Campings legacy

I have heard a few people on radio tonight speak on the issue of the rapture and I was thoroughly embarrassed. ONe person was trying to comment on a radio program about the rapture and he was literally reading from the bible in a monotone type of voice. The hosts eventually got tired of it and cut him off because he wasn't carrying on conversation at all. Only spitting out words.

My next watch is to see if anyone sues Camping. He is worth $72million from what I heard on the radio tonight. Will Camping come out and say God changed his mind in order to keep his 'flock' in order?

Lastly, if anyone thinks Camping is the face and soul of Christianity then I believe they are no better than the ones who believed in Campings fallacies and the people they mock really mock back at them.

Anybody else get left behind?

Yes, sir. We are still here.

Camping didn't even prophecy this thing. He predicted it by using esoteric numerology. We can't say he is a false prophet, only a false teacher.

by Brothertom o
Anybody else get left behind?

God bless you and thanks for the chuckle!
Lisa

by sermonindex
It is sad to me that it is a disgrace to the Name in what camping did.

God bless,
Lisa

My Students in my Highschool were scared on friday , so I got to preach the Gospel to them.... So there was some good that came out of this..
andy

I once heard that false Prophets will rise up in the last days.... There goes another one. All I can think of to say on this matter.

That is a very sober reminder, Greg.

This whole Harold Camping ordeal makes me wonder how the anti-Christ will suddenly arrive upon the scene. He will probably come after people cry "wolf" (or "Second Coming") like this over and over again.

If it isn't people proclaiming that the rapture, disasters or Judgment Day is coming on a particular date, there are others who proclaim each and every natural disaster (floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, building collapse, etc...) as the "judgment of God." No doubt, God oversees the events of this world. After all, every sparrow does not fall without His notice. However, I wonder if the chronic "judgment" proclaimers think that people are born blind because of sin (or the sin of their parents)?

I have already heard a few people claim that the tornado in Joplin was the judgment of God for sin in that town.

I couldn't help but wonder just why God decided to destroy a little town in Missouri (resulting in the deaths of 90+ people -- including little children) but still not destroy Hollywood studios, Las Vegas casinos, San Francisco gay sex clubs, North Korean/Chinese Communist slave labor factories or Taliban militant indoctrination centers.

Interestingly, Jesus is coming soon. Believers SHOULD long for that day! However, we need to be very careful about those who so loosely make public claims like this. I think that some people are too quick to speak for God when they aren't (or shouldn't be) completely certain about such things.

After all, the times and the seasons belong to God.

A good friend of our family passed away this past week. She was a gentle, elderly woman who stood faithfully for Christ under difficult circumstances for most of her life. Her alcoholic husband had been extremely abusive (mentally and physically) for most of their marriage (he died a few years ago). One of her children died of AIDS. Another son is a homosexual. Her youngest son went through a difficult divorce after his wife had been raped. Yet this elderly woman remained faithful to Christ. Through all of this tragedy, she spent much time on her knees. She longed to see the Lord's return -- and even expected it to happen in her lifetime.

The last time I spoke with her, she reminded me that "to live is Christ." This woman experienced more heartache in her life than most, yet realized that to live is Christ! Of course, she knew that death was a victory for believers. Although she waited eagerly for the return of the Lord, it didn't happen during her lifetime.

The last thing that the Lord told believers before ascending into Heaven was that it is not for us to "know the times and seasons that the Father has put in His own power" (Acts 1:7). Some of the disciples obviously were wondering about the timing of prophetic events -- including the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. So, our Lord refocused the disciples away from such things upon what REALLY mattered: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

There are things that are much more important than knowing the times and seasons of Bible prophecy. It is all about intimately knowing and waiting upon the Lord and being a witness to Him to this lost world.

My Students in my Highschool were scared on friday , so I got to preach the Gospel to them.... So there was some good that came out of this..

That is what I am talking about!! How did that experience go for you and the kids?

I heard on a radio about a preacher who went to Campings headquarters to talk to those who would come to Camping for answers. He went there to comfort those who believed in Camping and give them the right answers. I am really glad to hear that this wasy done. I think it would fill a vacuum or void for these people.

It went well,
when i speak about the Bible thats about the only time they really listen and ask questions...
andy

I couldn't help but wonder just why God decided to destroy a little town in Missouri (resulting in the deaths of 90+ people -- including little children) but still not destroy Hollywood studios, Las Vegas casinos, San Francisco gay sex clubs, North Korean/Chinese Communist slave labor factories or Taliban militant indoctrination centers.

