The world will end at 6 p.m. today

Forget the guy carrying the sign that reads "The End Is Near." According to a man named Harold Camping "The End Is Here!"

On more than 1,200 billboards, in full-page newspapers ads and on all the major news networks, Camping has generated national coverage with his warning to the world that the Day of Judgment begins at 6 p.m. today (I'm not sure if that's Eastern Standard Time or Central Standard Time).

The 89-year-old founder of Family Radio has made such "predictions" before (most recently in 1994). Not surprisingly, he says he simply miscalculated then, but he is absolutely certain that he has the right calculation now.

When I was in high school, I got a "C" in algebra but, hopefully, I wouldn't do the math wrong on something as significant as when the world will end.

A doomsday forecaster is nothing new. We've always had them and always will (the Mayan calendar predicts the world will end December 21, 2012). So will the end of days happen today?

Here is "my prediction" … At 6:01 p.m., millions of people will not mysteriously be missing (the "rapture"), nor will a mother of all earthquakes show up on any Richter scale as Camping predicts. We'll see this evening which "prediction" was true.

It doesn't really bother me that Camping and his misguided followers will be mocked for one more phony prediction. Harold Camping, like Florida Pastor Terry Jones who burned the Koran, and Fred Phelps whose small group of followers shamefully picket the funerals of our fallen soldiers, will be chalked up as one more group of "religious nuts."

What does bother me is that some people will conclude that all Christ-followers are delusional like Camping and his followers. When he puts the phrase out there "The Bible guarantees it" and nothing happens at 6 p.m. (just crickets chirping) he has hurt the cause of Christ, the church and the Bible. Some may wonder "If the Bible was wrong about May 21, can the book really be trusted on other matters?"

Camping hurts the very cause he and his followers think they are helping. The very Bible Camping claims to believe says in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows that day or hour. Jesus said regarding the last days "Watch out that no one deceives you." (Matthew 24:4)

Yet, there have been numerous books, movies and even songs that revolve around Armageddon and the end of the world. Why do we have such a fascination with this? I believe it's because deep down we wonder … we hope … that this world isn't all there is and maybe there's still something better.

These "predictions" tend to gain traction when a lot of difficulties are happening in the world. Whether it is on-going threats of terrorism; record-high prices from the gas station to the grocery store; natural disasters such as earthquakes in Japan, tornadoes in Alabama, and flooding in Mississippi; or the consideration of a national failed economy; right now, there's a lot of insecurity in our world.

But what if there was the possibility of a greater purpose happening in life that promised a better life than this? What if there is a bigger story going on than the stories on CNN and the stories that makes up your life? What if, as C.S. Lewis said, "there is a story which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before"?

As a person of faith, I believe there is such a place — it's called Heaven. Those with no trust in God must logically conclude "With my last breath, my story ends. This life is as good as it gets."

For the person who trusts in God, with their last breath, their end is a new beginning. The good news is God longs for everyone to enjoy Heaven with Him. The bad news is by their own choice, not everyone will spend forever in Heaven.

Therefore, the big question has never really been "When will the world end?" The big question has always been and still is "Do I know God and have a relationship with Him?"

As a follower of Jesus, my answer is "yes." Not because I'm good enough – far from it – but because I am forgiven.