How the Clay fared in 2007 (Or a list of goals followed by slightly unhumorous, witty remarks.)

Last year about this time I made a post on the myspace that made known my goals for the upcoming year. I suppose you’re curious how those went, no? Well, if you are read on; I’ll fill you in! Here’s the original post:

I have a few goals for this year that I'd like to make public.
1. Cliché:
exercise. (Anyone want to play soccer?)
2. Write a joke that's actually
funny. (I can write the non-funny variety very well now.)
3. Put said
joke into an act or a sitcom or a movie or a combination of all three.
4. Buy
a suit or two.
5. Climb a mountain I haven't climbed before. (That
shouldn't be too hard.)
6. Gain weight and then lose it only to gain it back
again.
7. Shave either less than 6 times or more than 12.
8. Come up with
2 more goals so that I have 10 for the year.
9. Put off said goal to pursue
other passions such as watching television shows I've already seen 3
times.
10. Pet a lion. (This one might be a little difficult.)

So, here’s how I did.

1. Cliché: exercise. (Anyone want to play soccer?)
Well, I played soccer this year more than I did the previous year. Mostly in the summer though. We played every Tuesday with the youth group the entire summer. I was surprised, not only were we able to play soccer and people not complain, but that we were able to play it every week and no one complained. At the end of the summer you could actually see improvement in kids in how they played.

I also played soccer for the company I work for’s team. The first couple of weeks was great because I got to play in the field, but about 3 weeks in we didn’t have a goalie; so, guess who played. Me. The first week sucked; I let by, I think, 7 goals. But by the second half of that game I was getting the hang of it again. Then, it got a little more enjoyable. I was able to make some pretty spectacular saves if you ask me and I even stopped 2 penalty kicks.

I’ve also recently taken up running every now and again. It’s only a mile or so every other day, but it’s something to help keep in shape. Also, I played a lot of NBA Street Vol. 3 on the PS2. That should count for something besides just being a nerd.

2. Write a joke that’s actually funny. (I can write the non-funny variety very well now.)
So, this one was banking on the idea that I would give open mic night at the Comedy Underground another go sometime this year. I never did. Thus, I never really wrote any jokes. Well, that may not be entirely true.

I came up with a popsicle stick joke one day before youth group on a Tuesday night and proceeded, during a point of transition from game to worship, to tell said joke in a sort of a shy, introverted caricature. It went off okay; I think it was the caricature more than the joke, but a laugh’s a laugh.

3. Put said joke into an act or a sitcom or a movie or a combination of all three.
Obviously, since I didn’t really write anything, I didn’t put in into anything. So, stamp a failure on this one.

4. Buy a suit or two.
The idea here was to possibly own a suit for the first time in my life. I’ve graduated from college, I work in an office, it’s time I learn how to tie a tie. I never did. I just continued to spend my money on cheap thrift store polos and button down shirts and I never forked anything out for a tie. But honestly, I have my diploma and I still have my job, so what do I need a tie for anyway?

5. Climb a mountain I haven't climbed before. (That shouldn't be too hard.)
The goal here was to climb Mt. Adams with out actually explicitly saying I’d like to climb Mt. Adams. Sort of put out there that I’d like to climb a mountain that I haven’t climbed before and hope it was Adams, but if it wasn’t, I could climb another one and still say I met my goal. I proceeded to climb 0 mountains this year. I did, however, hike in places I’ve never hiked before.

I hiked the Redwood coast in California which was fun. It was there I hiked in the dark by headlamp for the first time. I bought a headlamp the week before I left. Good thing. It was also the first time I’ve hiked next to an ocean. That hike was full of firsts. I wanted to try and hike bare foot there for a while, but that didn’t happen.

I also backpacked on the eastern side of the Cascades for the first time this past summer. It was the first time I had to deal with mosquitoes in a serious manner on a backpacking trip. It was the first time I hiked with people I had never really met until we started the hike. (Seriously, I had met one person in the party 3 times before, two others once before, another the day of the hike, and another was my pediatrician when I was a kid. So, I had met him, but I didn’t really know him.)

So, lots of first in hiking, but no new mountains.

6. Gain weight and then lose it only to gain it back again.
I’ve actually gained close to 30-40 pounds this year. This is someone who gained about 30 pounds all through high school, but some how managed to grow 5 inches. I’m pretty sure that 30-40 pounds has fluctuated over the year. So, it’s safe to say I gained weight, then lost it, and then gained it back again. Way to go me!

