Category: Uncategorized

How to Love Your Wife

Astute counselors and bible scholars teach the very important doctrine that to maintain a happy marriage, women need love and men need respect. It is interesting that the bible does not teach that both just need love but goes a step further and differentiates the needs of a wife and husband. This comes from the bible passage in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. ~Ephesians 5:25-26, 28-30, 33

Of course, the Old Testament first commands man to love God and to love his neighbor, and Jesus clarifies this as the Two Great Commandments, so loving one another is not a new concept for marriage. But in marriage, wives are called to go one step further and to respect their husbands. We will discuss that in the next essay. For now, let’s explore what husbands loving wives should look like, biblically.

Paul explains in this same passage that loving each other should look like how Christ loves us. Christ left His divine home in heaven and came down to earth clothed in a human body, lived a perfect life, and died an unfair, cruel death on a Roman cross out of His love for us, to save our lives. So, husbands loving wives looks self-sacrificial. He counts her life more valuable than his own.

In our world, people define love as a feeling to be thrown around to mean everything from liking something to hating something but not wanting to tell the truth about it! Love in our world is rarely expressed how the bible intended love to be understood. In God’s economy love is an action. To love is to do something, not just feel something. Just as faith without works is dead, love without works is meaningless.

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ~Peter 2:15-16

If there is no love in a home, the fault lies with the husband because it is incumbent upon him to bring love to his wife. How does he do this? He spends time and effort listening to her, watching her, and caring for her to determine her needs and desires. Then he finds ways to bless her in those ways, because she is a unique person and needs his unique love for her. He cannot function on ‘autopilot’ and expect his wife to feel loved! A biblical love of a husband for his wife is thoughtful, kind, expressive, and mostly, unique.                

The word for Jesus as the Son of God in the bible in Greek is ‘monogenes’. This basically means ‘unique’ Son. Jesus was God’s unique expression of love for us that could not be found in anyone else. For a husband to love his wife like God first loved us means that it will be a unique love made especially for her, and not anyone else.                                       

A Profound Truth

Those who imprison others are imprisoned themselves.

That’s right. The prison guard is the real prisoner. You can keep me in a cell in a threadbare see-through smock with a toilet and maybe a blanket and feed me well. You can taunt me from all sides day and night, mocking me and my God. You can poke your sticks at me and hurt my flesh. You can rape my body and try to rape my mind. You can expose me to disgusting acts and try to elicit a response from me. You can torture me and gleefully watch me bleed. You can wait and wait in expectation for the day I finally die.

But you will never defile me. You only defile yourself.

I am free where it matters, in my spirit. I stay free in my mind. I am only here because God knows I want to serve Him. He places me here. You see, it isn’t you at all. It’s HIM. You were NEVER the one in control. It was always Him. You have been played by GOD. lol.

You imprison me because you are imprisoned. That is the irony of it all. It truly IS a spiritual battle. For your soul. You are the real prisoner.

You want to see what I have, how I do it. The demons knew way before I even knew. You are the only reason I am still imprisoned. They would have lost interest long ago. You are keeping God’s anointed wife in prison. That should make you cringe. That should make you very uncomfortable. Why do I stay? I willingly stay. Not because I don’t like having my freedom, I do like my freedom. I do like my privacy. I stay for you, and for your soul. You see,

God’s love is stronger than your hate. That is how it is done. That is the big secret. But the key is not obtainable through back doors or hidden code like in satan’s world. The key to this power is ONLY through Jesus and God Almighty…and the Holy Spirit. You can’t trick your way in like you usually do, Wizard. You can’t hide. You are just as exposed as I am. And even more imprisoned.

