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Affection – “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”

This comes from John 19:26-27. What an amazing show of faith we see from Mary standing by the cross. She knew the truth of the resurrection probably more than most, but we still do not see her wailing, wringing her hands, tearing her hair, etc. at the sight of her first-born son suffering. Just a quick note here. Some passages say she stood by the cross and others say far off. Most likely, she was close enough to hear Jesus speak to her and John but then the soldiers moved everyone back. This was part of His suffering as Job’s was (Job 19:13). Because we do not hear of him, we assume her husband, Joseph, has been dead and Jesus had been supporting her. During His entire life, He spoke of serving others more than saving others. Unlike us in pain, He was not so taken up with His own suffering that He forgot His family and friends. He owned nothing so He provided for her through others. When He calls Mary, “Woman”, He makes it clear that she is not His mother any longer. His favorite disciple, John, is now her son. His message is that He was always care for us but when He returned to heaven, it becomes our responsibility to care for each other as He did.

“Woman” in this verse is not a sign of disrespect as it would be if that’s what we called our mothers. If He would have called her “mother”, it would have been a cutting word to her heart. He had to separate them because she was already filled with grief and He could not put more grief on her. Sometimes when God removes one comfort from us, He raises up another where we would not have expected. Next, Christ teaches children to provide, to the utmost of their power, for the comfort of their aged parents.

When He gives John to Mary as her son, it shows the utmost confidence in His disciple. It was an honor given to John and a testimony to his judgment and loyalty. It’s a great honor to be chosen by Christ and entrusted in His interest in the world. John proved himself worthy because he immediately took Mary into his home cheerfully without care of trouble, expense, or obligations to his own family. We must also note that the book of John is the only place we see this occurrence. The other gospels don’t mention it happening at all because John was the only one to stay by Jesus through it all. The other disciples abandoned Him in the garden and Mary’s other children, Jesus’ stepbrothers and stepsisters, never showed. They did have a legal responsibility to care for their mother, but they were not supportive or sympathetic to His ministry.

While on the cross, Jesus only speaks to three humans directly: once regarding forgiveness and once regarding care for widows (others). With eternity from the past and future coming together at this climax, the two things on His mind were the salvation of the sinner and the care of those left behind.

This is not to say John was the only one Jesus trusted. He would later commission His disciples to share the gospel, make more disciples, and teach others all He had commanded. He would tell Peter to “feed My sheep” (John 21:17). To put it in perspective, it’s one thing to ask a friend to finish something you started and another thing to ask them to care for the most important person in your life after you are gone. Knowing all things, Jesus knew that John would be the best person to choose for this job and he would do it happily. He knew where John’s ministry would take him and how long it would last. He also knew that John would outlive the other disciples so he could care for Mary until she passed. Love was at the center of the relationship between Jesus and John and by this action, he proved to be a true brother of Christ. A friend, a follower, and a fisher of men to the very end, John served His Lord by serving those entrusted to his care. A lesson for us all.

Salvation – “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This comes from Luke 23:43. Of the two thieves on the cross with Jesus, one had the same attitude as those who crucified Him. ‘Save your skin and mine; show me a miracle and I’ll believe.’ The other thief saw Jesus for who He really is and what He was doing. He asked Jesus not to save him but to remember him. He did not ask for forgiveness because he knew he was not worthy enough to be saved. But he was wrong. Jesus’ words tell us there is no waiting period after death. No purgatory.

One of the thieves was hardened to the last. He demanded of Jesus as the others on the ground saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” He was in pain and agony also, and knowing he was close to death, it made no difference in his proud spirit. Despite his torture, his wicked heart challenged Jesus to save Himself and them. He had the impudence to rail at Christ and then expect to be saved by Him.

Now here’s something interesting about the other thief. If you look at Matthew 27:44, it says the ‘robbers’ (both of them) reviled Him (Jesus) in the same way. So what happened to the attitude of the one and why the sudden change of heart? Just as he was ready to fall into the hands of Satan, he was snatched up by God’s mercy and grace. This example is a false comfort to many who believe they too can wait until on their deathbed to repent, and all will be well. While repentance is never too late, no one is given the certainty that they will have time to or think to repent when death comes for them. The Father used him as a singular example of the power of Christ’s grace at a time when He was crucified in weakness. Having conquered Satan in the destruction of Judas and the preservation of Peter, He has a further trophy of his victory over death at the conversion of this criminal. Gives you something to think about, doesn’t it?

Let’s look at all he says in Luke 23:40-42. First, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” Usually, people that are in the same bad situation band together and feel a sense of camaraderie. Nothing good comes from insulting people that are in the same boat as you. You don’t kick a man when he’s down. (Pick your idiom.) Second, “And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds…” In this statement, he ‘owns’ the punishment he’s receiving. It’s possible they are suffering for something they did together; hence the ‘we are…our deeds’. They were comrades in sin and suffering then one was taken and the other left. Those that are truly repentant acknowledge the justice of God in the punishment for their sin. “…but this man has done nothing wrong.” Although Christ was condemned in two courts and treated as the worst of sinners, the thief had enough sense to know that Jesus did nothing wrong. “And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” It was the prayer of a dying sinner to a dying Savior. Although Christ was reviled by most around Him, He was honored with prayer to Him. It was the happiness of the thief to pray. It may be that he never prayed before or that he knew he was heard. Where there is life, there is hope and where there is hope, there is room for prayer.

