Caught by My Daughter

In my sermon on Mark 9, I spent a great deal of time and preaching zeal on Mark 9:40, "for the one who is not against us is for us."

My 13 year old daughter is reading Martin Luther's The Bondage of the Will. In it, Luther lays hard claim to Matthew 12:30, "He that is not with me is against me."

What are we to make of these two sayings of Jesus?  Clearly, the statement, "He who is not against us, is for us," is a much milder statement than, "He that is not with me is against me."

The context is the key. In Mark 9, a man is casting out devils in the name of Jesus. Since it is working, we should assume that he is actually working by the power of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.  The disciples want the man to stop because he is not expressly following or traveling with them.  Jesus says that anyone who does a miracle in his name will not then lightly speak evil of him and that the one who is not expressly against us is for us.

In Matthew, Jesus had been doing miracles, casting out demons. The Pharisees claimed that He did this work by the power of Beelzebub.  They had already declared against Jesus. In that situation, Jesus says that he who is not for us is against us.  The Pharisees had already made their position clear, they were opposed to Christ.

So, the difference in the two passages is clear. The Matthew passage is for those that have declared open hostility to Christ. The Mark passage is for those brothers and sisters that are working in the name of Jesus but are clearly not completely with us.  The former are to be rejected and judged. The latter need to be received and taught.

Things I Never Noticed in the Bible- Upgradable Blessings

Luke 6:38 38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Call me dense, I guess, I won't take much offense. I have always read this passage generally that if you are giving, the Lord will be giving.  If you are stingy, the Lord will be stingy towards you. And it does teach that and more.

With the measure you measure, the Lord will measure. It is not simply that the Lord will bless a generous man and will withhold blessing from a stingy man.  The Lord will repay you according to your level of generosity.  Do you dispense blessings with a teaspoon?  If so, when the Lord gets around to blessing you, it will be by the teaspoonful.  I suppose it will take a while to fill up your cup.

But do you dispense blessings by the cupful?  Or do you dispense them by the 5 gallon bucket? Or with a an ever renewable spring?  The Lord will repay accordingly.

What sorts of blessings? 

How about financial ones to start? Do you give? Do you tithe?  Do you give above the tithe? Do you look for new ways to be generous? Do you show hospitality?  Do you have friends, family and church members over for lunch?  Do you help others in times of need?

How about verbal blessings? Do you give sparingly?  Ever wonder why no one says anything good to you or about you? Do you compliment?  Do you encourage? Do you speak the truth in love?

God will bless you the way that you bless others. And He will use YOUR measuring cup.  Maybe you need to upgrade?

Things I Never Noticed in the Bible

New Wine

In Luke 5 Jesus tells the Pharisees that you must not sew new patches on old clothes. Also, that you must not put new wine into old wine skins. In the past, I have generally tried to understand these statements as sort of stand alone statements relating vaguely to the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant.

Of course, it does relate that way but it is not general. Jesus gives several specific examples of how it relates.

1. Jesus eats with tax-collectors and sinners Luke 5:29-32. Thus, the holiness code and the ceremonial law is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. This has ramifications all over the place. The Pharisees hate this. They want an easy to follow code, not the messiness of dealing with sinners and tax collectors.

2. The importance of fasting for spiritual benefit, renewal, holiness, etc. is dramatically changed. Luke 5:33-35. Jesus fed the disciples, they ate and drank. The time for fasting when Jesus is taken away is the time of His death and perhaps also the time from the Ascension to Pentecost. I do not believe it is the time between first and second coming. Jesus is with us now in the Holy Spirit.
The Pharisees cannot point to their fasting as spiritual maturity when they always neglect the weighty elements of the law.

3. Jesus gathers food and eats on the Sabbath, Luke 6:1-5. The Pharisees' view of the Sabbath was a mess. Jesus teaches them that the Sabbath was made for man to give him life. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath and is Himself the Sabbath.

So, the new wine skins was a new way of doing things. Some of this was reformation but what Jesus really instituted was transformation. Men needed to be new and their old way of doing things, including the way that they did religion, would not work any more.

JEDfessions of a Pastor

I have been learning a few things during this process. As I mentioned last week in my exhortation, it is easy to make habits and hard to break them. I should have said, "It is easier to make new habits than it is to break old ones." That is because it is not really that easy to make habits.

In order to make a habit, one must repeat an action enough times to be able to do it automatically. Athletes and musicians know this, so they do the same actions over and over until they gain muscle memory. But athletes and musicians also know that to break a bad habit is difficult. So, when a teacher or coach points out the bad habit and the need to break it before it has long-lasting ill consequences, a battle ensues. What is that battle? While one knows that the new habit is better, trying to develop the new and better habit results in WORSE performance, not better. Change your swing and your batting average will go down before it goes up. Change your hand position and the notes will sound less clear and slower before they improve. Many musicians and athletes go back to the old way of doing things before the new habit is ever formed. They claim that the change was detrimental. But the problem was that they just did not stay with it long enough to see the improvement.

JEDfession- The new way of doing things is not habitual. The old habits were not bad but the new ones (at least the ones that I want to adopt and make permanent like praying three times a day, 30 minutes of Bible reading, resolutions of better behavior, especially speaking), are not yet formed as habits. Or, they were done at different times or in a different way. Here's the problem. Somewhere between the old habits and the new habits is total failure. Trying to form a new habit means that you are not doing the old one. Then, if you fail in the new one, you are neither doing the old nor the new one. Instead of doing one thing well or even excellent, you are failing completely. This is quite distressing and makes one think that the old way was so much better, matched my personality, or at least was not total failure.. But the main problem is simply that the new habit is not yet formed. You need a few weeks of consistent repetition to make it habitual.

Finally, I have learned that it is very difficult to deny oneself. Doing your regular habits is not self-denial. This is true, even if your regular habits appear to be very, very, disciplined. JEDish, so to speak. You may have developed good habits. Good for you. But now you are on autopilot and self-denial may even mean performing LESS admirably, as you see it (say, for a day).

While we are not ascetics, Jesus did say that if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Self-denial, in order to follow Jesus, is clearly part of the Christian calling. So, when we find ourselves in the no man's land of being in between habits, we must learn to deny ourselves and follow Christ. This will lead us not only to new habits but the RIGHT new habits.

Having failed JED at many places, perhaps you have got a glimpse into the areas that you do not really want to change and some of the areas where you really do want to change. Perhaps you can use these last 12 days to focus on one or two things, bible reading, prayer, benevolent speech, whatever important priorities you have zeroed in on, and work on making that one new good behavior habitual.

Heaven and Earth

In a previous post, I mentioned that Heaven was torn open and the Spirit descended to Earth when Jesus was baptized.

The same word is used later when Jesus is crucified and the veil of the temple is 'torn open.'

At that point, the veil is torn so that Earth can enter Heaven. We are told in Hebrews 9 that Christ has not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

This tearing of the veil was the point at which earth tore into heaven.

The same word is used for the tearing into earth as for the tearing into heaven.

In Jesus Christ, Heaven and Earth have met.

6000 Years To Go

In my previous post, I mentioned that we should use the name Yahweh when referring to the God of the Bible. I would be just as comfortable referring to Him as the Lord, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes things clear.

But should we try for Yahweh or Yahveh? Won't that just confuse things here at the end of the ages when there are so many competing voices, denominations and even religions?

Maybe.

