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WHAT? ME WORRY?
By John R. Funk
(taken from http://www.rapturealert.com/whatmeworry.html )

There are a lot of people out there who display this attitude: What? Me Worry? Why should I? When they speak in these terms, it concerns the return of Jesus Christ to this earth to "rapture" or "snatch away" His believers. These individuals rightfully believe that Jesus will return whether or not they are looking for Him. They maintain that the Rapture of the saints will happen, if it happens, when God ordains and not before then.

Each of these statements is absolutely true upon its face so why do some people seem to be consumed by the idea of looking for Christ's return and anticipate that it could happen at any time? Isn't this just a big waste of time and effort? Why would reasonable, intelligent people spend their valuable time and money trying to persuade others that Jesus is coming soon and that they need to be prepared? More than just being prepared for His coming, these people scan the newspapers trying to tie world events to end times prophecies and actually want others to spend their time looking for the return of Jesus Christ. Are these people deluded, brainwashed or just hopeful that Someone will extricate them from the causes and concerns of life? In the meantime, aren't they failing to make the most out of life and bothering other good people who need to be living life to its fullest?

There is a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that chronicles the nighttime adventure of one particular individual in the year 1775; perhaps, you have read it sometime during your life. It is called "Paul Revere's Ride" and was written on April 19, 1860. The first part of the poem is as follows:

"Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

The purpose of this chronicled event was to spread the alarm of the impending invasion by the British army who intended to quell the revolution by those upstarts who would call themselves Americans. Spreading the alarm - that is an interesting and compelling purpose for anyone, wouldn't you agree?

In today's world, what is there to be alarmed about? You can stop laughing now; it was rhetorical. Let us not kid ourselves. There is plenty to be alarmed about. Whether it is crime, war, terrorism, drugs, the economy, this week's latest natural disaster, increasing taxes, one world government, globalism, the loss of individual rights, your children's friends, the state of marriage or numerous other reasons, we have good cause for alarm. Evidence of the declining state of our world is shown by the number of people who rely upon antidepressants to just cope with each day. What is even more alarming than any of the reasons cited herein is the world's lack of preparedness for the return of Jesus Christ. Just look around you and see if you think that this world (and the church) is ready for the return of Christ. It is not and it is for this very reason that we should "sound the alarm."


In the context of the Olivet Discourse when Jesus spoke with His disciples about the end of the age, He indicated that even though we would not know the hour, we could discern the season. The fig tree was a metaphor for Israel and Jesus noted that you could tell when summer was near by the fact that the leaves were budding. Similarly, we should be able to tell when the end of time is near or "right at the door" by the condition of the world around us. Many place the seminal event or triggering point, i.e. the leaves budding out, as the re-assimilation of Israel in 1948; others point to 1967 when Israel took back Jerusalem. In any event these individuals focus on verse 34 which states that "this generation shall not pass away until all these things have happened."