Biblical Reasons Why We Should
And Practical Suggestions on How We Can
Create Heaven on Earth
Overview of this Book
With Links to All the Chapters
For most people, Christianity means a guaranteed one-way trip to heaven. "I'm going to heaven when I die," or "I'm waiting for the rapture" are two signs of someone who thinks, "I'm a Christian."
This book suggests that the real mark of a Christian is not someone who's waiting around to be raptured to heaven, but rather someone who's working to create heaven on earth, and grateful to be alive.
You may have heard that this book seeks to deny the hope of nearly every Christian to be resurrected and go to heaven. But it's not the purpose of this book to say anything at all about what happens to anyone after death.
This book is about life here on earth.
The purpose of being a human being created in the Image of God is to create heaven on earth. When human beings do what God created us to do, life becomes heavenly. Compare our life today with life 200 years ago.
But this book was written especially for Christians. Are you sure you're going to heaven when you die? Are you sure you're a Christian? Even if you are, you should still examine yourself:
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What do you expect to be doing when you get to heaven? Are you doing any of that now?
This book tests your spiritual fitness. And when you see that you're out of shape, you'll be ready for the spiritual exercises this book contains.
Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven, but Jesus says not everyone who thinks they are saved really is. Find out for sure. If you are really a Christian you'll be more likely to agree with this book! :-)
One way to test: Assessing Your Chances for Heaven. You may not agree, but at least you'll see the underlying philosophy of this book.
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Many people believe you get to go to heaven if you just believe you're going to go there. This form of positive thinking has been called "Justification by Faith." More accurately, it might be called "Justification by waiting for the rapture rather than working to create heaven on earth." But as that first link above demonstrates, in order to go to heaven you must be a citizen of heaven here on earth. Becoming a citizen of heaven is much more difficult than becoming an American citizen. A Nazi and a Communist can become an American citizen more easily than a Christian can. (Details) But in order to become a citizen of heaven, you must establish your allegiance to the King. Instead of speaking of "justification by faith alone" (mere belief), it would be more Biblical to speak of Justification by Allegiance. Don't think you're going to heaven if you're not a loyal citizen of heaven.
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"Allegiance to the King?" some will ask. "But the Jews rejected Jesus as their King (Hebrew, mashiyach, "messiah"; Greek, Christos, "anointed king"), and Jesus won't be King until the thousand-year reign." This is a myth. Christ is now our King - This is His Kingdom.
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In fact, if you don't believe we are now in the Kingdom, then you deny that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed Messianic King. That makes you an antichrist:
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Jesus is the Christ. Christ is King. This is His Kingdom. Don't be an antichrist. Jesus did not promise that He would return to set up a socialist police state. The Kingdom of God is quite unlike the kingdoms of men, and Christ is a King unlike all other kings, yet most Christians believe in a future kingdom which is really just a Super-State, a glorified bureaucracy.
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Because most Christians believe in a future kingdom which is patterned after the kingdoms of men, and because Christians don't understand why God put human beings on this planet, most Christians believe that the "Good News" of the Gospel is escape from planet earth.
- "I know I'm going to heaven because I believe the gospel," you say.
- OK, What is "the Gospel?"
- "The Gospel is the good news that everyone who believes the Gospel gets to go to heaven."
- "Going to heaven" is surely good news, but what exactly is the content of the Gospel that everyone must believe in order to go there?"
- "That you go to heaven based on whether you believe The Gospel, not based on your works."
Uh-oh. You'll never get to heaven if you're trapped in this vicious circle. Can you complete this verse:
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What "good news" did the Scripture preach to Abraham? What was the message of "the Gospel?" Don't know? Better click here.
Are you an American? America's Founding Fathers risked "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor" to protect God-given rights. Are You a Christian? What have you risked for the Kingdom of Heaven?
