Mysticism and Prophecy in the Christian Church

A question was asked in an on-line forum, “How can we religious promote the spirit of mysticism and prophecy in the Christian people?” It took me couple of days to consider this question and whether I wanted to attempt to answer it. The following is my attempt to adequately define the terms mysticism and prophecy and their place in the Christian Church today.

The terms mysticism and prophecy in Biblical Christian terms have always been controversial as they conjure up visions of non-Christian practices performed by peoples such as the Druids, the priestly class in Britain, Ireland and Gaul, who are portrayed as sorcerers who opposed the coming of Christianity.

The term mysticism is an –ism based on mystery, or “religious truth via divine revelation”, the term originating in the 14th century. The use of the term today signifies “anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or unknown” (see #1 definition of the word in dictionary.com i.e. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mystery).

Mysticism or mystics are simply those who have a deeper understanding of a spiritual truth that the average citizen does not understand. Daniel spoke of a mystery that King Nebuchadnezzar asked to be interpreted by his wise men in Chapter 2 of Daniel. The Apostle Paul used the word mystery in his letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, and the Colossians, as well as his letter to Titus.

Mysticism or mystics are not necessarily anti-Christian, as I’ve heard from some well-meaning Christians. It is just that these truths are not comfortable for most Christians. In our society, we want Christian thought that does not bring us discomfort or pain. Entire volumes have been written about escaping trials or learning to “deal with” tragedy in our lives. The book, “The Prayer of Jabez”, by Bruce Wilkerson, is a book about how Christians should pray like him, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” (1 Chronicles 4:10) Bernie Kjos combats this thinking in his rebuttal of Wilkerson’s book in his column, “Problems with the Prayer of Jabez”. (http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/Jabez.htm)

Suffering is only one of the mysteries that are mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. Another is found in the Book of Job. The question, “Why do bad things happen to good people” has been around as long as there have been people on this earth. And as we see in Job’s case, it wasn’t because he was bad, or wicked, as his comforters tried to rationalize.

Prophecy is another mystery that is difficult to explain. Biblical Prophecy is often thought to be only the foretelling of the future. But prophecy in terms of Biblical truth is always more than that. It can be simply putting popular events in light of Biblical truth, such as is found in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

In this passage, Paul was not only speaking futuristically, but also how events he was seeing were relevant in God’s economy in his day. You don’t have to be a prophet to see that all these issues are coming to pass. A modern day “prophet” could simply be someone who gives you God’s perspective on the nightly news. In other words, how current affairs are lining up with what God’s prophets of old said way back when.

Probably the best way to promote mysticism and prophecy to today’s church is to become as knowledgeable as possible on God’s perspective on what’s happening around us and then live a life that honors God. The prayer that we all call “The Lord’s Prayer” is a good place to start. Allow this prayer to consume your life, that you recognize that 1) God is your Father in Heaven, 2) You desire Him to return and want His will working in your life like it would if you were in Heaven right now, 3) that you are relying on Him for all your basic needs, 4) that you wish to live a life of daily repentance for your sins, which are debts that you owe, and that you will give others the benefit of the doubt when they owe you a debt, and 5) that you need help to keep away from the temptations of this word, which are many, and deliverance from the Evil One.

A couple of Christian writers of note are Soren Kierkegaard, C.S. Lewis, or Watchman Nee. They would all say from experience that to experience things that put us out of our comfort zone is to experience the Christian life. A life without hardship or difficult is not a life that has been tested, and therefore a life that doesn’t know what it can actually accomplish through the power of the Holy Spirit working through it.

Just Shut up and Sing

Carlos Santana recently was recently honored by Major League Baseball before the annual Civil Rights Game in Atlanta Sunday. Along with Morgan Freeman and Ernie Banks, Santana received a Beacon Award for his work prior to the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves.

The 63 year old legendary guitarist, a native of Mexico, then bashed the states of Georgia and Arizona for passing controversial immigration laws, stating, “The people of Arizona and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Obviously, Carlos Santana is one of the many in the entertainment business who feel that since they are successful in one area of expertise, they are experts in all areas of life. Just like actors Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, who have shown themselves to be woefully ignorant of the facts before they get enmeshed in political situations, Carlos Santana shows himself to be equally ignorant of his own country’s tough immigration policies.

