Signs of the Times - Jan/Feb 2019

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

Bridging

THE GREAT DIVIDE SURVIVING DIVORCE

LEAVING PORN & PRACTISING PURITY

THE ULTIMATE CAVE RESCUE

A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORLD TODAY

IN THIS ISSUE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

BRIDGING THE GREAT DIVIDE PAGE 32 When divorce rips your life apart, there’s still hope

6 CURRENT

WHAT IN THE WORLD THE CATHOLIC COMEBACK Is the Pope the most influential man in the world?

18 LEAVING PORN & PRACTISING PURITY The incredible true story of an ex-adult film star 24 STREET SIGNS The public speaks out about pornography 4 6

18 WELLBEING

26 UNHEALTHY OBSESSION

32

38 40 54

OCD—it’s not a trivial matter BRIDGING THE GREAT DIVIDE Helpful tips for surviving divorce GO HEALTHY FOR GOOD A TALE OF TWO CAKES RECIPE: NOURISH BOWL

FAITH

12 THE ULTIMATE CAVE

RESCUE A second chance awaits us 50 TRUSTING FAITH It’s more than just a theory

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2

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CULTURE

44 DYSTOPIAN FUTURE

Is there a better way than constant negativity?

SCIENCE

56 HOW OLD IS LIFE?

The biological evidence

FUN

62 CROSSWORD & SUDOKU

FROM THE EDITOR

A

new year. A fresh start. Welcome to 2019! Do you find yourself a little more open-minded at this time of the year; a little more prepared to consider new possibilities?

You’re going to need to be! This issue of Signs of the Times is chock-full of opportunities to have your preconceptions challenged and your perspective broadened. We’re tackling some tough topics. Porn, for example, and one woman’s journey through the industry and her gratitude at escaping it (page 18).

Dr Tim Standish presents some thought-provoking evidence for what’s very much a minority view within the scientific community: life on earth may be only thousands of years old, not millions (page 56). That’ll get you thinking!

And while we’re always keen to join with our Catholic friends in the search for truth and a more meaningful experience with God, Absolute Power by ex-priest Paul Collins raises some tough questions about papal influence that none of us should avoid (page 6).

We’re also committed to presenting a positive perspective in Signs magazine, despite life’s challenges. I hope you see that too as you read. Our cover story (page 32) offers a fresh start for those injured by divorce. And Omar Miranda questions our culture’s obsession with dystopian scenarios—he insists that we can have a brighter future (page 44).

I couldn’t agree more.

Kent KENT KINGSTON Editor

VOL 134 NO 1/2 ISSN 1038-9733 EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER Brad Kemp EDITOR Kent Kingston ASSISTANT EDITOR Daniel Kuberek COPYEDITOR Tracey Bridcutt GRAPHIC DESIGN Nerise McQuillan Theodora Amuimuia PHONE +61 2 9847 2222 EMAIL info@signsofthetimes.org.au WEBSITE signsofthetimes.org.au ADDRESS Adventist Media PO Box 1115, Wahroonga New South Wales 2076 SUBSCRIPTIONS Kelli Geelan PHONE +61 3 5965 6300 Australia, $A26; New Zealand, $NZ26; South Pacific countries, $A41; Other countries $A51 Published since 1886, Signs of the Times is printed 11 times a year by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and is registered as a periodical.

Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ABN 59 093 117 689 NOTE The inclusion of a person or their image within does not imply their endorsement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church or its beliefs.

Unless otherwise stated, Bible verses are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved worldwide.

COVER PHOTO: metamorworks—Getty Images

@Kent_SignsMag JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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WHAT IN THE WORLD DEVIL IN THE DETAILS The Satanic Temple is suing Netflix and Warner Brothers for depicting Baphomet in a way that “stands for evil”.

The goat-headed figure appears in the television series Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, including being a “key element” in the series’ final episode.

The Satanic Temple has said the depictions of Baphomet are “in stark contrast to [its] tenets and beliefs”.—ABC

LARGE, BUT NOT IN CHARGE EUROPE

New research has found adults are 14 per cent heavier, 1.3 per cent taller and need 6.1 per cent more energy than in 1975.

The Norwegian study examined population growth and its effect on the environment. Researchers predict earth’s population will soon reach nine billion, and found that human consumption has increased by 129 per cent.—EurekAlert 4

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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, NICO BHLR, HANNAH-GIBBS—UNSPLASH, WERNER BAYER—FLICKR, FREEPIK

UNITED STATES

AUSTRALIA

UNSETTLED BY METAL

A Macquarie University study has found people who don’t listen to death metal experience tension and anger when exposed to the genre; while metal fans feel “peace and joy”.

The study notes that “engagement with violent music may be a way for individuals who are already experiencing anger and other difficult emotions to process their feelings”.

Other trends include metal fans being “less conscientious” than average.—News.com.au

93% OF MALES and 62% OF FEMALES

have seen porn on the internet

BEFORE TURNING 18. have watched porn for 23% at least 30 minutes.

OF GIRLS The percentage of

boys who have is

70%.

15% OF BOYS and 10% OF GIRLS have seen some form of

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

MOTORING

SEX DRIVE

Annals of Tourism Research reports concerns that autonomous cars will result in higher sexual activity during car trips. Driverless cars are expected to be commonplace by 2040 and road safety experts suggest monitoring devices will deter sex or drug use during trips.—News.com.au

18% OF BOYS

have watched porn involving RAPE or

SEXUAL VIOLENCE.

10% OF GIRLS

have done the same.

—Stayathomemum.com.au JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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THE CATHOLIC COMEBACK Two centuries ago, it looked like the age of the popes was over. But that’s not what the Bible predicts, and that’s not what happened.

NACHO ARTEAGA—UNSPLASH

BY DAVID BRATTSTON

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senior officers rose to unprecedented authority inside the Church.

prophecy fulfilled?

After centuries of sectarian tension, many Protestant churches have backed away from their early strident claims that the religio­ political Roman Catholic power is represented in Bible prophecy as an unholy, blaspheming beast. Even churches who still hold to this inter­ pretation, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church (publishers of this magazine) rush to point out that these prophecies do not apply to faithful, everyday Catholics, but only to the corruptions in the papal system. What’s surprising then, is that, although he is a Roman Catholic and a former priest, Paul Collins’ Absolute Power appears to echo the Adventist interpretation of Revelation 13:3: “One of the heads

MANJIK—GETTY IMAGES

n the late 1790s, Napoleon Bonaparte had Pope Pius VI taken prisoner and announced to the world that the papacy was abolished—there never would be a future pope. For centuries the papacy had been a sovereign government in central Italy and along the Adriatic coast. Bonaparte confiscated this territory and constituted the city of Rome and a little land around it as a republic, free of popes and other monarchs. These events cancelled the effect of several centuries during which the popes controlled Europe and its colonies, both spiritually and politically, with civil governments enforcing papal dictates.

But, after Napoleon’s fall, the papacy not only rebounded but gradually grew in power and influ­ ence until our own day. Paul Collins’ book outlines how this happened and makes the title’s ambitious claim: Absolute Power: How the Pope Became the Most Influential Man in the World. Recent popes, says Collins, have been more significant than ever.

While noting the contrast between the humble, poor and meek Jesus on the cross, Collins shows how the papacy has become one of the most influential institutions on earth, using its power to influence secular leaders, for instance, intervening to stave off nuclear war during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

Absolute Power is not a history of how the Roman Catholic Church as a whole became powerful; instead it describes how a single category of its

“

The whole world was filled with wonder and followed . . .

of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.”

One of the founders of the Adventist Church, Ellen White, wrote in 1858 that this beast rep­ resented papal Rome and “the fatal wound” was the near-extinction of the papacy in the wake of the French Revolution, which had occurred within living memory of people still alive in her day. White predicted that the “healing” of Revelation’s prophecy would be the papacy’s return to authority and glory in the following centuries. In seeming parallel with this prediction, Absolute Power carefully documents the reign of each pope and his contribution to the restoration of papal power and influence. Did Collins write with Bible prophecy in mind? He

makes no direct reference in the book, but during an interview on ABC’s Radio National, his language echoed Revelation’s: “The papacy had reached rock bottom with Pius VI in 1799. Pius VII sees the beginning of the growth of what is the modern papacy. And in some ways it’s quite a different beast from the papacy that went before it.”

accumulating authority

One of Collins’ concerns is the erosion of democracy within the Church. The average Catholic is actually less self-directed today than in the 1790s. The bishops, likewise, have lost a measure of autonomy.

It is only the position of pope that has gained from the “healing of the wound”, for the popes accumulated their new authority by steadily reducing others’ rights and influence within the Church.

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In fact, bishops in the early days were elected by members of their diocese or sometimes by a secular ruler, but since 1917 all bishops have been appointed from Rome. As the supreme religious leader of more than a billion people, today’s pope wields unprecedented influence.

