What is a Pre-tribulation Rapture? We have lived in a culture embedded for the past 200 years in the idea of a pre-tribulation Rapture. The Rapture is believed to precede the Tribulation at the end of the world. Obviously, the Rapture precedes the timeline which it triggers, and no one knows what triggers the timing of the Rapture. In actuality, there is no specified timing of the Rapture. Because the return of Christ is believed to be imminent, the Rapture could hap

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has prevailed to open the scroll! Revelation 5 The Power of His Might One thing I have heard most of my life from growing up in the parsonage is that if the devil is fighting, the Lord is working. While both Satan and the Lord work all the time and usually unseen, when the powers of light and darkness become visible to the human spirit, we see in real time the epic struggle Paul outlines in Ephesians 6. If human beings wrestle not against fl

The Lion has prevailed: Revelation 5 Psalm 2 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet ha

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has prevailed to open the scroll! Revelation 5 Another Glimpse into Heaven Someone once said that heaven is heaven because God's will is done there. We think of the prayer our Lord taught us to pray: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptatio

Behold the Throne in Revelation 4 Behold, a Throne! "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous LORD lo

A Manifesto for Textual Literacy in a Foggy World Looking Back In the past few months, we have addressed the need for a fresh, grassroots approach to the study of God's Word. Not only is such an approach inherently rewarding; it ensures both the authenticity of firsthand experience and the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to speak directly to our hearts. When personal study is defined ultimately by secondhand opinions from even the best of Bible scholars, we miss not only

Notre Dame guarding the Seine River: An Allegory of Our Times in the Post-Church Era Introduction Would you and I be willing to take part in a building project that would never be finished in our lifetime? Notre Dame de Paris, the most famous and iconic Gothic cathedral in the world, took over 200 years to build and yet faced the threat of total destruction in 2019 from a fire that took 15 hours to quench. We cannot assume that saving this cathedral would have been a p

One Divine Moment: A History of the 1970 Asbury Revival The Foreword to Robert Coleman's Book The unusual revival which came to Asbury College early in 1970 and spread to scores of campuses across America is evidence that God is still at work in His world, lifting men and women out of self-centeredness, secularism, and boredom. It came at a time when radical students were striving desperately to upset the educational equilibrium of our nation with burning, destroying prop

Christianity today--and not simply American Christianity--has been defined (whether by design or by default) by four megachurches whose collective influence has dominated the landscape for the past forty years. These include Hillsong United from Australia, Bethel Church of California, Elevation Church from North Carolina, and Passion City Church from Georgia. If we were to characterize these churches, the features would be essentially the same--thus, the possibility of lump

The Church at Laodicea: Revelation 3:14-22 Introduction We say perception is reality, but that depends upon whose perception. Jesus knows the difference between appearance and reality when the whole world has gone insane. When moral blindness calls light darkness and darkness light, only Jesus can end the scam. The Church at Laodicea is the second among the Seven Churches of Asia to have a reputation that is unwarranted. Sardis had a reputation of being alive but Christ