Author: Adam Maarschalk

Why I Abandoned Replacement Theology

Adam Maarschalk 153 Comments

I once believed in and taught “replacement theology,” but no one ever accused me of it at the time. Since turning away from replacement theology, however, I’ve faced this accusation numerous times.

What is replacement theology? Matt Slick, the president and founder of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM), says this on the subject:

Replacement theology is the teaching that the Christian church has replaced national Israel regarding the plan, purpose, and promises of God… [In] replacement theology the church has replaced Israel as the primary means by which the world is blessed by God’s work… Replacement theology is also known as supersessionism, which means that the Christian church has superseded Israel in God’s plan.

John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), said this in his 2006 book, “Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World”:

“Adherents of replacement theology believe that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel” (page 72)… “Replacement theology means that Israel failed, and God has replaced Israel with the church” (page165).

Ironically, when I formerly taught replacement theology, my thinking was very much in line with Slick and Hagee. I wasn’t replacing Israel with the church, but I sure was replacing Jesus with the modern nation of Israel. I would have agreed with graphics like this one I saw posted on Facebook by a fellow Christian a few weeks ago:

false interpretation of Genesis 12-3

SOURCE

This illustration epitomizes the replacement theology I’ve left behind. It takes the role belonging to Jesus and assigns it to a political nation whose population generally has nothing to do with Him. The New Testament is especially clear in showing that it’s through salvation in Jesus that the nations are blessed.

Consider the progression of Biblical revelation regarding the promise recorded in Genesis 12:3:

[1] It was first made by God to Abraham alone: “It will be through you [Abraham], that all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

[2] It was repeated again in Genesis 22:18, and this time expanded to include his offspring: “And through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.”

[3] In Acts 3:25-26, the apostle Peter, speaking to a Jewish crowd in Jerusalem, is clear in identifying Abraham’s offspring and the means of blessing for the nations:

And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up His servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

It’s Jesus who is Abraham’s offspring, and He blesses the nations, beginning with the proclamation of the gospel to Jews in the first century.

[4] The apostle Paul, in Galatians 3:7-8, declared that Jesus’ followers are Abraham’s offspring too:

“Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’”

According to the terms laid out by Matt Slick and John Hagee, the apostles Peter and Paul were guilty of teaching replacement theology. Yet according to Peter and Paul, when it comes to God’s plans, purpose, and promises, Slick and Hagee are seeking to replace Jesus and His church with a geopolitical nation located in the Middle East. It’s highly ironic that there are Christians who are comfortable with the idea of replacing Christ (their Savior) with a mere political nation, but are up in arms with those who allegedly replace Israel with the church.

Galatians 3, incidentally, goes on to make the point even more strongly that all of God’s promises are wrapped up first in Jesus and second in His followers. Paul says this in verse 16:

“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.”

Jesus is singularly the recipient of all of God’s promises, and He extends those promises to His followers (verse 29), who are all one in Him regardless of ethnicity, societal status, or gender (verse 28):

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29)

Does Paul leave any room for those who are outside of Christ to be heirs of the promises? No, he doesn’t, not even for Jews who are outside of Christ. Neither did Peter (Acts 3:23), and neither did Jesus (e.g. Matthew 8:10-12, Matthew 21:43, John 8:31-47). As Paul says in II Corinthians 1:20, all of God’s promises are “yes” and “amen” in Jesus. What are they outside of Jesus? Meaningless and void.

One of my questions for Slick and Hagee is this: If God’s plan, purpose, and promises are waiting for the nation of Israel to carry them out, then did God utterly abandon the world between 70 AD and 1948 when there was no nation of Israel? Or is it not possible that God’s plan, purpose, and promises continued to be carried out by true Israel, i.e., Jesus and His church?

Consider also what Paul said to the Roman church: “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit…” (Romans 2:28-29). “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring… This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:6-8).

The church is Israel, that is, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). This is only true because Jesus is true Israel, and we who belong to Christ are made one with Him. One more example of each of these points will suffice. First we will look at how Matthew takes what was once said about the nation of Israel, and applies it to Jesus. Then, finally, we will look at how Peter takes what was once said of the nation of Israel, and applies it to the church.

[1] In Exodus 4:22, God instructs Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Israel is My firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let My son go that he may serve Me.”’” Then in Hosea 11:1-2 we read, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.” Who is Israel in these Old Testament texts? Clearly it’s that ancient nation, known as Israel, which was finally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Yet look at how Matthew treats this same statement. To set the background, an angel has warned Joseph, the father of Jesus, to flee to Egypt with his family, because Herod would seek to destroy Jesus: “And he [Joseph] rose and took the child [Jesus] and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called My son’” (Matthew 2:14-15).

Only 40 verses into the New Testament, Matthew declares, by strong implication, that Jesus is true Israel.

