My own religious background and theology is quite different to that of Pastor Keys, but during my 3 years in that college, I learned so much, not just about Christianity, but business, sociology, cross cultural communication, psychology and counselling, research and planning and of course teaching. All of these have empowered me in my teaching in China.
In order to keep up with current events in relation to a wide range of topics, I subscribe to quite a number of newsletters. But there is one newsletter that I have always subscribed to for personal reasons. That is the newsletter sent out by Pastor Tony Keys.
On Friday (at Magic City) I published an article from Pastor Tony Keys newsletter entitled 'What is an Interim Pastor'. Usually the newsletter contains information on upcoming events; conferences to be attended; lectures to be given or details about the latest event in which Pastor Keys has been involved.
The newsletter last week however was somewhat different, for it contained the article that I published. What I did not publish was the post script which offered Pastor Keys services as an interim Pastor.
I wrote to him and asked why he had added the Post script, and it appears that this really neat guy, after devoting most of his time to education and seminars, is now looking to return to active ministry, at least in a temporary capacity.
Because I know, like and admire the man, I was happy to publish his article as a straightforward article, and happy to help him get back into mainstream ministry.
I first met Dr. Keys in the early 90's when I signed up to study at a Government approved religious institution to study Social Science, business and of course Theology. Because the college, which he founded, was government approved, many of the students came from backgrounds dissimilar to the bulk of the students. (I was affectionately - and sometimes not so affectionately - referred to as either 'The Chief Heretic' or 'The Rabbi'.)
My own religious background and theology is quite different to that of Pastor Keys, but during my 3 years in that college, I learned so much, not just about Christianity, but business, sociology, cross cultural communication, psychology and counselling, research and planning and of course teaching. All of these have empowered me in my teaching in China.
I remember Pastor Keys once saying to a stunned group of students: 'Banks don't care how much faith you have, they are only interested in butts on seats.' Many students were really shocked by that. The rest of us simply enjoyed the man's blatant honesty.
Tony is an immensely practical and loveable person. He is one of the few Christian ministers that I have ever been able to freely relate to. He is truly a genuine human being, with the intellect of a giant.
Tony Keys as I remember him - but a little older and more grey.
I remember when once in class he was discussing some topic or other and getting very little response from the students, he asked several times, 'Doesn't anyone want to ask a question?'
When it appeared that no one had anything to say, he looked directly at me [sitting at the back of the classroom] and said: 'Surely YOU have a question or statement to make!
I was of course tempted but while I can't remember now what the topic of discussion was, I knew that if I said anything it would cause an uproar, so I just smiled and said: 'No! I'm fine thanks!'
He replied: 'Nonsense! You ALWAYS have something to say! So say it!'
I knew him well enough by that stage to know that he was asking me to liven up the lecture. So I fired away. Well, the students did fly into an uproar and Pastor Tony just stood back for a while laughing. You see he loved to see people 'think for themselves' rather than blindly follow something that an authority figure says. He loves people really getting into the subject instead of just sitting like sponges soaking up information.
I have always admired his courage and fortitude, especially in the face of adversity, and I know he has faced quite a bit of that in his life, especially from a certain denominational church that resented the fact that so many of 'their people' preferred to study in Pastor Tony's college rather than their own denominational college.
Tony always made a point of saying that anyone involved in ministry ought to be fully equipped for the task of both dealing with people and running an organization. For that reason, all students had to study counselling under a qualified counsellor; had to study business management under instructors qualified by the Australian Institute of Management, and had to study civil and contract law under the guidance of a qualified 'legal instructor'.
For some religious people, this was just a tad 'too secular' for their liking.
Whilst I will honestly admit that I only signed up to go to that college because I needed a break from 'working for a living', my time in that college taught me so much about people and about life, and I have always felt indebted to this wonderfully down to earth man, who believed that you could never receive too much training in learning how to be an effective leader.
