Tomorrow's Rapture Has Been Cancelled. Apologies for the Inconvenience.

You've likely heard by now that Jesus is supposed to come back tomorrow -- at least according to one largely misguided man and his followers.

Maybe I should back-track a bit.  Could Christ return for His people on May 21, 2011?  Absolutely.  He could also come back on May 23rd, August 9th, or some time in 2338.  No one knows.

And that's the point.  No one knows.

And no one will know.  The Bible says as much.  Mark 13:32-33 states, "but about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be on alert!  You do not know when that time will come."  My guess is that Harold Camping, the perpetrator of this most recent published prediction of the Rapture, falls into one of the categories other than "the Father", so the Bible clearly states that he won't know.

The problem isn't that one misguided man has made a poor interpretation of scripture.  It's that he has, in turn, led others to believe something that is completely contrary to scripture.  And, unfortunately, the media has latched on to it like a leech on, well, something with blood in it.  But it's not because they think it could happen; they are using this to portray Christians as a bunch of wackos, much as they did with Heaven's Gate and the Branch Davidians.

Camping does have one thing right, though: the signs of the end times are growing by the day.  The absolute minimum requirement is that the Gospel must be preached to all nations (Mark 13:10).  And Camping is actually fulfilling more than one piece of scripture.  Sure, there is the bit about many claiming to come in the name of Christ who have not actually been sent by the Father (Mark 13:22 - " ... false prophets will appear ... ").  But he is also helping to fulfill Mark 13:13, which states that "everyone will hate you because of me."  In a way, giving the mainstream world another straw to grasp at in their attempt to discredit Christians, Harold Camping is helping to bring about the Rapture he thinks he can predict.

Things are going to get worse before we, the elect, are raptured to heaven.  We will not know the exact time and place, but there will be signs.  Earthquakes and other natural disasters will increase -- sort of like the massive quakes and tsunamis and hurricanes affecting Japan, Chile, Indonesia and Louisiana in the last five years.  There will be the aforementioned false messiahs and false prophets, and other signs.  And, Christ says, "when you see these things happening, you will know that it is near, right at the door." (Mark 13:29)

So, be on the lookout.  Be aware of your surroundings and pay attention, for God is telling us when His Son will return.  But He isn't telling is the date or time.  But when those signs are present, be prepared!  Just as Lot was instructed not to look back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we are told not to turn back to bring anything with us ("Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out" (Mark 13:15)) -- for Christ is rapturing us, not our belongings.

And remember: Christ will return at a time when no one is expecting him.  So be ready always, so you have no need to predict His return.