Is Timing Important?

I recently came out of a church that believed strongly in the pre-tribulation rapture. The doctrine was central and in a strange way it went without any questioning. Total blind faith was its greatest strength. 

However I began to ask questions that I could never get a straight answer to such as "what happens to all the children conceived after the rapture?"

Imagine the rapture happens and 10 seconds later a child is conceived (after all the first 3 1/2 years are supposed to be good years). So, at the end of 7 years what you have is a bunch of 6-year-old innocent children that have no hope to make it to Heaven.

Now, in spite of our inability to answer simple questions such as this the doctrine still was not scrutinized in a serious way. We would discuss "how" the rapture would happen but not "if" it would happen. The conclusions we arrived at would often be something to the effect of "well, timing isn't important" or "I'll explain it to you on the way up" or "I'm pan trib" (it will all pan out if we leave it up to God) or some other trite phrase.

Looking back it was the strangest thing, the doctrine made no sense but somehow remained in its lofty place of honor.

It took me nearly a year of study, prayer and meditation before I came to the truth that the pre-tribulation rapture is a lie.

Now I could sit here and beat up the doctrine quite easily but never change anyone's mind. The rapture is so powerful a lie that it has seated itself amongst the most honored truths and it is defended as such.

The difference is that the truths in our lives are not afraid of scrutiny, in fact they welcome it. The lies however will not welcome the same, they will hide themselves.

So let's shine a light on the issue of timing and see who scatters. Is timing even important?

Christians claim it doesn't matter as long as we love Jesus. As long as we explain it to each other on the way up or as long as we are "pan trib" we will be ok. As long as we say timing isn't important and we should spend all our time bringing people to Christ and let God sort out all the messy details.

You may be surprised that Paul tells us differently in 2nd Timothy 2:16-18

"But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."

Apparently Hymenaeus and Philetus were preaching some form of what we call Preterism today and Paul is upset because he knows that "timing" is actually very important. If timing wasn't important why would Paul make such a big deal out of such a small error in timing?

Paul knows that the sign of a true believer is that he will know and understand these things.

So all of our theories about "pan trib" and "I'll explain on the way up" should be tossed out. We should repent of our belief that it isn't important or that we should just focus on getting people saved. It would seem that we don't even know who we are trying to bring others to. We say we love Jesus but what does Jesus tell us?

We read the words of Jesus in John 16:13

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."

Jesus comforts us by saying that the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth and this includes the timing of the resurrection. If you don't know these things then who's spirit do you have and who are you leading others to?

If you hold to the pre-tribulation rapture theory you are in peril. Your timing is off just like Hymenaeus and Philetus of whom Paul says, "their word will eat as doth a canker."

Does the word you preach "eat as doth a canker"? Is that where you want to be spiritually? I don't think so.

So timing is very important. We are told in 1st Thessalonians 5:2-4

"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."

Think about it, what does every pre-trib rapture teacher tell us about the first 3 1/2 years? They say they are looking for peace and safety first then secondly, after the good half is over, the destruction comes.

Unfortunately what they are truly saying is this can't be the tribulation because I haven't been raptured yet. They will say this throughout the entire tribulation (if they live that long) and then suddenly they will find themselves in the midst of the destruction and they shall not escape.

They will not have recognized the tribulation because they believed they had to be raptured before any destruction came. How sad that that day will overtake them as a thief.

Then the scripture says "but ye, are not in darkness" so what does Paul mean by this? He means true believers will know the Day of the Lord, the last day, the resurrection of the righteous dead and he tells us that we will not be surprised by it.

So the ones that know the day are the ones with the Spirit of truth because he shows us all truth and things to come. He doesn't say he will show all truth except for the timing of the resurrection.

Almost everyone I know believes in the pre-tribulation rapture (that alone brings to mind the "broad way" that we are warned about). A good rule of thumb I use concerning truth is to look at what the majority does and then don't do it. Whatever it is. If there is a majority doing it then there is almost 100% chance that it will lead you to Hell and folks you can deny it if you want but the majority of Christians today are following the "broad way" by believing the pre-tribulation rapture.