7. Shave either less than 6 times or more than 12.
This one was a popular one. People asked me continually through out the year how I was progressing on this goal. Well, I have the results. I started the 2007 with a full beard and I am ending 2007 with a full beard. I shaved the beard off completely only once. I trimmed the beard a mere 4 times. So, if you include trimming in the category of shaving, I shaved a total of 5 times. If you look closely, you notice that 5 is less than 6 and therefore, I completed this goal with vengeance. On a side note, I only cut my hair 3 times this year as well. Just FYI.

8. Come up with 2 more goals so that I have 10 for the year.
If you read carefully, you’ll see that I completed this goal in the original post. How clever am I?

9. Put off said goal to pursue other passions such as watching television shows I've already seen 3 times.
I can say that I am the proud owner of all 9 seasons of Seinfeld and I am also proud owner of 7 seasons of The Simpsons. Needless to say, I’ve seen a lot of episodes of television shows I’ve already seen. When it comes to wasting time, I know how to do it in style. Did I also mention I spent a fair amount of time playing NBA Street Vol. 3 for the PS2? Also, a successful waste of time.

10. Pet a lion. (This one might be a little difficult.)
I don’t think I need to mention what happened in San Francisco on Christmas Day, do I? It’s a good thing I didn’t fulfill this goal. It could have proven deadly. On the plus side though, I did get Planet Earth for Christmas and there are lots of pretty lions on that program. I can at least watch them in fantastic sub-HD quality.

That’s how I fared in the year 2007. Here’s hoping your year was a success and that 2008 finds you well as well. Next post will be my goals for 2008 which shall prove more difficult and potentially more fantastic. Stay tuned.

Prophecy Day 19 and the Gripping Conclusion: The Gripping Conclusion.

On Friday, December 14th, 2007, my adventures in Bible prophecy came to a close. I was hoping, because of this, to impart upon you precious readers some sort of eternal wisdom that would create in you a desire to follow all your dreams and what not. Something along the lines of “a penny saved is a penny earned,” or “early to bed and early to rise makes a man (or woman) healthy, wealthy, and wise,” or “eat your vegetables, they’re good for you.” But alas, I have no juicy tidbits of tantalizing knowledge for you to nosh. No amazing climactic conclusion took place; no spectacular, life altering revelation. All I offer is a humble confession that I am a sinner who needs Jesus.

Friday, December 14th, 2007: The Spectacular, Fantastic Second Coming of Jesus.
The speaker gave these words on this night: “If you remember one thing, remember this: Jesus wants to be our savior and Jesus wants to be our Lord.” I think this is true. Why else would He have come to earth, served, and died? However, I think it’s deeper than just savior and Lord. That is, those are just terms we throw on to a situation we don’t completely understand. Sure the terms fit, but I don’t think it’s complete. It’s like a puzzle piece fitting into a hole that’s a little too big for it. Sure the piece works there, but it doesn’t quite cover it.

See, God had a purpose when He set out to create man in His own image. A purpose of creating something that He could love and that in turn could love Him back. Think of the movie Pinocchio. Ghepetto made a puppet. Now, bear in mind it wasn’t Gheppeto’s intention that the puppet be a real boy, but he did desire some companionship that he could love and in turn love him back; notice that Figaro, the cat, didn’t fulfill this role. Cats. Am I right? Well, Pinocchio came to life and Ghepetto was thrilled. He sent Pinocchio to school where he met the neighborhood toughs and ended up getting into some trouble. Ghepetto finds out and goes out looking for his precious Pinocchio; his one companion whom he loves and wants back. Ghepetto finds Pinocchio and Pinocchio recants of his previous behavior. This recantation transforms Pinocchio into what Ghepetto really wanted; a real boy, a real companion; really.

Parallel that with our story as humans. God creates us with an intention, we defile that intention, God pursues us to get us back, we recant of our previous defilement, and we are transformed into God’s original intention. A difference between us and Pinocchio is that we continue to screw up; we continue to run off to Pleasure Island and make jackasses out of ourselves. And, in turn, God continues to pursue after us and we continue to repent and we are continually made into God’s original intention.

