In the 17th century, a Dr. John Lightfoot — it could have been Bishop Usher, so take your choice — after long hours of research and study, declared that the earth had been created on October 23rd, 4004 BC, at 9:00 in the morning. He arrived at this conclusion after examining the genealogies and time frames recorded in the Bible. People still support this debatable position even though most biblical scholars agree with the scientific data that 4.5 billion years ago would be a better and more accurate date.

The difficulty is not just the dating position, but we know that a lot of misreading or misunderstanding of our sacred text can cause major problems.

It might be interesting to realize that for hundreds of years the use of any pain-killing drugs during operations or childbirth was absolutely forbidden by the church. In fact, people were burned at the stake for using chloroform. The text used to support this belief came from Hosea, "He has torn, that He may heal us. He has stricken, and He will bind us up."

In other words, God created pain for a purpose and to — in some way — remove pain would be a violation of God's will.

Fortunately, a very sharp physician in 1874 by the name of Simpson won the day when he cited Genesis 2:12. Simpson stated that this text reveals the first surgical case ever recorded. "And God caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam before he took the rib from his side."

The good doctor then spoke to his amazed colleagues and announced that from this day forward, there can be no objection to anesthesia. For those of us who have had an operation of any kind, we raise a toast to Dr. Simpson!

A slave trader by the name of Captain Hawkins named his slave ship, Jesus. When the slaves became sick, he threw them overboard to the sharks. He used the passage to justify slavery, "Cursed be Ham and his offspring; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren."

A minister in the 1860s said that God had not only instituted slavery, but He also made it as a punishment for sin.

There has been — and continues to be — an amazing misuse of the extraordinary text we cherish and call the Holy Bible.

That brings us to my original purpose. I keep hearing this in an almost weekly conversation, "It should be obvious to everyone that all this stuff going on in the world is God's telling us that we're on the verge of total eradication. We are in the last days!"

Everyone wants to be prepared. We have mixed feelings about all this destruction talk, and we just don't have enough time to get ready. Can anyone be a tad more specific because we need to make amends, clean our plate and speak with our priest or pastor in case there is a checklist to help us correct what we missed.

This reminds me of the disciples of Jesus who asked Him about the end of time. "Tell us when all this will be and what will happen to show that it is the time for Your coming and the end of the age." Matt. 24:3

Jesus said quite a bit about being ready, but was very clear to those who wanted some dating, "Noone knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

My take on this is that having a calendar date of the last day on earth is not as important as being ready. What if Jesus had said, "It'll be three seconds from now? It's too late to hide under the covers, in a closet or in a cave. Oops! It's checkout time!"

I know that I have said this more than once, so forgive me one more time. "Die happy!" I truly mean that. I'm sure we've all heard, "I wish I would have done that. I guess it's too late to change." No, it is not! Say what you need to say today. Make your apologies now. You can change at this very moment. Is it scary, difficult, insane or seemingly impossible? It sure is.

Even talking about the end of time is very uncomfortable. I remember a seminar discussing life after death, which sounds like an oxymoron. The overall fear by most of the participants was not, "Where am I going? What will I look like? Will I get a penthouse or a walk-up flat?" Nope. The true fear was, "When I die, will I be annihilated? Will I go into nothingness? Will I cease to be?"

These are unanswerable questions for the living.

However, we can get the answer for the last and most important question, "Is our future secure?"

The answer comes from Jesus Christ. "Let not your hearts be troubled: believe in God, believe in Me. Where I am, there you will be."

To be anxious, nervous, excited, are normal reactions for the future. You need not be afraid. I believe, without a doubt, God's plan for us is beyond our dreams!

Thanks, God!