The Kingdom Come

Okay, time again for a little catching up with blogging. Blogging is typically just a person's rambling about their everyday life. So here I go.

I've been working over at my dad's house. His backyard is small and completely shaded. This causes the grass not to grow very well so I am putting in a cobble-stone "plaza" with surrounding shade-flower beds. He has a little bit of sun areas; one is where he has a little pond.

This series of articles will trace when and how Christianity was brought to the various nations and countries of the world. Each link will also contain links to statistical information for the nation. The nation name below will become an active link when that country's Christian history has been added.

If you have information you would like to share or if there are corrections you would like considered, please submit this information via this link: contact.

Introduction:

After we become Christians, not only do we often feel the urge to share the "unexplainable joy" (1 Pet 1:8) with others, we are actually commanded to share the Gospel [evangelize] (2 Cor 5:18-20, Rom 1:16, Philippians 1:7,17, 1 Peter 3:15).

Of course the Bible is where God's Nature and Plan is revealed but we would limit the potential if we didn't realize and acknowledge something God has done in humanity.

Whether you want to give a Bible to a student in seminary, someone who is graduating from seminary, a missionary about to go on his or her first mission, or perhaps as a gift to a retiring pastor, or even something for the book lover you know; the Apostolic Bible Polyglot is the Bible that will be sure to impress.

This Bible is a Greek Interlinear, or more accurately it is a gloss that will allow the reader to see immediately, the Greek source word above the English text. Since this Bible is based on the Septuagint for both the Old and New Testament, there is a cohesiveness and consistency which makes it an excellent Bible for word studies and lexical studies.

Below is a sample of a page:

As you can see the Bible not only has the Greek and English, but the numbers above the Greek are keyed to the AB-Strong's numbering system. This system has assigned a unique number to every word in the Bible so that the reader can identify the specific word and its root in the Lexicon.

In this week's Bible study we looked into God's Providence, which we concluded was distinguished from His Sovereignty and His Will in this way;

• God's Sovereignty = His nature.
• God's Providence = His action.
• God's Will = How or why He acts.

Those distinctions may not be exact, but they helped the group to make a distinction of what simply looks like we're saying God's control of all things.

I had the honor to attend a relative's high school graduation. It was extra special since this relative is graduating from the same high school from which my dad graduated, making them the first grandchild to graduate from the same school from which he did.

There was the expected excitement of new lives about to commence into adulthood. But I was puzzled at the Commencement Speech by some local dignitary which seemed more of a political statement than an encouragement to these young adults. Why must these people always talk about left-wing agendas? In this case, this person spoke about protecting the earth and the "green" agenda.

The more and more I thought about the various speeches offered by the dignitaries, I noticed a theme. They were all advocating that these graduates CHANGE the world.

An eschatologically packed chapter of the Bible is 2 Thessalonians 2, full of references of the "coming" of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like to approach the text first by seeing how many of the esteemed theologians [1] of the past have interpreted the text. We'll also attempt to exegetically unpack the text verse by verse as we go. First, let me post the entire text below, utilizing the New King James version. We'll note the significant variances between the more popular English translations; then citing the original Greek variances as needed, as we unpack the text.

Among the many topics the Reformer, Martin Luther addressed was the topic of marriage. Luther, as you know came out of a culture where Papalism said that priests should remain celibate. Eventually, Luther himself did get married. I want to take some time to review a treatise by Luther titled, The Estate of Marriage.

Luther discusses who should marry and whom to marry, per the Bible and further Luther discusses whom should be celibate and why. I will review his three-part treatment in even smaller segments. Please refer to this link to see Luther's actual treatise as translated into English by Walther I. Brandt.

The issue of God's sovereignty (complete control) and man's responsibility has been a major issue in theology. How do these two points interact? How can God be completely in control and yet man is responsible for the things he does and doesn't do?

This summary study brings forth at least some of the opposing proof-texts. This is part of a weekly Bible study. This specific study was put together and presented by another man in the study.

Christianity has always had a positive perspective. A perspective of continual, eventual, perpetual victory, even when it appears it is being defeated (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Romans 8:36-38). Eventually, this perspective came to be called postmillennialism. Postmillennialism is simply the perspective that Christianity will continue to dominate the world. It was a postmillennial view that was behind the triumphantism of the original settlers of the United States of America. They believed that the kingdom was advancing even to the unknown parts of the world.

