On Tuesday, in Charleston, SC, cannon fire and somber-sounding music marked a commemoration of the Civil War – the nation's bloodiest internal conflict ever. The events re-creating the siege of Fort Sumter began the four-year national commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the brutal struggle that nearly ended the literal existence of a young prospering nation.
At 4 a.m., a single beam of light reached far into the sky. A half-hour later, around the same time the first shots of the Civil War were fired, there was a second beam that represented a nation that had been torn in two. Later, an authentic 1847 seacoast mortar fired and was met by sounds of cannons from around the harbor. A Union re-enactor then tossed a wreath into the water after which men dressed in gray fired a 21-gun salute. The display was in memory of all who died during the conflict on South Carolina soil. Lastly, just following these symbolic gestures, two buglers played "Taps."
As most know, this particular war was characterized by some seemingly unsolvable philosophical divides. There were two sides at the time that could not be much farther apart in their core beliefs. The differences were so profound that even blood brothers were sometimes willing to fight each other to the death when the situation arose. Today, such a thing seems nearly incomprehensible.
War, and fighting on any level, typically comes from a gap that is hard for the opposing sides to close or heal - regardless of who may be right or wrong. These can be massive as seen when entire nations engage in battle. They can also be as minor as two children fighting over the same toy. But in the heat of the moment, the combatants do all they can to prevail and make their point.
The Bible really is the story of a gap – the most destructive chasm ever. This great gulf exists between a fallen and sinful human race and a righteous and holy God. No two sides could be more divided and no gap greater, because this one involves the most serious of all consequences because it is both spiritual and eternal.
In Luke chapter sixteen Jesus told of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. To make a long story short, poor and righteous Lazarus ended up going to heaven at his death while his counterpart did not fare so well and ended up in a place of torment. The passage presents a painful exchange with the suffering soul begging for relief and comfort in his great agony. Verse 24 begins, "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said in response, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.”
But to make matters far worse, Abraham also related that this man’s horrific torment and location would also be ‘endless’ and with no way of return or reversal. His eternal fate had been sealed during life by having no time for God. The awful finality regarding his fate is seen in verse 26. “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” His sins were never forgiven and thus his doom forever.
The Civil War is past history and hopefully the great moral and inspirational lessons learned will continue to act as a foundation for future generations. But unlike when men fight among themselves, the war surrounding human sin, although still fully raging, has already been won decisively by Jesus Christ. The victory came when He cried out “It is finished” from the cross where He offered Himself up as the sacrifice for the sins of the world. (1 John 2:2) His completed payment for rebellion against God means there is no reason for anyone to be eternally lost and someday find themselves on the wrong side of sin’s dreaded ‘gulf’ forever. Christ’s built the one redemptive bridge that allows escaping from the eternal penalty caused by sin. But that spiritual route must be found and followed in this life as the story of Lazarus graphically shows.
The same Jesus who spoke the above words, also spoke to Thomas concerning the gulf dug deep by sin and mankind’s universal need to fill it. The Savior revealed to him in John 14:5-6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Then John added his own words on the subject in 1 John 5:10-13. “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” It would seem that even a young child should be able to grasp this basic and critical spiritual concept!
The awful gap of sin between God and man is real. It has everlasting results and its consequences are far beyond any human understanding. But He has given adequate warning through His word. His bridge back to forgiveness and a right relationship with Himself is equally real, fully effective and clearly defined. Once found, understood, and accepted, it changes ones future destiny instantly and eternally. His is the only pathway able to close and heal the great spiritual divide between God and man as is promised in John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Bill Breckenridge
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Libya in Bible History and Prophecy
Libya has roared into our daily news. It is an ancient country with past historic significance and present trouble, and it is a Bible country of substantial and tragic prophetic importance.
Libya is located on the northern Mediterranean coast of Africa. It is bordered by Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia. The term “Libya” once designated the third continent of Africa west of the Nile River, the other two being Europe and Asia. It stretched from the sea to the hinterlands in the south.
Its name derived from an Egyptian designation of “Levu,” which morphed into “Libya.” Reaching back as far as the two thousand years before Christ, it was settled by people loosely known as Berbers, apparently of Indo-European origin from southwest Asia. The Berbers never sought nationhood but choose identity in tribalism and individual clans. As a result, Libya has been a historic geographic, economic and political football bouncing between Greece, Rome and most recently ruled by a wretched dictator, Muammar Khadafi.
