The Book of Revelation - Scaring the Hell Out of Us for 2000 Years!
Pastor David introduced it yesterday by discussing "Rapture Anxiety." This is considered by many mental health professionals as a type of religious trauma. He shared that he, himself, had Rapture Anxiety due to the way he was raised and asked those in the congregation to raise their hands if they suffered from Rapture Anxiety, My hand shot up!
The fear of being "Left Behind" is real and has been exploited by various church leaders, writers and movie makers. Generally speaking, the rapture, a fear based concept, is not a part of main line denominations.
In 2006 I was invited to lead a study on the Book of Revelation. After explaining to Pastor Jayne all of the reasons I could not do this, she told me those reasons were why I needed to lead the study. So, about thirty of us spent a couple of months studying the book. And Pastor Jayne was right. It was a big help.
It's a difficult, mysterious book that's been interpreted in all kinds of ways. If you Google it you'll find over 195,000,000 sites!
Pastor David shared some great insights yesterday, including the fact that the word "Rapture" is not in the Bible. He also discussed the tree of life in Genesis and the tree of life in in Revelation.
The Beginning and the End.
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In his final speech, shortly before he was murdered, he shared that he might not be around to see the Promised Land with us - but that we would see it. He shared,
Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory of the Coming of the Lord... Words based on the Book of Revelation
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