Responses to "Do we really want Jesus to return?"

There were two notable responses to "Do we really want Jesus to return?". One was an objection to what my original post implies and the other was a personal reflection.

Here is the objection:

This type of thinking drives me nuts, especially since I come from a tradition that has bought into it hook, line, and sinker. Absolutely, we must take the Gospel to all peoples in the world, but if our motivation in doing so is to somehow force Christ to return, we are missing the boat. Back before WWII, they thought that through working for social justice, they could create Heaven on earth and thereby force the Second Coming. Hence, all of the parachurch organizations that started in the late 1800's and early 1900's. They were wrong, and I truly believe that this new approach is wrong as well. Again, we must evangelize, but our motivation needs to be pure in doing so.

Here's my response to the objection:

It was never about forcing Jesus to come. And no where in my post was there the mentioning of creating a heaven on earth.

It is about Jesus waiting for us help complete the task of fulfilling the Great Commission.

The problem that I am pointing out is that a lot of Christians sit around speculating on date and time of Jesus' return and NOT participating in the Great Commission.

That's why I quoted from Acts 1:6-8. The disciples are all excited about finding out when Jesus would establish His kingdom. To which, Jesus reply "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority... be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth".

Jesus has already instructed them (in Matthew 24:14) that "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

So, Jesus was basically telling the disciples, stop wasting your time concerning yourself with when the end would come. It is not for you to know. Concern yourself with doing what you are called to do: fulfilling the condition that God had set. The end would not come until that condition is fulfilled.

This post is about yielding to Jesus' call and not just sit around and speculate on the date and time of His return.

Here is the response to my response to the objection:

You may not have explicitly stated it, but the implication is definitely there: "We can affect the time of Christ's return through our actions." I then mentioned the Social Gospel movement as an example of this type of thought. They were wrong then, and those who think that we can affect the date of Christ's return through mass evangelism are wrong now.

Absolutely we must reach out to those who have never heard, but there are many (not you, perhaps) who seem to think that the moment a group of people from the last unreached people group accepts Christ, He will return. This type of cause and effect thinking is rather dangerous, but it seems to be growing in prominence. This may not have been what you meant to say with your post, but the message is there. We must be very careful in how we think, say, and write. I applaud the message quoted above, and, if you had posted that message with that Scripture alone, there would have been no mixed signals.

My final response to the objection:

I stated that a condition must be met before Christ return. I did not state that meeting the condition would invoke Christ to return. To draw that conclusion would be an application of flawed logic.

e.g., There must be sufficient oxygen in the atmosphere before a fire can be started. It DOES NOT mean that as soon as there is sufficient oxygen in the atmosphere there would be fire.

It DOES mean that there WOULD NEVER BE fire as long as there is insufficient oxygen.

Like wise, Christ WOULD NOT return before there are believers among all the nations.

I'm simply urging the fulfillment of that precursor condition.

I believe that we agree on this issue. Our only disagreement is in how it is communicated. For some reason you believe that my statement imply that the fulfillment of that condition would force the return of Christ.


I wanted to post the response with the personal reflection because I believe there are many that share this sentiment. Here is the response:

Heck yeh I want Jesus to return to bring forth a new world without suffering, corruption, sin, rape, murder, etc.. put an end to the chaos.

However, I want to be ready When He comes back I do not to be in sin or struggling with the same strong hold sins.

I looking forward to the savior coming back.

I like the message and I do want to get involved.

Here's my response:

LOL! I hope He doesn't wait until you are not in sin and not struggling with sin before coming back. Then, He'd never come back because none of us would ever reach that state.

1 Corinthians 15:51-53
Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Luckily, we will all be changed (perfected) when He returns.

Yes, we are to pursue becoming more like Him. However, we do so by yielding to His call.

We sin because we lack the faith that He would provide for us and we grab whatever we think we need or want for ourselves.

It is by getting to know Him in which our faith is built up.

He does not need us to reach the world. He can do it Himself.

He invites us to participate in this activity with Him so that we would walk more closely with Him and get to know him.

Knowing Him more results in having faith in Him more.

Having faith in him more results in we not being as desperate and grabbing whatever we think we need or want for ourselves. Thus, we sin less.

Haven't you noticed that the ones, who throw themselves into following His call, mature much more quickly?

The cause and effect is: following His call yields maturity; not the other way around.

Actually, it's more like a chicken or egg cyclic process. Following His call yields greater maturity which yields more following His which yields greater maturity, etc.

However, the initial bootstrap step is following His call.

One can not obtain spiritual maturity on one's own; one can study on one's own to get a lot of head knowledge but that's not the same as spiritual maturity.

Why Is Homosexuality Wrong?

Someone posted the following in a Christian forum:

Here is a question and if you can answer it with a logical answer other than "because God says so in Leviticus", then I might agree. But why is homosexuality wrong? What makes it so wrong in the eyes of God? Why is it wrong? Why does God say it's wrong?

If you can answer that without saying,
"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." -Leviticus 18:22


Here's my answer:

Think of the universe as a masterpiece art created by God. Part of this masterpiece is the creation of a man and a woman (a husband and his wife). That relationship was created to represent God's (Jesus') relationship with the church.

Ephesians 5:25-27
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, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

You'll find that analogy in many other places in the Bible (Old and New Testament), starting with Genesis "Let us make man in our own image." to many of the Psalms to the "Solomon's Song of Songs"... etc.

For man to have homosexual relationships would be a rejection of God's purpose of using the husband/wife relationship as the image of God's relationship with His people.

Do we really want Jesus to return?

As I browse the Christian forums, I continually find discussions speculating on when the end will come.

God does not want us to know the times or date of Jesus' second coming. Jesus tells us the condition ("gospel must first be preached to all nations") and wants us to work towards that condition.

Acts 1:6-8
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But 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."

Mark 13:10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."


Why? Because in the end, there would be saved people from all nations in heaven:

Revelation 7:9-12
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

"Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

"Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"


In the bible verses, mentioned above, the word "nation" is translated from the Greek word "ethnos" (Strong's G1484) which means race or "people group". The Jews people today use the word "Gentiles".

