Jan Markell

Jan Markell, Eric Barger, and Billy Crone Play VICTIMS to Keep their Pretrib Rapture Adherents Corralled

December 1, 2017 by Alan E. Kurschner

Jan Markell and Eric Barger want you to feel sorry for them and thereby believe the pretrib view (she claims that we are “persecuting” her and that it is “not a stretch of that word”). That sums up their recent program in defensively responding to the prewrath position along with their guest pretribber Billy Crone.

Billy Crone blusters throughout this program, completely misrepresenting prewrath and ignoring prewrath responses to it. Crone (as well as Markell) have been challenged to a public moderated debate and both have declined to defend their pretribulation rapture view with a prewrath exponent.

Billy Crone is also a hypocrite because he says he wants “dialogue,” but that is disingenuous since in practice he persists in his refusal to dialogue and have meaningful interaction with those who disagree with him. Mr. Crone, if you want to be true to your word, contact me and we can set up a debate at your church next year. Thomas Ice has proven that he is interested in dialogue when we had a Christ-honoring debate a few years ago on this issue. Are you willing to do the same? Or will you continue to be more concerned with words than deeds?

Just to give you one pathetic reason that Crone says in the program for not to believe in the prewrath position is that Robert Van Kampen was a “multi-millionaire.” Wow, have not heard that one before! (Incidentally, whenever I hear this trope by pretribbers they conveniently fail to mention that Tim LaHaye was a very wealthy man and used his wealth extensively to promulgate the pretrib position.)

Billy Crone goes on to slander Van Kampen by saying that “money cannot buy you truth,” as if this was Van Kampen’s agenda. Evidently, Crone did not read Van Kampen’s book where he talks about pouring over God’s Word and studying it for thousands of hours trying to be a Berean and seek the truth on this issue—I guess in Crone’s world, wealthy Christian businessmen are not suppose to do that. Nope, *scary voice* Van Kampen’s evil wealth was his sinister plot!

And Crone, evidently, thinks God is incapable of using wealthy Christian businessmen to promote biblical truth. According to Crone’s logic then the countless—and I mean countless—of missionaries and Gospel-centered ministries that Van Kampen supported over the decades to spread the Gospel of Christ to the lost is invalidated. I would hate to be in Crone’s shoes on judgment day when he must give an account for his flippant slander. And anyone who buys into Billy Crone’s ad hominem slander as a “defense of pretrib” has no earthly discernment.

Let me explain what is going on with Markell and her pretrib ilk. They are desperate. In recent years, they have been circling the wagon and crying “woe is us!” In an attempt to stop the blood loss (pretribs going over to prewrath, which they admit) they are making themselves out to be “victims,” ignoring meaningful interaction with prewrath, misrepresenting prewrath, and even going so far as to warn their adherents that we are teaching “Satanic” doctrine.

Jan, Eric, and Billy, your approach is not working, nor will it work. In fact, it will make more of your pretrib adherents rethink pretrib theology. If you want to have meaningful, Christ-honoring dialogue that will glorify God and benefit his people, then you know what to do.

Does ‘I am standing at the door and knocking!’ in Revelation 3:20 Support an Any Moment Rapture? – Ep. 100

October 16, 2017 by Alan E. Kurschner

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Revelation 3:20 is used as a proof-text by some pretribbers for imminence. In our 100th episode I showed why this is not the case.

“Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).

Some pretribulationists think the expression “I am standing at the door and knocking” refers to an imminent return of Jesus. It has also been wrongly understood to be an “evangelistic call” to unbelievers. Both interpretations are mistaken. These are easily refuted interpretations so my comments will be brief. Not only does this verse have nothing to do with an imminent return of Jesus, it has nothing to do with his future return in the first place. This verse is imploring lukewarm, indifferent believers to become restored to spiritual fellowship with the Lord as the immediate context of the previous verse indicates: “All those I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent!” (Rev 3:19). If the believer repents by hearing his voice, he will “share a meal with him,” which is imagery for intimate fellowship.

