The End of the World is NOT Near! Balanced Biblical teaching does indicate that there is a new age coming, during which Jesus Christ will reign. We do not set dates for future events! Fear and dread are not appropriate for those who know Christ. Nevertheless, there are many doomsday scenarios in the news, and some of them do have prophetic value. The balance here is to remember that the Bible predicts bad times ahead, but not the total destruction of life.
Jan 11, 2011 - The famous "Doomsday Clock," created by The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) in 1947 has been advanced
one minute and stands at "5 minutes to midnight." Two years ago the group felt things were going better and moved the time back one
minute, but now they say things are worse because of "inadequate progress" on
nuclear and climate issues.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Phil Hotsenpiller, teaching pastor of Yorba Linda Friends Church and popular comic book artist Rob Liefeld have created a graphic novel series on the end times. The first installment was Armageddon Now: World War 3.
The second installment, Armageddon Now: The Beast, focuses on the antichrist and the mystery of the constellation Orion as it
relates to the future of mankind. The latest graphic novel is set to be released soon.
This report blames all the world evils on believers! World peace would break out if it were not for Bible believers in America.
The trouble with Israel is because pre-Millennial believers support Israel.
The movie “2012” was the ultimate action movie. The special effects were numerous and amazing throughout the show. It was based on
the fact that the Mayan calendars end at 2012, and the assumption that that would mean that the Earth would be destroyed at that time.
According to Mayan historians this date would not be the end of the world, but just the end of their long cycle of time based on their
study of the stars. The Egyptians had similar beliefs about this cycle.
... more ...
Feb. 5, 2009 - The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association will focus this year on the last days and the return of Jesus Christ. Graham says people ask him if he really believes Jesus is coming back to earth again.
"Yes, I do,” he continues. “The Bible teaches that Jesus is coming again. And I don’t see any other hope, because we’re heading toward a catastrophe in our world."
A list of resources about the end times is available on the BGEA website. Graham says that regardless of when Christ returns, the end of the world does come for each and every single person – the moment that they die.
Winter, 2009 - Michelle de Carion, a student at Moody Bible Institute, comments on Hollywood's fascination with apocalyptic movies. The Bible agrees that there is disaster ahead, but it also gives great reasons for hope and peace.
Sept. 8, 2008 - This article by Finlo Rohrer uses a current issue to examine various beliefs about the end of the world. On Wednesday of this week the Large Hadron Collider on the Swiss/French border will have its first full test by smashing one particle into another. Supposedly, it will reveal amazing things about the birth of the universe. Another very small group of people think that it could cause the end of the world by producing tiny black holes and "strangelets."
However, the consensus of physicists is that the collider is perfectly harmless.
July 5, 2008 - Patrick Geryl, a French oil worker quit his job and founded a "survival group" for people like himself who believe the world will be destroyed in 2012.
He points to the ancient Mayan cyclical calendars, the longest of which last renewed itself approximately 5,125 years ago and is set to end again, supposedly with catastrophic consequences, in 2012.
Editor's note: There will be a great deal of interest in this theory during the next four years. Please notice our statement about the
End of the World. We do not believe in setting dates, or that the end of the world is near, especially when such speculation is based on non-Biblical sources.
Oct. 23, 2006 - Gordon MacDonald, Editor-at-large for Christianity Today attended the Clinton Global Initiative Conference in New York City. He was one of only a hand-full of Evangelicals. Most of the attendees were business leaders or politicians. Some of them were:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell, Rupert Murdoch, Paul Farmer, Kofi Annan, Hamid Karzai, Pervez Musharraf, Bill Gates, and Paul Kagame (president of Rwanda).
McDonald felt that the conference was generally helpful, with "a clear awareness that the world is in greater trouble today than it has ever been."
The initiative has received pledges of some $7.2 billion this year.
Aug 2, 2006 - CNN is only one of several news sources that have featured reports on the Apocalypse during the current fighting in the Middle East. However, MSNBC's Tucker Carlson says that CNN seems to be going out of their way to insult the intelligence of conservative Christians.
A segment on the July 31 edition of CNN's Paula Zahn Now marked the "the third time in as many weeks, CNN has devoted an entire segment to the possibility that the Apocalypse might be approaching."
Source: Media Matters
Are These the End Times?
July 28, 2006 - Tim LaHaye, coauthor of the popular ‘Left Behind’ series explains why he believes
Christ will return in this generation. He points out that the very nations that are involved in the conflict
right now are the ones prophecied to be engaged in a last-days battle. He does not believe in setting
dates.
I have often said that no one knows the day nor the hour that Christ will come,
but no generation has had so many signs of the times as our generation. We have more
reason to believe that Christ could come in our lifetime than any generation before us.
Source: MSNBC (Story no longer online)
'End Times' Religious Groups Want Apocalypse Soon
June 22,, 2006 - Interesting but cynical article about end-times fever - comparing the Christian vision of Christ's return with the radical Islamic scenario.
Source: Los Angeles Times (Story no longer online)
Asked by a questioner following his speech on the War on Terror at the City Club of Cleveland tonight whether the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism are signs of the apocaplyse, Bush responded, "The answer is – I haven't really thought of it that way."
Source:WorldNetDaily
Why is George Clooney’s new generation of doomsday films so prominent in the Oscar lineup? It’s all about the manipulation of fear.
Mar 3, 2006 - In 2000 actor George Clooney produced a black and white remake of the '60's doomsday story, "Fail-Safe." And now he has two more films with oscar nominations that also have fear as a central feature:
"Good Night, and Good Luck," about the 1954 showdown between legendary broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow and the Red-baiting Republican demagogue Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and "Syriana," about brutal intrigues in the Middle East.
