Well, it came, it passed, and many of us are feeling stupid, or worse, still clinging to the hopes that "something real bad is still out there."

Truth is we were expecting God to send a "wake up call" to the world, and when it got bad, they would turn to God. We were dissappointed when it didn't happen.

The real truth is that God did send a wake up call, He sent it to us. He is still in control, and He does things on His timing not ours. We can learn from this wake up call only if we listen to it.

Are we any different than Jonah, waiting for God to kill the Ninovites, and being dissapointed when He didn't? That attitude wasn't pleasing to God then and isn't now. He showed mercy, and gave the world more time, and we are pitching a fit just like Jonah.

Even worse, we need to look into our own hearts, and see if we aren't also a lot like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 who prayed to God that in thanks that he wasn't like other people; who are swindlers, adulterers etc....

I don't feel bad about preparing for this calamity that hasn't happened, because we know that one is coming; one way or another. We took out "fire insurance" and the building didn't burn. I for one will not drop my insurance. Ice storms, Mount St. Helens, earthquakes or anything else out there can happen, and I will be able to feed those around me who didn't prepare.

I for one have heard the wake up call, and I will wipe the egg off of my face, regroup, and present Jesus to others, and let Love drive me instead of fear and anticipation. I guess I will just let God be God

-- Jim Sharp (JIM4RLORD@aol.com), January 03, 2000

Answers

Amen.

-- jamie (portlandgirl@pdx.com), January 03, 2000.

I don't know who you are but show me even one professed Christian on this forum "throwing a fit" because Y2K, SO FAR, has been mild. The absolute contrary has been true.

Just one. Go ahead.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), January 03, 2000.

Humility was the reason I prepared in the first place. I am not in control of this world.

Do I feel stupid because I warned my children not to talk to strangers and they weren't kidnapped?

What egg on the face?

-- eubie (eubie@humblyprepared.com), January 03, 2000.

God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is patient, willing that none should perish. He is slow to anger, munificant in mercies. Effort therefore to be like your Father, Who is perfect.

There are very few christians here who have been rooting for the hard times to come. We know that it is not hard or good times which motivate us to deal with God, but it is God who so motivates us to reconsider. He does use hard times as well as good times to work His will.

We need to recognize how God has spoken to us to reconsider our participation in and vulnerability to a world which is very much not after Him.

'Come out of her ( city of Babylon) that you do not participate in her judgements.' Revelation of St John

After all we are to be about our Father's business here, not America's businesses.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), January 03, 2000.

Jim, it is a modern lie of the "church" that mankind will turn to God in the last days. The scriptures teach exactly the opposite, that men would wax worse and worse. They will even shake their fists at God when thing DO get bad.

It is also a modern lie that there will be a great outpouring or last days revival. None of this is true. Basically, it's all down hill from here for Christians and the Christian faith. Recall that Jesus stated that when He returned, he questioned whether he would find faith on the earth (he won't).

The point is, the entire world is gearing up now to rage against Christianity. It's now found everywhere and will only get worse and worse. Mankind refuses to wake up to his plight and condition and there is nothing we can do about it. God Himself is sending down strong delusions that they might believe lies and be damned. Think any of these deceived will find the truth or repentance or wake up? Of course not.

Most Christians have very little concept of what is really now happening in the world because they too have been deceived. They keep looking for a quick fix from God to solve all the problems in the world (and their lives). Y2K was never an issue with God. It is not found in the scriptures, except perhaps for the "rumour in the land" (Jer 51:46).

Things ARE going to get bad according to the scriptures, but guess what? It's for US and our purification, not the world. Remember the world is condemned already. The tribulations (or whatever you want to call it) are not for the world, but for the purification of the bride of Christ.

Keep your preparations, your going to need them.

-- Truth (revelations@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000.

IMHO, the "wake-up call" was the months of fires in the Persian Gulf; now we have the gentle rain preceeding the storm.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000.

Very well stated "truth". God's timing is perfect and yes days of tribulation are on the horizon. As for me and my house, we will continue to serve Yeshua the Messiah.

-- (I Believe (repent@time is now.com)), January 03, 2000.

Hi BigDog,

I searched my heart and found some things I didn't like, so I for one confess that deep down inside of me, I was one.

