"When some Christians look into the near future, they see a wondrous fate for themselves and fellow evangelical believers: a rapture in which God sweeps the true Christians up to heaven. According to this reading of the Bible's Book of Revelation, what awaits those on the wrong side of the ecclesiastical line is not so wondrous: seven years of unimaginable suffering, war and destruction that ends with the Second Coming of Jesus.
Opinion surveys over the past decade show that more than half the American public believes that the end times are coming.
A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that roughly four in 10 Americans believe the Second Coming will happen by 2050. Those enraptured by the rapture tend to view current events through the lens of biblical prophesy, reading everything from the Obama election to the oil disaster in the Gulf Coast as fulfillment of one or another cryptic passage from Revelation.
You can imagine the implications this might have for someone's approach to the here, the now and the times ahead. Work for a better future? What future?
In this view, staving off wholesale destruction is viewed as a distraction from evangelism or, worse, as faithlessness, as getting in God's way.
At the extreme end of this thought train come figures such as Todd Strandberg, founder of the Rapture Ready website, who opposes environmental protection on fatalistic grounds.
"The Bible predicts that during the tribulation hour, the world will come to near complete ruin," Strandberg writes. "I am strongly against Christians embracing the environmental movement."
For liberal religionists or non-believers, this kind of stance is one of the least appealing aspect of evangelicals' popular image. It's as if one group is rowing the boat in the direction of species betterment (or, at least, survival), while another group sits idly as the vessel drifts closer to the precipice of the waterfall, convinced that the divine hand will pluck them and their religiously correct fellows from disaster."
In an article titled What If The End Isn't Near, Author Tom Krattenmaker reports on the efforts of a young evangelical pastor, Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, who leads the charge to get Christians involved in the mission of nuclear dissarmament. "Because of language, culture, and politics, the threat of nuclear weapons has been a difficult issue for evangelical Christians to engage," says Wigg-Stevenson, founder and director of the Two Futures Project, a Christian campaign to abolish nuclear weapons. "It's been my mission to carve out space for evangelicals to engage this issue on their own terms." Krattenmaker then goes on to give his assessment of why evangelicals have not been supportive of nuclear dissarmament efforts. He implies that evangelicals actually desire the world to end and therefore will not actively engage in efforts to stave off a nuclear holocaust.
While this is a gross overgeneralization, as Christians, we must be careful to not package our expectation of the Return of Christ in such as way as to suggest we are "wishing for" the end of the world or are unwilling to work for a better future for all mankind. We must also recognize that whether we package our views this way or not, the modern press will inevitably chose to package our views for us in the most unattractive and/or sensationalistic light possible. We must therefore be ready to answer such accusations according to scriptural principle.
"Always be ready, to give a reason for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence." 1 Peter 3:15
While we're all busy gazing into the sky, the Scripture has already given us a fair warning that a cataclysmic end is indeed coming, but it won't be a result of an errant asteroid or a colliding comet. It will come as God pours His judgment out on our fallen earth. In that day, there will be no near misses, and there will be no deflection of the inevitable.
But don't despair. "The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare" (2 Peter 3:10). Nevertheless, "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail" (Isaiah 51:6).
What’s the newest craze to hit the real estate market? Why, Doomsday Bunkers, of course!
Several companies across the nation (like Deep Earth Bunker Company, Vivos, and Larry Hall Development) are rising up to meet the growing demands of “preppers” looking to increase their chances to not just survive, but to thrive in the wake of a variety of doomsday scenarios. Solar flare disruption, nuclear war, world economic collapse, and global food crisis are but a few of the possibilities that give “preppers” cause for pause.
Planning and preparing for every eventuality, the “preppers” are willing to spare no expense to ensure a secure outcome—spending anywhere from $50K to $100K for a room in a multi-unit bunker complex, or as much as $2 million for a 2 bedroom “condo” built into a reclaimed Cold War missile silo. Indoor vegetable gardens, stocked fish farms, and dry goods stockpiles round out a few of the life sustaining necessities. Indoor pools and movie theaters round out a few of the luxury upgrades.
The movement is not as fringe as you might think. “The ‘prepper’ phenomenon has inspired a Discovery Channel TV show, ‘Doomsday Bunkers,’ which follows the Deep Earth Bunker company of Dallas through the process of constructing fortified shelters, like those offered by Vivos and Hall, and also provides a window into the ‘prepper’ subculture. The movement draws ‘radical folks who really take these precautions to the extreme, to the average person who is using their common sense and taking responsibility for what could happen,’ the TV's show's executive producer, Anna Geddes, told FOX411's Pop Tarts column. The new show follows in the footsteps of ‘Doomsday Preppers,’ a National Geographic Channel show that debuted in February.”
The Bible has its own name for “preppers”—they’re called Children of Light!
Doomsday is coming—the day when Christ Himself will return for His children and bring judgment upon all those who did not choose to walk in “the light.” For the believer it is a day of salvation. But for the unbeliever, no bunker can shield him from the wrath to come.
Be a “prepper”—hide yourself in the bunker of the love and grace of God! “For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock” (Psalm 27:5).