Originally Posted by via_dolorosa
... I have to wonder what it is that makes Christians want to be rescued from persecution; to be extracted before anything bad happens? Is this the way God has worked in the past, sparing Christians from ridicule, hardships, beatings, imprisonments and death? Why do some want to be spared the refining process by which the Church is purged of superficiality, the cowards fall by the wayside, and the pure gospel of Christ is put on world display?

For me that whole "escape before the big bad beast gets here" is one the most offensive things about the popular "Left Behind" mythology. It is not MAN who we should fear, but GOD! It is His divine JUSTICE that should motivate unbelievers to seek a Savior, not fear of His plan in history. But the typical "Premil Dispensational" evangelist uses fear of persecution and the wrath of men as reasons to fear, then offers the "rapture" as an escape from the wrath of the Antichrist, rather than using the Law of God to demonstrate God's holiness and and to point out the REAL danger: Fallen men facing the justice of Holy, Almighty God!

-R