What in the WORLD is the Mark of the Beast?

Well, it’s been a few moons and then some since my last actual writing on here!

2018, 2019 and 2020 have come and gone.

Most of us have survived the apocalypse while maintaining a decent supply of toilet paper and have kept our sanity…though not easily.  In times of trouble or distress, it seems like the peddlers of foolishness and idiocy have found fertile soil in the fearful hearts of people to plant desperation, doubt, despair and wild conspiracies…and Christians have not only proven open to these all but, in my limited experience, have rather been alarmingly deceived on multiple fronts over the past 12 months. I’ve been disheartened in watching many people I respect and care about swallow ideas and attitudes that were profoundly at odds with the clear teaching of scripture and/or the basic tenets of logic. One of the most frequent ideas was that everything was somehow the mark of the beast: 5G cellular technology, vaccines, coronavirus itself, closing down your church in response to government orders, Mark Zuckerberg himself (I mean, his name is MARK! What more do you need?), etc.

I’ve had this post bouncing around in my head for many months, so I’m finally just going to pound it out.

So what IS the Mark of the Beast?

Understanding “Parousia” in 1 Thess. 4:13-18

Although I’m not blogging these days, I’m still very active.  I’ve recently been doing some pulpit fill at Grace Fellowship Church Chilliwack.  I’ve briskly preached through 1 Thessalonians, and as I was doing my prep for 1 Thess. 4:13-18, I was working through the idea of Christ’s “coming”, and hammering through the term parousia (translated “coming” in 1 Thess. 4:15, as well as many other places) in the New Testament.  For interests of time, I won’t go through all the information I found, but I also want to put some helpful information on here for anyone who is interested in working through the issue (and the people who were listening to the sermon and struggling to keep up).

When Paul mentions Christ’s parousia in 1 Thess. 4:15, it’s a term with some specific background and meaning.  Examining the background and meaning is helpful in sorting out what Paul’s aiming at in 1 Thess. 4:15.

a. What is a Parousia?

Tim Challies “pleads Canadian” on Dispensationalism

My wife and I have an ongoing joke.

When we were first dating, we enjoyed talking about the subtle differences between our two cultures.  She’s American and I’m Canadian, and though people think that Canada is the politer, colder version of the United States, there are a few more differences than manners and climate.  We would always be talking and then one of us would suddenly drop a word that the other didn’t recognize.  One time, it took a trip to to an Office supply store to explain to her exactly what a Duo Tang was.

There was a second, related joke.  Since we were living in the US at the time we were dating and I was the foreigner, I would sometimes pretend to not know what she was talking about and I’d “plead Canadian.”  In other words, I’d feign ignorance and enjoy my girlfriend’s (now wife) shock and awe that I’d never heard of sour cream and onion chips (or whatever it was that we were discussing).  What can I say?  I’m a bit of a stinker.  So why do I bring this up?

A Dumb Joke and Links

So, I’m editing and putting the finishing touches on the fourth modesty posts right now, as well as writing the fifth and sixth.  I’m also biting off far more than I can chew with my youth group: I’m doing a total Bible overview in six-seven weeks (talk about an ambitious project with junior/senior high kids).  I’ll probably put that overview on here at some point as well, though in a slightly extended form.

Still, I’m trying to make time to toss a few small things up from time to time.  Here’s some random tidbits:

1. I was trying to track something down on Facebook recently and randomly saw that an old eschatology post had reached a rather eschatologically ironic number of people.

I’d be a little worried, but the word on then internet is that John MacArthur has said something about having a “666” as being all right, so I’m good.

Rick Joyner, Interpretive Keys, and General Insanity.

So I’m clearly not blogging much, but I read an article recently on Charisma Magazine.  It was shared in this tweet:

There are some basic keys to understanding the final book of the Bible. #Revelation #RickJoyner https://t.co/kVaHL9ozaY

— CharismaMag (@charismamag) January 18, 2016

As is typical of my ways, got a little bothered.  I took a shot off the port bow on Twitter:

…but #RickJoyner doesn't have any of them… https://t.co/lzF7csSHlF

— MennoKnight (@Menn0knight) January 19, 2016

One thing led to another and I ended up writing a summary and critique.

Here’s the Charisma article.

I thought I would share my response with you, my readers.  It’s hopefully a little helpful and practical example of sorting through a deceptive argument and recognizing how a deceptive person can say true things in the construction of a lie.

Here’s my summary and critique: