End of Revelation – Summer Ideas

Alright gents,

Revelation came to a close last week, we had a great time closing out the book with discussions on the all the “news” new heaven, new earth, new Jerusalem. It was pretty sweet – seeing all the effects of sin, brokenness, and pain being washed away and the glorious light of God shine for ever and ever. The closing segments were full of some beautiful and pretty wild descriptions of just how perfect everything will be upon the consummation of history.

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So now we have the task of deciding what we shall do for the summer. I proposed we take a break from studying a book of the Bible proper and study more of a book about the Bible so to speak. Vinay had the great idea of looking at a book about the Christian world-view (did I say it was a great idea? It was a great idea). This will allow us to have a bit more of a laid back summer program, there will still be reading, but maybe we’ll meet every other week or something to allow us more time to read at our leisure.

Here are some book ideas we’ve come up with, shoot me an email and cast your vote for one or the other. We also need to revisit when we meet – should we keep it on Wed at 7? or do a Tuesday or Thursday meeting? Every week or every other week? Send me your thoughts on this regard as well.

Books (Check links for more in-depth details)

Total Truth – Nancy Pearcey and Phillip Johnson

The book that started this idea, a bit longer, 512 pages, but is an easy read that shouldn’t be hard to get through quickly.

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Creation Regained – Albert Wolters

Recommended by Mike Hsu, shorter, 143 pages, but he says a bit more to chew through – 8 chapters could be easy to split up over the summer.

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The Integrated Life – Douglas Wilson

While not technically a book…(audio) I really enjoyed listening through this a year or so ago. Give it a listen regardless if we use it or not for our discussions.

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Tearing Down Strongholds – RC Sproul

Just found this poking around on the internet – while not necessarily a straight worldview book, it does discuss the Christian worldview in conflict with others and how to navigate discussions surrounding them.

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To Everyone an Answer: A Case for the Christian Worldview – Greg Koukl et al.

Another just perusing Amazon – more of a collection of essays than concise book, but has some intriguing sections.

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Let the voting, commenting, and general mayhem of decision making begin!

Revelation Week #11

We’ve reached the end of Revelation, this week we’ll be reading and discussion chapters 21 and 22.

Last week we read chapters 19 and 20 out loud before discussing them, just how Revelation was meant to be read. We went over the marriage supper of the lamb and the rider on the white horse. We noticed the similarities between this final battle and the other accounts of the final battle previously described in Revelation. Where some other battles talk about the heavenly host as all fighting against the powers of darkness, this one has the rider as the only one doing the fighting, by a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. We went into a discussion about the power of words (to create, shape opinions, etc.) and how here the words (gospel) are what is slaying all the powers of darkness.

We also discussed a lot of the different perspectives on the thousand years (the millennium) which Vern discusses in his commentary.

This week we’ll be closing up the book by discussing the new heavens, new earth, new Jerusalem, the river of life, and some closing exhortations. Here are a couple questions to ponder:

Why all the details in describing the new heavens, earth, and Jerusalem? Do these specific descriptions have any deeper spiritual meanings?

The big theme which we’ve been discussing over and over is that God is in control of history and the future, with Christ as the ultimate triumphing lamb – the closing is full (I counted 4 references) of saying that Christ is coming again “soon.” How do we take this saying given that these words were written close to two centuries later?

Looking forward to being with you all again this Wednesday

Bryan