A key element of the Jesus Movement was the sense of the impending apocalypse.
Hal Lindsey's runaway best seller, The Late Great Planet Earth, hit upon a deep-seated nerve in the public with his combination of biblical prophecy and news events.
Lindsey based much of his writing on the premise that the re-establishment of Israel as a nation was a prominent signal that the "countdown to Armageddon" had begun.
Coupled with this end-times theology was a premillennial doctrine concerning the "rapture of the saints,” which taught that before the rise of the Antichrist and final war, believers would be "raptured" (or 'caught up') to escape a time of tribulation perceived as being foretold in the Book of Revelation.
Jesus musician Larry Norman's haunting song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" touched on this theme:
Two men walking up a hill
One disappears
and one's left standing still
I wish we'd all been ready
Hal Lindsey continues to go strong today.
Sadly, Larry Norman is no longer with us. He was a troubadour for Jesus, wasn’t he? What made him such?
Why are we not addressing the fact the Lord is coming today? Did we change our mind?
What would be the impact on those in their 20s and 30s if they heard this message that the Lord was returning today?
The Lord is Coming