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  • FOR RELEASE JULY 11 — Lacey Sturm has debuted a music video for her aggressively introspective new song “Reconcile,” a long-awaited follow-up to 2021’s “Awaken Love.” You can watch the video at https://youtu.be/DsmqMbHX6bE. The song is streaming everywhere at https://stem.ffm.to/reconcile.

    “My own humanity can be so divided. When I cling to my rights by pointing out the faults of others, I splinter myself. All of this division is rooted in my own pride,” Lacey Sturm shares. “Have I arrogantly supposed that I could somehow reconcile the world around me if I am not reconciled within myself?”

    Lacey’s personal process of looking inward to bring herself into congruence with her ultimate human purpose informs “Reconcile.” The track is an unflinching mirror held up to the uncomfortable ways in which she acknowledges her own contribution to the world’s brokenness through arrogant pride: personal pride, relational pride, religious pride. 

    The accompanying music is equally visceral, with Josh Sturm’s careening guitar riffs and Lacey’s gut-punch vocals. The video is a visual representation of the singer’s inner fight for personal reconciliation.

    As always, the darker reflections are tempered by the hope that comes when she can integrate her ego’s death with the life that comes from resurrecting grace.

    Lacey says, “As soon as I cultivate peace within myself, the world around me starts falling into peace too— my kids, my family, my friends, the person at the checkout in the grocery store.”

    That humble wisdom has been learned through many years of experience and growth. Perhaps fittingly, “Reconcile” is releasing as Lacey Sturm partners with Flyleaf (the band she founded) for reunion dates this summer. As has been shared in a multi-part video documentary, the experience of being in a massive band like Flyleaf was a lesson in the reality that no mortal can save the world.

    “It causes a mental health crisis when we mortals are trying to change the world, but all the while we’re neglecting the life that’s within us,” Lacey says earnestly. “I’m not actually saving the world when I think of myself as some godlike savior. Ultimately, I end up losing my humanity in that hypocritical process. I am neglecting life while I’m telling them to live.”

    For Lacey, the answer has become painfully, perfectly clear: “I have to die to myself before I can live.”

    “Reconcile” is available to stream now. For more from Lacey Sturm, follow her on Facebook and Instagram. You can see Flyleaf dates featuring Lacey Sturm at flyleafmusic.com.

  • Everything Gets Worse: An Unforgiving Land

    Mankind’s proclivity to risk-taking in the quest for adventure is hardly more evident than on the Frozen Continent. 

    Since the continent’s discovery in 1820, explorers and researchers have been brought down by its harsh winter season, a six-month stretch from March to September. The land’s brutal climate and fickle weather assault both body and soul, driving many an invader over the edge.

    There’s even a term for it: polar madness.

    In 1996, Peter James Spielmann of the Associated Press reported on a brawl between cooks at McMurdo Station that resulted in stitches and an FBI investigation. Today, most problems are handled by the station manager in the capacity of Special Deputy U.S. Marshal.

    In his engaging piece, “Everything Gets Worse: An Antarctica Story,” John O’Connor relates the darker incidents associated with the unforgiving life at the bottom of the world. Many are a result of the seasonal winter darkness and isolation, giving rise to a syndrome called “Polar T3.” The symptoms of this syndrome are the same as those of a person with subclinical hypothyroidism and may be related to the symptoms suffered by those wintering over in Antarctica.

    Antarctic exploration: Assault on the soul

    During the Heroic era, eight countries launched sixteen expeditions under extreme difficulties. Seventeen expeditioners lost their lives in the effort to explore and conquer the ice. Others paid the high emotional cost of living in the harsh environment.

    During the 1897-1899 Belgian polar expedition led by Adrien de Gerlache, the crew descended into physical and mental darkness when their ship Belgica became trapped in the Bellingshausen Sea ice in 1898. During the thirteen months they were caught in the ice, all eighteen crew members became ill. One died, two developed polar madness, and the captain made out his will.

