Author Archives: Dan C.

Book Review – Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible–Mark Ward

Posted by Dan C. on

imageThe King James Version has shaped the church, our worship, and our mother tongue for over 400 years. But what should we do with it today?

The KJV beautifully rendered the Scriptures into the language of turn-of-the-seventeenth-century England. Even today the King James is the most widely read Bible in the United States. The rich cadence of its Elizabethan English is recognized even by non-Christians. But English has changed a great deal over the last 400 years, and in subtle ways that very few modern readers will recognize. In Authorized Mark L. Ward, Jr. shows what exclusive readers of the KJV are missing as they read God’s word.

In their introduction to the King James Bible, the translators tell us that Christians must “heare CHRIST speaking unto them in their mother tongue.” In Authorized Mark Ward builds a case for the KJV translators’ view that English Bible translations should be readable by what they called “the very vulgar,” and what we would call “the man on the street.” – Amazon.com

I am just over half-way through this book and it’s hard to even put down! I already have James White’s excellent book, The King James Only Controversy. and while it is also an excellent book, this book isn’t quite as challenging as White’s,(and other articles and books I have read), It really digs into both the use and misuse of the KJV, as the title suggests. Here’s short sample from Chapter 6, Ten Objections to Reading Vernacular Bible Translations:

BIBLES AND INTERSTATES

Think of the Bible as a road down which you are driving. When I drive from work to home, I have to weave through some tight turns while going through the mountains. There are a few places where the driving is difficult, especially if it’s rainy or dark. The Bible contains rainy, dark, twisty passages. Peter saw Paul’s writings as difficult (2 Pet 3:16). I think I could safely add that certain minor prophets are, shall we say, obscure. Certain sayings of Jesus are hard to understand too (“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you”). Jesus says in Matthew 13 that he purposefully used parables to hide truth from some of his hearers. Some of the Bible is difficult driving, and God intended it that way.

But part of my drive home, a part that wends through beautiful conifer-covered hills, has been recently paved. I noticed this the other day because the ambient noise dropped drastically, and the car all of the sudden felt like it was sailing smoothly over glass.

That’s what a recent vernacular English translation does. The difficult driving around tight turns is still there, because God put some demanding passages in the Bible. But the going is smooth. The actual English at the word and sentence level is not bumpy or awkward but natural.

Ward, Mark. Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible . Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.

Here’s link to the Kindle version at Amazon Books, where I purchased it for $5.99:

Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible: Ward, Mark: 9781683590552: Amazon.com: Books

Be Blessed!

They Shall Inherit the Earth

Posted by Dan C. on

Robert Eyton

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”—ST MATTHEW 5:5.

The word which is translated meek has acquired for itself a meaning which is, to say the least, unfortunate. A meek man means to many people a tame man, one easily imposed upon. A meek person, from their point of view, is a person who has not much energy, is generally deficient in spirit, and consequently carries the burdens of the family. We count such persons as perhaps useful, as almost on the same level with the camel or the donkey in the animal sphere of existence, useful to carry loads and to expect little in return; but we should hardly say that they were ever likely to inherit the earth, or indeed to inherit anything, except the burdens that their neighbors could manage to thrust on them.

But the meekness of this Beatitude is certainly not mere tameness of nature, mere insensibility, mere want of “go.” It is not the “natural product of a tasteless tree,” it is the Divine outgrowth of a strong natural stock. If we read it “Blessed are the gentle,” we get a better idea of its meaning, only there again the gentleness is that which comes not from want of force, but from a strong and tranquil self-control. Meekness is the result of self-conquest, not of want of fire. It is not a tame insipidity, it is not an amiable flaccid inutility; that is not meekness in the sense of the Beatitude: nor is it the soft, yielding disposition whose cry is, “anything for a quiet life,” that grows into this gentleness. Meekness is a virtue that comes of a strong stock, it must be the outgrowth of a nature that has felt, and felt strongly, and learnt to control its feelings, learnt that real strength lies not merely in the power of letting oneself go, but in the power of holding oneself in. It is from those experiences that the true meekness, the gentleness of the Beatitude is the outcome.

The characteristics of the virtue, whether we call it meekness or gentleness, are something of this kind:—

I. It is willing to bear without retaliation. It is strong enough not to hit back, and that not from contempt but from real self-mastery. It knows that, very often, an injury is not meant, that, e.g., people say cruel things out of an angry feeling, which they do not mean, or false things out of mere idleness. It knows that the temptation to pay them back in kind is an unworthy one; it is strong enough, great enough, not to take refuge in disdain, but to make allowances, to wait, to be silent, to hope that the time will come when the slanderer will answer himself; at any rate, it will not allow itself to add to strife.

