Restitutio

Even though he grew up in the Calivinist Reformed tradition as a pastor’s kid, Jouke Elsinga was not sure he believed in God’s existence.  After reading Frank Turek’s I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, he came to believe in God and started searching for apologetics.  He came across my apologetics class on youtube (also available on podcasts 50-65) and deepened his reasons for believing in the bible.  Next he began digging into theology, trying to discern the teachings of the bible.  He came to believe in conditional immortality (the sleep of the dead), but still held to the doctrine of the trinity.  However, after researching a little more he came across the Trinity Delusion website and youtube channel and found the arguments there very convincing.   Notes and Links: Other faith stories from Theological Conferences More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here. Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Danny Tanner grew up in the Lutheran Church and later got heavily involved with the Brethren in Christ group.  He’s served as a worship pastor, an associate pastor, and an executive pastor.  Currently he’s involved in a church plant.  Over the years he’s questioned his faith, but never let himself dive in deep enough to reconsider his core beliefs.  He didn’t want to give himself permission to reconsider any of them, because he was worried he might end up renouncing his faith.  After hearing about biblical unitarianism from Jeremy Bowders, he began working through his understanding of God and Christ.  The bible starting making sense and coming alive in a fresh way for him.   Notes and Links: Other faith stories from Theological Conferences More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here. Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

While working in a casket factory as an upholsterer, one day Jeremy Bowders reflected on the fact that he would be in one eventually. He began asking the big questions about his life’s purpose. He began reading the bible and became a Christian. In the course of researching open theism, he read an article by William Lane Craig that mentioned Dale Tuggy. He came to trinities.org and began listening to Tuggy’s podcast, specifically episode 6 where a Muslim, a biblical unitarian, and a trinitarian debated Jesus’ identity.  Strangely enough, he found himself agreeing with the biblical unitarian!  According to Bowders, understanding that the Father is the only true God and that Jesus is his human messiah was like finding the decoder ring in a cereal box.  Suddenly the bible made much more sense to him.   Notes and Links: Other faith stories from Theological Conferences More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here. Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Having overcome his desire to remain in the background, Jonathen Favors boldly shared his testimony of coming to understand who God is.  After a severe football injury, he had a lot of time to spend time with and think about God.  While attending BIOLA University, he had learned that the title “Son of God” is a messianic title, but he didn’t understand how God could be three in one.  He began reading through scripture to discover Jesus’ conception of God.   Notes and Links: Other faith stories from Theological Conferences More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here. Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Now that we’ve looked at many of the kingdom texts from the Old Testament, today we’ll get into the New Testament and see what Jesus and the apostles taught about the kingdom.  We’ll examine the titles of Jesus, a couple of his parables, some texts from Paul and James, and conclude in Revelation.  In this lecture, we’ll restrict our focus to just those verses that speak of the kingdom as future.  We’ll come back to the other kingdom scriptures in the New Testament in subsequent lectures. This is lecture 5 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade. Notes: My goal is to cruise through the New Testament and look at texts pertaining to the coming kingdom (Matthew to Revelation) defining Messiah/Christ: the one God anoints to rule over the kingdom Mark 15.32 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. defining Son of Man: the one Daniel saw in a vision to whom God gave the kingdom Daniel 7.13-14 13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.  14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. defining Son of David: the promised descendant to rule on the throne of David forever triumphal entry Matthew 21.9 “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Mark 11.9-10 “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” Luke 19.38 “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” John 12.13 “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” defining Son of God: same as God’s messiah (2 Sam 7.14) and God’s creation (Luke 1) John 1.49 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Luke 1.35 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy– the Son of God.   Jesus clearly believed in a coming (future) kingdom Matthew 5.3-5 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “kingdom of heaven” is only in Matthew (32x) and is identical to “kingdom of God” cf. Mat 19.23 vs. 24 this is as powerful as it is terse bottom line: if you inherit the earth, you aren’t floating around in heaven Dietrich Bonhoeffer: They [the meek] show by every word and gesture that they do not belong to this earth.  Leave heaven to them, says the world in its pity, that is where they belong.  But Jesus says: “They shall inherit the earth.”  To these, the powerless and the disenfranchised, the very earth belongs.  Those who now possess it by violence and injustice shall lose it, and those who here have utterly renounced it, who

