Late Great Planet Earth

[outdeep]

I personally caught the end of the "Jesus Movement".  I came to Christ in 1972 and read Hal Lindsay's book in high school.  I would have serious discussions with my friends of how things would be when the rapture happened and the world was left in chaos.  Unlike today's Left Behind craze, back then, we really believed it.  A few even made career decisions on the premise that we would only be here a few more years.

This carried over a little into the Assembly.  Though I never figured out what George was getting at with all of his split raptures and what not, he did play upon the notion that Jesus was coming in the 1980's and thus we should give ourselves wholly to the Lord.  Jesus is coming back and he is really going to be ticked if you are not faithful was a message I do remember.

How did the last day's craze affect you?  Has your thinking changed from the "Jesus can come at any moment" mindset we had back then?


Planet earth: late but still great
by John Fischer

The Lord is coming back. Christ's return is imminent. Every generation believes theirs will be the one to see it. I certainly did, having been a young adult during the Jesus movement in the early 1970s. We were sure the return of Christ was right around the corner. We wrote songs about it. Hal Lindsay wrote a book about it. (Late Great Planet Earth) Larry Norman wrote a song to leave behind after we were gone! ("I Wish We'd All Been Ready")

And here we are, thirty years later, aging Jesus people, going to work and trying to provide a future for our children and grandchildren. Believe me, the Lord has heard from me a few times about this. There was something very glamorous about being part of a revival that would usher in the last days and the return of Christ, especially when you were twenty-four years old and single. We were going to just be one big love-in, living off the land and taking care of each other until Christ returned, which wasn't supposed to be more than two or three years, max.

I reflect back on those days sometimes and see how selfish we were. Had we gotten our wish, many of you who are reading this right now would not have existed. Others of you would never have come to know Christ. I think in some ways, every generation wants to be the last, especially when we face the dark side of our existence and long for heaven where there will be no more pain or sorrow.

But it's not about us. It's about all those who haven't joined the fold—haven't yet come into the family. "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise to return, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent" (2 Peter 3:9 NLT).

Shame on us for thinking only of ourselves. We're so quick to scramble on the ark and then close the door and let the rains come. God is more concerned about those who might be left behind than we are, or else He would have returned years ago. We can get so wrapped up in this. We can spend an inordinate amount of time poring over scripture trying to figure out exactly when this will happen, and then get into arguments with each other over exactly how we think it will happen, when the only reason it hasn't happened yet is standing outside our door, waiting to be loved.

[Joe Sperling]

Dave--

You asked:

How did the last day's craze affect you?  Has your thinking changed from the "Jesus can come at any moment" mindset we had back then?

I was saved around the same time you were---about two years
later.  I remember being extremely excited when reading the "Late Great Planet Earth"---there was a bit of a "craze" going on at that point in time.   

But I must say, I still have the "Jesus can come at any moment" mindset now. In fact, there are far more signs that make me think that Jesus is coming back soon than ever before. Back in 1969 when that book was written, Israel had just taken Jerusalem two years before (1967), there were few satellites in space, and computers were in their infancy (no personal computers or cell phones, etc.).

It's now been 40 years since the Jews regained Jerusalem (a generation literally). The Bible says the Anti-Christ will be able to talk to everyone in the world at one time.  In 1969 that wasn't possible---but it now is--as satellites would make it possible for the whole world to view one man if he had the power to command that kind of attention. Also, in 1969 there was no way for one leader to "track" everyone in the world--but with advanced computers in place, and implanted chips, this would be very possible indeed.

The world seems to be moving faster and faster,  in increasing smaller circles, like a marble rolling on a groove towards a center hole, gaining more and more speed as it nears it's destination. Within the almost 40 years since that book was written there have been fantastic leaps in intelligence and invention!! Also, Iran has taken the prominent place in the world the book predicted back then (though back then Iran meant little to the world scene), with them threatening to wipe Israel off the map and being the main backers of world terrorism.

No one knows when the Lord will return---but I do feel it is very close--because of these realities--never before could one man have been able to speak to the whole world all at once, track all it's occupants, and determine who could buy or sell. As was mentioned, every generation "hopes" they will be the last one before the rapture---but we just don't know when that will be.  But it is exciting to say the least. The Lord says to "watch".  I read a story where a captain and crew were coming back from a fishing expedition which took a couple of months. The captain, looking through the binoculars at the dock said "Oh, there's Tim's wife" and "Oh there's Bruce's wife". He repeated a few more names, and one of the fishermen didn't hear his wife's name.  The boat arrived and the fisherman went home. He opened the door and his wife ran up and hugged him and said "I've been waiting for you!!".  He answered "Thanks, but the other guy's wives were "watching" for them!!"  There is a difference between waiting and watching. The Lord wants us to "watch"---and there REALLY is a good reason to be watching---the rapture really could happen at any time!!  What a great day that will be!!!!