His prayer had so much faith in it as well. He claims Jesus to be Lord and have a kingdom that He rules over and he only asks that Jesus remember him. It’s strange that this criminal could see that Jesus was about to return to His kingdom when all the disciples and others around thought Jesus would die, period, end of sentence. The criminal’s soul asked Jesus to remember him; no more, no less. But Jesus granted so much more. He became one of God’s children that Jesus prepared a place for in the heavenly kingdom. Jesus told him, “I say to you”; I, the Amen, who made all and rules all. “today you will be with me in paradise.” Christ on the cross is the same as Christ on the throne and judgment has come to this man at his death. By saying He was “going to paradise” is assurance for us that His sacrifice was accepted and the Father was pleased with Him. Saying He was going is as true as if it already happened.

We looked at the thieves, now we look at Christ. It was not only humiliation to be crucified, but to be crucified between the two thieves as if He had been the worst of them. The chief went in the middle. While He lived, He was separate from sinners but was placed among them in death because He became sin with us. At His death, He was among the wicked so we at our death, may be among the saints. The public that jeered at Him took it for granted that He could not save Himself so He obviously didn’t have the power that He claimed to have. In reality, He would not save Himself because He would die to save us. They said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself…” (Matthew 27:42). It never occurred to them to wonder why He would not save Himself if He could save others. It must be insinuated then that because He did not save Himself, the saving of others must have just been an illusion.

The conversion of the thief is an example of Christ triumphing over principalities and powers even when they seemed to triumph over Him. Christ was crucified between two thieves and in them represented the different effects the cross of Christ would have on the children of men. We are all guilty before God and the cross brings life to some and death to those who refuse it.

Side note: Many people say that baptism is not necessary for salvation because the criminal was not baptized and went to heaven. Technically, we don’t know much about the criminal or if he was baptized but you have to remember the order things happened. Jesus didn’t give the command for us to baptize until AFTER His resurrection. At the time of His death, when this happened, baptism was not yet a command of God.

The opposition and “attacks” on the institution of marriage previously mentioned might actually be considered something “new under the sun” (pardon me, Ecclesiastes 1:9). What I mean is that in the world of the Early Church, life was full of sexual immorality but it never came to a point that people would question the definition of marriage; at least the Bible doesn’t mention if they did. God sometimes allows chaos to come for His own good purposes. With every heresy that challenged Christ’s church, there is a silver lining. “God’s Word shines brighter through the cross.” For example: Arianism led to the writing of the Nicene Creed, and the medieval papacy led to a clearer articulation of the doctrine of justification. What blessing God will give us through this present turmoil remains to be seen. What’s clear is that the path to seeing this blessing is not in avoiding, but a full engagement of the heresies with the Word of God, repentance, and prayer.

God’s intention was to have the family unit mirror the Holy Trinity. Marriage, life, and family form a unity of three that echoes the reality of God. Those in Christ are of the Bride married to Him (Ephesians 5:25-33); the Father raises the dead and gives life (John 5:21); and together they form God’s family called, gathered, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit always leading us to “hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 8:21). Remember last week when God said it was not good for man to be alone? Mankind was not created for autonomy but for relationships; man for woman and woman for man. Two distinctly different beings in body and mind so that they fit together in order to become one in marriage. Marriage was not an afterthought. Man was created for communion with God and marriage was instituted as an icon of that union.

The other part of this trinity is children. Matrimony comes from the Latin mater (mother) and the suffix monium (an action, state, or condition). It creates the state of motherhood. This later evolved into the word, marriage. Marriage is directly and inseparably, the act where God makes mothers. He creates life. Same-sex couples do not and cannot produce children because children aren’t products even if society views them as such. They aren’t manufactured. They are conceived and born, requiring a man and woman to do so. Can you say ‘BIOLOGY’? But what do children have to do with marriage? Marriage is the one institution that unites fathers and mothers in a way for their benefit and the benefit of any children they have. Those without children are just as married but marriage doesn’t depend on having children, it exists for the children’s relationship with their parents.

(Just a quick note here about one more reason the world is so messed up – antinatalism. Let me break it down, anti-natal-ism. Now you get it. An Indian businessman sued his parents (both lawyers) for giving birth to him without his consent. Antinatalism is a position that argues against procreation because bringing more people into the world subjects them to suffering, death, and risks without their consent. The argument behind the lawsuit was that because his parents gave birth to him for their own pleasure, they should support him financially for life. His mother agreed to consent to it being her fault if he could explain how they could have obtained his consent beforehand. This is different from “wrongful life” lawsuits that are filed against doctors for failing to prevent the birth of a child with severe, foreseeable disabilities.) This is the world we live in.

While Adam slept, God created the object of his love (Eve), and Adam’s self-giving love for her. In the same way, the union of husband and wife expresses and generates love so the egg-sperm union generates both life and a new family member who will love and be loved. The child exists through their love and depends upon it, unconsciously returning their love to them. Remember that God instituted marriage before the fall into sin. This was the Lord’s plan for marriage and family and is not just a band-aid that becomes necessary because of sin. Marriage between a man and woman is a gift of God, given in a sinless world before the fall, while homosexual activity is a manifestation of the fall into sin.

