Revelation 2:1-17 Backslidden, Rich, and Called

 

July 11, 2021

Have you ever read someone else’s mail?  Maybe it was from some famous person, the letter was encased in a library or museum showcase for everyone to see.  Or maybe you found it in an attic, stowed away in a long-forgotten suitcase or chest.  You never knew the person who wrote, or got the letter, so you felt like you missed some of what the letter was all about.  There were references to old stuff, like horse and buggy days.  Or maybe the problems with loading a musket, and how unreliable they were when hunting bear. 

Well, Revelation is not anything like that.  The reason for that becomes clear in chapters 2 and 3 as John records that Jesus told him to write seven letters to the churches.  Although Jesus names them specifically, it becomes clearer as you read that these are letters to ALL the churches, from that day down to this moment in time, right here in Seagrove.  This isn’t just the mailbag contents for the post offices in Asia Minor; this is our mail…letters from the Lord. 

Today we see the first three, so gear-up with your Bible in hand and heart, mind, and soul all alert; we’re getting our instructions from the Commander in Chief.  (And that has nothing to do with Washington, D.C.!)

We’re going to look at three churches and what Jesus had to say about, and to them.  There will be a word in each letter for each of us…three words actually:

·       evaluation of the church’s service

·       reproach for the church’s sluggishness, and

·       encouragement to the church for stirring-up their love for Christ.

First up in our mailbag is the letter to Ephesus:

I.              Ephesus:  Backslidden – in need of Repenting

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus.  This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:  “I know all the things you do.  I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance.  I know you don’t tolerate evil people.  You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not.  You have discovered they are liars.  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.  “But I have this complaint against you.  You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!  Look how far you have fallen!  Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.  If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.  But this is in your favor:  You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.  Revelation 2:1-7

You don’t love me like you used to!  You don’t need to go further with that one.  Jesus talks about first love, and how the folks at Ephesus had been so committed, hot in the battle against false apostles, and other evils of their day.  Now…not so much!  That’s not just a B-grade movie, or romance novel.  That is worked out daily in believer’s lives and the life of the church.  Many people start out energetic and committed to serve Christ, but somewhere along the way, the cold-water committee gets ahold of them; worse – they join the committee and spread the misery.

For Ephesus (and for us) the word Jesus offered was repent.  This was evaluation mixed with consolation and warning.  To repent is to change your mind and behavior.  It means, go back to your first love.  Get re-engaged, and let God re-energize your love life with the Lord.
And this isn’t a one-revival-service fix.  This is a commitment of life, soul, and body.  In poker terms, this is all-in – nothing is held back.  You’re all His, and He promises to be all yours.
What I wouldn’t give to see the church altar filled once again with tears soaking the carpet.  Well…preacher…lead the way!
The next page in the mailbox was first read in Smyrna:

II.          Smyrna:  Poor – in need of Faith’s Riches

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna.  This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:                “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich!  I know the blasphemy of those opposing you.  They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.  Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you.  You will suffer for ten days.  But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.  Revelation 2:8-11

There are two warnings to the church here – poverty and persecution.  Persecution kind of speaks for itself.  Since Jesus’ day it’s estimated there have been some 70 million martyrs for the faith. 

Church history records that the church experienced some seven million martyrs at the hands of 10 different emperors in the Roman Empire.  Nearly 2 million of them occurred in the first two centuries after Jesus lived.  There was enough reason for Jesus to give the folks at Smyrna some encouragement about being persecuted.

One of the martyrs was Polycarp, who was the bishop at Smyrna.  Church history tells us he was a student of John the Apostle as a young man, became bishop and was martyred for the faith in AD 155.  Tradition has it that he was burned at the stake, and when the fire would not burn his body, soldiers stabbed him to death.  Tradition records his words as they lit the wood around him on fire:  Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong.  You threaten me with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment.  Why are you waiting?  Come, do what you will.