But would it change your view of how we work through doctrinal and practical issues if we were not in the end of the ages but in the beginning of the church era?

Think about the doctrinal fights and development of the early church councils. We look back on that era as necessary to the truths that we hold dear now. They had the Scriptures but there was a great deal of wrangling about what those Scriptures taught. That wrangling rooted out heresy and developed systematic orthodoxy.

The big fights and doctrinal development were in the first 500 years. The last great doctrinal fights were about 500 years ago. We call it the Reformation. And the key point about the reformation to keep in mind is that it was driven by a commitment and understanding of Scripture. For the most part, the Reformation was about returning to the views held by Augustine some 1100 years earlier. And this looking back enabled the church to move forward in still unprecedented ways.

We now see a prolific church in nearly every corner of the globe. But we do not yet see the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Nor do we see the great promises of Isaiah's later chapters. Partially fulfilled? Yes. Filled up to all that glory? Not even close.

So, where does all this leave us? It is my contention that the New Covenant era ought to be at least twice as glorious as the Old Covenant era. There were about 4000 years of OC history. Perhaps if the New Covenant is twice as glorious, we shall see 8000 years. Also, that adds up nicely to 12,000 years!

I am not doing numerology, per see. I readily admit that this is total speculation. But what I think is clear in the Scriptures is that Jesus will reign until all His enemies are subdued beneath His feet. When that happens, then He will deliver the Kingdom to the Father. The last enemy destroyed will be death. That is the Resurrection.

Until then, Jesus is doing the work of advancing the Kingdom of God in the Earth, His will done on Earth as in Heaven.

If we have another 6000 years of this until the Lord delivers the kingdom to the Father, then I think we can take a very different view of how we reform, develop our lives together, work on doctrinal and practical problems, view doctrinal advance, work with our brothers in other denominations.

This ought not to make us lazy but it should help us to think that doing the work now will pay off for hundreds or thousands of years. That mindsight is far preferred to the one that says that it really doesn't matter how much work we do now because things are so bad we must be at the end. If we are at the end, then why work so hard?

His name is Yahweh

You may have noticed that in some of our prayers we say Yahweh instead of LORD, all caps. Why is this? The name Yahweh is somewhat foreign to us. We are much more familiar with saying God or Lord. There is nothing wrong with those terms but they are generic terms of a deity, not proper names. In a situation where we know that everyone is tracking with us, believing in the Triune God, worshipping the Father, His Son Jesus, the Spirit sent by the Father and the Son, we can use the shorthand name God, or speak of the Lord.

But we must be clear about whom we are speaking. In America, Lord is fine. God is fine. Jesus is a problem. The next time you are somewhere where they say the pledge of allegiance, try substituting the name Jesus for One Nation Under Jesus, and see how it feels and what sort of response you get. The name of the true God is much more powerful than speaking of a higher power.

So, how does Yahweh fit into all of this? It is God’s name. It is the salvation name He gave Moses to tell the Egyptians and the enslaved Israelites. We do not know exactly how to pronounce the name because the Jews, out of so-called reverence to God, refused to pronounce the name. But God had told them to pronounce it, to declare it to unbelievers and believers alike. It is my contention that the failure to pronounce God’s name is a gross and harmful disobedience.

So, why Yahweh and not Jehovah? Well, we do have the Hebrew scriptures and the best we can do with the pronunciation now is Yahweh, or perhaps Yahveh. It takes away the generic commitment to some God and places our commitment exactly where it ought to be, in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the God of Moses and Joshua. In the Father of the Lord Jesus. His name is Yahweh.

Tearing of Heaven

Jesus was baptized and, 'when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.'

We tend to think that the goal of our lives is to somehow tear through the heavens and get to Jesus.  Much of modern evangelical Christianity touts this very thing. This Earth and this life are just jumping off points to Heaven. The real goal is to get out of here to there.

But what happened when Jesus was baptized?  The heavens were torn open and the Spirit descended. Jesus did not leave the earthly and enter into the heavenlies. Heaven came down to Earth and empowered Jesus, the man.

Ah, you say, but Jesus did go to heaven.  He left us and went there. He got out of here, after all. Yes, but not like our modern Gnostics like to think.  He did not escape the body and go to heaven. He was resurrected and took His resurrected body to heaven. Jesus is still a man.  And will return as a man and rule on the Resurrected Earth forever.

So, if we see what is going on here in a different light, it changes everything.  This life is about getting the Spirit here to Earth, bringing Heaven to Earth, recreating that Chasm that was made in Adam and bridged in the Second Adam.  Jesus has done this. The Spirit has inaugurated the New Heavens and the New Earth. They are not completely remade yet. Only that in the final  Resurrection. But they ARE new and the Spirit is the promise that one day they shall be completely new.

But even now the heavens are torn open and come to earth.

The Work of the Pastor- William Still****

This is a tremendous little book and a must read for every pastor. It is a book that ought to be read every couple of years. It is a great encouragement to those of us who have chosen to preach 'the whole counsel of God.'  He clearly asserts and articulates that this task of preaching and teaching the Word of God is the heart and soul of the ministry of the pastor.

We need reminded of this often. In a world where there is constant pressure to conform to various popular methodologies of ministry, whether they be mostly evangelistic, or largely programmatic, Still reminds us of the work that we should be doing still. That work is knowing, studying, living, preaching and teaching the Word of God.

Perhaps every minister begins his ministry believing the Word of God is sufficient for everything but not every pastor ends up there.  Time and circumstance, sinners and saints, spirits and devils all help broil up competing priorities.

A minister of Christ must maintain a one-track mind, focused on the Word of Christ. Only then can he adequately and effectively traverse all the complex paths of the life of the people of God. Let him foremost be a shepherd, one who protects the flock by the authoritative Word of Christ so that he can lead them to green pastures and feed them there.

Devil's Work

"The devil always does a deadlier work through hardened Christians than through the unconverted and gets far more diabolical pleasure from it, too."

"There is an application of the Word of God for even the most urgent contemporary situations, but if we get all hot and bothered about it, and myopically concentrate all our ministry on that, for ever moaning from our pulpits about the evils of the day, what are the hungry sheep going to feed upon the while? The devil is a master of sidetrack."


William Still, The Work of the Pastor

John Calvin

Just finished The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven J. Lawson.  It is one of the Long Line of Godly Men Series. 

I'd say the book is three out of four stars but mostly because it is about Calvin.  It is a decent short introduction to Calvin and his views about preaching.  It is a bit repetitive but still exalts the great saint of Geneva.

For you Calvinists who do not know much about Calvin, I highly recommend it.  Are there better books? Sure, but this one is short and you really should read something about Calvin.

And then, after you read something about Calvin, you really need to read Calvin.  He still stands as the monumental figure of the Reformation.  His commentaries are still regularly quoted by modern writers.  He was a giant among giants and any ventures into the world of Calvin pay large dividends.

I may even name a kid after him. Wait, I already did!

Trust and Obey

We cannot see and understand the world or even our own lives the way that God does. For some, this is frustrating. They have a need to understand and will not fully trust God until they do understand.  And since this level of understanding is often, perhaps even usually, withheld from them, their frustration continues or even increases.  And they make the claim that their frustration is because God has not revealed Himself clearly enough or explained what He is doing clearly enough.  When, in fact, the true reason for the frustration is a lack of trust in God.

