I've been thinking a lot about it. I've been losing sleep over it. It's made me sick to my stomach. And the more I think about it, the more sleep I lose, the more my guts tie themselves in knots, the more sure I am that I have no idea what the solution is. Well, I'm not sure what the right solution is, I suppose. I've dreamt up all kinds of potential solutions, usually involving bullets, poisons, elaborately planned apparent accidents, and so on. Though I'm not sure any of these would please the Lord, one thing I'm growing more certain of is that the Phelps family needs prayer.

After hearing a number of interviews with his children, including ones who have defected from the Phelps clan, as well as the venom that flows so effortlessly from the tongues of his grandchildren, I see that they have been deceived by their wretched devil of a 'father.'

Ol' Fred, as far as I am concerned, is an evil man. He has enslaved his family as his army of hate. He has taught them of a god who laughs as he casts his children into hell and loves only those who do their best to hate the world as much as he does, expecting nothing less from his children then their immediate and boundless allegiance in his hateful destruction.

I've noticed that it's difficult to see a boundary where Phelps ends and his god begins. It seems to me that the god of Phelps is a mystical projection of himself. He has warped and deceived his family into worshipping…him. Phelps is described by his estranged son as a 'rageoholic' who is addicted to anger. He has abused (emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically) his family into serving and fueling his addiction.

So I think about who has been harmed most by the un-reverend. The list is a long one, to be sure. And it includes so many who have been truly and deeply affected by Phelps and his slave army. They include, very obviously, the homosexual community who need the love of Christ (and deserve His love and grace as much as I do), not the hate of Phelps; the families of the fallen American heroes whose funerals have been desecrated by the Phelps clan, the Christian community at large who is working to earn a reputation of love and service, the citizens of Topeka who deserve a single quiet day, the people whose ears are treated like toilets by the putrid bile spilled out by Phelps lips, God Almighty whose name and nature are being spat on and trampled under the feet of these hateful people. The list, heart breaking-ly, goes on.

But I think that those who have it worst are the Phelps progeny. They need our prayers and our love. (I'm less sure about Phelps, himself -- and find it difficult to have sympathy for him and his soul. Perhaps that's something for me to work on.) His family never had a choice. They were brainwashed and abused by a hate-filled megalomaniac into doing the devil's work in God's name. It's hard to imagine what could be worse than this. To earn hell by doing 'god's' work…to think that you are securing yourself a place in the Kingdom only to hear, "I never knew you! Depart from me…" 

I don't know how to end the whole Phelps "God Hates XYZ" nonsense. If anybody figures it out, I'm all ears. In the mean time, though, I'll pray morning, noon, and night for the Phelps family and do my best to trust the Lord to deal with them as He sees fit. Join me…?

I believe that Jesus is coming back. I look forward to that glorious day.

I am not completely convinced it will be in the next years, or even decades. I am even less confident that a rapture will take place. (This probably comes from years of hearing from the “experts” that Jesus was coming back before this year or that, and that the entire mystery of The Revelation had been revealed to these experts, only to see them fail time after time. It gets tiring and I am a little jaded. A rapture might happen, but if it doesn’t, I’m OK with that.)

But I am absolutely convinced of His Second Coming. I think The Revelation is clear about that at least.

Now for argument’s sake, let’s say He will return shortly and that there will be a rapture and that there will be seven years of not-so-fun times to follow. Here is a problem I see in today’s American Church.

They are too excited about it.

Now I’m not saying that the Lord’s return is nothing to get excited about. It is - absolutely. I just have problems with the attitude that seems to say, “See you, suckas! We are out of here!!! Where’s my new body?!”

The problem I have is that I think we should have a heart that is torn between being taken away to be with Him and one that wants to stay and help. For the last 30+ years I get this feeling that most American Christians have their eyes totally focused on diving into the lifeboats before that ship goes down, forgetting there are people about to go through hell as the ship sinks.

I wonder how many of us would be conflicted if we found out He was coming back tomorrow. Would we have bags all packed and at the door (figuratively) or would we dare to say to Him, “Lord, if it is your will, can I stay and help? Can you use me to further your kingdom during these awful times by having me stay behind? Because I am willing.”

Because I think He might be greatly pleased with the heart that volunteers to stay - and suffer - to save those who are lost. Like He did with us.

Something to think about.

It happened again. In one five-minute answer to a question from the audience about the age of the earth, a speaker managed to throw under the bus all of science and all of us who believe the universe is more than several thousand years old.

A lecturer I was listening to last night told a group of people that the Bible clearly teaches that the earth and universe are thousands of years old, not "millions." (I believe it's billions of years old, for the record.)

