Who Said That?

Okay, who said that?

"The premillennialist maintains that there will be a lengthy gap in the end-time events into which the millennium will be inserted after Christ’s return; the millennial kingdom will be characterized by the prosperity of a restored Jewish state.  The amillennialist denies any such gap in the end-time events, looking for Christ to return after a basically non-prosperous millennial age.  And the post millennialist is distinguished from the two foregoing positions by holding that there will be no gap in the end-time events; rather, when Christ returns subsequent to the millennial, interadventual, church age. There will have been conspicuous and widespread success for the great commission.  In short, postmillennialism is set apart from the other two schools of thought by its essential optimism for the kingdom in the present age.  This confident attitude in the power of Christ’s kingdom, the power of its gospel, the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, the power of prayer, and the progress of the great commission, sets postmillennialism apart from the essential pessimism of amillennialism and premillennialism."

The goal is to guess who said this!  So, don't cheat and do a google search.  Leave your answer in the comments section below.

Update on Monday, March 5, 2007 at 02:30PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This quote comes from Greg Bahnsen's very influential essay, The Prima Facie Acceptability of Postmillennialism (found in the Journal of Christian Reconstructionism, Vol. III, 1976-77, pages 66-67). 

Two major problems are found here.  One is Bahnsen's specious argument that amillenniarians are "pessimistic" while postmillennarians are "optimistic."  For one thing, amillennarians are very optimistic about the kingdom of God and the spread of the gospel.  We are pessimistic about the city of man (otherwise known as "Babylon the Great" in the Book of Revelation).  Eschatology must be done by exegesis not by ramming everything into the procrustean bed of cultural "optimism" and transformation (a category, by the way, which may have more to do with the Enlightenment than with the New Testament).

The second problem is Bahnsen's lumping amillennialism in with premillennialism because both are supposedly "pessimistic."  The better contrast is millennarianism in all its forms ("pre and post") with non-millenarianism (which makes amillennialism unique when contrasted with either "pre" or "post" millennialism). 

This One Cracked Me Up . . .

People often send me jokes, some of which I find funny, some of which get deleted pretty quickly.  But I thought this one was worth passing on. . .

___________________________________ 

A few minutes before the worship service got underway, the church go-ers were quietly sitting in their pews, talking softly and waiting for church to begin.

Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church.

Terrified, everyone began screaming and running for the rear exit, even trampling each other in a frantic effort to escape from this unexpected appearance of evil incarnate.

Soon, everyone had exited the church--except for one old elderly gentleman who calmly sat in his pew, seemingly oblivious to Satan's presence.

Satan walked up to the old man in a menacing fashion and said, "don't you know who I am?"

"Yep, sure do," replied the elderly man, quite calmly.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"  Satan asked. 

"Nope, sure ain't" said the man.

"Don't you realize that I can kill you with a word?" asked Satan.

"Don't doubt it for a minute," replied the old man, absolutely unfazed.

"Doesn't it bother you at all to know that I can cause you horrible pain and bring terrible suffering into your life?" the devil persisted . . .

"Nope," was the man's reply.

Exasperated, the devil demanded of the old man, "why are you not afraid of me?"

The old man calmly replied . . . "Been married to your sister for 48 years." 

Who Said That?

OK, who said that?

"If you retake the throne of your life through sin -- a definite act of disobedience -- breathe spiritually.  Spiritual breathing (exhaling the impure and inhaling the pure) is an exercise in faith and enables you to continue to experience God's love and forgiveness.

1.  Exhale -- confess your sin -- agree with God concerning your sin and thank him for His forgiveness of it, according to 1 John 1:9 and Hebrews 10:1-25.  Confession involves repentance -- a change in attitude and action.  2.  Inhale -- surrender the control of your life to Christ, and appropriate (receive) the fullness of the Holy Spirit by faith.  Trust that he now directs and empowers you, according to the command of Ephesians 5:18 and the promise of 1 John 5:14, 15."

You know the drill!  Leave your answers in the comments section.  Please, no cheating (google searches).  The fun is in the guessing.  For some of you (who have already learned the art of spiritual breathing) the answer will be easy.

Okay everybody, on the count of three, one . . . two . . . three . . . exhale, inhale.  

