I hear a new Christian movie hits theaters… I admit Im amped. Im thinking maybe itll be a new badass story of David that plays out like Lord of the Rings, yet actually falls in line with scripture. Or even a new take on Exodus, or the story of Samson or Esther… What do I get to assuage my excitement? Nicolas Cage in Left Behind. (Please excuse me while I do backhand springs). Now Ill be the first to admit I dig Nic Cage. Going all the way back to 8mm, Con-Air, Face Off and The Rock... the guy has delivered some great films. But Left Behind, really? This is the same American religious, non-biblical garbage that had me running from room to room looking for my family as a kid, thinking the rapture came and suddenly I was the only one left. So Ima keep it real for a minute… If youre offended, well, suck it up. This take on Biblical eschatology is nothing more than a twisted misinterpretation of scripture, tied in with years of religiously rooted tradition, to enforce behavior modification on believers... In a nutshell, its just not true, and using fear to somehow ignite faith and love just seems a little backwards to me. Now Im not God but I imagine Hed probably cherish our obedience out of love over our obedience out of fear any day. But thats neither here nor there. To put it bluntly, the fear of the Lord IS the beginning of wisdom… but the fear of religion is the beginning of never truly knowing God. So the question is why do the majority of modern American Christians believe in this idea of a pre-tribulation rapture? Well probably the same reason the majority of Christians spend more time on their iPhones than in their Bibles… Ouch, I know that stung a little, even for me. But the truth is were too lazy to read it for ourselves, so we just take another guys word for it. Then fight that guys doctrine tooth and nail without ever truly knowing for ourselves. This my friends is what one of rationality would call stupidity. Ive spent years studying scripture along side good men who adhere to this thinking, yet Ive never come across one… not one, pastor, preacher, teacher, deacon, missionary, or scholar that can rationally, logically or Biblically line this belief up with scripture. And most those conversations usually end in a heated debate that goes something like Well my daddy… Then thats where I usually come in with Uhhh who cares about your daddy? What does the Bible say? ...And I just lost another 50 Facebook followers! But it all good, dont let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya. So for those of you who either dont have an opinion on the matter, or are open to gaining some knowledge for yourselves instead of believing everything youre taught, I could spend two months breaking this down Biblically but for the sake of keeping it brief Ill use one chapter. Matthew 24. It goes something like this… And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come... For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. IMMEDIATELY AFTER the TRIBULATION of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. THEN two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Theres a lot to be taken from this passage, but on rapture level, (Im sorry but the word rapture is not even in the Bible so I struggle with it) any rational person, studying scripture at face value without a previous religious or doctrinal agenda for nothing other than the sake of learning scripture, can only draw one conclusion. This whole idea of getting raptured before the world goes to shit is unbiblical, its misguided and its dangerous. Why? Because if Jesus gave us this scripture as a warning, as a means to see these events coming and prepare, and we toss that warning, what do we have left? More believers will walk into the tribulation completely oblivious to whats happening all because their whole life Pastor Bubba down at First Baptist Cornfield told them theyd get sucked up into the clouds before anything bad could happen. Believers wake up! Prepare your hearts, your minds, be sober, be vigilant, dont let this time overtake you like a thief in the night. Read the scriptures for yourselves and dont let your hearts be swayed by another mans doctrine. God gave you all the doctrine you need to know in one book, you can read yourself. As for the movie, Im glad to see Hollywood bring something with some substance and faith in it, but overall Im afraid that substance may sway more believers than help them. My advice? You want an adventure? Jump in the word, its the greatest adventure ever told!
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 00:22:16 +0000
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