Who's Ready?

Now as to the times and epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety! then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (I Thess. 5:1-3)

We just finished this passage on Tue night. Here are some thoughts and questions that I would like to have considered:

There are some in our Christian community who believe that this passage will be literally fulfilled. Further, there are those of us who actually believe that we are living in the days where we might be participants in just such a scenario. If Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is proclaiming that the world community is in no way ready for this moment, then it might be productive to ask just who is. What do you think?

Let’s divide the world community into several parts. Do you think that the non-believing community is ready? By implication, they are the very ones who are claiming “peace and safety”. No, they certainly don’t appear to be ready? Well, how about the man-made Church? It seems to me that the overwhelming majority of those who make up this community are seeking after the very same sentiment. “Let’s heal the world in the name of Christ” they might be saying. “Peace and safety” through cooperation with the various religions of the world is certainly a noble goal is it not? No, I don’t think that that huge two- billion- strong community is ready for the “sudden destruction” looming ahead. All right, how about the true Church, namely, the remnant? Now this becomes problematic. Surely the remnant is seeing handwriting upon a wall, are they not? The problem here, it seems to me, is that many of us are seeing but we still have hope that somehow we, through prayer, or whatever, are going to bring about some kind of healing to this world. But that is not what Paul is saying, is it? So who’s left (we’ll talk about national Israel at some later time)?

But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief…(I Thess. 5:4) Are you one of these brethren? If you are, I’m suggesting that you are a minority even in the remnant community of Christ. Do you believe that we are approaching the very day of the Lord? If so, then we are in the nascent stages of birth pangs are we not? If we exegete this passage, how do we get away from that sobering conclusion? Eventually the entire community of remnant believers will see since we are not in darkness that the day should overwhelm us. Until then, those of us who consider ourselves watchmen need to be warning our believing community, including those who are in that man-made church that there is a freight train coming - no?

TAFTCom… beloved ones; TAFTCom…

Caroline at the JPost

OK - this time I really, really, really mean it. I am going to post more than once every seven years, or so, from this very second on. I’m not exactly sure what it was that I just said and I will probably fail again, but I really, really do mean it.

What got me going again was this article in the Jerusalem Post written by a no-nonsense girl by the name of Caroline Glick. To those of you who know of her, you love her, or you hate her. Personally, I love her. She says it like it is, and, without apologies; a Golda Meir in the making. This particular article displays just one more evidence of an exercise in international appeasement that is being lived out by a snake-bit Western society. Sadly, this exercise never seems to be resisted by our world community. We made a feeble attempt to proactively resist appeasement in Iraq and the entire world, including many in the church (?), rose up in a massive collective whine. The whine, seemingly won the day. In the comments section, I found this response to be more than plausible:

Sadly, the West has virtually surrendered to the Jihadists and abandoned Israel already. Next, the right wing backlash will increase as seen now in Austria. This will be good for slowing the flow of radical Islam to Europe (but not good enough to stop it), but will have the unwanted effect of increased anti-semitism in Europe. We have been abandoned by the US who is broke and will not be able to do anything except what its creditors (Chine/Russia/Japan) demand of it. Get ready for bad times ahead. (Eli - #24)

If you want to read of the particulars on how Italy surrendered to the Jihadist murderers - go to the article. It’s not so much that I wanted to surface just one more surrender that I generated this article, however, but rather that I wanted to introduce those of you who did not know of just such a beast as Caroline Glick to her ongoing comments on current events. If you are interested in such subject matter, it would be profitable to put the Jerusalem Post on your Favorite Places.

See you soon - I hope.

With Minimum Comment

Here are some thoughts from Marvin Rosenthal:

As I began this letter to you, I wanted to use a word or phrase to describe our world at this hour of history.

I thought of words like "critical," "explosive," "uncertain," "confused," and "wicked." I thought of phrases like "time bomb," "completely unprepared for what is coming," and "all-out war with God."

In the final analysis, I could not choose just one word or phrase. Tragically, they are all true.

This is a critical, explosive, uncertain, confused, and wicked hour of history. The world is like a time bomb ready to explode. Most people are completely unprepared for what is coming, totally ignorant of what they will soon confront, and unaware of the fact that they are opposing the God who created them and His Son who died to save them.

Clear and compelling specific and international events of a prophetic nature are converging in our generation. They point toward the approaching end of this age. How much time remains? I do not know.

As I write these words, I could be depressed and feel like a man with an old-fashioned signboard hung over his shoulders which reads, "The end of the world is coming!" Fortunately, I am delivered from that fatalistic mindset because I have absolute assurance of the ultimate, total victory through the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming.

The world does not know where we are or what the answers are to the pressing problems we face. You will not get answers from the media, academia, or the government. And tragically, much of the co-called church is liberal, lost, and can provide no help. They, themselves, are like a blind man in a dark room, looking for a black cat that is not there.

The world is burning, and much of the Church is fiddling. There is a grave urgency at this hour, and few are picking up on it.

So, there's at least two of us - amazing! I received this form letter from Marvin Rosenthal yesterday (9/19). He continues in the letter to address replacement theology which we will address many times in the future, but for now let's have the above speak for itself.

The ministry is Zion's Hope; the magazine is Zion's Fire. If you do not subscribe to this magazine, I strongly suggest that you do. This man is intellectually honest; his logic is reasonable, and his exegesis is penetrating.

The bold was added by me.

Back to Stanley

Obviously, posting on this site has not been my highest priority for awhile. This may change. As I have alluded to before, we are going to begin a men’s Bible study that will be pursuing knowledge of current world events as they pertain to the unfolding of the conditions leading up to the return of Christ. Actually, we began last Tue night (9/2). I’m thinking of wedding the ruminations arising from these meetings with this site. So, let us ruminate together.

Now, one of the motivations for starting this class was a growing perception of apostasy resident within the “church”, i.e. the man-made edifice. This, of course, forces me to return to previous thoughts and posts regarding the Emergent Church. I had started reading Stanley J. Grenz’s A Primer on Postmodernism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) a few months ago, put it down, placing it at the bottom of the book-pile, but have now resurfaced it, giving it new life. So, what’s so pertinent about postmodernism? Well, this seems to be the substance that is numbing the Christian early- warning- system concerning waywardness from the absolute claims of Scripture. If you are emergent, you are postmodern; if you are emergent, you tend to disbelieve Scripture as authoritative in an absolute sense. Here is part of Dr. Grenz’s apologetic concerning the matter:

Postmodern holism entails an integration of all the dimensions of personal life…Wholeness also entails a consciousness of the indelible and delicate connection to what lies beyond ourselves, in which our personal existence is embedded and from which it is nurtured. This wider realm includes “nature” (the ecosystem), of course. But in addition it involves the community of humans in which we participate. Postmoderns are keenly conscious of the importance of community, of the social dimension of existence. And the postmodern conception of wholeness also extends to the religious or spiritual aspect of life. Indeed, postmoderns affirm that personal existence may transpire within the context of a divine reality.

The conviction that each person is embedded in a particular human community leads to a corporate understanding of truth. Postmoderns believe that not only our specific beliefs but also our understanding of truth itself is rooted in the community in which we participate. They reject…timeless truth in favor of searching out truth as the expression of a specific community. They believe that truth consists in the ground rules that facilitate personal well-being in community and the well-being of the community as a whole. (p. 14 – bold added)

Are you a Christian moving towards a postmodern ethos? If so, then please consider some thoughts. To whatever degree that Scripture makes claims to being the absolute expression of God’s revelations to us, then, to that degree, it is not subject to the community’s affirmation. Is “Truth” embedded within Scripture, or does the “community” impart “truth” into Scripture as that community so perceives truth to be manifested. Is this not eisegesis at its worst? You are losing the plumb-line, are you not?

Further, one must define who this “divine reality” is, it seems to me, if one is to keep any sense of sobriety and import concerning this subject matter. Scripture reveals this “divine reality” as the very God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Himself. He makes absolute claims concerning Himself, and He demands obedience to His absolutist claims - or not! This God is not simply a therapeutic god wanting us to have a happy “community”, but rather, He is the Despot (despotes, - 2 Peter 2:1) of our lives, or He is not!

Well, this could go on and on (and of course it will). Let’s break here and give ourselves opportunity to reflect seriously what awaits the Christian community. You are welcome to respond.

Restraint in Lebanon

Remember the conflict that took place in Lebanon awhile back between the Israeli IDF and the forces of Hizbullah? Israel had invaded southern Lebanon in an effort to stop the terrorist organization from constantly firing rockets into the neighboring Israeli towns and subsequently killing civilians, damaging buildings and etc. After inflicting some damage, the IDF pulled back into Israeli territory leaving Hizbullah another opportunity to recover and grow strong again. Of course Israel pulled back! This is what the international community demands that it do - every time! BTW, the rockets are still coming.

So, it was with interest that I read a JPost article that addressed the possibility of future penetration into Lebanese territory whenever it was decided that Hizbullah had, once again, gone too far. The article was entitled We exercised restraint in Lebanon war.
The article is dated Aug. 19th. Here are some quotes:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent a stern warning to Beirut on Tuesday, pledging that Israel would not restrain itself if Lebanon sanctioned a new Hizbullah offensive. “ In the Second Lebanon War we had much greater means and capabilities, which we avoided using since [during that war] we fought against a terror organization and not a country,” Olmert said. “In this context, if Lebanon, turns into a Hizbullah state, we won’t restrain our response.”

