Church Superstition and 666

Many, if not most, Christians refrain from much, if any, involvement in politics or modern culture. More troubling still is when the Church does get involved but over something inconsequential and superstitious. If Christian’s would adopt a biblical worldview and eschatology, and work to redeem our culture, we would see a radical difference! [...]

Testing the Prophets (Again)

As this millennial decade comes to an end and North Korea is rattling its military sword, popular Christian writers will reach into their prophecy bags, appeal to the Bible, and tell us that the end is near. The more judicious ones don’t come right out and say Jesus’ coming will take place in “our generation”; they temper their claims with something like this: “So is the end of the world near? [...]

Can We Trust Jesus?

Jesus said that some of his followers would not die before He returned. This statement has been an obstacle for unbelievers as well as Christians. If you can’t believe this clear and simple statement, can you believe anything else in the Bible? [...]

How a Legacy Can be Squandered

Frank Schaeffer, the son of the late Christian worldview apologist Francis Schaeffer (1912–1984), writes the following in a post-election article that was published on the ultra-liberal Huffington Post website: “One reason the Republicans won on Tuesday is because many of their supporters have already given up on this world and are waiting for the next. I know, I used to be one of them.” One of th [...]

Eschatology Matters: Can the World be Changed?

How we view the future directly impacts the way we live in the present. If we believe that the ultimate decay of our culture is inevitable, can we truly be motivated to fight it. Hope for cultural reformation will fuel efforts to that end. [...]

Eschatology Matters: Competing Worldviews

Christians aren’t the only ones with a view of the future. Every religion and major social or political movement has an eschatology that effects how they conduct day to day life. In this episode Gary looks at some of the various major eschatological views and the impact they have had on our culture. [...]

So What's Your View of the Future and Does It Matter?

The future of government must be considered from a variety of perspectives. It is not enough to consider only the civil dimensions of government. In biblical terms, Government is multifaceted and multi-jurisdictional. The future of government must be considered in all of its dimensions, beginning with the individual and including civil affairs. If individuals abdicate responsibilities in the areas [...]

Why I Began to Write on Prophetic Subjects

I’ve debated with myself over whether I should respond to Tommy Ice’s awful article about me and my book End Times Fiction that Brannon Howse published on his Worldview Weekend site. In his first response to my original argument, Brannon argued that he does not teach on the rapture, and his site and conferences do not spend much time on eschatology. You could have fooled me. The fact is, a great m [...]

What Does Peter Mean by the Passing Away of Heaven and Earth? A Study of 2 Peter 3

By Gary DeMar and David Chilton If there’s one passage of Scripture that is repeatedly brought up as an indictment against anyone who objects to modern-day prophetic speculation, it is 2 Peter 3:3–18. If you dispute with those who argue that all the signs around us indicate that we are living in the “last days,” then you are labeled a “scoffer” or a “mocker” (2 Peter 3:3). If this is true, then ho [...]

Bad "Howse" Keeping

For the past two weeks, I have let you in on a debate I’ve been having with Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend conferences (see here, here, and here). I objected to the numerous articles that populate his site that deal with end-of-the-world issues. I described this preoccupation as “worldview schizophrenia.” It’s difficult for me to understand how anyone can claim to be teaching Christian worldvi [...]

The Moral Basis of How to Argue: Tell the Truth!

Brannon Howse of “Worldview Weekend” responded to my article “A ‘Howse’ Built on Prophetic Sand.” The title of his response article is “Howse, Markell, Hunt, Ice, Reagan, McTernan, Salhus, and Rosenberg, Are Not the Enemy or the Problem with America.” As anyone who read my original article can see, Brannon never responded to a single point I made. This is bad form for the head of a worldview minis [...]

A Lesson on How to Argue and How not to Argue

Many Christians believe it’s wrong to argue to reason through a point with believers and non-believers. It’s not. To argue—to reason critically—is to use the God-given faculty of reason and apply it to God’s Word as a search light for truth elsewhere. The Bible tells us to “test the spirits to see if they are from God” (1 John 4:1). To test something means to argue its points. That is, to assume t [...]

A "Howse" Built on Prophetic Sand

You’re thinking that I misspelled “house.” I didn’t. The reference is to Brannon Howse who heads up Worldview Weekend. A better designation would be “World-Ending Weekend” since so many of his speakers and article topics push an end-of-the-world eschatology. Howse warns his young audiences of the dangers facing society with one batch of speakers and then with another batch of speakers tells the sa [...]

Earthquakes, Floods & War: Is It the End of the World?

Every day we hear of earthquakes, war, floods, volcanoes and other disasters and troubles all over the world. Is this a sign of the end of the world? With the advent of the Tea Party movement and the decline of the Republican party due to its compromise and liberal leanings, is there a need for a third party in America? [...]

Are We Living in the Last Days?

Any time American Vision posts an article dealing with Bible prophecy, we get emails from Bible prophecy “experts” chastising us for our “ignorance.” One fellow wrote that since Revelation talks about earthquakes and we see earthquakes today that earthquakes must be a modern-day sign that the end is near. Here’s what he wrote: “I don’t know who this guy [Gary DeMar] is and I don’t want to know but [...]

What is the Meaning of Matthew 23:38–39?

A few weeks ago, I received an email that an article had been published in the April-June 2010 issue of the dispensational-oriented journal Bibliotheca Sacra. Here’s part of what the emailer wrote to me: “I’ve read your work and heard your debates in [the area of Bible prophecy], and I must say the counter-arguments [in Lawrence A. DeBruyn’s “Preterism and ‘This Generation’”] are very compelling a [...]

Who is Zechariah the Son of Berechiah?

When I first became a Christian and started reading the Bible, I found that there were passages that were hard to understand. This was natural since I didn’t know much about the Bible. When I would come across one of these difficult passages, I would set it aside until I could study it further. As I grew in my knowledge and understanding of Scripture, many of these tricky passages became clear. [...]

Let's Pray for God to "Enlarge Our Borders."

The publishing phenomenon of 2000 was Bruce Wilkinson’s The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life (Multnomah). The premise of the book is based on 1 Chronicles 4:9–10: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my bord [...]

First Steps in Interpreting the New Testament

The Bible was not written in such a way that only seminary-trained Christians are able to interpret it. Many young Christians believe that Bible interpretation is complicated so they lean heavily on study Bibles and the views of popular Bible teachers. To be sure, some passages are difficult to interpret. Even Peter admitted as much: “as also in all [Paul’s] letters, speaking in them of these thin [...]

BP and Bible Prophecy

In order to understand the book of Revelation you have to read it against the backdrop of the Old Testament, and you also have to understand the subject matter and the timing as to when these events were to take place. The book of Revelation isn’t describing events in the distant future, it’s describing events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Declaring [...]