Dream On: The Delight and Difficulties of Dreams

Recently I wrote a piece entitled The Strength and Spirituality of Segmented Sleep, tracing the history of human sleeping patterns. Up until the Industrial Revolution (AD 1760 - 1840), human beings usually went to bed shortly after darkness settled, slept for three to four hours until midnight, awoke and participated in various physical and mental activities for two to three hours, and then went back to sleep for another three to four hours until daybreak. This practice is known as segmented or divided sleep. One of the popular mental activities of people during the "between the sleeps" awake time was remembering and analyzing the dreams experienced during the first segmented sleep.

In our modern 24/7 electrical light fast-paced culture, sleep is no longer segmented and dreams are no longer dissected. Most Americans sleep through the night and awaken with worriment about the day rather than wonderment about the night. It is without doubt that God spoke to His people through dreams throughout history, but many evangelicals today take the position that God has spoken definitively and conclusively through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-3) and that He no longer uses dreams as a means for personal communication or self introspection. To hold to a position of dream cessation, the evangelical who believes the Bible must explain away a multitude of verses, including: 

"For God does speak—now one way, now another— though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds." (Job 33:14-15). 

"And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and [there is] no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, [Do] not interpretations [belong] to God? tell me [them], I pray you." (Genesis 40:8)

 "I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel; Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons." (Psalm 16:7) 

"Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven." (Daniel 2:19)

"But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt." (Matthew 2:19-21) 

"And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us." (Acts 16:9)

Christians since the Reformation who have not discounted dreams have often seen them as a caution against--or an encouragement for--certain conduct. Puritan preacher Ralph Josselin wrote in his diary, "They say dreames declare a mans temperament, this night  I dreamd  I was wondrous passion with a man that wrongd mee and my child insomuch as I was shamed of my selfe, god in mercy keepe mee from that evill." Historian Roger Ekirch in his magnus opus At Days Close  writes that a dream prompted Virginia colonist John Rolfe to marry the Indian maiden Pocahontas. A pastor friend of mine told me that he dreamed his sister's house was on fire, a nightmare prompting him to call his sister (overseas) and awaken her to discover her house was on fire. God speaks clearly to us in His word, but just because dreams are not as clear as the written Word does not necessarily mean God is not speaking to us through them.

The Scripture tells us that we have three enemies - the world, the flesh and the devil. Whereas God may communicate with His people through dreams, a Christian must be careful from assuming it is always God speaking. "Test the spirits" the Apostle tells us, "to see if they are from God" (I John 4:1). Nightmares in the night are usually associated  with death or dying, physical ailments, violence from another's hand, and much more unpleasantness. God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind. Methodist Benjamin Lakin dreamed of being forced to elude demons during his journey home from an evangelistic meeting, a  dream that would cause most non-Christians to fear, but  Lakin saw his dream as a caution from God to avoid a certain route coming home, which he did -- all the while trusting God to protect him (similar to the dream given to Joseph). No dream is from God that ever encourages behavior prohibited by God. Yet, could it not also be said that any dream that is consistent with the principles of God's Word may be a vivid and personal encouragement from God?

God seems to have chosen to communicate personally to His people through dreams throughout history. Modern evangelicals may not be hearing the message because of a change in our sleeping patterns. So common was segmented sleep prior to the Industrial Revolution that the "prospect of awakening in the middle of the night was common knowledge that required no elaboration" (At Days Close, p. 301).  John Locke wrote "all men sleep by intervals" and segmented sleep was such a normal way of life, even "brute creation" (the animals) participated in it.  A European psychologist wrote 200 years ago that persons "rudely awakened" from their "first sleep" had the "same feeling" as if they had been "interrupted at a very serious task" (At Days Close, p. 322). Erkirch writes:

"Clinical experiments at the National Institute of Mental Health confirm that subjects who experienced two stages of slumber were in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep just before they awakened around midnight, with REM being the stage of sleep directly connected with dreaming. What's more, (Dr.) Thomas Wehr has found, "transitions to wakefulness are most likely to occur from REM periods that are especially intense," typically accompanied by "particularly vivid dreams" distinguished by their "narrative quality," which many of the subjects in his experiment contemplated in the darkness." (A. Roger Ekrich, At Days Close, p. 323).

