20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality... Continue Reading →
Let Him Hear: Reading Revelation For Spiritual Growth #6
I have two observations from reading Revelation 8: 1. When the Lamb breaks the seal there is silence in heaven for 30 minutes. Silence is jolting; silence can take your breath away; silence leaves you helpless. I imagine the silence felt was like the silence after Jesus calmed the storm or the silence Elijah heard... Continue Reading →
Revelation Confession
I have never read Revelation. I might have started it once when I was a kid to see what all the fuss was about but since then I have not just failed to read it like I might have failed to read Habbakuk but I have intentionally avoided it. As with most things involving my... Continue Reading →
Let Him Hear: Reading Revelation For Spiritual Growth #5
"God's wrath is always judicial" and "is a right and necessary action to objective moral evil." - J.I. Packer I have always been nervous when discussing God's wrath because I can't see how it works with God's mercy and love. But then I read James Bryan Smith's book The Good and Beautiful God and learned... Continue Reading →
Let Him Hear: Reading Revelation For Spiritual Growth #4
Revelation 4 is what we expect to read when we open up Revelation. Excessive grander, blinding lightning shows, and strange scenes of wonder. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;6 and before... Continue Reading →
Let Him Hear: Reading Revelation For Spiritual Growth #3
I have an idealist streak in me and I take injustices and problems, especially in churches, as a blow to my sense of what is right in the world. I get easily discouraged and angry. I fantasize about churches where people "get it" and the life and work of Jesus is taken seriously. I romanticized... Continue Reading →
Let Him Hear: Reading Revelation For Spiritual Growth #2
In Jesus' letters to the seven church in Revelation, each letter includes the words, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." I find it interesting that we are called, like the seven churches, to listen for the what the Spirit says. But is there a book in... Continue Reading →
Reading Revelation For Spiritual Growth
I despise the end times obsession that is prevalent among American Christians. If I started a class today on how to do the things that Jesus taught and it was scheduled at the same time as a class on the end times, we would be outnumbered probably six to one. This doesn't make sense to... Continue Reading →
Learning From Jesus
How would you define learning? Is it the collection of knowledge? Is it performance in an evaluative situation such as a test? Is it only demonstrated through everyday situations? In Jesus' day, many could not read and the written word was found on large awkward scrolls that would have been time consuming to produce and... Continue Reading →
