By John Tretbar

If you believe a fringe Christian radio group, then you’ve got less than 24 hours to either party it up, or repent for your sins.

According to the “Family Radio” network, 6 p.m. Saturday will be when the “rapture” begins and the end of days begins. There have been billboards across the nation for months proclaiming the rapture is near.  

But what exactly are the billboards referring to about the rapture? Well, the Family Radio network’s founder, 89-year-old Harold Camping, said Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. will be when the rapture of the church takes place. The rapture of the church is a relatively new idea in the realm of Christianity. It refers to the time when Christians believe that Jesus will take the faithful to heaven ahead of the calamity and destruction that lies ahead in the tribulations from the book of Revelation. &npbsp;

The idea of the rapture picked up steam in the United States during the middle and late 19th Century with a school of theological thought called Dispensationalism. The movement was led by John Nelson Darby, who preached about a concept of the rapture happening at any moment, among other things.&npbsp;

There are at least a dozen of facebook pages, generating tens of thousands of “likes,” poking fun at the idea. There are rapture parties, rapture looting parties, and even one service to take care of your pets when you go.

The Family Radio network has a web site here: http://www.familyradio.com/index2.html

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