"A New Take on Romans 7: For Fellow Pharisees!" (Grace Note #102)

 

A New Take on Romans 7: For Fellow Pharisees!

(Grace Note #102)

By Gary L. Clendenon, March 26, 2013

In the Message Bible version of Romans 7, I find a new take on the role of Biblical Law in my life. The Law has been a well-defined box which has served the purpose of defining good and bad, right and wrong. The challenge is that sin, according to verses 8-13,

...found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, make a piece of 'forbidden fruit' out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. … Once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up.... Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me.... By hiding within God's good commandment, sin did far more mischief than it could have accomplished on its own.

Paul, who wrote these words, was a former Pharisee. As a recovering Pharisee and Perfectionist myself, I can so see the above words playing out in my own life's experience. We Perfectionistic Pharisees types have an unnatural fear of messing up—God forbid, doing something—anything—wrong! We grab a hold of the Law Code with all its rules and regulations and snuggle into the comfort of its clear and all-encompassing guidance. If there is any doubt about a particular rule, we quickly convene a Pharisee Council of our best and brightest and come to a consensus that we all then follow.  Ah.... Safety.

This is our temptation and sin. The Law was meant to guide us, not hide us! But, in our fear, we hide from life. We fence life out; we box fear in. Our fear of making any mistakes leads us to risk nothing. We live quiet, safe lives resigned to believing this is “as good as it gets”. At least, we tell ourselves, this side of Heaven.

We've been duped—swindled! We've been suckered by Satan's snares! We've calmly and cluelessly walked right into the web of woe prepared for us by our desire for comfort and safety. This is the Pharisees' temptation and sin.

Jesus says in John 10:10, “I came to give life—life in all its fullness” (more and better life than they ever dreamed of”, says The Message Bible). Fellow Pharisees, Jesus isn't talking about some future figure of speech. He means now! “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” Today! “This is the day that the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Those over 3,000 plus promises that the Bible makes, they are not for tomorrow. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Today! “...now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” Now! “The Message is as true among you today as when you first heard it. It doesn't diminish or weaken over time. ...The Message bears fruit and gets larger and stronger.” (1)

Fellow Pharisees, in our fear, we found the Law a perfect fit, and so we stayed. But Jesus is calling us forward—upward, higher. Through His Spirit, he calls us to come out of hiding behind the Law in fear. GOD's Law is not the issue. The issue is that through our fear the Enemy tricked us into embracing the false security of The Law instead of moving on—growing up (as GOD intended) into the Law of Love.

GOD's Law grows with us as we grow—from Fear to Love. If we are not experiencing the love of GOD's Law, we are mostly likely stuck and not growing. John says, “There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear.” And Paul says, “If you love...you will never do wrong; to love, then, is to obey the Law.” (2)

When we focus on the rules and regulations of GOD's Law, our concern is perfection and failure. When we focus on receiving GOD's love, acceptance, and forgiveness and sharing that with others, we can begin to embrace a life full of freedom: freedom to live fully, freedom to be who we are, freedom to try out different things, and freedom to make mistakes and learn from them. We can know that we are human and GOD does not expect perfection from our broken lives. How could He? He knows, as any parent does, that we are gonna mess up, and He's gonna be there to help us pick up the pieces.

GOD's love is calling us to push through our Satanic fears and embrace a life full of freedom—in GOD's perfect Law of Love. Life is meant to be a sometimes exciting, sometimes scary "Adventure".  Fellow Pharisee, won't you join me? It's OK. We can do this! We are meant to do this! One little “Baby Step” at a time. This is our Great Adventure!  (Click for inspirational video)

FOOTNOTES:

1. Luke 23:43; Psalms 118:24; Luke 4:21; Colossians 1:5 (The Message)

2. I John 4:18; Romans 13:10

"Not Good Enough!" (Grace Note #59)

 Not Good Enough! (Grace Note #59)

Written by Gary L. Clendenon, July 7-12, 2018

Why is it that we often struggle with the feeling that we are “Not good enough”. I would submit to you that are two important reasons: one very true and one very false. I believe that understanding these reasons correctly can be life changing!

Being “Good enough” strongly suggests some kind of standard of perfection that we ought to be to be living up to. This “Standard of Perfection” is everywhere in our society and world. From the moment we are conceived we are swimming in this all-encompassing idea that we ought to be perfect. It’s as if it’s written in our DNA!

