I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. – Revelation 17:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 31, 2015): Revelation 17

A Canadian Member of Parliament a couple of weeks ago insisted that any woman who wants to become a citizen of Canada, must take the oath with her face uncovered. The Prime Minister himself insists that face coverings are but part of a culture that has kept women as second class citizens in many areas of the world. Therefore, in his esteemed opinion, face coverings are incompatible with a nation who is solidly moving towards an egalitarian society – a society that is rooted in equal rights for both men and women. Not that Canada has already arrived at the egalitarian dream. They struggle with some of the same issues that their Southern neighbors in the United States struggle with. Yet in both countries, the dream is alive.

So, should a Muslim woman who desires to wear traditional Muslim dress as she is sworn in as a full citizen of her new country be forced to remove the face covering? In a nation that professes a high level of personal freedom, is there something incompatible with that particular requirement? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. There is something highly offensive about the request to remove the face covering in a nation that proclaims personal freedom, yet at the same time I totally understand the reason behind the request.

Today, we who live in the cultural West are scared. There is a fanaticism that has reached our shores that we have never seen before. The problem becomes that if the face is covered, how is it that we can know who it is that is joining our nations. But even more of a problem is that face coverings raise the potential of a terrorist being able to assume the identity of a worthy future citizen, and to do so with the intent of causing harm. I know that North American Muslims often feel like they are treated as if they were “spokespeople for the Islamic State,” but the other side of the coin is that any sincere Muslim who wishes to join our nations and become full citizens, to become our people, is in violation of the Islamic State. They have become the enemy. And violence against them is almost a forgone conclusion. And so, we who believe that we are free, do some very unfree things. We limit freedom for the common good. We become less than we espouse to be for no other reason than that we are scared.

John has a vision of the great harlot. And ever since John’s Revelation began making its rounds the identity of this harlot has been discussed and guesses have been made. Maybe the city of Rome was the great prostitute. The idea fit in some ways, but in others it failed. Maybe one of the telltale clues in John’s account of the prostitute is that he was surprised – or greatly astonished – at the identity of the prostitute. If John realized that Rome was the prostitute, why would he have been astonished? That Rome, who killed the apostles, was in league with the devil should have created a response of expectancy, not astonishment. Yet, John says that he was astonished at the identity of the prostitute.

For the reformers, there could be no doubt who the great harlot was – it was the Roman Catholic Church. It was this that astonished John. That an organization whose sole purpose was to advance the cause of Christ would find herself in league with the great opponent was an unexpected plot twist. And so early martyrs went to their deaths fighting the Roman Catholic Church. And they may have been right 600 years ago. There were a string of popes during the middle ages who seemed to care for nothing more than their own wealth and power, and who were willing to sacrifice the common and the poor to achieve it – not something we would expect from those who represent Christ. Today, there are still some who rage against Rome, but I am not sure that they are right. Even as a protestant, I am proud of a number of the Pope’s who have occupied the Holy See during my lifetime, and the current occupant, Pope Francis, is no exception. And I dream of the day when all those who serve Christ will do so under the same banner.

So, if I am letting that great Roman Church off of the hook, then who is the great harlot. For that answer I have to look a lot closer to home. Any time we proclaim Christ without acting in love, we are the great harlot. Any time we respond to our neighbor in self-interest, we are the great harlot. Any time we who bear the imprint of Christ hate, we are in league with the other side – and we are not becoming more like Christ.

To my Muslim friends, I apologize and I beg your patience. We are scared. And we do not mean to respond with such a lack of love toward you. When we do, we betray ourselves and we are less. But my hope is that courage is growing inside of us, and that we will learn to love again. Only then will we begin to reflect the Christ that we serve – and only then will the John’s that are still with us be able to look on the Christian Church and see exactly who it is that we were supposed to be – a people built on the principle of love and acceptance. After all, Christ died for all of us.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 18

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. – Revelation 16:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 30, 2015): Revelation 16

Armageddon. Just the name fills us with images of war. Maybe it is the pounding of horse’s hooves as the combatants move to begin the fight. Or maybe it is the tanks of modern warfare with missiles and bombs going off all around the Middle Eastern plain that comes to mind. The battle itself is supposed to take place at Tel Megiddo in Northern Israel. By the way, this would seem to be a verse where the translators seem to have tried to help us out a little. The Hebrew name for the place is not really Armageddon – that would be the Greek name. The Hebrew name is Har-Magedon – or Mount Magedon, but there is a whole belief system that has grown up around the Greek name – Armageddon – so that is the one that is used here. And Armageddon, according to all the propaganda, means that the end of the world is coming. The only problem is that there really isn’t a Mount Magedon. There is only a tell, a small hill that has been built up through centuries upon centuries of people living on that spot.

And maybe the other problem is that this is the only verse in the entire Bible that mentions Armageddon. We have built a whole end times theology over a single verse which provides us with very little information. And that is usually a sign that we might be right, but there is probably just as much of a chance that we are very wrong – because we just don’t have enough information to make the right judgment.

So, since you probably already know about the idea of a great battle at Armageddon, let me suggest another interpretation for this verse. First, note that in this verse there is no battle. There is a battle a few verses earlier, but not here. But having said that, Mount Magedon literally means Mountain of Conflict. If Mount Magedon is symbolic for something, it must be symbolic for some kind of conflict. But what if we aren’t supposed to find Mount Magedon in Tel Megiddo? What if Mount Magedon is purely a symbolic place? I mean, think about our understanding of this battle – the kings of the earth fighting a war against the armies of God. Why would God need an army? He is God! And what chance would the kings of the earth have against the armies of the Creator of the earth?