Persecution holds no eternal threat.  Jesus told us not to fear those who could kill the body, but rather God, who has control over the body AND your soul. 

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Matthew 10:28

But what of poverty?  Why is that lumped-in with persecution?  The fact is that the enticement and intimidation of riches can compel those who are poor to take their eye off the ball of serving God, and letting money have its place.  Just look at the numbers of untold millions who stand in line for lottery tickets; they don’t want to be have-nots anymore; they want what the haves have!

Truth be told, poverty claims more lives (spiritually-speaking) than the hatred of persecution.  And by this we don’t mean physical life, as when homeless people starve, or sickness is raging.  We are talking about the poverty of faith – when people choose the material goods and pleasures of this life over God’s promises of eternal riches.  There may have been 70 million martyred for the faith in the two-thousand years since Jesus, but there are twice that many alive today, just in America who have turned their back on God…have no church, no faith, and no salvation.  If you add in the rest of humanity just in 2021, materialism is claiming billions of souls!  Jesus gave the folks at Smyrna a message of hope, so they would be faithful, because God was willing to give them eternal blessings.

III.      Pergamum:  Called – in need of Courage

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum.  This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:   “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me.  You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.  “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel.  He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.  In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.  Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven.  And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.          Revelation 2:12-17

The third page in the mailbag goes to Pergamum (Pergamos in some translations). Jesus’ complaint with this group of believers was not that they didn’t believe; they just weren’t into correcting corrupt behavior.  They tolerated the likes of Balaam in the church.  Balaam was a false prophet who only wanted the money he could get (Balaam was the TV smiling evangelist of the first century).  Also on their church roll were the Nicolaitans, epicureans – those who are the party-hearty group, eat-drink-and-be-merry…only having a good time matters.  The church is called to be different than these; we are not called to be like every other church, successful by worldly standards.  Rather we are called to be what our calling is, here, in this place, for this moment, honoring the Christ.

How are we to do that?  No matter what time it is, nor what public opinion is going viral these days, nor what it might cost us in popularity, income, or opportunity, wherever the conversation begins, we must take the conversation cross-country to Jesus.  It’s that simple!  John said Jesus promised gifts for those who will cooperate with this calling; more precisely, three gifts:

THE TABLE

Jesus promised heavenly manna for overcomers.  He is referring to the food with which God fed Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness.  However, it is not physical food, but spiritual kingdom.  Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life.  When we gather at the Lord's Table, and in humility, confess our sins, eating the bread of life, we submit to the one who has power to make us overcomers.

THE TABLETS

In ancient times the white stone was a symbol of acquittal from a jury.  Friends sometimes gave each other gifts of small white marble, cut to fit a hand, engraved with words of kindness.  When we bow at the foot of Jesus, confessing our sins, he buries our sins in the sea of forgetfulness, and posts a "no fishing" sign -- forever. 

THE TITLE

A new name.  Friends, this is not the name of Jesus – rather it’s a new name of friendship and power that only Jesus and you will know.  It may be a literal, lingual name, a name that sounds differently.  Abram became Abraham.  Saul became the beloved Apostle Paul. 

However, I believe that it is more.  I believe it is that certain something Jesus places deep down inside us when we are saved.  It is the quiet understanding of salvation...an assurance, knowing that He is Lord, and you are His.  It is the newness of relationship that you cannot really explain, touch, smell or know, apart from a personal relationship with Jesus.

In ancient days, if a child fell ill, and the situation worsened to the point of fearing for life, and the doctors could not help, the father would stand over his child and give him a new name.  It wouldn't be just any name, but one of a great and valiant warrior, or the name of a respected and strong individual.  The thinking was that the name carried authority.  The child would become a new person in that name, and the disease must capitulate. 

This is the overcoming, beloved; this is allowing Jesus to take complete control of your life at the cross, with His blood, with His love, with His power.  The disease of sin is no longer in control.  When you surrender to that power daily, there is nothing the world can do; you are an overcomer in Christ.

