Walk by faith and not by sight, we're all the same color when you turn out the light

[chestnutcurls]

This has not been a good day. I'm having work-related problems again, over a project that I had under control until some other people got involved. I'm confused by the way most people like me and think I do a great job, while Other People Far Away find me completely incompetent and would probably get rid of me if they could. I wonder who's wrong.

This is a perfect opportunity to love others when they're not so easy to love. Every day, I pray for an opportunity to be Christlike towards people I work with. And then that opportunity comes, and what do I do? I get mad. I want to be snippy. What kind of Christian am I? :( I'm glad the Great Physician came to heal the sick, and not those who are well. Because I am in need of some medicine. :P

Some good things have happened, though. Kathy and I suddenly remembered that we have Chick-fil-A coupons, so we went there for lunch. Also, my parents called me this morning, independently of each other, to make sure I was okay. (I hadn't called them since I first got sick.) That was nice.

The weather here is so weird today. For most of the day it's been raining, but the sun keeps coming out, and half the sky is blue. Very strange to look at.

My Wednesday night Bible study, taught by Jean Larroux, was incredible last night. So incredible that, despite the controversy it may cause, I'm going to share. You don't have to say anything about it. I just thought it was great. :)



As I've mentioned before, I'm attending two Bible studies this summer, and coincidentally, both pastors decided to do Revelation. Both studies have been wonderful, but Jean really made some waves last night. Our text was Matthew 24, and our topic was the Tribulation and the Rapture. He spent most of the lesson likening these events to labor- the Tribulation as the "birth pains" of the Church, and Jesus' return as the "delivery." This was very interesting, but then he made a side point about the Rapture itself- the popular view of the Rapture as the Church being "taken away" to meet Jesus. We looked at the text.

Matthew 24:37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.

So wait a minute! Who was taken away in the flood? The wicked. Who was left (on the ark)? The righteous. So, if the last days are going to be like the days of Noah, is it a good thing, or a bad thing, to be "left behind?"

That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

I had never thought about this. Apparently many others hadn't either, because some people actually said, "Wow," out loud. :)

And then consider this:

I Thessalonians 4:16 For 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. 17 After 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.

He cited other verses, including something in II Corinthians, but I can't find it right now, since I don't have my notes. Anyway, I was excited about this. I love discovering new things in the Bible that were there all along. :)

Oh, and the Save the Last Dance soundtrack is pretty cool. I burned a copy from my sister's, and I've had it on in the car for a couple of days. :)

Comments

That's a passage that has caused a lot of confusion

[greenhornet.livejournal.com]

as I understand it, that passage was not speaking of the Rapture at all, but of Christ's return with his saints to judge the earth. Paul was the first to teach of the rapture, and he called it a mystery, meaning that it was something not previously revealed, not even by Christ. The progressive revelation of scripture makes for confusion sometimes.
this is a great topic, though, and I have had a great opportunity to witness to a friend at work because of his interest in it.

[lucard2525.livejournal.com]

Wow. That is a really cool point. I think I might mention it at my bible study next tuesday (even if we are still doing Romans). It does make lots of sense from the verses you mentioned...something to discuss and think about I guess.

[aardwolf.livejournal.com]

In Matthew 24:37, it's not comparing the people taken... the point of that comparison is to show us that it will be totally unexpected (like the flood). Obviously, Christians will be taken in the rapture.

Growing up in a Baptist church, I've seen many "left behind" videos (before they were a trademarked name). So, I'm pretty familiar with those verses. It's neat to think about... The thing that most people disagree about is whether the rapture comes before or after the great tribulation. I'm a pre-tribber myself, and HOPE that God wouldn't leave we Christians on the earth during the tribulation.

