Bent Oak Church

The church at Pergamum continued to follow Christ, but increasingly it was a private faith.  They were falling under false teaching that justified private faithfulness and public accommodations. But true faithfulness makes no distinctions between public and private. 

The church at Smyrna is the only one that still exists today. In modern day Izmir, Turkey, a small congregation still worships. They face pressure and persecution just like their founders. Jesus has nothing negative to say about this church, but he does warn them that they are about to face suffering. In reality, we all are—sometime in some way. So what do we do when we suffer? How do we live out Jesus' command, "Don't be afraid."

The church at Ephesus is the first to receive a word from Christ. It forms a pattern for the other six messages.  To the church at Ephesus Jesus affirmed their commitment to truth and faithfulness, but one thing he had against them. They had lost the love they had at first. It is a constant tension. How do we hold fast to doctrinal convictions and embrace a sacrificial love for each other and our neighbors?

The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John. It was more than strange predictions about future things. In the first chapter, John promises that whoever hears this book and lives it will be blessed. This book makes a difference in the world we live in now, just as much as in the things to come.

In the final stories of 1 Samuel David and Saul are again contrasted. David's life begins to flourish in generosity. Saul is desperate for control even in death. David gives us a new way of thinking about being generous. It is a byproduct of a life that pays careful attention to God in all of the complicated details.

David is finally on his way out of the wilderness, but his destination is not where we imagined. David and his team will take up residence in Philistia under Achish his former enemy. David will soon be caught in a complicated game of deception that will force him onto the battlefield to face Saul and his own people. David's faith is put to the test.

We are shocked at how quickly the life is drained out of David. With one insult from the nobody Nabal, David finds himself craving vengeance. Death and ugliness take over the story. Worse, he assumes God is by his side. But David is stopped. He is brought to a stop by beauty. Not just a beautiful face, but words that pour the light of God into the barren wilderness landscape. David's hunger is refined.

David is still in the wilderness. There is more to learn. Asleep in the back of a cave, David and his men are shocked to see Saul step into the entrance. They all come to the same conclusion; Saul is a dead man. David is about to become king. But David soon sees something else—annointing. David teaches us to look closer. When we do, we discover far more going on around us than our eyes first recognized. The wilderness teaches us to watch—to see that the Lord is good and soaked into every detail of this wilderness life.

In chapter 23, David begins his first lesson in becoming king. David will learn to listen. It is a certain kind of listening, listening through prayer. It's a skill that doesn't come naturally for us. David teaches us to settle down, quit ourselves and hear things we hadn't before.

David seemed to be on a fast-track to the throne. All of Israel was singing his praises. Saul was still mad, but even that might prove a political opportunity for David. We are surprised to see how quickly things begin to unravel. By chapter 22, David will find himself alone, hiding in a wilderness cave. But he doesn't go into the wilderness empty handed.

David's defeat of Goliath produced a friendship with Jonathan, but will only serve to further enrage Saul. As the end of chapter 18 puts it, Saul would now continually be David's enemy. Saul and David's lives teach us a lot about enemies, even ones we might not have fully acknowledged.

David and Jonathan are one of the great pictures of friendship in the Bible. We need their story. We live in a world that's that's hard on friendship. Jonathan and David give us another way.

David and Goliath might be the most well-known story in the Bible. It has become a part of our cultural imagination. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." But there is more to this story than just a giant. The chapter is shocked full of characters with advice and opinions. David finds himself at the center of it all. An unlikely place for a shepherd running errands for his dad.

John places Mary Magdolene at the center of the reserection story. It's not coincedence. Mary's story sets in place a reserection experience that we discover in our own lives

David had already been anointed king, but the story doesn't follow the plot we have come to expect. Where are the battles, the intrigue, the assassination, revolution? Instead, David becomes a musician performing for the crazed and rejected King Saul. But a story is developing beneath the surface—one David couldn't even realize.

David enters the story halfway through the book of 1 Samuel. David's story will pick up, just as Saul's is coming undone. But David's story can be hard to read. We have heard it so many times, we tend to read what we want and move too quickly past the parts that make us uncomfortable. There is plenty to make us uncomfortable. David's story is complicated. But we learn from his introduction, his story teaches us to come to terms with our own complexities.

Chapter 15 is Saul's final chapter. He will continue to be king for years to come, but it won't be under God's authority. It will be an empty title. An empty title for an empty man. Saul's life has been hollowed out. The image is still there. He still has is reputation and his self-delusions, but there is little that remains interested in God and faithfulness.

Saul's world is unraveling. He is becoming desperate, even paranoid. Convinced he needs to be at the center of the victory he is watching, Saul again rushes to action. This time a forced fast he forces on his army. It will come with difficult consequences, but it teaches us about our own desperate need to stay in control.

The story of Jonathan and his armor bearer's assault on the Philistine garrison is one of the greatest in scripture. You can't help but be amazed at their courage. But this is still Saul's story; Jonathan's faith only highlights Saul's unraveling power. The two teach us about true courage and our own willingness to take risks.

As well as things seemed to be going for Saul, chapter 13 brings it all to an abrupt halt. Things are unraveling. Saul's army is deserting. The Israelites fleeing out of the promise land. And Saul is desperate. He waits as long as he can for Samuel, but finally, is overcome by the pressure of the moment and offers the sacrifice himself. It seems like a small sin to us—impatience. But for it Saul will lose is crown. How can that be?