One final test: A true follower of Christ is a servant:
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Far too many Christians are like Gentile kings. When things don't go exactly as they want, they resort to violence or coercion. For example, if they didn't earn as much money as their neighbor, they will hire a member of an organized criminal syndicate to confiscate some of their neighbor's earnings. This attitude is completely antithetical to Jesus' teachings. Jesus was executed by members of a similar organized criminal syndicate called "the Roman Empire." Millions of Christians in our day believe that this criminal syndicate will be revived -- "a revived roman empire" -- and Jesus will overthrow this empire and put believers in its place to use coercion and force -- the machinery of all secular empires -- to keep unbelievers in line. This is called Christ's "millennial reign," and it is a completely unChristian concept. Service, not coercion, creates social order in Christ's Kingdom.
Christians today have absorbed many Millennial Myths.
One of these is that the Kingdom comes to earth full-blown. Jesus said many times that His Kingdom starts small and grows.
But this leads to a discussion of the future. Can we expect the Kingdom to grow and the world to get better and better? Or is the world getting worse and worse? Many Christians believe the Kingdom has not yet come. If these Christians would read the links above, especially the ones about Christ being King and the antiChrist denying Christ's Kingship, they would see that the Kingdom of God was established by Christ at His first Advent. But churches and the media are filled with myths about "the Last Days."
The Apostles said they were in "the last days." But what they meant was that they were in the last days of the Old Covenant. We are in the first days of the New Covenant, not the last days of the Old Covenant. The generation that executed Christ was the terminal generation of the Old Covenant. Many Christians erroneously apply to our day prophecies which Jesus said would come upon this terminal generation of the Old Covenant.
This is a source of bitter controversy.
| Christian Reconstructionists: Click here |
Most Evangelicals: Click here |
Atheists: Click here |
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How to be a Preterist in Practice even if you're not a Preterist in Theory |
Kicking the "Heaven Habit" |
Christianity: the Engine of Liberty and Prosperity |
| A Reconstructionist Defense of "Hyper-Preterism" | Preterism for Premillennialists | Christianity for atheists who hate "Pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by." |
This book is extremely controversial.
| It criticizes most Christians for being "so heavenly-minded they are of no earthly good." |
| Nothing too controversial there: most Christians are critical of those who are guilty of this shortcoming. But most Christians don't realize that they themselves are guilty.
They are guilty because they have absorbed the overwhelmingly dominant feature of modern Christianity. During the 1970's the best-selling book on the New York Times list -- secular or religious -- was an imaginative description of events in "the last days" of The Late Great Planet Earth. The 21st century began with the multi-million selling Left Behind series, a fictional account of post-rapture America which "combines science fiction with an apocalyptic fundamentalism of which Americans seemingly cannot get enough" (according to the British Guardian). Every day in America 4,000 mothers kill their unborn children, while every day in America 8,000 Christians buy a book about the rapture. Most Christians are heavenly-minded because they are the product of books, magazines, TV shows, and un-trained (and seminary-trained) pastors who preach, Sunday after Sunday, on how to feel good about yourself until the rapture, or go to heaven when you die. This was not always so. America had never heard of "the rapture" until the publication of The Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. In 1892 the U.S. Supreme Court declared that America was a Christian nation, built on Christian principles. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and all other universities were founded by Christians and taught Christian principles. This Christian heritage has been lost. Name one church in our day where a young person of bar-mitzvah age would be likely to be inspired and empowered to overthrow a tyrannical government and establish a new nation on Biblical principles, or raise funds and establish a university to teach Biblical economics, Biblical sociology, creationist science, and Biblical principles of law and government. The overwhelming majority of churches today are saturated with Hallmark™-style inspiration, superficial analysis of the newspaper as evidence of an imminent rapture, and guarantees of heaven-when-you-die. Every single day during the 20th century, an average of nearly 10,000 adult human beings were murdered by socialist governments* around the world. These murders were "legal." Ten thousand murders a day require at least a thousand people willing to wear a uniform and kill another human being. Many of these killers claimed to be Christian and believed they were going to heaven when they died. This book makes two controversial claims:
* I define any government that |
| This book advocates "bringing in the Kingdom" of Heaven on earth before the Second Coming. |
| Most Christians today are agreed that the "millennium" won't take place until after Christ comes again.
