Have You Shared A Maranatha Greeting Today?

This morning I was reading the book "The Beginning Of The End" by Dr. Tim LaHaye.  On pages 12 and 13, he tells the story of an old Scottish minister and a local farmer neighbor.  And that brought back a wonderful deja vu memory, a story told to me when I was a new believer many years ago.  That memory emphasized two truths I believe: 

(1) All my life I have loved to walk and on my walks when I pass someone on the street, I smile and say, "Hello, how are you today?"  Two things usually happen, first I almost always get a response and most often a smile in return.  And in all my years of walking, I can count on one hand the times my greeting has been ignored.

And (2), we never know when someone just needs a smile and a hello.  And we never know when a simple, "God bless you" may change that person's life. 

This is Dr. Tim LaHaye's story:

"Maranatha" means "The Lord is coming."  That expression gained popularity in the first century and became a common mode of greeting and parting.  Christians often included it in letters, and in some cases even soldiers used it as a slogan when they went off to war.

The story is told of an old Scottish minister who passed the home of a parishioner on his way to church on Sunday morning.   Obviously the man chopping wood by the side of the house was not going to church.  Their eyes met and the pastor felt he should say something, so he called out, "The Lord is coming" and went on to church. 

About five minutes after he started his message the farmer entered.  After the service he admitted, "Pastor, the more I thought about the Lord is coming, the more I realized I didn't want Him to find me cutting wood during church time."  No wonder John said, "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."  (1 John 3:3)    ("The Beginning Of The End," Tim LaHaye, Tyndale House Publishers 1972 - pages 12-13)

Take the story shared by the man God used to bring me into His family.  In 1987 God introduced me to a pastoral couple named Pastor Sam and Ida Lacanienta.  Their Godly love brought me into the church he pastored - and through his teachings in worship services, Sunday School, and Bible study, I became a believer.  It took me six months of good Bible study, but at the age of 50, I became a child of God. 

One story which Pastor Sam shared with our Bible study group was about his early ministry in America.  I believe Pastor Sam and Ida came to America from the Philippines in the early 1970s and his first ministry was as an associate pastor in a small church in Santa Ana, California. 

That church did not have sufficient parking and on Sundays most folks parked in the street.  Just down the block from the church an elderly neighbor did not like cars parked in front of his home and his aggravation often became angry yelling at the people parking for church.

Rather that get angry or bothered by the elderly man's temper, Pastor Sam went to visit him one day during the week.  Pastor Sam is the kind of man who always exudes warmth, friendliness, and love - and that led the elderly man into a friendly neighbor to neighbor chat with Pastor Sam.  I can relate, for that same warmth and love, obviously from God, is what led me to visit the church he was pastoring in 1987 - where I was loved to the cross.

Pastor Sam became friends with the neighbor, they would wave and greet one another during the weeks that followed.  And even though the man did not start attending church services - after a while Pastor Sam did lead him to the Lord. 

A few weeks later, when he did not see the elderly neighbor in his yard as he normally did, Pastor Sam went to visit his home.  At the man's home Pastor Sam was told that about a week ago the man had passed away.  But we know that the moment he breathed his last mortal breath - that neighbor was in the presence of God.

That happened because Pastor Sam Lacanienta took the time to greet a disgruntled neighbor, share God's love with him, and tell him how much God loves him.  In other words, Pastor Sam told him, "Maranatha, the Lord is coming!" 

That is the deja vu story I relived this morning reading about Tim LaHaye's old Scottish minister's Maranatha greeting to his neighbor. 

Have YOU shared a Maranatha greeting with anyone today? 

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed Marantha day,

Bill

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Who Is The Great Shepherd, Who Are The Sheep, And Why KJV Bible Only?

While I realize that some will view posts such as this as being argumentative.  I view it as a learning exercise, much like Discussion/Conversational Bible Studies.  We learn very little when we just sit and listen.  We learn when we participate in discussions, allowing different participants to offer their thoughts and then discussing those thoughts to see if they are valid, based upon Scripture.   