The "people groups" or Gentiles are identified in Genesis 10 (The Table of Nations).

According U.S. Center for World Mission, the number of unreached "people groups" (those without a viable indigenous church) are dwindling. We are very close.

If we truly love Christ and want Him to return, we would all be putting most of our resources into making this condition happen, helping to bring the Gospel to the last of the unreached "people groups".

Dealing with A Painting of Jesus

Long ago, someone noted that I do not have a picture of Jesus on my wall and gave me a painting of Jesus. The reason that I didn't have a picture of Jesus is because no one knows what Jesus looked like so any picture of Jesus would be a misrepresentation of who Jesus is. However, not wanting to upset the donor of this painting, I accepted it and place in over my piano in my living room.

Recently, someone noticed that picture of Jesus over my piano in my living room and tried to persuade me that having a picture of Jesus was a violation of God's commandments. While I don't believe that it is a violation, I took it down for this person's sake. (The donor of this picture had since moved to California so it would not upset this person if the painting is no longer over my piano since this person would not be here to see it.)

I was going to let this topic drop and not bother to write about it in my blog, but the following post appeared in one of the Christian forums:

Isn't a painting of Jesus a 'graven image?'

Someone else posted this response:

According to 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 I would say no. This scripture says there is but one God but many have made gods that are in the heavens or earth. Our worship is given to God and Jesus. I'll take my chances with a painting of the One who died for me. I know what Exodus 20:4-6 says and it is complimentary of the 1 Corinthians scripture. Just my belief.

This is my response:

While I agree that having a picture of Jesus does not constitute the violation of the God's commandment (since it is referring to worshiping idols), one has to also consider how one's action can effect the spiritual health of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24
"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

Romans 14:19-21
Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

While these to verses refer to keeping kosher, it can also be applied to other ways in which we can cause others to stumble even though we are doing something that is permissible.

Let's assume that you hang an image of a Caucasian Jesus and it causes someone of African origin to subliminally categorize Christianity as an European religion, would you not be causing someone to stumble while doing something that is permissible?

Let us not just be legalists; let us conduct ourselves with love.

Response to "Are you being cheated by Best Buy and Dell?"

John, a reader of this blog, pointed out an error in my understanding of the Connecticut vs Best Buy law suit. He wrote the following:

On the Best Buy lawsuit, the point of the lawsuit had nothing to do with Best Buy having two prices. Take another look at the lawsuit link you included. The accusations are that Best Buy employees told people that they were looking at the Web site (with Web pricing) but they were actually showing them a look-alike intrastore site. If the employees showed customers the site and told them which they were seeing, there would have been no lawsuit.

What happened was consumers went into the store having seen a price on the Web site. Employees then tried to convince the consumer that they were mistaken and to convince them, showed them a screen that they said was the Web site. In reality, it was the intrastore site. At least that's the accusation.

That was the deception part. The "ripoff" part is that Best Buy has a price match policy that generally covers its Web site, so the scheme--if you accept the accusations--was an attempt to get out of giving the consumer the lower price.

Thank you, John, for reading my blog and thank you for making the clarification concerning the Connecticut vs Best Buy law suit.

I had only skimmed through the document and did not read the entire document in detail. Most of the 40 items in the document concerned the deception of how the in-store kiosk's web pages looked like the internet site's web pages but have different prices. I must have dozed off when I went past items 17 and 18.

Hmmm... This practice must be a Connecticut Best Buy thing. I've been shopping at Best Buy outlets all over the Washington/Baltimore area and never had any problem with their price matching policy whether it is trying to get the internet price during the time of purchase or returning with the merchandise and receipt after the purchase.

Are you being cheated by Best Buy and Dell?

Last week, there were two major news stories concerning the pricing of consumer electronics.

The first involves a law suit filed by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal against Best Buy. The law suit accuses Best Buy of denying deals found at the company's Web site, http://www.BestBuy.com. Blumenthal said store employees charged customers higher prices found on a look-alike internal Web site.

The second story involves Dell selling PCs loaded with the Linux operating system instead of MS Windows. Although Microsoft charges Dell (the OEM) approximately $100 for each copy of the low end version of MS Windows and Linux is a free (no cost) operating system, Dell is charging the same price for the same PC irregardless of whether the PC is loaded with MS Windows or Linux. Members of the Linux community are crying "foul" at Dell's pricing structure.

Are the consumers being cheated by these two merchants?


In the Best Buy case, I have to side with the merchant and say that Blumenthal doesn't understand the retail business.

For any item in a national chain store, there may be different prices for each area of the country due to the differences in the operational cost of the physical outlets and the demand for that particular product in each area (the reason why gasoline cost is different from region to region). The prices would also have to be competitive with other stores in that area.

The Web-based outlet has a different set of prices than that of a physical outlet in a particular region because it's operational cost and the demand for on-line ordered goods may be different than that of a physical outlet in any regional of the country. The prices at the Web-based outlet would also have to be competitive with the prices of other Web-based outlets.

The prices of the items on the in-store intranet of a physical outlet reflect the prices at that particular outlet. i.e., Each physical outlet has it's own set of prices on its intranet.

Thus, the prices of items in a physical outlet's intranet may be different that those in the company's web-based store.

The best way to shop at Best Buy, Circuit City, or any other nation wide chain with a Web-based outlet is to first check the price at the Web-based outlet and then call the local physical outlet to see which price is lower. If the latter, just go to the store and purchase the item. If the former, order the item on-line and specify in-store pickup at the local outlet.


In the Dell case, I also have to side with merchant.

Although the MS Windows operating system costs Dell about $100 per PC, Dell offsets that cost by installing trial software (what the industry call "crapware") on each MS Windows PC. Dell receives about $50 per PC from the vendors of the trial software. So, the software on the MS Windows PC (operating system and trial software) yield a net cost of $50 for Dell.

The software on the Linux PC costs nothing. However, a Linux PC is harder for the average user to manage (backup files, install printer drivers, etc.) than a MS Windows PC. So the cost of providing user support for a Linux PC is higher. Dell is assuming a cost difference of $50 between supporting a Linux PC user and a MS Windows PC user.

