Although well-known author Tim LaHaye was only able to make a brief appearance at this year’s Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference, he ‘left behind’ a significant message with the attendees.
LaHaye, a sprightly man in his 80s whose looks belie his age, lives in California with his wife, Beverly. He is the co-author of the successful “Left Behind” series, based on a fictional account of the Second Ccoming of Christ.
The popular writer and prophecy guru told his attentive audience that “mankind has a fetish to worship only what he can see.”
LaHaye said that while researching information he used in his recently published “Prophecy Study Bible,” he identified 329 prophecy references of the Second Coming of Christ.
“This is three times more than were made about the first coming of Jesus. Before Jesus arrived, these references were only prophecy but they did come true. There are 109 prophetic utterances of the Messiah mentioned in the Bible and Jesus Christ is the only One who has fulfilled all of them. Who but Jesus could be the Messiah?,” he asked.
“No one has ever before or since influenced the world like Jesus Christ, and He did it in only three and a half years. This demands that something supernatural was involved and that Jesus was God in the form of human flesh.”
Touching briefly on the popularity of his “Left Behind” series, LaHaye said there is more information in the Bible given on the tribulation than any other subject.
“If you think you’ve seen tribulation in the “Left Behind” series, wait until you see the real thing,” he told his captivated listeners.
LaHaye, already an established Christian writer of more than 30 books prior to the 1995 release of “Left Behind,” received international attention which catapulted him and his co-author, Jerry Jenkins, to celebrity status.
Readers anxiously await the release of each new book and even LaHaye admits their far-reaching popularity surprises him.
Asked by syndicated talk show host Larry King about the secret for the series’ huge popularity, LaHaye told King there were three reasons.
“We glorify Jesus and put Him in his rightful place in the books; we are passionate about what we believe; and we portray a believable conversion of our characters to the reader.”
Concluding his talk, LaHaye related a story about a recent encounter he had with an airline attendant. “She told me she had become a Christian as a result of reading ‘Left Behind.’ I was asleep on the flight and at some point she slipped a note into my jacket pocket thanking me for her conversion and the conversion of four members of her family.
“Another woman told me about stopping at a bookstore to pick up a copy of John Grisham’s latest book and finding they were sold out. Asking the sales clerk for a recommendation, she was told that ‘Left Behind’ was a big seller. She told me that after reading the book she became saved and she shared the book with a friend who also became saved. That friend did the same thing and her friend was saved.”
Apologizing to the audience for his hasty departure, he immediately dashed off to a waiting jet for a late-night flight to New York City for Wednesday morning talk-show appearances.
Share with others: