Standing Audience

 

 

Matthew 5:1

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

New International Version (NIV)

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,

In 1896 Charles Sheldon published a novel entitled In His Steps in which he proposed that great good would come if we asked “What would Jesus do?” before making decisions in our lives. The question is a great one, and we would find a better life if we, too, asked the same question before proceeding.

The question is also a puzzling one. How do we determine what Jesus would do if he were in our shoes?

Many years ago we were young missionaries in the newly independent Republic of Tanzania. We were favored to have the president of the republic, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, visit a nearby school. The large crowd stood expectantly under spreading shade trees and out in the tropical sun. The president came out of a nearby school block, preceded by a couple men carrying a table and a chair. Nyerere sat down on the chair and spoke eloquently about his vision for the country, for peace, and for prosperity.

We all listened appreciatively, standing quietly and respectfully. Afterwards I went up and greeted the president and thanked him for his kind words.

But what I remember most about this presentation is this: the president came out and sat down in front of a table. He spoke eloquently, and the people stood and hung on his every word. I couldn’t help but draw a comparison to this experience and that of Christ’s followers at the sermon on the mount. Mwalimu Nyerere evidently got his idea of leadership from that of Christ.

What would happen if our churches removed the pews and placed a simple table and chair on the platform? Then the pastor would come in quietly, sit down, and humbly present his message. No one would fall asleep in the audience because they would be standing throughout. When I asked Google to show me a picture of a standing audience, it apparently had none. It finally told me, “Skip the standing!”

It’s just a thought. The pastors I’ve mentioned this to have looked on me as a starry eyed radical and given it no serious thought. What would Jesus do? What did Jesus do? Every time the text mentions what Jesus did when He was speaking, it indicates He was sitting, and the crowd was standing.

Help us, Lord, to contemplate Jesus and His life seriously and radically!

 

Rest Awhile

 

[1]

Mark 6:31 King James Version

³¹ And he said unto them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while:” for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

 

We often join my brother Elwood and his family and friends for Friday evening dinner. At the last one I told some family stories, and the group seemed interested. I’m sure that if I gave a quiz afterwards, the group would fail it dismally—but one never knows.

I usually drive home through the back streets of Norco on a road that runs close to the Santa Ana River, the river that gives Riverside its name. Then we drove around the west and north sides of the La Sierra Hills.

We watched the setting sun as we drove along. The many small golden clouds in the western sky sported gilded linings, and golden rays of light shone in every direction. As the sun approached the western slopes of the Los Angeles Mountains, I stopped in the parking lot at the entrance to the Hidden Valley Nature Center.

Getting out of the car, I sat on a rock next to the car as we watched the sun slide slowly and inexorably behind the mountains. The glow of the clouds morphed gently from shining gold into a rich orange and then faded into grey as the clouds were engulfed by the earth’s shadow.

The impatience within me wanted me to drive on, but Christ’s invitation to His disciples who were so busy they didn’t even have time to eat, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while,” beckoned me to reflect on Christ’s experience.

I’ve been brought up on Rudyard Kipling’s philosophical poem, “If”—that ends with this:

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run

  Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

I asked myself what right I had to sit on a rock and watch the beauty of a sunset.

That, of course, is a standard question that was entirely out of place for the occasion. We may envision Christ as rising up long before daylight and working until long after dark every day. It is, however, a vision that only the great deceiver could thrust upon us. Christ’s life is better envisioned by His attending a days-long wedding feast and, as His first miracle, providing extra wine for the feast. I credit Him for the beautiful interlude into an altogether busy schedule and a gorgeous welcome into His day of rest.

 

Lord, thank You for creating rest while You were creating this earthly home for us.

 

---

[1] https://www.pickpik.com/sunset-dawn-nature-mountain-turkey-landscape-73211

One Third of 2026 is History

 

 

Revelation 1:7 International Children’s Bible

⁷ Look, Jesus is coming with the clouds! Everyone will see him, even those who stabbed him. And all peoples of the earth will cry loudly because of him. Yes, this will happen! Amen.

