COMING SOON TO A LIVING ROOM NEAR YOU
I read on Yahoo news recently about a woman (Ms. Warden) in North Carolina who is spreading the word from her Subaru that Jesus will be returning on May 21st of this year. Another ministry devoted to deciphering the scriptures teaches that he’s coming back in 2016. I forget the exact day. December 23, 2012 is also a day being offered up for Christ’s imminent and triumphant return as is May 14thof this year.
From the Spokesman-Review: “It’s a very jarring thing to be told you have five months on Earth,” admits Warden, 29. “That may interrupt any earthly plan.”
Warden may be making the most attention-getting end-times prediction now going, but it’s hardly the first: In the year 1000, hysteria over Jesus’ return so captivated medieval society that crops went unplanted and criminals were freed from jails.
In 1988, Edgar Whisenant published “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.” When the year passed with the material world still intact, he followed up with “The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989.”
The world has heard lots of dire predictions in the past. No wonder most are skeptical and find this kind of declaration to border the realm of crazy.
However, many if not most biblical scholars well versed in the prophetic believe that the generation who will be alive when Jesus returns is alive now. They may be twenty years old. They may be two. They do not know but they have my attention. Because we do know that Jesus is returning. He actually is coming back. And he urges us in the scriptures to be alert and ready. Which begs the question, how then are we to live? How are we to be ready? What would change in your life if you knew, really knew that Jesus would be coming back to earth in all of his glory in a mere 140 days? How would you live differently? What would your prayer life be like? How would it alter the way that you are seeking first his kingdom?
Well then…
I don’t know the exact date of Christ’s return. I don’t know if I am going to be alive when he breaks through the Eastern sky or if I will have already crossed over. I don’t know if I am going to see him face to face in thirty years, thirty days or thirty minutes. I do know that I am going to see him. And I want to live my life today and increasingly in a way that not only makes me more ready for that longed for moment but makes other people more ready as well. Don't you?!
The fact that Jesus is returning is really good news. REALLY GOOD NEWS!!! Oh, Jesus, help us to be increasingly alert and ready. Help us to know you more deeply as you truly are. As we know you more truly, we love you more deeply, long for you more eagerly, and can't keep ourselves from winsomely telling others about how utterly marvelous you are. Come Lord Jesus. Even so!
"HOW THEN ARE WE TO LIVE?" Thank you, Stasi, for offering that question as a litany of life. From the certain hope of seeing Him face to face, how then are we to live? As HIS and with joy and attentiveness of heart -- compelled by the love of Christ. Keep calling us forth, dear sister; He has given you a voice that is being heard!
Posted by: Sallie | 01/04/2011 at 11:48 AM
This year I have decided to live like an heir...of the kingdom. Like a daughter with a really wealthy Father!! Thanks Stasi. You are an inspiration to me!
Posted by: Norma Gene | 01/04/2011 at 07:36 PM
I heard that on the radio yesterday - about the Lord coming back in May of this year.
Ya know, He COULD come back then, or before or many years from now. We just need to be ready whenever it is! Spend the time spreading the gospel instead of trying to decipher what God had determined us NOT to decipher!
Thanks for this post Staci - so good!
Posted by: Beth Herring | 01/05/2011 at 11:53 AM
Awesome! Because that is who you are!!!!
Posted by: Stasi | 01/05/2011 at 12:06 PM
The thought of Jesus coming in May made me cry. I would absolutely love for Him to come right now. No, my life is not bad, in fact I love my life. I have suffered and survived child abuse and losing two children, and yet I find life beautiful because I am in love with Jesus. I want to see Him and hold on to Him and talk to Him face to face. Come Lord Jesus come!
Posted by: Leticia | 01/05/2011 at 03:34 PM
Yes. Come.
Posted by: Stasi | 01/05/2011 at 04:05 PM
In September of last year we made a cross-country visit to my father-in-law who was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. In the middle of the night I was troubled by the thought that he didn't have a relationship with Jesus. So I wrote him a loving letter, filled with the truth of the gospel. I mailed it to him but never heard a word in response. We spoke to him last Saturday - he could barely use his voice and has lapsed into a mental disorientation that is terrifying to him and the people taking care of him. So "how then are we to live?" applies as much to the imminent return of Jesus as it does to ministering to the people around us who are dying. We are in contact with people every day who are dying. Its just a question of when. I should probably pay more attention to this. Thank you Stasi for sharing your thoughts. As always they are heart-felt and spot on!
Posted by: Lisa D. | 01/06/2011 at 05:03 PM
I cannot reiterate how much I wish I were going to be at the event in Edmonton this weekend. Just know I am thinking of you guys and wishing I could be there to join in!
Posted by: Michelle | 01/25/2011 at 02:02 PM
I wish you were too!
