DANGER: POINTLESS POST AHEAD...

It is a dangerous thing to blog without a point, a reason to vent, a source of inspiration. Why?  Because, on a day like today, when it is more of a diary than a blog, I may engage in self-talk rather than a discussion, as it were.

Kind of like hitting a few tennis balls around...

FOLLOW-UP

Well, I just watched said-video (see previous post below). I cannot embed it here, so you will have to (or, you may want to) watch it over there.

Let me just conclude by quoting what I find to be a hilariously funny description by Justin Taylor (author of said blog in previous post) of Rob Bell as being "studiously ambiguous in terminology." Having seen his videos in meetings at church, I can fully attest to this unvarnished truth! I have never read or heard a better way to describe his teaching style.

That is a classic case of an intellectually honest assessment. Justin is being charitable here, as we all should be. That is the hilarity of it! Rather than engaging in emotional name-calling, Taylor calls it like he and most people see it.

Thanks, Justin.

THE POWER OF SOCIAL NETWORKING

Holy cow! (A good former Roman Catholic can say that guiltlessly.)  But I digress.

I want to state somehow the vast importance of Internet communication, particularly social networking (Twitter, Facebook, email, and blogs).  This is how many beliefs are discovered, cultivated, and, when necessary, abandoned.

Here is the path I followed to find a seismic issue brewing among the Christian community in real life and cyberspace: universalism. Not only that, but a universalism seemingly promoted if not taught or embraced by a leading preacher in the Christian world: Rob Bell.

I am not willingly engaging in name-dropping/name-calling or whatever. But I feel I am standing on good, solid ground when I post these links to show you how I found a very hot issue - hell - at the very core of his and others' error, namely, that there is no such thing.

I want to retrace my "steps" from my email alert that my income tax return had been accepted, and that I could "tweet" and "Facebook" my glee for all the world to see how TaxACT Online got me there!

Naturally, I clicked on both links, the one leading to Facebook, and the other leading to... Twitter! Here, I found among my tweets one from someone who posted a link to "The Lesson of David Swing." This blog post is about false teaching in the church, and has a link to "information" about Rob Bell being, or showing signs of being, a universalist-- one who embaces the false doctrine that no one goes to hell, and everyone goes to Heaven. So the gospel is an exercise in fertility?

Now, this article riveted my attention! It is found in the Gospel Coalition blog, and has updates at the end which shed more light (see Updates 2 and 3 at the bottom of it). It also includes a video of Rob Bell saying things which made (and make) many a knowledgeable Christian sit up and take note, though not in a good way-- but in an alarming way!

I have yet to watch the video. I will do so now and comment forthcoming...

WORLDVIEW LEGACY

I am seriously considering changing the name of this blog to "Worldview Legacy" because:

1. No one reads this blog.
2. ...and number two, this blog will be up here on the "Internets" forever!!!

With that said, let me parenthetically express my dismay that Internet Explorer did not allow my toolbar in Blogger.com to function correctly, to wit, embolden my font! Well, I just closed IE and opened Google Chrome instead! Fine.

As I was saying, this blog is turning into a legacy, what with almost seven years of posting goin' on, I can't help but think I'm onto something!

God bless and save the Internet in its totality!

THE FUN CONTINUES

Here at Worldview Window, we pride ourselves (myself) on accurate, amateur, blog journalism. Whenever we can, we uncover a mystery by supplying relevant, hard-hitting links to news sources and commentary worth reading about.

Now for the meat. By way of Rush Limbaugh's site, I found an article in The UK Daily Mail Online which, as usual, does nothing to vindicate the anti-"Truther/Birther" movement (those who wish to put "President" Obama's constitutionality, or lack thereof, to rest). Once again, no light has been shed, no clarity has been achieved. But a lot of hot air and obfuscation has been perpetuated in this account as well. What else can "they" do but stall and throw nebulous statements of certainty at the issue.

I am still not convinced that Obama is not hiding the fact (I think) that he was not, in fact, born in the USA. Why the secrecy, obfuscation, and controversy over a supposedly settled issue?

Because it is not settled. Yet. Stay tuned.

OK, WORDPRESS IS COOL

Well, I just wanted to chime in on WordPress. I like it, for what it's worth. It's free, like Google Blogger. But it has shortcomings in features available (for free) which Blogger provides (again, for free).

This is the world of choices we live in, thank God.

VANISHING POINT

Today I had a pleasant surprise: I found out my former boss READS MY BLOG!!! Now I have three readers (myself, a good friend, and he)!

