Use the mind God gave you

In the past couple of days, I’ve seen a few people on Facebook sharing this post by the Facebook page EndTimes News, which that page posted on June 22, 2025:

The text accompanying the photo reads:

June 22, 2025 | Niagara Falls, USA/Canada — In a stunning and eerie turn of events, Niagara Falls appeared to run red “like blood” for approximately 10 minutes early Sunday morning, leaving tourists and locals in shock.

At approximately 5:36 AM, visitors reported seeing the iconic Horseshoe Falls change from its usual clear cascade to a deep crimson color, with the water and mist both reflecting an intense blood-red hue. The bizarre phenomenon lasted for exactly 10 minutes before the water gradually returned to its normal state.

“It looked like a scene from a horror movie,” said Elena Torres, a tourist from Mexico who captured the moment on video. “The whole river was red, and people around me started screaming and recording. It was surreal — like the Falls were bleeding.”

Environmental experts noted that while certain water-safe dyes are sometimes used for scientific research, there were no scheduled studies in the area this morning.

Unconfirmed Reports:

Several online users have speculated it could be a publicity stunt or art installation gone wrong.

Others referenced interpretations, especially as the event occurred under dark, overcast skies.

By 6:00 AM, cleanup crews and drone surveillance had been deployed, and no signs of long-term water pollution have been detected so far. Officials have urged the public to stay calm and await full lab results.

“We’ve never seen anything like this in our lifetimes,” said Dr. Rebecca Thompson, a hydrologist expert. “The sheer scale of the color change and the timing raises many questions we don’t yet have answers to.”

The investigation continues.

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8 End Of The World Signs Will Lead To The Apocalypse on 2025? Watch on YouTube here:

When I went to do a Google search using the words “Niagara Falls Red June 22”, a Facebook post from the page David Attenborough Fans was the first and second results (the text of those posts matched what is copied above, without the final bit about signs of the end times.

Two Instagram posts came in third and fourth. The fifth result was from niagaraparks.com and led to the park’s page listing their nightly illumination schedule, and what the colors used each night represent (the park has a lighting system on the falls themselves that is utilized nightly from dusk until 1:00 or 2:00 am, depending on the season). Not a single result on the first page linked to anything from a credible news outlet about this supposed rare occurrence.

One of the comments under the post reads:

Also, the original post claims a tourist from Mexico, Elena Torres, said that everyone around her “started screaming and recording.” Where are all these independent photos and videos that would have produced? So far, I haven’t seen any of those being shared on Facebook to corroborate the claims of the post.

I went further back in the postsfrom this EndTimes News account, and came across this from April 15, 2025:

There was no further verbiage about the event (with names of supposed eyewitnesses and hydrology experts as in the June 22 post). Note that the June 22 post makes no mention of this having happened on April 15, even though both of these posts came from the same Facebook page.

The only things that add up here are the indicators that this didn’t really occur.

I get it. We’re all prone to confirmation bias. We see something on social media that looks like it just possibly might be related to something we once heard about Bible prophecy, and in our zeal to support the Bible’s message of truth, we jump to share it. It seems to align with what we already believe, so we don’t bother to investigate and check to make sure it’s true and factual.

It’s one thing for a skeptical world to laugh at Christians because we believe that God the Son became human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, died on a cross, rose again, ascended to heaven, and will one day return to judge and rule the earth. But it’s another thing entirely for Christians to blindly share posts like this that turn out to have no substance, and can actually be determined to be false—or at least suspect—rather easily.

I have no problem with unbelievers laughing at me or mocking me for believing the supernatural core tenants of the Christian faith. Jesus told us the world would hate us. But I do have a major issue with just handing the world more ammunition to shoot at Christians with by sharing unvetted urban legends.

Church leaders such as pastors and teachers have an increased responsibility to make sure that the things they preach, teach, and share online are true. If I am a Sunday School teacher, deacon, or small group leader, and I share things like this that prove to be false, or even simply dubious, I undermine the message of the gospel I am trying to share with those who need to hear it. My credibility is damaged. If I cannot be trusted to fact-check things I share on social media, which are relatively easy to verify, why should people trust what I say about eternal matters?

For more reading on the topic of how Christians should be known for propagating truth and avoid spreading misinformation, check out Dr. Nijay Gupta’s ongoing series “Gospel Truth: A Christian Commitment to Honesty in a World Full of Deception.” So far, you can read part 1, part 2, and part 3. Subscribe to Nijay’s Substack to get future parts of the series in your inbox.

Another friend, Dr. Gary Shogren, has a book coming out next week on June 30, 2025, called Myths that We Christians Accept and Pass Along to Others. I have read an advance copy, and Gary does a great job not only debunking a lot of “urban legends” not too different from the Niagara Falls post I discuss here, but also teaching about how to use biblically informed critical thinking to analyze claims and discern truth from fiction.