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Revelation 2

03 Aug

The Message to the Church in Ephesus

2 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

The Message to the Church in Smyrna

8 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

The Message to the Church in Pergamum

12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:

13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.

14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

The Message to the Church in Thyatira

18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:

19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end,

To them I will give authority over all the nations.
27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.

28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!

29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 2

Dear God, I’ll be teaching a Sunday school lesson at a local church this morning on these letters. Frankly, studying them closely has been a good reminder to me that you don’t just look the other way at our sin. You bring us to yourself. You call us to yourself. You offer forgiveness. But then you still command us to go and sin no more. You tell us, “You have heard it said…, but I say…,” raising the bar to a level that is uncomfortable for even the most self-righteous person. So this morning we will talk about not loving you enough, not loving others enough, and making compromises with sin. We will talk about how doing all of the right things and even being faithful in the midst of persecution is a problem if our hearts are still not discerning and allowing you to examine us for sin we’ve allowed to infiltrate our lives. Sin I’ve allowed to infiltrate my life.

So here is my lesson for this morning that you and I worked on yesterday (at least I hope you were part of it–I think you were):

The Set-Up

  • John was on Patmos in exile for preaching about Jesus.
  • Jesus appears to him and identifies himself.
  • Jesus tells him to write everything he sees down and send it to the 7 churches in Asia

The Church at Ephesus

About the city itself:

  • Important trade city.
  • Beautiful city with many temples
    • Temple to Artemis, one of seven wonders of ancient world
      • Artemis was goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity
    • Also had amphitheater that held 45,000
  • Visited by Paul, Timoth, Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos.
    • Some traditions say Apostle John lived there in old age.

How does Jesus describe the Ephesians:

  • The Good
    • Hard working
      • What kind of work is Jesus referring to?
    • Patient endurance
      • What were they patiently enduring?
    • Rejection of evil people
      • What would an evil person look like for them to reject?
      • What would rejection look like?
    • Discerning who is a false apostle and rejecting
      • How do you identify a false apostle (Christian)?
    • Patiently suffering for Jesus
      • What do you think their suffering looked like?
  • The Bad
    • Don’t love (agape) God/Jesus/Holy Spirit like they used to?
      • Agape, Eros, Phileo, & Storge
        • Agape (ἀγάπη): This refers to unconditional, selfless love, often associated with divine love or charity. 
        • ·         Eros (ἔρως): This describes passionate, romantic love, often involving physical attraction and desire. 
        • ·         Philia (φιλία): This denotes the love between friends, characterized by affection, loyalty, and shared experiences. 
        • Storge (στοργή): This refers to the love between family members, particularly between parents and children, highlighting natural affection and bond. 
      • What does agape love for God look like in this case?
    • Don’t love (agape) each other like they used to?
      • What does agape love for each other mean or look like in this case?

How do you think “The Bad” happened?

  • How does one or a collective group lose their agape love for God and others?
  • What does it look like when a person or group of people look like the church in Ephesus?
    • Quoting Earl Palmer: In this way the love of God had become for the Ephesians a theoretical starting fact, one of the sentences on the menu, but not the very daily bread by which they were even alive in the first place and through which they would continue to stay alive. This was a spiritual illness that haunted Ephesus, and until this letter arrived, it was an illness of which they were probably unaware.
  • Selfishness creeps in: It seems like when selfishness creeps in we just don’t have the capacity to love God and love those around us like we should, or even at all. We start getting concerned about our rights. Then we eventually start to fight for ourselves instead of for others. We stop sacrificing for others and start to expect others to sacrifice for us.
  • What other areas of our lives does this pattern of losing our agape for others play out?
    • How do we keep that from happening?

Hope for repentance:

  • Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
    • “Victorious” is repentance.

The Church at Smyrna

About the city itself:

  • Wealthy city 40 miles north of Ephesus
  • Temples to different Greek and Roman gods, including Zeus and the “goddess of Rome.”