Accordingly, these words are directed toward believing individuals, not the church as a whole. As one commentator puts it:

“The gracious invitation that follows in v 20 is given, not to the church as a whole, as though Christ was outside the church (which would require, ‘If the church will hear my voice…I will go in and eat with them, and they with me’), but to each individual within it, conveying the offer of the risen Lord to share with any who will open the door of fellowship in even the commonest activities of life. (George R. Beasley-Murray, Revelation, New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition; ed. D. A Carson et al.; Accordance electronic ed. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1994, 1431.

There are additional reasons why this verse is not a proof text for imminence. First, this imagery of Jesus’ “standing at the door knocking” is not some looming threat of an “imminent” return, or a return in the first place. It is rather a loving promise from our Lord that he continues to pursue and seek restoration with his people even when we have gone astray. It may even be a picture of a foretaste for the future messianic banquet (Rev 19:6–9). Second, it makes no sense if it were to refer to an imminent rapture, because there have been countless believers who have repented and restored fellowship with Lord without the rapture occurring. Third, if one tries to make the Laodicea church represent the church as a whole (which there is no evidence for), then where in the Bible does it say that the church must repent as a whole before Jesus returns? This would establish a prophesied condition where the church as a whole must repent in order for the rapture to take place, which contradicts imminence, the very point that pretribs argue against!

For these reasons, this verse fails miserably as a proof text for pretrib imminence. The important point from this passage is to ask yourself if you are a “Laodicean” Christian who has become lukewarm and indifferent to the Christian life being entangle into the material affairs of this world. If so, then Jesus is pleading and “knocking at your heart’s door” to repent. If you are experiencing his loving rebuke and discipline, then consider that as a good thing, because if you choose not to hear his voice and continue to keep that door shut refusing to restore fellowship with him, then he will “vomit you” of his mouth!

(VIDEO) Prewrath Is ‘Satanic’ Thinks Jan Markell, Pastor J.D. Farag, and Amir Tsarfati…

October 12, 2017 by Alan E. Kurschner

In last weekend’s Understanding The Times Conferences 2017 hosted by Jan Markell’s Olive Tree Ministries, she had a meeting with two of the speakers that was video recorded. In the video below starting at the timestamp 6:45 you can hear them talk about how prewrath is “Satanic.”

Well, we cannot have any of that! Let’s help Jan Markell and her two speakers Pastor J.D. Farag and Amir Tsarfati refute the Satanic doctrine of prewrath, shall we? Jan, I suggest that you make room in next year’s annual conference in Minnesota for a public moderated debate. All three of you can take the pretrib position, and lonely me will take the prewrath position. Here would be a golden opportunity to refute the Satanic prewrath teaching in front of your 6,000 attendees. How can you pass this up? What say you? In fact, feel free to have your other speaker Mark Hitchcock join the three of you. That would make four against one…I don’t mind at all. On second thoughts, Mr. Hitchcock may not want to do this, because he has turned down an invitation to debate me in the past. But you sound pretty confident with your bluster in the video, especially calling prewrath “nonsense,” so surely you are up for the task. I am sure you care for the souls of your attendees so they are not led astray by prewrath, yes? So it would be safe for me to conclude that if you do not take me up on my challenge for a debate, then you either do not care for their souls or you know down deep inside that you are incompetent to refute prewrath publicly against an actual prewrath exponent. So then the third reasonable option is to engage in meaningful debate. Here is my contact info.

*Incidentally, I am encouraged by this, because I know for a fact that prewrath is making significant inroads into their pretrib circles (and otherwise they would not even acknowledge prewrath). And they do not like that. What easier way to refute something than to simply call it “Satanic”! But the more they bloviate their rhetoric and not actually engage in meaningful discussion, Markell and her ilk will continue to experience consternation for watching traditional pretrib believers reject pretrib and come over to the prewrath camp. And that is a good thing!

Jan Markell and Billy Crone Go Apoplectic Against Non-Pretrib Views

January 16, 2017 by Alan E. Kurschner

Just a quick note on this example of this inane interview that pop-pretribber Jan Markell had with Billy Crone.