Although there were sincere at­ tempts to remedy previous abuses in structure and practice, all “reforms” in the administration of the Church have resulted in the office of pope gaining more control. The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) aimed to give more voice to other Roman Catholics—especially bishops—but many of these changes, Collins says, have been either ignored or manipu­ lated to support the papal status quo.

Other reasons for papal revival include the work of the many religious orders of priests, friars, nuns and even laypeople authorised by Rome, who brought Catholicism to unconverted lands. Instead of being administered by local bishops or the heads of the relevant religious orders, new missionary work came directly under the papacy. The reason given was that these foreign lands were too big for local leaders to manage.

Among such papal-directed mission fields were the whole of the United States, the United Kingdom and Collins’ home country, Australia.

During the modern period, Rome began to closely supervise Roman Catholic education, publishing, preaching and even thought. It revived the Italian Inquisition 10

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and instituted church censorship.

Modern popes sometimes forbade particular doctrines or practices within the Church, and zealously persecuted scholars and other churchmen who favoured them— Collins himself resigned from the priesthood after his 1997 book, Papal Power, provoked the ire of the Vatican. These heavy-handed tactics have rendered many Catholic influencers more cautious than ever.

Since the 1870s, most popes excelled at PR. Pius IX (1846–1878) increased the number of papal audiences and opened them to the common people, expressing a desire to develop a rapport and show con­ cern for them. Pius XII (1939–1958) and later popes used film, radio and television to the full to project the papal image throughout the world.

One effect of television is that the focus and attention is always on a single person; for Vatican broadcasts, that person is always the Pope.

Beginning in 1964, Collins recounts, popes travelled extensively throughout the world. The media focused the attention of ordinary people on the Pope as accessible— everyone’s bishop—to the eclipse of the actual local bishops. The papacy has become omnipresent. During the last several decades the media has made the popes far better known in both church circles and secular society than were popes before the papacy’s “fatal wound” in the 1790s.

The papacy is now the public face of the whole Roman Catholic

Church and, says Collins, many recent holders of the office have considered themselves to be its only face—the purpose of the Church; the only humans who know what is good for the Church. Collins is concerned that, in the past few decades, some popes have considered themselves above the Church, and the sole “owners” of it, to the detriment of the message of the penniless, suffer­ ing Saviour who sought no special treatment or power for Himself.

YEO-KHEE—UNSPLASH

what next?

Collins is hopeful that the acts, statements and organisational reforms of Pope Francis point to a return to gospel simplicity and a reversal in the trend towards absolute rule. That remains to be seen.

What Absolute Power refrains from exploring is how continuing papal ambition—via Francis or future

popes—might affect the world outside Roman Catholicism. Will we once again see civil rulers re­ duced to the subservient status they occupied before the Reformation?

The re-establishment of Catholic state churches, the marginalisation of other faiths, or the return of Sunday as a compulsory day of rest? Some might dismiss these scenarios as paranoid or unnecessarily sectarian.

But both the arc of history and Bible prophecy suggest that the future holds significant challenges. It’s wise to keep our eyes and minds open. As Jesus said, “Watch and pray.”

This article is a book review of Paul Collins’ Absolute Power: How the Pope Became the Most Influential Man in the World, New York: Public Affairs / Hachette Book Group, 2018.

David Brattston is a freelance writer residing in Nova Scotia, Canada. His latest book is Papal Supremacy: Quotations and Commentaries.

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FA IT H

The whole world watched with bated breath as 13 lives hung in the balance, trapped in a Thai cave. But the world itself is also awaiting rescue.

The ultimate CAVE RESCUE LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA—GETTY IMAGES

BY BJORN KARLMAN

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n the middle of last year, people around the world were gripped by the story of 12 young soccer players and their coach, trapped inside a cave in northern Thailand. On Saturday, June 23, the Wild Boars team entered the Tham Luang cave on a team excursion after football practice. The boys, aged 11–17, and their 25-yearold coach, were trapped as run-off from heavy rains filled the cave with water, blocking their exit.

On Monday, June 25, Thai Navy

divers began to search the cave system. What happened next was a display of extraordinary courage, resilience and selflessness as divers from Thailand and around the world flocked to the cave in an effort to rescue the boys.

There was a global sigh of relief when two British divers found all 12 boys and their coach alive, perched on a small rock ledge on July 2, nine days later. Video of the boys in good spirits and the heart-warming letters JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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the shadow self

The Thai cave rescue story revealed glimpses of the goodness of people.

It was touching and inspiring to see the unselfishness of the rescuers and the strength and fighting spirit of the boys and their coach. When we see the positive side of human nature, it’s not hard to believe that, as the Bible says, humans were created in the “image of God” (Genesis 1:27).

Sadly, the warm glow of the successful cave rescue was tarnished in a very public spat between billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, of Tesla and SpaceX fame, and Vern Unsworth, one of the divers who criticised a mini submarine that

NEWSCOM—ALAMY

they wrote to their parents, telling them not to worry, moved the hearts of millions following the story. But the grave reality was that the rescuers were in a race against the rising waters as the heavy rains continued, threatening to further compromise the safety of the trapped boys.

In an incredibly sad development, Saman Kunan, a retired Thai Navy Seal who had delivered life-saving supplies to the boys, died after running out of oxygen as he tried to swim out of the cave. More bad news followed: the oxygen level inside the cave had fallen to 15 per cent from the usual level of 21 per cent. Time was running out.

Finally, good news came on July 8 when the team of Thai and foreign divers was able to rescue four boys, each strapped to a diver and wearing a full-face scuba mask.

Four more boys were rescued the next day and the final members of the team and their coach were rescued on July 10. The entire ordeal had lasted 17 days.

People around the world were amazed at how the team had held together under the bleakest of circumstances. We learned that, before the team was discovered, their coach refused to eat any food so that anything available went to the boys.

The Wild Boars demonstrated extraordinary courage and fortitude.

Everyone was in awe of the bravery of the divers and the extraordinary sacrifice of Kunan, the diver who gave his life in the rescue effort.

Tham Luang Cave, Thailand. July 9, 2018. Members of the Royal Thai Navy are pictured with the 12 schoolboys, members of a local soccer team, and their coach, who were trapped in the Tham Luang Cave network in Northern Thailand. Two British volunteer divers found the missing boys after a nine-day search. Photo: Alamy.

Musk had brought to Thailand to aid in the rescue effort. After Unsworth criticised Musk and his mini-sub (which was not used in the rescue) on Twitter, Musk retaliated with a deeply offensive tweet, insulting the diver who had risked his life in the rescue effort. There was a public uproar that lasted several days until Musk finally apologised. The differ­ ence between the uplifting rescue story and the ugly Twitter battle could not have been more stark.

It was a discouraging reminder of the dark side of human nature that shows up even in the best of times.

The Bible says this dark side has been with us ever since our first

parents, Adam and Eve, sinned (Psalm 51:5).

Genesis 3 chronicles humanity’s fall from grace. Right from the moment our first parents ate the forbidden fruit we have been shadowed by a darkness we haven’t been able to shake, even at the best of times. Just a few hundred years after Adam and Eve got us off to a bad start, Genesis 6:5 says that “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” A dismal picture.

God’s rescue plan

Fortunately, a dramatic rescue story that eclipses even that of the Thai boys has brought a happy development to our collective human story. Like the Thai Navy Seal diver Kunan, Jesus the Son of God died in the course of His rescue mission.

He did it willingly for both you and me in order to restore our relation­ ship with God after it had been tarnished by the rebellion of human sin (2 Corinthians 5:19). Because of the unselfish sacrifice of Jesus, we are forgiven of our sins and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It’s a good thing, too, because JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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none of us would escape eternal death otherwise. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

The ultimate rescue story of Jesus’ sacrifice more than makes up for the

“

The ultimate rescue story of Jesus’ sacrifice more than makes up for the depressing news of our fallen human nature.

depressing news of our fallen human nature. Romans 5:15 says, “For if the many died by the trespass of the one man [Adam], how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”

While we are here on earth, human nature may disappoint us.

Even in the brightest moments, we are reminded of the fact that as a human race, we leave much to be desired. But there is amazing hope for what God can do in the lives of those who choose to follow His ways. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that “if 16

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anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

If that is good news for life here on earth, there is even better news to come. In Matthew 25:34, Jesus predicted a time when He would say to those who believe in Him: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom pre­ pared for you since the creation of the world.” No matter how dark the cave of life may get, this is a bright ray of hope that tells us help is on the way. One day we will leave the darkness of earthly existence and enjoy the kingdom prepared for us.

The news of Kunan’s sac­ rifice was kept from the Thai boys until they were safely out of the cave. “We are impressed that Saman sacrificed his life to save us so that we could go and live our lives,” said the Thai boys’ coach, Ekapol Chantawong, at a press conference after the team’s release from hospital.

