Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics 2018

The presentations from the 2018 Council on Dispensational Hermeneutics are now available to read HERE 

Barry Horner responds to Gary Burge on Israel

Below I'm linking to an older article from the Pre-Trib Research Center where Barry Horner responds to Gary Burge.

Horner is the director of Future Israel Ministries. Burge has written articles and at least one book challenging the legitimacy of modern Israel. In October 2018 he participated in the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference staged in Oklahoma.

One of Burge's contentions is that the state of Israel is out of covenant fellowship with God because of disobedience. Therefore it doesn't have a God-given right to its land. Interestingly, he favors the predominantly Muslim Palestinian entities who deny Christ. And ironically, in 2015, he supported former Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins who stated that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. The Hawkins drama is now the subject of a film titled Same God.

That said here's a link to Horner's Territorial Supercessionism: A Response to Gary Burge

Trials Tribulations and Nicolae Carpathia

If you don't know who Nic is you can find out HERE. Or if you'd rather not, Nicolae Jetty Carpathia is the Antichrist character from the fictional Left Behind books. Yes, I read them. No, I didn't enjoy all of them for a number of reasons. But there were bits I liked - sorry about that.

The thing that offends a lot of folk is the "false premise" that believers get raptured before Nic comes along and struts his devilish stuff. They say this leaves the unprepared in grave danger. This apparent concern has spawned a considerable cottage industry of blogs, books and videos warning people of the dangers of not preparing for the Antichrist.

The problem with all these materials is that they're invariably only focused on changing the intended audience's position on the rapture. I once interacted with a posttribber who claimed his criticism of pretrib was motivated by concern. So I pressed him as to how he was spiritually preparing for "Antichrist's Tribulation." He finally responded that he was living in Canada and Antichrist's influence will be restricted to the Middle East and Mediterranean area. In other words he didn't have an answer.

How was he spiritually preparing for the possibility of future persecution and martyrdom which may come to the West long before the Antichrist? The books, blogs and videos don't discuss this. These efforts are generally virtue-signaling exercises which assume one's eschatology is the key to preparation.

Without going into details this has been a particularly tough three years for my family. To be honest, I've struggled. Moreover, I know people who've been in worse situations. Google Christian News to get an over-all indication of what Christians around the world are currently going through. We all need to be prepared now, and eschatology has nothing to do with it. It is our daily relationship with Christ which counts. Anyone who tells you different is sadly mistaken. I discussed this topic in a recent article on Zeteo.

Rather than buying a book emphasizing some eschatological position, go read John Murray's "O Death, Where is Thy Sting?" See especially chapter 11 "The Cost of Discipleship." Another book one ought to read is John MacArthur's "Hard to Believe - The High Cost and Infinite Value of Following Jesus." Here's an excerpt:

When Jesus told His listeners to take up their crosses, it meant only one thing to them. It meant willingly facing the possibility of death for His sake...The disciples understood that to "take up the cross" meant a willingness to die any death. It meant abandoning self to the lordship of Christ. The love of Christ has to overrule both the powerful appeal of family love and the more powerful instinct of self-preservation. (p 135)

RESPONSE TO SAM STORMS ON DANIEL 9:24-27

This blog is a section from a paper I delivered at the Pre-Trib Study Group a couple of years ago.  I am responding to Sam Storms’ book Kingdom Come in the paper but in this particular section, I am giving a response to his claim that dispensationalists are simply forcing their preconceived view onto the text of Daniel 9:24-27. - Mike Stallard...keep reading

Why Matt Walsh is Dangerously Wrong About Genesis

The conservative writer's train of common sense derailed in terrifying fashion during his thread undermining Genesis...I don’t know conservative firebrand author Matt Walsh. The closest I ever came to meeting him was when I was invited to emcee an event he was keynoting a couple years ago. Due to a prior commitment, I was unable to accept. Still, I have followed Walsh’s writings sporadically for several years and have appreciated his uncompromising stance on the sanctity of human life as the single greatest moral issue of our time, as well as his defense of the importance of the nuclear family...keep reading

See also Apologist Matt Walsh makes a seriously uninformed attack on biblical creationism

Rachel Held Evans – Inspired

I've finally contributed my two cents on Rachel Held Evans' book "Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again."

Originally I'd planned to do several posts on it. But, as one reviewer has noted, it would take another larger book to address all its issues. I'm under no illusions as to my limitations regarding writing reviews, let alone as an apologist. Yet because of Evans' enormous influence, I feel it's important that her book is responded to. 

Fortunately, others have done some exemplary work in addressing Inspired's problems - notably Allen Nelson VI and Jim from The Domain for Truth (see the side links). You can read my small contribution, plus all the highly recommended links over at Zeteo 3:16.

Oliver Crisp, Jonathan Edwards on Creation

I'm wandering far from eschatology here. But I thought this was very interesting - at least the bits I was able to follow!