Quarantine Revelation

Dear Church Family and Friends,
We have never had an Easter like Easter 2020, and never another April like this April. It makes one think of John, exiled on the Isle of Patmos, and how, even that, did not turn out to be so bad. Jesus’ beloved disciple was quarantined on the Isle of Patmos. He was older and banished by the Roman emperor because of the Word of God and his testimony of Jesus. John, who was called The Beloved disciple, found that they might be able to separate him from the body of Christ, but not from the Lord Himself. Patmos became an open window to heaven. It was a place of vision, a vista of revelation, and a place of miraculous manifestation. Do you remember jail for Joseph or the den with Daniel’s name on it? The Lord always finds ways to minister to his faithful saints in their confinement.

Here, we find Rome trying their very best to silence this last remaining disciple of Jesus Christ. However, it was here that God opened up the heavens, and what he saw became a letter which contained the richest and greatest revelation of end-time events. John’s take away from his confinement is left for us to enjoy to this day. I am looking for what John was given to see. He saw Jesus as the Alpha and Omega, The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, Christ the Victor, and the final rider on the white horse. He also saw The Emerald Throne, The New Jerusalem, and The Tabernacle of God among men. The question is, what are we looking for, more bad news, or are we looking up knowing that God is looking down?

I don’t think any of us have ever considered how important life together really is until it is taken from us. Paul, the apostle, knew from seasons of isolation what it meant to have a team of believers that believed in him. He wrote for us a memo concerning this very subject.

1 Corinthians 12:21-24 (The Message) “But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher.

This being said, I really miss all of you, but I am with you in spirit. If you need anything, please call the office and let us know. I close with the words from this song.

“You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
If you've got troubles, I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and can see it through
Cause you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me”.