Various Posts from the 2013 GCC Bible Reading

This last year, some of us read through the whole Bible in an online community setting. Unfortunately, not too many people participated on Faithlife as I had hoped. But we did have some good discussion, and I'm putting most of it on here so it won't get lost. Here's several questions and observations that I initiated:

Luke: "What do you think the phrase referring to Enoch "and he was not" means?"

>Ryan: "As near as I can tell, looks like that phrase is implied from the Hebrew word "Laqach," which means, basically, "to take." That word is translated "taken" in 2 Kings 2:10, right before Elijah is miraculously taken up in the flaming chariot. In Heb. 11:5, Paul makes clear that Enoch also had a similar experience. So, I think "he was not" likely means what Hebrews 11 shows – that Enoch "was not found" among the living."

>Mike: "I think Brother Ryan answered well. Dispensationalists use this as an example of what they believe will happen on a mass scale at the rapture--millions of Christians will simply go missing. Others will be left behind."

AAEVS - Conclusion

This has been a long series, nineteen months in the making. From hearing feedback from some of you, I believe God has used these posts as a blessing, which I am thankful. I am also delighted that I finally opened up my hopes for the future of the church.

Unfortunately, a few serious changes have transpired since I started this series back in June 2012. Because of this, discouragement and apathy is threatening to devour the vision and slowly vanish it away. However, we as a church need not dump the vision into the trash because of these changes, if we believe our eschatology more than just the systematic framework; our pastors have left us with an idea that the church that adheres to this view of prophecy ought to become a church that believes and acts like it, even if it makes us stand out.

But, this is hard for us because we like to remain at least a bit over average, where we stay complacent and unscrutinized by one another and other churches as much as possible. But God will not have any of that, He demands that we seek to be holy as He is holy; that is no compromise. You have a decision to make, will you submit joyfully and vigorously to your heavenly calling or will you walk away slowly in idolatrous pursuits of comfort outside the springing fountains of Christ?

This will depend on how much you care about Jesus. If He has the words to eternal life, then give Him all you got. The world which we know it and its lusts are passing away, but he or she who does the will of God in His Kingdom abides forever.

AAEVS - The Assurance behind Evangelism

“We proclaim that His victory will be complete when the nations bow before Him and every sphere of life demonstrates His Lordship. This will happen before the resurrection of our physical bodies. We desire to evangelize with this assurance of success, an assurance based on Jesus’ statement of His possession of all authority and His continued presence with us.” Evangelism Paragraph 2f-h

"And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." ~ Matthew 28:17-20

"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

Here we are at the final section of this series, at the encouragements that God gives to His soldiers in the faith. We have discussed the mission and the means to fulfill it, but why should we care? What motivates us to leave our comfortable living for possibly long millennia of sacrificial evangelism and discipleship? The reason why is because of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His Resurrection was the future of the whole creation made manifest in the Anno Domini and the hope of the Christian proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In His Great Commission and in His Scriptures, Jesus gave us exceeding great and precious promises regarding His successful reign at the right hand of the Majesty on high, offering us numerous encouragements throughout the entire sacred canon of Scriptures.