As we continue through our lives, everything in our world continues to beat home this message: “You must be perfect.” And, unfortunately, our value and worth seem to be largely determined by our ability to measure up to this “Good enough” standard. Where does this idea come from?

One of the things I love about the Christian perspective is that there is a logical answer to this question. This constant feeling about our lack of goodness is an ever-present reminder and an echo of a perfect past, a perfect beginning. “In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth…. And, on the sixth day, God looked over everything he had made; it was good, so very good!” In terms of goodness, the very language for what we now feel comes from the very beginning.

So, what we feel now suggests a gap, a chasm, a huge change between now and back then. We all know the story: Our First Parents took the choice given to them by Almighty GOD to give life a go on their own. Because they were created to function ideally in Union with GOD, this choice introduced a horrible glitch into their lives, a glitch that led to brokenness, struggle, decay, and eventual death. This glitch was written into their DNA, and we, their progeny, naturally inherit this glitch. This is a Truth that, on our own, we cannot change.

The first reason that we struggle with feeling “Not good enough” is because, through no fault of our own, we ARE “Not good enough”.

In my description of “The First Reason”, I proposed that the reason we feel “Not good enough” is a DNA-embedded gift from our First Parents, Adam and Eve. It is a natural by-product of being born human. Some call it “The Human Condition”. It painfully and truthfully represents our deviation from a complete union with Almighty GOD and His perfect plan for humanity, and we deeply long for that “Good”.

Now, some will point out that our First Parents were deceived, and that is, of course, correct. And, to further that point, I will add that it would be quite foolish for us to ignore this fact and not learn everything we can from their mistakes. We would be wise to look at what we can learn from this key story of Adam and Eve being deceived.

The first and most obvious lesson would appear to be that our First Parents had an Enemy. The second lesson we can learn from their story is that their Enemy’s tool of choice was deception. The beautiful talking Serpent told Eve two complete lies which led her to make the choice to eat the fruit and change the nature of her relationship with GOD. Adam followed Eve into this deception and also ate the fruit.

Now, if we apply these lessons to our lives, we can deduce that we most likely face the same Enemy that Adam and Eve faced and that the Enemy’s primary mode of deception has not changed. A survey of the Bible quickly and strongly confirms these facts: We do also have an Enemy, and our Enemy’s main approach is deception through lies. See John 8:44 (Footnote 1)

The second reason that we struggle with feeling “Not good enough” is that we believe the lies that being “Not good enough” is our fault and that this matters to GOD.

This is HUGE!! Sadly, many, many believers in GOD are still—after thousands of years—falling for the Enemy’s lies. Two lies were told to Eve. Two lies continue to suck humans today down into the pit of shame and despair. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but it is not GOD’s desire, intention, or plan that we live in shame and despair!

The first lie we fall for is that “not being good enough is our fault.” And, if one follows that logic, that means that if it is our fault, then there is something we can and must do about it. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to be better, to fix this flaw, to try harder, to overcome.

Our whole society—including many Churches—is built to reinforce this lie. Everything around us shouts subtly—to sometimes not even subtly—“You’re not good enough.” And then, of course, conveniently, society supposedly has the answer for our problem: “Just DO THIS. Or THIS. Or TRY THAT!” Sadly, an even darker side of this deception is our society is hard-wired to gladly take our hard-earned money to continue to perpetuate this evil lie!

The challenge with this deception, as with all deceptions, is that there is just enough Truth mixed in to make it believable. That is why it was so important for me to share “The First Reason” we feel “Not good enough”: “Because we aren’t!” Ironically, it is this Truth that is twisted and sadistically sets us up for the deception that we can and must change our level of goodness to be good enough.

This lie is complete and utter bull-crap, and I am calling it out right now! I am taking this lie down in the most forceful way I know how—with the Truth! The Bible says that knowing the truth “will set you free” (2) and Christian, we need to be free of this demonic deception. Rebuke it. Renounce it. Speak the Truth to it. What is that Truth?

As shown in “The First Reason”, the GOD-awesome Truth is that our “not being good enough” is NOT our fault, and outside of living in relationship with GOD, there is nothing we can do to be good enough! It is not our responsibility to fix our brokenness; it is GOD’s, and He will do it!

