Getting The Big Picture of the Bible

There is only one outline of the Bible. That may seem like an extreme statement to some, but once you take a look at the way Christians outline the Bible you will see some remarkable similarities. There are three ways of outlining the Bible that I would like to take a look at, The Reformed outline, the Story outline, and the Dispensational outline.

The Reformed Outline
In His book There Really Is a Difference!: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology Dr. Renald Showers explains that the Reformers understood God's interaction with mankind as based upon one covenant with the elect, the covenant of Grace; which was based on the covenant of redemption that God made with Himself in eternity passed. The Reformed view then sees each covenant (except the covenant of works) as a progressive unfolding of the covenant of Grace. This is what they use to outline the Bible; the Covenant with Adam (sometimes called the covenant of works), the covenant with Noah, the Covenant with Abraham, the Covenant with Moses , the Covenant with David, and the New Covenant. John Calvin explains a little more in his Opera Selecta:

“The covenant made with all the patriarchs is so much like ours in substance and reality that the two are actually one and the same. Yet they differ in the mode of dispensation... What changes, therefore, in the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament is not the covenant, but rather the form or administration of the covenant."

The Story Outline
This is an increasingly popular way to outline the Bible and is being toated by some to be a completely revolutionary way to see the Bible, but on a closer look there is no major difference between this outline of the Bible and all the others. Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen have explained this view in their book The True Story of The Whole World. With this new way to view the Bible you are finally able to "find your place in the biblical story." Which apparently has been lost because people have been focusing on systematic theology too much, I would argue that they haven't been focusing on any theology. But they make the good point of emphasizing biblical theology over systematic theology, so you get God's outline for theology instead of a man made one. They outline the Bible like a play:

Act 1, Creation
Act 2, the Fall
Act 3, the Redemption initiated
Scene 1 People chosen (Abraham and his descendants)
Scene 2 Land chosen for the people
Interlude, intertesatmental period
Act 4, The Redemption Accomplished by Jesus death and resurrection
Act 5, the mission of the church, spreading the good news
Scene 1 is from Jerusalem to Rome
Scene 2 is into all the world
Act 6, The king returns and the Redemption is completed

The Dispensational Ouline
There are several forms of this position, as there are with each of the positions I have looked at, but the classic dispensational view divides the Bible into seven major dispensations. A dispensation is a testing of mankind also referred to as an economy or a stewardship. These divisions do not mean that God is changing His way of salvation with each dispensation, which is salvation by grace through faith (Genesis 15:6) or His over arching purpose which is His own glory.
The Scofield Study Bible is among the most famous study Bible's, and it is represents classic dispensationalism. The Glory of The Ages by David Dunlap gives an interesting history and many biblical arguments for dispensationalism. The seven dispensations are, Innocents (Creation), Conscience (Fall), Human Government (Flood), Promise (Abraham), Law (Moses), Grace (The Lord Jesus' death and resurrection), Millennium (The Lord Jesus' second coming).

Conclusion
There are of course many theological implications of these different views, but what is obvious is that they all follow the same basic outline: Creation, Fall, Call of Abraham, Moses and the Law, Jesus Christ, first his redemption, then His coming again. Realizing these similarities should help Christians present a more united image of the church to the world. It can also help bolster our confidence in the Bible and the Holy Spirit's teaching of it to each believer. Knowing that the Bible has a clear outline is a reminder that what we get out of the Bible isn't governed by our culture or pre-understanding, but by our openness to what God has to say. "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13).

