Temporary Lodging
One of the most obvious realities of our earthly existence is the fact that we will all someday depart this world. I know this is about as revealing as saying the sky is blue, but few people are mindful of the unavoidable appointment we have with death or the rapture.

The good Lord was even nice enough to put in place a biological clock to remind us of our temporal status, and people still ignore the warning signs. These wake-up calls haven’t escaped my attention. At age 37, I’ve noticed changes in my body fat, eyesight, mental capacity, and joints. They all express one common message: “Todd, this is your half-time warning.”

With our departure a certainty, you would think everyone would have an eternal retirement plan in the works. The most common reason the vast majority of the population remains spiritually lost is that most of us live solely for the here and now. It mystifies me when I have friends who reject the Gospel, preferring to cling to lives that are in a rapid state of decline.

Bible-believing Christians are not far behind the unsaved. They believe in a Heaven, but they tend to think of it as being more of a state of mind than a future destination. Heaven is an actual city with most of the same features you would find in any earthly city. Jesus said His followers would be rewarded with their own mansions, but few Christians seem to grasp the significance of this eternal blessing. For you folks who don’t rent, ask yourself, when is the last time you thought of yourself as a dual property owner?

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also” (John 14:3-4).

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Misplaced Priorities
What really causes me to conclude that most people have failed to grasp the importance of being ready for the world to come is the type of absurd questions I find in my inbox. I’ve had people ask me if Heaven has odd things like booze, sports, or sex.

I’m surprised that someone hasn’t asked if there are donuts in Heaven. Certainly someone out there must be dying to know if there is a Krispy Kreme on the corner of Hallelujah Street and Redeemer Boulevard. How can you have paradise without a chocolate-glazed donut with sprinkles?

The granddaddy of Heaven-related questions has to be: “Will my pet go with me in the rapture?” Usually, I tell people not to worry about their furry friends. Even if all pets are left behind and they suffer the worse fate of starving to death, I believe the owners eventually will have the option of reclaiming them. Some Christians would rather stay behind and go through the tribulation than have Fluffy or Fido get lonesome. If a person wants to ensure the continued existence of his pet, he needs to first ensure the safety of his own eternal soul.

Back in my elementary school days, I remember witnessing to my friend Scott. We were standing outside his house, and I was telling him about his need to get saved. Scott told me he didn’t want to go to Heaven because he preferred to stay here and play basketball. His profound lack of common sense left me stunned.

Perilous situations have an amazing way of getting people to prioritize their lives. When a family wakes up to find their house on fire, escape is instantly their number-one objective. Even though they may have a house full of valuables, flame and choking smoke instantly cause people to realize that saving their own hides is of supreme importance. This is why you occasionally see news footage of people standing outside their burning homes in bedclothes or wrapped in blankets.

Are there donuts in Heaven? The Bible is silent regarding this question. Neither does the Good Book tell us whether pets will join us there. I seriously doubt that God has any restrictions about playing basketball in the portals of glory. The question people need to be asking themselves is: “Will I be in Heaven someday?” If you should die lost, none of these trivial issues will matter.

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).

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Knowing the Date Won’t Help
I was looking through several message boards one day, and I conducted a detailed study of the boards with categories related to end-time discussion. I found that nearly all the messages posted in these types of forums were almost exclusively focused on speculation about the timing of prophetic events.

I can understand people’s interest in knowing when the end times are going to begin. If the tribulation was going to kick off in July, a family might want to delay a vacation trip to Florida they had planned for that same month. The funny thing is I rarely find indications of people taking steps to get ready for the end times.

On the “End Time Ailments and Conditions” page of Rapture Ready, the first category is “newsaholic.” Many individuals are compulsive consumers of prophecy-related news. What makes this condition a disease is the lack of fruits evident in people’s lives. Alcoholism robs people of their health and eternal soul. “Newsaholism” robs Christians of their time and eternal rewards. When the 911 terrorists attacked America, many prophecy buffs were very excited about the incident. The loss of life was great and the motivation was pure evil, but this day of carnage will likely only end up being a precursor of worse things to come. Because we lack the ability to see into the future, we are unable to judge the importance of events as they take place. The prophetic birth pangs that we witness should only be viewed as warning signs for us to continue getting ready.