So where exactly is Mount Magedon or this Mountain of conflict? If John is indicating the place of final struggle between the powers of evil and the powers of this world against the kingdom of God itself, then that can be only one place – the battle is taking place in our lives. Every time we are forced to make a choice between good and evil, this choice becomes our Mountain of Conflict – it becomes our Armageddon.

But wherever and whatever this battle might be, the one thing that we know is that in the end God wins. If it is a battle between two great physical armies, the armies of God will win. But, if the battle is being fought in our lives; if it is between the truth of Christ and the propaganda of Satan, then it will be the truth of Christ that will win in the end. But either way, we do know that it will be an epic battle.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 17

Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” – Revelation 15:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 29, 2015): Revelation 15

Today is Palm Sunday. Historically it marks the beginning of Holy Week for the Christian Church. It was on this day in history that Jesus entered Jerusalem to cheers of the crowds. Five days from now the crowds will still be cheering, but at this time it will be while Jesus is being crucified. But on this day, on Palm Sunday, no one (except for Jesus) is thinking about crucifixion. On this day the King is being celebrated as he comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. And on Palm Sunday, the donkey is very important. When a king entered a city on a horse, he was coming in times of war and in a demonstration of his strength. But if he entered the city on a donkey, he came in peace. On Palm Sunday, Jesus’ donkey indicated that the king was coming in peace.

On Palm Sunday, the crowds filled the air with their cries.

            “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38)!

But on this day Jesus was not in the mood for celebrating. There was too much work that still needed to be done, and much of that work would be completed on an old rugged cross.  Jesus wept as he looked over the city. “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42). It seemed that peace for Jerusalem would take more than just the king entering the city on a donkey.

Here in John’s vision, it is a bit of a different situation. The work has been completed and the Lamb has won his victory. His righteous acts have been revealed and what was not seen on Palm Sunday is now obvious. And as a result, all division is past and all nations have come and are ready to worship. On Palm Sunday, not everyone was willing to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. But in the End, that will not be the case. In the end there will be a universal recognition of God and all of his designs. In the End, everyone will worship the Lamb. And that means that in the End, there will finally be peace.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 16

A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” – Revelation 14:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 28, 2015): Revelation 14

Ancient Babylon is a city that has captured the imagination of many. The ancient city was, during two of its historical periods, the largest city on the face of the earth (from 1770 to 1670 B.C.E. and then again from 612 to 320 B.C.E.) The city of Babylon was most likely the first city to ever grow beyond the 200,000 mark in population. In 1983, Saddam Hussein made plans and started to reconstruct the city. In fact, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was patterned after Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. (Maybe Hussein’s plan for the site of the ancient city explains the U.S. Military’s decision to occupy the city, severely damaging some of the ancient artifacts still contained within the ruins. From the U.S. Military point of view, their presence in Babylon was to protect the site from looters who wanted to steal from the ancient city.) But after 320 B.C.E, the city began its decline into oblivion. The idea of Babylon has remained important to all of those who are willing to remember her, but the city itself was relegated to obscurity.

By the time John wrote these words, the Babylon the Great of history was gone forever. So the angel’s words cannot be taken literally. Most experts recognize in the angel’s words a prediction against another great city of the world, a city that posed a threat to John and his message. The angel was speaking directly against John’s Rome. And the imagery that we are left with is that Rome, like Babylon, would one day disappear from the face of the earth.

Maybe the fact that the City of Rome did not totally disappear is part of the reason why we sometimes miss the ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy. For Babylon, both the city and the Empire have disappeared. We remember them and Iraqis dream of one day rebuilding the Babylon of history – but Babylon is gone. For Rome, the city still exists. Because of the great cultural significance and ultimately because of the importance that Christians place on the city, Rome actually flourishes. But it is not the Empire that it once was. The Empire died in last days of the fifth century C.E., in direct fulfillment of the angel’s words.    

But biblical scholars hasten to add that it is not just that Babylon and Rome have disappeared from the glory that they once possessed that is import of the angel’s words. The prophecy reminds us that all great urban centers on the earth opposed to the will of God will find their demise before the return of Jesus to the earth. As great as the powers of this world may seem to be to us, they will not stand up in the presence of God. We may be tempted to worship the power of this world, but it is in reality nothing but folly. Because we know that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 15

It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. – Revelation 13:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 27, 2015): Revelation 13

Emperor Domitian assumed power over the Roman Empire on September 14, 81 C.E. For the ten years prior to this time, his rule had been largely ceremonial as the expected heir to the throne under the reigns of Vespasian and Titus. But when the real reins of power finally did fall to him, Domitian had a plan. He wanted to be known as the one who was able to restore the Empire to the glory that it had not seen since the days of Augustus. To accomplish his plan, he became an efficient administrator of the Empire. He was merciless in his campaign against corruption. Any judges who were caught taking a bribe were immediately removed. He reinstated the Roman imperial cult and the idea that the Roman Emperor ruled at the bequest of the gods. This the resulted in the idea that any kind of service to the Empire was a religious action done to honor the gods. He also ruthlessly put down any threat to Roman unity. Foreign religions were accepted as long as they could be amended into the Roman pantheon of the gods. But anything outside of that ideal was ruthlessly routed out and destroyed. Unfortunately for both the Jewish and Christian believers, their idea of God was incompatible with the Roman pantheon – so they became among the ones persecuted. It wasn’t that Domitian objected personally with the belief systems of Judaism and Chrisitianity, they just could not fit into his dream of rebuilding the Roman Empire to once again resemble the Empire that had existed during the days of Caesar Augustus.

There is considerable debate about the amount of persecution of Christians under Domitian. The level of persecution was likely significantly less and much more isolated than it had been under the reign of Nero, yet it still existed. And it was during the reign of Domitian that John had his own brush with the Emperor and was exiled to the Island of Patmos, a place where political prisoners were often kept so that their ideas did not pollute the mainstream of society. And it was John’s stay on Patmos which gave birth to the Revelation.