So, here’s the thing, I don’t really get this whole second coming thing. I know Jesus promised to come back (John 14:1-3) and I tend to believe everything else He said, but this one strikes me as odd. I guess I see people being born every day, thus more people to rebel against God, to break that original intention. So, it seems that whenever Jesus decides to pay earth a visit again, someone is going to get screwed. Someone is likely going to be on the verge of repentance when the final trumpets sounds, right? Or is God’s timing so perfect, that there’s a precise moment in the future where all that will repent have repented? I suppose that’s the definition of perfect timing. He did start time after all, and he expressed an interest in stopping it once or twice, so I guess He’s got a handle on it. I guess that’s why we say God has perfect timing, He invented the stuff.

I cannot say I have a firmer grasp on Christ’s return after attending this session either. All that was talked about was how glorious a day it will be. I agree; how great will it be to see your savior come to take you with Him? How spectacular a scene to see Jesus bursting in like Robin Hood rescuing Maid Marian from the evil clutches of Prince John? I imagine him giving out a swashbuckling “Ha-Ha!” when he enters earth’s atmosphere for a second time. However, I cannot help but think how utterly crappy that day will be for everyone else. Will I feel sorry for those whom Jesus could not take back with Him? Will He feel sorry for all of those whom He could not take with Him? Will there be any last, “Oh my God, I’ve been completely on the wrong track; Jesus take me with you,” repentings that will be validated at the last minute?

Wednesday, December 19, 2007: A Conclusion.
So what have I learned? The Church does not have the answers to our questions. The Bible does not have the answers to our questions. (I’m thinking of just leaving this as a puzzle and letting you figure out why I would say that. But I’ll just give you the answer.) God has the answers to our questions. The Church does not have solutions to our problems. The Bible does not have solutions to our problems. God has the solutions to our problems. I think one of the reasons I have a problem with loving the Church is that I expect it to be God. When I expect it to be God and it fails to meet expectations; I get angry, I stop loving.

I think when we say the Church is the body Christ and when we say the Bible is the word of God that we have to mean that they are representations of those things. And we have to accept that calling them representations takes away no power from them that they previously possessed. I repeat, no power is taken away by calling the Church and the Bible representations of the body of Christ and God’s word respectively. The Church is not perfect; it’s comprised of human beings. But the body of Christ is perfect. Can the Church be the body of Christ? No. Can the Church represent the body of Christ? Absolutely, that’s what it is called to do.

8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.
-Acts 1:8 (NIV)

It would be like someone asking me to take them to see President Abe Lincoln. Never mind how I know Honest Abe or if I know Honest Abe, but the something thinks I can complete this task for them. But instead of revealing my secrets and exposing my connections, I bring this someone to Mt. Rushmore.
“Look, there’s President Abraham Lincoln,” I’d say.
And they’d reply, “But that’s just his head.”
The portrait of Abe Lincoln on Mt. Rushmore is merely meant to be a representation of the former president. It’s just like the Church. It’s merely meant to be a representation of the body of Christ.

So, in order to love the Church, I’m going to have to change my expectation. What, then, should my expectation be? I’m glad I asked. I expect to find sinners. Sinners who understand they are sinners. Sinners who understand that it is only by the grace of God that Jesus came and saved their sorry asses. Sinners who realize the problems they face are the same problems the people of the world face and the only reason the problems they face aren’t problems anymore is Jesus. This is what I expect of the Church. Since the Church consists of people and people are sinners, this is not a false expectation. This is how I love the Church: realize I am a sinner who needs Jesus.

Prophecy Days 16-18: All Good Things Must Come to an End . . . Next Time.

Here it is; the last night of “Discovering Bible Prophecy” 2007. Tonight, the band will take its encore, the crowd will call for more, and I’ll quietly slip out the back hoping to go unnoticed. It feels like the last day of school. On one hand you’re glad it’s all over and done with, but on the other hand, you’re going to miss having something to do; a routine. Nevertheless, I’ll be both sad and relieved tonight as I see for the last time those pastel pictures of Jesus with different kinds of animals seeking His love. I never really go to know the zookeeper side of Jesus; I bet he gave extra rations to all in His care when He could. Made sure the Penguins had a slide in their exhibit. Made sure the Lions had a good view of the Zebras just to tickle their hunting bone once in a while. Jesus would have made a good zookeeper I’m sure. But enough about zoos and Zebras, let’s get to prophecy shall we?

Friday December 7, 2007: The U.S.: The Last Great Nation in Bible Prophecy.
This night’s session was not entirely about the good ol’ U.S. of A. No, there was some good ol’ Bible teachin’ too; about the Holy Spirit. If you remember way back at the beginning of this thing, I described the sessions being broken up into three parts: one being Bible teachin’, another song singin’, and the other being prophecy preachin’. So the U.S. came up in the prophecy preachin’ portion of this night’s session.

