Growing in Christian Faith is Seldom Easy

It's difficult to write about the quality of one's faith. Nevertheless, it is honest and may prove beneficial to the writer and to his readers. If possible, I will try to outline my journey in the recent past and contrast it with previous states of faith I've experienced through the years.

First of all, I'd like to share a favorite text about faith and the Christian life:

... Everyone who looks to the Son [of God] and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:40

This text has been valuable to me for it presents in a nutshell the crux of the Christian life. It's simplicity delights me and gives me reason to continue pursuing the Christian life notwithstanding its challenges. Salvation is centered on Christ Jesus and not on ourselves. By directing our attention, in a variety of ways, to the Son of God and relating to him as a real and wonderful person, belief must surely follow. If it does not do so as easily as one would want, then going to Christ and asking him for help in this area is one solution to this dilemma.

There are other things one can do to foster greater saving faith in Christ. Reading the Bible or other Christian material, e.g., devotionals, is an honest first step towards having greater faith. Listening to Christian sermons whether recorded or live can also help to gain a desire to believe in Christ. Praying about what one reads or hears helps to solidify one's faith.

Living a life of faith is its own reward. Nevertheless, the quoted text rewards us with eternal life and being raised up [from death] at the last day. Again, there is a concentrated gospel message in this text that goes a long way towards simplifying the sometimes frustrating experience of living the Christian life.

Now to the problems in spite of the wonderful statements outlined above. What happens when doubt or unbelief rear their ugly heads? How to proceed. If possible, it might be advisable to talk with a trusted parent, friend or minister who you know to be a strong and loving Christian. Even though belief is the core of your problem, persist in talking to God about your problem. Because he is a loving God and has your interest in mind, he will do what you ask of him if what you need is greater faith. If new Christians believe that they have little or imperfect faith keep in mind the words of the apostle::

"... God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith." Romans 12:3 [Paraphrased]

God would hardly be a loving God if he asked us to believe in his Son for salvation and didn't meet us half way by giving us a quotient of start-up faith with which to move onto greater faith in the Christian experience.

There is still a lot more to this issue of faith, unbelief and renewal of faith, but the most important aspects, as I see them, have been outlined above. It is my sincere desire that at whatever stage you happen to be in the Christian walk, you may strengthen and find faith to meet your every need.

The Conceptual Nature of Salvation by the Cross

Salvation through Christ's death on the cross sounds wonderful. It sure beats fulfilling every OT commandment as a means to salvation. However, I am frequently mystified by the concept of being saved by Christ's death on the cross. It seems to be a conceptual reality similar to a thought experiment. One is basing an entire system of salvation and its related lifestyle and experience to an event that not one of us can empirically prove.

Additionally, it's odd, for want of a better word,  that the God who said thou shall not also died to solve the "problem " of his creatures violating the "thou shall nots". No wonder Paul says that to the Greeks the Gospel seemed like foolishness.
With science daily redefining what reality is or might be, thanks to the unfolding of String Theory, dark energy, the Multiverse and the hint of parallel worlds, all inferred by the mathematics itself, it sometimes befuddles the mind to speak of the historical act of redemption as the quintessential conceptual and theological Theory.
Nevertheless, for whatever psychological and philosophical comfort it provides, I cannot abandon my faith, however tenuous or conceptual it has become. I've seen the  practical and transformative value of  the Cross in my life and in that of  others.

God's Mercy Reaches All but at Different Degrees

Today we are no better or no worse than our forebears were. We can only wait for God's mercy to reach us wherever we are, however we are and whomever we happen to be. We can't speed up the arrival of the blessing or help. We can only keep on calling on his name until he comes to our rescue.

Until we receive God's favor, mercy and help we can only cope and hang on with whatever advantages our genes and ennvironment have equipped us with and keep on seeking for whatever source of help available.

Some wait longer than others before they are blessed. Some are still waiting for God's mercy to rescue them. Some have grown weary of the endless waiting. Others sadly fade away and for them God's mercy did not come in time. These cases are regrettable and can't morally be explained by any stretch of the imagination.

