The Surety Of The Eschaton

By Pastor Vinnie

It’s been a dark run. The night has been long, and the promised dawn delayed. Living in the shadow of uncertainty while forced to exist with depleting reserves of stamina is not sustainable no matter how many mornings you get up and tell yourself that you have to do it anyway. You promise yourself that the struggle will soon be over, but that doesn’t make today any more tolerable—nor does it ensure an optimistic forecast for tomorrow.

This is how I felt often during the pandemic. Maybe you did too. Maybe you still do. Maybe you always have, and for you it has nothing to do with the pandemic. Maybe even bringing up the pandemic has soured some of you, because it has reminded you that we are tired of feeling tired, tired of feeling hopeless.

Some days during the pandemic it felt like everyone was divided. Some days we had the misery of the pandemic compounded by community afflictions, like the murder of George Floyd, the anti-vaxxing, insurrection, and nations literally teetering on the edge of World War III.

And those are just a mere few of the shared stressors, without even getting into the individual traumas you may have endured in the last few years.

Yes, I know, you are waiting for me to say, “But it is getting better.” “It’s almost over.” “It won’t be long now.” But that kind of sounds like some sermons I have heard, sermons with vague promises of a better future that are delivered to rally the troops. I am an Adventist pastor, and I understand the power of a well-thought-out “Blessed Hope” or “Signs of the Times” sermon. Preaching about the Eschaton is our a staple in my church. Yet the truth is that Covid-19, like all of our shared stressors—like sin itself—will likely be with us in some form or another until the end.

That doesn’t mean it has to rule over us, but it does mean the effects are going to be with us much longer than any of us dreamed. The long term mental and emotional health damage alone should be one of our biggest concerns. And that’s not even to mention the sociological impact—changes that could represent the biggest cultural shift since the printing press. Our world will never be the same again.

My point is that pain is lasting, not fleeting. Real pain needs more than pie-in-the-sky vague promises to get you up in the morning. Real pain, if it is to be lived through, broken out of, and endured, requires the kind of down payment on hope that will take more than a good sermon series from your pastor (no matter how good he or she is in the pulpit). It takes proof, not just promise.

When I talk about pain, I only bring up the pandemic, because it is the one shared pain point that literally every person on the globe can relate to. But that doesn’t negate all the other pain in the world! Some live in chronic abuse, or struggle with chronic addiction, or trauma, or self-esteem issues. Some strive against their very flesh and nature, while others are the victims of those who are self-centered and don’t care what happens to them. Poverty, oppression, racism, and all forms of injustice thrive on our globe.

The Surety Of The Eschaton…

It’s been a dark run. The night has been long, and the promised dawn delayed.

Living in the shadow of uncertainty while forced to exist with depleting reserves of stamina is not sustainable. That is why the tomb is empty. That’s not a vague promise of a deferred future by a preacher trying to rally the troops. It’s done. It’s happened. It’s paid in full. It’s finished

The tomb is empty, that you may be full. It’s not a promise that it will be empty. The historical Jesus being crucified under Pontius Pilate is as close to a historical fact as history can produce.^[1] We believers take the resurrection on faith—and why shouldn’t we? Because we know He was crucified. The missing bodyHis followers’ consistent testimony, and even His greatest enemies’ claims (even Saul, a blood-hungry persecutor of the church turned believer and witness of the resurrected Jesus) all say He overcame the grave!

The trick to overcoming the ominously gloomy glow of this fallen world and its real lasting pain is not in looking towards what is yet to be completed, but what has already been completed!

Prophecy gives some beautiful promises. Needed promises. Prophecy’s promises are, I believe, true promises. But the promise of the empty tomb is not something we await in the future, or even in the present. It happened in the past, it is present with us now, and it will bring us to the future. That Jesus’ tomb is empty says that Jesus has already overcome the grave.

And that He has overcome the grave is also certainty of the eschaton to come.

It’s been a dark run. The night has been long, and the promised dawn delayed. Living in the shadow of uncertainty while forced to exist with depleting reserves of stamina is not sustainable.

That is why we remember that the tomb is empty.

