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.

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.

Supernatural Life: Bright as Sun

Yes, John F. Kennedy did say not to ask what your country can do for you, but rather, what you can do for your country. However, when it comes to your creator, you are permitted to have a different spin on this issue--at least initially. After you are assured of what blessings Christ has given you, then you can turn your attention to what you can do for him.

So what has Jesus done for you in the last month? Has he given you life and health? If you've not been in the best of health, can you ask him for healing? Will he give you healing as you continue to look to him daily? Has he given you life? Yes, but you might not think that the quality of life you are enjoying right now is on par with the life you may have lived in the past or the life you'd like to be living today. Ask him to further you toward that goal of a higher quality life.

Keep in mind, however, that life is more than living a pleasant and stimulating life. Life is also more than always being in the pink of health. Christ can give you supernatural life and health right now that is more valuable than your every day variety. He offers you an enhanced quality of life. Even when you are in pain or when life is not as perfect as you'd like it to be, the enhanced life that he gives you makes up for that.

This can sound rather vague or intangible if you've never experienced it first hand. Let me tell you that it is worth the bother--if you can call it that. Before I try to explain how to enjoy this supernatural life and health, let me try to describe it further.

Supernatural life makes the sun shine brighter even when it is temporarily hidden by an overcast sky. An enhanced life makes a child's laughter more heart-warming than it would otherwise be perceived. The future looks brighter no matter how it may look to the person who is experiencing the same set of life experiences that you are currently experiencing. A glass of pure orange juice is more refreshing than a bottle of beer would be on a hot summer day. The gentle handshake of a friend is more reassuring and comforting than a week of one-night stands.

How do you start experiencing this higher quality of life? The one who gives you life can also give you supernatural life. Spend half an hour every morning reading from any of the four gospels. Ask Christ to help you as you read the Word of Life. Ask him to give you a supernatural desire for these mystic words of life. After your half hour with the good news found in the gospels, share your concerns and joys with Christ. Ask him for the blessings he has promised you in the chapter you just read. One of my favorite promises is found in Matthew 11. It promises you that if you come to Christ [spend time with him via his words and talk to him in prayer] he will give you rest. That's supernatural rest that's promised. Not the rest you get after a long day at work in front of your TV set. It's a rest that can't be explained until it is experienced first hand.

After you start enjoying this supernatural life that only Christ can give you, you can then address what you can do for Christ. It will be simpler to accomplish than what he has given you, but it will be well worth the blessing that you will be able to impart to others.

Mountain-High Christianity and Reality

On my way to prayer meeting last night I claimed my travelling promises. The first was for God's protection. Then I prayed for the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Next I prayed Matthew 6:6 about "seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (by faith) and that God would provide all the other things I needed. Finally, I prayed the prayer of Jabez: "Oh that you would bless me and increase my borders. Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I may be free of pain." And God granted his request.

Usually I turn on the radio, National Public Radio or the classical music station and enjoy the fading light. Last night, however, I started singing hymns but not just cut-and-dry like you sing them in church. I imagined myself a distant descendant of Maria Callas who never sang an aria in concert the same way on any two performances. Each note was lovingly caressed or interpreted. When I felt like inserting a grace note I did. When I wanted to change the key slightly before returning to the familiar key, I went ahead and enjoyed the non-standard approach to singing hymns. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that first hymn. They were all hymns in Spanish as I was heading to Spanish prayer meeting at my local Adventist church.

It was the first time that I really enjoyed singing hymns as I traveled back to my neck-of-the-woods after having worked my eight hour day. One hymn effortlessly melded into the next and I knew something strange was happening. Singing hymns was what I most wanted to do. It actually produced a pleasant state of awareness. Boredom was the farthest thing from my mind. How easy it was to capture a spiritual high, simply by singing hymns, but singing them with such feeling and awareness.

When I arrived in church I shared my wonderful song fest experience after the officiating elder asked if anyone had a special testimony. Requests for special prayer came and went and I offered my request for difficult neighbors. I, unfortunately, had not thought of whether my neighbors needed God's blessings in spite of their unpleasant behavior. The elder made me realize my one-sided approach to prayer requests. When it came time to pray with my payer partners I remembered my neighbors and asked that God would help them and that he would help me as well as far as the slamming doors and occasional running marathons they seemed to enjoy in the passage just outside my front door. I asked God to take control of the situation and to provide a solution to the noise and bizarre behavior of my young neighbors.

