand that what we have is a blessing, that it could be gone tomorrow. Compassion is a wonderful thing. My sisters daughters MIL lost her home in the Texas fires last week. She had lost her husband just a few months earlier. She has nothing except the clothes on her back.

Just for clarification, not all Christian denominations follow the dispensationalism that your friend does. That is what that is called: dispensationalism. There are varying dispensational beliefs.

There are Pre-millenialists, Post-millenialists and A-millenialists.

The whole "rapture" thing where people will "disappear" and then chaos will envelop the earth is a dispensational belief. Not sure if it will help you understand it, but I don't believe like your friend apparently does. I am a Lutheran, and here is a link to a great video blog by a Lutheran pastor (if you are curious about what Lutheranism says about "end times" and those who "prophesy" about the day and the hour).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeYGRRmPPk4&feature=pl...!

I don't know whether we're at "the end" or not. I do know that things have become increasingly unsettled in our world, and my faith has promoted self reliance and preparation since its beginning. We garden, we can, we try to store up food and basic living necessities. I don't do it because I think it's the end of the world, but because it makes common sense. It has helped us out more than once: when we were in college and scraping by; when we've moved; when my husband was laid off in 2009 and was out of work for three months. (All we had to buy then was eggs and butter; it was quite a relief!) With the predictions on the economy coming from every type of economist now, I hardly think it's nutty or strange to be prepared for tough times. So we're going to keep keeping on, and we'll be quite happy to know how to grind wheat and make our own bread (not to mention having other staples on hand) IF things go bad (Read: pay cuts, layoffs, normal types of natural disasters); if not, at least we're eating healthy and don't have to go to the store as frequently. :D

I believe that all of this talk about the world coming to an end is totally ridiculous. All of these natural disasters, wars, etc. that are happening now happened hundreds of years ago as well. It's just that we have millions of cameras, the internet, etc. to document it all now. And social media, like mamapedia, for everyone to talk and worry about silly things. People need to get some common sense and read some history books - this has all happened before.

People have thought it was happening since we have a record of people thinking. The world will end when the sun stops burning (an estimated 500 million years from now I think? Or maybe it's billion) or an enormous asteroid hits us or we blow our own selves to bits and decimate the earth in the process. Not a whole lot I can do about any of it, so I'm just going to enjoy my experience here and not worry about it. I don't believe in any religious mumbo-jumbo regarding the end of the world.

I consider myself religious to a point, but the Earth has gone through drastic times before. When there was basically one continent and has gradually spread apart I'm pretty sure it wasn't a smooth seperation where massive earthquakes didnt occur. Where there are big mountins there once was great earthquakes, where there is desert use to be vast forests. I think we are headed to those times again and Im pretty sure that these clusters of hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, fires are just a part of this new changing Earth. If I am wrong I hope that when the time comes I can be with my family so we can walk hand in hand to meet God.

I don;t think that the Earth will be totally destroyed and not sure how I feel about the religious "end of the world". However, I do think that we have gotten totally complacent with our lives and the ways we live and are destroying the world around us. Technological advances are great but there is a cost. i am not an environmental goody goody for lack of a better term--really don't want to offend anyone but cannot think of another way to put it. We don;t count on ourselves to do a lot of things. We don;t farm like we used to. For a lot of people, go to work, come home, open packaging, cook, clean up and sit around. And Rush Rush Rush.
However: My husband does believe a bit of the Aztec calendar. He has Azteca ancestry in him on his mom's side. A lot of people take the calendar as a prediction to the end of the world. But according to my husband and his family in Mexico, the calendar actually predicts great change. Dec 2012 is a long way away and we have seen a lot of change over the past year so you just never know.

I'm not a religious person, so I can't answer from that perspective.
I have, however, noticed that natural disasters has been on the rise. I think the Earth may be getting ready to go through a major change and that humans may or may not survive it.
It's very unlikely to be in the next week, month, or year. Though we are seeing evidence of changes to come, remember that our lifetime is a blink of an eye when compared with the Earth.

I'm wondering if you can disclose a few more details about her preparation for the end? I keep hearing about religious sects doing such, but as another poster pointed out, how arrogant to plan for it. ONLY GOD knows when this will happen. Not even Christ Himself knows.

I also believe that nothing catastrophic will actually terminate the existence of this beautiful world. Otherwise, how will the meek inherit it? I hope to be on that side of inheritance, rather than being taken 'up' somewhere.

I don't know what to think. I'm not a religious person.
But there is so many crazy things going on right now...
I just think Mother nature is PISSED at the world or ruining her.

I don't think we are near end times either, but just last night I had the WEIRDEST dream that the end would be on October 17. It was unsettling that I remembered such vivid details and my struggle through the entire dream was making sure my family and I were right with God and letting myself be ok with what comes next for us, but no, I don't think it was a premonition or by any means something that will come true in our lifetime.
A.

I agree with Sunny D.

Honestly? I think it's just that Disclosure is right around the corner.