20. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (End-Times Series Part 1)

Welcome to the podcast where we prod the sheep and beat the wolf. This is episode 20 in the beginning of a brand new series. It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. If we are the products of an environment, then it's fair to say that I was shaped by vanilla ice, MC Hammer, and dispensationalism.

None of which have aged all that well. Of dispensationalism, it was the ubiquitous stench in every southern pew and the dark evangelical must that surrounded my Christian upbringing. My first study Bible, for instance, was a black leather Schofield reference edition, which kindly pointed me to the bright hope that the sky was falling.

In current events back in the 80s, Mikhail Gorbachev's disturbing birthmark was the best explanation that any of us had for the mark of the beast. Credit cards and computer chips were ushering in a one-world currency and the dreaded Nikolai Carpathia was soon to step out of the shadows and make himself known to the United Nations.

Yet amid all that evangelical ruckus, I don't remember feeling anything even close to real hope, encouragement, or authentic love for God. The only motivation that I had to live like a Christian was to make sure that I punched my upcoming ticket for the imminent rapture, which appeared to me more like an evangelical Wonkavator than anything akin to hope.

You see Christianity to me was a get out of hell free card that you'd better cash in before the tribulation began, which made the church appear to me like a band of benevolent losers who found themselves constantly pinned down behind enemy lines, always hiding in a spiritual foxhole, too paralyzed with fear to do anything Jesus commanded, waiting constantly for the culture to get worse, waiting motionlessly to be rescued.

Dispensationalism and Fear-Based Eschatology

A militant church that would be triumphant in this world, that would advance the kingdom of God and gain ground and would go into all the world making disciples of all the nations, watching the gates of hell fall down in front of us, seemed about as foreign to me as an Olympic curling match or competitive eating.

Well, almost. In truth, it wasn't until my late 20s that I began to question this popular late great planet Earth narrative of eschatological defeatism. It wasn't until then that I began to plumb the depths of biblical truth and discover for myself what God was actually saying about the end.

And since then my journey's taken me all over the Bible. It's taken me through the annals of ancient history to what I believe is the biblical position. My goal in sharing this with you is for one reason and for one reason only.

Hope, Confidence, and the Biblical View of Eschatology

I want you to have great joy, great confidence, and great hope when it comes to the topic of eschatology. For far too long the church has adopted a confused end times theology that looks more like fatalism, doom, and gloom than future dominion and glory.

And it's my aim to change that one article, one episode at a time. So in the prophetic words of REM, it's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine. My hope is that you would too as you consider these things and I hope that you will join us each week as we talk about the end times and we talk about what the Bible actually says about these things.

Until then, God bless you. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the podcast. If you like what you've heard, share it on Twitter, post it on Facebook, write a pen pal about it, smash that like button, do whatever you want, but help us get the message out there to as many people as we can.

Encouragement Against Eschatological Fear

Eschatology has ruined a lot of good Christians and made a lot of people afraid. Our goal is to encourage you with hope. So share it and I'll see you next time on the podcast.