Will You Love Jesus After the Cheers Die Down?

Summer is winding down, the vacations are mostly over, school is about to start, and that means also one other thing--summer church camps have all been wrapped up by now.

Before anyone accuses me of being down on all summer church camps, let me say at the outset that I have nothing against the concept of summer camps for children, youth and families. I refuse to be a killjoy and one who thinks a good, recreational time is "downright siiiiiinnnnful." I have been a camper as a youth, a college student and as an adult. I have gone to summer camps as a sponsor. My four daughters go to a church camp every year. My oldest daughter goes as a counselor now. In fact, most of them have been to camps in two or three different states. I am not starting a "ban the church camp" movement.

Children and youth can swim; play softball, volleyball, table tennis, pool, or darts; go fishing, kayaking, canoeing, shoot with bows and arrows (so long they aim at non-human targets); and do a host of other things that all children like to do.

The kind of church camps I prefer are those that have all the above fun activities, but they are also small and Bible-driven. Small, because with bigger crowds come bigger issues and bigger control problems. This goes against the grain of thinking that bigger is always better, but I know from personal experience that bigger can mean bigger headaches. Often goes unreported at these larger camps are all kinds of sexual misconduct, because if the word gets out what really goes on there, donations may dry up or heads will roll or a certain well-maintained prestigious reputation is damaged.

The lady who cuts my hair is a 70 year old plus Church of Christ lady. I have always heard that bartenders and hairdressers hear and know everything. I don't know about bartenders, but I do know it to be the case about hairdressers. People will often confide in them before they confide in anyone else. This lady has more than once come to the aid of my mom, now deceased, when this lady told me some things I needed to know about my mom, who was afraid to tell me but told this hairdresser friend instead.

Recently this lady, when she was cutting what little hair I have left, told me something that was not news to me. She said, "Chris, you would not believe all the stories I have heard over the years of girls who have lost their virginity at __________ (she named the camp)." The expression "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" should not be applied at any time to camps that identify themselves as Christian.

I am not saying that no bad things can happen or will happen at a smaller church camp setting (the human flesh is what it is), and I am not saying that nothing but bad things happen at bigger camps, but what I am saying is that the likelihood of things getting out of hand can occur with greater frequency at bigger summer church camps where there is more free time and much less supervision.

I also want a camp to be Bible-driven, rooted in good, solid theology. I just happen to believe that EVERYTHING the church is about should be based on sound doctrine. I can't find anywhere in Scripture that gives us the license to do anything for anybody in the church at anytime that is anything less than Bible-centered. If children and youth can learn biology, chemistry, algebra, trig and world history at school, then why can't they learn theology even at a church camp? Why give them milk when they should be able to eat meat? Why do we shortchange our children at church and at camp? Now we can make Bible and theology understandable on their level, and all of that does not have to be boring either.

I want the Bible taught and preached to my daughters when they go to camp, and that happens every year in our case. They memorize Scripture, they hear mission stories, they have regular devotions, and I love it all. Have fun activities, but also be serious about God and His Word.

If you really want to see, though, a good reflection of where contemporary American Christianity is, all you need to do is attend a summer youth church camp. In many cases I would venture to guess it is heavy on the music, light on any biblical teaching/preaching, major on the fun stuff, and get kids worked up in an emotional frenzy. Church camp is an extension of church life after all.

One year I talked a good friend, a parent of some youth in our church, into attending church camp as a sponsor. He was blown away by what he witnessed first hand. This friend had his eyes opened in a big time way. (As pastor of that church over 18 years ago, I had no choice but to be there at camp for some of the week. I began to dread it each year.) On one occasion, right before the main evening service was to begin, they were playing music videos on the big screens. I was reading my Bible and not watching the music videos, because to put it plainly, there were many things in those videos that young people or anybody should not be viewing, especially at a Christian camp. He came up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked me if I was watching the music videos. I told him I wasn't, and he in disgust said there were many sexually suggestive things going in those videos. I told him simply, "______ (his name), welcome to ____________ (name of church camp)."

Later on that week he and I had a good talk about other things, and he said to me that he figured out why there was a majority of "decisions" made during the altar call on Thursday night of camp week. From everything I had heard, over 75% of all decisions that are made that week from morning and evening services are made during the Thursday night service on a consistent basis every year. He told me that by Thursday the kids are all worn down physically and emotionally from a fun-packed week that they are simply putty in the hands of any effective presentation, no matter if it were biblically on target on not.

As sponsor during one week one summer, I had to counsel some of those who came forward during the invitation altar call. Every pastor who was back there doing just that were fit to be tied, because in nearly every case the children had no idea why they came forward. The speaker did not use the Bible in his sermon, but instead told one scary or funny story after another. We were being told in the back room by the authorities of this camp that we had to get the names of all those children down on a card, so they can get reported as being saved during the week. The total number of decisions would be impressive for wide-scale publication purposes.

One pastor in the state who preached at a summer youth camp one time told a group of us pastors that the lodge where he stayed on the campgrounds was the lodge regularly used by the guest preacher for the week. On the inside of the door was a chart that had the number of decisions posted for the previous weeks. He said the subtle message was "you got to match last weeks' results at least, or beat them preferably."

It does not matter if a camp is small or big in this case. If a summer church camp relies on "decisionism" evangelism, then it will pull every rabbit out of the hat to get kids to make a decision, even if the children have no idea what is going on, nor can they explain it 30 minutes later to anybody else what they have done, let alone have any fruit to show for it just 30 days later. But we are told all that does not matter that much, since the number of decisions is what matters most.

Jesus told us to make disciples not make decisions, though. It's amazing how the early church did it without our methodologies--just imagine, we might foolishly think, if Jesus and the apostles had at their disposal such things as extended altar calls, "we love Jesus, yes, we do; we love Jesus, how about you?" rah-rah sessions, repeat-after-me "sinner's prayers", and other psychological ploys.

It is easy to get people worked up, and that is clearly evidenced at a football game, a music concert, a political rally, or a highly-charged summer youth camp. All it takes is a leader with some imaginative charisma, and there is no telling what a crowd will do. Mob psychology can do all sorts of wonders.

But there is a huge difference between getting people WORKED UP, and Philippians 2:12-13, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who WORKS IN you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."