The second lie is related to and naturally builds upon the first: “Our ‘Not being good enough’ matters to GOD.” Sadly the message we often get from the Church is that our being or NOT being “good enough” REALLY matters to GOD.

Unfortunately, this falsehood leads many to Pharisaic Legalism and a completely distorted focus on Perfection: We must try harder, pray harder, work harder to make it into GOD’s kingdom: “Watch out Christian Soldier! Any moment or tiny slip-up could lead to your eternal damnation!” This perspective is even perpetuated in our jokes. I think the most common “Christian” joke takes place at the Gate of Heaven where the sinner meets Saint Peter and finds out if he earned enough tokens to get into Heaven!

Sadly, believing that “being good enough matters to GOD” has led many a discouraged human, having tried their hardest to be good enough, to realize the reality of “The First Reason” (It is impossible to become good enough), and then say, quite logically, “If I cannot be good enough, what is the point in even trying??”

It is no wonder that so many at this point just completely give up having any religious practice at all. They may still believe in GOD, but, sadly, have accepted their “eternally damned fate” because they have fallen for this devious, twisted untruth! Others “Soldier on” in grim martyrdom until their death, all the while still believing the lie.

I feel so sad and even a little bit righteously angry to see so many people stubbornly struggle with this deviously evil untruth! I know that I bought into this lie for many of my 58 years and am just now beginning to see the Truth that overcomes this lie! I am so excited to share this life-changing Truth with you and hope that it brings you the Peace and Serenity that it has brought me. I have been working on these words for days, and I am so impatient to share them with you!

The Truth to combat this lie is: GOD Loves you and meets you and accepts you wherever you are. Whatever level of goodness you have does not matter to GOD because it is NOT your goodness that gets you into Heaven! Yes, perfection is required, but not yours! It is the goodness and perfection of Jesus of Nazareth that clothes you and washes away whatever imperfections and not-goodness you may have. When GOD, Your Loving Father, looks at you, all He sees is His beautiful child.

“But I keep sinning,” you say! Yes, you do, and just like any loving Father, when you mess your pants, Your Heavenly Father, without a word of shame or condemnation, removes the mess, cleans you up, puts some fresh clothes on you, and then gives you a kiss and says, “Now, go run and play.”

Friend, this is the True Gospel. This Truth is the thing that when you get a hold of will, as I stated in my first paragraph, forever change your life! To the extent that we accept and believe this Truth, to that extent will we be at Peace and in Serenity with our growing relationship with GOD. There is no shame even in our lack of ability to believe this. GOD meets us always right where we are at. We can always join the man from the Bible who cried out to Jesus, “I believe. Help my unbelief.”(3) And, He will—always.

FOOTNOTES:

(1) “You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father's desires. ...there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he is only doing what is natural to him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies.” John 8:44

(2) John 8:32

(3) Mark 9:24

"The Myth of the Faithless Human"

 

The Myth of the Faithless Human

By George Knight, adapted from a chapter in his book Myths in Adventism, pp. 130-132. (c) 1999.

Adapted by Gary L. Clendenon, 2024.

Click to see my previous post from this book "The Myth of the Sacred and the Secular"

All men are essentially religious in the sense that they live by faith, even though they may disclaim that fact with the greatest zeal and sincerity. It is not possible to make statements about reality without first having a theory for arriving at truth and, on the other hand, a theory of truth cannot be developed without first having a concept of reality. Human beings find themselves caught in the web of circularity. Nothing can be known for certain in the sense of the final and ultimate proof that is open and acceptable to all men. Every person—the skeptic and the agnostic, the scientist and the businessman, the Hindu and the Christian—lives by a faith. Each of us must individually make a “faith-choice” and a commitment to a way of life. All men live by faith in the basic beliefs they have chosen.

This fact does not come as much of a shock to the Christian, but it disturbs the average “secular” individual who has scientific “proof” for his beliefs. What such a person fails to realize is that science rests upon a set of unprovable assumptions that humanity must accept by faith. Thus, “naturalistic” science, when isolated, is in effect a religious alternative to Christianity. Science as method is valid in the sense that it can discover regularities in the physical world. But when science becomes a view of reality it has exited the realm of proven facts and entered the realm of metaphysics and religion and stands on the same faith basis as any other system of belief. Harvard’s George Buttrick wrote that “secularism is not objectivity, but a faith after its own kind.”

