Evolutionists without a Soul

At some point you have to give up on modern science. The claims or insights mentioned in a recent New York Times article, Science of the Soul? ‘I Think, Therefore I Am’ Is Losing Force, state that the soul is simply an illusion of the brain's processes. Additionally, some animals, to a degree, can be thought of as having awareness, or what was formerly called a soul, these cutting-edge evolutionists suggest. I oversimplify for the sake of brevity.

They practically say, we've proved that not only is there no proof of a spiritual aspect to a human being, but this is conclusive evidence that God never existed, nor can ever exist. For my own speculations on the latter, please click on http://perfectfuturo.blogspot.com/2007/01/future-creates-past.html

It now becomes harder to continue being an evolutionary Christian. Such Christians will possibly take the plunge and give up on religion altogether. Others, as does one theologian mentioned in the article, proceed in another novel attempt to make sense of God and the soul, and evolution. For another novel attempt at life in a universe with an absent God, please click on http://perfectfuturo.blogspot.com/2007/06/why-are-we-here-different-approach.html

At some point you have to look inside and ask yourself what is really important. What science tells me about my lack of a soul, or what your life experience has told you, otherwise. You do have a soul. It is capable of seeking and nurturing a relationship with God.

Click on title of this post for the full New York Times article that inspired this post.

Naked did my Lord save me

Mother named me Dismas. I was very close to mother--closer than any of my brothers. Mother loved beautiful things and whenever she sang her evening songs, I was by her side even when no one else cared to hear her sing. I always thought memories of her voice would be the last thing I'd ever hear before I died.

My wife and I were childless. The problem was more with me than with my wife. The local priest had done everything he could do to remedy my marital difficulties. When word got out, accidentally, about why I had been to the priest so often, my wife and I were the shame of the town.

After many false starts, my wife and I parted ways and she remarried an older man who could give her what I could not, a son. Before I knew where I was headed I was doing odd jobs to survive. Before long, I fell in with a bad crowd and when things were at their lowest, I was imprisoned and condemned to hang on the cross.

With me were crucified two others, one of my former associates and a quiet man whom I had once heard speak by a quiet lake when I was still with my wife. I never forgot his simple words: "Come to me and I will give you rest."

As the pain ebbed and flowed I tired of hearing my fellow partner-in-crime curse and berate the quiet teacher. I told him that we deserved our punishment, but not this quiet and gentle man in the center cross. I knew that at some point they would take me down from the cross and break my legs. Before the pain made me lose consciousness and, eventually, my life, I looked at the gentle teacher and asked him to remember me as no one had ever done before in my sad life.

He looked at me and said that I'd be with him in paradise. I believed him and watched him die and cry out his painful cry of abandonment. I had hours or minutes to live, and any greater pain I would soon endure would be excruciating for sure, but the sound of his words of a future life with him, gave me hope that this would not be the end of my story.

As death wrapped its merciful arms around me, instead of my mother's songs, I remembered his kind words telling me that I'd be in paradise with him some day.

Halographic Prayers Underground

Alternate title: World Wide Web 2050

In a special holographic circular room your entire body is connected by wireless electrodes to the supercomputer that colors your seemingly endless room by purposely preventing you from ever hitting any of the walls.

You wear no goggles. There is nothing but yourself and the almost perfect illusion that you are in bright sunshine or in the mountains of the distant past, as you meet and experience people and locations that would have been unthinkable 43 years ago.

The clothes you try on are sent to your home. The furniture you sit on has been shipped and will arrive there by morning, or sooner, for you to enjoy. The virtual people you meet will seem to know you perfectly if ever you meet them in the flesh.

As you sit in the holographic church, or temple, and worship the real God in a real heaven, you wonder how anyone ever risked the safety and the variety that the holographic web now affords you. You find it preposterous that humanity once lived in the precarious world before the free nations of the world had to go into hiding to avoid the nonstop bombing of the cities above ground.

Ellen G. White Bookstore Opens in a Chic Gay Ghetto

My local church complains vocally about the Rainbow Flags (Gay Pride flags) that the homeowners across the street from the church building display on Saturday mornings, not just on gay pride week. When a guest speaker inquires why there is no evangelistic effort to address the spiritual and health needs of the mostly gay and lesbians who live in this upscale residential area that surrounds the church building, the answers that are given are some of the following:

"It is very hard, almost impossible, to convert gay men and women to Adventist Christianity."

"Our efforts are better spent on groups of people that we have some hope of reaching."

"Brother, what we have surrounding our church is a peacock feather farm, a birdcage full of exotically colored effeminate men and their muscular counterparts. They wouldn't be interested in what our church offers."

"These are mostly English-speaking gay men and women and our church is a Spanish speaking congregation. Where would they fit in if they can't speak the language?"

"We unfortunately, like Lot in the bible, are surrounded by the same type of environment like Sodom and Gomorrah. It doesn't get any more sinful than this city."

Finally, months later, a few church members of conscience opened up a vegetarian food store stocking meat substitutes, natural foods, organic foods, other health books and Ellen G. White books dealing directly with health. The Ministry of Healing was among the books sold at this one-of-a-kind health store.

