I love sleep.  In spite of my nagging sciatica and the initial annoyance of my breathing machine for sleep apnea, I can usually get to sleep quickly and stay asleep.  At the beginning of my senior years, however, I have started waking a few times during the night — surprisingly, not to go to the bathroom!

Our bodies are designed (yes, I said it) to take breaks at least once in a 24-hour cycle. Our muscles relax, our heart rate slows down and we dream — or not.  Of course, that late night meal puts the heart on overtime, sending needed blood to the stomach for third shift food digestion.

I think what I like best about sleep is that it provides a necessary respite from the physical and psychological rigors of the day.  Someone once said, “Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night.” Scottish author George MacDonald believed that sleep was God’s way of developing our spiritual journey, likening it to death, in which we shake free this mortal garment and deal with greater matters of heart and soul.

The Bible speaks of patriarchs and prophets who received messages from God while asleep or in a sleep-like trance.  Jesus, on the otherhand, used sleeping hours to catch up on news from home, conversing through the night with his heavenly Father. We see him sleeping most soundly in a boat while a storm is raging.

So is sleep relegated to the earthly realm?  Will it not be necessary on the other side? We’re taught that God doesn’t sleep because he’s got the whole world in his hands.  If he nods off, then catastrophes happen.  Wait, catastrophes do happen.  What’s up with that?  And if God did sleep, what would he dream about?  If he and Jesus talked all night, maybe he doesn’t have to sleep.

I think that the real issue is not whether God is asleep, but rather God IS sleep.  Sleep is synonymous with an eternal rest, eternity being a state of mind instead of a time frame.  Hebrews 4 identifies a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.  Not to press the point of a literal 6-day creation effort, but God rested from his labor; we are designed to rest from ours.

The Hebrews passage, however, goes beyond the concept of physical rest.  It speaks more of a spiritual rest, and it states that disobedience will interrupt that rest.  Sleep, then, has not only a physical application, but is symbolically representative of the dealings of the mind, an other-wordly existence.  Another unknown source said, “A conscience is like a baby.  It has to go to sleep before you can.”

If God does sleep, I’m glad he doesn’t snore.  Then none of us would get any sleep. 

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Matthew 16:27

I’m not so sure any more when this event will happen. It sounds like an official closing out of history, with Jesus sorting everything out and judging those of us who are still standing on That Day.

I’m less concerned about the when and where as I am about the what. What kind of reward will it be? What do I have to do to get one? What happens to me if I don’t merit a reward? Why are most Christians down on works, when this certainly seems like the basis on which we get the rewards?

What I can get from the verse, however, is that he wants us to be found doing good. His Spirit (Christ/God) within us reminds us daily what is good and what we can personally do about it. This is called obedience. God doesn’t want a disobedient child. Nor does he want an apathetic child. He wants an active child, who goes about doing his Father’s business.

It seems to me that the active Christian life consists of three things. First, we must have an open line to God. Along with brief “Thank You’s” and “Help Me’s” throughout the day, we should consciously plan a quiet time to be with Him and to share whatever is laid upon our heart. If there is nothing to share, then we should just listen. His Spirit will pray for us.

Secondly, we should obey. God is constantly telling us what we should embrace and what we should avoid. We must always be aware that Pride is the greatest enemy of perfect obedience.

Overall, we must love. We are to look upon creation as He sees it. What he has made is very good, even though it is often tainted with evil. He plans the redemption of everything. We must help Him in this work. That’s what obedient children do.

I’ve been hitting the public library a lot more lately.  I found that you can check out movies and keep them for four days, and I also have increased my reading activity. While looking for a specific non-fiction title, I came across a little gem by Oliver “Buzz” Thomas called 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can’t Because He Needs The Job).

Clearly an out-of-the-box theologian, Rev. Thomas makes some pithy observations about life, love and the role of the church in bringing the real Jesus to light.  Here are some of his thoughts, as well as my own.

Consider again the question of origins.  If, for example, scientists are able to take us back to a big bang, nagging questions remain.  Why did it all happen in the first place?  For what purpose?  What does it all mean?  How should we then live?  Only the philosophers and theologians can help us there.

I don’t believe that scientists are out to prove that God doesn’t exist.  But over-zealous Christians are out to prove that scientists are wrong on any scenario that doesn’t fit with their own biblical view.

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If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:31, 32

How many who declare themselves as followers of Christ really follow him? How well do I follow him? It is not enough to merely know about him; we must know him. Even in our daily lives, when we want to get to know someone, we must spend time with them, question them and allow them to enter into our space.

