I’ve been thinking a lot about Revleation lately.  Not least because we’re going through Revelation at our church.  Over the years I’ve seen two extremes in the study of Revelation.  On the one hand we have those who try to find the meaning of Revelation in every news cycle and on the other we have those who are so confused by the book they refuse to read it at all.  I don’t think either one was what John, or God for that matter, had in mind when he wanted us to read the book.

Several years ago I had the idea of reading the entire book of Revelation in the a church service, coupled with brief commentary and worship.

Here’s what Richard Baukham says

This is not to be explained simply by supposing that John had a remarkably powerful visual imagination.  The power, the profusion and the consistency of the symbols have a literay-theological purpose.  They create a symbolic world which readers can enter so fully that it affects them and changes their perception of the world.  Most ‘readers’ were originally, of course, hearers.  Revelation was designed for oral enactment in Christian worship services (cf. 1:3).  Its effect would therefore be somewhat comparable to a dramatic performance, in which the audience enter the world of the drama for its duration and can have their perception of the world outside the drama powerfully shifted by their experience of the world of the drama.  Many of the apocalypses could have something of this effect.  but Revelation perculiarly visual charachter and perculiar symbolic unity give it a particular potiential for communicating in this way.  It is an aspect of the book to which we shall return.  (Page 10 Theology of Revleation

I’ve been thinking a lot about Revleation lately.  Not least because we’re going through Revelation at our church on Wednesday nights.  Over the years I’ve seen two extremes in the study of revelation.  On the one hand we have those who try to find the meaning of revelation in every news cycyle or event and on the other we have those who are so confused by the book they don’t want to read it at all.  I don’t think either one was what John or God for that matter had in mind when he wanted us to read the book.

Several years ago I had the idea of reading the entire book of Revelation in the a church service, coupled with brief commentary and worship.

In Revelation 1:3, John says, “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.”  There’s a blessing placed upon those who reads aloud and those who hear revelation.  I’ve thought about that alot.  I think the way we study Revelation takes away some of the impact of the book.  Revelation appears to have been intended for reading during a worship gathering of the church.

Revleation works around a cycles.

Christ and the Church (Revelation 1-3)

The Scroll Unsealed (Revelation 4-7)

Trumpets of Terror and Hope (Revelation 8-11)

The Beast and the Lamb (Revelation 12-15)

The Harlot and the Bride (Revleation 15-19)

The End (Revelation 20-22)

Each of these cycles begins and ends in worship.  The very context of the book is something that took place while John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.  It had to have been a church service.

Be more consistent.  That’s one of the number one ways to increase a blogs readership.  Ohh and by the way don’t forget to write killer awe inspiring posts.  Right.  And thus I find myself in a certain dilemma.  I want to write more.  I want to be more consistent but at the same time I worry that my next post won’t be as good as the last.  I keep my editor on all the time.

Writing more also helps with writing.  I want to write fast.  I have a lot of things to say.  But when I write fast I feel I don’t say them particularly well.

I’m trying to lighten up when it comes to my writing.  I’m finding that I take too much time in writing a post.  I do this for two reasons.  I’ve read that consistency in writing is very important for learning to become a better writer.  It also helps bust traffic. Because people can expect to have a new post on here every single day.  But I’ve been reluctant to push out more posts.  I don’t want quality to suffer.

I’ve set the bar pretty high for myself.

First, I want to make every post useful.  That is to say I want every post to somehow enlighten you.  Surprise, incite, inform and inspire.

Second, I want to control what you think of me.

But ultimately I’m not that great at writing.

I sometimes lose my way and get down.  I feel it particularly in the winter time and especially here in the Northwest where the sun refuses to shine almost 9 months out of the year.  Why do I get down?  What things make me feel up?  This is what I came up with and I think it will help you too.

1. Work. Completing a Valuable Project.  I love to see things accomplished.  And often times the things we focus on are neither completable nor valuable.  The never ending drudgery of doing the same thing day in and day out with little reward for what we do.  That’s why psychologist, police officers and other professionals have a high suicide rate while carpenters, plumbers and the like do not.  The carpenter can look at his complete work and feel pride in what he’s accomplished.  The psychologist or police officer never quite feels like there job is done.  I bought a video game this weekend.  And I do enjoy playing a good game.  But when I beat the game, I feel no satisfaction because ultimately it didn’t produce anything of lasting value.  I had fun. But if I spent to much time on me, I begin to feel the waste.

2. Giving.  Helping someone with struggles.  I get a real boost when I feel like I’ve been of value or help to someone else.  This may come from a smile or complement or it could come through helping them materially, with a gift of some sort.  Helping people makes me feel like I’ve been of use and I feel like I matter when I’ve mattered to people.

3. Belonging. I feel most content when I’m relaxing at home with my family or spending time with a good friend.  I feel content in the darkness of winter when I take the time to read and play with my kids before a warm fire.  I feel like I’m connected.  I fell like a belong.  And its this feeling that gives me a sense of peace and satisfaction that everything is as it should be.

4. Worship. Feeling the presence of the Lord.  In Worship I get connected with the God of the Universe.  Though I know he’s always there, when I worship I awaken myself to his presence and power.  In worship I express my love for God and remember all that he’s done for me and in the process I feel his love extended to me.  My faith begins to grow.

5. Gratitude.  Remembering to be thankful.  Gratitude is deeply connect with worship and I think springs from an attitude of worship.  Gratitude comes from recognizing that what we have we did not deserve.  When I remember that other people are praying for the things I have, I remember to take delight in the things I have.  And be a peace with the world.

6. Faith.  A sense of Hope.  When I feel happy when I have hope.  And by hope I don’t mean a pie in the sky dream but a real confidence in a bright future.  Not I wish the check was in the mail but I know the check in the mail.  That kind of feeling changes everything.  I think real faith is a result of these other five things.  It comes from work, giving, belonging, worship and gratitude.  When you practice these things it helps you to set your sights on a future that is more grand than anything I deserve.

But I’ve found the reverse to also be true.  It’s precisely these things which can torpedo my happiness and joy.  I get depressed when I

1. Have uncompleted or broken dreams.  Or work without a real sense of payoff.

2. Care for someone but don’t know how to help them.  To see people suffer and I simply don’t know what to do.

3. am disconnected from family and friends.  This could be the result of my own attitude and actions or it could be the result of theres.  I don’t like feeling the brokeness in relationships

4. have sin in my life that keeps me separated from God.  When I can’t feel his pleasure in worship.

5. see all the things I don’t have rather than the the things I do have.  When the green eyed of envoy overwhelms me.  When I feel that what I have is not enough.

6. When doubts overwhelm me and rob me of my sense of peace.

It’s important that I stay encouraged. As a leader it is my #1 goal.  I can’t be an encouragement without myself being encouraged.  I can give what I don’t have.  This is what I need to do.