 

Today is May Day, International Labor Day, meaning one-third of the year has now passed! Today in history:

1786 — Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna

1884 — First skyscraper completed

1994 — Nelson Mandela inaugurated as South Africa’s first Black president

1889 — Thomas Edison shows his first motion picture

1953 — Watson & Crick publish the structure of DNA

1852 — Calamity Jane was born

1840 — World’s first postage stamp released in England

 

A third of 2026 is history. Sylvia and I are nearly finished editing my second book—which may become my first book!

The proposed first book is our first great adventure: Africa—with no car, no phone, no kids, and virtually no money.

Our proposed second book—the physical encounter of Abraham with his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Shem. This is a historical novel, written in Madagascar, that is intended to be as true to scripture as possible. Our sojourn in Madagascar was our latest adventure with no car, virtually no phone, no kids, and no money.

I intended to publish the first book last year. When things slowed down to a virtual stop on that new year’s resolution, we set in motion the second manuscript this year.

The apparent soon return of Christ is rushing forward with an attempted establishment of a law that may usher in the biblical time of trouble. Its proposed date is July 4, 2026—exactly 250 years after the creation of the “freest” country on earth.

 

Dear Lord, prepare us for the Great Time of Trouble and Your much-awaited return in glory.

 

 

 

When Might Christ Come?

 

[1]

 

Ephesians 1: 10 (GNT)

¹⁰ This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.

 

The phrase, “When the time is right,” or “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times,” (KJV) has caused me to wonder. But I have no answers. Right now, we can divide time roughly into 2,000-year periods: I am working under the assumption that creation was roughly 6,000 years ago.

Creation to Flood                                roughly 2,000 years

Flood to Christ                                    roughly 2,000 years

Christ to the Present.                           roughly 2,000 years

This fits nicely into Adventist understanding. But it is neither suggested by the Bible, nor does it support it. Christ was born “when the fullness of time was come.” (Galatians 4:4 KJV)

Another way to think of it is to have Christ’s first coming at the middle of earthly time:

      Creation to Christ’s 1^st advent                        roughly 4,000 years

      Christ’s 1^st advent to the 2^nd Advent               roughly 4,000 years

In this case Christ’s second coming would not be for another 2,000 years. This definitely does not fit into Adventist understanding. It would allow humans to develop magnificent inventions. This would allow them to enslave the entire human race to a point we cannot imagine! This point might be the entire destruction of civilization; the survivors would be thrust back into the stone age. Who knows?

Can a loving God tolerate human cruelty to each other for another two millennia? This gives human history a balanced symmetry. But I see no evidence that God values this type of symmetry in time.

Christ was born when the time was right: consult Daniel 8:14, Daniel 9: 24-27. Early Adventists used the Daniel 8:14 to calculate when they though Christ would come. They got the date right but the wrong event for that date. Since that 1844 date, there appears to be no more “right time,” that we can predict ahead of time. Christ was absolutely insistent that “no man knows the day or hour.” Consequently, we need to be constantly watchful.

We look forward to sharing in the bringing of “all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head.”

 

Labels: #CALIFORNIA, #IE, #INLANDEMPIRE, #CHRISTRETURN, #BIBLE, #CRFEATION, #HEAVEN, #DANIEL, #MILLENIA, #ENSLAVE, #CIVILIZATION, #DESTROCIVILIZATION, #STONEAGE

 

---

[1] https://hopeenlightenment.com/2018/01/24/creator-of-heaven-and-earth/

Bipolar and Christ's Coming

 

[1]

Mark 13:32-37 GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

 

³² “No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don’t know. Only the Father knows. ³³ Be careful! Watch! You don’t know the exact time. ³⁴ It is like a man who went on a trip. As he left home, he put his servants in charge. He assigned work to each one and ordered the guard to be alert.³⁵ Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know when the owner of the house will return. It could be in the evening or at midnight or at dawn or in the morning. ³⁶ Make sure he doesn’t come suddenly and find you asleep.³⁷ I’m telling everyone what I’m telling you: ‘Be alert!’”