[2] Compare what Moses spoke to “the people of Israel” (Exodus 19:3) to what Peter said was true of the church. It’s impossible to miss the parallel language, and I have letter-coded the parallels (A, B, and C):

To ancient national Israel: “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be [A] MY TREASURED POSSESSION among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to Me [B] A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS and a [C] HOLY NATION…” (Exodus 19:5-6).

To the church: “But you are a chosen race, [B] A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a [C] HOLY NATION, a people [A] FOR HIS OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people…” (I Peter 2:9-10).

Peter leaves no doubt that Christ’s followers are chosen for the same purpose for which the nation of Israel was once chosen.

I abandoned replacement theology because Jesus is irreplaceable, and I love His church.

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I first published this article on Hubpages on February 10, 2013.

Stephen Sizer Q & A at Taylor University

Adam Maarschalk 3 Comments

Early this morning, while preparing and eating breakfast before leaving for work, I was able to listen to Stephen Sizer field questions from students at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana regarding the 2010 film, “With God On Our Side.” As far as I can tell, this event took place on March 2, 2011. It was posted yesterday, however, on Sizer’s blog.

Taylor University is an interdenominational, evangelical Christian university founded in 1846, and presently has an enrollment of approximately 2600 students, according to its official website. A 2012 US News & World Report survey shows that Taylor has been the top college among 109 Midwest Regional Colleges for the last five years.

This video is 33 minutes long, and features questions from students regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Christian Zionism, Dispensationalism, John Hagee’s eschatology, Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 37, the Samaritan woman that Jesus encountered, and more. I thought Stephen Sizer did a great job responding to these questions, and I believe that everyone can learn from this session.

I wrote a review of the film “With God On Our Side” which can be seen here.

Nations Have Come to Jesus’ Light (Isaiah 60)

Adam Maarschalk 1 Comment

For a while now I’ve wanted to post a series on the book of Isaiah, especially to highlight Isaiah’s prophetic writings about this present New Covenant age. The premillennialist camp is fond of saying that many of these prophecies speak of a future millennial period, and not of the present time, but the inspired authors of the New Testament do not allow for this in the way they interpret Isaiah.

Time hasn’t yet allowed for me to put such a series together, but recently I came across an excellent post by Jonathan Welton that does well to frame Isaiah 60 in a New Covenant light. I’d like to share it here. Some emphasis has been added, but see the link just above for Jonathan’s original post:

Many Christians have been taught that the light of God’s people and the darkness of satan’s kingdom will both increase simultaneously. This teaching developed from what I believe to be a misunderstanding of Isaiah 60. Read the following passage and take a moment to determine if you think it is saying that light and darkness grow simultaneously.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3).

I can understand from where the confusion has come. It would seem from a surface reading that Isaiah was observing darkness and light together as parallels. Yet upon closer inspection we find that Isaiah was not observing them together. Look again at verse 1.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you” (Isaiah 60:1).

Notice the verb tense, “Arise, shine.” These are commands telling someone who is currently not standing to arise, spoken in the future tense. Arise and shine is something that the hearer is commanded to do in the momentary future.

The next verse is a comment on the current state of affairs and speaks to the present tense. “See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples…” (Isaiah 60:2a).

Notice the word, “See,” which would mean to look around or observe in the present. Picture with me that Isaiah was perhaps in a vision. In this vision he sees that in the present darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. Then he hears the voice of the Holy Spirit declare, Arise! Shine! For your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you! Because of the order of these two sentences, we have overlooked that the verb tenses actually reverse their order. By putting verse 2 before verse 1, we receive much clarity.

To paraphrase these verses in chronological order, it would go something like this, “Hey Isaiah, look around yourself and notice all the darkness. Now look over there and see the light that is rising from the glory of the Lord. Soon My glory will dispel the darkness and the nations will come to My light.”

What Was Isaiah Seeing?

Another problem that has come from this passage is the interpretation of the phrase, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. Throughout history, “doom-and-gloom prophets” have been declaring that the end is near because of how thick the spiritual darkness is. Yet perhaps Isaiah was not even talking about spiritual or metaphorical darkness. What if he was prophetically seeing a time of physical darkness? If so, was there a time in history when darkness covered the whole earth? If we can find an answer to that question, we can find the time that Isaiah was seeing. I suggest that Isaiah was actually seeing and prophesying about the following event.

“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two” (Luke 23:44-45).

The Jewish day starts at 6 am. Thus, the sixth hour would be 12 noon, and the ninth hour would be 3 pm. This means that the sun stopped shining from noon until 3 pm, the brightest three hours of the day, especially bright in the desert climate of Israel. I would like you to consider that Isaiah was prophetically seeing a specific day when literal darkness covered the earth (see Luke 23), and then he saw God speaking to His people saying, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you” (Isa. 60:1). And when did this glory of the Lord come upon His people? I believe that the day of Pentecost fits the description perfectly.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4).

This fulfills Isaiah 60:3-5, which speaks of how once the glory had risen upon His people, the nations would turn to the light.

“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come” (Isaiah 60:3-5).

