Timelines...

... something that has been on my mind for some time is the unhealthy mingling of the already and the not yet in the basilieia tou theou. This happens, for some reason, especially in mission-related outreach and, also in contemporary worship songs.
I had it, in retrospect, already on my mind back here when I wrote a review of Hillsong United's "A_Cross//The_earth" here and argued that it was slightly problematic to say that "no weeping, no hurt or pain" without any further context is difficult to argue for in a world of suffering and brokenness.

Since then, I have seen further examples... a mission/outreach event here recently was entitled "The Real Jesus will end suffering." Now...what does that mean? Yes, of course, Revelation promises the "no more tears, no more pain", but, again, that is Revelation. Is it an unfortunate portrayal of life will be like, but, to make it more attractive, it falls into a Joel Osteen "Your best life now" approach? Just because somebody knows suffering being a very real part of their life, do they have a "fake" Jesus, even if they are believers?

The same applies to music still... the new release from the "Passion" folks, entitled "Awakening" has some songs that raise the issue (it is a great CD, some review might appear here at some point if I have some more time...). I think particularly of "Healing is in Your hands" with the lines "How present our future/ our past is in in Your hands/ we're covered by Your blood"... yes, I know what it means, but it is simply an unfortunate mixing of the timeline...

In short, a responsible faith does include a healthy perspective on time - knowing that God is in control does not solve all problems in the present. And, saying anything else, is far from helpful.