Marriage also has the honor of illustrating the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church. This is important. In present times, marriage is seen as an optional commitment (like three-fourths of the parable) between two people. This makes it easier to see it as a viable plan for two people of the same sex. Homosexuality may have a greater impact on society than other sins but each sin, regardless of severity, deserves eternal condemnation. Hate the sin, not the sinner. When homosexuality is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10, it is among a list of many other types of sins. This goes back to not taking the speck out of someone else’s eye until you take the log out of yours.

Following are a few of the discussion points concerning the sanctity of marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize homosexual marriages (“The Sanctity of Marriage”, written by Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer, Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne).

1. The Supreme Court’s decision changes nothing about our Christian faith. We believe that there is still a higher court and that Christ will be our final Judge. As Christians, we obey the government (Romans 13), but we recognize that our greatest allegiance is to God and His Word, and that in matters of conscience, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

5. We are all called to repentance. As a people, we have not treated marriage with the respect that it deserves. Divorce is far too common among us, and too often we condone and support even our fellow Christians as they live together outside of wedlock. Knowing that we cannot rely upon worldly wisdom, we are called to hear and reflect upon God’s Word and once more come to Him for forgiveness.

8. The Court has been wrong before. In the Dred Scott decision, African Americans were counted as less than human. In Roe v. Wade, the rights of the littlest children were ignored leading to the deaths of 57 million children. The Supreme Court, like any human institution, is prone to error. As Christians, we recognize that there is a higher, heavenly court and that God’s Word does not change. We also recognize that unjust decisions must be challenged for the good of our neighbor.

9. …Traditional marriage discriminates against no one. The real discrimination will come against those who hold fast to God’s Word.

10. Same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue. Whether you are black or white makes no difference, but men and women are different biologically, psychologically, and emotionally. From our differences, new life comes into the world, and with our complementary differences, we are best able to support and nurture the next generation.

14. So called “gay marriage” is not the end of the debate but only the beginning. There is now no consistent logical argument against polygamy, group marriage, or temporary marriage. Such arguments, once thought to be extreme, are now commonplace. In the midst of such confusion, the Church must continue to speak the truth in love.

17. As Christians, we are called to be faithful to Christ, our Bridegroom. The days ahead will be trying and our faith will be tested. The world will call us haters and we will be mocked and ridiculed (John 15:18-25). Yet, even in the midst of persecution, Jesus calls us to rejoice, saying, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12). As Christians, we will listen to the Good Shepherd, knowing that His words are faithful and true.

What does all this mean? While we stand on the side of God, ready to suffer ridicule and mockery, let’s also be prepared to provide a clear and reasoned response to those who mock us.

Being at a loss, yet again, for a topic, I turn to my Bible. It opens to Jeremiah 24 which is Jeremiah’s vision of figs. You see, there are many times that God and Jesus used everyday life to explain about faith, guide us in the right direction, and help us understand what we could, or would, not. Parables are a great way of going about this but in Bible times, visions worked as well. I suppose it’s why most pastors start a sermon with everyday life and then link it to God. They’re just following God’s example of the best way to get through to us. Here is a vision we don’t hear of very often; the two baskets of figs.

To get a better understanding, I’ll start at the beginning with captivity. God used Babylon as His agent of judgment against Israel for their sin of idolatry and rebellion against Him. The time of captivity is mentioned in many books of the Bible, so the different sections can be difficult to piece together. They were exiled to Babylon in three waves covering a period of about 70 years. The first wave included Daniel (605 BC), the second, King Jehoiachin (597 BC); and the final was after the Temple was destroyed (586 BC) leading to the desolation of the city. It ended about 536 BC. This vision comes during the second wave.

This time, Nebuchadnezzar took not only officials but also craftsmen and artisans. This could be because they had too many astrologers and stargazers but few craftsmen with skills like this, or it’s because they didn’t want to leave them there. After all, they might be used to fortify the city or make weapons of war. After they leave, God explains His plan to Jeremiah by showing him two baskets of figs in front of the temple door. One basket had perfectly ripe fruit while the other had figs so rotten, they were inedible. The good fruit represented the people that had just been taken away into captivity. God promised to look after them, build them up, and bring them back one day. They would know God better and become closer to Him because of what He had done. The shock of their captivity would wake them up so they would see their sin and repent.

The bad figs represented the people left in Jerusalem and those who thought they would escape to Egypt. They thought they had God’s approval because they were still in their homeland while the others were punished with exile. Their decision then was to continue in their evil ways and trust Egypt to save them from Babylon instead of God. Instead of escaping trouble though, Jeremiah tells them they will come to a humiliating and horrible end.