    One man tried to walk back to Belgium.

    Similar stories and misery and death followed other expeditions before technological advances made exploration easier. Researchers and workers since the Heroic Age have continued to learn the brutal physical and emotional dangers associated with living at the bottom of the world.

    • At Australia’s Mawson base in the 1950’s, a staffer became deranged and violent, endangering his co-workers. Since there are no flights out during winter, he was locked in a storage room to wait out the winter months.
    • In 1960, a Soviet staff member killed a colleague with an axe after losing his temper over a chess game. The game was then banned at Antarctic’s Russian facilities.
    • In 1983, a doctor at Argentine’s Almirante Brown Station in Paradise Bay decided he’d had enough of the winter there. Angry he was not allowed to leave, he simply burned the place down. The staff was rescued by ship and the station rebuilt as a summer-only station. Brown Station was abandoned in 2000 but has operated some summers since 2007.
    • In 2018, a Russian staffer at the Bellingshausen station on King George Island was charged with attempted murder after suffering a breakdown and stabbing a colleague.

    Never Solved: The mysterious death of one scientist.

    Australian astrophysicist Dr. Rodney Marks inadvertently set international relations on edge when he died suddenly in Antarctica in May of 2000 at the South Pole’s Amundsen-Scott Station. His body was stored in a freezer in the observatory for six months due to the Antarctic winter conditions, when no flights out are allowed. The U.S. authorities finally flew his body out to Christchurch that November.

    The coroner at Christchurch took over the jurisdiction of the case and investigated along with New Zealand police. For unknown reasons, the U.S. government refused to cooperate with the New Zealand authorities, even though the South Pole Station is under U.S. jurisdiction. They declined to confirm the identities of the staffers who worked with Marks or to allow authorities to question them. Even Marks’ coworkers were reticent to cooperate with the investigation.

    It took eight years to learn the official cause of death for Dr. Marks. Officials did not issue a final report until September 16, 2008. The coroner concluded Dr. Marks died of methanol poisoning, but it was not determined how he had ingested it. Homicide was considered unlikely by New Zealand authorities.

    Today, the case remains a mystery. Whether Dr. Marks died from an accidental poisoning, suicide, or homicide has yet to be determined. Given the murky jurisdictional waters and lack of cooperation, the truth may never be known.

     

    Coming next week: The Brown Side of the Continent

    Photo 137836888 | Antarctic Sky © Goinyk Volodymyr | Dreamstime.com

    https://www.bloodfalls.net/

    This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

  • Welcome to the “Ice.”

    “Ice” is the international nickname for Antarctica, an alien world containing 90 percent of the planet’s ice. Ninety-eight percent of the continent is ice, yet it boasts the world’s largest desert.

    It is one and one-half times the size of the United States—one of twenty countries with research stations there. The United States has three stations in Antarctica: McMurdo Station on the southern tip of Ross Island, Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole, and Palmer Station on Anvers Island in the Antarctic Peninsula region.

    Antarctica was first spotted by explorers in the 19th century. A Russian expedition commanded by Fabian von Bellingshausen spied it January 27, 1820. Three days later, British naval officer Edward Bransfield saw the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

    It was not until 1821, however, that explorer John Davis became the first man to set foot on the continent. The discovery of a new continent set off the Heroic Age, a 25-year period of polar exploration from 1897 to 1922.

    The Expeditions of the Heroic Age

    1897–1899 Belgian Antarctic Expedition, led by Adrien de Gerlache 

    1898–1900 Southern Cross Expedition, led by Carsten Borchgrevink for the UK

    1901–1904 Discovery Expedition, led by Robert Falcon Scott for the UK

    1901–1903 Gauss – German National Antarctic Expedition, led by Erich von Drygalski

    1901–1904 Swedish Antarctic Expedition, led by Otto Nordenskjöld 

    1902–1904 Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, led by William Spiers Bruce

    1903–1905 Third French Antarctic Expedition, led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot 

