apacalyps, first glad you are a Christian! Faith in Jesus is what matters. I do not see the Rapture in Scripture. Best wishes and God Bless!

sabbott on January 2, 2009 at 5:46 AM

When the rapture of the church takes place I anticipate the world will be in shock. I think the rapture is clearly taught in Scripture and I could prove it to you with the Bible, but it sounds like you’ve made up your mind on this issue. That said, you are correct in that a persons salvation does not depend on whether or not they believe the rapture will happen. It’s dependant on whether or not a person has repented, that is, turned from their sins once and for all, and put their faith in Jesus the same way you put your trust in a parachute to save you. Best wishes, and God Bless you too!

If 2009 comes anywhere near 2008, I’ll be a very happy man.

Cheers!

The last major eruption, 640,000 years ago, occurred at the same time as the last reversal of the earth’s magnetic field.

The earth is overdue for a magnetic reversal, and the magnetic field has been weakening over the last 100 years.

predictions for 2009 are welcome.

Happy New Year to all Hotair readers and staff. No predictions for me other than to say I’d be surprised if Christians are still around by this time next year. If they are, oh well, point is, I believe the coming of the Lord, preceded by the rapture the church, is soon! An incredible thought, but world events do seem to be heading in that direction. Time is running out. Thank you.

Let’s roll.

I predict that if the country continues on the path it is taking it will get to where it is going.

Cheshire Cat on January 1, 2009 at 2:43 AM

We don’t know where we’re going, but we’ll get there sooner.

katy on January 1, 2009 at 1:57 AM

I think Texas is going to want to prove that they would have been a better choice than Oklahoma. They won’t say it out loud, but the players are undoubtedly thinking about 45-35.

(My team, as usual, is watching the bowl games from home…)

Similarly–and I just came up with this so it may not be fully developed–I think Hillary will want to prove that she would have been a better choice for VP than Biden. This case will be much easier to make than Texas vs. Oklahoma.

Nizar Rayyan considered successor of Ahmed Yassin
By YAAKOV KATZ, JPOST.COM STAFF AND AP

Sheikh Nizar Rayyan, 52, a senior Hamas leader and cleric, was killed along with several others on Thursday when an IAF aircraft dropped a bomb on the eight-story Jabalya apartment building he lived in, the IDF said.

Sheikh Nizar Rayyan, a senior Hamas leader, was reportedly killed by IAF strikes on Thursday.

A large cloud of smoke billowed above the northern Gaza refugee camp after the attack, and Palestinian sources were quoted by Channel 2 as saying that the air strike was carried out by F-16 fighter jets.

Rayyan’s house was serving as an arms and ammunition warehouse and as a Hamas communications center, a statement released by the government press office said.

According to the statement, many secondary explosions were identified as a result of the attack, thus proving that the house was used for storing weaponry.

Security officials said that Rayyan was not only the religious leader of Hamas’s military wing, Izzadin Kassam, but also one of their military commanders. He was often seen in uniform, and participated in military exercises. He was considered one of the most fanatical Hamas commanders, and was said to be close to Hamas terrorist Salah Shehadeh, who was killed by the IAF in 2002.

He was both the director and the financier of the 2004 terrorist attack at Ashdod’s port which killed ten Israelis.

In October 2001, he sent his son to perpetrate a suicide attack in the Gush Katif settlement Elei Sinai, in which two young Israelis were killed.

Channel 10 reported that Rayyan had replaced Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as the organization’s top clerical authority after Yassin’s assassination in 2004.

According to Palestinian sources, his family was warned before the attack but did not leave the building, Army Radio reported.

Hamas spokesperson Mushir al-Masri responded to the attack on Thursday afternoon saying, “This is a new escalation in violence. We are taking every precaution to guard the Hamas leaders in order to ensure the enemy doesn’t score further victories.”

A Hamas statement also threatened revenge on IDF soldiers who were massed along the border with Gaza, waiting for a signal to invade.

“We are waiting for you to enter Gaza to kill you or make you into Schalits,” the group said. IDF soldier Gilad Schalit was seized in a cross-border raid by Hamas-affiliated terrorists 2 1/2 years ago, and remains in captivity in Gaza.

Rayyan was the fourth senior terror figure to be killed in air strikes Thursday as the air force appeared to step up the pressure on the leaders of Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip.

http://sarah-palin-2012.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-in-photos-and-verse.html

My own obligatorily hyper-pessimistic exit hunch: Yellowstone mega-eruption, of course!

If Yellowstone erupts, I’m dead. I live about an hour from the south west corner.

And may God continue to bless America if 0bama’s election doesn’t mean He hasn’t turned His face from us already….
I’m praying for our country all the same.

whitetop on January 1, 2009 at 11:02 AM

We generally like to work in shifts.

1. I was told to cheer up, things could get worse. I cheered up and sure enough, things did get worse.

2. When you get to be my age, every new year you get is a good year. The alternative is no new year at all.

My prediction (with a nod to Rudyard): Democrats are Democrats and Republicans are Republicans and never the twain shall meet, till Pelosi, Reed, and McCain stand presently before Obamas great judgement seat.

As we enter 2009, Just remember: The past is a memory, the future is a promise, and today is a gift. That is we it is called the present. God Bless America.

KentAllard on December 31, 2008 at 11:33 PM

eh, seems like a prediction for last week. :)

Happy 2009. It can only get better IMHO. 2008 was one f’d up year.

in our part of the world, we have black eyed peas, hog jowls, stewed tomatoes, corn bread for New Year’s Day. all of these foods bring luck. obviously, we haven’t eaten enough in years past.

kelley in virginia on January 1, 2009 at 8:45 AM

Sounds like the fare here in southeast Tennessee. Top it off with sliced onions,chow-chow, and a pitcher of sweet ice tea and get ready for 2009.

Saw this headline @ Drudge yesterday.

Bill Clinton A Possible N.Y. Senate ‘Caretaker?’

Who else senses that “caretaker” is applied where “undertaker” makes more Senate sense?

What kind of caretaker will Bill Clinton play over Obama’s messianic journey?

Of those portions of Clinton’s presidency considered as his legacy (outside of sexual misconduct and bombing Kosovo), exactly which domestic achievements or international claims to fame were HIS doing? For all his spouting to bring peace to the MidEast, he did not. His economic expansion was the resulting carry-over from Reagan’s “voodoo” economics. Given 8 years, Clinton managed to ruin the successful model Reagan established in time to hand over GWBush a declining economy at his inauguration. Except for “getting along” with media, Democrats and RINOs, it is hard to recall what “good” Clinton achieved as POTUS. Since leaving office, Clinton have become a monetary lubricant that sells to the highest bidder, appointed by GWB and politically bound with GHWBush in global financial schemes to “deal with” the suffering hordes of displaced and starving global populations. WHERE IS THE NEWS OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHING A NEWLY REBUILT WORKING ENVIRONMENT THAT INCLUDES HEALTH-CARE FOR THE POOR ABROAD?

“Caretaker”