The writer of this article thinks that all of this is Clooney's attempt to protest wars and try to stop "some latter-day cowboy, whooping, hollering and waving his Stetson, from plunging all of us into oblivion for the benefit of a few men at the top."
Source: Newsweek (Story no longer online)
Recent World Events Bring Up Armageddon Debate
Feb. 26, 2006 - Public opinion is strongly divided about the meaning of the intense recent natural disasters and health threats like the Avian Bird Flu.
So, how divided is this issue? According to a survey by the Barna Research Group, four out of 10 Americans believe that the physical world will end as a result of supernatural intervention.
A Newsweek poll revealed that 55 percent of Americans believe in the rapture and 36 percent in the biblical "Book of Revelation."
Source:KMAR TV - Amarillo (Story no longer online)
Jan. 26, 2005 - Hal Lindsey wonders if he is the only one who feels he is in a Stephen King movie. Because of the moral conditions, natural disasters, and other signs of the times, he says, "I marvel that anyone could miss the signs of Jesus Christ's soon coming." The pressing question of our generation is not about our origins, or whether or not there is an afterlife. The big question of our decadent age is whether marriage should be between a man and a woman.
Source:Hal Lindsey Oracle (Story no longer online)
Rethinking doomsday
Nov.-Dec., 2004 - This article summarizes a year-long series of reports in the prestigious bulletin about potential death-and-destruction scenarios. Chemical warfare is still too hard to deliver. Biological disasters are always possible, but there is more liklihood of a serious flu or anthrax epidemic than a deliberate smallpox attack. Nanotechnology gone wild is a current science fiction theme, possibly resulting in runaway robotic proliferation, resulting in the smothering of life. This too is a most unlikely scenario. The two big threats are dirty radioactive bombs, especially the attack on a nuclear power facility, and the accidental release of nuclear weapons that are still aimed between the U.S. and Russia.
Source:Journal of the Atomic Scientists (Story no longer online)
Aug. 16, 2003 - Astronomers are now saying that there are 10 times more stars in the visible Universe than all the grains of sand on every beach and desert in the world. But using new methods of measuring the light of whole galaxies, they also say that the stars are beginning to decline, and will one day, in the very distant future, cease to shine.
Oct. 16, 2002 - Hal Lindsey argues that the Muslim leadership in Jerusalem is inciting a struggle over the Temple Mount that can lead to all-out war in the Middle East.Last Friday, Sheikh Ikrema Sabri said, "The Temple Mount belongs only to the Muslims." He also stated that they will not allow anyone to interfere in their affairs, including the Israeli authorities.
The Hebrew prophets predicted that a conflict over Jerusalem between Israel and the surrounding nations, which are all Muslim today, would be a great burden to the whole world. The prophet Zechariah predicted that this conflict would ignite the last war of this present world (Zechariah 12:2-3).
Source:WorldNetDaily
The Bible and the Apocalypse
June 24, 2002 - This major article by Nancy Gibbs explores the rise in interest in Biblical prophecy since 9-11 and the impact of the best-selling "Left Behind" novel series.
People who haven't read the book and its sequels often haven't even heard of them, yet their success provides new evidence that interest in the End Times is no fringe phenomenon. Only about half of Left Behind readers are Evangelicals, which suggests there is a broader audience of people who are having this conversation.
In fact, a TIME/CNN poll reported that more than a third of Americans are paying more attention to the relationship between Bible prophecy and the news, and 59% believe the events in Revelation are going to come true.
Apr. 6, 2002 - Many Bible students see the present conflict in the Middle East in the context of end-times prophecies.
Source:Washington Times (Story no longer online)
The Sky Isn't Falling
Jan. 11, 1999 - Chuck Colson's column in Christianity Today focuses on the bright side of the future for Christians who will not allow themselves to sink into despair, but will take advantage of good changes that are taking place as we face the new millennium.
The Church stands tall and keeps progressing through the ages in contrast to all the "isms" of our century (communism, socialism, nazism, liberalism, humanism, scientism) which have failed.
The dawn of the new millennium is a time for Christians to celebrate, to blow
trumpets and fly the flag high. To desert the field of battle now would be
historical blindness, betraying our heritage just when we have the greatest
opportunity of the century. This is the time to make a compelling case that
Christianity offers the only rational and realistic hope for both personal
redemption and social renewal.
Jan. 4, 1998 - This BBC article states that there are about 100 millennialists who have already come to Israel to wait for the return of Christ, and that thousands more are expected. One policeman expressed concern about the matter:
"If the Messiah
doesn't show up as expected, we fear some of the
disappointed believers may take matters into their own
hands to hasten along the end of time. Given all the
problems we have here already, Israel can ill afford a
Waco."
Comment: Balanced, Biblical Christians need to be very clear about the fact that we don't set dates or promote fear. Beware of being branded with these extremists.
Time's Choice for the most important event of the past millennium:
100 most important events are listed, but this is the most significant one of all!
Prophets Of Doom?
Dec. 11, 1997 - Here we go! The lead article for US News Online for Dec. 15, signals the beginning of intense interest in the new millennium during the next two years. This article focuses on the negative teaching about coming destruction, and fringe groups like the Heaven's Gate Cult. It does at least mention some good done by premillennial groups.
In our opinion, responsible Bible teachers need to keep a positive tone. Remember that God's program is not likely to coincide with our calendar, and that we don't believe in "the end of the world," but in the end of this age which will usher in a new and better age. see Warnings and Cautions for a reminder not to set dates or try to positively identify Antichrist and his forces.
Though we do expect a literal fulfillment of the Tribulation
period described in the Book of Revelation, our emphasis is not on doom and
gloom, but on the eventual triumph of Christ and the establishment of His
Kingdom on Earth.
