Greetings and Salutations Harvest Church Members:

Some will celebrate the end of 2021 with frantic party-going and balloons popping, even with the daily warnings of a highly contagious disease spreading worldwide. Many will attempt to usher in a new year, 2022, with dancing, drinking, partying, smoking, and more drinking all under the banner of celebrating. In addition, many will make New Year's resolutions that evaporate as quickly as they were made, not realizing there is only one power on Earth that can bring real fundamental change in us – a life that is totally surrendered to Jesus Christ.

John 3:2-6 (Amplified version) reminds us…

Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know [without any doubt] that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs [these wonderworks, these attesting miracles and produce the proofs] that You do unless God is with him."

Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot [ever] enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

According to the Bible, Romans 10:9-10 tells us…

because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], 

resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.

If you are reading this letter and have never accepted Jesus Christ into your life, pray this prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you admitting that I am a sinner. Right now, I choose to turn away from sin, and I ask you to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I genuinely believe that your son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross to take away my sins. I call upon the name of Jesus Christ to be the Savior and Lord of my life. I ask that you fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for the first time, welcome to the family of God's kingdom! Please contact us at www.hcio.org/prayer. 

As believers, we can get excited, for it is on God's calendar to remove His church at that appointed hour. From Pentecost, this has been the expectation of the church. 

Scriptures tell us in…

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 (Amplified)

Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words [concerning our reunion with believers who have died].

And St. John's Gospel describes the promise of a place for us:

John 14:1-3 (Amplified)

Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

These promises from our Lord should bring tremendous comfort to each of us who believe and have received Jesus Christ. This rapture event consists of three sobering acts of divine omnipotence, which occur in a moment.

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15:52 (Amplified).

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at [the sound of] the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [who believed in Christ] will be raised imperishable, and we will be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed].

Three components are noted in this scripture:

1. Deceased Believers

1 Thessalonians 4:16 (Amplified)

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

2. Living Believers 

1 Corinthians 15:53 (Amplified)

For this perishable [part of us] must put on the imperishable [nature], and this mortal [part of us that is capable of dying] must put on immortality [which is freedom from death].

3. All Believers

1 Thessalonians 4:17 (Amplified)

Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord!

Matthew 24:3-14 (Message Bible) depicts:

Later as he was sitting on Mount Olives, his disciples approached and asked him, “Tell us, when are these things going to happen? What will be the sign of your coming, that the time’s up?”

Jesus said, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities, claiming, ‘I am Christ, the Messiah.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming.

“They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other’s throat, everyone hating each other.

“In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes.

“Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.

Have you not noticed the state in which we live is not normal or natural? People are not acting sanely, and they are grossly beside themselves. We live in a time when an extraordinary satanic power has been unleashed, driving people to the tipping point of insanity. The rapture is near, people of God. Do not allow Satan to blind your mind to this ancient promise of God!

2 John 1:7 warns us:

For many imposters (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter (the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ) and the antichrist.

For many imposters (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter (the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ) and the antichrist.

While 2 Corinthians 4:4 (Amplified) defines the mindset of many, we must rethink the need for salvation:

among them the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to prevent them from seeing the illuminating light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

So, what do we do? Pack your stuff, believers; you are getting ready to move and be "Caught Up." This is an event you don't want to miss!

Hallelujah! Apostle Paul writes this to the church at Corinth in Greece, which was at its lowest state spiritually.

1 Corinthians 15:51 (Amplified)

Listen very carefully, I tell you a mystery [a secret truth decreed by God and previously hidden, but now revealed]; we will not all sleep [in death], but we will all be [completely] changed [wondrously transformed],

Obviously, the translation issue does not revolve around our personal goodness or deeds but that we simply believe and have received Christ.

See you at the top!

Faithfully yours,

 Steve Houpe

Senior Pastor, Harvest Church International Outreach