So, next time you are awakened three to four hours into your night's sleep, it might be advantageous to contemplate and consider what you have just dreamed. Whether it is caution against certain conduct, a prompting toward some particular productive behavior, or a revelation of some inward character flaw, just as God chosen to speak to His people throughout history in dreams, He may be choosing to speak to you as well through yours.

It's not as important that a Christian accept God's involvement in dreams as it is that a Christian not reject His involvement before knowing the biblical and historical data on the difficulties and delights of dreams. In our age of scientific skepticism, a healthy dose of spiritual sensitivity may be warranted. Yes, God speaks to us through both the Living Word (Jesus Christ) and His written word (the Bible), but could it not be possible that He also speaks to us through a very personal word (a dream)?

If so, our preeminent desire for dreams could be best summarized by Dr. Richard Kay, an evangelical Christian medical doctor from Lancashire, England, who wrote in his 18th century diary:

"I have dreamed dreams that when I have awoke out of them they have, even in the dark and silent night, brought me upon my knees and deeply humbled me."

Left Behind Is for the Biblically Blind

  I really like Nicolas Cage as an actor. The Rock, National Treasure, and Family Man are three of my favorite Nicolas Cage movies. Unfortunately, Nicolas Cage is also the new star of a 2014 major motion picture release entitled Left Behind. This movie is the Hollywood reboot of the insanely popular Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.  The only thing worse than people not reading the Bible for themselves is for them to get their theology from a Hollywood motion picture. Even worse, when evangelical Christians think Left Behind represents sound biblical theology about the end of the world, we expose ourselves as being biblically ignorant. 95% of Christians believe what they believe about the end of the world because somebody--either a pastor, a parent, or a popular teacher--told them what to believe. Gone is the day when Christians search the Scriptures for themselves.

The prophet Daniel in his prophecy called "the scroll (book) of Daniel," the Lord Jesus Christ in His prophecy of Matthew 24, and the apostle John in his prophecy called Revelation, all predict the same thing - and it is NOT the end of the world. The prophets of the Old Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the early apostles all predicted the end of the Old Covenant way of life (Jewish sacrifices, Temple rituals, yearly festivals, etc...) through the fall of the Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the scattering of God's Old Covenant people.

The prophets of Scripture gave a very specific time as to when the Old Covenant Jewish kingdom would come to an end. Daniel said in his prophecy that the Jews had 70 weeks left (490 years), Jesus in His prophecy of Matthew 24:34 said the Jewish way of life (Old Covenant Temple worship) had a generation left (40 years).  and the apostle John said that the events in his prophecy (the same events predicted by Daniel and Jesus) would occur "very soon" (Revelation 1:1) and that the events prophesied in the book were "near" (Revelation 1:3). It was Jesus expressed purpose to fulfill every jot and tittle of the Old Covenant Law through His life, death and resurrection, and then inaugurate His New Covenant whereby He would "make the Law obsolete" and cause it to "disappear" (Hebrews 8:13). Jesus successfully accomplished His work on behalf of sinners (His life, death and resurrection), and then a generation later He sent the Roman army to destroy the Jewish Kingdom in AD 70, similar to the way God used foreign armies to destroy other rebellious nations in the Old Testament (the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, etc...)  Again,  Daniel, John and Jesus all prophesied the end of the Jewish kingdom!  Interestingly enough, God told Daniel to "seal up the scroll" (Daniel 12:4), a Hebrew euphemism indicating the events of Daniel's prophecy (the end of the Jewish Kingdom) were a long way away. However, God told John not to "seal the scroll" of his prophecy (see Revelation 22:10)--a prophecy John wrote in AD 68 (see Kenneth Gentry's Before Jerusalem Fell)--because "the time is near." Jesus said shortly before his death (AD 30) that "all these things" - meaning the end of the Temple and the Jewish Kingdom--would be "fulfilled within a generation" (40 years). Just like the Messiah foretold, the Old Covenant disappeared completely in AD 70!

Any person with a modicum of biblical literacy knows that Daniel, Jesus and John prophesied about the end of the Old Covenant Jewish Kingdom. The New Covenant people of God are those who trust His Son, both Jews and Gentiles. In the New Covenant, faith in the risen Lamb of God makes a sinner--whether male or female, slave or free, rich or poor--a priest unto God. We, the people of Christ, are the new Temple of God. The Royal Law of our King (James 2:8) is the law of love for one another, the same kind of love Christ has for us (John 13:35). In this New Covenant agreement inaugurated by Christ, I live by faith in the risen Son of God, "who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). My at-one-moment with God occurred through the atonement of my King! I trust in no ritual, no festival, no law apart from faith in Him. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection!

