Mary Ann in NJ

Stick around……….we love you here.

Stan

However, we shouldn’t be surprised based upon the fact that this is fulfilling prophesey:

2 Timothy 3:6-9
“6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.”

The one thing I am praying about now is for wisdom. Perhaps my own silly ego is keeping me there… as if my presence can make a difference.

Then on another note, I long to be in a fellowship with spiritually mature saints in leadership and where the Word of God is preached.

So my plan unless God says differently is to fulfill my obligation for this year and then I am out by Christmastime perhaps.

(MN: I can understand that. Just be careful. It is likely that if you have ANY ability at all to present the truth, and if you have any penchant to make friends and help people, they are going to do all they can to keep you their. Do, as you said, use wisdom. Do keep Christ squarely in front of you, not losing sight of Him. )

The catholic church-style cover-up of these events warrants nothing less than hell for those in “leadership” that ALLOWED these degrading and soul-destroying activities to take place on THEIR WATCH and WITH THEIR KNOWLEDGE!!

Ultimately, it showed that the victims were ignorant concerning the Word. The end results proved that ignorance quite well.

Why does the appearance of Juanita Bynum in the story not surprise me? Why does her statement of being assaulted by “14 sex demons” not surprise me either? Of course, she has to have the most outrageous claim in that extremely outrageous story.

In any event, that was the most sordid story I think I’ve ever come across about a church pastor.

And, yes, I agree with you that the material is worse than Tonex’s. And, it is written up in a large newspaper.

What I don’t think Scripture is crystal clear about is the modern idea of a “rapture” — a la the Left Behind series — where unbelievers are left on Earth for some length of time after the Lord catches up those who remain. Regarding the passage you referenced, I think that “Left Behind”-ish idea of a rapture takes the simple language of 1 Thess 4 and turns it into a major event somehow separate from the return of Christ, the bodily resurrection of the dead, and the New Heavens and New Earth. From my reading of Scripture, I see all those events happening pretty simultaneously. I also just don’t see any evidence in Scripture that the Lord’s purpose of salvation is ever accomplished apart from the presence of his Church, which is how it would have to happen in case of a Rapture!

However, I think it’s important to keep in mind that the book of Revelation (and “end-times” prophecy in general) is our Isaiah, so to speak. There’s a lot of mystery in Isaiah, especially to its contemporary audience — a lot of stuff they didn’t figure out until after the foretold events took place, and I think the same will undoubtedly be true of the prophecies given to us. I hold my eschatology with an open hand, and I’m willing to be proven wrong, because I believe that the purpose of the Bible’s eschatological prophecy is to exhort the believer to be ready at all times for dramatic events leading up to the triumphant, inevitable return of our Victorious Savior and King (hallelujah!), rather than to motivate us to parse every Greek verb and try to come up with a timeline of eschatological events.

Hope that answers your questions and addresses your concerns… (Just to recap, resurrection YES and essential, rapture maybe and non-essential).

i should never have read the article. it stole my joy.