This story reminds me of the many times that God gave me what I asked for just so He could show me the error of my ways. Instead of asking for His advice and guidance before-hand, I knew what I needed. Well, that guy I had a crush on finally asked me out and I said “no”. Four months later, I met my husband. Two jobs I worked hard for and waited to get, led me to nervous breakdowns; one after 6 months, the other by the second day. We can’t determine God’s love or His purpose for us by what is in front of us. Sometimes that suffering is what we need and proves to be the best thing for us. Parents know the sooner the child is corrected, the better effect it’s likely to have. Psalm 119:67, 71 says it very well, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”

I believe every generation fondly remembers ‘the good ol’ days’. But life has never been perfect here. Those memories are individually chosen as the best and the worst are forgotten in time. As bad as we have things now, it’s easy to believe that we are being punished or are ‘in exile’ from life as we want it or remember it. Today, like it was then, our suffering will prove to be what’s best for us. The captivity they had was for their benefit and the things we go through today can be worked by God for our benefit as well. After all, one day our children will most likely remember today as a ‘good old day’. Who are we to say it’s not?

I was finally able to see the movie, “The War Room”. It was one of the most powerful movies I’ve seen in a long time. The qualities they emphasized were fight, prayer, and patience. We’ve all heard the Bible verse that “the devil prowls like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour” 1 Peter 5:8. What we don’t remember is that this happens DAILY. Because we don’t physically see him and our days go pretty much as expected, we rarely think about it. What we more often focus on is how the people around us get on our nerves and how unfair life is.

The movie centers around a couple, Elizabeth and Tony, their daughter, and Ms. Clara. Elizabeth is a real estate agent trying to sell Ms. Clara’s home and gets more than she bargained for in the process. She and Tony are each fighting personal battles by day and fighting with each other by night. This is also destroying their daughter, needless to say. Clara’s faith moves her to help Elizabeth and asks her to write down everything wrong with Tony. 3 pages later, Clara stops her to ask one question. “Does he deserve grace? Does she?” We ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God but by His mercy, we all receive grace because of Jesus dying for each of us. Pastors have told me this my entire life but when I heard an old woman say it, it hit deeper in my heart than it ever had. Tony was not her problem as she believed him to be. The real problem was that Elizabeth was fighting Tony instead of the real enemy. Every day is a new fight. “If I were you, I would get my heart right with God. And you need to do your fighting in prayer! And you need to kick the real enemy out of your home with the word of God.” – Ms. Clara.

Clara had a closet she turned into a war room. The walls were covered with Bible passages with special meaning and prayers for individual people in her life. Among these pages of prayers for people were personal prayers like: “Raise up those that love you and seek you and trust you.” “Lord, we need a generation of believers who are not ashamed of the gospel.” “I pray for unity among those that love you; I pray that you open their eyes so that they see your truth.” “Raise up a generation Lord that will take light into this world...that will not compromise under pressure.” “Raise up warriors who will fight on their knees and worship you with their whole hearts.” “Lord, call us to battle!” It puts a fire in you to make your own war room but let’s face it, have you ever heard of a lived-in home with an empty closet? No. We are people of ‘stuff’.

Step 1: Fight. We don’t need to fight each other because the real enemy is Satan. He tells us lies and stretches out our imagination to see the worst of each situation. He invades our homes and does his best to keep us from focusing on God. This is how Elizabeth begins to fight. “I don't know where you are, Devil, but I know you can hear me. You have played with my mind and had your way long enough! No more! You are done! Jesus is the Lord of this house, and that means there's no place for you here anymore! So take your lies, your schemes, and your accusations and get out in Jesus' name! You can't have my marriage, you can't have my daughter and you sure can't have my man! This house is under new management and that means you are out! And another thing, I am so sick of you stealing my joy, but that's changing too. My joy doesn't come from my friends, it doesn't come from my job, it even doesn't come from my husband. My joy is found in Jesus, and just in case you forgot, he has already defeated you, so go back to Hell where you belong and leave my family alone!” Amen.

Step 2: Prayer. How often do we automatically pray for our children or parents but forget our spouse? They need prayer every bit as much as anyone else. If your marriage isn’t the way you want it, pray for them. Ask God to enter their heart so they can live the life that God wanted for them. Pray for their faith to grow, their will to fight evil be strengthened, and show in their actions the love they have for God. The more you pray, the more you think about adding to your prayers. God wants to know everything so make a list if you need it. Write down Bible passages that give you strength and fortify your faith. They don’t need to be on a closet wall but they need to be handy for when you pray. I confess that I often fall asleep while praying. When I found this post in Pinterest (Do you ever feel guilty about falling asleep while praying? Let me ask you this, how do you feel when a child falls asleep in your arms? Glad we settled that. Love, your Heavenly Father) it gave me some comfort but I’m still working on staying awake just to get everybody on the list.

Let’s take this a little more seriously. What is the real value of prayer? First of all, prayer changes us. More than just the outcome of the situation in front of us, it changes our relationship with God. Psalm 31 is a prayer for deliverance to deepen our relationship by asking God to hear us and rescue us. What it does not ask is a change to the situation being faced. It’s more important to be connected to God and become more peaceful and accepting rather than to win the lotto. Secondly, it aligns us with the will of God. God wants us to have serenity, courage and wisdom – regardless of the challenges we face. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Finally, prayer is work. It deepens our empathy and puts us in a place where God can change us and lead us to action we can take. Our prayers become a means by which God does good for others.

