God's Greenhouse

For the past 12 years, I've had the privilege to serve as a pastor at Southbrook Church in Franklin.  My first four years as an Associate Pastor taught me tremendous lessons in failure, humility and compassion.

Serving for the past eight years as the lead pastor has far exceeded my expectations. Certainly, shepherding a community of people is challenging, no doubt about it. God continues to amaze and continues to be the focal point of this Christian Community.

About 2 years ago Southbrook embarked on an ambitious plan to purchase land so that we can build a permanent church facility. Our goal wasn't to get our own building. Our goal was to be able to connect to the 1 million unchurched people in a three county area. We saw the church facility as a tool to help us accomplish this goal. Southbrook teams identified a beautiful parcel of land and after successfully working with the City of Franklin to rezone this 18 acres; we formally purchased it.

A few months ago a local pastor called and asked if Southbrook would be interested in purchasing his church land and facility. Our leaders did a tremendous amount of due diligence, the behind-the-scenes effort to see if this new site would meet our current and future plans. After months of prayer, labor and hard work, Southbrook voted with 98% approval to purchase this new site.

A local newspaper editor called and asked to do a story on our move.  The 20 minute discussion ended up into this article.  Click Here to read it....

We've been following a truth that Stuart Briscoe once said, 'When God gives you a green light, you go until He gives you a Red.'  He's provided the green lights and we continue to humbly follow.

Armageddon: Bruce Willis and Revelation 16

It is surprising that one of the most esoteric verses in the New Testament is so well known within our American popular culture.  We read in Revelation Chapter 16 verse 16:  'Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.'

A fascination with the end-of-the-world propelled this verse into the forefront of our cultural consciousness.  Bruce Willis' 1998 move, 'Armageddon' brought in over $200M at the domestic box office.  From the WWF to our common lexicon, the word 'Armageddon' is embedded deep into our way of life.

But what is it?  Do Christians truly understand Armageddon?

Armageddon literally means 'Mt. Megiddo' and Megiddo is a site in modern day Israel.  It is actually a valley where many famous battles occurred.  The first major battle was with the Egyptian king, Thutmose III who fought against the Canaanites in 1468BC.  The last battle was in AD 1917 with the British conquest of Palestine.

There is no Mountain named Megiddo; however nearby is Mt. Carmel, where Elijah fought the prophets of Baal.  History records dozens of locations for this end-of-the-world battle.  From the Mississippi river valley, to the Ukraine, France and different locations in the Middle East.

While some commentators have done extensive work to show the specific geographical location of this final battle, others see it in more symbolic terms -the decisive battle where God defeats His enemies.

My opinion is that the geography and lexical clues are sufficiently vague enough to warrant much humility on identifying a specific location.  However the point of Revelation 16v16 is to show that God will triumph over his enemies.  Whether God does this in a battle that takes place in France, the Ukraine  or in Wisconsin -really doesn't matter..., what matters is that God's Team Wins!

Finding meaning in Revelation 16

Revelation Chapter 16 describes 'The Beginning of the End' for the world's powers who oppose God.  The previous chapter sets up the rationale for this last blast of judgments.  We see in Chapter 15 that the 'Bowls of Wrath' come from God's Temple in Heaven.  This helps the reader to see that these judgments are not from a capricious God, but rather from a God who is Holy and Just.

The Seven Bowls of Wrath contain many echoes that link back to the Plagues of Egypt during the time of the Exodus.  God designed this intentional link to remind us that just as He vanquished a World Power centuries earlier, He will do it again.

Many Old Testament allusions help the reader to see that Chapter 16 is the outworking of God's longstanding plan to deal with a rebellious world.

Isaiah 66.6 reminds us that God's wrath flows from His Temple, linking us to Revelation 16.1.
Isaiah 49.26 shows us that God's enemies will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine, linking us to Revelation 16.6.
Psalm 78.44 points to the truth that God will eventually turn His enemies rivers to blood, as in Revelation 16.4-7.

Questions arise, are these events to be taken literally or figuratively....?  And the answer is "Yes!" Revelation is rich in symbolism, to this all commentators agree.  Revelation 16 describes the final battle, -the final stand of humanity opposed to God.  God will judge this people and we know it will be terrible; far greater than words can describe.

If only we would turn to God rather than curse him....

Digging into Revelation 15

Revelation 15 is a transitional chapter as it sets up the final act of God's judgment towards those who oppose His followers.  Here we see the justification for the final bowl judgments that are about to be unleashed upon the world.  We are given a vision of heaven, of seven angels and upon the heavenly temple.


In the middle of this vision, John sees victorious Christians, those who have been persecuted, singing a song of praise to the Lord.  Scholars note that the song of Revelation 15 is a compilation of many Old Testament references.  Here are a few Old Testament links to this emotional and powerful song.

God's Character 15v3-4a

'Great and marvelous are your deeds...'       Psalms 111v2

'Lord God Almighty'                                         Amos 3v13 and 4v13

'Just and true are your ways'                         Deuteronomy 32v4

'King of the nations'                                        Jeremiah 10v7

'Who will not fear you O Lord'                       Jeremiah 10v7

'and bring glory to your name'                       Psalms 86v9

'For you alone are holy'                                   Psalm 99

Our Response 15v4b

'All nations will worship before you'                     Isaiah 2v2-4

'For your righteous acts have been revealed'    Psalms 98v2