From time to time, I hear a lot about the early church’s understanding of the “end of the world” or their belief that the “Second Coming of Jesus” would take place within their generation. And it’s usually not in a very good light. “They were obviously mistaken,” is often the remark I hear most. I know it’s hard to imagine but what if we’re mistaken? What if we’ve misunderstood what they meant? I’m hoping that this series on some of the major statements from the New Testament about the “end of the world” will show that they weren’t mistaken in their understanding of the “signs of the times.” Before we begin, however, let’s look at some terms that will have to be used. As most of you know, I try to refrain from using big “church” words. My reason for this is because those words are like suitcases where ideas and thoughts and understandings are packed into them. To explain the words would mean a long time spent unpacking the suitcases and explaining their contents. While such a pil...
A couple of years ago, while flipping through channels, I stumbled upon a very odd show. It had a wild-haired man in a bow tie, a sassy Scottish girl with red hair (or a “ginger” as people from the UK like to call them), a curly haired female archaeologist, and a military cleric. This group were combatting a group of statues that came to life when they weren’t looking at them. They called them the “Weeping Angels.” Unbeknownst to me, I had stumbled upon the latest version of Doctor Who. And with one show, I was smitten. I mean, I was really in deep smit. It was brilliant and funny and exciting and startling. It took the ordinary things that, as children, we all used to think came to life when we weren’t looking, and reminded us of that childhood by bringing them to life! I was hooked. Instantly. Doctor Who is a BBC science fiction (sci-fi) television show. It’s the longest running and most successful sci-fi show in television history and will celebrate its fiftieth year next year. ...
Is it just me or do our funeral services reek of dualism? Lately I have attended a number of Christian funeral services. A few were really good. Others, sadly, were not. For example, at one service I kept hearing things like, ‘This isn’t N. here. N., the real N., is heaven, in the arms of God’, etc. And then there would be some type of ‘altar call’ message. You know the type. The ‘minister’ finds this a grand opportunity to tell people to ‘accept Christ’ or they're ‘going to hell’. Nice. People are coming to ‘pay their respect’, remember someone dear to them, or grieve and other people feel obligated to shove religion down the throats of those who mourn. Now, I understand that funerals are a good place to talk about what happens after physical death. I mean, some people are naturally thinking about their own mortality at that time. But there should be some decency in this, some tact, some respect; don’t you think? Is it just me or is it really bad form to talk about ‘ge...
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