"Wars and rumors of wars," Jesus said. Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, earthquakes, tribulation, even death sentences for the faithful, wickedness multiplied, and all the while the Gospel is preached around the world - these are some of the signs of Christ’s second coming and the end of the age. Tell me, would you consider his words a promise or a threat?

My first recollection of any mention of Christ’s second coming goes back to when I was six or seven years old. My grandfather was taking me somewhere in his 1949 Hudson - probably one of the ugliest cars ever made, but it rode like a dream! It was getting close to Christmas, close enough that I had already made the longings of my heart known to Santa Claus. I was hoping for a bicycle that year, a shiny red one, w…