I have an uncle who lives, breathes, eats, and dreams prophecy, but he never uses the knowledge he’s gained. For a long time, I wondered why he was interested in prophecy. I finally figured out that for him, it has become an opportunity for him to escape the trials of this earthly existence. The rapture will someday indeed be a way for believers to escape from this world, but we should not neglect our current responsibilities.

If the date for the rapture were made known, it would likely have a destructive effect on the body of Christ. The announcement would work wonders for a short time, but knowing of any long-term date would probably be harmful. If it was reported in 1900 that Jesus would not return until after the second millennium, I seriously doubt the world have seen the same level of global evangelization.

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Turning Around A Battleship
The knowledge and blessings of the eternal Kingdom can’t be gain over night. It has taken me 20 years of study to develop my understanding of Bible prophecy. There is no way anyone could possibly slap this site together in a few days. The process of bringing a loved one to Christ can’t be a very lengthy process. You can’t strong-arm people into joining the faith. Most people will rebel against an urgent appeal for them to get saved.

Most Christians seem to think that everyone in Heaven will receive the same amount of rewards. The Bible indicates that rewards are accumulated over a lifetime. A missionary who labored in the mission fields of Africa for 40 years will certainly receive a greater reward than someone who can only point to a perfect Sunday school attendance as his most noteworthy accomplishment.

For the average believer, the most common plan of action for end-time events is, “wake me when something happens.” When the world stage is active, people become interested in prophecy. When nothing new transpires, their interest drifts away. 

I can understand people’s eagerness to witness the occurrence of key prophetic events, but there is a great danger in getting what you wish for. If it were boldly announced that the rapture was going to take place a week from now, there would be little time to get ready. Once the rapture takes place, we become locked into our eternal status.

I’ve never met anyone who, after neglecting healthcare all of his life, was satisfied with some chronic ailment. What I normally find is the greater the affliction, the greater the level of regret. My grandfather smoked all his adult life, and he developed emphysema, which eventually killed him. I remember him being very remorseful about his poor state of health.

It is never too late to become actively involved in works that are pleasing to God. Even if you’re 90 years old, you still have time to make up for lost time. The pitiful lack of productivity in the life of the average Christian makes it very easy for a saint to distinguish them self.

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Do They Actually Believe This Stuff?
Sometimes I wonder if the people who are in the business of teaching about the Christian way of life actually believe their own words. I didn’t find any shortage of enthusiasm for Christianity as a whole. I did find that there was major problem when it comes to putting words into action.

One day I was doing a survey of major Christian ministry websites, and I discovered that 85 percent of them lacked a single page with any type of salvation message. I find plenty of web pages that offered books and tapes for sale. There was also no lack of material that sang praises to the sites’ owners.

There’s no excuse for a Christian ministry to not have a page that urges people to make a decision for Christ. The act of spreading the Gospel is what defines someone as a preacher. If someone didn’t know how to operate an automobile, there’s no way he could claim to be a race car driver. If another person has never been to medical school, it’s impossible for him to say he’s a heart surgeon. 

I noticed some evangelists don’t even have a gospel link on their websites. These people obviously must not understand the meaning of the word “evangelize.” How in the world can someone call himself an evangelist if he doesn’t evangelize the lost and dying world?

Christian websites are mostly a wasteland of self-centeredness. If you want instruction on Biblical truth, in most cases, you will need to first cough up $19.95 plus $4 for shipping and handling. Most sites have precious little about the Savior himself, but you will find plenty of information on His anointed servants.

You can get an excellent measure of a ministry’s dedication to the Great Commission by reading their Frequently Asked Questions section. Most preachers make a mockery of the concept of a FAQ section by only listing questions that serve their own personal interests.

Pastor Creflo Dollar has all of the important topics covered on his FAQ page. This gentleman is free to post what he wants, but I don’t see how he can claim to be a minister if he’s totally focused on himself. Listed below are the only eight questions found on Dollar’s official site:

Who is Dr. Creflo A. Dollar?
Does Dr. Creflo A. Dollar pastor any other churches?
Are you on television in my area?
Is there going to be a convention in my area?
How can I purchase your products?
How can I obtain a product catalog?
How can I join your E-mail listing?
What are your service times?

