The 17th Amendment

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

The 17th Amendment:  A Backhanded Acknowledgement of States’ Rights

Jeff Adams

For several years now I’ve been heard organizations and individuals advocate repealing the 17th Amendment. Usually the reasoning is based on the problems with ever-centralizing, ever-growing government, the move of the American republic towards a democracy (read “mobocracy”), and the advocacy of States’ Rights.

Unfortunately, most Americans are too ignorant of their own history to understand that the United States isn’t a democracy, but a union of representative republics. Anyone who bothers to actually read the U.S. Constitution will see clearly we are a union of sovereign states, each guaranteeing “a republican form of government.” The idea of the founders was to have a strictly limited federal government, with the states handling the bulk of governmental matters (hence the constitution calling the federal government the “agent” of the states; a subordinate role for the federal government to the state governments.)  The argument about States’ Rights usually falls on deaf ears as being a “Southern thing” and an idea that died in the War Between the States. But that would only be true if the constitution died at the same time (which some would argue it did). American Nationalists (read neo-cons, faux patriots who scream “my country right or wrong,” and socialists) reject States’ Rights as an idea that was ever valid, but that would require a person to reject historical facts.

While the idea of repealing the 17th Amendment is far from being accepted by even a sliver of today’s population that can register on the political radar, the concept got a big shot in the arm in April of this year when U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) claimed that the 17th Amendment was to blame for the pathetic state of the U.S. Senate.

To backtrack for a moment, for the uninformed, the 17th Amendment is the provision that allows U.S. Senators to be directly elected by a state’s population. Prior to this amendment, Senators were selected by a state’s legislature. This allowed the states, as independent entities, to have a more direct say in what the federal government could do.  Basically, the Senators were the state’s mouthpieces in Washington D.C., ensuring that the federal government knew, and kept, its place. Remember, the U.S. Constitution set up a federal system of government, not a centralized system, to work with the member states of the union.

Simply put, the states would instruct their senators how to vote and act on issues, and thereby have a tight reign on the senators and a strong say in how the federal government acted. The idea of checks and balances wasn’t just between the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of the federal government. Checks and balances were between the people (House of Representatives), the states (Senate) and the rule of law (the Judiciary).

Having the Senators more directly representing the interests of the states as entities themselves, rather than attempting to appeal to the general population of a state en masse, was a clear design by the founders for protecting States’ Rights.  Any and all efforts to subvert this concept of balancing the interests of the people, the states as entities, and the union of states, is a betrayal of the U.S. Constitution, even the amending of the Constitution to allow the disruption of this balance. (Technically, the 17th Amendment was legal, but it upset the designed balance of interests, thus being contrary to the founders’ designs.) 

Amendments to address changing views on issues such as slavery, alcohol, voting rights, or clarifications of citizenship, procedures for the functioning of government, etc. reflect what the amendment process was for, and the founders’ anticipation of the need for some way to be flexible with the Constitution. However, the 17th Amendment changed the nature of the relationship between the people, the states, and the union. The founders would have objected to changing our relationship from a republic of republics to a mass democracy (and it is well documented that the founders despised democracy as mob rule).

Ironically, one of the arguments for direct elections of Senators was that the old system left Senators susceptible to corrupting influences by special interests. Direct elections certainly didn’t correct that, and in fact left them freer to sell themselves like whores to whoever would fill their re-election coffers.

The increase in federal power can be seen to grow at an increasingly faster rate after selection of Senators was removed from the state legislatures. Without this restriction on politicians, the Senate became a political body unanswerable to the states, and no longer did Senators have their state’s interest at heart or fear having to answer to the elected body they were suppose to represent (the state legislatures). Senators just became desirous of more and more power above and beyond the states, making the states subservient to their “agent,” the federal government. Remember, it is the Senate that ratifies treaties, confirms executive appointments and confirms judicial appointments. These items, within the federal government, were controlled by the states via their Senators. This is how the states had a say in what the federal government did, and how the federal government represented the union of states to the world. This is no longer so. The 17th Amendment cut the states out of the business of running the federal government.

