I
have been reading lately Jesus’ discourse as He leaves the temple for the last
time. It was Jesus’ prophecy
conference. The audience was very
exclusive; His insights and explanation being given to a very select few. Jesus’ teachings are fascinating, powerful
and convicting. But they lack one thing
that most prophesy conferences have and indeed have in abundance. Talk about dates and times. In fact, in all
the “prophecy conferences” Jesus held He had one consistent theme: “You will
never know when.”
Do
not attempt to determine when the Lord Jesus will return. That is a wasted effort. It will sell books and maybe even get you a
radio/TV show or ministry. (One televangelist who has made this his focus
has a reported network of 2.5 million dollars and lives in a home valued on the
upside of $400,000. Not a bad gig if you
can get it.) One of the really great
things about a prophecy conference, book, or program is that when you are wrong
you can always right a new book to explain how a new insight makes your next set
of predictions right on target and worth the money.
The
following statements are not the result of scientific research and exhaustive data. They are not meant to be universally
applicable. They are, however, the
observation I have had in my ministry.
Observation
#1 Prophecy aficionados can’t focus on anything else.
Knowing
when, or at least knowing the latest prediction of the Eschatological Super
Stars, is more important than any other part of the Christian life. Minutiae is the name of the game, some vague
and little know fact is the secret key to great esoteric knowledge. Their lives as disciples may be a sham and a
shame but they could tell you that the inflation of the price of goats’ milk in
the Himalayas was a sign of the soon coming END.
Observation
#2 Prophecy aficionados are all but useless.
Asking
a prophecy aficionado to serve in the local church is like asking a wine snob
to do manual labor in a vineyard. Will
prophecy aficionados volunteer in the ministry of the church? Rarely.
Will they invite their friends to come to church? They will only invite
other prophecy aficionados and only if you are hosting a prophecy conference. Will they go on a short-term mission trip or
help with summer youth camp? No, they
are using their vacation time to attend a prophecy conference, which happens to
be at a 4-star resort. Will they teach a
Bible class? Yes, but only if they can
teach Revelation and prophecy, over and over again.
Observation
#3 Prophecy aficionados do more harm than good.
Can
prophecy aficionados make disciples of their friends? They don’t have friends. Their dogmatism and their dire warnings about
the rapture have alienated everyone in their lives except other prophecy
aficionados. Their shrill warnings about
end times may have a short-term, evangelistic intent, but when they are wrong
often the new believer will lose confidence and see Christianity as a
scam. I recommend reading the Amazon
Reviews for “88 reasons Why The Rapture
Will Be in 1988”. https://www.amazon.com/reasons-Why-Rapture-Will-1988/dp/B00073BM8O
But
rather than spend all of my time cursing the darkness allow me to light a
candle. The following is a really great
prophecy conference. But it will not
cover the issues that you might expect.
Charlie’s Great Eschatology
Conference
Part
#1 Do not focus on the signs of when
the Lord Jesus will come again. It is a
waste of time because you ain’t that smart.
Part
#2 Focus on the signs of where
Jesus can come into our lives, circumstances and situations as Lord and
Savior. Then live under His Lordship as
if everyday is the day of His return.
Thank
you.
You
may make your Eschatology Conference payments of $26.66 (twice as good as the
Beast) to my Paypal account.
If
this blog offends you let me know and I will refund 666% of your
subscription.
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