Jesus never said that you will know the true disciples by how loud they can cheer in a mob situation, but you will know them by their fruit. 1 John says over and over again that the way we tell who are those who are truly regenerated, born of God, is by such things as loving the brothers, loving God, obeying His commands, living the Christian life day in and day out. Walking an aisle, filling out a card, repeating a canned prayer, saying "I love Jesus yes I do" at the top of one's lungs, physically nailing your name on a cross, or any other regular camp ritual simply did not make the cut in the list of 1 John identifiable features of a born again person.

Jesus warned and scolded the Pharisees in their outreach methodologies of making their converts "twice the sons of hell." (Matthew 23:15) Once the son of hell by nature they are children of wrath, which all of us were at one time, and twice, by giving them false assurance they are all right with God simply because they did A, B and C. At church on Sundays or at summer youth camps or at other events, if we are not Bible-driven, we can be guilty of the same as the Pharisees. We can not shake this off as some insignificant matter. It is never the right thing to try to usurp the role of the Holy Spirit, either in conviction of sin (John 16:8) by getting people to make decisions with high-pressured or emotionally-charged tactics or later in giving these same people an assurance of their salvation (Romans 8:16) by telling folks they are saved simply because they did our prescribed A, B and C.

We can do our prescribed A, B and C, and God grades us with an F, because only the Holy Spirit can bring conviction of sin (a necessity for every person's conversion) and assurance of salvation (a necessity for every person's sanctification).

My daughters have been after me for the longest to find them a biblically solid devotional workbook they can use in their daily Bible reading. I have called around and asked the experts in the publishing field, and there are none of those workbooks to be found, at least what my girls are looking for.

If I could write one myself, not just for my girls, but for all the post-summer campers at every church camp everywhere, I at least know the title I would use--Will You Love Jesus After the Cheers Die Down?

One of my instructors at seminary put it this way: It is not how high you jump that counts, but how straight you walk after you hit the ground.

Yours in Christ,

Chris

mormon.org/stillacult

We interrupt our normal scheduled programming on Gog and Magog to bring you a special late breaking news item: In spite of a recent slick advertising campaign on radio and TV, Mormonism is still a cult.

While driving one day in between jobs, I first heard this latest Mormon advertising blitz on the radio. One immediately after another I heard brief testimonials or stories of people from different walks of life, and each person ended with a statement like "I'm Joe, and I'm a Mormon." (mormon.org/joe) Up until that last word, one could not tell what the commercial spot was all about. Then I saw the commercials on TV. They were all very well done from a professional marketing standpoint.

All of them were low-key with no mention of anything Mormon until the very end. One person is a person in hip-hop, another is a skateboarder, but the one I "like" the best is a man who is riding a motorcycle, and he is telling about the importance of his family. He says he can find nothing in the Bible that says one can not ride a motorcycle, and he loves to have dinner conversations with people who disagree with him over religion. In fact, he says he loves to have friends who pray to a different god than he prays to, and that is all very cool with him. Postmodernism has found its way into Mormonism.

When those commercials came on TV a couple of days ago and my wife saw them for the first time, her first remark to me was "Now what are we Christians going to do?" The more I thought about her question, it seems to me that a huge segment of evangelical Christianity has already done a whole lot. We have taught Mormons well. After all, who has championed and perfected the idea that in order to attract people to our churches we need to downplay what we believe, mention very little if anything about the scriptures, keep everything so fluffy, light and positive, highlight instead people's "felt needs" and personal stories, and throw in some postmodern psychobabble dribble to make it more palatable for the average American spiritual diet?

Upon further reflection, I have concluded also that Mormons have evolved (and that is a good word to use, since Elohim evolved from a man to a god, and we can evolve into gods one day ourselves) in their public relations and outreach strategy. In the former days, the Mormon church had all sorts of commercials and advertisements that would show a clean-cut close-knit Mormon family gathered in the family room of their home for Monday evening worship time. At the end of the commercial would be a picture of the Book of Mormon and an 800 number one could call to get a free copy sent to you. The Book of Mormon was another testament of Jesus Christ, which means the Bible is incomplete without the addition of the Book of Mormon.

When is the last time when anyone has seen a commercial spot that is promoting the Book of Mormon? Even better than that question, when is the last time the Mormon church has even mentioned anything about the Book of Mormon in a national advertising campaign? It's been a loooong time. Why is that? Could it be that through the efforts of so many faithful Christian apologists and those who have researched cults well, as well as the work of former Mormons themselves, the Book of Mormon has fallen on hard times, either in reality or in people's perception, regarding its fraudulent claims?

Joseph Smith and his theological heirs have always stated that the Book of Mormon is "the most perfect revelation" given to man. The Holy Bible can not be trusted because it has so many man-made errors in it, so says the Mormon hierarchy. However, it has come to light that over 3000 revisions have been made in the Book of Mormon since Mr. Smith found those golden tablets in New York. So much then for it being the most perfect revelation given to man. You do not need to know a whole lot about the Book of Mormon to carry on a brief intelligent dialogue with a Mormon missionary who comes knocking at your door. Ask the young Mormon to take the Book of Mormon in his possession, ask him to flip to the very back, and then ask him to try to find any maps. He can't do it, because, unlike most of our Bibles which have plenty of maps at the very back, there are no maps in the Book of Mormon. If the Book of Mormon is so perfect, then why can't they find any cities or places cited in the book to put on a map for us to find through geographical, historical and archaeological research and verification? The Bible can do what the Book of Mormon can never do; case closed.

So, the Mormon church realized over time they had a public relations problem with the Book they so cherished and still do. They made a tactical decision to hide the Book of Mormon, and not talk about it so openly. Instead, their next batch of national advertising campaigns featured not the Book of Mormon, but the King James Version Bible, which you could get free by calling the 800 number on the TV screen. Of course, once they get your address, then expect to have some Mormons calling on you at your house someday in the near future.

This approach is also part of their overall philosophy that makes the cult of Mormonism different from most other cults. The Mormon church has always wanted to be received by people as being part and parcel of mainstream Christianity. They don't want to be seen or regarded as fruitcakes or oddballs. Jehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, do not want anything to do with mainstream Christianity. When is the last time you heard of a Jehovah's Witness running for office or holding down an elected or appointed office, having a nationally syndicated radio talk show, being a sports figure, writing best-selling books, or being a celebrity in the music, movie or TV industry?

It is alarming, for example, how many of the contestants on the pop culture hits, American Idol and America's Got Talent, are active Mormons, which all go back to the days of the Osmond Brothers, who did so much in recruiting young people back then to join the Mormon church. Any collegiate football fan knows that when his team plays Brigham Young University in football or basketball that his team will be going up against players that are two to three years older, because the Mormon church requires two years of missionary service for all of its young men.

