It’s the end of the world as we know it… And I feel fine!

          Well if you are reading this, one of two things has happened.  Either the rapture did not happen, or you and I have a lot to worry about. Either way we need to talk.

     People have been predicting the end of the world and with it the rapture since the first century. Paul rebukes the people in his letter to the Thessalonians who had literally stopped working so that they could watch for Christ’s return. Paul finally had to tell them to get back to work and tells them that those who do not work should not eat.

     Every generation has thought that this is the generation that will see the return of the Lord. With each additional generation there have been people who have claimed to have known the date and the time of the rapture. Each time the date and hour have gone by without seeing the return of the Lord.

     Back in the 80’s a former NASA engineer and bible student named Edgar C. Whisenant predicted that the Lord would return in 1988. His book 88 reasons that Jesus will return in 1988 was followed the following year by his book 89 reasons why Jesus will return in 1989 when his predictions failed to materialize. Over the next decade Whisenant would make further predictions for the timing of the rapture each of which never came to pass.  

     Well here we are in 2011 and the faithful are still waiting for his return. In the past few years we have seen the signs that Paul talked about, we have seen wars and rumors of wars, and we have also seen earthquakes and natural disasters. We have taken Peter’s admonition to heart that,” The Lord is not slow as some count slowness but desires that none should perish.” But for some, we would be happy if His return was today, this very hour even.  

     Around Dallas the billboards started appearing a couple of months ago announcing that the rapture and Judgment day would be May 21, 2011.  Not only was the date stated on the billboards but the very hour of his return was predicted. At 6:00 pm in every one of the time-zones around the world the Faithful would be ruptured. Harold Camping who had previously predicted the return in 1994 broadcast on 55 radio stations and advertised on an additional 6,000 billboards that Jesus would return today May 21, 2011 beginning at sundown in Jerusalem.

     So either Mr. Camping was correct and you and I were Left Behind or he was wrong about the return of Jesus. Since we are Bible believing people we will let the Bible have the last word (hopefully the last word) on the subject. According to Mathew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” So according to scripture no one not even Jesus when he was here on Earth in His human form knew when he would return to earth. The only one who knows that date is God the Father.

   So where does that leave us? Well if you are a believer it means that we have a little bit of time left and God willing if we live that long there will come a day when we will be raptured, caught up with Him in the clouds. For those who are not believers it means that there is still time. Time to realize that you are a sinner and that you need a savior and without that savior you are lost and will face the wrath of God that the bible foretells. For you there is still time, for the rest of us we will just have to say Maranatha, and today would be nice!    

More Than Meets The Eye

      What is God like? You hear that question all the time. Depending on who you ask you will get a different answer to that question.

       Some describe Him as a kind of benevolent grandfather. Some refer to Him as the man up stairs. Others call him the absentee watchmaker who wound up the world, set it into motion and then left.  Most of the people today say that God is Love.  In itself that is a correct statement God is indeed Love but to say that that is all he is is to miss out on who God is.

      There is an Old story of the blind men who were asked to describe the essence of an Elephant by feeling one. Each of the blind men touched a different part of the Elephant. One said the the Elephant was like a tree, another said he was like a snake, another like a hose, etc…  

     None of the men could describe the essence of the Elephant because each had a limited view of what an Elephant was. We humans have the same problem when we are describing what the essence of God is. We have two distinct problems, the first is akin to the problem that the blind men have and that is that we know God only from our limited point of view. We only know God by our experience of Him. We say that God is this or that but it is really only part of what God is. He is so much more than we can ever grasp with our finite minds.

     We have such a limited experience with God. We humans have to put things in terms of what we know, so God can be like the father who ignores us, or like the friend who helps us in our time of need, or He can be the intimate love of our lives. For each person we can see a different aspect of who God is but we still miss the big picture. 

     On the other hand, we can willfully disregard who God is. Sometimes we really don’t want to know who God really is because to know him is to be responsible for the things that he has commanded us. The atheist denies the very existence of God for that very reason. God says “The fool says in his heart that there is no God.”  If they deny Him they do not have to deal with Him.  

     For others it is easier to just say that God is Love. That way they can say that a Loving God would never do XY or Z. They overlook that God is a Just God and that he has a standard for his people. If they ignore who God really is they think that they don’t have to obey his commandments.

     If they say that God is Love they can live like, well like hell and don’t have to worry that there are consequences for their actions. I’m a pretty good person, I don’t kick the dog, I’m good to the wife, I give to charities, well sometimes, God would never do something like send me to hell. They want to ignore what they perceive as the hard and messy parts of having a relationship with God. They think that it is just too much work.

     Jesus promised that if we take on His yolk that it is light and that he would give us rest. He also promised that” You will find me if you seek me with all your heart. How better to get to know someone than if you just seek them out and have a relationship with them. Better than flying blind.

Walking the wall

      I used to work for the United Artist Theatre Chain. I loved movies. Over those years I watched hundreds of Movies. It is little wonder that when I write,a reference or two from a movie will make its way into the text.
     Everyone remembers Jack Nicholson’s performance as Col. Jessep in “A Few Good Men”. Even before I write a single thing, I bet that you can guess the line I think about every time I think about that movie.
                                         “ You Can’t Handle the Truth!”
     That whole exchange between Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruz has come to be emblematic of the world that we live in. We hate what he stands for, we even hate what he did, but somewhere in his twisted logic we see a glimmer of truth.

Col. Jessep: “ Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have  to be guarded by men with guns. Who is going to do it? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom”
     We need men and women to protect us, to sound the alarm when danger is near. God has appointed men and women, watchmen, to warn the people to come in to safety. "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel;whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them for Me.” Ezekiel 3:17 Thewarning was not only for those inside of the kingdom who had fallen away, busy with their own lives, it was also for those outside of the walls, outside of the kingdom.
Col. Jessep: You don’t want the truth because deep down in the places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.
     From this passage in Ezekiel you would think that he was talking about the Pastors, the “professionals” But it is not. Each and every Christian has been called to walk that wall, to take their place as the watchman. God says, “I have appointed you.”
     Over the last decade or so we have slowly forgotten our charge. We do not want to offend anyone and we have watered down our message. What we are left with is a weak message. “ If you do not repent, so to speak, you might go to hell, as it were.” [1]
     We have lost sight of what the truth is.  Isaiah says; Israel's watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. We are losing generations of people because we have fallen asleep at the switch. We are not innocent!  We will be held responsible for not sounding the alarm. One day the gates will be closed and it will be too late. Can you handle the truth?

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[1] Quote by Dr. David Allen

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