4 Horseman & 144,000

I hope today's lesson was meaningful for you. We were moving fast (again!), and I couldn't tell what you are were thinking. Your faces seemed to say that it was all new information. As always, I look forward to your questions or comments on the lesson.

Please help me out with next week's lesson. We can either go forward to the next section of Revelation or slow down for some Q&A. My sense is that Q&A would be good; we probably need to process through the material I've covered in the last 3-4 weeks. I need to hear from you, though, if that's the direction you want to go (by either commenting here on the blog or e-mailing me). If I don't that you want to spend some time on Q&A, then I'll move on to the 7 Trumpets section of Revelation (see link).

It's a joy being with all of you. Thanks for the many things you've said to encourage me about how you value my teaching. I appreciate that more than you'll know.

Teaching this Sunday

(Update on the question I had asked below: We'll be looking at Revelaton 6 & 7, and what better passage to use to think about missions!)

Phil Chambers caught me last night at session meeting and told me that he doesn't think that he'll have a missionary to speak in the EPIC class. So, unless you object, I'll teach on Eschatology this Sunday, rather than focusing on missions.

Reformed Herme...what?

This morning didn't really go as well as I had hoped. I think I had two lessons packed inside of one, but I didn't realize it until we were in the middle of it together. I hope you got something out of it. Tackling the reformed hermeneutic in 30 minutes is pretty tough! As always, I'm open to your questions here. I'd much rather answer your questions as you raise them than have you wait a week, especially if you're confused.

Can I give you a task for this week? We didn't get into Revelation 13 like I wanted to. Would you take a look at that chapter and see how you do with interpreting it? Here's what you need to know: the first beast, the one out of the sea, is a symbol for political and societal persecution. The second beast, the one out of the earth, is a symbol for religious and philosophical deception. Neither beast is any kind of wacky, weird, end-of-time monster yet to descend upon us. Instead, they're symbols of the persecution and deception that will be in play throughout the last days (i.e., the time between Jesus' first and second advents.) See how you do with taking that and using it to read Rev. 13 for hope for today.

Let me know your thoughts or your questions. I hope you all have a good week.

The Prophetic Perspective & Old Testament Hope

I hope today's lesson was meaningful to all of you from the EPIC crew. I didn't realize until we were in the middle of it how much technical information I needed to go over: the prophetic perspective, the now and the not yet, the 2 mountains analogy, and how to read Old Testament prophecy. Might be a good week for us to bounce some questions back and forth, especially if I didn't clear everything up for you.

If you missed, click the link or post title to go to the handout from the lesson. You can spend a little time looking at how some OT prophecy focuses on blessings we already have because of the first advent (now), blessings we will have at the second advent (the not yet), and passages that mix the two (under the And column).

I'd also be interested in your intial reactions to the thought of beginning a study of Revelation next week. Feel free to post and let me know if the thought of studying Revelation causes you to be afraid or worried. Maybe you think you're about to spend weeks in confusion. Any thoughts you share will help me get a sense of how to start of next week's lesson. Remember, you can post anonymously.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Missed being you guys this Sunday, but the trip with Ben went well. I enjoyed having this long block of time with my son and seeing the young man he's becoming.

This week might be a good time for us to kick around anything that's in your mind about eschatology. Let me know questions you have or maybe just thoughts that you're having. Hearing from you will give me a better sense of where you are as I prepare for Sunday. (Oh, and please tell me that you get the joke of the title of this post. Please tell me that I'm not that much older than all of you!)