This is why Jesus instructed His disciples to “…make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19). He knew that Luke 23 would fulfill the prophecy of darkness that Isaiah saw, and that the Day of Pentecost would release the glory of the Lord as Isaiah had prophesied. Soon the disciples would see Isaiah 60:3-5, where the nations turn toward the light, take place. Therefore they needed to be ready to disciple those nations.

Even though the Day of Pentecost brought glory into the church, she still had to “Arise and shine.” That process took a time of transition from darkness into light. For example, Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant at the cross and declared the inauguration of that covenant as “Finished.” Yet the Old Covenant lingered throughout the New Testament until it was finally removed by the 70AD destruction of Jerusalem. That is why Hebrews 8:13 says “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”

New Covenant Light

That is why throughout the New Testament, the days before the New Covenant are referred to as being the Night and the New Covenant as being Light. For example:

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God… For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:4, 6

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5

“because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Luke 1:78-79

The gospel of Jesus is light which burst forth out of the darkness! Jesus is literally the light of the world! He is the light of all mankind, He is the Sunrise from on high!

As another author has said: The New Covenant age is regarded in Scripture as progressively an era of Light, in contrast to the relative darkness of pre-Messianic times. In the absolute and ultimate sense, the Light will come only at the end of the world, at the return of Christ. [Please note: I don’t agree at all with this last sentence. -ADAM] But, as the apostles contemplated the end of the Old Covenant era, during which the nations were enslaved to demons, they spoke of the imminent Dawn as the age of righteousness, when the power of the Gospel would sweep across the earth, smashing idolatry and flooding the nations with the Light of God’s grace. Relatively speaking, the whole history of the world from Adam’s Fall to Christ’s Ascension was Night; relatively speaking, the whole future of the world is bright Day. This follows the pattern laid down at creation, in which the heavens and earth move from evening darkness to morning light.

The era of the Old Covenant was the time of the world’s dark Night; with the Advent of Jesus Christ has come the age of Light, the great Day of the Lord, established at His Ascension and His full inauguration of the New Covenant. Now we are to wear the armor of the New Covenant, which is the armor of Light:

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.  1 Thessalonians 5:4-8

“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans 13:11-12

So the next time you hear a fellow Christian speaking about how dark it is in the world, the gross dense darkness, the political darkness making way for a future dark day; just know that they don’t yet understand that the darkness was replaced with the bright new day of the New Covenant! The glory and brightness of Jesus is on the scene and darkness is being dispelled more day-by-day.

Fireworks in Saint Paul July 4, 2012

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On July 1st I moved from Minneapolis to downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. (The two locations are only about 12 miles away, and are known as the Twin Cities). When my fiancee, Jasmine, and I get married in early August, we’ll live there together.

Two days ago, on July 4th, I gathered with friends just two blocks away at the Wabasha Street bridge on Kellogg Boulevard to watch the fireworks being launched on the Mississippi River. This video captures approximately the last 12 minutes of the show, including the grand finale.

I was there with a group from International Village Church, and other invited friends. We were a gathering of Bhutanese and Karen (from Myanmar) refugees, Philippinos, and Americans. Aside from our gathering, it was nice to see a very diverse crowd around us.

We came together at about 6:30pm to eat picnic-style and hang out in the midst of the heat wave that has been affecting the Midwest. The humidity never did subside all that much, even as the fireworks finally began at 10:15pm, but it was a fun evening.

This video was taken from my smartphone, which doesn’t take the best footage in the world. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.

God’s People Bring the Leaves of Healing to Detroit

Adam Maarschalk 1 Comment

Last month I reflected on the incredible needs and opportunities in our cities here in the US. We focused a lot on how God is intentionally bringing the nations to our doorstep, and we heard Ray Bakke’s challenge for God’s people to respond accordingly. This post will highlight some significant efforts by a growing number of people in Detroit to do just that.

Now those who know me fairly well are aware that I’ve joyfully abandoned my dispensationalist upbringing, a futurist eschatology which featured [1] an escapist mentality (i.e. “we’re going to be raptured out of here at any moment”) and [2] the idea that the crumbling of the world around us is a good and/or necessary thing because it means Jesus is about to return.

I now believe that we live in the everlasting new covenant age and that God’s kingdom was fully established in the first century. As “the light of the world” and “a city built on a hill” (Matthew 5:15-16), and as a people who have been camped at Mount Zion/God’s city/the heavenly Jerusalem for centuries (Hebrews 12:22), I am convinced that we possess the leaves of the tree of life that are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2). It’s our mandate and our calling to seek healing for all nations, including our own. (Yes, I do believe that warped eschatology is one key factor that has too often kept the church from living out this calling.) This calling is not at all divorced from our calling to proclaim the message of the cross and the gospel.

That’s why I’m thrilled to learn about what is happening in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In 2010 it was ranked the 18th most populous city in the US, with over 700,000 people. About 82% of the city’s population is African-American, and thousands of Iraqi and Hmong refugees have also made their home there. Less than 10 miles away is another key city, Dearborn, with a population of about 100,000 that is 33% Arab. The greater metro area including and surrounding Detroit features about 5.2 million people.

