If you haven't heard, you probably will.
False prophecy maker Harold Camping has made his latest prediction of the rapture of the Church.
He claims the Church will be raptured on May 21, 2011, and as his website says, "The Bible Guarantees It".
Of course "the Church" according to Camping is pretty much that tiny band of the Church that follows Harold Camping on his Family Radio, and mocks that world-wide Body of believers who don't follow Harold Camping, calling them false believers.
While there certainly are likely many false believers in the world, the standard for "false believer" surely can't be "not believing Harold Camping".
Anyway, I don't usually devote space to the odd false prophet, but I thought I'd just make two statements on the subject. One to born-again Christians, and one to non-Christians.
To Born-Again Christians:
Please don't sell all your stuff or liquidate your bank account or quit your job in preparation for May 21. There are those who will literally be destitute after May 21 because they listened to this false prophet (I want to say "nut job", but it's actually more spiritually insidious than that).
Some are listening to Harold even though they know he previously did the same thing. He will not be a false prophet because of May 21. He is ALREADY a false prophet!
Don't be one of those who believe him.
Hold fast to the awesome and wonderful truth that our awesome and wonderful Lord and Savior will indeed return at the right time. But don't listen to the pathetic false prophet Harold Camping.
To Non-Christians:
Please don't make stupid illogical decisions about Jesus Christ because some who claim to follow Him do stupid things.
Jesus Christ is Lord and God and Savior and worthy to be believed in and followed. And those who believe in Him really do have eternal life, and really do have their sins forgiven.
Jesus really was born of a virgin and is the Son of God, and died on the cross for our sins, and was buried and rose again on the third day.
And those who refuse His love and reject Him really will experience the wrath of God.
He really does offer salvation as a free gift, by grace through faith, to everyone who believes in Him.
And He really will return to Earth in judgment, and to take believers in Him to live with Him in Heaven forever.
It could happen today, or May 21, or many years from now.
The Bible does not specify "when". In fact, it says no one knows the day or the hour. But the day and hour will come.
You would be a fool to deny that because of Harold Camping.
Update: My online friend Dan Phillips has made a distinction worth noting. In this blog post he rightly points out that technically Camping is not a false prophet, since he doesn't claim direct revelation from God, but is indeed a false teacher, because he is destructively interpreting Scripture.
As Dan says in his article, "This, of course, is not a demotion. Being a false teacher is plenty bad enough. As Peter said, 'false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction' (2 Peter 2:1)."
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