          
 We should get this right so we can adequately raise our own children.  They often have more faith in us than we have in God.  There are many, many things that they cannot understand. What two year old understands a spanking?  Or a denial of some simple fun, television, a video game, playing with the rebellious Johnny next door?  But the child learns to simply trust and obey.  I hope our children will grow up and be able to transfer their explicit trust in us parents to their heavenly Father.  

          
But how are we doing? Do we trust Him explicitly for all the things that are going on in our lives and in the world that we do not understand?  Is He working all things for good?  

Are you willing to not know and simply to trust our Lord Christ?  With that sickness? With that shaky job? With that unknown future? With that theological conundrum?  With that unjust accusation? With that slight from your sisters?

          
Our job is to obey the Lord, turn from sin, walk according to the Holy Spirit and put our simple and explicit trust in Jesus Christ.  He is in control of the master plan. We need to rest in that great truth.

Are you resting? Or tossing and turning?

Communion Meditation- Edible Word

The Lord feeds us. His food is the Word of God. It is given for cleansing the inner man and for casting out demons of evil desire and sin. His food makes us fit for the Spiritual work of the kingdom. It is the fertilizer that prunes us so that we bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in great abundance; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The Word of God does go to the heart and purifies. It purges out the leaven of unrighteousness. It deals with sin and wickedness. It transforms us and renews us from faith to faith and glory to glory. It kills the old man but gives birth to the new.

What we hold here is not merely bread. It is the edible Word of God. Because we partake by faith, believing all of God’s promises to us in Christ, the Word of God is applied to us and sealed with us in assurance of His promises.

Just as surely as you hold that bread in your hand and eat it with these saints, has God given you the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. Why doubt this truth? Look at the bread and remember God’s promises to you. He fulfilled them when Jesus died on the cross. How could He prove His promises more clearly than that.

So look to Christ in full assurance of faith.

Christ and the Church

The Bible tells us that marriage is an image of Christ and the Church. We tend to think of this the other way round. We think Christ and His Church is like marriage.

If we put things in proper order, we find that the Bible has much to teach us. How is a man supposed to treat his wife? Well, how did Jesus treat the Church? He served her, think of the washing of the Apostles' feet. He taught. He suffered. He died. He rose. He ascended. He rules. He watches over by His Holy Spirit. He intercedes. He promises to never leave and to make His bride perfect. He is coming again and we can trust His Word absolutely.

As we were discussing this yesterday, we gained more insight into the role of the wife, as well as the role of God's people in the church, both in leadership as well as laymen.

God's people do maintenance. They administer the work of God. They keep track of the household of faith. They prepare the sacraments. They are assistants to Christ in that role. He makes the sacraments efficacious but His ministers do the physical work.

The church worships the Trinity and the Son of God is the husband of the church, worshipped accordingly. A wife ought not to worship her husband as God. That would be disobedience to God. But she ought to reverence her husband, as Sarah did, calling her husband lord.

The Church adds to her number, preaching, teaching, making disciples in all nations. Just as the Church is saved by childbearing, so, too, is a godly woman. The Church prepares and feeds her household, admonishing unruly children, praising the faithful and obedient.

You get the idea. These are profound truths and we would do well to ponder them as we think about our roles as husbands and wives.

Lonesome Years

Lonesome Years.
Virgil Hurt
2/24/2010

Walking
I’m on my own
Without you
I’m all alone

Refrain
And where do we go from here?
To wind back the lonesome years.

Crying
Tears that roll
See me
I’m all alone

Refrain

Thinking
To start anew
It’s only me
And you

Refrain

Touching
Your hand in mine
Me and you
It’s time

And I’m glad you brought me here
To wind back the lonesome years

And I’m glad you brought me here
To wind back the lonesome years.

Things I Never Noticed in the Bible- Golden Rule Pretzel

Matthew 7:12 12Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

I am sure we have all read the golden rule many times in various forms in the Scriptures.  I suppose I have most often read it in a negative sense like this, "Do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you."

This keeps us from treating other people in all sorts of ill ways. You do not want someone to slander you, so do not slander them. You do not want someone to presume on your behavior, so you do not make bad assumptions about them.

But this rule is given to us in a very positive and forceful way, "Do to them what you would have them do to you."

I believe this changes things quite a bit. Men want honor and respect but do we simply not dishonor others?  Or do we actively honor others?

We often want respect and honor from our wives. We may even tell them so. But if you have to ask it lessons the import and effectiveness of the honor or respect. 

So, how do you treat your wife the way you want to be treated? Here's the twist, the pretzel part.

You want honor and respect. From men, you get honor and respect by giving honor and respect. If you are not getting any, it is probable that you are not giving any.

With your wife, the transaction is a bit different.  You want honor and respect from her but you do not get it by giving it.  She wants love from you.  If you are not getting the respect you want and need from her, then what is the problem?  You are not giving the love. 

Incidentally, this works in the reverse order as well. If a wife wants more love, she needs to give more respect and honor. But we are talking to the men and expect them to lead their wives by example.

Finally, the last part of this verse is 'this is the law and the prophets.'  We know that all the law and prophets is contained in this simple saying, "Love thy neighbor as thyself."  That is a different version of the Golden Rule. 

And I ask, "Who is a closer neighbor than your spouse?"

Deep Exegesis- Leithart

Just finished Peter Leithart's Deep Exegesis, The Mystery of Reading Scripture.

It is an excellent book. One of my deep mysteries is how Dr. Leithart reads so many books and remembers them. Overall, this is an excellent book as one thinks about not only reading Scripture but reading in general. Leithart shows how we bring all of our past experiences and reading into the meaning of the text. The reader correctly does this and the texts themselves encourage us to read this way.

He argues that any modern reader cannot fully or even correctly understand T.S. Eliot, unless he understands or experiences Eliot's reading. Eliot read Dante who read Virgil who read Homer. So, you read Eliot one way, until you read Dante and realize your reading of Eliot was short, or weak, or even wrong. And then you read Virgil and Homer and find in them so much of Eliot, or perhaps better said, so much of them in him. And the text takes on a fuller or even a different reading.

All texts work this way and so we should not be surprised that Scripture works this way, as well. It keeps taking on new meanings for us. This is not to say that we can mold the text into any meaning we want to. To do that to Eliot would be dishonest. But we can continue to come to know texts in deeper and deeper and surprisingly comprehensive and different ways.

I wish this book was shorter. Leithart is brilliant and so many connections flow so easily from his pen it is difficult to keep them all going in the same direction. To wit, the 'accessibility' of Leithart is blocked by his own vast knowledge. I get the sense he doesn't realize that he is making tough sledding for the rest of us. He just slides merrily down the hill. This is a book that ought to be read by many far and wide but I wonder if some of it will be too obscure and difficult for some. Not sure of his target audience but these ideas would be good to condense and present in a broader context.

Then again, it might simply be my mushy skull that fails to maintain the proper forward motion.

I give the book 3 1/2 of 4 stars simply because of some of the difficulty and flow of the book. The ideas and most of the presentation are simply top notch.

You ought to read it.

Communion Meditation- Discipline

We have been talking about discipline, doing the same things over and over for the purpose of advancing in godliness. But, of course, we all know that discipline, which is good, can also be the source of thoughtlessness. In a very real way, that is one of the great purposes of discipline. Once we have a behavior as a habit, we cease to think about it.

