Thanks Roger for your feedback and great ideas. The story of Israel is an ongoing challenge to understanding the times. When need a man like Erickson today!
There are many different views on the End Times and to me it seems that the church as a whole has missed two points. First, Israel are God's chosen people and His promise to them is that one day He will restore a remnant to Himself - "You will be My people, and I will be your God" - yet the church seems to believe that it has replaced Israel, while God never fails to keep His promises. Second, Jesus spends the whole of His 3+ years of ministry on earth teaching about the Kingdom of God. God's plan before the world was created was for Him to have His own family. Jesus first words to people were, "The Kingdom of God is near." It is not until His disciples had understood this at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on them that they finally grasped what Jesus' mission to earth was about. Now at last they obeyed Jesus' final words, "Go and make disciples of all the nations". I know that God's Kingdom and making disciples are closely connected but the church seems more inclined to increase numbers than to teach them the importance of God's family to Him. Dr Peter Hammond has done a superb coverage of showing how the creation of God's family in the Last Days will at long last fulfil the plan in God's heart of a family and for whom He created the earth.
I was also most interested in Putin's recent speech. He states that the West are doing more damage to international relations than Russia is, that they are trying to isolate Russia rather than open up their arms and minds. He claims that the West has broken international laws much more often than Russia has. In the 1980s there were very bad relations between East and West with the Cold War at its height. During those years a man John Erickson held the Edinburgh Conversations which brought West and Russian generals together amicably and thoughtfully. Military men were willing to share their ideas on how they could cooperate but regrettably politicians stuck to their long hatred of the enemy and would have nothing to do with changing their attitudes. A great opportunity was completely ignored.
There are many different views on the End Times and to me it seems that the church as a whole has missed two points. First, Israel are God's chosen people and His promise to them is that one day He will restore a remnant to Himself - "You will be my people, and I will be your God" - yet the church seems to believe it has replaced Israel, while God never fails to keep His promises. Second, Jesus spends His 3+ years of ministry on earth teaching about the Kingdom of God and it is not until His disciples have understood this that He sends them out to teach the world what He has taught them, which they finally understand and do once the Holy Spirit is given them at Pentecost. So what we do today is to put Jesus' final words, "go and make disciples of all the nations", above His first words, "the Kingdom of God is near", which He demonstrates throughout His ministry. I know that the two are closely bound together but we appear to be increasing the church's numbers at the expense of their depth of knowledge that God's plan from the very beginning is to create a family who love and obey Him with all their heart. Dr Peter Hammond has done a superb coverage of showing how God's family has always been at the centre of His plan and will be fulfilled at last in those Last Days.
I was also most interested in what Putin's recent speech says. He is giving a point of view that the West is doing more damage to international relations than Russia is and that they are trying to tie Russia down rather than open up to them. In the 1980s the Iron Curtain made relations between East and West very hostile as they tried to score over each other. During those years a man John Erickson held the Edinburgh Conversations which brought both Western and Russian generals together to talk openly to each other. As usual politicians believed the worst of their enemies when here was an occasion that international relationships could have been cemented and an inspired opportunity was allowed to go by without anything being done. Such is the nature of fallen man.
Thanks Roger for your feedback and great ideas. The story of Israel is an ongoing challenge to understanding the times. When need a man like Erickson today!
There are many different views on the End Times and to me it seems that the church as a whole has missed two points. First, Israel are God's chosen people and His promise to them is that one day He will restore a remnant to Himself - "You will be My people, and I will be your God" - yet the church seems to believe that it has replaced Israel, while God never fails to keep His promises. Second, Jesus spends the whole of His 3+ years of ministry on earth teaching about the Kingdom of God. God's plan before the world was created was for Him to have His own family. Jesus first words to people were, "The Kingdom of God is near." It is not until His disciples had understood this at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on them that they finally grasped what Jesus' mission to earth was about. Now at last they obeyed Jesus' final words, "Go and make disciples of all the nations". I know that God's Kingdom and making disciples are closely connected but the church seems more inclined to increase numbers than to teach them the importance of God's family to Him. Dr Peter Hammond has done a superb coverage of showing how the creation of God's family in the Last Days will at long last fulfil the plan in God's heart of a family and for whom He created the earth.
I was also most interested in Putin's recent speech. He states that the West are doing more damage to international relations than Russia is, that they are trying to isolate Russia rather than open up their arms and minds. He claims that the West has broken international laws much more often than Russia has. In the 1980s there were very bad relations between East and West with the Cold War at its height. During those years a man John Erickson held the Edinburgh Conversations which brought West and Russian generals together amicably and thoughtfully. Military men were willing to share their ideas on how they could cooperate but regrettably politicians stuck to their long hatred of the enemy and would have nothing to do with changing their attitudes. A great opportunity was completely ignored.
There are many different views on the End Times and to me it seems that the church as a whole has missed two points. First, Israel are God's chosen people and His promise to them is that one day He will restore a remnant to Himself - "You will be my people, and I will be your God" - yet the church seems to believe it has replaced Israel, while God never fails to keep His promises. Second, Jesus spends His 3+ years of ministry on earth teaching about the Kingdom of God and it is not until His disciples have understood this that He sends them out to teach the world what He has taught them, which they finally understand and do once the Holy Spirit is given them at Pentecost. So what we do today is to put Jesus' final words, "go and make disciples of all the nations", above His first words, "the Kingdom of God is near", which He demonstrates throughout His ministry. I know that the two are closely bound together but we appear to be increasing the church's numbers at the expense of their depth of knowledge that God's plan from the very beginning is to create a family who love and obey Him with all their heart. Dr Peter Hammond has done a superb coverage of showing how God's family has always been at the centre of His plan and will be fulfilled at last in those Last Days.
I was also most interested in what Putin's recent speech says. He is giving a point of view that the West is doing more damage to international relations than Russia is and that they are trying to tie Russia down rather than open up to them. In the 1980s the Iron Curtain made relations between East and West very hostile as they tried to score over each other. During those years a man John Erickson held the Edinburgh Conversations which brought both Western and Russian generals together to talk openly to each other. As usual politicians believed the worst of their enemies when here was an occasion that international relationships could have been cemented and an inspired opportunity was allowed to go by without anything being done. Such is the nature of fallen man.