The Kingdom Come

As many Americans and people around the world, I too tuned into the first 2012 presidential debate on October 3, 2012.

Barack Obama faced off with Mitt Romney in what is being presented as an election that may very well decide the course of a nation; not just in the short term but perhaps fundamentally.

UPDATE

I have had false starts with this project because unlike some people, I don't seem to have the ego to see it through. I feel presumptuous writing it without other people desiring me to write it. So, if you want me to write this book, let me know via the comments here or via the email form.

I have been working on a book on Preterism for some time now. I'd like to share the introduction with my readers. There is more to the book, but this is just a taste of it so far.

Roderick Edwards spent 15 years within the Full or Hyper-Preterist movement. His writings while all online were very profuse and varied on topics many Preterist writers never thought to consider; such as the validity of pastors if indeed the Chief Shepherd came in AD70.

Edwards always held a strained relationship with many of the “leaders” within the movement because of his propensity to push the theory of Hyper-preterism to its logical conclusions.

In about 2007, Edwards officially renounced Hyper-preterism and began trying to undo some of the damage he has done. This has made him an enemy not only of the Hyper-preterists, but also of many of the so-called “Partial-Preterists” whom he points to as having aided in the advancement of Hyper-preterism.

This book will give the reader a clear, and honestly critical view not only of Hyper-preterism but of Preterism in general and how it is affecting and will affect Christianity in general.

ENDORSEMENTS:

“Roderick Edwards is the most vicious critic of Full Preterismⁱ to date” – Samuel Frost; ex-Hyper-Preterist circuit speaker.

PROOF READERS WANTED -- send email via this link.

Dallas, the long running television series that began in 1978 and ended in 1991 was revived on June 13, 2012. The new series picks up with following the lives of the sons of the Ewing brothers. If you have watched the original series, the Ewings are oilmen in Texas.

The ongoing theme in the show is a tension between elder brother J.R. Ewing and younger brother Bobby Ewing. J.R. is depicted as unscrupulous and power hungry whereas Bobby is depicted as principled and moralistic. The original show was the classic struggle between "good" and "evil" but it didn't have any particular political agenda.

However, the new series is loaded with political agenda. The sons of J.R. and Bobby resume the fight between brothers but this time the son of J.R., John Ross III, and the adopted son of Bobby, Christopher are at odds; not over power in general but over pursuing oil or pursuing "alternative energy". Now, I know the makers of the new series are just trying to make the show relevant but there is so much demonstrative bogus claims for alternative energy, that the claims within the show only feed into that entire issue. For example, early on in the first episode, John Ross finds millions of barrels of oil on the family ranch, Southfork. The problem is, supposedly the matriarch of the family, "Miss Ellie Ewing" stated in her will that no one will ever drill for oil on Southfork. This starts the fight.

Arguments aren't simply disagreements, but propositions. An argument is any point that is being made. It need not be a negative or hostile point.

I recently re-read a little book by Anthony Weston called, A Rulebook for Arguments. It appears he published the first edition in 1986. I have the third edition published in 2000.

Perhaps the best free software I've found for helping to manage or organize your ebooks is an open source program called Calibre. Calibre was created by Kovid Goyal in 2006 and has ever-since been developed by a team of open source enthusiasts.

Although Calibre is a combination of the word libre, meaning freedom, thus indicating its free open-source nature, Goyal suggests it be pronounced Cali-ber.

Since it seems there is a buzz in some circles about Frank Viola's book, Pagan Christianity I thought it fitting to dig up the review I did in November 2007. At the time, I was still part of the hyperpreteristⁱ movement so I have stripped the review of all hyperpreterist content. I hope the reader finds this review more comprehensive than some of the latest offerings.

First, let me say a thank you to Kurt F. for sending me the book and for graciously desiring my thoughts on it. I appreciate it and am honored that he has sought my input.

I immediately had difficulties with the book because in the Introduction of the book, Viola presented a hypothetical family who he was clearly trying to depict as being stunted in Christian growth & merely going through the motions of “church” – and implying the fault for this lay at the feet of the “institutional church” & all of its trappings.

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.

The TV series, LOST aired its final episode in May 2010, ending the six year run. The ending revealed a sort of pantheistic (god is everything) sense, especially during the closing scenes where the cast is depicted gathered in a "church" wherein we see icons and other elements from a hodge-podge of religions. The "church" clearly wasn't a Christian church. But perhaps the most pointed image showing the ecumenical or pantheistic intent was a stained glass window with the symbols of six different religions. People have been searching this site to see if the issue of the LOST window is addressed, so here I'd like to address it.

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.

It is not secret to readers of TKC that I'm a sci-fi buff and have done reviews of movies and other TV series, but Caprica is perhaps the most controversial TV series I watch...as a Christian.

Caprica is a pre-sequel to the original series Battlestar Galactica which first aired in 1978 then a remake series was released in 2003 and ran until 2009. Caprica takes place 58 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica. But what non-sci-fi fans may find interesting is that so far into the series, Caprica could be a drama based on modern day events and characters. There isn't that "space-show" feel. There is indeed an element of advanced technology but not much more than our own. For example, one main character is Daniel Graystone which obviously is a depiction of Microsoft Tycoon Bill Gates. Otherwise the dress of most of the people reminds you of the 1940s on Earth.