The Thai boys and their coach are not the only ones who have been given a new lease on life. Every time we hear their story retold we have an opportunity to reflect on the second chance that we, too, have been given.

Bjorn Karlman is a freelance writer who travels the world as a “digital nomad”, living in 2–3 countries per year with his wife and toddler.

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LEAVING PORN &

Practising Purity Dancing and movie star dreams led Brittni De La Mora down a path of pain and exploitation. She tells her story in this Q&A interview.

BY VANESA PIZZUTO

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Vanesa:

Thanks for your time, Brittni. Can you tell me, how did you get into the porn industry and was your experience of getting pulled in similar to other workers in that business?

Brittni:

I was an exotic dancer in college. A couple of producers came in and affirmed me. They said, “You are beautiful and you are destined to be a star. We make romance movies. Give us a call if you’re ever in Los An­ geles.” I happened to be in LA soon after so I gave them a call and drove over to their production set. They won me over with affirmation—that was something I didn’t get much of growing up. What you aren’t given at home, you’re bound to search for in the outside world.

I know many women who first started dancing before they entered the world of porn. Many of them, like myself, came from difficult upbringings. Some came from overly religious households, where going to hell was a constant threat, so rebellion became their choice; because if you’re not perfect enough for heaven then you might as well do what you want, right? Obviously, this is so far from the truth, but this is a lie many porn stars have believed. Others who I have spoken to have shared stories of rape and molestation. One woman I know was nearly homeless and could not find a job, so porn provided her with the ability to get back on her feet.

Vanesa:

You’re a Christian now. What truth about Jesus do you wish you’d had before you entered the sex industry?

SUPPLIED

Brittni:

I wish I had known that regardless of the way I was treated as a child, there was still Someone out there who loved me unconditionally, Someone who would never leave me nor forsake me, and He could be so easily found through prayer, worship and through reading the Bible. If I had known how easy it is to tap into the pres­ ence of God, my life would have felt so much easier and I could have avoided many wrong turns in life. I always say, “God, I went through so much without ever acknow­ ledging You. Now that I have You, I know I can go JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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through anything and I will be okay.”

God’s presence gets us through the worst of times with an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort. I don’t know how I ever survived without His presence.

Vanesa:

Pornography is made to look exciting, free and fun. Is the porn industry as glamorous as it is made out to be?

Brittni:

It’s definitely not glamor­ ous. I have seen some pretty disgust­ ing things on set; things that would probably make you vomit—I will spare you the details. However, I will say that during my first month in the industry alone I caught gonorrhea.

I was mortified. I had never caught an STI, but my agent “comforted” me by saying, “It’s OK, everyone gets it. It’s just a shot in the butt and it will go away.” Performers get tested every 28 days, but what if they catch an STI on day two after their test?

That means for the next 26 days they are passing around an STI. There’s nothing glamorous about that.

Vanesa:

How did Jesus reach in and save you when you were a sex worker and porn star?

Brittni:

I was in the industry for seven years, but I took a break at year three. During my break, I went to church with my grandpa and his wife, and received Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. When I went to the altar, I was given a Bible.

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However, I got connected to the wrong group of people and did not go back to church for a while. I got involved with a pimp and got right back into the industry. But this time something was different. I had a Bible and I had the Holy Spirit in my heart. Not only did the Holy Spirit help me escape my pimp, He also got me out of porn.

After I left my pimp, I booked a job for a popular internet porn company in Las Vegas. Before I left for the airport, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Bring your Bible.” Once the aeroplane took off, I opened my Bible to the book of Revelation, be­ cause it was the one book in the New Testament I hadn’t read yet. When I got to chapter two, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read these few verses: “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet.

By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways” (Revelation 2:20–22).

That very moment I repented and although I still filmed the scene that day, I told everyone on set about Jesus. I also told them they would never see me again, because I was quitting after I finished my last job that day.

The scripture I read on the plane that day changed my life. It is a harsh scripture, but the Holy Spirit spoke to me through it. He said, “Brittni, I have a far greater life in store for you.

If you would just give up everything and follow Me, you won’t regret it.”

I took a step of faith that day. I quit the porn industry and I gave up everything to follow Jesus, and He was right, I don’t regret it one bit!

Vanesa:

What is one of the biggest lies that Jesus has needed to help you heal from?

Brittni:

He needed to deliver me from many things, but one was that sex was not created to be a tool to get what I want. It was not designed to be an escape from pain, nor is it empowering. I used my body for many years to make me feel good about myself and to manipulate men into giving me what I wanted.

God taught me that a woman who respects herself doesn’t expose herself. For years, I thought I loved myself, but if I truly loved myself I wouldn’t have mistreated myself. I am so grateful God gave me a second chance to do things right. I am now married to an incredible man of God and we practised sexual purity before marriage. God gave me a second chance to honour Him with my body. Purity is so special and I took that for granted when I was younger.

Vanesa:

We live in a porno­ graphic age, from bedroom webcams

to on-set porn production to sex-dating apps to phone-sex hotlines. How do you believe the gospel speaks into our sexualised lifestyles and culture?

Brittni:

Clearly the Bible promotes purity and sex exclusively between a husband and wife. One of my favourite scriptures is Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purity can’t exist externally if it doesn’t first exist internally. You can be a virgin, yet have uncontrollable thoughts of lust. Being a virgin doesn’t make you pure, it’s the condition of your heart that makes you pure. Satan will do whatever he can to rob you of your purity. Why? Because without your purity, you can’t see God. Remember John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” What better way for Satan to steal the abundant life God has for you, kill your soul and destroy your life than to cause you to live an impure life?

Vanesa:

What advice do you have for people who are addicted to pornography?

Brittni:

First and foremost, do not be ashamed of your addiction.

This is a huge attack of Satan, because if you’re ashamed of your sin then you won’t ask for help. There­ fore, you battle it alone and isolation is a dangerous place to be—it gives Satan an open door to attack your mind. Be unashamed and humble enough to ask for help because if JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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Since leaving porn, Brittni De La Mora has shared her story at churches, conferences and on television.

you want stability in life then you’re going to need accountability.

Secondly, if Jesus fought Satan off with the word of God during His temptations (see Matthew 4:1–11) then we need to do the same. It’s great if you go to church on the weekend, but Satan is at work daily, so it’s not enough to free you from a porn addiction . . . or any addiction.

You need to seek God daily. Daily encounters in His presence will set you free. Since I became a Christian, I seek God every morning through worship music, prayer and reading the Bible. I have not fallen back into addiction because God’s presence (and grace) gives me the strength to stay free.

Quick story: When my husband and I got married, he didn’t like my 22

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cooking. Yikes! He didn’t like it be­ cause he wasn’t used to healthy food.

Before we got married he ate fast food three times a day, no joke! I re­ fused to let him eat like that once we were married. It took several months, but eventually his appetite changed.

He quit craving fast food and began to crave my healthy salads! The same is true for us. When we spend time with God daily our appetite changes.

We quit craving the junk this world has to offer and we begin to crave the good things God has for us.

Find out more about Brittni De La Mora’s new life and activism at BrittniDeLaMora.com.

Vanesa Pizzuto is a freelance journalist and radio broadcaster living in London, UK.

Holding onto anger is like swallowing a poison pill and hoping the other person dies.

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23

S T R E E T S I G N S

Do you think pornography is harmful?

“Every bloke I speak to about the issue says it’s an issue for them. . . . It’s an epidemic. If you think that it’s wrong or that it’s hurting you, and you can’t stop it, that makes you a slave. A person is a slave to whatever masters them. In order to be free from that, you need to find somebody who will free you.”—Tim “It’s destructive because it creates an image of women or whoever as objects. . . . If we wanted to go deeper into the core of [people committing violence against women], a lot of it comes from pornography. Because it gives that idea of women as objects.”—Karol

“People forget—it is all acting. I know people who’ve told me they know people who’ve done porn. . . . The saddest thing is we forget the people who are in those videos. We don’t actually wonder where they come from or who they are. You forget to look at a person as a person. It’s just a body, an object that’s going to get me to feel what I want to feel. It’s excitement, but that’s all it is. You might miss out on focusing on those more beautiful things in a relationship. You’ll be left with nothing.”—Marina

“Most of the people I know, they are addicted to it. [Guys watch it] because of their personal life. They are not in a relationship or they have a breakup.

They are stressed or frustrated. Porn is the easy way out. . . . One of my friends has a membership for one of the sites. I was shocked—he gave 20 dollars away a month just to see it.”—Mohammed

“My little sister—she must’ve pressed on an ad or she was searching it when she was 10, and then the iPad froze on [a pornographic image]. She took a while to come up to us, and we could see that she was panicking. She says she didn’t, but I’m pretty sure she searched it. Pretty sad—she’s 10 years old. I don’t know where she learnt that from.”—Angel

IMAGES BY DANIEL KUBEREK

“If what you watch online stays online and doesn’t become something you focus on too much in real life—if it doesn’t transcend into your life and your values—it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. [My friends] are pretty okay on the porn-watching spectrum.

