Let us all be careful now and judge everything by the scriptures. The word Rapture is semantics, it's silly to say "the exact word isn't in the bible, so the concept must not be true!" The word Asteroid isn't in the bible either, yet John clearly, beyond doubt, describes an asteroid in Revelation as one of the trumpet judgments. Some words were invented later in time, but the concepts they encompass is what's important, not the word itself.
The "amillennial" view is totally unbiblical. The bible says Christ himself returns to reign, both in Revelation and in Daniel this is clearly stated. This is not metaphorical, but literal. For instance, in that time, the Church becomes the bride of Christ--therefore the Church isn't "Christ" and Christ is a separate entity, being Himself physically return to earth. How is that hard to understand? In that time, if someone dies at the age of 100, they'll be called a mere youth, or child. You don't see that happening right now, do you? Also, in that time, war will be no more, and Satan will be chained in the abyss so sin and suffering in the world will be vastly reduced. That is certainly not the current state of things! Moreover, all the judgments (seven seal, seven trumpet, seven bowl) must happen first, and they definitely have not! After all, the second bowl judgment destroys all life in the oceans, entirely! Moreover, the Antichrist and his mark must be there and the world, the ENTIRE world, must be under his rule. This is why none of this could happen in the past, because the entire world was not united as it is NOW. China, the Native Americans, they were all off on their own, totally unknown to the middle eastern world, till now a days, and only now with technology as it is has the world started to become one. Therefore, the amillennial view is totally flawed and wrong and has no basis or grounds in reality or scripture.
Also, the breaking of the seventh seal is not the destruction of earth. Hardly so. The breaking of the seventh seal is the ushering in of the seven trumpet judgments. In other words, the seventh seal contains the seven trumpet judgments, and the seventh trumpet contains the seven vial or bowl judgments. Each set gets worst and worst too, but each set has a different purpose. The seven seal judgments are to wake up the earth to the power of the Lamb and warn the inhabitants of earth to turn from their evil. The seven trumpet judgments are more an answer to the slaying of the saints, and a continuation on the theme to get people to turn away from evil. At the end of every judgment set, John talks about how the inhabitants of earth did not repent of their sins, so the judgments go on (the most amazing thing about God, to myself, is that He will easily relent from judgments. It is the one and only thing He will change His mind on, and that is to ease up and stop them if there is repentance. God doesn't have to do this, by no means, but it goes to show how boundless and endless is His mercy and love). The final set of judgments are aimed mostly at the kingdom of the Antichrist (they start out that way too, the first bowl being sores poured out on those who have the mark). The final set are also really nasty, destroying all life in the ocean, the rivers, basically working the earth towards where it'll be utterly destroyed. Infact, it's said by Christ himself that if the times of the Great Tribulation (the last half of the tribulation) were not cut short, all flesh would perish, but for the sake of the elect (the saved), they will be cut short so all won't die. They are cut short by Christ returning for the 1000 years, after which Satan is released, and there is one last final battle. It is then that the entire earth and heavens are destroyed, it is then that God casts the final judgments on Satan, his demons, and all of Mankind, it is then that the earth and the heavens are recreated anew and better than they ever were--basically it is then that heaven begins. Before hand, during the 1000 year reign, we will reign with Christ over the nations. But after that, everything is utterly new and we cannot even envision it.
As to the Left Behind books, I finally started reading them this summer and just finished them all. Yes, there is some debated theology in it that I think they took the wrong stance on, but the majority of the theology in those books is based utterly upon scripture and nothing else. All the "eh" parts are stretches that aren't so firmly rooted. Now, will there be a Rapture before the Tribulation? That I don't know. There will be a rapture, there is no doubt to that. However, personally, I think that is at the end of the tribulation when Christ returns for the millennial reign. When the Son of Man comes in the clouds with great power and glory, it is then that I think we'll be caught up with Him and transfigured, those of us who remain (which also insinuates this is after the tribulation, since massive, massive amounts of Christians across the entire globe will be murdered throughout it) will join those who died before hand.
Also, remember, the entire tribulation is seven years long. We know that from Daniel's "sevens" which lay out the entire time frame of the world from the laying of the foundation to repair the walls of Jerusalem and rebuild the city (Nehemiah), to Christ's entrance into Jerusalem and then death (which Daniel's prophesy is absolutely perfectly on time with and perfect in description of), then there is an undetermined amount of time known as the time of the Gentiles which we are in now, then finally there is the final "seven", seven years, which is the Tribulation before the coming of Christ to reign over the nations with an Iron Rod. The reason people believe that the Rapture happens before the Tribulation, is that the Tribulation can only start after the time of the Gentiles has come to its end. This now is the time of the Gentiles. We are living in that time now, where the Gentile church is the focus of God, and the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles across the entire world. Once all have heard it, or had a chance to hear it, including those lost tribes in far distance places, then the time of the Gentiles shall end; the power of God's holy people will be broken (Daniel 12:7) and the end will come.
