Are we ready? Prepared? A message of sobriety in an hour of danger and massive deception.
Depending upon one's theology the issue of being ready, being could have very different meanings/applications. For example, for those who believe we are extremely close to Jesus' Return and who believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church (namely that Christians will be 'airlifted' off the planet before a 7-year tribulation), they only believe they need to be ready for that event. One could argue that such a perspective requires 'minimal' preparation. Others believe that the Rapture of the Church takes place either in the middle (Mid-Trib), towards the end (Pre-Wrath), or at the very end (Post-Trib) of the Tribulation period. All of these eschatological positions by definition require far more readiness than the Pre-Trib position. In all of these scenarios, believers will be required to endure, to stand, to resist, etc. I have dealt with this issue in previous blog posts, but the universal position of the early church was that Christians will in fact be ...