God made all people to be oracles, to be those who hear his voice, share his voice, and follow his voice.
All people.
The first man and woman saw and heard God. They knew him directly. This was neither mystical nor magical nor supernatural, nor even "spiritual." It is only naturally for a son and daughter to have access to their father.
Cain, even in his sin, had conversations with God, even with all of his attitude.
Noah and his family knew God and listened to him.
Abraham was known as "the friend of God." God identifies himself as the Abraham's, Isaac's, and Israel's God. This is his name. He is known by his relationship to them.
Moses spoke to God face to face, as a man speaks with a friend, and he desired for all of Israel to be his nation of priests. But they chose to have Moses and Aaron as mediators.
Joshua, with the law of God and the law of Moses, spoke with God regularly, for God was with Joshua as he was with Moses, never leaving him nor forsaking him.
Samuel, the last judge and first prophet, knew the voice of the living God, and none of Samuel's words fell to the ground.
King David was the man after God's own heart.
Jeremiah foresaw a day when all would know God, from the least to the greatest. Joel also foresaw the Spirit upon every man and woman of faith. No longer would the Spirit be only upon prophets and kings and priests briefly. Moses' desire would be fulfilled: that all of God's children would be prophets.
Then came John the Baptist, who announced Immanuel, God with man and woman...again. This honor would come again to every man and woman, by the Spirit in every man and woman of faith.
The Spirit came upon all believers on the day of Pentecost. He did the same in Samaria, the household of the Gentile, Cornelius; and upon 12 Ephesian Christians.
And in the Book of Revelation, every nation, tongue, tribe, and people group will stand before their God and Father and Creator. All will know God. All will be "prophets and prophetesses."
All will be oracles speaking oracles. This is natural. This is eternal.
I write as an oracle to other oracles, and to those who seek to be oracles.
Follow my new blog, I speak as an oracle of God, so that we may continue to answer the question, Where is God?
He is in those who believe in Christ, speaking to them, and speaking through them.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
What does the power of God feel like?
Wait to be endued with power from on high.
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
God's power is with those who believe in Jesus. Believers are taught to wait and receive this power. Presumably they would know when they had received it. But how would they know? The answer is in the rest of what Jesus said before he ascended: they would be his worldwide witnesses, or witnesses wherever they were on earth. So, the key to how the power of the Holy Spirit "feels" is in how a powerful witness feels.
To be powerful, or to have power, is to be effective and successful in achieving a desired goal.
To be a witness is to be one who has seen, heard, or experienced a specific event, and has the character to be believed.
So a powerful witnesses has the character and ability to communicate effectively and successfully what he or she has seen, heard, and known.
How do you feel when you know what you are talking about; when you know what you have seen, heard, and known? How do you feel when you have acted in such a way as to be trustworthy? I believe I can describe your feeling in one word: confidence. So the power of God, given for believers to be his witnesses, feels like confidence. But it is a "supernatural" confidence. This means that the feeling comes from the inside out, without any "tangible" cause. It is given to you directly by God as God give you the experience of himself; the very experience you bear witness to.
For example, on the night when I came face to face with God, ready to die, I confessed that Jesus is God's Son and that he died for my sins, the very sins for which I wanted to die because of my guilt. After this confession, I felt peace cover me like a blanket, a literal invisible blanket, and I know longer wanted to die. This is an experience that I bear witness to. The Spirit in me, who came upon me in that day, also gives me the ability and character to continue to tell this testimony at the right time, the right way, to the right person. This is another aspect of the confidence. Not only do I feel confident in my character and ability, but I feel confident in relation to the timing of the testimony. I have a supernatural certainty of when, where, and to whom I share this testimony.
Certainty. Clarity. Authority. These three words give a tangible standard by which you can know how the power of God feels when you have the desire to use it for his purposes. This is the only time you will experience it and know it.
Another measure of the power is how it effects others. There are two possible effects: edification or conviction. Edification means that one who already believes in Christ will be strengthened in their faith; they will feel encouraged, comforted, and urged in obedience to God. One who does not already belong to Christ will feel convicted, proven guilty of rebellion against God and urged to cease rebellion and to yield to God in submission.