So, let me just encourage those of you who are tempted to see Left Behind as Christian orthodoxy to pick up your Bible and read for yourself! Revelation is a glorious book showing how God ended the Old Covenant Kingdom of the Jews and inaugurated the eternal Kingdom of His Son. You and I are members of that Kingdom via faith in the risen Savior! Unfortunately, the beauty of Jesus Christ is missed by Hollywood, and the poor theology of this film will lead to restless living by those who believe the movie to the neglect of their Bibles. It's worth repeating; Left Behind is for the biblically blind.

Contending for Truth on the Internet

Recently someone forwarded me a broadcast from a North Carolina Christian evangelist named Dr. Scott Johnson. The broadcast, entitled Contending for Truth, had me doubled over in laughter. You can listen to the seven minute Part One: Wade Burleson Is a Secret Agent and the even more bizarre five minute Part Two: Wade Burleson Is a Secret Agent and then make your own assessment. My wife wasn't laughing. She said, "Wade, people who don't know you or our church might actually think this stuff is true." I reflected a moment on her concerns, and then busted out laughing again.

According to Dr. Johnson, I am a secret agent of the United States government, on the payroll of FEMA and possibly the Department of Homeland Security. "Tool of Satan" is Dr. Johnson's favorite moniker for yours truly. Dr. Johnson has received information that the auditorium of Emmanuel Enid is being "remodeled" (which it is) in these perilous economic times at the behest of the federal government. Based upon the information he has received about our church removing the "pews"  and replacing them with chairs, not to mention his own on-line investigation of me and our church, Dr. Johnson publicly declares that I am working closely with the federal government to turn our church into a collection site for dissidents, planning to ship them by train to a federal re-education camp.

According to the broadcast (Part II), the government is preparing a former federal prison in Watonga as a "confinement facility" for those in northwest Oklahoma who believe in civil liberty, private gun ownership, and other individual freedoms. The government has recently hired 400 security guards to work at Watonga, and our auditorium remodel is in preparation for Emmanuel to become a temporary holding center where government rebels can identified and then shipped by train to the Watonga prison. Dr. Johnson's says the railroad tracks that run next to our church will be used for human cargo trains to transport rebels to the "re-education camp." The way the government will identify these dissidents is through "Pastor Burleson ratting out on his congregants," revealing himself as the government agent he is.

Obviously, not everything you read or hear on the Internet is true. I was laughing because at least the claims of Dr. Johnson are so bizarre they can be seen for their falsehoods. It's not near as funny when the character assassinations are subtle, intentional, and designed to promote an agenda. The Roman general Pliny believed he could prevent assassination attempts by developing an immune system resistant to poison. The general would take small doses of poison "with a grain of salt" in order to be able to swallow the poison. Our English idiom "take it with a grain of salt" comes from Pliny's practice. After many years of being in the public eye, I have learned that anything said about me on the Internet needs to be taken "with a grain of salt."

The Necessary Fight Against Church Light

If there is anything worse than dogmatic, authoritarian churches where members are told what to believe and punished for questioning leaders, it is vapid churches where members are given nothing to believe and participate for the sake of being hip and cool. Whereas the former churches ultimately fail because the Information Age launches church members into the stratosphere of interaction with scholars who give cogent arguments for opposing views and then leads them to eventually revolt against insecure authoritarians who blanche in the face of disagreement, the latter churches ultimately fail because members are never taught to value truth in the first place and shrug their shoulders and say, "What's the big deal?" Istoria Ministries has written extensively against authoritarian church leaders who squelch disagreement, but little has been said about theologically uninspiring leaders who are unable to teach people God's word.

No more. There is a rising sense within me that church light is more dangerous than church might. Those crushed by the abuse of church leaders who see themselves as God's vicars on earth are in need of our mercy and support, but those who are enmeshed in church light are also in need of an awakening. The former abuse is overt and painful; the latter abuse is subtle and sweet. In the end, the effects on church members are the same.

