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Life in the Kingdom - FCG's Mission Statement
by Brian L. Martin
This article appeared in the 2020 Winter issue of Fulfilled! Magazine
ALTHOUGH I HAVE BEEN the “name” or “face” associated with FCG and Fulfilled! Magazine over the years, that was never my intent, nor is it something that I am particularly comfortable with. FCG is not intended to be “Brian Martin Ministries.” I simply wanted to give scattered preterists a sense of community, share various resources, and perhaps give their futurist contacts some bite-sized articles to make them think more deeply about their end-time views. Starting a preterist magazine seemed like a timely and worthwhile project.
After a couple of test issues it appeared that the preterist community was receptive to the idea, so my wife and I, and our friend Bill (from the “Kidding” video), formed the FCG nonprofit corporation. While we certainly haven’t pleased all the readers all the time, I believe that we have been moderately successful in those goals. We chose the name Fulfilled Communications Group because we envisioned more than just a magazine. “Fulfilled” referred to the past fulfillment of preterism, “Communications” spoke to what we hoped to do with the fulfilled message, and “Group” allowed for expansion in any of a number of avenues (content, media, personnel). Our first “expansion” was the You've Gotta Be Kidding . . . Right? video, which was very well received. After completing that I thought that we might be able to produce a video every 1-2 years. But life often doesn’t bend to our desires.
Kayla and I began a multi-year stint of house remodeling projects, and I put in extra hours at work, in an effort to help prepare us for retirement. By God’s grace we retired in April of this year. Since then I have spent quite a bit of time working on FCG-related projects: revamping the magazine layout, and creating a new website. I also tapped the expertise of one of my brothers, Scott, who has a Masters in Organizational Leadership, to help FCG develop as a ministry. Our first task was to develop a mission statement, which we shared in the previous issue. In the previous issue’s Editor’s Update I mentioned that I would be sharing more details about our mission statement. Below is our mission statement, and a brief exposition that provides a brief commentary on each of the statement’s key terms.
Our mission:
Exploring and proclaiming the good news of fulfilled prophecy and life in Christ, equipping and encouraging everyone in our journey toward biblical truth, enabling each of us to better discern and develop our roles in the kingdom of God
Exploring: Understanding truth is an ongoing process. FCG’s position is not that we have “arrived” and are now in a position to tell others how to get to where we are. Rather, as Bereans, we too are continuing to explore the view of fulfilled prophecy and “search the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things are so” (Acts 17:11).
Proclaiming: What we have discovered, we share with others in a spirit of grace, humility, and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
The Good News: We believe that fulfilled prophecy and life in Christ are, in comparison to unfulfilled prophecy and life without Christ, good news.
Fulfilled Prophecy: We believe that preterism (past fulfillment) is the most accurate interpretation of the biblical “last days” and end-time events. We believe that God is not a God of gaps and delays, but a God who fulfills His promises and prophecies when (this generation, soon, near, at hand) He promised.
Life in Christ: We believe that salvation is found in Christ alone (Acts 4:12) and that “he who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). Having life in the Son of God is truly good news!
Equipping: We desire to produce and provide resources that will aid others in their study of Scripture and eschatology.
Encouraging: We desire to encourage those feeling isolated in their pursuit of biblical truth and those struggling in that pursuit to not grow weary or lose heart in doing good (Gal 6:9).
Everyone: We are all in this together. As Paul wrote to the Romans, “. . . that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me” (Rom 1:12). The apostle Paul was encouraged by the faith of the Romans; we in the preterist community can certainly be encouraged by one another (Heb 3:13).
Our Journey: As stated under “Exploring,” this is an ongoing process; we are all in this journey together. Some have been on the path for many years; others have just begun the journey. Mindful of this, we need to interact with grace, humility, and respect as we each work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).
Biblical Truth: This, rather than preterism, is the ultimate goal of FCG. We espouse preterism because we believe it to be the most accurate interpretation of biblical end-times. Should preterism be refuted by Scripture, we will follow biblical truth. While some may see this as preterism losing the “preterism vs. futurism” debate, we would see it as a win-win situation because both sides come out with a better biblical understanding. Preterism would be proved to be an errant doctrine, and futurism will be forced to shore up the holes in its position that allowed preterism to become established. No one loses if we all gain a better understanding of biblical truth and become more Christ-like.
Enabling Each of Us: Although we are all in this together as a community, we each have individual responsibilities to not only search out biblical truth, but to then apply that truth to our lives.
Better Discern and Develop our Roles in the Kingdom of God: It is not enough to understand the “nuts and bolts” of biblical prophecy (or any facet of biblical knowledge, for that matter). Paul wrote, “though I . . . understand all mysteries and all knowledge . . . but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor 13:2). We must apply these truths to our daily walk with God. The end goal of our biblical journey toward truth is not simply to discern a list of correct biblical data and doctrine, but to then develop our personal roles in the Kingdom of God. How are we to live in the light of fulfilled prophecy?
Continuing the Mission: As we better discern and develop our roles in the kingdom of God, we become better equipped to further explore and proclaim the good news of fulfilled prophecy and life in Christ, and to equip and encourage others in their journeys toward biblical truth.
Comments:
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Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every
way into him who the head, into Christ . . . .
(Ephesians 4:15)