The power of God has an effect, positive or negative, depending upon who listens. It effects both speaker and listener.
Confidence/Clarity/Authority/Certainty
Effectiveness in convincing by character and ability
Joy to the one speaking and the one listening
Conviction to the one speaking and the one listening
This is how God's power feels when it is used for God's purpose: to be his witness.
To be powerful, or to have power, is to be effective and successful in achieving a desired goal.
To be a witness is to be one who has seen, heard, or experienced a specific event, and has the character to be believed.
So a powerful witnesses has the character and ability to communicate effectively and successfully what he or she has seen, heard, and known.
How do you feel when you know what you are talking about; when you know what you have seen, heard, and known? How do you feel when you have acted in such a way as to be trustworthy? I believe I can describe your feeling in one word: confidence. So the power of God, given for believers to be his witnesses, feels like confidence. But it is a "supernatural" confidence. This means that the feeling comes from the inside out, without any "tangible" cause. It is given to you directly by God as God give you the experience of himself; the very experience you bear witness to.
For example, on the night when I came face to face with God, ready to die, I confessed that Jesus is God's Son and that he died for my sins, the very sins for which I wanted to die because of my guilt. After this confession, I felt peace cover me like a blanket, a literal invisible blanket, and I know longer wanted to die. This is an experience that I bear witness to. The Spirit in me, who came upon me in that day, also gives me the ability and character to continue to tell this testimony at the right time, the right way, to the right person. This is another aspect of the confidence. Not only do I feel confident in my character and ability, but I feel confident in relation to the timing of the testimony. I have a supernatural certainty of when, where, and to whom I share this testimony.
Certainty. Clarity. Authority. These three words give a tangible standard by which you can know how the power of God feels when you have the desire to use it for his purposes. This is the only time you will experience it and know it.
Another measure of the power is how it effects others. There are two possible effects: edification or conviction. Edification means that one who already believes in Christ will be strengthened in their faith; they will feel encouraged, comforted, and urged in obedience to God. One who does not already belong to Christ will feel convicted, proven guilty of rebellion against God and urged to cease rebellion and to yield to God in submission.
The power of God has an effect, positive or negative, depending upon who listens. It effects both speaker and listener.
Confidence/Clarity/Authority/Certainty
Effectiveness in convincing by character and ability
Joy to the one speaking and the one listening
Conviction to the one speaking and the one listening
This is how God's power feels when it is used for God's purpose: to be his witness.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Meditations on the Matrix
Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work...when you go to church...when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.
In the Matrix movies I see so many analogies to Christian Spirituality. I see a a Satanic system and kingdom like the one Morpheus describes above, a system that can be seen everywhere, even now, in this very room. I see, in this very room, the absence of the acknowlegement of God; even an aversion to the knowledge of God. I see the same when I look out my window and turn on my television. But worst of all, I not only feel it at work, but at church. Even at church I ask the question, "Where is God?" I feel his absence in all of the places Morpheus describes. I feel his presence in me and with me, but outside of me seems to be at enmity with God in me. This is the Matrix, the bondage, the invisible prison for my mind. Everything in this world, as it is, seems to have one purpose: to be a distraction of Satan from the one true God of creation. In America there is still oppression. Americans are still slaves, not of the "white man," but of Satan.
The Question (A Review)
Trinity: It is the question that drives us, Neo. It is the question that brought you here. You know the question just as I did.
Neo: What is the Matrix?
There are three main characters in the movie series "The Matrix":
Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity.
Each of the three movies has a specific question that leads to more questions.
The question in the first movie is, "What is the Matrix?"
But this leads to the core question, the true question in the movie: What is reality? or What is real, as Morpheus put it to Neo. And this question of reality leads to a powerful statement by Trinity: The matrix cannot tell you who you are.
Neo replies, "But an oracle can?"
Indeed, who can tell Neo the reality of his identity? This is the question of the first movie. This is the answer of the first movie: Neo is "The One." Morpheus is the one who finds The One. And Trinity is the one who loves The One.
On to the second movie...
