, a satirical thriller about the rapture, I asked him to do a guest post. He had me baffled at the phrase “satirical thriller” until he reminded me that the movie Scream was a satirical horror movie. I told him he could probably get Skeet Ulrich to star in the movie of his book. Since I rarely write about the end of the world and would probably just make puns about the REM song, it seemed fitting that he covered the final countdown. I’m a big fan of Rob and think you will be too.)Worrying about the rapture
When I was eight years old my parents showed me a movie called A Thief In The Night. This movie was incredibly frightening to watch as an eight year old because it is scarier than 7 out of 12 Friday the 13th movies. If you’ve never been lucky enough to see it let me just say it is the ultimate rapture movie, the front-runner to Left Behind and The Omega Code, A Thief In The Night did for the rapture what The Godfather did for the mafia.
My parents showed me this movie because it was based on biblical prophecy, and because some if not all the events in the movie could really happen. I was sure they were right. I’d walk home from school, hear a marching band playing the background, and grow certain the Lord was warming up and the ultimate a trumpet sound would soon blare. I distinctly remember during a couple of sunsets looking in the distance and thinking I saw The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night thinking I was in heaven and wondering why it looked just like my bedroom.
But I’m not alone. Worrying about the rapture is another thing Christians have liked for years. And because Christians also like their sermons delivered in three points I will give you three examples of when Christians worry about the rapture:
1) Worrying about being raptured before a major life event.
When I was eight I was scared that I’d be raptured before I got a girlfriend. I’d never had a girlfriend; never even kissed a girl. Sure, I loved heaven and Jesus but I didn’t know if they allowed girlfriends and kissing in the afterlife. So, I wanted to make sure I experienced this before I was whisked away. But that’s just the beginning. Many Christians like to worry about being raptured before graduating high school, college, getting engaged, getting married, having their first kid, having their first grandkid, and most of all before seeing their favorite sports team win the world championship. (Ask any Cubs fan what needs to happen before they get raptured. Red Sox’s fans on the other hand are safe; they can be called home at anytime now.)
2) Worrying about signs of the rapture
Many Christians have a little of the Da Vinci Code’s Robert Langdon in them. They look at the world’s events and think each event is a piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is the end of the world. A Middle Eastern country gets its hands on a WMD. There’s a piece, they’ll think. South Park is syndicated into prime time. Uh oh, this is getting really interesting. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon all passing away within 48 hours—Houston we have a problem.
3) Worrying about how the rapture is going to unfold
This has got to be a top ten-debated topic in all of Christianity. For many Christians the worries are not linked to a question of when but how when it comes to Armageddon. Will the rapture happen pre-tribulation (that is before the antichrist, marks of the beast, and war to end all wars), mid-trib (somewhere in the middle) or post-trib (once the new earth and the thousand years of peace begin). For other Christians, they like to debate not how the rapture is going to happen, but if it’s going to happen at all. “How are you so sure that the passages in Revelation mean what you think they do?” If this question comes out between two people on different sides of this issue, well get your popcorn ready. This is going to be entertaining.
At the end of the day I’d like to think that worrying about the rapture is one of the biggest contributions Christian’s have made to Hollywood. Just look at the string of apocalyptic films that have been made in the last 10 years or so: (Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Day After Tomorrow, Knowing, 12 Monkeys, 28 Days Later, and anything starring Keanu Reeves.) Some would argue these movies are destructive and cause unnecessary fear, but that’s too pessimistic for this author. I like to think maybe this is not an entirely a bad thing. Maybe if worrying about the end of the world as we know it causes us to take stock in our life on earth, then this should continue to be one of things Christians like.
Bearing it in mind as a certainty, yes. Of course, Jesus said he didn't even know the day and hour, so it seems a little presumptuous spending a lot of time trying to figure it out. Especially when he also told that parable about being the servant the master finds working, no matter when he comes home. And what if you were spending large portions of your work week making calculations on when you'd be able to get out of the office, and your boss walked in? I don't know that "I was looking forward to the weekend because I knew you and I were both going to be at that Frisbee golf event" would thoroughly cover for that.
ReplyDeleteOne of the advantages of being, in theological terms, agnostic-apathetic about end times things is that I can laugh at all of this and just shake my head at Rapturers as though I know something they don't. (When agnostic-apathetic means that I don't know how the end times will happen and I don't care)
ReplyDeleteerallwer: someone with the uncanny ability to know they are going to get in trouble doing something and yet does it anyway. The word comes from what the say when asked why, "er...all...wer..."
