6 Dec, 2004
Dec-Feb Fund Drive
Because this will be the last fund drive of 2004, I think it is a good time for me to reflect on how productive the year has been for Rapture Ready. All the help we’ve received from you folks has allowed us to increase the traffic and more than double the size of the site. Many prophecy sites have lost traffic this year, or are no longer actively maintained.
Another thing noteworthy about this year has been the media attention the site has generated. Reporters from all over the world have contacted Terry and me about doing interviews concerning various end-time related subjects. Here are just a few of the media representatives who have contacted us:
Australian TV
Air America Radio
Germany’s RTL Network
Chinema 36
The Guardian
The Village Voice
Dutch TV
Britain’s Channel 4
Playboy
Netscape.com
The media and the public come to this site because we provide a vast wealth of information and we offer answers to the questions people are asking about prophecy. It amazes me that RR is often the only webpage that addresses particular end-time subjects. For example, a couple of weeks ago I did one search on Yahoo! that yielded three links to RR in its results.
Much of the success of the site has to do with one simple fact: Most Christians have little regard for the faith they claim adherence to. Because there is no personal gain from operating a site with free information, thousands of Christian organizations and millions of believers let opportunity pass them by.
While adding the Christian Classics to the site, I received an astonishing insight into the hollow nature of the average believer's commitment to his or her faith. Many people wrote me offering to help format the books, yet after I sent them the raw data, I never heard from them again. A few apologized for being lazy, but went on to repeat the error.
When we get to Heaven, I expect people to blame me for not pushing them harder to support the site. As far the volunteer work goes, I already have an answer. I’m not more aggressive in this area because I now realize it now creates more hassle than benefit. After making an appeal, I typically receive emails from 30 people who say they would like to help. After spending an hour with each volunteer as I explain how to accomplish the task, I’m lucky when one person follows through. This summer it finally dawned on me that I can save time by doing the work myself.
There is no magic secret about being dedicated to the cause of Christ. I think most Christians realize the ultimate value of doing something that is pleasing to the Lord. The challenge lies in applying that belief to the material world. The head can make all the promises in the world, but it’s the heart that makes the final decision.
The realization that our treasure is not in the earthly realm is what keeps me motivated. If you compare RR to the majority of the Christian ministries, you should easily see how we apply this principle to our site.
In the coming year, I plan to the use the services of various professional editors and web designers to create new content. In order to finance these various projects, I need fellow Christians who are willing join forces with me.
The best way to support Rapture Ready is through a regular donation. The Paypal subscribers have become the bedrock of the site. If you’re interested in signing up as a monthly donor, you can find the link on the Donation Depot page.
One area of special concern is the RR message board. It costs us nearly $300 a month to operate the board, and the subscriptions have averaged around $200 per month. If you regularly utilize the board to converse with fellow believers, I encourage you to help us maintain it by signing up as an annual or semi-annual subscriber.
-- Todd
Perilous Times Part II
We live today in dangerous, though exciting, times as we often point out in
the "Nearing Midnight" updates. Paul the apostle called the time of the
end-the time that will culminate with Christ's return- "perilous times." He
specifically addressed characteristics that will mark the generation of
people living on Planet Earth when Christ's Second Coming nears.
We are examining the prophecies Paul gave for that last-days era, an era
that looks more and more like this troubling though exciting time in which
we live. Continuing from where last week's column left off, let us pick up
analyzing Paul's predicted last-days characteristics of earth-dwellers found
in his second epistle to his spiritual son, Timothy, chapter 3.
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men
shall be without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady,
highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
Books, in many volumes, could be-and have been-written on matters wrapped up
in this powerful series of brief descriptions given by Paul. We will attempt
to again look at some of these individually, breaking each characteristic
down to its bare essence, with regard to how it is manifest in the issues
and events of our time.
Without Natural Affection
Problematic issues on our cultural landscape today point to the fact that we
live in a time when many people are "without natural affection." These
issues involve, among other things, abortion and homosexuality.
1. Abortion. Abortion is the greatest single example that mankind is
rebellious beyond all that is rational. The animals, from the highest order
to the lowest, care about their young. The female of each specie provides
for its young, never choosing to deliberately prevent its offspring from
coming to life and to full development. There are those "experts," I
realize, who will point to aberrant cases in which a specie sometimes
devours its young at birth, but these cases are extremely rare, and happen
because of the deadly consequences of man's original fall, not because it
is the natural order of things.
For a human mother--who has not instinct, but God-given cognitive
intelligence--to determine to kill her baby while in the womb is an
unnatural act that is unfathomable --and inexcusable. The vast majority of
abortions are not done to save the mother's life or to prevent consequences
of rape or incest. Abortions are almost always committed for the purposes of
convenience. They are done to prevent the birth of children who would hamper
the parents' lifestyle. It is most often birth control after the fact. God
views abortion as being murder, shedding the blood of the innocent, and His
judgment will ultimately fall upon the rebellious people who practice it.
America has permitted the murder of more than 43 million children in their
mothers' wombs -the sanctuary where they should be safest-since Roe v. Wade
in 1973. Can God's judgment be too far from this nation, based upon that
degree of rebellion?
