Frankly, I'm far from convinced that a one-world currency is necessary for end-times prophecy. There are many ways commerce can be controlled (via the mark of the beast) without a one-world currency. Nevertheless, it is fascinating how fast such a concept could come to pass. Crises are great for the power-grabbers.

Thou dost protest too much, methinks. Somebody really hates the rapture, eh? I wonder if we're lucky enough to have Dave MacPherson himself as "Anonymous" here...or just a loyal fan. No matter. His beef appears to be with a pretrib. rapture, certainly one possible interpretation, but by no means the only one. I don't think the Word says enough to be terribly dogmatic about the rapture's timing. For example, pre-wrath has a great deal of merit.

Frothing at the mouth aside, I encourage all to investigate the matter for themselves. Study the Word in an originalist context (as it was intended when it was written, in its historical context). Avoid preconceptions (that's the tough part, eh?). Seek the truth prayerfully, asking not that your beliefs be confirmed but that your heart and mind be changed by the Holy Spirit as He reveals His Word.

I cannot tell if you are a believer or making a mockery...

You cannot tell from this post? Or you cannot tell, period? My doctrine is linked from my contact page, which itself is linked at the upper right of every page. My beliefs are rather easy to find. As for mockery, I do indeed mock sometimes, most notably stupidity. My original post here was certainly not mockery, but my responses to subsequent stupidity may be.

You think we are afraid of the suffering we might do on Earth because we don't take the mark...

I made no statements about whether or not you're afraid of suffering. I don't really care if you're afraid or fearless.

...well not everyone believes in the rapture.

True enough. Note, though, that your beliefs are irrelevant to what is true. If the reality is, there will be a pre-trib. rapture, then believers get their "Get Out of Jail" card, insofar as the Tribulation is concerned. If the reality is, there will be no rapture or the timing of any rapture is such that believers will still endure some or much of the Trib., then reasonable preparedness is in order. Thus my query about readiness.

As for my own beliefs about the rapture, I am not very dogmatic about it. I believe there will be one, and I believe it will be pre-wrath, but just how pre-, I am not sure. I think pre-trib. is a reasonable interpretation of prophecy, too. I think there's just enough wiggle room in the Scripture that a few different outcomes may meet prophecy, so I tend to refrain from pushing one dogma over another when it comes to the rapture.

My query about readiness was addressed specifically to believers ("You believers out there..."). For the purposes of this post, I am not interested in nonbelievers. Yes, they're going to hell, getting what they (and we) deserve. (Before you get all whiny about any perceived glibness about the damned, read this.) But, if—let me repeat that for the intellectually impaired—if believers are not raptured before the stuff hits the fan—notice that no belief in a rapture is required for this supposition—will you (plural), as believers, be prepared to live under the prophesied conditions of the Tribulation (e.g., unable to buy and sell without the mark)?

I mean, how will you find food? How will you earn a living? Where will you live? How will you be a witness to the lost when any one of the lost may turn you in (to be put to death) or kill you himself? Are you armed now? Do you intend to use arms to defend the lives of your loved ones during the Trib.? Or do you intend to roll over and passively take whatever the Beast is dishing out for believers? Will you go on the run? If so, where might you go (e.g., wilderness, small town, far south, an uninhabited island, the crowds of big cities, etc.)? Would you consider pursuing (a la guerrilla) the Beast and attempt to assassinate him? Would you go on similar offensives against the Beast's minions? Are those who take the mark fair game in such offensives? Imagine all the resources of Big Brother, under which we are now enslaved, used by the Beast to hunt believers. How might you (as believers) survive under such conditions, or are you content to lie down in front of the Beast's army? If the latter, how might this differ from a kind of suicide, and isn't that ethically inferior in God's judgment?

These are the kinds of questions I meant to imply in my query about your readiness? I had hoped readers would be able to discern (infer) such possibilities on their own, of course, but I've listed some of them here just to be clear. I'll get things going with some answers of my own...

I am reasonably armed and fully intend to protect the lives of my loved ones and even myself. While I'm fully aware of what awaits in the next life—and I'm anxious to get there!—I know that my passing is not up to me but the Lord. When He's ready to take me, I'll go, but until then, I'll fight. We will hide as much as we can using whatever tactics suit the conditions. Small Town, USA, may be good when Big Bro. turns against us all; the wilderness may be necessary, though, if the tyranny is literally total. I'll gladly kill any of the Beast's men practicing mortal evil, especially against me and mine. If outright war is just, I'll gladly wage war, too. Either way, I'll kill only as it's prescribed in the Word, Lord willing, and not indiscriminately, mark or no mark. I will not steal even to feed my family; one sin cannot cover for another. If the Lord would have us die of starvation from our efforts to remain righteous, so be it. I am prepared to hunt for food, of course. I've blogged about assassinations and such, too, but it actually is Biblically consistent under the right conditions, so I would be quite willing to participate is such a tactic against evil.

How 'bout you?