What To Do If You Miss The Rapture...

You may or may not believe things I have written about the rapture.  I know it is difficult for some to believe and I will admit that there are some things we simply don’t understand.  There are many interpretations about the End Times events in Bible prophecy.  

The rapture is when Jesus returns to take away the believers - including those who had died - from the earth as He has promised.  

The world will be in total chaos like it has never experienced before.  

So what happens If you are left behind, what happens next?  Is there any hope?  

Here are some things you need to know:

Do NOT take the Mark of the Beast

Under NO circumstance should you take the Mark of the Beast.  There will be no repentance if you choose to take this mark.  

Do not believe the explanations given by the secular media.

This should be no surprise to anyone now.  The media will slant the explanation to whatever they are instructed to do.  Don’t expect to get the truth of what has happened. 

Get rid of your smartphone 

As you can probably understand, your phone will be a way for the government to track you.  

Make sure you have a printed Bible.

If you have never given the Bible much thought before the rapture, you will need a copy so that you will know what is ahead and what to expect.  Don’t trust in digital versions as they could be tracked. 

Leave your home and get away from the cities, especially the big cities.

You must be prepared to “live off the grid” where you can evade those who will seek you out for not taking the mark and your rejection of pledging loyalty to the beast. 

Don’t go to church.

You read this right.  Avoid any church because they will be controlled by the government and will not be a place of refuge for you.  

Prepare a way to get food and find shelter

Once you have realized that you have missed the rapture, gather as much non-perishable food as possible and prepare to leave your home.  

Get a small, self-powered radio. 

If you can’t get the kind you crank by hand, get a battery-operated radio and a good supply of batteries, because you’re going to need to listen. Don’t believe the propaganda, but believe when they tell you about certain events relating to wars and geophysical calamities. You’ll be able to know what will happen next by reading Revelation 6-19.

Can you still become a believer after the rapture?  Yes, but it will be extremely difficult.  Bible prophecy states that there will be 144,000 Jewish evangelists which will be released into the world.  (Rev 7:4)  Even if you become a believer you will face extreme persecution and possibly execution if you refuse to deny Christ.  

Look, I know this isn’t positive news and sounds a bit far fetched but when it happens you will want to know how to survive if you miss the rapture.   

Day One is Here

Well, here we are.

This is the day that most have dreaded and that many have feared. Today is the day that Donald Trump will return as President of the United States of America.

We are not a united country and he is the main reason for that.

What will he do? Will he seriously be a dictator from day one as he said?

There are some rough days ahead of us.

My conviction is that Trump is either the anti-Christ or he will prepare the way for the anti-Christ. I know that sounds pretty wild but that is my feeling.

If you voted for Trump and you are a Christian I wonder why he was your choice as the lesser of two evils. It doesn’t make any sense to me at all. He pandered his way back to power and now that he has the numbers in the House and Senate, he will have unchecked power to do whatever he wants.

I don’t ever want to hear that “he can’t do this” or “he can’t do that” because there is NOTHING he won’t do.

It is truly a sad day for America and beginning of the end.

Martin de Boer, writer and member of the Protestant church in the Netherlands wrote:

"Some of these pastors think that Trump is God’s Anointed as the Persian emperor Cyrus was according to Isaiah 44:28 (“He is my shepherd, and he shall carry out my purpose”) and 45:1 (“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him”). In this view Trump serves a larger divine purpose, even if his behavior is morally despicable, shamelessly deceitful, and patently unlawful. Christian pastors who declare Trump to be God’s chosen vessel are actually playing God, doing what only God has a right to do. Yes, God can use evil to accomplish the good but that is God’s prerogative, not ours. As Christians we have no other calling than to be faithful to the gospel of Christ in word and deed."

It is my hope that I can look back on this blog and be wrong on my convictions about this. It is my concern that America is in trouble and the incoming president is not going to cause any sort of Christian revival that most are expecting. Greed is controlling the direction of our country. Greed is going to be America’s downfall.

The good news in all of this is that God is ultimately in control. Even if things get worse. The endgame will be the fulfillment of God’s purpose. We have to trust that and believe in faith that God will grant us the strength to get through it. Getting through difficult times is never anything we prefer. I am still shaking my head with disbelief that we will have another four years of this nonsense yet here we are.

Yes, we have been through challenging administrations before, but this will be like we’ve never experienced before. Appointments are being made with appointees who are against the very agencies they will be leading. We should all be ready for the difficult days ahead of us.

Here is a passage from Matthew 24 from The Message translation.  (Note:  The term "Son of Man" refers to Jesus Christ):

“If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here’s the Messiah!’ or points, ‘There he is!’ don’t fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and bewitching performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I’ve given you fair warning.  So if they say, ‘Run to the country and see him arrive!’ or, ‘Quick, get downtown, see him come!’ don’t give them the time of day. The Arrival of the Son of Man isn’t something you go to see. He comes like swift lightning to you! Whenever you see crowds gathering, think of carrion vultures circling, moving in, hovering over a rotting carcass. You can be quite sure that it’s not the living Son of Man pulling in those crowds.

God help us all.

Keeping the Flame Burning

There's an old song which was performed by Debby Boone in the 1980s called "Keep the Flame Burning".  The song helped to encourage people in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  

I have had many times when I have become tired and doing my best to keep that flame burning in my own heart.  Believer it or not, I get tired of being a believer.  I'm not going to give up because this is who I am and I've gone too far to give up now but I do get weary.  The seasons of discouragement come and I have to push through it.

It gets discouraging when it seems no one believes in God anymore.  It also gets tiring when nothing is happening in your own life.  I never enjoy the dry spells in my life.  Prayers are prayed but there doesn't seem to be any power in it and nothing changes.  

If you've never experienced these times as a believer then you haven't been a believer for very long.  There is no magic formula or bypass for the times of discouragement or when the "flame" is burning a little dim.  The only way to GET through it is to GO through it.  

Isaiah 40:31 talks about being weary and addresses these times when the flame needs to keep burning.  We are supposed to wait on the Lord to renew our strength and once He renews us we will have renewed energy.  Isaiah describes it as mounting up with wings like eagles.  It means we have to persevere through these times and not give up.  Being a Christian isn't always easy and no where did Jesus say it would be.  

I think the key takeaway from this verse in Isaiah is where he says to "wait" on the Lord.  I think we are tempted to panic during the dry spells in our lives and force the issue.  I don't like waiting but sometimes waiting isn't bad.  The renewed strength comes in many ways.  For me it has come in finding a new song or an encouraging word in some other form.  It always comes if we wait and not panic.

Jesus knew what dry seasons were like too.

40 days.  That's how long He spent in the wilderness Himself. 

And I think a few days is a long time.

I still don't like it.   It stinks to be in the wilderness.  Nothing happening and not knowing when it will end.  Will my "wilderness time" last 40 days?  I certainly hope not.  

Sadly, some people think that when a christian is going through a dry season in their spiritual experience that they have either sinned or they have become slack in some way.  This is not true.  It even happened to some of the Bible heroes.  The prophet Elijah experienced a significant shift from a spiritual high to a deep depression after his dramatic victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel where he had witnessed God's power but later his life was threatened by Queen Jezebel which led him to run in fear and despair.  

The important thing is to stay the course.  Don't panic and don't give into despair when you are going through a dry spell.  Push through it however long it takes.  

I'm down right now but there is no despair and I'm certainly not giving up.  I have been here before.