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.

BODY VS. BODIES

I was listening to Marquis Laughlin reading Philippians 2-4 at BibleGateway.com, and heard two very interesting phrases: "our lowly body"; and "His glorious body."(Philippians 3:20-21)

At this point, I recalled hearing (or reading) a commentary on Paul's use of the singular form of the word "body" here. This is very significant (if you're a preterist) because Paul is referring to a singular noun in the first-person plural sense, i.e., "our lowly body"-- not bodies!

Hmmm. "Our... body" sounds as though to say we Christians are all part of the same body (of Christ).  I'll buy that.

In Ephesians 3:4-6, Paul says:

"When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

Would Paul be implying that, collectively, the Body of Christ (the church) would be like His glorious body? Would he be referring to a spiritual body instead of a physical one, in that case?

Just a thought.

CRAZY FOR THEOLOGY

Yes, it's true: I am a closet Preterist, with Futurist tendencies.

That's a good thing, right?

I mean, the possibility that I'm wrong about theology is far greater than the possibility that I'm right. And I'd rather admit I was wrong, than go on thinking I was right, when I wasn't. Does that sound crazy?

As long as Scriptures come up that seem to suggest if not mandate a bodily resurrection, I'm not ruling it out. There are plenty of futurists out there who will lend a credible warning to us followers of Christ who think maybe Jesus came in 70 AD as He said he would, that we're not Christians!

I believe in the Second Coming of Christ! I just think He came already. He is here!

Atheists use Jesus' own words "against" Him. They say, oh, He said He would return "soon." Oh well, I guess He forgot to come! Here we are, 2000 years later (almost), and He still hasn't "come again." Then they assert, that's why I'm not a Christian!

Late night musings.

HERE I STAND... NO, WAIT!

Another Scripture which ruptures my infallible belief in Preterism is Matthew 10:28.

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[f1]"(Matthew 10:28 ESV)

[Footnotes]

=============

[1] 10:28 Greek Gehenna

Hmmm. "Destroy both soul and body." Sounds like a physical body got thrown into eternal punishment (Gehenna).

GOOD NEWS

I've been seriously looking into this whole preterist thing. I mean, being told I am in heresy, and I am embracing a false (another) gospel is bad, bad, bad. I have done everything in my power to re-educate myself in the ways of futurism, i.e., watched a Greg Laurie sermon on the Second Coming of Christ, and read Calvin's Institutes about the resurrection of the flesh. This, and praying that God would deliver me from false doctrine must be a good start on the road to repentance, recovery, and reform, right?

Well, I guess it's working. Now I'm scared out of my wits to even "go there" anymore. Blood really is thicker than water!

Gosh, now what am I? A confused, recovering (full) Preterist. May the God of the Bible have mercy on me and all those nasty full-preterists out there on the Internet. Aarrrgh!

THE NEW WORLD OUT-OF-ORDER

For those of us who have been monitoring, albeit informally, the progress of the New World Order (a la Alex Jones and others), I happily stumbled upon an article on Townhall by Victor Davis Hansen, the esteemed historian/farmer who can melt petrified wood with his liquid "dulcet-toned" voice on Hugh Hewitt's radio show.

The article, "The New Old World Order," describes a host of problematic tendencies by independent nations to revert to their ancient rivalries and hostilities, in spite of the best intentions of the Bilderberg Group and others who were hoping (and planning) for a nice, clean world takeover.

Oh, well. I guess we will have to reform human nature (wink, wink, nod, nod) before that takes place. Until then, we civilized Christians and others will have to settle for World War III.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Can I wax nostalgic for a minute or two?

I was just thinking about how nice it was to be "self-sufficient," when I had a full-time job with benefits. Then I am reminded of the restrictions on those perks which I enjoyed "under the whip" of my employer. No offense intended, just a comment on reality.

Now I am haunted by another reality: starting over (by God's grace). I am not feeling assured at all about my future, except for my salvation through Jesus Christ. My economic situation is taking a lot of my mental energy these days, and it can be taxing (pun intended).

While I enjoy the "freedom" of unemployment to a certain extent (sleeping in 'till 6am, eating lunch when I'm hungry-- not on a schedule, driving around looking at the world around me instead of being stuck inside of a building all day), that joy is tempered by financial considerations. Like I said, I am enjoying it while I can.

I do not want to be herded in with the "moochers" of society. I do have some decent prospects for employment. But, rightly so, I am feeling a twinge of guilt about not pursuing it as hard as I should.

FROM ROCK-AND-ROLL TO THE ROCK

Here is a link to Preterist TV, where you can watch Marty Angelo give a very thorough testimony to Steve Schneider ("Steve Saint John") on Steve's "Prison Outreach Worldwide (POW) Ministries" radio program.

There, now that I've linked all that stuff up, I can enjoy the rest of the videos. Marty has a very peaceful demeanor and warm tone in his conversation with Steve. Not to brag, but my connection to Steve is that he came to speak at my church's singles ministry class for four weeks while our regular teacher went on a very adventurous vacation. Steve was also the keyboardist for the Christian group Petra back in 1979-80. Both are awesome, God-using speakers.

I highly recommend both of their ministries' resources.

WORLDVIEW RETOOL

The itch to blog must be scratched. One cannot resist the urge, especially while listening to audio podcasts of the Covenant Creation Conference on Preterist Radio.

I just got through watching The Obama Deception and Endgame, both produced by Alex Jones.

Being unemployed affords me the "luxury" of watching and listening to worldview-changing media which, I pray, will equip me to serve the Lord better.

GOOD NEWS... RIGHT?

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."(I Corinthians 11:26 ESV)

I searched for "1 corinthians 11:26" on Eschatology.org , and found this article by Don Preston, who I believe is the driving force (or one of them) behind the current Preterist Reformation. It is called, "Until He Comes."

Incidentally, as I began listening to a podcast of Ed Stevens on Preterist Radio, I thought of the term Preterist Reformation. To my delight, Mr. Stevens used (if not coined) that very concept in his program! Well, you know the old saying about thinking alike...

After reading the section in Until He Comes on Christ's second coming and the Lord's Supper, I now know that Mr. Preston has indeed respectably and credibly defended the preterist interpretation of this passage.

Wow!

REFORMED PRETERIST

The nice thing about having a blog is you can post a well-(or at least, much-)thought out piece about whatever you want.

In this post, I want to register my concern about my own view of the Second Coming of Christ.

I understand and embrace the preterist view of Christ coming in judgment in 70AD. Jesus did say,"Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.(Matthew 24:34)

Amen.

Yet, I am currently struggling with the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 11:26.

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. "

Well, since He came in judgment on Jerusalem (and the Old Testament/Covenant) in 70 A.D. , then why do we still celebrate the Lord's death if He came already?

Hmmm... Makes me wonder how preterist I can be. This is a wonderful dilemma because it forces me to search the Scriptures, my heart, and other people's insights into what the Word of God really teaches. Of course, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit would guide me to all truth, in Jesus name.

I go back to the cross, back to the old Protestant Reformation mantra: reformata et semper reformanda.

Reformed and always reforming.