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Published: 18 February 2016

No, this is not about the right way to position toilet paper on the roll (though over is proper).  This is about eschatology.  Eschatology is the “doctrine of last things.”  In my studies this past week I was reading an essay by D.A. Carson, (a really smart guy from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School).  He takes an “amillennial” approach on the doctrine of last things which means that he believes we are in the Kingdom of God now and that there will not be a literal 1,000 reign of Christ.  He believes in Tribulation events and looks forward to the Second Coming of Christ but would not agree that there is going to be a rapture before the Tribulation.  As I said, he’s a smart guy but I remain unconvinced that a premillennial approach is all wrong.  But, I am open to learning all I can about God’s Word and ways.  The part of the article I really liked was the warning against an over or under realized eschatology.  An over-realized eschatology causes one to expect heaven now (health, wealth and prosperity because we are God’s kids.)  An under-realized eschatology results in a failure to appreciate what is already ours in Christ—but not in possession yet.   The scholars in his “camp” are right about this.  There is an “already but not yet” element to who we are and what we have in Christ.  Believers are God’s kids already but we are not enjoying all the benefits…yet.  Believers are “saints” already but in many cases the evidence is scant…yet.  Believers are promised lives without pain, tears, loss, sadness and death but we are not there…yet.  If we fail to appreciate all we have in Christ right now, life is without hope.  If we think we should have it all now, life is frustrating.  Therefore we remain realistic about the ways things are right now and do all we can to make them better.  AND, we have great optimism about the future because we know, in Christ, that the best is yet to come.  Over or under?  Hopefully we are keeping our heads and hearts in the already/not yet confidence.

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Published: 11 February 2016

In 1988 I received a book in the mail titled “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988.”  I think that book was followed the next year with an 89th reason the Rapture would be in 1989…  If you are interested you can google the title and read the pdf on line.  Chart makers and date setters have always had material to work with when it comes to Bible Prophecy.  From Augustine to Jonathan Edwards to our present day, the subject of “end times” is an interest grabber.  Bible prophecy is quite fascinating but over the past 100 years it has also become quite divisive.  Throughout church history there have been “issues” but the subject of end time events has been a biggie of North American evangelicalism.  I grew up in a church that held to a “pre-tribulation and premillennial” position on end time events.  The principal advocate of this position in the early 1900’s was C.I. Scofield; I have three Scofield study Bibles.  I really thought that it was the only position that God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians could possibly hold to and that everybody else was just wrong.  The more I studied though, the more I realized that the people we quoted regularly about other important doctrines didn’t agree with that position.  This was a bit disconcerting and I have since learned (thankfully) that one’s view of the Rapture, the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom are not essential for right standing with God.  We are most certainly living in the last days.  But, given the wide diversity of interpretation of Matthew 24, 25, 1 and 2 Thessalonians and various places in Revelation I think there is still some mystery about how the whole plan of God is going to shape up.  This does not mean we abandon our study of those passages or relegate end time studies to quacks.  I have found over the past couple of weeks of study that there are wonderful truths in the teachings of Jesus and the apostles that often get overlooked in the search for superficial details.  According to the Apostle John, those who read and heed the Revelation are “blessed.”  What was meant as a blessing has become a source of division and head-scratching confusion.  Maybe we’re looking for the wrong things.  Believe it or not, previous to 1900, the church was far more unified on this subject.  I know God reveals some things progressively but I’m not sure that we’re really more enlightened than those who have gone before us.  I’m not saying we’re wrong, I’m just not convinced we are completely right.  So, as we head into Matthew 24 and 25 I plan to talk about both the historical and recent views of end time events.  I hope we will glean from this an appreciation for our brothers and sisters from other traditions and see more clearly the intentions of Jesus for His followers in the last days.