I just thought that maybe, just maybe, there are others out there who would have liked to at least see the lights flicker a little! Maybe to justify my preparations, or to make up for me shooting my mouth off.

I prayed and examined my heart, and found some things I really didn't like. If you haven't had any wrong thoughts, I take my hat off to you.

I know better, I am a pastor, and I am just laying out my faults before you guys and thought you may be able to learn from my mistakes, or even have found a few of those inclings in your own heart.

Blessings to you all, I will remain truly HIS.....jim

-- Jim Sharp (JIM4RLORD@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

Jim-you wouldn't happen to be from Texas and once work at ATC back in 1987 would you? I worked with a Jim Sharp and he was a good guy! :-)

-- (I Believe (Repent@time is now.com)), January 03, 2000.

Jim -- Thanks for such a sweet, humble reply. Believe me, as an ordained minister myself, I can identify with everything you just said! But there are so many people here misrepresenting others that we need to be very careful not to smear mud on fellow believers HERE before it is deserved!

Every professed Christian on this board that I know of has expressed thankfulness for the result so far. As indeed we should.

True, God will judge the world. He might/may still use Y2K as an instrument in His hand. But there can never be any ground for wishing or hoping for such a result, lest we find ourselves among the ones smited.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), January 03, 2000.

One word for the Bible beaters out there: Suckers!

-- OTG (oscarthegrouch@netzero.com), January 03, 2000.

It's not over 'til it's over, and I don't mean Y2k.

After the Atomic World War I, when the Trbulation starts, is when the unbelievers will turn to Christ. Humans have very stubborn wills and they WILL NOT turn to God until their backs are to the wall.

Much of what we have understood (or not understood, as you will) of end-time prophecy is because the books regarding the end times had not been opened. Now, since the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, the invention of spaceships by the Russians (and us) and the building of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, plus the information technology explosion and other inventions which have increased learning exponentially, and enabled man to 'go to and fro in the earth' at such an accelerated rate, many of these prophecies are coming to be understood, and we ARE supposed to try to understand what we are seeing.

Here again, for those interested parties (Christians) please access the site:

www.tip.org

You can't be harmed by reading that material; it takes atremendous amount of time to understand it, however. There are 50 (free) lessons and the book, which you don't have to buy,is very inexpensive. This is fascinating stuff to the believer and unbeliever alike, and mr. Miller says that scientists and IT people are the ones who are so interested in his material. He has worked in the computer area for 35 years and is now a systems analyst at the largest bank in Michigan - - Michigan National - - now owned by the bank of Australia. He says that money people would not have spent all this money if there hadn't been a real problem with Y2k and tells us various things inre to the nightmares they have every day.

These 50 lessons were designed to be taught 50 weeks per year. He has been teaching this at our church for 9 years. He now has three weekly classes in our church. It just grabbed my imagintion so immediately, just as Y2k has. I had to give up some of my favorite beliefs, made 40 years age when U became a Christian, but before some of the prophecies were beginning to be fulfilled.

Please do not have a closed mind about what all of the symbolism menas; if you can't agree with it, you don't have to, but you might just greatly appreciate getting this knowledge and devoted scholarship. The book was written 10 years ago, but when you see what Mr Miller has said about Red China and the desruction of the Nil e by the construction of the Aswan High Dam, you will be interested, I guarantee.

In Christ

-- Connie Iversen (hive@gte.net), January 03, 2000.

Sorry for the typos!

-- Connie Iversen (hive@gte.net), January 03, 2000.

Jim, if we have "egg on our face" it is because we let pride creep into our preparation for Y2K. I have always been crazy--everyone knows it so I don't have to make apologies to my friends and family for loving them enough to urge them to prepare. It is a much wiser way to live. The signs, in this case, were very ominous and I think are still disconcerting.

Please don't make the assumption that many of us "wanted bad things to happen." I think that is a disservice to those of us who spent our hard earned money on warning others. If we wanted something bad to happen, we would have just sat back and done nothing! Now that is a rotten attitude isn't it?

I have learned a heck of a lot through this -- I focused on lessons from the bible on Gods amazing provision for us, his character, and about judgment and how God's people responded to it. I also have learned that even when I believed things were going to be very bad, I could be amazingly confident in the face of it because I trusted God.

