The Magnificent Brain

Neurologist Wolf Singer says the brain is like an orchestra without a conductor. When we decide to take our thoughts captive to Christ  [2Cor.10:5], He begins to become the conductor of the orchestra of our mind; and, of course, He makes the most beautiful music imaginable.

Our Hope

Jesus is still leading us, if we will follow Him, into the solution to the human problem. His seeds of Truth are wafting on the wind across the human landscape. They take root, here and there, and transform hearts into what we have the greatest potential of becoming--what we have been created to become. The fact that He is resisted or ignored is the greatest testimony to the reality of evil. He said, among other wonderful transformative truths, "If you continue in my way, then you are my disciples indeed; and you will know the Truth; and the Truth will set you free." Here alone is the hope for the human family.

It Is Well With My Soul

When all is well with your soul, and you know deeply that all is well with your soul [this place that Jesus brings us to], then you are free to love people with God's Love flowing unencumbered through your heart. It's not about making things right in the world or waiting for the world to become what it has the potential of becoming so that things can then be well with your soul. Rather it's about discovering the essence and truth that Christ has brought to this earth so that then things will be well with your soul. At that point you become Light in the world. We sing this beautiful song penned by Horatio Spafford: "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well. it is well with my soul.' " [emphasis added].

Denial

Perhaps the main problem with denial is that it prevents deep introspection. One cannot look deeply into himself if he is unwilling to face the truth about himself.  He keeps running into the truth that discomforts him. And when one cannot look deeply into himself, he cannot avail himself of the infinite inner world where there is beauty, goodness and undiscovered truth that liberates the soul from the narrowing confines and shallow world of denial. We can only get to God and the freedom He offers by travelling the pathway of truth about the self. The grace afforded by Jesus enables us to face all the ugly truth wihin us. And the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to begin the process of overcoming it. If we continue this process, we discover the ultimate Truth that sets us free, just as Christ said.

Self Doubt

Whenever someone doubts you, or your doubt yourself, no need to panic or get angry. You need only look honestly at what is being doubted in you. After all, the doubt is just about something in you, not the whole person that you are. You can't doubt a whole person--that's judgmentalism; and we don't have to live under that curse, whether from others or from our self.  But if you or someone else is doubting something in you, again I say, don't panic or get angry. Just look at what's being doubted, and ask yourself "Is there any truth in it?" And with some of it, the answer will be "Yes. There is some truth in it." And that gives you the opportunity to either 1. Do something about it or, 2.Bring it into Grace, or 3. Some version of both 1. and 2.  Therefore you do not have to condemn yourself because of something you doubt about yourself. You can stay free. In a peaceful, confident place; not because you are perfect, but because you are trying to get life right, which means that you are devoted to living in Love and Truth. And that is the best any of us can say. Some people either never doubt themselves or seem to never doubt themselves. Those who seem to never doubt themselves are often those who are honestly looking at their faults, bringing them into Grace, and plunging onward, trying to do good. Or they are those who never doubt themselves. We earnestly hope that these [those who never doubt themselves] have a healthy dose of humility, because those who do not doubt themselves and lack humility are dangerous for the human family. Some of the most evil people in history seemed to have been supremely confident in what they were doing.

New Year, New Life

It's the first day of 2017 A.D., anno Domini, Latin for "in the year of our Lord."  It's amazing, if you think about it, that the significance of that number, 2017, is ignored amidst the fireworks, champagne and choruses of Auld Lang Syne.  It never ceases to amaze [and disappoint] me that we seem to go out of our way to avoid talking about Jesus in the important matters of life. Or if He is brought up, it is usually in some distorted or caricaturish  way that has little or nothing to do with who he is, based on someone's inept means of trying to live the Christian life. Those who are blind to Christ or threatened by his authority love to mock him by exaggerating the distortions that have emerged from the Christian lifestyle, as if there were no distortions in every endeavor of life. Some seem to militantly avoid his amazing, deep and liberating teachings, and how much aid to the poor, sick and traumatized people of the world has been ministered in his name. Many still say we are a Christian nation, and it seems very evident that our Founding Fathers and Mothers were basing this democracy on Biblical principles that, to them, were transcendent and universal. The roots of Christianity run deep in our nation. And I believe that is precisely why we have enjoyed such prosperity and especially freedom, since the God of the Bible is free, and sent ten plaques against those who had enslaved His people. Jesus said that he came to "set at liberty those who are oppressed." This is profound because oppression permeates the hearts and minds of those who live in prosperity; not just the poor. Freedom is not primarily a political phenomenon; it is primarily an issue of the soul. Some in prison sing songs of joy; and some living in palaces commit suicide.
I hope that 2017 will be a year with increased emphasis on the One whose life and teachings are demarcated by it. If so, it will truly be a very good year.

