The Church Rapture is at Hand

 The Book of Revelation was written around 96 A.D. and only addresses seven large, influential churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) when there were hundreds of churches in Asia Minor and thousands in the world at that time. God gave Revelation to Jesus Christ who gave it to an Angel who gave it to John who passed it to the church. These seven churches were the first ones to receive the Book of Revelation from the Apostle John. These literal seven churches were chosen because of their specific strengths and weaknesses. These characteristics are prominent throughout the different Church Age periods covering ~2,000 years. These characteristics are applicable to the churches of today and were intended to be used by church pastors as a tool for correction and praise.

The number "seven" is God's number of perfection and completion. The seven stars are the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit that dwells in each church leader that will implement and carry out God's will for each church with the help of angels. Churches are to be a light to the world called "lampstands".

• "The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." Revelation 1:20

This verse is a reference to Isaiah 11:2 that defines the "seven spirits of God" which is the Church and is a creation of the Holy Spirit that began on the day of Pentecost. God chose these seven churches specifically for the Book of Revelation and in sequential order because they displayed all seven stages of church history. Only now can we go back throughout church history and see how each of the characteristics perfectly reflects that church era. We are currently living in the last church age period called the Church of Laodicea which is described as the lukewarm church.

There are seven different ways of interpreting the seven church letters found in Revelation and we believe they all are valid because each have something to say:

1. It's a letter to those specific seven churches at that time and apply to them in that specific context.
2. It's a prophesy for seven church ages on how to manage their problems.
3. It's a prophesy to those individual seven churches about what would happen to them in the future.
4. It's a message for seven types of churches about their problems in all ages.
5. It's a message for seven types of Christians individuals about their problems in all ages.
6. It's a message to all churches on how they should manage seven types of problems in all ages.
7. It's a doctrine for the victorious in Christ and for the rebellious.

The Church is defined as every believer in Jesus Christ no matter their denomination. It's described as every believer who is in the "Body of Christ" also called "The Bride of Christ" in Revelation. Believers are currently God's ambassadors on the Earth.

• "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19:7

The first time the word "church" is mentioned in the Bible is found in the Book of Acts.  Ekklesia (or ecclesia) is the Greek word translated in the New Testament as "church." It comes from ek, meaning "out from and to" and kaleo, meaning "to call," and has to do with a group of people called out from one place and to another. It is an assembly or a congregation. 

• "Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events." Acts 5:11

The seven spirits of the lord referenced in Revelation are referenced in the Book of Isaiah. These are the attributes of the Holy Spirit which dwells inside every believer. These are the attributes that we should gain from reading Revelation. "Fear of the Lord" can be divided into two Spirits to give us a total of seven. Reverence of righteousness (Deuteronomy 10:12, Psalms 31:19) of God and the judgment of the wicked (Leviticus 26:36, Revelation 6:16).

• "Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse (Messiah), and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit (Holy Spirit) of the Lord will rest on Him, a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear (obedience & reverence) of the Lord." Isaiah 11:1-2

As a footnote, Jesse mentioned in the verse above is the father of King David from which the bloodline of the Messiah will arise.

God not only commands the church to read the Book of Revelation, but for the church leaders to preach it. Many pastors will need to give an account as to why they didn't promote it to their congregations.

•    I, Jesus, have sent My angel (pastors) to testify to you of these things for the churches. I am the root (source) and the descendant (offspring) of David, the bright morning star (Churches Hope for Jesus Coming)." Revelation 22:16

"Take care of your life and the Lord will take care of your death."

― George Whitefield

Evangelist, 1770, Newburyport, MA 

The term rapture is derived from a Latin word meaning “a carrying off, a transport, or a snatching away.” The concept of the “carrying off” or the rapture of the church is clearly taught in Bible scripture. This is God's declaration of war on Satan. Every believer will be raptured to heaven, there is no partial rapture since we are all part of one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). Christians are currently God's Ambassadors on earth and when He removes them, they will be replaced because God always requires representation on Earth. The Jewish people will become God's next Ambassadors on earth for a seven-year Tribulation period covered in the Book of Revelation. This generation of believers who experience the rapture or "The Harvest" of the Church will never face the first death which is physical death or the second death which is eternal for the unbeliever. This generation of believers will not experience the physical sting of the first death. The church rapture event will happen in the "twinkling of an eye" which is ~ one-twentieth of a second.

