Update: Brutis was rescued by six police officers after spending nine days up in the tree. If only the President-elect would have intervened days ago, the neighborhood would have been filled with his aura of peace, and Brutis would not have been tormented so.

Did you know that the idea of a "rapture" or taking away of the saints of God was not preached until the 1830's. Did you know that its origins are from a young Scottish lass by the name of Margaret MacDonald who went into a trance and described a vision in which she said she saw the saints leaving the earth at the return of the Lord? Did you know there is no such word as "rapture" in the Bible?

Does the Bible really emphasize our going, or does it emphasize Jesus' coming? There is a common thread, throughout the Bible, of God removing the wicked and keeping his righteousness. Was Noah and his family kept or taken? We all know the answer to that. Jesus compared these days as that of Noah

Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Proverbs 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

True apostles and prophets in the earth today are proclaiming the Truth and sounding the alarm to the body of Christ. Those who hunger and thirst for truth are coming to know the truth. Since the 1800's the church has been sidetracked with this idea of "the rapture." Meanwhile, saints are thinking more of escaping than being transformed by the renewing of their minds. We are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29). The Apostle Paul's emphasis in his writings was not about the church being taken, but of the church body growing up to the Head, Jesus Christ. It is a blessed fact that Jesus will return just as he left. The blessed hope is that we be just like him. In the modern age, the church has been using hand-me-down doctrines, just assuming that they are rooted in truth.

As I write this, my target audience is those who are ministers to the body of Christ. Until the body of Christ hears the truth from the set ministry, most of the body will not catch it. This truth requires great boldness in the midst of opposition. That is nothing new when it comes to preaching and teaching Jesus Christ. Most in the mainstream will not preach the truth of the "rapture" for fear of losing nickels and noses. There are TV ministers that know this truth, but avoid teaching it for fear of losing the worldly kingdom that they have built up.

The truth of the "rapture" was sounded by Bill Britton beginning in the 1950's in the midst of great opposition. Bill Britton was a forerunner for those who are proclaiming the Kingdom of God in the earth today. There is as much or more opposition in this day as people are clinging hard to the doctrines of man, but I know the Spirit is revealing all truth to those who hunger and thirst. I write this post knowing that there will be many that will revile me for speaking such things as I am. However, I also know that there is a great body of believers who are bothered by the confusion that they have towards "endtime" teachings. Paul spoke of the simplicity of Christ. And yet, there are great divisions in the body. The racks of endtime books in Christian bookstores look like science fiction. So called "prophets" keep revising their prophecies when they do not come true. How many "prophets" repented for their outlandish claims as we approached the year 2000? How many gave back the millions of dollars they made off of the tripe that they call prophecy? They discredit the idea of true prophets and prophecy. Prophecy comes from the heavenlies, not from the newspapers. The so called prophets making money off of their theories are just preying on peoples ignorance. They make money because people do have a desire for the truth.

I could go on, but God exposed the truth through Bill Britton back in the 1950's. He covers the subject quite extensively in the book, A Closer Look at the Rapture. It is available online for free at the link below. I hope you will read with an openness to the Truth. Those who are wondering when Jesus will return, your question is answered by Ephesians 4:11-13.

Ephesians 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Jesus gave us the gifts of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher to bring us all to the unity of the faith. The Body of Christ will operate in the complete Truth of Jesus Christ before he returns. Jesus is not the author of confusion. So we're not going to have pre, mid, and post tribbers. We will all be in the unity of the faith when he returns. The fact is, YOU WILL GO THROUGH TRIBULATION-- Jesus promised it. But it is not tribulation as the rapture theorists speak of.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Paul gloried in it.

Romans 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

2 Thessalonians 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

This word "tribulation" that has dominated church theology over the past 100 years, in the Greek means "pressure." Well, how are you being conformed to the image of the son?

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It is by the pressure. He is the potter, we are His clay. It is by tribulation, or pressure, that we are perfected. If you are not experiencing the pressure, you are not in His will. If you are one who continually bucks against God's will for your life, you will receive great tribulation. Whatever it takes to conform you. You can fall on the Rock, or you can be crushed. It is your choice. When you submit yourself to God, and receive his Word, Jesus promised you that you would receive persecutions when you received the Word.

