Tag: Rapture

IMMEDIATELY AFTER

An argument against the belief that the rapture occurs before the tribulation, citing Paul, Jesus, and John as witnesses to the contrary. Paul states the dead in Christ rise first, while Jesus specifies the elect are gathered immediately after the tribulation, and John confirms this resurrection follows the tribulation.

You disagree with Paul, Jesus, and John and say that the rapture happens before the tribulation???

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.”

The dead in Christ MUST rise first.
When do the dead in Christ rise?

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days:

The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not shed its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the celestial powers will be shaken.

30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Jesus says that the elect of God will be raised, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…”

In Revelation 20, after the tribulation, John sees the resurrection of the elect and he writes,
“They (the elect) came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

So Paul says that the Dead in Christ are raised before the rapture. Jesus says that the elect are raised “after the tribulation”. John, after the tribulation, at the return of Jesus, says that he sees the elect raised from the dead. He tells us that “THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION”.

You disagree with Paul, Jesus, and John and say that the rapture happens before the tribulation…

Wow… Who am I to believe?????

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

ON THE PRETRIB RAPTURE

This post discusses the belief in resurrection and the return of Christ, contrasting scriptural references from Paul, Jesus, and John about the order of resurrection and rapture. It challenges the PreTribulation position, arguing that this belief lacks direct scriptural support and emphasizes relying on contextual interpretation rather than selective readings.

  1. Paul wrote that we who remain alive shall not precede those who have died in Christ.
  2. Jesus said that the dead will be raised “after the tribulation.”
  3. John, in the book of revelation places “the first resurrection” after the tribulation.

1 Thessalonians 4:

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,[d] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first.

 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Matthew 24:

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after the tribulation

of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and

they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Revelation 20:

4 (…) They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.

This is the first resurrection. 

So, the PreTrib believer denies that saying that yes, that is true, but we know there is a secret resurrection and the rapture before the first resurrection and before the tribulation…

Pushed for Scriptural proof, they provide selected verses (and pieces of verses) from the above quoted passages and add a bunch of verses that say God is good… When someone points out that none of the verses they have trimmed, reinterpreted and quoted without context actually say that there will be a PreTrib rapture, they tell us that we must read between the lines and understand that while God never said so, He certainly implied that the rapture would happen before the tribulation…

And then, they question our Christianity, our faith, and our sanity because we lack the gnosis needed in order to believe in a PreTrib Rapture…

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

Why the Pretrib Rapture Fairytale?

Western Christians fear the Tribulation in ways that would baffle a Christian suffering persecution in the real world…

WHY AND HOW?

For many years, a very real website offered $5,000 US to anyone in the world who could produce a Scripture that spoke of a Pretrib Rapture. After more than a decade, they shut down the page with their money still in their pockets.

For almost as many years, I have asked for the same Scripture. I have received many Scriptures from people who told me that they were the answer to my request. Most of the Scriptures spoke to the goodness of God and a couple, at least on the surface, out of context and cleverly misinterpreted, almost seemed to support the idea…

Of course, when you read the paragraph before that verse and the paragraph after that verse, it becomes quite obvious that it says no such thing…

I cannot count the number of people who have told me that if I understood that God is good, the Tribulation is bad, and that we will follow the dead and ascend to meet Christ at his return… even though God never really spoke of a PreTrib Rapture, I would understand that He really meant to but that it somehow escaped his attention…

How did Satan sell this childish and silly doctrine? He gave the idea to a Jesuit Priest, who, writing under a pen name and pretending to be a converted Jew, put it in a book, written in Latin.

He then got a copy of the book into the hands of the very first Pentecostal preacher in England, who translated it into English and fell in love with the idea.

He then sent two Americans to England, C. I. Scofield, a would be Bible scholar, and D. L. Moody, an uneducated shoe salesman turned Evangelist.

Scofield twisted the Scripture and put the idea of a pretrib rapture in his Study Bible as if it were Bible truth.

D. L. Moody put it into his sermons, and terrified sinners flooded the altars… Suddenly, he was the most famous Evangelist in America. When pastors and other evangelists saw the numbers, they bought the doctrine… Biblical or not, it filled the pews and the offering plates…

More than that, sinners, terrified that they might be caught sinning at Christ’s sudden return and face the Tribulation, caught the dream…

Fear and wishful thinking are powerful motivational tools… Ask any evangelist…

It also helped that Christians in America had faced no (zero) persecution in several centuries… You fear what you do not know… You fear the Tribulation in ways that would baffle a Christian suffering persecution in the real world…

But that begs the question, why?

