Sunday, May 22, 2011

Happy Post-Rapture Day

Well as you've no doubt concluded, the world did not end yesterday despite the best predictions by some dingbat named Harold Camping.

This didn't stop a lot of people enjoying a good belly-laugh at the expense of the believers. "Hey, folks, I was raptured!!!" wrote one fellow. "Hope things aren't too bad down there now. Yeah, they've got the web up here, too. Turns out Heaven is whatever you want it to be like. It's awesome!"

Like many others, I was inclined to poke fun at the poor dupes who believed in Mr. Camping's prophecies until I read this article, which discusses the local fellow whose barn sign we passed recently on the way to the Moscow Renaissance Faire.


Obviously predicting the end of the world is nothing new, so much so that the Bible is chock-full of warnings, among them Deuteronomy 18:22, Matthew 24:4-5, Matthew 24:36, Acts 20:28-31, 1 John 4:1, etc.

In reading the article, I was saddened by the degree to which Mr. Ivers was under the spell of the false prophet. He quit his job (in this economy?), sold most of his possessions, and used his savings to travel as far away as Europe, warning others that the end is near. "I’m more confident about the Lord’s return in a few hours than I am about the sun coming up tomorrow," Mr. Ivers is quoted as saying.

Beyond the obvious suggestion that folks like Mr. Ivers follow Jesus rather follow false prophets, I will try to find pity rather than humor in the situation. There are a lot of lives which now need to be rebuilt because of some crackpot who thought he knew more than our Savior.

13 comments:

  1. I'm not sure about Pity Patrice, I do know that when I've messed up in the past, humor played a big part in helping me get over the screw ups. So don't stop the humor. I think for many people who were deceived humor will serve a vital part in helping them get past this event. For my part I couldn't think of any good rapture jokes, but it's not the end of the world, so I've got time.

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  2. I felt a lot of pity for them too. Although we should all keep our minds about us when it comes to prophecies like these, I have to at least admire their faith, misplaced as it was.

    All day yesterday, I kept thinking "what if today was our last day?" Would I be proud of how I was acting? Would I be able to say I spent time with my family? That I gave my kids plenty of hugs and kisses? That I was a good wife to my husband?

    If anything, I appreciate the reminder to live each day as if it were my last.

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  3. As you quoted in several biblical verses Patrice, there are numerous warnings and signs of when Hashem will call all of his righteous and committed followers home to him. He also clearly reminds us in the bible in Bereishis (Genesis), that he would NOT give an indication of when, or, of how, he would end this earthly domain. Only that it would be when the corrupt outnumber the righteous again in numbers, and that the human world would not be destroyed with water again. He states We are to remain in a state of preparedness to enter his call, always.
    No sneak peeks!

    I pray for the many who are so inclined to falsely worship human idols and who have been harmed in any way, I pray for them to have learned a lesson of their wrongdoing in making bad choices, and to end this belief in human false prophets and prophecies. I pray for them to become enlightened to a path of righteousness, in which they will be Blessed with discernment and for them to learn this lesson of idol worship, with whatever consequences that my maker deems righteous to open their eyes. I pray they then remain true to the one and only, G-d, our Creator of all the heavens and earth.
    Amen.

    notutopia

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  4. well, i guess the ones who really believed the world was gonna end will just change their story a bit...those of us who are still here in this world were just "left behind".

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  5. I too feel for those who were duped. I hope that those who gave up everything are reimbursed from Mr. Camping's church funds... which have been valued into the millions.

    A wise man once told me, "Never trust a church that asks for money to build a gymnasium."

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  6. False prophets only lead ppl away from Jesus not too him. Think of all the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses that have realized their church is false and how, many times, their relationship with God ended too. I fear for the small seeds of faiths that were planted by this man. I don't want them to be destroyed.


    A wise man once told me, "Never trust a church that asks for money to build a gymnasium."

    Sorry, I don't get it.

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  7. I never got the whole rapture thing. I'm not saying they aren't correct it just seems odd that only after 1800 years after Christ's Death that it gained any ground.
    I believe the old testement had a pretty easy Litmus test for False Prophets. If they are ever wrong they are not of God. Seems simple to me. I'm sad for the folks taken in, the same as I would feel for anyone that got conned.
    Read the book God gave us a bit more carefully. Test, Seek and you will find. Ask with an open heart and open mind and it really is very easy. If not simple.

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  8. My landlord and room mate is a huge Rapture person and was hoping the guy was right, but to no avail. At his 83 years and not of the greatest of health, it's difficult not to understand why. But on the other hand, we should all have ourselves right with the Lord!

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  9. Record floods on the Mississippi, tornados rolling across many states, volcanos in Iceland again, and war throughout most of the middle east, I'm not so sure that many don't feel as the the end is near. Be it Armageddon or the Appocolypse or Rapture, to them I'm sure it doesn't matter. They say timing is everything, most only get it right in hindsight.
    I think the message is as it has always been. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

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  10. I looked at the whole end of the world thing as a great big joke, until my oldest son (12) told me last week how scared most of his friends were. He said that many of his friends were so scared that they planned on not going to bed on the night before the big day so they could stay close to their parents and siblings.

    My kids weren't at all shook up about it because we spend so much time worshipping together as a family, praying and studying God's Word. When my son told me how scared most of his friends were it gave us the chance to talk about what the Bible has to say about Jesus' return and how nobody can predict when that will happen. My son was able to reassure some of his friends with some actual knowledge backing him up, and I am thankful to God that He has given my son (and all of my children) that knowledge.

    This clown that bought all of the billboard space about Judgement Day and did all of the self promoting makes me angry. His foolishness scared lots of people, adults as well as children. In addition, I'm quite sure that there are many people who were turned off to giving their lives to Jesus because of this man's arrogance and foolishness. He'll have to answer for that at some point.

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  11. Here's a billboard you might like (not sure if it's for real):

    http://loudsauce.com/campaigns/36-judgment-day-was-awkward-one-day-billboard-s-for-may-22

    Jane

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  12. The funny joke going around now is that someone who saw Harold Camping looking so depressed the day after, said, "Cheer up. It's not the end of the world."

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  13. Bruce, you've given a great point about how frightened so many youngsters probably were by this non-event and what it represented in their minds. In cases like your son's we see there were many good seeds planted by those who gave encouragement and comfort to their peers based on The Word. It's likely it happened to many many kids in all this, so this in my mind will stand out as one of the best ways Father is still working this to good.

    One of the saddest parts to all this is the persistence of the false notion that what's coming, as promised in The Word, is the end of the world. OMG!!!! Not. It's the end of the AGE....not the world. It's crucial to make that distinction. One has to look back to the manuscripts and understand their Aramaic and Greek translations to fully appreciate the whole picture, but it's there and it's clear if we dig deeply and keep looking.

    The Word is possibly the most popular book in the world, but I'm convinced it's also one of the least understood in many ways. But we're workin' on it!

    Satan has been called a Scripture lawyer. He knows Scripture better than most of us and even tried to finess Jesus Himself with it. He knows the rapture doctrine, alright. He knows exactly where it came from and when, and he knows when that first one is taken from the two in the field, exactly who takes them and exactly where they're headed, and it isn't Jesus and it isn't Heaven.

    This latest end-of-the-world farce and the attendant snickering and demeaning nonsense that goes with it must have satan just tickled to death. Oh, wait. He IS death, isn't he? Oh well, that 'bout says it all, doesn't it?

    A.McSp

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