~Selah

Our Spiritual Body

I am listening to the works of Origen, a second century theologian from Alexandria and he said something very interesting. He believes that when we die, we are given a new body in heaven, not merely a spiffed-up version of our current body. This is a frequently discussed issue among believers. Do we keep our current body, only it is perfected in heaven? Or what do we look like in heaven? Even in the earliest church days, the bible says that, ‘Somebody will ask, “how are the dead raised? And with what sort of body do they come?”‘

Upon reviewing this issue and in my previous post, the Apostle Paul makes it pretty clear with those with eyes to see and ears to hear that we receive a new spiritual body in heaven:

But God gives it (the seed) the body He wants to, and to each kind of seed its own body…just as there are different kinds of flesh, moreover, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing while the glory of the earthly is another. So too is it with the resurrection from the dead. The body is sown in a state of corruption; it is raised in a state of incorruption. It is sown in a state of dishonor; it is raised in a state of glory. It is sown in a state of helplessness; it is raised in a state of power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Just as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall bear the image of the heavenly Man (Jesus).

Listen, I will tell you a secret: all of us won’t fall asleep, but all of us will be changed in an instant, in the flash of an eye, at the last trumpet. A trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This corruptible body will put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. ~1 Corinthians Chapter 15

As I said in my previous post about Jesus coming back in the clouds to rule and reign, we will have no idea what He will look like, yet everyone will know it is Him. This means that we will not be given this knowledge by sight since we know not what he physically looked like, but by spirit.

This is also an excellent word for those who are born from rape and incest or are considered illegitimate by man. As humans, we tend to think that due to genealogy, some are better than others, and that babies conceived by illegitimate means are justified to be killed or aborted. But nothing could be further from the truth! The scripture above tells us that just by being human and in our ‘natural’ state, we are all corrupted! No one type of conception is better than another. In the book of Job, Job decries his sinful conception. In Psalm 51, David laments the same thing. The Apostle Paul tells Titus in his letter: “Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Titus 3:9). Furthermore, I have written about Jesus Himself being a ‘mamzer’ or of illegitimate birth, probably conceived of the union between Mary and a Roman soldier, as recorded in Jewish midrash. Again, in God’s economy, the last is first, and the first, last.

Paul uses the word glory in the passages about our resurrection several times. Glory here is the Greek word doxa which is Strong’s entry 1391 and it is feminine and means: Dignity, Dignities: primarily denotes “an opinion, estimation, repute;” in the NT, always “good opinion, praise, honor, glory, an appearance commanding respect, magnificence, excellence, manifestation of glory;” hence, of angelic powers, in respect of their state as commanding recognition.

This gives me a Holy Spirit vibe. Maybe when we transcend into heaven we will be so surrounded by the Holy Spirit as to be luminous with it, allowing us to be near God. Maybe the envelopment with the Holy Spirit is what makes our bodies incorruptible in heaven.

So when believers die and go to heaven, we will take on the true image of God which He intended for each of us even as He made us a seed in a natural, corruptible body. We will become spirit and glorified in heaven, just as He is glorified. It probably won’t look much like our earthly bodies because the glory is different. What man thinks is glorious is not what God thinks is glorious: “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). This passage underscores the divine perspective that values inner righteousness over external attributes. Our heavenly bodies will shine with those attributes about us that God thinks are beautiful, and others will view us as God views us, in unconditional love.

In Heaven, our spiritual seed, or soul, will finally become liberated and we will become who we were truly meant to be from the beginning of time.

Resurrection is Spiritual Not Physical

The Talpiot Tomb, the family tomb where Jesus’ body might have been laid to rest, invites the brave to consider the heavy concept of physical versus spiritual resurrection. Since the time of Christ, many of the most important bible stories in the New Testament are confined to a literal interpretation by elite theologians and simple pastors alike. This leads the listener down an obligatory dead-end alley of literal interpretation, with no room for discerning another possibility. But I say this needn’t be the case. That in careful interpretation–and introspection–the bible can actually be more aptly interpreted in these stories in a spiritual, versus physical, way.

In order to not become distracted here, I will stick to one story on my mind: the story of Jesus’ resurrection. This is not an exhaustive exegesis of this concept, but merely an opening of the door into this miraculous event and my argument that a spiritual interpretation is the only explanation that makes any sense.

