Whew!!!

Emphatically, NO, God will NOT plant me at The Bridge. I had opened myself up to the possibility that The Bridge was where God wanted me for a time and had determined that I would go in and worship God, because I feel that I *should* be able to worship anywhere that God is being worshipped 'in spirit and in truth.'

I should preface this with the facts: it is "that time of the month" so my nerves were on edge anyway, AND I was tired. But still hoping to hear from the Lord concerning The Bridge and whether that was where I/we oughtta be. If that was where He wanted to plant me, I was ready to deal with it.

SO, we're ushered into 'worship' yesterday with a Dave Matthews Band video. Hmmm, last I checked, Dave Matthews didn't get much airtime on my Christian radio station. Come to think of it, I'd never HEARD a whole Dave Matthews song until they played this video yesterday. "Worship" music was more of the same stuff, one good song, "Forever," then songs like "Made to Worship" which I wouldn't mind hearing on the radio but they're not really singable AS worship songs. There's a real 'anti-anything that looks or feels like traditional church' attitude there that was spelled out clearly in the message. I fought back tears for most of the service but eventually lost the fight.

EVEN DH SAID LATER IT WAS NOT CHURCH AND HE WAS NOT GOING TO CALL IT CHURCH ANYMORE.

When we got home I told dh I was going to lie down for a bit, while trying to fight the tears that were once again forming without my consent. He said (Lord, Bless him!) I didn't have to ever go back there again. He followed me to the bedroom and said,

"Get some rest now. We'll talk later about whatever it is that is making you feel like this, because I want to fix it. I'm open to whatever. I love you."

Oh Lord, HELP. Give me the words to say. Give him a heart that is indeed open to what I have to say. Give us UNITY. You made us One Flesh. I miss having my other half worship beside me.

"God on high, Hear my prayer,
In my need You have always been there....
Bring him home."

Thirsting For God

It has become abundantly clear that NOW is not the time for me to cross the Tiber. As much as I want to, it would likely tear my marriage apart.

The good news is that I can be catholic even though I'm not Catholic. Catholic thinking is not limited to the Roman Catholic Church. As my dear deacon friend so eloquently put it:

A catholic thinker sees the church as one, unified, and spanning time and space. A catholic thinker is therefore drawn to liturgical worship because you can't span time and space within the microcosm of your own little building. But a catholic thinker is also a sacramentalist for the same reason: the sacraments span time and space and even the natural physics of things because they're a link between what's happening in heaven itself and what takes place here. It's the divine magic. Likewise, a reformed Christian understands that some of the theological ideas of the human institution of the church needed (and continue to need) to be re-examined. Not because what went before was wrong (that is the uncatholic way of examining the past and present need for reform) but because somewhere along the lines, sinners that we are, we've managed to deviate from the faith once delivered to the saints.

I can look back over the last two years and see that I was first drawn to liturgical worship, then the sacraments, and now I need to find where exactly it is that God wants to plant me so I can once again bloom. I've been uprooted for so long, as far as having a church home. I've been in church, but none that I would call home.

My biggest fear is this - I am digging in my heels about The Bridge; I don't feel God's presence there, I don't see a real reverence for God there, I'm not getting fed much at all there - what if that is where He wants to plant me??? (Insert "scared to pieces" smilie here, if there is such a thing)

The Rapture & The Bible

Once again, these are the notes I took while listening to another BCS CD.

What is the Rapture? How does it fit into the End Times theology of many Protestants? Common Protestant End Times theology is not compatible with Catholic theology. Catholics can believe in A Rapture, but not the Protestant version. Protestant theology is not compatible with the Bible. Catholics are being increasingly influenced by Protestant thought concerning the Rapture and End Times. Left Behind has sold 20 million+ copies. While the authors say that the theology represented comes straight from Scripture, it doesn't really when you examine the passages in context.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 Indeed, we tell you this, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 3 will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

This is often the main "proof text" for the Rapture. This is believed to be the first in a series of events: after the Rapture, then the 7 year Tribulation begins; wars, famines, petilences, earthquakes, which results in the deaths of many. There will also be false prophets and false Messiahs, THEN in the middle of the 7 years, the Antichrist is revealed. The last half of the Tribulation is MUCH WORSE than the first half.

At the end of 7 years, Christ returns and slays the Antichrist and his armies at Armageddon. Then the Antichrist is thrown into the Lake of Fire, or Hell. THEN Christ will establish a physical kingdom on earth and reign for 1000 years w/the saints at His side. After 1000 years, Satan is released from the bottomless pit and gathers armies from the four corners of the world to wage war on the saints, but he and his armies will be destroyed and sent to the Lake of Fire. After that, there will be a resurrection of the dead, the final judgement, and the end of the world. This is the MOST COMMON version of the sequence of events among Rapture enthusiasts. There are many MANY variations on this.

If you want to see the confusion that has come from Sola Scriptura, where everyone can read and interpret the Bible for themselves, just get online and do a search on "Rapture." There are no two sites that match up the end times events exactly, yet each of them say that THEY are going by the Bible Alone, and each site claims to be giving THE most accurate interpretation of the Bible. How can that be?