They watch it quite a bit, and it’s never been an issue. You can still be a decent human being and watch porn.”—Umnia JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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UNHEALTHY OBSESSION

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You might have a friend who’s often teased for being a control freak. But the reality of obsessive compulsive disorder is no joke.

BY SUVI MAHONEN

KATE SEPT2004—GETTY IMAGES

T

imothy Hillier was only seven years old when he began to obsess about his pillow and its position on his bed. Was it lying in the exact middle from the edges of the mattress? Were its corners aligned at a perfect 90 degrees? Were there creases in the pillowcase or was it totally flat?

Minor matters perhaps, that most of us wouldn’t even give a thought to, but for poor young Timothy it became all-encompassing.

Every night he would lie awake for hours, frequently getting out of bed to check that the pillow was still lying in the correct place. He would straighten the pillowcase and measure its distance from the bed’s edge. He would make slight adjust­ ments and then make some more.

And when he was finally satisfied he would carefully get back into bed, only to hop out again a few minutes later.

If Hillier’s pillow had been the JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

27

I couldn’t concentrate with all my distracting thoughts. . . . I knew I couldn’t go on like this anymore.

only thing he obsessed about, his life may have been okay, but it was merely the beginning.

“I went to a Catholic school, and I was constantly tormented with obsessive thoughts about whether or not I was sinning,” Hillier told me.

“I’d spend most of the day worrying about whether I was a good or a bad person, and if I was going to heaven or going to go to hell.”

Many other symptoms plagued him as he went through school: worrying about exactly how much saliva should be in his mouth before he swallowed; repeating sentences in his head over and over again; as well as persistent social phobia and anxiety around his clothes.

When Hiller was in his second year of university, studying a Bache­ lor of Business, his life finally reached a crisis point.

“I’d failed a subject because I 28

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

what is OCD?

According to the latest Diag­ nostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), OCD is defined as the presence of obsess­ ions—recurrent and persistent thoughts, urges or images that are unwanted and cause anxiety; and/ or the presence of compulsions; that is, repetitive behaviours the individ­ ual feels driven to perform. These behaviours or thoughts are aimed at preventing anxiety. However, they’re not connected in a realistic way with what they are trying to prevent, are time consuming, and can cause sig­ nificant impairment in social settings and the workplace.

SANE Australia estimates that up to two per cent of the population, equivalent to half a million Australi­ ans, suffer from OCD. Most people with OCD start to show signs of it in their childhood or teenage years and it is a condition that affects both

FREEPIK

“

couldn’t concentrate with all my distracting thoughts,” he said. “I knew I couldn’t go on like this anymore.”

Eventually Hillier wrote a note to his parents in which he described every symptom he was experiencing and his fears that he must have schizophre­ nia. Concerned, they took him to see a local GP who referred Hillier to a psychiatrist, and at the age of 20 he was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

genders equally.

There are broadly four different categories of OCD sufferers:

cleaned my body,’ they have to wash their body three times, and then it becomes five times, and then it becomes 10 or 20 times,” psychia­ 1. CHECKERS, who will make trist Professor Carlos Hojaij told me. check “I’ve had a patient who would get so sure that some­thing, list exhausted he would even sleep in the such as locking the shower.” door or turning the stove off, is done over and over again; searching for the source The cause of OCD is unknown and likely multifactorial. Genetic, environmental and neurological 2. COUNTERS and arrangers, factors may all play a role; some who are obsessed with theories suggest compulsive symmetry and spend behaviours are learned. Treat­ hours ordering and counting things; and ment usually involves medication or psychotherapy or a combination of both; and deep brain stimulation neurosurgery is used occasionally in 3. DOUBTERS, who are severe cases. constantly afflicted Hillier’s current psychiatrist is with intrusive thoughts of a violent, Scott Blair-West, who runs a special­ sexual or religious ised OCD inpatient unit. “My view nature. is that there is a genetic part to it, there’s a vulnerability to OCD that The most common group, probably is inherited, and whether however, are you get OCD may be determined by your environment,” he told 4. THE CLEANERS, those me. “We know from PET scans whose lives are con­ that there are certain circuits of sumed by fears of dirt the brain—involving the caudate and germs and so engage nucleus, the thalamus and the in regular cleaning rituals.

Sufferers can spend hours every day in frontal lobe—that are clearly affected

by OCD.” the shower or the bathroom. Alter­ Glenn Davis has been utilising natively, they can spend just as long cleaning their living quarters multiple psychotherapy in his role as a general practitioner for more than 40 years. times per day.

“As Ignatius of Loyola said, ‘Give me a child for the first seven years and I “Instead of having a shower will give you the man,’ ” he reminded and thinking, ‘Okay, that’s it, I’ve JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

29

help is available

Davis believes that medication, in particular a class of drugs known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhib­ itors (SSRIs), which help to regulate serotonin levels in the brain, should generally be used as initial treatment for OCD. “Your thought processes are tempered so your behaviour changes,” he said. “You may not even need to see a psychologist.”

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do I have OCD?

As I undertook research for this article I began to worry about some of my own behaviours. The way I triple-check that the fridge door is closed; my need to have my clothes arranged by colour; the anxiety I feel whenever the kitchen is messy, to the point where I sometimes avoid cooking anything. Did these, plus other personal foibles, mean that I might have OCD? “One of the characteristics often seen in highly functioning people is a highly developed consciousness, so that person may be very conscious about themselves, very conscious in their work, and these kinds of people may have a certain level of anxiety,” Hojaij said, in an attempt to reassure me. “Sometimes this type of person­

BARTCO—GETTY IMAGES

me. “Early life can be a very anxious time for children, being at the whims of their parents and the environment.

As they grow older they learn that their compulsive, anxious thoughts can be relieved by ritualistic behav­ iour. For example, worrying about cleanliness can be relieved by hand washing. It isn’t long before the suf­ ferer realises their anxiety can always be relieved by the same behaviour.”

Others disagree.

Hojaij urges caution with a medica­ tion-first, talk-later approach. “We can only talk about treatment if you have a proper diag­ nosis,” he says. He recommends that patients suspected of having OCD should be initially referred to a psychiatrist to help exclude organic diseases, such as tumour or stroke, that can sometimes mimic features of OCD.

ality can be a little bit exaggerated, and they may be called ‘control freaks’ by others. And in these kinds of cases it’s not a disease, it’s just an aspect of personality.”

People with obsessive-compulsive personality traits share many fea­ tures of OCD, however there are important differences. People with OCD usually have insight that their thoughts and behaviours are unreasonable, they are distressed by their actions, and they waste time on their obsessions and compulsions.

Whereas those with obsessive–com­ pulsive personality traits believe that their way is the right way to do things, they are usually comforted by adhering to their own rules and routines, and they are often quite time-efficient.

Indeed, obsessive-compulsive traits such as perfectionism, attention to detail and perseverance can make people highly productive in the workplace. On the other hand, they can just as easily be an impediment.

Dr Gayle Maloney, who operates an OCD clinic in Perth, says that, of the doctors and lawyers she has seen suffering from OCD, the most frequently occurring obsessions and compulsions relate to perfectionism and associated repetitive checking rituals.

“When symptoms start to impede a person’s day-to-day functioning, they may benefit from an assess­ ment,” she told me. “A clinical psychologist or psychiatrist can focus on a specific type of cognitive­

behavioural therapy, known as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) treatment, which is used to teach an OCD sufferer anxiety-based strategies to reduce their obsessive thoughts and to prevent engaging in their compulsions. For some suf­ ferers, ERP is sufficient. For others, ERP needs to be combined with medication.”

For Hillier, both meds and regular visits to his psychiatrist have been necessary for his OCD management.

“It’s important to talk about ongoing symptoms,” Hillier said.

“For example if I’m having a thought around my clothes not fitting or the sun annoying me, I have to make sure that I’m not giving in to it.

You’ve just got to keep on top of it. Gradually exposing yourself to situations that can trigger obsessions; doing the right things.”

Hillier acknowledges he still has a long way to go. “I have a good job, but I don’t really have the capacity to take on anything too stressful—my OCD does wear me down,” he said.

Despite these ongoing challenges Hillier remains upbeat. He is a community mental health ambas­ sador and runs corporate awareness workshops for companies, teaching managers how to help staff who may be struggling with OCD. He has important advice for sufferers of OCD. “Never give up,” he said. “There is help if you look for it.”

This article first appeared in The Australian.

Reprinted with the author’s permission.

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Bridging

ANDREYPOPOV—GETTY IMAGES

THE GREAT

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DIVIDE Divorce can rip your life apart.

But hard experiences— and a few helpful tips—can teach you how to survive and thrive.

