Me 'n HAROLD CAMPING

Mr. Harold Camping died in Dec. of 2013 at the ripe old age of 92.  He had his 15 minutes of fame and more.  He gained incredible notoriety with his prediction that the world would come to an end  May 21, 2011 or October 21, 2011.   He had previously predicted with "99.9%" certainty that the world would end Sept. 6, 1994 ( and 11 other dates in the following 24 months).

From a Christian perspective, one tends to think the "anti-christ" will be a charismatic, likeable, glib salesman - smooth, suave and persuasive.  Bill Clinton comes to mind.  Harold was the antithesis of Bill Clinton.
He lived very frugally, drove a 10 year old pick-up truck.  Hadn't accepted a salary from Family Radio in years and there was never a hint of sexual scandal about him.  He was, by all accounts, a faithful and loving husband.  He was short, he had bad teeth, big ears - he was a homely man.  He never acquired any theological degrees; just had an engineering degree from Cal. Berkeley.  He was never "Doctor" Camping.

Why was he an "anti-Christ?"  Because he made it his goal in the last decade to drive Christians away from their churches; good, bad or indifferent.  He wished to destroy "the Bride of Christ."
Early on he told people that the "Church Age" was over (in 1988) and if you were a "true believer" you would leave your church.  To make sure there were no "fence sitters," he told people that if they didn't leave their church, even if they believed in his Rapture calendar, they would not be saved.  He announced that instead of church, all one needed was Family Radio and like minded ministries.  In actuality, there were no other "like minded ministries."  It was just Family Radio and some scattered individuals who parroted Harold's doctrine of heresy.   He once suggested that people who believed similarly could simply, instead of going to church, get together at somebody's house and gather around the radio to get all the spiritual nourishment they would need via the gospel according to Family Radio.   IRONICALLY, by 2010 groups of people were meeting every Sunday morning at a hall in Alameda where there would be prayers, collections of offerings, gospel singing and Harold teaching his version of Scripture.  They staunchly denied this was in any way comparable to a church meeting.

Soon after Harold announced the Rapture would be May 21, 2011 a new website appeared in the blogosphere.  It was  DEPARTOUT.COM.  The format was simple.  It allowed members to make new posts or respond to old ones.  The creator of the website never gave details of his beliefs though clues were left that, in all probabilty, he believed Harold calendar was right and the Rapture would appear in May of 2011. In it's hey-day leading up to the first Rapture day it saw a plethora of posts, comments and counter-comments by a few who advocated for Harold's calendar and by the majority who believed Harold was wrong.  The "nay sayers" included a number of individuals who had, at first, believed the calendar was correct but then came to reject it.  Other naysayers, like myself, having seen the failure of Harold's date setting in 1994  knew Harold was simply repeating his earlier mistakes and that he could not be the End Time Prophet.

I believe Harold Camping spent way too many years worry about his legacy.  I think he desired to be the End-Time prophet and deserved it because of his years of Bible study and teaching.  He did indeed end up with an amazing legacy;  epic failure.  His followers have been scattered, many of them have been significantly impoverished and ultimately embarrassed.  FAMILY RADIO carries on but appears to be a drifting derelict, replaying Harold teachings including the heresy of "Depart-Out."  They have always depended upon their listeners gifts but that has surely dried up.  They have sold their 3 biggest stations as they have attempted to financially survive.  They won't.

I still listen, they have a small station in my town.  I find it so ironic when Harold attacks the "false teachers" of the churches when, during his time, there has been no one who was a greater false prophet than himself.

God will not be mocked; His Word is quite plain.  In the New Testament 13 times He said, "No One Knows."   That included Harold, he just didn't believe that but he knows now.
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Harold's legacy:  False prophet, heretic.

LEWIS HOHENSTEIN - spiritual father

I want to pay tribute to Lewis Hohenstein, my pastor at the Whittier Grace Brethren Church during my teen years.  My Dad had been asked to lead the music there when  I was 10,  so the the family left a Baptist church and joined the Brethren Church.  It was a small church but they had a great pastor in Lewis C. Hohenstein.    Three years later, when I was 13, my Mom and Dad felt led to go to another church and couldn't decide if they would make me go with them or let me stay at the Brethren Church  with my two older sisters, 15 and 17.   They decided to let me remain.  I was thrilled.  A) my best friend,  Don Downs [ later known as Dr. Donald Downs DDS] , was there and B) I would be out from under my Mom and Dad's eagle eyes.  I stayed until I  was 19 and "Bud" Hohenstein was forced out, due to accusations of a moral failing.

But in those crucial teen years, he regularly taught the teenagers on Wednesday notes at one of the member's homes.  He was a man familiar with C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer and was ahead of his time in having a "Biblical Worldview."   He prepared me mentally and philosophically for the world of secular academia.  He was a bright and thoughtful man and he, in a sense, adopted me.  My father was a fine Christian man but we were never on the same wave-length.  Bud was on my wave length and could put in words my questions and concerns and provide logical answers.  He was always my pastor, not my best friend, but he became my mentor ultimately and helped prepare me for adulthood.

He pastored two other churches and my Mom and Dad actually rejoined him for a few years when I was in my 20s.  But I was no longer in the area, and had gotten married and began attending churches in the area in which my wife and I lived.

Bud's wife was Kay Hohenstein, a nurse and fine lady; plus 3 children, Judy, David and Leslie.

God knew I needed Bud Hohenstein if I was to survive the 60s in some kind of rational state and I believe, to this day, my parents were led to his church as much for my sake as anything else.

Bud Hohenstein has been dead a number of years now, died in his late 80s.  He wasn't a perfect man but he was a Godly man and understood grace.  He passed that legacy on to me.