Definition

I will start my series on Postmillennialism with a definition because I realize that not everyone who reads my blog will know what it is.

The following is from the Evangelical Dictionary ofTheology - Second Edition, Edited by Walter A. Elwell: ...the postmillennialist emphasize the present aspect's of God's kingdom, which will reach fruition in the future. They believe that the millennium will come through Christian preaching and teaching. * Such activity will result in a more godly, peaceful and prosperous world. The new age will not be essentially different from the present, and it will come about as more people are converted to Christ. Evil will not be totally eliminated during the millennium, but it will be reduced to a minimum as the moral and spiritual influence of Christians is increased. During the new age the church will asume greater importance, and many economic, social, and educational problems will be solved. This period is not necessarily limited to a thousand years, because the number can be used symbolically. The millennium closes with the second coming of Christ **, the resurrection of the dead, and the last judgment.

*Another very common view among postmillennialists is that the millennium was initiated during the earthly ministry of Christ. This is my view. Jesus said that if He cast out demons, then the kingdom of God had come upon them. Jesus did cast out demons.

**My belief, which is supported by many postmil scholars, is that there is a falling away (great apostasy) before the second return of Christ. Some postmils believe that Christ returns to a Christianized earth, I believe as well as many other postmils that the apostasy takes place first.

I hope this has been helpful to serve as a definition of Postmillennialism.

Just for Jen :) or Why I am a Postmillennialist.

This is going to be a series. For me to list all my reasons and all the Scripture that I believe support my reasons, in one post, would be way too long of a post. And those who read it without an intense interest in the subject, would probably be bored to tears.

Here is just some of what you all have to look forward to :)

1) God promises Christ that the nations shall be His as an inheritance (Psalm 2).
2) God promises to make Abraham's seed as numerous as the dust of the earth (Genesis 15).
3) Satan is bound and Christ is spoiling the house of the strong man (the Gospels).
4) Psalm 22:27 says that all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before God.
5) Psalm 110- God tells Christ to sit at His right hand until He (God) makes all His (Christ's) enemies His (Christ's) footstool.
6) Isaiah 2:1-2 say that in the last days the mountian of the Lord shall be established as chief among the mountains, and all the nations shall stream to it.
7) Romans 11 says that after Israel sees the Gentiles converting, they become jealous and return to the Lord in great numbers, which sparks an even greater revival among the Gentiles once more, and in the end all of Israel (believing Gents + Jews) will be saved. Furthermore the Greek word for "fullness" is used of both the Gentiles and Jews in this passage. The word means a huge number.
8) We are told in the Gospels that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church. Gates are a definsive mechanism, not offensive. As the church marches on toward towards those gates, we are told that WE will prevail.

There are many more Scriptural texts that I believe support a postmillennial position. I will try to scatter them throughout my posts on this subject.

To maintain interest, I will try to keep my posts on this subject "short and sweet", however, I make no promises ;) as I can tend to use a lot of words to get my point across.

I had been meaning to get my thoughts on this subject organized, so thank you Jen, for the extra motivation to get it done. I hope you have a blessed week raising your kiddos in godliness. You are a good example for me :)

Anyone can comment

To all it may concern, I have set my blog so you do not have to be a member of blogger.com in order to post a comment. All comments are welcome, but please play nice.

Food for Thought

DID YOU KNOW? As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!

DID YOU KNOW? As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.

DID YOU KNOW? As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments!

DID YOU KNOW? There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington , D.C.

DID YOU KNOW? James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement: "We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."

DID YOU KNOW? Patrick Henry, that patriot and Founding Father of our country said: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".

DID YOU KNOW? Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher, whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.

DID YOU KNOW? Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.

DID YOU KNOW? The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said: "Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."

I recieved these facts in an e-mail. Some of them I was aware of, others, I was not. But all of them make me wonder how we have become such a God-hating antinomian society.

Benny Hinn is a Christian?

I already posted once today, but I had to say something about this.

At http://thechurchreport.com/content/view/823/32 they list the top 50 most influential "christians" in the "church" today. The list is laughable. I can count one ONE hand how many of these people I can honestly endorse as Godly Christian leaders.

I am scared for future generations. Someone, somewhere, needs to grow some discernment.

A Cup Of God Anyone?

http://godscoffee.com/blends.asp

I can't think of anything to say sarcastic enough to do this justice.

