Who He Is

"A man under conviction is no joke, it's who he is." - Harold Doss, brother of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector (cooperator, according to Desmond) to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.  The current movie Hacksaw Ridge is a retelling of his story and Harold Doss is seen making this quote at the end of the movie.

After watching the movie and doing some further reading about Desmond, then hearing that quote, it became clear to me that there was something in that essence of being we are not passing along.  At least, I don't often see it in fellow Christians.  I know I wish I had it, and I've tried to have it, but mostly failed.

Desmond's brother Harold is referring to the aspect that a person under a Christian moral conviction, presumably from the Holy Spirit, isn't just words.  That conviction is a description of who they are, it is a part of their character.  This is very convicting to me personally.  I find myself asking why isn't the character of God a more dominant part of who I am?  The only answer is I purposely, through foolishness (opposite of wisdom) and confusion, do not allow Him to become such a part.  It is way too easy to find people who are not this way and use that as an comfort to "ride the fence" and not be completely "sold out".  It is so much more difficult to find people who's character is unbreakable and seemingly completely covered by the character of God.

Now, unfortunately I'm not saying we all need to go find pastors and hang out with them so we can garnish some of their character.  Having the professional term "pastor" does not propel someone to this character status.  I'm not against pastors, some I know are the most humble and purest of character.  "Good to the bone" is a phrase that comes to mind as I think of them.  I'm just saying these type of people are not common and some are pastors, some are WWII vets, some are grandparents, some are teachers, etc.  We need to be on the look-out for these type of people so we can associate with them and learn.  Ultimately, maybe we'll start to become similar.

My family needs someone with a character backbone that doesn't know how to be anything but the character of God.  That character needs to be who I am.  It needs to flow through my veins.  Doing what God says, following His Word, should no longer be choices I have to make, but who I am - they shouldn't be options because I shouldn't know how to be anything else.  You don't do what's right because you thought about it and am making some choice for others so you can get glory (although you might present some humble facade so people aren't too obvious to it) for sacrificing your agenda.  You do right because it's who you are and there are no other choices.  There is a difference as wide as the gulf between good and evil between those two people.

I pray that I become "good to the bone" one day and sincerely want nothing less than the absolute best for everyone I meet, even if they don't understand that God's Word is what is best for them.  I pray that the character of God will be "who I am" and it will flow through my life's blood.  Then I hope I can pass this down to my sons and others.  America has no strength without people like this in it.

Retirement Anxiety

“People like feeling they have some control over their future, but they also like certainty.” – Economist John Mauldin, in a letter discussing pension plan types.

This retirement anxiety discussion comes up as many pension plans that baby boomers were relying on for their retirement simply have run out of money.  In the 1980s, 60% of companies had pension plans, today only 4% have such a plan.  Most companies opt to the defined contribution type of plan so they are off the hook of responsibility for employee’s retirements.  Today 24% of baby boomers are confident they have enough money to last through their lifetime.  It is a well-founded anxiety then by the remaining 76% since state and local governments across the U.S. have nearly $2 trillion in unfunded pensions.  Yes, you read that correctly, unfunded. 

The difference between a retirement plan and your heavenly plan is that you can look at the balance of your retirement account and know there is something in there.  It might not be as much as you’d like to give you that certainty, that feeling of security to know you will have income as you get old, but you can see it and you know it’s there.  You also have some control over it if it’s a defined contribution plan (401k or similar).  If you want more in there, you can sacrifice income now to add to it over time.  You can also control its risk.  You can manage it so it’s in safer types (bonds) but earn (or lose) less or you can put it into higher risk that earn (or lose) more. 

Too many people cannot get religion outside of this retirement paradigm.  Yet, a faith in Jesus has nothing in common with this.  Nothing.  While my worldly reasons can start building bridges to put the two together, my spiritual wisdom makes it clear that no part of my relationship with Jesus has anything to do with secure financial planning.  Faith in Jesus is trust in His Word.  Period.  Analyzing retirement is counting, evaluating, determining risks, and market forecasting.  Wisdom dictates that it makes no sense to keep something in this world that cannot last for anything in the spiritual world that will last for eternity.  In other words, we should never jeopardize our faith journey with something trivial like retirement anxiety.  

Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Mt 13:44)

If we are to be anxious about anything, it should be over our spiritual condition and what we are doing to grow in faith and knowledge.  If we aren’t growing, we should be anxious as to why.  Unfortunately, it is a rare person who values their daily spiritual condition, their daily walk in conversation with God, and their daily actions so much that they are even conscious of a spiritual element in their day.  Much like their retirement, most people think that is something they can concern themselves with when they are in their 60s.  I would consider that much less than 24% of retirees are confident in their faith. 

