The closer it gets, the more excited I become. Will I be ready? Cleansed of all my multitude of sins? Sometimes I lie awake at night worrying about this. I shouldn’t. God is Good. God is kind. God is forgiving. God hates the sin, not the sinner. He’ll know that I’ve been basically a good person. Won’t He?
The Small Print
Always read the small print.
“If you are not a Christian, you will face horrible things unless you place your hope and trust in Jesus Christ.” Oops.
“If the Word of God is true, Christianity is the only way to achieve eternal life. Accepting Jesus as your personal savior is the only way to obtain salvation. It may not be politically correct to say this, but if Jesus is truly the Son of God, then neither Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, nor any other faith can redeem your eternal soul.” Double oops.
Ok, this may be something of a stumbling block. I’m not a Christian. I wasn't born a Christian. And I haven’t felt the calling to become one. Does this mean I’m in deep doo doo, End Times wise? It would seem so. “Hell is a place of constant agony and is set aside for Satan and all of those who reject Jesus Christ. No person on earth would willingly walk into hell. But, unfortunately, so many people are doing just that. In the face of truth and warnings, they continue to live in denial and are walking straight into Hell.”
Rapture Briefly Defined
This is difficult because there are several different scenarios vying for validity among the true believers. Only thing they can agree upon is that it is going to happen and relatively soon.
Antichrist–-a really evil guy appears (Satan) disguised as a man of peace and unity. He preaches love while making constant war. He fools a lot of people, including many naive Christians. Many Democrats and Progressives believe George W. Bush is the antichrist. It’s not a difficult argument to make but, personally, I don't think W is pulling his own strings and thus can't be the real deal.
Tribulation-–a seven year period which begins with the appearance of the antichrist. During the first 3 ½ years, the antichrist gets his ducks in order, builds his power; the second half, the s**t hits the fan in earnest. Nuclear war, famine, flood, pestilence, burning seas, suffering like we’ve never seen before as the devil/antichrist shows his true colors.
The Rapture–Depending upon who you believe, it happens right before, right in the middle, or at the end of the Tribulation. Jesus reappears on earth and gathers up all the true believers along with all the already-dead-and-buried true believers waiting in their graves.
If it happens Pre-Trib, all non-believers are left behind to suffer the End Time tortures. “ In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we are given a clear description of the rapture: ‘the dead in Christ will rise, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.’" In this version, Jesus temporarily returns to heaven with all the saved souls until the tribulation ends. If the Rapture happens mid-tribulation, Jesus descends and collects the true believers plus the newly converted who have finally seen the light due to the torments all around them. If the Rapture happens at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus descends just once from heaven to meet all the true believers and newly converted who have survived the End Times. In all three versions, plus the many sub-versions in each category, Jesus then establishes a 1000 year reign of heaven on a rebuilt, renovated , better than ever earth.
As I understand it, the crux of the disagreement about timing is the issue of just how much the true believers must suffer before Jesus returns to end their tribulations--not at all (Pre-Trib); some suffering (Mid-Trip); the full Monty (Post-Trib).
Israel--All Rapturists believe that Jesus can only return once the nation of Israel is secure and has rebuilt the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Once that happens and Jesus has returned, all the Jews and Muslims are driven out of Israel and perish along with the rest of the non-believers.
Should I Convert?
What schmo wouldn’t want to avoid hell-fires and damnation torments for all enternity? I’d have to sincerely commit to renouncing all my sinful ways and beliefs. All the while knowing I’m not perfect, that ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, sin is in my DNA and thus I can never fully succeed. But as long as I devote all day, every day to a genuine effort to get right with the Lord, I’d be on the road to salvation. There’s no shortage of devout interpreters of the Word to help me along the temptation littered path–-Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, James Dobson, plus all the lesser cable tv illuminaries on air 24/7 reminding me of the laments that await if I lose my way.
I’d have to become a conservative Republican. "There is one thing certain we can state, based upon the integrity of Bible truth. Jesus would never endorse or be a member of any party whose platform supports abortion, gay rights, and a general hostility to Bible-believing Christians." Conservative Republicans know far more than Democrats and even moderate Republicans about living the moral life.
They stand for Biblical Values----anti-gay, anti-fornication, anti-abortion, anti-pornography, anti-permissivness, anti-gun control, anti-liberal media bias, anti-humanism, anti-relativism, anti-deconstructionist, anti-dealth penalty opposition, anti-criminal coddling, anti-taxes, anti-gambling, anti-flag burning, anti-church/state separation, anti-evolution, anti-welfare, anti- antiwar demonstrations, anti-immigration, anti-feminism, anti-rap music and dirty dancing, anti-vegetarianism, anti-Halloween, anti-Hollywood, anti-environmentalism.
The dogma is explicit and demanding, but when faced with the terrifying consequences of not embracing it, maybe I would do well to get with the program.
As I continiue to weigh my options in heightened excitement and anticipation of the coming End Times, I would like to credit the source of much of my infomration about the Raputre, an excellent web site and veritable treasure trove of information on the subject: Rapture Ready. Consider these intruiging essays:
- The End Times Are Screaming at Us!
- Hell is Not Just a Four Letter Word
- So You Want to Go to Heaven : a reality check
- Tribulation Saint Wannabees
- Oops, I Guess I Wasn’t Ready: if you missed the Rapture
- Too optimistic people can become prisoners of Optimism
- Satan’s Little Helpers: how the devil uses the liberal media to manipulate society
and my favorite of all:
The Dead Frog Report (see my previous post about Oprah). “ The bubbles from the boiling action are rising up all around us, and few people are realizing what is taking place.
'The Following are Examples of Unnoticed Decay
- The increasing number of filthy words being used in the movies and on television
- Television talk shows featuring topics straight out of the gutter
- Doctors helping people kill themselves
- Ads for condoms promoting immoral acts
- The proliferation of psychic phone lines
- The increasing number of gay characters appearing in prime time programs
- The ending of rules requiring a family hour on television
- Smut magazines now being found on most newsstands
- Gambling being legal in almost every state
- Christian networks replacing their gospel programs with infomercials “
The stakes are high. The road diverges--right to heaven; left to hell. Which way will I go?
(posted by Patti, waiting for Bill to get off his lazy ass and start posting things that don't offend every third person reading this stuff.)
