End of times? Doubtful

I won't make this post too long, because honestly I don't have much to say. When I first heard of this Harold Camping character's predictions that Jesus would return on May 21, 2011, I didn't think much of it. I mean how can you take someone seriously who claims he can predict the exact date and time of Christ's return (See 1994), when clearly the Bible states in Matthew 24:36, 'Of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.'

That is pretty clear cut, and we're supposed to believe he can figure it out through long division? Come on dude. I don't know what grounds of credibility he stands on because I'm pretty sure we as Christians know this old goon is off his rocker. You know the big guy upstairs is probably chuckling a little bit.

I'm just saying.

Celebrating with dignity

As the news of Osama bin Laden's death began spreading like wildfire all over the globe through the social media world of Facebook and Twitter, everyone's immediate reaction was initially the same. Osama is dead! Yes! But after the dust settled a bit, the question raised was rather it was right to celebrate someone's death? While 99% of the time I would say absolutely not. This just may be the exception.

bin Laden was not just a bad guy. He was the most evil, pathetic, putrid of Satan's spawn that there is. He had thousands of people killed for radical reasons. He was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. You remember that, right? Imagine if your loved one had perished in one of the twin towers or in the plane that went down in that field in Pennsylvania. It is difficult to imagine the magnitude of losing a loved one that way, but try to do it just for one moment. If this were just any other "bad guy", I would completely agree that it would not be "right".

Although I for one did not go out and riot the streets, burning couches, and chanting rot in hell. I was not upset about the one's who did. The magnitude of this moment will be forever ingrained in our memories. Right now, we can't comprehend how big a deal this is that we finally found this rotten bastard. This guy was darn near impossible to find, elusively slithering from cave to cave. Our Navy Seals did the deed, and we should be eternally grateful for this.

I've noticed one particular quote and a few Bible verses floating around. The Martin Luther King quote which says, "I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that" -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I contend that Osama is more than an enemy, something more unimaginable that we as humans can't comprehend. How else can you explain all of the horrible things that he is responsible for? I bet Satan himself looked up to Osama. I do agree that returning hate for hate multiplies hate, but being happy for our country's tremendous victory is something entirely different.

I am sure in our lifetimes, we will never see anything like we saw Sunday night. I think the celebrations you saw throughout college campuses, including my alma mater, Appalachian State, was indicative of what happened on 9/11. Many of us were very young at the time, in middle or high school, and it will be something that we will never forget. It certainly hit home for me.

The Bible verse I saw was Ezekiel 18:23, which says, Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

Osama most definitely falls in the category of "wicked". I don't think there's any argument there, but here I feel the Lord is speaking of a human being who actually has a soul and conscience. I don't feel as though Osama was ever going to turn away from his wickedness. I know God loved him just the same as you and me, but I believe the Lord knew this 'man' was destined for hell in a hand basket. Sure, we would like to believe that maybe one day Osama would have turned from his wicked ways and became a humanitarian. But did anyone really believe that to be true?

I really enjoyed Mark Wineka's column in today's edition of the Salisbury Post talking about celebrating with dignity. It was just another day in Salisbury, and other cities in the United States. We didn't throw a parade, there wasn't t-shirts being made, we weren't storming the streets of Rowan County. We were simply proud for what our service men and women accomplished, and rightfully so.

I definitely didn't mind the celebrations in D.C. and in Times Square, and you shouldn't either. This was a HUGE moment in the history of our country and the world. I'm not ashamed to say, yes I wished this man dead. You have to throw political correctness and humanity out the door sometimes, or it'll eat you alive. Don't let anyone let you believe this man deserved a proper burial, ethical treatment, or a trial. I may sound a little harsh, but I for one cannot forget the kind of person he was.

Rot in hell Osama!