OF HAROLD CAMPING, VAN GOGH & MALCHUS

“Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. Now the servant’s name was Malchus. Jesus therefore said unto Peter, ‘Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?’”-(John 18:10-11)

Well… We are still here. The prognostications of another false prophet have fallen flat on their face and into a crevasse chock full of other impotent, incorrect, man-ordained prophecy. The Rapture that was purported to manifest on May 21st, 2011 at 6:00pm in every individual time-zone across the Earth, with coinciding earthquakes sounding the re- entry of our Lord, starting in New Zealand, did not occur. The reason? “No man knows the day or the hour when these things will take place; Not the Angels, nor the Son know, but only the Father in Heaven.”-(Matthew 24:36) The agenda set by a MAN, in Harold Camping, was yet another in a long string of man-made confusions and predictions dealing with an element of eschatology that the Lord Himself warns us to be leery of. Jesus tells us in the same chapter in Matthew that in the last days, there would be those who came in His name who would “deceive even the elect”. That is precisely what has recently been experienced, sadly, by a large group of believers. They put their faith in a man’s interpretation of Biblical codes and self-designed prophecy and are now suffering the ramifications of another misguided attempt to know the mind and timelines of our sovereign Lord. Many have sold all of their possessions and spent the increase by either giving it all to the institution that amplified this folly, or pouring out their “bucket lists” while there was still time. Relationships were severed. Hearts were broken. Judgments were made by both the deceived and those on the opposite side of belief. Meanwhile, Satan kicked back and once again allowed mankind to shiver in anxious anticipation of the end of all things… even laughing no doubt, from his knowledge of the truth. But, we are still here.
A month and a half ago, I was on the phone with my Father informing him of the dates we would be visiting while ministering in the Northeastern United States this summer, when he sarcastically interjected “We won’t be here then. Don’t you know that the Rapture is May 21st?”. We had a laugh about the absurdity of the prediction and I immediately uttered Matthew 24:36 to him as a scriptural reassurance. “If Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of the Living God does not know, there is no way that a delusional preacher from California will have foreknowledge”. Weeks passed and the occasional jest arose here and there to remind us of the oncoming dud that was imminent. My bride and I would tease others with the idea that we needn’t pay any more bills nor fulfill our obligations passed the date of aerial exodus. But in the midst of prayer and meditation on this issue, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit and heard Him say “It is false. It is not truth. But consider… WHAT IF IT WAS TRUE? Are you ready? Have you poured yourself out?” It pierced me. Penetrating my thoughts and contemplations about the BILLIONS who do not know Him, I began to joke less and care more. What if it were true? I knew that it was not, but that familiar, rhetorical “what if?” would echo for the duration of the days to the proverbial false start.
On May 20th, the eve of the proposed Raptos, we took our two boys to the Movies to see the long-awaited return of Disney’s Pirate Legend, Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean –On Stranger Tides”. Earlier that day I had shared with my Twitter followers a rhetorical question: “I do not believe that the Rapture is upon us, but let’s just say it was… ARE YOU READY?” It was a simple enough exercise in provoking a healthy spiritual self-examination. While we sat watching the previews for the rest of the summer’s exciting and flabbergastingly idiotic features, I received multiple contacts via email, voicemail and Twitter messaging from a News Reporter with a desire to have my input on this issue. I stepped out of the theater and called him. My initial question was about his motives. I have learned from dealing with the Secular Press in both Ministry and the Entertainment Industry that stories are not always geared toward presenting the truth, but rather riling the attention of the viewer, reader, audience etc. He responded with an honest reply that dealt with what our take on the prediction was, and asked if we had been flooded with questions about the proposal. He then asked me before sending a mobile crew to meet me in front of the Movie Theater, whether I believed the date to be accurate. I responded with “Sir, I am at the Movies with my kids to see ‘Pirates 4’. That either means that I’m a HUGE Disney fan, or I don’t believe that we are going to be swept up by the four winds tomorrow… Or both.” He laughed, and set off to meet me with a camera crew. I was pulled out of the movie about half-way through to go into the interview. We discussed earlier the time limit being five minutes maximum, as I had committed to being with my boys.