Posted by: Stasi | 01/25/2011 at 02:13 PM
I remember early in my days of renewed commitment to my Saviour I realized that even "if" Heaven wasn't waiting for me, even "if" He wasn't coming back for me, the life of intimacy with Him is worth it all. I am excited to think of His return but mindful that the gift of a relationship with Him is in and of itself a very sweet way to live.
With that said, Scripture tells us that no one knows the day or hour so every time someone makes a prediction I think to myself "Well, that isn't it now!". Also, if it is a certain date, what time zone? *shrug*
Posted by: Hope | 01/26/2011 at 04:22 PM
Thats good. Thank you.
Posted by: Stasi | 01/26/2011 at 07:31 PM
True. True. Watch and be ready. Occupy until He comes. With so much brokenness around us...ooh I long for a better day when He returns.
Now, I'm not going to stand dogmatically on a date, but I do want to urge caution here.
So my question is, what do we do with Daniel's Timeline? (If God didn't want us to know, then why put it in His word at all? Do we really believe the Bible--all of it? Do we think it's too confusing, or did God intend for us to search out the matter?) I know there has been a lot of craziness around this, but we don't want to be reactionary the other way either. What does God want us to know here? That's the biggest question!
Here's a thing to consider: Israel was not a nation for about 2,000 yrs. Daniel's timeline started ticking the day the commandment went forth for Israel to become a nation. Daniel 9:25 (The command went forth on Nov. 29th 1947.) That was a HUGE miracle and a serious marking point.
And one further thing to consider: All of the Spring Feasts that God gave the Isrealites have been completed and fulfilled down to every last detail on the exact days of the feasts. (Christ died on Passover, was raised on The Festival of First Fruits, and the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost.) The Fall Feasts remain unfulfilled in their full measure--and they mean things! They are prophetic markers for God's Calendar and merit our attention.
I just want to urge caution in being flipant about this, and I want to encourage all of us to walk with God about it. I think He has things for us here if we ask Him about it, but He's not going to leave it lying on the surface for just anybody. These are the battle plans for His Kingdom--He's not going to spell it out for the enemy to get hold of. Only those who really dig deep and walk with God will have some measure of discernment on it. It is a mystery of the Kingdom with much reward for those who ask.
Posted by: April Stella | 02/19/2011 at 07:11 AM
Thank you, April. I appreciate your word!
Posted by: Stasi | 02/19/2011 at 12:03 PM
God bless, Stasi! I am so blessed to have an opportunity to share my heart here. As I read your blog, I thought, "I know that no one knows the day or the hour of the return of our Dear Lord but, you know, there are so many people left who still need to hear." I look forward to the return of my Big Brother, and I am so absolutely confident of that return that I really don't spend a lot of time thinking about it. Only because I have a job to do. Yep, He's coming back alright, and I want as many people as I can tell of that coming day to be with me as I can get. In the meantime, I'm having a blast being here now. This is absolutely WITHOUT a doubt, the best time period ever to live in. Jesus Christ was my complete substitute, I can live as He lived right now, if I only believe and walk like it. There's a war going on, but I am on the winning side. There are moments of triumph and there are moments of defeat, but I have never experienced so much excitement! This is an exciting life right now, and I know that if its this exciting now, its going to be really exciting when He returns. I just like milking the moment. I have read (and re-read, and continue to re-read) John's book, "Waking the Dead", and "Wild at Heart," and your book, "Captivating." These books, along with some other teachings by my dear friend Taylor Overbey, and of course, The Word of God, have awakened my dead heart.
I was among the walking dead for so very long. And, at 45 years old, I asked my Father a question that had been holding me captive in the enemies camp for so many years. I asked my Father, "Just exactly what was it that Jesus did for ME!" I had been afraid to ask that question, but it lingered there all of my life. Even as a Christian, I didn't want to seem ungrateful for what had already been done, but I really didn't get it. Well, I GET it and amazingly, after almost 7 years, I am still getting more! So, I look forward to the day of my Lord's return so that I may kiss His feet for such complete deliverance which He afforded me. However, I know there are a whole lot of people still left around me that need to know. I'm just sayin'. I don't want to rush it. I just want to honor His sacrifice and walk like HIM right now! "Beloved, NOW are we the sons of God...." right now! We have a job to do. He's coming back alright. My focus is on now, so that when He does return, I will have the privilege of hearing him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
Thank you for sharing so much of your heart with the Body of Christ. I am so impressed with how God continues to work in my life, and how intricate the body is; fitly framed together. I love this life we have been given. Sometimes I think I have a lot of nerve believing I am who God says I am! Then I think, YEP! I got some nerve! I am who the Word of God says I am! Your lives, your hearts, your courage, your deep concern for the body of Christ has given me my life back. And I certainly don't want to hide that from anyone. Thank you.
Posted by: Amy Battles | 02/21/2011 at 03:52 PM
HOORAY!!!
Posted by: Stasi | 02/21/2011 at 04:58 PM
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