I think I've posted this story on every blog I've had... I'm posting it again upon request, and because I think I have a number of new readers that haven't seen it before - if you're one of the unfortunate few who have read this before, I sincerely apologize.

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I was hungry again. It's not uncommon for me to be hungry, especially given the circumstances. I stepped into the kitchen, and looked at all the dirty dishes stacked on the counter. I quickly made my way back to the comfort of my seat in front of the computer... but that nagging hunger just wouldn't leave. Once again, I got up and made my way into the kitchen (a distance of about 5 1/2 feet.) Once again the dirty dishes sat there, motionless on the countertop. It had been nearly one day now, and none of them had washed themselves yet. The situation wasn't improving.

I'm currently living in a 30-foot travel trailer for the summer. The kitchen is nearly eight by eight. The countertop takes up only a small portion and fits between the sink and the stove. There's just enough space on the counter for a box of cereal and a bowl - you have to hold the milk. Across from the counter is the table. This would work as a counter except that it also works as an office...

The refrigerator is worse. Originally, there was a decent-sized gas refrigerator. Unfortunately, it had quit working and had been removed. The refrigerator I am currently using is about 5 cubic feet. To give you an idea of how small 5 cubic feet is; if you wanted to put a pillow in the refrigerator - not that you would - but let's suppose you wanted to, you'd have to take the pillowcase off, smash it down real small, and if you try real hard, you might fit it in the refrigerator - the pillowcase, that is - what were you thinking trying to put a pillow in a 5 cubic foot refrigerator? But I digress.

I went back to the computer. As I sat in front of the computer listening to my stomach rumble I decided it might be worth it to do some dishes. I realized that if I was going to eat with a fork, I'd have to wash it. However, I was out of plates as well. This meant that I'd either have to wash a spoon - as eating out of your hand with a fork isn't pleasant - or else I'd have to wash a plate as well. I went back into the kitchen...

The sink is smaller than the refrigerator. This makes doing dishes somewhat tedious and frustrating. It's not uncommon for me to get more water on the countertop and floor when using a full-sized sink and with a sink this size, it's even worse. But my stomach was still rumbling, so I started running the water.

To hold me over, I got out the peanut butter. I then opened the overly crowded refrigerator to search for the celery. As I bent over (the refrigerator is about knee-high) I saw the celery - surrounded by about a dozen other objects. I carefully began extracting the celery. Thump. The soy sauce fell out of the door. I put it back in the door and quickly closed the refrigerator door before the mustard tried to escape as well.

Now I set to work washing dishes and munching on celery sticks with peanut butter. I only own two plates, two bowls, eight spoons, eight forks, eight knives, one wooden cooking spoon, one spatula, two pans, a skillet, and one glass. All but two knives and the spatula were dirty.

One of the pans hadn't been used, but was still dirty. This is due to the leaky stove. Well, technically it's the vent above the stove that leaks. I use this pan to catch the drips (sometimes as much as two quarts of slightly brownish water.) If I don't catch them, they go down, through the stove, and onto the carpet in front. There's not much carpet to get wet, but it's all I have to walk on and it's not pleasant to walk on we carpet first thing in the morning. But I digress again.

I finally got all the dishes washed, and nearly all the peanut butter eaten. I find myself eating things simply so they don't go bad or get "any worse." I suppose peanut butter won't go bad very quickly, but I've thought that more than once. It's something like this: I open the fridge in the morning.

"Huh?" Wipes eyes. "This hasn't been in here that long." Sniff, sniff. "Hmmm. It doesn't smell too bad yet. Humph, spaghetti for breakfast... Well, I gotta eat it before it gets any worse." And who knows what Tofu really smells like anyway?

Well, that's what was on the menu tonight; salad, because the lettuce was frozen - I'll get to that in a moment - spaghetti, because I didn't know how much longer it would hold out, and spaghetti sauce that's only been open for 3 days (I'm trying to plan ahead.)

I opened the fridge again. Thump. There was the soy sauce. I pulled out the carrots, spaghetti in a zip-lock bag (moldable and space-saving,) a green pepper, the spaghetti sauce, lettuce, and a slice of soy cheese. I put the soy sauce back in the fridge and thought, "Wow, it looks so empty."

I began inspecting the objects I'd just pulled out of the refrigerator. I looked at the tomato first.

