The Rambling Prophet

Living a Prayerful Life: A Book Review

2010-02-10T13:35:00.005-05:00

I have taken quite a significant turn in the material I have been reading as of late, and Andrew Murray is a "new" author that I have enjoyed immensely. I have had a craving for more spiritually intellectual material and Murray strikes that balance very well. It is one part devotional material and one part theology, both playing off one another in a divine soliloquy.

Murray entreats the reader to a life of believing prayer; a life founded upon the Word of God with the prayer life the cornerstone of such a life. Murray proves that our lives are continuous prayers, whether we realize it or not, and attitudes, behaviors, and actions either praise God or belittle Him. "What do you think? Which has the stronger influence over you: five- or ten-minute prayers or the whole day spent thinking on worldly desires? Do not be surprised if your prayers are not answered" (p. 116).

Murray contends rightfully that the secret of a godly life can only be discovered not by spending time in prayer, but by spending much time in prayer. This book is a needed remedy against the fast-paced, hectic lifestyle of the modern Christian, the Christian who has no time at all for spiritual disciplines. Though he never says it, perhaps if the book could be summed up in a simple phrase, one might think, "Slow down." Let's face it--godliness isn't achieved overnight or pell-mell. It takes work--hard, knee-breaking work and Murray exhorts us lovingly to undertake such a task. Why? Its worth it; eternally worth it.

One of the greatest needs in the lives of Christians and the church today is focused, intentional, deliberate, believing prayer. If you want to seriously pray, then I would encourage you to pick up this book and read each chapter slowly. Digest Murray's thoughts; let the Spirit work it into your soul.

Murray, Andrew. Living a Prayerful Life. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2002. 159 pages. (I searched for the original publication date, but was unable to find it. The introduction states that the book was the fruit of a minister's conference in South Africa on April 11-14, 1912. Murray lived from 1828-1917.)

Simple Church: A Book Review

2010-01-26T13:57:00.003-05:00

A pastor friend just recently handed the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger off to me and asked me to read it and provide my opinion. I have already talked the book over with him and thought I would share my thoughts here, too.

Simple Church is yet another slim offering to be thrown on the already mounded-over heap of church growth literature. It is a simple read in accords with its title and the glossy white dust jacket ensures that what is found inside will not overtax your already busy and complicated life. "Relax," the authors encourage. Over committed? Over obligated? Spread too thin? Rainer and Geiger try desperately then to convince you that this book is for you.

The major premise of the book is that church has become too difficult. Church people are asked to do too many things and though, as a pastor, I do have a desire to do fewer things and simplify my schedule and the church's schedule, I am encouraged that there may legitimately be a way out there to do things more simply. So in that regard, Simple Church may fill a need. With a mountain of statistical research, Rainer and Geiger argue that simplicity will solve all of the church's woes.

From my tone, you can gather that I really did not like the book. Granted, you won't find any heresy within but deep insight is lacking. Only a brief smattering of Scripture is offered, and that only offered as anecdotal evidence to bolster whatever point Rainer and Geiger are already making. The frequent refrain is "according to our research," rather than "the Bible says." Herein is my primary trouble with Simple Church; the subtitle claims that the book will help you "return to God's process of making disciples," yet that process is never really explained. The authors simply argue (pardon the pun) that if a church "goes simple" then a "vibrant" church will be the result. Moreover, simplicity is something you have to figure out.

"Vibrancy" seems to be what the authors are pushing for. Two types of churches were examined in the authors' research (and I would like to commend the amount of work put into the research; obviously a lot of hard work and dedication went into it). They were either "vibrant" or the more banal "comparison" churches. Is vibrancy the barometer to measure the effectiveness of any church? Rainer and Geiger seem to think it is, regardless of what the Scriptures say.

The overall sentiment of the book seems to be the same rehashed argument that I have found that plagues most church growth literature; traditional versus non-traditional, formal versus informal, old versus young, and now, "simple" versus "complex." The assumption that drives the book, that "simple works," I also find troublesome. Is church simple? Are people really that simple? Because simple "works" for Google, Inc., should it automatically then work for church and Christianity as well? Why do we have to take our cues from the business world? Why not the book of Acts?

Geiger and Rainer are exactly right that Christians often overload themselves with church activities, and the church also puts too heavy a burden upon their people to "be active" in church. Nevertheless, people are complex creatures, and following Christ is incredibly difficult. Being in relationship with any set of people is going to be hard--people cannot just be moved through a three-step process and expect to come out clean as a whistle. Relationships take work.

Faith cannot be watered down, nor is it meant to be simplified and dumbed down to a few trite statements and the latest buzz words to sum up your ministry approach or your life in Christ for that matter. I get the impression from Rainer and Geiger that "backsides in the seats" is yet again the yardstick for measuring church effectiveness. What about those small, rural, back road churches where God's men labor day by day, month by month, with relatively little increase?

You cannot get much more simple than a single staff member church, but wait--Simple Church wasn't written for you. It was written, as most church growth books are, for the upper stratum of churches. Though Simple Church was not a bad book, it certainly wasn't a great book, and did not strike me as an even necessary book. Why? The authors' conclusions were already drawn by page one.

Rainer, Thom and Eric Geiger. Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2006. 257 pages.

So I'm NOT Supposed to Struggle?

2010-01-19T15:54:00.004-05:00

I was recently told this in a manner of speaking in a Facebook conversation. This irritates me at a level within that I cannot even begin to describe. The premise was that since I am a pastor, and therefore have arrived spiritually (tongue firmly planted in cheek), I should not struggle with life's difficulties. This is in the context of my unborn daughter that has been diagnosed with spina bifida.

If anything this has further intensified the struggle. I do not mean that since I am in Christian ministry that I should not struggle or some such nonsense, because simple empirical evidence would militate otherwise. I do not mean that I should not struggle because I'm a Christian. Jesus happened to promise the exact opposite of that sentiment.

I have seen a good bit in my short tenure of ministry. I've stood in hospital rooms unable to do anything to alleviate obvious pain. I've gone over to homes in the middle of the night to offer comfort after the death of a loved one. I've prayed for people who were sick and they didn't get better. I tried to share God's love with a young man in the hospital writhing in pain after a car crash who flatly rejected any notion of God.

I've watched people die. That scene is just not easily shaken.

But, I've also prayed for people who have gotten better. I've quite literally seen miracles take place on hospital beds. So it amplifies the struggle. I know that my baby may or MAY NOT be OK. But to say I should not struggle is patently foolish. I may be a minister, but I'm also human; a deeply flawed human who doesn't always get things right. I'm a deeply flawed human who has committed himself to a perfect Lord and Savior who is infinitely good and desires only the best for him, his family, and the baby growing in his wife's womb.

I ache. The struggle is deep. The struggle is difficult. Its intense. To say otherwise is an illusion of a sort that I am not familiar and don't care to be familiar.

A Note of Finality

2010-01-06T22:01:00.003-05:00

"Consider the work of God, for who can make straight what He has made crooked?" Ecclesiastes 7:13

As many of you may or may not know, my wife is pregnant with our sixth child; a child with spina bifida. If you don't know anything about it, the Wikipedia article is a good place to start. Needless to say, I have been rattled to my core over this. The Lord has trusted unto my care five amazingly healthy and beautiful children. So, my first thought when we received the initial diagnosis of number six was the wonderfully self-serving "Why us?" It took some prayer and contemplation to arrive at the necessary destination of acceptance. I stood in a church service following the diagnosis and gave glory to God. He alone knows this baby right now.

I began praying--fervently. I knew of numerous others who also began praying for us. Many told me they were praying for a miracle. Some even ventured to claim audaciously that this baby was going to surprise all the doctors. I typically accept such statements with much trepidation and even fear, because a part of me just says "that's putting God to the test." Don't misunderstand; with God all things are possible. I believe that. And please do not think that I don't believe God cannot heal my baby. He can.

But...

What if He chooses not to do so? What then? Do I stop believing? Do I lose faith? Has providence failed? Do I turn my credentials in? What? Like my other children, God is at work knitting her together, fashioning her in my wife's belly. And this child will also be a wonderful gift from Him, fearfully and wonderfully made. Just not like the others. Yes, she will be a challenge. I know that and I am ready to accept that challenge. I'll meet it dead on even.

I came to the above conclusion after a note of finality was forced upon me. We have been scheduled for routine ultrasounds to monitor Miriam's progress. (I like that name by the way. I picked it out.) So, we went on December 23rd for one of these "comprehensive" ultrasounds. They look at everything. And I mean everything, fingers, toes, bladder, kidneys, brain, heart, even the umbilical cord.

While watching the show, even with a few little fingers that looked like they were waving "hi" to daddy, there was a noticeable addendum to the ultrasound pictures. Picture wind being sucked from your sails at this moment.

In spina bifida babies, there is a membrane that the body naturally forms around the lesion in the back. It is a defense mechanism to protect the spinal column, because it is, quite literally open. Plus, it becomes filled with cerebrospinal fluid. The membrane could clearly be seen in this particular ultrasound. The technician pointed it out. I was mortified. All words fled me at that moment. I have been very emotional throughout this time and even without my wife knowing. At this moment, inside I was a wreck. A seven-car pileup.

Seeing that membrane confirmed all of my fears. Yes, my baby has spina bifida! I know its not the end of the world, and many people have much more trying difficulties than this. But she is my baby and its natural to want a healthy and whole baby. During my morning readings, the above verse from Solomon's writing was part one particularly glum and sad day. So, I began to consider the work of God.

Perhaps He did make Miriam crooked. Perhaps He was pleased to do so. Perhaps He wanted to give me a baby with a special need. Not for the baby, but for me. Perhaps I've been found worthy of a greater honor than any man can ever bestow. Perhaps. I know a lot of the preceding is bordering on mere sentimentality. But there is one thing I cannot deny. Miriam is a precious gift. And I'll be glad to receive her.

A Timely Word...

2009-12-31T10:09:00.003-05:00

"Also do not take to heart everything you hear people say..." Ecclesiastes 7:21

This word was timely in that earlier this week, I discovered that someone was harshly criticizing me without my knowledge. I understand that these things are going to happen and I should expect them to happen. I simply wonder what it is that possesses Christian men and women, or at least men and women who claim to be Christians, to talk about another brother or sister behind their backs and share intimate concerns about relationships without the accused's knowledge.

This bugs me on several levels; it goes against the grain of Christian love. If you truly love someone as Christ teaches that you ought to love, then it stands to reason that you would care enough that IF you have a concern about someone you will share it with that person and not trumpet your concerns to everyone BUT that person.

It also goes against the grain of Christian character. We should be bold enough with our brethren that if we have a trouble, then we should have the resolve to share it with them. Christians are not cowards--we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that leads, guides, and directs our intentions, and He can make known when an accusation is brought in Christlike love and compassion.

It also goes against the grain of Christian friendship and brotherhood. As Christians we are bound together by a strong cord of mutual faith in Jesus that should lead us to respect one another despite differences, regardless of how strong they may be.

As I was reading this morning, this verse struck me as a word from the Lord. I know I should give the accuser the benefit of the doubt. I did receive the accusation from a third party, a party that I do not know that I can altogether trust. However, when such accusations come, and because of my persona, I generally have a very hard time dealing with them, and I tend to take things to heart (hence the significance of the above verse). I let them affect my mood, my work, my walk, and ultimately my family.

Lord, give me the grace to overcome these pressures, and to extend grace to those who are unfair toward me.

Cast Your Burden, or not?

2009-12-30T08:10:00.003-05:00

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you..." Psalm 55:22

It makes for really good preaching and sounds good when it is yelled from the pulpit, but I simply cannot believe that "God will not put more on you than you can bear." Practical experience and empirical evidence mitigate otherwise; God does put more on you than you can bear, and He is quite pleased to do so.

There are times in life when God places such a burden upon you so as to do a thing in your life; it is up to you to determine what that thing is and then accept it and live in it. That burden then becomes such a thing that God intends not to lift it from you so as to teach you that thing and further, to drive you to Him--to fall out of fellowship with Him because of the burden is a failure of an egregious sort and will only make the burden that much heavier to bear.

So to roll the responsibility upon God and allow Him to shoulder the heaviest portion of the burden is not only biblical but sound--it makes sense. The burdens we bear were never meant to be borne alone, yet what a celebration ensues when we do bear it alone! "I did this! I accomplished this thing!" But was any real lesson learned in faith? None whatsoever.

Can one be crushed under a heavy load? Quite possibly; but not if one end of the load has been deliberately given over to Him to shoulder.

Reopening the Blog

2009-12-29T09:42:00.002-05:00

I have been away from blogging for too long, and with the advent of a new year, I will reopen the blog. There has been a lot on my mind lately and hopefully the blog will once again serve its purpose as I originally intended. I want to explore some new things the Lord has opened up for my family, particularly where stewardship, prayer, nutrition, spina bifida, and other things are concerned. Hope you'll join me. And oh yes, lousy church signs will be thrown in the mix, too. :-)

One More LCS

2009-05-05T16:02:00.002-05:00

I found this one on the way to drop off food for the annual food roundup for the Broyhill Children's Home. Make sure your side doesn't split on this one...

God Wants Full Custody
Not Just A
Weekend Visit

I see the point, but I think it could be expressed a tad more tactfully.

More LCS...

2009-05-04T21:06:00.003-05:00

If it was not for lousy church signs, lately I would have nothing to post, so here is the latest edition.

Pergamos
Unholy Compromises
Please join us!

I would imagine that the average unbeliever (or for that matter, the average Christian) probably knows not that Pergamos was an actual church and is the topic of that service's sermon. It seems they might only correlate the last two lines. So, come on in! Join us in those unholy compromises! And the second,

Spring
God's Greeting Card to Us

And what is summer? A love letter? Sigh...

And what is it we need?

2009-04-29T12:47:00.002-05:00

Found on a bumper sticker:

Fountain of youth?
We have enough youth,
what we need
is a fountain of smart...

Great point.
H/T Henry

More Lousy Church Signs...

2009-04-22T09:28:00.003-05:00

...courtesy of my mother-in-law.

This one I have seen before. It is tried and hackneyed, but it still surprises me that some churches post it.

God is like GE.
He brings good things to life.

Take-offs on commercial jingles are a bit old. Like a good neighbor, God is there, ya know? And you're in good hands with...God!

And the second just made me guffaw.

God is good.
You can be too.

And if you try reeeeeal hard, God will give you a stick of candy. Until next time, this has been another edition of LCS!

Seven Pounds: A Brief Review

2009-04-20T20:05:00.003-05:00

I have done a few movie reviews on the blog, but all of them have been explicitly Christian films. I don't know why I write on this particular film other than needing a catharsis for a lot of pent-up anxiety the film produced. The movie stars Will Smith, and having been a fan of his for over a decade, I ordered the movie from Netflix to watch without even knowing what the film was really about. However, that is the selling point of the film; you don't know what the film is about until the end. That aspect of the film grew really tired on me after all the inexplicable scenes and not knowing whether they were flashbacks or real time, why he was acting like such a jerk in some scenes, and the continual look of pain and hardened sorrow on his face.

You are filled in bit by bit, as a fisherman allows line for a caught fish he does not want to lose. Smith is dealing with profound grief. Overcome by an accident he caused and the loss of many lives, Smith puts an elaborate plan in motion to essentially "redeem" himself for all the pain he has caused so many people. The main premise being unoriginal, I have come to expect a lot better from Smith in his tenured acting career.

Seven Pounds does portray grief in its rawest form and though Smith takes measures that in the world's mind probably seem quite noble, I have a hard time stomaching the carrying out of his plan. It was inevitable halfway through the movie what he was doing, and by the end, though I could imagine there were several tearful eyes in the theaters, I was just glad it was over.

Lousy Church Signs

2009-04-17T21:08:00.003-05:00

Its been a long time since the last installment of lousy church signs, but I found a couple today that warrant posting--stupid, senseless, and a waste of good church sign space.

God's Stimulus Plan
The Rapture

Makes no sense at all whatsoever. Unless you mean the cottage industry that has made millions off the rapture, then we might be getting somewhere.

Does your tongue
need healing?

What? Perhaps if this was on a Pentecostal or charismatic church sign, I might understand, but it was on a Baptist one. Some signs need an asterisk at the bottom to fill us ignoramuses in on what in the world the sign means.

An Irritation

2009-04-08T09:13:00.002-05:00

I just got off the phone.

I talked with some young lady from "Such and Such Exciting and Fantastic Terrifically Great and Awesome Youth Ministry" from out in Texas. She asked me with a cheerleader-esque bounce in her voice, "Do you have a youth ministry?" (My initial thought was, "No, but the Lord does...")

I answered in the affirmative and then she proceeded to ask, "How many do you have?" (I wanted to say "How many youth ministries?" or "How many young people attend?") I answered that we typically have about four or five teenagers.

Insert sigh of resignation..."Oh, well, thank you sir."

And then she hung up! The call lasted less than thirty seconds. No explanation for her call. No reason why she called this little church in western North Carolina from the BIG state of Texas. Was she conducting a stupid survey? Does she work for George Gallup? What?

Evidently churches who minister in the diminutive do not count in their economy.

Argh!

Sinner or Saint?

2009-04-07T20:02:00.003-05:00

I was just thinking earlier today about the dichotomy between sinner and saint. I was talking with a widower today and his decision to get remarried. He was afraid there was some sin in it and that he would not be honoring his departed wife. The lady to whom he is engaged is a widow, just to clarify.

What concerned me was that he was trying to find some sin in the relationship. However, it led me to a conclusion about something that I have been pondering for a time. It often rattles me how often Christian teachers, preachers, bloggers, writers, and so on take much time to remind us that we are sinners but rarely to ever remind us that we are saints. Instead of looking for the good in something, we automatically look for the bad.

We are sinners. Absolutely. However, we are no longer citizens of this world, but we have been translated to another kingdom, a kingdom not of this world and we have an alien righteousness bestowed upon us by a loving Creator through the death of His only-begotten. My friend had nearly resigned himself to further despair because he seemed to want me to find some sin in his decision to become engaged.

I think a lot of resignation, despair, depression, and hopelessness is generated by those pastors and teachers who fail to instruct their people that Christ and His righteousness is theirs now and not just later.

A Prayer for Our Congregations...

2009-04-03T08:24:00.002-05:00

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 1:15-23

Wow, are boys different!

2009-03-27T21:27:00.003-05:00

Having four girls right in a row makes you think you are the perfect parent. You think you are ready for anything, and then you get thrown an errant curve ball. Boys are incredibly different. My son just likes to take things apart for no good reason. It isn't uncommon for him to tear something up without blinking an eye. He can get into the most unusual predicaments. To find him sitting on the kitchen table is commonplace. What is it about boys that make them want to flush the toilet? Over and over? Henry seems to be having the same problem, and he linked a great cartoon that explains it really well.

The Lord be with us, Henry!

Deserves to be read

2009-03-24T14:26:00.004-05:00

I have not linked one of my favorite Internet authors in a good while, so here goes. I wrote some similar thoughts when I used to contribute for sbcImpact nearly a year ago. This is some dangerous thinking and Dan carries the ball a lot farther than I did when I wrote this post.

Why I Don't Understand Church Planting by Dan Edelen

Heresy at a funeral?

2009-03-22T20:21:00.003-05:00

I had the blessed privilege of officiating a church member's funeral this past Friday afternoon. I worked alongside of a Methodist minister from the deceased's past. In my experience, I have always been a bit leery of preaching funerals with men whom I have never met. It always proves to be an interesting experience.

Not the first time it has happened to me, but the minister made a pointedly unorthodox statement in the course of his message. He said, "God is neither male nor female; He is simply Spirit." The statement quite literally came out of nowhere, with very little context. Talking about the comfort of God, appropriate at a funeral service, he went from there to make that statement, and the only additional explanation was that "God is just as much a mother as He is Father."

I would hazard to say it is something he must believe, else he would not have made the statement. Perhaps he felt comfortable making such a statement at a funeral, when people tend to have their guards down. I don't know. I had considered talking with each of the folks who are members of the church I serve to correct his statement, but then with funerals, people tend to have short memories anyway.

Are You a Peacemaker?

2009-03-17T08:24:00.003-05:00

In Genesis 21:22-34, we see a much different Abraham. We see an Abraham that is confident in his faith, an Abraham who no longer deceives to achieve the ends God would have for him, and an Abraham who would rather make peace than go to war. And why shouldn't he be that way? Isaac, the child of promise, has been born. There is no longer any lingering doubt or uncertainty wrapped up in how the promises of God are going to come about. The threats to the promises have been removed, painful as it was. Hagar and Ishmael were sent away.

Given an opportunity to reclaim his reputation, Abraham is offered a treaty of peace from neighboring Abimelech. This is the same Abimelech from chapter twenty, the Abimelech Abraham deceived. It is interesting to note that the two key things Abimemelch knows about Abraham is that "God is with him" and that Abraham has dealt falsely in the past.

However, after the oaths are taken, Abraham discovers that Abimelech has dealt falsely with him. The army of Abimelech has seized control of Abraham's wells. Even today, water is a precious commodity in the ancient near east. This is a justifiable offense in that Abraham ought to go to war; he should go to war. However, Abraham, having met this Everlasting God (verse thirty-three), rather makes peace with Abimelech instead of going to war.

When you are offended by someone, is it your custom to go to war rather than make peace? Abraham had a formidable army; chapter fourteen showed us that. Abraham probably could have overwhelmed Abimelech's army (it is telling that the commander of Abimelech's army attended the ratification of their peace agreement in verse twenty-two). Abraham reflects the character of God in that when he was justified in making war, he chose to make peace instead.

(Taken from my sermon, A Good Neighbor, preached this past Sunday night)

More Americans giving up on religion

2009-03-13T10:59:00.003-05:00

A church member pointed me to this article in the Asheville newspaper. There are some interesting statistics about mainline denominations and the obvious decline of organized religion. The quote that caught my attention was:

The current survey, being released today, found traditional organized religion playing less of a role in many lives.

Being part of "organized religion" this strikes pretty close to home. Nobody likes being told they are irrelevant, but that seems to be more and more the case. Don't get me wrong, I love pastoring and I love the work of the ministry. In the future, though, it looks like the role of the traditional minister will look a lot different than what it does now, if the role continues to exist.

Book Quote

2009-03-12T11:30:00.001-05:00

I just finished a wonderful little book by Phillip Gulley entitled Home to Harmony. This is one of my favorite quotes from the book (p. 177), which aptly sums up so much of church life, pastor and church member alike.

When I became pastor, it was Dale Hinshaw who called to say it would be my job to shovel the walk and spread the salt. I told him I hadn't gone to seminary so I could shovel snow. That was when he quoted from the book of James that faith without works is dead. Dale Hinshaw knew just enough Scripture to be annoying but not enough to be transformed.

Evangelists on the Playground

2009-03-10T20:34:00.002-05:00

This evening we took the children to the awesomely cool "rec park" in Waynesville. Playing tag with my second daughter, I wiped out trying to clear the tongue of a slide. It was quite a sight to behold as the preacher went down into the mulch, skinning his elbow. One fellow near me, though he didn't offer to help me up, did offer a word of consolation; "At least you're enjoying it." Heh. Yeah, I guess.

I try to stay close by the children as they make friends; call me overprotective. My two oldest daughters had made two little friends and had been playing pretty hard with them. As my oldest was resting on some of the equipment chatting with her new friend, she began to talk about faith in Christ.

My second oldest was playing on the balance beam with another little girl and she asked the little girl where she attends church. She then asked her to join us at our church.

We either make evangelism too hard or we have turned it into something it ought not be. Out of the course of natural relationships, my little girls started conversations about Jesus and His church. They didn't use a conversation guide, a canned presentation, or a formal approach. Perhaps this is the element we are missing in our evangelism methodology; the personal touch.

Sending Ishmael Away

2009-03-08T21:28:00.003-05:00

I just preached this evening on, at least to me, a very difficult passage, Genesis 21:8-21. This is the narrative about Abraham's and Sarah's sending Hagar and Ishmael away after the birth of Isaac. I don't pretend to know all there is to know about any given Scripture, and preaching is a very humbling experience for me. This passage pushed me to really understand it; reconciling the incongruence of the necessity of sending Ishmael away and how hard this must have been for Abraham with the necessity of safeguarding the promises of God and Sarah's callousness toward the boy overwhelmed me with emotion and anxiety.

I spent a great deal of time struggling through this passage trying to get it "right" and preached it in fear of "overspiritualizing." I simply could not produce an outline to my satisfaction. Eventually I gave way and preached it the same way Paul applied it in Galatians 4, teaching that there are terrible spiritual consequences for the believer who doesn't "send Ishmael away." I almost felt like I was somewhat unfaithful to the entire text of Genesis 21:8-21, not really dealing with the entire passage and focusing on verses nine and ten.

However, I concluded with a challenge; Amy Carmichael who was a missionary to India, is quoted as saying, "Oh, that Ishmael might die within me!" We all have our "Ishmaels" that trouble us from day to day, and just as Abraham and Sarah tried to procure God's promises through the flesh, so we try to accomplish the will of God devoid of the Spirit of God. That Ishmael might die within me is a worthy endeavor.

Calvin on Ritalin

2009-03-05T22:46:00.004-05:00

I just read this post at Dan Edelen's blog and I can't believe it hasn't generated more discussion. Click through to see a most likely unoriginal Calvin and Hobbes comic strip of Calvin on some psychotropic drug. The strip is sad yet spot-on. I left Dan this comment:

Dan,

I have always felt like Calvin was the poster boy for homeschooling. We love C & H at our house (we homeschool three) and I know several other homeschooling families that love the strip.

Calvin has nothing but utter contempt for school as multiple strips show him daydreaming and doodling while he is in school. I would hazard to say that all the strips where Calvin is at school he is bored, unhappy, anxious, disgusted, hopeless, or aggravated. The only times he is happy is at lunch when he is grossing Susie Derkins out or at recess (that is when Moe the bully isn’t after him). His teacher is named Miss Wormwood after the apprentice devil in Lewis’ classic Screwtape Letters. That isn’t a joke the average reader of the strip likely will get. I just wonder what Watterson was trying to say about the institution?

I’m not trying to make an ugly connection between psychotropic drugs and public school, but I don’t know of any homeschooled kids that are on them. If you’re looking for a broader societal application, I missed it.

Why would anyone want to rob their child of imagination just for a book report?

Back in the Blogging Business

2009-03-02T18:19:00.003-05:00

I'm opening the RP back up for business. It has been quite some time since I last posted here. I devoted a good bit of blogging energy to the blog I just recently deleted, the RP2, and though I learned a lot and appreciated the community that I cultivated over there, it was necessary to let it go. It was a lot of fun and I value all the friendships I developed there. I doubt much of that crowd will comment over here because the nature of the posts are so radically different.

Why did I delete the other blog? Well, for one primary reason; to preserve relationships. Tension seemed to run really high over there and though I thrive in that kind of blogging environment, it began to upset some relationships that are very important to me.

I have been meaning to get back over here for a long time but just have not. I want this blog to still follow the topics in the header; "rambling thoughts about theology and ministry," but more just to maintain connection with some online friendships and to keep in touch. I also want a place to connect with some other bloggers I have wanted to get to know.

So, if you still have me in your reader, I hope to hear from you. I doubt many folks stop by here much anymore if at all, so perhaps the community will evolve once again.

Waynesville Church Fire

2008-08-05T09:33:00.003-05:00

Hat tip to my blog and real life friend Karma for pointing to this video. Deacon chair of the church I serve called early this morning to pray for this situation. Our prayers are with Pastor Jack Holland and the membership and community surrounding Barberville Baptist Church.

Top Five Memories from School

2008-08-02T19:14:00.002-05:00

SelahV (Mrs. V if you're a gentleman) invited me to participate in a meme at Karen's blog, Tried and True. The meme simply involved telling five memories from grade school. Karen is a school teacher and so this meme is of particular importance to her. i enjoyed the trip down memory lane so much, I didn't want to leave my responses in the comment thread, but thought I would share them with you all, too. Maybe you would like to participate, too. Drop a comment. My five, in no particular order:

#5--I am indebted to Matt Terrell. In the fifth grade he refused to rat me out. On the playground was a huge, upright slide with three twists in it. It stood a good twenty-five feet tall. You could surreptitiously stop in the first twist on the way down and STEP OUT of the slide and slide down the support beam. Matt got caught; I didn't. When the teacher asked if anyone else did, I stared at the floor--Matt wrote thirty pages and his parents grounded him for a month. I got off scot-free.

#4--I won first place in the egg-in-a-spoon race on field day in fourth grade.

#3--I sent Lisa Snyder a love note in third grade; she said she would be "friends" with me. I was elated! We buddied around for a few days; in eighth grade when I asked her to "go" with me, she told me she could do a lot better than me. :)

#2--In sixth grade, I wrote "I will not talk in Mrs. Smart's class so that I will not disturb the education of others" 750 times for Lisa Malone, who I had a crush on (I must've had a thing for girls named Lisa in grade school). It didn't help.

#1b--I wrote "I will not talk in Mrs. Smart's class so that I will not disturb the education of others" 750 times myself because shutting-up was a virtual impossibility. I wrote it again, 1000 times, a few weeks later. Stayed in every recess until I had it done, too.

#1a--When I was a senior, my sister brought a letter home to me. It was from my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Hall, who I dearly adored. Mrs. Hall had seen my sister get into my dad's four-wheel drive tow truck, jacked up on monster tires. The truck was named was named "El Bandito". Mrs. Hall recognized the truck and not knowing who my sister was, searched her out and then wrote and gave to her the letter to give to me. I wrote her back, telling her my future plans (though at that time ministry sure wasn't it). I still have her letter tucked away. I had hoped to correspond with her for a while longer, but teachers are a fairly busy lot.