God's people ought to be able to articulate the reasons for the hope within them. The ability of church members to articulate the essential differences between egalitarianism and complementarianism, the different world views of dispensational premillennialists over and against partial preterists, the reasons why some believe the Old Covenant laws of Israel are abolished versus some who believe all laws in the covenants--both Old and New--remain in effect forever, as well as members being able to articulate for themselves other theological differences, should be not just the dream of pastors, it should be our goal.

For example, there's no way for Christians to explain the basis for believing the dietary laws of Israel are abolished unless those same Christians read and learn the books of Leviticus and Hebrews and then see how Scripture specifically teaches the person and work of Jesus Christ is foreshadowed in the dietary laws--every jot and tittle of them--and that Christ through His life, death and resurrection for sinners has made these Old Covenant law "obsolete" and causes them to "disappear" (Hebrews 8:13). In addition, until Christians know the book of Daniel, they will never be able to explain how the prophet Daniel was given a vision foretelling the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom, which would crush every earthly kingdom (Daniel 2:44) including Israel's, but that he was to seal up the "scroll of his book" because the time was 'far away' (Daniel 12:4). Unless people read Revelation for themselves and see that John's scroll was "not to be sealed because the time is near" (Revelation 22:10), they might never realize that Daniel's prophecy was fulfilled when Christ rose from the dead to inaugurate His eternal kingdom and then He waited forty years to utterly destroy Jerusalem and the Old Covenant kingdom of His people (the Jews) in righteous judgment. Of course, the dispensational premillenialist would say that the kingdom of God has not YET been inaugurated, and unless Christians learn to understand the differences in eschatology, they will never be able to articulate why they believe what they believe about the future. Christians enmeshed in church light will never know the differences,  much less what they believe, and struggle with understanding why they should care.

The goal of every pastor is not that every Christian in the church believe the same thing on tertiary issues of Scripture, but that every Christian in the church knows the arguments of both sides of an issue and is able to articulate why he or she believes what is believed!  Peter writes,

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you" (I Peter 3:15).

It seems Peter is saying one's confidence in the Lord is strengthened when one is able to articulate the reason for the hope that is within. To be able to articulate your beliefs as a Christian in areas of marriage, eschatology, church governance, New Covenant and Old Covenant theology, the person and work of Christ, and hundreds of other important issues from Scripture is the sign that you are maturing and growing in your faith relationship with God.

I would rather have a church member who is a complementarian, dispensational, Old Covenant Presbyterian, believer in male authority and is able to articulate what he believes from his interpretation of the Scripture (though I strongly disagree with him), than I would a member who cares nothing for the truth of Scripture and revels in church light and vapid preachers who "coach" instead of biblically literate preachers who teach the Bible.

There is an official organization called Church Lite. It is composed of atheists, agnostics, and all those who deny the existence of God. Their statement of faith:

"We remove all of the guilt over offending imaginary beings and of enjoying life ( "bad guilt" ) while retaining most of the guilt over harming others ( "good guilt" ) and some guilt over privilege (in the form of concern over the plight of the less fortunate) (not present in all competing churches)."

Sadly,  evangelical church lights share similarities with atheistic church lites. Both have lost sight of the person and work of Jesus Christ in removing guilt by Himself.

Decision Making and Mutual Submission in Marriage

The attitude of every follower of Jesus Christ, whether male or female, is one of servant-like submission. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3). "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who.... took the form of a bond-servant" (Philippians 2:5-7).

The best one word description for this servant-like attitude of "regarding another as more important" is the word submission. To be a submissive person is to be like the bond-slave Jesus Christ became for us. The Bible is emphatic that all Christians, both males and females, are to be characterized by love and submission to other people.

Paul describes this Spirit-filled life of believers in Ephesians 5 where he writes- "and walk in love, just as Christ also has loved you..." (v. 2) and then he writes, "and be submissive to one another in the fear of Christ" (v. 21). Again, these two characteristics of the Spirit-filled life (love and submission) are mandatory regardless of gender. Paul illustrates how love and submission works in the husband/wife relationship in the rest of chapter 5.  "Wives to your own husbands" (v. 22) is what Paul literally writes. Unfortunately, English translators add the words "be subject" after the word wives. Why do our English translators leave off "love?" Paul is writing about love AND submission, and when he writes "wives to your husbands" the emphasis is "Wives, be submissive and loving to  your husbands." Likewise, later Paul "so husbands to wives" (v. 28).  Again, the English translation picks up on the word "love" for husbands, but in the context of mutual love and mutual submission (v. 2 and v. 21), husbands are to express a love and a servant-like spirit of submission to their wives. It may sound strange to your ears to hear that the Bible says a husband is to be submissive to his wife, but it wasn't strange to Paul's ears. This is the teaching of the New Covenant. To say that a husband is to have a submissive attitude toward his wife is as correct as saying that a wife is to love her husband. No gender, whether male or female, is to leave off either submission or love in human relationships. 

Because the Scripture teaches mutual servant-like submission and unconditional love for both the husband and the wife, some Christians who are unfamiliar with Scripture-- but who have been indoctrinated with institutional church dogmatism about "authority"-- may be confused. "How will a married couple ever make a decision if nobody is the boss and everybody has an attitude of servant-like submission and unconditional love?" they might ask.

Great question. Here is how a Spirit-filled couple makes a decision in marriage. 

(1). Both the husband and wife are able to freely give their opinions and express disagreement because the husband considers his wife "more important" than himself and the wife views her husband "more important" than herself,  so each desires to hear what the other person has to say.

(2). The husband listens to his wife and the wife listens to her husband because there is reciprocal love and respect for one another. This love and respect is the same kind of love and respect that the husband and wife have both experienced from Jesus Christ.

(3). If unity of desire and mutual agreement for the proper course of action cannot be found, then the couple mutually agrees to wait on making a decision. They that wait upon the Lord shall be renewed in strength. During this time of waiting, the husband asks God for wisdom and discernment for himself, and the wife asks God for wisdom and discernment for herself.  

(4). After waiting, when the deadline for a decision approaches, the husband--in a spirit of love and submission toward his wife--will either be led by the Holy Spirit to begin having the same desires as his wife, OR, the wife--in a spirit of love and submission toward her husband will be led by the Holy Spirit to begin having the same desires as her husband. Two Christians living together are to honor God by living in harmony with one another. That’s not to say that that the husband and wife are to be the same; harmony recognizes the beauty of differences, and incorporates those differences into a beautiful melody. Mutual submission is the art of hearing from God.

(5). In a Christ-honoring marriage, no person sees himself (or herself) as the "authority" in the home. Jesus Christ has "all authority" (Matt. 28:18), and a marriage that honors God is one where both the husband and the wife look to Christ alone as their authority. Decision making is made with a spirit of mutual submission and love, leaning on Christ to produce unity of hearts and minds.

For anyone married to an unbeliever, this process of coming to unity in decision making may be a tad harder. This is why the New Covenant writers issue a caution about being unequally yoked. However, when two followers of Jesus Christ are married, it is important to remember that Scripture clearly teaches submission is never the wife's responsibility to the exclusion of the husband's, nor is love the responsibility of the husband's to the exclusion of the wife's. A Spirit-filled, Christ-honoring, God-glorifying marriage is one of mutual submission and love.

The Coming Caesars: A Modern Prophecy



My friend Tim Price of Trestle Press will soon release a reprint of Amaury de Riencourt's classic work The Coming Caesars. Riencourt's book, first published in June 1957, caused an enormous stir in the scholarly world. In October 1957 Newsweek magazine devoted an astonishing ten pages of its weekly edition for the printing of excerpts from The Coming Caesars without any commentary. Tim's reprint will give the book a new design (see picture left), make it available in both softcover and in digital format, and will serve a new generation of Americans with the caution that throughout history great civilizations built on republican ideals eventually collapse under the tyranny of Caesarism. Tim says he worked to update and republish The Coming Caesars because "there is hardly a book that more accurately depicts what is happening in America. If De Riencourt's thesis was true in 1957, it is far more so today." I would agree. I've read The Coming Caesars and see in it a remarkable prophecy of America, paralleling what happened historically in ancient Rome. The book is not about politics. It is about human history, the natural laws of liberty, and the psychology of human beings that lead us to eventually unquestioningly follow strong leaders.

