SAVE THE DATE: THE END OF TIME IS JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY!

I’m happy I didn’t buy season tickets for baseball this year. In just over three weeks the world will cease to exist. Dang, I have a new pair of western boots; they won’t even be broken in by then. Do they allow cowboy boots in Heaven? I tuned up my lawnmower for what? And I renewed a magazine subscription for twelve more months and paid up front! If I’d only read the work of Harold Camping a couple of months ago I wouldn’t be in this mess. 89-year old Mr. Camping is a self-taught Bible-scholar who is also quite good with ciphering. By combining the two disciplines and, with just a bit of creative license, he has determined that the end of time will occur on May 21, 2011. You might want to hold off on putting down a deposit on a beach condo rental for July.

Mr. Camping began his time-sensitive equation with Noah’s floating zoo in 4990 B.C. He next took Peter’s statement “one day is with the Lord as a thousand days and a thousand years is one day.” 7000 added to 4900 gives you 2010, and since there had to have been a year one, add one additional year and the worlds shelf-life reads 2011. May 21 was a bit harder to discern as Genesis states the flood began on the “17^th day of the second month.” But which calendar? Camping is convinced God uses the Hebrew calendar so the exact date is May 21. Piece of cake. So mark the date. It’s a Saturday.

Mr. Camping’s first foray in prognosticating Christ’s return didn’t go well. In his book 1994 he chose that year for the Rapture. In 2005 he published Time Has an End and at that point honed in on May 21, 2011. He isn’t alone in picking the end of time and being wrong. 88 Reasons Why Jesus Will Return in 1988 was a big seller until 1989. William Miller (founder of the Seventh-Day Adventists and former Baptist) picked October 22, 1844 and convinced thousands of followers to ready themselves. Huge numbers of believers spent that entire day on their roofs (ten feet closer to Heaven). Oops!

Kudos to Mr. Camping for trying but it’s highly unlikely Jesus will return May 21, 2011. Scripture is clear that no person knows when God’s next phase will begin. In reality, no person can know when God will act next. So why spend decades trying? Pray and repent daily and trust God for the future is all we can do. God only needs our help in reaching and reconciling the world back to Him. God does not help planning the end of time. But just in case I’m wrong…might want to hold off on painting or re-roofing the house until May 22.

Michael McCullar

A Third World Education

Ever been to the Third World? Ever wonder why it’s referred to as the Third World? I’ve been to the Third World several times and actually know my way around several slum areas scattered across the globe; and, while I don’t know who coined the term Third World, I realize it defines the absolute worst places for humans to inhabit. If there is a Fourth World I would hate to experience it, although I have a feeling the world is headed in that direction.

The worst place I’ve seen up close is Haiti. Haiti was a Third World country before the 2010 earthquake and now it’s much, much worse. Possibly portions of that country are close to reaching Fourth World status. I’ve never been to the African continent or to India but I’m told by missions’ volunteers that both places have many Third World areas. The Dominican Republic is where I spend the bulk of my missions-time now and I’ve covered three-fourths of the country visiting Baptist congregations assessing needs and possibilities. Surprisingly, the worst area I’ve visited is in Santo Domingo and not in the rural north. That was also the only time I’ve feared for my life while doing mission work. Americans, especially white Americans, have ignored that particular barrio and as a result my small team starkly stood out as we walked over rutted dirt streets flowing with human waste. A group of men stood in a pod and looked at us with eyes filled with suspicion and, I assumed, some level of hate. I was there to meet with an exiled Haitian pastor about an upcoming trip to supply medicines to earthquake victims and to provide financial aid for his work. The walk into his ramshackled church seemed like a hundred miles as we had to walk through the groups of assembled men. I was trying to walk with confidence but was failing miserably as we inched our way toward the church. It was at this point that the Haitian pastor came out and loudly called to us, My Brothers in Christ, welcome to God’s church. He embraced us and we walked in together. With those few words I was safe and more importantly, the Third and First worlds were momentarily fused.

Recently I was in another Dominican slum assisting a Johns Creek Baptist Church youth mission team’s work. I was mostly in the background so I had the privilege of watching First World teenagers engage Third World children. They did well in every aspect of the work and saw what life is like on the other extreme. They are just beginning the journey of serving Christ in extreme circumstances. Hopefully they will continue on and as adults champion the missions’ causes of their generation. If they do, they will acquire a Third World education like mine. It doesn’t come with a diploma or fancy photographs. It comes with a healthy share of existential guilt and tears. There are serious financial costs. But, the good will easily outweigh the bad and the pull toward missions will be strong. They will learn that God’s church is meant for the whole world and they play a role in making it all come together. And, best of all, they will achieve a Third World education!

Michael McCullar