The Silent Holocaust

How would you like to be known as the Christians in Nazi Germany that sat by and did nothing while the Nazi's killed millions of innocent Jews? What do you think of the Christians that stood by and did nothing when innocent children were being butchered, burnt and mutilated right outside of their hometowns? over 2,700,000 Jews were killed in the killing chambers alone, according to the Holocaust Museum. These innocent people died by being deprived of air, being gassed and shot with machine guns. It is estimated that over 6 million Jews were killed in World War II by the Nazi's. It is right to be labeled one of the greatest atrocities in human history.
What led people to such depths of murderous venom? It wasn't sheer madness, as many people pass it off as today. Whole countries don't just go crazy overnight. It was the ideology that the people adapted. A combination of evolution and humanism, which left man as the sole captain of his fate, he alone could steer a path forward for humanity in the ever advancing journey of progress (sound familiar?). By and large our society has adopted that same ideology of humanism plus evolution, but we have avoided the horrific atrocities of the Nazi regime... or have we?
Today there is an even greater atrocity happening, worldwide over 40,000,000 innocent civilians are being butchered, burnt and mutilated right inside our hometowns every year. These innocent people die by being deprived of vital oxygen, being poisoned and ripped apart by suction machines. Who are these victims? Our own children. We sacrifice them on the altar of convenience, much like the ancient Cannanites who would sacrifice their infants to the pagan god Molech (Leviticus 18:21). What was God's solution to this horrible act of degradation?
"There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). "You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion. Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants." (Leviticus 18:21-25).
Any nation which is practicing these things will face the judgment of God, and if God doesn't judge them He will have to apologize to the Canaanites and Sodomites for the judgment He poured out on them.
So what are we to do? Should we get politically active? I think the last 38 years of attempted political activism by Christian groups has shown us that we should not be trusting in the government to make the changes. If those groups had spent the same time in prayer and fasting that they did in fund-raising and protesting we may have seen some change. But the death tole continues to rise, right now over 1,300,000 children in America are swept away to eternity without ever seeing the light of day. A death tole that has been steadily rising since murdering unborn children was legalized in 1973.

The Christians call is to preach the gospel (Matthew 28:19) and do good works to endorse the one we represent (Matthew 5:16). Many pro-life organizations have done both of these things by opening crises pregnancy centers and standing in front of abortion clinics offering the misguided mothers hope, and they should be commended for this. But politics is not the realm for Christians right now, "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world" (John 18:36). Christians are not to be fighting physically in any way, they are not to administer vengeance, that is Gods job (Romans 12:19). God has given the government the responsibility of some of that vengeance for the present time (Romans 13:3), and they will give an account for what they did (Matthew 25). But the whole worlds political system is apposed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We don't read of any governments joining Jesus in apposing the armies of the world that marshal their forces against him at Armageddon except for Israel (Revelation 14), and they only do because the Lord returns and converts them.
Our only hope to seeing abortion end and postponing the judgment of God that is about to fall is to do what Daniel did in chapter nine of his book. He confessed the sins of his people, even though he had not personally committed those sins. God answered his prayer when the remnant returned to Jerusalem and Ezra saw revival.
"Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules... To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets." (Daniel 9:3-5, 8-10).

Christian Politics and Christian Witness

There are several political camps in Christian America. We are all familiar with the "right" and "left" and their struggle to take over politics. There is also the Neo-Anabaptists, a rising movement that seeks to leave the culture war between right and left to forge a new way. This movement is headed up by people like Andy Crouch and James Davison Hunter, who I have recently quoted in a few other blog posts. But what all these views have in common is the desire for cultural change. They feel that part of the mission of the church is to create a new culture.

Doesn't The Bible Tell Us To Get Politically Active?
Although all of these groups have helpful considerations on culture, we have to ask what their biblical grounding is for this huge undertaking? In answer to this they all quote the same verses, seem to have the same concerns and the same goal. A classic example is this quote from right wing leader Dr. David Jeremiah's new book I'd Never Thought I'd See The Day. When faced with the church's response to a morally degrading culture he says

“What do we do?” the first thing we do is let judgment “begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). We must remove the beams from our own eyes before we point out the speck in the world’s eye (Matthew 7:3–5). Christ declared us as Christians, not the world, to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16).

Dr. Jeremiah then proceeds in the book, in no uncertain terms, to support going to war with Iran. The Christian Left wing leader Brian McLaren uses the same type of verses (his are from Matthew 25 about "the least of these") in his blogposts Why I'm Voting for Obama and Why I hope You Will Too. His provocative title and agenda may incense some Christians, but I have to ask, is it any less an abuse of God's word and God given position of spiritual leadership to promote going to war with Iran?

