The last post from The View from the Juniper Tree.

Payson, Arizona

I’m actually kind of sad about it but I have decided to not post any more to this site.  I will leave it up until I can figure out what to do with the content, but there will be no more posts to this blog after this one. Starting today I am  blogging at a new site called Life From the Juniper Tree.  The first post over there will explain my reasons.  So after 3 years, 397 posts and 111,000 page views I am moving on, in a whole lot of ways.  Thanks for reading and I hope you will join me doing Life From the Juniper Tree.  I’m actually kind of excited about it.

www.lifefromthejunipertree.wordpress.com

Monday morning meanderings. Vol.84

Sayre, Oklahoma

I enjoy writing the meanderings each week because I get to see, right in front of me, what we have been up to.  It has also been a good way to fill our family and friends in on what we have been doing too.  So here is the 84th installment.

Item one.  It was a great first week back in Western Oklahoma and full of things one could only do here.  Got to go armadillo hunting for the first time (probably only time) which was an adventure.  These little creatures are not good for flower beds, nice grass or any other plant you like to look at.  They just rip it all up to get at the roots.  So they have to be removed and since I was right here on the “ranch” and I had a shotgun, I got the call.  One more task to add to my growing resume.

Item two.  Went with friend Yandy Yarbrough to put up a deer feeder which I wrote about already on the Juniper Tree.  Yandy works a regular job, is a life time cowboy, both working and rodeo, but what he really loves is hunting.  Riding with him in his truck is adventure because he never misses any animal that might be out there, no matter how much light there is.  One of the blessings of our life is the young families we get to enjoy relationship with here in Oklahoma.  It is so fun to be part of their lives and have a part in encouraging their relationship with the Father.

Item three.  We are beginning to settle in here, even though our regular spot is under construction.  We are having a cement pad poured to provide stability and a mud free place to park.  So we are parked nearby but without all our hookups.  It is just fine but we are looking forward to our “new” place.  Having these beautiful 100 acres as our Oklahoma home is really a blessing.

Item four.  Plans for Summit2 are well underway.  November 12-22 are the dates if you want in.  email me if you want information.  We are responsible for most of the administrative details of this conference and I do some teaching as well.  Here are a few summations of  summit1 speakers, I wrote after lasts years event: HERE and HERE.

Item five.  Jake the dog just barked me up to see a calf hanging out in front of the trailer.  Apparently an escapee from one of the pens here on the “ranch”.  We went out to try and herd him into one of the stalls in the barn but were unsuccessful.  Just another experience I rarely had in my past life.

I leave you with these words from my good friend Steve Grace: I would rather be a poor man serving Jesus than a rich man serving my own means. I would rather be weary fighting the good fight than well rested in my own irrelevant accomplishments. I would rather die for the cause of Christ than live for myself.  (Steve Grace)

Monday morning meanderings. Vol. 81

Sayre, Oklahoma

What beautiful weather we have been having here in Western Oklahoma!  We have had some really hot days where it didn’t cool down at night but mostly the mornings and evenings invite outdoor activity.  Hard to beat sunshine most all of the time.

Item one.  Our latest season in Sayre is coming to a close.  We are going to leave here in the next few days and make our way slowly to Washington, planning our arrival there in time for our grandson Sloan’s 5th birthday.  We are so blessed to have two families, one here and one there and even more blessed that we are able to spend time in both places.  This family here in Oklahoma has restored us, renewed us and given us a place to use our gifts in a Kingdom way.  We love these sons, daughters, grandchildren, brothers and sisters and will miss then and being here, but we will be back soon.

Item two.  We have been teaching a new class at our Convergence School of Ministry called “Pursuing a Kingdom marriage and family”.  I believe the Spirit has downloaded some fresh insight into what marriage is and the purpose of marriage and the students have responded so well. I am sure other people are thinking about marriage this way but I don’t know who or where.  If you are interested in listening to the teaching you can find session one HERE, two-HERE and three-HERE.  Session four will be up next week. 

Item three.  After more than two years of blogging faithfully and working really hard to turn out the best posts I know how, I have discovered Facebook.  Yeah, I know it took a while.  The best thing about FB is it’s immediacy.  Short bursts of both nothing and really good stuff all thrown together in this mess of humanity.  I really like it.  It is a challenge to keep it short, witty and/or stimulating.  I think it has real value in marketing, as some of my friends like Kasey, Shawn or others are doing but it can be just plain old fun.   Some do little with it and some are always there when I show up, just like my real life friendships.  Not sure what the life span of an FB’er is but I plan to hand around for a while and see what develops.

