You know that part of your Bible where the gold leaf on the pages still looks pretty fresh? Some of the pages might still even be stuck together. Or, more au courant, the portion you rarely scroll to on your phone or iPad 鈥� That鈥檚 right, for most of us it鈥檚 that part of the Bible starting right after Psalms and going all the way to Matthew. A lot of prophets big and little, and a good bit of Israel鈥檚 Wisdom tradition鈥攂ut it just doesn鈥檛 get a lot of air-time in most evangelical churches or personal Bible-reading. Now, I鈥檓 the first to admit that last claim stems from my own highly subjective internal polling data, and I鈥檓 glad to be proven wrong; but I don鈥檛 think I am, because I know a good bit of it鈥檚 true in my own life ...
There are many memories I will treasure of my father, Robert Saucy, but I will write about only one now that has most profoundly impacted me鈥擨 believe, for all eternity. It was Dad鈥檚 passion for God鈥檚 Word.
This post is the substance of a chapel message I gave to the students of Kyiv Theological Seminary on October 14 of last year (2014). At the time Ukraine was (and still is) in the midst of brutal conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the eastern regions of the country. All of the students present had been impacted by the conflict, some profoundly either by burying church members, relatives, and friends, or by answering conscription summons. No one in the country has been left untouched by the crisis. I offer these thoughts here because suffering and crisis and loss may come to those around us at anytime. We need the mind of our Lord to enter into such a house of sorrow or pain and be his instruments for healing ...
... I鈥檓 all in favor of blood moons (awe-inspiring astronomical phenomenon!), tetrads (rare!), Jewish feasts (our overly Gentilized Church calendars should be more dominated by these鈥攁s they are fulfilled in Christ), and apocalyptic (it can be literal too鈥攔esurrection is a feature of apocalyptic and we all believe in that one). But put them together in yet another sensationalized, factually crazy, books-flying-off-the-shelf spectacle for the world, and I just shake my head. We鈥檙e in the same ditch as those who have no hope ...
As a rule, Evangelicals are great defenders of the deity of Christ. That鈥檚 not something we mess around with, and anyone who might had better take care鈥攂e they Bart Ehrman or the Jehovah鈥檚 Witness at your door!
So here on the eve of Biola鈥檚 Conference 鈥淚srael the Church and the Middle East Crisis鈥� I鈥檓 flushed out of my long blog hiding (or lethargy). That鈥檚 right, my maiden venture to blog-country is urged by some real angst in my heart about neglect of Israel. Now, Israel-angst of this kind is a subgenus to a larger malady I鈥檝e seen around me in evangelicalism for some time鈥擡schatolitis鈥攁 form of the passive neglect of doctrine in general, but in this case, the doctrine of the End Times.
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