“Here’s Your Sign” of a Signless Event: How Pop-Prophecy Rewrites its own Movie
By Robert E. Cruickshank, Jr. (April 6, 2026)
Daniel E. Harden (Editor), Brett Prieto (Proofreader)
[5 ½ -Minute Read]
Back in the mid-90s, the Blue-Collar Comic, Bill Engvall, came up with the catchphrase that would make him famous – “Here’s your sign!”[1] The expression was a sarcastic way of pointing out the obvious to someone who had completely missed the obvious.
With that said, today’s dispensationalists are constantly looking for signs everywhere, every day, and in every way. Specifically, they are constantly looking for these signs in the constant stream of current events. Riding that current, every bit of bad news is oddly viewed as good news – another hopeful sign that it will soon be rapture time.[2]
The technical term would be newsfeed exegesis.[3]
Consequently, every time I hear about something horrible in the world, like a new war starting somewhere, I think of all my dispensational friends, and I say, “Here’s your sign.”
By that, I’m referring to both their relentless need to look for signs in the headlines and Bill Engvall’s original punchline. The truth is that those who are on Rapture Watch[4] have a huge blind spot they haven’t caught.
If today’s dispensationalists actually understood their own system, nothing in the news today could be a sign of the rapture tomorrow. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even war.
I’ll explain this in a minute, but first let me draw an analogy to something else from the mid-90s that will help make my point.
Original Cuts and Later Edits
Around the same time that Engvall was cracking us up with his witty stand-up, Lucasfilm released a boxed set of the original Star Wars Trilogy on VHS.[5] The infamous commercial promo for its release left fans scratching their heads. It said: “This will be your last chance to own the original version of Star Wars.”[6] I remembered thinking: what does that mean…original version? What are they changing? Maybe the changes will be minor?
As all Star Wars fans obviously know by now, the changes were far from minor![7]
From Greedo shooting first, to Ian McDiarmid replacing Marjorie Eaton as The Emperor, to Hayden Christensen replacing Sebastian Shaw as Anakin’s force ghost, the original films have been significantly altered.[8] In fact, those who aren’t old enough to have grown up watching the originals are often shocked at the changes that have been made.
The same is true of dispensationalism.
It’s been altered. It’s been changed. It isn’t what it used to be.
James B. Jordan Puts the Original Movie In
In an appendix to David Chilton’s book The Days of Vengeance, James B. Jordan puts the original VHS tape in, so to speak, and notes several key differences between “the original version” (to riff off the Star Wars VHS commercial) of dispensationalism and the modern, altered version – which he calls “pop-dispyism.”[9] Among the many differences between pop-dispyism and original dispensationalism, one key point is pertinent today: “There are absolutely no signs that the Rapture of the Church is near. It will come ‘as a thief in the night.’”[10]
In this sense, the version of dispensationalism on display today is sort of like Special Edition Theology: Digitally Remastered…With Signs Edited In. We could call it, The Rapture: Now Featuring Signs (Not Included in the Original Cut).
In the original showing of the Dispie movie, 1948 couldn’t have been a sign.[11] 1967 couldn’t have been a sign. No wars or rumors of wars today could be a sign. Nothing that today’s world leaders do or say could be a sign. In short, according to dispensationalism in its original form, nothing can be a sign of the rapture because there are no signs that precede the rapture.
Sign, Sign, Nowhere a Sign[12]
In his book Ten Popular Prophecy Myths Exposed and Answered, Gary DeMar puts it this way: “…another fundamental principle of dispensationalism is that there are no prophetic signs prior to the ‘rapture.’ Not one. Zilch. Nada. None.”[13]
In the book, DeMar cites a number of old-school dispensational teachers who concur that the rapture is a “signless” event, including Gerald B. Stanton, John MacArthur, James F. Stitzinger, and Paul Feinberg. Feinberg, in fact, puts it in no uncertain terms:
“There is no mention of any signs or events that precede the Rapture of the church in any of the Rapture passages. The point seems to be that the believer prior to this event is to look, not for some sign, but the Lord from heaven. If the Rapture was a part of the complex of events that make up the Second Advent, and not distinct from it, then we would expect that there would be a mention of signs or events in at least one passage.”[14]
DeMar reiterates the point: “The key phrase is, ‘there are no signs that precede the ‘rapture.’”[15]
Listen to the Pastor about the Rapture
Pastor John Rasicci believes in the pre-tribulational rapture and would be considered a dispensationalist by all counts. For those of us who remember, September 23, 2017 was another rapture-dud date that has come and gone. On September 22, 2017 Pastor Rasicci wrote an article entitled The Imminent and Signless Rapture. In that article, he had some good advice for his fellow rapture hopefuls – reminding them of what they are supposed to believe:
“One of the current stirrings going on in some parts of the Body of Christ is about the prophecies being made about the Rapture taking place on the date of September 23, 2017… When it comes to the Rapture, the Blessed Hope of the Church (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:13) there are NO SIGNS TO IT … The physical signs point to His physical Return not the Rapture. The Rapture event is a sign-less event and there is nothing in the Bible that gives any basis from which to set dates.”[16]
In similar fashion, Pastor Tony Garland argues for a pre-tribulational rapture specifically because there are no signs before the rapture and a mid-tribulational or post-tribulational position would obviously provide the world with many signs before the rapture occurs. If the rapture must wait for certain signs to be fulfilled, then the idea of the rapture always being imminent is logically impossible. He writes, “Either Jesus can come ‘any moment’ or He can’t.”[17]
Either the rapture is a signless, any-moment event, or it’s a scheduled event preceded by certain signs. The doctrine of imminence is what pop-dispies lose, the moment they start scanning the headlines for clues. They edit the original movie and rewrite the script they claim to be following.