BY DEANNA PITCHFORD

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M

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building the B-R-I-D-G-E

Even my mum and dad were Bnotthough on good speaking terms, we still UTTRESS THE SENSE OF FAMILY.

saw our dad regularly and knew that we had a father. We went on holidays with him as we grew older and met many of our paternal family mem­ bers, giving us roots of belonging. In time, I came to value my father and thank him for his contribution to my life. We were also fortunate to have a strong bond with our maternal grandparents and this served to fill many gaps in our perception of “family”.

E-INVENT YOUR LIFE. I saw my mother take courses and enhance her skills, enabling her to achieve success in her work at a time when most other mums stayed at home. I loved watching her get ready to go to work

R

SOLOVYOVA—GETTY IMAGES

y parents separated and divorced when I was three years old. In many ways this was one of the defining events of my life. We are shaped by our experi­ ences and our interpretation of those events; it has taken me many years to arrive at the place where I can look back on this experience as something positive.

Growing up in a single-parent household at a time when divorce was not accepted as nonchalantly as it is now, made me look at reality in a certain way. I grew up with a sense that I was missing out on what other children took for granted. I felt envious of my friends whose parents were “together” and I often wondered if they knew how lucky they were.

And yet, this perception of reality led to something good in my life (but more of that later).

My mum did her best to raise her two daughters in a Christian home and worked long and hard—some­ times doing two jobs at once—to make sure that we lacked for nothing.

The toll this took on her wellbeing was huge and, looking back now, I can only marvel at her perseverance.

I saw her suffer with migraines, battle depression, fight the stigma of being a divorcée, cope with the loneliness that is the lot of many single moth­ ers, and still come out on top. Much to her credit, my sister and I grew up to have families of our own and both of us are still married to our original partners. Here are some of the life skills I learned through observation.

Although it was possible to shield us from all Dthenotnegative effects of the divorce, ILUTE THE NEGATIVITY.

there were enough other positive factors in our lives to balance out the unpleasant backwash of parents in conflict. My mum bought a piano when I was nine years old and, despite the effort it would have taken to shift it between the various places we called home, it became a symbol of beauty and grace for me and a way in which I could soothe many a heartache.

O FOR GOLD. We may not have been the quintessential family of the ‘60s but my mother held us to a high standard of behaviour and achieve­ ment. Holding her head high in a less-than-affirming environment gave us courage to follow our dreams and aim high, too. Just because we were different to the families around us, it did not give us licence to feel sorry for ourselves or to expect special treatment. And, as often happens when you aim high, you get much further than you could ever have imagined.

MBRACE THE PRESENT. In my childhood home we had certain family tradi­ tions that made an indelible mark on me. On a Sunday afternoon, for ex­ ample, there would often be the smell of baking in the house. My mum had a friend who lived close by and she would come and sit in the kitchen while my mother made something delicious for the Sunday night meal.

The smell of good food in the house invariably reminds me of my mother.

G and admired her style and sense of competence. It was a reminder to fight back when life does not work out as you planned and to take charge of your destiny. I saw my mum doing the best with what she had.

NVEST IN FRIENDSHIP. One of the great life lessons I learned from my mother was to cultivate friendships.

Some of my happiest childhood memories were made in the homes of kind friends who embraced my mum and her children and made us feel at home. This would not have happened if she had not put thought and effort into making and maintain­ ing an active friendship circle. The outcome of this important life skill was that my mum eventually met someone who suited her very well and who added love and joy to the latter part of her life.

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that they belong, that they are valued and that there is a place for them at the table. Last, but not least, having lived though the pain of divorce has made me treasure my own marriage and the togetherness it brings. It has made me conscious of the fact that a good marriage requires constant tending and a great deal of prayer.

Divorce is unlikely to be in the thoughts of those contemplating marriage, but should this be the way your life unfolds, do not despair. You and your children can survive this negative event. Children are resilient and, with at least one constant caregiver and the input of family and friends, life can still be good for them. You can model resilience to your children, create traditions that they treasure, help them find positive aspects in every situation, and in that way give them the invaluable gift of skills to face life. You can bridge the great divide. And in doing so you, too, might again find happiness on the other side.

Deanna Pitchford is a clinical psychologist based in Brisbane. She works with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) counselling centre.

PETAR CHERNAEV—GETTY IMAGES

I remember those times well, so when Sunday afternoon arrives and the day begins to settle into night, I often think of my mum and long to replicate the sense of family that small traditions can engender. In this, and other ways, she invested the present not only with good food, but also with good feelings and left behind a residue of tradition that will always remind me of the power of focusing on the positive.

Looking back on my childhood, I can now see some positive things that grew out my parents’ divorce.

My choice of psychology as a career, for example, was heavily influenced by my desire to understand others and myself more deeply. Being able to sit with people in emotional pain is a direct result of having my own spirit deepened by pain. Less visible, perhaps, has been the development of a deep compassion within me for those who might feel excluded.

I treasure this value that has taken root in my life and I know it may not have happened had I not experienced the alienation that divorce brings. I find myself wanting others to know

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We also offer other FREE resources.

It means you care enough that you want to make sure your love continues to grow and develop, today and long into the future.

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GO HEALTHY for good WITH

DR NERIDA MCKIBBEN

Organic food may help reduce the risk of some types of cancer. Almost 70,000 French adults reported how often they ate organic food. After five years, those who ate the most organic food were 25 per cent less likely to have been diagnosed with cancer, including breast cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This may be because organic foods contain less pesticides, suspected of being carcinogenic.—JAMA

LIVE LARGE, DIE YOUNG

Being obese as a young adult could cost up to 10 years of life. Researchers calculated how much weight Australians typically gain each year, along with age and gender, to calculate life expectancy.

Those with severe obesity in their twenties are predicted to lose 7.6 years for women and 10.3 years for men.—International Journal of Obesity 38

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

GET MOVING!

The Australian Physio– therapy Association (APA) says regular exercise not only helps with heart health and muscle strength, it can also make a positive difference for people living with mental illness.—APA

ENVIROMANTIC, IPGGUTENBERGUKLTD—GETTY IMAGES, STOCKSNAP—PIXABAY, ASHLEY GREEN—UNSPLASH, ALESSANDROPHOTO, KGFOTO—GETTY IMAGES

MORE THAN A GIMMICK?

NIGHT TERRORS

Teens who sleep for less than six hours per night are three times more likely to consider or attempt suicide than those sleeping eight or more hours. Less sleep on school nights is linked to dangerous and drunk driving, unsafe sex, aggression, carrying a weapon, picking a fight, or using alcohol and other drugs. Researchers found more than 70 per cent of high school students get less than the recommended eight hours of sleep per night.—CNN

THE GOOD OIL

DRIVE-THRU DANGER Having high-calorie, lownutrient fast-food outlets close to home appears to significantly increase the risk of diabetes. A recent study assessed 350,000 people living across the UK and found the risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes was increased 11 per cent by living within 1 km of ready-to-eat food outlets.—The Lancet

Researchers are zeroing in on why fish oil sometimes seems to help cardiovascular disease. High doses of purified EPA, an Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil, saw a 25 per cent reduction in heart attack and stroke risk for research subjects with high levels of triglycerides. The treatment was on top of the statin drugs the patients were already receiving.—NY Times Dr Nerida McKibben, a New Zealand-born obstetrician and gynaecological surgeon, passionately enables people to achieve their greatest health potential. Wanting everyone to live life to the fullest, she integrates wholistic principles into medical treatments and procedures. For more, go to www.hop.ec/gohealthyforgood JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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a tale of two cakes

It was the best of cakes; it was the worst of cakes.

How a baking disaster led me on a journey of self-discovery.

MONCHERIE—GETTY IMAGES

BY MONICA GALLASCH

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I

could try to convince you that I don’t like cake, but my thighs speak the truth.

I LOVE cake! I love eating it, I love baking it. In my opinion the best thing about birthdays and weddings is the cake! Thankfully, my German mother taught me a thing or two about baked goods, so every time I’m asked to contribute a dish to a shared meal, my mind by default starts dreaming up what cake to bake for the occasion.

It was no different when I was asked to bring a dessert to a church function a few years ago. I was visit­ ing my parents in Western Australia at the time, and my mother had one of those fan-dangled Thermomixes— very powerful hi-tech blenders that can do everything except blow your nose. Mum suggested I make a carrot cake using her Thermomix as it was apparently a very quick process.

Feeling adventurous, I chose a carrot cake recipe that included pineapple and coconut, put all the ingredients in the blender, turned it on to mix up the batter, and thought, This’ll take a minute or two; let me quickly duck to the ladies’.

But, being my first time using these machines, I didn’t realise that they work very quickly and very powerfully, so by the time I got back from the bathroom, my batter was smooth as silk, not the usual chunky texture of carrot cake batter. I shrugged and popped the mixture in the oven to bake. But when it came out, I knew there was something

seriously amiss. I called in my guinea pigs (Mum, Dad and my brother) and awaited the verdict.

