We just moved to south Florida after spending five and a half years in North Carolina, also after spending a considerable amount of money (a) moving everything we owned in truck and trailer, (b) purchasing a house, and (c) setting up new accounts for everything under the sun.
We might have saved a bundle if only we had realized that everything under the sun is about to be destroyed in a worldwide earthquake on May 21.
What? You didn't know that either?
Seriously, I just heard about this. A Facebook friend posted a news clip out of the Greensboro area about Family Radio's proclamation via billboard there to the effect that May 21, 2011, Judgement Day will arrive. Family Radio is led by 80-something Harold Camping, author in 1992 of the book 1994? The book opined that 1994 would see Judgment Day, but when it didn't, he said his research "wasn't complete," thus the CYA addition of a question mark. NOW his research is complete. No question marks for this guy, no siree!
The so-called Christian group's proof comes from a half century of Camping's study of the Bible as well as the following signs:
- the complete degradation of the Christian church
- the devastating moral breakdown of society
- the re-establishment of Israel in 1948
- the emergence of the Gay Pride Movement
- the complete disregard of the Bible in all of society today
Hmmm. I thought Jesus was going to present the Church, his Bride, to himself "in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things [that she might be holy and faultless]" (Ephesians 5:27 Amplified Bible). Does Camping mean the supposed church? The so-called church, the name-only church? Does he mean in America, or worldwide? Cause the Church in other parts of the world reports incredible growth and revival, even modern-day miracles. That doesn't sound like "complete degradation" to me.
Nor do I see "devastating moral breakdown" across the board. Things are clearly not what they were in the United States of 1950, nor as they should be in a perfect world, but neither are they what occurred prior to the fall of Rome or during the Dark Ages. Standards are broken routinely, but there are standards in place to break, which means there is a fairly healthy societal appreciation of Right and Wrong.
And anyone who lives in, or has visited, the Bible Belt would call that item about the "complete disregard of the Bible" a bunch of hooey. People in those parts put scripture in their yards and on their cash registers. There is scripture everywhere you look.
The emergence of the Gay Pride Movement is powerful enough to draw an earthquake of apocalyptic dimensions? Which one -- the one in 1871 Germany or the American movement in 1969? Camping seems to be a bit ethnocentric, making the events in his own country the center of the universe. I don't recall any mention of New York City or San Francisco in the Bible. Jerusalem is the apple of God's eye.
Speaking of which, one can't argue with the significance of the re-establishment of Israel -- that is a clear, undeniable fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. So okay, 1 out of 5 makes sense, not very good odds for quitting jobs and leaving wives (it's happened in Camping's camp).
Even more indicative of delusion is Camping's definitive year for Creation: 11,013 BC. I believe in a Creator and so, by definition, am a creationist, but I'm skeptical of anyone's ability to pinpoint a specific year. Seems a bit arrogant. I'd feel better if he added that old stand-by, the question mark. I suppose this would become problematic in print. 11,013 BC? Maybe so, maybe not. Best guess. As far as I can tell. A little wriggle room, Harold, please.
True believers, says Camping, are given "spiritual eyesight" so that they may know the day and the hour of Christ's return to earth, despite the fact that Jesus said he would return at an hour and moment "when you do not anticipate it" (Luke 12:40). Camping has reinvented scripture to mean that UNbelievers don't know when Jesus will return, but true believers (i.e. those who agree with him) will be given, have been given, a divine head's up.
Huh? Isn't this conveniently overlooking Matthew 24:36's reminder to stay ready and look for signs but "of that [exact] day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father"?
In reading various news reports of Impending Doom, I had to chuckle at one fellow. Kevin Brown of New Jersey is a follower of Camping, yet owns a nutrition and wellness business. My mother, a heart patient who follows a strict diet, has always maintained that if she knew she were about to die, she'd eat cheesecake and sausage biscuits (not together, mind you). If you really believe the world is about to end, why suffer through a diet of vitamin supplements and tofu?
More honest (but sadder, really) is the couple in Orlando who is, this very minute, busy spending the last of their savings so that on May 21, "there will be no money left." Monday, May 23, those two queue up at Orange County Social Services.
Camping quotes the verse about the watchmen on the wall (e.g. his group, in context) blowing a trumpet to warn others (see Ezekiel 33, among other places), but there's no trumpet in his hand. Instead, he uses RV teams and billboards and the Internet to spread the word. He picks and chooses which King James Version words to use literally and which to change to suit him.
I get that. Totally. There are passages of the Bible I find particularly pesky, some I would much rather God hadn't included. But trumpets? What is cooler than that? Frankly, a good jazz accompaniment would go a long way toward improving public perception of Camping's movement.
And come May 22, when everyone and everything is still here...when churches all around the globe are filled with the praises of God's people...he could always start a band. He's already got RVs to haul equipment and a fan base.
Well...maybe not. I'm guessing Harold's gonna be wishing he'd used another question mark.
Permission to reprint with acknowledgment of source.
No comments:
Post a Comment