Talk: Ashes Part 2 – Born Again

Ever heard you need to be ‘born again’ to follow Jesus? Ever wonder what that means? You’re not alone. This week we listen in with Nicodemus as Jesus dismantles all our clever, careful attempts to control our own spirituality…

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Declaring War

This series of posts is my attempt to demonstrate that the language of the Revelation was actually symbolic code that was very intelligible to a first-century Jewish Christian living in the Roman Empire.  I’m re-writing the Revelation to communicate the same message, but to a twenty-first century American Christian audience, using symbols we understand.  This particular section parallels Revelation chapter 12.  If you want to catch up, here’s a PDF of the entire series so far: The Revelation to JR – Chapters 1-12.

An incredible sign appeared in heaven: I saw a woman who wore the sun like a gown and used the moon as a footstool.  She wore a gold medal made of twelve stars like a set of pearls.  She was pregnant, and was clearly in labor.

Then another sign appeared: an enormous, blood-red dragon with thirteen heads and fifty dollar signs all around it.  It had thirteen presidential seals on its heads.  His tail swept across the sky, knocking a third of the stars out of the sky, throwing them down on the earth.  Then the dragon positioned itself in front of the woman so it could devour her child as soon as it was born.Continue reading

The Revelation to JR. – Two Witnesses

This series of posts is my attempt to demonstrate that the language of the Revelation was actually symbolic code that was very intelligible to a first-century Jewish Christian living in the Roman Empire.  I’m re-writing the Revelation to communicate the same message, but to a twenty-first century American Christian audience, using symbols we understand.  This particular section parallels Revelation chapter 11.  If you want to catch up, here’s a PDF of the entire series so far: The Revelation to JR – Chapters 1-11.

Then I was given a tool belt and a steel beams and I was told:

Come and reinforce God’s sanctuary – include the pulpit and everyone worshiping in there.  But don’t bother with the foyer or classroom space.  All that’s being handed over to the rest of the world.  They’re going to run rampant all over the holy city for 42 months.

I’m going to give my two eye-witnesses authority to prophesy for 1,260 days while they’re dressed for a funeral.

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The Executive Order

This series of posts is my attempt to demonstrate that the language of the Revelation was actually symbolic code that was very intelligible to a first-century Jewish Christian living in the Roman Empire.  I’m re-writing the Revelation to communicate the same message, but to a twenty-first century American Christian audience, using symbols we understand.  This particular section parallels Revelation chapter 10.  If you want to catch up, here’s a PDF of the entire series so far: The Revelation to JR – Chapters 1-10.

I saw another enormous angel coming down from heaven.  He was wrapped in a cloud and I saw a rainbow appear over his head.  I could barely look at him because his face was as bright as the sun and even his legs and feet burned like fire.  He had an Executive Order in his right hand (it looked so small in his huge hand!).  He planted one foot on the land and one in the ocean and then yelled at the top of his lungs.

When he yelled, I heard a giant roar, like seven jet engines.  I was about to write down what I heard in the engines’ roar, but someone up in heaven said

“Seal up what the seven jet engines have said – don’t write it down!”

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The Three Curses

This series of posts is my attempt to demonstrate that the language of the Revelation was actually symbolic code that was very intelligible to a first-century Jewish Christian living in the Roman Empire.  I’m re-writing the Revelation to communicate the same message, but to a twenty-first century American Christian audience, using symbols we understand.  This particular section parallels Revelation chapter 9.  If you want to catch up, here’s a PDF of the entire series so far: The Revelation to JR – 1-9.

The fifth angel turned on his camera and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key the bowels of the earth.  He opened it and smoke came billowing out of the hole like from a blown radiator.  The smoke covered the sky and plunged the whole planet into darkness.

Then I saw locusts emerge from the smoke, and they were given authority like soldiers.  They were specifically told not to harm the crops or food supply, but instead to hurt anyone who hadn’t been notarized by God on their heads and wallets.  They were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them.  And it was bad –  worse than anything that went down in Guantanamo Bay.  During those five months, people will try to kill themselves – they’ll chase after death – but they won’t be able to die.Continue reading