Are We Supposed To Be Changing Culture?
Although I appreciate the cultural critiques of Chrisitan leaders like Francis Schaeffer, James Davison Hunter and Chuck Colson, what has plagued me is their resort to politics. It seems after giving a good critique of where the western world is at, they immediately pull out the campaign sign and assume you will follow them to the voting station. Hunter tries not to do this, but in the end he states that we need to reform culture to create peace, which will of course mean political action. Other leaders are much more upfront about their political affinities like McLaren and Colson.
In answer to the question, are we supposed to change the world? I would like to say from a purely political standpoint that voting can't change anything. Our system of government, like all others before it, is ruled by an elite class of millionaires who won't be giving up their power to Joe the Plumber any time soon.
From a christian standpoint I ask, what is our cultural mandate? Aren't we supposed to transform and renew culture in order to build the kingdom? The Kingdom Jesus inaugurated was not a physical kingdom, although it will be one day. When on trial and asked if He was a king He said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36). Many times politically engaged Christians will quote Old Testament verses like Jeremiah 7:6-7 to promote the need to fix governments,

"if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever."

But these verses must be taken in context, we have to ask to whom they were addressed. Jesus statement about the nature of His kingdom in John 18:36 shows that right now His kingdom is different than it was in the Old Testament (or the old economy). The Jews had a national government and physical real-estate, but the church is a different type of people. The church is made up of Jew and Gentile and is not the same as national Israel, for more on this see David Dunlap's Article Distinguishing Between Israel and The Church. All that to say, the church's mandate is to preach the gospel, not change the world, Jesus Christ is the only one who can do that. "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings" (Malachi 4:2).

The Death of The Church's Witness
The problem Christians in America face is that every social issue has been made into a political issue. From what the Christian political camps say, ending abortion, fighting aids, helping the poor and ending human trafficking means voting in politicians. But has that worked? And more importantly, can that work?
Many politically involved Christian's like Dr. David Jeremiah are bemoaning the moral collapse of America and warning of the political death of the conservatives. Political involvement has compromised the church to the point where most people can't tell the difference between the Republican party and the church. If the church doesn't distance itself from politics soon, its testimony is fated to the same demise.

So Do We Sit Around And Do Nothing About Social Problems?
If the church can distance itself from political ideologies it will be free to preach the gospel and help people. It can address the abortion issue by setting up crises pregnancy centers and use that issue as a platform for the gospel. This would be a way to "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
Ray Comfort has done this with his 180 video. Even though he does get a little political by talking about voting, the emphasis is clearly not on promoting a political party, but on preaching the gospel. I think he is going about this issue in a better manner than the Christian pro-life movement historically has (which is lobbying power hungry politicians who don't care about children). Ray Comfort is providing a model for how the church can approach these different social issues.

Information Overload

There have been three major shifts in communication during human history. The first was the invention of writing, the second was the printing press and the third was electronic media. Electronic media has affected personal communication in several ways. In his book How To Change The World James Davison Hunter mentions four:

First, electronic media compresses time and space, so everything and everyone has the illusion of availability at the click of a mouse.

Second, It has organized the world in incoherent ways. The news is a jumble of murder cases, special interest stories, foreign policy and sports. This has confused peoples view of the world, they start to wonder if there is anyway to make sense out of the world.

Third, "because radio, television, the Internet and the like are so driven by commercial interests, entertainment becomes the primary format for representing experience" (Hunter page 209). In other words, with so many options people only want to listen to what they find entertaining. In reaction to this the communicators start presenting their ideas in more entertaining ways. This is true of everything from comedy based news like The Daily Show to seeker friendly churches.

Forth, it creates a confusion between public and private. Celebrities are presented as personal friends and people feel an affinity toward them, but the whole relationship doesn't exist. Bloggers treat their blogs like personal diaries, then get angry when people read them.

These factors have made people feel autonomous from their immediate relationships,
Our current cultural bombardment of information and disarray was described by American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay in the 1930's in an almost prophetic way:

Upon this age, that never speaks its mind,
This furtive age, this age endowed with power
To wake the moon with footsteps, fit an oar
Into the rowlocks of the wind, and find
What swims before his prow, what swirls behind —
Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour,
Falls from the sky a meteoric shower
Of facts . . . they lie unquestioned, uncombined.

Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill
Is daily spun; but there exists no loom
To weave it into fabric; undefiled
Proceeds pure Science, and has her say; but still
Upon this world from the collective womb
Is spewed all day the red triumphant child.

Most people in our culture feel this way, that there is "no loom to weave" the endless output of facts "into fabric." These people assume that there is no big picture, that nothing really makes sense. To take life like one guy I know puts it, "I just need to live life and have fun." But is there more to living life and having fun? Is there a way to understand the world around us? Does the information we're given ultimately make sense?