This is the question of The Matrix Reloaded, "What is purpose?" Or from Neo's perspective, "What is my purpose?" What is "The One" supposed to do? The answer to this question unravels all of the answers in the first movie concerning reality and Neo's identity. He is not "The One" who will save the Matrix and Zion, but the one who preserves the Matrix and Zion. Morpheus no longer knows who he is or what his purpose is. But Trinity still loves Neo. And Neo still loves Trinity, which leads to the question of the final movie.
What is love? Is love "just a word" as one of the programs said in the movie? No. Love is reality and identity. Love is the purpose of reality and identity. It was the love of Trinity that revealed Neo's identity in the first movie. It was Neo's love for Trinity the drove Neo's life in the second movie, giving purpose to his identity. And it was his love for trinity and all humanity that defined Neo's purpose and identity in the third movie. Love is self-sacrifice; to lay down one's life.
Love is the answer to the question.
God
is
Love.
He is the ulitmate answer to every ultimate question.
There is a question that drives me. There is a question that brings me to you.
Every blog I have written answers the question.
Every blog that will be written will answer the question.
Is this the question that drives you? Is this the question that brings you to me? You know the question just as I do.
Where
is
God?
Neo: What is the Matrix?
There are three main characters in the movie series "The Matrix":
Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity.
Each of the three movies has a specific question that leads to more questions.
The question in the first movie is, "What is the Matrix?"
But this leads to the core question, the true question in the movie: What is reality? or What is real, as Morpheus put it to Neo. And this question of reality leads to a powerful statement by Trinity: The matrix cannot tell you who you are.
Neo replies, "But an oracle can?"
Indeed, who can tell Neo the reality of his identity? This is the question of the first movie. This is the answer of the first movie: Neo is "The One." Morpheus is the one who finds The One. And Trinity is the one who loves The One.
On to the second movie...
This is the question of The Matrix Reloaded, "What is purpose?" Or from Neo's perspective, "What is my purpose?" What is "The One" supposed to do? The answer to this question unravels all of the answers in the first movie concerning reality and Neo's identity. He is not "The One" who will save the Matrix and Zion, but the one who preserves the Matrix and Zion. Morpheus no longer knows who he is or what his purpose is. But Trinity still loves Neo. And Neo still loves Trinity, which leads to the question of the final movie.
What is love? Is love "just a word" as one of the programs said in the movie? No. Love is reality and identity. Love is the purpose of reality and identity. It was the love of Trinity that revealed Neo's identity in the first movie. It was Neo's love for Trinity the drove Neo's life in the second movie, giving purpose to his identity. And it was his love for trinity and all humanity that defined Neo's purpose and identity in the third movie. Love is self-sacrifice; to lay down one's life.
Love is the answer to the question.
God
is
Love.
He is the ulitmate answer to every ultimate question.
There is a question that drives me. There is a question that brings me to you.
Every blog I have written answers the question.
Every blog that will be written will answer the question.
Is this the question that drives you? Is this the question that brings you to me? You know the question just as I do.
Where
is
God?
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
How far are you willing to go to find God?
You have heard that it was said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY"; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matthew 5:27-30 NASB
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? James 4:4-5 NASB
Jesus shows the seriousness of not just the external act of adultery, but the internal desire that leads to adultery. God sees both of these as worthy of hell, of eternal separation from Him, and all the torment that this separation entails. A man (and by implication a woman), as far as Jesus is concerned, should be willing to go to whatever lenghts necessary to separate and disassociate from not only sin, but causes of sin. True, Jesus used hyperbole to make points, but I believe that He means what He says. If our right eye or hand literally made us sin, and if gouging an eye or cutting off a hand would literally remove causes of sin, then we should literally do what Jesus said. The point is that sin is serious and avoiding it should be done, no matter how painful or inconvenient.
James, the brother of Jesus, calls those who desire friendship with this ungodly world "adulteresses." Many times in the scripture God speaks of Himself as a husband and His people as His bride or wife. Idolatry is considered spiritual adultery, unfaithfulness to God, a lack of pure devotion and dedication, the kind expected between wives and husbands. Again the seriousness of this is expressed. There is no in between, one is either God's friend or God's enemy, a friend of the world or an enemy of the world. The world in this passage could be compared to an adulteror, and God's people to an adulteress.