Matthew 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Here is the excellent book by Bill Britton at the links below.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Christians and patriots have allowed the language to be hijacked, to the extent that we do not know the meaning of "is," as with Bill Clinton. We now have to have courts to determine the meaning of "marriage." Hello people, the true intent of our country's founding documents is no secret. The Founders left writing after writing to ensure that we had no doubts. In this day, the language is purposely distorted to achieve ulterior motives. The true intent of the Constitution is a hindrance to those that despise the founding principles of this country. We have just elected a man to be President who has said that the Constitution is deeply flawed. And yet he will give an oath to uphold that document.

It would be nice for Christian Americans to take a stand with the backing of the Constitution, instead of agreeing to the distorted language of the left. It is not the Constitution that is preventing prayer at a public assembly. It is a twisted interpretation that people just assume is based on the Constitution. The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

A prayer at a high school or anywhere else has nothing to do with Congress making a law, and it is a far cry from the establishment of a religion. The free exercise of religion is being violated, but I don't know that I can say that it is necessarily due to anything Congress has done. The free exercise of religion has been encroached upon mainly by the acceptance of the American people, its Congress, and its Executive branch by rulings and opinions that are not rooted in the Constitution. We are in a time that we have given sole authority on the Constitution over to the Supreme Court. Each of the three branches is supposed to check the other. We've allowed the Court to legislate, and yet its duty is to make decisions based on the Constiutionality of the laws.

Oh, I'm such a lightweight when it comes to cold weather. Where's global warming when you need it? It's doggone cold.

Here's a good article by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown about Reagan and the spirit of Christmas.

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59266

When I was in college, I hardly ever missed David Letterman when he did Late Night on NBC. I could have sworn he was funny back then. Or at least he appealed to my quirkiness. In those days he seemed far removed from any political agendas. I have changed much since those days, but apparently Letterman has as well. Quite frankly, now I am one of those wackos that does not even watch TV. Whatever I happen to see is by way of the internet.

Mr. Letterman, I'm sorry you have just become another useful idiot for the far left in our country. I suppose this little clip is humor to all the drones out there who follow lock step to the liberal drumbeat. People laugh at this kind of drivel without having a clue of what is being mentioned. This clip typifies what we can expect in the days ahead. Instead of substantive debate on policy, the liberals seek to discredit the opposition and nullify any opposing arguments. There is no real substance on the left, so leftist do all they can to avoid serious scrutiny of their policies.

I wrote a piece a few weeks back about how true political discourse is on a course of being considered equivalent to shouting "Fire" in a crowded theatre. Here is the link to that.

  Shouting Fire in a Crowded Theatre

You gals who love the smell of flame broiled burgers can enjoy the scent on your man now with the new Burger King body spray called Flame. I'm just wondering if its going to have any of essence of Burger King onions. I don't know if it's the same everywhere, but those BK onions have some incredible staying power at the restaurants in my neck of the woods. Perhaps they will have different versions of the body spray, like the Extra Cheese Whopper Spray, or for those of you in parts of this world that will remain nameless, the Extra Onion Burger Spray. The possibilities are endless.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081218/burger_king_flame.html?.v=5

Once again American ingenuity reigns supreme in the marketplace. If only the automotive industry could be unleashed from the Federal government and its redtape, and be allowed to be free in the marketplace. On that note and with food on my mind, I wouldn't mind having one of those Oscar-Mayer weinermobiles.

Well, I see our new President-to-be does have a lot in common with President Jimmy Carter. He continually speaks about how bad the economy is going to get. Twice on the December 7 edition of Meet the Press he says, "The economy is going to get worse before it gets better." Such leadership! I'm beginning to see why so many elected him.

According to Press Secretary Powell's 1986 book The Other Side of the Story:

Upon closer inspection, the animal turned out to be a rabbit. Not one of your cutesy, Easter-bunny type rabbits, but one of those big splay-footed things that we called swamp rabbits when I was growing up.

The animal was clearly in distress, or perhaps berserk. The President confessed to having had limited experience with enraged rabbits. He was unable to reach a definite conclusion about its state of mind. What was obvious, however, was that this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat.

   abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress:

   my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

   and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings

   shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the

   arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the

   destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy

   right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward

   of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge,

   even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague

   come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep

   thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy

   foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion

   and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I

   deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath

   known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with

   him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.