The 3 minute video below [see April 28, 2010 video] represents a good summary of postmillennial Christianity in opposition to what we might call "Left-Behindism" found mainly in premillennial dispensationalism.

[UPDATE: Video no longer active -- sorry]

Unfortunately, after the American Civil War and both World Wars, much of the Postmillennial perspective has given way to the defeatist theology of "Left Behindism". The view most prevalent among at least American Christians is the idea that we are on a sinking ship.

--shhhh, I can't tell you. Go see it for yourself http://whatisthe99.com

Ning has been a popular, FREE website platform that allows for building a social site. Many people have used Ning to build their own little personal network of "friends" (or "followers", depending how you look at it). But now there is a problem. Ning is discontinuing the FREE version (ref).

So, what will happen to all these Ning sites where the administrators have built up a following?

I have sometimes been ridiculed for linking to Wikipedia or using it for reference. Wikipedia, for those who may not know is an online, open-source encyclopedia. Open-source in this case means that anyone can edit the entries. And it is because it is open-source, that people sometimes ridicule me for using it, since the implication is that the information is supposedly not professionally established and may be unreliable.

However, to me Wikipedia's strong point is exactly because its entries can be challenged, by anyone. Think of the "professional" media for example. They often put out information which we have little ability to challenge, let alone verify. The same can be said of school text books. Look at any public school text book on say history or science and you'll see hypothetical concepts that are presented to children as if they are fact.

We often ask ourselves what God wants us to do in any given situation. Some of these situations are obviously not personally specified in the Bible. What job does He want us to choose? Who does He want us to marry? And so on.

How can we know the "will of God" for our lives? Many of us have heard a person claim they are doing something because it is the "will of God", only to later see them doing something different.

First the "will of God" is not as simple as what God wants and doesn't want. Just like the human will, the will of God is more complex than simply wanting something, otherwise; God being God, anything He wanted would happen, right?

Okay, you've heard sermons where the speaker takes a bit of liberty in applying a text to you personally, even ignoring the actual context of the passage. But this Personal Promise Bible version actually will replace pronouns like you, we, my, and us with your own name. Ummm, I don't think this is what the phrase "the Bible is written not to you but for you" means.

I would feel rather narcissistic having this Bible version, not to mention how it distorts context. I am however curious if whatever program they use to convert the pronouns has been tweaked enough to watch out for pronouns associated with Satan and Judas so that your name won't be inserted there.

This is interesting because it claims:

"Pirate Christian Radio is an online radio station that is free from the scurvy plagues of pop-psychology, goofy fads, self-help, pietism, purpose-drivenism, the prosperity heresy, contemplative mysticism, seeker-sensitivism, liberalism, relevantism, Emergent nonsense, and the sissy girly Oprah-fied religiosity that is being passed off as "Biblical Christianity"

It's also interesting because it has a mailing address of Fishers Indiana, about 25 miles from me.

I'm going to check it out simply for the quote above. Listen to it below.

The following fanciful scenario begins thousands of years ago when man was living in caves and was writing on walls. One day Oreg the cave artist came rushing into his cave and said to Elag his wife, “Oh, no, guess what some Egyptian did, he invented papyrus, a material to write upon, and it’s portable; now no one will come by and see my picture writing!” “Elag, do you know what this means...were finished!”

A thousand years later we see Amenotep the papyrus maker in Egypt complaining to his wife Cleo, “This papyrus makers union strike is going to ruin us. There are people in Europe who have developed a smoother writing material called ‘parchment’...it’s going to put us out of business!”

Something I wrote -- Is it poetry? Could it be song lyrics?