    1907–1909 Nimrod Expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton for the UK

    1908–1910 Fourth French Antarctic Expedition, led by Jean-Baptiste Charcot

    1910–1912 Japanese Antarctic Expedition, led by Nobu Shirase  

    1910–1912 Norwegian South Pole Expedition, led by Roald Amundsen

    1910–1913 British Terra Nova Expedition, led by Robert Falcon Scott 

    1911–1913 Second German Antarctic Expedition, led by Wilhelm Filchner

    1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition, led by Douglas Mawson

    1914–1916 Endurance Expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton for the UK

    1921–1922 Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton for the UK

    “Wild Ice.”

    There’s no getting around it. The Frozen Continent is brutal. The land, for all its beauty, is inhabitable without the benefits of science and technology. It’s barely habitable with them.

    Survival takes careful planning and knowledge of basic skills you don’t have to worry about on most continents. Notwithstanding a tourist cruise to Antarctica, most people can’t just pack up a suitcase and skip down to Antarctica for a little adventure. Applicants must be approved and pass a physical examination. The trip involves meticulous planning.

    It’s crucial to take along the ability to adapt to hardship and the willingness to follow rules.

    It helps to have a sense of humor, too. In the rough-and-tumble world of environmental challenges, close quarters, and maddening boredom, station mainstays and part-timers alike develop their own adaptation techniques. A wild-west mentality not unlike what followed in the wake of other pioneers dots the social landscape.

    The slang developed by Antarctic adventurers has spawned a dictionary of its own for English speakers, The Antarctic Dictionary: The Complete Guide to Antarctic English, to help new arrivals navigate the wild ice.

    Here’s a few terms gathered by John Kelly for Mental Floss:

    City Mice, Country Mice, and Beakers

    MacTown is the Antarctician term for McMurdo Station.

    City Mice are the personnel who work at the stations.

    Country Mice work in the field.

    Fingee or Fingy is a derogatory name for a newbie to the Ice.

    Beaker is a scientist.

    Snotcicle is exactly what it sounds like.

    Who owns Antarctica?

    Antarctica doesn’t belong to anyone. For years, though, nations have jockeyed for a piece of it. There are seven countries with territorial claims: Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Though a U.S. entity, McMurdo Station sits on territory claimed as a dependency of New Zealand.

    Twelve countries originally signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The flags of these countries are displayed at McMurdo Station’s Chalet and at the South Pole.

    Today there are fifty-four nations in the Antarctic Treaty.

     

    Coming next week: The Dark Side of the Ice

    https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/85378/23-slang-terms-you-only-understand-if-you-work-antarctica

    Photo 12163709 © Patrick Poendl | Dreamstime.com

    https://www.bloodfalls.net/

    This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

  • FOR RELEASE June 30, 2023 — Christian pop punk artist Grace Graber is offering reassurance of God’s non-judgmental presence with her new song “As I Am,” streaming everywhere June 30. You can find the song at https://slinky.to/AsIAmGG.

     

    The song follows hard on the heels of the songwriter’s April release of her Conversations EP, a project that focused on hard conversations about mental health, hardship, and the faith that holds us. In many ways, “As I Am” is the natural progression of the story.

     

    “The heart behind ‘As I Am’ is truly God looking at the conversation we just had and not judging it, and not looking at me different because of it. In fact, wanting to draw clower to me because of it,” Grace explains. “‘You see me and you love me as I am.’”

     

    That message is consistent with the way Grace Graber has always chosen to share about life’s hard moments— moments she freely admits that she is still walking through. 

     

    Grace freely admits, “I’m learning a lot right now about being an artist and singing about mental health and faith. I’m not only singing about my mental health and faith, I’m actively working on my mental health and faith. And that is a very vulnerable place.”

     

    Fortunately, Grace has found that God meets her in that place, whether she’s sharing through songs, social media or offline while serving at youth camp. And with “As I Am,” He’s given her some messages to share that she knows might be uncomfortable for some. For example: the line “sometimes church just ain’t enough.”

