Comments on: Jesus : The Great White Hope? http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/ L'art de la vie Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:16:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Muhammad : The Only Man In Islam Wearing A Veil « Turtlestack’s Blog http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/#comment-747 Muhammad : The Only Man In Islam Wearing A Veil « Turtlestack’s Blog Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:44:47 +0000 http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/#comment-747 [...] conclude two days of posts I want to impress upon you that art can be a powerful tool even if many people may not [...] […] conclude two days of posts I want to impress upon you that art can be a powerful tool even if many people may not […]

]]> By: Controversy In Art « Turtlestack’s Blog http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/#comment-746 Controversy In Art « Turtlestack’s Blog Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:56:01 +0000 http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/#comment-746 [...] written at length about how Jesus is portrayed in art because I find it interesting to learn why certain cultural and [...] […] written at length about how Jesus is portrayed in art because I find it interesting to learn why certain cultural and […]

]]> By: Randall http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/#comment-745 Randall Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:43:11 +0000 http://www.danharlow.com/blog/2007/02/15/jesus-the-great-white-hope/#comment-745 Hello Dan, I came across this article of yours from a search I performed on H.S. Rester. I must say that I think you write and articulate your writing exceptionally well. I attended Mr. Rester's conference back in Feb of 2006 here in the Dallas area, and being a student of Eschatology I always like to explore various opinions on the subject to try to discern truth. With that said, my decade plus experience of a rededicated life to Christ and studying Eschatology, especially since 9/11, I can say that his interpretation and conveyance of the scripture to his audience at the time was pretty accurate. It's through personal study of the scripture and Revelation by the Holy Spirit that helps me to discern truth from false doctrine and to make sense of this fallen world in which we're living in. Now my purpose for this note is not to defend Mr. Rester, but rather to simply respond to a comment you made in this post and to pose a challenge to what you believe to be truth. I'm not sure what religious or spiritual beliefs you currently hold, so forgive me if I'm inaccurate; but it's my assumption by the tone of this post and your characterization of the church as "them" and/or "they" that you're not a "born-again" Christian. And I use that term specifically because in this day and age many people use the term Christian merely because they were born into a particular family that uses the term or because it's the most common spiritual label in the country; when in actually, they haven't a clue as to it's true meaning. As a result of this "watered down description", people such as yourself turn away from anything to do with Christianity in disgust because of their apparent hypocritical nature. I agree with your perception of how the image of Christ has been portrayed over the centuries; but it's the following quote that prompted my response: <blockquote>"I find it hypocritical that Jesus is just watered down faith with no substance. White Christian Americans love to proclaim that <strong>Jesus will send you to hell for not believing in him as your personal savior</strong> when at the same time they strip away all meaning Jesus has just to make their lives more comfortable. Christians may say they believe in Jesus, but which one? What Jesus are they worshiping every Sunday (when the game isn’t on)?"</blockquote> Trust me in that you're not alone in feeling this way. Even as a Christian, I agree with the above quote. But I believe that if you truly seek to obtain the knowledge of the scripture, He will provide you with understanding about the time of the "end of the age", and it would actually help to define it with the current events of the past 40 years and then you would have the wisdom to discern the times. Jesus Himself rebuked the Pharisees for not discerning the signs of the times during His first coming. My point is this: we are now in the time of "Lukewarm" Christianity, the final phase of the 7 churches, and it's very unfortunate that we are living in a society of biblically illiterate and sissified Christians who are overwhelmed by the spirit of confusion. But we are warned in the scripture that this attitude would occur in the last days, and knowing this truth we are able to discern and pray for those who are weak; but please do not stereotype the Body of Christ based on the spiritually illiterate and lukewarm majority as they themselves will have to account for their position within the body. It's not just "White Christian Americans" but it's is the message of the Cross, the unity and theme of the Bible that states <strong>"Jesus will send you to hell for not believing in him as your personal savior".</strong> A more accurate statement would be <strong>"People send themselves to hell for not believing in Him as their personal savior".</strong> Everyone has a choice to either walk by faith or by sight. The message is really that simple. If I, the born-again believer am wrong then I have nothing to lose, but if the non-believer is wrong, he/she has everything to lose. So don't let the actions of others keep you from searching and finding the truth. Start with the book of John and discover it for yourself. Joshua tells us: "Choose you this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". In His Mighty Grip! Randall - Brother in Christ www.KingdomEngineers.com Hello Dan, I came across this article of yours from a search I performed on H.S. Rester. I must say that I think you write and articulate your writing exceptionally well.

I attended Mr. Rester’s conference back in Feb of 2006 here in the Dallas area, and being a student of Eschatology I always like to explore various opinions on the subject to try to discern truth.

With that said, my decade plus experience of a rededicated life to Christ and studying Eschatology, especially since 9/11, I can say that his interpretation and conveyance of the scripture to his audience at the time was pretty accurate. It’s through personal study of the scripture and Revelation by the Holy Spirit that helps me to discern truth from false doctrine and to make sense of this fallen world in which we’re living in.

Now my purpose for this note is not to defend Mr. Rester, but rather to simply respond to a comment you made in this post and to pose a challenge to what you believe to be truth.

I’m not sure what religious or spiritual beliefs you currently hold, so forgive me if I’m inaccurate; but it’s my assumption by the tone of this post and your characterization of the church as “them” and/or “they” that you’re not a “born-again” Christian. And I use that term specifically because in this day and age many people use the term Christian merely because they were born into a particular family that uses the term or because it’s the most common spiritual label in the country; when in actually, they haven’t a clue as to it’s true meaning. As a result of this “watered down description”, people such as yourself turn away from anything to do with Christianity in disgust because of their apparent hypocritical nature.

I agree with your perception of how the image of Christ has been portrayed over the centuries; but it’s the following quote that prompted my response:

“I find it hypocritical that Jesus is just watered down faith with no substance. White Christian Americans love to proclaim that Jesus will send you to hell for not believing in him as your personal savior when at the same time they strip away all meaning Jesus has just to make their lives more comfortable. Christians may say they believe in Jesus, but which one? What Jesus are they worshiping every Sunday (when the game isn’t on)?”

Trust me in that you’re not alone in feeling this way. Even as a Christian, I agree with the above quote. But I believe that if you truly seek to obtain the knowledge of the scripture, He will provide you with understanding about the time of the “end of the age”, and it would actually help to define it with the current events of the past 40 years and then you would have the wisdom to discern the times. Jesus Himself rebuked the Pharisees for not discerning the signs of the times during His first coming.

My point is this: we are now in the time of “Lukewarm” Christianity, the final phase of the 7 churches, and it’s very unfortunate that we are living in a society of biblically illiterate and sissified Christians who are overwhelmed by the spirit of confusion. But we are warned in the scripture that this attitude would occur in the last days, and knowing this truth we are able to discern and pray for those who are weak; but please do not stereotype the Body of Christ based on the spiritually illiterate and lukewarm majority as they themselves will have to account for their position within the body. It’s not just “White Christian Americans” but it’s is the message of the Cross, the unity and theme of the Bible that states “Jesus will send you to hell for not believing in him as your personal savior”. A more accurate statement would be “People send themselves to hell for not believing in Him as their personal savior”.

Everyone has a choice to either walk by faith or by sight. The message is really that simple. If I, the born-again believer am wrong then I have nothing to lose, but if the non-believer is wrong, he/she has everything to lose.

So don’t let the actions of others keep you from searching and finding the truth. Start with the book of John and discover it for yourself. Joshua tells us: “Choose you this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.

In His Mighty Grip!
Randall - Brother in Christ
www.KingdomEngineers.com

]]>