I suppose then the question could be asked, how many children did God kill in the Flood? Hundreds? thousands? millions? We must remember that God is NOT a tame lion. And that He says "I kill and I make alive." (Deut 32:39) God has the right to take life whenever or wherever.
After reading my Bible last year and underlining every passage that talks about God being in charge of the weather, I have no doubt He was the author of it. Judgment or not I do not know.
And you are right, why not Hollywood? But this is the cry that has been going up for ages, not "why do good people suffer?" because that is the wrong question (there are no good people), but "why do the wicked prosper?" This was the cry of Habakkuk (1:13) and Jeremiah (12:1) and in many of the Psalms.

Also I wonder if God has not destroyed "North Korean/Chinese Communist slave labor factories or Taliban militant indoctrination centers" because there is not much gospel light there. Here in North America we have the most Christian material available to everyone. It reminds me of these verses:
Luke 12:47-48
"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

So even though China and North Korea and the Taliban do more to incur wrath, there is not much light there. Here in America there are Bibles in almost every hotel and hospital room and in almost every house! Not to mention radio and TV ministry and books and tracts (not that all of them are good). We really have no excuse so it seems to me that we should be punished more severely and judged more harshly.

I would also say that even if they are judgments, there is much mercy bound up in them. It is well know that many people won't come to God unless there is hardship. Because it strips away self-reliance and makes you realize your need for God. Much ministering and evangelizing can come of these disasters. So again, even if it's judgment, there is always, always mercy.

I suppose then the question could be asked, how many children did God kill in the Flood? Hundreds? thousands? millions? We must remember that God is NOT a tame lion. And that He says "I kill and I make alive." (Deut 32:39) God has the right to take life whenever or wherever.

The flood of Noah came only after the thoughts of the entire world were wicked. This was not the age of grace either. It was before the covenant of the rainbow when God promised not to destroy the entire world by water. It predated Moses and the Law. It predated the New Covenant that God made with mankind via the Gospel.

As such, I am disappointed with those who are painting God as the culprit behind the recent tornado in Joplin. It is the THIEF who comes to KILL, STEAL and DESTROY -- and God who comes to bring LIFE.

Yes, God is ultimately in charge of the weather. Just like He is in charge of gravity. He created the principles guiding the laws of physics -- including meteorology. These laws are firm (as in "firmament") cannot be changed EXCEPT by the divine intervention of God.

So, in this sense, God is responsible for ALL weather -- including fair weather days and bad weather days too. He set it in motion...when He created the physical principles and physical laws that guide this world. At the same time, he is responsible for the volcanoes at the bottom of the sea, the temperature of the sea, and the fact that roses smell nice, aloe vera sooths and poison ivy will give you a rash.

The greater question is whether or not God specifically superseded the laws of meteorology (that He set in motion at the foundation of the world), bypassed those weather principles and specifically CREATED this particular tornado for some reason or another.

Did God act supernaturally in order to create a supernatural weather phenomenon in order to devastate that small town, kill about 120 people and injure many others (including believers and non-believers, children and adults)?

People can pretend that this is something other than a natural weather phenomenon. However, they are just GUESSING. They are not only guessing that God supernaturally created it for a specific purpose outside of natural meteorological laws that He designed at the foundation of the Earth -- but that He purposed to cause the death of many people too.

I do believe that God oversees the events and natural laws of this world. I certainly believe that God can and does step in and intervene on our behalf at times superseding the very laws of nature that He designed. However, the subtle insinuations of a particular "judgment of God" in regard to this tornado remind me quite a bit of those people who loudly proclaimed Hurricane Katrina to be the judgment of God upon the people of New Orleans. Of course, it was just as odd that God would choose to destroy the poor in New Orleans who were stuck during the hurricane (and failure of the man-made levies) in the RESIDENTIAL neighborhoods -- while allowing the wealthy and the sinful areas to be spared. This is especially true when you consider the cities that are much more sinful and Godless -- like Hollywood...or Beijing...or Tehran.

God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah if just 10 righteous had been found. Unfortunately, there was just Lot (and possibly his daughters and wife). Yet God safely delivered Lot out of the city. What about the faithful old women in Joplin who died? The children?

No where in Scripture has God ever purposed Himself to KILL the righteous. Yet, from what I have read, some faithful old believers perished in this tornado.

Again, this is why I believe that storms and tragedies like this demonstrate that God has set in motion the laws of nature (including weather). However, I do not believe that God supernaturally bypassed those laws that He created to specifically create a tornado to kill 120 people and destroy 3/4 of the town.