Christian Escapism

I can't imagine a more serious blunder in end-time theology than teaching believers that they will escape the trouble that is coming upon the whole earth prior to the Lord's return. Yet that is exactly what some teachers teach and what many sincere believers believe. I have a hard time finding any support for this position in the scripture. In fact - I find that the Bible plainly states just the opposite.
If we are to trust the Word, we must be able to make sense of what is written. God knew when He gave the scripture that most people down through history would be uneducated so He purposely made the Bible understandable to the majority of mankind. It is not some kind of cryptic text meant only for geniuses and masterminds. So if we look at the plain meaning of the passages that deal with the end-times we can make sense of them.
Take 2 Thess. 2:1-4 for instance. This is part of Paul's 2nd letter to the believers in Thessalonica. Here's the quote: "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a messenger or a letter as if from us , to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition , who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God."
Paul clearly teaches that Jesus' coming and the gathering of believers to Him would not happen until two things happened first - the falling away and the revealing of the Antichrist when he displays himself as being God. Most of the faithful are agreed that that event - known as the Abomination of Desolation - takes place at the 3 1/2 year mark of the Tribulation. If you reason this out then the reality is that believers are present on the earth during at least the first half of the Tribulation. To come to any other conclusion is Christian escapism at best and an outright falsehood at worst. Believers will not be taken away from this intense time of trouble. This will be our time to shine - when our love for the Lord and His kingdom will stand unwavering even in the face of death - and our faces will be looking up for our redemption is at hand as we see Him coming in the clouds with great glory. Who wants to escape that?