Herald-Guardians of Heaven's Light

"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands and among them was someone...His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all it's brilliance...He said, "the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches..." (excerpt Rev. 1)

"Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place..." (excerpt Rev. 2)

"After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven...and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it...from the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing..." (excerpt Rev. 4)

In Return of the King - the third installation of Lord of the Rings - there is a great scene preceding one of the final battles. The scene features the Beacons of Gondor - also known as the Lights of Minas Tirith (stay with me here) being lit ablaze one by one in order to signal impending war. The Beacons of Gondor are like alpine lighthouses hewn from stone and sitting atop many of the mountain peaks that traverse the region and they would be lit only in dire emergencies and as a way to spread word over the region of Gondor in a swift manner. These lights had not been set ablaze for hundreds of years. And only such a thing as existence-threatning war could warrant them being lit - but such a thing threatened and so as the first beacon was lit it was only a matter of moments before the region which was cast in the shadow of impending war - perhaps the war to end all wars - had flickering lamps of hope sitting atop its mountain peaks. It was such fire on high that brought hope - small as it may be - to the darkness of Gondor.

I am wading through the swamp that is the book of Revelation.

Yesterday I left chapter one - which gave us the image of One who holds the keys to Death and Hades - and have paused on my journey in chapter four. The above quotations are from such chapters. I have absolutely no idea if my coming observations hold merit, or if they have been postulated before. Nevertheless...

Revelation 1 comes to a close with John encountering the Son of Man standing among seven lampstands. This Son of Man is magnificent. He is robed in radiant white and gold. His face was as bright as the Sun. When he spoke it was like the sound of cascading waters. Even his feet were shod in precious metal. When he looked at John it was like staring into the brilliant heat of a blazing inferno. Furthermore, this Son of Man was not empty handed - out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword and he clutched in his right hand seven stars and in his other the keys to Death and Hades. At the end of the chapter we learn that those seven lampstands in which he stands around are his churches - the houses of his worship, adoration and proclamation. The stars are the angels of these churches.

Revelation 2 and 3 takes us away from this room of holy light and brings us into the midst of the churches themselves as John relates to such churches the decrees of this Son of Man.

When we come to Revelation 4 we are once again confronted with this radiant Son but this time upon a throne. From his throne rumbled thunder and lightning and before it sat a host of crowned elders and fantastical "living creatures." Also in front of such a throne were 7 burning, beacons of light...

What struck me is that each of the seven churches that we learn of in chapters 2 and 3 are guardians of the lampstands. The light does not originate with the churches - they simply possess and guard the lampstand. The lamp - the lightsource itself - is burning before the throne of Heaven and it is such light from Heaven that comes down and fills the lamps of the churches. Thus what we find in chapters 2 and 3 is the Son of Man - the one from whom the Light comes, dare we say the Light Itself - bringing accusation and admonishment upon those who are the guardians and trustees of such light - the ones who keep the lampstands, the sevenfold churches. The charge that the Son of Man brings is that it is the utmost privelege and responsibility to be a guardian of the light, to be a beacon and thus they must be faithful to shine that light diligently and to give warning and hope to the world.

The Beacons of Gondor were lit from the fire on high in order to be heralds - to signal to the world of impending war, to signal to the world of one who will come.
We as churches are the Beacons of Heaven - we are the stands, the vessels that hold the fire from on high, that hold the ignited Spirit of the Living God, the Light of the World. We are the beacons that are to herald to the world that there is One who has come and is coming again and who is worth knowing.

And our cry is the cry of those elders and creatures who sit next to the lamps of heaven:

"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."

"You are worthy, our Lord and our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being."

Let us set ablaze the beacon that is the church and herald to the world He who is the "Alpha and Omega, who is and who was, and who is to come the Almighty" giving hopelight to a world shrouded in darkness.

A-Rod 2007 HomeRun Count: 14

(and we've only played 18 games)

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*First player in ML history to hit 14 in the first 18 games of a season*

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*Currently tied for most HR in ML history in the month of April (14-Pujols, '06)*

But notice there is still a lot of April left...

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What is amazing is the fact that I was in the process of writing this blog, setting the HR counter to 13. While I was setting it up I checked over again to ESPN and was informed that A-Rod had hit another HR in the 9th...changing my blog to 14.

*

This guy is ridiculous.

*

Keep swingin' yourself into the record books A-Rod...

Key

"When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said, "Do not be afraid, I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." Rev. 1:17-18

In my entertainment-dominated youth pastor mind there are a couple of things that popped into my head when reading of the One who holds the keys of death and Hades.