Surely if in human marriages Christ expects men and women to do whatever is necessary to be faithul to each other, internally and externally, then the same applies to our Heavenly Husband.
Lately I reflect on how no one taught me this. I learned to believe in Jesus and have a guarantee of heaven. But I did not learn devotion, the kind of devotion that is expected between even non-christian wives and husbands; even between "boyfriends and girlfriends." Shows like Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, Cheaters, and other "reality" shows assume that faithfulness is possible; so do the countless "you cheated on me" songs. Yet I was taught that perfect faithfulness to God and my wife was not possible, that Christian's are not "sinless, we just sin less;" not "perfect, just forgiven." But what husband or wife can remain married to a partner that says from day one, at the altar, "I don't have to commit adultery, but I'm going to commit adultery. After all, nobody's perfect?" A marriage cannot exist in a state of perpetual adultery, unfaithfulness. Neither can a relationship with God exist in this state.
But how far are we willing to go?
How far am I willing to go to be faithful to my God and my wife?
Am I willing to refuse to watch certain shows or look at certain magazines? Am I willing to avoid certain places and people? Am I willing to forsake all others until death?
Am I willing to experience rejection, suffering, and literal death for Christ and for the sake of His message?
This is normal marriage and normal discipleship. From the beginning a husband and wife should understand the seriousness of their vows. And from the beginning a disciple of Jesus should understand that one, according to Jesus, CANNOT be His disciple if he or she does not deny him or herself, accept rejection, suffering, and literal death (the cross) and follow Jesus, no matter what the consequences of following Him may be.
How far are you willing to go?
Matthew 5:27-30 NASB
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? James 4:4-5 NASB
Jesus shows the seriousness of not just the external act of adultery, but the internal desire that leads to adultery. God sees both of these as worthy of hell, of eternal separation from Him, and all the torment that this separation entails. A man (and by implication a woman), as far as Jesus is concerned, should be willing to go to whatever lenghts necessary to separate and disassociate from not only sin, but causes of sin. True, Jesus used hyperbole to make points, but I believe that He means what He says. If our right eye or hand literally made us sin, and if gouging an eye or cutting off a hand would literally remove causes of sin, then we should literally do what Jesus said. The point is that sin is serious and avoiding it should be done, no matter how painful or inconvenient.
James, the brother of Jesus, calls those who desire friendship with this ungodly world "adulteresses." Many times in the scripture God speaks of Himself as a husband and His people as His bride or wife. Idolatry is considered spiritual adultery, unfaithfulness to God, a lack of pure devotion and dedication, the kind expected between wives and husbands. Again the seriousness of this is expressed. There is no in between, one is either God's friend or God's enemy, a friend of the world or an enemy of the world. The world in this passage could be compared to an adulteror, and God's people to an adulteress.
Surely if in human marriages Christ expects men and women to do whatever is necessary to be faithul to each other, internally and externally, then the same applies to our Heavenly Husband.
Lately I reflect on how no one taught me this. I learned to believe in Jesus and have a guarantee of heaven. But I did not learn devotion, the kind of devotion that is expected between even non-christian wives and husbands; even between "boyfriends and girlfriends." Shows like Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, Cheaters, and other "reality" shows assume that faithfulness is possible; so do the countless "you cheated on me" songs. Yet I was taught that perfect faithfulness to God and my wife was not possible, that Christian's are not "sinless, we just sin less;" not "perfect, just forgiven." But what husband or wife can remain married to a partner that says from day one, at the altar, "I don't have to commit adultery, but I'm going to commit adultery. After all, nobody's perfect?" A marriage cannot exist in a state of perpetual adultery, unfaithfulness. Neither can a relationship with God exist in this state.
But how far are we willing to go?
How far am I willing to go to be faithful to my God and my wife?
Am I willing to refuse to watch certain shows or look at certain magazines? Am I willing to avoid certain places and people? Am I willing to forsake all others until death?
