Tag: christianity

Repentance: A Change of Mind

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Enshrined in the philosophy of Christian fundamentalism is the belief that all people are guilty of sin. This belief is reinforced by a passage in Romans: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). The remedy for this sin is repentance, defined from one camp as the expression of regret or remorse for one’s wrongdoing or sin. According to this perspective, if you do not repent, you will go to hell.

In whatever way we might define it, I’m sure it’s true that every person has fallen short of the glory of God. Do we always observe the golden rule or pray for the good of those who would do us harm?  

A simpler, less abrasive definition for repent is to change one’s mind. A change of mind, especially when it concerns spiritual matters, is never accompanied by remorse or regret. Quite the opposite, spiritual enlightenment evokes joy for the freedom it inspires. Considering the theological norms of his time, can’t we envision the enthusiasm that must have swept through Meister Eckhart’s congregation when the Christian mystic introduced in a sermon this significant change of mind?

“I never give thanks to God for loving me, because He can’t help himself; whether He would or not, it is His nature to.”

Changes in our direction in life are normally preceded by a change of mind. We conclude that some habit or part of our lifestyle is no longer working, so we begin thinking in new directions. The last thing we want to do is add the weight of regret or remorse for self-destructive choices that we once made. What if we realize that we made the choice to incarnate in a physical body that guarantees falling short of the glory of God? Do we spend our earthly life affirming our human wretchedness, or do we change the way we think about this whole setup? The Psalmist certainly encouraged the latter:

Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there! (Psalms 139:7-8)

I’m sure my days of making unenlightened choices are not yet over. But I’m equally sure that the God who cannot help but love me will see me safely through this journey, regardless of where I make my bed.

The Anatomy of a Miracle

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When you think of a miracle, do you envision an extraordinary occurrence that is some form of divine intervention transcending the laws of nature? Isn’t this one of the first things that comes to mind when we think of Jesus as a miracle worker?

In my ministerial training, we learned of a system known as the five M’s of a developing religious movement. As it applies to Christianity, these five M’s include the Man Jesus, the Message he brought, the nature of his Ministry, the Movement that developed after his death, and the Monument, those many forms of Catholic and Protestant Christianity we know today. The image of Jesus the miracle worker is the product, not of meticulous biographical research, but of the Movement that followed his death.

It is quite possible that many of the miracle stories we read had their beginning, not as an event, but as a parable. We know that Jesus taught truth using fiction, with the parable of the prodigal son being a prime example. Through four decades of the fluid process of oral tradition, parables of Jesus could easily transform into stories about Jesus. 

Many of the miracle stories include a common formula. A need is stated. Jesus challenges people to stop judging by appearances. Those stifled by the apparent problem agree to at least try to change their mind. Jesus speaks a command or orders some action, and the answer is forthcoming.

It appears that the catalyst for change involves a change of mind, a redirection of faith. As we think of our own experience, can we accept the challenge of refusing to judge a situation by its appearance? Can we change the focus of our faith? Can we, like the father of the epileptic boy, believe that with God all things are possible?

Like a river, the creative life force flows in but one direction: from the inside out. Jesus told people to cleanse the inside of the cup first. That is, focus your faith, envision the highest, most successful outcome. Hold this direction knowing that you are cooperating, not with some miracle-working cosmic force, but with the natural flow of God. As within, so without. Don’t expect a miracle. Expect the best and highest outcome for yourself and all involved. Your solution may look like a miracle, but it is the natural outworking of this cosmic river flowing from the inside out.

Are You Saved?

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This subject is prompted by a couple of contacts I’ve had over the last few weeks. One came through YouTube comments correcting all of my errors concerning the end times. The other was a phone call from a concerned woman from Arizona who discovered the church website and felt the need to bring me into alignment with the Bible, at least as she understood it. I love responding to those who are genuinely interested in what we teach. The moment I discover the questions are being used as a setup for answers they already have, the conversation ends.