The first is the KeyMaster from the Matrix movies. The fascinating yet obscure character who held the keys to different doors within the Matrix that would awaken one to different levels of consciousness and possibilities - at one point in the series he was necessary for the plans of Neo.

The second thing I thought of was when the Miami Heat acquired Shaq-Diesel three years ago from the Los Angeles Lakers. In glorious Shaq-fashion, he arrived in downtown Miami for a celebration in his honor at the AA Arena - only he arrived in an all-black 18 wheeler that had Shaq-Diesel painted on the trailer. Walking through the throngs of raucous cinnamon-tanned fans he went to the podium whereby he was given the honorary keys to the city of Miami from the Mayor himself. It was in this moment when Shaq made his famous gaurantee to bring the party turned city known as Miami their first world championship.

Now I concede the fact that John didn't have either of these in mind when writing his Apocalypse but I do love that image of Christ clutching the keys of Death and Hades. I love that image of the ferocious Lamb. The one who was sacrificed upon the altar only to take up his life again in victory over death.

Many action movies feature a scene or two where the protagonist and antagonist engage in some sort of hand to hand combat - usually over a weapon or classified file or some object that one possesses and the other greatly desires - perhaps a key to something. And inevitably one will gain the upper hand, overcome the other person and upon securing the object - while the other is perhaps lying on the ground defeated - wave it front of the other person demonstrating their victory.

It is not a perfect picture - nor does our Lord swagger in arrogance. But that picture of Christ holding the keys to Death and Hades speaks volumes.

Death is mastered.
Hades is dominated.
The case has been closed.
The bell has been rung.
The door has been slammed shut.

Christ is victorious and dangles the keys of Death and Hades in front of the Evil One showing him - and us - that in the words of Cash, "the Man has come around."

"there's a Man goin' round takin names
and He decides who to free and who to blame...

hear the trumpets hear the pipers
one hundred million angels singin'
multitudes are marchin to that big kettle drum
voices callin', voices cryin'
some are born and some are dyin'
it's Alpha and Omega's Kingdom Come"

-Johnny Cash

Revelation

I don't understand the book of Revelation.
I do think that its presence in the Bible suggests that it indeed has bearing on our lives and indeed should be able to be understood to a point. Where that point is drawn or what precisely it is I do not claim to know. In fact bold as it may sound - I am weary of anyone who claims to have a complete understanding of Revelation. I just don't think it is a text that can be mastered.
Calvin pretty much refused to comment on the book.
Luther thought the Whore of Babylon - one of the books central characters - was the Pope.
The Eastern Orthodox church pretty much threw it from the Canon.
Thus, the thought of one person mastering it and claiming to do so is a bit bold.
I think the Holy Spirit does come to reveal and guide into truth. I hope He will give insight on this book specifically - but at the end of the day I think it is still quite allright if we don't understand the book entirely.
I am quite certain Tim Lahaye hasn't mastered it - he may climb the NY Times bestseller lists but that was never a plumb line for proper hermeneutics.

With that being said lately I have been drawn to the book of Revelation.
I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy literature and such and while Revelation is certainly not fiction it reads like sci-fi or a fantasy epic - in fact it is probably feesible that in some ways it and other Apocalyptic literature laid the original groundwork for modern fantasy language and story telling.
The imagery and vivid language throughout the text are simply jaw-dropping. It is hard to make it through a single chapter without getting chills or putting the book down and staring off into the distance.
Or both.
I think regardless of whatever the text was originally supposed to convey (which I would love to know don't get me wrong) one thing that is apparent is the way it lays out the majestic holiness of God. Revelation may be an end-times intenerary. It may be a blueprint for the future. Then again it may have been simply a fantastical letter to some Asian churches.
Maybe its all of the above.
But one thing that is plain is that it speaks of the God who is incomprehensibly majestic and holy. The God so tremendously infinite and glorious that human language breaks down miserably in relating an iota of his splendor.
John fumbles for words that are adequate like we fumble to pick up a wet watermelon off of the floor. He says the word "like" ("I saw something LIKE...") more than a 10th grade girl who wears a shell necklace...simply because he cannot put words to the outrageous magnitude of his vision.
All of this is to say that I am going to continue my reading of this most marvelous and yet most confusingly controversial of books. I am not going to crack a commentary (yet), nor unfold a chart, nor buy any best-selling novels that feature an eastern european anti-christ who sports a three-piece suit (and dispensationalists claim to be strict literalists?). I am simply reading through the book devotionally and with admiration for its beauty. What I am going to do is simply make a few comments regarding some of the jaw-dropping, distance staring, chill-giving and ultimately inspired images that arise along the way and that will shape some of my upcoming blogs.

