"I didn't ask to be a hero, but I guess I have become one in the Christian community. So I accept it. But if I'm wrong about this, I guess I'll become a bum." -- Hal Lindsey
Harold Lee "Hal" Lindsey (born November 23, 1929) is an American evangelist and Christian writer. He is a Christian Zionist and dispensationalist author. He currently resides in the Palm Springs area of Southern California.
"The most important sign in Matthew has to be the restoration of the Jews to the land in the rebirth of Israel.""Twenty years ago, I said there was going to be something that would stop the Soviet Union from taking over the world. And now we see that the Soviet Union has been stopped, through its own disintegration.""We are very near the final climactic events that end with the Second Coming of Christ.""When the Jewish people, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, under relentless persecution, became a nation again on 14 May 1948 the 'fig tree' put forth its first leaves. Jesus said that this would indicate that He was 'at the door,' ready to return."
Lindsey, the son of Percy Lacy Lindsey and Daisy Lee Freeman, was born in Houston, Texas. Lindsey suspended his course of study at the University of Houston to serve in the Korean War, then worked as a Mississippi River tugboat captain.
He entered Dallas Theological Seminary in 1958 (with the help of Lt. Col. Robert Thieme, pastor of Berachah Church in Houston, which Lindsey had attended) where he studied with John F. Walvoord, author of the 1974 best-seller Armageddon, Oil, and the Middle East Crisis. He received a certificate in theology. With his second wife, Jan, he worked with Campus Crusade for Christ and continued with them until 1969. He then helped a mission in Southern California which continued until 1976. He was also a frequent speaker and Sunday School teacher at Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim, California. In 1969, he wrote his first, and most well-known book, The Late, Great Planet Earth.
Published in 1970 by Zondervan, The Late, Great Planet Earth became a bestseller. Coming on the heels of the Six-Day War, the book fueled the popularity of Dispensationalism and its support of ethnic Jews as the "chosen people of God". It has since been published in 54 languages, has reported sales of over 35 million copies, and is still in print. Many of Lindsey's later writings are sequels or revisions and extensions of his first book.
Lindsey hosted International Intelligence Briefing on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and serves on the executive board of Christian Voice.
International Intelligence Briefing was removed from the air on TBN for the entire month of December 2005. Lindsey claimed that this was because "some at the network apparently feel that [his] message is too pro-Israel and too anti-Muslim." TBN owner Paul Crouch, however, contended that "TBN has never been and is not now against Israel and the Jewish people." TBN - Trinity Broadcasting Network Crouch said that Lindsey's show was pre-empted for Christmas programming. Lindsey countered that this was the first time his show had been preempted for the entire month of December. TBN later admitted that a secondary reason for pre-empting the show was that it "placed Arabs in a negative light." TBN admits concern about offending Muslims
Lindsey resigned from TBN on January 1, 2006, and indicated that he would pursue another television ministry. His new program, The Hal Lindsey Report, is focused on Biblical prophecy and current events, and is carried on the Angel One and DayStar networks. In January 2007, Lindsey announced that he would be returning to the TBN network. The Hal Lindsey Report airs on TBN under his own financing. TBN - Trinity Broadcasting Network
He wrote in an essay on WorldNetDaily that Barack Obama was paving the way for, and demonstrating the world's readiness for, the antichrist, "Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him ... a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib ... The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance."
In The Late, Great Planet Earth, Lindsey wrote that he had concluded, since there was no apparent mention of the United States of America in the books of Daniel or Revelation, that the USA would no longer be a major player on the geo-political stage by the time the tribulations of the end times arrived. Lindsey also interpreted from Revelation and prophetic texts that the European Economic Community, which preceded the European Union, was destined (according to Biblical prophecy) to become a "United States of Europe", with ten members, which in turn he says is destined to become a "Revived Roman Empire" ruled by the Antichrist. The European Union currently has 27 members.
The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon strongly suggests that the 1980s would be the last decade before Biblical events of tribulation and end times. Planet Earth - 2000 A.D., published in the early 1990s, states that Christians should not plan to still be on earth by the year 2000.
In 2006, Hal Lindsey Ministries created the Hal Lindsey Gospel Appreciation Festival on the lawn at Washington DC. The event has since turned into a six times a year event, one in each of the six world regions, a North America version, South America version, Africa version, Europe version, Australia version, and Asia version.
2010 Schedule
15 and 16 January 2010- Atlanta, Georgia, United States at the Atlanta Civil Atrium
19 and 20 March 2010- Santiago, Chile at the Royal Palace Theatre.
28 and 29 May 2010- Cairo, Egypt at the Sands Hotel Center.
9 and 10 July 2010- London, England, United Kingdom at the Royal Theatre.
17 and 18 September 2010- Albury, New South Wales, Australia at the Alexandria Park Interior Theatre.
12 and 13 November 2010- Tokyo, Japan at the Jekio Palace Center.
2011 Schedule
Last full weekend of each month in 2011
January 2011- Houston, Texas, United States
March 2011- Brazilia, Brazil
Ma7 2011- Nairobi, Kenya
July 2011- Nice, France
September 2011- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