Senator Miller has introduced a bill (S.J.Res. 35) to repeal the 17th Amendment. For those who see our republic dwindling away and want to recapture the rights God gave us, those rights our sovereign states are suppose to be defending within the union, you should call your Senators and demand they give this bill a hearing.

For all the abuse the South has taken over time, verbally and physically, for standing by the ideals of the founders concerning States’ Rights, it would be some consolation to see the 17th Amendment repealed.  It would put us back on the track to true liberty and the honoring of the Constitutional ideals the founders established, and would help to start putting the power back where it belongs:  with the states.  An interesting side note is that ironically the 17th Amendment, whether it gets repealed or not, is a backhanded acknowledgement of the reality that States’ Rights was not some misbegotten concept, but a political, constitutional concept the founders intended. 

The 17th Amendment highlights the fact that states were to have a role in controlling the federal government, were separate sovereign entities, and were not mere provinces of some monolithic nation. Enactment of the 17th Amendment wasn’t just a blow to States’ Rights, but a blow to our individual rights as the federal government has grown and taken over our lives. Its repeal would be a vindication of the States’ Rights arguments presented by Jefferson, Madison, Calhoun, and other Southerners devoted to true Constitutional government, including the Confederates who fought a war to defend the ideals of the founding fathers, as well as their rights.

May 20, 2004

Mr. Jeff Adams is the State Director of Education for the Texas chapter of the League of the South. He currently works as an industrial engineer in Houston, Texas. He may be reached for comment here.

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የ21ኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን ቤ/ክ

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

የ21ኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን ቤ/ክ

 David Alan Black  

  ሥልጣን አሜሪካንን ጐድቷታል በግ ክንፍ (liberals) ብቻ አይደለም አሁንም በቀኝ ክንፍ (conservatives) ተመሳሳይ ነገር እያደረገ ነው፡፡ ይህንን ችግር (Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon) በሚለው መጽሐፌ ተንትኛለሁ፡፡ ቀኝ ክንፍ ብዙ ተከታይ አለው:: ወደ ተሳሳተ አቅጣጫ ስዞርም ሁሉንም ተከታዮች ወደ ስህተት ይመራል፡፡ በታወቀ ቦታ ሁሉና መፈክር ባለበት ሥፍራ ሁሉ ተቀባይነት አለው፡፡ እራሱን በኃይል፣ በማዕረግና በሐብት ሸጧል፡፡ ጥቂቶች ብቻ ናቸው ይህ ዝንባሌ ቤ/ክንን ማጥቃቱን የሚክዱት፡፡ በጨለማ ውስጥ አንድ ትንሽ ብርሃን ብቻ ነው የቀረው ይኸውም ንጹህ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ነው፡፡ አንድን መሰረታዊ እውነታዎችን መመለስ አሁንም ይቻላል፣ ግን ይህም የሚሆነው የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስንታዘዝ ብቻ ነው፡፡ እዚህ  ጋር ነው የአለቃው የአእምሮ ብርሃን ሙሉ በሙሉ የተገለጠው፡፡ የሥልጣን ዘውድን ወደ ራሱ ላይ አወጣ፡፡