Those of you who arise at the exact same time every day train your bodies to awake and arise at that time with little or no effort like it was before it was a habit. Many of you pray every time you eat. And if you do these things enough, you do them without thinking about them. I dare say that many people pray before they eat without praying at all. Bow the head, bat the eye, bite the burger.

The Lord’s Supper is a discipline and a good one, perhaps the very best. But in order to partake of it and receive the true benefit, it ought not to be done like a prayer before a burger that is not a prayer at all. It ought to be done like the prayer before Thanksgiving meal when everyone has been waiting, smelling and anticipating the feast all day long.

I have noticed that some of our children do not have a good sense of reverence, joy, attention and thanksgiving in this meal. We do not want that to become their habit. Do not fret on this now but work on correcting this attitude at home in your meals and in your prayers. Instruct them about the glory and import of this meal where we feed on Christ. Make sure your correction to them is towards joy and thanksgiving. Encourage and exhort them, and yourselves, to come to this meal with a true heart of joy and thanksgiving.

Discipline and Godliness

Dear brothers and sisters, we are all engaged in a life of discipline. Even our regular Lord’s Day worship is discipline. It is something we do regularly and repeatedly. Many of you are working on the Jonathan Edwards Disciplines for a season. This is well and good.

The apostles says, 1Cor. 9 24Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

So, it is good to discipline your body. If this is done for the purpose of disciplining your whole man towards godliness, you do well. But we all know many athletes that are disciplined in their particular skill who are not also disciplined to godliness. So, do not make the mistake of thinking that because you have any number of bodily disciplines, exercise or diet, or even spiritual disciplines, bible reading or even prayer, that these disciplines automatically make you godly. The disciplines should be used towards godliness but they ought not to be confused with godliness. Are you producing godly fruit?

The apostle says to Timothy, 1Tim.4:6-8 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. 7But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 8For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

So, do your disciplines help you produce godly fruit? If not, they are of no earthly or heavenly use. Now, I do not despise disciplines whether purely physical or mental and spiritual. But we must examine the fruit thereof.

What is growing from your disciplines? Do they need pruning? Is your heart of humility and virtue being strengthened? Or are your disciplines producing a buffed and steely heart? If godly virtue and humility is not the fruit of your discipline, then repentance is the pruning needed to produce a heart of flesh.

JED- Day 1

Well, we are half a day into JED. So far, so good.

I was up early for Bible Study and prayer. My oldest son and three daughters all got up and we spent time reading the Scriptures and in prayer. It was a beautiful way to start a day.

Here are some comments that I have already received from members of our church.

One man has already made a hardy resolution.

"Resolved to do all things without a spirit of complaining. "Do all things without complaining and arguing so that you may become blameless and pure children of God, without fault, in a crooked and depraved generation." "

Another is calculating the sleep or lack thereof.

"I got up at 5:04 this morning (6 hours 15 minutes of sleep), and had a good time of reading scripture and praying before I got my wife up at 6:00 (which is her JED wake up time). I tried to reduce the size of my breakfast to have a diet of moderation... and I'm about starving now."

I am encouraged as a pastor that quite a number of people in our church have taken up the challenge to live a more godly and disciplined life. I believe it will produce godly fruit and am excited to see the result of this concentrated effort.

Even my 8 year old son wanted to get into the get up early act. I think he needs lots of sleep so was not encouraging him to get up at 5am. This morning my oldest son woke him up at 5am. I woke him up, briefly, at 6am, not really to get him up but because he wanted me to wake him. I am sure he stumbled out of bed at a much later time. And good for him. But he is going to pray with my wife three times a day and that is another beautiful outcome. God is good.

Jonathan Edwards Discipline- JED

Just read The Unwavering Resolve of Jonathan Edwards (Long Line of Godly Men Profile)- Steven Lawson.

I gave the book a 2 out of 4 stars. I anticipated a biography of the great man. I have heard lots about Edwards but read little. So, I was a little disappointed that the book is not really a biography.

It is a short introduction into the Resolutions of Edwards. He made 70 resolutions as a young man of nineteen and then spent his life attempting to be faithful to his resolutions and His Lord. This is one reason why Edwards was able to accomplish so much.

The book was subpar but it did give me a great interest in Edwards and a renewed vigor towards spiritual disciplines. In fact, I have resolved to follow some spiritual disciplines extra closely during the Lenten season. I have asked for volunteers from our church to join me in this and have surprisingly received a very positive response.

Beginning on Wednesday, Feb.24, here is what we intend to do.

Here is the letter of invite that I sent to our church.

Gentlemen and Ladies, Young Men and Women of at least age 13,

Would you consider taking a wilderness experience with me?

I have been reading a biography of Jonathan Edwards, one of the greatest men in the history of the United States. He was a bit austere, truly a modern Christian ascetic. I am not agitating for asceticism. But I do think some serious spiritual discipline practice is likely to benefit us. We will not be doing anything even so drastic in these 40 days as the way he spent his entire life.

Here is what I am proposing. For the Lenten season, beginning Feb. 17, let those who would willingly do so, embark upon a journey into the wilderness. For the 40 days of Lent, we will practice spiritual disciplines, perhaps in a way that we have never done before. We will meet weekly to discuss our triumphs and failures as well as the benefits or drawbacks, to such a course.

By the way, I am not trying to create a new Lenten practice at our church. I do not necessarily believe in penitential seasons. I am not proposing that. I think concentrated focus on doing the right things is good. Extended times of several weeks of personal introspection is not necessarily good. Too much focus on self and what we are doing here also might be too much focus on self. Maybe this will give us some insight on how we might want to celebrate or practice in our Pre-Easter season in the future, maybe not. But this is being done as a one-time thing.

The goal will be to practice discipline and develop habits of those disciplines that most benefit us. I imagine we will be in for some surprises. We will probably also have lots of failures but I think the successes will make it worth it.

We will call it JED- Jonathan Edwards Discipline

What will this 40 days entail?
1. Prayer three times daily, morning, noon, night. These may be short times or longer as occasion or opportunity arise. But at the minimum, 15 minutes a day, at least five minutes per prayer time.
2. Arising early, 5am, Or, not more than 7 hours of sleep per night. I know, but part of this is to see what we can get out of this time. It’s only 40 days, you can do it. Part of this discipline is simply redeeming the time. We may find that we need more sleep but we may find that we can get by just as well or even better on 7. I generally get a lot of sleep so this will be a challenge for me.
3. Reading a short biography of Jonathan Edwards and his Resolutions.
4. Read his 70 resolutions weekly. They take about 5-10 minutes to read. We’ll discuss them.
5. Develop your own life resolutions. Say, at least 12 resolutions.
6. Practice an Edwardsian moderation in diet. Well, not exactly, he was a Spartan, but choose to eat carefully and wisely such that you are not sluggish. Maybe, for this season setting some guidelines on amounts of food and drink. (ie. Only one helping, not more than one soda, beer or glass of wine per day, maybe not eating something you tend to indulge in that is not particularly good for you, that sort of thing).
7. Changing some behavior that wastefully uses up a lot of time.(For me, checking internet for news, sports, etc. Not using the internet at all at home in the evening. I can take a break for 40 days.) Each of you might have a different time waster.
8. Fast at least one meal per week.
9. Fast one full day during this 40 days. We may pick the same day so we can compare notes and talk about how it went.
10. Read the Bible for at least 30 minutes per day. (easy to do if you get up at 5am). Recommend several psalms or page of psalms, one proverb, reading in OT and NT. Or follow your regular reading plan but get in at least 30 minutes.
11. Walk or some other exercise for at least 30 minutes per day. (see number 9) Amazingly, Edwards did this and still accomplished an unbelievable amount of work. We have all the time savers but cannot get outdoors regularly.
12. Actively pursuing godliness, kindness, gentleness, serving, careful speech, goodness, etc. May want to pick one specific area of godliness where you need work and practice getting better.
13. Meet once per week on Wed. at 5:30am to discuss how things are going, starting Feb. 24.