Seeking that Communion Again

2008-07-31T13:55:00.005-05:00

One of my favorite books is A Passion for Prayer by Tom Elliff. At one point the book had great influence upon me and I am yearning to regain the intimacy that I once experienced with my Savior. This is one of my favorite passages from Tom's hand (p. 39-40):

Within the great panorama of the Bible, certain individuals stand out becasue of their exceptional influence and effectiveness. We are so taken with their public lives that we often overlook the depth of their private commitments. The longer I live, the more convinced I become that the greatest work of God takes place in the private arena--the quiet place, the quiet time. There God waits for us in order to have sweet communion, resolve anguishing conflict, and bring about a remarkable conformity to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The brilliant light of a Roman candle streaks across the sky, evoking the pleasured exclamations of its audience. But it is quickly gone and forgotten, with no enduring impact. Will we settle for the applause of one great moment of public acclaim? Or will we seek the enduring influence that only comes when one is willing to develop the discipline of a quiet time and a quiet place--to regularly and consistently take time to sit at our Savior's feet to learn from Him?

I tend to be more like a Daniel, taking time throughout the day several times a day and praying at short intervals. Then at certain times during the week as I have time, I will retreat for time alone. I don't like the regimented, legalistic, check-off list style of the "quiet time" but prefer to be more casual and sometimes spontaneous--that works for me.

Saturday Post--An Ode to Nothing

2008-07-26T15:02:00.002-05:00

What is the Purpose of the Church?

2008-07-25T10:08:00.004-05:00

Some say it is for worship--but I can worship with my family or a group of friends. My entire life is to be characterized by worship.

Some say it is for evangelism and missions. Jesus did come to "seek and to save that which was lost" after all. But, we have so many other organizations that are so much better at doing this than the church.

Some say it is for fellowship--but I have much deeper fellowship with my family and with my tight circle of friends than I do in the broader congregation. There is a much deeper level of accountability and prayer support there as well.

Some say it is for discipleship. I'm not persuaded this happens very much at all, much less at church.

Perhaps the question goes much deeper than relevance.

A Simple Post

2008-07-24T11:06:00.001-05:00

Yet profound. My thought for the day.

We need each other.

Going "Hmmm..."

2008-07-13T06:28:00.002-05:00

Have you ever read a passage of Scripture that you have read numerous times before yet a certain verse, phrase, or sentence catches you and you think, "Wow, I don't think I remember reading that before?" That happened to me early this morning. I am reading through Matthew again and these verses were the unlikely culprits.

But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:36-37

Being a preacher, I understand the power of words and the necessity of choosing them carefully. However, do I apply this same principle in my own life, in the way I speak to family, friends, neighbors, the lost, and even on the blogs? Verse 36 is especially sobering; Jesus said we will give an accounting for EVERY word spoken. I'm not a fan of the "video-tape rollback" theory of how the judgment is going to be carried out, but if it has any merit, I will be watching with my head hung low, humiliated for a very long time.

Thinking about Discipleship

2008-07-11T08:42:00.003-05:00

As the title suggests, my thoughts have been continually turned to the topic of discipleship lately. As I read Scripture, a book I have been reading, and a discussion or two in the blogosphere has turned my attention to discipleship. I am thinking primarily along the lines of how well a maker of disciples I am and notice myself coming up short. Plus, I'm asking some questions, more basic and fundamental than anything relatively deep right now.

What is a disciple?
How do I make disciples?
What does the Scripture say about discipleship?
How important is discipleship?
How can I lead the folks in the church I serve to become disciple makers?

In my Bible reading today, I read from Matthew 10. Verse 24 was especially convicting.

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

This tied in really well with the slave/master thoughts I posted a few days ago to further lead my thinking. If I am going to make disciples, I myself need to be discipled.

The Holy Club

2008-07-10T13:30:00.000-05:00

"Church is a club."

I have heard that statement made numerous times and did not want to believe that it was true. The church often has a club mentality with dues, membership roster, roll call, taking of minutes, doing of "business," yet rarely a plenary session. The members are part of the club not for the benefit of the club itself but because of the vanity of its members. Being part of the club is something that looks good or makes the member of the club appealing because membership is based on what that club offers; this then becomes how the church also is evaluated.

The attitude of the Christians who are part of that church then becomes, "How do I make my church (club) appealing?" Hence, why many people will ride past eight to ten churches to get to the church that is "right" for them. I am not saying that it isn't right to find the church that fits. What I am saying is that this fosters an isolationist mentality that is neither healthy nor biblical.

Often clubs become an ideal place for bragging on one's accomplishments. Clubs can be mutual admiration societies, more concerned about how well one has done at a particular thing or preening over goals having been met. Rarely are struggles ever discussed because that would make one look ineffective or sub-standard--not worthy of the club. Struggles and pain are virtually non-existent in clubs, unless you're part of a club that celebrates failure.

I've never heard of one of those. Failure however is a very real part of life. I have failed on numerous occasions and I have also lived through making up for those failures. The fact is, the church isn't very welcoming to those who have failed. We need a Gospel that speaks to failure and a church willing to embrace people whose lives have been shattered by failure.

Lay down my life for someone else? Esteem someone better than me? Look out after another's interests rather than my own? Owe a debt of love to someone? Not in a club. The club is all about self-congratulation and self-aggrandizement. But the Christ that spent all calls us to spend all as well. That won't get us any accolades or pats on the back. Probably more suffering. Probably more heartache, and probably more tears.

Here is what is missing from churches: relationships. However, in our self-righteousness academies, we are too quick to point the fingers, assign blame, and start issuing the "bless his hearts" and allow the one who has failed to continue on in their failure--quite hypocritical. While we continue on, congratulating ourselves for how righteous we are and tickled that the "evil one has been purged from our midst."

One of the radical truths of the Gospel is that Christ is not so much a personal Savior, which we often emphasize (to the detriment of the Gospel itself), but a Savior of people. Individuals. With hopes, dreams, and failures. Placing the emphasis on Christ as a personal Savior leaves the potential believer with a sense of isolation--a sense of "what do I do next?" The marriage supper of the Lamb is not going to be a private affair.

But if we emphasize Christ as a Savior of people--real, live people, then the possibility of community exists--the possibility that someone will be with me in this. Someone who has failed cannot strike out on a new venture alone. They don't have the wherewithal. They need someone to commit to them in the same way Christ commits to them--sure, their eternity is secure, but what about the present? Not so much.

We all rejoice when the man who has failed miserably in life joins the church; when the mom who aborted her child makes a faith commitment to Christ; when the AIDS victim comes to the altar. Yet where are they in a few months? Christ is their portion, but no portion they have among the Body. The message that is often sent is one that Christ is your personal Savior and Christ can get dirty cleaning you up and fitting you for Body-life.

What then happens to that abandoned person when the time of testing and trial comes? Like the man who fell among thieves, he finds himself broken and bleeding hoping a Good Samaritan might come along.

My wife was in the hospital having had her third surgery in three months. Her back was sliced open, her kidney invaded, and an ultrasonic wand inserted to vibrate apart a stone the size of a quarter. But what a sad lesson we learned. Who from the church showed up to check on us? No one. Who followed up once we got home after two days of kidney spasms and muscle-relaxer induced stupor? Fixed a meal, offered to look after the kids? Not a soul.

We need each other. The Gospel is meant to be lived out in community. I want to conclude with this question: who out there is willing to walk with a heavily ladened, hurting person until healing comes in God's time? Who?

They will fall inevitably and we will lament, "Oh, what little faith so-and-so had!" "Oh, she must not have really been saved!" "How deceived the poor soul must have been!" "Bless her heart."

The question probably won't be, "Well, what did I do to keep this from happening?" That just demands too much.

What to do with Leftover Sunday School Literature

2008-07-10T08:48:00.002-05:00

This is just too funny to pass up! Every pastor worth his salt has wondered what to do with the Sunday School literature once the quarter is over. I know most churches simply bunker the landfills with it though some are more conscientious--they take it to the local recycling center. However, here are a few good ideas, and #2 is JUST FUNNY!

2. Leave them in places where people read while they're doing something else. "Accidentally" leave a copy at the coffee shop. Leave copies on the magazine rack at the fitness center. In the seatback pocket on an airplane. Did I hear someone say the bathroom? Which reminds me of a story. One day, a group of Baptist women told me their husbands wouldn't read stuff from the church. I shared with them a wise truth: He'll read anything you leave in the bathroom.

Indeed!

Just Because I'm Seminary Educated...

2008-07-06T12:51:00.001-05:00

...doesn't mean I am "in charge" of the church.

...doesn't mean I have the market cornered on truth.

...doesn't mean I am beyond sin.

...doesn't mean I have all things figured out.

...doesn't mean I am due any special privileges.

...doesn't mean I am above rebuke.

...doesn't mean I am led any differently than any other Spirit-filled believer.

...doesn't mean my opinion should be elevated above that of another believer.

...doesn't mean my opinion should be elevated above what the Bible actually says.

...doesn't mean I understand the Bible better.

...doesn't mean I deserve a title.

...doesn't mean my prayers are heard differently by God.

...doesn't mean I don't struggle.

...doesn't mean I cannot or will not stumble or fall.

...doesn't mean I shouldn't ask questions and work out my own salvation.

...doesn't mean my interpretations of the Bible are infallible.

...doesn't mean I should have a reserved parking space or be first in line.

...doesn't mean my wife should hold every capacity in the church that isn't filled.

...doesn't mean my children should be held to a higher standard than any other believing family's children.

...doesn't mean God favors me over anyone else.

An Interesting Perspective on the "Slavery" Passages

2008-07-02T22:43:00.002-05:00

I have read the "slavery" passages numerous times in the New Testament and have always wondered just what to do with them. They are Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:22-4:1, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10, and 1 Peter 2:18-25.

I have been teaching through Titus during Wednesday evening Bible study and I came to 2:9-10 yesterday evening. After the first reading, I had initially relegated it to the "we'll give this a run-through" passage, kind of like an epistolary benediction or opening greeting. Of course, I then nearly concluded that, given that slavery is no longer a norm in American life, there is no real, ready application except in employee/employer relationships. That would be the natural place to go. However, as I really studied and prayed that God give me a fuller picture, this quote from a commentary caught my attention. And it changed my whole perspective on how to interpret these passages.

It is unfortunate that many teachers or preachers have applied Paul’s teaching on slavery in his epistles to the employer/employee relationship in modern economies. Such applications dilute the tremendous power of the Gospel as seen within the dark and unjust institution of slavery. The focus of Paul’s teaching with regard to Christian slaves must not be missed. Against the bleak hopelessness of this system of bondage, the Christian slave’s devotion to the Gospel and resulting godly attitudes and actions serve to make attractive in an unparalleled way the ultimate freedom that is only realized in Christ (Hayne, New American Commentary: 1,2 Timothy, Titus 308)

I taught Titus 2:9-10 completely different after reading and thinking through this quote and applied it to the sum total of the Christian experience; anywhere a Christian finds himself under authority. The slave-master relationship should characterize the Christian life and just as a Christian slave should yield unquestioning obedience to his master, so the Christian should yield unquestioning obedience to his Master, Jesus--and this characteristic will manifest itself in all relationships where a Christian is under authority--even to an unbeliever.

The Laughingstock of Waynesville

2008-07-02T08:53:00.005-05:00

Well, maybe not the laughingstock, but this is still pretty funny. We have a large family compared to others and we have just simply outgrown our current mode of transportation. We had a Mercury Villager van and we were packed like sardines in a can. My oldest daughter was in the back seat between her sisters with both her hips touching her sisters' booster seats, not to mention sitting in only a lap belt.

I had to go back to Halifax County, VA for a funeral last week. The lady died suddenly and requested in her will that I officiate the funeral service. I took the whole family because we were all very close to her, spending the night in a motel. On the return trip, we passed through South Boston (VA, not MA) and my wife cried out, "Look!" On the used lot of Crowell Motor Company was a 2007 Ford Econoline E-350.

Yep; if you're thinking fifteen passenger, you would be right. We bought a fifteen passenger van. I originally wanted an eleven passenger, just because they are not quite so big and attention-grabbing. The equally funny part about the particular van we bought was that we were told that a church bought it originally, sold it back to the dealership and bought an eighteen passenger bus instead. The salesman could have kept that tidbit to himself, but I guess with a family my size and my being a pastor, he felt it was necessary. The salesman then suggested that we could even use the van for church functions. Sigh...

While living in VA, my wife's OB-GYN had seven kids and everyone made fun of them because they actually bought a used airport van. "Hey, look everyone, here come the Rosches!" Well, now I can hear everyone exclaiming, "Hey, look everyone, here come the Sisks!"It isn't that we didn't blend in well everywhere we went anyway, but now, we are plainly obvious to everyone. Oh well. I guess I have sacrificed image for safety and comfort.

(Our digital camera has been left in SC at our in-laws, so the picture is not our van; ours is a tan color, though the same body style.)

Our Aggressively Inarticulate Generation

2008-06-10T07:36:00.005-05:00

I had a long conversation with a very good friend yesterday morning about a difficulty he has encountered at the church he serves and essentially it is a doctrinal matter. Doctrinal matters tend to express themselves in very real and practical ways in congregational life and we were talking about ways to handle what he has been dealing with. He made a statement that has become a problem not just in church life, but as we were talking I extended it to include the sum total of society, and especially young people.

He said that it is unbelievable that many Christians are unable to really articulate what they believe. This is due in large part to many folks simply believing they already have it together and hence no need to really study or define oneself as a Christian. More likely their identification with an institution or organization becomes expression enough to then make a de facto response such as "Well, Southern Baptists (for example) believe..." In fact they really have not addressed the content of the question. What do you believe?

The ability to express oneself has taken on a completely different meaning and in spite of the widespread availability to education and even self-helps. In our media saturated society and the txtmsging vernacular that has overridden everyday speech it is no wonder young people even have the ability to express themselves.

Because, like, you know, I like went to the grocery store yesterday, to like pick up a few things, for my BFF, you know, my wife, and when I like put my stu-uff on the you know, the rolly thingy, I gave a shot-out to the clerk. I like, said, "Good afternoon. How are you today?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm cool man. You cool?"

"Yeah, I'm cool; despite the searing heat outside."

"Huh? What kind of heat?"

And so it goes. I was reminded of this comedian after that brief diddy of an exchange. Its about three minutes, and he can express himself much better than I can. :)

The conversations here at The RP have reminded me of the need and ability to express oneself. To Joe I owe a debt of thanks--and here's to a few more "articulate" convos at The RP. :)

Thought for the Day

2008-06-08T14:14:00.002-05:00

If all we want to do is produce people who look like Christians, our responsibility is fulfilled when people say and do the "right" things.

Eric Wallace, writing on discipleship in Uniting Church and Home

A Final Look at Keeping Our Children's Hearts

2008-06-06T08:01:00.003-05:00

I finished Keeping Our Children's Hearts: Our Vital Priority by Steven and Teri Maxwell. The overarching premise of the book, explained by the title, is apropos. It is something much needed in the milieu of contemporary society where children are generally treated not as blessings and familial assets, which the Bible teaches they are, but as liabilities that put a strain on families.

