Latest Rants, Philosophy/Spiritual
Jesus is Coming … Look Busy!
I used to laugh at this, and still do, but the surprising thing is there are two true statements here. Jesus IS coming, soon, and we SHOULD look busy, because we should BE busy. In Mark 13:32-27, Jesus himself warns us about his return:
But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.
In Matthew 24:45-51 he’s a bit more graphic:
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So, this raises two questions:
- If I haven’t been doing what I’m supposed to be doing, what’s the point now? It would just be superficial, right?
- If I’m already doing what I’m supposed to be doing, is there anything else?
I’ll address each in turn.
Regarding the first, imagine you’re the hiring manager for a big company. You need to get a new hire, and you’ve got two candidates coming to interview. Both candidates are roughly the same age, have similar resumes, and both are slackers. Both still live in their parents’ basements despite being in their late twenties and both have wasted too much time on video games and social media. One shows up to the interview with messy hair, a stained t-shirt and jeans. The other decides to step up his game a bit, show some last-minute ambition, and goes out and buys a suit, wearing it for the first time to the interview. Which one do you think is going to get the job?
Another example may help.
Let’s draw from Christ’s parable above. Let’s say my wife and I decide to go on a date night and leave the kids at home, giving them specific instructions on what to eat for dinner, chores to accomplish, and the bedtime routine that needs to be done. We go out, have a nice evening together and then arrive home to find the house a mess, pizza on the living room floor, no one ready for bed, and the kids don’t care; they don’t even look up from their phones when we walk in the front door.
How do you think we’d respond to that situation? A month-long sabbatical from all electronics would be the start.
Now, what if on our way home, we send a text message to the oldest child and say, “hey, just letting you know we left the movie early and we are on our way home.” Frantically, the child realizes that he’s done nothing that he was supposed to, so he shouts to his siblings to quickly clean up, get the pizza off the floor, brush teeth and get ready for bed. We arrive to find evidence of a list that wasn’t exactly complied with, and was clearly rushed in the last few minutes, but there was at least an attempt to follow the directions, albeit late.
How do you think we’ll respond to that situation?
In the first scenario the kids didn’t care. There was no respect or love shown. In the second scenario, clearly, the kids got bogged down, distracted, and maybe even disobedient, but when they realized what they’d done and that they were going to be a huge disappointment to their parents (and probably a big punishment), they quickly tried to remedy the situation. A good parent is likely to be merciful in the latter scenario, not the former.
I think that’s how many, if not most of us, are. We have gotten distracted, disobedient and haven’t been doing everything we should; maybe not anything we should. However, God is a merciful God. 2 Peter 3:9 confirms: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Maybe we’ve wasted much of our lives and now the end is near. Should we continue to wallow in our sins and bad choices until the very end? Or should we make a frantic shoving of the pizza boxes into the closet, sweeping the floor, and showing God that we do love Him despite what we’ve done? Again, God just wants us to repent. When the prodigal son who squandered his father’s wealth came back, a huge lecture and punishment were definitely in order, but that’s not what the father did. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20
God loves us as His children and His love has never turned from us despite all that we’ve done to screw up that relationship, so it’s never too late… until the end has been reached.
Jesus is coming – so even if you haven’t done anything you should have, God will be happy with your frantic change of heart.
And what about you people who are already doing what you should be doing? Well, imagine you are in a long-distance race. You’ve been keeping a good pace and you’re ahead of most of the other runners. What do you do when you see the finish line up ahead? Do you continue at your normal pace and jog on in? Or do you give it a last final push and sprint towards that finish line. You know what you need to do.
This is my final warning to everyone: Wake up. Look at the signs and what’s going on in the world around. “Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.” Luke 21:31
God has sent His text message.
Latest Rants, Philosophy/Spiritual
You know you sang that title in your head when you read it. Even if you don’t know any of the other words to the song.
Anyway…
This is probably going to seem nuts, and maybe it is. But maybe it isn’t. And if it isn’t, disregarding this message could be the worst mistake of your life. I’m serious.
As many of you know, I grew up LDS/Mormon; most of my life really. However, after coming to know the Lord, I left that organization and have never looked back. I’ve realized that the LDS Church, like most other religions out there, is based entirely on your works. You serve a mission. You go to the temple. You get your temple recommend. You do your home teaching. Pay your tithing. Avoid coffee, alcohol, tobacco, and tea. Wear your garments at all times.
