I don't know about any of you, but I didn't waste even a second of my day in literal evacuation mode for the rapture yesterday. Meet the man who should be apologizing publicly for the chaos he incited:
^ Found that online and although I don't necessarily agree with bashing, I certainly agree that this was a true
epic fail. That's Harold Camping, who, for anyone interested, spread a big ole' rumor [again] that the Biblical rapture was going to happen....
yesterday.
Now, if there's one thing I do know, it's that I'm a long-term firm believer in the fact that Christ is Lord, and that His return
is going to happen. What irritates me beyond what I could even begin to express here is the damage that this one man managed to inflict on the Christian effort, as a whole.
Example:
 |
| one of many ridiculous billboards |
Really?
In my last entry I noted that Biblically, it is
stated
that Christ returning will come as a
thief in the night. When was the last time any thief called you to schedule an appointment? The event itself will be
huge [under under-statement], but we likely won't see it approaching, especially not like this.
Let me dial back a few thoughts.
For those of you who might be reading this as a believer, non-believer, on-the-fence believer, or any variation of existing belief system: my personal position on the matter:
1. I am a Christian. Specifically, I am Baptist, but before we split hairs over denomination, I'll tell you that if we spent even half the time focusing on what unites us as believers [you know, GOD & that book we should study more?] that we do on trying to be the better
team, we'd be moving in an entirely different, better direction, at light speed.
2. After yesterday and the fiasco leading up to it, I honestly do not blame anyone scoffing the name of us
Bible Thumpers,
lunatics, etc., etc. If I didn't personally understand and believe in the deeper truths of the Bible [over which this whole thing started], I would probably be in the same boat, still.
3. I say
still, because at one point in time, I walked away completely from faith, from church, and anything that even smelled of a holy lifestyle. I didn't fly off the deep end, but I certainly spent way too much time trying to handle college, a social life, family, and my late teens/early 20's by myself. I found myself regretfully surrounded by people I trusted for the wrong reasons, indulging in habits that were less than healthy, let alone honorable, and the
entire time telling myself I was being mature, responsible, and clever. I personified my peers, to feel included, and I rarely weighed consequences. It was fun and games,
living my life, on my terms. In a sheerly
ungraceful crash-and-burn manner, life caught up with me and I found myself on my knees, hunched over alone in the corner of my apartment kitchen sobbing hysterically and praying for the first time in years for the pain of pretense and the burn of a seemingly contradictive loneliness to leave. If you think that night was one of those prophetic
insta-180-change moments,
no, it wasn't. What did happen though was a slow but steady and consistent determination to peel away one thing at a time until I was back to a place where I could feel good about my
life, from from inside out. From start to the present day, it's been a bumpy 5-year project, and it's not finished. I am not a perfect person. I am not holier than the next person. I am human.
4. So, as a Christian, I simply believe that there is a God. I believe He is to be praised, adored, and respected. He became human to live among us, not above us, and as that human, chose to be publicly ridiculed, outcast, tortured, beaten, and ultimately murdered to save our lives. His flesh bled, just like ours. His body recognized stress, fatigue, and frustration. His brain processed fear and humiliation, excruciating pain and an acute awareness of death, just like ours. I don't know the first thing about sacrifice when I stand next to that. I believe that what He wanted out of us is so SIMPLE: He wants us to be nice to each other, not bullies. He wants us to love each other, not play on separate sides over stupid fights. He wants us to have compassion for people that are hurting, not sigh in relief that we are better off. He wants us to be healthy: physically, emotionally, and mentally. He wants us to stay married and not just acknowledge but also respect our duties as spouses and parents. He wants us to let go of grudges and forgive. He wants us to share, and make fair decisions, even if it means swallowing our pride. In specific comparison to the actions of Mr. Camping, Christ never once ok'd us to slander other people, let alone other people who have taken on a profession of trying to share the positive hope of God's message. To me that sounds a lot like what we learned as kids; we just grew up and forgot.
5. My heart goes out to the thousands and thousands of people who followed Harold Camping's advice. For whatever reasons they had for taking the extreme measures about which I've read over and over, I can only hope that they are being accepted back into the stream of life and gettingck on their feet. My honest prayer for those people is that they realize now that we were are meant to live our lives to the fullest every day, because when Christ returns,we won't be ranked on how much or how little we have, and our socio-economic position won't mean a thing! He will see the way we lived, the way we treated people, and the way we trusted Him along the way.
-------------------------------------------
In other news, today's day 6, and that means only 28 days to go and I will be finished with all 4 cycles!
Alsooooo, Kalyn's mom is getting married next weekend and this week will be filled to its brim with prepping for song [yeah, we're singing, no big deal, ha... but seriously, pray for us; we need it!], and helping hem the dress. We're doin' it Macgyver style. Cross your fingers.
Let's start this week off right :)
xo | cmd