The most common version of the End Times theology is pre-Trib. There are ALSO those who believe in a mid-Trib or post-Trib Rapture, and they ALL point to the Bible as the SOLE SOURCE for their beliefs. Not only do people disagree on WHEN the Rapture occurs, but those who disagree on the number of Raptures that occur. Some say that there will be several Raptures, several times that Christ will return, several different times for the resurrection of the dead - and they ALL use the Bible as the SOLE source for their beliefs. How is that possible?

You'll even find people who used to believe pre-Trib, because the Bible said so. Then they change to mid- or post-Trib, because the Bible said so. How do we know then, that their current view won't change again at some point in the future? This is one of the fundamental flaws in Rapture theology, that there is NO authority beyond individual interpretation of the Bible behind these teachings, so we have dozens if not hundreds of different scenarios for the sequence of End Time events - all of which are somehow found in the same Bible.

From http://www.lookup.org/ "Believers have long argued about when the Rapture would occur. Most will agree with their pastor, or with some famous theologian who has written extensively, or spoken persuasively on the subject. But do we dare delegate that task (and when we don't study for ourselves, isn't that exactly what we are doing) when being wrong means leading our loved ones headlong into the "great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall" totally UNPREPARED???"

Then the web-author goes on to give us HER "correct" interpretation of the Bible and the Rapture. So she's actually saying, "Don't believe your pastor, that's just HIS interpretation...Don't believe some theologian...trust in your own interpretation" then goes on to give HER interpretation, which, if you disagree with HER, means you are OBVIOUSLY wrong!! - doesn't make much sense, does it?

Where in all of this, is the Church of 1 Timothy 3:15, which Scripture says is "the pillar and bullwark," or upholder and defender of the Truth? When it comes to the Rapture, essentially a Protestant doctrine, it's every man for himself. They are their own pastor of their own church.

While there are these differing views on the Rapture, for those who do believe in a Rapture; not all Bible-believing Protestants believe in the Rapture! Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Presbyterians (all Sola Scriptura faiths) for the most part do not believe in the Rapture. The End Times beliefs of these people is the SAME as the End Times beliefs of the RCC.

What does the Catholic Church teach regarding the End Times?

Catholics do not believe in a rapture of ALL believers at ANY TIME other than the Final Coming of Jesus; the Second and Final Coming which occurs at the end of time.
Catholics do not believe in a literal, physical 1000 year reign of Christ on earth after the Tribulation.

There will be a Great Tribulation which will occur before the return of Christ. This tribulation is one in which Christians will suffer trials and persecution, and during which many people will be led astray by the false teaching of the Antichrist. There WILL BE an Antichrist. (CCC para #675-677)

There will be a mass conversion of Jews to Christianity (CCC para #674) though exactly when this happens is unknown.

At the end of the Great Tribulation, Christ will return in power and glory and will defeat evil(CCC #677), and the dead will be resurrected, where we all will be changed/transfigured into incorruptible bodies. (CCC #988; 997-1001)

Then there is the Final Judgement, after which the "good" enter the eternal Kingdom, and the "wicked" enter eternal damnation.(CCC #678-679, 1038-1041)

The old heaven and earth are transformed into a new heaven and new earth, and the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness as the New Jerusalem and the righteous reign forever with Christ. AMEN. (CCC #1042-1050)


What does the Bible say regarding the Rapture and the End Times?

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 Indeed, we tell you this, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, 3 will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together 4 with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

The Catholic church does not totally reject the idea of a rapture, but believe it will happen at the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time, not before.

This passage actually mirrors the ancient custom, when someone important would come into a town or city, such as a king or general, and many of the people would go out and greet this person outside the town or city, and then accompany them back into town. It would be an insult NOT to go out and greet this important person. This happens today, when the President flies into an airport, a lot of people go out to greet him and escort him back to town. That's how the Early Church Fathers (St. Augustine, St. John of Chrysostum) read this passage. When Christ returns, those who are caught up to meet Him in the air are escorting Him to the earth; this passage does not say that these people meet Jesus in the air, and then Jesus turns around with them and goes back to Heaven! How do we know this is not what happens?

Revelation 21:1-3 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, 3 coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them (as their God).

Just as the Lord descends from Heaven to earth, so also the New Jerusalem descends from Heaven, because Jesus brings Heaven with Him!!

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Anointed (Christ), and he will reign forever and ever."

The idea that the Lord will descend from Heaven, stop somewhere above the earth and gather believers, then turn right around to go back to Heaven is an interpretation that cannot be supported by the rest of Scripture and is not supported by any writings of the Early Church.

Notice in I Thess. 4 that it's not just the living who are caught up, but also the dead in Christ.
v16 For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

This is the resurrection of the dead. So rapture believers have to believe, that Christians who have died will rise from the grave and disappear as well. There is a BIG problem with this:

John 6:54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

Regardless of your interpretation of the first part of the verse, literal or symbolic, the fact remains that Jesus is talking about believers - Christians - whom He will raise on the LAST DAY.

John 6:39 And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day.
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.
John 11:24 Martha said to him, "I know he will rise again, in the resurrection on the last day."

Why would Lazarus have to wait until the last day to be resurrected? Why wouldn't he be caught up at the Rapture? Because there is NO Rapture before the LAST DAY. You cannot square a pre-Tribulation rapture supposedly described in I Thessalonians 4 with John Ch 6, because Jesus is talking about the dead being raised at the end of the world on the last day in John 6, and I Thessalonians 4 talks about the dead being raised. If the dead aren't being raised until the last day of the world, then the "rapture" being described in I Thessalonians 4 is occuring on the last day of the world, not before.