     

    “When I say that, I mean sometimes just going to church and not actually living day-to-day with Christ, it’s not enough,” Grace says, expanding on the lyric. “You can’t tell a person without relationship with God to go to church and expect healing. It takes a daily step. I think waking up every day and knowing God sees me as I am and loves me as I am? I think that’s where the breakthrough starts.”

     

    “As I Am” might be the song to catalyze that exact breakthrough for those who hear it.

     

    Grace Graber has won an international songwriting competition as well as a We Love Christian Music Award and has over 60,000 followers on Instagram. Her Conversations EP featured collaborations with Jason Dunn (Hawk Nelson) and Chris Cleveland (Stars Go Dim). In addition to her music and social media presence, Grace is a podcaster on the NewReleaseToday podcast network with her show The Grace Graber Podcast. You can connect with Grace across platforms at https://linktr.ee/gracegrabermusic.

  • The days of Noah

    In the Bible, Jesus compared the condition of humanity at His return to the time preceding the Noahic flood.

    For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

    – Matthew 24:37-39

    The Bible categorizes three groups of people in Noah’s day:

    1. Enoch, who escaped the wrath of God completely
    2. Noah and his family, who were carried through the judgment sealed in the ark
    3. The rest of the world, who were destroyed in the worldwide flood

    These three groups represent those present at the end of the age, at the harvest of souls:

    1. Believers known collectively as the Church and referred to by Christ as the Bride. This group, like Enoch, will completely miss the time of judgment.
    2. The nation of Israel and those converted to Christ during the judgment. They will be sealed in Him as Noah was sealed in the ark and carried through this time until Christ’s second coming in glory.
    3. The rest of humanity, who have rejected Christ. They will receive the full cup of God’s wrath for their unbelief.

    The Bride will be removed before God’s wrath comes upon the earth.

    For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

    – 1 Thessalonians 5:9

    …hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?

    – Revelation 6:16-17

    God’s people have suffered tribulation and trial for millennia from the hand of the evil one and his servants. But the wrath of God is reserved for His enemies.

    Why did Jesus use the imagery of a bride and groom to describe His Church?

    Much of the meaning behind Scripture is lost if not considered within the context of Jewish culture. Christ’s use of the imagery of the Jewish marriage provides a stunning understanding of terms like bride and groom to describe our relationship to Him. It reveals the prophetic plan for His people and why the rapture is central to the prophetic timeline.

    Nothing is by chance in God’s redemptive plan.

    It was not an accident that Jesus is described in Scripture as the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. These are not just poetic pictures. In His Word, God has explained Christ and the relationship to His people in the symbolism of the Jewish wedding, and particularly the Galilean wedding tradition. His first disciples, who were Galileans, would have been very familiar with these traditions. A comparison of them with Jesus’ promises to His believers reveal a breathtakingly similar parallel:

    • In the ruins of Galilean towns, archaeologists have discovered the presence of insulas, clusters of buildings built around a central courtyard and shared by families. When a son wanted to marry, he traveled to another village, betrothed a wife, and returned to the family insula alone to build new rooms in the complex for him and his prospective bride.

    *Jesus refers to this imagery in John 14:2-3:

    “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

    – John 14:2-3

    • The groom’s father sent his son to the bride’s house to pay her dowry and arrange the betrothal. The betrothal was complete with the ketubah, or binding marriage contract, which outlined the duties and responsibilities of both parties in the marriage. The Jewish ketubah is still used today in various forms.

    To finalize the betrothal, the groom poured a glass of wine, called the Cup of Joy, and offered it to the bride-to-be. The betrothal would only go forward if she accepted the cup from him. The choice was hers. If she drank from the cup, she accepted his offer of marriage and sealed their betrothal. From then on, she was declared one “bought with a price,” indicating she belonged to one man and was not available to any other. The groom declared the bride to be consecrated to him and promised not to drink wine again until the day he could drink it with her in his father’s house.