Update on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 03:33PM by Kim Riddlebarger

Many of you guessed this one.  This comes from the infamous "Blue Book" put out by Bill Bright's Campus Crusade for Christ (page 284, to be specific).

For some Reformed Christians, spiritual breathing is closely tied to the enjoyment of certain fine Dominican tobacco plants, finely rolled and cut and sold by a certain Arturo Fuente. 

Your Blitz is on the Fritz!

As I sit in my upstairs study working on URCNA committee work, I can hear my son downstairs watching the Three Stooges--the episode where Moe dresses up like Hilter and Curly like Mussolini.

My son is just plain cracking up.  Life is good. 

My favorite Stooge episode is the one with the laughing gas.   "Disorder in the Court" is also a classic.  "Drop the vernacular . . .  That's not a vernacular. . . . It's a derby."  If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.

While there may be others that I don't know about, can you guess what noted Reformed theologian is a huge Stooges fan? 

The Moses Model Revisited -- Why Biblical Church Government Matters

Christianity Today has posted yet another sad story on the internal troubles at Calvary Chapel.  Click here: Day of Reckoning | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction.  I dealt with the "Moses Model of ministry" a while back, when these same issues surfaced previously.  Click here: Riddleblog - The Latest Post - The "Moses Model" of Ministry Backfires . . .

I post this link not because I am glad that this sorry saga continues.  On the contrary, there is nothing mentioned in the CT article in regards to the failings and sins of ministers and church leaders at Calvary, which cannot also be found in Reformed and Presbyterian churches.  I've heard of (or witnessed first-hand) Reformed ministers commit all kinds of public sins.  I've seen them arrested and tried.  I've seen them fall into adultery.  I've seen them do most everything mentioned in the CT article. 

But I've also witnessed how their churches disciplined them.  Therefore, this is not a post about how bad "they" are (Calvary), and how much "better" we are (the Reformed/Presbyterian churches). Rather, this is a post about the importance of biblical church government. 

There is a reason why the Belgic Confession (the confession of faith of the Reformed Churches) devotes six entire articles (27-32) to the subject of church government (Click here: Christ Reformed Church: The Belgic Confession).  There is a vast amount of biblical teaching on church government which needs to be summarized and confessed, teaching which once affirmed and confessed, will spare God's people from the very thing going on at Calvary as described by CT. 

The New Testament devotes a great deal of attention to the subject of what constitutes a true church as well as who is a true Christian (summarized in article 29).  The New Testament speaks of the catholicity (or universality) of the church (summarized in article 27), as well as the necessity of church membership and the responsibilities of church members (summarized in article 28).  The New Testament carefully describes how the church is to be governed, and lists both the duties and qualifications of the officers which govern the church (ministers, elders, deacons--as summarized in article 30).  The New Testament tell us how ministers are to be called, and supervised, and of what their duties consist (article 31).  Then, finally, the New Testament instructs us how our churches are to exercise church discipline over erring members and especially church officers (article 32).

I know that many people find ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church) boring.  I've seen people's eyes glaze over when the topic is even mentioned.  But this is an important aspect of biblical teaching and we neglect it to our peril.

So, for those of you still in Calvary, or similar churches, or for those of you struggling to understand how things like this can happen, please realize that the New Testament doesn't blush at the sins of Christians or of Christian leaders.  It speaks of such sinners being restored and reconciled after being disciplined.  There is clear instruction about how to govern our churches, and what to do when ministers fall into public sin or create scandal.  Sadly, that teaching is not found nor practiced at Calvary Chapel.  The "Moses Model" does not reflect the New Testament's teaching about ministers and their accountability to their fellow elders.

My advice:  please consider the Reformed confessions and the numerous verses they summarize.  There is a way out of this continuing problem--biblical (Presbyterian/Reformed) church government!

Where Did Those Eleven Years Go?

One of the elders at Christ Reformed Church brought some old pictures from a long ago White Horse Inn taping.  The pictures were taken back in 1996 when we still did a live broadcast every Sunday evening @ 9:00 PM from the studios of KKLA in Glendale. 

The first picture is yours truly with everybody's favorite Lutheran theologian, Dr. Rod Rosenbladt.  We've both grayed a bit over the years.  I still have my copy of Berkhof and Rod his copy of J. T. Mueller.

