Ok this is bugging me. Somehow lately I have talked to several people and got on the subject of the rapture. What is puzzling to me is every person I talked with has a different belief as to what it is.....My personal belief is that the rapture (at least what I understand it to be) is not a scriptural teaching at all, but an interpretation made by many churches of certain scriptures they can't explain. I'm not looking to bash anyone's belief, but I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on the subject (what exactly is it, is it real etc)
I don't have a detailed explanation since I'm walking into the office. But what does scripture day about it? Forget what man and doctrine sah . what does God say in the Bible? Take a look at Revelation and pray for an ear to hear and a mind to understand.
it takes far more faith to be a atheist then it does to be a believer.. If I am right by the teachings of the bible it is gonna be awesome. If I am wrong at least I lead a good life and at the end I am just dead... If an atheist is wrong and and there is a God,well that is another story.. As far as the Rapture goes I do not have my own interpretation I deffer to the bible. I will also not attend a church where the pastor has his own interpretation of the rapture or anything else in the bible[Joel Osteen].. As far as the bible goes once you get past all the miracles it's just a great guide on how to live your life.. so whether you believe or not thats up to you.. As far as fear mongering that may have been true with the God of the old testament, but when Jesus died on the cross for us the fear was removed and replaced with grace.. sorry never have been good at witnessing..
In the Bible, Revelations was written by John, and it was inspired through his first hand account. God gave him vision of what will happen during the rapture and he wrote it down. Revelations is NOT some church fear doctrine like stated above. If you want to listen to a really good hour long walk-through of Revelation, I recommend listening to John MacArthur's sermon on it: A Jet Tour Through Revelation Those who don't believe in God or the Bible don't have to believe it, but the Bible certainly wasn't written by a church or group of fear mongering monks, it was written by those who walked with Jesus - his friends and disciples. Whether Jesus was who he said he was is up to your faith to believe him and everyone has that option, but there is non-religious proof and documentation that he was a real man as also noted in the Bible. So whether he existed or not is not up for debate, it's whether you believe in what the Bible says about him.
Mark 13:26-27King James Version (KJV) 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. As said above always go back to the word and dont depend on man, still would be a good study to get into. My church has never really teached anything on the rapture mainly because people will get confused on it and they have there own strong opinions on it. What we teach is all you need, to be when the rapture comes around and thats have a Personal Relationship with God!
I don't think that God, Budda, or any other higher power would object to a person who seeks their own truth. Not believing men that preach for $ is not a sin, pretending or believing that one is more enlightened is far worse than meditating on what one can do to live a life of faith.
I wouldn't try to think for God or higher being or think that you know what they want or would object to. You are certainly able to have your own opinion and choose to believe or not believe in it, but don't make false claims about the Bible and the Christain God if you don't know. I'm not trying to be rude here, but I really get annoyed when people who don't believe, have no faith, or don't study the Bible speak on it's behalf (God's behalf) or make false claims about it. Claiming Revelation was written by fear mongers is nonesense when it's documented who it was written by and he states how he wrote what he did.
I was not questioning what was written in the bible, I was questioning the preachers or profits who interpret it to suit their needs, desires etc. I will not give credibility to anyone who believes in absolutes who says their faith or interpretation is the only truth. It was said that an atheist has to have strong faith, and if he is wrong what is the price to pay. Is that worse than a person with absolute beliefs that condems a faith because it is based on another book or set of beliefs.
I will also add more and scientist are getting on board with God there is so much even they can't explain so many are acknowledging that God and Science can coexist..
Well my belief in God and the Bible is absolute and the Bible teaches that it is the only truth, so I guess we are done here. Good thing is, we are all given free choice to believe or not believe in whatever we want.
^ Yes, I have to agree with Hooker on that. From what I was taught, having a "just in case" insurance policy on your soul and eternity is the worst reason to have faith. You have to believe it and have absolute faith.
In regards to the occasion and purpose of the book of Revelation, John wrote that these things would shortly come to pass (Revelation 22:20)(Revelation 1:3). Makes no sense to write a 2,000 year old letter to seven churches that would have nothing to do with them. Had a guy tell me once the mark of the beast was computers. You mean to tell me John wrote 2,000 years ago to warn the first century Christians about computers? John was exiled on the Island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9). Keep mind this was under the reign of the Roman Empire where there would be Christian persecution under Domitian and Nero. It would be kind of difficult to write a letter warning people about the Roman Empire when you were in their custody. But if you used symbols, metaphors and symbolic language to cover who you are talking about, that mimicked language used in Ezekiel and Danial, then a Christian with a Jewish background could more easily understand what you are writing.
Plain and simple if you dont believe in the bible or God then you wont understand any of the teachings in it. God gives us the Holy spirit which we hear and understand it is Gods voice to us, but this was only given to us after church died for us on the cross. All the teaching came from Gods voice, presence, and Jesus. Our faith is that we know all, trust all, and believe all that is written. We have to not only believe but live it out also. If you simply dont believe its ok thats your choice and we will not come down on you for that. Paul was a non-believer at one time to, we just hope and pray for all on this earth that God opens your heart one day.
