from Blue Ash (II)

this is why I fear the deep ocean

Mandy is in town, and it's been so great to spend time with her. Every moment is cherished; long distance relationships stink. The good news is that it won't be long distance forever. By November at the latest I'll be up there with her in Wisconsin, though I'm hoping that I'll be able to get up there on the tail end of summer. We'll have to see how everything pans out.

I'm watching Sanford & Sons.

At first I didn't like the show, but it's grown on me.

At the least, I'm thankful it isn't Jumanji.

(though I did watch that once already today)

I've been rereading some old books on postmillennialism. I grew interested in that eschatological perspective in college, and after studying it intensely for quite some time, I found myself leaving the camp of amillennialism and staking my claim on postmillennialism. This view runs quite contrary to the predominant view of American evangelicalism, that of premillennialism. The biggest difference, I think, is that premillennialists see the world getting worse and worse as time goes on, with the world being in a pretty dark and wretched state at Jesus's return, whereas postmillennialists see the gospel advancing, God's kingdom spreading slowly and gradually engulfing the entire world so that all nations become won over to Christ. That postmillennialism's declaration of the "end times" being marked by increasing conversion and holiness on the earth comes as a shock to modern Christian sensibilities is in itself surprising, since such a perspective has been commonly held up until the last century. Interestingly enough, premillennialism (most commonly held among Reformed theologians) was seen as ridiculous to John Calvin, who said (and I paraphrase) that premillennialism was so crazy that it didn't need any arguments against it. I used to be premillennial in high school, became amillennial at the advent of college, and was postmillennial by the end of college. The more I read and study eschatology, the more convinced I become of postmillennialism's merits. Perhaps a few blog posts should be forthcoming? We will see.

On the subject of theology, here's a Coffee With Jesus:

Forgiveness is a beautiful thing. Mandy and I were driving around this afternoon, and I told her about this comic strip, how it's just really struck me. So often I find myself reliving things of my past, experiencing guilt and shame over them, and each remembrance sends a shiver into my heart. I need to forgive myself in the way God has forgiven me. As God says through the prophet Isaiah, I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake. And I will not remember your sins. It's an amazing thought, isn't it? All those sins which I find difficult to forgive myself for, those sins that haunt me in my weaker moments, God has taken those sins and done away with them completely. When I mull over them, when I remember them and let those associated feelings of guilt or shame come over me, I'm not living in tune with who I really am in Christ, and in a sense, I'm cheapening the grace and mercy God has shown me. 

Last night Mandy and I had dinner with some friends, and in our meandering conversation the Final Judgment came up. Growing up in church, I heard it said over and over that when I stand before God at the Judgment, all of my sins will be broadcast before the world, as if it were on some big-screen TV. I'm not really sure how we've come to such an idea when it's so clear throughout scripture that we who are in Christ have already had our sins dealt with. Indeed, at the heart of justification is law court language pointing straight to the Final Judgment; justification in the present is, essentially, the Final Judgment coming to bear on us in the present. We've already been declared "in the right", and when the Great Judgment comes, the role God's people will have isn't one of standing under judgment, but standing in judgment; that is, we will be on God's side, judging the world and the angels. Our judgment has already been decreed; the judgment we experience will be a judgment for works done in the Spirit, and that judgment will be a broadcasting of our loyalty to Christ and our work in His kingdom, and the sentence passed will be varying degrees of reward depending upon our service to Christ. It's an entirely different schema than the "scare tactics" used to keep young Christians from having sex ("Do you really want all your friends and family to know what you've done?!"). I mention this only because when it comes to the judgment, we who are in Christ have nothing to fear. We are freed to long for judgment, for judgment has, for us, nothing but blessing. This is because our debt has already been paid, and because of Christ, God remembers our sin no more. Far from being a license to "live how we please," meditating on this only strengthens my devotion to Christ and inspires me to live more for him and his glory with each passing day.