Step 3: Patience. My other favorite line in the movie is to ‘give it all to God, confess what you did wrong and tell Him what you want and then get out of God’s way and let Him work.’ That takes a special kind of patience because we must trust in God’s plan and endure difficult circumstances with faith. Any delays are all part of the divine timetable. Having patience for God means an active endurance; an active, faith-filled endurance that perseveres through difficulties, opposition and stress without worrying. ‘without worrying’ is the difficult, but not impossible, part here because we don’t know God’s time-table. Patience is definitely an expression of trust and faith and can bring us closer to God. It means giving it all to Him and then letting go and act like everything is fine. Sometimes, I write down things I can’t handle and put them in a box with a lid. Closing that lid is putting it in God’s hands so I don’t have to think about it anymore. Delays happen, annoyances happen, but if we use these times to focus on learning more about God, it puts our focus where it belongs instead of on ourselves.

This was an amazing movie and I strongly recommend seeing it if you haven’t yet. I didn’t watch through the credits but I learned that if God wasn’t listed as a co-producer, He should have been. Following are behind-the-scenes happenings during the making of this movie.

In the park scene, Danielle is seen feeding a squirrel. This squirrel was actually an answer to prayer, the script called for one, but there were none on the site. So they prayed for one and when they were ready, it came. In the audio commentary, Alex Kendrick say's "We prayed 'GOD we need one squirrel'. And when we had all the cameras ready, here comes one squirrel, comes right down the tree, we film those few seconds, we got it, and then the squirrel took off, never saw it again".

The building used as Clara’s house was one that they came across just two weeks before starting. It was owned by a Pastor who let them rent it for a month. He had been trying to sell it for 9 months, but hadn't had much luck. He was very gracious to them, so they prayed that GOD would sell it for him. The day they finished shooting, a couple showed up, fell in love with the house, made an offer and it sold.

The man who's seen praying in the sunset at the very end had been praying for the city of Charlotte for 20 years so they decided to use him for the scene.

Last year, during a particularly rough bout of food poisoning, I was flipping the channels through daytime TV looking for something to take my mind off the pain. I happened upon a lecture given by Dr. Jerry Root from the C.S. Lewis Institute on The Screwtape Letters. Having already read the book, I was intrigued by a behind-the-scenes view as it were.

Let’s begin with the concept of hell. In the book, “Barchester Towers” by Anthony Trollope, it reads, “Only the preacher can compel people to sit still while being tortured.” Teachers can also do this by holding grades over the student’s heads but when you think about it, it’s difficult to communicate something to someone without being manipulative or discretely driving them to the conclusion you want. Lewis stands by us, shoulder to shoulder, and speaks of something in front of us. He eventually moves away so we are still enthralled by what is in front of us.

On August 29, 1979, Pioneer 11 was the first robotic spacecraft to take photos of Saturn and its rings. They discovered that Saturn has an outer ring, called the F-ring, and it’s braided. Although no human eye had ever seen it, God chose to braid it. Physicists have many different answers as to why it’s this way but maybe He just braided it for the picture. I have the same theory about dinosaur bones. Scientists age them at 45-90 million years old but I say God could have just put them there for the fun of it. One star should be enough to give us wonder over the marvels of God. But God went further and gave us millions of stars and moons and shooting stars, etc. It’s easy to worship God for the amazing, wonderful things but can we also worship God for the difficult things like AIDS babies in Africa or hurricanes in Haiti? Lewis said, “If our religion is something objective then we must never avert our eyes from those elements in it which seem puzzling or even repellent…for it is precisely the puzzling or the repellent which conceals what we do not yet know and need to know.” Truth is complex. Even the doctrine of hell needs to be something that if we look at it properly, should lead to some type of worship and adoration of God. There are mysteries but we should not play the mystery card too quickly. Some things will always be beyond our reach but we should still make the effort to reach out to understand. Even in hell, we see that there’s an occasion for redeemed souls to worship. (Rev. 19:1-3)

Lewis’ theology of hell: The fact that God made creatures with capacity for real choices makes something like hell possible and perhaps necessary. The Bible says God has the hairs of our head numbered which means He knows less and less of some of us every day. (Joke) We live in a stable universe and sometimes we come in conflict with those things and we blame God. Example: you open a cupboard door and something falls out, you bend over to pick it up and hit your head on the still open door you forgot about. The cupboard door has no reason to close but we blame God for our sore head. If God removes the consequences from the use of free will, He also removes free will. If God makes creatures of free will, then there are going to be consequences and hell is a possible consequence. The existence of hell and doctrine of hell reveals that it’s possible for us to make damn fools of ourselves forever. We’re quick to blame God and let the people off the hook who are suffering consequences for their actions. Hell is God’s last service to those who will let Him do nothing better for them. It’s the last, greatest expression of God’s love to people who will accept Him on no other terms. Hell is hell, not from it’s own point of view, but from the heavenly point of view. We are horrified by the thought of hell but the people that are there don’t want God and don’t want to owe their lives to Him.