Sundays are exempt for all requirements related to food, sleep, exercise, etc. Sunday is a feast day.

Star of Bethlehem

Have you seen the Star of Bethlehem? Just watched it. I was very impressed. Thanks Philip.

Have a look here.

I have always been a bit of a pre-sup apologetic sort and the Evidence that Demands a Verdict can also simply be discounted as having been created after the fact, or simply the imaginations of the faithful.

Don't misunderstand me, I think there is a great deal of convincing evidence from the Bible and from extra-biblical sources. I believe it. But at the end of the argument, the skeptic can still maintain his nonchalant attitude, having not been fully convinced. Of course, it always take the Holy Spirit to make a convert.

But I think this film will shake up a skeptic.

Water, Bread and Wine

"In Baptism, the thing that represents Christ is water; in the Supper, the things that represent Christ are bread and wine. Water is appointed to represent Christ in Babtism because it is most appropriate to represent our washing with the Blood of Christ. What is better to wash with than water?

So there is nothing more suitable in which to wash the soul than the Blood of Christ. In the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, He has appointed bread and wine because there is nothing more appropriate to nourish the body than bread and wine."

Robert Bruce, The Mystery of the Lord's Supper

Demographic Winter

Check this out. Our church growth program is having babies. Make sense, eh?

Lord of the Floods

As Psalm 93 declares, Yahweh on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

How often we fail to live as if this were actually true. Like Peter, we begin to move in faith only to find ourselves glancing about in fear. The waters begin to roll over us and we lose sight of Jesus.

We understand Peter and empathize with him because we realize how much faith it took to even get out of the boat, especially when we compare his faith with ours. No one else even got out of the boat. But we must remember the lesson. Jesus is on the waters. He bids us to come to Him. We must go in faith. He is mightier than the waters, the floods of the sea. Peter did not continue walking in faith but at least He called out to Jesus to save him in the tumultuous waves.

We may not literally walk on the sea but we have very real fears, waves and wind that pull our eyes from looking to Jesus. Perhaps we are distracted by money problems or health problems or personal doubts or theological conundrums or simply fear of the unknown that lies ahead in 2010. We find many reasons to fear and too few reasons to have faith.

Stop looking at the waters, the troubles, the enemies. We have weapons enough in our arsenal to walk, to overcome, to win. The Lord Jesus is on our side. He bids us walk through all of our troubles in faith. Confess your doubts and fears. Receive the forgiveness of the Lord and walk forward into this new year with full faith in Jesus Christ.

Communion Meditation-Renewal

As we start a new year, we should be aware of renewal. God has granted us forgiveness in Jesus Christ. Of course, there is a sense in which this covers all of our sins, past, present and future. But there is also a sense is which we cannot walk in the newness of life unless we continually are renewed. The life of the Spirit comes to all those who are truly in Christ. God governs this by His inscrutable wisdom. But those who do not remain in Christ do not receive the blessings of Christ. That is a self-evident statement, redundant, almost silly.

But the there are those, and reformed types, too, who may insist on receiving the blessings of Christ simply because they once prayed a prayer or because they believe they are of the elect or because they are churchmen or have been declared forgiven by a minister. All of these things are good and true blessings but unless you believe in the Lord Jesus today, right now, then what you did back then doesn’t do you a lot of good.

This does not mean that if you have weak faith or doubt or have fallen into sin, that you are left out of God’s blessings. He grants mercy for all His bruised reeds and shimmering lights. But you should renew your commitment to Him, your need for Him, your trust in Him, your hope in Him on a regular basis, even daily, each morning. At the very least, you should do this weekly, in our liturgy, in our prayers, our songs, our hearing of the word, our confession of sin, the absolution from the minister and especially here at the Lord’s Table.

Renew covenant with God, the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the ever present Holy Spirit. Be filled up with God as you eat and drink. Take heart, make strong the hands that hang down and the knees that grow weak. All things are new in Christ.

Communion Meditation-Remember

Today, our sermon was simply remembering. It is good for us to think about where we have come from and how God has provided for us. When we do this, it bolsters our faith to look into the unknown future believing God to be as faithful in the future as He has been in the past. Also, we expand our hope beyond our own circumstances to the circumstances of others, to our church, to the body of Christ and to the world.

If we do not forget, if we remember what God has done, how can we not be thankful? How can we not have hope? How can we not be encouraged?

This meal is one of thankfulness but it is also a meal of remembrance. God has done things. He has been faithful to His people through all ages and He has been faithful to us. So, it is fitting that we give Him thanks.

There may be very real troubles in our day. There may be troubles in your life. These troubles look to Christ and when we do so, we remember that He has always rescued us in our time of greatest need. So, we give thanks and we hold onto this hope for the times that we are in and for the uncertain times that lie ahead.

Remember and give thanks.

Faith in Jesus Christ

We are called to be a people of faith. What does that mean? Do we have faith in faith? Is faith some substance we store up to get us through troubled times? Do we squirrel away faith so that we can dig it up in the long cold days of winter?

What do we mean when we say we are to have faith or that we are to be a people of faith? It means that we put our trust in the Lord. Faith is not some substance we store up. Faith is believing God, laying hold of His promises, bowing before Jesus Christ because we know He is our King. When we say that we are to have faith, what we really mean is that we are to put our faith, our trust, our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You do not have to worry about storing up enough faith or losing some of your faith. But you do need to practice your faith. You do not need to worry if you have enough faith but you do need to look to the one in whom we have faith.

God makes promises. God keeps His promises. His people are blessed by His promises. You are God’s people. Do you believe this? Do you believe Him? Do you believe that He is able to save you from your sins and overcome the world, the flesh and the devil? If so, that is faith. Do you believe? Do you need the Lord to help your unbelief? He is faithful in this as well.

Come to the Lord Jesus. Confess your unbelief and have faith in Christ for He is ever faithful.

Formal-ISM Kills

It is true that formalism is a danger to our very salvation. When we grow so used to a routine that we cease to think at all or only think about how sleek and plumed we have grown, our very existence as the people of God is at risk.

And while this sort of danger is clearly seen over centuries or even generations, the danger can become reality much quicker than that.

Even in your own homes, you have realized how quickly a practice can become a regular routine. The prayer before dinner, the good night hug, the departing farewell: all of these are good and meant for good. But when they grow stale and lifeless, the very blessing of them begins to mock us. We often continue on with the outside of the thing when the inside, the heart and soul, has already grown hollow and cold. The thing, the hug, the kiss, even the prayer may eventually begin to disgust us as it points out our own failure or even hypocrisy.

Formalism in the church does much the same thing. We have all these wonderful traditions, full of meaning and meant to bless us. They do so as long as we are paying attention, as long we actively participate, as long as our hearts are warm and our minds are engaged.

