You folks probably have no idea how many times a day I receive e-mail messages from tribulation saint wannabes who write to encourage me to rethink my belief in the pre-trib rapture. Because Rapture Ready is now one of the leading sites on the subject of the rapture, I’m constantly receiving messages that challenge my pre-trib view.

Many of these people rant about how I’m setting all my readers up for the big Antichrist deception. I’m constantly being told that the pretribulation rapture doctrine is the “great apostasy” and that anyone preaching this view is an agent of the devil.

Most of these people are so much in love with the idea of a post-trib rapture that they don’t even bother to validate their view with Scripture. I would estimate that 90 percent of the people who write me never quote a single verse from the Bible.

If for some odd reason the rapture fails to occur before the tribulation, they believe despondent Christians will mistake the false messiah for the real one. Of course, nowhere in the Bible does it say this type of scenario will take place.

For the sake of the argument, granting the possibility that the rapture transpires at a later time, there’s no logical reason for a Bible-believing Christian to be tricked into following the Antichrist. It’s normally the post-trib folks who are the most vocal about their predictions of mass defections from the faith.

I think telling the difference between the Antichrist and Jesus Christ will be as easy as telling the difference between a $5 watch sold at Wal-Mart and a $5,000 watch made by Rolex. Because the Bible teaches we will be raptured to meet the Lord Jesus in the air, no man on earth could possibly qualify as the Messiah. I would simply say, if you haven’t been raptured yet, keep waiting for the real Savior.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Th 4:16-17).

Because Revelation proclaims Jesus will return with great power and majesty, it’s pure folly to follow after a political leader that appears on the scene via a humble stage door.

“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev 6:14-6).

The most disturbing error I find with the pro-tribulation crowd is the belief that Christians are promised special protection from the tribulation horrors. Some people try to use pre-trib Scriptures like Revelation 3:10 to claim God will protect Christians, but most use their own logic to conclude God’s grace will allow us to stay perfectly safe those seven long years.

The Bible repeatedly states that tribulation saints will face a strong likelihood of being martyred under the Antichrist’s demonic rule. Many so-called scholars are able to read the following Scriptures and conclude the passages only suggest that a mild level of persecution will occur during the tribulation

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Rev 13:7).

“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” (Rev 13:10).

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Rev 13:15).

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them” (Rev 14:12-13).

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev 20:4).

Jesus made His own prediction about how bad the global persecution of believers will be during the tribulation. He added an ominous warning that some people will betray one another.”Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another” (Mat 24:9-10).

“For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be” (Mark 13:19).

During the tribulation period, the Jews will suffer horrendous persecution. The prophet Zechariah predicted that two-thirds of the Jewish people will perish. If 66% of Israel is wiped out, where does that leave the poor Gentile Christians?”And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zec 13:8-9).

I’ve read tens of thousands of messages over the years and I’ve searched through numerous post-trib and pre-wrath web sites, and I can only recall finding maybe one or two people who realized they would likely be martyred for their faith. The majority of these folks have the bizarre, joyous view of the coming tribulation that simply makes a mockery of the Bible’s dire warnings. They also seem to think they’re going to be able to walk up to the Antichrist, poke him in the nose, and say, “OK buster, I’ve got you all figured out.”Clearly, we have an overabundance of the type of bravery Peter and the other disciples briefly displayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before they all betrayed Jesus. The Roman soldiers displayed no desire to apprehend Jesus’ disciples, but when the soldiers slapped the cuffs on Jesus, the disciples ran like the devil was chasing them.

Without a doubt, people who generally make the boldest statements are often also the first to run. Because they’ve never fully counted the cost, they’re able to make valiant declarations to which they could never live up. I would be a liar if I said I could boldly and easily make a life-and-death decision.

Unlike these people who feign bravery, I have considered what it would take to lay down my life for the cause of Christ. I think it would take many hours of prayer to reach the point at which I would be able to face starvation or an executioner’s ax. Jesus prayed many times for an alternative to the cross, but when He realized there was no other way, He chose to follow God’s perfect will.

One of the most glorious benefits the pre-trib rapture offers is the chance to be delivered from the seven-year tribulation. The only bad thing about it is the fact that millions of people continue to pass up the amazing opportunity to escape God’s judgment of the earth. It’s a far better choice to be able to avoid the King of Terror and instead stand in the presence of the King of Kings”Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).

— Todd Strandberg

The master of all master plans is the need for every person in this world to find salvation in Jesus Christ. In Romans 6:23, this is written: “for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NKJV). Unless our goals in life tie into the Kingdom of God, we’re not being productive with our time. Christian ministries seem to be doing everything today but saving souls. They tell people to how to live happy and fulfilled lives, but do little to prepare them for eternity. Until someone comes to faith in Christ, he or she really doesn’t have a working plan. People may be pursuing a goal that temporarily allows them to have the world by the tail, but at the end of their lives, all their accomplishments will come to nothing. At Rapture Ready, everything we do relates to the plan of salvation. Some of our articles may feature seemingly unrelated topics, but they all work together to lead people to Christ.

Rapture Ready Master Plan
Within the framework of the ultimate master plan, we have been working on an objective for the master plan for Rapture Ready. It involves a realization of what will happen as a result of the rapture. When the Lord Jesus comes to earth to remove the Church, I strongly believe the rapture will generate the greatest panic in human history.

