Alpha and Omega

John Harvey Kellogg was a physician, writer, and man of great personality and influence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He founded Kellogg foods after inventing corn flakes. He served as medical director of Battle Creek Sanitarium for years. Those were his noble deeds. His most ignoble deed, one that plucked the "good fruits" of his life, was to write the book, "Living Temple."
Pantheism was the basic premise of this book and Kellogg proposed that God was to be found in everything He created including man. Ellen White quickly realized that this book was poison and set about on a wearying task to "meet it" head-on. Many in the church were deluded by Kellogg, principally because the book contained a toxic mixture of truth and error.
Ellen White called this book and these experiences, "...the Alpha of apostasy..." and signaled that the Omega would be much more insidious and serious in nature; sweeping many into abandoning foundational doctrines of the church.
Having been aware of these polar apostasies for many years, I have been wondering whether or not the present firestorm over the teaching of what is called, natural evolution, may be the Omega rising up and shaking off the prophetic dusts of its metamorphosis.
Here is the issue: if evolution is the explanation of the existence of all living things, then there is no need for a Creator. If Creation as we understand it did not occur ,then the Sabbath, as a memorial of Creation, becomes irrelevant. If the Sabbath is irrelevant then there is no need for our Re Creation in Jesus Christ; (because keeping the Sabbath is a symbol of righteousness by faith [see Hebrews 4:10]), and if there is no Re Creation by the blood of Jesus Christ then there is no hope for man, and as says the Apostle Paul, "...we are of all men most miserable..." [1st Corinthians 15:19].
Rather than listen to whisperings [Romans chapter1] I contacted a member of the faculty of an Adventist college and it was confirmed to me that these sad tales are true...church, we have a problem. The distillate of this problem is that evolution, in the classic sense, is being promoted by some faculty and the church needs to do what Ellen White was called to do with the Kellogg problem and his pantheism; "Meet it."
But there is only one way that Christ condones that we do so; in a spirit that is firm but not mean; in a spirit of love and regard for the eternal destiny of those who teach and those who are taught. Contrary to man's thinking, we are not smarter than God. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways higher than our ways. Pray for the leaders of our church and of our institutions of higher education that teaching, thinking, and learning will find Jesus Christ as the Epicenter of all efforts.
Pray about these things. e.c.

But There IS, Sulphur

All Americans should be thrilled: Hugo Chavez, "The Mouth", (La Boca), The Thug of Venezuela...he likes us! Yesterday, at the UN, Chavez was singing...off key of course...of President Obama. Any political person or administration that is popular with international thugs and miscreants of all stripes, must be doing something wrong. Right?
Glad-handing, back-slapping, and rhetoric delivered with the velvet-smooth assistance of teleprompters, does not a president make. Frankly, I am awaiting the emergence something more mature and accountable to the people of the United States than a policy of being a "nice guy" to the world.
If it is up to my vote, this president will be a causality of just one term. But a lot of damage can be done in four years; damage to the national debt, to the elderly who are fully satisfied with their health plans, to school curricula (such as explicit conversations regarding homosexual behaviors)...I could go on but enough is enough.
Pray for deliverance from happy extremists who just happen to also be elected/appointed to posts of governing/advisors.
p.s. I am searching for volunteers to help host a retirement party for Speaker of The House (lingua en bucca).
e.c.

The Prayer of Jonah

"I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.
Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and your waves passed over me.
Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
I went down to the moorings of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.
Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy,
But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord." [Jonah 2:2-9]

God Bless your life today.
Let us pay Him what we have vowed...our hearts and minds. e.c.