Thus, for Dell, there is no cost difference between the two PCs.

I suspect that the difference in the cost of supporting the two PCs will be greater than $50, but Dell is willing to eat the additional cost.

The best way to purchase a Linux PC from Dell is to purchase a MS Windows PC from Dell. Then, videotape yourself removing the MS Windows from that PC (reformat the hard disk) and replacing it with Linux (free from the internet). Send the video tape along with the MS Windows installation disk to Dell to request a refund on the uninstalled MS Windows operating system (about $100).

What is the criteria?

A couple of months ago, a young woman posted a question, in one of the Christian forums, about giving money to the homeless on the street. She expressed several concerns:

She wants to make sure that her money would actually help individuals that truly need it. She also wants to make sure that these individuals are not going to use it for drugs or alcohol, etc. And she wants to make sure that giving to the homeless would not be a disincentive for getting work and becoming productive members of society.

This post quickly received quite a few responses. They ranged from the practical to the bizarre.

I, too, was eager to post a response. After all, I did move from the suburb into the heart of Baltimore to be involved with a couple of inner city ministries and have quite a bit of experience working with the homeless.

However, I stopped myself before I posted. While my suggestions were very practical, I wondered if they were truly godly responses.

As I reviewed my suggestions, it became apparent that they came from my own experience of what "worked" and what didn't "work". Like the other posts, in response to this young woman's questions, my suggestions were not based on any biblical principle.

However, I was unable to find any biblical verse to guide us on how we are to give alms effectively. One can argue that the bible teaches us to give alms through the Church. However, the story of the "good Samaritan" [Luke 10:25-37] teaches us that we are to also provide directly to the needy individual.

It became apparent that this issue requires the application of a broader biblical principle.

What is the criteria?

During the past couple of months, I asked this broader question when I encountered two major medical events. I was diagnosed with diminished kidney function. Shortly after that, I tore ligaments on my upper arm and shoulder. (See my blog entries for March 5, 2007 and May 5, 2007.) These two events resulted in me spending quite a bit of time in the hospital. Which means I spent quite a bit of time waiting. As I sat waiting to be seen by one specialist or another, my mind wandered through my life revisiting the places where I've travel because the Lord called, remembering the people of that I met through my travels, and re-evaluating the project on which I've worked.

The same question comes up: Did I make that big of a difference? My time, my energy, my money that I pour into these project: did the results justified the investment?

If I were to evaluate them the same as I would the projects that I do on my paying job, the honest answer would be no.

Several weeks ago, as I drove through my neighborhood in Baltimore, I passed a very old woman in very tight jeans thumbing for a "John". I laughed, thinking, "She has to be the oldest prostitute that I've ever seen. If she gets a customer, those two people would be the most desperate people in Baltimore!"

A new thought occurred to me. I moved into Baltimore to be involved with several inner-city ministries, hoping to make a difference in the city. My neighborhood has not changed much in all the years that I've been living here. Did I just wasted a large chunk of my life?

The answer came to me a couple of weeks ago as I was having lunch with my friend Anne. Anne is on staff with a college ministry. She is transferring to a position in Rome, Italy. Before leaving the States, she is raising support for her ministry. During our lunch, she related an experience she had while meeting with an elderly couple from whom she had hoped to receive financial support.

This couple asked Anne, how many people she had lead to Christ in the last couple of months. Then, they asked her, how many people she had lead to Christ in her life.

My first thought, upon hearing this story, was "What kind of question is that to ask?" Are they implying that we can judge the validity of one's ministry by how many people were led to Christ?

Didn't Jesus say:

"Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true." [John 4:36-37]

How is a sowing ministry to be judge using this couple's criteria? Is a sowing ministry any less effective a ministry than one that reaps?

The effectiveness of a ministry can not and must not be evaluated by the measure of immediate results. It is only after the return of Christ are we able to see the entire picture and see the part our actions play in God's masterpiece.

This principle applies to ministries and this principle applies to the giving of alms.

What, then, is the criteria?

In John 14:15-17, Jesus said:

"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

The criteria has to be and only be that we are obedient to what He commands; and He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, to guide us to what He wants us to do.

What, He wants us to do, may be to sow seeds that would not be reaped for years. The seeds may be misused by the recipient before it is made to good use by Him. We can not be the arbitor of whether these actions are effective or not; we do not have a full visibility to God's plan.

All, that we can do, is to listen for what the Holy Spirit calls us to do and to be obedient. That is the only criteria.

My answer to the young lady who posted the original question:

Don't waste your energy trying to evaluating the effectiveness of your giving; concentrate your effort on listening for His call and being obedient with the trust that what He calls you to do is part of His bigger plan to redeem the lost.

Pete Townsend (of The Who) will write your theme song

OK, it's not really Pete Townsend; it's a software on his web site:

http://www.lifehouse-method.com

Actually, it'll write up to three (3) theme songs for you.

(You'll need a microphone on your computer.)

I tried it and it's pretty cool. So, give it a try.

I tore ligaments on my upper arm and shoulder

Last week, I tore ligaments on my upper arm and shoulder while transferring my mom from her wheelchair to her bed. It hurt as badly as the time when my humerus was broken during a football (soccer) match.

Spent most of this past week meditating on

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

After spending nights and days asking the Lord, "Why? What are you trying to teach me with this injury?", and listening to His spirit speak through his Words, it became apparent what He desired for me.

Because He has blessed me with many strengths, I had become more and more reliant on those strengths and less and less on His. Because of my confidence in my strengths, I ask what can I do for the Lord and not what is He calling me to do. As I do so, my walk has become more and more a walk by myself and not a walk with Him.

A Personal Note

Some of you may have noticed that I have not been blogging at all in the past several weeks. In fact, I've been logging onto MySpace very rarely.

For those of you who are wandering what happened, I've been very ill and very tired. So, I've been doing just the basic essentials, i.e., haven't spent much time on the internet.

My doctor discovered that I have diminished kidney function. They've been doing all kinds of tests to see what the problem is but they still haven't figured it out.

