ChristianGlobalism.com

Our goal is to Christianize the Globe.

The border between New York and New Jersey is not worth spilling a drop of blood. Both states were at one time explicitly Christian, committed to advancing the Kingdom of Christ.

The border between Canada and The United States is not worth spilling a drop of blood. Both nations should be explicitly Christian, committed to advancing the Kingdom of Christ.

All nations and races should be joined together in the worship and service of Christ the King.

We propose the elimination of "national interests" and subordinating all borders to the interests of the Gospel of Christ.

We call this

By the time you read to the bottom of this webpage, we hope you will agree with us on the most controversial claim of our day:

Jesus is the Christ

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word for "savior."
The word "Christ" is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for "Messiah" (anointed king).

Nobody believes that Jesus is currently reigning as the promised Messiah over a global Christocracy. If I can convince you that Jesus is the Christ, you and I may be the only two people on the planet who believe it.

This will completely change the way you look at the world, and the way you look at the Christian religion. We call this the “Vine & Fig Tree” worldview.

Believing this prophecy and working for its fulfillment is what it means to be human. Walking in God's paths and converting aggression and hatred into healing and love is why God put us here.

Here are nine "Core Values" of "Christian Globalism" that can be seen in Micah's vision
Some are stated in a provocative, "politically incorrect" way.
Others are obvious and non-controversial -- until you try to practice them with any consistency.
 
There should be a university that offers a major in Christian Globalism.
Oh, wait . . . there was one. It was called Harvard College and was formed in 1636.
Too bad that Harvard doesn't exist anymore.

1. Bibliolatry

2. Preterism

3. Optimillennialism

4. Theonomy

5. Pacifism

6. Patriarchy

7. Agrarianism

8. Character

9. Community

Jesus is the Christ
Jesus is the Messiah Today
Jesus is the King Right Now
All other kings are idols. All other governments are idolatrous.

This webpage will take a couple of hours to read. Understanding "Christian Globalism" is a lifelong task. Too bad you weren't able to study this in your state-controlled years of schooling.

I want to consider with you four subjects:

1. The Bible
2. Man and Society
3. God and Government
4. The Gospel

Within these four subjects are seven steps to prove that Jesus is the Christ, now reigning over a Global Christocracy.

1. The Bible

• Daily Sharpening

• Principles of Interpreting Prophecy

• The Blessings of Obeying the Bible -- God's Standard (Blueprint)

2. Man and Society

• Purpose of Man (Calling)
         To build the Kingdom of God by working (obeying God, serving others)

• The Fall of Man -- the Desire to "be as gods"
         To build the Kingdom of Man without working (playing God, oppressing others)

3. The Kingdom of God and Salvation

• God saves sinners (archists) from the consequences of their sins (archism)

• God's Kingdom vs. Man's Government

• Salvation = Freedom from archists.

• The Vine & Fig Tree society.

4. The Vine & Fig Tree Gospel

In these seven themes there are 12 key Scripture texts I would like you to consider before we get to the verse which proves that Christian Globalism is the Gospel.

Bible

1. Acts 17:11

2. Proverbs 27:17

Prophecy: Principles of Interpretation

3. Isaiah 9:6-7

4. Daniel 2

5. Isaiah 65:17-20

Man's Purpose

6. Genesis 1:26-28

God's Blueprint

7. Leviticus 26

Government: Man's vs. God's

8. Isaiah 33:22

9. 1 Samuel 8

10. Mark 10:42-45

Salvation as Freedom from Archists

11. Over 300 "Salvation" Verses

12. Habakkuk 2:14 - Salvation and Civilization

Christian Globalism is “the Gospel.”

Other subjects on this page:

| Self-Evident Truths | Theocracy | The Bible | God's Sovereignty | Theonomy | Eschatology |
| America | Capitalism | Christian Reconstruction | Education | Coaching | Church | Politics |
| Creationism | Prayer | Extremism! | Misunderstandings of Christian Globalism

We're ready to start the argument sequence.

1. The Bible is our starting point

I am a "Bible-believing" Christian. Feel free to accuse me of engaging in bibliolatry, fundamentalism, extremism, creationism, Calvinism, Theonomy, etc. Guilty as charged.

The first text I want to impress upon you is Acts 17:10-12

Now these [The Bereans] were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of the mind,
searching the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.

The Bereans appeared to be like modern libertarians, with their bumper-sticker that says "QUESTION AUTHORITY." The Apostles gave them the Gospel of Jesus Christ but the Bereans didn't just take the Apostles' word for it, but checked what they were told against a higher authority, the Scripture. The Bereans are more dogmatic authoritarians than those who mindlessly accept the word of clergy or creeds.

Additionally, the Bereans studied the Bible "daily." The verses on that link show that daily engagement with the Bible is an imperative.

This attitude makes one a better Christian, as seen in our second text.

Just as iron sharpens iron,
friends sharpen the minds of each other.
Proverbs 27:17

My goal in this article is to be your "friend." I hope you'll be my friend as well, and challenge my thinking in a loving way.

I am not against "authorities" or "experts." I rely on them and quote them. An "expert" can be your friend and sharpen you, but you might have to pay the expert ("mentor," "professor" "seminary"). This article is free. May you be sharpened. May we be friends.

2. Interpreting Prophecy

How do we correctly interpret Micah's  “Vine & Fig Tree” prophecy, as well as others which speak of the Messiah? Sometimes the form of prophecy can confuse us. Often it is poetic, rather than "scientific" or "historical" or reminiscent of journalistic "neutrality." It is designed to encourage us today. That is, to encourage us to obey God's Commandments.

The Bible teaching ministry I founded is called  “Vine & Fig Tree.”  The name comes from the 4th chapter of Micah. It talks about a day we beat "swords into plowshares." I believe that's not just a prediction about Micah's future, but a command for us today. I believe the Bible -- from cover to cover -- commands pacifism. War -- "the sword" -- is an evil.

You are welcome to try to "sharpen" me on this issue. Others have certainly tried. I am willing to admit that ISIS-inspired psychos kill innocent people around the world, and sometimes it's hard to believe that the Babe born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger on that "Silent Night" was really the Messiah, the Prince of Peace. But despite ISIS, I believe Micah would agree that Jesus is now reigning as Messiah and Prince of Peace.

In Micah's day, seven hundred years before the coming of the Messiah, half of all human beings died as a result of archist violence.
There was no such thing as "liberty" in Isaiah's day. Today we enjoy liberty because the Messiah came two thousand years ago.
Today, the vast majority of human beings die of "natural causes" rather than violence. The exceptions to that blanket statement are easily remedied by professing Christians in America. It's a matter of ethics, not fate or eschatology. We are commanded to bring about the continued and expanded fulfillment of these prophecies. Jesus gave us enough to consider them "fulfilled," and everything beyond that is just frosting on the cake.

Sanctified Imagination

If Micah could travel through time 2,700 years to our day, he would fall on his knees in praise and faithful gratitude to God for fulfilling his prophecies. We are not so grateful. We should be.

But we can start where we are and imagine even greater fulfillment of the "messianic" prophecies. We should take upon ourselves the exercise of faith and imagine how the earth will look 2,700 years into our future, and work and plan for that day.

Micah and Isaiah would say that their prophecies have been gloriously fulfilled. Those of us living today are the beneficiaries of centuries of theological sanctification from Isaiah's day, and can imagine even greater ways in which those prophecies can be further fulfilled.

But most Christians do not believe that Christ is fulfilling those prophecies and reigning as Messiah today.

The premillennialists are wrong for a number of reasons.

A. The Messianic Kingdom is Everlasting.
Not just 10 centuries, as millennialists hold

Isaiah 9:6-7
⁶ For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The Messianic Age Never Ends --  "world without end." Of the baby Jesus it was foretold:

Luke 1
³² He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
³³ And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

This reign began 2,000 years ago. And it has only just begun.

while it is fashionable for modern Christian intellectuals to speak of our civilization as "post-Christian," we should turn that around and make it Biblically accurate: Our culture is not post-Christian - our culture is still largely pre-Christian!⁶
6. Cf. Loraine Boettner, The Millennium (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1957), pp. 38-47, 63-66; Benjamin B. Warfield, "Are There Few That Be Saved?" in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 334-350. Warfield cites William Temple: "The earth will in all probability be habitable for myriads of years yet. If Christianity is the final religion, the church is still in its infancy. Two thousand years are as two days. The appeal to the 'primitive church' is misleading; we are the 'primitive church'"; and James Adderly: "But we must remember that Christianity is a very young religion, and that we are only at the beginning of Christian history even now" (pp. 347f.).

and

The actual number of the saved, far from being limited to mere tens of thousands, is in reality a multitude that no one could count, so vast that it cannot be comprehended. For the fact is that Christ came to save the world. Traditionally -- although Calvinists have been technically correct in declaring that the full benefits of the atonement were intended only for the elect - both Calvinists and Arminians have tended to miss the point of John 3:16. That point has been beautifully summarized by Benjamin Warfield:

You must not fancy, then, that God sits helplessly by while the world, which He has created for Himself, hurtles hopelessly to destruction, and He is able only to snatch with difficulty here and there a brand from the universal burning. The world does not govern Him in a single one of its acts: He governs it and leads it steadily onward to the end which, from the beginning, or ever a beam of it had been laid, He had determined for it. ... Through all the years one increasing purpose runs, one increasing purpose: the kingdoms of the earth become ever more and more the Kingdom of our God and His Christ. The process may be slow; the progress may appear to our impatient eyes to lag. But it is God who is building: and under His hands the structure rises as steadily as it does slowly, and in due time the capstone shall be set into its place, and to our astonished eyes shall be revealed nothing less than a saved world."
Benjamin B. Warfield, from a sermon on John 3:16 entitled "God's Immeasurable Love," in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), pp. 518f.

[New York City contains not just residences, but businesses (e.g., "Wall Street") and parks (e.g., "Central Park"). The "Texas" link we provided above does not make this distinction.]

Then there are other planets.

People who want Jesus to return and set up a 1,000 year kingdom (when He's already/only been reigning for twice that long) and then end the whole "earth" business are quitters with no vision. That's probably most church-going Christians.

B. The Messianic Kingdom Grows Gradually

Daniel 2
The transformation is not instantaneous.
The Messianic Kingdom is not handed to us fully-developed on a silver platter
after we passively wait for it.

The statue in Daniel 2 represents the archist paradigm of the pre-Christian world. In Luke 4, Jesus was tempted by Satan:

⁵ The devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

Jesus destroyed the entire demonic imperial paradigm. The Last Adam restored the seed of the First Adam to our original purpose of building the City of God. But the weeds of the City of Man still need to be cut down as a part of tending The Garden. Replacing the City of Man with the City of God is a process called "sanctification." It applies socially as well as individually.

Isaiah 9:6-7 also shows us this idea of perpetual growth. The NRSV renders verse 7:

His authority shall grow continually

The  Vine & Fig Tree prophecy of Micah (4:1-7) also shows numerous evidences of continual growth:

• The nations are "streaming" to hear God's Word (verse 2), but they have not all gathered there yet.
• The nations are learning God's Law, but they are not fully "learned."
• The Law-Word of God has not fully "gone forth."
• The Messiah has not finished "rebuking" the nations,
• nor rendering decisions in their disputes. (verse 3)
• Not all swords have been hammered into plowshares
• "They" (the nations) must beat "their" own swords; the Messiah doesn't do it for them in one fell swoop.
• "Assembling," "gathering" and "making" (verses 6-7) are processes, not instant passive (for us) transformations. We the People have duties to carry out.

C. Process, not Perfection

The Messianic Kingdom grows. Of its increase "there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:6-7). That means it will never be "perfect." Even in "the New Heavens and New Earth" there is sin and death. But it is so much better than life in Isaiah's day, that it could only be communicated using wild, poetic language that has led many to believe it would be sinlessly perfect.

Isaiah 65:20

No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred

And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.

Psalm 37:22

For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off.

Why would anyone in "the New Heavens and New Earth" be thought "accursed?" What basis would there be for entertaining such a notion, if there will be no sin? No sin, no curse.

 

Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

It is justly observed here by Mr. Scott, that “the event alone can certainly determine whether this is meant literally or figuratively; but it is evident that the universal prevalence of real Christianity would so terminate wars, murders, contentions, idleness, intemperance, and licentiousness, as greatly to lengthen out the general term of man’s life. Many diseases which now destroy thousands and tens of thousands in the prime of life, and communicate distempers to succeeding generations, would, in that case, scarcely be heard of any more; and thus the human constitution would soon be much mended, and children would generally come into the world more vigorous and healthy than they can do while vice so greatly prevails. What God may further intend in this matter we cannot determine.” Vitringa’s view of the passage seems to have been, that “there shall be no violent or punitive death in this holy city, but that all the inhabitants being holy, all shall die full of days and happy....”

In the eyes of most Christians, God Himself -- the Second Person of the Trinity -- comes to earth twice, and is still unable to persuade or empower human beings to exercise dominion in a loving, honest, and faithful manner. The first Christmas was full of promise, but ends in failure. So Christ comes a second time, thousands of years later, bringing an army of resurrected saints with Him, takes a seat on a throne in Jerusalem, rules with a rod of iron in a believers-vs.-unbelievers police state, and still, it all ends in failure. Toward the end of the 10th century of Christ's Messianic reign, Satan reigns for "a little season" (Revelation 20:3), encouraging masses of people to rebel against the personal, visible reign of Jesus Christ Himself. Seeing that He is going to lose the game, Jesus takes His football and goes home.

The very popular Christian writer Dave Hunt has written:

In fact, dominion – taking dominion and setting up the kingdom of Christ – is an impossibility, even for God. The millennial reign of Christ, far from being the kingdom, is actually the final proof of the incorrigible nature of the human heart, because Christ Himself can’t do it.[1]

"Impossible even for God." The Creator's idea of creating man in His Own Image and telling man to exercise dominion over the earth, converting the earth to God's Temple, building the City of God, was a mistake. Progress is not possible. Only regress. Earth is a failure. Jesus' prayer ("Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven") is just tilting at Satanic windmills. As Hal Lindsey put it, "Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth." Poor God.

Didn't God know when He created human beings that it would all turn out in failure? Why did He bother?

Jesus is the Messiah today, forever; not to be waited for in the future, to reign for a few short years, and to then lose a war when Satan is released "for a little season."

Prophecy as Law

When God promises a blessing (or when He threatens a curse) we know what God thinks is good or bad. If we respect God, we feel a moral obligation to pursue the good and eschew the bad.

David Chilton reminds us (Days of Vengeance, p. 27) of the words of B.B. Warfield: Prophecy is about Ethics, not just speculation about what will be handed to us on a silver platter in the future. It's real purpose is to cultivate obedient lives.

"We must try to keep fresh in our minds the great principle that all prophecy is ethical in its purpose, and that this ethical end controls not only what shall be revealed in general, but also the details of it, and the very form which it takes."

Benjamin B. Warfield, "The Prophecies of St. Paul," in Biblical and Theological Studies (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1968), p. 470.
 

4. The Blueprints

There is a standard by which we judge our efforts at constructing the Kingdom of God. It is the Bible.

Specifically, God's Law. (All of Scripture is Law, because all of Scripture is breathed-out by God, who is our Lord, and every utterance of a Sovereign is to be respected and obeyed by His vassals.)

The Bible makes up the blueprints for the building of the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God. These Blueprints were drafted by the Master Architect. We are to follow the blueprints as servants and laborers, but God gets the glory. As Calvin put it:

As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme Architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.

Rushdoony has written that God's Law is God's Plan for Victory and Dominion. God's Law commands us to build the Kingdom of God, and tells us exactly how to do this. God's Law both commands and promises success in building the Kingdom of God.

Such Promises ("blessings") are found in our fourth text: Leviticus 26 (see also Deuteronomy 28).