Years ago when hurricane Andrew hit the Southeast coast of Florida, a TV reporter went into one area in Homestead.  As he surveyed the devastation the camera settled on one lone house which stood largely undamaged.  It was the only house standing for blocks.  The owner was surveying his minor damage.  The reporter asked how it was possible for the house to stand when all others fell. This was the man's answer...I built this house myself.  I also built it according to the Florida State building code.  When the code called for 2X6 roof trusses, I used 2X6 roof trusses.  I was told that a house built according to code could withstand a hurricane.  I did, and it did.  I suppose no one else around here followed the code."[1]

There is a code written in the table, the tablets, and the title.  Is the house of your life built according to the code?  Are you an overcomer?  Do you answer the call?  Have you been renamed?  The church today is in dire need of this commitment. 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation 

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[1] David R. Culver, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin in LEADERSHIP/'93, Winter 1993, p.49

 

While the House is Burning to the Ground

Richard Halverson was the Chaplain of the Senate many years ago.  He said, In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ.  Then the church moved to Greece where it became a philosophy.  Then it moved to Rome where it became an institution.  Next it moved to Europe where it became a culture.  And, finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.^[1]  

I would update that to include, and American Christians became Methodists and forgot we are supposed to shoulder a cross, and bear a witness of the Good News to others.

Moving away from a clear focus on the living Christ, and becoming philosophical, institutional, cultural or entrepreneurial, fits well the definition of the church at Ephesus – mechanical!  And Jesus says, “I know all your moving parts; I know what makes you tick…”  Jesus knows all about us. 

Reputation

This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:  “I know all the things you do.  I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance.  I know you don’t tolerate evil people.  You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not.  You have discovered they are liars.  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.  Revelation 2:1-3

Ephesus was an ancient Mecca for the cultural, religious, and business activities of the converging West and East.  It was also a playground for the rich.  It was Palm Beach, New York, Atlanta, and the Riviera all at once. 

When you think of Ephesus, you must imagine white marble columns, extensive and massive buildings.  You must remember a 20,000-seat theatre.  It was an incredible city, rebuilt mostly by Alexander the Great.

But it was also a sordid place.  Alexander built a temple in Ephesus to the pagan goddess, Diana.  The temple was four times the size of the Parthenon, with 100 white marble columns over 50 feet high. 

Diana was the goddess of fertility, a lewd-looking, crude distortion of true womanhood.  Idols of Diana had multiple sets of breasts; she held a trident in one hand and a club in the other.  

“Worship” in the temple of Diana always included sex with temple prostitutes.  It was little more than a sexual orgy, hardly worshipping God Almighty, and, more accurately, an absolute affront to the holy character of God. 

Modern churches would agree that is base idolatry and paganism as it gets.  However, I do not think it is so different than much of the thinly disguised entertainment we call worship.  I believe many people offer their songs, sermons, and service with a whole heart.  But too many people today choose a church for what it can do for them, not the opportunity to worship or serve God.  The presence of prostitutes aside, self-gratification is still self-gratification.

Whatever genuine spiritual impact Ephesus had on the ancient world came on the heels of the establishment of the church.  Paul visited the city on his third missionary journey.  He labored well and God gave an increase. 

Later John became pastor there.  It was his faithful leadership of that church that got John exiled to Patmos.  The spiritual foundation with which John helped build the church at Ephesus was labor and love.  There is not much that gets done in the Kingdom without commitment to the task.  Ideas are good; programs are wonderful; technology is a blessing – but…they only work when you do!

John was also patient.  It does take patience to build a healthy church.  And Christian patience is, literally, staying under control, cheerfully.  The only way to have that kind of patience is to remember that we labor for the name of Jesus!

Alexander built a splendid city with a sordid temple.  Jesus’ church at Ephesus was founded on a spiritual base that was solidly grounded in the name of Jesus Christ.  Their reputation was three-fold:

          ·       The people worked hard in the ministry. 