 

Christ promised to return. He indeed left us. That was His great sign “I go and if I go I will come again.”

As a math teacher, I got involved trying to help students do mathematics. Some students do math easily and well. It is a delight to have them in the classroom. There was Amos[2] who did very well. He attended regularly and caught onto the concepts easily. It was easy to view him simply as an excellent student. He was a popular tutor and could tutor as well in one language as in a second language.

As a teacher it was easy to simply treat Amos as another student, this time a good one. But he was also a student with needs. He was deeply in love with Avis. She was a couple years older than he and working on her doctorate in psychology. Like so many psychology students, she was doing psychology because she wanted to discover what was making her problems. She had been diagnosed as bipolar, and her normal state was depression. She could consciously control this to the point that she was a successful graduate student.

Yet, her depression had a continuing effect on the couple’s romantic experience. Amos was very careful to understand and support Avis. He was always attuned to her needs. They married and bought a home in a beautiful mountain town.

We did our best to help support and encourage the young couple. We visited them whenever we could and invited them to our home and to go on trips to places like Joshua Tree National Park. They loved to go and seemed to appreciate the attention.

However, the progression of the manic-depressive disease continued to erode their relationship. Eventually they parted company. Their separation came as a surprise to me. I am certainly fairly knowledgeable about living in a relationship with someone bipolar, but I didn’t sense that their union was that fragile.

Even so, I am fully aware that Christ has promised to return. His promise warns us that His coming will be when we least expect it. It will be a marvelous event, but it does run the risk of bring infinitely more catastrophic than a divorce to us, if we do not remain prepared.

Lord, help me to be alert to more of the trials my friends and students are experiencing and to help wherever I can. And keep me alert to Your soon return

  

---

[1] https://www.maxhealthcare.in/blogs/complete-guide-to-bipolar-disorder

[2] Amos and Avis were real people but I have given them these names to camouflage their identities.

Sedaven Alumni Reunion

 

[1]

2 John 1:12 Good News Translation (GNT)

¹² I have so much to tell you, but I would rather not do it with paper and ink; instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you personally, so that we shall be completely happy.

 

It had been 52 years since I had seen most of my Sedaven High School class members. When I took a trip to South Africa in 2011, one of those members, Willie Uys, organized the very first class reunion ever, using my visit as a catalyst. The time together was all too short but richly rewarding.

We first went to Flip Retief’s home and carried him out of his home so he could join us. His wife told us this was the first time he had been out of the house, except to go to hospital, in many months since he had severely scalded his foot in an accident. He had sunk into a depression that was consuming all of his energy. He told me that he despaired of ever being able to walk again. We were able to spend much of another day together comparing memories and experiences. We also shared how our Christian experiences have changed from the rather bleak outlook we had upon leaving high school to the richness of the grace of Christ that we rejoice in now. He later turned everything around; his foot has healed enough for him to walk on it again.

During our reunion, others shared their life experiences, some good and some tragic. We grieved about some of our classmates who had already passed on. We agreed to try and get together again. Flip summed up the joy we felt by saying that our conversation had brought closure to many of his feelings about class members.

The group at the reunion had been very anxious that I share their news with Smuts, our erstwhile class president, since he also lives in Southern California. A little less than a year later, I had a chance to talk with Smuts about our high school experience. He had not been able to be with us during that reunion. He was as thrilled as I was about the news.

Thank you, Lord, for the rich bonds of friendship and the even deeper bonds of Christian brotherhood that you have given us so that we can indeed be “completely happy.”

 

---

[1]  The second man from the left is Willie Uys, I am third, and Flip Retief is sitting in the front.

