Seems that several are concerned about what's fix'n to happen in the future. I'm not a prophet of doom but we do need to prepare some. I don't know exactly what will happen, don't pretend to. The Word tells us of the "wars, rumors of war, pestilances, earthquakes, floods etc etc that will happen just before Jesus Christ comes for His own. We are in those last days. No need for Christians to worry. He WILL take care of us! If He knows where a sparrow falls and how many hairs are on our heads-then He most certainly is not going to just let us ride out the storm by ourselves. I don't know when He's coming [He doesn't either-only the Father] but in my mind I'll not die! If one is not a Christian they ought to be thinking very seriously about it! The burden is on my heart so heavy for the lost that sometimes it's hard to continue on with my everyday tasks. He IS coming and if one is not a Christian it will be too terrible to comprehend.

My advice--do your best to prepare putting up food and other necessities of life and don't worry. He is STILL in control.

Matt.24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), June 03, 2001

Answers

Hoot, you are absolutely right. In fact, it is my personal opinion that we (believers) will go through 3 1/2 years of tribulation before the Rapture. I hope I'm wrong, it would be a very nice surprise. And, of course, personal salvation is the ultimate preparation. Even disregardin that, though, it only makes sense to me to have preps because you never know when you may lose your job, have some kind of devastating injury or disease, or suffer a natural disaster of some kind. This is being prudent.

-- Deena in GA (dsmj55@aol.com), June 04, 2001.

Grampa always told me "Keep your heart right and live every day as the first day of life and the last day before going Home". Its worked for me. I think you and Granpa would have seen a lot eye to eye.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 04, 2001.

The word Rapture appears where in the Bible? Or perhaps in your Strongs concordence it is translated from what word in Hebrew or Greek? My bible specifically says "we ALL shall be changed" and WE wasn't the church as the subject. Also wasn't the 3 1/2 years SHORTENED to 5 months? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 04, 2001.

The word "rapture" doesn't appear in the Bible. However, if you study Revelation and concurrently the book of Daniel there seems to be a fair amount of scripture in support of it. Like the Church isn't appointed unto wrath, and the removal of the church after the Laodecian age in Revelation....I STILL don't have a knowing about it. Personally, I "think" that we are going to go through the Great Tribulation, but this is contrary to what the church I attend says. It really isn't relevant to how you deal with anything though. No matter what happens we have to be willing to stand and not give in to the temptation of taking the "mark" which is definitively supported as occurring by plenty of scripture and the Bible warns that that even the "elect" will have trouble discerning it.

Being prepared for trouble or disruption in "normalcy" is only good common sense and something that is very well supported by scripture as well. Best to have and not need, as opposed to need and not have, so long as it doesn't become an addiction in itself, ya know?

Vicki, I am interested to know where you see the 3 1/2 years being shortened to five months?? That's something I haven't heard before. I still don't have a Strong's concordance either!!! Beerother. I better get one.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), June 04, 2001.

Hi Doreen Matthew 24 vs 22 shows us that the days will be shortened or, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Revelations 9 shows us that it is 5 months.

I simply am not a fan of churches who teach nothing more than salvation (preaching to the chior) and then only teach doctrin that supports their religion only. Teaching infant baptisim when Jesus himself was not baptised until he was 31? Most certainly the age of acountability. If we are to follow by example, what child was baptised in the bible? Odd to me that we are to cover ourselves with the armor of God the sword of truth etc etc. to protect us from the Dragons slings and arrows, yet the church thinks its going to disappear into the clouds? What ever for? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 04, 2001.

Many people want their little children to be baptized because of the teaching that you must be born of water and of the spirit to enter into the kingdom of heaven. They therefore worry that should the unthinkable happen and they lost this child, it would not be admitted into heaven, which of course is gross error. Christ also taught that we should become like little children, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. If a child dies before the age of accountability (we believe to be eight years of age), he/she automatically inherits the celestial kingdom of God. ( Christ, by the way, was in no need of baptism at all, but submitted to the ordinance to "fulfill all righteousness" by keeping the commandment and showing an example to us of the way we should follow.) As for the rest of us, there is no doubt in my mind that the faithful followers of Christ will in fact be called upon to endure tribulation, but the Lord has told us that if we are prepared, we shall not fear. For me, that includes being prepared spiritually and temporally, as our prophets have told us for years that we should get our houses in order, and that we should store in "fat" years for the lean.

-- mary, in colorado (marylgarcia@aol.com), June 04, 2001.

Nicely put, Mary. I feel really sad for folks who are taught wrongly about infant baptism....it can be very, very hard on them.

Vicki, I read the scripture you cited and I think that what it's saying in Rev. 9 is only one of the judgements and the length of that particular one is 5 months. But the shortening of the time is definite...or they would be no one left ~period~. Thanks for taking the time to point those out for me. I appreciate it!

(just to show you how silly I am sometimes, I figured out that if a day was as a thousand years the half hour of silence would have been 365,000 hours or 41.666667 years....if John was off by a second it would be catastrophic to this math.)

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), June 05, 2001.

