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Tweets from Revelation 1

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In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation.  To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse.  Today I finished chapter 1.  Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.

The final book of the Bible is a singular revelation of a specific person: Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1)
John was qualified to capture this b/c he saw it (Revelation 1:2)
If you apply yourself to study the final book of the Bible you’re promised a blessing (Revelation 1:3)
God: the timeless One (Revelation 1:4)
Jesus is a Sovereign Savior (Revelation 1:5)
Because of what Jesus has done for His people, He’s worthy of all worship forever. (Revelation 1:6)
Jesus is surely returning and everyone will know! (Revelation 1:7)
The Lord God Almighty is everything. (Revelation 1:8)
As Christians, we partner together in Jesus, which means tribulation, a kingdom & endurance. (Revelation 1:9)
Sundays are great days to devote ourselves to seeking the Spirit. (Revelation 1:10)
God’s revelation of His Son is meant to build up churches. (Revelation 1:11)
God means to clearly communicate through His Word. (Revelation 1:12)
Jesus, the Son of man, dwells among His people. (Revelation 1:13)
Jesus is wisdom personified. (Revelation 1:14)
The work and the word of the Son of God are powerful and effective. (Revelation 1:15)
Jesus is radiant in His people through His powerful word. (Revelation 1:16)
A revelation of Jesus will drive us to our knees in worship. (Revelation 1:17)
Jesus lived, died and lives forevermore with all authority over eternity. (Revelation 1:18)
God has always clearly articulated who He is for people in His Word. (Revelation 1:19)
God sometimes unveils mystery for the good of His people. (Revelation 1:20)

Some Reading…

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Finished up a few books recently, so here’s some little blurbs about each of them:

God’s Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology by Jim Hamilton
I took my time and plodded through this a few pages at a time each evening for a few months.  I love God’s glory.  I believe it defines what we’re to ultimately be living for.  So, I really resonated with Hamilton and his thorough approach to uncover this theme throughout the Bible.  He even had a chapter that answered some objections of people who don’t see things the way he does.  And, the book ended with a section I loved with what this means to life and ministry.  I would highly recommend this volume to anyone who would like to take the time to see what God is up to in the Bible.

Create: Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Stuff by Stephen Altrogge
This was a very easy read, but a helpful, how do I put it?, kick in the pants to get about living a creative life.  Many excuse their apparent lack of creativity saying, “Well, I’m just not gifted.” And, Stephen takes time to show how not only you are creative, since you are created in the image of a Creative God, but also how this imprint on your creative design is meant to be acted upon.  He gets at motives, excuses we make and how we can take small steps to improve in our creativity.  I was very helped by this short read and benefitted accordingly.

Father Hunger: Why God Calls Men to Love and Lead Their Families by Doug Wilson
Another helpful book by Wilson on manhood.  I had the privilege of hearing Wilson speak on this subject at the Desiring God Conference for Pastors earlier this year.  The big call in this book is for men to take responsibility.  This is the definition of masculinity he gets at in this book: “The joyful accepting of responsibility.”  There are numerous ways Wilson applies this and gets at both the need and application of these kind of men for the good of society and the church.  Again, a helpful read to encourage men to men.

So, these are a few.  Take your time this summer to read through a book and find your soul nourished and your life pointing to God Himself.

Weekend Preview – Ol’ Moses

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This coming Lord’s Day, we will continue our march through the book of Hebrews (specifically Hebrews 11:23-28) by looking at Moses’ faith.  There are a few things that stand out from a mere cursory reading of the text:

1) Faith is fearless.  Both Moses’ parents and Moses himself were fearless when it came to the ruler of the land of Egypt.  What’s amazing about being fearless is that typically there is something greater that is feared.  In this case, Moses endured by a big picture of an invisible God.  Catch that?  Something that couldn’t be seen with human eyes made Moses live a certain way in today.

2) Faith is active.  In each episode of Moses’ life, we see someone who has faith in God alone, but it is not a faith that is alone.  It’s a faith that displays itself in action.  And, for every action that comes out of the story of his life, we are given a reason for why that action is pursued (which helps us as we seek to live out active faith).

In light of this, then, I encourage you to join us this coming Sunday, 6/3/12, as we explore the active, fearless faith of Moses so that we might be a people who glorify and enjoy God, forever.

Weekend Recap – Finite, Focused Faith

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My sermon from 5/27/12AM is online.  It was entitled Faith for the Finite and Focused from Hebrews 11:20-22.  It looked at Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and helped us see how they exhibited faith at the end of their lives in blessing their children.  So, faith was exhibited by finite men, who were given a window of time to honor God, but were frail and dying.  And, their faith was focused on future, unseen, promised realities from God Himself.  That’s the forward focus.

