In The Twinkling of an Eye

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." - 1 Corinthians 15:52

"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 first. 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. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Well. There it is. God removing the church from the face of the earth. It all happens "in the twinkling of an eye." I've never timed "the twinkling of an eye", but it sounds pretty quick to me.

So, what happens after all of the Christians on Earth are gone? Hmm. And what if the rapture happens before the midterms? Who will be in power then? Here's a few random possibilities.

Most Christians vote Republican you know, so the Democrats would win a bigger majority than they have now. Abortion would quickly become the law of the land. Immigration law would also be changed - amnesty for all! Come on in!

Of course, those who are left behind would have to be taxed more to pay for it all.

Most complaining parents at school board meetings would no longer be around so Critical Race Theory could quickly and easily be reinstated.

Guns would naturally be outlawed for all citizens (except the rich and powerful) and cashless bail would become the law of the land. Police forces across the nation would be decimated. Many officers would have been raptured off the earth. Others would be killed or would outright quit. Martial law would then be instituted and curfews imposed.

Criminals would still have guns though. They won't obey the new gun laws. Battles will be fought in the streets, but that's nothing new.

Food supplies would be scarce. Many farmers are Christians. A lot of truckers are too. Also, most food pantries are run by churches. But they won't be anymore. Food will be very hard to find. In time, the goverment would provide you some, but your taxes will rise still higher to pay for it all.

Our armed forces would be greatly reduced in number. Sensing weakness, Iran, Turkey, and other Arab countries would quickly band together and attack Israel.

And that's where God would step in.

Does all this sound far fetched? That past paragraph can be found prophesied in The Bible.

The prophets Ezekiel and Daniel, the Lord Jesus, the Apostles Paul and John all predicted end time events.

But don't believe me. Pick up your Bible. Google some of these things. Do your own research.

You actually could ask many of today's pastors what they think after all the Christians are gone. They'll probably still be here. Lol!

Read your Bible. Find a good, strong, Bible- believing church. And do it now! Time is short and events like these will all begin to happen . . . . in the twinkling of an eye.

New Life

There are signs of hope all around us these days, even in troubled times such as this. To find that hope however, we must look beneath the surface. And be able to interpret the signs of the times.

"The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times." - Matthew 16:1-3

We know that in springtime life returns to the plants and trees. Seemingly dead ground sends forth beautiful flowers and luscious new life all around us. We are able to tell that spring has arrived by interpreting signs, just like Jesus said. However, not ALL people can tell "the signs of the times." That ability is God-given and only a child of God can see such a thing.

I can write stories about it. Those who believe in God can read my words and know what I am talking about. But those who don't believe in God will quickly dismiss my words as trivial, even meaningless, because they don't believe in God. They have not received the Holy Spirit.

This saddens me. I look at the news. I read my Bible. My interpretation of both those things tells me that we are in the last days before Jesus returns. And, once Jesus comes back, we who believe will be departing this world. It says so in the Bible.

"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. 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 one another with these words." - 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

There are those who don't want to hear these words. Some of them even profess a faith in Christ. How can one be a Christian and not want to talk or hear about His glorious coming?

My wife was walking by one of her gardens today and noticed that the daffodils had sprouted. "That's funny," she said. "They weren't there yesterday." The Lord's return will happen rather quickly too, more quickly than overnight. Scripture says it will be "in the twinkling of an eye."

"Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

And this is the tough part. No matter what I say, no matter how many of these stories I write, no one, and I mean NO ONE, will come to a saving faith in Christ UNLESS God wants it.

"No one is able to come to Me unless the Father, the one having sent Me, draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day." - John 6:44

But I keep writing. Why? Why keep writing even though it might not do any good? Because, it might. God might use these stories in some way, to touch somebody's life to the point where they might start to question the secular news feed. They might pick up a Bible or read the verses in these stories and might feel convicted enough to start asking questions.

Please, if you don't know Jesus, if He is not Lord of your life, ask Him TO be! The signs of the times are all around us. Jesus can return at any moment. There won't be an opportunity to plead for inclusion. It will be too late.

Everybody has time on their hands right now. The whole world has time. Use this time to seek God. This virus situation could be the last call before we hear the trumpet. Don't be left behind. Please.

50 Reasons We Are In The End Times

Petra

Have you ever experienced a coincidence that seemed just a little too real? Just a little too pointed right at you? I have! Since I became a believer I have referred to these as God-incidences, either because they could only have come from God or because they have pointed me in some direction or to some truth that refers to God in some way. Like just the other day . . .

