I am faithful to the Book according to its own message.
I do not bring to it an overlay from some other, foreign culture and intellectual background. It’s evil to change the message that way. When we read the Book, it has a distinct orientation; it presumes a certain context and does not try to answer every possible question. Rather, it answers the one question which matters most: What do I do now?
So when you read Genesis, for example, you should realize Moses sat on Mount Sinai in God’s Presence and went through the process of tossing aside a huge pile of extraneous material. Not so much because it was wrong, but it was beside the point, not on the message. The point of Genesis is not so you’ll know exactly what happened and in what order, but so you’ll know where you are today. The narrative is intentionally vague on details because they don’t matter. Often the details themselves are presented in a fashion which says subtly: “It doesn’t matter.”
The four rivers in Eden? They don’t come anywhere close to each other, nor did they ever in human memory. Whether the geography of the earth has been tortuously altered by tectonic plate shifts is immaterial. The whole point in placing them together in the narrative was merely to mention the four best known rivers in the context of the narrative’s composition. Yes, two of them do start rather near each other, but that’s not the point. The story is set in a small private park, owned by some Eastern potentate and managed by his appointed servants. No other significant water courses, however we may identify the other two, start near there. The whole point is the factual location of Eden is not important.
What’s important is what the story of Eden tells us about human nature today. It’s really not even a question of how we got here, but the focus on where we are right now. Then the Book speaks to what we should do about where we are, and how we can and should aspire to better things. Those things are not in this world, nor was whatever reality stands behind the symbol of Eden. Whatever “Paradise” means, it’s not in this world. By the way, that word “Paradise” is an English translation of a Persian term used by the Hebrew people to denote the part of Heaven reserved for those who get the message. How are we supposed to discuss something for which there is simply no human experiential equivalent?
The Book itself takes this view, builds on such assumptions. We can have some good times here in this realm, but only so much as we can bring ourselves into some semblance of alignment with the message, manifesting the message from that Other Realm above. That alignment means I live the message, but by no means could I ever impose it on anyone by force, unless that person submits voluntarily to any authority I may represent. So while I might preach and teach certain things are wrong, I would be just as evil if I applied any force to change that evil behavior. You cannot fix evil with evil. All I can do is protect what has been placed in my hands, and even that requires a sincere commitment to living principles which can scarcely be put into words, or even a logical form. I am obliged to act upon a living conviction I cannot hope to understand, only obey.
This Book — the Bible — is the message on multiple levels. It is the message behind everything I do. I shouldn’t have to justify anything, though I am accountable for explaining so others who care can understand how I arrived at decisions which affect others.
There are several folks working with me on our recent project, The Mind of Christ. It is now being edited to smooth the rough edges of my wild and passionate writing. It was not quite so Open Source as I would have liked, but it’s a start. We should try again, don’t you think? Tell me what sort of things we should address, so we can get this message out. You don’t have to see everything as I do to participate. Every time such efforts produce anything, it will remain free to all. Some have asked if I will ever sell anything I write. I do have some fiction, written from the same perspective as the message outlined above, and I suppose it would be appropriate to sell for money. If you’ve been hanging around here long enough, you’ve already seen some of my fiction work. I think the Chronicles of Misty are a good candidate. With a decent editor, I believe we could market that.
It’s not as if I’m determined to die penniless, but it won’t matter if I do. The message comes first. Money is nothing more than a tool to pass the message to an ever wider audience. Right now, I have enough resources to produce some things on my own, but I’m not going to get very far alone. The Kingdom is not designed to work that way, and it simply won’t. I’m not promoting Ed Hurst; I can’t afford to get in the way of the message. So I am asking readers, especially if you feel a pull from this message, or simply feel a part of what I’m doing here: What should we write about? What sort of topics and projects would help people hear the message? Do you want to play a part? Would you like to see some of the fiction packaged for a wider audience? This is not a one-man show. The preferred email address is now tmoc-team@gmx.com.
If any part of this message means anything to you, ask God what part you should play.