Christmas Morning

It's Christmas morning. Millions of my brothers and sisters are mindful, in a special way that the God of this universe, the Cosmic Conscious Core of all existence, all living and inorganic material, has revealed a Love that is at the very apex of human understanding: the sacrificial giving of an only child. Jesus, full of Grace and Truth, has come to dispel the darkness of sin and spiritual blindness. "No more let sins nor sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found."  (Isaac Watts)  I've been inspired by the story of Simeon. Here's his story, recorded in Luke Chapter 2.

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss[fn] your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

He was "righteous and devout",  longing for the "consolation" of his people. When Mary and Joseph came to the Temple to have Jesus circumcised, he was literally "inspired" [moved by  the Spirit] to take the child in his arms. He supernaturally recognized that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, God's offering of salvation, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. God had promised that he would not die before seeing this amazing, holy, divine intervention. I try to imagine his face when he looked upon the infant, realizing the he was the One, the long-awaited [since Abraham] Savior of the world. Mary and Joseph must have been taken aback, shocked by this compassionate intrusion; but seeing the awe in Simeon's face, Mary allowed him to hold her child. Then listened intently as he reaffirmed the dawning truth first related to her by the angel Gabriel: that he was "destined  to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, and a sign that will be spoken against." Spoken against indeed! Hated and plotted against. Despised. Rejected. Mocked. Crucified! [A sword would indeed pierce her soul!] But also worshiped and adored by those who had the eyes to see and the ears to hear. He said he came to bring a sword to separate people from people: those who could see from those who could or would not. Even separating fathers from sons, mothers from daughters: believers from unbelievers. Bringing believers into a new family: the family of God; the Kingdom of God. "Who is my mother, sister and brother?" he asked. "He who knows and does the will of my Father [God]."  

God, the only God of this universe, the Creator, brought forth in the universe this beautiful earth, filled it with life, conscious beings in His own image, then, in Love, set us free; departed from our direct conscious awareness, but lovingly left a fingerprint, bold, unmistakable, clear, accessible: His Holy Word. This Word tells the story of God and mankind; man's risings and fallings, the epic battle between good and evil, light and darkness. And how One would come to bring a great light: a King of kings and Lord of lords; consolation, healing, deliverance, salvation, forgiveness, hope, joy, peace, abundant and eternal [!] life.  Harmonious unity that destroys the effects of evil. Jesus brings all this and more--more than can be received or related. Simeon recognized the baby in Mary's arms to be the fulfillment of that promise given in God's fingerprint. Later, His followers, also, would begin to see Him as Truth in the flesh. It seemed to dawn in their awareness, like it has with us, like the dawning of the sun, rising toward the full light of day. Culminating, in Simon Peter's case, with the bold, earth-shaking statement, "You are the Christ! The Son of the living God!" Praise God for this dawning! The angels were surely rejoicing!  As they rejoice with every soul who comes to understand and accept Jesus as the Messiah. He reveals us to ourselves, and delivers us from the darkness that is in us. Christmas hymns are the brightest and most joyful of Christian hymns. "Joy to the world!" "Good Christian men rejoice, with heart and soul and voice." "Go tell it on the mountain!" "Gloria in Excelsis Deo!"  "Joy has dawned upon the world." "Peace on the earth, good will to men, from heaven's all gracious King." "He is born, the divine Christ-Child; play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!"  "Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"  "Glory to the newborn King!" It's all superficial though until it is internalized. We continue to wander in the darkness, even though this great Light has come to earth, until we bow in reverent submission, like the wise men, and offer the most important gift: our hearts. Then begins the true adventure for which we have been created: the adventure of being the Light in this world that He has ordained and empowers us to be. Then comes the joy of learning to Love with His Love. Then comes the great and final victory of Light dispelling darkness in our own souls. Then, and only then, do we discover the true meaning, as an inner felt experience, of freedom!  

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward mankind! Peace! And Good Will! To all!  Welcome baby Jesus! Be born anew in our hearts. Be born in us with a life that is ever new, like, as You said, "a fountain of living water welling up to eternal life." Awaken us to the Truth that sets us free, and keeps us free. Deliver us from the worries and cares of this world, from guilt and shame and fear. Empower us, through Your promised Spirit within us, to truly love each other. May Your Name be praised forever and ever!