Monday, December 10, 2012

End Time, Revelation, Babylon, Pharmakeia etc URLs



These are a collection of threads and/or posts on these topics to date (at PuritanBoard), as well pharmakeia studies published on Scribd.  In the PB threads of others I have usually linked to my first post therein, and from there one can then go back to the beginning of the discussion if desired.

As one can see, some of these are earlier explorations on themes in Revelation, and some more recent – works in progress. I am presently working on a more definitive study on the topic of Babylon, and what the implications of that are for us in the 21st century. I will update this list as needed.  Or better, write and publish the Babylon paper.

On "the mark of the beast" [2012]

Revelation: inspirational drama of poetic symbols, or multi-genre prophecy? [2012]

Undecided on a Particular View of Eschatology [2010]

Amillennialism: Current state of Satan? [2011]

1,260 days / 42 months / 3½ years – the Amillennial view [2012] 

Satan Released - an amillennial view [2012]

Contemporary Amillennialism contra the “full idealist” view [2012]

Thoughts on Babylon the Great in Revelation [2010]

Are We Babylon? [2010]

Would you smoke Marijuana if it were legal?

Marijuana Allowed In The Church? The impact and sin of Biblical sorcery (pharmakeia) in the 21st century [in PDF] 

Marijuana Allowed In The Church? The impact and sin of Biblical sorcery (pharmakeia) in the 21st century [in Word]


Sunday, March 18, 2012

Quote from Bauckham's The Climax of Prophecy


From Richard Bauckham's, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation, p. xv:

In his Introduction, Bauckham writes,

Chapter 8 (‘The Apocalypse as a Christian War Scroll’) investigates Revelation’s use and interpretation of another set of images drawn from apocalyptic tradition: those which relate to holy war and are applied in Revelation to the participation of Christians in God’s eschatological victory over evil. Study of the holy war motif in Revelation has been previously largely limited to the idea of God’s (and the Lamb’s) war against and victory over evil. This chapter shows that John carefully takes up Jewish expectations of a messianic war in which God’s people are to fight and win a military victory over their enemies, and reinterprets them, substituting faithful witness to the point of martyrdom for armed violence as the means of victory. Though military means are repudiated, the imagery of holy war is employed in the interests of active participation by Christians in the divine conflict with evil, following up the decisive victory which their Messiah, the Lamb, has already won. [Emphasis added -SMR]


Friday, March 16, 2012

Preliminary Thoughts on Babylon in the Book of Revelation


I think this is a vital topic for these days, and so I will introduce a number of amillennial commentators and their views. I favor the amil school over its rivals – Dispensationalists, Historic Premillennialists, Preterists, Historicists, and Postmillennialists – because it makes more sense to me and is accord with both a sound Biblical hermeneutic (method of interpretation) and the data of the Holy Scriptures themselves.

I’m assuming some knowledge of the subject in my readers, though I will try to accommodate those new to this area of inquiry with running brief intros along the way. I will also be generating some podcasts (from the parent Lightning Sword Journal site) to help further clarify these things. Of course readers and listeners may leave comments and questions, which I will try to respond to. I intend this to be educational.

I won’t engage in debates on the supposed merits of the other eschatological (end time) schools vis-à-vis the amil, as there are other forums for such discussions. This blog will remain highly focused, and will not meander in those realms.

One brief definition of eschatology is the study of “the final destiny of the soul and of humankind”, and an area of knowledge that purports to deal with such is Biblical prophecy. The basic presuppositions (things tacitly assumed beforehand) in all that I write is that there is a God – a Supreme Being – and He has spoken to humankind in a book He had His prophets put together, the Bible, comprised of the Old and New Testaments. In this Book He has revealed His character, His divine purposes, and all things pertaining to our creation and existence. It is also assumed that this entire piece of writing – the Bible – was inspired by God and is infallible in all the things it speaks of, and that God, through His wise and mighty providence, preserved it intact up through the ages. I not only assume these things, but defend them.

The value of Biblical prophecy is that we can see (looking backwards) that God often foretold things that were going to happen way before they did happen. Many prophecies are already fulfilled – especially those pertaining to the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, His life, death, resurrection, ascension into Heaven, and His everlasting reign over His glorious universal kingdom. Some of the things that have not been fulfilled yet are His return to intervene in the persecution of His beloved people at the end of this age – when the persecution will be world-wide, severe, and ghastly – and the soon-following day of judgment of all humans who have ever lived, and the subsequent consignment to the respective destinies the lives of those humans warranted, whether it be to the heavenly life on a renewed earth or the infernal existence in a place of torment. Granted, this latter is a horrific prospect, and one clear goal in my writings is to persuade men and women to avoid that destiny and choose the former, which will be a place of everlasting joy.

