Jesus gives the challenge in Acts 1:8 saying, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 exemplifies this concept as, right before Jesus Christ ascends to Heaven, He sends the disciples on a story that would start right in their individual community. He begins with their local place of Jerusalem, and then expands the call to the far parts of the creation.

As followers of Christ, we are not motivated to loneliness, but to be missional believers who are anxiously going out and meeting people right where they are with the message of Jesus. We have noticed this throughout history: God moved Abraham on a mission to leave his country and his people and go to the land that God would show him (Gen. 12:1), God moved Moses on a story to renew an enslaved people and lead them to freedom (Exodus 3:8-10), God urges Jesus on a mission to world to reconcile all things to Himself through the blood of Christ (Colossians 1:20). And now God is sending the church on a story to engage areas, cities, peoples, and even nations with the story of Christ(Matt. 28:19 Mark 6:7 Luke 10:1 John 20:21 Acts 1:8). If we reject this urge and continue to perceive the churches like a private country club ” requesting that people resolve their act, pay their dues, and walk to our place of worship God will continue His exploration without us.

God is stronger than your fears and anxieties. A person does not have to be religious to use the power of God. When the going gets tough, talk to God about your problems as if you were talking to a friend. Be persistent and be open in the avenues that God may provide to you in solving your problem. It is not always easy, however God is in control and he will help you if you ask him.

Go to a church or to a quiet place and pray to God. Tell God how you feel and ask him for his help. Prayer can be very, very effective. Also, get others to pray for you. Consistent prayer is the key in asking God for help.

Review the Bible and try to apply it to your life. Each and every day, a person should make it up a habit to talk to God and ask for his help.

When using the help of God to manage your fears, a person needs to be aware of how God is working in their life. Most of the time God works in mysterious ways and the answers he provides might not be that obvious. A person must be aware of God being in their life even when they are dealing with their fears and anxieties.

The important thing is to continue praying and talking to God. Talk to God as if you were talking to a friend. Read the Bible and pray hard. Be persistent and be open in the avenues that God may provide to you in solving your problem. It is not always easy, however God is in control and he will help you if you ask him.

Stan Popovich is the author of “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear” an easy to read book that presents a overview of techniques that are effective in managing persistent fears and anxieties. For additional information go to: www.managingfear.com

Anyone holding one of the three views mentioned has an ample supply of proof texts to support their views. Very few proof texts are available for the post tribulation theory and it is barely supportable. Most people are on the side of the pre-tribulation rapture; unfortunately it is often for the wrong reasons. Many people view a pre-tribulation rapture as an enormous escape hatch. When the going gets rough the pretribulationists just get going, or just get gone. The fact that their views may be correct doesn’t diminish the fact that it is the view most likely to leave the believer unprepared.

It is human nature to take the path of least resistance but it is high folly to think it will be available right at the point when things start really getting rough. The bottom line for the unprepared is that they can only hope their views are right. But hope is a long way from preparedness.

Many Christians have failed to do the math, not to mention engaging good sense. It is easy to see why this could happen considering that no one really wants to see their world torn up from the roots, and in the vast sticky quagmire of apocalyptic interpretations and speculations it is easy to get confused. As a result they have not noticed that one of the simplest ways to know when the rapture will take place is clearly provided in scripture. It is not so much when, but it is the latest point at which it could happen, and also a promise that it can’t happen before a specific event.

The prophet Daniel spoke of it hundreds of years before Christ. Jesus reiterated it with a few more details. Finally the book of Revelation shows it as a pivotal event in the judgment to come. Simply put the event is the abomination of desolation. When ye therefore shall see the abomination desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.) Mt 24:15 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. Daniel 11:31 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall he a thousand two hundred amid ninety days. Daniel 12:11

The time is halfway through the last seven years in which the antichrist rules the world. The result is the pouring out of the wrath of God. Rev 16:2. Without getting bogged down in eschatological theory, semantic word games or other second coming hype here is the picture in all of its blaring simplicity. Since the wrath of God is not poured out until the antichrist does the abomination of desolation that means this is the last point we could possibly be on the earth according to the promise of I Thessalonians 1:10. Because this is true, that puts the mid-tribulationists at the top of the list of those who are most likely to have it right. This kind of interpretation comes under the heading of… if the scripture makes plain sense, seek no other sense.

I always appendage my teaching on the rapture with this equally important fact, the rapture could come at any time God chooses to make it happen. All theology is subject to the ultimate sovereignty of God. The pre-tribulation theory is the most petted, preferred and defended for a reason. The reason is that believers fail to differentiate between who and what is causing the tribulation in those last days. The antichrist makes trouble for the believer, and then God makes trouble for the antichrist. We are promised that God will not pour his wrath out on his own but we are never promised that we can escape the troubles incurred at the onset of the rule of the antichrist. Rather, we are told to resist his rule which of itself implies trouble Mk 8:35.

In a country where we are waiting for more of Gods unbridled blessings it is hard to teach believers that they may not only have to give something up to fight evil, but ultimately that something, may be their lives, literally. If your rapture theology includes the possibility that you may have to give up your life, you may he happy to find out that even if you held the wrong view you couldn’t possibly lose anything. More importantly if you are not wrong at the very least you will be prepared.

Being ready is part of Gods plan for us when it has to do with his return. In fact it is a command and an expectation that our Savior has clearly made known to all of us. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Mt 24:44

Rev Bresciani is the author of two popular Christian books. He has also written dozens of articles both online and in print.

Please visit the website www.americanprophet.org