De Riencourt's thesis is explained on page 5 of his book:

"Expanding democracy leads unintentionally to imperialism and that imperialism inevitably ends in destroying the republican institutions of earlier days; further, the greater the social equality, the dimmer the prospects of liberty, and that as society becomes more equalitarian, it tends increasingly to concentrate absolute power in the hands of one single man. Caesarism is not dictatorship, not the result of one man's overriding ambition, not a brutal seizure of power through revolution. It is not based on a specific doctrine or philosophy. It is essentially pragmatic and untheoretical. It is a slow, often century-old, unconscious development that ends in a voluntary surrender of a free people escaping from freedom to one autocratic master."

The Coming Caesars is uninterested in promoting party politics, be it Republican or Democratic, but successfully indicts Americans in both parties for allowing the power and prestige of the Presidency to rival that of a Roman Caesar. Riencourt writes "Those who doubt that today an American President might be elected for life should remember that no constitutional amendment, such as was voted after World War II, can stand in the way of public opinion if it truly wishes to elect a Caesar for life."  Reincourt traces the rise of Caesarism in Rome and parallels it with the increasing willingness of Americans to follow one man in any emergency, whether it be economic, military, or social. Reincourt argues that this willingness is not political or ideological, but rather it is psychological. It is easier to "personalize" problems and follow a powerful Caesar-like leader than it is to trust increasingly irrelevant legislative assemblies. This, he argues, is historical fact, not political theory.

If this post has sparkedan interest to read The Coming Ceasars,  I would encourage you to wait for Trestle Press's re-print of the book which should be available from Amazon in just a matter of weeks. Until then, it would serve you well to carefully read the excellent on-line scholarly review of The Coming Caesars by the St. John Law Review.

Reincourt did not necessarily believe in the inevitability of Caesarism in America. He writes, "Though all Civilizations have chosen the easy solution of Caesarism, man's historical knowledge (today) makes it possible for the first time to avoid the deadly shoals on which every other Civilization has destroyed itself."

In other words, those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.

The Strength and Spirituality of Segmented Sleep

Our God is a wonderfully diverse Creator. If each snowflake looks different under the microscope, then one would expect each human being to have unique characteristics as well. It's one of the reasons one must always be careful with generalizations of human character or actions. Each of us is different and unique, a masterpiece of God's creation.

Yet, there are some common characteristics of all humans. We all breath, we all eat, we all sleep. Much of life's journey is walking a path of learning how to relax, eat well, and sleep well. Unfortunately, modern science seems to have ignored ancient data that indicates the best way to sleep at night is in segments, a process called segmented sleep.

Segmented sleep, described more fully, is a pattern of sleeping where two or more periods of sleep are punctuated by periods of wakefulness. Historian Roger Ekirch has written a fascinating book entitled At Days Close: Night in Times Past. Dr. Ekirch's seminal research into the matter shows how people for millennia slept in segmented patterns. Most humans went to bed a couple of hours after dusk (8:00 p.m.), slept for four hours (till midnight), then awoke for two to three hours where some of their most productive mental work took place. It was during this waking segment of the night that people would  pray, interpret dreams, meditate, and plan for the future. Then, people would go back to sleep around 2:00 or 3:00 am and sleep till sunrise.

In ancient literature the first period of sleeping before midnight was called "the first sleep" and the second period of sleeping after midnight was called "the second sleep."  This pattern of segmented sleep was universal. Dr. Ekirch writes:

"It's not just the number of references to segmented sleep (that is astonishing) - it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge."

There seems to be biblical evidence of segmented sleep:

"At midnight I arise to give you thanks for your righteous laws" (Psalm 119:62)

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them" (Acts 16:25).

"But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill" (Judges 16:3).

"At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!" (Ruth 3:8) 

"Stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning" (Mark 13:35).

Psychologist Greg Jacobs says that waking up during the night is part of "normal human physiology." The website Slumber Wise says "the ideal time for study and contemplation" for the people of the past was between first sleep and second sleep. Chaucer tells of a character in the Canterbury Tales that goes to bed following her “firste sleep.” Interestingly, Slumber Wise also records that a doctor of the 1500's once explained why working class people conceived more children saying, "Working people typically have sex after their first sleep."

The modern idea that good sleep is always eight or more hours of uninterrupted sleep is a recent belief. Good sleep, according to Dr. Jacobs, is segmented sleep. The brain exhibits high levels of the pituitary hormone called prolactin during periods of nighttime wakefulness. The lessening of anxiety, the feelings of peace, and the relaxed state of one's mind tend to make the waking time between sleeps the most creative time for many people.

