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This week we are sharing with you an article from Eric Barger's Take a Stand! Ministries -- an article with which we at Olive Tree Ministries heartily agree! It's short, but, in our opinion, it says it all!
Please also remember that Olive Tree Ministries has moved. Our mailing address remains the same, but our phone number has changed to 763-559-4444.
Silence is NOT an Option! By Eric Barger May 24, 2011 www.olivetreeviews.org www.ericbarger.com On May 20th I wrote to our email subscribers concerning the followers of Harold Camping and what they might have been thinking and doing that day. As you probably know, Camping, the president of the "Family Radio" network of some 150 stations, had predicted that the Rapture of the Church (I Thess. 4:17) was absolutely going to occur on May 21st. Camping had also predicted that the entire universe would end in five months, on October 21st. Amazingly, he is still clinging to that prognostication. Doomsday prophets always leave a trail of destruction behind them and what Camping's followers are experiencing is no exception. Camping, 89, had convinced many folks to invest their life savings, kids' college funds, and retirement accounts for the purpose of spreading the word that the end was not just near, but positively going to happen May 21. Amazingly, this took place even though he had previously predicted the Lord's coming for His Church back in 1994. This time Camping purchased over 5,000 billboards announcing his predictions worldwide -- all with funds from duped donors -- many of whom are now reeling from the personal and financial losses they have incurred because a crazed false prophet led them astray. Many will be completely unable to recover from the losses they've experienced due to the date-setting of this unbiblical buffoon. Adding to their trauma, all who followed Camping and made their belief in his lunacy known, have lost credibility with their families and friends. They must feel completely betrayed and most will never trust a Christian pastor or teacher again. It is the people caught in Camping's web for whom I am particularly concerned. Besides all of the fear, hurt, and devastation Camping has wrought, the implications of what he has done is unquestionably also a setback for true evangelicals, particularly those of us who actually DO hold to the clear biblical teaching of a future "catching away" of the church. Comedians are mocking the idea with reckless abandon and the news media is making Christians who would hold to end-time teachings look silly. Regrettably, countless pastors are joining in to throw proverbial rocks at those of us who believe that Jesus is, indeed, going to call His church Home someday soon. I can't help but wonder how many men and women of God may be driven to silence on eschatology for fear of what others may think. Pastors and lay people -- I encourage you to hold steady. We cannot allow the likes of David Letterman, Jon Stewart, or CNN shut our mouths concerning prophecy and, in particular, the Rapture. God has the final say -- not the atheists. Jesus IS coming for those who believe and Satan would love nothing more than to continue to reap extended benefits from his seduction of Camping and those who backed him. Don't let the evil one silence your voice -- and the sure Word that God has given us to proclaim! Eric Make sure and check out a couple of Eric's products that we carry at Olive Tree Ministries: Divorced From Church: How Apostasy is Scattering the Sheep; and The Death of Discernment: How The Shack Became the #1 Bestseller in Christianity; and The Errors of the Emergent Church: An Expose of the Philosophy, Doctrines and Leaders Note from Jan: Eric Barger heads a sister ministry to ours, Take a Stand! Ministries He has been a part of our conference activity for three years and also sits in for me as a guest radio host occasionally. He joins us for "Understanding the Times 2011." Get acquainted with "Understanding the Times" radio, now heard in 416 outlets. We headquarter out of AM980 KKMS and AM1280 the Patriot in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Saturday, 9 - 11 a.m. CST. You can always "listen live" there if we're not in your neighborhood. All programming is posted to our "radio archives" on Sunday. We have five years of programming posted there. Visit this link for info on podcasting via iTunes. We encourage you to hear last week's programming -- two full hours with Jill Martin Rische, daughter of the late Dr. Walter Martin. Jan and Jill bring you a cutting edge expose of the new paranormal now saturating our media, entertainment, books, and more. If this is a part of your past or present, you need to hear this. To better understand these issues, visit our Web category "Prophecy Watch." Also of interest may be our video section, "To Make You Think." | 