I have found some long lost friends.  I am in contact with a college friend I haven’t seen in at least 25 years and realized we had been living within 45 miles of each other for most of that time.  I have also discovered lots of Scandrettsand am pleased to know we are a multi-racial, multi continent people.

It is so easy to do FB that the blog has suffered.  Blogging for me is work and I have tried to treat it that way.  Since I haven’t had a real job, to keep from getting lazy, sloppy or brain dead, I wrote on the blog as an outlet for my angst and my mind and in many ways it has been my salvation.  When I am teaching or speaking a lot, the blog isn’t needed for me in the same way and FB fills in nicely.  Will be interesting to see what gets blogged as we visit our family in Washington.

Thanks to those of you who faithfully follow this little piece of my life.  I really appreciate it.

Item four.  Just watched the trailer for a new movie called “2012”.  A little “end of the world” piece from the people who brought us Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow.  I found the title and idea of this movie interesting because it taps into the fear of thousands of astrologers, doomsday enthusiasts, and conspiracy theorists who are afraid that a massive cataclysm will strike the earth on December 21 of 2012.  Even “evangelical” Christians are buying into the whole Mayan calendar theory that spawns this sort of world view.  Given my recent writings on Matthew 24 I obviously don’t buy the theory but it will probably be a “fun” movie.  Watch the trailer HERE.

Item five.  I thought this research by the Barna Group was interesting: Half of Americans say they know a growing number of people who are tired of the usual type of church experience. The statistics are even higher among blacks (59%) and Hispanics (58%). Keep in mind, one dissatisfied man’s “typical church experience” may be another dissatisfied man’s dream church. However, this important trend should not be taken lightly. Half of Americans perceive the number of people who are tired of typical church experiences is growing. And 64% of Americans are completely open to carrying out and pursuing their faith in an environment or structure that differs from that of a typical church.  If church is important to us, we probably shouldn’t ignore such stats.

Item six.  If you are interested at all in following us over the next few weeks as we travel and spend time in our other home, you should get a Facebook account going and choose to be my friend.  www.facebook.comwill get you started.  Both Linda and I are on FB and both of us have FB mobile so will be putting it out there all along the way.  Better get on! 

Love you all.  Please pray for my friend Mike who has been diagnosed with cancer.  We are not having any of it and believing for his healing to manifest as we pray for Him in Jesus name.  Please come into agreement with me for this.

Audio link: Pursuing a Kingdom Marriage and Family Session 3

Linda joined me in teaching this Convergence School of Ministry class on Kingdom parenting.  Follow the link HERE to listen.  It is a slow loader and the recording is not the best but it is still worth your time.  Find it HERE.

24.9 Question #2 What will be the sign of your coming?

There are 8 previous entries in this series on Matthew 24.  Since it has been a while since I wrote anything on this subject some of you may want to go back and read a few of the previous posts.  This post will focus on the second of three questions the disciples asked Jesus about the future.  If you want a little taste of this series before reading today’s post you could start with 24.2.  Find it HERE.

Question #2 What will be the sign of your coming?  (24:3)

My background as a dispensationalist was not only good for me, because of their deep love for the Scriptures,  it also  taught me important principles about how to study the Bible and how to evaluate teaching as to its validity or credibility.  An unfortunate thing about that training is that it also taught me to read my bias into what I was studying, especially in the area of eschatology. (the study of how the world will end)

A futurist reads this question and immediately decides it is about the second coming of our Savior.  They are convinced, through some, in my opinion, incredible leaps of interpretive gymnastics, that the signs Jesus speaks of in Matthew 23-24 are yet to occur and so believe that the return of Jesus is waiting the culmination of these signs.

I have already explained (to my satisfaction) how all of these signs, like wars, earthquakes, famines and the rest were signs that came prior to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70.  Those signs have been fulfilled.  While there may still be wars, earthquakes, famine and all the other disasters mentioned in 24 around today, they are not the “signs” Jesus was talking about.  Those are behind us.