Why would someone bother to reach out to a complete stranger, especially a minister, and begin questioning their religious beliefs? Their intentions are good, for they’ve been taught that a soul on the wrong religious track is a soul in danger of eternal damnation. However, the thought of spending an eternity surrounded by a bunch of self-righteous Bible thumpers isn’t exactly my idea of a heavenly reward.

Fear, guilt, and shame represent the holy trinity of controlling features incorporated in our religious upbringing. The sin and punishment model has been put forward for so long and from such authority that many accept it as a given. On one hand we’re told that God is love, and the grace of God is our hope. On the other hand, as my caller suggested, those who do not walk in accordance with the Word of God will find that things do not work out so well in the long run.

Somewhere in the middle of Kansas there is a billboard that asks this question: “If you died today, where would you spend eternity?”

It’s a great question worth serious consideration, and a drive through Kansas certainly offers ample time to think about it. Those asking the question assume there are but two answers. You know you are making spiritual progress when you reserve the right to consider alternatives. As for me, I’ll be here, in the presence of God, just like I have always been. I don’t think God would have it any other way.

Are We in the End Times?

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A member of our YouTube audience posted this comment: “I hear so many Christians say, ‘we’re in the end times’. What does that mean?”

Eschatology is the fancy name given to the study of the so-called end times. The book of Revelation appeared when early Christians suffered under severe persecution from the Roman empire. The book’s intended purpose was to encourage Christians to hold fast, Jesus was coming soon. Following the legalization of Christianity, Revelation fell out of use for hundreds of years. It was during the Middle Ages that interest in the book reignited, but without its historical context. Since that time, doomsdayers have exploited the mysterious imagery as signs that the end was near.   

Of course, there are many ways that human civilization could end. The eruption of a super volcano, an incoming asteroid, a major solar flare, or nuclear war could all do the trick. We can also study the downfall of the once-great world powers of Rome, Greece, and Egypt and see implosion from within as another option.    

One takeaway we can glean from observing this obsession with the so-called end times is that we can fall into the same trap on a personal level. In our challenging moments, we can turn from God within to the belief that we need an external savior. The most effective starting point is to reestablish our expectation in our true center of power—God within. Once we do this, once we rise above the fear of some impending doom, we can move through our challenge from the peace of strength.

In the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, the disciples asked Jesus when their end would be. He said,

“Since you have discovered the beginning, why do you seek the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who shall stand at the beginning, and he shall know the end, and shall not taste death.”

The advice is to be here now. Obsession over the end prevents us from engaging in a new beginning. The transforming power we long for is always with us. Be still and know this power, and you will find your way through any challenge.

Predestination: Fact or Fiction?

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The debate between predestination and freewill has gone on for centuries. Since we can find support for either idea, I think it is best to reframe the issue beginning with our understanding of God. Seeing God, not as the powerful, humanlike creator, but as the creative life force animating all of creation, predestination would hinder the natural creative process. Though the exercise of freewill yields both positive and negative results, it factors in the influence of each person’s belief system and explains the diversity in human expression. It allows us to challenge the feeling that we are powerless to rise above our current lot in life.

I think we can resolve this debate by seeing predestination and freewill as natural aspects of the human condition. Our complete soul is a predestined condition. We can exercise our freewill to stray away from this divine ideal and create a body-based self-image so far from what we are in truth that suffering is inevitable. This is illustrated in the parable of the prodigal son. The son asks for his inheritance and the father gives it to him, no questions asked. He just says, “Here you are. Go for it.” This is freewill. However, by virtue of the son’s relationship with his father, the option to return home is predestined. There is nothing negative about it. We are all predestined to our spiritual homecoming.  

The exercise of freewill is most productive when it harmonizes with the true nature of the soul. This is illustrated in the son’s decision to return home. However, our excursions into the far country teach us the value of our true home. In this sense, the exercise of freewill with negative results can ultimately lead to our most productive and meaningful spiritual path.