“The Screwtape Letters” is a collection of 31 letters from Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew, Wormwood, a novice tempter, He offers his unending advice on how to corrupt a human soul. It’s a unique perspective on morality and temptation from the viewpoint of evil, revealing how demons use subtle tactics like distraction, flattery, and self-pity to lead their “patients” away from Christianity and toward sin. The letters detail Screwtape’s advice on exploiting human weaknesses and subtly twisting virtues, ultimately aiming to secure the soul for Hell. Lewis uses a form of satire here that reminds himself that the author is part of the problem. I’ve certainly worked for people like that. They give you constant advice on how to do your job. If it works favorably, they accept the credit, if not, you didn’t follow their instructions. Maybe that’s why I can somewhat connect to what’s happening. It’s also a kind of lop-sided story because we are only told one side. Not just the senior tempter to the junior but the evil side. To balance, a complete version would also include a senior angel writing to a nephew, guardian angel. This can’t be done however because every sentence would smell of heaven and the writing would be too perfect to fit in our sinful world as it is today.

One of the most dominant themes is Screwtape trying to woo his patient, through Wormwood, into this swollen sense of self into pride. Each of these 31 letters contains one to three themes: Pride, Rationalization of Evil, and Temptations of the Flesh. Pride transforms prayer into idolatry. Have you ever had a perfectly pure motive for anything you’ve done? Another piece of advice by Screwtape is that if you can’t cure a person of going to church, send them all around so they become a connoisseur of churches. The search for a suitable church makes the man a critic when God wants him to be a pupil. If you don’t enjoy going to church because they don’t sing the hymns you want to sing, your pride keeps you from hearing what God wants you to know. There are two kinds of evil people; the worst of evil people are religious people – the quicker I am to die for my faith, the quicker I am to kill for my faith. The other evil people are those paint the words of God with their own opinions. “And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,’ when the LORD has not spoken” Ezekiel 22:28

Screwtape advises to keep the patient in a party church where he can join a party which rejects others without reason. Subtlety dismissing them because they are not affiliated with the right party. Men and women go through ‘the laws of undulation’, peaks or glorious moments when we fly through life and troughs when we feel we trudge through quicksand. Pride directs us to determine reality from the perspective of the current peak or descending trough. Such perspective makes man the center of his world. Rather than peaks leading to worship and troughs leading to perseverance, Screwtape advises to make him long for everything to be smooth sailing. Then, when the disappointments come, let them draw him away from God.

In addition to pride, a lot is said about free will. As a human, free will is our greatest weakness (we can easily choose what is evil) and our greatest strength (when we choose God above all earthly things, we receive a great reward from our heavenly Father.) In the second letter, Screwtape speaks about God’s use of free will, “Desiring their freedom, He (God) therefore refuses to carry them, by their mere affections and habits, to any of the goals which He sets before them (us): He leaves them to “do it on their own”. And there lies our opportunity. But also, remember, there lies our danger. If once they get through the initial dryness successfully, they become much less dependent on emotion and therefore much harder to tempt.”

C.S. Lewis has this to say about demons: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” By writing about devils in a light, and comic tone, Lewis presents them as petty, obnoxious, and sometimes clumsy. In doing so, he shows us the reality of the demonic influence but presents them in a way in which we will not become afraid or over-concerned about their involvement in our lives.

In the 8th letter, Screwtape expands on the difference between the opposing sides and differences between what God and the devil want for us. “He (God) really does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself – creatures, whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His… We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world full of beings united to Him but still distinct.”

Rather than worry about how others perceive you, we can find comfort in learning how God perceives us as His child. The Screwtape Letters holds a mirror up to our faces so we see ourselves as we really are. A mirror of scorn and pity. Scorn because of our fallenness, pity because of the dignity of having been made in the image of God and yet so deficient in that area, yet hopeful because we can move toward growth in Christ. We are not bodies with a soul. We are souls that have a body. The soul is our true self and cannot be lost from the body. When we die, our soul goes to God and our body is left behind. There’s a Japanese proverb that says, “What sound does rain make?” and of course the answer is that it doesn’t make any sound until it hits something, an umbrella, a hat, a puddle. So what sound does grace make? It doesn’t make any sound until it hits something: a broken heart, a deep-seated fear and insecurity, an estranged relationship. Listen...wait for it…..it’s not coming, it’s here.

1 John 4:1-3 reads, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.”

In these passages, John speaks about false prophets whose teaching comes from spiritual deception. It’s also a good practice to use when hearing from your pastor. I'm not saying they are false prophets, but questioning them gives you a better understanding; and a better understanding of God is a good defense against the devil. For example, way back when, I was told that the Nephilim (NEH-fuh-luhm) were wicked, giant men that came from evil angels and human women having relations. I know, because I wrote it down but I didn’t write down where I heard it. I also hear this explanation on television so now I KNOW I got it wrong. All these years, I was told a falsehood and only recently realized it. This topic has nothing to do with our salvation but the knowledge may help in future questions.

