Category: Theory

Three Viewpoints of Eschatology

For my students…

There are three points of view one can adopt when considering the return of Jesus.

The first is to believe that the world is going to get worse and worse until Jesus comes back, when, He will judge the world and pour out His wrath on sinners. Currently, many people who lean to this viewpoint believe the return of Christ is near. Mostly in the west, where Christianity is being abandoned, will you find people holding this view.

Second, you can say that God already poured out His wrath on sinners two thousand years ago, onto Jesus, and after Jesus rose from the dead we began to live in a new creation, and the world has been getting better and will continue to do so until Christ’s return. People who hold to this view tend to believe that the return of Christ is many years away, possibly thousands of years away.

And third, one can believe that, just like riding a roller coaster, sometimes the world will be good, and sometimes not. Jesus is coming back, but the roller coaster ride won’t end till He does and it won’t indicate when He will.

Technically speaking, the first is called Premillennialism, the second is Postmillennialism, and the third is Amillennialism.

Obviously these are very brief descriptions, and there are variations to each viewpoint.

The term “millennium” is found in Revelation 20, and refers to a thousand year reign of Christ. In the first viewpoint the millennium (taken to be a literal thousand years) comes after Christ’s return and takes place on the earth. With the second viewpoint, the millennium (usually not taken as a literal thousand years) will happen before Christ’s return and will take place on the earth. And in the third, the millennium (not a literal thousand years) is happening now, but in heaven.

The Power to Protest

If anyone were to ask my advice as to when one should organize a protest against something, I would say, “Only when you are powerless to do anything else. Because, if you do have the power to change the situation, and yet still resort to protesting, then your protest is only self-serving — you don’t really care about changing anything.”

Is the community you grew up in poor? Is there a high drop out rate in the schools? Is there a high fatherless rate in the families? What can you do to change that? How about starting some big brother/big sister programs? Or, some after school tutoring programs? Some sports programs?

If you don’t try any of those things, and go straight for protesting in the streets, blaming others, then I have to question your sincerity when you say you care.

Kingship 101

I will sing of mercy and justice; 

To You, O Lord, I will sing praises. 

I will behave wisely in a perfect way. 

Oh, when will You come to me? 

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 

I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; 

I hate the work of those who fall away; 

It shall not cling to me. 

A perverse heart shall depart from me; 

I will not know wickedness. 

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, 

Him I will destroy; 

The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, 

Him I will not endure. 

My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, 

That they may dwell with me; 

He who walks in a perfect way, 

He shall serve me. 

He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; 

He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence. 

Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land, 

That I may cut off all the evildoers 

from the city of the Lord. 

~Psalm 101 (NKJV)

Keys to the Book of Job

The first key to understanding Job is to know that Job’s destiny (as is the same for all of us) was to be a son of God. All the suffering he endured was to mature him and prove him to be that son of God.

Job was to trust God above all, and not base his faith on dotting all the i’s or crossing all the t’s. 

Job represents himself, all of Old Testament Israel, and all of the Church today.

I have never suffered as Job did. I think only those living in a war zone would come close. But, every time I have gone through difficult circumstances, and trusted God, I came out the other side more mature and more of a son of God than before.

A Summary of the Actions of the Future President

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For some reason, which seemed good to him at the time, Barak Obama installed a self destruct button into the desk in the Oval Office which will, when pushed, destroy life in America as everyone knows it.

Donald Trump, if elected, will do his best never to push the button. He really doesn’t want to push it. However, political scientists have determined that there is a 70% chance that he will push it. It won’t be done on purpose of course, but Trump will blunder somehow and, in a single act of carelessness, destroy America.

Perhaps, while eating lunch, he’ll forget the true purpose of the button, and push it thinking it will call in the servants to bring more hot sauce for his tacos. Or, maybe one of the life size gold statues of himself will fall on to the desk, crush it, and activate the self destruct sequence. Or maybe, when the American people are angry with him, he’ll post a picture of himself on Twitter with his finger only an inch away from the button including the text message: “I’ll do it America. So help me. I’ll do it”. Then, after sending the tweet, the phone will slip out of his greasy fingers and hit the button. We just don’t know.

Hopefully, Trump will surround himself with people with quick reflexes to stop him. Perhaps they’ll appoint full time button watchers to remain in the Oval Office at all times to protect the nation.

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, can’t wait to get into the office and hit that button. After her victory, when all the celebrating is finished, she will religiously act out a ritual she’s been planning for the last eight years. She will walk into the Oval Office alone and quietly close the door behind her. She will walk around the room with a satisfactory smile on her face. She’ll raise her arms to waist height, spin around a few times and say, while cackling, “It’s mine. It’s all mine.” She’ll sit at the desk, lean back, and nod her head as she surveys the office again. Then, clapping her hands three times, a team of lesbian feminists, wearing #shoutyourabortion t-shirts, will parade into the room and encircle the desk. Hillary will lift her hands and the followers of Sappho will begin clapping and cheering. She will extend her finger. The cheering will grow louder. Then, Hillary will slowly bring her finger down to the button, close her eyes, and with an orgasmic expression on her face, push it, and hold it for several seconds. The lesbian feminists will screech with the same pleasure. The rest is x-rated.

Or… they could just uninstall the button. But, no one will think of that.