As we wait, those of us who are willing and able--not all are capable of rendering useful help--can fill in for God until he decides to take over. In those cases we act in God's stead, for better or for worse. Our imperfect assistance to those in great need may turn out to be the mercy they were waiting for all along. However, since we are limited in our resources the divine help the person in need requires is beyond our reach.

We then become something akin to persons who are called to provide parental care, in loco parentis, to children needing adult care when legal guardians are gone missing. We become "in loco Deus" or acting and functioning in the place of God for that individual.

Waiting for God's mercy. That's all there is.

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Block Negative Thoughts with Positive Ones

Daily Match in Your Mind: Solutions

Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) pop up in one's mind with annoying ease. Automatic Positive Thoughts (APTs) don't intrude as much as you would like them to.

On a moment-by-moment basis ANTs need to be challenged and immediately replaced with APTs. By doing so continuously Automatic Negative Thoughts will lose their power.

Automatic Positive Thoughts, as they are encouraged, will become more frequent and will outnumber their negative counterparts.

Examples:

"I feel lousy today." Replace it with: "I feel great today."

"I hate when it rains." Replace it with: "Enjoy the rain. Flowers and trees will thrive because of it." Or: Blue skies and bright sun will peek through later on."

"I can't deal with this problem anymore." Replace with: "It's important that I find a solution. Bad situations need to be challenged and eliminated soon."
Write down the negative thought. Cross it off and replace it wigh a positive one.

This really works. Successful people do it all day long.

Share this approach with a friend or family member who tries to infect you with their negative thoughts about others, about you or about themselves. Do so with the proper tact. Realize that when a person is really hurting it may not be appropriate to challenge bad thoughts with good thoughts. If they come to you for help you have an open door.

If the negative thought is directed at you it's important that you challenge it audibly, if practical, or inaudibly by barely moving your lips or by saying it very deliberately in your mind. Hear yourself say the positive replacement clearly in your mind.

Do not let anyone infect you, or others you value, with their verbal poison. Take the positive antidote immediately.

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Mysteries of Eternal Life

Not because we've done so much for you or for others. Not because we've refrained from doing other things that were selfish. Not because we've obeyed every last commandment we've been aware of. Save us because we could never do enough, merciful God, to deserve eternal life and unending blessings.

Capital Punishment and Christian Grace

Difficult subject. One good thing about not taking everything literally even in the Pentateuch is highlighted in the following note.

Note: When a member of the congregation in Corinth committed incest—one of the capital offences in Leviticus 20—Christ's apostle did not call for him to executed but to be excommunicated by the church. By God's grace, this was used to bring him to repentance and he was forgiven by the Lord and the saints, and restored to the congregation (II Cor. 2; 7). -- Rev. Angus Stewart.

Others that fall into the same chapter (Lev. 20) are adultery, same-sex acts and others. Can you imagine if all adulterers and homosexuals were suddenly to need capital punishment? You'd really bankrupt all of civilization. Who would be left to run things or to care for the children of the adulters? Terrible thought.

We live in more enlightened and kinder times.

Challenges When Approaching God

We need divine favor to assist us at times in drawing close to God. Not all children can approach their parent after estrangement, whether of long or short duration, with as much ease as they would like. The Good Shepherd went in search of the lost sheep. The lost coin the woman found by thorough sweeping was unconscious that it was lost.

Appeal and Benefits of Virtual Church Are Now International

The walls of the traditional church are disappearing or morphing into virtual constructs. Christians in other countries have made the Wimbledon Church Service their preferred one especially if it offers what a local congregation does not. Evangelism and church service have more power and reach than once imaginable via advances in technology.

Wimbledon International Church - Wimbledon, England

Plumbing the Depths of Righteousness by Faith

Accidentally I chanced upon a post which included comments that I had forgotten I had left one year ago. I am providing the link below for various reasons. The article is about a favorite subject of mine: Righteousness by Faith. May it answer some questions but may it suggest new questions as well.

