B,

Thank you for writing.

I am grateful that you see the preaching of the Cross as of utmost importance. As you rightly suggest, the purpose of my site is far more about the person and work of Christ, as well as God's gracious love toward us. Nothing is more important. That is the center and heart of what I teach and write.

Eschatology is fraught with difficulties and I don't claim to be immune to them. My arguments against dispensationalism may be weak, but I don't believe my conclusions are. Dispensationalism was my only way of looking at the Bible message for forty years. It was only after better understanding the nature of the Gospel that my views changed. I put several articles against dispensationalism on my site because I believe it has caused harm to the theology of my former denomination. I believe the framework of dispensationalism has seriously hindered my faith tradition from seeing the Gospel of Jesus more clearly. The dispensational perspective is a fundamental challenge to the covenantal structure of Scripture. This is important because the meaning of the Cross is shaped by the covenant structure of Scripture. That is what's behind my understanding and writings.

On the other hand, my rejection of dispensationalism is hardly a "Maginot line" of fellowship. Several of my close pastor friends are dispensational and great servants of the Gospel. One can be dispensational and also justified by faith in Christ. (And I accept the Lutherans who trust in Jesus as Savior, even if they reject my covenant theology.)

Bernie Gillespie