I found myself in strong agreement with that general premise and even the Scriptural basis for the penning of the book, Proverbs 23:26: "My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways." However, the exegesis to justify "sheltering", a key concept of the book, was strained. To be fair, Steve Maxwell is not theologically trained (not that that really makes a difference) but many of the verses he uses he pushes their meanings too far to achieve his own end.

A biblical case may be made for "sheltering" 'a la Maxwell, but Steve drew his theological justification from typical child-raising passages; Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Ephesians 6:4 and sprinkled a few ethical passages to make his points. I would have been much more comfortable with that section of the book had he just said, "This is what we practice in our family and I found it works," rather than making a strained Biblical case.

The Maxwells also advocate an isolationist approach that is separationist and even monkish in its ideal. I addressed this approach in the comment stream of this post and found agreement that isolationism can be as unhealthy for children as outright exposure to all manner of evil. To quote myself from that stream,

Their strict isolationist view is in my mind, more dangerous than allowing them to do whatever they want. If you shelter a child to the extent that they never see anything of the world it will generate a hunger in them to see it, a premise that is antithetical to their perceived goals in the book!

Balance and knowing your child is the key. The book also seemed to be written with a condescending tone. Having talked to Steve personally at a conference once before, I did feel his discourse was tinged with a bit of patronization. He seemed to hold judgment against parents that did not follow their prescribed methods and that all other methods were inferior. They characterize their approach as "biblical" which is perfectly fine, but their are other methods that are also "biblical" and the Maxwells seem to have no room in their view for any other and that another approach might be equally valid.

I also found the book very short on application; though there were some tender and appealing stories about sheltering their own kids, little practical instruction was given on how to begin "sheltering" at home, if it something that you haven't been doing all along. The Maxwells approached their method as one that you must do at the outset of parenting and if you haven't been "sheltering" all along then their is the high probability that you will fail. No remedy is offered for failure which is the book's most significant weakness. The fulcrum tilts toward law; following the rules, unquestioning obedience, absolute parental authority, yet very little grace to encourage that behavior. Vignettes of grace are sprinkled throughout the book's pages yet grace does not seem to be the motivating factor. I found the overarching tone to be that if you are not raising your children this way then you are inferior parents.

This leads me to why I would probably not recommend this book to church folks or other parents unless they have highly discerning hearts. Though the overall premise is sound, it is lost in the way it is presented. It is not the worst book I have read on parenting, but unfortunately, neither is it the best.

Mithras and Jesus Christ

2008-06-03T10:12:00.003-05:00

I have been involved in conversations with a striking, new but regular commenter on both of my blogs. He goes by JoeG and he has raised some interesting questions at another blog he and I both patronize. I have promised to begin some threads here to talk about some of these issues and this is the first in what I hope to be a series of installments about what we have been talking about, "supposed" pagan origins of Christianity. I have been exploring this issue for a while and hope to speak with some coherence. In my digging I have found several similarities between Mithras and Christ, and notably, the Mithras story predates the birth of Christ. We here at The RP will kick off our discussion by simply noting those similarities.

Mithra was born of a virgin on December 25th in a cave, and his birth was attended by shepherds.
He was considered a great traveling teacher and master.
He had 12 companions or disciples.
Mithra's followers were promised immortality.
He performed miracles.
As the "great bull of the Sun," Mithra sacrificed himself for world peace.
He was buried in a tomb and after three days rose again.
His resurrection was celebrated every year.
He was called "the Good Shepherd" and identified with both the Lamb and the Lion.
He was considered the "Way, the Truth and the Light," and the "Logos," "Redeemer," "Savior" and "Messiah."
His sacred day was Sunday, the "Lord's Day," hundreds of years before the appearance of Christ.
Mithra had his principal festival of what was later to become Easter.
His religion had a eucharist or "Lord's Supper," at which Mithra said, "He who shall not eat of my body nor drink of my blood so that he may be one with me and I with him, shall not be saved."

My initial contention would be that any similarities between the two don’t necessarily mean that one borrowed from the other. Moreover, does Christianity need any outside influence to develop its doctrines? All of the teachings of Christ have significant foundation in the Old Testament. These initial observations do not reconcile the similarities, but it gives us a place to begin.

Sin on a Bun

2008-05-29T13:19:00.002-05:00

I am working on a couple of posts right now but I came across this post by Joe Carter today that deserves a few minutes perusal and reflection. He blogs on the forgotten vice of gluttony. Check this quote to whet your appetite (pun intended).

Gluttony was once listed among the seven deadly sins. But now it's considered, when it's thought about at all, as a private health matter. We may realize that overeating has led to weight gain, a change in appearance, or diminished health. But we never recognize it as a spiritual problem.

Oddly enough, with the exception of those related to sex, American Christians tend to take an antinomian view of "physical sins." We act as if corrupting our bodies will have no impact on our souls. Such an un-Biblical view, however, must be rejected by anyone who acknowledges that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The Maxwells on Sibling Relationships

2008-05-27T14:56:00.004-05:00

Maintaining good relationships between siblings is difficult. I read this section of the Maxwells' book with great interest and gleaned much insight from it, unlike some of the areas of the book I have already blogged and commented on in the threads. Having five children, situations can get pretty tense at times yet I do desire that my children have good relationships with one another.

We want to build strong relationships between the children. This can happen by encouraging them to spend time with each other rather than others. When our older children were younger, before we began sheltering as we now do, we found that the more they played with friends, the less nice they were to their siblings. They seemed to always prefer to be with a friend rather than their own brother or sister. Their attitudes toward each other were more unkind and sarcastic. Through sheltering from the negative influences of friends, we have gained the benefit of solid brother and sister relationships.

As per the Maxwells' ideology, they go a little far for my comfort. I have seen the things the Maxwells describe in my children's lives, but also have seen some benefits. I wish the Maxwells had made some delineation and not a blanket statement as it seems they are making; "all friendships are bad" or "all friendships have negative results."

I have seen this play out with my children, that when they were around less than kind children, their attitudes and demeanor tended to rub off on them. Water does run downhill, after all. However, some friendships have had positive impact upon them. Needless to say, all relationships involve an element of risk--opening your heart, to use their terminology, and it seems they are unwilling for that to occur.

There are times when parents should make hard decisions; that perhaps the child should not be playing or spending time with another child, for whatever reason. There may be times when a child may have to be told that they do not get to spend time with another child. However, eradicating any hope of positive influence for the sake of protecting them from some negative seems to me to be an overreach that could have less than beneficial results later in life.

Ultimately, I share the Maxwells' hope that my children have hearts that are turned toward one another, that they would desire to spend time with one another and develop those bonds that last a lifetime. However, to discount the possibility of friendships is neither healthy nor biblical. I think of Abraham being called a friend of God, David's and Jonathan's relationship, Christ's relationships with His disciples, and ultimately, that Christ is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

It is my prayer that my children develop solid sibling relationships, but I believe that they can be cultivated without precluding any other relationships that could be of potentially lifelong benefit as well.

Some Funny

2008-05-26T16:51:00.002-05:00

Talk about a paranoid parent. This exclamation actually happened.

One of my daughters was pushing the stroller around the yard today. I did not have a clear line of sight on either her or the stroller, but I could see that she had the stroller tilted up into a "wheelie." I yelled, "Leah, stop! You're gonna dump Michael out of there! He will get hurt!"

My other daughter, Lily, said, "Uh, Daddy...you're...holding...Michael."

Yep. Paranoid.

Memorial Day

2008-05-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day

Ever Feel This Way?

2008-05-24T20:38:00.003-05:00

I sure do.

The Maxwells on Sports

2008-05-20T15:59:00.000-05:00

More from Steve and and Teri Maxwell and their book, Keeping Our Children's Hearts. Up to this point in the book I have agreed with the Maxwell's take on several areas. However, there is a subtle flaw in their thinking. They dedicate a short section to sports and this is the quotation:

There is another danger in sports that can cause you to lose your child's heart--the coach. It is a fact that those under a coach's authority are highly influenced by him. In other words, the hearts of the team members are drawn to their coach. Even if the coach is a positive role model, if your child's heart is pulled to him, it is being drawn away from you. When that happens, your ability to guide your child's life is potentially diminished. Why allow this?

After reading this section of the book, it finally became clear to me what the needling sensation was that has overridden the entire course of the book. Something had been prodding me about the Maxwells' general attitude toward their children and though I agree with the general principle behind sheltering, the key premise of the book, as well as how essential sheltering is to keeping your child's heart, it became clear to me that the Maxwells are pushing for an authoritarianism I am not completely comfortable with.

My seven-year old daughter plays soccer so my ire was not provoked simply because I have a daughter playing a sport. However, the Maxwells are following a "b necessarily follows a" pattern. Just because my daughter plays soccer does not mean we will lose her heart; quite the contrary. I can see their concerns and how that might be troubling for some parents, but if I have my child's heart, can I not delegate authority unto another and not feel as if my sheltering has been done in vain or fear "losing" her?

I believe that authority can be delegated in such a way. God delegates authority and I believe this is a general principle the Maxwells have overlooked. God has delegated authority to several institutions; He has given some unto government, some unto the church, some unto the family, divided upon the mother and father.

The government has authority in areas the church doesn't have; the church in areas the government does not. The family has authority the church does not have. God has delegated authority unto the husband that the wife does not have. Even Jesus recognized Himself as one under the authority of another. When my daughter plays soccer, it is necessary that she is under the authority of the coach; otherwise she will not play the game well. The Maxwells' position seems to cross the line of pure authoritarianism and not loving parenting.

Parents can effectively delegate their authority unto another without the threat of losing their child. The authority delegated to the coach is not necessarily an authority that should concern a parent. His responsibility is to teach the child to play a game--that is what I expect out of my daughter's coach. I do expect him to teach sportsmanship but that is about as close as I expect him to get to teaching values, morality, and ethics.

Authority is not a tenuous thing in my home, so that is perhaps where my umbrage arises. Sports can become an idol in a child's life yet it can also be an appropriate and beneficial activity. Not knowing the Maxwells personally I can only offer this as conjecture, but it seems that their positions on authority seem to be borne almost of paranoia of losing their own kids and that drives their premises rather than a balanced look at the Scriptures.

A family should shelter their children from horrible things in the world, but to completely disengage from society is neither healthy nor biblical. A parent ought to be comfortable delegating some authority out to another, particularly in areas where the parent has no experience (I cannot effectively teach my daughter to play soccer). If this is done correctly, the child will see no confusion there and that that person's authority extends only into the realm into which it has been delegated.

Another Pertinent Quote

2008-05-16T08:21:00.003-05:00

In light of a post I recently wrote at sbc Impact, Holy Competition, I came across this quote from Jared Wilson via Joe Carter:

Warning: If you treat your church like a business, you will treat other churches like your competition.

A Pertinent Quote

2008-05-13T15:02:00.002-05:00

Too many unsaved see Christianity as a clique that meets for self-congratulation or theological debate or purely social activity, and has little to do with the struggles of everyday life.

Eric Wallace, Uniting Church and Home

My New Favorite Commercial

2008-05-12T12:40:00.001-05:00

Seeing as how we just had a little boy, that makes this all the more meaningful. Plus, seeing as how the little guy squirted me at just a few days of age. Enjoy!

New Post at Impact

2008-05-12T02:00:00.000-05:00

I have a new post at SBCImpact! I hope you will check it out.

Thoughts on Breakthroughs in the SBC

The Maxwells on Television

2008-05-08T11:11:00.003-05:00

From Steve and Terri Maxwell, Keeping our Children's Hearts

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes..." (Psalm 101:3). Television is filled with wickedness and evil. Even if there are shows that would be okay, the commercials won't be acceptable. How can we expect to keep our sons' hearts if they are continually exposed to immorality and immodestly dressed women on television? Will our daughters want to be morally pure when continually exposed to romance that is idolized on television? Won't our children's hearts be drawn to being entertained if they are allowed to spend their time in front of the television? Will we grow an appetite in our children for laziness by letting them watch? Consider well the spiritual outcomes of children watching television.

I share the Maxwells' concerns about television, and they go on to suggest that nothing good can come of any media experience. Though I have enjoyed many of the premises of this book, several of their ideas about sheltering seem a bit overstated.

Our Example as Parents

2008-05-07T12:22:00.002-05:00

I have been reading the Maxwell's book, Keeping Our Children's Hearts, and I came across this quote in my reading today from J.C Ryle, a quote the Maxwell's reference in regards to the example parents need to be to their children.

Instruction, and advice, and commands will profit little, unless they are backed up by the pattern of your won life. Your children will never believe you are in earnest, and really wish them to obey you, so long as your actions contradict your counsel.

Sound advice that may have a more broader application than just the relationship between parent and children.

Lousy Church Signs!!!

2008-04-25T00:00:00.003-05:00

I have to start out with the recent flap down in Jonesville, SC with the Church of God pastor who placed on their church sign:

Obama, Osama
Hummm
Are they brothers?

Several friends and even my dear, dear sweet mother-in-law emailed to let me know about this one and I waited around to see what the church decided to do about it. As I understand, the church decided unanimously to keep the sign up but then by this past Tuesday afternoon, due to public pressure, the pastor decided to take it down. Good blog friend Streak posted on this one as it broke the news, so I let my commentary rest.

The next one incorporates the new teen text messaging vernacular with Holy Writ.

Read the Bible
The Holy Spirit Will
Send You a Txt Msg

And maybe He will be your BFF 2. Then this one, a new twist on divine math, with hackneyed spelling to boot:

Tuff Love
1 Cross
3 Nails

Nope, no "4 Given" in that one. Guess that part wasn't important enuff to put on the sign. This next one I link from a friend's blog who has got some guts to post this sign. After posting he emailed to let me know about it; I commented on his chutzpah. Well, as luck (or fate, or chance, or whatever) would have it, another friend sent me this one! So, in response to brother Chris' lousy church sign, Ewwwwwww!!!

I know, this one just about crosses the line--it ain't fit to be on a sign, much less reposted on a blog. (Incidentally, Evangelism Coach is the best evangelism blog you will read on the net.) A few more to round the post out, sans my wit:

God Does Not
Believe in Atheists
Therefore Atheists
Do Not Exist

Forgive Your
Enemies--It Messes
With Their Heads

Free Coffee
Everlasting Life
Yes Membership Has
Its Privileges

Don't Be So
Open-Minded
Your Brains
Fall Out

God So Loved the World
That He Didn't
Send a Committee

Believe it or not, that one was on a Disciples of Christ church sign, and NOT BAPTIST!! (Oops, I said I wasn't going to commentate...or something...) This next one never gets old.

Read the Bible-It Will
Scare the Hell Out of You

This one is my favorite in this installment of LCS, and on an Assembly of God church sign!

Artificial Intelligence
Is No Match For
Natural Stupidity

Oh, and by the way, you can create your own church signs now! Too much fun. Too much.

Boy Reads Entire Bible; Obedience Made the Difference

2008-04-24T08:56:00.004-05:00

These are a couple of articles I would like to point everyone to from the For Faith and Family Blog. The first is an encouraging article about a boy, eleven years old, who read through the entire Bible in two years. He did not sway from the task his mom and dad said, "He did it all on his own," with no encouragement from them.