On Justification by Faith | Spectrum Magazine

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Finding Light on Dark Days

Christ's favor is sufficent for you. His power is made perfect in weakness. . . . When you are weak [Christ's power] makes you strong. 2 Cor. 12

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Salvation: Old vs. New Testament

Old Testament: circumcision, religious feasts, executing of adulterers, incest and same sex practioners.

Keeping the minutiae of the law. Dietary prohibitions.

Animal sacrifices required as basis of salvation.

One human high priest. Only Levites could be priests.

Focus on the Sabbath as requirement for salvation or death to be inflicted on violator immediately. Offenses against God and man punished immediately.

New Testament: no circumcision, no religious feasts, after repenting sexual sinners were welcomed.

Broad principles of the law preferred. Love for God is shown by love for fellow man. God's favor is vehicle of salvation.

Dietary principles either changed or not focused upon.

Christ's sacrifice is basis of salvation. Animal sacrifices abolished.

Unrepentant sinners punished at Second Coming of Christ.

Christ as high priest. Believers as nation of priests.

Sabbath mentioned incidentally or said that it was created for man and not man for the Sabbath. No death for violaters.

Summary: abusing fellow human beings is never tolerated by a just and loving God.

Abusing one's relationship with God, including not acknowledging him as being the supreme creator, is never tolerated by a just and loving God. Exodus 20:8,11

Execution of offenders will take place eventually.

A daily love relationship with Christ Jesus strengthens one's faith in his saving power. Getting to know him better is by hearing or reading the Bible. Daily prayer also provides great strength. Assisting fellow human beings with their needs is evidence of genuine faith. A desire to tell others about your great friend, Jesus Christ, is further evidence of a living and practical faith.
Fear God and give him glory for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the Earth, the sea and the springs of water. Revelation 14:7

Marry Gay Men to Lesbian Women

Could Christian Adventist ministry use this approach presented in the article in question when evangelizing the lesbian-gay population especially the critical college-age demographic group? If fertility was absent though, it would be a less viable solution. Food for thought, nevertheless. God bless.


Please see the following link for full article:  Marry Gays to Lesbians

The Missing Book of the Bible

Read the Bible through and through and it's obvious one book is missing. It's one that connects all the books together.

It's no book that any cannonical council forgot to include centuries ago. Yes it's one that God also inspires. It is one that can at times be read by others. It's not one we can read accurately for ourselves, though.

The missing book of the Bible is one that God writes in our minds and in our loving and lovable selves throughout our lives so others will experience for themselves what God is really like.

The Voice of the Holy Spirit Sang to Me in the Darkness

"Don't write about the Holy Spirit. Don't talk about him. He is too holy, too sacred, yes too dangerous, to even think about."

These words spoken long ago by some now-forgotten preacher still haunt me even five minutes ago as I prepared to start this post. For 20 years I had feared even saying the Holy Spirit's name lest he be offended in some way. Christ's warning about the finality of sinning against the Holy Spirit was taken to heart with a vengeance that amazes me now.

Six years ago this perplexing experience started to change. Let me share an experience that I have never heard anyone speak of before.

Out of boredom I started singing a Christian song I learned at 16 during a young people's weekend at Camp Berkshire in Wingdale, New York. I sang it both in Spanish and English as I walked my golden retriever, Callisto, on his long, long walks through concrete and green in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

It's important that I share the entire lyric as you will understand that it was the vehicle by which the Holy Spirit spoke to me and changed me almost against my will. I must state that I was bored out of my mind and had gotten bored with singing pop tunes on my long, long walks with Callisto. This song, however, sprang to life and wouldn't let go. It had a will of its own. I'd stop singing it and it reasserted itself.

