The common evangelical answer is to save individuals from hell.<\/em><\/p>\n There\u2019s no question that the gospel brings life to individual souls, eternal life both in the present age and in the age to come.<\/em><\/p>\n However, as I argued in\u00a0From Eternity to Here, the mission of God goes far beyond the salvation of individual souls from eternal judgment.<\/em><\/p>\n God has an eternal purpose that reaches before humans fell, before they were ever in need of salvation.<\/em><\/p>\n God\u2019s timeless purpose is to secure a body for the Son, a house for the Father, a bride for the Son, and a family for the Father. All through the Holy Spirit.<\/em><\/p>\n Put another way, the ageless purpose of God is to expand the fellowship and communion of the triune God.<\/em><\/p>\n This epic idea is wrapped up in the phrase\u00a0the kingdom of God, which was\u00a0the central message of Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n The kingdom of God is the joining together of heaven and earth just as it was in the beginning (and as it will be in the end).\u00a0That God\u2019s perfect will be done on heaven as it is in earth.<\/em><\/p>\n Paul and the other apostles sought to bring the gospel message to all who never heard it.<\/em><\/p>\n That gospel wasn\u2019t just about salvation from eternal judgment. It was primarily about fulfilling God\u2019s eternal purpose, which in a fallen world, begins (and not ends) with salvation.<\/em><\/p>\n The apostolic mission, therefore, was to establish kingdom communities throughout the Roman Empire which would express God\u2019s eternal purpose.<\/em><\/p>\n Those kingdom communities \u2013 ekklesias, as the New Testament calls them \u2013 were a colony of heaven on earth. Through them, God was reclaiming the nation that had fallen under the grip of evil powers.<\/em><\/p>\n God\u2019s intention, as it was in the beginning, was and is to recover the earth from the power of His enemy and establish His reign throughout the world, so that His good creation will reflect Him perfectly in the world and that God and humans may joined together in perfect union.<\/em><\/p>\n As one philosopher famously said, \u201cHe who has a why to live, can bear almost any how.\u201d (Nietzsche said that, a man who I don\u2019t often agree with, so calm down. The quote is fitting.)”<\/em><\/p>\n In future blogs we will more closely examine Frank Viola\u2019s emotive ideas, but for now let me share with you my initial response to Pastor Dale.<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear Pastor Dale,<\/p>\n I was surprised to see that I had received an email from you. It didn\u2019t take long to realize that it was not a personal email to me, but that you had just cut and pasted someone else\u2019s words as your message. I was disappointed, to say the least, but I was even more disappointed when I read what Frank Viola had to say.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if you know yet, but several years ago I simply let go of Christianity. It was an awaking experience for me. So, I read the words of Viola with eyes wide open and, not surprisingly, found his ideas ridiculous (at best) and dangerous (at worst).<\/p>\n I did some research on Viola and found this statement in some of his other writings.<\/p>\n Viola: \u201cThe kingdom of God knows no injustice, no racism, no inequality, and no cruelty. And\u00a0<\/em>the gospel of the kingdom<\/em>\u00a0produces a community of people who PUT ON DISPLAY what it looks like when God is in charge. This is one of the many things that\u00a0<\/em>the Insurgence<\/em>\u00a0has to offer this broken, lost, hostile world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I have come to know quite a few Atheists and must say that we also would like a world with no injustice, no racism, no inequality, and no cruelty. If Christians are the one who are going to usher in the Kingdom of God, shouldn\u2019t they be the ones who already practice such qualities? But to be honest, that\u2019s not what we see within Christian circles. There seems to be plenty of injustice, inequality, and cruelty among those who profess to be followers of Christ. Why is that?<\/p>\n When he says that the gospel of the kingdom produces a community of people who \u201cPUT ON DISPLAY\u201d (all in caps) what it looks like when God is in charge, it\u2019s pretty scary. We only need to look at the Old Testament to find out what it looks like when God is in charge. Atheists have a different view of what it looks like when God is in charge. Atheist Richard Dawkins, in his book, The God Delusion,<\/em> addresses just how appalling biblical ethics really are. He writes,<\/p>\n “The book of numbers tells how God incited Moses to attack the Midianites. His armies made short work of slaying all the men, and they burned all the Midianite cities, but they did not kill the women and children. This merciful restraint by his soldiers infuriated Moses, and he gave orders that all boy children should be killed, and all the women who were not virgins. \u2018But all the women children, that have not known a man by laying with him, keep alive for yourselves\u2019 Numbers 31:18.<\/em><\/p>\n Do the people who hold up the bible as an inspiration to moral rectitude have the slightest notion of what is actually written in it? What makes my jaw drop is that people today should base their lives on such an appalling role model as Yahweh \u2013 even worse, that they should bossily try to force the same evil monster (whether fact or fiction) on the rest of us.”<\/em> (Dawkins)<\/p>\n So, why does the Bible tell us to repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The christian answer is, \u201cBecause when the kingdom that we all pray to come \u201cThy Kingdom come\u201d actually does come, it will first wipe out all evil and wrong doers from the face of the earth. So, to survive this we must start to go on the path of righteousness meaning we must abide with the standards of God that are stated in the bible.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Is that what you believe? Is that what happens when God is in charge? Did you know that there are Christians out there who still advocate for the death penalty for homosexuals? Is that what we\u2019ll get in Viola’s Kingdom of God? How can any moral person support such behavior?<\/p>\n In some of Viola\u2019s other writings he says that \u201clove\u201d is not the real message of the gospel. From where I stand,<\/strong> \u201clove\u201d would do a lot to heal this broken, lost, hostile world. It\u2019s really a pity that Christians aren\u2019t the ones who actually show that kind of love. For a recent project, I evaluated the mission statements of Evangelical churches. I did a word search to see just how many times the word \u201clove\u201d actually appeared in Evangelical mission statements. I wrote a blog about this topic<\/a>.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t surprised to find that \u201clove\u201d was rarely mentioned, if at all. I also did this for South Fellowship (Pastor Dale’s former church) and found that the word \u201clove\u201d was mentioned only once. Try it for yourself. (On a side note, the congregation that took over the old church building, mentions \u201cGod\u2019s love\u201d eight times in their mission statement.) It’s what the world needs now.<\/p>\n Therefore, I have concluded that Viola\u2019s Kingdom of God, has nothing to offer this broken, lost, hostile world. So, no thanks. I\u2019ll pass on the ridiculous ideas of Frank Viola.<\/p>\n Sincerely, Dale Crum<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oct 13, 2025<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n Dale Crum<\/em><\/p>\n <Previous Post<\/a> \/ Next Post ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An Unexpected Email An introduction to the teachings of Frank Viola. Recently, I was surprised to receive an email from my former pastor. We hadn\u2019t had any contact for many years. There was no personal greeting indicating that he had sent it specifically for me, (which for some strange reason, disappointed me). The subject line […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26,23,16,25,6,49,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheism","category-christian-love","category-christianity","category-dale-crum","category-evangelicals","category-frank-viola","category-jealous-god"],"yoast_head":"\nHere are a few examples.<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nFrom Where I Stand<\/em><\/h4>\n