* Before Mexico reformed its own policies last year, simply being in Mexico illegally could result in imprisonment in a Mexican prison for up to two years followed by deportation.

* The Mexican constitution bans direct ownership of land by a foreigner within 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles, from any border and 50 kilometers, or 30 miles from any coastline.

* Arnold Schwarzenegger, had he migrated to Mexico instead of the United States, could not have been governor in any state in that country. If Argentina native Sergio Villanueva, a firefighter hero from the 9/11 attacks had moved to Tecate instead of New York, he would not have been allowed to join the fire department.

* There are only two jobs in the entire United States that are reserved for natural born citizens: the President and the Vice-president.

* Under Mexican law, it is a felony to be an illegal alien.

* Mexico deports more people annually than the United States.

* Those people who aid and abet illegal aliens are imprisoned.

Here are a few more rules about living in Mexico:

* Foreigners are admitted “according to their possibilities of contributing to national progress.” (Article 32)

* Mexico ensures that “Immigrants will be useful elements for the country and they have the necessary funds for their sustenance and for their dependents.” (Article 34)

* Foreigners may be barred from the country if their presence upsets the “‘equilibrium of the national demographics, when foreigners are deemed detrimental to economic or national interests’, when they do not behave like good citizens in their own country, when they have broken Mexican and when they are not found to be physically or mentally healthy.” (Article 37)

* The Secretary of Governance may “suspend or prohibit the admission of foreigners when he determines it to be in the national interest.” (Article 38)

* Mexicans who help illegal aliens enter the country are themselves considered criminals under the law.

* A Mexican citizen who marries a foreigner with the sole objective of helping the foreigner live in the country is subject to up to five years in prison. (Article 127)

**This was posted by Ed Nelson on April 27, 2010 in a article called, “Think Arizona’s Immigration law is Too harsh?”**

These are just a few of the rules and regulations that Mexico places on immigrants coming to their country. I’m guessing that Carlos Santana doesn’t really want to have the discussion about whose immigration laws are more restrictive.

I got the title of this blog entry from a book by Laura Ingraham and I thought the title just screamed to be used again. My hat is off to Laura Ingraham and Ed Nelson for his blog entry about Mexico’s Immigration laws.

So, my words to Carlos Santana, whose music I love: “Until you actually know what you’re talking about, just shut up and sing (or play).”

(To read the full article, “Think Arizona’s Immigration Law is Too Harsh?” by Ed Nelson, go to http://borderalert.usbc.org/taking-back-america/enforcement/think-arizonas-immigration-law-is-too-harsh)

When Is a Church Not a Church?

According to the Associated Press, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is getting ready to abolish their celibacy requirements for its gay and lesbian clergy after decades of debate that have divided the denomination and split Protestants worldwide. The policy change has already been adopted at its national assembly last year but they need approval by the majority of their 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies. The new policy will take effect July 10th, after all the presbyteries have voted. The deciding vote, expected Tuesday night, would come from the liberal Minneapolis-St. Paul presbytery.

According to Michael Adlee, a church elder and executive director of More Light Presbyterians, which advocates for gays and lesbians, “More people will be able to live the truth of their lives, parents will talk more about having gay kids, and people will come out in Presbyterian churches.”

The church currently requires its officers to either be in a monogamous heterosexual marriage or to remain celibate. That is currently the standard in most traditional Protestant churches. As a member of the clergy is not only a leader in the church, but is supposed to be a moral example as well, anything less is grounds for that clergy member to be removed from their office.

Let us get right to the heart of the matter. The definition of the word church by dictionary.com gives numerous definitions. Most have to do with Christianity or God or the Christian faith. When you take God out of the church, it simply becomes a structure or a building where meetings can be held. In other words, without God and Christianity, there really is no such thing as a church.

