About this Episode
Craig is joined by the Rev. Dr. Dan Morrison, Assistant Rector of All Saint Anglican Church in Springfield, Missouri. Dan brings his plethora of experience and knowledge of scripture to the show for a conversation on the original role of the Church and how modern Christianity is living up to the model Jesus set forth over 2,000 years ago.
Why do Christians seek solutions through political systems of power and fail to remember those are the very systems that murdered our savior? How did we get here, and how can we reclaim Churches for Jesus rather than sell out to the state and its illusions for physical and spiritual freedom? Too often we forget it is Jesus who makes us free, but that freedom is not freedom from suffering, but rather a call towards it. It should be difficult to be a citizen of heaven in a fallen world, but that is when we need to turn to God most.
In divinity school Dan became an expert on the book of Revelations, he shares his expertise and vision for the future of Churches with Craig, as well as some perspective on how we have gotten so off course as Christians. Listeners will leave this episode with a renewed desire to pursue Christ over politics, to not fall trap to the illusions of earthly power, but to instead do what Jesus would do, turn from the earthly kingdoms, and show the world what it means to know the love of God.
Episode Timestamps:
00:35 Shoutout to Amber
01:06 Dan’s Background
Assistant Rector All Saint Anglican Church in Springfield, MI
Undergrad in classical applied math
Ph.D. in Divinity studies
Roll-tide or Razorbacks?
03:30 Dan’s Sermon
05:36 Why are Christians seeking solutions through political systems?
Do christians truly trust God as the ruler of all things?
Christians are called to suffer in following Jesus
We live in a fallen world, the systems of the world ar destined to fall…yet we latch onto them instead of God
Fear vs. Jesus
the two-party system – voting against vs. for something
Illusions of changing the system from within
Joining the military
Asses what you are doing and why
Don’t lose sight of Christ’s way
World systems have been allowed to infiltrate the churches
Result: churches look more like the world than Christ
11:20 Two Responses to September 11, 2001
Preach the gospel or kill people out of anger
Profiling others (only God can judge anyone)
Christians on the right and left
Being a “Christian nation” (are we the good guys?)
The deadliness of the United States Empire
“Hold my beer”
14:06 Who do we worship at Church?
Jesus, Troops, Flags, and Afghanistan
But first: Romans 12
Killing other Christians (or anyone) for the sake of a geopolitical nation
Partisan agendas and scripture
Conquest in the old testament – Joshua
Can’t pick and choose, must then look at the old testament text about care for the foreigner, ect.
It’s all or nothing or in consistency
17:50 The Consistency of Jesus – who will you follow?
We don’t follow Paul or Joshua, we follow Jesus and his teachings
“When you’ve seen me you’ve seen the father”
Jesus is who set us free – take that seriously, opt. Out
Galatians 5:1 – USA is not who set us free
19:07 The World is Watching – What are you going to do as a Christian?
The state is going to do what the state is going to do
We forget who we belong to as Christians
Or we just ignore it
“America” is not even the United States of America (i.e. remember Canada, South America, Central America, and Mexico?)
Jerusalem and USA
False belief: God created the USA on purpose to protect Israel
Paul’s statement of the Israel of God reconciled with Romans 13
Jesus never gives us the power to call done fire from heaven upon anyone
If you think that’s what being Christian is about then you don’t get Jesus
Loving your neighbor and enemy leaves you with no one left to hate
22:33 Romans 13 out of context — the Jump to the White Horse of Revelations
God as Jesus Christ ruler of Kings on Earth
Will God rain fire?
“John’s 3rd Vision”
People with Jesus do nothing but ride in behind him, no one is slayed
Destruction of Babylon – Romans 17 Verse 16
World Sytems implode on themselves, their failure is baked into their creation before Jesus ever shows up
We are going to kill people in the name of Jesus does not add up
God never tells us to do that
Nations get stricken down because they have waged war against Christ himself
Churches – fix yourselves!
The systems are powered by satan
Will we appeal to the empire to feel safe or dare to follow Jesus
Jezebel – welcome in the imperialism in the church
The false hope of political power
Churches are in bed with the empire
31:38 Difficulty of Finding a Church that has Jesus as the Focus
Home church?
Pushback from Dan’s sermon on revelation
35:47 January 6, 2021
Christians trying to save their earthly king
Civil Religion
People have become enchanted as if by a spell
Did God stop being ruler?
Ruling by proxy, shifting blame to please God
Outsourcing sin
Paul could not have voted Cesar into power
Pray for those in authority over us
43:09 Romans 13 – Paul uses Submit vs. Obey
David Bentley Hart New Testament Tranaslation original greek
Peter: “It is necessary we obey God rather than man”
Abortion debate and submit or obey
Following the constitution
Live in a world where abortion is not seen as a choice, not one the government has a say so in
Don’t celebrate anything the government does
With the reversal of Roe v. Wade — what is there left to run on?
Should Christians be voting?
Why are you going to the world systems that caused the death of your savior?
Being in bed with the beast vs. suffering under the foot of the beast
51:26 Choose this day (and every day) who you will serve
Frustration with Christians and a relentless need to follow Jesus
The term we translate as Church is also a political term
Eclessica – a local gathering of the citizens of God that have come together for a purpose
54:29 Daniel I. Morrison’s Plugs
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