But let hold fast to the outside of the thing, only, and the slow death begins to set in. It is a slow death, so we may not notice it until there is no chance of resuscitation. Where are you? Are you holding on to the center of our liturgy? To Christ, Himself? Is the service real and lively and life producing? Or do you know these dance steps and they are starting to bore you and you are beginning to wander in mind and heart? This day, renew yourself in Christ’s Spirit. Turn to Him once again and participate in this service, in your family, in your walk as one who is alive from the dead.

Communion Meditation-Peacemakers

Brothers and sisters hear me. I call you brothers and sisters and so you are. Although none of you have the same birth mother as I do, all of you have the same adopted parents. You are all children of my Father, the creator of heaven and earth. And you are all children of my mother, the New Jerusalem, the shining city of God, the church triumphant.

While these are spiritual truths, they are no less real, no less important than your own relationships by birth. Our bond of brotherhood is kept for us by the bonds of faithfulness of Jesus Christ. It is kept for us in heaven by His grace and might and recognized on Earth through His beloved bride.

Do not take this lightly. To the extent that you seek peace and fellowship with your own earthly parents, seek peace and fellowship with God, our Father and His Son, through His Spirit, and the bride of Christ, our Mother, the Church, through faithful living and loving.

To the extent that you seek fellowship with your born brothers and sisters, seek peace and fellowship here in the bonds of brotherhood through baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

To the best of your ability, you must be at peace with your parents and your brothers and sisters. So, too, here, to the best of your ability, you must be at peace with God and with His people. This meal says that you are. If this is true, God bless you all. But to the extent that it is not true, make sure that you are doing all that is in your power to be at peace with Father, Mother, Sister and Brother.

And so eat and drink of this blessing of unity in Christ.

Exhortation-Not Like Cain

Shortly after the fall of man, the broken will of man was revealed. Cain rose up and slew his brother because "Yahweh had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."

We do not know exactly why the Lord had respect for Abel and his offering but not to Cain and his offering. The text makes us think that Cain was already broken and sin was looking for an opportunity to express itself in a large way.

But what we can note is that Cain was jealous and envious of his brother. If Abel was going to receive respect and honor from the Lord, Cain was not going to be happy. He determined to destroy Abel.

This is the pre-eminent lesson. We must desire the good of our brothers. When they are respected, honored, enriched, blessed, or glorified, we must not complain and grumble. We must not lament that we are overlooked. Perhaps you are as honorable as your recognized brother, or perhaps, like Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.”

Whether or not you are happy for the elevation of those you think beneath you reveals much about the state of your soul. Let me say that again, Whether or not you are happy for the elevation of those you think beneath you reveals much about the state of your soul. Perhaps they do not deserve it. But that is up to God. If He thinks so, don’t you think you should agree with Him?

So, let us not be like Cain, unhappy towards God because of the envy in our hearts towards others. This envy must die so that Abel and you may live.

Tired

Since I posted a brief about my surgery, thought a follow up would be appropriate. The best description would be tired. My shoulder is doing fine and I suppose a full recovery is hidden in the next week or two. But for now, tired.

Night Riders-Robert Penn Warren**

Just finished Night Riders by Robert Penn Warren. I give it two stars out of four. Robert Penn Warren was the fist Poet Laureate for the United States. He wrote many novels and obviously was a first rate poet. I have yet to read his poetry and this was the first novel of his that I have read. It was also his first novel. I plan to read more and assume that his subsequent novels were much better.

This book follows the fate of Percy Munn, caught in the labyrinth of the tobacco wars. The novel is a dreary tale of Munn's demise. Warren's premise, repeated often, is how things tend to change, almost imperceptibly over time. But the change is real and sometimes drastic. There comes a time when the drastic change is finally noticed and one might even be able to put their finger on when the change started but the change itself is hard to trace.

Munn is a respectable man who finds himself on the side of justice attempting to do what is right by the law and right by nature. Over time, through small compromises, he turns into a compromised criminal, doing wrong for the right reasons. His demise is inevitable and unstopple. He commits adultery and murder almost without a thought only to find his conscience will not sleep. He is plagued by a sleepy remorse but cannot find the place of repentance.

The book is long, almost 500 pages, and I made it to the end, always hoping for hope. But it is faithful to its premise and the hope is unrealized. Percy Munn dies unrepentant and unredeemed.

Shoulder Surgery

Had shoulder surgery today. Hurt it when I crashed skiing in March. I wrecked my knee then, too, and had ACL reconstruction and torn meniscus surgery in May. My arm and shoulder is now totally numb do to nerve block to help with post surgery. Typing with one hand.

We'll see how tomorrow goes. Got good pain meds for a few days, lying low and David C. preaching for me Sunday.

I'll appreciate your prayers for a speedy recovery. Lord willing, next year a year of health.

Duck Hunting

Just got back from an Idaho Duck Hunting trip with my son Zachary. Spent time with brother Gary, nephew Jedidiah, my mom (not in the duck blind) and various other family members.

We had a great time. Got some real Idaho experience. We missed our Phoenix connection because the Charlotte to Phoenix flight had a medical emergency. Guy was having diabetic shock. His insulin pump quit working. We had an emergency landing in Oklahoma City. So, we missed our connection and had to wait in Phoenix for 10 hours. Got to Boise at 11:00pm. Got to Twin Falls around 2:00am, then up to go hunting around 4:00am.

It was cold, about 15 degrees. The first day we limited out, 7 ducks each, 21 total, in two hours. Back to cabin, big lunch and nap. That night, beer and brauts around the campfire, 15 degrees and sitting very close to the fire.

Next morning, bitter cold, about 11 degrees, not many ducks flying and a wet foot due to a leaky wader. Cold, lots of walks down the island to stay warm. Built a little fire to keep the cold away. Got a few birds, hunted all day, mixed some Kalua with the coffee to fake out the cold.

Third day, wind is blowing about 40 miles an hour. Brother wants to make the trip out to the island in one pass. Four men, dressed in many layers of clothes, a dog, a ton of gear and large contingent of duck and goose decoys in a sixteen foot aluminum fishing boat. About six inches to the gunnels. Fear. Water splashing over the side from 30 inch breakers. Hoping to live another day. Coat hoods are frozen solid from water splashes and massive winds at 18 degrees. Cold. We are scared and having fun. We survive and make it to the island. Get set up and lay down to take a nap with our back to the winds, in the dark, 45 minutes to shooting time. Cold is trying to penetrate but we think we fake him out, lying down. Birds are flying but we have a hard time hitting them. A snow squall blows in across the dessert, beautiful, cold, lovely. We get our birds, not a limit but a good day. Could have had a bunch more if only we could have shot better. Maybe so many clothes, three days of cold feet, wind, tired but an adventure and a good one.

We make it back to Twin on Saturday and have a huge duck dinner at the Peking Restaurant. Lots of food. It's hot at the restaurant. Is that possible? Outside it is snowing and inside we are comfortable and full. So full. Then home.

Founding Brothers

Founding Brothers, The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis is a good read. The book is primarily about Washington, Adams and Jefferson.

Ellis does a good job of reporting a balanced view of these men. While clearly representing their giant status in the history of the formation of the United States of America, he also portrays them as men and not gods. They were men caught in plots and intrigues that are similar to the same sorts of intrigues we experience in our highly politicized environment today.

Washington seemed to be above much of this. Of the three, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, his was the most exalted presidency and fame. Adams' administration was rife with discord, much of it arising from the presence of his own Vice-President, Jefferson, himself. Jefferson, with Madison, were intent upon undermining the authority and long-term success of Adams.

