Warning Regarding Harold Camping Radio “Ministry”

My wife, Judy, and I were driving back from my parents’ home in southern California last week. The weather was beautiful. We love to just drive and talk and watch the landscape change from the austere beauty of the California desert to the verdant beauty of Oregon and southwest Washington. Another real benefit of driving through the Los Angeles basin is the availability of many fine Christian radio stations, running the gamut of styles from soft rock to heavy metal to old fashioned gospel. We were both astounded when we approached the Bay Area (San Francisco) and tuned into some of the most heretical teaching that claims to be Christian we’ve ever heard.

I am talking about Harold Camping and his Family Radio network that is based out of Oakland, California. Mr. Camping, among other things, claims to know from “proper biblical interpretation” that the Rapture of the church of Jesus Christ will occur on May 21, 2011, with the end of the world five months later. He also claims that the entire visible church, all denominations without exception, is “apostate” and directly controlled by Satan. Therefore, Mr. Camping is telling his listeners to leave their local church and depend upon prayer, the study of the Bible and, of course, listening to him on the radio. This man is teaching in direct contradiction of Scripture, which is the the infallible Word of God.

Jesus Christ himself says this about his Second Coming: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matthew 24:36). He also says in Luke 12:40: “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Although I teach that, according to Matthew 24:32-33, the season of Christ’s return can be perceived, the precise time is a mystery yet to be revealed.

And about the church of Jesus Christ he says this to Peter and the disciples, when Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Against what Mr. Camping teaches about abandoning the local church, the writer to the Hebrews says this: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Here is a link to an article by J. Ligon Duncan and Mark R. Talbot as published by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. The response to the heretical teachings of Harold Camping are written not just with great candor, but as an appeal to this man to recant his teachings and turn back to the God of the Bible, not the idle idol of his vain imagination. You will need to copy and paste the link into your web browser search line.

http://sites.silaspartners.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID307086_CHID560462_CIID1526032,00.html

The apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, warns us of the godlessness that will certainly arise as the time of Christ’s return grows near: “For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:6-7). This is in keeping with what he later says regarding those who are so determined to remain in comfortable ignorance and not earnestly seek the truth of God’s Word: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Let us thank and praise our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ his Son that we have his Spirit and his Word to keep us in these days of error. Let us continue to cling tightly to his Word and never fail to meet one another regularly for encouragement, edification and admonition, if need be.

Soli Deo Gloria! (Glory to God Alone!)