Pretribulation Rapture Signpost #5: Surprise By Jonathan C. Brentner A news story about a burglar in Rochelle Park, New Jersey recently caught my attention. In the process of robbing a home, the thief woke up the couple who lived there. Not wanting the owners to catch him, the robber climbed…
Pretribulation Rapture Signpost #4: Expectations By Jonathan C. Brentner My wife and I walked into the restaurant with high expectations. Someone had told us this was the best place in the area for Italian food. Maybe it was an off night, but we left unsatisfied with what we ordered that…
Pretribulation Rapture Signpost #3: Imminency By Jonathan C. Brentner A GEICO commercial portrays a spy fleeing from armed men on a roof as well as from a black helicopter approaching from the air. His phone rings as his adversaries appear ready to capture him or perhaps kill him. Thinking the…
Pretribulation Rapture Signpost #2: Unique By Jonathan C. Brentner The next signpost pointing to the occurrence of the rapture before the tribulation simply says “unique.” For pretribulationism to be biblical, the rapture and second coming cannot be the same event. If they are identical, we obviously cannot separate them by…
Pretribulation Rapture Signpost #1: Premillennialism By Jonathan C. Brentner Why do we believe that the rapture will happen before the tribulation? There are a number of signposts in Scripture that point us in the direction of which I will write about in the coming weeks. I will start with premillennialism.…
The Departure of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 By Jonathan C. Brentner I realize that one look at the title may cause you to hit the snooze button. Why examine the translation of one word? We do so because it has the potential to greatly strengthen our belief that the church will…
Our Anticipation of Jesus’ Soon Appearing By Jonathan C. Brentner A GEICO commercial from last year portrays a spy fleeing from armed men on a roof as well as from a black helicopter approaching him from the air. His phone rings as his adversaries appear ready to capture him or…
After the Rapture... By Mike Mullin Increasingly, within the last few years, I have had an uncomfortably subtle and creeping feeling take an apprehensive root. Though I cannot pinpoint when, I try to remind myself of Jesus’ instruction – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God,…
Thy Kingdom Come By Dave Hunt This phrase is contained in the so-called "Lord's prayer," which, in fact, is not the Lord's prayer (that is found in John 17) but the disciples' prayer. It would hardly have been appropriate for our Lord to pray, "Forgive us our sins...And lead us…
7 Reasons Why the Rapture is Not the Second Coming By Jonathan C. Brentner Is the rapture unique or just another way of describing the second coming? Pastors, teachers, and Christian writers have differing opinions on this. One assistant pastor at a Bible-believing church once told me he did not…