How does Jesus describe the church in Smyrna:

  • The Good
    • They faithfully suffer through persecution and poverty
      • Their poverty might be, at least partially, due to persecution
      • Poverty can be especially difficult in a wealthy environment
      • They might be persecuted because of denouncing worship of other gods or the emperor in Rome
  • The Bad
    • None

Jesus’s encouragement to them

  • Not much material hope for this present world
    • No promises of wealth
    • No promises of physically surviving
  • Promise of not being harmed by the “second death.”
    • Acknowledges the existence of Satan (verse 9) and/or the devil (verse 10)
    • Satan/devil does not have ultimate power.

Hope for repentance:

  • Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.
  • Earl Palmer: As a Christian I am able to face up to tragedy as tragedy and not artificially to assume the stnce that it has somehow not really happened. It means that there are bad experiences and events that happen to us and because of us. These events are negative and harmful. They are like jagged rocks that scar the landscape of our life’s journey. But the discovery we make in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that they very landscape uon which the angry outcroppings stand is surrounded by a larger grace and will so that life can go on. The field will grow see and bear healthy crops because the power of God’s gift of life is greater than the deadening effects of either human sin or cosmic evil. This is the reason we do not lose hope; this is also the reason we are enabled to call a jagged rock a jagged rock. “I will give you the crown of life (verse 10).”

Rebuking the cultism of fear:

  • We do not need the world’s power to stand up to dangers of this age.
  • Jesus gave us four tools and four tools only to impact the world around us:
    • Prayer, service, persuasion, and suffering.

The Church at Pergamum (Pergamos)

About the city itself:

  • 45 miles north of Smyrna
  • Was the Roman capital for the area (133 B.C.) (throne of Satan acknowledges its role as capital for the region)
  • Center of emperor worship in the Roman world.
  • Many impressive temples to Asklepios, Zeus, Athena, Nikephoids, Dionysus, and others.

How does Jesus describe the church at Pergamum:

  • The Good
    • Faithful in the face of persecution
      • Antipas martyred
    • Do not deny being followers of Jesus
  • The Bad
    • Eat food sacrificed to idols
      • 1 Corinthians 8:4-13
    • Sexual immorality
      • What do we make of the “sexual immorality” Jesus refers to here?

How do you think “The Bad” happened?

  • Allowed outside influence.
  • Gave into the temptation of something they already wanted.

Hope for repentance:

  • Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
    • How do we examine our own hearts and discern what sins we have allowed into our lives?
    • The manna is the good food we need as opposed to the junk food we have selfishly pursued
    • Earl Palmer: The white stone was a symbol in the Roman world used in legal trials, academic grading systems, and at athletic games…The point is dramatically symbolized for the Christians at Pergamum. Their drift into sinfulness does not need to be the last word for either themselves or for others. In spite of the harm that has happened, there can be healing—a new identity to fulfill the identity distorted by sin; healthy food from God who knows of the human need to be fed and healed, and made whole.

The Church at Thyatira

About the city itself:

  • 30 miles inland (east) of Pergamum.
  • Outpost to protect the trade road between Pergamum and Sardis.
  • More trade guilds than any other Asian city (Sir William Ramsey).
    • In the biblical context, a trade guild was a group of individuals practicing the same craft or profession, organized for mutual protection, social, and religious benefits. These guilds were less like modern labor unions and more like fraternal orders, focused on regulating trade, ensuring quality, and providing social support for their members. 
    • Big temptation to give into religious views of trade guild in order to be able to commercially participate and survive.

How does Jesus describe the church at Thyatira

  • The Good
    • Love
    • Faith
    • Service
    • Patient endurance
  • The Bad
    • Focused around one person and her influence: Jezebel
      • She is leading the people in the same type of sins described for Pergamum
        • Sexual sin
        • Eating food offered to idols.

How do you think “The Bad” happened?

  • Why did some follow Jezebel
    • Gave into the temptation of something they already wanted.
  • Who are people who have the opportunity to be Jezebels in our lives?

Explicit promises for both good and bad groups

  • Jezebel and her followers
    • Great suffering for Jezebel and those who follow her
    • Jezebel’s children will die
    • Each will get what they deserve
  • Those who repent and/or remain faithful and do not follow Jezebel
    • No further suffering will happen beyond what they have already endured.
    • They will get authority over all the nations

This one closes differently than the first three letters.

  • Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Father, I want this to be a time of real self-examination and repentance. I’ll do the other three letters next week, and then we will see how to tie it all together. For right now, however, I just want us to sit with these four churches and the Holy Spirit and ask that our hearts be examined. Convict us where we need to be convicted. Comfort us where we need to be comforted. Teach us through your Holy Spirit and through each other.

I offer this prayer to you in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 3, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Laodicea – Revelation 3:14-22

11 Jul

14 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. 21 Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.

22 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”

Revelation 3:14-22

Dear God, reading this passage is like watching Casablanca. You just hear all of these lines you’ve heard somewhere, but you didn’t know the source. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” “Of all the gin joints in all the world…” “The problems of two little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this world.” In this case we get the stuff about being lukewarm and spewed out of Jesus’s mouth. I correct and discipline everyone I love. I stand at the door and knock. Anyone with ears to here… Yet, with all of this ingrained familiarity with these words, do we heed them?

Every time I hear about the church in Laodicea, I think about the Steve Camp song from the 1980s called “Living in Laodicea.” I just stopped typing to go and listen to the song and, frankly, it didn’t line up with this passage as much as I hoped it would. The song was more about drifting away from you. I don’t think that’s what the church in Laodicea was doing from what is described here. I don’t think they were the world’s friend. I think they were just maintaining the status quo and so inwardly focused that they were losing their saltiness.

For me, it seems like the best way to guard against this is to stick to those top two commandments: Love you with everything I have and love my neighbor as myself. In my mind, that is the best antidote to being lukewarm. That is the best way for me to hear you. And I have to keep them in that order. If I start to lead with serving others then I can get totally distracted by that and you will start to fade. But if I start with you and then lean into seeking your leading in loving others then I think I will find the balance you call me to.

In consulting The Communicator’s Commentary by Earl Palmer on Revelation, he pointed out what a prosperous city Laodicea was. Apparently, a lot of trade happened there and there were many prosperous. Interestingly, I live in a city that many see as prosperous. We are a tourist town with a lot of visitors just about every week of the year. The town has a wonderful veneer and a lot going on because of the tourists. We have a robust community theater and a lot of good restaurants. It’s abnormally sophisticated for a town of 11,000 people 60 miles from the nearest large city. And a lot of wealthy people retire here. Our churches are filled with people who seem to fit the description of the residents in Laodicea. But there is a huge impoverished population here too. Our school district is 62% free or reduced lunch. Our uninsured rate for health insurance ranks 229th out of 255 Texas counties. There are a lot of resources here, but there are a lot of people who need our help and love.

Father, it starts with me. And it’s honestly pretty simple. Love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself. And I have neighbors who need loved. Some of them are friends in need. Some of them are strangers I encounter along the way. I don’t know everything they need, but you do. Help me to hear your voice as I spend time with you and you call me to love them.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Philadelphia – Revelation 3:7-13

10 Jul

7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.

This is the message from the one who is holy and true,
    the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
    and what he closes, no one can open:

8 “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. 9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.

13 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 3:7-13

Dear God, the beginning of this letter, referencing the “key of David,” was unique so I pulled out my biblical commentary (The Communicator’s Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John and Revelation by Earl Palmer) to see what it had to say about it. It referred back to Isaiah 22:22 that says, “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” So these people are seen and known my Jesus in a seemingly intimate way. He has opened a door for them that no one can close. That just made me think of the last verse of the song “The Love of God” by Rich Mullins:

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
They’re in its every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all hell could never close
Here I’m tested and made worthy
Tossed about, yet lifted up
In the reckless, raging fury
They call the love of God

I don’t think I ever caught this connection from Rich. I wonder if that’s what he meant. Either way, this paints a beautiful picture of Jesus appreciating these unassuming, unpowerful, faithful Christians. They weren’t doing things that felt like they were showing up in the box score. They were just living their lives as faithfully as they could, doing the next thing they saw in front of them.

