Today was an anomaly this Spring which is to say we could play outside without coats and the fear of runny noses. After sessions of catch and keep-away soccer I found myself giving both the older kids surprise underdogs on the swings. I say surprise because I wouldn’t let them look back and when they would least expect it I rushed forward and accelerated them high in the sunny sky. To them it was a rush of terror and excitement to which they both screamed in delight.

As I came around to face them I closed in on my four year old son and allowed him to swing his legs right into me. I immediately flew backward and feigned tripping over the slide. The laughter that exploded from both kids was so joyful I had to repeat my Academy Award winning performance each time coming up with some new “three-stooge” way of getting hurt.

I’m not exactly sure what’s so hilarious about a kid swinging into someone but I remember doing the same with my brother who is six years younger. The grass at our house growing up was a bit thicker so it didn’t hurt to go down in a heap but he loved every minute of it and would beg me not to quit.

These are the moments I need to tuck away and remember. Each time they come and ask to play and I answer with, “in a bit daddy’s working,” I need to hear their laughter and joy.

It’s these moments I need to live for, not the next perfect pixel.

People love hidden details and the use of “sanctified imagination.”

I can’t remember where I first heard the term “sanctified imagination”, but growing up going to church I heard the stories of the Bible countless times and during many of those Sunday school lessons and sermons the teacher would give an educated guess as to some of the details left out of the stories. These imagined details were always tasty morsels of information because it seemed to give you an insiders point of view and it would often unlock the story as it let you see it in whole context as opposed to bits and pieces.

The Bible doesn’t give us all the details. It doesn’t tell us exactly what life was like on the ark for Noah and his family and doesn’t tell us how God’s angels interacted with the people of Sodom and Gomorra. So when someone else fills in these details it makes an already compelling story even better because who doesn’t want to think that one of God’s angels is a ninja?

When you have great stories re-told through cinema to our visual culture and you imagine in all the bits and pieces that are “missing” in the original text you have the formula for a great drama and ratings smash.

Like most things this can be good and bad and I believe we need to be careful when using “sanctified imagination.”

Certainly there are details we can add into the Biblical accounts that we have learned from history and archeology. These are often insights into the culture which help us understand the author’s intent thousands of years after the events happend. For example, when Paul is writing to the Philippian church about citizenship in heaven we can talk about how important Roman citizenship was and when we understand the importance of Roman citizenship to those people we understand God’s grace in a deeper way when Paul says that his citizenship is in heaven.

But when we add in details and “imagine” up part of the story we run the risk of the imagined part capturing our attention more than the actual text. One example in particular stands out in my mind.

In John 8:1-11 religious leaders confront Jesus with a women who has been caught in adultery. They demand to know what Jesus thinks of this and if he will condemn her to death. Jesus doesn’t say anything but instead stoops down and writes in the dirt. When he is finished he stands up and utters the famous phrase “let those of you without sin cast the first stone.” And while the main message of the text is compassion and forgiveness that seemed to be lost on me because I remember the teacher telling us that he thought Jesus was writing down the sins those religious leaders had committed and that bit of information fascinated me. It fascinated me so much that all I could think of was that little detail and how cool it was that the teacher had brought that out.

So while I don’t think using “sanctified imagination” is necessarily a bad thing as The Bible series has sparked many discussions in our family, we need to be careful to not add to Scripture in a way that draws our attention from it.

Moses desired for this teaching to be a part of them and the pinacle was the command to love God with absolutely everything they had.

This visual theology poster symbolizes the total commitment God wants from his children. They are to love him with their entire heart, mind and strength.

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While the book’s action doesn’t primarily revolve around “numbers” it is a theme and there are many other numerated aspects that pop up. This infographic gives a few illustrated examples of the significance “numbers” play in this book of the Bible.

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Each event is cross-referenced with the gospel(s) it is found in. I have also included major location changes as well as the relative possible timing of the Last Supper, Trial and Crucifixion.

This graphic is not officially part of Project 66 – just a bonus.

