Success and Failure Blog

Harold Camping’s failed May 21, 2011 end of the world prediction has presented the media with another golden opportunity to attack Christianity. But you’ve got to say this for the old guy – he’s stubborn. He now says that he made a miscalculation – just like he did in 1994 – and the world will positively end on October 21, 2011. He equates the end of the world with the Great Flood of Noah’s day, and claims that God has always given specific warnings of His judgments. There’s some truth in that. Noah is called a “preacher of righteousness” (II Peter 2:5) who undoubtedly warned those around himself that judgment was coming on the world. Jonah was sent to the great city of Nineveh to warn them that their city would be destroyed unless they repented, which they did, and the city was saved. On the other hand, we’ve already been warned about the coming judgment, when mankind will pay the price for its rebellion against God. We were also warned that only God the Father knows exactly when it will happen (Matthew 24:36), but Jesus gave us signs to look for like great storms, famines, wars and rumors of wars, etcetera. When the Great Tribulation gets here, if there’s anyone who can read the Bible and understand it, they’ll know in general terms when the end will come. But prior to that, we will never know, and speculation, as we’ve seen, only leads to error.

One of the reasons we haven’t been told the exact time of Christ’s coming is that some Christians wouldn’t straighten out their lives if they knew. They’d live just like the world until the last moment they could possibly do it, and then they’d try to get right with God. Unfortunately, that strategy would fail, because renewal is a function of the Holy Spirit, who brings people to the point of full faith and repentance again. He’s not going to grant that to someone who’s trying to use Him. But the Bible also talks about “The Apostasy” which is going to come. In fact, I believe it’s now here, and many, many people have already “fallen away” from the faith (see Hebrews 6). I have no doubt that many will fall away in the future, when they encounter persecution for their faith. My purpose is to turn as many all the way back to the Lord as I can before that time, so their faith will stand up to the testing.

But Harold Camping isn’t the only false teacher out there. Many teachers promise riches to their followers, but they’re the ones getting rich. They promise healing, but the healing they deliver can’t be verified in any real way. Jesus healed people who had well-known physical deformities, diseases, or were demon-possessed. He did these things where the people who were healed lived, right in their hometowns, where the people had known them from birth. We’re not talking about Los Angeles here. Those towns were small and most of those who lived there were related or knew each other well. His miracles and healings were tested by his enemies, who wanted to discredit Him, without success. And furthermore, we have no record of Jesus ever taking an offering. He didn’t do what He did for money. Those things served to establish His position as the Messiah; they were his credentials. What are Harold Camping’s credentials? Well, he used to own a construction company, and he now owns a broadcasting network. Oh yeah, and he’s rich.

What am I saying here? I’m saying that before we believe something we need to test it for truth. We have a measuring tape – a standard — that we can put up against the so-called teachers and apostles and prophets out there.

Jesus instructed us to be “wise as serpents and wary as doves” (Matthew 10:16). The word for “wise” actually means “to have practical wisdom”. This is something that my wife has tons of. I used to have a friend who often lied to me. I couldn’t see it because I wanted to see him like he was in the past, but my wife spotted the lies right away. She has this practical way of looking at things, measuring them objectively, not on the basis of her feelings. Asking her to shout out “a witness” in a worship service would be useless, unless she had measured the thing the preacher was asking her to bear witness to and found that it was true. That’s what Jesus was telling us in Matthew. He was saying to measure what you hear by the Word of God – not small parts of the Word of God, but the whole Word, which is the source of practical wisdom. When you really know the genuine, the counterfeit sticks out like a sore thumb. Like Harold Camping’s teaching about the end of the world, for instance. He claims to base it on the Bible and only the Bible, but in the end, it’s Harold Camping’s numerology theory that we’re asked to accept. That theory has failed on two occasions now, and will continue to fail because, when you lay it out next to the measuring tape, the Word of God, it doesn’t hold up. Get to know that tape very well, and it will reveal the false.

God uses suffering to take our eyes off this world and to focus on God and sometimes natural disasters are caused as a judgment against sin. Earthquakes have been used of God at special times, with special people, for special purposes. Sin entered the world when Adam and Even rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden mankind has been in rebellion ever since. “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17). The Tribulation is a seven-year period of time that the Bible refers to as a “time of trouble” unlike anything this world has ever seen or will ever see again.

Daniel 12:1 says “and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” The Bible calls the Tribulation by many names found in both the Old and New Testament including:

The Day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:2)

The Hour of Trial (Revelation 3:10)

The Day of Wrath (Zephaniah 1:15)

The Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7)

The Wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:16)

And many more.

First, He uses pain and suffering to draw us to Himself so that we will cling to Him. Jesus said, “In the world you shall have tribulation” (John 16:33).

Earthquakes can remind us of the great judgments of God that are yet to come when “this present evil world” will pass away so that there can be a “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

Matthew 24:3-8: As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives; the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ 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.”

Ezekiel 38:18-20: And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’

Isaiah 29:6: Suddenly, in an instant, the LORD Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.