There is only one way to make sense out of our world. People are born believing that the world makes sense because everyone assumes that it does. But when questioned why they believe it does many don't have an answer and then begin questioning whether truth exists. This is the state of our culture, it can ask questions, but it can't give answers. The only way to have the world make sense is to have a reference point greater than ourselves, a reference point outside the ever changing universe that gives the things in our universe their solidarity. That reference point is the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. - John 1:1-3

This means that we have a reference point, the Word (who is Jesus, see Revelation 19:13), who created all things by communicating information. He existed before the world so he is not affected by time. He created all things and is currently "upholding all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:3). When we make Him our reference point for truth we have a "loom" for understanding truth, we see that ultimate truth does exist because He is the personification of truth, as He said, "I am the truth" (John 14:6). We then can evaluate all the information thrown at us by whether or not it conforms to the truth that Jesus personifies, timeless, eternal truth that the universe is founded on. We then can obey the Apostle Paul's charge to "test everything; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

The Most Dangerous Man In Christianity

One of the most widely esteemed, quoted and promoted current Christian scholars is N.T. Wright (aka Tom Wright), former Bishop of Durham in the church of England (aka the Anglican or Episcopalian church). He has written dozens of books and more are being published at a dizzying pace. Most evangelical scholars like him because he has taken a Biblical stance on issues like the historicity of Jesus, Jesus literal rising from the dead, and the sin of homosexuality. But he has also taken some unbiblical positions that are causing concern. He has recently aligned himself with BioLogos, the Theistic Evolutionary group founded by Francis Collins. He has also drawn some fire for his understanding of justification. He talks a little bit about this view in his video promoting his book "Justification".



But what he doesn't say in this video is that he denies the concept of imputation. The idea that God's righteousness is transferred to our account at the moment of salvation. As Romans 3:21-24 says:

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"

This is no small error, the implication is works salvation. This issue is all tied up with the theological position called the new perspective on Paul. Reformed scholar Alan Cairns addresses this position in this video blog:



John Piper has also written about N.T. Wright's view of justification in his book "The Future of Justification". Wright's response has been that he is being misunderstood by evangelicals. But why is he being misunderstood by every Bible believing Christian that reads his work? Is it because these people are not scholarly enough to understand Wright's position? J.V. Fesko of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church has written a scholarly review of Wrights approach to justification and the final judgment and found his stance to be a failure to see the implications of Jesus' resurrection in salvation.
I think we can learn from this that just because someone understands that Jesus physically rose again, doesn't mean that they understand what that means. And we can't just trust someone because they are endorsed by the theological heavy weights. We must
take the Apostle Paul's charge to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). And the words of our LORD, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15).

The Idolatry of Theistic Evolution

Right now a debate is raging in Christian academic circles about how God Created the earth. Francis Collins and Karl Giberson just published a book this year called The Language of Science and Faith which is a frontal assault on all other creation models. They attack Old Earth, Young Earth and Intelligent Design theories, banishing them all to the realm of the "unscientific". There are many sweeping statements in the book like:

The evidence for macro-evolution that has emerged in the past few years is now overwhelming. Virtually all geneticists consider that the evidence proves common ancestry (for all life forms) with a level of certainty comparable to the evidence that the earth goes around the sun. - Page 49

Something like that coming from Francis Collins, one of America's leading geneticists, sounds quite authoritative and scary for those who do not believe God used evolution to create all forms of life from an original cell.

Is he correct?
Is it unscientific to believe that all living organisms did not originally come from a single cell billions of years ago? Thankfully Francis Collins is not the only Christian geneticists to have explored the subject. A. E. Wilder-Smith was a leading geneticists in Europe between the 1940's and 1990's, and a firm believer in Creation.



He once gave a lecture at Christ's College which is part of The University of Cambridge and especially known for their Biological Sciences. The lecture was entitled Is Biogenesis Scientific?. In this talk he explains that the evolutionary theory (or model) for the origin of life is: matter + time + energy. The Creation model for the origin of life is: matter + time + energy + information, and this is actually the model for all science. He contends that scientists have brains and they use them when doing research and discovering how the created universe works. If they didn't use them then they wouldn't be doing science, or much of anything else.