Now I don't want to continue praising the man or praise him too highly here lest you think I am being paid to do so, but if you check out his website, you might be surprised to see what he has done in his life, and you can read some of the testimonials he has received. I will provide here just 3 that I selected:
I recently attended a local pastors' daytime retreat at Faith Bible College NZ led by Tony Keys. The material presented was so worthwhile. Subsequent to that we held a short seminar here at our small fellowship. Tony gave practical, useable principles illustrated with fascinating anecdotal context which spiced the subject well. I found the material to be applicable to both small and large church scenarios and would highly recommend them. Dave Sales Senior Pastor Welcome Bay Baptist - New Zealand
I have read and re-read Tony Keys' books on leadership and transformational change. They are refreshing and compelling insights into the core issues that leaders must face in order to lead the church well in the early years of the twenty-first century. Tony is to be commended for producing a series of thoughtful, challenging and helpful works which are serious contributions to the body of information available to initiators of change. - Timothy W Jack Apostolic Church Australia
"The very fact of initiating this seminar for our staff has benefited everyone (all) , thereby helping me personally at a very deep level to lead a coalition into our future. The content and presentation brought tensions and deep issues to the surface for immediate and future healthy dialogue and forward movement as a group. The integration of the 2T's, when understood and practiced, creates incredible dynamic forward movement in an understanding environment". - Ken Gill - Member of National Executive for Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada - PAOC.
In 'What is an Interim Pastor?' Pastor Tony Keys wrote: Looking for an Overseas Interim Pastor? Countries such as United Kingdom and Canada allow religious organisations to apply for an interim pastor to be issued with a Minister of Religion work permit, to undertake missionary work.
I know that man well enough to realise that he is obviously so keen to get back to regular ministry that he is willing to travel overseas to do it. Elsewise he wouldn't have written that last section.
So let me shamelessly say: 'If you are looking for an Interim Pastor, then you can drop him a line at the email addresses below.' You can check out for yourself his resume which is on his website.
As I stated at the beginning, I did receive his permission to post his article and additionally to use his photograph, but what is contained in this article is all my own doing. I figured it was the least I could do for a man who demonstrated to me that not all 'born again' Christians are .. er... well - you get my drift.
I have also asked him if he would be willing to contribute to Magic City Morning Star and Kingscalendar Writers Journal as a regular religion writer. I don't know yet if he will, but I do hope so.
Mingxing's company had booked him into the upmarket Kempinski Hotel in Wuxi and he organized and paid for one extra day so that we could go sightseeing. There are two photos in Part one that relate to the Kempinski Hotel Room, but this photo is of the lavish foyer of the Hotel as taken from the first floor landing above the coffee shop. Whilst the Big Buddha is the 'centerpiece' so to speak, the real spectacular is to be found in the Cultural Museum. This place is one helluva spectacular place inside. It sits directly opposite the replica of the Potala Palace, and when you enter you are required to put coverings over your shoes. I suspect that the real reason is to cut down on the cleaning bill. This place was crowded and all those people shuffling along wearing shoe protectors gave the marble floor a really high sheen.
The Fairy Island on the Lake Taihu. which used to be called the Three-Mount Island, is a group of well-known islands and islets in the famou s scenic spot of Lake Taihu.it lies in the lake, and is 2. 0 kilometers away from the Turtle Head Peninsual, which is in the northeast shore. The entire islands are made up of the islets such as Daji, Xiaoji, Dongya, Xiya, with a total area of 12 hectares. (From a Sign at Taihu.)
It was decided that unshod horses would not be allowed to be used in commercial ventures. People couldn't ride horses for a living; salesman couldn't load goods onto their horses; and horses could no longer pull carts. While it all seemed quite logical and humane, the unforeseen consequence of the law was that the supply of goods into and out of the town began to dwindle, until in the end, business after business went bankrupt. As time went by the whole city went bust until the only ones left were those who could not afford to move, and one of these was our blacksmith. One day, considering that since the council itself was now gone, the blacksmith decided to restart his business.
When excavating workers discovered the original Royal road and archaeological viewing platforms have been set up from both above and beside the original road. No charge! You can go down the ramp and clearly see the road and the accompanying signs/ The Chaotian Gate - During the Zhizheng Reign of Yuan Dynasty it was renamed to Gongbei Tower. It was destroyed in the 10th year (1474) of Chenghua Reign Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the next year. The building was destroyed again in early Qing Dynasty and rebuilt in the 25th year (1686) of the Kangxi Reign Qing Dynasty. It is known as Drum Tower.
