The Eternal Danger of a Casual View of the End Times by JOHN BURTON for Charisma News
It seems to be uncommon, if not rare, to find churches today that are preparing people for the end times.
“I’m not a pre-tribber, a post-tribber or a mid-tribber. I’m a pan-tribber. I believe it will all pan out in the end!”
That’s the whimsical, fantastical argument many casual, unconcerned people are making today regarding the most critical season in all of human history. In fact, I’ve heard many pastors defend their reluctance to address eschatology by saying similar things. No, it absolutely won’t all pan out in the end if we don’t prepare with intense and strategic discipline. In fact, I believe innumerable current Christians may spend forever in torment because of a failure to prepare.
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As I jump into this, I implore those of you who are already chomping at the bit to defend your eschatological position with determined ferocity and great verbosity in the comments—just don’t. This article is not a study of the eschatological timeline. I will present some suppositions, and I don’t hide the fact that I firmly believe the church will be here during the Tribulation, but if you are looking for an end-times Bible study, you won’t find it here. Your comments would be better served addressing the precise topic I am presenting here: preparedness.
Salvation Alone Won’t Prepare Us—Many Will Fall Away
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (2 Thess. 2:3-4, NKJV).