By the second century AD, Libya was mostly Christian from early evangelism. This happy state changed dramatically changed in 647 when 40,000 Arabs wrenched it away from the Byzantine control and transformed it into Muslim control. It most famous city is its capitol, Tripoli, popularized by the Marine Hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli….” This refers to the U.S. Navy subduing the Muslim Barbary Pirates who practiced pillage and mayhem in the Mediterranean for centuries. In 1794, the young United States of America refused to pay protection tribute, established its first national navy and stopped the carnage. (This Tripoli is not to be confused with a city by the same name in northern Lebanon.)
In the New Testament, Libya is most noted as the home of a bearer of Christ’s cross, converts at Pentecost and effective missionaries.
When Christ stumbled beneath the cross on His way to Calvary, a man from Libya was pressed into service. Matthew 27:32 says, “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.” Cyrene is close to Tripoli in Libya.
The account of Pentecost says, “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:8-11) This indicates a strong dedicated Jewish presence in faraway Libya who had come to observe Passover.
Evidently the persecution following Stephen’s death took some of the converts from Pentecost to Antioch in Syria. “But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 11:20-21)
Out of this came a spiritual church that became the first organized foreign missions effort of New Testament times. “Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.” (Acts 13:1-3)
So Libya became largely Christian, far from what it is today—a Muslim hotbed of strife and revolt. Some of the “rebels” are admittedly al Qaeda trainees, and the U.S. and NATO have gotten themselves into a dangerous posture of unsolvable problems.
But what of the future? Libya will join other Islamic nations in the brutal attack on Israel prophesied in Ezekiel 38:5. Evidently, it will also fall in step with Antichrist in his subtle campaign to control Israel as Daniel 11:43 states: “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.” This apparently ends in catastrophe as Ezek. 30:5 says of Egypt and her western neighbor, “Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”
The great hope of this hour is that Gospel outreach—now largely through Internet, radio and TV—will reach the millions of distraught people in Muslim lands and that they will find redemption in Jesus Christ, their only hope for time and eternity. According to prominent author Joel Rosenberg, millions are turning to Christ in the Muslim world, but precious little response is being recorded in Libya. Let’s pray that this changes and many more “Simons from Cyrene” will gladly bear Jesus’ cross in converted discipleship. Libyans did so in the past. Let’s pray that they do it again.
Dave Virkler
Libya is located on the northern Mediterranean coast of Africa. It is bordered by Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Algeria and Tunisia. The term “Libya” once designated the third continent of Africa west of the Nile River, the other two being Europe and Asia. It stretched from the sea to the hinterlands in the south.
Its name derived from an Egyptian designation of “Levu,” which morphed into “Libya.” Reaching back as far as the two thousand years before Christ, it was settled by people loosely known as Berbers, apparently of Indo-European origin from southwest Asia. The Berbers never sought nationhood but choose identity in tribalism and individual clans. As a result, Libya has been a historic geographic, economic and political football bouncing between Greece, Rome and most recently ruled by a wretched dictator, Muammar Khadafi.
By the second century AD, Libya was mostly Christian from early evangelism. This happy state changed dramatically changed in 647 when 40,000 Arabs wrenched it away from the Byzantine control and transformed it into Muslim control. It most famous city is its capitol, Tripoli, popularized by the Marine Hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli….” This refers to the U.S. Navy subduing the Muslim Barbary Pirates who practiced pillage and mayhem in the Mediterranean for centuries. In 1794, the young United States of America refused to pay protection tribute, established its first national navy and stopped the carnage. (This Tripoli is not to be confused with a city by the same name in northern Lebanon.)
In the New Testament, Libya is most noted as the home of a bearer of Christ’s cross, converts at Pentecost and effective missionaries.
When Christ stumbled beneath the cross on His way to Calvary, a man from Libya was pressed into service. Matthew 27:32 says, “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.” Cyrene is close to Tripoli in Libya.
The account of Pentecost says, “And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:8-11) This indicates a strong dedicated Jewish presence in faraway Libya who had come to observe Passover.
Evidently the persecution following Stephen’s death took some of the converts from Pentecost to Antioch in Syria. “But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 11:20-21)
Out of this came a spiritual church that became the first organized foreign missions effort of New Testament times. “Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.” (Acts 13:1-3)
So Libya became largely Christian, far from what it is today—a Muslim hotbed of strife and revolt. Some of the “rebels” are admittedly al Qaeda trainees, and the U.S. and NATO have gotten themselves into a dangerous posture of unsolvable problems.