The Book of Mormon had a way of saying that Mormonism is not so much mainstream Christianity after all in the minds of people, but what can be more mainstream than a King James Version Bible? But times have changed, and so even the KJV Bible has to be shelved by the Mormon church in its next round of national advertising. This brings us to where we are today with this new crop of TV and radio commercials, which play right into the hands of a feel-good, religiously tolerant, anti-absolutism, postmodern society.

Subjectivism is the big selling point in these commercial spots. Notice that in each case by each person's different testimonial in these commercials, it is all about how that person lives his or her life, and the insinuation is that he or she has a good life because he or she is a Mormon, and look at all the things you can achieve and be in your life and being a Mormon can help you. Nowhere is it about, "What is the truth?" Nowhere is anything of a Mormon doctrine taught, nowhere is a scripture quoted even from the KJV Bible, nowhere is objective truth a standard for judging what is right or wrong. The commercials are all about helping you and me become better people by reaching our potential, and that's what religion is all about now anyway, right? If you don't believe me, just take a casual stroll through your Christian bookstore and see what kind of books are bestsellers and see how few if any are of any deep biblical substance.

The Mormon missionary will eventually challenge someone to read the Book of Mormon, because by reading it one will get an inward "burning sensation" that it is really true. It is true because we feel it to be true. That is subjectivism in a nutshell. I asked a Mormon missionary once how can I know if the burning sensation is not just indigestion or something else. I would hate to make a monumental decision in my life based upon what I ate for supper.

Is not much of evangelical Christianity subjectivism? Our young people are certainly not being taught biblical doctrine for the most part. There is not enough time to do that in between the trips to amusement parks, pizza parties and other entertaining outings. Look at churches' web sites, billboards, hand flyers, or other advertisements, and see if subjectivism does not reign supreme in so many cases. "Come to _____________Church because this is what we offer for your children, look at all we have going on for your family, see all the programs and activities we have, hear our music, etc., etc." We object to objective truth, and we subject ourselves to subjectivism wherever we turn. If we get to the Bible, it may be more along the lines, "What does this Scripture mean to you?" We are as good as hiding the Bible or whispering it beneath our breath as the Mormons are about the Book of Mormon.

So, yes, we have taught the Mormons well. That is what much of evangelical Christianity has done about this recent round of Mormon commercials.

Mormonism is still a cult, a heresy, started by Satan who disguises himself as an angel of light. It is a shame that the Mormon church can follow our example in its newest, clever, subjective, postmodern outreach by disguising itself even more.

These latest Mormon commercials say hardly anything at all about the Mormon church, but they say a whole lot about us.

Yours in Christ,

Chris

Gog and Magog I: Before There was Hitler, There was Haman (part two)

How did we ever live before there were microwaves, cell phones, and google? In preparation for this article, I relied heavily upon the last one, but to my surprise, I came up empty. I googled, "How many Old Testament prophecies where fulfilled in the Old Testament?" After scrolling down through several pages of google results to my search, all I ever saw was something along the lines of how many prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled in the life of Christ. That is a very worthy study, of course, and it can be said that Jesus Christ lived during the era of the old covenant ("He was born under the law," Galatians 4:4), so what I retrieved was not off the mark from what I googled.

But more pointedly, what I wanted to find was a list of prophecies that were made in the pages of the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the pages of the Old Testament, or were fulfilled in the era of the Old Testament leading up to Christ. I did not find any paper, article or research that had been done with that specific topic in mind. I am sure there is one somewhere, or possibly several, but here goes my hurried attempt to give a very partial list of the numerous prophecies that were made somewhere in the Old Testament pages, and were fulfilled somewhere else in the pages of the Old Testament.

In Genesis 6:3, God said that there would be a 120 year period of time before He would judge the world. That was fulfilled in the very next chapter when the flood waters drowned every living creature, except those eight humans inside Noah's floating zoo. In Genesis 15:18-20, God told Abram the geographical parameters that his descendants would occupy. 1 Kings 4:20-34 we read of the vast extension of Solomon's kingdom that is a direct fulfillment of Genesis 15. In Genesis 18 God said that Abram and Sarah would have a son in their old age, and in Genesis 21 Isaac was born. Earlier God had told Abram in Genesis 15:13 that his descendants would be strangers in a foreign land for 400 years, and surely everyone is familiar with the story behind the book of Exodus.

The plagues visited upon Egypt were all first words spoken by God through Moses to Pharaoh, and all those plagues became reality just as God had said. God even used a Balaam, and a donkey before him, to speak the truth. His four prophecies in Numbers 23 and 24 were all lived out in the pages of the Old Testament. The conquests under Joshua were fulfillment of what had God promised to the Hebrew children. The birth and life of Samson in the book of Judges were foretold by God to the wife of Manoah.

In 1 Samuel 2, God initiates a prophetic judgment against Eli's household, and everything came to pass, including the death of Eli's sons on the same day (1 Samuel 4). The prophet Samuel told disobedient King Saul that his kingdom would not continue and that God would raise up a man after His own heart. Such was fulfilled in the death of Saul, his household and the beginning of the reign of King David, all fulfilled within 40 years.

The prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12 confronted David after the incident involving Bathsheba and Uriah, and he told him a series of prophecies that were headed his way, such as unending violence in his household, his newborn would die, which did occur in the same chapter, and a son would cause an insurrection, namely Absalom. All those prophecies came to pass, again within the pages of the Old Testament.

After Elijah in 1 Kings 21 told Ahab of his future, he then told the wicked queen Jezebel what awaited her. True to form, the prophecies about Ahab came to pass, and in 2 Kings 9 we read of how Jezebel died, just as God had said. Along came King Jehu, and through him God fulfilled many earlier prophecies. A chapter earlier in 2 Kings 8, Elisha had foretold an incredulous Hazael that he would become king, and that he would wreak havoc upon Israel.

The prophecies are too numerous to mention about all the times God had said that the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah would meet their demise, first by the hands of the Assyrians and then by the Babylonians. The Old Testament prophets carried those messages of dire warning. Jeremiah 25:11 and Jeremiah 29:10 both state that the exact time of the bondage to the Babylonians would last 70 years, and so it was to the exact year. (Daniel 9:1-2). The prophecies are also too numerous to mention about all the times God had said that he would restore the Hebrew children back to the land after their exile. One example is in Isaiah 44:28-45:1,where God even names the king-yet-to-be-born who would do the Jewish people a big favor, fulfilled in Ezra 1:2-4, 6:3-5.

