jesus
Me, I don't have any tattoos. I do know some folks who do, though. One man I know (not Spousal Unit, honest) got one when he was on a drunken binge in bootcamp. Oops?
Armed with such questionable wisdom, I proceeded to have a tattoo. It was awful. It was painful, and I almost threw up. But I was committed, and so we proceeded. It ended up being blue and yellow, in a black outline. Not bad. I was proud of it for a while - but kept it covered up for many years after that.
I know what it meant to me. But I was not thinking very clearly. I wasn't exactly walking in a good path at the time, either, and I would surely not do it now (nor would I have actually done it even a few months later). I don't recommend tattoos, either, because they are permanent. And I didn't even know about Leviticus 19:28, but for sure I wouldn't do that now just because the Lord forbids it.
I didn't then, and don't now, worship the "god of butterfly." LOL It was a personal statement, albeit a faulty reason, and a permanent one. We have a culture that accepts tattoos, and they are not always an indicator that there is something idolatrous about the recipients. I do agree, they are identifiers, and whenever I have to fill out a government survey (for security - Coast Guard stuff) I have to write down the fact that I have a butterfly tattoo over my left shoulder.
This was probably way off topic - sorry, Sandi.
And either way, the point of 666 is moot: The mark of the Beast is 616, not 666. Whoever wrote your copy of the Bible forgot to carry the 2.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/11134
I just read about the 616 on a variant of a Greek translation, yes. It is as yet a variant, though, and not fully accepted by everyone. It may be, in the future. For now, I'll stick to what I have. We're learning new things all the time, though. And if this number is shown to be 616, that will not change the message of this in the least, except that the interpretation of a personal identification may be a little off. The mark, though, will have the same consequences for anyone who takes it. No matter WHAT number it may be.
But I also think it speaks to us in this time. Specifically.
End times... are now...
It's been so since the Ascension. The Apostles have held that so, and I believe Lord Christ asserted that as well.
CuldeeDeacon +
I think a wholesale preterist view is heretical.
I've often wondered how this mark could be applied and how it would affect the millions in China, India, SE Asia, where technology is unavailable and commerce is done in cash. However, lots of changes can come in twenty or thirty years. What has happened with the internet has occurred in a little over ten years, if memory serves.
I know this is still at the speculation stage, but with the advances of radio chip implants, it could easily be done. They are injected via syringe, and the device is the size of a grain of rice. Mike and I were having this discussion yesterday, and although the RFID chips are not visible because they are implanted, there may be some other feature that is visible to those who look to the right hand or the forehead. It may not be the way it is done, but after doing research on it, it certainly seems portable, simple and available. It would be less painful than piercing your ears, and I could just see "humanitarian" efforts reaching out to the places where the technology is unavailable. Just a thought, and by no means a definitive answer.
Ok, maybe this isn't a laughing matter.
And, too, I believe that for these leaders, no technology will be too far out of reach or too hard to implement. They will simply "make it so." After all, everyone in the world will move at their will.
The Lord wants children who are vigilant, trusting, and loving him so much as not to shrink from death. I can only hope to do my part. <smile> Things are going to get ugly, but we have been warned.
I just have grown more and more wary of "worriers" because of a recent run of cancer in my family. My Sister has just recovered from breast cancer, and is still in remission-so far. We have a mom who is always worrying, incessantly worrying. Yes, she is a christian, and she says she believes and "prays" but... her worrying is like cancer to us all. It just grows and grows with every "Debbie Downer" conversation she starts. It is like a tar of negativity, tough to cleanse off of your spirit, and sometimes it just festers within us from that point on. Where it came from, who can tell, her parents weren't like that. I guess you could say my heart is heavy for her (my Mom's) sake. Talking about the end just eggs her on more, and there's no end to it. So, I am very sensitized to that wildfire approach, and if it takes a bucket of water now and then, well I have my bucket full and on the ready, ya know?
To just Be still, and ask for His take on what my part is, and Listen to and obey his instruction- on what part I must do, that is my philosophy. No matter how much some people are warned, they may never heed, never get the lamp oil in time. It doesn't mean we have failed them or God. A person has to see the need to change and personally make that choice from within- nobody can cause them to make that choice. I just haven't noticed that any of the "foolish" are really focused on the finish line as much as they are on the track or the runners around them. I think if I were to make a real influential difference, it would be in my running amongst them, maintaining my pace and focus. Parables were used as pallatable, entertainment- and still are to get that medicine to go down - and to get the stiff-necked fools to make a connection about their foolish ways, see the need to make the change, and make that change within. I am more the storyteller, I guess, than the one standing out and yelling "beware of the beast". Reality is he's everywhere. But-Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we've been given power and authority over that. Jesus reigns. That is just my take on it.
So whereas I do not worry...I have nothing to worry about...I am concerned. Many Christians do not take the warnings here seriously. I am all for catching flies with honey, but our God is not a honey-coated God. He is also the God of plagues, fire, and the Big Boot of Judgment.
We have been given strength to fight the Accuser. But not everyone will recognize who he is when he comes, and that will be a tragedy.
Wake up!...we already have one of those that each and every one of you already has. A number that tracks your movements, your lives, your hospital visits, your money, and just about everything else you touch. It's called the SSN. Conveniently 3 letters as well. I suggest you review your looking parameters because the groundwork for the mark is quite sufficiently layed.
The actual marking, though, will require an act of allegiance. It won't be assigned to us as babies, I don't believe. We will have to make a choice.