What if Jesus meant the last day before the Tribulation, or the last day before His millenial Kingdom starts? The Bible doesn't say that. It says "the last day" with NO qualifiers.

John 12:48 Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day,

There is no talk among rapture enthusiasts about judgment at the rapture. Judgment of those who are left (the wicked) does not occur until the end of the world - the Great White Throne Judgment. Those who reject Jesus will be judged on the Last Day. The phrase "the last day" MUST be referring to the end of the world and no other time. Not the last day before the Tribulation, not the last day before the Antichrist appears, not the last day before the 1000 year reign of Christ, the LAST DAY of the WORLD.

Matthew 24:37-41 For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. 39 They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.

Luke 17:26-36 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; 27 they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. 30 So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. 32 Remember the wife of Lot. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it. 34 I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left. 35 And there will be two women grinding meal together; one will be taken, the other left. 36 There will be two men in the field; one will be taken, the other left behind,"

One taken, one left. The Rapture, right? Wrong! The Coming of the Son of Man with some being taken and some being left, is being compared to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. After the flood, who was left behind? Noah and his family! The good guys! Who was taken by the flood? The bad guys! After Sodom was destroyed, who was left behind? Lot and his daughters! The good guys! The bad folks were destroyed, taken away. So if there is a "Rapture" a-la Left Behind, you don't want to be one of the ones taken away! If you want to live like Noah and Lot, you want to be left behind! Those who are left behind in I Thessalonians 4 are caught up meet the Lord in the air and go with Him to the New Jerusalem. The folks who are taken are thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Matthew 24:3-13, 21-24 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached him privately and said, "Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be of your coming, and of the end of the age?" 4 Jesus said to them in reply, "See that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for these things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be famines and earthquakes from place to place. 8 All these are the beginning of the labor pains. 9 Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; 12 and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

21 for at that time there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. 22 And if those days had not been shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect they will be shortened. 23 If anyone says to you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 False messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will perform signs and wonders so great as to deceive, if that were possible, even the elect.
(Cf Mark 13:5-13; Luke 21:7-28)

II Thessalonians 2:1-12 1 We ask you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, 2 not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a "spirit," or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For unless the apostasy comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one doomed to perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship, so as to seat himself in the temple of God, claiming that he is a god-- 5 do you not recall that while I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. But the one who restrains is to do so only for the present, until he is removed from the scene. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord (Jesus) will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming, 9 the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, 10 and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. 11 Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, 12 that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned.

Daniel 8:17-25 17 When he (Gabriel) came near where I was standing, I fell prostrate in terror. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the end time." 18 As he spoke to me, I fell forward in a faint; he touched me and made me stand up. 19 "I will show you," he said, "what is to happen later in the period of wrath; for at the appointed time, there will be an end. 20 "The two-horned ram you saw represents the kings of the Medes and Persians. 21 The he-goat is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn on its forehead is the first king. 22 The four that rose in its place when it was broken are four kingdoms that will issue from his nation, but without his strength. 23 "After their reign, when sinners have reached their measure, There shall arise a king, impudent and skilled in intrigue. 24 He shall be strong and powerful, bring about fearful ruin, and succeed in his undertaking. He shall destroy powerful peoples; 25 his cunning shall be against the holy ones, his treacherous conduct shall succeed. He shall be proud of heart and destroy many by stealth. But when he rises against the prince of princes, he shall be broken without a hand being raised.

Daniel 7:25 He shall speak against the Most High and oppress the holy ones of the Most High, thinking to change the feast days and the law. They shall be handed over to him for a year, two years, and a half-year.

Revelation 13:5-10 The beast was given a mouth uttering proud boasts and blasphemies, and it was given authority to act for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was also allowed to wage war against the holy ones and conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation. 8 All the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, all whose names were not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life, which belongs to the Lamb who was slain. 9 Whoever has ears ought to hear these words. 10 Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity. Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword. Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones.

In all of these passages, the Antichrist destroys the saints, the elect, the followers of Christ. This is why some people switch from Pre-Tribulation to Mid- or Post- Tribulation theology, because it tells us that the Antichrist WILL persecute and kill Christians! BUT if all the Christians have been raptured, then who are these saints that the Antichrist destroys. Nowhere does Scripture say that these will be the "new" believers who came to Christ "after the Rapture" because the "old" believers have disappeared. If all the Christians are gone, who is left to teach these so-called new believers about Jesus? Will these people gather into congregations? Will they have pastors? Will there be various denominations? Will these new believers debate about whether or not they will be caught up in a post-Tribulation Rapture? Is there more than one rapture and more than one resurrection of the dead?

I Corinthians 15:20-24 20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, 23 but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; 24 then comes the end, 10 when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power.

Coming. Singular. Not Comings. All the dead in Christ are raised at the same time, at the END, when Christ delivers the Kingdom to God the Father. So much for the literal thousand year reign of Christ.

Hebrews 9:27-28 Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, 20 will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

So where does Millenialism come in? Where did that idea come from?

Revelation 20:3-11 He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, which is the Devil or Satan, and tied it up for a thousand years 3 and threw it into the abyss, which he locked over it and sealed, so that it could no longer lead the nations astray until the thousand years are completed. After this, it is to be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over these; they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for (the) thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison. 8 He will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, 7 to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 They invaded the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 The Devil who had led them astray was thrown into the pool of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.11 Next I saw a large white throne and the one who was sitting on it.

If you try to make the events of the book of Revelation fit into a timetable, running from beginning to end, you may likely end up in an insane asylum.

For example, in Revelation 12:1-6 A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, 4 with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. 4 Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.

Are we to believe that the birth of Christ is to take place sometime in the future?

Revelation 12:7-8 Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, 8 but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

Hasn't this already happened, too, a long time ago?

Luke 10:18 Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from Heaven."

How many times does Satan get kicked out of heaven?

The book of Revelation is not historical narrative. It uses a lot of symbolic language more akin to poetry than to historical narative. Not to say that it is not describing historical events, it is! But which events are being described and when they take (or have taken) place is often up for grabs. Like poetry you often have to dig for the meaning of the passage. And with some passages, the meaning may never be clear or the passage has several layers of meaning.

There is a literal interpretation and a literalist interpretation.

Literal - looks for the meaning that the author intended to convey
Literalist- take what's on the page and say "That's what it says, that's what it means."

"It was raining cats and dogs" The literal interpretation that the author intended to convey is that it was raining "pretty dog-gone" hard. The literalist would say that cats and dogs are falling from the sky like rain. Will someone in 2000 years understand this idiom? Only if they dig into historical documents. Just looking at the words on the page will cause trouble understanding the book. You can't just look at Revelation and take it literalistically. You have to look for what the author intended to convey. If you try to force Revelation into a linear timeline you will get into problems. To read these passages about the millenial reign of Christ as taking place after the Antichrist is defeated, but before Satan wages war on the saints will lead to some difficulties in light of the whole of Scripture.

I Corinthians 15:23-26 but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; 24 then comes the end, 10 when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has destroyed every sovereignty and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death,

Paul equates the resurrection of the dead, the dead being made alive in Christ, with the defeat of the last enemy, death. The last enemy, death, is defeated at the resurrection of the dead, which occurs at Jesus' Coming, which is the END. You can't fit a rapture with a resurrection of the just before the End of the world. Once death has been defeated, and this immediately preceeds the Eternal Reign of God - not the 1000 year reign of God, UNLESS the 1000 year reign is symbolic of the eternal reign of God.

Revelation 11:15-18 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. There were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Anointed, and he will reign forever and ever." 16 The twenty-four elders who sat on their thrones before God prostrated themselves and worshiped God 17 and said: "We give thanks to you, Lord God almighty, who are and who were. For you have assumed your great power and have established your reign. 18 The nations raged, but your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to recompense your servants, the prophets, and the holy ones and those who fear your name, the small and the great alike, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."

The spirit of antichrist is already loose on the earth (I John 2:18), Jesus' Kingdom is here already in The Church (although not yet perfected), He is reigning in the hearts and minds of all those who believe in Him. Churches celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Satan has been thrown down and is restrained, has been defeated by Christ's death on the cross. Could Revelation 20 possibly be referring to some of these things?

Many Catholic and Protestant theologians see Revelation as a chronicle of the Church from the resurrection of Christ until the end of the world. That is a very plausible, overall interpretation of Revelation.

There are many overlapping verses that talk about trumpets, the dead being raised, the end of the world, and the coming of Christ in Glory, the judgement, the defeat of evil at the end of tribulation. Note the similarities. These are all talking about the LAST DAY. The Day of the Lord. Jesus is coming back ONE MORE TIME, that's IT. If you try to fit a Rapture and a 1000 year reign of Christ on earth into these passages, you do serious damage to one or more of them.

People will begin with the belief in a pre-Trib rapture, then try to fit all other passages into that view. When they encounter a passage that doesn't quite fit, they twist it until they get it to fit! Then you have one more version of Rapture theology.

The History of Rapture Theology

A few of the ECFs wrote about a literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. However, this kingdom wasn't accompanied by a rapture of believers, it occured before the last day. AND this position was never adopted as an official teaching of the Church as a whole. A literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth had mostly been rejected by the end of the 4th century.

Teaching on the Rapture first appeared in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It gained popularity by the efforts of John Darby. He preached the Rapture in England, the US and Canada between 1850-1870 to people of thousands of different Protestant denominations, so most of the current teaching on the Rapture can be traced back to only about 150 years ago. There is one obscure writing by someone whose pen name was Pseudo-Ephraim; which has a passage that seems to refer to a pre-Trib rapture, dating approximately from 4th-5th century, and the author's real name is unknown. Rapture enthusiasts will point to this ONE passage and say, "See! The Early Church believed in a Pre-Trib Rapture!"

The problem is: The exact meaning of the passage is open to dispute since 1) there is no mention of Christ coming in Glory, 2) St Ephraim, upon whose writings Pseudo-Ephraim is supposedly based, did NOT believe in a pre-Trib rapture; and 3) if you take ONE obscure passage from the 4th or 5th century to prove an Early Christian belief in the Rapture, then why don't you believe ALL the Early Church Fathers who wrote about:

• the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
• the authority of the Bishop of Rome?
• baptism as the real washing away of sin?