Those of us accustomed to electrical light often wake up at night and find ourselves anxious, believing something is wrong with us because we can't sleep.  As a result, we do not get the benefit of segmented sleep because nobody told sleeping in segments is healthy. In fact, we've been told all our lives that it is not healthy to sleep in segments.

Not so. It seems that waking up and spending an hour or two in mental exercise before going back to sleep might be the healthiest way to sleep. Of course, this pattern of sleeping would require an earlier bedtime than what most Americans currently have.

If you can get to bed at an early hour (the evening news), and if you awake up after about four hours of sleep, don't get anxious. Science (and Scripture?) seem to indicate that the "between the sleeps time"  is a very important part of life. Use that time to think, pray and even meditate. Feel free to get up and move around and do something productive, or if it is more suitable, lay in bed and engage your mind and soul in thought and prayer.  There are numerous prayer journals from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries that show God's people offered special prayers during the hours between sleeps.

I have a friend who practices segmented sleep. He tells me often that some of his most productive times are between sleeps during the night. Often he will Skype with friends from around the world during those one or two waking hours. Segmented sleep may not be for everyone, but if you are curious about it, I would highly recommend you read At Days Close: Night in Times Past.

The Pain of Ignoring Paine: The Loss of American Freedom

American society is in trouble.

To some, that statement will be too nebulous and unclear, so let it be restated with greater specificity and deeper clarity. If you are an American, your customary way of living is ending.

The United States federal government has taken on the unauthorized role of provider for the American people. Big government's goal is that nobody be in need. American society is now enslaved to a government that is ensuring that this goal is met. Government has become America's god, and American society is no longer free.

In a free society necessity is the mother of invention, but in an enslaved society, necessity marries politicians and their offspring are indolence and dependence.

Financial equality is the myth of a crumbling society. The myth makers (politicians) may have good intentions, but their principles are wrong. When government takes upon itself the stated goal of income equality by ensuring everyone has a house, everyone has health care, everyone has financial hope, everyone is as comfortable and financially secure as their neighbor, the myth makers forcibly and artificially reverse the common sense roles of society and government.

The Common Sense of Thomas Paine

American colonists experienced the pain of big government in the 1760's and 1770's when England's dictatorial monarchy demanded American colonists be taxed in order to support the needs of the people of England. Many Americans were ambivalent to the idea of revolting against their government until a fellow by the name of Thomas Paine wrote and published a little pamphlet called Common Sense in 1776. George Washington wrote to a friend and said, "I find that Common Sense is working a powerful change in the minds of many..." 

Thomas Paine showed Americans the difference between society and government, and encouraged the reader never to confuse the two. He wrote:

"SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins."

So too, today, many Americans have little understanding of the differences between society and government. Government is not society, nor is society the government.  Unfortunately, convoluting and confusing the two is a source of enormous pain. Paine gives a few of the differences between society and government:

"Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher."

Catch what Paine is saying. Government is not intended to be the provider of wants; rather, government is always intended to be the punisher of the evil doer in society. Society is designed to be the provider, supporter and contributor to the wants of the individual. Paine next tells a story of a few isolated people living in a far away wilderness without government. Paine explains that the people find it easier to live together rather than apart; thus, a society is created. As this society grows, however, problems arise because of the wickedness within individuals. The society meets to make regulations in order to mitigate the problems. As the society continues to grow, a government becomes necessary to enforce these regulations, which in time become laws. Soon, there are so many people within the society that they cannot all gather in one place to make the laws, so they begin holding elections. This process, Paine argues, is the best balance between government and society. Society is responsible for the wants of people, government is responsible for the punishment of evil doers within society. This, according to Paine, is common sense. Paine summarizes his views on the limitations of government with these words:

"Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world; here too is the design and end of government, viz. Freedom and security. And however our eyes may be dazzled with show, or our ears deceived by sound; however prejudice may warp our wills, or interest darken our understanding, the simple voice of nature and reason will say, 'tis right.

The term "big government" is too innocuous. Just because something is big doesn't mean it's bad. Big government, however, is worse than bad; it's evil. When government ascends to society's god, the plea of its citizens becomes, "Give us this day our daily bread."  Government assumes the role of supplier and provider for bread, capital, health care, and other needs of its citizens to ensure fairness and equality.

