CCC23, S6: Bryan Wolfmueller - ”Living In the Middle of a Cosmological Rap Battle”

The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA

July 7-8, 2023

"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"

Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller

Session 6 (Final Session): Living In the Middle of a Cosmological Rap Battle

The Christian story of history is full of order, life, hope, joy, and salvation. The world would pluck us from this faith and throw us into a den of despair. What does it mean for us to hold to the Lord’s Word while we wait for His appearing?

 

Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: [e-mail]

Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): [e-mail]

 

Summary

• LSB 763 - When Peace, Like a River, Lyrics: https://hymnary.org/text/when_peace_like_a_river_attendeth_my_way
• Hopelessness & Prisoners of Hope
• The end is not heaven; it’s the resurrection
• Answer to the riddle: Could Adam and the Woman starved in the garden before the Fall? Yes but No, Yes but No
• First Resurrection, Second Resurrection; First Death, Second Death - The frustration of hating Paul; the frustration of hating you
• Church is a court v. Church is a prom dance (during QA)

References

• Ephesians 2:11-12; Zachariah 9:9-13 (Prisoners of hope); Revelation 6:9-11 (How long, O Lord?); Revelation 20-22; Hebrews 6:17-20; Hebrews 2:14-15: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A11- 12%3B+Zachariah+9%3A9-13%3B+Revelation+6%3A9-11%3B+Revelation+20- 22%3B+Hebrews+6%3A17-20%3B+Hebrews+2%3A14-15&version=ESV
• Chesterton Quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/155352-the-man-who-kills-a-man-kills-a-man-the
• Video tour of Abbey of the Three Fountains (Paul’s beheading): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQHrrotPFic
• The skulls of St. Peter and St. Paul, Roman Catholic video (about the 2:06 mark): https://taylormarshall.com/2015/11/where-are-the-skulls-of-saints-peter-and-paul.html
• TLH 605, “The World Is Very Evil,” stanza 4: https://www.projectwittenberg.org/etext/hymnals/tlh/very_evil.txt
  • “Send hope before to grasp it, till hope be lost in sight”
• Pictures from Whiteboard (Need the picture from the final session!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aA6uMAUHqrvOqcS9du4dEprvy_xzX_8W?usp=sharing

Clarifications

53:58 (first question): Concerning near death experiences and people claiming they witnessed heaven

59:12 (second question): From the Scripture of Lazarus and the rich man, where the rich man wants to warn his brothers. Does this show us that in heaven we’re going to know about our loved ones in hell? Will that steal from the full joy of heaven?

1:02:04 (Follow up): In the text, the rich man sees Lazarus and what he misses; Lazarus doesn’t see the rich man