As reported by the Northville Patch (Northville is located about 28 miles northwest of downtown Detroit), a community-impacting initiative that began in the spring of 2011 now includes representatives from more than 560 different churches and para-church organizations, and it’s bringing new life to a crippled city:

For the second year, Southeast Michigan residents are coming together from hundreds of churches and organizations to share their faith and offer free medical and dental services, food, housing construction and renovations to tens of thousands of residents in need. It’s a continuation of the EACH (Everyone a Chance to Hear) movement that launched last spring.

EACH is guided by a steering committee with church leaders from both city and suburbs. The EACH effort started in 2011 and focused on a 40-day period starting Easter Sunday, but the hope that the impact and continued effort to help the community would continue into the future came to fruition. Most of the local church-based projects and actions will be determined by individual congregations and Christian organizations.

Thousands of individuals from approximately 560 churches and para-church organizations from all over the city of Detroit and suburbs have become active members of EACH in the last year. The movement kicked off again on Easter Sunday.

“EACH was designed to be a one-year initiative, but something special happened,” said Pastor Bob Shirock, senior pastor of Oak Pointe Church in Novi. “We went from being a group of individual churches to really being one church with one purpose…to share and show the love of Jesus to our communities through prayer, Good News and good deeds. We decided to keep doing it, while finding more ways to share and show Christ’s love to people in our communities.”

The Detroit Prayer Walk, which last year attracted about 25,000 followers of Jesus to downtown Detroit, will be the first event where all churches will gather together. This year it will be on Saturday, April 28 at Comerica Park. New for this year, the walk will also include no-cost community medical assistance at a neighboring church. The Detroit Prayer Walk will feature the theme, “1 Church Coming Together for One Purpose.”

Since April 2011, the EACH movement has provided thousands of free meals and 3,500 hours of medical and dental service and repaired or refurbished more than 100 houses in the Detroit area.

The EACH movement will significantly increase community assistance in 2012 through expanded deployment of mobile medical and dental trailers that provide no cost services to uninsured or underinsured people. They will also be expanding the housing construction and renovation effort and creating a community resource event called Lovin’ The D on Saturday, May 19 in midtown Detroit on the Wayne State University campus.

“The impact that we have had on this region as believers of Jesus has been incredible when you look at all the people in need we have helped,” said Pastor Christopher Brooks of Evangel Ministries in Detroit. “We’re talking about thousands of people in need who have been helped by their neighbors, co-workers, friends and family. It’s a very powerful message.”

The coalition will continue to use the 2WordStory social media and personal testimony campaign that was launched as part of the movement in 2011 to show examples of changed lives.

“There is Good News all around us – here in the Detroit area because people have experienced the life changing love of Jesus and have made this a great place to live and work,” said Pastor Doug Schmidt, senior pastor for Woodside Bible Church. “As a community we are listening to Jesus’ words and sharing His message with those around us. And there is no better way to share such a message of love than living it out.”

Other programs that started from the EACH movement in the past year include Handyman Ministries, a faith-based non-profit community revitalization organization dedicated to helping low-income individuals and families by providing free maintenance and repair services, energy audits and other upgrades; and Life Remodeled, a non-profit organization that builds houses and provides other resources to transform lives in troubled communities.

A 2009 CNN Money article shows that some Detroit-area churches were already at that time “taking a hands-on approach to saving their neighborhoods, plowing millions into buying and redeveloping local housing and businesses.” The author noted that Detroit was known for “its ever-increasing pockets of barren land and abandoned housing,” and that it “may be the most financially devastated city in the country.” To read more of this article, see here.

In the midst of such ruin, it’s exciting and encouraging to see God’s people rise up with the power of God’s kingdom that is in our midst and within us (Luke 17:20-21), and work together to see large-scale transformation take place throughout a city, and in many hearts and lives. Pastor Bob Shirock, the founder of the EACH initiative, says “he got the idea to mobilize churches after traveling overseas and witnessing Christians uniting to serve the disadvantaged. Shirock yearned to replicate the outreach coalition in Detroit.” May it be that God’s people living in other cities soon have even greater stories to tell.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-15).

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:22-24).

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2).

The Implications of Luke 21:8

Adam Maarschalk 1 Comment

Some of Jesus’ disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” 

“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.

Luke 21:5-8

In six previous posts (here, here, here, here, here, and here) we examined the Olivet Discourse, recorded in Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Jesus elsewhere warned His disciples that false prophets would claim to be Him (e.g. Matthew 24:5, 23, 26; Mark 13:6, 21; Luke 17:22-23). It’s only in Luke 21:8, though, that Jesus warns His followers not to pay attention to those who would proclaim that “the time is near” (or “at hand” in some translations). In fact, they were to regard such a proclamation as a characteristic of false prophets…at least for a while. We should give this some extra thought.