Checklist complete. Heaven assured… right?
However, despite me doing everything I was “supposed” to do. I never felt whole. I never felt complete. Something in life was missing. I questioned whether I really was going to be “saved.” How do you know if you’ve done enough good works? In the legal system, someone has to pay a price. If you committed a burglary, it doesn’t matter if you held the door open for a million old ladies. You still committed a crime, and you still have to go before a judge and pay the price for your crime. Someone has to repay the debt.
I still struggled with the same sins for probably near twenty years, making no headway. I remember one day I heard a song by Jason Gray, entitled “More Like Falling in Love.” That song hit me. He discussed how his “religion” only outlined the rules for him to obey but never helped him to achieve them. It may have put a shackle on his legs to keep him from sinning, but he still wanted to sin. His nature was unchanged by his religion, which empty religion always does. However, after coming to Christ, after falling in love with who Christ is and developing a relationship with him (which is a prerequisite for falling in love with someone), his heart changed and through Christ he became the person he was supposed to be. He wanted to change because of Christ. Something that a rule in and of itself was unable to accomplish in him. I knew something was missing.
I then began to study Christ. I really began, for the first time in my life, to study the Bible. I began to study the foundations of Mormonism. I realized that, even just using the Church’s own literature, that it was largely a lie. It was, at best, some scripture overwhelmingly mingled with the ideas of men. It just wasn’t “the true church.” I could go on for pages (which is why I wrote a book about it), but to put it simply, I developed a relationship with Jesus Christ and my relationship with him was the first thing that ever made me feel complete. For the first time in decades I made strides against sin and started to feel God moving in my life.
So what are we doing here today? Are you telling us, AGAIN, about your Mormon past? No, that was the necessary background. Be patient with me. I’m explaining the reasoning behind my Gospel ignorance.
I’ve learned more of the truth of the Gospel in the last ten years than in the first 35 years of my life. And what I’ve learned should scare those who are not saved through Christ, and what I’ve learned should be an everlasting hope and joy to those who are.
Many people feel there is a shift going on; something big, even catastrophic. The U.S. quietly (sometimes not-so quietly) is preparing for war. Other nations are doing the same. Charlie Kirk, a Christian and conservative leader, and young father of two, was assassinated for his beliefs. There is …friction… all around and, I would say ever since the COVID lockdowns, and the evil that was shoved down our throats during that time, this world is more wicked than ever, and, “[b]ecause of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” Matt. 24:12.
It has grown cold. You can feel it. Even many of my non-Christian friends admit that since the lockdowns, most people aren’t the same. They are short-tempered, easily irritated, and just cold to each other. Indeed as the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:1-5:
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
These descriptions seem to apply to our current situation.
So what does this mean in Christian terms to be living in the End Times? Again, I grew up LDS, which meant we really didn’t study the end times (eschatology) much, or at all.
Well, Christians believe that, the current ruler of this world is Satan. This would explain the chaos and lies that we are fed on a daily basis. However, in the last of the last days, there will be a seven-year “tribulation,” also known as “Jacob’s Trouble.” This will be the final seven-year period before Christ will come to reclaim his throne, bind up Satan, and the purge the earth of the wickedness that has abounded since the Fall of Adam and Eve. As you can tell by its name, it doesn’t sound pleasant; indeed, it will be hell on earth. The book of Revelation largely outlines the wrath of God that will be poured out on the nations of the earth. There will be plagues, famines, natural disasters to the max, and supernatural destruction that will come upon all who are here during that time. Almost everything living at this time will die.
This is where it gets tricky.
Most Christians believe in a “rapture.” Rapture is not in the Bible. The word rapture is a Latin word. St. Gerome translated the Bible from Greek into Latin, he used the word “raptura” where we get the word rapture. Harpadzo (my transliteration) is the Greek word, and it’s all over the Bible including Enoch, Elijah, Phillip (Ethiopian eunuch) and Jesus. Thus, “rapture” is biblical. Rapture, in a Christian sense, means the taking away or removing/lifting up of those who belong to Christ. As Paul stated in 1 Thess. 4:17, those who are alive and in a relationship with Christ at this time “will be caught up together with [the resurrected saints] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” All Christians agree that in the end times, those who truly belong to Christ will be lifted up and brought to him. That’s the easy part.