I couldn’t help but notice to keep them from the “great time of testing.” What was this? Is this what people understand to be “tribulation” and perhaps a reference to “rapture” in the mentioning of avoiding that time? I don’t know. It’s interesting that the commentary ignored this part of the passage completely. Maybe I will too. 🙂

Father, I want to be what the author of the commentary, Earl Palmer, describes when talking about why he’s impressed with the Church in Philadelphia: “I am impressed by the naturalness of basic realism of this strategy of evangelism. It does not idealize the Christian missionary task; it does not call for ‘super Christians,’ but rather for garden-variety Christians who are experiencing the miracle of the love of Jesus Christ in their own lives and fellowship.” Yes, to be a general, “garden-variety” Christian living a simple life of faith is what I want. No glory. No acclaim. No scorecard I can point to at the end of the day and show people, or even you, how great I was. Just a faithful life that successfully, quietly, knocked over a couple of dominoes in other people’s lives and maybe one of those dominoes falling over will be used by you for something great. And I’ll never know about it. And no one will ever know it was me. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I just want to serve you as simply and humbly as I can. Please bless the path I walk to make that happen, regardless of what it costs me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 10, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Sardis – Revelation 3:1-6

09 Jul

3 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

6 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 3:1-6

Dear God, oh my. This is a horrifying thought. To have a great reputation that is really empty. Oh, how I don’t want to be empty.

I’m going to look at this from a personal level first before I think about it for your churches here in America. I have a reputation in our small town, and it is a good one. Is it a facade? I don’t think it is, but I so hope I have not deluded myself into thinking I’m loving and serving you but not doing it. I was talking to a friend yesterday about the rescue and now recovery efforts in Kerrville, which is a neighboring town less than 30 miles from where I am sitting right now. We were talking about our respect for people who are doing the searching and recovering. It is gruesome. It is grim. I confessed to him that I don’t have the stomach for it. And I know we can’t all be everything. I know there are different parts of the body and we all have different roles. But should I be there? At this point, I don’t think so, but I don’t know. I just know I truly admire every single person who is doing it. And I know I’ve responded to what I felt like were nudges from you on how my wife and I should participate. Going back to this passage from Revelation, my point is that I don’t want my life to be a hollow shell of a respectable and reputable facade. In fact, if anything, I want to minimize how much or what people think of me and regard it as rubbish compared with what you think of me. I want to consider my life worth nothing to me.

Now, as for the church, well, there are some churches I personally respect and some I do not. Do I have the right perspective on it? Are the categories I use to evaluate and judge them the right ones, or do I even have the right opinion about those categories? As for the Catholic church, of which I am not a member but attend with my wife, I have no issue with them regarding their love for you or the genuineness of their hearts for you. I don’t agree with every theological belief they have, but the truth is we are probably both wrong about some of our beliefs, we just don’t know which those are. That’s fine. We believe in the same core things and I enjoy worshipping with these sisters and brothers. I enjoy being in relationship with them. I feel like I have seen their hearts and they are good and not empty shells of reputation.

Father, I pray for the churches in our community. Each one. Catholic, Orthodox, mainline denominations, evangelical, etc. I pray for their leadership. I pray for each head pastor and each person who serves under them. Give them your presence. Convict where you want to convict. Affirm where you want to affirm. I know some churches are facing a leadership transition. Please guide over them as churches and as individuals servants of you. From their pastors and potential pastors, to the committee members who are discerning your will, to the people in the pews. Be very present to them. But beyond those few churches, I pray for all of them. That they might be found faithful. That the Catholic church I attend might be found faithful. Let your kingdom come and your will be done through all of us as your body as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 9, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Thyatira – Revelation 2:18-29

08 Jul

18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:

19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end,

To them I will give authority over all the nations.
27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.

28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!

29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 2:18-29

Dear God, this is interesting. Two churches in a row have the same sin: allowing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. In this case, it appears the sexual immorality is heterosexual-based (adultery with the woman as described in verse 22) as opposed to a vague sexual immorality at the church in Pergamum from yesterday.

I was talking with a friend last night about sexual immorality. And I know I’ve said this before (I think I said it yesterday too), but I think we don’t raise the standard high enough. It’s a little like the Republican Party in the United States wanting power to the local government as long as local is defined at the level of government at which they have the power (and I say this as a moderate Republican). In this case, we want you to banish sexual immorality and we want to banish it from our midst as long as it is the sexual immorality that is just below the rung on the ladder at which we are being sexually immoral.

