August/September 2026 Revealing Light Newsletter

For a few generations, the message has been, “Well, I don’t want to end up in hell, I’d rather go to heaven, so I guess if Jesus is the only way into Heaven, then I guess I’ll follow Him.” Jesus just became secondary (second fiddle), He became our means to our heart’s end goal. Our hearts were set on the created rather than the creator. We had missed our first love. “They have worshiped the created rather than the creator.” (Romans 1:25)

Who is worthy of our worship? Reading through the Book of Revelation, we are quickly reminded of the answer. Who is worthy of our worship? The One who created us, who has given us life each day, who has given us the ability to even worship. He is worthy of our worship, devotion, and love. He is our first love; without Him, we can’t even love. Yet without realizing it, sometimes, our picture of heaven has become our first love and reward, leaving Jesus as just the secondary means to get what we really want.

Question: “Would We Follow God for Who He Is without the Promise of Heaven?”

We gain so much from the faith of Old Testament people. For many years and generations, people followed God without a clear promise of heaven or the afterlife, all they knew is that we all end where our ancestors ended, we will join them in the grave of Sheol (Gen 15:15; Deut 31:16). They followed God not for the reward they get from God in an afterlife; rather, they followed because God is God and there is no other… He is the God who brought them out of Egypt, He is the one who sustains them through the desert, He is the one who created them, He is the one giving life to them and all creation today, etc...

C. S. Lewis (Narina) wrote in a letter (Dec 23, 1950):
   “Note that life after death, which still seems to you the essential thing, was itself a late revelation. God trained the Hebrews for centuries to believe in Him without promising them an after-life, and, blessings on Him...”

It has got me thinking over and over again, do we follow God for God Himself or do we follow the reward from God? Is God first or secondary? Are we more interested in falling in love with Him or what we can get from Him? Is it the relationship we see in the movies, “You don’t love me, you just love what you can get from me.” What is our first motive? Our motive can often be revealed by our evangelistic message, “It’s either heaven or hell, and if you don’t want to go to hell, then you’ve got to get Jesus.” Jesus becomes a secondary thing to gain the first, rather than seeking God first and with Him gaining everything else…
 
What’s amazing for us then, is that we have been given the benefit of hope with Him eternally, now and into the New Heavens & the New Earth. This is the secondary bonus with an eternal reward of being with God! As we read throughout the New Testament, this hope that we have through Jesus Christ helps us endure through whatever we face in life now. It helps us from idolizing things that fade away to then place our hearts toward eternity. We join God’s People from the Old Testament times in seeking and following God for who He is, while we get to share in the New Testament Hope that Jesus Christ has brought with God’s Kingdom.
We join as God’s creations say to Him in Heaven:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
     to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
     and by your will they were created
     and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11)

     “Salvation belongs to our God,
     who sits on the throne,
     and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:10)

     “Amen!
     Praise and glory
     and wisdom and thanks and honor
     and power and strength
     be to our God for ever and ever.
     Amen!” (Revelation 7:12) 


- Daryl Struemph

Our ideas and opinions about God doesn’t truly define who He is (we don’t make God in our own image… that would be idolatry). His character shows us who He truly is. Yet, there’s been times when we’ve misjudged a person based on our quick surface-level interactions with them before we later get to know their true intentions and heart, revealing their true character, not our caricature that we painted of them. That’s the concern of gossip and idol making: taking someone’s identity into our own hands, “playing god over them”, making them in the image we create for them. There are times we may find that we are doing this with God too, “making our own image of god, a false idol.”

How do we combat that?
Getting to know who God truly is starts not with our own opinions but in the truth of God’s Revealed Character throughout History found in God’s Revealed Word. Our own character isn’t simple but very complex in each situation, and that is the same for our Huge God, creator of the Universe! If we are truly image-bearers of God with all of our own complexities, then how much more is that true for God?!

I say that to help remind us that as we get to see God’s character, we won’t be able to simplify Him neatly into a simple comprehensive box; yet, it will help us carve out any false ideas of who God is that aren’t true (false images that we’ve created for god).
 