The speaker talked on who the Holy Spirit is and what role it plays in our lives; pretty entry level stuff. He mentioned the Holy Spirit is there to help us do what’s right; to follow God’s commandments. This led me to a question. If it were actually possible to see thoughts in one’s head and someone peered into mine, one would see a pretty consistent concentration of math problems, Seinfeld quotes, and questions about God. I guess also, since I am male and I’m suppose to think about sex every nine seconds, some thoughts on sex would be mixed in there as well, but we’ll stick with the main three. The question I was led to was concerning what the Holy Spirit can and cannot lead one to. For example, the church that is holding this seminar believes firmly that obeying God’s commandments means celebrated the Bible Sabbath; Saturday. However, there are churches just as Spirit filled that do not believe that. Can both be from the same Spirit? Is one group worshiping God incorrectly, or are both groups following the leading of the Holy Spirit?

I wish I had a definitive answer for you. I wish I had a definitive answer for myself. I feel if I try to formulate an answer, whatever I come up with will just be wishful thinking. I want the answer to be that both groups are of the same Spirit. God just has different dealing with different people, which is true. But, if you expand this idea too far you run into the issue of every idea contributed to God or the Holy Spirit being acceptable. Someone could say snake handling in church is a necessary part of worship since it says in Mark that it is a sign of the Holy Spirit. One could literally start justifying every religious or non-religious practice with contributing it to a conviction of the Holy Spirit. That’s dangerous since there are religious and non-religious practices that are contrary to God’s character.

Well, perhaps it’s on a case by case basis? If the practice does not contradict the character of God, then it’s possible it could be a prompting of the Holy Spirit. But, there are differing opinions on what constitutes attributes of the character of God. One could then say that the characteristics in the Bible about God are the exhaustive list. However, there are differing interpretations on what constitutes a characteristic of God in the Bible. (Does God only love sinners? Does God only hate sinners? Does God both love and hate sinners? Does God hate the sin, but love the sinner? Does God eat ham?) So, all this to say, I wish I could come up with a definitive answer for you, but I cannot. Maybe you can come up with a definitive answer for you and me?

This concludes the Bible teachin’ portion of our program. Now time for some special music brought to you by the Woodstock Music Festival. That’s right, Jimi Hendrix’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. This ought to get you in the mood for talking about the great ol’ U.S. of A. If you have it, play it now. If you’d like to listen to a more contemporary or traditional version, you may do that as well.

Everyone patrioticized? Good.

Now, don’t take my overly sarcastic and somewhat disrespectful tone the wrong way. I love the country in which I grew up and currently reside. I just happen to love other countries as well. I think this country has some very good things going for it; it also has some not so good things going for it as well. No country is perfect because countries are run by men (and women) and no man (nor woman) is perfect. Now, with that said, and please keep it in mind because I don’t want to be blacklisted for being a communist or something, let’s look at what was said about the U.S. being the last great nation in Bible prophecy.

The idea that the U.S. is the last great nation in Bible prophecy spurs from a passage in Revelation. I don’t remember which one because I didn’t write it down. Frankly, I found that point irrelevant. Whatever passage it was, in my mind, it was taken out of context or read into a bit too far. I would go as far to say that every line was read between and every word was dissected to fit the conclusion. The reason I propose this argument is that the SDA church was founded in the U.S. So, naturally, the founders would have a fondness to the country in which they reside as I have a fondness for the country in which I reside. In then seems natural that they would try and include themselves in their interpretations. Now, certainly this is complete speculation and this claim can never be proven without written confession from the SDA founders that this was the case. From a statistical standpoint, this is only one improvable theory among many, mainly infinitely many, and thus highly unlikely, if not impossible, to be true. However, hearing the passage being read and listening to the explanations of the interpretations, I was not convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt. (Some might say I’m a stubborn individual who couldn’t be convinced it was raining even if I was standing outside soaking wet. I would agree, but nevertheless.)

During the presentation I was reminded again of humanity’s, Christian’s ability to distort and pervert the truth of God’s truth to support our own ideas and pseudo truths. All I could do was sit and pray for forgiveness. It was like watching a film of every instance I’d ever wronged someone. How could you not be affected? It would be like a murder, who knows they’ve murdered, watching a film about a bunch of murders. They can help but feel sympathetic I would think. That is, if they felt resentful for what they did in the past. Here I was, feeling resentful for my distorting the truth, and I was sitting, watching people all around my do the exact same thing. It hurt. I couldn’t help but sympathize. I couldn’t help but plead to God for their forgiveness. I couldn’t help but plead to the Bridegroom to forgive His Bride of prostituting itself to the powers of the world rather than being faithful to His power.

