The Second Coming of Christ: Where Do You Stand?

Years ago when I was taking a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, my eight professors in this field agreed on several philosophical assumptions. They agreed that homo sapiens evolved out of primeval life organisms over the course of millions of years. They agreed that Darwin wrote the Bible of evolutionary biology in his book On the Origin of Species. They agreed, when I asked each one, that there is no God, no Christ, and no Second Coming.

This was difficult for me to hear as a new Christian. I believed that the Holy Bible possesses far greater wisdom for human living than the Origin of Species does. I experienced Jesus Christ as a Person dear to my heart. And I had faith in the New Testament proclamation, including Jesus' own testimony, that Christ would return at the end of human history to judge the living and the dead (John 5:28-29).

It was even difficult for me to sort out the facts of scientific findings in zoology, embryology, molecular biology, and genetics from the philosophy of scientific materialism, a perspective that says the Earth and the Cosmos will keep evolving forever, even if the human species becomes extinct.

The problem with this secular philosophy is that with no meaningful end to human history, there is no meaning along the way. Contrast this bleak perspective to the biblical witness that Jesus Christ will return to earth and gather those whom he redeemed on the cross. This will be a "royal visit," his "appearing" and "coming" (Greek: parousia).

We can't comprehend the full glory of Christ's return to this world, but Christians know it will bring us greater concreteness to the Holy Spirit's power and the Father's love than we are already experiencing. The Savior's second advent will be personal and physical (Mt 24:44; Acts 1:11; Col 3:4; Heb 9:28). And visible to all people (Mark 8:38; 2 Thess 1:10; Rev 1:7). 

Whereas demons trembled with fear at Jesus' first coming, Christians will tremble with joy at his second coming. In fact, the great watershed between those persons who love Christ's appearing and those who despise it will be whether they bow before Him in loving surrender or cringe in His presence with hateful rejection. 

Either way, Jesus comes to end history as we presently know it, one that is filled with tragedy and adversity. He will raise the dead and judge the world. He will usher in a transfigured Heaven/Earth suited for everlasting life in resurrected bodies like Jesus has. 

Yes, we will be the same persons who lived on Earth, whether in ancient civilizations or in the modern world. For it is the same God who created us in His image who will fill us with His glory. We'll be well-equipped for new personal adventures in Christ, brimming with excitement, new chapters written beyond the reach of sin, pain, and death.

We Christians can view our own eventual death as an appointment for intimacy with God and others that will never end—as real as this world, but infinitely more cherished.

And what of those who would scoff at the Second Coming with a superiority complex born of modern scientific materialism? Their heads will bow in silent deference to the King of Glory whom they must obey, even though they reject Him.

To Die Is To Be In The Presence of The Lord

Compass psychotheology asserts that everything about Christianity is interpersonal. This means that no human being is alone in his or her existence; that every person is born, lives, and dies in an interpersonal relationship with God and others.

To highlight this truth we can look at human death in a new light, and lose our fear about it. The physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ foretells what will happen to every Christian.

Jesus' resurrection was an interpersonal event involving the love and power of all three Persons of the Trinity (John 10:17-18). Jesus said he had to power to lay down his life and take it up again. We also know that the Spirit of God raised Jesus from the dead (Ro 8:11), according to the Father's plan. The important insight is that although Jesus felt very much alone and filled with dread at the moment he became the atoning sacrifice for our sins, he was not abandoned by the Father and the Holy Spirit.

We, too, may feel alone or helpless at the time of death. We may see it coming through a terminal disease, or it may strike suddenly in a fatal car crash. Either way, we are not alone. If Christ is our personal Savior, the Trinity infuses us with the same resurrection power that raised Christ from the grave. We can feel comfort knowing that Jesus has proceeded us in death and will awaken us to eternal life.

Jesus rose from the dead through the creative renewing of his original body, a body now glorified, deathless, and ascended into heaven until his Second Coming. You will receive a body like Christ's, vital and everlasting, when you die in him, or if he returns during your earthly life (1 Cor 15:50-54). 

