Google Ken Symes and you’ll find many websites, blogs and articles, but how many of these Ken Symes links actually have anything to do with me? Let’s find out, starting with “Rev. Ken Symes.” [Doing “snopes” on my doppelgangers was so interesting I launched a website to explore them: Snopes on Ken Symes]Are those links for Rev. Ken Symes or Pastor Kenneth Symes related to me?
“Rev. Ken Symes shares Biblical proof that true Christians do not go through ANY of the great tribulation as described in the Book of Revelation,”
according to an audio recording at Blog Talk Radio, describing a recording titled Pre-Tribulation Rapture: BIBLE PROOF by KEN SYMES. The description goes on to say, “Rev. Symes has great expertise re: Bible prophecy, especially as it relates to Israel. As National Field Representative with Jewish Awareness Ministries with decades of full-time ministry experience you will be blessed by the wisdom and balanced Bible teaching that Rev. Symes brings to the table.”In addition to not wanting anyone to be left behind when the rapture occurs, Rev. Kenneth Symes is author of Jews, Gentiles and the Church Age. “Today there is much confusion among Christians as to the place which God has given to the Jew in this present age of Grace,” claims Symes. He explains, “The Roman Catholic Church has traditionally taught that Jews are now cast off by God.” Kenneth Symes, wanting to set Christians straight on this says, “Today, we must recognize a special responsibility to carry the gospel to the Jew while also including the Gentile.”
In this same article titled “Jewish Missions and The Great Commission,” Symes explains: “God said to Abraham, regarding his seed: ‘I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee’ (Genesis 12:3). To share the gospel with the Jew is to receive a special blessing. How can we better bless the Jew than to share with him the gospel or curse him than by withholding the gospel from him?What’s fascinating is that this idea is prominent on the Jewish Awareness Ministries website right alongside another idea which might not see compatible: “Jewish Awareness Ministries is an advocate for the nation of Israel. We believe God has established Israel as a nation today in fulfillment of His promises (Ezek. 37:8; Isaiah 11:10-12)… Genesis 12:3, “I will bless them that bless thee…”, makes it incumbent that we support Israel’s right to be in the land of Israel as a nation. We believe Israel has a right to the land biblically, but, also, they have a legal and moral right to be a nation today in the land of Israel.” Fascinating, isn’t it? I thought Genesis 12:3 meant we were supposed to preach the Christian message to Jews, but now it means bless the Jewish nation of Israel. Hmm, something doesn’t seem compatible here…
So are links for Rev. Ken Symes or Pastor Kenneth Symes related to me?
FALSEI am NOT Rev. Ken Symes NOR am I Pastor Kenneth Symes . Links to such religious styles of the name are NOT me, just plain Ken Symes . I am NOT a Reverend minister NOR am I pastor, but I am a Christian and I do attend church (sometimes). In fact, truth be known, I even went to seminary and I have a Master of Divinity in addition to previous degrees in theology and philosophy—so I’m quite an egghead, for sure. I do blog about Christians intersecting with our culture at Samaritan XP, but I am a news media analyst, NOT a pastor.
I don’t go around preaching about “the rapture” and trying to scare people into fearing they may be left behind. I do not believe that the guy above is able to offer “BIBLE PROOF” for the rapture because it lacks a Scriptural basis and no Christians believed in such a crazy thing for the first 19 centuries of the church! It may sell a lot of books today which threaten that we will be Left Behind, but it is not an historical Christian teaching. I am always suspicious when Christians today start believing in concepts and biblical interpretations which the ancient and historical church did not know anything about.
Unlike Kenneth Symes, I am opposed to believing that modern day Israel is some special fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Christians that rally the U.S. to support Israel no matter what worry me. Sarah Palin and George Bush would probably like the above-mentioned Pastor Ken Symes far more than they would like. I’m more inclined to agree with Jimmy Carter and say it’s time to put an end to apartheid in Israel. Calling for the blessing of a nation which commits such atrocities to an impoverished people group in their midst should be unconscionable to Christians, in my opinion.
However, the “Ken Symes” comments you may find all over the Internet about The Simpsons not being Catholic were posted by me, not the Reverend. Yes, they are religious, but I do comment on that kind of stuff, just not on being “left behind” or blessing Israel. In this case, a newspaper from the Vatican City recently suggested that Homer and Bart Simpson were Roman Catholic! They certainly are not. So I left comments at some of these articles:- Vatican declares Homer Simpson true Catholic
- The Simpsons are Catholics at heart Vatican newspaper says
- Is Homer Simpson a Catholic?
- Sour D'oh Catholics?
- D'oh! Vatican declares Bart and Homer Simpson Catholic
I also got permission to re-post this excellent script I read at a British website all about the Christian faith; it was called Conversations with Jesus: In this episode, Jesus meets Lisa Simpson. I re-posted it with some neat pics, simply as Jesus meets Lisa Simpson. The first time I read it I was convinced that it was really an episode of The Simpsons—it’s actually that good! I’ve been wanting to write a follow-up. What would Lisa Simpson believe the priorities for a Christian President would be? Somehow, I doubt she would agree with George W. Bush or Sarah Palin. Unfortunately, I haven’t written it yet. You can check out the Ken Symes Google Profile to find out more about me and what links truly link to my stuff. Or you can follow Ken Symes on Twitter or find Ken Symes on Facebook.
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