A guy at work told me he believes in the Pan theory. When it happens, it'll all pan out.
ReplyDeleteI also saw "A Thief In The Night" when I was 8 or 9. Not an appropriate movie for a child. I think we need to form some sort of support group, because it affected me the same way it did you. What's worse is there are sequels (which I will NEVER watch, by the way).
ReplyDeleteI've finally come to accept the promise that Jesus would never leave me nor forsake me, so I'll just hang on to that whatever comes my way -- pre, mid or post.
I did it! (The survey, not the rapture.) :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what, the end times is one of my huge weaknesses. When someone starts babbling about conspiracy theories and the antichrist, I start daydreaming. Not that I'm not worried. I just think I'd rather see it for myself than be bored to death pontificating over it before it even happens.
ReplyDeleteOh God, you can rapture me, after I get married. Yep, I'm a typical Christian!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhy do we show this movie to little kids and then leave them to their own devices? I was terrified after I saw it and for months I would just randomly start "accepting Jesus" again, in case I wasn't saved, and the rapture came and I was the only one left in my house and my church.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was always told that if I wasn't looking forward to the rapture I was unspiritual. Therefore, I spent an immense amount of time under a heavy cloud of guilt because I wanted to grow up, get married, and have kids first.
When I work with kids, I just smile when they say things like that and tell them that it's perfectly normal to feel that way.
Great post-enjoyed the humor.
A Thief in the Night affected all Baptist children in the 70's and 80's. Not sure they showed that type of film in your more reformed Christian sects.
ReplyDeleteI swear at my Church people got saved about once a month, and when Revelation was preached, the altar call went on for days.
So funny to remember going to that Church and wondering what my parents were thinking.
I enjoyed the Scream reference!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't Thief that did it for me, but reading Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth in high school. Here I was with scholarships to go to one of the best engineering schools in the country, read the book and thought it would all come to an end before my graduation (or just after it in1988). My parents told me it was a great book, he was a godly man and had a lot of wisdom, so I figured what's the use in trying in college? No kidding. Ended up dropping out 1/2 way through my sophomore year. All because of Late Great. sigh
ReplyDeleteIt's scary the things our parents let us watch/read back then!
Why do Christians call it the rapture? My Bible doesn't have that word in it, referring to what you are referring to here.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a natural part of being human to want to know things, have them defined and explained out. There's an innate human feeling of insecurity to not really knowing the whens and hows. We are by nature puzzle solvers. I don't "worry" about the end times or the rapture and all that jazz but I can't say that I'm not curious as to how current world events fit into it all. I think it's important to not turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world around us and how it may or may not fit in with prophecy if only to better understand and acknowledge the truth of Scripture and to be able to talk to those who may yet be in doubt. As long as we don't turn it into the central focus of our Faith or into an issue used as a weapon by which we cause strife or division within the greater Christian community then it's only natural to include this topic amoung many as topics of dicussion.
ReplyDeleteI once had a dream the rapture happened and I was left behind. I woke up & it was early evening and my mom and dad had gone shopping, I was alone at home. I called my neighbors who were devout Christians, no answer...I called our Pastor and his wife...no answer! I was seriously worried!!! Not sure how I realized that I hadn't missed it,I do remember being extremely scared and everyone thinking it was hilarious! Now I can laugh but not so much at the time!
ReplyDeleteSo good! It has always been a family joke with us that, when you wake up in the house or walk down the street and no-one is there, then the rapture must have happened and you've been left behind. But I'm pretty sure growing up I ran around looking for people a bit scared because I thought it actually did happen...
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Kathy and I'm also a "Thief in the Night" survivor.
ReplyDeleteI saw this movie at church and the next day came home from school and couldn't find my mom and was sure she had been raptured and I had been left behind. Ahh childhood traumas, I mean memories.
One of my big issues with some Christians about the end of the world stuff is that they believe that this justifies the trashing of our world. "Jesus will be coming soon anyway . . . why worry about air pollution, or the amount of *cr@p* i put in a land fill?"
ReplyDeleteThat is just wrong! No matter how close we are coming to that, we do not know the day & it does not absolve being good stewards of the world God gave us.
I've issues with the fear factor, too. As a child & young adult i cringed at every plane that passed overhead, expecting a bomb. It was unnecessary, & God does not call us to a spirit of fear.