I still believe there are storm clouds gathering--God is NOT going to let us escape judgment for what is happening in America. We and our leaders are doing such evil things. Seriously, if he does not bring us to judgment then he is not being consistent with his nature and he would owe Israel an apology for the many times they have been judged for their disobedience.

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

BigDog,

I can't let Jim go on record as having been the only one on this board that had some feelings that the "GI's" were right and perhaps wanted to see some event that might have proved that we were. No one, not even the pollys, want to be wrong about something. It's human nature. I prepared in a major way, not only for my family, but for many in my extended family as well as friends and most of my immediate neighbors. I can say honestly that I didn't want to see death and destruction but was prepared in the event bad things began to happen. Now that apparently nothing has gone amiss, the pollys are pouring it on as to the "I told you so's" IMHO, most of them, Cherri, Hoff and the like, are just as mystified as to the complete non-event that has, up to this point, taken place. But the bottom line, like you have so well stated is that God is still in control and has things on a calendar that obviously we don't have access to.

I do not regret for having done what I did and would do it again just as I do not regret having given my life to Jesus Christ. Were it not for His grace and mercy, where would any of us be.

God Bless you guys....

Don

-- don (mrmtgman@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

Also, the only Christians who should be embarrassed are the ones who set dates on Christ's return or the ones who armed themselves to the teeth, or the ones who called others bad names or had an unloving attitude about this whole situation. The ones who stocked up to protect their families and the vulnerable people in our communities are in no way foolish and owe no one an apology. At no time since the invention of computers have we gotten a better handle on the technology and the realities of our systems. We've had a great house- cleaning and gotten rid of the legacy systems and different irritating realities inre to computerization. We're in better shape than we've been in in years!

And now Ed has suggested a training and licensing and restrictions on who can do what in the computer field. With our whole infrastructure so dependent on them, it would be a good idea if just anyone cannot enter his/her own personality on their in-house technology without the proper training and authorization. It's too expensive to correct.

Architects (my husband is one) engineers, doctors and even HAIRDRESSERS have requirements to meet to practice. It should be so with Information Technologists, also. Go for it, Ed!!

-- Connie Iversen (hive@gte.net), January 03, 2000.

don,

I am not saying "I told you so" and have no desire to do so.

I am saying I wish you had listened, I wanted to spare others the fear I origionally lived with before I found the proof (to me) that the worse fears were unfounded.

Like I said in another post, being right or wrong was not the point. As I have said many times, I've been prepared for years, I could not immagine living day to day getting food on the way home from work, buying a necessary item only when it ran out etc. A lot of the things people here have learned to do I did normally anyway.

I do not know why you automatically assume that all people who disagreed with you only want to shove the results down your throat and say "I told you so", although it could be that that is what you would do had the results been the opposite.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), January 03, 2000.

God did not send out a warning for nothing. Something is coming. Only he knows exactly what and when. But, when it comes, His people will be ready to help those in need. If you can share a bowl of soup with someone, you can share the gospel of Christ.

-- Lori (ABaby72@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

Bro Jim:

I confess to fitting your posts. I warned everyone who was close to me and put my reputation on the line by taking my two closest co- workers out to lunch to present Caper's metrics to them. For others at work I shared some things to see who was interested and since they weren't I stopped.

On the home front I prepped and redid my investments to gear up for a recession starting 1Q00 (or is that 1Q19100 like certain sites say it is ?)

So am I unhappy? NO, with God as my witness I would trade everything I own to prevent the ugly scenarios from occurring. But there is a very ugly part deep within me that wants to be right and vindicated. It wants to see Bill, Hill, John-boy and EGore get forever branded as "Hooverites".

Not very pretty and I don't like to go there so I have always tried to keep that closet door locked. Those dark thoughts don't define who I am but it sometimes is a temptation to go and live there.

-- Dana (A_Non_O_Moose@xxx.com), January 03, 2000.

Was it just me or did anyone else feel just a twinge of horror at our NYC "crystal ball drop". There it was in blazing lights for the whole world to see: Happy 2000 A.D. Use your Discover Card. This is like sending a birthday greeting to a beloved and inserting a stupid commercial inside it. Nowhere else on earth did I witness such a phenomenon. Only in America. Sydney proclaimed "ETERNITY" on their bridge. We should be ashamed. I tremble for this nation.

