THE BOOK OF REVELATION - A SYNOPSIS

MY BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF REVELATION

 

John, was the friend of Jesus, gospel writer and evangelist. The purpose of Jesus’ incarnation was so real and empowering to John. He watched Jesus die. He saw him alive again. He saw Jesus ascend through clouds and out of sight. He knew everything Jesus said about the devil and sin and redemption, and the Kingdom were true. He wrote that God loved the world so much that He sent the divine Son, Jesus, so whomever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. 

DOES GOD LEAD US INTO TEMPTATION?

The question is, why did Jesus teach his followers to pray this statement? "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil." Our uninformed default reading implies that God leads us into temptation to tempt us. Not so. Perfectly offensive to God. Scripture informs us that God does not tempt us. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” God does not do the tempting.

7 DEADLY ZINS: The wine is good, the zins are bad

Don't get your shorts in a knot. This is not a wine review but an illustration. There is an exquisite Lodi region California wine called 'The Seven Deadly Zins.' The label lists the zins as Wealth, Vanity, Greed, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and Lust. The name is a clever pun spun from the fact that seven wines come from seven growers to comprise this big, bold and fruity spicy flavour that is great with barbecued meats. Connoisseurs say it has a spicy nose with raisins, jammy blackberry, walnut and black pepper, a bit of raspberry, tomato and cola. In the States it's $14.95 and in Canada it's $22.95 if one is lucky. The wine is good. 

Some of the seven are precisely the kind of zin or sin that offends God. Christian theology informs us that God is a three-personal God, three distinct persons not manifestations while remaining one being - God. Clearly it is something that must be received by faith because visual evidences are in shorter supply than they were in early New Testament times. Then, Jesus, the second person was actually resident on earth in human form. The Holy Spirit, while invisible most of the time, occasionally demonstrated his presence in the form of a dove that appeared in timely fashion. And God, the Father, also invisible, spoke intelligible and audible words such as "this is my beloved son with whom I am very pleased."

By the time Jesus was schedule to leave earth, he had clearly promised that in his absence, the Holy Spirit would continue to be with the disciples and all who follow Jesus anytime, but he would also be inside them, living within them. That is up close and personal. And this promise was given because Jesus is inclined to be graceful to us, God the Father loves us and the Holy Spirit partners with us. Since that is the dynamic or this relationship with God, it becomes clear that when we find sins so tasty, we risk offending the God-one inside us. So, the scripture declares a caution, "Don't grieve the Spirit of God." Do you know how he can be grieved? By us committing zins, well sins, such as lying, anger, corrupt language, bitterness, unforgiveness which are mentioned in verses that surround Ephesians 4:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”  

Are these sins deadly? They cost us more than money. Unless we give them up, they certainly kill everything that God would powerfully accomplish in us and through us. That's because by continuing to sin, we quench the Spirit, dampen the spiritual fire. And there is an accompanying command against that.   I Thessalonians 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit.” The wine is good. The zins are bad.

GENUINELY CHRISTIAN YET PRACTICALLY AGNOSTIC (2)

I perceive there will be superior value to the topic if I personalize it. So, I am writing to Christians today. This is a cue, an incentive to a segment of the Christian community.  In the earlier critique I expressed an opinion that we may be living like practical agnostics. It's possible. We are not 'practical' agnostics in the sense of being 'almost' agnostic or virtually agnostic. Of course not, because we do genuinely believe in the large constructs of Christian truth. Rather, during the weekdays, we have minimal explicit contact with God. While the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are factual within our theological framework, we are out of touch. We know that prayer is the network that links us with the divine, but prayer takes time and discipline. We know when we are honest with ourselves that we apply both time and discipline to online social networking, to watching our favourite TV shows, and to daily exercise.  So, we must admit we are slackers. We have not prioritized prayer.

