Traveler: n.  a person who journeys from one place to another.

 “Each of us is a traveler through this life, then through the eons of time and beyond—into our final, eternal state of being.  We’re all pilgrims on a journey through this life…to the next life…and beyond.  Yes, we’re all journeying through this life from conception to death, afterwards through the coming ages of time, and—finally—into the state of being called eternity.” 

Those words are how we introduced the very first issue of The Traveler. What we didn’t write at that time is that we journey by faith, not by our five senses.  The Bible states it this way:  “We journey by means of faith, not by means of our [five senses].” (2 Corinthians 5: 7)  What in the world does that mean? 

Beyond Our 5 Senses

Deeper than our five senses, beyond our mind, beyond our own thoughts, deeper than our conscious and subconscious minds…lies an inner, limitless expanse of faith “residing” in our spirits.  What is faith?  How many definitions of faith have you read or heard in your life?  Confusing, isn’t it?  I’m not going to write anything new.  The best definition I’ve found anywhere is right where some people least expect to find it.  Where might that be?  Surprise!  Surprise!  Right in your Bible….  Follow me carefully here.  I want you to turn to a reference in your Bible, but not in the old King James version; that version was written   over    400   years   ago.   In some respects, 21^st century English is much different from what it was 400 years ago.

Having said that, please turn to your own Bible’s definition of faith.  Where?  It’s Hebrews 11: 1.  Most modern versions of the Bible will define faith there somewhat differently than the old King James Version defines it.  Here’s that definition of Hebrews 11: 1 in modern English:  “Faith is being confident that what we hope for will actually happen.  It give us assurance about things not perceived by our five senses.” Let’s analyze that definition.  

From the instant you were conceived, everything you have ever learned or experienced   has  come  to  you through your five senses.  Think about that:  besides your genetic, biological being, your entire self-ness—that which makes you “you”—has all occurred as a result of data entering you from outside you through your five senses.  Your five senses are how you perceive all the data coming into you from your external world.   Everything you’ve ever tasted, touched, smelled, heard, or seen has come into you by those five senses…into your conscious mind, and then processed, stored, or acted upon in your outward behavior.

Outside and Inside

Yes, everything outside your skin comes to you through your five senses.  In other words, by means of your five senses you have “constructed” the person living inside your skin whom you call “me” (and whom others call “you”) out of the quadrillions and mega-quadrillions of bits of data you have received from outside your skin since the instant you were conceived.  Wait a minute, though, doesn’t the Bible’s definition say faith perceives as real fact what is not perceived by the five senses?  Yes, it does say that.  

So where does faith come from?  It comes from inside us.  Faith comes to us from God who lives inside of us in his unbodied form of Holy Spirit.  Faith is one of the 9 super-natural fruits of Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us.  For purposes of illustration at this point, let’s say that in a manner of speaking faith is another “sense” (not the traditional sixth sense, however) that receives phenomena and data from inside our skin rather than from outside our skin.

Your “Portion” of Faith

 The Bible says in Romans 12: 3 that God has given every human being a certain “measure” of faith as an unearned, free gift.  Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 addresses the same matter.  You have a certain measure or portion of faith.  I have a certain measure or portion of faith.  Another way of putting it is that God has given each of us an appropriate amount of faith.  None of us can say we don’t have faith.  We all have faith.  The important point is in how we “use” our faith.  Some people place their faith in money…or cars…or in other people…or in dead, human-devised religious activities…or in houses…or in Hollywood…or in their intellect or knowledge…or in reason and logic…or in the theory of evolution…or in nothing at all.  

And, some people place their faith in God.  The differences in how people use their faith lie in the object of their faith, not in the faith itself.  Faith is faith.  Your faith—and the faith of everybody else—is the same as my faith.  Yes, God has given each of us an appropriate amount of faith.  How are you using yours?  What’s the primary object of your faith?  Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us “transmits” reality (by means of faith) to our “inner person” from inside where He lives in our spirits; this is in addition to the reality which comes to us from the outside by means of our five senses.

The Other Source of Faith

There’s another way in which faith is transmitted to us, too.  Yet, it originates from the same Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us.  Faith also comes from the Bible.  Look at Romans 10: 17.  Who caused the Bible to be written?  Holy Spirit.  So . . . faith comes from the Bible, too.  As we read and study it–and attempt to obey it!–Holy Spirit makes it real to us.  That’s how we know the Bible is the “Word of God,” not by means of our five senses, but by means of our greater, “inner sense”–faith!  The Bible is unlike any other book ever written; it is actually full of dynamic power and is LIFE-giving as Holy Spirit uses it to “grow” and strengthen our faith.  For example, read and study Hebrews 4: 12 in a modern language version of the Bible.  

The Bible is not merely printed words on paper like other books.  It is a “living” Book given to humanity by God, unlike all other books.  Yes, from inside of us Holy Spirit makes the Bible come alive as we read, study, and attempt to obey it.  He’s the one who causes the Bible to actually become “food” for our inner beings.  See Matthew 4: 4.  He’s the one who causes the Bible to be more than mere paper and ink.  By faith the Bible is a power-full, LIFE-giving book Holy Spirit uses to help transform and “grow” our inner selves.  By means of our faith-sense, the Bible actually imparts God’s own eternal, self-existent, uncreated, abundant LIFE to us.  By faith, the Bible is a book unlike any other book ever written.  It is THE totally reliable, totally mistake-free, written Word of the Living God!

Two Realms 

Why do we need faith in addition to our five senses?  We need faith because it is the only “sense” with which we can perceive God and the invisible realm of his Kingdom.  For example, Hebrews 11: 6 says that whoever comes to God must believe God is.  Faith is the means by which we believe God exists and by which we can “see” into the invisible realm in which He lives.  I call that invisible world RealRealm, as contrasted with this world in which we presently live and move and have our mortal beings:  DarkWorld.  

This world is—well—just a dim, murky, shadowy world compared to the vast, limitless, bright, invisible realm of RealWorld in which God lives in his eternal state of being.  Education, science, logic, reason, philosophy—each of these has to do with the five senses, and they all have their places in God’s grand scheme of things.  But our five senses cannot “find” God or “prove” He exists.

Only by using our “faith-sense” can we believe God exists and believe the Bible is God’s Word.  How do we have faith in God?  God who lives inside us in the unbodied form of Holy Spirit gives us faith to believe He is.  That’s the only way we can really know and experience a vital, living, personal relationship with God.

You see, God is Spirit (John 4: 23), meaning He is “composed” of invisible “spirit-substance.”  Anyone or anything which is spirit cannot be perceived or known by the five senses—only by means of faith.  That’s why we need the faith God has given to each of us; it’s the only means by which we can know Him.  Faith is the connecting link between the visible material universe (Darkworld) and the invisible spiritual universe, the Kingdom of God (RealRealm). 

There is an entire “alter universe,” so to speak, known as the Kingdom of God.  It is an invisible Kingdom within us, and it is also an invisible Kingdom outside of us:  a Kingdom greater, larger, and more real than the physical or material universe we know by our five senses.  That unlimited, invisible Kingdom of God can be known and understood only by means of faith.

Gateway to Another Realm

Also, the Bible is the other “gateway” or connecting link through which we can “travel” back and forth between RealRealm and DarkWorld.  It is the Bible “mixed” with our faith that allows us to see into the unseen, hear which cannot be heard with our physical ears, touch the untouchable, and experience a greater reality we cannot experience with our five senses.  I have read and interacted daily with the Bible for many years.  I have also read thousands of other books.  The Bible is unlike any other book ever written on this planet.  It is really and truly THE totally reliable, totally mistake-free, written Word of the Living God!  You can only know that for yourself by faith.

Also, the only means by which we can really know Jesus—God the Son—is by faith, too.  Look up Acts 20: 21.  Jesus isn’t here on earth in the flesh anymore.  We can’t perceive Him by means of our five senses.  The only way we can believe in Him and know Him is by our faith-sense.  In our world and universe (DarkWorld)—which is a physical, material world and universe—we perceive everything by our five senses; most of us grew up learning to rely almost 100% upon our five senses.  

Through our own life experiences, through our education, through our relationships with other people, we came to believe that if we can’t know or experience something with our five senses, it either doesn’t exist or isn’t real.  We say, “Seeing is believing!” meaning if we can’t perceive something with our five senses then we believe it isn’t real.

That’s why it’s relatively difficult for many people to know and believe God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and the Bible.  Because they can’t be known by our five senses in the same way we know and perceive most physical and material reality.  When God dispenses the appropriate amount of faith to each of us, often it comes to us at first in sort of a vague “form”; for most of us when we become new Jesus-believers, at first our faith is unfocused and undifferentiated.  God wants us to “exercise” it and focus it toward Him.  He wants us to train ourselves to use our faith properly.

Continued Next Month

“Because of our faith directed toward God, He has made us right with Himself. Also, by faith we have peace with God through Jesus. Faith also gives us full access to God’s limitless grace. Let’s firmly stand on our faith because that gives us joyous hope we will see God’s glory.” –Romans 5: 1 and 2         

To think About This Month:

          “If I believe the Bible’s teachings, even during those times during my journey when I can’t see the road ahead, I know with my inner faith-sense the road is there.”

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2020

You do realize, don’t you, that among our thousands of regular readers–and visitors to this website–some will die this year, in 2011? Could YOU be one of them? The question is not “Are you prepared to die?” The question is “Are you prepared to live–really live–during your journey?” If Jesus is Immanuel–God full present with you in the NOW of your life–then He will be just as fully present with you at the time you die…and beyond. I know, I know it’s the beginning of a brand-new year full of hope for a bright future.

And you’re thinking, “Why is Bill writing about death and dying? Shouldn’t he be writing about the new year full of hope and great things god may have in store for me?” That’s all very true. I do hope the new year of 2011 is full of bright hope for your life-journey in 2011. I do hope that God has great things in store for you this year. But the stark reality is that some of my readers–maybe even me–will die during 2011. Yep, some of us might not live to see Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Wow! That’s kinda morbid, isn’t it?

My Deep, Dark Secret

Can I tell you a secret about me?  I get upset with some (not all) people who approach me on the street or in a public place and harshly and accusingly ask me:  “Do you know Jesus?  Are you prepared to die?”  I just don’t appreciate the haughty and condescending attitude some of those people display when they approach me and ask me such questions.  So…I devised an answer that kinda startles them and maybe gets them to thinking about the manner in which they approach people. 

I respond to such questions:  “I’ll be damned if I’m not!”  Hey, I’m not swearing or cursing; take a minute and think about my answer.  Have you   done   that?    Are  you  okay with my  answer?  I hope so.  I don’t want to offend you.  Anyhow, we do need to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  We do need to be prepared to die.  Because it’s gonna happen to each one of us…sooner or later.

 The Year We Call 2011!

Having said all that, now I want to go ahead and wish you a happy new year—a successful and prosperous new year!  Remember how I defined “success” and “prosperity” from the Bible in last February’s issue of The Traveler? If not, let me know, and I can e-mail you that issue again from our archives.  I really do wish you a great journey during 2011!  A year full of blessings, peace, success, and prosperity from God.  I pray for God to pour his love and grace into your life abundantly and overflowing.  I pray for you to have a deep, abiding, personal  relationship with Jesus—a relationship that will remain fresh and intimate all year.