ACTS 16:26: Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken

Hebrews 12:25-29:”See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”

And men shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. In that day men will cast forth their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.” (Is. 2:19-21, Rev. 6:15-17)

“Yet once more I shake not only earth, but also heaven, the sea and the dry land” (Haggai 2:6; Hebrews 12:26)

2 Timothy 3:1–9 : But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them…

This frightening time of Tribulation is God’s final wake-up call to all of us who has rejected Him. God, in His longsuffering, is giving the world one last chance to turn away from sin and towards life in Christ. God is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God commands all people everywhere in the world to repent not only those affected by natural disasters but every one.So, the call for Christians to be alert and watchful is a call to remain faithful, by abiding in Jesus, even

Through great tribulation. Timothy was told, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” 1 Tim. 4:16

I hadn’t thought about my grammar school days for a long time, but one day they boldly invaded my thoughts.  I remembered the friends I played with and even recalled the names of my favorite teachers.  My classroom, with the big clock on the wall and the old-fashioned desk I sat in, were as visible in my mind as if I’d seen them just yesterday.

Somewhere along the line, I began thinking of the school’s lost-and-found department. That’s where lost sweaters, lunch pails, broken toys and miscellaneous items were kept until their owners came to find them.

As my thoughts wandered, it occurred to me that, in a sense, there are many people who are like these items in the lost and found.  They’re “lost,” and whether they realize it or not, are very much in need of being “found.”

Although they keep busy each day, deep inside they feel empty and without purpose, wishing for something or someone to bring meaning to their lives.  Even if they’re successful in business or have all “the toys” the world has to offer, they don’t feel satisfied.  They’re confused about the meaning of life, and even wonder why they were born.  They ask themselves, “Is this all there is?”

Does this sound like you?

There is a book we don’t hear mentioned much anymore, but for hundreds of years it has shown people how to be “found.” Years ago, many people believed what it said and lived their lives by its words.  It brought peace to the reader’s heart and gave guidance for their daily living.  In this book, they found instructions for living successfully, now and in the afterlife, as well.  And this book was the first place to which those people turned for help when they were stressed or didn’t know what to do.

Today people think it’s too old fashioned to be any value in the twenty-first century.  How could this particular old book, written so long ago, have all the answers for people living today?

Let’s just say it is unlike any other book ever written, and if you take the time to read it, slowly and thoughtfully, you will see just how pertinent it is to today’s world – and to you!

It’s no secret.  This book is the Bible, and here are things you might not know about it:

            First of all, although it is only one book, it’s really a compilation of sixty-six short books.  It is good to begin reading it, not at the beginning, although that’s okay, but in one of the little books toward the back, called The First Epistle of John.  It talks about the most pressing need of mankind in this or any century, and it tells how to take care of that need.  Another little book to read is called The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans.  Check out Chapter 3, verses10-12, and 23.  From there, find Chapter 5, verse 12, Chapter 6, verse 23, and Chapter 5, verse 8.  Then read Chapter 10, verses 9-13. If you read the verses in that order, you’ll learn some pretty amazing stuff, showing both a problem and the solution.  From there, you might want to meet the man who is talked about in the books of The Gospels According to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

In the middle of this big book is a little book called The Book of Psalms.  It actually contains words to songs written a long time ago.  Chapter 139 tells about you before you were born. Cool, huh?

Do you wonder about the formation of earth?  Then start reading in the very first book, The First Book of Moses Called Genesis.  And if you want to learn about the end of the world, read the last book, The Revelation.  It’s pretty heavy stuff, and it will cause you to think serious thoughts about what it says.

Here are some other places to look:

When you think nobody loves you, read The Gospel of John Chapter 3, verse16 and Chapter 13, verse 34.  You’ll see someone actually does love you – a whole lot.

If you can’t figure things out, consult The Book of Proverbs Chapter 3, verses 5-6. It shows you what to do.

When you can’t forgive yourself, the most important person can. Read The First Epistle of John, Chapter 1, verse 9 and The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans Chapter 8, verse 1 to see who it is, and what He has already done for you.

If you’re always worried and frustrated, you’ll love The First Epistle of Peter Chapter 5, verse 7.

When you’re feeling lonely, The Epistle to the Hebrews Chapter 13, verse 5 tells you who is there for you.

Are you in an impossible situation?  See who The Gospel According to Luke Chapter 18, verse 27 tells you to talk to.

            Yes, all this information, and more, is found in the Bible.  Many have read it attempting to prove it is just a myth, full of errors, or at the very least, not pertinent to their lives.  Instead, those who once felt “lost” have been “found,” finding meaning and purpose for their everyday lives. And they have become believers in this book and the man about whom the entire book refers.

            Okay. That was a good book for people long ago, but what about you?  Have you ever read the Bible?

What do you think would happen if you did?

First Haiti has a devastating earthquake. Then, a large quake hits near Japan. Now, Chile has one of the largest in recorded history, at 8.8! The number of major quakes in recent years seems to be increasing. These three came in just 2 months. An enormous 2004 quake not only caused the Asian tsunami, it sped the earth’s rotation momentarily. It’s enough to make people wonder if the end of the world is near.

