Many of Terry James' books focus on the rapture or the end times. James and his sometime co-author, Todd Strandberg, also run Raptureready.com. James says, “We're getting over 6 million hits per week now, which is considerable. We're the largest Bible prophecy website on the net. We're thankful for that.
"We're not bragging but we're just saying we're thankful for that. God's blessed us in a mighty way and that we believe it's going to grow from here because as Todd Strandberg and I look down the pike here, we see a lot more dangerous situations developing, dangerous in the sense of prophetic portent.” Raptureready.com is intended to spread the word that the end of man is very near. “We believe it could happen at any moment," he says.
James believes severe natural disasters are just a few of the indicators pointing towards the rapture. Another indicator is the development of a worldwide currency. James believes this has less to do with the dollars, pesos or actual currency we use than the method we use to pay, namely plastic tied to credits or a balance stored in a computer somewhere. However, the primary indicator that deserves constant attention is the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. James says, “The United States and others want to divide the land.
"Some of the Church leaders today think Israel should give land for peace, that they no longer have the promises given by God, those promises that have now been given to Israel. That's not what God says. Again, He says that's their land. That He has given it to them forever because it's His land. Now, that's where the problem comes in and that's what going to lead to the final war.” A popular belief says that right before things here on Earth take a turn for that home stretch to Armageddon, the righteous on earth, those who truly believe will simply disappear, without notice, without warning.
James continues, “That's the moment when Jesus says come up hither. Millions of people will then vanish from Earth we believe, and will be in the presence of the Lord forever. It is an eminent event, meaning nothing has to precede it prophetically. It can happen at any moment and we believe that event is very close.” The book series "Left Behind" has popularized this belief. More than 17 million copies of this post-rapture story have been sold. James did not write these books, but he says redemption for those "left behind" will not come easy.
James says, “Those who accept Christ during this period of time are going to be persecuted. They're going to have their heads cut off as a matter of fact. They're going to be cut out of the system, this electronics funds transfer system I believe and they'll simply starve. They won't be able to buy or sell if they don't accept the Antichrist and his mark. So, it's not going to be an easy time to accept Christ during that period of time. It's going to require martyrdom in a lot of cases. So it's a very dangerous thing.”
Raptureready.com may see heavy traffic during the tribulation after the rapture. James and Strandberg have created several mirror sites to handle the extra load. After all, they don't expect to be around to maintain it. James' main concern is what will happen with the current conflict in Iraq and other Middle East tensions, and if they could lead to the beginning of the end. James concludes, “That's where I see things headed and why we see things shaping up in the Middle East as we do. I think we're in for some even more volatile times this year. I think it's going to be one of the most volatile years in that area that we've seen. So it's incumbent on us to keep our eye on things in that area and that's what our site is for.” Mike Duncan, Reporter, Weekend Anchor Terry James has written several books about the Rapture. The Left Behind series has popularized belief in the Rapture. James and a friend run the website Raptureready.com. More Links • RaptureReady.com