          ·       They bore up under much persecution. 

          ·       They had much success. 

Their reputation was strong, as is our church’s.  But it was not without flaw.

Rebuke

“But I have this complaint against you.  You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!  Revelation 2:4

A rebuke is something you say to someone who is messing-up.  It is hard business.  It also can trip you up.  Not many people really want to do Biblical rebuking. 

They were BELIEVERS

In the words of the immortal Billy Sunday, You can’t be backslud, unless’n you fust slud!  A person who is a backslider is a believer who acts like an unbeliever.

The first few weeks in the life of a newborn babe in Christ are incredibly satisfying to watch, especially if you’re a pastor.  First love is intoxicating; it consumes you!

·       First love is when you recognize the beauty and winsomeness of Christ. 

·       First love is when you recognize the unselfishness of Him in dying for you. 

·       First love is when you surrender your heart and life – only to find out He is more than you ever dreamed.  He is deeper, more faithful, and more wonderful than your mind could ever conceive. 

·       First love is before the church’s cold-water committee shows up! 

These folks at Ephesus were believers who had left their first love.

But they were BACKSLIDDEN

John says they left their first love.  Literally, it means they went out from Christ.  This sounds volitional – a choice.  However, the inference is a sliding-away.  No one who is a Christian becomes a backslidden reprobate overnight.  You don’t wake up one morning and decide to turn 180° from Christ…O, I think I’ll become a heathen. Rather, it is a gradual weakening of the Christian lifestyle.  It is a process of erosion.  That process is found in the first Psalm:

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.  Psalm 1:1

The process begins with accepting counsel from those who act wickedly, then standing with them (or hanging-out), and then, finally, joining the band.  Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about their backsliding[2].  It begins as a slight case of boredom with walking the narrow way.  You get a little bored with God.  You’d never admit it to others in the family; you just feel a little bored with church, Bible Study, and the polite conversation. 

It moves from there to a piqued interest in some of the things the world is doing.  It’s not hard to imagine the scene in Ephesus.  Some of the Christian men begin to wonder exactly what it is that is so attractive about Diana’s temple.  Are there really those exotic women from Ethiopia behind those columns?  Whips?  Chains?  They do what?  But you’d never admit it; after all, you’re part of the family of God.

I tell you this – if you don’t cut that kind of fantasizing off at its root, it will carry you away from God.  You can’t have a private world of intellectual sin, and a deep devotional life with Christ at the same time.  You will serve only ONE master.  It will be either Christ or sin.

Jesus rebuked the fine, historically-strong, missions-minded church at Ephesus for leaving their first love.  They had gotten bored with God.  The level of attendance had fallen-off attending to prayer, studying the Scriptures, and worship.  The lure of Ephesus’ theatres, sporting events and beach activities began to claim the devotional life of God’s people.  Their recreational life became more important than the luster of their testimony in the community.  It was much easier to slip into society than maintain a salt and light walk with the Lord. 

It was easy then, and it’s just as easy today.  There’s still only one medicine.

Repentance

Repentance begins with the mind.  The Greek word for repentance is metanoia,  which means to turn in the mind.  It means to have a change of your spiritual heart, which is connected to the thoughts in your mind.  If you translate the word without regard to context, it could be defined as being in the midst of using your mind.  That’s a good definition.  Any believer who really uses his mind will discover what a mistake he has made moving away from Christ. 

Notice the steps of using your mind correctly to repent…

REMEMBERING

Look how far you have fallen!  Revelation 2:5a

Repenting begins with remembering.  To remember the point of beginning is to remember how and why you came into the family of God.  This doesn’t mean taking out the Constitution and By-Laws of the church or dusting off your Baptismal certificate.  Christ is not about rules, committees, or chapter and verse in the Book of Discipline.

To remember the point at which you fell means to go back to the place of your greatest growth in Christ – to remember sweet fellowship with Him.  This is discovering afresh and anew the sense of His touch when you walked with Him – and He talked with you – and you were HIS – ANYWHERE! 

