Tom's Journal. http://tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com/

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I suppose that many of us have 'speculated' too much at one time or another, or put too much emphasis on one small aspect or subject.  It is what it is.

One important saying or  proverb we ought to all memorize is:   "The golden rule of interpretation says when the plain sense of a passage/ or scripture makes common sense,  seek no other sense."   The problems start to happen when false prophets or over zealous friends try to weave in some special, secret, mystery or mathematical formula to contort and twist the passage to 'prove' their own private view, or agenda.....  like the fallacy of the JW-cult/ org./ WatchTower people, where I WASTED 22 GOOD YEARS OF MY LIFE !!!   I could have done many other constructive things in my life, even though I feel that I have accomplished a lot anyway.    At least, I am in the Lord's service and Saved now,  a minor miracle in itself !  I owe a few special people gratitude for guiding me toward that final goal, like Mary Ellen Hintz, and Captain Robb Bohnen, S.F., etc.  Steve Brulport gave me some great advice a long ago too.   Let's never forget the Holy Spirit, please. 

Now days, I am easing off putting too much attention on the Rapture...  because I want people to understand that all of us Christians are in this present fight for the LONG HAUL, no matter what comes down the pike, or how long we must wait for all of God's promises to come true.  And that usually shuts down the wagging tongues of opposition, and non-Believers, and scoffers.  
      Another 'golden rule' is:  "Pick your battles well."  Why get side tracked on small, unimportant issues??   Let others have their own way, but draw the line when it comes down to the bare TRUTH of the IMPORTANT dogmas, like:  SALVATION,  GRACE,  heaven and hell, etc.   I tell folks to just look in the back pages of the wonderful DEFINED KJV Bible, to find the 'meat and potatoes' facts of just where all the modern bible versions came from, and why it's best to finally learn to use the KJV, for serious students.   But far be it for me to bluntly state that the ONLY bible that people ought ever to read is the KJV.   That could prove to be a stumbling block, and why lose the war-- for putting so much value on bible version, when in fact, maturity will finally draw a serious student to stronger 'medicine  ??'  

Finally,  the date, December 7th has a special place in my heart because my father was a WW-2 survivor, and also got hurt on Saipan in the South Pacific at that time --U.S. Navy.    I get a bang out of watching a few old time movies about that era, compared to all the lies of our occupant of the WH churns out almost daily...   And there are a good bunch of combat Veterans in various places that I hang out at, on-line, "who speak my language."   I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I can carry my own weight, with military and history talk. 

Sorry to say,  I am already getting bummed out with the cold Winter, and my personal challenges with mobility and losing weight....  grrrrrr!   I don't want to be a sour puss, or sour grapes.  If only I had a few old military/  Christian buddies that I could hang out with who were retired like I am, and we could play Chess, and talk about the Bible, etc., or go out for lunch sometimes.   And I have a free pass at the local work out Gym in town, but the long walks total me out, so I am lifting some dumb bells at home, at least.  

OK, time to visit my F/ B friends and check out a few more emails.

Warm Regards,
Tom

How Will The Rapture Happen?

Saturday, December 7th, 2013

• Rapture

Q. I have another question regarding the Rapture. The most popular opinion is that at the Rapture, all the believers will be “vanished into thin air”, leaving behind their clothes and accessories.
I have no problem with this opinion. However, the Bible doesn’t explicitly state this; in fact, I find the verse in 1 Cor. 15:52 only says that “we will be changed in a twinkling of an eye”, nothing about disappearing. What is your view about this? How do you think the Rapture will happen?

A. You are right in saying that people have different opinions on how the rapture will happen, but that’s what they are, opinions. The three clearest verses in the Bible concerning the rapture are John 14:2-3, 1 Cor. 15:51-53 and 1 Thes. 4:16-17. In John 14:2-3 the Lord said He was going to His father’s house to prepare a place for us, and one day He would come for us to take us there. 1 Cor. 15: 51-53 says we will be changed from mortal to immortal in the twinkling of an eye, in other words, instantaneously. 1 Thes, 4:16-17 says we will meet the Lord in the air and go to be with Him forever.
The golden rule of interpretation says when the plain sense of a passage makes common sense, seek no other sense. The plain sense of these passages is that we’ll be changed in an instant and meet the Lord in the air to always be with Him in His Father’s house. To me that says we’ll vanish from Earth. Anything beyond that is human speculation.