In the book of Isaiah, such as in 16:14, 20:3, 21:16, 23:15, and 37:30-35, we read of how God would act in human history regarding different nations and people groups within a specified period of time. All those were fulfilled within the era of the Old Testament. The book of Daniel is the revealing of God's schedule of events that would come to pass during the four successive world empires leading up to the Messiah Himself. Just reading Daniel 10 and 11 should cause our heads to swim, because there we are told in exact detail the upcoming stratagem of warring kings that would ensue in the Greek empire as it effected the Jewish homeland. Someone has calculated over 100 details of prophecies are made here, all of which played out in the course of history within the Old Testament time period.

We can add all the prophecies made about the coming of the Messiah, which google does provide, and we end up with a large amount of prophecies made in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in the Old Testament time period. So where does this all lead us? For our purposes right now, it leads us to the story of Esther and Mordecai, two brave Jewish cousins whom God used to prevent a Jewish holocaust long before there was a Hitler.

In Esther 3, Haman, an Agagite, a descendant of King Agag the Amalekite, hatched a plan to destroy all Jews throughout the entire Persian kingdom on the 13th day of the 12th month. I would consider this to be a very significant event. Not even Hitler and Stalin could have pulled off this plan, but Haman could. There were no Jews living in New York City or Chicago or Miami or Rio de Janeiro or Toronto or London during Haman's time, if you get my drift. Practically all Jews were confined within the borders of the vast Persian empire. They were conveniently fenced in, powerless against Haman's evil conspiracy. In Esther 8 and 9, as the story of Esther unfolds, we see how this holocaust was prevented by God's providential intervention. Instead, 75,000 enemies of the Jews were killed. It was such a dramatic rescue and such an earth-shattering historical development that Jews since then have celebrated the feast of Purim, as a celebration of their deliverance from extermination.

Imagine for a moment if Haman were successful. If all Jews were killed, then how would the Messiah be born--the Lion from the tribe of Judah (which with all other tribes would be extinct), the Son of David (whose family line would be extinguished), the promised Seed of woman who would crush the head of Satan (Genesis 3:15)? Haman was not acting alone, anymore King Herod was acting alone when he ordered the slaughter of the innocents (Revelation 12). Satan was the director-producer of this real life drama.

Of course, God would not allow Haman or anybody else to be successful. God's prophecies would come true, and man and Satan could not prevent the inevitable. Satan is the Big Loser.

Here is where we are going. Considering the vast number of prophecies made in the Old Testament about all sorts of things--some we may esteem more important than others, but regardless, God made those prophecies--and considering the long list of prophecies made that were fulfilled during the Old Testament itself, should it not surprise us if Haman's scheme of Jewish extermination and God's deliverance from it were not somewhere prophesied earlier in Scripture? Let me state it in another way. Why would God completely not mention anywhere else in the Old Testament what would later happen in the book of Esther, since it would involve the entire Jewish people, their destiny and the future Messiah? You mean to tell me that God made no prophecy at all about what Haman would conceive and try to carry out, that God just skipped over talking about the possible elimination of His entire chosen people?

This to me is a very, very significant point. It is not the only point, but it is a point worth making, that I would tend to think, considering God's long string of prophecies made in the Old Testament, that somewhere in the Old Testament, prior to the time of Esther, God would prophesy about what would come down the road. That was God's method of operation over and over again--He would foretell His people what would happen to warn them, to prepare them and to assure them. God told His people ahead of time about the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., but most Jews escaped the clutches of death then. The Babylonians didn't want to kill all the Jews anyway. In Haman's case, though, he did not want one Jew to be left alive. And God would not prophesy about that, but He would about 586 B.C.?

This lays the groundwork for us to look in the next article at the place where God did prophesy about the extremely serious series of events that would play out in the book of Esther.

Yours in Christ,

Chris

Gog and Magog I: Before There was Hitler, There was Haman (part one)

It seems today that the predominant world mindset is that the Palestinians can do no wrong, and the modern state of Israel can do no right. The latest case in point is the the incident involving the "peace flotilla" of six ships that broke the naval blockade that Israel had imposed for its own security purposes. Five of the ships obeyed Israeli military, unloaded their cargo in Ashdod, the cargo was properly examined, and all peaceful cargo was promptly transferred to Gaza, its original destination. The sixth vessel took a different tact; the "peace loving" Turks on board offered violent resistance, a melee ensued, and the Turks were killed by the Israeli commandos in self-defense.

Once again, Muslim terrorists would be hailed as brave martyrs, while the nation of Israel was condemned worldwide as being the bloodthirsty villain. In any conflict, there is always enough blame to go all the way around at times (no one has ever said "war is heaven"), but the united sentiment against Israel by the great majority of the nations around the world, including our own now, is unjustified to say the least. From the PLO to Hamas to Iran and other neighboring Muslim nations, their defined purpose is to see Israel swept away into the sea.

The hatred against the modern nation of Israel stems from many causes, and while one can point to many parallels between present day animosity to the anti-Israel story line of the Old Testament era, the dissimilarities between the two are more striking. Modern Israel is almost totally secular in nature. Religious, orthodox Jews make up a tiny minority in Israel. It is a secular state carved out by political intrigue and historical circumstances in the late 1800s and through the mid 1900s. The Israel of the Old Testament was a theocratic nation; the Temple was foremost the center of national life; whereas today it is the Knesset. People in the Old Testament could trace their lineage back to twelve tribes; today, due to holocausts, intermarriage, destroyed documents and other factors through the centuries, no Jew today can tell you from what tribe they are descended. Jews today are mainly either Sephardic or Ashkenazi Jews, and much confusion and disagreement exist over their related histories. (This lack of genealogical verification on the part of current Jews bears greatly on the proper interpretation of the identity and time period of the 144,000 sealed Israelites mentioned in Revelation 7! But I digress. . .kind of.)