There is much in Revelation that we do not understand. The idea of the Beast has captured our imagination, but we still do not understand what the imagery means. Many have taken this as a prophecy of the kind of treatment that the Christian Church can expect as the end grows near. And maybe that is true. The whole of the writing of Revelation is clouded with mystery. But it is a disservice not to recognize that much of what John sees in his vision, he has also experienced. There may be another Satanic Beast that is on its way, but John was intimately connected with the first Beast. The words that John uses describes his Beast of Revelation coincides with his own personal experience with Rome. He watched helplessly as his brother apostles were executed one by one. It must have seemed like the ability to wage war against the Christians and to destroy the church had been given to Rome. Rome under Domitian began to consolidate all of the people within its reach into one empire. Roads were built to facilitate the movement of the army. Security of the Empire became a priority. Rome truly had become the Master who had been set over every people, every language, and every nation. Many of these terrifying images that he describes were not really out of his vision of the future; they were his expression of his experience in the present.

But the underlying message of Revelation is that in spite of what appears to be, God is still in control. The Beast may have his way for a time, but that time will end. Too often we are captivated by words about the Beast and the terrors that await us in the future and miss this one real truth. God continues to reign – and the Beast will one day be destroyed along with all that is evil.

The Roman Empire that frightened and persecuted John during his lifetime would continue to grow for another hundred years, but then the unthinkable would begin to happen – the Empire would begin to die. For the Western portion of the empire, that death would fully take hold of the Empire in 480 C.E. The Eastern portion would survive until the fall of Constantinople a thousand years later, but it would no longer be the Master of anything. We need to understand that John does not want to terrify his readers with nightmarish visions of the future – John knew that life itself is scary enough. But he does want to remind us that the Beasts of this earth will always one day meet their match against the God who is on the throne. And God has no intention of leaving that throne.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 14

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. – Revelation 12:1-2

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 26, 2015): Revelation 12

On May 2, 1989, Hungary began to take down the 240-kilomoeter long fence that separated the Eastern Bloc country from Austria and the West. It was the first visible crack that something was desperately wrong behind the Iron Curtain. Hungary had decided that if the nation was to survive economically, then it had to pursue financial relationships with the West, and renewing acquaintances with their Austrian friends was a good first step. But the removal of the fence also allowed something else, a way for East Germans to move to West Germany. And that was a situation that made Eastern political thinkers shudder. Not since the early days of the cold war had it been easily possible to move from East to West, but the removal of the Hungarian- Austrian fence changed that. And in those early days after the fence’s removal, many East German residents made use of the hole and they left their home to make a new one in West Germany.

The end result of Hungary’s decision to remove the barrier separating it from the West would be the demolition of the entire Iron Curtain. And maybe the most poignant symbol of the demolishment of the Iron Curtain was the demolition of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany. For me, this ranks as one of the biggest surprise happenings of my life. Prior to May 2, 1989, I am not sure that I could have imagined what would have to happen in order for the Germanys to become one again. They both seemed to be engulfed in divergent paths that could never again be brought back together. But on May 2, 1989, a process was started that would relegate, it seemed almost overnight, the East-West German split was into the nightmare section of the history books. The nation that shared common ancestry once again shared a common political structure and a common future. It was a long time coming, but finally it had become a reality. The twins had been reunited once again – and hopefully forever.

Revelation 12 marks the second and the final major movement of the Book of Revelation. And part of how we understand this section of the book depends on how we identify this woman “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.” There have been many fanciful attempts to identify this woman and her child, but maybe the most interesting is also the most obvious: the woman is Israel and her child is the Christian Church. The imagery is straight out of Genesis and one of Joseph’s dreams, and Joseph was the son of Jacob, the man whose name would be eventually be changed to Israel. In the dream Joseph says that “the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me” (Genesis 37:9). Here Joseph himself becomes the twelfth star and it is out of this family picture that the nation of Israel was born. We have a repeat of the same imagery here in John’s vision, this time surrounding a woman and her child.

And if we identify this woman as being Israel, then it follows that the child she gives birth to must be the Christian Church. What excites me about this interpretation is that it provides a picture of the reunification of two of the great Abrahamic faiths. And I think reunification is exciting, even if it is never easy. It also provides the Christian with a foundation that is from the beginning, and it encourages the Christian Church to continue its practice of telling the great Hebrew stories found in the Hebrew Scripture. We continue to share the job of telling the stories of God with our Jewish brothers and sisters, or maybe more appropriately according to John’ vision, with our Jewish parents. It reminds us of the importance of the parent faith of whom we are often estranged, but need to regard with great respect and love.

Reunification is never easy. But when it can be accomplished, it is always beautiful. And a reunification of the Abrahamic faiths may be the most beautiful thing possible.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 13

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. – Revelation 11:17

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 25, 2015): Revelation 11

Paul Revere’s Midnight ride on April 18, 1775 has captured the imagination of story teller’s ever since it happened. And the story has evolved ever since Paul Revere took his ride. One of the famous mistellings is in the words that Paul Revere used to warn people during the ride. Revere never actually called out “the British are coming! The British are coming!” And there was a good reason why. The countryside that Revere was riding through was populated by British Citizens, and they were people who still called themselves British. They identified with the homeland, no matter how they felt about the current political situation in the Colony. The words “the British are coming” would not have made any sense – the British were already there.

And so as Revere travelled the countryside, the most reliable sources report that he told people (he shouted to no one – there was simply too much danger of being overheard by the enemy) that “the regular army was coming out” – meaning that established army, the British Army, was advancing. And that meant that it was time to for the Colonial Forces – the Patriots - to begin the defence of the colony.