“I wanted to get closer in my faith to the Lord,” says Graves. He recommends reading the Bible from Genesis straight through to Revelation. “I don’t really like skipping around,” he says.

Graves likes the Gospels but also enjoys the history books. “But you can’t leave out the minor and major letters of Paul,” he says.

Graves learned a lot while reading his way through the Scripture. “I learned it doesn’t matter how young or old you are, you still have to witness to other people,” he says.

A great picture of the boy in his Scout uniform is at the blog. The second article is the testimony from a personal friend that surfaces occasionally on the web in SBC circles (his link is in the sidebar). It comes from Tim Wilkins, coordinator of Cross Ministry out of Wake Forest, NC. Tim came out of a homsexual lifestyle and now ministers to other homosexuals; the tagline of his ministry is More than Words, meaning that it takes more than words to lead a homosexual to faith in Christ. The quote that always stands out to me when I read Tim's testimony follows:

My sporadic homosexual activity continued until my early twenties, when I decided that although I honestly did not know how to be heterosexual, I did know how to be obedient.

Obedience makes all the difference in following Christ. Have a blessed Thursday.

Some Funny

2008-04-23T16:39:00.000-05:00

I was talking with a family we had just met at my daughter's soccer practice...which by the way, I am coaching defense, how cool is that??!!?? Bet all y'all didn't know that, huh? Well, anyway...

The family's daughter was wearing some extremely cool sports glasses. I remarked how cool I thought they were and they began explaining an eye disorder that she had that necessitated the special glasses.

I expressed my dismay and then asked, "Is it congenital?"

"Oh no, she was born that way."

Sigh.

Keeping our Children's Hearts

2008-04-22T09:36:00.005-05:00

As a parent, what is the most valuable thing you can think of? There may be several answers to that question. My oldest child is now ten years old and already I can see and feel the subtle effects of a world vying for her attention. The world exerts a strong pull. How can I as a concerned father who loves his children counter this phenomenon? The Apostle John teaches us, "Do not love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15)," but possessing such a natural bent to love that which God abhors, how can I as a fallible man with the same natural tendency, keep his children from falling away from the faith later on in their lives?

I am steadily becoming convinced that the answer lies in who possesses the child's heart. Scripture teaches us much about the human heart; its proclivity to sin, its various expressions, its need to be guarded, and also its need to be held. The heart represents who you are; often you have heard someone described as having a "good heart" or a "bad heart". It is a description of who that person is at a fundamental level.

I am reading a book by Steve and Teri Maxwell, Keeping Our Children's Hearts. (I hope to list a full review of the book on the blog soon.) The authors state a fundamental premise to parenting and one that I have, to a degree, failed: to keep our children from abandoning the faith altogether when they are older, we must posses their hearts when they are younger.

As I have read the first several chapters, I have found that much of my parenting and discipline has not been borne of my relationship with my kids but rather more like behavior modification techniques; "you do this or x, y, and z will happen." The premise is so true; though God does discipline His children (Hebrews 12:5-11) and God expects (and even demands) obedience, He desires that we obey Him out of a heart of love for him.

Now don't get me wrong, my kids love me and I love them. Don't read that I have been an utter failure as a daddy in that sentence! However, I do not naturally have their hearts, as God does not naturally have mine. It may be possible to raise good, godly children yet not have their hearts. In my short tenure of ministry I have heard lament after lament of how a child had slipped away and was consumed by the world, having fallen away from faith in Christ. They make statements such as, "They're good kids, they just don't go to church like they should"; or, "Christ was such a vital part of their lives when they were younger, now, not so much."

My goal is to raise good, godly kids, not just now, but to give them a faith that will remain. It is not enough to have kids that behave well, do not cause any problems, or simply "mind". What is best are kids that love Christ and all that emanates from that love. And that is why the most valuable things in my life, as a parent, are my children's hearts.

Food Pantry Ministry Restores Church to Health

2008-04-19T20:22:00.003-05:00

Texarkana Church 'Loving' Community to Christ

I don't think I have ever heard of a food pantry ministry being this effective. Give the article a look and if you want, let me know what you think.

Our Family Goals

2008-04-17T10:18:00.003-05:00

My wife and I have been talking about this for quite some time and have just now gotten around to getting these down on paper. At breakfast this morning, our family "ratified" these and consecrated ourselves unto the Lord with these goals in mind. So, what do you think? Should a family have goals?

*************************************************************************************

The overarching goal in our family is that each member has a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. (John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9). These goals are intended to engender in our family a love for God, a love for each other, and faith that causes us to persevere in times of difficulty.

1. Our family will seek to serve God as a family (Joshua 24:15).

2. Our family will seek to glorify God in all we do (Matthew 22:37-38, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17).

3. Our family will seek to love and respect one another (Matthew 22:39, Luke 10:25-37, Romans 12:10, Philippians 2:4).

4. Our family will seek to be obedient (John 14:15).

a. Daddy and Mommy will seek to be role models of obedience to the children (Proverbs 31:28, Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21, 1 Timothy 3:4, 2 Timothy 1:5, Titus 2:4).

b. The children will be obedient to Daddy and Mommy unless their instructions are contrary to God’s Word (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1-3, Colossians 3:20).

5. Our family will seek to spend time together as a family, as often as is necessary to maintain a strong bond one with the other.

6. Our family will seek to be self-controlled and self-disciplined (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Galatians 5:22-23, 1 Timothy 4:8).

7. Our family will seek to speak edifying words that encourage (Ephesians 4:29).

8. Our family will seek to be lovers of God’s Word and that it becomes a focus in our lives (Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Psalms 19:7-11, 119:97).

9. Our family will seek to be content with God’s provision and learn to enjoy and be thankful for that which God provides (Philippians 4:11, 19; 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 1 Timothy 6:6-8).

10. Our family will seek to be in the world but not of the world (John 1:10, Romans 12:1-2, 1 John 2:15, 4:4).

What a Library!

2008-04-15T12:37:00.003-05:00

I will confess, my family has a penchant for books. Combined, we have nearly 2,000 books in our home and at my study at the church. I was not surprised however, stumbling across this list of books that would be in the perfect library, that many of the books we already own. Take a gander.

SPLAT!

2008-04-12T21:19:00.005-05:00

Plus, Ill top it off with a few lousy church signs, in honor of the fact that I do not post out here like I should.

Need a Second Opinion?
Ask Jesus!

So much for "Seek first..."; you know the rest. And you've got to love homonyms; even the overused ones. Always good for church signs.This first one I cannot believe still makes it on church signs.

No Jesus? No peace.
Know Jesus? Know peace!

And...

Our Sundays are better than Baskin Robbins.

Now I don't want to go to church or get ice cream. This next pastor has some life issues.

Life stinks
But we have the pews for you.

Yeah, I cannot believe that one was on a church sign either. And from the same church:

Behind every good man
is a surprised mother-in-law.

Yep; some serious life issues. If I had something against my mother-in-law, I would just say it to her face; no way would I use the church's sign to air my grievances with her. Oh wait...

And for the 2008 presidential race...

God loves you
and He approved this message.

And with that, I bid you adieu...

A Cause for Praise

2008-04-02T22:41:00.002-05:00

I blogged last on my good friend's daughter and asked you to pleas pray for her. Improvement has been really slow, considering her condition before what happened, but there is much reason to be thankful unto the Lord. I have copied a portion of the email I received today that gives us much hope for her complete recovery.

Today is day 17 since [our baby girl's] adventure began and day 6 at Kluge Children's Rehab Center. In case you were wondering, she did not have a stroke this time. It's like her brain is 'bruised' but it has the full potential to regain everything she lost while seizing. Whether or not she does regain it all remains to be seen. She can sit up in a wheelchair for 2-3 hours now; and her head control is improving, but not what it used to be. She is moving her left arm and leg more. She smiles easily and can say a few words, but 'hi' is not one of them yet. Her voice is still at a whisper. She ate about a teaspoon of oatmeal twice yesterday and the day before. They are changing her feeding tube feeds to match a more normal eating habit. She should be there by tomorrow. We're not sure how much longer she will need the feeding tube. She has gotten very good at pulling it out, but needs to improve her swallow before it can be removed permanently.

They are concerned that she regain "hi" in her vocabulary because that was her standard greeting for anytime of the day. She still has some way to go, but her progress thus far is a great reason to rejoice. Thank you for your prayers.

Please Pray for My Friend's Daughter

2008-03-21T08:48:00.003-05:00

I would like to ask for your prayers for a very good friend's daughter. This has happened suddenly and I do not have permission from him to be very specific. His teenage daughter is mentally retarded and has been confined to a wheelchair for neary all her life. This past week she caught the flu and had a hard time battling it. It caused her to have several strokes and it has left her clinically dead. She is on life support and they will reevaluate her condition on Monday and will probably let her go. This is a very difficult time for all, especially her older brother.

God bless you, my friends, and thank you for your prayers. Please lift up this precious family.

Contradictions in the Bible?

2008-03-14T09:26:00.003-05:00

I have been engaged in quite a discussion at one of the political blogs I peruse and the topic of contradictions in the Bible came up. A fellow out there named Joe asked one commenter to address four particular contradictions and he flatly refused. After a discussion with the fellow why he refused, Joe asked if I would be amenable to discussing the contradictions and I agreed. Joe's question and my responses are cut and pasted below. How would you respond? How could I have responded better? I was painstakingly brief and may have in my attempt to use an economy of words overlooked something.

*******

Joe--I copied these from the comment you made. That way we won't have to keep scrolling back.

Contradictions:
1. Did Jesus baptize anyone?
John 3:22 says yes, John 4:2 says no.

2. When Jesus first gave the 12 apostles powers of healing and sent them forth, how did he tell them to dress?
Matthew 10:10 and Luke 9:3 says he told them to go barefoot and without a staff. mark 6:8-9 says he told them to wear sandals and bring nothing BUT a staff.

3. What were the names of the 12 apostles?
Of the four lists (Matt 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16 and Acts 1:13), all agree on 11 of the names. However, Matthew and Mark list the 12th apostle as Thaddeus, while Luke and Acts name Judas brother of James (a second Judas, not Iscariot).

4. How many believers were there at the time of the ascension?
Acts 1:15 says they numbered 120, but 1 Corinthians 15:6 says over 500.

My responses (I’ll try to be brief.):

1. In context, a dispute had arisen between John’s disciples and Jesus’ disciples, instigated by the Pharisees (4:1) because Jesus had baptized more than John. This would be in keeping with the gradual diminishing of John’s ministry in favor of Christ’s which John testified would happen (3:30). To reconcile 3:22 and 4:1, many commentators of 150 years ago (the contemporary commentaries I have on John do not address the apparent contradiction) agree that the baptisms of 3:22 took place not by the literal hands of Christ but by the hands of His disciples. The disciples baptized by His orders and directions (4:2) for as Matthew Henry remarks, “his disciples' baptizing was his baptizing. Holy ordinances are Christ's, though administered by weak men.”

2. One helpful way to look at the Gospels are as photo albums. They should not be expected to line up in every detail. If you and I were to take snapshots of the same event it would be from two differing perspectives. What may stand out to you may not be important to me. In many ways the Gospels are incongruous yet what is reported fits with the individual writer’s purpose. Each account stresses to take next to nothing on the journey, emphasizing the disciples’ dependence upon God for provision for the journey. Perhaps Mark made a minor adaptation that would have fit with his Roman audience’s understanding, or perhaps a different geographical setting that would have been important to Mark specifically.

3. All commentaries agree that Judas brother of James and Thaddaeus are one in the same man. I am no textual critic, but there is a variant in the Greek texts of this verse and quite possibly Thaddaeus is a corruption of Judas in the Greek. In some Greek manuscripts, Thaddaeus is actually Lebbaeus. My conjecture would be that these are nicknames, possibly of devotion or endearment, that the individual authors would have been aware of.

4. Acts 1:3 says that Christ remained on earth forty days after his resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:6 gives no specific time frame of when Christ was seen during that time but only that 500 people saw him at once. So the two events, 120 seeing Him at the ascension and 500 people seeing him at another time, are mutually exclusive.

Those are my take!

Happy with My Affliction

2008-03-09T21:17:00.003-05:00

My good blogging friend Selah V blogged here about being content with one's affliction. After the week I had last week, I found the asking of the question, Are you happy with your affliction? almost insulting.

If I had a worst enemy, I would not wish an ear infection upon whomever that may be. It has been a nightmarish week, but a week that has reminded me of some things that I needed to be reminded of. I have been reminded of the love of the people of God.

Had I not come down with an ear infection, we would not have been the recipients of such unbelievable displays of God's tenderness and grace through His people. Two men hogtied me and took me to the ER last Sunday afternoon; many of the saints from the new church I serve called to check on us (one dear lady has called daily); one gentleman took me to the doctor on Wednesday so we would not have to get all the children out in the cold; and some have prepared meals to make it easier on my sweet wife, who has been unfalteringly sweet to me.

Honestly, we feel part of the new church. We feel like we belong. We feel like part of the family. In this way, God has moved in my heart and showed me how the people of God are supposed to care for one another. This has been a pleasant experience, though bitterly painful physically.

I also have been reminded of the unfailing goodness of God. Even in the midst of a nasty ear infection, glimpses of God's goodness shined through. When my three year old crawled in the bed with a stack of books content to lay beside me and look at them, knowing there was no way on this planet I could read them. Honeybunny Funnybunny was going to have to wait and she knew it. Or waking up and finding a picture on the nightstand, drawn lovingly by a five year old so daddy would feel better. And the get well cards--all drawn on yellow legal paper. They could have been drawn on the back of a brown grocery bag and I wouldn't have cared.

And this may sound cheesy and if so, so be it. As I lay in my bed, I could look out the window and see the steeple of the church. It was a constant source of encouragement and a reminder of God's love and the love of the people of God. It also reminded me that God's church is much more--so much more--than just a red brick building (with a white steeple).

Yes, God is good. Plus, the response and movement of the Spirit in my own soul as I preached both services today was overwhelming . I love to preach--I cannot lie. I believe God has called me and put a passion in my heart to teach and preach His word and being out of the pulpit caused a gnawing in my bones. Right now, the folks are getting Acts on Sunday morning and Genesis on Sunday evening. God has blessed and I believe He will continue. I am thankful for a responsive congregation and folks that enjoy talking about the Word.

Also, I am reminded of the unfailing love of a woman. My sweet wife has put up with a lot this past week. Second to God, I owe her an enormous debt of gratitude. Thanks, honey!

Occasionally, it takes something serious to be reminded of some key things about God. Perhaps next time I won't have to stare at the inside of my bedroom (in pain) for a week to figure those things out.

Human Again!

2008-03-07T14:26:00.003-05:00

I want to thank everyone for their prayer support over the past several days. I woke up this morning and an odd thing had occurred--I felt HUMAN again! Yesterday was the most worrisome day of all as evidently some of the crud started to drain out of my ear. It made me dizzy and muddle-headed. I couldn't walk in a straight line, I couldn't focus, and worst of all I was beastly snippy at the children.