Abraham, God's Friend

 

[1]

James 2:23 Good News Translation

²³ And the scripture came true that said, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” And so Abraham was called God's friend.

 

The faith chapter of Hebrews devotes 13 verses to Abraham, far more than to any other person of faith.

We are encouraged to increase our faith by reading the Word of God. And that is indeed a great source of faith. Romans 10:17 KJV states, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The same verse in the Good News Translation indicates that faith comes through hearing: “So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.” We are urged to read Scripture and thereby increase our faith. In this day of audio books, we can listen to God’s word while driving down the street or highway. So even listening while driving can become a faith building event.

Now think back to the times of Abraham. The Bible doesn’t tell us whether Abraham could read or write. That really doesn’t matter because there was no Bible to read. None! So how did Abraham build his faith?

“Hey, God spoke to Abraham all the time,” you might reply. God did indeed speak to Abraham in person, in dreams, and in visions. Read Gensis again; it was only about 5 or 6 times that Scripture records God speaking to Abraham. That’s something like once about every 20 years or so! That would hardly be frequently enough for me to build my faith.

Furthermore, Abraham came out of an idolatrous culture in Chaldea. Where did Abraham get his religious training to worship the one true God. There is evidence that the worship of Yahweh always had followers in the Near East. These included the wise men who came to Bethlehem to celebrate the birth of Christ some 2,000 years later.

Studying the genealogy lists in Genesis gives me a hint. Noah’s son Shem was born 100 years before the flood and survived the flood by about 500 years. He lived with righteous Noah for at least 100 years, and he outlived Abraham after the flood. Maybe, just maybe, Abraham encountered Shem and spent some time with him when he was young. Shem may have instilled the faith in God that gave Abraham the direction he needed to serve God.

Lord, thank You for making a friend out of Abraham who has passed the friendship down to us, some 4,000 years later. Please keep encouraging us in our faith, that we too may be known as friends of God.

---

[1] ConformingToJesus.com

Euphoria

 

[1]

Proverbs 4:18 Good News Translation

¹⁸ The road the righteous travel is like the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.

 My wife, Sylvia, came home one day glowing. She had chatted with a panhandler. His sign read, “Save me from myself.” He had had an encounter with Jesus, and it had left him euphoric over the glory of God. Like so many other panhandlers, he was addicted to alcohol. It had had a vicelike control over his life. She wanted to help him get a job where he could live his newfound freedom from addiction.

The sceptic in me felt that this was a lost cause. But I also admit that the Holy Spirit has a mighty way of guiding all of our lives, especially when we encourage Him to do so. A few months earlier a friend of mine had taken me over to a large Salvation Army Corps, east of us on I-215. It had a center that distributed all the donations to various smaller corps in the L.A. area. It also had a center where people could come and live while they consolidated their freedom from addiction.

Anyway, Sylvia saw the panhandler several more times, and told him about the Corps I had described to her. She wanted to drive him over there. I was solidly against letting her drive an hour away from home alone with a former addict. She finally got me to agree to take him.

She arranged a point where we could meet him. He put his stuff in the trunk and climbed into the passenger side. Sylvia rode in the back. I instructed her to come to my rescue if he pulled any surprise on us.

As we drove, I chatted with him about his conversion experience. He glowed with the euphoria he had experienced, (Have you forgotten your experience, or did you never have one?) He wanted this euphoric experience all the time. It was so much superior to what he used to get from his liquor or drugs.

I tried to point out gently that the Christian experience is like someone lost in a cave. When the lost turn a corner and see the bright light of mouth of the cave in the distance they are overwhelmed by the distant light. A great wave of rescue and freedom sweeps over them. Then as they thread their way carefully and possibly painfully toward the light, it becomes ever brighter, and their original euphoria fades in the brighter light. Finally, they step out of the cave and the full rays of the sun envelop them in warmth and light. They no longer have that initial thrill, but they have something much more beautiful and vital.

