Why I Want to Be Left Behind

Christian Post ^ | 09/23/2014 | BY JOSHUA RYAN BUTLER

[SeekAndFind]

[Gman]

My left behind itches...

[driftdiver]

You can ask different biblical scholars this question and get different answers. At the end of the day we really don’t know but it is fun to argue about.

[Dallas59]

NC?

[freepertoo]

I’m hoping for rapture, trusting the Lord come what may, however.

[MrB]

Ya just want my stuff, doncha!

[fhayek]

There are a lot of mysteries here that need to be answered. The biggest one is why does Nicolas Cage continue to get starring roles in movies?

[RegulatorCountry]

“Those nations however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes unto heaven, nor returned thanks to their Maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth, but who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance, the word justly reckons “as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance — in fact, as nothing;”(1) so far useful and serviceable to the just, as stubble conduces towards the growth of the wheat, and its straw, by means of combustion, serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, “There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.”(2) For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption.”

- Irenaeus

“We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the snares of the world and restores us to paradise and the kingdom.”

- Cyprian

“We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs, which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already been fulfilled (consummated), and there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one in the completion of the Roman kingdom. Why therefore are we occupied with worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of worldly business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the world or on the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that he may draw us from the confusion, which overwhelms all the world? Believe you me, dearest brother, because the coming (advent) of the Lord is nigh, believe you me, because the end of the world is at hand, believe me, because it is the very last time.

Or do you not believe unless you see with your eyes? See to it that this sentence be not fulfilled among you of the prophet who declares: “Woe to those who desire to see the day of the Lord!” For all the saints and elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins. And so, brothers most dear to me, it is the eleventh hour, and the end of the world comes to the harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord. And we think that the earth exists with blind infidelity, arriving at its downfall early. Commotions are brought forth, wars of diverse peoples and battles and incursions of the barbarians threaten, and our regions shall be desolated, and we neither become very much afraid of the report nor of the appearance, in order that we may at least do penance; because they hurl fear at us, and we do not wish to be changed, although we at least stand in need of penance for our actions!”

- Ephraim the Syrian

[sauropod]

I want to be with God in heaven.

Hope that’s unambiguous enough...

[meadsjn]

Pretty straightforward, right? Son of Man shows up. Some are taken. Some are left behind.

The problem is this: taken means killed.

If you lived "in the days of Noah," getting taken by the flood wasn't a good thing. It didn't mean being rescued, it meant getting taken out. Dead. Gone. Killed. Knocked over by the judgment of God. Wiped out by the flood.

Good luck getting this little bit of common sense through the dense noggin of any idiot religious fruitcake.

[Bitsy]

I’m hoping for rapture, trusting the Lord come what may, however.

Me too. As long as I can be in the company of Jesus forever I don’t care how I get there I just want to be there.

[Stentor]

The biggest one is why does Nicolas Cage continue to get starring roles in movies?

He's a boring stiff like most guys. Identification.

[Morpheus2009]

Good point. When I think of taken I think of the fact that armies will be so bloodthirsty that they will annihilate one another. After al, bible shows that evil can be so self destructive.

[Morpheus2009]

I don’t know, but I doubt he’s as good as Kirk Cameron and Co. from the earlier films. Yes, the Rev. Kirk Cameron starred in the old three films.

[OneWingedShark]

There are a lot of mysteries here that need to be answered. The biggest one is why does Nicolas Cage continue to get starring roles in movies?

So that Nostalgia Critic can do another Nicolas Cage Month.

[RegulatorCountry]

If only you could reach back through the centuries to get your beliefs through the noggins of Cyprian, Irenaeus and Ephraim The Syrian, right? Whatever on earth were they thinking, those idiot religious fruitcakes, lol?

[DannyTN]

Thank you for posting that.

It would seem after reading the ancient church father’s writings, that the claim of the rapture being a recent invention, is itself a recent invention.

[meadsjn]

I think of previous societies that were too "civilized" to defend their "civilization", and were thus rendered extinct by their "turn the other cheek" idiocy.

That sort of behavior and thinking is worthy of eternal damnation in the fires of Hell, is such exists.

[RegulatorCountry]

I believe it’s an attempt to deflect from certain aspects of Mariology originating in the mid-19th century, myself, that would the reason why the so-called “rapture” is disparaged. It’s clearly a fairly ancient understanding held by some prominent ECF’s. I’m more mid-Trib myself, but understand why those who believe, believe as they do. And, I hope they’re right, but I’m prepared for the worst.