Terry James & Todd Strandberg on the Rapture Ready Website

Rapture Ready: Inside the Web’s Biggest Bible Prophecy Hub | Christ in Prophecy with Dr. David Reagan

How did Rapture Ready become one of the world’s most-visited Bible prophecy websites—and why do millions turn to it for end-times news and teaching? Host Dr. David Reagan and Nathan Jones interview Todd Strandberg (founder of Rapture Ready) and Terry James (prophecy author) about the site’s origins, purpose, and what they’re seeing as signs that the Rapture could be near.

What you’ll learn

• The origin story of Rapture Ready (pre-Internet days, newsgroups, the Rapture Index)
• Why the daily news aggregation is the site’s most-visited feature
• How readers can submit articles and what “featured writers” means
• Preparing the site to serve people after the Rapture (mirror sites, bandwidth)
• Responding to common attacks (e.g., the Margaret MacDonald myth)
• Economic insights from Todd’s “Nearing Midnight” column and why “business as usual” may fulfill Jesus’ words (Matthew 24; Luke 17)
• Why most traffic is from the U.S., and what that might mean prophetically
• New features, social sharing, and the role of apps and short videos

Featured guests

• Todd Strandberg — Founder, Rapture Ready (RaptureReady.com)
• Terry James — Prophecy author, co-leader at Rapture Ready; author of Rapture Ready or Not… 15 Reasons This Is the Generation That Will Be Left Behind

Resources mentioned

• Rapture Ready website: https://www.raptureready.com
• Lamb & Lion Ministries: https://www.lamblion.com | https://www.christinprophecy.org
• Terry James’ book: Rapture Ready or Not…
• Dr. David Reagan’s DVD: In Defense of the Pre-Trib Rapture (Offer #742)

Scripture referenced

• Matthew 24; Luke 17 (“days of Noah” / “days of Lot” – “business as usual”)

Support & Connect

• Pray for the outreach of Rapture Ready and Lamb & Lion Ministries
• Donate to Rapture Ready at raptureready.com
• Watch more Christ in Prophecy episodes on demand at lamblion.com / christinprophecy.org
• Get the Lamb & Lion app and subscribe for new videos, articles, and prophecy insights

If you’re new here
Subscribe for weekly biblical prophecy teaching and share this episode with a friend who’s asking about the Rapture and end-times events.

#Rapture #BibleProphecy #EndTimes #PreTrib #ChristInProphecy #RaptureReady #TerryJames #ToddStrandberg #DavidReagan #NathanJones #Matthew24 #Luke17

Terry James & Todd Strandberg on the Rapture Ready Website

Narrator: One of the foremost Bible prophecy websites on the Internet today is called Rapture Ready. It contains an incredible storehouse of information about every aspect of Bible prophecy—and not just the Rapture. But it does focus on the biblical promise of the Rapture and on our preparation for it. Stay tuned for an interview with its founder and the person who assists him.

Narrator: Lamb & Lion Ministries presents Christ in Prophecy, a program that focuses on the fundamentals of Bible prophecy, showing how current events in the news relate to biblical predictions of end-time events and the soon return of Jesus. Now, here’s your host, Dr. David Reagan.

Guest Introductions

Dr. David Reagan: Greetings in the name of Jesus, our Blessed Hope, and welcome to Christ in Prophecy. My colleague Nathan Jones and I have two very special guests with us today: Todd Strandberg and Terry James. Todd is the founder of the Bible prophecy website Rapture Ready. Terry James—who has been a guest on this program before—is a Bible prophecy author who assists Todd with the maintenance of the website. And since we’re going to be focusing our attention on a website, I thought I would turn the program over to this ministry’s Web Minister, Nathan Jones. It’s all yours, Nathan.

Nathan Jones: Wow, thank you, Dr. Reagan. Great to have you guys on the show. I’m curious: where did your passion for Bible prophecy come from? Todd, why don’t we start with you—how did you get into Bible prophecy?

Todd Strandberg: I started by reading Hal Lindsey’s book The Late Great Planet Earth.

Nathan Jones: OK.

Todd Strandberg: It was the bestseller of the 1970s. It really started the great end-time prophetic movement—though there were books written 100 years ago. What really appealed to me was how it took Bible prophecy and current events and melded them together so people could see that we are in the last days.

Nathan Jones: How about you, Terry?

Terry James: It goes way back with me. I was raised in an Independent Fundamental Churches of America church in Topeka, Illinois, as a very young child, and I was saved at a very young age. I heard about the Rapture all my life, and my interest has grown from that point. My actual entry into Bible writing came after I lost my eyesight—about 25 years ago now.