The article goes on to state, in so many terms, that, yes indeed, the Lebanese parliament has already given Hizbullah official status as part of the Lebanese state. The meaning is plain and not at all concealed. Olmert is saying that Israel will no longer consider Hizbullah as merely a terrorist organization, but rather, in the future, it will be considered as an integral part of the Lebanese state, and thus, any retaliation that would be generated toward terrorist activities that are being perpetrated against Israel will be directed against the government and territory of Lebanon itself. This is potentially explosive, and it could be biblical in its proportions!

Does Olmert have it in him to so-respond? It doesn’t matter. This is a thought process that is obviously subject-matter to many people who are high up in the Israeli society. Would Netanyahu so-respond? Would anyone respond this way if conditions get any more bizarre in the Middle East? One of these days the answer will be yes and then, it will happen. What, then, will be Russia’s response? They are politically in bed with Syria and Iran - the sponsors of Hizbullah.

Honestly, do you believe that anybody can stop this insanity? I don’t think so. As Christians, however, we need to be a little bit more intense with our walk, don’t you think? Let the dead bury their dead. Let us get more intense in our serving. We can start by getting back to those passages in Ezek. 36 thru 39.

China - Wow!

I watched most of the opening ceremonies at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing last night. Did you? Wow! What a display of technology, pomp, and human achievement! Is there anything that Mankind cannot do? It seems as though only a lack of monetary resources can prevent us from doing anything that we want. One wonders what form the 21st century Tower of Babel will soon take.

Two thoughts immediately came to my mind last night. The first was the thought of just how the world is constantly being inoculated against the reality of evil in our collective society. How many more proclamations of peace and human reconciliation will be uttered forth every two years (summer and winter games) before we understand that it isn’t going to happen? It must have been a little embarrassing to the commentators when they were forced to recognize the wonderful peace efforts of the Russian army currently unfolding in the contiguous neighboring country of Georgia. When a country paraded before the cameras, one wondered whether they were forced to admit to previous mass-murders and genocide by that same country, or whether they wanted to say even more but were prevented by the enormity of the moment.

The second thought followed from the above observations. My thoughts sent me back to 1984 when the Winter Games were being held in Sarajevo. Same thing; different time. To those of you who recall those games, you may remember how the same utterances of peace, unity and human interaction were being proclaimed. How we marveled and celebrated the interaction of the athletes from different countries. The barriers were down; we simply needed to follow the liberating affections of those athletes. We will follow their examples and supersede the limitations and barriers that political entities set up to cause division. Just look at these athletes and the good will of the countries being represented. We can reason with each other. We can reason with Islam, Jihadism, Russian expansionism, racists, international intrigue, nationalism, anti-Semitism, etc. etc.
Why just look at the athletes. Peace is so simple.

Now why did my mind go to Sarajevo? Never has it been otherwise. At every Olympic event the same platitudes of peace and human cooperation are uttered. Again, why Sarajevo? Well, for those of you who do recall those games, you may also recall that within one decade of those same games, there was invented a term known as “ethnic cleansing”. Mass murder and butchery smothered that town and the surrounding areas. So, if peace is so simple, why isn't it happening?

Here’s a thought: The two most populated countries in the world are China and India. Are you aware that both are growing economically and technologically at a phenomenal rate and that they both are expanding their military might at an accelerated rate as well? How many times, embedded in those opening ceremonies, did China, the host country, imply a new spirit of cooperation with the other countries of the world? Did you believe this?

I’m not sure how to conclude this. Let me simply say that Rev. 16:12 came to my mind. Let’s continue to observe world conditions as they unfold - but with a little more skepticism, - please?

Life!

It’s alright, I’m still alive. Sorry for the three week absence. It’s a combination of having too much to do, being lazy and loving procrastination. So, how shall I get back into it? There is so much out there that is so rich. There are deep theological mysteries out there in the midst of a world falling apart and my cat was giving birth this morning. The well is deep. - Obviously, I’m going to write about my cat.

Now Autumn is a Flame Point Himalayan. Further, she is a Baby Face Flame Point Himalayan - sans pug face - or whatever the official name is for such a face. We mated her two months ago with a beast named Cinnamon Bear. Now you can’t possibly be more handsome that someone named Cinnamon Bear, right? Anyway, Autumn kept the tradition of the family alive in that she gave birth between the hours of 12 midnight and 6:00 a. m. Why be civilized? All day yesterday she was acting “funny”. We knew that she was ready, and so at 1:30 this a.m. she started having the first of five. Whatta gal! Her first time, and she knew exactly what to do.

Even though she was surprised by the first one, from that point on she knew to lick the membrane off of each baby, eat the after-birth, let them nurse, etc. etc. We were worried before this when we observed that for approximately 24 hrs she stopped eating. I now wonder if that was not God’s way of preparing her to eat all of that “stuff” that is so nourishing for her and for her kittens. Folks, the planet can’t evolve this instinct into an animal. This kind of “instinct” has got to be programmed into the genes. This is divine information. God blessed our family with LIFE this morning.

Thank God for life, and thank God for restored life.