Re-Post: Nearing Midnight for April 3rd (Part 1)

Are You Doing Something Productive?

It never ceases to amaze me how the information age has blessed us with such a wealth of knowledge. We have libraries that contain millions of books, and we have the internet that puts billions of web pages at our fingertips.

As good as we are at generating information, there is no guarantee that the resources we are creating will have a productive purpose. While some information is vital for historic and practical purposes, most of this knowledge is purely frivolous. It simply has no lasting importance.

I recently did a random search of the bookseller Amazon.com the internet to get a measure of the type of information being presented to the public. In my random search, I ran into a novel about the Russian mafia and I found a page that answers the burning question on everyone's mind, "How is synthetic urine manufactured?" I wouldn't say the world would be a better place without these two resources, but it certainly wouldn't be in any worse shape without them.

What led me to start this web venture was asking myself, "What can I do that would be the most productive?" Because prophecy and the Kingdom of God are the ultimate forces driving our future, I decided to write articles about these two interrelated subjects.

When I sit down to plan out a new article, I look for an information void that needs to be filled. The search engines have been helpful in verifying whether we are achieving this goal.

When I conducted a Google search for the phase "lazy people," my recent new article on the subject of laziness ranked in the top five. Even though there were 45 million other web pages with some connection to those two words, the article on RR was judged to be the most relevant. A search of "European Union" and "Prophecy" brought up another RR article - European Union in prophecy - as a top-ranked destination.

There is no special relationship between Google and Rapture Ready. You could find several articles ranked in the top 10 on other search engines.

I'm now working on an article called "Downward Spiral." After its completion, I fully expect it will dominate the search results. I've already checked, and there is really nothing to prevent it from rising to the top. If someone were using the internet now to find answers explaining why his or her life is in a downward spiral, he or she would get directed to articles about the band Nine Inch Nails, or to some commentary written by people who share the same predicament.

There is no great secret about having a sucessful web ministry. The key ingredient is determination and the willingness to be a public servant. You simply can't help bring lost souls into the Kingdom of God if your primary goal is building up your own earthly province.

I once worked with a gentleman who had a site similar to Rapture Ready. We exchanged articles for each other's sites-I've done this with many sites over the years. He had very extravagant plans. He was going to host conferences around the nation, build a radio broadcast, host tour groups to Israel and publish his own books.

His high-minded vision of himself eventually led to his undoing. He made a series of decisions that ended in complete disaster. When it became obvious to him that the gravy train of recognition and reward was nowhere on the immediate horizon, he closed his operation.

I am very grateful that Rapture Ready is supported by a number of people who understand the importance of having a long-term vision of the future. It has taken nearly 20 years get to this point, but the most important thing is that we are here. As one reporter recently told me, the site has become the "leading depositor of end-time information."

When we leave this world behind, the sole indication that we led productive lives will be what we did to help bring the lost to faith in Jesus Christ.

--Todd