Discussions over the lunch table

With the whole situation last weekend with Harold Camping predicting the end of the world on Saturday has set the whole world in motion. More and more people are talking about the end times and what it means.  

I am reading a book called the Seraph’s Seal, which is a fiction book about the end times (a review to come when I am finished). It sparked a conversation in the break room at work yesterday and some odd conversation.

I was with two ladies and when I said that it was about the end times it brought out the whole Harold Camping ordeal. I stated that no man is going to be able to predict the end times, the rapture. Only God knows when that will happen.

But then it also brought out some other weird topics that I could not refute even though deep down I felt they were completely untrue. One of the ladies brought up that Hell is in the center of the earth. I have never heard that, nor did I think that on my own, but she could not give me biblical references, only that her pastor told her that.

I did some looking on the internet and that one seems to be a topic of confusion, some sites listed biblical references that could be persuaded to mean that Hell is in the center of the earth, but I could not find anything biblical that definitely said that.

The other part of the conversation was how long Christians (believers who have confessed their sins and have a relationship with the Lord) are going to be on earth during the beginnings of the end times. The lady at work was persistent that Christians would be raptured before the anti-christ came into power and that during the tribulation time after the rapture God would disillusion everyone so that they could not believe in him even after the rapture.

I have studied a lot, but the prophecy of the end times is hard. I knew that things she was saying were not correct, but I did not have irrefutable biblical references to give her. I spent time on the internet last night looking up biblical end time prophesy and trying to find a bible study, from a trustworthy source, to help me understand the end times better.

I felt so stiffiled in that situation. I knew better, I base all my information out of the bible. Even if a pastor says it, I need to read it for myself, study it for myself. Although I am sure the ladies at lunch did not want a biblical discussion and debate at that time, it made me realize how little I really knew.

For sure I know that we need to be ready, we need to believe and we need to realize that our time is fleeting. I am ready and excited to see the end times start, to see God work in our last days and to stand up for the faith we have even when we are treated as aliens. I am most excited to go to Heaven.

But, I feel that I need to be prepared while I am here on earth.

Does anyone have any good information on a bible study about the end times? I know fiction-wise Left Behind is a great series, but I want biblical verses and facts when I am presented with questions. Please let me know if you do!