Sunday December 9, 2007: How to Increase Your Happiness in Marriage (and Relationships).
If you think the answer is don’t eat pig and go to church on Saturday, then you’re wrong. Surprised? So was I. Guess what the answer is. Go on, guess. Love. That’s right, love. Love one another. Forgive one another. Be kind to one another. Respect one another. Treat others as you’d like to be treated. This is the key to happiness in marriage and relationships. How cool is that? No twisting of texts, no manipulations of manuscripts, just plain reading the Bible.

11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No
one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love
is made complete in us.
-1 John 4:11-12

If we love one another, God makes His love in us complete. We then have the complete love of God in our bellies, how can our relationships fail?

This topic also gave rise to the opportunity for the church to show its lighthearted side. The staples of all stand-up comedy are relationships and the differences between men and women. If you don’t have “men don’t put down the toilet seat” joke somewhere in your act, you aren’t going anywhere. It’s was good to see these people could have some fun.

Monday December 10, 2007: The Unpardonable Sin.
Fun time’s over now. It’s time to get serious. Time to talk about where God’s forgiveness cannot cover. Time to talk about the unpardonable sin.

Unfortunately, the idea of an unpardonable sin was used somewhat as a scare tactic. Like on the news when they say, “Disease is ravaging the area. Find out if it’s near you at 11.”
“A killer rapist is on the loose in the greater city area. Find out if he’s outside your house at 6:30.”
“People will die. Find out if it’s you tomorrow morning at 6am.”
But once arriving at the session, everyone was reassured that by attending that night’s session they were assuring themselves not to be committing the unpardonable sin. Good news I guess.

The sin the speaker was referring to was that of a continual rejection of the promptings of the Holy Spirit to fall in line with God’s will. That is, continually saying “no” to God. Essentially, if you keep rejecting God’s redemption, He cannot extend His redemption to you. Makes sense.

Something that also makes sense is that this would be the point in the seminar that the decision cards would be handed out. If anyone was feeling a prompting from the Holy Spirit, after hearing what happens if you ignore it, one would want to respond right away.

This gesture I really appreciated. Usually the decision card comes out on a daily or nightly basis. The preacher tries to get everyone’s emotions up. Soft, Nordstrom lounge style piano music is playing to stir up all the touchy-feely, warm fuzzies from the depths of the audience’s souls. Christ is proclaimed to be the savior of YOUR sin and you burst into tears. Cry out to God that you have failed Him (how could you fail someone who evokes such pretty piano music?) and immediately accept Christ as Lord. God be praised! (I apologize for the slightly over exaggerated rendition of a salvation service, but it’s for a point.) Contrast that with this seminar. Not once was I directly asked if I wanted Jesus as my savior. This particular night of the decision card I wasn’t directly asked, nor was anyone else. Rather, we were asked to reflect on all that we learned from the previous sessions about what it means to obey God and follow His commandments. Then, we were to consider a decision. Rather than appeal to our emotions, they appealed to our rationale. I appreciated it.

A Conclusion . . . of Sorts . . . Again.
Tonight’s session (Friday’s) is the last session for the seminar. However, on the back of my decision card I felt obligated to express to the church my appreciation for allowing me to explore this realm of God’s Kingdom. I wrote this letter:

Dear Church,

It’s been an honor to lean God’s truths with you these
past few weeks. It’s encouraging to see a body of believers so wholly
committed to following God’s calling for them. May God count your
obedience as righteousness as He did for Abraham. God has revealed to me
many new aspects of His Bride because of this seminar. Keep following
God’s call no matter how difficult the road.

Love in Christ,
Clayton Zylstra

I feel I have leaned something, if not a lot of things from attending this seminar. Certainly one thing that stands out is that like the Church, I share the same brokenness that keeps me separated for God’s will; to be with Him. What ever awful thing the Church has done in the name of Jesus, I’ve also done to some extent. I share in its brokenness and for that reason I should have a love for it. We’re struggling through the redemptive process together.

There’s more I’ve taken away from this and I’ll reflect on that in the next post. So stay tuned.

Prophecy Days 13-15: Prophecy vs The Pythagorean Theorem.

