A 'Sleeper' Doctrine?

What if I was to tell you that, coiled amongst your core Christian beliefs, was a deception powerful enough to cause you to turn your back on God?  A 'sleeper', if you will, awaiting the right time to strike. . .

A lot is said, in the Bible, about the return of Christ.  But nowhere is a 'Rapture' mentioned.  In fact it is a relatively new doctrine, being only a couple of hundred years old, if I remember right.

In fact, if you put aside everything you've ever heard, and read through the New Testament, asking God to teach you and give you understanding, I believe you will come to a very different conclusion than what is currently being taught.

If you are a born again Christian, you do not have to have someone interpret God's word for you.  The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will teach you all things--if you will listen.

Now, I am not saying that so that you will throw aside your teachers, pastor and elders.  I am saying--don't just take ANYONE's word for spiritual matters, but also search the Scriptures yourself and pray for God to lead you in truth.

I am also saying it so that you understand that it is OK for you to do this.  In fact, when the apostle Paul came and taught them, the people of Berea were praised for it!

'Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.'

The passage I paraphrased, about the Holy Spirit teaching you all things, was written by the apostle John to the church at a time when some were teaching false doctrine--so it absolutely applies to this situation.  This was his word to them, to hold onto the truth and abide in God, and the Holy Spirit would keep them grounded in truth and protected from deception. 

Although we have many wonderful pastors and teachers, now more than ever, it is vital that you look to God, not men.  And because of the difficult times ahead, it is critical that your Christian faith is based on what God's Word (the Bible) say to YOU--not what someone tells you God's Word says to you.  Check it out for yourself!  The foundation you lay now will have to support you through the storms that are coming in the days ahead.

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would remind believers of everything he had taught.  (I believe that also covers the whole Bible, not just the 'red letter' words.)  But how can you be reminded of something you do not know?  God's Word is alive.  Study it, know it and, when you need it, He will remind you of just the right verses that apply to your situation.

I said all that because I want to explain what I believe to be true about 'The Rapture' and the return of Christ. And I want you to understand that I am not trying to recruit disciples to myself.  I want you to find the truth, and not just take my word for it. 

This will probably take up more than one post, so I will have to link them together for you when I finish.  I will conclude this one by giving a couple of my reasons for why I don't believe a 'Rapture' comes before The Tribulation.

1. It never made sense to me that Christians all over the world, for the last 2,000+ years, would endure persecution and yet we (American Christians) would expect God to whisk us away when things got difficult.  What arrogance!  We should expect to suffer MORE than they did, because we were endowed with such tremendous blessings from God and we squandered them!   
2. Also, one of the themes I see, throughout the New Testament, is that suffering is a means of purification.  I really don't like that.  I don't like to suffer, nor do I like to see others suffer (if they are 'innocent'--I've got to be honest).  But God sees things from an eternal perspective and He knows that what we go through here on Earth will build the character that we take with us into eternity. 

These are a couple of the ideas that got me digging deeper to find the truth.  I want to continue on this topic, in a new post, by taking the time to present the verses from God's Word that I believe support my position.



Just Another 'Blue Light Special'?
Deathbed Conversions

He Sent A Rainbow Made of Corn

I spend a lot of time thanking God for small things, as I go through my day.  That's the way it is between Him and me.  I share with Him all the things in my life, big and little.

I'll be the first to confess--I can't sit down and have a scheduled prayer time.  I just can't do it.  I don't know why.  It's just a very negative thing for me, to sit still for a certain length of time and have to pray whether my heart and mind are there or not.

I prefer instead to try to stay in constant contact with God--like you would with a partner.  You may sit together in the same room and not talk--or you may have a great conversation!  But, either way, you are enveloped in the companionship you share, and you are well aware of the other's presence. 

When I read about Enoch (his story is just a short paragraph) one sentence came alive for me:

'Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.'

This verse made me hungry to live that way! I think I live as Enoch did--just conscious of, and present with God always.  It's as if we're taking a walk together.

So, anyhow, little things . . . and thankfulness.

I grew some corn this summer, to save some for seed and to save some to eat.  (I think it's a good time to put some food aside.)

As a teenager, I went to West Virginia to live, alone, deep in the heart of the state.  As it turned out (what was I thinking?!), I needed quite a bit of help to get by!.  You can't just pack your car and take off with your dog to live deep in the mountains without any money or supplies to speak of, with no 'know how', and not knowing a soul! It was a journey of faith, I guess.  Many kind folks helped me out and I learned a lot.  I lived a fairly 'old fashioned' life (no electricity, a well in the yard, later a wringer washer, etc.) and I learned a lot of post-Depression values.  So, psychologically, I know how it is to live 'a life of deprivation' as some would call it.

With that in mind, and believing such days are fast approaching, I had chosen some very pretty corn--'Oaxacan Green'.  I knew it would cheer me up, when food was scarce and I was limited to a rather 'boring' diet.  In fact, I would look forward to eating food made with cornmeal from my beautiful green corn!

Well, it has just gotten to where I can pick it and, as I started shucking the ears, I was quite surprised!  Very little of this corn actually looked like what I had planted!  Instead, I had been blessed with corn in my favorite colors-many shades of green, turquoise, blues and purple!  I thank God often for it, when I look at it hanging up to dry. I'm not calling it a miracle-- I know enough about plants to understand how these things happen.  But I am calling it a gift, because it happened for me and it made me happy.

And yesterday, the pièce de résistance: an ear of corn that seems to contain every shimmering color of a pastel rainbow!!  I think it is one of the most beautiful, natural things I have ever seen!  I thank God a lot for it too.  It's like He's telling me He was thinking of me, and He's going to be right there with me when things get tough!  When the time comes to eat that corn, I'll remember that!

It may seem like silly stuff,  but thankfulness is a powerful way to guard your heart! 

I have to believe that Satan was not thankful.  His sin was pride, but I think in order for someone to become prideful, thankfulness first makes an exit. 

The Bible tells us that in the last days, one of the characteristics of people will be that they are ungrateful.  It also talks about people who God 'gave over to a depraved mind', and lists many characteristics of their wickedness.  According to that passage, the root of it all was that ' . . . although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him . . .'

And, one of the repeated problems with the fledgling Nation of Israel, as they made their exodus from Egypt through the desert, was that they repeatedly turned to grumbling and murmuring.  This was ungratefulness put to words--and it really roiled God's temper.  He had just done awesome and amazing things for them, to release them from slavery--slavery!  It doesn't get much worse than that--and yet they were busy focusing on what they didn't have!

Granted, if we were in their shoes, we probably would too.  If we aren't disciplined in our minds and hearts, we all tend to do the same thing!!  It's nice to have their story as a lesson so that we don't.

I've been a Christian for more than 25 years now.  As a young Christian, struggling to overcome sinful behaviors, I remember a more mature Christian telling me that they didn't really struggle with things like that as much anymore--that, instead, they found themself struggling more with their attitudes.  I was kind of amazed, but now I can relate.

If you don't already know--what you DO comes from what you think.  What you spend your time thinking about will almost inevitably lead to your doing it someday. The battle over sin begins in your heart and mind.  That's the place to focus your energies on being disciplined.  That's the place where you need to let God live. 

Guard your heart!!  Thankfulness is a great way to begin!!