if I am strolling along a road and there is a house on fire ahead, do I keep strolling or go and see what I can do to help if there are people in need? You are so correct that Americans should be seeing to what He wants US to do. Sadly, our elected leadership is sold out to those who are using our power to trample the world into accepting a one world government and economic system. So, while this is happening, this misuse of the power of America, American Christians are waxing cold, or at best luke warm/tepid. The Holy Spirit is in them yet they are not faithing in His leadership, like the Laodiceans. How do we stir these tepid believers into action? ... By emphasizing that time is short. He is coming soon to rapture His bride and the oil in the lamps better be up to the watch. Darby may have been used to focus believers to the coming events. To poo poo Darby for raising again an issue which has old roots in Christendom is sort of oblique to the thing you end on, that we need to be about whatever it is that Our God has for us to do. How many Christian professors believe the Bible is The Word of God in books? How many actually believe His prophecies are ALWAYS accurate? How do we stir up a luke warm degenerating body of believers? Imminence. When Daniel registered his prophecy, Gabriel told him the exact number of days from the command to rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah King. To the day. It happened exactly as Gabriel said it would for 69 weeks of sabbatical years, with 360 days per year as the calculation factor. The 69th week ended the day Jesus rode the donkey with a colt into Jerusalem. The seventieth week will begin just as Daniel told Daniel it will, with the Jewish people signing a seven year compact for Peace and Safety. The restrainer will be out of the way when that happens. Now, whom do you think is the restrainer and what is He doing during this Church Age?
I do not agree with Pastor Darby's interpretation of Scripture, nor do a large portion of Protestants in the World. Jesus said in Matthew 13:49-50, that, "This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Jesus' comment seems to be opposite to Pastor Darby's contention of a 'rapture' of the Church.
My intention is not to start an endless (and pointless) debate about eschatology! That said, do such differences in interpretation make me any less a Christian than you, or you, any less a Christian than I? No! In its position paper, 'Christ at the Centre', the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada starts the paper with the subtitle: "Unity in Essentials, Liberty in Non-Essentials, Love in All Things". That, I believe, is a very wise position. (The position paper may be viewed here.)
I believe that eschatological debates, especially those that drag on endlessly, without resolution, are one of the Accuser's weapons used to drive us from God's Word and to fracture the Church. If he can keep us battling each other over small stuff, we are not focused on Jesus. In addition, non-Believers will see the internal discord and we lose the opportunity to witness impactfully to them.
In conclusion, I do not agree with Pastor Darby's interpretation of the 'end times', but that is not an essential of the faith. The Bible tells me that Jesus is coming again, to save those who are in Him and vanquish Satan, his demons and nonbelievers. That is good enough for me. How He accomplishes it is His business. I expect there to be trouble in this life because He said so and I have experienced much over the last three years. In many ways, my troubles have deepened my faith in Him!