March 31, 2009

Israel's 1947-1948 Civil War

PHOTO of Israeli Soldier with Auschwitz Number on Arm Original caption: 1948- Jaffa, Israel- : He used to be No. 80620 in the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp. The number is indelibly stamped in his forearm for the world to see. But now he is a free man and he has a gun to defend his freedom. He is Aaron Stern, fighter with Israel's Haganah, who is shown on guard at Jaffa's Manshiem Quarter. Hundreds of other ex-numbers fight in Haganah for the precious thing whose value they learned behind barbed wire.

The most recent issue of The Quarterly Journal of Military History has as its feature story a piece by Benny Morris on Israel's 1947-1948 Civil War. It was an instructive read.

This summer I am hoping to find time to read his recent major work, 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War (It is in hardcover as well).

March 30, 2009

A Significant Reason Why the Church Shifted to Amillennialism 300 Years After Christ

There are a handful of historical reasons why after three hundred years the Church overall shifted away from premillennialism to amillennialism. Historian Richard Kyle encapsulates one of the most significant reasons:

"The rejection of apocalyptic [pre]millennialism [by later church fathers] must be seen in its proper context. Constantine had been converted to Christianity in 312, thus ending the persecution of Christians. The hope for the imminent* return of Christ remained strong as long as Christians were a persecuted minority. But when Christianity became the official religion in the Roman Empire during the fourth century, these [pre]millennial aspirations either declined or took new forms" [particularly amillennialism, which was promulgated by Augustine's teaching] (The Last Days are Here Again Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1998, pp. 20, 38-39)

(*By "imminent," the early Church did not believe in what is popularly known today as the pretribulational sense of the term. That is, pretribulationists believe that Christ's return cannot be imminent if prophesied events must occur before the rapture. The early Church held to the opposite (and Biblical) sense of the term in that the rapture was only imminent when certain events must occur first, such as the rise of Antichrist and the Great Tribulation—and that is exactly the Prewrath position.)

Click here to download a PDF for an excellent article, which unpacks other historical reasons for the emergence of Amillennialism a few centuries after Christ. It is titled, "Amillennialism: Examining its 'Origens'" by Gary Vaterlaus. In fact, send the PDF link to your Amillennial friends! I'd liked to really see Vaterlaus' article circulate out there. His article does not deserve to be packed away in the dusty archives.

March 29, 2009

Eschatology of Hell - A Place of Eternal Conscious Punishment

March 27, 2009

How Are You Doing on Your Crowns for the Eschaton?

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." - 2Cor 5:10 ESV

"According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- (13) each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (14) If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire." - 1Cor 3:10-15 ESV

There are five areas where we can gain crowns (στέφανος, stephanos):

Enduring Trials. "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him." - James 1:12

Loving his Appearing. "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." - 2Tim 4:8

March 26, 2009

Ministry YouTube Channel, and Jewish Music.

We have recently opened up a youtube channel here. There are ways to illustrate certain truths through video that optimize its instruction. So I intend to produce one or two videos a month and then go from there.

But I wanted to ask if anyone of you can direct me to some Jewish music artists who I could gain permission to use their music for some of our videos. If not, at least point me to some royalty-free Jewish music. I would appreciate that.

Thanks,
Alan

March 22, 2009

JunkYard Tribulation - A Short Film

Pretribulational pastors take heed! The following short film is a refreshing alternative to the Left Behind movies. The story is about a pretribulational pastor who finds himself in the midst of the Great Tribulation and consequently he realizes his teaching was false -- but it's too late. The pastor is confronted by an individual who's faith was destroyed by the pastor's previous pretribulational preaching. This short film was written and directed by John Burcham. There are two back-to-back segments to this film.

(You can also view both parts of the film in High Definition here and here.)

March 14, 2009

Here is a Result of the Abandonment of....

test blog post.

March 14, 2009

Revelation 3:10

In this brief seven-part series (50 minutes total), Charles Cooper unpacks the significance of this prophetic verse. Pretribulationists have used this proof-text as an attempt to support their system. But a closer examination will reveal that there is no defense for pretribulationism here.

March 11, 2009

Leading Pretrib Teacher Herman Hoyt Goes Ballistic When Asked About Prewrath

"And then, in a fit of rage, his other hand shot the contents of that glass into the air, everywhere—on people, table, walls, chairs."

