written: May 22, 2011
Family Radio's Mr. Harold Camping has had his judgment prediction, publicized throughout print media, Internet media, television and radio. I remember in the 1990s he made a similar prediction which also did not come to pass.
In reading his story in Wikipedia I felt a deep sadness for Mr. Camping. He is near 90 years of age and has poured much of his energy into the ministry of Family Radio. I'm sure that he is a very sincere person who fully believed his own teaching, so much so that he was willing to go out on a limb twice, only to be exposed as another speculator rather than a true prophet.
Often I have listened to one of the Family Radio Stations. My only interest was in the fact that Family Radio played sacred music that I remember hearing while growing up in the 1950s and 60s, which I have a fondness for. I felt no heavenly anointing of the Holy Spirit on the teachings or preaching of Family Radio and so would often tune away as soon as the music ended.
I hope you noticed just now that I didn't say that I felt Family Radio proclaimed only false teaching. I didn't say that! No, I'm sure they had some truth and some error. But what I did notice was that their message represented the gleanings of the mind from the Bible, rather than the revelation of God Almighty as the Holy Spirit opened up the truths of Holy Scriptures.
I'm very deeply saddened to report that in this new century I find very, very few Bible teachers or churches that understand that the human intellect is not geared to interpret the Bible without MASSIVE divine assistance. I've noticed that the higher the intelligence quotient of an individual the more difficulty they seem to encounter with the Bible.
One of the most brilliant minds on the planet today reports that belief in Heaven is a fairy tale, something for those who are afraid of the dark.
I'm greived that Mr. Camping's predictions have become fuel for intellectuals and secularists and yes, sinners to celebrate and revel in.
Yes, Mr. Camping was wrong...but just because a compass has 360 degrees does not mean that there is only one wrong direction. I want to remind you, dear reader, that there are always 359 wrong directions on every compass!! There is only ONE degree on any compass that is the TRUE way.
The Holy Spirit is the ONLY ONE who can lead us into all truth. The Holy Spirit inspired the Bible and only HE can open our understanding to the Bible. Mankind will ALWAYS produce a mixture of truth and error. Most of Christianity today is a mixture. Mr. Camping is not the only one who has fallen into the trap of a mixture of truth and error. That mixture can be found in most churches and most Bible studies today.
The visible church, the mechanical church is full of mixture and God hates mixture. Many, many churches do not allow the true movement of the Holy Spirit. They don't allow it because they have lost the capacity to differentiate between what is of God and what is just religion and tradition. Since they cannot clearly identify the true Spirit of God they have chosen the false safety of human intellect. They are trusting the logic of the mind to ferret out truth from error.
Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit is something I seek for every day because I know that I am faulty, that I can err, that I can fail and I have failed many times. I no longer buy everything I hear in a church or from a teacher. Instead I seek God. I seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Holy Spirit to point me right. I've been down some of those 359 wrong degrees...even at the direction of so called preachers and teachers. I can only trust the Holy Spirit and the Bible interpreted by the Holy Spirit. I cannot trust the thinking of men...even my own thinking.
I'm going back to the Bible and prayer...talking with God. "Lord Jesus, what does that mean??" "Lord God, help me to understand this passage of Scripture." "Is that verse for me today??" "Lord I need your help and I need it greatly."
clint