So the great model of meekness, our Master and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, comes before us to-day,* meek, and riding on an ass. We understand at once the absence of empty self-assertion. He calls to us, “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart,” and teaches thus the lesson of His own gentleness. But no one can study His character and not see that meekness and gentleness are the result of self-control. Strong severity broke forth at times when His soul was moved by the spectacle of those who, under the garb of religion, worked for their own ends. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,—judgment, mercy, and faith.” “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Wherefore, ye be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.” “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” This is the language of ideal gentleness,—this withering sarcasm, this stern reprobation!

II. Another characteristic which also proves the claim of meekness to strength is its willingness to subordinate mere personal claims—I mean claims so far as they are merely personal and not official. For a man may be ever so meek, and yet rightly insist on the deference due to his office. We see, e.g., that a judge must act in this way; he may not give away from gentleness anything that belongs to his position. And everyone has his place and his duties, whose claims he cannot allow to be subordinated to his own preferences; he must fill his place and do his duties. So far the gentle man is as strong and firm as anyone.

Nay, he is all the more so because he is not agitated by those merely personal questions which so often obscure official dignity. He shews his strength by thinking nothing of them, ignoring them, putting them on one side; he shews his real dignity not by self-assertion, but by discharging his duty and filling his place. These things he must do, these he may not forego, even if they involve a state which seems like assertion of dignity, he must submit to it; for the service of God demands that he should not forego any of his duties, or of what belongs to them. But all mere personal questions, which weaken and confuse the real issues, he is strong enough, and brave enough, to put on one side. Moses was the meekest of men as far as mere personal questions were concerned, he put them aside at once, he would not look at them; but when Moses is exercising his God-appointed office as leader of his people there is no shrinking and no tameness about him. He gave away nothing that belonged to his duties, or pertained to the exercise of his prerogatives.

The meek man may then come into collision with others, because he does the duties committed to him by God, but the one thing he will not do is to project his own personality, or to cherish petty grievances, from an overbearing sense of his own claims. He is strong enough to ignore all that, strong enough to refuse to regard mere personal injury.

The gentleness, then, that is blessed is the gentleness that bears with provocation and controls irritation and refuses to resent personal injury, while at the same time it is strong and brave in the discharge of its duties. It can say “no,” and stick to it without losing its temper over the matter. It has the power to put on one side mere personal irritations, mere questions of offended dignity; it has the strength to control self, to put God’s cause before its own feeling, to act with the single eye; it presents that combination of firmness with gentleness which is so powerful, if so rare. And surely our own experience will tell us how strong and how blessed a thing is meekness of this kind. How often have we felt the withering power of our own irritability; how often have we grieved over the way in which our own impatience has spoiled our best work. “If only I hadn’t lost my temper,” we say, because we feel the weakness of it. Conversely have we not felt that the real good of our life has come, not from our shrewdness, nor from our power of brain, but out of our self-control? How often have we mourned over the lack of an influence which we felt we should have had if we had been more self-controlled! We feel, above all, in dealing with children the strength of meekness. There is a sovereignty that belongs to an iron will—we all own it and we all hate it: there is another sovereignty that belongs to insolent brutality or to mere violent temper, the sovereignty that creates a solitude, and calls that peace. We hate that still more, and get out of its way if we can. But there is a sovereignty, against which we do not rebel, that belongs to the loving compulsion of those who, having learnt to control themselves, are able to influence others by a word or a look, in a way which is only intelligible to those who can trace the secret of their power. Such power belongs to those into whose hearts something of Christ’s meekness has entered, of whom it may be said in truth, “His gentleness has made them great.” Wherein too lies the power of Christ? Surely in Him we see the strength of meekness, “the omnipotence of gentleness and the gentleness of omnipotence.” The gentle God comes and walks among men, and they are conscious of a force and a power within Him that no Cæsar had ever excited. “As soon as He said I am He, they went backward, and fell to the ground.” There was something in Him unapproached and unapproachable, the moral majesty of gentleness.

And this it is which is always justifying the apparent paradox which tells us that “the meek shall inherit the earth.”