I receive prewrath stories all the time, but the one that you are about to read rivals with the best of them. When the Prewrath position came out around 1990 the responses from Pretribulational teachers were (and still continues today) personal attacks on prewrath authors, dishonest caricatures of the Prewrath position, and everything else possible to avoid engaging meaningful Prewrath Biblical argumentation. These blunders by Pretibulational teachers has only encouraged untold numbers of ex-pretribbers to come over to the Prewrath camp.

When noted Pretribulational author and teacher Dr. Herman A. Hoyt was asked about the Prewrath position by an individual striving to be a Berean, Hoyt's behavior demonstrated that Pretribulationism lacks a Biblical response to the Prewrath position, as you will learn in the following story:

During my teenage years in the late 70's/early 80's, my dad and I would spend hours examining the system of pretribulationsm. We were loyal pretribulationists, to be sure, and my dad was infectiously interested in the Second Coming of Christ. We attended special preaching services by James Boyer, Herman Hoyt, Nathan Meyer, John Whitcomb—a host of popular dispensational preachers of the 1970's. We just wanted to understand how it all fit together. Many details remained persistently inconsistent, but our efforts to interpret those problems within the framework of pretribulationsm prevented us from answering our own questions.

After these preaching services, the attendees would ask questions. I noticed, even as a teenager, that the replies rarely seemed to actually "answer" the questions being asked. I also remember those questions seemed to deal most often with Matthew 24 and the Second Coming. Christians I knew could not help but connect 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 with the Second Coming. But we were taught that Paul's reference to the Second Coming was supposed to be incompatible with the Second Coming of Matthew 24. The explanations were vague—never clear and conclusive. "That's Jewish time" or "I won't want to be here then, and neither will you!" were the shallow and unbiblical answers we often heard regarding Matthew 24.

In June, 1990, my dad called on the phone—audibly enthused. "Have you read, The Prewrath Rapture of the Church?" "No," I answered. "I think it might answer the questions we have been asking."

Within a day, I had a copy of the book from the local Christian bookseller. Within 7 hours I had read the book, shocked that pretribulationism had been dismantled. In two weeks, the book binding was ruined from reading and re-reading. I bought eight more copies and handed out six at church, and one to my dad.

The interest spread in our local Grace Brethren church. We did not want to be duped, and this was so compelling of an argument that we wanted to have an earnest discussion with an "authority." So, men with connections to Grace Seminary summoned Dr. Herman Hoyt, former president of the seminary and distinguished professor of "everything," to come and visit with us on October 5, 1990 at 7:00pm in the living room of Mr. and Mrs. Dale Denlinger. We had no idea that being Bereans (i.e., searching the Scripture to see whether these things were so) was about to cause an eruption, literally.

The evening was attended by several men and their wives, including mine. My dad was there. After introductions, Dr. Hoyt launched into a speech which explained the whole impetus behind The Prewrath Rapture of the Church: money. Marvin Rosenthal was making money off a book. That was his whole reason why we should not agree with him. But we had read the book, and that was, of course, a non-answer. Our pastor brought the focus back to the question at-hand: "Was the system accurate? What are the specific problems?" Dr. Hoyt gave an answer that my dad and I joke about to this day. His one word answer, for the remainder of the evening, was "Gobbledygook."

"It's all just gobbledygook," he would repeat. That is exactly the word and the extent of the answer we received, from this esteemed Th.D. of one of the foremost evangelical seminaries in the nation at that time.

Sitting across from Dr. Hoyt, eager with all ears tuned in, I was more than disappointed. I wondered if the wrong questions were being asked, since the only answer he could muster was "gobbledygook." So, hearkening back to my own questions about the Second Coming and Matthew 24, I supposed that Dr. Hoyt might discuss the issue of the word parousia. I asked a simple question, "What does the word parousia mean, and how does that support pretribulationism better than prewrath?"

At that moment, the sun went dark, the moon turned to blood and stars fell from heaven.

Well, not quite.

What happened next was startling. Dr. Hoyt used his left hand to point directly at me, while his right hand held a full glass of water. He sat forward, and bellowed (this is a quote), "I know the Greek! Who does he think he is asking me? The problem with you is that you have not studied what I have!" And then, in a fit of rage, his other hand shot the contents of that glass into the air, everywhere—on people, table, walls, chairs. I sat there, momentarily stunned, and then embarrassingly amused (which didn't help) while Dr. Hoyt became so animated that his sweet wife had to hold him down in the chair while screeching to him, "Dear! Dear!"