Nathan Jones: OK.

Terry James: That’s when I got interested in writing on Bible prophecy.

Nathan Jones: Fantastic. Todd, you took your passion for Bible prophecy and turned it into a website. Give us a little of the history—when did it launch?

Todd Strandberg: It started in 1987, which is really—

Nathan Jones: Pre-Internet, right?

Todd Strandberg: Pre-Internet. My computer didn’t have a hard drive. I didn’t have a mouse. It had a green screen. I dialed up services like Genie and CompuServe, and I posted on what were called newsgroups—probably comparable to Reddit-like social media today. I started with the Rapture Index and would post it on newsgroups like “Jesus Is Coming Real Soon Now,” “All Bible Prophecy,” and so on. They would get shared—one system to another. That’s how I propagated the original concept, the Rapture Index. Then I started creating graphics, links, and lists. It was for my own personal use at first, but then I shared it with others, and it just grew over the years.

Nathan Jones: So now it’s reaching its 30th anniversary?

Todd Strandberg: It’s near the 30th—29 years this year.

Nathan Jones: Thirty—wow, that’s old for a website.

Todd Strandberg: Yeah.

Interview Begins

Dr. David Reagan: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy and our interview with Todd Strandberg and Terry James, the two Bible prophecy experts responsible for one of the most popular Bible prophecy websites, Rapture Ready. Nathan, let’s pick it up where you left off.

Nathan Jones: OK. You were explaining that you were online back in the ’80s, but when the web started in the ’90s you launched RaptureReady.com. Since then—over 20-some years of building—what are some features you’ve built into the site?

Todd Strandberg: Most people come to the site for the news.

Nathan Jones: The news?

Todd Strandberg: We were at another ministry, and they said, “I go to your news all the time.” I meet people at public events who say, “I go to your website mostly for the news.” Then we have articles—our featured articles every week. People out there—folks like you—can write an article. Maybe you wrote it for your church; you can send it to us, and we’ll post it on the Internet, where it’ll probably get 10,000 views. We always encourage people to send us articles.

Dr. David Reagan: When you say the most popular thing is the news, what do you mean?

Todd Strandberg: Rapture Ready News—that’s the most popular part.

Nathan Jones: Is this daily?

Todd Strandberg: Every day we post about 20 news stories that we find from other sources. We’re a kind of aggregator.

Dr. David Reagan: Related to the signs of the end times?

Todd Strandberg: Yes.

Todd Strandberg: The second most popular feature is our writers—people who write for us. We’ve had hundreds of contributors.

Nathan Jones: So you have news and articles—anything else?

Todd Strandberg: We’ve got lists. We’ve got FAQs. We have everything—including “left behind” letters. It just goes on and on. I’ve lost track. Right now, we’re using a service to update the site, and they’re already at 20,000 files. Most sites have only a couple hundred. We’re not even sure it’s going to work—another firm quit on us; they said it was too big.

Dr. David Reagan: What about people asking questions? Do you have time for that?

Todd Strandberg: If you send Terry a question, he’ll answer it.

Terry James: Todd never answers his email. [laughs] I’ll usually answer if it’s a relevant question. If someone just wants to provoke a fight—which happens sometimes—I ignore those.

Nathan Jones: You just give them a link, right?

Terry James: They’re always welcome to write, and I’ll do my best to answer.

Nathan Jones: Terry, as you travel to different conferences and churches and speak, I’m sure you hear a lot about the site. What do most people say is their favorite feature?

Terry James: Probably the news, like Todd said. People come for the news. But the articles are profound—some are just wonderful. I get inquiries about the writers: “When are they writing another article?” Sometimes I have to consult the author about specifics because I don’t have time to read everything.

Dr. David Reagan: Do you have a search engine on the website?

Todd Strandberg: Yes.

Dr. David Reagan: So if I type in “Tribulation,” things will come up?

Todd Strandberg: All kinds—10,000 articles. It’s a great research tool.

Nathan Jones: Who’s your primary audience? It sounds like you started building it for yourself, and then others joined in.

Todd Strandberg: The site reaches about 50 different age groups. If you go to a prophecy conference, the average age is about 67—really old. The Internet reaches a younger audience. That’s what’s hopeful about our site—and others: reaching younger people.

Nathan Jones: You mentioned anyone can send in an article to be considered. But you also have featured writers, right?

Todd Strandberg: Yes.

Nathan Jones: For example?

Todd Strandberg: Featured writers are people who have been with us a while—or are really good writers. David Reagan, you’re one of our featured writers.

Dr. David Reagan: Who are some others?

Terry James: Daymond Duck is on the website.