So whats the problem with Theistic Evolution?
Dr. Wilder-Smith points out that information is needed to store thought and to organize it. Evolution claims that cells become more organized as they heat up, but the third law of thermodynamics tells us the opposite, that entropy (the tendency of everything to break down) decreases as the temperature decreases. One of the problems with Theistic evolution is that in order to get around this problem it has to attribute to nature organizational qualities that it does not have.

Mother Earth, the god of Evolution
Dr. Collins says that "Science claims with remarkable clarity that nature has built in creative powers" but then quickly adds "this does not imply that nature is personal or has intentions". But in facts Collins is wrong, this does imply that nature is at some level personal. Dr. Giberson and Dr. Collins claim that God has given nature a level of freedom that accounts for the death and evil in the earth, but then they quickly say that this does not mean that God is the author of evil (page 134). But if nature is not personal then that means that God is the author of all the death and destruction in the physical universe. But if it is in fact as they say, "these powers came from God and are wielded by nature", then in order to excuse God, nature would have to be a morally responsible entity with a free will and the ability to create. If creation did have these powers it would be a personal, very powerful being, a lesser deity, a god.

Where did all the death and disease come from?
The Bible clearly says that "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). If God created the universe and the cause of death and destruction is anything but a free moral agent He created, then God is responsible for all the evil in the universe. The only free moral agents in the universe are God, the Angels and us. Collins says that it can't be any of these three, so he is left inventing a new morally free agent, nature. Unfortunately Collins has fallen back into the same slew that he has been trying to lead his atheistic colleagues out of; by rejecting God, they make nature their god, ascribing to it creatorial powers that it does not have. Giberson and Collins have mistakenly done the same thing, but in a polytheistic way. They have not rejected God, but they have invented another one.

Christian Politics, an Oxymoron?

In his book "To Change The World" James Davison Hunter observes that American cultural consensus has been so fragmented that there is no longer a majority view on any subject. Because of this America looks to its politics as the only authority left. This makes every issue into a political one, and the Christian community has foolishly followed right along in promoting their agenda politically, making them just another voice among the throng of ideologies vying for power. The common person looks at the political scene and sees no real difference between the homosexual agenda, the animal rights agenda, the christian agenda or any other agenda. To the average Joe they're all just special interests groups trying to grasp power.

Cultural Engagement
I think this is a correct assessment of where American Christianity is at. Just today I went a lecture by Dr. Richard Mouw, the president of Fuller Theological Seminary which is one of the most influential seminaries in the U.S.A. He was promoting Christian cultural engagement. The thought is that since God is obviously at work in areas outside the church, we Christians should be advancing the kingdom of God into those areas. He mentioned Redeemer Church in downtown New York City, pastored by Tim Keller, they are trying to get groups of leading Christians in NYC to see where God is at work in Manhattan and then ask how they can advance that work. After leaving school I turned on the radio and on came the Jay Sekulow show. He pled with Christians to get politically active in order to save our liberties. But is this really "the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14) that the apostle Paul strove for?

My Kingdom is Not of this World
While being harangued by Pilate about being a King "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world" (John 18:36). Paul took these words of Jesus seriously and went about "preaching the kingdom of God" (Acts 20:25). Did that mean Paul was trying to create a cultural movement? Was he trying to influence the government? By the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the teaching of Jesus Paul was able to see that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Romans 14:17). It is a spiritual kingdom that we are now a part of, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption" (I Corinthians 15:50). We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).

This heavenly kingdom is coming to earth, but it won't be the church who makes that happen. We are to receive the kingdom (Hebrews 12:28), we are "heirs of the kingdom" (James 2:5), as Bill MacDonald used to say "right now is training time for reigning time". It makes sense that Christians have something to say about how the world should be run since we understand the master plan, or at least we're in touch with the Master Planner. But He is not reigning on the earth right now, even though He owns it and has every right to rule it. But one day when Christ returns and casts the prince of this world out there will be a shout from heaven that hails "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night" (Revelation 12:10).

So what are we to do about social issues?
Engage them, do good works in your community. Look for opportunities to serve others, but all with the intent of sharing the gospel. Don't think that we are going to win any culture wars, because we're not. The world is a condemned place, it lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19). The last thing Jesus discussed with his followers before He left was the kingdom. They asked Him "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:6-8).

I'm More Dispensational Than Ever!

