A former pastor of mine from way-back, George Cuff, sent me an email today encouraging his friends and associates to read this article about David Jeremiah’s new series on the One World Order.  I am guessing this is going to be a hit series because of current world events, the policies of the Obama Administration, and the many prophecies found in the Bible pointing to such a governing model.

Dr. Jeremiah has stated this assignment is “…perhaps the most difficult I have received from the Lord.”  And for good reason.  I do not know of any other popular Christian teacher who has covered this topic, although many have taught on the books of Daniel and Revelation.  And why would you want to?  You’ll certainly be branded as an extremist or conspiracy nut.  Kudos to him for taking it on.

The New (or One) World Government is real, inevitable, and evil.  It is global socialism cooked up by power hungry elitists and politicians from all over the globe.  It is evil because socialism at it’s heart is anti-God.  Karl Marx, the father of socialism called religion “the opiate of the people”, and so a devotion to a higher power is not on their top-ten list.  They would have you look to the Government for your guidance and welfare, not the Creator of the Universe.  Have you noticed the way your rights are being eroded in favor of global security, the global economic meltdown, global warming, and pig viruses?

Those seeking global power to govern are not waiting for us to decide if we want it; it’s already here.  If you are a Christian who has no interest in the rise of global governance, you had better take your stand now, as Dr. Jeremiah is doing, before it’s too late.

What else can Christians do?  Most importantly, you can pray.  You can resist the movement towards relinquishing your God given and the Constitutional rights of the country you live in (if your country has a Constitution).  If you live here, in the United States, you need to pressure your elected officials put a stop to this nonsense.

Listen to Dr. Jeremiah’s series.  I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared…

My wife and I recently took the kids on a cross-country vacation which gave me a chance to stick her behind the wheel so I could do some reading.  My choice of material for the first 600 miles was an article written by F. Leron Shults titled “Reforming Ecclesiology in Emerging Churches”.  It took only the first 20 miles to learn I do not want anything he is selling.

In a postmodern mode of thinking, there are no absolutes, or at least they will say there “might not be” any absolutes.  Many things you have been taught or learned on your own is up for grabs to pick apart.  They are in the business of deconstructing everything, from how we colonized America, to whether the Apostles were actually really people.  It reminds me of something a famous serpent once said “Did God actually say ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

 Emergents hold tolerance as the ultimate virtue but they are every bit as aggressive and ruthless when it comes to promoting their ideology.  And if you disagree with them, you are called homophobic, fundamentalist, mean-spirited, or even racist.

Back to what I learned from Leron Shults’ article.

The article explains the goal of the emerging church: redefine the nature and task of the church in the world as traditionally focused on being “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” and instead think about the church being ”multiple, embedded, particular, and hospitable”.  He also touches on the reasons he thinks a statement of faith for the emerging church is not necessary.

Whatever else you may think, the emerging church is not biblical.  It’s leaders, in my opinion, are a group of people using a false image of Christ (yes, you could even say an anti-Christ) to promote the advancement of liberalism.  Their gospel is not about preaching Christ, to free people from sin using the Word of God; but rather, to preach the tenets of liberal socialism weilding the weapons of class warfare along the lines of race, class, and gender.  Find the article online, read it for yourself, it’s all in there.

In case you don’t already know, emergents use that term to describe themselves because they are always emerging; they believe learning and living a life according to God’s principles needs constant redefinition based on the current culture.  So they never fully arrive, they are always changing and regrouping their strategy.  So much for the Bible being the end-all for God’s plan and explanation of all things.

That is precisely why they cannot and never will release a statement of faith.  It goes against the grain of “emerging”.  Only those who know what they believe in will dare formulate a statement defining it.  They would never tell you as much, but they don’t know what on earth they believe in.

The first step (only second to prayer) any good Christian would be wise to take is to realize the emerging church movement is dangerous and it is something to be confronted at every turn.  It’s wrapped in such delightful and soft-handed packaging that too many Christians pass it off as just a bunch of really nice people trying to proclaim the gospel in a really sensitive and loving way.  It is not.  It is anti-Christ, you only need to study what the leaders are writing to figure that out for yourself.