Whether we choose to accept it or not, we all have a tendency to follow someone. This is because we are influenced by their words and lives. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if the one being followed is an example of the truth. The Apostle Paul challenges us to imitate him because of his way of life in Christ. Jesus tells us to follow him so that we can learn about his Father and our Father.

A clear warning exists to not blindly follow someone who maintains a “truth” that is unverifiable or makes no sense. Depending on the character of the person, we may trust what they say about themselves. But we must weigh carefully what they say about heavenly matters. They may also interpret the Bible in a way that doesn’t quite track with common sense. Especially beware of new “revelations.”

Jesus’ teaching was clear and concise. It was the perfect guidebook for living this life. When we accept and follow this truth, then we are free to share what is in our hearts. He gave his life to get this message to us. We must devote ours to pass the message on.

Evolve is such an interesting word.  Evolve involves change, adaptation, development and a whole bunch of other things.  But tell someone that they might have evolved from monkeys, and whoa, Nellie!  Them’s fightin’ words!  Many in the Christian community are openly offended when our public schools allow scientific theories over religious theories in their textbooks.  Sometimes even school boards split over such issues.

In 2004 some of the school board members (We’ll call them ID’s for Intelligent Design) in Dover, Pennsylvania became concerned with the (in their opinion) overwhelming references to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution in their science books.  They felt that God — make that the intelligent designer — should have equal time, especially since the students were already God-fearing kids.  Other board members (some of them churchgoers) disagreed (We’ll call them Darwinians) and took the position that, while they personally believed in God and all, it would be wrong to introduce anything other than scientific data in the classroom, thereby upholding the separation of church and state mandate.

The ID-ers proceeded to read statements in the science classes, saying that, as Darwin’s Theory was just a theory, then the kids ought to be aware that there may be other explanations to the beginning of life.  Also, a bunch of alternative school books showed up, called Of Pandas and People, giving just such an explanation.  The books were donated by an unknown source.

Anway, artwork was trashed, lives were threatened, words were slung and school board meetings were finally becoming interesting.

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If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 14:23

What a wonderful teaching! What an amazing arrangement! We simply do what he tells us, and we have complete fellowship with the God of the universe. The teacher is Jesus. His teacher is God. We are the student-children that he has created.

As I see it, there are at least two areas of teaching that we should address. One is the instruction that we receive from the Bible. While the teachings of Christ in the Gospels are of primary importance, we must also glean spiritual truths from both the Old Testament writings, as well as the New Testament letters. Even though much of scripture is clouded by human manipulation, we can still dig out gems of truth from the human experience.

Secondly, we must listen to the voice within us — and follow. God begins with the simple instructions, like “sweep the floor” or “give a hug.” As we become more comfortable with these brief commands, he adds greater truths and broader revelations. Jesus said, “To him who has, will be given more.”

As easy as it sounds, it is certainly not free from obstacles. Like our pride. Or our enemy, the Devil. We may often be swallowed up in confusion, rather than having clear direction. When this comes, and it will, we must do as Peter did, who wanted to walk on water, but began to sink. We must not take our eyes off of Jesus. Instead, we should reach out, and take his hand.

Listen to his voice. Do what he says. Experience the joy of obedience. Only then can we be at home with the Father.

We have a new president in the U.S., and I’ve been watching closely his actions the first couple of weeks in office.  Even though I didn’t vote for him, I certainly don’t want him to fail, because if the country loses, I lose.  I have observed, however, two thrusts of rhetoric right out of the starting gate.  One is a boasting of change (a campaign promise), supported by an immediate reversal of any administration policy set in place by the former “dreaded” Republican president.  Second is a complaint against partisan politics, like we didn’t have the same problem with the Democratic Congress under a Republican president.

Then I got to thinking how the many denominations within Christianity practice party politics for the sake of doctrine.  Unlike Congress the churches across denominational lines don’t have a corporate mandate to form a unified church.  Maybe they should. What if they set as their goal a willingness to examine what they believe and consider how it would benefit the nation (and world) for them to find and strengthen their common ground?

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You know, I get a lot of ideas for my blogs from just driving around in my city and reading church signs. I think about the way they might mean it; then I cogitate on other possible meanings or applications. Before long my mind is racing, checking Bible verses and developing a theme. Quite interesting, actually. Like this one.

I’m still pondering over how much Satan (or his minions) is directly involved in our lives. Just as I feel that the hand of God is on me most days, there are those few days that it seems that an evil force is at work. What is more obvious to me is how the current condition of my heart influences the work of good or evil in my being.

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