Napier Baptist

My mate Alistair has been downloading the sermon series we have been doing at Napier Baptist on Revelation (you can access our sermons here) and listening to them. This had been freaking me out a bit because Alistair and I went to Bible College together and he was a very smart cookie who loved to exercise his mind in service of God. Then I read this that he wrote on his blog:

When it comes to the book of Revelations…
…this is the best series on the book I’ve heard. And yes, I’ve listened to DA Carson’s Revelations messages.
Andrew Picard is the Pastor of Napier Baptist (see my links to NZ Blogs). He and I went to Bible College together and I’ve always liked his commitment to intellectual rigor in all things Christian while at the same time not coming off (to me) as an egghead. He approaches Revelation by trying to understand what the original readers heard through the genre of apocolyptic writings, and then applies that message of that highly symbolic writing to today - and he does so without watering down the truth that God’s word is God’s word.

Wow! It's not always easy approaching Revelation from a very different perspective than what is often espoused in popular Christian circles and it's great to get encouraging feedback. Thanks for the high praise Alistair - and he's not even on the payroll. We will now have to make some alterations at home so that my head can fit through the door!

UPDATE: If anyone's interested in reading an excellent article that I drew on a lot for Revelation 13 then go here to read the article by Steven Friesen. It's not an easy read but persevere because it does an excellent job of putting Revelation 13 into its context.