Christians, however, do not agree on when the rapture will occur. Most Protestant Christians believe that before the seven-year hell-on-earth tribulation, Christ will pull up those who are his and they will be protected supernaturally in heaven from the destruction that is coming. Christians who believe in a post-tribulation rapture believe that they will remain on the earth until Christ comes to reclaim the earth. They’ll be raptured up to him and immediately return down when he reclaims the earth at the end of this period. They hope for protection during this tribulation, as God spared his people during several of the plagues in Egypt. There are a lot in both camps. I used to be post-tribulation, now I believe (and hope) for a pre-tribulation rapture. Just as Noah was locked up and lifted off the earth in the ark by God, so shall Christians be before the start of this seven-year period.
So what about those left behind who didn’t know Jesus?
Well, the good news is, God is merciful. And for those who remain, they’ll have the option of repenting, forsaking their sins, and seeking Christ. He will still save them if they repent, though they will almost certainly die during this 7-year period. Alternatively, there will be the presence of the Antichrist. A figure who will appear as a influencer and soon-to-be world leader once the tribulation period starts. He’ll force those on earth to take his number (666) on their hands or foreheads as a mark that they belong to him. Those left behind will not be able to buy, sell, or really make any sort of living unless they take this mark. However, taking this mark means you do not belong to God and you will be forever damned, so it’s probably a bad idea. What does the mark look like? A tattoo? A chip? A chip tattoo? I don’t know, but the technology is certainly already there, and if anyone can recall how non-vaccinated people were treated during COVID, I imagine it’s like that but much worse.
Gee thanks for the Cliff Notes on the rapture Chris, are you getting somewhere?
Yes, I’m trying. Again, thank you for your patience.
I’ve felt for a long time that Christ would be coming in the next 5-10 years, maybe sooner. But I also knew that for generations people have felt the same thing, so I’ve largely dismissed those feelings. However, recently I came across information that seemed to indicate his coming could be soon, like very soon. I felt led through passages of scripture that seemed to corroborate that idea, mathematically, historically, and otherwise. I’ve seen what’s been going on in Israel and the decay in this world which has confirmed that we are definitely nearing the very end of times, if we’re not already there. I won’t get into the details because I could go on for pages about this. If you want to discuss, I’m happy to do so, but I don’t think any evidence from the Bible is enough to convince anyone, so I’m just going to simply tell you about my personal experience and where I’m at. I feel I must do this.
A couple of weeks ago I prayed to have a dream confirmation of whether the rapture of the Church is coming soon; during the prayer I then changed my mind and switched my prayer to ask that my wife would have a dream instead. Unfortunately, I rarely remember my dreams and even when I do, the details are fuzzy. My wife remembers her dreams in amazing detail, so I figured whatever she saw would be better than whatever I would be able to recollect.
I had two dreams that night.
In the first dream I was working with a bunch of drug dealers in a large warehouse. I was one of them. I don’t know why. The dream, at first, didn’t feel serious. I have a vague image of Bill Murray; not sure if he was there or what. Dreams are weird. We were having fun, making drugs or something along those lines. I recall pushing some large green wheel-barrow type things. Then the dream jumped forward to a scene where the police were coming in. There was a narrow door, a revolving door, which was the only way in or out (which was odd for it being a very large warehouse) and the police were coming in. I jumped out oddly from above the door, down through it and out. The next scene I remember is I was wading and floating through water for a moment. There were kayaks/small boats everywhere with people in them. The next thing I vaguely remember is being in one of the boats as I was heading the same direction as the other boats, drifting away, and I could see others getting arrested as I left.
I woke up and saw the time. I can’t remember what it was, but I went back to sleep.
The second dream was evil, much darker than the first.
I was with my wife in some sort of swingers’ den; we were both caught up in whatever wickedness was going on. Next door to it there was evil sexual exploitation going on. It was pure evil. I felt angry and, and I don’t know what caused it, but I recall an image of slashing, a spraying of lighter fluid, and the place on fire. The next scene I remember I was running away from everything with black smoke billowing behind us, and I was with my wife as the police again moved in. We were again evading the police as we ran down a huge staircase which looked like coming down from a large courthouse with innumerable concrete steps.