Using John 6:54 and 1 Thes 4:16, then, giving the proper contextual interpretation of the "one is taken, one is left" passages from Matthew and Luke, one must conclude that Rapture theology, especially as presented in the Left Behind series, is not logically defensible, is not Biblically defensible, and it is not historically defensible.

One Church

These are notes from a lecture by John Martignoni of the Bible Christian Society. This CD is one of many that are available free at www.biblechristiansociety.com - just pay $1 each for shipping!

Did Jesus mean for there to be 20,000+ churches and denominations?

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.
Truth is a person, not some enigmatic concept. We need to know HIM if we're to reach Heaven.

John 8:31-32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

John 18:37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

We need to know the Truth in order to come to the Father, be made free, hear the voice of Jesus, to be saved, to reach Heaven. Where do we find the Truth? Of course, we say "Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance before reading Scripture."

Romans 2:25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
Romans 3:1-2 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect.

Circumcision has a great benefit?

Galatians 5:2 Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.

Romans 3:27-28 Where then is boasting? It is excluded By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

We are not justified by works - or are we?

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

James 2:24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Works or no works? Circumcision or uncircumcision? Which does the Bible teach???

Leviticus 3:1-4 1'Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the LORD. 2'He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slay it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 3'From the sacrifice of the peace offerings he shall present an offering by fire to the LORD, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.

Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

Paul says that he completes in his flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions???? Christ did not do everything that needed to be done? Is that right? Is this true? We cannot just pick up the Bible and start reading it and expect to come to a knowledge of the truth that is necessary for our salvation. Nowhere does the Bible say that WE are infallible interpreters. In fact:

2 Peter 3:16 as also in all his(Paul's) letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort[twist], as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

Peter is telling these people, who are strong in the faith, that there are things in Paul's letters that are difficult to understand. How can he say that if we are perfectly guided by the Holy Spirit? They were Not evil, ungodly people, but untaught and unstable because they disregarded the apostles' doctrine and come to their own conclusions. These people didn't KNOW they were unlearned or ignorant of the Scriptures, they read them and used "their personal interpretation" to their own destruction, while thinking they knew the truth. They thought they didn't need to listed to Peter or Paul, they were fine reading Scripture on their own. Everyone reading Scripture for themselves (Individual Soul Liberty) to decide what they believe is NOT Scriptural!!!

There is dispute about Scriptural truth even among the most learned scholars. How then can an ordinary person w/o Greek or Hebrew be expected to know the Truth?

2 Peter 1:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Acts 8:27-31 So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace (queen) of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." 30Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

An educated, intelligent Ethiopian Jew, Secretary of the Treasury for the queen, needs guidance to understand Scripture.

This does NOT mean don't read the Bible, or that you won't EVER come to some knowledge of the truth by reading Scripture on your own, just that there ARE things that are hard to understand. Nowhere does the Bible say that the Holy Spirit will guide us into an infallible interpretation of EVERY passage of Scripture. If that were true, why go to seminary to learn Scripture? Can seminary teach you something that the Holy Spirit cannot? We MUST have a guide to properly understand/interpret Scripture.

WHO can guide us accurately? The early Christians had the apostles and those appointed by the apostles. Not just in interpreting Scriptures, but living out their faith daily. Do such men exist today? Where do we find them?

I Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.

I Timothy 3:15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support (bullwark) of the truth.

Scripture confirms for us that it is in The Church that we will find the truth. Most Christians will say the Bible is the pillar and support (bullwark) of the truth, but the Bible says the CHURCH is. What does a pillar do? Holds things up! What does a bullwark do? Protects and defends! The CHURCH upholds, protects and defends the TRUTH.

So we should check the Yellow Pages to find where The Church is. Depending on your area, you could have thousands of possible choices. Which church do I go to? Are they all the same? Is one better than the other? This is a VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM. How are we to know the Truth if we don't know for sure where to look for it?

Did Jesus Christ want Christianity to be divided into 25-30,000 churches and denominations? The situation we are in today tells us one of three possible things:

1) Jesus established more than one church
Did He? NO!!
Matthew 16:18 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, (singular)
John 10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

The Church is the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 1:22-23 And he (God the Father) put all things beneath his (Jesus) feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Colossians 1:18 He is the head of the body, the church. (this is repeated in verse 24)

How many bodies are there? ONE BODY OF CHRIST.

Ephesians 2:15-16 abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it.
Ephesians 4:4 one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call;

Since the church is the (singular) body of Christ, we must conclude that there is ONE Church.


2) Jesus established one invisible abstract spiritual church, to which all belong regardless of denomination, which means: a)doctrine does NOT matter and b)it is acceptable to have conflicting and contradictory doctrines.

None of the churches who teach about an invisible church make the claim that their gathering is THE Church. Individually, members of any denomination belong to the One Church, but the denomination itself is NOT. The Church is bigger than denominations. There is no ONE church that you can call THE Church that you can physically go to, according to this view. Did Jesus establish an invisible, abstract church? Again, NO!!!

John 17:21 that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
Jesus prays for unity that the world can SEE! The world CANNOT see invisible unity, because it sees 25,000+ divisions, it does not see unity.

v 23 ...I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me.
Obviously Jesus isn't talking about invisible, spiritual unity. It has to be unity that the world can see! Jesus was not just praying for his apostles here, as some might think.

John 17:20 "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
The Unity of Christians is proof for the world that He was sent by the Father. The world is only able to see the visible. The world does not have spiritual eyes, so there MUST be one visible church.

Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Matthew 18:15-17 If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
16 If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. 14 If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. (Don't associate with him)

If the church is spiritual/invisible, where can we go to fulfill this passage from Scripture? How do we decide what is or is not true, is or is not morally right, when it's so easy to find a church that will support, for example, your decision to have an abortion. Who decides what is good or bad doctrine? Who speaks for the Church? How does the Church function as the pillar and bullwark of the Truth? Does everyone claim to speak authoritatively for Truth? Each individual Protestant pastor is a Pope unto himself, deciding what is or is not good for his personal flock.

On average 5 new denonimations form world-wide each WEEK. Believers from all denominations, according to this view, are all in the ONE TRUE church, no matter how different their doctrines are; SO, either doctrine doesn't matter, or it's okay to have conflicting and contradictory doctrines. (infant vs believer's baptism, symbolic vs sacramental)

1 Timothy 1:3 I repeat the request I made of you when I was on my way to Macedonia, that you stay in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to teach false doctrines
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons
Ephesians 4:14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of doctrine arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming.
Titus 1:9 holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.

Doctrine IS VERY IMPORTANT in the Church that Jesus Christ founded.

They won't say it explicitly, but a lot of Christians believe that it is acceptable to have conflicting doctrines. "Well, even though we disagree on some of the non-essential doctrine, but we agree on essential doctrine" Sounds good, right? Open your Bible. WHICH doctrines does the Word say are essential/non-essential? That table/index does not exist. So who is deciding? It's simply a way to justify contradictory and conflicting doctrine and not make an attempt at total reconciliation.

Matthew 4:4 He(Jesus) said in reply, "It is written: 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.'"
Doctrines are the revelations of God. They are ALL essential.

Matthew 5:18-19 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

John 14:26 The Advocate (Counselor), the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name--he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you.

John 16:13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. (Are there changing, differing and conflicting truths??)

Malachi 3:6 Surely I, the LORD, do not change

If the Lord does not change, if the apostles were guided into all truth, if the Holy Spirit taught them ALL things and reminded them of what Jesus taught them, there can be NO contradictions in doctrines.

John 8:32 ...and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
If there is conflicting and contradictory doctrine, how can you KNOW what is the truth? And if you don't know the truth, how can you be set free?

Jesus founded ONE, and only One Visible Church. It cannot be an abstract, spiritual church. It cannot be an invisible church where doctrine is irrelevant, or contradictory doctrine is acceptable. It must be a concrete visible, physical, tangible Church. A Church which, like its founder, has a body.

We're left with only one option:
3) Jesus established one VISIBLE church, in which doctrine matters and in which there can be NO conflicting doctrine, and this church would HAVE to contain the FULLNESS of Truth, as revealed by God. Other churches/denominations would have, at best, only partial truth.

Ephesians 1:22-23 And he (God the Father) put all things beneath his (Jesus) feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The church is the FULLNESS of Jesus Christ. This One Church has unity in doctrine, and in faith and morals.

Acts 4:32 The community of believers was of one heart and soul,
I Corinthians 1:10 I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.
Philippians 1:27 Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel,

Faith of the gospel, not faiths. One Faith.

John 17:22-23 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

Jesus PRAYS that we will be ONE as He and the Father are ONE. Do you think Jesus and His Father ever disagree on any doctrine? Of course not!

We know that there is One visible Church, that has the fullness of truth, doctrine is VERY improtant, its members must not have conflicting and contradictory doctrines under the same roof.

I Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers

The leaders of this One Church should be able to historically trace their authority all the way back to Jesus and His apostles. They cannot stand on the Bible as giving them their authority, as it does not have THEIR name in it stating that they have the authority to teach from it. If you're a pastor, teaching your congregation that the Bible is the sole rule of faith, teaching them what doctrines to accept or reject, then the Bible ought to have your name in it, telling people you have the authority to be teaching these things.

This One Church should claim to teach infallibly in matters of faith and morals. Wouldn't Jesus' church claim to speak infallibility on His behalf in areas of faith and morals?

This One Church should claim to be The Church founded by Jesus Christ - wouldn't the one founded by Christ KNOW that it was founded by Christ? And wouldn't it need to be about 2000 years old?

If anyone is in a church that divides doctrine up into essentials and non-essentials, so that it can claim to get along with other churches that do the same; or you're in a church that does NOT claim to be The Church founded by Jesus Christ, or doesn't claim to still have apostles, or whose leaders do not claim to be infallible when speaking on matters of faith and morals on behalf of Jesus Christ, or a church that claims that it is only one aspect of the spiritual, invisible church that is "out there somewhere." If you're in a church that is NOT 2000 years old, that was founded by a man or group of men rather than Jesus Christ, you might very well have some thinking and praying to do.

"But my pastor is a good, holy man; you can see the Spirit moving when he gives his sermons, and when he preaches, it's from the Word of God and ONLY the Word of God." That's all well and good, BUT don't you think almost everyone else in 25,000+ denominations would say the same about their pastor? Every pastor in every Protestant church claims to go by Scripture Alone, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit - Can they all be right in their interpretations of Scripture, even when those interpretations contradict one another? God does not give contradictory interpretations of His Word! Therefore, all the ministers of these 25,000+ churches and denominations are WRONG at least SOME of the time in their interpretation of Scripture. We need to constantly be in prayer for these ministers!