Gentleness does win its way where violence only provokes hostility. Moral power is real power. No doubt for a time it may have to yield to brute force. It is no match immediately for bloodthirsty battalions; but all history and all experience prove that the victory of violence is short-lived and the triumph of gentleness is enduring. Even while gentleness is under the yoke it does not lose its sovereign attributes. None feel its essential enduring superiority more keenly than those who, for a time, overwhelm it by brute force. “It is John the Baptist whom I beheaded,” cries Herod. “Why does he plague me still?” So mere force pays involuntary homage to the moral majesty of the meek and gentle. And surely all our modern experience points in the same direction. The man who is self-controlled, who does not make enemies, who is true and straight, is the man who is felt in our modern life, and will be more felt as the democracy advances, as the power that once belonged to privilege and rank and to being “the son of your father” disappears. The days of the loud-mouthed pretenders are passing away; even fluency of speech is becoming less accepted as a sign of supreme virtue by us slow-speaking Saxons. We are coming to the days when the artificial distinctions of class will cease, when the moral methods of influence will alone have any weight, when “force” will be felt finally to be “no remedy,” and a high position will be only valued for the duties involved in it. It is here, I believe, that our great trial lies—the thing that sifts us. In the movement of men’s minds, much that was once taken for granted has at last become an open question. The thing which is asked is not, “Is it the correct thing to believe this?” but, “What is the moral effect of this or that belief?” “Are Christians showing the spirit of Christ? Do they care for His ideals?” Or have they let themselves fall into the temptation of using His Name and calling upon Him as their leader, while they use methods which He would never have endured? We cannot remember too often that it is by moral methods, and not by physical, nor even, except in a subordinate way, by intellectual, that the Kingdom of God is being set up. The real test of each man and woman who is called upon to act in any public fashion is whether he or she really believes in moral methods, believes in them enough to act on them, believes in them rather than in fraud or trickery or force. The effect of self-discipline, of the gentleness that comes from self-control, can never be really estimated here. We live in a fog; we cannot see clearly what is success and what is failure, nor can we see “the seed growing secretly;” we can only mark quick returns and big results. We live in a hurry. It is hard to collect ourselves for calmness and breadth of view and self-command. We need to remember that strong language does not always cover strong purpose, and that to possess the earth something more is needed than the showy and specious achievements of mere rhetoric. In quiet, unperceived places, in secret strivings after self-discipline, in wrestling with the devils of hasty temper and violent methods, gentleness is established within us, and wherever gentleness is established, thence flows power. How it wins its victories and where it reaches to we do not know; we know not how much we owe to the prayers of the meek.

No; where the upholding grace is won

We dare not ask, nor heaven would tell;

But sure from many a hidden dell,

From many a rural nook unthought of there,

Rises for that proud world the saint’s prevailing prayer.

Yes, the meek do inherit the earth. Let us no longer be deceived and act unconsciously in the belief that violence, brutality, and haste can effect anything lasting. Whatever these things seem to effect, let us be sure that self-control and meekness and gentleness have a power beyond all else. If we would help forward the kingdom of God, let us learn to resist our hasty impulses, to check our inward irritation, to command ourselves so that we may at least do something towards our great lifework, which is to spread the influence of Christ before “the night cometh, when no man can work.”

Eyton, R. (1896). The Benediction on the Meek. In The Beatitudes (Second Edition, pp. 44–53). Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Ltd. (Public Domain)

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OnlineSource: They Shall Inherit the Earth (cmfhq.org)

The Vine

Posted by Dan C. on

“I am the True Vine.”—JOHN 15:1.

ALL earthly things are the shadows of heavenly realities,—the expression, in created, visible forms, of the invisible glory of God. The Life and the Truth are in heaven; on earth we have figures and shadows of the heavenly truths. When Jesus says: I am the True Vine, He tells us that all the vines of earth are pictures and emblems of Himself. He is the Divine reality, of which they are the created expression. They all point to Him, and preach Him, and reveal Him. If you would know Jesus, study the vine.

How many eyes have gazed on and admired the great vine at Hampton Court, with its beautiful fruit. Come and gaze on the Heavenly Vine till your eye turns from all else to admire Him. How many, in a sunny clime, sit and rest under the shadow of their vine. Come and be still under the shadow of the True Vine, and rest under it from the heat of the day. What countless numbers rejoice in the fruit of the vine. Come, and take, and eat of the heavenly fruit of the True Vine, and let your soul say: I sat under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.