Evidently, drinking a lot of water helps; so I'm pretty confident that when they find whatever is wrong, it would be something minor.

However, an event like this causes one to take stock of his life. Having accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I'm confident of where I'm headed; however, I do wonder if He would say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." when I meet Him on the other side of eternity.

Have I been faithful in seeking out what He had called me to do? Have I always been obedient to His call. What are my priorities? Do my own selfish desires come first or does His call come first?

The Race Issue and the Church

A couple of weeks ago, in one of the Christian discussion groups, a young woman of African descent, asked, "Why am I the only Black person here!"

Most of the responses to the post were along the line of "The race post need to stop; we should be moving in a way that puts racial issues behind us and start living like we are all God's children."

While I agree with the statement that we should "start living like we are all God's children", the issue is a bit more complex than that.

In his 25 April 1957 address at the Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations in Nashville, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, "It is appalling, indeed, that 11 O'clock on Sunday morning, when we stand to sing "In Christ there is no East nor West", is the most segregated hour in Christian America."

Fifty years later, his statement is just as valid today as it was when he made the statement.

In case there is any doubt that achieving desegregation within the Body of Christ is a necessity, consider the following.

In John 13:34-35, Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Can we truly say that we love one another, if we are not even able to come together to worship and pray?

Unity is the result of love. If we do not have unity, we do not have love for one another. If we do not have love for one another, we are disobedient to Jesus' command which would allow the world to know that we are His disciples.

I have no doubt that the average American Christian whole heartedly embraces the concept that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ united under the lordship of Jesus the Christ. However, the reality of the Church today is that she is a house divided.

After fifty years of "renewing our minds" and not achieving true unity within the Body of Christ, I think we can safely say that simply having the mindset of "we are all brothers and sisters in Christ" is not getting us there.

We need to dig a little bit deeper and examine why there is this disconnect between our mindset and the current state of the American Church and determine how best to bridge this gap.

Allow me to present three major obstacles. First, there is a physiological obstacle associated with the amygdala part of the human brain. Second, there is a psychological obstacle associated with the Gestalt Effect. And third, there is a social obstacle associated with segregated communities.

• The Physiological Obstacle
  
  In research published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurology, "Neurobiology of fear responses: The role of the amygdala" (1997), M. Davis (Yale University) found that the electrical stimulation of the amygdala part of the brain elicits a pattern of behaviors that mimic natural or conditioned fear.
  
  Later, in research published in Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, "Performance on Indirect Measures of Race
  Evaluation Predicts Amygdala Activation" (2000), Elizabeth A. Phelps (New York University), Kevin J. O'Connor
  (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), William A. Cunningham, E. Sumie Funayama, J. Christopher Gatenby, John C. Gore, and Mahzarin R. Banaji (Yale University) extended M. Davis' research on amygdala activities to racial prejudice.
  
  Using a fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure amygdala activity, subjects are exposed to pictures of unfamiliar black and white male faces with neutral expressions.
  
  During the imaging session, each subject participated in three additional behavioral tasks: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a startle response and a survey.
  
  The IAT measures the automatic association of positive and negative qualities to black and white social groups. The measure is based on time to respond to pairings of black+good/white+bad versus the opposite.
  
  These same subjects were also assessed with the Modern Racism Scale, a survey that measures consciously expressed attitudes toward race.
  
  The researchers found that the strength of the amygdala activity during the startle response test was related to unconscious social evaluation. That is, the stronger the activation in the amygdala, the stronger the bias on the test of association between race and positive or negative evaluation and the degree to which subjects startled in the presence of black vs. white faces. These are two behavioral measures that are not under an individual's direct conscious control.
  
  In contrast to these correlations, there was no relation between amygdala activation and conscious racial attitude as assessed with the Modern Racism Scale.
  
  i.e., While we may express no racial bias in our conscious response, our brains are hardwired in the amygdala to fear unfamiliar people of a different race.


• The Psychological Obstacle

The Gestalt Effect was first introduced by Christian von Ehrenfels. It describes our brain's automatic interpolation/extrapolation response. When we are presented a picture with missing pieces, we automatically fill in, where the missing pieces should be, what we expect to be there. e.g., If a subject were presented with the series of numbers: "0, 1, 2, 3...", most often the subject would automatically continue the series with "4, 5, 6..." using the scenario that he/she is most often exposed (in this case, the series of incrementing integers). Most often, other series (e.g., a series of prime number: 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11...") are never used.

This process can be applied to racial bias. If the subject is constantly exposed to news items reporting young black males committing violent crimes and has little exposure to news items reporting young black males with favorable behavior, when the subject is exposed to an unfamiliar young black male, the subject would most likely extrapolate the character of the unfamiliar young black male using the scenario that he/she is most familiar: young black male committing violent crimes.

Having been involved with numerous inter-church activities, I found that the Gestalt Effect plays a significant role in the relationship between predominantly Caucasian Churches and predominately African-American Churches.

Often when a predominantly Caucasian Church was approached about participating in an inter-church activity involving predominately African-American Churches, their response would exhibit the assumption that resources would flow from the predominantly Caucasian Churches to the African-American Churches with little flowing in the other direction.

Likewise, often when a predominantly African-American Church was approached about participating in an inter-church activity involving predominately Caucasian Churches, their response would exhibit the assumption that the predominantly Caucasian Church would only be interested in a temporary relationship in which the predominately Caucasian Churches would behave paternalistically.

These expectations persisted even when they were assured that all churches would be equal partners. e.g., A city-wide worship and celebration program in which the facility and equipment are provided by a third party.


• The Social Obstacle

The racially divided church is merely a reflection of the racially divided society. Irregardless of social-economic station in life, most Caucasian Americans have mostly Caucasian friends and most African-Americans have mostly African-American friends. This voluntary segregation propagates to form separate culturally distinct societies with divergent perspectives.


e.g., I attend Sunday morning worship at a predominately Caucasian evangelical church in the northern suburb of Baltimore. I moved into the city to be closer to the inner-city ministries where I volunteered. When I ask my Caucasian friends, from the church where I attend worship service, "What is family value?", their response would mostly concern issues associated with preserving the structure of the nuclear family (husband, wife and their children). When I ask my African-American neighbors, in the city, "What is family value?", their response mostly concern issues associated with the extended family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins as well as the immediate family) pulling together when any part of the extended family is going through a crisis or pulling together to support a member of the extended family who is excelling beyond what other members have been able to achieve.

