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The Rapture of the Church – Part 1 - Jack Kinsella
It would be fair to argue that one of the most divisive doctrines of Scripture for the last days would that of the Rapture of the Church. Specifically, the timing of the Rapture, rather than whether the Bible teaches a Rapture. To begin with the Rapture of the Church is the ‘Blessed Hope’ for believers. The New Testament speaks of a ‘mystery’ in which Paul writes that ‘we shall not all sleep’, (or die), but that ‘we shall be changed’ (1 Corinthians 15:53). In his letter to the church at Thesslonica, Paul writes, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess 4:16-17) That is the Rapture of the Church. The bodies of those who are ‘dead in Christ’ — deceased believers, will be resurrected. Those believers in Christ still alive will immediately be translated bodily from the earth to ‘meet the Lord in the air’. When Jesus ascended bodily to heaven in the presence of the Apostles, an angel appeared to them, saying, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11 And it was Jesus Himself Who promised, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:2-3) Although the doctrine of the Rapture of the Church is the Christian’s ‘Blessed Hope’, in these last days it has become a doctrine of division within the Body. We’ve seen some of the most vitriolic diatribes imaginable take place in our forums over the question of when the Rapture occurs. There are three basic schools of thought on the Rapture. The first is the Pretribulation Rapture. Those who hold to this belief expect that Christians will be raptured before the Tribulation period begins. The second view is the Mid-Tribulation Rapture, (as well as a similar view called the pre-wrath Rapture). They expect the Rapture to occur at the mid-point in the Tribulation, or before the beginning of the Great Tribulation that is the last half of the 7 years of Jacob’s Trouble. Finally, there is the Post-Tribulation which holds to the view that the Church goes through the entire seven year Tribulation Period, but then is raptured at the end of the Tribulation, just before the 2nd Coming of Christ. All three schools of thought do have some points of common agreement. They all believe that, 1) the 2nd Coming of Christ is a separate event from the Rapture, and, 2) that there will be a Rapture of Christians BEFORE the 2nd Coming. As I said, the timing of this event is a subject of great division among Christians. Those who take the post-trib view think that pre-tribbers are preaching a ‘Great Escape’ that won’t happen. They believe that teaching a pre-trib Rapture does a disservice to the Church and when the Tribulation comes, Christians expecting a ‘Great Escape’ will not be prepared to endure and might succumb to the Mark of the Beast. Consequently, to many who hold the post-trib view, pre-tribbers are false prophets preaching a lie of Satan. Judging from my emails, some from that camp believe pre-trib teachers are deliberately spreading error. Those who hold the mid-trib or pre-wrath have espoused similar views. I find it interesting that I seldom encounter mid-tribbers engaged in battle with post-tribbers. Most of the forum fights I’ve witnessed have the mid and post crowd on one side, with pre-tribbers on the other. So, which view is right? In each of the next three issues of the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest, we will look at what the Bible says regarding each view. You can make up your mind for yourself which view lines up best with Scripture. As we progress through the study, it is important to keep one thing in mind. The issue of interest is WHEN He is coming, but the issue of importance is WHO it is that is coming, and why. ‘When’ is important, but of secondary interest. People holding all three views are equally saved if they have put their faith in the Jesus Who is coming to begin with. Whether or not the Church participates in the Tribulation or is Raptured before it begins is a matter of eschatological (doctrine of end-time events and chronology) interpretation and of much less eternal importance than the doctrine of soteriology (salvation). It IS important, but it is proportional. Members of all three schools of thought will be Raptured at the same time, whether they expect to be or not. That’s just how it is. It shouldn’t be as divisive an issue as it has become. Lots of churches are afraid to touch it for that reason. The entire controversy, as divisive as it is, is unique to this generation. In previous generations, it was just an interesting point of doctrine for which there were several interpretations. In this generation, it has been elevated almost to the level of salvation in doctrinal importance. Check the message boards that debate the Rapture. (Wear a helmet). By itself, that fact should set off alarm bells in the back of your head. The fact it is the hottest topic in the Church today sends a signal. Because this IS a debate for the last days. Over the next three issues, we’ll discuss the purpose of the Tribulation period, specific promises made to the Church Age, what Jesus said about the Tribulation period and what the Bible says about the 2nd Coming of Christ. When we’re finished, I don’t expect to have changed anybody’s view, but instead hope to provide you with reasons you can tick off for why you hold it. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1st Peter 3:15) Widespread Civil Unrest Is Suddenly Erupting All Over The Globe - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/widespread-civil-unrest-is-suddenly-erupting-all-over-the-globe/ Angry citizens are taking to the streets all over the world, and often they are lashing out in wild and unpredictable ways. The eruptions of civil unrest that you will read about below are all happening for different reasons, but they all have one thing in common. People are deeply frustrated with the direction that things are going, and they have lost faith in the ability of their elected representatives to solve their problems. Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. For years I have been warning my readers that we will eventually see civil unrest on a scale that we have never seen before. Could it be possible that we are now entering the leading edge of that storm? On Tuesday, the streets of Paris were turned into a war zone as French citizens expressed their displeasure with the pension reforms that French President Emmanuel Macron seems determined to implement… Violence erupted on the streets of Paris today as thousands took to the streets across France to protest against pension reforms. Riot police fought running battles with demonstrators in the capital city on a so-called Black Tuesday of industrial action across the country. The worst trouble was close to the Port Royal metro station, where hundreds of riot police used tear gas and baton charges. As projectiles rained down on them, bins were set on fire and bus stops destroyed by so-called Black Bloc anarchists. A lot of people out there believed that Emmanuel Macron would emerge as a great leader that would be capable of uniting all of Europe behind him. That is obviously not going to happen. A few days before the protests in Paris, farmers in Belgium literally rolled 2,700 tractors into the heart of the capital of the European Union… Convoys of tractors brought traffic in Brussels to a standstill Friday, as thousands of Belgian farmers protested the Flemish regional government’s plans to limit nitrogen emissions from agriculture. Some 2,700 tractors rolled into Brussels from the Flanders region, according to police estimates, filling the streets with a cacophony of honks as farmers vented their anger over the planned cuts, which they say threaten to put many of them out of business. I fully support what those farmers are trying to do. What the EU is doing to farmers is literally insane, and I can definitely understand why they are so upset. Elsewhere in Europe, demonstrations against NATO involvement in the war in Ukraine are getting larger and larger… Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Brussels and Paris to show support for Ukraine on Saturday, while a demonstration against supplying Ukraine with weapons attracted 10,000 people in Berlin and London If the American people actually understood what was at stake, we would see similar anti-war protests here in this country too. Hopefully our citizens will wake up before this conflict goes nuclear. Down in South Africa, an unprecedented energy crisis literally has the entire nation on the verge of “collapse”… South Africa is on the verge of “collapse” amid rolling blackouts and warnings a total power grid failure could lead to mass rioting on the scale of a “civil war”. Western embassies including the United States and Australia have advised their citizens in the country to stock up on “several days worth” of food and water and be on high alert during extended blackouts sweeping the country. Sadly, what I have shared so far is just the tip of the iceberg. Economic conditions continue to deteriorate all over the globe, and we are being warned that a lot more civil unrest is on the way… Growing social inequality and the cost-of-living, foundering faith in governments and institutions and increasingly polarized politics, together with a rise in activism and environmental concerns, are the main factors expected to fuel ongoing incidences of unrests, strikes, riots and civil commotion (SRCC) around the world, according to a new report from insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). Here in the United States, a “frenzied 150-strong mob” of Antifa radicals viciously attacked a police facility in the Atlanta area on Sunday… A frenzied 150-strong mob of Antifa ‘terrorists’ descend on Atlanta’s ‘Cop City’ construction site before hurling Molotov cocktails and destroying machinery in newly-released aerial footage of Sunday’s riots. The group, filmed by a police chopper’s heat-sensitive cameras, march through scrub and woodland around the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center before unleashing havoc and setting fire to a power line. Police officers protecting the site are forced to stand off as the mask-clad attackers overrun the site, which has been a hotbed for Antifa violence since last spring, and target machinery. The officers are then pelted with rocks and fireworks by the thugs, many of whom travelled from outside of Georgie to take part in the violence. Democrats run Atlanta, and we have a Democrat in the White House. But the Democrats appear to be incapable of controlling their own people. Meanwhile, crime continues to spiral out of control in major cities all over the nation. In New York City, the police are actually asking businesses to require customers to take off their masks before entering because masked thieves have become such a problem… The New York Police Department is advising businesses to ask patrons to take off their masks before entry in light of the high number of thefts and robberies across the city. Removing masks should be made a “condition of entry,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference last week, noting that criminals have been taking advantage of masks to avoid detection on surveillance cameras. “People are coming up to our businesses, sometimes with masks, sometimes masks, hoods and latex gloves, and they’re being buzzed in, they’re being allowed to enter into the store and then we have a robbery or some kind of property being stolen,” Maddrey said. Isn’t that ironic? For such a long time, authorities in New York were so determined to get everyone to put masks on. But now they are desperate to get everyone to remove the masks because crime has gotten so bad. This is the world that we live in now. The thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted on a daily basis is rapidly disappearing, and chaos in the streets will be a normal part of life from this point forward. Prophecy Update Videos Must Watch Videos! Videos You Can Trust
