Every Eye Will See Him

Both TBN and Daystar have opened television studios (wannabe news bureaus) in Jerusalem.  Paul and Matt Crouch along with Joseph Prince are shown broadcasting from TBN's newly purchased Jerusalem studio--with an impressive view of the Mount of Olives in the background.

Both studios are in camera range of the Mount of Olives because they hope to be ready to broadcast (with "live" coverage, of course) our Lord's second advent.  It will probably come as no surprise that I remain quite unconvinced that this is what John meant when he wrote, "Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.  Even so.  Amen" (Revelation 1:7).  The news story on the new TBN studio can be found here:  LA Times story on TBN/Daystar studios

Ironies abound.  Two "Christian" networks competing for the best "live" view of Jesus' return.  My guess is that the camera crews and on-air reporters are not Christians, because they need to be "left behind" to run the cameras and provide the on-air live commentary.   Continue at Kim Kim Riddlebarger

Rapture Theology: The Arrogance of the West

“Problems with Premillennialism,”

My departure from Premillennialism was gradual and came as a result of two discoveries as I studied Scripture. First, I devoted myself to a thorough examination of what the NT said would occur at the time of Christ’s second coming (or Parousia). What I found was a consistent witness concerning what would either end or begin as a result of our Lord’s return to the earth. Sin in the lives of God’s people, corruption of the natural creation, and the experience of physical death would terminate upon the appearance of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the resurrection of the body, the final judgment, and the inauguration of the New Heavens and New Earth would ensue. But why is this a problem for Premillennialism? Good question.

If you are a Premillennialist, whether Dispensational or not, there are several things with which you must reckon:

You must necessarily believe that physical death will continue to exist beyond the time of Christ’s second coming. The reason for this is that all Premillennialists must account for the rebellious and unbelieving nations in Revelation 20:7-10 who launch an assault against Christ and his people at the end of the millennial age. Where did these people come from? They must be the unbelieving progeny born to those believers who entered the millennial age in physical, unglorified bodies. Not only they, but also the believing progeny born to those believers will be subject to physical death (notwithstanding the alleged prolonged life spans experienced by those who live during the millennial reign of Christ). Keep Reading...

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A Pre-Tribulational Rapture?

May 21, we’re told, is the end of it all. Harold Camping tells us it’s the day when the Rapture of the church will happen. Historic Christianity, of course, stands with Jesus over anyone who claims he knows the day or the hour of Jesus’ coming (Matt. 24:3-8). But what about the larger idea here? Is there a secret, sudden Rapture? Is that what we should expect?

While all orthodox Christians everywhere have affirmed the physical, bodily return of Jesus at the end of the age, contemporary evangelicals have disagreed—sometimes sharply—over the timing of this event, especially as it relates to the tribulation and the rise of the antichrist. Keep Reading...

The Threat of Christian Zionism

If the phenomenal success of the bestselling Left Behind series indicates anything about the prevailing eschatological mindset across a wide swath of the evangelical landscape in modern America, then we would do well to pause and consider. Where is this fascination with the sensational, and frequently outright bizarre, interpretation of the significance of current events coming from? What is driving the obsession to see end-time prophetic events transpiring in every headline? What connection does this mindset have with the implacable opposition to any measure taken for peace in the Middle East which would leave the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank, or any part of Jerusalem outside of the complete control of the modern state of Israel? More importantly, what ideologies, theological convictions, or ways of understanding the bible lie beneath these phenomena, and how much of an impact are they having on the theological moorings of the Church today? I suspect that the impact is significant enough to warrant a strong warning statement about the movement known as Christian Zionism, and the hyper-Dispensationalism which drives it, from the leaders of the evangelical Church. Unfortunately, however, it has not received the united front of resistance with which other threats to the health of the Church have been met with, such as Openness theology and gender-role confusion. Is this because many Evangelical leaders share enough theological convictions in common with the more extreme examples of the movement that they are loathe to give a clear denunciation? Or do they simply not perceive the errors as being a significant or widespread enough a danger to warrant the time and effort of a thoroughgoing rebuttal? Whatever the reason, there seems to be a general lack of attentiveness to a very rampant problem in Evangelicalism. Perhaps it is time to make clear just what Christian Zionism is (as well as all its theological bedfellows), what convictions are driving it, and what results it is tending towards in the thoughts and practice of the contemporary believer. Continue Reading>>>

An Observation about Israel in Ephesians 2:11-21 & 3:5-6

DISPENSATIONALISM – CATEGORIZED SCRIPTURE LIST

THE ISRAEL OF GOD

Romans 11 and the future of ethnic Israel