I’ve stated on many occasions that when you enter a new year, you can enter that year full of assurance that God has gone before you throughout the entire year; He has already walked ahead of you through all the days and weeks of this year we call 2011, and He knows exactly what will happen to you throughout this year.  Your year called 2011 is in God’s hands…and you are in his hands, and all will be well.  Whether you live or die, God will be fully present with you during your journey in all the days, weeks, and months of 2011!

A Brief Prayer In The Bible

For the past decade or so, a tiny little book entitled The Prayer of Jabez has positively influenced the lives of millions of people around the world.  If you haven’t read it, I recommend you get a copy of the book by Bruce Wilkinson.  In this issue of The Traveler. I simply want to share with you some of the things I’ve learned from the book.  The “prayer of Jabez” comes from a reference in the Old Testament of the Bible:  1 Chronicles 4: 10. 

In that reference, a fellow traveler named Jabez prayed a simple prayer one day about 2,400 years ago.  We don’t know much about Jabez; we just know that he prayed a brief prayer and that God granted him what he requested.  Other than that, we don’t have any details at all—just that he prayed and God answered his prayer.  I look forward to meeting Jabez in person in God’s Kingdom after Jesus returns to planet earth.  I want to sit down with him and learn all about Jabez’s life and the amazing ways in which God answered his simple prayer.

Jabez’s Prayer

Part One

First, Jabez prayed that God would power-fully and wonder-fully bless him.  Okay, I know what you’re thinking:  “Isn’t that kind of a selfish prayer?  Shouldn’t I pray for God to bless other people, not me?” Yes…and no.  If I pray “properly” for God to bless me, the intent of my prayer is that God will bless me…only so that I—in turn—will be in a position to bless others.  In the Bible, what does “bless” mean?  It means to live a full life of success and prosperity so that I can, in turn, bless other people with the blessings God gives me. 

It’s a concept that expresses the special joys and satisfaction experienced by a person who is a God-believer through Jesus.  I don’t know about you, but I want God to bless me in that manner, so that I can reach out and bestow those types of blessings upon other people during our journeys together.  So…I’ll be praying daily throughout 2011 for God to bless me.

Part Two

Jabez prayed that God would “enlarge his borders, his territory.”  At the time, Jabez was literally praying that God would give him and his tribespeople more land so they could raise more livestock and grow more crops.  I don’t feel we’re doing an injustice to the intent of the Bible or misusing it if we echo this portion of Jabez’s prayer throughout 2011 as a springboard for our own prayers, asking God something like this:    God, enlarge—expand—my influence, expand my ‘calling,’ expand my ministry, expand my outreach to other people.  In 2011, please empower me to tell more people the Good News about Jesus.  God, increase my income so I can give more money back to You.  God, give me more opportunities be a witness to others about You and your great salvation through Jesus….”

Ministry of Prisoners

I write to a number of prisoners throughout USAmerica and send some of them a “hard copy” of The Traveler. I often encourage them that even within the limitations of their confinement, they can ask God to expand their witness and “ministry” to other prisoners and to prison employees.  I strongly encourage them to engage in a personal “prayer ministry” where their prayers can give them a vital, meaningful, worldwide ministry of reaching out to hundreds and thousands of other prisoners.   

Another thing I encourage them to do is  pray for thousands of other Jesus-believers around the world who are imprisoned and tortured because of their faith in Jesus.  So…for you prisoners reading this issue of The Traveler, during 2011 ask God to “enlarge your territory” as your brother, Jabez, prayed many centuries ago.

Part Three

Next, our brother Jabez prayed that God’s hand would be upon him.  That’s a biblical expression meaning God’s presence and power.  Jabez was praying that God would fill him with his presence and power.  Be careful in praying that for yourself.  When God answers you, He might want to take full control of your life and radically change some things that need changing.  It’s no small matter for you to pray for God to fill you with his mighty power and presence within you. 

Yes, it’s true that God is always fully present with you, but this prayer means you’re asking God for his tangible, palpable presence to fill you and empower you for service and ministry to other people.  In effect, you are praying for God to be fully with you and in you during 2011, power-fully displaying and exhibiting Himself to others through you and as you, wrapped in your skin.  Be very careful what you pray for in 2011….

You’re A Minister and Priest

You do know, don’t you that every Jesus-believer is a minister of the Good News about Jesus?  And a priest?  You don’t have to attend seminary, be ordained, and wear a distinctive collar in order to be a minister or priest.  I invite you to look again at 1 Peter 2: 9 as you did in last October’s issue of The Traveler.  Where else do we find in the Bible that you are a minister, as well as a priest?   

Carefully read the 5^th and 6^th chapters of 2 Corinthians.  There you’ll find the following: YOU are a “minister of reconciliation.”  YOU are an “ambassador for Jesus.”  You are a “co-laborer” with Jesus.  I don’t know how you understand such references (and others throughout the New Testament), but it sounds to me like YOU are one of God’s ministers.  And to be a “successful” minister of God during 2011, you must be filled with God’s presence and power.  If not, why would you even bother to “minister” to others?

Part Four

 Finally, Jabez prayed that God would keep him from evil.  Where have you heard something like that before?  Hmmmm…  How about the so-called Lord’s Prayer in Matthew, chapter 6?  I won’t discuss this fourth part of Jabez’s prayer at any length because you either know what it means or you don’t.  However, I do encourage you to read one of my teachings on this ministry web site titled Soldier’s Training Manual if you want to know more details about praying for God to keep you from evil. 

 Well, there you have it—the prayer of our brother, Jabez about 2,400 years ago.  I encourage you to adapt it to your own situation and pray it meaningfully every day throughout your journey in 2011.  And then stand back and see how God will answer your version of Jabez’s prayer!  If you’ll allow Him to keep you continually filled with his presence and power, you will experience a year unlike any you’ve ever before experienced.  Have a great journey during 2011!

Living Toward Death

A famous philosopher once bleakly described human existence as “living toward death.”  That may be true of pre-believers, but for the Jesus-believer this life is living toward Jesus’ coming Kingdom and eternity, where death is only the Kingdom’s gateway.  The authentic Jesus-believer aims past this life, past death, to true eternal LIFE.  So…live or die in 2011, it’s a “done deal” and God is now and forever fully present with you and in you as Jesus in his unbodied form of the Holy Spirit.  Live or die during your journey in 2011, you win!

           “I know what I’m doing. I have 2011 all thought out–thoughts to take care of you, not abandon you, thoughts to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen. When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.  Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.  I’ll turn things around for you in 2011.”  -God, Jeremiah 29: 11- 14, paraphrased

To think about this month:

          “I will go ahead of you in 2011 and level the mountains you come to.  I will shatter gates and barriers that block your way.  I will show you treasures stored in secret places, so that you may know I am God Who summons you by name!”          –God, Isaiah 45: 2 & 3, paraphrased

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2020

I know! I know! To be “politically correct” here in USAmerica, we’re not supposed to greet people with “Merry Christmas” these days. The word “Christ” seems to offend a lot of people. But…I’m saying it anyhow: “Merry Christmas!” So there… Let the political correctness police come and arrest me! Slowly but surely Christmas is being deleted from our culture, being replaced by such events as “Winter Holiday” and “Celebration of the Winter Solstice.”         

You do know, don’t you that Jesus wasn’t really born on December 25^th in the year 0?  No, He was most likely born in the spring of the year, probably in April.  We can’t prove that one way or another, so I have no quarrel with celebrating his birth on December 25^th.  But, why stop with celebrating his birth on just that one date?  The important thing in our culture and society is that we continue celebrating his birth, whenever He was born.

Backward, Turn Backward

God transcends the four dimensions of time and space, “residing” in a hyperdimensional “place” called eternity.  In fact, current science tells us there are many more dimensions than only the four we live in.  Some say there are at least 10 dimensions…or many more.  God transcends all of them, no matter how many there are.  And…because of those many dimensions beyond time and space—hyperdimensions—time can actually turn in on itself and go backwards.  Scientists have proved that mathematically, although they haven’t seen  it happen in real life…yet.  

God dwells “outside” of and “above” time and space so that past, present, and future are all simultaneous to Him.  For God, everything is always “now.”  That being the case, from God’s eternal perspective his coming to earth as a human baby    is    occurring    “now”—as well as 2,000 years ago.  For God, time really can go backwards:  not actually, but are you getting a feeling for what I’m trying to say?

From God’s perspective in eternity, the entire life span of Jesus—his conception by Holy Spirit, his birth from a virgin mother, his sinless life, his cruel death, his resurrection from the dead, and his return to heaven—are always “now.”  So…God gets to celebrate Christmas all the time—everywhere and everywhen!  God is continually—always and ever—pouring out his love to all humanity—from a manger in Bethlehem, from a cross on a hill outside Jerusalem, from an empty tomb, and from his throne of grace in eternity.

Here are some words I’ve added—in part—to a Celtic song:

Here is love vast as the ocean;
Lovingkindness as the sea.
From the Mount of Crucifixion
Grace flows down eternally!

Let’s not limit God to some events that happened in our four-dimensional time and space 2,000 years ago.  Let’s not limit Jesus to a baby in a manger in a hillside cave/stable 2,000 years ago.  Yes, we celebrate our Saviour’s birth each December 25th, but we can celebrate it over and over throughout the year.

Immanuel

You’ve heard Jesus called—or named—Immanuel, haven’t you?  By the way, the word is sometimes spelled with an “E” as the first letter.  Immanuel is found in Matthew 1: 23, quoting from Isaiah 7: 14.  Immanuel is a Bible word meaning “God is fully present with us.” But it doesn’t refer only to when Jesus was born that God became “with us” as God in human form.  No, it means that since the time of Jesus God is with us in the sense that He is now always fully present with us…and in us.  

Yes, God is always with us, living inside us  in his “unbodied form of Holy Spirit.”  He isfully present with us now during this mortal stage of our journey.  He will be fully present with us when we die.  And He will always be with us in the eons of time to come and in the eternal state after the universe and the earth are freshly renovated and restored.  So…because God is always fully present with us and in us, we, too, can join God in celebrating Christmas all year long.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Gift-Giving

What gifts do you hope to receive for Christmas this year?  What presents do you plan to give for Christmas this year?  How much will you be spending?  How much can you honestly afford to spend?  Why do we practice Christmas gift-giving in the first place?  Oh, I know all about Saint Nicholas…and how the wise men brought gifts to Jesus when He was a toddler…and how gift-giving at Christmas has just “always been done.”  But has it?  Really?

Wanna know when gift-giving by God’s people actually began?  I’m glad you asked. Gift-giving as we know it today—from a biblical perspective—actually began about 2,500 years ago during the time of Queen Esther in the Old Testament.  After God delivered Queen Esther and the Israelis of that day from an evil plot to kill all of them, they celebrated “with days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.” (Esther 9: 22). 

500 years before Jesus was born, God’s people began giving gifts to one another and presents to the poor!  But if our custom of giving gifts to others at Christmas began with the wise men giving gifts to Jesus, why do we give gifts to one another?  Why don’t we still give gifts to Jesus—instead of to one another?  After all, whose birthday is it?  Aren’t we supposed to give birthday gifts to the one whose birthday we are celebrating?  So why do we give gifts to Uncle Ned and Cousin Harry and Baby Margaret instead of to Jesus?

A Tectonic Shift in Thinking

Maybe we need a radical shift in our thinking about who we should be giving birthday gifts to this time of year.  Maybe we need to give gifts to Jesus instead of to other people.  Maybe we’re missing something by what we’re doing.  Maybe we need to change something—beginning this year.  Jesus said on one occasion that there will always be poor people.  I take that at face value. 