I stepped into the Salvation Army Captain’s office with him. He invited us to sit down. The captain interviewed the panhandler briskly. When asked how long he had been clean, he had to admit that he had gone over to his girlfriend’s home the previous evening and had celebrated this new step with a stiff drink. The captain informed hm that they didn’t take anyone unless they had been clean for at least six weeks. He then directed us to a home where he could lodge until he had achieved the six weeks. Sylvia and I dropped him off there. His mother later informed us that unfortunately he was back on the streets within a few days. 

 

Dear Lord, may Your Spirit guide firmly and successfully toward Your perfect light.

 

---

[1] https://medium.com/sensible-biohacking-transhumanism/the-meaning-of-euphoria-in-mental-health-and-spirituality-ca3781e87ef9

Pease, Peace, When There Is No Peace

 

[1]

Jeremiah 6:14 King James Version

¹⁴ They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, "Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

 

On October 13, 2025, I started this blog when President Donald Trump stated: “We have Peace. There is peace.” I’m sure he fondly hoped that there would be peace.

A thousand or two years before Christ, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. They were long separated because Sarah, Isaac’s mother, couldn’t take the way Ishmael, fourteen years his elder, was taunting Isaac. The two brothers buried their father. That was probably the last time they, or their descendants, ever did something together in peace.

None of the descendants seem to have learned how to forgive when something evil was done to them. Instead, they feel obliged to seek revenge at all costs. Their vengeance seeking may yet plunge this world into a nuclear war that would threaten the survival of the human race. I’m sure that this attitude is the one that caused Christ to say that if we forgive men their sins, God will forgive us our sins, but if we don’t, neither will He forgive us. Matthew 6: 14-15.

It appears that Trump needs to learn the lesson of forgiveness himself. He has still not forgiven California for not voting for him and has refused Federal help for the massive fire burn areas near Los Angeles of last winter.

Lord, help us to be forgiving in love.

---

[1] https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/g-s1-41873/la-fires-los-angeles-palisades-eaton-hurst-california

God is Love

 

[1]

Exodus 20:8-12 King James Version

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰ But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

 

The only time God spoke to humanity in His official position, He gave the ten commandments to them through the most impressive set of fireworks ever seen.

The fourth commandment is the center of His presentation. In it He identifies Himself as the Creator of heaven and earth and sea. He states that He made these in six days and rested the seventh, which He calls the Sabbath.

Let’s do a thought experiment. God identifies Himself as a creator of heaven, earth, and sea—that is, of our universe. I think in this way. Suppose God enjoys and administers his vast creations. The biggest number the Greeks named was a myriad. So maybe God spends a myriad years enjoying His creation. During this time His marvelous intellect explores other ideas for another, a different universe. Mentally, He plays around with the physics of this new universe, and the creatures He would like to have. His ideas are vast and sometimes quite strange: think of giraffe vs. rhinoceros, humming bird vs. ostrich, sloth vs. human.

God’s excitement builds over those ten-thousand years until He can’t hold it in. He spends a week creating this new universe. Then he monitors carefully how things develop there while He continues running His vast other universes. His overwhelming rule is that of love: the love of God for His creatures, the love of His creatures for Him, and the love His creatures have for each other.

Time goes by. Myriads progress one after another. Envision this happening since time immemorial. There is no first universe creation. God has always been doing this! Then God’s greatest helper decides he can run all these universes better than God has been doing. He has been God’s right-hand angel since time immemorial. He skillfully starts the greatest coup d’état ever attempted. God in love does not kill him outright, but he is driven from heaven. He chooses to take up residence in God’s latest creation. He swiftly defeats its lord—Adam and Eve. Then God lets him develop his insurrection until everyone in all of God’s universes recognizes that Satan is a brutal imposter.