Obedience to God's commandments brings blessings, specifically, the blessing of peace.
Peace means freedom from the initiation of force or threats of violence by others. Since archists are those who employ violence as a means to an end, "peace" means "freedom from archists." The Bible distinguishes "workmen" from the "horns" of power (Zechariah 1:18-21), and if we work to build God's Kingdom and do not become archists, God will keep those nasty archists away from us:

Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways please the LORD,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

3. The Purpose of Man

Our text here is "the Dominion Mandate," Genesis 1:26-28. Also, Genesis 2:15,19

Here we read the purpose for which God created Man.
Human beings were created to "exercise dominion" over the earth as stewards of God's property.
This means growing and building the Kingdom of God, for the glory of God.
This means transforming a wilderness into a Garden, and the Garden into the City of God, the New Jerusalem, a city of unlimited growth and wealth.

I have benefited from a book entitled, Images of the Spirit by Meredith G. Kline. Kline suggests that the physical theophanic Glory of the Holy Spirit, who hovered over the original earth creation in Gen 1:2, served as the "divine model" for man's creation. In expounding these themes, Kline develops a system of typology where the Garden of Eden, the tabernacle, temple, priest and prophet are all modeled after the archetypal form of the Glory-Spirit, which is a model of heaven itself. Jesus taught us to pray that God's will would be done "on earth as it is in heaven." Comparing the first chapters of Genesis and the last chapters of Revelation suggests that man's original purpose is nothing less than building the City of God, the New Jerusalem. Edenic motifs are clearly seen in Revelation 21. The "newness" of the "New" Jerusalem is the absence of the ceremonial temple, and the liturgical or restorative patterns of reconciling God and sinners found in the Old Covenant. Just as man was to "dress and keep" the Garden, so he was/is to dress the entire world into the City of God.

Many people object to the idea that man builds the Kingdom of God. They say this is "humanistic," and that the Polis of God must be created wholly by God with no participation by man, and then handed to man on a silver platter. Correct thinking on this issue requires a "paradigm shift." Hal Lindsey represents the old paradigm:

There used to be a group called "postmillennialists." They believed that the Christians would root out all the evil in the world, abolish godless rulers, and convert the world through ever-increasing evangelism until they brought about the Kingdom of God through their own efforts. Then after 1000 years of the institutional church reigning on earth with peace, equality and righteousness, Christ would return and time would end. These people rejected much of the Scripture as being literal and believed in the inherent goodness of man. World War I greatly disheartened this group and World War II virtually wiped out this viewpoint. No self-respecting scholar who looks at the world conditions and the accelerating decline of Christian influence today is a "postmillennialist."
Hal Lindsey, The Late, Great Planet Earth, 1970, p. 176

The idea that Christians would bring about the Kingdom of God "through their own efforts" is a real red-flag for these kind of Christians. They say it reeks of "secular humanism."

Obviously, Christians who believe Jesus is the only Legitimate Archist do not believe that The City of God is designed by a joint act of Congress. The New Jerusalem is not the vision of an ecclesiastical council or synod, or ecumenical one-world religion. But even as the leaders of church and state conspired together to kill Jesus, even today they are unwittingly orchestrated by the "Invisible Hand of Divine Providence" to enlarge the City of God.

The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, and she must adorn herself for her Husband with righteous acts (Revelation 21:2; 19:7-8; Psalm 45:9-14; Isaiah 54:5; 61:10; 62:4).

But God still gets all the credit.

Consider the "Division of Labor" (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12).
There is not a single person on planet earth who can build a pencil from scratch. This is because all the labor and skills required to extract the raw materials from God's Creation and assemble them into a pencil are divided among many human beings, no one of them possessing all the skills and knowledge needed to plant and harvest trees, extract and refine chemicals, and build the equipment which fabricates a pencil. While Faber-Castell might get credit for making pencils, many other companies had a hand in the task. Previous generations saw the global human economy as being overseen by an "Invisible Hand." Also called "Providence," about which we'll see more below.

Ultimately, only God can get credit for building the New Jerusalem, but man is commanded to do the work.

Imagine the construction of a large apartment. I mean really large, like 432 Park Avenue, the tallest residential building in New York. Or five of the ten tallest buildings in the world, found in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. One of these buildings can house 25,000 human beings. Who gets "credit" for building one of these buildings? Maybe the architect -- except it was a team of architects. Maybe the CEO of the Construction firm, but he personally does not know how to build a cement mixer. Suppose your vocation is being a plumber, and you were hired to install a unique sink in one of the residences on the 32nd floor during the construction of one of these buildings. Do you get credit for building the building? Of course not. You knew very little about what kind of building was being constructed. You were just fulfilling your individual calling as a plumber. Should you say, "This is not my building, so I'm not going to contribute to its edification?" That would be disobedient.

Each human being has a calling to build part of the Kingdom of God. It is man's job to build the kingdom. God gets all the credit.

Man's divine purpose on earth is to create a flourishing anarchist society, overseen only by an Invisible Hand.

Click bait. To "click," just keep reading.

The Fall of Man

Man's basic sin against God is the desire to "be as gods."

Genesis 3
⁴  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

An aspect of this rebellion is the desire to get something for nothing, or something without working for it. (James Jordan has argued that Adam and Eve would eventually have been allowed to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, but they were required to work for it first and earn it.)

This is a major motivation for forming "the State" and conquering other people. (The other one being vengeance.)

God is man's Governor. Man rejects God's Government by desiring to be his own governor.

God punishes man for his rebellion by granting him his wishes. When man lusts for political power, God gives it to him.

Then in His mercy, God saves the repentant sinner by delivering him from the political disease.

If we obey God's commandments, we will not have war; God will not send "the sword" against us.

I will argue below that peace is possible only in a state of "an-archy," that is, the absence of "archists." This too is a "paradigm shift."

When we disobey God's Law, God sends archists as a judgment/curse against us.

We see this repeatedly in the Scripture. Israel lusts after gentile archists (like Moloch, which means "king"). God delivers Israel into the hand of these pagan archists, and Israel cries out for deliverance, and God delivers them by sending a deliverer, or "savior" or "judge" who "saves" Israel from the pagan archists.

Here's how Nehemiah sums up Israel's history of rebelling against God's Law and then being "saved" from the consequences of their disobedience:

Nehemiah 9:23-31

²³ Thou also multipliedst their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

²⁴ So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

²⁵ And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

²⁶ Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

²⁷ Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

²⁸ But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

²⁹ And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

³⁰ Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

³¹ Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

God sent Israel many "saviors." When Bible-believers think of a "savior," they think of someone who will save Israel "out of the hand of their enemies." The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, and said:

Matthew 1:18-23

Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.

A first-century Jew, steeped in the Scriptures, would hear this as a promise to save "His people" from the consequences of their sins, the curses imposed on them by God because of their rebellion against His Law. John the Baptist's father "Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying"

Luke 1:67-80

⁶⁸ “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
⁶⁹ And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
⁷¹ That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
⁷⁴ To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
⁷⁵ In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
⁷⁹ To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The Babe born in Bethlehem saved Christians in the first century from their enemies: the Jews who collaborated with Rome. Then the Rock destroyed Rome, and has filled the earth with Christian Civilization -- The City of God. The growing and filling continues.

Consider this classic Christmas text:

Luke 2:8-20

⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴        “Glory to God in the highest,
              and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

What would a first-century Israelite think if an angel of the LORD announced the coming of a "savior?" They would doubtless think back to all the saviors in the [Old Testament] Scriptures. Those saviors did not just promise a ticket to heaven when everyone died. They promised to save Israel from the consequences of her sins. Those consequences included "the Sword." Freedom from the sword is one aspect of the holistic Biblical concept of Salvation, and one of the benefits of a Biblical savior. The savior brought the benefits ("blessings") of obedience upon a people who had not been obedient, but who had repented of their disobedience.

Jesus was a Savior in this Biblical tradition. He came to bring Salvation. He came to save His people from their enemies, so they could get on with the work of building the New Jerusalem.

A Biblical "Savior" Brings Biblical "Salvation"

"Salvation" is holistic/cultural/economic, not just a ticket to heaven when you die. We'll see this below in more detail.

1. The word: yasha
2. The deed: what "saviors" did -- they did just not pass out tickets to heaven when you die

1. evil/enemies were raised up by God as "punishment" or incentive to repent
2. evil/enemies are the consequence of unrepentant sin
   1. idolatry - false religion
   2. political alliances with pagans
   3.  trusting in violence/archism
3. Deliverance from evil = saved from sins (and the consequences of sin, which are God's judgments)

The Hebrew word in the Bible

5. Government

A society that is Biblical is archist-free. Our next three texts show this.

Our fifth text is Isaiah 33:22

For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us

Notice all three "branches" of government are seen here.

God governs from heaven through Providence, not visible physical enthronement in Jerusalem. This is the major error of the "pre-millennialists." See the discussion of the "invisible hand" above. Micah's Vine & Fig Tree prophecy (Micah 4:1-7) says

And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.

While it's true that Jesus is the Word, the Word does not judge by sitting on a visible, physical throne in Jerusalem. "The Word" that judges nations is God's Law:

For from Zion will go forth the Law
Even the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

As we saw above, man's chief purpose on earth is to build the City of God. The New Jerusalem is not handed to man on a silver platter fully-built. It is built by the "invisible Hand" of "Divine Providence," but God uses obedient and responsible human agents. An "invisible" Hand requires visible human servants, who are hands, feet, eyes, and other "members" of the Body of Christ.

Israel rejected this concept.
Israel wanted visible physical archists like the Gentiles had. Emperors, Pharaohs, Molochs, and Caesars.
This brings us to our sixth key text: 1 Samuel 8

Read the passage. Read the commentary in that link. The Bible says Israel, in desiring a king like the Gentiles had, was rejecting God. This is an awe-ful and profound indictment. Israel, "the chosen people," rejected the God who chose them, preferring the central-planning archist gods of the pagans. The Israelites were idolators.

Of course, Israel's rejection of God didn't stop God from governing. We hear much from premillennialists that Jesus offered Himself to Israel as Messiah, but Israel rejected Him as King, so He could only be "savior." This is nuts. Jesus was King whether the Jewish establishment wanted Him or not, and He destroyed apostate Israel in a day of fiery vengeance.

Luke 21:20 
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²² For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” 

Luke 19:14,27
¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
²⁷ But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”

Matthew 22:1-14
But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10)

We see the error of 1 Samuel 8 in Christ's apostles before they were filled with the Spirit. They not only wanted Jesus to be a visible physical archist to overthrow the Roman occupation army, they too wanted archist powers to take vengeance on their oppressors. None of this has a place in Christ's Kingdom. This is seen in our seventh text, Mark 10:42-45, where the Greek word underlying the English word "anarchist" is found. (We looked at this passage above.)

In the ancient world, all empires and politicians were religious. The emperor/pharaoh/caesar was a deity. Politicians were gods and mediators/priests.
Today the politician -- and the Polis -- is said to be "secular," but this is only evidence of the religion of Secular Humanism.

In the Old Testament, archists were called "gods" (Ps 82, etc.).
The desire for a physical, visible archist = idolatry
Human archists = false gods = idols

There is no such thing as a "good" archist.
By definition, "the government" is an institution which claims the right to steal, kidnap, and murder. If it doesn't make that claim, and does not accomplish its goals through violence (which would otherwise be universally acknowledged as sinful in "the private sector"), it's not a "government" and is not made up of archists. It's just a Rotary Club or some other voluntary association. (Which would be a good thing. Voluntary non-violent non-coercive associations provide all the governance any human society needs:
       • homeschools educate,
       • businesses discipline, and
       • competitive free market Dispute Resolution Organizations resolve disputes.
This is "governance" without "the government.")

"The State" is a criminal enterprise. It is prohibited by God's Law, even if God Himself "ordains" it (brings it into existence), like God created Assyria (Isaiah 10) or Rome (Luke 21:20-22) to judge (rape, pillage, burn, destroy) Israel.

6. Salvation

Anarchist optimillennialism is a new paradigm. A new way of looking at human social organization ("government").

And a new way of looking at "salvation."

Let's elaborate a bit on the "blessings" and "cursings" which are found in God's Law (e.g., Leviticus 26).

When Israel rejected the government of God and lusted after Gentile archists, God delivered Israel into the hands of her archist lover/idol. Then Israel cried out for deliverance from these archists. This deliverance is the doorway through which we can gain a larger understanding of the Biblical doctrine of "salvation."

Most Christians think "salvation" means "going to heaven when I die." They focus on a tiny fraction of the Bible, and ignore the vast majority.

"Salvation" -- in the vast majority of Biblical texts -- means "anarchism." "Salvation" means a "libertarian" society. Some would call it an "anarcho-capitalist" society.

The Libertarian Party requires party members to affirm but one proposition:

I do not believe in or advocate
the initiation of force
as a means of achieving political or social goals.

People who will not make this pledge are "archists." They believe they have a right to impose their will on other people by force, usually by "the sword" -- political or military power.

Being an "archist" is un-Christian (Mark 10:42-45). We are not to spread Christianity with the sword. We are not to vote for archists who promise to bring salvation.

What is "Salvation" in the Bible?

Not "What is 'salvation' in the minds of most professing Christians?"

What does the Bible say?

The Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation" or "save" is yasha'. In various derivatives it can be translated "deliverance," "victory," "safety," "security," and "welfare." (The Greek equivalent also carries the idea of "health.")

What does the government promise? We have a Department of Health, a Welfare Department, a Department of Homeland Security -- all components of the Biblical concept of "salvation." "The Government" (a.k.a. "civil government") is always a substitute for God. God is our Governor (Isaiah 33:22), and He brings salvation.

The Hebrew word for "save" or "bring salvation" is "yasha." Here is how a very mainstream, non-anarcho-preterist scholar defines that Hebrew word:

Yasha and its derivatives are used 353 times. The root meaning . . . is “make wide” or make sufficient: this root is in contrast to sarar, “narrow,” which means “be restricted” or “cause distress.” To move from distress to safety requires deliverance. [T]he majority of references to salvation speak of Yahweh granting deliverance from real enemies and out of real catastrophes. That which is wide connotes freedom from distress and the ability to pursue one’s own objectives. Thus salvation is not merely a momentary victory on the battlefield; it is also the safety and security necessary to maintain life unafraid of numerous dangers.
Hartley, John E. (1999). 929 יָשַׁע ["yasha"], in R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pp. 414-15.

I admit that I say many controversial things. That definition is not one of them. It is thoroughly Biblical. That's a very conservative, mainstream reference work. Let's look at it in more detail.

Consider first the phrase "safety and security necessary to maintain life." This is also the "safety and security necessary to maintain a prosperous and humane society." In order to go to WalMart and buy a shopping cart full of food and household accessories, there has to be a global network of businesses who create and transport millions of products by making billions of economic calculations and transactions. Millions of human beings have to get to work on time, run the trucks on schedule, choose to work instead of stealing and robbing, and work the graveyard shift so that when you get to the store, all the items you want are neatly arranged on the shelf in an order which makes it possible for you to quickly find what you need and get on with life.

Who should we trust for "safety" and "security?" What does the Bible say?

The Bible repeatedly says that if we obey God the Lawgiver by loving our neighbor through productive service, God our Judge and King will "bless" us with peace and prosperity. "Peace" means "safety" and "security." These are all components of the Biblical picture of holistic "salvation."

But there are those who want to supplant God the King by promising to give us salvation if we will vote for them.

• "safety" is part of holistic Biblical "salvation"
  • the government has a "National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."
  • it also has an Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • there's the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
  • don't forget the Consumer Product Safety Commission
  • I'm sure you check the government's FoodSafety website every day, just like Betsy Ross, Dolley Madison, and Abigail Adams used to do.
• "security" is part of "salvation"
  • we've been trained to think the government provides "National Security."
  • or " Homeland Security
  • or Social Security (not)

"Safety" and "security" are blessings from God, not government. We enjoy "safety" and "security" when our nation is Christian and observes "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," that is, the Bible. Nobody enjoys "safety" and "security" when the government becomes a tyranny which bans the Bible and people behave like pagans.

