We Create Our Adventist Reality

The reason the concept of the remnant is so effective is that only a few will ever be able or want to live the sometimes austere lifestyle of Adventism.

Traditional Adventists focus on wholesome music, art and entertainment. They eat wholesome foods, drink healthy beverages, and live a healthy lifestyle that traditionally has been both a comfort to dyed-in the wool Adventists, and a source of restlessness for the more adventurous among us.

Even though it would probably never come to pass, since you could no longer speak of a remnant, imagine what a primarily Adventist society would be like. Well, such societies actually do exist in the enclaves near Adventist institutions. The only difference is that you can always find a gas station within driving distance if you needed gas on the Sabbath.

Imagine, if you will, a world of mostly Adventists where gas stations never opened on Sabbath because everyone walked to church. That sounds like what Jewish believers do by having temples near their communities. Realistically, a society where everything stood still on the Sabbath sounds a lot like heaven on Earth.

Who would there be to evangelize in a mostly Adventist society? Again, I've experienced that when I lived in an Adventist enclave and wanted to walk to my evangelism exercise walk on Sabbath afternoon, only to find that--surprise surprise--everyone within walking distance was already Adventist. Of course, some of the Adventists I found were listening to secular music on Sabbath and not bothered by the fact that I was knocking on their door to speak to them about Christ and was subsequently informed, "everyone is Adventist in this building except the man below us who is battling cancer. If you want you could knock on his door." That was my first and last attempt to go door-to-door in a mostly Adventist community.

What if Christ, out of kindness to the Adventist worldview, actually comes back and takes the Remnant to an Adventist afterlife of their own creation? To do otherwise would seem less than kind. In a universe where anything is possible, might there also be an alternate universe where Catholics enjoyed a proper Catholic-tinged afterlife, replete with the virgin Mary having more of a salvific role than she does in protestant churches.

Might this be the reason why God tolerates so many different religions and varieties of Christianity and Judaism, because there are enough alternate universes to accommodate all his children and their particular vision of the afterlife?

Who knows, maybe the good folk in the recently conceived (8th-day) Adventist Futurism movement might also one day live and enjoy the future reality they so passionately hope comes to light.

In the future perhaps everyone will have their "million year picnic"* in a heaven of their own imagining.

* The Million Year Picnic is a 4000-word short story by Ray Bradbury, about a family from Earth that emigrates to Mars.

Post-Laodicean Church of Revelation 3:15

The imperfect Laodicean church, because of its lukewarm state, has already received its sentence when the Amen says "I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Rev. 3:16 (NIV) You might say that this sad spitting out has not taken effect since it speaks of "about to spit" instead of "have spit you out." Even though there is hope that the lukewarm church could potentially abandon its lukewarm condition through the spiritual gifts it is counseled to buy from the Amen, the sad reality of the Laodicean church is that it does not recognize its lukewarm state.

Note these important words, "I wish you were either one or the other [hot or cold.] Rev. 3:15 (NIV) Only in moving toward one of these two options can the Laodicean church leave its lukewarm state. Once it's fully conscious of its cold state, then perhaps the possibility of future heat can transform it, or it might also be that when once it crosses over into a cold state, it has effectively sealed its fate because it no longer makes any pretense of being even spiritually warm or, as it says of itself, "I am rich . . . and do not need a thing. Rev. 3:17 (NIV) This almost sounds like a pre-condition to becoming spiritually cold.

Since the first church, the Apostolic church, was a hot church, and since hot is the desired and positive outcome that the Amen wishes for the Laodiceans, then clearly the Laodicean church because of its steady-state lukewarm condition cannot be the last church because it would then cease to be identifiably lukewarm and would have evolved into a post-Laodicean church.