The differences in perspectives would often drive differences in priorities. We can clearly see it illustrated in the different ways each part of the church participated in American politics.

If we are to overcome these obstacles to achieve unity in the Body of Christ, we can not take the passive approach in which we wait around for the other guy to come to our church so that we can live "like we are all God's children".

Overcoming these obstacles requires pro-active actions in which we, voluntarily, cross the racial boundary and purposely develop inter-racial relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In the Race Evaluation/Amygdala Activation study, mentioned above, there was an additional finding. When the subjects were given a piece of neutral information about the person whose face was presented (e.g., This person likes spinach.) , amygdala activity was dramatically diminished. It took just one insignificant neutral piece of knowlege to calm the hard-wired subconscious fear of unfamiliar individuals of the other race.

Obviously, overcoming the Gestalt Effect and understanding the perspectives of the other side would require a little more effort. However, the key to overcoming all three obsticles are the same: getting to know each other as individuals one on one. That's the ministry Jesus modeled for us; Jesus' was a ministry of one on one encounters.

Perhaps, we can all take one Sunday out of the month to worship in a church that is predominately of a different race than ours and get to know the person to whom we sit next in the pew. This simple action alone would be a major step forward towards racial reconciliation within the Body of Christ.

Can't Out Give God

Something cool happend to me.

Every day, I drive pass the intersection of North Avenue and Mt. Royal Avenue. On this intersection, an elderly man is always there selling flowers. He would have a bucket of flowers on one corner of the intersection but he'd be walking from one corner to the other trying to sell flowers to the drivers who are waiting for the light to change.

I rarely see people buy flowers from him so I am always feeling bad for him.

During rush hour, while I was waiting for the light to change at that intersection, I watched, with disbelief, as an event unfolded. While the elderly man was on a different corner of the intersection than the corner where his bucket of flowers is, a teenager grabbed the bucket of flowers and took off. The elderly man tried to catch him but the kid was too fast.

Now, I really feel bad for the elderly man.

So, the next day, I decided to buy some flowers from him. He was selling a dozen roses for $3 but I handed him a $20 bill and told him to keep the change. Boy, did his face light up.

Since I didn't want to deal with wet flowers in my car, I told him to give the flowers to the woman in the car behind me. When the woman received the flowers, she was so excited that she stuck her torso out the window of her car and waved the flowers wildly at the driver behind her (evidently some one that she knows and was following her) and screaming something to her. Then, the driver behind her became excited, too.

Boy, that made my day! Can't out give God.

Preparing to Be a Husband

I had a conversation, with several single young Christian men, which started with one of the young men lamenting that he's in his late 20's and still single. The other guys chimed in, each asking in their own way, why hadn't the Lord allow him to find someone to marry, yet?

They were stunned when I said, "I know."

I explained that there's only two possible reasons that they are single.

The first is that God had called them to live a life of singleness.

The second is that they are not ready to be husbands.

And the way to determine if they are called to a life of singleness is by the following verses:

1 Corinthians 7:8-9
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

If you burn with passion then you don't have the gift of singleness.

With that, all the guys agreed that they do not have the gift of singleness.

So I said, "Then the answer, to why you are not married, is that you are not ready to be a husband."

Of course, they all contested my assertion that they are not ready to be husbands.

So I asked, "Do you know how to love your wife?"

Before they answered, I quickly asked, "Do you know the definition of the word 'love'"?

Just as one of the guys started to open his mouth to answer, I added, "Love is a verb"

A verb is an action word. You do something when you love.

In fact, it is a transitive verb. i.e., The subject of the sentence does something to the object of the predicate when the subject of the sentence loves the object of the predicate.

If Jack loves Jill, what does Jack do to Jill?

Then I cited the following verse:

Ephesians 5:25-27
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, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Here we are not just talking about the husband having warm and fuzzy feelings for his wife.

What does love mean in this context?

Silence.

Let's look at all the famous love verses in the Bible.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

These are all examples of love. What do they have in common? What are these all example of?

Suddenly, the light bulb turned on for one of the guys, "Sacrifice! The verses are all about the sacrifice of one's own interest."

Love is putting what's best for the other ahead of what is best for oneself.

So I asked, "So, are you ready to put what is best for your wife ahead of what's best for you?"

They all nodded, "Sure, I'm ready to die for my wife if I have to."

Really? Let's say that your wife has a church event at the same time as the Super Bowl so that she would not be able to take your child to the soccer game that is at the same time. Are you ready to sacrifice your need to watch the Super Bowl and take your child to the soccer game in your wife's stead?

One of the guys laughed and said, "I'll just bring my portable TV with me to the soccer game."

The other guys laughed in agreement.

I shot back, "Would you really be loving your child if your attention is not fully on the soccer game?"

Would you be putting what's best for your child ahead of what's best for you, if your attention is divided between the soccer game and the Super Bowl?

The laughing immediately stopped.

I think we can safely say that you guys are not really ready to truly love your wife and children as the Bible describes.

But let's say that you are, so that we can go on to the next criteria.

What are you doing for the Lord?

One of the guys asked, "What does that have anything to do with being prepared to be a husband?"

I answered with another question, "Why did God give Adam a wife?"

And then I cited the following verse from Genesis.

Genesis 2:18
The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

God gave Adam a wife to be his helper.

So if you are doing nothing for the Lord and you ask Him for a wife, it would be like saying:

Lord, I'm doing nothing, would you give me a helper to help me do... NOTHING.

BTW, the "helper" role is not a less important player. The Hebrew word for help(er), in Genesis 2:18, is ezer. It's where we get the name Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:12). Eben means stone and ezer means help. Ebenezer is the stone erected by Samuel to commemorate God's help. Do we say that God is a less important player in our lives since He is a helper? Of course not!

