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Avoiding a Theology of Failure and Unbelief
J.D. King
Lots of individuals are being healed and experiencing the wonder of God’s Kingdom. Yet, in the midst of this, some believers are preoccupied by what they imagine God isn’t doing.
I met a man who encountered pain reduction after receiving prayer. He acknowledged that he had some improvement but was fixated on the continuing burden. Although 80% of the affliction was gone, he zeroed in on the soreness. He was more swayed by what didn’t happen than what did.
If what took place at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15) transpired today, people would be more concerned with the sick than the mended. A journalist would interview the remaining cripples and critique Jesus’ activities.
I don’t know why a Christian would concentrate on God’s supposed “inactions”? Do we always recognize the wider domain of the Spirit? Perhaps there’s more going on than meets the eye? Churchgoers must be cautious about these matters.
What people highlight can produce a skewed narrative. For example, it would be tragic to allow the hometown hindrances of Jesus to be a reason to minimize healing. Scripture asserts, “He could not do any miracles there” because of “their lack of faith” (Mark 6:5-6). Although facing hardships, Jesus didn’t let up on his intercession.
Unbelief hinders us. We should promote the breakthrough, not the breakdown.
The Prophet Habakkuk reiterated, “I have heard all about you, LORD. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by” (Habakkuk 3:2). The testimonies of old position believers for a magnificent future.
I have determined that I will not be sidetracked by the apparent absence of healing. Something may very well be occurring, even if it seems like grace is absent.
I know that it’s easy to miss what’s occurring beneath the surface. Over the years, dozens of individuals have been healed—outside my field of vision. So, I refuse to be intimidated by hindrances. I’ll follow the anointing wherever it goes. Yesterday’s failures can become the seeds for tomorrow’s triumphs.
The goodness and glory of God must be paramount. His inexplicable beauty is still the locus of creation. Even in the midst of conflict, we cannot lose sight of what’s fundamental in the gospel.
Varnel Watson
This is a GREAT post by J.D. King in relation to God’s Kingdom Joshua Nielsen
Varnel Watson
Joshua Nielsen Get comfortable with the idea that the Kingdom of God is bigger than your church. Your brief AG observation experience may not be holistic for the whole Pentecostal movement BTW since you mentioned DAKE he has a great comparison kingdom of God vs kingdom of heaven I could find it in our archives if you are still interested
Joshua Nielsen
What? I’m already sorry that I asked the question here in the first place. I’ve gotten nothing but weird insinuations and people telling me what I believe in a very uninformed manner. You have no idea what I believe on the Kingdom of God and the εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας which Jesus sent his disciples to also proclaim to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
I literally have no idea what you mean when you say bigger than my church. As if I ever limited it! The kingdom of God is not even limited to human beings but includes angels! The universal church is NOT equivalent of the kingdom of God because it is bigger than that.
It broke into the earth from heaven (Matthew 6:10, came with the king in miraculous power (Matthew 12:28), and spreads today as the gospel spreads. Colossians describes the lost experiencing a transfer of kingdoms, from darkness to light.
You set up a false narrative from the start by saying no Pentecostals believe in dispensationalism or premillenialism, when I know some do. I wasn’t even defending it only telling you that, and I even left that non-denominational charismatic church for doctrinal reasons. I don’t go there any more. And as far as Evangelicalism is concerned I am ecumenical so your insinuation that I have a limited understanding is ridiculous.
Joshua Nielsen
For a while I liked Todd White’s version of understanding the kingdom and miracles today, until he associated himself with heretics.
I like the Vineyard’s articulation of the kingdom to a degree, which is very pentecostal/charismatic. Why assume I have limited exposure to kingdom teaching? It’s unwarranted.
Joshua Nielsen
Troy Day – I have been researching this in scholarly and lay literature for years and have looked at Pentecostal, Dispensational, Covenant Theology, and Historic Premil (what the early church fathers believed). I merely presented a FICTIONAL dialogue between a Dispensationalist and Covenant Theologian to SPUR DISCUSSION – and didn’t say I took EITHER SIDE – to see what alternate views I can yet and you throw a FIT in total ignorance of why I asked, accuse me of some nonsense, then you keep tagging me on stuff, half of which has not been helpful.
And then you say something irrelevant like having “theological regret”, why, because you were exposed to hypothetical views other than your own? Oh my, may it never be so! Plug my ears and run, we can’t possibly dialogue with those who view things differently than us much less possess the ability to refute what we think is wrong!
Get your facts straight dude before you start accusing me of nonsense. I mistook this group for one that is capable of intellectual dialogue.
Varnel Watson
Joshua Nielsen Todd White 🙂 you know Vineyard that you keep on mentioning is NOT really Pentecostal right? MOST Ancient Church Fathers Believed in Pre-Trib Rapture http://www.pentecostaltheology.com/the-ancient-church-fathers-believed-in-pre-trib-rapture/
J.D. King
The nature and role of the Kingdom of God is an important subject. It often becomes the friction point for differing theological systems. It is worthy of discussion.
Varnel Watson
The phrase “kingdom of God” occurs 68 times in 10 different New Testament books, while “kingdom of heaven” occurs only 32 times, and only in the Gospel of Mt http://www.reformation21.org/articles/the-two-kingdoms-doctrine-part-three-the-teaching-of-scripture.php
J.D. King
Matthew uses the term “Kingdom of Heaven” because the phrase, “Kingdom of God,” would have been offensive to his Jewish audience. The terms are synonymous.
J.D. King
https://carm.org/is-there-a-difference-between-the-kingdom-of-god-and-the-kingdom-of-heaven
Varnel Watson
I’ve seen the author before and for some reason it just dont add for me to go further with his teachings
I certainly do NOT see both terms interchanged in the Greek IT could be my presupposition to Paulinian hebreisms that I often try to over-press on Matthews Greek expressions but interchanged – I just dont see it in the NT or most early writers
BTW HOW
Matt started CARM in October of 1995 to respond to the many false teachings of the cults on the Internet.???
I was in Chicago in the summer of 1995 when Windows 95 was first introduced and it came with a dialup connection and IE browser Most churches at that time still used DOS based programs and barely knew what AOL was to have a website OR spread false teachings and cults on the internets 🙂 I would love for this author to give some examples of false teachings and cults on the internet in 1995
J.D. King
Troy, I posted the link not to endorse or identify with CARM. The author of the post pretty well summarized what I believed. In doing so, I didn’t have to write it out. With all due respect, I have been studying this subject for twenty years and the only scholars who argue for a difference between the Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are Dispensational. The notion that they are speaking of the same thing is pretty much scholarly consensus.
Varnel Watson
J.D. King I understand and read through the article BUT when someone make the author’s claims he better have strong background in the Greek that could be backed up by major scholars. I do not seen them interchanged – that’s all
J.D. King
Troy, I was making a theological argument, not an argument about the literal Greek usage. I understand that the terms are different.
Varnel Watson
J.D. King but he was making it from the usage in Gr and I couldnt make sense of it Paul and Mt use it the same way and its different than Mk and Lk though Paul and Luke should be close otherwise I will read the article again and see how he gets to it being offensive b/c if I may have not understood his argument there too well as it seems