Doug’s Theological Thoughts

  • Luke 21:20 and Partial Preterism

    The Destruction of Jerusalem – 70 AD Luke 21: 20 And when you shall see Jerusalem surrounded with armies, then know that its desolation is near. Eusebius of Caesarea AD 339 By the desolation of Jerusalem, He means that it was never again to be set up, or its legal rites to be reestablished, so that…

  • Abomination that Caused Desolation?

    Pompey the Great entered the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 63 BCE. Historical Context During the Roman intervention in the Hasmonean civil war (between Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II), Pompey besieged Jerusalem after Aristobulus II barricaded himself in the Temple complex. After a three-month siege, Roman forces breached the fortifications…

  • Church as Hospital

    Today’s Gospel reading is the teaching of the Church as Hospital, Jesus as the Great Physician and sin as sickness. Matthew 9:9-13 King James Version 9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose,…

  • Ultimately Victorious

    Text for today 1 Corinthians 4:9-16 King James Version 9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in…

  • Fragrance of Relics

  • Manifesting

  • The Letter of Aristeas

    Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates is a Hellenistic work of the 3rd or early 2nd century BC. The letter describes the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible by seventy-two interpreters sent into Egypt from Jerusalem at the request of the librarian of Alexandria, resulting in the Septuagint translation. The work relates how the king of Egypt, presumably Ptolemy II Philadelphus, is urged by…

  • Praise God for those Who Misuse us

    Before I moved to Chicago (to attend NorthPark Seminary) I was an assoc pastor to an abusive Senior Pastor in So Cal. It was a difficult situation, but I was obedient. After I left, I reached out to one of the previous assoc pastors and learned his story was like my story. I had a…

  • Evangelical “Re-” Baptism

    When I was an associate Evangelical pastor, I taught the Baptism class. I talked a woman in the class out of being rebaptized. She was originally baptized Catholic. Our Sr Pastor wasn’t happy. I was more of a sacramentalist than most. Eph 4:5-6 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all,…

  • St Justinian and Symphōnia

    Saint Justinian I (c. 482–565 CE), Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565, is one of history’s most influential figures in harmonizing ecclesiastical and imperial authority—a relationship often termed the “symphony” between church and state (from the Greek symphōnia, meaning “agreement” or “concord”). Though the term itself was formalized later (notably in the 6th-century Epanagoge under…

  • Low Carb Orthodox Fasting Recipes

    Orthodox Nativity Fast (Nov 15–Dec 24 on the New Calendar) is strict: no meat, dairy, eggs, fish (except with oil on certain days), wine, or oil on Mon/Wed/Fri. Oil & wine allowed Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun. All recipes below are oil-free on strict days (marked ✦) but use oil minimally on permitted days (marked ✓). Every dish is…

  • Messianic Judaism

    I went to a Messianic Jewish synagogue for 1.5 yrs back in the mid 1990’s. I mistakenly thought if I went to a Messianic synagogue, I’d get to learn the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. What I got was the form of rabbinic Judaism that was practiced after the temple was destroyed. I learned…

  • The Chosen People

    New Testament fulfillment of Old Testament passages.

  • The Mercy of God

    The Jews still exist. God did not destroy them when they rejected His Only Son. He could have and would have been within His rights to do so. After all, He destroyed Sodom for a much less serious crime. The mercy of God is to give them time to repent.

  • Good Pharisees?

    John the Forerunner Most of the Gospel accounts of Pharisees are negative. Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Nicodemus – Secret Follower John 3:1 There was…

  • Islamic Dilemma?

    The Islamic Dilemma is a simple, evidence-based argument used in Christian apologetics to show that the Qur’an itself proves the Bible (both Old and New Testaments) is reliable and uncorrupted.It forces any Muslim to choose between two contradictory claims inside the Qur’an. Step-by-step proof (with exact verses) The Bible that existed in the 7th century…

  • Najran Massacre

    The Massacre of Christians in Najran (523 CE) The most prominent historical event referred to as the “massacre of Christians in Yemen” is the persecution and mass killing of Christians in the city of Najran (in modern-day southwestern Saudi Arabia, but part of ancient Himyarite Yemen) in 523 CE. This event, carried out under the…

  • Priestly Vestments

    Exodus 28 provides detailed instructions from God to Moses about the garments for Aaron, the high priest, and his sons. These include the ephod, breastpiece, robe, tunic, turban, and sash, with specifics on materials (gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine linen), design, and symbolic elements like the twelve gemstones representing the tribes of Israel.…

  • John the Forerunner

    There’s a tradition of the Orthodox Church, not in the Bible, that John the Baptist went to Hades and preached about Jesus there. His mission wasn’t just to those on earth, but also to those awaiting the Messiah. And of course, it makes perfect sense. What else would John do? He isn’t the sort of…

  • Most Holy Theotokos, Save Us

    Fr. Prof. Staniloae, homily at Dormition: Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who was born as a human, under the natural law, but not according to the natural law. He was born exceeding the blind laws of regular human birth and, because of that, He was able to be without sin and he was…

  • Honoring Relics

    The Patriarchs commanded their sons to take their bones out of Egypt and bring them into the Promised Land. Their bones were buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. To this day, Jews go there to pray. Why would Christian tradition be any different? We have the same roots. If they honor Abraham…

  • Everybody is Kissing the Wall…

    There is a real lack of basic historical knowledge among Christians about the Western (wailing) wall in Jerusalem. Many believe it’s always been a place Christians go to worship and that it’s somehow “holy” to Christians today. Bottom line: It wasn’t a place Christians considered holy nor did they go to the Temple wall until…

  • Woman Caught in Adultery

    There’s a claim in the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8) as well as an unresolved issue. The story was intended as a trap for Jesus which he managed to outwit (v 6) without violating the Law. The claim was “she was caught in the act”. The requirement of the Law was…

  • If they abide not still in unbelief

    Romans 11:17-21And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt…