Fredo Fished in the Wrong Spot

I want to thank the enabler who mentioned the 200-lumen flashlights Home Depot is selling. On the way home from church, I bought one for me and one for my dad. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.

Church was really good. The pastor seemed completely lost at first. He was talking about the Beatles and celebrities and so on, and I figured, “He didn’t prepare this week, and he’s winging it.” But toward the end, he drew it together. The theme was people’s need to see Jesus, or at least be aware of his presence. That is something I strive for all the time, because, well, why wouldn’t you? Once you’ve had it, you want it again. That pretty much sums it up.

He ended up talking about Arthur Blessitt. This is a man who made himself a cross and spent his life carrying it around the world. I guess he’s still doing it. It’s an amazing story. He used to be on TBN all the time, back in the 80s. I don’t watch TBN any more, because so many of the people on the network seemed like liars and…I’m trying to think of a nice word for “pimps,” but it’s not coming. I thought they preached a very harmful brand of prosperity theology, and I believed it was intended to help them live obscene lifestyles, not to help people get closer to God.

I have seen a lot of people on TBN whom I would urge Christians to avoid following, but I have never heard anyone say a bad word about Arthur Blessitt.

Anyway, here is the story Arthur told Pastor Wilkerson. Arthur said that when he was about 20, he visited a church near Lake Tahoe, and while the pastor of that church was driving him some place, Jesus spoke to Arthur and told him to go down on the beach. The pastor didn’t want to go, so he got a subordinate to take him. So they went to the beach, and while they were walking, they looked out onto the water and saw Jesus standing on it. And they immediately turned away from him, because they were freaked out.

They turned back eventually, and they went into the freezing water and worshiped him. And after a time, they didn’t know what to do, so they started walking away. And Arthur went back once more, and Jesus was still standing there, and he had his back turned to Arthur. And Arthur called out to him, or something, and he turned back to Arthur, and Arthur asked for a blessing. And without speaking, Jesus communicated the following idea to Arthur: Arthur was never to be afraid of anything, because Jesus would always be beside him. And if I recall the story correctly, Jesus held his hands out toward Arthur, and somehow power went from Jesus to Arthur, through Jesus’s hands.

Now, I have heard a lot of nonsense on TBN. I have been told that I should send money to a preacher who drove a Rolls-Royce, for example. And I think Robert Tilton, who is a liar and also crazy as a tree full of coons, used to be on TBN. But maybe Arthur Blessitt really did see Jesus. Some people do. He’s real, after all.

I had a couple of experiences in which I was convinced that Jesus was with me. On one occasion, I felt an invisible beam of love, warmth, and power playing over my body as I tried to sleep, and I fell asleep and then awakened, and when I awakened, my hands were raised, and I felt energy pouring into the palms from up above. I never figured out what that meant, but it definitely happened, and Arthur’s story is similar, in that power moved through a pair of hands. In his case, it moved out of Jesus’s hands, and in my case, it moved into mine.

Don’t ask me what it means. If I were a televangelist in white shoes and an orange suit, I’m sure I’d be able to make something up and convince you to pay me for telling you. But I don’t lie nearly that well. I’m merely a lawyer. I guess I should say that ever since that day, I’ve been able to do something special with power from my hands. Healing the sick, or bending spoons, or taking really stubborn stains out of neckties. But that is not the case.

It was a great sermon, because it reminded me that we are to believe God is real, and that we can actually get away with doing the things he told us to, because he will help us. That’s extremely important. Like Pastor Wilkerson said tonight, it has nothing to do with your ticket to heaven. It has to do with what you achieve here.

After all the things I’ve seen, I should have faith like Arthur Blessitt’s, but I do not. I couldn’t be happy facing a firing squad, for example. He pulled that off. I do manage to come through once in a while, though.

My sister no longer goes to Trinity Church. She felt their message was a little basic. If you watch Perry Stone (one of her favorites), and then you go to Trinity, you will see that Perry Stone digs deeper into the mysteries of the Bible. No doubt about it. But every time I go to this church, I get something I need. It doesn’t seem to matter how simple the sermon is. So I’m still attending. Maybe I have a stronger interest in the fundamentals.

This blog entry made me think of the third psalm, so here it is.

1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me.
2 Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
4 I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

I have managed to memorize 13 psalms so far, but I’m starting to lose some of them, so I guess I better start going back over them.