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Because of Christ’s sacrifice we are forgiven (guilt offering), we have power over sin (sin offering), we have fellowship with God through Jesus (peace offering), we are a living sacrifice (grain offering), we are full committed to God through Jesus (burnt offering).

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One of the things that fascinates me about the Exodus is that it points to the gospel and our future redemption in Christ. We see this in numerous ways including God passing over and saving those who had the lamb’s blood on their door, pictures of breaking free from the bondage and slavery of sin and the theme of being ushered into a new redeemed life.

In my studies I noticed the Old Testament consistently repeats the phrase “out of Egypt” to portray Israel’s redemption while the New Testament portrays redemption with the words “freedom” and “salvation”.

The Bible then joins the concepts multiple times. Matthew 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1 which says “out of Egypt I have called my Son” and refers to Israel. This directly connects Jesus’ work to the Exodus.

Jesus said He would be leaving in Luke 9:31 when He was talking to Moses and Elijah, but the word used there is “Exodus.” Luke seems to be saying this is the ultimate “getting out.”

Hebrews 11:29 says “By faith the Israelites passed through dry land.” We see a direct parallel here between Israel’s faith and the Christian’s faith.

1 Corinthians 10:2, 6 says the Israelites were baptized into Moses when they passed through the cloud and sea and that these things were written for examples to Christians.

In short, we see a wonderful picture in God saving His people from bondage and taking them “out of Egypt” which foreshadows the greater salvation that would be realized in Christ.

With all that being said the point of the graphic I created is to illustrate the parallels between the Exodus and the gospel in the Bible.

I’ve split the graphic into two parts. The Old Testament section traces the phrase “out of Egypt”, but uses incomplete circles since the Exodus was only a type of the ultimate coming future redemption. The New Testament section traces the words “freedom” and “salvation”, but uses complete circles to represent the fulfilled redemption in Christ”. The size of the circles indicates the frequency of usage.

You probably won’t see them unless you purchase a high resolution pdf but every verse is represented inside the circles.

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The goal for this end times infographic was to summarize the major postions that Christianity has held over the years in regards to the timing of last things. The three major views are premillennialism, postmillennialism and amillennialism.

I’ve summarized the positions below the graphic. Hopefully that will help trying to decipher where you are at.

There are many differing views held within each of those individual camp so for simplicity only major points are illustrated. You can check the links to each for more information or search the terms and you’ll no doubt find hundreds and thousands of websites claiming point and counterpoint why they are right and the other position wrong.

An interesting concept that the graphic portrays is that each view agrees on the beginning and end. Every view believes that the kingdom was promised in the Old Testament, presented by Jesus and will culminate in the eternal state.

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Premillennialism

Premillennialism is the belief that the Second Coming of Christ occurs before the millennium, which is a literal 1000 years.

Dispensational Premillennialists believe that believers will be caught up into heaven at the end of the church age before a time of great tribulation on the earth. They will then return with Christ to rule with Him for a literal 1000 years after which unbelievers are judged and the eternal kingdom is set up.

Historic Premillennialists believe that the rapture occurs at the end of the Tribulation and will immediately return with Christ to set up His kingdom.

Postmillennialism

Postmillennialismis the belief that the Second Coming of Christ occurs after the millennium.

Some that take this position believe the millennium is a literal 1000 years while others believe it is a figurative concept referring to the entire New Testament age.

Postmillennialism teaches that the forces of Satan will gradually be defeated by the expansion of the Kingdom of God throughout history up until the Second Coming of Christ.

The view that the tribulation has already taken place is the Preterist postion. The view that the entire church age is in tribulation is the historist view. These can also be applied to the amillennial postion.

Amillennialism

Amillennialism is the belief that there is not a literal 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth but that His Second Coming occurs at the end of history.

The millennium is purely spiritual in nature and at the end of the church age, Christ will return in final judgment and establish a permanent physical reign.

In the classical view the tribulation and anti-christ are looked at as symbolic in the book of Revelation. Like Postmillennialism, the Preterist view believes that almost all end-times prophecy was fulfilled before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

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