There has been so much fear that has been associated with this by the Christian community. It's like they thrive off of it. Sadly, I watched one of these movies as a young child. It caused fear in me about the rapture that I'm still working through to this day. And I know Jesus! Thankfully, God is slowly taking the fear out of it for me. I think the church needs to rethink how they present this. You can stick to the truth of the Bible without using so much fear to communicate it.
ReplyDelete@RebekahKay- Thanks for sharing that. I've always felt guilty for wanting to get married first. God is teaching me that it's fine to feel that way. And I figure, no matter what happens, God's got it under control anyway :)
Has anyone ever pulled the pretend-rapture prank? My sister and some of her friends, who attended a small bible school in New York, did this on some of the girls in the Dorm they were living in. I have heard from others about similar pranks... hilarious!! Yeah, kind of cruel at first, but great comedic value in the end.
ReplyDeleteJon: I really hope that Skeet Ulrich will star in the film adaptation. I also hope the guy who played
ReplyDeleteJenny: I agree we definitely need a support group for those who watched A Thief In The Night as a child. Maybe we could make, "I Survived The Rapture" tee shirts or something.
April: I've found that people who don't believe in the rapture are still afraid to be raptured before they get married.
Adam: I wish I could have seen those services. They sound epic.
Savinggrc: Wow, you dropped out of college after reading, "The Late Great Planet Earth" Yeah, I guess that's what I'm interested in. What sort of affects the rapture had on us. I know it's easiest for us to just wait for it to all work out, and I know the agnostic-apathetic can wait like that. But other don't. This creates a lot debate.
Anyway, thanks everyone for your comment and keep them coming.
OMG! How did this guy read my mind? The end of the world MUST be near. I grew up thinking those exact things. I'm just glad this is one of those things I don't worry about anymore. Life is hard enough without worrying about how it's going to end.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, THANK YOU! We're adopting our first child in January, and I'm afraid Jesus will come back before then - but it's a secret fear that I thought no one else on earth would understand. Thanks for being honest!!
ReplyDeleteOn the way to my first day of highschool, I was so terrified of walking into a brand new school, that I actually prayed for the rapture to happen right then and there... so that I wouldn't have to go to highschool. (i like run-on sentences)
ReplyDeleteJenny -- there is a SEQUEL to A Thief in the Night???
ReplyDeletesomething else to worry about......
I was biking home from the library one day when I was 10 or 11 years old, and when I looked up at the sky, the sun's rays were shining through the clouds in an especially beautiful and dramatic way. At the same time I heard a trumpet. For one brief terrifying and yet hopeful moment, I imagined that Jesus was coming back right then!! Then I realized that someone was practicing their trumpet in a nearby house. So then I felt disappointed, and yet relieved at the same time, because the trumpet playing wasn't really that good, and it would have been perplexing if the Angel Gabriel couldn't have played better than that.
ReplyDeleteHilarious. Especially since I can remember crying when I was little because I overheard my parents discussing the rapture with friends and it scared me. I also had several times growing up when I couldn't reach anyone by phone and swore the rapture had happened and I had been left behind. Good times!
ReplyDeleteThose movies are evil and there's a whole string of them. My church showed them during a series of Sunday night services - I was 6 or 7. Horrors. Not to mention the suggestion that when Jesus returns everyone will be wearing clothes from the 70s.
ReplyDeleteThe topic did scare me as a child. Now it just annoys me, having met one too many unstable individuals for whom eschatology and/or Biblical prophecy was a pet fascination. I'm not sure which attitude is more unhealthy, to be honest.
wv: wominese. An encouraging, inspirational language primarily spoken at Women's Ministry luncheons.
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ReplyDeleteI'm a thief in the night survivor....and I watched the sequels.
ReplyDeleteI now have "I wish we'd all been ready" in my head complete with hippie bongo players in the background
I stopped believing in the rapture years ago, though the effects of these books and movies is still with me.
ReplyDeleteSimply put, it's bad theology, a really bad misinterpretation of the biblical accounts of "the end."
My own historical research on this shows that Christians have been making predictions about this for almost 2,000 years. And the accuracy rate of these predictions is 0%. No one has ever gotten this right.
For me, Jesus' resurrection is the second coming. He's been coming again and again and again for almost 2,000 years. No need for a "rapture."
