Devotions in the Deep End

As we come out of the seven churches, the book of Revelation becomes a tricky text to navigate, but our journey begins...NOW! In this episode, we will start to consider ideas such as 'what happens next' as well as the idea of '24 elders' and the Throne Room of God. This passage looks at just 4 verses, and I feel like we'll need to do this quite a bit in this series! I'm alw...

My second look at this particular church, but also the final episode centered on the Seven Churches of Revelation. The REALLY challenging part of Revelation is coming up next!

In this episode, we begin to explore the last church in the circuit being addressed in Revelation. This particular study considers (among other things) the idea of what being 'lukewarm' might be.

This is my exploration of the second-last church bein g addressed in this special circuit of churches.

This episode begins our exploration of Jesus' letter to the church in Sardis - a church that attracts no commendation, but instead an urgent call to action.

This is the second half of my journey through the letter to Sardis. After the urgent call comes a call to be restored, not removed.

In order to make each episode a little shorter I am creating a handful of double episodes, just while the 'seven churches' are the subject matter. The two episodes on each church will come out at the same time. This is the first look at what Jesus says to the church in Thyatira - the presence of something he calls 'Jezebel' will be particularly explored here.

The last short exploration of this particular church - the promises the Lord makes to a remnant who remains true.

This is a church in a complex setting, going through some rather complex things - there's good, and there's terrible things going on in their midst. There's a lot for us to consider in our modern church setting, much to learn from this ancient church for our time.

This is the second letter out of seven churches addressed in Revelation. It's a church with a lot going on outside of them, but no rebuke to be found within.

The next stage of our Revelation journey calls us to consider the stories of 7 key churches. For some, this can be seen as a complete picture of the whole church - either over time or in its many expressions at any current time. However, it is also of vital importance to remember that these are real churches and real disciples being addressed in their time too. Ephesus comes with the benefit of ar...

This section introduces us to a powerful and victorious image of Jesus. In this episode Cam takes some time to explore these and what they might mean. Each part of Jesus' presentation in Chapter 1 is mentioned again in Chapters 2&3 so taking the time to understand them a little now is an important start to the Revelation series. The clear deity of Christ is also shown to us here among a number...

These are the opening statements of the book of Revelation, and already there is wonderful depth to explore!

It's the beginning of a new season with a new book of the New Testament to explore. This is an introduction to Revelation -considering the author, the setting, the time and the four major viewpoints that have helped us interpret this book over the years. My aim in this series will be to be as generous as I can to all the views while sticking to orthodoxy. I hope it's a useful journey for you!

This longer episode takes some time to consider the details of the trial of Jesus - before Pilate, before Herod - as well as some reflections on the curious case of Barabbas

This is the second of two detours from the main thread of Jesus' trial - the second case study of a disciple in crisis during this time. In this episode, we briefly examine the final steps of Judas

We take a brief pause from the trial of Jesus to consider the first of two short case studies. Peter's denial is the first of these.

In the timeline of our Synoptic Gospel journey, Jesus has been arrested and is going through the various stages of the trial process. This episode explores the initial hearing in the home of Caiphas the High Priest.

This episode continues to explore the dramatic events of Gethsemane and what takes place after the disciple's final prayer meeting together.

The Passover event crosses into a garden prayer meeting. Here we briefly look at the setting, the prayer of Jesus and the posture of the disciples. A fuller reflection on the whole process from arrest to death and resurrection is still to come, but here Cam offers a practical thought about the idea of being drawn into prayer with Christ when we're at our lowest or most challenged.

This is a fascinating passage that first looks at the bravado of the disciples contrasted with the knowledge of Jesus that Peter's denials were imminent. But it then switches gears to a teaching where some very interesting phrases are used...

This is an attempt to try to capture some of the richness of Passover and bring elements of this into the meal that has now become known as Communion. It's important to know some of the theology that existed around the first century and how Passover spoke into that - as it helps us understand how Jesus inserts himself into this thinking. But, we do this without overly Judaizing the whole thing...

This episode simple introduces the setting and logistics of the last Passover event that Jesus shares with his disciples. The idea of betrayal and some of the origin story of the Passover is presented here with a view to show in the next few episodes how Jesus puts himself into the festival in a key way - to the point that he becomes its completion

This is the third and final look at the two accounts of the broken alabaster box events in the gospel accounts. This time we return to Bethany and explore the disciples responses to this, as well as Jesus' own insight about the event an how it pertains to his redemptive work

This is the second instalment in our study of the Alabaster Box events (I made the case for two events last time). This episode considers the event which stands alone in Luke's gospel.