Jack Van Impe hits a new low

[clinevol98]

While messing around on YouTube, I came across videos of Jack Van Impe. Some of the claims he makes in them are absolutely unbelievable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUTfKoYPhfE

In this video, Van Impe is promoting a video on extraterrestrials. In it, he claims that the Bible talks about a coming invasion of the Earth by aliens. In addition, he says that millions of aliens are under the control of a "being" who is causing tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and blizzards. These aliens make "millions of trips to Earth daily," tormenting some humans. Soon, a "Star Wars battle will be fought among the planets." However, not all is bad; there are also good aliens who come to Earth and do good things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAsbN5mXdb4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHRYJqhxD6A

These videos are full of typical dispensational premillennial theories. Notice how in the comments I was called a "Muslim who has been conditioned to behead 'apostates' since your youth" by "EturnaL1," a defender of Van Impe.

[jcr4runner]

Whenever I hear well known Christian leaders spout bizarre conspiracy theories, I try to imagine what could be keeping them in the dark. These guys didn't get to the stature they are at by being ignorant. It's more like the proverb says: "The light is on but there is nobody home."

As far as I can see, there are two options:

1. These guys know that they can make a lot of money on TV shows and books touting the latest theory on the end of the world. Thus the prophets of doom are REALLY the profits of doom to these guys.

2. The second option is less cynical and the one I believe most are guilty of. Most Christians, including most Bible teachers, have forsaken the Reformed method of Bible interpretation -- which is: scripture must interpret scripture. Instead of reading the Bible in context of the whole counsel of the Word of God, eschatalogical prophecies are read in light of newspaper exegesis.

This view is consistent with a covenantal worldview. Unfortunately, covenantalism was largely displaced in the 20th century by dispensationalism.

I have two longer article about this called and Two Views of History and Two Views of Government.

http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0222_ ... story.html

and

http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0185_ ... vernm.html

Here is an excerpt from the second article. It's called two views of government, but it could be called two views of theology as well:

Two Views of Government

There are essentially two views of government that have been held to by two groups of evangelical Christians in modern times - the Puritan or Reformed view (based on the ideals of the Protestant Reformation) and Pietist view.

* The Puritan view of government - All people are under a two-fold theocratic form of government (ecclesiastical and civil). The Church legislates the moral law of God through the preaching of blessings and curses found in God's Word (the Bible); the state enforces the moral law of God through a system of reward and punishment. Believers obey the moral law of God out of love and are subject to church discipline; sinners obey out of constraint and fear of punishment by civil judges. But both classes of men are to be ruled by the moral law of God. Human government is an institution given by God to be cared for and reformed by men.

The Puritan historical view of government is providential with Jesus Christ leading believers in His train as a captain leads an army to victory over the anti-Christian power bases of the world. The ultimate destiny of government is to establish Christ's dominion over all the earth with God's people ruling in positions of power. Christ will return to the earth when all things are subject to Him under His feet (the Church). The role of the elect is to occupy the power bases of both ecclesiastical and civil forms of government until He comes to establish greater justice.

* The Pietist view of government - Christians are under the authority of both church and civil government; sinners are under the authority of civil government only. The moral law of God rules over Christians; but since sinners are doomed to hell, they are free to do whatever they please. Civil government is a part of the world system which is controlled by Satan. It is no surprise to the pietist that so many governments are unjust and evil.

The Pietist historical view of government is conspiratorial. Government is a part of the world system which is controlled by Satan and his cohorts. The conspiracy will end in a one-world government ruled by an anti-Christ figure who will control the hearts and minds of men for a dispensational time period. The only job for the church is to preach the gospel so that some may be saved. The job of Christians in civil government is limited since politics is evil. Christians have to wait until Christ returns to the earth with cataclysmic judgment before they can rule as the elect.

[jcr4runner]

The following is just a short excerpt from a longer article I wrote in 1993 called: Two Views of History

http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0222_ ... story.html

Two Views of History

Briefly, we must now look at a subject which often bitterly divides Christians. Any Christian view of history must be completed by a view of the End Times and a scripturally based view about the events which will surround the Second Coming of Christ. Rather than name two dozen or more of the prominent eschatological viewpoints held by modern Christians, it should be sufficient to divide all of these views into two broad categories: Pre-Millennialism and Post-Millennialism.

The main points of the two views are as follows.

* The Millennium is thought to be a long period of time (it may or may not necessarily be a literal thousand years) in which the fulness of Christ's reign will come to the earth.

* A Pre-Millennialist believes that the actual, physical Second Coming of Christ must occur prior to the beginning of the Millennium. Before the Millennium commences the Antichrist will reign in the earth.

* A Post-Millennialist believes that Christ will physically return to the earth only after the Millennium is completed. Christ's reign over the earth from heaven increases during the Millennium as the Kingdom of God is continually advanced in the earth.

