Hello Everyone!

I saw this article today and I've heard a lot about it recently; One man stating he knows the exact date that the world will end. Friends have sent me things regarding the date, and my daughter saw billboards showing the same date when she was driving home from Miami, so I thought I'd share this with any of you who might be interested:

In this Dec. 17, 2010 photo in Raleigh, N.C., Allison Warden poses with her car showing a message about the rapture. Warden, of Raleigh, has been helping organize a campaign using billboards, post cards and other media in cities across the U.S. through a website, We Can Know. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Radio host foolishly predicts 5/21/11 as date of Rapture – Joel Rosenberg – www.flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com

A radio host named Harold Camping is making headlines this month by publicly predicting that the Rapture -- the sudden disappearance of born-again followers of Jesus Christ from the earth, followed by the Biblical judgments described in the Book of Revelation as the "Great Tribulation" -- will occur on May 21, 2011.

The San Francisco Chronicle recently picked up the story and reported, "Camping, 88, has scrutinized the Bible for almost 70 years and says he has developed a mathematical system to interpret prophecies hidden within the Good Book. One night a few years ago, Camping, a civil engineer by trade, crunched the numbers and was stunned at what he'd found: The world will end May 21, 2011...."

Camping's declaration is deeply misguided. In Matthew chapter 24, the Lord Jesus Christ gave His disciples a list of signs to watch for that would indicate when His return for His true followers was approaching. Such signs included the rise of false messiahs, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, other natural disasters, persecution of believers, the spread of the gospel to all people in every nation, the rebirth of the nation of Israel, and so forth. But in Matthew 24:36, Christ warned His followers not to try to speculate on exact dates of His return. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone," Christ said.

If "no one" on earth knows the date of Christ's return, how then does Harold Camping know? He doesn't.

Yet this is not the first time Camping has been misled or misled others. In 1992, he published a book through Vantage Press in New York entitled, 1994? I actually have a copy because I have started a collection of books and pamphlets of false teachings about Bible prophecy. It's a 552 page volume with this conclusion: "The results of this study teach that the month of September of the year 1994 is to be the time for the end of history." In the following sentence he notes: "We must be cautious. There could be something that has been overlooked. In view of the many paths that I have found that focus on 1994 it seems extremely unlikely that we have overlooked something. However I modestly and humbly acknowledge that such a possibility exists." (emphasis added)

Such date-setting is not only unbiblical, wrong and misleading, it also invites ridicule, scorn and discredit upon followers of Jesus Christ who study the Bible seriously and teach the Word of God -- including prophecy -- carefully and soberly. Jesus Christ was very clear that He is coming back. See John 14:1-3. The Apostle Paul was very clear in describing the Rapture that "the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain [as born again believers in Christ] will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." (I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Teachers of Bible prophecy need to be very careful. Our responsibility is not to predict when Christ will return, but to help people be ready for the Lord's return, whenever that occurs, and especially if it is soon. We can do this by sharing the gospel, making disciples, spreading the Word, strengthening the Church, living lives of holiness and purity, becoming men and women of prayer and worship, caring for the poor and needy, and blessing Israel and her neighbors, to name just a few. We also need to do this by helping people to discern the difference between solid Bible teaching and false teaching. Let's ask the Lord to help us to serve Him wisely and humbly.

Let's also pray for Harold Camping and others that their eyes may be opened to the truth and they make a rapid course correction. •

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Blessings to you from Rev.Debbie ♥