All kidding aside, I know there are also robot programs that comment on my blogposts with nonsense or advertisements. That's encouraging. Even "code" likes my blog!

So, why do I call this blog post "Vanishing Point?" Because I feel (and think) that there is a time when a blog's usefulness (marginal utility) diminishes to zero. That is, its relevance to the blog owner's life and concerns--be they political, religious, economic, social, and so on-- may change. Even though he or she may feel differently about it, the readership (thank God for them) may still enjoy and derive some intangible benefit from it. This is good, and is an encouragement to me the author as a point of inspiration to continue the endeavor.

Which brings me to my point: out of sheer thankfulness, I can now focus my efforts--such as they are (LOL)-- on a wider audience.  Fifty percent wider! Now that's progress.

STILL OPERATIC ON UBUNTU

I seem to be in a Linux (Ubuntu) frame of mind lately, as far as blogging is concerned. Even though I am listening to American Vision's Gary DeMar speak about Matthew 24, I am still blogging the praises of Opera and Ubuntu (see previous posts). Both Linux and eschatology are fascinating and interesting.
Mind you, there are drawbacks to running Linux. There is no Internet Explorer in a Linux world (yet). There are limits to browser functionality in Linux versus Windows, which is why I praise Opera so much lately. I am finding out just how limited the other browsers are, and how Opera overcomes those limitations (usually).
Thanks for visiting.

SURPRISED BY OPERA

As a retro journey to Linux excursions-gone-by, I am blogging about a pleasant surprise I experienced with Opera (the web browser) in Ubuntu Linux (which I have previously blogged about).

It seems that Opera has out-performed other browsers on my Linux desktop (Firefox, Chrome). In terms of media players (extensions/add-ons that play in the browser window), Opera is, well, a pleasant surprise. It has proven again and again that it makes playing media on different websites possible when other browsers fail.

Another key feature which has proven its functionality in this context is Lastpass. Opera installs this tremendous add-on for you, once you have visited the appropriate page and clicked on the easy-to-follow links and popup boxes. With the other browsers, you need a certificate in Linux-based file management to install this and other add-ons programs. :(

Well, that's all for now. Listening to The Antipodean Hour is one of my favorite occasional Preterist Pastimes.

LIGONIER IN UBUNTU

The itch to blog is sometimes a difficult one to scratch. But I usually enjoy doing so at the playing of some video which I find edifying, such as that found at Ligonier.org. Mind you, this link will probably expire before or soon after you access it. 

"Ubuntu," for the unwashed masses, is a version of Linux which I installed (somehow) on my Windows-based PC. I am playing a video from Ligonier's Together for the Gospel 2006 Conference. Kind of boring, but it fills a void.

Well, thanks for reading.

OPERA IN UBUNTU?

This is a test post using Opera in Ubuntu.

REDISCOVERING LINUX AGAIN!!!

In the past, I have used this blog to chronicle my ventures into open source software. Perhaps a scan of posts-gone-by in my Blog Archive (on the right side, scroll down a bit) will yield the accounts of my brief excursion into Linux, which ended in utter disgust because of its continual need for fixing and my endless investigations into how to do so. "Exasperating" is the word I would use here.

But, lo and behold, Ubuntu has redeemed Linux from my OS anathema. It can be a little slow at times. In fact, my computer "crashed" (froze) while I was using Ubuntu to surf and play multimedia. Oh well, I just restarted it (rebooted in Ubuntu) and it has been performing admirably for the most part.

I am playing a media file in Firefox using Ubuntu's plug-in player, the name of which escapes me, and I hope to revisit it for future reference. RhythmBox is the iTunes equivalent for Ubuntu. Very impressive features.

Though simpler looking, Ubuntu Linux can be extremely entertaining and more fun to run than Windows. This has been a free review of Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support).

OH, NO, I'M NOT EVANGELICAL!!!

Here is the latest snippet of discouragement which I encountered while exploring Praxis Church online. I found it in their study guide to the sermon, "The Survivor's Guide to the Apocalypse."

"Debates about eschatology (the study of end times) go back to the very beginning of the Christian faith. In fact, Paul deals with such discussions in 2 Timothy 2:18. Men named Hymenaeus and Philetus were teaching that Jesus’ second coming had already occurred and so the people were waiting in vain. Paul calls this teaching “irreverent babble” that could lead people astray. Ironically, I think much of the recent debate about Eschatology could be described the same way." [emphases mine]

Here is the clincher:

"Full preterism—which insists that every prophecy and promise in the NT was fulfilled by a.d. 70—is not a legitimate evangelical option, for it:

• denies Jesus’ future bodily return;
• denies the physical resurrection of believers at the end of history; and
• denies the physical renewal/re-creation of the present heavens and earth (or their replacement by a “new heaven and earth”).