• The Bible promises that as Christianity pervades a society, even pagans will start acting like Christians.
• Then we will all enjoy "salvation."
•  Jesus is "the savior of all men, especially those who believe." 1 Timothy 4:10

Here are other key descriptions of Biblical "salvation," according to our mainstream source above:

• being placed in a "wide" space
• having "sufficient" quantities of things needed (God's Covenant promises more than you "need")
• opposite: having your options "narrowed"     \   Q.: Who does these things?
• opposite: being "restricted"                             | A.: Archists
• opposite: experiencing "distress"                   /   "Blessing" = "salvation" = freedom from archists
• "the ability to pursue one’s own objectives" without someone else telling you what to do and imposing their will on you by force
• living life unafraid of "dangers" [dangerous people, i.e., archists who threaten your liberty and prosperity]

The Bible describes "salvation" as being placed onto a large piece of property that supplies everything you need:

• Psalm 118:5 
  I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
• 2 Samuel 22:20 
  He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because He delighted in me.
• Genesis 26:22 
  He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” 
• Hosea 4:16 
  For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer: can now the LORD feed them as a lamb in a large place?
• Psalm 31:8 
  and hast not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast set my feet in a broad place.
• Psalm 18:19 
  He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
• Psalm 66:12 
  Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
• Psalm 69:35
  For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

In the Bible, Godly men are shown to be concerned about living in a “large” land. Of course, in a more agrarian society, “large” is better, as far as land goes. But when God promises to save us by putting us into a “large land,” it’s clear that more is included than going to heaven after living for decades in a narrow land before we up and die. What is the modern equivalent of a “large land?” It varies from person to person, but it includes some form of economic prosperity and political Liberty. “Liberty” and “large” are Biblical concepts we are not familiar enough with. Let’s review them and put them in our brains, so that as we read the Bible we will be more aware of them.

• Genesis 34:21
  “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
• Exodus 3:8
  So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
• Judges 18:10
  When you go, you will come to a secure people and a large land. For God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.” 
• 1 Chronicles 4:40
  And they found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and peaceful; for some Hamites formerly lived there.
• Nehemiah 7:4
  Now the city was large and spacious, but the people in it were few, and the houses were not rebuilt.
• Nehemiah 9:35
  For they have not served You in their kingdom,
        Or in the many good things that You gave them,
        Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
        Nor did they turn from their wicked works.

One of the blessings promised to the obedient in the Bible is "liberty."

• LEVITICUS XXV.X (25:10)
  proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.
• Psalm 119:45
  And I will walk at liberty,
           For I seek Your precepts.
• Isaiah 61:1
        “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
        Because the LORD has anointed Me
        To preach good tidings to the poor;
        He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
        To proclaim liberty to the captives,
        And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 
• Jeremiah 34:8
  This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them:
  Jeremiah 34:15-17
  15 Then you recently turned and did what was right in My sight—every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name. 16 Then you turned around and profaned My name, and every one of you brought back his male and female slaves, whom you had set at liberty, at their pleasure, and brought them back into subjection, to be your male and female slaves.’
  17 “Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim liberty to you,’ says the LORD—’to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine! And I will deliver you to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.
• 2 Corinthians 3:17
  Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
• James 1:25
  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
• James 2:12
  So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.

"Liberty" means "freedom." But "freedom from what?" In the pages of the Bible, the answer is almost always: "freedom from archists."

One of the blessings promised in Leviticus 26 is "peace," or freedom from those who bear the sword. Those who bear the sword are archists. They are also called in the Bible "enemies."

Of course, "freedom from" is always for the purpose of "freedom to" -- freedom to serve and obey the Lord.

The name "Jesus" comes from the Hebrew word Yhowshuwa', which is derived from yasha', which is the Hebrew word most frequently translated "salvation." "Jesus" means God will save. It was said of Jesus at His birth:

Luke 1:71  

That we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that hate us;

74 That He would grant unto us, that we
being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him [exercise dominion and build His Kingdom] without fear [living under our "vine and fig tree" "with no one to make them afraid" (Micah 4:1-7)]

This is what "salvation" means in the Bible.

The specific enemies Christians had in the first century were of the Jewish establishment, but I believe Jesus the Messiah will save us from our enemies today -- whoever they may be, whenever we live -- if we obey God's Law.

"But isn't the real meaning of salvation 'being forgiven of your sins and going to heaven when you die?'"

Most church-goers ask this.

Forgiveness of sins = restoration to fellowship with God,
Forgiveness of sins = restoration to our original Edenic Mandate to build the Kingdom of God.

Forgiveness of sins is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

The overwhelming majority of Christians today agree with Jews who say that Jesus is not the Messiah. The vast majority of Christians believe that Jesus will not reign as Messiah until there is a second Christmas -- a second Advent, or "second coming of Christ" -- which is really the first coming of the Christ, since at His first Advent Jesus came only as "savior," -- that is, someone who secures for us a ticket to heaven when we die -- and not as "Christ" -- that is, someone who delivers us out of the hand of our enemies, sets us in a wide open place, opens the bounties of heaven, and makes our land like Eden, so we can enjoy a  “Vine & Fig Tree” society.

Many Christians in our day say that the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, therefore He could only offer to be their Savior. This is so confused it's hard to know where to begin.

1. Most Jews accepted Jesus as Messiah; only the corrupt upper-crust establishment rejected Jesus (Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:7; 12:24; 19:20; 21:20; Matthew 13:31-33; John 12:24,42; 3:2; 11:45; 19:38; Colossians 1:6).
2. Jesus' claim to be a "savior" (i.e., to forgive sins [but not to punish sins as a Messiah would]), was considered blasphemous by the Jews who rejected Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12, Luke 5:18-26)
3. Just because someone does not want Jesus to reign over him as Messiah is no impediment to Jesus (Luke 9:14,27). Jesus reigned as Messiah over the apostate Jews by directing Titus to destroy those who rejected Jesus as Messiah with the Roman legions in AD 70.
4. There is no Biblical distinction between a "Messiah" and a "Savior."
   Most Christians today say Jesus came 2,000 years ago only as "Savior," and only when He comes again (in our future) will He reign as "Messiah." But if you look at how the Scriptures use the words "save" and "savior," you can easily see why no 1st-century Jew would have understood such a distinction. It is not in the Bible. In the Scriptures, "saviors" did the work of "messiahs." We saw above how Nehemiah says God sent many "saviors" to Israel after they became dissatisfied with their Gentile archist lovers:

   Nehemiah 9:27

   Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies that vexed them: yet in the time of their affliction, when they cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from the heaven, and through Thy great mercies Thou gavest them saviors, who saved them out of the hand of their adversaries (cp. Luke 1:71,74).

   The idea that Jesus is only a "savior" but not the Messiah is is not a Biblically tenable position. There is almost no hint in the Bible that any "savior" would do nothing to "save" his people in this life, but only in the next.

A "savior" brings "salvation." Doesn't that make sense? But what is "salvation?" It is not, Biblically speaking, going to heaven after you die, having lived a life without being "saved" in the holistic Biblical sense of that word. In the Bible, saviors brought freedom from archists for God's People. See the discussion of the Hebrew word for "salvation" above.

These "saviors" were sometimes called "judges." The various "kings" of Israel could also serve as "saviors" because they would "save" Israel from her oppressors (1 Samuel 9:16; 2 Samuel 3:18, etc.).

"Saviors" in the Old Testament served what we could call primarily "messianic" functions." Biblically speaking, "savior" is virtually a synonym for "messiah." And "Messiah" is a political term, that is, a term that does not have primary reference to us after death, but reference to our lives today, in their holistic cultural, social, political, civil, economic, recreational, and legal dimensions.

A "Messiah" brings political changes. A "savior" brings "salvation." But the Biblical definition of "salvation" is not just a short-term relief on the battlefield, but long-term liberty from archists. See the definition of the Hebrew word for "salvation," yasha, which we looked at above.

A true "savior" is the Messiah who brings Christian civilization, that is, "salvation" over the long haul, now over twenty centuries.  See the five books listed here: Christian civilization. (That's an important link.)

Jay Wile writes (An Interesting Observation from China | Proslogion):

Recently, I read an article by Dr. Paul Copan entitled, “Jesus-Shaped Cultures.”¹ In that article, he makes the case for how faithful Christians have transformed the societies they have served. For example, he discusses the Ethiopian famine that took place in 1984 and 1985. Brian Stewart, a CBC journalist, noted that it was Christians who were on the front lines of the famine, giving aid to the suffering. Their service was such a powerful witness to him that it started him on his journey to becoming a Christian himself.

While Copan’s article is interesting, it led me to a book that I thought was even more interesting. It is entitled Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, and it is written by David Aikman, who served as a journalist for Time Magazine from 1971 to 1994. In his role as a Time correspondent, he visited China several times and even lived in China for two years as Time’s bureau chief. He returned to China in 2002 to gather the information he needed to complete his book.

He begins the book in a dramatic way. It is worth quoting at length:²

The eighteen American tourists visiting China weren’t expecting much from the evening’s lecture. They were already exhausted from a day of touring in Beijing. But what the speaker had to say astonished them.

The Victory of Reason Listen Now | Download

“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world,” he said. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next, we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

This was not coming from some ultra-conservative think tank in Orange County, California or from Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. This was a scholar from China’s premier academic research institute, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing in 2002. (emphasis mine)

In his book, Aikman suggests that Christianity will transform China to the point where it won’t even be communist anymore. He suggests that in the next thirty years, nearly one-third of China could be Christian, making it one of the largest Christian nations in the world and a strong ally of the U.S.

2. David Aikman, Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China And Changing the Global Balance of Power, pp. 5-6

See also: The Iona Institute | Christianity the reason for West's success, say the Chinese

In asking whether Habakkuk's prophecy has been or is being fulfilled, and whether the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea, don't ask those who should admit that they know the Lord; ask the Scriptures whether they ought to admit it. Sometimes they won't, but many times they will. Truth is truth, whether we admit it or not.

Today, the Chinese are "streaming" to Zion (Micah 4:1-2). So are people in Latin America, Africa, and even India, according to Philip Jenkins. Humanity has been flowing to Zion for 2,000 years, but the rate may be accelerating. This phenomenon is not yet on the radar of archists. It will dramatically increase when Christians become widely recognized as a Dispute Resolution Forum. It will exsanguinate the State by doing so.

7. Gospel / Good News

• It is a way of looking at God and Providence. ("Government")
• It is a way of looking at our duty to serve our neighbors and the world. (service)
• It is a way of looking at prophecy and the future. (civilization)

Freedom from archists is the Gospel (good news).

Galatians 3:8
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed."

The Scripture preached "the Gospel" to Abraham.

Q.: What was the good news?
A.: World-wide blessing.
Q.: What is "blessing?"
A.: Salvation: Being delivered from our enemies and living securely in peace and prosperity, free from archists in a  “Vine & Fig Tree”  world.
Q.: How do we obtain God's blessing?
A.: By faithfully obeying His commandments.
Q.: Is that possible before the Second Coming?
A.: That is the promise of the New Covenant.

Jeremiah 31

³¹ “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— ³² not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. ³³ But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
²⁰ That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

Ezekiel 36:27

²⁷ And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Jeremiah 31:33 + Galatians 3:8
New Covenant = obedience to God's Law
New Covenant = blessing throughout the world
New Covenant = salvation/peace/safety
New Covenant = freedom from archists

Your church will not likely support you in pursuing New Covenant obedience to God's Law.
Especially if God's Law is understood as prohibiting archism.
You may be interested in joining "The Perfect Club."
Your church may become your mission field.

We have worked hard to create this website, and we're still working on it.
If you feel you have been helped by our work, remember that "the laborer is worthy of his hire" (Luke 10:7).

In 2012, the offices of Vine & Fig Tree were destroyed by a tornado. If you you can, please make a tax-deductible donation to Vine & Fig Tree. Or mail your check to "Vine & Fig Tree" P.O. Box 179 Powersite, MO 65731

Polis

"Polis" is the Greek word behind the English world "political." It is most often translated "city-state." The City in ancient Greece was often an independent State. It was also wholly religious, not "secular" as states today purport to be.

For more on the polis see here. For Biblical grounds to equate "Kingdom" and "Polis" see here.

Because man is created in the Image of God (see Kline above), man is qualified/commanded to build God's Messianic Kingdom on earth.

Jesus, the Jews, and the Torah

It is a popular myth that

• Jesus threw out the Law in favor of Grace
• The Jews were appalled at Jesus, because the Jews were "legalists" who observed every last detail of Old Testament Law, and were shocked at the idea of deviating from God's Law by one iota.

The Bible says the exact opposite:

• Jesus came to put God's Law into force (Matthew 5:17-20)
• The Jews rejected the Torah in the Scriptures and replaced God's Law with their own man-made customs and traditions (Mark 7:1-16).

For a thorough defense of this contrast, see Jesus and the Law of Moses (Torah). See also Why Jews Don't Believe In Jesus.

Can there be a "Good" Archist?

The British historian Lord Acton put it this way:

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.

The exercise of political power is problematic. We should assume that "great men" -- that is, powerful men -- men who wield "the sword," that is, the compulsory force of "the government" -- are morally corrupt. Bad men, not good men. This assumption should be considered confirmed if he increases his own power during his time of "public service."

The Demonic Imperial Paradigm

Nebuchadnezzar's statue (Daniel 2) represents the world before Christ. Before the Prince of Peace was born, the world was dominated by Satan and his minions. Life was violent. The "Preterist" believes that the Messiah bound the Strong Man at the beginning of the Messianic Reign. The Biblical "anarchist" believes that "civil government" has a demonic origin. Our job as Christians is to continue the task of putting to death the old man

• individually
• Socially and Politically: we need to kill off the vestigial remains of Nebuchadnezzar's statue -- Christ crushes this institution to powder when His saints reign through Him (Revelation 5:10; Revelation 22:5; Psalm 149:9).

Most church-goers believe that empires are good; that they are God-approved, morally legitimate, and socially necessary. You might think that many in Daniel's day and in Christ's day were doubtless confused by the prophecy of the destruction of the greatest empires in the world: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. After all, didn't these great empires provide social order? Wouldn't their destruction lead to "anarchy?" On the other hand, maybe they were smarter than we are. Maybe they suffered under conquest, tribute, forced labor, confiscation of children, random conscription, and other horrors of depraved, child-sacrificing homosexual would-be gods that they rejoiced at the thought. If they read the Bible, they knew that empires were a punishment "ordained" by God against a people who rebelled against God's Commandments. God ordained evils like "the sword." The Bible says all empires are evil. Their history is demonic. Their demonic character was clearly seen at the time of Christ. The Empire represents a refusal to allow God to be Lawgiver, Judge and King.

The claim that the binding of the demonic Strong Man occurred in the past, and the call to abolish archism in the present, are not refuted by a common misunderstanding of Romans 13. That passage is about the demonic "powers." God sovereignly controls all things, but that does not mean that God gives all things His moral seal-of-approval. The State has God's Seal-of-DISapproval. Our website on Romans 13 covers these issues in more detail:

www.Romans13.com

Night and Day

The New Testament was written in the last days of the Old Covenant. The "night" of the Old Age was passing (Hebrews 8:13). We are Now in the Daytime of the New Covenant, and we are now to live in the Day (Romans 13:11-13; Luke 1:78; Malachi 4:2; Revelation 22:5; 1 John 2:8). In fact, as James Jordan points out, the entire Old Covenant economy could be viewed biblically as being the “night” and the New Covenant as the “day.”

The moon, of course, governs the night (Psalm 136:9; Jeremiah 31:35), and in a sense the entire Old Covenant took place at night. With the rising of the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the “day” of the Lord is at hand (Malachi 4:1), and in a sense the New Covenant takes place in the daytime. As Genesis 1 says over and over, first evening and then morning. In the New Covenant we are no longer under lunar regulation for festival times (Colossians 2:16–17). In that regard, Christ is our light.²

Following this same idea, Zacharias prophesies at the birth of John the Baptist that he would be “the Sunrise from on high” who shall “shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:78–79). The light of Christ creates the everlasting day, so that in the New Jerusalem,

the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it (Rev. 21:23–24; compare Is. 60:19–20).

Christians who live in the Day do not need to kill. God will hold us to the higher standard.

“And [Jesus] came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:17-18).
This is the truly “good news” of the Star of Jacob, the Star of Bethlehem, and the King which it announces.
The American Vision: Why a Star?

