Found this article..Thought it was interesting!
Prophesying end of the world growing as crucial dates loom
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer
Source: www.dailynews.com
March 7 2009
An unlikely prophet of the Second Coming, Paul McGuire says the fascination with Bible prophecy and other forecasters of the apocalypse has exploded in recent months as the economic downturn has deepened.
The author of “The Day The Dollar Died” and 16 other books on prophecy, McGuire said people who otherwise “wouldn’t give 2 cents about God” are now turning to prayer and expressing interest in the biblical predictions.
“I think Bible prophecy really is a fuse igniting the whole thing,” said McGuire, a Newhall resident who hosts a syndicated radio talk show, is a regular commentator on Fox News and CNN and teaches at The King’s College seminary in Van Nuys.
“I was just on a two-hour History Channel special, `7Signs of the Apocalypse,’ and it turned out to be one of their highest-rated shows.”
McGuire joined a host of other prophecy experts in speaking last month to an overflow crowd of 7,000 at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills for the Southern California Prophecy Conference.
And about 10,000 people are expected to gather April 4 in San Diego for a conference on “Understanding Today’s Global Crises in Light of Bible Prophecy.”
“What most Americans don’t realize is that this question of whether we’re living in the last days of history is a question being asked all throughout the Muslim world and the Jewish world as well,” said author Joel C. Rosenberg, who is scheduled to speak at the conference.
Both religious Jews and religious Muslims are increasingly discussing and debating how soon it will be until the Messiah comes,” said Rosenberg, whose latest book, “Inside the Revolution,” is due out on Tuesday.
Ken Durham, adjunct professor in preaching and New Testament and the senior minister of the University Church at Pepperdine University, noted that similar predictions of the apocalypse have been made for centuries and the world is still here.
“I suspect historically that in dire times financially that people are more interested in prophecy and whether things are going to come to an end,” Durham said. “But I remember when Jesus told his disciples that even he didn’t know when the end would come; that only God knows when the end will come. I take my cue from Jesus.”
Worldwide, people are fascinated with a purported Mayan prophecy that predicts a cataclysmic event in 2012.
There is an upcoming movie starring John Cusack - “2012” - about a pole shift that results in a global cataclysm. New Age Web sites are dedicated to speculation about what will happen when the Mayan calendar ends on Dec.21, 2012. Some believe a disaster will befall the planet, but experts say the Mayans believe the world is eternal and will merely enter a new time cycle.
At the same time, Muslim religious leaders are predicting the coming of the Islamic messiah.
“It’s an interesting time for prophecy believers or those who track these phenomena,” says Stephen D. O’Leary, an associate professor of communications at the University of Southern California and an expert on Armageddon and apocalyptic events.
THANKS.
TaraP, you were saying — “Found this article..Thought it was interesting!”
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You know..., I’ve got a theory about this 2012 date, but first...
It’s interesting that the date of 2012 keeps coming up here and there, and from all sorts of different sources. I mean, even the *non-Christians* are “getting into the act”... it seems.
It almost seems about as much frenzy about it as the Year 2000 had for a while there (of course, along with the Y2K date thing on computers, too... LOL...).
So, my theory is if this keeps building up and building up to this 2012 date, then that pretty much means, as far as the Bible is concerned — nothing is going to happen. Why do I say that?
Well, if everyone is expecting something to happen, and Christians are looking for Christ to come at that time — then it’s pretty certain that Christ won’t be coming at that time — because He’s going to come at a time when people *do not expect Him*.
And, of course, I’m not talking about every last single person in the world cannot be expecting Him or He won’t come — but rather — if there is rabid and frenetic activity in a particular year about it “being the end” (so to speak) with Christians saying that Christ is going to come in that year, too (along with the Jean Dixons, and the Aztecs, and Zoroastrianism, and the Horoscope people, along with Nostradamus) — then no — He’s *definitely* not coming then.... :-)
But, if the majority of people don’t expect Him (except maybe for a very few faithful that no one listens to) — then it’s going to be at a time like that, instead.
So I look for Christ to come when everyone is saying, “Forget about it, nothing is ever going to happen like those Christians say in the Bible...” — then that’s when He’ll be here...
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Therefore these things, like I see here, sort of disappoint me, because I figure Jesus — *won’t* — be coming when the whole world is waiting for some climatic end in 2012...