I am the True Vine. This is a heavenly mystery. The earthly vine can teach you much about this Vine of Heaven. Many interesting and beautiful points of comparison suggest themselves, and help us to get conceptions of what Christ meant. But such thoughts do not teach us to know what the Heavenly Vine really is, in its cooling shade, and its lifegiving fruit. The experience of this is part of the hidden mystery, which none but Jesus Himself, by His Holy Spirit, can unfold and impart.

I am the True Vine. The vine is the Living Lord, who Himself speaks, and gives, and works all that He has for us. If you would know the meaning and power of that word, do not think to find it by thought or study; these may help to show you what you must get from Him, to awaken desire and hope and prayer, but they cannot show you the Vine. Jesus alone can reveal Himself. He gives His Holy Spirit to open the eyes to gaze upon Himself, to open the heart to receive Himself. He must Himself speak the word to you and me.

I am the True Vine. And what am I to do, if I want the mystery, in all its heavenly beauty and blessing, opened up to me? With what you already know of the parable, bow down and be still, worship and wait, until the Divine Word enters your heart, and you feel His Holy Presence with you, and in you. The overshadowing of His Holy Love will give you the perfect calm and rest of knowing that the Vine will do all.

I am the True Vine. He who speaks is God, in His infinite power able to enter into us. He is man, one with us. He is the Crucified One, who won a perfect righteousness and a Divine life for us through His death. He is the glorified One, who from the throne gives His Spirit to make His Presence real and true. He speaks—oh! listen, not to His words only, but to Himself, as He whispers secretly day by day: I AM THE TRUE VINE. All that the Vine can ever be to its branch, I WILL BE TO YOU.

Holy Lord Jesus! the Heavenly Vine of God’s own planting, I beseech Thee, reveal Thyself to my soul. Let the Holy Spirit, not in thought, but in experience, give me to know all that Thou, the Son of God, art to me as the True Vine.

Murray, A. (1898). The Mystery of the True Vine: Meditations for a Month (pp. 15–19). J. Nisbet & Co. (Public Domain)

The Bodily Resurrection of Believers

Posted by Dan C. on

This is a short study of the topic I put together in response to the notion that the resurrection of believers is only spiritual and not a physical resurrection. It might be helpful and might be useful as a resource for discussing the topic. It is designed to be able to assert that the certain scripture passages from the Bible point to our bodily resurrection from the dead at Christ’s second coming. Here are 5 reasons to believe in our physical resurrection from the dead at Christ’s second coming.

1. “Resurrection” in the Bible speaks of physical bodies are being raised.

“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” (Matt 22:30) 

“and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:14)

“We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not “

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thess 4:16)

Thayer Definition of ‘resurrection’ G386, ἀνάστασις, anastasis

1) a raising up, rising (e.g. from a seat)

2) a rising from the dead

    2a) that of Christ

    2b) that of all men at the end of this present age

Thayer Definition of ‘raised’: G1453, ἐγείρω, egeirō

1) to arouse, cause to rise

    1a) to arouse from sleep, to awake

    1b) to arouse from the sleep of death, to recall the dead to life

    1c) to cause to rise from a seat or bed etc.

    1d) to raise up, produce, cause to appear

Thayer Definition of ‘rise up’ G450, ἀνίστημι, anistēmi

1) to cause to rise up, raise up

    1a) raise up from laying down

    1b) to raise up from the dead

    1c) to raise up, cause to be born, to cause to appear, bring forward

2) to rise, stand up

    2a) of persons lying down, of persons lying on the ground

    2b) of persons seated

    2c) of those who leave a place to go elsewhere

        2c1) of those who prepare themselves for a journey

    2d) of the dead

2. Christ’s resurrection body is the pattern of our resurrection body: (Phil 3:20-21)

“20But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”  (Phil 3:20-21)

3. Romans 8 speaks of the “redemption” of our bodies.

21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Rom 8:21-23)

4. Jesus speaks of the resurrection as involving the coming forth of individuals out of their tombs.

“28Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29)

5. The Old Testament speaks of the resurrection as being physical:

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Dan 12:2)

“25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:25-27)

Online Source: Will the Resurrection of the Body Be a Physical Resurrection from the Dead?

Be Blessed!

What do full preterists (F.P.) and mid-Acts dispensationalists (M.A.D.) have in common?

