POSTMILLENNIAL PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Optimism August 19, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-068 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

The Apostle Matthew appears, at least in part, to place the Kingdom Parables in the narrative context, according to R. T. France, in order to explain the “problems” surrounding the kingdom. In Matthew 12:28 we read: “if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” But if the kingdom now exists, why does it not show itself? Remember: the Jews expect a political Messianic kingdom. Why does it appear so small and weak? Why do so many reject it? Indeed, most of Israel is rejecting the king, as we see in Mt 13:57: “And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own household.’” Continue reading →

DOMINION COMMANDED

Great Commission, Optimism August 15, 2025 Comments: 11

PMW 2025-067 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
The postmillennial hope is not just a hope. It is a command given to use by Christ himself. We must exercise our hope in promoting his kingdom on earth.

The postmillennial view is the only one of the four major evangelical eschatologies that builds its case on the very charter for Christianity, the Great Commission (Mt 28:18–20). David Brown wrote over a century ago:

“The disciples were commissioned to evangelize the world before Christ’s second coming; not merely to preach the Gospel, ‘for a witness,’ to a world that would not receive it till he came again . . . but to accomplish, instrumentally, the actual ‘discipleship of all nations,’ to baptize them when gathered in, and to train them up as professed Christians in the knowledge and obedience of the truth, for glory – all before his second coming. In the doing of this, He promises to be with them – not merely to stand by them while preaching a rejected Gospel, and to note their fidelity, but clearly to prosper the work of their hands unto the actual evangelization of the world at large, before his coming.”
Continue reading →

OUR EARTHLY HOPE

Optimism August 12, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-066 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

In his letter to the troubled Corinthian church, Paul lists three Christians virtues while exhorting them to a closer walk with Christ: faith, hope, and love (1 Cor. 13:13). This three-fold cord of holy values provides a strong bond of commitment for the Christian, and has tied the Church of Jesus Christ together throughout the ages.

Faith and love are not only beautiful threads knitting together the fabric of the Christian life, but are easily recognized as such. They weave a strong carpet for the Christian walk; they serve as dual strands tugging us forward in our holy calling. And though hope is certainly not a detached thread from the Christian garment, it has been snagged loose and at best is only partially visible to the eye of faith today. Continue reading →

OUR CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OBLIGATION

Church August 8, 2025 Comments: 6

PMW 2025-065 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.cjir

I see so many Christians in America who have disassociated themselves from particular church membership. They do not see any reason for or value in joining a local congregation. So what is the biblical argument for formal church membership? Though there are many arguments, here are four that should encourage us in seeking church membership.

First, Scripture teaches that believers are to associate themselves together in worship.

In Hebrews the writer is discouraging Jews who have professed faith in Christ not to leave the church and return to the synagogue: “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Heb 10:25). In fact, in the earliest appearance of Christianity we see the disciples doing just that: “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Continue reading →

HELPFUL ESCHATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

Interpretation August 5, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-064 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

I am currently working on a book on the Two Ages of Redemptive History, which is a book that will supplement another project I have almost completed researching: “The Olivet Discourse in Context.” In this blog posting I will simply list some well-stated, random observations of various theologians regarding eschatological phenomena. I hope you find these helpful, for I will have them in my book!

Just for fun, I will begin with one of my own:

Ken Gentry
In Romans 8:23 Paul speaks of the redemption OF the body, not a redemption FROM the body. This fits nicely with his statement in the much abused fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, where Paul speaks of “THIS” body being resurrected, NOT removed or replaced. See verses 53–54.
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CHRIST AND OUR CALENDAR

History, Worldview August 1, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-063 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Gentry note:
These few paragraphs are taken from Oscar Cullman’s book, Christ and Time. His book is arguing that God controls time and that history is properly divided by the birth of Christ as the key event in history. In other words, he is presenting ancient Christianity’s Christo-centric view of history. These few sentences below are important to understand.

Cullmann:
Our system of reckoning time does not number the years in a continuous forward-moving series that begins at a fixed initial point. That method is followed, for example, in the calendar which Sextus Julius Africanus created at the opening of the third century A.D., and in the Jewish calendar, which thinks it possible to fix the date of the creation of the world, and hence designates that event by the year 1 and simply numbers forward from that point. Our system, however, does not proceed from an initial point, but from a center; it takes as the mid-point an event which is open to historical investigation and can be chronologically fixed, if not with complete accuracy, at least within a space of a few years. This event is the birth of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Thence proceed in opposite directions two enumerations, one forward, the other backward: “after Christ,” “before Christ.” Continue reading →

“THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF GOD” REVIEW

Interpretation, Resurrection July 29, 2025 Leave a comment

PMW 2025-062 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

James P. Ware’s The Final Triumph of God: Jesus, the Eyewitnesses, and the Resurrection of the Body in 1 Corinthians 15 (Eerdmans, 2006) is one of the most compelling and insightful books I have read in many years. It is absolutely spell-binding in its careful exegetical observations regarding the physical resurrection of the body in 1 Corinthians 15. And in our day of the arising of a new neo-Gnosticism (!) it is a “must have” book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Christ’s physical, bodily resurrection or our own. And to any who might want to witness to hyper-preterists (or liberals who hold the views). This might be a good tract to  give them.

Instead of my own personal review, I will simply cite most of the Foreword by A. Andrew Das. He focuses on the essence of the book and the importance of Ware’s own triumph! Continue reading →