I appreciate that the bible is an ancient document. I mean it was orally transmitted millenia ago, and the latest biblical tales all occurred by the end of the first century AD. So we are talking ancient ancient history. It is pretty hard for most of us to ponder what it must have been like to live over 2,000 years ago! And even if that is our personal jam, we still probably wouldn’t come too close to an accurate understanding because it’s just so long ago. I mean, germ theory, physics, and astronomy have all become so much better understood than in those times. Also, we have collective generations of people behind us who have relied upon the bible to make meaning of their lives, which has shaped us and our culture whether we realize it or not. So the way we think about things is very different than how they thought about things.

Ancient man was necessarily much more literal-minded than we need to be today. We understand that there are tiny machinations of things at work that the naked eye cannot see, but which cause real material changes to occur. In those days, if you couldn’t see it, it was all ascribed to the gods, or God. As Christians we know everything was made by God, but God uses the natural processes He made to cause events and effect change. God does this in a supernatural way we cannot understand as His ways are not our ways, but it filters down to us in a natural way, if we have eyes to see this.

Because ancient people lived in a more concrete way, from day to day, they needed to be shown the gospel in a way that they could understand. God doesn’t always want everyone to understand everything as evidenced in Jesus’ parables. Remember how his own disciples struggled to make meaning of similes and metaphors? But the thrust of the gospel–Jesus being raised on the 3rd day–was the keystone upon which Christianity was founded, and it was imperative that chosen ones got it so that they could then pass it along. If this concept was not grasped, Christianity would have slowly died out. God knew this, so in His genius, He provided for different interpretations to be available in the one bible for all men, for all time.

Some men and women are literal-minded, they need to perceive a truth in order to believe it. Others are more abstract-minded, they are able to understand the immaterial without difficulty. Because God makes both kinds of people, He provided that the bible also accommodated this reality.

In several places in the bible, namely Acts and 1st Corinthians, Paul says that Christ died, was buried, and on the third day was raised according to the scriptures. He goes on to say Christ was seen by hundreds of the brethren and apostles, and lastly by him. In Acts, Paul literally says he ‘saw’ Christ when he was still Saul, yet we know that he only had a vision of Christ, so he ‘saw’ and heard Christ in his mind’s eye as it were in a bright flash of Light; none of his other traveling companions saw or heard Christ speak though they did witness the bright Light. So as we can see, he uses the word ‘saw’ literally and figuratively, regardless of the circumstance. This is hard for us to understand because we use language differently. Paul also does this with the word ‘sleep’ for death of the brethren. Because Paul understands–and preaches–so intimately that believers do not die but pass into eternal life, he does not use the word death at all regarding believers who pass away, but the term ‘sleep’. We think of sleep as one thing usually: nighttime slumber or napping. I am convinced that Paul, through God’s inspiration, was taking liberty with words that men used in their daily lives to mean something literal and assigning to them a more abstract meaning. So that those with eyes to see and ears to hear could understand on a deeper or more spiritual level, as needed.

Paul had the difficult task of spreading the story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection to all men: those that needed to believe literally, and those that were able to understand deeper, less visible, truths while remaining true to the simple story of the gospel.

If you read the accounts Paul gives of Christ being resurrected from the dead, you can see that he never closes it off to having to be a physical, bodily resurrection! He always leaves an ‘out’ as it were for those who are able to understand that our bodies are spiritually resurrected into who we will be in heaven. Paul becomes ‘all things to all men’ when he teaches on this subject, which is the cornerstone of Christianity. Some men cannot believe unless they envision Jesus’ physical body floating into heaven in a supernatural event. But some (like me) cannot believe unless I imagine it as an invisible spiritual supernatural event. This is also the case for me regarding the ‘virgin’ birth where virgin had different meanings in those days. But I already posted about that.

I can imagine easily that Jesus’ spirit laid dormant 3 days then rose into Heaven to be with God, making a way for all of His chosen ones–those who believe in Him–to also make this journey in the blink of an eye when our bodies pass from life to death. Those 3 days must have been terrible! This would have been an invisible event to living creatures and seen only by heavenly beings. People who have had near-death experiences speak of signs of heaven and of hell. It baffles my mind that people, especially in our day, have a hard time believing something that they cannot see. For me, things unseen are truer than things seen!

So when preachers and teachers become dogmatic that the bible must be interpreted only literally or only figuratively, they are both wrong. God allows for those with eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of how He works. Some people, because of the way they are made, cannot believe something unless it is presented to them in a concrete way; others are able to believe in a more abstract way. The point is that Jesus rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God, and will return ‘in the clouds with honor and great glory’ to rule again.

It tickles the imagination to think of His spiritual return, what this will look like. He will be in His spiritual body. We don’t know what his physical body looked like or what his spiritual body will look like when He returns. But everyone will KNOW it is Him in that time. I can’t personally believe that a physical Jesus-esque body will float down to us from the sky…

But maybe something like a reverse black hole happens: a WHITE expanding cloud from the heavens envelop us, while His brighter blinding Light and His consciousness pervades our every cell so that all living creatures KNOW He is Jesus returning to rule and reign.

Females Shall not be Preachers

This post was a long time in the making, like years. Because this topic is so controversial, I needed to wait and consult different theologians and thinkers and delve into the pages of scripture seeking its truth regarding this subject. I know it’s clear that the Apostle Paul told the pastor Timothy (and Titus) that he himself does not allow a woman to speak in church, but I needed more than Paul’s opinion and practice; I needed my Savior’s opinion. Interestingly, those who seek the answer to women pastors never seem to discuss what Jesus thought or did in the matter: it always seems to come down to Paul.

I understand that Paul was swimming upstream in a raging torrent of culture which had come out of Asherah pole worship in earlier times to goddess temple worship in their time. Priestesses were ensconced in temples and were worshiped as gods in lewd ways constrained only by men’s imaginations. Women also logistically were not given the same rank as men in society. Paul was not part of Jesus’ living ministry and therefore was not witness to Jesus’ tender moments with the Marys or others whom He traveled and preached alongside. Therefore, Paul only heard second-hand about these situations, and he graciously allowed women to be benefactors for the Way, but stopped it there.

To begin, I do have a bias in this and it might not be what you think. I do not think women should be preachers, pastors, or elders (basically all the same thing in the New Testament). It has never sat well with me to hear women preach in church, unless I was at a woman’s conference. Whenever I show up to church and the person on the stage is a female who is going to deliver the Sabbath message, my insides groan, and I have to fight the urge to flee. But I also don’t think women should be presidents of public institutions such as President of the United States. Private corporations I seem to be okay with. I mean, you can do what you like with your own money, but I don’t want a woman deciding the fate of my country, state, or local domains. I just don’t think women are blessed with the same ability to judge the affairs of men as men are. But to muddy my waters more, my selected denomination, Assemblies of God, does think women can be ordained ministers in order to preach to the assembly. So I really needed to get to the bottom of this dilemma.

With that being said, I do understand that women in the Old Testament were judges (Deborah) and prophets (Abigail), although it was rather rare. Just reading the bible shows us that the canonized prophets were all male, except for Esther. And Esther was the only scroll not secreted away by the Essenes, the male elite who sequestered themselves away waiting for the Teacher of Righteousness. These OT female roles appeared outside the temple or tabernacle in the fields and had a specific purpose. In no stretch of the imagination could we see in our mind’s eye a female standing in the sacred temple opening a scroll and reading from it as our Great Priest did with the Isaiah scroll. But that was OT days. After Jesus, maybe things were different. After all, Jesus seemed to treat women as equals and was very loving and understanding toward them.

The bible in the book of Luke tells us that Jesus spent all night in prayer asking the Father whom He should choose to be his first disciples. In the morning, He called 12 male disciples to Him, and they became the ones who would spread the good news that the Kingdom of God had come. Close to 30 years old at this time, Jesus certainly might have known of at least one woman (even if only his own mother) who could have had adequate knowledge of His mission and ministry to preach it well. Yet He chose men. He then sent them out 2×2, in pairs. Joan Taylor and Helen Bond are a pair of British theologians and professors who have written and instructed that Jesus had female disciples, and they try to make a weak case for those same disciples church-planting for Him. I refute their feminist message (respectfully). Disciple means a follower or student of a teacher, leader, or philosopher. That Jesus had female followers and supporters is not disputed by anyone. But what they propose is that these women traveled about like the men and would have preached the gospel; essentially opening the door to the likelihood that Jesus appointed women who would have become church leaders, or pastors.