• "I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (die), but we will all be changed (transformed into our eternal bodies) 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:50–52

The doctrine of the rapture was not taught in the Old Testament which is why the Apostle Paul calls it a “mystery” now revealed. 1 Corinthians 15:50–52 cited above. The rapture of the church is a glorious event we should all be longing for. The rapture should be a comforting doctrine full of hope; God wants us to encourage each other with these words. 

The rapture of the church is an event in which Jesus Christ “snatches away” all believers in a nanosecond so He can make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the remaining unbelieving inhabitants on the earth during Tribulation. The rapture is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50–52. When we die our bodies remain on earth, but our souls and spirit go to be with the Lord. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified bodies, and take them from the earth along with all living believers, who will also be given glorified bodies at that moment. This means that our body will be reunited with our soul and spirit at the rapture.

• "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die (those alive during rapture). Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26, also see Daniel 12:2

Our physical bodies will go from mortal to immortal and we will be in our father's house (Heaven) for all eternity. Jesus never physically returns to the earth during the rapture. Christians will hear His voice saying, "come up here" and the unbelieving will hear something like a horrific roar of thunder.

• “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18, also Isaiah 26:19

The rapture will involve an instantaneous transformation of our physical bodies into our eternal bodies. This is phase two of the first resurrection. The eternal body we receive will look like us so that we are easily recognized by others. Will we look like we did in our twenties or some other age? We don't really know, but what we do know is that in Genesis 2 when God creates Adam, he is a young man probably in his twenties, not an infant or older man.

• “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2

The rapture is to be distinguished from the second coming of Christ. At the rapture, the Lord comes “in the clouds” to meet us “in the air”. meaning His feet never touch the Earth (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At the second coming, Christ descends all the way to the Earth to stand on the Mount of Olives, resulting in a great earthquake followed by a defeat of God’s enemies.

• "On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south." Zechariah 14:4 written 500 B.C.E.

Are children included in the raptured or left behind? The Bible does not specifically address this issue, but tells us that even if an infant or child has not committed personal sin, all people including infants and children, are guilty before God because of their inherited and imputed sin. Inherited sin nature is passed on to us through our parents.

• "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." Psalm 51:5

We believe that children who are under the age of accountability will be taken in the rapture. If a child has not reached the point that they can make a decision for or against Christ, we would hold that if the child dies, they will be granted eternal life. We also hold that this principle, based entirely on God’s mercy and grace, applies to the rapture. This applies to all children, not just children of Believers.

Harpazo is a Greek word meaning "pick pocket" and is the original word that was used to describe the rapture. 

"War is merely the continuation of policy by other means." 

― Carl von Clausewitz

General and Military Theorist

No one knows the exact moment of the rapture, but Revelation indicates that it will occur midway during the seven-year Tribulation period. The diagram shown is a good representation of the rapture timeline using a dotted line which runs midway through the Tribulation period. 

Believers will know the identity of the Antichrist world dictator who will be ruling, and we will expect to see a worldwide, organized "great falling away" of the Christian church and faith in Jesus Christ. All the Christian denominations will be replaced by a single super apostate church encompassing all religions with the same God. At that time Gods will call out His true believers to "come up" or leave. As stated in Daniel we will also have to see a 10 Nation Confederacy form encompassing all~ 237 nations in the entire world. 

We also know that the rapture will occur before the Antichrist sets himself up in the Jewish template to be worshipped as God by unbelievers. The "restrainer" must be removed in order to allow this to happen. The "restrainer" is comprised of every member of the Trinity. If the restrainer is removed, then so is His body of believers (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12). This allows the Antichrist to change all the laws because there are no Christians on earth. He becomes the political, economic, religious and military ruler over the entire world for seven years as Daniel 9:27 predicted. 

• "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one (Trinity) who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming." 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8

In summary, the rapture event cannot take place until after the following three events take place, but before the Antichrist desecrates the third temple in Jerusalem on Mount Meriah that will be rebuilt which is the fourth event described below.

Event #1. A plan or treaty for a 10 Nation Confederacy will come from the Roman Empire culture including every nation. Israel will be given "special status" by signing a treaty to disarm. Israel will experience significant economic growth for the years following (event #4).  This treaty will solve the Middle East crisis. 

Event #2. The Antichrist is first revealed to believers once these specific events occur because they know the scripture warnings. Basically, he takes over all the nations. Unbelievers at this time just think he is a powerful dictator. 

• There must be a united 10 Nation Confederacy encompassing the whole world (Daniel 7:24).
• The 10 Nation Confederacy Presidents (Kings) vote to transfer all power to one ruler (Antichrist)
• There are seven leaders that agree and three that vote against the transfer of power (Daniel 7:25).
• The three that voted against will be overcome by the one ruler without resistance (Daniel 7:25).

Event #3. The apostacy of the "Christian" church is evident worldwide (Revelation 17 & 18)

• An organized world church will form under the banner of the Christian Church
• It will encompass all other religions united into one.

Event #4. The 3rd Jewish Temple is built. Israel signs a treaty (death treaty) to disarm (Ezekiel 38:11) because it is promised that the nations of the world would guarantee Israel's security and in return the Jewish people are given permission to rebuild their temple. The second time the Antichrist is revealed it is to unbelievers by setting himself up in the Holy of Holies sanctuary of the third Jewish temple to be worshipped as God because he is now opposed to anyone worshipping Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:4) and puts a stop to Jewish animal sacrifices (Daniel 9:27). Before this event happens, the rapture occurs. The restrainer, Christian Church which includes Holy Spirit that dwells in us, God and the Angels, is removed to permit this gross act of blasphemy to take place. Once he sets himself up as God halfway through, he destroys the apostate church system found in Revelation 17, 18. The following prophesy tells us we are roughly 8 months into the Tribulation when the temple is rebuilt.

2,300 days/365 days/year = 6.3 years. 

7-year Tribulation period - 6.3 years from Christs return = ~8 months

• "Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long will it take for the vision to be fulfilled—the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, the surrender of the sanctuary and the trampling underfoot of the Lord’s people?” 14 He said to me, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.” Daniel 8:13-14

Event #5.  After the rapture event takes place there are some nonbelievers who have heard the gospel message from the Christians who were raptured, witnessed the rapture and still decided not to believe. God permits a powerful delusion to fall upon all those individuals that have heard the message, understood its benefits, were convinced it was true and still said no thanks (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11). God knows these people will never become Christian who enter the second creation with Him as Lord and ruler. This is not a delusion that falls upon everyone in the world to send them to Hell. Below is a general Biblical principle cross referenced passage to describe these people.

• "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace". Hebrews 6:4-6 also see Hebrews 6:7-8

Many people think they are Christian, but are not because they have not received, they have only tasted. One can only receive through submitting.

We've determined above that there's a very good chance that the rapture is mid-tribulation because "The Church" isn't mentioned explicitly from Revelation chapters 6 all the way through 19 during the Tribulation period. Romans 5 says that "The Church" is not appointed to wrath meaning that believers won't go through the day of wrath which is the second half of the seven-year Tribulation. Christian will however experience the first half of the Tribulation period until the time the lawless one is revealed in 2 Thessalonians 2. The second sign in 2 Thessalonians 2 is directed to the unbelievers with the great apostasy of all religions which come together to form one united world religion that claims to worship Jeus Christ but does the exact opposite. This will be the signal for Christians leave the organized church. All these things must take place before the rapture can occur. Below are some supporting verses.

• "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time." Thessalonians 2:6

• "Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day (day of wrath) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness (Antichrist) is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." 2 Thessalonians 2:3

• "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." Romans 5:9 also see 1 Thessalonians 5:9, 1,9, and 10.