But I like this encouragement to the faithful that is written here. You see them. You see their faithfulness to you and your teaching: love, service, faith, and patient endurance (verse 19). And you circle back around to them at the end in verses 24 and 25.

Father, last night was everything I could have hoped it would be with the men in the CMLS class. And it wasn’t me. It was you. And I don’t have numbers I can walk around today and pump my chest about. That’s good. But I did get an affirmation in that I heard at least one man praying quietly along with me while I prayed a prayer for them to accept your gift and follow you. It touched me so much. I didn’t feel euphoric. I just felt happy for them. But I also know it’s only the beginning of the journey for them. It’s like when I drop a big fundraising mailing at work. With your grace and people responding to the mailing, getting it in the mail is only the beginning. It’s the follow-up where the real work lies. The men who prayed last night, and even those who didn’t, have long roads ahead of them. Help them to take it one step at a time, and help all of the teachers to guide them in that life that fill find them being everything the faithful people of Thyatira were.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 8, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Pergamum – Revelation 2:12-17

07 Jul

12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:

13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.

14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

Revelation 2:12-17

Dear God, I might as well go there with this passage. What is sexual sin? Where are the lines?

I think a lot of people in the American church right now would go straight to homosexuality or any LGBTQ issues and start there. But I want to start on the other end of the spectrum. This makes me think of the part of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says things like, “You have heard it said…, but I say…” That’s where he raised the bar on murder, adultery, and some other things. So I want to go to all of us and say, “You have heard it said do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman for that is detestable, but I say do not look at a woman in lust, subject your mind to sexual situations outside of your marriage, or sexually bond yourself to anyone who isn’t your spouse.” I have a friend who was living with her now husband for years and welcomed in a church that would never have welcomed an LGBTQ couple. Was their standard too high or too low? And how do we treat that couple who is living together outside of marriage? Do we love or reject? This passage can be a hard teaching.

Our society has gotten to the point where even the most conservative people have accepted an entire range of sexual activity. I’m thinking about a pastor friend who told me his local church was wanting to leave its denominational affiliation because of its open stance towards LGBTQ issues. His reply was, okay, we can talk about it, but we will also need to talk about all of the other sexual sins the Bible outlines. Do you really want to have that conversation? And while it was good to point out that hypocrisy on the part of his church, it is telling that the people backed down and decided to not have the conversation at all rather than give up the sin they liked.

Father, I am not holy in this area. My thoughts are not always pure. I don’t always keep myself from seeing content I shouldn’t see. There are television shows I love that display immoral sexual behavior and I partake willingly. So, I’m not picking up any stones to throw. I guess what I’m challenging myself and anyone else to do is just go to the fringe sexual activity and start with my judgments there, but start with the highest bar Jesus would set and start there. I’ll confess to you that I am still perplexed over a same sex monogamous relationship and if it is truly wrong, but I do believe that any monogamous sexual relationship, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, is difficult to do well. And I do think homosexual relationships are complicated to do in a relationally, spiritually healthy way. I just don’t know that it’s impossible or that it’s something that is denied grace if it is wrong. But again, it’s not about them right now. It’s about me. I’m heterosexual. I am happily married. Help me to keep myself pure and love my wife how you designed me to love her.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 7, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Smyrna – Revelation 2:8-11

05 Jul

8 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

Revelation 2:8-11

Dear God, I guess this is a good letter? (He says with a questioning, high-pitched voice) You seem to be pleased with them. They seem to be faithful in their theology and living by your teachings even when those who say they represent you persecute them. If I were them, I think I would rather not know the 10 days of suffering are coming. I mean, I suppose once the 10 days arrives it will be good to know there is an end to it one way or another, but in that moment that would be very scary.

