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                Tidbits                                   12/6/2019
Dear Friends:
The New Testament book of Revelation gives us one of the most stunning, creative and beautiful pictures of Jesus and his kingdom in the entire Bible.
 “Revelation” is written specially for Christians living as citizens in a superpower.
The gospel of Jesus in “Revelation” is more political than anyone imagines, and in a way no one guesses.
 John of Patmos‘s Revelation is intended somewhat to comfort but  mostly to warn the Christians who were too cozy with the Roman Empire…..don’t get comfortable with Empire! Remember it’s a beast!
 “Revelation” is a prophetic interpretation of those tumultuous and significant happenings that Jesus, not Julius Cesar or any President is the world’s true emperor and Savior.
 “Revelation” is a creative picture of the clash between the beastly empire of Rome and the peaceable reign of the Lamb of God. It shows the world finally conquered by a little Lamb they killed who lives again.
“Revelation” isn’t about the violent end of the world: but about the end of the evil of violence.
 Everything is told in language of symbols. Everything! And they are not empty symbols.                      
 These are tidbits from the book Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God-- a Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News by Brian Zahnd.  It gave me a new appreciation for and understanding of the Bible. It reconciles the contradictions between the violence of the Old Testament and Jesus’ call to love our enemies.
Try to love your enemies today. 
Shalom, Jim


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