Earthquakes are scary, as unlike bad weather, they come without warning. Aftershocks can occur for days, weeks, sometimes months. They cause terrible destruction. The increase in intensity in recent years is much like that of birth pangs that a woman feels before giving birth. Interestingly, Jesus uses the same analogy when he speaks of the end. And, “earthquakes in diverse places” – very different places, some of which don’t normally have them, thouhg some will – are one of the signs.

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells his disciples of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. They ask Him several questions. First, they ask when that destruction would happen, and then they ask about the signs of the end of the world. Jesus takes much more time on the second question than the first. He knew He would inspire His Word to be written, and that it was much more important to answer the second. Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21 each cover different aspects of what Jesus said.

Notice, first, that He answers the part about the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke 21:9. This is important because it gives us context to assure us that Matthew 24-25 is about the future, His coming and the end of the world. There are false Christs now, but there were also false Christs back then. There was lots of commotion, but the end – that is, the end of the world – did not come in 70 AD. Luke 21 talks more about the end, but also says that “before these things” – before the great earthquakes, famine, etc. – the disciples would be persecuted, and there would be a time of great trouble in Jerusalem.

However, the destruction of Jerusalem was horrible, but it was not the worst ever in history, as Mat. 24:21 says the end will be. That event in 70 AD was a picture of something that would happen in the future. We know because Matthew 24:15 says that before the end – during the Tribulation – there will be another temple. An abomination – a horrible, blasphemous thing – will be set up in the temple. That didn’t happen in 70 AD. Quite the opposite, in fact; no stone was left upon another. (The “Western Wall,” or “Wailing Wall,” now in Jerusalem is from an old Roman fort built after that.)

There’s another reason we know Jesus is speaking of the end of the world in Matthew 24. the first word of Mat. 25 – “Then” – shows Jesus is talking about the same subject. He’s drawing an analogy to situations in the end times. Yes, the parable of the talents later in that chapter has numerous spiritual applications for the Church, but there is a plain, literal meaning to Scripture, too.

“So, wait,” you ask, “you mean these earthquakes in diverse places are a sign we’re definitely near the end of the world?” Not quite. We are close – I don’t know how close. It is not given to us to know the day or the hour.

But, other signs also point to us being near, if not in, the end times: Famines, pestilence (major diseases), iniquity (lawlessness) running rampant, the love of many becoming cold (we talk about love, but that true, unconditional love isn’t there), and so on. These things are increasing more and more, just like birth pangs. There is, in fact, a site called “Rapture Ready” with a “Rapture index” that measures all of these. (The entire site is filled with good material, and forums, for those who wish to know more.)

“So, wait,” you ask, “are we really that close to the end? How do I prepare?” Like Jesus with His disciples’ questions, I will only gloss over the first, because the second is most crucial. Yes, we are getting close, but unlike a sonogram, these “birth pangs” can only be estimated. We just know they keep growing.

As for how to prepare, be confident that the Church has not replaced Israel. There will be another temple – in fact, Israelis have been preparing for it for years. God will once again deal with his chosen people as a nation, not just as individuals. Before He does this, though, something will happen which you can prepare for: The Rapture. “For the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds, to be meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17)

To know you’ll be caught up with Him, it’s as easy as ABC.

Admit you’re a sinner, that you fall short of God’s perfect glory. When sin was brought into the world through man’s disobedience, it spread everywhere, and caused all things to start decaying. We all fall short of His perfection through our sin. We don’t’ always mean to sin, and some people try really hard to be nice al the time. But, we can’t; we’re not perfect. That sin keeps us out of Heaven, except a price was paid to get us in.

Beleve that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead. He is God in flesh, and he paid that price to get you into Heaven. It was the perfect sacrifice, the just for the unjust. He took the punishment you and I and everyone else deserves for our sin – for the fact we fall short of God’s perfection.

Choose to receive Him as your Savior by simple faith. That means heart knowledge, not just head knowledge. Call on Him to save you from your sins, receiving what He did by simple faith, as being for you personally. Because, He died for each of us personally. He had each person on mind who ever lived when he died on that cross, and frose again. All you have to do is receive Him.

If you do, He will come into your heart and change you on the inside, helping you be more like Him in His love, compassion, goodness, peace, and so many other wonderful things. He’ll give you peace so you wojn’t have to worry about all the problems of this world, and so you can get through them with His help. Because, we don’t know how long it will be before He comes for us. But, whether we rise first, or meet Him in the air, we have His promise that He will come for us before things get as horrible as it will in the Tribulation.

These things we see here, these massive earthquakes and such, are only the beginning of sorrows. But, Jesus has promised to help us through, if we just trust Him – with our souls, and then with our lives. And, if He says it’s our time to leave this world, by knowing Him as Savior, we can be certain that we will be forever with Him, in that awesome place where there is no pain, no suffering, and no tears.