Tag: politics

A New Donald Trump?

“I’m going to be watching to see if this was really a life-changing, life-altering moment….”

kevingdrendel45 Comments

This morning I watched two different videos about Donald Trump in the aftermath of the assassination attempt that came within millimeters of ending his life. Such an experience would sober the hardest of self-made men. Trump experienced the proof of the reality of personal mortality and the razor line between alternate fates.

The first video I might have ignored, but for the source. Capturing Christianity is a YouTuber who manages a thoughtful and circumspect apologetic presence online. He interviews good people and engages in civil conversation with people who disagree with him. I am attracted to people like that.

The video purported to be about a prophecy predicting the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. I don’t run after so-called prophecies. I am immediately skeptical when I see anyone claiming to be a prophet or to have some message from God.

With that said, I do not completely dismiss the idea that God could speak to or through anyone. If we believe anything in the Bible, we have to accept that God has spoken to and through people in the past. I also don’t see anything in the Bible that indicates God can no longer do that if He chooses to speak to or through people in the present.

I believe that skepticism is the right posture from which to consider any claimed prophecy, but I believe we also have to acknowledge and respect Paul’s admonition:

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (ESV)

The title of the video is, Viral Trump Prophet Now Admits THIS. I don’t like clickbait headlines either, though I admit to being persuaded to click on them sometimes. When I do, my Spidey senses are always tingling, expecting to be disappointed by another bait and switch or overblown story that has little to no factual support, is (likely) full of misinformation and disinformation, and (maybe) even outright misleading information. I have seen it too many times.

I respected the source, however, so I clicked.

The 15-minute video walks through a purported prophecy published by one, Brandon Biggs, four days before the assassination attempt. Mr. Biggs seems very sincere and forthright, but many people can be sincerely and forthrightly wrong. I will let you discern for yourself:

The gist of the Capturing Christianity take is that Biggs got some things wrong, though he accurately predicted the assassination attempt.

Of course, anyone could predict an assassination attempt. I have personally heard people speculate that such an attempt might be made, given the current, polarized and tensely emotional political climate.

The video commentary includes clips of what Mr. Biggs claims he saw in a vision and his interpretation of it. Some of what he saw and reported days before the incident are generally accurate to the events that occurred. In particular, he saw a bullet whiz past Trump’s right ear. He saw blood coming from Trump’s right ear, and he saw Trump down on his knees.

As the commentary points out, anyone might predict an assassination attempt, but the details of this vision are remarkably close to what actually happened. The bullet didn’t whiz past the left ear. It didn’t whiz past the top of the head, or chin, or cheeks, or neck or chest. It whizzed past Trump’s right ear.

Biggs added that Trump’s eardrum was ruptured and that he was “radically born again”. This is where the reality differs. Donald Trump’s eardrum was not ruptured. We also have no way of knowing what happened in Donald Trump’s mind or heart.

The central point of the commentary focused on Mr. Biggs’s “admission” that he added to what he saw in the vision. Biggs says that he didn’t see the bullet pierce Trump’s ear, but he saw the blood coming from the ear. He also mentioned seeing sonic waves behind the bullet, as in the movie, Matrix.

(I am reminded in this comment that prophets are people who perceive things in the context of their culture, experience, and understanding. Food for thought as we read the Old Testament prophets – not that Brandon Biggs should be compared to an Old Testament prophet.)

Briggs admits that he assumed the bullet somehow caused Trump’s eardrum to burst. He added that part, because it seemed like be a logical conclusion to him from what he believed he saw. What he saw, and what he assumed are two different things.

I believe Biggs was sincere and forthright, as I said above, and he was humble in explaining these things. He wasn’t defensive. He didn’t seem intent on defending himself. In fact, he was apologetic and called himself “immature” in not recognizing the difference between what he saw and what he assumed.

So much for these basic facts. They aren’t what I want to focus on here.

As I stated just three days ago, the original prophecy about Trump being President (in 2011) and the miraculous escape from death this week (even if we admit God’s hand in the prophecies and the saving of Trump’s life) do not mean that Trump is God’s man and that Christians should uncritically support him in whatever he says and does.