I am preparing writings in this vein which are to appear in the “21st Century Babylon” section (see Directory in the left sidebar) of Lightning Sword Journal. I focus on Babylon in Revelation because this end-time entity pertains to the world culture we live in and the nation we live in (if we are Americans), although I will refer to Revelation in its entirety as well, for the whole book is immensely relevant for our time.


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Strategies of Seduction: Distraction & Deception



The stuff is so well done, so many genres to appeal to so many tastes, it’ll get a hook in multitudes!  Aliens, vampires, heroes, heroines, fantasy, sci fi, prowess, courage, beauty, raw power, rage, 21st century romance – now on a Big Screen (or smaller screens if you prefer, made for your phones or pads as well).

Exotic lands, planets, creatures, villains, monsters, superb weapons and strength – just sit back and relax, enjoy yourself.

In the meanwhile the invasion of planet earth continues, our extra-dimensional adversaries know how to use those already in their power – the artists, filmmakers and producers, writers, actors and actresses, high tech special effects – and your attention is arrested, you are lulled for the hit.  You never knew it was happening; you likely never will until you wake up on the other side of death:  the horror!  You have been taken, you have been had in a horror beyond what you ever thought possible – certainly the movies in whose thrall you were lulled never portrayed this reality!  You are dead and you are still awake; you see your body lying there and you aren’t in it, and there are creatures here – besides fellow humans in the same boat you’re in – who are terrors to look at, and their amused malice rippling across the currents of fury welling up in them now that they have you in their hands!  Why weren’t you warned of this!  Why weren’t you told this was coming?  How can it be!

But wait, you were told, it just didn’t strike you as true or real.   You just couldn’t be bothered with those jerks who told you you were morally accountable and that there was a God to answer to, and a spirit-world filled with devils and angels.  You actually hated those who talked – or even preached in the public places! – of Jesus Christ giving His life to pay for your sins so you could be forgiven them (for the asking!), and of His being raised from the dead so He could be your Savior and Shepherd on the throne of power in the Heavens to watch over you and protect you as you lived your life in the demon-infiltrated world.  You hated this kind of talk, and now you see it is true.

Everything was a lie!  Everything you believed in, wanted to believe in!  And the real heroes and heroines – the ones with genuine power and wisdom – were those you thought fools and jerks:  the ones who walked with the God of Heaven and earth, the Creator God, the God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son the Christ to save the perishing – and now you are perished!!!

Although you indeed have a terrible adversary – known as Lucifer the prince of demons – you were your own worst adversary, for you loved this world and its diversions and deceptions more than the truth; and you did know it was the truth, you just hated it, and suppressed the knowledge of it so you could get on with your pleasures, and with being the god of your own life – “to Hell with these preachers and their God!” was in your heart, but now it is you who have awoken in Hell.

Strategy #1 in the arsenal of Hell:  Divert the fools from considering the reality they are in; deceive them with delicious and fantastic dreams; keep them lulled until they are dead and in our hands, and we will vent our rage on these vile humans who have usurped our place in the favor of Heaven, who are creatures of the great Enemy on high!  Keep them distracted!  Never let up!


Saturday, March 3, 2012

Delusion or Malice, take your pick: Evil news bias at the NYTimes



On Sunday February 26, 2012, the NYTimes online published a story, "In Nigeria, a Deadly Group's Rage Has Local Roots", wherein they painted the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, as freedom fighters of a sort, with no mention of their continual slaughter of peaceful Christians in northern Nigeria (though initially these Christians did try to fight back).  The terrorist killers — linked to al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab — are bent on a campaign of "religious cleansing" to make the north a strictly Islamic state.  Their message to Christians:  If you stay, you die.  Ditto for any opposing the Islamic agenda.


For an accurate view see Barnabas Aid's reportage:  "Christians Flee Northern Nigeria As Deadly Attacks Continue" (see also sidebar with related articles).


This bias is nothing new at the NYT.  On Jan 24 of this year they wrote, "In Police Training, a Dark Film on U.S. Muslims" — this with respect to the courageous documentary, The Third Jihad.  The producer, Clarion Fund, says, "The New York Times cites the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a credible source, while continuing its policy of never mentioning that CAIR was founded by the Muslim Brotherhood."  CAIR has documented ties with numerous terrorist groups, as amply documented in the book, The Muslim Mafiaby Gaubatz and Sperry.  Clarion Fund did hit back with their video response, "Anatomy of a Smear", linked to on its The Third Jihad page. 


Reader, do you think I'm anti-American because of the theme image of Lightning Sword Journal above?  I'm not, but I am anti what America is becoming — is really far down the road to becoming! — the NYT just a precursor to what lies ahead.  For all its lofty "freedom-speak", NYT will betray us and become an organ of the Oppression.  If our beloved land betrays the principles on which it was founded and becomes a police state — actually far more than a police state, which I will elaborate on shortly — what is loyalty to America, cleaving to its original dream, and decrying its betrayal, or supporting an alien sort of Big Brother government that takes our freedoms from us (in the name of "safety" and "national security") and where freedom of speech — including freedom of the press — applies only to those who toe the line of acceptable submission to the State.


