I Survived the End of The World 2011

What were you doing at 6:00pm this past Saturday May 21, 2011? I was with two of my close girlfriends at Johnny Rockets. We had heard about Harold Camping's prediction that the world was going to end, and so we decided to delight in some of life's simple pleasures one last time. They got strawberry shakes while I nibbled on sliders and enjoyed an ice cold Root Beer. We also made sure to contact our boyfriends via text to say our goodbyes, "heart you. see you in heaven!". We were clearly JOKING, at least in part. Are we confident we are going to heaven? Yes. Did we really believe the world was going to end while we were at Johnny Rockets? No. And here's why.

Not only has this man WRONGLY predicted that judgment day would occur May 21, 1988, September 7, 1994, and May 21, 2011, but also the Bible very plainly states that it is impossible for anyone to know when Jesus will come back for a second time.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Matthew 24: 36-44

So even if we can't predict the very moment when Jesus comes back, are there at least signs that will signal that it's getting closer to that time? YES. There are 3 signs that come to mind. Note: this is not an exhaustive list, I am sure there are tons more in the Bible and even signs to come that we will not recognize or know.

Sign #1 Dramatic increase in natural disasters, famine, & warfare
The disciples asked Jesus for a sign to know when Jesus would come back at the end of the age. Jesus answered, saying: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." Matthew 24:4-8

Sign #2 Rebuilding of Jewish temple in Jerusalem
The Bible states that the end of times will occur in a temple in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:4). Note the original temple of the Lord was built in 966 BC by King Solomon and destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar. The temple was rebuilt in 520BC by Zerubbabel but later destroyed in 70AD by the Roman empire. The temple has not been rebuilt in Jerusalem since it's destruction in 70AD and would thus need to be rebuilt for the end time events listed in the scriptures to take place.

Sign #3: Use of one-world currency
When the Antichrist comes it is believed that he will establish his world government and have control over all commerce. Some suggest that this could be revealed in the form of enacting a one-world currency. "The beast also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name" Revelation 13:16-17

It is very clear that at least two if not all three of these signs have yet to happen. Some might think sign #1 is already underway with the recent surge in tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and tornadoes. However, I don't think we've seen all that is to come.

So do you see how foolish it was for Harold to attempt to predict the end of the world? What's perhaps more troubling, is this guy won't even admit defeat. Since his failed prediction, Harold Camping has once again revised his statement claiming that the rapture happened "spiritually" on May 21, 2011 and insisted that the true judgement day would be on October 20, 2011. I will be the first to admit, when I heard the terms rapture, judgement and second coming, the details were a little fuzzy. I went ahead and compiled a summary of events that will happen during the end of times. Note, no one is certain of the timing, execution, or order in which these events will happen.



In conclusion, I think Harold should stop using FUZZY math to predict the end of times and instead focus on more important things like oh I don't know loving God, loving people, and sharing the gospel. Oh, and I also pray that trucker hats don't come back in style. Thank you and good night.

Osama bin Laden's Dead- Do We Need a Photo?

Nearly 10 years after the 9-11 attacks on the US, Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind this horrendous terrorist attack, is DEAD. Navy Seals were responsible for this incredible feat, and Americans wasted no time celebrating…only minutes after Obama’s announcement, citizens were found outside the White House celebrating while others chose to virtually celebrate, posting Facebook status messages such as “Ding-dong the witch is dead” , “Bin Laden is dead….SUCKA” and perhaps my favorite “ F-Yea America!” . Since the release of this “good” news, Americans have been debating whether or not the government should release photographs of bin Laden’s dead body. Today, however, President Obama affirmatively decided to NOT release the photos, stating that people who don’t believe Osama is dead wouldn’t be convinced by gruesome photos either, and besides there is no need to gloat over this victory.

At this point, unless Osama’s body shows up on national television with him holding a Wall Street Journal and rebuking America for their hasty conclusions, I think it’s safe to say he’s a goner. For once, I tend to agree with Obama. There comes a point when you just have to except that there will always be skeptics who refuse to believe the truth and there is no level of evidence that will ever satisfy them. Heck this was even the case 2,000 years ago when Jesus resurrected from the dead. This time, we didn’t have the president of the U.S. telling us the news, we had GOD telling us the "good news" via the Bible.

Unless Jesus’s dead body was discovered, no one could say with any level of certainty that the resurrection didn’t happen. Because of this, skeptics instead suggest that Jesus’s body was not found because His disciples stole and hid the body. Now to me, this is perhaps more ridiculous than the theory that Osama bin Laden isn’t in fact dead. Why might you ask? Whelp, several reasons. First, and perhaps most important, it’s highly likely that the disciples were completely confused and had no idea that Jesus was going to rise from the dead three days later. I mean sure, Jesus told them at least THREE times that he would die and then resurrect, but based on their reactions , it seems like they never really understood what was going on. Let’s take a peak at their reactions below:




Based on their reactions, do YOU think the disciples had a full understanding of what was going to happen to Jesus? Clearly they didn’t! Take for instance the third time Jesus is like 'um hey guys just wanted to let you know I have to suffer greatly and die', the disciples decide to change the subject and ask who will have what royal positions when Jesus enters His earthly kingdom… really??? If the disciples really knew what was going on they would be filled with sorrow and weeping, but alas they had misconstrued Jesus, his teachings, and Old Testament prophecy; they believed that Jesus was going to be a military leader/ king who would reign over the nations and they wanted to position themselves so that they would receive a sweet position when this all came to fruition.

So yea, given that the disciples were clueless, the chance that the disciples on Saturday were like “hey man whatchu got going on, ahh nothing bro, sweet well uh you wanna go try and steal Jesus out of the tomb to keep this whole hoax going on, count me in bro.” is close to ZERO. Also keep in mind many years later each one of the disciples died TERRIBLE deaths because of their passion for Christianity… it’s one thing to be willing to die for what you believe in, but to be willing to be beaten, whipped, and become a martyr for something you KNOW to be an absolute lie is very unlikely.

What’s more, there was an entire GUARD of Roman soldiers guarding the tomb, and there is no way a couple of fisherman and tax collectors could overpower them. I think Stan Campbell explained it best in his book Jesus The Empty Tomb: Inside the Mysteries of the Bible: New Perspectives on Ancient Truths:

“Could Christ's followers have taken the body? It would have been difficult. Roman soldiers found guilty of leaving their posts were generally put to death. And it was common knowledge that the penalty for breaking a Roman seal was execution. Disciples bent on body-snatching would have first have had to overpower the battle-tested Roman soldiers, then break the Roman seal. Yet even if they succeeded they would face a final challenge: moving aside the two-ton stone door that covered the entrance to the rock tomb." (pg. 64)

So what do YOU think? What kind of proof do you require to believe that Osama is in fact dead and Jesus did in fact rise from the dead?