By now you’ve heard of the guy who’s “proven” that the end of the world is happening tomorrow. I’d link to the website but I really don’t want to glorify them anymore.
Announcements like this awaken the sarcastic and (I think) witty person in me. I want to laugh and chide and share in the general mockery.
I could even use Scripture to mock these people. After all, Jesus clearly said no one would know when the return would happen (Matthew 24:36).
But I can’t. Like the restraining bolt on R2-D2, something is holding me back. Here’s are some thoughts on what that might be.
People will be really hurt on Sunday
When I was in college, some folks went to a church that “knew” Jesus’ return was going to be on a certain date. They earnestly believed it. Their whole faith in Jesus was invested in it.
And it didn’t happen. I’m not sure these people ever got over it.
I hate seeing people taken out like this. Jesus gets blamed for someone else’s…what do you call it? A lie? A misguided teaching? A heresy? Whatever it is, good, sincere people get hurt deeply.
Crack pot announcements like this discredit the Gospel for years afterward
As a follower of Jesus, I would that all would encounter Him. As I’ve grown in my faith, I have moved away from the “I have all the answers to the questions you’re not asking.” Instead, I want my life, actions, words, and deeds to be so different that is screams “This guy knows Jesus.” I think it’s St. Francis who’s credited with saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.”
We Christians already do enough to give Jesus a bad name. Crazy stuff like this is like proclaiming that bad PR through loudspeakers.
Sometimes I think it would be better if we were taken out of the way so people could experience Jesus without having to go through us! But for some reason God keeps us here and still chooses to work
There really will be an end…at some point
Hebrew and Christian Scriptures both point to an end. A Day of Reckoning. The end of the world. “That Day.” Jesus even talks about it in the chapter I referred to above, Matthew 24. As a follower of Jesus, I believe this to be true.
So, in theory, the world could end tomorrow. Or today. Or Monday. There’s just as much chance of it ending before I finish typing this sentence as it ending in another 1000 years.
Having people publicly proclaim the end, however misguided, reminds me of one of the strong teachings of my faith. And that, like so much in Scripture, makes me a bit uncomfortable.
It gets me thinking about my life, how I’ve lived it, if I’m doing all I can for God, loving Him with all that I am. Or not. Bracing stuff.
So I do snicker when I see signs like the one above on the streets of Portland. But not whole heartedly.
Perhaps I’ll play R.E.M.’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it” and pray for God to use even this for His glory.
This recipe called for the bottom crust to be baked at 350 F for about 10 minutes. Then I started cooking the onions in a skillet. Then threw in both meats. Once those looked done, I added the potato and crushed bullion cube.
All that went in the crust, top of crust went on, and the pie was baked for 25 minutes. Then came the cheddar cheese. YUM. Covered the pie all over with cheese and baked for another 10 minutes.
Very nice but next time I believe I’ll use all beef, not beef and pork.
Making mashed potatoes took more time than making the pie! So I decided to make some ginger nuts too. New Zealand recipes were well represented in our house today!
1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
1 1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 T golden syrup
2 C flour (The recipe called for a bit more so I rounded the second cup)
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp ginger
It was pretty easy. The butter and sugar get creamed with egg.
Not having “golden syrup,” I mix 2 teaspoons of light corn syrup and 1 teaspoon of molasses.
The rest get blended together. The dough is then rolled into balls and put on a cookie sheet.
They baked at 350F for 25 minutes.
Out of the oven they were nice and soft. And within minutes, they’d hardened to a hearty crunch. Very nice with one of my remaining Elf Warmer Christmas Ales!
The King James Version of the Bible turns 400 today.
Normally that wouldn’t have mattered to me. I don’t read the KJV. I associate it with the type of Christians that use lots of other adjectives on their church signs like “fundamentalist” and “blood bought” and (ironically) “independent.” I prefer a more immediately accessible translation like the TNIV.
But last month I heard a great story on the creation of the KJV translation on NPR. I hadn’t realized how much this translation had impacted our language and culture. The NPR story helped give me new appreciation for the KJV.
So I took notice when I learned that the folks at YouVersion, my favorite geeky Bible site and app, were planning a celebration. Their goal? To read the entire KJV of the Bible in 400 seconds!
They did this by dividing up the text among anyone who would sign up to read at the appointed time. They called it a sort of “digital flash mob.”
And sign up they did! According to the YouVersion folks, there were enough people to read the entire KJV eight times in 400 seconds! Here’s a map on where readers came from:
I was assigned Isaiah 64. Not only was it oddly fun to read the now archaic language oddly compelling, I even rediscovered the Hebraic roots of one of my favorite biblical passages like 1 Corinthians 2:9:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (NIV)
Rather than just reading it, I chose to live stream it from my office using Bambuser. You can see my 2 minutes of reading here:
A fun way to spend part of my lunch hour.
If you want to learn more on the KJV, check out the story NPR did or click on this terrific infographic prepared by YouVersion (click on it to expand it):
Or you could just start reading it. Why not try reading Isaiah 64?