There are two things that really sit with me here. First, there were people there who were deluded into thinking they were right but were persecuting the church in Smyrna while you were happy with them. In fact, Jesus called the self-righteous persecutors minions of Satan. Oh my! I’m sure that would devastate them to know that. I’m sure they woke up in the morning thinking they were right and wanting to do the right thing. I’m sure they thought the church in Smyrna was dangerous and their enemy. They had no idea. Oh, how I hope that’s not me in this present age.

Second, there are Christians out there whose agenda I oppose. They think I am wrong and some have gotten angry with me. I think they are wrong and there have been times when I have been angry with them. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit–My Triune God–please tell me how I’m wrong. I won’t say “if” I’m wrong because I am sure I am not correct about everything. But let me know “how” I am wrong. I don’t mind having people I oppose or even standing up to them, but I certainly don’t want to oppose you or stand up to you. You are God. You are right. If we are in conflict then I am the one who is wrong. Show me how I’m wrong.

Father, you keep me on a need-to-know basis and I very rarely need to know. I think I prefer that. There is sorrow in my life. Right now, as I sit here on the morning of July 5, there are parents and family members who are devastated by the loss of life and missing children in the floods in Kerrville, about 25 miles from me. This will be a sorrow that will stay with those who lose someone for the rest of their lives. July 4, 2025, will live in infamy for this area. It’s tragic. But I’m grateful I didn’t know my sorrow was coming in all of those years that lead up to it. I’m grateful these families didn’t know this was coming either. It’s like the Garth Brooks song “The Dance.” To quote the chorus: “And now, I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end. The way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.” I will stay on this dance floor as long as you let me, Father. Help me to be a source of love and comfort to everyone around me, even those who I oppose or who oppose me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 5, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church at Ephesus – Revelation 2:1-7

04 Jul

2 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:1-7

Dear God, let me start by saying I’m concerned about friends along the Guadalupe River right now. I have a coworker, and we cannot contact her or her family. We are worried about them. I am thinking of the camps along the river that are full of kids this time of year. I am thinking about the people who just live there. Please take care of them. Please wrap them up and keep them safe. Please, Father, please take care of my friend and her family. She is absolutely one of the best and sweetest people I know. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy Spirit, have mercy.

Regarding this letter to the church at Ephesus, when I read it this morning, it made me wonder what you would have to say to me. What have I done right? What am I doing wrong? For Ephesus, their actions were good:

  • Hard work.
  • Patient endurance.
  • Rejection of evil people.
  • Discerning who is a false apostle and rejecting.
  • Patiently suffered for Jesus.

That’s a good list. If I were them, I would cut the conversation off there, take my report card, and go. But you didn’t stop there: “But I have this complaint against you…”

  • Don’t love God/Jesus/Holy Spirit like they used to.
  • Don’t love each other like they used to.

They used to do all of their good things as a fruit of what came from worshipping you. But they had started doing the work without you. It made me think about just treating my faith more like a philosophy of how to live a human life. Kind of a perspective of, “This is how I’m supposed to live and act, so I’ll live and act this way.” But what I noticed this morning is that they are simply missing the two great commandments. Love you and love each other. Instead, there seems to be a selfishness about their actions. Are they suffering persecution for their own glory in some weird way? Are they getting their ego stroked through it?

It seems like when selfishness creeps in we just don’t have the capacity to love you and love those around us like we should, or even at all. We start getting concerned about our rights. Then we eventually start to fight for ourselves instead of for others. We stop sacrificing for others and start to expect others to sacrifice for us.

Father, I think this will be a convicting series. What will you have to tell me through these letters? I’m going to start a spreadsheet that I’ll put into these journals at the end to list the compliments and the concerns you give to each church. Perhaps there is something I can use in my personal life that will help me to be the salt in the world you are calling me to be. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy Spirit, have mercy.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Revelation

03 Jul

Dear God, I have a question: Should I care about Revelation? If so, what should I care about? I was listening to a video by N.T. Wright last night, and…well, let me back up really quickly.

