“What is the Millennial Kingdom, and should it be understood literally?”

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


The millennial kingdom is the title given to the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. Some seek to interpret the 1000 years in an allegorical manner. They understand the 1000 years as merely a figurative way of saying “a long period of time,” not a literal, physical reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. However, six times in Revelation 20:2-7, the millennial kingdom is specifically said to be 1000 years in length. If God wished to communicate “a long period of time,” He could have easily done so without explicitly and repeatedly mentioning an exact time frame.

The Bible tells us that when Christ returns to the earth He will establish Himself as king in Jerusalem, sitting on the throne of David (Luke 1:32-33). The unconditional covenants demand a literal, physical return of Christ to establish the kingdom. The Abrahamic Covenant promised Israel a land, a posterity and ruler, and a spiritual blessing (Genesis 12:1-3). The Palestinian Covenant promised Israel a restoration to the land and occupation of the land (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). The Davidic Covenant promised Israel forgiveness—the means whereby the nation could be blessed (2 Samuel 7:10-13).

At the second coming, these covenants will be fulfilled as Israel is re-gathered from the nations (Matthew 24:31), converted (Zachariah 12:10-14), and restored to the land under the rule of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Bible speaks of the conditions during the millennium as a perfect environment physically and spiritually. It will be a time of peace (Micah 4:2-4; Isaiah 32:17-18), joy (Isaiah 61:7, 10), and comfort (Isaiah 40:1-2), with no poverty or sickness (Amos 9:13-15; Joel 2:28-29). The Bible also tells us that only believers will enter the millennial kingdom. Because of this, it will be a time of complete righteousness (Matthew 25:37; Psalm 24:3-4), obedience Jeremiah 31:33), holiness (Isaiah 35:8), truth (Isaiah 65:16), and fullness of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29). Christ will rule as king (Isaiah j9:3-7), with David as regent (Jeremiah 33:15-21; Amos 9:11). Nobles and governors will also rule (Isaiah 32:1; Matthew 19:28), and Jerusalem will be the political center of the world (Zechariah 8:3).

Revelation 20:2-7 gives the precise time period of the millennial kingdom. Even without these scriptures, there are countless others that point to a literal reign of the Messiah on the earth. The fulfillment of many of God’s covenants and promises rests on a literal, physical, future kingdom. There is no solid basis for denying the literal interpretation of the millennial kingdom and its duration being 1000 years.

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “I’m a Senior Citizen”

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

I’m a Senior Citizen

–I’m the life of the party…even when it lasts ’till 8 P.M..

–I’m very good at opening childproof caps with a hammer.

–I’m usually interested in going home before I get to where
I’m going.

–I’m good on a trip for at least an hour without my
aspirin/antacid.

–I’m the first one to find the bathroom wherever I go.

–I’m awake many hours before my body allows me to get up.

–I’m smiling all the time because I can’t hear a word you’re
saying.

–I’m very good at telling stories… over and over and over
and over.

–I’m aware that other people’s grandchildren are not as
bright as mine.

–I’m so cared for: long-term care, eye care, private care,
dental care.

–I’m not grouchy, I just don’t like traffic, waiting, children,
politicians….

–I’m positive I did housework correctly before my mate retired.

–I’m sure everything I can’t find is in a secure place.

–I’m wrinkled, saggy and lumpy, and that’s just my left leg.

–I’m having trouble remembering simple words like….uh….

–I’m realizing that aging is not for sissies.

–I’m walking more (to the bathroom) and enjoying it less.

–I’m sure they are making adults much younger these days.

–I’m in the *initial* state of my golden years: SS, CD’s, IRA’s, AARP.

–I’m a walking storeroom of facts…I’ve just lost the storeroom.

–Do I have Alzheimer’s? I don’t remember. But, I’m happy, I think.

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“Who is the antichrist?”

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


There is much speculation about the identity of the Antichrist. Some of the more popular targets are Vladimir Putin, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Pope Benedict XVI. In the United States, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and current President Barack Obama, are the most frequent candidates. So, who is the Antichrist, and how will we recognize him?

