Pastors' Blog

Have you seen the recent video clips making the rounds? I have. And since this blog is called “The Fourth Watch” (the last watch—3 a.m. to 6 a.m.—in the Roman reckoning of night time) and since this blog’s purpose is to track indicators in the world portending the end of this civilization’s long night and the nearness of Christ’s return—I would like to comment on these forwarded web messages that are circulating. The forwarded link is to a YouTube recording of Bishop Tony Palmer. (His Anglican affiliation is not clear according to online sources—and he is described at this site as a “personal friend” of Pope Francis.) In the clip Palmer is addressing a recent convocation of evangelical Pentecostal ministers in Texas and makes a passionate appeal for unity between Rome and the Pentecostal movement: “We are living in an incredibly important generation. I believe that God has brought me here to this year’s ministers conference in the spirit of Elijah.” Palmer then describes this Elijah spirit as the spirit of reconciliation that brings back the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=b5TwrG8B3ME). And then seven minutes into this clip this Protestant bishop brings a personal message from Pope Francis. But in a rather unusual manner, this message is more than a read statement relayed through an emissary. After quoting Jesus’ prayer in John 17, “That they may be one as We are One, Father,” Palmer directs the convention’s attention to the big screen for a seven minute video recording of Pope Francis personally greeting the gathered ministers. I must say it is an amazing piece of personable, warm, collegial greeting from the Pope, given in Italian with English subtitles, apparently filmed (it feels like a home movie) by Bishop Palmer himself, whom the Pope describes, “we’ve been friends for years.” And the message is unmistakably clear. We are separated now because “it is a long road of sins that we all shared in. Who is to blame? We all share the blame. . . . I am nostalgic [yearning], that this separation comes to an end and gives us communion.” At one point appealing to the story of the reunion of Joseph with his brothers in Egypt, Francis declares: “But we have to encounter one another as brothers. We must cry together like Joseph did. These tears will unite us. The tears of love. . . . I thank you profoundly for allowing me to speak the language of the heart. . . . And this is a miracle. The miracle of unity has begun. . . . [God] will complete this miracle of unity. I ask you to bless me, and I bless you.” (If you want to watch the Pope’s message by itself, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHXKTKYunYo). Is there something sinister in Christian brothers seeking unity in Christ? Hardly. But on the basis of the Apocalypse and the Great Controversy I remember that there is predicted  before the return of Jesus a global unification that will transcend religious and theological lines. A global, ecumenical, political unification championed by Rome and the United States. “The opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a better understanding with Rome” (Great Controversy 563). But there is a line Bishop Palmer did not read from Jesus’ prayer for unity: “Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Lasting, meaningful unity in Christ can only be built upon the solid Rock of the Word of God. Which means you and I, whatever our persuasion, must only be persuaded by a “Thus says the Lord.” Unity pursued on any other ground will never be unity. No matter how many home movies are played.

 5,700 feet underground is enough to stir up anybody’s latent claustrophobia. Although I suppose that if you’re used to being that far down and are doing it for a living (as miners do), it’s pretty much old hat to you. Unless, of course, your way back up to the surface has been blocked, as was the case this week with South African miners in the Harmony Gold mine west of Johannesburg. They were digging over a mile underground when apparently a magnitude-2.4 tremor shook a large rock loose, tumbling it into a metal cable, causing a spark that ignited combustible material into an underground fire, trapping eight men in that subterranean dark. Several years ago in almost the same place in South Africa I descended 742 feet into a gold mine  in a small elevator with other tourists (the certificate of proof is still on my study wall)—and trust me, I was more concerned about getting back up to the surface than enjoying the chilled-air sights of that abandoned mine! I can’t imagine the concerns of these miners this week trapped so much farther down. Although on this Black History Sabbath, it may not be so difficult to imagine a vast swath of this nation and this world’s populace trapped in the deep shaft of poverty. It is pointless to remonstrate that some of those trapped are bound by circumstances that they themselves have created. Shall we therefore consider them unworthy of our concern, unfit for compassionate intervention or at least acts of unselfish charity? Nonsense. The fact is that more and more Americans are being trapped by the economic vice that is squeezing more and more of us from the middle class into the lower class, the poorer class. The college educated represent the fasting growing demographic of those now applying for food stamps in this nation. A record one out of 6 Americans is now on food stamps (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/2014/0204/Does-slicing-8-billion-from-food-stamps-cut-to-bone-or-just-trim-some-flab-video). Shall we conclude that it really is none of our concern here in the rural St Joseph River valley? Let the inner cities find their own escape from entrapment. Let Congress cut $8 billion from the food stamp program or argue over the entitlement programs (as they did this week). What’s it to such fervent “We have this hope” Adventists like you and me? Maybe everything. Commenting on Jesus’ familiar words in His final parable about the sheep and the goats and “the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine” (Matthew 25:40 NIV), Desire of Ages makes this startling observation: “[Jesus] represented [the judgment’s] decision as turning upon one point. When the nations are gathered before Him, there will be but two classes, and their eternal destiny will be determined by what they have done or have neglected to do for Him in the person of the poor and the suffering” (637). Black and white, red or yellow, it doesn’t matter—the unfailing standard in the final judgment will be what we have don e or neglected to do for Jesus “in the person of the poor and the suffering.” Period. Which means that all of us gathered today in worship are under the obligation of Christ’s compassion toward us to in turn live out that compassion toward those we clearly know are trapped beneath the surface of this life and can only be set free if we will volunteer, if we will give, if we will reject racial stereotypes for the sake of living out Jesus’ radical love. Right now. Right here. Amen.