However, preterists who (rightly) insist that these events are still future are called “partial preterists.” [bullet points added]

Why does a sincere challenge by fellow Christians toward preterism engender this struggle within me to run back to futurism? Can I be that wrong, that I am utterly deluded by preterism's simplicity-- its logical conclusions, its water-tight explanations, its contrarian reputation, its minority report among evangelicals? I don't know.

I know condemnation is not from the Lord to His people. I know who it comes from.

Still, I feel I must justify my position, such as it is, or abandon it completely. So help me God.

POST-ELECTION POLITICAL PARODY

Allow me to indulge in a little irreverent revelry after a huge victory for conservative/Christian/Republican citizens of our USA.




Follow the line of arguments put forth by classical liberalism in response to common sense and reasonable discourse. What fun!

A MILLENNIAL POST

Today (more precisely, this morning), I installed a link to my brother's website, "Postmillennial Christian" (see under Great Links and My Favorite Sites to the right).

APOLOGETIC

What kind of a lame, lifeless, non-post was that (see previous post)? I mean, did the world suddenly become perfectly aligned with the Word of God, that I did not have to blog about something? What gives?

I've been collaborating with a friend of mine on his website, Apocalypse of Christ. If you visit my page, Eschatology in a Nutshell, you will see (indeed, if you visit) what he and I have been hashing out from the Scriptures and from other Preterists (Christians who came to believe in the fulfillment of the Scriptures as Jesus said they would be).

I understand this is the minority report in terms of mainline Christianity (a safe place to be?). Perhaps life circumstances and temporary insanity have plagued my senses and forced me into a corner of "seeing" the Bible through New Covenant eyes. We don't agree about everything. But we agree we should find the truth!

BLOG: THE MOVIE

To blog, or not to blog. That is the question.

I must say, with all of this excitement and hoopla about the movie, "Social Network" (a movie about the creation of Facebook), I am waiting for a Peter-Benchley-type novel to be converted to a full-length feature film called, "Blog." Steven Spielberg, suit up!

Well, I am only kidding. I think.

OUR LORD, COME

Here is a very interesting article which I read just now and thought I would share:

"Maranatha! What Difference Does It Make?"

It is by Mark D. Roberts, a pastor/author/speaker/blogger by his own admission. I seldom read his blog articles, but this headline grabbed my attention, especially in light of my current obsession with eschatology.

As you may or may not have noticed, I have Dr. Roberts' website (blog) listed on My Blog List on the right side of my blog. Just a very interesting tidbit of background on why we say what we say, regardless of the theological weight we place upon it. Let us be mindful of its fulfillment and ongoing implications.

PRETERISTS UNITE!!!

My good friend (and fellow Preterist-in-progress, whose name shall be "Kerry" at this point) and I have discussed fulfilling a request by Gary Demar to bring about some sort of formulation online or in print regarding the Preterist understanding of eschatology, which is the study of last things in theology. We shall happily undertake this endeavor (did I say we shall enjoy it?)!

What I intend to do is create a page on his site, Apocalypse of Christ, about preterist eschatology and the myriad Scriptures supporting it. Not that Scripture can support "anything," but that Scripture can be interpreted because of it. That is our underlying and overarching belief, that preterism "unlocks" Bible prophecy like other interpretive systems only wish they could. Hint of boasting in the Lord, no doubt. Repentance is forthcoming and conditional upon our inaccuracy, the Lord willing.

Well, without further ado, I want to lay down the groundwork for this labor of love. A "project" implies an end. I suppose we could arrive at our destination, which is a comprehensive-- if not exhaustive-- eschatology, answering most "end of the world" questions which Christians and all people should be asking.

POSTMILLENNIALISM AND PEACE WITH GOD

While I have the day off, and therefore, the time to do this, I want to post a link to American Vision for a glowing article on post-millennialism's positive influence in the world. It is called, "The Power of Giving a Book," by Joel McDurmon. It shows one of postmil's many success stories.

I do this because I want to maintain an open mind about eschatology. I realize no one person is 100% right about everything. But, collectively, we born-from-above Christians can pool our resources and come up with something closer to the truth than if we otherwise go it alone.

Thanks for your readership.