2007 A-Rod Homerun Counter: 12

(and we've only played 15 games)

2007 A-Rod HR Counter: 10

(and we've only played 14 games)

The Chase

This is an extremely well written article that any sports fan should read.
Showing once again why there ain't no place like Florida
And there ain't no one like Florida athletes.

Awesome article.

The V-Neck

I have recently discovered the beauty of the V-neck undershirt.

Now for as long as I can remember I have always been an undershirt guy.

First, being as skinny as I am the extra layer (though infintessimal as it may be) always helps.

Second, the lack of any formidable chest hair presence makes for an open collar not so impressive.

Third, it safeguards from the unsightly armpit stains that can gather on a dark dress shirt.

(Remember those sport coats that were uber-popular in the 70's that feature a colored patch (usually brown) on the elbows? That's kinda the look one gets when not wearing an undershirt with a dress shirt. Except the colored patch is under your arms and its not a brown patch of fuzzy cloth, it's your own man-sweat puddle.)

Not cool.

And so for those reasons I have always been friends with the undershirt but it was always the crew neck. But with the crew neck came some worries of its own...

For example many a times the collar of the crew neck would be tighter than the t-shirt you were wearing and thus it would be exposed above the t-shirt creating a bit of a poor-man's priest collar.

Or the collar would simply ride up too high causing you to constantly be tugging at your neck.

Enter the V-neck undershirt.

Same protection as the crew neck and yet it hides itself below the neckline...its like a well-kept secret.

How have I gone this long without discovering the beauty of this thing?

Now I think just wearing the v-neck alone without another shirt is still a social no-no.

Well unless you got a Natural Ice tall-boy in hand and a dip in your mouth.

Hey, who says I dont?

Lucky 13

We all have dreams of one day accomplishing that one great feat whatever it may be. That one desire or challenge that beckons to us. We desire to be a certain type of person by a certain time. The reality is that in order for that to come to fruition it starts now, one day at a time. One day we don't just wake up and become who we wanted - it starts with small daily steps.

For Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez his desire is to throw the 9 million member Monkey of NYC off his back. To overcome the demon of having gaudy regular season averages deteriorate into postseason failures. The greatest baseball player on the planet who has endured many sleepless nights desires to have the that great city which never sleeps embrace him for the excellence that he is. To turn the boos into curtain calls, to become clutch, to become the best hitter to ever wear the pinstripes.

A-rod took one of those small steps tonight:

Yankees trail one run to the Orioles...

Bottom of the ninth...

Bases loaded...

Two outs...

Two strikes...

And when A-rod would usually choke - even though every person alive knows such choking is not telling of his gross talent - leaving him always falling short of Jeter...

A-rod smoked a high fastball over the centerfield wall for a walk-off Grand Slam.

And the man who he is so often compared to, the man whose friendship with has deteriorated over the years, the man who plays the position A-rod naturally plays and is not as talented as A-rod yet A-rod in his team mindedness took a backseat to - this man Derek Jeter pushed him out onto the field for a curtain call that had to be one of the sweetest of his career...even if it is only April.

Small steps remember?

On the A-rod case...You either love him or hate him - in my case its the former - but you have to respect him. The man who signed the largest contract in MLB history is worth every penny. Contracts in general are all so ridiculously inflated - to get down on A-rod for the ridiculousness of his is unfair. The man is not slowly but methodically swinging his way to the all time HR record. Sure, we all hate for the walking chem-lab Barry Bonds to break Hank's record but the truth is if we can just stay patient and if he can stay healthy A-rod will realistically make the Bonds conversation irrelevant. Bonds will hit 755 this year in his 22nd season. A-rod is currently sitting on 467 averaging 36 HR a year (including his rookie year where he hit zero). At the same pace he will hit 755 in his 20th or 21st season and thats if he only hits 36 a year...in the last 9 seasons he as only hit less than 41 twice. This is the man who has hit 57 in a season and who should he relax again is capable of having more monster years.

The man has a perfect swing, is not just average in the field but is a perennial gold-glover, gave up his position as league's best shortstop to come play 3B for the Yankees who haven't made things easy on him, carries himself well, is clean-cut, never is in trouble off the field and would be the best player on any team in the MLB with the exception of perhaps St. Louis with Pujols.

What's not to like?

Keep swinging yourself into the record books A-rod.