That is why I will never call myself a Bible study "teacher."    My goal is always to be a Bible study "leader" - one who opens the discussion, hears, considers, and discusses thoughts from others, eventually leading the group discussion back to our only true authority, the Bible.

With that in mind, this is one of my recent discussions on Facebook:

A FRIEND AND CHRISTIAN BROTHER IN AFRICA POSTED:   "We are not the Sheep ~ Jesus Christ is not our shepherd  ~  Our blessings are spiritual in Christ Jesus  ~ We are not looking forward to the Messianic Kingdom."

I RESPOND: My brother, you tell us, "We are not the Sheep. Jesus Christ is not our shepherd."  The Bible clearly tells us that the metaphor "sheep" refers to all believers worldwide, Jews and Gentiles.  At the time of His earthly teaching, He came to those who should have been His "sheep" - Israel - and to seek and heal His "other sheep" - we Gentiles.  We Gentiles are the branches grafted into the True Vine, Jesus Christ (John 15:1ff).  In John 10:24-29 Jesus is clearly referring to all believers, i.e., His sheep. 

And in Matthew 25:31-46 we see the post-Tribulation Sheep & Goat Judgment of the mortal survivors of the 7-year Tribulation.  The Sheep are the believers who survive the Tribulation, the Goats are the non-believers who survive.  The Sheep go into His 1000 year Millennial Kingdom, i.e., the Messianic Kingdom, in their mortal bodies.  The Goats, i.e., non-believers, go into Hades/Torment (Luke 16:19-31) to await the Great White Judgment of all non-believers.

HE TELLS ME:  "As a Dispensationalist, King James Bible believer (KJV Only), and Pauline rightly dividing the Word of Truth (believer) - I don't believe that salvation has been by Grace through faith in Christ."

I RESPOND:  On Dispensationalism we agree.  Although I have to ask, "How can you be a Dispensationalist believer, i.e., PreTrib Rapture, PreMillennial Second Coming of Christ, and not believe in His 1000 year Millennial Kingdom, aka, His Messianic Kingdom?"

On your KJV Only position, I have one question: WHY? 

There are two editions of the King James Bible - the King James 1611 and the King James 1769.  Which one do the KJV ONLY folks call the only Bible, the 1611 or the 1769?   There were a number of English language Bible translations before the King James 1611 (see chart below) - and there are good English translations since 1611.  So why do you feel that that King James is the only Bible translations we should be reading?  The graphic posted below shows the English Bible Timeline.

Do you really believe that God looked down, chose ONLY the King James Bible to be His Holy Word - and wants us to trash all the other translations?  Really?  In your view, is God really that limited?

My Friend, our God is big enough to have chosen 40 men, over a period of 1600 year, in various locations - to write His Bible.  And they had a unified message - offering salvation to mankind.  Our God was big enough to assure that scribes and copyists over the millennia were copying His Word accurately - and our God is still big enough today to assure that our NASB, NKJV,  and other English language translations properly reflect His Word and His message of salvation.  You should not limit God to only one translation.

In your vision of God, after the inspired Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale, Matthew, Great Bible, Geneva, Bishops translations, all English translations, did God suddenly decide that all those English translations before 1611 were invalid and only the King James English translation is valid?  Where do you find that in Scripture?  If the Christian church should be using ONLY the King James Bible, who made that decision?  Was it man or God?  If God, where is it written?

God inspired those 40 men, over a period of 1600 years, living in various geographical locations - to write His unified message of salvation for mankind.  Did the same God who guided the hands of those 40 writers, then the Scribes and Copyists over the millennia, to copy His literal, inspired, inerrant Written Word - suddenly stop inspiring man to translate His message of salvation to mankind?  Starting with Wycliffe Bible, did God invalidate them all, declare them all uninspired, and bless only the King James Bible?  Really?

HE TELLS ME:  I am a, "Pauline rightly dividing the Word of Truth" believer." 

I RESPOND:  I am not quite sure I understand your position on the apostle Paul's writings.  I know there are people who feel that we should discard the Gospel books and the writings of other apostles and use only Paul's writings as our New Testament.  To them the message to the church, i.e., Christian believers, begins in Acts 9 when Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and believed.  To them Acts 1-8 is written to the Jews only and still falls under the Law.  Paul's conversion in Acts 9 began His message to the church.

My Friend, knowing that you are a sincere Christian brother, I am assuming that is not your position, and that you are referring to Paul's writing in 2 Timothy 2:15 (nkjv), "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."    And I would agree that is very good advise. 

The book 2 Timothy was the last of Paul's prison epistles and was written to Timothy, whom Paul had left in Ephesus to minister to and teach the church in that city.  Paul was encouraging Timothy to be a diligent worker in the ministry, teaching the Word of God as Paul had taught him.  This teaching, like most in the Bible, even though written to encourage a specific person, in this case Timothy, also is a teaching of encouragement to all believers.

But it leads me back to my previous paragraphs discussing your KJV ONLY position on the Bible.  And I have to ask, "Are you rightly dividing the Word of God when you declare that the King James Bible is the ONLY valid English language Word of God?"  Once again, I must ask, "On whose authority are you making that declaration - man's or God's?  If by God's authority, where do you find it in the Bible?"

HE TELLS ME:  "I don't believe that salvation has been by Grace through faith in Christ." 

I RESPOND:  Yet in Ephesians 2:8-9 (nasb) we read, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

And in Ephesians 1:13, 4:30 (nasb) we read, "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,  .  . . Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."   Our "day of redemption" is the day we die in this mortal body, or when we are raptured from this mortal body.

How do your reconcile your statement above based upon those Scripture passages?

At this point in our discussion, looking back at his statement above, "We are not the Sheep ~ Jesus Christ is not our shepherd" -  I suggested a blog from the Got Questions web site titled:  "Who Are The 'Other Sheep' Mentioned In John 10:16?"

HE TELLS ME:  "Bill Gray, Got Questions is not a Dispensational Biblical teaching perspective website.  The founder is not a Pauline Dispensational right divider and King James Bible believer.  He is one of the Replacement Theologians.  Kindly follow apostle Paul and embrace right division of the Word of Truth using Dispensational Biblical teaching perspective.  Stay here and learn."

I RESPOND:  Not sure where you got your information regarding the Got Questions web site or its founder.  You say that Got Questions is not Dispensational and teaches Replacement Theology.

In researching the Got Questions web site I found the information below.  I see absolutely nothing which would indicate that Michael Houdmann, founder of the Got Questions web site, is not Dispensational - nor that he believes or teaches Replacement Theology, that the church has replaced Israel as the chosen people of God.

Another key and very important thought:  Michael Houdmann is not the sole writer on the Got Questions web site.  That site has hundreds of contributors who answer questions and give insight.  I understand that Michael Houdmann does favor Reform/Calvinist theology - but that does not mean that this sways or drives what is written in Got Questions - for, as I mentioned, there are many contributors to that site.

Personally I do not believe in Calvinist Predestination, in Arminian Loss of Salvation, nor in Free Grace Rejection of Repentance.  But we must keep in mind that folks in those camps who believe and truly teach the Essential Christian Doctrines - are just as saved as you and me.  We will all be in heaven together.  Then we will all know the full Truth. 

I do not believe in Calvinism, Arminianism, nor Free Grace - but I have many brethren in those camps who otherwise offer solid teachings.  You and I can learn much from them - as long as we stay away from Predestination, Loss of Salvation, and Salvation without Repentance.  I would be interested in knowing where you got your information about the Got Questions web site and its founder, so that I can study it.

The information below is what I have found which answer your questions and objections to that web site.  These excerpts come directly from the God Questions web site.  I pray you find this information helpful.  God bless, Bill

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DISPENSATIONAL THEOLOGY teaches that there are two distinct peoples of God: Israel and the Church.  Dispensationalists believe that salvation has always been by grace through faith alone - in God in the Old Testament and specifically in God the Son in the New Testament.  Dispensationalists hold that the Church has NOT replaced Israel in God’s program - and that the Old Testament promises to Israel have NOT been transferred to the Church.

What is dispensationalism and is it biblical?
https://www.gotquestions.org/dispensationalism.html

You might want to also read the Got Questions Statement of Faith.