I am still a little stuffed up today but I believe the ear infection has dealt its worst blow as the steroids and antibiotic have knocked it for a loop instead of me. For three days I have been humming the little diddy Human Again from Disney's Beauty and the Beast (by far one of Disney's better animated creations). This song was not included in the original theatrical version (for several reasons) but in a re-release on DVD. I don't care much for the song but it accurately describes how I feel right now. After enjoying the three minute flick, take a moment and answer my questions that follow. Many, many thanks to all of you.

I have been considering my blogging out here at The RP. It is something that I have enjoyed immensely but as of late have not found any desire to write with the same tenacity that I once did. I find myself doing most of my blogging out at The RP2. However, I wanted to poll your opinion of this site, if in fact you still read out here, even though I have not posted anything beyond trivialities in quite some time. So, what do you think? Would you like to see more theology posts, family posts, homeschooling, what??? I need help in that regard and would like to hear from you, if you are so inclined and have the time. Many blessings!

I Need Prayer, Please...

2008-03-04T10:44:00.003-05:00

This past Saturday I got up with a debilitating ear infection and there seems to be no particular end in sight. I have never felt a pain like that. It started inside my ear, worked its way toward the top of my head, down into my jaw, and further down into my throat. I was unable to preach either Sunday service.

Two sweet, sweet men from the church took me to the Emergency Room. The doctor told me my ear looked bad if I was two, even worse for being thirty-five. I got a shot with an eight foot needle and about a gallon of antibiotic. As another church member chided me, at least the tip was not square pointed. :)

It hurts to laugh, talk, smile, think, read, even to look at this monitor. My kids have been really sweet to me though. Everyone needs kids like mine.

So, all that being said, please pray for me. I need to feel better. Thanks.

Something Funny...

2008-02-25T23:23:00.002-05:00

My five year old asked me a perplexing question...

Daddy, how do they get the meat without scaring the cows?

Uhhhh......

Post at sbcImpact!

2008-02-19T02:00:00.000-05:00

I have a new post up at sbcImpact; "The Teeth of Our Exertions."

Opportunities to be UnChristian

2008-02-13T08:53:00.004-05:00

Moving always brings with it its challenges. There are extra bills to pay, changing addresses with creditors, getting utilities turned on, getting settled in a new community, adjusting to a new lifestyle, and taking advantage of opportunities to be UnChristian.

I have had a couple of those since my family and I have made the move to Waynesville, NC. The transition time always takes your character into question for some reason and when those clerks take your money and discover you are "from out of town" (though you just moved here) there always seems to be that cross-ways glance of affirmation with the manager. We stopped at K-Mart to pick up some necessities. My wife desired to patronize K-Mart because we literally had not shopped at K-Mart for nearly ten years. (I'm not intimating that this is her fault, by the way.)

We had just recently received our new checks from the new bank and the clerk, a very young lady, nearly beamed as she welcomed us to Waynesville. She ran the check through the verifier and to our chagrin, it was rejected for some reason. "That typically happens to out of town folks."

Wait a minute. We aren't from out of town. We live here now. I have a local bank account.

To our chagrin the check had been rejected and she pointed us to an 800 number that we could call and see why the check was rejected. We had already written several checks since our transition and I knew we had ample funds in the checking account. Needless to say I was upset. So was my wife, who does not handle these things well.

We began scrounging for cash and could only come up with about three-quarters of the amount of the bill. "Is there something you don't need that you can take off the bill?" The intonation of her voice placed the emphasis on "don't need."

We need all these things or else we would not be here buying them. What is wrong with you?

My wife chimed in, "Put this back." The toilet paper? Are you out of your mind? I curled an eyebrow in response; "It's OK," she nodded back. I sure hoped she knew what she was doing (my wife, that is).

As we were going through a couple of other items we potentially "didn't need", the manager joined us and with all the tenacity of Barney Fife, "What seems to be the problem here?"

Oh, no problem sir, just the riff-raff trying to rip off your store. The clerk explained the dilemma and I felt like Chevy Chase in a National Lampoon's movie.

"Oh, this happens all the time to out of town (there's that phrase again) folk." Just call that 800 number and they will work it out. Thank you for shopping K-Mart." Did he just say that? He literally said that.

Nevertheless, we got what few items our meager amount of cash-on-hand would allow, sans toilet paper, and headed out the store with our tails tucked between our legs. When we arrived home and tucked the kiddos in bed, I promptly called the infernal 800 number that had been thrust in my face. After pressing one for English (Arrrghhhh!), I answered all the automated questions and finally got to talk to a real, live, human person.

"Ahh! I see the problem. The clerk misentered your driver's license number. She duplicated the first two."

So it was neither my fault nor my wife's, nor Barney's, nor the kids who were obviously agitated because we had been standing in line so long next to all the impulse buy items that they so desperately wanted to touch and had been told no about a hundred times already yet the temptations still remained and they were tired and ready to go to bed and had drawn enough attention to warrant a police investigation; IT WAS THE CLERK'S FAULT.

Later that night I thought of the myriad of ways I might have handled that situation and I breathed a prayer before going to bed, thanking the Lord for helping me to hold my tongue and not telling Barney to put his bullet back in his pocket. Being prepared for those kinds of incidents is not easy, but thankfully, I was. Though I was greatly irritated at the situation, it turned out to be a simple mistake, one I have been known to do. And I didn't shame my Lord in the process.

Doing Better Than I Deserve

2008-02-06T09:40:00.000-05:00

Our transition is almost complete. I have been out of blogville for a while but am glad to be back at it. I return as the new pastor of Grandview Baptist Church in Waynesville, NC and am glad to be so. Please pray for me and the new church as we make this transition. My prayer is to glorify the Lord in all that I do here. There seems to be much work to do and I look forward to jumping in with both feet and doing the work of the Lord in a new place of service.

There are many new things about this area we are excited about, many changes to our lifestyle that will be welcome, and "town living". We were literally seventeen miles from the nearest grocery store at the old charge; now we are about a mile and a half from Ingle's grocery store, the grocery store of my youth. That is another thing we are thrilled about--being closer to family. My folks are only about an hour away from us, as opposed to the six that we were. My wife's parents are about an hour and forty-five away. I'll keep you posted as the work progresses from time to time on the blog but prayerfully a new post will be up so we can all start talking again.

While I have been away, I was asked to do something for a fellow blogger. Pastor Chris out at the Evangelism Coach asked me to plug his book giveaway. No man should have six bookshelves of books on evangelism so he is giving some away. All you have to do is sign up for his free newsletter and you're registered.

Also, Selah V, one of my favorite bloggers and dear friend tagged me for a dadgum meme. I'll get her back, that is for sure. The rules are as follows:

First, you need to pick up the book nearest to you which has 123 pages or more (no cheating!) Did you see that? NO CHEATING. The book nearest you, right now as you are reading this page.

* Find page 123
* Find the first five sentences
* Post the next three sentences
* Tag five people

OK--the book nearest me at the time was He that is Spiritual by Lewis Sperry Chafer and on page 123, the three sentences I post for your reading enjoyment are:

The judgment belonged to us; but He became our Substitute. We are thus counted as co-partners in all that our Substitute did. What He did, forever satisfied the righteous demands of God agianst the "old man" and opened the way for a "walk" well-pleasing with God (see II Corinthians 5:15).

Since I love Selah dearly, I participate but I reserve the right not to tag anybody!!! (Heh.) Besides, I have been out of the blogosphere for so long, someone might get upset if I tag them without any substantial material to legitimize myself for being out here.

The last order of business is a lousy church sign. I think all my regular readers know my penchant for them and goodness, the church that called me HAS A SIGN! And lo, they cannot beat this for sheer, unadulterated lousiness. What are they thinking? They'll be fortunate if anyone comes to church now.

(Couldn't resist; LOL!!!)

New Post at sbcImpact!

2008-01-22T07:22:00.000-05:00

Actually, a re-post of something I posted here at The RP over a year ago. Having never talked about homeschooling that much at the collaborative blog, I thought I would provide the springboard. Enjoy!

Transitions

2008-01-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

I have been out of the blogosphere for a couple of weeks now and I have suffered serious withdrawal pangs. It has not been a case of "won't" but more a case of "can't." My family has been in a bit of an upheaval the past few weeks and we are undergoing a serious time of transition right now.

We have served Hunting Creek Baptist Church now for six years and three months and have had a blessed time with the saints of God there. However, there has always been a tension between serving the folks here and serving our extended family who lives about six hours away from us (often a much longer drive with five children). My wife and I had began praying about a year ago that God would move in a significant way in our lives so that we could be closer to our original home, which is the Greenville/Spartanburg, SC area.

As is often the case, God moved just as we had prayed but yet has called us to another place of ministry and service in a totally unexpected community. We are going to be moving from Nathalie which is in southside Virginia (about 400' above sea level), to the mountains of western North Carolina, in Waynesville (about 3,000' above sea level). The church I will be serving is Grandview Baptist Church, with the added benefit of being only just over an hour from our folks' homes.

This has been a bittersweet transition for us. We have grown to greatly love the Hunting Creek folks and her surrounding community. They have been an easy group of folks to serve; they love the Lord, love each other, and have loved us. We will miss this area and the people of God here. They also will miss us--they have made that abundantly clear. Many tears have been shed over the past three weeks. We have made some extra special friends, people whom we shall never forget.

I would desire that you would pray for us as we make this transition--pray for the hearts of the folks at Grandview to receive us and pray also for Hunting Creek. If God can use me, certainly he can raise up someone imminently more capable than I am to carry on the ministries there.

Transitions are difficult. I am thankful for the grace that has been shown to us by Hunting Creek and look forward to serving Grandview. Thanks everyone for your participation on the blogs and I hope to "be back at it" soon. Remember us in your prayers when you think about us.

Depression: A Real Problem for Real People

2008-01-09T06:52:00.000-05:00

It has been some time that I have written anything substantial here. However, I have written something substantial at the collaborative blog, sbcImpact! Click over and take a look. Thanks!

Lousy Church Signs

2008-01-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

A good friend who knows my love and disdain for lousy church signs passed these along to me for publishing to the blog, so I know not from whence they came. Both signs prove that plays on words really should be disallowed from church signs altogether. The first is a Christmas holdover:

Wise Men Followed the Star
Now They Follow the Son

The "sun/son" play on words never gets old, does it? The next one turns the eternal kingdom into a weather forecast.

Heavenly Forecast
Jesus Reigns Forever

So Jesus is going to drip water into all eternity? Yeah, I know, that commentary is just as lame as the sign, but my usual wit was overcome by the lousiness of the sign. Perhaps you can do better!

My New Year's Resolution: 2008

2008-01-01T17:30:00.000-05:00

I have put some time, thought, and prayer into my resolution for 2008. I actually began doing a self-inventory about a month ago, looking for areas in my life where I am deficient, and I found more than a few. One place has stuck out to me since thinking through this and it is in the area of gentleness.

I want to be a gentle man. I don't mean I want to be a push-over or pusillanimous. I want to be gentle in the biblical sense of the word. I want to be strong yet not belligerent; I want to be firm yet not harsh; I want to be compassionate yet not wishy-washy. I want to be tender-hearted yet not weak-minded. In a word, in the way Jesus was gentle, I want to be gentle.

In no way do I want to be coarse, obtuse, or rude. I want to always be encouraging, kind, yet unwavering in my convictions. I want to be willing to learn, willing to be rebuked, willing to step back and examine myself. I want to be gentle.

I want my wife to have a gentle husband, my children to have a gentle father, the folks I serve to have a gentle pastor, and commenters on the blogs to have a gentle bloghost. I don't think that is an unreasonable goal for 2008.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22

To all my family and friends, Happy New Year. Have you made a resolution?

Lousy Church Sign

2007-12-27T23:46:00.000-05:00

This has got to be the dead-level, lousiest church sign I have ever seen. While traveling in SC visiting family, we came across this sign. I wanted to post it before I forgot it.

Happy Birthday Son

-God

Something Gross, Something Funny, and Something Amazing

2007-12-19T13:29:00.001-05:00

First, something gross.

Not too long ago I stepped over to the church office from home to make a few copies for homeschooling purposes. When I arrived, one of the sweet ladies who gives of her time to clean the facilities was there. I stopped in the sanctuary for a moment to speak with her and exchange pleasantries. She was hard at work polishing the backs of the pews. It did not immediately register to me what she was polishing the pews with until I walked up and greeted her. As she sprayed the polish on the pews, she was rubbing it in with a pair of men's underwear.

I have learned a lot about frugality at the church I serve, from seeing used Ziplock bags washed and propped up on a dish drainer to dry, muffins brought to a fellowship on a meat tray, to some folks who drive cars that are twenty years old or older. But I just talked with her like polishing furniture with a pair of worn out men's underwear was the most natural thing in the world to me.

OK, something funny.

I haven't posted any lousy church signs in a while because I have not seen anything relatively original in its level of lousiness, just more and more of the same. However, this one I saw on an independent, fundamental baptist church a couple of days ago.

Take Christ out of Christmas and
all you're left with is _ _ _ _ _ _ mas.

Those independent, fundamentals do tend to be fairly literal in their approach.

Now--something amazing.

Last week my good friend and fellow blogger Steve Sensenig posted on a topic that I had been mulling over for a while, particularly since I had been doing some private study on spiritual gifts for Wednesday evening services. In response to a request from another blogger, Steve posted on the topics of miracles and particularly healings, to which much of the discussion turned. (You can find the posts here, here, and here.) I won't get into the bulk of Steve's arguments because I would much rather you go there and read them for yourselves, giving him the hit counts he deserves.

I will say though that Steve's primary contention, and I believe it, was that healings are part of the Gospel message and serve a much greater purpose than just authentication. Healings are just as valid today as they were during Christ's time on earth and it is God's will that we be healed of our diseases and infirmities. Further, nowhere in Scripture is anyone ever told "no" to a healing request and Christ even healed some who didn't ask.

I haven't nearly shared the bulk of Steve's arguments but only to lead to this point. My wife has had kidney stone trouble for years. In summer 2003 she had a delicate operation where a stone was directly removed from her kidney. Since then, kidney stones have been a constant worry. Since our last baby was born, and even before the delivery, she has had a stone that has bothered her intermittently. Sometimes she has just been uncomfortable, other times she has been in severe pain.

This had been going on for over five months. Then I read Steve's posts on miracles, threw my two cents worth in the comment thread, and Steve helped me think through some things. I discovered my views on healings were not entirely biblical. I didn't tell my wife that I had been thinking and pondering and searching Gods' heart on this matter.

Late last week, I began to pray in accords with what I had learned from the Lord through Brother Steve. I claimed no promises, placed no obligation upon God, nor did I "pray in faith," as the faith healers say is necessary. I simply prayed, knowing what I now know about the character of God and His desires regarding physical healings.

My wife went to the doctor last week, had a culture done, and then this past Monday had an ultrasound. Leaving the hospital Monday she called me on the way out the door. There was no kidney stone. When we hung up, I wept and whispered a prayer of gratitude. Like I said, something amazing. I am still assimilating it all and I'm not sure how to completely respond; right now just in thanksgiving and praise.