    *Father God sent His Son Jesus to earth to pay the redemption cost to make her His Bride. In doing so, He entered a new covenant with His people.

    And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”

    – Luke 22:20

    And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

    – Mark 14:23-25

    Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

    – Acts 20:28

    • After the betrothal, the son returned to his father’s insula to prepare a home for the couple. This process usually took about a year.

    *Jesus returned to His Father in heaven after His resurrection.

    And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

    – Luke 24:50-51

    • Only the father and head of the insula had the authority to declare the new addition complete. Not even the son knew when it would be considered ready for his bride.

    *Only God the Father knows the day of Christ’s return for His church.

    But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

    – Matthew 24:36

    • While the bride awaited the groom’s return for her at an unknown hour, she cleansed herself in a ritual bath to be presented as a pure bride and dressed in her wedding garments to await his coming. Tradition shows she even slept in her wedding dress to be ready for him at any time.

    *God’s people remain in our earthly home, purified by the blood of the Son of God, and await His return for us. We don’t know the day or hour of His return, only that He has promised to come for us.

    And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

    – 1 John 3:3

    • At the hour of the father’s choosing, he awakened the groom and groomsmen in the night and released him to claim his bride. The bride and her attendants were to be dressed and ready for his coming at any time, their lamps ready for the moment.

    *Jesus commanded His church to be ready for his coming at any time.

    But at midnight there was a shout, “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”

    – Matthew 25:6

    Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.

    – Matthew 25:12

    • The groom’s return was preceded by a shout to alert the bride. The bride was carried to her new home in a litter, symbolically lifted from the ground and borne aloft. This action was referred to as “flying the Bride to the Father’s house.”

    *Jesus will come for us with a shout of victory and carry us away to His Father’s mansion.

    For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

    – 1 Thess. 4:16-17

    The Rapture of the Church is not an outdated myth, 19th century invention, or outrageous escape plan.

    It is the consummation of a love story written by God Himself. Be on the lookout, for the Bridegroom is coming.

    Even so, come Lord Jesus.

     

    Photo 24756065 | Bride © Nataliya Pylayeva | Dreamstime.com

    Coming next week: At the Bottom of the World

     

    Learn more about Blood Falls the book at bloodfalls.net

     

     

    This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

  • What is the Rapture? Is the idea Biblical? 

    There is ample evidence in Scripture of a pre-tribulation Rapture, or “snatching away,” of believers before God’s prophesied judgment upon the earth known as the Tribulation. In recent years the doctrine has fallen into disfavor by those preaching various versions of the heresy that the Church has replaced Israel and that she must develop a theocratic government on Earth which will receive Christ from heaven. Others believe in the doctrine of the Rapture but argue for a mid or post Tribulation timeline.

    Isn’t the idea of a “rapture” just some theory started in the 1830’s?

    Detractors of the Rapture doctrine claim a man named J.N. Darby developed the theory in 1830 and was heavily influenced by others. A more careful review of the facts reveals a different story. Darby’s beliefs coalesced during December of 1827 through January of 1828 as he convalesced from injuries suffered in an accident. While he recuperated, he studied the Scriptures.

    He didn’t invent the idea of the Rapture. He helped bring the doctrine to light.

    People forget the Bible was not commonly accessible for individual study for centuries. The official Bible was the Latin Vulgate, and church services were conducted in Latin. Though vernacular copies existed in other languages in Europe, no English version existed until William Tyndale produced a translation in 1526. For this gift to humanity, he was executed.

    Though the traditional date of the Reformation is October 31, 1517—the day Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany—Luther was not the first of the reformers. Men like Wycliffe, Erasmus, Francis of Assisi, and Lefevre unlocked the Word of God for individual and corporate study, launching an era of new understanding of the Bible. We owe much of our freedom to access the Scriptures and the abundance of knowledge within its pages to the sacrifices of these believers.

    Not only can the concept of a “snatching away” of believers be found in Scripture, it’s introduced in the first book of the Bible.

