Judgment Day

I just have to get this off my chest. I don't really feel like starting debates or anything, but this is my blog so I have a right to say what I think on it, don't I.
I know everyone thinks Harold Camping is a whack job, and of course the whole Judgment day thing is a joke.
Even to those of us who believe it will happen. Some day.
But it left me unsettled all day yesterday. Not because I was afraid that the world was going to end but because I don't like how funny it was to everyone. We shouldn't make light of holy things. And maybe this makes me as crazy as him, but I still believe that there will be a rapture, an apocalypse and a return of the King. It didn't happen like camping said it would. It didn't happen today, but I think it will some day.
While I was thinking about the whole thing yesterday and questioning it, I found this verse:

"I am ready to vindicate. I am ready to deliver, I will establish justice among the nations. The coastlands wait patiently for me; they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. Look up at the sky! Look at the earth below! For he sky will dissipate like smoke, and the earth will wear out like clothes; its residents will die like gnats. But the deliverance I give is permanent; the vindication I provide will not disappear." Isaiah 51:5-6

Thankfully, I can hope in him, even if the end of the world is near!

Here's another thing that's bugging me. Yes, his prophesy is wrong. Clearly. I don't really understand how he ever came to his conclusions. I really don't. But let's be honest. He's a guy who's allowed himself to get carried away with one little area of theology instead of concerning himself with the bigger picture. I think I've fallen into that category more than once. (Probably not so fanatically but who's to say?)
Yes, he's delusional. But I think it might be interesting to find out how many "respected" leaders in the church are actually incorrect. When the roll is called up yonder, and we're engulfed in the Truth. Something to think about. How quick you throw out phrases like "false teacher" and "liar".
I'm not saying he isn't false. He is. And clearly he missed a few pages in the "Principles of applying the Bible" book. But I've seen false teachers who KNEW they were doing it, who WANTED to say things that weren't true and make people follow them, because they knew it would bring them personal gain. Was Harold Camping one of them? No. And it's not my job to judge his heart anyway.

And last, of course every good evangelical has been saying it all along. We don't know when "IT" could happen. I think he might have mistook some of the information in Revelation, but I don't know. I don't think i have to know the details to believe it could have been today. And I don't think I'd want to give an account for my life yet. Still I know I'd be covered with Christ's everlasting love and forgiveness if I did have to. Would you be? You could. He invites us over and over.

Isaiah 55:1-3 Hey, all who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come! Buy and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? Why spend your hard-earned money on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is nourishing. Enjoy fine food! Pay attention and come to me. Listen so you can live! Them I will make an unconditional covenant promise to you. 6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available, call to him while he is nearby!

Maybe I'm just as crazy as Harold Camping for believing it. I don't know. I'd rather believe it and be wrong than not believe and have it be right. Wouldn't you?

Heaven

Heaven

The darkness swells around
as the evening turns to night, and the shadows of longing
tear at my heart
When I remember her life
and think of all the missed years
that we could have shared together on this earth

And amidst the loneliness and loss, and begging for answers
I find a depth and quietness in my spirit
Blanketed in the comfort He’d promised when He left.
He said He’d come back and make it all right
Stand upon the hill, shout like a warrior
and carry forth His justice throughout the ends of the earth
And I could go back with him to his place in the sky
Where He’d wipe away every tear I cry.

And I’ll see her there, wrapped up in His love
and the time and the years and the sorrow and the tears
will become just sweet flavors of grace.
And the sickness of sorrow that shadowed our lives
in those moments when death gripped our souls
reminding us of our own frailty and sin
will be only a memory, one that pales there in His perfect light
when we behold Him.

(Missing Grandma. Wishing for Heaven)