Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan.......

Jim: "Tom, do you really want Jesus to return?"
Tom: "Sure I do Jim, but I mean come on, I just got that promotion. Karly has the lead in her school play Bye Bye Birdie, Mike has Penn State recruiters calling all the time. Sure I want Jesus to come back, we all do but....hey look, I agree with you, these have to be the last days. I think that Jesus will return within twenty years. Why are you looking at me like that? What do you want me to do? We just have to be ready!"
          Jim isn't suffering from a rare spiritual disease for just about every one of us have it to one degree or another. The return of Jesus Christ in power and in glory is something we attest to but also something we don't really want just right now. Twenty years would be OK...even ten years. Maybe we wouldn't have this hesitation if we really thought that this might be the time but we have been conditioned to believe that it's actually a weak mental condition to think in such terms.
         There are many though, all over the world, who really pray, even plead for the return of Jesus, Most of them are suffering persecution every bit as horrendous as first century Christians.
         I have brought the following post back many times:

Remember Those Who Are......

          I have to return to this topic from time to time, in my own mind if nothing else, and I don't do it as often as I should, and I'm the lesser man and the poorer Christian for it.  As I write, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus are persecuted, maimed and killed. Pakistan is in the news today, the Middle East often, and many other parts of the world continuously. Christians are not the darlings of the liberals nor the poster children of the United Nations therefore their stories are not worthy of review. Often they are just defending themselves and wind up being reported as merely one of two bickering religious groups. In most cases all they have to do is renounce God to avoid persecution....yet they do not. And I sit here outraged over our own predicament in America. No, I'm not saying to ignore our situation... to let go of our heritage or to let down our posterity. Quite the opposite, for if we do then we most certainly will be persecuted, for the hatred of God is pandemic. All I'm holding myself up to is keeping our problems in perspective and our priorities straight.
         We can learn from these our brothers and sisters in Christ for they are far beyond us. We can be so much a part of the world that we can no longer see what being a peculiar people is. I'm including myself here and if you are above this then I'm thankful for that but I have no such resume and no such biography as missionaries who have travelled far and sacrificed much. Praying for our persecuted brethren can open our eyes to our own failures. Praying for them can alleviate their suffering and increase their faith, for God hears our petitions. This I believe is fundamental to Christianity, that we uphold our brothers and sisters who are in need, who are persecuted and downtrodden, who have few of the worldly comforts that we do and who know that their faith may bring about their martyrdom.