After the evening meditation had come and gone, I was asked to offer the final prayer. Normally, the thought of praying in public, especially in Spanish, unsettles me, but this time I spoke as confidently and as sincerely as I've ever prayed in a long while.

Something was happening that was different from what I normally feel in a prayer meeting or during my ride home. A strange lightness of being, a closeness to God, and something else, a forgetfulness of self, were making themselves felt as never before.

Once home I read the Spirit of Prophecy and just couldn't put it down. When it was finally time to retire, I thanked God for hours of spiritual introspection like nothing I had experienced for many years.

The next day during a staff meeting, something didn't click and I was too facetious with others during the appropriate time in the meeting for informal remarks, but unfortunately my comments were inappropriate and I realized it, but said nothing further in order to save face. The afternoon sun was spilling its cheerfulness on me as I walked to my car and wondered how I could have been so thoughtless to have made such an off-color comment without any premeditation on my part.

Instead of singing more hymns I reached for my electronica CD deep in the glove compartment and let synthesizer rhythms and vague whisperings of "walking on thin ice" transport me to a secularized cinema-like drive home.

What a change from yesterday. How easily a mountain top experience becomes a living-in-the-real world drive home.

Oh well, it was wonderful while it lasted and I look forward to everything falling into place again very soon. Perhaps one day soon I'll sing and pray and read my bible non-stop from morning till evening time and leave everything else behind.

The Gods of the Internet Age

I love reading the Bible, especially the New Testament. However, when I read it I sometimes realize that the only reason I believe in its spiritual realities is because they appear in its pages. Yes, I see a change in my life from when I didn't read the Bible. But it still strikes me as amazing that aside from the Bible there is no accounting for all this talk of God, Christ, and the spiritual life.


Others believe in the realities the Bible speaks of because they heard it from others and were convinced by the account of the people who spoke to them about it.


Of course, other religions, e.g., Hindus, believe their religious tradition because it's mentioned in their religious texts.


The printed word continues to exert influence. Entire movements have begun simply because someone put words on paper.


What kind of movements might yet come into being, not because someone writes about them, but because a computerized program creates that new reality? So many people's lives revolve around the Internet and its labyrinthine realities. What's to stop some of them from choosing a life based on Internet realities?


Welcome to the transcendent worlds and realities of the Internet and their effects on people's lives.

The Best Temptation of All: Eternal Life

The person who is tempted on a daily basis and gives into temptation because it is his daily choice is really not being tempted at all. For the Christian, however, who is tempted from time to time by a specific alluring desire, the concept of temptation is very real.

What's especially difficult to endure is when temptation comes when least expected. Sometimes a Christian does not go looking for temptation; it comes to him or her. At the time the temptation comes the shock value of being tempted by a specific allurement may leave the Christian unprepared. Only through a merciful turn of events can the temptation be sidestepped until there is time to pray and fortify oneself with the word of God.

Perhaps one is tempted to think that one's faith experience is false since temptation almost got one where it would have hurt the most. However, the best solution is to chalk it up to the mysteries of the Christian life and not decide that one's desire to follow Christ is somehow not sincere. Temptations come and go. We need to live through them and not get discouraged.

It also is unrealistic to live in fear of temptation and to lock yourself in your home so as never to be tempted. Christians are not called to be hermits. Of course, depending on your particular set of temptations, you may have to change your daily routine. But, again, don't live in constant fear of running into an old friend, or of accidentally finding yourself in the chocolate aisle at the supermarket when you had purposely avoided that aisle so as not to be tempted with your old chocolate addiction.

Remember that no temptation is worth giving up the hope of eternal life.

The phrase "the best temptation of all" was coined by Richard Baskin in "Welcome to L.A."

Does the Bible lead many astray?

Herold Weiss: The Bible has led many astray.

Ouch! Some things are better thought but not actually written out. The examples you mention are tragedies. To fault the Bible for causing those tragedies seems to express a negative opinion of the Word of God. People lead themselves astray. The Bible is a book of life, and specifically the New Life in Jesus. Your words make it seem more like a book of death. And that sounds very ugly.

While I found your reflections on the Sabbath School lesson challenging, ultimately, I received very little spiritual blessing from your words.

With so many things wrong with the Bible, as you express them, one would wonder why bother reading it at all.

