Has the 'Rapture ship' already sailed?
414198
I think I know what you are saying... it has been my thought too... but with a different final conclusion....life can be hell..we can all go through persecution and our own battles of armagedon. It feel like god has left us....\n\nthe scripture also says he who endures to the end will be saved.. it also says to the church of smyrna (church of martyrs) and the church of philadelphia (weak, suffering but faithful) that they will be kept from the hour of temptation that will come upon all the earth.  The marytyrs will already be dead, and the philadephians will be raptured. Everyone else in the church will have to go through their own tribulation, and be tested, since they avoided it earlier.\n\nSo my viewpoint is that if we are willing to go through tribulation for our faith now, we will be spared from the great tribulation that is to come in the near future. Everyone has to be tested for their faithfulness...\n\nif you are suffering now, your hope is in your heavenly reward to come, and the promise that you will be taken out before the world plunges into total wickedness.
807082
well for starters the so called rapture is a non event ,it will never happen.and nobody  knows what hell is like,those books that you are quoting are just fiction because if they were real then they would be the first to go and come back to talk about it,,please dont be fooled they just want to sell books.
767031
Zealous Christians have been predicting 'the second coming' and the end of the world since Jesus' time.\n\nIt's been 2000 years.\n\nAre you going to start living in reality, or are you still waiting for the world to end and you be given everything you desire in heaven?
860784
According to prophecy, no it has not happened.  It is a warning from God, to the people who do not follow him, and what they will go through after the rapture.  But in theology, it happens all the time.  Read your newspaper.  Consider all the war, and death.
1153494
I believe as you do, rapture prior to 7 year tribulation\n\nWhy - here is one of several places in the bible that says so....\nI won't list all, to much space taken \n\n1 Thessalonians 4\n16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
411723
Yes and the time is growing near....not by our timezone, but near nevertheless.  The 2nd Coming of Jesus will be Judgement Day and He will judge us then and there.  No time to make amends at that time....so it is always good to be ready now as we don't know when He will return.  He will return after this World of ours continues on the destructive course we are on and totally destroys itself.  The Bible and all of the Prophets have predicted exactly what is happening in our world right now.  Starting with immorality, the present Government situation with Bush as our leader, the Middle East, more and more natural disasters (Hurricanes, Tsunamis, deadly mudslides, etc.)  I wish the world would wake up and see what we are doing to ourselves.  I fear for the people who are in charge of the countries and where their destiny lies!
165059
Why do you think he hasn't?  They are alone in the midst of the Islamic world which has sworn to drive them into the sea.  They are still there decades later.  Because... , well, there are hundreds of "causes" you could name, but who says God is not behind it all?  We'll see.  I'm not Christian, just exploring the possibilities.
587818
It's not the idea of a rapture that I don't believe in, but the word itself. The word isn't found in the Bible. I do believe Jesus will come the way it says, but wonder where the word "rapture" came from.
1113278
There is no pre-tribulation rapture, as many in Christendom teach.  Notice in Revelation 20:4 WHO are in the first resurrection which occurs simultaneously with the "catching away" of live saints...THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BEHEADED FOR REFUSING THE MARK OF THE BEAST. \n\nBelievers in Christ WILL go through the tribulation and many will be killed for bearing the testimony of Jesus Christ.  There are concentration camps all over America that will be used as internment camps.  Some are equipped with gas chambers, and many already are furnished with guillotines, for execution of all resisters and dissenters of the New World Order, which will be under UN "law".  \n\nThere is ZERO scriptural support for a "two-part" return of Christ...NONE, ZIP, NADA.\n\nThe first resurrection occurs at the same time as the "catching away" which is at Christ's return to earth which is AFTER the tribulation.  We will be changed in an instant! to glorified bodies like Christ's and receive immortality and incorruptibility.  We will meet Jesus Christ in the air, and accompany Him to earth where He will rule for 1000 years.  The saints will rule and reign with Him.\n\nMany will have been killed when God pours out His wrath upon all those that oppose Him and there will be much work to do.  Those who did not take the mark of the beast and who were also not "saved" will remain on earth to repopulate and be taught God's law.  There will be peace under this new order of things...a far cry from Satan's counterfeit New World Order that will be very short-lived.\n\nSatan will be bound during the millennium so that he cannot deceived people.\n\nAfter the millenium, the rest of the dead (unbelievers) will be raised to fleshly bodies to once again dwell on the earth.  Many who never heard the gospel or who were not able to understand it will have an opportunity to hear and believe and be saved.  This is the Great White Throne judgment period.\n\nSatan will be loosed for a season to deceive the world.  Many will follow him once again.  The final battle will ensue and Satan and his followers will be destroyed.  All enemies of God will cease to exist forevermore.\n\nThis is just a very brief sketch of all of the prophetic events yet to take place.
743004
gosh it seems like a lot of people are pretty skeptical about what you are saying but i am in agreement with you.  now i am not very knowledgeable on endtimes prophecies but i would not be completely surprised if Jesus' second coming were to occur in this age.\n\nWith that said, it is not for us to predict or prepare for the exact date of Jesus' second coming but every day we should live as if it were the last.
388685
First we are not in the tribulation period and Matthew 24 doesnt have anything to do with us [as it is about the trib. period], but other then that here is a good prophecy link on some fullfillments and other future things to come:\n\nprophecy: http://www.livingwaters.com/Merchant2/graphics/tracts/prophecy/index.html \nthe gospel: http://www.needGod.com do you know what it is? think again. it might surprise you.
488674
Virtually none! The rapture could occur at any time now as the stage is set. The anti-Christ is in the world already. At the point of the rapture the Lord will unleash all sorts of terrible disasters on earth one being that there will be no rain on the earth for the first three and a half years of the tribulation which will be brought about by the 2 witnesses spoken of in Revelations. Just make sure you are ready as anyone left behind will most likely either die or on order to survive, people will be forced to accept the mark of the beast and those who do have no hope of entering the kingdom of God as they will be doomed forever.
1057536
Okay.  To be honest I'm not going to be leaving in the Rapture, but I assure you the instant it happens, I'll be a total convert.\n\nDo you know who it is, though?  Because we could probably save everyone a lot of suffering if we just went and got the guy, and then drowned him in a very soft, padded room (don't want any sharp objects around his head, don'tcha know)...
319272
no one can predict Armageddon because tho they may try, no one but the Father knows the time or the day. WE will know the "season" as it is promised in Scripture. I don't know of a chat site or blog of this type. I recommend googling it (the answer to all problems)!
131311
The rapture is a myth. Certain aspects of religion have a solid base, but I'm afraid most of it has been lost over the centuries. (The books in the bible alone have been rewritten countless times to suit the people in power.)\n\nThe idea that god is some wrathful deity sitting in heaven with a REALLY big magnifying glass is archaic at best.\n\nHope that gives a bit of insight. ;)
943472
Yes. I'm a partial preterist. The Apocalypse had to have an immediate relevance to the seven churches of the Roman province of Asia, because John was their partner in the tribulation (1:9). The definite article is definitely there with "thlipsis" and supports my preterist leanings. However, Jesus has not returned yet, and that part of the Apocalypse is yet future. So, I'm a Preterist/Futurist, a position that was held and defended by George Elton Ladd (cf. his Commentary on Revelation).
1152617
Yes, the time is nigh. That is if your referring to the second coming. They were expecting Christ to return even in the early church and that was 2000 years ago. Just imagine how close we are now!