God made a special covenant with Israel in the Old Testament, because through that nation would come the promised Seed, the Savior of the world. It was an unconditional covenant on God's end, in the sense that nothing would interfere with God's plan to execute His plan of redemption through His Son, the Messiah. For that reason, He would not forsake His people, because He could not forsake Himself. (1 Samuel 12:22) In Genesis 15, God made that point in dramatic fashion to Abram when God Himself passed through the divided animal sacrifices. It was AS if God was saying, "May I be cut asunder like these sacrificed animals if I do not hold up to my end of the covenant!" Old Testament Israel did not come into existence because it sought to be God's people; Israel became God's people, beginning with Abram, purely on the basis of God's sovereign choice. (Genesis 12:1-3) God does not change by the way. (John 15:16, Ephesians 1:4-6)

At the same time, it was a conditional covenant on Israel's end, in the sense that if they did not hold up to their end of being faithful to God's laws, then Israel would face the consequences. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 enumerates the consequences, all of which played out in the life of stubborn, disobedient Israel in the pages of the Old Testament. The prophet in Amos 4 says that God brought all these promised disasters upon Israel, yet "you (Israel) have not returned to Me." The tragedy of all tragedies, the disaster of all disasters, the consequence of all consequences was the final one mentioned in Deuteronomy 28: banishment from the land of Israel. The northern kingdom of Israel experienced that in 722 B.C. at the hands of the Assyrians; the southern kingdom of Judah, through which the Messiah would come, experienced that in 586 B.C. at the hands of the Babylonians.

Since we live under the new covenant established by Christ and His shed blood for those who are His own, the old covenant is no longer in effect (the book of Galatians and Hebrews, in particular, expound on this truth). There is absolutely nothing in Scripture that warrants the idea that God will reinstate the old covenant with anybody or any nation at any time. Jesus is not going to rebuild what He tore down by design. (Ephesians 2:11-22) The best temple in the world now is not confined to a geographical plot of land in the Middle East; it is the eternal, blood-bought church of Jesus Christ, the one body of believing Jews and Gentiles. No one can improve on what Jesus did at the cross.

Another salient contrast between modern Israel and old covenant Israel is that the modern state has been giving up land left and right, land that it conquered in wars from 1948 on. Be it the West Bank, the Sinai, the Gaza strip, or the Golan Heights, at first glance, it has all the appearance that modern Israel, the size of New Jersey, is determined to get smaller and smaller all the time. We can question the wisdom and politics behind such moves, but the fact remains that old covenant Israel, when it lived under God's favor and before it was the recipient of God's wrath, had a vast territorial kingdom. Some would argue the point that old covenant Israel did not fully receive all the property God had promised to it in Genesis 15:18-21. It is very hard to make that case when one reads such passages as Joshua 21:43-45 and 1 Kings 4:20-25. After Solomon's rule, and after subsequent periods of apostasy, the land mass of old covenant Israel began to shrink in size, once again as a direct fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28, until the nations of Israel and Judah ceased to function in 722 and 586 respectively.

God always means what He says, and He says what He means. Judah would fall under the rule of

four successive world empires. This was identified by Jesus as "the time of the Gentiles" in Luke 21:24. Those four empires were Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. From 586 B.C. at the first destruction of the Temple by a foreign power (Babylon) until 70 A.D. at the second and last destruction of the Temple by a foreign power (Rome), the nation of Jews had not the freedom it enjoyed like it did in its Golden Era. Except for a brief period of time when the Jews gained their independence under the Maccabeen revolt during the Greek era, the Jews were subjugated to foreign rule for 650 years.

This is where the book of Daniel comes in, because no other prophet gives so much detailed specificity of what would transpire during those six centuries of foreign domination. It all began with Daniel 2 when the teenage captive Jewish boy, through God's revealed wisdom, was able to calm Nebuchadnezzar's paranoia by telling him the meaning of his upsetting dream. A statue with four parts to it would unveil the four successive empires that would control the world stage. During the fourth empire (Rome), God would establish His enduring kingdom, unlike the four temporary earthly kingdoms that set up shop shortly at God's discretion. So in the days of Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor, Christ would be born, and before the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, Jesus would say, "My kingdom is not of this world."

The rest of the book of Daniel, for the most part, is God revealing major significant events which would occur when these four powers would hold sway over the Fertile Crescent and over the Jews in particular. The most amazing prophecy of all is when God told Daniel in 9:24-27 the EXACT TIMING of when the anointed one (the Messiah, the Christ) would be baptized, 26 A.D., and when he would be crucified, 30 A.D., all during the fourth world empire.

These four world kingdoms were placed in power by God's providential plan. Ol' king Neb had to learn that lesson the hard way in Daniel 4:28-37. In the book of Isaiah, king Cyrus of Persia would be called "God's shepherd." The one and only reason why Neb came to power, why the Medes and Persians overtook Babylon and King Cyrus began to rule, why Alexander the Great marched across the Middle East in rapid fire speed, or why Caesar reigned from Rome is because God put those men there for a reason and for a season. With that being said, it is also true that Satan was at work in all this as well, but not as some independent competitor to God's sovereign rule. The devil is always on a leash, and God has firm hold of the leash.

What Satan hoped to accomplish through these four world kingdoms was to destroy the nation of the Jews, because in so doing he would destroy then the Promised Seed who was to come. This all goes back to Genesis 3:15, the first prophecy made in Scripture, made by God Himself without the intermediary of a prophet of His. Satan heard God's remarks then, because they were directed at Satan himself, and from that moment on until the coming of this Seed of woman, he would make it his number one preoccupation to thwart God's claimed purpose, so stated in Genesis 3:15. The rest of the Old Testament to the coming of Christ can be viewed from a spiritual warfare angle--Satan is trying his devilish best to prevent Genesis 3:15 from being fulfilled. It all began with Cain killing Abel, a satanic plot hatched in the mind of Cain who was of the wicked one. (1 John 3:12) That plan did not succeed; Seth was born, through whom would come the Promised Seed. The omniscient God was always several steps ahead of Satan.

Satan does not give up so easily. The world population would grow at a fast pace, and in Genesis 6, in order to corrupt the entire world, not knowing who was carrying the Promised Seed, fallen angels, "the sons of God" (Job 1-2), intermarried humans, and produced a diabolical hybrid, the Nephillim, from whose death would come the demonic spirits that roam the earth and would possess some people. The world became an increasingly unbearable place, and Satan thought he had won the day, and Genesis 3:15 would be history. Again, Satan failed to take into consideration that God knows all, foresees all, and determines all. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and due to God's sovereign grace, Noah and his family would be spared from a worldwide judgment, and from Noah's son Shem would come the Promised Seed of woman. Satan is foiled again, but he does not give up so easily.