An agnostic is characterized by uncertainty. While we believe in the merit of prayer, we may be uncertain about the effectiveness of prayer.  Possibly, our journals contain slim accounts of answers to specific prayers. We do not doubt God's ability to hear prayer, or to respond to great challenges. We are uncertain that God will answer our request. Our asks have been made before without a response. We don't want to be disappointed any further. Our request seems so trite and selfish so we hesitate. Strangely we are not open and transparent before God who is all knowing.  We worry about a job, about money, about our children. We struggle with our sexuality, with addictions, with attitudes and moods, but we refer none of these to God because we have not successfully integrated our theology with our lives on planet earth. The incarnate Jesus spoke to his Father, and advised us to call God Father. Father loved us (humanity) so much he gave us Jesus.  Jesus came here to do what he needed to do to provide a relationship for us with himself and the Father.  Jesus assured us that in his physical absence he would not leave us comfortless, but rather he promised to give us another comforter, divine like himself, namely, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not only with us but inside us, where character and spirituality are developed so that we can reflect the image of God, that is, be Christlike.      

(I will pursue this subject for in a few posts in the days ahead)

THE TRINITY AND THE CHURCH

We all acknowledge a strong connection between the doctrine of the church and the doctrine of God, yet I seldom read anything that emphasizes the close relation between church and the doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, the doctrine of the church originates from the Trinity. God's covenant with people whether in the Old or New Testaments has always been this, "I will … be your God, and you will be my people" (Lev. 26:12; 2 Cor. 6:16). His people, God's people, are his possession. God can say that. He formed them for himself. His people were and are supposed to sound forth his praise (Isaiah 43:21).

God revealed himself in inspired scripture, as the three person Creator God who said, "Let us make man in our image." This living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything for his own glory, including people. When humanity's earliest antecedents disobeyed God, the Father introduced redemption to his people, the story of which is traced in scripture until it is ultimately realized in the Son's atoning death. Israel was once God's chosen people. The Father sent the Son to be incarnated as a Jew. Except for a few Jewish believers, Israel rejected Jesus. Thereafter, all who place exclusive trust in Jesus the Son become not only disciples but the temples of the Holy Spirit and together they are the people of God known now as the church. The church is a divine embrace of people that includes Gentiles, an international selection, whom the Apostle Peter called a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9) and adds that they once were 'not a people' but now are 'the people of God' (vs.10).

BEGGAR WITH A NEW CAUSE

Unable to use his legs, he sat daily in a heavy pedestrian route near the temple gate where he asked people for a handout.  If he sits at the door of your congregation's meeting place, what will you and your friends do?

Recently filled with God's Holy Spirit, overwhelmed really, yet at the same time supernaturally endowed with power of which Peter and John were unassumingly assertive, they met a disabled man one day. As they came near, he requested something from the two men. Peter commanded his attention. Their eyes met. Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet and start walking." Peter took the unsuspecting man's hand and helped him to his feet. As he stood he found he could bear his own wait. His first steps took his breath away with joy. He began to high step, to jump, to dance in circles around the men, to gasp, shout, scream with excitement and he cried, cried out praise to God and walked with Peter and John through the temple gate to the place of worship. 

 

Scores of people witnessed this spectacle and many more rushed to the scene and stared incredulously at Peter and John and the vertical beggar.  Peter and John were certain that there was available power to heal this man, and now with similar assurance Peter fearlessly questioned the Jewish audience about their obvious assumption that by some weird divination or hocus pokus, these disciples had healed the man. Peter immediately denied that their own power had affected this healing of a lifelong incapacity. Then Peter daringly cited the Jewish crowd with an offense so shocking that humiliation would cripple them with guilt. He told them that this beggar had been healed by putting faith in the name of the righteous and holy man called Jesus. This Jesus was the same person whom the Jewish community had disowned and killed. However, Peter and John were among the many who had observed Jesus alive after the crucifixion. He who was the very author of life had himself come back to life after giving it up. This indictment intensified when Peter told them that God, God of their fathers, that is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs they revered, endorsed Jesus as Messianic Saviour and honoured him now in heaven. Their burden may have been too much to bear had Peter not conceded that their crime was the result of their ignorance of the truth that Jesus had been sent to suffer and to die to atone for human sin. For a time, Jesus was remaining in heaven waiting for authorization to return when he will restore everything. But now, Peter said, "You need to repent of your sin, turn in faith to God so that your sins are wiped out, and the times of refreshing that follow will include you."

