Chilling out after a demanding few days online, on the first day’s evening of our long weekend we took a friend with us to spend a couple of hours in non-stop Spirit-led worship. Alan Shemwell, author of Trustworthy and True had sent a thank you message but I was intrigued to now hear a new relevance of the Book of Revelation only to be more astonished that the evening began with this full quotation of Rev 1:10-26:

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, ¹¹ saying, ^[g]“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches^[h]which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
¹² Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; ¹⁵ His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; ¹⁶ He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. ¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying ^[i]to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of^[j]Hades and of Death.^{19 [k]}Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.²⁰ The^[l]mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the^[m]angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands ^[n]which you saw are the seven churches…”

SO, MY ATTENTION WAS WELL AND TRULY CAUGHT AND I RECALLED HOW OFTEN THESE VERSES HAD FEATURED AND BEEN REPEATED THOUGHOUT THE WEEK – THEREFORE, IT MUST BE WHAT THE LORD IS SAYING TO THE CHURCH > REPETITIONS STRESSING, ‘PAY ATTENTION!’

Therefore, here’s the week’s daily sequence of ‘jigsaw pieces’:

1. Sunday – Elam Ministries director on Revelation chapter 1.
2. Monday – house group discussion of Sunday’s teaching on Rev 1.
3. Tuesday – Chris G Bennett posts on Facebook above Rev 1 AI-image.
4. Wednesday – I used image for Triple47 post in drafting introduction to Alan’s book on the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
5. Thursday – with ‘coincidence’ of Amazon pricing, posted outline of Trustworthy & True + our church’s post-Alpha evening course looks at Revelation.
6. Friday – read message from Alan about follow-up study groups + opening invocation of worship at Waverley quotes from Revelation 1, as above.

So would there be a 7th event? Had we not been at a friend’s 30th birthday party on Saturday then I may have been able to publish Alan’s message, which is now next post.

Meantime, do listen to this worship song about Jesus’ return…