I loved reading comment from the other "Thief..." survivors! When I started reading your entry I just knew that was the movie you were going to mention! That movie scared me to death--and I was quite sure of my salvation! My husband remembers it too, though I don't think he was as traumatized. :)
ReplyDeleteOh good Lord, that was my CHILDHOOD. I remember coming home one night and my parents were at the neighbors so their car was still there and I seriously thought they had been raptured and I was left behind.And that wasn't even Thief in the Night--that was a bible study on Revelations in 5th grade Sunday school (!?!?!) and my church jumping on the Tim LaHaye bandwagon. I remember being afraid it would happen before I got to wear my supercute Halloween costume. Clearly, I would have been left behind anyway ;-)
ReplyDeleteIs there a password for membership in this club of trauma? Secret handshake? Can I be president?
I just hope I get a chance to buy and read the "Stuff Christians Like" book before "the last day."
ReplyDeleteOnce I get to do that, I'll be ready...just like the Red Sox fans!
I can honestly say that I feel bad and relieved. I feel bad because I did not mean to bring up such scarring memories of Childhood rapture trauma on Friday morning. And relieved because there are so many others who were scarred as a child from the rapture and/or who wanted to get married/lose their virginity before it happened.
ReplyDeleteSarah you can be president of the fan club. I want to be Sergeant At Arms. I'm not even sure what a Sergeant At Arms does but its a really sweet title and I would put that on the bio on the back of my books from now on. "Rob Stennett is a loving father, husband, author of two novels, and Sergeant At Arms of the I was scarred by the rapture club."
jt: "Rapture" doesn't appear in the Bible. My understanding is that it's from the Latin translation of I Thess. 4:17, where it says we will be "caught up." Rapturos (sp?) means "caught up."
ReplyDeleteSteve: You're so right that people have been thinking about this for 2,000 years. The Apocalypse Tapestry was made in the 14th century and depicts the entire book of Revelation. In some small church in France, built around the year 1,000, the capitals at the top of the pillars outside the front door were carved with graphic End Times images of the Beast and his buddies.
Every age believes that their times are the End Times and the Rapture is right around the corner. We're no exception.
I have a SERIOUS phobia of the rapture. I saw "A Thief in the night" when I was in Jr. High, but a few years before that a friend of my parents belonged to a cult, and had actually set a date for the return of Christ. She cornered me, and told me that if I didn't go to church with her that I was going to be left here, and told me about all of the awful things that would be going on here. That does some serious damage to a 10 year old that didn't grow up in church.
ReplyDeleteI'm still plagued by nightmares, and to this day if I'm sleeping, and a loud truck goes by-- or there is any sort of loud sound, I wake up in a panic thinking it's the rapture. Or occasionally if I wake up, and my husband isn't next to me, or her leaves his clothes in a pile on the floor...lol. :-)
I wish I was looking forward to the second coming. Sadly, I dread it.
I have been scared that the rapture had occurred and I was left behind no fewer than two times. My mom had an almost uneasy interest in the end times and what new 'prophecy fulfillment' had just happened. (Which, in retrospect, how could everything be the 'last prophecy that needed to be fulfilled'? I mean really, since 1947, every year there's someone saying 'This is it! NOW the Lord can return...') And I get it. We're human and we're so often driven by what we want, and what a lot of believers want is for Jesus to return so we can FINALLY be out of this sick world. Or conversely, what a lot of believers want is for Jesus to wait a few years so we can 'enjoy life', get married, have kids, catch the next episode of 'LOST'...
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until I was a young adult that my personal study of scripture, Jesus' not knowing when, and my appreciation that no one is promised tomorrow that I stopped caring about the rapture and started focusing on my life being a ministry. Fear and guilt and anxiety are not of the Lord, but so often afforded to us by 'Doomsday Christians' whose ideology is more 'Repent!' than it is 'Grace.'
Christians have to be careful not to exploit or over emphasize the fear/urgency/uncertainty/worry simply because it's more entertaining (which it totally is. I mean have you ever watched 'LOST'?! WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT??!?) and focus on what Jesus Himself emphasized, which is love, forgiveness, grace, humilty... You know, the things totally contrary to our sinful human nature.
All this to say, I thought the rapture had gone off without me for several hours. To the point where I considered riding my bike somewhere to horde food and provisions, had my parents not already stocked the garage with barrels of water and canned food for JUST this occassion. Which they totally did. Because they hoped strangers would wander into our home, find our food and water and Bibles and get saved, post rapture. But instead my twelve year old brain thought, 'It was meant for me. They knew I sucked at life and it would take this for me to finally get it.'
Woof. What a day...
I've seen "A Thief in the Night", and it's sequels. I was in my late teens at the time I saw the first, and in my 30's when I saw the sequels. "Thief" was scarey to my teenage mind.