So the question posed to me today by the Holy Spirit is, "What about the woman living in the unit beneath you, who is an emotional, relational, medical drug-dependent cripple? Are you responding to her with the faith-filled assurance that when you tell her not give up, rather to get up and be whole, she will take your hand and stand up. And later when she experiences with unquenchable joy the entirely healed life she has been given, will you speak boldly about Jesus to her awestruck family and friends?"

The other question to me is, "Or, will you be too timid because your theological training and teaching and christian culture and your friendships influence you to disrespect supernatural interventions?"

The narrative comes from Luke, the writer of the account in Acts chapter 3.

THE CRYING DESIRE

Not for a moment would I suggest that every church that is located inside a building whether a small wood frame structure or colossal concrete edifice is an ineffectual institutional church. That kind of wholesale depreciation would miss the point of all my recent articles and certainly of this one. I must make that qualification as I publicly question present-day interpretations of church and what churches do. I observe the church through the lens of scripture and the eyes of experience.

The assembly or church about which Jesus spoke just before he was airlifted into the heavens began with the investment of the Holy Spirit into each one of the approximately 120 people waiting and praying as he instructed them to do. That was the memorable Day of Pentecost described in Acts 1&2. By the end of that first day, 3,000 more people were added to this assembly, the same way the first 120 were endorsed, by repentance of personal sin, faith in Jesus being God's Son, Messiah, whose death atoned for their sin, personal baptism as a public display of allegiance to Jesus, and the coincident filling by the Holy Spirit of God.

Jesus' early church was stamped with an enthralling relationship with God that should characterize his followers always. It is that gripping rapport with the Father for which many people are longing today.

That dynamic affiliation with Almighty God, and with the eternal Son and with the indwelling Spirit, is not the experience and sometimes not even the teaching that occurs within institutional churches whether wood or concrete. For that reason some believers pull away, disappointed, vacant, starving. They will search for that which scripture described, the church that God is building rather than the church that humans build. God's assembly or church has been knowing God and loving God and experiencing His power, and growing numerically ever since those early days. This is Jesus' church. His church is comprised of people with a passion for obediently following Jesus; people who can talk together with love and grace and permission to be authentic; people who compassionately respond to people around them. Jesus' church has grown in battle field bunkers, in refugee camps, in summer children's camps, in prisons, in lunch break conversations during business hours, in family devotions, in university dorm rooms, and in sanctuaries of some country and city church buildings.

What many of you want more than anything is friendships with people who are fervently following Jesus and living his holy kind of life and winsomely relating to everyone with the presence of the LORD.

IN PURSUIT OF THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE

            When communicating an unenthusiastic critique on the present-day or local expression of Christ's church, besides citing deficiencies, it is appropriate to make recommendations for improvement based upon reliable sources.  

            It was impossible to plan for and to launch the earliest church assembly. It was entirely a God-thing. In the documented history of the earliest church assembly are features which when brought to 2015, can become the qualities of another impossible church.  

            The chosen apostles of Jesus were witnesses to his life. Some were spectators at his death. All of them observed and listened to, and some touched the resurrected Christ. They were convinced about this person's genuine and divine identity.  This persuasion was foundational to their establishment as a church.

            As they watched their Master ascend and vanish into the clouds, their incredulity was replaced with hope that this same departing person would on some future day return. This optimism was foundational to their formation as church.

            Before leaving, Jesus instructed them to wait together in Jerusalem until his Father delivered the promised gift about which he had spoken earlier.  Whatever it meant, and however the gift would be bestowed, the Holy Spirit would come on them with the result that they would effectively bear witness to Jesus in the city, in the district, in the country and all over the world. They obeyed. They waited with anticipation together with many other followers of Jesus, including men and women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, one hundred and twenty in total. They prayed continuously during these days. This prayer-filled obedience was foundational to their inauguration as church.

