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Craig L's Blog

Commonplace Holiness

Category: Theology

  • The Pre-Tribulational “Rapture” is Not Taught in the Bible

    The Pre-Tribulational “Rapture” is Not Taught in the Bible

    QUESTION: Where is the Pre-Tribulational Rapture of the Church taught in the Bible.

    ANSWER: It is not taught in the Bible. It is the implication of a theory of interpretation of the Bible known as Dispensationalism.

    I’m old enough to remember the Larry Norman song “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” (used extensively in evangelism). It was part of a a fear-evangelism tactic used to scare people (especially young people) into accepting Jesus as Savior before it was too late. Here are some of the lyrics:

    A man and wife asleep in bed
    She hears a noise and turns her head he’s gone
    I wish wed all been ready
    Two men walking up a hill
    One disappears and ones left standing still
    I wish wed all been ready

    [Chorus]
    There’s no time to change your mind
    The son has come and you’ve been left behind

    — source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/larry_norman/i_wish_wed_all_been_ready

    I also remember the evangelistic film churches used to show: “A Thief in the Night.”

    Many years after all that, I also remember the brief furor that was caused by a booklet that gave 88 reasons why Jesus was returning in 1988. Then after that, Harold Camping predicted Jesus’ return on May 21, 2011. Over the years, many of the predictions of end-times prophecy teachers have failed — some quite spectacularly — but, this is quickly forgotten when a new round of predictions starts up again.

    The doctrine of the Rapture has been a staple of American fear-evangelism for a long time. In this teaching, Jesus will return secretly to remove all true Christian believers from the world — then a time of horrible Tribulation will ensue. And, it is still commonly taught by certain well-known “prophetic” teachers.

    Evangelical and conservative Christians pride themselves on their devotion to the Bible. Yet, there are certain common features of conservative Christian teaching about the return of Christ which have little or no backing from the Scriptures. Specifically, the teaching that Christ will come silently and secretly to take believers out of the world, seven years before he returns in glory, is a teaching the lacks Biblical support.

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  • The Intention to Pray – Psalm 57:2

    The Intention to Pray – Psalm 57:2

    Psalm 57 begins with a cry to God for mercy: “God help me!”

    Human nature being what it is: there is no prayer more basic to our experience. It may not be the ideal prayer. But, it’s the most common one. There isn’t a person living who hasn’t at some time in their life cried out: “God help me” — even if they weren’t certain whether there was Anyone or anything to whom to cry.

    But, the prayer in verse 1 is not just general, it is also very personal and intimate: “…for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge….” This is followed by a statement of intent. In a sense, this statement implies a rationale for prayer. Verse 2 (Hebrew, verse 3):

    אֶקְרָא לֵֽאלֹהִ֣ים עֶלְי֑וֹן לָ֝אֵ֗ל גֹּמֵ֥ר עָלָֽי׃

    “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me.” (NASB).

    Why do we pray? Why is it even possible or appropriate to bring our personal requests and needs to God? Because God accomplishes things for us, in answer to our requests.

    Prayer operates on a hypothesis. As it says in Hebrews 11:6: “…for whoever would approach [God] must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

    As we walk with God, and find our faith confirmed in experience, our trust grows stronger and deeper. We say to ourselves: “God has not failed me in the past. God will not fail me now.” So, it is in this instance. Experience has produced confidence. God is the One who brings things to pass.

    It seems strange at first glance that the initial cry of mercy is followed by a declaration of intent:

    “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me.”

    The idea here is that at all times — and especially in times of need and stress — the psalmist intends to call upon God.

    Think about it. Prayer is often a last resort for us. When all other sources of help have been exhausted, then we seek out the place of prayer — and request the prayers of others. This verse says it should be more of a first resort.

    Sometimes a church gets involved in a visioning process. Sometimes this is fruitful and sometimes it isn’t. But, for a lot of people this process is frustrating — even maddening. It’s a process of reflection and prayer. It will be fruitful only as people seek God and God’s will. But, it’s hard. Our impulse is to do, to go get ideas from somewhere, to make a plan, etc. — sadly, our first impulse is not the impulse to pray. Sometimes we are in the waiting time.

    But, it is those who wait upon the Lord who find strength. But, someone who says: “I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me” is someone who resorts to God in all circumstances.

    This is someone who has the intention to pray. If I have the intent to pray, I will rise in the morning and seek God. If I have the intent to pray, I will find times during the day to seek God. I will be bold enough to ask — for myself and for others. I will look expectantly for answers.  

    A PRAYER.

    Lord God
    we praise you for your steadfast love and mercy.

    We have learned from experience to trust You.
    We have found You to be faithful.
    We have found in You a continual source of hope and life.