One the main tenets of Joan’s argument for this lies in the interpretation of the 2×2 bit above. In New Testament Greek, the phrase duo duo is used for how Jesus sent His disciples out. Duo duo simply means ‘in pairs’. She tries to link this phrase with the story of Noah’s ark where Noah was supposed to gather the animals 2×2, in pairs. Except in that instance, pairs in the Hebrew language (the language of the old testament), meant obviously male and female with the purpose being for the animals to procreate once the flood waters subsided. The tenuous link she provides for saying that duo duo means male and female comes when she uses the Septuagint’s translation which translates the Hebrew OT into Greek. The Septuagint was written in the 3rd century BC. Guess what Greek words the Septuagint uses for this phrase from Genesis? Yep, duo duo. So Joan argues that because they chose the phrase duo duo for the pairs of animals that obviously meant male/female, that is how Jesus also sent out His disciples to preach the Good News, as male/female pairs. Preposterous!

As a bible student myself, I know that you cannot take one phrase–or even a set of verses–out of context and assign a heavy, or outlandish, meaning to them if they don’t agree with the other parts of scripture. The concept of systematic theology says that you must interpret events in the bible in light of what the whole book (God’s divine word and meaning) is saying. Other later scholars translated this Hebrew phrase differently, as brought to us in the Interlinear translation, for example. It was only in the Septuagint she was able to link the idea of duo duo to male/female and even then, duo duo can mean simply, ‘a pair’.

Let’s look at it. Would Mark, Luke, and the other gospel writers really witness, or know those who witnessed, the remarkable event that Jesus chose female disciples but not record it? Joan and Helen would have us believe that Jesus chose 12 male disciples, and that He then expected each of them to be paired with an unknown female disciple whom he might not be married to, to walk to distant places and stay in strangers’ homes, sleeping and bathing together? That was totally unheard of in the holy land, and most other places, in those times. No self-respecting Jewish household would permit entry of these disciples!

After Jesus called the twelve, He received many more followers, including women. He then sent out 70 (or 72) in pairs again. This same argument stands: Would Jesus have sent out male/female pairs? I have already shown this is impossible. Would He have sent out solely female pairs? Let’s think about that. Jesus, who loves women and understands their often abused and overlooked plight, is going to send 2 women out on the Roman roads and footpaths into the unknown without a weapon or money, and with minimal clothing? No way! They could be raped, killed, taken, enslaved, or sold. Plus, Jesus came to first share His gospel with the lost Jews. How would Jews He was trying to reach take the message which John had begun, and Jesus had continued, if this High Priest was sending out women alone and unprotected to preach to them when it was completely against their culture and everything they knew to be right?

Once I realized that Jesus did not send out women, based on these two episodes in the bible, I knew I had discovered the truth about female pastors: Jesus never intended women to preach His word. Women could be disciples (Joanna). Women could understand and learn from Him (Mary and Martha). Women could anoint and heal (Mary). Women can evangelize (share the gospel message, Priscilla). Women can prophecy, judge, and teach men outside the pulpit (OT). Women can be counselors to women, and through women, their men (NT). But women cannot be preachers, elders, priests, pastors, or be a shepherd of a congregation. Women can basically do everything else, but:

The role of church leader, teacher, and shepherd is made specifically for a male.

~Selah

The Harvest is Plentiful

[Featured photo: A Syrian refugee camp]

In researching where God might want to send me, I stumbled upon the enormous reality of refugee camps in the Middle East. Millions of people have been displaced due to civil war and terrorism within their own countries, which has led to the development of tent-camps especially within the past 20 years. The camps comprise equal numbers of men and women, and about half of their population are children. They are discouraged and displaced, many the victims of ISIS.

