The New Testament regularly presents Christians as a People waiting for Jesus to reappear. For 2,000 years, in countries throughout the earth and under circumstances of every kind, Christians have waited and continue to wait. Why is this waiting necessary? It is necessary because the work through which God is accomplishing his redemptive purpose does not happen immediately or all at once, but in three separate stages. Each stage begins with an appearance by Jesus Christ. One is present; one is past; one is future (Heb. 9:24-28). Let us consider each of the three in turn. Present ('now to … [Read more...]
A PEOPLE IN WAITING
What is a Christian? Just ask Peter, James, Paul, Luke, or the anonymous author of Hebrews. Christians, they will tell you, are people in waiting. But waiting for whom or for what? The most important question is "for whom do we wait?" To which the answer is that we wait for "a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20). Like the Thessalonians, our conversion involved a full-body turn from every lesser allegiance, "to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven . . ." Jesus our Lord is our Savior as well, who will rescue us from the wrath to come (1 Thes. 1:10). But that … [Read more...]
JESUS LENS READS ‘DO’ AND SAYS ‘DONE’
It was a typical Monday morning in the old Harris County Civil Court House in downtown Houston, Texas. I was one of many lawyers waiting to argue either for or against a motion in some lawsuit, listening to the proceedings until my case was called. A lawyer before me had filed a motion and the judge had granted it, but the lawyer kept arguing his point. Finally the judge interrupted him, "You can stop talking," the judge said with a smile. "I have already granted your motion." The motion had reached its "end" in two senses. Having achieved its purpose it had no reason to continue. Similarly, … [Read more...]
APOCALYPTIC LOCUSTS FROM THE PIT
This is Iraq, a country with borders drawn in 1920 by the League of Nations following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. More to our interest, this is a country situated on the same God-created real estate where the Jewish and Christian stories began. In this ancient land Abraham once lived and went about his business as usual. Until that day he heard the voice that said it was God, the voice that ordered Abraham to pack up his immediate family and go to only God-knows-where. Abraham obeyed. Christians in the land of Abraham God eventually gave Abraham's descendants the land of … [Read more...]
SCRIPTURE AT ITS BEST: SATURATION
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "I want to grow in my relationship with God, but I'm now struggling with where the Bible fits into the equation. How do I approach scripture to apply it to my faith journey?" * * * The best place for learning how to approach scripture is Scripture itself. The 39 books that we call the "Old Testament" were regarded as sacred writings by the Jews before there were any Christians, and also from the first by Christians, who then were all Jews, and who eventually added 27 more books of their own that we call the "New Testament." If we can identify how New … [Read more...]
INTERNATIONAL, MEMORABLE, AND HISTORIC
The long-awaited Rethinking Hell Conference last weekend (July 11-12, 2014) brought together nearly 150 registrants and participants from the USA, Canada, U.K., France, Lithuania, New Zealand and Australia at the campus of the Lanier Theological Library and Chapel in Houston, Texas. The Conference sponsor, the Rethinking Hell (RH) Project, is presently uploading presentations to its RH Channel on YouTube. Presentations by both plenary speakers are already available for viewing, as is a lively conversation between RH podcaster/interviewer Chris Date and me, including some questions from the … [Read more...]
PEACE (LILY) OF THE LORD
The first thing one sees, upon entering our house through the front door, is a glass-enclosed atrium, approximately 10x10 and open to the sky. Inside the atrium are a small waterfall and a little pool. Animated by a hidden circulating pump, the two water features bring inside the house the sight and sound of one of Nature's wonders. Around the water in all directions, a few plants and assorted flowers complete the picture. A day or two ago I was looking at the scene and enjoying the quiet when I happened to notice a beautiful white blossom in the process of unfolding. Not having seen it … [Read more...]
Perspectives on infant baptism
A gracEmail subscriber requests some larger perspective on the differences among Christians regarding infant baptism. In the following answer, we will distinguish between Christians holding two points of view and practicing accordingly. PEDO- Baptists baptize babies; CREDO-Baptists baptize only professing believers. * * * In the Book of Acts, Luke tells how the Holy Spirit empowered the gospel proclamation to produce the original generation of Christians throughout the Mediterranean world. Sometimes Luke says that converts believed (Acts 16:33-34), were baptized (Acts 16:15) and … [Read more...]
FROM RUIN TO RESURRECTION
It has been my privilege in recent years first to become acquainted with and then to grow to appreciate the work of Al Maxey as a preacher and as a writer. Those who have heard him teach at the Tulsa Workshop and elsewhere, or who have regularly read his studious e-mailings, know precisely what I mean. Having invested his life in ministry among the "mainline" and even some of the more "conservative" Churches of Christ, Al understands his audience and stands with them in mind and heart. He appreciates their concerns, shares their love of Scripture, and speaks their language in teaching it. It … [Read more...]
churches’ actions show real beliefs (2 parts)
Part 1 The good news is that in 2013, autonomous congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) did what their name suggests and baptized more than 300,000 new converts by total immersion. The bad news is that the SBC baptismal tally during 2013 is down more than 100,000 from the number reported in 2009. The decline represents a 26% drop in yearly baptisms, and the lowest number of baptisms reported by Southern Baptists for any year since 1948. Moved, no doubt, by sheer embarrassment as well as by genuine concern, the Baptists did what good American Protestants do … [Read more...]
