I want to start the blog with this passage

Luke 6:41-43 (New International Version)

 41"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

 1.  Why do we always point out faults in others? 

 2.  Is there a reason Jesus choose to use vision (eye) as the metaphor in this parable?

 3.  How can you get something out of our own eye?

So here are my perspectives. 

For #1  Why do we always point out faults in others? I would saw that the main reason that we point out faults in others is that we recognize what is familiar to us.  To be more specific, we have either done or thought in some manner the sin we recognize in others.  It is like we are saying subconsciously, I would have (or have) done that.

For #2, Is there a reason Jesus choose to use vision (eye) as the metaphor in this parable? The eye or vision plays a key role in our spiritual life

Matthew 6:22-23 (New International Version)

 22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

There are 56 references to the eye in the bible and 565 references to seeing or vision.  I would say that the way we see things plays a major role in our spiritual quest.  This is a topic in itself, but I believe that Jesus chose to use a eye reference to point out that it is what we see that we must focus on.  He tells us to look at ourselves first.

Finally for #3 How can you get something out of our own eye?  While I was thinking about this it dawned on me that there are several things that the parable could literally mean.  First, the speck (sin) in our eye is blurring our vision, but we do not realize it.  Ironically, I am sure someone else could even point out the speck in our eye since they most likely have something in their eye too. 

    Secondly, I remember actually trying to get something out of my eye a few times.  Here is what I remember.  It was painful (just like riding any sin in our lives), I either needed help (who can see their own eye without a mirror, or I needed a mirror to see the speck.  In this case I see the mirror as God's word.  He reveals the speck we normally would not see just like a mirror and it allows us to take action and remove the speck.  I do believe that someone could help remove the speck.  There is value in having others help us rid ourselves of specks, but we always need to be watchful that we are not hypocrites and think we do not have a speck in our own eyes.  The mere fact that we notice the speck proves that we have a speck as well.

When I watch the news, all I see is how bad things are.  In fact, it is usually the bad things that get reported.  To be honest, it is good to keep up with things, but I do not watch the news like I used to.  I have thought many times what would be the signs leading up to the end times.  I believe that we are truly living in the prequel to the end times, but we are not there just yet.  I will submit to the point that know one knows for sure when it will come:

There are many other areas that if you listen to the news it sounds like we are almost there:

This sounds like any day in a typical news channel.  I guess you could say that history is littered with stories like this.  That is why it will be a surprise to all of us when Jesus does come again.

When you read all of Matthew 24 it is almost like there are two time periods that Jesus is speaking about.  He starts out by predicting the destructing of the temple, which occurred in AD 70 by the Roman Empire. 

But then the disciples ask two questions and many misinterpret them as being the same question:

Jesus goes on to tell of what I believe it will be like during the trials of the tribulation.  Some have even speculated that the nation of Israel will reach a compromise with the Arab nations and rebuild the temple once again.  I have watched this Jewish movement for a while now and I believe that it is the number one desire of the nation to rebuild the temple once again.  See  http://www.dunamai.com/articles/Israel/third_temple_built.htm 

   I have been troubled by the Christian doctrine of when the tribulation shall occur.  I used to believe that we all will be raptured out of this crazy time period, but now after re-reading the scripture, I am not so sure.  After studying, I also realized that pre-tribulation rapture is really a new idea in the church as a whole.  It has really only been around for about 200 years, before that everyone held that the church would be raptured after or at least during the tribulation.  

     The reason I bring this up is based on this scripture:

   It is hard for me to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture with this scripture.  If the pre-tribulation interpretation is incorrect, there are going to be many upset Christians, and they are going to be surprised to find that they are in the tribulation.

    I know this is a touchy subject and is clearly open for debate, so le me make my point clear. I am hoping and praying for a pre-tribulation rapture, but I honestly believe that God never gave any Christian an easy way out.  My personal belief is that we will be raptured some time either during or after the tribulation. 

For those that are not familiar with the rapture, see Matthew 24:36-44