I think this is great that I have found others that believe we shall go through the tribulation...though I have been taught different all my life. Even my children see the elect going through tribulation, which I believe only one tribulation. And the Lord Jesus will come once again the second coming, not a third, and a forth, and people left behind and these left behind get a second chance...I have read nothing like that, the good book says he tarries because the Lord doesn't want any to perish. No second chances, just a second coming, and I can't wait to be put in the barn Matt13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. I have even had fellow Christians say why put up, the Lord won't let us go through that? I feel so sorry what they will say to their children as they explain they were wrong and that they should have prepared, those children will feel as if the Lord had betrayed them, when in all actuality the parents didn't hear and didn't see. I pray people will start doing their own talkin to the Lord and study to make themselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. I can't see how anyone can overlook the fact that the disciples asked the LOrd What shall be the sign of THY COMING and OF THE END OF THE WORLD?! Thats because these two major events happen at the same time. They knew this, from listening to the LOrd they just wanted to know when it was going to happen. 2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of HIS COMING. Even Paul had to tell believers that Jesus wasn't coming until the anti christ was revealed, and he even went as far as to say DONT BE DECEIVED. The LEft Behind series is definately deceiving. I have read all the books except the last few. All in all if you don't get saved before the Lord comes, you have a second chance, how sad people believe this...there is NO SECOND CHance after Jesus comes. Because when he comes, so does destruction.

-- judy (inhishand65@yahoo.com), June 08, 2001.

Yes, Hoot, God is Sovereign. Sometimes I call myself (only tongue in cheek) a "panmillenialist": God is in control and everything will "pan out" in the end. Seriously though:

Vicki, the doctrine of the Rapture is from Thessalonians and the subject IS the church. The writer of the letter is the Apostle Paul and he was writing to the Church at Thessalonica.

While I do believe that we will experience tribulation as the church age nears the end (as believers are in many places in the world now), I do not believe that we will go through the Great Tribulation for "God has not destined us for wrath." The Great Tribulation of Revelation will be a time of God pouring out His wrath on the wickedness of mankind. There will be converts during the Great Tribulation who turn to Christ after the Rapture. I wouldn't call this a very good second chance. Life for Christians during the Tribulation will be literally Hell on Earth. There is no second chance after death for sure ("It is appointed to man once to die, and after that, the judgment"), but nowhere does the Bible teach that there is not a second chance while still living, even after the Rapture. The Rapture is not the Second Coming of Christ. That is when He will return after the seven year Tribulation (Daniel's seventieth week) to put down Antichrist's rebellsion at Armegeddon and establish his 1000 year earthly Kingdom.

End times prophecy is difficult to understand for sure. The prophetic writers themselves did not understand it completely. We have a better vantage point now with so many prophecies being fulfilled in newspapers every day, but so much is unclear, and different views of eschatology is not something that believers should beat each other over the head with. What is more important is to obey the commands of Scripture that we CAN understand: that Christ died as a substitution for us, that we have an inherited sin nature that separates us from God and that without accepting God's gift of salvation through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, we face an eternity of separation from God in Hell.

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), June 10, 2001.

Great message Skip, thanks!

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), June 10, 2001.

I don't know if I have just plum gone and lost my faith or what, but it has taken me several years to be where I am today. And I only have question. The Bible says that God told Noah to build an Ark for his family only and take with him one of each dirty and clean animal with him. And so Noah did. Therefore on, a flood came. Leaving the entire world with water and only one Ark with one family. Now here is the biggest question you probably ever hear anyone ask. The world was flooded, only that family was the family that survived. Where did the rest of us come from? Let's say, Noah and his family were African American. The only people, family, living on Earth. So how did a family of African American's come to produce all races??? Oh another question. Where is the Ark at again??? Bible says the location, but no Ark found in the mountain so far. So was there really ever an Ark or a flood??? And god said this flood was to punish all living creatures for disobeying him. So now that this war is going on, why doesn't he make a flood accure???I am sure today is more tragic than back then. I don't understand. And where did all the others come from when Adam Eve were the first to have a baby? Let's say again. Adam and Eve were white in race. Where did the other races come from. There has already been a scientific fact that we have been produced by cells from outerspace. All our cells match those. So if God created the Universe, would the make God the creater of the cells on the rocks from outerspace, or did we come from Adam and Eve and just appear so quickly in other other races? This is just something I need to know the answer of. I guess I really lost my faith in HIM when my grandpa died. The one who raised me and the only who loved me as a daughter. I am now 17 years old, and he died when I was 11. I want to believe again. I want to be able to pray to him and ask him for guidance. But I can't when I don't believe. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Katy

-- Katy Faulkner (dazyation@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002.

Katy, since you are 17 you are still young, and will learn a lot in the future. I have studied genetics extensively in college, and most geneticists agree that not only is it possible for all humans to have come from one set of genes, it is the most probable theory as well. People carry both dominant and recessive traits. So it is possible for a "black" couple to have a white child. I am sure that if you take the time to study this you will find that genetics is very interesting!

As to the flood, God made a promise not to flood the Earth again, and he always keeps his promises. Many bad things happen in this world,but I truly believe God has a plan for us. It doesn't always make perfect sense to us, but he sees the whole picture and all the pieces fit together in the plan he has, just like a giant jig-saw puzzle.

We all get discouraged and you have had some tough things happen in your life, but there is nothing that happens to you that God doesn't care about, and that you can't handle with his help and by having faith in him. If God is for you, who can be against you?

I hope you can find someone who can help you to understand these things, and if there isn't anyone, just take the time to read the Bible and some other faith based books.

God Bless you!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), February 02, 2002.

These two websites are excellent sources for info with the first link answering your specific question Katy.

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/race-definition.html

http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp

-- Brian (bmcmasters@carolina.rr.com), April 12, 2003.

I have a question. Where in the Bible does it talk about the age of acountability?

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