1 John 2:22

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

Worldview

What is a "worldview?" It's becoming a popular word in some circles. A Worldview is a pair of glasses through which you view the world. It is the foundation upon which you build the structure of your life. It is the grid which filters and sorts billions of facts and makes sense out of life. A worldview can be active or passive, Christian or secular:

• Active: "It is my destiny to rule over others."
• Passive: "I'll never amount to much. I just take what comes my way."
• Christian: "God created me to enrich the lives of those in my family and my fellowman."
• Secular: "The universe is an accident. Mankind just evolved. I just do what I'm told. Maybe I'll win the lottery."

Most Christians look forward to Micah's age of peace. Vine and Fig Tree* differs from most other Christian organizations in our commitment to bring Micah's "Vine and Fig Tree" prophecy of Christian Globalism to fulfillment before the Second Coming of Christ. This idea strikes many Christians as heretical -- and many atheists as a delusion. Before they will be ready to be shown how to do so, they need to go through a program to convince them that it is legitimate to try. Accordingly, we have divided this list of V&FT websites into two parts:

1. The Legitimacy of Working to Fulfill Micah's "Vine and Fig Tree" Vision
2. The Tools to Help Fulfill Micah's "Vine and Fig Tree" Vision

Once you accept the goal of working to fulfill Micah's "Vine and Fig Tree" Prophecy, you'll hunger for the tools. But Part 1 is the hardest part. It requires rethinking many old, cherished ideas. Once those ideas have been turned inside out, it is possible to begin developing the skills needed to build on Micah's blueprint.

"Self-Evident Truths"

Vine and Fig Tree will be considered by most Americans to be a "radical" or "extremist" organization. Sam Adams' call for America to declare independence from Britain was considered by some to be radical and extremist, and many Americans did not actively support it.

Many people who are criticized as "extremists" are justly criticized for supporting a bad idea or cause (e.g., racism, jihad), and doing so in an obnoxious or violent manner. We believe there is no higher, more noble, or more ethical cause than working to bring about Micah's "Vine and Fig Tree" vision, and we are committed to doing so in a logical, winsome, and peaceful manner.

But those who feel that Vine and Fig Tree is "extremist" are correct, as we'll see below. Let's begin with America's Declaration of Independence. That document declares that there are certain "self evident" truths. Anyone who begins with these self-evident truths and pursues them with any consistency ends up with Micah's "Vine and Fig Tree" vision, as America's Founding Fathers did:

1. There is a Creator.
2. We know that The Creator is loving and personal, not the distant god of "deism," because the Creator is not silent, but has communicated His will to us: "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."
3. We were created by this Creator in His Image, not accidentally evolved in an eternally random, meaningless universe.
4. We have a duty to obey God's Law and thereby to secure the "rights" of our fellow man.

There is nothing more important for any human being than to line up under these self-evident truths. Our conscience tells us about these truths. Atheists are self-contradictory and self-destructive. Tyrants and dictators are dangerous because they seek to suppress these self-evident truths so that they may "be as gods" (Genesis 3:5). And everyone who rejects the grace of God and His atonement through Christ seeks to gain atonement by various degrees of a masochistic self-flagellation or a sadistic scapegoating of others. You can see this in members of your family or church, co-workers at the office, and genocidal extermination by the governments of the earth.

That is why there is a fifth element of the "self-evident truths" articulated by America's Founders:

5. When we infringe on the rights of others, we are playing God, and we sin against our neighbor, but primarily against God. We must have our sins forgiven through Jesus Christ.

On TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1781, "The United States in Congress assembled, agreed to the following proclamation":

The United States in Congress assembled, therefore do earnestly recommend, that Thursday the third day of May next, may be observed as a day of humiliation, fasting and prayer, that we may, with united hearts, confess and bewail our manifold sins and transgressions, and by sincere repentance and amendment of life, appease his righteous displeasure, and through the merits of our blessed Saviour, obtain pardon and forgiveness

On MARCH 6, 1799, President John Adams proclaimed a day of fasting and prayer, that Americans would

• call to mind our numerous offenses against the Most High God, confess them before Him with the sincerest penitence,
• implore His pardoning mercy, through the Great Mediator and Redeemer, for our past transgressions,
• and that through the grace of His Holy Spirit we may be disposed and enabled to yield a more suitable obedience to His righteous requisitions in time to come;

President Adams proclaimed a day of prayer to this Trinitarian God because "God's invisible attributes," "even  His eternal power and Godhead," are "clearly understood through the things that are made," so that atheists "are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)  Every human being ever created -- even those in so-called "pagan" lands -- need only take the next step to get back to God. We may not know exactly where that step will eventually lead us, but every human being, created in the Image of God, has a conscience that knows what the next step should be (Romans 2:14-15). This knowledge is often suppressed in favor of selfish and evil lifestyles (Romans 1:18-19). But this knowledge of the Triune God of the Bible is still "self-evident" to every human being.

America was clearly created as a Christian Theocracy.

Theocracy

"Theocracy" is a "self-evident" truth, though the word is passionately hated by many.

The word "theocracy" comes from two Greek words:

theos + kratein
God  governs

If God is over a nation as Ruler or "Supreme Judge," then that nation is "under God." Until very recently, America has always been considered as a nation "under God," which is to say God "rules" over America, which is to say America is a Theo-cracy. Obviously, given the statements of America's Founding Fathers above, America is a Christian Theocracy. More evidence of this is here:

www.LibertyUnderGod.org

Every nation is a "theocracy," because every nation has laws, and all laws are based on morality, and all morality is based on a religion or "worldview," and the ultimate principle that determines law, morals, and ethics is that system's god. The religion of "Secular Humanism" worships Man. In a "secular" nation, "Man" is god (which usually means "The State" is god or savior).

Secularists want Christians to believe that

• Secularism is "neutral," while Christianity is "religious."
• The Constitution prohibits the government from endorsing anything "religious."
• Therefore we must have a secular theocracy rather than a Christian Theocracy.

Of course, Secular Humanists never ever use the word "theocracy" to describe their own position, only that of the group they want to demonize as the boogey-man or the bad guy. But Secular Humanists want their god (Man) to be the ruler of our nation, rather than the God of the Christian Bible.

Secularists say that those who support "Theocracy" are "extremists." Secularists are against Christian Theocracy, and extremely so. The only people who accomplish anything in this world are "extremists."

Extremism

As we said above, your worldview is either Christian or non-Christian, active or passive.

• Active Christians believe that every human institution -- from the family, school, business, to the government -- has a duty to worship God.
• Activist atheists hate being reminded of this, and so seek to have all public mention of God and His Commandments prohibited by "the sword" (the State).
• Passive atheists don't believe in God, but don't do anything about copies of the Ten Commandments in public.
• Lukewarm Christians say they believe in God, but don't take action to see that God's Commandments are honored.

So the character and destiny of America is determined by the battle between activist Christian extremists and activist atheist extremists. Lukewarm Christians and atheists will have their lives shaped by the activists.

America was founded by activist Christians. The "self-evident truths" they declare in the Declaration of Independence strike at the heart of the atheist theocracy dreamed of by Secular Humanists. Our defense of these self-evident truths should be whole-hearted, not apathetic. Jesus says those who are not "extremists" -- passionate about these self-evident truths -- are nauseating to Him (Revelation 3:16). Micah's Vine and Fig Tree vision is one of world peace and health, a product of the global worship of Jesus Christ. There's something dysfunctional about a human being who is not fanatically in favor of the end of war and the conditions Micah describes: world salvation. Atheists don't react with alarm at lukewarm Christians who are easily controlled by secularists, but don't like the idea of Christians bringing about the global worship of God. So for the most part, Micah's Vine and Fig Tree vision is either loved or hated. Only the less-than-human are lukewarm.

Vine and Fig Tree is an attempt to secure and pursue these self-evident truths with passion. So that makes us

ChristianExtremists.org, .info

Bible

The idea of building a social, political, and intellectual philosophy on The Bible strikes Modern Man as foolish. You probably had a college professor who said, "The Bible is just an archaic collection of contradictions written by primitive peasants who believed in myths and passed these fairy tales down with additional contradictions and mistakes." You may have read some of the recent best-sellers or seen some of the many websites on the Internet which claim that the Bible not only contains examples of violence, but that it defends slavery, oppression, domination, and mass murder. Religion makes the world worse, they say, because it is a defense of non-rational delusions, clerical hypocrisy and the Spanish Inquisition (according to these websites), and only atheistic secularism can create a rational society.

Vine & Fig Tree disagrees with the modern view. Christianity has civilized the barbarians, freed the slaves, opened hospitals, and defended the weak and the poor. Christianity built Western Civilization. Atheism has built gulags, concentration camps, bureaucracies, and other monuments to self-ism and power. As Christians mature and become more like Christ, they become more humane; as atheism becomes more consistent with its own premises, it becomes more tyrannical, destructive, genocidal, even suicidal.

We believe every word in the Bible is the Word of God. We believe God had complete control over the prophets and the authors of the books and letters in the Bible, and they wrote the exact words God wanted to be written. The words communicate absolute truth which mends the torn fabric of life when put into practice. The starting point in every one of the Vine & Fig Tree websites is the Bible.

The Bible is the most significant book in all of human history. Even if you're an atheist you can admit this, if only for the same reason TIME Magazine selected Adolph Hitler as "Man of the Year" in its January 2, 1939 issue, an award given not to the best, but only to the most "significant." The Bible has had more influence on more people, creating more powerful and lasting institutions, than any other book in human history. The Bible is the history and blueprints of Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and thousands of missionaries that have altered governments and shaped the lives of billions of people. More books have been influenced by the Bible than any other book. If you're an atheist, you may not like that influence, but the Bible is more "significant" than any other book.

If you profess that the Bible is actually a revelation from God, then the Bible is more than "significant," it is awe-inspiring evidence of the grace of God. Imagine the Creator of the entire universe sitting down next to you on the front porch, explaining how the world came into being, how it works, and how you can "glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

The average church-goer has not read the Bible from cover-to-cover. This is not consistent with the claim that the Bible is a revelation from the Creator of the universe. How should a Christian treat the Bible? What place should it have in your life? What if today's televangelists have not been accurate in their presentation of the message of the Bible? Shouldn't you find out for yourself what the Bible says? What if kings, popes, inquisitors, and authors have not been consistent with Biblical principles?

On the other hand, what if they were from now on? What if businesses, schools, governments, and the media were to give to the Bible the place it deserves? The primary purpose of Vine & Fig Tree is to bring about a Bible-believing world. That means a Bible-literate world, and a Bible-practicing world.

Most people who say they don't believe the Bible have never read the Bible from cover to cover. Some who love to debate about the Bible have searched through the Bible solely with an eye to discovering "contradictions" and other excuses for not putting themselves under the authority of  "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Morality is the motive. When it comes to the Bible, there is no neutrality.

Even most people who claim to be "bible-believing" Christians have never read the Bible from cover to cover. For both Christians and atheists, we recommend starting here:

95Theses.info 
New95Theses.com .org

Following Martin Luther, The New 95 Theses cover the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, summing up the message of the Bible and the arguments in these Vine & Fig Tree websites. Reading these Theses and the Scripture prooftexts will introduce the reader to a whole-Bible view of Christianity which most "New Testament Christians" have never heard.

BereanBootcamp.com, .org

If you want to read the Bible, take the project seriously.

Acts 17:11  Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, in that they received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Go to Bible Tools

Theonomy

Theonomy.net

    The word "theonomy" comes from two Greek words, theos + nomos, meaning "God's Law." The practical meaning of the concept is that all of God's Word obligates us. We have a duty to take all of God's Word seriously, and obey its commands.
    The Bible says, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith" (1 John 5:2-4). If you want to love God and your neighbor, the Bible shows you how:  obey God's commandments. They are the blueprint for a Vine & Fig Tree society, a world free of violence and poverty, and God's Law is designed to show you how to gain victory over evil in your own life, so that you can play a vital role in seeing that God's Will is done "on earth as it is in heaven."

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8

    Too many Christians today only read the New Testament, and when they read the New Testament stripped of its Old Testament background, they give the New Testament a "neo-platonic" interpretation, based on pagan Greek ideas rather than Biblical Hebrew ideas. (See "Christian Reconstruction" below.)

WorshiptheWord.org

How much attention should we give to the Bible? Believe it or not, the Bible says we should worship the Bible. This website proves it, and shows how to Worship God's Word.

DominionCoaching.org

The concept of "Coaching" is discussed below. "Dominion" is discussed here because it is central to man's existence and a proper understanding of God's will for our lives. We were created to "exercise dominion over the earth" under God. This is the first commandment in history. Jesus said the first commandment in priority is to love God; the second is to love our neighbor. "The Law and the Prophets" is the "job description" for the human race: to love God, to help our neighbor love God, and to love our neighbor in tangible and material ways, such as illustrated by the "Good Samaritan." But we're not just individuals who give an individual cup of water to an individual thirsty person. We are also a Body and our corporate mission is a dominion covenant -- a God-given assignment to human beings to govern the planet in His name (Gen 1:26-28; 9:1-7). This means, as an example, thousands of people working together to invent steel, create huge pipes which can pump millions of gallons of drinkable water to millions of thirsty people.* Different members of a Body, each specializing in different functions, working in harmony. When we systematically and socially (corporately) love our neighbor, we are "exercising dominion." Comparing the first three chapters of Genesis with the Edenic imagery of the last chapters of Revelation reveals that man's purpose is to build "the New Jerusalem," giving all the glory for our success on the project to God. Adam was given the job of understanding all of nature (Genesis 2:19-20), and then building "the City of God."

"The goal is the developed Kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem, a world order under God's law."
R.J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1973), p. 357.

* There are some Christians who believe that massive industrialization cannot take place without violating God's commandments, such as laws concerning currency debasement, debt, and usury. They believe that if we develop Christian character in our families, neighborhoods and local businesses, that God will send rain and take care of the thirsty, without the need for steel mills, which some have argued cannot be shut down on the sabbath. These are very interesting and important questions. Those who subscribe to Vine & Fig Tree programs are able to participate in LIVE webcasts and online discussion forums to hammer out these issues.

To "exercise dominion" in a fallen world is to bring every area of life --with its autonomous violence and hatred -- under the dominion of Christ, and the influence of Theonomic love.

JustificationByAllegiance.com, .org

Martin Luther championed the doctrine of "Justification by Faith Alone." If you say to someone who follows Luther, "I am justified by my works," the Lutheran will be horrified. But what you said is straight out of the Bible. "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). Because of that verse, Luther believed the book of James should not be in the Bible. Anyone who says a book of the Bible shouldn't be in the Bible should himself be viewed with caution, and rigorous consistency with that man's opinions should not be our goal. How do we reconcile James and Luther (who quoted Paul)? This is a critical question, because millions of Christians believe they have no obligation to convert the world and reconstruct civilization; they are going to heaven because Jesus is their Savior, even if He is not their Lord. "Justification by Faith Alone" has become an obstacle to the Christianization of the world, along with its sister slogan, "we are not under law, but under grace," which means we don't have any duty or obligation to "exercise dominion over the earth" or obey any other command of God. The Bible says we're "justified by works." If you're disturbed by that idea, this website will force you to become a Berean and study the Scriptures more carefully.

TheTenCommandmentsOnline.com

Our laws are based on Biblical Law in general and the Ten Commandments in particular. All ten. This website shows the legal history in America. America was once the most admired nation on earth. Her greatness came from her honoring "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," summarized in the Ten Commandments. Biblical law was honored and enforced by the government. When you see how courts and legislators used the Ten Commandments (and the rest of God's Law, even from the Old Testament), you begin to see why there was less crime and more respect for others than there is today, when God's Law has been banned from schools and government-controlled institutions. Just as national greatness depends on obedience to God's Law, so does personal greatness.

Go to Theonomy Tools

God's Sovereignty

       How can the world ever be transformed into a Vine & Fig Tree world? Most people can't imagine this, because their God is a small god who lives only "down in my heart," or else their God is big, but lives very far away and never gets involved in our lives here on earth. Many other believe that man's will is "totally depraved," but -- ironically -- God can't violate man's "free will," so the world can only get worse and worse.

