Time of Trouble is Almost Upon Us

For weeks now Wednesday night prayer meeting focuses on how bad things are getting in the world and how much worse they will get. It should make me happy that the Time of Trouble is almost here and after that, the Second Coming should follow close behind.

Perhaps this is really it. Why deny it any longer?

However, I wonder how Adventists responded as the Great Depression was ushered in by that unthinkable stock market crash and its aftermath? Did they also think at that time that the Time of Trouble was, no doubt, in its initial stages?

The thought has come to me more than once that society at large will probably not persecute the Remnant because of their refusal to honor the Day of the Sun, but rather for having such deeply pessimistic and dire predictions about how things will get worse and not better.

If as a people, all seven million of us--or however many Adventists are actively waiting for the Time of Trouble to arrive--focus all our efforts and mental energy on how things will get worse, no doubt, such a powerful self-fulfilling prophecy will come true. Sooner or later.

The Second Coming of Christ: Reinterpreting the Prophecies

The first coming of Christ was nothing like what the Hebrew nation expected. It did not set them free from Roman rule. It did not usher in the peaceful and successful world that they had read about in the book of Isaiah.

If this misunderstanding happened with the all-important First Coming of Christ, what would prevent a similar misunderstanding from happening to the as-important, Second Coming of Christ.

When it is said that "every eye shall see him" one has to keep in mind that when those words were written down "every eye" referred to those in the then-known world, ostensibly a flat world with the Mediterranean, or great sea, as it's focal point. The Second Coming would have to be very large in scale, millions and millions of angels to fill a large enough area of the Mediterranean Sea, and the barbarian areas of Europe, Asia minor, etc., to be able to be seen all over the then-known world. It would follow then, that when the Second Coming occurs it will be seen by every eye in that part of the world. As the Earth rotates other areas will also be able to see the wondrous sight of golden beings and their Saviour-King hovering over planet Earth in a chariot of clouds.

Greater study and prayer are needed to unlock the prophecies about the Second Coming of Christ and strip them of interpretations that 2,000 years have built into them.

Some faiths believe in a Secret Rapture. Ours does not. However, when it speaks of "one will be taken and the other left" I sometimes wonder if out of respect for Free Will, those that are not taken will be allowed to live out their lives, as well as that of their descendants, until Free Will eventually renders this planet unlivable. In this way, God would not be the destroyer of those he created, they would destroy themselves. How long would this planet continue to exist without God's protecting grace preventing total anarchy and evil?

Some might think that to allow this world to continue with the uninterrupted intensity of evil that would exist without God's grace cushioning the effect of sin, would be more unkind than to destroy all those who reject God's last call to repentance. The same might well be said for our present state of affairs where an ever-increasing level of evil and suffering continues day after day.

The Second Coming by Sheer Will

Christians everywhere are focusing more and more on the reality of the Second Coming, not as a far-away dream, but as something that will happen within a few years.

The power of the will is astounding. If we all focused on these simple words, "Jesus Christ is coming back in my lifetime," whatever we're not doing now that would hasten Christ's Second Coming, we would start doing.

Now it's important to realize that nothing we can do through our own efforts will be successful without being filled by the Spirit of Christ. I've heard from more than one person that sometimes evangelistic campaigns are mounted in large cities and famous evangelists are invited to speak, but in some cases, not one person makes a decision for Christ. Those in attendance are the ones that already believe, not those who are at the decision point.

I've often thought that if large groups of Christians would visualize the Second Coming as an event already experienced, it would have to take place sooner, not later.

Hasten the Second Coming in your life. Think of it constantly.

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.

Latter Rain is Falling

Listen, the Latter Rain is falling.
Run out into the Spirit Rain as it pours on you.
Let it fill your mind and cleanse you of all impurities.

Holy Spirit, beautify my soul with the colors of grace.
Color my mind with the beauty of your love.

Wash me gently at first.
Then let the downpour begin.
Don’t let your Holy Rain stop until I’m all clean.

One Million Members Added to Adventist Church Yearly

Through non-human means, the amount of new members is reaching incredible heights. Even though the human has to cooperate with the divine, nevertheless, some new principle is at work in the mission camps and older traditional sites of Adventism.


With the increase in numbers come new challenges, as in some locations, Adventists are no longer in the minority. Efforts are being made to counteract any dangerous influence on the part of political magistrates who now control most of the courts in some lands.


Disclaimer: The above is an example of anticipatory journalism. It expresses the desired outcome of a near-future event on the part of the writer. It is intended in the best possible way. If such outcome does not materialize, time then becomes important as to determine the eventual realization of the desired reality.