It doesn't matter that I and many I know are followers of Jesus Christ, or that we believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis One. It doesn't matter either that we believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. None of that apparently matters at all to some young earth creationists. After 20 years of this, it just never seems to matter.

What matters is that they believe a Genesis "day" means a 24-hour day, darn it, nothing more, nothing less! And that a handful of "scientists" - actually less than a handful - support their interpretation. Any other opinions need not apply. Any other interpretation - and all of science - is wrong.

In fact, any other opinion is not just wrong but means being in bed with those "Darwinistic evolutionists." To these young earth creationists life is that simple. Either believe as we do (read: the absolute truth) or backslide into the camp of the enemy. There is no in-between. It is black or white, no shades of gray.

How about this, young earth friend: Another alternative to your God-breathed opinion is that the Hebrew for "day" can be interpreted to be "a long time." Moreover, that interpretation fits the facts. No need to change the Bible. No Hebrew words were harmed in our interpretation. No compromise.

And, he added last night, why can't God create things instantly in mere days? Why can't He create Adam and Eve and the Garden in an instant with the appearance of age. And why can't He create the entire universe in the beat of a heart and make it look like it's been here for "millions" of years?!

How about this, young earth friend: 1) It is never a question of power or an ability to do it in a flash, just a question of how He really accomplished it all. 2) A God who waves a magic wand and poofs everything into existence with the appearance of age is a deceptive God, one not found in the Bible I read. Unless I interpreted that wrong, as well.

Here's a suggestion that my apparently-deceived old earth friends and I follow when we are asked about the age of the earth. 1) Start off by admitting the age of the universe is not a salvation issue (it really isn't), 2) State the fact that there are other views besides yours of how God did it (there are more than five). 3) Then proceed to give your point of view. (key phrase: point of view) 4) Finish by repeating steps 1 and 2.

One more thing: You are free to believe what you want about the age of the universe, but please do not say there is good science to support it or "brilliant, brilliant scientists" who can prove it. That is an exaggeration of the highest order, beyond reasonable comprehension.

Like the belief that a thousands-of-years-old universe appears to be billions of years old.

One of the silly arguments some people use against Christianity goes something like this, “So if heaven is up there somewhere and hell is below us, how come we can’t find heaven somewhere up there, and we know that everything below us is molten rock, not some place with demons and sinners? Huh, Christian boy?!”

Let me briefly speculate why that might be.

The Bible use phrases like “ascending into heaven” and “descending” into hell. And believers have used phrases like that for thousands of years. I cannot wiggle out of that.

But, I would also agree with my nontheistic friends: Heaven is not literally above us in this universe, nor is hell below us. Not that the Lord couldn’t put them there if He wanted to, but He says pretty much that this entire universe will pass away. Therefore, it would follow that if they really are here with us, just above and below, they would be done away with, as well. They, too, will see an end. Which kind of flies in the face of an “everlasting” life, doesn’t it? Heaven and hell must then be “elsewhere.”

So why does the Bible refer to our afterlife as “above” or “below.” Put on your thinking caps!

I believe it is because it is the only way that He can get across the concept of extra-dimensions to us poor, dim humans. Extra what?

We live in three dimensions of space - up/down, right/left, forward/back. Heaven and hell are in other dimensions of space (and time) - not in this universe at all. They are in the truest sense of the phrase “beyond us” and cannot even be described in human terms. How can He convey other dimensions - the heavenly realm - to our limited minds without making our brains explode?

Well, our existence here is almost entirely limited to the face of planet Earth. With the exception of 12 men who travelled to the Moon, all humans who have ever lived, have lived on what is essentially a two-dimensional planetary surface, north/south and east/west. We are confined here; this is all we know. For all intents and purposes, there is no up and down for us, none that we can actually experience anyway.

For Jesus to say He is ascending to heaven is like saying He is going where we may not go (yet), outside of our existence, to another place entirely beyond us. He doesn’t have to get into a high-level astrophysics dissertation on the extra-dimensions of time and space. For all us simpletons, “ascending” and “descending” means going into a dimension where we may not go, a place beyond us.

Another point: All we know, all our volumes of real experiences here, are from the two-dimensional surface of this giant sphere. But despite that, there actually is an inside to the sphere, there is an outside to it. There are real “places,” above and below us, not figments of our imagination.

To take the analogy one more step: All that we know about them have not been from real experiences but from inferring or speculating or using special tools or trusting the experts. That’s not unlike what we know about heaven and hell, is it?