          ·       It’s the days before – when you were first filled with first love. 

          ·       It is the days when, if you started the day without a tear in prayer, without a wholesome feeding of God’s Word and a fresh word from the Father, you felt empty and unprepared. 

          ·       It’s the days before you strayed. 

          ·       It’s the days before you learned to talk all this religious talk, while thinking about other, more sophisticated and stimulating things. 

          ·       It’s the days before you got bored with God.

          ·       It’s the days before you got weary and disillusioned in the struggle of church meetings, endless rituals, and dull prayers at the dinner table. 

          ·       It’s the first love days. 

          ·       It’s when there was Jesus, and you, and an empty road of time ahead…and you were willing to put your hand in His and head out!

          ·       First love is when you took the Bible seriously. 

          ·       First love is when you decided to give Him your all, and you began to apply it to every area of your life. 

You do remember; you remember!  And if you remember, you’re starting on the road to genuine repentance.

RETURNING

Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.  If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. Revelation 2:5b

Remembering is first – but doing always accompanies remembering. 

Methodists are long overdue for both.  In the remembering department, we need to go back to Wesley and the frontier of America.  The frontier was filled with hard-drinking, loose-living adventurers.  It took hard work, and a huge commitment of love to win that lot.  Circuit riding preachers were often mocked, beaten, and some shot or hung.  But it was a first-love kind of preacher that rode with a Bible, love for the Lord, and little else.  It was committed Methodist lay people in every town that worshipped and lived a life surrendered to Christ that changed the face of America.  During the Wesleyan movement days 4 of 5 people with any kind of faith were Methodist.  Why? 

          ·       Because those early Methodists stayed in first love; they didn’t fiddle while Rome burned. 

          ·       Because they didn’t rearrange the deck chairs while the Titanic was going under.  They valued their souls above a little game of golf or TV.

          ·       And because they didn’t straighten the pictures on the living room wall while the house was burning down around them.  They knew their lampstand, the witness of their church, their families, and their very life in God was at risk if they let first love with Jesus slip away.

That’s different ways of saying they got their priorities in order…GOD was first!

Remembering…and then returning...that’s what repentance is, remembering that first love when God was first in your life, and deciding to return, no matter who or what stands in your pathway, and THAT is when you’ll find Christ waiting…

TO RESTORE ALL HIS BLESSING OF FIRST LOVE AND REPLACE THE EMPTINESS YOU FEEL IN YOUR HEART

But this is in your favor:  You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.  Revelation 2:6-7

Despite having left their first love the Ephesian church had never lost sight of what was right and wrong.  They knew the heresies of the Nicolaitan group.  And they detested it.  Despite all that was wrong with the mechanical church of Ephesus, their allegiance was still to Christ.  Jesus’ rebuke was designed to urge them back to first love – to encourage them to put Jesus back on the throne of their lives.

Today the United Methodist Church is in danger of having its lampstand, its witness and weight for the Kingdom taken away.  God is waiting to see if we are going to return to that Wesleyan glow of first love.

Return to Nero and his fiddle.  Nero set Rome on fire, and then blamed it on the Christians.  Today the church’s fire is almost non-existent because we have allowed the culture of lazy respectability fester like a cancer.  Oh, we’re not lazy if it comes to caring for the buildings, or cooking a meal, or donating to the food bank.  But that isn’t the first love Jesus is looking for.  We’re falling down on the job when it comes to sharing our faith, witnessing to our neighbors, and the strangers among us. 

We lament the dwindling membership of both the United Methodist Church, and this Methodist family, but somehow fail to grasp that it is OUR responsibility to bring our friends, family, and loved ones to Christ, and then bring them with us to church.  Rome is burning, and we’re content to let it roar!

Here is a question for each of us who name Christ as Lord….is He…REALLY?