       Micah's prophecy begins with these words: "It shall come to pass." How does Micah know what will come to pass? How can he be so sure? There are only two possibilities.

• Micah is a good guesser, a clairvoyant, a psychic, or a medium, operating in a random, meaningless or demonic-controlled universe.
• God told Micah what would happen, and God knows because God predestinated the entire history of the universe from beginning to end.

       This is a subject that sharply divides many who call themselves Christians.

       There have always been many Christians who believe that when the history of this planet and this universe and every individual reaches its conclusion, "every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Romans 14:11-12; Philippians 2:9-11). If God is Sovereign then this prophecy is absolutely true, absolutely guaranteed, and God knows how every molecule in the universe will work toward this goal. If God is not Sovereign, then this prophecy is just a guess, or a wish, and maybe every knee will bow to Satan instead. "Who knows?"

       God knows.

       Understanding God's Sovereignty is the key to understanding the Bible and growing in obedience to the Bible as God's very Word. It is the key to having faith and being able to persevere in our assignment until we're victorious.

       God is the Creator. He created everything that exists. Creation implies predestination. The entire universe, from beginning to end, was predestined; that is, before it was created, it was a plan in the mind of God, who determined that it would come into existence.

       Nobody was around when God created the universe. Nobody forced God to create the universe a certain way. God created the universe exactly the way He wanted it, ex nihilo - out of nothing. There was no guess-work involved because God is omniscient (omni-, all; science, knowledge). God created every single molecule in the universe, and there was no other being, force, or "natural law" in the universe to prevent God from creating everything exactly the way He wanted it. A decent computer programmer can tell you what his program will do if you turn on the computer and press a certain button. A bad programmer can only guess what the computer will do. God is more knowledgeable than the best computer programmer. He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) because He created the universe to move to that end. God has told us what history will do, because God created history.  God created time, space, and matter, exactly the way He wanted it, knowing exactly what would happen because He created it to happen His way. History is His-story.

       Nobody can be a prophet unless God tells that prophet what is going to happen (Isaiah 41:22,23; 44:7; 45:21; Daniel 4:35; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 43:13). God can tell us what the future holds because God created the past exactly the way He wanted it, so that it would produce exactly the future that God wants (a human way of speaking, since the "past" does not "create" the future, God creates the future). God does what He wants because He created all things and owns all things. God had complete, exhaustive knowledge of everything He created, because everything which can be known was created by God. There are no surprises for God. All of these ideas are summed up in the word "predestination."

PredestinationOnline.com

     This is perhaps the Internet's most radical website on predestination, showing that God predestines every action in history, every molecule in the universe.
     Many people who believe in "free will" think it is necessary to deny the Sovereignty of God in order to protect our "free will." They say that if God has predestined the movement of every molecule in the universe, that would include the very molecules of our brains, our thoughts and emotions, which are electrical currents passing through the synapses in our brain. If God predestined what human beings think, feel and do, them human beings are just robots, and are not "free."
     Yet the Bible says human beings are created in the Image of God; we are not impersonal computers like a human computer programmer would create. We are not like the animals, trees, or rocks. When most people say "I have free will" what they really mean is "I am created in the Image of God." Because we really are created in the Image of a loving and personal God, we really do have the capacity to reason, to reflect, to pray, to understand the revelation of God's will, and to choose to obey it. We will (appropriately) be held accountable for all our actions in this life. Our being true persons -- not impersonal randomly-mutated conglomerations of chemicals, but personal beings created in the Image of God -- is not contradicted by being predestinated by God. Our being truly personal beings depends on being predestinated by a truly personal and loving God. Throughout history, those who have affirmed the "free will" of man by denying predestination by God have eventually become evolutionists, because only in an impersonal random evolving universe can there be complete "freedom" from God.
      The universe is not impersonal. It was not created by a random, meaningless evolutionary process. It reflects the loving personality of God, because every molecule was created by God, has a place in the plan of God, and is upheld by God (Colossians 1:17). Theologians speak of "providence." We speak of

AstonishingProvidence.com

On August 1, 1776, Samuel Adams delivered a speech at the State House in Philadelphia "to a very numerous audience." He said:

There are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing providence in our favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and almost given faith to infidels; so we may truly say it is not our own arm which has saved us. The hand of Heaven appears to have led us on to be, perhaps, humble instruments and means in the great providential dispensation which is completing. We have fled from the political Sodom; let us not look back lest we perish and become a monument of infamy and derision to the world.

As we will see below, not a single person who signed the U.S. Constitution could be called a "deist." All the Signers believed that God intervened in American history in a supernatural way in direct response to the prayers of the colonists. God moves entire empires to free the godly and enslave the wicked. When we obey God's Commandments, God moves all of nature to bless us. When we disobey God's Commandments, God sends us to "political Sodom" for judgment. "Liberty Under God" is the theme of Sam Adams' vision of Providence. It is also Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision. See "Capitalism" and "America, 1776." The opposite of this vision is state-socialism. Man's law (the welfare state/the warfare state) is designed to foster man's predestination over his fellow men. God's Law promotes a Vine & Fig Tree society in God's Providence. According to the Bible, nature and human society are both under the providential care of God. Both are healthy and prosperous when human beings repudiate the selfish violence of humanistic (man-centered) autonomy and embrace the theonomic (God-centered) dominion and loving service of others prescribed by God's Law (Theonomy).

We love because He first loved us.

Go to Predestination Tools

If the Prophet Micah or the Apostle Paul could sit down with you right now as you're looking at your computer monitor, and you were to explain how the words you're reading began on my keyboard and came to your home, and how interconnected we all are, with computer builders, software designers, phone companies, satellites, cable companies, supplied by trucks, trains, and planes, linking us together, and how America now consists of 300 million people, the majority of whom claim the name of Christ, and how for 200 years Americans are generally able to walk the streets or travel across the country without carrying a sword, and how even the people we call "poor" own television sets, cars, and many own homes which are more luxurious than those owned by kings in Paul's day, and if Micah and Paul could walk down the aisles of your local grocery store, and hear the stories of how all those products got from field and factory to the store, both Micah and Paul would say that Christ has brought about the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy. They would be astounded. They would break down in tears and profusely praise God. We live in truly amazing, wonderful times.

Yet you and I complain a lot. We have so many problems. Millions of people think the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy is hopeless until Christ comes again. Millions of people believe the world is getting worse and worse and Jesus is soon going to "rapture" all the Christians away and let the planet go the remaining short distance to hell. It is, after all "The Late Great Planet Earth," where "Satan is Alive and Well."

There are clearly two very different ways of looking at the world, at life, at progress, and at the future. One view seeks to create heaven on earth (and has done quite well, at least in the eyes of Biblical writers), while the other is content to permit hell on earth, expecting Jesus to give us a new heaven and new earth on a silver platter. This is why it is important to study the Biblical doctrine of dominion and eschatology

Eschatology

"Eschatology" is the study of "last things." John wrote,

"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." (1 John 2:18)

The word last is the Greek word eásxatov, eschatos. The Apostles understood they were living in "the last days" of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 1:2; 1 Peter 1:20), when the Messiah came to establish His Kingdom. This is when the Gospel began to be preached and the nations began streaming to the House of God in Micah's prophecy. Christians who settled the New World in the 1600's believed we should and could Christianize the world before the Second Coming.

Many Christians do not accept this view of eschatology. They believe the world is getting worse and worse, with the real king, Satan, calling the plays. This demonic quarterback is kicking our team's butt, and our only hope is for Jesus to come soon, to pick up His planetary football and go home. "This was the blessed hope of the early church," they say. A cult called "The Plymouth Brethren" made this view popular only about 200 years ago, and it came to dominate evangelicalism by the 1970's, but after so many followers falsely predicted the Rapture in 1981 (40 years after the formation of the State of Israel in 1948, minus 7 years of Tribulation) and then again in 1988, the view is rapidly losing its most passionate supporters.

This once-popular pessimistic view has been called "pessimillennialism." The fastest growing view of the future, however, might be called "optimillennialism."

Optimillennialism.com, .org 

This is the view that Christians will unite to create heaven on earth, as Jesus prayed: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God did not make a mistake when He created Earth and placed human beings on it to "exercise dominion." This is a huge theme of the whole Bible, but it is negated by a handful of passages taken out of context and used to create a popular but destructive vision of the future. To counter that vision, we offer:

Part of the belief that "Jesus is coming soon" is the prediction that evil is getting stronger and stronger, and things are getting "worse and worse" -- a self-fulfilling prophecy, if Christians stop working and start waiting for the Second Coming. Why would you choose to believe that the earth is being surrendered to Satan rather than conquered by Christ? The Bible is not the story of God losing out to Satan and being forced by Satan to destroy the entire planet in frustration. If you wish to believe the more optimistic view, you will find yourself supported by the Bible -- the whole Bible, from cover to cover. Here are places to begin:

TheChristmasConspiracy.com

"Conspiracy theories" abound in our day. This website is calculated to attract people looking for conspiracies. Four thousand years after the First Adam appeared on earth, the Last Adam appeared (1 Corinthians 15:45,22), during the days of the Roman Empire (Galatians 4:4). When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, all these prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. One of these prophecies included the destruction of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45). How is it a tiny Babe born in a feeding trough was able to topple the mighty Roman Empire? TheChristmasConspiracy advances the idea that the Messiah came to earth to topple all empires -- including our own, an empire that has taken the place of a once Christian nation, The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings under Christ, our job is to pull off the greatest conspiracy in history, overthrowing the empire begun by the first Adam and building the New Jerusalem in its place.

Pessimillennialism began in 4004 BC, and consists of 6,000 years of failure, capped off by a "millennium" that also ends in failure.

Go to Eschatology Tools

America 1776

LibertyUnderGod.com

America's Founding Fathers were Christian libertarians. They abolished the British government and began an "experiment in liberty," where no act of government was legitimate without the "consent of the governed." This was a radical break from the days of the "divine right of kings" in Europe, in which every act of the king was presumed to be ordained (approved) by God. In America, Social order was to be maintained by self government (morality) under God (religion).

"Liberty" means freedom from the initiation of force or violence by others, especially by the greatest initiator of force, "the government." Liberty exists when all people are committed to obeying "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "government" is the greatest threat to "Liberty Under God." What would America be like if she were consistent with these principles?

LibertyUnderGod.org

The LibertyUnderGod.com domain emphasizes the "Liberty" aspect of "Liberty Under God," while the LibertyUnderGod.org domain emphasizes the "Under God" aspect. America's Founding Fathers believed that Christianity, not the Constitution, held America together. America was a theocracy both before and after the ratification of the Constitution. See also:

IsAmericaAChristianNation.com, .org

The answer is YES. Nobody denies that the Puritans established theocracies in Massachusetts and early colonial America. Did the Constitution of 1789 change America into a secular nation? The U.S. Supreme Court now says yes, but during the 19th century (especially in notable cases in 1844 and 1892) the United States Supreme Court emphatically declared that America was a Christian nation. This fact has been lost on a generation educated in atheistic government-run schools. This is the largest website on the internet with comprehensive resources on America's Christian heritage and why the ACLU is wrong about the "separation of church and state."

July4th1776.org

But America's Founding Fathers were not entirely consistent with the vision of "Liberty Under God." After abolishing the British government, they established another, which has devolved into the imperialist Reich we have today. The root failure may have been the willingness to take up arms and resort to violence against the British, a government incomparably more libertarian and Christian than the one we have today. Violence against governments, that is, decentralized violence against centralized violence, only perpetuates violence. This website explains why the American Revolution was a violation of Romans 13 and other Biblical principles on peace, non-resistance and non-violence.

Romans13.com, .org, .info

This is perhaps the most abused passage of Scripture in history. In Romans 12 Paul commands us to reject vengeance and violence, and do good to our enemies, and without chapter divisions in the original Greek, he goes on to say, in effect, "even the State." He refers to the State as "the powers," a reference throughout the ancient world to the demonic nexus between evil and empire (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15, etc.). But Romans 13 has been used throughout the modern history of the church to buttress the legitimacy and power of the State. We are to submit to the State not because it is good, but because we are to submit to all evil.

Go to "Second American Revolution" Tools

Capitalism

If you think of words like "robber barron" and "exploitation" when you hear the word "capitalism," you're a victim of educational malpractice. You've learned about capitalism from socialists.

Just a few generations ago, the vast majority of human beings lived in poverty. The exceptions were kings and emperors. Today, ordinary people like you and me enjoy wealth which those who lived a couple of centuries ago could not even dream about. It is capitalism which has brought hundreds of millions of human beings out of poverty. The rest of the world -- the world of poverty and disease -- still lives under emperors and despots.

The essence of "capitalism" is private property free from violence. This is also Micah's Vine & Fig Tree ideal: everyone dwelling safely under his vine and fig tree; a vision of private property in a world which has repudiated violence by beating "swords into plowshares."

If you ask most university professors for their feelings about "capitalism," you will get negative reactions. Most Americans sort of grudgingly support capitalism rather than socialism, but very few people consider themselves fanatic supporters of "capitalism," and almost no one supports pure laissez-faire capitalism, with no socialism whatsoever. Nearly everyone believes that capitalists rip off the poor unless bridled by wise and compassionate government politicians (who -- don't reveal the secret! -- are nearly always businessmen or friends of businessmen who do favors for their colleagues and will return to business after their stint in "public service). Many vigorous critics of "capitalism" define capitalism as an exploitative collusion between business and the State. All of these definitions of capitalism come from people who are against freedom and in favor of government planning and regulation.

Every scholar who describes himself as a vigorous defender of capitalism rejects those definitions, and contends that

True capitalism is a social system based on the rejection of the initiation of force or violence against others.

That definition will come as a surprise to most people. Most people are as ignorant about the real meaning of capitalism as they are about the real meaning of the Bible. The Bible is about loving your neighbor, including the poor; it is not about perpetuating clerical hierarchy or "religion." Capitalism is about loving your neighbor (and the poor are the greatest beneficiaries of capitalism); it is not about buttressing the power of corporations or the State.

Many people equate "capitalism" with "competition," which has violent connotations of big business crushing the mom 'n' pop store, management crushing labor, monopolists crushing consumers, the rich crushing the poor, "dog-eat-dog" "law of the jungle." Those who defend capitalism will explain that "competition" really means freedom. If a monopolist is crushing consumers, freedom of competition means I can set up a business to compete with the monopolist, offering consumers a better choice -- without government officials (elected by the monopolist) telling me I can't. "Competition" means the freedom to serve the consumer in more effective ways than the competition. In a world without force or fraud, service is the only way to profit.

"The Invisible Hand"   In 1776 Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations in which he explained how capitalism creates the wealth of nations. If you're reading these words on a computer monitor or printed out from a personal computer you are wealthy beyond the imagination of every single human being alive in 1776. Yet most people are ignorant of how this extraordinary wealth came into being. They are unable to defend the system that created it. That system is capitalism. Not the visible hand of a dictator or bureaucracy, but the invisible hand of voluntary associations of millions of human beings. Smith said:

Every individual neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our necessities but of their advantages. He is led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.

In God's Providence, voluntary associations and exchanges make the world a better place. When I give you 50 cents for the newspaper you sell, you are not "ripping me off," because I value your newspaper more than I value my 50 cents. Nor am I "ripping you off." You value my 50 cents more than you value your newspaper. Every business deal is a transaction of mutual benefit, and trillions of mutually beneficial transactions take place every day, bettering the world -- as long as the transactions are voluntary and the participants observe "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." A world under God's Law has no need for dictators, czars, bureaucrats, and prime ministers.

The whole world knows that capitalism works and socialism is a failure. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union shout this truth across the globe:

• Capitalist countries are free and prosperous; life is cherished. Everyone is wealthy.
• Socialist countries are enslaved and impoverished; life is disposable. Everyone is poor (except the government).

And yet, virtually everyone in the United States has been trained in government schools and by a government-dominated media to believe that

• socialism would be better than capitalism -- somehow
• government regulation is better than the "invisible hand" of the Free Market
• no economy can succeed without some socialism.