1. “One of the most certain facts of history is that Jesus was crucified on orders of the Roman prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate.” — Bart Ehrman, agnostic UNC New Testament scholar ↑

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Grateful Until The Last Trumpet

[Podcast]

By Pastor Vinnie

In the second parable of Matthew 25, we quickly find out that attitude is a central issue as we wait for Jesus to return. In the Parable of the Talents, Jesus reminds us that all good things, including money, come from Him and he expects us to use them for good!

Yes, Jesus is coming again but what condition will He find you in when He returns?  Will, your heart be grateful for every good thing He has done for you as you awaited His return? Join us as we deep dive into the second Parable of Matthew 25 about the end of the world and how we should be living as we await the return of Jesus. This time, Jesus wants to know how are you responding to the great wealth you have been given?

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Flirting With The Dragon

By Vinnie MacIsaac 

“It is not a trial separation! America, the Beautiful, is divorced from God and we are actively dividing our assets and fighting for alimony from the Great I Am.” —-Anonymous.

Growing up, I was taught, like many of you, that you never talk politics or religion with people not of your “tribe.” Well, here is the thing about that, the two most meaningful subjects in this world are Religion and Politics, and if we can’t talk intelligently and calmly about them, we are ensuring there will not be a lot of meaning in our conversations.  Maybe it would be better to say, we should not confuse politics and religion, and we ought to never use politics and religion as an underhanded way to attack to belittle each other. Maybe the problem is not talking politics and religion outside of your tribe, but in having a tribe to start with!

When we adhere to “tribe mentality,” politics makes for strange reactions, that are justified, ideologically; not so much, spiritually.  A person’s spirituality is, oddly, not always a benchmark in how they deal and process politics, and that is the core of the issue. It is which one defines who you are, more? Your religion, or your loyalty or ideology?

America has become the most polarized I have ever seen it. If you’re like me, the “unfollow” feature on social media has become your new best friend. If I say I am a Democrat, I am automatically “labeled” pro-gay lifestyle, and an anti-religion, socialist. If I say I am a Republican, I am automatically labeled a racist bigot who wants to see poor people starve since they are too lazy to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Neither of these, of course, is true of all the people of these two available political positions and are, stereotypically, unfair representations of both.  Yet, you will hear such claims, and worse, made continuously in the media by each group.  I’d expect a secular, sinful world, that is headed towards its own destruction, to be that divided and venomous as to believe the worst about each other. But what about the church?

Yes, what about the Church? What should our affiliations be? In undergrad theology school, I had a professor (Dr. Don Leatherman) who was famous for his bumper sticker “Jesus was neither a Republican nor a Democratic” And it is true. The politics of Jesus was to do his Father’s will, not the will of men. What good is the will of men? What has that ever gotten us? I’ll tell you. The will of men caused us to reject the Kingship of Jesus back in 1 Samuel 8 when the people refused to heed the voice of God; “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”^[1]  And they, again, made the same demand when Jesus was being offered to them as King, “But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.” (John 19:15)

The politics of this world have consistently divorced itself from Jesus and His ways. So there is no way we can now claim that any human-made political system is really in-line with Jesus. The right and the left may both invoke the name Jesus in seeking votes, but no human-made political system is of God. For we have, effectively, left God in divorce court, in every political way that matters. Democracy^[2] is the best we have come up with, and I am thankful and praise God for it. However, let us not forget that the voice and vote of the people have always been to “Take Him away! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Safety is found in scripture; not cable news networks or Facebook and Twitter newsfeeds! It is located under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God, not the impact of the bitter spirit of intolerance found in partisan politics.

A few years back, I went on a political/spiritual journey.  It is one I have not completed and maybe never will. I read books like a mad man! I consumed, with a ferocious appetite, over 35 history and political science books researching for myself the rich political history of America and the West, in search of a political ideology I could support as a Christian.  But the more I read, the more I became fully convinced that there is no political ideology in this world that is entirely in line with Heaven or can become a haven for believers, as a whole. The truth of the matter is, we are fully and wholly divorced from God, politically, and thus we can never go back, as a political entity, to God. We are wholly divorced as a political nation from God, and Deuteronomy 24:4 has terrible news for us!

