How influenced are you by the scientific mindset? Is science or scripture the pathway to truth? When they conflict which do you choose? Here's a challenge for you:
Did you know that the Bible teaches that unicorns once inhabited the world? Of course the English Bible you read today does not mention them, but the Bible your grandparents grew up with does!
Continue reading "The World of the Bible: Factual or Fantastic?" »
When it comes to the Church suffering in the last days many have taught that we will be removed from it. Yet all the Biblical examples seem to indicate that God never removes His people from the occasion of His judgment but preserves them in the midst of it.
For example, Noah was not removed from the earth prior to the flood but was preserved through it in the ark. Daniel was not spared from the lions' den but was protected in it. Likewise, his friends before him were not spared the fiery furnace but were preserved while in it.
But the most compelling case is Israel in Egypt, which I propose is not simply a general example of the principle stated above but is actually a type - that is, a literary figure with prophetic significance - for believers' experience in the last days. In fact, I believe the very prophecies of Revelation are patterned after the Exodus account.
Continue reading "The Pattern of Suffering - Israel in Egypt" »
The reality of suffering in the Christian life has always been unsettling for believers, and the apostles spent no small amount of time explaining it to the early Christians. I think they would be baffled then by the near phobic reaction to suffering that most American evangelicals have - especially when it comes to the suffering of the end times.
Continue reading "The Pattern of Suffering - God's Design For Us" »
Teaching through the books of 1&2 Thessalonians in the last several months I've had opportunity to introduce people to the view point of classic or historic premillenialism. This is a school of thought regarding the doctrines of the end times prevalent in the early Church. It is dubbed "historic" because it predates the modern dispensational version by several centuries and is distinct from it in that it holds to a posttribulational rapture of the Church. This is not the only difference but is one of the most notable. What I'd like to do is examine one of the issues that dispensationalists stumble over when it comes to a posttribulational rapture, namely the suffering of the Church during the tribulation.
Continue reading "The Pattern of Suffering - the Cross of Christ" »
