End of Days in May? Believers enter final stretch

[teko]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40885541/

1/3/11

'A lot of people might think, 'The end's coming, let's go party.' But we're commanded by God to warn people'

RALEIGH, N.C. — If there had been time, Marie Exley would have liked to start a family. Instead, the 32-year-old Army veteran has less than six months left, which she'll spend spreading a stark warning: Judgment Day is almost here.

Exley is part of a movement of Christians loosely organized by radio broadcasts and websites, independent of churches and convinced by their reading of the Bible that the end of the world will begin on May 21, 2011.

To get the word out, they're using billboards and bus stop benches, traveling caravans of RVs and volunteers passing out pamphlets on street corners. Cities from Bridgeport, Conn., to Little Rock, Ark., now have billboards with the ominous message, and mission groups are traveling in countries from Latin America to Africa to spread the news outside the U.S.

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.."A lot of people might think, 'The end's coming, let's go party,'" said Exley, a veteran of two deployments in Iraq. "But we're commanded by God to warn people. I wish I could just be like everybody else, but it's so much better to know that when the end comes, you'll be safe."

In August, Exley left her home in Colorado Springs, Colo., to work with Oakland, Calif.-based Family Radio Worldwide, the independent Christian ministry whose leader, Harold Camping, has calculated the May 21 date based on his reading of the Bible.

She is organizing traveling columns of RVs carrying the message from city to city, a logistics challenge that her military experience has helped solve. The vehicles are scheduled to be in five North Carolina cities between now and the second week of January, but Exley will shortly be gone: overseas, where she hopes to eventually make it back to Iraq.

"I don't really have plans to come back," she said. "Time is short."

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.'Definitely against the grain'
Not everyone who's heard Camping's message is taking such a dramatic step. They're remaining in their day-to-day lives, but helping publicize the prophecy in other ways. Allison Warden, of Raleigh, has been helping organize a campaign using billboards, postcards and other media in cities across the U.S. through a website, We Can Know.

The 29-year-old payroll clerk laughs when asked about reactions to the message, which is plastered all over her car.

"It's definitely against the grain, I know that," she said. "We're hoping people won't take our word for it, or Harold Camping's word for it. We're hoping that people will search the scriptures for themselves."

Camping, 89, believes the Bible essentially functions as a cosmic calendar explaining exactly when various prophecies will be fulfilled.

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..The retired civil engineer said all his calculations come from close readings of the Bible, but that external events like the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948 are signs confirming the date.

"Beyond the shadow of a doubt, May 21 will be the date of the Rapture and the day of judgment," he said.

The doctrine known as the Rapture teaches that believers will be taken up to heaven, while everyone else will remain on earth for a period of torment, concluding with the end of time. Camping believes that will happen in October.

"If May 21 passes and I'm still here, that means I wasn't saved. Does that mean God's word is inaccurate or untrue? Not at all," Warden said.

Great Disappointment
The belief that Christ will return to earth and bring an end to history has been a basic element of Christian belief since the first century. The Book of Revelation, which comes last in the New Testament, describes this conclusion in vivid language that has inspired Christians for centuries.

But few churches are willing to set a date for the end of the world, heeding Jesus' words in the gospels of Mark and Matthew that no one can know the day or hour it will happen. Predictions like Camping's, though, aren't new. One of the most famous in history was by the Baptist leader William Miller, who predicted the end for Oct. 22, 1844, which came to be known as the Great Disappointment among his followers, some of who subsequently founded the Seventh Day Adventist church.

"In the U.S., there is still a significant population, mostly Protestant, who look at the Bible as kind of a puzzle, and the puzzle is God's word and it's predicting when the end times will come," said Catherine Wessinger, a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans who studies millennialism, the belief in pending apocalypse.

"A lot of times these prophecies gain traction when difficulties are happening in society," she said. "Right now, there's a lot of insecurity, and this is a promise that says it's not all random, it's part of God's plan."

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.Past predictions that failed to come true don't have any bearing on the current calculation, believers maintain.

"It would be like telling the Wright Brothers that every other attempt to fly has failed, so you shouldn't even try," said Chris McCann, who works with eBible Fellowship, one of the groups spreading the message.

For believers like McCann, theirs is actually a message of hope and compassion: God's compassion for people, and the hope that there's still time to be saved.

