Sorry, folks, it's not the end of the world yet

Pastor Murray Smith and his wife Michelle. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Murray and Michelle Smith of Cambridge respond to the "end of the world" frenzy.

It's not the end yet!

Here we go again! Whenever some misguided zealot (that's nice-speak for a weirdo) pops up talking about the end of the world and projecting specific times and dates on such an event, I just cringe.

A year ago, our family gave away our "million-dollar home" to raise funds for a project to build a church and community centre in Cambridge. We couldn't do this without a strong conviction that having started this venture it will be completed and serve the community for a good while yet.

But that's not the only reason I cringe. Far from it.

What creates the biggest sense of "shrink" is that people carrying and proclaiming these revelations often claim to be Christians who say their "findings" are based on information found in the Bible.

This is so bizarre because nowhere does the Bible spell out dates about apocalyptic events either directly or in mysterious code. In fact you can count on it that the "end" will not be on May 21, 2011 simply because the Bible states explicitly that no one knows, or will ever know the exact time for such an event.

So to make a claim of possessing such knowledge argues against the very source these prophetic wannabes claim. They are an embarrassment and do not speak for the main body of Christian people. Their pronouncements, which aren't new, periodically come to the fore and as the predicted outcomes inevitably fail to eventuate, of course it naturally causes observers to mock and become entrenched in their cynicism. And why shouldn't it?

You can stake your life on it - if anyone ever claims to know a date for the big finale then they are wrong and will inevitably be discredited. Why? Because what the Bible does say is that nobody will ever know the exact moment for the end of the age as we know it.

This is not to say that the Bible is silent about dramatic and cataclysmic happenings that will wrap up this age on planet Earth as we know it. In fact it has a great deal to say about such things. The old saying "red sky at night shepherds delight, red sky in the morning, shepherds warning" is interesting. Just as it is possible to look at the sky and get an indication of what kind of day lies ahead, so world events that are unfolding offer a signal of things ahead that we must take note of.

When asked by His followers what the signs would be that the end was near, Jesus spoke about a series of events that would precede that day. He said to look out for wars and uprisings, violence, unprecedented troublesome times with plagues, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes and natural disasters in every place. (Matthew chapter 24)

You don't have to be a super sleuth to note the remarkable increase in these realities around the planet. Let's not allow ignorant "experts" persuade us that such things have always been. The increased incidence of such troubles is obvious.

Yes there's always been doomsday sayers - and usually they deserve to be written off as eccentric wackos. But Jesus simply is not in that category and His words are worth taking note of.

He said these happenings were but a prelude which should serve as a warning to us to get ready ... to be alert and watch carefully. The end is indeed coming ... but it definitely won't be this weekend!