I was craving some good rock music at work last week so I opened up YouTube at lunchtime and listened to a little Switchfoot. After a few songs I just so happened to looked over to the right on the YouTube page and looked down through their "you might also like" column and saw the name of a classic Christian band - Petra. I have never listened to their music before so I thought I would give it a try.

 

But before I did I noticed another video just a few selections down.  It was of a rock formation. Not a song but a video of some sandstone and an ancient teample carved out of the rock. And what's weird was, I had seen that rock formation before. I was curious so I clicked on the video. The first step of my journey to Petra.

I watched the video, forgetting all about Petra, the 80's Christian rock band. I was fascinated as the
camera panned around through the narrow canyons, revealing intricate carvings in the ancient stone walls. VERY interesting. VERY! But where had I seen this place called Petra before? I went back and searched for my videos about this ancient city. That's when I came across a video that read, "Petra - Indiana Jones." THAT'S where I had seen it before! Petra is featured in the final scene of Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade. Whew! Glad that mystery was solved. Hah! Think again, blog boy!

The next day I was at home searching for something to watch on television. I don't watch all that much TV but I felt like watching something that day. Mhmm. Scrolling down through the program guide I saw the next step in my Petra journey. A movie . . . named Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade. I selected the movie, which was nearing its end. What do you know. When the movie came on, Indiana, his father and Marcus Brodie were riding through the narrow canyons coming into . . . Petra. Just in time.

So I watched the end of the movie, hearing lines like "Penitent men shall pass. Penitent, Penitent." and "It's a leap of faith!" And when the villain drank from the wrong cup and perished the Grail Guard siad, "He chose . . . poorly." Point taken.

Then, a few days later, I found myself watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with my wife. She likes Transformers. She also likes Linkin Park whose songs are featured in all of the Transformer movies. My wife surprises me sometimes. :)

So anyway, we're watching and the hero of the movie and some of the 'bots are headed for the big showdown in some small dessert Middle-eastern village and they come across THIS place. Petra. What is up with Petra? And why is it appearing everywhere in my life lately?!

What's so special about Petra? Here's some info from the Internet . . . so we KNOW it's true, right? (Walk cautiously)

Petra is an archaeological site in the Arabah, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra is also one of the new wonders of the world. The Nabateans constructed it as their capital city around 100 B.C.

As I thought about Petra I remembered something else. Have you ever read the Left Behind books? They are a series of fictional novels based on the end time prohesies contained in the Bible. As the series nears its end, and the remnant of believers is about to be attacked, they flee. They flee to a place of safety that God has provided for them. Any guesses as to where that might be? Mhmm. Petra. The following is from an Internet summary I found about that event.

Petra is the location where the remnant of Israel fled to through Operation Eagle and stayed during the last 3 1/2 years of Tribulation. It was divinely protected by God during those years that the Israeli and Jewish refugees, as well as members of the Tribulation Force, stayed in Petra, where He fed the people daily with manna and gave them an endless supply of water, created when weapons of mass destruction launched from Amman struck their targets and failed to incinerate them. Tsion Ben-Judah stayed in Petra throughout the last half of the Tribulation to act as the leader and minister of the people, trying to reach out to the undecided refugees with daily teaching of the gospel. However, one group of undecideds rebelled against Tsion and Chaim Rosenzweig and were consumed by the earth swallowing them up, while another group was lured away from Petra by a false messiah performing various miracles and then were destroyed by fiery serpents.

Why this sudden influx of "Petra" in my life? I have no idea. HOwever, it reminds me that we all must be on guard and be prepared for what is coming. I is NOT fiction! The words of Jesus from the Book of Matthew:

"15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again." - Matthew 24:15-21

So, whether Jesus returns this week or years from now, we have been commanded by Jesus to be ready for His coming. I take all these appearances of Petra" in my life recently as a reminder of that fact. One day Jesus WILL return. There is no doubt because He promised.

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." - Matthew 24:42

Please read Matthew 24 this week. Maybe read it as you listen to a classic Christian rock band from the 80's - Petra! And remember that Petra is Greek for ROCK. Remember Peter? On this ROCK I will build my church. Peter = Petra. Interesting.

Back to the Rock (Live concert) by Petra

Petra in The Bible by GotQuestions.org