As someone who is often referred to as an end times teacher, the great damage these scandals will cause absolutely breaks my heart. The beautiful message of Christ's return and the renewal of all things has always been the focal point of all biblical hope.
2/ Does the Bible call us to die to ourselves and even embrace martyrdom if necessary? 100%. Will persecution drastically increase against the faithful in the last days? Yep. Things like the tribulation and the mark of the beast however, these are not the focus of the Gospel.
3/ The primary focus of the Good News is the hope of a new world, one in which corrupt political leaders and spiritual principalities both cease. Instead the meek—humble servant leaders govern the earth under the leadership of the King of justice.
4/ It is a message about a time when things like addiction, premature death, and overdoses will no longer exist. No more sickness, no more death. No more mental health issues, body dysphoria, gender confusion, or suicide.
5/ No more elections season. No political ads or even political parties.
6/ The Bible does not teach the end of the world. It teaches the end of this current broken, corrupt world system. It promises a renewed earth, a restored, amplified Eden.
7/ Combine the Garden Paradise of Eden with something similar to the Kingdom of David or Solomon at the time of its greatest glory. This is how the biblical prophets envision the age to come.
8/ Peace among the nations. No more wars. Neighbors inviting neighbors over to "sit under their own vine or fig tree." No more anxiety or depression. Instead "gladness and joy will overtake them."
9/ Whether one believes any these things or not, it is the most beautiful message that has ever been proclaimed. It meets the deepest needs of every man, woman, and child who has ever lived.
10/ Churches and ministries may collapse. Leaders may fall. Heroes may utterly fail us. Kingdoms and nations may whither and decay into irrelevance. This message of hope however, will remain. Down through the ages, the the light will continue to shine and the truth will go forth.
11/ "The Church" will look drastically different than what many of us expected. It will be far more real and humble than what many of us have grown accustomed to. Celebrity Christianity is dead. What remains is withering on the vine and will soon fall to the ground.
12/ Many wrongly see the fall of great ministers and the collapse of ministries as the end of something. I believe it is the beginning of something far more beautiful. Come what may, let the Maranatha cry pour forth from our broken hearts. Until He splits the sky...
13/ I'll shut up now.
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(1) Regarding the IHOP scandal, how these type of things tend to unfold is a pattern as old as mankind. The first effort will be to discredit all of the men and women who have come forward as whistleblowers and their advocates.
(2) Mike will likely make an official mea culpa statement in which he takes responsibility for some issues, but not nearly all of the things for which he is actually guilty. This will be enough however, to elicit tremendous sympathy and support.
(3) There will be a friendly or a weak investigation. Mike will likely be removed from ministry for a short period but then reinstated.
Among all of the alleged Pretrib statements in the early Church, the following from Pseudo-Ephraim has by far been championed by our pretrib brethren the most. Unfortunately it has absolutely nothing to do with the rapture. See my comments below:
First, the title of the Sermon this is found in is: "The Separation of the Soul and Body."
The statement in question is simply expressing that all of the saints who have died are now gathered to the Lord and will thus not see the tribulation. That's it.
Pay attention to how the sermon actually begins:
“Blessed is the one who finds grace at the time of separation, when the soul is separated from its own body; for the Angels come to take the soul when it is separated from the body.”
(1) A thread for my pretrib brothers & sisters. In recent years some pretribbers claim to have "discovered" pretrib statements in the early Church. Foremost among these teachers is brother @soothkeep who claims there are several pretrib comments in the writings of Pseudo-Ephraim.
(2) Here is one such statement that he has been sharing in various sermons, videos, and Christian programs:
(3) Here is the full alleged pretrib comment exactly as Lee cites it:
(1) Christians who espouse Postmillennialism or "Victorious Eschatology" claim that the current moral and spiritual challenges faced by humanity are no different than at other cycles throughout history.
(2) This is the absolute height of denial. Never before in human history has mankind collectively had free access to graphic pornography. Never have we had such widespread sexual perversity and transgender chaos.
(3) Never has humanity wrestle with the ethical and spiritual implications of Artificial Intelligence. Never has mankind attained technologies such as gene splicing or brain hacking. Never has any government had the ability to monitor and control populations as they do today.
(1) One of the worst fraudulent claims coming from Pretribulationists is the notion that if anyone expresses an eager expectation for the soon coming return of Jesus, they are therefore pre-trib.
(2) Yes, both the Bible and many early Church writers repeatedly express an eager expectation and hope for the imminent return of Jesus. But this does not mean that they expected Him to return without any preceding signs or events? Such a suggestion is actually absurd.
(3) That would as ridiculous as saying that a husband and wife who express eager expectation for the arrival of their first baby are expecting it to come without any birth pains or any birthing process!