In today's episode, Cory and Trent take a break from their study through the book of Revelation and talk about what they believe are "areas of present contention within the Southern Baptist Convention."

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Southern Baptist Convention was unable to gather in 2020, and while "absence often makes the heart grow fonder," it seems our distance has only caused dissension. With racial tensions generally on the rise, particular cultural ideologies becoming popularized, and complementarian convictions being met with increased hostility, a fracture in our fellowship is noticeable, if not undeniable.

In this episode, Cory and Trent discuss three important issues they believe will be addressed at the SBC this year messengers need to be aware of:

1) Resolution 9 (CRT/Intersectionality)

2) Complementarianism (Female Pastors)

3) Presidential Election/Entity Discussion (present factions are visible and represented by presidential candidates)

In this episode, Cory and Trent take a look at the fifth trumpet judgment and the creatures that are released from "the bottomless pit." It is due to these horrifying creatures (referred to as "locusts" who inflict pain from their tail like a "scorpion) that unbelievers across the earth look and long for death. However, death evades them.

What does this mean? Is God prolonging their life intentionally? Is he prolonging life in wrathful pain or in gracious patience? Will believers experience this torment? How are we to apply a passage like this to our lives today? Check out this episode for more details!

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In this episode, Cory and Trent take a look at the seventh seal and the first four trumpet judgments of chapter 8 and arrive at their first disagreement with one another. Check out the episode to hear about their disagreement and learn about the significance of the trumpet judgments.

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In this episode, Cory and Trent continue to take a break from their verse by verse exposition of the book of Revelation to take a look at Dispensationalism and its take on the book of Revelation. Both Cory and Trent are familiar with dispensationalism and its framework of Revelation by growing up in churches where it was the primary understanding of the book. However, Cory and Trent both no longer hold its perspective on the book. Listen to Cory and Trent as they discuss what they believe are 8 Difficulties of Dispensationalism (as it pertains to the book of Revelation).

The 8 Difficulties of Dispensationalism they include are:

1.    The Rapture

2.    Two Comings of Christ

3.    The 7 Year Tribulation

4.    Israel and the Church

5.    The Temple and The People of God

6.    Three Resurrections

7.    The Literal Thousand Years

8.    The Chronological Outlook

Join Cory and Trent as they take a break from their study of Revelation to “go down the rabbit hole” talking about their relationship with the Lord, their relationship with each other, and their relationship with the churches they serve.

At the end of chapter 6, destruction erupted across the earth as the sixth seal is opened. The wrath of God poured out across the face of the earth led the inhabitants of the earth to run and hide in caves, crying out for their death, exclaiming, “…the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand (Rev 6:17)?”

The answer to the question of “who can stand as the wrath of God is poured out” is found in the following chapter. In chapter 7, before He brings His wrath against the ungodly, God commands other angels to “not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

The rest of the chapter explains that, while believers may encounter persecution, they will not experience the wrath of God due to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that protects them and marks them as the people of God (a mark antithetical to the mark of the beast).

While John hears 144,000 called out, He sees “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Both the 144,000 and the great multitude represent the sealed and set-apart, redeemed of God (Rev. 14) at all times and in all places. Join Cory and Trent discuss this hope-filled, awe-inspiring chapter.

In chapter 6, the Lamb who is worthy to open the seven seals begins to open them one by one. The first four of the seals release four horsemen some who come to conquer and others who come to destroy. The fifth seal points John to a number of Christian martyrs crying out for God to bring His final vindicating judgment upon the earth. And lastly, the sixth and final seal included in chapter six leads all across the earth to run and hide begging for their death.

Revelation chapter 6 tends to be where interpreters with different viewpoints on the book as a whole begin to walk down entirely different interpretive paths. With respect to many other views, it is our viewpoint that chapter 6 is symbolic of increasing persecution and martyrdom throughout the current church age culminating in Christ’s final judgment upon the earth.

Finally, the question of “who can stand” asked of unbelievers experiencing God’s wrath during the sixth seal, while yet to be answered, are believers who will not experience God’s wrath, because Jesus experienced it upon the cross in their place (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).

In chapter 5, John remains in the heavenly throne room where the Father remains on His throne. In the Father’s right hand is a scroll with seven seals upon it no one is worthy to break. Because the scroll contains the God’s sovereign eternal plan for judgment and redemption, John weeps at the reality that no one is able to open the scroll. He is horrified without hope.

However, like our salvation story, Jesus comes at the right moment to give hope to the hopeless. At last there is one who is worthy! The Lamb of God!

At Christ’s ascension He was given authority over heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18). In this heavenly scene, Christ ascends to heaven, having conquered death and ensuring salvation through His sacrificial crucifixion, to the right hand of the Father where He will exercise His sovereignty and execute the plans of God.

After writing practical and personal letters to seven local churches enduring tribulation, John is taken up to see the heavenly throne room where he sees one seated whose indescribable appearance was best likened to precious and colorful stones.

The throne and the one who is seated upon it is the dramatic center of the picture John describes with twenty-four elders around Him, flashes of lighting from Him, and a sea of glass with seven torches before Him.

It is in this throne room we see the glory of God, the covenant of God, and the holiness of God.

It is also in this throne room that we see objects from within the design of the Old Testament temple.

While the reader is tempted to try to understand every detail and creature within the throne room, one must be careful not to see the forest for the trees and miss God Himself, who all of those creatures praise and to whom all of the details point.

Join Cory and Trent read and discuss the letter to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22. This is the last of seven letters written to local churches enduring tribulation in Asia minor during the first century. In these seven letters Christ gives a personal and practical message for congregations enduring persecution to hear and heed.

The church in Laodicea was as apathetic as they were affluent. Not only were they spiritually ineffective (“neither hot nor cold”), their spiritual status made the Lord want to vomit (“I will spit you out of my mouth”). They were a business with a Biblical name; happy with goods and no godliness. The letter to the church in Laodicea is a strong warning against materialism and its deception. They thought themselves to be rich, yet they were poor. The exact opposite of the church in Smyrna.

Although there was nothing in the church to be commended, the Lord still loved His church in Laodicea. His command was for them to repent, and if they would, by opening the door on which He knocked (inviting His words or rebuke and repenting), He would dine with them.