A Journey of Revelation

Revelation. Yep, I mean the last book of the Bible. The one almost no one understands. The one I read every year but do not understand. I know it is God's Word and therefore just as worthy of study as any other book in the Bible. I'm just a little scared. If a bunch of brilliant pastors and theologians don't agree and don't understand Revelation, how will I?

Last week, we finished a unit in Bible class. It was focused on service and missions called Sharing Your Faith and Serving Others by Jim Burns. I felt equipped to teach this subject. I had the opportunity to talk with my students about donating my hair and blood and about going on mission trips to Sri Lanka and Mexico. I was challenged to be less selfish, more aware of needs around me, and more bold about sharing my faith. I often get as much or more out of our Bible studies than my students do, but I think most of my students gained from it and were challenged by it.

So, as we finished, I was hoping to find another great study. I asked the kids what they would like to study. "Is there any subject or book of the Bible you always wanted to know more about?"

Most of them said "End Times" or "Revelation."

In my mind I said, OH, CRAP!

I ordered two books to help me. A youth-group aimed book to use for teaching and a slightly deeper adult study book for me.

I've not even finished teaching one whole lesson (which takes about 3 class periods), I've not even finished one chapter in the other book, and I've not even finished studying the first chapter of Revelation, but already I am seeing some very awesome, very understandable themes.

(I try to avoid those super long compound sentences-not really good grammar-, but they're my weakness and Faulkner used them! You like my English teacher comments, right? Well, I can't help myself sometimes, and yet I fear that you find many typos and grammar mistakes. Really, it's probably my pride that makes me point out my own mistakes.)

The awesome main points of Revelation highlighted by both studies:

1. It's all about Jesus!

2. God is in control.

Those two statements are so simple yet so HUGE and so pivotal to everything I believe. They are two truths that are reassuring on the large scale when looking at all of human history, and they are just as reassuring as I look at today, the coming weeks, the coming months, and the coming years in my own life. They are the two main lessons God's taught me in the past few years.

I'm dreading studying and teaching Revelation less and less, and I'm becoming more and more excited about this journey!

Jordon