themattscott

"The Great Commission"? & "The Good News"?

"And The Messiah said unto them, Go into all the world, and PREACH THE GOSPEL TO
EVERY CREATURE......."(Mark 16:15)

And close to a generation after "The Messiah ascended into Heaven" Paul bore
witness to The Truth that the so-called "great commission" was fulfilled.......

"Be not moved away from the hope of THE GOSPEL, which you have heard, and WHICH
WAS PREACHED TO EVERY CREATURE WHICH IS UNDER HEAVEN".......(Col 1:23)

So what "gospel" is being "preached" today?

Simply a false "gospel".......

And The Gospel(Good News) that "EVERY CREATURE WHICH IS UNDER HEAVEN" heard was:

"The Kingdom of G-D's Dear Son IS" for Believers were "translated into The
Kingdom of G-D's Dear Son(The Messiah)".......(Colossians 1:13)

-AND-

The Messiah had preached that, "The Kingdom of Heaven(G-D) is at
hand".......(Matthew 3:2)

"Now after John was put in prison, The Messiah came into Galilee, preaching The
Gospel of The Kingdom of G-D(Father{Creator} of ALL), and saying, "The time is
fulfilled, and the Kingdom of G-D is at hand: repent, and believe The
Gospel(Good News).".......(Mark1:14-15)

Once again, Paul testified that the so-called "great commission" was fulfilled
for "every creature under Heaven had heard The Gospel(Good
News)".......(Colossians1:23)

"And The Messiah said unto them, Truly I say unto you, That there be those
standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they have seen The Kingdom of
G-D come with Power"....... (Mark 9:1)

And The Kingdom of G-D(Heaven) DID Come, IS, and HAS BEEN since the destruction
of the earthly, natural "kingdom" that was centered in Jerusalem.......

That was some 40 years(a generation) after The Messiah's testimony as recorded
in Mark 9:1.

"And The Messiah said unto them, Truly I say unto you, That there be those
standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they have seen The Kingdom of
G-D come with Power"....... (Mark 9:1)

And some 40 years later "The Messiah delivered up The Kingdom unto His G-D and
Father", HE WHO IS The Only True G-D, Father(Creator) of ALL.......(1Cor15:24)

And so it is that those who would follow The Messiah on "The Way to The Truth of
The Life" are exhorted to "set their affections on things above(Heavenly)" (Col
3:2), and not be liken unto those "whose god is their belly.....because they
mind earthly things. For our "citizenship(country)(Life) is in Heaven".......
(Philippians 3:18-20)

So just what is it that "catholicism" and "christianity" yet preach today
concerning their "great commission" and their "good news"?

Sadly, traditional folklore.......

Sadder yet, if you tell people lies often enough, over a long period of time,
multitudes will believe the lies and then they will reject The Truth when Truth
is revealed to them.......

Yet, while there is breath(spirit) there is hope!

For Miracles do happen!

Hope is there would be those who experience The Miracle that is "receiving a
love of The Truth" for they will receive The Good News.......

And The Good News(Gospel) today and for almost two milleniums past?

"THY Kingdom" HAS "Come", indeed and Truth!

Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(no-peace) that is of this world and it's systems
of religion, for "the WHOLE(not just a portion) world is under the control of
the evil one" indeed and Truth....... francis

Matt 24:14 "And this Gospel of The Kingdom will be preached in all the world for
a witness unto all nations; and then shall the END come." (the END of the old
covenant)

Mark 1:14-15 "Now after John had been put in prison, The Messiah came into
Galilee, preaching the Gospel of The Kingdom of G-D". And saying, the time is
fulfilled, and The Kingdom of G-D is at hand: repent, and believe the Gospel".
(And you? Do you believe?)

Mark 9:1 "And He said unto them, Truly I unto you, that there will be some of
you that stand here, who shall not taste of death, till you have seen The
Kingdom of G-D come with Power."

Luke 12:25-36 "And who of you with taking thought can add on cubit to his
stature? If you are not able to do that thing which is least, why do you take
thought for the rest?

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say
unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

If then G-D so clothed the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is
cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, Oh, you of little faith?

Seek not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be of doubtful
mind. For all these things do the nations of this world seek after: and your
Father knows that you have need of these things.

But rather you should seek The Kingdom of G-D; and all these things shall be
added unto you.

Fear not little flock; for it is your Father's will and good pleasure to give
you The Kingdom.

Sell that which you have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which do not
wax old, a treasure in the Heavens that fails not, where no thief can approach,
neither can moth corrupt.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and you yourselves
liken unto men that wait for their Master, when he returns from the wedding; so
that when he does come and knocks, they may open unto him immediately."

Luke 17:20-21 "And when the pharisees demanded that He tell them when The
Kingdom of G-D should come, He answered and said, The Kingdom of G-D does not
come with observation:

Neither shall anyone say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, The Kingdom of G-D
is within you."

So Simple even a Child can understand.......

A Child of The Only True G-D, Father(Creator) of ALL, that is.......

Sigh....I know where that image came from too. BUT -- I did a pretty serious Google Reader purge the other day (inspired by Josh Brown). It was one of the first sites to go. It felt damn good too.

You had him in your reader?! I only visit him when I'm feeling adventurous, or if I need a good buzz kill.

Sadly I do know where you got the image.

Gotta have some "discernment".

I can't argue with most of what you have written. (though I'd kind-have worked on the assumption that those who relied on gnostic texts were, in a strong sense gnostics, and therefore heretics - if only because orthodoxy, like history, gets written by the winners).

But leaving aside the principled question of what the scripture is, there is the manifest problem that we are trying to interpret a series of writings from a span of a thousand and more years, as if they were a modern text. We bring centuries of distilled scholarship - some good, some bad, some truly misleading - with all its nuances to our reading. The NT writers do not treat the OT as a modern text, as we are often trained to do, but quote random proof texts with no regard at all for context (ok, some evangelicals do the same ... but they pretend they are having regard for context). And, as you said previously, people uncritically repeat what they have heard [a friend who'd been indoctrinated in an American church tried to convince me last year that the wine of bible times wasn't really alcoholic - as he had been taught - and was completely stymied by the question of how it was, then, that from Noah onwards the bible talks of people getting drunk].

I rather think that the whole sola scriptura thing is moot anyhow, just because our interpretation of the text is so variable anyway: after all, if its meaning were plain, we wouldn't have sincere, spirit-filled (?) people in different denominations with different interpretations, would we? Even if we were sure that scripture represented the whole, complete revelation of God [and that's a big if], since we can never grasp hold with certainty to everything it says, we would be no better off.

I guess as far as gnostic heretics go, I would question our willingness to condemn the laiety, that had those belief, if they only had say, the gospel of Thomas available to them. While they would be heretics by the standards of today (and by the standards of the winning parties, as you mentioned) we cannot sit here and say they didn't know the revealed God or Christ.

I guess by "the evangelicals" I mean the various forms of American Evangelicalism I have been around since childhood, which really means Baptists and non-denominationalists (which are often times formed by splitting off of, or simply moving away from Baptist congregations). I fully acknowledge there are plenty of exceptions to every post I make, and perhaps I'm generalizing too much, but honestly, this is what I see when I survey the various evangelical organizations I have been to, or been a part of.

I'm interested by the way you refer to 'the evangelicals' as if they're a monolithic group, whereas I'm finding that I recognise a lot of the problems you identify but have found places within evangelicalism where they don't quite apply, or don't seem like such a big deal to me. What exactly are you talking about when you talk about 'the evangelicals'?