ReplyDeleteI was one of those who "practiced" being raptured a couple of times by jumping up toward the sky while standing in my yard. (Silly things we do when young!) Each time I was disappointed when the laws of gravity kicked in and my feet touched terra firma. ;-)
By the time I saw the sequels, I found myself wondering how all it fell into scripture - realizing some poetic license had occurred with the latter.
I still study the subject periodically in my life. Scripturally speaking, I see no such event happening. However - whatever G-d wishes to do, He can do it!
Jesus will come back, that is a certainty. That will be one of the greatest thrills of my life! What will be THE greatest?
Hearing Father G-d say "Well done!" (and know He's not speaking of me being barbeque'd!).
No, seriously, having my heavenly Father say He is pleased with me has got to be the ultimate thing I can ever hear!
Ooops! I said:
ReplyDelete"By the time I saw the sequels, I found myself wondering how all it fell into scripture - realizing some poetic license had occurred with the latter."
By "the latter", I mean the movie sequels, not the scripture! Whew!
I have to be honest, sometimes I wonder if I'm going to get raptured (or die) before I get a chance to get married. Right now, I'm wondering if I'll get raptured before I get a chance to go back to school. :)
ReplyDeleteI am also a Thief in the Night survivor. This post is spot-on. I remember getting up several times at night when I could not hear my parents just to make sure that they were still there. I prayed that the rapture would not occur before I got my driver's license!
ReplyDeleteWay to keep the message to 3 points!
ReplyDeleteFor me, instead of being afraid of the rapture happening before an event, I anticipate the rapture like a 3rd grader hoping for a snow day.
See, when people talk about how there's going to be another world war, or that polar bears are all going to need life vests because the ice is melting, or that one day boys are going to want to take my daughter on a date, I tend not to worry. Instead I simply pray fervently for the rapture to happen first.
Mature? No. True? Absolutely.
I've never seen A Thief in the Night, but the Left Behind series traumatized me. I still try to avoid conversations about the rapture, and I do worry about missing stuff. But I suppose it really isn't something worth worrying about, right? After all, we know how it all ends; we know who wins.
ReplyDeleteIs Keanu Reeves a Sign of the Apocalypse?
ReplyDelete:)
I started reading books on the End Times when I was young, I think pre-teen?, probably because I was a Reader and had run out of books so I started on my dads "conspiracy" bookshelf. It was interesting to me at the time and I used to care fervently, but since then I got older and discovered there are WAY too many theories about it and that, frankly, people care way too much about it. So sign me up for the agnostic/semi-apathetic camp.
ReplyDeleteA friend was mortified when I told her that I thought large parts of Revelation or possibly the whole thing could have happened without us interpreting it correctly. I have to admit I was winding her up a little though, but when I REALLY found God in my life, I realised He's got it all in hand no matter what we do or think about the last book of the bible.
Sorry if that was a bit of a ramble :)
Although (see how easy it is to get sucked into this?) I'm just reading Rev 19 now and the First Horseman could represent the Bible. He's even called "the Word of God"...
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna write a series of successful books on that premise :)
I remember seeing A Thief in the Night - creepsville.
ReplyDeleteAs a proud graduate of a Christian college, I also remember an experience many shared - waking up one morning, not being able to find your roommate(s) anywhere and seriously wondering if everyone had been raptured but you. Very distressing at the time, but pretty funny now!
I swear if you come to me to try to argue about eschatology, my response is simple:
ReplyDelete"I don't care."
I don't care what happens. I know that my God is Lord and reigning and ruling over all the earth and I will be here on this earth, carrying out His Great Commission until I go to be with Him or He comes and gets me.
Well, this post brought back interesting memories for me as well! Starting with...
ReplyDelete1. Reading a book that I believe was called "Raptured" at about the age of 12 and still remembering to this day (at almost 50) one of the horrific Christian-torture scenes;
2. Attending a church small group in the 80's in which the leaders, a married couple, believed what their seminary taught - that no one who didn't speak in tongues would be taken in the Rapture (guess who still doesn't speak in tongues?); and
3. Attending another small church in the 80's at the same time as Edgar Whisenant's "88 Reasons the Rapture May Occur in 1988" came out. At least one couple prepared a "rapture video" for their presumably left-behind friends, relatives or neighbors. If I recall correctly, this same couple started homeschooling their kids because the father said he "wanted his family around him" if and when the rapture occurred. Seriously. Finally, during a Sunday night prayer service, one gentleman said the Lord told him, "Before the year is out, I'm coming." (With no disrespect intended, it seems clear to me he was hearing things.) This same gentleman told, in the same service, of seeing in his mind a clear vision of Jesus returning to earth on a white horse. I have no doubt he was sincere; he was just - like Edgar Whisenant - sincerely wrong.
My father managed the "film department" at a Christian bookstore in the 70's-80's, so we got to preview a lot of these at home. I know the series well - Thief in the Night, Distant Thunder, Image of the Beast (and a fourth I never saw). Another film that really freaked me out was called The Burning Hell. *shudders*
ReplyDeleteTo all you posters who are afraid of the rapture/end of the world/wtc. , I really recommend reading Barbara Rossing's book "The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation".
ReplyDeleteMs. Rossing is A Lutheran Minister and a respected Biblical Scholar.
It seems really odd to post something unrelated, but I suppose I'll just follow the directions anyway.
ReplyDeleteI did the survey! :)
Oh my gosh, Claygirlsings! I had forgotten about "The Burning Hell" until you mentioned it. Sadly, I saw that, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat was my mother thinking?
Anyone who grew up in a Christian home has had those moments when the house is just too quiet and you have to go upstairs and make sure the rest of your family hasn't been raptured.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a Baptist kid, I heard a sermon on the "one taken and the other left" passage and somehow concluded that at the moment of the rapture, everyone on earth would be in pairs in which one was a Christian and one not. So I figured that in case I turned out to be unsaved, I could actually prevent the rapture from happening if I only hung out with nonchristian people. Sorry, Brother Becvar, but this was just the first of many sermons I would come away from with some crackpot idea.
ReplyDeleteEveryone here is so holy!
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I also wanted the Rapture to wait. But we said we didn't want it to wait till we got married.
We said we were afraid it would happen before we'd had sex.
I spent an entire summer of my childhood (I was around 8 or 9, I think) expecting the rapture any day. At the end of the summer, I decided that the "soon" they were talking about at church wasn't any kind of "soon" I knew about, so I stopped worrying.
ReplyDeleteAs a high schooler, I went to a Christian club meeting (name withheld to pretect the guilty) where they were showing an end-times movie (definitely from the 70s, so maybe it was "A Thief in the Night"). As a first time visitor, this was super awkward and a little disturbing. I didn't go back.
Bingo. For me it was Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth, but the result was the same - a near depression over not being able to make it out of High School before the Lord was sure to come. Now that I am a late thirty-something father of three it strikes me that I need more of that sense of Christ's ability to come at any moment. That reality does help focus one to the things that eternally matter, instead of simply "existing" or worse - living for self and the pleasures of this world.
ReplyDeleteSo early one morning I am woken up by a loud screaming horn. I freak and lay in bed for an hour hoping that I didn't miss the rapture, like maybe my sinner's prayer didn't stick. So I decide if my mom's car is in the driveway (she should have left for work by that time) then I'm left behind. So I sneak to the door and look into the garage and my heart drops to see her car sitting there. Then she snuck up behind me to ask what I was doing and I mumble something and walk to bed feeling stupid. From then on I put rapture worry to rest.
ReplyDeleteMan, I totally saw all of those films when I was ten or so. I 'checked' them out of the church library somehow. What's worse is that my understanding of the rapture is formed by a combination of 'Thief in the Night' and DC Talks song "I Wish we'd all been ready".
ReplyDeleteWho's with me? Didn't that DC Talk song totally freak you out...especially since you heard the original version during 'Thief in the Night' already? Creepy! I guess the 'C' in DC Talk actually meant 'Creepy' as in , Decidedly Creepy Talk.
:)
Man I thought I was the only one who was traumatized by viewing "A Thief In The Night" early on in my Christian walk - glad to know that I am not alone!
ReplyDeleteI think I would rather have seen a movie about the rapture than be left to my own imagination. All I was told as a child was that we'd all go to heaven in one day. I spent most of my youth wondering if we'd all disappear at the same time, if my dog would be okay, if I had to be naked, or if we just boiled or exploded like in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yep...a movie would have explained a lot.
ReplyDeletewww.theinkwell.me
Just a note that I dropped out because I was going to get kicked out because of grades because I rarely went to class or did assignments because Late Great taught me that I was wasting my time studying. I decided (in my unwise wisdom) that since I probably wasn't going to make it even to 21, I was going to "live it up" and though Ive never spent time messing with drugs or alcohol, let's just say I wasn't exactly "holy."