Many millions are openly walking that road.

May God place the love of the truth in your heart and may it become your one and only refuge.

He is the truth.

Jesus is truth.

Recognizing Evil

Recently I posted an article called "Recognizing the Truth" and from that stream of thought it occurred to me that recognizing the truth also means recognizing evil.

Let me explain. The only way you can have truth is by having a lie to oppose it. The same way light can only exists through the opposing darkness. As strange as it sounds you cannot have light without darkness, you cannot have truth without a lie.

This is not limiting to God or anything of the such but it is simply how He has designed the world to operate. Imagine if there were no darkness, we simply would not perceive the light. If there were no lies we would have no need to seek out the truth because there would be nothing but truth and therefore truth would cease to be truth in our understanding, in effect there would be no more truth.

A physical example is a coin. A coin simply cannot exist with only one side. No matter how thin the coin gets the moment it ceases to have two sides is the very moment that it ceases to exist. Imagine good and evil, truth and lies, and light and darkness as all being two sides of the same coin. Once either side is removed the other ceases to exist. Again this isn't something that places God in a box and limits him. He is the almighty, it is his construct, we are the ones in the box not God.

So, as we see the good we also begin to perceive evil and that is what I would like to discuss now.

If I could ask you, what do you think about when you imagine the Devil? Would you say that you imagine a guy with horns, a goatee, forked tail and red skin sitting on a throne with flames shooting up all around him?

Would you visualize him touting sins such as murders, robberies and adulteries? Well, to be sure, those are all evil but that is evil that is easy to see. Looking behind the veil however, what can we see evil as?

First, the Devil or Lucifer is not an ugly looking guy sitting in Hell on a flaming throne of fire. No, Lucifer is beautiful. His name means "the light bearer". At his creation, he was set as one of God's highest angels and was perfect in all his ways before he fell.

Now when he fell he didn't turn into a red guy with horns, he is still beautiful. (Please don't misunderstand. He can present himself in many forms so this article is not trying to argue that evil cannot ever seem to be ugly.) Evil can manifest in many, many different ways. I simply want to look at one form today, a form that I believe is most deceiving.

Part of why the Devil fell in the first place is because he thought his ways were better than God's ways. God says that He, the I Am, must come first and that all other concerns in your life should become as if you hate them in comparison. The Devil tells us to love the children first, love your family first, love your country first.

Do you see what I am trying to say here?

The Devil doesn't just show up with murders, robberies and adulteries. No, he shows up with what seems like very noble and good ideals. After all who is going to argue against loving your families?

It shouldn't be surprising to us that he does these things. The Bible tells in 2nd Corinthians chapter 14-15:

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

There are many, many people who would tell you that their "family" comes first. There are even more that would say their children come first. This ideal seems so pure, good and wholesome that they would never see anything wrong with it. It seems almost as an absolute good. As I said who would stand against the idea that you should love, and put first, your families, children, country... etc.,

God, that's who.

Now God doesn't want us to hate anyone outright but He does demand that He comes first and everything else comes second and I am not talking about a close second either. I am talking about a distant second, a second that is so far back that it doesn't even register on the same chart. A second place that isn't even in the same race if you can hear that. A second that loses so badly that it garners a form of hatred.

So, when we set the two theories side by side what do we see? On one hand we have someone who is jealous, demanding and controlling. On the other hand we have a guy who tells you to put your children first, love your "families" and love your "country". He might even use the phrase "God, country and family" (as if country and family were somehow a close second and third.)

If you didn't know that we were talking about God and Satan here and you saw this comparison who would you be tempted to follow?

Unfortunately for Satan, God has created everything and he makes the rules. He is worthy of all praise, He is worthy of all honor, He is worthy of all glory. Through him flows all love and goodness and without him there is no love or goodness.

It is strange but by putting Jesus first you actually are putting your families first, children first and country first. If you try to put them first without Christ then they actually end up being last.