Turning the headlines into a trailer for a signless event is the ultimate spoiler alert that ruins the whole dispensational plot.
According to dispensationalism, the film was never supposed to have a preview.
Pop-Prophecy’s Phantom Menace
What Pastors Rasicci and Garland wrote echoes what James B. Jordan said about consistent dispensationalism in its true form. This is not to say that consistent dispensationalism in its true form is right to begin with, however. It’s not.
This is simply saying that the modern, pop-prophecy version of dispensationalism is not even consistent with dispensationalism itself. As far as Jordan was concerned, “dispensationalism is sorely wrong in its prophetic view,” but he nonetheless provided an accurate summary of “standard, consistent dispensationalism.” [18]
The inconsistent “dispen-sen-sationalism” introduced by Hal Lindsey, and peddled by today’s prophecy profiteers, is even more new and novel than dispensationalism itself, and ironically, it is the undoing of dispensationalism itself. It’s the Achilles Heel and the death knell of the whole system.
Just like Hayden Christensen replacing Sebastian Shaw as Anakin’s force ghost in Return of the Jedi, Lindsey’s version of dispensationalism has displaced and replaced the original version. Since then, just about all dispensationalists have turned to the Dark Side, so to speak, and now promote this newsfeed exegesis as they look for signs of a signless event.
But that’s the phantom that’s menacing behind their message, turning their message on its head.
It’s illogical. It’s incoherent. It’s inconsistent.
You can’t have something be imminent while awaiting signs at the same time. You can’t have a sign for a signless event. You can’t have it both ways.
For those who think you can – as Bill Engvall would say, “Here’s your sign!”
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[1] Bill Engvall explains the beginnings of “Here’s Your Sign” | Entertainment Blogs https://bit.ly/4dv7rMe
[2] See: We Made It! 7 Other Times Christians Predicted the Rapture But Were Wrong | RELEVANT https://bit.ly/4tsmQS3
[3] I’m of course being facetious with “newsfeed exegesis.” Technically, it’s not really a technical term.
[4] Rapture Watch – Blog for Christians who are watching https://bit.ly/4e42Pww
[5] Star Wars home video releases | Wookieepedia (Fandom) https://bit.ly/3PO7WqO
[6] Star Wars: “One Last Time” Trilogy Trailer | VHS (YouTube) https://bit.ly/4caPMHb
[7] Changes in Star Wars re-releases | Wikipedia https://bit.ly/4bRVGhD ; List of changes in Star Wars re-releases | Wookieepedia (Fandom) https://bit.ly/4shVv4b
[8] Even recent promised “unaltered versions” don’t live up to that promise. Regarding the latest release of the “originals,” Steve Seigh writes: “For what feels like decades, Star Wars fans have been clamoring for an opportunity to own the original unaltered Star Wars trilogy on home video. Yes, the trilogy is available in many formats, including VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and more. However, in 1997, George Lucas changed the original trilogy with a “Special Edition” re-release, introducing significant changes to the original presentation, with additional scenes, effects, and music spliced into the new presentation. More changes to the film occurred in 2004 with the DVD release, then again in 2011 for the Blu-ray collection. This year, another version of the Star Wars trilogy is hitting shelves. However, according to a source (courtesy of The Digital Bits), it’s not the unaltered version of the original fans are hoping for” (Buyer Beware! The Upcoming Unaltered Star Wars Trilogy Is Not the Collection You’re Looking For | JoBlo https://bit.ly/4sSKjfq ).
[9] David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance (1987), Appendix B (James B. Jordan), 620.
[10] David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance (1987), Appendix B (James B. Jordan), 615; emphasis added.
[11] To his credit, Paige Patterson is at least consistent by arguing that “In the future, the Jews will once again be driven from their land before they reclaim the land and embrace Christ as the Messiah” (Theologians tackle question of Israel & biblical prophecy | Baptist Press https://bit.ly/4dqmiaA ). Elsewhere, Patterson said, “The present state of Israel is not the final form. The present state of Israel will be lost, eventually, and Israel will be run out of the land again, only to return when they accept the Messiah as Savior” ( Stated on Dallas, Texas, radio program [KCBI] in a debate with me on May 15, 1991; Q: Gary DeMar, Dispensationalism’s Road to Holocaust | American Vision [December 31, 2024] https://bit.ly/4vcP2do ).
[12] To parody Five Man Electric Band, Signs (Lyrics) | Lyric Genius https://bit.ly/4sTWqJ5
[13] Gary DeMar, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths: Exposed and Answered (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision Press, 2010), 25.
[14] , Q: DeMar, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths, 27.
[15] DeMar, 10 Popular Prophecy Myths, 27.
[16] THE IMMINENT AND SIGNLESS RAPTURE | John Rasicci https://bit.ly/4vbuBgW
[17] Tony Garland, Q69 : Timing of the Rapture | Spirit & Truth https://bit.ly/41ytR89
[18] David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance (1987), Appendix B (James B. Jordan), 616.