I don’t keep up with these programs or interviews myself. I receive emails everyday from people sending me links to these shows and cannot possibly respond to them. But I want to note this one.

Why are you seeing recently a spate of desperation among certain pretrib teachers?

Because they are witnessing many pretrib believers coming over to the prewrath position. This is very encouraging for prewrath. God is making inroads into the tradition-bound circles of pretribulationism.

What we are seeing recently is pretrib teachers like Billy Crone who are blustering about pretrib on the pop pretrib radio programs, even though he refuses to defend his pretrib view in a public moderated debate.

In this interview, Crone implicitly challenged anyone to refute his pretrib interpretation of Revelation 3:10. I am waiting Mr. Crone. Let’s have that debate.

But Crone is disingenuous and does not really mean this. It is pure bluster.

For example he claims that σε τηρήσω ἐκ τῆς ὥρας τοῦ πειρασμοῦ (I will keep you from the hour of testing) is the clearest argument for pretribulationism. His explanation of this phrase is so out of touch with the linguistic context that I may use it in a forthcoming book on how not to commit lexical fallacies. Mr. Crone stop going on your safe-space pretrib radio programs pretending to be this irrefutable exponent of the pretrib position.

He also commits the common word-concept fallacy with orge! Nothing we have not addressed already. Pretrib teachers are not progressing with argumentation, but sadly regressing.

The reason Crone will not debate is because he knows for a fact that he will not be able to bluster on about pretrib and he knows his arguments would fall apart during the debate, including the cross-examination period.

A Reply to Jan Markell’s “Understanding the Times” Prophecy Conference and Ed Hindson Likening Prewrath to Beating Your Wife – Ep. 45

August 8, 2015 by Alan E. Kurschner

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I first talked about Jan Markell’s sensational, pretrib, annual, Bible prophecy conference. It represents the typical pretrib conference that is not very helpful for people to learn about Bible prophecy.

Second, I played a clip of pretrib teacher Dr. Ed Hindson from last year’s Markell’s conference. It was full of rhetoric claiming that prewrath teaching is tantamount to beating your wife. You can see the video clip below where he shows a picture of an abused woman on his powerpoint for the audience!

I gave two responses to Hindson’s bad theology.

First I explained that he fails to make the biblical distinction between the Antichrist’s great tribulation and the day of the Lord’s wrath. This is typical of pretribulationism. It is a foundational flaw in the pretrib system.

Second, I talked about the failure of pretrib theology when it comes to understanding suffering and God’s good purposes in suffering. I used the example of the nature of the great tribulation and how God will use that time to refine the faith of the church, sanctifying them and emboldening them to become faithful—overcomers—during the time of the Antichrist. Pretribs fail to distinguish between God’s retributive judgment and his disciplinary judgment. This is a clear distinction in the Bible as I explained.

A Glaring Contradiction in Calvary Chapel’s Pastor Jack Hibbs Pretribulational Rapture

June 24, 2015 by Alan E. Kurschner

I could cite many other pretribulational teachers committing this all-so-common inconsistency in their rapture theology. But I will use Jack Hibb’s statement as representative.

On a recent program of Jan Markell’s Understanding the Times with Jan Markell, her guest Jack Hibbs repeatedly stressed the “imminency” of the rapture that he claims will be “unannounced” that is, “signless.” Pretribulationists believe in the novel doctrine that Jesus can return “at any moment,” secretly vanishing millions of believers from the planet leaving unbelievers scratching their heads as they see pantyhose and toupees left behind on the floor.

While saying he believes in imminence, toward the end of the program he contradicted himself by identifying the rapture happening at Luke 21:27-28, which reads,

Then they will see the Son of Man arriving in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:27–28)

The problem with citing the event in the Lukan passage is that it is clearly preceded by several signs to Jesus’ coming (see Luke 21:8–26).

I would be interested to learn how Hibbs resolves his contradiction.