Posted by Dan C. on

You might think that’s a rather silly question, but please bear with me. While you do, please know that this is purely an academic exercise and not a critique of either full preterism or mid-Acts dispensationalism. Both systems have already been discussed here at The Battle Cry. In fact, I wasn’t planning to spend much more time and ‘ink’ on either one. I’m not a fan of beating dead horses.

I’m writing this post because I’ve spent time visiting and discussing those views at a couple of FB pages dedicated to both systems of interpretating the Bible, and recently noticed some interesting commonalities. Just this morning I found on my own FB page the following graphic, from a full preterist site, which I think demonstrates most of the FP and MAD commonalities I’ve been thinking about lately.:

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Before I get to those however, I wanted to mention that it seems that either position will tell us that their particular system was commonly believed by many/most of the early church fathers, making it true, while it was only held by some and in some cases a small minority. I believe that exaggerating claims, both groups know that most readers won’t actually check for themselves.

I also found out that there were adherents to both systems throughout church history, neither one was formally developed as part of Protestant scholarship until the 1800’s. Adherents of both systems will offer scriptural “proof”, declaring that they are right and everyone else is wrong, no matter how many doctrinally sound disagreeing arguments are presented to them.

Back to the original graphic, some observations from an old soldier, from the top down:

1. Both groups will tell you something along the lines of “What nobody ever told us…” They mean nobody! Throughout church history (for 2,000 years) no one has told you the real truth, ot even today’s preachers! Do you know any cults that started out with an identical claim? Does that tell you anything?

2. They both claim that it’s all a matter of properly reading the Bible and understanding the audience. They both force their respective “conclusions” into scripture (eisegesis) by any means they can.

a. Full preterists (ALL Biblical prophecy was completed by 70 A.D.) will tell you that certain terms always have one and only one meaning; the one that fits their narrative. If Jesus or an Apostle said that the second coming was ‘near’ is had to be connected to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Therefore, the references to the Thessalonians and Corinthians in the graphic.

b. Mid-Acts dispensationalists chop the text of the Bible into the sections that are only to Jews while others are only to Gentiles. The OT through the middle of Acts, as well as Hebrews through Revelation was written to the Jews and the middle of Acts through Paul’s letter to Philemon were written to gentile believers, including us.

c. Both groups will limit timeless and eternal principles found in the text of scripture only pertained to the immediate audience, whether it be in the OT or the NT. In the above graphic we are told that Noah’s announcement of the flood and Jonah’s warning to Ninevah had nothing to say to us today. Some mid-Acts dispensationalists will tell us that the Law delivered to Israel has nothing to do with us.

3. Having an honest and dispassionate conversation with either group can be extremely difficult. They are so certain about their absolute ‘rightness’ and everyone else’s ‘wrongness’ that just suggesting that there ‘might be’ other sound interpretations of scripture than theirs can bring down everything from condescending responses to ‘divine’ condemnation.

There are probably other commonalties between FPs and MADs that I haven’t discovered, but I’m not going to try and hunt them down.

As a final remark, not too long after I found the above graphic and had started writing this post, I received an IM from one of the FP site admins urging me to carefully consider their ‘rules’ again and either formally ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ to their terms of engagement by the 16 Feb deadline for the reinstatement of commenting privileges. I’ll probably be banned forever. That’s all right. I even thanked the admin who contacted me for posting the graphic I’ve been discussing!

Be Blessed!

The MAIN Thing is STILL the Main Thing, Even on Super Bowl Sunday

Posted by Dan C. on

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This is the 6th post here at The Battle Cry with “The Main Thing” as the subject. There are links to the other posts at the bottom of today’s edition. We thought today (11 Feb 2024) would be a good day to reemphasize what is perhaps the world’s most important truth.

You simply cannot escape the excitement and fervent lead-up to the Super Bowl, each and every year. It’s non-stop for just about every media outlet you can imagine. The ‘Greatest Superbowl Ad Ever’ campaign is already underway, as well as innumerable opportunities to buy all sorts of San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs ‘stuff’. Brittany Mahomes (wife of the Chiefs’ QB) is on the latest SI Swimsuit edition. Our daughter-in-law, an absolute sweetheart, even posted a picture of a 49ers cake she baked.

I confess that we (the DanDee couple) watched the playoffs in anticipation of one of our teams making it to the big one. That didn’t happen so maybe we’ll each pick a team and just enjoy watching the game. We still like watching, especially since it seems like some of the controversy over kneeling for the national anthem and ‘woke’ beer commercials have died down.