If we look ahead to Luke 21:28, we see that Jesus later says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Jesus thus gives permission at that point for His people to realize the very thing that earlier they were not to believe, that is, that the time was near. First they had to see “these things begin to take place,” and then they could know and proclaim that the end was near. The expression “these things” refers to what Jesus describes in verses 9-27 (see Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of our series for an explanation on how all these things were indeed fulfilled in Jesus’ own generation).

Did any of the writers of the New Testament proclaim that the time was near? Consider these statements:

“…For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand…” (Romans 13:11-12).

“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:5).

“Yet a little while, and the coming One will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37).

“You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand…behold, the Judge is standing at the door” (James 5:8).

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers” (I Peter 4:7).

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour” (I John 2:18).

From these statements we see that Paul, James, Peter, and John all proclaimed that the time was near. They stated that “the day” was at hand, “the Lord” was at hand, “the coming of the Lord” was at hand, “the end of all things” was at hand, and that it was “the last hour.”

Did they become the very false prophets Jesus had warned about in Luke 21:8, since they uttered the very statement that Jesus warned His followers not to believe? If the signs of the Olivet Discourse are still future and unfulfilled, as futurists insist, then they certainly did become those false prophets.

We know, however, that this is not the case. This is actually one more indication that the events predicted by Jesus came to pass within His own generation. The apostles witnessed the predicted signs coming to pass, and on this authority they announced that the end was near. Notice how closely the language they used mirrors what Jesus said, as recorded by Mark: “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Mark 13:29-30).

Soon after Paul, James, Peter, and John made these declarations, that end did come, i.e. the end of the Old Covenant world and age. The apostles were not false prophets. Jesus also did not lie to, or tease, His disciples. Nor did He speak in terms, or with time markers, that they couldn’t understand. Nor did He ascend to His Father, only to find out that His overall rejection by the Jewish people would set in motion an unforeseen 2000 year postponement of His promises. Instead He kept His word, and fulfilled all that He said He would do within the time frame that He boldly market out. (He said these things would happen before the downfall of the temple, and before His own generation passed away). We can trust that everything else He said outside of the area of eschatology is also true.

The Incredible Mission Opportunities In Our Cities

Adam Maarschalk 2 Comments

“I’ve seen the bumper stickers in Dade County in Miami, even in church parking lots, where they say, ‘Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag?’ I’ve seen the propositions in California that want us to build a wall to keep the world out. But they haven’t read—obviously—Psalm 24 which says, ‘The earth is the Lord’s.’ This country is not ours. It is the Lord’s.”

These are the words of Ray Bakke, chancellor and professor of Global Urban Studies at Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, Washington. Ray shared these and many other thoughts in a 23-minute Moody Radio address given on November 24, 2011. Titled “Compassion: The Drama of Urban Evangelization, Part 2,” it’s a thought-provoking message very much worth listening to (audio available here).

Ray provides many fascinating statistics demonstrating what God is doing, particularly in US cities, to bring the nations of the world to our doorstep. Ray also brings a probing challenge to the body of Christ to respond accordingly. I’d like to summarize his address here.

Ray begins his address by speaking of Onesimus, the Biblical slave of Philemon who became so dear to the apostle Paul that most of the book of Philemon is made up of Paul’s appeal for Onesimus’ freedom. Ray refers to Onesimus as “a refugee who became the Bishop of Ephesus,” as it is believed. He suggests that it was Onesimus who first gathered together the Pauline letters of the New Testament, a point that Eric Sammons of the Diocese of Venice in Florida also emphasizes. Later in his address, Ray reminds us that Jesus was born in Asia in a borrowed barn, before He and His family became refugees in Africa.

“The Lord is spreading the world out, and the frontier of world missions has shifted,” Ray adds at one point. “No longer is it across the ocean only.”

God has a history of taking care of refugees and immigrants, and calling His people to love and show hospitality to the strangers He sovereignly brings to live among them. A reading of the Law given through Moses to ancient Israel will confirm this. How is God granting such opportunities to the body of Christ in America today? Ray shares these highlights:

A. There are more Jews living in New York City than in Israel, more in Miami than in Tel Aviv.
B. The United States is the second largest African nation, after Nigeria.
C. The US is the third largest Spanish-speaking country in the world.
D. Pittsburg has more than 50,000 Serbs.
E. There are more than 250,000 Arabs, Chaldeans, and Iraqis living in the Dearborn, Michigan area.
F. Representatives of 123 nations (i.e. 2/3 of the world) live in just one New York City zip code, in the Flushing neighborhood in North Central Queens, home of the World’s Fair in 1964-65.
G. Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and other cities have become “catch basins of the world.”

Ray didn’t specifically mention the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/Saint Paul) where I live, but this place is also very much a catch basin for the nations, particularly refugees. I’ll share more about this momentarily. Ray does go on to describe, though, what God is doing in other parts of the West and elsewhere (Yes, despite strong rhetoric in certain Evangelical circles to the contrary, I do believe God is behind these things):

A. London: The east side of the city is largely Asian, the west side is largely Arab, and the south features a large number of black and Caribbean peoples. “There were 52 nations in the British empire. Now all 52 nations live in London,” but “the British church is not ready for this.”