This book urges Christians to take practical steps to bring such prophecies as Micah's "Vine & Fig Tree" vision (Micah 4:1-7) into fullness in this age, before the Second Coming. God put human beings on this planet to create heaven on earth. The First Adam brought the world into sin, but the Second Adam has brought us into a "New Heavens and a New Earth." We don't have to wait for a Second Coming to begin creating heaven on earth. In fact, this book claims "the Second Coming" already took place. Jesus said
All prophecies about "the Great Tribulation," the antichrist, the preaching of the Gospel to the whole world, and Christ coming in the clouds, already happened. They happened in "the last days" of the Old Covenant, which ended in 70AD when Jerusalem was destroyed. This book suggests that we are now in "the New Heavens and the New Earth," and should now be working to create heaven on earth. |
| "That's nutty. I don't agree with that. Why should I read this book?" |
Even if you don't agree that we can succeed in making the world better and better, even if you have no optimism concerning the prospects of seeing Micah's "Vine & Fig Tree" vision becoming more and more a reality, and even if you believe that Jesus is coming soon and investing in the future is futile, this book will force you to read many parts of Scripture that you have never read
before. You will be forced to study and pray more about God's Revelation to us. You will grow as a Christian:
Mussolini, Hitler, Henry Kissinger -- Christian writers have been "identifying the antichrist" and waiting for the rapture for over a century. They have all been wrong. Meanwhile, politicians like Hitler and Kissinger have been re-shaping the world, and not in a Christian way. Christians could have been working instead of waiting. This book will help you be a light to the world, and help you make America once again into a "City upon a Hill." |
| "Are you out to impose Christianity on everyone by force?" |
| Many Christians who are trying to be of some earthly good and who criticize those who are "heavenly-minded" have been accused of trying to make America a "theocracy." These accusations usually come from the ACLU. The ACLU does not want you to find out that America has always been a "theocracy" -- not an Islamic theocracy, or an atheistic theocracy (where man is god), but a libertarian Christian Theocracy. The
word "theocracy" simply means "ruled by God." A nation that says "In God We Trust" is a nation "Under God," and that's the meaning of "theo-cracy": God-ruled. It has nothing to do with a state-church or armies of priestly police.
Many Christians who are waiting for the rapture also criticize groups like the "Christian Reconstructionists" on the grounds that they are trying to "impose" morality on others. This was the theme of Dave Hunt's book, Whatever Happened to Heaven? Yet the rapture crowd believes in a "millennium" which is a true police state, administered by glorified saints armed with rods of iron, who use coercion and compulsion to hold unbelievers in check until a final outbreak of lawless rebellion and Satanic rioting brings the Golden Age to an ignominious end. Jesus said those who wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be like the kings of the Gentiles, but must be servants. This book tries to create a radical servant mentality. It argues for building a "theonomic" Christian Theocracy through pure laissez-faire capitalism and a radical libertarianism, not a strong church or omnipotent state. It's a completely new way of looking a human society. |
Believe it or not, this overview has only scratched the surface of the controversy in this book. And yet the purpose is not simply to start a theological debating society. The goal is intensely practical. It will affect your job, how you vote, where to go to college, what to teach your children -- every area of your life will feel the impact of your reading this book and studying the Scripture.