Having said all that, it might be important to mention that this year, with another presidential election in the near future, just might be the most significant period in the history of our nation, if regardless of which political party, if any, has your allegiance. It does seem like the Super Bowl and the upcoming election are the two topics dominating the national media, with the several international crises following right on their heels.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve become accustomed lately to reading headlines and skipping detailed articles. I’m not just talking about the above topics. You can add natural catastrophes, wars and rumors of war, rising crime, young children being ‘groomed’ to consider what is abomination to God completely acceptable and normal behavior, along with all the rest of the LGBTQ(??) and ‘woke’ agendas. Current issues and events can easily makes us fearful, angry, or both.

To summarize, it just seems like things are becoming worse and worse all across the planet. Christians shouldn’t be surprised, however, because the Bible does tell us that “lawlessness, as well as many other catastrophes and disasters will increase” as we approach the return of Christ, the removal of His church from this earth and His impending judgment. (Matthew 24:2-26). What are we, as followers of Christ to do? To borrow from Dr. Francis Shaeffer’s timeless masterpiece, “How Then Shall We Live?”.

First, it’s important to remember that all of the ills of our culture, our nation, and indeed the entire world are a result of the first Adam’s sin and fall in the Garden of Eden. It’s also self-evident that we cannot, as individuals, solve many of the problems and issue we face in today’s world.

We can however, when we realize that much of what ails us, our nation, and our world can be traced to the sin that resides in the hearts and minds of sinful fallen men, be positive change agents. And that, my friends brings us right back to ‘The Main Thing’ – the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, in at least two ways.

1. It is only the gospel of Jesus Christ – his perfect life, death and resurrection for the sins of his people that can resolve the issue of sin! By his perfect life, death and resurrection Jesus paid the price for our sin, satisfying God’s just wrath toward the sins of his people.

“He (Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2, ESV)

2. God has entrusted his children with the mission of sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world around us, making the Great Commission perhaps the greatest privilege the Creator has ever bestowed upon his creation!

With all that said, I ask myself, “How ya doin’ with that?”

Today, if not every day, is a good time to ask ourselves if we are keeping the main thing, the MAIN thing!

Be Blessed!

________

Links to the other “Main Thing” posts:

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing – What IS the Gospel?

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing – Christ died for OUR SINS

Keeping the Main Thing The Main Thing – What Happened on the Cross?

The Main Thing is STILL the MAIN THING

The Main Thing is Still the ‘Main Thing’

The movie/film series based on Dr. Schaeffer’s book can be viewed on YouTube at: How Should We Then Live (1977) | Full Movie | Francis Schaeffer | Edith Schaeffer (youtube.com)

More Interesting Preterist Questions

Posted by Dan C. on

Here’s the first of two questions posed in a full preterist FB group I visit on occasion. Like ithers I have discussed here, it’s a ‘leading’ question, in that it is the type of question that prompts a respondent towards providing an already-determined answer. In this case, the predetermined answer is that genuine Christians do not ‘need’ to be raised bodily since we have already been raised spiritually and have received life in Christ Jesus. A corroborating passage of scripture is offered as ‘proof’ of the presupposition driving the question. Here is the FB question:

“If believers already have His life, already been raised with Him from the dead, in the likeness of His resurrection and having the resurrection and the life, Jesus Christ Himself, what need is there then there for a physical body resurrected from the grave when believers have already bourne the image of the earthy, the natural, the physical, the temporal but we are to bear the image of the heavenly, the spiritual, the eternal? You know as Paul wrote how flesh and blood did not inherit the kingdom?” (1 Cor 15:50 – I cited the reference the reference since the post author must have inadvertently omitted it.)

I call it a leading question because it was posed by a full preterist whose mission in life seems to be trying to convince others that full preterism (ALL biblical prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D.) is God’s truth. Period.

Here is my initial response:

“I don’t think it’s a question of NEEDING a bodily resurrection, but it’s a question of what has been promised that we will receive one. We agree that we, as believers have been spiritually resurrected to new life in Christ. The term ‘resurrection’ in the Bible seems to always refer to a bodily resurrection. Not a single reference to the resurrection of believers tells us it will only be spiritual. Jesus was raised bodily and so will we. It’s a promise easily checked out. Your reference to 1Co 15:50 “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” simply means that the current physical bodies in which we are encased are not worthy of inheriting the kingdom. I could present you with a multitude of irrefutable scriptures pointing to the believer’s bodily resurrection, but I need to head for a local hospital for an iron infusion procedure right now.”