But what of the future? Libya will join other Islamic nations in the brutal attack on Israel prophesied in Ezekiel 38:5. Evidently, it will also fall in step with Antichrist in his subtle campaign to control Israel as Daniel 11:43 states: “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels.” This apparently ends in catastrophe as Ezek. 30:5 says of Egypt and her western neighbor, “Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword.”
The great hope of this hour is that Gospel outreach—now largely through Internet, radio and TV—will reach the millions of distraught people in Muslim lands and that they will find redemption in Jesus Christ, their only hope for time and eternity. According to prominent author Joel Rosenberg, millions are turning to Christ in the Muslim world, but precious little response is being recorded in Libya. Let’s pray that this changes and many more “Simons from Cyrene” will gladly bear Jesus’ cross in converted discipleship. Libyans did so in the past. Let’s pray that they do it again.
Dave Virkler
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Nation Title Decisively Decided
The name Butler is not typically thought of by most when it comes to a dominating or legendary college basketball team. But the school, one that most fans cannot even pinpoint on a map. made it all the way through March Madness and to the deciding game. It was only there that they fell short – very short!
The opponent was the University of Connecticut (UConn), a team that is synonymous with winning and championship basketball. The were favored to win the title, but Butler’s play up to that point hand many wondering and even in doubt about the final outcome.
It started out well for Butler as UConn trailed 22-19 after a first half. But at halftime, Uconn’s coach made a forceful locker room speech. The result was that they returned to the court and won the title with a defensive showing for the ages. They held Butler’s shooting from the floor to a pathetic 12-for-64. The 18.8 percent performance turned out to be historic as the second worst ever in a title game. When the dust settled, and the shoes stopped squeaking on the floor, the final score was 53-41 and could have been even worse.
"The halftime speech was rather interesting," said Calhoun after the game. Among other things, he said to his team, "We are going to out-will them and outwork them." And that is exactly what they did. The coach is now the oldest to ever win a national championship and one of a select few to own three victories in the famed tournament. He also uttered about his team, "They truly were brothers, they truly were trusting in each other, and that was very, very special. This group has taken me on a very special journey, better than I could possibly imagine."
Calhoun’s feeling about the unity, trust, and teamwork of his club is something that God covets for those on His elect roster of faith. In 1 Corinthians chapter twelve, the Apostle Paul conveys how the local church is really that of a spiritual team made up by a variety of members each having special skills and playing specific positions given them at the moment of salvation.
In verse 12 Paul writes, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
Verse 20 continues by stating, “But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
It is when the various spiritual gifts given to every Christian are developed, used properly, and exercised regularly in the local church team that a ministry flourishes and glorifies the One who put it all in place.
Again, Coach Calhoun declared of his guys, "They truly were brothers, they truly were trusting in each other, and that was very, very special. This group has taken me on a very special journey, better than I could possibly imagine." That was likely true for the now legendary college coach this year. But there is absolutely nothing comparable to the unique journey of committed Christian brothers and sisters working together in spiritual harmony and using their spiritual gifts to achieve God’s plans and purpose. Paul referred to this great truth and God's will both in Ephesians and in Philippians.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)
Five or ten years from now, few will even recall the two teams that played in the 2011 national basketball college championship. Nearly none, other than perhaps the players themselves, will be able to give the accurate score of the somewhat disappointing game. The same basic holds true with most any major sports title after enough time has passed. But those whose earthly journey reflects heavenly values, and whose daily lives parallel Christ's mind and attributes, will someday fully comprehend and forever experience the blessed reality recorded by the Apostle John.
"And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:17)
Bill Breckenridge
The opponent was the University of Connecticut (UConn), a team that is synonymous with winning and championship basketball. The were favored to win the title, but Butler’s play up to that point hand many wondering and even in doubt about the final outcome.
It started out well for Butler as UConn trailed 22-19 after a first half. But at halftime, Uconn’s coach made a forceful locker room speech. The result was that they returned to the court and won the title with a defensive showing for the ages. They held Butler’s shooting from the floor to a pathetic 12-for-64. The 18.8 percent performance turned out to be historic as the second worst ever in a title game. When the dust settled, and the shoes stopped squeaking on the floor, the final score was 53-41 and could have been even worse.
