Back To The 80's...and End Times!

Do any of you remember the old end-time movie series, "A Thief In The Night"?  I can remember seeing that in a  youth meeting sometime in the early 80's and it scared my socks off.  I guess a Christian shouldn't be scared but I was young and the way they portrayed the events (maybe it was the background music) kinda threw me off kilter.  I also remember that time in my life as being one of self-examination.  Am I really saved?  Did I say the prayer correctly?  Did God really forgive me?  It was a rough few years and for awhile, I didn't care to have anything to do with end-time stories.

About the time I felt more comfortable with that sort of thing, along came came a pamphlet or book called "88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in September of 1988".  I was really old enough to know better than to believe everyone who came along with their own theory of the rapture theory but I was easily shaken.  I was up every morning at least by 7am seeking God (this was when I was in college).  How I wish it didn't take fear to get me up to spend time with Him.  I've since learned He wants to spend time with me.

I've recently started reading an end-time book of fiction called "The Dead Rise First - Rapture Countdown" by Alton Ragan and Robert D. McLaughlin and it is written with an unusual angle and is based on the 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, 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.  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."  NIV

The description on the back of the book says it "gives scriptural answers to why the dead rise first.  It also shows what it could be like if you were caught off guard when the resurrected saints walk among us just like Jesus did.  That kind of makes my spin and is something that I have never thought about.  I think it will be interesting to complete the book to read their take on that scripture.  If you are interested in reading it for yourself, take a look at thedeadrisefirst.com.

I appreciate the opportunity to read something that challenges me to really sure up what I believe - something God has been doing in different ways with me lately.