Without mentioning it by name, the words "I wish you were either one or the other [hot or cold] Rev. 3:15 (NIV,) infer the theoretical existence of a post-Laodicean church, in effect an Eighth church. Yes the number seven in the bible symbolizes completeness and you might argue that the seventh church is therefore the last one, however, the identifying characteristic of the Laodicean church is lukewarmness which does not sound like an ideal state. The wishing that this supposedly last church were either hot [desirable] or cold [undesirable but complete in its total rejection of grace] infers the return to the spiritual heat of the first church, the apostolic one. The last and ideal church would have to be like the first and ideal church. The cycle has to come full circle.

It would have been unwise to explicitly mention the Eighth church by name. Anyone identifying with it would be guilty of self-pride that he or she were part of the Eighth and ideal neo-apostolic church. By not mentioning it, it leaves the door open for its virtual existence when it finally comes into being. However, the difference being that no one who is part of the Eighth church will ever realize that he or she is, in fact, part of such an ideal and final church. Members of that church will continue thinking that they have the imperfections of the Laodicean church with its need to buy gold, white clothes and salve to put on their eyes. The silence of the name not being spelled out, or of a corresponding city being designated for this Eighth church allows it to be applied to all believers who are honest enough to realize that they are lukewarm and are in need of the Amen's saving gifts.

Identifying oneself with the lukewarm and vain Laodicean church has never seemed like much of an inspiration to me. On the other hand, wishing to be part of an unspoken and hot church, a Post-Laodicean church, sounds very attractive and worth seeking out with all the intensity that such a goal deserves.

May this Eighth church, which will remain nameless and virtual in its actual manifestation, be part of your life and mine. Or, rather, may we have the faith to seek the gold, white clothes [righteousness by faith] and eye salve that will allow us to become part of this nameless and hidden church. It is a church that hides conveniently in the description of the supposedly Seventh and final church.

Secular Sabbath

The Secular Sabbath article, in the New York Times surprised me. I had designed a web page outlining the concept of Futurism of the 8th-Day three years ago. Although it does not use the words "secular sabbath" it outlines just that very concept. In it I define the secular sabbath as

• Eighth-Day Futurism is embodied in an abstract day of meditation, contemplation, acts of charity, positive action and beauty. This Eighth day can occur during any of the days of the week and, if a full 24-hour period is not available, should consist of at least three or six or nine hours of your day.

In a similar vein, I wrote a blog post containing the words "secular sabbath" dated December 27, 2006. Technically, however, it was about a spiritual sabbath, but with some flexibility as to when the Sabbath started and ended, or continued for those with time, discipline or need for it to do so.

In my post I have a link connecting readers to A Never-Ending Perfect Day with a publish date of July 01, 2006. Even though the leeway I mention is not as strict as the 24-hour secular sabbath the New York Times writer spells out, I'm surprised about the concept of a secular sabbath being tossed around on blogs.

I continue to practice the eternal sabbath, as I now refer to it in my devotions, to make up for the bi-monthly demand of my employers for me to work on the Sabbath. When I didn't have to work every other Sabbath, I didn't appreciate it as much. Now I celebrate the Sabbath at sundown on Fridays, continue it Saturday morning before work, continue it during my breaks during my work day, pick it up again after I leave work on Saturday night at 6 pm and sometimes finally say my goodbyes to the Sabbath experience when the sun rises on Sunday morning. Occasionally I enjoy the beauty of the Sabbath rest on a midnight walk with my golden retriever any day of the week and thank God for the eternal rest that awaits me in the next world.

It's nice to note that others enjoy and need a conceptual sabbath, as well. I wonder where the idea originated for non-religious folk to come up with a 24-hour break from secular demands.

God bless all Sabbath keepers in all their varieties. May he bless those that keep the strict 7th-Day Sabbath, those that keep the conceptual Sabbath (the 8th-Day Sabbath), and those that keep the secular sabbath. A sabbath is still a sabbath no matter what you call it. Some Sabbaths are more fulfilling than others. In the end, they give the rest and richness humans are seeking. God bless all our sabbath days.

