Interesting what people can believe...
The real question is, is there anything people won't believe?
............
RAPTURE
Tuesday, I reprinted most of Bill Moyers’ recent speech, which touched upon, among other things, the Rapture Index.
In this past election several million good and decent citizens went to the polls believing in the rapture index. That's right - the rapture index.
“Google it,” Moyers advised, “and you will find that the best-selling books in America today are the twelve volumes of the left-behind series written by the Christian fundamentalist and religious right warrior, Timothy LaHaye. These true believers subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the 19th century by a couple of immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them into a narrative that has captivated the imagination of millions of Americans.”
Its outline is rather simple, if bizarre . . . : once Israel has occupied the rest of its 'biblical lands,' legions of the anti-Christ will attack it, triggering a final showdown in the valley of Armageddon. As the Jews who have not been converted are burned, the messiah will return for the rapture. True believers will be lifted out of their clothes and transported to heaven, where, seated next to the right hand of God, they will watch their political and religious opponents suffer plagues of boils, sores, locusts, and frogs during the several years of tribulation that follow.
Believers are actually encouraged by war, famine and the like, because it increases the likelihood that the rapture is close at hand.
When Moyers gave his speech, the Rapture Index stood at 144.
To put that into context:
Rapture Index of 85 or lower: Slow prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 85 to 110: Moderate prophetic activity
Rapture Index of 110 to 145: Heavy prophetic activity
Rapture Index above 145: Fasten your seat belts
Three weeks later, by December 20, it had climbed to 153 – miles ahead of the record low 57 registered December 12, 1993, and not far off its all-time high of 182 reached September 24, 2001
And that 153 reading was before the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Earthquakes are #37 on the list of 45 categories that go into calculating the rapture index. To wit:
37. Earthquakes
(Mark 13:8) God used earthquakes to show his disapproval with man.
. . . look for more earthquake activity as the return of Christ draws near
Contd...
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