Theodore Roosevelt said: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  Anxiety frequently paralyzes us.  Don’t let it.  Where is your faith?  Do you depend upon God for your daily substance?  How are you going to grow closer today?  Do something wherever you are.  God will respond, that is certain.

Revelation - Chapter 1:4-6

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“Grace and peace to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come.“  John imparts a greeting to the churches from God Himself.  He is today, He was before, and He is coming again.  How encouraging this has to be in all of our understanding.  We must be lifted in our spirit when we are able to read this and repeat it to ourselves.  He always has been and He lives today and He will be our Lord forever.  He loved us before we were, He loves us today and He loves us forever more.  You were precious to Him before you were born, you are just as important to Him today as you will ever be (it does not matter where you are or what you have done) and you will always be the His most prized creation.  He is, and was and is to come.

It is important to discuss the importance of the number seven as this is used many times in the coming texts.  When the number seven is used in the Bible, it is a reference to completeness.  It does not always represent perfection.  Sometimes completeness is perfection, but not always.  In particular, seven refers to God’s covenant and work in Israel.  A few examples.  The Sabbath and worship are all connected to the seventh day.  Jericho was circled seven times; Naaman had to dip in the Jordan River seven times; there were seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Joseph’s time in Egypt; Nebuchadnezzar was insane for seven years, there are seven beatitudes in the New Testament; there are seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer; there are seven parables in Matthew 13; seven loaves fed the multitude; Jesus spoke seven times from the cross; and in the book of Revelation the number seven cannot be considered accidental.

The greeting is also “from the seven spirits before His throne.”  The seven spirits are also mentioned in Revelation 3:1; 4:5; and 5:6.  The seven spirits are not specifically identified, at least in clear language.  This verse mentions that the seven spirits are before God's throne.  3:1 indicates that Jesus Christ "holds" the seven spirits of God; 4:5 links the seven spirits of God with seven burning lamps that are before God's throne; and 5:6 identifies the seven spirits with the "seven eyes" of the Lamb and states that they are "sent out into all the earth."  The interpretation that seems the most relevant is that the seven spirits of God are symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  As mentioned above, the Bible, and especially the book of Revelation, uses the number seven and it refers to completion and perfections.  If that is the meaning of the “seven” in the "seven spirits," then it is not referring to seven different spirits of God, but rather the complete and perfect Holy Spirit.  This greeting then becomes the only one in the New Testament that imparts grace and peace to the reader from God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and from the Son Jesus the Christ and this seems fitting when applied to the revelation to come.

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.  To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,  and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”  This is the 3^rd person of the greeting and He has seven aspects to Him.  He is:

1. The faithful witness   
2. The firstborn from the dead  
3. The ruler of the kings of the earth  
4. Him who loves us  
5. Him who freed us from our sins by His blood  
6. Him who made us to be kingdom and priests to serve His God and His Father  
7. Him who receives the glory and power forever and ever

Jesus is the complete and perfect sacrifice for our sins and He loved us so much that He shed His blood and was raised from the dead so that we might be able to be free from our sin.  He lifts us up from destitution so that we can be a kingdom, a church of peculiar people, who serve Him and represent Him.

Revelation - Chapter 1:4

⁴ John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

John specifically and deliberately indicates that he is writing a letter to seven churches in the province of Asia.  These churches are named in the yet to come verse 11.  This revelation is for them.  This prophesy is to them.  This can lend itself to be important from a learning perspective. 

Biblical Hermeneutics is the study of the principles and methods of interpreting the text of the Bible.  In simple definition, it uses three laws.  1) The Bible should be interpreted literally.  It has a plain meaning and when it can, it should be taken for what it says.  2) The Bible passages must be interpreted historically, grammatically, and contextually. Interpreting a passage historically means we must seek to understand the culture, background, and situation that prompted the text.  And 3) Scripture is always the best interpreter of Scripture.  We always compare Scripture with Scripture when trying to determine the meaning of a passage.  The second law of hermeneutics is particularly interesting and can lend itself to great eye-opening perceptions of what the written Word might have also implied.  However, there can be a danger with this law and it is important to always realize that this method of interpretation must also be balanced with the literal interpretation of verses where possible and further supported by other Biblical text.  Yet with visions, symbols and figures of speech being used in text it isn’t possible to be completely literal in interpretation so it becomes crucial to understand the context of the writing at that time and to also see how other Bible text supports the possible meaning of visions, symbols and figures of speech used.