I was made aware of this while reading a post on WorldNetDaily (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107816 )  Joel Richardson, the author of the new book “The Islamic Antichrist” says of McLaran “He is not fasting for the salvation of his Muslim friends, instead he is seeking through the practice of this Islamic ritual to promote ‘the common good, together with people of other faith traditions’”.

This is something I have come to expect from the “emergent church” movement that McLaren is a part of.

In case you have no idea what I am talking about when I refer to the “emergent church”, I call it Liberal-Postmodern-Christianity.  There is a softening of the character of God where his strength, and his justice takes a back seat.  The teachings of the Apostles is scrutinized in a manner that opens the possibility of alternate interpretations of scripture; as though the Apostles may have somehow got a few things wrong.  The idea of hell as an eternal place of suffering for those who reject Christ is dodged and avoided.  And there is great emphasis on topical sermons aimed at practical living, reaching your potential, the acceptance of other life-style choices, and other pep-talkish jargon.

So, when I read that McLaren and his flock will be observing the month of Ramadan I was not infuriated beyond what I had already been since becoming aware of this movement.  This is a cancer within the church, and it should be called out and met directly with the Word of God and prayer by all who see it for what it is: a falling away from the teaching of the Prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles.

Now if you think the McLaren’s of the world are the only ones falling for this “let’s all get along and respect and love each other and love each other’s god and worship together and sing Kumbaya” crap, you should know the pope thought it a good idea to remove his shoes and say a prayer in the Istanbuls Blue Mosque during his 2006 visit to Turkey.  And while speaking this year at the King Hussein bin Talal Mosque in Jordan he is quoted as saying he is “promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam.”

What ever happened to the idea of being salt and light in the world, what happened to the sense of urgency that all who do not believe in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for our sins will parish in eternal damnation?  It has been replaced with the philosophy that to get along is better than to divide, to come alongside is better than holiness (holiness means “set apart”).

Do you know that as a Christian you are not permitted to share the gospel or evangelize to Muslims if you are in a Muslim country?  They do not permit it.  And if they find out you are a Christian missionary they most likely will not let you into their country.  How’s that for Kumbaya/Charlie Brown/everyone just love everyone?

There is plenty of tolerance in the world for everything other than the old-school Bible believing Christian.

Speak the truth in love, that’s what we are called to do; not get along.  I think God’s word makes that clear.

Some verses to ponder:

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. Jas 4:4

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For awhat partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or bwhat fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty.”

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001, S. 2 Co 6:14-7:1

Romans 15:1-9 (ESV)

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order  that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.

This is a pretty awesome piece of scripture and relates to the discussion of dispensationalism.  It says that whatever was written beforehand in the Scriptures was written for our hope, and the Scripture is for instruction and encouragement.  We are also told to glorify God together with one voice, and that Christ was a servant to the circumcised to confirm the promises to the patriarchs.

So in Christ we have the confirmation of the promises God gave to Israel, and so it could be said there is nothing else Israel is to be given except Jesus and the eternal life in his blood.  This is out of step with what dispensationalists believe, since in their reckoning Israel still has the promise to inhabit the borders laid out in the promises to Abraham, and will eventually occupy a rebuilt temple, with God’s blessing.

Are we not also encouraged to glorify God with one voice?  And I do not see in the text a reason to believe there is the voice of Israel glorifying God in their way, and the voice of the Church glorifying God in their way.  But we are all one voice.  The text preceding Romans 15 is referring to the weak who still feel like they need to conform to what was written beforehand (the law) in matters of what or what not to eat.  So Paul is saying in this passage “Hey, the ancient writings are not meant to trip you up or enslave you to eating certain things.  They point to Christ and he fulfills them, so lets all (Jew and Gentile believers) with one voice praise Jesus”.

From there I found myself reading all kinds of commentaries about that part of Ezekiel and I kept running into the term “Dispensational Theology”.  It seems I must now figure out what I think about dispensationalism before I can decide my take on the Ezekiel 40 temple vision.

