Everyone loves to daydream about getting away from the humdrum daily grind.
That’s probably why the concept of the Rapture has captivated many (though not all) Christians for centuries. For an apocalyptic Christian, the Rapture is that moment when all “saved” Christians are taken from the Earth by Jesus Christ and led to Heaven. The concept actually comes from a line in the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians (4:15-7), in which he states, “For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
Here Paul is employing imagery that might seem familiar to us today from a Cirque du Soleil performance, but is otherwise not something we’re accustomed to experiencing on a day-to-day basis, to describe what will happen when Christ returns — trumpets, cries, people flying around in the clouds.
It is worth remembering that Paul was concerned here with a newly-born church, and a group of new converts who needed instruction and encouragement. As the consummate organizer, Paul knew he needed to provide some kind of an incentive to this new flock to keep them interested and engaged — a strategy employed by Amway and Weight Watchers, among others, at the beginning of a new convert’s experience. Thus, he provided them with a supernatural description of the end-times, with Jesus hovering on high, to keep the Thessalonians focused on living pure lives. It was Paul’s way of saying, “If you’re good, I’ll take you to Vegas, and when we get there I’ll comp you the Cirque du Soleil tickets.”
For centuries, most Christians of the apocalyptic flavor believed that the Rapture would occur after a period of Great Tribulation (as mentioned in Matthew 24:21) that would last for seven years (as inferred from the mention of “one week” in Daniel 9:27), at the beginning of which the Antichrist would be revealed. In other words, they took Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians to mean that everyone should just hang in there during a seven-year period of war … rumors of war … pestilence and famine … rumors of pestilence and famine … and so forth, and that afterwards, Jesus would come down and take us all on vacation. A permanent one. No more humdrum daily grind.
During the 19th century, however, some folks apparently believed that God would want us to have a greater reward than to stick around through seven years of chaos and only then get our front seats at Cirque du Soleil. A lapsed barrister named John Nelson Darby started to preach the idea that “saved” Christians would secretly be given the opportunity to see Cirque du Soleil before the seven-year Great Tribulation — i.e., Jesus would take his “saved” Christians to Heaven before things even start to get really bad down on Earth. After all, Darby seemed to be arguing, we’re keeping our covenant — why should we have to suffer through all that messy war and pestilence and famine? And so it came to pass that among apocalyptic Christians there arose a group of Pre-tribulationists, whose ideas began to hold particular influence in the U.S. — perhaps not coincidentally, since we’re not generally accustomed to having to wait for our rewards here.
A third group, the Mid-tribulationists (we’ll call them the “Whigs”), piped up around 1955 believing that the Rapture will occur some time after the beginning of the seven-year Great Tribulation and the moment during which the Antichrist is revealed, but before things get too scary. Leave it to some folks to try to skate down the center of a controversial issue.
The debate between the Pre-Tribulationists and the Post-Tribulationists has caused a bit of a rift among level-headed apocalyptics, and it can get pretty heated. Take this exchange between Dr. Thomas Ice, executive director of the Pre-Tribulation Research Center, and Richard Perry, author of Of the Last Days: Listen, I Tell You a Mystery, which occurred at the Bible Prophecy Conference in Athens, Georgia in December 2001:
Richard Perry: … the Word says, that He must remain in heaven until it is time to restore everything.
Dr. Thomas Ice: Right!
Richard Perry: Then how does He come out of heaven into the air, if He must remain in heaven until after the tribulation?
Dr. Thomas Ice: The New Testament comes and gives us the new revelation about the Rapture. Where Christ doesn’t come to the earth but He meets us in the cloud in the heavens and we return back with Him to the Father’s house. There are only two comings, when He came 2,000 years ago and the Second Coming when He returns with His raptured Church called His Bride to Terra Firma and He reigns for a thousand years. The rapture is said to be a mystery in 1 Corinthians 15 meaning a new revelation. Something that was always part of God’s plan just never revealed, why because the Church Age is a mystery, Ephesians chapter two and three….
Richard Perry: So, you are interpreting the heavens in Acts 3:21 as not heaven where the Father and the Son are residing at the moment, but as both heavens as in terms of the heaven that means the air, meaning that Jesus hasn’t really left heaven if He is still in the air?