Unlike other events in the past, the world will instantly realize the danger it is in. When the Great Flood occurred, most people just thought it was an unusual rain event. They didn’t realize their predicament until their lives were in peril. The supernatural nature of the rapture will present a crystal clear message.

The intense need for information will cause millions of people to turn to the internet for answers. Because Rapture Ready is so closely related to the subject, a huge number of people will find their way to this domain. Currently, only about 0.00115% of global internet users visit our site. I would not be surprised if 20 percent of the post-rapture population eventually reads an article from RR. The only limitation will be the ability of servers hosting RR to distribute data to the eager public.

You folks who happen to read this page ahead of the blessed hope are part of a very unique group of people. The vast majority of site’s visitors will come in the post-rapture world. This is why we have made it our master plan to address the needs of those left behind.

Future Focus
When Rapture Ready started out in 1987, it had a capacity of 500,000 bytes of information for a whole month. Today, we often send out 5 billion bytes of data in a single day. Our total monthly capacity is now over 4 trillion bytes of data.

Another big change has been the number of people who can access the site. In the 1980s, only a handful of people were connected to the internet. Today, web access has gone from being a novelty to a common necessity equal to phones and TV. The web has reached some of the poorest nations on earth. Someone living in India can go to a cyber club and use a computer to view our site.

My first modem could download data at a rate of 1200 baud. A consortium has just finished a network that can transmit data at 100 million bytes per second. The rate of progress mankind has made in the past 20 years likely will continue for many years. With there being no limitation on how fast computers can become, any connectivity goal will eventually be reached.

We at Rapture Ready have been relying heavily on the growth of net capacity. Our hope is that someday the web will become so powerful that a single server could instantly transmit data to the total global population. The search company Google has made it possible for vast numbers of people who understand its cache feature to access the content on RR. Google has vast data centers around the world that store a record of all websites. A person could just click on the “cached” link in search result for “Rapture Ready” and find a stored version of the site.

We’re still looking forward to the advance that will come in the future. We are satisfied that if the rapture were to happen now, tens of millions of people would be able to draw upon RR as a resource of biblical knowledge.

Flying Under the Radar
The time we have here on earth is very brief. Nothing here should be considered more important than goals related to eternity. Unfortunately, the Church has a chronic problem with its priorities. The carnal concerns of this world have crowded out the necessities that pertain to the age to come.

Christian organizations take in hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and yet they have almost zero impact on the world. Some ministries tell people the Lord Jesus is coming soon, and then make financial plans as if God’s return is for some other generation. Rapture Ready is solidly based on the idea that the tribulation hour is near.

The fact that we have a much larger web footprint than several well-known ministries put together is proof that our commitment is not just in words. We have been so active in producing content for the public that we have become one of the internet’s best-kept secrets. I’m sure Satan is aware of our endless productivity. If you do a search for an article that attacks his kingdom, you will find many are hosted on this site.

For right now, Rapture Ready is flying under the radar of public attention. When the rapture occurs, millions of people will realize they’ve made a terrible mistake and will wish they had discovered this domain many years beforehand.

Now That We Have Your Full Attention
Rapture Ready ranks as the most popular prophetic site, but I have no delusions about how shallow the level of interest can be for most visitors. Over the years, I have noticed that our traffic tends to rise and fall based on world events. If something of prophetic nature happens in the Middle East, people will flock to RR. The lack of activity causes their interest to wane.

On an average day, 67 percent of the people who visit RR spend less than 30 seconds on the site. The folks who spend more than an hour on RR only amount to 2.5 percent. After the rapture transpires, I have no doubt that our visitor duration rate will dramatically improve. Many people will download whole sections of the site to study in great detail. I can only speculate how wide a reach the site will have in the aftermath of the rapture. What will add to the site’s usefulness as a witnessing tool is the undivided attention it will have from terror-struck people.

The tribulation will be a time when people will be forced to make urgent decisions about their eternal destiny. You will either choose Satan or God. Because it will also be a life and death decision for most individuals, RR will be a vital instrument in helping untold numbers of people make the right choice.

Your Role in the Master Plan
In the days that follow the rapture, end-time knowledge will instantly become a very important commodity. There will be no experienced ministers sharing the truth. Everyone will be lost or in desperate need of the truth. Finding good resource material will be no small task. At any given moment, only a few thousand copies of any book, video, or tape is available for sale to the public. It would take years to print millions of copies of a book. I seriously doubt that authorities will stand by and allow the mass printing of prophecy books to take place.

The internet is the only logical way of disseminating large amounts of information to millions of people in a short period of time. Someone could bundle up the whole RR site into a zip file and within minutes send it to friends all over the country.

I fully realize that many people who read this article will be on the wrong side of the rapture. This is where you have the opportunity to fit into the Master Plan. In fact, you can consider yourself deputized as ambassadors for Christ. Terry and I will be gone in the rapture, so there will be nothing more we can do to promote the end-time message. You don’t need to pick up where we left off by adding new content to the site. There should be enough material on the site to lead people to the truth. Your mission will be to share these articles with as many people as possible. You can do so by creating mirror websites of RR. You can also save the site onto CDs, DVDs or thumbdrives. Or, you can send people the content via email attachments.

The most import thing is to keep the Good News flowing. The Bible says the last days will be a period when it will be very difficult to hear the Word of God: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11).

— Todd Strandberg