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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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.

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.

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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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.

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.

Early Adventists Used Popular Songs and Set them to Sacred Words

One way of addressing this issue was to set new hymns to well known popular tunes, and early Adventist hymnals display several examples of this practice. “Land of Light” was written by Uriah Smith and first published in 1856. Smith’s hymn focused on heaven and was set to the popular secular tune “Old Folks at Home” by Stephen Foster. Smith also penned “O Brother Be Faithful” and set it to the popular tune, “Be Kind to the Loved Ones at home” by Isaac Baker Woodbury. [1]

How many times I have changed the words to songs from my youth and enjoyed--as though a secret vice--the joy that these Christianized pop songs gave me. Perhaps the earliest instance was in the mid-70s when I found a particularly transcendent sentence from Steps to Christ [2] and mysteriously started singing those words to the tune of "I've Seen All Good People" by the Progressive Rock group Yes. For me, that combination of a song by a group that had altered my reality and had introduced me to the music of Igor Stravinsky, with the much loved words from Steps to Christ will forever remind me of, perhaps, the most natural and spiritual time of my life.

References:

1. I Have Heard the Angel's Sing
2. Steps to Christ. See Chapter 9, "The Work and the Life." which contains these words: "God is the source of life and light and joy to the universe" which I adapted to the Yes song I've mentioned above.

Waiting for God to Bless You

When things don't go right you have to hold on until times of refreshing return. The bible can be of help as well as singing Christian hymns and other spiritual songs. Praying can benefit you in times of need, as well. Nevertheless, when all has been done, you can't continue to read your bible all day, or pray all day, or even sing all day. You have to get on with the challenge of living your life no matter if it may not be as smooth as you would like it to be. You then have to hunker down, as best as  you can, and wait for God to act mercifully in your life. A friend may call and that will pass the time, but, again, you can't talk to your friend all day long. The time to deal with life and its imperfections comes to us all. May God have mercy on us all and shorten the wait time.

Mysteries of God Revealed: Christ Lives in His Word

What if the words of the bible are not just mere words. What if the words actually contain the transcendent presence and power of Christ? Of course, not everyone experiences this; it has to be conferred upon you before the real power of the hidden Christ manifests itself.

Did Christ not say ". . . the words I have spoken to you are Spirit [or spirit] and they are life" John 6:63 (NIV)? He also said "for my flesh [word] is real food and my blood is real drink" John 6:55 (NIV)

It is astounding that you can experience God himself as you eat and drink the spiritual liquid and food found in his Word. How will you know you are really tapping into something supernatural? When you long to sit at the master's feet because you know how good the spiritual meal was the day before, you know you are not just reading words and nothing more. You are becoming one with Christ. It is his doing. It is certainly not yours.

One approach to lead you to experience this for yourself is to ask God to grant you the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is given: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13 (NIV). The next step is to apply the words of the gospel in the present tense. The above verse about spirit and life can be appropriated into your inner self by stating "Christ's words are spirit and they are life to me. In Jesus' name." You may very well repeat these words slowly and meditate on them as long as you feel a need. If you are not able to make the connection right away. Keep on trying. Perhaps you might want to move to the next or previous text in the gospel account.

My favorite chapters in the gospels are John 14-17. I read the chapters straight through in one sitting. Next I start with John 14:1 which says " Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me [Christ]." I then make this text real to me by saying to myself--silently or audibly--"I am not letting my heart be troubled. I am trusting in God; I am also trusting in Christ. In Jesus' name." By focusing on these words I enter a dimension that takes me deeper into the God realm than I have ever been. When my 45 minutes of study and meditation come to an end I wish I had just begun.

I then kneel for 15 minutes and either refer to the verses I have been meditating on or make my requests for spiritual and material needs known to God. I sometimes ask, believe and thank God for the gift he has promised in his Word. At other times I simply state the promises in the present tense very much as I do with the texts I've been meditating on. I always end each request with "in Jesus' name" and not just at the end of the prayer session. At times I have my watch by my side so I don't get lost in the transcendent dimension and run out of time before I need to leave for work.

If you want to live in a timeless state of life and inner peace, I urge you to give this early morning spiritual exercise a try. It will alter your quality of life in ways that you can't begin to understand until it starts happening to you.

In closing I share a text that I have permanently recorded in my subconscious mind.

