Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
Your comments and questions are always welcome. To send comments and questions please click here.
Updated September 30, 1999
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:3-8).
One of the major birth pangs Jesus predicted would increase in frequency and intensity shortly before His return is earthquakes.
I'm sure I'll get a ton of email after this article hits the internet. Every arm chair weather forecaster this side of the universe will just have to email me and set me straight. They'll go through a long drawn out explanation of how earthquakes, hurricanes, and other like natural disasters have not increased over the last few years. Of course, they will direct me to websites and other places of interest that will prove their point. You may ask, what is their point? It's simple! They don't believe we are living in the last days and that the rapture is imminent.
I can't remember the last time that natural disasters, from all over the globe, have dominated the news. Has there been an increase in natural disasters? You be the judge. Below are just a few news clippings I have found that speak for themselves. But don't be alarmed, this is only a sign of the last days. I believe we are in the beginning stages of this sign being fulfilled, and it's going to get worse before it gets better.
World Disasters Report Predicts Decade of Super Disasters
The explosive combination of human-driven climate change and rapidly changing socioeconomic conditions will set off chain reactions of devastation leading to "super disasters" in the years to come. Evidence of this grim prediction is contained in a report recently issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). According to the World Disasters Report 1999, an annual survey of humanitarian trends, last year's season of natural disasters was the worst on record, causing more damage than ever before. In 1998, natural disasters created more refugees than wars and conflict; the report indicates that declining soil fertility, drought, flooding, and deforestation drove 25 million "environmental refugees" from their land and into the already vulnerable squatter communities of fast-growing cities. They represented 58% of the total refugee population worldwide.
At the edge of the "ring of fire" - Learning lessons from quake tragedy
Better buildings, military readiness are among the reasons Taiwan toll is less than Turkey's.
Alex Salkever, Special to The Christian Science Monitor
Three major temblors in the space of a little more than a month - in Turkey, Greece, and now Taiwan - are enough to set millennium doomsayers crowing. And it's prompting some people to wonder: Are we seeing a kind of global seismic chain reaction?
Hope fades for victims of Taiwan quake
By Angus Chuang
NANTOU COUNTY, Taiwan, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Rescue teams from around the world sifted through the rubble of crumpled apartment blocks, working against time to find victims of Taiwan's most powerful earthquake on record.
The official death toll climbed on Wednesday to 2,008 and the estimate of those still entombed in jumbles of twisted concrete and steel was 2,622. More than 208 people were missing and 5,276 were injured.
Taiwan and international rescue teams found more corpses than survivors on Wednesday, after the quake struck in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Turkey quake toll tops 15,600 deaths
ANKARA, Sept 17 (AFP) - The provisional toll from the earthquake that hit northwestern Turkey on August 17 stood Friday at 15,613 dead and 24,941 injured, the government crisis center said.
The previous toll, released Thursday, had 15,585 dead and 24,885 wounded.
The crisis center has so far refused to give a figure for persons listed as missing -- and presumed dead, exactly one month after the quake -- but media estimates have put the number at between 30,000 and 35,000.
Emergency Assistance to the Hellenic Republic (Greece) for Earthquake Disaster Relief
Athens, the Greek capital, and the surrounding districts were hit by a strong earthquake, with serious damage including collapse of buildings. As of September 14 (Tue), the disaster had left 127 people dead, more than 2,000 injured, more than 100,000 afflicted, and more than 70,000 forced to evacuate temporarily from their houses.
Strong earthquake felt in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY, Sept 30 - A strong earthquake rocked southern Mexico on Thursday, causing buildings to sway in the capital for several minutes. At least 10 people are reported killed and an unknown number injured in the southern state of Oaxaca. The U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colo. said the magnitude was 7.5 and was centered 275 miles southeast of Mexico City.
U.S. may be in for waves of hurricanes
September 16, 1999
BY JIM RITTER STAFF REPORTER
The United States may be entering a long period of intense hurricane activity, as evidenced by Hurricane Floyd and other recent storms, meteorologists say.
There were relatively few Atlantic hurricanes during the 1970s and 1980s, and the early 1990s were the quietest years on record, with the exception of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. But there have been a record number since 1995, including Marilyn and Opal in 1995, Fran in 1996, Georges and Mitch in 1998 and now Floyd.
"It is quite possible that the extreme activity since 1995 marks the start of another active period that may last a total of 25 to 40 years," Christopher Landsea of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has written. "More research is needed to better understand these hurricane `cycles.' "