    Keep us in the place of prayer.

    In uncertain times, keep us in prayer.
    In times of joy and fulfillment, keep us in prayer.

    We seek You now.
    It is our intent to seek you always.
    Our God
    who may always to be found in Jesus Christ. Amen.

  • Spirit Baptism: Wesleyanism & Pentecostalism

    Spirit Baptism: Wesleyanism & Pentecostalism

    Recently I posted: John Wesley and Spiritual Gifts. There I attempted to show that while Wesley was open to both extraordinary spiritual gifts and miracles, he did not insist on them as proof of the Holy Spirit’s presence.

    Now let me say something about the distinctive pentecostal and charismatic teaching about Baptism with the Holy Spirit. There is a relationship between early Methodist teachings and the later development of Pentecostal teachings.  In fact, a direct line can be traced from the teaching of the early Methodists to the teaching of the early Pentecostals.

    Wesley’s preaching about the Christian life — and what he called Christian Perfection — gave rise to the holiness movement. The holiness movement, in turn, provided the seedbed from which the early Pentecostal movement would arise. Once people’s thinking about Christian experience  begins to go down a particular road, certain directions become inevitable.

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  • John Wesley and Spiritual Gifts

    John Wesley and Spiritual Gifts

    What would have been John Wesley’s attitude toward the modern doctrine and practice of Speaking in Tongues? Pentecostal churches teach that this is a necessary initial sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (a empowerment experience subsequent to Christian conversion). Other churches teach that spiritual gifts and miracles were signs that ceased after the age of the apostles. Where would Wesley have stood on these issues?

    The evangelistic ministry and teaching John Wesley provided the impetus for the development of the Methodist & Holiness movements. The holiness movement, in turn, provided the seedbed for the emergence of early Pentecostalism. The original Azusa Street Pentecostalism in turn provided the impetus for the development of the modern Pentecostal & Charismatic movements — which have (somewhat ironically) often lost or even explicitly denied the Holiness / Sanctification themes in Wesley’s teachings.

    That is a rather complicated schema. Is there any evidence of this later unfolding that is already present in Wesley teachings? Wesley distinguished between “extraordinary gifts” and “ordinary” graces of the Spirit. Speaking in Tongues would fall into the category of “extraordinary gifts.” Thus, he did not see the gift of Tongues as part of the abiding significance of the Pentecost event.

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  • The Infrastructure of the Wesleyan Revival

    The Infrastructure of the Wesleyan Revival

    John Wesley (1703 –1791) preaching outdoors

    The original Methodist revival was a movement intended to produce “real Christians,” that is, Christians who would actually live out the faith they professed. In my opinion: we are in desperate need of such a thing today.

    In the Methodist revival, the means used to achieve this goal were:

    1. a message of experienced religion & holiness which drew heavily from the Bible,
    2. large praise and preaching gatherings (the Societies),
    3. small accountability groups (the classes, bands & select societies),
    4. works of service and mercy (generally: addressing the needs of the poor or imprisoned).

    This was not intended to produce “Church Growth” or some such thing, it was intended to produce Christians who visibly and noticeably loved God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength and their neighbors as themselves. What can be learned by this evangelistic & discipleship strategy for our day?

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  • Old Testament Foundations

    Old Testament Foundations

    In a church that I pastored years ago, one of the church leaders expressed surprise when I gave sermons based on Old Testament texts. He had pretty much written off the Old Testament — at least, from what he knew of it — and I hadn’t. In fact, I enjoy preaching from an Old Testament story or text. I’m pretty open that I do not expound on the Old Testament the way a Jewish rabbi would. Yes, I try to understand the Old Testament in its historical context. But, for me that is just a beginning point. I also want to understand it (for the purposes of Christian preaching) in light of what God has revealed to us in Christ.

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  • Holy Spirit, Self-Transcendence, Community

    Holy Spirit, Self-Transcendence, Community

    The following conception of the Spirit’s relation to the human person and to human community rings true for me.

    Pannenberg sees in the heightened exocentric capability of humans the basis for their uniqueness from other animal forms. In the being-with-others that characterizes their existence, they are able to transcend themselves — to look back on themselves again — and thereby to develop self-consciousness. This exocentrically based development of self-consciousness indicates [this] to him as well as the connection between humans and Spirit. Pannenberg credits the self-transcendence required for this process to the action of the Spirit, who lifts humans above themselves, so that when they are ecstatically with others they are themselves. For this reason self-transcendence cannot be accomplished by the subject itself. Rather, all knowing is possible only through the Spirit. By extension, the same ecstatic working of the Spirit found in the individual is the basis for the building of community. In fact, community is always an experience brought by the Spirit, who lifts one above oneself.