Very, very simple… If you can sell the church on the idea that they will escape the Tribulation, they will stumble into the Tribulation, frightened and unprepared… The chances that they will accept and worship the Antichrist and take his mark are increased ten thousand fold… You can rob God Almighty of the souls of the people He died to save…

When Americans tell me about the rapture, they tell me how bad the Tribulation will be. They might even suffer and be forced to die for Jesus!!!!! A loving God would never allow an American Christian to suffer like that! Yes, Paul and so many more suffered and died for Jesus… BUT THEY WEREN’T AMERICANS!!!!!

JESUS IS NOT RETURNING FOR A SINFUL, NASTY, UGLY, MESSED UP BRIDE, A BRIDE CONVINCED THAT HE DIED TO MAKE THEM RICH, HEALTHY AND COMFY IN BABYLON!!!!

BRIDE, MEET THE REFINERS FIRE!

DO NOT BE FOOLED…

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

The Weight of Fear and Wishful Thinking

The PreTrib Rapture doctrine has not only the full power of Hell behind it but the immense weight of fear and wishful thinking…

Some of you believe in a pretrib rapture. if so, what do you do with this scripture?

But in those days AFTER that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory Then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.

(Mark 13:24-27)

In Matthew 24, the Disciples asked Jesus “What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” It was in that context (context is everything) that Jesus answered:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

(Matthew 24:9-14)

Who is the “you” of whom He speaks? Those who see the signs of His coming and the end of the age!

Writing:

“NOW CONCERNING the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and OUR BEING GATHERED TO HIM:” Paul says, “DON’T LET ANYONE DECEIVE YOU in any way. FOR THAT DAY WILL NOT COME UNLESS the apostasy comes first and THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED, the son of destruction.”

2 Thessalonians 2

“That day” is the day we are gathered to Jesus!!!

The PreTrib Rapture doctrine has not only the full power of Hell behind it but the immense weight of fear and wishful thinking…

The PreTrib Rapture doctrine has not only the full power of Hell behind it but the immense weight of fear and wishful thinking… No one wants to go through the Tribulation. We do not like to suffer, and we do not want to die… When Hell dropped that heresy on the Church, it had a winner. Whether Scripture supports it or not, the shear weight of fear coupled with wishful thinking will force the eisegesis… Masters of theology took it upon themselves to twist and warp the Scripture until it agreed to relieve their fears and fulfill their innermost desires…

Think about it…

David…

And the Rapture is on…

Tribulation is a promise of God, straight from the lips of Jesus Christ!!

In Matthew 24, the Disciples asked Jesus “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” In that context, speaking of the signs of His coming and of the end of the age… The day in which we live, Jesus answered them, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.”

Tribulation is a promise of God, straight from the lips of Jesus Christ!

Find me one Scripture, any Scripture that says that the rapture will be pretrib. Pretribbers list a hundred or more Scriptures together (not one of which says that the Rapture is pretrib) and tell us that, if we could read between the lines, we would understand that, although God never actually said that the Rapture happens before the Tribulation, that is only an oversight and He really meant to…

Yes, I saw the movie… The Rapture must happen before any American Christians have to suffer!!!

Wishful Thinking Does Not Make Good Doctrine…

The PreTrib Rapture is the biggest, and quite likely the deadliest Hoax ever to be foisted on the Church of Jesus Christ… Those who have believed it, are not watching because there is, in their minds, nothing to watch for… We are going to be out of here before any of that stuff the Bible takes so much trouble to warn us about happens anyway! If we aren’t going to be here, why watch?

This has opened the Pretribbers to deception, delusion and the fires of Hell…

2 Thessalonians 2:1 NOW CONCERNING the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and OUR BEING GATHERED TO HIM: We ask you, brothers, 2 not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. 3 DON’T LET ANYONE DECEIVE YOU in any way. FOR THAT DAY WILL NOT COME UNLESS the apostasy comes first and THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.


NOW CONCERNING… OUR BEING GATHERED TO HIM… DON’T LET ANYONE DECEIVE YOU… FOR THAT DAY WILL NOT COME UNLESS… THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS IS REVEALED, the son of destruction. 4 He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.