Luke 17:33 says "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it."

This quote might not at first seem to follow along with my point but in reality it is the exact same thing. Many people in addition to their love of family, children and country have one remaining thing that they love more than all these.

That thing is themselves.

They lust after money and power for themselves and much of the so-called "love of children" and "love of family" and "love of country" is in reality the "love of your own worthless carcass" which also gets tossed on the dungpile.

So there you have it, your own life is also counted as dung, as if you hate yourself in comparison to your love of God. As Christ's disciple every element of your existence becomes in comparison to God as if you hated it and to those who achieve this (as in the story of Job) they are granted in return, everything.

As it is said "whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it".

Glory to God!

I hope I have helped you see more clearly that the sins we should avoid are not just the big ones but also the seeming "little ones", the ones that are so cleverly constructed that we even believe them to be righteousness.

2nd Timothy 3:12 says "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

Maybe now we can understand better why we suffer those persecutions because when you tell people these things they get mad. Most will not hear it, some will come against you and you will suffer persecution.

May God give us truth and understanding.

A Prison for Your Mind…

Is it possible that you live in a cage that you cannot touch or taste? An invisible cage with bars you cannot see? This cage is defined by your vocabulary in many ways. If we cannot explain or understand something because we ourselves or our neighbors don’t have the proper vocabulary then we become prisoners within our own minds.

If you have ever read the book "Animal Farm" by George Orwell you will remember the scene where the pigs painted the rules on the barn but later when the other animals (that couldn't read well to begin with, if at all) went back to read them they were confused as they seemed different. Actually the pigs had come during the night and added words here and there to change the meaning of the rules.

(If you haven't read "Animal Farm" you don't have any idea what I am talking about of course so don't even try to understand it.)

The point is this is how we are treated in our world today. How do you think it is that we all go down and apply for "drivers" licences and even pay them to get one? When you go to the law books and look up the key words in the "law" you will find that they back up the fact that you have to get your licence, so we all go down and follow the "law". The trick however is that the words have changed meanings in the last 90 or so years since the law was first passed.

The way they got the law passed to begin with was simple. "Driver" simply meant someone who drives commercially such as a taxi driver or truck driver or delivery driver and it made sense to everyone that those who use the roads commercially should pay a fee and get a licence.

Then the trickery began.

Once the law was passed they began changing the meanings of the words such as "driver" which used to mean only commercial drivers to what we know today which is that everyone is a driver and everyone has to get a licence.

Perhaps you think you can read but just like those animals you probably can't. The drivers licence is just a simple example. You are controlled every day by many other legal wording tricks that are just as manipulative but unfortunately it is all your fault because of something called the Maxims of Law.

One of the Maxims says "Let him who wishes to be deceived, be deceived." which basically means if you are not willing to go to the law library and study for six months in order to understand the truth about a law then it is assumed that you are willing to be deceived.

Did you get that? And on top of the six months you spend in the law library you will need to take constant refresher classes to keep up to date of all the new statutes they come up with. Now that's something I know we all have time for isn't it?

(Now you can more plainly see why they feel it is so important to keep you distracted with sports, TV and other junk to waste even more of your precious time.) Because if the people ever woke up to this deception their entire house of deceit would come crashing down on them, but they just laugh. They know we are just a bunch of bumbling, malnourished, flouride drinking idiots that couldn't find their way out of a paper bag much less understand complex lawyer talk.

We stupidly believe our government is controlled by fair and honest people who are only looking out for the benefit of the nation. We believe they use their offices for good and just outcomes that benefit the people but we are deceived.

Now, let's look at a simpler form of the deceit. I say simpler only because it has become so commonplace that even the mention of it seems silly to most people and will get you labeled as someone who "takes it to far".

Anyway, try to imagine living in society today and never using the names of our months or imagine functioning with out using the names of the days of the week on a regular basis? It wouldn't be easy.