‘We Have A Problem’: Is Our Society Being Pushed In A Disastrous Trajectory? – By Tim Moore - https://harbingersdaily.com/we-have-a-problem-is-our-society-being-pushed-in-a-disastrous-trajectory/ In 1970, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert were hurling through space at thousands of miles an hour on their way to the moon. Lovell had orbited just before Christmas in 1968, and two other crews had already landed on the moon and returned safely to earth. But when Swigert conducted a routine stir of the liquid oxygen tanks, an electrical short caused an explosion that crippled the spacecraft and threatened the survival of the crew. Quickly assessing the seriousness of the situation, Lovell uttered words that are as memorable as they were understated: “Houston, we have a problem.” Thanks to the skill and dedication of a huge team of engineers and mission controllers, Apollo 13 made it home safely—although that crew never got to walk on the moon. For many years our society has been hurling toward a secularized, pagan future. In spite of isolated events to jar the spiritual consciousness of our nation, America has consistently refused to recognize, “we have a problem.” Instead, like a frog in a pot, we’ve witnessed and lived through changes so gradual that they were almost imperceptible at first. Of late, those changes are accelerating wildly, and a growing number of people are beginning to realize that we are headed toward disaster. The Signs of Society are even more obvious in many ways than the Signs of Nature. What is harder to pinpoint is the root cause of a given moral and societal change. Obviously, sin is at the heart of all our problems. But individual hearts committing—or tolerating—sin builds into a force that is pushing us all on a disastrous trajectory. Looking back, it is apparent how far we have fallen in just the past 20-30 years. What lies ahead? God’s Word offers prophetic insight to those with eyes to see. It also lays down a challenge to anyone who would seek to serve as Salt and Light—and aspires to be an overcome. Steel yourself and examine where we have been, where we are, and where we are heading. In fact, get down on your knees, prayerfully asking God to strengthen your heart and embolden your witness in a world that is growing darker by the day. Nearing Midnight: Why Is the Satanism Category Ranked So Low? – Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ One of the most common questions regarding the Rapture Index is why the rating for the Satanism category is so low. Right now, it is at a two rating, which seems to conflict with recent headlines: District officials in Pennsylvania had green-lighted an “After School Satan Club.” It was poised to be a headline-grabbing countermeasure to a Christian club by an atheist group claiming to be Satanists. The name of the sponsoring group is the Satanic Temple, and they don’t claim to worship the same Devil that is in the Bible. June Everett, the After School Satan Club national campaign director, said the club is anything but a joke. “We are run by the Satanic Temple, and we are; the club is brought to you by your local, friendly, self-identified, non-theistic Satanists.” Everett said the Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in the same Satan that Christians do. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tex., joined a chorus of Republicans and conservatives voicing outrage over a controversial performance during this year’s Grammys on February 5, which featured a singer dressed as the Devil. “Nonbinary” singer Sam Smith’s duet with transgender artist Kim Petras for their song “Unholy” featured Smith wearing Devil horns while Petras gyrated in a cage against the backdrop of flames. Dancers dressed as demons bowed and crawled around Smith. “This…is…evil,” Cruz wrote in response to a tweet of the performance shared by conservative commentator Liz Wheeler. Another congressman is upset over an animated horror comedy featuring Danny DeVito as the voice of Satan, which is “clearly evil.” US Rep Mike Johnson from Louisiana, through his Facebook post, denounced “Little Demon” as being from the pit of hell. His official website says the series is about a woman and her 13-year-old daughter who are trying to live normal lives even though Satan is the girl’s father and wants custody of her soul. “I couldn’t get to the remote fast enough to shield my 11-year-old from the preview, and I wonder how many other children were exposed to it — and how many millions more will tune in to the new series, owned and marketed by DISNEY,” the congressman and vice chairman of the House Republican Conference wrote in a recent post. In the past few years, there have been all types of satanic representations on TV: In 2016, Fox presented a TV series that portrayed the Devil as a smooth operator. The series revolved around the story of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), the DC Universe’s version of the Devil, who abandons Hell for Los Angeles, where he runs his own nightclub named Lux and becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department. Katy Perry topped Sam Smith with her 2014 Grammy Awards performance that had her doing a full-fledged witchcraft incarnation live on national TV. In 2021, Gay rapper Lil Nas X grossed out some of his closest fans by sliding down a pole to hell to give the Devil a lap dance. It is clear that Satan is the god of this world. He is a being of extreme popularity, but few people believe he really exists. You can look at the most satanic rock bands of all time, and the majority of them don’t think the Devil was ever a real being. The band AC/DC had hits like “Highway to Hell,” “Care of the Devil,” and “Hells Bells.” Not a single member of AC/DC thinks that Satan is a real being. They have been around since 1973, and they are the second most successful band in the history of rock and roll. They have sold over 200 million records worldwide. When I created the Satanism category in 1987, I knew that the actual worship of Satan was low, and it still is. The Devil prefers that people think that he doesn’t exist. I find that to be very odd for someone who is extremely arrogant. Since Satan is a being of super intelligence, it ultimately makes sense that he would deceive people into thinking he never existed. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: Many lies and a truth - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com How many lies can be told by the government, news media, and big business? Let me count the lies. Really, there is no end to them. Reaching back to the Obama years, the lies that the government has pushed on the American people, and the news media, as the fourth estate, has supported these lies, and big business has used them to make money, We The People have been duped. Obama said if you like your doctor, you can keep him. Big insurance and the news media said that socialized healthcare would be less expensive and would fix a broken system. Congress ruined the best healthcare system in the world and people still don’t have health insurance, but government medical protocols are forced upon all. How about Islam being the religion of peace? Obama was so committed to Islam that he encouraged Arab Spring, where radical Islam was allowed to overthrow stable governments across the Middle East, Iran was able to accelerate nuclear development, and Israel’s prime minister had to walk past White House garbage on his way to a meeting which the president stood him up. Here’s another good one—Donald Trump is a criminal because he had classified documents in his personal possession. Hillary Clinton had classified emails on an unsecured server in her closet. Joe Biden had classified documents stashed behind his corvette in his garage. No story here. Millions and years were spent on the Mueller Investigation to prove President Trump was essentially a Russian agent, am I exaggerating? The FBI and Hillary Clinton went to great lengths to conjure up the Russian story, which the news media refused to even listen to an alternative view. Trump was impeached for threatening to withhold military funding for Ukraine unless it looked into the Hunter Biden dealings. The FBI withheld the Hunter Biden laptop and the mainstream news media covered up the story as a hoax. This laptop, that was a hoax, is proving that Joe Biden is a compromised president with both China and Ukraine. What of the fact that Hillary Clinton was selling her influence as Secretary of State to Russia, and Russia was pumping tens of millions into the Clinton Foundation? Oh, that’s just a lie, but it was true. Then comes COVID. Everyone that said it was leaked out of a Chinese lab was ridiculed. Well. The guy directing the disease response, Dr. Anthony Fauci, led the charge promoting the wet market bat theory. Then he co-writes a paper saying COVID likely was leaked from a lab. What about following the science? Government mandated protocols (socialist healthcare) killed multitudes while alternative treatments saved lives. Yet that “science” was censored. Government, media and big business said the vaccine was safe and effective. Anyone who said it wasn’t was marginalized. Now study after study proves it was neither safe nor effective. The list of lies goes on. But here is a truth: Christ says in John 8:44, the devil “is a liar, and the father of it.” Learn to discern the lies. Those who don’t, are part of the, say it with me…Stupidocrisy. Daily Jot: The Value of Your Life - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command. —Hebrews 11:23 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/the-value-of-your-life/ - Listen All parents think their children are beautiful, but Moses was extraordinarily so. The Bible tells us that his parents “saw that God had given them an unusual child” (Hebrews 11:23 NLT). Or, as the New King James Version translates it, “He was a beautiful child.” Apparently, Moses was exceptional in the way he looked. However, in the original language, the word translated “beautiful” also implies that he was cheerful. And when Stephen addressed the Sanhedrin, he said that Moses was “a beautiful child in God’s eyes” (Acts 7:20 NLT). In other words, God had a special purpose for his life. So, not only was this child beautiful, but he had a purpose. God singled out Moses. And in the same way, God has a purpose for you, a special plan that is unique to you. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet before Jeremiah was born. He said, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 NLT). That’s why it is such a tragedy in our world that so many lives of unborn children, living souls made in the image of God, have been taken. Among those millions there may have been someone to change our world, someone to make a significant impact on our culture. The psalmist David wrote, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16 NLT). Have you ever stopped and wondered why God has preserved you up to this point? Maybe you have had a close brush with death or an illness that you weren’t supposed to survive. Yet here you are right now. Just as God had a plan for Moses, God has a plan for you. PROPHECY UPDATE NEWS HEADLINES Yesterday's Prophecies - Today's Headlines HEADLINES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRACKING BIBLE PROPHECY 3/8/23 http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/birthpangs.php
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