“The texture is wrong. It has all the flavour of a carrot cake, but carrot cake feels different. This is denser, heavier, more mud-cakey.”

recipe for success

I can’t change the way this cake looks, tastes, its texture, smell or colour—it’s a done deal; I can’t un-bake it, I thought to myself. But what I can change is the perception with which people approach this cake.

If they perceive it to be a carrot cake, then they’ll have expectations based on that perception. If they expect it to have a lighter, fluffier crumb with chunks of nuts, perhaps even threads of grated carrot and a sultana or two, then the cake will fail. So perhaps if I remove the label “carrot cake” and give it a new name, I could change their perception entirely—people won’t know they’re eating a dessert disaster!

Taking into consideration the thick new texture and the fact I’d used pineapple and coconut in the recipe, I decided to call it a “Carib­ bean mudcake”. Sounds exotic, doesn’t it? It wasn’t really; it was just a failed carrot cake!

I took my renamed cake to church the next day and dropped it off at the kitchen for safe-keeping.

“Oooh, what’s that you’ve brought, Monica?” “That . . . is a Caribbean mudcake.”

“Monica, did you make this?”

“Yes, it’s a Caribbean mudcake.”

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The author and her award-wining cake.

through the prism of your soul.”

At first this discovery of percep­ tion altering was revolutionary to me. How else could I control people’s experiences and outcomes based on how I fiddled with their perception?

My inner despot momentarily revelled. But then I realised that the easiest perception to change—and the most important—was my own.

shifting eyes

The other night my friend and I went to a party. We ran into an old school friend who now has a new wife and baby. The three of us sat around laughing, reminiscing about the good times. His wife would occasionally come into the room and stand at his shoulder and make half-hearted attempts at joining in.

Afterwards I remarked to my friend that this woman was clearly threat­ ened by our camaraderie with her husband; hovering at his side, glaring as if to remind us that he was a taken man and we should back off and find our own husbands. My friend was

SUPPLIED

I made sure everyone knew this was a Caribbean mudcake, making no mention whatsoever of carrot cake.

People were ex­ cited. They’d never heard of Caribbean mudcake before.

They couldn’t wait for church to end so they could try a slice. And they loved it! It was so new and tantalising; flavoursome and velvety. And then the requests started—a friend asked me to make it again for his birthday party. Another asked me to make it as her wedding cake. I couldn’t believe it—a little shift in perception and people were falling over themselves for this cake!

A year later, back in Sydney, I de­ cided to take my perception-altering strategy to the next level; I entered a cake-baking contest using my overblended carrot cake—I mean, my Caribbean mudcake. The judges’ eyes lit up when they saw the label. New and refreshing, they said. An amazing, innovative combination of flavours.

And would you believe it? Pitted against hundreds of other cakes, my cake took home the blue ribbon.

How was it that their tastebuds didn’t recognise the age-old flavours of the humble carrot cake?

Is it because what we see depends mainly on what we look for? As sci­ ence writer Christopher Ray noted, “Perception is merely reality filtered

surprised. “I didn’t see that at all. I saw a young mum, exhausted and left out of a conversation filled with you-had-to-be-there stories, trying to split herself between being involved in her husband’s previous single life and tending to her 8-month-old baby.”

I was rebuked. I realised that the way I think about a person isn’t always the way they actually are.

My friend and I had experienced the same person, but she saw an award-winning Caribbean mudcake and I saw a failed carrot cake.

A quote from American novelist Tom Robbins sums it up nicely: “One has not only an ability to per­ ceive the world but an ability to alter one’s perception of it; more simply, one can change things by the manner in which one looks at them.”

How much sweeter would our own lives be if we chose to perceive others a little more gently? If we were a little more generous than we think is fair when perceiving and presum­ ing about them? If we chose to be sympathetic instead of snide?

“The heart has eyes which the brain knows nothing of,” remarked 19th century preacher and social reformer Charles Henry Pankhurst.

His meaning was that we often don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.

Or as Christian writer C S Lewis noted: “What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.”

failed cake, or mudcake?

Consider the Old Testament story of Job. The Bible tells us he was very wealthy and blessed with a big, happy family and had great health to boot. But in one day he lost everything. His wealth raided and burned, his children dead, his body covered in painful boils. If ever there was a time to look at a situation and perceive only a failed carrot cake, Job had it.

In fact, his friends and wife encouraged him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). But through it all, Job stubbornly clung to his faith: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (1:21).

Job refused to let the circum­ stances engulfing him distort his per­ ception of the God he knew as loving and just and fair. He felt the full pain of his experiences, but he searched for the “Caribbean mudcake”—he trusted God with his perception.

He even prayed for his “failed cake” friends whose perceptions needed some tweaking!

Our perception of others—our perception of God, too—says a lot about who we are. Who are you? If life turned sour, would you “curse God and die”? Or, like Job, would you choose to trust Him and let Him lead your perception?

Monica Gallasch lives in Newcastle, NSW, where she co-hosts the FaithFM breakfast radio show and bakes as often as she can.

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DYSTOPIAN FUTURE

The constant negative themes running through popular culture are concerning. Is there a better way?

BY OMAR MIRANDA

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y daughter is 16, and her mother and I try to keep up with everything she’s reading, which means we’re both reading a lot of young adult literature lately. Previewing the titles on offer, I made a startling discov­ ery: one of the most popular genres was “dystopian fiction”—stories that detail how the future will be horrendously worse than the present.

This trend doesn’t end with YA novels. Popular culture is dishing up scenario after scenario of oppression and genocide—toxic ecologies and toxic so­ cieties. Some days it feels like every time I turn around, there’s another movie, book, TV show or website injecting this perspective into our cultural psyche. It’s making me freak out a little! Can you imagine how a consistent diet of this stuff affects us, let alone our kids?

This led me to ask myself three hard questions. First, is it beneficial or healthy for us as a culture to be focusing so deeply and so often on dystopian themes? Second, why do people enjoy this genre so much? And lastly, how do we find an alternate future that is not dystopian, but instead, full of hope, peace, power and purpose?

GREMLIN—GETTY IMAGES

garbage in, garbage out

As a child, I would complain to my father because he would never allow me to watch TV shows or movies that were violent or scary; he would shake his finger at me and softly, but firmly, say, “Son, garbage in, garbage out.”

What we choose to focus on profoundly affects us. As a long-time mental health professional with more JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

45

than 20 years in the business, I know the value and power of a positive perspective. There’s a ton of research proving the validity, benefit and power of positive thinking. Further­ more, I have counselled many clients and can attest to the fact that if they choose to consciously focus on positive things, they have a healthier, happier overall life experience.

Interestingly enough, the apostle Paul actually gives us a wonderful checklist of what types of things we need to focus on: “ . . . keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly and proper”.

Furthermore, he tells us how often we need to be focusing on those things: “Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8, CEV1).

Paul tells the Roman Christians: “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognise what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Romans 12:1,2, MSG2).

why are we so negative?

So what’s the draw? Why are so many people—not just teenagers and young adults—fascinated by the dystopian genre? Consumers speak— 46

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

no, they shout—their preferences with their money.

Writer Mindy Weisberger, in her essay exploring this fascinating phe­ nomenon, titled: “End of the World As We Know It: What’s the Draw of Dystopian Sci-Fi?” basically posits that this is a way for people, in gen­ eral, to work out their own anxieties and fears in a somewhat productive and healthy way. She also states that, really, many people feel that dystopia is the way the world is ultimately headed—they recognise the threats of global warming, artificial intelligence, cyber-crime and weapons of mass destruction. Writers use dystopian fiction in order to introduce and explore these serious and crucial topics in a way that promotes healthy dialogue about what can be done now to avoid a dystopian future.

As a counsellor, freelance writer and published author, I believe in the power and transcendence of writing and journalling; you are, after all, reading something right now that I wrote! But the tragic truth is that many of us in this world have no real and lasting peace or hope; no personal connection with our Creator and no sense that He has a plan for our future. In the midst of all the bad news happening around the globe, it’s almost as if we’re on a collision course with self-destruction. In fact, the Bible, despite its promises of a bright future, describes our present state like this: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to

the present time” (Romans 8:22).

VICNT—GGETTY IMAGES

laughing at a funeral

Several years ago, I worked in a hospital emergency department assessing people in mental health and substance use crises. On one notable day, I triaged a woman who was brought in to see us because she had been laughing and making merry— during a funeral! (I later found out she was a long-time sufferer of schizophrenia and a frequent visitor to the ER.) Do you think the people at that funeral noticed that she wasn’t sad, grieving or crying? You bet they did.

She didn’t have to say a word. Her total 180-degree-deviated emotional response to the present situation clearly gave her away.

It was a tragic situation—both for the funeral-goers whose grieving was interrupted, and for the woman and her family who had a long-term seri­ ous mental illness to cope with. But it was hard not to see a funny side to what happened as well. There’s

comedy in the incongruous. And the situation reminded me that the Bible says people who are connected to God will have “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Translation: people who don’t know God intimately won’t be able to make sense of a Christian’s “unnaturally” peaceful and hopeful response to the dystopian events surrounding us.