…Are you deceived?

…Are you a deceiver?

David…

YOUR SECURITY BLANKET IS ON FIRE!

“FEMA Camps, with 5,000 beds are going to be taking in a thousand people a day. You will see them going in, but the only thing coming out will be refrigerated meat trucks…”

And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)

The market continues to crash as I write this. Last Friday was the worst single day loss of paper money in history. According to S&P analyst Howard Silverblatt, worldwide markets hemorrhaged more than $2 trillion in paper wealth on Friday, according to data from S&P Global, the worst on record. For context, that figure eclipsed the whipsaw trading sessions of the 2008 financial crisis. The prior one day sell-off record was $1.9 trillion back in September of 2008, Silverblatt noted. According to S&P’s Broad Market Index, combined market capitalization is currently worth nearly $42 trillion. (CNN)

This crash came exactly 7 years, 7 months, 7 weeks and 7 days after the crash of 2008. If you believe that that was by accident, enjoy your stay at the Funny Farm. We are in the first days of a planned crash that is destined to collapse all of the world’s currencies and allow for the United Nations, to issue a cashless, one world currency, issued by a single world bank. Without the mark, you will not be able to buy or sell.

With the understanding that I am human and not infallible, what I am sharing here is what I now believe with all my heart. I could be wrong, of course, but listen up, this is the way I see things today.

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials… (James 1:2)

I am going to guess that by October, we will have riots and civil war. That part of the nation that Washington can control will be under Martial Law. There will be no Election but, somehow a President will be appointed. If Donald Trump should lose, millions will rally around him and he will become the spiritual leader of an armed rebellion. There are articles circulating this morning saying that cessationist groups in both California and Texas have been inspired by Brexit… The end of the world, as we know it, is at hand.

Many suspect that Obama will attempt to use the crisis to remain in power. I believe that, while he might do that for a while, he will eventually appoint his successor and leave to assume the position of Secretary General of the United Nations.

Whatever happens from now on, we are in the middle of it. Neither the EU, the UK nor the USA are ever going to recover. If you identify as an American, your whole world just got zapped and your identity is crushed. If you are a Christian, a citizen of the Kingdom of God, a pilgrim wandering in a foreign land, nothing has changed but life is about to get much more difficult. Neither your job nor your bank account are going to survive this. If God Almighty does not provide for you supernaturally, you are going to die. Have faith… you are going to need it!

FEMA Camps, with 5,000 beds are going to be taking in a thousand people a day. You will see them going in, but the only thing coming out will be refrigerated meat trucks… Stay clear.

This is where I am going to get prophetic without claiming that this is the Word of God, or that it is infallible. I am not going to start out by saying, “Thus saith the Lord…” I am going to say that, before God, based on all that I have studied and all that I feel in my heart and see in my spirit, this is what I believe is happening and what is going to happen. While others have said some of these things, I am not quoting anyone or claiming anyone else as an authority who will back up what I say…  This is me and I alone am responsible for what I write here.

I believe that Pope Francis is the False Prophet of Scripture. I believe that he will call down fire from Heaven and establish his authority as one sent from God. He has already been credited with miracles. He handled a vial full of the dry and powdered blood of a “Saint”. When he handled it and gave it back to the Priest who brought it, it had become liquid blood. This was witnessed by many and published widely. I believe that this started in 2012 when Benedict was deposed and Francis selected. In September of 2015, between the end of the Shemitah and the last of the blood moons, he stood in front of the largest gathering of heads of state ever assembled, and uttered the words, “In my own name…”, he was revealed to both Luciferian and Christian as the False Prophet.

I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.(John 5:43)

Francis is trying to appear as a man of peace but at the same time, he is pushing for a Holy War, a Crusade against ISIS. He fits the pattern. I am convinced that he is the False Prophet of Scripture.