Politically Correct activists fight many different causes but their bottom line strategy is to demonstrate that their opponents are "GUILTY" - guilty of anything and everything one can quickly think of so as to disempower those same opponents. Reaction formation generally speaking is accusing others of those things of which you yourself are guilty BUT which you find inexcusable within yourself. It’s rather like being a Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One part of the character lives in the righteous, non discriminatory respectable world of PC but underneath there is a guilty secret that one doesn't want to let escape. It would ruin their image. And so they point the fingers of hatred at those guilty of the same thing - because in fact they "loath themselves".
Having stated that the Governor is one of the very first elected officials to take this action and that there is no play book to show him what to do next, the American Policy Center is calling on citizens to sign a 'Letter of Thanks' to Governor Bentley: If you care about protecting our Constitution and our way of live from attacks by the United Nations, then you must stand with Governor Bentley by signing and returning you "Letter of Thanks for Opposing United Nations' Agenda 21". The newsletter warns however that if Governor Bentley is left to fight alone, then he is probably doomed to be destroyed by the very powerful UN/Agenda 21 forces.
The original command to anoint Jehu as king over Israel (not Judah) was given to Elijah the prophet in 1 Kings 19:15-17 in which he is commanded to anoint Hazael as King over Syria (in place of BenHadad) and Jehu over Israel in place of Ahab's son Jehoram. And there is a promise from God that those who escape from Hazael will be slain by Jehu and those who escape Jehu will be slain by Elisha. But even though the Scripture talks about killing the King of Israel's heirs (the house of Ahab), no where does it say that anyone is to kill the King of Judah "Ahaziah", who was either Ahab's grandson, nephew or son-in-law. (2 Kings 8:18 makes his mother to be the daughter of Omri and therefore sister of Ahab and so he was Ahab's nephew, while verse 26 states that his mother was Ahab's daughter therefore he was Ahab's grandson but verse 27 refers to him as son-in-law).
Definition: King's Calendar Chronological Research
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix 5. to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been drastically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
(He has been teaching Conversational English in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.)
General formula for Biblical Data conversion:
The formula for constructing the artificial calendar was:
'X' times 364 equals 'Y' days'Y' days divided by 336 equals 'Z' artificial years.Values are:'X' = any given number of 'real/solar' years364 = perceived days in the sectarian calendar'Y' = number of days calculated336 = number of days in an artificial year'Z' = artificial years = 1.083'X' and represents the original number of the converted years plus 8%.To reverse the process by hand:'Z' years times 336 equals 'Y' divided by 364 equals the Number of 'X' years converted.
To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5:Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE:
The Principle of Linear Causality
The King's Calendar is a very simple approach to Biblical Chronology. It substitutes a value of 336 days for every year listed in Scripture. As far as the Divided Kingdom is concerned, when you use this 336 day year value, the synchronisms actually work. To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5: Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
Because it is a mathematical system, the King's Calendar must abide by certain mathematical rules, the most important of which, is that if you change any date for any day, month, or year every other day, month, or year is effected and must also change. It's like a 'domino effect'. Chronological references cannot be 'forced' to fit, and nor can they simply be ignored or 'compressed' as is the usual case with historians and archaeologists.
If any King's Calendar chronological determination disagrees with anything in the history books, it must argue the case as to why the history books are wrong, or why the evidence for an assertion is untrustworthy. If the King's Calendar successfully defends its' position, then the history books cannot be treated as definitive, and if the King's Calendar is 'proven' wrong, then every other chronological reference it provides is also wrong.
Because of this, the King's Calendar Chronological Reconstruction of Israel's history is unique, in that its' methodology can be scientifically (mathematically) tested and demonstrated to be either true or false. Its' chronological predictions are able to be 'proved' or 'disproved'.
Rules of Evidence Series at Kingscalendar.
Part 1. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 2. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 3. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology Part 4. The Law, Rules of Evidence & Archaeology