B. France: “There are 46 countries in the world on 5 continents that speak French, and 26 of them are in west Africa… The French, for 150 years, were messing up those countries in many interesting ways. Now those people are coming back to France, and the people in France don’t like that one bit.” (Does the body of Christ there have a different stance?)

C. The Chinese people: “God has scattered about 80 million Chinese into all the major cities in the world,” Ray adds, and many of the believers among them are “linked up by fax machines and email and a common mailing list of the Chinese Coordinating Committee for World Evangelism in Hong Kong [this is the first I’ve heard about this]… Could God be scattering the Chinese through the cities of the world to prepare for an Asian Pentecost in the 21st century?” In Birmingham, Alabama, there were 6 Chinese restaurants in 1990. Six years later there were 66.

D. Rapid urbanization: In 1900, only 9% of the world’s population lived in cities. Now over 50% do. Presently there are some 400 cities with 1 million people or more, 100 cities with more than 2 million, and 23 cities with at least 10 million people.

Ray believes that there are at least five specializations in urban ministry:

1. Working with at-risk people who have come to our cities
2. Community organizing and church-based development (Ray says, “Christians can actually adopt the last, least, and lost in the worst neighborhoods in our cities, and move into those cities, and establish a beachhead of the gospel, and then rebuild those neighborhoods.”)
3. Multi-lingual (Ray cites 1st Baptist Church in Flushing, NY, with 63 nations in membership)
4. Laity (many are also called into professions to take personal faith into public places)
5. Pastors (they can learn how to enable congregations to worship beyond our own limited cultural experience)

I love what Ray said in point #2 above. This speaks of intentionally living or setting up community-impacting organizations in difficult places, when a desire for comfort might call us elsewhere, in order to help see those places transformed. I see the need for that where I live. Not only are there crime-ridden and impoverished areas deeply in need of being impacted by God’s kingdom, but the Twin Cities are also rapidly taking on more of an international flavor, especially as a new home for various refugee groups. According to City Vision, a very resourceful ministry located in Minneapolis,

Over 575,000 new immigrants have flooded into the Twin Cities over the last few years with 90% of them unreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In 2002, the Brookings Institute named the Twin Cities one of the top 10 “Gateway Cities” in America for new immigrants/refugees.  In 2004, Minnesota was third in the nation for new refugees only behind California and Florida.  The Twin Cities is now home to the largest Hmong, Somali, and Oromo Ethiopian concentrations in the U.S. as well as the second largest populations for Liberians and Tibetans.  In addition, over 125,000 Hispanics now call the Twin Cities their home.  The Philips Neighborhood in South Minneapolis is currently the most ethnically diverse single neighborhood in America with 100+ languages spoken there.  This is all the just “the tip of the ethnic iceberg” with over 200 languages spoken throughout the Twin Cities area.

A month ago, I wrote about a ministry that my fiancée, Jasmine, and I are involved with, “International Village.” This ministry is helping to meet the needs of, and bring the hope of Christ to, immigrant and refugee groups whom God has brought to north Saint Paul in recent years. This area has seen an influx, in particular, of Bhutanese, Karen (from Myanmar), Hmong, and Somalian refugees.

By God’s grace, last week we were able to sign a lease for an ideally-located property about 1/2 mile from the Drop-In Center run by International Village. Lord willing, this place will soon provide representatives of these refugee groups with an avenue to produce and sell handicrafts and other ethnic products, and be a community gathering place where relationships can be built and lives impacted by the gospel. We’re in over our heads financially, but we’re trusting God for all that we need in terms of resources, finances, and people. As I was researching the demographics around the area where we’re setting up this business, I used a very fascinating tool developed by the New York Times and came across numbers like this:

Area Location* # of People % White % Black % Hispanic % Asian % Other
Directly north 4,992 38% 10% 11% 35% 5%
Northeast 5,471 25% 15% 8% 45% 7%
Directly south 2,226 37% 23% 17% 12% 12%
Further south 2,240 19% 40% 4% 34% 4%
Southwest 2,897 24% 16% 14% 45% 2%
East 2,474 39% 29% 15% 13% 4%
TOTAL 20,300 6,173 (30%) 3,908 (19%) 2,230 (11%) 6,862 (34%) 1,147 (6%)

*I.e., in relation to the business (these areas seem to average about 6-7 blocks east to west, and 6-7 blocks north to south)

“Take a fresh look at your cities,” says Ray. “It’s not just a black and white thing.” His words hold true for the neighborhoods in north Saint Paul described above. Only 49% in that area are either black or white. The largest percentage belongs to Asians (34%). It’s likely that Somalians make up a good percentage of the group described as “other.”