When the disciples were listening to Jesus, they were not thinking about the Second Coming of Jesus, in fact at that point they were not even thinking about Jesus death, let alone a second visit to planet earth, some day.  So that alone is enough to say they were not asking about the “Second Coming”. (the kind of Second Coming understanding the futurists teach and has been made popular by the Left Behind book series)

When they ask “what will be the sign of Your coming?” what did they mean by this word “coming”?  The Jews historic fixation on the coming of the Messiah colored everything in their lives.  All of their hopes, dreams, desires, understanding of who they were and what their destiny was, was focused on the Messiah coming and setting up a Kingdom where they would be in control and the Romans would be out of their collective lives. (see for example Matthew 20:20-23)

So their question was directedat finding out when Jesus would come into His Kingdom and take a position of authority and reveal Himself as King.

A Kingdom view of these verses and all the other references to Kingdom, authority, rule, reign, etc are fulfilled in the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus to His place on the throne at the right hand of God, the Father.  All authority was given to Him both in the heavenlies (spirit world) and on earth.  Jesus came into His rightful and authoritative Kingdom at the moment He entered the heavenlies and sat down next to the Father.  That took place 2000 years ago in the generation that was alive when these insightful questions were asked.

What else could it mean when Jesus says these words recorded in Matthew 16:28 and Mark 9:1?  “There are some of you standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

It seems brilliantly clear to me that some of the people who were sitting right in front of Him, as He spoke on the Mount of Olives, would live to see Him come into His Kingdom.  Jesus took His place on the throne 2000 years ago.

And now, as Kingdom people, given “all power and authority” by Jesus, before He went and sat down on His throne, we are, filled with the Spirit, with supernatural wisdom and revelation, in the process of taking back what was lost in the garden, renewing and redeeming this planet through the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom, anticipating the glorious return of our King and Bridegroom Jesus, to a spotless, pure and “made ready” Bride. (Ephesians 5)

Jesus came into His Kingdom 2000 years ago.  We are not still waiting signs to tell us He will come into It real soon.  He is on the throne right now and we His Kingdom people are establishing His Kingdom by His power and authority.

These posts are a work in progress.  I am getting my thoughts in order as I write them here.  I want to be real clear that Jesus has already “come into His Kingdom.”  He is on His throne.  We are not waiting for “signs” to be fulfilled so He can finally have all power and authority.  He gave that to us in what we now call the Great Commission (Matthew 28)  We await His return, but we do not wait for signs. We await His coming to rule and reign on a planet redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony. (Read Revelation 12:11 with this post in mind)

With all of that in mind we will better understand the answer Jesus gives to Question #2 “What will be the sign of Your coming”.  More on His answer in the next post.

Audio link: Pursuing a Kingdom marriage. Session two.

At some point I would love to have a video link to our Convergence School of Ministry classes but for now the audio will have to do.  If you would like to hear the teaching on marriage from last nights class you can access it HERE or directly from the Trinity website HERE.  Click the Convergence tab on the left side of the home page.

Be patient it is a slow loading link.  If it doesn’t load let me know, please.

Would appreciate feedback on the content and/or your evaluation of the quality/value of this delivery method.  Thanks.

Audio link: Pursuing a Kingdom marriage.

The audio for last nights Convergence School of Ministry class “Pursuing a Kingdom marriage” is available.  The sound is fairly good considering recorded it with a little dictating type recorder with a built in mic.  Take a listen if you have some time.

Here is the link.

Break time is now over. Please return to your post.

I have been very neglectful of my little blog.

Several reasons, I suppose: I do have other things that I do; Trinity’s rodeo camp was on the ranch here for a week and that kept us busy in lots of ways; we were gone for a week from internet service strong enough to load the wordpress site; it’s my blog and I can do what I want (sounds like this song by the Animals from back in the day)

And then there is FB not the Fat B_ _ _ _ _ _, my self given handle from time spent at the McComb estate on Mason Lake, but facebook fb. It is a little addicting and actually pretty fun. I have never had more anniversary and birthday greetings in my life as I received from my virtual fb friends. Social networking is a strange phenomenon but has value that is obvious and, I think, value that is not so obvious. It is also can be a monumental waste of time, too.  So the blog has taken a back seat to fb.