I like anecdotes. I especially like anecdotes when I get the “oh, I know where they’re going with this” thought half way through. Then I get to just sit back and watch the speaker struggle as they try and remember all the details and keep all the names and places straight. All the while I’m thinking, “I know what you’re getting at. Just make your point and get on with it.” Then the anecdote ends and I sit ready for the next point with one half of the room who had the same thoughts I did while the other half of the room say, “What the heck was that all about? I though Jimmy was the one who was trying to get gas, not the one who was actually getting gas. Didn’t he say this took place in town here? How did we get across the state?” Anecdotes.

The speaker on Friday night had an interesting anecdote illustrating the ease of mistaking true churches from false one. He was in college and he was friends with a set of identical twins. One was rooming in the dormitory he stayed in and the other was living in another dorm house. At this particular college, you ate in your dorm’s cafeteria for your meals. There wasn’t one campus cafeteria, but one cafeteria in each dormitory. It was dinner time and the speaker and some of his friends were going to get food in the cafeteria. Simple enough. The one identical twin that lived in that particular dorm was not going to get dinner with them because he had a date; I think his name was Gary. Larry, his twin brother, showed up or was hanging around decided to get dinner also. But instead of going back to his dorm, he just grabbed Gary’s ID and decided to eat at this dorm, the one that Gary stayed in.

They all got to the cafeteria and got their food and sat down next to one of Gary’s suitemates. Someone who was suppose to know Gary pretty well. So, he, the suitemate, started talking to Larry, thinking it was Gary. Larry had to play along since he didn’t want to leave the cafeteria, so he did. Larry started talking about, well, himself, that is, Larry saying how great Larry was and so on, but the suitemate thought he was Gary. Anyway, the speaker was telling us the audience how humorous the situation became and that the suitemate never knew he was talking to Larry and not Gary. So in a sense, that’s how churches are. Distinguishing between two different ones can be like distinguishing between two identical twins. Obviously they are different churches, but they look so similar.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting anecdote and I was able to see where he was going with it when he introduced a set of identical twins. So I sat back and watched the speaker struggle to get the details straight and the audience struggle to follow what was being presented and I had a good time with it. Here are some of the highlights/lowlights of the two sessions from this past weekend.

Friday Day 13: Why So Many Churches? How Can You Tell the True from the False?
In the words of Charlton Heston via Phil Hartman (again with the Charlton Heston), “Oh. My. God.” At this session I fell apart. This is the first session I’d been to where I got physically angry during the session. This was not because of what was presented, but rather a pet peeve of mine that came up. The situation where people who shouldn’t do any talking because they are an audience member, a participant, decide it’s okay to do some talking. They just pipe up and start speaking one-on-one with the speaker. Sharing some personal testimony vaguely matching the subject thinking their insight will some how convince everyone (even though they’re not physically directing their words to everyone, but to the speaker; speaking barely loud enough for he or she to hear them) that what the speaker is talking on is life changing and should be adhered to immediately. It’s a pet peeve.

This particular event described above happened on Friday night and it hadn’t happened before. I contribute this phenomenon to the guided audience participation that took place before the main talk. (This type of participation I am okay with. It’s encouraged and controlled by the speaker, so one person doesn’t spend the whole time rambling.) The activity we were challenged with was to look in the book of Acts and find characteristics of the early church. I thought this a healthy and interesting activity.

I found it so interesting that I participated. I found and shared this verse:

32All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his
possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
-Acts 4:32
(NIV)

The speaker was a fan of this verse. He feels, and I agree, that this doesn’t go on enough in Church. He stated that there is no reason anyone should ever be in need if they belong to a church. I agree. I would even take it as far as to say that there is no reason anyone in a community in which a church belongs should ever be in need, but that’s just me.

The reason for the exercise was to help define what is a ‘true’ church. It would make sense, as paraphrased from the speaker, to join a church like that of Jesus and the apostles. It would make sense that the church of Jesus and the apostles would be a ‘true’ church. This is all fine and well, but the trouble comes when you start to define what the church of Jesus and the apostles was. Essentially, in the talk that followed the audience participation activity, it was said that the ‘true’ church is the SDA church. It is true since it obeys all of God’s commands, mainly worshiping on the true Sabbath. Remember, God’s commands here mean the Ten Commandments.

