Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Bibleless Christianity is not Christianity

I see many examples of "Progressive" Christianity. I think Lewis would call it "regressive" - or worse. From Matt Moore:
My friend Trevor (not his real name) has proudly identified as a Christian for the nearly two decades I have known him. Throughout our childhood and teenage years, he was what I then mockingly called my “Bible-thumper” friend. He was heavily involved in the ministry of his church and was always inviting me (and everyone else) to youth events, game nights, lock-ins, etc. However, shortly after graduating high school, Trevor’s fiery passion for God began to dwindle. He stopped going to church and didn’t seem nearly as gung-ho about Jesus or the Bible as he had been previously...keep reading

Friday, October 27, 2017

Sermons by Dr. Steven Lawson

I've gained an appreciation for Dr. Lawson's passion for the Lord and defense of God's Word, even where I disagree on one or two points. His preaching brings to mind people like Sproul, MacArthur, Begg and Ferguson, though he has his own style. You can listen to his sermons HERE

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Christianity Today Shares Stats on Eschatology

Honestly, I take this sort of data with a grain of salt. I'm surprised that 1/3 of pastors are premil or share "Left Behind End Times Theology." I guessed it would be lower than that. That said click here to read the article.

Note that this is a 2016 article. I may have made a reference to it in a prior post.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Bill Randles on Rapture Squabbles

I don't know what Randles' rapture position is. But I like what he says. Read his article HERE

Friday, October 20, 2017

Which Rapture View is Satanic?

Is the prewrath view satanic? What about pretribulationism? Is any rapture view satanic? Sadly, the rapture timing kerfuffles will continue until Christ's return.

One of Jan Markell's recent videos sparked another minor storm, and some hand-wringing. She's been accused of labeling prewrath as satanic. Did she? The PW community thinks so. This is nothing new really. I gave my two cents worth and did some ax grinding again HERE

Update: I'd prefer to walk away from this mess. However, I also want to press my point about leadership and division. Hopefully this will be the final update.

The fallout from the video mentioned above attracted a commentary by a critic who took issue with JD Farag's association of the Blessed Hope to the pretrib rapture. He acknowledges that JD is an avid brother who supports Israel. He then tells his audience that it isn't that JD is "unlearned" but that he's "ignorant." Sigh! What follows is a short lecture on "exegesis."

One can have a strong difference with a brother without making it personal. I listen to JD's updates and occasionally disagree with him. Yet I've never known him to self-promote at the expense of those he disagrees with. Unfortunately, the critic is a leader of the PW community. Some people see him as a mentor and follow his example. He's become infamous for rants against the likes of James White, John MacArthur-Phil Johnson (contra Strange Fire conference), and several others. I wish leaders of this system would learn to be both critical and charitable. Sadly, they don't seem to get it.

For the record, I don't believe that pretribulationism corners the market on the Blessed Hope. I had a BH when I was posttrib. I will retain it if I ever go back to that view. By all means apply your exegesis, but do it humbly. As it stands, while the critic made good points, his behavior told me more about himself than JD's alleged ignorance.

Paul Henebury critiques the pretrib view of the Blessed Hope HERE

Update Two

I debated whether to do this again. And here I am. In the first update I mentioned a critic who called JD Farag ignorant. A link to the critic's video was posted in the comments section of Jan Markell's "offensive" YouTube video. It was subsequently replaced by a different and longer video by the same person.

Markell was originally taken to task for supposedly calling prewrath satanic. No one did that. In fact in my Zeteo 3:16 article I noted the irony that Rosenthal had associated pretribulationism with satanic delusion. 

The rub is that this new video assumes Markell was speaking about these attacks. At least he got that part right. He says the satanic premise is erroneous because it assumes pretrib is biblical. He's correct. He then talks about the differences pretrib scholars have as if that's a case against the system. And he disparages the likes of John MacArthur. Well it might be news to some but most systems have differing views, including prewrath. So what? And why bring up MacArthur again?

I haven't spoken with Jan but I'm pretty sure her satanic comment referred to the spirit of the attacks. I've been an admin for several groups. One of these was Christ in Prophecy. From personal experience, I've seen examples of this mean-spirited arrogant language. Jack Kinsella of the Omega Letter was constantly accused of being a false prophet because of his pretrib view. In fact I saw this bizarre behavior years ago when I was a pretrib skeptic.

These attacks aren't satanic. They're tiresome. They are perpetrated by obsessive compulsive folk who need to correct others and convert them to their preferred rapture view. In some ways they behave like cultists. My critic friend used the word "arrogant." It was aimed at the people he was lecturing to. He may want to take a look in his own back yard and get a clue.

It's nice that one individual finally bothered to check with the source HERE, although even then he didn't bother editing the title of one of his articles. Those who accused Jan Markell might consider a retraction of some kind.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Philip Mauro and Dispensationalism

Every now and again I see Philip Mauro's name pop up in criticism of dispensationalism, Darby, Scofield etc. I also see him invoked by premillennial non-pretribulationists, simply because of his anti-dispensational stance. But consider that Mauro is one of the heroes of The Preterist Archive. So, why would futurist (premil) non-pretribbers haphazardly cite a preterist just because he wrote against Scofield and "the secret rapture?" That's a rhetorical question, by the way.

Philip Mauro’s “The Gospel of the Kingdom”

Pollock on 'The Patmos Visions"

A Brief Examination of Mr. Philip Mauro's Later Views on Dispensational Truth

Preterism and Prophetic Scripture

The Gospel According to God

John MacArthur recently dropped in to deliver a sermon at Parkside Church. He preached on Isaiah 53, which he views as the gospel according to God. It will be the subject of  a new book. I write about it HERE

Thursday, October 12, 2017

On Killing Kryptonite

John Bevere's upcoming book Killing Kryptonite has been receiving a lot of positive publicity. The following article needs to be read by those considering buying it:
John Bevere’s latest book Killing Kryptonite is due to be released on the 17th of October.  Messenger International sent out three free chapters which is enough for any discerning reader to realise that like his previous books, this one contains serious error.  As usual, Bevere touts his latest offering as essential reading for all believers. His marketing strategy will no doubt pay off, his claims of receiving direct revelation from God for the whole body of Christ will fool millions of biblically illiterate believers.
Bevere’s false doctrine includes a mix of: Word of Faith, prosperity gospel, dominion theology, latter rain, the aberrant teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation, heavy shepherding, covering heresy and works based Christianity.  While this review covers only the first three chapters, it is clear that Bevere has not repented of his false doctrines, and continues to deceive his followers...keep reading
Hat tip Justin Peters

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Man's Own Bible

Man is now thinking out a Bible for himself; framing a religion in harmony with the development of liberal thought; constructing a worship on the principles of taste and culture; shaping a god to suit the expanding aspirations of the age. … The extent of the mischief no one can calculate. A soul without faith, a church without faith, a nation without faith, a world without faith – what is to be their future? What is their present? When faith goes, all good things go. When unbelief comes in, all evil things follow. ~ Horatius Bonar.