The picture below is of our fearless leader, Michael Horton, while still a youth!   

The third picture was taken during a broadcast, with Ken Jones (apparently) sitting in for me, and our producer, Shane Rosenthal, was watching it all from the engineer's booth.  

Those were truly good days.  We would gather at Michael's home in Anaheim, and then make the hour trek to Glendale.  Rod kept us entertained on the way.  We'd tape the show, and then return to Michael's for beer and pizza and to discuss and debate into the wee hours of the morning.  But the best part was tormenting Rod by making him watch TBN.

And here we are eleven years later and still going strong!  Many thanks to all of you who have listened and supported us through the years!

And There Will Be Signs on the Earth

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near . . . (Matthew 24:32).

One of the great eschatological questions of our age has to do with the color of Hal Lindsey's mustache.  When most men hit middle age and they start getting a little gray, the mustache or the temple area is the first to go.  That was the case for me.  But not Hal Lindsey. 

Notice that for Hal, the older he gets, the darker his mustache gets.  Hmmm . . .  In the first picture (above), taken in the early 80's, Hal's hair and mustache are dark. 

But the pictures below show the Hal we've come to know and love on World Net Daily, TBN, and from Christian Publishing has graying hair and a very dark mustache.

Recently, however, there's been a dramatic change.  Hal's mustache is now as white as his hair. . . 

What could this mean? Like the leaves on the fig tree, is it a sign of the end? 

Those of you who lack faith will just say that father time marches on--the aging process has claimed his mustache.  The more cynical among you will say, "maybe he stopped using Just for Men."  

But this dramatic change must be a sign . . . an important sign . . .

Perhaps it is tied to the release of the final book in the Left Behind series:  Click here: LeftBehind.com: The Left Behind Book Series - Jerry Jenkins & Tim LaHaye - Home.

A coincidence?  I don't think so . . .

Any thoughts? 

Who Said That?

OK, Who Said That . . .

B. B. Warfield's doctrine of Biblical inspiration and authority is "exegetically improbable, hermeneutically defective, theologically dangerous, and educationally disastrous."

No cheating or google searches.  Leave your guess in the comments section below.

Update on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 05:56PM by Kim Riddlebarger

These words come from James D. G. Dunn (The Living Word, Fortress, 1989, 107).  I guess if Luther didn't quite understand Paul, Warfield surely didn't understand the meaning of theopneustos.

This Will Pack 'Em In!

Looking for a way to pack people into your church?  How about this?  Porn and Pancakes!

According to an article on wcbstv (Click here: wcbstv.com - Upstate NY Church Hosts 'Porn And Pancakes' Event) . . .

"(AP) ONTARIO, N.Y. It's not your typical church breakfast.

An event billed as `Porn and Pancakes' is being hosted by a church in rural upstate New York. The breakfast discussion on the pornography industry in America is planned next month at the Living Word Assembly of God Church in the town of Ontario, in rural Wayne County about ten miles east of Rochester. A billboard advertisement near the church shows the words `Porn and Pancakes' written in syrup on a stack of flapjacks. Organizers said the Feb. 10 event will be an honest discussion about pornography and its impact on society. The discussion will be led by XXX Church, a group of youth ministers who travel the country talking about porn and the porn industry. The pastor of the Wayne County church said that churches from Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse have asked about also hosting `Porn and Pancakes' events."

And you thought I was kidding . . . This one is so bad it is hard to say anything in reply.  Before anyone has a cow, the picture comes from the wcbstv website reporting on the event. 

Looks to me like a "bait and switch" operation of the first order.  And just what will the pastor say to all the sweet little old ladies and curious teens and their angry parents in his church?  I guess they just have to put up with this so the church can "reach out."

I give up . . . 

Who Said That?

Who Said That?

"Last Day and return of Christ sometime on or between:  September 14, 1994:  Beginning of 1994 Jubilee Year, and September 27, 1994:  Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles."

OK, this is an easy one.  Leave your guesses in the comments section below. Please no google searches.  You must guess! 

Update on Monday, February 12, 2007 at 11:01AM by Kim Riddlebarger

Well, nearly thirteen years have gone by, and he's still dead wrong.  These words come from Harold Camping's 1994 (531).  Its bad enough when the dispensationalists set dates.  It is that much worse when a professing Reformed Christian does it!