Again: Where can we go to for Truth? Where do we find the Truth that will make us free? The Church, the One, Visible, doctrinally consistent, 2000 year-old Church, which claims to be the one founded by Jesus Christ. If the church you're in does not claim all of these things for itself, then perhaps a long, hard, prayerful look at the Roman Catholic Church is in order. The Roman Catholic Church at least claims to be all of these things and more. Upon close examination, She can back up all of the claims She makes.

One Church. One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth II

Part Four Chapter One - Lifting the Veil
"In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord..." (CCC no. 1090)

The Mass doesn't just mirror the worship in Heaven, it is our participation RIGHT NOW with the worship in Heaven! Every week we proclaim that we believe in "the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints..." I remember when I finally understood fully what that means. Those believers who are no longer on earth with us are not DEAD, they are ALIVE in Christ! If I ask my friends on earth to pray for me, how much more effectual are the prayers of the glorified righteous who no longer have their sinful flesh hindering their prayers? St John heard the voice say "Come up here" and in the liturgy the priest says, "Lift up your hearts!" In the fifth century, St Cyril of Jerusalem wrote, "...in that awesome hour, we should have our hearts on high with God, and not below, thinking of earth and earthly things. The priest bid all in that hour to dismiss all cares of this life, our household worries, and to have their hearts in heaven with the merciful God."

Chapter Two - Worship is Warfare
In the first century, the Jews believed that Messiah would come and conquer Rome and anyone else and establish the Kingdom in a political sense. Most apocalyptic literature portrays the Second Coming of Christ as one where Jesus descends to earth riding a white horse and crushing all His enemies. I never stopped to look at the fact that his army is dressed in white linen (hardly bulletproof!) and He is fighting with the sword "coming out of his mouth." He's preaching them the Truth, not lobbing off their heads! But the Truth is to their destruction.

Hahn says, "Coming to know God, we will come to know what infinite strength and resources we can call upon in battle. So we should prepare for Mass, thoughout our lives, by ongoing doctrinal and spiritual formation. No soldier should rush untrained into battle. Neither should we think that we can conquer demons if we're flabby in our faith."

He brings those battles right home to me when he says that it occurs our attitude and thoughts during Mass; and my toes are especially sore after reading, "Maybe it's fighting off our smugness when we hear a homily riddled with grammatical errors." Guilty. Lord, have mercy. When we overcome this, "No one but God and His angels will notice that you didn't mentally critique Father's homily this week....So you don't get a medal; you win a battle instead." Thanks be to God!

Chapter Three - Parish the Thought
I was told, among many other untruths, that Catholics re-crucify Christ in the Mass. What's really happening is our participation in the ONE sacrifice, "perpetual and eternal." Gives me "glory bumps." I am so thankful to have a "network" of actual Catholics to patiently debunk the myths. As I journey closer to Rome, I have found myself with an all new kind of hungering for the Word, for spending time in prayer, and for the Eucharist. I am seeking God and He is showing me the right path.

Chapter Four - Rite Makes Might
"Now, heaven has been unveiled for us with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now is the communion God has created us for. Now, heaven touches earth and awaits you. Jesus Christ himself says to you : "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with Me." (Rev. 3:20)

Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.

The Lamb's Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth

One of my Catholic sisters loaned me her copy of The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn. I had never thought of the worship in Heaven that St. John describes in Revelation in relation to worship in the Mass, so it was a fresh look at the Scriptures and a peek into the Mass, without the sounds, smells and bells. In the Introduction, Mr Hahn says that this book is not a Bible Study. In spite of that, I found myself reaching for my NAB to look up every text he referenced without quoting.

Chapter One - In Heaven Right Now
He begins by telling about his first time at Mass, as an "undercover" Presbyterian minister. He was driven there by curiosity, though he "didn't feel sure that it was a healthy curiosity." His curiosity was piqued in much the same way as mine - studying the writings of the early church and seeing words like "liturgy" and "the Eucharist" and wanting to understand what they meant. He was not expecting the Scripture that was being referred to every time someone spoke. He, as a Presbyterian, did not believe in the Real Presence until the moment the priest consecrated the Host, when his eyes were opened and he, quoting "Doubting" Thomas, said in his heart, "My Lord and my God! That's really You!"

I had experienced liturgy, first at an Episcopal church I visited in Ohio, and then God led me to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. I was perfectly comfortable worshipping with the Lutherans, who also believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, though it's defined differently. I prayed and still pray for my dh to see the beauty and right-ness in liturgical worship.

I went to Mass, hoping for the same type of epiphany that Mr Hahn described. No dice. The difference for me was that I had already been educated on the Truths of Catholicism, I know that Catholics don't worship Mary and statues, or re-crucify Christ at the Mass. I understand the idea of a perpetual sacrifice, that Christ's death on the cross is just as effectual today as it was nearly 2000 years ago. He IS the One who paid for all my sins by his willingness to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I went to Mass knowing what I would find. And God said, "Not just yet. Wait for Me, child." Patience is NOT one of my virtues.

Chapter Two - Given For You
The first passage Hahn referenced that gave me pause was his interpretation of Genesis 14:18-20. My Baptist upbringing taught me to read at the verses before and after, to get the context.