Today I had the privilege of going to a conference on hermeneutics called Text and Culture at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. We got to hear from Douglas Moo, the chair of the Committee on Bible Translation that oversee the NIV, which just had an update this year. He talked about why some of the updates were needed to the NIV and why some of the decisions were made.
Scot McKnight was also a speaker, he talked about making the message of the Bible relevant, which I am happy to report he did a very good job on. I had read his book The Blue Parakeet and was very dismayed by the way he simplified hermeneutics as a cultural exercise where you simply say "that was then, this is now". It was actually an issue related to that hermeneutical method that reconfirmed me in my dispensationalism today.
Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic
During the Q and A panel a young pastor asked about the struggles with contemporary issues like homosexuality and women in ministry wondering if he could just do things like people did in the New Testament. Dr. Moo replied that a Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic is needed, by this he means something like what William Webb purposed in his book Slaves, Women and Homosexuals, in which Webb tries to show that issues like slavery, although still allowed in the New Testament, are only allowed because God hasn't moved the culture away from those things, which is ultimately His plan. You can imagine the can of worms that would open for the issues of woman's roles and homosexuality.
Dispensationalism
As I pondered this I thought, the only way you can explain why controversial issues like the death penalty for rebellious teenagers (Deuteronomy 21:20-21) doesn't apply is because we are not Israelites living under the law. And the only reason Paul doesn't condemn slavery is because the church is not a political institution, like Israel. He has "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). We will reign as a political institution in the kingdom that is to come, but it isn't here yet. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us" (II Timothy 2:12).
God's Plan is Bigger than Culture
God's plan is not subjected to the whims of human culture, He has His own culture that He is going to bring down to earth in His millennial reign, "Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" (Revelation 20).
For a better understanding of what dispensationalism is, I refer you to Charles Ryrie and David Dunlap. But in short dispensationalism is God's plan of history. His way of testing people under different circumstances so that humanity is without excuse for their disobedience and God is shown as perfectly gracious in His dealings with them. It brings out the depravity of man and climaxes with the glory of God. It is a way of looking at the Bible and a way of viewing life.

Where is the God of Elijah!?!

In 2 Kings chapter two Elijah is taken up to heaven and Elisha is left, the sons of the profits went looking for Elijah despite Elisha telling them not to. The Western Evangelical scene today mirrors this in many ways. The great leaders of the past have been taken up to glory and the sons of their followers are looking for them. They look through their old books to pull out some nice little ditty to preach on; each group canonizes their list of authors to read, endlessly republishing their books. The Reformed tradition has their Warfield, Van Til, Kuyper and Calvin while the Dispensationalists have their Schofield, Darby, Chafer and Ironside. They bring out the corpses of their arguments and prop them up to do battle with one another. But they haven't found Elijah, his spirit is not resting on these efforts. They feel a lack of power, they know this isn't accomplishing what God accomplished by these men in the past. But for lack of a better idea, they continue their search for Elijah.
God is looking for the same thing He was looking for in Elijah's day. The man who saw Elijah go. The man who understands the true heart of what these former giants of the faith had to say. God is looking for men and women who have heeded the exportation in Hebrews 13:7, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." God will bless people who have the desire to ask for a double portion of the spirit Elijah (2 Kings 2:9). God is ready to act on behalf of the christian who has the holy boldness to smite the river and ask Where is the Lord God of Elijah!?! (2 Kings 2:14).
Elisha's faith here is evident, he takes the mantle of Elijah, which was the sign of the promise of his receiving the spirit, then he strikes the waters, stepping out in faith. So often we want God to act mightily without ever putting ourselves in a difficult situation. God want's us to make the first move, to step out in faith. Elisha then calls on the Lord God of Elijah. In scripture this compound name for God (Jehovah, the self existent One and Elohim, the all powerful One) is used when referring to God's relationship to man. It is first used in Genesis 2:4, the creation account that focuses on God's creation of man, it is last used in Revelation 22:6 where He is seen as the "Lord God of the holy prophets".
Today God wants to be the Lord God of the holy prophets, prophets that are alive today. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. He wants living men and women to stand up for Him, to speak a word in season, to bring life and vitality to His church in the western world, which is in such dire need of revival. God want's those who want Him, people who call for the Lord God of Elijah, not for Elijah's ministry. So much time and energy id being wasted trying to relive the glory days, God want's the glory and He is not interested in nostalgia.
Where are the men and women who are willing to be bold for God? Until they step out in faith this generation will not see the Lord God of Elijah at work.