Looking for Jesus

By Todd Strandberg

The British paper, the Telegraph,, recently featured a headline that read: "Jesus will return by 2050, say 40 percent of Americans." The poll was by the Pew Research Center for the People and The Press/Smithsonian Magazine.

Several polls were included in the article, but the author obviously chose to go with Christ’s return date as the lead because he found it incredibly odd that 40 percent of the American people believe such a thing.

I think this is a rather low number for a nation with 85 percent of its population claiming to be Christian. After all, the Pew poll also found that 46 percent of the population doubts the return of Christ will happen. Judging by the state of the world, I would think that 2020 would have been a more reasonable date to ponder.

One of the greatest problems in the church today is that believers are not looking for the return of their Savior. I find it extremely problematic for someone to claim to be a Christian and yet doubt the Second Advent of Christ. Jesus said He would return, so to claim otherwise is to call Him a liar.

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts. And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Pet. 3:3-4).

The people who reject the return of Jesus Christ to earth are making a big mistake. The rapture of believers is a rescue mission. This world is doomed to destruction, and our greatest hope is to be part of the group that will be allowed to escape the horrors soon to come.

I see the timing of the return of Christ as very similar to how the U.S. Postal Service works. When I order something on eBay or Amazon, I don't know exactly when the item is going to arrive in my mailbox, but I have a general idea of when it's coming.

I once ordered an item from a seller in Texas, and it took nearly two weeks for the package to go from the Dallas area to here in Benton, Arkansas. I've also had the same type of item come to me unbelievably fast. I recently ordered an item from a seller in the Boston area. I ordered it on a Friday and it arrived at my home on Monday.

Thanks to modern technology, I can follow its general progression. I once ordered a kitchen utensil from a vendor in St. Charles, Ill. Over the course of four days, the package passed through Chicago, Ill; Champaign, Il; Memphis, TN; Little Rock, AR ; and then on to Benton.

By analogy, the Bible provides us with a general way of knowing how close we are to the end of the church age. For nearly 2000 years, prophecy has wandered from point to point, moving toward fulfillment in a general sense. In 1948, Israel was reborn and we knew prophecy had reached the regional hub.

When my packages arrived in the Little Rock area, I knew it would be a short period of time before the mail carrier delivered them to me. I don’t know how the logistical connection works between all the other cities in America, but I know there is a daily route between Little Rock and Benton.

Even though my packages are only thirty miles away from me, I might still face a delay. By analogy, prophecy's fulfillment might take a couple hundred more years. Someone might argue that since it took 1878 years to reach the point of Israel's rebirth, we could still be facing a long wait. Thankfully, we have been blessed with further indicators of the shortness of the end times.

Once a package arrives in your regional sorting facility, it goes out to the post office that supplies your area. When it gets into the hands of the mail carrier, the package is marked "out for delivery." I think we are at the point that prophecy should be labeled "out for delivery."

Every major prophecy that has a possibility of being fulfilled before the rapture is in some form of active development. One of our head news posters on our daily page made an observation that struck home. He said there were so many news stories related to prophecy that we had run out of space on the news page. Rapture Ready has had a daily news page for nearly ten years, and we've never had a problem with having too many news items.

I live in a little valley here. The two blocks that parallel my block receive mail before me, as is the course of the normal mail route. Some days, I can see the mailman snaking around the ridge. Again, by analogy, I think we are at the point that we are catching glimpses of that little white truck, and it's only a matter of time before it turns onto our block.

(HT: BPT)