"The halftime speech was rather interesting," said Calhoun after the game. Among other things, he said to his team, "We are going to out-will them and outwork them." And that is exactly what they did. The coach is now the oldest to ever win a national championship and one of a select few to own three victories in the famed tournament. He also uttered about his team, "They truly were brothers, they truly were trusting in each other, and that was very, very special. This group has taken me on a very special journey, better than I could possibly imagine."
Calhoun’s feeling about the unity, trust, and teamwork of his club is something that God covets for those on His elect roster of faith. In 1 Corinthians chapter twelve, the Apostle Paul conveys how the local church is really that of a spiritual team made up by a variety of members each having special skills and playing specific positions given them at the moment of salvation.
In verse 12 Paul writes, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
Verse 20 continues by stating, “But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
It is when the various spiritual gifts given to every Christian are developed, used properly, and exercised regularly in the local church team that a ministry flourishes and glorifies the One who put it all in place.
Again, Coach Calhoun declared of his guys, "They truly were brothers, they truly were trusting in each other, and that was very, very special. This group has taken me on a very special journey, better than I could possibly imagine." That was likely true for the now legendary college coach this year. But there is absolutely nothing comparable to the unique journey of committed Christian brothers and sisters working together in spiritual harmony and using their spiritual gifts to achieve God’s plans and purpose. Paul referred to this great truth and God's will both in Ephesians and in Philippians.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:15)
Five or ten years from now, few will even recall the two teams that played in the 2011 national basketball college championship. Nearly none, other than perhaps the players themselves, will be able to give the accurate score of the somewhat disappointing game. The same basic holds true with most any major sports title after enough time has passed. But those whose earthly journey reflects heavenly values, and whose daily lives parallel Christ's mind and attributes, will someday fully comprehend and forever experience the blessed reality recorded by the Apostle John.
"And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." (1 John 2:17)
Bill Breckenridge
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Date of Christ’s Return?
End-time Messianic alerts are multiplying these days.
Chief among the morose and likely false predictions is the absolutely non-negotiable forecast of maverick religious broadcaster Harold Camping of Family Radio. He has set the date of May 21, 2011 as the day of Christ’s return and the beginning of the end heading toward Judgment Day. Using a self-invention of numbers, dates and mystical meanings, Camping is announcing his date on radio, on his website and through bus caravans. According to Camping, May 21 is absolutely, positively the day Christ returns and begins the somber judgment upon all the world.
I might be inclined to carefully examine Camping’s calculations were it not for the fact that he has gone through this back in 1992 when he also predicted the return of Christ and the end of the world. Only then, his book, 1994?, had an appropriate question mark in the title, and his follow-up volume, Are You Ready?, published in 1993 was subtitled, Much More Evidence that 1994 Could Be the End of the World (emphasis mine). His present doomsday has no allowance of a question mark.
If Harold Camping is not in Heaven or dead on May 21, his entire reputation and radio empire comes crashing down in despicable shambles leaving gullible souls to fumble along in the morass of false prophecy. The last time around, a North Jersey follower of Camping committed suicide when Jesus didn’t return as Camping had Him scheduled.
Mr. Camping is not alone in these strange ravings. In 1988, Edgar Whisenant published a book entitled, 88 Reasons Why Christ Will Come in 1988, and had it down to Sept. 11, 12, or 13 of that year. He also said that there would never be another two-term president and that Jimmy Carter was the last one in America. Reading these mathematically cluttered texts is enough to make an engineer’s head spin.
Not to be outdone, some Koreans published a small book asking, Are You Ready for the Rapture? October 28, 1992. This conviction came through “…visions, dreams, prophecies and voices a few years back.” That is the worst way to do it.
Camping’s absurd forecasts sound more like pagan Jewish Kabbalistic mysticism than any brand of careful biblical analysis. Indeed, the same Jewish folks who trumpeted the strange Bible Codes a few years ago show that they have four layers of interpretation with three below the normal, obvious meanings in the text. Camping is down about three of these as he rummages around somewhere below the textual surface.
I am not saying Christ could not come on May 21 or any other day. I hope Camping is wrong and Jesus comes today. But date-setting has a wretched history of error.
The misguided Adventists of New England in the 1800s and Jehovah’s witnesses of the early 1900s were constantly revising their dates and eating humble pie. A few years ago, some misguided folks waded out into Long Island Sound to meet Jesus and then had to slosh back out to face the reporters. Yet this spiritual sickness persists.