When God called Abram, it then becomes crystal clear to Satan where he needs to spend his most energy from now on. Now he takes his focused aim, from that moment on in the history of the Old Testament, on the descendants of Abraham, and in particular the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-12). The rest of the Old Testament can be understood from this vantage point--what is Satan doing to or with God's chosen people at this particular time to undo and prevent Genesis 3:15 from being fulfilled? Read the story of Pharaoh, for example, and his decision to have all Hebrew male children killed. (Exodus 1) Was that just Pharaoh's idea, or was there some sort of sinister power at work in his life as well that helped him concoct such an evil plan? I see Satan's fingerprints all over Exodus 1. We are told at various places in the Old Testament that when Israel became infatuated with worshiping other gods, that it was not just a simple, harmless matter of changing one's religion or adding something to what they already had. Who or what was behind it all? Psalm 106:36-37 inform us that sacrificing to other gods or idols was tantamount to sacrificing to demons, which are the spirits of the deceased Nephillim. God had long ago told them that would be the situation in Deuteronomy 32:16-17.

Many examples could be cited from familiar Old Testament stories and passages that illustrate well this Satanic design to beat God at His own game and stop Genesis 3:15 from becoming reality. The last thing Satan wanted was to be crushed underfoot, and he was not just going to sit idly by twiddling this thumbs or polishing his pitchfork while all that come to pass under his eyes.

This brings us to the "time of the Gentiles." These four world empires became tools in the hands of Satan to stop God dead in His tracks. We all know the story of how Herod the Great (representing empire number four) tried to kill all male children two years and under in and around Bethlehem. Was that just an isolated case of a madman going more off his rocker? Not according to Revelation 12. The devil was behind it all.

Whether it was King Neb of Babylonian fame, or Antiochus Epiphanes of Greek fame, the "little horn" in Daniel 8, Satan was at work, doing whatever he could to halt Genesis 3:15 from being fulfilled. What we are not told in Daniel, though, is how Satan would specifically be at work in hatching a plan during the Mede-Persian empire to prevent that first prophecy in Scripture from becoming reality. In fact, as we learn from Ezra and Nehemiah, the Persian kingdom allowed willing Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild Jerusalem and their beloved Temple.

There is a good reason why there are 39 books in the Old Testament, and not just 38. Enter the book of Esther, and enter the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 about Gog and Magog I, which came to pass in the book of Esther. What Hitler did to the Jews in our recent lifetime, all of which led to the creation of the modern nation of Israel, Haman tried to pull off on a bigger, most dastardly scale in the Old Testament during the days of the second world empire.

Yours in Christ,

Chris

(Part two will be forthcoming.)

The "New and Improved" Ecumenicalism

I had an aunt who could not pronounce "aluminum." To hear her try brought laughter from us all when we were kids. She joined in the fun, and I too struggle with the pronunciation of some words, like "ecumenicalism", which may be a good thing, because that word is a bad thing. Webster may define it as the idea of promoting Christian unity around the world, but history proves it to be the idea of perverting Christian doctrine around the world. It is the Rodney King approach to breaking down the walls of denominationalism--"Why can't we all just get along?" It is the big World Council of Churches campfire where all hold hands and sway back and forth to the singing of "Kum Ba Ya."

Conservatives fought tooth and nail the liberal ecumenicalism that swept over the American church landscape like a tidal wave through much of the 20th century. It was a necessary fight, because as much as Jesus wants unity in His body of believers, unity can never be achieved at the sacrifice of truth. (John 17:17) In Daniel's great confessional prayer on behalf of his fellow Jews, he says "we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and giving attention to your truth." (Dan 9:13) Of all the things we can think of what Jesus could have said to Pilate for His reason to coming to earth, He made it abundantly clear when He announced, "for this reason I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me." (John 18:37) Every person in the pulpit needs to heed the words of the veteran pastor Paul to the rookie Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Tim. 4:16)

As we told the liberals back then and as we must tell ourselves today, truth is not a bargaining chip. Negotiations, give-and-take deliberations, deal making, and hammered-out compromise may suit the corporate boardroom and the halls of Congress at times, but God's truth is not up for negotiation anywhere anytime by anyone. Even if I had no problem rolling the word "ecumenicalism" off my lips, I sure don't want to subscribe to any part of it. Deal or no deal? It should be "no deal" for any of us who are followers of the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Pretty soon, though, what once was their problem can become our problem. A new ecumenicalism has resurfaced in recent years, and it has reappeared in many forms. What makes this different breed of ecumenicalism so insidious and hard to detect is that it is OUR OWN home-grown ecumenicalism. What I say may not endear me to many people, but I am convinced there is a word of caution that needs to be sounded forth before the conservatives among us imbibe too much from the intoxicating beverage of this "new and improved" brand of ecumenicalism.

As like probably everyone who reads this, I am deeply troubled and very dissatisfied with the current direction our country is taking under this present administration in our nation's capitol. I am a theological conservative and a political conservative as well. Christians should be involved and not sit idly by on the sidelines. We should pray for our leaders, pray for our country, and pray for ourselves. If the apostle Paul was writing Romans 13 under the auspices of our kind of government and not Nero's in Rome, I am sure he would tell us believers to be informed where the candidates stand on the issues and don't stay home on election day.

The liberal ecumenical movement was wrapped around a certain political agenda and ideology, be it solving world hunger and eliminating hunger through social programs, or reducing overpopulation and pollution around the world, or combating AIDS with the free distribution of condoms, to fighting global warming of today. The tag "social gospel" has been given to this reduction and seduction of biblical Christianity. It is far more social, as in social-ism, than it is gospel. As I stated earlier, conservative Christians in the evangelical community locked horns with this big swing to the left. The gospel was at stake, and the gospel is always worth living for, fighting for, and dying for.

Guess what has happened? What once was public enemy number one among conservative Christians has become the darling among conservative Christians. The new ecumenical movement is wrapped around a certain political agenda and ideology, although now it is our own political agenda and ideology, which of course makes it so much better and okay, so we think. If we can talk more glowingly about Sarah than the Savior, exactly what does that say about us? If we think a certain political candidate is the salvation of our city, state or nation, what does that say about us exactly? If we know the hot-button issues of our day more than we know all the precious doctrines taught in the book of Romans, then what does that say about us? If we find it much easier to speak about political matters and candidates to strangers than we do about the Lord Jesus Christ, then what makes our ecumenicalism any different or better than the liberal variety?

