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Wednesday, October 22, 2003

I was reading Genesis Hansen's blog, and it started me thinking. (Isn't it funny how you read something in a blog, and it will bring things to your mind that are all over the map, some related, some not, but it's just a little shove that starts a whole series of mental leap frogging...)

Anyways, the topic was the Left Behind series. Now to me, that whole theology was frighteningly familiar - I became a believer in a church that was end time obsessed. For the entire year of my exchange-studentdom I attended that church, and there was hardly a sermon that was not about Revelation, or a Hal Lindsey book. Everyone was sure Jesus would take us out of there in the very near future (and that somewhere in the European Union the anti-christ was lurking even as we were talking...). It was true "end time goofiness", but everyone was into it big time. The theology was exactly the same as in the Left behind books (down to literal little stinging horsey-manfaced-liontoothed-scorpion thingies...)
The church grew enormously - but there was no real discipleship, there was a bunch of very controlling junk in other areas, everyone was looking to "The Day", and not really living Today, (waiting for Godot...)......and after a few years of this it went bust, with enormous amounts of hurt people strewn all over the place. But while it lasted, everyone was totally into this stuff.
I was totally into it too - I remember telling my host parent that no matter what happened, not to take the mark of the beast (like that was the most important thing...) How they put up with me I do not know - but they are truly amazingly wonderful people.
I am so glad I got out of there in one piece - and that my critical thinking skills have improved quite a bit since I was 17, LOL!


posted by Birgit
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