Shannon, I think that is the answer, because it's not being taught in the churches. I go to a Calvary Chapel church, and we do believe in the rapture, but it isn't taught in the pulpit either.

Actually, the first time I heard of the rapture was watching Jimmy Swaggart in the mid 80's. He talked about it all the time. Much like your experience hearing it through Harold Camping. But it really isn't being taught much in a lot of churches, and I have attended several of them when looking for a home church to settle in.

There is a lot of criticism of televangelists lately, but one of the good things about them is several of them teach and talk about the rapture. But if believers don't watch televangelists on TV or not being taught in the pulpits, how would they know about the rapture if they don't study the Bible on their own or go to Bible studies that teach about the rapture?

I think it is because Pastors and Christians were taught that no man can know the hour of Jesus' coming.
They failed to search the deeper meaning of the word of the Lord therefore no one is watching and searching for the day.
Perhaps they failed to read Revelation 3:3 "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Base on this verse, If we watch and search the Bible, Jesus will not come as a thief to us and we shall know the hour of his coming. Amen!

You shoulda been here in September/October! Watchers everywhere! I believe they are still "out there", but the fire isn't as hot as it was during those months last year, as so many, many signs appeared to be occurring all at the same time. I guess some are "smoldering", still coming and reading posts occasionally, but hopes were dampened when it didn't occur during the feast days last fall. They are still watching, but maybe with one eye on it, the other "occupying til He come".

Short answer is that most folks do not read or study their Bible. If they did, they might learn something.

"Study to show thyself approved under God - a worker that need not be ashamed - rightly dividing the Word"

It seems there will be a lot of shamed Christians when they meet their Lord.

Tracy

When I was 7 or 8 years old my mom read to me Revelations 21-22. I remember being facinated with the depiction of the River of Life and the City made of gold. I remember bouncing on the couch while mom read it to me. I think it is something in our spiritual DNA.

I've also just been reawakened to it this past December. Its a latent thing in some people, God is waking us up!

I got into it because my Dad was into it. He'd heard about the Rapture through the book The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey. Verses he'd never understood as a boy (all eyes of the world shall see the two dead witnesses for three days) he now did (television).

Knowledge and wisdom increasing was of course going to the moon and building rockets.

When it didn't happen in the 70's, my Dad bought the 88 reasons for 1988 book, and then the 1994 book (which I believe was penned by Harold Camping), so I've always *wondered*.

My Dad was convinced he was of the generation. He's 77 now and not in the greatest of health. But even so, knowledge has increased so much MORE since the 70's -- Internet/cell phones/instant information, the more time goes on, the better the odds of the Rapture being right around the corner.

So I got my passion from my father. When the Gulf War happened in '91, I really thought it was time, but of course, I was a young teen and I hadn't studied much other than knowing there would be a big war in the Middle East.

Now that I know so much more about prophecy, it seems so obvious that it has to be soon. But I can't really talk about it with my family/friends, because even though a lot of them are Christian, they don't believe Christ will return for decades or centuries. Their mantra is if no man can know the day nor the hour, why bother watching? Christ will come when He comes.

While it is true Christ will come when He comes, I want to *know* when He'll come, because unlike them, I'm EXCITED to meet my Lord!!! :D

~~Becka

I do know one thing, from my own experience talking with others about the Rapture, and second coming:

Most people don't wanna hear too much about the nearness of WW3, the collapse of everything, the Trib, the second coming, and lastly but most importantly the Rapture.

It is a controversial subject to say the least for most, and nobody except a few are in agreement to the position regarding these subjects here as presented on RitaNow.

Most people, even when shown the scriptures, don't believe in it, don't think it will happen at all in their lifetimes, will happen in a pre-trib and by grace alone, not by any self efforts to attain it.

It also seems to me that being a watcher is indeed a special calling/gift, many are called to it, but few end up doing the job. Its also challenging because those who you love most, don't wanna have anything to do with Jesus, or even if they know him they don't want to know him more (or at least in the way i know him ) or look up to the soon return.

I am a watcher , but even at times i don't want to hear about it, would at times rather to have lived in a simpler, slower and kinder time of history than now. therefore i just cut people a lot of slack, and just lighten up on the whole thing.

Its easy to bemoan how others are not watching, or living a more holy life, its quite another to just focus on what i am called to do, let not my own heart be troubled by what goes on around me or others life/attitudes and to do the next thing God wants me to do.

Jesus washed our feet therefore we ought to wash each others feet, for no servant is above his master.