"What is that? Ewww. This has only been in there one week. Well, maybe two - I don't know. I guess I could just cut that part off." Sniff, sniff. "Whoa, forget that! No tomato in the salad tonight."

Then the lettuce.

"Oops. It's frozen. I guess I can't store it in the freezer." Most normal conditions would have made such an observation seem a bit, "well... DUH!" Here's the scoop: having only 5 cubic feet to work with, I was confronted with a choice last time I bought celery sticks. Either the celery stays out, or the lettuce goes in the freezer.

The refrigerator has one cooling coil that doubles as the "freezer." I packed some stuff around the lettuce to insulate it and prevent its coming in direct contact with the coil, hoping it wouldn't actually freeze. For those of you living in 30-foot travel trailers with 5 cubic foot refrigerators that are thinking of doing this, let me tell you now, it doesn't work. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to let the celery sticks wilt.

The spaghetti sauce looked fine, which was to be expected. Then I grabbed the spaghetti...

"Spaghetti in a zip-lock. Heh, it looks a bit like a brain." I opened it up. "Doesn't really look slimy. That's good!" Sniff, sniff. "Whoa, that doesn't smell right." Sniff, sniff. "... it doesn't really smell wrong either though." Sniff, sniff. "What is left-over spaghetti supposed to smell like anyway?" Sniff, sniff. "It smells like garlic. Did I put garlic in the spaghetti when I made it? I know I put some in the sauce. Did I put some in the spaghetti too - I can't remember. I guess I'll have to taste it." Taste. "Hmm, can't tell." Taste, taste. "Hmm, still can't tell - I guess it can't be too bad."

The pepper was fine. I failed to mention that I have one well-used cutting board (I had just washed this as well.) I pulled it out and began chopping up the veggies. I put the sauce in the pan and began heating it. I put the spaghetti in the microwave just to be safe. The idea being that 7 minutes in the microwave will kill anything living in the spaghetti. Ants are the only thing I know of that can survive in a microwave. If I'm wrong, please don't tell me.

I looked at the lettuce. "I suppose this is what frostbite would look like on a green human. At least nothing is growing on it..." I pealed off the outer leaves, and found a decent amount that was salvageable. I used what I could, and threw away the rest.

With carrots, celery, green pepper, lettuce, soy cheese, and dried cranberries, I was able to produce a very tasty-looking salad. As with all my edible-looking creations, I took a picture of it.

The sauce was ready, so I got the spaghetti out of the microwave. I was feeling pretty safe about it at this point. I put the spaghetti on the plate and poured the sauce over it. I put away all the vegetables, making sure none of them were in direct contact with the cooling coil. It was looking good, but something seemed to be missing. Garlic bread! I pulled the bread out of the "pantry" (similar to a medicine cabinet. And got the toaster oven out from under the sink...

I won't tell you about the toaster oven right now, except to say that it took me a while (and lots of cleaning chemicals) to become comfortable about the idea of my food actually touching it. I needed the Smart Balance, so I opened the fridge. Thump. Clatter, bump, rattle, thud. The soy sauce was out again. This time 1/2 the contents came along - including the carrots.

"Lord, I don't know how you give me such patience." I put the carrots, soy sauce, curry, sweet and sour sauce, and rice back into the fridge. Quickly, I shut the door. I then "buttered" the bread and put it in the toaster oven. Then I returned the Smart Balance to the fridge - or at least tried. The door wouldn't close. I rearranged the orange juice, moved the milk, put the spaghetti sauce, rice, and soy sauce on the other side of the fridge, and tried again. Still, nothing. I put the carrots under the jars. This time it worked.

I stood up, proud that I'd repacked the fridge so well. Sniff, sniff. "It smells funky in here." I turned around. "Oops..." I'd forgotten about the bread. Quickly I shut off the oven and opened it. "Hey, that's not too bad." I scraped off the worst of it and added some garlic salt. I sat down to eat. "Finally."

The salad was very good. The spaghetti wasn't bad, and I'm still feeling okay, so I might be able to finish the rest of it tomorrow... The bread was pretty good. I even made seconds on that - and I forgot it again...

Finally full, I stacked all the dishes in and around the sink. I looked at them sitting there, motionless. I walked over to the computer and sat down. "I'll do those later...."

Something's been bothering me lately - actually, for quite a long time. I hadn't thought about blogging it, but after Evan's blog, debunking some popular and sensational conspiracy theories, I thought I'd use the power of the pen. You may or may not agree with what you read, but please do think it through carefully.