In spite of the problems with the Bible and with its track record of leading "many astray" I intend to continue reading my Bible. I pray it won't lead me astray. In fact, I have found that since I've been reading it during the past four years--in spite of some ugly passages about genocidal massacres and lakes of fire--the effect it has had on my life is far from leading me toward the dark side. Instead, it has lead me toward the light. And for that I am grateful. Peace.

Living with Jesus

Simple words? Perhaps they are for those who have long enjoyed the experience of focusing on Jesus and not on anyone else or on anything else. However, for most people living with Jesus is either not attractive or if it is something to be desired, it is not as easy as simply saying the words three magical times.

We can only live for or with Jesus if he comes to us and makes his home with us. Day after day I find myself asking him to come and live inside me. I think that's what I want although I'm not sure if once he comes and stays with me, I'll realize it or even if I will find that it's what I thought his constant presence would be like.

The nicest compliment anyone could ever give me would be to say that I reminded them of Christ. I'm not sure I could handle such a compliment. I have a hard enough time handling compliments of any kind. That one in particular would probably break any Christ connection I may someday have.

Now that I think about Christ-like people I've met, my mind comes to one particular pastor who was the kindest and most devout person I ever met. I would mention his name, but I think it best not to do so in case he's reading this and by my stating such an opinion it would either send him to his knees or would sever the Christ connection for a bit until he confessed his sin of spiritual pride.

Perhaps it is better not to think so much about whether or not one is Christlike. Better to think how unChristlike one has been and how we are in dire need of his transforming grace to make us not self-conscious about our Christlikeness, but obsessed with Christ and fellowship with him.

Suddenly I think of Christ on Earth and what he thought of himself. Did he consciously think about wanting to become more Godlike? Did he see God in himself? Did others tell him that he was the most Godlike person they had ever met? I think not. Jesus was probably not self conscious about things like that. He might have lived his life as naturally and as unself-consciously as we live our lives. For him to have lived it otherwise is unrealistic. Jesus was as sane as you or I. He didn't think more of himself than he had to. We should do the same.

(I wonder if the Adventist Review would be interested in an article like this one? It sounds so safe and non-controversial. I've often wanted to write an article for the Review, but I can never quite leave out controversial bits and pieces. Now that I've proofed it I realize that I'm probably incapable of writing an article that would fit the mold. So much for my passing desire to write for the Adventist Review.)

Christianity is mystical, by nature

Other words instead of mystical might be transcendent, otherworldly, mysterious. Ellen White used the word mystic* to describe the ladder in Jacob's dream that reached from Earth to heaven. I feel comfortable then, using a word that some traditional folk might not like to use about Christianity.


What I mean is that it takes a lot to believe in all these non-tactile realities and historical occurrences. Rationally speaking it makes no sense. But reason is not always the most important reality in the world; or it need not be.


This dawned on me as I drove home in a cool afternoon without any cares in the world. This was in spite of the fact that I had just spent $900 to have new wheels put on my car and other automobile expenses. Where was I going to get that money to pay down the credit card bill? I didn't care. I would let God take care of that essential expense. Worrying about it was not going to pay it off any faster. God knows I had to have those tires and the other parts that were defective. He knows, also, that I need to find the funds to pay off this negative cash flow expense.


Back home, I spent what I thought was going to be only 30 minutes reading about the Christian life, but I got so engrossed in the experience that when I looked at the clock, almost two hours had come and gone. I wanted to continue reading more of Steps to Christ, but I realized that I had other things to do before Sunday became Monday morning.


I had been invited to a Christmas party--the only one this year so far. I was unsure of whether to go as there was going to be alcoholic drinks there and other non-Christian influences that may or may not turn out to be deleterious to my experience. I prayed about it and decided that that was one party that I was better off not attending. Now, it might have turned out just fine, but I felt moved not to take a chance. Instead I spent the afternoon reading and meditating about God's amazing grace. That defies reason in most people's minds. I does in mine.


There's no other explanation other than that Christianity is mystical. How else to account for spending good quality time on a Sunday afternoon reading Steps to Christ when so many other things beckoned?


* mysterious: having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding; ". . . someone who believes in the existence of realities beyond human comprehension wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Loving the Sabbath, Hating my Sinfulness

All week long I wait for the Sabbath with such wistfulness that when it finally comes I realize that I longed for it too intensely. Now that it has finally arrived, I take it for granted and am aware of my confinement. I cannot do what I want to do. There are only so many activities or thoughts that are allowed to me on this holiest of days.