It's a wonderful, wonderful life when you're with the Lord above./ It's a wonderful, wonderful life when you're saved by his love./ There's a joy that you never can tell and great peace with the Lord above./ As I walk with the Lord in my heart there's a song./ It's a wonderful, wonderful life. -- Author Unknown

Week after week prior to 2005 I had been singing this song out of habit. I'd sing other songs, secular songs, but no other spiritual songs at all. In late 2004 or early 2005 I noted something was happening or had already happened. Without explanation I had a new-found interest in rising early and spending 30 minutes reading a chapter or two of the gospels in the New Testament, e.g., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I had no time to pray so I prayed on the way to work for 15-20 minutes.

After a few weeks of this I thought maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to attend church again. I hadn't attended church at all in over 15 years. For some mysterious reason I actually enjoyed going to church. More importantly I enjoyed reading the Bible, the writings of Ellen White and other Christan books. I played no Christian music CDs even though I probably had one or two in some bottom storage box--who knows where in my home. The new songs I sang in church, praise songs, were all I needed for my new phase.

Then it dawned on me that I had been touched by the Holy Spirit, almost without asking for it. I must share with you that I never stopped believing in God even though my impression of God was and still is imperfect and skewed by life's experiences. Out of guilt and to avoid psychological discomfort only, I  had continued for 20 long years to repeat the following words on most mornings as I drove to work:

If you then who are earthly know how to give good things to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to you if you ask him. Luke 11:13

These words were the only contact I had with God and with the religion of my parents and I was not about to give it up just in case there really was something to the God experience, salvation, heaven, eternal life, etc. It was how I convinced myself that I still held onto the only lifeline I still had in case these were more than just pleasant words written 2,000 years ago.

Three months after this change started occurring in me I was awakened in my darkened room at 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. by a voice singing inside my  head. It awakened me from a deep sleep with the clarity of its melody. I had not sang these words in over 25 years. The voice grew louder and  louder and the sweetness of the words almost moved me to tears. These are the words the voice sang [I am translating from Spanish as the voice was in the tongue of the first five years of my life:]

The Shepherd loves his sheep with a paternal love. The Shepherd loves his flock with a love that cannot compare. The Shepherd loves his other sheep that are scattered and lost. He looks for them with great concern wherever they may be be.

Down on my knees I found myself thanking God for the first and only time I had ever experienced such a phenomenon. I was actually hearing God's voice and in song. This time I knew something was happening, had happened, that had never happened before--at least not like this. This was the God experience and it took me decades of my life to fall into it. This was not some transitory emotion. This really grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. This was God taking me by the hand and  leading me very much like how I walked with my dear Callisto and led him on his daily walks.

Life has been full of temptations, disappointments and yes, shocks to my system, for six years now. But what else can I do?

When you have been touched by God it is for life. You just don't turn around and go anywhere else.

If you've never been touched by God, repeat the lyrics of my childhood song about how this is a wonderful, wonderful life. May God also touch you and never stop touching you throughout your life.

The Evolving Male Christian in a Postmodern Culture

Forty years ago few men felt comfortable pushing a stroller unless a female was present. That's no longer true.

Forty years ago young Christian adult males would feel uncomfortable embracing and briefly giving a brotherly kiss on the cheek to another recently baptized non-related fellow Christian male, also in his early 20s. That is no longer the case.

One witnesses both formerly frowned-upon behaviors even in macho Latino conservative churches like ones I attend. Is this male bonding overdone?

What of the new freedom heterosexual men now have, especially after a great favor or unique social incident has occurred, to very confidently say in public, "I love you, Man. You're like a brother to me."

Is this progress or is something going on that needs further study? Are both cases Bible-based or condoned? Yes, they are. "In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." (Paul of Tarsus in Ephesians 5) What better way for a Christian man to show love for his wife as his own body than to share parenting and stroller time duties with the woman who is his partner in the gestation of their child?

Additionally, Paul of Tarsus counsels Christians to "greet each other with a holy kiss." (Paul of Tarsus in Romans 16). Note emphasis on "holy." It can be safely assumed that "each other" refers to same-gender "holy kissing" as well as inter-gender "holy kissing."