I got into trouble once again with the ladies who are admins for the Group (Pauline Doctrine). My mistake was not providing any specific verses to back up my claim that there was “irrefutable scriptures” pointing to the bodily resurrection of believers.

The second question was the Following:

“O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7: 24 kjv

“What was the body of this death?”

My response to that one was:

Obviously, from the context, Paul is contrasting the law of God in the heart and mind of a believer with the law of sin and death in our mortal bodies:

Rom 7:22-25 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Paul speaks of the inner conflict between two “laws” every believer faces. Some tell us that he was talking about his pre-conversion life, but the context states otherwise. I’ve talked about the conflict and the resolution to the conflict in “hunting dog” terms. If I own 2 hunting dogs, The one I love the most and take care of will perform the best during a hunt. I think the bigger question might be “How do we resolve the inner conflict?” The answer I suggest is feed and nourish our “new” creation in Christ Jesus.

Naturally, I got in trouble once more, I assume for not providing the post author’s desired response the initial question. I thought that by providing the context of the quoted passage would explain it quite clearly. My intent was to let the reader examine the passage given in context and let God speak to them directly.

Well, what followed was a barrage of responses excoriating me for NOT providing my personal opinion, but scripture itself (which I vainly tried to explain as politely as I could). The final response I received from one member of the admins was in part:

“… the original intended audience (the readers of the original post) should be allowed the relevancy FIRST”.

I guess I stuck my foot in it when I responded:

“That sounds like “opinion first” and context later, if at all. Did you forget about the actual ‘Context”? You did talk about comparing with other scripture. I would recommend placing a single passage into its own context first and then comparing it with other scripture, with the let what is clear interpret what is less clear.”

To make a much longer story short, I’ve been banned/blocked once again. I’ve also found out that others have faced the same fate, and probably for the same reason – daring to disagree or not responding with the ‘right’ answer to a leading question. From now on I’ll probably stop by that FB Group on occasion to see what preterist doctrine the admin ladies are pushing, but keep my mouth shut.

I think my “Preterism” library is now quite complete. My final question had to do with what a 70 A.D. completion of all Biblical prophecy meant for today’s believers. In an article published by Ligonier Ministries I found this comment:

“One theologian sums up the full preterist position like this: “The coming of Christ in judgment was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, Satan and Antichrist have [already] been thrown into the lake of fire, the kingdom of God has arrived, the resurrection is understood in spiritual terms, the Great Commission has been fulfilled, all things have been made new (the old heaven and earth have passed away; the new heaven and earth have come), the promised restoration has arrived, and the world now continues as it is ad infinitum.”[i]

According to the preterist, the “new heavens and new earth” spoken of in Revelation 21:1 is, to the preterist, a description of the world under the New Covenant. Forget about the “new earth” being a re-creation of this earth as God originally intended. We are already in it, with all of its “mess”. We can, however continue to share the gospel with the lost world around us and help others find Christ and an eternal spiritual resurrection, but there is no future bodily resurrection of believers in full preterism.

And that’s all, folks!

As an epilogue to my little “adventure into preterism”, I did find an article that explained the behavior of preterists to the proverbial “T”, at least as I have experienced it:

“Preterism, like all systems that can be characterized as being taken up by ideologues, is a system that is based on deductive reasoning that then requires all the particulars to be forced into the deductive system despite how the particulars may testify against the deductive system. Preterism, will not allow any contrary evidence from particular texts of Scripture because Preterism has as straight-jacket template that requires all to fit the system. Preterism, is a procrustean bed that will take texts and force them to fit their system. To the Preterist hammer all the eschatolgical texts are nails.

What the above paragraph means then is that having a conversation with a Preterist on this subject can be excruciatingly difficult because for them this is not just about eschatology. Indeed, for them Preterism is their whole weltanschauung (worldview).”[ii]

[i] Preterism | Ligonier Ministries

[ii] Continuing with the Problems of Full Preterism

Be Blessed!

“Here Comes the He Gets Us Campaign Again: Why Its Portrayal of Jesus is Still a Problem” By Natasha Crain

Posted by Dan C. on

Here is the introduction to a lengthy, yet hugely informative article concerning the “He Gets Us” campaign, some of which filled screens during the NFL playoffs and will again appear during the Super Bowl.