As the sun set I worried about the many details of keeping the Sabbath holy. I decided not to worry about the details of Sabbath keeping, but rather, to focus my attention on my relationship with Christ. Let Christ take care of how I keep the Sabbath holy.

I can worry about whether the house is ready for the Sabbath; it is not; it rarely is. I can worry about what I'm going to do when I am not in church and the Sabbath hours find me, once again, on my own with too many hours to experience while it is still Sabbath.

You have to admit, the Sabbath is--pardon the expression--the oddest of all the commandments. For example, today I thought that if I purposely delay my observance of the Sabbath by a minute or 10 or 60, have I invalidated the remaining 23 hours of Sabbath still in play? Unlike the commandment to not kill, steal, take God's name in vain, etc., once you break those commandments, you have broken the entire commandment and not just part of it. But the Sabbath, you see, is one long 24 hour experience. You are then able to break it or observe it once an hour, or perhaps more than that or less than that it you are careful. Or should one foolishly decide that since you've already broken it by not starting it on time or by breaking it half way into it, it is pointless to try to keep the rest of the hours that remain? Some may find the thought improper; others simply practical.

This can't be what God had in mind. Before the Sabbath begins I ask God to make me holy so I can keep his Sabbath holy. I also ask him to fill me with his Spirit and move me to keep his Sabbath holy, and for that matter, to keep all his commandments holy.

I don't know if I've ever really kept the Sabbath as one is supposed to keep it. I'm sure that even in the midst of no work, no play, church all day, or charitable visits to nursing homes, etc., I could very well have been breaking the Sabbath at the same time that I was, with good intent, trying to keep it.

Violations of all the other commandments are truly grotesque violations of some spiritual or basic human value, e.g., respect for one's God or one's fellow human being. But the Sabbath is a different concept all together.

I'm suddenly reminded of a church member who was so concerned about violating the sabbath by being awake during most of it--I guess he knew himself quite well--that he'd go to bed after church so as not to be conscious during the rest of the 7th-day Sabbath. Judging from the sister who told us about it, his intentions were sincere. However, by not engaging in more useful activities during the Sabbath, he was, in fact, breaking the Sabbath. Still, one does spend eight hours sleeping during the normal sleep period of the Sabbath, so why not sleep for the rest of the non-church part of it. I'm just trying to understand this brother's fear of breaking the Sabbath.

I used to feel that after I had spent half an hour or so reading the bible, I could open up my Sabbath post-vesper experience by engaging in cultural and spiritual activities like listening to symphonic music, or watching thoughtful DVDs about stimulating topics. Lately, I find myself unsure of these activities and usually spend the rest of the post-vesper Friday night Sabbath either reading the Spirit of Prophecy, reading the Bible until I get sleepy, or watching the local Christian network, Trinity Broadcasting Network. Sometimes that puts me to sleep, as well. I don't mean its content does, but rather the passiveness of these activities invites sleep quicker than a run in the park would. Of course, the park is deserted at this hour, except for hoodlums and such, so I use that example as an extreme example of a healthy, life-affirming activity on a Sabbath's Friday evening.

Or I can spend the entire Sabbath blogging, as I am now doing, and perhaps that will solve the problem for an hour or so.

Sometimes, though, PBS, has wonderful religion programs. Of course, most of them are pretty liberal, but it's religion, nevertheless. The History channel has a show on Friday nights about Extreme Survival in nature. That's so painful to watch, that I seldom fall asleep watching it.

Oh that God would have mercy on me and enable me to keep the Sabbath without being self-conscious about it. How wonderful if I could offer a Sabbath full of devotion by keeping the Sabbath enjoyably, and finally, lovingly. Amen.

Adventists-by-Works Anonymous & other Oxymora

During my 15 or 20 year hiatus from Adventism many changes took place that were at one time unlikely or even problematic. To my surprise (I have mixed feelings about some of these) I found the following developments:

Electric guitar solos during the 11:00 church service

Tropical-flavored (Afro-Cuban) religious children's songs during the children's hour

Rings and hoop earrings on an entire family of Adventist women and children

Gold neck chains discreetly worn by Adventist men and boys

Gay Adventists and their children in regular church attendance

Adventist Alcoholics Anonymous

Adventist Charismatics

Cultural Adventists Club

Along with the oxymoron in the title I've come up with other not so unlikely additions that may either already exist or will come about in the next few years or decades:

Adventist Aeronautics Space Agency

Adventist Evolutionists Apologetics Society

Adventist Virtual Reality Evangelism

Gay Adventist Health Bar & Restaurant

Adventist Internet Pornography Addicts Anonymous

Adventist Electronica Cafe

Adventist Rap Music Festival

Adventist mainstream-TV comedy series titled The Sexy Vegetarian Next Door

8th-Day Adventist Futurist Conference

Adventist Ecumenical Apologetics Association

Who can really say what surprises await our church, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. Some of the entries may switch back and forth from the actual to the theoretical heading as experience itself produces unexpected developments.

