Ever since I read the Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey when I was 18, I have taken the Pre Trib position. I have met many post tribbers, mid tribbers, pre wrathers, preterists and amillenialists over the years but none of their sophistry or arguments add up. I have read their books and watched their videos but I remain unconvinced. The Pre Trib Rapture is simple and elegant, as it should be. No scripture twisting needed. Indeed! Let us bless the Lord and his holy name! Again an honor, to stand with the likes of you all! Regardless the day! TR My early exposure to the timing of the rapture came from charts by Clarence Larkin. I never really considered the teachings of the mid-trib or post-trib positions until later, when I already had a good foundation against being influenced by it. Preterism asks us to believe that all the prophecies in the New Testament about the end were fulfilled in the early years following Christ being on earth. To accept that, you'd have to think that God has left us in the dark concerning the conclusion of history, and dismiss the "inconvenient" verses which have clearly not yet happened. For example: 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31 Really? The Preterists would argue this does not pertain to a future event? Maybe this is something they would simply allegorize out of existence. No wonder Preterists are small in numbers any more. I started with David Wilkerson's book "The Vision" in the 70's. That lead me to Late Great Planet Earth and I've never held a different view. I was a member of Earl Paulk's Chapel Hill Harvester Church in those days and he preached a pre-trib rapture. My folks still have the entire series on cassette tape! Lol ( for you younger ones, cassette tapes were a medium used to record and store audio. :mdrmdr: ) I've looked into the other views just to be educated on what they believed but I think you've got to be a particularly stubborn person or just like pain and suffering to hold to any other view because of the overwhelming evidence of a pre-trip rapture. When? = is up to Him! Where? = in the clouds! Why? = because He loves us! TR I'm sure I've shared my journey before but it may have been on the old Ritan site and as such I can't find that detailed post. In summary I had what I thought were heart attack symptoms in January 2012 after returning home from visiting with family over Christmas. Being a typical stubborn male I shrugged it off for a few hours until my left arm and leg atarted going numb, then I spent a further hour looking up the symptoms! After biting the bullet and calling an ambulance, I had a realisation that if I were to die that night that there would only be a solitary darkness after and that I would still be alive somehow, just not in my flesh. I had no understanding or desire for "Christianity" even though lot's of my family in Kenya are belivers, from my immediate UK family, only my Mum is a believer. In the ambulance I was being asked questions and had the answers in my head but could not transfer them into words. At the hospital they tested me, and tested me, but did not find the cause of the symptoms, I suspect I had some sort of mini stroke which turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me in my life as it really woke me up! I was discharged the next day after making a full recovery back to normal, despite no conclusion or specific medication and spent the next 9 months trying to prove to myself that God didn't exist, which led me to opening up several big cans of worms. So in my effort to disprove God, I ended up proving that real evil exists in this world by going down various rabbit holes particularly in music, film and politics with the conclusion that the enemy controls the most famous and influential, and that they show their allegiance by their actions, words and "secret"signs of freemasonry aka worship of the enemy. The realisation of evil being real and propogated by the artists, actors and politicians I had previously admired really shocked me, which is when I started investigating Christianity and stumbled upon Pastor JD and the Ritan site. Yes I know, it was a long summary! I've always been a pre-tribber. That's how I was raised and what I was taught. I didn't even know there were people who did NOT believe that way for a long time. I just thought everyone knew... :whistle: But then I learned that not everyone thinks that way. I didn't even know why I thought that way. As with everything else, I always learn the most by studying things from the ground up. So, I did. There isn't any other viable interpretation, and there necessarily wouldn't be because it's a one-time event. I'm just glad God is so gracious He's going to show our skeptic brethren the truth of the matter and take them too, whether they believe in a pre-trib rapture or not. Indeed! Pre-trib most accurately reflects God's heart and character as well! As there could be no other way His love would be demonstrated towards His bride! Again, it's a love story, not a horror story! TR As a kid I was raised in some pretty liberal churches, so I never even heard the word rapture. After I was saved, I happened to watch the late Zola Levitt on TV and it was then that I became a pre trib. rapture believer. And the proofs like in I Thess 4 made the rapture unmistakably clear. I have been saved for as long as I can remember. Followed Jack Van Impe for over 30 years, then found Pastor JD. I have always been Pre-Trib also. I have a personal relationship with Jesus and talk with Him many times a day.