I'll run thru fire, climb o'er mountains, swim thru seas for thee.
Desperation, Dedication, Adulation

I'll ring round earth, fly the sky, zoom to the moon for you.
Contemplation, Adoration, Asphyxiation

I'll be born anew, suffer sacrifice, die and die for thy.
Incantation, Celebration, Termination

I'll run thru fire, climb o'er mountains, swim thru seas for thee.
Desperation, Dedication, Adulation

The entry in the online dictionary, dictionary.com defines the word axiom as:

"1.a self-evident truth that requires no proof.
2.a universally accepted principle or rule.
3.Logic, Mathematics. a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it." -- source

Clarkianism in summary, is the teaching by theologian Gordon Clark (1902-1985) that the presupposition or starting point of Christian theology is the axiom:

"The Bible is the Word of God written"

-- Quo Vadis, Evangelicalism?: Perspectives on the Past, Direction for the Future

This specific reference to Clark's axiom is a quote of an address he gave while president of the Evangelical Theological Society. The fuller axiom and its conclusions are, "The Bible is the Word of God written. Therefore the conclusion is the Bible is inerrant. God cannot lie."

Now, the reason this axiom is actually irrelevant is because it doesn't really start in the correct place. Let us examine.

As a Reformed Christian, the subject of Sola Scriptura or Bible alone is a very important part of my approach to Christianity. But it is not so much "my" approach I want to understand, as I'm not very keen on developing a radical individualized theology. I am pursuing a course that will bring my faith more in line with the "faith once and for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3). Unfortunately, I have had Roman Catholics (RC) and Anabaptistic Christians alike tell me that if I want that kind of faith, I'll have to become a Roman Catholic. I disagree.

The topic of Sola Scriptura is prescient because so many times, we non-Roman Catholics seem to use that phrase but instead behave like it is "Sola private interpretation" and to heck with the faith passed down via the apostles (2 Thes 2:15) -- as if the Church was so corrupted within a few centuries, that it was not revived again until the Reformation. This is wrong thinking in that it ultimately undermines the continuity of Christianity and saws off the very branch we claim to sit on.

In this regard, I have had some interactions with Joe Heschmeyer, a Roman Catholic Christian and law student at Georgetown University Law Center.

The issue of what the Bible means by the phrase "all men" [or all people] has been an issue that has been of much controversy in the Church. Typically, the issue is approached in 3 different ways:

1. Universalistic - All men on the planet will be saved.
2. Arminian - All men are offered salvation but only those who choose via freewill will obtain it.
3. Calvinistⁱ - All men must be read in context, where sometimes it speaks of all men on the planet and sometimes it speaks only of "all men" within a specific group.

We have all heard the supposed example of the bitter rivals, George Whitefield and John Wesley from whom we are supposed to consider how Christians should disagree yet remain friendly. But have you heard of Augustus Toplady? Toplady was a contemporary of George Whitefield, John Gill, and William Romaine. At age 15, Toplady converted via the preaching of an Arminian preacher but by the time Toplady was 18 and had read several Calvinistic works, he came to see Arminianism as an incorrect view.

While Whitefield constantly publicly refused to engage Wesely, even though Wesley had turned Whitefield's Calvinst ministry into an Arminian ministry, Toplady took Wesley head on. Toplady first published a work titled, The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted which upset Wesley. This 1769 work was actually a translation of the 1562 work which in great part helped Toplady become a Calvinist. (Confession of the Christian Religion).

No one said being a Christian was going to be one giant love-fest where everything is always cheery. Most of us Christians don't look or act anything like Ned Flanders from the Simpson's cartoon. Flanders seems to be the ideal Christian most non-Christians envision. It would certainly be very difficult to live up to that fictional character. Even Jesus drove out the money-changers with a whip in hand. Even Paul withstood Peter to the face and parted ways with John Mark.

First, be very, very careful. If you googled how to improve your computer or make it faster, you probably got many pages of suggestions and many of them are scams. Some even will put viruses or spyware on your computer.

After many years of trying different programs to improve my computer's performance, I have found a few things that really help. From time to time, I have been asked by friends for advice on how to improve their computers. Well, I've decided to put all of that advice into one article.

The obvious response to the question of Why we are Christians and other people are not is because we chose to be Christians.

Perhaps some people might answer the question by saying we are Christians because we follow Christian precepts and other people, for whatever reason do not.

I'd like to get into what the Bible says about why some people are Christians and others are not.

1. John 10:3-4, John 10:27 (Ps 95:6-7) Sheep hear voice
2. Mt 13:10-17 Why not make it plain?
3. John 6:57-66 Only whom the Father grants will believe