DeMar — An Eschatological Holocaust Denier

November 19, 2012 by Alan E. Kurschner

Gary DeMar wrote this piece today. He criticizes futurists for teaching that God has ordained an eschatological Jewish holocaust just before the return of Christ.

One thing that prewrathers and prettribbers have in common is both agree Israel’s worst judgment is still in the future. However, prewrathers do not believe the rapture happens before this event. Pretribulationists will have a wake up call when they learn the church will suffer alongside of Israel at this time.

The worse judgment upon the Jews did not happen in AD 70, nor even during Hitler’s Jewish holocaust. The Jewish Scriptures themselves testify that there will be an unprecedented time of suffering (judgment) upon the Jewish people just before the consummation of time:

“Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it.” —Jer 30:7

This prophecy is situated in a larger eschatological context. As you read the following passage, notice I have bolded the events that unequivocally cannot describe AD 70, as Gary DeMar would have you believe, but instead describe the restoration of Israel:

(1) The LORD spoke to Jeremiah. (2) “The LORD God of Israel says, ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll. (3) For I, the LORD, affirm that the time will come when I will reverse the plight of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the LORD. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors and they will take possession of it once again.’” (4) So here is what the LORD has to say about Israel and Judah. (5) Yes, here is what he says: “You hear cries of panic and of terror; there is no peace in sight. (6) Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale? (7) Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it. (8) When the time for them to be rescued comes,” says the LORD who rules over all, “I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. I will deliver you from captivity. Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them. (9) But they will be subject to the LORD their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them. (10) So I, the LORD, tell you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servants. Do not be terrified, people of Israel. For I will rescue you and your descendants from a faraway land where you are captives. The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.They will be secure and no one will terrify them. (11) For I, the LORD, affirm that I will be with you and will rescue you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you. But I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” —Jer 30:1–11

Scripture such as this explicit passage is not on DeMar’s side. He cannot make sense of it given his procrustean preterism. He is not able to walk through this passage in any meaningful consistent manner. No, he needs to either atomize it or spiritualize it to fit his preconceived interpretation on Israel’s future.

Daniel also ties in the eschatological holocaust of the Jews with the event of the resurrection:

(1) At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. (2) Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake– some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. (3) But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse. And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever. —Dan 12:1–3

If DeMar wants to be consistent with his “this happened in AD 70” preterism, then he must also claim that the resurrection happened in AD 70. This would make him a hyper-preterist. But he denies the resurrection happened in AD 70, which makes him inconsistent. (See other texts that situate it in the consummation of time: (Isa 26:16–19; 51:17–52:2; Zech 14:1–3)

As a prewrather, I believe there will be a church holocaust that will happen during this same time. Antichrist’s object of persecution will be Israel and the church (Rev 12:17; Rev 14:12–13; Matt 24:21 [extended to the church]).

Bible-Centered Conference Contrasted with America-Centered Conference

September 30, 2012 by Alan E. Kurschner

This is a teachable moment.

An hour ago, I posted about Jan Markell’s upcoming prophecy conference.

I was curious to see what prophecy subjects and biblical texts the speakers were going to be covering, and I was alarmed to learn about the Me-centered (or America-centered) sessions by the speakers.

If the following does not represent the antithesis between prewrath and pretribulational teachings then I do not know what does. Compare the following two recent prophecy conferences between prewrath and pretribulationism, ironically both are in Minnesota.

Here is Jan Markell’s prophecy conference.

Here is the Prewrath conference that I hosted.

You will patently see how Jan Markell’s conference is obsessed with how prophecy affects “America” (i.e., ME).

Then you will see how my conference has a laser focus on biblical teaching focusing on the Church, addressing biblical subjects and actual biblical passages.

Sort of telling, huh?

It is illustrative of the state of the church today: the mass identify themselves first as “Americans” as shown by their actions. While the remnant identify themselves principally as the Church. The remnant seeks to know what God’s Word says truthfully on a subject, while the mass are interested how world events will affect them as Americans.

I’d like to coin the phrase describing this mindset as “Eschatological Patriotism”: American-centered eschatology.

Jan Markell

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