I believe that Barrack Obama is the coming Antichrist, the Islamic Mahdi and the false Messiah the Rabbis in Israel are expecting. I believe that, as America burns, the United Nations is going to move to their new headquarters in Baghdad. This Embassy, in a small country with no tourism, is the largest embassy compound in the world, staffed by some 15,000 people. I believe that it was constructed to be the post America headquarters of the United Nations. I believe that Obama will be welcomed as the Mahdi, credited with being the one who brought down that “Great Satan,” the United States of America. I believe that He will work out the greatest Peace Treaty in the history of mankind… uniting Sunni, Shia and Jew together in a peaceful unity that will be of mutual benefit to all. The Jews will get a Temple, the Vatican will get sovereignty over Jerusalem, the Palestinians will get a State. The mystic Rabbis in Israel will proclaim him Messiah. The Muslims will pronounce him the Mahdi / 12th Imam, and the world will hail him as a hero, worthy of worship and a worthy leader of the whole world.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

About the same time, (and I do not have a strict timeline) our Alien Savior and the Aliens (read demons) will arrive. Demons, led by the Angel of the Abyss, will ascend out of the pit. Nephilim will appear on earth. Everything that all of the alien movies have prepared us for is going to start happening in front of our eyes. The youth of the world will look upon the deception in wide eyed wonder and welcome the enemy with open arms.

At that time, Obama will be killed and his soul will descend into Hell. I believe that, three days after the assassination, the Pope will pray for him in the name of our Alien Savior. the spirit of Apollyon will enter and regenerate his body and that the whole world will witness the “resurrection.” From that moment on, Obama will rule as Jesus, the seed of the serpent — the son of Satan. This resurrected “Jesus” will explain the “truth” in such a way that all but the Elect of God will be deceived.

At that point, we will have the unholy trinity. The Alien Savior (Satan) as the Father, the seed of Satan, incarnate in the body of Obama, as the son, and Francis as the spirit, or False Prophet.

Shining morning star,
how you have fallen from the heavens!
You destroyer of nations,
you have been cut down to the ground.
You said to yourself:
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will set up my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of the gods’ assembly,
in the remotest parts of the North.
I will ascend above the highest clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you will be brought down to Sheol
into the deepest regions of the Pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

If this scares you… Great! I have the answer… Get right with God now!

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11) 

David…

MARTYRDOM

They were stoning Stephen as he called out: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin!” And saying this, he fell asleep.

I am not frightened nor is anyone I know who believes in a mid-trib or post-trib rapture.

I am excited… we are excited. We have full faith in God that He will be with us and in us through whatever happens:
• He will fully protect us from tribulation when He finds that to be useful to the cause.
• If we suffer hunger, thirst or deprivation, He will be with us… strengthening us and empowering us.
• If we are to die, He will be with us and we will die with utter and unshakable peace in our hearts and minds… and we will go on to great glory with him.
• There is a special place in Heaven for those who lose their heads for the Gospel.

When God called Paul, He said:

“I WILL SHOW HIM HOW MUCH HE MUST SUFFER FOR MY NAME!” (Acts 9:16)

Paul would write:

“But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings,
BEING CONFORMED TO HIS DEATH,
assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.” (Philippians 3:7-11)

God is not so small or so limited that He must Rapture us in order to protect us. He is big enough to go with us. There is no fear in Love for Love casts out all fear. The Love of Christ constrains us and casts out all fear. God loves me. I love God. There is no fear.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah
have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers
has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.
They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,

>>FOR THEY DID NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES
IN THE FACE OF DEATH.<<
(Revelation 12:10,11)

THE GREEK WORD FOR Witness/Testify IS MARTYR. “This high commitment to witness/testify exemplified by Christ resulted in His persecution and death. Likewise, with His followers there would be persecution for their witness (John 15:20 ). Thus, early in the Book of Acts (Acts 7:1 ), Stephen became the first martyr. That very word comes from martureo and really states that Stephen was first and foremost a witness, giving testimony. Ironically, the witness was put to death by witnesses to his testimony ( Acts 7:58 ).

The death of Stephen serves as a stark reminder that true and faithful testimony to Christ requires total commitment, even one’s life.”

David…

TRIBBERS

Jesus is waiting to see who wins…

  • People, of every Trib Persuasion, can “prove” that they are right…

  • They can all “prove” that the others are all wrong.

  • They all inform us that “If we really understood the Bible, we would KNOW they were right!”

  • The only people who believe their “proof” are the people who already believe what they are trying to “prove”.

  • They really impress themselves…

  • It is all the people, outside of their little click, who do not see any rationality whatsoever in their “proof”.

  • And so we go round, and round, and round, each convinced that his eisegesis is better than the other guy’s eisegesis…

  • Ad nauseum.

David…

 

THE REAL HISTORY OF THE PRETRIBULATIONAL DOCTRINE

Our American Pretrib doctrine started with a Jesuit Priest, writing under Jewish pen name, through the founder of the Plymouth Brethren in England to Dwight L. Moody, a shoe salesman turned Sunday School Teacher, turned Evangelist.