A question for my Presbyterian friends

This is NOT intended to be the start of a debate. It's just a question I have been thinking about and I am wondering how a Presbyterian would answer it. Someone PLEASE answer! I have been very curious.

Who is the federal head of an adopted child? Is federal headship based upon whether they reside in a believing or unbelieving household? Or what about a fostered child? What happens if the child is taken away from believing foster parents(therefore under Christ as his federal head) and given to the unbelieving biological parents? Is he now under Adam again? And then what if his covenant breaking parents end up in jail and lose all parental rights to the child and he is adopted by believing parents, is he under Christ again? Would this not be awfully confusing to the child? What happens if a child is born to believing parents, therefore in the covenant, and his parents die. He is then placed with his unbelieving grandparent. He went from being in the covenant, to out of the covenant, because he is now being raised in a covenant breaking home?

Or is being in the covenant based upon the physical bloodline of the believing parents? Then if a child is taken away from unbelieving biological parents and placed in a believing home, he would have to verbally profess faith to be baptized, as an adult would? Then, like I asked in the previous paragraph, a child is physically born to believing parents, parents die, he is placed in an unbelieving home. He is being raised in an ungodly environment where God is never talked about one way or another. So since God is never mentioned, he never "rejects the faith" but nor does he verbally accept it. Since he was born to covenant keeping parents, and he never broke covenant by "rejecting the faith", is Christ still his federal head? Even if he never steps foot in church his whole life, and never prays, never reads the Word, etc.?

All Scripture is useful for practice and life. I need to know how infant baptism is practical. I would really love to hear any thoughts on this.

Please understand that my tone was intended to be respectful in this post and that I do respect and love my Presbyterian brothers and sisters.

An Introduction

A little about why I chose "A thinking Woman" for my blog title.

I think there is a widespread epidemic in our country. It is the disease of mindlessness. This disease is a cancer and it eats away at the brain until the mass of mush is no longer able to perform its function. And from what I observe, this disease targets the minds of women more than men. The reason for this is that we women tend to "think with our hearts". Men use the God given thinking organ to do the thinking. We use our "feeling" organ to do our thinking. Thus, all the woman jokes. And to tell you the truth, I laugh along with the men. I am not trying to be harsh, and I am not excluding myself from the temptation to feel my way through life, decisions, etc. However I think it's time that we women turn our brains on and use them the way God intended.

Instead of mindlessly following our husbands, pastors, ideals of feminism, or the group of girls headed to mall to get their nails done and who can't make a trip to the bathroom by themselves, why don't we think for ourselves? Don't get me wrong, when it comes to our husbands and pastors, there is a level of submission and following we must do. But it is not mindless following. It is calculated. We choose our husbands based upon our beliefs, not theirs. "I do not follow my beliefs because of my husband, I follow my husband because of my beliefs." We choose which church we want to become members of therefore, which elders we want to submit to, based upon our beliefs. Of course if you are married, your husband chooses your church, hopefully but not necessarily, with your counsel.

We must open our minds and think. Do you know how we do that? We open our Bibles and read. We yearn for knowledge. We pray that God give us thoughts according to wisdom and coherence.

Have you ever thought about the implications and consequences of your beliefs? Every belief has an implication. Every thought has a consequence. Here's an example. I like syllogisms, so bear with me here.

Premis A: God loves everyone and has a wonderful plan for their lives.
Premis B: Judas Iscariot was included in "everyone", because he was human.
Conclusion: Judas thwarted God's wonderful plan for his life, therefore God is impotent. Judas was more powerful than God.

Of course any self-proclaiming Christian would object at the conclusion. As do I. Do you know why we object? Because Premis A is a false premis. If you sart with a false premis you end up at a false conclusion.

Homework for the week :) Think about your beliefs. Do they end up with false conclusions? Or do they end up at God's Word, which is the only standard by which we can safely measure our beliefs.

Welcome to me!

Welcome one and all to my blog. I hope this to be a site where one can come to be encouraged/provoked to thought/convicted by the thoughts of a woman who likes to think. I (humbly) don't know if there are many of us (thinking women) left. And while you are here in the world of blogdom, check out my adorable hubby's blog site at http://joshbrisby.blogspot.com/. Happy bloggings!