The Kingdom Come

As Sam Frost's unofficial nemesis I thought it fitting to address the major change going on in his theological world. As many readers may know, Frost is a dynamic "theologian" that had been a major leader within the Full or Hyper Preterist movement. I say "had been" because in 2011 Frost has recanted hyperpreterismⁱ.

First, we should define what we mean by "hyperpreterism".

As we commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. and his contribution to the human cause, I wonder if one element of the target audience of his "I have Dream" speech has not realized King's message.

King's dream was one of equality and the end of segragation, however many elements of the "black" community having been emancipated are now turned around and creating their own segragation. I ask if it is consistent with King's vision? King said his dream was "deeply rooted in the American dream". He said,

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." -- source: http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html

Yet today we have "Black Miss America", "Black Expo", "Negro College Fund", "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People", "Affirmative Action" and much more segragationist organizations and mindsets. How do any of these realize King's dream? Indeed, they seem completely contradictory to the idea that people are to be judged on the "content of their character" rather than on the color of their skin.

We are told that the human conscience is the internal governor that helps us determine between right and wrong; it is the thing that keeps us from doing unspeakable evil, it is the thing that causes us to feel guilt and remorse. And we are told some people seem to have no conscience. They can do those unspeakable things without blinking an eye. They are pure evil.

The Bible first speaks of the human conscience like this:

"For God knows that when you eat from it [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." -- Gen 3:5

The conscience is both the "opening of eyes" and the "knowledge of good and evil".

Animals operate more instinctively rather than with a conscience, whereas humans seem to innately know what is right and wrong without a rule or law to tell them so.

Every year around Christmas especially, the "charities" are out in force seeking our donations. But none is more prolific than the ones that tell us about some poor child in some unnamed country without safe drinking water or schooling. We are told for just pennies a day we can change the lives of these children.

Next comes the very sad faces of these children and usually some phrase about "helping or not helping is our choice". Like most everyone, I feel for these situations. The spot does pull at my heartstrings. I have even sent in money before. But something struck me the other day.

We Protestant Christians, and even outright heretics often appeal to Martin Luther as our role model for rebellion. What I mean by this is that we justify our challenges to "traditional" Christianity (however we might define that) by claiming we are merely doing as Martin Luther had done in defying the Roman Catholic Church.

Further, you may hear Protestants and especially heretics disdain the "councils and the creeds". They will say with pride; "We have no creed but Christ" or "We believe only what the Scriptures say" as if there is no interpretation required.

I thought it would be interesting to see then what Martin Luther thought of the councils. What follows is 10 points Luther makes about the councils in his work titled; On the Councils and the Church. This work was written about 7 years before Luther died, so it is after he had time to develop his understanding of theological ramifications.

History in general is an often manipulated tool since most of us find it boring we easily believe the popular portrayal. For example, the so-called "Dark-Ages" was a period we think of as...well..."dark" or not too enLIGHTened. We think of superstitious religious beliefs holding back advancement in the arts and sciences. Much of this is blamed on Christianity.

To hear the popular portrayal, Christianity held back advancements by suppressing intellectual pursuit. But is this the real story?

The presents have been exchanged, office Christmas parties with all the focus on drinking alcohol have come and gone. Now that Christmas is over I'd like us to assess in what it was we participated? Sure, there is often mention of the "reason for the season", Jesus' birth -- whether we believe it actually happened on December 25th or not. We can debate about the pagan origins all we want; of the Roman Winter Solstice and Saturnalia but many well meaning Christians world wide still participate.

Ron Clancy, dedicated researcher and author shares his over 30 years of research into classic Christmas carols.  This fascinating 30 minute podcast reveals the interesting history of some of our best loved Christmas tunes.  Mr. Clancy has authored and compiled 4 collections with fully period art illustrated books and CD box collections perfect for anyone who loves history, Christmas music or art.  After listening to the podcast, take a look at Mr. Clancy's website: christmasclassics.com where you can learn more or purchase these fabulous collections for yourself or a loved one to enjoy.  Also check out the many YouTube videos Mr. Clancy has produced on the history of your favorite Christmas carol.

3 Ways to Listen:

Click on the following link to have it play on your computer's player

http://thekingdomcome.com/kingdomcommentaries/christmassong_origins.mp3

Right click the following link and SAVEAS to download to your computer or ipod.

http://thekingdomcome.com/kingdomcommentaries/christmassong_origins.mp3

Listen to it streamed on this website (good for people with slow connections)

http://thekingdomcome.com/content/kingdom_commentaries

Whether you are merely dating, engaged to be married, newlywed, or have been married for a few years; there is something very, very important you need to know. As a man and woman become more and more involved, they become one; A UNIT (as in united or unity). Please take this especially to heart, I'm not just saying this out of hand. A marriage is a commitment to be ONE. The whole world could fail you, turn its back on you, or even betray you but if you and your spouse commit to be ONE, you can weather these storms. The Bible says it this way:

"The man [Adam] said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." -- Gen 2:23-24

Woman comes from a combining of the words "womb" and "man". Of course only Eve came from the "womb" of Adam but the pattern of man and woman coming together again as ONE is still the pattern God intends.

