Hope in the hallelujah chorus of heaven (Revelation 19:1-2)

Revelation 19:1-2

God wrote a song which his people will sing at the consummation of the age, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgements are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants (Revelation 19:1-2).” (It might help to know that the great prostitute here symbolizes all that opposes God’s good and gracious reign on earth.)   

We long for that day when all who hope in Christ see their hope crystalized. Are we not surrounded by death all day long? Mourning? Pain? Bitterness? Do not our own psychological and emotional well-being attest to our longing for a better world, the happy ending to which all happy-endings point? We long to say words like those that one of the characters in C.S. Lewis’s Narnia exclaims: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.”

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God is Not Silent (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

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Submitted by Andy McIlvain.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

Is your Bible closed? How often do you read from it? A LifeWay Research survey revealed that of 2,000 Americans who read the Bible, only about a third of them read it almost every day. The average reader owns 3.6 copies of the Bible, and1 in 5 churchgoers never read the Bible. Continue reading

Little Decisions = Force Multipliers (Ephesians 6:12)

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Submitted by Andy McIlvain.

Ephesians 6:12

 

One of my previous experiences in life was in the U.S Army as an illustrator for the 4th Psychological Operations Group, 8th Psyops Battalion located at Fort Bragg, N.C., part of the newly formed (at that time) 1st Special Operations Command. Our area of operation was the Middle East. This was in the mid 1980’s, which was a very different world than it is today.
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To the Glory of God Alone (2 Corinthians 3:12-18), Part 5 of Solas of the Reformation

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2 Corinthians 3:12-18

In the third volume of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of the main characters is a young boy named Eustace. Eustace displayed a thirst for power, but went about getting it in mischievous ways. He would irritate and bully his pears, while ingratiating adult authority figures. In Narnia, Eustace discovers a dead dragon’s treasure trove. Elated, he imagines the power the treasure will give him. He slips on the dead dragon’s gold bracelet and falls asleep. Terrified, he awakes to find out he has turned into a dragon. Continue reading