  አሁን ያላቸውን ቤ/ክ ህይወት ልምምድ መንገድ ታህድሶን የሚጀምርበት ቦታ እንደመሆኑ በትኩረት ማየት አለብን፡፡ ተክትኮችን በመለጋትና በማስካድ ፈንታ የተለየ ዘዴ ማዘጋጀትና መስማማት አለብን፡፡ እውነቱን ለመናገር ወደ ፊትም የዛሬዋ ቤ/ክ ህይወት ተለምዶዎች በተዋሰነ ደረጃ የሚቀጥሉ አሉ፡፡ ይሁን እንጅ መመለስ የማይፈልጉና በሚገባ የሚመረምሩ ላይሆኖ ይችላሉ፡፡ የተቀነባበሩ ሀሳቦች (አሁን እየተገለጡ ያሉ ቤ/ክርስቲያናት አስተሳሰቦችን ጭምር) ልሰሩ እንደማይችሉ አኔ እርግጠኛ ነኝ፡፡ ምክንያቱም ተመሳሳይ ገንዘብ የሚከፈለው ሰራተኛ፣ ሕንፃ፣ የንግድ ሥራ፣ ፀሐፊዎችና ብዙ ትልቅ ቤ/ክ አንደሚያደርጉት ተቋማዊነት አላቸው፡፡ ዋናውን ነገር ቤ/ክ እንደመጽሐፍ ቅዱስ ማየት ወደ መጨረሻ መዳረሻ መንገድ ማየታችን ነው፡፡ ይህም እግዚአብሔር አዲስ ሰው የሚቀርጽበት መንገድ መንፈሳዊ መንግሥት ከሰው ሥንፍና የምወጣበት ነው፡፡ ጊዜው አስተማሪ የሆኑ አዲስ ሀሳቦችን የምናቅድበት ነው፡፡ ብዙ የቤተክርስቲያን ሰዎች ምን ሊደረግ እንደሚችል እየጠየቁ ነው መንፈስ ቅዱስ ከፈቀደና አብሮን ከሠራ ለውጥ ይመጣል፡፡ ለውጡም ለተሻለ ነገር፣ ለመንግሥቱ መስፋትና ለአግዚአብሔር ክብር ነው፡፡

የታደሰችው የ21ኛ መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን ቤ/ክን ምን ትመስላለች? የምታገለግል ቤ/ክ ትሆናለች፣ የድርጅቱ መዋቅር ግልጽና ቀለል ያለ ውጣ ውረድ ለሚያስዙ (በቢሮክራቶች)ና ውጣ ወርድ በበዛበት አሰራር (ቢሮክራሲ) የተጨናነቀ አይሆንም፡፡ የገንዘብ አጠቃቀሙ ቅድሚያ የሚሰጠው ለአካባቢና ለአለም አቀፋዊ ሚሽን ነው፡፡

ትላልቅ ወጭዎች ይቀንሳሉ፡፡ ቁጠባዎችም ለደቀመዛሙርት አገለግሎት ይውላሉ፡፡  በአሁን ጊዜ በሚከፈላቸው ሰዎች የሚሰሩ ሥራዎች በፈቃደኛ ሰዎች ይሞላሉ ወይም ይተካሉ፡፡ ቤተእምነቶች በገንዘብ አጠቃቀም ቤ/ክ ገንዘብን በሕትመት ስራ ከማጥፋት (አጫጭር ጽሑፎች፣ በየጊዜ የምዘጋጅ የሰንብት ትምህርቶች (መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ በፈንታው ይሰራል)ና የተዋቡ መጽሄቶች) ለውጥ ያደርጋሉ፡፡ የቤ/ክ ሕንጻዎች ለመጀመሪያውና ሁለተኛ ደረጃ የክርስትና ትምህርት ይሆናሉ፡፡ አማኞች በደስታ ከቤተእምነት አልፎው በፈቃደኝነት ይሰራሉ፡፡ በተለይ በአጥቢያ ደረጃ ቤ/ክ የወንጌልን መልካም ዜና ቅደምያ ሰጥታ ተዉጃለች፡፡ በዚህም ባህል የሚጠይቃቸውን ነገሮች ወደ ጐን ሳንተው ሙሉ ፈቃደኝነት ያለበት የምእመናን አገልግሎት የቀሳውስትን ስራ ይተካል፡፡ አማኞች በግላቸው አንደስጦታቸው ያገለግላሉ፡፡ ቤ/ክ ለምዕማናን ሁሉ የሚሆን ሥልጠና (ሴምናሬዎች እየረዱቸው) ያዘጋጃሉ፡፡ እንዲሁም በፈቃደኞች ላይ የተመሰረተ የትምህርት ኘሮግራሞችን በመዋቅራቸው ውስጥ ያካትታሉ፡፡ አምልኮ በተወሰነ ቦታና ጊዜ አይገድብም፡፡