Nathan Jones: Love Daymond.

Todd Strandberg: We try not to overemphasize “featured” and welcome anyone. A guy named Kurt Seland sent an article years ago—I haven’t heard from him in about 10 years. The media picked it up—it has over 2.5 million hits over the years, and he has no idea. I’ve lost track of him—12 years at least.

Dr. David Reagan: What’s the topic?

Todd Strandberg: It’s in the “left behind” section—just a very good synopsis that’s been picked up elsewhere.

Nathan Jones: Do you write for the website?

Todd Strandberg: I’m so busy doing other people’s stuff. I feel like I’ve written everything that needs to be written.

Nathan Jones: How many volunteers do you have? A site that size must need a good volunteer staff—or do you do it on your own?

Todd Strandberg: We have a whole slew of people. We’ve loaned our name to Rapture Ready Radio. They’re sort of independent. Sometimes we get complaints—“They’re independent, but they use your name.” We’ve had hundreds of people write for the site over the years.

Dr. David Reagan: But the technical side—that’s you?

Todd Strandberg: Yes, I’m responsible for it in the end.

Dr. David Reagan: I happen to know you do write from time to time—and very excellent articles, particularly on economics.

Nathan Jones: The “Nearing Midnight” section.

Todd Strandberg: The funny thing about economics: we’re at a point where they seem locked up. Take Japan—their interest rates are about 1%, even one-tenth of 1%, and still their economy doesn’t collapse. I think the Rapture is holding everything up. It doesn’t make sense. Their debt is in the quadzillions of yen, and it never collapses. Our debt is over $20 trillion. Why is this holding together? I think God is holding it back.

Dr. David Reagan: And when the collapse comes, it’s going to be phenomenal.

Todd Strandberg: Amen.

Nathan Jones: And you think this parallels the Rapture?

Todd Strandberg: I do, because we’ve never had interest rates this low for so long with the economy just muttering along. We’re about to set a record for the longest growth—

Dr. David Reagan: Terry, you’ve got a new book about the Rapture, and one thesis is that the Rapture itself will trigger global chaos, right?

Terry James: Yes—Todd and I believe that strongly. This whole thing is like a giant bubble building for more than a decade. Any other period of history—something should have happened. I’m not the economics expert Todd is, but I’ve learned. This is unparalleled. I think God is holding it up for a specific reason—the Rapture.

Numbers & Reach

Nathan Jones: Back to the website—you cover so many topics. Tell us about the audience: how many unique visitors per day? And tell us about Rapture Ready Radio too—but first, the numbers.

Todd Strandberg: We don’t track the other platforms—like Rapture Ready Radio—since we just loaned our name. The main site gets about 40,000 uniques on Monday and about 30,000 by Saturday.

Dr. David Reagan: What’s a “unique”?

Todd Strandberg: Actual individuals. People could come 20 times a month—that’s hits. Uniques are individuals. We get a quarter million unique individuals per month.

Nathan Jones: So 30–40 thousand people per day visit Rapture Ready.

Todd Strandberg: And during special events—when Obama got elected—our uniques hit 150,000 in one day.

Nathan Jones: Ours shot up then too.

Dr. David Reagan: Have you made the website Rapture-proof—so it can minister during the Tribulation?

Todd Strandberg: One of my goals is for it to survive, because I believe the days after the Rapture will bring more traffic than the site’s entire 29-year history.

Dr. David Reagan: Amen.

Todd Strandberg: Hundreds of millions—maybe billions—will have heard of the Rapture and will flock to the Internet. Our main site might collapse, so we have 25 mirror sites ready to take the load. Our bandwidth increases every year. My first provider gave me 20 megs; now we can get terabits. Theoretically, we could handle hundreds of millions of hits.

Dr. David Reagan: But what if the government closes it down?

Todd Strandberg: I don’t think God will allow that—at least not initially. They could flip a switch—domains were handed over to international bodies. But I think God will keep it up long enough. Even if the site lasts only weeks, the traffic will be tremendous.

Nathan Jones: With 30–40 thousand daily visitors, you must impact many people. Do you get stories about changed lives?

Todd Strandberg: All the time. It compels me to keep going. I’ve met people in surprising places. Once, during Air Force SEAL Leadership School, the guy next to me mentioned the site. I said, “Yeah, I run Rapture Ready.” He said, “Oh, I go there all the time.” I’m always shocked people know. I think of myself as a worker bee—I just do the Lord’s work.

Terry James: I hear feedback too. My wife was recently in the hospital for knee replacement, and a woman down the hall was talking with a nurse about Bible prophecy and mentioned Rapture Ready. My wife said, “Oh, my husband works for Rapture Ready.” We hear things like that in our little town.