The Garage Sale That Was, But Was Not

Yesterday we had a Garage sale in an attempt to get rid of stuff that has been accumulating for years. The signs went up and we prayed. And did God answer our prayers? In a mighty way; Yes. One young man showed up and stayed from about 9:30 through lunch (which he greatly enjoyed). I was so impressed with him; the way he thought, his knowledge of healthful living, the Bible, and what is truly important in life. The G-sale sort of got in the way of our conversation at times.
And then there was an older couple-but younger than us-with whom we witnessed about healthful living. He has had a stroke, two carotid endarterectomies (cleaning out the carotid arteries in the neck), cardiac bypass surgery, and back surgery. Jeane and I outlined the benefits of a plant-based diet-did I mention he was diabetic-and how this could decrease weight (which would help back pain anb hypertension), possibly allow him to decrease or discontinue diabetes meds, lower cholesterol, and aid in removing plaque deposits in his arteries. Jeane poured out her expertise as a vascular nurse, and we gave him and his wife a complete verbal outline of the diet and suggested he try it for just 28 days and evaluate the results after checking with his physician. Well, praise the Lord, he left here saying "I'm gonna do this!"
The G-sale? We made a few dollars and will put the stuff back that didn't sell, but in our hearts and minds it was an outstanding success for the Lord! What could be more important?
God Bless and praise His Name.
e.c.

Wheat-N'-Weeds

In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, Christ tells the story of the "Wheat and the Tares." He says that during the night after the farmer had planted the good seed (wheat), an enemy went into the field and sowed tares. As the seeds began to sprout the workers noticed that something wasn't right. They reported to the farmer and volunteered to pull up the tares. He said, "No; don't do that because you might also pull up some of the wheat." [paraphrased].
The farmer thought it better to let them grow together until the harvest; that is when the separating would be done.
Later in the chapter Christ explains [vs.36] the parable to the disciples because they didn't get it: "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age."[vs. 38,39].
Everybody knows about wheat and how it is used to illustrate one point in the story [parable]. But the bit about the tares is interesting: I looked up the Greek word used for "tares" and here is what I found; "Zizanion" is a kind of darnel that resembles wheat except that the seeds are black. Interesting!
Christ said the field is the "world" but I have to ask, could it also refer to the church? The lesson would be the same, don't you think? We ought not to try to pull up or root out anyone(s) in the church just because we think they might not be the "right kind of persons".
Not by gossip, not by criticism, not by innuendo, not by ignoring them, not by shunning them, not by any means or method. Because we do not know the heart of man as does the Lord. Here is what we are to do: "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples; if you have love one for another." [John 13:35].
...by the way, "darnel" is a cockle and..."...a weedy annual grass (Lolium temulentum) with very long awns on the glumes and seeds sometimes considered poisonous that often occurs in grainfields and other cultivated land -- called also cheat." [Courtesy of Mr. Webster].
Think about this today. Pray and plan to be wheat instead of cheat.
God bless. e.c.

Just Coincidence??

I am not a proponent nor a believer in numerology, but I do believe that the Word of God contains coherent number-related red-threads on certain topics. What do you think about this?

Elijah, the Old Testament prophet of God spoke to King Ahab and delivered the message that there would be no more rain because the king had led all Israel into the pagan worship of Baal (the god of the sun and weather). The drought was three and a half years (Luke 4:25 and I Kings 18:1). Question: In the Hebrew calendar, how many days are there in three 3 1/2 years? Answer: That would be 42 months of thirty-day months, and that comes to 1260 days. Interesting! So in Israel there was a literal drought and a literal famine and a famine for the word of God, as the crops failed and the food supply failed. Hmmm. Daniel prophesied that the little horn would rule for 1260 days (years) and during this time (a.d. 538-1798) there was drought and famine of the word of God because the Medieval Church forbade the reading of the Bible and suppressed, persecuted, tortured, and killed those who did. Coincidence? I don't think so.
How about this one? Revelation speaks of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (Revelation 16:13). That would be three; and these three make up the counterfeit, evil "three" that are opposed to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God (Jesus Christ) created the Sabbath as a memorial to creation and as a symbol of Righteousness by Faith (Genesis 2:1-3 and Hebrews 4:9 and 10). Under the direction of the dragon (Satan) the beast set up its own sabbath and re-wrote the law of God. God says that salvation comes only through the Christ (Acts 4:12). But the beast says that salvation only comes through his church. God says, ..."if we confess our sins He...will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness..." (I John 1:9). The beast claims the right of man, through a priest (alter Christus), who places himself as substitute for God, and is authorized to forgive sins. God said of the forbidden tree, "You shall not eat of it nor touch it, lest you die." (Genesis 3:3) "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.'" (Genesis 3:4) Now if a woman is the symbol of God's pure church, and if the serpent represents Satan, then, seeing as how the serpent gave power and authority to the beast (Revelation 13:4), the beast has declared (as did Satan in the garden) that men do not die, but their souls live on in heaven, hell, or purgatory. And so, spiritualism was created and man's true condition in death was obscured.
That is quite enough to digest in one day, and if we fully understand these things we know enough to tell the truth to our friends and neighbors about Jesus the Christ and His character.
God Bless. e.c.