I believe there will always be poor people, both in this life and in the age to come after Jesus returns to establish his Kingdom here on earth with his headquarters at Jerusalem.  Some folks teach that after Jesus returns to earth, He will instantly make all things new by Divine fiat.  I don’t hold that view.  Instead, I firmly believe that it will take a minimum of 1,000 years for Him to lay the groundwork for ushering in a fully restored universe and earth before we enter into a state of being called eternity.

Jesus Begins to Change Everything!

For example, I believe it will take at least a few centuries after He returns for Him to firmly take control of all earth’s governmental entities.  It will be the same with earth’s educational systems.  And taking apart earth’s military-industrial establishments, turning all of that vast industry into peaceful purposes.  And restructuring all earth’s economic systems, finally beginning to truly eradicate poverty once and for all.  Having said that, the poor will continue to exist on this planet for a long time to come.  Jesus expects those who “have” to help those who “have not.”  

So…during this Christmas season, why not give gifts to the poor around you?  No one is so poor that they cannot locate someone nearby who is just a little poorer.  Jesus said in Matthew 25 if we aid and assist those who are less well off than we are, that is the same as serving Him.  How much money are you planning on spending on gifts to others this Christmas?  Even putting some of it on your credit card that you won’t be able to pay off for months?  Why not take what you can honestly afford to give…and give it to the poor in your community or locale?  Give it in Jesus’ Name!

Joy In Giving

I guarantee you will find much more joy in giving if you will do that rather than spend money you don’t even have for gifts no one uses.  Or for gifts that are used for only a short while and then just tossed aside on a pile in the attic, garage, or basement with last year’s Christmas gifts.  You and I cannot eradicate poor-dom from planet earth—at least not until after Jesus returns.  Only King Jesus can—and will—eradicate poor-dom after He returns to fully establish his Kingdom on earth.  But…we can help one poor person or one poor family in our locale during this Christmas season. 

I guarantee that not very far from you wherever you live on this planet, there is at least one poor person or family you can help with gifts in Jesus’ Name!  Do you remember that Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive”? (that’s in Acts 20: 35)  Do you believe what He said?  I do.  It really is more blessed to give than to receive.  I don’t believe that’s simply a statement Jesus made.  I believe it’s a promise as well.

I Double Dare You!

 When I was a child, my friends and I used to play a game called “Double Dare.”  We would double dare—challenge—one another to do something risky, or scary, or even wrong—just to see if we had the courage to do it.  I double dare you to make a major shift in your thinking this Christmas season and give gifts to Jesus instead of to one another, thus helping the poor as they did way back in Esther’s time 2,500 years ago.

         It’s Jesus birthday; let’s give our gifts to Him instead of to one another!

C’mon, I double dare you!  Talk it over with your spouse, your children, your church, your home Bible study group, your friends, your office co-workers.  And then just do it!  You may be protesting, “But, what will people think!  What will my children say?  What will my family think? We’ve already bought most of our presents?  I’ve already told________what I’m getting for them this year.  The kids are already expecting_________.  I’ve already charged everything to my credit card.  I’ve placed lots of things on layaway at K-Mart.”  

Here’s  my  response  to  all  those   excuses:  “S-o-o-o-o!  Who are you trying  to please?” Return those things.  Get your money back.  Remove things from layaway.  Explain your changed thinking this year.  Talk things over with your family.  Find a poor person or family in your locale.  Bless them richly this Christmas day!  Spread your joy.  Bless someone poor in the Name of Jesus.  Make God happy.  He will take great delight in your new approach to Christmas gift-giving.

Give gifts to Jesus this year and all your years to come!  Remember, He is always fully present with us and in us! 

“For a child has been born–for us! The gift of a Son–for us! [When He returns] He’ll take over running the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Mighty God, Father of all time and eternity, Prince of Peace. His rule over earth will spread, and the peace He establishes will be limitless. He’ll rule from the historic throne of David over that coming Kingdom, which He’ll place on a firm footing and keep it going with fair dealing and right living…lasting always!” –Isaiah 9: 6 and 7, paraphrased         

To think about this month: 

“Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and LIFE to us He brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that we no more may die,
Born to raise the children of earth,
Born to give us second birth.
Hark!  The herald angels sing:
‘Glory to our newborn King!’”

–written by Charles Wesley, 1739 
–slightly adapted

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2020

           home-sick:  (adjective)  unhappy or sad at being away from home and family; yearning for home.

It’s very normal for us humans to be homesick from time to time during our mortal life-journey here on planet earth.  Maybe you’ve been homesick for the farm you grew up on.  Or for the tree house where you and your friends used to play when you were a child.  Or, for your grandparents’ barn where you used to frolic in the hay with your friends on lazy summer days.  Or for the corner ice cream shop where your parents took you on hot summer nights when you were a child.  

Yes, at one time or another we all get homesick for some memorable place or time in our past.  I have those homesick feelings from time to time, especially to be back with my grandparents who helped raise me when often I would spend wonder-full summers with them as a child.

Homesick For A City

But where I’m most often homesick for is a city and country I’ve never seen and to which I’ve never been!  In fact, I wrote about that city in the October 2009 issue of The Traveler and you can also read about it on this ministry website in one of my teachings entitled City of Mystery.  Yes, I often get extremely homesick for somewhere I’ve never been.  And for a Person I’ve never seen.  How weird is that…?  

What city and Person am I homesick for?  It’s going to take me a couple of pages to answer that question, but I’m going to try.  They’re in a far country.  I know you’ve been homesick for that same city and Person at one time or another, too, but maybe you just haven’t realized they’re what you’ve been homesick for.

Beulah Land

One of my favorite songs is about that city; the name of the song is Beulah Land. The first verse goes like this:

“I’m kind of homesick for a city
to which I’ve never been before.
No sad goodbyes will there be spoken,
For time won’t matter any more.”

Note:  If you’re interested in viewing and listening to my favorite rendering of that song, go to YouTube.com and type in “Christian Song:  Beulah Land sung by John Starnes.”  John’s rendition of the song is the most poignant and heartfelt of many artists you can view  singing Beulah Land on YouTube.  Yes, the land I’m homesick for is named Beulah.  None of us have ever been there…yet. 

In the state of Wyoming just a few miles west of where we live there’s a small town named Beulah with a population of only a few hundred, but that’s not the city and far country I’m writing about.  And…many years ago in our nation—during our Civil War—many parents named their new-born baby girls Beulah; it was a very popular name in that era.  Not many girls are named Beulah now, however.  I think the name has a nice sound to it, but what I think is beside the point.

From the Bible

The word “Beulah” is a Hebrew word in the Bible.  As far as I know, it appears in only one place there—in Isaiah 62: 4 in the Old Testament.  In context, it appears in a prophetic passage about how in the future—when Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth—the  Israelis—God’s ancient, chosen people—will be forever restored to their promised homeland in the Middle East, never to be “evicted” again.  What does the word Beulah mean in the Hebrew language in which Isaiah was written?  It means marriage. God will one day “remarry” the Israelis (whom He previously “divorced”) and permanently re-settle them in the land of Beulah (Israel).

A Beautiful Bride

But the word Beulah carries even more meaning than God simply remarrying his ancient “bride,” the Israelis, in the future upon Jesus’ return to earth.  The Bible also teaches that when Jesus returns He will also “marry” the church, consisting of all humans everywhere and everywhen in whom Jesus lives in his “unbodied form” of Holy Spirit.  

No, God is not a bigamist.  In some mysterious manner which none of us yet understands, at some time in the future all Israelis and the Church will be melded into one entity called the Bride of Jesus.  You can read about that in Ephesians 5: 25 – 27 and in Revelation 21: 1 – 9.  It’s not very clear to me (or to anyone else, for that matter) how Jesus will marry a Bride which is also a city called New Jerusalem; the city is a bride and the bride is a city.

Another Reference To That City and Homeland

Just this morning I was re-reading the New Testament Book of Hebrews and read some things in chapter 11 that have never “registered” with me quite as strongly before I began writing this issue of the Traveler.  Chapter 11 is all about faith.  There, Jesus-believers are called “sojourners and pilgrims” on the earth, seeking our “homeland,” our “heavenly country,” our “city” which God has prepared for us.  And we will reach that city and far country only by faith alone. 

We haven’t been there before, but we know they’re there—and they tug us forward into our bright futures.  Oh, they’re very real, but we can’t yet see them…except by our “inner eyes” of faith.  What is faith?  It’s the confidence we have in our hope.  It is the evidence of things we cannot perceive by our 5 senses alone, but which we can “see” and believe by our faith-sense.  Yes, I can see that shining city by faith and I believe I shall someday reach that verdant homeland beyond this life’s mortal journey… out beyond the far shores of time.

My Main Point

But that’s not the main point of this issue of The Traveler.  My main point is how we are sometimes homesick for our marriage to Jesus, homesick for that city and eternal homeland to which we’ve never been.  If you’re a Jesus-believer, I know you’ve felt that homesickness, that tugging at your heart.  It happens to all of us from time to time.  Why?  I’m glad you asked.

Eternity In Our Hearts

The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible clearly teaches that God has put eternity in the heart of every human ever born.  That’s found in chapter 3, verse 11.  What does that mean?  I’m glad you asked.  It would help my answer to that question if you would first read two of my teachings on this website:  Beyond The Far Shores of Time and Eternal LIFE, but I know many of you won’t do that so I’ll try to summarize here what those teachings are about.  God lives in a limitless state of being called eternity.  God is in eternity; eternity is in God.  God dwells at the precise center of eternity—of which there is no circumference.

Eternal LIFE is a “portion” of God’s very own uncreated, self-existent, indestructible, undiminishable, incorruptible, inexhaustible, imperishable, measureless, boundless, limitless, abundant LIFE God freely implants within people when they receive Jesus into their lives in his unbodied other form of Holy Spirit.  

Even if people have not yet received God’s eternal LIFE by inviting Jesus into their life, there is still a fragment, a portion, of eternity that God implants within every human at the moment of their conception.  It’s that fragment of eternity inside every human being ever born that causes us to be homesick for God, for that city, for that far country, for Jesus—many times without even knowing that’s what we’re homesick for.  

That homesickness surges up within us from time to time because we are eternal beings created by God…for God, and every human being experiences that homesickness until…well, until they return to God and to the “home” God has created for them in eternity.  That homesickness for eternity often feels like loneliness, like yearning for something or someone we don’t even know.  It’s a longing to return “home” without even knowing where home is or what it’s like.

And every person ever born on planet earth feels that indescribable yearning, that inexplicable tugging, that longing, that deep loneliness at various times.  Yes, God has placed a portion of eternity in every human ever born, and we find ourselves restless with unspeakable yearnings for that “place” in God to which we shall go at the end of the long eons of time.  Our eternal home is a “place” located beyond the far shores of time.  One of the reasons human beings constantly try to fill their lives with pleasure, with things, with money, with “stuff,” with human relationships…is because they are seeking to fill the emptiness in their lives caused by their deep longings for that city to which they’ve never been.  

They instinctively know there’s something out there somewhere they feel they can attain or reach if they can just cram their lives with enough stuff.  But none of that stuff satisfies the deep longings in the human heart for our eternal home.  Atheists unknowingly yearn for that home-city.  So do agnostics.  And Jesus-believers.  And Hindus.  And Buddhists.  And Muslims.  Everyone does.  That’s how God created us…with eternity in our hearts.