Must we suffer before we find this path? No. But while our negative choices may lead to negatively painful results, all choices ultimately lead to home. In this sense, there are no wrong decisions.

The act of incarnating in a body has created the temptation to believe in two powers of spirit and materialism. It is easy to forget that our true home is spirit. Because this is true, we are all destined to return to this awareness. And if we take the more scenic route home, we’ll still get there all the same.   

From Belief to Knowing

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Imagine a bowl of water on the table. Your friend tells you the water is ice cold, and you believe it. Then, you decide to check it for yourself. You put your hand in the water and discover it is very warm. With this simple illustration, you have transitioned from belief to knowing.

When we read the statement of faith of any religious organization, we are reading a list of beliefs that have been worked out by the forefathers. The Apostle’s Creed, for example, starts with, “I believe …” and it lists a series of statements the believer is expected to accept as true. What happens when a person decides to question these beliefs and actually put their hand in the water? They will, in that instant, begin rewriting their own statement, shifting from I believe to I know.

Evelyn Underhill, in her classic work, Mysticism, highlights the mystic’s defining characteristic as experiencing “… a conscious relation with the Absolute.” They do not merely believe in God; they put their hand in the water. They know God as a living presence.

In many cases, such people find themselves at odds with religious powers. Madame Guyon, the very popular, seventh-century French mystic and writer, was for seven years imprisoned by the Church for her experiential approach to God. Read her book, A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, and you will think it rolled off the Unity press.

Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century German mystic whose writings remain widely quoted by today’s New Thought community, was condemned as a heretic by the Church, and his writings banned. He and others like him dared to share not their beliefs, but their direct knowledge of the nature of God.

We’re also told that Jesus “… taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:29). He had the nerve to put his hand in the bowl of water.  

Because most of us were introduced to spiritual matters through established belief systems, we may feel a little uncomfortable putting our own hand in the bowl. We may feel even more uncomfortable saying what we’ve discovered. But if our spiritual journey is to mean anything, then we must be willing to transition from belief to knowing.

The Living Jesus

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Today is the day the Christian world celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As we think of what this means, most of us will probably respond from the first of two questions Jesus put to his disciples: Who do people say that I am? The last few years, I have focused on his second question: Who do you say that I am?

It occurs to me that the field of Christian belief is like the one of which Jesus spoke in his parable of the hidden treasure. In one sense, this field is owned by the established mainstream. They have clearly posted its boundaries with no trespassing signs, such as the Apostle’s Creed. Alternative views are not welcome in this field. The remedy to avoiding the trespass was recommended by Jesus. Purchase the field. Make it yours. Who do you say Jesus is?

As you know, my answer is Jesus was a mystic, a simple teacher who taught my connection with God was an internal and inseparable one. This was probably as radical a message to the mainstream Jew of his day as it is to the mainstream Christian of ours. I no longer require the larger-than-life, water-walking icon that others said I needed. I’ve especially taken note when Jesus asked the rich young man why he called him good. “Only God is good” (Mark 10:18). The mystic is good as asking thought-provoking questions.

One of the first steps we take toward purchasing the field is to begin selling everything we own. In this case, we’re talking about our beliefs. We have each, in our own way, bought into the belief systems of others that we have held as our own, perhaps more out of a sense of safety in numbers. Conviction varied. I got in touch with some of these possessions when I began asking myself this question: If I learned that Jesus never even existed, would it change my faith? Would it alter my quest for deeper understanding? Though I don’t question his existence, I do know that my faith in God does not depend on the narrative that has grown up around Jesus.

For me, the most important resurrection that I celebrate, is the resurrection of my own soul. This, I believe, is the truth that Jesus knew would set us free.

Your God Connection: An Easter Perspective

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The Easter story is about Jesus enabling unity with God. The catch is that this unity occurs after this life, when we make it to our heavenly abode. Jesus taught something different, and he seemed confident that some in his audience would have a spiritual awakening that would reveal their God connection.