በአቢያተ ቤ/ክናት ግንባታ እንደ ጣዖት ልታይ ይችላል፡፡ ቤ/ክ ለርሷ ጥቅም መታገል የለባትም ግን አገልጋይ መሆን አለበት፡፡ አለማዊነትን በመግለጥ እንብ ማለት አለባት፡፡ የሰናጠሉ መጋቢዎች ለእያንዳንዱ ‹‹አገልጋዮች›› ለምዕመናን ረዳት ይሆናሉ፡፡ እንደዚህ ባተደሳች ቤ/ክ በተሰበሰቡ ጊዜ ሁሉ ወደ ፊት የሚጓዙ ደቀመዛሙርትን እናገኛለን፡፡ አዲስ አባል በህብረተሰብ መካከል ያሉትን ተግባሮችን ለይቶ እንድሳተፍ ይጠየቃል፡፡ (ጉረቤትን መምከር፣ ፈቃደኛ የሆነ የቤተመጽሐፍት አባል፣ ቤት ለቤት መጐብኘት ወዘተ) ይህም በቤተክርስቲያን ካለው አገልግሎት በተጨማሪ ነው፡፡

እነዚህ ያነሣኋቸው ነጥቦች (በተጨማሪ የተደሳች ቤ/ክ መልካም ምሳሌዎችን ማቅረብ እችላለው) የእኔን ሀሣብ ብቻ የሚያመላክቱ አይደለም፡፡ በጣም ብዙ በሆኑ ጥናቶች የተደገፈና በተለማመድናቸው በትልልቅ መዋቅሮች ተቃርኖ የሚታዩ ናቸው፡፡ የክርስትናን ሥርዓት ትዕይትን ካመጣው የተያያዘ ነው፡፡ የእምነት ጦርነት በክርስትና ላይ የተከፈተ ጦርነት አይደለም፡፡ ክርስትናን ከማይነቃነቀው ሥርዓት ነፃ በማውጣት ጣዖቶቻቸውን ለማፍረስና በመንፈስ ድህነት የምትታወቀውን ቤ/ክ በድጋሚ ለመመስረት ነው፡፡

June 12, 2010

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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February 2004 Blog Archives

 

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February 2004 Blog Archives

Sunday, February 29

7:30 AM A blogger’s take on the Passion fever among evangelicals:

I am personally grieved at how droves evangelicals are throwing themselves at The Passion movie. They are hungry for something aesthetically rich and wholesome and they dive into the first plate that comes along that might fill the bill. The evangelical church is driven by experience. The word is not enought. So a movie like The Passion of the Christ comes along and fills this desire. They are really no different from Medieval supersticious mystics in this regard. The Reformation marked the ascendancy of the word as a liberator from the endless longing for experience.

Evangelicals flocking to The Passion shouldn’t be that surprising. These are, after all, the same people who bought millions of copies of Jabez and the Armageddon series, and who made Thomas Kinkade a multi-millionaire. Ignorance and foolishness reigns in the evangelical church today (the rest of the church (mainline) is even worse off). It is time to weep.

But it gets worse. It seems that many who call themselves reformed are also tearing loose from their confessional moorings and taking the plunge. We who in many respects led the way in encouraging the church to be cultural, have gone overboard and have (seemingly) forgotten that there are scriptural limits to cultural involvement. Being “involved” or “engaged” or “relevant” trumps all other factors. The end justifies the means. We are loosing our distinctiveness — our biblical flavor. We will never create a Christian culture at this rate.