My grandfather, Stefan Von Müller, Editor of the Neue Freie Presse (New Free Press) in late 1930s Vienna, died in a Nazi prison while under Gestapo interrogation, as the "Jewish paper" Hitler loathed was no longer acceptable after the "Anschluss" of Austria, and had to be shut down.  I guess his blood is strong in my veins, and with the recent National Defense Authorization Act decreed into law (whereby American citizens may be detained indefinitely by the military for "national security" reasons — without any due process), I may have need of such blood.  He was, incidentally, a Jew who years earlier had converted to the Messiah of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth.


A good way to assess the agenda of radical Islam is to see how Muslims treat not only Christians in the countries where they are in power and Sharia law is enforced, but all who are not Muslims.  One can see in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Tunisia, Egypt, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Pakistan — I could go on and on! — one can see rapes, kidnappings, murders, bombings of churches, executions of pastors and their families, diversion of international aid in natural disasters, and various other kinds of oppression and persecution.


Which is not to say that all Muslims are like this.  An Egyptian friend of mine (Kamelia), an elderly woman, told me she has dear friends among her neighbors who are Muslim, and who love her.  And there are many others like this.  But the Koran, which is the Book that guides Muslims in the way they are to live, has in it the Suras mandating the enslaving, torturing, and killing of infidels — those who do not believe.  Even gentle Muslims may easily be radicalized, especially when violence and death are threatened against them and their families if they are not "devout" in their adherence to Muhammad and the Koran.


I regularly read the NYTimes, as their journalism is high quality. But then again, the devil produces high quality stuff as well.  There is a profound evil in their bias, which bodes ill for America.



Monday, February 27, 2012

Back in America after 9 years away!



For you folks who've been looking in on this site (and there've been quite a few) I apologize for being away for over a year!


Almost all of 2011 was taken up with the move from one country (Cyprus — part Middle-East, part Europe) back to the U.S., and when back most of the rest of the year was taken up looking for and getting an apartment, and then shipping a container full of our stuff over here — weight-wise mostly books! — and setting up so that's it's livable.  Which it now is.


You can see by the new Lightning Sword Journal image that there are going to be changes in focus.
From 2009 to 2010 I preached through the Book of Revelation, 60 sermons in all, not including the Babylon series.  I should explain how I came to be doing that:  With the help of an OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) pastor I planted a church in the city of Limassol, and pastored it for four and a half years (and, earlier, an Arabic Evangelical church on the same premises for two and a half years.  With the Arabic-speaking folks I mostly spoke through translators).


At any rate, for over a year I pondered and studied the Book of Revelation.  I mean, I had been reading it for some forty years, but now studied it in depth, so as to be able to fully comprehend it, and then teach it.  Below I'll give a list of some of the commentators I used at that time, as well as some more I am studying presently.


It's an electrifying book!  In it the risen Lord Jesus speaks to the seven churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), and not just to them, but to all the churches extant then, and to all the churches up through the ages till now, and even till the end of this age.  Imagine the Son of God addressing a particular congregation, with either reproof or commendation, or a mixture of both!  And thus these letters — there are seven of them, one each to the seven churches — speak to varying conditions in all the churches, if faithfully unpacked by godly pastors.


And then the unfolding of the New Covenant period — from the ascension of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, till His return at the end of this age and the resurrection of the dead, the great Day of Judgment, and the commencement of the destinies of the damned and the blessed, the former in what Christ calls "the lake of fire" and the latter on the New Heaven and Earth, where God has chosen to actually dwell in the midst of His beloved people, which He calls the Bride of His Son, in an eternity of festive rejoicing and glory.  But in that New Covenant period of the present age — symbolically depicted as "1,000 years", a millennium — there will be a terrible battle of the powers of darkness and death against the New Covenant people of God.  These people will stand faithful in the face of whatever the hostile world throws at them, and where they fail, the mercy of their God will cleanse and sustain them — for the times will be very difficult.


The Book goes into some detail regarding these things, as well as the judgments of the Almighty upon the world that persecutes His blood-bought children, and worships the idols this world manufactures in their hearts and loves (idols such as beauty, power, wealth, comfort, illicit pleasure, race, religion, etc).


The Revelation also talks about an entity called "Babylon the great", its oppression of the nations generally and the people of God — called "the saints" — in particular, its manifestation in various world powers, including Chaldean Babylon and the Roman Empire, and some mysterious political-economic-military entity manifesting at the end of the age, which shall surpass in brazen audacity all the oppressive pleasure-loving empires of the ages.  That shall be the primary focus of Lighting Sword Journal for a while.  Stay tuned.