It was this point, the keeping of the correct Sabbath that an inquisitive member of the audience, someone who I hadn’t seen at any of the other sessions, asked the question where in the Bible it says that the Church needs to keep the Saturday Sabbath. This question was answered in a previous session, but the speaker was kind enough to answer the question anyway. Then a different, overly ambitious audience member decided it was time for personal share time. They shared some testimony about how their life changed because of their decision to join the SDA church and proceeded to talk for a good 2 or 3 minutes before the speaker finally said, in kinder words, “All right, you need to shut up.”

This is where it becomes interesting. No fights broke out or anything; no one stormed out cursing God or the church. No, this little tiff illustrated a point of conversation others and I had at a meeting of Birds of the Air (a Bible study) the night before. It also happened that two of the members of Birds were with me at the session that night, Miriam and Ricky (Dan was there too, but he doesn’t attend Birds). The text we discussed was this:

17I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put
obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep
away from them. 18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own
appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
19Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I
want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
-Romans 16: 17-19 (NIV)

Ricky brought up that C.S. Lewis calls this “Jesus and . . .” Jesus and alcohol. Jesus and homosexuality. Jesus and the Sabbath. This person who felt obligated to share their story had Jesus and the Sabbath on their mind. The speaker was presenting Jesus and the Sabbath as the true church. These sessions have been a bunch of ‘Jesus and’s. When in actually the true Church is just Jesus.

Sunday Day 14: How to Have Financial Security.

19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where
thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body.
If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes
are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you
is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24"No one can
serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at
the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet
your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who
of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his
splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass
of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he
not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying,
'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For
the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its
own.
-Matthew 6:19-34 (NIV)

This is a big chunk of what Jesus taught his disciples on money. This entire passage wasn’t used Sunday night, but verses were taken from it. In particular verse 21 and a paraphrase of verses 28-30. The speaker asked a question at the beginning of his talk if it would be nice if we all had just a little more money. He said, “Wouldn’t you like to have a little bit more money? I know I would.” Sure, who wouldn’t right? Then I read what Jesus said in verses 25-34 and I say, “Well, maybe not.”

Money is a solution to all those questions asked in verse 31 correct? When I ask, “What shall I eat?” I answer, “Why don’t I go buy groceries.” When I ask, “What shall I drink?” I answer, “Why don’t I go buy something to drink or turn on the faucet that controls the water that I pay for.” When I ask, “What shall I wear?” I answer, “Why don’t I go to Value Village and buy some slightly used clothing.” It seems if I seek after money, I’ll be given these things. That’s logical. However, Jesus does not say if you seek after money these things will be given to you, but rather if you seek after His Kingdom and His righteousness, these things will be given to you.
Well, maybe money is apart of His Kingdom and His righteousness?

3"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
-Matthew 5:10 (NIV)

It seems to me that financial security is far from His Kingdom. At any rate, I feel this is evidence of the American dream, obtaining financial security, creeping into the message of Jesus. It’s fine to be rich, but it’s also fine to be poor. To me God wanting His people to be well off financially is a promise that’s just not there.

It was interesting in that the speaker used the example of the Old Testament patriarchs as examples to show that God want His people to be wealthy; they were all wealthy. However, it seems the speaker missed one New Testament character that sits above the Old Testament patriarchs; Jesus. Jesus was homeless. He looked inside fish’s mouths to pay the temple tax. He took 7 loaves of bread and 2 fish from a kid to feed his friend. Here is someone who was not wealthy. Here is someone whom we are commanded to follow if we are to find God. I have a hard time saying God wants me to be rich or financially secure if He Himself lived a life of poverty compared to how I live right now.

On Wednesday of this week, the place of my employment held a meeting about our benefits package. It being the end of the year, it’s nice to see what changes have taken place and what our options are for benefits. Needless to say, we have a pretty good package: health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, and 401k to name but a few benefits. With the 401k option, there is a person who works as a financial planner that is available for consultation free of charge for employees of the company. He was asked to come in and present at the meeting and give a brief summary of what’s available for investment for our 401k plan, what his suggestions are for investing, and what the economy looks like for investing in the coming year; basically, from an investing standpoint, how to become financially secure for the future. This proved to me true my speculations on Jesus’ view of money. If a man, or woman, defines him or herself by money, there’s no certainty who you define yourself as now will be the same person down the line. If you define yourself by being a house owner, a flood could come out of no where and take that away from you; you’ve lost your defining quality. If you define yourself as being a car owner, you could get in an accident and total that car; you’ve lost your defining quality. If you define yourself by being a lover of, a follower of God, God was and is and always will be; you cannot lose your defining quality. If God were to want us to be financially secure, He would be saying, “Go ahead and put your security in something besides me. It’s okay.” Why would he say that? God is a jealous God who wants no other God’s before Him. Saying go ahead and replace me with money would completely contradict that statement; that command.

