Pastors' Blog

I don’t know about you, but lately, I’ve been noticing the repeated appearance of the simple word, “unprecedented”—defined as “never done or known before,” i.e., unparalleled, unequaled, unmatched, unrivaled. And it seems to be on everybody’s lips these days.

“Unprecedented.” Here’s a googled list of headlines in which the word appears: “Wildfires 2020: The California, Washington, Oregon fires are unprecedented” (Vox); “Covid-19 drives leaders to make unprecedented interventions but what next” (The Guardian); “Climate Change: ‘Unprecedented’ ice loss as Greenland breaks record” (BBC); “Belarus massive and unprecedented protests” (NPR); “Arkady Dvorkovich: 'It is clear that today the world is facing an unprecedented crisis’” (RealNoevremya); and one more from among dozens, this one the understatement of the day, “San Francisco prepares for unprecedented November election” (SFBay).

“Unprecedented”—what’s up with this word’s popularity? Just a news media fascination—you know, the flavor of the month kind? Or is it humankind’s attempt to condense into a single word our angst over the stunning magnitude of upheaval and change scrolling across our 24/7 news feeds?

“Unprecedented.” Turns out Holy Scripture resorts to it, too. Without even using the word, Daniel describes it: “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then [unprecedented]” (Daniel 12:1). Unprecedented end times—unequaled by anything in history. Jesus Himself builds off of Daniel’s endgame description: “‘For then there will be great distress, unequaled [unprecedented] from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again’”—so unprecedented will be those times that Jesus goes on—“‘If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened’” (Matthew 24:21-22). Reads a bit like the googled list of headlines, doesn’t it?

Ever get the idea God is trying to tell you something? Well if you haven’t, this would a good time to get that idea. The escalating headlines with their litany of “unprecedented” events are hardly surprising to the student of God’s Word. Daniel, Revelation, Jesus’ mini-apocalypse (Matthew 24/Mark 13/Luke 21) clamor for our careful investigation. Why? So we can log on to one more depressing headline and burden our already anxious spirits? Not at all.

Jesus cuts to the point: “‘I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe’” (John 14:29). Did you catch that? The point of prophecy, the point of Jesus’ embedded predictions is to make believers out of us! The growing list of “unprecedented’s” swirling around us these uncertain days is simply the Spirit’s call to believe in Him who is the Lord of both history and prophecy (history in advance). “I am telling you all of this, so that when you suddenly realize you have entered a time of ‘unprecedented’ upheaval and change, you will not fear—you will instead believe in Me even more confidently!” 

In fact, that’s exactly how Jesus put it at the end of His predictions: “‘When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near’” (Luke 21:28). There it is—the very best news of all—Jesus is coming soon! Unprecedented? Are you kidding? It will be the one headline with no precedent—before, after, or ever. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”

I’ve been brooding over that two-word phrase we shared last Sabbath in the opening of “American Apocalypse." Here’s the quotation: “When we as a people understand what this book [Revelation] means to us, there will be seen among us a great revival” (TM 113). So what would such a “great revival” look like?

Acts 2 is the dynamite narrative of Holy Spirit’s Day of Pentecost outpouring. For ten days 120 followers of Jesus have been gathered in the Upper Room praying together, confessing together, bonding in the Spirit together—earnestly claiming the promise Jesus made to them days before He returned to heaven: “‘. . . wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 1:4-5). 

And so they waited. When one early morning as they were  praying, the heavens blew open with the roar of “a violent wind” while a fiery ball of flame descended, darting tongues of flame over the heads of the stunned disciples. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4).

Is that what “great revival” from the study of Revelation will look like? Maybe. But let’s press deeper into the Apocalypse. 

What is the theme of the book? “The revelation [apocalupsis] from Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1). Of course, Jesus is the theme. From cover to cover Revelation reveals the truth from, the truth of, the truth about our Lord Jesus. Thus any “great revival” sparked by the study of Revelation must be some sort of Jesus-saturated, Christ-centered spiritual reformation (revolution even), ignited by the Holy Spirit in direct response to the earnest prayers and pleadings of God’s people.

Why would they be pleading? Because from their deepening study of the book, the magnitude of the impending conflict with the dragon (the raging Satan) dawns on the people of God. Crushed though he was by the Lamb of God at the cross, the dragon, with retaliating ruthless fury, has through the intervening centuries turned on the followers of Christ. And through his evil consort, described by the Apocalypse as “drunk with the blood of God’s holy people” (Revelation 17:6), the dragon will yet turn the past into prologue and with rage set out to annihilate God’s last friends on earth. No wonder they plead before God!

All of which means impending crisis can be an effective catalyst for such earnest pleading. And such earnest pleading can be the catalyst for “great revival.” And “great revival” can be the catalyst for the greatest spiritual movement ever on Earth. 

“Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works, with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand” (The Great Controversy 612).

And that is how a deepening study of Revelation will help us “understand what this book means to us” as a people—by igniting fresh passion for Jesus, by illuminating apocalyptic prophecy (and history) in advance, by instilling a longing to be all or nothing for our Savior, by inspiring us to our knees in pleadings before God. This is what “great revival” will look like. For this will you join me in earnestly praying?

Look—I’ve never done this before—but then again, no one has responded to the previous week’s blog like this before.

For the last three weeks, Karen and I have had a delightful, I-really-enjoy-shedding-my-shiny-black-coat-all-over-your-carpet house guest named Kora, the favorite dog of our favorite granddaughters, who are frolicking by the lake of their other favorite grandparents. Wonderful girls, sweet dog.