In America, the homeless are those who do not want to work and choose to live an ongoing lifestyle of sinful choices which becomes a terrible habit whereby they end up relying on government handouts. I have no interest in helping these men. In the Middle East,

these families are truly homeless

through no fault of their own. They want to work but have no access to work, food, housing, healthcare, or other necessities we take for granted.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” ~Matthew 9:35-38

They say the fastest growing churches are in China and Iran. I anticipate that the next front of rapidly expanding Christianity will be these tent cities. And maybe I will be a small part of that.

A Prophetic Dream?

I was standing in a sort-of fantastical world in my dream, down below a platform where 3 others were standing, yet with direct line-of-sight to all of them. The first one I noticed was standing in the middle and He was a representation of God (represented by Bill Gates in my dream, weird I know). He has a steel rod in his hands that He would place in the fire in front of Him. When He did this, the rod would turn golden-red as with forging iron. He was very slow and careful in His movement, but very sure.

His son was to His right and He also had a similar rod. God was teaching His Son how to wield this rod of iron, but the boy was a bit more uncertain and unwieldy with it, to the point I was beginning to feel some mild trepidation because I was standing below them and knew that if the Son slipped, I would be torched. But He gained good control of His rod and they both stood regal near the fire holding their golden-red rods aloft in front of them, ready.

Then to God’s left a ways was my ex-husband. He was acting silly and did not seem to be aware of the scene or seriousness of the portent of God and His Son standing ready with torches of red-hot iron. He thought he could play with God’s fire, and he took his own little medium he used for tinder and while he was making mocking faces, he touched his own hair with his stick, and it caught on fire. Down below I was watching in disbelief, unable to understand why he would want to do that, but he obviously thought it was a game, and he could control God’s fire.

Before he knew it the fire was spreading in his hair and gaining strength and began going down his neck. He started trying to put it out but was not successful. He dove off the platform onto the ground and I saw flames licking his upper body and remember thinking if I got too close, I would also catch on fire, but nonetheless I ran toward him to help put out the fire. He began yelling and I saw in my mind’s eye his fear and his realization he was going to die a terrible death; that we was wrong and God was REAL. It was awful. I then turned to try and find a blanket or something to smother the flames because I was not able to stop the fire with my hands.

And then I woke up.

What does this mean? Does it mean my ex is going to burn in hell for his mockery of me, and God? I have asked he and his wife to church so many times, and they refuse. I have shared my newfound faith with him over the decades since our divorce and he has declined this knowledge. God showed me that people think idolatry is a joke, but it isn’t. They think hell isn’t real, but it is. They think they can play with fire, and nothing is reverent or sacred to them; everything is fodder for them to mock. But some things should not be mocked! Something obviously needs to be done to save his soul, but I am not sure how or what to do.

The interesting thing is that he did it to himself. God nor His Son ever laid the fatal flame of fire to him. In my dream, he thought he was invincible. And it had eternal consequences.

Psalm 2: The Messiah’s Triumph and Kingdom

Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Selah~

My Christian Name

My mother passed away this year and I had hoped to have her clarify the meaning of my name, but it just wasn’t possible. I remember her telling me decades ago that she chose my name (which has two syllables) because to her it means sun-rise, but my name is not sunrise. It is something rather close to that though. I think I was her sunshine, at least for a time, and that is probably why I call my daughter ‘my sunshine’, because I learned it from my mother, even though our interactions (my mother’s and mine) are mostly lost in time. I do remember when she was being nice, she seemed to delight in calling me Sunshine, with a smile on her face and in her voice.

So, yeah. My name does have a meaning behind it. It means morning sun which I realize has such prophetic meaning because Jesus is the Rising Son. To be clear, I do not think I am Jesus nor God! But I do believe God was giving my mom this unusual name for a reason. What that reason is, I am not exactly sure. But as with the numerology conflation of 22/7 in my home phone number, God has marked me with His circle, and He has just now called to my memory that my very name has connotations to the rising sun…..and maybe the Rising Son.