Attacks on the Rapture & Global Reach

Dr. David Reagan: In recent years, I’ve noticed increasing attacks on the Rapture—vicious claims that there’s no such thing, that it’s nonsense. It seems the closer we get, the more Satan attacks the idea. Have you picked up on that?

Terry James: Amen—I agree.

Terry James: I get emails every week—several filled with vitriol and terrible accusations.

Nathan Jones: Do they try cyberattacks?

Todd Strandberg: Mostly verbal. We’ve never had a real cyberattack, that I know of. Apologetics in churches has pretty much imploded—few speak out against wine, drugs, or extramarital affairs—but many attack the Rapture. Of all the problems in the world—Satanism, corrupt culture—they go after the Rapture. It seems pointless with worse issues out there.

Dr. David Reagan: We’re touching a satanic nerve with that subject.

Nathan Jones: One neat thing about being Web Ministers is that websites can reach people missionaries can’t. We frequently hear from Islamic countries where readers say if anyone knew they visited our site, they could be killed. They learn the Gospel online. Do you encounter readers from closed countries?

Todd Strandberg: We get very little traffic from the rest of the world—maybe 3,000 hits from China—but most is from the United States. The opportunity is there, though; most people in some countries aren’t allowed to hear broadcasts like this. I think when the Rapture occurs, it will break through that barrier. End-times interest is mostly an American thing: about 95% of our traffic is from America—probably 97% if you count Americans overseas.

Nathan Jones: Good point.

Todd Strandberg: That might be why America implodes—no other country may be as affected by the Rapture as America.

Dr. David Reagan: How do you respond to the number one attack—the claim that the Rapture started with a teenage girl in Scotland, supposedly demon-possessed or a crazy charismatic, who had a “vision” about the Rapture?

Todd Strandberg: I’d point them to my article about Margaret MacDonald. But I find it pointless to argue—people are set in their views. I’ve never changed anyone’s mind about the Rapture.

Dr. David Reagan: What’s incredible is there’s no evidence. I read an entire book claiming this, and the appendix contained her vision. I read it ten times and never found the Rapture of the Church in it.

Terry James: I think it’s a demonic-motivated hatred. Satan hates the Rapture because it is so close.

New Features, Social, and Apps

Dr. David Reagan: Are there new features coming with the relaunch—new look, new tools?

Todd Strandberg: People will be able to post articles to Facebook and actually print them—things I’m still learning.

Nathan Jones: Social sharing?

Todd Strandberg: Yes—social networks.

Nathan Jones: Do you have groups on social—Rapture Ready on Facebook or Twitter people can follow?

Todd Strandberg: I’m taking it one step at a time. I feel over my head. It’s already successful; we’ll see about the rest. I’m an old dinosaur—I know HTML. I don’t know how all these RSS feeds work. Maybe that’s your specialty while we do something else.

Nathan Jones: Everybody does things differently and reaches different audiences. For instance, we have an app—the Lamb & Lion app—on Android and iPhone. A Rapture Ready app might be in your future; some people only access us through the app.

Todd Strandberg: How many users?

Nathan Jones: About 42,000 downloads. Every time we release an article or video, it’s pushed with a notification—“New Christ in Prophecy episode.” This episode will show up on people’s phones with “Watch this.” That might be a future upgrade for you.

Todd Strandberg: You guys do videos. We mostly stay with text.

Nathan Jones: Some people won’t watch video; others only watch. Different audiences.

Todd Strandberg: We think text is the place to stay because it’s searchable on the Internet. Video is hard to search—though that’s improving. If you’re trying to find something specific…

Nathan Jones: YouTube has made advances, yes.

“How Close Are We?”

Dr. David Reagan: There’s a journal of physicists with a “Doomsday Clock” on the cover; they move the hand toward midnight to indicate how close we are to annihilation. If you had a clock for the Rapture, where would the hand be?

Todd Strandberg: Probably one minute to midnight.

Dr. David Reagan: You really believe it’s that close?

Todd Strandberg: We’re seeing Russian news talk about nuclear war while our media ignores it.

Dr. David Reagan: I know. They’re calling people home and building bomb shelters.

Todd Strandberg: Worse than the Cold War. In Europe, when women are assaulted by Muslim migrants, the German government says, “Why don’t you just cover up?” Or, “Let’s not mention Muslim or terrorism.” We’re in crazy land.

Dr. David Reagan: Kooks are running the nut house.

Todd Strandberg: Yes. That’s a key sign. The insanity keeps getting worse. Saying Jews have no connection to Israel is like saying the moon doesn’t exist—or is made of cheese.