Which needs to go out at night for obvious reasons. But alas, I broke my last flashlight and was looking for a replacement. Well, God bless one of our readers (from where I don’t know), who immediately ordered a brand new halogen flashlight that arrived two days after the blog with this note tucked inside: “I have a flashlight exactly like it—it is Great! I hope you enjoy it!” Signed with her name. Fortunately, Amazon included an email address so I could express my joyful gratitude to this kind stranger.

And oh boy, this flashlight is way more than “great!” It not only has a halogen light—but it also comes with a super-duper zoom lens (that can adjust its beam from blinding pinpoint to wide-area circle)—and on top of all that, it also can switch from low beam to high beam to blinking beam to a beam that actually blinks the morse code letters for S-O-S. You will never be able to lose me now!

Reminds me of Peter’s prescient observation about prophecy: “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

Because that is what prophecy is—a halogen light peering into the dark uncharted future and exposing what we would never have seen lurking in our pathway. But they are much more than flashlights for the future. They are divine halogens that can supernaturally pierce the dark lair of the apocalyptic dragon and expose his deadly modus operandi with the Light of the world.

“I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5)—and “I am the bright Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16)—Jesus still declares. And He is the one Light we need now more than ever before, as we attempt to navigate the dark shadows of this pandemic landscape now our home. 

For the last few weeks, I’ve been pouring over those apocalyptic halogen snapshots of uneasy weirdness and terrible implication. Is there an interface between what we are living through on the cusp of a new school year and those dusty, long-forgotten, prophecies? Do they speak with decipherable clarity? Does the light of Christ and the Word of God expose the dark mastermind behind what we endure right now? From prophecy can we see with greater clarity the direction today’s stunning trends are headed?

Rhetorical questions, all four of them. This is why I am inviting you (and the friends and family you have) to join us Sabbath mornings, beginning next Sabbat, August 22, the eve of a new school year on all three of our campuses. Join us, join me as we seek to shine the halogen of prophetic light on what lies ahead. “American Apocalypse: ‘What Is Past Is Prologue’”—because if Shakespeare is right and the past is but prologue, then we have every somber need to be armed with the light of Holy Scripture at this critical time. Period.

And if we can decipher the beauty of God’s character and the face of our Lord Jesus in these ancient words—and if it is true that “when we as a people understand what this book [Revelation] means to us, there will be seen among us a great revival” (TM 113)—then can you think of a more essential, opportune moment in history to discover or rediscover all God has embedded in these ancient prophecies for His endgame friends?

When I was a boy, I remember my dad telling this story on himself to a group of my friends: “I was the toughest kid in my neighborhood—whenever the boys saw me coming, they started running—but they could never catch me!” And I recall feeling so upset because his story made him look like a weakling. Every child likes to think the authority figures in his or her life are invincible.

That’s why it is so confusing for the American public to decipher who of our many authorities are the ones we should believe, trust, obey. Look at all the debates we’re having, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) over face masks and social distancing; (2) over whether schools across the country should open or remain closed; (3) over the safety or lack of it for air travel; (4) over whether churches should open or not. Confusion over authority, confusion among authorities—how do you decide?

Take the decision of our Pioneer church board and board of elders, augmented by the protocol recommendations of our reentry taskforce—to open up our sanctuary this coming Sabbath, July 11. Talking about trusted authorities, here was a Zoom screen full of them, volunteer leaders of our congregation with a very much vested interest in Pioneer getting it right. So did they make the right decision?

I believe they did. But the more important question is—the right decision for whom? 

The Centers for Disease Control and the President’s coronavirus taskforce all are agreed—COVID-19’s greatest threat is to individuals 65 and older as well as those who have preexisting medical conditions. Does that mean everyone over 65 and/or with preexisting health conditions will contract COVID-19? Hardly. But it does mean individuals with these risk factors do well to evaluate the outside-the-house environment they choose to occupy, even on a Sabbath morning.

Here is the CDC’s counsel (irrespective of your age or health condition):

• “In general, the more people you interact with, the more closely you interact with them, and the longer that interaction, the higher your risk of getting and spreading COVID-19.
• “If you decide to engage in public activities, continue to protect yourself by practicing everyday preventive actions [wash your hands often, cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when others are around, clean and disinfect et al].
• “Keep these items on hand and use them when venturing out: a cloth face covering, tissues, and a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, if possible.
• “If possible, avoid others who are not wearing cloth face coverings or ask others around you to wear cloth face coverings.” 
• (www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-adults.html)

In accordance with this counsel, our Pioneer reentry taskforce is taking these actions: 

• Providing hand sanitizer for every worshiper entering the church;
• Requiring face masks for all worshipers age two and above (if you forget yours, we’ll give you one);
• Designating physical distancing in the sanctuary by limiting the number of worshipers in each pew (by maintaining six feet between families and/or individual worshipers, and keeping every other pew vacant); 
• Disinfecting the pews, door handles, and restrooms between first and second service;
• Dismissing worshipers by rows at the end of the service (in the back) through the south narthex exit, (in the front) through the canopy exit.

Why all this protocol? First, because your life and health are what matters most to your Pioneer Family. We not only want you to be safe—we want you to feel safe. Second, because being Christlike means considering the needs and safety of others, irrespective of our personal decisions (hence the required face masks). I believe our task force has made every safety provision so we may gather to worship our Creator and Savior in peace and confidence.

Does that mean we all show up this Sabbath? I doubt that will happen. Every worshiper must determine when is the right time to go back to church. Which means nobody needs to feel guilty about not worshiping in person. You’ll know when the time is right. And you will still enjoy a full live-streaming experience (9:00 AM/11:45 AM ET) where you live.

But for those of us who will venture into this “brave new world” this coming Sabbath, I say we celebrate our return with the words of David: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord’” (Psalm 122:1).