People cannot escape religious choice. A choice against God is still a religious decision. One cannot avoid individual responsibility to relate to Christ by pretending that He doesn’t exist. Religious reality encompasses all aspects of our lives. Neither can a person escape placing faith in something, since life becomes meaningless without an aim larger than our individual selves. J.E. Barnhart said it this way “the unbeliever is also a believer.” Marxism, for example, despite its antireligious attitude, has all the attributes of a formal religion, with its sacred writings, prophets, and holy places. We might say the same about “civil religion” in the United States, which sets forth the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as its basic documents, has rituals surrounding such “holi-days” as Thanksgiving and Independence Day, and has shrines such as the Lincoln Memorial, which, according to Ira Eisenstein, “is visited by Americans in a spirit similar to that which animates the Jew who stands before the Western Wall” and has a religious experience. Belief in meaninglessness thus becomes a faith that meaninglessness is at the base of human existence. Meaninglessness, therefore, becomes a criterion for ordering life’s priorities and activities. In short, all people have chosen to believe in something.

"The Myth of the Sacred and Secular"

 

The Myth of the Sacred and Secular

By George Knight, adapted from a chapter in his book Myths in Adventism, pp. 127-129. (c) 1999.

Adapted by Gary L. Clendenon, 2024.

The myth of the sacred and the secular is one of the most destructive misconceptions facing Christianity today. This pervasive myth has eaten the heart out of daily Christian living by providing a rationale for people to separate their “in church” attitudes and demeanor from from the way they think and act the rest of the week in “the real world”. The idea of the “natural” being distinct from the “supernatural” is misleading. Such a dichotomy is a product of man.

The Bible, contrary to the myth, show a continuity between the “supernatural” and our everyday world. It demonstrates that God is at work both in the realm of human understanding and also beyond the limited human sphere. Ellen White, in debunking this myth noted that natural law is under the “continual and direct agency of God” (8T, p. 259) and that the daily production of food through the laws of growth is just as miraculous (supernatural) as was the feeding of the five thousand by Jesus (Ed, pp. 107-108). In the same vein, Jack Provonsha, of Loma Linda University, has written that “there is a sense in which everything is supernatural…. But there is also a sense in which everything is natural—natural, that is, to God.”

As popularly defined, secular implies those things that relate to this world as opposed to the church and religious affairs. Sacred, on the other hand, is that which is religious or that which belongs to a god or deity. The dichotomy of the sacred and secular disintegrates, however, when we realize that “the earth is the lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell within” (Ps. 24:1). Everything has an ultimate relationship to God because He is both Creator and Sustainer. In one sense, every shrub is a burning bush, and all ground is holy. Christianity is not a compartmentalized faith. The way a Christian does his work, therefore is just as important to God as the way he worships.

Nothing on earth or in the universe is separate from God. Everything is religious in the broad sense of the term. Even so, the words (“sacred” and “secular”) may be useful and should not be discarded. My point is that we must begin to use them with more Christian understanding and with the knowledge that they are never separate from their counterparts. I might, for example, still choose to use the word secular to express a worldview that leaves God out, but from the Christian perspective it is clear that secularism is still a religious choice. Decisions either for or against God are both religious in nature. Individuals can never escape the Creator and Sustainer, even though they may pretend to live in a world without God. Christians understand that nothing is secular in the sense that it is outside of religion. Everything has religious implications because everything is related to God’s creative and sustaining activities.

Click for more from this book "The Myth of the Faithless Human".

"Wherever You Go, There You Are!"

 

Wherever You Go, There You Are!

Meditation adapted from the book Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, pages 195-200.

(Originally posted to Facebook May 29, 2014)

There is no running away from anything. Sooner or later, the things that you don't want to deal with and try to escape from...catch up with you—especially if they have to do with old patterns and fears. The romantic notion is that if it's no good over here, you have only to go over there and things will be different. The underlying thinking is that the reason for your troubles is outside of you—in the location, in others, in the circumstances.

The trouble with this way of seeing is that it conveniently ignores the fact that you carry your head and your heart, and what some would call your "karma," around with you. You cannot escape yourself, try as you might. It is easier and less threatening to our sense of self to project our involvement in our problems onto other people and the environment.

It is so much easier to find fault, to blame, to believe that what is needed is a change on the outside, an escape from the forces that are holding you back, preventing you from growing, from finding happiness. This can turn into serious delusion, an unending quest to escape looking at what is closest to home and perhaps most painful. Out of fear and yearning for someone special to help them see clearly, people sometimes fall into dependency relationships.