On a sobering note, Ray adds that gated communities in the US are growing faster than ghettos at this time. “Middle-class Americans, including Christians, flee the cities, just when the Lord sent the world to the cities.” May it be that this trend does not hold true among God’s people, and that we engage with the lost, the hurting, and the needy instead of retreating from them. May God open our eyes to see the incredible open door He has given us to minister the gospel to growing numbers of unreached people just down the street, a few blocks away, or in the nearest city.

“Just when it was expensive to send missionaries over the ocean, they [the nations] are coming here at their own expense. It’s the great bargain in world missions. But will the church be there for them?”

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Ray Bakke shared five additional times on this subject on Moody Radio during the month of November 2011. These audio clips can be accessed here at no cost.

Five spice coffee

Adam Maarschalk Leave a comment

Growing up, I never did like coffee. At age 17, my first job was at the McDonald’s in Hartville, Ohio (near Akron). I tried just a little bit of their coffee, and also their cappuccino, but I couldn’t stand either of them. Not only did I detest the way it tasted, but my stomach couldn’t take it, and I consider myself to have a strong stomach.

Then I spent nearly six years in Malaysia, from 2001-2007. While living there, I spent time in countless homes, and it’s safe to say that I was given coffee or tea in at least 95% of the homes I visited. That did it – now I love coffee, and I drink it just about every day. From time to time I’ll get a specialty coffee drink from Caribou Coffee (my top choice), Starbucks, 1st Cup Cafe (a Somalian shop in south Minneapolis), or another lesser known coffee shop. Often, though, I’ll brew my own coffee at home, and add my customary International Delight or Nestle chilled creamer.

This morning I decided to “spice up” my coffee, as I do sometimes. I’ll share my concoction here, along with a couple of photos. Perhaps some readers will have tried a similar blend, others might be a bit surprised to hear what I mix together, and perhaps others will be inspired to give this combination a try. Here are the five spices I added to my coffee this morning, before adding creamer, and it turned out very well:

1. Cinnamon

2. Nutmeg

3. Ginger

4. Cayenne Pepper

5. Black Pepper

Yes, I do add plenty of cayenne pepper, to the point that it burns. I probably wouldn’t drink my coffee that way if it was just black, but with the right amount of sweetened, chilled creamer, it ends up being delicious, at least to me.

I was first inspired to spice up my coffee after falling in love with ginger tea in Malaysia (the spicier, the better). I never thought of adding cayenne pepper, though, until 2009/2010 when Caribou Coffee featured a Spicy Mocha, which was a $2.00 option on “Happy Mondays.” One day I asked a cashier what made their Spicy Mocha spicy, and that’s when I found out that cayenne pepper and coffee can go well together. Perhaps today is the day when you will find that out. Give it a try!

Five spices with the skyline of downtown Minneapolis in the background

Dear Abby

Adam Maarschalk 4 Comments

‎[Dear Abby]

So, I opened up the newspaper this morning and read this letter by a guy named “John.” No other information was given about him but apparently he wrote about these dreams he had from God on an island about an impending change to the world and the end of this current age. He also had some great insight from God on how my church should change to live more rightly before God.

I was actually very excited and encouraged because it would seem that the tribulation we are enduring will be coming to an end, and the very first line of his letter said that all of this stuff would take place soon.

[Dear Reader]

Don’t get too excited. None of this was meant for you. All those things John was talking about won’t happen for at least another 2,000 years or more. “Soon” doesn’t mean “soon,” darling. It means at a minimum 2,000 years. Get your facts straight!

Those churches he was speaking about aren’t your churches. He was just using the same names, you silly goose. They were metaphorical language for “ages.” The tribulation you Christians are going through at the hands of the Roman authorities you think will end… forget about it. Why do you people think it’s always about YOU? Can’t you see this letter was not written for YOU?

One piece of advice I have for you: Get your time indicators straight. “Soon” doesn’t mean “soon”. It means it might actually happen quickly when it starts. “You” means “them”. “This” generation means “that” generation. “At hand” means…. well something that’s not soon. If you simply take the time indicators and make them the opposite of what they mean, things will make much more sense. So, don’t be encouraged by this [man]’s letters. They’re not for you.

This dialogue above was posted early this morning by Robert Woodrow in a Facebook forum devoted to the subject of eschatology. I felt it was quite creative. Robert said he wanted to imagine that “someone from one of the seven churches [of the first century] actually wrote into an advice column,” and received a response that reflects the way the book of Revelation is often viewed today.

This imagined dialogue is both humorous and thought-provoking. I know that I once gave very little (if any) thought to what the book of Revelation meant to those who first received it into their hands (i.e. God’s people living in the first century). As I was trained, I jumped straight to what it could mean to me and to my generation. In doing so, I got way off track.

No doubt this great book does speak to our generation, but, because that’s so often our first and only consideration, we miss out on what John (and Jesus, through John) wanted to communicate to God’s people at that time. On the other hand, if we will first take into account audience relevance, we are then far more likely to grasp the relevance of this book for our own time. And it does speak to us in a very powerful and hope-filled way.