This is the same as saying that we must not eliminate all threats of violence and the initiation of force against others. This is a denial of Micah's command to beat swords into plowshares.

Both the Bible and Capitalism are about peace. Most people believe something nearly opposite.

Laissez-FaireCapitalism.com, .org

"Laissez-faire" comes from a French phrase meaning "let us do," or "let us work" -- let us do what we do best.

• Let Henry Ford make cars so efficiently and at such a low price that even the poor can own one, whereas once only the rich could.
• Let Bill Gates make software that enables even the most machine-shy to operate a computer.
• And let Sam Walton establish a chain of stores to sell the products of capitalists in every American town.

Socialism could never have done these things, so we say to socialists, "Laissez-faire!" Pure laissez-faire capitalism is commerce and society without any regulation, intervention, interference, or any initiation of force by "the State."

The core issue is not "the laws of economics," mathematical formulas or supply-demand curves. The core issue is character: "piety and virtue," to use a phrase common to America's Founding Fathers. We have come to accept a profound defect in character: the desire to rule rather than to serve; the desire to exercise power as a socialist central planner where profit is coercively extorted from farmers, manufacturers and merchants, rather than serve consumers in a market where risks are taken and personal responsibility assumed, and where rewards are voluntarily bestowed. What one generation tolerates in "moderation," the next generation will practice in excess.

Go to Capitalism Tools

Christian Reconstruction

Very few have heard of this idea, but it was an influential movement that created "the Religious Right" and helped elect Ronald Reagan, even though Christian Reconstructionism is highly critical of the Religious Right and Reagan's secular conservatism. Christian Reconstructionists proclaim "the crown rights of King Jesus." They argue that it is the moral obligation of Christians to recapture or destroy every institution for Jesus Christ.

• To be recaptured: businesses, schools, universities, the media (Internet, the printing press, cinema, music, radio, TV, etc.) the arts and the sciences; etc.
• To be destroyed: organized crime, totalitarian dictatorships, etc.

The means by which this task will be accomplished is Biblical Law. These are the "tools of dominion." The Christian Reconstruction movement believes that these four doctrines represent consistent Calvinism and the mature thinking of the Protestant Reformation:

1. The Sovereignty of God
2. Theonomy: Biblical Law
3. Optimistic Eschatology
4. Presuppositional Apologetics (no neutrality)

ChristianReconstruction.org, .info, .net, .biz

The far-left is much more familiar -- and alarmed -- at Christian Reconstruction than most moderate conservatives. Ironically, the left is just now catching on to a movement that has seen its founder (R. J. Rushdoony) die, and has already seen its peak influence. Will this movement ever regain its influence?

Optimillennialism.com, .org

Described above; this website explains why the Bible instructs us to have long-term optimism about the future.

ChristianizeTheWorld.com, .org

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter declared after 9/11:

We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war.

* Some will dispute this claim, arguing that the Reformation could not have succeeded without support from European princes, and virtue in America could not have been sustained without government-imposed Christianity in the common schools.  These are very interesting and important questions. Those who subscribe to Vine & Fig Tree programs are able to participate in LIVE webcasts and online discussion forums to hammer out these issues. The genius of Western Civilization is not the political or military imposition of Christianity, but freedom from government strangulation of self-government and personal responsibility.

Coulter is right to shock secular humanists by upholding the goal of Christianizing the world. But hers is not a Christ-like strategy. This is not how the Roman Empire was overthrown and Europe was Christianized.* We believe in converting everybody, and killing no one. Together with optimillennialism.com and ChristianGlobalism.com this website seeks to provide Biblical evidence that Christianizing the world is the Church's goal. The next website focuses on the means to this end.

TheChristmasConspiracy.com

When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, all theses prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem.

Go to Christian Reconstruction Tools

Misunderstandings of Christian Globalism

"Open Borders" destroys American jobs. Our answer.

Non-Anglo-Saxon races destroy "our" culture and standard of living. Our answer.

Prayer

The first tool for the fulfillment of Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision is prayer.

Vine & Fig Tree's prayer page is a daily program of prayer for global Christianization. It follows Q.98 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Prayer is

• an offering up of our desires unto God
• for things agreeable to His will,
• in the name of Christ,
• with confession of our sins,
• and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.

This program dramatically re-orients our focus and opens the channels of God's blessings.

Character

The second tool for the fulfillment of Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision is our own disciplined character.

"Voting" for the "right" candidate is not the answer. These candidates would have to have developed the character traits required to pursue and fulfill Micah's vision before a Christian could vote for them. But nearly all politicians have been moving in the opposite direction for years, beating plowshares into swords and seducing people away from Micah's "Jerusalem."

If you want to be rewarded by Christ for being a trusty tool for the building of His Kingdom and the fulfillment of Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision, you have to be sharp and solid. This means developing the character of Christ. All of our daily programs feature a process of character development taken from the Psalms, in which David vows to be useful to God. Christians who are working to fulfill Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision are working to become:

Benjamin Franklin observed, "[O]nly a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." A world in which property is safe from princes and pirates, with every one dwelling safely under his own Vine & Fig Tree, is a world in which the vast majority have been trained from infancy to live out these character traits. A world in which a majority believe they are not qualitatively different from pigs is a world in which the life and property of human beings is up for grabs, and the grabbers and the grabbees will both cry out for powerful political messiahs to bring them their version of "salvation."

Bible

Since the Bible is foundational, we must learn the Bible.

Capitalism and the Bible: A Parallel.    As we have seen, many people think of "capitalism" as a rationalization for the exploitation of the poor by the rich. Most of these people have never read a book about capitalism by someone who defends capitalism (most economics textbooks are written by critics of capitalism, defenders of government planning). Capitalism, as we have seen, means freedom from violence, emphasizing the harmony of interests that exist between people, and pointing to the possibility of peace and prosperity, where the poor are the greatest beneficiaries of the benevolent nature of capitalism. In the same way, people who suspect that capitalism hurts the poor have vague suspicions about the Bible, but have never read the Bible from cover to cover or a defense of the Bible as a blueprint for a non-violent, non-hierarchical society. Most Americans -- even most church-goers -- have gotten their ideas about the Bible from university professors, Hollywood thespians, and the wealthy adult handlers of adolescent rock-stars, all of whom deep-down hate the Bible and capitalism. In V&FT programs you'll find an intelligent, well-documented defense of a libertarian Vine & Fig Tree society.

Most church-goers have never read the Bible from cover to cover. They're acquainted with a few verses, but most of the Bible's pages collect dust. If the Bible is the Word of God, then all of the Bible is important. Most of the Bible is about the conflict between socialism and Vine & Fig Tree-style capitalism. There are whole books in the Bible about governments (Judges, Kings) and most of the Prophets preach against governments. This is certainly an important, if not the dominant theme of the Bible, yet most people assume the Bible is mostly about going to heaven when you die. Vine & Fig Tree offers programs that teach the Bible in a way no one else does, combining a reading of the Bible with a practical, real-world application of its principles, including examples of application by America's Founding Fathers, the Puritans, the Reformers, and Christians during the so-called "Dark Ages" (which weren't "dark" at all). These programs offer insight into the Bible unlike anything you'll get from either end of the spectrum. These programs encourage and empower you to help create a Vine & Fig Tree society.

Here's how we do it:

BereanBootcamp.com, .org

The Bereans are described in Acts 17:11:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Being a "Berean" is something every Christian should strive for. This website offers a program to learn the Bible by reading through the Bible and the Westminster Catechisms and Confession of Faith, written around 1647, and very influential in the founding of America.

BibleBootcampOnline.com, .org

This website is for those who don't know what a "Berean" is. It is the same program offered at "BereanBootcamp.com"
Most Christians are out of shape and need spiritual exercises. That's the purpose of a Bible Boot Camp.

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer.   2 Timothy 2:3-4 (NRSV) You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 ("The Message") And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules. 2 Timothy 2:5 (NRSV) Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

This boot camp is like doing 1,000 push-ups a day. Doing so equips you to handle the heaviest problems in life, and to exercise dominion under God.

ExtraordinaryChristianCoaching.com

To become an extraordinary Christian, you need an extraordinary Christian coach. Actually, an ordinary Christian coach will do, because merely having a coach to help you become an extraordinary Christian is an extraordinary thing. How many Christians do you know who are taking classes on how to become an extraordinary Christian? How many Christians do you know who are spending more time during the day to become an extraordinary Christian than they spend watching TV or the mainstream media? This is what separates the men from the boys. Having a coach is what separates the also-ran from the Gold Medal Winner.

YourBibleCoach.com, .org

This is also the same program, but with additional personal support offered. See "Coaching" below.

Theonomy

TheTenCommandmentsOnline.com

America's laws were based on Biblical Law in general and the Ten Commandments in particular. All ten. This website shows the legal history in America. Then the Ten Commandments are broken down following the model in the Westminster Larger Catechism. The Westminster Catechism was universally taught to children of colonial America. It was found in schools for the first 300 years of American history. It was the foundation of America's greatness. Based on the catechism, this website features a program for a "searching and fearless moral inventory" requiring rigorous honesty, which paves the way for the application of God's Law in our personal lives, spreading out to family, school, business, welfare, and ChristianGlobalism. But this is not a social treatise like Rushdoony's Institutes of Biblical Law. It builds on that foundation, but the emphasis is on "recovery" -- eliminating defects of character, killing the "old man," and putting on Christ. It is practical and personal. The benefits are extraordinary.

      Following God's Commandments will make you an extraordinary person. God's Commandments create the character of Christ in you.

Those who seek to bring about the fulfillment of Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision don't just proclaim a message, they become the message. Our message is Christ. We are willing to live the message and incarnate the character of Christ:

The Character of Christ - View Character Trait Accomplished Accurate Alert Amiable Analytical Aspiring Available Bold Calm Cautious Charitable Chaste Cheerful Composed Concentration Confident Contentment Cooperative Courage Courteous Creativity Decisiveness Dependability Diligence Discernment Discretion Earnest Efficiency Emotions Endurance Energy Enthusiasm Expressiveness Fair-mindedness Faithful Flexibility Foresight Forgiveness Frankness Frugality Generosity Gentleness Goal Apprehension Goal Direction Gratefulness Honesty Hope Hospitality Humility Industry Initiative Interest in People Kindness Loyalty Manners Maturity Meekness Memory Motivation of Others Music Neatness Objectivity Organization Overcomer Non-violent Parenting Patience Perfection Perseverance Persistence Persuasiveness Planning Punctuality Purposefulness Reading Recovery Relaxation Resoluteness Resourcefulness Respectfulness Responsibility Reverence Security Self-Assurance Self-Discipline Self-Education Self-Improvement Self-Respect Self-Starting Sensitivity Sincerity Speech Success Thoroughness Thriftiness Tolerance Touch Truthfulness Virtuous Wisdom Work for Quality

Our goal is to be approved by Christ, but as we develop the character of Christ by obeying God's Commandments, we find we have the approval and admiration of other admirable people.

God's Sovereignty

There are no additional "tools" or websites under this category. The websites described above contain all the information about God's Sovereignty that is needed to understand Micah's "Vine & Fig Tree" prophecy, and the rest of our websites contain the action steps to put this belief into practice. [back]

Education

TheLifelongLearner.com, .org

Our efforts to create a "Vine & Fig Tree" society depend on persuading adults that they cannot stop formal education with high school or college, but should be learning and growing throughout their entire lives. Not accidentally learning, but intentionally learning, or even formally learning. It is a mistake to think of childhood as a time of education alone and no work, and equally a mistake to think of adulthood as a time of work alone and no education.

Deuteronomy 5:1  And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them.

Proverbs 9:9   Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.

Isaiah 1:17   Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.

Micah 4:3   He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

In the modern age, ironically, childhood is being stripped of education, and adults only work to be able to purchase "adult toys." In the Bible, both age groups, which were commanded to work and learn God's Word, were commanded to periodically engage in resting and feasting, times of re-creation, worship, and celebration, which in the modern world has been reduced to "play."
Lifelong learning increases the benefits of both work and rest.

HomeschoolingForAdults.com, .org

Adults who homeschool their kids and kids who have been homeschooled should be committed to lifelong learning.

Eschatology

The key to understanding eschatology is actually the past. There are two radically different views of the future, and they are the result of differing views of the past. Most Christians never give serious attention to the choice between these two views.

One view says sin reigned for 4,000 years, then Christ came at the first Christmas and inaugurated what Dispensationalists call a "parenthesis" age. After this "parenthesis age" is the "millennium," where Christ comes again and reigns for 1,000 years, at which time Satan musters an army against the King of kings in a global rebellion which Satan is just about to win, but Christ ends the game by taking His cosmic football and going home. In other words, the entire historic purpose of the human race -- to exercise dominion over the earth under God -- the reason why God created the human race and put us on this planet -- is never fulfilled. The past (God's purpose for creating human beings as stated in Genesis 1:26-28) has no bearing on the future. Even Christ cannot fulfill God's divine purpose. Satan and evil have ultimate dominion in history (time).
History = 6,000 years of sin + an aborted 1,000 year Kingdom = 7,000 years of satanic dominion. This is why we call it "pessimillennialism."

There is another view, one in which God's Dominion Mandate sees fulfillment in history. When the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower, a majority of all Christians sang the "Gloria Patri":

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.

That last line is completely unintelligible to most modern Christians, as are these verses from the King James Version (1611):

Isaiah 45:17
But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

Ephesians 3:21
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Does God have bigger plans for planet earth than a mere 6,000 years of rebellion, failure and evil and 1,000 years of an almost-but-not-quite Millennial Kingdom? Does Christ's Kingdom last a shorter period of time than the Byzantine Empire (c. 300-1453 A.D.)?

Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end

Is human life on earth predestined to be

• sinful, unjust, impoverished, and short   -- or is life progressively
• holy, righteous, prosperous, and vast

If the Apostles and Prophets could travel through time to our day, they would fall on their knees in gratitude to God for the progress the Gospel has made over the centuries since the first Christmas.

4,000 years of human history before the coming of Christ were dismal and mainly downward. 2,000 years since Christ's Advent have been mainly upward and have already seen more promised blessings than in the entire history of man before Christ: ten times the blessings in half the time. When Christ was executed, His 12 followers abandoned Him. Today, after His resurrection and enthronement at the right hand of God, there are over 900 million people who claim to be Christian, and enjoy a standard of living higher than any apostle could have even imagined. There are six billion human beings on the planet. Greek philosophers in the days of Christ would have emphatically denied that the earth could ever sustain six billion people (just as Malthusian evolutionists did in the 19th century). Most of them live in comparative peace. Human beings in the Old Covenant age were statistically far more likely to die in a war than any human being on earth today. We hear of "wars and rumors of wars" every night on the Evening News. Did you really expect them to talk about the progress of Christ's Kingdom?

The Bible is a very large book, yet most people are only familiar with a few verses. There are untapped reservoirs of Biblical truth which open up a new way of looking at life and your purpose in it. God placed human beings on earth to enjoy optimillennial dominion. Are you working to create heaven on earth for future generations, world without end?

Christian Dominion begins with an understanding that Jesus is not "coming soon."

NotComingSoon.org, .net

One of the most dangerous beliefs in the history of post-apostolic Christianity is the belief that "Jesus is coming soon." Nearly every page of the New Testament says that Christ's Second Coming was "near," and "at hand." Jesus said it would happen before that 1st-century generation died out. Either it happened, or Jesus was a false prophet.

For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
Matthew 16:27-28

Part of the belief that "Jesus is coming soon" is the prediction that evil is getting stronger and stronger, and things are getting "worse and worse" -- a self-fulfilling prophecy, if Christians stop working and start waiting.

Optimillennialism.com, .org 

The pessimistic view dominated Christianity in the 20th century. We call it "pessimillennialism." The fastest growing view of the future in the 21st century, however, might be called "optimillennialism." This is the view that Christians will unite to create heaven on earth, as Jesus prayed: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It is a long-term view, and recognizes that the value of "the Church" (the Body of Christ) is greater than the sum of its individual members.