Things Unseen

Mark Buchanan has written a book about those constant yearnings we all have—longings for Things Unseen, the title of his book.  Mark writes that this homesickness we all have is “a perpetual experience of missing something,” where everything here on earth always “falls short of some hoped-for ideal.”  This world cannot satisfy; it is not enough. 

Only Eternity can fill the void we often feel in moments when we are alone and wondering what’s out there beyond death, beyond the eons of time.  Much human activity is in some manner a seeking for something that we can’t find here in this life on planet earth.  Whatever we’re looking for just can’t be found here.  What we’re looking for is in a city in a far country named Eternity.

Let’s P-a-r-t-y!

When we finally arrive in that city, there will be a wedding ceremony for Jesus and his Bride…and then the feasting and dancing will begin at the Wedding Reception of Jesus and his Bride!  Picture a boisterous Italian or Jewish wedding—a real hullabaloo!—where the rugs are rolled up and the furniture is pushed back and the music is loud.  There will be dancing and feasting and drinking. 

It will be a lavish banquet and party such as none of us has ever experienced during this life.  As the poet Yates put it:  “And the people came together and the people came to dance and they danced like a wave upon the sea.”  That will be the Marriage Supper of the Jesus and his Bride.  (Revelation 19 – 22)  It won’t be a quiet, staid religious reception in a church hall…  We’re all invited!

One one occasion, the 19^th century writer, George MacDonald, wrote about this to his dying daughter:  “I do live expecting great things in the life that is ripening for me and all mine, when we shall have all the universe for our own, and be good merry helpful children in the great house of our Father.  Then, darling, you and I and all will have the grand liberty wherewith Jesus makes free, opening his hand to send us out like white doves to range the universe.”

“The Spirit and his Bride invite all of us: ‘Come [to the wedding and the banquet to follow]!'” –Revelation 22: 17         

To think about this month:

                    “Jesus is always inviting to Himself every person ever born.  He stands at the door of each of our lives and knocks.  He shouts:  ‘Open the door.  Let me come in.  And then let the party begin!’”

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and updated December 2020

To anyone who will listen to me or read what I write, I am always telling them about God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), God the Spirit, and the Bible—God’s complete written revelation of Himself to humankind.  I attempt to communicate to people how extremely “practical” God and the Bible are for our daily living.  God is in the “now” of our lives 24/7, 365.   He is fully present in our lives now, and will be for all the eons of time to come, and in eternity.  I love the Bible.  I love it’s stories, its history lessons, its poetry, its parables, its teachings for our lives.  It’s the most practical book ever written—if we read it, understand it properly, and try to obey! what we read in it.

Be Transformed!

I’ve said or written more times than I can count that the Bible is a “living book” Holy Spirit uses to transform our lives.  God gave us the Bible to transform us, not merely to inform us.  In some unexplainable manner, God the Spirit uses the printed words of the Bible to leap off the pages and transform our lives…if we read and study it and attempt to obey! what we read.  

One of the things I like about the Bible is how it’s very much a “Travelers’ GuideBook” as we fellow travelers make our way through this mortal life enroute to the coming Kingdom of Jesus and then—after that—to our final home, the eternal state of being.  With that in mind, this month I’m going to be quoting word-for-word (in personalized, paraphrased, and amplified form) just one chapter in one book of the Bible to show you how practical it is as a guidebook for our journey through life.

Following is a paraphrased version of the first chapter of the New Testament letter (book) written by Peter, one of Jesus’ three closest friends while He was here in the flesh 2,000 years ago.  I have not taken any undue liberties with the original Greek language in which Peter wrote his letter.  I have only done what teachers are instructed to do in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, chapter 8, verse 8:

                    “They read from the Book of the Law of God, clearly explaining what was being read, faithfully amplifying it [developing it more fully] so that the hearers clearly understood each passage being read.”

Peter wrote his first letter to other Jesus-believers in the early 60’s A.D., toward the end of his own mortal journey.  He wrote his letter to those who clearly understood they, too, were sojourners and pilgrims during their mortal lives.  He wrote the letter to encourage Jesus-believers who were suffering various types of persecution because of their relationship with the Living Lord Jesus.  You do know, don’t you that originally there were no chapters and verses in the Greek and Hebrew languages in which most of the Bible was written?  Chapters and verses were added many centuries after the books and letters of the Bible were written.

“Hello” From Peter

Here’s the personalized, amplified, paraphrased first “chapter” of Peter’s letter:

                   “Hello, [insert your name here].  This is Peter writing you; remember, I am one of Jesus’ first 12 followers.  Jesus has commissioned me to write to you temporary sojourners living as foreigners and aliens in this world—who have been scattered throughout the region of  [modern-day] central Turkey.  God the Father knew you long before you were conceived and chose you to be set apart to live obediently to Jesus because you have been sprinkled with his cleansing blood.  May you experience more and more of God’s grace and abundant peace.

Born Again

      Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus!  Out of his boundless mercy, God has given you a second birth and an ever-living hope because He brought his Son, Jesus, back to life after He was killed.  Yes, you have been born² to a brand-new life—to an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept safe in heaven for you.  You are shielded by God’s power through faith until the full salvation of your entire being—body, soul, and spirit—when Jesus returns to earth for us.

Joy During Testings

          Be extremely joyful about these things, though for a little while you may have to suffer different kinds of testings.  The purpose of these testings is to test your faith as fire ‘tests’ and refines gold to make it more pure.  Your faith is infinitely more precious than gold, and by passing your tests, it will give praise, honor, and glory to God when Jesus returns.  Though you have never seen Jesus, you love Him.  And without seeing Him, you trust in  Him.  You are extremely joyful with inexpressible joy and praise that is glorious beyond words as you obtain the complete salvation of your bodies, souls, and spirits—the goal and destiny of your faith.

Prophets and Angels

          This complete salvation you have through Jesus is something the Old Testament prophets carefully researched and investigated.  Long ago, they prophesied of this gracious salvation you would experience, even though they had many questions about what it could all mean.  They wondered what the Spirit of Jesus within them was talking about when He told them in advance of Jesus’ sufferings and his great glory afterwards.  They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.  

God revealed to the Old Testament prophets that the things they spoke and wrote about wouldn’t happen during their lifetimes, but many years later, during yours.  Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, took what those prophets spoke and wrote and now makes them plainly known to us.  Your complete salvation is so wonderful that even angels yearn to understand such matters!

Be Vigilant!

          Therefore be vigilant about what you put into your minds—keep them clear and ready for action.  Be self-controlled, and place your hope fully upon the abundant grace that is to be brought to you when Jesus returns.  Because you are God’s children who obey Him, don’t let yourselves slip back into the evil living you used to practice before Jesus came to live permanently in your lives.  Don’t ever return to sin, which is  living your old self–filled lives instead of your new, God-filled lives.  

Before, you lived only to satisfy your own desires because you didn’t know any better.  But because God who has called you is holy, you must also be holy in all your behavior.  The Old Testament Book of Leviticus says, ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’  So, if you call God your Father, live in reverent awe of God during your time as foreigners and temporary residents on earth.  He is the God who judges all people by what they have done—and doesn’t play favorites.

Incalculable Payment!

          Realize that you weren’t set free from a pointless or aimless life by a payment of silver or gold—an empty life handed down to you by the dead traditions of your ancestors.  Rather, the payment that freed you from your self-filled, sin-full lives was the bloody sacrificial death of Jesus, God’s sacrificial Lamb having no defects or imperfections.  Long before anything was created, God knew who the Lamb was to be, but for our good He became publicly revealed for our sake.  Through Him you trust in God, who raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him glory.  

Now that you have begun to clean up your lives by obeying the truth, have sincere love for your fellow Jesus-believers—love one another deeply with a pure, undivided heart.  You were re-born, not from corruptible, human seed, but of immortal, incorruptible God-seed, through the living word of God which lasts through all the eons of time and in eternity.  The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote:

‘All people are like grass,
and all their beauty fades as quickly as 
the beauty of wildflowers; 
The grass dries up and the flowers fall, 
but the Word of God endures for all the 
eons of time and eternity.’ 

          This ‘Word’ is the Good News about Jesus that we proclaimed to you.”

 Some Explanations

 Just as the teachers of the Old Testament did in Nehemiah’s time (as mentioned above), I’d like to explain and clarify some of what you just read—not all of it, but some of the major points Peter made in this first portion of his letter.  First, notice that both Peter and his readers knew they were here on earth only temporarily; they knew they were sojourners and pilgrims, here only a short while before dying and being buried to await their resurrection when Jesus returns to earth to usher in his Kingdom.

We’re Not Here For Long

Do you honestly, truly know YOU are here only temporarily?  Do YOU honestly know YOU are only a mortal pilgrim and sojourner here on planet earth?  If you are a believer in Jesus, do you realize that to one degree or another you are going to suffer because you believe in Jesus?  Some believers have died—and are dying around the world this very day—because of their faith in Jesus.  Are you willing to suffer and die because you believe in Jesus?  Do you know that when you were born² you received an amazing inheritance from God reserved in heaven for you?  And that God keeps and preserves you by his mighty power? 

You don’t have to struggle to maintain your inheritance; God preserves it for you.  By the way, everything Jesus inherits from God, we inherit, too, because we are “in” Jesus!  Any testings you experience are simply to refine your character and better prepare you to be ready when Jesus returns and is revealed to all humanity.  Your testings are not unique; every Jesus-believer is tested throughout their mortal pilgrimage.  In view of the fact that you were born again and have an inheritance reserved for you by God, are you living a holy life?

 Holy = Wholly

The word “holy” can be thought of as being wholly (sounds like holy) like God.  Not holier-than-thou, but a mature and complete person—with your body, soul, and spirit being wholly integrated into a harmonious, balanced whole (holy) person.  Just as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are wholly and harmoniously integrated into one holy (whole) Person.   

Do you truly realize what an incomparable price God “paid” to buy you back out of the “slave market of sin” you got yourself into?  Your redemption wasn’t paid with perishable money, but with the imperishable, precious blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the entire world…yours included!  All your sin from first to last, not merely some of your sin, but all of it…

                    “But you are chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you:  from nothing to something, from  rejected to accepted.”     –1 Peter 2: 9 & 10

To think about this month:

                    “All our lives here we’re actually travelers—wanderers—without a permanent earthly home.  But now we know we are returning travelers—headed to our permanent True Home.  All the places we’ve been to here were never our real home, and our True Home is the place we’ve never been.”

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2020

Very Ordinary!

 Each September’s issue will be devoted to recapping the previous 12 months of The Traveler and personal events in our lives.  The Traveler is usually only three pages in length; this month, it will be four pages.  We began publishing The Traveler one year ago in September 2009.  At first, we planned to provide it by e-mail to only a few family members and friends;  As I recall, the first mailing went to about 65 or 70 people.  Little did we know what greater things God envisioned for it, however!  

Now—one year later—The Traveler is being read by thousands of people in numerous nations on 6 continents of the world and even on some of the island nations of earth’s oceans and seas.  And it has grown only by personal referral.    We have not purchased any e-mail lists, nor have we intentionally “spammed” anyone.  It’s just a “God thing!”

Recap of the First 12 issues

Our inaugural issue of September 2009  introduced our overall theme:  we are all travelers, sojourners, pilgrims, wanderers through this brief mortal life.  October’s issue was an allegory I wrote called The City of Mystery in eternity we will all enter at the end of our odyssey through the ages and eons of time.  The November 2009 issue was about the Bible, our LIFEGuide Book.  God did not give us the Bible merely to inform us, but, rather, to transform us!  December’s issue was about Jesus, THE time-traveler-God-as-human who came to earth to redeem all humanity and restore us into God’s clear image; it was about God—through Jesus—being fully present with humans—with me—with you!—for all time and eternity. 