The Bible really does not say anything specific about where the Antichrist will come from. Many Bible scholars speculate that he will come from a confederacy of ten nations and/or a reborn Roman empire (Daniel 7:24-25; Revelation 17:7). Others see him as having to be a Jew in order to claim to be the Messiah. It is all just speculation since the Bible does not specifically say where the Antichrist will come from or what race he will be. One day, the Antichrist will be revealed. Second Thessalonians 2:3-4 tells us how we will recognize the Antichrist: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

It is likely that most people who are alive when the Antichrist is revealed will be very surprised at his identity. The Antichrist may or may not be alive today. Martin Luther was convinced that the pope in his time was the Antichrist. During the 1940’s, many believed Adolph Hitler was the Antichrist. Others who have lived in the past few hundred years have been equally sure as to the identity of the Antichrist. So far, they have all been incorrect. We should put the speculations behind us and focus on what the Bible actually says about the Antichrist. Revelation 13:5-8 declares, “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “The Cowboy Without a Horse”

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

The Cowboy Without a Horse

A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink.
Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on
strangers, which he was. When he finished his drink, he found
his horse had been stolen.

He goes back into the bar, handily flips his gun into the air,
catches it above his head without even looking and fires a shot
into the ceiling.

“WHICH ONE OF YOU SIDEWINDERS STOLE MY HOSS?” he yelled with
surprising forcefulness.

No one answered.

“ALRIGHT, I’M GONNA HAVE ANOTHA BEER, AND IF MY HOSS AIN’T BACK
OUTSIDE BY THE TIME I FINISH, I’M GONNA DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS!
AND I DON’T LIKE TO HAVE TO DO WHAT I DUN IN TEXAS!”

Some of the locals shifted restlessly. He had another beer,
walked outside, and his horse is back!

He saddles up and starts to ride out of town.

The bartender wanders out of the bar and asks, “Say partner,
before you go…what happened in Texas?”

The cowboy turned back and said, “I had to walk home.”

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“Was Jesus Christ married? Did Jesus have a wife?”

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


The recent discovery and translation of the fourth-century “Jesus’ wife papyrus” has reopened the discussion as to whether Jesus had a wife / was married. The “Jesus’ wife papyus” says, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …'” This discovery is interesting in that it is the first Gnostic writing to explicitly state that Jesus had a wife. While a couple of the Gnostic gospels mention Jesus having a close relationship with Mary Magdalene, none of them specifically state that Jesus was married to her or to anyone else. Ultimately, it does not matter what the “Jesus’ wife papyrus” or Gnostic gospels say. They have no authority. They have all been proven to be forgeries invented to create a Gnostic view of Jesus.

If Jesus had been married, the Bible would have told us so, or there would be some unambiguous statement to that fact. Scripture would not be completely silent on such an important issue. The Bible mentions Jesus’ mother, adoptive father, half-brothers, and half-sisters. Why would it neglect to mention the fact that Jesus had a wife? Those who believe/teach that Jesus was married are doing so in an attempt to “humanize” Him, to make Him more ordinary, more like everyone else. People simply do not want to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14; 10:30). So, they invent and believe myths about Jesus being married, having children, and being an ordinary human being.

A secondary question would be, “Could Jesus Christ have been married?” There is nothing sinful about being married. There is nothing sinful about having sexual relations in marriage. So, yes, Jesus could have been married and still be the sinless Lamb of God and Savior of the world. At the same time, there is no biblical reason for Jesus to marry. That is not the point in this debate. Those who believe Jesus was married do not believe that He was sinless, or that He was the Messiah. Getting married and having children is not why God sent Jesus. Mark 10:45 tells us why Jesus came, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “I Didn’t Do It”

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

I Didn’t Do It

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total
mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still
in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes
and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his
wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A
lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded
against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring
a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys
and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the
sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was
spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a
small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more
piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may
be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her
lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas
reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and said “What happened here today?”

She again smiled and answered, “You know every day when you come
home from work and you ask me what in the world did I do today?”

“Yes,” was his incredulous reply.

She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it.”

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“Why does God allow Satan to attack us?”

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


It is true that God allows Satan a certain amount of freedom (see Job 1:12), but it should be understood that it is Satan’s choice to attack God’s children (see 1 Peter 5:8). It was never in God’s original design for humanity, i.e. Adam and Eve, to suffer attacks from Satan. But when Adam disobeyed God, humanity was subject to the consequences of sin, one of which is being open to attacks from Satan. It is part of our fallen nature.

