I believe when I started this blog I mentioned that I hate to write and have to force myself to sit down and write. I think Frank W. would agree and finds himself in the same position. We have both been busy with our respective occupations and have not had opportunity to sit down and write. I thought I would however write a few words to let all who follow this blog know that we are both alive and well.
Frank W and I have talked and we both are overwhelmed at the amount of material being written about "church" in its various forms and all the multitude conferences which seem to spring up on a regular basis to discuss how "church" should look and act. Last time FW and I met for coffee in Minneapolis we both lamented that we don't need more books and meetings but rather we need to live in alignment with what we already know. So I'm going to sound like a total hypocrite when I tell you that one of the things I've been involved with is a book by Tony Jones called The Teaching of the Twelve coming out this month. Tony asked me over a year ago if I was interested in being a part of the book. The book is a retranslation and reinterpretation of an early Christian document dating to the time of the Gospels. As it was, our group was studying the document and finding some exciting things which we were integrating into the way we understood and did "church". When I presented the idea to the others of participating with Tony in the book all were in agreement that it was a worthy project and covered areas of discussion which were relatively scarce in the church today.
As we worked on the book we(who in the process have found a really "cool" sounding name with which to refer to ourselves: Cymbrogi) found our frustrations and anger toward the organized institutional church we had been a part of resurface and came to realize we needed to repent of arrogant attitudes which were developing. OK, it was mostly my problem! Thankfully the editor caught the attitudes and hopefully the book will be be a positive contribution to what life as church can be. So, I think we have contributed something to the sea of literature out there which doesn't tread over the same familiar ground of the last few decades. If conferences arise don't blame me I'll let Tony handle that. :)
The other thing which the Cymbrogi have been looking at is the alternative view of prophecy called preterism. Although still in its early study stages we are finding some interesting stuff out there which is already challenging long held ideas we have had. Of course this involves.....buying more books! It never ends does it FW? Got to keep the bookstores going so you can feed the family. It amazes me how rich the history of the faith is when you're willing to look beyond the last 50 years of church history. More to come as we discover new areas of study. It rounds out the practical "out-living" of the faith. Well time to wrap this up and go watch some of my friends young-uns play basketball and church with some Cymbrogi in an adjoining community.
Grace and Peace to all!
TruckerFrank.
Frank W and I have talked and we both are overwhelmed at the amount of material being written about "church" in its various forms and all the multitude conferences which seem to spring up on a regular basis to discuss how "church" should look and act. Last time FW and I met for coffee in Minneapolis we both lamented that we don't need more books and meetings but rather we need to live in alignment with what we already know. So I'm going to sound like a total hypocrite when I tell you that one of the things I've been involved with is a book by Tony Jones called The Teaching of the Twelve coming out this month. Tony asked me over a year ago if I was interested in being a part of the book. The book is a retranslation and reinterpretation of an early Christian document dating to the time of the Gospels. As it was, our group was studying the document and finding some exciting things which we were integrating into the way we understood and did "church". When I presented the idea to the others of participating with Tony in the book all were in agreement that it was a worthy project and covered areas of discussion which were relatively scarce in the church today.
As we worked on the book we(who in the process have found a really "cool" sounding name with which to refer to ourselves: Cymbrogi) found our frustrations and anger toward the organized institutional church we had been a part of resurface and came to realize we needed to repent of arrogant attitudes which were developing. OK, it was mostly my problem! Thankfully the editor caught the attitudes and hopefully the book will be be a positive contribution to what life as church can be. So, I think we have contributed something to the sea of literature out there which doesn't tread over the same familiar ground of the last few decades. If conferences arise don't blame me I'll let Tony handle that. :)
The other thing which the Cymbrogi have been looking at is the alternative view of prophecy called preterism. Although still in its early study stages we are finding some interesting stuff out there which is already challenging long held ideas we have had. Of course this involves.....buying more books! It never ends does it FW? Got to keep the bookstores going so you can feed the family. It amazes me how rich the history of the faith is when you're willing to look beyond the last 50 years of church history. More to come as we discover new areas of study. It rounds out the practical "out-living" of the faith. Well time to wrap this up and go watch some of my friends young-uns play basketball and church with some Cymbrogi in an adjoining community.
Grace and Peace to all!
TruckerFrank.
4 comments:
Preterism is clearly wrong if the Bible is the standard for doctrine. I had to look up the term to find out that it means the view that end-time prophecies in the Bible have been fulfilled in the time of the first century Church. To use one obvious example, Jesus Christ has not returned to this earth to establish the kingdom of God.
I think that the only way one can try and make preterism fit the Bible is to take the position that the Bible is speaking figuratively even when the language is literal. But as I point out in my book, God does not use figures of speech to deceive. If everything can be interpreted figeratively, you have no standard.
Thanks for your input but there are a lot of Godly men and women who follow the preterist viewpoint and hold the Bible in the highest view. In fact the futurist end times insanity which seems to have gripped christendom today would have been viewed as anti-scriptural a century ago. I think the Holy Spirit can be trusted to guide us in our thinking. If you would care to send me a copy of your book I'll gladly consider what you have to say.
Thank you for replying.
I have no printed copies, but my two articles and one book are published free on the Internet. You can browse them online or download them in .pdf format. They are also in the public domain, so you can copy any portions of them into your own works if you like.
The United States and the World in Bible Prophecy can be found at http://www.united-states-in-prophecy.org and explains what Bible prophecy predicts for the United States and the entire world in about the next 10 or 20 years.
The True Gospel and the Ezekiel Warning can be found at http://truegospelandezekielwarning.org and expands on the prophecy topic and covers Christian doctrine as well.
Or, you can go to http://www.truegosp.org and find links to the above two publications as well as a third article on evolution.
Thanks for the links. I will check them out. One of the authors I have found myself agreeing with is a moderate preterist. R.C.Sproul has some excellent comments to make re: the subject. The International Preterist Society has probably the best selection of reading material available. Also the book "Revelation Four Views" by Steve Gregg has the most balanced presentation of all four prevailing viewpoints and the writers who support each one. Also I had the privilege of working with Tony Jones on a book called "The Teaching of the Twelve" which will be released shortly which covers the teachings of the earliest Christians. It includes a short section on their view of the return of Christ. Thanks for the dialogue.
Frank
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