We are in the final scenes of this fierce struggle. Love eventually overcomes evil. Notice that EVIL is simply LOVE spelt backwards with “I” taking the place of the hug, “O”. Without love, life becomes misery or evil.

I awoke this morning with words of the song “The Love of God” running through my mind.

The love of God is greater far
  Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
  And reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
  God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
  And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
  How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
  The saints’ and angels’ song.

When hoary time shall pass away,
  And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall;
When men who here refuse to pray,
  On rocks and hills and mountains call;
God’s love, so sure, shall still endure,
  All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
  The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
  And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
  And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
  Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
  Though stretched from sky to sky.

Frederick M. Lehman, 1917
v. 3 by Anonymous/Unknown

 

Dear Lord, I love You and yearn for Your final banishment of evil and establishment of Your kingdom of love!

 

---

[1] https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flookaside.fbsbx.com%2Flookaside%2Fcrawler%2Fmedia%2F%3Fmedia_id%3D611018337688184&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=42026be4f25a4ff3dcf7a5f67b18ad81d7193cd05fa28bd9db2cc981f76d4cd8

 

God is a Consuming Fire

 

[1]

Deuteronomy 4:24 Holman Christian Standard Bible

²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

 

There are many devout, Bible believing Christians, a number of them my friends and relatives, who tell me that God never kills anyone. God is too loving to kill anyone. Christ, Himself said: ¹⁶ “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (HCSB)

When I mention events like the Flood, the response is that God provided a way of escape—the ark—and they chose not to avail themselves of this. They perished of natural causes. Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea—they could see that this was a trap, and yet they entered it of their own volition. Sennacherib’s army besieging Jerusalem? I forget the excuse offered here. Hellfire in the latter days—responses vary from the non-existence of hell to the surety that God’s love will save everyone. Ananias and Saphira—just a cautionary tale against lying to God, or Scripture does not say that God killed them. The shock of being discovered lying gave them each a heart attack. Korah, Dathan and Abiram who rebelled against Moses just happened to be swallowed by an earthquake, and their 250 supporters just happened to catch on fire.

What we all agree on is that God is extremely powerful and loving. What makes me feel very uncomfortable is when someone says “God is a consuming fire!” means “God is not a consuming fire.” We are treading on extremely dangerous ground when we start dictating which parts of the Bible are true and which are not.

Dear Lord, Thank You for promising us wisdom and an understanding of Your Word. Help us to live in love with all Your children.

 

---

[1] Carl Joseph Ministries https://carljosephministries.com/god-is-a-consuming-fire/

Here a Little, There a Little

 

[1]

Isaiah 28:13 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹³ Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them,

“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,

line upon line, line upon line,

            here a little, there a little,”

in order that they may go and fall backward

            and be broken and snared and taken

 

This past week I watched The Final Events of Bible Prophecy, by Doug Batchelor. It reminded me of the times I have studied, and what I used in my studies with others. For example, when studying the importance of the Sabbath, Batchelor covered all (is it?) New Testaments texts that mention the “first day” of the week, plus numerous NT and OT texts that mention the Sabbath, to convince us of the importance of Sabbath keeping. I have listened to another pastor (from a different persuasion) use a similar technique, and the same eight texts, to convince me of the sanctity of Sunday.

Once while hitchhiking from Lusaka to Salisbury (Harare today), I was picked up by a Jehovah’s Witness elder. We had to wait for at least 45 minutes near the Zambesi River as a tropical storm dropped so much rain that we couldn’t see the road we were on. While he was driving and waiting, he gave me studies of the key doctrines of his denomination. In those days I was an irreverent 17-year-old, who had studied all those texts he used in 10 years of study in Adventist parochial schools. I would use those same texts to show that they could also support a completely alien doctrine to his. Eventually I became so obnoxious that he couldn’t take me anymore. The road we were on was in dense bush and very wild. When he was near the Sinoia Caves (now called Chinhoya), about 400 km from Lusaka and 100 km from our destination, he pulled over, took my little suitcase from his trunk, and told me had taken me as far as he was going to take me. Then he drove off leaving me standing beside the road.