I’m surprised Dr. Dollar didn’t address other important questions that his adoring fans are dying to have him answer:

What is Dr. Creflo A. Dollar’s favorite color?
How did Dr. Creflo A. Dollar get to be so smart?
Is there a limit to the size of a donation made to your ministry?
Do you take credit cards?
How can I get an autographed photo of Dr. Creflo A. Dollar?
Is there a way to get all your tapes on an installment plan?

The behavior that causes me to have the most doubts about a Christian organization’s level of commitment is the practice of removing free material from websites. The desire for financial gain is apparently so strong, it motivates the average Christian writer to highly limit the information he offers to the public.

The only time I delete articles from this web site is when they become outdated. Our goal is to continue to expand the site until Jesus calls us home. Because we believe in the importance of getting ready for the world to come, we keep pressing ahead.

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Conclusion
In life, you can do a lot of things to get ready. You can get the furnace ready for winter, you can work to have your savings ready for retirement, or you can educate yourself to be able to perform the tasks required in a career field. The most important thing to get ready for is the Kingdom of God. If you’re not ready for the rapture, you need to reconsider your priorities.

I can guarantee that nothing is more important than knowing your sins have been washed in the blood of Christ. Eternal redemption is very easy to accomplish. It’s fully automated, with no paperwork. Unfortunately, most people neglect to take advantage of the Lord’s limited offer.

You can call it salvation, deliverance, or just plain getting saved, but action is the only way to win the right to be called a child of God. Lip service and procrastination only lead to failure. No matter how well someone writes a testimony, or how skillfully a book gives an example of how to become a Christian, if people are not willing to make the commitment, the guidance is useless.

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).

One of the most effective deceptions that Satan has foisted upon Christians is the idea that certain groups are more spiritually mature than less-enlightened believers. The endless game of, “I am more approved in the Lord’s eyes than you,” divides the Body of Christ and gives non-believers a negative opinion of the Christian faith. Few people would ever openly say, “I’m a better Christian than you.” It is through their beliefs and deeds that they proclaim their superiority. Listed below are six common ways people use to promote spiritual elitism.

1. Members of the One True Church

The trademark of this belief is that a particular group has a stranglehold on the truth and that there is no salvation outside of its organization. The groups hold that leaders are specially anointed by God, are in many cases infallible in interpretation of holy writings and, more importantly, are above reproach. These groups believe in what they feel are superior interpretations of scripture and they are more concerned about the doctrines and traditions of man than the Word of God.

Special revelations from God are a trademark of the One True Church. In most cases, the luster of the revelation can be found to have been tarnished by failed prediction. Bible requires 100 percent accuracy rate for all predictions that are claimed to have originated from God.

One-true-churchism leads to people questioning their salvation and spending more time worrying about their actions than on studying the Word of God and enriching their personal walk with Him.

Mark 7:9: “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”

2. The Keepers of the Law

This group of people believes in keeping Torah observance. While I see no problem with people choosing to keep the levitical kosher (dietary) laws or the Sabbath, there is a fine line between personal choice and self-righteousness.

These groups maintain that Jesus never intended for the law to go away. They base this belief on Matthew 5:17 and John 14:15, which say, “Think not that I have come to destroy the law,” and “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” respectively.

What they are missing, however, is that Jesus clarified what He was referring to and it had nothing to do with the 613 laws of Torah. When Jesus was cornered by the Pharisees and asked which of the commandments were the greatest, He replied:

Matthew 22:37-40: “Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” What was He referencing?

Isaiah 29:13: “Therefore the Lord said, Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.”

Jeremiah 31:33: “But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

It is impossible for the Judaic law to save anyone. The standard is too high for anyone to follow the law to perfection. The law said, “Don’t do it.” Jesus said, “You’re guilty if you even think about doing something that is wrong.” Paul warned us in Galatians that we can fall from grace by trying to follow after the law.

Galatians 2:21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

Galatians 5:4: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

3. Legalists

Scripture tells us that we are to exhort fellow believers (1 Thess. 4:1). So where is the line between assisting a believer in his walk with the Lord and condemning a believer for his every thought and action?

