• I believe our generation is the one that will see the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
• I believe we are about to enter (if we're not already in) the "beginning of sorrows" preceding the tribulation, and that Christians are about to come under severe trials and persecution.
• I believe the anti-christ will be a literal person; a political figure that will rise from obscurity suddenly and dramatically; and that he is alive today.
• I believe the false prophet will also be a literal person; a religious figure; and that he, too, is alive today.
• I believe the European Union is the "Revived Roman Empire," and that it is the first step toward the one world government foretold in prophecy.
• I do not believe the United States or the church has taken the place of Israel in God's eyes. Israel and the Jewish people are, always have been, and always will be God's chosen people. The church and Israel are two distinct and separate entities in prophecy. Anyone who claims to be a Christian and yet despises the Jewish people needs to study their Bible harder.
• I believe in a 7 year tribulation at the end of which Christ will return with the armies of heaven, to physically rule on earth for a literal 1000 year period.
• I believe that at the end of the 1000 year millenial rule of Christ, there will be a final rebellion by Satan, who will be defeated and cast into the "lake of fire."
• I do not believe that the world is about to end, at least not until after the 1000 year rule of Christ, then the heavens and the earth will pass away, and a new heaven and a new earth will be formed which will last forever.
• I do not believe in the spiritualization of prophecy (except where obvious figurative language is used). Every single prophecy foretelling Christ's first coming and sacrifice was fulfilled literally. I see no reason for that to change (i.e. the literal fulfillment of prophecy).
• I believe in the rapture of the church; more specifically, a pre-tribulation rapture of the church, but, as I stated above, I still believe Christians will go through some severe trials in the times ahead.

I saved my belief on the rapture for the last because I wanted to say a few things about it. The rapture is probably the most divisive prophetic issue in the church today. This is unfortunate because I don't think it's important enough to cause divisions among believers. Now, before you jump all over me, let me explain what I mean:

Personally, I firmly believe in a pre-trib rapture, but, being human, and just an amateur student of prophecy, I could be wrong. However, the timing of the rapture does not, and should not, in any way affect my belief or faith in Jesus Christ, nor should it affect yours. If you've become a Christian because someone told you about the pre-trib rapture and you just want to be saved from the coming tribulation, you've got your priorities wrong. Our focus should be on Christ and not on ourselves. If a person comes to Christ just to escape the tribulation, they are focusing on themselves and not on Christ. Consider this: If your faith is based on a pre-trib rapture, and you will not accept the possibility that you might be wrong; what will happen to your faith if you one day realize that the tribulation has begun and the rapture has not occurred? Will it affect your faith or belief in the Bible and Christ? If he answer is "yes," or even "I don't know," then you're not focused on Christ. Even those of us who believe in a pre-trib rapture must be prepared, and focused on Christ, just in case it turns out we are wrong, which, being only human, is always a possibility. No matter when the rapture occurs, our faith and our focus must be on Jesus Christ, and if we allow our beliefs about the rapture to cause divisions among us, then we are placing too much emphasis on the rapture, and not enough emphasis on Christ and our fellow members of His church.

Incidentally, (and remember, I believe in a pre-trib rapture) before you start telling me that the pre-trib rapture is the "blessed hope" that we are waiting on, let me say: No, it's not. Our blessed hope is the fact that Christ IS returning. Not WHEN he is returning. And no matter when the rapture occurs, the "blessed hope" of Christ's imminent return will always be our "blessed hope."

Now, this paragraph is for those of you who don't believe in the rapture because "the word rapture isn't found anywhere in the Bible." This is a very weak argument. Even though the actual word "rapture" is not in the Bible, the concept of the rapture is very clearly taught. If we look at 1Thessalonians 4:17 we see that ". . . we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds . . ." The Greek word used for "caught up" is harpazo. If we go to Acts 8:39 we see, ". . . the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more . . ." The Greek word used here for "caught away" is, again, harpazo. Philip was caught away (raptured) out of the eunuch's sight by the Spirit of the Lord when they came up out of the water after baptizing the eunuch. So we can see that even though the actual word "rapture" is not in the Bible, the concept of a catching away so that the world sees us no more is definitely Biblical.

Question, comments, criticisms, critiques?

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