     — Stanley J. Grenz, Reason for Hope: The Systematic Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg (1989).

    I expect worship to be an experience that lifts me out of my pre-occupation with myself.

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  • Pannenberg: The Cross & Resurrection

    Pannenberg: The Cross & Resurrection

    Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928–2014).

    The resurrection effectively reversed the charges against Jesus and confirmed his mission. We thus see that if he had saved his life at the cost of his proclaiming the divine lordship, he would have actually made himself independent of God and put himself in equality with him. ‘Whoever would save his life will lose it’ (Mark 8:35 par.). This was true of Jesus himself. He could not be the Son of God by an unlimited duration of his finite existence. No finite being can be one with God in infinite reality. Only as he let his creaturely existence be consumed in service to his mission could Jesus as a creature be one with God. As he did not cling to his life but chose to accept the ambivalence that his mission meant for his person, with all its consequences, he showed himself, from the standpoint of he Easter event, to be obedient to his mission (Rom. 5:19, Heb. 5:8). This obedience led him into the situation of extreme separation from God and His immortality, into the dereliction of the cross. The remoteness from God on the cross was the climax of his self-distinction from the Father. Rightly then, we may say that the crucifixion was integral to his earthly existence.

    — Wolfhart Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume 2. (1991) pp. 374, 375.

    So, what does this mean for us?

    The cross gives meaning to the resurrection, the resurrection gives meaning to the cross. Each is incomplete without the other.

    When we say Jesus was one with God we say this on the basis that Jesus fulfilled his whole mission — including death and resurrection. It is in this sense alone that Jesus was truly both fully human and fully God. Without the Cross we cannot make such a claim about Jesus. The Cross is integral to the message. “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him….” (Heb 5:8,9 NRSV)

    I think this fact reminds us that preaching the Gospel has to emphasize actually telling the story of Jesus more than teaching ideas derived from the story. It is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that constitutes the Gospel. If part of it is left out, other parts lose their true significance as well. The theological claims that Christians make can only be asserted on the basis of the whole story.

    So, the preacher needs to ask: am I telling the whole story or just parts of it? Or: am I just giving advice, teaching some ideas, venting my frustrations, and never telling the story at all?

    Moral advice, good ideas, criticism of the world’s ideas and trends, political programs — all these things do not amount to the Gospel of Christ. We need to ever learn anew what it means to “tell the old, old story” to our current generation.

    It s wrong to suppose that people are too shallow and self-absorbed to hear it. Someone is always out there to complain that people today are too vacuous, ignorant, or unspiritual. Yes, people are exploring sexuality and gender in ways previous generations did not. Yes, there is sexual promiscuity. There are trends that have arisen in the realm of technology and the internet that are troubling.

    It doesn’t mean people are stupid or have lost the spiritual hunger for meaning and connection that is naturally constitutive of human nature. Sexual promiscuity and high intelligence often go together. Sexual searching and spiritual searching are not totally unrelated — one can substitute for the other.

    Yes, some young people are not satisfied with traditional answers. But, they are asking questions. And some may want serious and well-considered answers. Prevenient grace means that God’s Spirit is striving with even the most apparently unlikely people.

    Let’s learn to tell the story of Jesus in ways that are engaging, fresh, and faithful.

  • A Prayer for the Church – Colossians 1:9-12

    A Prayer for the Church – Colossians 1:9-12

    Yesterday I introduced this prayer from the apostle Paul and gave some some personal reflections. There was a time when I don’t think I could have talked about the ongoing stages of the Christian journey without reference to the power of the Holy Spirit. And, that would be the way I would still speak of it today. But, in Colossians Paul uses terminology that is more focused on Christ than on the Holy Spirit.

    So, as I was saying, this section of the letter displays another common feature in Paul’s letters to the churches. He generally assures the Churches to whom he writes that he is praying for them. Churches should know that their pastors and leaders are praying for them.

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  • But, What About the Holy Spirit? – Colossians 1:9-12

    But, What About the Holy Spirit? – Colossians 1:9-12

    As is generally the case with Paul’s letters, he begins by letting the church know he is praying for them. He really believed in the vital importance of prayer. Prayer is at the foundation of all church renewal.

    We are regularly encouraged to pray. “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18 NRSV). We are given the examples of Jesus and Paul, who made prayer and intercession priorities in their lives and ministries. Before we need new ideas and quick fix solutions, we need prayer. Prayer is at the heart of Christian ministry and at the heart of the life of the Church.

    This part of the letter is very important, and it’s going to take me a while to fully discuss this. I need to begin by pointing out something about this prayer that seems odd at first. So, first some brief introductory remarks, and then some personal reflections.

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