Thirteen

2007-12-18T08:40:00.000-05:00

That is how many years I have been married as of yesterday. I often joke around and tell other guys I have the utmost in sympathy for them because they had to marry the second best lady in the world and it must be terribly difficult knowing you are married to the second best. At the last wedding I officiated, I told the bride she was the second prettiest bride I had ever seen. It took her a moment and she finally got it, but the initial note of offense on her face was priceless.

This post is in some way a tribute to my wonderful wife. Other than my Savior Jesus Christ no one means more to me than her. She crashed into my life a little over thirteen years ago (yes, the engagement was very short) and it has never been the same. I met in her all that I could ever hope to complete me in a soul mate.

We have come to that point in our marriage where we complete one another's sentences, know what the other is thinking without saying a word, and can communicate from across a room with just the flicker of an eyebrow. Moreover, she has borne for me five beautiful children. This past July we finally had a boy, though I was threatening some kind of Henry VIII retaliation if she didn't deliver (no pun intended) this last time around. (Again, just joking!)

She has also been the consummate pastor's wife. Always there when I need to vent, she listens to all of the trials and troubles of ministry, she always has a word of wisdom just when I need it, and most importantly, I know that she prays for me.

I would be loathe not to mention that she takes wonderful care of our family. The children never want for anything when she is on duty. When I am in charge, the house could burn down around us and I would be none the wiser. I am that inept. Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor and I were conjoined twins separated at birth, I am convinced. When mommy isn't here, they all whine, "When's mommy gonna be ho--oo--oo--me??"

We celebrated last night by toasting some Welch's sparkling white grape juice over light conversation. The background music was the incessant crying of #5 as we have been training him at five minute intervals to put himself to sleep. When we talked about what we loved most about the last thirteen years, we agreed that it was having gotten to know one another so well.

So, to my beautiful wife, I love you. May I one day become all that you have been to me.

Comment Moderation Enabled

2007-12-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

To all of those who regularly read and comment here, I sincerely appreciate it. Your interaction is a blessing. My goal for both blogs has never been to moderate comments, but to allow free expression of opinion yet without belligerence. As of late, I am unable to make no other choice. For a brief period comment moderation is enabled and if you comment on a post, I will receive your comment and I will respond. Again, to all of the regular readers and the Internet community I have come to appreciate, thank you.

Christmas and Eschatology

2007-12-15T11:15:00.000-05:00

I have been told many times that there is an apparent "war on Christmas", that secularists and liberals are trying to run Christmas out of the public sphere. I am also told that secularist engineers are recklessly encouraging American retailers to sweep the term "Christmas" under the rug so as not to offend their base of customers. Congress has even passed a resolution affirming Christianity as "a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, [and] is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world."

In this post, I want to offer a different perspective on America's "drift into secular monotony," as one prominent preacher has put it. I am persuaded that this "war" has much less to do with Christians being on the defensive as much as they are on the offensive. The current climate of dispensational eschatology has warped the Christian's triumphant spirit into an aggressive attack on anything non-Christmas, perceiving it as anti-Christmas, and that the appropriate response is to go on the defensive against it.

Dispensational eschatology, a la' Left Behind, really does not inspire the church to greatness. The eschatology essentially says that the church is going to wither up and shrink from the earth until there is a rapture that will come and rescue the few faithful remaining Christians from a horrible end. This overtly defeatist tone has pushed the church into a supposed corner and therefore it interprets itself as having to come out with tooth and claw borne so as to defend itself from secular humanist and atheistic attack.

According to the House resolution mentioned above, there are 225,000,000 Christians in America. Obviously then, Christians occupy a majority status on America. Of course we must account for nominal and carnal Christians, not to mention indifferent ones. Plus, there are the vocal minority that continuously claims that Christianity is being assaulted upon every street and avenue. Wither then the brave Christian?

We have picked and chosen the wrong enemy and it isn't the secular humanist or the atheist. Our adversary is still the devil and he gets great pleasure watching God's children flounder wasting their precious evangelistic time waging a war for Christmas. God has not called us to be culture warriors; rather, He has called us simply to be faithful. Persecution is something that should be expected; indeed we are blessed when persecuted (Matthew 5:11). If a "secular", a "liberal", or an atheist reviles Christmas, we should count our blessings, not get on the offensive, rattling our green and red sabers.

By recapturing the triumphalist tone of Christmas we can cause more good for the Savior than by marching to the drum beat of the culture warrior. Consider Isaac Watts' words in the second through fourth verses of Joy to the World, which ironically, really is not a Christmas hymn:

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Notice just a few considerations and Scriptural reflections. Jesus is on the throne of David, has been, and will continue to be (Acts 2:29-35).

"Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ..."

Mr. Watts also recognized Christ is extending His rule unto all the nations and is putting all His enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:25-26).

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found...

As a final reflection, Watts realized that Christ's rule was "already" though still "not yet." The government indeed rests upon His shoulders and His rule would increase until consummated (Isaiah 9:6-7).

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love...

Jesus rules as King of kings and Lord of lords. This is much reason for the Christian to celebrate Christmas yet to remember that Christ already reigns and does not need His rule spread by coercion or force, but by simple evangelistic witness. The eschatology of Christmas is not one of defensive market and media aggression but one of triumphant hope and a victory that has already been won.

In His days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him and His enemies will lick the dust. Psalm 72:7-9

Some Miscellaneous Notes

2007-12-04T09:35:00.000-05:00

The family went out to eat at Wendy's yesterday evening. My oldest daughter went to the bathroom after the meal and when she returned she had turned her shirt, a white turtleneck, around. Walking up to the table, she remarked what she had done. I asked her to turn around and when she did there was a stain at the tail of her shirt.

"I turned it around so no one could see it."

I laughed. Hard. How often do we try to cover up our sin in such a way that we cannot see it but it becomes readily noticeable to everyone else?

*******

I stopped by to visit with the nursing home residents of our church yesterday as well. While visiting with one 89 year old lady whose hands are riddled by arthritis, the nursing assistant brought her lunch and I had the joy of blessing her meal and helping her eat it. No, I didn't eat half of it; her hands don't function the way they ought to because of the crippling disease within so I helped her get the food to her mouth. How grateful she was!

When the lady dropped her meal off, Mrs. Francisco remarked that I was her pastor. We introduced ourselves and she asked me what church I pastor. After exchanging pleasantries, she asked me a remarkable question.

"What else do you do?"

"Huh? I don't think I understand. What do you mean?"

"I mean, what other job do you have?"

"Oh! I'm a full-time pastor."

Incredulous: "Oh...mmm...OK. It was a blessing meeting you."

Dumbfounded: "You, too."

To give a bit of necessary context, the lady was African-American. I have been blessed to get to know many of the other African-American pastors in our community and county at large. Of all the ones I have met, they all work secular jobs as well as pastor their respective churches. I was taken aback when she discovered that pastoring was all I do.

*******

Say a prayer for my baby brother. He is tying the knot this weekend. I get to stand up and be a groomsman and I'm kind of glad I'm not doing the ceremony. I don't want to be held personally responsible when she discovers his true demeanor and runs off. I mean, he might pop out of the washing machine and scare the poor girl half to death.

*******

And finally, a picture of #4 to conclude. The irony is that it was really cold that day. Notice the disparity.

Notable...

2007-11-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

I have not blogged out here in a while but have spent a great deal of time at my faith and culture blog, The RP2, plus commenting at friends' blogs. I just recently posted over there about the deplorable conditions of sweatshop labor in China, making of all things, crucifixes. I was torn about whether it deserved to be posted here or there, but nevertheless, it is over there and not here, so click over and please read. Thanks.

The Personhood Question Arises in Colorado

2007-11-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago at the collaborative blog I posted on whether or not abortion is a religious issue. A good discussion ensued and boiled down to mostly a policy discussion. A good-natured debate in respect to the inequality of different religions was the primary topic of the thread and that different religions say that life begins at different times, whether in the womb or not.

I find it amazing that we must debate when life begins. Only because we have the unnatural capability of stopping a life from growing in the womb does this debate arise. In Colorado last Tuesday, a measure was taken by their court system to define when a life begins. A constitutional amendment was passed unanimously in the state supreme court and will go to a ballot vote in November of '08. The language of the amendment is as follows:

"Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term 'person' to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as 'person' . . . in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law."

I walked through the argument for personhood and its endowment by God in the womb at the post at sbcImpact. Michael J. Norton, a lawyer who represented supporters of the proposal, said the real impact of the proposal would be in its simplicity, asking a profound philosophical and moral question.

“The whole issue centers on when does life begin,” Mr. Norton said. He said that though the word “abortion” would not appear in the language of the proposal, it would effectively make an abortion “the destruction of a person” and therefore illegal.
“Whatever rights and liberties and duties and responsibilities are guaranteed under the Constitution or other state laws would flow to that life,” Mr. Norton said.

Crying foul, Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said this then "would give fertilized eggs the state constitutional protections of inalienable rights, justice and due process." Opening a Pandora's Box of legal implications, birth control and in-vitro fertilizations would also be called into question.

This is an important debate that needs to happen. It is the responsibility of a free, civilized society to protect the weak and oppressed and certainly the unborn fall into this category. Several states (GA, MS, MI, OR) have attempted such measures, but thus far only Colorado has been successful, and Colorado would be the first state to vote on such an initiative.

Keeping Little Girls Little

2007-11-17T09:17:00.000-05:00

As a father of four little girls, brother Bowden McElroy's post on Keeping Little Girls Little especially resonated with me. It has always been a major concern to me and my wife that our little girls stay little as long as possible. It is distressing to see other little girls, the same age as my oldest, look like they are eighteen years old in terms of body build. For a time, we tried to buy all organic foodstuffs to try to stave off early onset of puberty due to the growth hormones injected in milk and meats. Buying organic quickly became cost-prohibitive. However, the study Bowden has posted seems to intimate otherwise, and thankfully so.

The results of the study show that children living in families with greater parental supportiveness, from both mothers and fathers, less marital conflict and less depression reported by the fathers experienced the first hormonal changes of puberty later than other children. In addition, children whose mothers had started puberty later (a genetic factor), whose families were better off financially when the children were in preschool, whose mothers gave them more support when they were in preschool and who had lower Body Mass Index when they were in third grade developed secondary sexual characteristics later than their peers.

As Bowden notes, "A stable home environment may delay the onset of puberty in girls." One thing my wife and I constantly struggle for is a semblance of order in our home. The premise we base this on is that heaven is often referred to as "home" in the Scriptures as well as in popular culture so we try to foster as "heavenly" an environment as we can. It is a challenge!

Though we only have one nearing pubescent age, the results are evident. A stable home life counts for so much more than just the normal rhythms of life and prayerfully, it will develop happy, whole, God-fearing children in our home.

The Weekly Exposition

2007-11-12T22:11:00.000-05:00

I have enjoyed posting snippets of my messages from Sunday mornings and I hope they have been of some benefit to all you precious readers out there. This week's offering continues in the book of Hebrews, 12:3-11. This represents my last message from the book as I will head into holiday messages next Sunday that will carry us through the end of the year.

Here is an excerpt from Spiritual Discipline.

Verses five and six teach us that discipline is a mark of the relationship of a child of God with his God. "You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons." He says, "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord," rather welcome it! He says, "Do not be discouraged when you are rebuked," rather be encouraged!

For to be disciplined means you are a child of God and that He loves you! Too many children these days get away with too many things. I wore enough stripes on my legs as a boy to know that my father was concerned about my erring ways and that he desired for those ways to be trained out of me. He never punished out of malice; it was always out of love. And there are certain levels of discipline we can expect according to this writer.

The first level is that of a rebuke. Consider with me the power of a mother's eyebrow. My mother could make me stand up lock-straight just by a curl of her eyebrow. Consider the snap of a father's finger; same effect. This is God getting your attention. It may come as a friendly word of advice from a friend; a word of admonition from your pastor; a song lyric; an impression from the Holy Spirit. This level is by far the simplest and easiest to endure, yet easily overlooked and typically broomed away.

The second level is God getting more serious because you didn't. It is the level of chastening. The discipline is stepped up so that you might take notice of the path you are now treading and the dangerous place you have put yourself. This comes as the stern "talking-to" that my dad used to give me as a teenager. (Sometimes I wished he would just whip me and get it over with.) This is the prayer that lays heavily upon your heart, the word of admonition that went unheeded that constantly troubles your heart and mind, when the skies feel as gray as gun metal and are closed just as fast. However, this is the level that God desires that you PAY ATTENTION because in no way does He desire to proceed to the next level.

If you choose to ignore Him it gives God no pleasure to proceed to scourging. This is the same word used of Jesus' scourging in Matthew 27:26; a frightening prospect indeed, knowing that all our sins were laid upon Him and He received all our punishment for them. It pleased God to bruise Jesus, but in no way does it give Him pleasure to bruise His children.

I just recently finished Elie Wiesel's book Night about his imprisonment and hard labor in a German concentration camp. Elie just happened to catch a German guard with a young woman. Fearing he would get in trouble, the guard took measures to insure Elie would keep quiet. He called for a crate and had Elie stretched out over it, bare-backed. Elie only felt the sting of the first lash; the following twenty-four lashes drove him into unconsciousness. After the beating, the guard had Elie stand in front of him and he demanded that he would never speak of what he had seen. Elie's response was, "My head bobbled yes, it bobbled as if it would bobble that way for all eternity."

In no way is scourging ever done in such a way by our loving Father. Every stroke is measured; every stroke is for our good. He does resort to such horrendous means but only when He has exhausted all others. When He scourges, it isn't to be taken lightly, but soberly and sensibly. His correction is always to be received to bring us to our senses, never to leave us senseless.

Important Books (To Me)

2007-11-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

Other than the Bible, what books have had a profound influence on you, shaping the way you live and act as a Christian, the way you believe, do ministry, and relate to others? Five books have been especially significant to me (in no particular order).

Knowing God, J.I. Packer
Overcoming the World, Joel Beeke
A Passion for Prayer, Tom Elliff
Every Man's Battle, Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker
Ministering Like the Master, Stuart Olyott

What books have had a profound influence on you and your walk with Christ?

The Preacher's Pledge

2007-11-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

I have blogged on pulpit plagiarism before (here and here). It still amazes me that some preachers are not above plagiarism and use the Internet frequently and regularly for sermon preparation. I admit, the Internet is a useful tool, but for a pastor to download and preach verbatim a sermon is theft and at worst just sheer laziness. However, I am just simply flabbergasted by the need of pastor's to sign a pledge not to base their sermons off the labors of others.

And, the pledge affirms that a preacher should preach from, of all things, the Bible (insert sarcasm)!

In a new campaign aimed at putting the centrality of the Bible back into a preacher's message, "The Preacher's Pledge," introduced by SermonCentral.com, has been signed by pastors from over 50 nations so far.
"We introduced The Pledge because we think preachers must engage the Bible in their sermon preparation and not simply short circuit the process with someone else's study," says Ron Forseth, general editor for SermonCentral.com. "Our site is a valuable supplement but not the primary source for a sermon. God's Word is."

