A Study in Revelation 13

You can listen to the full unabridged audio here: Dragons, Monsters, and the Powers Behind the Curtain

We’re deep in dragon-and-monster territory now. If you’ve been following along in Revelation, you know we’re not exactly in cheerful, Hallmark-card Christianity. And that’s precisely the point.

Before we dive into the text itself, a quick note on Bible navigation: all those chapter and verse numbers? They weren’t in the original. They were added later to help people find their place — and the running joke among Bible scholars is that the divisions were made by a monk on horseback, because the breaks don’t always make sense. Case in point: N.T. Wright ends chapter 12 where the NIV begins chapter 13. If you want to experience Scripture fresh, try copying a passage into a plain document, stripping out the chapter and verse numbers, and reading it without those interpretive interruptions.

Now, on to the monsters.

If you would like to listen to the unabridged message listen here: The Stories Are True

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.

She wasn’t expecting a miracle. She was expecting a body.

That detail matters more than we usually let it.

You can listen to the full unabridged audio here: Revelation 8 - Behind the Cosmic Curtain

We are moving further up and further into the book of Revelation, specifically entering the “third cycle” of the vision in chapter 12. If you were making a TV show about the apocalypse but wanted to keep the source material a secret, this is where you would start. It’s mysterious, cosmic, and feels like a “behind the curtain” look at the universe.

However, for many readers, this is the point where the “brain on drugs” effect kicks in. The imagery is wild: a woman clothed in the sun, a seven-headed red dragon, and a cosmic war. But John is actually incredibly helpful here. He gives us a specific clue right at the start: “A great sign.”

You can listen to the unabridged post here: Glory Upside Down

Today is Palm Sunday—our annual reminder that the Kingdom of God doesn’t break into the world through tanks, armies, or military might. It doesn’t arrive with a show of force. Instead, it shows up on the back of a donkey, carried by a King who knows He is going to die.

Palm Sunday is a day of deep irony. We call it “Palm Sunday” because the crowds waved branches and shouted “Hosanna!” as Jesus entered Jerusalem. They treated Him like a conquering hero, but He wasn’t the kind of hero they wanted. In just a few days, those same crowds would turn on Him because He didn’t overthrow Rome. He didn’t play their game.

Because that’s not how the Kingdom comes. The Kingdom of God comes through a crucified Savior who reconciles all things by giving Himself away.

A Rule of Life isn’t about rigid structure or spiritual perfection—it’s about creating a simple, sustainable way of life that keeps you rooted in grace.

In this episode, we bring together everything from Season 1—attention, strength, flexibility, and recovery—and shape it into a rhythm you can actually live. Not an ideal life. Your real one.

To listen to the full unabridged episode: Revelation 7 - Sweet as Honey, Bitter in the Stomach

One of the most important habits we can develop when reading Revelation is remembering what kind of text we’re reading. It’s easy to open a Bible and forget that the various books represent different genres — you wouldn’t read the Psalms the same way you’d read 1 Kings, and you wouldn’t read 1 Kings the same way you’d read Philippians. Revelation is its own thing entirely.

This is a text of apocalypse — a revealing, a peeling back of spiritual realities. It’s written primarily in metaphor and symbol, giving us word pictures of things that are real but not literal. Not history. Not a timeline. A vision.

To listen to the full unabridged message listen here: Beyond the Catchphrase

We are currently journeying through the parables of Luke, leading up to Lent. Last week, we looked at the Prodigal Son—or perhaps more accurately, the parable of the Loving Father and the Angry Brother. This week, we turn to one of the most famous stories ever told: The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

The term “Good Samaritan” has become a cultural fixture. We have Good Samaritan laws, hospitals, and charities. It’s become shorthand for “a nice person who helps out.” But if we look closely at Luke 10, we see that Jesus wasn’t just giving a lesson on being “nice.” He was issuing a radical, scandalous challenge to our tendency to categorize who is—and isn’t—worthy of our love.

In this episode of The Pastor Next Door, we shift our focus from the pressure of “growth” to the necessity of recovery. Spiritual fatigue is real, and often, what we mistake for a lack of faith is simply a soul in need of rest.

You can listen to the unabridged audio here: Revelation 6 - Navigating the Storm

In our latest study of Revelation, we dove into chapters 8 and 9—a section of Scripture that is as intense as it is misunderstood. We’ve transitioned from the opening of the seven seals into a new cycle: the seven trumpets.

To understand where we are, we have to use a “fancy $10 word”: recapitulation. Revelation isn’t necessarily a straight line from A to Z; it’s a series of cycles that go back to the beginning to cover the same ground with different symbols, taking us “further up and further in” to the spiritual reality of God’s work in the world.