The whole idea of “heaven” seems a bit remote sometimes. Pearly gates and golden streets seem abstract. We can’t help but imagine the never-ending tedium of our childhood Sundays when we here the word eternity. The idea of “no more tears” seems like a good plan, but our vision of the New Jerusalem has been trivialized by popular culture. We need a vision to stir the heart and honor the mind, to combat the Challenge of the Trivial.
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Tags: Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala, Pearly Gates, New Jerusalem, City of Zion, Shangri-La

John’s descriptions of the seven visions he received are over the top and you get the sense he can’t quite find the words either. As the Christians in Ephesus listened to Revelation read aloud in the worship service, they got a sense of another dimension of reality. Their eyes were opened to see the world differently.
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Tags: Really Real, Plato's Cave, Ultimate Concern, Revelation 4, Rescuing Revelation

Revelation 5 offers one of the best “You’ve Got Mail” stories ever. The people were discouraged and in dire need of a good word. Whether faced with open hostility, subtle pressure to conform, or a poverty of faith, life made less sense all the time under the Empire. Like all oppressed people, they were crying out for an interpretive word when the meaning of their lives felt hidden to them. God saw what was going on and sent them a word of hope.

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Tags: Rightly-Ordered Creation, Letters, Lamp Power, Revelation 5, Rescuing Revelation