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Biblical Reasons Why We Should
And Practical Suggestions on How We Can
Create Heaven on Earth
My name is Kevin Craig and I am also the author of the "LibertyUnderGod.com" and The Christmas Conspiracy! websites. The goal of these websites, this book, and my life for many years, has been to "bring in the Kingdom of God."
Before I graduated from USC I was contributing to The Chalcedon Report and became a Chalcedon Scholar. My first article is here. Chalcedon is known as the fountain of the "Christian Reconstruction" movement, dedicated to establishing Biblical Law in modern America, and across the globe. The ACLU would say we're out to "impose a theocracy." "Vote in a Theocracy" would be more accurate, and since the word "theocracy" simply means "Under God," it would be fair to say that the Christian Reconstruction movement is out to make America a nation "under God" once again. My study has convinced me that every single person who signed the U.S. Constitution would agree with this goal. While writing for Chalcedon I shared the pulpit at Reformation Bible Church in Anaheim, California, with David Chilton, and occasionally substituted for R.J. Rushdoony at his Sunday services in Westwood, Calif.
During this time I formed Vine & Fig Tree, non-profit tax-exempt publishing corporation. Vine & Fig Tree takes its name from the 4th chapter of Micah, which speaks of a day when men "beat their swords into plowshares" and everyone lives safely "under their Vine and their Fig Tree."
I then began studying law (along with a handful of other students) under John Warwick Montgomery (and a handful of other attorneys) in the Sunday School rooms of Trinity Lutheran Church in Anaheim, CA. This soon became known as the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, named after the Professor of Evidence at Harvard Law School whose treatise on the Law of Evidence was the greatest work on the subject in the 19th century, and who wrote a book showing that if the Gospels were examined in a court of law under the rules of evidence, the resurrection of Christ must be regarded as a credible fact. I passed the California Bar Exam, and was completely qualified for admission to the Bar, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that I should not be given a license to practice law because I believe America should be a nation "under God." Full story here.
While a member of an Orthodox Presbyterian Church pastored by Greg L. Bahnsen, I was excommunicated.
I spent the next decade at "Isaiah House" in Santa Ana, Calif., part of the Catholic Worker movement. I lived in this turn-of-the-century 12-room house with 3 or 4 other "extremists" like me, and over the years we invited thousands of people to lunch in our dining room and hundreds of people for shelter of at least one night. I was attracted to this lifestyle by the model of Francis and Edith Schaeffer. The work at Isaiah House inspired the creation of Colette's Children's Home, and I continue to serve on its Board of Directors.
I have now (April, 2004) relocated to the Branson, Missouri area, where I hope to convert Vine & Fig Tree webpages into a number of books.
The book you now have in your hand (or on your computer screen) is fairly controversial. You may have become interested in it when a friend of yours told you I that deny that there is a heaven, or that I claim we are now in heaven. That's not exactly what I'm saying in this book, but I admit that a lot of other things in the book are very controversial.
The biggest obstacle to fulfilling Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision (or "bringing in the Kingdom") that I have encountered over the years has been the apathy or outright hostility toward this goal caused by the belief that such prophecies cannot be fulfilled and Christ's reign established until after the Second Coming. Some people just don't care about making the planet a global Christocracy because they're waiting to be ushered into heaven at the Second Coming. Others are overtly opposed to any efforts to fulfill Micah's prophecy in this present age because they believe that the world must get worse and worse before the Second Coming can occur, and efforts to improve the present age only delay the Second Coming, and are therefore misguided or even sinful.
If I could convince these Christians that we're already in heaven, I could neutralize their opposition to Kingdom-building which I believe God calls us to. Of course, I'll never convince them of this, but if they work through my argument thoughtfully and prayerfully, they will be much more open-minded and less apt to impede efforts to see that God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
The idea that we're already in heaven is clearly illogical (if heaven is understood as the place where people go after they die), and even if it's only being advanced as a teaching device or an intellectual "exercise," you would be justified in asking about what I believe, and whether my views about the Bible and Christian doctrine are orthodox. If you're the kind of person who asks questions like that, the link below should answer them all.
If it doesn't, please feel free to write me at KevinCraig @ LibertyUnderGod.com
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