The revelation of commands and rewards

The religious world has an unhealthy obsession with performance (and behaviour-modification).

And performance has everything to do with following rules (commands), doing things just right and being compensated (getting rewards). It is the execution and discharge of obligations to accomplish some benefit (blessing).

Yip, the so-called church service is performance driven. Even the Christian worship must be performance based, the preacher, the choir, the music, the prayer, the annual report - all must be a dramatic execution-overdrive of prescripts, done exactly right.

To get good with God.

It is a ritual. And religion has a doctrine name for its prescriptive ritual.

The word that the institutional church uses is liturgy.

What is the deal?

Here is how it ends

Most people refrain from reading the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

The name of this book in Greek is apokalypsis. It derived its name from the first sentence in the book. And it has been severely battered and butchered to fit the case of many end-time prophets. 

Mystical. Supernatural. Inexplicable. Other-worldly.

Fear-inducing and trepidating.

Except - it is not!

Say and send away

Jesus teaches us how to exercise dominion.

Kingdom dominion!

What?!

Do we even have dominion?

Yesterday, I was reading Matthew 28 (the very few last verses of the last chapter of Matthew) where Jesus commissions us to go out and do the unthinkable. I read a note there that I scribbled way back: Jesus has all the power (authority) and He gave us delegated authority and jurisdiction to overcome our obstacles in this world.

But that is not true!