Paul clearly makes the point that Christians have hope, not only because of what Jesus did for them on the cross, but, more importantly, because of what He did for them at the tomb. Paul tells a group of believers in 1 Corinthians 15:12–26 that if Jesus hasn’t been raised from the dead, then they have believed a lie, and not just the message they’re sharing with others but, by extension, their lives as well are useless and they are without hope . . . actually worse off than unbelievers!

But, if Jesus’ resurrection is true— if it’s real—then Christians have something to look forward to, as well JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

47

as something to offer this hope-less world: a forever relationship with God, the Origina­ tor and Giver of hope.

choose hope

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“No longer will there be any curse.

The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

Today, purposely choose to make a paradigm shift, and focus, not on dystopia, but on the coming utopia that having a forever relationship with God offers. He’s the only real hope that any of us have.

Omar Miranda is a healthcare professional, regular writer and proud parent. He lives with his family in Georgia, USA. 1. Bible quotes marked CEV are used with permission from the Contemporary English Version, © 1995, American Bible Society.

2. Bible quotes marked MSG are used with permission from The Message, © 2002, NavPress.

PHIL MCKAY—ADVENTIST MEDIA

Let me ask you another question: “Do you have hope?” Or to ask it another way: “If you died today, do you have a hope and a peace that you would have something to look forward to?

Something better than this broken existence on this broken planet has to offer?”

I certainly hope that you can answer Yes. If you don’t have a Christian faith, don’t despair; you don’t have to be hopeless about today or tomorrow because God’s got it covered. You don’t have to read make-believe books or watch movies or TV shows about how much more depressing the future will be. No. You can begin to connect with and follow Jesus today—right now, in fact! He loves you so much that He came to this earth to live the perfect life, and died a horrible criminal’s death so that you could have the opportunity to live eternally with Him (John 3:16).

How’s that for hope?!

If you want some real hope, read the real-life, non-fiction, last book of the Bible about God’s joy, peace and, yes, hope. Revelation 22:3–5 says:

Are you constantly bombarded from all sides by electronic gadgets, screaming toddlers and television advertising? Do you sometimes feel that life is so hectic you don’t have time to contemplate the more important questions of life? Karl Haffner’s wit and wisdom combine in this light-heartedly serious exploration of the three most important questions in life. Who am I? Why $21.9.959) am I here? Where (NZ$26 am I going? #0427503 Yes, please send me Destiny for $21.95 (NZ$26.99).*

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*Offer available in Australia and New Zealand only, while stock lasts. Price includes postage and GST. Seventh-day Adventist Church (SPD) Limited ACN 093 117 689

FA IT H

TRUSTING FAITH Do you need to understand something completely before you can trust it?

Please, take a seat.

ALBUQUERQUE—GETTY IMAGES

BY NATHAN BROWN

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A

n ordinary wooden chair is a met­ aphor that’s often used to explore the key dynamics of faith. But it’s worth exploring further. Perhaps we could describe this as a process of devel­ oping the “theory of a chair”.

The first thing we might do is to describe the chair. Each of us would have an image in our minds at the mention of a simple wooden chair, but if we were asked to draw or describe that chair, we’d notice small and sometimes larger differences in what we’ve imagined and what others draw or describe. Our images of the chair might be influenced by a chair we’ve seen recently, perhaps by a chair in our homes, or maybe chairs in the homes where we grew up.

ways to describe a chair

I’ve already told you that it’s made of wood, but we could ask what kind of wood, how long ago was it made, and where? It might still be in new condition, or it could show the marks of longtime use. We could explore the history of this chair, both in its manu­ facture and ownership. We could also describe the shape of the chair and any decorative features it might have: is it stained, varnished or painted? We could also talk about the size and weight of the chair as a physical object.

I have a friend who recently spent a week in a chair-making workshop.

He spent a considerable amount of time crafting and shaping a wooden chair. His description of a chair would be much more in-depth than mine because he would describe the style JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

51

“

and design of the chair as well as the techniques and tools used in its creation.

A second approach to the theory of a chair would be to explore its physics and function as an object. A scientist or engineer could talk about the counterbalancing of forces in relation to gravity, how the construc­ tion functions to support a sitting platform at a stable height above the floor, even when the body weight of a sitter is applied. Then there’s the balance and levering effect between the weight on the seat compared to how a sitter might lean against the back support.

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A third approach is that of a physiologist, who might discuss the human mechanics of sitting. Chairs are generally the shape they are be­ cause they work for human purposes.

But how does a chair best function for its intended use? There are stand­ ard heights and widths for chairs based on average human dimensions, and the form and aesthetics of what we regard as a chair centre around these sizing standards.

So if we were to put these various chair theories together, we might expect to come up with a super­ theory of the chair. But—and here’s the point I’m leading up to—the

HALFPOINT—GGETTY IMAGES

Never getting around to simply sitting on a chair is to miss the point.

ultimate purpose of all these forms and functions, physics and physiology, is much simpler. It all comes down to the simple act of sitting.

Remarkably, we don’t need to know much about any of these various theoretical considerations for the chair to work—as­ suming that the chair is fit for its purpose; that is, it won’t collapse when a person sits on it. However important knowledge, appreciation and expe­ rience of various aspects of chair theory may be for the task of selecting the best possible chair to support us, accumulating all that information but never getting around to simply sitting on a chair—perhaps even being too distracted by the research process to do so—is to miss the point.

The value of a chair, wherever it came from and however it was made, is how comfortable it feels and how confident we are that it will support us.

faith

It’s the same with faith.

The history, presentation, theology and philosophy of faith are important.

They’re useful for choosing whether and how to believe. In terms of Christianity, the historical and liter­ ary significance of the Bible and its central story of Jesus are key consid­ erations. And spending time learning the theology and the intricacies of doctrine in shaping and choosing the most trustworthy faith is important.

But just as it requires trust for trustworthiness to matter, so we can know about the history and stories of a faith. We can explore its theories and theology. But for it to matter, we need to “sit down”—to rest the weight of our life on it. We need to learn to trust that it will support us.

We learn about a chair by sitting on it. We learn how the chair works and what it feels like by experiencing it support our weight. We discover that having a comfortable chair makes a huge difference in our lives.

Similarly, the real knowledge and understanding of faith can never come from a mere theory about faith. The super-theory of faith isn’t greater complexity and more obscure knowledge. Rather, it’s the trust we learn from practising faith that allows us to live life beyond what we can see, measure or at times even fully understand. The experience of faith changes how we live, and it changes the lives and the world of those around us.

So thoughtfully choose a chair— but don’t forget to take a seat!

Nathan Brown is an award-winning writer and book editor. He lives in Warburton, Victoria.

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R E CI P E

PREPARATION TIME: 15 mins COOKING TIME: 15 mins SERVES: 1 INGREDIENTS

Grains (½ cup cooked per bowl) • barley • quinoa • brown rice • couscous Protein (1 egg or 1 cup per bowl) • legumes (eg, chickpeas, black beans) • tofu, sliced • egg Vegetables (2–3 cups per bowl) • roasted: sweet potato, beetroot • raw: carrot, zucchini, tomato, snowpeas • pickled: sauerkraut • steamed: broccolini, corn Healthy fat (topping) • 1/2 small avocado • Sprinkle of nuts/seeds (eg, chia seeds, sesame seeds, pinenuts) • Drizzle of tahini/hummus/olive oil

METHOD

1. To assemble each bowl, place ½ cup of chosen grain in bowl.

2. Place protein of choice over grain.

3. Arrange a mixture of roasted, raw and pickled vegetables around the bowl.

4. Top with avocado and sprinkling of nuts and seeds.

Recipe courtesy of Sanitarium Health & Wellbeing. Visit sanitarium.com.au or sanitarium.co.nz and subscribe to Recipe of the Week for a delicious plant-powered recipe in your inbox each week.

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SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

NOURISH BOWL

TIP

wls Nourish bo to use your allow you s n, tastebud imaginatio the in ve ha u and what yo te a bowl ea fridge to cr , ition, colour full of nutr s yummines d an e ur text go and a e av H . . . have fun!

PER SERVE: Energy 2297kJ / 549cal; Protein 18g; Fat 25.2g; Saturated fat 5g; Carbohydrate 55.3g; Sugars 11.1g; Fibre 14g; Sodium 212mg; Potassium 1065mg; Calcium 170mg; Iron 4mg.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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SCI

ENCE

HOW OLD IS LIFE?

QIMONO—PIXABAY

THE BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

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Mainstream science is clear: the miracle of life took billions of years to evolve. But what if the data suggest something else altogether?