Will these behaviors continue during the next 40 years or will the past be a blueprint which will be rabidly emulated?

Reflections on the Human-Divine Nature of Christ

Years ago I read that Christ had two wills: a human as well as a divine will. While on Earth, however, the divine will was present in the historical being, Jesus Christ, but it took a back seat to the extent that it did not reveal itself very often except at the transfiguration.

The same author--probably Ellen White and/or Elder John Wood of Atlantic Union College-- states that only human Christ died on the cross. The divine Christ cannot die since God cannot die. (End of reference to either White or Wood.)  How could a member of the Godhead, which is One, die without all three dying?

For argument's sake only, let's suppose human-divine Christ died and not just human Christ, died. It follows then that the Trinity died for "our God is One." If God died on the cross--and He did through Jesus Christ--then it's conceivable that He raised himself by his own power as the New Testament states. At the cross when Christ cried "my God, my God why have you forsaken me" it was because the Godhead was dying with Christ and would be resurrected with Christ. The universe had its automatic laws and could function until the divine watchman rose from the tomb three days later.

Would Gabriel, who is in the presence of God, have been temporarily in charge of heaven--if anyone really needs to be in charge God's absence?

Another matter presents itself: what would have happened if human Christ had failed the test in the wilderness with the Accuser? He probably would not have to go through with the crucifixion since his sacrifice would have been incomplete or unacceptable to God the Father. What then would have become of the human Christ? Could he have been destroyed and die as a mortal man dies? He then could have died on the cross though it seems pointless to have done so if it no longer carried cosmic significance. Or, as John Wood stated in the 1970s, human Christ would have been kept in heaven in a comatose state throughout eternity, since even human Jesus of Nazareth was Christ, nevertheless, and could not be allowed to die as a mere human man dies.

Here we get into tricky waters. Since human-divine Jesus of Nazareth couldn't die, then he was not as human as mere men since mere men who fail in life's cosmic struggle die as mere men and don't have the option to remain comatose throughout eternity. We now get back to the age-old questions about was Christ fully human and fully divine but perfectly fused together as one inseparable entity or could he, in some way, separate the human from the divine?

If you state that only human Jesus of Nazareth died and rose again while the Divine Christ, of course, would still be alive since he was a member of the Godhead then you may be able to say that Christ of Nazareth had an advantage that we don't have. We can't, of course, separate our divine nature--which is God-given and frequently not apparent as we disconnect from God the only source of divinity--from our human nature. We are only human and can only depend on God for the gift of divinity through his divine Spirit. However, this may suggest that Jesus of Nazareth was not like us, in a way. In other ways, of course, he was very much like us. Just read the gospels and you see a very human man who cried, hungered and got tired and had to sleep as you and I sleep.

Finally, it is said that Christ paid the ultimate price in sacrificing himself to save the human race. The Bible says that Christ died once for us all. It has been bothering me for years that if you die as Christ did for the human race, then rise again after three days and live eternally after that, how is that a sacrifice? When you and I sacrifice our last dollar bill so a poorer or needier person can eat while we starve temporarily, we experience real hunger, and/or eventual death. It is a sacrifice that cannot be gainsaid.

However, if you die and suffer and live again and remain alive, it presents other ramifications. Perhaps the sacrifice was in that Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, could have failed, and could have been comatose throughout eternity. That, my friend, is a big sacrifice. For a divine being to risk ceasing to be divine just to save a wayward world of created beings, is more than anyone can fathom. It truly boggles the imagination. Jesus Christ, if only his human nature, comatose throughout eternity could be looked upon as either two things:

1. A  kind of death for the divine-human entity known as Jesus Christ of Nazareth. One of your two natures would be unconscious and would remain so throughout eternity.
2. A reminder that the human side of Jesus of Nazareth had failed and in him failing, God failed in proving that a human-divine entity could succeed as Adam was supposed to have succeeded when offered the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

Rock and Roll Adventist Christian and Temptation

Acid-tinged sonic improvisations, a la Jimi Hendrix*, amazed the ultra-conservative members at an Adventist Christian service earlier this year.

