October 7, 2014
There's a movie re-make of the "left
Behind" series being released this week and, as expected, it is drawing a
lot of interest from all across the board ... both positive & negative. ...
If you've read the series written by Dr. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, you know that it tackles the 'End Times' and
the coming 'Rapture' of the true Church of Jesus Christ. .. Basically, it takes on the sudden and
cataclysmic disappearance of Christ-followers in the final days of the 'Church
Age.' ... Needless to say, many conservative Christian leaders are instantly
ripping the project apart, primarily because it is 'coming out of Hollywood!'
.... I must admit that it makes me somewhat skeptical as well because of their
general legacy of distortion so as to make it more palatable to the public ..
the recent release of 'Noah' being a classic example ... it's all about the
money, you know! .....
But in this case, I am staying more
open-minded because of the impact the book series had on my and my wife's lives
when it came out originally. .... Long story short, we were the absolute
classic example of the 'prodigal' christian couple at that time. .. I was involved deeply in the 'corporate America'
life and as a result, we just didn't have the time to pay attention to God, let
alone involve ourselves in the Church. .. But then, my wife read the first book
and simply said that it was time for us to 'get our act together' and get back
to God! ..
She, as is most always the case,
absolutely right! .... So we did, and I thank God most every day for her
realizing how far we had gone astray and what dangerous ground we were treading
upon. .....
Back to the movie ... I was encouraged to
know that the original producer, Paul Lalonde, was once again in charge of the
project. ... To give you an idea of his thinking, let me share this quote ...
"I've found Bible prophecy to be a great way to reach out to people who
may not necessarily be open to evangelism.
I wanted to put Bible prophecy on the big screen rather than just
videos, like the original movies, to put the message of Bible prophecy in front
of a much bigger audience, and not just church-goers." ... During the process of making the film,
Mr. Lalonde resisted all outside sources of financing in order to keep total
control of the content of the script. .. He said, "We wanted to hold true
to the scriptures and make sure we didn't change any of the biblical
realities. We didn't do a 'Noah'
script. What I want is when people walk
out of the theater, they;'re asking, 'Is that really the Bible?' And, unlike 'Noah,' the answer is yes."
For Lalonde, the ultimate goal is to
reveal how imminent and relevant Bible prophecy is to all audiences, regardless
of their religious background.
"What I like about "Left Behind" is that it is a
Bible-based movie, it's a biblical story - it just hasn't happened yet. It is a biblical movie like 'Noah' or 'Son of
God' or 'Exodus,' but nobody's in sandals.
This is the modern world. This is
today .. and the great thing about the Rapture and about the immanency of the
Rapture is this could literally happen this afternoon. So that's the great takeaway for people. We're not talking about something that
happened 4,000 years ago or 2,000 years ago;
this is very relevant today.
Plus, you've got sort of as 'Twilight Zone' theme going on here with
people disappearing - I think it will be very eye-opening to people who are
outside of that core Christian audience to see that this is something
prophesied in the Bible and worth looking into."
I've used much of Mr. Lalonde's quotes
here today because I totally agree with him! .. We have to be relevant to all
the lost souls out there. .. Sometimes we have to get 'out if the box' to touch
those who otherwise wouldn't pay a bit of attention to us. .. And we can do
this without compromising the word of God.
... I rant about this because I've
personally witnessed the manmade 'rituals' in today's churches, and quite
frankly, most 'seekers' will not respond to it because they simply can't relate
to it. .... No, we are not "of the world," but we are certainly in
it, and in order to reach those who are going to be 'left behind,' we have to
put it into a form that will 'tweek their interest' .... that will make them
want to look deeper into the truths of the Holy Scriptures. .... OK, end of mini-sermon .. for now ....
So what exactly is the Rapture? ... I
will share a brief quote here from Joel Rosenberg, which explains it quite well
... "While the Bible does not indicate precisely when the Rapture will
happen, the Holy Scriptures do teach that all true followers of Jesus Christ
will be removed from the earth prior to the beginning of the Tribulation. Because God has not chosen believers to
suffer the wrath of the Tribulation, people who have received Jesus Christ as
their Savior and Lord prior to the Rapture will thus be rescued from the worst
of the persecution, wars, natural disasters, and judgements that the Book of
Revelation, the Book of Daniel, and other Scriptures explain will occur during
the seven years leading up to the Day of the Lord. People who are not born-again believers in
Christ at the moment of the Rapture will remain on the Earth."
As for scriptural support, 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 says it clearly,
"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those fall
asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14) We believe that Jesus died and rose again
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep
in Him. 15) According to the Lord's own
Word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of
the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16) For the Lord Himself will come down from
Heaven, with a loud voice, with a loud command, with the voice of the Archangel
and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17) After that, we who are still alive and
are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever. 18) Therefore, encourage each
other with these words." ... Hallelujah! ... I can't wait!
...
There are more Scriptures that support
this position, including Revelation 3:10, but for the sake of time, I will
leave it here for now .....
OK ... Let's wrap it up .. Admittedly, I
have not seen this new movie yet, but just looking at Mr. Lalonde's comments,
and having read the series, I would have no problem telling non-believers to go
see this movie. ... How can it hurt? ... Some will say, even before seeing it,
that it is total junk and will mislead everyone who sees it. .. But remember my
own personal story? ... Who knows .. just maybe they will begin to seek, and
even more importantly, find the answers to their questions concerning their
eternal destination.
May our great God richly bless you all!
.. and remember, keep your ears tuned in, because the Trumpet is going to blow
at any moment. .... Hallelujah!
Until next time,
Red