Its the End of the World?

Well, May 21, 2011 is tomorrow.  The seconds are ticking by and we have all heard that the world is gonna end with Earthquakes and disaster.  I decided last night between completing my sermon and preparing for Life Group tonight, that I had just about run out of time to research MAY 21.

When I started pulling up articles I about gave up because the web is already inundated with as wide of variety of voices as you can imagine.  This whole Judgement day prediction was birthed by Harold Camping an apocalyptic fanatic who has already been wrong in 1994, so I was amazed to see how it has spread all over the globe.  There is even a local group out of Boone Iowa who has grabbed a hold of this claim.  Boone Bible Ministry.

Maybe a good place to start is by providing some links for any of you who have done your best to ignore it like me.  Lets have a top ten list

1. COUNTDOWN CLOCK
2. NPR
3. Focus on the Family
4. 5 Facts about Harold Camping (hint – he got it wrong once already) 
5. Top ten End of the World Prophecies (Time Magazine)
6. Family Radio -The Web Site of Harold Camping
1. Good luck getting there – Site had a bad rating and was moving very slow!
7. $140,000 Retirement spent on May 21, publicity
8. Real Truth – This web page uses Biblical sitings to disprove Camping
9. Understanding Campings Prophecy
10. Parents and Kids disagree

There is a lot of information out there.  but basically Campings belief is based on the date of Noah’s flood and calculating that May 21 is exactly 7,000 years after that date. (4990 + 2011 -1 = 7000 years. ([-1] is in the equation because there is no zero year between B.C.E. and A.D.).

While I am one who is enthusiastic about seeing Christ come in glory and having an eternity of time with the Heavenly Father, I must admit that I fall back on the scripture that no one know the day or the hour.  (Mark 13:32) and while yes I believe we are to be ready for His return any time, I also believe that living like there is no tomorrow is not Biblically responsible either.  Instead we are called to store up treasures in heaven, (I believe these things are the way we love God and love our neighbor)

Furthermore, my greatest fear is for all those who place their faith, hope, and life (financially, spiritually, or emotionally) on this prediction?  What about those who have quit jobs, sold homes, withdrawn retirements?  And the component so few are talking about, what about the non-christian culture who look at this as another proof that our Jesus, our God, our faith is not relevant to their modern world; that we use apocalyptic scare tactics to attract adherents.  I can just imagine the next person I invite to church asking, why, haven’t all the real believers already been raptured? Ok, I’ll stop being cynical now – something I have to work on.

Is it possible for the world to end tomorrow?  Sure, If we believe God is sovereign we must admit it is possible.  And to live with anticipation of the kingdom of God is good.  However, wow, and there are so many however’s I could start on.  (yea, I’m not gonna start down that road… unless you come to small group tonight)

Let me close with this thought.  If you are worried about what tomorrow will bring, if you even fully believe it will bring disaster, know that I have a sermon prepared for Sunday.  Know that we are planning a fun day at Beaver Creek Elementary next Wednesday.  Know that we have VBS scheduled for July, and activities planned through the end of the year.

I believe we are called to live every day like it is the day I will see Jesus, and yet somehow I believe we can also live with a plan for the days that this world may still hold for us.  It is the tension of what is with what will be.  I hope you will be able to rest tonight and trust that whatever tomorrow brings, placing your faith in Christ is what we are called to do every day, and that is enough to give us peace and assurance in our own rapture and eternal destiny with Jesus.

Who has the answers?

This is Holy week, and the Church should be celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We should be rejoicing over the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  But instead the Church is rocked with tension between postmodern thinking pastors and traditional framed faith.  If you have seen the most recent front cover of TIME magazine you will encounter the title, “What if there’s no HELL?”

I just purchased the book, Love Wins, by Rob Bell. Here is a little video introduction you might enjoy.

This book has caused more than its share of turmoil in the Christian community.  Not only because of the position that it posits, but also because of the huge following that Bell has at his church Mars Hill in Grandville, Michigan, and his national following through his video series Nooma which now has 24 short, thought provoking DVD’s.  Robb has also written several well received books, Drops like Stars,Jesus wants to save Christians, Sex God, and Velvet Elvis.

As I have not finished reading the book yet I cannot share my personal thoughts.  And in fact I am not sure I should.  There has been at least one pastor fired for supporting Rob.  The truth is that as I mature I realize I have less answers and more questions.  I also acknowledge that both the Orthodox and more universalist/liberal traditions of understanding eternity and salvation have been handed down from the earliest religious communities.  As such my goal is not to stir the waters any more, but rather to ask, who is bold enough to say they have all the answers this side of seeing Jesus face to face?

Below is a couple opinions about Love Wins and the theology presented in Rob’s book.  The first (Support of Love Wins) is from Richard Mouw, the President of Fuller Theological Seminary who says, “I knew that the book was being widely criticized for having crossed the theological bridge from evangelical orthodoxy into universalism. Not true, I told the reporter. Rob Bell is calling us away from a stingy orthodoxy to a generous orthodoxy.”

Here is a (strong critic of Love Wins) written by Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor, University Reformed Church of East Lansing, Michigan, who says, “there are dozens of problems with Love Wins. The theology is heterodox. The history is inaccurate. The impact on souls is devastating.”

For me the question is not who is right and who is wrong;  it is not if grace or judgment is greater, it is not whether heaven and hell are “already but not yet”, it is not if love wins or looses.  For me the question is when will humanity stop arguing about things we cannot know for sure and start acting on the things we do.

(Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind, and love your neighbor as yourself!)

For then we can say,

“thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”