I Thessalonians 4:16 I believe is the verse from which we get "rapture". The word rapturos means caught up, and the actual word "rapture" isn't used in the bible... Just some interesting rapture trivia for you. ;P

[eleutheria.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a lot i could say about that, but i agree in that the "traditional" timing of the rapture is all wrong, and pretty new, actually, invented in america. I agree with a previous poster, also, i think Jesus is not exactly pointing out the rapture (which refers to Christians being taken up in glory, but it all happens in the last day of His return, after the tribulation), but truly something to think about.

Thanks for posting!

[eleutheria.livejournal.com]

Go to India, Asia, Latin America, the Muslim world, parts of Europe and America... i.e. everywhere except in suburbia/rural america and other select spots. The tribulation is occuring already. It's been going on for a while. There has not been a rapture of the church, though.

Don't mean to argue, just pointing out something you might not have thought about. It can't get any worse than it has in too many places in the world, even what the Bible describes isn't as bad as some of the things that happen to people every day... it's scary.

Re: That's a passage that has caused a lot of confusion

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Yay, you got a journal!

Which passage? The Matthew one? If that's about Christ returning to judge the earth, why does He need to "take" anybody? Shouldn't He have them all there where He can judge them? (We will all be judged, except that believers are judged to have Christ's perfection, because we are hidden in Him.)

Yes, it is a mystery, and at many passages in both my studies, the teachers have admitted, "I don't have a clue what this means." :) I'm just saying this is something to think about. :)

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Hooray! A picture! :)

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree. That was a big part of the lesson. I was going to share about that, but I don't have the energy to get into millennial arguments right now. Maybe next week. :)

Re: That's a passage that has caused a lot of confusion

[greenhornet.livejournal.com]

I have several interesting books that have cleared things up for me. I loaned them all to my friend that I am witnessing to.

[aardwolf.livejournal.com]

Well, the tribulation is supposed to last 7 years. SO, if the Muslim world is the tribulation, then the bible is wrong (or it's not a "literal" 7 years, which I don't agree with.)

The church is now and will always be persecuted, but the tribulation will be much worse. I really hope we won't be here...

Some comments

[eleutheria.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read about the interpretation of Revelation as a protest against the Romanization of the Church? If you read chapter 17's "beast/Babylon" interpreting it as Rome, the woman as the Roman Pontifficate. Rome's glory "was" (the rich beautiful empire), "is not" (probably when the Apocalypse was written it was already having problems), and "is to come" (the glory of the Roman Church).

The coding for this is easy to understand at the time to Christians, the emperors lining up to Constantine, the seven hills of Rome that do exist, etc. anything else would make little sense.

Most of it then makes sense in history, the luxury of the whore who "glorifies herself" the kingdoms who "fornicate" with her, in fact all gold would wind up in Rome and the Roman-appointed bishops for hundreds of years, we call this the dark ages... and the Reformers saw it that way too, in fact, some parts of 18/19 can be seen as the Reformation itself (an attempt to bring down the beast with the "Word of God"), and the beast does war against the saints. Chapter 20 is mostly future, when the true church will rise up and rule the world, maybe not literally, but influencially; but when the 1000 years (a symbolic estimate for a longer time) are over, the beast and the enemies of God are released for the final Judgment, and then we get 21, where the new earth is established and all the old laws (like death) are expired.

Up until the Dispensationalists came along, this all made this sense, instead they made everything be something future and really complex.... If you want to talk about it, feel free to IM me or whatever.

[eleutheria.livejournal.com]

Oh i forgot, the "birth pangs" (John 16) and "tribulations" may all refer to the persecution of the true church up until the time of it's completeness in the 1000-year reign. That's how i see it, anyway.

God bless

[eleutheria.livejournal.com]

Sorry Brenda, i ended up saying a lot about it... me and my big mouth.

I can't resist!!! LOL

Thanks for the visit

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for visiting. I'm glad you enjoyed the A Little About Me paragraph. To be honest with you, I was laughing while I was creating it. And although it's absolutely a perfect description of me, I guess we sometimes have to look at ourselves a little less seriously or we would make ourselves crazy. And knowing I made someone laugh today makes me feel really good. God bless.