Read the threads on the World sites. The lines of “reasoning” and lack of biblical understanding are tragic.

And so I weep.

Be a discerning Christian. Before you see Gibson’s movie, read these:

http://www.providencepca.com/essays/passion.html

http://newswithviews.com/BeritKjos/kjos26.htm

http://www.av1611.org/Passion/menace.html

Friday, February 27

10:00 AM Off to First Baptist Norfolk to speak on Paul’s letter to the Romans and his letters to the Corinthians, as well as several of his Prison Epistles. What great books! We’ll have lots of fun diagramming the opening salutation of Romans (1:1-7) and discussing (among other topics) the theme of Philippians (no, not joy, but something far more significant). The slush is awful here in North Carolina, but I understand that Norfolk didn’t even get a dusting. Still, drive carefully, everyone!

7:00 AM I received the following inquiry this morning:

You sound like my kind of man. I used to be a devout Republican until I realized that the party was chock full of people who voted for everything I despise. Bush has failed me way too many times. What do you think of Roy Moore? I hear he might run with the Constitution Party this year.

It is my understanding that Judge Moore has declined to run for national office and that the party’s candidate for president will be Mr. Michael Peroutka, whose website I’ve linked to on my front page. Of course, nothing is settled until the Constitution Party holds its national convention in June.

Thursday, February 26

7:30 AM Schröder on the horns of a dilemma: Is the price too high to mend fences with Bush?

7:10 AM “Are you concerned, as I am, about deception in the Church and deviation from God’s written Word?” Read Berit Kjos’s review of The Passion.

7:05 AM A good friend of mine has passed away. He taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School near Chicago and was well loved by students and colleagues alike.

Dr. Paul Feinberg, in memoriam

August 13, 1938–February 21, 2004

6:30 AM Here’s a blogger who has seen the light:

Mr. Michael Peroutka. A member of the Constitution party who is the kind of man we need for the President of the United States of America. I will most likely be casting my vote for Mr. Peroutka come November. Having been disappointed with President Bush time after time it is good to see a candidate who has backbone finally running for office. My fear is that he will lose not so much because of Democrats but because of other people voting for Bush, not so much because Bush is a good candidate or not but because they don’t want the Democrats to get into the White House. So they vote for Bush not because of conviction but because they would rather avoid the Democrats getting elected then to vote for what is right and good in this world. My point is; Why would you vote for someone who has done a bad job just to avoid a Democrat getting into office instead of voting according to conviction and having the candidate lose but knowing that you did what was right? I’ve encountered many people who have “The lesser of two evils” kind of thinking. If people do vote that way (and they will) let us hope that a Democrat does get into office anyways.

Wednesday, February 25

1:30 PM Can the church fulfill its command to be “salt and light” if its pulpit is silent on how members should apply biblical truths to cultural issues? Find the answer at this excellent website.

1:15 PM The Constitution Party Platform proclaims:

“We, the members of the Constitution Party, gratefully acknowledge the blessing of the Lord God as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of this Nation. We solemnly declare that the foundation of our political position and moving principle of our political activity is our full submission and unshakable faith in our Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. We hereby appeal to Him for mercy, aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Divine Providence as we work to restore and preserve this Nation as a government of the People, by the People, and for the People.”

A supporter of these ideals is Ezola Foster, whose essay Were I President of These Great United States I Would…” deserves a careful reading. An excerpt:

America has many “Christians”, but few who truly believe Christ is their Savior. Is His arm too short to remove the enemy from without and within? Is it not He who sets up and brings down kings?

Forget the “Vote Your Conscience” slogans of the other parties. Vote the Party that truly believes in our Savior Jesus Christ and saving our Constitutional Republic – The Constitution Party!

If I were President, this is what I would advocate.

Voting Republican or Democrat will never allow you to vote for such a leader!

1:10 PM I heard in chapel today a great quote by Coach Barry Switzer: “Execute properly, and the scoreboard will take care of itself.”

