Getting Raptured

I know. Everyone has been posting about this. The day of the second coming of the Lord. Being a Christian myself, I have heard many various sermons and discussions over this topic, but they never really made sense to me. Books and movies describing their beliefs have become popular in both sacred and secular situations, such as the "Left Behind" series. The scripture quoted is in such weird terminology, what I refer to as unused old English, requires every few words to be given text alternatives and explanations. What gets me is that the word 'rapture' is never in the English translated Bible. I am not here to disprove anyones beliefs; all I ask is that you just read the next few paragraphs with an open mind and an open heart.

Recently, I've been attending a sort of house church with a friend who had his Bachelor's in Biblical Studies, and is finishing his Master's in Religious Studies. Not only has he read the Bible thoroughly, but he's studied it in it's original text origins of both the Greek and Latin Bibles. The text that most Christians recognize in regarding to the Rapture is from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24:36-44. This is how it reads from my King James Bible that was given to me a few years ago:

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."

To put an overview of what I've been taught, the basic idea of the rapture is that God will take up his true believers and followers before the second coming of the Son, so that His people will avoid the suffering and tribulations that the Earth will endure while the Antichrist is taking over the powers of the governments, and then in 7 years the revelation will occur, when Christ returns with his people to end the Earth.

People have been predicting the end of the world since the time of the Aztecs (who believe the end of the world is 2012), and there are Christian groups that believe the rapture happened on May 21st, 2011, and that on October 21st the actual judgement will occur. If you want to read some of these philosophies and their Biblical 'references,' here's a link: http://www.ebiblefellowship.com/outreach/tracts/may21/ .

I have several problems with these philosophies, the first being with the first verse I quoted, that "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." To me, this literally means, no matter how good we are at predicting, we really do not know the day or hour that God is coming. If you believe it is May 21st, 2011, or October 21st, 2011, then I will automatically assume you are wrong. No man knows the day or hour. Some verses I can't translate literally, but this is pretty straight forward in my eyes.

The next problem is one that I'd never taken the time to ponder until I was at this house church. If you read above, the next verse says that "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also be the coming of the Son of man be." If you only read that verse or line, you could say it's a simile, because it makes a comparison using the word 'as'. Okay, so the day of the Son of man will be like the days of Noah. What were the days of Noah like? Well, if you go back into Genesis, chapter 6 (all of it, but for purpose I will just quote 9-14), you would read the following in the King James:

"These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

Anyone who grew up in a church knows the story and what happens next: Noah and his sons build the ark according to God's directions, gather food and supplies, and fill it with God's creatures, and are essentially saved from the floods that wiped out the people of the earth.

Going back to the simile above... the Son of man will be like the days of Noah. I have understood my whole life that the believers will be taken to heaven while the Earth goes through suffering. Well, who was taken and who was left in the times of Noah? Noah and his family were left on Earth, the wicked were taken. If the day of the Son of man will be the same, then I would deduce that the wicked would be taken, not the 'saved.' And up until this day, this day of the Son of man, people will be getting married, working in fields and mills, and living their daily lives.

Now the Bible does include the book of Revelations, which is used as a timeline for those who make predictions of the end of the world. Revelations is more than just a book of predictions; there are three main sections: the past, the present, and future. People like to read mostly from the future section, in which the outline of the Christ and his second coming are referred, as well as lists of the tribulations the Earth will endure. Where do we see which are left and which are taken? I have not found it there, but I'm willing to read any passages you believe would disagree with this completely opposite of the widely accepted Christian view of the rapture. In reality, this widely accepted view of rapture is very new, only introduced in the 16th and 17th centuries. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture, under Doctrinal history.

I do not ask you to agree with me. I do not think that I necessarily have all my ideas in order, but rather, that I am studying, and want to learn more. From what I have recently read, I believe that when this day of the Lord comes, I would much rather be with the group 'left behind,' and not taken.

Drama-obsessed People- part II

When do you tell a person that you honestly don't give two cents to their drama they want to share? Especially when it's not even their own drama, but someone else's?