Her former husband, which sent her away, may not retake her to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that, [is] abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance.^[3] [4]

Sure, as people, and as individuals, we may be united with God. But all political systems, in one way or another, are in the process of building an image to the Beast. Yes, there are those who are crying for America to return to God. But perhaps they are as misguided as the seculars, and are not only on the wrong boat but have their boat going down the false river, altogether. Jesus did not come to save political values, and He came to save people! It is not that Jesus does not want to save America. It is just that He seems more concerned with saving Americans.

Revelation 13 tells us the prophetic fate of the world and how political systems help to build an Image to the Beast;

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.  Revelation 13:11-14 ^[5]

One commentator on Revelation13 brilliantly makes application to our time frame this way;

The lamb-like horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States… The Christian exiles who first fled to America sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance… The Declaration of Independence sets forth the great truth that “all men are created equal,” and endowed with the inalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self-government… Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation…  (But) The lamb-like horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The “speaking” of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak “as a dragon,” and exercise “all the power of the first beast,” plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance …Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution.^[6]

So my dear friends, let us not be tempted to side with one party over the other and pretend that there is some way they are going to redeem this ship, I submit to you  again, if we, “Follow the spirit of intolerance it always leads to the Dragon.” No matter how you slice it, when we partake in the intolerance of the current political system, we are taking part in the intolerance that destroys us all. When we become a pale reflection of the ideals of the world and freely partake in the partisan intolerance on our cable networks or on our social media news feeds, in all probability, we are submitting to the actions and philosophy of the Dragon of Revelation, himself. To such attitudes I say;

“…Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the (her) passion… Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”^[7]

Maybe the best any one of us can do in this fallen Babylonian political climate is to  “play the field” with the political world, deny allegiance to any human-made party, and take our vote to heart, one independent issue at a time. I have always favored this Godly, counsel to my Church;

“We are not, as a people, to become mixed up with political questions. . . . Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers in political strife, nor bind with them in their attachments. . . . Keep your voting to yourself. Do not feel it your duty to urge everyone to do as you do.”^[8]

Yes, talking about politics is talking about the issues we all face. Demanding people think and vote in specific patterns is to deny them the liberty Jesus gives us all and is to feed the Dragon of intolerance, in our news feeds.

Jesus taught that a person who divorces their spouse, for wrong reasons, and takes another is guilty of adultery.^[9] Since we have done this evil to our one and only King, divorcing Him for the ungodly desire of being like the nations, maybe it is time we stopped committing adultery with the political Beasts of this world?

Too often the American church is still divorcing God, seeking alimony from His name, and flirting with the Dragon. May God have mercy if this condition bears a child. Maybe it is time the Church stops flirting with the Dragon and gets back to loving God enough to care about people again, instead of just who is winning the ideology war. When the intolerance of the Dragon is your lover, the names of your babies will always be Hate, and Oppression, with a forged last name of the Almighty.

So, I say, talk religion, talk politics! Please, both are needed!  Even talk of them together. But when you speak either of them with the heat of intolerance, you are only making love with the Dragon. To war with your brothers, and sisters, using intolerance is to hate people enough to end up loving the Devil’s bed. Who are you making love too?

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40

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Footnotes 

^[1] 1 Samuel 8:20 English Standard Version

^[2] And it’s more updated second cousin the Representative Republic.

^[3] Deuteronomy 24:4 King James Version

[4] As the author I admit this is a homiletical use of the text in an allegory styled usage. I am not at all seeking to imply Deuteronomy 24 means this in a political sense.

^[5] Revelation 13:11-14 King James Version

^[6] Ellen G White, The Great Controversy, 1888 edition, p 441-442. I recommend you read the whole chapter for context. I had to reduce her comment to, practically, fit here due to the girth and depth of the quality of her insights. I did my honest best to capture her intent.

^[7] Revelation 18:2-5 English Standard Version

^[8] Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 336, 337.  Ellen White

^[9] see Matthew 19:1-12

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THE POLITICS OF JESUS

Part Three of Three of the series “Dispelling Theo-Politics”

By Vinnie MacIsaac

The classic question often asked of first-year theology students, “Was Jesus a Liberal or a Conservative?”[1] And the question, as you might expect, is a trap. There are usually only three emphatic answers that come back from students boasting complete certainty: 1) Jesus was a Conservative. 2) Jesus was a Liberal or 3) Both.