That, ultimately, is what spurs on Exley, who said her beliefs have alienated her from most of her friends and family. Her hope is that not everyone who hears her message will mock it, and that even people who dismiss her now might still come to believe.

"If you still want to say we're crazy, go ahead," she said. "But it doesn't hurt to look into it."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[April2]

Good point, lol. Even Jesus said no one knows the time except the Father but that we are to watch for the signs and be ready. I think he knew if we had a specific date people would be partying up till the last minute, then repent and come back to God the day before or something. Mankind has a tendency to do that! I don't know how many times I've heard people say, "Oh, I'll just accept Christ on my deathbed. Right now I want to have fun!" Well, we're not guarenteed tomorrow. Besides, who said Christians can't have fun?! :)

[brice1967]

There is no way anyone knows the end of time, unless it is God himself.  I don't know if any of you folks remember the scientist or anthropologist that discovered a few mistakes in the Mayan calender... the one that claimed the end of times was near???  Not that the Mayans were not an amazing civilization, but putting them in charge of the end of times, I find funny, because they didn't even discover in door plumbing.

I'd agree with Ashelen that a bunch of the recent happenings on the globe are of concern, but the end of times is a stretch..... and how would this flock received the memo before anyone else?  

[Ashelen]

I know how they came up with the date. It was printed on the inside of their tinfoil hat and it slipped over their eyes. Vision from God! Voila!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm not superstitious in the least but everything that's happened recently has me a little jumpy. However - sign of the end? nah. Just...unfortunate. I believe that we're not gonna know when the end is to come (quoth the bible...) so I'm just gonna do the best I can to appreciate the time given to me, prepare for MY end, and hope that THE End doesn't come in the meantime.

[April2]

That's a good point, you're right. I guess that's why it's so important that we look to God not man, stay in the Word and pray for wisdom and discernment.

[teko]

My only problem with those that predict timetables is that when it does not happen, it turns more people away from Christ than it does anything. People look upon them as loons and their credibility goes right out the window with their predictions.

[brice1967]

Yeah, I am not too for sure how they come up with the dates either.  It has absolutely no validity.  I am with you April2, in believing that we should all live today like its our last, and we all should express as much love as possible.... religious or not.

All it takes for things like this to gain any ground is for a "prophet" to have a needy flock.  It truly sounds as if this lady is desperate to be "saved", and her fanaticism has alienated her from some family and friends.

Now, with that said, I am not a religious person but am rather spiritual.  I don't mind having philosophical conversations regarding religion.  In fact, I rather enjoy getting ones views on the subject,  But.... I have a real hard time thinking that the homeless prophet preaching from his interpretation of the good book is anything less than a nut.  I think there are people who are obviously less "nuts" but too are far too religious.... in the fact that try their hardest to force feed me their religious beliefs.  The woman mentioned above is one of those people.

We had a kid back some 25-28 years ago in highschool that we called the preacher.  This kid was highly religious and I had quite a few conversations with him regarding religion.  He always behaved in class, did his work, got adequate grades..... but sometimes during a between class sermon, he would literally lose his mind in his religion.  He would be damning people and condemning others to hell.  80% of the time, this kid was approachable and wanted to talk, even when he knew there was a difference of opinion.  But that other 20% scared or otherwise turned people off on this kid.  By becoming so enraged, he pushed some folks away that would have normally stood by him.

Anyhow.... enough of that.  I think we all need to be kind to one another, we ought not lie, cheat, etc.  We should take care of others the way we expect to be cared for and we should live today like there is no tomorrow.  Dont leave any stone unturned.

[April2]

I wonder how they came up with that date? There's all kinds of people that have spent their whole lives studying the bible, in particular Revelations and the book of Daniel to try to figure out when Jesus would return and restore the earth and his people. There have been lots of predictions.
I find it all interesting but take it all with a grain of salt. The only way to know if a prophet is a true prophet is if what they prophesy comes true. In the meantime, really, we all should just live as if today were our last day on earth. Each day is precious and on loan to us. No one knows how long they have here on earth, no one. We should not waste our lives but do the best we can, things that would be pleasing to God, like helping the poor, the orphans, etc.
If we call ourselves Chistians, then we should not be ashamed of the gospel or Christ, either. We should share the love of God with anyone willing to listen. We can't save people, only God can. But we can pray and try to live a Christ like life as much as possible.

[brice1967]

Oh brother......