17

When Abram returned from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the kings who were allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

18

⁵ Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words:

19

⁶ Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth;

20

⁷ And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand."

Here, Mr Hahn says that the bread and wine were a sacrifice to the Lord, but I see that Abram and company returned from victory and Melchizedek gave them bread and wine for sustenance, and blessed Abram; it was not an offering to the Lord which is why no animals were involved. It is enough for me that Melchizedek, a foreshadow of Christ, offered the bread and wine and a blessing for Abram, just as Christ gives us Himself so that we might be blessed and filled with Him.

The next time I "came up for air" was when Mr Hahn gives his interpretation of the Passover. "...God instructed each Israelite family to take an unblemished lamb without broken bones, kill it, and sprinkle its blood on the doorposts. That night, the Israelites were to eat the lamb. If they did, their firstborn would be spared." Um, no, that's not what it says.

(Ex. 12:7-14) They shall take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of every house in which they partake of the lamb.

8

That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

9

It shall not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted whole, with its head and shanks and inner organs.

10

None of it must be kept beyond the next morning; whatever is left over in the morning shall be burned up.

11

³ "This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you shall eat like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the LORD.

12

For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every first--born of the land, both man and beast, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt-I, the LORD!

13

But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you.

14

"This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD, as a perpetual institution.

It was not because they ate the lamb that their firstborn was spared, but if they had applied the blood of that lamb to their doorposts. They were told to eat the lamb that night and not save any leftovers, BUT the Angel of Death didn't peek in the window to see if some Israelite woman had some lambchops wrapped up for later, but looked for the blood on the doorposts. It was the blood that "saved" them.

It is interesting to note that in the OT, only the priests were to eat the sin sacrifice (Lev. 7:17-19) but now that Jesus has made us ALL a royal priesthood, we can "take and eat" as well.

Chapter Three - From the Beginning
Most (not all) Protestant churches do not make the Eucharist (communion) a part of their weekly worship, and when they do it's a memorial, the bread and wine are symbols of Christ's body and blood. While it can be (and is) a solemn occasion, it just barely scratches the surface of what Jesus really meant when he said, "This is my body" and "This cup is the new convenant in my blood." One doesn't have to read too many early Church documents to see that it was MUCH more to them than a solemn memorial service with crackers and grape juice.

I love the last part of the Eucharistic Prayer in the Didache: Remember, Lord, your Church. Deliver it from all evil and perfect it in your love, and gather it together from the four winds -- the Church that has been sanctified -- into Your Kingdom which You have prepared for it."

Until quite recently, I had felt like the Lutheran church was exactly where God wanted me to be, and I still believe it is, for now; but now I see it as a stepping stone across the Tiber rather than a permanent place.

Chapter Four - Taste and See (and Hear and Touch) the Gospel
I mostly just nodded and "Amen-ed" his description of the liturgy. "Liturgy engages the whole person: body, soul, and spirit." I went to Vespers at a Coptic Orthodox church once, and that was my first experience with incense in worship. It took some getting used to, I honestly didn't care for the smell at first, but I've missed it ever since.

He goes on to talk about making the sign of the Cross, and why. "It is the mystery of the Gospel in a moment. It is the Christian faith summarized in a single gesture....It's not only an act of worship. It is also a reminder of who we are. 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' reflects a family relationship, the inner life and eternal communion of God. Ours is the only religion whose one God is a family."

PART II ~ Chapter One - I Turned to See
Here he starts to go through Revelation, particularly the worship in Heaven before the throne, day and night God hears "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come" and I doubt He ever tires of it. Liturgy is NOT the "vain repetition" that Jesus taught against; interestingly, in the very next breath He gave us the Our Father.

Chapter Two - Who's Who in Heaven
Some parts of all views of Revelation/eschatology are correct. Scripture operates on four levels, and all levels teach God's one truth. The pattern in Revelation of covenant, fall, judgment and redemption, not only describes one time period of history, but any and all of history, including our own. I can certainly see the pattern in my life.

Oh, and there's Mary in Revelation 12. WHAT!?!? I'd never been told that by a dispensationalist! The Woman, they say, is Israel. It's all symbolic. Personally, I say, yes, it's BOTH Israel (figuratively) AND Mary (literally). Go here for a great lesson in the Both/And application of Scripture.

Chapter Three - Apocalypse Then
Once again, I have to agree with Hahn when he says that the futuristic reading of Revelation should not be our primary focus. "Generations of futurists have gone before us, and died, wasting precious years on obsessive worries that Napoleon, Hitler, or Stalin was, at least, the beast foretold.

I learned that Parousia not only refers to Christ's Second Coming, but it also can mean "presence" and Jesus' Presence is not something we need to look forward to, but something we have today in the Eucharist. Yes, He is Coming - but He is HERE! Hallelujah!

I also learned that the seven churches addressed in Revelation - ALL seven of them - have had their lampstand removed, and those areas are predominately Muslim now. Catholics have to get special permission to have Mass.

Chapter Four - Judgment Day
I was reading along in this chapter, not objecting to much until I got to his interpretation of the Great White Throne Judgment. He says, "One day, you and I will be numbered among 'the dead' and we will be judged by what we have done." HOLD IT. I am NOT "among the dead" I am alive in Christ! There is judgment for Christians, but "this ain't it!"

This is really long so I'll finish my review in another post, coming soon!