From: Desiree_Bradley@mindlink.bc.ca (Desiree Bradley)
Subject: Being right about messiahs
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Lines: 39

I must have missed the postings about Waco, David Koresh, and the Second
Coming.  How does one tell if a Second Coming is the real thing, unless the
person claiming to be IT is obviously insane?

I'm not saying that David Koresh is the Second Coming of Christ.  How could
somebody who breaks his word be the Second Coming?  Koresh did promise that
he would come out of his compound if only he was allowed to give a radio
broadcast.  He didn't.  Still it seems to me that he did fool some people.

And, from my meagre knowledge of the Bible, it seems that Christians have
been hard on the Jews of Christ's day for being cautious about accepting
somebody that their religious authorities didn't accept as the Messiah.

So I was surprised that nobody had discussed the difficulty of wanting to be
early to recognize the Second Coming while, at the same time, not wanting to
be credulously believing just anybody who claims to be God.

[Mark 13:21   And then if any one says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' 
or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. 
Mark 13:22   False Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and 
wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 
Mark 13:23   But take heed; I have told you all things beforehand. 
Mark 13:24    "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be 
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 
Mark 13:25   and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in 
the heavens will be shaken. 
Mark 13:26   And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with 
great power and glory. 

My understanding of Jesus' answer is that, unlike his first coming,
which was veiled, the second coming will be quite unmistakeable.  He's
telling us not to be misled by the other things that have to happen
before his second coming -- the actual second coming will make his
power openly visible.

By the way, from Koresh's public statement it's not so clear to me
that he is claiming to be Christ.

--clh]