“It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength” (I Cor 15:42-43).

It won't have mattered if you died in an airplane crash, were incinerated in a fire, or drowned in the ocean. It won't have mattered even if you suffered the pain of cancer or passed away quietly in your own bed. To die is to be in the presence of the Lord. And to be in the presence of the Lord brings joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8). Indeed, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (Psalms 116:15).

What have I learned as a psychologist about dying? I've learned to lose my fear of dying by intensifying my trust in Christ's resurrection and the Spirit of God's power to resurrect me. It has proved helpful to reflect on my mortality. I have often imagined myself dying and waking up seeing Jesus. Though I have never seen his face, I will see it then. And though his human eyes first looked into the eyes of his disciples, they will then look directly into mine.

The interpersonal significance of the resurrection lies in how our unique personalities are preserved through death and brought forward into eternal life with God and the community of the redeemed. Our original selves in Christ, seeing him face to face for the first time, will answer all of our earthly questions, and lead to a fascinating and never-ending life in Heaven.

Why God Wants A Humble Mind From You

Here is a Bible verse that has seen me through sixty years of Christian faith, and challenges me to this day: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

All who walk with the Lord -- you and me included -- are challenged to open our minds to His mysterious ways. Abraham opened his mind to God's strange promise that his ninety-year-old wife, Sarah would conceive a child. His humble mind allowed him to believe the impossible dream. 

Moses shook in his sandals when he thought of confronting Pharoah, the most powerful man on earth. God told him to give Pharoah an ultimatum to deliver the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Albeit reluctantly, Moses opened his mind to God's direct guidance. Moses' flexibility allowed him to obey God's unusual commands.

An angel appeared to Mary and announced that the Holy Spirit would mysteriously impregnate her with the Son of God. The angel praised Mary for her humble and receptive mind.

After Christ's ascension into heaven, the apostle Peter made up his mind that only Jews could be saved. The Holy Spirit gave him an inspired dream that contradicted his rigid bias: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean” (Acts 10:15). Peter opened his mind and responded to God's new directions. He preached the Gospel in the Gentile household of Cornelius. After all gathered had received the Holy Spirit, Peter said, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35).

 Scripture refers to the importance of a humble mind in Isaiah 55:9:

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so my ways are higher than your ways
    and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

 NEW WINESKINS

Sometimes we think we've figured out God. We judge everyone according to what we think are God's standards. Occasionally, God has to dash our prideful thinking to pieces.

Compass Psychotheology reveals ten different ways that people from all cultures and every age can close their minds and hearts to God. This is why your personality matters so much to Christ. Every rigid personality pattern embodies represents a set of inflexible attitudes captured by in name of the pattern: Narcissistic Boaster; Compulsive Controller; Antisocial Rule-breaker; Paranoid Arguer; Dependent Pleaser; Histrionic Storyteller; Schizoid Loner, and Avoidant Worriers.

We all hold one or more of these unconscious mindsets. It is part of the sin that burdens us and sets us at odds with one another. We even resist and grieve the Holy Spirit when He would otherwise guide us to health and wholeness. As long as these mindsets are intact, our thinking is intractable. We unknowingly resist the grand adventure of God's will for us. 

Following the Lord on a daily basis requires a maximum openness so that we can keep revising our narrow assumptions into more complete versions of the Way, the Life, and the Truth in Jesus Christ.

Remember Jesus' metaphor about wineskins? The new wine of the Spirit-led life must continuously be put into fresh wineskins of new attitudes, perceptions. and values. Humble minds are constantly renewed, while rigid minds get stuck in a God-resistant rut.

The more obedient to Christ's Spirit we become, the more our minds are humbled. We are responsive to the genius of God in daily living. Giving up our rigid personality patterns and underlying attitudes brings us liberty -- a sense of creative living that is fresh and original -- in the Holy Spirit. “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Trinity, Compass Psychotheology, and You

Compass Psychotheology represents a new field of study pioneered by Dr. Dan and Kate Montgomery. It seeks to integrate reliable principles from modern psychology with orthodox Trinitarian Christianity.