-- homecanner (tomatoes@mygarden.com), January 03, 2000.

Yeah, and when you tell God - to His face - how evil He was for sending the flood, I don't wanna be Anywhere Around. And He is by no means through with this world yet.

-- DB (tomG@h.com), January 03, 2000.

For me the aftermath has been very difficult. I tried to the best of my abilities both natural and the gifts of God to comprehend those things to come. I believe I heard a few words from God. I am an IT professional and so have some technical background to weigh risks and etc. After these two years I find that currently I am in a big 'let down mode' similarly to someone who has gotten all prepared psychologically for a fight only to not have a fight after all.

As best I could, I prepared, strove to arrange our affairs. Spoke out. Took the hits that all of you did. Socially speaking this has cost me a great deal. I feel a significant sense of being an unreliable witness or analyst in the eyes of others. Nothing I say in the future will be listened too by many who have heard my words on this.

Right now I feel pretty screwed up all the way around. Almost all that I did was from love for family, friends and the church as well as a sense of professional responsibility. What I mostly received for my efforts was alot of ridicule and shunning. At work two seperate times at the command center I was singled out for hazing by staff and management (AVP and Director level) before the hour struck. A pretty public hazing...which I will address later when things cool down. No one else was so treated (over 50 people present).

One could react to this with bitterness, hardness of heart or even hatrid. I'm not above those temptations. I'm trying to do some self examination and to make some changes internally. I'm not sure how I will be able to speak of anything with any confidence in the future on a professional level let alone about the much more important matters of the Word of God.

I do know that I can still go to God, that my wife loves me and that I am saved and sustained by His Grace each day that I live. Beyond that is an open question.

I am glad for us all that we have the basics of the infrastructure we use every day. Thankfully things did not collapse outright. At this time I am looking more at after effects of backroom systems problems on huge systems that did not get fixed in time, a la Hamasaki. We will continue to arrange our lifestyle to a more basic and humane level like the Amish or Mennonites. Possibly I will get out of IT work if I can arrange it...either that or move over to UNIX (ha! gotta keep those doors wide open!)(just a lil'jokie thrown in there for my fellow geeks :-)

Take care of yourselves and loved ones over the these next few years. If God is leading then GO. But don't expect it will make alot of sense each and every day you are on the journey. And if you make it there and find that it all somehow makes sense, then be happy you saw your small part as it fit into the greater whole of His workmanship.

God Bless!

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), January 03, 2000.

Cherri,

I will assume that you did not read my statements thoroughly to have commented,

"I do not know why you automatically assume that all people who disagreed with you only want to shove the results down your throat and say "I told you so", though it could be that that is what you would do had the results been the opposite."

You see, I am now experiencing these statements today. These are not "assumptions", they are happening. And from people that would have benefitted from these very preparations had they been needed. To further this, I will neither stand at the Judgement Throne of God some day and flaunt my salvation to those that "would not listen" to the call of needed preparations and will then pay a heavy price with their eternal souls, but that's a different story. Likewise, I would not have played the "is not, is too" game of which you referred.

The bottom line Cherri, is that I had never even heard of North, Yourdon, Lord, Hamasaki, Lane, et al, until most of my preps were completed. I certainly had not heard of you until I found this forum but the manner in which you come across was/is sufficient to keep me from "hearing" what you had to say. This WAS a y2k prep forum. Y2k has come and gone with little to no disruptions. Many of us are here to perhaps continue conversation with people who were of like-minds. Why are you "polly's" still here?

Cherri, I've found my peace. Y2k or not, I know where I stand with my Creator. My e-mail is real if you'd like further discussion about Him as well...

Don

-- Don (mrmtgman@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

ps the above was directed to Jim Sharp, who started - the thread.

-- DB (tomG@h.com), January 03, 2000.

Russ 'bigdog' Lipton sure likes to sound all spiritual....its really too bad that just a few months ago he was saying VERY stupid things like this:

Regrettably, there isn't enough room in our home for the pollies who didn't prep. For them, the shelters and warming centers should do just fine. Heck, they'll only be there "three days".

