What's on your mind?

[RileyG]

A Christian on Facebook was posting they used to be terrified of the Rapture.

I don’t know if I trust rapture theology either way, but why would you be terrified of the Rapture if you’re a Christian????

Probably fear of being left behind.

 

[GodDoesListen55]

I still struggle with this years later.

Oh yeah, for sure, and then it makes you feel bad, like it is your fault for having the thought in the first place, when in reality most of the time it is due to the actions or words of another person.

 

[Niels]

A Christian on Facebook was posting they used to be terrified of the Rapture.

I don’t know if I trust rapture theology either way, but why would you be terrified of the Rapture if you’re a Christian????

Probably fear of being left behind.

As a child of the '80s, I remember wanting to spend more time on this planet before it happened. The world seemed to revolve around the Baby Boomers, much like it still does today. They grew up, had their kids, and the Rapture was the next logical step. All on their timeline of course. Something about that seemed off to me. It didn't square with the idea that he would come "like a thief in the night".

The fear of being separated from God did play a major role in my accepting Christ. However, there's also a fear that unsaved friends and neighbors may be left behind. That is still kind of scary to think about.

Regardless of how the events unfold, whether or not it even involves the rapture as some imagine it, I'm looking forward to Jesus' return. His timing will be the right timing. We can speculate on interpretations of scripture, but God will do it his way when he sees fit. I find comfort in that. Our eternal future is in good hands.

 

[SarahsKnight]

Yeah, speaking of the Rapture, and the fact that I am now on the final few chapters of Book 8 of Left Behind, whereupon one of the two main characters, Buck Williams (writer Jerry Jenkins' Mary Sue insert), our supposed Godly Christian hero, just stood there and watched as hundreds of poor ignorant souls lined up and took the "mark of the Beast" willingly, irrevocably (in the "literal reading of Revelation" Rapture/Tribulation theology put forth by Left Behind's writers as indisputable Scriptural truth, anyway) damning their souls to an eternity of torture in a Dante's Inferno-like Hell, with barely a pang of regret. He KNOWS what taking "the mark" means for them, and he does nothing, says nothing to so much as make a desperate last-ditch effort to stop them. In fact, he actually thinks to himself that there is nothing he can do now, because giving himself away as a Christian here in front of everyone will mean certain execution, and he "has to live for my wife, my child who are waiting for me back home!"

.... Let me repeat that; Buck makes no effort to speak up, preach in any way, and possibly save even just one soul out of the hundreds who are present from making an irreversible decision in the next few minutes that will doom them to a living, burning eternity in Hell (again, according to the bogus Left Behind theology) ... in order to save his own life.
.... HIS fleeting, earthly life that is already guaranteed immediate passage into a blissful eternity in Heaven upon maybe two seconds of intense pain under the nearby executioner's guillotine blade. With the excuse that two people back home - who are both saved Christians as well - need him more than these poor deluded souls damning themselves by the truckload.


On top of this disgusting scene of self-preserving "Christian" morality that we are obviously meant to admire in Jerry Jenkins' self-insert protagonist, I have come to the conclusion by the following scene in Book 8 that not only do writers Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have a not-so-subtle distrust of Orthodox Jews and what may very well be an outright hatred of women if they are sexually attractive, but I think we can add people of Chinese nationality to the list, alongside "stupid annoying blonde bimbos", of folk they have no problem caricaturing.


These books are not only poorly written about 75% of the time, and I cannot understand how they made millions off of this, even if you can reach a large audience in Christians eager for a genre of literature that appeals exclusively to their personal sentiments and world views (which I can certainly appreciate, don't get me wrong), but, I think these can be genuinely harmful for a lot of people to read, especially for non-Christians who might be seeking and come across these. Why should they seek any further, for instance, when these books seemingly do whatever they can to alienate anyone who is isn't a Protestant Christian specifically in line with modern Rapture doctrine?