Why would you choose to believe that the earth is being surrendered to Satan rather than conquered by Christ? The Bible is not the story of God losing out to Satan and being forced by Satan to destroy the entire planet in frustration. If you wish to believe the more optimistic view, you will find yourself supported by the Bible. The whole Bible, from cover to cover. Here are places to begin:

Preterism

"Preterism" comes from the Latin word for "past." It is the fastest-growing view of Biblical Prophecy in America. It holds that all Biblical prophecies were inaugurated or fulfilled in the past at Christ's First Coming. An example of "fulfilled": Matthew 24. An example of "inaugurated": the "New Heavens/New Earth" of Isaiah 65:17ff + 2 Peter 3: the "planting" and "building houses" in Isaiah 65 continues today. More to follow.

DominionPreterism.com, .org

One of the greatest obstacles to Christian dominion and the Christianization of the world is "futurism," which holds that no real lasting success in Christianizing the world can take place until Jesus comes back again. Dominion Preterism is the view that we should be taking dominion now, because Jesus already came. Because of the Last Adam, we have the same task today that the First Adam had: building the City of God.

TheChristmasConspiracy.com

When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, all these prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem: a conspiracy to overthrow the City of Man and build the City of God.

HeavenNow.org

This website continues where DominionPreterism.com leaves off. The Old Covenant has been replaced by the New Covenant. The Old Age has ended and the New Age in Christ has begun. The Old Heavens and Earth was destroyed by fire in the destruction in A.D. 70. We are now in the New Heavens and New Earth described in 2 Peter 3 and Isaiah 65. Our job is to create heaven on earth. [This website actually belongs under Part One (The Case for Working for V&FT) instead of here under "Tools" (Part Two), but it's too controversial to be presented that early.]

LivingInHeaven.org

Is “The New Heavens and the New Earth” the final state?   Is the New Heavens and the New Earth perfect in the sense of “completely developed?” Does this mean there is no growth? Will there be any concept of progress in the New Heavens/New Earth? Will there be work to do in the New Heavens and the New Earth? If you had a choice, would you choose to be alive in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve before the Fall, or would you choose to be alive right now? What advantages do you have today that the first Adam did not have? What material or physical advantages did the first Adam have that you don’t have? What kind of spiritual fellowship did the first Adam have with God that the Last Adam has not restored? The New Testament claims that we enjoy the extraordinary benefits and blessings of restored fellowship with God. [Again, this more properly belongs in Part One above, but we find that it is not necessary to present a lengthy case, and once a reader makes the leap from pessimillennialism to optimillennialism, there is an instant hunger for the implications, and a desire to hammer out practical patterns of living in terms of these implications.]

Like the Evolution-Creation issue, eschatology is often determined more by wishes, hopes and choices than "just the facts."

Capitalism

Micah speaks of a world which functions prosperously without "the sword." Most Christians don't appreciate how this prophecy can be fulfilled because they don't appreciate God's blessings, understand how providence operates in the world today, and how -- without coercion or violence -- God brings about the fulfillment of the promises of world-wide blessings.

"Capitalism" is the answer. Capitalism is the intersection of Providence, economics, and politics. We are not to steal. We are not to succeed by killing our competitors or doing any violence. Even if our competitor does violence to us, the Bible says to leave vengeance to God, and not to return evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:17-21). We succeed by being productive, not vindictive. We do not use force against our competitors, but we succeed by serving the consumer better, and thereby exercising dominion under God. This principle leads to "pacifism."

DominionPacifism.com, .org

We are to take dominion over the earth, but "dominion" doesn't mean domination, coercion, compulsion, initiation of force or threats of violence. It doesn't mean killing leaders and carpet-bombing civilians. Jesus showed us that it is better to give our life than to take the life of another (1 Peter 2:18-25). Businessmen are generally pacifists. They depend on creativity, ingenuity, productivity, and hard work to succeed, not violence. Politicians are not pacifists. They believe in using threats of force and violence to accomplish their goals. Capitalists bring prosperity, politicians bring poverty. Immoral businessmen seek the aid of politicians.
"Self-defense" is not prohibited by pacifism. You can defend yourself by building a fence, locking the door, erecting a high-tech security system, or, if you're Captain Kirk on the U.S.S. Enterprise, setting your Phazer on "stun." But if your house is broken into despite your best efforts at defense and security, you can't take vengeance on the intruder and be a follower of Christ (though Christ commands you to seek to "restore" your brother by pressuring him to repent and make restitution).
Pacifism logically leads to:

ChristianAnarchism.com, .org

ChristianAnarchists.com, .org

DominionAnarchism.com

      A rejection of violence, coercion, domination, and theft, which we call "pacifism," leads to a rejection of all forms of socialism. The rejection of all forms of socialism is called "anarchism." Socialism in all its forms (such as democracy, republicanism, etc.) is ultimately the greatest obstacle to Christian dominion and personal responsibility under God. In Mark 10:42-45, Christ told His disciples that the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists," but it was not to be so among His disciples. We have been taught in government schools that "anarchists" are bad, which logically implies that "archists" must be good. This is the biggest government lie in all of human history. In the Bible, "archists" are bad; "anarchists" are Godly servants.
      "Love your enemy" is a common summary of the ethic Christ taught. It is this Christian ethic that is civilizing the entire planet. "Love your enemy" creates a humane world. Vengeance and terrorism are the marks of "archists." (When "the good guys" do vengeance it's called "justice"; when "the bad guys" do it back, it's called "terrorism," or as the CIA calls it, "blowback.") Rejection of Christ's "love your enemy" ethic destroys capitalism and progress.
      While individuals committed to "love your enemy" have tempered institutions of violence, those institutions have not yet been disarmed. In an age of nuclear weapons, the future of human civilization depends on prayerfully preaching Christ's gospel of the Kingdom to "the powers that be" and anticipating the conversion and repentance of millions who are now committed to violence and armed for terrorism and vengeance. "Swords into plowshares" and "learn war no more" -- in short, the repudiation of "archism" -- is the next step in human progress.

GodandtheDeathPenalty.com

One of the most fundamental errors that promote violence is the idea of "capital punishment." This is the idea that someone in every society is permitted to take vengeance on his enemies, and if someone can, "surely I can too." Capital punishment in Western Civilization is based on the Bible, a fact which most secular opponents of the death penalty won't admit. But the Biblical basis for capital punishment is an erroneous interpretation of the Bible. [summary]

Despite the success of capitalism and the failure of socialism around the world, virtually everyone in the United States has been trained in government schools and by a government-dominated media to believe that socialism is better than capitalism -- government regulation is better than the "invisible hand" of the Free Market -- and that no economy can succeed without some socialism. This is what makes this campaign so controversial: we are working to eliminate all socialism and establish pure "laissez-faire" capitalism. Pure "laissez-faire" capitalism is also called "anarcho-capitalism." All forms of Anarchism or Capitalism which are not rooted and grounded in Christianity tend to self-destruct. Hence our websites:

BiblicalAnarchoCapitalism.com, .org

The Bible teaches what is today being called "anarcho-capitalism." This is the message from cover-to-cover, as our survey of the Bible ("95 Theses") demonstrates.

ChristianAnarchoCapitalism.com, .org

These websites defend anarcho-capitalism from the standpoint of Biblical Christianity and explain why all non-Christian forms of economics and society eventually collapse into chaos and tyranny, while Christian economics creates prosperous economies and flourishing civilizations.

ChristianGlobalism.com

The only thing worse than "capitalism" in the minds of many of its critics is "globalism." In Seattle, Nice, Genoa, and other cities, rioters have destroyed millions of dollars worth of property and attacked police in globally-orchestrated protests against global orchestration. Their goal is to nationalize corporations into a "global democracy," that is, global socialism.
     Jesus came to be King over the earth, but Jesus did not tell His followers to throw bricks through windows or dissenters in jail. ChristianGlobalism is achieved by eliminating socialism, fascism, and other forms of "archism" (the use of government violence to impede competition) ("competition" = freedom for consumers to do business with any business they want) around the world. This is Micah's vision: every nation obeying God's Law, beating swords into plowshares. "Global orchestration" is God's job, in which He employs His "invisible hand."
     There are many respectable commentators who oppose globalism. Among them are Paul Craig Roberts and Pat Buchanan. But they are wrong if they oppose voluntary globalization. They are putting a now-secular nation ahead of the Kingdom of Christ.
     Christianity is presently dying out in secular Europe and America, while growing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This secularization doesn't have to happen -- we should work to prevent it -- but it's happening now. Says Philip Jenkins:

• The scale of Christian growth is almost unimaginable. Back in 1900, there were about 10 million Christians in Africa, representing about 10 percent of the population. Today there are 360 million, representing just under half the population. That is one of the most important changes in religious history, and I think most of us didn't notice it.
• In the global South, he notes, huge and growing Christian populations—360 million in Africa, 480 million in Latin America and 313 million in Asia, compared with only 260 million in North America, are already dominant in the Christian faith. In fact, the centers of the Christian world have already moved “to Africa, to Latin America, and to Asia … (the) balance will never shift back.”  By 2025 most Christians will be non-white.
• The Bible is alive in Africa and Asia and Latin America. Overwhelmingly, the kind of Christianity is one which is very Bible-centered, which takes the Bible very seriously, takes authority very seriously, both the Old and the New Testament, in a way which I don't think western Christianity has done probably since the Enlightenment.

     "Globalization" represents the growth of capital and technology in the increasingly-Christian third world through "free trade." It will raise their economic standard of living. Western Institutions, such as the World Bank, the IMF, and other components of the Western State, hope to extend their political control over the Christian South and East as well, but the West is increasingly losing control over its own population, as secular autonomy becomes more self-conscious in its destruction of the family and morality.
     If Micah's vision takes root in the underdeveloped world, we will see the same shift we saw when Rome collapsed and Christian civilization took root among the European barbarians. But there's no reason why the New Rome (the US/UK/EU/UN "West") has to fall into poverty and chaos -- if Christianity can be re-energized (probably outside the mainline churches). Even though Globalization will mean a relative decline in U.S. GNP, the Bible promises an increase in our standard of living if we obey God's Commands. Globalism could potentially mean global Christianization and global capitalization, and this would mean a radical increase in our own standard of living. This website explores the staggering implications.

CapitalismCoach.com, .org

YourCapitalismCoach.com, .org

These websites offer systematic training in understanding the principles of economics and society which led to the unparalleled wealth we enjoy today. We train you hard, requiring you to read what we believe to be the greatest text in history on Capitalism and the fundamentals of a free and prosperous society, a text that takes one year to read at 10 minutes a day. This will undo 4 years of college and turn your thinking about business or career upside down.

Christian Reconstruction

The Christian Reconstruction Movement was the incubator for Vine & Fig Tree. The movement had a significant though underreported effect on politics and education (by initiating the Christian exodus out of public schools into Christian schools and home schools) back in the 1970's and 1980's. With the death of its leading figure, R.J. Rushdoony, it seems to have vanished. Is there a future for "Christian Reconstruction?"

There are some who are called "Theonomists" who applaud Singapore and Saudi Arabia for their strong anti-crime programs, holding that the real power of "Christian Reconstruction" to make society better is the power to execute various classes of criminals. Vine & Fig Tree questions Capital Punishment and promotes the more pacifist strategy of Micah. The Christian Reconstruction movement, if it is to ever again be a formidable force for social change, must understand this important truth:

The greatest obstacle to (or enemy of) Christian Reconstruction is "the State."

The first generation of Reconstructionists strongly defended the existence of "the State," though it spoke in libertarian terms of the need to "reconstruct" or Christianize the State. A Christian State is as much a contradiction in terms as a Christian Reich, a Holy Roman Empire or a Christian mafia. Reconstruction requires elimination of the State, nationalism, imperialism, and republicanism. This requires elimination of the myth of the legitimacy of violence. We have described the steps under "capitalism" above. In order to lead in the 21st century, the Christian Reconstruction movement must adopt anarcho-capitalism. In addition to 'DominionPacifism" and "DominionAnarchism," the Christian Reconstruction movement must adopt:

DominionPreterism.com, .org

Described above; this website explains why the Messiah has already come, and we should now be acting in terms of Christ's rightful dominion.

TheChristmasConspiracy.com

When Jesus came at the first Christmas, He began fulfilling all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. By the time the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70, all theses prophecies had been fulfilled. The Messiah came, and we are in the Messianic age described by the prophets. The Last Adam has restored us to the fellowship enjoyed by the first Adam, and as priests and kings, our job is to clean up the mess left by the first Adam and build the New Jerusalem.

AnarchistBibleBet.com, .org

A wager that no Christian can read our anarchist website without becoming a Christian anarchist.

AnarchistBrainwashing.com 

America 1776

LibertyUnderGod.com, .org

America's Founding Fathers were Christian libertarians. They abolished the government and began an "experiment in liberty," where no act of government was legitimate without the "consent of the governed." Social order was maintained by self government (morality) under God (religion). "Liberty" means freedom from the initiation of force or violence by others. Liberty exists when others are committed to obeying "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "government" is the greatest threat to "Liberty Under God." If this principle were consistently followed, it would lead to:

Anarcho-Theocracy.com, .org

A lousy label for a great idea. This is an ordered, self-governing, peaceful society without "the State" ("libertarian") and without the "church" ("Theocracy" means "God governs," not priests [ecclesiocracy]). The claim that "anarchists" are bad is the biggest government lie in all of human history. The claim that "theocracy" is bad is a complete misunderstanding of reality. All human beings are essentially religious beings. They either worship the Creator, or they worship the creature. The laws of every society are based on the religion of society, which is the worship of the True God, the worship of a false god, or every man his own god. See also:

AnarchoTheocracy.com, .org

LibertarianTheocracy.com, .biz, .info, .net, .org

July4th1776.org

But America's Founding Fathers were not entirely consistent with this vision. After abolishing the British government, they established another, which has devolved into the Reich we have today. The root failure may have been the willingness to take up arms and resort to violence against the British, a government incomparably more libertarian and Christian than the one that has resulted. Violence against governments, that is, decentralized violence against centralized violence, only perpetuates violence. This website explains why the American Revolution was a violation of Romans 13 and other Biblical principles.

TheLastAmericanRevolution.com, .org

Many events, people, and products have been called "The Second American Revolution." The LAST American Revolution will be the total repudiation of violent revolution, violent regulation, and the systematic embrace of total laissez-faire capitalism. (See "Capitalism" below.)

TheChristmasConspiracy.com

What did Jesus come to do on that first Christmas? Did He succeed? Christmas is not a sentimental, syrupy children's holiday. It is a world-changing revolution.

www.STOPtheSPP.us

In March of 2005, President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed to merge the three countries into a new nation modeled after the European Union. Possibly called the "North American Union" or the "United States of North America," the three branches of the U.S. federal government, both delegated and usurped, will be transferred upward to the new North American government. The correct option is to abolish the US Federal Government and return those powers downward to the People, from whence they originated.

AbolishTheUSA.org

The Constitution is already dead meat, and by 2010 will be all but abolished (See www.STOPtheSPP.us, above). The choice confronting Americans and Christians is to face the reality that the biggest threat to "Liberty Under God" is the federal government, the "United States of America."

ArchistsAnonymous.com

A 12-Step program to overcome the addiction to dominate others and resort to violence in the face of life's frustrations.

Coaching

All of the websites in this section are based on the Biblical analogy of Christians to athletes who run a race and must be in training. Every successful athlete trains every day, not just on Sundays. Every successful athlete has a coach who pushes the athlete beyond what the athlete might think is possible. The coach also encourages the athlete to persevere when the athlete feels like giving up, and praises the athlete for accomplishments. [more]

DominionCoaching.org

We were created to "exercise dominion over the earth" under God. This is the first commandment in history. The first commandment in priority is to love God; the second is to love our neighbor. We love because He first loved us. To "exercise dominion" in a fallen world is to bring every area of life --with its autonomous violence and hatred -- under the dominion of Christ, and theonomic love ("Theonomy" = "God's Law"). Dominion coaching trains the individual to be a source of dominion -- healing, theonomic service -- in the world, by putting God's Laws into practice. See also "capitalism" above.