The Bible says in Genesis 6:4, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” So, the sons of God and daughters of men. What does this mean? We have to go back even further in Genesis. 4:14 describes Cain’s punishment for killing his brother. He is driven away from God and his face shall be hidden. We know this happened because when the generations of Adam are given in Chapter 5, Abel is not listed because he’s dead and Cain’s not listed because he had to leave the presence of the Lord. Now, another word for those who leave God is, unbeliever. Cain definitely knew God was real but he and his future generations were not part of those under God. So, the “Sons of God” were children of Adam and “daughters of men” were children of Cain. (Side note here: sons doesn’t mean necessarily just male. There could have been daughters of God and sons of man but it’s listed as son because as we learned from Adam, the man should know better.) Over time, the two groups became more friendly with each other proving that when you give into temptation, sin happens. The children of these two groups were called Nephilim. Again in Genesis 6:4 it describes them as ‘mighty men who were of old, the men of renown’. Mighty “MEN”, so not part angel. Their mistake of intermarriage is brought up again in 2 Corinthians 6:14 which says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

That settles that but we need to dig deeper. There are many words and phrases in the Bible that have different meanings depending on their context. This is one of the most important reasons you can’t just pick and choose verses to mean what you want. For example, ark could mean the ship that Noah built or it could mean the Ark of the Covenant. Two completely different things. How about lion? In 1 Peter 5:8, Satan is described as a lion that roars and goes about looking for someone to devour. In Genesis 49:8-10, Jesus is described as a Lion of Judah, powerful ruler, majestic, strength, and kingship.

The same can go for the term, sons of God. In the book of Job, the term is not used the same as in Genesis. Here, the sons of God refer to the holy ones (angels). So how can you be sure they are not the same? Two words: the flood. After the passages about the Nephilim, God begins preparations for the flood. The only people that survived said flood were 8 people, Noah and his family. All of the Nephilim that had been born, died in the flood. No more Nephilim. In Matthew 5:9, sons of God are the peacemakers. In Luke 20:36, they are not angels but equal to angels. In Galatians 3:26, all those with faith are sons of God. Do you see what I mean? Context.

In addition to context, you have to think. After all, people in the Bible were just like us; at times, easily excitable and prone to exaggeration. I’m referring to the other time Nephilim were mentioned in Numbers 13:25-33. Moses and Aaron had sent Caleb and others to the promised land to spy it out. When they returned, Caleb told Moses they were more than able to take over the land. However, some of the other men went among the rest of the people and said the land ‘devours its inhabitants’ but yet all the spies came back with none being devoured. They said, “all the people are of great height” and “we saw the Nephilim and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Well, we know there are no more Nephilim (duh, flood) and we must remember the Jewish men at that time were an average of five feet tall. While today, the average basketball player is 6’6”, it’s easy to see how a five foot man would feel like a grasshopper. The tall men there were said to be sons of Anak. Anak was not a Nephilim but was most likely a very tall man and so were his descendants. When Joshua drove them out of the promised land in Joshua 11:21-22, it’s written that a few remained in Gath and Ashdod. In 1 Samuel 17, we see that the Goliath that went up against David was from Gath and was anywhere from 6’9” to 9’9”. Quite a gap, I know, but suffice it to say, he was tall.

This battle between David and the Philistines carried on for quite a while. In 2 Samuel 21, we see more battles between the two forces and 4 giant Philistines were defeated including a man with 6 fingers. No, it’s not Count Rugan in the Princess Bride but giants? 6 fingers? Your mind naturally goes there. I hope you find this information as interesting as I did. It’s just another lesson to dig, dig, and keep digging. We’ll never learn it all but we can try.

It’s still winter but spring will be coming and with it, spring cleaning. It may be too early to think about cleaning but I’m only focusing on one kind, the mental cleaning. My problem is not my home but my mind. It’s so cluttered and confused that I can’t remember, can’t focus, can’t concentrate, can’t decide, can’t sleep, etc. All in all, it’s not a great way to start a new year. Most people I talk to have the same problem so I thought I’d look into ways to fix it without drugs or counseling. I’m not saying this is guaranteed to work, but it costs nothing to try. (Note: this is a long one so if you have no stress and confusion in your life, you can skip it.)

Naturally there are many verses in the Bible that are meant to bring comfort but it’s been my experience that I can read some verses and they have no impact now but if I read the same one 3 months from now, it stays in my heart longer. It just depends on when you need to hear it. The entire Bible is given to us for comfort and instruction but the Holy Spirit organizes when you need to hear which. I say this because if you don’t feel comfort from verses I have listed, don’t be disappointed; you just didn’t have to hear it right now. Don’t give up. Needless to say, I don’t have all the verses for help and comfort listed here. There are many more and part of your healing may involve looking for them yourself.

Question: What is a mental clutter? A cluttered mind is a state where excessive and overwhelming thoughts, worries, or concerns fill your mind to the point you can’t make a decision, focus, sleep, or feel at peace. It shows itself as excessive worrying, over-analyzing, decision fatigue, and obsessive thinking. Research indicates that clutter, both physical and mental forces the brain’s attention to constantly decide what to tune out and what to concentrate on. We are bombarded with information at a constant rate from the second we wake up until we try to fall asleep. Notifications come through fast and often on our devices and the news cycle is relentless. This leads to reduced productivity and that annoying feeling that you’ve worked all day and done nothing. Studies have shown that mind clutter increases mind overload which can reduce your memory, impair your processing and decision-making. It also leads to not being able to turn off your mind when you try to sleep.