Dr. Thomas Ice: Uh, I don’t know that you have to resolve something that precise. All I know is that the contexts of Acts chapter two and three is in relationship to the Jewish nation. When are these things going to happen for Israel? That the times of refreshing are going to come…. It is not dealing with the Church.
Richard Perry: So, if I understand, Christ will come for the Church which is the “blessed hope” at the rapture before the seven year tribulation period and then at the end of the seven-year period He will come to earth with the Church to judge the nations and the unbelieving world.
Dr. Thomas Ice: Yes!
Richard Perry: Then I have a hard time understanding what Paul is talking about in 2 Thessalonians first chapter where he says, those of you that are troubled I will provide relief, and it says, when He comes He will judge the unbelieving world with His angels in blazing fire which is clearly a picture of His coming at the end of the tribulation period.
See the full exchange here. The debate is, of course, quite similar in form and substance to the controversy that still rages today over why the Borg were able to show up so quickly in Alpha Quadrant in Season 2 of Star Trek: Enterprise. Fundamentally, both debates involve questions of physics, engineering and mechanics, and are probably best left to a MIT lab section. And perhaps a good travel agent.
Ultimately, whether you are a Post-Tribulationist who believes that good things come to those who wait, a Pre-Tribulationist who believes that if you’re good enough you don’t ever have to wait, or a Whig who just doesn’t want to rock the boat too much — don’t let these arguments distract you too much. In the meantime, while you’re waiting for Cirque du Soleil, there are bills to pay, errands to run, and many, many meals to cook, serve and eat. We musn’t let the humdrum daily grind unspool … or some loved one of yours will be mighty upset with you, and then, you can bet that there certainly will be hell to pay.
September 2, 2006 at 3:48 am
Terrific blog. Two big names in Bible prophecy these days are Thomas Ice and Todd Strandberg. For some light on heavyweight Ice, visit Google and type in “Thomas Ice (Bloopers).” Strandberg’s Rapture Ready site features the “Rapture Index” with its “precursors” which supposedly are signposts preceding and pointing to a pretrib rapture. But Strandberg knows that the same precursors are viewed on earth even after his rapture, are fulfilled during the tribulation, and point to only the down-to-earth final advent of Matt. 24. And neither Ice nor Strandberg have ever found any ORGANIZED CHURCH before 1830 that taught a pretrib rapture; before 1830 all churches taught only posttrib! Other interesting Google articles include “Pretrib Rapture Diehards” and “Famous Rapture Watchers.” Bruce
October 3, 2006 at 3:41 pm
One who does a serious Biblical study on this subject quickly finds puzzlement as to why this is an issue at all. From within the pages of the Bible the rapture’s timing is CLEARLY told in many ways. The man made idea of a pre-trib rapture plain and simply put, is NOT taught in God’s word. Post tribulational Rapture is CLEAR! I dont cease to be amazed at the debate.
October 4, 2006 at 3:31 pm
This debate is nothing more than ridiculous! I agree with the fact that Christ will Rapture his church BEFORE the Tribulation. The Bible calls the church the “Bride of Christ”, Why would a groom leave his bride to suffer through such a great tribulation? A loving God would not leave his followers to suffer the extreme horrifics of the last days. Those punishments are meant for the souls who reject Christ.
December 14, 2006 at 3:46 am
If you happen to read “Roots of (Warlike) Christian Zionism” (it is on Google), you are in for a treat – that is, if you are interested in Middle East conflicts. Jon
January 8, 2007 at 10:08 am
Seeing that there have been no comments after December 14th, 2006 to the article: “Battle Rages Over Rapture” in the Armageedon Cocktail Hour beginning in this New Year, 2007, it would be great time to get the year off to a good start by reminding the world’s population of the “imminency” of the rapture event.
In 2005, as a Christian Eschatological writer, I authored, Alienated Planet Earth and the End that Will be Coming to Our World (ISBN: 1412050154) available online-URL: trafford.com/04-2823
My purpose was to prepare literate people through the print media of the imminence of the pretribulation rapture so that literate people and their loved ones will be prepared and not be left-behind in the antichrist’s commerce-controlled world of the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation. Pre-tribulationists (myself included) believe that the Lord does not call his Christian Faithful to the wrath of God and of Satan in the end-times during the Tribulation and Great Tribulation. Rather, Jesus provides a heavenly refuge for them during this most terrible of times in all of earth’s history. Then, after the Great Tribulation, the raptured saints and faithful angels come with the Messiah Jesus to save the planet “lest no flesh be saved” and to establish His Millennial Kingdom on Planet Earth for one-thousand years.
