Welcome to the home page for Living in Laodicea, which I first published in 2008. While much has changed over the past two decades, I feel that in many ways this book may be more relevant today than ever! That’s why the links below are not excerpts, but allow you to read the entire book on-line, and without cost.
So what’s the catch? No catch, just a couple of requests if you are so inclined:
- If you choose to read through the book—in whole or in part—I would just ask you to follow this site by subscribing to the blog. Subscribing isn’t required to access any of the links below, but it would be appreciated!
- Additionally, if what you read strikes a chord with you and you feel led to support this site, you can do that by buying your own copy. The e-book versions start around $5 through Amazon.com (Kindle), Barnes&Noble.com (Nook), and Google Play. And if you want to contribute more, the paperback version is available from most on-line booksellers for about $16-$20.
“Even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.”
Joel 2:12-13
Preface / Introduction
Whenever we read Scripture, it can be all too easy to detach ourselves from the audience to whom it was first written. We sit back as “critic” and react in astonishment that the nation of Israel was so often blind, forgetful, and faithless, when we should be amazed at how like them we truly are. Indeed, the same messages that God was proclaiming to His people 2,000 years ago are also meant for us…if we only have ears to ear.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:22
Part 1: The Case for Repentance
Are we spiritually awake, or are we fast asleep? We might like to think that we are faithfully serving our Lord and Savior, but denying we that have become complacent and lukewarm only compounds the problem. A wake-up call is coming for this nation—it’s not a matter of “if” but rather “when.” For if we fail to wake from our spiritual slumber, we can count on being rudely awakened by the hand of God.
Do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were; submit to the LORD. Come to the sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
2 Chronicles 30:8
Part 2: The Path to Revival
Before revival can come to our Church and our nation, we will have to view the church, our culture, our hearts, and even God Himself from His perspective…rather than our own. And in order to do that, we must first let go of any flawed notions of who God is and what He expects from us.
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Psalm 11:3
Part 3: A Broken Covenant
It has been said that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”, and yet many Christians have been taught that the Old Testament is irrelevant because of what Christ has done. Nothing could be further from the truth! Not only does Israel’s history help us understand what God had always purposed to do in Christ, but if we fail to heed the lessons of Israel’s past, we will certainly have to learn them ourselves.
- A Divine Appointment
- Slow to Anger
- Heaping Up Wrath
- A Vicious Cycle (coming soon)
- New Covenant, Old Problem
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel
Jeremiah 19:15
says: “Listen! I am going to bring on this city and
the villages around it every disaster I pronounced
against them, because they were stiff-necked and
would not listen to My words.”
Part 4: Countdown to Judgment
God is slow to anger, but His patience is not without limits. Judgment inevitably falls upon any nation that consistently ignores and marginalizes Him, and if we think that our nation is somehow “special”, that we will be spared our own day of reckoning, then we simply aren’t reading our Bibles. God has always raised up and brought down empires to serve His purposes, and we are no exception.
- Sovereign Judgment
- The Restoration of Israel
- Be Zealous, and Repent
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10 (NKJV)
Part 5: The Essence of Salvation
In a world that increasingly celebrates feelings and rejects truth, we need to be ever diligent to worship God not only in spirit—with our feelings—but also in truth. And while God is ultimately beyond our comprehension, He has revealed enough about Himself in His Word and through His Son so that we don’t have to guess on how to do either.
- Holy, Holy, Holy
- The Stumbling Block
- The Glory of the Cross
- Living By Faith
- The Benchmark of Faith
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Matthew 21:43-44
Part 6: The Heart of Discipleship
When we hear people talk about “revival” in the Church, it’s easy to assume that God is unhappy with the person next to us… But if we’re being honest, we all need to ask the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts, to confess where we are falling short, to repent of our selfishness, and to walk in obedience. This is what paves the way for revival, as we hold firmly to the Word of life and let our lights shine before a watching world.
- Talk is Cheap
- Resistance is Futile
- The Sin Leading to Death
- Victory in Jesus
- Fear and Trembling
- Blessed Assurance
- Knowing God
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
2 Corinthians 5:15
Socratic Christianity 