Think about it. The calendar is so messed up with variations and revisions that no one really knows what year it is. The slightest variation or miscalculation crumples these predictions like the proverbial house of cards. Also, the benchmarks many use all seem potentially flawed as to exact dates.
And another point: Which day east or west of the International Dateline is to be used? As I write this, another day has dawned on the other side of the globe. Jesus said, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt 24:44 – KJV). That would leave any date but May 21 according to Harold’s calculations if we all bought his reasoning.
In quoting the verse, I’ve used the old King James Version because “ye” means plural “you.” I suggest that Jesus was including all the disciples, and He was saying, “You’ll never have an accurate agreement.” Maybe that’s good so that we would always be on the watch which is the only proper way of waiting. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt 25:13).
How can Camping know the day when this verse says you can’t? Prov. 27:1 says that we can’t know what another day may bring forth. That applies to May 21 as well as any other day.
What is the sensible approach? Christ can come anytime, and that is the meaning of the term “immanent.” Certain things are being accomplished which, when complete, will mean the return of Christ in the Rapture. Christ said He was going away to prepare heavenly dwelling places for His own. “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3)
In this Church Age, God is calling out a people for His Name (Acts 14:15), and when the last person of the New Testament church is saved, the heavenly mansions will match the number of the redeemed occupants. This time is known only to God. Since believers are to be engaged in sharing the Gospel, which when believed, places one in the Church, we should be more interested in the task rather than the time. We should be ready always.
The story of the spiritual and waiting mother has always moved me. Each evening as she tucked her children in bed, she would go to the window and quietly breathe, “Perhaps tonight.” In the morning on waking them, she would again go to the window and quietly say, “Perhaps today.”
Date setting is absurd. Daily watching is the norm. Perhaps today?
Dave Virkler
Chief among the morose and likely false predictions is the absolutely non-negotiable forecast of maverick religious broadcaster Harold Camping of Family Radio. He has set the date of May 21, 2011 as the day of Christ’s return and the beginning of the end heading toward Judgment Day. Using a self-invention of numbers, dates and mystical meanings, Camping is announcing his date on radio, on his website and through bus caravans. According to Camping, May 21 is absolutely, positively the day Christ returns and begins the somber judgment upon all the world.
I might be inclined to carefully examine Camping’s calculations were it not for the fact that he has gone through this back in 1992 when he also predicted the return of Christ and the end of the world. Only then, his book, 1994?, had an appropriate question mark in the title, and his follow-up volume, Are You Ready?, published in 1993 was subtitled, Much More Evidence that 1994 Could Be the End of the World (emphasis mine). His present doomsday has no allowance of a question mark.
If Harold Camping is not in Heaven or dead on May 21, his entire reputation and radio empire comes crashing down in despicable shambles leaving gullible souls to fumble along in the morass of false prophecy. The last time around, a North Jersey follower of Camping committed suicide when Jesus didn’t return as Camping had Him scheduled.
Mr. Camping is not alone in these strange ravings. In 1988, Edgar Whisenant published a book entitled, 88 Reasons Why Christ Will Come in 1988, and had it down to Sept. 11, 12, or 13 of that year. He also said that there would never be another two-term president and that Jimmy Carter was the last one in America. Reading these mathematically cluttered texts is enough to make an engineer’s head spin.
Not to be outdone, some Koreans published a small book asking, Are You Ready for the Rapture? October 28, 1992. This conviction came through “…visions, dreams, prophecies and voices a few years back.” That is the worst way to do it.
Camping’s absurd forecasts sound more like pagan Jewish Kabbalistic mysticism than any brand of careful biblical analysis. Indeed, the same Jewish folks who trumpeted the strange Bible Codes a few years ago show that they have four layers of interpretation with three below the normal, obvious meanings in the text. Camping is down about three of these as he rummages around somewhere below the textual surface.
I am not saying Christ could not come on May 21 or any other day. I hope Camping is wrong and Jesus comes today. But date-setting has a wretched history of error.
The misguided Adventists of New England in the 1800s and Jehovah’s witnesses of the early 1900s were constantly revising their dates and eating humble pie. A few years ago, some misguided folks waded out into Long Island Sound to meet Jesus and then had to slosh back out to face the reporters. Yet this spiritual sickness persists.
Think about it. The calendar is so messed up with variations and revisions that no one really knows what year it is. The slightest variation or miscalculation crumples these predictions like the proverbial house of cards. Also, the benchmarks many use all seem potentially flawed as to exact dates.
