To Eschatology or not to Eschatology!

I was asked a question regarding a question of eschatology on Facebook. I had to pray a lot about it and this was the best answer to a question I've been mulling over for years.

The names have been changed to protect the guilty. 

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Brother, speaking of eschatology what is your view point on that subject? My views have changed dramatically since I've been doing some research and study about it. I am prayerfully asking God to settle me on that issue. I am no longer pre-trib, mid- trib or even post-trib anymore. Could you PM me and bless me with a little of the [Aaronism] knowledge and I will share with you my Tonyism thoughts. Philippians 2:12 my brother ??

Have you ever danced with the devil in pale moonlight? Well, asking my opinion on a matter, any matter, perhaps especially eschatology, is a little like that! 

In my very young days, I thought I could speak for Christianity. I was wrong.
I was still foolish enough to try to speak for Southern Baptists. They proved me wrong.
Once upon a time, I may have even feigned to speak for the Davis family in general. Time, though, has made a change in my family.

So, I'll just talk about what I think. I'll preface this with the obvious: I don't have all the answers. Still, I know enough to generally recognize when something is wrong. Obviously, you are seeing errors in things you have heard preached for decades. To publicly say you are not "pre-trib" is anathema to Fundamentalists today. I never heard what is often called pre-millinialism preached as I was coming up, but I was fortunate enough to have my father as my pastor. I can also testify that my brother Joe, who was my pastor for several years, easily found meat from the Gospel that was fresh and neither stale nor rotten. I can further testify that my grandparents, who lived in the post-bellum South, testified to me that neither they nor their parents believed it, neither was it preached from pulpits of their churches. Further, if a preacher had tried to preach pre-millenialism back then, even up into the sixties locally, he would've been escorted by the pastor/deacons to the pew to learn or out the door. My how things have changed!

That little story is almost unimportant, but, dealing with this delicate matter, I thought it might be important to let you know where I come from. Having said all that, as my dad taught me, I had to examine these things, "work out my own salvation," for myself. Time and study has, for me, confirmed my perspective.

Now, to the point:

The Book of Revelation is, in my never to be humble opinion, one of the most read and studied and most misunderstood books of the Bible. Yet, it is one of the most beautiful!

I've sat through so many sermons, attended study courses, read books on the matter from the "pre-trib" perspective and, frankly, all I hear is a bunch of hooey! I hear no hope for the Church or salvation for the lost in the any of it.
Let me sum up:

A couple of verses, not to diminish others, in Revelation are the two keys to having any understanding of it. 

Revelation 1:1 KJV
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ." Christ Who was revealed to us through the man Jesus. Who revealed Himself to John in a vision on Patmos. We know so much about Him, but we understand so little. 

Preachers drone about computer banks, plastic strips on credit cards, Russia and the "state of Israel," quickly forgetting that John said, first thing, that this book is about Jesus Christ! To even hope to begin to understand that revelation, we must not lose sight that it is He we should be looking for.

Actually, there is another that we should look for in this book. Someone who, sadly, is repeatedly overlooked and passed over. Someone whose idea and image has been distorted by both ignorance and intent for nearly two millennia now. This One is the second key.

Revelation 21:9 KJV
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

"The Lamb's wife." We see the angel specifically introduce to, or "shew," John the Lamb's Wife, the Bride. The Bride of Christ!

Preachers fill their congregants' ears with talk about Heaven and streets of gold, jasper walls and gates of pearl completely ignoring that the angel is not showing John Heaven, but the most important Person in Heaven. The One that the Bridegroom gave His life to purchase, to prepare and, as any loving husband, spend an eternity with. It's like attending the wedding of strangers and when someone there points out the bride, we only see the flowers and candles, but never the pretty lady in the white dress.

We have eyes, but we don't see. Like the Bible in general, I believe more especially the Book of Revelation, this is a love letter from the greatest lover in history to His One and Only! Without this, I believe we can never even begin to grasp the love story that our God and Father is desperately trying to get us foolish souls to ever so slightly comprehend. 

We are so caught up in looking at the hands of God, we never look up to see His face or that of His Bride. We see the dragons, the plagues, the wars and the seas, but we miss the wedding party.

Tragically, I hear very few preachers talk about the "Bride of Christ." They only speak of the Church as if it's a different entity. It's all about Her identity! 

One more thing: I'll paraphrase my Uncle Ulis who, referring to the Wedding Supper spoken so much of by so many preachers, said, if there has not yet been a wedding, that makes us all bastards!

Well, I confess I am a little short on specifics here. My point is always, when asked this basic question, to try to help the questioner find a way to come closer to the truth than to continue to hobble along with those who seem to be, well, missing out on the party.

Yes, I have been long, but you did ask! ha! ha!

p.s. I'm going to tag you in a link for Youtube. It's a sermon by Mark Rutland. It's ninety-plus minutes, but well worth your time!

Fundamentalists and You

So much of what happens in Christianity is like “inside baseball.” It makes perfect sense to the fanatics who love and understand the game, (whoever they are,) but to the layman, the outsider, it’s all just a bunch of gibberish.

I once tried to explain the difference between Catholics and Baptists to a Japanese girl who was raised a Buddhist, but wasn’t really sure if she believed anything. I was a complete failure. All she could understand was that we both believe in Jesus.

