dragons

Revisiting Revelation

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I’m in the middle of a class on the book of Revelation at Brentwood Baptist Church. Actually, I started in the middle of the class after another one I was in ended.

This book is not for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of imagery. Some of it’s pretty, but some of it is unsettling and disturbing.

There’s also quite a bit of disagreement on what it all means. I’ve come to decide that there are people on all sides that are strong believers with solid theology who have come to different conclusions about this book.

There are a few things that most everybody agrees with when it comes to Revelation:

  1. The hardest part of the story is never the last part. There may be a lot of darkness but there are also much brighter days ahead when Jesus truly comes back for his Bride the Church.
  2. The good guys really do win. That is, Jesus wins. Good overcomes evil and justice prevails over injustice. There’s not a wrong that won’t be made right when Jesus comes in sight.
  3. Worship is still the best witness. I don’t mean just singing hymns or worship choruses. I mean a daily life of sacrifice and surrender, of renewal and transformation. I mean a life that declares the worth and glory of God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  4. The end of the story is really only the real beginning. I still love how C. S. Lewis puts it inThe Last Battle where he says that all of history was just the title page and preface while eternity is where the real story begins– a story that gets better and better with each new chapter.

Having said all that, I confess that this particular class still makes my head hurt. I really can’t keep up with all the dragons and beasts and bowls and trumpets and all that other imagery.

It helps to keep in mind that John wrote this book to believers undergoing incredible persecution and torture for their faith. The purpose was (and still is) to show that no matter how bad and hard life gets, God will always have the last word.

 

So Tired 2: 😴

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

image

I’m tired again. Funny how that happens every 24 hours or so. Especially when you’re working and meeting friends to go walking on beautiful Monday evenings. Not to mention pinning useless but fun items to Pinterest.

It’s a good kind of tired. It’s a grateful kind of tired. The kind where as exhausted as you are, you’re more grateful at the new opportunities you have.

For me, it’s like an adventure. Maybe not a Tolkien kind with dragons and gold at the end, but new places and new people and paychecks at the end. And just once, it would be so cool to get paid in gold. Just once.

The verse in Psalms says that God gives rest to those He loves. I’m glad it’s worded that way, not to those who love Him. Some days, I’m crazy in love with God and some days I’m apathetic and could care less (which is probably redundant and repititious, right?) Sleep goes to the ones God loves because it’s His love for us holding us together and keeping us going, not the other way around.

So good night, all you out there in La-La-Land. May you find sweet dreams and rest as only your Abba could grant them.

An Exciting New Adventure

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

image

“There is absolutely no experience, however terrible, or heartbreaking, or unjust, or cruel, or evil, which you can meet in the course of your earthly life, that can harm you if you but let Me teach you how to accept it with joy; and to react to it triumphantly as I did myself, with love and forgiveness and with willingness to bear the results of wrong done by others. Every trial, every test, every difficulty and seemingly wrong experience through which you may have to pass, is only another opportunity granted to you of conquering an evil thing and bringing out of it something to the lasting praise and glory of God.” ― Hannah Hurnard, Mountains of Spices

I feel a bit like Bilbo Baggins.

For those of you who aren’t nerds, Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who is very much a homebody until Gandalf the great wizard invites him to be a part of a great adventure involving dwarfs and gold and dragons. If you want more info, read The Hobbit.

My temp assignment ended today, leaving me unemployed. Part of me is excited at the prospect of what God has in store for me. Part of me is scared in such a way that I won’t have to go to the bathroom for a while. Catch my drift?

God has a proven track record in my life. Up to this point, He has yet to fail me or let me down. True, His answers may not come when I want or look like what I expected, but they are always greater, not less, than what I dreamed.

The upside is that I can sleep in tomorrow. I have a bit of free time to hang out if you so desire. The downside is that I will be broke soon.

This could be a prime opportunity to panic. I choose instead to see it as a test of faith and another arena for God to once again prove Himself faithful. Did I mention that I’m a “glass half full” kind of guy?

More exciting installments of my new adventure to follow.