This lack of ability is what I mean by the title of this article because it makes up a large portion of that cage in which Satan and the beast system has us all trapped in and we have trouble even seeing it. In fact, it is impossible for many to see it at all. The "driver" issue is much more obvious.

Please allow me to explain.

The Bible tells us in Exodus 23:13

"And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth."

Here God plainly tells us not to mention the name of other gods. Well, the following is a list of names and the false gods these names were meant to honor. Remember, these are names we should not even speak.

Sunday = Sun’s day (Sol "solar" worship)

Monday = Moon’s day (Luna "lunar" worship)

Tuesday = Tīw's Day (Norse god of war)

Wednesday = Woden’s Day (Head god of English heathenism, equated with the Norse god Odin)

Thursday = Thor’s Day (Thor, Norse god of thunder, equated with the Greek god Hercules)

Friday = Frige’s Day (Norse goddess and wife of the god Woden, spinner of the clouds)

Saturday = Saturn’s Day (Roman father-god, also god of agriculture, justice and strength)

January = Janus (the two faced god, the god of the doorway, looking forward and backward at the same time. This is why we always look back at the year past and then look forward to the future year during January 1st celebrations)

March = Mars (Roman god of war)

April = Aprilis (sacred to worshipers of the Roman goddess Venus, it is suggested that Aprilis was originally the month Aphrilis, from her Greek counterpart Aphrodite.)

May = Maia (a Greek goddess of springtime and fertility, accessible only to women)

June = Juno (Roman goddess, Jupiter’s wife)

July = Julius Caesar (renamed for Julius Caesar, who was officially declared a god to be worshipped by the Romans after his death)

August = Augustus Caesar (renamed for Augustus Caesar, who was also officially declared a god and was to be worshipped by Romans after his death.)

Mercury = (Roman messenger god known for his swift travel)

Venus = (Roman goddess of love)

Mars = (Roman god of war)

Jupiter = (Roman god-king and the son of Saturn, equated with the Greek god-king Zeus)

Saturn = (Roman equivalent to the Greek father-god Cronus, father to the god that would become king)

Uranus = (Greek grandfather-god, father to Cronus who gave birth to Zeus, considered to be primordial, having no parents himself.)

Neptune = (Roman god of the sea, brother to Jupiter and Pluto, you may know of his Greek counterpart Poseidon)

Pluto = (Roman god of the underworld, his Greek counterpart is better known as Hades)

So, here we see the cage that Satan has built around each of us. Actually trapping us inside our own minds and also the minds of our neighbors. From the time we were small children we have been under assault.

The world has had us transgressing the law and we didn’t even know it and let’s not pretend that this is not transgression of the law. It is clearly written that we shouldn’t speak these names. However, it is a glorious thing that we are under grace and are forgiven of our transgressions.

We simply have to ask in faith believing and he is just and faithful to forgive us our sins but this doesn’t mean we should willy-nilly disregard the law so that grace may abound.

We really should try to avoid using these names when possible and we should be aware each time we do use them. We should also teach others when we have opportunity so they too can stop giving honor to false gods.

Until Jesus sets up his kingdom we will be in this mess. There is no correcting it. This world is ruled by Satan and this is simply how things are done.

Corruption breeds corruption but we should not be ignorant of the Devil's devices.

Recognizing the Truth

How do we recognize truth? We can begin by asking whether we think Jesus taught in parables so his message would be easier to understand?

Let’s read in Luke 8:10 "And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand."

Did you know that Jesus used parables so many might NOT see and might NOT understand? You see, God gives all understanding and if he doesn’t reveal a thing to us then we can not understand it. We do not figure things out on our own but we often think we do.

We should then better understand how people often become frustrated and angry at the "foolishness" of Christians who "take it too far" because the things of God make no sense to those who God has not revealed it. The world is in this state right now. They cannot understand why we believe because God has blinded their eyes to the truth.

In this vein of thought I began to think about those that don't recognize the truth. You see, to them it all makes sense. They go through life happy-go-lucky chasing money, fame and/or power and they think they have it all figured out.