            Ten days later the Spirit of God invested with each one of them, the spectacles of raucous wind and flames of fire, the supernatural presence of Christ, the unfamiliar facility to speak in an unlearned language. This phenomenon was foundational to their commencement as church.

            Sincere practicing Jews who filled the street during the celebration of Pentecost, recognized this verbal jabber as definite languages articulating the miracles of God. Peter explained that this vocal marvel was not due to drunkenness but rather was the fulfillment in their time of one of the Jews' own prophet's predictions concerning the arrival of Messiah Jesus, whom they had crucified but who rose from the grave and at that moment was sitting in his glorious place of honour from where he had sent this occurrence that they were seeing and hearing. This good news declaration was foundational to their assignment as church.

            During this miraculous demonstration, Peter continued to enlighten listeners that the once crucified Jesus was the LORD, the Christ, the Messiah. This broke the hearts of listeners and terrified them until they asked how they could be saved, to which Peter replied, "repent of your sins, and be baptized as a testimony of your personal faith commitment in Christ, and your sins will forgiven and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This redemptive prescription was foundational to their mission as church.

            Peter told them that this promise of forgiveness and the invested Holy Spirit applied to them, to their children, to their grandchildren and to every other person anywhere at any time whom God calls. Then Peter issued the call on God's behalf, pleading with them to save themselves from a corrupt generation. Approximately three thousand people believed his message, trusted Jesus and were baptized. This outcome was foundational to their commission as Christ's Church.

            These thousands of people dedicated time to several key activities, the lessons by the apostles, the interaction, solidarity and companionship of other believers, eating meals together and praying, sharing material goods and meeting one another's needs. These behaviors were foundational to their operation as church.

            The miracles and surprises regularly accomplished by the apostles captivated all of these believers. People were glad and their hearts were sincere and authentic as they praised God and embraced one another in a trusting harmony and developed reputations of integrity. Every day God added other new believers to their number. This increase was foundational to their emergence as God's Church.

            Those observations are lifted from the first two chapters of the ACTS of the Apostles as it speaks about ekklesia or assembly, commonly called church which always implies a plurality and when that assembly is Christian, that is, when each person of the assembly is a believer in Jesus, Jesus himself is present and that assembly possesses incredible potential for seeing God at work. That is his promise.  Matthew 18:19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

            A church today, if it is to experience the potency of that early church, must be one that is persuaded that Jesus is divine and that he rose from death and is alive; that is optimistic that Jesus is reigning now and will one day return to earth; that is obedient to Christ's word and engaged in continuous prayer; whose members are recipients of the Holy Spirit; that consequently openly declares Jesus' identity and saving mission; that makes heartfelt proclamation of the gospel; whose behaviour is in keeping with a communal identity; that is excited by regular demonstration of God's miracles and enjoying regular additions of new believers; that trust one another and care for one another's needs; that experience God's ongoing multiplication of their numbers as they live righteous lives, pray, and obey.

CHURCH, WHAT IT IS & WHERE IT CAME FROM

Our challenges to understand the church are reduced when we realize that there are at least seven different meanings or uses of the term 'church' in our North American context. Church can refer to a building, an event, a policy body, a relational group, and institutionalized denomination, an organizational style, and the practice of affirming correct confessional criteria. [i] Yet church is always more than any one of these.  The true definition for church or its foundational definition begins with God himself, living among humans. God by his Spirit lives in his people, creating unique spiritual community.

Wherever these Spirit lived-in people gather to worship God and to study what He has said, they naturally develop an identity, typically give themselves a name, implement activities and structures and in that process produce distinct and varied local churches. This is church in a elementary shape. It could be enough. It might have been enough even without a name and a distinctive delivery.

The Bible does not require that churches gather into denominations or associations but it has happened. That has been an expediency and convenience for immigrant congregations and like-minded congregations to share life and support and mission. Such associations at their best have been purposeful and missional, servicing member churches. However, when member churches are not permitted to remain autonomous cooperative congregations, denominations have become questionably bureaucratic and legislative requiring compliance of member churches.