James Joyce spent 7,000 hours in writing Ulysses, the book that introduced the literary device of stream of consciousness into Western literature.

Dan and Kate spent 10,000 hours in writing Compass Psychotheology, the book that weds Christianity and psychology, and the foundation for their Compass Series works.

The Montgomery's aim included bringing together a cohesive theory of the God-human encounter that revealed modern psychological dynamics of personality and relationship within a perspective anchored in Bible teaching and a Christian worldview.

At its first tier of organizational composition, the overarching approach is known as Compass Theory. Compass Theory connects a Christian metaphysical conception of God, the cosmos, and humanity with the human psychological functions of perception, motivation, learning, memory, emotion, cognition, sensation, and spirituality.

Compass Theory suggests hypotheses about healthy versus unhealthy behavior, and offers ways to knit together identity, intimacy, and community—the perennial concerns of every person and every society, from ancient through contemporary times.

Where possible, Compass Theory cites empirical studies from psychological research on equal footing with biblical exegesis of Scripture, believing that both science and faith are essential to understand the complexities of human persons, and the mystery of God as present in persons and societies through the redemptive salvation of Jesus Christ through his atoning life, death, and resurrection.

The second tier of Compass Series works seeks direct application to human need in the forms of the Self Compass growth tool, Compass Therapy, Christian Personality Theory, and Compass Psychotheology. 

Applied to self-help and healthy personality it becomes The Self Compass: Charting Your Personality In Christ.

Applied to inspiration for Christian living it becomes: Faith Beyond Church Walls: Finding Freedom in Christ.

Applied to counseling and psychotherapy it becomes, Compass Therapy: Christian Psychology In Action, and Christian Counseling That Really Works.

Applied to understanding of Christ's personality and human personality it becomes Christian Personality Theory: A Self Compass for Humanity.

And applied to integrating behavioral science with biblical theology it becomes Compass Psychotheology: Where Psychology and Theology Really Meet.

The third tier of Compass Series works drawn from Compass Theory seeks direct application within Christian churches, but are finding use among leaders and members of synagogues and mosques as well. This may indicate that Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam share a common biblical anthropology and belief that the God who created humans seeks to interact with them in personal and corporate ways.

Applied to pastoral care and counseling it becomes Pastoral Counseling and Coaching: Compass Therapy in Churches.

The fourth tier of Compass Series works drawn from Compass Theory seeks to apply God's nature as the divine Trinity to every aspect of human life. Compass Theory suggests that God is only omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, but relational. That is, that the one God of the Old and New Testaments is revealed in and through Jesus Christ as Three Persons who are One God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Applied to a Trinitarian understanding of love, holiness, worship, grace, prayer, human nature, the unconscious, miracles, the devil, science, psychology, philosophy, the Bible, and becoming a Christian it becomes Trusting In The Trinity: Compass Psychotheology Applied.

A fifth level of Compass Series works drawn from Compass Theory seeks to promote a unifying conversation between Protestant and Catholic Christians using the Compass Model. In their marriage Dan and Kate Montgomery have themselves bridged the historical differences between Kate's liturgical and creedal formation as a confirmed Anglican (close in most ways to the Catholic Church), and Dan's Bible-believing and Jesus-centered spirituality (akin to Baptist, Pentecostal, and Wesleyan fellowships). Together they joyfully took a leap of faith to write a crossover book for Roman Catholics that is now commended by Cardinals and housed in the Vatican Library.

Applied to understanding the Catechism of the Catholic Church and a Catholic believer's personality transformation in Christ, Compass Theory becomes God and Your Personality: Revised and Expanded Catholic Edition.