It is interesting that every new generation of evangelical elites, whether it be conservative Calvinists or liberal Postmodernists seem to always go through a time of rediscovery. Christianity is supposed to be an historical religion, with continuity of foundation and purpose but so much time is expended simply rehashing the same issues that had been argued and settled often centuries before. I know some people enjoy this "journey" but to me it seems a waste of time to always be resetting to zero. Why can't we, especially as Christians simply stand firm in the foundations of our Faith? Why do people think it necessary to go through years and years of doubt, as if that is some great achievement? It is like the once obese person celebrating after achieving some milestone weight reduction while it would be better that we celebrate the person who always maintained their diet and never became obese. But such is our culture, always celebrating the overcomers of failure instead of the faithful maintainers of success.

Okay, okay. Yes, I am a LOST fan. Lost is a television series on ABC. The series started in September 2004 but I didn't become interested in it until 2009. In 2009, I spent a few months watching the previous five seasons in order. The synopsis of the series is that a plane traveling from Sydney Australia to Los Angeles crashes on a tropical island. The scenes immediately after the crash are extremely dramatic. Amazingly, many of the passengers survive. The rest of the series are about the struggles of the survivors.

Before I watched the movie, The Book of Eli (official website), I read a few one-sentence reviews/comments about it but didn't read any full reviews or synopsis.  I wanted to be as unbiased as possible.  However, the previews do make it look like a remake of Mad Max.

I'll try to review without revealing too much to spoil it.

The late 2009 big buzz in movies is a scifi action film called AVATAR.  The plot is the classic big guy against the little guy, underdog theme.  It is reminiscent of how Native Americans are portrayed as being victims of European expansionism.  An "avatar" is a character controlled by another person, much like any video game you might play -- the character you control is an avatar.  It follows your commands, but when you stop telling it what to do, it does nothing.  In the movie, scientists are controlling hybrid human-alien avatars in an attempt to gain the trust of the indigenous population of a planet called Pandora (alluding to Greek mythology of Pandora, the first woman, and the tale of a box that once opened let's out events that cannot be contained).  But there is also a military and corporate element that is attempting to mine resources from the planet, ironically from the main home site of the indigenous population.

Once you get past the not so nuanced play against the capitalistic mindset, the movie is really a remarkable feat.

Every once in a while I am asked to review an article, a book, or a CD.  I was honored to receive a request to review a yet to be released Christian music CD.  It is called "Playing in the Water" and features the gentleman who perhaps is better known as the vocalist and musician for the Internet-famous song, "Reformation Polka" -- Jeremy Fowler-Lindemulder aka "Fugli" (see interview).  I have a copy of the master, so my critiques may become moot once final production is met.  I will list the name of the song and my review of it in a few short sentences.

This is a chapter-by-chapter review of the book "The Shape of Sola Scriptura" by Keith Mathison. This review began on March 30, 2009 & is expected to end before September 2009.

The purpose for the review is to enhance Bible study by first studying how to approach the Bible. In modern Evangelical denominations, it is common to take a "private interpretation" approach where every individual gives their own private interpretation & then perhaps shares it with a larger group. Sometimes, all such interpretations are considered equally valid. This method is NOT what the Reformers had in mind when they articulated Sola Scriptura (Bible Alone). The Reformers did not intend to divorce Bible interpretation from historic Christian interpretation but merely question Papal/Church infallibility.

I graciously just received a copy of the DVD, The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise Of Dispensationalism released March 2009.  I would like to give a bit of a review of the 2 hour video put together by Nicenecouncil.com.

Obviously, the title of the DVD is a play upon the famous 1970 dispensational book by Hal Lindsey The Late Great Planet Earth.

My first impression was simply with the quality of the DVD.  Many Christian DVDs seem to be low-grade, typically by the poor lighting & single angle camera shots.  This DVD makes good use of lighting & transition between scenes.

As the video began, it accurately presented the Dispensational view & it makes the typical claims against it.

In 2004, Keith Mathison published a book by himself & five contributors. The book is called "When Shall These Things Be? - A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism". Since 2004, hyperpreterists have sought to respond to the response but as of yet the hyperpreterists have been unsuccessful in not only publishing a response but even in getting together in enough unity to write a response. At this present time, there are at least 3 separate teams by hyperpreterists that seek to publish a response. As a side note, hyperpreterist "scholar" Sam Frost has actually been a member of ALL 3 PROJECTS -- either being kicked off of one & moving to another or going to another when it seems likely they may actually publish first. Well folks, you need not wait any longer. I beat them all to it AND you don't have to buy it. IT'S FREE! Please click either the MSWord or PDF link to read my 35 page review/response of WSTTB. I hope to have brought some unique perspective to the review as:

1. I WAS a hyperpreterist for 15 years
2. I WAS on one of the projects mounting a response
3. I AM no longer a hyperpreterist


EDITED & REPUBLISHED ON April 14, 2009 -- Thanks to the unnamed editor

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LISTEN TO THE REVIEW READ TO YOU: