9 JUL 11: Casey and the Son-Shone Band

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find the following item humorous, serious, or a little of both - but we offer these thoughts from time to time, as we keep a seventh-day Sabbath.)

"What did y'all think about the verdict on the little baby?" That question wasn't surprising this past week, but the person asking the question was. My next-door neighbor stopped me at my car. A male retired auto mechanic. Holding a tall can of Miller Lite beer in his hand. At 7:20 in the morning. Probably not your typical Nancy Grace viewer.

The neighbor was asking, of course, about the trial of Casey Anthony. It happens that a road trip took me through metropolitan Orlando two weeks ago -- and I felt really good on Tuesday afternoon when I realized the trial never came to my mind until the east end of the Florida/Ronald Reagan Turnpike. So I wasn't even tempted to stop and check the scene.

My answer to the neighbor's question about the Casey Anthony trial left him practically speechless. "I don't know. I didn't really follow the case." This is how you can tell who doesn't have cable or satellite TV in their homes....

That answer was accurate -- as I've been too busy focusing on matters at home to pay attention to court cases enlarged by cable news channels. It was different in 1995, when I worked at Headline News (now HLN). There were days when I was assigned to follow the O.J. Simpson trial -- and even put an orange on top of my computer screen to indicate it.

But that was several jobs ago, in a very different work environment. To borrow a popular media word, these days I'm a "hyperlocal" blogger. Maybe I'm a little too local at times. It took me a long time to confirm Lady Gaga really is a lady, and not a man.

In one way, my lack of knowledge about the Casey Anthony trial actually might be a good thing. My Bible instructs believers in the book of Revelation to "come out" of the world's sins. I've reached the point where I tend to ignore some issues which keep others preoccupied. But of course, college football starts again in eight weeks....

The point of coming out is to avoid God's punishment of "plagues" for this world's sins. For instance, a life of abstinence and purity can prevent STD's. It doesn't guarantee you a position in ministry outside Catholicism, but that's not a big issue for me.

Coming out of worldly interests also can keep your mind pure. One test I've given myself in recent years is whether I can hum any of the top 20 songs on the Billboard music charts. I tried it again this week and.... well, is "Tonight Tonight" by Hot Chelle Rae the same version they sang in "West Side Story"?

But I digress: my next-door neighbor went on to say of Caylie Anthony, "We'll never know who killed her."

"Someday we will," I responded. "Jesus will come back and reveal everything." I say that as a believer not only in a second coming, but a "resurrection to judgment" also described in Revelation. The Judge there will be very different from the Casey Anthony trial's judge. For one thing, I don't think He'll allow defense attorneys.

When the real judgment day comes (as opposed to what Harold Camping predicted), people will be judged "according to their works." A God who sees everything will know exactly what happened to Caylie Anthony, along with all sorts of other unsolved mysteries. If you think tabloid TV shows are loaded with shockers now....

But another thought occurs: Jesus Christ probably will be able to find every human ever on Earth guilty of some secret sin. That's because everyone has sinned, whether they admit it or not. Yes, even me. I'd tell you more, but I am NOT planning to run for office.

Since almost everyone will be in the same future judgment before Jesus, how much will we really care about murder cases from years gone by? Or ethnic genocides? Much less whether or not that poker player who pushed me off a winning hand was bluffing....

The good news is that there's a way to circumvent that guilty verdict -- and even Casey Anthony can do it. It's through repenting of sins, and accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. Perhaps Anthony will turn to Jesus, in the wake of what happened this week. It beats the potential alternative -- joining Dale Hester on an island in exile.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Speaking of judgment day, let's go back to a challenge we were given in a message Thursday....

Well, since you were only a year early in your prediction, would you please make an end times prediction?

Considering the temporal meaning of "day" in the Bible, I figure 365 such days would be a very long time, indeed.

The book of II Peter says "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years...." If only it worked that way when it came to paying summer electric bills.

But really now - I know better than to do what Harold Camping did. I will NOT make a prediction about when "the end times" will end with Jesus's return. After all, the Jehovah's Witnesses claimed Jesus would come back in 1914 -- then claimed the generation born in 1914 would be the last generation. Ask around the Civic Center this weekend for any appearances by 97-year-olds.

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