XCIV

WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING

PHILLIPIANS 2:12

DEVIN EASTON (PART 2 of 2)

“It’s time for you to decide,” Sevenia had said. The word decide was ringing and echoing in my head. I had started reading a book that my brother had given me by Soren Kierkegaard called ‘Provocations.’ As a matter of fact, I had read the first chapter the previous night before I went to bed and began having nightmares. The title of said first chapter is, ‘Dare to Decide.’

Please don’t misunderstand me. This book is a far cry from a Stephen King novel. What I read was, for me anyway, a kick to the behind. In a nutshell, it encouraged me to stop sitting on the fence spiritually. It stirred me, and it shook up what I had been dealing with the last several weeks.

“What’s wrong?” Sevenia asked with a concerned frown. “I just meant personally I don’t think you are possessed.”

“That’s good to know,” I replied, followed by a fake laugh.

“The crazy part is another matter,” she added with a sly smile.

“That’s NOT good,” I responded with a genuine laugh. Then I told her about the book my brother Dirk had given me and the coincidence of her saying it’s time to decide.

“That’s probably not a coincidence then,” she said with a shrug. “I just finished reading  that same book just a few days ago. And guess who it was who gave it to me?”

“Dirk?”

“Close, his lovely wife.”

This turned my mind to something else that had plagued my thoughts during my sort of conversion, the Dalial encounters, and the Dr. Darius Doom experience. That thought was, would my former girlfriend and mother of my daughter take me back?

She had said no in the midst of the Dr. Doom days. She still claimed to not want to be yoked to an unbeliever. This both hurt and mystified me. I felt like I was a believer after my encounter with Dalial. I had had years of waffling on spiritual convictions, but now I was committed to positive life changes.

Yet I was beginning to truly understand her reservations. The people at Cotton Creek Cove went by the Bible and the Bible alone, and I was finally seeing that their practices of primitive Godliness were much deeper than simply old fashioned values. It was an adherence to Biblical doctrine and principles rather than tradition, accompanied by ecumenism. The commandments of God vs. the traditions of men if you please.

“You and Lexi are pretty close friends, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure we are.”

“If I get baptized like you said…”

“When did I tell you to get baptized?” Sevenia interrupted with a frown.

“Well, you…” I began, and then frowned myself. I remembered in the nightmare her head rolling off her body after she told me to repent and be baptized. After that I jolted awake. She had told me in my dream, not in reality. I smiled sheepishly and then changed directions a little. “Actually, I guess you didn’t. What I was getting at, though, was Lexi.”

“Okay, what about Lex?”

“If I were baptized and joined your church, do you think she would have me? You know, finally marry me so we can be a real family?”

“That shouldn’t factor into your decision for baptism.”

“How can it not?” I wondered aloud. “Her reason right now is not wanting to be unequally yoked. Wouldn’t me getting baptized equalize the possible marriage equation?”

Sevenia frowned, but smiled. “I see what your saying, and you are right to a degree. All I’m trying to say is take Lexi and your daughter out of the equation for a second. Pretend Lexi left Cotton Creek Cove and became, say, a Buddhist monk. Would your spiritual inclinations still lead you to baptism and Cotton Creek Cove?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then.”

“So you do think I should be baptized?”

“Sure I do, as long as you give yourself whole heartedly to God and repent.”

“How do I truly know if I’ve done that?”

“That would be something better answered by Captain Kirk,” she told me. “He’s had over half a century of pastoring and counseling. He’s much more adept at reading and understanding people than I am.”

“Okay, well, how about we go back to your dad’s so I can have a talk with him before he leaves.”

“Oh, I think they’ll be there a while. When that group gets together, they can talk for hours on end.”

“Maybe you just don’t want to stop hanging out alone with me,” I teased and then winked.

She looked slightly startled, but then laughed. “How about we go see the good Captain?”

Back at the Sallie residence, I followed Sevenia through the house and we spotted everyone hanging out on the deck. As we approached, we heard Seven speak as he looked intently at his phone. “It says here, a Cedar Rapids man was pecked to death by a flock of Red Winged Blackbirds.”

“Get out!” Brock barked as he stepped next to Seven and looked at his phone.

Sevenia stopped abruptly, and I almost ran into her. She doubled over, and her shoulders began to shake and tremble. I thought she was struck with a sudden illness. “Sevenia, are you okay?”

She stood up and I was startled to see she was crying. She wiped away a tear, and it was then I realized she was laughing.

“Yesterday,” she began, just above a whisper. “Destiny told us that Brock stopped running at his favorite trail because the Red Winged Blackbirds dive bombed him so aggressively. He claimed one grazed his head. I don’t think he knows that my dad knows about it.”

It was good to witness Sevenia having lighthearted fun. It seemed like the few times I had been around her she was so serious. Calm and peaceful, but serious.

“Destiny, did you tell Seven about my bird incidents on the Cedar Valley Trail?” Brock asked his wife. But she was holding her stomach and laughing so hard she couldn’t speak. “Seven, you little punk!”

Seven actually vaulted over the deck railing with Brock in hot pursuit. The two men scrambled all over the back yard with everyone on the deck rolling with laughter. Brock finally caught him, put him in a head lock, and tickled his rib cage. Seven apologized profusely and Brock let him go. The two cousins walked back to the deck grinning like a couple schoolboys.

“Can you believe those two guys are almost forty?” Sevenia asked, as she smiled and shook her head.

Pastor Samson, aka Captain Kirk, was more than happy to talk with me. I told him how I had been reading the Bible and other spiritual books ever since my brother Dirk had become a believer. I told him the influence other members of Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship had on me, especially Lexi. Her transformation from a demon-possessed former stripper to a wholesome, Godly mother of our two year old blew my mind.

