Posts Tagged ‘ Daniel Klem ’

Man-led End Times

Is God giving us more control of our destiny?

The movie The Adjustment Bureau taps into a Secular Theology understanding of eschatology. The basic premise is that God has been controlling history all along, but eventually we will get to a point where we are able to stand on our own and make our own informed decisions. Essentially, God works Himself out of His job.

First of all, that does not really jibe biblically.

Some may disagree that it speaks to the End Times before Christ returns, but many agree that Matthew 24 speaks about that time in which our Lord says,

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22, NIV)

There are several passages that speak to the end like this.

My question today is this:

What if God is indeed slowly stepping back?

Could He indeed be giving humanity more control of their destiny?

Now, before you jump straight into declaring me a heretic or blasphemer, consider some points of interest.

God is not giving up control, He is merely allowing us to make more of our own decisions in how history unfolds.

God is not making the bad things we do to ourselves and our planet happen, rather He does not intervene as much as He may have in the past. In The Adjustment Bureau, one of the “angels” says the last time “The Boss” allowed humanity to control their destiny was in 1914, and we nearly annihilated ourselves with World War I. He sent His people back in to help us. Instead of saying “World War I was God giving us more control and we failed,” perhaps there is truth that He did give us more control over events. He did step in to keep us from annihilating ourselves.

However, God intervenes to make sure we do not annihilate ourselves before all of His plans have been fulfilled. He allows us to have some control so that we gradually prove His truth that we cannot function (properly) without Him. He allows us control, in other words, to speed along His return. The more control we have, the worse things get over all. After things get so bad that mankind’s “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” He will step in finally. Christ will return to set up His Kingdom once and for all. (We can debate whether or not there is a literal millennium later)

What do you think? Is God allowing us more freedom in our choices to usher in the End? Am I being heretical? Or does this idea help explain why it seems things are truly getting worse in our world in spite of all our advances in technology, medicine, and knowledge?

2011
06/14
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End Times
Free-will
Prophecy
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Weekend Words and Sunday Stanzas – 06/12/2011

Tomorrow is my second wedding anniversary. This is good. In honor of this, here is a poem I wrote about my wife over ten years ago while in high school. It is perfectly biographic of our relationship, yet we met on October 31, 2007 – six and a half years after its writing.

my other

daniel m  klem

my other has great eyes
and has a great smile
my other is beautiful
and we talk for a while
i love that certain scent
and that look that i get
but we have kept God first
ever since we first met
this is what God wants
so we will give Him this
and when we are together
we are where God is

Taken from simple words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 124.

I love you, Caitlin.
Thank you, Lord.
To both of you, from the bottom of my heart and with all my soul.

2011
06/12
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Love
Marriage
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The Great Banquet

I cannot let go of this rapture thing quite yet.

Yep, my wedding reception!

What about the Great Banquet?

Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’

“Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’

“Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’

“The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’

“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24 I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Luke 14:12-24, NIV

Is the Church doing its job? Are Christians  acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God as He requires? Are we clothing the naked, giving shelter the homeless, or visiting the infirm or imprisoned as we ought?

It seems the world is doing more of this than most Christians. In fact, I know and know of more people outside of churches who act justly, love mercy, cloth the naked, give shelter, visit, heal, encourage, and support others. Problem? Definitely. It looks like our world is doing a better job at being salt and light than those who have been called to be the salt and the light.

So what do you think? If the rapture were to occur tonight, would we be surprised to see a third of the world gone and almost all of the Christians still here? Should we be surprised? Am I being too heretical? Or are you as convicted as I after reading this?

Seriously. Check yourself. I am.

2011
06/08
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CATEGORY
Discipline
Gospel
Grace
Love
Parable
Rapture
Relationship
Servanthood
The Great Banquet
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Weekend Words and Sunday Stanzas – 06/05/2011

How about a short and simple word today, perhaps an encouragement or just a short break from the worries of life:

cheshire cat

God is a Cheshire cat

this is known because

you may not see Him

but everywhere He has been

you see a big smile

Taken from simple words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 25.

2011
06/05
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Poetry
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Weekend Words and Sunday Stanzas – 05/29/2011

I am in the Grand Canyon today! Therefore the second poem should be okay, says I. This first poem is “in honor” of those who give false prophecies (I am done picking on them for a while after this, I swear!):

translation
daniel m  klem

i am an oracle of the Lord
 i am a liar

the Lord says to do this
i do not mean this

He also says to do that
all of this is a bunch of lies

the Lord God sent me a vision
this was my dream last night

nothing will ever harm you
you will suffer

if you listen to my prophecies
if you do not listen to the Lord

therefore  do as i say
stop listening to me

and God will bless you
or God will not bless you

because i am an oracle of the Lord
because i am the biggest liar you will ever meet

Taken from simple words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, page 90.