Last January’s issue contained a “prediction” for 2010 for all my readers.  In February I wrote about how the Bible defines “Success” and “Prosperity” for our life journeys.  The March and April issues were about changes in each of our lives and how to deal with constant changes.  The May and June issues were about our eternal LIFE.  Finally, the July and August issues were about the early years of my own sojourn through life.  

Back issues of The Traveler are available by e-mail upon request.  I know God is enriching and transforming the lives of hundreds of my readers…because you contact me and tell me so.  I could already write a book about the miraculous journey-stories many of you have told me these past twelve months.  Of course, there are always new readers, too, who ask us (sometimes angrily!) to discontinue sending them The Traveler; some of the angry ones even describe in very graphic terms where I can place it before removing their addresses from our e-mail database.

Orthodoxy?  Heresy?

And I receive responses from a few readers questioning the orthodoxy of my teachings, whatever that means.  Some have even labeled me a heretic (whatever that means, too), but I usually respond to them that I’m a “happy heretic.”  Long ago, I chose not to simply accept  without question the teachings of others—even though they might be the normative thinking in the Bible-believing world. 

And I chose not to unthinkingly and unhesitatingly accept the Christian “party line” without ample evidence from the Bible alone.  I try to teach and write what I honestly believe the Bible discloses about God’s character and nature, about his vast creation, and about God’s eternal love and grace He extends to all humanity.  

Unfortunately, there are far too many self-appointed “fruit inspectors” running around loose in the worldwide Body of Jesus inspecting for unorthodoxy and heresy, but overall, it’s been an extremely exciting part of my own journey to write the Traveler and furnish it to thousands of readers around the world this past year.  Don’t be one of those self-appointed, Jesus-believer fruit inspectors; God has much better things for you to do with your time and energy.  Jesus commissioned us to bear fruit, not inspect it!

Keeping The Home Fires Burning

I have recently written two more books and have had them published.  One book is about Holy Spirit, entitled Friends Forever.  The second book is my complete autobiography, titled Him ‘n Me. I know, I know, it’s a weird title and not grammatically correct, but I think that’s what I’ll title it anyway.  Both books can be purchased from amazon.com.  

Meanwhile, I continue to write new teachings and update previous teachings posted to our ministry web site.  I add one new teaching every three months on average and update one or two teachings every month or so.  Right now, there are about 60 of my life’s teachings on our web site.  I invite you to visit there any time and study some of my teachings.   Of course, they can all be downloaded and printed.  Use them any way you see fit.

Throughout the past year, we have continued to host and teach a weekly Bible study in our home with approximately 8-10 people in attendance most of the time.  There, too, we have witnessed Holy Spirit change and transform lives.  That’s his job; that’s what He does best.  It’s not my job to change anyone.  I just teach the Bible as I understand it and let Holy Spirit use it to save, liberate, and transform people.

In addition, we are involved in our local church.  This year I presented a workshop for approximately 20 participants titled “Creating My Future.”  I’ve been facilitating this popular workshop in many venues and locations for almost 20 years and I’ve often witnessed Holy Spirit change lives in these workshops, too.  And, in addition to my own private counseling practice, I’m involved from time to time with a unique, very effective method of counseling called “God’s Light” offered by our local church.

The Most Important Thing Jesus-believers Should Do!

I honestly feel the most important thing any Jesus-believer should do is disciple, mentor, teach, and train younger Jesus-believers all the  time.  At any given time, I’m usually discipling 4 to 6 other Jesus-believers on a weekly basis.  In my own view, if you claim to be a believer in Jesus  and you are not continually discipling other, younger believers something is dreadfully wrong!  I don’t care who you are or where you are or what you do or how busy you are, or how adverse your circumstances,

The Bible mandates that it’s part of God’s plans and purposes for each of us to always be discipling other, younger Jesus-believers.  No excuses!  If you claim to be a believer in Jesus, you ought to be discipling at least one other believer all the time and then—when finished discipling them—“releasing”  them to—in turn—disciple a minimum of one other believer.   

If you’re not doing that regularly and consistently, something ain’t right in your relationship with God.  Hey, hey, hey!  Nope…I won’t listen to any of your excuses;  I’ve heard ‘em all.  Most of my adult life I’ve been as busy or busier than many of you, and I’ve always made (not found) the time to be discipling at least one other younger believer at any given time—“younger” as a believer in Jesus, not necessarily in chronological age.  It’s a matter of priorities; you have to make the time; you won’t find it.  Remember, Jesus commands each of us to “go and make disciples” in every nation in  which we live.  It’s not a suggestion; it’s a command!

          I’m not trying to impress you with any of this information; I’m simply recapping our personal activities related to The Traveler during the past 12 months.

Other Ministry and Service To God

In addition to writing The Traveler, books, and teachings for our web site each month, some of you don’t know that I’m also an Instructor with Crossroad Bible Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.   By free correspondence courses, we teach and disciple thousands of prisoners throughout the United States and in other nations of the world. 

I work with various prisoners on a weekly basis and then with one graduate student prisoner more intensely on about a monthly basis.  God is saving, transforming, restoring, reclaiming, and rehabilitating thousands of prisoners around the world, since they’re somewhat of a “captive audience” and eager to learn about God and the Bible.

China:  The Sleeping Dragon

Our international focus remains on China, that wonderful nation where we taught and ministered a few years ago.  We financially support some Jesus-believer workers there, and are excited overall about what God is doing in that great nation.  I won’t write much about China; it’s like I’m saying “Don’t get me started  writing about China because I’d never stop.” We love the people of China, and events are beginning to occur there which will astound the entire world within the next decade or so.  

I’m going to make a prediction about China, and you can hold me accountable for it:  I predict that by the year 2025 China will be the most God-believing nation on this planet, the most godly nation the world has ever known!  Impossible with humans; a small matter for God!  And, within the next couple of decades, 100,000 flaming young Chinese evangelists will break out from behind the Bamboo Curtain to carry the Good News about Jesus throughout the teeming Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim nations enroute to carry the Good News about Jesus back to Jerusalem where it all began 2,000 years ago.

A Very, Very Ordinary Man

For those of readers who don’t know me and have asked who I am, please understand very clearly that I’m just an ordinary man, a very nondescript, normal Jesus-believer.  My name is Bill Boylan.   I’m married to a  great lady named Anne, have 3 biological children and one step-daughter; 3 grand-children, one great-granddaughter, and another great-grandchild will join our family in a few months.  There is nothing special or outstanding about me.  There’s no way I stand out in a crowd. 

I live in a modest home on a quiet residential street in the relatively small community of Rapid City, South Dakota, in the northern Great Plains region of USAmerica near the beautiful Black Hills.  The world-famous Mount Rushmore is only about 25 miles from our home.  I pay my household expenses every month, help clean our house, wash most of our dishes, assist with our laundry, make the bed most mornings, drive an 11-year old pickup, and wear jeans and a sweatshirt or T-shirt most of the time. I get sick and grouchy from time to time.  I love to watch silly sitcoms on TV.  And I confess that I love science fiction books, TV programs, and movies.

My hobbies are occasionally hiking in the nearby Black Hills, regularly walking on a nearby walking path with my wife and dog, Sadie, and reading, and writing.  My roots go down deep in this locale.  My brother and his wife live nearby on the cattle ranch originally homesteaded by my great-grandparents in the 1870’s.  But my roots are not too deep; I’m ready to be “uprooted” either when I die or when Jesus returns to our lovely planet to awaken me from the sleep of death and establish his eternal Kingdom on earth.  Most of my working years have been spent as a public school teacher, a medical administrator, and as a mean, tough old Sergeant in the U.S.  Air Force and Army National Guard.  I’ve always been bi-vocational as a so-called “lay person.”

Please don’t tell anyone that I’m addicted to McDonald’s sweet tea; you’ll often find me at a nearby McDonalds sipping sweet tea and visiting with friends, reading my Bible, or reviewing my Bible memory references.  I’m very generic.  I’m not tall and handsome, I’m not very smart, and I’m not very wise at times.  I’m so very ordinary, you wouldn’t believe it.  I’m human; I sin and make many mistakes.  Just ask my wife and children and friends who know me well—and love me in spite of myself—in spite of my faults, failures, and shortcomings.  In fact, recently one of my daughters told my wife “Dad is a strange little man!” She said that with love…I think.

Our Extraordinary God

 Yes, I’m just very ordinary.  But…I do love and serve the EXTRAORDINARY God Who lives inside me in his “unbodied form” of Holy Spirit!  That’s the key.  That makes all the difference in this world and the next.  That same awesome, holy God lives permanently within you in his Spirit form and wants to take your “ordinariness,” change you and transform you, and do EXTRAORDINARY things WITH you, IN you, THROUGH you, and AS you!  The following “mission statement” is printed on the back of my business cards and applies to every Jesus-believer—to YOU:

                 “God’s mission for me is to bring heaven to earth, God to people, people back to God, and exhibit to others Jesus in his ___________________________ skin.   (Insert Your Name Above the Line)”

 Beyond that daily mission, what are you doing with the rest of your time each day?  Are you sharing the Living Lord Jesus with others in your world?  What are you doing with the time, talents, and treasures God has lavishly given you—hoarding them or sharing them with others?

There you have it.  That’s a recap of our first year of publishing The Traveler…and related events.  We hope to continue providing it to you and thousands of other readers around the world each month for many years to come—to build you up, encourage you, and enrich your life.  We pray for you to experience daily miracles in your life and in the lives of others whom God brings across your path each day as you continue on your mortal journey through time and space with God.

We encourage you to break out of any “dead religion” box you may find yourself in, expand your horizons, and see people in your life that are ready for “harvesting” and discipling where “the rubber meets the road.”  Please feel free to contact us by e-mail, through our website, or by telephone.  We are always here to help you and encourage you in any way we can.

         Let’s Journey on Together!

             “And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, for the present time, to the consummation of all time, and in eternity!”                                     –Jude 24 and 25                                                                                                                                            

To Think About This Month:

                All our lives we are wanderers and sojourners, people without enduring homes.  Now—through Jesus—we are returning travelers, at last finally headed to our True, Eternal Home beyond the far shores of time!

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc.
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2020

New Baby Born!

Part of my life story continued from last month’s issue…

That day in the shower—April 26^th of my 18th year—I didn’t understand anything about what had happened inside me; I just knew something had happened.  A tectonic and cosmic shift had occurred deep inside me that would unalterably change my life  for all time and eternity.  Inside me, something “old” had been deleted and a “new me” had begun to replace the “old me.”  Somehow, I was a new Bill Boylan.  I couldn’t understand it.  I couldn’t explain it.  I couldn’t articulate it.  But something had begun to radically change everything I had once been.

I won’t bore you with the details about why I was forced to leave my hometown of Rapid City—as I wrote about in last month’s issue of The Traveler. It had to do with my propensity for major theft:  being arrested and then given a choice between being sent to the state juvenile prison or enlisting in the military.  I was just smart enough at the time to realize that juvenile prison didn’t seem like the best choice of the two.  A military recruiting office was a few doors down the street from the apartment where I lived, so I just strolled in there one mild September day after my June high school graduation and enlisted for a four-year tour. 