When the interview began, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit there to give me utterance. I shared the scriptural evidence and warning found in Matthew 24, the sensitivity of the issue for both believers and non-believers and the relevance of the coming end of days. But I found myself, in the midst of the conversation gravitating away from the “stone the false prophet” perspective that was expected of a Bible-Thumping Religious Figure, and delving into the positive that is coming out of this confusion. “People are talking about it. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Agnostics… They are all discussing the WHAT IF factor. That is incredible. The Second-Coming of our Lord and Savior is the focus of literally Hundreds of Millions of conversations and debates right now. That is wonderful”. How incredible! How poignant, that in the midst of a false declaration and a visceral warning to repent for the end is nigh, Jesus was in the spotlight. There it was… The glimmer of light in an otherwise grotesquely negative scenario. Those whose figures might never darken the parking lot, let alone the door of a church, were talking about my God. They were having intense discussions and genuine discourse on the possibilities and the repercussions of Yeshua’s Triumphal Revelation and return. I was truly blessed to share that with them.
Two days after the interview aired on both the 10 and 11 o’clock Network News Programs, I received another barrage of contacts seeking me out to be the subject witness to the fallout and the aftermath of the “Ruptured Rapture” on News Radio. I agreed. I stated very clearly before engaging the interview that I was in no way, shape or form a “Rapturologist” or self-appointed authority on the Rapture. I made it pristine to them that I was very simply a believer who loves and studies the Word of God. They presented a far more jaded, negative, secular stand on the issue and tried to maneuver things into that perspective, but again, the Holy Ghost was with me. I believe that I spoke boldly, but lovingly about the absurdity of the prognostication. I also focused more on the actuality of Jesus the Messiah’s return more than the failure of said return that past Saturday. The host seemed agitated with my intent to stay focused on the joy of the Lord, rather than to hop onto the convoy of stone-throwers, but I was happily stalwart in declaring the love of God and the forgiveness for those who were now the victims of their own commitment to a deception. “We cannot kick these believers while they are down. They made a mistake. Everyone does. We need to help restore their faith”. He asked me why no other Pastors or Evangelists were willing to give him an interview pre or post May 21st. I very plainly and respectfully enlightened him to the fact that the Secular News Media generally paints Christians, particularly Protestant Believers, Pastors and Evangelists in a very negative light. “Most of the time, the media portrays us as Nuts that fell off of a broken tree”. This was another opportunity to share openly and clearly the Gospel and Love of Jesus Christ to a community that otherwise mocks our lifestyle.
But perhaps the greatest opportunity was in their LISTENING itself. Because people were curious before, they were LISTENING. Because their hearts and minds were stirred after, THEY WERE STILL LISTENING. You need attentive ears to have the Gospel received. Whether you preach the greatest sermon ever breathed or the simplest of words and simply share “Jesus Loves You”, without an open ear, the message never reaches a hurting heart. “Does not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth food?”-(Job 12:11) In some instances, because of the hardships and pains of life, some do what famed impressionist artist and madman, Vincent Van Gogh did and cut off our own ear. It is much easier to avoid pain if we do not hear what surrounds us. But, HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR: We must not expect our ministry to penetrate the souls of men if their ears are neither attentive nor receptive. The irony in this is that we, the stalwart believers who declare His Good News, act just as Peter did in Gethsemane during the arrest of Jesus.
He tried to defend the Lord and struck the High Priest’s servant, Malchus, cutting off his ear. Jesus never called for or ordered this act. How often do we, as followers of Christ do this same act, out of well-meaning hearts? Have you never defended the Lord to the unbeliever to the point of metaphorically chopping their ears off? When we take the aggressive negative attack approach, it will NEVER lead to the purity of the hope found in the Spiritually uplifting deliverance singularly granted in Yeshua. God the Father is our Source, The Holy Spirit is our guide, Jesus our Advocate, and the WORD our only SWORD. I always loved the fact the WORD is our S-WORD, our sword. “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.”-(Hebrews 4:12) We are not to use that sword to wound those we were called by Christ to offer His reconciliation to.