SamAdamsCoaching.com

Samuel Adams is known as "the Father of the American Revolution." What would he think if he could travel through time into the 21st century? If you think of yourself as a good American, what would Sam Adams think of your claim? He risked his life, his fortune and his sacred honor to abolish a Christian government that taxed the colonists at 3-5%. What have YOU risked to deal with a government that is atheistic and taxes ten times more than Adams' government? Would you like the boldness and courage of Sam Adams? If you want to become a Gold Medal American, you need a coach.

IronSharpensIron.info

We are not to be isolated and alone. We need interaction.
"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17

YourBibleCoach.com, .org

If you believe the Bible is actually a revelation from God, then how should you treat the Bible? What place should it have in your life? How can you better understand and apply the Bible? See also "AnarchistBibleBet.com"

YourChristianLifeCoach.com, .org

The "Life Coach" is a growing industry, exploiting the modern phenomenon of broken "nuclear families" and isolated individuals who lack a life purpose. People looking for a "life coach" but not necessarily looking for "Vine & Fig Tree" will find both here.

YourCapitalismCoach.com, .org

Capitalism is the opposite of socialism. Socialism is the use of force and threats of violence to accomplish social objectives. Everyone engaged in the exercise of dominion needs to understand how capitalism accomplishes our personal and social goals without coercion. (see "Capitalism" above)

Character

Here is a partial list of the character traits that are the foundation of Christian dominion and capitalism.

Church

As important as a "coach" is to a Christian who is running the race and competing for the prize, and as important as daily training is, millions of Christians are deprived of these essentials because they have been brainwashed into believing that a "worship service" on Sunday -- sacraments, liturgies, pulpit lectures or televangelist entertainment -- is sufficient -- or more important -- than daily work on Christian dominion.

BeyondHomeChurches.com, .org

The institutional church is generally a liability rather than an asset in the lives of most Christians. There is a growing awareness of this, reflected in the "Home Church" movement. But the "Home Church" often merely shifts the entertainment or authoritarianism to a new venue. Community and "the Body of Christ" are Biblical concepts; the entire concept of "church" has to go.

TheChristmasConspiracy.com

The entire world must be Christianized. Christianity cannot be confined to the four walls of a church. "Evangelism" is not just bringing people to church or preparing them for death (or "rapture").

Political

IsAmericaAChristianNation.com, .org

The answer is YES. During the 19th century (especially in notable cases in 1844 and 1892) the United States Supreme Court declared that America was a Christian nation. But this fact has been lost on a generation educated in atheistic government-run schools. This is the largest website on the internet with comprehensive resources on America's Christian heritage and why the ACLU is wrong about the "separation of church and state."

LibertyUnderGod.com, .org

Not just an empty slogan, this is the core philosophy of America, and just as radical today as it was in 1776.

NobodyForCongress.com

NOBODY knows how to run your family better than you do. Nobody can run your business better than you can. Nobody knows how to educate your children better than you do. Nobody should run your life. Vote for Nobody!

CraigforCongress.com

But you can't vote for nobody. Attempts to place "none of the above" on ballots are always rejected for the obvious reason that "none of the above" will win hands-down and call into question the legitimacy of government. Kevin Craig is running for Congress to give you a chance to vote for "Liberty Under God."

VFTPeaceProject.org

Brainstorming on how to spread Micah's Vine & Fig Tree vision around the world, beat swords into plowshares, and bring Peace on Earth. It is possible, if people will reject the view that some socialism, some violence, some war is necessary. It is possible, if people will trust in God's AstonishingProvidence.

www.STOPtheSPP.us

In March of 2005, President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed to merge the three countries into a new nation modeled after the European Union. Possibly called the "North American Union" or the "United States of North America," the three branches of the U.S. federal government, both delegated and usurped, will be transferred upward to the new North American government. The correct option is to abolish the USA and return those powers downward to the People, from whence they originated.

Creationism

We began this survey of Vine & Fig Tree's webpages with "self-evident truths," rooted in our being creatures of a loving and personal Creator. The Bible says all human beings display the work of the Creator's Commandments written on their hearts. But many people harden their hearts, and in order to deny God's Laws, they deny that the universe has a Creator. Aldous Huxley, grandson of "Darwin's bulldog," Sir Thomas Huxley, has frankly confessed that a meaningless, random universe suits him better than a world of service and personal responsibility under God:

I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons [justifications, rationalizations] for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics, he is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do, or why his friends should not seize political power and govern in the way that they find most advantageous to themselves. . . . For myself, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation, sexual and political.

Many Christians have discovered that evolutionists have lied to them. The promotion of the theory of evolution has been buttressed by frauds, hoaxes and icons. Evolutionists say evolution is a scientific "fact," when it is no more "scientific" than creationism. But many Christians have gone on to discover that the reason evolutionists lie is not just an abstract academic "scientific" dispute over "facts." Evolutionists lie because they want to steal your property and seduce your wife. Evolutionists call it "liberation," but it is the seizing of political power for the seizing of your wealth, and the seizing of wealth to fund hedonism, adultery and perversion.

The issue in the Evolution-Creation debate is not just "science" or "facts," it is politics and morality. It is wealth and sex. It is pure mystical, sexual, religious, political power.

Anarcho-Creationism.com, .org

AnarchoCreationism.com. org

Vine & Fig Tree is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.
Our mission is to help bring about the fulfillment of Micah's "Vine & Fig Tree" prophecy (Micah 4:1-7).

What is the Real Meaning of Christmas?

People say Christmas has become too "commercialized." They say we've lost "the real meaning of Christmas."

What is the real meaning of Christmas?

People who say Christmas has become commercialized will answer that question like this:

"The birthday of Jesus."

But what is the meaning of the birth of some guy named Jesus? What is the significance of the birth of that guy?

This website says something very controversial.

Nobody agrees with it.

The whole world disagrees with it.

Are you ready?

Jesus is the Christ.

When you first hear it, you might think that the juxtaposition of "Jesus" and "Christ" is obvious and not at all controversial. But when you dig deeper, it appears that this is the most controversial proposition on planet earth.

• Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Christ ("Christ" means "Messiah").
• Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah, fulfilling Old Testament prophets who voiced the Word of our Creator-God.
• Atheists don't believe anyone is or ever will be a "messiah."

And -- most surprisingly -- the vast, overwhelming majority of professing, church-going (or non-churching) Christians do not believe that Jesus is the Christ today.

• Maybe they believe that Jesus has the "right" to be the Christ
• Maybe they believe that Jesus offered to be the Messiah, but the Jews rejected His offer, so He settled for offering them a ticket to heaven when they die ("Savior," but not "King"). (An offer they also reject, because who wants to spend eternity hanging out with a deluded con-man who falsely claimed to be the Messiah and rejected the Law and the Prophets [held dear by the Jews]?)
• Most likely they believe that Jesus will someday ("soon") become the Messiah, when He comes again, a second time.
• But they all agree that Jesus is not -- today -- reigning as Messiah (exercising His rightful powers at full level, high-octane, from a throne in Jerusalem). The Messianic reign is for tomorrow, not today.
• Why do they celebrate CHRISTmas instead of JESUSmas? Why do they call themselves CHRISTians instead of JESUSians?

This website defends the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah right now, and has fulfilled or is fulfilling all the "messianic prophecies" -- even those prophecies most Christians reserve for "the millennium."

Jesus is the Christ.

The angels told the shepherds that the birth of the boy in Bethlehem meant "Peace on Earth."

A favorite Christmas carol mentions this announcement:

Another Christmas carol notes that Christian churches pay lip-service to this announcement::

But the poem, written during the Civil War, expresses some doubt:

The poet today might write about "The War on Terrorism."

But the poet had something many of today's Christians lack: Optimism:

Probably a majority of self-described Christians today believe the future belongs not to "The Prince of Peace," but to "the antichrist," "great tribulation," "Armageddon," and global war and suffering.

Sure, things will be much better after The Second Coming of Christ. Then we will have "peace on earth." But not before.

Apparently, the angels were mistaken. They thought the first advent of Christ meant "peace on earth."
Apparently the only meaning of Christmas is

"You can go to heaven when you die, and leave all the war and suffering on earth."

This website challenges the prevailing pessimism.

Many people complain that the Bible is filled with war, slavery, and violence. "How can that be the Word of God?" they ask.

But the world before Christ really was filled with war, slavery, and violence. Many historians note that most human beings died violent deaths, or died prematurely from the violence of slavery, conquest, captivity, and all forms of human violence.

If they could travel through time from their day to ours, every prophet who spoke of the coming Messiah would fall on his knees in gratitude to God for the fact that most people on earth today die peacefully, not violently. They would be utterly speechless walking down the aisles of your local WalMart. The character of human life was changed dramatically by the babe born in Bethlehem. And further change is possible:

Christ has already eliminated 99% of all the violence that existed in the world before the first Christmas.
With the poet who "heard the bells on Christmas day" we should note that with the birth of Jesus, 

This website claims that Christians could end 99% of the remaining violence in the world in 2019.

But we have to believe in the real meaning of Christmas:

Jesus is the Christ.

But most people who call themselves "Christians" don't really believe this.

The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."

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Vine & Fig Tree

The name "Vine & Fig Tree" comes from the fourth chapter of the prophet Micah, and is set forth below. You've probably heard Micah's words before -- we beat our "swords into plowshares" and everyone dwells safely under their own "Vine & Fig Tree." 

America's Founding Fathers were familiar with this vision: "Vine & Fig Tree" is the worldview that made America "the greatest nation on God's green earth."

The best place to see the Vine & Fig Tree ideal is in the book of Micah.
Surprisingly, you'll almost never hear this prophecy mentioned at Christmas.

Let's look at Micah's prophecy (on the left) and ask a few questions (on the right):

Most people who call themselves "Christians" today believe that Micah's prophecy will not begin to see fulfillment until Jesus returns to earth a second time. But the Bible teaches that Jesus was born during "the last days" of the Old Covenant, and He put into effect a New Covenant, and as a result of this New Covenant, billions of human beings have been streaming to "the mountain of the Lord," and the world is more obedient to God's Commandments today than it was before Jesus was born. The world is more peaceful. The mainstream media and secular academia do not want you to understand this.

Nor do most clergymen. The more perceptive clergy will say that our belief that Micah's prophecy is already being fulfilled, and that we should continue beating swords into plowshares, is "dangerous." They will warn you that we are promoting the ancient heresy of "anarcho-preterism." They are correct (we are indeed promoting "anarcho-preterism") except for two things:

1. This position is not "heretical." It is the core of the evangelical message of the Bible. (The word "evangelical" comes from "evangel," which means "good news."). That's what this website is all about.
2. This position is not "ancient." I just made up the term "anarcho-preterism" last Thursday.

Distilled into a single proposition, Vine & Fig Tree stands for this:

Jesus is the Christ Today

Anarcho-Preterism

“Preterism”

To say that Jesus is the Messiah today is to say that Jesus became the Messiah in the past, rather than saying He must come again (in the future) before He can begin His Messianic Reign. The belief that a prophecy was fulfilled in the past is called "preterism."

If your pastor has heard of "preterism," and especially if he uses the term "hyper-preterism," he likely believes that it is a dangerous heresy, and that anyone who is a “preterist” has denied the Christian faith, and is not to be counted as a true Christian. Gary North says Pastors should not even debate a preterist. Just kick him out of your church.

It's easy enough to prove that Jesus was made the Christ in the past. Peter explains it in Acts chapter 2. After the Apostles spoke to a large audience of people "from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5) in all their various foreign languages, Peter explained that this was a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy. He further explains how Jesus had already fulfilled the Davidic prophecies about the enthroning of the Messiah:

God made Jesus of Nazareth the Christ -- 2000 years ago -- fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies concerning the throne of David. Peter and other devout Jews came to believe this; Christians should believe this; today's Jews do not. What was happening in Peter's "present" happened in our "past." This is "preterism."

“Anarcho-Preterism”

Let's examine the word "anarchism," which is even more offensive to most Christians than "preterism."

Even more offensive to modern Christians than the belief that Jesus is the Christ today (and we shouldn't be waiting around for a second advent of Jesus) is the claim that Jesus is THE Christ today; that in our day there is no other legitimate Christ, no other legitimate king.

Nobody believes in "kings" anymore. So let's update our language.

• Jesus is the only legitimate President, Governor, Prime Minister, Premier, Chief Executive, or Emir.
• Jesus is also the only legitimate Legislator. Jesus is a One-Man Legislature.
• Jesus is "the Supreme Judge of the World" (to quote the Declaration of Independence); the only legitimate Judge or Justice.
• Jesus is the only legitimate Department of Homeland Security and Joint Chiefs of Staff.

As we will see below, Isaiah 33:22 confirms this:

For the Lord is our Judge,
The Lord is our Lawgiver,
The Lord is our King;
He will save us

As we will see below, it was a mistake for Israel to want an earthly king to replace God (1 Samuel 8).

And as we will see below, Jesus prohibits His followers from aspiring to rule over others. Jesus said a Christian must not be an "archist."

An "archist" is a "ruler." We here at Vine & Fig Tree invented the word "archist," deriving it from a Greek word found in Mark 10:42-45, from which the English word "anarchist" is derived. 

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10 (see more below), Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God. Their concept of the Messiah was someone who would use force and violence to vanquish the Roman occupation army that held Israel under tribute. They looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would enlist them into a Messianic Israeli Army which would "stick it to" the Romans. But just as Micah said we should beat "swords into plowshares," Jesus said His disciples should "love your enemies," and if their soldiers conscript you to carry their provisions for one mile, you should go with the occupation forces two. (This form of pacifism completely refutes the legitimacy of "national defense.") The disciples didn't understand that Jesus' Messianic Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.

The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist" ("a + archist" -- the first "a" is the Greek letter "alpha," known as the "alpha privative," meaning "not"  --     a[n]archist  -- the letter "n" bridges the "alpha privative" and the word "archist").

"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."

An "archist" believes he has the right to impose his will on other people by force. He need not rely solely on persuasion. He need not give others anything of value in exchange for what he wants from others. He can threaten violence, and carry out those threats if he doesn't get what he wants. It would be sinful for others to engage in such violent extortion or vengeance, but the "archist" claims a "legal" and moral right to do what others must not do.

Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants."

A Christian society is an archist-free society.

We have been brainwashed in "public" schools (run by archists) to believe that an "anarchist" is:

• a bomb-throwing
• assassin
• who rejects the doctrine of private property,
• seeks to foment disorder, chaos and riots in order to overthrow the government by force and violence
• and establish some dreadful political ideal like "the dictatorship of the proletariat," where everyone is his own god and criminals run wild.

Anyone can be called an "anarchist" by someone who wants to vilify an opponent, but most of those who call themselves "anarchist" have reached their position by their opposition to violence. I am a pacifist, therefore I am opposed to any institution of systematic violence and coercion (e.g., "the Mafia," "the State," etc.).

By etymological definition, the opposite of an "anarchist" is an "archist." By being trained to believe that "anarchists" are bad, we've been subtly inculcated with the belief that those who protect us against "anarchists" (logically, "archists") are good.

But the Bible says archists are bad, and explicitly prohibits us from being archists.

Jesus says His followers are not to be archists. Connect the dots.

www.HowToBecomeAChristianAnarchist.com

Mark 10:42-45 (and other passages we're going to be considering in a moment) teaches that

• Christians are prohibited from aspiring to be "archists."
• Christians are prohibited from trying to elect an "archist" to any public office.
• There should not be any "public offices" at all.
• Eliminating "public offices" would dramatically raise our standard of living (if we obey all the commands of Jesus the Christ).

This isn't just a "fringe" idea. In fact, "Anarcho-Preterists" go much further. They claim:

Anarcho-Preterism is "the Gospel"

From cover to cover, the Bible is an "Anarchist Manifesto" and urges mankind to eradicate the institution of "civil government" or "the State." It will take approximately 90 minutes for me to lay out my arguments and for you to follow them Biblically in a loving (1 Corinthians 13:5-7) way.