The Way it Ought to be...

I was watching 3ABN and pastor Kenneth Cox was speaking during an evangelistic series. He told an intriguing story and made a serious and awesome point as to how people "ought" to be treated when they come to or through the doors of our church.
A couple came to Cox's meetings who were not members of any church. He arranged to visit them at their home. Shortly after his arrival they lamented, "Pastor Cox, we can't join the church!" and he asked, "Well why not?" "Because we smoke," they replied. Kenneth Cox answered [this is beautiful] "I didn't come here to ask you to stop smoking; I came here to ask you to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior."
In seeming shock they asked, "We can do that?" Cox answered, "Of course you can do that." Then they came back with another question that would, at first appearance, seem to put a lid on the whole issue; "Well, what about our smoking?" Cox's answer doesn't sound Adventist but it certainly sounds Christ-like: "If you want to smoke, then go ahead and smoke." They were stunned.
Cox went on to tell how whenever he saw them their attitude was completely changed. They were joyous and buoyant. But they would ask, "But what about our smoking?" and he would give them the same answer; "If you want to smoke, then go ahead and smoke." This happened several times over the course of the next few weeks and Cox always gave them the same answer. He made the point that he knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to the hearts of this couple, else, why would they keep raising the issue.
The story ended on this note: One more time they expressed their new-found joy in the Lord and finished with the question; "But what about our smoking." Cox gave the same answer but added something; "If you want to smoke, then go ahead and smoke; but if you want to quit then go ahead and quit." They quit.
I guess we church members (read, sinners) feel better about those who join our church if they come all cleaned up looking, talking, eating, and acting like third generation Adventists. Jesus didn't work that way during His ministry here on earth and neither should we. "Come unto Me all that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." [Matthew 11:28].
Think and labor after the manner of Jesus Christ!
God bless. e.c.

The Most Important Thing

What do you think? Is our salvation the most important thing? The answer might surprise you. Actually, the most important thing is that our lives, our service to God (good works) bring glory to God.
Moses realized this, because when the children of Israel were journeying from Egypt to the Promised Land, they were disobedient and rebellious. Moses might have easily become so tired of dealing with these "stiff-necked" people [Exodus 32: 7-14] that he would give up and give them over to their rebelliousness; but he did not.
Instead, he said to God: "Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book You have written." [vs. 30-32, Exodus chapter 32]. God did not destroy the Israelites that had sinned nor did He blot out Moses' name from the Book of Life. God did say: "Whoever has sinned against Me I will blot out of My book. Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and My angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin" 'And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.'" [vs. 33-35, Exodus chapter 32]
Conclusion: it is more important that our lives reflect the love and mercy of God and that He receive glory as the One who is our Creator and Redeemer.
Truly, it is more important to give than it is to receive [Acts 20:35]. It is more important that our life and testimony gives glory to God than it is that we receive eternal life. But God, in His mercy, grants us eternal life and writes our name in His Book of Life because we live to give Him glory.
Think on these things. e.c.
With thanks to M.V.