Glenn Beck may be an outstanding political commentator, but he is a Mormon. Sean Hannity may be a detailed analyst of the ins and outs of our nation's politics, but he is a devout Catholic. Rush Limbaugh may be number one radio personality in America, but his attendance of church is non-existent, and he recently married wife number four. Just last year Jerry Falwell's college in Virginia had a Mormon speak at their school's commencement. If a liberal religious school had invited an ordained homosexual minister come speak at its school, we would roll our eyes in disgust and speak out in protest. But when Mr. Beck spoke at Liberty University, hardly a word was said or a body movement made. You know why? Because it is OUR ecumenicalism at work, and that makes everything A-OK. When it is THEIRS, we have our guns ablazing. At one time when he was alive Mr. Falwell was leading the charge against liberal ecumenicalism. Times have changed, and so has the brand of ecumenicalism.

I am not suggesting that Christians should not listen to Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, Fox News, Newsmax, or any other conservative source of information. I tend to agree most of the time from what I glean from those various sources. I am only issuing a strong word of caution--if the liberals can be guilty of putting a political agenda ahead of the gospel, can we conservative Christians not make the same sort of mistake? The GOP does not stand for God's Own Party, and the gospel is still the only hope for us. The gospel is always worth living for and fighting for, even if we have to fight for it within our own camp. God may be using elements of the tea party movement today to awaken Americans to an understanding of our Constitution and heritage, but in the final analysis, the tea party movement can not save Americans from their sin any more than the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, President Obama, or any other element of the left wing movement in our land.

This new ecumenicalism did not just spring up within the past year or so; it was alive and well in the 1970s and 1980s. Anybody out there remember the Moral Majority? With that name in place, the Pharisees could have easily joined that group. Need I remind you who Jesus' chief antagonists were? God always seems to do His best job when it is only a faithful godly minority, a remnant, a Gideon, a David, a Daniel, an Elijah, a Jeremiah, a John the Baptist.

While in the highly charged election year when it is becoming increasingly fashionable for churches, Christians and pastors to align themselves with certain political candidates, we need to take a quick refresher course in history. It was Constantine that legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire, and it became its official religion. No more persecution and nothing more to fear by Christians finally. Good news, right? Not a chance. History confirms that the marriage between state politics and the church was the beginning of the church's demise. The church lost its message and witness, and to be "Christian" or a "church member" was just a necessary step one must take up the political ladder.

In more recent times, Ronald Reagan has been hailed as the greatest president in our lifetime by the new brand of ecumenicalism. This is not to denigrate his presidency or his accomplishments, but do you know that President Reagan was the President that established political ties with the Vatican, that he was the President that nominated Sandra Day O'Connor, whom proved to be bust on the bench in her pro-abortion votes, and that he advocated a plan of amnesty for illegal immigrants? This is the danger we face when we become too closely identified with any political candidate and when we hitch our wagon to any political star, so that we lose impartial judgment in the process.

Billy Graham was a man in the latter part of his ministry that was given to both brands of ecumenicalism. This was by his own admission, and it was his design in the organization of his crusades. Even Billy Graham had to learn the lesson the hard way during the Nixon years. Mr. Graham closely cozied up to a sitting president probably unlike any other religious figure in our nation's history had done prior to the Nixon presidency. When Watergate became full-blown and after the release of the audio tapes that had President Nixon using every sort of vulgarity and profanity, Mr. Graham was deeply embarrassed and tarnished somewhat by that disclosure. From that moment on, Billy Graham had said in numerous interviews that we would never make that mistake again of becoming too attached to any one office holder.

Politicians can disappoint us. They can let us down big time. Some of the worst cases of marital infidelity and political corruption have come from the conservative side of the political aisle. Jesus will never disappoint us; He will never embarrass us; He will never let us down; He will never become something He is not. And He owns no political favors. And He can not be bought. And His truth is not up for sell to the highest political contributor. Let us not drape the American flag, a donkey or an elephant around the cross of Jesus Christ. The universal, international gospel needs no props or embellishments, which only take away from its glory anyway.

I am eager and ready to go to the polls on primary day here on July 27, and I have four registered voters now in my household. It is an American privilege we should never take for granted. If my choice of candidates win or lose on primary day or come November, there is one thing any of us can not afford to lose, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ usurped by any political platform or movement. As Vance Havner was fond of saying, "The parents of Jesus lost Jesus at church one time, and they were not the last people to lose Jesus at church." Well, we can lose Jesus at a political rally as well.

It's not worth losing Jesus anywhere, even if our slate of candidates come out on top. Beware of any ecumenical movement, liberal or conservative, where Jesus gets lost in the crowd and commotion.

Yours in Christ,

Chris

P.S. I am still planning on writing about "Gog and Magog I--Before There was Hitler, There was Haman."

A New Name. Possibly a New Place. But the Same Message.

In September 2003, Heartland Baptist Church of Oklahoma City conducted its first worship service at the Hilton Hotel in northwest Oklahoma City. Much has transpired since then, and for the past four plus years we have been meeting at the Warr Acres community center. Our church's name does not do an adequate job in reflecting our geographical location, and that will still be the case if we decide to move to the east side of Oklahoma County in the coming months. With that being said, Heartland Baptist Church of Oklahoma City will be changing its name in the near future. What our new name will be has not been determined yet, but that change is coming soon. Change can be good, even for Baptists. Remember the familiar joke? "How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?" The response is, "CHANGE?!?"

We believe our church is entering a new phase, and maybe this is a great time to change our name anyway. We are planning to start meeting on Sunday evenings in the Midwest City-Del City area starting possibly the second Sunday in September. This will be in addition to our Sunday morning worship services at the community center. The Sunday evening times will be more along the lines of what the apostle Paul did in Ephesus as he held "theological discussions" for the lost and the saved in the school of Tyrannus for a span of two years. (Acts 19:9-10). These Sunday evening gatherings (and I haven't come up with a name for them yet; we have a lot of naming to do on our hands!) will not be anything like a typical worship service. They will be low-key, informal, give-and-take discussions, but yet well-planned out talks on some very deep, intriguing, challenging doctrinal subjects that in many cases have been too long ignored in many places. The very first series of talks will be on the doctrines of grace, such as the doctrines of man's total depravity, God's unconditional election of sinners, Christ's definite atonement on the cross, the Spirit's effectual calling, and the perseverance of the saints.