Monday night at the Christian Men’s Life Skills Bible study, the ice-breaker question was, “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” Several people asked about the end times and Revelation. One of the leaders got up and started talking a lot about the end times possibly being now. I remained silent throughout the discussion, but then when I got up and had my turn to talk to start my Bible study on David’s ascent to the throne over all of Israel I found myself telling the men, “I don’t care about Revelation.” The same leader who talked about end times also made a great statement when he was asked for his question of you. He basically said, “I don’t have any questions of God. My job is just to serve him.” I wholeheartedly agree, so I leaned into that. I told them that, for me, I don’t care about the end times because you have given me work to do today. I also try not to care about what’s in it for me because I “consider my life worth nothing to me.” (Acts 20:24) Then I went into your exchange with Job in Job 38-42. I found my voice getting really passionate about it as I said it all. I could feel it happening in real time. I thought I hadn’t been that animated during most of the Samuel/Saul/Jonathan/David stuff, but I apparently had something to say about this. It was interesting.

Fast forward to last night, and I am listening to the N.T. Wright talk. Someone had put up a video comparing his theology on this issue with John MacArthur’s. MacArthur has a much more rapture/tribulation/second coming view of the end. First, isn’t it fascinating to see how we can read the same things and disagree?

One thing Wright said that I’d never heard before in a second video I listened to was that the imagery John used in Revelation was commonly understood by readers of the day and that the whole part about you winning and Jesus on the throne has already happened. All we are waiting for is your second coming, but even that won’t be something where we are taken away from earth. You will return to earth and rule here. We will meet you in the sky because people go out to greet their king, but then we will return with you to earth.

So back to my initial question. And I really mean this. Am I missing something that you want to use to develop me by ignoring Revelation. The thoughts that are coming to me right now is that I am missing the warnings to the churches. Those are important for anyone to heed. It makes me wonder if John were writing Revelation today, what would your words be to the church in the United States? What would it be to the different denominations? What would it be to me?

Father, I think over the next few days I am going to go to the parts of Revelation that are the letters to the churches. I want to see what you said to them and what I need to understand from them. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love to sit and do things like this with you. When I sat down this morning, I had zero idea what I would pray about, and then I let your Holy Spirit guide me into this wonderful thought process and discussion with you. Help me to not become so into it that I lose my salt for the earth. And thank you for teaching me new skills for this Christian Men’s Life Skills class. You are stretching me and growing me through it. Thank you for stretching me and growing me in such a gentle and delightful way. And thank you, Father, for the good news for a couple of relatives yesterday. And for good news for other prayers as well. I don’t thank you enough for the answers to prayers. But I am grateful for your movement in my life and in the lives around me. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 3, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Revelation

 

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Revelation 1:1-6

17 Apr

1 This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, 2 who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

3 God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

4 This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.

Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.

All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

Revelation 1:1-6

Dear God, Sister Miriam focused on verse 6 this morning in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. Quoting it here again: 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

When I read it, I remembered something I was thinking about yesterday. I can’t remember what spurred it, but I remember thinking about John the Baptist being called “the least in heaven,” and it reminded me of my own place in the created order. Living here on earth, we humans feel like we are so important because we are the most evolved life forms here. Our intellect has enabled us to change the world. No other animal or plan can do that. So we feel good about ourselves. We feel self-important. We feel like we are “all that.” And then I remember that, in the created order–of things seen and unseen–we are so small and insignificant. It’s just a fact. Some might hear this thought and be defensive or offended, but it’s reality.

So what makes this important? Well, even though we are these insignificant beings in the cosmos, the top of the food chain, the greatest being in the cosmos, the creator of the cosmos, is really interested in us. He really loves us. He really wants to love us, free us from our sin, forgive us, teach us, and draw our souls to himself beyond this earthly, physical life. I wish I could put a “mind-blown” emoji here.

Father, this in Maundy Thursday. To quote Sister Miriam from today’s entry, “This is the night that Jesus will be given over for our sins and begin his Passion. The mass that we celebrate on the evening of the Lord’s Supper is the last Mass that will be prayed before Easter Vigil. In this Mass, Jesus will offer bread and wine as his Body and Blood, and he will tell the disciples, ‘Do this in memory of me.'” This is my evidence that you love me. This is my evidence that you are capable of freeing me from my sin and enabling me to both walk in that freedom and offer it to others. Help me to know how to do both of those things today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 17, 2025 in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation, Revelation

 

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