Got Questions Ministries Statement of Faith
https://www.gotquestions.org/faith.html

WHO IS S. MICHAEL HOUDMANN:  He is the Founder, President, and CEO of Got Questions Ministries, the parent ministry for the Got Questions web site.  We rarely receive questions about S. Michael Houdmann, and that is a good thing.  He does not want Got Questions to be about him.  He does not want people to accept or reject the answers given at Got Questions because of name recognition.  Rather, his hope is that people will accept or reject Got Questions answers because they have read them, compared them with the Word of God, and prayed about them – and determined them to be true and biblical.

Prior to launching Got Questions, Michael Houdmann earned a Bachelors of Arts in Biblical Studies from Calvary University and a Masters of Arts in Christian Theology from Calvary Theological Seminary.  He later earned a Master of Theology with an emphasis in Christian Apologetics from Dallas Theological Seminary.

https://www.gotquestions.org/S-Michael-Houdmann.html

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FROM THE GOT QUESTIONS WEB SITE:  "What Is Going to Happen According to End Times Prophecy?"

Bill Gray Note:  The following blog excerpt is a perfect description of the PreTrib Rapture and the PreMillennial Second Coming of Christ, which is where I also stand.  This is from the Got Questions web site.

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The Bible has a lot to say about the end times.  Nearly every book of the Bible contains prophecy regarding the end times.  Taking all of these prophecies and organizing them can be difficult.  Following is a very brief summary of what the Bible declares will happen in the end times.

Christ will remove all born-again believers from the earth in an event known as the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-54).  At the judgment seat of Christ, these believers will be rewarded for good works and faithful service during their time on earth or will lose rewards, but not eternal life, for lack of service and obedience (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10).

The Antichrist (the beast) will come into power and will sign a covenant with Israel for seven years (Daniel 9:27).  This seven-year period of time is known as the “tribulation.”  During the tribulation, there will be terrible wars, famines, plagues, and natural disasters.  God will be pouring out His wrath against sin, evil, and wickedness.  The tribulation will include the appearance of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the seven seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments.

About halfway through the seven years, the Antichrist will break the peace covenant with Israel and make war against it.  The Antichrist will commit “the abomination of desolation” and set up an image of himself to be worshiped in the Jerusalem temple (Daniel 9:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10), which will have been rebuilt.  The second half of the tribulation is known as “the great tribulation” (Revelation 7:14) and “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7).

At the end of the seven-year tribulation, the Antichrist will launch a final attack on Jerusalem, culminating in the battle of Armageddon.  Jesus Christ will return, destroy the Antichrist and his armies, and cast them into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:11-21).  Christ will then bind Satan in the Abyss for 1,000 years and He will rule His earthly kingdom for this thousand-year period (Revelation 20:1-6).

At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released, defeated again, and then cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-10) for eternity.  Christ then judges all unbelievers (Revelation 20:10-15) at the great white throne judgment, casting them all into the lake of fire.  Christ will then usher in a new heaven and new earth and the New Jerusalem - the eternal dwelling place of believers.  There will be no more sin, sorrow, or death (Revelation 21–22).

What Is Going to Happen According to End Times Prophecy?
https://www.gotquestions.org/end-times.html

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I pray you have found this discussion helpful, either in full or in "golden nuggets" mined while scanning this blog.  We do not want to appear argumentative when sharing the Gospel with others - and I have found that the best way to avoid that is to well equipped with answers to the many tough questions the world will throw at us. 

During my 35 years in computer sales and marketing, I won a number of major contracts by being armed with knowledge of my products and what the market was offering - so that a prospective client did not get hung up on one question causing my presentations to come to a screeching halt. 

In the same way, when we share the Word of God, the Gospel, with the world - the more knowledge we have of our product, eternal life in Christ taught in the Bible, the more effective we will be in bringing that person or those persons to faith in Christ. 

As my Friend and Christian brother in Africa tells us, reminding us of Paul's admonition to Timothy, "Let us rightly divide the Word of God - and be armed through daily study of His Word" - so that when the world raises objections, we have the Truth to counter those objections.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

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