The question is, then, “Has the Presbyterian Church stopped being a church?” Only Christians worship in a church, the God being worshipped there is the Christian God, the God of the Bible. The actual word church comes from the old English word cirice which, stems from the Greek kyriake (the Lord’s house) which comes from Greek kyrios (ruler, lord). The word Christian means “Christ like”, it is never about cultural popularity or the feelings of the people participating in the worship. The word worship comes from the Old English wordscip (condition of being worthy, honor) from worth. A sense of "reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being" is first recorded c.1300. The focus is always on the object of worship, not the people doing the worship.

To remove the celibacy requirements for non-married clergy in a Christian church is to say that if Jesus Christ was your pastor and He was not married, He could engage in sexual activity outside of marriage and there would be no sin. That very thought is repulsive. Jesus set the standard for all church members by the very life He lived on this earth. And even though for over 2000 years, the church has been about Him, when He walked this earth, He was all about everyone else. His entire focus was on God the Father and How He could please and honor the Father with His life.

When has life or truth ever been about being able to have sex with someone? Michael Adee, the executive director of More Light Presbyterians says (again), “More people will be able to live the truth of their lives…” How? By engaging in an activity that God says denies the very truth of His word?

Now, this does not address the argument that some people were born gay or lesbian, that God made them that way. But if a single heterosexual man or a single heterosexual woman chooses a vocation to serve God either here in the United States or abroad on the mission field, they are both called to sexual purity. If that same man or woman has strong sexual feelings towards members of their own sex, they are still called to that same purity. Doing anything else is telling God, “My feelings are more important than being obedient to the truths set out in Your Word.” As my mother once said, “You may not be able to do anything about the way you feel, but you can do something about what you do with those feelings.”

The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of sexual purity several times in the New Testament, but a couple of verses in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says it all: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

For an entire denomination to disregard the truths of God’s Word in favor of the feelings of a minority of the population is unimaginable. But the Presbyterians have now decided to go with the flow. Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, religion, and divinity at Duke University told Reuters, “They're making this change amid a larger cultural change. General public opinion on gay rights is trending pretty dramatically in the liberal direction.” The PCUSA is following the footsteps of the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ in attempting to be culturally relevant by making the Gospel a little less offensive to its membership.

I’m just reminded of one last scripture, which the Presbyterian Church would do well to remember. It’s found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 3: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Katy Perry’s Stolen Childhood

Katy Perry recently stated in Vanity Fair that her strict upbringing “stole her childhood”. Miss Perry, known for her pop song “I Kissed a Girl” and her recent marriage to British comedian Russell Brand, said that her strict Christian parents prevented her from “growing up like most kids”.

I wonder, does Miss Perry think the world was safe back in 1991 when she started to attend first grade? In 2001 in the United States, 74% of non-family child abductions were girls and almost ¾ of the abducted children who were eventually murdered were dead within three hours of their abduction. Now granted, this is ten years later, but the truth is that the 1990’s were not that much safer than 2001. In 1998, three quarters of parents polled said they worried that their child would be abducted. And one third of them said that it was a frequent worry.

What is the definition of “strict” to Miss Perry? She couldn’t say the words “Dirt Devil” or “deviled eggs” and was forced to listen to Contemporary Christian Music instead of the popular music of the day. She had friends that sneaked her secular CD’s so she could listen anyways. And her mother would only read the Bible to her. One fine point Miss Perry omits is that at least her mother spent time with her reading to her. Even if it was only the Bible, most psychologists and family counselors will tell you that time spent with them is one gift that a child will always remember.

Another sense that she was robbed of her childhood was that Planned Parenthood was portrayed as an abortion clinic. Really? You mean she was actually given an accurate description of Planned Parenthood? (See Abbey “s book “UnPlanned” for an insider’s view of what Planned Parenthood is all about) Oh, the horror. She says she didn’t know it “was for women and their needs.” Yeah, right. See “Forbidden Grief” by Theresa Burke to see how psychologically damaging an abortion is to everyone involved, both men and women, but especially women, not even mentioning that it takes the life of an actual living human being. (the word fetus is Latin for offspring)

Miss Perry’s childhood was restricted in much the same way that a guard rail on a bridge restricts cars driving along a road. It prevents them from doing what cars that go off the side of the road will do, which is plunge into the area the bridge is spanning. I think Miss Perry is veering a little off the road here.