The main application I have for my own life is to realize that I want this short life God has given me to count as a life of faith.  Today, will you pray for me in this regard and look at your own life, seeing if you’re building your “house” on the rock of who God is or on the sand of this world.

Have a great week.

Helping You Help Me

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A great post came over at the Gospel Coalition recently entitled Sermon Prep: A Week in One Life.  I’m often super-blessed when I’m asked by people in the church how they can pray for me.  My reply usually is something like “Pray that I would be faithful to honor God week in and week out.”  While this sounds trite, this post on the nature of a pastor’s work week may help you understand some particular struggles inherent in my work.

I found this post helpful, as well, in reminding me of some important parts of my work.  So, if you’ve ever wondered how you can pray for your pastor, why not take some time and check out this post, which begins: “For those unfamiliar with ministry, the pastor’s work week can be mystifying.”

Faith for Finite and Focused…

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This coming Sunday, as we gather for Memorial Day weekend, we will be looking at Hebrews 11:20-22 and three patriarchs on their deathbed.  This reminds us that we are finite as well.  Further, each of these men were focused on future things they couldn’t yet see.  Most notable of these is Joseph, who moved to Egypt at the age of 17 and was so throughly acquainted with God’s promises that when he died at the age of 110 (still in Egypt) he gave instructions about his bones to be returned to the Promised Land, because he saw the reality that God’s promise was.

As people of faith who have been given a few years to live for God’s glory, does a future focus define our reality?  Are we gripped by the promises of the Gospel in such a way that they inform our living.  Come this Sunday as we seek to flesh these realities out.

Weekend Recap – 5/20/12PM

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On Sunday PM, 5/20/12, we began a new book in our Small Group Ministry entitled Who Am I? by Jerry Bridges.  This book explores our identity in Christ.  For our first session, we read the introduction and chapter 1, I Am A Creature.  Here’s the questions I developed for use in our small group based on these:

Related to the short introduction…In the introduction, Bridges said, “As Christians…our identity is to be found in our relationship with Christ, not in our subjective and often negative life experiences.”  Why do we base so much of our identity in these things rather than who we are in Christ?

What benefit do you think it will give to answer the question, “Who am I in Christ?”  Why is that important?

Related to chapter 1 I Am A Creature:Why would being a creature, created in God’s image, be an important starting point for our discussion of who we are?

In describing how, as creatures, we are utterly dependent, Bridges noted that we are dependent for: Food, Life & Breath, Plans, Abilities.  Which of these stood out to you, why?

How are you guilty of not being dependent upon God for everything?

How does realizing that we’re physically fragile help our being dependent upon God?

Have you ever heard the saying, “Pride goes before a fall?”  How does this relate to being spiritually vulnerable?  Why is this so important for our dependence upon God? 

Why do we so easily reject our moral accountability before God?

Bridges encouraged 2 applications in light of this chapter: humility and gratitude.  What other applications does this have for our lives?

We had a great starting night of discussion.  Our next small group will meet on June 24th…

Weekend Recap – 5/20/12AM

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My sermon from 5/20/12 entitled Faith Tested from Hebrews 11:17-19 is online.  The sermon examined the story of Abraham’s test to offer Isaac as a sacrifice and sought to show, first of all, that faith can be tested.  Many of us think that the Christian life is a life of ease and comfort, but the Bible never paints that kind of picture.  Even the greatest heroes of the faith were tested.  This was true of Abraham.  However, there was great hope in this text as we saw how a faith that is tested is strengthened.  Abraham emerged from the testing with a deeper, abiding trust in a good and all-wise God who had commanded him to obey and had given him promises.  This is where our faith can be strengthened as well, as we trust in God.

Hope you enjoyed a great Lord’s Day.

Weekend Recap – Faith’s Homeland

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My 5/13/12AM (Mother’s Day) sermon from Hebrews 11:13-16 is now online.  It was entitled Faith’s Homeland and dealt with faith and the future.  Specifically, faith prepares for the future by persevering in the present.  Part of this perseverance means we confess that we are strangers and exiles here.  Why?  Because faith seeks a homeland, specifically, a heavenly one.  So, we persevere in the present with our eye on eternity.  This has all kinds of applications for mothers, daughters, women, men, sons and fathers, as well as anyone else.  We shrink our lives to the here and now and put that in an ultimate category.  But, in Christ, we have reason to hope for the future.  Faith’s homeland is eternity with Christ in heaven.  Let’s live this week in light of this.