In retrospect I find the following:

1.      He was a far better Christian than I. He dropped me near the only bush hotel on this desolate road where all of Africa’s “Big 5” freely preyed. Anywhere else I would have been easy prey. At Sinoia Hotel, I could at least find food, water, and a bed.

2.      He knew his Bible very well and enjoyed the comfort of resting in his faith. He supported his faith from scripture, confidently.

3.      My uses of his texts to support a different view than his may have started to cause him to doubt his faith. He did what the Bible admonishes us to do—flee from the devil.

4.      I worry that using the proof-text method to support my faith may result in my going or falling backward and being broken and snared and taken!

Surely Isaiah viewed the Bible study technique described in verses 10 and 13 of chapter 28—the proof text method—as valid. Yet he also sounds the warning that this method could become a snare.

Lord, may Your Holy Spirit guide our study and lead us into all truth!

 

 

---

[1] https://bible.art/p/eknuZ6meXfZX7KL7nN0D  I take no responsibility for the misspelling in the picture. I do like the complicated design--which matches the complicated reasoning we sometimes employ.

Big City Astronomy

 

Psalm 19:1 King James Version

19 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 

Big City Astronomy

 

 

Great astronomical observatories tend to be on high mountains far away from the dwellings of people, with good reason—city lights. Go out in a parking lot sometime and look up. It’s almost impossible to tell whether it is cloudy or clear. At the right times, you may see the moon.

Last week my brother sent me a text message with his first picture of two dots of light in a dark sky between two palm trees. The upper one (brighter) is Venus and the other Jupiter. On Sabbath morning, I went to my bedroom window before 6:00 a.m. and could see the dots, one nestled on the top electric line. I have blue circles in the second picture, around the dots to help you find them. That one was almost too late to be able to see them. The out-of-focus square lines are the mosquito netting on my bedroom window. I took the last picture at 5:00 this morning (August 11). Do you see how close the planets appear to be to each other? The picture was highly adjusted by my phone to make it look more like daylight. The planets are close together above the fencepost. From here on out, you will be able to see both of them before sunrise, but they will be separating steadily. It is major chore to see God’s handiwork in today’s illuminated world.

The sad fact is that today’s light successfully obscures most astronomical events to us living in town. For many years I used to take a group of my students up to Las Vegas to a major computer show. On our way home we would stop at a casino and buy supper. Then we would caravan down I-15 freeway in the dark, I would often exit the freeway in the middle of the Mojave desert, miles from any lights. The caravan would follow me off the freeway. When we stopped in pitch darkness, the students would all run up to my car as I got out, enquiring: “What’s wrong Dr. Clarke?” “Why did you stop?”

When I had their attention and their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I would point skyward and say “look up!” Expressions of amazement would escape their mouths. These city slickers had never before seen the glory of God’s vast starry heavens.

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6.

I know this is easier written than done, but go out into a very dark night miles away from all city lights, and take you time looking at the marvelous astronomical handiwork of our caring Creator. Spend 20 minutes or more letting the peace of God flood your soul.

Jesus our loving savior will become more real to you, after all He is the one who created this universe: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1: 1-3 Take your mind off of the emaciated, persecuted, haggard, bloody star of “The Passion” And become astounded by the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, almighty God—Jesus Christ.

His redeeming grace is freely offered to you, and His steadfast love and invincible power will see you through to the home He has prepared for you.

 

 

 

 

The Sun is Running out of Energy

 

[1]

Psalm 102:25-27 Good News Translation

²⁵ long ago you created the earth,
    and with your own hands you made the heavens.
²⁶ They will disappear, but you will remain;
    they will all wear out like clothes.
You will discard them like clothes,
    and they will vanish.
²⁷ But you are always the same,
    and your life never ends.