When is the last time you led someone to Christ?  When is the last time you even tried to do so?  When, if ever, have you felt a burden for someone’s lost soul? 

If the answer to those questions startle you or annoy you, it’s because your first love isn’t what you currently love.  I can tell you when it happened…it was when you let your first love for Jesus begin to slip away.  And, like Nero who blamed the Christians, you will have whatever excuse is handy. 

Jesus’ word to all of us is “I know” – because He does.  He knows our works and ways.  He confronts us with the truth about getting back to first love.  That’s His rebuke for leaving first love.

Remember how good it was?  Return and be restored!

Our Prayer

Father, in this moment there are hearts turning back to remember first love.  Help us return…and be restored.

For the glory, honor, and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the Father. 

Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!

 

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   W  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation 

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[1] Bruce and Marshall Shelley, The Consumer Church, 9

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:6-10

 

Blindsided by Love

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Thursday, December 13, 2018

With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!  In that wonderful day you will sing:  “Thank the Lord!  Praise his name!  Tell the nations what he has done.  Let them know how mighty he is!  Isaiah 12:3-4(NLT)

You know what it means to be blindsided; something happens that surprises you in such a way you can’t believe you never saw it coming.  It could have been bad, like the knee on the football field that put me on an operating table in 1963.  It could be good, like a gift you got, and it wasn’t even your birthday or Christmas.  Stuff comes from the blind side…you never suspect it, until it hits.

I get blindsided a lot. 

There was that time when that new girl showed up on the first day of school.  She walked right past me and I felt like one of those cartoon characters whose jaw literally drops to the floor.  That was 53 years ago, and I still remember the blindside storm of feelings – wow! – huh? – who? – uhm… Hey…anybody know who that is?  That was 9 grandchildren and 4 great-grands ago!  She still turns my head!

In the bad-blindside department about 10 years ago I was headed to church on a bright, sunny morning.  Coming around that sharp curve in the road I saw the stopped car a little too late to do anything but drive right into the ditch.  Distracted and blindsided!

Some blindsides are Christmas and birthday all rolled into one moment; some are the kind where you want to whine:  can-we-start-this-day-over?  

Blindsides can be good or bad, but there is something common to both varieties:  you will tell about them!  It’s human nature that we can’t help talking about those life-events big-enough to qualify as blindsides.  When your life has been rearranged, you will rejoice, moan, celebrate, ruminate, cogitate, think about, regret, and probably do what a hundred other descriptive phrases might fit…but one thing is true…you will not keep it to yourself.  Some things are just too good (or bad) to stay silent!

And that brings me to the mailbox yesterday afternoon.  The mail carrier made it to Brownworth house for the first time since the snow started Saturday.  And there was that envelope from Treasury Services, a letter from the Bishop with a check for $268.80, on behalf of Duke Endowment.  So many years ago, James B. Duke had a passionate drive to make sure pensioned preachers were taken care of, that he endowed a Christmas gift to be shared with Methodist clergy each year.  I’ve been officially-retired for 7 years, and each year I get blindsided by this event.  A man I never met, set up a recurring blindside each Advent season to lift my day, and lighten my load.  He shared his fortune (literally) with people he’d never met, nor would ever meet.

That stewardship mindset of James Duke is a constant reminder for me of Isaiah’s fountain of salvation.  Another man none of us has ever met in the flesh set up the mother of all blindsides.  And he did it in the most unlikely way – no legal papers, trusts, corporate divestments or dividend schemes; Jesus simply took our place on a cross.  What he left in our mailboxes was a check far greater than even Mr. Duke could write; it was the PAID-IN-FULL promise of forgiveness.  His blood signature opened the wealth of heaven’s welcome to my soul.  And a simple prayer of repentance cashes that check and cleans our hearts of every obstacle that stands between us and God.

Now, THAT’S a blindside worth telling about!

For You Today

If you’ve been blindsided by the love gift God sent through Jesus Christ, don’t keep that news to yourself. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Russell Brownworth