Paul said we need to “test everything” (1 Thess. 5), so I think that is exactly what we should do. Some people may say that I am vacillating, but I am not. I am keeping an open mind in taking a closer look.

Continue reading “A New Donald Trump?” →

What Is the Place of Christians in the World?

“By faith [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.”

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Apocaliptical scene to the Rome cityscape matte painting

I go back from time to time to the early “church fathers” for perspective. Most recently, I have focused on what we call The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (the “Letter”). Even when translated from the Greek language in which it was written, the words and thoughts ring foreign to our American ears.

As I read this early Letter, I am impressed that Christians in the 21st Century have much to learn from 2nd Century Christians. They lived into the message of Jesus in ways that we seem to have long since forgotten

We don’t know who the author was. The Greek word, “mathetes“, merely means “student”. The person or ruling family to which the letter was written is also uncertain. We only know it was written in the early to mid 2nd Century.

The Church had grown slowly but steadily into the 2nd Century. Persecution ebbed and flowed around those early Christians, but they were more generally ignored and almost universally despised. In many ways, Christians were a complete oddity. They didn’t fit into the pagan (Greco/Roman) culture or the Jewish culture.

Christianity was centered in Jerusalem until the Roman war against the Jews and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Christians scattered at that point, though Jerusalem remained one of many hubs of Christian life. The 2nd Century was a time of decentralization and spreading out throughout the Roman Empire and beyond – into areas of Africa and Asia, some of which were controlled by the Roman Empire, and some not.

According to the Letter, Christians were not physically, culturally, or linguistically distinguishable from the people in the many places in which they lived. They were distinguishable in other ways:

“But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers.”

The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus
chapter 5

The most distinguishing feature of those Christians, according to the author of the Letter, was their “striking method of life”: they lived as strangers in their own countries. Though they were citizens in those countries, they “endure all things as if foreigners”.

We might be tempted to think that the “uprootedness” of early Christians was merely a product of rejection and persecution by non-Christians, but the Apostle Peter suggests otherwise: Christians are a “royal priesthood” and a “holy nation” who live as “foreigners and exiles” in this world. (1 Peter 2:9,11) This echoes the writer of Hebrews, who described all great people of faith as “foreigners and strangers on earth”. (Hebrews 11:13)

These passages in the New Testament epistles highlight a fundamental trait of Christians in the world at that time. But not just at that time; Jesus spoke to all his followers (including us) when he said, “[Y]ou are not of the world” (John 15:19), and, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

How strange are these words and concepts to modern Americans! From the earliest days of our youth, we are taught about our freedoms and rights as American citizens. In contrast, 1st and 2nd Century Christians enjoyed some rights as citizens of the various countries in which they lived (maybe not as robust as the rights we enjoy), but they lived as if they had none. And, this was their “distinguishing “striking” feature as a people! It is what made them stand out.

They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. 2 Corinthians 10:3 They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven.

the Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus
chapter 5

Second Century Christians lived as if they were really not of this world. And, this “feature “striking method” of living was noticeable. They adapted and fit into their surroundings and culture wherever they lived, except for this one thing: they lived like they were not citizens of the countries in which they lived – even if they were actually citizens.

They were outsiders wherever they lived because they lived like citizens of heaven. They fit in wherever they went, but they stood out by their allegiance to loving God and loving others. How strange and foreign that may seem to us!

Continue reading “What Is the Place of Christians in the World?” →

The Group Affiliations the Apostles Had and What It Might Mean for Us

When I look at American expressions of Christianity today, I wonder if we demonstrate the right way to follow Jesus.

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Oil painting illustrating Jesus Christ and his disciples on a meadow

I have spent some time lately considering the various influential groups of people in the time of Jesus and the orientation of those groups toward Jesus. I have wondered why Jesus seemed to pick on the Pharisees more than the other groups, especially since they seemed most aligned with him and had the most in common with him.

As I researched and thought about the various groups of Jewish influencers in the First Century in relation to Jesus, I began to think about the apostles, and their connections to these groups. I am always mining for insight as I read Scripture, and today my mind turns toward the relationship of the twelve apostles to those same groups of First Century, Jewish influencers.