How to Experience the Perpetual Sabbath

What is more important? Thinking of God daily, whenever you get a spare moment to meditate on him or talking to him moment by moment as you would to a friend?

Or is it more important to be fixated on a 24-hour period when we have to refrain from secular activities, have to or should worship with others, pay your tithes and offerings, visit people in hospitals or prisons--well maybe that's not so bad--attend choir practice, young people's meetings, special hour of prayer during mid-afternoon, and all the other trappings of rigid Sabbath keeping?

Do people who need to work on Sabbath every other Saturday or every 4th or 6th Saturday to support their families or themselves, are they breaking the Sabbath commandment? Are those who routinely show up in church on Sabbath morning and pat themselves on the back that they are upstanding Sabbath-keeping Adventists necessarily more heaven-bound than those unfortunate souls who have to punch the clock during some Saturday mornings to not be a burden on society, their families or their God?

Or maybe all these activities are not that bad provided you really want to or need to. But to feel you have to, now that's not living life to the fullest. Perhaps if we asked God to really enable us to keep the Sabbath holy, not as a means to salvation, but as a means to spending quality time with him, that would not be so bad after all.

Why just consider one 24-hour period holy to the Lord? Why not observe and enjoy the perpetual Sabbath that has no end and no beginning. I'm speaking of a conceptual day of rest and ceaseless worship of God in all you do and say.

When the sun sets on Sabbath evening, I thank God for the blessings of the traditional Adventist-Jewish Sabbath and thank him for the beginning of the ongoing reality of his Perpetual Sabbath rest.

To the Angel of the Eighth Church

I know an eighth church was never intended. The seventh church, Laodicea, was to have been the very last. It was not.

Many of you are on fire for your Lord, others are colder and colder everyday. Why speak of a lukewarm state anymore? Just as there are hotter and hotter degrees of heat, so are there colder and colder degrees of cold.

Among you are carnal Christians who, though wanting to love their Lord, fail miserably. I've done all I can do for them. The rest is in their hands. Do they really want to be rid of their carnality? Or do they love their sinful natures more than they love me?

I am grateful for the spiritual Christians among you, though I have this against you: take heed lest you focus too much on your spirituality and forget those who are not as focused as you. You could very well join their ranks and suffer as they do, wanting to love me, but unable to do so because of their great love for self. Minister to their weaknesses with the strength I have given you by my Spirit.

Finally, know that I hate those who hate sinners and love those who love them, as I love them.

If you have ears to hear, take heed of what the Spirit says to the Angel of the Eighth Church.

What is Real? Anything?

When I first read about the idea that we might be a computer simulation I thought that it was a bit much and that someone had nothing better to do than speculate about the nature of reality. It's odd that all of this speculation goes hand in hand with cutting-edge technology. If one day, lets say, science perfects teleportation, then that will become the paradigm with which to redefine reality, or what we think reality is.

If one day we're here one moment and light years away in a flash, philosophers might start to wonder if we were ever here to begin with, or if when we got to where we were going would we still be the same person, or would we ever be that person again, if we teleported back from whence we came.

Of course even Plato questioned whether this was the true reality or whether it was a shadow of the ideal model somewhere in some perfect sphere beyond our reach. I've sometimes thought that the apostle Paul must have read much of Plato when he spoke of "looking through a glass darkly."

Please click on the title of this post to read the original New York Times article, Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch, by John Tierney that got me to thinking about the views I've expressed here.

(8th-Day) Adventist Futurism: A Manifesto

"... However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8 (NIV)

1. Adventist Futurism builds on 7th-Day Adventism. In some ways it is a continuation of the original movement. In others it is the next phase or development. All of the richness and history of 7th-Day Adventism is admired, cherished and built upon. Some may see this as a heretical development. Some already think the same of progressive Adventism as well as Postmodern Adventism. Imagine how Methodists and other proto-Adventist influences must have felt when 7th-Day Adventism grew out of those movements.
   