“There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).

Many of us grew up believing we were separate from God, destined one day to return home. We’re now learning that we are one with God, a concept difficult to grasp given our upbringing. Seeing God not as the old man in the sky, but as the creative life force animating all beings, allows us to use different metaphors to illustrate our shared unity.

Think of a river meeting a hydroelectric dam. God is the river; you are the dam. Just as the river flows in one direction, so God as the creative life force flows in one direction—from the inside out. The river is raw, universal power. The dam converts the river’s power into electricity that lights a city.

God is our limitless source, flowing within us and turning the turbine of our executive faculties: imagination, faith, will, judgment, and elimination. Using these faculties, we direct this raw power of God in ways of our choosing. This seems to be the point Jesus was making when he said this:  

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil” (Luke 6:45).

As you awaken to the truth of your oneness with God as the creative life force flowing through you at this very moment, you become more aware of how you use these faculties that convert this universal energy into the specific expression you call your life.  Your God connection is your key to the quality of life you desire.

The Million Dollar Question

YouTube: The Million Dollar Question; Does God Require Sacrifice?

One of the most popular summaries of the Christian message comes from John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

This passage raises two important questions concerning the nature of God. Is the love of God conditional? Did God require the sacrifice of His only Son?

According to John, one must believe Jesus died for our sins to gain eternal life. The implication is that whoever does not believe in him will perish and will not have eternal life.

Then we’re told that God “gave his only Son”. We understand this to mean that God gave his Son to be put to death as a sacrifice for our sins. How can such a human sacrifice be a requirement with a God who loves the world? The unconditional love of God would be better expressed in this way:

For God so loved the world that he ensured none would perish but all would have eternal life.

This is certainly more in keeping with the lesson of the prodigal son. The father so loved his son that he welcomed him home, no questions asked, no conditions imposed.

We cringe when we read of cultures that practiced human sacrifice to appease the gods. However, as Christians, we’ve become so accustomed to Jesus as a human sacrifice that we have somehow disconnected pagan barbarism from Christian theology. The principle, however, is the same. A life is given to change the behavior and attitude of God.

From a spiritual perspective, one of the most important issues we must sort out is our understanding of God. A God that requires sacrificial appeasement cannot be considered a God of unconditional love.

The Map Is Not The Territory

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Think of a religious symbol as part of a map used to help you navigate through life.

A few weeks ago, I told of how Myrtle Fillmore imagined Jesus in an empty chair offering her guidance through her healing journey. It did not matter that this Jesus was imaginary. To her, he represented a focal point for healing energy that proved to be helpful to her.

Any critical thinker would recognize this Jesus as a figment of her imagination. To simply pass it off as an irrelevant fantasy, however, would be to ignore the millions of people who found inspiration and guidance in Myrtle’s visualizing technique and healing.

Google Maps has opened a new understanding of this realization by providing us with a two-dimensional map and an accompanying three-dimensional street view. We can zoom in and instantly see the difference between the map and the territory.  

What has become clear to me is that it was not my study of the teachings of Jesus that led to a mystical experience. Like most people, I began with the map of Christian doctrine that I was taught was synonymous with the territory. It was an actual mystical experience that led to my understanding of Jesus as a mystic. The experience, not the symbolism, is the territory.

In my own spiritual quest, I have utilized five different maps. The first is 1) mainstream Christianity, the second is 2) metaphysical Christianity, the third is 3) Christian mysticism, the fourth is 4) critical scholarship, the fifth is 5) near-death research. I put them in present tense because they all continue to play a role in my study.

I have drawn important insights from each of these “maps” knowing that beneath each one is the “territory” of experience that is most meaningful. In our continued quest for spiritual understanding, we’ll each have our different maps, but we should always keep in mind, the map is not the territory.