And another point: Which day east or west of the International Dateline is to be used? As I write this, another day has dawned on the other side of the globe. Jesus said, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt 24:44 – KJV). That would leave any date but May 21 according to Harold’s calculations if we all bought his reasoning.
In quoting the verse, I’ve used the old King James Version because “ye” means plural “you.” I suggest that Jesus was including all the disciples, and He was saying, “You’ll never have an accurate agreement.” Maybe that’s good so that we would always be on the watch which is the only proper way of waiting. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt 25:13).
How can Camping know the day when this verse says you can’t? Prov. 27:1 says that we can’t know what another day may bring forth. That applies to May 21 as well as any other day.
What is the sensible approach? Christ can come anytime, and that is the meaning of the term “immanent.” Certain things are being accomplished which, when complete, will mean the return of Christ in the Rapture. Christ said He was going away to prepare heavenly dwelling places for His own. “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:2-3)
In this Church Age, God is calling out a people for His Name (Acts 14:15), and when the last person of the New Testament church is saved, the heavenly mansions will match the number of the redeemed occupants. This time is known only to God. Since believers are to be engaged in sharing the Gospel, which when believed, places one in the Church, we should be more interested in the task rather than the time. We should be ready always.
The story of the spiritual and waiting mother has always moved me. Each evening as she tucked her children in bed, she would go to the window and quietly breathe, “Perhaps tonight.” In the morning on waking them, she would again go to the window and quietly say, “Perhaps today.”
Date setting is absurd. Daily watching is the norm. Perhaps today?
Dave Virkler
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monster Mega-Millions Jackpot Won
Interest had been steadily growing until the largest mega-millions jackpot in four years was finally won for the staggering amount of $390 million. The winning numbers were 22-24-31-52-54, with Megaball number 4. The final jackpot is the sixth-highest in the game's history.
But despite the staggering sum, the reward will not be as large as it seems since it will have to be split 7 ways. A group of Information Technology professionals at New York's Housing and Community Renewal in Albany, N.Y. will share the winnings. Hopefully dividing the total up will still allow each winner enough to survive on since, after taxes, they will be forced to subside on just $29 million each. How will they ever make ends meet?
That prized ticket was purchased at Coulson's News Center, a mainstay downtown news and convenience store in Albany, New York. The owner of the market stated about the ticket from his store, “It makes me feel warm inside." If that is true, I wonder what the inner temperature of the 7 winners is today? Perhaps theirs is somewhere in the vicinity of the surface of the sun! But as far as hitting the mega-millions, one lottery official said, “Given your life span, you might have better odds of getting struck by lightning more than 5,000 times before winning such a big prize.” In other words, you have almost as good a chance of winning even if you do not play as if you do!
Many Americans apparently dream of becoming instantly rich as evidenced by the intense interest in large lotteries and even gambling in general and especially on sports. From a biblical standpoint, there is nothing inherently wrong with having wealth. But Scripture cautions strongly and repeatedly of the dangers of having great wealth or anything material if it becomes life’s priority and driving force.
Several passages that are well known on the subject come instantly to mind. First and foremost could well be I Timothy 6:8-10. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
There is also in Mark 10 - the so-called story of the "Rich Young Ruler." He came running to Jesus seeking eternal life but rejected the Savior’s offer because of his inability to free himself of his great earthly possessions. Verses 21-22 conclude the eternally tragic encounter. “Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me. But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Then there comes from the Old Testament the reality offered in Proverbs 23:5: “Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.”
But no familiar passage is more haunting than Jesus’ successive questions in Mark 8:36-37: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Hopefully those who together split this latest super-jackpot will not be utterly consumed by their newfound worldly wealth and have their lives literally ruined as has been the case with so many in their shoes. Hopefully they will take the opportunity to do much good – things they could not have dreamed of even a week earlier. (Galatians 6:10)
Hopefully these new millionaires already know Christ as Savior and fully comprehend what literal and lasting riches really are according to the words of 2 Corinthians 8:9. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” And hopefully those who do not know Him now will not have their hearts so deeply buried under their millions that they are unable to come to Christ who loved them and voluntarily gave up the riches of heaven itself to die as a pauper on a cross in their place.
Perhaps the entire subject is summed up best in I Timothy 6:17-19 as both a strong challenge for Christians, and as a stern warning for those who do not know Christ as Savior:
“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.“
Bill Breckenridge
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