In all seriousness, I truly believe there's a danger of which many are ignorant, and I hope to shed some light on it.

Revelation 13 issues a very solemn warning: "And all the world marveled and followed the beast." To contextualize a bit, Revelation 14 states that those who follow the beast "shall be tormented with fire and brimstone." The skeptic-father of a friend mockingly declared, "You're going to be deceived, it says all the world, you're in the world, aren't you? You can't escape the deception!"

As if that's not sobering enough, Christ warns that there will be such great deceptions in the last days that, "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Mt. 24:24) Add to this His somewhat cryptic, rhetorical question, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Lk. 18:8) and it becomes clear that this is a serious matter.

In response to these warnings, some have made it their peculiar responsibility to warn people of end-time deceptions, counterfeits, and things of this nature, working untiringly to uncover the true intentions of the papacy (the beast-power of Revelation 13), it's works, and the perceived support system surrounding it (e.g. secret societies, paganism, rituals, etc.).

If one desired, one could go to an entire lecture-series primarily focused on the origin of certain fraternities, their roots in papism, and their perceived roles in modern politics. One could listen to quotes from leaders in these societies, politicians, religious leaders, even the pope himself, that betray the intents of the of the church and its co-conspirators. You can return, night after night, to learn about satanic symbols, secret rituals, connections with the occult, pagan traditions, its influences in pop culture, sacred rites performed by these organizations, and on, and on, and on...

Some of this information is true, some is merely fanciful surmisings. However, that's not what concerns me. What concerns me is the overall obsession with this theme. It doesn't take a genius to realize that a multi-week series of meetings that "follows" the lineage of deception in Catholicism is a bit suspect. After all, didn't Revelation 13 warn us about following the beast? Sound like a stretch? Keep reading.

Immediately after His warning about deception, Christ said "Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not." (Mt. 24:26). Notice He says not to even go look into it. There's a danger in even pondering and holding company with deception.

Remember the story of the Garden of Eden; how Adam and Eve had the whole garden, full of God's wonders and creations that testified of their creator? Perhaps that wasn't exciting enough - perhaps it was a sincere mistake - either way, Eve wandered away to the vicinity of the garden with the tree inhabited by Satan. Did she think she was in any danger? No. In fact, it wasn't until a short time after she'd eaten the fruit that she realized what she'd done. And all this could have been avoided had she simply not gone wandering around on the devil's ground.

The threat is not only to those who are openly wondering after the beast. It is possible to become so obsessed with the study and unveiling of deception as to be to be unwittingly wondering along after the beast. All this begs the question, "How much is too much?"

Satan will use anything to distract the mind from God and heavenly themes, even the study of his own deceptions. If the primary theme of our study and interest is the deceptions of satan, then in a very real way, he has taken our attention from God and we've begun following the beast. The Bible tells us that God "will bring to light the hidden things of darkness." (1 Cor. 4:5) It's not for us to search out Satan's deceptions - the God has already revealed what we need to know in the scriptures. Would our time not be better spent searching out the "deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10)?

"The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions... None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict... Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of God." - The Great Controversy, p. 593-595

Wow. Conversation over, if that's not clear enough, I doubt any case would be found compelling. The scriptures are our only safeguard. The Bible lays out, with unmistakable clarity, the answers to every deception we'll face - study the Bible, know the scriptures! Familiarity with deception is not a safeguard. It's not through the study of counterfeits that banks verify bills - but through knowledge of the genuine. Knowledge of the scriptures is our only safeguard against deception.

"Oh, but it's necessary for us to know these things to awaken the church and bring revival!"

This will never bring revival. True revival is a response to God's goodness and this begins by beholding God, not the devil and his agencies (Isa. 6). Revival brought on by a cerebral awareness of spiritual danger leaves the heart untouched and unreconciled to God. This kind of revival, like Judas' repentance, is motivated by fear of consequences and is insincere and insufficient (Judas was aware that consequences existed, as well should we, but they should not the motivation for revival).

I believe the real issue regarding revival is found in the answer to this quetion: "Do we live our lives as though Jesus is coming soon, or because Jesus is coming soon?" Think carefully. The answer's not as simple as you may imagine.