BY TIM STANDISH

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evidence 1: ancient biomolecules

In 2007, North Carolina State University paleontologist Dr Mary Schweitzer dissolved away the minerals in a fragment of dinosaur bone. She should have ended up with nothing, but instead she found soft tissue—proteins that looked like blood vessels and additional structures.

Proteins, DNA and other large biological molecules are broken down by water, oxygen, other chemicals and radiation. That is why, at least in theory, if dinosaur bones are millions of years old, there should be no protein remain­ ing in them. Of course, theory isn’t the same as observation, and proteins, along with other bio­ logical molecules, have now been observed in a lot of fossils.

Some scientists, including Dr 58

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

Schweitzer, have suggested that maybe proteins are preserved in the presence of iron, or when they are associated with the mineral part of bone. These explanations are quite difficult to swallow—it seems more reasonable to take the evidence at face value: these bones may be a few thousand years old, but not many millions.

evidence 2: mutations

Changes in DNA molecules, called mutations, may be caused by chemical damage, viral infections, radiation or errors in copying DNA. DNA contains the recipes for how, when and where to make the proteins in our bodies. As with cooking recipes, randomly chang­ ing protein recipes can result in bad outcomes.

Thankfully, the information encoded in DNA is remarkably robust so most of the time muta­ tions don’t kill us—or at least, not immediately. When a mutation is really bad, generally the person with it dies, so it isn’t passed on to their children. But what about those mutations that are just a little bit negative, but don’t kill you?

These are called “near-neutral” mutations and they are not weeded out by natural selection. Instead these near-neutral changes accumu­ late in our DNA. There are different estimates of how fast mutations are accumulat­ ing, but commonly they run above 100 mutations per person per

GERALT—PIXABAY

M

edia scientists and textbook writers commonly assert that life is billions of years old.

On the other hand, many Christ­ ians embrace the biblical record of history, documenting the relatively recent creation of life—thousands, not billions of years ago. Both views involve elements of faith, but what do the data say? The best approach to investigating when life started is to study living things.

Let’s look at five lines of evidence from living (and once-living) things to see what they suggest about the origin of life on Earth.

generation. Even though most of these changes are only slightly negative, at our current mutation rate, the recipes for the vital proteins in our bodies will eventually be corrupted to the point that we can’t survive.

So, if we can’t last forever, how long can we last? Time will tell, but millions of years seems way too optimistic. It’s depressingly obvious that humans and other organisms are unlikely to last too many thousands of years longer. Even unbe­ lievers should be hoping for a new era in which our DNA are created new and incorruptible— something akin to the Bible’s promise of a “new creation”. Otherwise, humanity has little hope for the future.

The observable evidence here shows that our genetic codes are being degraded over time, which is in stark opposition to the mainstream scientific conception that our DNA has been improving— evolving—over the last few billion years.

evidence 3: improbable hybridisations

A gardener working in the Oxford Botanical Gardens around 1670 noticed some tree saplings that he had never seen before. It turned out that these new trees were the result of hybridisation between American sycamore trees, Platanus occidentalis, and oriental plane trees, Platanus orientalis, which grow from the Balkans to Iran.

These species normally grow more than 5000 kilometres apart. The continents they are native to are supposed to have separated tens of millions of years ago. That is the kind of timespan that Darwinists typically invoke to explain the evo­ lution of humans, chimpanzees, old world and new world monkeys from some kind of primitive monkey.

The idea that two organisms could be separated by thousands of kilometres and tens of millions of years and yet still be capable of interbreeding, seems incredible. And it seems even more incred­ JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

59

ible from a Darwinian perspective than from a biblical perspective.

There are alternative and more rea­ sonable explanations. The most obvi­ ous is that these two species are not separated by tens of millions of years.

This may be because life isn’t millions of years old, or it may be that what became the American sycamore was transported in the relatively recent past from the Middle East to what is now the United States. In either case, there is no 50 million years. And this is not the only example—unexpected hybridisations are not uncommon in biology.

evidence 4: interchangeable parts

Biological cells teem with a wide variety of nanomachines performing all the functions necessary to keep those cells alive. Do these elegant molecular machines look as if they evolved in different kinds of organ­ isms over millions or billions of years?

It would be surprising to find out that the headlights of a 2019 Ford Focus are interchangeable with those from a 2014 Focus, and preposterous to believe they could be replaced with the headlamps of a Model-T Ford. Yet, interchangeability between parts of molecular machines in different species is common.

Signal Recognition Particle (SRP), which plays a vital role in production of the proteins found in membranes, is a molecular machine that illus­ trates this interchangeability. SRP is made up of a strand of RNA—a 60

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

molecule similar to DNA—and several proteins. The protein and RNA components of SRP are in­ terchangeable between humans and Xenopus laevis (frogs) or Drosophila (flies). Replacing one major compo­ nent of Canis familiaris (dog) SRPs with the single large SRP protein from a bacterium called Escherichia coli, makes a SRP functional in all respects except for binding to a cellu­ lar receptor. The corresponding dog SRP protein can bind to the RNA portion of E coli SRP. Data like these are well explained by a model in which a designer uses standard parts to make differ­ ent machines and these machines have not drifted apart over time.

The idea that modern dogs and bacteria separated from a common ancestor a billion or more years ago and went through extraor­ dinary changes to be completely separate species, yet still retain interchangeable molecular parts, stretches credulity. By comparison, a more recent creation of distinct kinds of organisms by the same Designer seems quite reasonable.

Both phenomena require miracles, but maintaining interchangeable parts over a billion years seems a very long and complex miracle compared to a recent creation as recorded in the Bible.

evidence 5: carbon-14

Radiometric dating is commonly seen as one of the strongest argu­ ments that life is millions or billions

KRULUA, ADSHOOTER—GGETTY IMAGES

of years old. When measuring the age of biological things, the most obvious method to use is Carbon14, because carbon is present in all living things. The problem is that Carbon-14 breaks down relatively rapidly; about half is gone in 5700 years, half of the remaining Carbon14 is gone after another 5700 years and so on. As there is very little Carbon-14 in the first place, by the time a sample is more than 100,000 years old, there should—at least theoretically—be too little Carbon14 to measure.

It turns out that Carbon-14 has been detected and measured in coal and other biological samples that are supposed to be tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of years old. Most reason­ ably, measurable Carbon-14 means the plants that formed the coal lived within the past 100,000 years.

What does a Darwinist who believes life is millions or billions of years old to do with these data?

Generally, the response is that the Carbon-14 is a contaminant, or that it was somehow generated within the samples. There are responses that could be made to these responses, but they get progressively more tech­ nical. If nothing else, this situation illustrates that scientists commonly

reject radiometric dates, like Carbon14 dates, when they do not agree with their prior ideas about the way things must be.

conclusions

This is not an exhaustive list of all the possible scientific evidence consistent with the biblical record of life’s recent creation. Living things really don’t give direct evidence that life is billions of years old and much evidence is best explained by the understanding that life is only thousands of years old.

Evidence interpreted within a biblical framework requires an equal number, or fewer, assumptions and logical steps than interpretations requiring long expanses of Darwin­ ian time. Generally, the fewer the logical steps, the more reasonable an explanation is considered to be. Everyone who wishes to know what is true will have to figure out for themselves what they believe about life’s origins. In doing this, it’s important to keep an open mind and examine all the evidence. Nice neat explanations encompassing all the data do not currently exist; faith is always necessary, but for someone who is drawn towards Christian faith it is reassuring to see what a fair examination reveals about how well the data we can gather from the study of living things fits with the biblical record of life’s history.

Tim Standish heads environmental biology and public policy for the Geoscience Research Institute, California. He grew up as a missionary kid, and holds a PhD in environmental biology.

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FUN

CROSSWORD CLUE: 6 DOWN

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

How closely have you been reading? Each keyword in this puzzle is also contained within this edition of Signs of the Times.

Happy digging!

EDUCATION.COM 62

SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

CROSSWORD CLUES

ACROSS 5 Famous Christian author—best known for the Narnia series 7 Illness that causes hallucinations 10 The act of being supportive 14 The last book of the Bible DOWN 1 When something consumes thoughts and actions 2 Social media network that allows posting of short messages 3 A Catholic city-state in Rome 4 Pure UK airline and music business 6 Region south-west of the Gulf of Mexico 8 A gas that humans breathe 9 Cave where Thai soccer team was trapped 11 A small particle; made up of atoms 12 When a group of people oppose and act against the status quo 13 Figure of speech; used to make a comparison

SUDOKU MEDIUM

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2 6 7

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7 9

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1 2

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1

1

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2

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7 9

1

3

8 7

7

2 6 4

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HARD

2

4 5

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3

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9 4

9

1

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9 7

9 1

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SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE ONLINE SIGNSOFTHETIMES.ORG.AU JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 • SIGNS OF THE TIMES

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HOW WILL YOUR FUTURE UNFOLD? BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS WITH EFFORT AND BALANCE YOUR NURTURED POTENTIAL CAN BE TRANSFORMED.

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