    The Enoch Generation

    Jesus taught about the last days from the book of Genesis.

    The Bible speaks clearly of an event just preceding the beginning of the seven years of God’s judgment—the Tribulation—that will come upon the earth. This event has significant basis in Scripture, beginning with Noah’s flood.

    Why do we start all the way back in Genesis?

    For one thing, Jesus taught His disciples that the condition of the world before His second coming would be like the days of Noah. To understand what is coming, we must take the biblical account, study it, and learn.

    All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,  for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

    – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

    Since all of God’s Word is in the Bible to instruct and train us, we should be able to discover meaning even in its cryptic verses. In Genesis 5:24 we read about a man called Enoch.

    Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

    – Genesis 5:24

    If all Scripture is inspired and important for our instruction, what can we learn from Enoch?

    The New Testament tells us Enoch was a prophet. He looked forward to the day of the Lord’s return to bring justice to earth. He was the great-grandfather of Noah. He was the father of Methuselah, whose name some believe can be translated “when he dies, it shall come.” Methuselah died the year the flood came.

    By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

    – Hebrews 11:5

    Before God brought judgment upon the earth, Enoch disappeared without a trace. He did not die. He was “taken up” by God.

    It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with  many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 

    – Jude 1:14-15

    Enoch was a righteous man who believed in, preached about, and looked forward to the day God would come and make all things right. He prophetically named his son one whose death would occur just before a judgment fell. He walked with God, never experienced death, and disappeared from Earth before the flood.

    What does all this mean?

    It means Enoch represents something, or someone. That someone is the Church, the Bride of Christ. Just before judgment falls upon the earth, Jesus will resurrect and gather all those throughout history who have taken Him as their Savior. We call this event the Rapture.

    I’ve been told the word “rapture” isn’t in the Bible.

    Many who doubt the validity of the Rapture are quick to point out the word isn’t in the English Bible. As others have noted, this is hardly a reason to reject the principle, since the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible yet is a foundational tenet of the Christian faith. Not even the word “Bible” is found in the Bible.

    The word we describe as the Rapture comes from the Latin words rapere, meaning “rapid,” and rapiemur, meaning “we shall be caught up.” These are the words found in the Latin Vulgate used by the Catholic Church. But the original Greek verb harpazo from which the Latin word was taken means “to snatch or catch away.” It is the word God used to describe those snatched up and set in another place. Examples of this “snatching away” are in Acts 8:39-40; 2 Corinthians 12:2, 4; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 12:5.

    People were “raptured” in these biblical accounts.

    The passage in Acts 8:39-40 is especially revealing. In that account, the disciple Philip had just preached the Gospel to an Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch gladly received the good news and asked to be baptized. Philip accommodated him, baptizing him on the spot in a nearby body of water.

    When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus….

    – Acts 8:39-40

    In the same way, believers will be “snatched away” to meet Christ in the air. An important difference is that the Rapture involves the resurrection and carrying away of all believers, living and dead, whereas Philip was one man moved to another location without receiving a new body.

    For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,

    with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God,

    and the dead in Christ will rise first.

    Then we who are alive and remain will

    be caught up together with them in the clouds

    to meet the Lord in the air,

    and so we shall always be with the Lord.

    – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

     

     

    Photo 122007121 © Dakotastudios | Dreamstime.com

    Coming next week: Behold the Bridegroom

     

    Learn more about Blood Falls the book at bloodfalls.net

     

    This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

     

  • Listen to this article

    Do not fear, Abram,

    I am a shield to you;

    Your reward shall be very great.

    God to Abram

    -Genesis 15:1

    You probably still know the song by heart.

    Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s just praise the Lord.

    Most of us remember singing that little song in Sunday school or VBS, probably comprehending neither who Abraham was nor why he was our “father.”

    Let’s just praise the Lord.

    That, at least, was something our kiddie minds could get behind.

