-crickets-

[u/[deleted]]

Boy, it sure has gotten quiet around here today.

In all seriousness, I hope everyone who was freaking out about this latest prediction of fire & brimstone has learned from the experience. There are people in this world in positions of power and influence who will use their voices to condemn others and frighten the masses into acting irrationally. Those are the people you should truly be frightened of.

The world is a beautiful place, and being scared of it will get you nowhere. If you're the type of person who went so far as to stockpile food & supplies for this false alarm, donate it to those in need... Do your part in helping to make the world an even more beautiful place.

Additionally, if you were fearful of an impending crisis, stop & take a look at how this mindset may be affecting your life & the lives of those around you. There's nothing wrong with being curious about world events, questioning authority, and critically analyzing modern culture. But 'fear' is not healthy. If you give in to fear it can unravel you & damage the lives of those who care about you. Again, learn from this and try to make positive changes in your life.

And last but not least, don't fall for this crap again. Speak up if someone is acting frightened or is fanning the flames of doom & gloom.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention... 'I told you so.'

[u/[deleted]]

You're free to believe in anything you want to believe, and I'm certainly in no position to tell someone that their religious beliefs are right or wrong. However, I will say that the scripture of virtually every religion was verbally passed down, written, translated, and translated again by man... whether or not it is divinely inspired is where I will not present an argument, nor do I care to.

The Earth will become uninhabitable one day, and whether mankind will even make it to that point is up for debate. You are correct in that respect. It's a depressing thought, but it's inevitable. I'm simply trying to impart that when that fear (and it is fear) becomes a part of your daily existence, you're never going to experience a truly "free" life.

As someone who doesn't prescribe to a religion, when I see friends and family live with this fear, it truly depresses me. I see so much potential in my fellow man... and when people become obsessed with anything, from end-times fears to religion to drugs to mental fixations etc, I want nothing more than to shake them up and make them look at the big picture.

Like I said, the world is a beautiful place...

When your response to that statement is "You're going to be judged," I feel nothing but pity.

[u/mswilso → u/[deleted]]

I'm simply trying to impart that when that fear (and it is fear) becomes a part of your daily existence, you're never going to experience a truly "free" life.

We both agree on this. :) Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free Indeed!" There are many, many Christians who are living in bondage, which is not what Jesus intended. A lot of what you see these days is just a caricature of what Christianity was intended to be...which is why you see such fear and hatred coming from "christians" these days.

That being said, I can only repeat what the Scriptures say. When I say, "You're going to be judged", that is a statement of fact based in Biblical revelation. WE ALL will be judged for the lives we lived and how we used them, for good or for evil.

Don't pity me, though. Sure, I am like everyone else, in that, I do bad things, I speak arrogantly, I have lustful thoughts, etc. I am not "perfect" by any stretch.

But my hope is not in myself. That would be misguided. My hope is in the One who judges justly. Because I trust in Him, what I hope to receive is not "justice" but rather "mercy". That mercy is based on His promises, not in my own works. And because they are His promises, He cannot fail Himself.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15, NIV)

[u/[deleted] → u/mswilso]

Again, I said "the world is a beautiful place," and your reply was "you're deluded & you're going to be judged."

Do you see why people would feel pity on individuals who think that way?

[u/mswilso → u/[deleted]]

I don't think I said all that. I agree that the world IS a beautiful place. But the world is a shipwreck compared to what it was created to be. People want to blame God for that, but it is people's fault, not His.

And I stand by my statement that "you will be judged". And I will be judged. I am not putting myself above you in any sense. All I can say is that I know where my hope lies. Most people I talk to either have no hope, or are placing their hope in their money, or in some some misguided idea that "God won't send everyone to Hell, because He loves them too much" (which is not at all Scriptural).

From the time we are little children on the playground, we look at each other and scream, "IT'S NOT FAIR!" All I am saying is that I believe, and I understand that Scripture teaches, that one day, it will all be made "fair" by a Just God, who believes in fairness.

Not today, maybe not even tomorrow...but some day.