N.T. Wright on the Parousia

Update: My Personal Top 11

In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t written much here in a while.

I’ve been consumed.

Life can be very demanding sometimes, ya’know? But it can also be very rewarding.  There is something to that…, something holy.

It would take me a while to write about my more current thoughts and experiences….so that’ll have to wait for the time being.

Instead, I’m going give you some links to what I currently believe to be my most important writings from this blog:

Here are the first three installments of a study on Romans 6,7, and 8:

Don’t You Know?

Death and Remarriage

The Law is Good

(There is more to come in this series, so please stay tuned!)

Here is a little poetry:

All in the Family

This is basically my take on living the Christian life in general (not that I have ever done it, of course…)

Us or Him…?

An open letter to my most favorite denomination:

(This one almost didn’t make the cut, but I believe that it is still very relevant indeed!)

OPEN LETTER

Here is a two part admonition against being triple minded:

Be-think-do

Be-think-do-2

What is ‘the world’ anyway?

What Is the World 1

What is the World 2

What is the World 3

Thanks for reading…and please feel free to leave any comments!

Live.

IT’s been a little while since my last post so I figure it’s time to take a minute to update the ol’ blog.

I really don’t have a whole lot to say right now other than I have been enjoying life in a very fresh yet very normal way.

I don’t feel that I have any ‘messages’ to share here at the moment…except for maybe this:

Life is for living….not thinking about…and not writing about.

One of the most significant promises that we have made to us in Jesus involves Life. A Life that is more real than what we now know to be real.

I’m not talking afterlife. I’m talking NOWLIFE.

Saints….,

LIVE.

Do not worry about past failures.

Be forgiven and also forgive.

Do not be anxious about the state of the world.

Trust the Lord.

We only get one shot at this thing here.

Make it count.

An Open Letter to End Times Fever Folks.

Okay.

Here we go…

First of all I want to say that some of my closest and dearest friends hold strongly to the idea that we are in ‘the last days’.

I know that the scripture speaks of it and that there are  various texts which, being grouped together, form a basic doctrine explaining what ‘the last days’ are, what all of that means, who the ‘anti-Christ’ is, the ‘New World Order’ and everything else that is connected to all of that.

“End Times” Brothers and Sisters, let me just say to you first: Grace and Peace to you in the Name of Jesus Christ!!!

I love you!!

Now then….

Let me also say to you this:

There is more than one way to read all of that stuff.

To some of you, that last sentence just nudged me one notch closer to the ‘erring brother’ side of the spectrum.

By the end of this post, you might very well find me way over in the ‘apostate, itching ears, seared conscience heretic’ group.

If so, then so be it.

Let me clear a little more ground before I get to the heart of the matter.

Some of you will say, “Clearly, if he has the Spirit of God, then these things would be revealed to him” or something along those lines. Maybe if you’re generous you will say “He has the Spirit of God, but he is simply closing his ears….” or “He loves the world too much..” or something along those lines.

For the last two thousand years saints from one end of the spectrum to the others have been certain that they were in ‘the last days’, that it was all being ‘wrapped up’ within their lifetime, and that surely, they would see the Son of Man coming in the clouds and the end of the world.

There have been countless men tagged as “antichrict” (and rightly so) over the centuries and many things called or reffered to as ‘the mark of the beast’.

I know all about the ‘Great Bear’ and Gog and Magog and the prince of Persia.

I’m no stranger to the rapture doctrine, the pre-millenial doctrine, the post millenial doctrine, the amillenial doctrine, the preterist doctrine . Heck, I’m even fairly well versed in Transmillenial (R) doctrine!

Obviously there is more than one way to read scripure, amen?

I know, I know….

“Well, one of them must be true!!”

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

Maybe nobody really has it all figured out yet.

Maybe you don’t know as much as you think you do.

What? Did you just call me a devil?

Shame on you.

Let me get to my point.

The way that I see it is that people who focus on ‘the coming end times’, as time goes on, will focus more and more on ‘the coming end times’. Why?

 Because…

 ”We must be closer now than we have ever been!”

Maybe so, but exactly how much of our New Testament instructs us to zero in on ‘the end times’?

Not very much.

Oh yes, there were some things said about it, I will not deny that.

I know that you can rattle off a bunch of scripture and you can tie it all together.

But maybe there is more going on here than you might realize.

Is it possible that you are afraid?

Is it possible that many of these things have been pounded into your head by some very ‘well meaning’ preachers and teachers over the years by either various church experiences, books, tapes, movies, maybe even parents, friends or relatives, and that you are scared senseless?

I’m just asking you if it is possible.

Now, mind you, I am not stating that there isn’t something to it all. There must be something to it all.

Please, brothers and sisters, accept this challenge:

Research the histories of these doctrines.

Study the historical contexts of the events transpiring which are relevant to the text in the scriptures that you incite.

Read all of the letters written to the churches by the apostles and see where their emphasis lies, where their focus is.

I can tell you where it will not be.

It will not be in running around, freaking out your friends and relatives with your spooky assumptions of how everything is about to be found as a catastrophic disaster.

Yes, there is darkness….

Yes, there is anti-christ….

Yes, the world is a strange and tainted place….

But where is your hope?

Where is your mind?

Is it on things above?

What is it set upon?

Are you faithful and trusting the Lord or are you fearful and unbelieving?

I do not ask these things in an accusative way, but perhaps you need encouragement.

Yes I get frustrated with the endless ‘downward spiral’ that you perpetually offer up to those around you!!!

Where is Jesus Christ in your life?

Where is He in your heart?

What is He doing in your soul?

Forgive me if this is out of place, but hear my heart.

Better yet, see if you can hear the Lord in this matter.

Grace and peace to your soul in the Lord Jesus Christ.