    It turns out Abraham was well-qualified to represent the generations of believers who follow in his footsteps –stumbling, fumbling, questioning, falling, rising, lurching forward every step of the way across the deserts of life toward the only One who could quench the soul’s hunger.  

    A man of significant contrasts, Abraham swung like a pendulum between great courage and conniving cowardice. A man of integrity, he nevertheless fudged the truth and accepted a different spin on it when it suited him. So very, very human, he was.

    How did he ever obtain such favor with God? We read the answer in the first verse of the great faith chapter of Hebrews 11:

    Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.

    The rest of the chapter remembers his faith walk, not his failures, for posterity, clothed in a righteousness graced through his faith in God and His Word. This he neither earned by being good nor lost by sinning.

    To be sure, he hurt himself and others when he fell.

    He was not identified by his failures, however, but by his determination to believe in a good heavenly Father despite every disappointment and sorrow. He reached for a holy city beyond the senses. He yearned to get it right. God saw his heart and counted him a child of the King.

    Just like us, swinging between courage and cowardice in a desperate age. Hungry for God. Needing grace.  

    Abraham’s child.

    Photo 32661665 © Gryzeva | Dreamstime.com

  • One of the most beautiful national cemeteries in the United States lies in a dormant volcanic crater. 

    The Punchbowl, an oval volcanic crater in which sits the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, rises 461 feet above sea level on the island of Oahu, offering breathtaking views of Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, and Honolulu. It is thought to have been formed by the ancient ejection of lava from coral beds at the foot of Ko’olau Mountain Range on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 

    This crater has a long human history. Its Hawaiian name is Puowaina, most often translated as the Hill of Sacrifice. Here, early Oahu natives sacrificed the offenders of certain taboos as human offerings to their gods. When the army of Kamehameha the Great invaded Oahu in May of 1795, the natives made Puowaina their stronghold. They were unable to defend the island against the army, however, and Kamehameha conquered Oahu, unifying the islands in 1810. During his reign, two cannons sat at the rim of the crater and were fired to celebrate important occasions.

    The slopes of Puowaina opened to outside settlement in the late 1880’s, and the Hawaii National Guard used it for a rifle range during the 1930’s. Shore batteries were installed upon its rim during World War II to defend Honolulu Harbor and the southern edge of Pearl Harbor.

    In February of 1948, Congress approved the funding for a cemetery to hold the remains of war dead from World War II’s Pacific Theater. On January 4, 1949, an unknown American soldier killed in the Pearl Harbor attack was buried there, and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific opened to the public on July 19, 1949. This beautiful memorial park to America’s war heroes now contains the remains of more than 53,000 souls, and more than five million people visit the park each year.

    Who Is Lady Justice?

    Crowning one wall of Puowaina Crater and within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific stands a Court of Honor, comprising a nonsectarian chapel and two map galleries. At the center of the court near the head of a massive stone stairway, the statue “Lady Justice” stands majestically upon a symbolic ship prow, holding a laurel branch in one hand. She is known variously as Lady Columbia, Lady Liberty, or Lady Justice.

    Most of us are familiar with the drawings of Uncle Sam, the congenial, bearded gent who symbolized America dressed in a red, white, and blue suit and top hat. Before Uncle Sam graced recruitment posters, early America was represented by a woman named “Amèrique.” The depiction of America as “Lady Columbia” began in 1697 when Chief Justice Samuel Sewall of the Massachusetts Bay Colony suggested the name Columbina (a feminized version of Columbus) for the colonies.

    The name evolved into Columbia in a poem written by former slave Phillis Wheatley and was used during succeeding wars. The anthem “Hail, Columbia” was America’s unofficial anthem until the adoption of the “Star Bangled Banner” in 1931.

    The 19th century saw the rise of “Lady Liberty” associated with the Statue of Liberty and the popularization of Uncle Sam.

     

    Coming next week: The Enoch Generation

     

    Learn more about Blood Falls the book at bloodfalls.net

     

    This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/