What is interesting about John’s words here is that he diverts from the normal formula that we have come to expect when talking about God, that he is the One who was and is and is to come. In this passaged the words “is to come” are conspicuously missing. John simply says the one who is and who was. And there is a good reason for John’s words. He was standing in the presence of the Lord God Almighty, he couldn’t be the one to come because he was already here.

John also says that the One who is and who was has already begun to reign. It is has been noted that John is talking in the past tense. In fact, the Lord God Almighty has always reigned, he has never ever left the throne, not for an instant. The sovereignty of God has never been compromised. He is the One who was, and that phrase is not limited in any way. He was and he is – and nothing else really matters.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 12

And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” – Revelation 10:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 24, 2015): Revelation 10

We don’t need to know everything. It is something that we seem to have forgotten in this media driven world. We don’t need to know, but the reason why we feel we must know is that we have forgotten how to trust. The problem is that public knowledge of some things is extremely detrimental. We can’t know the specifics of a military operation without compromising the operation. We can’t know the rescue plan that is being used to release a group of hostages without compromising the rescue. We can’t even know the plan of attack that the local sports team plans to use against their hated rivals in the next game without compromising the plan and sacrificing the win. We have to trust that those who do know, and who are in a position to devise a plan. But … that is incredibly hard for all of us. We want to know – but we just don’t need to know. We really don’t.

This passage is a hard one for Biblical scholars. The disease of thinking that we need to know everything extends even to them. One question that rattles through the passage is why would John even bother including it in this writing if he can’t give us the details? I mean, doesn’t John know that the best way to keep a secret is to not let anyone know that a secret exists?  Basically, John is simply telling us that there are some things that we can’t know – that we don’t need to know. And that is precisely the point. As uncomfortable as it might make us, there are some things that remains a mystery, at least for today. And there may be some things that may remain outside of our knowledge forever – things that we just don’t need to know.

What we do need to do is to trust. It is all that God has ever asked of us. And the problem with knowledge is that it means that we don’t have to trust, or maybe more to the point, that the only one that we need to trust is ourselves. And maybe that is the real problem with story of Adam and Eve and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In eating from the tree they wanted to become like God, to be able to stop trusting in God and simply trust in themselves. It is the dream that a lot of us seem to have, and it can lead us to nothing else but sin and destruction.

So John incudes this simple statement. You don’t have to know. All you have to be willing to do is to trust. And after all, if God is worthy of following, he is worthy of trusting.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 11

During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. – Revelation 9:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 23, 2015): Revelation 9

Almost a million people take their own lives every year. Add to that an estimated 10 to 20 million people who attempt suicide but are unsuccessful, and the size of the problem is revealed. But part of the problem for many of us is that we do not understand the immense pain that our friends and relatives are going through. For us, even as Christians, the unknown of death is more troubling than the pain that we may experience in daily life. So we run away from death and fight for every moment that this life will give to us. But, not everyone reacts to this life the way that we do. But what does it mean when pain tips the scale, and the unknown of death seems to be more pleasurable than the pain of life.

In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), suicide is often seen as an offense against God. The idea seems to be that unless death is encountered as either a natural end to life or in an effort to chase down some great societal or god-driven cause, then suicide is wasting the greatest gift that God can give to us - life. But not every culture has treated suicide that way. In some cultures, suicide is an acceptable way of protesting societal ills – and still others, it is an expected way to end life under certain conditions. And to not commit suicide under these circumstances would be considered to be morally wrong.

What causes the nightmare of this passage is the idea that the pain will be so great, and yet death will not come. Suicide will not be an option, although many will wish to choose it. The torture of life will be magnified to a point where we will only wish for a death that never arrives.

What is left is a vivid picture of hell on earth. It is also a picture of what the Romans had been trying to perfect. Crucifixion, an end which John had watched too many Christian friends suffer through, was a practice that magnified the pain of life without allowing death. And the Romans had perfected crucifixion to keep the one being crucified in agony as long as possible before death finally came. John’s words are that for some of those who are living in the final days, there will be something that will be even worse than Roman crucifixion. But even here the pain is not forever. A reprieve will come – but not until many have suffered because for their own mistakes and sins.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 10

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. – Revelation 8:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 22, 2015): Revelation 8

In September 12, 1942, the RMS Laconia was sunk off the coast of West Africa. A lot of the details of the incident seem to be mired with intentional misinformation, but the story, as close as we can tell, is that a Nazi German Submarine sunk the Laconia believing that it was carrying Allied troops during late summer of 1942. There seems to be little doubt that he Laconia was a legitimate wartime target for the German U-boats. But on this trip the Laconia, while carrying some military personal, was transporting mostly civilians and Italian prisoners of war. The commander of the U-boat made an unprecedented decision when he realized who it was that was dying in the Atlantic Waters – he placed a Red Cross Flag across his guns and decided to try to rescue as many of the survivors as possible. He even went as far as to call in other German boats and to offer free passage to any Allied ships in the area if they wanted to come and pick up the survivors. But in the pressure of World War II, it seems that the message was not heeded by many Allied Vessels fearing that this was a German Trap.

Rescue efforts proceeded for the three days. Prisoners, civilians and even Allied military personnel were pulled out of the water and either given passage on the U-boats or set into life rafts. All of this continued until an American Bomber spotted the subs on the surface of the ocean and decided to take them out. In an act for which they would later receive medals, the American Bomber sunk the German U-boat in the midst of its rescue operations. Well, at least that was what they thought. Later it was revealed that the U-boats had submerged at the beginning of the attack and that all of the German vessels escaped the incident without injury. The same could not be said for a couple of the life rafts filled with survivors from the Laconia. The life rafts were blown out of existence. But the incidents surrounding the Laconia at least appear to be an unbelievable act of mercy in the midst of war.