Dr. David Reagan: Terry, you’ve written a book about the Rapture. How close do you think we are?

Terry James: Very close. What convinces me are Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 and Luke 17—the “days of Noah” and “days of Lot” prophecy. He said business will be “as usual.” I think that explains this holdup in economics and war—like the buildup we hear about from Russia. Jesus said it would be business as usual until, just like in Noah’s and Lot’s days, the righteous were called out; that very day, judgment fell. I believe that’s what will bring it all collapsing. We see the buildup—and the collapse could come at any moment because I think Christ will call us home very soon. (Matthew 24; Luke 17)

Closing & Resources

Dr. David Reagan: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy. I hope you’ve been enlightened and blessed by Nathan’s interview of Todd Strandberg and Terry James. Todd, tell folks how to donate to your ministry.

Todd Strandberg: I appreciate donations, but I would really like prayer for the site. We’re in a very pivotal, earnest, and desperate time for God’s will in what we’re doing. Please pray for us more than anything.

Dr. David Reagan: I appreciate your concern about prayer more than money, but still—tell them how to donate.

Todd Strandberg: Go to raptureready.com—there’s a donation button there.

Nathan Jones: Dr. Reagan mentioned a book I just finished—an amazing book by Terry James, Rapture Ready or Not… Terry, tell us briefly about it.

Terry James: Rapture Ready or Not… 15 Reasons This Is the Generation That Will Be Left Behind. That’s exactly what it’s about—issues converging that convince me, in my spirit, why we’re close to the Rapture of the Church. Whether you’re “rapture ready” or not—the title implies it—it’s like the old game “Red Rover, Red Rover.” Be ready or not, I’m coming. I think that’s what Jesus is telling us.

Dr. David Reagan: Amen. It’s a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it. We did a special program about it a couple of months ago.

Terry James: Yes, we did.

Dr. David Reagan: People can find that program on our website. Nathan, tell folks about our website.

Nathan Jones: Rapture Ready might be the biggest Bible prophecy website out there, but our website is chasing it—lamblion.com (also christinprophecy.org). You’ll find a wealth of Bible prophecy information, mostly written by Dr. David Reagan, plus our Christ in Prophecy TV programs, articles, resources, and social networks to join. We have the Lamb & Lion app and a newsletter you can sign up for—check us out at lamblion.com.

Dr. David Reagan: Our television programs are archived there and can be watched on demand, right?

Nathan Jones: 24/7 you can watch Christ in Prophecy.

Dr. David Reagan: As well as innovative short videos you’ve produced.

Nathan Jones: We have Bible Prophecy Insight videos and Inbox videos—short videos that answer your questions about Bible prophecy.

Dr. David Reagan: And folks, if you have a question—

Nathan Jones: Oh, here we go.

Dr. David Reagan: —and nobody knows the answer—something completely complex—send it to Nathan and ask him.

Nathan Jones: I’d be happy to.

Dr. David Reagan: That’s our program for this week. I hope it’s been a blessing to you, and I hope you’ll be back with us, the Lord willing, next week. Until then, this is David Reagan for Lamb & Lion Ministries saying, “Look up, be watchful, for our redemption is drawing near.”

Narrator: To secure a copy of Terry James’ new book on the Rapture, give us a call at the number on the screen. The book can be yours for a gift of $20 or more, including shipping. Call Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Central Time, or place your order through our website at lamblion.com. The concept of a Pre-Tribulational Rapture is under attack today as never before. The book presents solid evidence that the concept is biblically based. You might also want to order a copy of Dr. Reagan’s latest video album, titled In Defense of the Pre-Trib Rapture. It runs an hour and a half. In the video, Dr. Reagan responds to all the major arguments against the Pre-Trib Rapture, then interviews six Bible prophecy experts who also respond to the challenges: Dr. Tommy Ice (Director, Pre-Trib Research Center), Dr. Andy Woods (pastor and theology professor), Dr. Mark Hitchcock (pastor and prolific Bible prophecy author), Dr. William Watson (biblical scholar, professor, and author), Dr. Charles Ryrie (editor of the renowned Ryrie Study Bible), and Tim LaHaye (co-author of the best-selling Left Behind series). This DVD video album can also be yours for a gift of $20 or more, including shipping. Or secure both Terry James’ book and Dr. Reagan’s video for a gift of $35 or more, including shipping. Just ask for offer #742.

Narrator: Thank you for joining us on today’s Christ in Prophecy, a presentation of Lamb & Lion Ministries—a non-denominational ministry dedicated to teaching the fundamentals of biblical prophecy and proclaiming the soon return of Jesus.