We don’t know much about the background of the twelve disciples, except that most of them were “common” men of generally humble means. One disciple was identified with the Zealots (Simon, the Zealot, also known as Simon the Canaanite). Matthew, the tax collector, might have been Herodian (or may have been viewed as one).

We really don’t know about the group affiliation of the other disciples, at least not from the explicit text. They seem to have been ordinary people with no distinct association with particular groups. They did not seem to be closely associated with any of the five groups Jewish leadership groups in First Century Judea.

Even Simon, who is known as the Zealot, probably left his group behind to follow Jesus. Just as Matthew left behind his livelihood (tax collection) to follow Jesus. Of course, Simon (Peter) and Andrew dropped their fishing nets to follow Jesus, as did the brothers, James and John. It’s no stretch, therefore, to imagine that Simon, the Zealot, would have similarly “dropped” or left behind his affiliation with the Zealots to follow Jesus.

In fact, the theme of leaving behind your group seems to run throughout the teaching and example of Jesus. Jesus said, “[E]veryone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” (Matt. 19:29)

He called Peter and Andrew and James and John away from their profession of fishing. He called Matthew, the tax collector, away from his profession of tax collecting. I think it’s fair to assume that Jesus called Simon, the Zealot, away from the Zealots to follow him.

The theme of leaving behind family, livelihood and group identity runs deep in Scripture, all the way back to Abram (as Abraham was originally known) when God called Abram to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household and go to the land God would show him. (Gen. 12:1)

Hebrews 11 commends Abraham for the example of faith demonstrated in responding to God’s call and leaving behind the familiarity of all the things that typically identify people and their place in the world. Abraham and all the people of faith commended in Hebrews 11 demonstrated a kind of faith that made them “aliens and strangers on earth”.

Jesus called the rich young ruler to walk away from his wealth. (Matt. 19:16-30) Jesus told Nicodemus, the Pharisee, that he would have to be born again to see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3) Nicodemus was born into an enviable position in his community and may have winced at the thought of needing to be “born again”.

The kingdom of God is something I have been mulling over for many weeks, and months. It’s a theme I have written about often lately, and it has occupied a prominent place in my meditations lately.

The five main groups of Jewish influencers in the First Century had one thing in common – they were operating on a spectrum of influential relationship to the political structures and religious structures in their world. They were invested and embedded into their positions, and identities, with the people with whom they affiliated – like the partisanship and critical group affiliations we have today.

Along came Jesus, however, and he called people “out of the world”. (John 15:18-19) Jesus called people to leave their lives, and identities, and associations behind to follow him. I believe he is still calling people to the same allegiance today.

We don’t know much about the backgrounds and affiliations of the twelve disciples, perhaps, because they did just that. They left those things behind to follow Jesus. They became known, simply, as disciples of Jesus. They were, simply, Christ followers.

I am interested in these things because of what it means for us. If we would be disciples of Jesus and Christ followers, how do these things translate to our lives in the 21s Century?

Continue reading “The Group Affiliations the Apostles Had and What It Might Mean for Us” →

Jesus Among the Religious and Political Groups of His Time

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This is a companion piece to the last article I wrote and published: Why Did Jesus Pick on the Pharisees So Much? The former article was inspired by 40 years of observation that Jesus was harshly critical of the Pharisees. His treatment of them virtually jumped off the pages at me when I first read the Gospels in college.

The Pharisees, though, were only one of the influential groups of Jews in First Century Judea. We see some evidence of Jesus rubbing shoulders with the other groups, but not nearly as much as Jesus engaged the Pharisees.

We might be tempted to assume that the Pharisees were particularly wicked and sinful – far more than the other groups Jesus encountered – but that isn’t so. Jesus was most like the Pharisees, and they were most like him in their theological leanings and in the social circles in which they operated.

For that reason, I focused in my last article on the question: why was he so harsh towards them? I could have asked: why didn’t he pick on the other groups more?

In this article, I will explore the other groups and the difference between them and the Pharisees. I will spend a little time pondering how Jesus and the twelve apostles related to these groups in the Gospel accounts and provide my own thoughts as they occur to me.

