No, I don't think so. They are a necessary 'accessory' in some parts of the US, and I would have thought a sensible precaution against some very powerful weather phenomena. Furthermore, the personal experience of many tells you they are lifesavers, whereas no one has yet experienced a Hollywood-style apocalypse. I think we came pretty close in 1983 when nuclear war (see, I can spell it after all) was only narrowly avoided after false signals of a major missile launch were ignored by both sides.
If anyone else had been on duty on those occasions, then yes, we could well have witnessed the accidental exchange of sufficient megatonnage to put the entire earth at risk. To the extent that it did not happen, I see the hand of God (= providence) at work. The destruction of the earth by man's stupidity simply does not sit well with the NT eschaton, which is why I am basically an optimist about the future viability of planet earth - until God decides our time here is up. If you want a Scripture proof to support that view, I think Eph. 1:3-14 is as good as any, but there are many more.
I would say the Mad Max franchise is on the fringes of the kinda film I'm referring to, along with Waterworld, Omega Man, and Resident Evil, etc. They might work as bubblegum for the brain that's been put in neutral gear, but I don't think high camp or zombification of the future can be taken too seriously by any doom monger. Others, like Melancholia, The Sacrifice and Twelve Monkeys, at least present more of an intellectual challenge, but from a Biblical perspective they can only ever be considered as fantasy. Same goes for The Rapture (1991), of course, though you might well disagree about that one.
If you want to find your own pictures of where we visited, look up Sveltos Hotel (Oroklini), Nisi Beach and Makronissos (Ayia Napa), Blue Spice and Polyxenia Hotels (Pernera), and Crystal Springs Hotel (Protaras). The biggest surprise has been the weather. We normally go in May and Sept/Oct, when the heat is bearable. June-Aug are out coz the heat is just too much for us. But I did not expect so much sun in March and a very comfortable 72-75F throughout.
Good messsage.
Shame the beard didn't come off too. He really would have been a new man then.
Sensible precautions against trouble, the hatred of the world, persecution, and much worse? If only. Good health will not protect you, for example, from the hatred of the Islamic fundamentalist fanatic who will gladly relieve you of your head if he is unable to 'convert' you to his religion. He has a word for anyone like you or me, and it's kuffar (also k/a kafir). Wanna know what it means?
We now come to a new subject–the unbeliever or non-Muslim. The word “non-Muslim” is used in the translation of Sharia law, but the actual Arabic word used is “Kafir”. But the word Kafir means far more than non-Muslim. The original meaning of the word was “concealer”, one who conceals the truth of Islam.
The Koran says that the Kafir may be deceived, plotted against, hated, enslaved, mocked, tortured and worse. The word is usually translated as “unbeliever” but this translation is wrong. The word “unbeliever” is logically and emotionally neutral, whereas Kafir is the most abusive, prejudiced and hateful word in any language.
There are many religious names for Kafirs: polytheists, idolaters, People of the Book (Christians and Jews), Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, and pagans. Kafir covers them all, because no matter what the religious name is, they can all be treated the same. What Mohammed said and did to polytheists can be done to any other category of Kafir.
Are you even remotely aware of the suffering of your brothers & sisters in countries where these fanatics operate, often with the backing of their own govts? Did you not see what they did, for example, to the Coptic Christians in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia? Or the Christian communities in Chad, Nigeria, India or Pakistan?
While their more 'moderate' brethren enjoy the freedoms & protection of the law afforded them by our western liberal democracies, their fanatical counterparts back home are busy 'dechristianising' virtually every corner of their lands with almost complete impunity, while we remain practically mute about the atrocities committed against our brethern.
No, as the satanic forces of this world are increasingly able to organise themselves against us, I see our lot as being anything but a bed of roses. If you want to know what's in store for us, take another look at John 15:18-25.
And yes, despite all that, I still believe that God is ultimately in control, so there is no contradiction as I see it.
So we are now broadening the scope of our discussion.
I thought you already did that when you said:
Well yes, the hand of God is on everything. I agree. But we all know that doesn't mean trouble will not come our way before He returns.
Or did I misconbobulate you yet again? As I said, I see no contradiction between a providential God and the sufferings that many Christians experience around the world. Did all the Christians who were martyred in the Colosseum go to their deaths thinking God had abandoned them? Of course not. In fact, I think belief in a providential God is most relevant and comforting at precisely those times when Christians are suffering the worst persecutions the world can throw at them.
What example can you give us as to what these other countries should have done to drive back the hatred?
You mean those countries where Christians are persecuted the most? How long do you have to read my tirades against western foreign policy towards those countries, and especially the successive governments of your own country? For example, do you think it helps our cause that both your country and mine are selling arms to one of the most corrupt and repressive regimes on earth so they can bomb the cr*pola out of one of the poorest?
That's Saudi Arabia and Yemen in case the news hasn't yet made it to your lamestream media. Or do you think it's a good idea to drop a drone on a wedding party in Afghanistan? Or a meeting of the village elders? Do you know of a strategy that is better calculated to guarantee a steady stream of terrorists who are willing to blow themselves up in a busy western shopping mall? Coz I sure as heck don't. If your govt. spent just a tiny fraction of its industrial military complex budget on foreign aid instead of reigning down death, terror and destruction across the world, that would be a start. If your govt. stopped being the biggest war criminal on the planet while hypocritically accusing others of meddling in its affairs, stopped wreaking death and destruction on every country that refuses to bow the knee to Pax Americana, that would help.
I'm glad to hear you're so well informed about the sufferings of the Christians in these countries, but let's test your knowledge on just one 'small' crime perpetrated by your country in just one small corner of the world. You are no doubt aware that your country killed one third of the N. Korean population during the Korean war, right? But did you also know that your country used chemical weapons against them, illegal even then under international law? That the leading US scientist who formulated those chemical agents had such pangs of conscience about what his country did with them that he was threatening to go public? That the only recourse left open to your secret services was to arrange his 'suicide'? What's that? Conspiracy theory you say? Hmmm........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b01DL8DTUGM
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2002/11/arti-n13.html
Were you 'remotely aware' of any of that? If you were, do you wonder why N. Korea is now a basket case of a country? Do you wonder why it is part of the 'axis of evil' under the control of a dysfunctional trigger-happy tyrant who is quite happy to liquidate members of his own family? Then wonder no more. Why should we be so surprised that these countries then take it out on their own Christian populations? Aren't they all just puppets of the warmongering western regimes that have declared war on these countries? Yes, we all get tarred with the same broad brush strokes as long as our govts continue to conduct illegal wars against them.
Don't like my analysis? Then you can always find refuge in that old canard that I'm doing little more than spouting liberal/leftist propaganda. That is your go-to defence against the truth, is it not? But fear not. God is still in control, and one day He will repay your warmongers in kind. Vengeance, after all, is His. Meantime, it belongs to those who choose to defend themselves by lashing out against Christians.
Well, you did ask, didn't ya?
Then hopefully you have succeeded in benefiting others by your altruism. And you have yet to test me to the point where I can say that you have given me a hard time.
As for 'brewing', nothing was further from my mind until your line of questioning led me directly to one of my other favourite topics - again.
If you don't want me to go there, don't ask the questions.