We spent a week out at Foss Lake State Park, about 45 minutes east of here. We have been there several other times including spending Thanksgiving there last November. We made a trip to Oklahoma City (home of the Seattle Super Sonics) from the lake to get new cell phones and have some work done on the truck. There really are no places to shop out here in western Oklahoma so we hit Camping World, Target, etc and enjoyed eating out in some of our favorite places which do not exist out here either. Going to the “big” city is fun because we seldom do it but it is really good to get back to the country after a few hours in traffic and noise.

While we are at the lake Lee, Mary and Jada Aikn along with Mary’s brother, Jason came out to visit and cool off in the lake. It was really good to spend some extended time with them. Then the next night Charlie, Lorissa, Chaynee, Carty and Cason along with Pastor Andy’s grandson, Cooper came out to eat with us and play in the water. Good times with good family.

Then this week we have been working hard on some things related to our “consulting” business and preparing for a new Convergence class on marriage and family. Will write about that class some time in the future as I believe I really heard from the Lord on Kingdom marriage and how it is distinct from what Christian marriage has become.

So, for the 3 of you who wondered what happened break time is over!

24.8 Identifying the anti-christ.

I intended to write about the anti-christ as it is spoken about in Matthew 24 but found this article on the subject and it was quite good and helpful I thought it better to reproduce it and the link here.  Take time to read it, it is clear, focused and fits nicely with this current series.

You can go directly to the link HERE.  Or scroll down to read it.  If you don’t read it all at least read the parts I have highlighted.

Identifying the Antichrist

By Joseph Mattera www.josephmattera.org

Much has been made since the end of the nineteenth century regarding the “last days” and identifying the antichrist. During World War II a number of preachers even had scriptures to prove that Adolf Hitler was the antichrist and that they were the last generation. Numerous best-selling books have been written regarding the mark of the beast, the false prophet, and the identity of the antichrist and when he would appear. Every time there is an oil crisis or another war in the Middle East, you can count on preachers like John Hagee to come out with best-selling books regarding this as a sign that we are in the “last days.”

The following points will clearly establish the biblical definition of the antichrist:

I. In 1 John 2:18 the Apostle John said that he was living in the last days when the antichrist would appear.

1. Obviously, “last days” couldn’t refer to the end of the world over 2,000 years ago. Some try to get around this by saying that we are now living in the “last of the last days,” which amounts more to eisogesis than biblical exegesis.

2. Examining other passages dealing with the last days clearly shows that Peter, Paul, John, and others thought they were all living in the last days (Acts 2:16-17; 1 John 2:18; 1 Peter 4:7; 2 Timothy 3:1; Jude 17-19; Revelation 1:1).

A.One can only conclude from this that “last days” was not referring to something thousands of years later but rather it was the “last days” for the Jewish Levitical system of animal sacrifices, and the “last days” for the Jewish nation that was to be destroyed in one generation from the crucifixion. This would then officially inaugurate the new “kingdom age.” (Read Matthew 24:34; Luke 9:27; Hebrews 12:27-28.) Remember: The apostles and the early church were all Jewish believers who were speaking of the judgment of God on the nation of Israel for rejecting Jesus as Messiah.

B. The last days of Israel came in A.D. 70 within one generation of the death of Christ, when the Roman army surrounded Jerusalem and desecrated the holy temple. The abomination of desolation is referred to in Luke 21:20.

II. The Apostle John identifies the antichrist as people who didn’t continue in the church, thus identifying it as the “last hour.” Read 1 John 2:18-19.

III. The Apostle John also identifies the spirit of antichrist loosed in the world as those who don’t confess that Jesus “has come in the flesh.” (Read 1 John 4:2-3.)

1. He was obviously referring to those attempting to bring platonic Gnosticism in the church. Gnosticism, which was a heretical cult that did much damage to the church in the first few centuries, believed that the flesh was evil and that only the spiritual world was good. They even taught that the god of the Old Testament was evil (the god of the flesh who created the natural world and needed animal sacrifices to be appeased), and that the god of the New Testament was good; that true Christianity was really about attempting to get free from the flesh and to live in the spirit.

IV. The antichrist is a false spirit that brings false doctrine into the church; it is not a single person.

1. Never once is the term “antichrist” used in the Book of Revelation or any of the other epistles besides 1 John and 2 John.Yet most writers never refer to the antichrist as a spirit of false doctrine that takes the power and relevancy of Jesus away from the flesh or natural realm.