And I know we are not on bikes this weekend, but I wrote this on a bicycle outing in which we did about 35 miles in a few hours before having food. It was so tough (poor, little me) …

perseverance
daniel m  klem

my friend and i
biking the trail
my legs weaker
wanting to bail
i want to ask
if we can break
all i want is
to stop and take
a breath of cool
refreshing air
who needs the wind
blowing my hair
but then I think
of what Jesus did
when He crossed
and took my sin
so  i will not quit
but keep going
as Jesus did so
we could keep growing
that we would love
God in Heaven
and join Him in
the greatest Haven
so i will pedal
throughout the day
because the Son
has shown the way

Taken from simple words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, pages 46-47.

2011
05/29
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Discipline
False prophets
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My What Big Sheep You Have!

Now that we know how to deal with false prophets (and other Christian-sinners), it is time to ponder people patronizing the pews of pesky perjurious prophets … and other bad teachers.

So fat ... so lazy ... don't wanna move ...

How is it that so many people can fall for such obvious mis-truths and blatant problems with hermeneutics (bible interpretation)?

First off, I am going to state that it is not all on these false teachers. We have had quite a stint of poor preaching and teaching in this nation (and through much of Western culture for a long time) that many people who go to church struggle with the basics of Christianity. When less than half of us know Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection and a third of us think Jesus sinned, there is a problem. This means the Church at large has been failing them.

Years of not receiving solid teaching keeps people spiritually malnourished.  We could call these people the seeds that grew among the thorns or are (or can become?) weeds.

The thing is, what most people are getting is the equivalent of junk food. Eating junk food can keep people going for a while, some even appearing perfectly healthy, but eventually from that most people will grow fat and tired and unable to even handle good food. When people get poor teaching, it is much the same. They can start out loving the message and may even produce some good fruit in their lives, bu they often become spiritually lethargic, unable to discern what is truth.

This, then, is how people can fall for lies, half-truths, and scriptural fudgings.

Bringing in Jillian Michaels … for souls …

As with those who lead them astray, we need to love them towards truth. Calling them morons, idiots, heretics, blasphemers, retards, snakes, wolves-in-sheeps-clothing, blah, blah, blah, on and on (I have heard/read all of these and more in the past few weeks, so there are too many to link!), only pushes them further away. You may actually be doing more harm than those poorly teaching them! You become just as guilty as the false teachers!

Telling them of their error is necessary, but it can and should be done with gentleness and respect. They deserve the same grace and patience we have all been given by our Lord. We just may be working through years of spiritual and psychological abuse, so it is needed! As Paul reminded us, it must all be done with love! Sometimes that means putting these poor sheep through some “The Biggest Loser: Spiritual Edition” with Jesus hosting and us working as trainers, guiding them through spiritual exercises and feeding them with healthy teaching. It will be tough on all of us, but it takes hard work and perseverance.

There have been great thoughts shared over the past couple of weeks! What else have you? Am I right? Am I being too nice? Am I naive? Have you dealt with anyone who has been sucked in by sneaky false teachings? How long should we work with them?

2011
05/25
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Confusion
False prophets
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Wayward brother
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Balancing Our Prophet Deficit

Over the weekend the Rapture did not happen. I just thought I would fill you in case you were wondering. (For the record: Harold Camping is now saying that everything is happening on October 21. There is no longer a final Tribulation period, just the final act.)

Now we are faced with the question:

What do we do with Harold Camping?

Really, the question is “What do we do with false prophets and teachers, heretics, blasphemers, sinful brothers and sisters, and every other supposed Christian who messes up in some way?”

I have poked some fun at our friend Harold. I even do that for people with whom I agree! It is just the kind of great guy that I am. I must say, however, that I am quite put out by the number of people raking this guy over the coals. Do you not realize that this public display of renunciation in such a manner helps prove right those who want nothing to do with Christianity?

Do not get me wrong. He has done something that should not be condoned, and we should denounce his actions and teaching concerning this past weekend’s non-event. To ignore it or even praise it would send the signal to those outside the Church or those struggling within the Church that we are okay with dissenters and those who misuse Scripture and the name of God, and we are therefore deserving of their ridicule. To publicly call the guy names and attempt to smear his reputation is childish and exactly what we see happening in our culture with people every day. How is that the Church being better than the world?

Instead, we have two biblical models to follow:

  1. Tell the man to stop. If he refuses, simply have nothing to do with him. We should “hand him over to Satan” in hopes he will actually be purged of his sins (read the link). Then we respond to his claims so that the world knows what is going on, but we also make it clear he does not speak for all of us. Done. No name calling. No character assassination (admit it, a false prophecy is enough to do that). No helping the non-Christian masses with defaming our faith and our Lord.
  2. Tell the man to stop. If he refuses, treat him like a sinner. What are we supposed to do with sinners? Love them unconditionally in the hopes that they see their error, but we do not condone what they are doing.

Once again, I am guilty of what I am speaking against. I have joked around at his expense, albeit I kept it between myself and friends. I am not saying it is any better in God’s sight. I might still be guilty of leading others astray. However, we should strive to win over as many as possible through our love and loving actions towards each other.