One final criteria to consider.

Are you ready to be a spiritual leader?

Ephesians 5:23
For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

Do you know what is the original sin?

One of the guys answered, "It's being disobedient and eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But what does that have anything to do with anything?"

So, I asked, "Who ate first?"

He answered, "Eve"

Then, I cited the following verse:

Romans 5:12-15
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

And I asked, "Yes, but who brought sin into the world? Adam or Eve?"

Silence.

The original sin was Adam's failure to display spiritual leadership and stop Eve from eating from the forbidden tree.

Are you prepared to be a husband?

Are you prepared to love your wife as the Bible described?
Are you currently serving the Lord and need help doing so?
Are you prepared to be a spiritual leader?

Are you prepared to be a husband?

p.s., One of the guys, the joker, asked, "Well, how do you know that it's us being unprepared to be husbands and not the women being unprepared to be wives?"

Brainwashed by the Church Discussion Continues

The person, who wrote the discussion forum post that asserted that Christians become Christians through environments that are orchestrated to entrap non-believers' mind and keep them in the faith through isolation from the secular world, is at it again. He posted the following:

PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE CAUSED BY CHRISTIANITY

Guilt and Regret

Guilt and regret are probably the two most debilitating emotions a human being can experience. Since guilt and regret are so powerful, they are at the core of the efforts to ensnare and control the Christian. Since these two emotions are used as a brainwashing and conversion tools and could easily be discussed in the brainwashing techniques chapter of the manifesto, but it is more suitable to discuss them now because of the long-term psychological damage both can create.

Guilt and regret are feelings that everyone has experienced at least at one point in their life. Usually individuals who are diagnosed with or are going through a period of depression experience feelings of guilt or regret, and in many cases, periods of extreme depression are caused by these two emotions. Since guilt, regret and depression coincide with each other so often, many people consciously or unconsciously link them together. It is not uncommon for one to reflect on a horrible period in their life and remember strong feelings of guilt and/or being regretful about something.

Christian leaders know the powerful, negative impact guilt and regret can have on an individual and have become very tactical in the use of these emotions. Christian leaders use a cycle of reminding believers of the things or events in their life that they should feel guilty about and then afterwards reminding them that only Jesus can save them from their guilt (sins) and regrets. It is a cruel game they play with your emotions.

They way Christian leaders toy with your motions can be compared to a doctor who purposely makes you ill and then later on gives you the medicine needed to cure your illness, and then repeats the process over again and again and again. Disturbing analogy, but that is exactly the psychological method that used to keep you coming back to and dependent on church.
What the Christian leader uses to make you feel guilty is the brainiest part of the psychological war he wages on the believer.

The Christian leader makes you feel guilty about fulfilling your natural human desires, the desires that all human beings possess and have little control over. You are made to feel guilty about having sex, thinking about sex, masturbating, putting your needs above others and God, desiring or thinking about something more than you desire or think about God, enjoying music that is not focused on God, dancing, drinking alcohol and socializing with nonbelievers.

By labeling natural desires as sins, there is no escape from continuingly sinning and perpetually being in a state of guilt, which is the goal. This is the goal because if you are always sinning or feeling guilty, you will always need to go to church and repent.

To make matters worse, the Christian leader will try to convince you that it is possible to change your "sinning" nature by getting closer to God. So logically, if getting closer to God and prevent one from sinning, the individual who can't seem to get him or herself to stop sinning will think they are not close enough to God. Once you develop this train of thought they really have got you!

A Christian who wants to get closer to God will search for ways to do so. He or she will pray more often and for longer periods of time, read the bible more often, attend and volunteer in church more frequently, evangelize more, and search for other ways to please God. They will continue to try to get closer to God until their whole life is consumed.

When a Christian's life becomes consumed trying to get closer to God with the hope of escaping from the guilt and sin, the real psychological damage begins because they will always find themselves sinning and therefore never feel close enough. At this point either one of two things generally happens.

The first thing that can happen is that the believer realizes that he or she is doing everything they can to live for God but they still can't stop sinning. This realization causes extreme guilt and depression to take hold of the Christian. The person begins to think something is seriously wrong with them. That individual will see the leaders of the church and other Christians acting as if they have somehow escaped their human nature, and it makes the guilty Christian's self esteem hit rock bottom. This individual my even begin to hate and not trust him or herself because they can't seem to get it together like everyone else in church. The psychological damage caused by the game Christian leaders play may take years of therapy to heal.

The second thing that can happen to a guilt ridden Christian is far worse than the first. Some Christians will be able to suppress their emotions and desires to sin to the point that they become people devoid of emotion and desires. They become walking zombies robbed of the feelings that make them human. This is an incredibly unnatural and dangerous condition for any human being to exist in and can cause extreme psychological damage. It is almost impossible for human being suppresses desires, especially sexual desires, in this manner for any length of time without needed some type of release to avoid insanity. This release can take the form of binging on sex, food, drugs or some other object, or the individual might explode in anger, rage or violence. It is no coincidence that quite a number of serial killers and rapist were raised in very religious or strict homes. The suppression of the natural desires caused a psychological imbalance that caused them to release their emotions in the form of anger.


Inability to Make Decisions

Christian leaders often encourage Christians to "wait on God" before making any major decisions. "Waiting on God," means to pray to God for help in making an important decision and then to wait for His answer. The result of this practice is the development of a stagnant human being that is incapable of or has great difficulty making decisions on his or her own. The practice of waiting for God for help in making decisions has long term implications for the Christian, even if he or she decides later on not to follow the religion.

One problem that arises when someone relies on God to help them is that that person has no way of knowing when or if God has given them an answer. Does the answer come in the form of a warm feeling inside one's heart? Does it come from some type of sign? Does God actually speak to the individual in search of an answer?

The indecisive Christian who is in search of some supernatural guidance will often wait and wait for some sign that will help them make a good decision. Since the human mind is very good at tricking itself into believing things are there when they actually aren't, especially if we want them badly enough, usually the Christian will get the sign he or she was looking for. For those who don't have a great ability to trick their own mind, they may spend a very long time waiting for an answer and may never make a decision at all.

