The Leadership series continues. Here we get into the first of seven themes on leadership in the church: it must be Godward. We make a Five-Fold Ministry connection to prophets. We make a Working Genius connection to discernment. And we see how the discerning prophetic leader is Godward in orientation, relentlessly pointing people to God like Jesus did.

God's ultimate and final victory. The monsters have been destroyed and thrown in the lake of fire, the second the death. And with them go those who are not listed in the book of life, as well as death itself. The death of death! God is the final judge, but also the Re-Creator. "Look!" All things are made new!

Faithful in the Fire. A sermon I recently preached as a guest at another church. I had the honor of being invited to speak. Now sharing the message of Daniel 3 with the podcast audience.

Leadership. Following Jesus while leading others. We look to His role model. We follow His teachings on how to lead. We will learn from Paul in Ephesians 4 with the "Five-Fold Ministry." We will learn from Lencioni's Working Geniuses. We will focus on the three C's of Christian leadership. Lots to unpack! Check it out.

Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 38-39 all over again. The cycle and pattern once again repeated. The dragon is now also thrown in the fire, where the beast-monster and the false prophet had been thrown. God sits in judgment. The scrolls are opened. And the scroll of life is opened.

From Isaiah to Ezekiel to Daniel to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew to John's Revelation we see a consistent apocalyptic pattern. Symbols, metaphors, imagery, and cycles. And that includes those "near" fulfillments (for most of the content of their books) and the "far" prophecies that are the true eschatology and come at the ends of their books. We should understand John's Apocalypse just like we understand all the others. Check it out.

A thousand years. One of the most hotly debated references in Christian eschatology. Lots to unpack. And also the dragon is locked away in an abyss, there's the first resurrection of the dead, and we see the eternal priesthood of God's holy ones. A jam-packed eschatological snapshot.

The bride (the church) and the groom (Jesus) are reunited. The wedding feast celebrates God's victory. The beast monster and the false prophet are thrown into the fire. God has the final triumph!