Jefferson smells the worst in these intrigues. The political 'machine' really got rolling under his and Madison's careful development. They did seem to do this with the real good of America in mind. They sacrificed some of their gentlemanly principles for the 'greater good.' I think they also entrenched a mindset that personal behavior and political behavior operated in two distinct spheres. Bill Clinton did not make this up.

The end of the book is the best part. In it, Ellis recounts the reconciliation of Adams and Jefferson after many years of bitter enmity. In the last 14 years of their lives, they wrote 158 letters to one another. Adams wrote twice as many as Jefferson. This letter writing, in the words of Adams, was so that 'we might explain ourselves to one another." It left Adams a prime opportunity to give his side of the story. By far, Jefferson made the greater concessions of error in these letters but was also able to clearly express his own views and defend them.

Ellis points out that this correspondence had some impact on the views of the country and the great war between the states. Jeffersonian views became the centerpiece of the South. Adams' views of a strong central government became the centerpiece of the North. No surprise.

Jefferson and Adams had been friends, enemies and friends once again. They lived together through glorious days, climaxing on July 4, 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. It is Jefferson's greatest fame. Adams was jealous of this knowing that Jefferson would come out as the shining star of the moment, even though he was mostly merely the penman of the document. Adams went so far as to argue that the most important day had not been July 4, 1776 but May 15, 1776. Alas, for Adams, Jefferson was right.

Both men died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration. Jefferson died about five hours before Adams. Adams, not knowing that Jefferson had already given up the ghost, uttered his famous last words, "Thomas Jefferson still lives."

Evil and the Justice of God- N.T. Wright

N.T. Wright answers the problem of evil in an unexpected, fascinating and glorious way. In the process, he answers why we often feel so empty and unsatisfied at modern Christian funerals. Christians have made peace with death, the enemy.

But death is defeated by the work of Christ on the cross, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead, by the promise of bodily resurrection for all of God's people, and finally by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in real time on the earth.

Modernity's promise that the world will simply gradually improve falls short. So does the typical Christian answer of a continual spiritual existence. It is not satisfying that the spirit leaves the body and lives on. If that is all there is, then bodily death still wins. But thanks be to God that that is not all there is. One day our bodies will rise and we will be able to laugh at our defeated enemy, death.

Note, I said, our bodies will rise. We do not merely believe in the immortality of the soul. That is a Platonic belief and of course, is true. The soul is immortal. But those Greeks also believed that the body, bodies, things, were essentially evil. The good thing was to escape this and get off to the world, the perfect world, of ideas. Ideas apart from bodies. That was ultimate.

Not so in Christianity. The ultimate ideal in our religion is the body raised a victor over death. Bodies need redeemed and perfected. The earth groans for this to happen. All creation waits for the glorious resurrection when death, evil and all sin will be made the laughing stock.

And yet, now, we still see sin, ugliness, death, persecution, senseless victimization, exploitation. Basically, we see all the results of sin, the very nature of sin, chaos in the world. And we wonder, what is the answer, NOW.

Wright posits that within the broader promise of eschatological hope in the bodily Resurrection is the present manifestation of Christ to the world. This is the body of Christ, His Church, acting like Jesus. The greatest manifestation of Christ on the earth is forgiveness.

Forgiveness disarms evil. Evil wants to hold God and His people hostage. Evil, sin, death, say that all is not right and cannot be right, as long as they exist. But forgiveness is the antidote.

Forgiveness does not shrug its shoulders hoping for a good time on a cloud. Forgiveness calls evil, evil and then disarms it by granting forgiveness. This brings healing to the forgiven but even greater than this, it releases the forgiver from bitterness that enslaves. Only in Christianity do we see the glory of forgiveness displayed in this way. Only in Christianity does forgiveness answer the demands for justice.

Jesus so gloriously simplified this for us in the Golden Rule, treat others as you would have them treat you.

For some, this book would be immensely disappointing. What? That is your answer to the problem of evil? But those who know the grace of God in Christ in receiving forgiveness will understand, that until the resurrection, this is the only thing that really disarms evil.

Swine Flu

Dr. Gordon Wilson sent me a link for information about the swine flu.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/swine-flu/ds01144

I can summarize it for you. There is a swine flu. You might get it. If you do, go to the doctor. Try not to get it. Wash your hands a lot, especially if you have to go or have gone to a place where swine flu has been reported.

If you get swine flu symptoms, you are contagious for seven days. Stay home. Drink lots of liquids, take some pain relief. You may want to take Tamiflu or Relenza if you are diagnosed early enough.

Also, I might add a couple things. There is a large scare on this and the Executive Branch is helping to push the scare. They like crises. It helps them push an agenda. So, remember to trust the Lord in this and not react to these things as if they were a crisis.

Make sure you love your neighbors. It would be good to have a heightened sense of awareness of sickness over the next several months. If you or your children have flu symptoms, please keep them home from church and school. Pray that the Lord spares us from any dramatic, debilitating effects of this virus. If you think you caught a cold or flu from another person (which you will have if you do), especially another person from your church, then do not hold it against them. It could have been you giving it to them. Love and forgive. Treat them as you would have them treat you.

These sorts of things are a judgment and a scourge but they are also an opportunity for the body of Christ to grow in grace, love and wisdom. It is part of our sanctification.

Josephus-Jewish Wars

Josephus was a Jewish general that was captured by the Romans in the war that led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70.A.D. This is his chronicle of that war.

Of course, Josephus makes himself look better than he should. After all, he was the one who lost his entire army and city. Some 40,000 under his charge were killed by the Romans. Finally, Josephus tried to convince the last 40 soldiers to surrender. They refused, preferring to die. Josephus convinced the men that it would be more honorable to kill one another rather than let the Romans kill them. So, each of the remaining forty men killed each other. Finally, only Josephus was left and promptly surrendered himself to the Romans. No amount of re-writing of that history can bring him into a good light.

That being said, we are immensely thankful Josephus surrendered and then wrote. Furthermore, the wickedness of the rebelling Jews is so stark, that we have some empathy for the Romans and for any Jews that thought it honorable to surrender.

While the Romans were the conquering and domineering power, they were exceedingly provoked by the various factions among the Jews themselves. There were so many factions and such cruelty from Jew to Jew, that a pax Romana ought to have been a welcome sight to the entire Jewish nation. The Romans mostly waited while the Jews wiped each other out.

Even in the final assault on Jerusalem, the Jewish factions had almost completely annihilated one another before the Romans entered the city. According to Josephus, the Romans finally entered the city in an attempt to save the temple. But, alas, a conflagration had begun that burnt it entirely to the ground.

This is an important background in understanding the utter devastation that came upon the Jews as a direct result of rejecting the Lord Jesus as the Messiah. Josephus does not interpret these events in this manner. However, as we look at the dire predictions of Matt.24, Luke 21 and Mark 13, we can see how they come to fruition in this devastating war.

Furthermore, we see that it was not simply the Romans that caused this. The Jews, themselves, repeatedly bring the curse upon themselves by the way that they treated one another. They proved that they did not love God because they did not love one another. In fact, they showed an abject hatred for their own brotherhood. These Jews were descendants of Cain and not Abel. There were dangerous Jewish warlords who repeatedly attacked Jewish cities, killing tens of thousands of fellow covenant members.

