Confessions of an End
Times Addict – my personal story.
Years ago I began to say to
myself…… “I can choose to go see
a shrink to help me deal with my potentially unhealthy
addiction and desire to
watch for the Return of Jesus Christ….or……I can post on
Five Doves.”
I chose to Post of Five
Doves! Lol…. Why?
First, it’s CHEAPER!! Lol….. and…
Second, how could ANY
shrink EVER be
able to help me “re-program” to turn away from the fact
that I really, really
think THIS is the generation that WILL SEE the Return of
Jesus Christ?
It’s like Jack Kelley said
in an article on RaptureReady.com
a year ago “The telephone rang…..you answered it….it was
God, telling you that
Jesus Christ WOULD BE COMING BACK a 2nd Time…..that
the re-birth of
Israel announced that to the whole world back in 1948,
(I added that part) …..and
now, you simply can’t put the phone down.”
Wow……that’s for sure. I
couldn’t walk away from this belief IF I HAD
TO…..I just can’t!
It all just makes TOO
MUCH SENSE…..at least to ME! Jack also
said “Why can’t we be like other Christians…….who just
have their head buried
in the sand, living in LA LA Land…..ignoring all the
signs of Christ’s soon
return.” Hey…..my
life would have been
EASIER (but not as exciting!) if I could just ignore all
of this……and escape
the occasional disappointment of a “date” that just
seemed so right!
(BTW....I'd rather IMMERSE MYSELF in
End Times News and Events and Theories every
day....but, alas, I have obligations in this life that
do NOT allow me to do so. But, there have been
many periods in my life over the last 14 years where
that is the ONLY thing that helped my get through
the day....so I understand a person's
deep DESIRE.....even a Deep NEED to see the Rapture of
the Church take place. I do.....)
That being said,
being an End Times Watchman for 16 years has
had an impact on my life. How? Let me share
my journey with you…..if you
care to read on.
1)
IT HAS
IMPACTED SOME PERSONAL CHOICES: Once
I learned how important the return of Israel to her
homeland was in 1948 as a Time-Marker,
I knew at once that THIS was THE generation that would
see Jesus Christ
return. Immediately,
there was NO doubt
in my mind… and there is still NO doubt in my mind…that
this is THE GENERATION
that will see the Pre-Trib Rapture and the Return of
Jesus Christ.
But, the question does
become: What
is the length of a generation and do you
start counting from 1948? Or from the
SIX Day War in 1967?
Or from the Yom
Kippur War in 1973?
Conceivably, the “window”
for the Rapture could be (on the nearest date) 1948 plus
a 40 years generation
= 1988. OR,
(on the furthest date) The
Yom Kippur War of 1973 plus a 70 year generation =
2043!! ???
I have always thought/hoped
for the
NEARER dates, of course.
And I have come
to believe that the 70th birthday of Israel (in 2018) has a role to
play.
I’m 58 years old now. I was about
42 when I started my journey down
the road of End Times Bible Prophecy.
So, I began to believe the Rapture WOULD happen
even BEFORE I retired.
And THAT belief affected some of my career
and monetary decisions over the last 10-15 years. Right or
wrong, they did.
Hey,
if
I will never see retirement, do I need to MAXIMIZE my
“chasing of money” …..
My “chasing of commissions” ?? That answer
becomes….WHY BOTHER if you RELALY
think you are right??
It’s just money….God
has always provided for my needs, and many of my dreams,
so pursue WHATEVER
career choice you’d like to pursue.
(UGH!) I
know…… but that was some
of my rationale over the past 15 years.
So, my choices have taken me
from
Florida, to Colorado and back to Florida. (now for the
last 10 years). And
one career choice allowed me the chance
to “pursue” a dream to be an international speaker,
something I always thought
would be WONDERFUL.
Careful what you
wish for……. It
doesn’t always work out
as wonderfully as you’d hoped!! Lol…..ugh!
So……. Here I am---- behind
the curve
of where I could have been….and would like to be….
(financially) had I not
pursued a few too many choices.
(wah!)
Like YOU, I have more
challenges in my life than I would like to have…..AND
YET…..compared to the
most of the rest of the 7 BILLION people on earth, most
everyone in the United
States lives like kings!
(I know many,
many people are struggling in this economy now, and I
don’t mean to diminish
your problems……but you are not alone!)
BTW……Paul N.F., who posts on
Five
Doves at the top every day, taught me something very
powerful a few years ago. He
said “the humble man says ‘the mistakes are mine.’” WOW….and
I never forgot that.
And I agree.
The mistakes ARE MINE. I CHOSE to
make the changes in jobs that I did. I
CHOSE to move to Colorado. I CHOSE to
marry who I did along the way. I CHOSE
to spend too much and save too little…. Those
mistakes WERE….MINE!!
And, I CHOSE to hang on a
recent
date for the Rapture, etc, etc, etc.
Now, that being said, (and I say this very
tongue-in-cheek…and I’ve been
saying it for a few years now!)…… IF the
Rapture happens in the next 1-2 years…….I’ll
be just fine!! (lol) If not…then
I need to “fix” a few things…..and
with God’s guidance, as always, I expect it WILL all
work out. I
may need to do some different things than I’ve
done over the past 10 years, but in the end I expect I
will do what I have to
do…and it will all be OK….EITHER WAY!
2)
IT
HAS IMPACTED MY EMOTIONAL DESIRES: What’s
interesting is that I did NOT
choose to believe in the nearness of the Rapture of the
church and the return
of Jesus Christ at a “low” point in my life.
