Time to Figure Out Which Team You’re On

My mind is fried from Quickbooks, so I am writing to decompress.

I’ve been thinking about my dream of the Rapture. I was so disturbed by it, I fasted and prayed yesterday. Some of the things I’m learning are somewhat depressing, and I also have the sensation of being caught up in a whirlwind. Society is changing very rapidly. I feel I’ve been picked up and dragged off in a current, much faster than I expected. I needed some time with God to get my feet back under me.

Two things in the dream made very strong impressions on me: the sound of the horn, and the realization that I was leaving the earth.

The horn made an impression on me because it was not expected.

I am not a prophecy buff. I know a considerable amount about prophecy, but I don’t make a serious study of it. I can’t list all the things that are supposed to happen, in correct chronological order. Because I don’t study prophecy, before the dream, I didn’t associate the Rapture with trumpets. In my mind, I thought of it as a simple disappearance.

Checking the Bible, I see that Paul states that a horn will blow. Take a look:

Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?”

Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen the Complete Jewish Bible! The word “shofar” refers to a ram’s horn Jews use for religious purposes. It’s a horn, so don’t be confused.

When the horn sounded in my dream, I was awestruck. I can’t say my bones turned to water, but it was a very humbling, serious moment. Hearing a horn that shakes the world will drive the cockiness and self-assurance out of you in an instant. When you hear it, you can’t help thinking about the immensely powerful being who must be blowing it, at the other end of the blast.

What a sound of finality. When that horn sounds, the game is over. School is out. Put down your pencils, because exams are about to be collected. There is nothing further you can do.

I felt very small. Here on earth, we feel somewhat independent and free, but when the Rapture trumpet sounds, you will realize you’re just a tiny player in a huge, organized spectacle you can’t opt out of. You are part of the play, even if you thought you were just watching. You are a participant, and your performance will be evaluated whether you like it or not.

If I had tried to imagine the Rapture, I would not have thought about horns, because I didn’t remember they were part of the plan. The trumpet is confirmation that the dream didn’t come from my imagination.

Feeling myself rise through the air was even more jarring. I was glad, but like the trumpet sound, leaving the floor and passing through the ceiling made me feel very powerless. I suppose it made me realize how deceiving appearances are. We drag ourselves through our lives, day by day, often seeing no meaning and no urgency in what we do in a given 24-hour span. In reality, it’s all being recorded and managed. All of it is important. The fact that you’re bored or disengaged doesn’t mean God is.

I feel disappointment because the dream ended with me still lying in bed, facing another day or stretch of days in this place. The Rapture isn’t something you want to experience over and over. When it comes, you want it to be the real thing. Being returned to earth is a bummer. It’s like hearing that school has been canceled on account of snow and then finding out the cancellation was a prank.

Whatever I was in for after passing through the roof was better than what I’m doing right now. That’s for sure. I just realized: I would have had my vision back. No more reading glasses! That would have been nice.

America is in a war now, between people who hate God and people who submit to him. The Democrats are controlled by the children of darkness, and the Republican party is much more friendly to the children of light. If Hillary Clinton wins, it’s going to be a disgusting event. It will be America rejecting God in three consecutive presidential elections.

Most people don’t like to connect religion and politics, but the leitmotif is there, just under the surface. Democrats love the murder of the unborn, homosexuality, all types of sexual sin, covetousness, paganism, and uncleanness. For all our faults, Republicans are at least somewhat in favor of godliness. If you look at the policies that cause friction between the parties, most are related to religous convictions.

We pretend the election isn’t a battle between Christians and everyone else, just as liberals used to pretend Obama didn’t have a problem with Israel and Netanyahu. Remember that? Obama’s people denied it. TV heads denied it. Netanyahu probably denied it. Then the gloves came off, and everyone admitted it.

Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and European journalists are pretty open about the hostility between the left and Christianity. I wonder when the rest of us will catch up.

We may be about to reject God in a very decisive, unprecedented way. I wonder if that’s why so many Christians feel a sudden sense of urgency.

I want to go, but I realize that’s selfish. There must be something I can do for God while I’m still here, and that’s probably more important than being cured of farsightedness and never having to do my taxes again.

For a long time, I’ve been asking God to align my desires with his. I’ve asked him to show me the things in my life that displease him, and I’ve asked him to take away my liking for them. I didn’t realize I was talking about life itself. It makes perfect sense now, though, because the Bible says, “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

I feel like I’m getting ready for a big trip. I wonder if other people feel that way.

Many times in the past, people have decided the Rapture was imminent, and they have always been wrong. At least I hope so, because if not, I missed the flight. I don’t want to get too caught up in preparations for something which, for all I know, won’t happen for 200 years. But the feeling is there.

I checked this week, and the Bible says Christians will return after the Tribulation, to rule on earth for a millennium. On the one hand, it would be a real novelty to live on an earth where things work correctly. I would love to see that, just to have my mind blown. On the other hand…it’s still earth. Heaven is better.

The Bible says Jesus himself will be here during that time, so if he can stand it, I guess I’m in no position to complain.

I’ve always wished I could live a thousand years, just to get things right and pursue a few interests successfully. I feel that my nature is such that I can’t fully mature in threescore and ten years. Sometimes I think God gave me my wish in order to fulfill it during the Messianic Age.

I can say one thing with certainty: I wouldn’t want to live a thousand years in the world as it is now. It would be like being forced to live in San Francisco and bake cakes for gay weddings every day.

I’m a little nervous about going to sleep tonight, but I suppose it’s not likely that I’ll get a dream like that every night.

Maybe I should congratulate the children of darkness. Hooray for you. You win the world. For a while. I wouldn’t want to pay the price you’re going to be charged, for something of so little value. But think how great it will be, watching a bunch of us vanish and then imprisoning, torturing, and murdering the rest. You’ll have a good time, but it will be the last good time you ever have.

Here’s hoping I’m not here for the party. This world is annoying enough already.