Friday, November 13, 2009
I remember in August of 1988, after church one Sunday, several people came up to me with a little booklet in their hands. The 86 page booklet was distributed on cars in the parking lot during church ( all 12 of them. I had a really small church back then). The booklet was written by Edgar C. Whisenant and the title of it was, "88 Reasons Why the Rapture will take place in 1988." I later found out who distributed these booklets. His name was Apostle Doug. I had a few interesting conversations with him. I remember telling him, "Doug, Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour when the Son of Man shall appear. Not even the angels in heaven know. Jesus said that not even He knows the day or the hour, only the Father knows." I was loosely quoting Matthew 24: 36-41 to him. He replied to me, "We don't know the day or the hour but we do know the month and the year."
Apparently Apostle Doug and Mr. Whisenant didn't know the month or the year either. Interestingly, Edgar wrote another booklet in 1989. In this booklet he claimed that his math was off by one year, so 1989 would be the year of the rapture of the Church. Hmmmm. In 1988, 88 Reasons sold 4.5 million copies. I know Apostle Doug bought 12. Today, 88 reasons is not selling so well. In the 89 version, the one with the new, correct math, Mr. Whisenant made this statement, "Jesus is coming again. I will give a 50% chance that He will come again in 1989."
I would say that Edgar was half right, wouldn't you?
Jesus did say, "No one (human being), knows that day or hour"....and He was referring to heaven and earth passing away. No one includes Bible scholars who make time lines. No one includes people like Edgar Whisenant or Apostle Doug or Pastor Tim. No one includes Mayan people who have their own calendar. I can't believe the uproar about this movie, "2012", which is supposed to be an end times epic based on the Mayan calendar running out of days in 2012. I have one word for this movie - FICTION! Not even the Mayan people know when the end of time will be.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night..." One thing about thieves, they don't tell you when they are coming, they surprise you. They don't give you a timeline to let you know when to expect them, they come when you least expect it. In the Matthew 24 passage, Jesus said His coming would be like in the days before the flood. People were eating, drinking, marrying, up until the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing about the flood until it came and took them away. People were simply living life without acknowledging God and the flood surprised them. Jesus said, "Therefore keep watch" (v. 42) and "you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (verse 44).
Now that's wise - keep watch and be ready. I think I'm going to write this booklet, "88 Ways to Be Ready for the Lord's Return". #1 - Receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
You'll have to buy the book to learn the other ways. Or maybe I'll contact Apostle Doug and see if he can distribute some books for me.
Looking Up,
Pastor Tim
Apparently Apostle Doug and Mr. Whisenant didn't know the month or the year either. Interestingly, Edgar wrote another booklet in 1989. In this booklet he claimed that his math was off by one year, so 1989 would be the year of the rapture of the Church. Hmmmm. In 1988, 88 Reasons sold 4.5 million copies. I know Apostle Doug bought 12. Today, 88 reasons is not selling so well. In the 89 version, the one with the new, correct math, Mr. Whisenant made this statement, "Jesus is coming again. I will give a 50% chance that He will come again in 1989."
I would say that Edgar was half right, wouldn't you?
Jesus did say, "No one (human being), knows that day or hour"....and He was referring to heaven and earth passing away. No one includes Bible scholars who make time lines. No one includes people like Edgar Whisenant or Apostle Doug or Pastor Tim. No one includes Mayan people who have their own calendar. I can't believe the uproar about this movie, "2012", which is supposed to be an end times epic based on the Mayan calendar running out of days in 2012. I have one word for this movie - FICTION! Not even the Mayan people know when the end of time will be.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night..." One thing about thieves, they don't tell you when they are coming, they surprise you. They don't give you a timeline to let you know when to expect them, they come when you least expect it. In the Matthew 24 passage, Jesus said His coming would be like in the days before the flood. People were eating, drinking, marrying, up until the day Noah entered the ark. And they knew nothing about the flood until it came and took them away. People were simply living life without acknowledging God and the flood surprised them. Jesus said, "Therefore keep watch" (v. 42) and "you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (verse 44).
Now that's wise - keep watch and be ready. I think I'm going to write this booklet, "88 Ways to Be Ready for the Lord's Return". #1 - Receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
You'll have to buy the book to learn the other ways. Or maybe I'll contact Apostle Doug and see if he can distribute some books for me.
Looking Up,
Pastor Tim
Post a Comment