Recently, I watched one extremely well known prophecy "expert" interview a gentleman who claimed that two or three times when he had been speaking at different churches, GOLD DUST had begun falling on him from some invisible source, to the point where he could no longer read his bible. Yes, real physical gold dust. He then quoted some bible verse to explain and validate the miracle and continued relating other experiences he had had.

I wonder if they still passed the offering plate around after that 'miracle'.

So where I thought, are the photographs of this event. A church full of people witnessing this "amazing" happening, and not one cell phone to record the event?

Perhaps photos were taken but discretely deleted after it was discovered the gold was nothing more than yellow plastic glitter.

He then claimed that at one church so much gold dust had miraculously fallen that the Pastor there was able to use it to pay the mortgage off their building. I wonder how he explained to the bank manager the source of their sudden new found wealth, and why couldn't we see a copy of the discharged mortgaged papers?

And in the comments section, Christians were saying things like, "Wow, I wish I was a great man of God like this gentleman," and "Oh, to be so anointed as to have flakes of gold fall on me."

It's amazing how gullible some Christians are. And shame on the well known prophecy teacher interviewer who sat there lapping all this up like a stray cat that had just wandered into the room and found a saucer of milk.

Then I watched another two "prophecy experts" explain on which Jewish feast day the rapture would occur. The trouble was, each believed it would occur on a different feast day. Of course, to fully understand their deductions, one would need to buy another book, from each of them. Twenty dollars times two, to get the possible day and month of the rapture, but unfortunately, not the year.

Something made me decide my money might be better spent elsewhere.

Following this, I watched a YouTube presentation on how in September, using astrological signs as a guide, one can possibly predict the date of the rapture or how far off the beginning of the tribulation is. Quite a few have been drawn into this and begun packing their bags ... again!

Never mind that the Bible teaches that astrology is the “interpretation” of an assumed influence the stars (and planets) exert on human destiny and is a false belief. (Isaiah 47: 13-14).

Never mind that no-one knows the day or the hour of the return of Jesus, (Matthew 24:36), the speculation around September 23rd continues.

Next up, we have a very well know eschatology author on a very well known Christian TV site re-arranging the order of events surrounding the rapture and the opening of the seals in revelation. Of course, once again, one must buy the book to really grasp the truths of this new discovery. It's a simple setup really, the author makes more sales from the publicity and the station promoting the author gets their cut as well.

Such "setups" are not all bad, and are indeed necessary to a point, but one gets the impression that a few of these "Christian product promoters" are feeling the pinch and peddling some very suspect material.

There is no harm in a little speculation about the meaning of certain unclear Bible prophecies and passages, but we live in an age of false prophets gaining fame and fortune from such speculation, many of whom are VERY well known, and who are turning out more books and DVD's than you can fill your shopping trolley with. All discounted of course for a truly great deal. All explaining in detail, hitherto unknown secrets and mysteries.

The only mystery is how they continue to get away with it.

Following this, I watched another YouTube show, ( Yes, I had quite a bit of spare time that day). Here, ANOTHER well known evangelical luminary laid out the secret to financial wealth, as well as repeatedly mentioning the name of his latest book. The secret to financial prosperity is apparently ... MOTIVE. Sounded good and reasonable I thought, even if a bit simplistic. But then he suggested trying out this SECRET to prove it, by ... yes ... you guessed it .... sending money with the right motive ... TO HIM! Wow, I'd have never thought of that!

TREAD CAREFULLY FOLKS and instead of buying every new prophecy book or DVD that comes down the conveyer belt, consider sending that money to some struggling missionary overseas who is living way below our material standard and facing physical danger, even death, just to win souls to Jesus Christ.

What would you rather do? Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven......

or feed the wolves?