All of our Revelation chapter-by-chapter studies, and any other posts related to the book of Revelation, can be found here.

Formula for Frustration and the work of International Village (Twin Cities)

Adam Maarschalk 1 Comment

Since November 2011, my schedule has allowed me to gather with a group of believers in Saint Paul, Minnesota on Saturday evenings. This assembly, International Village Church, is led by a good friend of mine. It’s been a great blessing to continue growing spiritually with these brothers and sisters. We meet in a storefront, drop-in center where, throughout the week, refugees and immigrants are receiving practical assistance (ESL instruction, job search assistance, etc.) and being ministered to with the love of Christ. This center also opened in early November, and it’s already meeting needs in the community, with even greater things yet to come.

On February 4th, my friend, John, led us in a great discussion based on Genesis 29-30, which two days later he turned into a blog post titled “Formula for Frustration.”  I’d like to share that post here (which is no longer available at his former site). Ultimately, this message is about maintaining hope by cherishing, holding onto, and focusing on the tremendous spiritual blessings we have in Christ:

On Saturday at church, we attempted to plow through the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah in Genesis 29-30.  What a messed up, real, yet hopeful story of God’s blessing in the midst of chaos.  My thoughts centered on the reality that God continued to bless Rachel and Leah in the midst of their longing for other things.  Rachel was given love from her husband, and Leah blessed with many children.  Both were said to be blessings from the Lord.  We find these two ladies continually crying out for something they couldn’t have.

Contentment is a nasty ordeal, isn’t it?  Perhaps one of the easiest ways for us to lose focus on the blessing of God over our lives is to think about what we don’t have.  What we’ve lost.  What we wish could be.  If I was just in that place, that job, married to that person . . . and on and on the ride goes.  We’ve all been here.  Perhaps some of us live here.  And it is certainly a formula for frustration.  A sure way to stay miserable – just ignore the blessings of God poured out over our lives.

At times I have thought that American culture is completely backwards when it comes to being content in our current situation.  Craving for money, power, and success truly does rule our lives at times.  I’ve often idolized pieces of African, Asian, and Latino culture because of the strong relational focus they bring.  While these traits are wonderful gifts from the Lord, discontentment knocks on all of our doors.  It pounds and pounds to the point where we either deal with it or continue to ignore it.  Every culture, every family, every person deals with this gnawing feeling to try to escape and not deal with what is before them.

What then would this mean in challenging the most vulnerable to embrace the blessings God has given them?  While the refugee highway may be paved with pain, loss, and tears, it is also a place where God continues to lavish his rich blessings.  God gives many who are stranded on this highway the ability to keep going, keep moving, and stay hopeful.  What a gift.  That hope can come from no one other than the Sustainer of all things who continues to bless.  I don’t know if I have what it takes to survive on such a highway, but I do know what it feels like to lose things, people, and abilities that are precious to me.  My dear friend Paul taken by a logging accident in college.  My eyesight taken away day by day.  Seeing dear friends and colleagues struggle deeply through horrible train wrecks in their marriages and careers.  It isn’t exactly a refugee highway, but it sure has the markings of hell that roll over many parts of the globe.

Into this we all have to learn how to speak of, sing out, and perhaps scream aloud the rich, wonderful, extravagant blessings of God.  He is the Source.  He holds it all together.  We can’t afford to live in frustration by ignoring His strong hand in all things.

International Village Church is “a new church north of downtown St. Paul, with a heart to serve the diverse ethnic groups in our city.” In addition to the already-established Hmong population in this area, the surrounding neighborhoods feature a growing number of refugees from Somalia, Myanmar (the Karen people), and Bhutan. John and his wife have been living in this community for about three years. John says this about the work and focus of International Village:

International Village is a community-focused, drop-in friendship center and church planting ministry in St. Paul.  We strive to see people empowered vocationally, educationally, and spiritually while remaining a launch pad for various ethnic ministries throughout our area.

We are a new ministry project of the Minnesota Assemblies of God and International Teams MSP [Minneapolis/Saint Paul] that reaches out in practical ways to our new neighbors all around us.  Over the past three years we’ve met new refugees at the airport, provided basic necessities when they first arrive, taught them to ride the bus, helped in learning English, as well as a variety of other practical needs.  These needs have primarily been met through meeting people at their apartments and helping them navigate through the gauntlet of choices that we have in this great country.

Now, with the opening of International Village, we will strive to be a place where many of these needs can be accessed more quickly and in a more concentrated way.  We will function as a neighborhood resource center and faith community.  The goal is to be a center that continues to demonstrate the social service needs that we’ve been addressing thus far, while adding to it concentrated Bible studies, ministry development, and the training of ethnic ministry leaders.

God has sovereignly arranged for an increasing population from amongst the unreached people groups around the world to relocate and spring up here in the US, especially in urban centers. Here they will have far greater access to the gospel than in the lands from which they came, and more so as the Church recognizes what God is doing and what great opportunities are before us. It’s encouraging to see God raising up efforts like International Village to meet this challenge.