REVERENT AND REBELLIOUS

In today's episode, we see a continuation of the awesomeness of the throne room scene - complete with the four living creatures - elders - precious gems - and the rainbow of the covenant of life! John is taking it all in - and he sees a scroll - sealed with 7 seals - in the right hand of the One seated on the throne! A strong angel - with a loud voice asks a question. Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? The answer - no one - in the universe! John is devastated! He weeps! Until - one of the elders says - don't weep! There is one worthy! It's the Lion of the Tribe of Judah! John turns to see this Lion - instead sees a Lamb - looking like it had been slaughtered! Who is this Lamb? What's in the scroll? What's about to happen? This is the pivotal moment in the whole book - and we're going to get all the way in it!

John receives the 7 letters to the 7 churches. Then something magnificent happens! A door is open in heaven! The voice that sounds like a trumpet - Jesus - says come up here! I've got something to show you! Instantly John is caught up in the Spirit to a place that blows his mind and takes his breath away! Sights - sounds - thunder - lightning - creatures - elders - fire! John scrambles to find words to describe it! And - there's a throne with someone sitting on it! It's a place of peace - serenity - majesty and worship. But something is going on in this place. There is energy - anticipation. God and His entourage - His hosts - are about to do something monumental! It's the Day of the Lord - prophesied from old - and it's about to go down! This place is a temple - a throne room - and a courtroom! How is this going to play out? Join us as we venture into the throne room - the dwelling place of God!

SEVEN LETTERS - SEVEN CHURCHES. Some are doing great - others are struggling. Some are tolerating immorality and false teaching - others are drawing the line and remaining faithful. Some persevere under persecution - others compromise with culture to maintain their status and livelihood. Jesus is here for it all - to encourage - challenge - motivate - rebuke. Some churches receive all good marks. Some receive only negative. Others - a mix of the two. How is your church doing? How is mine? Join us as we track through the final four messages to these churches - and to all churches in all times!

John has given us his vision of Jesus—the essence of God—all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, glorious in every way! Now, Jesus turns His attention to the churches. He tells John to write to the angel of each church - the divine guardian - messenger - responsible for each community's care, instruction, and oversight. I know - I see what you're going through. Here's what you're doing right - here's your red flags. Remain faithful! Don't compromise! He who overcomes will receive eternal blessing and rewards! It's a combination of alright - and ruh-roh! Join us as we explore these messages and see how they apply to us - the church today - and Christians everywhere at all times! He who has an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the churches!

Revelation is a letter. It starts in a fairly ordinary fashion. Grace to you and peace. But suddenly it shifts - from natural to supernatural - from the real world to a dream world. John is "in the Spirit on the Lord's Day." He hears a voice - like the sound of a trumpet - and it's on! He sees a divine being. It's Jesus - the glorified Jesus! John scrambles to find vocabulary to describe this awesome, majestic, powerful King! He starts pulling in images from his Bible - the Old Testament - writing rapid fire as the vision is laid out before him! Is it scary? Yes - at first. He falls down as a dead man! But as it unfolds, John sees - and we see - it's a vision of comfort - encouragement - hope! Come with us as we explore this incredible vision - and get a glimpse of Jesus - the first and the last - the living One!

Speaking of weird things in the Bible - say hello to the Book of Revelation! Today we kick off a short series on this apocalyptic work of art tucked away at the end of the Book. What is this? Is it a letter - a book of prophecy - or a bizarre vision of the end times, complete with dragons, beasts, and lakes of fire? It's all that and more - and we're here for it! Join us as we dive headfirst into this bone-chilling epic tale of judgment and strange spiritual beings. We just might discover it is not at all a terrifying portent of doom and destruction - but a vision of comfort - hope - and promise!

Here's a cute little story you heard in Sunday School - SAMSON - the strongest man who ever lived! For some reason - unbeknownst to anyone - he was endowed with super-human strength, and it's all tied to - his HAIR? This is a story that starts weird - gets weirder - and ends super weird! Samson is strong - chosen by God - anointed in the womb - but it turns out for most of the story he is also a pompous narcissistic fool! He achieves greatness and renown - only to have it undone by a sultry woman named Delilah - then wins a crowning victory over Israel's nemesis while also killing himself! This one will leave you in awe of God's ability to work His purpose through the most unlikely people - and scratching your head!

This is one of the strangest and most controversial stories in the Bible. Angels appear to Abraham. They go down to check out these two cities that are rumored to be exceedingly wicked. Turns out they are! God says I'm going to destroy them. Abraham argues with God. What if some righteous people are in there - like my nephew Lot? The angels tell Lot to get the heck out of there. He does - and the cities are wiped out by a giant fireball! What did they do that warranted that? Will it ever happen again? Did Lot's wife really turn into a pillar of salt? Join us as we dive into the weirdness!

We are kicking off another series. I don't know if you've noticed - but there are some strange things in the Bible. Mediums, sorcerers, dreams, visions, freaks of nature, and supernatural phenomena. Most of the time we read right over them as if they don't exist, or skip them altogether. We have a phrase that we have adopted. If it's weird - it's important! Let's be honest. Talking donkeys are weird! Angels with swords - plagues - idols - blessings - curses - they're all weird - and we're getting into it all! Who is Balaam? Why is he mentioned numerous times in Scripture? What's with the talking donkey? Join us as we discover what all the weird things in the Bible have to say to us today!

Today is the final session of our series, in which we are talking about phrases that sound so good - we have heard and used them so often - we assume they come straight from Scripture. But - THE BIBLE DOESN'T SAY THAT! In this episode, we go rapid-fire! Is money the root of all evil? Does pride really go before a fall? And - despite what Disney says - should you really follow your heart? All of these sound like they're in the Bible - because they are close to what is actually in the Bible. But as we will discover - it's the small things that can make a big difference between wisdom and nonsense! Join us as we thread the needle - expose the nonsense - and uncover what the Bible really says!