Be Careful what you Preach!

This year's local Children's Christmas parade was a chilling event. Instead of our usual 75 degress in Florida, it was in the 50's. More chilling was the group from FamilyRadio.com handing out their blasphemous message proclaiming the end of the world.



"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (Matthew 24:36)

I found it very difficult to try and talk to these people as they were handing this message out. They would say "Here's some information from the Bible". This parade is mostly for youngsters. It would not be a wise thing to have them see a disagreement among, whom they perceive, as Christians. This group takes a few scriptures, calculates the date of the flood, adds 7000 years and comes up with the date of May 21, 2011.

Harold Camping (FamilyRadio.com) conveniently ignores the second half of 2 Peter 3:8, “and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8 is not providing a method for dating the end times - Peter is saying that God is above and beyond time. Second, nothing in the context of Genesis 7:4-11 indicates that the “seven days” and “seventeenth day of the second month” are to be interpreted as applying to anything other than what God was specifically saying to Noah. Third, the Flood being dated to 4990 B.C. is speculative at best, with no explicit biblical evidence. Camping’s calculation of May 21, 2011 falls apart with even the most basic biblical scrutiny. Jesus may be coming back on May 21, 2011? Or He will come back on some other date. Does Harold Camping’s particular dating methodology have any biblical validity? No! Assuming that Jesus does not return on or before May 21, 2011, Camping, and others, will surely calculate new future dates and will attempt to explain away mistakes by “errors in the formula” or something to that effect.

The key points are: (1) the Bible nowhere encourages us to attempt to discover the timing of Jesus’ return, and (2) the Bible gives no explicit data by which the timing of Jesus’ return can be determined. Rather than developing wild and speculative calculations to determine when Jesus is coming back, the Bible encourages us to “keep watch” and “be ready” (Matthew 24:42-44). The fact that the day of Jesus’ return is unknown is what should motivate us to live every day in light of the imminence of Christ’s return.

fyi: On Sept. 6, 1994, dozens of Camping's believers gathered inside Alameda's Veterans Memorial Building to await the return of Christ, an event Camping had promised for two years. Followers dressed children in their Sunday best and held Bibles open-faced toward heaven. But the world did not end. Camping allowed that he may have made a mathematical error. He spent the next decade running new calculations, as well as overseeing a media company that has grown significantly in size and reach.

Why do I say it's a blasphemous message?
Because by saying you know the exact day and hour, says you know as much as God.
And you don't - God is timeless, infinite, and eternal.

I ignored their presence and delivered about 150 tracts into the kids, and their parents' hands.

May this FamilyRadio group come to Repentance.....

Take the time.

Ever think it's too much of a pain to return something? I know I do.... but I'm sure glad I didn't do that today.

After talking to Chenise about this $9 item for over 15 minutes I'll admit to being aggravated. But suddenly I came to my senses. This wasn't about the light bulb I was trying to return. It was about the light bulb that had just come on in my heart!! This was really about the soul of the person on the other end of the phone.

While Chenise typed I asked her if I could ask her some questions. She agreed readily. I asked her where she would go when she died. She told me that she was going to Heaven.

"Why will God let you in?" I queried.

"I go to church and live my life according to His ways," she said.

"Well, think about your whole life, how many times have you lied?" I asked her.

"Wow, ummmm I have no idea...a lot." Chenise admitted.

"Did you know that scripture says "no liar shall enter Heaven"?

"No...."

"Have you ever stolen anything? I mean, even one minute on the time clock?"

"Well, when I was little..."

"That makes us thieves."

Chenise was getting more quiet all the time.

"Ever use the phrase OMG Chenise? Because that is blasphemy."

Chenise admitted to all of these but didn't want to think that God would condemn her. We talked about simply apologizing to a judge in court and expecting to be set free. She thought God would be more lenient than a human judge.

"Do you think a pedophile should be set free if his uncle is the judge presiding over his case?"

She adamantly declared that he should not.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Psalm 5 says that God is holy and cannot dwell with evildoers and lawbreakers. Revelation 21:8 states that all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire...we deserve Hell Chenise, but do you know what God did so we don't have to go there?"

"Yes, He died on the cross." she said, gaining confidence.

"Did you know that simply being aware of that will not get you into Heaven? You see the demons know all of that, too. They are not destined for Heaven, are they?"

"No, they're not." She became quietly serious again.

"Chenise, God's desire is that we humble ourselves before Him and repent- not just apologize but turn away from our sin and follow Jesus with our whole heart and life. Do you think this information is important?" I asked.

"Oh, absolutely!"

"Chenise, I hope that you will seriously consider the things we've talked about. Does it make sense?"

"Oh yes, perfect sense. I will consider this."

"I don't know you but I'd sure like to see you in Heaven."

I could hear joy in her voice as she said, "Oh, I believe you will. God bless you!"


It would have been so easy to miss this opportunity....glad I didn't.

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."