Much of the arguing between the two groups (and among factions within the groups) centers over the role of the Church during the End Times; the appearance of the Antichrist's one world government; and when the rapture is to occur. Without going into great detail, the following are the two views briefly stated:

Pre-Millennialism places the Church in a position of an "evangelism-only" role in the End Times (since Christ's Second Coming could be very near, it is necessary to save as many as possible while there is still time left); it places the appearance of the Antichrist's one-world-govern-ment somewhere during the last seven years of time; and it usually involves a Great Tribulation in the last seven years of time, during which the Church is to be raptured, or physically caught up to be in heaven with Jesus (there are several different views on when this event takes place). At the end of this Tribulation Period, the Second Coming occurs and the saints who were caught up to be in heaven for a period of time return to rule and reign with Jesus on the earth.

Post-Millennialism places the Church in a role, not only of evangelism, but of discipling the nations as well (not only will many be saved, but whole social structures will be transformed); the rule of the Antichrist is more loosely interpreted as the current world system of Satan which is being overthrown by the progressive, sovereign judgments of God; thus the Great Tribulation is viewed, not as a seven year time period, but as the sum total of all the judgments of God in history, and although the rapture is not usually focused on, it does occur at the very end of the Millennium when Jesus returns physically to the earth and the saints are simultaneously caught away to be with Jesus. Before the Second Coming, the Church's role is to rule with Christ, not in heaven, but on earth.7

It is easy to see which view of the End Times fits better to a Conspiratorial view of history; and which view fits better to a Providential view of history. To be fair, however, we must admit that there have been many Pre-Millennialists who have acted as though they believed in the Providence of God and have done great works to reform the nations (D.L. Moody and David Wilkerson come to mind). Likewise, there have been some Post-Millennialists who have held to wild conspiracy theories.

To promote a greater unity in the Church, eschatological differences should be put aside. The point to be made here is this: Your view of the End Times will affect how you view current events and it will even greater affect how you respond to the call of missions. If your worldview is dominated by conspiracy, then you need to change your thinking to allow the Providence of God to have full reign in the course of history and in your life.

[LastDayRapturist]

There IS another view: The Last Day view.

Historical postmillenialism is far superior to pre-millenialism's newspaper interpretation and fanciful Scripture twisting, however it is not without its own flaws.
Post-millenialism assumes that everything ends with the thousand years and leaves out what Scripture refers to as the little season. The millennium is the era of Christian influence. The word chilioi means a period of indefinite and undefined time. We don't know when it ends, we only know that it does.

That doesn't mean that we are blind however. It has become obvious that heathenism has begun to re-emerge in society. Nothing is sacred nor private anymore. People walk the streets cursing like Marines on a thirty day leave and no one bats much of an eye. We murder babies, flaunt filth in front of our eyes and Sodomism is the order of the day. Fifty years ago, this was unheard of. Forty years ago, people scratched their heads at what was starting to happen but did nothing. The more we worried about when the rapture was and the events in the MIddle East, the more blind we came to the real problem. The millennium has ended and we are in the little season in which Satan has been set free from his prison and is out there deceiving the nations. Believers have abdicated their Kingdom and Gog has jumped into the gap, just as Scripture predicts.

The wickedness will grow very quickly coming like a cloud over us, surrounding us, much as a boa constrictor or a besieging army (Rev 20:8). But just when it seems that Christianity will go the way of the horse and buggy and be eradicated from the earth, God Himself will send his Christ the second time in flaming fire. The Scripture calls this: The Last Day (Eschatos). Jesus said that the resurrection would occur on the last day. The resurrection includes the rapture (metamorphosis) of living saints.

[jcr4runner]

Most of the prominent postmillennialists of the 1800s, such as Charles Hodge and BB Warfield, did teach that there would be a brief period of apostasy at the end of the millennium.

[LastDayRapturist]

Well brother, methinks we've reached it. :)

[pinki]

Jack Van Impe Presents is video-taped at the Jack Van Impe Ministries World Outreach Center, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. His wife, Rexella, co-hosts the telecast with him. On a typical show, Rexella begins by reading a recent news headline. Van Impe then applies his memorization of Bible verses to interpret the news story, generally in an attempt to show that they are a manifestation of biblically-predicted signs of the end of the age.Van Impe also interprets Bible prophecies, quoting Bible verses throughout his commentary. At the close of every program, Van Impe extends an invitation for viewers to become born again, followed by Rexella announcing the featured fundraising item of the week (usually one of Van Impe's books or videos concerning the end of the age) and announcer Chuck Ohman, who also has been featured playing the trumpet on holiday broadcasts, asking viewers to purchase one of Van Impe's books, video tapes, or other media products.

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