The casualties of this way of looking at things are all over the place: broken relationships, broken families, broken people—wanderers with no roots, lost, going from this place to that, this job to that, this relationship to that, this idea of salvation to that, in the desperate hope that the right person, the right job, the right place, the right book will make it all better.

There is no successful escaping from yourself in the long run, only transformation. It doesn't matter whether you are using drugs or meditation, alcohol or Club Med, divorce or quitting your job. There can be no resolution leading to growth until the present situation has been faced completely and you have opened to it, allowing the roughness of the situation itself to sand down your own rough edges. In other words, you must be willing to let life be your teacher.

This is the path of working where you find yourself, with what is found here and now. This, then, really is it...this place, this relationship, this dilemma, this job. The challenge is to work with the very circumstances that you find yourself in—no matter how unpleasant, how discouraging, how limited, how unending and stuck they may appear to be—and to make sure that you have done everything in your power to use their energies to transform yourself before you decide to cut your losses and move on. It is right here that the real work needs to happen.

So, if you think that the conditions aren't right where you find yourself, and you think that if only you were in a cave in the Himalayas, or at an Asian monastery, or on a beach in the tropics, or at a retreat in some natural setting, or with different people, then things would be better...think again. When you go to your cave or your beach or your retreat, there you would be, with the same mind, the same body, the very same breath that you already have here. After fifteen minutes or so in the cave, you might get lonely, or want more light, or the roof might drip water on you. If you were at the beach, it might be raining or cold. If you were on retreat, you might not like the teachers, or the food, or your room. There is always something to dislike. So why not let go and admit that you might as well be at home wherever you are? Right in that moment, you touch the core of your being and invite mindfulness in to enter and heal. If you understand this, then and only then will the cave, the monastery, the beach, the retreat center, your relationships, offer up their richness to you. But so will all other moments and places.

Gary's Psalm

 

A Psalm

By Gary L. Clendenon © 2007

Every day

When I awake to the real world,

My heart is instantly under attack: slings, arrows, barbs, missiles, bombs,

Hand to hand combat, and the devious, repetitious, deception of infiltrators

Claiming to be on my side--to have something “good” for my heart.

My only defense is

To constantly keep You, O God, in my heart.

You surround my heart with a blazing shield of protection

Keeping me from unrelenting distraction

That assails me from every direction.

When I mistakenly

Let my guard down,

Instantly, my heart is swarmed over by the enemy.

Every nook, cranny, and crevice

Overwhelmed by attack!

Other times,

Ticking time bombs lie dormant lulling me into a false sense of peace until

EXPLODING!

Blowing away huge chunks of my heart

In excruciating pain!

Then there’s the insidious virus that quietly over time

Rewrites the DNA of my heart

From striking colors to shades of grey--sucking the life-force from

My God-given calling. Unaware, I face the world

Zombified!

In times like these I cry out to You,

Though sometimes, only a whisper from the last good place in my heart:

“SAVE ME, GOD, FOR I AM DYING!  Don’t cast me out of your presence!

“Create in me a clean heart, O Lord my God

And renew a right spirit within me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” (1)

And instantly You are there.

Uprooting the virulent overgrowth of evil,

tearing down the enemy’s strongholds,

Dismantling hidden time bombs, and

Rewriting the code of my heart’s twisted DNA.

As color and warmth and light return

To my heart,

Then to my face,

And then to my life,

I praise You, O God, for your never-ending grace and mercy.

I lift up my sword

To YOU, My Champion,

And turn

To face the battle

Again.

1.  Psalms 51

"How Do I Know that GOD Loves Me?" (Grace Note #102)

 

How Do I Know that GOD Loves Me?

(Grace Note #102)

By Gary L. Clendenon, January, 2024

The other day, a friend of mine asked me a really good question: “How do you know that God Loves you?” He said he wanted me to answer without citing outside sources—just from my heart and mind. This is my best effort to answer that question:

Growing up Christian, I was often told the Bible taught that GOD loved me. So, intellectually, I accepted that teaching. All my life, I have never had any reason to doubt that there is an all-powerful, everywhere-present, all-knowing God. It is the only rational explanation I could and continue to find for all that amazes me about our bodies, our lives, nature, our planet, and our universe—intertwined, interdependent systems everywhere all seemingly created somehow to work together in harmony. To me, it would be irrational to not believe there is some kind of Superior Intelligent Being that created all this. In my opinion, based on logical thinking, the theory of Evolution requires as much Faith, if not more, to believe in than the theory of Divine Creation.

