Being a Christian becomes hard when we feel that certain sectors of social life are cut off for us because we are Christian. Maybe this is why we are so desperate to find and support parallel media or economies; it betrays that we actually feel...

What is the role of works in the Christian life? While we all agree that works cannot save us, do they play no role in how God completes his work in us? What happens when a church embraces what you might call cheap grace, the belief that grace...

The Church in Thyatira abounds in good works and in faith, but the Lord has something against them: they tolerate the presence of Jezebel. Drawing from the story of Israel's queen who seduced the nation into idol worship, Jesus warns the Church...

Pergamum is a church at risk. Situated in a city that Jesus refers to as the place of Satan's throne, they are beset by persecution. One of their members, whom Jesus refers to as his faithful witness, falls as a Christian martyr. But they are...

Jesus is the Sovereign Lord and conqueror of death and he warns his people that their suffering is about to get worse. In the warning is a promise, they will be tested and when they are found faithful they will receive the crown of life. His promise...

Here we begin the letters to the seven churches, starting with the church in Ephesus. It appears that in one sense the church in Ephesus was very strong. Jesus does not chastise them for staunchly guarding the doctrine of the Church; on the...

Christ is risen! Christ’s resurrection is the reversal of death and the beginning of hope. By it Christian’s learn no longer to fear, but also to go out into the world empowered with the message of what God has done in Christ.

Christ enters Jerusalem five days before the Passover, riding a donkey. The news that this Galilean preacher recently raised the dead in Bethany has expectations high that this finally is Messiah, announcing himself to the Holy City just as Zechariah...

John, like the prophets of the Old Covenant, receives a commission. He is told to "write what he sees," and send the message to the seven churches suffering in Asia. When John turns to see the messenger, he is given a vision of the glory...

Revelation is a letter, and like any letter in the first century, it begins with a formal greeting. John speaks on behalf of the triune Lord to a group of churches under profound pressure, and in all their hardship he announces to them grace and...