I won’t keep you lingering for long. It is true Jesus was not a Liberal, nor a Conservative. But, if you think you will outsmart the question by saying “both,” then you’re more duped than those who insist He was one or the other. Jesus is not Earthly political; He is Heavenly minded. Thus, He is Heavenly minded at all times, even during Earthly conflicts. The solutions to earthly problems are only to be found in Heavenly virtue.   When modern day Christians miss that point, if they know it or not, they are, in fact, building an image to the Beast[2]. The Beast, as outlined in Revelation, is, after all, the ultimate Earthly political machine posing as a Spiritual solution. Endtime followers of Jesus can have nothing to do with that machine or with vacillating between the dynamic extremes it permits, in order to keep the whole world in its grasp. The American culture war is a mere illusion of the Beast power of Revelation because it keeps everyone apprehended by the great quagmire of the imbroglio sliding gamut up and down the glissade façade of left to right; and right to left; trying to find the right balance, which really does not exist.

For Jesus, the solution to Earthly politics is looking up to Heavenly virtue, not balancing equal wrongs.

If I am on the left, I am not with Jesus. If I am on the right, I am not with Jesus. And If I am in the center, I am not with Jesus; because Jesus never answers Earthly political problems with an Earthly political see-saw, not even with a perfectly balanced one. Being in the center only ensures you will be equally wrong on both spectrums because neither ends of the teeter-totter were right to start with. For Jesus, the solution to Earthly politics is looking up to Heavenly virtue, not balancing equal wrongs.

I am ever indebted to my undergrad Political Science professor, Dr. John Beck[3], who drilled this brilliant definition of politics into my head, “Politics is the study of who gets what, when, where, and how. The end.” If you stop and think about it, and re-read that simple, yet profound, statement you will begin to see that it is not only true, but it is how the world works and how, in the end, The Beast power gains that power to place the Anti-Christ above Jesus, in the last hour of history. We fight. We fight with each other, over what? That’s right. It is a “what” that we all fight over; as in “Who gets what?” and when they get it, how they get it, and where is it going to come from? If we talk about abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, social spending, caring for our Vets, immigration, supporting our troops, etc., it is always a conversation of, “who gets what, when, where, and how.” It is also always a fight, which most often involves lies, corruption, coercion, manipulations, and oppression; which are the favored tools of the Anti-Christ system. I am certain the devil delights in watching Christians take up his cause in the name of Jesus and religious liberty.

True religious liberty can’t be found in earthly politics because, by definition, true religious liberty is liberating.   It refuses to engage in oppression…

True religious liberty can’t be found in earthly politics because, by definition, true religious liberty is liberating.   It refuses to engage in oppression, nor buy into the distorted contortion that God won’t back the liberty of mankind. Some think we must resort to man’s politics or lose ground to the world at large. The Politics of Jesus dispels this notion, and He never lowers Himself to stoop to human dependency to fix human problems.

A perfect example of how Jesus dealt with Earthly Politics is found in how Jesus dealt with being repeatedly cornered on taxes. Notice in Mark 12 and Matthew 22 the Pharisees and Herodians (the religious conservatives and the state-sanctioned liberals) are, in fact, trying to force Jesus to give an answer that will fit someplace on the teeter-totter of Earthly Politics. Because they know, as soon as Jesus declares a side they will finally be able to compromise Him and pit people against Him in the “who gets what, when, where, and how conundrum.” Jesus, Himself, reads their intent and actually spoke it out loud so that we could not mistake it or sidestep it, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?” It is important to understand, we are not much better than the Pharisees and Herodians in this story. We are often the exact kind of hypocrite Jesus railed against here. I know and confess I have been, and easily can be again, without great care and connection to Heaven. When we try to force people to see that the only answer to Earthly problems is picking either extreme or even a safe middle ground on the Earthly teeter-totter of politics, we are hypocrites trapping ourselves and others. In fact, as painful as it is to admit it, when we do this, we are making “disciples of Hell” because we are actively engaged in evangelism for the Anti-Christ!