As we read about the blowing of the trumpets in this section it is easy to fixate on the unimaginable tragedy that is about to be received by the earth. The first four of these tragedies appear to involve natural catastrophes, but the last three fall distinctly onto the human race. We have even called this passage “the Great Tribulation.” But the name itself is a bit of a misnomer. As the events of the Second World War, into which the events surrounding the Laconia fit, or the Great War that preceded it are considered, there have already been trumpets of judgments that have fallen on the human race. James Burton Coffman believes that it is better to understand “The Tribulation” as a time period that began with the cross and will continue until the end of time itself.

But something else that we tend to miss in these blasts of the trumpets is that they all come with mercy attached. And not only is mercy attached, it triumphs. With the blowing of each of the trumpets, mercy is greater than the tribulation. Even here, God protects that which he has created.

The Laconia incident was the last act of the mercy to be shown by German U-boats during the war. The incident was the reason for the issuing of the “Laconia Order” by the German high command prohibiting German U-boats from taking part in rescue operations. In contrast, God’s mercy will not disappear. His mercy, for his creation, will extend as long as the trumpets are blowing - until the very end of time.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 9

“Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” – Revelation 7:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 21, 2015): Revelation 7

I drink Diet Coke. Don’t bother telling me how bad it is for me, I get that, and my current consumption is drastically reduced from what it was at one point in my life, but all of that being said, it is still my “go to” drink. So when you walk into my office, both at church and at home, you will see Coke memorabilia. It has actually been suggested (sarcastically) that maybe what we need to do is approach Coke about sponsoring our church. How much would they pay if we changed our name to “Diet Coke Baptist Church” or maybe if our church met in “Diet Coke Hall?”

The comments were meant humorously, but they also started me thinking (which is always a dangerous thing.) What if our ownership was obvious? What if the priorities of the people that met inside of the building were posted on the outside of the building? Or, maybe, what if the people who really called the shots inside the building were written down on the outside. In many churches, it is not really the Board or the Pastor who are running the show, but a small informal group of people who lead through influence, innuendo and rumor. What if we listed their names on the sign outside indicating the reality, this is really their church? I suspect that there would be very few Jesus Christ Churches. Most would be identified by a single family – or maybe the local sports team, or maybe Starbucks. But the motives of those inside would be written on the outside, and if you shared those motives, maybe you would go.

There are a couple of things that intrigue me about this verse. And one of them is the idea that God will reveal on the outside the reality of what is going on inside. In ancient times, whatever was placed on our foreheads indicated ownership. It is the reason why the priest, or pastor, places the mark of the cross on your forehead on Ash Wednesday – it is a mark of ownership. The cross on the forehead indicates who it is that you confess owns you. And that is the case in this verse. The seal indicates who is reigning in the life of the person. Ownership would no longer be a mystery. From now on it would be displayed for all to see.

But I am also intrigued with the command to not harm the land, sea and trees until everyone was marked. Anything we say about Revelation is speculation, but having said that, let me speculate. I have openly wondered what it would mean if God meant John 3:16 very literally (“For God so loved the world …”) What if he really meant world, and not some subset of the word as defined by us? What if world meant every person, ever beast, every tree, and every creature that swims in the ocean? What if it went even beyond that to include every rock and every drop of water, fresh or salt? What if God truly loved the world?

Why wouldn’t he? In the opening chapter of the Bible he declared that everything created by his hands, not just on, in and of the earth, but the Sun, Moon and stars as well, were “very good” (Genesis 1:31). In terms that we would understand, God had fallen in love with creation. The first job that he gives to man is to take care of creation (see Genesis 2), long before there were any sheep to feed (see John 21). God loved everything that he had created.

So what if, and I recognize that the limb I am about to go out on is very thin, the reason why the angels are commanded not to hurt the earth is because that is, at least partially, how we are going to be judged? What if the land, sea and trees all get a vote as to whether or not we have loved God. After all, and the Christian Church is a major offender in this, we are presently destroying creation at an unprecedented rate. We don’t need the help of any angels - we are doing it! But if the angels are commanded not to harm creation, what is it that leads us to the conclusion that we can?

The reality is that if the one who is owned by God is the one who responds to God’s mandate, than there is a very clear message that if God’s seal is on our foreheads, we will care for the thing that God loves – the earth. And as Christians, we need to be leading the charge in creation care. We need to hear the command of God to the angels and understand that it might be meant for us as well - Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God. Do not harm creation until the sign of ownership have been placed on the outside of the followers of God. Because I have called my people to care for my creation.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 8

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” – Revelation 6:5-6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 20, 2015): Revelation 6

At this year’s version of the Academy Awards, Patricia Arquette used her moment in the spotlight to demand gender equality within the wage wars. There is nothing new with the idea of equal pay for equal work regardless of gender. And as much as many of the viewers, both inside and outside of the Academy, seem to have been offended by Arquette’s words, there is also nothing wrong with Arquette’s demand. There should be wage equality across the gender gap.

But Arquette’s words may reveal an even greater problem. In our culture, inequality reigns. Arquette admits that it was not much of a discussion for her to gain equal pay with her male counterparts on her new television show “CSI: Cyber,” but she also argues that her situation seems to be the exception rather than the rule. And she is right, but it is not just a gender problem. There is inequality across the breadth of our society. And the gap between the rich and poor is steadily widening. The middle classes, maybe only fifty years ago a stable in our society, have become an endangered species. In our culture there are increasingly only two classes – the rich and the poor. And not to miss Arquette’s point, there are more women in the latter class (the poor) then there are in the former (the rich).