ReplyDeleteI did see Thief and a couple of the other movies, but they didn't scare me. I was already a Christian at that point so I knew I was good. Besides my parents also took me to see The Exorcist and Omen. Thief was like cartoons after that!
It wasn't the fault of either the book or the movies, though, that I did those things. Since I didn't spend a lot of time on the Word, I didn't know what it actually said (as opposed to what they said it said) and so believed every thing they said. It was in a book wasn't it? It was by a Christian wasn't it? Of course it's true...I thought.
Ironically, dh and I had ministry online for several years re endtimes and why pretrib is wrong. :o). Have been told that since I'm not pretrib, can't really be saved. Sadly. Anywho...good post.
One more comment-if we had a better understanding of eternity, we wouldn't feel this way about the Rapture.
ReplyDeleteAs a child, I thought Heaven would be boring, because that is the lie that Satan perpetuates and churches don't emphasize it.
If anyone is interested in a great read, regardless of your theological leanings, i strongly recommend "Heaven" by Randy Alcorn.
I have been known to worry that, if I can't reach someone on the telephone, I've missed the rapture.
ReplyDeleteRebekahKay, I agree! I'm halfway through the book.
What about "worrying that everyone else has been raptured and you've been left behind because you can't get hold of some Christians you know...."
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how many times that I've thought... "I hope the rapture doesn't come before I get married, or at least have a serious boyfriend!" LOL
ReplyDeleteThis was a great (and funny) post!
This blog cracked me up! This is exactly what my sister and I were talking about earlier today lol. We grew up in christian home and our parents were always talking about the rapture. We both saw A Theif In The Night as well as The Omega Code when we were very young and it terrified us. My sister was more affected by it than I was. We were just making up a list today of all the ways christian culture tends to "scare the hell" out of you and rapture movies were on the top of the list lol. My sister is 20 and she said only recently has she stared viewing the rapture as a good thing lol. It's nice to know that we're far from being the only ones who grew up this way lol.
ReplyDeleteDon't recall seeing that movie, but do remember my thoughts being occupied much of my childhood with Jesus' return. Used to stare at the clouds when they looked like they were parting and trying to see if Jesus was peeking out (as if I'd have to look for Him when He returns!). Fun post.
ReplyDeleteI never saw a video, but I was treated to an equally traumatic flannel graph story about a little boy who comes home from school to find houses on fire and his parents have disappeared. Why anyone thought this was a good idea for seven-year-olds I will never understand. It took me years to get past this; in high school, I suffered from a panic disorder that focused on the Second Coming. It's still a very touchy subject for me, and only within the last year or two have I been able to face reading the book of Revelation on my own and thinking of Christ's return as something to anticipate with joy, not fear. Still working on it, really; just hearing the phrase "The End Times" sends my anxiety levels through the roof.
ReplyDeleteI will be really annoyed if the rapture happens before I have the chance to get married and... uh, consummate said marriage. Hey, might as well be honest!
ReplyDeleteI was on my way to work recently when the Christian radio station I was listening too suddenly went dead. I didn't think much about it but when 30 seconds had gone by, I started looking around for accidents. I was positive that the rapture had occurred and I wasn't part of it!
ReplyDeleteThe Rapture CAN NOT happen until my teenage daughter is saved. I talked to Jesus about it and He said He'd wait ;)
ReplyDeleteso,here's the deal...we've all struggled with these movies...but I Thessalonians really drove a good point home for me...the thessalonians were worried that people were dying before Christ returned...Paul had to remind them that it wasn't about about the when of the return, but the importance of persevering until Christ returned. Don't get distracted...
ReplyDeletewe can take any Christian motif and twist it...rapture, sabbath,communion,etc...
my father in law was preaching on Revelations a few years back and he made this statement:
ReplyDelete"...a lot of people will come to hear me preach on Revelation because they think it is about the end times...I'm here to remind them that it's not about the end times, but Christ who is King."
I cannot tell you what a relief this post is! I was certain that I was the only one scarred by those movies; I still can't think about them. My friends all thought I was crazy to be scared - with all that 70's hair how could I possibly have focused on the message!? - but I was traumatized! Again, my Christian school showed them ridiculously early, pre-jr. high I think. Now I cannot abide any "end of the world" type movie or show - Survivor style reality tv scares the living daylights out of me. Good to know there is still hope.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh yeah, now I am totally looking forward to the rapture -or whatever it is - that finally brings me face to face with Jesus. I mean what could be funner than that?
