Several weeks ago, many of us got a major shock when we found out the Omega Letter website was finally closing its doors after seventeen-year run online. Upon hearing the bad news, one of the member faithful commented in the forums, well, sh*$. Probably not the most Christian response one could give, but perhaps the most human.
For many, the Omega Letter had long been a church to the churchless. It was a respite for the weary. A lighthouse on an island amongst a sea of internet ministries. The light the Omega Letter helped shine, provided direction, clarity, and safe-passage for those trying to navigate the often-murky waters of how bible prophecy fits into our world today. The Omega Letter was also a house of prayer; where many could help lift each other up and help bear each other’s burdens in these last days. In those regards, many in the member forums became like family.
Jack Kinsella’s sudden death in 2013 rocked many within the Pre-Tribulation/ Dispensational communities. He was well known and well respected for his astute insights and articulate prose. Many wondered if the OL doors would have shuddered even back then, but we (the staff writers) kept writing. We continued to do so long as the family decided to keep the lights on. Even as devastated as many within our small (and shrinking) communities were about the loss of Jack (along with all the other solid Bible teachers we have lost as of late), the world never noticed.
There was no media coverage. No biographies in the New York Times or other papers of note. No mention at all except for those from within the Pre-Trib community. It was as if the world never even noticed. I am sure from their perspective; people like us at the Omega Letter are just a bunch of backwards, knuckle dragging, bible-thumpers. I am also sure from the mainstream churches perspective that we are on the fringe. We are truly like the island of misfit toys that no one wants or cares about, the proverbial tin-foil hat brigade.
Perhaps that is all true as well.
Many of us (myself included) are poor, broken, flawed, and unwanted. In and of ourselves, we have little strength (or chance) to stand against the overwhelming rising tide of apathy and evil that is sweeping across our land. It was along this vein by which a world, whom is increasingly being given over to its own demise, that we should become a safe harbor for the shipwrecked and destitute. It was not heaven or perfection the Omega Letter offered, but a refuge from the storm for those weary of wandering. A warm, cozy place they could sit and stay a spell. What Jack began, we carried on for another five years in his honor. The fact that the OL ran for 17 years is a testament to the integrity and ministry Jack left behind.
I would like to think Jack is beaming down on us from Heaven right now, proud that his life and legacy continued for as long as it had after his death. That the readers and writers faithfully continued to contribute in this labor of love, devoting hundreds of hours of study, prayer, and research into this little corner of the internet. We fearlessly put our thoughts and ideas to pen and paper each day, contributing to a family who, for the most part, we have never met. Moreover, with the Omega Letter’s closing, most of us will go our own separate ways. Some of us will continue to write in our own venues, but we individually, will never have the same magic we had together collectively.
Speaking personally, writing can be a heavy burden when done faithfully, consistently, and honestly. I would devote many hours each week to give the very best analysis and insight I could with the limited time I had in which to do it. And as always, I did so gratis. That is not to brag or to pat myself on my back for the seven-years and over 350 articles published. I did so because this was where God wanted me to serve. I think we all believed this to be a labor of love, one in which we all served willingly.
With that said, this is my final article for the Omega Letter.
It seems just as surreal saying this, as I am sure it is many of you reading this. Thank you (the faithful readers) for supporting the Omega Letter over the years. A heartfelt thanks to Jack, Gayle, Kari, the Kinsella family, and my fellow OL writers (Alf, Wendy, JL, Steve, Rebecca, Frank, and Ed) for a wonderful experience and journey over the years. Thanks for continuing for another five years when it would have been so much easier to just let the website close back in 2013.
Lord willing, I will continue with my own little island refuge for the time being for anyone who cares to stop by and stay a spell (www.rev310.wordpress.com). You can also read my articles at Rapture Ready and Rapture Forums when they post them. Let me close with my favorite passage, and I hope that it brings you much joy and peace in the time we have left, as it has done for me over the years.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2nd Corinthians 4:17-18
Until we meet again, Maranatha!