 

[SarahsKnight]

I like this month's look of us having snow on our heads. Somehow it seems to really work for my particular avatar.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

Yeah, speaking of the Rapture, and the fact that I am now on the final few chapter of Book 8 of Left Behind, whereupon one of the two main characters, Buck Williams (writer Jerry Jenkins' Mary Sue insert), our supposed Godly Christian hero, just stood there and watched as hundreds of poor ignorant souls lined up and took the "mark of the Beast" willingly, irrevocably (in the "literal reading of Revelation" Rapture/Tribulation theology put forth by Left Behind's writers as indisputable Scriptural truth, anyway) damning their souls to an eternity of torture in a Dante's Inferno-like Hell, with barely a pang of regret. He KNOWS what taking "the mark" means for them, and he does nothing, says nothing to so much as make a desperate last-ditch effort to stop them. In fact, he actually thinks to himself that there is nothing he can do now, because giving himself away as a Christian here in front of everyone will means certain execution, and he "has to live for my wife, my child who are waiting for me back home!"
.... Let me repeat that; Buck makes no effort to speak up, preach in any way, and possibly save even just one soul out of the hundreds who are present from making an irreversible decision in the next few minutes that will doom them to a living, burning eternity in Hell (again, according to the bogus Left Behind theology) ... in order to save his own life.
.... HIS fleeting, earthly life that is already guaranteed immediate passage into a blissful eternity in Heaven upon maybe two seconds of intense pain under the nearby executioner's guillotine blade. With the excuse that two people back home - who are both saved Christians as well - need him more than these poor deluded souls damning themselves by the truckload.


On top of this disgusting scene of self-preserving "Christian" morality that we are obviously meant to admire in Jerry Jenkins' self-insert protagonist, I have come to the conclusion by the following scene in Book 8 that not only do writers Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have a not-so-subtle distrust of Orthodox Jews and what may very well be an outright hatred of women if they are sexually attractive, but I think we can add people of Chinese nationality to the list, alongside "stupid annoying blonde bimbos", of folk they have no problem caricaturing.


These books are not only poorly written about 75% of the time, and I cannot understand how they made millions off of this, even if you can reach a large audience in Christians eager for a genre of literature that appeals exclusively to their personal sentiments and world views (which I can certainly appreciate, don't get me wrong), but, I think these can be genuinely harmful for a lot of people to read, especially for non-Christians who might be seeking and come across these. Why should they seek any further, for instance, when these books seemingly do whatever they can to alienate anyone who is isn't a Protestant Christian specifically in line with modern Rapture doctrine?

If they're as horrid as you say, why are you continuing on?

 

[SarahsKnight]

If they're as horrid as you say, why are you continuing on?

Horrified fascination, I suppose.


.... and because we're all susceptible to the sunk cost fallacy.

 

[Citanul]

There is the concept of "so bad it's good", which is something that ends up being strangely compelling even though it's terrible. Left Behind very much fits into that category.

 

[GodDoesListen55]

Jeez! How have I never heard of this girl? She's awesome!

 

[SarahsKnight]

There is the concept of "so bad it's good", which is something that ends up being strangely compelling even though it's terrible. Left Behind very much fits into that category.

I dunno. I think it's genuinely horrified fascination on my part, because I think for the most part these books fall rather into the "so bad it's maddening" category with me, as you might see with my rant above.


I'll give credit where it is due for @.Mikha'el 's sake since he said earlier that he remembered liking the books. There have been a few parts over the course of books 3 through 8 that I thought were genuinely well-written and made me sympathetic towards the characters who were in the scene. For instance, I did feel undercurrent of tension and alarm the way the writers described a scene at the end of Book 7 where the Beast came back to life. I actually felt like it was a scene in which - if people really knew who he was as the supposed epitome of all evil destined to rule the world with an iron fist for most of the seven years of Tribulation, and who was about to sucker them into eternal damnation - then they'd be absolutely terrified to see this happening. Like, the complete opposite reaction of what we all should have had seeing Jesus Christ, the antithesis of the Beast, rising back from the dead. So, I kind of felt terrified for them, I suppose. Even if I am all but completely convinced that Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' theology on the meaning of Revelation, put forth in these books as absolute, indisputable truth, is bogus.

Oddly, upon my saying that, I remember starting a thread on this in which I was beginning to question that very theology from Left Behind, way back in 2014 when I first came to this good community.

Left Behind a superstition? Armageddon a myth?

