I cannot understand why true Christians do not share our yearning and excitement for the Rapture. Their loss. As a TRUE born again Christian how can you not? THEEE most important thing to us is Jesus and we WANT to be with Him. I do not understand these supposed "christians" who do not care about seeing His return??? :wacko: Hah! You beat me to it Kent! I’m gonna speculate until Jesus comes and gets us or I go first. What Groom wants a Bride who is blah about His arrival. Besides, looking for His return helps to keep us on the “straight and narrow.” Yes and it also helps us keep our sanity in an upside down evil world. Before my pre-original-RITA Rapture-site days, I had been a christian for years, where the christian churches, groups, seminars, friends and even the mission field ~ christians were aware we would all one day be raptured in the end days that seemed a long way off. It was looked forward to as God's promise, but it was not the major consuming focus in the church then, in my experience. The major focus was loving the Lord, faith, finding and following His will, worship and praise, bible teachings, home groups, interesting biblical conference topics to attend, prayer, intercession, healings, various ministries and outreach to the lost, available step trips (short church group trips to mission fields, and just all things surrounding fellowship in the Lord. Those along the way who became more aware of the rapture, it's meaning and significance, now share that bit of deeper unity in watching and waiting for Jesus call. But it is possible, back then and now, to be about the Lords business every day, by just simply loving Him, His Word, and in following the Holy Spirit's leading's in life. I guess to say, God's will being accomplished by christians, with or without a deep knowledge of the rapture. Though, in these days, these last few years, just the signs alone going on all around, controlling powers, the evil, corruption, suppression and loss of freedoms and life, should be waking up every individual christian to that the end time is near and here! What they have long been aware of, now here and on the horizon! Recognizing it is most definitely the time to grasp and share the end times and rapture with anyone they can for the short time left. I know there are those who intentionally hope the rapture doesn't come now or soon, hoping to first experience their earthly desires here before they go. They don't share about the excitement of the rapture with others because they are running from it themselves. It's like not sharing the whole counsel of God that could/would have added additional hope, light, excitement and life to christians who are/were unaware of reasons to actively watch and wait. God isn't waiting on those christians personal, physical, and experiential desires to be fulfilled. He is only waiting for all the lost to come in who will! How those who are running could have sped up that process! I'm glad we're all hanging together here, waiting and watching, experiencing the excitement of that amazing Hope! I know we have all prayed and done all we could to make so many aware, only to be rejected over and over again, but we're only responsible for the message and not their choices, as much as that breaks our hearts. We have done all we know to do. It seems that the only constant left is prayer. God is pleased! We continue to share as led, trusting in the Lord whose greatest wish is that all men be saved! :bible Very well said, Kolleen. I have some close friends of may years and they absolutely love the Lord. They are regulars at church and are both very active in the church, go on mission trips, hold Bible studies in their home, they live a great example of the fruits of the Spirit in their lives, generous, caring, etc, and yet neither of them want to talk about the Rapture or the end times. It amazes me! My home church growing up focused not only on everyday life messages but were missioned focused with supporting many missionaries and also preached about the rapture about 6 times per year. And the hymns sung thru out the year were often rapture songs of Jesus Coming Again. They also had revival meetings in the spring and the evangelist that often came (still alive and pastoring in another state) would give updates on prophecy news … UPC codes were just coming out and he said this is the mark of the beast system. We were all excited and on the edge of our seat. He even gave out names of who he thought the AC will be. The Late Great Planet Earth book was popular amongst the church members and was passed around. New Years Eve services were games, food and watching Christian movies like “A Theft In The Night” and then having a short encouraging message and having communion and then singing a song as we ring in the new year. Then when the first Gulf War happened and we heard Saddam Hussein was trying to rebuild Babylon … we were on the edge of our seats again thinking the rapture was near. Then they had a Sunday night study series on the book of Revelation … and, unfortunately, I saw a pattern … every time churches study the book of Revelation … that is when a church splits and ours did and so did many of my friends … I asked were they studying the book of Revelation? And they all said yes! The current pastor where I used to attend doesn’t ever preach about the rapture nor does he give the altar call after each service. Its sad how the church went from an active Philadelphia church to becoming a Laodicean church. My nieces both went to the Christian school and church and didn’t know what the rapture was! The Christian school under this “pastor” has shut its doors. Its was shocking to me. All those original active church members from the early days are either in their retirement years living in the Deep South or Midwest or they are up in heaven. I never found a church like it was in those 1970’s - mid 1990’s. I feel fortunate to have experienced it at its best and I miss it. Kolleen, I appreciate your response to Rapture watching. Looking forward to the Rapture should absolutely not exclude the things that you mentioned as a major focus of a church. After reading Late Great Planet Earth in 1970, I have longed for the Rapture and on very rare occasions enjoyed the discussion of prophecy fulfilled and unfulfilled; I recognized early on that I was the exception as far as interest in the Rapture. Then the Holy Spirit led me to you all! The rest is history. With the intensity of these last days, I would be at a loss without you all.
