Pastors' Blog

Humans have been fascinated for millennia with the thought that there are other intelligent alien life forms in our universe. Most recently from the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) project decades ago to the $100 million ten year Breakthrough Listen Initiative today, science continues to act on this numinous sense that “somewhere out there” are intelligent creatures with whom we might yet communicate.

The Christian Science Monitor and others reported this week a new strategy to find a populated exoplanet. (Exoplanets are planets that orbit a star other than our own Sun—Wikipedia estimates that “over 2000 exoplanets have been discovered since 1988 . . . including 509 multiple planetary systems” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exoplanet).  

According to the Tech Times website: “The key is to look for [aliens] in the way they are probably looking for us. To look for alien life, astronomers use a technique called ‘transit method,’ which involves investigating the light changes that occur in parent stars when orbiting planets pass by. The Kepler telescope of NASA is said to be the most efficient instrument to do just that. If aliens do exist and also want to find us, they can detect the Earth by looking for the dimming of the sun, which signals Earth's travel. Such dimming may only be observed in the so-called ‘transit zone,’ which is said to house approximately 100,000 possible alien habitats” (www.techtimes.com/articles/137781/20160302/study-reveals-new-trick-for-h...).

I.e., look for small shadows that cross between us and the face of distant stars. Could those shadows belong to orbiting exoplanets like Earth? And if that method effectively identifies a planet, could it be that alien intelligences are also using this method to discover us in our Milky Way solar system home?

“Being able to discover eclipses or transits will encourage aliens to study the event and eventually discover that the Earth has an atmosphere that has undergone chemical changes due to life. ‘They have a higher motivation to contact us, because they have a better means to identify us as an inhabited planet,’ says study author René Heller from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Such possibility would drive them to look for us and maybe send signals for communication. If we have a keen ear for listening, we may someday catch those signals and eventually find each other” (ibid.).

The ancient Holy Scripture has long championed the notion that the human race is not alone in our universe. Job describes the “sons of God” that reside outside our home planet (Job 1:6; 38:7, et al). And the Bible is replete with references to angel beings (including the “seraphim” and “cherubim” angelic orders) that travel to and from this planet to the celestial headquarters of the Creator.

In fact the Creator Himself incarnated into our human existence for a brief three and half decades (John 1:1-3, 14). But that single “extra-terrestrial” visitation has rewritten human history, literature and scientific advancement. What is more the Bible predicts the return of “this same Jesus” (see Acts 1:11). In the interim those who follow the Incarnated Returning One are commissioned by Him to penetrate the furthest reaches of Earth to communicate the urgently Good News that He is soon to return.

“Hope Trending: A Crash Course in How to Live without Fear” will be beamed into cyberspace from Andrews University’s Howard Performing Arts Center this October 14-22. Its solitary mission will be to communicate that Announcement to Earth (www.hopetrending.org).

There are three ways I hope you’ll respond: (1) pray daily for the success of this new mission; (2) begin a prayer list of individuals to invite to this unique experience; and (3) join the large volunteer team essential for the success of this Kingdom venture. Jesus couldn’t be clearer: “As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you—so go into all the world and share the Good News—for I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (John 20:21; Mark 16:15; Matt 28:20).

The Alien has already found us—it is now our mission to find the lost ones who do not know Him yet.

I read a fascinating piece from the Wall Street Journal this week (thank you, Don Wilson)—“ISIS Is Guilty of Anti-Christian Genocide” (2-12-16 A11). Written by Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, the essay is a one-year anniversary reflection of the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians by Islamic State terrorists. “These Coptic Christian hostages were executed for no other reason than their faith in Jesus Christ. ISIS released a video of the barbarism with the title: ‘A Message Signed With Blood to the Nations of the Cross’” (ibid).

Side-stepping the heated debate within Christian circles over whether the religion of Islam is contrary to the principles and truths of Christianity (e.g., the recent termination of a Wheaton College professor because of her claim that Christians and Muslims worship the same God), the author of the WSJ essay relates a detail from that execution I had not read before. Let me quote the bishop’s essay:

The 21 men executed that day were itinerant tradesman [sic] working on a construction job. All were native Egyptians but one, a young African man whose identity is uncertain—reports of his name vary, and he was described as coming Chad or Ghana. But the power of his example is unshakable. The executioners demanded that each hostage identify his religious allegiance. Given the opportunity to deny their faith, under threat of death, the Egyptians declared their faith in Jesus. Steadfast in their belief even in the face of evil, each was beheaded.

Their compatriot was not a Christian when captured, apparently, but when challenged by the terrorists to declare his faith, he reportedly replied: ‘Their God is my God.’ The ISIS murderers seek to demoralize Christians with acts like the slaughter on a Libyan beach. Instead they stir our wonder at the courage and devotion inspired by God’s love” (ibid).

Jesus, the ultimate divine Savior Martyr, once intoned: “‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it’” Mark 8:34, 35.

The Greek word, martus, from whence comes our word “martyr,” means “witness.” As with these 21 men, martyrs are those who give the ultimate witness by their death. But these words from Jesus do not command our martyrdom. Rather they summon from us a bold, unflinching witness to Christ’s lordship in our daily living. The kind of living Dietrich Bonhoeffer described, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (The Cost of Discipleship 99).

Which can mean: Come and die to social conformity or popularity—come and die to financial success or personal gain—come and die to professional reputation—come and die to the Devil’s Faustian bargain—come and die to self-advancement or self-preservation—come and die—period.

Because in the scarlet shadow of the cross, the greatest crucible is not dying—it is living—and therein lies our martyrdom.

Poor Flint, Michigan. But then, maybe that’s their problem. They are poor. An African American majority. No money. No lobbyists. No political power. So nobody pays attention—until recently, that is.