Called, Commissioned, Equipped

I will now tell you how Holy Spirit (who is God/Jesus in his unbodied Spirit form) “called” and “commissioned” me to be a teacher of the Bible and related subjects, and how throughout my lifetime He has equipped me to teach.  It was now about mid-May of my 18^th year. Again, I had no clue about anything religious.  I had simply led a very God-less, self-filled life.  I was a modern pagan, a “practical atheist.”  That’s just the way it was….  

After that first experience in the shower on April 26^th of the 18^th year of my  pilgrimage, I immediately had this strange, inner urging to begin attending church, so the very next Sunday I showed up bright and early at a little neighborhood church I had spotted one day while I was driving around Spokane near Fairchild Air Force Base  where I was stationed.  I didn’t know what “brand” of church it was or what people did in that building, but I just felt that was where I should be the next Sunday morning.

My First Bible

Meanwhile, I had even purchased a huge Bible (I mean h-u-g-e, approximately 14” x 11” x 4”!) a few days after that first “shower-event.”  I just felt inside myself that’s what I should do.  I reasoned that if I was going to be a “good” newly born Jesus-believer, I should have the largest Bible I could afford to buy—to let people know how serious I was about beginning my new Jesus-filled life.  Remember, previously I had never seen a Bible up close or ever opened one.  

I proudly carried my new, huge Bible into that little church that Sunday morning…and everybody stared at me and at my huge Bible very strangely.  To this day, I wonder what they were thinking upon seeing this skinny, 112-pound teenager walk into church that morning carrying that huge Bible that weighed almost as much as he did.  But they were very gracious, greeted me warmly, and invited me to have coffee with them after the meeting.  

After the meeting, the leader—a man they all called “Pastor”—even came up to me and talked with me for quite a while; I figured he was sort of checking out who I was and why I was there with my huge Bible.  I was overwhelmed that he singled me out of the crowd and chose to visit with me:  I didn’t know whether to bow or kiss his ring or call him “Sir,” “your holiness,” “your majesty”…whatever.  

By the way, I gave away that huge Bible a few weeks later to a large family in the church (I figured they needed a large family Bible since they were a large family), and bought another Bible that was more portable and easier to carry around….  Those were the first few days of the beginning of my new Jesus-believer life after I had been born again in that shower on April 26^th of the 18^th year of my mortal journey.

That Old Country Church

A few weeks after I began attending that church in Spokane, the Pastor approached me one Sunday morning after the meeting and said he wanted to ask me something.  He explained that there was a small country church of their denomination just a few miles outside of town that had just lost their part-time Pastor.  He asked me if I would consider going there for a few Sundays (until they hired another Pastor) and teach their adult Sunday School class with about a dozen adults in regular attendance.  I gulped and replied “Sure, I’ll be glad to,” even though I was shaking and almost ready to faint because I was so scared and weak in the knees.

The “Number One Greatest Fear” of all adults worldwide is the fear of public speaking!  I was no exception…  I was scared to death, but I respected my new Pastor and figured he wouldn’t have asked me if he didn’t think I could do it.

My Very First Teaching!

I stayed up late every night in my barracks for the next week, poring through the pages of my huge Bible and putting together extensive notes for what I would teach, not really having a clue about what I was doing.  I even thought I had over-prepared, with enough notes for about 3 hours worth of teaching just so I couldn’t possibly run out of material.  I practiced my teaching for hours standing in front of a full-length mirror in the barracks.   Needless to say, the other barracks personnel thought I had gone completely insane.  I arrived at that little country church the next Sunday, was warmly greeted by the people there, and launched into my “lesson.”

I had even purchased a new suit—my first ever—for the occasion; it was light grey with dark blue specks in it—kind of a “zoot suit” with wide lapels and tapered legs; I wouldn’t be caught dead in it today.  Hey, I wanted to do this new “Jesus-believer thing” right—with a new suit and my huge new Bible.  No one except God will ever know how nervous and frightened I was that Sunday morning, with just the raw fear of speaking in front of people for the first time in my life. 

Well, I went through all my 3-hours’ worth of teaching notes in about 15 minutes and there I stood with nothing more to teach.  I gulped and asked the people if they had anything they wanted to share about what God was doing in their lives.  They responded well, and before we knew it the Sunday School hour was over, and we were having coffee.  Most of the adults in attendance even patted me on the back and congratulated this skinny, 112-pound young man with the weird, new suit and huge new Bible for teaching such a great lesson.  As the saying goes, the rest is history…

I Knew In My Knower

I knew that I knew in my “knower” from that very Sunday morning many years ago that God was “calling” me to be a teacher.  To “confirm” that call, two weeks later a very strange thing happened to me.  Once again, I was standing in the shower in my barracks.  Everything around me sort of faded into the background; it became hushed and still. 

From out of nowhere, yet from out of everywhere, I heard a real, audible voice saying these exact words to me:  “Bill, I have called you and will equip you to be a teacher of the Bible and related subjects in and to the worldwide Body of Jesus, without any exclusiveness!”

 Can you imagine what was going through my mind just then?  First of all, I had heard an actual voice right out of thin air; that alone just about did me in, but I knew in my “knower” it was God’s voice.  Second, to hear those exact words (which are forever emblazoned indelibly on my mind!) just about fried my brain cells.  What in the world was that all about?  I could scarcely believe the words, much less understand all that they meant.  I had no clue about what was going on in my life.  

And then I had this weird thought:  “What is it about me and God and showers!?  Does He speak to everyone this way?” In the years since, God has “spoken” to me many times while I have been showering (never again in an audible voice, however).  Maybe He “speaks” to me in the shower because I’m “open and exposed” to “hear” from Him while I’m in the shower.  Not a pretty picture.  Whatever…

God’s Lifelong Project

 Anyhow, from that very day forward God has involved me in a lifelong “project” to equip me to be a teacher.  I was very humbled and privileged to have been able to attend the world’s premiere (and very difficult and arduous) Bible School right after my 4-year military enlistment ended, to graduate from college a few years later (the first in my family to graduate in  generations), and, later, to earn two difficult master’s degrees from a leading Christian university.  I’ve even been awarded an honorary PhD degree.  I don’t really count that one, however, because it’s not an “earned” academic degree like my others; not many people even know it was awarded to me; please don’t start calling me Doctor Bill, okay?  

And, I’ve been able to earn many other  hours of graduate credit in various subjects in addition to my master’s degrees.  Yes, in respect to just sheer formal academic education, God has been very gracious to me.  I’m very grateful for all my secular and Christian education, BUT I’m even more deeply grateful that God has allowed me through the years to read and study my Bible all the way through many, many times.  

I don’t tell many people this (because I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but now my secret is out):  I’ve been deeply privileged to have read and studied the Bible completely through over a hundred times during my odyssey through time and space.  And I intend to continue reading and studying it as many more times as I’m able  during the remaining years of my mortal sojourn.  I am just stating a simple fact; I’m not trying to impress anyone.  Why am I telling you this?  A person cannot be a teacher of the Bible and related subjects without knowing their Bible!  Period!

Many years have passed since those two shower events in April and May of my 18^th year.  I could not possibly begin to tell you about all the miracles in my life, the places around the world God has led me, the God-encounters I’ve had, the marvelous opportunities to teach the Bible and related subjects, as God promised me I would do.  

To learn the reminder of my life story, you’ll need to read my complete autobiography that was published recently.  It’s entitled “Him ‘n me,” and can be purchased from amazon.com.   I wonder who’ll play my role when they make the blockbuster movie about my life???

“God’s gifts are many and varied. He has given to the [worldwide] church some apostles, some evangelists, some prophets, some pastors, and some teachers.” –Paul, Ephesians 4: 11

To Think About This Month:

Credo for all teachers of the Bible and related subjects:                              

                         “Let me teaching fall like gentle rain, my words be like nurturing  morning dew.  Let it be like spring showers on a garden, like abundant rain on new grass.  For it’s God I’m teaching about.  Praise the greatness of God, our Firm Foundation.  His works are perfect, and the way he works is fair and just; He’s a God you can depend upon—no exceptions, a trustworthy God.”                                             —Deuteronomy 32:  2 – 4, paraphrased

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and updated December

Local Juvenile Delinquent Run Out Of Town!

Rapid City — September 8 —  Local juvenile delinquent, Bill Boylan,  left town early this morning enroute to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS).  Rapid City police officers were present to ensure Boylan left town without incident.

Those words could have been the actual headline and first paragraph of our local newspaper on September 8th of the 17th year of my earthly pilgrimage—the  year I left my hometown enroute to United States military basic training.

Part of My Life Story

Many of my students and readers have asked me to write my “testimonial” about my own earthly pilgrimage, my own life-journey, my own trek through the wilderness of this life here on Planet Earth.  Here are the first 18 years of my story…  Right at the very beginning, I want you to clearly understand my life story is not about me; it’s about God!

My story begins when I was conceived.  And that is a whole story in and of itself that you don’t wanna know in full.  One Sunday dinner at my parents’ home a few years ago, my mother (a very outspoken woman) looked across the dinner table at me and blurted out in front of our gathered family members, “Bill, it’s time you knew when, where, and under what circumstances you were conceived!”  And then she proceeded to tell me in graphic detail that part of my life story.  It’s really very humorous, but I won’t share it with you right now; maybe another time and another place.  

When my mother told me about my conception that day, my other gathered family members and friends almost laughed themselves sick.  And, sometimes when they see me now,  they still point at me and chuckle…     I’m still waiting for someone to erect a statue of me in front of the still-standing building where I was conceived…  I’ll bet I’m one of the few people in your circle of friends or acquaintances who knows when and where they were conceived.

Enuff  ‘bout that.  Let’s pick up the story of my first 18 years after my conception…  Last December, I wrote about Jesus, THE Time Traveler for 33 years here on planet earth.  My earthly sojourn through this very brief segment of time and space so far has been a few years longer than his—with a few years yet to go, I believe!  No matter how many solar years I have remaining for this mortal stage of my life-journey, so far these few fast-passing years have been wondrous and exciting, full of adventure with God and wondrous miracles far beyond my limited ability to describe fully to you.  But I’m gonna give it a try…

B. C.

Nine months after my notable conception, I emerged on this stage of my mortal existence at approximately 5 a.m. on February 28th one cold winter morning.  There were no angels, no wise men, no shepherds—just Dad and Mother, an older sister, and 4 grandparents.  Only an uncle and aunt, no cousins.  A small family. One wing of the old hospital building where I was born is still standing only a few blocks from where I now live.  I’m still waiting for them to erect a statue of me there, too…  I was dispatched here to earth into a family I can only describe as a “modern pagan” family with little or no regard for God, for religion, or for spiritual matters.  No church, no Sunday school, no Bible, no religious training except for what little bit I picked up by osmosis from the world around me.

Just some examples…  I learned to smoke at age 6 and was smoking 4-5 packs a day by my early teen years.  I began consuming alcohol at age 9 and was drinking large quantities daily during my teen years.  In fact, many of the events of my teen years are lost to me in my memory because I lived in a drunken fog almost every day.  Forgotten bits and pieces of those years still emerge from my subconscious mind a little at a time even now, many years later.  I became a consummate liar at an early age.  And, I became a skillful and clever thief by my early teens, ultimately leading to that early morning departure from my hometown on September 8th of the 17th year of my earthly pilgrimage.

I had a uniquely foul mouth, even being somewhat of a dubious, local teenage celebrity because of the way I could play word games, especially with the famous “F” word I used in almost every sentence and every conversation.

