the end of the world
Are we closer than before - yes and no.
Yes cos before has moved into the past and since in an unknown furture time is the end of the world then we are now, as long as there is a now, closer to the end of the world than before.
No cos what people really mean when they say that is that some half baked idea they have of what The Revelation is about makes them think that they can tick off the stuff happening in the world and then deduce that God's return is close.
No one knows when God will return, we just know he will. The big question we need to be asking is :: "are we any closer to being ready for His return" - to be ready is to believe that Jesus died to get you forgiven for rejecting God. [What is a Christian?] - please note that God doesn't count the good you do against your refusal to acknowledge him as God - nothing can make up for it - except Jesus death and punishment in our place.
I know that's not a very post modern view but I don't care - God loved you so much to let you know about HIm and die for you, that is all I have to say. Jesus dying is a fact of history just like D-Day and the eygptians. What you get is forgiveness and not having to worry about being found guilty of rejecting God by the God who spoke and from out of nothing created a universe - he is a powerful God.
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But if you are into the calendar/clock watching approach to revelation then - aglae blooms are turning the seas to "blood", there are more wars than ever, centralised world government lurches towards us inexporably, Israel seems like at any moment they would be willing to set the world aflame by taking Jerusalem and declaring Zion again. In some ways i want all this to happen so that Jesus will return soon - in others I am content to wait cos I know people who are not ready for God, not ready for the end of the world.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you.
The big question is not "is the end of the world close?" but "am I ready for the end of the world if it happens tomorrow?"