For example, a Hebrew perspective of a Biblical narrative can be interpreted differently than a typical American or Greek type of trained learning perception.  We, being American, are very factual in our learning.  What is the date that ties to an event – memorize it.  What are the facts – use them to calculate solutions.  Hebrew schools, while factual about events, are very story oriented.  For further example, when describing Goliath, anyone from a Western culture wants a description of how tall was he, how big was the armor and how long was his sword.  List the details and we then are quick to put a size to him.  We translate that he was about 9’-9” tall, his armor weighed about 125 pounds and his iron shaft weighed about 15 pounds (1 Samuel 17:4-7).  Anyone from a Hebrew culture might tend to see the same descriptions differently.  They would see 6 cubits tall as 6.  They would see the 600 shekels his iron point weighed as 6.  It would not be too difficult for them to see 666 and a description of his armor as scales to indicate that Goliath was Satan, the snake, the one who opposes God.  Then they would further read that David collected five stones, the number of the writings of Moses and that David planted that Word into Goliath’s forehead and it crushed him.  The narrative they would read is that David threw God’s Word at Satan and God’s Word crushed or bruised him in defeat. 

As it is evident, there is a difference in how cultures can “see” a written story.  We tend to see the story as the power of God in a person who is brave and courageous enough to stand in front of a giant all simply based on putting the fight into the hands of God.  We know just how big the giant was and how overwhelming the situation was for young David.  So we know that it was God who provided the victory.  Others might see the story of the fight as only between God and Satan and it was God crushing Satan.  David was used, as was Goliath, but the story is God wins and crushes the enemy of all man.  Overall, there is a lot to be gleaned from either view and the views are not too different and also supporting of one another.  In fact, working to see each aspect tends to help one gather the whole picture.  We already know there is a spiritual world and war going on that we can’t see.  I tend to believe that gathering the perception of this Hebrew view helps provide some insight into that world, but it should not be the only law used in interpreting Bible text.  Each method of interpretation should support one another.

All that being described, it is important to realize that the revelation is for the churches in Asia.  We must seek to understand what was going on historically and culturally in those churches at that time and what meaning the visions and symbols might have specifically meant for them reading the text and finally, how that applies to us today.

Revelation - Chapter 1:1-3

¹ The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ 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.

“The revelation”, this implies that something is revealed.  In order to be revealed, something has to be hidden or at the very least not obvious.  Whether this is a future event and the revelation is prophesy or if it is current events and the purpose or explanation is revealed or if it is current or past events and a part that was unseen is revealed, something was unknown and will now become known.  “From Jesus Christ, which God gave Him”, the revelation is from Christ Himself to John but was given to Jesus from God, John is just a note-taker.  Jesus is in control of the delivery of the revelation.  “What must soon take place”, this implies that the revelation is a prophesy. 

“He [Jesus Christ] made it known by sending His angel to His servant John”.  Who John saw may not have been Jesus Christ but an angel demonstrating Jesus Christ.  There is a reason for suggesting this and we will refer to it later in this chapter.  The KJV version says, “He [Jesus] sent and signified it [gave signs of the message] by His angel unto His servant John”.  This is at best a little unclear, at least to me, exactly the meaning.  What makes it unclear is what I know verses 17 and 18 say.  Did an angel take the revelation from Jesus and deliver it wholly himself to John as the messenger using signs?  The text in its literal interpretation seems to support this.  The delivery method seems to be: God gave to Jesus, Jesus gave to Angel, Angel gave to John, and John writes it down to give to others.  “Who testifies to everything he saw … the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”  John has written and testifies to all that was revealed to him.  This is the revelation of God through Jesus Christ, not of or from John.  This is also exactly how the salvation message has been delivered to us.  We are saved by God through Jesus Christ, not by any other person, spirit or thing. 

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophesy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”  This is a prophesy and blessed are you if you read it, or hear it and take to heart (keep) what it says.  There are two aspects of this blessing and each one is two-part.  Read it and keep it or hear it and keep it.  If you do either, you will be blessed.  There are seven such beatitudes in this book, this is the first. 

And, that’s it.  This seems awful negligent, in my opinion, as an opening paragraph considering the incredible visions and testimony he is about to unleash in the written pages of this book we call Revelation.  He doesn’t offer guidance or a guide, not even a symbol legend.  He pretty much just simply says, “I was given a revelation and it came from Jesus Himself, and here it is for you.  It’s important so read it.”  You can almost feel the idea that he was too overcome to say too much else.  However, he answers the “What” question.  What is this?   It is a revelation from Jesus Christ.  As brief as he is here, that is enough.