As controversial as these ideas might seem, they are not based on obscure technicalities of Greek words or hidden meanings in Scripture. These ideas are based on the most obvious tenets of Christianity and lots and lots of Scripture verses all saying the same thing. We believe this is "the Big Picture." Heavenly-minded Christianity -- like the idea of "the rapture" -- is based on only a couple of verses or obscure prophecies in the book of Revelation. It misses the Big Picture.
| Vine & Fig Tree: A Heavenly Vision | Micah 4:1-7 vs. modern retreatism, escapism, pessimillennialism |
| Making Micah Happen | From the "dark ages" to the "New Order of the Ages" from a "light on a hill" to a slide down the hill into darkness |
| 101 "Any Moment" Verses | From Matthew to Revelation, no waiting 2,000 years for the Second Coming |
| "This Generation" | is now that generation, not our generation |
| The Goals of this Book | Countering the pessimism of premillennialists like Dave Hunt |
| How You Can Be a Preterist in Practice Even if You're Not a Preterist in Theory |
For Reconstructionists and other partial-preterists. |
| Christianity Without Pie-in-the-Sky-By-and-By | For atheists |
| Preface: Contemplating the Impossible | Beyond Partial Preterism. |
| The Berean Spirit | Don't put down this book because Dr. So-and-So preaches a different doctrine. You have a Biblical duty to "search the Scriptures" for yourself (Acts 17:11). |
| Where to Go from Here | various options depending on individual interest |
| What's Next on Your Agenda? | Find out how much of a preterist you are |
| Kicking the Heaven Habit | The first "spiritual exercise": giving up your ticket to heaven to save the lives and souls of billions of people. |
| Fundies and Atheists Don't Trust Me | Neither group likes the message of this book |
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| Everyone Wants to Go to Heaven | judging by fruits |
| Assessing Your Chances for Heaven | if you expect to go to heaven later, you better start acting like it now. |
| Justification by Allegiance | |
| Christ is a King - This is His Kingdom | |
| Who is the Anti-Christ? | |
| A Gospel of Victory | |
| Are You a Christian? | |
| Don't be an Archist! | |
| "National Security" in Heaven | |
| Service Creates Order | |
| I am an Overcomer | |
| What is the "Kingdom of Heaven" | A Scriptural survey. |
| Premillennialism's Faith in a Police State | On the one hand, premillennialists long for a millennial socialism |
| Kingdom as Government/Empire/NewWorldOrder | On the other hand, they deny the political character of the kingdom in this age. |
| Imagine There's No Heaven? Heaven in U.S. History | The idea of heaven is a good idea in a Reconstructionist context. |
| The New Heavens and the New Earth | |
| Part Three: Kicking the Heaven Habit | |
| Should We Try to "Bring in the Kingdom?" | Or is it sinful to try? |
| The Dominion Mandate | Creating the Kingdom of Heaven: Man's purpose on earth |
| Thinking Like Adults | Putting away childish things, thinking about dominion |
| Spiritual Exercises | Stretching the mind, gaining spiritual strength |
| Imagine We're in Heaven | Developing Gratitude for the riches we have in Christ. |
| Comparison Chart: 2004 vs. 1804 | Thinking about ways the world is getting better and better. |
| Myths About Heaven | When you think about it, it's not all that great. |
| Millennial Myths | Hunt | What Bible promises, what we do instead (Deut. 28) |
| Growth and Progress | No Kingdom on a silver plate. We work, it grows. |
| Political Method and Scriptural Hermeneutics | "Literal" hermeneutic vs. an "archist" hermeneutic. |
| How Do You Know You're Not in Heaven? | You see evil. What are you doing about it? |
| Conclusion | |
| Misplaced Affections? | |
| Miserable Hope in This Life | |
Miscellaneous, Unfinished
| Title 1 | |
| New Start | |
| Overview |
| Where to begin |
| Intro for Friends | Unfinished |
| Introduction #2 | Mindstretching: no 2c, no state |
| Introduction to Joy and Optimism | cure for whiners |
| Introduction to Preterism | Needs Bertrand Russell footnote. |
| Controversy | Similar to warehouse |
| How Preterist Are You? | Click-throughs -- better to use full table of all events. |
| Differing Theological Camps |