One of the best and most concise
discussions of the pretribulation rapture of the church has been written by Edgar Meneses, and is featured as a 19-page topical article on the RAPTURE ALERT website under the title: A Pretribulation Rapture of the Church-Does the Bible Teach It?
http://www.rapturealert.com/doesthebibleteachpretrib.html
Quay Fortuna in writing this article on his website Armageddon Cocktail Hour tries his secular best to fairly summarize the pretrib, midtrib and posttrib and preterist positions but he doesn’t approach the subject as a genuine believing Christian would searching the scriptures as a Berean for the truth revealed and expressed therein. He concludes his article by focusing on the divergent views of Richard Perry and Dr. Timoth Ice.
Whereas if Quay were as a Berean, instead of as a secular reporter, he would have searched the Scriptures and looked into what the Messiah Jesus Himself said in His Gospels about the Rapture Event. Here is what Jesus said: In Luke 17 verses
34, 35, and 36:
34 I tell you in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
In the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 verses 40 and 41, we have corroboration of what Jesus said in Luke 17:
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Jesus own wording certainly only allows for a “pretribulation rapture event” because His Faithful are taken to heaven and those who refuse to believe in Him are left behind. Enough said? Jonah Immanu,
Christian Eschatological Author.
February 5, 2007 at 7:31 am
I would like to thank author Jonah Immanu for recommending my rapture article. His doing so is indeed encouraging to me. It is my prayer that more and more people will come to understand this doctrine and receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior. — Edgar Meneses
February 6, 2007 at 6:03 pm
It was my pleasure to commend your brief, 19-page article on the pretribulation rapture which I considered to have been serving the Lord in evangelism because the article was so Holy Spirit-inspired.
Lately, I have been trying to persuade Hollywood Producer, Mel Gibson to contact, my Senior Literary Agent, Georgina C@NewYorkLiterary Agency.com to consider my book Alienated Planet Earth and the End that Will be Coming to Our World as a basis for his latest motion picture project so that more people in our world will come to understand the pretribulation rapture doctrine and receive the Lord as their Savior in these end-times. Perhaps you would be so kind as to join me in prayer that Mel would be led by the Lord into such an ambitious project and that we would finish it before the pretribulation rapture itself occurs.
Our alienated populations upon our earth hardly realize that we are living out our lives in these end times hopelessly in a fallen world that is about to embrace the antichrist. The Lord, Jesus Christ is our only hope with the blessed promise of His initial refuge in the pretribulation rapture for those who believe and in later, ultimate victory over death and Satan in bringing our planet Earth into His new paradigm shift when He brings His heavenly Kingdom upon earth very soon, which is what our world most needs to be preparing for right now.
We need to remain thoroughly vigilant giving out the correct gospel message until the rapture event finally occurs and sets the stage for the world’s paradigm shift into eternity under Christianity in the Lord’s now 2000 year plus expectation of His Second Coming to Earth to take up His righteous rule and reign over our planet.
Informing our earth’s troubled and alienated populations to the very best of our abilities with such a motion picture, lest many people perish for a lack of being prepared for the coming Rapture, Tribulation and Great Tribulation would (in a sense) use the Lord’s words Himself to redeem Hollywood and the World.
Jonah Immanu, Christian Eschatological Author-Alienated Planet Earth and the End that Will be Coming to Our World
February 9, 2007 at 8:53 am
Dear Jonah,
May I bring to your attention that the correct URL to my rapture article is http://www.rapturealert.com/doesbibleteachpretrib.html
We are both in this, trying to reach more people with the true gospel message of the Lord. Some people, maybe, will be interested first in the pretrib rapture doctrine. Yours truly, Edgar
April 26, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Questions: Why is I Thess. 4:17’s “rapture” tied to I Thess. 5:3’s (posttrib) “sudden destruction” of the wicked [note "times and seasons] if the rapture is pretrib? If this destruction is before or during the trib, who would be left alive to serve the Antichrist? And I Cor. 15:52’s “rapture” is tied to vs. 54 (a quote from Isa. 25:8 which all agree is Israel’s posttrib resurrection). Two key passages and NO proof of pretrib in either one! Now you know why NO church (or Christian theology) before 1830 ever taught a pretrib coming! Marge
September 26, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Greetings,
My name is Victor Michael Lashewitz and you can call me by my middle name Michael. I am a citizen of the United States of America the state of Ohio. I am a resident of a nursing home in Cincinnati, Ohio. How I arrived at these circumstances is not important or the direction and reason and focus of this letter and its subject matter.