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), October 07, 1999.

What a warm, Christian sentiment.

-- Welcome to the home (for@hypocrites.maximum), January 03, 2000.

DB and all,

I am not sorry I started this thread. It started a lot of us thinking, and some of looked at ourselves in a different way because of what the contributors added. Even some of the meaner ones.

I am a simple man, a pastor, and most of all, I am not a just a sinner, I am embarrassed to say that I am fairly accomplished sinner. Usually about 15 minutes in heavy traffic will do it.

Yes, some of us took a stand, and took some hits. Tell me that men of God who went before us didn't receive simular treatment. I am sure they were just as hurt or more, and I am sure that they crawled away to lick their spiritual wounds and prepared to come out fighting another day. I am not a Paul.....I cannot pick myself off the ground and go back into the town that just tried to kill me.

I am just plain Jim, trying to do His will, and sometimes messing up. Should we be suprised if the world hates us? Think about Noah. Preached for all those years and only saved his own family.

There were scoffers then, there are scoffers now, there will be scoffers till He comes.

Pray for them. I am sure that once the flood started, there were some REAL sincere people knocking on the door to the ark. I am sure that there were many who hung onto the sides of the ark as long as they could. It didn't help....they were too late. "Eight souls were saved that day."

Thank you all for your contributions, I have enjoyed them. This time we felt God's mercy....some day the earth dwellers will experience His jusdgement.

God bless you all, keep me in your prayers as you will be in mine...jim

-- Jim Sharp (JIM4RLORD@aol.com), January 03, 2000.

Jim et alia:

I'm thankful to God that the initial rollover was a wash. I'll continue preparing until the stock market crashes. Almost everyone else around me went back to sleep. God's righteous judgments will hammer America hard, and most citizens will be shaken awake with fear.

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 03, 2000.

Thank you, Jim, for sharing some of your innermost feelings and your vulnerability.

Your sentiments remind me of my sudden feeling, about mid-November, that we needed to prepare to be wrong about Y2k. (We who were expecting a bad outcome.)

We're all just sinners saved by grace. It's a good thing God is merciful.

It is hurtful to be criticized when what you have done is try to help people you love, and they reject you. Think of our Lord's rejection, and He was trying to save us from ourselves and most have rejected Him to the point of killing Him.

I think there are many dire days in store for Americans, because we have not been living up to our noble beginnings.

As someone said on one of these threads, if God does't judge us, it is unlike His nature, because He's judged Israel repeatedly for their sins.

I have been thinking of the single man who had prepared extensively for himself and those he loved, and invited them to be with him at the rollover, and they rejected him. I have forgotten the title of his post and can't find it, because I wanted to comfort him and find out how he's doing. He sounded very depressed - - and this was before the great rollover.(If someone knows who that person is, can you send me his e-mail #?)

We need to keep our minds and hearts in tune with Jesus and not condemn others for what they honestly believed, on either side.

And if we did what we did because we cared for the well-being of our loved ones, how can we be wrong?

Perhaps you feel a greater responsibility for influencing others, because as a pastor, you are held to a higher standard. Love others as yourself! (In other words, love yourself and don't condemn yourself.) As Corrie TenBoom used to say: "Your sins are buried in the deepest sea, AND NO FISHING ALLOWED! Satan makes us feel guilty, whether we are or not.

You did a good thing, and where you might not have, (in feeling that it would be O.K. with us doomers if SOMETHING dire happened), God loves you and is merciful, and understands we are but dust.

You're in my prayers, all of you.

-- Connie Iversen (hive@gte.net), January 04, 2000.

Dear "Welcome": When you attacked Big Dog and called him hypocritical because he said he would lock the Pollies out, you miss the point. If it becomes a survival situation, there's only enough supplies for those you planned for. Was Noah a bad guy for pulling in the gangplank on the Ark and letting the Pollies of his time drown? I think not. Was it "un-Christian"? No, because Christianity didn't exist then. Would it be un-Christian today? I think not... In a SHTF situation, opening the doors would be suicidal. That's plain stupid. Are all Christians supposed to be stupid?

-- Sad Aussie (not@toda.y.thank.s.net.au), January 04, 2000.