But the problem is greater than a speech at an awards show can reveal. Over the past few months my morbid mind seems to have been drawn toward several article outlining how our little blue planet may find its end, with suggestions as far reaching as climate change (by far the most likely scenario for the demise of our planet according to several authors, the collision of earth with a meteor or asteroid (a Near Earth Object), or even alien invasion (the least likely source of our end.) But what almost every author misses is this - we know how the world is likely to end. There is a danger that is even greater than climate change which at this point seems almost inevitable – our planet will end with a death struggle between those that have and those who don’t. Inequality is a problem that demands all of our attention because within it we will find the seeds of our own destruction. People will die today for no other reason than that they do not have enough to eat, while I will discard food because I don’t like the taste of it. And now this inequality, which maybe once was a story that was told of exotic places across an ocean, has reached our shores. We don’t have to go to some exotic place to find starving children. They are living in our own backyards.

The Third Horseman of the Apocalypse would seem to illustrate this kind of inequality. Bread would be measured out precisely, and a day’s wage would only buy enough to feed a single person and keep him or her alive. Right now, the luxuries of life are beyond the grasp of many, but in this day the essentials of life would be only available to the rich. In the day of the Third Horseman, the middle classes would be totally destroyed, all that would be left would be the rich who could afford to live, and the rest of us begging for the scraps that are falling off tables of those that have. And because of this, and with the overwhelming majority that would have no other choice than to beg for the essentials of life, the table would be set for revolution.

And yet John seems to indicate that even here there are limits. Some have suggested that the protection of the oil and the wine would be another indication of the divide between the rich and the poor. But oil and wine in this day were not luxuries, they were staples. It is much better to interpret this as an indication that recovery would come – that the famine would only last for a while. But in that a while, there is no doubt that our world would be changed.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 7

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” – Revelation 5:5

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 19, 2015): Revelation 5

John Wesley once wrote that “The Revelation [of John] was not written without tears; neither without tears will it be understood.” (John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament.) The pages of the Revelation are marked often with agony and trials, they tell the story of a church who is experiencing persecution but is on the verge of victory. And maybe that is why in recent days we have struggled with the meaning of the words. What we want is a roadmap to the end, but what it gives us is a story of tears with just a glimpse of the coming solution.

John cries as he hears the plea for someone to come and to open the scrolls, but no one is found who is worthy of the task. You can almost feel John, remembering the vision of Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 6, wanting to respond like Isaiah with the words “send me.” But the reality that John knows is that he is also not qualified for the task. In fact, in this environment he might be the least qualified. And so he cries tears of pain – what else could he do.

But the word comes to John that the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. This might have been something that John had questioned. Jesus was crucified and, yes, he rose from the dead, but that was so long ago. And now John was marooned on the island of Patmos, a political prisoner of Rome, and he had to wonder just little who had really won the fight. At the time of this writing, Jerusalem and the temple had been gone for over twenty-five years, and the Jewish mountain fortress of Masada had been gone for over twenty years. It just didn’t feel like a win.

This is the only place in the Bible where Jesus is referred to as the Lion of Judah. The reference goes back to a prophecy that Jacob (Israel) spoke over his son Judah -

You are a lion’s cub, Judah;
    you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
    like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his (Genesis 49:9-10).

The word that the Lion of Judah and the Root of David (from Isaiah 11) had triumphed was welcome news to John. And the use of the phrase “The Lion of Judah” meant that the one to whom the scepter belonged had indeed come. And he was making himself ready to wipe away every tear.

The truth is that Wesley’s words apply to life as well as the Revelation. Life is not lived without tears, and neither will life be understood without them. But the good news is that we have a glimpse of the one who is being sent to wipe the tears away – the Lion of Judah is coming, he is just on the horizon.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 6

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” – Revelation 4:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 18, 2015): Revelation 4

We are shaped by our history and what we know. As I read the book “Heaven is for Real” a while back, one of the things that struck me was that everyone was walking around in robes, and being a bit of a rebel, the questioned that burned on my mind was – why? It was a question that I asked again a month and a half ago as I stood in line trying to rent a car behind too Christian Church leaders also in robes – one black and one white. Why? I get that Jesus dressed in a robe of sorts while he was on the earth (despite one pastor insisting in a sermon that Jesus wore pants – but I digress) but that was the fashion trend in Jesus day. A common person would not wear a robe today, but that could not be said in Jesus day. I wore bell bottom jeans which completely enveloped my platform shoes back in Junior high, but I don’t own a pair of either the jeans or the shoes today because I would look silly in them.

The truth is that whether or not the events in the book “Heaven is for Real” are true, the symbolism used is at least partially what the child, or the father, would expect these things to be used. It grounds the story in the realm of our experience, after all, because Jesus wore a robe on earth, we all wear robes in heaven. It makes sense. But here we need to be careful, because it may not be true. God seems to enjoy working through our expectations and there are several stories that God uses to get a point across that cause us to shake our heads today, but we also know that the experience of heaven is too grand to be summed up in the pages of a little book – or a big book for that matter.

And this is true of the prophecy contained in the Book of Revelation. The imagery that John uses, or maybe more precisely that God uses with John, is clearly something that John understands because he has read it before. This verse itself is heavily influenced by two extremely important texts from the Hebrew Bible. The first is Isaiah 6:1-2;

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
                        the whole earth is full of his glory.”

The imagery for John comes almost straight out of Isaiah’s vision of meeting God. And while John does not expand on the purpose of the wings, he expects that his readers would make the connection with Isaiah – the beings had six wing with two covering the face, an indication of reverence, two covering the feet, an indication of humility, and with the other two they are flying. The imagery of heaven in John’s vision conforms with the image of heaven that John already understood from the Hebrew Scripture.

The second important text of influence here is Exodus 3:14 - God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” The words of God given to Moses carry a bit of a double meaning. First ‘I am who I am’ or ‘I am that I am,’ a simple statement arguing existence above everything else. God seems to be telling Moses to tell Israel “I exist and I am real. What more could you want?” But the words also contain the meaning of “I will be what I will be.” Understand, the future is held in my hands and I am inviting you to walk with me into it. For John, this idea is summed up with the words “who was, and is, and is to come.” John’s intention is that we will understand that God is real, and that the future, whatever that might entail, is held solidly in his hands. He is inviting us to join with him in that undiscovered country.

