Looking at current events and trying to listen to God about them is basic bread and butter for me.
I’ll be honest I’m not good at praying faithfully day by day for people. I’m a big-picture person who finds bigger thoughts preoccupy me. This is not to say they are more important, they are not, and I value immensely those who pray faithfully daily for our family. But it’s just not what floats my boats or motivates me and that’s just fine. Finding out who we are, what we are called to be and do, then following Jesus in that, is a key part of Christian discipleship for me. We are all uniquely different and stone shaped! (1 Peter 2:5)
Furthermore, in the interests of full disclosure, I do not have a totally fixed position on anything much except the basic tenents of my faith found in the Creed and most Christian organisations’ ‘Statements of Faith’. This is especially true of End Times theology (eschatology for those who like fancy words). I have thoughts, ideas, opinions but am very much aware that life is a journey and what I believe to be true now, God may show me differently as I mature.
Most of the time I hover around an Amilleniumism or Historical Premilleniumism position on this period of Church History and I believe we are now in those times and have been for the span of the Church Age. For a good article on the different interpretations of this aspect of Christian Theology go to What Does the Bible Say About the End Times? an excellent straightforward article with timelines from Bible Study Tools.com.
“I’m on the welcoming committee not the planning one!”
Tony Campolo
These two positions are the earliest theology, held by the Church Fathers, and are the most widely held over the centuries and globally. But for me, I very much concur with the wit and wisdom of Tony Campolo on this subject! And that is my main focus on writing these articles now. I want to add my efforts to prepare the Bride to welcome Jesus whenever He does return to take us home! So although I am convinced that time is near, I’m really not into Times and Dates but thoroughly into keeping watch, praying in accordance with what I see and encouraging the Body to be prepared so that we will not fall into the trap of letting our lamps go out (Matthew 25).
HOWEVER, there is one line of theology on this that I have a really big issue with and have some very blunt things to say about, which will upset those who hold to it! That is Dispensational Pre-Millennialism (DPM), better known through the End Times series by Tim Lahaye et al. I did read the first book and even saw Thief in the Night as a young Christian and it never sat well with me. But, as I started to read the second book in the LaHaye series, I had a dream which, in terms of clarity was one of the straightest comments from Father God I’ve heard! I was told simply, “Do not read it, it’s a doctrine of demons.”
Originating in mid-18th Century in the USA by a man called Joseph Darby and propagated through the Schofield Bible (oddly enough the first one I was ever given!) it is widely believed throughout the US and in pockets here in the UK. And here is a few reasons why I believe God on what he said to me:
- It appeals to the flesh…believers do not have to face the Tribulation! Now our model is Jesus. The Apostles followed his model and so should we AND HE DID NOT DESPISE OR AVOID SUFFERING! All the Apostles, except John, died awful deaths and he faced exile. We don’t choose to suffer as his followers, nor glory in it, but when it comes we allow it to refine us and walk through it with Jesus as our Comforter and Guide. We are not exempt!
- It lacks grace. John 3:17 says Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it. DPM saves the righteous and allows those pesky pagans to suffer through the Tribulation. Since Jesus’ model was to come alongside us and suffer with us how can this be?
- It creates a ‘them vs. us’ ethos. They get to suffer, we get raptured! (Also, not a word you’ll find in Scripture). “We’re God’s favourites, they need a good lesson to get them to bend the knee”. Sorry folks but my Papa, God is just SO NOT like that. Each and every person on this planet is created in His image and is extravagantly loved by Him and he doesn’t play favourites…each one of us IS His favourite! He’s big enough to be like that (thanks to Wm. Paul Young for that one!) His grace too, is immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine!!
- It is complicated. God is not one to dress things up to make it hard to understand. Paul emphasises that God’s wisdom confounds the wise (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) and Jesus himself indicated that little children can understand Him, and we should become like them. Anything that appears clever, intellectual or of special knowledge is of the Evil One and I believe PMD is included and that Darby was a false prophet.
Just putting that out there!
I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.
The Message Bible
Walking Tomorrow 