Whether or not the Christian receives an answer to his or her prayer for guidance or not, the message to the Christian is very clear, "YOU CAN NOT MAKE A DECISION ON YOUR OWN!" Making a decision without praying to God first and assuring it's a decision He wants for your life is dangerous!

For the individual who does not rely on a higher power to make decisions, it is accepted that some decisions that one makes will end up with good results and others won't. This is an accepted risk and part of any decision making process that most mature human beings learn to cope with. Many people who can't come to terms with this reality, or have suffered from the results of a poor decision they made in the past, may want to live a life where God makes decisions for them instead of relying on their own judgments.

For the Christian who relies on God to guide their decisions, the decisions that end up with negative results can be disturbing and confusing. They may wonder, "how could a decision guided by God end with a negative result?" The Christian who had his divine guidance go wrong will typically come up with one of the following explanations for what went wrong: He made a mistake by thinking that God answered his prayer or he may think he was guided by God but more prayer and devotion was needed afterward.

The devout Christian who trusts in God's wisdom will not blame God for the negative consequences of a decision. Instead, the blame goes wholly on the Christian who is faced with the task of figuring out what went wrong. Since it is the Christian's fault, he or she will conclude that they have to do something differently the next time they have a decision to make. That Christian may decide to pray more, attempt to get closer to God, wait longer for an answer or live a life where the individual makes no decisions at all and just lets God to lead them throughout life like the wind leads a leaf through the air. The last approach leads to complete stagnation and lifelessness, which is sadly a state many Christian are in today.

By encouraging Christians to wait on God to make decisions, Christians become exactly what those in power want them to be, individuals who are afraid and incapable of making decisions independently.

Here's my response.

The writer of the post showed a complete ignorance of Christian doctrine.

1. All believers are relieved of guilt because all their sins (past, present, and future) are forgiven.
   


2. Because the believer knows that his/her future sin are forgiven, he/she is freed from the anguish of making a bad decision because any bad decision would be forgiven.


3. Christians will face trials irregardless of whether he/she makes good or bad decision

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

So a true Christian would not be paralyzed by a decision due to the fear of the bad stuff of life that can result from the decision; bad stuff will come irregardless of whether the decision is a good or bad one.


4. Listening for the guidance of the Lord does not mean abandoning our responsibility to make decisions. When the President of the United States commissions a working group to study an issue and waits for their report, is he discarding his responsibility to make the final decision. Of course not, he is merely soliciting for advice.

Brainwashed by the Church?

Recently, I encountered a post in one of the Christian forums that infuriated me so much that my first reaction was to lash out at the person who posted it and point out how stupid he is. But I decided to take a breath before I post a response.

The post asserted that Christians become Christians through environments that are orchestrated to entrap non-believers' mind and keep them in the faith through isolation from the secular world. Here is the contents of the post:

BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUES

The Use of Fear to Convert and Trap

Many psychologist and other social scientists state that the mind is most susceptible to brainwashing during or after it has experienced shock, trauma or an intense state of fear. Knowing this fact, Christian leaders use fear during the process of brainwashing in order to convert or retain Christians within the religion.

Anyone who has been to a revival meeting can tell you how terrifying of an experience it can be, especially during the beginning phases of the preaching. Revivalist preachers usually begin their sermon giving the listening audience horrifying descriptions of hell, the devil and Armageddon. They will tell the audience stories about people who heard the gospel, decided to wait for a later time to accept Christ as their savior and then unexpectedly died shortly after hearing the good news and are now spending an eternity in hell. Preachers will tell tales of demon possessions, disturbing visions of the future and rule of the Antichrist. They will tell you anything to put you into a state of fear.

Preachers who use fear know that when the mind enters an intense state of fear, it will naturally seek relief or rescue from the state. Being in a constant state of fear is too much for the mind to handle, so it will naturally look for a way out of the state. The preacher that created the state of fear knows this and he will cleverly provide your mind with the escape it desires.
After about an hour of "fire and brimstone preaching" and filling the audience with fear, the preacher will switch gears and start preaching about the love of God and how God sent Jesus to rescue the world from sin and hell. By switching gears like this, the preacher is giving your mind, which overwhelmed with fear what it needs, an escape. The mind needs some relief from fear and it certainly doesn't want to go home like this, so it tells you to accept relief the preacher is offering you. When you accept Christ out of fear, the preacher's job is complete because he has set you up to live through a horrible pattern that keeps you coming back to him whenever fear takes over you. Whenever you return to church in a state of fear, you will be susceptible for further manipulation and brainwashing.

It is important to realize that if the preacher doesn't scare the audience with threats of an eternity in hell; few people in the audience would actually convert. And even if they do convert, they are less likely to come back for more preaching. If the preacher just told the audience about the love of God and never mentioned the alternative to going to heaven, hell, many people would put off following God until later in life. This is unacceptable to the preacher who wants control of believer now.


Isolation: Creating the "Christian against the World" Mentality

It is not long after the conversion of a new Christian that an important concept is impressed upon him or her. That concept is, "You are physically in this world but you are not of it." (John 16:17 NIV, Bible Gateway, 2006) The Christian is taught that the world is the enemy of Christ and his church because Satan influences it. Anyone who has not accepted Jesus into his or her heart is controlled by sin and is therefore dangerous to be around. The Christian is taught that, "Anyone who is not for Christ is against Him." Learning and accepting these extreme views are another step in the brainwashing process, which is isolation.

Isolation and convincing an individual that everyone, except the group he is being indoctrinated into, is against him is a well know brainwashing technique. Any knowledgeable social scientist will tell you that isolation is probably the most important step in the brainwashing process. Like most of the conversion techniques Christian leaders use, many brainwashers throughout history and today have used the isolation technique. Isolation was used to convert prisoners of war to Communism in concentration camps in China, by Hitler to persuade the Germans to go to war and commit inhumane acts and by almost every cult in existence.

