You've Been Left Behind

The eternal salvation of your friends and family is very important. So, just in case you are too busy or ashamed to share the gospel, and just in case Rapture Letters drops the ball, you better have a back-up plan. Here is where You've Been Left Behind comes in. It is similar to Rapture Letters, but with these guys, you get to write the letter to you lost friend or family member. But you should know that it will cost $40 per year. From their website:

"We all have family and friends who have failed to receive the Good News of the Gospel.The unsaved will be 'left behind' on earth to go through the "tribulation period" after the "Rapture". You remember how, for a short time, after (9/11/01) people were open to spiritual things and answers. (We are still singing "God Bless America" at baseballs' seventh inning stretch.) Imagine how taken back they will be by the millions of missing Christians and devastation at the rapture. They will know it was true and that they have blown it. There will be a small window of time where they might be reached for the Kingdom of God. We have made it possible for you to send them a letter of love and a plea to receive Christ one last time. You can also send information based on scripture as to what will happen next. Each fulfilled prophecy will cause your letter and plea to be remembered and a decision to be made."

Pastor Piper

I was heavily influenced by John Piper during my college years. Who wasn't? The first Piper book I read was "The Pleasures of God." My view of God was small before that book.

At the beginning of this semester, my preaching professor (& dean - Dr. Moore) asked the class to introduce ourselves and name one very influential sermon. I was struck by how many people mentioned sermons by John Piper. If you have listened to much of Piper, I am sure you can recall a sermon where the Spirit moved your heart to love Christ more and love sin less. If you have never heard Piper, peep this.

Justin Taylor has a great post celebrating Piper's 30th year at Bethlehem by recalling how God called him there. Check it out.

Rapture Letters

Once you have made sure that Toodles will be taken care of during the tribulation, you may now want to consider your lost friends and family. This is where Rapture Letters comes in! So the rapture comes and you haven't quite got around to being faithful in sharing the gospel with those you care for, don't worry. Its not too late! From the website:

"After the rapture, there will be a lot of speculation as to why millions of people have just disappeared. Unfortunately, after the rapture, only non believers will be left to come up with answers. You probably have family and friends that you have witnessed to and they just won't listen. After the rapture they probably will, but who will tell them?
We have written a computer program to do just that. It will send an Electronic Message (e-mail) to whomever you want after the rapture has taken place, and you and I have been taken to heaven.
How is this accomplished, you might ask. It's a dead man switch that will automatically send the emails when it is not reset.If you wish to do something now that will help your unbelieving friends and family after the rapture, you need to add those persons email address to our database. Their names will be stored indefinitely and a letter will be sent out to each of them on the first Friday after the rapture. Then they will receive another letter every Friday after that.This rapture letter service is FREE and will hopefully gain the person you send it to an eternity in heaven."

Here is what the letter will look like. So don't worry about being faithful in evangelism now, after all, that could have negative consequences. Instead, let Rapture Letters do it for you. Besides, they are more likely to convert during the tribulation anyway, right?

It's a Boy!!

(See Video Here, Here, & Here)