9:10 AM Public policy is now a commodity, thanks to the GOP.

9:00 AM If you’ve decided not to see The Passion and someone asks you why, the best answer is also the shortest:

“I’ve read the book.”

8:30 AM More lessons from one of the twentieth century’s greatest heroes of the faith and defenders of freedom, Dr. J. Gresham Machen:

Dr Trueman presented a lively analysis of Machen’s call-to-arms, his book Christianity and Liberalism. Dr Trueman argued that this book has a message for British Evangelicalism today.

He warned that ‘liberalism embodies a whole range of attitudes towards divine things which can sit quite happily with high-sounding words about biblical authority’. He insisted: ‘we must continually fight liberalism in our own souls and within our own churches with all our heart and mind and soul, for this battle is nothing less than one particular outworking of our love for God in Christ’.

For Evangelicals the dangers arise from man-centred church life and sentimentalism. Over against these dangers he urged the primacy of doctrine; our need to recover a sight of the transcendence of God; and a proper emphasis on the glorious work of Christ in salvation.

He developed this idea under the categories of the uniqueness of the Saviour, the centrality of the atonement and the necessity of regeneration.

For too many people the exclusive claims of Christ and the consequent ‘narrowness’ of Christianity have become a theological problem. They ought rather to be the spur to evangelism as in the days of our fathers.

The address was searching and challenging, but concluded with a reminder that ‘Machen’s book is gloriously positive. It contains passage after passage which express the glory of God and his gospel in a wonderful and moving manner’.

It lays out clearly how far man has fallen and how much God has done for him. It reminds us again and again that God not man … is the centre and goal of creation.

8:00 AM “Divisions and separations are most objectionable in religion. They weaken the cause of true Christianity …But before we blame people for them, we must be careful that we lay the blame where it is deserved. False doctrine and heresy are even worse than schism. If people separate themselves from teaching that is positively false and unscriptural, they ought to be praised rather than reproved. In such cases separation is a virtue and not a sin.” J.C. Ryle

Tuesday, February 24

8:10 PM Croesus said: In peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons. My sympathy and prayers go out to this precious family, who lost their son in Iraq.

5:10 PM The Constitution Party and Michael Peroutka received international coverage at BBC News.

4:50 PM Aren’t sure what the differences are between the major parties?  Here’s an easy way for you to compare their platforms:

Constitution Party Platform
Libertarian Party Platform
Republican Party Platform
Democratic Party Platform

In addition, several forums are currently discussing the Constitution Party and its candidate, Mr. Michael Peroutka. These include Christian Forums and Baptist Board. An interesting sampling from the latter:

The Constitution Party is a small party and will probably always be a small party. I expect the two branches of the Demopublican Party to always be the two major parties as they have been for about the past 150 years.

I have voted for a major party presidential candidate three times and all three times that candidate won and all three times I have been disappointed in the way they governed after I voted for them.

So, I don’t care about winning any more. Voting for a “winner” hasn’t won me anything in advancing what I care about politically. Government keeps getting bigger and I pay more and more in taxes and the national debt keeps getting bigger.

Therefore, I see absolutely no point in voting for a “major” party candidate.

9:50 AM O, the wit and wisdom of the net! I call two witnesses; the first is Harry Browne and his “defense” of traditional marriage:

If you really think marriage must be defended, here are some much more practical suggestions. . . . 

• Recognize why you married your spouse and what that person means to you.

• Remember that the next time you’re inclined to criticize or argue with your spouse.

• Take a moment every day to recognize the blessings of your relationship, and keep those blessings in mind.

• Tell your spouse how glad you are to be married, and what it means to you — and do that often.

• Make sure that your spouse’s needs are being met.

If you do these things, your marriage will be well defended — and you shouldn’t have to worry over who else is getting married (unless you’re simply a busybody).