New books on the Compass Theory works-in-progress list include one for a popular readership and one for professional therapists. The general readership book is tentatively titled, The Trinity, World Beliefs, and You. The book for professional therapists and pastoral counselors is tentatively titled, DSM-V and Christian Personality Theory.

Dan and Kate warmly welcome your involvement as compass psychotheology continues to develop in the 21st century!

How Does The Trinity Relate to One Another?

The New Testament in particular offers insight into the inner life of God: a life that can be understood in terms of the rhythms of the Self Compass.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit act in perfect concert, orchestrating the rhythms of humble strength and caring assertion in their interaction with one another (cf. Jn 1:33-34; 14:16, 26; 16:13-15; 20:21-22). “For there are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one” (1 Jn 5:7 NKJV).

Consider how in the incarnation the Son humbly submits to the Father’s will, while the Spirit caringly asserts himself to impregnate Mary. “The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God’” (Lk 1:35 NKJV). And the baptism in the Jordan River. As Jesus was “coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness” (Mk 1:10-12). 

Jesus surrendering. The Father gratified. The Spirit compelling.

Trust and courage. Humility and esteem. Three in one.

With an economy that could leave one breathless, Jesus says, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf” (Jn 15:26).

Surely the Trinity is a life of identity, intimacy, and community. Each person expressing the compass polarities of love/assertion and weakness/strength in rhythmic dialogue with the others.

Intradivine Love/Assertion

“Father,” Jesus prays, “I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (Jn 17:24). A heartfelt request. An assured response.

After the mission of the seventy was realized by the assertive power of the Spirit, “in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit” (Lk 10:21 NKJV). Love-filled jubilation, conjoined with all the might there is. Expressed too, in the Father’s joy as he pays tribute to his Son: “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11 NKJV).

Intradivine Weakness/Strength

“The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing,” Jesus says, “for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise” (Jn 5:19). Yet there is no doubt of Christ’s self-confidence in relationship to his Father: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower” (Jn 15:1). Strength, perfectly balanced with weakness, in non-competitive surrender.

Jesus explains that he has the authority to decide about his own life: “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father” (Jn 10:18). The Son is decisive and obedient. The Father, deferent and in charge. 

In his Jordan River baptism, Jesus surrenders in weakness to the Spirit’s strength. In his healing ministry, Christ is aware that his power comes from the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:18-19). Indeed, Jesus’ consciousness of the Spirit of God empowering him to speak and act is basic to his mission. In turn, when the Son is resurrected to the Father, the Holy Spirit acts on behalf of the Son, spreading the Word throughout the world.

For more, see:

COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY:

Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet

Compass Psychotheology, Modern Life, and the Bible

Compass Psychotheology brings together a century of research into the psychology of human behavior with a spiritual foundation of Scripture and Christian orthodoxy.

In a nutshell, early in my career as both a psychology professor and licensed therapist, I challenged the metaphysical assumptions that underlie Freudian, Jungian, behavioral, and humanistic approaches to being human. I grateful receiving valuable insights, while replacing the erroneous metaphysics with the foundation of Old and New Testament Scripture: the Bible.

Why did I do this? Because I believe that God created humankind; and that God therefore knows, understands, and created the way humans function as psycho-social-spiritual beings. As a psychology professor I taught twelve different graduate and undergraduate courses. This learning experience opened my own eyes to what God already knows about psychology, including: cognition, emotion, motivation, personality, memory, learning, perception, social psychology, sexuality and lifespan development. I began to understand how "we are fearfully and wonderfully made." And as a direct consequence I grew more in love with God, our Creator and Redeemer.

Knowing these fields within contemporary psychology does not need to exclude spirituality, nor does it need to disqualify the supernatural, miracles, and biblical prophecy as realities, not only in biblical times, but today.

So I sought to put together faith and reason in understanding God and human behavior, with faith coming first, and reason following, as long as it is humble reasoning that includes what Scripture says about human purpose and psychosocial processes.

Now that the ten books of the Compass Series books have been written, my attention is keenly focused on how this body of knowledge can enrich churches and the Body of Christ.