I would ask that all would read this letter in full content and understand its explicit message and not disregard it as spam or its messenger as spam artist. Peace be with you and God bless your ministry. If you need help understanding this message and why it needs to be listened to and obeyed please feel free to e-mail me and ask as many questions as you feel is needed to understand the contents of this letter and its message that I give to others freely. My e-mail address is v.mikelash@yahoo.com. This letter will talk about a Jewish custom called Hatafat Dam Brit and why it is needed to be done on all males..
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Subject – Jewish custom called Brit Milah – Hatafat Dam Brit.
Hatafat Dam Brit: When a child is born as if circumcised, or has been circumcised before the eighth day in a hospital, a ritual called hatafat dam Brit is required. This symbolic circumcision involves drawing a drop of blood from the shaft of the penis. A dye is used on the needle when doing this procedure. The child is also named at this time.
Extra information on the Jewish custom of circumcision.
Conversion/Adoption: When both parents are Jewish, the child is Jewish. If only one parent is Jewish, the child’s religion is determined by that of the birth mother. If the birth mother is not Jewish, the child must be converted. For a boy, the first step in this process is Brit Milah, followed by immersion in a mikveh (ritual bath), usually at the age of one year. If a male child born of a non-Jewish mother is adopted by Jewish parents, he also must undergo conversion. The process is as described above. The adoptive parents assume responsibility for circumcision and mikveh as well as for the many other educational obligations that lead to the child’s understanding and acceptance of Torah and mitzvot. An older child or adult male who wishes to convert to Judaism also must undergo circumcision, or hatafat dam, and mikveh.
Customs
The three main participants, the father, mohel and sandak, wear talitot.
On the first Friday night after a boy is born, it is customary to celebrate by gathering in the home of the newborn to welcome him This is known as Ben Zakhor (also Shalom Zakhor). G-d finished the creation of the world with the Sabbath and introduced peace and rest. Thus Shabbat surrounds the newborn with an aura of holiness and enhances his entry into the Covenant of Abraham, our father.
The redemption of the first born son of a Jewish mother requires a pidyon haben. If the father or mother is a kohen or levi, the child is exempt. The ceremony takes place on the 31st day of the child’s life. If this day falls on Shabbat or a Yom Tov, the ceremony is postponed until the first following weekday. A religiously observant kohen is needed.
foot notes:
1. You do not need to be Jewish to do this custom. You can do hatafat dam brit on yourself at any age and in private if need be also. The spirit of truth will bless you if the male does this hatafat dam brit on himself. You do not need to circumcise yourself if you are not circumcised already and you do not need to circumcise yourself again once circumcised the first time. None of the Jewish rituals and customs need to be observed or obeyed to do this procedure hatafat dam brit on yourself.
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2. Bible verses that justify this ritual.
Jeremiah 4:4, Genesis 3:15, and Daniel 9:11! Jermiah 4:4 –”4: Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil (error) of your doings. “Genesis 3:15 – “15: And I will put enmity (Mastema) between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Daniel 9:11 -”11: Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses (brit Milah) the messenger of God, because we have sinned (insinuated) against him.”
If you do hatafat dam brit on yourself the spirit of enmity will depart from your presence mentioned in Genesis 3:15.