Next, Mr. Ben Cole, a former student of mine with a great blog, writes about gay marriage:

I was at home this weekend sitting at breakfast and I decided to conduct a one person poll. I asked my mom what she thought about the “gay marriage issue.”

“It’s just awful,” she said. “How many gay divorces are there going to be in six months?”

By the way, thanks, Ben, for the link on your site. And best wishes on your forthcoming Ph.D. studies at Baylor. (And don’t you dare forget your Greek in the meantime!)

9:40 AM Photo of the Day from today’s L’Express (with caption):

L’ex-gouverneur du Vermont, Howard Dean, téléphone, le 18 février, peu après avoir appris sa décevante troisième place dans la primaire de l’Etat du Wisconsin, loin derrière John Kerry et John Edwards. Il était bien parti dans la course à l’investiture démocrate jusqu’à la mi-janvier, et cet échec l’a conduit à jeter l’éponge: «Je ne suis plus candidat actif à la présidence […] L’essentiel est de battre le président George W. Bush en novembre […]», a annoncé, dépité, Howard Dean.

For you non-francophones, Dean said: “I am no longer an active candidate for president…. The essential thing is to defeat President Bush in November.” At long last, Mr. Dean and I finally agree on something.

9:30 AM Another reason why you should consider homeschooling your children:

Would parents still send their children to public schools if they knew that these schools, on purpose, spread the “gay” militants’ message and try to win the children over to it? If they knew, would they not either demand that it stop or else pull their children out of such a toxic spiritual environment?

A few might not, but most would. If they only knew.

Read more.

7:10 AM Letzen Abend hörte ich der Deutschen Welle zu, direkt aus Deutschland. Es wurde von Irak viel diskutiert. Besonders wurde betont: Mit Attacken gegen seinen wahrscheinlichen Herausforderer John Kerry hat Bush seine Kampagne für seine Wiederwahl im November eingeläutet. Meine Freunde, nie war ich mir so sicher wie jetzt: das Böse kann nicht gut sein (vielleicht sollte ich mich umbenennen: lesen die Kids keine politische Literatur mehr?) Genau so scheint es auch in der “wunderbaren” Welt von Wissenschaft zu sein, wie ich schon diskutiert habe.

7:05 AM A respected New Testament and Greek professor spoke out years ago against the abuses of the federal government – and he was boiled as a result. Did that stop him? Did he retreat to his ivory tower? Not the likes of a J. Gresham Machen!

I find there exactly the same evils that are rampant in the world — centralized education programs, the subservience of the church to the state, contempt for the rights of minorities, standardization of everything, suppression of intellectual adventure….I see more clearly than ever before that unless the gospel is true and there is another world, our souls are in prison. The gospel of Christ is a blessed relief from that sinful state of affairs commonly known as hundred per-cent Americanism.

7:00 AM Bush knew.

6:50 AM A good verse for the day:

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5).

6:45 AM E. E. Roberts, a fellow ruralite Virginian, is a regular reader of DBO and had these thoughts on my essay So You’re Offended by the Super Bowl Half-Time?

You nailed it when you said  “Turn off the stupid TV and leave it off.”  I wasn’t in the least offended by Janet Jackson’s little display because I didn’t even know about it until sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.  I’ve never watched a super bowl game and couldn’t even tell you what it’s supposed to prove.

Chuck Baldwin is right about the addiction of American men to TV sports. It has always been disgusting to me to hear grown men talking about idiotic games involving a ball of some kind or about drivers of million dollar cars going around and around a track.  A people whose men can be distracted by such nonsense may very well be doomed.  

Good column, Dave

Monday, February 23

1:55 PM Did you know this (link from Buried Treasure)?

A pattern of late marriage may actually increase the rate of divorce. During that initial decade of physical adulthood, young people may not be getting married, but they’re still falling in love. They fall in love, and break up, and undergo terrible pain, but find that with time they get over it. They may do this many times. Gradually, they get used to it; they learn that they can give their hearts away, and take them back again; they learn to shield their hearts from access in the first place. They learn to approach a relationship with the goal of getting what they want, and keep their bags packed by the door. By the time they marry they may have had many opportunities to learn how to walk away from a promise. They’ve been training for divorce.

