The Berean Call Podcast

Dave Hunt’s book When Will Jesus Come? Compelling Evidence for the Soon Return of Christ is the topic for this segment of our program. And last week, before we ran out of time, we were discussing the historic rejection in Christianity of the Rapture of the church, which, if you’re not familiar with the biblical teaching, is the return of Jesus Christ to take His bride, His saints—all those who have put their faith in Him, past and present—to heaven. It involves the resurrection of the bodies of those who died in Christ and the instant translation of the bodies of living believers into new incorruptible bodies.

You’re listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a program in which we encourage everyone who desires to know God’s truth to look to God’s Word for all that is essential for salvation and living one’s life in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Our topic is and has been Dave Hunt’s book When Will Jesus Come? subtitled: Compelling Evidence for the Soon Return of Christ. And if you have a copy and want to follow along with our discussion, we’re beginning chapter 14, titled, “An Incredible Growing Delusion.”

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.This week’s item is from Worldnetdaily.com August 30, 2006, with a headline:Evangelist Drowns Trying to Walk on Water, the following are excerpts:An evangelist who tried replicating Jesus’ miracle of walking on water has reportedly drowned off the Western coast of Africa.Pastor Frank Cavelli, 35, told his congregation he could repeat the biblical miracle, and he attempted it from a beach in Gabon’s capitol of Libreville.He told church goers he’d had a revelation that if he had enough faith he could walk on water like Jesus, and eye witness told The Glasgow Record.He took his congregation to the beach, saying he would walk across the Como Estuary, which takes 20 minutes by boat.He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back.The New Testament records the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee as He approached His disciples in a boat.

You’re listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a program in which we encourage everyone who desires to know God’s truth to look to God’s Word for all that is essential for salvation and living one’s life in a way that is pleasing to Him.In this first segment of our program Dave and I are discussing the topic of Psychology and the Church, a subject we have written about rather extensively we’ve also produced an hour-long DVD titled, Psychology and the Church, Critical Questions, Crucial Answers. Furthermore, we’re in the process of putting together a book that will be a collection of the many articles we’ve written dealing with psychology.The Lord willing, it will be off the press late this spring.Dave, I’d like to pick up where we left off last week and for those who didn’t have a chance to see or hear our program, we’re talking in general about psychology and we identified that as psychological counseling or psychotherapy.Basically, the mode of psychotherapy is conversation.People talk, people listen, and they deal with issues of life.So Dave, as we stated last week, the evangelical church—I’m talking about the conservative, Bible-believing church is so heavily into psychological counseling that it’s really astonishing.And the reason it’s astonishing, as we pointed out last week, is that the concepts of psychotherapy that man is innately good, that self is the solution to man’s problems, these are antithetical to what the Bible teaches.

What I’d like to focus on today is the biblical fact that Christ’s coming to rapture His Church and the Second Coming of Christ are two distinct events, and that it’s critical to understand the distinction. But first, sort of related to this is another item of real controversy. You know, in Mark 13:32, Jesus says, “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, [and that’s the controversial phrase] but the Father.” And, Dave, as you know, a couple weeks ago we talked about YWAM and how, I think it was Joy Dawson who was pretty instrumental in the development of that organization way back, probably 30-40 years ago, but she didn’t believe that Jesus, or that God, knew the future. So, does the Son not know the time or hour?

Tom:

This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the Book of Acts Chapter 18, and we will pick right up with verse 1. “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome) and came unto them.And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought:(for by their occupation they were tentmakers.)And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Up to you, Dave.

Dave:

Well, Tom, it’s very interesting, we get some insights into Paul . He didn’t come flying in, in his own Jet, like some of the televangelists today. He trudged along, or rode on a donkey or something, it wasn’t even a prancing horse, you know.

In this regular feature Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.Here’s this week’s question:Dear Dave and TA:I have been going through the apostle John’s epistles, and I am confused.Is he addressing believers only, or both true believers and those who profess to be believers but are not truly born again?Also, what he says in some places implies that one’s salvation depends on one’s performance in living the Christian life.For example, 1 John 3, verses 6 through 9, seems to indicate that if we sin we are not of God.I don’t know any Christians who do not sin, myself especially, so does that mean we are not truly Christians?

Well, one of the things they say is that such a belief leads to being so heavenly minded that a person is no earthly good. And certainly the focus of the Rapture...

Now, here are some choices: there’s a pre-Tribulation Rapture, a mid-Tribulation Rapture, a post-Trib Rapture, a pre-wrath Rapture, and a partial Rapture, and that doesn’t mean they only get halfway to heaven...