It is my prayer that whatever comes to pass or fails to materialize from the list, one thing remains: loving and lovable Adventist Christians.

Righteousness by Faith 123

1. Spend time with Jesus Christ reading the gospels. Let him talk to you.
2. Spend time in prayer and talk to Christ.
3. Work with Christ by
a. taking care of those in need
b. sharing what he has done for you

Based on readings contained in Morris Venden's Faith that Works

Practical Evolution and a Benign God

Violence caused by animals to other animals, as well as their death, is necessary, as hard as it is to accept. Otherwise what would animals who are not vegetarians eat?

I'm still wrestling with the possibility of evolution being God's method of creating the world. I don't like the thought of death and violence being the vehicle by which God used to bring about the self-referential reality of homo sapiens. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the six day creation week, plus the Sabbath rest at the end, sometimes requires more faith than I have on a given day. The six day creation explanation, however, solves lots of problems, but I, at least, have to suspend some apparent evidences that perhaps life has been here for millennia, and, hopefully, will continue to be here for millennia, as well.

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.

The Next Great Disappointment

In one or two Adventist churches in South Florida people are making plans to leave for their countries of origin or moving to remote wilderness locations in preparation for what they feel is the arrival of the Time of Trouble. All these folks can't be mistaken or can they?

If, for whatever reason, the Time of Trouble fails to arrive along with its related event, the End of Time, what will become of all these folks? Will they realize that they were over eager or will they be sorely disappointed? Will many leave the Adventist church if these two related events fail to materialize in the near future? Their number seems to be growing more and more with each passing day.

Is this the beginning of a major fanatical phase within mainstream Adventism? Or is it the beginning of a branching off of some of these folks into an alternate Adventist church? Or will this subside in time?

If what all these folks expect to happen does not happen what will be effect on Adventism in this country and in other countries?

Has this happened before around the time of the Great Depression or is this a unique phenomenon?

In my local church --as well as in other Adventist churches all across America--several members have sold or are selling personal belongings, donated one of two family cars, or cleaned out their life's savings and turned it all over to their church for the advancement of the gospel.

This just might be the real thing we are witnessing, just like it was the real thing in the apostolic church when similar things started happening.

If it is not, may God have mercy on all of us.

Self-Hatred and Dying to Self

Not everyone is born or lives their live with their psyche intact and their self-esteem healthy. It is especially damaging to want to die to self or to pick up one's cross when one's self-esteem is less than perfect.


It takes great effort to distrust self and trust Christ more and more when one has a less than ideal opinion of oneself. If one experiences failure after failure in the Christian walk, that only adds to one's sense of self-loathing and hopelessness. This brings up the challenge: can only those who are enjoying maximum mental health effectively die to self?


Unfortunately, sometimes Christians equate a close walk with Christ with self-worth. Since it is easier to follow the savior for some more than others, some Christians despise themselves because they have fallen short of that intimate relationship with Christ.


It is very important to divorce one's self-worth and self-image from whether or not one is living a victorious Christian life.


To paraphrase Mart Crowley, "You may one day know and enjoy a Christian life if you pursue it with the same purpose with which you annihilate yourself, but you'll always be a sinner. Always--until the day you die."


It's important to communicate this reality especially to teenagers or anyone with the propensity to over identify their self-worth with success in the Christian life. The list of people who may be at risk are some of the following: perfectionists, neurotics, bi-polar individuals, insecure people, abused individuals. The list goes on and on.


When one sins, whether it be sins of passion, of omission or commission, whatever sin one seems to be battling with, it's important not to berate oneself with yet another failure. When one sins one should console oneself with the knowledge that yes, Jesus forgives us and loves us in spite of our sins. One should also remind oneself that when one sins, one is is good company with the rest of the human race.


It's not an easy or healthy life to identify yourself with your own sinfulness, however. Such identification can only lead to greater mental disease.