I started my End Times Journey at the HEIGHT of
my career and
income!! And,
as I said, from the start
I was “all in” that THIS is “the” generation!
So, that being said….think about this.
We are on the verge (soon….) of being witnesses
to one of the GREATEST
events in the history of this world!!!!
As for me….I AM UP for this NEXT BIG ADVENTURE. I’ve told
people for years….”I know where I
get to go one day (death or the Rapture)…..and I know
WHY I GET GO (because of
what Jesus Christ did for ME on the Cross…..so let’s get
ON WITH THEN!!” I
don’t know about YOU, but I AM UP FOR THIS
NEXT BIG ADVENTURE!
I
cannot think of ANYTHING more exciting to look forward
to than the Return of
Jesus Christ IN MY LIFETIME!!
When I first was learning about all of
this, I was in FULL PURSUIT of the “success of this
world.” THAT
was my goal at the time…..and that was
my NEED at the time.
But now…… whatever dreams are still to come
in this life for me, my wife, my kids…..whatever
successes still may lie ahead
for me in this life….. NONE OF THAT compares to my
desire so see GOD’S PLANS
come pass upon this world……..NOTHING can be a great as
to be part of the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb of God.
NOTHING!!!!
3)
It
has my pressing NEED and Desire to SHARE the
Good News of Jesus
Christ! Hey…..if you’re
going to become an
End Times Believer…..you better be willing and able to
share the Good News of
Jesus Christ, as often as possible! You need
to be able to articulate WHY you
believe in Jesus Christ…and WHY that is important to me
and to EVERYONE in the
world……and then LEAD them to Christ, or “plant a seed”
or “water the seed” you’ve
planted. Otherwise,
WHAT’S THE POINT OF
EXPECTING CHRIST TO RETURN SOON, IF YOU CAN’T HELP MORE
PEOPLE MAKE A DECISION
TO COME TO CHRIST……before it happens???
Thus, when I did a website this year
about “the
possible return of Jesus Christ during Rosh Hashanah
2012” I HAD TO HAVE a
section on “are you saved?” And, “how to
be saved.”
So….yes, being an End Times
watcher HAS changed my
life. As
I said in my website, MY WORST
FEAR is that yes, THIS IS THE generation…..but the
Rapture is still 2 years, 5
years, or 10 years or more from now. I
don’t NEED the Rapture to VALIDATE my faith!!
But it is my hope that God did NOT teach me about
the “soon” return of
Jesus Christ 20 or 30 years before it’s going to happen. (I have
often expressed my gratitude for NOT
having learned about this back in the 1980’s.
I already think that 16 years has been TOO LONG
of a wait.) I can’t
imagine what waiting for 25 or 30 years or MORE would be
like. ?? But IF I HAVE
TO…..I HAVE TO….what other
choice would I have??
But….IF I HAVE TO WAIT until
I am in my 70‘s (13 more years)
or in my 80’s,,,,,I do know 2 things:
1)
I
CAN NEVER BE MAD AT GOD for HIS timing. Who do
I think I AM TO EVER get mad at God
about something like this? I’m
reminded of what God said to Job…..”WHERE
WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD…WHERE
WERE YOU WHEN I PUT THE
MOON IN ITS PLACE…” (from my memory) You
bet…..WHO
AM I to EVER EVER EVER question God????? (Now,
if my health, or the health of a
spouse or child, was perilous, I understand that is a
whole different set of
circumstances. I
am sure I’d have the
same questions, maybe even resentments, that other
Christians have had.)
But, again…WHO AM I to EVER Question God and
debate Him about I think he may have “said” to me about
ANYTHING??!! Let alone
about the Rapture maybe being on Rosh Hashanah 2012??
2)
But….if
the Rapture is many more years off and I
am in my 80’s and I’m still here, (God forbid!!),
I run the risk of being a
very very disappointed Christian for having been SO
WRONG about the “nearness”
of the Rapture for so many years.
I
sincerely do hope that is NOT the case. But, it is what it
is... I can't change God's timing NO MATTER HOW BADLY
I MAY WANT TO....OR EVEN NEED TO. It's NOT MY
Call!
So….. that’s my
story. I
sometimes wish I could be like other
Christians who are ignoring ALL the signs all around us
about the nearness of
the hour, but that is NOT how God made me.
So, THIS IS MY LOT…… to be an End Times WATCHER. …… And
I AM OK with that.
What
choice do I have, anyway??
HEY…THIS IS AN
EXCITING TIME TO BE A BORN AGAIN BELIEVER AND
TO BE WATCHING FOR THE (SOON) RETURN OF JESUS
CHRIST.
A LOT of Believers, now dead…..would have
given anything to be alive now and experiencing all
that we are seeing.
I do hope my “confession” is
comforting to some who are
reading this….. Being
an End Times
Watcher does come with its own set of issues…..doesn’t
it? God
Bless You……you are NOT alone.
TICK TOCK……
YFIC, Randy
PS…… I think it
is a
very good thing that there are forums like Five Doves
where people like me….like
US….can share together in all that is happening at this
time!!
THANK YOU, John….. for THIS
Website!!!
It has been a very, very good part of my
life.
Hey……A question to those of
us who ARE addicted.
When John misses a day or two of posts…DO YOU
FEEL LOST????? SO
DO I……Join the club…….
!! Smile!
Lol…..