Judgement Day

[allthatwhichis]

Wow Dean; you seem to have... a certain perspective about this topic. Any chance you'd care to share the... reason you are so focused on this subject? I too question the motives and thought processes of these types of groups but I see an uncommon level of enthusiasm in how you are following these events... or "non-events". I'm kinda curious to hear the story that caused you to watch this entertaining drama so closely.

[dsli_jon]

..happened-across this today in the news... what a... trip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id9yew9JEu4

..and, am I 'just being 43', or is She drop-dead smokin-hot gorgeous?? (..for a "50's-gal"..)

..sorry for the 'detour', Dean, I just didn't know where else to put this.. figured, file under 'nutty-stuff / mushroom-snorfelling people', etc.. this thread's Subject seems to follow that tack..

ok, lunch is over, back to the salt-mines..
j

[dchammonds]

Wow Dean; you seem to have... a certain perspective about this topic. Any chance you'd care to share the... reason you are so focused on this subject? I too question the motives and thought processes of these types of groups but I see an uncommon level of enthusiasm in how you are following these events... or "non-events". I'm kinda curious to hear the story that caused you to watch this entertaining drama so closely.

In high school I read a book by a college student who got sucked into Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church.
His father hired an expert team to infiltrate the commune where he was staying and drag him out kicking and
screaming. He was then placed in a clinic for a rigorous de-programming regimen that took weeks. I don't
think I could do Rev Moon justice any more than that 50's gal could describe her LSD trip, so I won't even try.
After that, I acquired a fascination with cult leaders and how they can exert such power and influence over people.
Even when a cult leader like Camping or McCann admits they are wrong (very rare), followers still stand up for them.

In the early 1980's I remember the famous 'evangelist' Herbert W Armstrong (HWA)- while he didn't set exact dates
like Camping, he did build quite an empire based on his own unique interpretation of end-times prophecy and other
teachings from the Bible. At his height, Armstrong was about 90 (as Camping now is) and had a weekly TV program called
The World Tomorrow, as well as radio shows. His free monthly magazine, The Plain Truth, had a circulation of 8 million
and you could pick up a copy near the entrance of your local grocery store. He founded Ambassador College with 3 campuses
(one in England) and had no seminary training of his own. While I could not buy his 'biblical' interpretations, he was
absolutely fascinating to listen to- he had a charisma to beat the band. He could twist the Bible enough to make his
inner-circle followers think he was a latter-day Elijah.

Until a few weeks before his death, HWA believed he would live to see Christ's return, but he finally named a successor
for the ministry on his deathbed in 1986 (he had earlier excommunicated his son Garner Ted who then started a smaller
offshoot ministry of his own). The new guy, Joseph Tkach, slowly dumped Armstrong unique doctrines one by one and as a
result HWA's Worldwide Church of God empire frittered away to almost nothing by the early 90's.

Early last year, I was bored in front of the computer one evening and HWA popped in my head, so I did some searching.
I was stunned by the train car loads of info on the guy- stuff I didn't know back then. HWA personally ordained numerous
pastors and many of these folks had their own loyal tithe-paying congregations that broke away from the mothership in the
years after HWA's death. There are close to a dozen splinter groups that consider themselves to be the 'one true successor'
to HWA's empire, one of which has its world headquarters just a few miles from my home. Some of these splinter groups offer
unbelievable amounts of literature and weekly videos online.

I had never heard of Camping until early May when Judgment Day billboards gained media attention. He hosted a live radio
program called Open Forum where he took Bible questions from callers- I tuned in at the closing days before and after May 21.
He had a stroke in early June, and that was the end of a 50 year run of his live program. There's no way I could describe
it other to say that his megalomania and monumental arrogance made for an entertaining circus show. It was hysterical to
hear his imaginative explainations post-May 21, the way he stonewalled callers that did not agree with him, the slithery
way he fluffed off accusations of being called a false prophet, and some of the most rediculous interpretations of Bible
verses I have ever heard. I actually missed the show in a twisted way. After that I found blogs, Yahoo groups, online
Campingite-inspired fellowships, and even a dedicated forum for discussing Camping's teachings. It's not like the old days
where you had to make an effort to follow a subject closely, just bookmark a few sites in your browser and catch up on
the latest silliness in minutes. It's so different now that you can easily take a peek inside what would have been closed
doors previously. It's amazing to see that there is still so much chatter amongst his groupies since the passing of May 21,
and what a grip Camping still has. He has finally admitted that his date setting was wrong, but he has yet to answer for
his 2001 'depart out' doctrine where he called upon his listeners to leave their churches because ALL established churches
fell under latter-day judgment (as of May 21, 1988) according to his ex post facto calculations.

[dchammonds]

Talk about dredging up an old thread...

Oct 7th marks the end of the 40th set of 40 days (1600 Furlongs mentioned in Revelation) since May 21, 2011 when the period of Spiritual Judgment™ began.

http://oct7thlastday.com/

1600 days in the making...

Mr. Camping's legacy lives on and on!

[dnar]

Jesus this is an old thread!

[dchammonds]

Too bad it's all coming to an end on Wednesday- that gives us only one day to enjoy the availability of McDonalds breakfast all day.

http://www.inquisitr.com/2472847/mcd...bout-new-menu/

[Draco]

They still wont give me a chicken sandwich at the 3am, so i guess the world will end with me being hungery

[masterpj]

They got it wrong again? Well well.. so how often will they keep stalling this?

[dchammonds]

From the groundhog hole of Punxsutawney Phil comes Mr. Camping's greatest cheerleader, Chris McCann with his post-Oct 7th message.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...messages/16600

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

Will he come up with another date???

[mixedgas]

So on the last day of the Schmitah the whole US East Coast gets flooded, and on 9/11 during the Jubilee Schmitah, a certain landmark in Saudi gets a crane crushing part of it in a freak windstorm, killing many people. Makes one wonder about "Signs and Wonders"...
.
Schmita or Schmitah, Seventh Year of the Ancient Jewish Agricultural Cycle... every ten of them, called Jubilee years, well, some dates of "epic" historical events line up fairly well with the date Eul 21 on the Jewish Calendar... Coincidence? Hum..
.
If Dean is an Atheist, he can have a good laugh at my expense. I believe in a much higher power, but I don't go extruding craziness into other's lives based on my faith, quite the opposite from those who misunderstand the Book and take "My Brother's Keeper" way too seriously. . I don't drink the Cherry Koolaide when I have the slightest doubt about where I am,,, (See Jim Jones Cult)
.
The Book says "Only the Father Knows The Day or the Hour", Matthew 24:36 , which is where the whole premise of Humans knowing the End Days Date falls apart. It also means you don't get to know your own end on a predictable individual basis, thus your never supposed to give up on enjoying your fleetingly short wisp of life.
.
The Book is a strong guideline to be used in moderation, if you abuse it, take it literally, and do not take the time to understand it's massage,, you run the risk of severe hypocrisy... Classical Jewish and Christian worship requires the worship leader to defend his sermon by answering questions afterwards. Call it peer review to prevent guys like Camping from getting on the wrong track.
.
Now if some one can explain why some 24 Hour a Day US Taco Bell's serve only breakfast in the morning and not the regular menu, yet others do both, I might rest more peacefully... Knowing I why can't get a bean burrito for breakfast, when they cook the beans 24/7... I really don't like the idea of a Egg McMUffin at noon, it seems so Anti_American...

Steve