For reasons unknown to me at the time (I know them now) I felt I had a “mission” during my teen years to pick on, harass, hound, embarrass, and persecute authentic believers in Jesus (not mere hypocritical churchgoing folks, however; I could readily spot the differences).  I enthusiastically fulfilled that mission throughout all my teen years!  Also, for other bizarre reasons, I set out on a mission to shatter at least one window in every Christian church building in our community; I didn’t quite succeed in that mission before that morning of September 8th when I was forced to leave town.  

Dear reader, I’m not blaming God, or the devil, or life, or my family, or society, or a failed school system, or anyone but myself for the modern, atheist/agnostic pagan I became; I accept full responsibility. That was just the way life was for me during the first eighteen years of my mortal pilgrimage.  was just one of many teenage pagans in mid-20th century USAmerica, thinking that’s just how life was meant to be lived.  I was just being who I thought I was supposed to be.  I was simply “doing what comes naturally,” as the words of an old song state.

A.D.

Fast forward a few months.  It’s now early January of the following year after my September 8th exodus from my hometown.  I was still a 17-year old pagan teenager, except now I was wearing a U.S. military uniform.  I was at my first assignment near Spokane, Washington, after having completed 16 grueling and arduous weeks of basic training near San Francisco, California.  

I visited the base library one evening out of boredom, leafing through the current weekly issue of Life magazine.  That dates me, doesn’t it?  Some of you younger readers have never seen that magazine except in a museum!  I turned to an article that captured my attention; it was about some young American missionaries cruelly slaughtered recently by natives on the banks of a serpentine jungle river in South America.

Someone found a journal entry left behind by one of the slaughtered missionaries.  In it were these words:  “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  Those words began to haunt my every waking moment—and even my dreams.  Something strange and unusual was going on inside me I was unable to control.  Fast forward another few months.  I was still maintaining my pagan lifestyle even though now wearing the U.S. military uniform.  Nothing had changed.  But it was  about to…

 It’s now April of my 18th year.  A young sergeant nicknamed “Duke” had just returned from Japan to our base in the U.S., to await his honorable discharge in a few months.  He outranked me and was placed in charge of our 50-man barracks.

Oh, No!  One of Those Authentic Jesus-Believers!

 Duke actually turned out to be a pretty decent guy.  He had an aura of peace surrounding him that none of my accusatory barbs and taunts could penetrate.  My foul, verbal persecution just rolled off him like water off a platypus’s back.  For example, Duke happened to be the only one in our barracks who owned a car at the time.  He would graciously take us to our bars and favorite haunts, but he would never drink alcohol with us.  

He never condemned us—just did things for us, ate with us, helped us, but it was clear he wasn’t one of us.  He lived in another world and was  driving me crazy!  Everywhere he went, he either sung, hummed, or whistled the words to a Gospel song, It’s Real!  Those words lodged in my mind and “stuck in my craw”; I couldn’t get away from them.  I even began to sing and hum them myself just because of my daily association with Duke.  Here are some of the words and chorus to that song that were driving me crazy:

“O how well do I remember
How I doubted day by day,
For I did not know for certain
That my sins were washed away.
When the Spirit tried to tell me,
I would not the truth receive;
I endeavored to be happy
And to make myself believe.

But it’s real, it’s real!
O I know it’s real!
Praise God, the doubts are settled,
For I know, I know it’s real!
My First “Shower-Event”

It’s now April 26th of the 18th year of my mortal pilgrimage on planet earth.  I was standing in the shower in my barracks.  Actually, I wasn’t simply standing there; that would have been weird.  I was showering—just wanted to clarify that… No one else was in the barracks building at the time.  All of a sudden I began weeping rivers of tears, wetting me almost as much as the shower.  I was sobbing uncontrollably for no apparent reason.  I shook my fist above my head and screamed out:   “God, if you really are real like Duke claims you are, then, damn it, make yourself real to me, too!”

Little did I know that in that atomic moment suspended in space and time, a silent, but very real, Great Transaction occurred in my young life.  Everything around me was very hushed and still; I couldn’t even hear the water of the shower cascading down my body and splashing on the floor.  A miraculous peace washed over, encompassed, and filled me.  I finished showering, got dressed, and went to my work assignment for the day.  

I didn’t have a clue about what had happened inside me; I just knew some type of inner transaction had occurred between me and “Someone” who was very real.  Over the next couple of weeks, my thoughts,   attitudes, and behavior rapidly changed.    What in the world was happening to me?  I was quickly morphing into a new person.  When I looked into the mirror in the morning, it was me, but it really wasn’t…

“You must be born again.”–Jesus

I began to know in my “knower” that something very real had occurred in the center of my innermost being.  I ascertained a short time later that in that shower on April 26th of my 18th year, I had been born again, born twice, born from above, born anew, saved, converted, etc., and had rapidly begun to become a brand-new person in and through Jesus.  I didn’t know it that day, but a lifelong—and eternal—process began that moment in the shower to transform me back into the image of God through Jesus.  Someone inside me began to transform my young, pagan life that very day.

          “If any person becomes a believer in Jesus, that person becomes newly created inside; old things pass away, all things become new.” — 2 Corinthians 5 : 17

I will continue telling you about the first 18 years of my life story in next month’s issue of The Traveler… 

To Think About This Month:

“There is something inherently spiritual in a journey.  Travel makes pilgrims of us all, for we do not know what we will discover in our journeys.  That is the adventure.”                                                                                                                 –Edward Grinnin

NOTE: My autobiography, Him ‘n me, was published in paperback book form in early 2012; obviously this edition of The Traveler was written a couple of years before my autobiography was published. My complete life story up until 2011 is in my autobiography that can be purchased on amazon.com

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December 2020

Continued from last month

 We are studying the concepts of time and eternity.  They are two completely separate phenomena. They are mutually exclusive of one another in an absolute sense.

Eternity IS a state of absolute timelessness, NOT a state of unending time. There are NO endless ages of time in eternity.  Also, Eternity IS a state of absolute simultaneousness, NOT a state that goes on and on and on with the passing of “unending” time.   Eternity is a state of being, resident in the very nature and person of God—in which such time-concepts as past, present, future, before, after, minutes, hours, and years do not exist.

Time Shall Be No More!

The ages and eons of time will end; they are alien concepts in eternity. Time and eternity have no relationship with one another just as up or down, for example, have no relationship with light or dark.  The terms “up” and “light” are mutually exclusive. Time is not part of eternity just as “up” is not part of “light.”   It may seem like I’m overemphasizing this point, but it is absolutely essential that we understand such differences between eternity and time before we can begin to comprehend what the Bible teaches, for example, about eternal LIFE.  

Time is not part of eternity.  Eternity is not composed of unending segments of time.  Eternity is not time standing still.  It simply is not time in any sense that we understand time.   Time is time, eternity is eternity, and the two are not related in any way.  Eternity doesn’t go on and on, ad infinitum. Eternity doesn’t go anywhere or anywhen, nor does it do anything.  Eternity simply is.  Time is created.  It is extra-eternal in the sense we say something is extra-biblical. Time is a measurable, fixed, limited, created phenomena.  Eternity, in contrast, is uncreated, part of the very nature and person of God.

The Great “I AM”

Eternity transcends beyond our comprehension anything having to do with time.  Eternity simply is, just as God simply is.  Just as Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am,” (John 8: 58) eternity could say of itself, “Before time was, I am.”

Some Misunderstood Terms

For my next point let’s consider only briefly the definitions of such biblical words and terms as “forever,” “forever and ever,” “eternal,” everlasting,” and related expressions.  By the way, have you ever pondered how there can be a “forever” with an “ever” following it?  Hmmmm.  Just asking…  

In over 500 places in most modern translations of the Bible where we find such terms in the English language as the four mentioned above, they have with very few exceptions been poorly translated from the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic languages in which the Bible was written.  For example, “forever” can most often be translated as “age-lasting,” or “continuing for the ages or eons of time.”  “Forever and ever” and “everlasting” should be translated as “for the age(s) of the  ages,” “enduring for the ages of time,” or “throughout all generations.”

 Such biblical words or expressions are not about segments of time that go on and on and on without end.  I am simply saying that these words are all time-words expressed in time-languages, fallen languages of a fallen race of beings, human languages that are inadequate to wholly express and define that which is eternal. They are not words having to do with eternity; they are only about time.  In the original languages, the biblical emphasis on such words seems to be upon the quality and purpose of such words rather than upon an unending duration.  In other words, eternal LIFE means the nature, quality, or purpose of the LIFE rather than it’s length or duration.

Eternal LIFE is God’s self-existent, uncreated, undiminishable, imperishable, incorruptible, inexhaustible, indestructible, limitless, boundless, abundant LIFE in us, a LIFE the seed of which we now possess and which will blossom fully in eternity when the ages of time have ceased to exist.

Check ‘em Out Yourself

I’ve given only a few examples of such words and expressions. An exhaustive—and startlingly convincing—personal study can be made of every such word in the Bible with the use of a good Bible concordance.  In summary, it can readily be seen that both time and eternity are concepts beyond total comprehension by fallen and limited human beings.  Our “darkened,” finite, human minds and understanding are too limited to fully grasp their meanings.  Nevertheless, even a dim understanding of such concepts will help change our thinking and preconceived notions of space, time, the universe, God’s nature and personality, God’s “size,” God’s inherent eternality, and our own future eternality.

The thoughts of Jesus-believers are becoming boundless and eternal, no longer controlled and motivated entirely by memories of the past, by present events, or by dim hopes for an endless future in the “sweet bye and bye.”  God’s children are becoming age-less and time-less, are being “caught up” to God and his throne, are becoming truly and genuinely eternal beings in many ways. The fledgling eternal spirits of God’s people are growing up into the limitless expanses of God’s own eternal, spiritual nature.  God’s Jesus-followers are becoming new eternal creations, no longer limited by the restrictions of the space-time continuum and by our physicality and materiality.

          We are not finite, mortal human beings having a temporary spiritual experience; no, we are eternal spiritual beings having a very brief, finite human experience!

 I hope this brief teaching about the concepts of time and eternity will help you more fully appreciate the wonder-full, rich, abundant, eternal LIFE God has implanted within you through the eternal sacrifice and total and complete salvation.

Beyond the Far Reaches of Time and Space

Here is a fictional scenario I recently wrote based on my own very, very limited understanding of Eternity, that place in God to which we are all journey-bound: 

                   “Beyond the far reaches of the vast seas of time and space lies a fair, verdant, and lovely land called Eternity.  It is a land beyond measure in which no mortal, wayfaring feet have yet trod.  A land of great delights, of fulfilled desires, dreams, goals, and visions.  A land where He Who Is…is All in all; there is nothing in that altogether exquisite land which The Great Presence does not fully permeate and fill to the full.  

We…you…me…all are bound for that unclouded land beyond the far reaches and borders of time.  In that ever-bright there will be no need of the sun or lamps, for there will be no night there.  The permeating, en-Lightening Presence of Him Who is All in all will provide all Light, radiating to the darkest parts of the Universal Kingdom.  And, in that wondrous land of light and beauty beyond compare, there is a pure River of Life flowing from the throne of the All in all.

                  On either side of that River are Trees of Life which bears fruit always, and the leaves of the Trees will heal those from every tribe, tongue, and nation who made the long trek to that wondrous Land.  No dark curses will find a place in that comely Land, but only extraordinary blessings for all… from Him Who is all.  Pure love will radiate throughout that land from Him Who is seated on the throne and from the Lamb seated at his right hand; transforming love will be the very atmosphere breathed by all who inhabit that fair land.  And love will be the very core character and nature of all who dwell there…because He is Love.