Next door was an upscale wine store that only stocked wine under $50.00 called Naked Grape. Next door to that was a tea-only cafe where anyone from the community, gay or straight, could sip herbal tea, chai tea, etc., and chat until the next event materialized out of thin air. Several pricey clothing stores filled out the rest of the street. Across the street were expensive Thai restaurants, as well as a piano bar and a fine-dining restaurant. Real estate businesses selling million dollar homes popped in and out of business as the real estate market ebbed and flowed.

When they were approached by some church members who found this odd little food store by chance as they walked their dogs on a cool Sabbath weekend, they wondered why anyone would go to so much trouble and try to witness to men and women that the majority of Adventist society had long ago abandoned?

"If we can save even one soul with the message of Christ our Righteousness through the health message, any loss we've experienced will not have been in vain."

Very few people visited the store as it didn't fit in with the rest of the neighborhood. Some wished they'd stop selling the religious-health books and start selling New Age or Buddhist titles to go with the vegetarian lifestyle that the store was promoting. Others disagreed and said it was a great place to meet other men and women who were exclusively vegetarian. Others even thought of boycotting the store until they removed the religious-health material and only sold health books.

One day the police was called because someone had spray-painted the words "Gay haters" across the glass window. Though it rattled their nerves they cleaned up the window and replaced the odd sentiment with "Love Your neighbor as You Love Yourself."

That ensured for a time, at least, that the community and the strange store could continue to co-exist for another summer or two.

The Ellen G. White Health Boutique did not open its doors in vain. Many souls were eventually won.

He [Christ] passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself He presented a lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human sympathy. The Ministry of Healing, p. 25,26

Disclaimer: Please see comment section.

Bare Essentials of Salvation

"Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ... God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:5,11,12 (NIV)

I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I have overcome the world through this belief. I have eternal life through this belief.

If for no other person other than myself, I wanted to set these words in the blogosphere. In case life gets complicated or in case I get discouraged, I want to be reminded of these words and their simplicity.

How difficult Christianity is often made out to be. There are steps to Christ that must be followed in order to come to him. There are conditions to answered prayer, pastors tell me. There are doctrines one has to be familiar with and to belief in. There are things to make sure you do otherwise yours is not a saving faith, a living faith, a faith that works, and all other such standard phrases that we've encountered throughout our Christian lives.

Thank God not only for the epistles of John, especially 1 John, but also for the gospel of John, as well as for the Revelation of John. However, nothing can compare to these nuggets of faith, of victory over the error and evil in the world, and of the conditions to eternal life. How marvelously plain that simply by "looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith" we have victory over the world and we have eternal life.

I've sometimes admired those who spend hours and hours of their life meditating on one word as the transcendentalists do, "Om", for example. I no longer need admire them. I have my own powerful mantra. "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I have overcome the world through this belief. I have eternal life through this belief." If that's too long to focus on all through the day, then the initial text is more than enough, "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God."

Yes, some will tell me have I not read in James' epistle where he states that even demons believe. While they may believe, they do so out of fear, not out of love or out of wanting to be united to the compassionate Son of God. Let the demons believe what they wish. It is no concerns of ours. Let us, rather, focus our attention on believing in Jesus and in his being the Son of God.

If you've sinned and have doubts about your abilities to reform your life, believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Are you discouraged that there's no one out there who understand you and loneliness is a real burden? Believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Are you afraid of death? Believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Spend your waking hours dwelling on these priceless, saving words. "I believe that Jesus is the Son of God." When you get up in the morning, state these saving, faith-enhancing words. Before you drop off to sleep, state these life-changing words. In so doing, all the other details of salvation in Christ will find you. Don't worry about you finding them. Of course, continue to pray and read the Bible as often as you feel the need. And I hope you feel the need often. But the important things is to look to Jesus the author and perfecter of your faith. Believe in Jesus, that he is the Son of God and that through belief in him, through focusing all your attention on him, you can overcome the world. Believe in Jesus as the one who is able to give you eternal life. "And this is eternal life, that they might know You (God), and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

The Million Crucifixions of Christ

Alternate title: Christ's Crucifixion: 1,000,000 A.D.

Since Jesus already died once for humanity, would that prevent him from dying a second time if it ever became necessary? If free will is really free will, the mystery of sin might reappear thus making it necessary for Jesus to die to save humanity, in a million years say, all over again.

If this is true, what prevents Jesus from having died previously a million years ago? Had he never died at least once then the possibility of him dying again or having died before would not be even a remote possibility. Such a conjecture would carry no weight whatsoever. When you think about it, there's something mysterious and intriguing about God, in the person of Jesus Christ, dying. Normally the very concept of God brings visions of a being that doesn't die, that cannot die. In the human incarnation of Jesus of Nazareth, only then was God, able to die, only to live again by God's very self.

In order to be intimately associated with all of his created beings, does Christ, in some form or other, also die as one of the other sentient species that inhabit our universe?

Has Christ, in fact, died on a million different worlds, to a million different intelligent species? In similar manner, will Christ come again to each of those million different worlds? What makes us think that we're the only intelligent species for whom Christ died?

Are there a million different Bibles on each of the million worlds where Christ also died?