So, naturally, with that in mind, as a young man, regarding GOD’s Love for me, I chose the then popular mental attitude amongst Christians: “GOD said it. I believe it. That settles it for me.” In other words, since I believed in GOD, and His Word the Bible said that GOD loved me, then whether I felt that Love or not, did not necessarily make it untrue. Just because I didn’t feel it, didn’t mean it was not true. Since I believed GOD was perfect, then—logically—the problem had to be on my end, not GOD’s.

However, as you well know, life is more than mind. My heart and spirit experience life on a different plane than mental certainties. My daily experience is a variety of positive and negative experiences and emotions. On that level, to be fully honest, I have struggled off and on for many, many years with the idea that GOD loves me—never mind feeling that Love. I often felt like the little girl with the flower: “He loves me. He loves me not….”—never knowing until the end what answer I would get!

In my beginning years, I was raised in a Christian culture that focused on Pharisaical perfection—seeking God’s approval through fear and shame-based acts of appeasement. “You’ve got to do right” one popular song said. This mindset naturally led to shame-based judgments of myself and others who weren’t measuring up to the standard of perfection. So, if I couldn’t “do right”, I had to at least look like I was doing right. I learned to pretend with the best of them. I was good at it and even won awards for my “goodness”. But, pretending is hard work. Have you ever tried to be perfect? IT’S EXHAUSTING!

By the age of 40, through various extremely-painful, life-altering experiences, my life had crashed and burned. I ended up in a treatment center for those who, like me, who had hit bottom. During the following month, I learned that full honesty and vulnerability were my keys to living a good life—not pretending to be someone I’m not. I was an absolute fool for thinking I could fool GOD anyway (What an absolutely absurd way of thinking! LOL). I then learned the beginning sparks of the idea that GOD could love and accept me “just as I am”.

A few years later the sparks of that flame were fanned in an enormous way by a weekend seminar I attended called “Foundations for Tomorrow”. It was in this seminar that I FELT—as I had never felt before—completely loved and accepted by GOD. The message embedded in my brain, but never really connected to my heart until that magical seminar was felt by my heart and soul: “I was fully Loved and Accepted by GOD!” (1)

So, ironically, it turned out that being able to feel fully loved by GOD in my heart could not fully happen until my head was in a space of awareness that could resonate with that idea as true. I was holding onto beliefs that were incompatible with a belief in GOD’s Love. Once I got my head understanding of “who GOD is” straightened out, only then could my heart and mind align—confirming the Truth I had been told and taught all my life: “God is Love.”

I have found the Universal Truth “Hindsight is 20/20” to be very true in my experience. And now, looking back on what I know and feel now, it is easier to see the moments of experience in my life that were attempts by GOD to reach me with that Love. Now, having a better glimpse and understanding of what GOD’s Love looks like and feels like, I can go back and connect to those key, special moments throughout my life where I saw or felt a glimpse of GOD’s Love. These moments, one author calls them “God-winks”, seem few and far between, but each one was, and now is, a treasure to me—a treasure that gave me just the amount of Hope that I needed to not give up, and the Courage to go on until that next special glimpse. I will now share an overview of some of these special glimpses. (2)

1. NATURE: All my life I have experienced the beauty, awe, and majesty of Nature: cumulus clouds, mountain peaks, amazing snow, living forests, symmetrical trees, green grass, fragrant flowers, winding rivers, incomprehensible oceans, beautiful beaches, color-popping sunsets, and the black, night sky filled with uncountable stars and planets. I’m often left in my Nature experiences with the whole-body message that “It all must be true”. There is a God and that God is showing love to me by saying, “I made all this for you!” (3)

2. MUSIC: A second way I have experienced glimpses of GOD’s Love is through the power of music to touch my heart. There’s something magical about music that can make it go straight to the Heart, and for this reason, I have always treasured the way I feel when hearing and feeling the messages of different songs. Naturally, growing up Christian, there were a lot of songs that spoke to my heart of GOD’s Love, but in an age of way-too-many seemingly old, stale, hymns what, I believe, saved my Christian experience was a singing group called “The Heritage Singers”. It was in their songs that I most felt the Love of GOD shining through, reassuring me of His Love and care for me. (4)

