David seems to create an impossible scenario in Psalm 14. In one verse he writes, All have turned aside – meaning all have turned away from God. And yet, later he also writes, God is present in the company of the righteous. How is this possible?
Can we honestly believe that God is good even when He says, wait longer? Psalm 12 looked at God telling us to, in today’s terms, hang in there. Now, God’s saying wait longer. Really? And on top of it, we’re still supposed to say, God is good? Yes! Absolutely! ‘Cause He is.
Why do rich people give their money away? Is it because Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor …”? It seems to be happening a lot lately. Is Jesus the reason? Or is there something else behind it?
Oppression of the weak in this world almost seems like a global sport. If you’re like me, you feel like it’s worse than ever. But is it? Oppression of the weak isn’t new. It’s been around for as long as there’ve been people.
Have you ever called out to God for help? For an answer of some kind? But nothing happens? There’s no answer. Your situation doesn’t change. You don’t hear yes. Or no. The thing is, sometimes God tells us to hang in there. To wait. With no reason given.
We move on to the fifth of the seven letters in Revelation. We’re on the home-stretch. This time the letter to the dead church in Sardis. Jesus has very little in the way of good things to say about the church in Sardis. And, of course, bad things. In this church, the examination will again be about the relationships between the good and bad statements. But this time, Jesus very clearly points out the differences to the church. And therefore, to us as well.
We move on to the fourth of the seven letters in Revelation. This time, the letter to the corrupt church in Thyatira. Jesus has good things to say about the church in Thyatira. Some bad things as well. So once again, part of the examination will be about the relationship, if any, between the good and bad statements.
We move on to the third of the seven letters in Revelation. This time the letter to the compromising church in Pergamum - also called Pergamos in some translations. Jesus has good things to say about the church in Pergamum. And some things that aren't good. Given the warnings though, it seems like more bad news than good. We'll see if that's the case. Just how bad is the compromising?
We move on to the second of the seven letters in Revelation. This time the letter to the persecuted church in Smyrna. Jesus has good things to say about the church in Smyrna. It’s a bit harder to determine whether there’s any bad news in here – at least the kind of bad news that the church in Ephesus received. There were certainly warnings.
And so it begins. The first of the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation. The Letter to the church in Ephesus. Jesus had some good things to say to them. And some bad things. But then another positive statement. The Ephesian church certainly wasn’t in the worst condition of the seven. But then, it wasn’t the best either. So there’s plenty to look at. Both for the church in Ephesus at the time and for us today.
God and me - this life and the next 