“…This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
I don’t know when He will come, nor do I know much about the events surrounding His return, but I do know for sure He will come. Will it be soon? I have no way of knowing. I know His coming is sooner than when I first considered this question some 40 plus years ago.
There are scores of questions concerning the “end of the age”, few with clear answers. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of answers but they are as varied as the people who give them and are mostly not clearly supported by scripture. Several well known preachers are supposed to be prophecy experts but for the most part I don’t put much weight on what they espouse. When a preacher is so obviously in error on other, pretty basic doctrine, I am cautious about his views on eschatology.
The several times I have been asked my view on the rapture, tribulation, the millennial reign of Christ, the role of the nation Israel, etc., my answer is usually pretty simple. “I don’t have an opinion to share on this subject because I have not studied it for myself and I am not going to just take what someone else says for truth”, or something very akin to this reply is my response.
What about you? Have you studied this topic? What are your conclusions? I would be very interested in knowing, and I’ll wager others will too.
I have recently began to study the topic by first studying the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants. I have been reading the prophets and trying to wade through the mass of texts widely considered to be prophetic. I am excited to see what I will learn. I have an open mind, no axe to grind, no dog in the fight, I’m just a student wanting to learn. If I am able to reach the place where I believe I have some truth to share I will. Until then I’ll remain silent except to ask questions.
Your comments please!
His peace,
Royce Ogle
Grace Digest 
I do not know when the Jesus is coming again, but I do know that God has put a sense of urgency in my heart. Somewhere along the way, religion has failed this pothead nation. I think it high time to leave off all the religion and get to the heart of Jesus. I do not want to stand before God and try to explain what happened to the people I was in charge of. Parents and Grandparents had better be on their knees, showing and telling their children about the providence of our God before it is to late. Every day I ask myself will my children know the false god from our Lord and Savior, I think that for years we have plugged along secure in our thinking that our children are saved if they should die, but if we are alive and seeing the miracles of the false prophet, will we and our children and our friends and our neighbors know the difference, many will be fooled. The word must be taught with urgency. We must instill this sense of urgency in our children and grandchildren while we can. I see a material generation whose eyes are not on the promise. I am interested in the study, but feel a little inadequate to voice any real understanding of it. In my mind I like to think that Israel does play a role, that a millennial kingdom will be set up and Jesus will reign on earth, but I’m pretty sure it does not matter. We just need to make sure Jesus lives in us, and in our hearts, that we have learned to love and how to forgive like him, we must know him and his word well enough to have a discerning spirit. We have to learn to verify everything with the Word and teach everyone this principle.
My answer is pretty much the same as yours, Royce. I also like to add that if OT prophecy is any indication, biblical prophecy is pretty difficult to interpret before the event. Who, for example, would have predicted the events of the Gospels before the fact simply from having read Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53? When pressed on the millennialism issue, I tell people I’m a panmillennialist–it’ll all pan out in the end.
Don’t know if this will answer any questions, or just leave you with more, Royce … but here’s my blog series on the Second Coming when you’ve got a few free hours!
My condolences on the loss of your mom. It sounds like she had a challenging life and was up to the challenge.