While the fallout of casualties surrounds us of those who did not respect the Word’s powerful warnings found in Matthew 24:36, we must neither cut the ear off of those who have, as a result suffered nor those who would doubt the truth and sovereignty of Jesus’ Lordship and inevitable return. You see, precious ones, the enemy uses the deception of even the elect to soften mankind’s perception of the truth and surroundings. He uses false-alarms and the like to desensitize the masses into not hearing the alarms that DO matter. Do not be deceived by the distraction of the billboards and media quips, THE END IS NEAR. Jesus tells the disciples regarding the end of days not the TIME, but the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. “…You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled: for these things must need come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail.”-(Matthew 24:6-8) If you read the Headlines or watch even a glimpse of the News, by now you must see the genuine Signs are looming prophetically over us. The beginning of travail is upon us. But the “days of Noah” are upon us, and people carry on without regard for the validity of those signs. My bride wisely cited on TBN’s “Praise The Lord” Program recently with regards to this quandary: “There is an alert ‘beep’ that has been going off in the dressing room at this studio every time I have done the program here over the past 4 years. It is the fragrance refill alarm. I notice it every time we are here, but after a few minutes I don’t hear it anymore. It’s as if I become desensitized to its existence even in the midst of knowing and sensing that it is actively sounding”.
That valid and poignant example is the personification of our numbness as a species to the resounding cry from all creation itself that we are at the precipice of tribulation and the employment of God’s final judgment. We cannot take the urgency of the day lightly. But, I restate, we also MUST NOT predict DATES and TIMES. In truth, I believe that when any date is prophesied, proposed or proclaimed by a man or group as a specific conceivable and specific moment for the end of days or the return of Messiah, that act in itself, NEGATES that prognostication. Furthermore, when any group, sect or denomination, be they religious or secular “CRY WOLF” they add to the cacophony of confusion and distraction that sets mankind into a deeper state of stupor and removal. We suffer the regular assault of the negative within and without the Media and Entertainment Industry, growing more and more detached every single day. When your ears are plugged from being drowned, it is very difficult to hear anything, including the truth.
How then do we make lemonade out of this dung? We don’t. That is another disturbing challenge we face when dealing with situations like this and maintaining the Gospel Truth while the Media is teaching our leaders to “SPIN” things into a positive light. Listen- YOU CAN’T MAKE LEMONADE WITH DUNG. So, We don’t. We make fertilizer for the planting of the true Gospel through the opportunities we have to tell those with questions about what just happened. We use the Word of God, the faithful two-edged sword to cut away not the ear of the hearer, but the distraction and confusion of the day. When anyone asks you “Is it true?” about any dates or hours for the end of time or the return of Christ- Simply answer: “THE BIBLE SAYS…” and then TELL THEM WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS. Not what any man, be they scholar, theologian, prophet, Astrophysicist, French Psychic Medium from the Renaissance, Mayan Calendar planner or Daytime Television Host says, but what GOD SAYS. In fact, check everything you just read and all I have shared and will continue to share with you in the future, against the WORD OF GOD. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”-(1 John 4:1) In that, you will know for yourself, through the proof and testing of the Word of God and by His Holy Spirit who is a conduit through whom the Lord will speak and who is not. And once again my beautiful brothers and sisters of the Father of all lights, I encourage you, do not cut the ears of the hearers off, no matter how deceived, aggressive or challenging they may become. LOVE THEM.
Last of all of this exhortation, I encourage you to allow Jesus to heal the ears of those who have been attacked and wounded in their hearing . Allow HIM to do the work that He is called and appointed to do, and He will speak for you. Pray for those who have lost all they own, jobs relationships , trust and worst of all, FAITH. Pray the healing power of God to renew them now. And LET HE WHO HAS EARS- HEAR…