It's very encouraging to read the bible and notice how many people sin and grievously, e.g., David, Moses, Judas--well maybe not Judas as his story does not have a good ending. But you get my drift. The good book is a compendium of sinner's stories with most stories having a good ending. It also contains sinners who were not as fortunate, e.g., Absalom, King Saul, Judas Iscariot, and the whore of Babylon. While she was figurative, I did want to include at least one female in the list.


Christianity may very well be ideally suited for people born with and continually blessed with a healthy personality and mind. The rest of society should proceed with the greatest of caution.

Baptism Redux

Saturday, October 18, 2008. I was baptized for the third time. It was more special than the previous times. I had no family members in town as was the case 25 years ago. But at least I had some good friends who wished me well in the congregation.


No, I was not perfect, but waiting three years for that perfection to arrive did not dissuade me from stepping forward on Friday night. No one will ever be perfect until the Second Coming itself. As I waited for my turn to walk up and descend into the baptistry, I realized just how imperfect and sinful I was. But that was not going to deter me. I had been praying a lot about when the right time would come to undergo this event. Last Saturday was the day God had prepared for me to follow through with something that I had been praying about for three years.


There really was something different this time around. I know this time I really did receive the gift of the Spirit that's mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.


I know I'll make mistakes and sin here and there, but I am in good company. All the folks who were baptized with me will also partake of these experiences whether intentionally or accidentally.


I walk in newness of life and it is intoxicating.

Legalism Refuses to Die Out in Adventism

When the fresh air of righteousness by faith was being breathed by more and more church members, along comes a reminder that legalism will not see its demise any time soon.

I can't mention any names because I'd be as bad as the person under consideration. He carefully avoids naming sources and countries--for the most part--where he has been challenged in his views, but he gives an occasional hint and comments about the persons in question. Of course, I'm guilty of the same thing, but from the other side of the street. I'm glad that I'm able to see this instead of having someone else point it out to me.

Nevertheless, I'm speaking of the speaker in charge of our week of prayer this week at my local church. I'm glad he's only a visiting pastor and that our regular pastor will hopefully undue what this visitor is so astoundingly doing to his flock. I may be in for a surprise if I probe a little deeper that perhaps our regular pastor is not such a fan of righteousness by faith as he appears to be in his weekly Prayer Meeting studies. [I felt uneasy about this comment and have subsequently apologized to my pastor for thinking such a thing about him. He then was gracious enough to forgive me and advised me not to worry about it and to focus, instead, on our common goal of getting to heaven. I leave the comment here because otherwise those who have previously read it won't make sense of my apology if I were to remove it. In any case, I don't specify his name or the name of my local congregation. Still, you never know who's reading one's blog.]

At first I was excited thinking this much anticipated speaker was going to bring some priceless jewel about salvation to our congregation. After only half an hour of him speaking I was surprised to hear it was simply an update to legalism in the present tense. Works are presented as something wonderful and life-changing. He almost makes you think that works really are not such a bad thing after all, as a necessary component to get to heaven. As he speaks I'm reminded reminded of the phrase "not by works less any man should boast." It's a high-wire act of the greatest delicacy to present works in such a new jewel setting and not let it be mistaken for the tawdry rhinestone that it really is.

What's even more shameful is that in these dire economic times which have descended upon us lately, righteousness by works and faith may find more favor than the tried-and-true righteousness by faith that was in play during more prosperous times.

The term "righteousness by faith" rarely, if ever, comes to light during the last four meetings that I've attended so far. To be fair I missed the Sabbath morning presentation, which may have been autobiographical in nature from what I've heard, but nothing that he could have said then could possibly change the constant attack on leaders and writers in our church that have so lovingly nurtured this precious bloom called righteousness by faith for many years. Even Ellen G. White, who rarely is mentioned in this week of prayer, was more in favor of righteousness by faith than the speaker in question.

A courteous reference to grace is made here and there, but it is then over-powered with the need for works. The influence of James' epistle is felt without being mentioned by name. Admittedly, the practical nature of works is highlighted: helping those in need, instead of simply saying a prayer for them. But that would then suggest that simply by helping more and more people in need--while a wonderful thing in itself--would guarantee you a home in heaven. This can never be the case. Or is this what practical Christianity is all about? Helping others and in so doing, you help yourself.

I hope most of the folks hearing this attempt at Righteousness by works and faith will remember all the other sermons and Sabbath School lessons that focused more on salvation by grace and faith (alone). If they do not, then sadly, that is what they wish to believe.

