We call it "Chicken Little Syndrome" (CLS), the obsessive compulsion some Christians suffer from that compels them to attach prophetic significance to almost every current event in the news. Whether it's abnormal weather, political developments in various parts of the world, or even flocks of birds falling from the sky—they see it as a fulfillment of prophecy.

A closely related phenomenon is "date setting." These folks use various biblical passages to "calculate" the precise date of the Rapture.

We talked about this at some length at our recent God, Israel & You conference in Branson this past week (www.godisraelandyou.com).

Family Radio, an Oakland-based radio network, has purchased billboard space all over the country (and even a full-page spread in USA Today) to warn the world that the Rapture will take place tomorrow (May 21st).

The Bible "guarantees" it, they say. So if it doesn't happen, the message is that the Bible is wrong and God himself failed to do something He promised to do.

You see, that's really the problem. It's about our credibility in the eyes of a lost and unbelieving world.

The Bible says, "Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by [your] good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation" (1 Peter 2:12).

The Enemy must be jumping up and down with glee right now.

If the Rapture doesn't happen tomorrow, the world won't be looking at us and glorifying God because of what they see. On the contrary, the result will be disillusionment and disappointment. Some people will think the Bible has finally been proven wrong.

Here's how the whole debacle is affecting one family: click here.

I can't even imagine how the prophecy's failure will affect these folks—especially the kids. Very sad. They seem like a nice, sincere family.

Personally, I hope the Rapture does happen tomorrow. Even better, let it be tonight ... or in the next five minutes!

But if it does happen, it won't be because of Harold Camping's predictions. It will be purely an accident that he finally got the date right.

After all, if someone just keeps on predicting the Rapture, year after year, sooner or later he'll be right!

With all of the important things happening in the world right now, and their legitimate prophetic ramifications, the last thing we need is to be distracted by prophetic craziness.

Like Christianity Today magazine has said, one of two things should end tomorrow: either the world or Harold Camping's prophetic career (click here).