Another difficult thing to explain is the difference between a Fundamentalist and, well, the rest of us. Now, if you are among the multitudes of lost souls who are on the outside looking in, you most likely see little if any difference. You certainly wouldn’t see what all the controversy is about. Don’t we all believe in Jesus?

A man I once thought I knew, whom I thought was wise, once told me, “There are some things I won’t even argue about. There are some things I will argue about. There are some things I will die for.” I think having the wisdom and discretion to know and relate the difference, is a challenge for most Christians. Especially when dealing with the profane.

Well, some differences simply aren’t worth worrying about. Some are desperately worth our concern. Just because someone can’t tell the difference doesn’t mean there is no difference. The question is only, are those differences worth the fight.

Many unbelievers or even believers with whom I engage in any sort of religious combat don’t understand why I am so repulsed by their attempt to label me as a Fundamentalist. They sometimes say, “Don’t you believe in Jesus?” Immediately, the answer is yes, but to attempt to explain further can, at times, be completely frustrating! There are some distinctions, very important ones at that, that cannot be explained in a simple enough sentence to allow their ignorant minds to comprehend the gravity, or lack thereof, of our disagreements.

While I do believe the KJV is inspired by God and that He actually built the universe in six days, they cannot seem to get it through their heads that there are massive differences between the average Fundamentalist and myself. I don’t like being called a Fundamentalist anymore than a Georgian likes being called a Tennessean. The average Yankee may not know the difference, but here in “Jesus Land,” we certainly do. After the same manner, simply because there is a similarity in doctrines, the discerning eye, the receptive heart and attentive ear will promptly observe the contrasts.

So, allow me, if you will, to enumerate some of the problems I find with “Fundamentalists” and the things to which they so passionately adhere. Some, I find laughable. Others, I occasionally, find revolting still, others are anathema to God’s Holy Scriptures.

1. Fundamentalists refer to the Bible as the “Word of God” when the Bible doesn’t even make that claim.

2. Fundamentalists say they take the Bible “literally”…except when they don’t.

3. Fundamentalists believe the book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible.

4. Fundamentalists believe a woman can’t be a pastor simply because she can’t be the “husband of one wife.”

5. Fundamentalists believe the “New Jerusalem” is Heaven.

6. Fundamentalists believe there are horses in Heaven.

7. Fundamentalists believe the streets of Heaven are paved with gold.

8. Fundamentalists think they’ll actually have a big house in Heaven.

9. Fundamentalists get angry when you disagree with them. They sometimes go so far as to say, “You don’t believe the Bible,” or “You must be lost,” or even, “You’re stupid!”

10. Fundamentalists believe the KJV is the “Bible” and all other versions are straight out of Hell.

11. Fundamentalists like to jump pews, love preachers who go “hah-hooey,” and think it’s really great when a preacher grabs a potted plant and runs around the sanctuary with it.

12. Fundamentalists don’t really know anyone outside of their little circles who are actually living right.

13. Fundamentalists have no doubt that Jesus retains the scars in His hands from His crucifixion. For some reason though, He doesn’t bear any of the scars from his beatings.

14. Fundamentalists believe Lucifer is Satan.

15. Fundamentalists believe that angels once had relations with human women and made babies who became giants.

16. Fundamentalists think that Satan was once God’s “number one” angel.

17. Fundamentalists say that when Jesus told the thief on the cross, “This day, thou shalt be with me in Paradise,” He didn’t mean Heaven.

18. Fundamentalists claim that there was a place between Heaven and Hell where God kept the Saints of old before the resurrection. No, I don’t mean Purgatory.

19. Fundamentalists tell poor, lost Jews that they are still “God’s people.”

20. Fundamentalists are more concerned with your sin than your salvation.

Certainly, not every mark of a Fundamentalist is in this list and not having all of them doesn’t disqualify you from fitting very neatly into this crowd. Yet, these are some of the symptoms I’ve found most egregious from my soirees into the dangerous world of modern American Christian Fundamentalism. A.K.A. the Fundamentalist Zone.

Missionary Baptists and Wikipedia

I recently wrote a discussion article for Wikipedia. It was my first, and, maybe, last.

I wrote it because, although the article was accurate in many ways, the author made the error of assuming things about Missionary Baptist doctrine that simply aren't true.


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A non-prejudicial look into Missionary Baptist history will quickly demonstrate that pre-millennial teaching had been unprecedented until very modern times. Pre-millennialism has crept slowly into Missionary Baptist eschatology in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Southern Baptists, who are made up of what were originally Missionary Baptist churches, were devoid of such teaching until very recent years. Many Baptist "Associations," upon witnessing the onslaught of what had been a completely foreign teaching, even went so far as to write into their by-laws that should a local church hire a pre-millennial pastor, fellowship would be removed between the offending church and the local Association.

The point being, this teaching has not been a traditional part of Baptist orthodoxy. I understand that this doesn't necessarily address whether or not this view is true, but it, hopefully, sheds some light on the common assumption today that as it is now, is how it has always been.

Change can be good, but not just for the sake of change. If you change what you or your fellows believe and have believed for a very long time, make sure that this new direction isn't just enticement, but enlightenment.