Kingdom

One of our readers made a mild objection to our last post, Can God’s Kingdom Grow?. His two observations are correct: the terms “church kingdom” and “creation kingdom” do not occur in the Scriptures and there is only one kingdom. This post will explain why we introduced these terms. For…

Jesus taught parables that show the kingdom of heaven changing. For example, it grows like a mustard seed becoming a tree (Matt. 13:31–32). But can God’s kingdom grow? Our first answer might be that it cannot grow: God’s domain already includes heaven and earth. He exercises absolute rule everywhere. God…

The message is hard to avoid: Caesar is Lord! Coins circulate throughout the Roman Empire proclaiming the Emperor’s divinity. The “divine” power has increased since Julius, the first Caesar, established the Empire in 49 BC. One of his successors, Nero, now uses it in every area of life. In the…

“I know that’s what it says, but that is not what it means,” said my red-faced father to my maternal grandfather. Grandpa Smith had a second-grade education but loved God. I often saw him read the Bible and pray with tears streaming down his cheeks. He was also a died-in-the-wool…

Our initial blog posts have generated some interesting and provocative questions. We take this opportunity to address a few of them. We plan to answer future questions on an as-needed basis. Please submit your questions in the comment section at the end of each blog post. Why focus on AD…

Let me share with you the primary reason I began the AD 70 blog. I believe myself to be in a situation similar to the four lepers who discovered God had caused the army surrounding their city to flee the previous evening. The leprous men found incredible riches in the…

Christians inherently owe the world an apology. Christ’s apostles taught us as much (e.g. 1 Peter 3:15). Our debt is not an expression of “regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another.” We owe an “apology” in the secondary sense of the word: “a defense, excuse,…

I think all Christians should desire an increase in government’s size and arena of control. More government in health care, more in education, more in environmental issues, more in our personal lives . . . more, more, more! We should not only desire governmental expansion, but we should also do…

The parodic Babylon Bee recently published an article about the 2016 US presidential election. By 11 PM on election day, according to this “report,” voting results compelled CNN reporter Wolf Blitzer to call the election, which was never in serious doubt, for Jesus Christ. The results ensured Jesus would continue his…

“And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.” (Luke 4:43) Let us follow the steps of Christ and his apostles in this matter. The soon-coming of the kingdom was the message first announced by John the Baptist. His message—one…