Over time it has been recognized that local congregations and even denominations have limited capacities and occasionally organizations have arisen to conduct specialized ministries to students, youth, men, women, families, marginalized people, ethnic groups. All of these will also be staffed by Spirit indwelt persons. It is the church at work.

2015 is a complex time for the church. In spite of all that is positive about these forms, the church now must learn or redefine its raison d’être (reason to be) in this evolving postmodern culture. So much of the reshaping of church in recent decades has focused upon management and organizational practices and effectiveness but the profounder realities of church may have been missed. So we have witnessed a re-emphasis on evangelism with seeker sensitive churches; underscored discipleship with the purpose driven church; demonstrated community in cell or small group life; attracted people through user-friendly approaches; filled the week with weekday ministries offering scores of entry points and even tried a strong mother ship church with niche markets to various people groups.

So much about churches today is about what they do and how they do it. The primary interest must be how we think about church, what the church is, namely, an exceptional socio-spiritual community of God's people, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, to display and to explain God's redemptive presence to the world around it.

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[i] Seven meanings of 'church' and ideas for the article suggested by Craig Van Gelder, Rediscovering the Church n the Twenty-First Century;

IF WE STARTED A CHURCH

I am continuing my food and nutrition metaphor with a church application.

I hypothesized that I was starting a church. Let me revise that. I need more than me. I need we. That's church. So let's assume that a few of us have agreed on fundamentals and we believe that with God's help, we can establish group life that honours God, nurtures us and invites others. Our aim is to rediscover New Testament church and practice that in our day. It sounds idealistic, disrespectful, overconfident and presumptuous. Please for this moment, let's assume that the motivation is pure and without guile.

Suppose that this pursuit emerges from discussions about the mission, purpose and practices of churches today and how these are affecting our own hearts and minds and spiritual experiences. Suppose that our hearts have become disillusioned, our minds cynical and our spiritual lives sluggish as we relate to church. And let's suppose that the easy response is not valid - that is, "well then, get your spiritual act together and get with the church program." Suppose with me that this small group of us are keeners spiritually, love the LORD, study scripture, believe and obey and share our faith with others, lean hard on the direction of God as we perceive it to be.

So here we are thinking again about similarities between foods and nutrition and what we should do about church. One hundred years ago, organic farming was the norm. Today, because of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, soil quality has been depleted and produce contains far fewer vitamins and minerals than they did fifty years ago. As recently as 60 years ago people enjoyed dairy products from their own animals or from dairies nearby. People ate the healthiest and tastiest kinds of grass fed, outdoor raised meat and poultry products that they either raised themselves or purchased from a local butcher who may have raised the animals.

The earliest living definition of church were the people who had seen Jesus and who became empowered with the Holy Spirit of God. They became vibrant. They were often compelled to meet in secrecy. Their gathering times essentially strengthened them for living with faith in hostile circles. They became courageous. Their confession of faith was modest, almost naïve. With limited resources they relied on one another's recollections of what Jesus had taught them and how his teaching related to Old Testament instruction. They became reservoirs of truth. They had learned the necessity and value of prayer from Jesus and they soon witnessed answers to prayer that motivated them to stay at that task. They became intercessors. It was through them that good news spread by routine conversation. They became heralds. That, we identify is what we want our gathering to be like.

DO BELIEVERS OUTGROW THEIR NEED FOR CHURCH?

Maybe there are times or intervals at which churches are no longer able to nourish some peoples' faith.

Why say something like that?

We know that people leave church for assorted reasons. Some leave church A to go to church B. That's not the theme of this piece. I know people who have stopped going to a church in a building, anywhere. They are people who have been in church for years and for whom the traditions have been important. Yes we can talk about solidarity and church being a family and small groups being where the growth truly happens. The people I refer to must not be faulted, because their reasons for departure are not chiefly because the preaching or the music or the programs have changed or because of church politics or petty squabbles as well as escalated rows. Those factors may have influenced their choices, but primarily they have a deep longing for more of God or more with God.

Do you think that some believers outgrow their need for church?