• "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth (unbelievers)." Revelation 3:10

• "Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36

• "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered." Daniel 12:1

The last trumpet is the call for God's people to "come up" to heaven which goes back to Old Testament and Moses blowing the trumpet three times for the Israelites to act.

• "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast." Exodus 19:16

• "Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts." Leviticus 23:24

The seventh and last trumpet is blown in Revelation 11 which is just before the Day of Wrath begins. This is believed to be the rapture of the church rescuing Gods people from wrath signaling a spiritual judgment event for the unbelievers. This is also midway through the Book of Revelation dividing the tribulation into two 3.5-year periods. There is no reason to divide tribulation into two halves unless something very significant happens midpoint. 

• "In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

• "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

There are other supporting facts for a mid-tribulation such as the ministry of the 144,000 Jews starts halfway through the tribulation. This is where God removes the Christians as His ambassadors on earth and replaces them with the Jewish believers.

The best way to determine whether the rapture occurs is by eliminating verses that have no support for their theory. We can rule out a per and post tribulation rapture based on the following verses. Taking a broad definition, there were no verses that could rule out a mid-tribulation rapture. 

Rules Out "Post-Tribulation" Rapture Theory

• "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!" Romans 5:9

• "For they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath." 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10

• "For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

• "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth." Revelation 3:10

Rules Out "Pre-Tribulation" Rapture Theory

• "And so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:12

• "Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus." Revelation 12:17

"Comparison is the thief of joy"

―  Theodore Roosevelt Jr.

 26th President of the United States  

Damascus, one of the great cities of the ancient world, is currently the capital city of modern-day Syria. It's the oldest city in the world inhabited for thousands of years and the cities name has never changed. In all of its long history, the city has never been destroyed. Below the city of Damascus is mentioned in Genesis. The interesting thing about it appearing in the verse is that this was the first recorded Israeli war in the Bible. Will this city also be involved in the first war of the Tribulation? The verse below is also the first time Abram is called "Abram the Hebrew". 

• "A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus." Genesis 14:13-15

In the last days, Damascus will be totally annihilated in a matter of moments according to Isaiah's prophesy below. The "sign" that Israel's (Jacob) glory will be made thin speaks of the ongoing strained relations between Syria and Israel. With Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad as the country's current leader, it's not a far stretch for us to see this prophesy fulfilled especially if Syria strikes first with biological, nuclear or chemical warhead. Israel will retaliate with devastating nuclear force. Israel counterattack strategy, "Samson Option", is already in place.

• "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. 3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,” declares the Lord Almighty. 4 And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean." Isaiah 17:1-4

 "Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave."

― Frederick Douglas

Orator

Over the past fifty years, the European Churches attendance has been declining rapidly primarily because their societies have turned entirely secular. All the while the church has stood by silently, afraid to stir up the pot with corrupt European Governments. In addition, European Governments have allowed and encouraged a large influx of non-Christian, foreign cultures (majority Muslim) into their countries who have no plans to assimilate into the European culture. This has only compounded the problem. The remainder of the world is primarily made-up of non-Christian based societies including: China, India, Middle East, Africa, etc. There are scattered Christian's sect's found in most countries who are persecuted for their faith. They too will be "caught up" with other believers on that day.

Africa use to be called the "Dark Continent" because there was no Christianity found there (Jesus and His followers are the Light in a dark world). That has drastically changed over the past century. Africa has been replaced by Europe as the new, even darker, "Dark Continent" and the United States of America isn't far behind. What makes America situation worse is that we are deliberately throwing away the Light that has blessed our country since it's birth.     

"Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man."