Any thoughts on how we should treat Harold Camping, and any others who consistently sin? What does it mean to excommunicate a fellow believer in this day? Should we excommunicate him? (Quite honestly, it seems he already was by many Christians)

2011
05/24
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Discipline
False prophets
Prophecy
Rapture
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Resurrection
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Weekend Words and Sunday Stanzas – 05/22/2011

In honor of the rapture not occurring yesterday, here is a slightly irreverent and completely tongue-in-cheek poem:

rapture

“There once was a man named Jesus.
He then came back to save us.
They called it the rapture,
He took us to pasture,
and now we are all go–“

Taken from simple words for God from a simple man of God by daniel m  klem, p. 129.

2011
05/22
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Expectant Religion

So …

ARE YOU READY?

There are some who claim that Jesus Christ is returning about 24 hours from the time I type this to rapture His Church. Family Radio (not Family Life Radio, mind you), founded and run by Harold Camping, is the entity putting forth this information.

Of course, going against them is Jesus’ own words in Matthew 24:36: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

A note in the NIV says that some manuscripts do not have “nor the Son,” but that does not change my next point.

They could be right.

A friend and I agree they could, in fact, be right, but it would be ironically funny if God used someone who has been wrong before about the date of Christ’s return. It would also be sad since part of the claim is that many who live relatively righteous lives but follow two false teachings from their churches – confessing members are safe and that no man can know the day or hour – are doomed. It is also sad in that we know all people who do not attend church or believe in Jesus Christ, which is about two-thirds of the planet’s population, are doomed. I am not arguing those numbers.

However, I have heard some great teachings about this that make quite a bit of sense.

God has not revealed the day or hour of the end, because He wants us to work hard the whole time until the end. See the parable of the ten virgins, for example.

God has not revealed the day or hour of the end, because He knows most people would have sat back until the last few days or even moments doing whatever they like. If most of us know the time something is going to happen, we tend to not worry about that event until we need to. See the parable of the talents, specifically the last guy given one talent. He did not do anything wrong, per se, but he did not do anything right, either.

Between Jesus telling us no one knows (other than God) and these parables, it seems rather clear to me that we cannot know the day or hour.

What Harold Camping and his followers got right

I am going to go out on a limb and say that these people have it wrong. Tomorrow is not the day of the Rapture.

What they have right is that they have been living their lives attempting to win over as many people as possible. They have attempted to warn everyone. They have tried to bring as many as possible into the loving fold of God’s mighty hand.

They have lived expecting Christ to return soon!

The early Church lived this way. There are some people living this way today. How do we know we have not been doing our job?

Europe used to be almost entirely Christian. The United States of America was founded on biblical principles, yet less than half of us attend church regularly if at all. Most people I know say they believe that Jesus is returning, yet the vast majority of them know little to nothing about what the Bible says about it.

Harold Camping has gotten people to get excited about winning people over for the Lord, and many of us sit and debate about why he is wrong or right or how it will happen. This is not bad in and of itself, but it is wrong when most people do not reach out to others with our knowledge.

I am not saying everyone needs to become biblical scholars. I am saying we need to find that love for God and others that we evidently lack. I know I am personally lacking!

What do you think? Are we within a day of seeing Christ’s return, or are we within 36 hours of knowing we do not know? How are we doing as the Church? Am I way off base, or do we seriously need to work on our relationship with God?

2011
05/20
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Church
Confusion
Jesus
Love
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What Religion Do You Follow?

Everybody follows a form of orthodoxy and religion.

Religion I have covered previously. Orthodoxy means right thinking or correct thinking. Therefore, if you are orthodox, you have a way of thinking that is correct.

Most people claim to have some form of truth … except of course for all the post-modern thinkers who claim there is no absolute truth. (Seriously think about that. They make an absolute claim there are no absolutes.)

Are you a Secular Humanist? Is humanity the highest form of life on Earth after millions and billions of years of evolution?

Are you a Theistic Humanist? Is humanity the highest form of life on Earth because a deity created us or effected evolutionary processes to get to us?

Are you an Atheist? Is there no possibility that there is deity of any sort?

Are you an Agnostic? Is there a possibility of a deity, but anything is possible?

Are you Muslim? Is Mohammed the last true Prophet?

Are you Jewish? Are certain things Kosher and others not?

Are you Christian? Is Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God?

What do some of these have to do with orthodoxy and religion?

Everybody who follows any of these has to put a faith in the parts they do not understand or for which they do not have empirical proof.

We do not have missing links for evolution, so faith is needed.

There is no proof denying the existence of God, but there is no empirical evidence of most biblical miracles. Again, faith is needed.

Many hold claim to truth, all offer proof of what they hold to be true (or hold some things to prove nothing can be proven), and all have to start with an idea of what they hold to be true or should be true. This means we all need some faith to believe what we hold to be true.

What we believe to be right (orthodoxy) shapes what guides our decisions and actions (religion/orthopraxy) which define the way we interact with life.

And now for an in-your-face, controversial statement:

If you claim to not have an orthodoxy and/or religion, you are a liar and a hypocrite.

2011
05/17
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Confusion
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