In a real sense, it is humanity’s fault for opening the door to satanic attack. Therefore, we cannot blame God that we are vulnerable to satanic attack. In fact, when Satan attacked Job through the loss of his family, wealth, and health, he didn’t blame God. Notice Job 1:21-22, “And he (Job) said: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.”

As believers experience the attacks of Satan, they can take to heart the truth of Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God…” Therefore, the assumption is that we will experience “good” things and “bad” things, but “all” of these things can be made to be “good” as God works them out. So even the attacks of Satan can be considered “good” as God uses them in our lives to conform us to Christ, His Son (see Romans 8:29). Attacks from Satan, along with all other tribulations will cause believers to love God more, resist Satan more, practice patience, resist temptation, and grow stronger in our faith in many other ways. Praise God for His abundant protection from Satan most of the time, as well as be thankful for God’s plan to make the occasional attacks of Satan “work together for good” for you!

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “Three Friends Go To Heaven”

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

Three Friends Go to Heaven

After dying in a car crash, three friends go to
Heaven for orientation. They are all asked the same
question: “When you are in your casket, and friends
and family are mourning over you, what would you like
to hear them say about you?”

The first guy immediately responds, “I would like to
hear them say that I was one of the great doctors of
my time, and a great family man.”

The second guy says, “I would like to hear that I was
a wonderful husband and school teacher who made a
huge difference in the children of tomorrow.”

The last guy thinks a minute and replies, “I guess
I’d like to hear them say, ‘Look, he’s moving!”

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“Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?”

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon


Abraham had obeyed God many times in his walk with Him, but no test could have been more severe than the one in Genesis 22. God commanded, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2a). This was an astounding request because Isaac was the son of promise. How did Abraham respond? With immediate obedience; early the next morning, Abraham started on his journey with two servants, a donkey and his beloved son Isaac, with firewood for the offering. His unquestioning obedience to God’s confusing command gave God the glory He deserves and is an example to us of how to glorify God. When we obey as Abraham did, trusting that God’s plan is the best possible scenario, we exalt His attributes and praise Him. Abraham’s obedience in the face of this crushing command extolled God’s sovereign love, His trustworthiness, and His goodness, and it provided an example for us to follow. His faith in the God he had come to know and love placed Abraham in the pantheon of faithful heroes in Hebrews 11.

God uses Abraham’s faith as an example to all who came after him as the only means of salvation. Genesis 15:6 says, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” This truth is the basis of the Christian faith, as reiterated in Romans 4:3 and James 2:23. The righteousness that was credited to Abraham is the same righteousness credited to us when we receive by faith the sacrifice God provided for our sins—Jesus Christ. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Old Testament story of Abraham is the basis of the New Testament teaching of the atonement, the sacrificial offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross for the sin of mankind. Jesus said, many centuries later, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Following are some of the parallels between the two biblical accounts:

• “Take your son, your only son, Isaac” (v. 2); “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16).

• “Go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there…” (v. 2); it is believed that this area is where the city of Jerusalem was built many years later, where Jesus was crucified outside its city walls (Hebrews 13:12).

• “Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering” (v. 2); “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).

• “Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac” (v. 6); Jesus, “carrying his own cross. . .” (John 19:17).

• “But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” (v. 7); John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

• Isaac, the son, acted in obedience to his father in becoming the sacrifice (v. 9); Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39).

• Resurrection – Isaac (figuratively) and Jesus in reality: “By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11:17-19); Jesus, “that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

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GRIN AND SHARE IT: “The Ultimate Survivor Show”

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Dr. Mike Harmon

The Ultimate Survivor Show

A major network is planning the show “Survivor 2” this winter. In
response, Texas is planning “Survivor, Texas Style”.

The contestants will start in Dallas, travel through Waco, Austin,
San Antonio, down to Houston and Brownsville. They will proceed
up to Del Rio, on to El Paso, then to Midland/Odessa, up to
Lubbock and Amarillo. From there, they proceed to Abilene and
on to Ft. Worth and back to Dallas.

Each will be driving a pink Volvo with a bumper sticker that reads,
“I’m gay, I voted for Al Gore, and I’m here to confiscate your guns.”

The first one to make it back to Dallas wins.

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