2. Christ Jesus, Lord and Savior, is as important as He ever was in Proto-Adventist Futurism (7th-Day Adventism.) Additionally, all the 28 fundamentals are respected and cherished however confining they may appear to some. In some ways, the principles of Adventist Futurism are a virtual 29th fundamental. If a 28th has been added in the recent pass, no doubt one day a 29th and a 30th may also be added.
3. Emphasis is still on present truth, but as present truth becomes past truth the minute it is conceived, Adventist Futurism focuses on Future Truth which by its nature is forward leaning and always thinking of the changes of the future, both near and far.
4. It would be inconceivable for 19th Century Adventists to imagine what 21st century Adventism could ever be like. The social, cultural, scientific and technological changes that separate two centuries of Adventism are no doubt as great from those that separate 21st century Adventism (Adventist Futurism) from 22nd century Adventism. It would have been unthinkable to 19th century Adventists that the movement would see the year 2007. It is equally unthinkable to many living today that 22nd century Adventism will one day have its day.
5. (8th-Day) Adventist Futurism is future- oriented for many reasons. It is said that it is unwise to live in the past or to live only for today. Adventist Futurism lives for today, respects its rich 7th-Day Adventist history as much as possible, but lives with tomorrow's emerging realities ever in mind.
6. All of Ellen G. White's writings are treasured for any and all spiritual guidance that they can still provide in what today is a world that she never imagined would ever come to pass. While some of her writings have to be understood in their cultural setting, every attempt is made to build on, and not tear down Mrs. White's useful writings.
7. The Bible in its entirety is treasured. In the same way that the New Testament refined the Old Testament's principles, equally so does (8th-Day) Adventist Futurism refine and build on both the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White, as well as many of the serious thinkers, pastors and teachers within historical Adventism. Special thanks is given to the following authors though by mentioning them, we in no way ally them with us nor do we ally ourselves with their body of published work or unpublished discourses or sermons. These are the men and women that have influenced in some degree, however transitory, the principles of (8th-Day) Adventist Futurism: Ellen G. White, James Londis, Jack Provonsha, Sakae Kubo, John Wood, Ronald Lawson, Ottilie Stafford, George Rice, Lynn Sauls, Ann Parrish, Margarita Merriman, Jon Robertson, Eli Siegel, Morris Venden and Jack Sequeira.
8. Adventist Futurism respects the 7th-Day Sabbath, but as the latter is locked in time and is the only commandment that is kept only for one 24-hour period, once a week, Adventist Futurism focuses on the spiritual dimension of the Sabbath day as opposed to its literal 24-hour manifestation. As technology, scientific discoveries and space exploration change our conception of time and space, e.g., the Internet, virtual reality, the decoding of the human genome, space exploration, etc., the Sabbath commandment's importance in 7th-Day Adventism is admired, but it is cautiously considered because of the strong legalistic element it has traditionally brought to Adventism. Additionally, Adventist Futurism believes that the beauty of the 7th-Day Sabbath is enhanced and celebrated by observing the Enhanced Sabbath which includes the 24-hour "Jewish" Sabbath (sundown to sundown), but adds the hours after sundown on Saturday night and ending with daybreak on Sunday morning. We also speak of the post-7th-Day-Sabbath morning to commemorate the ending of Christ's rest in the tomb. Other Adventist Futurists focus on the observance of the Endless Sabbath by virtually carrying the beauty and joy of the 7th-Day Sabbath all through the week, in effect celebrating the Sabbath day, if only virtually, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The regular Sabbath beginning on Friday at sunset then becomes the actual command performance and not the rehearsal of the previous six days.
9. If humanity's expansion continues beyond our world, as it seems to be doing, then the spiritual nature of the 7th-Day Sabbath will be more and more important. Celebrating the Sabbath on the Martian colonies in the next century, or in this one, will be 37 minutes longer than it is observed on Earth. If humanity has to find refuge underground because of the instability that terrorism continues to have on our planet, then sundown-to-sundown will have a new meaning and will only be observed by mechanical means of time measurement.