In the seige of Jersusalem, there were three main factions seeking the ascendancy, that, even up to the end, hoarded food from a starving populace. The result was that at least one mother even ate her own child. They continued to steal from and kill one another until the very moment when the Romans entered the city. The tens of thousands of dead inside the city were piled high upon the inside of the city walls, long before any Roman ever stood inside the gates.

How could God not punish such wickedness? And how could such wickedness even be perpetrated without God's judgment? God's judgment was to leave them to their own devices and sin since they rejected His remedy for their forgiveness, the Lord Jesus, the rejected Messiah.

My Family and Other Animals-Gerrald Durrell

This book is a fun read. The Durrells were a rather eccentric family that moved from England to the Greek island of Corfu. The family consisted of mother, son, son, daughter and son, the youngest being the author and primary trouble maker, Gerry.

Gerry reminds me much of my friend Gordon Wilson, who told me about the writings of Durrell. Gerry, like Gordon, had two older brothers and an older sister. Gerry, like Gordon, loves all things biological. Gerry had a hey day roaming the island of Corfu along with various interesting characters, including a wife-murderer, always scanning the beautiful countryside and seaside for creatures of interest. He usually ended up bringing something back to the villa and a wild scene would commence.

Gerry and his family had four dogs, turtles, pigeons, a large gull, watersnakes (in the yard and bathtub, too!), lizards, scorpions, and a variety of other bugs and animals. His mother was very tolerant of his scientific endeavors, his eldest brother Larry (the literary type, despised it), his next brother, Leslie the hunter, endured him, his sister Margo, tried to ignore him. Gerry made life with the Durrells exciting.

I recommend this book for those of you who simply like to read and for those of you, like me, who need to learn a little more appreciation for the wonder of God's creation. For those of you who know Gordon, you simply have to read this book to appreciate him even more.

God in America

Newt Gingrich has put together a wonderful little book called Rediscovering God in America. He takes you on a stroll through various Washington monuments, including the Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Library of Congress, several war memorials and others.

The point in this stroll is to recognize that throughout the history of America, the idea of God and the appeal to God, has been expressed in the public square since the inception of our nation. It is only in extreme modern times, say the last 20 or 30 years, that this public expression of God has been squelched.

Some of us already know this and we are saddened by it. But I think this book does a service to those of us who know this truth in that it creates boldness to stand against the prevailing currents of our time.

One important section talks about the Jefferson letter often referred to as establishing the foundational idea of a wall of separation between church and state. At that same time there were church services being held in the capitol building with full approval of Jefferson. Obviously, what he meant by a separation of church and state, and what our modern ACLU and liberal cranks mean by separation of church and state are dramatically different.

So, I recommend this book to you to give you courage to be a Christian in the public square. Yes, if you are a Christian, you should be a Christian everywhere. But do not be afraid or intimidated into remaining silent about the One true God in public, in a school, while running for mayor, at your place of employment.

God is woven into the fabric of America. It is clear that as our modern civic unbelievers try to unravel that tapestry, America herself will come unraveled.

This would be a good book to read to your children as civics instruction.

Bed and Board

Robert Farrar Capon's, Bed and Board is a must read for all married couples or those individuals who will be. I will be adding this book to my list of required reads for engaged couples. The book is written well and is full of the experience and wisdom that Capon delivers in another great book of his, The Supper of the Lamb. Bed and Board was Capon's first book. It is a delightful walk through the wonder of God's revelation of Himself in a marriage, at the table, and even, perhaps especially, in the marriage bed.

A coherent theme throughout the book is the idea of coinherence. We might call this mutual indwelling. Essentially, it is the life of the Trinity revealed in humanity and the created world around us. Nowhere is this coinherence more easily recognizable than in the marriage union, from the mutual living space, to the shared ideals, to eating of the same food, to producing more mutually coinherent beings called children, to the glories of the marriage bed.

We should love all of these things, not simply as ends in themselves but because they all reveal the great glory of the great coinherence, God with us, in us and through us. They reveal the very nature of God Himself, which is the key to understanding how we must live before Him and with one another.

He has a great chapter on caring. It made me realize that I really don't care very much. Ouch! But true. It is wonderful to learn something like this about yourself while you still have time to do something about it.

Truly a life changing book.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl-A review, sort of

Just finished reading Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson. Wow.

I am not sure what to say about the book, where to start, how to review.

Let's start with the bad news and we'll move on. The book is so good I am not sure that the cover design and the title give it justice. I am sure it will be reprinted often. I hope it gets a face lift. My opinion. I think the old adage, you can't judge a book by its cover, is fitting here.

Now the good news: The rest of the book is unbelievably good. Is it a philosophy book? Theology? Practical Christian living? For adults? Crazy people?

I heard a country song I sort of like. The refrain goes like this, "God is great. Beer is good. And people are crazy." Somehow, I think that would be a fitting review of Nate's book.

You just have to read this book. It's schooled me, got me an education I was lacking. Knowledge? Not so much that, although there are some really cool observations about the working of God's world. Wonder? Yes. Life. That, too. Hope.

The book is an apologetic but not like one you'd expect, so forget I wrote that. I guess the more I look at the cover, it makes me dizzy and the book did, too. Maybe the cover is not so bad afterall?

This book reminds me of Lewis, Tolkein, Chesterton, and Wodehouse but with a gospel hope for the future that all of them were incapable of.

Try swallowing all the reductios of your skeptic friends. Bitter? Nate swallows them with laughter. It's not a bad morsel. You should try it.

I'd say this was one of the best books I've ever read but you wouldn't believe me.

The book left me strangely emotional and still has that effect as I sit here and think about it. There is the sadness of the reality of the roughness of the world but it is mixed with the laughter of God's story. I think we can call that Christian joy.

The main effect the book had on me was to wake me up. I have been feeling a bit dreary and sleepy lately, sleepy about life. But this book has woken me up. Remember the Ents?

I think y'all should get this book and just wake up.

Woe is Me

I've been gone for awhile, both in body and mind. It takes two to tango.

I was put in my place today, again, as if I needed it. I saw an old woman, broken, probably by multiple strokes, pushing her cart past BB&T. I'd hate for her to see me write about her thus but she'll never see this blog anyway. To say she's an inspiration falls short. She does more than inspire. She shames. She humiliates. She scorns. She jests. She scoffs. She jokes and laughs lives.

I've been gone for awhile, in body and mind, because I've a body that doesn't mind.

She has a body that doesn't mind, either. It's way more broken than mine. Her arm doesn't work. Her legs barely do their duty. Part of her mouth looks like it has trouble with it's designed function. But she's there, shuffling along, shaming all the whole bodies, slightly broken. She is not complaining. She lives. I don't know her. Maybe she does complain. Maybe she'd like somebody to drive her somewhere. But she walks through my life, a constant reminder that things can always get worse and when they do, what do we do?, we live.

I know this sounds a bit twisted but I see it as grace. God is watching me and her. He smiles at one and shakes His head at the other. Guess which is which? But His head shaking is not disgust, at least I hope not because I am the recipient of the gesture. It's more like a father shaking his head at his son when he tries to his ride his big sister's bike but is too small and too stupid to get it done. He thinks he's big stuff but he's not even big stuff enough to be like his older, and still stupid, sister. The head shaking will end one day and smiles will follow.

Anyway, I did a bit of reading while I was away. Some good, some not so and giving my goneness in body and mind, not sure if I benefited much. But I do think that I am the better for it all. God as my witness.

I promise I'll try to live better.