And - yet one more thing - notice how the Bible and tradition put heaven and hell on opposite sides, the implication, I believe, being obvious.

So, no, heaven is not really above us, hell is not really below us. But they exist. We have faith that they are there, although we cannot truly experience them. And someday we will shuffle off this mortal coil, and those who follow God will “ascend” into the one, those who have chosen rebellion will “descend” into the other.

Going up?

In the 1992 movie A Few Good Men, Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson's character) is grilled on the witness stand by a young lawyer, Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise's). An excerpt of their engagement goes as follows:
Jessep: “You want answers?”
Kaffee: “I think I’m entitled to them.”
Jessep: “You want answers?”
Kaffee: “I want the truth!”
Jessep: “You can’t handle the truth!”

“You can’t handle the truth!” went on to become one of the most memorable and quoted movie lines of the 1990’s. It was most often used in a joking manner when someone was questioned about whether or not they were being truthful. Ironically, there is “Truth” behind the words, “You can’t handle the truth.”

Like Lt. Kaffee we think we are entitled to the truth. From an early age parental and authority figures tell us how important it is to be honest, and to tell the truth. We grow-up expecting and even demanding it from others. However, we are seldom, if ever, taught how to receive and handle the truth, which is the main focus of this article. Maybe we need to ask ourselves if we really “can handle the truth.” First, in order to receive truth we need to understand how difficult it may be for a person to tell the truth. Secondly, we need to prepare ourselves to hear the truth when we ask for it, so that we can respond appropriately. Lastly, once we hear the truth we need to filter it through love and grace. Let me explain.

Truth be told (pun intended), lying, deceiving and betraying others comes naturally to us. Think about it, even very young children will frequently lie when faced with the possibility of unpleasant consequences for their actions. Young children develop this behavior, which they carry into adulthood. Whether we are young or old, the reasons for lying are as varied as the persons themselves. Some lie about trivial matters, such as when being asked their opinion regarding a friend’s new haircut or outfit. Small wonder than that even the most honest of people will lie or attempt to deceive when faced with significant consequences like, legal matters, loss of a friendship/relationship, or job. As we further examine why people lie, it seems these behaviors may be rooted in one or all of the following categories. We feel ashamed of our actions, we are afraid of how others will see us, or judge us, we are afraid of the consequences we could face, we are afraid of how the truth may affect others, or we are afraid of not being liked. What is apparent is that fear is oftentimes the driving force behind the propensity to lie.

Christians, and non-Christians alike, value the truth when it benefits them. However, when the truth hurts we can be far less receptive. This especially holds true when we feel victimized by someone’s actions, such as when areas of trust have been violated. We start questioning someone regarding a matter, and when they tell us the truth we react inappropriately. By that I mean, we may withdraw from them and shun them. We may also become so angry that we lash out, using degrading and disparaging comments towards them (unbridled anger is considered a basic/primitive response and can be provoked by emotional pain). If we begin heaping insults, guilt or shame upon someone when they tell us the truth, our actions will likely not encourage their honesty. We could conceivably shutdown any opportunity for forthcoming information. Consider this, would you want to tell someone the truth if you knew they were going to excommunicate you from their life, insult you or explode in a rage? The bottom line is we can allow our feelings or victimization to get in the way of our hearing the truth. Sadly, our response may not only squelch the truth, but may impede working towards a solution and finding healing as well.

So, where does that leave us? Are we supposed to deny our feelings and sweep them under the rug? Are we not allowed to get angry when we’ve been lied to, or deceived by someone? O contraire, the Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and yet do not sin; don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” It’s perfectly okay to feel hurt and angry when we are lied to or betrayed. It’s part of our God given emotions. However, it is not okay to retaliate through uncontrolled anger and demeaning comments. While the person who told the truth should not expect to escape all consequences or receive a “Get Out of Jail Free” card, they are still entitled to be treated respectfully. If we can learn to filter our hearing of the truth through love and grace, we will be people who encourage truthfulness in all our dealings with others. Jesus solicited the truth from others because of the way he handled their truthfulness. He received it with seemingly an open and non-judgmental mind.

In conclusion, our demeanor when we are told the truth can have a huge impact on whether or not people are truthful with us. As Christians, we will serve our Master well if we receive the truth from others with love and grace. Remember earlier I mentioned how lying is rooted in fear. Well, conversely, perfect love cast out all fear, and the truth can help set people free from shame and guilt. How we receive the truth from someone could not only encourage them to be truthful now, but also in the future. Therefore, let us ask ourselves, am I someone who encourages others to be truthful and “Can I handle the truth?” Then let us ask God to give us the grace to do so.