Lilies of the Field

Before leaving Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, I wanted to touch on one other thing. Pergamos or Pergamum was host to “satan’s throne” and “dwelling place” (2:13); Smyrna and Philadelphia housed a “synagogue of satan” (2:9, 3:9) and those in Thyatira went after the “deep things of satan” (2:24). There are only two realms in this world. There is God’s realm and Satan’s realm. Every person either belongs to the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan. There are two mysteries: the mystery of God in Christ and the mystery of lawlessness or iniquity. 2 Thessalonians 2:7— For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. In the Bible, Satan is spoken of as “the prince of this world,” “the prince of the power of the air,” “the deceiver of the world,” and “the god of this world”. His work in this world is to deceive, to lie, to accuse, and to tempt. Existing side by side, both realms are working simultaneously for two opposite purposes....

The feminist movement. It’s everywhere…more radically seen in the church than ever before! But it is not new. It was a fun song to sing…when I was little more than a toddler. It was a marching song— militant—with a catchy tune. Encapsulated in an ‘innocent’ movie about a delightful woman who floated through the air with an umbrella that caught the east winds taking her to 17 Cherry Tree Lane in London, clutching her traveling carpet bag that held all sorts of enchantments, to work her magic on the Banks family, is where many of us first encountered this song. Can you hear it? “Though we adore men individually, we agree that as a group they’re rather stupid. So cast off the shackles of yesterday; shoulder to shoulder into the fray…From Kensington to Billingsgate one hears the restless cry from every corner of the land: ‘Womankind, arise!’ Political equality and equal rights with men…no more the meek and mild subservients, we; we’re fighting for our rights, militantly…” Winifred Banks, “...

Have you ever considered how you would live if you knew the day of your death? What if you knew the end of time, as we know it, was near? Why would anyone neglect or ignore a prophetic revelation that came with a blessing for those who read, who hear, and who heed the things written in it?   When homeschooling my two younger children, we were part of a local co-op that met once a week in a local Presbyterian church. In one particular creative writing class we were doing a special series on public speaking modeled after a Toastmasters Impromptu Speaking Course. Every mother who has ever known any heartache in the room cringed when one student answered the question, “If you could know anything, what would it be?” This student thought it would be grand to know her future. The problem for the mothers was not that she would want to know the future, but specifically, her future! (At least that is what I was thinking at the time.) It may have been what prompted the discussion around the...