Jesus helped us in this by saying, “If you know me, you know my Father”… (John 14:6-7). The writer of the book of Hebrews went on to tell us that Jesus is the Exact Nature/ Imprint/ Embodiment of God’s Nature & Character (Hebrews 1:1-3). That’s pretty helpful for us!

God even tells us, “If you seek me, you will truly find me” (Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7-8; Deuteronomy 4:29; Psalms 27:8; Psalms 63:1).
God wants us to get to know Him. He isn’t hiding. He’s revealed Himself to us through Jesus, His Word, His Spirit, & His Creation. Let’s take this journey together as we get to know and love Our God more deeply and truly for who He is.

“Beyond the Limits of Words”
Uh oh, where do we begin though??
Do we begin at the beginning as we usually want to? Well, then that would be “Creator”, right? Yet, why did He create? He created out of His Nature, “Love”. But, Love also envelops so much too!! Or, does so much come from Love? Of all those other characteristics (joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness (just), gentleness, self-control, mercy, grace [Galatians 5:22-23]), are those the outcome of Love?

Rather than trying to define Love though and slap that definition on God, we actually need to start with God and let Him define who He is as we try to use words that help characterize Him. God isn’t stuck in the box of specifically defined words -- He is the meaning and definition of those words. Words are the ways we’re just trying to comprehend (put into limited words) the one who is truly beyond words.

1 John 4:7–16 (NIV) 
   Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
   This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. 
   God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.


Can you see how just beginning, we’re already opening up the the greatness and majesty of God Himself? In Awe and Wonder yet?
No wonder we have worship songs singing the lyrics,

• “Indescribable, unexplainable”
• Gratitude: “All my words fall short...
• “You Are God Alone...”

As we quickly see, we can't just take God into our own hands and simply wrap Him up into a nice, easy, simple bow to present.

Really, God invites us into this relationship to get to know Him with unending depths. No person that we’ve gotten to know is a simple human that just falls into easy categorical definitions. In relationship, we get to know a person in their complexities. God is inviting us to get to know Him like we would like to know another friend; yet, He is not only our friend but in high reverence, He’s also our Creator and Life-Giver each day in His mercy and love. There we go again, the complexities of God -- His Love. This life-long journey with God may be complex, but I wouldn’t want to spend that anywhere else than within the complexities of Him & His Unending Love. How about you?


Psalm 63:1-8 (NIV)
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

You, God, are my God,
   earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
   my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
   where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary
   and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
   my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
   and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
   with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you;
   I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
   I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
   your right hand upholds me.  


- Daryl Struemph

We so appreciated everyone's help in preparing for VBS and for participating in it! The experience comes from all of us prayerfully working and enjoying it together :) We loved getting to have our Roman Family Groups, meet new friends, make new things in the marketplace, interact with the dramas happening in Rome during meals, to sing and dance to new songs together, meet and learn from Paul & Brutus in the house jail, and to catch up with our friends in the Underground Church. What a way to experience lessons that Christians then and now are still getting to learn and share today! You can find pictures of these VBS days on our Facebook Page.

Big Shout Out to everyone that brought desserts and/or stayed to help with the luncheon for the Teachers Appreciation Luncheon.  Thank you for your help to show how much we greatly appreciate the teachers & staff.  Our prayers are with them as they start & during this school year.

In this series, Dr. Shane J. Wood explores the Book of Revelation, addressing common challenges and misconceptions. The sessions cover various aspects, including the intimidating imagery, ignored or abused nature of Revelation, and the symbolism present throughout the book. Dr. Wood emphasizes the importance of understanding genre, the historical background, and the peculiar organization of thought within Revelation. The series also delves into key themes such as God's control, the message in interludes, and the application of Revelation to everyday life. Specific case studies on topics like the Mark of the Beast and the Rapture are examined, providing clarity and dispelling myths. The sessions conclude with insights into the concept of Heaven and the promise of a new heavens and a new earth. Throughout, Dr. Wood strives to simplify Revelation, making it accessible and relevant to contemporary audiences.