Holy Spirit Manifestation at Midnight

Last night out of nowhere I found myself in what seemed like a prayer meeting in an Adventist church. When it was my turn to give my testimony I spoke spontaneously. I had only one thing on my mind and that was to quote from Ezekiel about how God will give us a heart of flesh in place of our heart of stone. God would write his laws upon our hearts and move us, yes move us, to obey his commandments and comply with his decrees.

I mentioned to those present that a friend from college had once said that unless God honors his covenant promises to change us into his likeness, then the promise just quoted would prove invalid. Only God can do what he says he would do for us and to us. We are powerless to do that for ourselves.

I then mentioned to the astonishment of all there, that until God wrote those laws on our hearts and caused us to obey his commands, it made little difference whether we of our own effort and power, complied with those commands. We cannot produce genuine righteousness of our own. Any we might try to produce so as to make true the words of the promise would be tainted with selfishness and humanity.

I was concerned what further reaction my words would cause upon the brethren present so I left the building as suddenly as I had entered it.

Later on, I could only wonder how I had been able to stand up and look all those folk in the eye and say such bold things. Nevertheless, it warmed my heart that someone had had enough conviction and resolve to say that in front of a group of Adventist believers.

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.

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.

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.

Summer of Love Adventist Youth

Late 60s. In love with the acid-tinged songs, but afraid of the drugs because of warnings from parents and Adventist teachers.

Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Along Comes Mary

"Are you experienced? Not necessarily stoned, but just beautiful ... ?" --Jimi Hendrix, 1967

Strange infatuation.

Hating the dangerous drugs, but loving the colorfast songs about them?

What are postmodern Adventist Youth hungering after today that they know is bad for them? They can't resist the strange obsession with the trappings of sin, without actually going into the sin itself. Some, sadly, will be so fixated that they will fall into the temptation, never to rise out of it again.

See the Whitney Museum retrospective. http://www.whitney.org/

The Second Coming, Wirelessly

"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall." Malachi 4:1,2 (NIV)

The tension in the world was unbearable. For months the three rogue nations had played their games threatening to test or detonate much of their nuclear arsenal. People of faith everywhere had started taking prayer and fasting seriously for once.

If the end of the world was days or weeks away I wanted to be on the roof with my laptop, taking pictures and short video feeds with the cellphone. Every day after work, what work could still be done in the mounting disorder that the world experienced every day, I took to the roof to document what I saw all around me. The forest smoldered in the distance as the end-of-life mobs set anything they could find that wasn't fireproof.

Last night all the lights went out for 21 minutes and I was able to see a star that shone with a different type of light. It was pulsating as nothing I'd ever seen. When the power came back on, there was too much light all around me on the roof to see the strange star anymore. The next night the lights went out again for 21 minutes and the star was visible again, but this time it was larger. How could anything in the sky that pulsates from so far away get larger 24 hours later?

This pattern continued night after night until one night, the sun came out at midnight. Except it wasn't the same sun we knew. It was three times the size. Even the darkest sunglasses made it difficult on the eyes. I took my videos and pictures and wrote what I saw and how I felt about it and published it for anyone who was still connecting to the worldwide wireless hub for continuity or information.

The next night when the sun came out again I noticed that the fires were burning brighter. The only difference was alarming. The fires that had been lit up till now were the familiar red, yellow and orange flames that one was used to. These fires were green, blue and violet. The fires were not being set from below, but from the very skies. The world we had known had ceased to exist with the arrival of the giant midnight sun.

The next night the most alarming sight took hold of me as I saw in the not too distant cemetery what seemed like huge birds darting up from the trees in the woods surrounding the park. The figures were so distant and multicolored that I wondered what type of bird could change its color so randomly as it flew higher and higher. I photographed the distant figures and posted them for anyone to see and try to comment on it, for I could not.

When the city was almost ablaze, I noticed that the couple on the roof next to mine that had come out every night, as I had done, were strangely hovering six feet above the roof. I knew the Chinese had experimented with personal hovercraft platforms, but how anyone could have a prototype in their possession in this country was beyond me. I photographed them and with only a word or two, I posted it on my blog.

After an hour or two I realized that the enterprising Chinese had sold more prototypes to eager Americans than I had thought possible. Here and there in the buildings surrounding me I saw other couples hovering six feet above the roof. It seemed as they were waiting for something. With instant phone detection, no doubt, they were able to contact each other and coordinate whatever they were planning as they hovered six feet above the roof of their high rise buildings.

In a flash the sky exploded in blinding light of emerald and blue shades of undulating waves of color and sound. I was about to send a quick note and publish it when I noticed that much to my surprise I was no longer standing on the roof. I too was hovering six feet above the roof. I didn't know what this could mean as I had no expensive Chinese hovercraft, for sure. In a panic I wrote my last message and clicked the orange "Publish" link in my blog program. Nothing else needed to be said. My last message went out to anyone who was still connected, as I dropped my laptop and looked at the One who was seated on the throne in the middle of the giant sun.