Previous accounts of Christian Reconstructionists have tended to focus on these believers’ theocratic vision of a future Christian polity rather than their separation from mainstream society. Today, Gribben concludes, these practitioners of “strategies of hibernation” may no longer be as marginal as . . . Continue reading →
Eschatology
Preparing For Persecution
Since becoming a pastor I’ve been convinced that one of my most important responsibilities it to preach and pray in a way that prepares people to suffer for the glory of God. Suffering – which is a wide and broad biblical category . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 182: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (25)—Peaceful Pilgrims
This is the 25th and final episode in the series, As It Was In The Days of Noah. When I began I thought I would cover both 1 and 2 Peter but I didn’t know that the series would stretch to 25 . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 181: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (24)—We Are Pilgrims Under Christ’s Lordship
With this episode we have almost reached the end of 1 Peter and in our passage (1 Pet 5:6–11) Peter turns again to one of his major themes: the Christian’s pilgrimage to the heavenly city under the Lordship of Christ. This passage, . . . Continue reading →
A Brief Note On The History Of Amillennialism
There have always been three main types of Christian eschatology: chiliasm (historic premillennialism), postmillennialism, and amillennialism. From about the middle of the 19th century there developed subsets of chiliasm (e.g., pre-tribulational premillennialism etc). The same cannot be said of the nomenclature used to describe the views. Continue reading
Heidelcast 177: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (21)—Be Not Surprised (2)
This series is a study of what Scripture says about eschatology, i.e., the relation of heaven to earth and last things. We began with a survey of what Scripture says generally and now we are working through 1 Peter. We have come . . . Continue reading →
Silent Saturday
During this season, which many Christians call “Holy Week,” I am perversely drawn to Saturday.
Heidelcast 176: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (20)—Be Not Surprised
Or Why Peter Was An Amillennialist
This series is a study of what Scripture says about eschatology, i.e., the relation of heaven to earth and last things. We began with a survey of what Scripture says generally and now we are working through 1 Peter. We have come . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 175: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (19)—Living In Light Of The Coming Of Christ
This series is a study of what Scripture says about eschatology, i.e., the relation of heaven to earth and last things. We began with a survey of what Scripture says generally and now we are working through 1 Peter. We have come . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 174: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (18): Applying The Analogy To Preaching, Sacraments, Baptism, And Salvation
The argument of the series is that this is Peter’s over-arching picture or paradigm for the way New Covenant believers are to think about their place in the world and about the return of Christ. There will be no literal 1,000 year . . . Continue reading →
Will Christians Be Taken In A Secret Rapture?
As a young and newly converted evangelical, I was quickly introduced to the evangelical pop sub-culture that included Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). In 1969 the famous CCM artist Larry Norman released “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” …The premise of the song . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast In The Cantina On Common Grace, Nature And Grace, Eschatology, And Christian Liberty
The Presbycast guys are at it again, this time they have set up an online Star Wars Cantina. It is a rough neighborhood but they took good care of me and I escaped unhurt. I cannot speak for all the other guests . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 170: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (16): Life Among The Pagans (Again)
This is episode 16 in the series, As It Was In The Days Of Noah, where we’re thinking about eschatology, about what 1 Peter teaches us about end times and about life in between the ascension of Christ and his return. According . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 169: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (15): Living Among The Pagans
The chapter divisions we see in our Bibles were not present originally. Stephen Langton (c. 1150–1228), a Paris theologian and, later, Archbishop of Canterbury, is usually credited with introducing the divisions that we know. This is one place where we see the . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 168: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (14): Peter’s Theology Of Suffering
There is a thread running through the book of Isaiah, which some have called the Gospel of Isaiah. It is that of the servant. The prophet himself is described as the servant (עבד) of Yahweh (Isa 20:3). David is also Yahweh’s servant . . . Continue reading →
The Dispensational Playbook Again? There Is A More Biblical, Historic Way
“Now we are a global world. And that is a setup that we’ve been waiting for through redemptive history since the Lord promised that there would come, in the future, an Antichrist…who would have a global government.” He told the crowd this . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 167: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (13): Submitting To Nero
Those who study such things tell us that, across the globe, no religious group is more persecuted than Christians. Those who profess the Christian faith have been all but driven out of Iraq. Christians in China suffer in untold ways. Christian in . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 166: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (12): The Israel Of God
It is the Dispensational-premillennial belief that God made a promise to Abraham (Genesis chapters 15 and 17) that he would give to him an earthly, national people with the result that, in the Dispensational view, it has always been God’s intention to . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 165: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (11): The Elect Stone And Elect Stones
There is a strain of modern evangelical theology that looks forward to the literal rebuilding of the Israelite temple and to the re-institution of sacrifices, albeit, in that case, memorial sacrifices. This passage should help us see one of the important reasons . . . Continue reading →
Heidelcast 164: As It Was In The Days Of Noah (10): Living Graciously In Light Of Grace
Travel broadens our horizons. It helps us to see that this is a great big world filled with an amazing variety of people, cultures, and wonders. In that way, traveling can even be transformative. When we return home we we are not . . . Continue reading →