So, do angels in heaven have six wings? Maybe, but don’t be too concerned if you get there and they have no wings at all. The physical appearance really isn’t as important as the meaning behind the words – and a way for us to understand this realm of God which is beyond our understanding. Or as Paul put it - For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 5

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. – Revelation 3:20

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 17, 2015): Revelation 3



William Holman Hunt's
"The Light of the World"
Painted 1851-1853 

William Holman Hunt’s painting career did not start out well. Critics called his artistic efforts clumsy, his chosen scenes were decidedly ugly, and no one saw any value in his work. But all that changed when Hunt painted “The Light of the World,” the first of his religious paintings. The painting was Hunt’s allegorical interpretation of Revelation 3:20 – “behold I stand at the door and knock.” Hunt’s painting shows Jesus, complete with crown on his head, standing at a door with his right hand raised to knock. Jesus is carrying a lamp in his left hand whose light illuminates the door, but leaves much of the background in darkness. The door itself is overgrown with weeds. There is no evidence that anyone has used the door recently. Hunt said the door represents “the obstinately shut mind.” This mind has ignored the knocking at the door for a long period of time, probably convinced that the knocking is just part of an overactive imagination. Even though the door has been ignored, Jesus has just kept on knocking. The other significant feature of the painting is that there is no door handle on the side of the door where Jesus is standing. Jesus can’t open it. It can only be opened from the other side.

It has long been noted that Jesus is not some detective waiting to break down the door of the one who he is pursuing. He is the one who knocks. And if we open the door and invite him in, he will come in, no matter what it is that we are hiding on our side of the door. And while the rest of the world may have limited patience, the patience of Jesus seems to have no limits – he just keeps on knocking.

John places this comment at the end of his prophecy regarding the church located at Laodicea, but it might be better to view the comment as an epilogue that really applies to all of the letters John writes to the seven churches in Asia. The message seems to be that no matter what Jesus has said to the churches, from the best to the worst, from those experiencing prosperity to those experiencing persecution, Jesus still stands at the door and knocks. He still waits for whoever is on the other side to open the door and let him in. And if we will do that – any of us – he will come in and he will eat with us.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 4

I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. – Revelation 2:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 16, 2015): Revelation 2

Pergamum was a city with a troubled history. Originally Pergamum was a Greek city that existed on the West Coast of what we know of as Turkey. But following the death of Lysimachus, the successor of the Macedonian ruler and conqueror Alexander the Great, Pergamum seems to get lost in the shuffle. At this point it becomes a rump state (a smaller portion of a once bigger empire) under the control of the Attalid’s until 133 B.C.E. In that year, Attalus III died without an heir. To be honest, Attalus III had never really wanted to govern Pergamum in the first place. His interests were in other pursuits than the mundane details of running an empire. And so in his will, he gives Pergamum to the Romans.

Unfortunately, there were those inside of Pergamum that were not amused and who had no intention of allowing the Romans to take control of the city. For the next four years, war reigned in Pergamum until the revolt was finally put down in 129 B.C.E. It is likely that Pergamum had always been an eclectic religious city with temples and altars dedicated to a diverse of group of gods. But it was in the decades after the end of the revolt against Rome that Pergamum became something else – it became the center for the Roman Emperor Worship cult. By the time Revelation was written, Temples to Augustus and Tiberius had already been built, as well as a temple dedicated to the worship of the Attalid Emperors. The problem seemed to be that this was more about pacification of Pergamum then it was about a pursuing after the things of God. And this was most likely the Altar to Satan of which John was speaking. Christianity, even though we believe in one God, has never been offended by the genuine pursuit of any gods. But the emperor cult was not a genuine pursuit, it was about control, and that was a problem partially because it would prohibit the pursuit of Jesus, because Jesus’ followers were not easily pacified by political directives.

So enters Antipas. We know absolutely nothing of this man. We suspect that he was a Bishop of the Christian Church in Pergamum. And according to this passage he was put to death for his pursuit of Jesus. John uses the word martyr or witness. In ancient times that was all a martyr was, someone who saw and could testify to what they had witnessed. But here we see the beginning of a change in the meaning of the word – it begins to mean not just a faithful witness, but rather someone who dies for being a faithful witness. Antipas refused to settle for the pagan emperor cult. How could he when he had witnessed the difference that Jesus could make.

And so Antipas becomes a Christian martyr rather than give in to the false pursuit of dead emperors; he dies in this mixed up city where Satan dwelled.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 3

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. – Revelation 1:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 15, 2015): Revelation 1

The end is near. Well, maybe. Prophecies are tricky things, and always easier to read after the fact. The problem with a true prophecy is that the one doing the prophesying seldom really understands what it is that they are saying. Often the one who sees think that they understand, but in reality it is only an elusive shadow that can never really be grasped. And this is the reason why a prophecy can never be used as a roadmap into the future. No matter how many Bible studies on biblical prophecy we might want to attend, we still will not have any real idea what happens next. But after it happens, then we will see it clearly, at least we will if we are really looking for it.

So Revelation begins identifying that itself as a prophecy, with all that a prophecy entails. It is full of shadows of things to come. Some maybe long in the future. Maybe something about end times. But it also has a lot to do with the world in which John lived.

John begins by indicating that there is a beatitude or a blessing for all those who will read the prophecy aloud. The comment is directed at congregations. The blessing is due to the fact that, at least partially, Revelation is about the worship of the church. Or maybe more precisely it is about the object of our worship. This is the story of what happens when we come into contact with the living God.