But I confessed that although I admired Jesus and was impressed with how He  transformed my former girlfriend and brother, I just couldn’t seem to give up booze, cigarettes, and lust, among other things. Things like swearing, impatience, hating people, etc.

I told him how the encounter with Dalial had changed my life, which led me to my brief relationship with Dr. Darius Doom. I informed him that it was witnessing Sevenia and Doom together that won me to her side. I was awakened to the reality of truth over sensation. Then how my nightmares about Sevenia put a huge exclamation point on my new beliefs.

We talked for over an hour, and then I finally couldn’t help myself. “Sir, do you think I could be baptized? I mean, do you think I’m ready, Sir?”

Captain Kirk was a fascinating man. It was like talking to a hero from the Bible. He had a bearing and dignity that seemed to command respect. Yet he was so relaxed, friendly, and engaged when we spoke that I couldn’t help feeling, dare I say it, like he loved me.

“I think you’re ready, Son,” he said as he patted my knee.

Strangely, I felt like crying, but held it in. I also felt unworthy, and asked. “Sir, what if screw up after I’m baptized. You know?”

“Son, do you ever drop the soap when you’re taking a shower?”

I both frowned and chuckled, wondering what he was getting at by seeming to change the subject with something absurd. “Uh, sure, quite a bit actually.”

“Do you stop taking a shower if drop the soap?”

“Of course not.”

“A spiritual journey is a discipline,” he told me. “Hence the derivative disciple. It is also sort of like a lifelong shower, only instead of getting physically clean, you’re in the process of  cleansing your soul. So, if you drop the metaphoric soap in life, you confess to God, ask for forgiveness and get on with your shower.”

“Thank you, Sir,” I said, unable to stop grinning. “That’s something I’ll always remember. So, will you baptize me then?”

“Given what you’ve told me, what would you think of your brother baptizing you?”

“He can do that? He’s not pastor though.”

“He’s a member of God’s family in good standing, he’s qualified.”

“I’d love it!”

The next thing I knew, I was standing in my brother’s living room. He and his lovely wife Amy listened intently as I related my night and day’s activity. My niece and nephew played contentedly as I related how their uncle’s life was changing.

When I got to the part of Captain Kirk suggesting Dirk baptized me, my brother said he’d be honored. He then pinched the bridge of his nose as tears leaked from his eyes. I gave his shoulder a pat, and I knew he felt embarrassed. But then he laughed and hugged me fiercely.

The next Sabbath, after services, I was baptized in Cotton Creek, not far from where Sevenia and I conversed. The first person I had physical contact with as I stepped onto the bank was my little daughter. Lexi handed her to me, tears of joy streaming down her smiling face as I kissed our little girl’s soft, chubby cheek before I held her with my right arm. With my left, I hugged Lexi and kissed her cheek.

“Congratulations,” she said as she put a hand on my cheek.

“Thanks,” I replied, feeling choked up with gratitude.

“By the way, yes,” she grinned.

“Yes what?” I asked, feeling a little dazed by the rush of emotions.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said softly, lovingly. “That is if the offer still stands.”

“Absolutely,” I replied as Captain Kirk shook my hand, grinning. “Pastor, Lexi and I need to talk to you. We need another ceremony, and I’m pretty sure my brother isn’t qualified for this one.”

What a great day! God is so good! God is so patient and merciful! God is love!

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 14)

Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. The soul may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life.

Could our spiritual vision be quickened, we would see souls bowed under oppression and burdened with grief, ready to die in discouragement. We should see angels flying swiftly to aid these tempted ones, who are standing as on the brink of a precipice. The angels from heaven force back the hosts of evil that encompass theses souls, and guide them to plant their feet on the sure foundation.

The spiritual battles waging between the two armies of good and evil are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend.

Live in contact with the living Christ, and he will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go.

“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” Matthew 6:13

The ruin of Jerusalem was a symbol of the final ruin that shall overwhelm the world in the time of the end.

He who rules in the heavens is our Savior. He measures every trial. He watches the furnace fire that must test every soul.

“Judge not that ye be not judged.” Matthew 7:1

The warning is: Don’t set yourself up as the standard. The standard is Jesus, and Jesus Christ alone.

The effort to earn salvation by one’s own works inevitably leads men to pile up human exactions as a false barrier against sin.

We cannot read the human heart. We ourselves are faulty, and are not qualified to sit in judgement of others. Finite men can ONLY judge from outward appearance. To God alone who knows the secret springs of action, and who deals tenderly and compassionately, is it given to decide the case of every soul.

“Why do you behold the mote that is in your brother’s eye?” Matthew 7:3

According to the figure our Savior uses here, he who indulges a judgmental spirit is guilty of a greater sin than is the one he accuses.

Christ is the only true standard  of character, and they who set themselves up as a standard for others is putting themselves in the place of Christ.

These would be judges and critics are placing themselves on the side of antichrist , “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God…” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

When the religious experience is devoid of love, Jesus is not there; the sunshine of His presence is not there. No busy activity or zeal can supply its lack.

What the early church has done whenever she has lost the grace of Christ; when finding herself destitute of the power of love, she has reached out for the strong arm of the state to enforce her dogmas and execute her decrees.

Here is the secret of all religious laws that have ever been enacted, and the secret of all persecution from the days of Abel to our own time.

Christ does not drive but draws people unto Him. The only compulsion He employs is the constraint of love.

When the church begins to seek for the support of secular power, it is evident that she is devoid of the power of Christ—the constraint of divine love.

He who looks upon the cross of Calvary, remembering that their sins placed the Savior there, will never try to estimate the degree of his guilt in comparison with that of others.

Let Christ be daily made manifest in you, and He will reveal through you the creative energy of His word!