I woke up from the second dream and it was 3:23 A.M.
As I laid there in the bed thinking about these dreams, realizing they were interconnected, I almost heard a voice.It was like a powerful thought, but almost audible. That’s the best way I can describe it.
The Bible verse from the book of Genesis where Joseph interpreted Pharoah’s dreams and said along the lines of “the two dreams are one” came vividly, loudly, to my mind and it made me gasp audibly. I remember hearing myself gasp as I was still half awake/half asleep.
In both dreams I was either involved in or surrounded by wickedness. I was a sinner. Both dreams involved judgment coming. In both dreams I was escaping or trying to escape the judgment as the dreams came to an end. My wife did not have a dream that night.
However, the following night she did. She had a dream that she was with her friends racing away in a car from a huge volcanic explosion. I was not with her, but apparently had gone up ahead (perhaps?). She told me that, in the dream, she wasn’t worried about the kids, but was racing to escape the lava, which got so close that it caught the wheels on fire and she was racing away on the rims of the vehicle. She was able to escape. She was worried about me, but had an assurance that I was fine and I had been able to escape in my car.
I think her dream is significant, even if she may not. It seems to match the theme from my dreams, where she’s escaping a judgment, a disaster that is impending.
A few days ago, I prayed again for another confirmation, that I’d have another dream and that she would have one too, same or similar to mine. That would be irrefutable.
I had another dream. She did not.
I had a dream that I was on an LDS mission, and my time was short, my service was almost over. Another missionary approached me as I was walking through the hallway and told me congrats, I was going to be out of there soon. I knew it was almost over, and I was enduring it, trying not to focus on the day itself.
Maybe this one isn’t a rapture dream, maybe it is. Again, I don’t believe in the LDS faith, but knowing that I was going to be leaving soon sure seems to match the theme of the other dreams (without the darkness).
The point is this: I think the end is near, for all of us. It may not be today, maybe not tomorrow, but I think it’s soon… real soon. I’m sharing these dreams because I think they were a gift to me, and a gift to share with everyone, not something to keep to myself.
I do not put my faith in a date. I do not put my faith in my works, for I know my works are but filthy rags to God. This is what Christ tried to teach the pharisees. I constantly fall short and am perpetually frustrated by this; but I know that Christ has paid the price despite my weakness, as Christ himself said, “[m]y grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
I put my faith in Christ, for he alone is perfect and he has suffered, died, and risen for all of those who trust in him. As John says, “to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13 NIV.
I’m not setting a date. I’m not saying Christ is coming on XX date. I realize that faith in a date can contribute to weakening of one’s faith if that date passes, or even a misdirection of where our faith should be found. My faith is stronger than any date. However, I can’t ignore the dreams I’ve had either. I’ve never asked for a dream to confirm something except once, and that was about marrying my wife, which I believe was from God. I would feel dishonest if I didn’t share this with everyone I care about.
Seek Christ. He’s coming. Soon.
If I am interpreting my dreams correctly (which I realize is a big if), we have a very limited time in which to seek Christ, to forsake our sins, and to begin that relationship with him. Don’t for a second think that the time is too late. If you’re seeing this message, then it’s not. I think I’m supposed to post this to everyone because the time is not too late. The thief on the cross was literally hanging there in the process of a slow and torturous death when he realized who Christ was and asked forgiveness. We can do the same, but it must be sincere. We must be willing to give up whatever sins, worldly pleasures, distractions, or anything else that interferes with having a real relationship with and total reliance upon Christ. I think of Paul who stated that “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” In the King James Version, it identified this general sin as a specific, identifiable sin, calling it “the sin which doth so easily beset us.” When you hear that term, you know which sin it is. I know when I heard it the first time, I did. We all have that one sin that we’re still holding on to, that we just can’t give up. We have to give it up. It may be greed, lust, a non-biblical relationship, gluttony, or whatever. You know what it is. God is giving you (and me) the grace to forsake that sin now and obtain an eternal reward, or hold onto that sin as we fall into Hell, gripping it tight. Give it to Him. Let it go. He will happily take that burden from you.
The time is short. I love you all.
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