Am I willing to experience rejection, suffering, and literal death for Christ and for the sake of His message?
This is normal marriage and normal discipleship. From the beginning a husband and wife should understand the seriousness of their vows. And from the beginning a disciple of Jesus should understand that one, according to Jesus, CANNOT be His disciple if he or she does not deny him or herself, accept rejection, suffering, and literal death (the cross) and follow Jesus, no matter what the consequences of following Him may be.
How far are you willing to go?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
TRANSLATIONS
All creation understood the Creator's words.
Adam and Eve understood.
Even Cain in his sin understood.
Enoch knew and testified that he pleased God.
Noah understood God's instructions for the ark, and God's rainbow covenant.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob understood the blessing
Until Moses, the word of God was not in writing.
Then it happened.
God Himself literally wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone.
This was, in the truest sense, the very word of God, the written word, the beginning of scripture as we know it.
Joshua received these words concerning God's word:
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. "
THIS BOOK
THE LAW
NOT THESE BOOKS OR THESE TRANSLATIONS
God wrote on two tablets of stone: The Ten Commandments
Moses wrote what God told him to write: The Law of Moses, The Torah
The Law
The Writings
The Prophets
The Scriptures
Indeed, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes wrote their interpretations, commentaries, and traditions.
But Jesus made a clear distinction between the word of God and men's traditions.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and Jude wrote inspired letters to churches.
Hebrew
Aramaic
Greek
The Bible
Translations
Interpretations
Commentaries
Bible Histories
We are disadvantaged by time, geography, culture, history, and language.
Some say read one, and only one Bible translation.
Some say read at least three to come closer to accuracy.
Jesus said these words concerning His own teachings and words:
"My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. "
Those who intend to obey God can distinguish what is God's word and what is not God's word; the words of God from the words of man alone.
Adam and Eve failed to obey just one clear command given to them by God.
Humanity continued to fail God and each other, though there was no written law, but only the law of conscience in every person, until Moses.
The Israelites, after leaving Egypt, failed to obey the many commandments of God.
Many Israelites, in the days of Jesus, failed to obey the gospel of God.
The church today fails to obey the Spirit of God within them.
The problem is not God's word.
Adam and Eve understood.
Even Cain in his sin understood.
Enoch knew and testified that he pleased God.
Noah understood God's instructions for the ark, and God's rainbow covenant.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob understood the blessing
Until Moses, the word of God was not in writing.
Then it happened.
God Himself literally wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone.
This was, in the truest sense, the very word of God, the written word, the beginning of scripture as we know it.
Joshua received these words concerning God's word:
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. "
THIS BOOK
THE LAW
NOT THESE BOOKS OR THESE TRANSLATIONS
God wrote on two tablets of stone: The Ten Commandments
Moses wrote what God told him to write: The Law of Moses, The Torah
The Law
The Writings
The Prophets
The Scriptures
Indeed, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes wrote their interpretations, commentaries, and traditions.
But Jesus made a clear distinction between the word of God and men's traditions.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and Jude wrote inspired letters to churches.
Hebrew
Aramaic
Greek
The Bible
Translations
Interpretations
Commentaries
Bible Histories
We are disadvantaged by time, geography, culture, history, and language.
Some say read one, and only one Bible translation.
Some say read at least three to come closer to accuracy.
Jesus said these words concerning His own teachings and words:
"My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. "
Those who intend to obey God can distinguish what is God's word and what is not God's word; the words of God from the words of man alone.
Adam and Eve failed to obey just one clear command given to them by God.
Humanity continued to fail God and each other, though there was no written law, but only the law of conscience in every person, until Moses.
The Israelites, after leaving Egypt, failed to obey the many commandments of God.
Many Israelites, in the days of Jesus, failed to obey the gospel of God.
The church today fails to obey the Spirit of God within them.