Common sense dictates that a believer should not dress wantonly and get drunk, but common sense is not enough for the legalist crowd. That crowd feels a duty to protect people from themselves, so it creates measuring sticks in order to maintain its role as its brother’s keeper.

Based on 1 Thessalonians 5:22, which says to abstain from all appearance of evil, popular legalisms promoted are: no drinking, smoking, dancing, going to movies, or attending sporting events (because beer is sold). Women can’t cut their hair or wear makeup, jewelry or slacks. Women’s skirts or culottes must be at least below the knee in length. Men must wear trousers at all times, regardless of the weather. No eating out on Sundays. Everything must be approved by a minister. The list is endless.

While I am not advocating a free-wheeling lifestyle, I am saying that we are to walk in the Lord’s light. Our deeds are like filthy rags to Him; it is what is in our hearts that matters. Legalism pits believers against one another in an unending cycle of condemnation. Additionally, it can turn people away from understanding the grace of Christ when they are made to feel that they have bigger shoes to fill than they can wear.

Matthew 23:24: “[Ye] Blind guides, who strain on a gnat and swallow a camel!”

4. KJVOnlyism

Some Christians proclaim that the 1611 King James Version (KJV) is the one and only true English version of the word of God and that all other versions were corrupted by Satan.

While Rapture Ready uses the KJV for Scripture references, it is only because this version is the mostly widely quoted. Nothing is dramatically wrong with other versions of Christian Bibles such as the New King James Version, New American Standard Version, and the Revised Standard Version. However, some versions, such as the Clear Word Bible of the Seventh Day Adventists or the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, were specifically rewritten to accommodate private interpretations, but even these versions contains the heart of Biblical truth.

No Bible version says that Satan died for our sins. The King James Only crowd implies that positive magical qualities are attached to the KJV version, and that negative energies indwell all non-KJV Bibles. I have never found a need to go digging into the meaning of the original Hebrew and Greek. Whenever I encounter a passage that seems unclear to me, most of the time, I’m able to find some other verse that resolves the confusion.

The King James Version was written in Elizabethan English (a la Shakespeare), and can be rather difficult for people to read, especially for those new to the faith. What is more important: encouraging people to read their Bibles to learn about Jesus, or overwhelming them with language that makes understanding the text more difficult, causing them to turn to commentaries of man rather than the Word of God?

Hebrews 5:12: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

5. Word of Faith Proponents

This group promotes the doctrine of “name-it-claim-it,” which says that the Lord has a storehouse full of blessings in heaven just waiting for the faithful to claim while they’re here on earth. It teaches that those in the Lord’s favor are blessed with health and wealth and that those who are struggling in life are not blessed because of their inferior relationship with the Lord and their inferior faith and trust in Him.

The biggest question here is the one of universal application. Is this teaching practical and accessible to all? Is a teaching of the Lord if it only applies to affluent suburbia but not the underdeveloped nations of the world? What application does the teaching have for believers imprisoned for their faith by atheistic, Islamic and other repressive governments?

Word of Faith promotes elitism between the “haves” and the “have nots” by claiming that those who “have not” are inferior Christians of inferior faith and the Lord is treating them as such.

Matthew 6:19-20: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Mark 10:31: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

6. The Intellectuals

One of the most basic human desires is the praise of mankind. Many Christians like to impress other believers with their intellectual capabilities. Some go as far as proclaiming themselves spiritually superior to anyone who doesn’t share the same level of academic achievement.

The intellectual crowd is very harmful to the spreading of the Gospel. They motivate fellow Christians to try to master a lofty vocabulary that is often above the heads of average people. They hold the general philosophy that it is better to appear to be intelligent than it is to be understood by your audience.

The Bible repeatedly warns against trusting in the flesh for wisdom. Because Satan is a spirit being, with nearly unlimited intellectual skills, no man is able to match wits with him. Anyone who strays from the Word of God to rely on his own understanding is making a terrible mistake.

1 Corinthians 3:18-19: “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”

Romans 1:21-22: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Bottom Line

Individuals who hold to an “I’m a better Christian than you” mindset can always find Scripture that will support their stance. What they need to do is examine their rationale for holding to this view. If their offering of correction is not sparked from love, then one can only conclude vanity is their only motivation.

Philippians 2:2-3: “Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

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