Compass Point

This week I am at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching my yearly gig on Early Church History. The blog and podcasting will be a little lighter as a result.

As I said in a recent post much of my focus of late has been on the book of Revelation since I am teaching a section on the story of the Church of God as told in Revelation 2 and 3. When properly understood, Revelation is really written to the church and should be properly understood by those who are called, chosen and faithful.

I have been emphasizing an approach to the book that focuses on taking the message and applying it to our daily life for instruction and encouragement. This is in addition to understanding the book as a prophecy for the time at the close of this age. Much of Revelation is written in a manner meant to encourage the church through the ages as God's plan unfolds.

In the first chapter Christ is seen standing in the midst of seven golden lamp stands holding seven stars shown later to be the the angels to each of the churches. It is a awesome picture meant to encourage us of Christ's presence within His body of believers at all times.

He says in verse 17, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last". Christ is alive and holds the answer to all the questions of life and death. He unlocks much of the answers in this last book of scripture. There is a lifetime of study and searching and pondering found in this book as it moves us back and forth, in and out, of other scriptures to set a capstone on the revealed word of God to man.

Through the ages other men claimed to have visions from God or an angel that added to the revelation. Whole faiths have sprung up around those ideas. But right here, at the end of first century we see the whole panorama of God's plan laid out for our understanding.

Perhaps the first key of life is to approach the book in a personal manner as a letter from God that tells us all He intends for life to be for His children. God tells us to not be afraid. Banish fear as a dominating force and focus on Christ standing strong and bright in guiding us daily in our choices and decisions.

Start each day with this vision guiding us and we can put together a string of weeks and months that make a life of rich meaning and accomplishment.

Is the American Era Over?

The question is discussed in a long article from the National Journal. The gist of the argument is put in this quote:
 

Yet a surprising number of respected strategic thinkers and foreign-policy elites, from both ends of the political spectrum, already detect a fundamental and potentially lasting realignment of power on the strategic chessboard. Even if an American era that decisively shaped world affairs for the past half-century has not been eclipsed, they warn that it certainly shows signs of waning.

"For a number of reasons, I believe we are entering an era where U.S. power and relative influence, in the Middle East especially, is reduced and the influence of others who have anything but a pro-American outlook is increasing, and that trend is likely to continue for decades to come," said Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. "I predict this realignment will be enduring."

The unseen key to all this is the timing of God in removing His blessing from America. When that will happen we do not know. But when it happens there will be a seismic shift of power on a global scale.

The key is when the sins of the nation reach a tipping point and God says, "enough"! The image in Ezekiel 10 of the angle leaving the temple tells us that when God's presence and protection leaves the nation it is then laid open to the forces stirred to a white hot rage.

New Euro Leadership Could Revitalize the Union

This article discusses the leadership trio of Merkel (Germany), Sarkozy (France), and Brown (Great Britain) that is forming in the coming weeks. It speculates they might have "the collective clout to blast Europe our of its lethargy and revitalize it as a global and diplomatic powerhouse".

We can definitely look for some changes. Sarkozy has reached out to the US and Brown will have to take a different stance with President Bush while at the same time reaffirming the "special relationship" between America and Great Britain. Don't look for major changes there.

German leader Angela Merkel already seems to have made progress on reviving the EU constitution. If a revised constitution is agreed upon in the coming weeks it will at least be a significant step toward a stronger EU presence in world affairs.

The article has this quote from E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana:

"Above all, we need to safeguard Europe's capacity to act," E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday in a speech in Germany. "Our world is changing very rapidly."

He added, "Just when we should be at our most alert, just when the world's demand for Europe is at its highest, the union has turned inwards, immersed in a sterile institutional crisis. We cannot go on like this. This must be resolved as soon as possible, in 2007."