My Modest Plans for Saturday

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

OK. I admit it. My weekly trip to downtown Franklin didn’t pan out like I thought it would. Blame the cold and rainy weather. I had every intention of continuing my quest to Frothy Monkey, but the chill breeze and the cold rain dissuaded me rather quickly.

saturday-running-emoticon-graphic

I did get a very good bowl of fire-roasted veggie soup from McCreary’s Irish Pub out of the night, so it wasn’t a total loss. 

My tentative plans for Saturday are as follows:

1) Not getting up at 5 am. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how this will not happen.

2) Going to McKay’s Used Books and doing some more wheeling and dealing, i.e. hoping and praying they will take everything I’m offering in trade and give me top dollar for my loot.

3) Going to the super bargain matinee at Thoroughbred Cinemas in Franklin to see Hunger Games 2, better known as Catching Fire. 

4) Getting in some sun and a little exercise (unless it rains, then it’s on to plan B).

5) Figuring out what my plan B will be if it rains.

Again, these plans are subject to change, based on weather and possible better offers coming my way. If you’re nearby, you are certainly welcomed to join me in any or all of my adventures, none of which involve slaying any dragons or looking for any lost dwarfish gold or anything that would cause you to miss dinner.

 

 

Why I’m Lovin’ the Book of Revelation

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I have been reading through the Book of Revelation, as well as reading a commentary on it. It’s in the Bible, so I’m supposed to love it, but I really do love it. I have a list of reasons why:

1) The Lord of the Rings nerd in me loves all the dragons and beasts. It’s very sci-fi.

2) I love the fact that even in the midst of total chaos on earth, there is unending worship in heaven. There are actually creatures whose job is solely to give praise and thanksgiving to the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.

3) No matter what happens below, God is still on his throne. From Revelation 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, God reigns over the universe and is in complete control.

4) For those who are living through hell on earth, who suffer hardships and persecutions, there will be and end to sorrow and pain and misery and one day God will put everything right again.

5) God rewards those who endure. It’s not about a 100% success rate. It’s about showing up and trusting that God knows what he’s doing. You keep showing up and keep trusting, regardless, and you win the prize.

6) Heaven will be more than worth it, not for all the streets of gold or jeweled gates or all the cameos by all the famous Bible characters, but because Jesus is there. The one we’ve waited for all this time will be there, waiting for us.

7) It won’t be the end. It will be the true beginning. Like C.S. Lewis said in The Last Battle, history will have only been the title page and the preface, but heaven will be the book that you never want to stop reading, the one where each chapter is better than the last and which never ends, but goes on forever.

See? It’s not such a scary book after all. Once you strip away all the arguments about when the tribulation comes in and what the millennium will look like and what all those numbers mean and you get to the core of the book, you find Jesus is already on his throne and he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

That’s why I love this book!

There Be Dragons in the Book of Revelation

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 1 Comment

I started attending a new Bible study led by Mike Glenn, pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church and lead teacher at Kairos on Tuesday nights. It’s all about the mysterious book of Revelation. Yeah, that scary book at the end of the Bible before you get to the maps.

It’s really not about how things are eventually going to turn out one day. It’s about how they already are. It’s not about how one day Jesus will ascend to the throne, but how He’s already there.

I confess I’ve missed the point of the book in the past. It’s not about who the anti-Christ will be or what day the end will come. The reason John wrote the book was to encourage believers who were facing intense persecution by a very hostile and anti-Christian government.

It’s about how evil forces in the world will try to rise up against God and His people, but how God in Christ has already overcome the enemy. The outcome is not in doubt. Jesus has already won the battle at Calvary.

The best takeaway from tonight’s study was that this book was written in worship to communities of worship about whom to worship. Not Caesar, but Christ.

Revelation is a reminder that the ending to my story is already written and it is a happy ending. No matter what I’m currently facing or how hopeless my situation seems sometimes, the best really is yet to come.

So I suppose I really will be spending a lot of time in that last book of the Bible. I could read all the commentaries and bible study guides and Tim LaHaye books in the world, but I’d be much better off just reading the book itself. Only God’s Word is living and active. Only God’s Word is God-breathed.

There will be more about those dragons and seven-horned beasts and other special guest appearances from the Book of Revelation in blogs to follow. I’m looking forward to it.