Judgment Day May 21st

Earlier today one of my students facebooked me and asked this question:

Hey Pastor Adam do you believe what some christians are saying about the bible and how it say that only the true believers know the time jesus is coming to take us back and do you think may 21 is that time?

My Answer:

No, I do not believe that only the true believers know the time Jesus is coming to take us back. Matthew 24:36 says “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Only God knows when He is going to return to take all of us with him. Head over to http://adammclane.com/2011/05/15/billboards-false-prophets/ This pastor has a good article about your question.

I do want you to know that the whole "judgement day May 21, 2010" thing is nothing more than a pastor trying to sell his book and scare people into heaven. HE IS OUT OF LINE AND OUT OF GODS WILL IN SAYING AND DOING WHAT HE IS DOING. In fact, if you go to his website he also says that the only way to get to have a secured spot in heaven is to buy his book and pay him money. Sadly, this pastor is doing the work of the devil and trying to scare people so that he gets richer.

These kind of things happen about 2 times each decade. Look at the past 10 years: At midnight on December 31 2000 the world was suppose to end; again in 2006 when the Ancient Chines Calendar ended the world was suppose to end as well; Now May 21, 2010 is suppose to be judgement day; and 2012 the world is suppose to end because the ancient mayan calendar ends. All these things are just rumors and scare tactics.

Just remember what Matthew 24:36 says. No one knows the day or the time that Jesus is going to return. All we know in reference to Jesus return is that it will happen someday and when he does, He will come like a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Therefore, nobody that has ever lived on earth, not even the angels in heaven, or satan or his demons in hell would ever know the correct time and date of Jesus return.

The important thing to take away from this is that you need to be secure enough in your own relationship with Jesus that you know Jesus as your personal Lord God and Savior because it could happen any day.

More than Dodge Ball

Not every youth pastor gets to say this, but about once a week I get the opportunity to peg my students with dodge balls for about 2 hours.

It's that time of year where the students of Sunset Christian Academy play dodge ball for P.E. Class. The students love the thought of being able to peg an adult with the dodge ball and get away with it, and for some of them its huge that they can hit their pastor with one. The students love it and I love it.

Its always funny when someone gets hit in the head, they try to pull a "matrix" move and still get hit, or they get hit hard enough that there is a red mark with the impression of the dodge ball.

Going out to play with the students is more than that though. It's a good form of excersize, it helps release stress, and most importantly it helps build relationships. Through playing dodge ball you can see which students are team players, which ones aren't, you can see which ones students may need help or extra encouragement, and it opens the door to start talking to the student about who Jesus is.

1Thessalonians 5:11 says "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

That is what dodge ball can do if you play it right. Coach Grace always puts me on the underdog team. Like today, it was the 6th graders verses the 7th and 8th graders. There is a huge difference in size and ability between the two teams. The 6th graders are small for the most part, and the 7th and 8th graders are the soccer stars. This is where encouragement comes in. The 6th graders can be scared of the ball because those 7th and 8th graders through it like 30+ miles per hour, and trust me it hurts when you get hit sometimes. But if you give a 6th grader a ball and a little encouragement they will hit one of the 7th or 8th graders about 90% of the time. Its great!

That's how we need to use games, like dodge ball, in our youth groups… as a time of encouragement and building up our students.