The problem is not God's word.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
PRESENCE
"I don't 'do' emotion. Emotions are overrated. I'm more interested in creating a presence." Clive Owen
Presence: A person's bearing, especially when it commands respectful attention
Dictionary.com
I believe “a presence,” as actor Clive Owens uses the word, and as he manifests it in his movies, is simply this: the silent stillness of singular focus. When one with a presence enters a room, he enters with one mind, one will, one focus. She enters to simply be in the room, to simply be herself in that room. And what does it mean to be herself other than to be in the room? If she stands, she simply stands without fidgeting. If she looks, she looks at one thing, one person. If she thinks, she thinks of one thing.
And if he enters the room, the one with a “presence,” for the purpose of speech, he speaks of one truth, for one purpose. If he enters to act, he performs one task. For he is one man, not two. She is one woman, not three. He and she, being one being, speak and act one thing; think and intend one thought or intention. Are not mistakes made when a person gets ahead of himself or herself? Do we not err when we attempt to do more than one thing at a time, to be more than one place at a time, to say more than one thing at a time?
But I disagree with Owen concerning emotion, as though emotion and presence cannot coexist, though he does not directly say this. I believe the one with a presence, if he or she purposes to express an emotion, expresses one emotion: pleasure or displeasure. I believe the one with presence is without ambiguity, whose essence is clarity; singularity, simplicity.
I believe this because our presence is an image and likeness of God’s presence.
HEAR O PEOPLE OF GOD: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.
He is who He is.
He is.
This is His Name.
God is light.
In Him there is no darkness.
No.
No darkness.
At all.
The presence of God, the bearing of His person that commands respectful attention, is unlike any other presence, the supreme presence indeed. We have all experienced Him, the silent listener of each prayer, the quiet that surrounds us when we are alone in our beds, the feeling of being watched when no one is around. His presence is at times like the presence of a police car behind us, at other times like a constant companion. He fills a room at times, at others He seems no where to be found.
He is God.
On mountain tops He is felt. On ocean docks at night we tremble before Him. In the thunder we hear Him. In the lightning we see Him and fear Him. In the rainbow He smiles. In the rain drops He weeps. To be known by God is heaven. To be ignored by Him is hell. So indeed, in His presence is heaven. And indeed, in His absence is hell.
Presence: A person's bearing, especially when it commands respectful attention
Dictionary.com
I believe “a presence,” as actor Clive Owens uses the word, and as he manifests it in his movies, is simply this: the silent stillness of singular focus. When one with a presence enters a room, he enters with one mind, one will, one focus. She enters to simply be in the room, to simply be herself in that room. And what does it mean to be herself other than to be in the room? If she stands, she simply stands without fidgeting. If she looks, she looks at one thing, one person. If she thinks, she thinks of one thing.
And if he enters the room, the one with a “presence,” for the purpose of speech, he speaks of one truth, for one purpose. If he enters to act, he performs one task. For he is one man, not two. She is one woman, not three. He and she, being one being, speak and act one thing; think and intend one thought or intention. Are not mistakes made when a person gets ahead of himself or herself? Do we not err when we attempt to do more than one thing at a time, to be more than one place at a time, to say more than one thing at a time?
But I disagree with Owen concerning emotion, as though emotion and presence cannot coexist, though he does not directly say this. I believe the one with a presence, if he or she purposes to express an emotion, expresses one emotion: pleasure or displeasure. I believe the one with presence is without ambiguity, whose essence is clarity; singularity, simplicity.
I believe this because our presence is an image and likeness of God’s presence.
HEAR O PEOPLE OF GOD: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE.
He is who He is.
He is.
This is His Name.
God is light.
In Him there is no darkness.
No.
No darkness.
At all.
The presence of God, the bearing of His person that commands respectful attention, is unlike any other presence, the supreme presence indeed. We have all experienced Him, the silent listener of each prayer, the quiet that surrounds us when we are alone in our beds, the feeling of being watched when no one is around. His presence is at times like the presence of a police car behind us, at other times like a constant companion. He fills a room at times, at others He seems no where to be found.
He is God.
On mountain tops He is felt. On ocean docks at night we tremble before Him. In the thunder we hear Him. In the lightning we see Him and fear Him. In the rainbow He smiles. In the rain drops He weeps. To be known by God is heaven. To be ignored by Him is hell. So indeed, in His presence is heaven. And indeed, in His absence is hell.
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