Righteousness by Faith

What happens while you await sanctification? Yes, sanctification is a life-long process. Perhaps I'm fusing both justification and sanctification into one big term: righteousness by faith. Do you do right things even when you don't want to? If you do them is it righteousness by works or is it buying time till these right things happen naturally? If you don't do the sanctified act or thought, are you suddenly unsaved? If you really are experiencing bona fide righteousness by faith, are you even conscious of it? If you focus too much on yourself and what you are or are not doing, is your focus on the wrong person? If you focus on Jesus as much as you can, do you also need to monitor your actions? If you are monitoring your actions and they are either missing the mark or are hitting the mark more and more, how do you know that it's the genuine article and not wishful thinking?

Righteousness by faith is a gift of God. You can try to find it by engaging in various activities or spiritual exercises. They are not a guarantee that you will receive the gift of justification by faith, but it's better than not doing anything at all. One can engage in bible reading & payer. One can focus on the person of Jesus and visualize him on the cross and in the different stages of his life. One can attend religious services in a Christian church that one finds helpful. One can surrender one's will (power to choose) to Christ and ask him to grant you the gift of surrender. One can do all these things and yet not be guaranteed the gift of righteousness by faith.

Perhaps salvation itself arrives mysteriously. When you are living your life or trying to live it, this elusive gift may arrive much to your surprise.

Some folks can say "I accept Christ. I want his gift of eternal life. I repent of my sins. I want something more than this world can give me." They may be sincere and perhaps that is all they need to "come to Christ." However, others may have other experiences or other baggage that gets in the way and these wonderful phrases are simply that--phrases.

In the final analysis, one can only come to Jesus time after time and tell him that if he wants to save you, he has to "take your heart because you are unable to give it to him of your own accord."

Evangelism and Gays - Resources

"Below are posts that deal with different approaches regarding ministering to gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. Since no one approach is practical or life-saving to every person who seeks an answer, every link should be explored with an open mind. May God guide you, in his mercy and loving kindness, to the approach that will keep you alive, healthy and seeking after him and the salvation he offers freely to you through Christ Jesus.

The links below are not listed in any particular order. Read them all in order or read them as the Spirit moves you. Don't make up your mind until you have considered all approaches be they traditional, practical or idealistic. What may appeal to you now may not appeal to you as the reality of life requires you to seek another approach. If you can suggest an approach that should be listed here, please be so kind as to mention it and I will consider if it is valid enough to list in these resources. God bless all who are seeking an answer.

Evangelism and the Male Homosexual

Ellen G. White Bookstore Opens in a Chic Gay Ghetto

Gays in a Sexless Heaven

Trembling Before G_d

Pro and Con: How to integrate same sex-attraction and emotional attraction to members of the opposite sex.

Ex gays? Theory or Reality

Dilemma of a Homosexual

Homosexuality and the Bible (Walter Wink)

Reaching Out: One Man Tells of His Lifelong Struggle with Homosexuality

Sex Addicts Anonymous

God's Arts of Light

Why speak of the dark arts of the enemy as some restless souls are wont to do from time to time? Our God's arts of light are infinitely more intriguing and beneficial.

Briefly, these arts are:

prayer, meditation, chanting of Bible verses, chanting of Spirit of Prophecy texts, healing via religious visualization, grace, righteousness, acts of kindness, righteous laughter, spiritual music, fasting, ...

These are only some of the Holy Arts. There may be others that time will make evident.

Activities:

1. Chant portions of scripture that deal with Light or other principles of grace. Chant these aloud if by yourself or in a group of believers or mentally chant them to yourself. Chant each phrase or text once, pair it with another similar verse from another part of scripture, or the Spirit of Prophecy, and then begin the second or third repetition. The goal is to eventually do this spontaneously or even subconsciously.

Examples: "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom then shall I fear. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom then shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27

"I am still convinced of this: I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord. Be strong and take heart [cheer up] and wait on the Lord." Psalm 27

"God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe." Steps to Christ, 77.1

2. Whether sitting up in a quiet place or lying in your bed late at night or early in the morning, engage in the following mental exercise:

Imagine Christ himself standing next to you and placing his hands on your head or your shoulder as he transmits healing light all throughout your body.

3. I've been praying in new way for some months now. I call it visualization-oriented prayer. Sometimes when I'm dropping off to sleep or when I rise, or even when I'm working out at the gym, I visualize Christ--a faceless Christ which I do intentionally to avoid any hint of idolatry--who is standing next to me and either healing me of whatever pains I'm experiencing, or actually clothing me with his robe of righteousness. I don't think many people pray visually and it shouldn't take the place of word-oriented prayer. Sometimes, though, an image can express so much more spiritually speaking when words fail, or when the concurrent activities do not allow for actual words to be entertained as one prays. Perhaps this could be one way of fostering an attitude of prayer even when one is not using actual words.

The Death of Time

"The end has come," Ezequiel chapter 7 announces.


Living in a timeless reality would be heaven, indeed.


If something dies, something else can live. Counter time, neo-time, non-time are possible replacements for what we know as time.

Minimal blog post: These are scraps of blogs that died before they could really live. Sometimes the title is the most significant aspect of the post. Other times, a lot is left to the reader's imagination. I include them as one would include unbaked loves of bread at the dinner table.