It’s natural to want to be financially secure. There are circumstances where if one just had a little more cash, one could save a whole lot of heartbreak. But, in that same circumstance, God can save one a whole lot of heartbreak by remembering the promise that if you seek after His Kingdom and His righteousness, these things will be given to you.

Wednesday Day 15: Prophets: True or False?
One thing that’s for certain that I’ve found in this seminar, my ability to tune out church when I want to has not lessened since I was a kid. It was stated in an earlier post that the sessions are divided up into three parts; one being a faced paced Bible study looking at a particular topic and finding scriptures that support it. This evening’s study was on diet and I’d heard it before and wasn’t convinced. So I tuned it out. In an effort to find truth, I proceeded to prove the Pythagorean Theorem (I used proof #4) in my notes. It’s not that difficult; one strategically drawn picture and four lines and you have it. Truth right there on my paper. Something of which I can be certain.

This session was about the characteristics and importance of God’s prophets. What makes a prophet? What role do prophets play? Are prophets important today? Those were the questions addressed.

I was always under the impression that a prophet, or someone with the gift of prophesy was someone who could portray truth. Truth is only from God; therefore, prophets are only from God. I’m not sure where I heard that (probably in church I would assume), but I can’t seem to align that definition with any I find in an internet search. (My favorite: In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Prophets, also known as Wormhole Aliens, are non-corporeal beings who inhabit the artificially constructed Bajoran wormhole which connects a distant point in the Gamma Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant, near the planet of Bajor and the space station Deep Space Nine. From wikipedia.org.) If my definition were true, then I’d be a prophet for constructing a math proof in my notes. I think my definition might be a bit too broad.

Here are 7 characteristics of a true prophet according to Wednesday night’s session:

1. The Bible is the sole rule of faith.
2. Predictions are 100% true.
3. Fruits are Christ-like.
4. Goes into trance with eyes open.
5. No strength while in vision.
6. No breath while in vision.
7. While in vision God strengthens.

I was with this definition until number 4. Literally it came out of left field. It was said in the same manner in which 1-3 were said and with just as much conviction.
“Fruits are Christ-like. That’s important. Also, goes into trance with their eyes open. That’s important.”
“Wait, what? Trance?”
It turns out that characteristics 4-7 are characteristics exemplified individually by select prophets in the Bible. Not all of the prophets had all 7 of these characteristics, but all prophets had some.

It seems to me that characteristics 1-3 are important for all prophets and that characteristics 4-7 not so much. If a prophet only had characteristics, say, 4 and 5, I’d be skeptical of the truthfulness of their message. But I’m a skeptic.

This session continued the theme of the SDA church tooting its own horn. The speaker mentioned the SDA church was a church of prophecy since it understood prophecy, it taught prophecy, and had prophets in its midst. I was unclear what the Biblical basis for a church of prophecy was; I’m unsure it was ever given.

A Conclusion . . . To Some Extent.
However, my goal in this project was not to collect dirt by which I could bash the Church. That was already my natural inclination. No, I wanted to collect reasons for which to love the Church; love in the way I am commanded to. So, what is there to love here? I’ve been told I don’t belong to the true church, I’ve been told God wants me to have monies, and I’ve been told prophets experience trances. Not much to cling to there; at least not at the surface.

In this entire seminar, the goal has been stated many times: To teach us how to discover the Bible ourselves. One could argue the effectiveness that this seminar has on this goal, but nonetheless, it is a goal I agree with. It is a goal I think should be that of the Church. It is a goal in which I can love the Church for. I would rephrase the goal a little bit and say the Church should teach us how to discover God ourselves. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Not the Bible is the way and so on.

The Church wants to bring people to God; the Church wants to love its neighbor as itself. It just gets caught up in some extraneous things that are getting in the way. God said to love Him and we will obey His commandments; not to obey His commandments in order to love Him. If I had a wife that I loved (that’s not to say I have a wife and don’t love her, but rather that I don’t have a wife), giving her flowers, taking out the trash, and kissing her on the cheek wouldn’t cause me to love her. Rather, loving her would cause me to buy her flowers, take out the trash, and kiss her on the cheek. God is no different.

The sessions are coming closer to an end, so if you’d like to attend, let me know.