― Dwight L. Moody

American Evangelist 

We now see church attendance declining in the United States too along with the rise of false religious faiths. Prayer has been removed from our schools and God's word stripped from many public spaces. As God disappears, so does a societies moral compass. Moral decay and lawlessness is increasing rapidly across the United States. We are quickly becoming the modern day "Sodom and Gomorrah" with increased abortion, homosexuality, gender neutrality becoming mainstream, accepted behaviors. These progressive behaviors create a regressive society. The Internet and smart phones are great technological advances, if not abused. Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter have become public sewers that censor and track us and are run by secular companies that are now responsible for  raising our children. We will soon surpass secular European allies with open borders, encouraged lawlessness, wokeness and recent "cancel culture" ideologies.

• "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5

• "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." Matthew 24:10-13

Why are people are leaving the Church? 

1. The majority of people leave Churches because there is no opportunity to ask questions.
2. The second most common reason is that the Church is not addressing the science-faith issues. 

The Church should be the place where people can go to ask the hardest question and have those questions answered. Churches should be using the book of nature to bring skeptics to the book of scripture.

According to recent research by Springtide Research Institute, many young people consider themselves religious or spiritual, but they are wary of religious institutions. And so, they are approaching their faith in ways that, to an outside observer, might not look like traditional worship. Springtide’s latest survey found that 71% of Americans between the ages of 13 and 25 identify as religious and 78% embrace the label spiritual. But they don’t find much comfort inside the four walls of a church. Even among those who identify as “very religious,” only 40% said they found comfort by connecting with their religious community “during challenging or uncertain times,” the report stated. While almost half of those surveyed reported they attended at least one online service during the pandemic, only 13% reported finding joy in virtual worship; a similarly low percentage said that they found hope in online services.

Experts said that because the numbers reveal a deep disconnect between America’s youth and the country’s religious institutions, religious leaders seeking to keep the young in the fold don’t need to think about better programs in their churches, synagogues or mosques. Rather, they need to think outside of the institutional box.

Josh Packard, executive director of Springtide Research Institute, explained that while young Americans are distrustful of religious institutions, “They express a high level of trust in individual relationships. You’ll hear young people say, ‘I don’t like youth ministers, but I like my youth minister.’”

"Civilizations in decline are consistently characterized by a tendency towards standardization and uniformity."

― Arnold Toynbee

Historian (14 Apr 1889-1975) 

The United States, and Western Europe (Tarshish) are allied today as described in the prophecy verse below, while Russia (leader Gog and Magog) continues to build alliances with Middle Eastern nations of Iran (Persia), Sudan - Ethiopia (Cush), North Africa - Libya (Put), and most of the other nations of the Middle East in the Persian Gulf are aligned against the West, again just as prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. This alignment is setting the stage for Armageddon.

The USA is only mentioned once in the Old Testament prophesy as the "young lions" of the merchants of Tarshish. Great Britain is one of the merchants of Tarnish whose national symbol is the "lion" that once ruled over American colonies "young lion" until its independence in 1776.

• "Sheba (India, Pakistan, Nepal), and Dedan (Mongoloid nations, Indonesia), and the merchants of Tarshish (Spain, Holland, and Britain), with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Ezekiel 38:13 

Why isn't America mention more in the last days? We believe that the rapture event impacts the stability of America to the point where it is no longer the world superpower. The people who remain are judged harshly by Jesus Christ for the lack of faith, immorality and the abrupt stance for traditional Judeo-Christian values.

In 1630 a sermon by John Winthrop is now famous mainly for its proclamation that “we shall be as a city upon a hill.” Beginning in the 1970s, Ronald Reagan placed that line, from that sermon, at the center of his political career. Tracing the story of America from John Winthrop forward, Reagan built a powerful articulation of American exceptionalism—the idea, as he explained, “that there was some divine plan that placed this great continent between two oceans to be sought out by those who were possessed of an abiding love of freedom and a special kind of courage.” In 2012, American exceptionalism—as summarized by the phrase “city on a hill”—became an official plank in the platform of the Republican party. Hardly anyone knew this sermon existed, and no one described the nation as a “city on a hill.” It wasn’t just Reagan who picked it up, either. After Perry Miller discovered the origin in a mostly forgotten text, John Winthrop’s text has been quoted by almost every president to hold office: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

"It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

― J.K. Rowling