2. Homosexuality. Can there be a more unnatural act than sexual activity
between people of the same sex? Nature screams out the insanity of such
activity. The practice is physiologically, not to mention emotionally,
against all things rational. It is a death-style, not a "gay lifestyle." If
homosexuality were carried out to its unnatural consummation, human life
would cease to exist. Diseases spawned from the unhealthy activity found
within the perverted acts are, themselves, the deadly result of the
rebellion of those who practice homosexuality.
History records that homosexuality has been at the root of every
civilization, when those cultures, societies, empires, etc., reached their
end. The cry that homosexuality must be considered as normal as
heterosexuality is in full voice today. This is a sure indicator that
rebellion in America and the world is about to reach a crescendo.
Genesis Chapter 19 records that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for
depraved sinfulness, homosexuality of which was a major part. Bible prophecy
predicts the last generation of earth dwellers will be in the same state of
rebellion and will face God's wrath, as did the rebels in those ancient
cities. Jesus said: "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did
eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the
same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from
heaven, and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:28-29).
Trucebreakers, False Accusers, Traitors
Whether involving arms proliferation treaties,business contracts, or
marriages, these three characteristics of end-time man are a visceral part
of our world today.
We've all heard stories of how in the past, a handshake was as good as gold.
Now, even the most iron-clad contract is violated without much regard to
honor. The upside-down reasoning in today's rebellious world considers only
how to secure what is best for "me."
This, I realize, will be seen as cynicism, but if one reflects on how
affairs are conducted today, the assessment must be seen as accurate.
Marriage is perhaps the best example in considering the triple last days
characteristics--truce-breakers/false accusers/ traitors. The divorce rate
in America now surpasses that of marriages, according to statistics. There
can be no greater case of truce-breaking, traitorous behavior than that
found in breaking the promises made within marriage vows. In divorce, there
is usually some accusing and false accusing at the heart of the matters
involved. The loss of respect for marriage and the vows involved in that
institution under God is a sure sign this generation is coming near to the
Almighty's judgment.
Heady, High-Minded
Today's thinkers-elite tell us that man, not some deity, has or can
eventually find answers to solve man's problems. Humanism, like at the time
of the Tower of Babel (Genesis Chapter 11) is the satanic delusion ruling
the worldview of governments and societies today. Scientists and educators
demand that humanism's religion, evolution, be taught as truth. Media and
all other facets of culture follow along obediently. Creation by God is for
the simple-minded cave-dwellers of the past.
But the Bible says they are fools, those who say there is no God. Those who
neglect praising Him are destined to be judged for their sinful rebellion
during the time of God's wrath. (Read the Book of Revelation.)
Incontinent
This doesn't mean that the last days will see a greater-than-usual use of
adult diapers. This term indicates that the last-days generation will be
filled with people who are highly addictive. We have only to consider what
we know about addictions today to determine if our generation fits that
designation Paul outlined in his perilous times examination.
Drug usage is pandemic, and that includes both illicit and prescription. A
quick look at and listen to sitcoms, as well as at most other forms of
entertainment, lets us know this generation is wildly addicted to sex.
Pornography has exploded on the scene; since the advent of Internet it's
addicted victims spanning the spectrum of society across the world.
Gambling, video games, food, love of money, all are areas in which
addictions flourish, and grow.
Fierce
Perhaps no greater addiction is with us today than blood-lust. The
terrorists of our day are fierce beyond all imagination. They videotape
their atrocities while they saw heads from the bodies of people even as the
victims sob, begging for their lives. The terrorists, in the name of their
god, Allah, murder little children by the hundreds, including their own, by
strapping bombs to them and sending them to explode in the midst of other
innocents. Can their be doubt that this generation fits the characteristic
Paul terms "fierce"?
Lovers of Pleasure More Than Lovers of God
We don't have to think very hard on this one. Just ask: Would people rather,
as a whole, be in a true worship service on Sunday mornings, or in bed,
getting rested up for a day of engaging in whatever recreational activity
they have chosen for themselves on this day off from work, school, or
whatever? Golf, fishing, football, water-skiing, sight-seeing, or just
lazing around the house -there are hundreds of pleasures to distract us, to
put ahead of God. Notice that I used the word "us." I've been guilty of
this, too. This is, in effect, a form of idolatry, if practiced regularly.
Having a Form of Godliness, But Denying the Power Thereof
Never in my memory have politicians so exemplified this last-days
characteristics prophesied by the Apostle Paul, as in the election just
past. This leaped to mind when one of the presidential candidates, who was
in the camp that castigated all who brought up the subject of God, or godly
values, suddenly said that he was a man of faith, and would take his faith
into the oval office with him on January 20. Before his sudden finding of
faith was important to courting the electorate, that candidate had said that
he was a man of faith, but would not use his beliefs as guiding principles
because that would be forcing it upon others.
We must be guided by our Christian principles, if we are Christians. This
must take precedence over all other things. That doesn't mean we want to
force others to believe in God as we do. We wish they would; we pray they
will at some point. But Christ never forced His will on people, neither do
we who truly follow Him. But, we must live godly lives, ourselves, guided by
the principles for living He taught us. And, we have the right--even the
duty-as citizens, as Christians, to work to see that our society lives
within decency and morality, the parameters for which God alone has given
man. Our nation was founded on such principles, and we have the right to see
to it that those guidelines are at the heart of our culture.
We are in perilous times. All prophetic indicators, including Paul's
last-days characteristics of end-time man, are at the forefront today. This
makes us know that Christ could call His followers, the Church, home at any
moment.
--Terry
