Looks like a sweet old grandpa, doesn’t he?

In case you’ve been out of the loop on this, his name is Harold Camping.

If you haven’t heard of him, you’re probably thinking, “so what?”

Well, I hate to break this to you, but ol’ Harold says it’s Judgment Day . . . tomorrow, May 21, 2011.

I’ve hesitated to write about this guy and his whole contrivance. A few months ago my coworker asked me what I was going to be doing on May 21, 2011 or something like that. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about and she mentioned Harold and his theories that May 21, 2011 is judgment day.

There are a ton of reasons why Harold is off his rocker. There is, of course, all the obvious scripture passages that almost everyone knows (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32) where Jesus says that even He, as the second person of the Trinity, does not know the exact timing.

But there is another, maybe not so obvious reason.

The Bridegroom and His Bride

The first coming of Jesus was prophesied throughout the Old Testament. In fact, Jesus held the Israelites accountable to know Daniel 9:26 because it prophesied to the exact day when Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. Because the people failed to know this day, Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D.

However, His Second Coming will be like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4).

Jesus compared the hour to ten bridesmaids. Five of them stayed alert with their lamps full of oil and five of them did not. What’s the significance? The ten didn’t know when the bridegroom was returning! (Matthew 25:13).

So much of prophecy and Jesus’ Second Coming is wrapped up in the ancient, Jewish wedding practices. In those days, there were three stages:

• The first was engagement.
• The second was betrothal.
• The third was marriage. About a year after betrothal, the bridegroom came at an unexpected time for his bride.

In other words, the bride was waiting for the bridegroom and had to be ready for him to return at any moment. The bride (the church) did not know when the bridegroom (Jesus) would be returning for her (us).

We are to be ready at any moment because Jesus can come back at any moment.

Friend, Jesus is coming back and soon. It might be on Saturday, May 21, 2011. I don’t know and neither does Harold Camping.

Only God the Father knows the hour when He will tell His Son: “It’s time to go and get your bride.”

The real question and real issue is: are you ready? Are you ready this very moment for Jesus to return?

May He Increase!

If you were not able to attend or view the live webcast, below is the video from one of the services from the weekend.

We were all blessed by his visit. I was able to speak with him briefly and found him to be so humble and warm. You’d never suspect the life that he lived previously. There wasn’t even a glimmer of pretentiousness or pride. This is a man who has been radically changed by Jesus.

If he is ever in your area, don’t pass up an opportunity to hear him speak!

Have you heard him speak before? Have you met Michael Franzese? What has been your experience?

May He Increase!

If you don’t know who he is, I invite you to take a few moments and watch this YouTube video which will give you an idea.

Heard of him? He was even a character in the movie “Good Fellas.”

Michael will be speaking at all the weekend services of April 30/May 1 at Knott Avenue Christian Church. If you are in the area, we would love to have you join us and listen to his powerful testimony. KACC is located at: 315 S. Knott Avenue, Anaheim, CA 714-527-5195.

Can’t actually make it to the church that weekend? You can watch a live webcast Saturday night, April 30 at 5:00 pm Pacific time by clicking here.

Have an iPhone or Android? Download the UStream Viewer app to watch it on your mobile device.

Knott Avenue Christian Church does a live webcast every Saturday night at 5:00 pm. Our ministry would be blessed to know you are watching and worshipping with us from the Internet. Click here to watch the live webcast or any of the recorded ones.

May He Increase!

I like Bill Shatner. Although I never liked “Star Trek,” I loved the “Twilight Zone” and the episodes he starred in.

This morning my wife was watching the episode of “Raw Nerve” that featured Florence Henderson. Florence was explaining to Bill that the soul lives forever. She got an “A” on that as far as I was concerned. Bill doesn’t believe in an after-life. He said that he believes that this life is all there is and after that, it’s over. This thought terrified him.

Quite frankly, it should terrify him. What Bill doesn’t understand–but Florence at least understood this part–is that there is a life after death and it is forever. The question is where you are going to spend that eternity. You only have two choices. In that regard it’s easy: heaven or hell.

After watching the show this morning I just had to write and ask whomever is reading this: are you ready? Are YOU READY?

Ready for what?

Ready to die. Ready to leave this earth. Ready for Jesus to return if you are still alive. All three of these are certainties. The odds of you dying are remarkable: 100%. You will die.

But that isn’t the end.

Do you know for certain where you are going once you die? You can know. Seriously.

You can know, right now, where you are going at the moment of death if Jesus is your Savior.

Bill, you don’t have to be terrified. Give your life over to Jesus and all your fears of death will vanish.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” –John 3:16-18

ARE YOU READY?

May He Increase!

I’m not a fan of hip-hop, but I have to admit, I was really drawn into the song “Blow Your High.” My friend’s son is in a dark world and he sent him the song with the hope that God would speak to him through it.

Recently, I did the same for someone I know, hoping and praying that God would do the same for this person.

I ran across a blog post today over at Truth Matters that featured two videos of Lecrae.

It had to be of God that I saw that post today. I really like Lecrae and I pray that he reaches many of a lost generation with his music. I’d like to share that video with you here:

Lecrae is on Twitter as well at @lecrae.

May He Increase!