In fact, there's some very serious dangers in preaching conspiracy (extra-Biblical) theories (I know some won't approve of my use of that word, "theories," but forgive me, I don't know what else to call them). The teaching of these theories bothers me more than their pursuit, because of the effect it has upon it's audience(s). The dangers come on two fronts:

The Believing Audience:

Satan wages war upon the beautiful, simple truth of God by any means available. Always seeking to thrill the senses and enthrall the imagination, he strives at every turn to inhibit our ability to appreciate and contemplate God's simple truths.

As if the sensationalism from 21st century pop-culture isn't enough, we bring that same mentality into the pulpit by presenting mysterious secrets of organizations, and the obscure influences of occultism, exciting the senses and entertaining the imagination of the hearer. The result is that these people find the simple truths of God's word dull and uninteresting in comparison with the scandal and mystery of the papal system. In a not-so-figurative sense, the beast has captured their wonder.

I have seen people who can scarcely defend their faith from the Bible, who are easily excited and become animated by the discussion of the papacy, secret societies, and conspiracy theories.

The second front is the Non-believing Audience, and the effect had here is, I believe, even worse:

For the skeptic, these teachings simply give grounds for disbelief and ridicule. Why risk turning someone away with extra-Biblical teaching, when they may have been compelled by the truth of God's Word?

For the neutral hearer, it may be one of three things:
a) unbelievable, in which case they join the skeptics.
b) compelling, in which case they join the Believing Audience.
c) or maybe even offensive, which is worse than the position of the skeptic.

Consider the red heifer...

When I was about 9-years-old, I heard that a red heifer had recently been born and that this was the first red heifer in thousands(?) of years (I don't remember exactly - but it was a long time). In the small Adventist circle we were in, this created quite a stir as it was believe to be a key part of Satan's plan to deceive the Protestant world. It was expected that the heifer would be sacrificed soon, somehow uniting Protestants with Israel, commencing a world-wide ecumenical surge. Of course the Catholic church was in the middle of this somehow.

Now, here we are, 16 years later. The average life-span of a cow is 7-14 years (can you believe I actually looked that up...). But even if they really pampered Bessie, and she's still alive, they missed their shot, because according to Leviticus 19, she's supposed to be 3-years-old when they sacrifice her.

Now, do you suppose a teaching like this will build or shake the confidence of your hearer? It certainly didn't build my confidence. And if this teaching is wrong, is it such a stretch to think perhaps other teachings of the Adventists are wrong too? Perhaps the papacy isn't the antichrist. Maybe they were wrong about the identity of the lamb-like beast. And so we clumsily hang sound Biblical truths on a line made of extra-Biblical theories.

At this point, you may be wondering if I'm suggesting we quit preaching any form of apocalyptic message. God forbid! The Adventist movement exists only because of it's end-time message. The warning against receiving the mark of the beast is central to the 3-angels messages of Revelation 14. The identities of the beasts of Revelation 13 are undeniable. The world must know that a Holy God has begun the work of Judgment and that He's coming soon to put an end to this war between good and evil - and if adventists don't preach this, who will?

We simply need to devote our focus to the scriptures. Think of the dollar bill again. If your ability to avoid counterfeit bills is wrapped up in your intimate knowledge of counterfeits, one needs only make a counterfeit with which you're unfamiliar in order to dupe you. But if you're intimately familiar with the original, no number of counterfeits, no matter how carefully crafted, could fool you. Our safety isn't found in being savvy of Satan's work - but in being intimately connected to our Savior.

On whom is your focus? Do you spend more time seeking to know and understand the nature and character of a Holy God, or the Holy See?

What excites you? Are you passionate about the connection between faith, righteousness, and obedience, or would you prefer to study connections between Catholicism, secret societies, and government officials?

Where do you search for truth? Do you "search the scriptures daily," or do you search internet forums and news articles daily?

Jesus said "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." That word, sanctify, in that passage can loosely be translated prepare. It's God's word that prepares us, sanctifies us, secures us. Extra-Biblical theories serve only to excite, distract, and jeopardize our minds.

Enough of the conspiracy theories and secret societies. Enough of the satanic and pagan symbols. Enough of the extra-Biblical conjecture about Satan's work. Return to the study of scripture. Return to teaching the Bible. Return to talking of a soon-coming Savior. Return to heavenly themes, until Jesus can say of you as He said of His disciples, that, though in the world, 'They are not of the world...'" (Jn. 17:16 & 17)? Because you can rest assured, all the world will follow the beast, whether they know it or not.