Postmodern Renaissance Culture Revolutionary

Notes: Chapter 1:1-8 I. Title a. Apokaluyis (apokalupsis) i. This is the subject of the book 1. It is about John’s experience with God 2. God’s word is dynamic ii. It is the nature of the book 1. It is what the book does 2. It reveals what God intends 3. God’s word is truth iii. This is the only place within the book where this word is used of the material 1. In all other locations it is called prophecy b. Revelation of Jesus Christ i. There are two possible understandings of this phrase 1. It is a revelation about Jesus – focused on revealing/unveiling the lordship of Christ 2. It is a revelation by means of Jesus – focused on revealing coming through Jesus’ mediation c. Chain/process/order of revelation i. God gave the revelation to Jesus 1. That it might be shown to His bond-servant/slave/doulos (doolos) ...

Notes: II. Beattitude a.There are 7 beattitudes (blessed are) in the Revelation (1:3; 14:3; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14) b.They are similar to and may be borrowed from Luke 11:28 c.John 12:47a is a negative parallel to this beatitude d.Blessed is/blessed are i.The one who reads 1.Ancient texts were almost always read aloud in the congregation 2.Possibly someone with a skill/art for reading 3.Words chosen to effectively communicate meaning aurally 4.A feature of Revelation is that it is written explicitly for oral performance 5.There is an epistle (letter) feature of the Revelation ii.The one who hears 1.It is thought provoking 2.Prophecy – similar to the Old Testament idea – the word proclaimed for the hearer iii.The one who heeds – the one who does 1.The Revelation has ethical implications within 2.Old Testament prophecies carried ethical implicatio...

Fun stuff from xkcd .

This session covers the introduction to the material of the Book of Revelation. This covers apocalyptic literature in general as well as examining the author, date of writing, and the 4 major methods of interpretation. You can download it here, but it is a large (50 mb) file. Introductory Material to Revelation

Here is my first attempt at podcasting the Revelation Bible Study. You can listen to it here or download it here: Bible Study Introduction

I am beginning to teach a Bible study here in Turpin. After a survey of the congregation, I decided to go ahead and teach Revelation. This will the fourth time through for me. As an offering to the congregation, I will be posting my notes on a weekly basis (or as we get to them in class). This is quite an undertaking. My class on Revelation is almost a year long (at 1 1/2 hours once a week). It is also as close to a college level class as you can find. Before I begin each class, I share some of my methodology and rules for the class. I will post those here to begin. This would be comparable to a syllabus. Most of the material will be in outline form. If you feel the need to take this material, please contact me and let me know you will be using it. Class Rules for Revelation Bible Study Methodology This is the 4 th time I have taught this level of class on Revelation. I have devoted, and will continue to devote, 6-12 hours of study on each lesson. Each previous class I have ...

As I was perusing the headlines from NewsOk.com, I found this article: College presidents seek to lower drinking age to 18 By Justin Pope Associated Press Writer College presidents from about 100 of the nation's best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State , are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus. The movement called the Amethyst Initiative began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the drinking age. "This is a law that is routinely evaded," said John McCardell , former president of Middlebury College in Vermont who started the organization. "It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory." Other prominent schools in the group include Syracuse, Tufts , Colgate , Kenyon and Morehouse . That next to the last paragraph made me cho...

Last night was the first class of EMT-Basic. I'm going through the training to be an EMT once again. I let my certification go during my last appointment. My time was required in other pursuits. But because I did not file for a special status, I have to go through the entire course again. Why would I put myself through it again? I have professional and personal reasons. 1.) It is, in my mind, a more practical experience in clinical pastoral education. In many cases EMT's are called in when trauma is involved. I would not dream of providing anything less than professional care as a medical professional. But there are opportunities for ministry even in the midst of caring for physical, medical needs. There are also emotional and spiritual opportunities in these cases. 2.) It is a great way to get connected to the community. Here in Turpin, there is not an ambulance service. But there is a volunteer fire department. I am already a member of that. But since I have the ability to do...

The headline of the last issue of The United Methodist Reporter was "Does Satan Really Exist?" I began to read the article to see where this was going to fall. I know that there are plenty of modern, scientifically minded people who cannot integrate a spiritual being who embodies evil into their worldview. Satan has become a literary figure, a metaphor, a symbol, or a fantasy figure to individuals who believe that evil arises out of human motivation. Satan, as an actual being at the heart of evil, has been reserved for those who are not as sophisticated or who have not had the appropriate education into human motivation. I think Satan left the building because of Enlightenment, modernist rational thinking patterns and that evil is a manifestation of social problems or mental/emotional dissociative disorders. Basically when science began to rule the roost, Satan no longer had a nest to hatch in. I'm not one to lay too much power or authority into Satan's account. Sata...

Our household is filled with Disney fandom. So when a new movie comes out, especially an animated film, we are pretty quick to go see it. Wall-E came out this last week. And if you haven't been touched by the Disney propaganda machine, then I will provide a brief plot summary. Wall-E is apparently the last working robot left on Earth to clean up the mess that consumerist Earthlings (Stuff-ans) have made while the Stuff-ans have launched themselves into space aboard a trans-galactic luxury liner. Wall-E scrounges around the urban landscape compacting the leftovers of human civilzation. He encounters the humans when he hitchhikes aboard a probe ship and causes havok among the "civilized" robots and humans. There were a lot of themes followed in this movie. Environmentalism and consumerism were the most obvious with their most catastrophic ends being protrayed. But for me, the real movement of the movie came through in the idea of becoming more than what your "directi...

We have moved into our new appointment. Thus the delay in posting. Plus a week at camp. But mostly an overwhelming sense of being displaced. I'm not sure where it is coming from. It's really a feeling of disassociation with what is going on around me. I normally feel fairly secure in any environment or setting. But I have really been struggling with a mental "wall" around me. It's not really anything to do with the new churches. We have been warmly welcomed and received by everyone that we have met. The men of the church were there to help us move in. The new house is having the finishing touches put on. The worship services are not too stressful. This is really a sense of feeling like, "I'm not really here." It could be a very mild form of depression or grieving our last appointment. But I am very excited about what can happen in this appointment. So I have been pushing myself out of my routine and beyond my personality limits to meet and connect wi...

If you saw the new movie list, you know that the second installment of The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, came out this last weekend. Seeing as our boys loved The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, we made an opening weekend screening part of our plans. I didn't mess with reading any pre-reviews. I also didn't bother to read the book. The first was probably not a big issue. The second one was a mistake. I should have refreshed my memory of the original story. The foreboding doom of that last statement should not in any way reflect on the movie itself. It was a great movie. The quality of the acting was a little better. The scenery was, of course, beautiful. The story moved along at a good enough pace. And the action. Oh the bloodless violent action. For all the hacking and slashing that happened in the movie, it was truly amazing that bloodshed was kept at a minimum. Unrealistically so. But its a kids movie. Thankfully the blood was at a minimum. You have to realize ...