V. A new kind of Gnosticism has crept into the church during the past 120 years.

1. The church has fled the cities to find a sort of paradise in the suburbs or countryside.

2. The church has just concentrated on spiritual things and abandoned cultural and societal reform, unlike their predecessors in America who started most of the Ivy League colleges and universities with the intent to develop Christians to lead the nation in every realm of life.

3. The Evangelical church has now espoused an escapist theology and is now focused on going to heaven and the rapture than the focus of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, in which Jesus told us to concentrate on His will “on earth as it is in heaven.”

VI. The ironic thing is, those preachers and authors focusing on the “last days,” identifying one man as the antichrist, the rapture, and the mark of the beast, have actually fallen prey to the spirit of antichrist because they take the practical application of the cross of Christ away from the realm of the flesh. That is to say, their escapist teaching is semi-Gnostic because the kingdom cannot be totally applied in the flesh or natural realm.It is almost like saying Jesus Christ has not come in the flesh like 1 John 4:2-4. That is to say, their teaching implies that the cross wasn’t for the reconciliation of the natural created order but just for our eternal spiritual life in heaven. Colossians 1:20 says that Jesus came to reconcile both things in heaven and on earth. Thus, redemption is for the natural realm of the flesh in the created order, not just the spiritual realm in heavenly places.

VII. Best-selling books like the Left Behind series by Tim Lahaye are taking kingdom focus off the earth and into the next world, something totally foreign to the teachings of the apostles and Jesus, who actually prayed in John 17:15: “I pray not that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.” Thus, praying against the rapture mentality!

Unless we rid the church of this new Gnosticism, Christians will continue to live a dualistic life in which they just care about their inward piety and holiness, and leave the stewardship of the planet to the heathen. Dualism is causing the church to separate from the institutions of politics, law, education, economics, science, history, and philosophy, and is the major reason why the cultures in Western Europe and North America are continuing to erode. May the church fulfill its mission and become the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

I trust this has been helpful in this lengthy discussion.  I do not know the author and perhaps would not agree with everything he teaches but this article is very clear and I believe correct in its orientation.  More on 24 after Camp of Champions is over.

Monday morning meanderings. Vol.78

Sayre, Oklahoma

The weather the last several days has been more like Washington then what we are used to in Western Oklahoma.  We have had some beautiful days along the way but cloudy and drizzly days have been the norm.  Hasn’t really rained a lot and we need it here.  (I wrote this last night and it started raining early this morning and is still at it.)

Item one.  This is tornado countryand May is the busiest tornado month of the year.  A couple of weeks ago there were several tornadoes that touched down just north of us about 25 miles.  Here is some great videoof a couple of those tornadoes:

 Item two.  Linda had an enjoyable Mother’s Day.  Church of course, then dinner with good friends and young families who stand in on days like Mother’s Day for our kids and grandkids that are a long ways away.  Then Linda spent an hour talking to her parents on Skype, then an hour or so with Traci on and finished up the day talking with Brad.  Saturday night she talked with Summer for a while as well.  She is a great mom and Nanny and I am proud of the way she cares about her natural/Spiritual children and grandchildren, as well as her Spiritual children.

Item three.  One blog I read often is written by Seattle pastor Eugene Cho.  He is insightful and thoughtful and has a good grasp on the culture.  Andy often says that out here in the Bible Belt we are the last to know about major changes and shifts in the American church.  However if you are trying to “do church” in the Northwest, like Eugene Cho, you know you are on the front line.  Eugene writes about several recent secular press articles about young Christians abandoning the church.  It is a good read and actually makes me hopeful about real change.  Find the article HERE.

Item four.  I know I have been out of touch lately but I had no idea I missed the last day of church.  Who called it?

 

I suspect Pastor Bobby would not like my recent posts on Matthew 24!

Item five.  It has been at least 15 years since I first heard the Newsboys.  I remember it because our kids and their friends were listening to them during the days after son Paul was lost, nearly 15 years ago (I think it was Mike Settle who brought the disk over).  The Newsboys song I seem to remember most was about heaven.  I can’t find the song in their discography so maybe it wasn’t them.  Something about a big, big yard to play football…  Anyone know?

Anyway, here is their most recent release called “In the Hands of God”.  Maybe I don’t get it but I think the Newsboys still got it!

Have a great week.  More 24 coming up!  Don’t get behind or catching up will be brutal.  It is really going to get good in the days ahead!