First Century Judea was broadly possessed by two groups: the Jews, of course, and the Romans. The Jews had long lived in this land that God promised their ancestor, Abraham, but the Romans were newcomers. they were recent conquerors, following the Greeks, in a long line of challengers to the Jewish occupation of the land.

The five Jewish groups represent a spectrum of relational attitudes towards the Romans and each other in their religious and not-so-religious observances, lifestyles and attitudes. I will tackle them in order of their relationship to the Romans and their religious orientation.

Continue reading “Jesus Among the Religious and Political Groups of His Time” →

The Government Will Be on His Shoulder, But What Does it Mean that the Kingdom of God Is Now

How should Christians orientate themselves to the world in which we live and conduct ourselves in the political and governmental spheres of present life?

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The following passage from the Prophet, Isaiah, isn’t just a platitude to recite at Christmas:

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Jesus has many names, but the one used (perhaps) the most is Lord. All authority on heaven and earth has been given to Jesus. (Matt. 28:18) Christians revel in that statement. In the next breath, after Jesus said this, he said:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations….”

Matthew 28:19

When we think of the authority and lordship of Jesus, we might jump immediately to the ultimate conclusion – of Jesus ruling and reigning at the right hand of the Father. When Jesus told the disciples that all authority had been given him, however, his instruction to follow does not take us where our minds might be tempted to go. He did command us to take over the government or set up a new government.

His charge to the disciples was to go to all nations and make disciples.

That is still his instruction at this time.

Perhaps, we can be excused for forgetting the last instructions he gave after almost 2000 years. Or maybe not…. He was pretty clear about it. We also have the following reminder from the Apostle, Peter:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:8-9)

Of course, the government will ultimately be committed into His hands. (Is. 22:21) He will ultimately make a footstool of all his enemies. (Ps. 110:1) Jesus will ultimately sit on the throne with throngs of people proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty!” (Rev. 4:2)

Jesus will be seen as the Lion of Judah and the Root of King David (Rev. 5:5) at that time with a sharp sword coming out of his mouth, striking down the the nations, ruling them with an iron scepter, and treading “the winepress with the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty!” (Rev. 19:15)

But, that time is yet to come. We aren’t there yet.

Even in John’s vision of this future time, the most common description of Jesus is as a Lamb (28 times). Jesus is first the Lamb who was slain, and that is the most prominent name he is given, even in the Book of Revelation.

We have yet to experience Jesus, the Lion of Judah, with sword in his mouth, a scepter in his hand, and a winepress at his feet. That time has not yet come.

Meanwhile, Jesus came not to Judge the world, but to save the world. (John 12:47) Jesus came not for the healthy, but the sick; and Jesus presently desires mercy. (Matt. 9:12-13)

Jesus is not yet the Judge, treading a winepress with the fury of the wrath of God Almighty; He is the Good Shepherd searching for the lost sheep. He is not presently in the business of condemning the world; he is currently in the business of seeking and saving the lost. (Luke 9:10)

So, we should be.

The charge that Jesus gave us – to go and make disciples of all the nations – is still our marching orders. It hasn’t changed.

No matter how close we think we are to the end, God is still currently in the mode of being patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting everyone to come to repentance.

We are easily distracted by many things. We can be so obsessed about the past and we can be so forward-thinking that we forget about the present. We can be so focused on the end times that we do not understand the times in which we live.

We may be close to the end times, but we may yet be far off, by human reckoning. To God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. (2 Pet. 3:8) Jesus said we would not know the day or the hour. Most importantly, we are still in the times in which Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations.

He didn’t tell us to make enemies of the nations. He didn’t tell us to set up new nations. He didn’t tell us to take over nations. He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations.”

This, so far, is just a preface for talking about politics and government in the 21st Century. Yes, the government will be on the shoulders of Jesus, but what of the Kingdom of God now? How should Christians orientate themselves to the world in which we live and conduct ourselves in the political and governmental spheres of present life?

Continue reading “The Government Will Be on His Shoulder, But What Does it Mean that the Kingdom of God Is Now” →