How I found out about this custom ritual is because I use a catheter to urinate. Well a would be trainee urologist inserted the tube to far into me the wrong way one day when I had a doctor’s appointment to see the urologist in December 2000 and I was bleeding out of my penis afterwards slowly. I used iodine a dye instead of hydrogen-peroxide to clean the wound when I got home because the wound was still bleeding when I arrived home that day then the arch-angel Michael appeared to me and rebuked the spirit of enmity from my presence. This procedure hurts like the dickens for a moment anyway. Well I am paralyzed so I did not feel the pain. I am considered a incomplete quadriplegic because I broke my neck in a car wreck in August 12, 1996 around noon time. I have since healed of that wound the piercing of my penis but not my broken neck with help from the Holy Spirit and a female angel. How I found out about all this stuff that talks about what enmity is and brit milah and hatafat dam brit is because ministering angels guided me in what to study since December of 2000.
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3. The shaft of the penis is the hole that urine come out of in males. When you prick the hole at the part where the hole meets the bladder this blood vessel leads directly to the heart and agrees with the verse in scripture Jeremiah 4:4, Daniel 9:11, and Genesis 3:15. Remember to use a dye on the needle or the procedure is a waste of time.
Excerpt from the gospel of Philip.
The Lord went into the dye works of Levi. He took seventy-two different colors and threw them into the vat. He took them out all white. And he said, “Even so has the Son of Man come as a dyer.
I believe the vat mentioned in the text gospel of Philip listed above might be considered the shaft of the male penis.
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4. This Jewish Document talks about this custom. This document is called the Damascus covenant and is found in ancient scrolls. This is an excerpt from that document,
19 Laws as to Oaths.
19 1 …(Shall not swe)ar either by Aleph Lamed or by Aleph Daleth, but by the oath (written) in the curses of the covenant. 2.But the Law of Moses he shall not mention, for…3 And if he swears and transgresses he profanes the Name. 4 And if by the curses of the covenant…the Judges. 5 And if he transgress he shall be held guilty but if he confess and make restitution he shall not bear (the penalty) of death. 6 And whosoever in all Israel shall enter into the covenant by a statute forever, together with their children who are (not of an age) to pass over into the number of those who are enrolled by the oath of the covenant, shall confirm it on their behalf. 7 And this is also the law throughout the entire period of the wickedness for every one who returns from his corrupt way. 8 On the day when he speaks with the Censor of the many they shall enrol him by the oath of the covenant that Moses established with Israel-10 the covenant to re(turn to the Law of M)oses…with all (his) heart…(and with all his) soul: as regards that which there is found to be done by them… 10 And no man shall make known to him the laws until he stand before the Censor (who) shall search out concerning him when he examines him. 11 And when he imposes it upon him to return to the Law of Moses with all his heart and all his soul …of him if… 12 And every thing that was revealed of the Law with regard to a suit… in him…the Censor him and shall command him…until…killed him…and the madman and all…(loss of five lines) 13 covenant with you and with the whole of Israel. 14 Therefore the man shall impose it upon himself to return to the Law of Moses; for in it everything is accurately treated.
20 1 Reference to the Book of Jubilees.
20 1 And as for the exact statement of their periods to put Israel in remembrance in regard to all these, behold, it is treated accurately in the Book of the Divisions of the Seasons according to their Jubilees and their Weeks.
20 2-12. Laws as to Oaths and Vows.
2 And on the day on which the man imposes it upon himself to return to the law of Moses the angel of Mastema(ENMITY) will depart from him if he make good his word. 3 Therefore Abraham was circumcised on the day of his knowing it. 4 As to what he said, ‘That which is gone forth from thy lips thou shalt keep’ to make it good- 5 No binding oath, which a man imposes upon himself with a view to perform a commandment of the law, shall he cancel even at the risk of death. 6 Nothing which a man (imposes) upon himself with a view to (frustrate the la)w shall he make good even at the risk of death. 7 (As for) the oath of the woman, whose oath Mos(es sa)id should be disallowed, no man shall disa1low an oath which no man knew. 8 It is to be confirmed. And whether it be to disallow or to transgress the covenant, he shall disallow it and not confirm it. 9 And so is also the law for her father. As to the law of the of(fer)ings no man shall vow anything for the altar under compulsion. 10 Nor shall the (pr)iests take anything from the Israelites… 11 (Nor) shall a man dedicate the food…this is what he said, ‘They hunt every man his brother with a net.’ 12 Nor shall de(vote)…of all…his possession…holy…shall be punished he…who takes a vow… to the judge…
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5. Author’s note. Do not e-mail me and waste my time if you do not believe me. You will find stuff on the internet about this ritual on web sites if you type into the search engine hatafat dam brit – brit milah. I do not know how to talk to others about this subject because of mans’ ego.
