Licensing

     THE BACKGROUND:  A few weeks ago I was given roughly 5 pages of questions to fill-out to begin the process of being ordained in the denomination interested in providing me with the financial support for a church plant.  I filled them out, turned them in, and today sat in a room discussing my answers.

     One of the men, a pastor of a church, asked, "Your answer concerning Biblical prophecy was a bit vague.  Can you expound on it?"
     "Sure," I say, "I hate it."
     It's becoming a running theme with me. 
     Unfortunately this group of men really love Biblical prophecy.  If Biblical prophecy were one of those long body pillows, they'd be the first to straddle it.  Their entire denomination revolves around a deep-rooted love for the stuff and I just said I hate it.
     I go on to explain that it isn't the fulfilled prophecies concerning Christ that I hate; those are mind-numbingly awesome.  There are dozens of things Old Testament scholars said concerning Christ (who He had to be and what He had to do), and He fulfilled them all to the letter.  I'm cool with those.
     And come to think of it, I'm cool with all the ones concerning the return of Christ.  The Bible says He left and He's coming back and while vague in nature, it's very clear it's going to happen and we're even given some hints about what to look for and what it will be like when it happens.
     What I hate about Biblical prophecy is the amount of time believers spend chewing on it, discussing it, and arguing over it.  It reminds me of the scene in 'The Life of Brian,' when Reg (the leader of the Peoples' Front of Judea; more commonly known as the PFJ) and his cohorts are sitting around a table talking about their revolution.  Then Brian's girlfriend Judith bursts into the room telling them Brian is about to be killed and they immediately go right back into their discussion of what to do rather than getting up and actually doing anything. 
     I guess this is how I view Biblical prophecy; it's like the "Bejeweled" for Christians - an epic time suck that rarely gets anything accomplished.  But instead of yelling, "Look at my score," these scholars get all puffed up over how much they know on the subject and yet fail to realize that this knowledge concerning the return of Christ should have them running in droves to their neighbors' door yelling, "He's coming back!  Please let me tell you more about Jesus!"
     And what gets me most about all this is when Jesus' disciples went to Him and were all, "Tell us more about your return," and Jesus was all, "Don't sweat that - I'll come when you least expect me - Just make sure your house is in order..." and then we, the ones reading this, spend all our time trying to figure out when He's coming back!  Didn't He just say NOT to do that?
     As I stated before, I'm writing these posts to both remind me of these times and to inform others of the church planting process.  I felt this one was of particular importance.  Today was the first major step toward my ordination and served to remind me that it isn't about the prophecies - It's about the man the prophecies talk about.  The Apostle John ends the book of Revelation by writing, "Come Jesus come," but I'm much more of the mindset of, "Give me a minute, I've got a few more people to talk to about You..."
     Pray for us.