But it is also about the events that are going to happen, and according to John, events that are coming soon. There is absolutely no doubt that John was looking at the events of the Roman Empire that were taking place all around him. Some of the imagery that he uses in the prophecy were taken right from that world. He was expecting that the church would be persecuted by the Romans in the near future, and John wasn’t wrong. The church needed to be prepared for the persecution that was coming next if they were going to survive.

For this reason, we think that some of this prophecy has already taken place, and some is yet to come. The argument of scholars is over which is which, and that is a question we might not be really able to answer until the end is no longer near, it is reserved for a time when the end is - over.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 2

It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. – 3 John 1:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 14, 2015): 2 John 1 & 3 John 1

The late Oral Roberts has become a poster boy for image of Christian excess and questionable fundraising. I remember in the 1980’s hearing Robert’s plea for money (at the time it was a request for millions in donation funds) or else God had said that Oral would be called home. It almost seemed like God was playing the role of the great punisher and if we did not get in line with Robert’s vision, although it is entirely unclear who was being punished – Oral by the end of his ministry or us because we would no longer have Oral Roberts, God would bring down his judicial hammer. The fund raising campaign sparked a number of interested watchers fear that Roberts was suicidal and would take his own life if fund raising goals were not achieved. There was even an unsubstantiated rumor at the time that Roberts received the final sum toward his fundraising goal from a non-believer who requested that Roberts undergo psychological counselling before continuing with his ministry work. But whether or not that actually happened, the view of the world toward Oral Roberts was of a man obsessed by money and power – and because this was a prominent Christian organization, the rest of the followers of Jesus were painted with the same brush. Christianity was, and still is, often seen by the world as a money grab, a ruse practiced by unscrupulous snake charmers out to take advantage of their unsuspecting followers.

The unfortunate thing is that there have been enough public failures, especially in the financial arena and by various parts of the Christian Community, that even Christians begin to wonder about the fund raising practices undertaken by the Church. The truth is that the vast majority of Christian religious ministries (mine included) operate on a small and tightly maintained budget. We work hard to make sure that every dollar spent is making a difference and that the gospel of Jesus is proclaimed. And there is no need for staffers to airbrush out our gold bracelets and diamond rings (a practice that Oral Roberts staffers had to continually perform on the publicity photos of their leader), we possess nothing (I wear a gold wedding ring and that is all the jewelry I own) that needs to be airbrush out.

For the ministry that I am connected with, most of (if not all) of our fund raising is done in house. In other words, the money that we use are raised from other members of the ministry. Together we share what we have in order that the gospel of Jesus might be proclaimed to the neighborhood and the world – and we take pains to make sure that when we are out doing something in the neighborhood, that there is no cry for money.

This seems to be the intent that John has in his mind as he write these words to his good friend Gaius. John wants to make sure the proclamation of the gospel is not mixed with fundraising demands. The problem was that it is too easy to tarnish the image of Christ with our own love of money. And John seemed to know that if Christianity was simply seen as a method to raise money, the Christian Church would die an early and gruesome death. Our priority as Christians is always Christ, and nothing else can be allowed to enter into that realm. The proclamation of Christ is for everyone, believers and non-believers alike. But John is clear that fundraising is never to be done with those who do not believe (those that this passage calls the pagans). Fundraising is always done among those who believe, and are willing to sacrifice in order for the Gospel Message of Jesus to be proclaimed.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Revelation 1

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. – 1 John 5:14

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 13, 2015): 1 John 5

A heartwarming story emerged out of trade deadline day 2015 in the National Hockey League (who knew that the trade deadline could be heartwarming.) Apparently Jordan Leopold’s daughter Jordyn, age 11, wrote a letter to the management of the Minnesota Wild. The letter was to request that the Wild trade for her dad. According to the letter, Jordyn and her mom and siblings are presently living in Minnesota, and the letter informs the Wild management that they are lonely without Dad, and the hope of this 11 year old child is that somehow the Minnesota Wild would be able to make a trade to bring Dad home to Minnesota and reunite the family. The letter says “We are living in Minnesota now and I am lost without my dad and so is my mom, my 2 sisters and my brother.” What is maybe amazing about the story is that with all the fan mail a professional hockey team receives, that the letter of this little girl actually reached management. And so on trade deadline day 2015, Jordan Leopold was traded from Columbus to Minnesota. Both teams had apparently read the letter as Columbus Blue Jacket General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen tweeted after the trade that “it isn’t always about business.” Columbus and Minnesota joined to become Santa Claus to a little girl at the beginning of March, and as a result Dad was on his way home. There is still something amazing about these two teams, both multi-million dollar businesses, even hearing about the letter, let alone complying to the wishes of this little girl. It is unexpected. (And part of me wonders if Jordan and his wife Jamie even knew what their daughter was doing, and whether they would have discouraged her from writing the letter if they had known what was in her heart believing that she was only setting herself up for failure.)

As John begins the closing remarks to his letter, he wants to remind his readers that God hears them when they pray. Our prayers do not get lost in some kind of supernatural paper shuffle, they arrive at their intended destination to be deal with by the creator of the world. And because God is willing to listen, we can have confidence in approaching him. It is not that God will be able to give us everything that we ask, but often it is enough just for us to know that we have been heard. Sometimes, because we don’t understand the situation, we ask for wrong things. But God gets that – and he hears us anyway.

And maybe this is what Jesus meant when he told us that we needed to become like little children if we were ever going to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. A child does not understand the situations of the adult, and I am sure the Jordyn does not understand what it takes to be a General Manager in the NHL, but in innocence she asked anyways, and she was heard and the NHL was able to respond. In the same way, when we come in innocence before the throne of God, John says that we are heard and that God will also respond – and sometimes like with the Minnesota and Columbus hockey teams, God responds in a very unexpected way.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 John and 3 John