As the hostess began to clean up the mess, Dr. Hoyt informed her, and the rest of us sitting in awkward silence, that he didn't need that glass of water anyway because he makes enough spit of his own.

This story is true. It is both funny and sad at the same time. So many Bible students, simply wanting to have clear, biblical explanations, have been on the receiving end of shallow and barking responses, instead of being instructed "with great patience" as Paul commanded Timothy. The fabric of God's Word is woven without frayed ends. We must diligently study the Word of God to know it personally, showing ourselves approved unto God.

by David Mohler

March 9, 2009

The Second Parousia of Our Lord

Charles Cooper explains in this lecture the vital importance of understanding the Greek term parousia, which underlies our English term for the "Second Coming." This presentation was given last October in O'Fallon Missouri at an Eschatology forum. For an extensive article that explains this term, click here. Also, Cooper unpacks the term parousia in chapter three of his book, God's Elect and the Great Tribulation: An Interpretation of Matthew 24:1-31 and Daniel 9.

Download as MP3

March 9, 2009

Prewrath Conference Update

I know that many of you have been asking about details of a national conference this year, and we appreciate your patience. We just ask you that you hold on a little bit longer until we square some things down so we can be certain.

Also for those in Eau Claire Wisconsin, I will be giving a one-day seminar on Prewrath this summer (I will be in Eau Claire part of the summer). It will be basically a "refresher" course on Prewrath, although by all means invite your pretrib friends. I am not going all out on advertising with radio and such this time (last time we did that we had a great showing of over 300 in attendance). The advertising will be word of mouth and through the blog here. This seminar will be geared for die-hard prewrathers who want a refresher, as well as learn to teach Prewrath more effectively in their orbit of Christian fellowship. I am looking for a venue at this time, and a date. There will be no cost except a love offering -- so I hope you have a lot of love :)

Thanks for your patience...

March 5, 2009

A Challenge for Pretribulationists

March 4, 2009

The Great Tribulation - It is Not the "Day of the Lord"

Charles Cooper explains the starting point, nature, and cutting off point of the Great Tribulation. This event that is associated with Antichrist's persecution against the Church is not to be confused with the event of the Day of the Lord's wrath, which follows after the Great Tribulation. This presentation was given last October in O'Fallon Missouri at an Eschatology forum.

Download as MP3

March 2, 2009

Daniel 9:24-27 - Daniel's 70 Weeks

Last October in O'Fallon Missouri, Charles Cooper was asked to participate in an Eschatology forum representing the Prewrath position. Thomas Ice represented the Pretribulational view, and Steve Gregg the Preterist position. There were about ten topics that were discussed and each position was allotted 15 minutes each to explicate their position on the topic at hand. Thanks to Brian Turner of Oil Station Ministries for organizing the event and providing us the audio.

The format was a positive presentation. That is, there would be no debate or critiquing the other respective positions. It would just be presentations. Cooper and myself were pushing hard for a dynamic interaction format instead. We did not want merely monologues, but dialogues since we are convinced that the locus of truth and accountability is found in interaction between the proponents to prevent theological traditions from "talking past each other." My experience is that the audience is mostly benefited from dialogues since it often brings out more substantive discussions. It's orderly, and that interaction often is very profitable for the audience to enjoy more meaningful discussion. And it's Biblical! "The first to state his case seems right, until his opponent begins to cross-examine him." Proverbs 18:17

Nevertheless, even though we did not get the interaction level that we desired, Cooper decided to participate since we know that in the long run through the audio that is provided many people who were not in attendance will hear his presentations. Also, the organizer has intimated to me that he is amendable for future opportunities of debate and other mediums of meaningful interaction that we desire.

So I will post Cooper's presentations over the course of time (10 topics, 15 minutes each), and we will utilize Thomas Ice and Steve Gregg's presentations for future radio programs to respond and interact with their own segments.

In the first session, Cooper prefaces a couple of remarks about interpretive principles and the structural framework of the book of Revelation. Then most of his time is spent explicating Daniel 9:24-27. For Cooper's detailed discussion and advanced new research on this locus classicus, he devotes the last third of his book: God's Elect and the Great Tribulation: An Interpretation of Matthew 24:1-31 and Daniel 9.

Download as MP3