When this happens, a free society comes to an end. People are enslaved to the government's idea of equity. What most Americans don't realize is the cost of forced equity is personal liberty. In America where government has become god, you will find you cannot worship as you please; you cannot work as you please; you cannot save as you please; you cannot give as you please; you cannot live as you please. Everything about your life as an American is becoming controlled by the god of American government.

This is why your life is changing as an American. You are no longer free. You are no longer secure. Government has usurped the role of society.

We are now experiencing the pain of ignoring Paine.

52 Years, 52 Times - A Birthday Soliloquy

Today is my 52 birthday. 52 years. Last night I went to bed early, but I stayed awake doing numbers, dates and events in my head. I may be the only person in the world who does this type of thing, but its a fun form of mental exercise.

I went back 52 years, 52 times.

Starting with this year, 2013, I went back 52 years to 1961 and thought of the inauguration of the President John F. Kennedy, the youngest man to have been elected President of the United States at that time. I went back another 52 years to 1909, two years before the birth of my maternal grandfather, and thought about Oklahoma being a state for only two years, and how in 1909 Guthrie was the state's capital (not Oklahoma City). It was also the first year three people flew in an airplane at the same time. We've come a long way in a little over a century.

The third 52 years took me to the year 1857, four years before the Civil War. My great-great-grandfather, Dr. Frederick Tinsley Donne Cherry--then a teenager--moved with his family from Rochester, New York to just north of Nashville, Tennessee. It was a fateful move because he would later be drafted into the Confederate States Army of Tennessee, be captured during the Civil War, and spend a terrible year in the notorious Rock Island Prison. Later he would enter the University of Nashville Medical School (now Vanderbilt) and become a medical doctor.

The fourth 52 years took me to 1805 and the most important year for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the greatest adventure in the history of the American frontier. The story of Lewis and Clark is one of the most overlooked narratives of American history. The expedition had direct impact on Oklahoma. Back another 52 years (the fifth) took me to the year 1753, George Washington was a mere 22 years old and the American colonies had not yet considered independence from England.

I kept going! On the occasions I became stuck thinking about an event for that 52nd year, I pulled out my handy Samsung Note 3 and typed in the year and "Presto" - I had a major event pop-up with which I was familiar. It was fun - going back in history to specific dates, separated by 52 years.

52 years, 52 times - that takes you back 2704 years. Frankly, counting something fifty-four times goes fast, and by the time I fell asleep, I had gone back in time to 691 BC. The northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen to the Assyrians. The southern kingdom of Judah, with headquarters in Jerusalem, had stopped the Assyrian advancement. 691 BC was over fifty years before the birth of the prophet Daniel.

Working from the other end of  the 52 times back and moving forward you have the year 639 BC when "good king" Josiah led the southern kingdom of Judah into a time of revival. 52 more years forward brings one to the year 587 BC when Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the rest of the Jews were led into what was called the Babylonian captivity. 52 years later, in 535 BC Cyrus the Great rule the world as king over the Persian Empire, having defeated the Babylonian Empire. Cyrus would be quite influential in helping the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem, and the Temple.

As I targeted specific dates 52 years apart, I went through the rise of the Grecian Empire and Alexander the Great, the rise of the Roman Empire, and finally to the times of Christ. At 15 BC, 39 times 52 years way from 2013, Augustus Caesar ruled the known world. God was preparing the world for the Messiah's birth which would occur a decade later. The next 52 year interval took me to AD 37, to the time when the former Pharisee called Saul of Tarsus had been radically changed by the risen Messiah and was now being disciple in the Christian faith in preparation for his first of three missionary journeys.

Oh well, my wife is tapping me on my shoulder reminding me we need to be off to see our grandson today in the city! I must stop this soliloquy.  By definition it is written only for me.  Thank you Lord, for orchestrating the events of this world, overcoming the evil of mankind and directly intervening with Your grace in my life.

Our Grand Oasis in the Vastness of Space

45 years ago, Christmas Eve 1968, the 20th century's most iconic photograph was snapped through the coordinated efforts of three astronauts who were surprised by an unexpected earth rise as they orbited the moon. The story of that picture is documented in the six minute video below, and I can't think of a better way to wish the readers of Istoria Merry Christmas than to remind us all that this grand oasis of ours is by design and it is our Designer's coming to earth that we celebrate today.