| by John Jewell (London, England) |
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| The end of the world! Is it, or the possibility of it, a reality or not? Is there something in the message that one used to see in some of our bigger town centers? “Flee from the wrath to come” and sometimes accompanied by the words “The end of the world is nigh” All carried on boards slung over the shoulders! Or propped up on the pavement. However, one may be forgiven, as we look at the state of the world today, for thinking there is some validity in the statements. We do, after all, live in the nuclear age. Nuclear weapons do exist and have already been used in war. Science tends to avoid the question as to whether or not the planet itself could be destroyed. The mere fact of that avoidance could indicate that, given the situation, a chain reaction could be started by which the planet would be destroyed. More likely, however, is the ending of all life on earth! Today it is certainly possible for that to happen as a result of several different factors. One is through war and the use of various methods of mass destruction. Another is through world-wide famine. We might think this to be unlikely but given the vast increase in the earth’s population it is very possible! Along with famine would come disease epidemics! The climate itself is changing – changing as a result of man’s own activities – his misuse of the planet’s resources and an unsustainable way of life. Unsustainable in that far more is being demanded of the planet than is possible with the colossal increase of the world’s population. Add to this the attitude of so many people that this is not the case and we have an impossible situation. The multiple wars taking place through Africa and the Middle East do nothing to help. Trying to get the attention, at least of some of those who might be able to get the message across to those who have the power and the ability to get the world’s attention was Professor Stephen Emmott. He is the head of Microsoft’s Computational Science Laboratory in Cambridge. He gave a presentation regarding the planet at the Royal Court Theatre in London which was reported in the London Daily Telegraph. The newspaper made it clear that the professor is very concerned about where the planet is headed, thanks to the rocketing global population – from three billion in 1960 to seven billion last year – that is in just 50 years! And he made clear that it will take about the same time again to reach 10 billion. That’s ten thousand million! A disastrous rate of increase bordering on the exponential. But whatever mathematical formula you care to apply the world population increase has grim implications for the world, not in 30- or 40-years’ time however, but now! The Independent on Sunday for 5th August 2012 had an article with the title “Almost a billion go hungry worldwide. The article itself began by saying “An unparalleled number of severe food shortages has added 43 million to the number of people going hungry worldwide this year – it continued to say that almost a billion people are now hungry, this is one in seven of the world’s population. Oxfam’s chief executive is quoted as saying “Dwindling natural resources and the gathering pace of climate change mean that without urgent action, things will only get worse, and multiple major crises could quickly move from being an exception to being the norm.” Oxfam are familiar with the problem, the size of it and what lies ahead for this planet. Oxfam knows that the change that is taking place in the world’s climate is exacerbating the situation. No denial of climate change there! We are reading more and more reports of famine, crops ruined by severe floods. The “I” newspaper for 4th August reported that in North Korea about 16 million people which is two thirds of the population are now short of food in the aftermath of deadly floods. Not only that, but tens of thousands are homeless. And it isn’t just North Korea! Reports of further devastation, but this time in the Philippines, were reported in the same newspaper for the 8th of August. “Relentless rains submerged half of the sprawling capital, Manila, yesterday, triggering a landslide that killed nine people, and sent emergency crews scrambling to rescue tens of thousands of residents …” “Manila and other parts of the country were already saturated from last week’s Typhoon Saola, which raged for several days…” It was further reported that 30% of the citizens of Manila are still suffering waist-high floods. In the meantime, many parts of the world are being afflicted by widespread fires and drought. Especially true are the conditions in the United States. A headline in the “I “pronounced “eye” Newspaper for 28th July Reads “Worst drought in decades ‘rapidly intensifying.’ It continued to report 20% of America … is now in the two worst stages of drought – up 7% since last week – and is worsening rapidly. Five states, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa are blanketed by a drought categorized as “severe” or “worse” – two further states Arkansas and Oklahoma are nearly as bad. The report continued to say that …Illinois saw its percentage of land in extreme drought go from 8% to 71 % in one week. The report continued “conditions are not expected to get better, with little rain and more intense heat forecast for the rest of the summer. … The implications are dreadful, already the US cattle inventory is only 97.8 million head of cattle, the smallest number since records began in 1973. The Independent on Sunday for 5th August had the headline “Heatwave turns America’s waterways into rivers of death” … with major waterways seeing navigation levels fast-falling.” Europe is not excluded from drought. The Daily Telegraph for 13th August reported wildfires raging across two of the Canary Islands A blaze on La Gomera has been burning for more than a week. About 2,500 residents were evacuated from 13 villages in the south of the island. Another island, Tenerife, has had to move over 2,200 people from their homes as a precautionary measure. Spain itself has suffered the driest winter in 70 years. People ask the questions, what is going on with the weather, with the climate. Time and again the comments are made that this or that climatologically speaking is the worst ever, the worst since records began! Sometimes people irrationally blame the number of satellites we have put into space. Or the fumes which our many factories, power stations, jet aircraft, cars and trucks have poured out into the atmosphere. And certainly, these have played a part in polluting the air we breathe and thereby being a cause of ill-health. But this isn’t the real answer! The real answer, the answer that makes sense, is the one most people in every part of the world, and especially the English-speaking peoples, have ignored, or have rejected. Yet it is to be found in a book nearly everyone ignores or rejects as being the strange ramblings of a long-forgotten desert people! If people only would pay attention to it, they would find that that book, the word of God, the bible is clear, logical and makes complete sense. It provides the answers to the real questions of life and the world in which we live. It shows that life, but non-physical, spirit life and intelligence is there, in space. It shows there is a reason for life on earth. The bible is the most up-to-date book ever published. Just try reading it as it is written and read it in context. Read it as a communication from someone living in outer space! Such a person would obviously know a lot more than us about space travel and survival in space! We study the stars and planets for signs of life. But we don’t really believe that there is intelligent life in space do we! But that intelligence actually came to our planet and lived amongst us and spelled everything out for us, which is what you would expect. We just won’t believe it! The one who became Jesus Christ came to our planet and lived the human life from being a baby and then a full-grown adult person. What is more he spelled out exactly what the world and its people would be like just before his return? Let’s look at some of his comments in response to his disciples who wanted to know how to recognize that time when it was about to happen. It would be an age of unprecedented events. In Matthew 24 he said the gospel would be preached in every nation. It has been and it still is! He warned of people, false prophets who would preach lies in the name of Christ, instead of the clear, biblical truth. That has happened and it still does! He spoke of many wars around the world. He warned of major problems with the climate, this is exactly what is happening today. He made it clear that he would return to Earth at a time when there would be conflict between the nations, when there would be famine, disease epidemics and earthquakes, And if he didn’t return then everyone on Earth would die. It is now possible for all human life to be ended, to be destroyed. Through the pen of the apostle, Paul, we are told in the first chapter of the book of Romans that the truth of the reality of God the Father, of Jesus Christ and the world of spirit can be understood by human beings. It was not cloaked in a way that would be difficult to understand. And in verse 20 of chapter 1 he says we have no excuse for not understanding what life is all about, what its purpose is, that it didn’t all just happen. He says how there are people who complicate the truth and profess themselves to be wise people, individuals who like to show how clever they are. God says, however in verse 22 that “professing themselves to be wise they became fools.” And what is more, verse 25 He says that they changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature, more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. You may not realize it, but the bible even referred to man in space thousands of years before it happened. In Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 4 it reads “If any of yours be driven out, to the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord your God gather you and from there will He fetch you:” This is repeated in Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 9 – “… though there were some of you cast out to the uttermost part of heaven, I will gather them back from there and will bring them to the place that I have chosen to set my name. “Jesus Christ is going to return to this planet and take control of it before we totally wreck it!. Will you be there to greet him? |
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