My Online Faith Journal

        I recently spent several weeks listening to lectures from Dr. M. Robert Mullholland from Asbury Seminary about the book of Revelation.  He had a very different viewpoint than what I have heard before.  It has caused me to rethink some of my previously held views.  One of the concluding statements that is made in that class is that Revelation is a call to discipleship to live as faithful followers of Christ and citizens of New Jerusalem in a fallen Babylon world.  There are several other conclusions that I made.      I don't know if you have ever gone to a worship service and felt dissatisfied with it.  You walk away feel like there must be something more and feel like while it was nice that there was something missing.  Maybe you felt like you really didn't meet with God, but only heard a viewpoint from a man or woman who was speaking.  Well, the good news of this passage is that this will one day change.  One day as citizens of New Jerusalem we will dwell with God and

    12  A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;   2  and she was pregnant and she *cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. The Red Dragon, Satan 3  Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads  were  seven crowns.   4  And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her Child. The Male Child, Christ 5  And she gave birth to a Son, a male, who is going to  [ a ] rule all the  [ b ] nations with a rod of iron; and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.   6  Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she *had a place prepared by God, so that there  [ c ] she would be nourished for 1,260 days.  Revelation 12:1-6, NASV     In the class that I am taking

   I have been reading the book "Invitation to a Journey" by the late M. Robert Mulholland Jr.  I found out about Dr. Mulholland through a training site called biblicaltraining.com.  He teaches a class on Revelations there that was taped before his death in 2015.  I was so impressed by this man's knowledge that I looked him up and found out he was the author of several books.  A few days late, I happen to find one of those books on sale at the library for 10 cents.     There are a lot of good points in this book about spiritual formation.  I think those of us who are Baptist and many others in the church should consider spiritual formation and where we are in our walk with Christ.  So many people say that they are saved, but have little evidence of that in their lifestyle.  Dr. Mulholland talks about the stages of the classical christian pilgrimage as being first awakening, then purgation, illumination and then union which includes an abandonment to grace.  I noticed that