Whatever the detriment or benefit of having a sophisticated electric guitar solo played at the divine worship on a Saturday (Sabbath) morning the important thing is whether the folks listening were brought nearer to Christ or tempted, after the Sabbath, to go out and discover this new Adventist Christian music that is everywhere.

Hearing the familiar melody of Amazing Grace being played by this young man, in the most unconventional version that I've ever heard, moved me to the brink of tears. The words and melody of the unadorned original version I grew up with is embedded in my very DNA.

* Historians will tell you that all of the sounds heard on this video for the electric guitar where engineered and discovered by Jim Hendrix around 1967 and 1968. He used no gizmos. The sounds were coaxed, sputtered and extracted naturally from his guitar. The gizmos were the result of a growing demand to produce these sounds on-tap. They are still being utilized the world over. Jimi Hendrix, whatever his weaknesses and failings as a human being, changed the sound of popular and church music as it is heard today.

Last Night an Angel Saved My Life

Green lights in your favor means it's safe to cross. Not always. Patrons have the right of way when the light is green. It's no longer true I learned last night. For the only time in my life I was almost hit and instantly killed by an oncoming car.

Had something--how, I can't say--not pulled me back two or three feet I would have been instantly killed as the speeding night car litterally lunged for me as I was half way across the pedestran walk on a very quiet and empty street. It would have been another hit-and-run statistic in south Florida.

A cell phone driver, oblivious to pedestrians, almost hit me head on by two seconds at 30 mph.

Psychological Detriments and Benefits of the Bible

To be fair to secular people let's first address the potential negative effects or uses of the Bible. We live, after all, in a mostly secular science-oriented world culture. There is evidence from the professional literature that some texts in the Bible have produced chronic guilt. With chronic guilt comes deadly self-hatred. With self-hatred comes depression. With depression, if not treated effectively, comes death. Some wag will smugly tell you, "better to be a sinning, imperfect human than to be a dead one."

Now for the psychological benefits of the Bible. In times of economic need one benefits mysteriously from the following words:  "My God will supply every need of yours. . . ." When experiencing remorse for stealing, adultery, or harming someone unintentionally, nothing quite soothes the human soul as these words:  "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

When the psychiatrist's pills and the psychologist's analyses and insights fail to work their scientific magic nothing soothes the disturbed soul as: "Peace I [Christ] give to you." Also of great healing value are the words: "Come to me [Christ] and you will find rest for your soul.

Strange Charity of 'Sinners' Towards Undocumented Workers

Van Helden is a heterosexual married Brazilian male of approximately 25 summers. He is married to a pretty blond woman of equal age. They have a son and another child on the way. They have been in this country three years and have experienced hardship and hunger. If he were fortunate enough Van Helden could have found work as a grounds maintenance worker, a construction worker, a janitor, or other lackluster and temporary jobs that undocumented folk need to take up and then put down as the feds drop in and out of the jobs in question.

There are no health benefits, paid holidays, paid sick days, pension plans, long-term disability insurance, etc. There is only work and only undercover.

One other thing I failed to mention. Though married and happily heterosexual, Van Helden works as a waiter in a premiere non-heterosexual bar in South Florida. He makes good tips not only because he is an excellent waiter, is 25 and not bad-looking, but because Van Helden, who is partially deaf, is compassionate. He is often seen signing to hearing-impaired diners who feel accepted in Club C due to the presence of a signing waiter.

Okay, so were does the strange charity of 'sinners' factor in? The patrons of Club C assume incorrectly that Van Helden is single and non-heterosexual. Actually, only the Management knows Van Helden is married to a woman and has a little boy. There are no other heterosexual and undocumented workers at Club C. No other waiter at Club C has a wife dining in the edges of his assigned area until her husband is done for the day at 3:00 a.m. Sunday through Saturday with Mondays off.