This poor guy. He is a Mayan Indian elder who is tired of being barraged about the 2012 myth.Even if the Mayan calendar were accurate, it does not date 2012 as the end of the world. And even if it did, why are some Christians looking to sorcery and false religions to validate their end-times hysteria and ever-changing formulas?
And why is anyone still buying the 1970 pop-prophecy primer The Late Great Planet Earth, when the author was shortly thereafter to publish The 1980s, Countdown to Armageddon? Now, I know the 1980s included spandex, mullets, and Wham! (yikes!), but even with those abominations, the world did not end before Seattle grunge went mainstream. Interestingly, 1980s Countdown is no longer in print (Hmm. I wonder why not...) - but you can get used copies for as low as a penny.
And get ready for the hype to continue thanks to the 2012 movie that is coming out soon.
Make no mistake. Time is moving toward a finite end. The world is running down. We are living in the last days. Jesus will return. But the reality will be far different than the escapists and enthusiasts (who have tried to turn the Bible into a Nicholas Cage movie) imagine and sell to people as genuine Biblical prophecy. There will be no rapture. Jesus will not come back two more times, nor set up a literal thousand year kingdom - which will come to an end. The "last things" have nothing to do with the modern State of Israel. But as we have in the past, we Christians will endure persecution to the end. We will continue to suffer the results of this fallen world until the end of time and the beginning of eternity.
There have been all sorts of ever-changing speculations from the 19th century to the present - especially among American cults and sects - about the exact date of the end of the world. And when their predictions don't materialize, excuses get made, new dates are selected, a few leaders take the fall, new people are found to buy the line, and the great snake-oil show continues - to the detriment of the faith of the many who have been duped.
But we Christians know better than heed such nonsense.
As we Christians have prayed since the first century: "Come, Lord Jesus! Amen."
5 comments:
saw Hal Lindsy on Television the other night and found it hard to believe he could live it down. Well keep preaching it, but you would probably find more people listening to you if you predicted when the world would end, more people would listen even after that day came and went. What is wrong with this world? sin or something?
Everyone knows that the world actually ended on Easter of 2000, for that was the last day mentioned in the TLH -- and we are now actually in purgatory. . .
Or maybe not - but can't I hold to my own crackpot doomsday theories?
Pastor Beane
We've discussed this in cursory before. As I have mentioned, I'm LCMS from birth. My father is a 50+ year LCMS professional.
You have expressed your affinity for the late Fr. Malachi Martin. I'm gathering, that means you have read, or are at least familiar with his works, The Keys of This Blood, and Windswept House.
For any "unwashed" lurking here, the single most important aspects of these two works, are summed up by Fr. Martin...
"Most frighteningly for John Paul, he had come up against the irremovable presence of a malign strength in his own Vatican and in certain bishops’ chanceries. It was what knowledgeable Churchmen called the “superforce.” Rumors, always difficult to verify, tied its installation to the beginning of Pope Paul VI’s reign in 1963. Indeed Paul had alluded somberly to “the smoke of Satan which has entered the Sanctuary”…an oblique reference to an enthronement ceremony by Satanists in the Vatican." -- The Keys of This Blood
then further detailed...
"The Enthronement of the Fallen Archangel Lucifer was effected within the Roman Catholic Citadel on June 29, 1963; a fitting date for the historic promise about to be fulfilled. As the principal agents of this Ceremonial well knew, Satanist tradition had long predicted that the Time of the Prince would be ushered in at the moment when a Pope would take the name of the Apostle Paul [Pope Paul VI]. That requirement—the signal that the Availing Time had begun—had been accomplished just eight days before with the election of the latest Peter-in-the-Line." -- Windswept House
Now Drudge reports the Vatican's fascination with ET's...
Vatican looks to heavens for signs of alien life
Drudge is a bit late to the party, for this is NOT news...
L'Osservatore Romano newspaper
In Matt. 24, Jesus mentions, "the days of Noah." That points us to Gen. 6. In Gen. 6, we find the Nephilim. Beyond that, we find very little detail, in the collective 66 books about these Nephilim. Except, for a book named -- Enoch. Why has this book been suppressed?
I'm sorry, this Mayan elder either doesn't know what he is talking about, or he is flat out lying for whatever reasons. I'm simply finding it quite difficult, to debunk David Flynn's math...
Pastor Beane, I have come to the conclusion, that the LCMS is wholly deficient on these matters, and well behind he curve. It is high time for them to step up to the plate. You say we are definitely in these "last days." Well, is the LCMS prepared to address that which the scenario is presented in the latest iteration of "V?"
Now before anybody "poo poos' a simple sci-fi television program, then I must inform you of -- Predictive Programming. By the way, a buddy and myself, are convinced, that Fr. Travis, is indeed a "sleeper."
I am personally, of the opinion, that Dec. 21, 2012 does NOT mark the end of the world, or even of the end of the age [cosmos]. However, at present, I am of the opinion, that this date may well mark the beginning of something entirely -- else. Of what that is, I'm not sure. I'm going (like everyone else) just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, I will certainly pay attention to events and seasons, and watch, and pray...
Come Lord Jesus come...
Well, if they're right about 2012, then I'll skip the gym and move right on to dessert.
Dear Fooser:
That's all way above me. All I know is that the Scriptures are the only Word of God - not Mayan calendars or science fiction shows.
I believe western civilization (the most influential world culture) is decaying, and that the Church is dying in the "civilized" world. I believe we are seeing a rapid decline, and developments in the Church - such as the rapid and irrevocable idea of "women's ordination" among some branches of historic Christianity - threaten the integrity of the sacraments - even in churches that don't "ordain" women. (And Bryce, if you're reading, I already know you disagree, so I'll register your objection right now for you. But my blog is my opinion. I think there is a direct link between women priests and the Abomination of portraying Jesus and the Apostles as homosexual pornography in the Uppsala Cathedral).
And unlike the Church of the 4th century that was able to work toward the end of Arianism through a Council, we're in no position at this stage of our history to fight back against these heresies by any kind of united front or new creed. Indeed, we are told the Church will become a remnant as the days draw to a close. I think we're on the curve.
But this in no way gives credence to the speculations of Hollywood film-makers and Jack Van Impe, of followers of Edgar Cayce and the Jehovah's Witnesses. At the end of the day, these are all fallible (and demonstrably false) "prophets."
Jesus says we just don't know when the Big Day is coming. He tells to be ready *now,* to repent *now,* and to preach with urgency *now.* The Kingdom of God is *now.*
Malachi Martin cataloged a lot of the decay in his own little corner of the Church Catholic. We have our own as well. It will get worse before it gets better. But ultimately, we know how the book ends, and we can take comfort in that.
I do think the speculation of the "experts" has damaged the faith of a lot of people. When the year 1000 came and went, when 1847 and 1917 passed, when 1948 and 1954 lapsed into history, when the 1980s did not count down to Armageddon, when the year 2000 did not melt down the computers, and as is likely, when we all blow noisemakers and sip champagne on New Year's Day 2013, I do wonder how many people throw the baby of the Christ Child out with the bathwater of End Times Hobbists.
We'll all know when we all know. Meanwhile, be ready *now.*
Thanks for writing!
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