Preachers then make their commitment to the following:

• I will make the Bible my primary resource in sermon preparation and preaching.
• I may use other resources such as commentaries and web sites to enhance, not replace, my personal interaction with Scripture.
• As I study I will strive to accurately understand and honestly apply God's Word, allowing Him to uniquely proclaim His truth in a relevant way through me.

Maybe it is just me. I hope it is. Why this need? Is Sermon Central so naive? I'm going to be bold: if a pastor needs to sign this pledge, does he need to be in the ministry anyway? It seems a commitment to the Bible would be a non-issue and that without reservation the Bible would be central. Perhaps as preachers graduate from seminary they can just sign a little pledge card akin to True Love Waits.

Books from Church Members

2007-11-03T09:50:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, church members will give me books to read and critique for them. This is something I encourage them to do, especially since it gives me peace of mind that they are indeed reading. Reading is a practice that is definitely lost on some church people and if they are reading then often it is something froofy (technical term). Lately, I have been given two books and I would like to share my overall critiques.

The first is 23 Minutes in Hell, by Bill Wiese. It records the author's twenty-three minute descent into hell with the intent to scare you straight. I do not discount Wiese's experience. He quite legitimately may have been given a tour of hell and allowed to experience some of the torments so that he might return to warn people of their impending doom if they fail to accept Jesus.

Some of the imagery was like it was out of a childhood nightmare and Wiese may have done a much better job if a more experienced writer co-authored the book with him. The scenes he depicts seem more to be grounded in horror movie epics rather than biblical truth. For instance, in grisly detail he describes his demonic accusers and the shrieks of terror of others imprisoned in hell. Though he does describe the isolation and separation he felt while in "hell" it seems biblically incongruous that he could experience the terror of others, as well as be tormented by a demon.

The latter half of the book is Wiese's attempt at developing a biblical doctrine of hell, which a writing theologian alongside of him would have helped, but as a lay writer, Wiese did an admirable job. Obviously Wiese wanted the biblical record to match his experience and that portion of the book, as I described to the church member, is a hermenuetical embarrassment. I do not discount Wiese's experience and that part of the book can stand alone on its own merit. It is up to the reader to decide whether or not Wiese is sincere. His theology leaves much to be desired and a word of caution, if you are looking for a biblical doctrine of hell, you won't find it here.

The second book comes highly recommended. When this lady handed me this book, pleading that I read it because "I would never be the same," I shuddered because of the Oprah's Book Club sticker adhered to the cover. Reluctantly I took the book and agreed to return it the following Sunday.

She was right. After reading Night by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel (and I didn't notice the similarities in the author's names until I posted) the horror of the Nazi concentration camps became a little too real. Devastatingly simple in its detail yet graphic enough to churn your stomach, I finished this book after the second sitting.

It chronicled Wiesel's family's abduction by the Nazis in World War II and their transport to the extermination center of Auschwitz. Separated from his mother and sisters forever, he and his father made it through "selection" and immediately began hard labor. The narrative then becomes Elie's feeble yet desperate efforts not to be separated from his father.

The book is appropriately titled for darkness settles in on the prisoners as they arrive in the camp. A blackness that should be unfathomable in human experience envelops those unfortunate enough to be alive.

What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, and this misery? Why do You go on troubling these poor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies? [p. 66]

Elie loses all hope in humanity and eventually in God as he watches horrid death after horrid death. The story climaxes with a death march to Buchenwald, where he and his father are transferred as the Russians and Americans are marching through Germany. Their lives were reduced to the avoidance of violence and the constant search for food. Never should another human being be treated in such a way. Never should man forget man's capacity for inhumanity.

In the afternoon, they made us line up. Three prisoners brought a table and some medical instruments. We were told to roll up our left sleeves and file past the table. The three "veteran" prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name. [p. 42]

Liberation for Elie was welcome yet horrifying. Having not seen his own face in years,

One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed never left me. [p. 115]

The book concludes with Wiesel's acceptance speech for the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize where he takes a bold stand against worldwide injustice and oppression, calling all with the ability to fight against it. May we never forget man's ability to do evil and to harm another human being, including our own.

The Weekly Exposition

2007-10-31T09:36:00.000-05:00

This is an excerpt from the weekly exposition I deliver at the church I serve, taken from The Secret to Enduring Faith, from Hebrews 12:1-2.

I have been reading the book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose. It chronicles the exploits of Easy Company of the US Army during World War II. They were known as one of the best combat outfits in the military. Being a volunteer outfit, only the strictest requirements let a young soldier in. Physical training was of utmost importance, the men doing it most of their waking hours. Intended to be a paratrooper regiment, the men began to get irritated that they had not began training in that regard. They did nearly twice as much calisthenics as normal basic.

However, basic came to an end and the boys transferred from Camp Toccoa in Georgia to Camp Mackall in North Carolina. Training at Mackall was to be broken into four regimens, A, B, C, and D. A was to be strictly physical exercises. Easy was so well-trained physically that they were able to skip Week A. The men began doing their runs backwards, literally running around the staff sergeants as they led them out on runs, and challenging the staff sergeants to races.

After two days of this abuse, the staff sergeants went to the CO and recommended that the boys of Easy advance to Week B and skip A. Standing in awe of the boys' endurance, the staff sergeants, as well as men from other outfits, got out of their way and let them begin training as paratroopers.

Many of us know similar people in our walks of faith. Much like the boys of Easy, we stand in awe of some of our contemporaries' faith. How do they do it? How do they endure under such difficult circumstances? Many of us have mature Christians we look up to and we wonder where they get their strength and stamina from.

The writer of Hebrews says, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." The Christian experience is like a race and not an easy one. This is one of the grand lessons of Hebrews 11. By faith each figure in chapter eleven endured, and it wasn't by perfect faith, but by enduring faith. Now the writer wants us to know how to endure just as those of the roll call.

The two secrets to enduring faith are so simple anyone can follow them; even me! First, we must lay aside every impediment. And then, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. Simple, isn't it?

Another Offering

2007-10-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

Of Lousy Church Signs! This one smacks of elitism and Christian superiority, akin to "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."

Heaven: a prepared place for a prepared people

I have no problem with the theology behind the statement but we don't want to use heaven as a badgering point for calling people to repentance and faith in Christ; especially not on a potential first point of contact with unbelievers.

The second is an offering from brother Ron Jackson, emailed to me over six weeks ago. I apologize brother Ron! It got caught up in my inbox and underneath a flurry of email I lost it until today when I was cleaning out the inbox. There shouldn't be several hundred messages in one inbox!

I'm not quite so sure. Google is kind of like Wal-Mart; if they ain't got it, you don't need it. If you can't find it on Google, you can't find it, right? Right? Anyone?

Quote(s) of the Day

2007-10-27T16:10:00.000-05:00

Via Dave Black quoting Corrie ten Boom in his latest essay The Astounding Power of Poverty.

“Look inside and be depressed, look outside and be distressed, and look to Him and be at rest.”

Brother Dave goes on to say in retrospect:

This intimate assurance that Christ can be trusted is our security. It resolves the dilemma of our insignificance, our mortality, our futility. Gradually we become aware that God takes unimportant nobodies, fills them with His Presence, and empowers them to live lives of unhypocritical love (Rom. 12:9). Our growing awareness of, and confidence in, the adequacy of Christ constitutes the unshaken rock upon which our faith stands.

Amen.

Praise Report: Thank God for Rain!

2007-10-26T13:16:00.001-05:00

Southside Virginia has been terribly dry over the summer and nary a drop of rain has fallen since spring. However, rain has been steadily falling since Wednesday morning and is falling now as I type. I wonder though...

Two weeks ago, a church member emailed me with a burden and related the she had a burden that our church was not praying enough. She then asked if she could organize a prayer vigil for Saturday, October 27th. I heartily concurred and agreed to take a slot. She wanted to pray specifically for rain because rain is completely bound up in the providence of God and only through prayer can a change be affected.

The irony is that since yesterday evening, our local weather report has stated we have received over five inches since Wednesday and our county is under a flood watch! We will still gather tomorrow at the church for our prayer vigil, which now will morph into a "praise" vigil! Perhaps tomorrow you might like to join us in prayer? I hope so.

Lousy Church Signs Continued...

2007-10-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

OK, OK. I'm on a roll again. I can't help it. I spent about six hours in the car today making hospital visits and the church signs were just ripe for the picking. On a Baptist (ironic, huh?) church sign:

We'll care about you.

As opposed to whom? It must be that other church. (Shhhhh...you know which one I'm talking about!!) Like I've said before, if you have to put it on the sign...

God gave us faces.
We create our expressions.

At least God didn't create church signs. Because I couldn't imagine He could be responsible for such lousy "expressions" on them. This next one takes the cake. My first question is, why do you need a banner in addition to a marquee? Are you multiplying lousiness?

Wednesday, October 31st 4-7 PM
Family Fun
and a
Holy Ghost Wienie Roast

I can't comment. I just can't. I'm wiping the tears from my eyes.

Miracle Baby Turns One

2007-10-25T19:47:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year I blogged about miracle baby Amillia Sonja Taylor and the fact that she was born at one day under twenty-one weeks, the shortest gestation period known for a live human birth. A lively discussion ensued regarding reproductive choice. Amillia turned one yesterday. Follow the link to see a picture.

Lousy Church Signs

2007-10-24T08:02:00.001-05:00

It has been quite some time since my latest offering of lousy church signs. Here are a few for your Wednesday. This one my wife found on the new "worship center" downtown.

Let your life match your lip.

Interesting diversion from "practice what you preach." Its good they didn't lose the alliteration. That is always important.

This one belongs in the "so sweet it will make you sick" category.

The next time you are reluctant to change,
think of the beauty of autumn.

Awww. It makes me want to get a new hair-do. And this one comes from my good blog friend Chris, The Evangelism Coach. And its OK to laugh out loud!

So, verbal adjective or adjectival verb? You make the call!

Sunday Morning Sermon

2007-10-23T16:50:00.001-05:00

I have been preaching through the book of Hebrews. In this past Sunday's exposition, I dealt with Hebrews 11:30-40; the title of the message was Faith that Overcomes. In the development of verses 35-37, I transitioned the writer's expectation of persecution for the Hebrew Christians to contemporary persecution. Here is a brief snippet.

Persecution is very real. I could give example after example of modern-day persecution, yet we are lulled into believing that it really doesn't happen. We are insulated by a first amendment that guards our religious expression. We can gather freely, talk about the Bible, and worship with absolutely no recourse.

Yet, there are Christian brothers and sisters around the world that earnestly pray for the freedom you and I have. What does that freedom engender in us, however?

A white-hot passion for the Gospel?

A zeal to see souls saved?

A radical worship that changes hearts and lives?

An earnest calling forth of men and women to repent and believe the Gospel?

No--none of this. Rather it engenders in us a complacency, a slothfulness, a laziness that God abhors. It does not drive us to our knees in fervent prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters. It drives us onto our backsides just glad that it ain't us.

These martyrs; these persecuted Christians are who the writer of Hebrews is holding up for us by way of example. He isn't holding up who we would consider giants of the faith--Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah, Jerry Falwell--yes, these are great men of God and we should listen to them, honor them, and respect them and their ministries. Yet they aren't the men whom will be in the roll call of faith per Hebrews 11.

It will be men more along the likes of Tilmann, Necati, and Ur, Turkish believers who died for their faith in April of this year. Or the Chinese believer who was brutally beaten, along with his wife, for refusing to reveal the meeting location of their house church.

This is a disconnect that we need to overcome as the people of God. Persecution is real and it takes place everyday--even if it doesn't happen within our shores. Our freedom is a blessing but one we take woefully for granted.

Notes on Pastoral Authority

2007-10-21T13:34:00.000-05:00

Having difficulty with an argumentative church member, I asked a couple of brother pastors' advice on the issue. From two different pastors, I received two different responses, polar opposites from one another. One pastor said simply tell him that you're the pastor and that's that. The second said I needed to lovingly admonish the brother and walk with him through this issue.

Pastoral authority is a difficult topic to discuss. How much authority should the pastor have, if any at all? If he does have authority then to whom does he answer? Likewise, who answers to him? How should he exercise that authority? Positions on authority are as many as there are pastors and there are several other factors that guide a pastor's understanding of his own authority.

Some pastors feel they don't need to know what is going on in the church; a hands-off approach. Some pastors micro-manage every minute detail of church life. The Scriptures give evidence of some semblance of authority when Peter urges the elders to whom he was writing. "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2-3). It is apparent that in Peter's time there were pastors who saw their role in church life as "he who is to be obeyed." Perhaps this attitude did not play out in actual practice but quite certainly the tendency was there.

It was about fifteen minutes before I was to preach at a funeral with one of the predecessors of the church I serve. He is seventy years old. Spending twelve years at the church I now pastor, he asked, "How long have you been here now?"

"Almost six years, sir."

"Well, you've been here long enough to be called pastor now haven't you?"

This is one of the first principles of pastoral authority. Authority is earned. I believe a certain amount comes with the office, but not much. People are not by nature trusting people and when a man comes in from outside their congregation, there is a natural uphill climb to garner respect. Many pastors do not take advantage of this uphill climb to allow their muscles to be hardened by the difficult work of winning people's hearts.

A good friend of mine (and if you're reading, you know who you are) often says, "A man who leads and nobody follows is only taking a walk." Pastoral ministry is not some kind of divine follow-the-leader. It is an earned respect, an earned influence.

A second principle is just to simply love people. We emphasize the Great Commission as well we should, but often we have done it to the detriment of the Greatest Commandment. Loving people is hard and its much easier to tell people about Jesus than to love them to the point of acceptance.

Moreover, people are needy and demand care. One brother pastor jokingly said he had 85 children. Though I disagree with the spirit of that retort, there is a grain of truth in it. As children are needy so God's people are needy and need constant attention and provision.This does not mean God's people won't act unloving. The pastor then can take the lead in a delicate area of church life and show the congregation he serves how to love unloving people. Peter did say "be examples."

A third principle I guide my ministry by is trod where they have trod. Walk with the folks through their difficulties and burdens, rejoice in their rejoicings, weep when they weep. Sometimes pastoral ministry just needs to be a ministry of presence. For the pastor's watch to stop for just a few moments means the world to a lonely elderly person, a grieving widow, or a hurting divorcee.

A final principle is to always pray. I pray with the people God has given me to serve every opportunity I get. I never leave a congregant's home, bedside, or hospital room without praying. Whether the time is happy or sad, I always pray.

One final concern is when to exercise authority. The pastor only has as much authority as the congregation allows him to have. It can raise incrementally through a life of integrity, dealing well with mistakes, and living an authentic Christian life before them. A real pastor and not "super-Christian" fosters an environment of trust when times to exercise authority comes yet hypocrisy can do irreparable harm.

Pastoral authority has its limits and can be abused. The Bible does not even call for "servant-leaders," the vogue, falsely humble moniker for how pastors ought to be. Rather, Jesus just calls for servants.

You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first of all shall be slave of all. Mark 10:42-44