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6. I am sending this message out to as many people as I can. I come in peace. This custom is not a joke. You will find several internet sites that talk about this ancient ritual
Sincerely,
Victor Michael Lashewitz (3-31-71)
March 7, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Where can I get the crack/bible combo you guys are smoking? Can I get curly fries with that?
Oh and yes, please super size me….
March 9, 2008 at 4:29 am
I don’t know J.B., I too have a ritual that involves the pulling of my penis. I feel cleansed and renewed each time. No blood, as I believe that would clearly indicate the evidence of the work of Satan and I would have to submit to a burnt offering…or something that would feel that way.
July 24, 2008 at 10:36 pm
greetings. whoever posted my written letter fo all to read and judge me to all i say you misjudged me. i am not a prophet of god. i signed a contract in the clouds that said messenger for god on it in the clouds. two angels took my spirit to the clouds. the same clouds refered to mentioned by paul in the scriptures. god himself in a vision said i am a branch of god. at the rapture you will find out i am telling the truth. i ask that you leave my family out of this they know nothing of what i do. i have the spiritual gifts of a seer given by the holy ghost sophia. you know nothing you are blind spiritually. you judge me wrong. i pray you bsee the light when you are not raptured and i am. if you are raptured i ask jesus christ for all those that accuss me apoligize to me. i am single and i serve the holy spirit of god. the rapture is coming soon. i will meet jesus christ in the clouds then. more then likely you will not because you borrow the name of a christian. i don’t care if you call me a false prophet. i do not rule or judge or talk in fear if you do not accept my message then i go in peace. i ask for the person who posted this message it was not meant to be posted in a negative manner or of the light of christ. i pray that god speaks to you. i am the branch mentioned in isaiah 4:1-2 because god has told me this himself. i am sorry you do not believe me. i suffered horribly to learn what i did. i am no longer a person with enmity in my seed because brit milah was performed on me by two interns accidently inserting a cathether into me. i used iodine to clean the wound and enmity genesis 3:15 or verse 16 fled my presence. god told me i am the branch of the lod mentioned in isaiah. you judge me wrong. my dad today asked me to leave him out of this because someone posted his phone number on or with one of my writings. you judged my dad wrong. he is a devote christian and raised me properly. i have been a christian my whole life and believe in the trinity. just because i make a declaation as i did does not make me a false prophet. its okay i figure you. i am a quadreplegic because of my ex-wife. i was married when we were in a horrendous car accident. i broke my neck and lived on my own for ten years. i now live in a nursing home called glencare in cincinnati ohio. you can find itlisted on the internet. thnk you for posting my message. it is the truth. you save me time by posting it so more people can know the truth. you accussed me wrong and i forgive you. you will find out at the rapture or on judgment day i spoke, wrote, and told the truth. i am not damning you with hell fire and burning in hell. why do you discern and judge me. as far as i know you are nobodies. i pray that angels wake you up from dreamstate and visit you like they do me. this happened to biblicial figures so why not me also. god choosed me. not man because i have a pure heart. but i beg you my dadis victor lashewitz so please leave him out of this. he read what you wrote aboutme and got upset saying i should have used a pen name if i should have said anything at all. i am closer to god then you are. satan is a real entity and he has tempted me also i am poor. my message did not harm you. if you do what my letter says to do you need to be 31 or younger. on your 31 first birthday or later date i don’t believe enmity flees your presence or you don’t heal properly after what i said to do. i am not insulting you. i am more mature then that. i have one question for you. well actually two questions for you. why not that god can talk to me that is not a crime and second question why not can angels of god visit me. i prayed and fasted for years asking to be healed of being a incomplete quadreplegic. yes i broke my neck in that car accident i mentioned. i sought god out with all my heart and he sent jesus christ and the holy spirit to me. this does agree with the scripture of the christian bible so why not me. god will bless yo for posting my message though i should say that people might change my writings to falsely accuse me in front of christ and god. as i said you are very ignorant. god was not joing when he said i come like a to edge sword in judgment of humanity. well godbless in christ. i did not attack you so please do not attack me. i am not harming anyone. my message is one for mature responsible people not those that accuse others of sin that is what the devil does mentioned in the book of revelation. you want to know my sins email me and i will email you back. enmail my dad and you might cause him to have a heart attack. he doesn’t understand what i am talking about i am blessed because god speaksto me. my email address is v.mikelash@yahoo.com. but if i confess my sins to you i don’t want them posted on the internet because of spammers.
warmly
michael l——-z
in christ love
November 18, 2008 at 6:32 am
Hi, if you wt to read a great book about the end of the age read the Flame of Heaven, a amillinial view of the end.