So, I just found this: Revelation Explained - Part 1 I had recently heard the idea that Revelation is actually NOT about some end of the world thing where believers go to an upward Heaven once and for all and unbelievers got Hell once and for all and that's where timeless eternity...

www.christianforums.com

Almost ten years now of knowing you all. It has been a pleasure.

 

[SarahsKnight]

Jeez! How have I never heard of this girl? She's awesome!

Who, Vanessa Lengies? How can you have never heard of one of my childhood TV crushes before?!

 

[peaceful-forest]

I hear the two older generations say "America was Christian back then". But the older I get, the more I believe it wasn't.

I'm thinking about starting a topic in the Debate section on this...if it doesn't already exist.

 

[SarahsKnight]

I hear the two older generations say "America was Christian back then". But the older I get, the more I believe it wasn't.

I'm thinking about starting a topic in the Debate section on this...if it doesn't already exist.

Oh I do not exactly disagree with you there, but get ready for some angry retorts from Christians in those older two generations if you do choose to debate the topic, Miss Peaceful O_O

 

[peaceful-forest]

I ended up making the thread. Here it is if you all are interested: Was America Christian Back Then?

 

[GodDoesListen55]

Who, Vanessa Lengies? How can you have never heard of one of my childhood TV crushes before?!

View attachment 340033

No, not her, lol. Even though, I don't really know who she is... sorry. But she's pretty!

 

[DragonFox91]

There is a enlightening verse in Romans that says the unbeliever is for the believer’s benefit.

 

[SarahsKnight]

No, not her, lol. Even though, I don't really know who she is... sorry. But she's pretty!

I was a fan ever since she appeared on the last two seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark, which occurred around the turn of the millennium. Of the five members of The Midnight Society on that show at the time, she and actress Elisha Cuthbert were the only two women present. But I liked Vanessa's character's stories on the show better than Elisha's overall. ^-^

Anyways, you know me; always find any excuse to bring up some lady I find cute. All you had to do was post
Jeez! How have I never heard of this girl? She's awesome!
... and there I go, without even a hint as to who you were talking about, Miss Chelsea.

 

[DragonFox91]

I was a fan ever since she appeared on the last two seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark, which occurred around the turn of the millennium. Of the five members of The Midnight Society on that show at the time, she and actress Elisha Cuthbert were the only two women present. But I liked Vanessa's character's stories on the show better than Elisha's overall. ^-^

Anyways, you know me; always find any excuse to bring up some lady I find cute. All you had to do was post
Jeez! How have I never heard of this girl? She's awesome!
... and there I go, without even a hint as to who you were talking about, Miss Chelsea.

Show was too scary for me. The intro is still creepy.

Anytime the intro started, I'd change it.

I remember one episode I saw was in a dark indoor pool & the monster was in the pool or something. I didn't like indoor pools after that.

I was such a scaredy-cat growing up. & naive. If you told me a monster lived in the basement, I'd believe you.

 

[High Fidelity]

I hear the two older generations say "America was Christian back then". But the older I get, the more I believe it wasn't.

I'm thinking about starting a topic in the Debate section on this...if it doesn't already exist.

Faith and society have both changed. Historically it’s probably fair to say that faith influenced society more than the reverse, but we definitely see the opposite now.

Christian faith, where it even exists, is often a watered-down mishmash of beliefs that is pretty hollow at best, or outright heretical at worst.

There’s seemingly very little conviction anymore. I think the idea of faith and Christianity are appealing to many because they get a sense of belonging, but that’s often accompanied by nonsense like universalism and other warm fuzzy feeling theology that are completely at odds with scripture.

 

[GodDoesListen55]

I was a fan ever since she appeared on the last two seasons of Are You Afraid of the Dark, which occurred around the turn of the millennium. Of the five members of The Midnight Society on that show at the time, she and actress Elisha Cuthbert were the only two women present. But I liked Vanessa's character's stories on the show better than Elisha's overall. ^-^

Anyways, you know me; always find any excuse to bring up some lady I find cute. All you had to do was post
Jeez! How have I never heard of this girl? She's awesome!
... and there I go, without even a hint as to who you were talking about, Miss Chelsea.

Oh yeah! I know who she is now. I used to watch that show when I was young. It's all good. You made me smile, so I appreciate that!