Just today I spoke with a man in his eighties, a nationally known motivational speaker, who said, "Dan, this message you are bringing about how pastor's and congregants need to understand their own and other people's personalities is greatly needed in the church. Too often pastors are prepared in seminary with theological topics and church polity, and given little or know knowledge of human psychological functioning. I hope this changes through the knowledge you are bringing to the Christian faith."

I hope so, too, since my experience over forty years is that many people are incapable of growing a deeper love for Christ precisely because they are held captive to psychological dynamics, especially unconscious ones, they neither comprehend nor make progress outgrowing. 

If there's a mission for compass psychotheology yet to accomplish, it is this: to wed psychology and biblical faith within us, so that we can grow in understanding ourselves and God, and thereby experience more keenly the intimacy and adventure God created us to know.

Why God Makes Room for Your Doubt

From a compass psychotheology perspective, too great an emphasis on perfect faith actually blocks growth instead of facilitating it, creating the unconscious expectation that without perfect faith God will be disappointed and reject a person. 

But God has more patience and maturity than that, for as Jesus said, a tiny mustard seed of faith is sufficient for the Lord to work within a person (Mt 17:20). The Trinity wants to help people face, feel, and process their doubts, which in turn leads to greater faith. 

Even John the Baptist suffered doubts, and sent a messenger from his prison cell to ask Jesus once again if in fact he was the Messiah. Jesus sent back the answer that “the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised,” all signs from Isaiah’s prophecy attesting to the Messiah’s arrival (Lk 7:22 NKJV).

Thus, if individuals are trusting Christ for their right standing with God, then God makes room for occasional doubts as they experiment with how prayer does and doesn’t work, what to do when they feel uninvolved in a worship service, how to handle it when they can’t meet a homeless person’s needs, and what to do about behavior they feel is wrong but have to seek God’s help over months or years to overcome. 

Natural rhythms of faith and doubt ultimately bring people closer to the Lord. Although people can’t always hold onto God, he nevertheless holds onto them. As Jesus promises, “No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (Jn 10:28-30).

During Christ’s Passion, Peter struggles with intense doubt about whether to claim friendship with Jesus or deny knowing him. He temporarily opts for denial just when Jesus needs him most. And after the resurrection, Peter reaches the point where he throws up his hands and says, “Come on boys, let’s go back to Galilee and start fishing.” He stands at the place all human beings know from time to time, even when they also know and love the Lord, where life just does not make sense. There are too many setbacks, too much confusion, and too little guidance from the Holy Spirit.

But then it does make sense. For Jesus follows his weary fishing crew to the Sea of Tiberius, and there he makes a little campfire on the shore and grills some fish, shouting to Peter and the others in the boat, “Have you caught anything yet?” (Jn 21:5). Peter starts to yell back that the fishing is as dismal as his own life, when suddenly he recognizes Jesus and dives headlong into the sea to swim ashore. 

The Bible says the disciples don’t say much at that meal, perhaps too busy internally absorbing the rhythm of doubt and faith, crisis and deliverance, self-consciousness and joy—and feeling mostly awe, not only that they had been right in choosing to follow Jesus, but that they had chosen, for the most part, to believe all he had told them.

Rather than trying to secure a flawless platform of witness that one is adamantly Christian and proud of it, a wiser stance might allow that all human beings, including one’s self, hold even cherished beliefs somewhat precariously, and therefore stand in need of God’s continuous provision to remain close to him.

Once individuals accept that they are both strong and weak, hardy and frail, capable of moments of shimmering faith and times where all seems lost, then they can relax, breathe, and trust in God’s faithfulness and providential care. 

Add to this the hundreds of scriptures that attest to the transcendent power whereby God saves those who hide themselves in him, and people can enjoy a degree of serenity, knowing that he is there for them in faith or doubt. 

For the same Peter who denies even knowing the Lord, later writes to all who would follow Christ, “Now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet 1: 6-9).