Dan Wooding with Chuck Smith, photo via assistnews.net

Pastor: Economic Crisis could be a sign that Jesus is coming soon

Chuck Smith, the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California, and the Father of the Jesus People Revolution that swept through Southern California in the late sixties and early seventies, has long studied Biblical prophesy, reports Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST Ministries.

Now he believes that the currently economic crisis that is sweeping through the world at this time could be a sign of the soon return of Jesus Christ.

In an interview conducted on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at an Operation Christmas Child shoebox event in Santa Ana, California, Chuck Smith said, “I believe that the Lord has put out a lot of signals that He's coming very soon and I think it's important that we be aware of these signals.

“Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they could tell what the weather was going to be like by looking at the skies but He said, �?You didn't know the times of my coming.’ I think that the signs are out and if we are alert at all we can surely see that things are winding up.”

When asked what he would like to say to the American people at this time of crisis, Chuck Smith replied, “I think that God allows these things. The Lord said that �?when my judgments are in the land, it will cause my people to turn to me.’ So I believe that we are seeing the judgment of God in our land and I'm praying that the people will turn to the Lord.”

Standing close to Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, who heads up Samaritans Purse’s Operation Christmas Child program, I asked him to talk about Billy Graham, who has just celebrated his 90th birthday.

“I've never met a man who has done more for the Lord than Billy Graham and the thing that impresses me is how he has remained so humble through it all,” he said. “If God would use me like he used Billy that would be wonderful, but I guess that's the reason why He hasn't used me in that way because he knows it would go to my head.” With that he let out a huge laugh.

He then added, “He is just such a real credit to the Christian ministry and the Christian body; a witness for Christ because he has remained just so humble.”

I then shared with Pastor Chuck that Billy Graham had once told me that he had once slipped into the back of his Costa Mesa church and said how much he had been blessed by Smith’s ministry. I asked Pastor Chuck if that was a thrill for him to hear.

“Very much,” he said. “In fact, Billy used to say that I was his pastor because he would listen to our tapes, so that has been a real blessing to me.”

Note: Calvary Chapel is a non-denominational Christian church which began in 1965 in Costa Mesa, California. Calvary Chapel's pastor, Chuck Smith became a leading figure in what has become known as the "Jesus Movement."

It has been estimated that in a two-year period in the mid '70s, Calvary

Chapel of Costa Mesa had performed well over eight thousand baptisms. During that same period, we were instrumental in 20,000 conversions to the Christian faith. Its decadal growth rate had been calculated by church growth experts to be near the ten thousand percent level.

Today, many of those early hippie converts pastor huge churches themselves, including Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, and Mike MacIntosh of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, California.

Today, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, the church which only had twenty-five members, has now established 1361 affiliate Calvary Chapels across the world and is among the world's largest churches with 20,000+ calling it their home church. It is one of the ten largest Protestant churches in the United States.

TAGS: USA Calvary Chapel Church Biblical prophesy Operation Christmas Child shoebox economic crisis

[12/09/2008]

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