A Dispensational Discource with Dr. Michael Vlach

Paul J. Scharf

From Dispensational Publishing House; used by permission.

I have been following the teaching and writing ministry of Dr. Michael Vlach for several years—since the publication of his book, Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths (Theological Studies Press, 2008). I am continually impressed and challenged by his desire to apply biblical truth with precision and clarity. Dr. Vlach is having a great influence at The Master’s Seminary—both as a professor and as editor of the school’s theological journal. It is my privilege to introduce him to you so that you can learn more about this up-and-coming dispensational theologian.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)

Discussion

Do you consider Sunday the Sabbath Day?

Ed Vasicek

7th Day Adventists. 7th Day Baptists. Some forms of Replacement Theology. Many groups consider Sunday the “Christian Sabbath.”

Others of us believe the Sabbath is Saturday, but rest on the Sabbath is not a required practice for the church. We might argue that we meet on the Lord’s Day, Sunday, which is distinct from the Sabbath.

Still others would take the Hebrews argument that the reason we do not observe the Sabbath is because the entire church age is an age of entering into that Sabbath rest of God, and thus the command is fulfilled in the church.

Discussion

Elisha & the She-Bears

Ed Vasicek

(2 Kings 2:23-25)

Whenever a new leader replaces a well-loved iconic legend, people have doubts. The bigger the shoes, the more difficult it is to fill them. Of course, in the case of Elisha, the question was not whether he could fill Elijah’s shoes, but his cloak!

As Elijah’s disciple and servant, God would call upon Elisha to continue and exceed the ministry Elijah had carved out. Would the people of Israel respect Elisha as they had learned to respect Elijah? Would the transition be complete and speedy?

2 Kings 2 is about this transition. God would use several events to teach the people of Israel—even those who were not faithful to the Lord—to respect this new kid on the block. The account of the 42 young men torn apart by two she-bears is an important—albeit tragic—part of God’s agenda to teach the Israelites to heed Elisha.

Discussion

Exodus & The Mosaic Covenant, Part 1

Paul Henebury

(Continued excerpts from the book-in-progress. Read the series so far.)

With the Book of Exodus we bid adieu to the Patriarchal period and are thrown into the misery of slavery and hopelessness. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are long dead. The covenant promise is all but a forlorn hope. Even Joseph’s eminence in Egypt has been forgotten; at least by those who matter. Genesis ends with a small tribe of “Israelites” leaving their homeland and descending in to Egypt.

Yet the first half of the Book of Exodus contains some of the most compelling narrative ever written. Exodus is a book about redemption. The redemption envisaged in the early chapters is predominantly a deliverance from servitude. Many who came through the waters were not saved spiritually, as the incident with the golden calf (Exod. 32) proved.

Discussion

Jesus, the Paralytic and the Trinity

TylerR

Jesus Returns to Base

After John the Baptist’s arrest, Christ has spent his time in the highways, hedges and synagogues of Galilee.1 Now, He has returned to His home base in Capernaum (cf. Mt 4:13). He will not stay anonymous for long.

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them. (Mk 2:1-2)

Discussion

Strangers on a Train

Jim

“There are those who argue that the right to privacy is of a higher order than the right of life. That was the premise of slavery. You could not protest the existence or treatment of slaves on the plantation because that was private and therefore outside of your right to be concerned.” - Carl Trueman

Discussion

Theology Thursday - The Story of Nicaea

TylerR

On “Theology Thursday,” we feature short excerpts on various areas of systematic theology, from a wide variety of colorful (and drab) characters and institutions. We hope these short readings are a stimulus for personal reflection, a challenge to theological complacency, and an impetus for apologetic zeal “to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints,” (Jude 3).

Discussion

Review - Visual Outline Charts of the New Testament

Aaron Blumer

Gaining understanding of something often requires that we take apart what we usually experience as a unit. We have to analyze. But we often fail to truly understand until we also do the reverse—until we take bits and pieces we usually experience separately and fit them together into a whole. We have to synthesize.

The combination of analysis and synthesis is nowhere more vital than in the study of Scripture. Sadly, synthesis is sorely neglected. What keeps sound preachers and teachers of the Bible out of the interpretive ditches is often not how well they do word studies and grammatical analysis, but how well they relate the passage at hand to the flow of the chapter, section, book, testament, and Bible as a whole.

Given the general neglect of synthetical Bible study, I was delighted to hear of Scott Bashoor’s recent publication of Visual Outline Charts of the New Testament (VOCNT). This study tool makes an important contribution to correcting the analysis-synthesis imbalance.

Discussion