Bizarre Behavior (i.e. Schizophrenia) and Sin

[featured artwork depicts King Saul trying to kill David, his musician]

Since the advent of philosopher-physicians in ancient times, man has had millennia to develop his manuals of medical disorders. Rene Descartes, a philosopher and mathematician of the 17th century, created the paradigm of mind/body duality, and this ideology has infiltrated every modern discipline of behavioral and physical science. Behavioral problems are now understood by the masses to fall under the domain of medical disease, known as ‘mental illness’; and their cause is attributed to brain chemicals gone awry.

Terms for these diseases are constantly changing as evidenced by the frequent revision of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) specifically its definitions and diagnoses. The DSM is the psychologists’ bible, first published in 1952, and has undergone 5 official revisions since then.

If science can prove that behavior problems are rooted in brain chemicals, and especially genes, then it would absolve man from the bulk of his responsibility for his behavior as he could then blame his diseased brain, versus his faulty mind; his brain chemicals versus his sinful lifestyle. Then simply take a pill to fix himself.

If science could find those biochemical pathways that show chemicals go askew causing bizarre behavior, inventors could then make drugs for someone to take to moderate the symptoms of these disorders, which they could call ‘treatment’. This would be analogous to how they develop drugs to moderate symptoms of physical diseases, such as high blood pressure or high blood sugar.

But are drugs really an effective treatment? Mental health professionals readily admit they are not curing the disease. Indeed, our best mental scientists–all who dabble in the realm of the psyche–consign you to the purgatory of lifelong affliction and force you to believe that you cannot be cured. The best THEY have to offer is daily or weekly medication; stop taking this medication and you will immediately relapse into psychosis or worse–criminal behavior. Stop taking your medication and you–and those around you–can expect utter DOOM.

Just in the last century, these diagnoses have become part of the linga franca of all ‘developed’ countries. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder are just some of the trendy terms we have all become acquainted with in popular culture. But how much scientific evidence is there that shows these disorders are rooted in biology? I mean, if the DSM has been around for 70 years, that’s a lot of time for research studies to be conducted. I am pretty sure the direct link between behavioral problems and brain chemistry is still tenuous at best. But if scientists could eventually show a direct link to biological brain changes, how do we know this altered biology could not itself be attributed to simply…. sin?

For those familiar with bible stories, there are two notorious examples of kings who exhibited bizarre or erratic behaviors we would probably label depression, bipolar disorder, even schizophrenia, and definitely narcissistic personality disorder! For example, King Saul in the Old Testament experienced intense mood swings, episodes of deep depression, and erratic behavior. He hated David intensely, then had overwhelming feelings of love toward him. Another example is King Nebuchadnezzar, who suffered a period of madness where he lived like an animal for seven years, crawled around naked on all four limbs, and even ate grass!

But we also know that these kings had grievously sinned against God by setting themselves up as idols, which is the worst sin of all. And God gave them many opportunities to repent and turn back to him, which they denied. God gave them His most anointed soldiers, namely David and Daniel, to be personal assistants and intimate companions of the kings yet they tried to kill them. Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar did repent and turn back to God, but King Saul died in his sin, along with his sons.

A google search from today shows that research might indicate that those with symptoms of the disorder known as schizophrenia have a unique brain network, and cognitive difficulties related to attention and memory. And bipolar disorder seems to reveal reduced gray matter volume in regions such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, crucial for cognitive control, impulsivity, and emotional regulation. The neurotransmitters typically studied are noradrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and GABA, along with all the hormones; basically any liquor of the body might be implicated.

Although there are many studies on the neurobiological basis of bipolar disorder, its pathophysiology is not fully known. Studies indicate that all brain regions are structurally and functionally affected in bipolar patients. 

What will it mean if men are able to prove, through the scientific process, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there are abnormal biochemical pathways in the brain? For scientists and those who practice medicine, it will mean the cause of personality problems and bad behavior is organic, and that is enough information for them to assure you that it isn’t your fault, that your brain chemistry is out of whack. They will consider this a grand achievement and move on to their primary aim, which is to develop medications you need to take to moderate your neurotransmitters and hormones, so that you can gain control over your problem. These medications make drug developers rich and pacify healthcare providers because they can quickly and easily treat you with the stroke of the pen or keyboard key. Contrary to what they want you to think, these medications are not sophisticated at all. They usually work in one of two ways: to depress or stimulate you.