See, I haven't been too careful of doing that myself. Sometimes when I feel a bit superior over an ex-boyfriend and want to make sure the person I'm talking to knows why I'm better, I'll share information that is not relative to my situation at all that makes the other person look bad. I'm even friends with some of my old boyfriends. Why would I do that?

I'd easily like to blame someone else, but if you've read my blog before, you know how I feel about that already. It's true, this style of gossiping is a learned behavior, but I can also take charge of my life and try to live differently.

How do we stop this vicious cycle?
To tell the truth, I don't know that I have the full answer to this. I think it might be different for each of us.

For me, probably the first step would be to let the past die. If I have truly forgiven someone, then I have no reason to share past offences against me with other people. It's not their business. The only reason to share such information is to change that person's view on another in a bad light. Isn't the world hard enough without everyone giving you the cold shoulder before you get to prove you've changed for the better?
That part starts with me, and I even already broke this today. I talked badly about an ex unnecessarily. I want to become conscious of my inclinations to talk badly about other people, and nip it in the bud.

So that would hopefully help my problem, but what about everyone else?
Well, first, make sure you diagnose the situation correctly. Sometimes a friend needs a shoulder to cry on or get advice, so details of too much information may come with the territory. What I want to avoid are situations where a person is talked about simply to have their credibility diminished. An act of revenge, revelation of a scandal, etc. Not my business.

So... how would you want me to politely tell you that I'm not interested in hearing how much a 'girl hates you for no apparent reason and these are the reasons why I don't care,' or that 'at a party my ex-boyfriend's fiancée took off her ring to appear single while dancing with other guys'? It's not that I don't love you. I just want the bad-mouthing to stop. Starting with me.

Will you stand with me? Will you help keep me accountable?

My Recent Obsession...

Baking.

Before you start picturing me in your head as a little miss Betty Crocker with goodies on decorated trays in my kitchen while I stand smiling proudly with flour smudged on my cheek and apron, know that I grew up not knowing how to cook. At all.

When I left for college, I knew how to use the microwave and the toaster and how to follow instructions on a box like for macaroni and cheese and hamburger helper. However, I only made easy, follow-the-box-instructions food. How I have maintained my figure, I'll never know. My family ate out of the home (fast food or sit down restaurant) at least once EVERY DAY. Yes. Sometimes more than once a day.

It wasn't until I went grocery shopping one spring day last year with my current boyfriend that I ever questioned my eating habits. I knew eating out wasn't healthy, so I definitely cut back on that, but I still bought every thing easy that came in a box with all the ingredients included. He saw me grabbing a box of pancake mix, and he asked me, "Why are you buying that?"
"... Because I love pancakes. And waffles. A lot. I make them all the time!"
"I know, but why don't you just buy flour and sugar? That's way cheaper."
"You mean, like, make it? From scratch? I don't know how to do that!"
*rolls his eyes* "It's super easy, I promise. And it's more cost efficient." (Yes, he really does talk this way)
"Um... Okay..."

Don't judge me. It's not like we're all born knowing how to cook. Someone teaches us. My mother is a good cook, but she doesn't like how time consuming it is and all the dishes that come with it, hence why I grew up eating a lot of take out. I have had a lot of free time at college on weekends and evenings, so I have slowly but surely started using recipes to make food from scratch.

I joined Allrecipes.com, which is a free online archive of thousands of recipes all submitted by other members, and I can read ratings, comments with additions/subtractions/general suggestions, and save an online recipe book of my favorites. It started with pancakes/waffles, then gradually moved on to biscuits, crepes, cakes, muffins, pies, soups, and even shake and bake chicken. I spend 90% of my money on groceries now so I can have more things to make in my kitchen, and I love every minute of it. Like today, I baked strawberry banana muffins (use half recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawnana-Bread/Detail.aspx) and banana bread (used a home recipe from my boyfriend's mother).

I have even become adventurous enough to make my own little creations, such as a delicious stir fry using whatever meat I have on hand as the base, fresh vegetables sliced and diced such as carrots and broccoli, an egg, and spices such as fajita seasoning and garlic salt. Serve on hot white rice and you have yourself an awesome dinner. I definitely don't think I'll ever be on Top Chef, but hopefully I will be able to make delicious meals for my future husband and children someday.