"Peace I [Christ] leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27 (NIV)

Recipe for Living Well

So much time is spent in wondering whether one has eternal life or not. So many sleepless nights. So many efforts to read everything in sight regarding the path to heaven. So much concern about trying to enter through the narrow gate. So many nights wondering if you are being emptied of self.

Instead of subjecting yourself to this type of misery any further, here's a solution that makes more sense both for your mental health now and your eternal well-being, as well. Each morning of your life spend at least 30 minutes reading the Bible, especially the Gospels, and praying for five minutes regarding what you've read. This is the means to maintaining a relationship with Christ Jesus, the one who gives you a better quality of life now and eternal life in the future. As you sense your need, you may very well increase the time you spend reading the Bible and praying. Depending on your soul hunger so will your intake of spiritual food (Bible) and spiritual exercise (prayer) be.

After you nourish your spirit then you are ready to help those in need and to share, as God enables you, what Christ Jesus means to you. Some of the projects that come to mind are the following: help eliminate homelessness, joblessness, and social inequality.

Please see the original post in Spectrum Magazine for the reason for this post: Confidence

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.

Living Through Jesus

How wonderful these words sound if you believe in Christ Jesus. How banal or annoying they appear if Jesus Christ has no meaning for you. For some, however, the words have no meaning at all because they have never heard of Jesus Christ. Sadly, there are some who use the name "Jesus Christ" as a swear word and have no inkling as to the wonderful person whose name they are using needlessly. Some might even find the thought of living for Jesus humorous. I've met people in the past that believed that it was a waste of time pursuing a life with Jesus Christ as its center.

Thankfully, I don't believe that way. "Jesus is the joy of living. He's the king of life to me." These words from the church hymnal have been on my mind for many months. As a child I sang them often and didn't really connect with them. I sang them dutifully in church or church school, but didn't find them especially gratifying. The reality of enjoying Christ as a real person in your life is a gift from God through his Holy Spirit. It is a transcendent reality that is bequeathed to us with no apparent explanation, at times.

Four years ago, out of boredom, I started singing one particular song as I walked my dog.

"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 things from the Lord above. As I walk with the Lord in my heart there's a song. It's a wonderful, wonderful life."

Only in retrospect was I able to trace a revival in my spiritual life to the seemingly passive singing of the powerful words of this song. The message in the song actually became my conscious reality. For that miracle I am grateful to the Lord.

In addition to intoning the words of this song daily, but with little feeling to what I was singing, I started claiming the promise for the reception of the Holy Spirit found in Luke 11:13 which says, "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 those who ask him." I had claimed this particular promise on and off for years, but more as a vague desire for something that I had known once. I don't think I really believed the words I was saying.

At any rate I can't say how long I claimed this promise, but when something otherworldly started happening to me, I did not automatically connect it with the promise I had routinely been claiming on my daily commute to work.

In accepting that something extraordinary was beginning to occur in my life I decided to start getting up early in the morning and spending time with the New Testament. It was only after a few months that I actually became interested in attending church. I had not attended church in over 15 years. After three and a half years of attending church I felt it was meaningful for me to seek rebatism.

Temptations of ever-increasing variety never cease to cross my path, but for reasons that baffle me, I continue to seek God morning by morning. I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary to continue having this mysterious relationship with Christ. I'm simply letting him fill me with whatever spiritual and material blessings he wishes to shower me with. Yes, of course, I continue to rise early to eat the word of life and to commune with God through prayer, but this desire does not come from me, how could it? It would be so much more pleasant to continue sleeping or to enjoy other activities instead of the bible and prayer. Nevertheless, the mystery of spirituality continues to grace my days. I am astounded and indebted to Christ Jesus for this continuing blessing.

It is my hope that if you have never given Jesus Christ the time of day that you will do so very soon.

Christianity's Mysterious Obsession

Why does one err even after having spent an hour "sitting at the feet of Jesus?" You'd think prayer and Bible study as well as "giving your power of choice to Christ" would take care of the rest of the day. It does not. Some might say that one errs because one took one's eyes off Jesus. Still, there must be some other factor that throws a wrench into the engine of a struggling Christian's day.

God, it is said, respects our power of choice. If you spend time in devotional exercises and enjoy them day-by-day, but still err within minutes or an hour after your time of spiritual devotion, something else must be taking place.

