Question: There seems to be a running theme of "putting down" prosperity (in the material sense). Does God want us to live in poverty or is it okay to work to be prosperous as long as you work and live your life following God's Word?

Answer: It is not wrong to be prosperous and attain material wealth. It is wrong for a Christian to be unwilling to share that wealth for the spreading of the Gospel and/or helping the needy of the world. Achieving material goals can be healthy, but not at the expense of ignoring the needs of the House of God. One day, probably soon, each believer will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ and give an account of his or her life. I would not want to be in the shoes of the person who appears at that judgment who has placed his/her priorities on bigger boats, bigger houses, expensive cars, jewelry, et cetera. If the Lord has blessed you with material wealth, thank and praise Him for it, then use as much of it as you can to spread His Word, especially in these end times!

Question: I believe your insistence about the Rapture occurring before the Tribulation is as dangerous as date setting! What if you are wrong? Will Christians be prepared to persevere properly?

Answer: I believe a Christian's ability to persevere in times of trouble is unrelated to what one believes about the timing of the Rapture, or, at least, it should be! There are thousands of Christians in various parts of the world today, many believing in a Rapture before the Tribulation, who are enduring persecution. Responsible teaching about the Rapture should never include the message that God's people will not endure trouble, but that they will be delivered from a special time of God's wrath, called the Tribulation, that is coming upon the earth (Revelation 3:10, I Thess 5:9, Romans 5:9).

Question: Since Christ is predicted to receive a church "having no spot or blemish" (Ephesians 5:27), do you believe that the church achieves this through persecution?

Answer: No, no, and a hundred times no! I do not believe that anything serves to purify the church except the redemptive work of Christ Himself! I do not believe that enduring a million persecutions including the Great Tribulation, will ever justify anyone before God! Ephesians 5:26, just one verse before says that Christ has already cleansed the church. It is past tense. It has already happened! And He cleanses her by the washing of the Word, not by any persecution.

I would like to further comment that believing that the church must go through persecution to achieve a "no spot or blemish" status is playing right into the scheme of those false teachers who try to maintain a justification by works doctrine. The Scriptures are very plain that man is justified by faith in God alone!