10. Just as Protestantism didn't cease to be Christianity when it broke away from Catholicism, and just as 7th-Day Adventism didn't cease to be Christianity when it grew out of the Methodist church and other groups, in like manner, (8th-Day) Adventist Futurism does not cease to be a continuation of both Christianity or 7th-Day Adventism.
11. Even though some members of society may not be welcomed in 7th-Day Adventism, or in other Christian or Jewish congregations, (8th-Day) Adventism welcomes all without condoning every aspect of certain member's life practices. Additionally, some may want to attend and feel welcomed, but not join Adventist Futurism formally. We welcome traditional, modern, liberal, mainstream, postmodern Adventists, as well as others who find something of worth in (8th-Day) Adventist Futurism. These include, but are not limited to the following groups: divorcees, cultural Adventists, intersexuals, transgender individuals, monogamous homosexualists (gays & lesbians and their children), bisexuals, common-law couples, domestic partners, persons struggling with controlled substances or other addictions (sexual, alcohol, gambling, etc.). Again, in order to not cause traditional 7th-Day Adventists to feel disrespected, we offer non-traditional inclusiveness for these groups mentioned. (8th-Day) Adventist Futurism becomes a safe haven for sinners and imperfect people, and not just a colony of morally upright and semi-perfect people.
12. Regarding life's origins, we welcome both literal creationists, as well as intelligent design believers, and, of course, Darwinian Adventists or Christians. We all believe in one God, however He created us.
13. Unlike some traditional 7th-Day Adventists, and this is said with the utmost respect and appreciation, we do not discourage the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We do not intentionally seek to speak in tongues, but if this wonderful gift returns in a valid and useful manifestation, we would not discourage its return. We foster more and more study, focus, and anticipation of the gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit, Love and it's manifestations: joy, peace, self control, etc.
14. We worship the ineffable Father God who in His wisdom sent both Jesus Christ, His son, and his Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. For all his countless blessings and gifts we are thankful.
15. We seek to understand and promote the beauty and importance of the Crucified, Risen and Glorified Christ. We seek His return, but if He delays 25, 50 or 100 years, as well as 250, 500 or 1000 years, we continue seeking Him and his daily return into our soul temple through His Holy Spirit.
16. We seek to honor proto-Adventist Futurism's past (traditional 7th-Day Adventism), but we also wish to change its future because of the danger within two or three generations of Adventism disappearing for the most part in the affluent and developed world. As the third world slowly catches up with the developed world, this danger will also become apparent in time to most of the 7th-Day Adventist body.
17. We welcome the real possibility of the prophetic gift reappearing in our midst and guiding us through the unforeseen challenges and dangers of the ever-changing future society that is already upon us because of terrorism, advancing scientific developments (cloning, virtual reality, cybernetics, etc.) and space exploration.
18. We realize that because of modern society's challenges, increasing terrorism, global warming, and other complex factors, worship may soon be only in private, local safe havens, and via the World Wide Web or it's replacement in the years to come.
19. We encourage a more democratic and less centralized church structure with adequate racial, ethnic, non-male and cultural representation of the church's worldwide membership, as well as, to a partial degree, it's informal membership (the marginalized groups previously mentioned.)
20. We extend an open door to former Adventists, as well as other spurned groups, that have grown out of traditional 7th-Day Adventism (Adventist Kinship, Branch Davidians, Shepherd's Rod, etc.). We only ask that you treat us with the same respect and consideration that we are offering you.
21. We welcome the future: all its mysteries, all its challenges, all its discoveries, all its blessings. We don't want to be locked in history, we want to make history, to change it, to improve it, to actively and creatively influence our future.

Other relevant posts:

Mars Sabbath
Fear of the Holy Spirit