Depression plagues many people. I’m not talking about having a bad day or feeling blue, which everyone experiences now and then. The depression I’m referring to is the kind of feeling that incapacitates a person with overwhelming feelings of dark and foreboding thoughts that cannot simply be shaken off. It is the kind of depression that drives people to do desperate, often irrational things, including suicide.

An article concerning Pope John Paul II stated that the pontiff used to flagellate himself with a belt to share in the suffering of Christ. He says he did this to get closer to Jesus. It seems from the article that even Mother Teresa self-flagellated and that it is a commonly accepted and approved practice of the Catholic Church. What does the Bible have to say in this regard?

You’ll never meet an “average” person. Oh sure, someone might be referred to as “average,” but no one ever sees himself as average. Every person is unique. Certainly, there are some commonalities, but each human being is made up of the genetic hand he or she has been dealt, along with experiences, environment, culture, religion, and other factors of life. Some individuals excel in life and stand out; others live their lives in “quiet desperation” as spoken of by the poet Thoreau.

The book of Revelation paints the picture of four prophetic horses which will ride at the end of the age. Each brings troubles and plagues with it, leaving human casualties in their wake. Russia and India are battling one of the tools spoken of in the third seal – the black horse of famine!

As we approach the end of this age and Christ's literal return, many Christians wonder what will happen to them. Many believe in a secret rapture.  Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be part of the 144,000. Others wonder about the Great Multitude. What does the Bible really teach about God's saints at the end of this age?