Simply put, restorationism is the approach to Christianity that seeks to compare accepted doctrines and practices against the bible to see if they are valid.  Our intention is to recover authentic New Testament Christianity and live it out today.  We hold God’s inspired scriptures above traditions, creeds, and clergy.  The time is ripe for us to reach over denominational lines and dialogue with each other about our differences in a respectful and constructive manner.  We are restorationists and this is our manifesto. Read the Restorationist Manifesto. Here’s the full-length YouTube presentation: Notes and Links: Read the Restorationist Manifesto here Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Last time we looked at the kingdom prophecies in Isaiah.  Today we’ll examine Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and Daniel to continue developing a biblical picture of the age to come. This is lecture 4 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade. Notes: We’ve already looked at God’s promises to Abraham and David as well as the richest kingdom book of the bible—Isaiah.  Now we will examine several other key prophecies and psalms.   Amos 9.11-15 11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the LORD who does this. restoration of Davidic throne 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. what does it mean, “the plowman will overtake the reaper?” look at how tactile this kingdom vision is! plowing, reaping, treading grapes, wine how far is this from floating on a cloud or “polishing rainbows” 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God. rebuilding the cities enjoying the produce of the land   Micah 4.6-8 Micah 4.6-8 6 In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; 7 and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.  8 And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. lame, outcasts, afflicted will live in Mount Zion w/ God forever   Zephaniah 3.8-20 8 “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed. does anyone remember the catch phrase from last lecture that encapsulates the kingdom? everything wrong with the world made right part of what’s wrong with the world is human rebellion and wickedness two sides to the kingdom coin judgment restoration many of the majestic kingdom restoration passages come after macabre judgment prophesies 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice– “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.  9 On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud.

Let’s face it; it’s difficult to talk about pornography, especially among Christians.  We get overwhelmed with feelings of shame and embarrassment while fearing how others will regard us with disgust or disdain.  However, this issue is a huge struggle for a ton of Christians (and non-Christians) in the world today.  Drawing on some of what he shared last week about spiritual disciplines, Blake Cortright joins us once again to tackle this sensitive topic.  He explains why porn is so hard to quit as well as reasons why it’s worth it to gain freedom from this taskmaster.  In a remarkable display of courage and honesty, Cortright also shares his own 10+ year struggle with pornography and what measures he took that finally liberated him. Warning, if children are around, although we do not discuss any graphic content, the general topic is probably inappropriate, depending on the ages. Notes and Links: Follow Blake Cortright on Twitter @blakecortright Check out Interview 19: Spiritual Disciplines Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

The prophet Isaiah spoke more about the kingdom than any other prophet in the Hebrew bible. Consequently, his book is a phenomenal place to begin developing our understanding of what the kingdom will be like.  Stitching together his various snapshots, we encounter a magnificent collage detailing a new world full of peace, justice, and healing. This is lecture 3 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade. Notes: God will make everything wrong with the world right. Isaiah 2.1-4 all nations will go to God’s mountain to learn how to live God will settle disputes between nations and peoples weapons of war will turn into tools of agriculture no more learning or waging war Isaiah 9.2-7 human child will shoulder the government no end to the increase of his government he will reign on the throne of David uphold kingdom with justice forever Yahweh’s zeal will get this done Isaiah 11.1-10 the spirit of God will rest upon the king his delight will be in the fear of Yahweh he won’t judge by eyes and ears he will make just decisions for the poor and meek with the “rod of his mouth” and “the breath of his lips” he will kill the wicked he will be righteous and faithful animals will live in peace w/ each other and humanity no one will hurt or destroy in God’s holy mountain the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as waters cover the sea the nations will inquire of the “root of Jesse” Isaiah 25.6-9 reach feast of well-aged wine and choice meats he will swallow up death forever the Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from all faces he will wipe away the reproach of his people from the earth people will be glad and rejoice in his salvation Isaiah 35.1-10 desert will blossom abundantly they will see the glory and majesty of our God God will come with vengeance and recompense he will come and save you the disabled will find healing (blind, deaf, lame, mute) singing and “everlasting joy” coming to Zion sorrow and sighing will flee away Isaiah 51.3-8 God will make Zion’s waste places like Eden, the garden of Yahweh thanksgiving and voice of song will be found in Zion God’s salvation and righteousness will be forever Isaiah 60.1-22 wealth of the nations will come to Jerusalem foreigners will build up Jerusalem’s walls Jerusalem’s gates will be open continually (24/7) any nation that refuses to serve Jerusalem will perish, utterly laid waste Yahweh will be Jerusalem’s everlasting light instead of the sun all the people will be righteous they will possess the land forever all so God might be glorified Isaiah 61.1-7 good news to the poor liberty to the captives comfort those who mourn call people oaks of righteousness to God’s glory repair ruined cities strangers/foreigners will tend flocks and work land you will be priests of Yahweh possess a double portion Isaiah 65.17-25 create new heavens and earth God will rejoice in Jerusalem and his people no more will people hear the sound of weeping or the cry of distress mortals will live very long lives (no more infant deaths)

What spiritual disciplines do you practice?  We’re all familiar with reading our bibles and prayer, but there’s so much more available.  In this interview, Blake Cortright guides us through his own journey into discovering ancient Christian disciplines that can help us today, including prayer, fasting, meditation, bible study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.  Pulling on the work of Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Dallas Willard, and John Eldredge, Cortright shares how these spiritual disciplines can help center us and sanctify us so we can live for God better today. Notes and Links: Follow Blake Cortright on Twitter @blakecortright Books mentioned in this podcast: Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen, Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, Wild at Heart by John Eldredge Watch the epic “Trinity Schminity” song by Winterband here More on Dale Tuggy vs. James White here Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.