Posted on 11/02/2007 6:58:10 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
READING, Pa. — When Sandy Durant learned her church was going to host a Left Behind vacation Bible school, she was overjoyed. Her children loved the Left Behind Kids series, and she and her husband had read the entire adult series.
But when she arrived to find her children gone on the last day of VBS she "absolutely flipped out."
It didn’t help to learn that it was all a ruse designed to show people what it would feel like to have a loved one snatched away in the Rapture.
"I’m a big Left Behind supporter, but this went too far," she says.
Dozens of other parents agreed with her. They are demanding restitution and an apology from the publisher.
The edgy and unusual Left Behind VBS was intended to breathe new life into the slowing brand. The program was tested in 14 churches, mostly in Pennsylvania, and involved realistic fear tactics.
At one point the kids huddled in a darkened room while sound effects made it sound like giant hail was ripping through the church roof. Noises also simulated fire, earthquakes and panicked people stampeding and screaming.
"It was very believable," says one teacher. "I knew it was fake and I was still scared."
They had to stop the CD and turn the lights on because kids began screaming.
On another day the teachers had the children close their eyes, and when they opened them, half the group had been quietly led out of the room.
"That’s what it will feel like if you’re left behind when the Lord comes back," said a teacher as children sobbed.
On the last day, parents were told that their children had been raptured.
"We wanted to illustrate how terrible it would be if their kids went to heaven, but the parents just hadn’t made that commitment to Christ," says the VBS director.
Though the sham went on for just two minutes, some parents became frantic. One woman began hyperventilating. A man literally lifted the welcome desk and tossed it into the wall, causing thousands of dollars in damage. Chaos ensued.
The VBS creators say the safeguards and assurances weren’t properly enforced and that parents were supposed to "play along, knowing it was an illustration."
Plans to roll out the program nationally have been scrapped. The publisher has distanced itself from what it now calls "a failed experiment."
"Some young people in our organization came up with the idea," says a spokesman. "We were never committed to it."•
I don’t need a Friday Silliness thread. The news is QUITE silly enough this week!
Tossing a desk would have been the least of their problems with me.
Totally irresponsible and stupid behavior on behalf of the church.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/Mat/Mat024.html#top
And JESUS answered and said to them.....!
Matthew 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Matthew 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luke 17:34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
Luke 17:35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luke 17:36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Holy Crap! This is the kind of stuff that gives Christians a bad name! :*(
This is carrying things too far, IMO as a mother of a young child...most kids that attend VBS are under 8 or so, this must have been VERY traumatic to some of them! :*(
It would have been more age appropriate for teens 15+, or even young adults!! VBS-No. :*(
Wait, isn't that an abomination?
Heh. Yah, that’s a great idea. Have the children dissappear to make a point with to the parents! My wife would have a major melt down.
Luke 17:35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
So I guess some gays and lesbians are going to qualify for the Rapture. ;)
The publisher has distanced itself from what it now calls "a failed experiment."
"Some young people in our organization came up with the idea," says a spokesman. "We were never committed to it."•
Can't even own up to the stupid idea. Pathetic, all around.
2Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
****
2Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Where do you get that this is satire? If it is please explain what’s funny about it.
TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Humor; Click to Add Topic
Lark News is a satirical site - and the article makes fun of the excesses of the Left Behind cult.
Alex Murphy; Mr. Jeeves;
Thank you. I completely missed the humor perhaps I don’t know enough about the left behind cult.
Lark News... about as funny as Fred Phelps’ Westover Baptist church. Seriously, how is this satire, any not simply ridiculing Christians? What foible is this exposing?
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