I heard the testimony of a young Christian who remarked that he was tired of going to church where all he needed was a straw; rather, he was craving for a place where he could come bringing a steak knife and a fork to dig into God's meaty dish.

One purpose of these Sunday night gatherings is "to test the waters", so to speak, to see what the response might be on the east side of Oklahoma County. If after much prayer and evaluation our church determines we need to move permanently to the Midwest City-Del City area in the foreseeable future, then we will make that move, trusting the Lord to lead us every step of the way. We have all sorts of ideas and plans of how we will promote and advertise these Sunday evening gatherings, and just one of these avenues will be this blog site. We will keep everyone posted as we get closer and closer to September, and once we determine the exact place and time we will be meeting on Sunday evenings.

Your prayers will be much appreciated. We need God's wisdom, and in all things "God must increase, and we must decrease."

Yours in Christ,

Chris

P.S. My plans are to write more regularly on this blog site, and the next article that is coming soon will be "Gog and Magog I: Before Hitler, There was Haman"

When Satan and His Third Were Shown Heaven's Exit Door

The three avenues of learning involve 1) learning new things which we have never known before, 2) relearning familiar things we may have forgotten or have failed to put into practice, and 3) unlearning things we have picked up along the way that do not stand under further scrutiny.

All three of those are part and parcel of the subject matter of Satan and the forces of evil. Some popular misconceptions related to the devil and his ilk are that demons are the same thing as fallen angels, that 1/3 of the angels followed Satan at the beginning and were cast out of heaven then, that Lucifer is another name for Satan, that Satan and the souls of unbelievers are in hell right now, that Christians can be possessed by demons, and that prayer is the means by which we engage the enemy and win the victory in our spiritual warfare. There are more, but that will do for now.

To unlearn some things is not an admission of failure on our part; it is the road we must all take to get to the place where we will learn some new things we may not have known before. The biggest challenge to tackle is which one of those listed above we should look at first.

Only in Revelation 12 are we confronted with the teaching that 1/3 of the angels along with Satan were cast out of heaven. Nowhere else is that mentioned in all of Scripture. Therefore, what that chapter says should determine when that event actually occurred. As one reads that chapter, it becomes very obvious that the point in history when the rebels were given the heave-ho was not at the beginning, i.e. before the serpent's temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was rather at the time of Christ and the cross.

Speaking of the near future, Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." (Luke 10:18) The week of His death Jesus would say, "NOW is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be CAST OUT." (John 12:31) It is in Revelation 12 we are given the added information that Satan was not cast out alone when Jesus triumphed over the devil and his subordinates at the cross. (Hebrews 2:14-15, Colossians 2:14-15) Not only did Jesus' death secure the salvation of the people who would come to believe in Him, but it also spelled the ultimate defeat of Satan. Christ's death had an effect on earth in regards to people, and it had an effect in heaven in regards to angelic beings.

In the Old Testament period, Satan and his followers are seen in the courts of heaven as Satan converses with God, as he brings up accusations against God's people, and as the rebellious angels are dispensed to do God's bidding on occasion. (Job 1-2, Zechariah 3:1-2, 1 Samuel 16:14, 1 Kings 22) The cross event changed much of that. Even though Satan still does his share of trouble in the world and in the lives of people, including believers, his career of being the accuser of God's people has come to a screeching halt. (Revelation 12:10) We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. (Revelation 12:11) Greater is He that is IN us than he that is in the world. The wicked one can not even touch us now in regards to any sense of condemnation or accusation, because the blood of Christ is the justifying cleanser of our hearts. There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1, 1 John 5:18). Unbelievers still lie under Satan's grasp, and they must endure the accusations of Satan until they come to faith in Christ and are forgiven of their sin.

Satan is not a happy camper when he walks into court and sees one of God's children standing next to Jesus, who is his advocate, a defense attorney who has never lost a case (better than Perry Mason!), and on top of that, this defense attorney is calling the Judge "Daddy." Satan knows he is licked. His days of being the accuser are over.

Satan is not in heaven any longer, but he is not in hell either, at least not yet. Nor are the souls of unbelievers in hell yet. Hades is the place where disembodied spirits of unbelievers go at death. It is a place of torment, as Luke 16:22-24 clearly bring out. Hades is the Greek word equivalent of the Hebrew word Sheol. Hell is the future eternal depository of Satan and all souls who are in Hades. Whereas Hades is the place specially made for the souls of unbelievers, Gehenna (hell) or the lake of fire, or eternal death, or the second death, is the place specially made for bodies and souls. (Matthew 10:28) At the end of this world, according to Revelation 20, Satan and those souls in Hades and Death (resurrected bodies of the souls in Hades) will be cast into hell. That is still yet to come.

In the meantime, Satan walks about on the earth, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8). He is the prince of the power of the air, but He no longer has access to God's throne in the third heaven or Paradise. (2 Corinthians 12) Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." The souls of believers go now to be with our Lord and Savior in Paradise. As good as that is, it only is going to get better (2 Corinthians 5:1-10) because there is coming a day when resurrected, glorified bodies will unite with souls in Paradise, and all God's children will dwell with God in a new heaven and a new earth. (Revelation 21 & 22)

So the counterpart of Paradise or Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22) is Hades. The counterpart of a new heaven and a new earth is hell or the lake of fire. Satan was in God's presence at one time, and at a future time he will be in Gehenna (hell). The souls of unbelievers are in Hades now, and they will be in hell later with their resurrected bodies. The souls of believers are in Paradise now (or we can call it heaven as in the third heaven; the atmosphere is the first heaven, outer space is the second heaven, and God's throne is the third heaven), but they will be in a new heaven and a new earth with their resurrected bodies.

No matter how good it is in this life for unrepentant unbelievers, the worst is yet to come. No matter how bad it may get in this life for repentant believers, the worst is always behind them and the best is yet to come.

The 1/3 angels were cast out with Satan at the cross. We are doing battle against this army of evil, called authorities, principalities, powers, spiritual forces of wickedness, etc. Misconceptions abound about the topic of spiritual warfare, and how we actually do battle against Satan today. We will save that for another day.

There is Hades. There is Hell. But there is something else called Tartarus or the bottomless pit or the abyss. Satan is not there either, but somebody or I should say many spirits are there. Who are they, and where did they come from, and why are they there? Even if you didn't ask those questions, I'm glad I did, because now I have something to write about next time.