In the grand scheme of things, not even the rapture will matter, when its all over it will be in the past, the only thing that will count, I think is how we loved, lived and served the Lord, by showing him love and love towards others.

It seems like being a believer, and being a watcher is like being a person who found a gold mine, and the fountain of youth. Then trying to tell others about it, nobody hardly believes it, or they are trying to do things all on their own and want nothing to do with the greatest treasure that was found--and then look at you like you're nuts, a lire or deceived.

Keeping in mind that:

If i speak in tongues of men and angels, do mighty miracles, and know all mysteries, prophecies but have not love, I am nothing.

Leroy

Unfortunately it seems the Church will be like those who missed Christ at his first coming. You would think the one doctrine needing to be understood would be eschatology. Instead there is confusion and that has only one author. With so much confusion it seems people get easily tired and give up trying to understand. It was most disheartening to even see this in Seminary. But do not throw in the towel and join the team of naysayers. Let us all just be careful in our studies and never lose sight of the crown of rejoicing!

The reason I think that there are few watchers is that,people just dont wanna hear this stuff. They would like to think that the rapture is like 50 years into the future, so that they can enjoy what they call "the good life" down here. Everyday, this so-called good life is becoming less and less good for people that dont look to the Blessed Hope. While watchers look for Jesus, we can also enjoy life knowing that the life after this will be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better :)

ybiC

Neko.

Well.... 2011 was a test run just to see who was awake. There was talk in the news, dates and feast that seem to fit the timetable. I too was convinced that this could be the year!I often wonder just how many people are really looking for a soon departure?

Not a day goes by when I don't ask the same question that started this thread.
I'm 51 and grew up in the church. When I was a kid, we were taught about the rapture and Heaven quite a lot. My parents talked about these things all the time at the dinner table, traveling in the car, etc. They were born in the early 20's so you can imagine what they were thinking during Nazi Germany, Israel's statehood in 1948 and the recapture of Jerusalem in 1967. So my parents taught me that the rapture was " any minute". By the time Hal Lindsey came on he scene, it's all we could think about.

So I've been watching since I was about 14 with great anticipation of our blessed hope.

But I have noticed a cycle in the Church regarding this teaching during the last decade or two. There are seasons when the topic was especially "hot" because of world events and because of people like Hal Lindsey. But I believe that many church leaders get afraid of it because even if they teach it well, it still has a tendency to wind up a lot of speculation and date setting. Then, people who are younger in the Lord can get swept up by the excitement and let down by another failed date.

It seems that some churches keep this topic out of the pulpit and confine it to a small Sunday school room where only the die hard Wednesday night crowd will show up for such discussions.

I was a pastor for 15 years or so, and I have to admit, we did not teach it enough and I'm not even sure when we did we taught it correctly.

If I had to do it over again , I would spend much more time on what the Bible actually says about the end of the age, the words of Jesus and His teaching about keeping watch.

The last 18 months have been the most significant time in my life for watching Bible prophecy unfold. I am convinced Jesus' return is very soon. The problem with that phrase is that it sounds cliche, but I think we are so close, it is wrong for people to say he could come back a hundred years from now. When I read my Bible, I cannot rightly come to that conclusion.

So take it from someone who has seen every rapture date theory for the last 50 years....We are now moments away from seeing the King.

Greg

This is a recently posted article by Dr. David R. Reagan from Lamb/Lion Ministries. It has great points of relevancy of why studying prophecy is important.

http://www.lamblion.com/enewsletter1/new_enewsletter_template_120229.html

Why is bible prophecy important?

Although prophecy constitutes almost one-third of the Bible, its importance is constantly downplayed by those who dismiss it as having no practical significance or by those who object to it on the grounds that it is a "fad" that takes people's eyes off Jesus.

A good example of what I'm talking about can be found in the immensely popular best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren.1 He mocks Bible prophecy when he writes, "If you want Jesus to come back sooner, focus on fulfilling your mission, not figuring out prophecy." He then goes on to characterize prophecy as a "distraction" and says that anyone who lets himself get involved in distractions like studying prophecy "is not fit for the kingdom of God."

Such cavalier dismissals of Bible prophecy fly in the face of scriptures like Revelation 19:10 which says that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Thus, if prophecy is properly taught, there is no reason for it to divert anyone's attention away from Jesus. In fact, it should serve to emphasize the centrality of Jesus.

Is prophecy practical? Consider that all the New Testament writers testify to the fact that living with the anticipation of the Lord's return will motivate holy living. What could be more practical than that? Here are some examples:

(Click on above link to continue reading the entire article.)