Out of courtesy to the speaker whom I will still be listening to for the next four days, both mornings at 5:00 a.m. and evenings at 7:00 p.m., I will not share some of the quotes from his personal experience that infer something slightly disturbing about him or his experience. As I hear statements that should make a thinking person shudder instead of laugh, I remember the bible verse that says" "out of the abundance of the mouth, the heart speaks."

One of the oddest of guidelines the speaker gave early in the week of prayer experience is for us all to fast for the next 40 days. After the shock of what he said, he explained that he meant as regards television, all DVDs, and even the Adventist cable networks which featured content that perhaps was questionable or perhaps it was the medium of television itself that somehow is deleterious to genuine spiritual growth.

I continue praying for this week of prayer speaker in spite of the fact that he may very well be doing more harm than good to those in attendance.

"If you look to the son of God and believe in him you have eternal life and he will raise you up at the last day." John 6. This for me is the one text that concisely states what salvation is all about. Works of any kind, even of the beneficial kind, are nowhere in sight in this priceless text.

After the End

Life is weird as we wait for the end to finally hurry up and get here. I just drove by a big auto dealership two miles from home and found that they had gone under. Later on I read on the news that due to credit lines being frozen, auto dealerships will go out of business more and more. It was odd first seeing it first hand, then reading about this kind of thing taking place.

I attended church on Saturday morning, but today I was searching to be with people at worship so I attend an Episcopalian church in Ft. Lauderdale. Nothing in the service indicated that these brethren realize the End is upon us.

I was in an apocalyptic mood so instead of going home I dropped into the movie Blindness, a movie that had a look and a storyline that I kept telling myself might reflect what cities might degenerate into when the End creeps up upon us.

This movie was a downer for the most part and I wasn't thrilled to see it. It was billed as an exciting thriller. Perhaps thrillers no longer thrill when you know that the real thing is almost upon us. What a relief that there was a glimmer of hope at the end of the movie. Nevertheless, movies like this don't help me very much. In the future I'll choose my celluloid experiences very carefully.

Back home I put on Wynton Marsalis' church-jazz composition, In this House, On this Morning. I ate my home-cooked meal and waited for the afternoon soon to slip into forever. Alas, forever did not come so I decided to pay some bills on-line.

You will definitely know that something serious is happening to the world in which we live in when they stop filming new episodes of Desperate Housewives. But that day has not yet arrived. There's another new episode on tonight. In desperate times like these, what better show to watch than Desperate Housewives. Perhaps a little bit of humor and other people's mundane lives is what is needed as society devolves into madness. How fortunate for those who have the entire four seasons of Desperate Housewives on DVD in case they really do stop filming new episodes of this and other TV shows.

The networks would then have no other recourse than to film reality shows about the End of Days. Don't think it sounds so far-fetched. Hollywood has done everything else.

How does one live, really, when all the world is collapsing?

The End Has Come: Jesus is Almost Here

Prayer meeting is always a welcome haven from the challenges of the working week. We've been studying concepts based on the Adventist classic "Preparation for the Final Conflict" by Chaij. Our pastor really believes that these recent economic troubles are a signal that Christ is at the gates. Not just coming soon, but actually coming in no time at all.

This sense of urgency has affected me more than I'd like. While I'm glad Christ is coming in no time at all, it also has made me overwhelmed at what that entails about the End Times. I'm almost thinking of putting everything else on hold since Christ's coming is months or a few years from now.

It is exciting, but it's challenging as I have to continue living my life. Just today I considered not buying anything at all as far my hobbies are concerned, because there's no time for hobbies anymore. Again, I'm not sure that living like that is potentially healthy, but then again, if these are the last days, months or years of planet Earth's history, who has time for hobbies anymore?

In church we recently watched a video about pastor David Gates. He's a very spiritual and knowledgeable man who outlines just how close we are to the End of Time. If you want to check out his major sermons, The Approaching Storm series, the link is attached:
http://gospelministry.org/blog/?page_id=451

How will this all turn out? At what point do we stop blogging and focus on what the Lord impresses us to do to get ready to meet him in the immediate future. We can't speak of Jesus coming soon anymore. We've been saying "soon" for 2,000 years. It makes no sense to speak of soon. Why not simply say that Jesus is almost here.

I really do believe that Jesus Christ is coming back in my lifetime.

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.