The End is Nigh (just not this Saturday)!

The End is Nigh!

I wasn't going to even touch this flaming hive of radioactive bees, but I was randomly flipping through my radio dial on the way home and the guy on that side of the microphone started in on me.

He began to say that that Rapture will be Saturday, and that God even said he was going to let His people in on the date of Christ's second coming, and that it was this Saturday.  Normally I would just flip to my metal station, but in all honesty I hadn't heard a single bit of decent evidence that made me think "Okay, maybe they're right" so I was hoping for something to set a fire under me to jump onto the Rapture Train (which, ironically enough, is the name of my Michael W. Smith tribute band).

This guy said the same things that every other person has been saying, but it made me furious because it looks over the most obvious things the bible says.  I started arguing with the radio in disbelief that he really was over looking the basic concept of "thief in the night" and was being over analytical of the same verses he was saying was being misinterpreted.

Then, in a fit of rage you can only have with someone on the radio, I screamed out "Why would God want us when we're at this such a broken pile of junk?"

This is why there will be no Rapture Saturday.

God wouldn't want us right now.  Why?  The church is at its own throat instead of being the beacon we're called to be.  We're arguing over dogmatic principles instead of going out and changing the world.  God isn't going to take His people because the boat wouldn't be filled enough.  Yes, there are some very powerful people changing the world, but the Church as a whole is really missing the mark.

Take these people claiming the Rapture is Saturday.  All they're doing is saying "repent, the end is nigh" and what does that do?  The end is always "nigh" if you think about it: Rapture or not.  We're all on the brink of dying in a random accident, heart attack behind the wheel, or a bad prescription interaction.

The End is Nigh!

These churches that are claiming Saturday is our last time to repent, but they're missing the fact of what repenting means, what kinds of radical changes happen when Christ comes into your heart, and what kind of changes you can make in others, for others, all because of this change.

This is why there will be no Rapture Saturday.

Those claiming other aren't doing anything but promoting fear.  They're standing on their corners with their bullhorns.  How are they helping?  Who are they saving?  No one comes to Christ through fear, only pure acceptance.  God isn't a God of fear, but one of love.  He wouldn't have put Christ to suffer on a cross to scare us into salvation.

This is why there will be no Rapture Saturday.

Here we sit (myself included) arguing amongst one another, pointing fingers, claiming things about God, biblical teachings, personal beliefs, all of this while millions die of starvation in our own backyard.  God wouldn't want His children home yet, vecause we're not ready to go home, we're not done with what we're called here to do.

The real issue is what happens Sunday morning, midnight, or even 6:01 EST?  We will all be still here, people will still be dying, children will still be starving, and these people speaking for the Church, and at 6:02 EST the Church is put onto trial, by those who have always said God is false, and the Church, as a whole, takes two very large steps backwards, all because these false prophets who people believe speak for Christ, for all of us, but they don't.  They speak for themselves in a very blatant breaking of the third commandment: "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Exodus 20:7.

Lord, please remind us why we're really here: to do Your work, not our own.  Open our hearts to understand the way to You isn't through threats, fear, fire, or brimstone, but through love, and sacrifice, and the truth.  Lord, be with those who are afraid they're not worthy of Your love, and remind us all that Your grace is open to all who are open to Your change.

Grace and Peace,
Jesse

PS: See you all Sunday morning.