Dispensationalism came about in the early 1800′s from a guy named John Darby, according to one source; this same source(see http://poweredbychrist.com/Pretrib_Rapture_Dishonesty.html ) also claims the idea of the rapture came from a woman in Scottland named Margaret Macdonald in the early 1800′s (this could be problematic since she is alledged to have been into some sorcery-type stuff).  There are many on the Internet who claim to debunk the MacDonald controversy and to explain their thoughts on the rapture and dispensationalism (see http://www.raptureready.com/rr-margaret-mcdonald.html )

These are just two of the zillions of places on the web where dispensationalism is either defended or warned against.

My concern with the whole question is I can see it has a bearing on how I view the time in which I am living and raising my family, it affects my view of Israel and what is going on in the Middle East, it effects the way I explain salvation and God’s plan for the world, and it tends to affect how I relate to Jesus in prayer.

There is obviously no clear-cut answer.  Otherwise Christians would have all been swayed one way or the other on the issue.  Instead there are large divisions within the church about these things, with the trend these days tending towards the dispensationalist view, including the rapture of the church.  But hey, sometimes things take awhile to be figured out and exposed.  My pastor says of things pertaining to the interpretation of scripture  ”If it’s new it can’t be true, and if it’s true it can’t be new”.

Let me tell you where I stand right now.  I never even knew what dispensational theology was, except for a short one minute conversation from an elder after church one day.  I still do not know what side of the issue he was on.  I always had questions about what is the future of Israel, and doesn’t the New Testament say we are all the same if we are in Christ?  I knew what Tim LaHaye was saying and since I read Hal Lindsey’s book “Late Great Planet Earth” I was familiar with all the end-times stuff with the Middle-East.  I really respect David Jeremiah and recently heard a study of his on the radio of the book of Daniel.  I also had read my big thick study bible lots of times and the study notes matched up with what everyone else was saying.

Only recently did I discover this view of Israel is new to the scene.  Certainly not new to me, since I was only born a few decades ago, but in the span of Church history the dispensationalist teachings of all those I just mentioned above are not very old.  I was never exposed to a different view until recently receiving a copy of Wayne Grudem’s book “Systematic Theology”.  In his book Wayne lays out the case for the non-dispensational view–that Israel is now the Church, and that the rapture is a biblical stretch (those are my words not his).

Try that sometime.  Take something you have held all your life and try to see it from a different angle.  It has been very eye-opening to look at the world and scripture with the belief that me, I, the Church, is the true Israel.  It almost feels even today as I write this like I am slandering “God’s Holy people Israel” and how could I do that?  God may strike me with lightning.  Do you know how ridiculous that is?  Is that what Jesus and Paul taught in the New Testament?How has that effected what I think about what’s going on in the Middle East?  I have programmed myself to venerate and almost idolize the nation of Israel, when there is evidence to see that Jesus went to great lengths to teach there is no difference.  Read what Jesus tells the Samaritan woman about where God is to be worshiped, in John 4:21-26 (notice the slight curve-ball he throws when he says “salvation is from the Jews”, what does that mean? a case for dispensationalism?)   See Gal 4:21 through 5:6, where Paul is ticked off about those who try to tell the gentiles they need to become more Jewish.

Think of how the popular teaching of Jesus’ day totally misread the scriptures about the Messiah.  Do you think the mistreatment of God’s word cannot still happen today.  Which is another interesting facet to this issue.  Some would argue that with the Holy Spirit we are now able to rightly interpret the Bible.  I wonder though, why it would take until the 1800′s for God’s people to finally get it right?

One last example questioning the idea of despensationalism I found here: http://www.albion.edu/ford/stroud/ritter/The-Dangers-of-Dispensationalism.pdf

So it begins.

I am constantly reading the Bible and formulating my perspective on things.  Lately it’s been in the area of dispensationalism and whether or not I subscribe to it (more on that in my next post).  Before that, I was very into Ezekiel 40 and the chapters about the temple he describes.  Prior to that, it was probably my question about Islam’s role in the prophecies and whether there is a link.

My wife can tell you how my mind goes from one thing to the next.  So many evenings after the kids are asleep I’ll sit with my wife in the living room and lay out the latest thing I’m thinking about.  She was a theology minor in college, and so we both like to talk about this kind of stuff.

Anyway, that’s about it.  That’s what this blog is about.