Last year, I wrote an article called “7 Problems with the He Gets Us Campaign,” in which I critically responded to the $100 million advertising campaign featuring a website, billboards in major cities, a book, and ads that have been viewed more than 300 million times. Perhaps most visibly, the campaign’s ads were featured in last year’s Super Bowl. When thousands of people went searching for more information on it, my article came up, and it went viral—actually pulling down my site at one point! Clearly, a lot of people are interested in knowing more about the nature of these ads.

Fast forward to 2024. Super Bowl Sunday is in a few days, and He Gets Us will once again be running ads that generate widespread curiosity. Given the reach of the campaign and high interest level, I wanted to do an updated evaluation of what He Gets Us is doing today. To that end, I’m going to answer four questions:

  1. Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in Jesus?
  2. Does the He Gets Us Campaign get skeptics interested in the right Jesus?
  3. Do the He Gets Us campaign reading plans take people to the next level of understanding Jesus (beyond the slick website and TV ads)?
  4. Does the He Gets Us campaign direct people to theologically solid churches for continuing their search for truth?

I highly recommend reading this latest article, as well as Natasha Crain’s first article, which is linked to above and can also be accessed here. The remainder of this article can be read online at:

Here Comes the He Gets Us Campaign Again: Why Its Portrayal of Jesus is Still a Problem | Natasha Crain

Be Blessed!

“He giveth quietness.” (Job 34:29.)

Posted by Dan C. on

QUIETNESS amid the dash of the storm. We sail the lake with Him still; and as we reach its middle waters, far from land, under midnight skies, suddenly a great storm sweeps down. Earth and hell seem arrayed against us, and each billow threatens to overwhelm. Then He arises from His sleep, and rebukes the winds and the waves; His hand waves benediction and repose over the rage of the tempestuous elements. His voice is heard above the scream of the wind in the cordage and the conflict of the billows, “Peace, be still!” Can you not hear it? And there is instantly a great calm. “He giveth quietness.” Quietness amid the loss of inward consolations. He sometimes withdraws these, because we make too much of them. We are tempted to look at our joy, our ecstasies, our transports, or our visions, with too great complacency. Then love for love’s sake, withdraws them. But, by His grace, He leads us to distinguish between them and Himself. He draws nigh, and whispers the assurance of His presence. Thus an infinite calm comes to keep our heart and mind. “He giveth quietness.”

“He giveth quietness.” O Elder Brother,
Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,
Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,
That in our losses we might find our gain.

“Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,
I ask but this: in every troubled hour
To hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,
And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.

“Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling
In the still air of faith’s untroubled day;
Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,
My hand in Thine along the darkening way.

“Content to know there comes a radiant morning
When from all shadows I shall find release;
Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning—
Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?”

Cowman, L. B. (1925). Streams in the Desert (pp. 34–35). The Oriental Missionary Society. (Public Domain)

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The above was posted on the Christian Military Fellowship Facebook age by Robert Flynn, Long time CMF member and former CMF Chief Executive Officer. The FB Post can be viewed at:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/CMFHQ/permalink/10161619812924809/?mibextid=oMANbw Free to share, especially to those you know who are now are serving in military service, who are veterans. The CMF Web site is located at: Christian Military Fellowship – Serving Our Troops (cmfhq.org) You can ;also access CMF using the logo at the right of this page.

The Dispensation of the Grace of God: Eph 3:1-13

Posted by Dan C. on

This morning I’ve been listening to a sermon by Dr. S.Lewis Johnson that I have previously listened to in which he discusses both covenants and dispensations, and in particular the indoctrination of the dispensation of grace through the Apostle Paul, as well as the ‘mystery’ revealed to Paul and New Testaments Apostles and Prophets.

Much of what I have tried to communicate to my Mid-Acts Dispensationalist (M.A.D.) friends (who are often not friendly at all), and much more is presented in great detail, and so very graciously it should be difficult for anyone at all to find his preaching and teaching objectionable.

Without further delay, here is the link to both the sermon, as well as the downloadable transcript:

 Dispensation of Grace of God – SLJ Institute

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Samuel (S.) Lewis Johnson, Jr. (September 13, 1915 – January 28, 2004), was a conservative evangelical pastor and theologian, was for many years a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Johnson was a moderate dispensationalist and a Five-point Calvinist in his soteriology. He was a Biblical scholar and theologian of “rare abilities” and of international renown.  (S. Lewis Johnson – Wikipedia)

Be Blessed!