As "King of the Apocalypse"  LaHaye is highly critical of Harold Camping, the Oakland, California-based owner of several fundamentalist Christian radio stations who has grabbed headlines by claiming "that Jesus Christ will come to rapture believers on May 21, 2011" and that "God will destroy this world on October 21, 2011."

"No one knows the day or the hour when that merciful and blessed day [Jesus' return] will come," LaHaye wrote in a column titled "Is Harold Camping Right This Time?".

It may not be apocalyptically correct to predict the exact day of the apocalypse, but it sure makes sense to market the heck out of it before that day arrives.

Sixteen years after the publication of the first "Left Behind" novel, and with fresh memories of the earthquake, tsunami and near nuclear meltdown in Japan, the current flooding in the Midwest, raging drug wars in Mexico, and uncertainty of the outcomes of the Arab Spring uprisings, it is now apparently the perfect time for Tyndall House Publishers to announce the repackaging of the "Left Behind" books, its series of mega-best-selling apocalyptic novels.

Under the banner headline, "What if it happened today?, Tyndale House Publishers has just announced the repackaging of LaHaye and Jenkins' wildly popular "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic novels.

Tyndale's savvy promo folks tease with: "What if the Rapture happened today?How would it play out in the media? What images would roll through Times   Square? How would someone watching it feel?"

Clearly in search of a second generation of "Left Behind" readers, Tyndale House Publishers stated: "Answering those questions is exactly how we approached the new repackage of the mega best-selling Left Behind series. The new covers have a feeling of immediacy, as if the plot's action is happening alongside today's headline news. This combination of content and style will appeal to both newcomers and longtime fans of the series."

A recent survey of its board of directors conducted by the National Association of Evangelicals found that "A majority [65%] of evangelical leaders believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth and then reign with his followers for 1,000 years," The Christian Post reported in early March.

A PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey poll, conducted by Public Religion Research Institute in partnership with Religion News Service following the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, found that while most Americans do not believe that God plays a direct role in natural disasters, "among White evangelicals, 67% believe that natural disasters are evidence of what the Bible calls the 'end times' compared to 52% who see it as evidence of global climate change.

"Among Republicans, 52% believe that natural disasters are evidence of what the Bible calls the 'end times' compared to 41% who see it as evidence of global climate change."

I was not aware of this until just a short time ago, but Tim LaHaye, the co-author (along with Jerry Jenkins) of the "Left Behind" series, and a longtime leader on the Religious Right,  was visiting Maui in Hawaii when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March.

According to news reports, he "was one of many visiting the island of Maui who had to be evacuated to upper floors of the Marriott Hotel ..."

WorldNetDaily reported that "he said being caught in the crossfire of the fourth largest earthquake in modern history helped prepare him for two prophecy conferences he was scheduled to address in Hawaii."

"The Bible tells us in Matthew 24 that one of the signs of the last days - one of the birth pangs to occur - is an increase in earthquake activity and intensity," LaHaye said. "We're seeing that happen here. It's not just earthquakes, but hurricanes and all kinds of natural disasters."

LaHaye, whose wife Beverly founded the very influential women's organization, Concerned Women for America, has written, according to WorldNetDaily, "more than 60 non-fiction books on a wide range of subjects such as family life, temperaments, sexual adjustment, Bible prophecy, the will of God, Jesus Christ, and secular humanism with over 14 million in print, some of which have been translated into as many as 32 foreign languages."

In case you think that LaHaye is content to rest on his laurels, he recently announced that he was being "driven to use the most powerful communication tool ever invented, movies, to have the Biblical story of ten post-resurrection appearances of Christ made into the first quality movie that tells the story as it really happened, faithfully recorded by eye witnesses."

According to LaHaye, he is working on the project with Lionel Chetwynd - a screenwriter whose credits include the Academy Award nominated "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" and The Hanoi Hilton" -- and its working title is "The Resurrection."  "My prayer," writes LaHaye, "is that we may be able to release the movie to the public by pre-Easter of 2012."

LaHaye's prayers did not help make any of the first three "Left Behind" movies watchable, but they, along with the books, the video game, and all the other "Left Behind" paraphernalia has certainly has made Tim LaHaye the undisputed "King of the Apocalypse."