Could the experience of erring itself be a test? Could the test be whether you feel that the Christian life is not what it's purported to be? Does it make sense to spend time on your knees and in the hour of prayer and still err because, deep down inside, you want to err anyway? Sometimes you might not want to err, but slip up and then the challenge takes a different turn.

Do you let errors, faults, slip-ups--fill in the blanks--discourage you that your Christian experience is false or not worth the trouble? Or do you persevere because in spite of your errors, you still find so much beauty and sustenance from the time spent in prayer and bible study each day?

If you've enjoyed the Christian life for a while and find it to be a valid approach to the challenges of life, you ignore the fact that something is not quite right with your life and you don't understand what it all means, but, nevertheless, you don't cease being a Christian in spite of the failures. If anything, your failures indicate that you need Jesus more and more. You may not be the successful Christian you'd like to be right now--or ever--but it is better to be a struggling and imperfect Christian than not to be a Christian at all.

Holy Spirit Does It All

In a recent http://www.spectrummagazine.org/ post, Gift of Prophecy in Israel and the Church I posted the following:

"'. . . forgetting that their salvation ultimately depends on God’s Spirit at work throughout the church and the world.'

Thank you for your meditation and especially for this quoted thought. We can try to do this or that: pray, read the bible, share our faith, and serve those in need. How easy though, it is to make these experiences less than well-intentioned. Sometimes we think that we're buying our salvation by engaging in these life-giving activities.

Like you say in the above-quoted thought, it is the Spirit who is ultimately responsible and brings about every phase of our salvation. We need to learn to recognize his presence and marvel at his supernatural ministry in our lives."

Posted by: Raul Batista (not verified) 21 March 2009 at 12:07

The Challenges of Righteousness by Faith

What challenges you might ask? Righteousness by Faith (Justification by Faith) can only be thought of as a good thing. Why speak of any challenges?

Basically we are saved by faith through grace and not of ourselves lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8) . To balance this and not slide into so-called "cheap grace", some bring up James' advice about grace without works being dead. (James 2:17)

Morris Venden tells us that the only two (or four) activities we can engage in that open the way for righteousness by faith to kick in are:

1. Spending time at the feet of Christ through bible study and prayer
2. Working with Christ through service for others and sharing our faith

Some might feel that the actual time and effort invested in all of these may seem like works themselves. It is important to focus on the fact that prayer and bible study are means to an end. The end is a relationship with Jesus Christ who saves us by his grace.

The service and sharing of our faith are the results of a genuine relationship with Christ. This brings us to the challenges I have alluded to before.

If you spend time in prayer and bible study, but don't share your faith, are you then not saved? Some have suggested that something is wrong in your faith experience if you only nourish yourself, but don't nourish others. While it is relatively easier to sit down with your bible or kneel in prayer at the beginning of each day, going about the sharing of your faith is not as effortless. You have to find the people to share your faith with. You have to have something to say to them that is appropriate so you don't turn them away by any heavy-handed approaches. You have to follow up, give them bible studies, invite them to your church or to evangelistic meetings. It gets more and more complicated.

Tending to the needs of others can be as difficult, but perhaps easier than sharing your faith. You can, for example, contribute to mission fields, charities, etc., and by your means help those in need. If you have more time than money, you could volunteer your time and help out in soup kitchens, or similar groups that benefit those in need.

I would say that just as it is difficult to actually find time for Christ for prayer and bible study, but essential, so it is equally difficult (perhaps even harder) to share your faith with those in need of the good news of salvation.

All of these activities, both the faith-related ones (prayer and bible study) and the works-related ones (service to others and sharing your faith) are impossible for the natural man or woman. These experiences or activities are gifts of the Spirit if they are the genuine article.

Therefore, the only thing you can do is ask God to give you the free gift of his Holy Spirit and he will move you to will (choose) and to do of his own good pleasure (Luke 11:13 and Ezekiel 36:26,27).

Ask for the Spirit of Christ, wait for him to transform and motivate you to seek the relationship with Christ. Look for the change in your life as you read your bible daily and kneel in prayer for divine blessing. Look also for the spontaneous and supernatural change in your life that leads you, out of gratitude, to help those in need and to share your faith with others as the Spirit leads you.

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.

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

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.