Category: From the Pastor’s Desk

What will it take to make everything right on the earth?  What will absolute justice look like, where people get what they deserve and evil is erased?  Will that ever happen?  The book of Revelation has the answers, but before looking at the details, we have to discuss the rational behind it all. In the study on Revelation 4, we saw how the holy God of the universe is deserving of all glory.  We saw that He alone possesses the right and authority to judge the earth and to do so justly.  In Revelation 5 we saw that Jesus, the …

We ask this question often.  Right now there are people thinking “Who is worthy to go out with?” or “Who is worthy to marry?” Businesses are asking “Who is worthy to hire?” or “Who is worthy of this contract?”.  Each November election the nation is answering the question “who is worthy to lead us?”.  In just a little over two years we will once again be seeking to answer the question, “Who is worthy to be our President?”  Anyone? Regrettably, we often are faced with compromises, picking the lesser of two evils. As important as the President question may be, …

In this information saturated world that we live in, facts and statistics are everywhere and can be accessed in milliseconds.  The problem is not knowing information, it is knowing the significance of it.  This is not a new problem! We have been challenged since the beginning to appreciating the significance of the information we have.  Our sense are constantly bombarding our mind with information and our brain has to sift through all that input and triage it according to importance.  The “sifting” process, however, is not always reliable as it is something we train. It is  largely built on prior …

30 A.D. was a tough time to be a Jew in Jerusalem.  Oppression by Rome, corrupt rulers, oppressive taxes.  There was a deep longing for a deliverer, someone who would fix things and who would be a worthy ruler to follow; but what does that mean?  Do all agree one what it means to “fix things”? Does everyone agree on what a worthy ruler is?  We certainly don’t today! Things were no different in 30 A.D.  Everyone had a different idea of how things should be and who a worthy leader was.  This message looks at the Triumphal entry of …

I remember about 10 years ago I was helping to load a full length flatbed trailer with haybales.  I was on the ground with two of my boys while the farmer was on the truck.  I hadn’t worked that hard physically in quite a while and by the time we were on the top layer, my arms felt like jelly and I found myself with my head sagging.  I no longer looked up, I just kept picking up the next bale and tossing it on the elevator.  The only thing that kept me going was a little pride, a sense …

Not every message is encouraging or inspirational.  Sometimes bad news needs to be delivered, hard things need to be said.  So it is with the letter to the Church in Thyatira.  They may have thought because of all their good works and their busyness for God that everything was good, but it was not.  In the midst of this loving, hard working church, was  horrible immorality.  Some were believing the lie that is was okay, others may have just tolerated it to be polite, but God was outraged.  His letter expresses this and gives one more chance for them to …

In the effort to be kind, accepting, and loving, we can sometimes be harmful and destructive to ourselves and to others. Not telling someone their beliefs and actions are harmful is not only dishonest to them, it sends an dangerous message to all involved.  It approves a destructive behavior that will likely grow and be adopted by others. Christ addresses the seriousness of this reality in Revelation 2:12-17.  He sends a message to the church at Pergamos addressing this very issue. He reminds the church of His watch over them, the good that they have done, but also points out …