But unless someone think this is somehow a man-sided relationship, let's look at another verse.

Hyperpreterism (sometimes called Full Preterismⁱ) is a theological perspective and movement that is considered to have began in the 1970s after the rogue "church of Christ" minister named Max King published a series of books advocating the view. Basically, the view is a combination of the following claims or points:

1. Jesus came back once in for all in the first-century (AD70).
2. The collective resurrection of believers occurred in the first-century.
3. The judgment of the wicked and righteous occurred in the first-century.
4. There will be no end of sin or culmination of God's plan for the earth.

I had previously done a podcast with a Full-Hyperpreterist in June 2010, called "The Consistent Conclusions of Full/Hyperpreterism where I discussed with a hyperpreterist that goes by the name "Rivers of Eden" (ROE), the consistent conclusions of the hyperpreterist view, which is that God gathered all Elect and is thus effectively done with humanity and earth. Although I overall disagree with hyperpreterism, I agree that its consistent conclusion is that if God's plan was to gather the Elect AND we assume that happened in AD70, then there is no more to the story.

We often hear preachers or people in general equating their Christian Faith as a "journey". It sounds accurate enough, since we are indeed being continuously conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). But how I often hear it is that our faith is unfinished or "unsettled". We have to be careful how we phrase this. There is certainly our individual faith, but there is also the Christian Faith. The Christian Faith is NOT unsettled.

Rush Limbaugh got into a little hot water with political liberals when he said: "I hope Obama fails" (source) So then it should be no surprise that I get into trouble with theological liberals when I make it clear that I hope the heresy of hyperpreterism and those who promote it fail. (source) The liberal religionist that got upset was a man named Phil Naessens. I then pointed out how unchristian it was to NOT desire the failure for those things and people who oppose God, this was in response to Naessens comment:

"You don't want to root against anyone. Especially if you're a Christian. You don't want to root for others to fail. Do you ever see people that have done that. Just rooted for people to fail?" -- Phil Naessens, a liberal religionist complaining that I desire the failure of hyperpreterism and those who promote it. -- listen to the 40 second audio clip of Naessens saying it

This week in our group Bible study we looked at slavery and servitude in the Bible. The study began with this quote by the 19th century theologian, C.H. Spurgeon:

"I do from my inmost soul detest slavery anywhere and everywhere, and although I commune at the Lord’s table with men of all creeds, yet with a slave-holder I have no fellowship of any kind or sort. I would as soon think of receiving a murderer into my church…as a man-stealer." -- A New Biography by Arnold Dallimore page 96

The position seems clear. We then opened the Bible.

Does humanity have a "sense" or an innate awareness of God? Does humanity have within it a "seed of religiosity" and if so why? This has been the historic starting point of Christianity. Christianity has advocated that humanity does indeed have an innate awareness of God based on Romans 1:20

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse"

This is an extremely important point before we even get to the discussion of the Bible. So many people treat the Bible as if it is a book of logical axioms that can be used like some sort of sectional, sub-paragraphed legal document. There are things God says and does in the Bible that SEEM contradictory but in reality are not. (Examples: Commanding humans to keep the commandments, knowing full well no human had the ability to do so, or the entire Job account)

So with the Lost series all wrapped up, we viewers of the non-predictable have moved over to a new TV series called The Event on NBC. I really do think that is why some of us are drawn to weird shows like this; so many shows are predictable. We want to be entertained and carried along by the story, not figure it out within the first 5 minutes.

The Event is clearly made in the same style as Lost; it even has the mysterious "Others" but in this case the "Others" are a group of aliens that crash landed on Earth in 1944. The U.S. government had been covering up the find, even to the various presidents that have come and gone, but now the current president (no, not Obama)Elias Martinez played by Blair Underwood has full knowledge of The Event that happened in 1944.

What does it mean to practice Christian Parenting? Does it mean to be all preachy to your children? Does it mean to act like you're super-moral around your children? Does it mean to act lovey-dovey all the time?

There are at least three things being Christian should be reflective in our life practices, whether it is parenting or interacting with people in general; Love, Honesty and Order.

Sunday October 31 is Reformation Sunday. This is the day that traditionally the German monk, Martin Luther nailed his 95 points of argumentation on a church door. This act is considered the spark of the Protestant Reformation, even though the Reformation was in the works for hundreds of years.

The video below is an historically accurate (and a bit humorous) summary of what happened on that day in 1517. For a line by line explanation, click this link. Also enjoy these other videos of churches and groups who have reproduced this witty song since first hearing it (#1, #2, #3, #4 -- let me know if your group produces a video or audio).