Since April, 2014, when their city switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River (to save money), residents of this city of  100,000 “began complaining of burning skin, hand tremors, hair loss, even seizures. Children were being diagnosed with anemia. Parents were finding strange red splotches on their hands and faces” (TIME 2-1-16 p 34). Their drinking water was changing colors—from blue to green to beige, brown and yellow. And it smelled like gasoline, some said. Others described it as the inside of a fish market. “Melissa Mays, a 37-year-old mother of four, says her hair started to fall out in clumps, clogging the shower drain. She broke out in rashes and developed a respiratory infection, coughing up phlegm that tasted like cleaning products” (ibid.).

All the while city officials declared the water safe to drink. The mayor even gulped down a drink of it in front of TV cameras. Why worry? But the continuing pleas of Flint’s residents eventually found political traction in the presidential race. Candidates challenged—would officials have ignored eighteen months of cries for help, if the pleas had come from the affluent suburbs of Detroit or Ann Arbor? You don’t need a degree in political science to know the answer.

Now the decrepit lead pipes of old Flint are injecting lead poison into the water supply—and children of the inner city face sobering developmental risks. Even though the city switched back to Lake Huron water last October, the lead pipes are so corroded the water is unfit for drink.

Enter now a band of Andrews University students—from the seminary, from the Physical Therapy department—who have launched a major relief effort underway on campus to collect donations of bottled water to deliver to Flint’s imperiled citizens. Tina Carriger, a seminary student with her husband, wrote me: “On Friday, January 22nd my husband and I made a trip to Flint in our SUV, completely loaded with water donated by Andrews University students and members of the Niles Philadelphia SDA Church in Niles, Michigan. We traveled to Flint with 40 cases of water and within a matter of 20 minutes that water was gone!”

They plan to go back to Flint this Friday (January 29) and are appealing for people at Pioneer, Andrews and around this community to assist them in their humanitarian effort. The city is limiting residents to one case of water per person per day. They need more water! So I’m inviting you to join us in this emergency water donation. Drop off your case(s) of water inside the entrance of the seminary building (parking lot side). The Carrigers and their team will deliver the water on Friday.

Lest we minimize the gift of a cup of water to a thirsty soul, Jesus declares the endtime judgment will hinge on what we do or do not do for the forgotten, the marginalized, the poor: “Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did it to Me”—“for I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink” (Matthew 25:40, 35).

But lest we conclude His mission includes only tap water, Jesus also declares: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Flint is dying for water, and so is the world. There is no more compelling reason for you and me to take the Water of Life to the thirsty all around us. Our surplus must be shared.

Nothing like a Powerball jackpot frenzy to warm a frigid winter’s night! Americans (and Canadians) are still queuing up by the tens of  thousands for a chance to win a record $1.5 billion-plus at tonight’s 10:59 Powerball drawing. Chances of winning the grand prize? One in 229,000,000. And yet by Monday this week Michiganders were spending $156,000 per hour on lottery tickets!

In case you were wondering how to spend $1.5 billion, USA TODAY offers five suggestions. (1) Buy a fleet of Gulfstream G650 private jets (@ $65 million apiece you can take home 23 of them). (2) Match the gross domestic product of the island nations of St. Vincent and Grenadines combined (spend the remaining $200 million on that large stone mansion for sale in the Windy City). (3) Buy the new Tesla Model S ecofriendly electric car for $71,100 (then do the same for 21,096 of your closest friends). (4) Rent the royal two-bedroom suite at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai for $34,555 a night (with $1.5 billion you’ll be able to stay for 42,320 nights or 116 years—if you have the time!). (5) Purchase a flotilla of five “super yachts” (100-meter-long cabin cruisers with an onboard staff of 50 for roughly $275 million apiece). (usat.ly/1Pr96MF)

But let’s get serious. Uncle Sam will take 25% (30% if you’re Canadian) off the top, with Michigan state receiving an additional 4.25%. Then consider this laundry list of warnings from financial investors and previous lottery winners: (1) your friends will take advantage—“Once word gets out that you have the winning ticket, you can expect everyone to try to cozy up to you, from the college roommate you haven't heard from in 20 years and the kid who tortured you on the kindergarten playground, to fellow carpool parents and ‘friends’ you barely recognize”; (2) your relationship could fail—the unimagined stresses of managing windfall money, as records show, place immense pressures on heretofore happily married couples; (3) you’ll have an increased risk of bankruptcy—"Winners are much more likely to make significant impulse purchases far beyond their previous means. So the purchase amounts will be much higher, making the interest accrued on those credit cards much higher. And because they don't stop to think the money could run out, winners don't generally think they need to create or live by a monthly budget,” says Scott Dillon, a senior bankruptcy attorney at Tully Rinckey in Albany, New York; (4) you’ll have to fight off a host of long-lost family members—even distant family members with credit card, medical or foreclosure bills will learn of your largesse; and (5) you’ll be a target for a litany of lawsuits and scams—“Hoping to carve out a chunk of your fortune, financial advisor Jeff Motske says lottery winners are often targets for bogus lawsuits because everyone starts to come after them” (for more details see bit.ly/1mVGlRo).

Still want that easy money? Consider some sage counsel embedded in this personal testimony: “For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:11-12).  Paul was onto something, wasn’t he? Or rather he was onto Someone. “For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (v 13). When my life focus shifts from gaining to giving, from easy money to hard work, there is an inner quiet that all the money in the world can’t buy. “Contentment” is what Paul called it. “Peace” is what Christ calls it: “My peace I give to you—not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27).

70% of lottery winners lose or spend all their winnings in five years or less. Apparently you can go broke trying to buy happiness. So here’s the winning ticket for your New Year: “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).