When I was a kid I took the quickest showers. My parents used to tell me how proud they were of me for being aware of the cost of water.
ReplyDeleteI finally told them last year that I could have cared less about the water. I was always scared that I would be raptured while taking a shower and float to heaven naked. Not cool and kinda scary when you're a kid.
Ah yes, a reminder of the perks of being amil. ;)
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction to learning of the rapture in my church when I was a child. Between that and the threat of burning in hell forever, I was convinced that I'd better accept Christ - or else! So I did. Over and over - just to make sure. Looking back on those days, I have a certain amount of resentment that I was so easily manipulated by my church leaders. Having grown into a full-fledged athieist, however, has given me peace, in that I can now live my life free from such guilt-inducing superstitions.
ReplyDeleteI watched much of "Thief" as well as some clips of the sequels just a few months ago (I'm 27) and they scared me deeply. I could not close my eyes for several days without seeing the guillatine scene from movie 2 and 3.
ReplyDeleteI'm so deeply saddened by reading these posts--for those who have been scarred by the church and for those dreading the return of Christ. Read "Surprised by Hope" by NT Wright--Jesus is Lord.
Tell me when and where the "A Thief in the Night" support groups will be held and I'm there! My church showed it to me when I was about 9 also, and my parents were LIVID when they found out. How did they find out you ask? I slept on the floor in their room for the next 8 years...not cool.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. If anyone is interested, I found some cool shirts to help spread the word! http://www.cafepress.com/jesusteesplus
ReplyDeleterecovery groups for Thief in the Night - great idea! Get this: both my mother and grandmother were in that film (along with their pastor and numerous friends and acquaintances from the Des Moines, IA area where it was filmed.) My mom was in the singing group at the "Christian" booth at the fair - brown haired girl with tall white boots. Grandma was the gray, curly-haired grandmother of the little girl who came back into the kitchen and thought the rapture had happened. I still can't believe how many people have seen that old movie.
ReplyDelete"There's no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you've been left behind!"
Thief in the Night terrified me in my youth, and because of said trauma terrifies me today....
ReplyDeleteFortunately i don't believe in that interpretation of John's Revelation anymore.
ah yes - the source of nightmares for all christian kids of a certain age who have never actually been allowed to see a real horror movie...
ReplyDeleteSeriously though - the house would be quiet and all of a sudden you're doubting your salvation and afraid that the rapture has just happened, leaving you all alone in the world, because you don't know any adults who aren't Christians because of the way you've been brought up...
likewise though - thats partially the theme of the scarriest nightmare I ever had - 7th grade - had been to an Al Denson concert where they played the video for the song Alcatraz (go look it up on youtube folks if you've forgotten it - lovely early 90s goodness) and I dreamt that Jesus came back and was hiding in my closet wearing a mask, and I didn't know it was him because of the mask... to this day still the freakiest nightmare I have ever had in my life...
and speaking of scary church movies - anyone else remember that one with the guy who goes home with his girlfriend, and he witnesses to his girlfriend's sister who is an atheist, and he ends up doing like inner city work with the sister, and gets shot in the middle of the street by a kid? like there's a big hole in his chest - and then the next thing we see is them sitting around in heaven (but the original girlfriend isn't there, so I guess she really wasn't a christian) and he's telling the story to these kids?
ReplyDeleteSeriously ya'll sounds much less freaky than it actually was, for me as a 4th grader - first movie where anyone got shot I ever saw... but so stupid and pathetically done now that I look back on it... its the reason I refuse to give Left Behind or Fireproof
I am happy to say that I don't worry about the rapture, ever.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I think left behindism is pretty much bumpkiss.
Erikavan--your Grandma was the lady in the kitchen scene!?!?! That was the part of the film that was burned on my brain when I saw it as a teenager. I was so worried about who would be there to turn off the mixer!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, reading the comments grieves my heart. How sad that we are preoccupied with fear when I believe the "rapture" was meant to be a message of comfort. It actually gets better than this!
Sounds like the movie had an impact. I don't think that's all bad since being left behind for real would be the ultimate "bad day." Fear is part of what keeps us alive every day.
ReplyDeletePersonally, i can't wait for the Rapture. The fundies will be gone and we can finally live in peace. Let's hope the comet/spaceship/whatever also beams up the fundie muslims at the same time, so the world will finally be spared from the effects of your religious wars. hallelujah indeed!
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