Well-Adjusted.

One expression I dislike is well-adjusted.

Adjusted to what?
The cruelty and injustice of the world?

Is that something we should be adjusted to?

I would suggest not.

The expression well-adjusted merely means we are like everyone else - insular, employed, law-abiding, and materialistic.

We don't rock the boat.
We endorse traditional social structures and do not challenge the powers of the world.

Was Jesus well-adjusted?
If he had been he would never have challenged the Pharisees, nor would he have preached a radical philosophy of Love.

Rather than being well-adjusted citizens, we should seek to be self-actualized agents of Love, attuned to God's goodness and mercy, not the values of the world.

The Time.

We think that we live in a time of light.
But our world is full of darkness disguised as light.

Our culture is materialistic and superficial.
Our entertainment is dark and violent.

Rock musicians practice black magic and Satanism.
They white their sepulchers with charity and altruism.
But this is a pose.
In reality they are servants of the darkness.

So unplug your earphones and exit the cinema.
They only want your money.

And their works are the works of darkness.

Re- Enchantment.

At a meeting of the PCNV* one of the speakers said that our faith goes through three stages:

When we are children we live in an enchanted world.

Later, from adolescence, we experience disenchantment.

But there is a third stage - re-enchantment.

This recalls Jesus' saying that to enter the kingdom of heaven we must become again like a little child (Mark 10:15).

We do not return to the ignorant, childish ways of our childhood but we regain the innocence and openness of  childhood with the knowledge and experience we have gained.

This is true enlightenment and it is achieved when we open our hearts and practice unconditional love.

*Progressive Christian Network of Victoria.

No Winner.

Anything that helps us to get along together as a whole is helpful.

God will not adjudicate.

There will be no winner.

So we had better learn how to get along with each other.

Everyone.

God loves everyone.

He condemns no one.

We are all forgiven.

We are enjoined to pray for our enemies as well as our friends.

So we can pray:
for the sick to be healed.
for the troubled to be comforted.
for the blind to see.
for violence to cease.
for the oppressed to be delivered.
for the fearful to be released.
for the darkness to be dispelled.
for apostates to be reconciled.
for the guilty to be forgiven.

Then all will know God and the reality that all are loved.

A Red Rose.

The rose is the flower of love.

Passionate love is a red rose.

Sex is the consummation of love.
And homosexual sex is no different from any other.

So, rather than thinking of gay sex as forbidden or dirty, we should think of gay sex as the consummation of love between two people of the same sex - like David and Jonathan in the Bible.

The rose is the flower of love.

And passionate love is a red rose.

A Confidence Trick.

Satanism is a confidence trick.

Because famous rock stars from the 1960s and 1970s experienced great fame and fortune modern wannabes expect the same thing to happen to them if they sell their souls to the devil.

This gives them confidence.
And that confidence brings success.

They have confidence in Satan - that he can bring them the fame and fortune they crave.

But there is no Satan in reality.
So their house is built on sand.

The success experienced by the rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s was the result of talent and work, not some illusory contract with the devil.

And modern rock bands can experience the same thing.
But it is not the work of the devil.

Entertainers who are popular experience fame and wealth and have devoted fans whether they sell their souls or not.

So Satanism is a confidence trick.

In the end there is only God's Love.

No Punishment.

Perhaps in the end God punishes no one.

Even the most wicked apostates are His children.
And He will not reject them.

This, of course, makes hell impossible.

As many have said, hell is out of character for a loving God.

So our image of God must change.
No longer will we see God as an enforcer of rules.
No longer will God be the dispenser of punishments.

God is our loving Father.
And He will not reject us.

There is Biblical support for this view in Luke 15:
The parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost (Prodigal) Son.

These are the parables of reconciliation, even to the very last one.

Jesus says that our sins are forgiven.

As he says in the parable of the two debtors - he who is forgiven more will love Him more (Luke 7).