                   It’s a land of dazzling beauty no human eye has ever seen—a land of light beyond the crystal seas.  A bountiful land of abundance, a land of milk and honey where Justice and Mercy fall and nourish the land like spring rains, sweeping gently across the lush, verdant meadowlands of Eternity.  Love, grace, mercy, and truth waft unceasingly throughout the land, filling the very atmosphere.  The knowledge of God and his Righteousness and Good cover the earth as the waters fill the seas.  Praise and joy resound from every corner of the land.  Salvation and Deliverance flow down as crystal rivers flow from high, eternal mountains.

                    All is Peace—Peace which surpasses finite comprehension, Peace which overshadows all that might cause anxiety and worry, Peace which stills any tumult and storms that might arise on the crystal seas in that radiant land to which we go.  There are quiet, sparkling streams of mercy in that Fair Land, beside which the Great Shepherd of all sheep leads us into verdant meadows where Feasts surpassing abundance are ever provided to all.  We shall dwell there beyond the far shores of time, ever in the Presence of Him who fills all with Himself.  Death shall be no more.  Nothing shall ever disturb the peace and tranquility that pervades that all-spacious land over which the King of kings and Lord of lords rules with eternal benevolence toward all creation.

                    It is a vast, spacious land of scintillating colors beyond measure, where the flowers never fade and all foliage is ever green.  Ceaseless High Praise—loud as rolling thunder—is ever heard, yet there is always a hushed and still quietness that is palpable to all.  Praise rolls effortlessly from all created beings, originating from deep within the redeemed who ever come singing to the Temple of God—whose temple we are, filled with all the fulness of the Spirit beyond measure and comprehension.  It is a wondrous, undiscovered land of great discovery, eternal excitement, and exploration.”

          “We shall never cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”                                                                                                                                                 –T.S. Eliot

Dear reader, that is the wondrous land called Eternity to which we are all journey-bound beyond the far reaches of time and space.   Let’s journey on…

“I am the…Beginning and the End, says the Lord God, He Who is and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty, the Ruler of All!” –Revelation 1: 8                    

To Think About This Month: 

                         “On most gravestones there’s a date of birth, a dash, and then a date of death.  The dash is very short; it represents my life from conception to death.  It’s my relationship with God during the dash that really matters!”

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc.
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated December

 There’s some flawed and faulty thinking among many worldwide believers in Jesus.  About What?

Here’s what.  As I visit with various Jesus-believers and pre-believers here and there in person, by correspondence, and by e-mail around the world, I find that many of them have only a vague, dim understanding of what eternal LIFE—Real LIFE—is all about.  Here’s what the Bible teaches:  Eternal LIFE  is God’s own uncreated, self-existent, imperishable, undiminishable, indestructible,  inexhaustible, incorruptible,  boundless, limitless, abundant LIFE He permanently implants within people through Jesus.  

In short, it is God’s own LIFE in all its fullness.  The quality, inherent nature, or character of that LIFE, not its duration, is paramount.   It’s the present real-ness of that life that is crucial.  In most of my writings, I almost always capitalize God’s LIFE in us to emphasize it’s abundantly wonderful quality, not its duration or length.

Faulty Beliefs

We mistakenly tend to think of eternal LIFE in terms of an endless, future existence in a fanciful heaven far off somewhere “beyond the blue,” beginning when we die.  And the existence it seems to imply is a sort of religious church service in the sky “in the sweet bye and bye,” which leaves many people wondering if they would really want that kind of life to go on forever….as dull and boring as are some church services.  

But Jesus is quite clear when he speaks of eternal LIFE—He means it is LIFE that is absolutely wonder-full and can never be diminished or stolen from you. He says, “I have come that you may have LIFE, and have it to it’s  fullest.” (John 10:10)  The eternal LIFE God gives us is a life far exceeding that of the highest life any human being possesses, just as the highest life a human being possesses far exceeds that of the tiniest one-celled amoeba.

Eternal LIFE is not the mere continuity of this mortal life in an immortal, endless religious service where we all play harps while sitting on fluffy clouds in some far-off forever.  No!  Eternal LIFE begins now and culminates after the long eons of time in a final, timeless state of being called eternity.  All spiritual growth of a Jesus-believer during this life is simply to receive more and more LIFE from God!  Sometimes when God first implants his LIFE within us, it may lay dormant for a time.  Then when we are ready, it begins to come awake in us, blossoming into its full, vibrant expressiveness in ways that only God can “grow” it in us.

There comes what I call a “magic moment” in each person’s life when God’s embryonic LIFE—whether in root, in seed, in tiny acorn—begins to blossom and bear fruit.  That LIFE in our innermost being begins to fulfill its destiny within the Father’s new-creation son or daughter—That’s you!  That’s me!  (2 Corinthians 5: 17)  That LIFE begins to shoot upward from where it has taken root in our spirit.  It sprouts within us, sending forth new leaves and branches and fruit, flowering and blossoming until that LIFE in us is All in all.  

We don’t need to experience more and more of this finite, perishable, mortal life we have on planet earth in order to have a fuller life.  No, we need more and more of the infinite eternal LIFE of God in us—more of his LIFE-making Presence in us.  If we will simply let God pour more and more of his LIFE into us by means of the inner work of Holy Spirit, there will never be a limit—throughout all time or in eternity—to the enlargement of our existence, to the flood of LIFE that will gush  into us, through us, and out of us.  Most of us simply have no conception of how full and “complete” and vast real LIFE is.

Life Without LIFE

The condition of pre-Jesus believers without God’s LIFE in them is a sort of “life in death,” an unreal, colorless dream existence, an emptiness, a pointless, aimless wandering in a dull, gray, twilight zone.  LIFE eternal is not merely an endless elongation of our consciousness.  No, LIFE eternal is given us by God—a LIFE which is his very own LIFE, not subject to the ravages of decay or death as are our mortal lives.

                   Eternal LIFE is a present existence in which the Jesus-believer has already been given a “portion” of the very self-existent, uncreated, loving character and nature of God!

I can’t emphasize it enough:  Eternal LIFE is not some sort of endless life we’re going to get (future tense) when we die.  No, it’s God’s very own LIFE He gives us now (present tense) when Jesus comes to live permanently within us in his unbodied form of Holy Spirit.  It’s the very LIFE of the Eternal God flowing into our lives in the ages and eons of time and space before we reach our final state of being in timeless eternity.  If the Son of God lives in us by virtue of our having been born², we have (present tense) God’s very own eternal LIFE within us…NOW!  (1 John 5: 11- 13)

How People Get LIFE

As simply as I can put it in summary fashion, here’s how we “get” God’s eternal LIFE.  When we are born² (see John 3: 5 – 8), God takes a “portion” of his own uncreated, self-existent, imperishable, inexhaustible,  undiminishable, incorruptible, indestructible, boundless, limitless, abundant LIFE and permanently implants it within our human spirits.  And we instantly come ALIVE with that LIFE within our human spirits, inseparably and permanently melded, welded, or amalgamated with God’s LIFE-giving Spirit within us for all time and eternity!

Time and Eternity

To get a better understanding of what I’m attempting to teach about eternal LIFE, it would help to understand a little about the differences between time and eternity.  So…let’s examine for a few moments the concepts of time and eternity.  They are both integral parts of the greater reality of God’s very own LIFE within Jesus-believers.  I’ll attempt to teach these two concepts as somewhat separate from one another, but, of necessity, there is much overlapping of the two.  When we examine the overall subject of time, we will also look at other time-concepts that are temporal, non-absolute, and relative.

Let God’s Spirit Teach Us

Only Holy Spirit, the Author of the Bible, can teach us in depth about time and eternity. And I encourage you to ask Him for understanding and clarity as you continue to read this teaching.  He can fill in the many gaps I’ve left out of this article because of my own limited understanding.  I freely admit there is much I don’t comprehend about time and eternity.  I’ve never been to the ages of time to come and the state of being called eternity, so I really don’t know much about them yet.  

There is much yet to be learned as Holy Spirit gives us illumination and enlightenment.  In a sense, there is much about time and eternity that only time to come and eternity’s reality can clarify for us.  Okay, we’re considering the concepts of time and eternity in connection with God’s own self-existent, uncreated, eternal LIFE He implants within us when we are born².

Time And Space

Continuing on with our thoughts, let’s think about whether or not time and space are finite or infinite.  If they are infinite, are they necessarily eternal?  By definition, space is “the expanse in which all material things are contained.”   Infinity is defined as “something lacks known or measurable limits and bounds,” not that something has no limits or boundaries.  

With my present understanding, I believe that space and time do have limits and boundaries, but they cannot be measured by presently used astronomical instruments.  I am open to changing my mind as additional study might dictate.  Space, time, and the material universe are created phenomena and are infinite, but only in the sense they cannot be measured by finite humans.  I believe they are not infinite in the sense of being eternal—as only God is.

What Is Eternity

Now let’s consider the concept of eternity.  Please understand that the most basic  definition of eternity is “a state of being.” We shall see that it is much more than that, but it is a state of being, first and foremost.  Eternity is not a created phenomena as time is.  In all candor, I believe the Bible teaches very little by way of defining or describing eternity.  Why?  Because the Bible is essentially a book of time and for time.  It was written for us who are limited time-beings, not yet totally eternal beings.  

We are presently creatures of time—journeying through time. Only when we arrive at and fully enter that state of being called eternity… only when He who is Eternal becomes All in all in us…  Only when time ends and is swallowed up into eternity… only when eternity becomes an absolute reality to us… only when we are spiritually metamorphosized into our eternal milieu…  Only then will we spiritual time-beings, who were formerly physical and material beings, comprehend eternity and matters of an eternal nature.

There’s an old familiar Gospel song which speaks about our “going home” upon Jesus’ return…to our metamorphosis…to our Great Transition…to our change from mortal to immortal:

“When the trumpet 
of the Lord shall sound,
and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks
eternal, bright, and fair; 
When the saved of earth
shall gather over on the other shore,
and the roll is called up yonder, 
I’ll be there…
On that bright and cloudless morning
when the dead in Christ shall rise,
and the glory of his resurrection share;
When his chosen ones shall gather
To their home beyond the skies,
and the roll is called up yonder,
I’ll be there…”

I don’t necessarily agree with all the “theology” of that old song or with the time sequence of the events it describes, but it is, nevertheless, a good old Gospel song describing the Great Hope we have for our future in time to come and in eternity to come based upon what Jesus has done for us.  Everything written by us humans about eternity (including this teaching) is at best enlightened speculation based upon limited information.  Because we are still time-beings, not yet eternal beings.

The Eternal God

We read in the Bible that God is Eternal, or, more literally, the Father of Eternity (Deuteronomy 33: 27, Isaiah 9: 6).  He is called so in the sense that he is the originator and sustainer of eternity.  In short, eternity is part of God.  He dwells in eternity.  Eternity is in God.

Continued next month…

“So…to the King of the ages of time and eternity, to Him who is invisible, to the only God there is, full of wisdom–may honor and glory be given to Him alone for all the ages of time and eternity. Amen!” 1 Timothy 1: 7                              

To Think About This Month: 

                  “I am extremely grateful God gives me sufficient time to prepare for eternity!”

Bill Boylan
Life Enrichment Services, Inc.
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and U[dated December 2020