~Fair Use for Educational and Discussion Purposes~

Hi Perhaps,I am a Michigander as well.
No one wants to hear about it in my life very much either.Most people think I am nuts when I talk about it.They think we will not see Jesus"in this lifetime" and I have also been told REPEATEDLY "we are to go into tribulation for 7 years" etc.I figure oh well,I try over and over to warn people, they won't listen it's not my fault.God knows i try so thats all that matters.

So good to read other peoples experiences, I've been a watcher since the 80's and have never had anyone within church which I can share ideas with. I've had a similar experience to the rest of you, with nobody (inside or outside the church) wants to hear about it!!

As mentioned earlier in this post, the last 18months has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions as the fulfilment of many prophecies and signs pointing toward near future fulfilment of others started happening...

Thank God for the internet, For five doves, and for Ritan!! I may be alone in my world, but it's so good to know that I'm far from alone in my views and in my struggles.

I am 59 and have been a Christian for 35 years. I was taught about the rapture from the pulpit long before I became a Christian. If I am not mistaken, every prophecy that needs to be fulfilled for Christ's return has been fulfilled. There is nothing keeping Him from coming back at any second. Matthew 24:36 says, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." So it stands to reason that when ANY date is predicted for the Rapture, you can be sure it will NOT be that date. If Christ Himself does not know when He's returning, what makes man think he can know when Christ is returning? I don't understand how Christ, being God, cannot know when He'll return, but if we understood everything about God, then I guess we would be omniscient, too. It does say that in the end times, the love of many will grow cold. Look at all the murders everywhere!! I believe that to truly love yourself as God says to love yourself, you have to know Christ as your personal Saviour. If we do not properly love ourselves, how can we truly love anyone else? People have no regard for human life anymore. The world is going to Hell and going fast. The world is in Satan's control until the Millenium. People don't act like Christians because they are not Christians. And even some Christians don't act like Christians. I don't understand how you can not believe something that is in the Bible. It says Christ is coming back and that should be enough said. I think the closer it gets to Christ's return, truth will be taught less and less from most pulpits. I think Christians will have to start pulling together very soon. I look forward to my Saviour's return, sitting down talking for eternity with the One who sacrificed everything for me. As the Gaither song says: "I'm His favorite child and that makes me smile. I'm the center of His delight!" Looking forward to eternity.

I started watching before my children were born. It was a few days after my husband was saved. We were invited to a little Baptist church to watch a film about just before and after the Rapture of the Church. Wow, did I get interested, but had few people to teach me so I was wading through Daniel and Revelation.

I asked my little Daddy who was teaching Sunday School at the time. He was wading through Revelation himself for his class and said come back when he understood it. LOL

Then I found Prophesy in the News with Dr. J. R. Church, and I watched him every week. I miss him so very much, although Gary Stearman is also a very good teacher. I also found a friend from church who lent me books and I hit the bookstores. Isn't the internet nice for research?

By the way, my children are 37 and 31. I am still watching. :)

Unless God is now keeping secrets from himself (which somehow doesn't make sense) then I would guess that Jesus does now know when he's coming back!!

So when Jesus said that he didn't know the day or the hour, only the Father knows, it makes it a time related statement... and there are so many other verses that would point to it not being a surprise for those of us watching.

But even when we do get the date right we won't know until it's happened, so it's kind of true both ways!

Good point HH. When Jesus said that "famous phrase" He was still in the meat, so to speak. Now that He's been in His glorified flesh for the past 2000 or so years together with the Father the question isn't can He know, but rather does He choose to know. I'm not sure what He would pick. I know some parents want to know the gender of their baby, others want a surprise. We never even had an US done for our kids. And we bought several dresses for our son. Oops. Cases to be made for both choices.

I do agree that for the watchers surprise isn't the best word. Maybe exhilaration. Like being on a big roller coaster when you know you're getting ready to make the big drop, and you're hanging over the edge looking down. You're not surprised when it lets go, but it's still an excited shock when it actually happens. For us. Big Surprise for those who aren't even watching.

We know that He is close to us, that He wants to be with us and share eternity with us. I can imagine Him choosing to let only the Father know the moment, and experiencing with us the increasing excitement as the Big Moment approaches quickly, but without being sure about when? I can also imagine Him doing both at once, like Schrodinger's cat. He is God, after all.

It is nice to have Godly pen pals, isn't it. We have members from around the world, so you never know when someone is up to respond. And there is a seemingly unlimited amount of old posts to dig through on teachings, etc. All nicely scripturally sound.