God, Aliens, and Other Stuff

  Image by author using ChatGTP Because of my Pentecostal background, I often write about contemporary political prophets. Ordinarily, I would hesitate to raise my pen against an anointed soul who is frequently lifted high “in the Spirit.” If God honors them, so should I. But I’ve had many of my own prophetic experiences regarding personal and national topics, and I’ve been a charismatic since 1965, so although I’m not necessarily the brightest bulb on the shelf, I’ve had the experience to earn a seat at the table for discussions on this significant and controversial phenomenon. In 1971, I had a prophetic dream that predicted that Nixon would be swept out of office. I was only half-plugged into the news at that time. I wasn’t sure what to make of it because I’m no prophet, leader, minister, or psychic, and I sure had no reason to suspect that Nixon would not finish his second term, but in 1974, Nixon was pressured by his own party to resign. In 2017, I had a  dream ...

  Image by author using ChatGTP I strongly recommend that the reader visit Part 1 of this two-part series, but both posts can stand alone if need be. On the writing platform Medium in particular, there is a lot of “deconstructing”―people rethinking long-held beliefs and tenets, especially about fundamentalist Evangelical Christianity. I’ve been through that process myself, and I’m all for it―to a degree. I’m certainly not the theological fundamentalist that I used to be, but neither have I spun off into New Age or some vague new paradigm. Nor am I awash in doubts or new questions about the nature of God. The way I stay grounded in my faith is to see Jesus Christ as the Shepherd and the Gate to the sheepfold, just as he claimed to be. The sheepfold is the Kingdom. It’s within us, it’s where we want to be, it’s the place of safety and blessing, it’s the place where we have the guidance of the Kingdom to make the most of our lives and to get in tune with the music of heaven here ...

  Image by author using ChatGTP This post may seem dark and negative, but it ends on a positive note. In a Bible study some time ago, I expressed a concern for lost souls, saying, “I wish I could convince people that there’s a hell.” For decades, I have been hearing and reading about negative NDEs. Whether you believe in hell or not, if it’s real, you may experience the horror of dying and finding yourself there, which is absolutely the worst thing that could happen to any human being of any place or era. That person may wish they had never been born. The pastor countered with, “I would rather convince people that there is a loving God, full of mercy and grace, who would receive the sinner into His arms and change their life.” The pastor was absolutely right, of course, but so was I. If I gave you a $100 bill that was blank on one side, you wouldn’t be able to spend it. It takes the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to find a godly balance between the raw truth about hell and the Fathe...

  Image created by the author using ChatGTP. The young women depicted do not resemble the persons mentioned in the story, but all else is spot on. This is my own true story. It was the end of the spring semester at the University of Washington. I was a flaky, insecure 20-year-old art student with an unimpressive GPA who had acquired a summer job in the cafeteria of the Safeco Insurance building. Despite my Catholic upbringing, I was an agnostic who was actively searching for God. The previous semester, I had taken World History. One of the requirements was to read “The Sermon on the Mount,” three chapters in the book of Matthew. It rocked my world. If there is anything to Christianity, I thought, this is how it should be. From my Catholic education, I knew the story of St. Augustine, how he heard a child’s  voice  one day saying, “Take up and read. Take up and read.” A book was sitting next to him, so he picked it up and read  Romans  13:13, admonishing hi...

  Image by author using ChatGPT I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools from 3 rd through 6 th grade. Although committed to my faith, I had a tendency even before college to shake my fist at heaven and demand, “Why?” Why do women have to wear hats, veils, and scarves to church? Why can’t we go past the altar rail? How can you judge people when you are so distant? I just wasn’t impressed with the 200-year-old appearances of the Virgin Mary on a foreign hillside to shepherd children. People need God here and now. In High School, three of us gals would sit at lunch and discuss religion. One was a Unitarian, one a Mormon, and I was still a devout Catholic. We were all committed to the belief system in which we were raised, and we were all aware of that bias. When I had a question I couldn’t answer, I went to the priest, fetching that wisdom back to our philosophical coterie. College is usually where it all falls apart, and that happened to me. It dawned on me that all...