Although I couldn’t quite make sense of it at the time—because non-Christian music was thought to be evil, I also experienced a strong heart connection to many popular songs of my growing up days. I now understand that since GOD’s Love is Universal and cannot be contained in Churches only, it can show up anywhere—even in a “rock song”! I have, as I’m sure you no doubt have also, experienced this with many non-Christian songs. My life’s theme song is by a rock group called “Kansas”. It’s called “Carry on My Wayward Son”, but when I sing it, I sing “Gary, you’re my wayward son. They’ll be peace when you are done.” Another one of my all-time non-Christian favorite songs that speaks to me of GOD’s Love is: “Leader of the Band” by Dan Fogelberg. (5)

3. MIRACLES: From time to time throughout my life, I have experienced unexplainable miracles. These are moments when it was very clear to me that GOD showed Love to me by directly intervening in my life. In the same way that GOD works in the Bible—waiting until the last possible moment when there is no other way of escape or rescue, GOD has shown up consistently just like that in my life. It seems that GOD wants it to be very clear and without any doubt that it was Him—and no other—that came through for me.

That makes sense, though, doesn’t it? Given our human tendency to forget—or explain away—unusual circumstances, it has to be a REALLY BIG DEAL to help us see that it was something Supernatural. When GOD does this kind of miracle for me, I feel strongly aware and deeply cognizant of His Love for me. When I am tempted to doubt GOD’s Love for me, I can bring to memory these miracles and feel reminded of their message to me. (6)

4. PEOPLE: When it comes to Love, one would think that this would be the #1 way of seeing GOD’s Love, but, in my experience, people are very confusing! The ones who are supposed to Love us are also the ones who often hurt us most. And yet, in spite of all that hurt and confusion, I have seen down through the years of my life, glimpses of GOD’s Love—shown to me directly by people: Family, Friends, and even Strangers. Because these glimpses are often unexpected and seem unselfishly motivated, I choose to receive these acts of kindness and Love from other people as tiny glimpses of GOD’s Unlimited and Unconditional, Always-Faithful Love.

Unselfishness is a characteristic of the kind of Love GOD gives, so since we live in an almost-always-selfish world, these acts of unselfishness stand out strongly to me as GOD-inspired, and therefore are clear signs to me of GOD’s Love. These acts of Love speak to me of a glimpse of what a world without sin and selfishness would look and feel like—probably all the time! They help me believe in GOD’s Love during those challenging times when I’m not seeing it or feeling it.

5. PETS: When I was a child, we had several pet cats. I loved them deeply. As I held them, snuggled them, petted them, and heard their joyful purr in response, I felt loved in a way that I had never felt with any human. Because this was outside of human love, it suggested to me that it could be true that there was a higher love than human love and this GOD who said He loved me could love me like a cat loves me—and because He’s perfect, even more and better! (7)

6. FREEDOM: By nature, I am a man who is wired with a VERY strong desire for and belief in Freedom. The fact that GOD believes in Freedom, also, is a HUGE evidence to me of GOD’s Love. I have said it this way: GOD has a poster on His wall that says, “If you love someone, set them free. If they come back to you, they’re yours. If they don’t, it wasn’t mean to be.” (8) At a great risk to Himself, GOD honors the Free Will of all His creations.

We’ve seen what happens when GOD’s created beings freely choose to go their own way—without GOD. The daily disaster and devastation of the news testify to the wreck created beings make when we reject GOD’s Love. Free Will is VERY messy, but, at it’s heart, it’s rooted in pure Love. That, for me, I find very reassuring and affirming of my individuality. Or, to be more “on topic”, I feel Loved by GOD when I know GOD honors my Free Will.

7. PARENTHOOD: When I became a parent, something broke inside of me and I experienced something I had never experienced before. I felt a love for my child that I had never felt for anyone or anything before. If you are a parent, you will understand; if not, you won’t, nor can’t, but I’m sure you’ve at least heard of or witnessed this undeniable truth. We parents love our children—almost excessively—and will do anything, even up to sacrificing our own lives—for them.