Overtime, the new Christian victim is taught that they are only truly safe from the seduction of the devil within the church or among other Christians. New converts are also taught that God gave them a new mind when they accepted Jesus as their savior and that nonbelievers will have trouble understanding them because of that. Therefore, new converts should not be surprised if family and friends rejects their newfound faith because their mind is still controlled by the wisdom of the world and not God. Telling a new Christian this makes them highly sensitive to anyone who questions or criticizes their new belief, even if it is a valid criticism.

These concepts and methods are designed to increase the separation between the new convert and non-believing friends and family. The goal is for the current relationships that new Christian has with non-believing friends and family to be eventually replaced by members in the church who will slowly become their new "family in the Lord."

Isolating Christians from non-Christians is a method that is used to gain influence over new converts by eliminating the competition for their mind. By separating the convert from their family and friends there is little chance that someone will have the opportunity to be the voice of reason in their life to sway them away from Christianity.

The isolation of the Christian is further achieved by labeling common activities and conversations that nonbelievers take part in as sins. It is a sin for the Christian to enjoy non-Christian or secular music, go out for a night of drinks and dancing, talk about sex, and tell dirty jokes and to watch R rated movies. Labeling such trivial and common activities as sin makes spending time with nonbelievers complicated and awkward for the Christian. Overtime it becomes more convenient for the Christian to socialize exclusively other Christians who share the same values.

The Idle Mind is the Manipulators Workshop

"The idle mind is the Devil's workshop" is a popular phrase quoted by Christians. The notion behind this statement is that if one does not keep busy, the Devil will have an opportunity to tempt that person to sin or to stray away from God.

Christians are encouraged to avoid having an idle mind by keeping themselves busy with work, attending church, reading the bible, praying and worshipping God and doing Godly works by volunteering in church.

Preventing one's mind from being idle is actually another brainwashing technique. The reason why keeping a new convert busy is a brainwashing technique is because the mind is never actually idle. A healthy mind when not occupied with work or otherwise distracted is constantly thinking, reflecting and questioning. What the Christian leader is trying to avoid by keeping his congregation busy is allowing the believer to have the opportunity to think and question what they are being taught and programmed to believe by their church leaders.

Anyone who attends a new believer or new convert class will pick up on the effort to keep new Christian busy with things related to Christianity. New converts are strongly encouraged to attend church several times a week, spend hours studying the bible and to attend church functions. This is all done as part of an effort to overload mind the new believer with as much Christian propaganda and doctrine as possible while at the same time keeping them away from any information that questions Christianity.

The Small Details of Brainwashing

Along with the tools already mentioned in this manifesto there are many other brainwashing techniques that are used by Christian leaders. All of the techniques are too numerous to mention some of the most noticeable ones are: Creating a hypnotic environment with walls painting in soft and relaxing colors, using dim lighting and playing repetitive music; Tiring the mind and body by having hard wood seats in churches, giving extremely long sermons and suggesting that believers fast; and creating feelings of excitement by changing the tones and pace of the voice of the preacher. All of the above techniques are used for varying reasons but are all brainwashing and hypnotic techniques that can be researched and have been used for many years.

Here is my response:

I am a Christian and has never attended a revival nor was I ever isolated from the secular world by the Church (much less give the Church opportunity to "brainwash" me).

As a child and as a young man, I had viewed Christianity with distain, as a religion for the weak minded who need a mental crutch to prop up their guilt. I embraced the secular world and enjoyed what it offered.

It was not until my junior year in college when I accepted Jesus the Christ as my Lord and Savior. It was not due to someone convincing me of the Gospel (I would have scoffed at that). I accepted because, one night, when I was by myself, I had a personal encounter with the Creator and Lord of the universe.

OK, I didn't accepted Him as my Lord right away. I thought it would be nice to have an insurance policy against going to hell (if it actually existed), not to mention having its premium completely paid by the Almighty Creator (if it is indeed Him that is calling), but I was not willing to submit myself to the will of anyone else (including the Almighty Creator). My desire was to hold on to the treasures and pleasures of this world. And frankly speaking, I did not have any remorse for anything that I did in my young life. (After all, I didn't commit murder, sleep with someone else's wife, or rob a bank.)

But, He continued to call me, night after night. And each day, He made the treasures and pleasures of the world less enticing. The sexy hot girls no longer looked sexy and hot but sleazy and revolting. The thrills of college night life was no longer thrilling but mindless and boring (not to mention the headache inducing monotonic beat of the dance music). Each night, the serenity of His call became more desirable than the call of this world.

So, without a lick of knowledge about the Gospel (much less the rest of the Bible) I gave my life to my Lord, Jesus the Christ who called me. I gave Him my life without knowing what it meant; I simply said to Him, "Whatever you want from me, it's Yours."

Why? Because this life no longer offered me anything meaningful.

Afterward, Jesus led me to a Christian fellowship where I finally heard the Gospel for the first time.

And guess what? There I learned about the Great Commission:

Matthew 28:19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, immediately after joining the Christian fellowship, they pushed me out the door to engage with the world.

From that turning point in my life, I've traveled up and down the east and west coast of the U.S., to Mexico, to Europe, to Turkey, and to Central Asia. And boy, did the world offer a lot more treasures and pleasures than I can imagine. Of course, greater was the pleasure of allowing the Almighty to use me in the lives of broken people around the world. Ok, no, He didn't use me, it was all Him (the incredible miracles that He performed); I was just there for the ride.

As a witness for my Lord Jesus the Christ, I can assure you that I did not become a believer because I was manipulated by men to believe; I was called by the Creator and Lord of the Universe to follow His call.

As a witness for my Lord Jesus the Christ, I can assure you that it was not the avoidance of idle mind that kept me from straying from the faith; it was in these times of solitude in which my Lord and Savior met me where I am.

As a witness for my Lord Jesus the Christ, I can assure you that I do not stay in the faith because I was isolated from the secular world by the Church; I was called to travel the globe and engage the secular world through which I saw the glories of His miracles which build my desire for His presence in my life. (There's nothing like being rescued by the Lord from a third world jail in a Muslim country, for the cause of the Gospel, to strengthen you faith in the love and power of the Almighty.)