They never stop to question it and simply laugh at Christians. They live their lives in pride, competing against each other in order to be the "top dog". Feeling proud when they "win a championship" or some other contest. They feel good when their team beats some other team, they shake their fists victoriously at the vanquished. ...dripping with pride ...it makes me sick.

Now, none of us would ever intentionally believe a lie much less defend it as the truth but once a lie is firmly ensconched in our lives we will hold it as tightly as any truth because we are convinced that it is truth.

In effect we act as if we already know all truth. Otherwise we would have already changed our beliefs to reflect the truth had we thought we had been in error. Now, since many of us are not currently in conflict with our exisiting beliefs and since we would never voluntarily believe a lie we are basically claiming we only have truth left. This is demonstrated by our lack of conflict within ourselves.

The problem is none of us ever think we could be deceived into believing a lie. (Note that I am including myself in all these descriptions.)

I recently asked a "Christian" who I sensed was very proud the question "how do you know that you don't know something?" He was immediately offended and claimed that I had just posed a riddle to him, as if it wasn't worthy of an answer. He missed the fact that it is a question that should be carefully considered.

The question reveals rather quickly in us whether we are prone to humbleness or pride. For instance, if you tend to lash out against someone who is telling you something that you don't understand then you are demonstating pride. If, on the other hand, you quietly listen and consider what you are being told then you are demonstrating humbleness.

If you then go on to realize the information is true (after considering it through the scriptures) and you change your beliefs to line up with the newly revealed truth then you are demonstrating humbleness. If again you find it true (or actually refuse to study it further) and instead bull up and push it away then of course you are demonstating pride.

The problem is we do not recognize this as pride. Instead we consider it to be our accurate knowledge that we have learned thoughout life. It will not seem to us to be pride but it will appear as a righteous clinging to things we believe to be true, even a righteous defense of the gospel, but not pride. No way, not us, we cannot be deceived!!

The terrible unfortunate pitfall is our simple inability to humble ourselves. We often realize something to be true and then reject it because it goes against something else we have believed for 30 years. We remember the comforting times when we fellowshipped and rejoiced with others believing ourselves to be in the truth and then suddenly we are confronted with the reality that what we believed was a lie. Our hearts sink as we realize we were not rejoicing in the truth but in a lie and fellowshipping in a lie and we are devastated.

It short circuits our brains and we cannot accept it. We ask how could God bless over such an error? Surely He wouldn't have, after all God would never bless over sin, yet there it is, so many years spent in error, we just cannot hear it. Sadly we will often continue in the lie rather than admit that we could have been so wrong. These lies then become our idols and stumbling blocks that ultimately undermine our relationship with Jesus.

Deception is a hard thing especially when we are deceiving ourselves.

For instance, in Luke 14:25-27 we read "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."

Does it shock you, that you should hate your father, and mother and wife…? What does this mean? It means when we compare our love for God to all our other concerns, even that of our very lives, it is as if we hate them and we would gladly drop each and every one of them rather than forsake Jesus Christ.

How many among us immediately embrace this without a thought and how many of us will say Jesus didn't really mean it that way?

We have read what the Bible says yet many or most of us will continue as we always have loving our families first and claiming that God honors this and claiming that he would never say that we should hate them. Even when these people actively work against the things of God many among us will reject what Jesus said and hold to our so-called "families".

We simply can't believe that we could be so wrong. It is not our nature to visualize ourselves in constant error, instead we assume that we see when in truth we can't.     

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1st Corinthians 10:12

How do we protect ourselves from ourselves? We must recognize that we are as filthy rags and there is no good in us at all. We must read and study the Bible. We must humble ourselves and not turn our false beliefs into idols and stumbling blocks. When we find the truth we must embrace it and hide ourselves in it but when we are shown, through the scriptures, any belief to be false we drop it just as fast.

Deny yourself.

Take up your cross.

Walk that narrow path to life.

...and earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.