This breakthrough in my heart also created a breakthrough in my understanding of GOD’s Love for me. Knowing how much I love my children, and what I would be willing to do for them, and knowing also how broken, imperfect, and conditional my own love was, gave me a new understanding of how much GOD, “Our Father in Heaven”—the Perfect Father—could Love me!! “He Loves me! GOD Loves me!!"

So, Friend, these are the evidences I have and hold on to that show me and remind me that GOD undeniably Loves me. Because I know GOD Loves me, I am also quite convinced that GOD Loves you and, even more than that, as “Papa” GOD says in The Shack book and movie:

I am especially fond of you.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Here is the website for this amazing seminar which I highly recommend! https://foundations1.com/

2. For more on “Godwinks”, I highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/When-God-Winks-Coincidence-Godwink/dp/0743467078

3. Because it resonates with my heart as true, I love how Ellen G. White states this idea: “God is love” is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass (Steps to Christ, p. 10). This quote inspired me to write the linked poem: https://notesfromthegc.blogspot.com/2024/01/surrounded-poem.html

4. The Heritage Singers are still around: https://www.youtube.com/@HeritageSingers

5. I even rewrote the song to make the message more clear to others: https://notesfromthegc.blogspot.com/2024/01/leader-of-band-song-i-re-wrote.html

6. For one of my most recent miracles, go here: https://notesfromthegc.blogspot.com/2024/01/god-stole-my-car.html

7. One of the coolest songs I have EVER heard connecting GOD’s Love and a pet’s love can be heard here: https://youtu.be/H17edn_RZoY?si=2A5MAW2KyvaqfLQE

8. This is from “Gary-ism #24”: For more Gary-isms, go here: https://notesfromthegc.blogspot.com/2022/01/gary-isms.html

"My First Encounter With Pornography"

 

"My First Encounter With Pornography"

By Gary L. Clendenon (c) 2008

(Posted on Myspace May 12, 2008)

 

It started when I was 10 years old.  My life was filled with the innocent preoccupations of a child that age: What would we have for dinner?  Would the Rams win their next game against the Chargers?  How many touchdowns would I score at recess?  Could I go to Doug's house after school?  Where would I find another board to expand our tree house?  What would a penny look like after the train ran over it?  What color should I paint my '69 Pontiac model car?  How could I get out of practicing the piano?  Why couldn't adults be more like my cats--warm, cuddly, and glad to see me?  You know, important questions like that.

Riding my bike one day in a large parking lot, in the section where men worked on their cars, I noticed a stack of magazines next to the curb.  Being a collector of all things, an avid reader, and naturally curious, I decided to investigate.  I looked around to make sure I was alone and then started sifting through the stack.  At first I found car magazines, and then as I sifted deeper, I was shocked to see a scantily clad attractive woman staring at me from the cover of one of those magazines I heard my friends talk about in hushed tones, but had never actually seen.

I was drawn to and surprised by the power of her eyes.  They seemed to be trying desperately to communicate something to me.  Yes, me.  She was looking at me.  She had a special smile on her face--a kind of smile that I had never seen on a woman's face before.  It seemed that she liked me and wanted me to come closer to her, as if she had something special she wanted to tell me, or give me, or share with me.

A part of my mind suggested that I should put down the magazine and ride on--you know the voice that later you wish you had listened to, but I liked her smiling at me.  I liked how her eyes made me feel welcome and special.  It seemed a little strange that she would care about a 10-year-old kid like me, but growing up in a cold, critical, conservative Christian culture, I welcomed the warmth she seemed to be offering me.  It seemed that she very well might have the answer to my question about cats and adults.  I wanted that answer.  I wanted her warmth.  After another look around me to see if it was still safe, then I accepted her invitation.

Jesus is . . . (Grace Note #8)

 

Jesus is . . .

(Grace Note #8)

By Gary L. Clendenon

(c) 2013, first published 11-12-14

Jesus is . . .

a real person, not a myth or a fairy tale.

a relationship, not a list of rules.

a body, not a building.

a revolution, not a religion.

He is . . .

Free will, not "Force".

Serenity, not anxiety.

"With us", not "out there...somewhere".

"For good", not like our real enemy.

He said . . . "I AM . . .

"The Bread of Life."

"The Good Shepherd."

"The Light of the World."

"The Way, The Truth, The Life."

He was, and is, and ever will be . . .

"All in All"

"King of Kings"

"Lord of Lords"

"First and Last", Beginning and . . .

. . . THE END.