Jesus teaches by example, earthly solutions are temporal and fleeting but a loving Father never forsakes His children; ergo you have no need to be waging political jihad for His principles.

Jesus is not playing Centralist Politics when he declares, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” He is being resounding electrifying in His political metrics so that we don’t miss His point. Give to Caesar, because this is not a Heavenly matter; it is just money. Who do you trust as your provider; Caesar or God? Wealth and security do not come from man, so stop trying to hold on to it. Don’t fight, corrupt, lie, cheat, and oppress to hold on to that which was really never yours; but rather, give to God what is His! And what belongs to God is both your allegiance and your faith in Heavenly virtue and Godly love to provide for all your “who gets what” needs. In others words, Jesus teaches by example, earthly solutions are temporal and fleeting. But a loving Father never forsakes His children; ergo you have no need to be waging political jihad for His principles. Yes, be politically reasonable; you have to engage this world. But do so based on Heavenly virtue, knowing that God is ultimately in charge, not man.

Jesus sought to teach this same idea to Peter in Matthew 17. Peter is cornered by the local “IRS” in Capernaum for not having paid the Temple Tax[4]. When the authorities ask if Jesus pays taxes Peter rushes in asserting that Jesus most certainly is in favor of paying taxes, when, in fact, Peter has no idea if Jesus is in favor of it and has to run home and ask him. Jesus actually mentions a radically different political taxation plan that exempts the children of God from paying taxes but rather shifts them back to those who don’t share ownership in the Temple. But, then, He tells Peter even though their system is not perfect, let’s still pay our taxes, “so that we may not cause offense.” Notice what Jesus is doing, He is yielding to what looks like “Earthly Politics,” but, in fact, is “Heavenly Virtue,” not wishing to offend if you don’t really have to. Then Jesus gives Peter the ultimate “Heavenly Virtue” lesson: You don’t need to yield to earthly means out of fear of the “who gets what conundrum,” because when you look to do what Heaven would want, rather than man, God will provide for it. And so Jesus tells Peter, “Go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”

It is not easy. I don’t want to make it sound like a bed of roses. Earthly problems are very complex because sin is flagrant, bare-faced, and out of control. Some days, with some events, we want to just stand up and scream, “Unfair! I am not taking this anymore!” And that is exactly what the darkness behind the Beast power lurks in wait for; left, right, center, he could care less. All he needs is, desire, and all he seeks is a spirit of intolerance, disgust, and unrest; and boom he will ignite the Anti-Christ power, impose forced worship, and kill all who will not bow. The evil of this Beast power is already unleashed in this world. We won’t stop it! But we can avoid joining it. However, the only way I know to do that is to practice the Politics of Jesus.

Jesus answers the “who gets what, when, where and how predicament like this: “God gets all allegiance, all the time, whenever and where ever political questions are raised, and His will should be done on Earth as it is in Heaven with love, compassion, equality, justice, and self-sacrifice in the place of earthly force, anger, and intolerance.” There are no cookie-cutter positions with Jesus. There are only multiple attempts to bring Heavenly virtue to a shifting, broken, pluralistic world. Which means, the same principles often get expressed in varying methodologies as we respond to Earthly degrees of sin, but we must always be guided by Heavenly Virtue, not earthly ideology.

We are called to make Disciples of Christ. We cannot afford to err by embracing Earthy politics because that always makes Disciples of the Beast power. Alas, I greatly fear with each passing year, the church, at large, is making Disciples for the wrong team!

What team are you playing on?

CLICK HERE FOR TO RETURN TO PART ONE  – Rejecting The King

Foot Notes:

[1] I first heard this question from Dr. Donn Leatherman as Southern Adventist University who literally drove around with a bumper sticker on his van that read, “Jesus was not a Republican or a Democrat.”

[2] For the purposes of this article the Beast power mentioned through it refers to the Beast power of Revelation 13 and the Anti-Christ in general.

[3] I took Intro To American Political Science from Doctor Beck at Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson NC in 2003.

[4] The Temple Tax was both a religious tax and a secular tax because King Herod had beatified the Temple with an expensive re-model at the expense of the state.

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