Good stuff!
website: http://www.StrategicBookPublishing.com/TheFlameofHeaven.html
July 25, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I knew Quay Fortuna was a pseudonym, but yesterday I realized what it means.
A quay is a dock (pronounced “key”), a place for ships to tie up to. Fortuna is simply “for tuna”. So Quay Fortuna is a dock where people can unload their smelly fish!
Regarding Dock’s contention that the rapture of the church is something unheard of in the church until the mid 1800s here is a statement attributed to Ephraem of Syria by a person known as Pseudo-Ephraem sometime before the advent of Islam;
“All the saints and elect of God are gathered together before the tribulation, which is to come, and are taken to the Lord, in order that they may not see at any time the confusion which overwhelms the world because of our sins.”
-Pseudo-Ephraem (c. 374-627)
It really doesn’t matter who it was who made the statement, the fact that it was made during the first 600 years of Christianity, and was translated into several different languages is significant!
So Quay or Dock or whatever your name is your research was a bit short sighted, merely repeating the party line, instead of doing some real research.
It is true that very few had heard of the pre-trib rapture viewpoint before the mid 1800s, but that is because pre-tribbers were a persecuted minority as they are today.
July 26, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I am APPALLED that some of the content of these postings are not edited or completely deleted by the Host…Quay…oh yeah, I forgot, freedom of speech…..don’t make me laugh. Posts 11 and 12 are disgusting to say the least. You seem to think Christianity is a big joke and we’re all delusional. Freedom of speech???….Let someone post something about the Quran or Allah and watch out. If they don’t kill you you’ll have the Civil Liberties Union rising to protect you. No one dare poke fun at Islam. Christianity…Jesus Christ….you post your filth and make fun of it..One day, you will all be held accountable.
Adonai is God. NOT ALLAH
The Bible is TRUTH…not the Quran
Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
Jesus sacrificed his life to bridge the gap between man and God.
Believe it and your Saved.
Believe it not and you’ll go to Hell.
Jesus Will return. He will rapture His children.
Very, Very soon.
The West needs to wake up and see just what religion is taking over…ISLAM. Christians need to rise up and stand up for the TRUTH. We should never allow the disrespect that permeates our country against christianity. It’s blashpemy.
Reprobates who insult the Bible like Jonathan Brashier in post 11, and the filthy disgusting routine described by Brian Kent in post 12….I pity you and the evil spirit within you that makes you write such things. You should be ashamed and if you were any kind of a man, apologize to those you so callously want to offend.
It doesn’t matter if you believe in the Rapture or not. You’ll go if you’re a saved christian, you’ll be left behind if you are not. Plain and simple.
October 3, 2009 at 4:01 pm
With reference to “Appalled” of hometown USA.
Speaking as a Brit myself, I’d say you were an knucking futter mate! And a dangerous one at that! Also, you’re to dim to see the funny side! Get a grip on reality man! Spend some of your hard earned rRepublican cash and come visit us in Europe. We’ll educate ya! Y’all originate from fanatics who left these shores in England and embarked on a genocide of mammoth proportions against the indigenous peoples. Why is everyything “Plain and Simple” with you lot? Cos it ain’t mate, unfortunately for your ilk.
May Hashem (THE NAME of the Most High GOD) who loves us all WITHOUT DISTINCTION, Who out of love created all of us, Jew or Gentile, Protestant or Catholic send the spirit of Gevurah and Chesed down upon you and draw the light and the truth out of it. Until then, I suggest you make atonement with your God. Examine your conscience carefully and remember – where there is hate there is Satan. Where there is love – there is GOD. Ubi Caritas et Amor – Deus Ibi Est! Look it up!
God bless! Amen!!!