But what if those very brain chemicals were altered by God for a reason? What if God allowed your neurotransmitters and hormones to be out of whack because He is punishing you for your disobedience and sinful thought processes or lifestyle, and in order to get your attention to save your soul? Is this outside the realm of possibility? Let’s look back at the symptoms of these popular diseases listed above: Schizophrenia seems to create new neural networks affecting thinking, memory, and attention. And bipolar disorder causes major shifts in the parts of your brain that cause you to be able to think and control your emotions. This means collectively that you won’t be able to think straight or control yourself very well. Hmm. This kinda sounds like what the bible says happens to fools who sin against God and who do not obey Him. Bad stuff happens to them:

The way of the transgressor is hard. ~Proverbs 13:15

God is far away from the sinner. ~Proverbs 15:29

God does not honor the prayers of an unrepentent husband. ~1 Peter 3:7

Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared. ~1 Timothy 4:1-2

God turns them over to their reprobate minds (Romans 1:28)….. and delivers such a one to Satan for destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. ~1 Corinthians 5:5

If God can bring serial plagues on Egypt for their idolatry, could He not also tweak some liquid bodily humors and brain synapses to make you feel bad, to maybe get your attention and the attention of those around you? And then turn you over to the devil to help you realize the error of your ways, in order to turn back to Him? I think the answer is a resounding YES, He would! For further scriptural proof of this, I will cite the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans:

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. ~Romans 1:18-32

The Christian has more to offer than pharmaceutical prescriptions. The Christian gives HOPE for problems of the mind, or mental disease!

Because these ‘diseases’ are not rooted in faulty brain chemicals at all, but they are rooted in SIN. And SIN has a cure. That cure is free, and His name is Jesus.

❤

The One

Parable of the Lost Sheep

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go to search for the 1 that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! ~Luke 15:1-7

The rejoicing of the shepherd with his friends represents God rejoicing with the angels. Justus Knecht, German Bishop, wrote in 1910: “By the simile of the Good Shepherd our Lord teaches us how great is His compassionate love for all mankind. All men, Jews and Gentiles, are His sheep, and He gave His life for all, being sacrificed on the Cross to redeem them from sin and hell. He is therefore the only Good Shepherd, and all others who are called to the pastoral office are good shepherds only so far as they imitate Jesus in their love and care of the flock confided to them. Moreover Jesus knows His own. He knows all about them, their needs, their weakness, their thoughts, their endeavours; He leads them into the fold of His Church, He helps them by His grace, He enlightens them by His doctrine, and nourishes and strengthens them with His Flesh and Blood in the most Blessed Sacrament. His pastoral love is, therefore, infinite and divine.”

Jesus the Good Shepherd

God has made me aware that my mission is to find and bring back the 1 of the 99 who has gone astray. I watch spellbound to Billy Graham speaking so well to the multitudes and leading millions of people to Christ and wish that I had his charisma. But, alas, that is not my calling. God has been preparing me for a lifetime* (*proper attribution to those who know) to go after the lost that He sends me to, but it won’t be swaths of people at once, it will be very surgical and specific. My repeated heart hymn to God is “send me the one and we can save the rest”. My mission might not just be one person, but many ones, I am not sure.

Interestingly, I just realized today that my logo for my blog here which I made from the beginning and have not changed, is Jesus as the Good Shepherd!

When I was a little girl, one day after school I was by myself waiting for my ride home and I had this thought in my mind that I would live 99 years. I now know that came from God. But now I also think this was more symbolism to my mission which has been in place since He created me. The 99/1 vision.

I love that only in God’s economy is this worthwhile. In man’s economy this is foolish, but the ways of God are foolishness to man. And a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. This is God’s economy.

I don’t know who or where the 1s are, but I pray to God that I am successful at finding them and leading them Home.