Egad

I heard this stuff on the radio coming home. When I have to work later than normal, I miss the Paul Edwards show and get some oddballs on the Christian talk station. Today I heard from "Politics and Religion" Check this out...



So according to this guy, if we don't get the congress to repeal the national Real ID act, it will turn into the mark of the beast mentioned in the book of Revelation. So what is the Real ID, the tool of choice of the anti-Christ? From Wikipedia...

The REAL ID Act of 2005 is U.S. federal law which imposes certain security, authentication and issuance procedures standards for the state driver's licenses and state ID cards, in order for them to be accepted by the federal government for "official purposes", as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. Currently, the Secretary of Homeland Security has defined "official purposes" as presenting state driver's licenses and identification cards for boarding commercially operated airline flights, entering federal buildings and nuclear power plants. The Act is a rider to an act of the United States Congress titled Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005.

The Real ID Act implements the following:

- Establishing new national standards for state-issued driver licenses and non-driver identification cards;
- Waiving laws that interfere with construction of physical barriers at the borders;
- Updating and tightening the laws on application for asylum and deportation of aliens for terrorist activity;
- Introducing rules covering "delivery bonds" (rather like bail bonds but for aliens who have been released pending hearings);
- Funding some reports and pilot projects related to border security; and
- Changing visa limits for temporary workers, nurses, and Australian citizens.

As of April 2, 2008, all 50 states have either applied for extensions of the original May 11, 2008 compliance deadline or received unsolicited extensions, meaning that the REAL ID Act will not become an issue at federal facilities and airports until December 31, 2009.

Who knew that having uniform standards for drivers licenses was the devious scheme of the Enemy all along! It seems every so often there is a new issue that becomes the mark of the beast or a sign of the anti-Christ. One lady called into the show and breathlessly suggested that Barack Obama is the anti-Christ. These people get on TV, claim to be Bible scholars and make false prediction after false prediction. They lure people in and proclaim a Gospel that is based on seeking signs of the end-times under every rock instead of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They need to be called out for what they are, false prophets and called to repent like any false teacher.

The End of Times

(In Toledo!)

Just got back from the first sessions of the Toledo Reformed Theological Conference (and by just got back, I mean after a brief detour to BW-3 for some wings!) The topics were great, the speakers not so much. Dr. Gaffin is a incredibly gifted scholar, speaking for amillenialism, but his speaking skills like those of many highly academic people are somewhat lacking. Dr. Thomas Ice, defending premillenial dispensationalism, was not much better from a speaking standpoint but was way off base on his entire argument (I will post more later, but the only way his arguments hold any water is if you assume that the whole New Testament never was written or at least is irrelevant when exegeting the Old Testament). Dr. Kenneth Gentry, the final speaker and the postmillenial guy, was a breath of fresh air. Very convincing arguments, and very well presented. If I was picking a stance based on the quality of the talks, postmillenial would win hands down! But of course the real basis is the Bible, and what the Word says about eschagtology. I plan to blog more specifically on each speaker, and I am a bit bummed that I missed Steve Camp and Don Kistler speaking earlier today, but finding a job trumps hearing a sermon on this occasion.

Something is rotten in Denmark

In a couple of weeks we are headed to Toledo for the Toledo Reformed Theological Conference, and I have high hopes. Eschatology is something that I really don't have a good handle on, at least compared to other areas of doctrine where I am still an amateur but have an established position that I can articulate and defend. I sorely need this conference to help me with my position, which sets it apart from other conferences where I am the choir getting preached to on topics we all agree on. This is how it breaks down for me now, holding very gingerly to a fuzzy Amillennialism...

On the one hand, lots of people I respect theologically in Reformed circles hold to an Amillennial view (Al Mohler, John MacArthur and a few others being notable exceptions). Read through the eschatology section on Monergism and it is obvious where most Reformed people come down on the topic, i.e. squarely in the Amillennial camp. It is almost like being Amillennial is part of the membership requirements for being Reformed, along with using the ESV Bible and wearing Monergism T-shirts! Monergism is featuring a great series of lectures by Kim Riddlebarger titled: "Amillennialism 101." Don't hold your breath for a similar series called "Dispensationalism 101".

On the other hand, lots of people I view with a ton of suspicion hold to the dispensational premillennial view. People like Hal Lindsay, Tim LaHaye, etc. are kind of kooks and make me cringe and I hold that much of what they espouse is bordering on heretical so I naturally assume that where there is one aberrant teaching, there likely is another. In other words, I can't put my finger on specifics but something is rotten in Denmark and it makes me nervous. If those guys are fer premillennialism, I'm agin' it!

Now I get that basing a theological position on something other than the Scriptural evidence is bad news, and basing my position on what people I like think is even worse. But I haven't had the time or background to really work out my position, so this conference with three people who are experts presenting the three main positions for two solid days should go a long way towards cementing where I stand. I doubt I will come back from Toledo a pretrib, premil dispensationalist but hopefully I will be able to better declare and defend a millennial position based on something other than being opposed to guys wearing bad suits with bad haircuts.