“The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty” by Ben Ezra, is the origin of the Pretribulational doctrine in the modern church. ‘Ben Ezra’ is the pseudonym for a Roman Jesuit priest named Manuel (sometimes Emmanuel) de Lacunza (1731 – 1801). The pseudonym may have been a way of making the work acceptable to Jewish readers and diverting attention from the station of the author.

This is the first mention of the doctrine, outside of a few obscure references from the writings of the Church Fathers. Prior to this book, there was a brief introduction to the subject by another Jesuit, a man named Rivera, who was heavily involved in the Spanish Inquisition. Prior to that, there is no reference to the Rapture being before the Tribulation in either Catholic or Protestant literature. Some will object that it was taught by the Church Fathers but Lacunza took a collection of less than ten sentences, from as many authors, and developed it into a six hundred page book.

The book was taken to England, where it was translated by a man named Edward Irving, a minister of the Church of Scotland. It was Irving’s translation, available here, that fell into the hands of John Nelson Darby, the founder of a sect called the Plymouth Brethren. Darby was fascinated by this book, originally believing that it was written by a converted Jew. The ideas overtook him and consumed his life. His doctrine was changed forever and his writings are the foundation of Dispensationalism and the Pretrib Rapture in the English speaking world.

From a different angle, a young girl from Scotland, Margaret MacDonald, a very early Pentecostal and follower of Irving, had a vision of a secret rapture where those “Baptized in the Spirit” were taken out of the world prior to the Tribulation. This vision established the Pre-Trib Rapture as a solid doctrine in Pentecostal Churches. John Darby would later meet Ms. MacDonald and they would compare notes. There is no doubt that her vision served to cement the doctrine in the mind and heart of John Nelson Darby.

In 1867, an American Evangelist by the name of Dwight L. Moody visited England. It was there that he met Darby, who taught him the basics of dispensationalism, including the idea of a Pretribulational Rapture. Moody came home, thrilled with his newfound doctrine. He did not have the theological background to understand all of the implications of Dispensationalism, but as an Evangelist, he could not miss the implications of the teaching that Jesus could return at any time.

Soon after, Darby made a trip to the United States. While in the States, he met a theologian named C. I. Scofield. Scofield went on to publish his annotated Bible, which became the standard for American Protestants and Evangelicals for  a hundred years. In the Scofield Reference Bible, the Jesuit doctrine of Rivera, Lacunza, Darby, McDonald, Moody and Scofield is presented as Gospel Truth and established fact. This despite the fact that Scofield’s fellow theologians begged him not to do it and at least one member of his editorial staff resigned over the issue.

The Doctrine was almost instantly picked up by every evangelist in America… The idea that Jesus could return at any minute, scared the Hell out of sinners who flooded the altars and the offering plates. It was about to die out, having lost its shock value in a world that did not believe in God anyway. Then came the Left Behind books and movies. Suddenly, the Christian world was on fire with the doctrine of a Pre Tribulation Rapture… Suddenly, the whole world was staring at the clouds.

Our American Pretrib doctrine started with a Jesuit Priest, writing under Jewish pen name, through the founder of the Plymouth Brethren in England to Dwight L. Moody, a shoe salesman turned Sunday School Teacher, turned Evangelist. (Moody had no formal Bible training.) Moody brought it back to the United States… From there, it was spread by the graduates of Moody Bible Institute and throughout the Evangelical Churches. It was reinforced by the notes in the Scofield Bible, which many preachers considered to be almost as inspired as the Scriptures themselves. After that, it got picked up by the writers of a series of novels that became movies… and the rest is history.

I defy anyone to find even the words Pretribulational Rapture in the writings of any American church or denomination, prior to Moody’s return from England…

This is the real, historical history of the doctrine. It may be fully researched. I have made available here, the entire six hundred plus page book that started it all… Welcome to Jesuit Land!

David…

Allah’s Jesus

This is a short story I wrote in 2009. It is still for sale on Amazon but I am sharing the PDF free, so that my friends may read it.

I have learned so very much since 2009. Much of this story represents an idea that I no longer believe. It isn’t heresy but it is a good story. Some of this may still be valid, I do not know. I do think it is great fiction and that you will enjoy the story.

David…