I just wanted to welcome visitors who have come to this site from the PreteristBlog site. PreteristBlog USED TO BE an apologetics blog against the heresy of hyperpreterism. Hyperpreterism is the anti-Christian belief that at least 1 of 4 things happened:

1. Jesus came back once and for all in AD70.
2. The resurrection of the believers happened in the 1st-century
3. The judgment of the wicked and righteous happened in the 1st-century
4. There will be no end of sin nor culmination of God's plan for humanity

While PreteristBlog USED TO fight against hyperpreterism, it has since about 2008 been more of a narcissistic outpost where the blog owner talks more about her divorce issues and dying pets and how she thinks they will be resurrected with her in heaven.

The folks at PreteristBlog have this ephemeral hatred of me because I would not support their constant compromise with hyperpreterism. C.H. Spurgeon once said:

Complicity with error will take from the best of men the power to enter any successful protest against it.

That is what has happened to PreteristBlog. The day they started following the lead of Kenneth Talbot, the man responsible for not only encouraging hyperpreteristⁱ leader Sam Frost, but actually giving Frost the job of editing student materials at Talbot's supposed "Christian" seminary. From that day onward, PreteristBlog has been COMPLICIT WITH ERROR and has been unable to enter into any successful protest against it.

Polygamy as this weeks Bible study offered a definition as "the practice or condition of having more than one spouse, esp. wife, at one time". While no one in the study desires to practice polygamy, the Bible DOES relate many instances of polygamy. As Christians, we can't just summarily say the practice is wrong without interacting with the fact it was practiced in the Bible.

To that end, the lesson leader presented a number of instances in the OT and the NT where he believes an example of polygamy exists. Those texts are listed below.

As the 2010 elections near, there is concern if the blatant socialism of Obama and the Democrats can be stopped and reversed.

As Christians, what is our role? Of course Christians aren't looking for a political answer, but shouldn't Christians be concerned when a politic environment is created where fellow humans suffer more than need be? (such as the first 2 years of Obama's socialistic dream)

I saw an interesting trailer for a movie called "I WANT YOUR MONEY"

Yes, that is a strange combination for a topic but you'll see it ties together. On Friday October 8th, 2010 I had the Lasik (laser) eye surgery procedure done to correct my vision. I've only worn glasses for about 10 years but my eyes had reached a point where they weren't getting any worse and I decided now was the time to do this procedure and gain independence from glasses.

This question has been hounding me more and more in my life as I experience and see real injustices against myself, my friends and others. Is what's right merely subjective? It reminds me of the movie, The Crucible where character John Proctor (and his entire town) experienced the question of what is "legal" versus what is right. Granted, the original screenplay was addressing the so-called "McCarthyism" of the 1940s-50s, and ironically enough what Joseph McCarthy feared would happen to America in the 1940s-50s is actually subtly and insidiously happening today with all the political and societal socialism that is creeping into America. However, back to the movie.

I routinely receive email questions which I normally answer privately but on Sept 30, 2010 I received a question that was so sincerely asked that I wanted to answer it publicly. The text of the email is as follows:

"I am trying to sort out what the bible teaches about the return of Jesus, et cetera.

If a person were to read the Bible from Genesis forward, one thing that they would notice is that God prescribed the death of animals and the use of their blood in religious ceremonies. The question is why?

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN ANIMALS

Perhaps the first blood sacrifice mentioned in the Bible is found in Gen 3:21 wherein we see God making garments out of animal skins to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness. It is assumed God killed the animal(s) He used, rather than simply making skins.

By the time we reach Gen 4:4, it seems that Adam's family was killing animals, both for food and as an offering to God. There is no previous mention of God requiring or desiring sacrificial animal offerings. It appears Abel offered the "fat of his firstborn" without any prompting by God.

In Gen 4:10-11 we see human blood as significant and of worth; the spilling of it a negative act.

In Gen 7:2-3,8-9 we see the first mention of "clean" and "unclean" animals. (see Lev 11:1-47 and Deut 14:1-21 for full list) This idea of clean and unclean animals plays a major role in what could be or not be eaten but also sacrificed to God and would act as a "type" or symbol of the ultimate sacrifice, Christ Himself. So, there appears to either be more detailed information omitted that leads up to the understanding in Gen 7 as to what is a clean and unclean animal, since it appears Noah already knew the difference, or Gen 7 is retroactively appealing to Lev 11:1-47/Deut 14:1-21 and the Herbrew/Jewish general knowledge of the "kosher" laws. Either way, it is important to understand the concept of clean and unclean animals.

Our group continued last week's study in Hebrews; this week finishing Heb 10-14. In Heb 11:1-2 we discussed how the text speaks of how the Jews were waiting for the Messiah and now that Jesus had come, those things commended to the "ancients" were seeing their fruition.

Next, as we read verse-by-verse, we came to Heb 12:18-21 where there was discussion about the contrast between how the Hebrews/Jews were unable to come unto the mountain when Moses went up to receive the 10 commandments, but that when people come to the NT, new covenant they are not coming near that dreadful mountain but rather to something better.