And certainly, since the catching up is not emphasized in the Scriptures, it should not be preached Sunday after Sunday as an escape from trouble and a diversion that turns people away from the all-important work of learning to live in the Spirit of God.

But what is the problem if people want to believe they are about to get a ride to Heaven to escape the problems of the earth and find comfort in this thought? The problem is that they are not preparing themselves for the resurrection by turning aside from the sinful nature and following the Spirit of God. They imagine God is just about ready to remove them from the troubled scenes of earth and there is no need for them to change their careless, undisciplined lives so as to participate in the ride. In fact, there is no pressing need for them to attain the redemption of the body. They do not groan, as Paul did, for the redemption of their body.

Then too, the idea that God will remove American Christians from suffering is ridiculous. Throughout history, and today as never before, Christians are being tortured and killed for the Gospel. Why are they not raptured? What is so special about the carnal Christians of America that they should be carried to Heaven so they won't suffer. Yet many believers just as worthy have suffered terribly and are suffering today. Make sense of this if you can.

The bottom line is, God is warning us in America to turn aside from our sinful nature and start living in the Spirit of God. This means coming out of an extremely wealthy and colorful culture and taking time to pray each day and give our decisions to the Lord. The American way is the way of death. David Wilkerson said recently the Lord told him that America, because of her sin, has lost her place as the leading nation of the world. She already has died in the sight of God. I went to prayer about this and believe I received confirmation that this indeed is the Word of the Lord.

You and I know how Americans, from the top down, are behaving. God has never tolerated such behavior for very long and will not tolerate it in America.

We had better prepare ourselves and our loved ones to be ready for whatever is coming, whether famine, or persecution, or weather catastrophes, or war, or economic collapse, or whatever else.

God does not want us to be afraid of dying. But we had better be afraid of dying if we are living according to the sinful nature; if we are running out of oil; if we are not using to build the Kingdom of God the talent we have been given! The Scripture states we shall reap corruption if we sow to the flesh.

If we will choose to live in the Spirit of God, then, if we should die, we will return with the Lord and pick up our body from the ground. We will find in that day that it no longer is a body of death but a body of life. Then we shall be gathered together with the saints who are alive at that time and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. We shall descend with Him, appearing to the world as the revealed sons of God, ready to help with the establishing of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

This is the answer to Paul's cry: "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (from Rescued From the Body of Death)