Who could be comfortable connecting the National Security Agency (NSA) with God in the same sentence? But read on. The New York Times this week broke a new story with further astounding details concerning the NSA’s global surveillance program. Turns out the agency “has implanted software in nearly 100,000 computers around the world that allows the United States to conduct surveillance on those machines and can also create a digital highway for launching cyberattacks” (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html?_r=0). According to the report, through on-site agents the NSA has been able to secretly insert tiny circuit boards or USB cards that transmit radio waves. Through those radio waves NSA monitors are not only able to “spy” on the content of those computers, but can also utilize those same waves to launch a crippling attack on the computer system(s) of that nation. The Times observes: “The N.S.A. calls its efforts more an act of ‘active defense’ against foreign cyberattacks than a tool to go on the offensive. But when Chinese attackers place similar software on the computer systems of American companies or government agencies, American officials have protested, often at the presidential level.” And so the revelations of the shadowy world of our government’s surveillance programs continue to unfold. Candidly, who of us would be surprised to discover that a video record of all our waking and sleeping is being kept in some hideaway subterranean fortress! And God? OK, let’s be honest—the Bible is clear that a 24/7 record is being kept somewhere of every inhabitant of this earth. Jesus Himself taught: “‘But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken’” (Matthew 12:36). Somebody’s keeping a rather exhaustive record, wouldn’t you say? “For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). (Which, incidentally, means that the NSA’s covert activities are themselves being recorded on Somebody’s Supercomputer—call it poetic justice!) But what shall we call God? How about our “dearest friend”(Mss 80, 1903). But what kind of a Friend would order 24/7 surveillance? Switch the focus for a moment. What if we had (and we do, you can be sure) an enemy who rants and rails against us 24/7—our phony hypocritical lives, our ad nauseum repeat failures and sins, our utter unChristlikeness? How could you ever silence such an adversary without a 24/7 record? “What do you mean they are fakes and failures? Look at their records! Note how often they have cried out to Me to save them, to forgive them, to empower and strengthen them for living above your deceptive attacks? Look at the record, and let it be shown that in answer to their prayers I have covered them with the spotless robe of My own perfect life!” Trust me—having a 24/7 record when the evil prosecutor is throwing the book at you isn’t bad news—it is very good news! So let the NSA spy on and on. The very dearest Friend you and I have sits on the throne of the universe. And there will be justice meted out one day. But in the meantime, let Mercy’s record show that we have chosen as our Defender (1 John 2:1), our Judge (John 5:22) and our Friend (John 15:14) the Jesus Savior of Calvary. Which makes His 24/7 surveillance the best news of all.

Scientists think they’ve found the secret to our good and bad habits. It has to do with the pleasure-sensing chemical dopamine, coursing up and down our body’s internal highways. Dopamine “conditions the brain to want that reward again and again—reinforcing the connection each time—especially when it gets the right cue from your environment” (South Bend Tribune 1-4-11). For example, you enjoy munching on chips (no doubt a healthful kind). You usually do it before supper, while you’re watching the evening news. (I know the routine well!) Dopamine links your desire for those chips to the environmental stimulus of watching the evening news, and pretty soon your brain’s dopamine-rich striatum region links both activities to a desired reward—pleasurable taste and relaxation. Turn on the news, get hungry for chips—munch some chips, turn on the television. The more repetitions, the stronger the dopamine tie that binds. “‘Why are bad habits stronger? You’re fighting against the power of an immediate reward,’ says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and an authority on the brain’s pleasure pathway. It’s the fudge vs. broccoli choice: Chocolate’s yum factor tends to beat out the knowledge that sticking with veggies brings an eventual reward of lost pounds. ‘We all as creatures are hard-wired that way, to give greater value to an immediate reward as opposed to something that’s delayed,’ Volkow says” (ibid). And the problem is that we tend to overestimate our ability to resist temptations around us, “thus undermining attempts to shed bad habits, says experimental psychologist Loran Nordgren, an assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. ‘People have this self-control hubris, this belief they can handle more than they can,’ says Nordgren, who studies the tug-of-war between willpower and temptation” (ibid). All of which means that establishing good habits and ridding bad habits requires more than simply composing another list of New Year’s resolutions. “Been there—done that.” Based on this AP report of their studies, here are five new routines researchers recommend adding to your good-habits strategy: “Repeat, repeat, repeat the new behavior—the same routine at the same time of day.” Pick a time of day, select an activity, and stick to it. Personal prayer and Bible study first thing the morning. Walking, jogging, working out at the same time each day. The striatum will eventually recognize the new habit and will “reward” you for faithfulness to the new routine, or “disturb” you when you neglect it. “Exercise itself raises dopamine levels,” which means adding this good habit to your routine will raise your feel-good sense of vitality. “Reward yourself with something you really desire.” A new book or a CD or an outfit you’ve been needing reinforces your own intentions to stick to good habit routine. “Stress can reactivate the bad-habit circuitry.” So “chilling out” isn’t such a bad idea when your circuits are on overload. “Cut out the rituals linked to your bad habits.” As the report puts it, “No eating in front of the TV, ever.” But there’s one more strategy science can never measure. It’s your faith-factor. Repeat this dynamite promise from God daily and your striatum will quickly get the message: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Too simple? Hardly! Begin each day in quiet conversation with Him through a story-a-day reading through the Gospels, and you will unite yourself with Christ himself, as you discover for yourself his omnipotent friendship—a power even stronger than dopamine.