"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life."

"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

The more I read Revelation, the more I see it not as a book of terror and destruction, but as a book of hope and invitation. It is an invitation not to the righteous, but to "whoever is thirsty". There are no qualifications to receive new life and forgiveness from God other than to be thirsty, and he gives freely and without cost to any who come. This is the invitation which the Church is to extend to the world.

Just another thought. In Revelation 1:18 we hear Jesus say that he was dead and is now alive again, and that he holds the keys of death and Hades. In the Apostle's creed we also read:

"he descended into hell; and on the third day he rose again from the dead"

What does the idea of Jesus' descent into death and hell mean for the idea of hell itself? What about for those in this life who find themselves overwhelmed by the hells of isolation, self-hatred, darkness and depression? Jesus descended into hell and death and yet was raised up out of it victorious, and he now holds the keys to it. What should we now expect from Jesus in the light of this?

This week's Christian Carnival will be taking place over at Christweb. Christians from all backgrounds and denominations are welcome to submit articles on any aspect of the Christian life. E-mail the following details to christiancarnival@gmail.com to have your entry included:

Blog name and URL
Post title
Post URL
Trackback URL (if desired)
A 2-3 sentence description of the post.

For the full rules go here. My own entry this week will be a discussion on Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and the Bible.

The BBC reports on the recent controversy over a Benny Hinn crusade in Nigeria. Hinn was reportedly outraged that so few people turned up to his recent crusade that on the third day he openly attacked those who had organised the event and accused the locally based preachers of undermining him.

"Whatever disappointment he felt on the first and second days of the miracle crusade, Hinn kept to himself - but he opened up with anger on the final day.

"Four million dollars down the drain," he shouted into the microphone from the huge rostrum.

He said that he had been assured by the local organising committee that at least six million people would attend the crusade - but the total turnout was only around one million. As a result, he realised that all the mega public address equipment he had flown in from the US was not needed.

He also complained about some claimed expenditures, the charges imposed on pastors who attended his day-time seminar, and journalists who sought to cover the crusade."

I have to say that I find the whole culture surrounding a lot of African and Hinn-esque prosperity preaching utterly bewildering, with a terrible approach to scripture and theology that at times like little more than Christian magic or some form of contemporary animism with parts of the Gospel thrown into the mix. I noticed in the little guide to Nigerian preachers that the BBC did that Matthew Ashimowolo, the biggest prosperity preacher in Britain, has left the country after the Inland Revenue began to investigate his taxes. I caught Ashimowolo on the GOD channel a few weeks ago trying to raise money through offering "24-hour miracles" to people who gave money to the station. The idea being that if you "sowed" a multiple of £24 into the ministry (either £24, £240 or £2400) you would "reap" a miracle (be it to with financial need, health, or another kind of 'breakthrough') within 24 hours. Quite how intelligent people fall for this deceit is beyond me, it has nothing to do with the Gospel whatsoever. Grr.