Let me break it down for you. I mentioned decision fatigue earlier, do you know what that is? Have you ever stood in front of your closet and think you have nothing to wear? Have you stood in front of your fridge like a penguin in a blizzard? Do you end up picking up fast food because you get tired just thinking of what to cook? These behaviors are all signs of decision fatigue. You are so tired of making decisions that your brain just shuts down, which often leads to poor decisions.

Everyone deals with mental clutter to some extent but having it go to extremes is not the way we were meant to live.

‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

The solution is to get in the habit of doing things that declutter your brain. Following are tips to try. You don’t have to do them all, just choose the ones that will work for you.

1. Brain dump – grab a notebook and pencil and start a list. Empty your head onto the page. Don’t worry about order or spelling or how important you think it is. If it’s something your mind is thinking of, it needs to be written down so you don’t have to remember any longer. Once everything is in black and white, sort out the list. If it’s something you can get done quickly, do it and get it over so you can mark it off. Prioritize what’s left and add to your calendar if it’s a task. If it’s something you can’t control but are waiting for someone else to do, writing it down will help remove it from your memory tape. Add to the list as the week goes on. When the next week starts, make a new list and transfer anything left from the week before. Seeing it written down by your side helps your mind to realize the effort of that memory is not needed.

2. Journal – I did this in high school and it was unbelievable. I started with a legal pad and wrote it as a letter to a family member, telling them everything that happened to me and how I felt about it. No one read it but me. After one year, I was just into my fourth legal pad. Each time I wrote, it felt like a weight was lifted from me. Another trick that helped me was when I was in elementary school. I would be angry with my parents for something and I’d write it all out. Why I was angry and what should have happened. I then put the note on their pillow so they’d see it when they went to bed. When I heard them pull up in the driveway after work, I’d run to their room, grab the note, tear it up and trash it. They never saw the notes but I felt so much better being able to write it out of my system.

3. Talk – if you’re a verbal processor, talking it out can declutter your mind. It can bring clarity to your feelings by having to put them into words. Talking through a difficult conversation can help you better express yourself and talking through a difficult memory can bring closure. BUT the person you talk to needs to be safe. They must be a good listener and respect your confidentiality. You don’t want someone to tell you what to do or solve your problems for you but just listen and maybe ask a question to get you to see another perspective you hadn’t thought of.

4. Solitude – When was the last time you had quiet. Absolute quiet. TV off, phone on mute, no radio in the car, etc. gives your mind time to decompress. Thoughts and feelings that pop up during this time might be painful occasionally but they must be dealt with. Taking time to untangle the knots of our crowded thoughts can bring peace once again.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

5. Exercise – Physical exercise releases hormones that combat stress. Even just walking when overwhelmed can give you a chance to “step back” and re-organize your priorities.

6. Craft – During the COVID lockdowns, there was a renewal of the crafts of yesteryear, crocheting, painting, macrame, knitting, etc. Keeping your fingers busy with repetitive tasks while letting your mind wander is good for you. If you don’t feel creative, there’s always shelling peas and cracking pecans.

7. Transition – We live in a world that jumps from one thing to another without time for transition. If you can make time to pause between projects, you can reflect, celebrate wins, grieve losses, or just process what happened before you start something else.

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) Don’t take this the wrong way. We think we can keep going non-stop because God will give us the strength. Even God rested.

8. Turn off the news – They never have anything good to say and the tragedies in the world just add to our stress. We don’t need all the details. If you want to watch the top stories, fine, then turn it off. If something significant happens, someone will let you know.

9. Limit social media – Some aspects of social media are good but there are also a lot of angry people out there spreading misinformation.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

10. Technology – we can’t live without technology like our great-grandparents did but it’s easy to get too much of a good thing. Too much tech is not good for our minds or bodies. You set limits for your children with screen time, do yourself a favor and give yourself limits also. Be flexible but be wise as well.

I hope somewhere in this list you can find something that helps you.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil – this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

(Quick side note: After writing this blog, I had several weeks of stress, high blood pressure, etc. Could not turn my brain off to save my life. It’s a woman thing. (Ref: Book titled: “Men are waffles, Women are spaghetti”) It’s a book that explains how the minds of men and women work differently. Men compartmentalize while women’s thoughts look like a plate of spaghetti with each strand (thought) fighting to be on top. I was obsessed. I couldn’t think straight to save my life. “What I need to do next week”, “Can I file my taxes correctly?”, “This topic may never come up but IF it does, this is what I need to remember to answer it”, “I need a doctor but I don’t want to know what she’ll say”, etc. etc. etc. I finally gave up trying and collapsed on my knees, crying, and prayed for help. The next morning, I woke up feeling different. The best way I can describe it is that I have two brains; one in front and one in back. The front brain works as usual; I remember my work passwords, I know what I’m making for dinner, etc. The back brain that usually rambles on non-stop….was quiet. Complete silence after weeks and weeks of rambling. I’m writing this to let you know that prayer does work and God WILL take care of you in the way you need Him to.)

Prayer is the strongest force on earth when spoken and acted upon in agreement with God’s will. Prayer changes things because God releases His supernatural power when He sees you taking strategic action by faith. Something to think about when uncluttering.