Rosemary came round yesterday and we practised her talk for Thursday. I am her householder, and am going to be someone who has been told about the Rapture by a friend, and is confused. Which is no wonder really. I now need to see if I can net Captain Butterfly before he flutters off and practise my talk on him.
Insofar as I understand it, the Rapture is a doctrine originating with the Pentecostal church in America. It teaches that God will remove the faithful from the earth - sort of snatch them up to heaven - just before the great tribulation - and return them afterwards. Although I think there are different versions and timelines.
Rosemary's assigned material includes Proverbs 2:21,22 which says, simply and clearly: " For the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it."
So the upright remain on the earth. It is the wicked who are removed from it when they are destroyed at Armageddon. And Jehovah does not want to have to destroy anyone. Hence the worldwide warning work as followers of Christ preach from door to door.
Which I hope I will be able to do again sometime next year if my operations go well. In the meantime I am keeping my magazine route going by post, with card and letter. One of my route calls rang me yesterday to ask how I was, and we had a nice chat. I was out on the balcony at the time.
A sunny day today. The Channel is pale, calm and a bit heat hazy. And the dishwasher has broken! Aaargh. We will have to hitch up the horses to the dishcloths and try to remember how we used to wash dishes in the olden days.
Insofar as I understand it, the Rapture is a doctrine originating with the Pentecostal church in America. It teaches that God will remove the faithful from the earth - sort of snatch them up to heaven - just before the great tribulation - and return them afterwards. Although I think there are different versions and timelines.
Rosemary's assigned material includes Proverbs 2:21,22 which says, simply and clearly: " For the upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth; and as for the treacherous, they will be torn away from it."
So the upright remain on the earth. It is the wicked who are removed from it when they are destroyed at Armageddon. And Jehovah does not want to have to destroy anyone. Hence the worldwide warning work as followers of Christ preach from door to door.
Which I hope I will be able to do again sometime next year if my operations go well. In the meantime I am keeping my magazine route going by post, with card and letter. One of my route calls rang me yesterday to ask how I was, and we had a nice chat. I was out on the balcony at the time.
A sunny day today. The Channel is pale, calm and a bit heat hazy. And the dishwasher has broken! Aaargh. We will have to hitch up the horses to the dishcloths and try to remember how we used to wash dishes in the olden days.
