I don't push my stand on the rapture, I state my view and let it go. It was settled for me a long time ago. The Lord gave me peace through His word and I don't give it a second thought. There are many who will say "what if," but there is no what if for me. I'm not going through the time of Jacob's trouble and it has nothing to do with my person. It's a promise from God Himself to all who trust in Him. If you don't agree that's fine with me, but it doesn't change anything. I couldn't imagine living life not having this issue settled in my heart!
I'm not suggesting you push your stand. It's a discussion so it's expected that you will offer your point of view, perspective, reasons, counter arguments etc. I'm not asking you to fight about this nor am I suggesting that you are obligated to change your point of view based on anything said here. I think what makes these disagreements so difficult to watch is that people often fall back on implications that the opposing side is somehow spiritually inferior just because they disagree. The implication is that the Lord is on my side and since we can't both be right the Lord is not on your side. I don't think God's point of view is that black/white and I don't think that kind of thing is helpful when attempting to arrive at the truth. In other words, I think we all have areas where we can be right with God while at the same time have areas where we can have a wrong understanding, and even within those two categories there can be a long spectrum of gray between the right and wrong of each.
I think at some point we should be able to agree to disagree, but we seemed to have reached that point rather early in the piece between you and me and I don't know why that is, since I feel I have tried to treat your arguments with respect despite disagreeing with them.
In this context, I hope you won't mind if respond to the points you've made in the quote above and I hope you will feel encouraged to respond to my counter arguments. I think it's fine that you felt peace about having made a decision as to what you believe about the pre vs post trib rapture issue.
However, comments like, "I don't think twice about it" or "there is no 'what if'" suggest that you're not really open to hearing, or even considering alternative points of view. For example, I am willing to think twice about it. Every time I discuss this issue with others I believe I do try to hear what the other person is saying in the event that I may have missed something along the way. Look back at my posts on this thread and you will see that I've addressed most of what the opposition has had to say and I give clearly defined reasons for that position does not make sense; not just that I disagree, but why it doesn't make sense to me.
I think we all need to have second thoughts about every aspect of our walk with God, especially since we don't have perfect understanding of all truth. The "what if" is there to remind us of that. What if I have got it wrong? If I'm in a place where I have decided there can be no second thought whatsoever, then how can I possibly hope to overcome whatever misunderstanding I'm having? I'm applying this to more than just the current disagreement about the rapture and I'm suggesting this should apply to all Christians, including me. I'm quite sure I have a wrong understanding on several issues, though I'm not aware of the specifics. To me, that is what all learning is about. My job is to think twice, thrice and however many times it takes to search out those wrong understandings.
This should be especially true for those areas where we believe we are the most right, because those are the areas we are least likely to revisit with renewed examination as to whether or not we really do have it all worked out. It is not a sign of faith to be stubbornly opposed to thinking twice about a position for which we have strong conviction. It is the opposite of faith to stop thinking, to stop questioning, and to stop what if'ing.
This is why I suggested, in my earlier post to straightshot, how so many Christians could end up taking the Mark of the Beast. IF they are wrong about their pre-trib position, then they will end up going through the trib and they will end up facing the Mark. But, if they've settled it in their heart that there is no way they could possibly be wrong, then they will not see the Mark as the Mark. They will think, "since there's no way I can be wrong, this thing about to be put on my hand so that I may continue to buy/sell cannot possibly be the Mark; God promised that I would not need to face it therefore there should be no problem with me accepting this thing on my hand". It will not be that God somehow broke his promise that these Christians will end up being condemned for taking the Mark, but rather that they became stubborn and hard hearted, unwilling to re-examine their position and as a result made bad decisions.
This is why it is so very dangerous to confuse a stubbornness with conviction and faith. It's like the "name it and claim it" miracles, where people claim to have been healed when really they have not. They see the claim as evidence of faith that God will someday heal them, but when talking to others they must PRETEND that they've been healed as a sign of their faith. If they honestly say, "no I haven't been healed yet but I believe God will someday" then it's the equivalent of letting go of the claim and therefore shows a lack of faith. They've made stubbornness and dishonesty into a sign of real faith.
Taking the position that, "I have made a decision about what I know to be the truth and have vowed to never think about it again" is the worst place a seeker of truth can be.
Will you please reconsider you position on refusing to think about the alternatives and the what if's?
