Question of the day ??
Do you have an end times theology, and if so, what is it?
posted by Greg Hazelrig @ 7:17 AM
6 comments
BroGreg.com
Thoughts on GOD and TRUTH (found somewhere in the middle of ultra-conservatism and flaming liberalism)
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
About Me
- Name: Greg Hazelrig
- Location: Hernando, Mississippi, United States
I have been a pastor in the United Methodist Church since 1999 when I accepted the call to preach. Today I pastor Bakers Chapel UMC in Hernando, MS.
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6 Comments:
How on earth could I propose to have a theology when Jesus stated that even He didn't know.
Mat 24:36 "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Likewise Paul:
1Th 5:2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Thieves don't anounce their plans.
If I were to put forth an opinion, I would opine that the end times began when Christ entered our world.
I agree Tony. There is so much hype though with the Left Behind series and ministers claiming to interpret Revelation and so forth to predict what's going to happen. What most people don't understand is that this contemporary thinking of a rapture/tribulation period like written about in the Left Behind books is only a couple hundred years old. Augustine and others before him didn't interpret the 2nd coming of Christ in this way.
I agree that the tribulation/end times began after Christ died and we're always living in them. One day Jesus will come back and separate the sheep from the goats and take those that have accepted him with him.
Greg,
I agree with all that has been said in the comments here. It is wrong for Christians to sit on their "blessed assurance" and wait on the Rapture of the Church to come. That is a horrible sin. We are to spread the Gospel. We are to live a Christian life and by that example bring as many of the lost into the fold as possible. Why? To worship the Lord and ..... so they may flee the Wrath that the Bible says is coming. Just because Christ says that no one but the Father know the day or the hour, doesn't mean that it isn't going to happen. It means exactly that, only the Father knows the exact day and hour.
For 1900 years, the large parts of the Book of Daniel and the Revelation of Jesus Christ have been "mystery" books because they made no sense to the contemporary Christians of those years. The Book of Revelation refers to the nation of Israel, it refers to events happening that are witnessed Globally at the same time, it refers to a Global Economic system with some "mark" that keeps folks from buying or selling, it refers to a revived European Political Power. As recently as the end of WWII, none of these predictions made sense to Christians and were dismissed as symbolism.
That is no longer the case. The Nation of Israel does exist. Jerusalem is in her possession. Global satellites and communications have become the norm, not the exception. Electronic banking is now the norm, and biometric chips and implants are now beening seen as the "state of the art" in security and fraud protection. You can hardly walk a street in a major American or European city without been on camera. The references in the Revelation that were for 1900 years seen as symbolic of Nero Rome, are now suddenly and rapidly becoming real. I believe that to be the case.
Does that mean that I am sitting on my butt waiting on the Rapture? Does that mean that I have quit contributing to my 401K? Does that mean I don't have to think about living the Christian life? God Forbid.
That is not what Christ taught. That is not what the Apostles wrote about. That is not what 2000 years of Church history teaches. But that doesn't mean we are to ignore the obvious either. Open your eyes and look around at the world we are in. Read the Books of Daniel and Ezekiel and others, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ, then just sit down with Time Magazine or the Sunday edition of your newspaper for a few weeks and read the headlines. Only a fool could ignore the similarities.
If I ignore the lost and only sit around reading the headlines, then I am a clockwatcher. But we are to do both. Otherwise, why would Chirst give his Olivet Discourse? Why would the Revelation of Jesus Christ been accepted into the Canon? God has his reasons...
Sorry to ramble on.
dannyg,
Your question confused me. "What would you being doing differently?" I don't understand the question. Do you mean is my Christian Walk any different whether or not I believe that we are on the cusp of the End of the the Age? Sorry, it has been a pretty long day at work.
Keith
I tend to favor the "better reporting" idea, dannyg. I've done some reading, as well as some interviewing of my elders, and it leads me to believe things are no worse now than they were two generations ago -- we just have paid professionals on TV to point them out and help us panic.
Oh, and Keith, it's "The Revelation to John" or "The Revelation of St. John the Divine" in the translations I have here at home, not the Revelation of Jesus Christ... that took place in the Gospels and continues to take place every day in the lives of Christ's people.
Dog,
In my King James Bible, it is titled, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." Just like Rev. 1:1 begins with.
You are also correct, I commonly call it "the Revelation of St. John the Devine."
I went to Catholic school and they simply call the book, the Apocalypse.
As far as I'm concerned, who cares what you call it. It is the story of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the whole world as Lord and King of Heaven and the Earth. I agree that this took place in the Gospels and continues to this day, but only to those who choose to be believers, not to the entire world.
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