Hello! I am Jon Paulien and I’m glad you came to this page to check out my work. I am a New Testament scholar and Professor of Religion at Loma Linda University. On this website you will find a collection of my articles, commentary on Revelation, and links to my blog, videos, and other resources. Make sure you check the articles link above regularly to see the latest postings. In my hand above is an exact replica of p52, the earliest extant New Testament manuscript fragment, containing portions of John, chapter 18. Centered above my head is a replica of ancient Greek pottery. At either end above are two sets of books from, and about, my favorite spiritual author, Ellen G. White. I hope you enjoy the site.

Daily Devotional For August 29, 2026

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And they were singing, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one was able to learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. Rev 14:3.

           The song is new, not just because the experience is new, but because the people who sing it are “new.”¹ They have known sorrow and pain. They have known abuse and rejection. They have struggled with physical, mental and emotional handicaps. They have known the bitter consequences of sin. But God will make all things new, including His people. He is the Master Craftsman.
           Imagine a king who leaves his throne and goes down into the city in disguise. He enters the slums of the city and walks down a dark alley. There he sees an old, homeless man, playing a beat-up trumpet, trying to raise a few coins, playing the same old song over and over. It sounds terrible. A broken song coming from a broken trumpet.
           The king approaches the man and says, “I’d like to buy that trumpet of yours. I’ll pay you enough money to live in a mansion.
           “You mean this trumpet?” The homeless man says, “This beat-up, rusty old thing, dents and all? You want this trumpet?”
           “Yes, that trumpet.” The king buys the trumpet, takes it home, gives it to his son and says, “I want you to fix this trumpet up for me.”
           The son takes the trumpet to his work room. He puts a new mouthpiece on it. He works out the dents. He puts new valves on it. He scrubs it clean and then uses wax and a buffing cloth to polish it. The Bible says that God will take us like gold, polishing and refining us, cleaning us up, getting the dents out. He is working on us right now!
           Finally the day comes when the trumpet is ready. The son takes a shiny brass trumpet and brings it to his father with the father’s name inscribed on the trumpet. The king takes the trumpet and says, “Looks great, son, I can’t wait to try it out.”
           The king takes the trumpet, nice and shiny now, puts it to his mouth and blows. And this time it is not the same old song, it isn’t a broken melody. It isn’t the kind of music this trumpet has played before. There is a new song coming out of that trumpet. A glorious and grand song. It has been made new!
           Our lives today may be rusted with selfishness and pride or corroded with lust and envy. We may feel bent up and dented. But the Master Craftsman already has us in His work room. And when He’s done with us, we’ll be singing a new song!

           Thank You for hope and a future, Lord. May that future shape my life today.

¹ Damien Johnson, “A New Song,”Adventist Review, December 18, 2003, 16-17.