While her parents may have been a bit overzealous in their child rearing, and what parent isn’t sometimes, she makes it sound like they forced her to wear a chastity belt to school, endured endless interrogation about her whereabouts and the other children she socialized with, and beat her for the slightest infraction of their rules.

Miss Perry lives in a fantasy world where everything is peaches and cream and the world is a fun place to live. Why not? She’s a popular celebrity and people listen to what she says as if she actually knows what she is talking about. The mainstream media doesn’t criticize her because she is politically correct and has done nothing to draw their ire. Even though she is a role model for young girls in that critical stage of their development as young women, whether or not she wants to be, she stands for nothing of substance and promotes things that I am sure her Christian parents would be appalled at. Abortion and homosexuality, even if only experimentation, are major forces that would destroy young people when they are at the prime of their lives and just beginning to see what their life is really intended for.

One day Miss Perry may understand that even the best parents admit to making mistakes. You are required to have flown at least 1500 logged hours in order to qualify for an Air Transport Pilot’s license and fly for the major airlines. You have to go through at least 9 years of schooling and numerous tests in order to be a medical doctor. It takes around 7 years and passing a major law exam (called the bar) in order to practice law in most states. And you have to take a test and qualify before a board in order to be a plumber. Every career from being a police officer to being a truck driver to becoming a teacher requires training. Parenting is the only job that is performed by unskilled labor learning on-the-job. And the job is always different for each and every child because no two children are the same and what works with one child may not work with the next.

Children don’t come with an instruction manual and anyone who undertakes to raise a child in the world we live in today should be applauded for the effort rather than being raked over the coals. Miss Perry’s success is undoubtedly a result of extraordinary parents since success in the entertainment industry is dicey at best. Her self-confidence is evident as she performs and that self-confidence did not become a part of her as a result of the water she drank or the culture in which she was raised. This self-confidence came about despite the culture in which she was raised. That can be directly attributed to her parents, and more specifically, for her, her mother. Mothers model womanhood to their daughters through their actions and interactions with others just as fathers’ model manhood to their sons.

It will be interesting to see how Miss Perry views motherhood and the responsibilities that come with parenting when the little child that comes from her womb (if she stays away from Planned Parenthood) is starting to grow up in such a dangerous world. As one person stated, “When I was seventeen, my parents were so stupid. It is amazing how much they learned in the next 4 years.” Miss Perry is definitely not there yet.

Death of the (Un)Righteous

I awoke to the news that Osama Bin Laden had finally met his end in a fire fight in his compound in Pakistan. We have waited for almost 10 years to hear that news, that justice, blind though she may be, finally was served to the man responsible for the deaths of 3000 Americans on that calm Tuesday morning in 2001.

The old saying that you can run but you cannot hide (forever) is true. Eventually, things were not going to go his way and, just like Saddam Hussein, another barbarous villain of our times, his time is now over.

Now, that being said, as a Christian, recognizing the reality of Hell and the torment that Osama Bin Laden is experiencing right now, I have to be cautious about rejoicing over his death. In Proverbs 24:17-18, it states, “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from him.” The thing that we rejoice in is that God’s Justice was finally served. As it has been said, “the wheels of Justice grind slowly, but surely”. No matter what you thought of Osama Bin Laden, he chose to live his life was filled with hatred and violence towards anyone who held a view different than his own. The decisions he made in this life will follow him to the next life, where, contrary to Muslim beliefs, there will probably not be 72 virgins waiting for him. When it comes down to it, the decisions we make in this life follow us to the next, and yes, there is a next life.

Probably the issue that will either lighten our hearts or haunt us through eternity the decisions we make in the here and now. And chief among those decisions is the all-consuming question, “What will you do with Christ?” I say chief, because the answer to that ONE question will determine where you make your final abode. I believe that people in Hell who had the chance to accept and follow Christ, but chose not to, will be haunted with that question forever.

Whatever you believe about the afterlife, Osama Bin Laden is experiencing the reality of a Righteous, Holy God and he knows what we do not know. He knows what is on the “other side of the veil”. And something tells me that he’s more than a little bit surprised that the afterlife is not all that he expected it to be.

A former pastor of mine retold this quote by Mark Twain. “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” I am sure that captures the view of many in the West today.