 

Since I was ten years old, I have been enamored by the universe. Some things have puzzled me, especially from a creationist world view. [Of course, from a big bang world view I was stymied from the git go—the Big Bang.] One puzzle is the size and apparent antiquity of the universe. Another is the temporary nature of everything. This also appears to be puzzling the psalmist

As we examine the sun, it appears to be a giant bonfire, consuming fuel (hydrogen) at a prodigious rate. Evidently the fuel will run out, whether or not there was ever sin in the universe. This has been disturbing to me. The Lord has designed obsolescence into our home, our planet, our solar system. The psalmist recognized this: “They will disappear, but you will remain. … You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish.” God does not plan that we will remain on the “third rock from the sun” forever! The psalmist concludes “But you are always the same, and your life never ends!” Besides God, the only constant in the universe is change.

In my more adventurous puzzling, I realize that God is definitely not part of our universe. He made the universe; therefore, he antecedes the universe. This is a most comforting concept. Since God is not in our universe, He is outside our universe. If He is outside our universe, then He can be as close to us as He wishes, but since He is outside it is impossible for us to detect Him. Of course, it also means He can interact with us in whatever way He pleases—such as healing, communicating, and adjusting events. It also means that when our sun starts running out of fuel, He can place us in orbit about a brand-new sun.

Thank You Lord that you are always the same especially in our universe where the only constant is change. We count on You for we know You are thinking of and preparing for every change.

 

---

[1] https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/solar-system-scramble/scramble-text.html

Mighty Resurrection

 

[1]

Matthew 28:2-4 Good News Translation

 ² Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid that they trembled and became like dead men.

.

In our Better Than 50 Club meeting the week before Easter, I asked the members to bring a text they liked about Christ’s death and resurrection.

John Champlin spoke about Abraham’s answer to Isaac’s question about a lamb for the sacrifice. “God will provide Himself a lamb.” He submitted that Abraham knew that God was providing His body as the sacrifice. He understood what God’s purpose to abolish sin would be.

Amongst other responses to the Easter message, I suggested: Satan, with the cooperation of God’s people had successfully killed Christ by the most inhumane method they could think of. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had been assigned Christ’s dead body and had buried it in Joseph’s rock tomb. On Sabbath the high priest and Pilate, the Roman governor, had stationed a hundred tough Roman soldiers around the entrance to the tomb. No human disciples were going to steal His body and circulate the rumor that Christ had risen. Satan posted legions of his most ruthless angels around the whole area. No angel would dare break through their guard! Satan gloated over his victory over the Son of God.

Although He told them numerous times, Christ’s disciples never understood that Christ would rise on the third day. But God did. On the dawn of Easter Sunday, God’s mightiest angel descended directly to the tomb in a blinding flash of lightning. Satan’s legions of angels on guard, scattered in all directions. The flash of light and bolt of thunder caused a great earthquake and the Roman guard to fall as dead men about the tomb. With his little finger the angel flipped away the massive rock covering the tomb.

The angel called in a death-defying voice: “Your Father is calling You!” Christ immediately stood up. The grave clothes fell from his glorified body, and he strode out of the tomb, a conqueror.

The angel sat down on the rock he had flipped aside just as Christ’s devout women followers came up to the tomb, carrying embalming ointment. They peered into the empty tomb and then turned a questioning eye towards the mighty angel.

The angel spoke to the women. ‘You must not be afraid,’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has been raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying. ⁷ Go quickly now, and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from death, and now he is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him!’ Remember what I have told you.’” (Matthew 28:5-7 GNT)

“The Lord is risen!” Our salvation is sure. Let us rejoice in our glorious future.

Dear Lord, we thank You and praise Your name for Your unconceivable sacrifice and Your marvelous love for us.

 

 

---

[1] https://baptistspirituality.org/2014/04/24/the-day-after-easter-fear-and-joy/