A Letter to My Brother-in-Law

I received am email from my brother-in-law today. He's a great guy who's been down the religious road as I have and can now take or leave church. It was quite unusual for him to send me a graphic video from YouTube on the "rapture". In it, an English minister is preaching from Matthew 24, on the rapture of "believers" which could happen at any time in an instant, like a bolt of lightning. The video scan the typical church going audience, then BOOM, like a bolt out of the blue, the preacher and about half the people disappear. The ones left stand and look around in shock, trying to figure out what happened. One guy eventually realizes and falls to his knees,crying his eyes out. Now, as I said, this is a very unusual thing for Bill (not his real name) to do. I began to ask myself, why he did this. Then I remembered a conversation we had sitting in his backyard a couple of years ago. I broached the subject of UR after he opened the door. Perhaps he wants my reaction to the video. I really don't know for sure. But I wrote him the following letter which I wanted to share with you.

Bill-

Thanks for the video. But the event of which Matt. 24 speaks has already taken place. It happened in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem. This video is typical of the scare tactics used by the church today to frighten people into the church; to scare the "Hell" out of them, to strengthen the church's hold on them; to prevent them from learning the Truth about God. The Kingdom of God has come. Jesus told his disciples this, they just didn't understand. The Old Covenant with Israel is passe. The New Covenant of grace is in effect because of the cross of Christ.. Maybe that's what the writer was speaking of in the hymn, AMAZING GRACE, although I'm not sure he understood what he was saying. The fall of Jerusalem was foretold by Jesus in Chap. 24 of Matthew. This is not some future event, but one that took place over 1900 years ago when the Romans surrounded, stormed and destroyed Jerusalem and with it the old system of Law He made with the Jews, who,by and large rejected Him. After His ascension to the Father, He chose the most unlikely man to take the real "good news" to "the nations", the gentiles, you and me. That man's name was Saul (Paul). Paul, receiving a revelation from Christ on the Damascus road, then went into Arabia for three years, where I believe he received the real gospel, the gospel of grace. The good news that you and I are reconciled to God thru the cross of Christ. The work has already been done. Everyone is redeemed, many just don't realize it. Paul tells us that the covenant with the Jews has not been voided and eventually, all Israel will be saved in spite of their stubbornness and refusal to accept Christ as the Messiah. After all, the Jews are to reign with Christ in the millenial kingdom along with the ones who believed in this eon (before the millenial kingdom begins). After the millenium comes to a close, in some future eon, Christ will have defeated all His enemies, the last to be defeated, Death,. He will then turn over the keys of the kingdom to His father and God will be "ALL IN ALL". If there is work to be done now, it is to let everyone know that Christ paid the price, our past, present, and future sins have been erased, taken care of. Now we can enjoy a full relationship to the Father, who "graciously" took care of it all for us and showed us the true meaning of LOVE, whether we know it or not. Paul's writings are the real "good news" Read Romans 5 and you will find that as a result of Adam's disobedience ALL were condemned; thus also it is thru one just act (by Christ) ALL shall be made just in the eyes of God. I Cor 15:22 states it again: for as in Adam ALL are dying, thus also, in Christ , shall ALL be made alive.. In the letter to Timothy, (may possibly not be Paul's hand, but certainly his theology) it says: for all this are we toiling and being reproached, , that we rely on the living God, who is the Saviour of ALL mankind, especially (which means, but not exclusively) of believers. Check out Rom. 11:32, For God locks up ALL together in stubbornness, that He should show mercy to ALL.

Bill don't be fooled by what you've been taught all your life by the church. Do your own thinking and seek the Truth. Ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to it. He will show you if you truly desire it. took me 58 years to learn the Truth. Check out my blog at: http://searchforlife-don.blogspot.com/

Read as many of my posts as you want, I encourage you to do so. I am telling you these things because I love you and don't want you to spend another moment suffering guilt and disappointment when you find you can't live up to what the church tells you to do in order to be "saved" and "get to heaven". There are more atheists in this world because of Christians than any other reason. On my blog, there are links to other blogs which I read regularly and to other websites which will add to your understanding of the "real gospel", the gospel of grace.
You Melchior
Modest Menzinsky
Giorgio Merighi
Francesco Merli
Alexander Miltschinoff
Frank Mullings
Corneliu Murgu

Sergej Naida
Nikola Nikolov
Hanns Nocker
Virgilijus Noreika

Carl Martin Öhman
Stephen O’Mara
Dennis O’Neill
John O’Sullivan
Giuseppe Oxilia

Elliot Palay
Antonello Palombi
Antonio Paoli
Tino Pattiera
Luciano Pavarotti
Aureliano Pertile
Wladimir Piawko
Nino Piccaluga
Frank Poretta
Gilbert Py

Torsten Ralf
Lance Ryan
David Rendall
Ilosfalvy Róbert
Helge Rosvænge

Gabriel Sadé
Miguel Sanchez
Gino Sarri
Norbert Schmittberg
Bruno Sebastien
Josef Simándy
Raimo Sirkiä
Leo Slezak
Zurab Sotkilava
Ian Storey
Set Svanholm

Francesco Tamagno
Vitaly Taraschenko
Georges Thill
Larry Thomas
Eugene Tobin
Richard Tucker

Jacques Urlus

Jon Vickers
Eduardo Villa
Ramón Vinay
Franz Völker
Oleksander Vostriakov

Jon Frederic West
Wolfgang Windgassen

Renato Zanelli
Giovanni Zenatello
Renato Zuin