Reveration Blog
1/25/2000 0 Comments CondemnationImagine if an angel came to you and said I’m giving you the ability to safely travel with any system you like. You want to drive a train—It’s yours, a plane—go fly it, hydroplane—take it! Space ship to pogo stick anyway you want to move I give you the authority and the ability. But there is one thing I cannot allow you to do. You must never get behind the wheel of a Saturn LS2. That car is strictly off limits. The day you drive it you will experience a fatal crash.
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8/2/1999 0 Comments SafeguardIt’s hard to sleep at night with the realization that you may wake up with your house tumbling into the ocean. Such is the case of many Oregonian coast dwellers watching in apprehension each winter as Pacific waves continue to steadily devour beach and sand dune. The importunate cries of desperate homeowners have reached lawmakers who must decide whether to allow the emplacement of huge boulders that would form a wall against the water.
7/2/1999 0 Comments RedemptionCaleb’s head sunk in agony. On the splintered beams of a weathered deck stood the only life left that really mattered—his daughter. And now she was to be sold into slavery—auctioned off like some four-legged beast of burden.
4/13/1999 0 Comments SecurityBeware the dreaded Babylonians! Habakkuk, a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, was a man of profound faith who voiced complaints to God that rose from a troubled heart. The world (605 B.C.?), as he knew it, abounded with injustice. His own nation, Judah, was awash in sin and about to be conquered by a godless enemy. “How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence and You do not save?. . . Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous? Why are You silent while one who is wicked swallows up one who is more righteous than himself? (1:2, 13). Ever felt that way towards God? Ever wondered amidst evil-dominated headlines if God was off on some celestial sabbatical?
4/7/1999 0 Comments WatchmanAn amazing transformation took place in my three children after one of them was knocked down by a sneaker wave. They each became exceedingly alert to the size of the ocean waves coming in. They left the Camp of Careless for the safer land of Lookout. And one in particular became a watchman. We could all safely fly our kites knowing he would cry out if the Pacific chose to menace our positions.
12/28/1998 0 Comments ForgivenessRuss is an 80-year-old friend who suffers through the agonizing pain of bad knees, a weak back and an assortment of other aches not uncommon for a man of his age. Often his spirit is drenched by the loss of his wife and the solitary struggle of battling ailments.
Russ is a good man and yet he suffers from a disease that has sealed his mortality, a disease we all have called SIN. Sin separates us from God. Left untreated, it hardens a person’s heart towards Him, leads to bitterness and the proliferation of fear which chokes the very life out of joy. 10/29/1998 0 Comments ReflectionsThe Bible references the number 40, 114 times. It often signifies completion for a period of blessing, testing or punishment. Consider: “You will bear the consequences of your sins 40 years based on the number of the 40 days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know My displeasure” (Numbers 14:34). So God condemned a generation of Israelites to wander in the Sinai desert, a place of barrenness that aptly illustrated the shriveled state of their faith. They would not enter the promised land because it contained giants. The only exception God made was to 40-year-old Joshua and his friend Caleb. He blessed these two courageous men who saw opportunity where others feared defeat.
8/20/1998 0 Comments IntegrityIt was in part what the President wouldn’t say that disturbed a nation. Liberty lowered her torch and sat on her pedestal of stone weeping from the bitter blow his pride struck. She cried because he lied. She sobbed because he robbed—he stole the trust of a nation to enjoy forbidden pleasures. Tomorrow she will rise and light her torch. But it will not burn as bright. Around her base swirls water blackened with the slick oil of deceit. It’s mixture runs downstream leaching through soil at an alarming rate. Her children are poisoned by this hazardous waste of rationalization that dares to call evil good and good evil.
5/22/1998 0 Comments ChoiceI grew up in a pornography-free environment. My parents love God and they made sure that we were raised in a house that allowed no such filth.
5/8/1998 0 Comments InsuranceMeditation
Matthew 6:34—Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 3/23/1998 0 Comments PurityThere is a spur on the 11,239 ft. Mount Hood where a small rock shelter stands firm against the winds of time. Atop this small ridge is a spectacular view of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, hundreds of square miles of valleys, streams, lakes, and hills carpeted with green forests. I love the high ground. There are few things in life more beautiful than standing in thin air to watch the sun rise in silent majesty over a glacier-covered volcano and all that surrounds it. It is not hard to understand why Oregon and Washington are called “God’s country.”
3/13/1998 HolinessWhen I was a kid, I had a hard time telling the truth. I would often resort to lying because I thought I could avoid being punished. My dad came home one day and found out that once again I was fibbing. Now as a parent I understand how my deceit was detected, then as an eight-year old I could never figure out how my parents knew I was guilty!
2/16/1998 0 Comments InfidelityThe most amazing thing happened while I was away recently on a trip to Japan. A small group of Americans were teaching a few Japanese, slang expressions we use in the U.S. I joined in the brainstorming to supply words like “rad”, “holy cow”, “get a grip” etc. About ten minutes later I left to return to my own workstation. My two Japanese coworkers were reading the latest copy of the newspaperStars and Stripes. They wanted me to explain what the word “bimbo” meant in the title line of a front page article about President Clinton and his latest woes with Ms. Lewinsky. The American Heritage Dictionary uses the following definition of the word bimbo.
2/13/1998 0 Comments Sin--ResponsibilityWhy is our civilization morally crumbling? Why is our country trapped in the quicksand of evil? Why is our society torn by the passions of selfishness? Why is our culture enamored with what is wicked? Could it be that we are adorned in the clothing of excuses to mask our responsibility for sin? Paul Harvey, the famous radio commentator shared a prayer, Pastor Joe Wright of the Wichita Central Christian Church gave at an invocation for the Kansas state legislature. Joe’s prayer was immediately denounced by the governor of Kansas and several legislators stormed out in anger. This prayer has much to say. I hope it will stir your heart as it stirred mine.
1/6/1998 0 Comments CedarsIn the New Testament there is a little book called Galatians. In chapter 5 verses 16-26 is a powerful contrast between what our sinful nature produces and what God’s Spirit produces. I can tell myself I’m a pretty good guy and try to live in my own power but let’s face it—the end result reeks. My mind lusts, my eyes covet, my nature is inherently selfish. In short, there is a war going on. Every person on this planet is engaged daily in war—Flesh against Spirit. Whenever I choose the side of Flesh, life invariably gets miserable and all hell breaks loose. Whenever I yield to God’s Spirit, life becomes joyful and all heaven breaks loose. This is not an oversimplification of a classic struggle, just the confessions of a battle veteran.
8/5/1997 0 Comments SightI was driving home yesterday when the woman in front of me decided to pull into my lane. Evidently, I was in her blind spot. I slammed on the brakes while at the same time maneuvering as quickly as possible to get around her car. Somehow, we avoiding colliding and both continued on our way. It would have been easy to get angry (it happened too fast to honk!), and to mutter about incompetent drivers but why? I know what it’s like not to see someone in the other lane and just miss kissing metal! The antidote to that simple driving mistake is to add an extra mirror or take the time to turn my head and look for another vehicle.
5/14/1997 0 Comments CovetousnessMeditation
Psalm 40:8--I delight to do Your will, my God; Your instruction lives within me. |
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Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles