It's the End of the World As We Know It...Or Not?

According to the Mayans, our world is supposed to end on 12/21/12.  Many "experts" have debunked this theory in many different ways.  My personal favorite "expert debunking" is the one that points out that the Mayans didn't take into account Leap Years.  It makes sense to me that their calendar would be off from our's since we use the Leap Year system and they, having not had access to the Roman (that's the one we use, right? Suddenly, I'm not sure...) calendar as we have, did not.  I am bummed that I missed out on the levitating that we are (were?) supposed to do on 12/21/12 - if it already happened, I must have slept right through it and that is just plain sad because I really would like to know what it feels like to float freely above my bed.

My other favorite theory about the Mayans is my own (who would have guessed, right?): I think that what really happened is the guy who was banging away on those stone tablets either just got sick of it and decided to be done or he keeled over and died where he was and no one else wanted the job.  Combined with the idea that the Mayans couldn't conceive of the world lasting longer than 2012 and no one else wanting the job, they just decided to make it end on 12/21/12.  To me this is the most plausible (if unresearched) explanation of the Mayan calendar ending on Friday.

If one looks at the Biblical prophecies regarding the End of Times and then looks at the world's current events, it is hard to argue that we may not be going into the time of the Apocalypse - the wars, the famines, the unrest in the Middle East, the hurricanes, almost daily earthquakes, Barack Obama in the White House, etc. (maybe some of you don't believe he's the anti-Christ, but the jury is still out on that with some) - all seem to fall in line with the Biblical Prophecies regarding the end times.  While I believe completely in the Bible, my inner voice always seems to repeat "No one but God knows the time of the end" whenever I hear a lot of people (or even just one or two who manage to get press by "predicting" the end) start making a lot of noise about it being the END TIMES.  Not saying that one shouldn't always be viligant in keeping an eye on world events and one's heart close to God, but it has always struck me as a little ridiculous to worry about the (dah dah dah!) END OF TIMES.  Here's why:  It could be my last day on earth TODAY.  I could be making a batch of "crack corn" (Old Dutch Puff Corn covered in a cup of melted REAL butter mixed with brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses - my own addition along with cinnamon and ground cloves - and baked; absolutely addictive and yummy) and drinking my favorite Dunkin' Donuts coffee and my heart, upon realizing that I am going to being ingesting many cups of butter between now and the end of year, could just give out, making today my very own apocalypse.

My point here isn't to be heretical or blasphemous, but rather to say this:  No matter what the Mayans say or any of the others attempting to predict the exact time of the world's end, we all need to live every day like it could be our last day.  And, for those of us who are Christians, in living every day like it is our last, it is very important to make sure that we are also keeping our faith in God and staying close to him.  Because even if those who study the Apocalyptic Prophecies are correct and we actually are going into the Time of Trouble before the End, what do we really have to fear?  If God is with us, what do we have to fear?  That doesn't mean that nothing bad will ever happen to us and we'll be living in some sort of bubble of protection that keeps us from all pain and sadness as long as we're "good enough." Because if that were the case, none of us could ever be "good enough." There is evil and sickness of the mind afflicting our world, and because there is evil, bad things will happen.  But we cannot allow those events and actions of others, no matter how bad they may be, affect our faith in God.  We cannot understand the whole picture because we cannot see the whole picture as he can, nor can we understand the whys of most events. But we can allow events like what happened last week at Sandy Hook elementary remind us that our own time spent with our own kids is short and precious and no matter how much our hearts are breaking, our God's heart is breaking for his children, too.

If somehow the Mayans figured out God's time and Friday is the end of the world as we know it, I really hope that I don't sleep through the levitating in my bed part.  That just sounds like fun.

OWS, checkpoints: Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste

Several years ago, while watching a movie on a random rainy summer afternoon, I was hit with the need to WRITE. I ran upstairs and grabbed my story-ideas journal and started scribbling.  The words flowed through my pen like it was possessed, describing a future America torn apart by civil war and economic disaster.  It was the summer of 2009; the world I described was set in the year 2014.

A little freaked out by what I had written, I put the journal away, but couldn't release the images of ruin from my mind.  As time passed, I went back to the journal and added bits and pieces as they came to me: plot lines flowed from my pen as easily as syrup sometimes, other times, it was work to get a word on the page.  Some of the scenarios flowed from earlier thoughts - ideas that had come when driving into the State Fair a few years prior, or when driving through rural Minnesota on the way to hockey tournaments.

I do not claim to be prophetic with the things I wrote down; I believe that anyone who has been paying attention to our country's (and the world's) current events could possibly see what I've seen and written down regarding our future.  However, it is quite scary when things I wrote back in '09 start actually occurring, such as the checkpoints on Tennessee highways or in Michigan, the increase in civil unrest through the Occupy movements around the world, the class warfare encouraged by President Obama and the rest of his ilk, etc. and has been the cause of many panic attacks, until I grab hold of the one thing that can keep the panic away: God.

The Patriots of America need to stand up to the forces that would destroy the country.  We need to search for leaders who will hold true to the Constitution and who have the best intentions for our country.  We need to share with others the corruption occurring in DC and around our country, shedding light upon the darkness that threatens to spread and conquer our land.  But we also need to remember that whatever happens is part of God's Plan and only He knows what the future holds, and whatever happens, it is what He has decided to happen.  The "whys" or "hows" of His plan may not be revealed to us during our lifetimes.  Our job is to wait on Him, wait for His direction and then do the "What" He asks of us.  If we stand like Esther, praying and waiting for His call, He will answer us.

As it says in Romans 8:28-38: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persectuiion or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (NIV, emphasis mine.)

In all things, pray unceasingly and time will show who will be conquerors.  Do not lose heart, Patriots, but know that things will work out according to His Plan.  Do not be afraid, but plan for whatever may happen. Make sure you and your family has a contingency plan in place, pay attention to the signs and prepare.  There may be those who are claiming to know the day of the end of the world , but no one knows the time of the end but God.  (Besides that, our personal "end of time" can happen anytime - so we must always be prepared for that, right?)

Have faith and one way or another, we shall be conquerors.