Read Let’s Have More Teen Pregnancy.

1:20 PM The National Debt Clock is a painful reminder of our government’s fiscal irresponsibility. Check out what your family’s share is!

1:00 PM “If ever there should come a wretched day when all our pulpits be full of modern thought, and the old doctrine of substitutionary sacrifice shall be exploded, then there will remain no word of comfort for the guilty or hope for the despairing.” C. H. Spurgeon.

11:45 AM As the “revival” season starts back up, I am reminded what a fellow Southern Baptist has written:

Modern evangelism’s methods as well as its message must be scrutinized in the light of the Scriptures, and contemporary church practice must be accordingly reconstructed.

The task will not be easy, quick, or painless. But it must be attempted. The glory of God and the integrity of His Kingdom demand it. The lost world has seen enough of the misguided, albeit sincere, religious huckstering of a truncated gospel at bargain-basement prices. Our churches have been blighted long enough with half-converted members who are comfortably deceived in their lostness.

May God never let us lose our zeal for evangelism. But may He be pleased to awaken us to the fact that zeal alone is not sufficient — it must be grounded upon the sure doctrinal foundation of biblical evangelism. If we long to see the kind of sound conversions that characterized the ministries of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, and our early Southern Baptist churches, then we must learn as did they to base our evangelistic message and methods on biblical doctrine. May those who look back and write our history be able to say with the inspired historian of the first century, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).

11:30 AM Happy Birthday to one of my favorite composers.

9:30 AM Have you discovered these blogs yet?

9:15 AM The wisdom of C. S. Lewis:

A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.

8:45 AM If you are planning on seeing The Passion, please read Big Screen Jesus by Paul Proctor first. As always, Paul has some significant insights that are being overlooked in the current debate.

7:45 AM My essay on Michael Peroutka emphasized that Michael’s campaign is platform-run rather than personality-driven, contrary to the two major major parties (“electability” is their watchword). This reader from Torrance, California, seemed to agree:

Dear Mr. Black,

Thanks for the article about Michael Peroutka. Because of its principled foundation, the Constitution Party can be built into a viable and effective political force, and not a personality-drive flash in the pan.

7:30 AM A reader sent me this thoughtful response to my essay on Our Corporate Bribery System. It hits the nail on the head.

Dave,

I’m hearing this issue brought up more frequently on conservative talk radio, but with the failure to get to the heart of the issue I believe you alluded.

If government were constrained by the original intent expressed in the constitution, there would be less investing in the system with money to influence elections because the “payback” would not be there.  Until this issue of immoral, unconstitutional power is addressed, it is only natural that free market principals of influence, power, and control will exert it’s influence.  Let’s more frequently lay the blame where it truly lies…not just in the money spent but why is it being spent.

Friday, February 20

12:45 PM God bless all of you, and have a great weekend. Talk to you on Monday, Deo volente.

12:30 PM This morning Baptist Press ran a review of Gibson’s The Passion that compares the movie to the power of the Pieta:

Years ago, while I viewed a short film on the work of Michelangelo, suddenly, there was the Pieta of St. Peter’s, a marble figure of the Madonna embracing her crucified Son. It literally took my breath away. Somehow, I understood that I was looking upon a masterpiece. I have three fortunate friends who have beheld the Pieta while in Rome. Each confirmed my impression, asserting that it was even more powerful standing in its presence. Mel Gibson uses the medium of film as Michelangelo did with stone, chiseling away superficiality and carving out a cinematic masterpiece. (At film’s end, homage is paid to the Pieta.)

“Homage is paid to the Pieta”— is that a commendation? Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but to me this is yet another reason why I’ll probably forego The Passion: not only does it promote false ecumenism; it promotes the worship of images over the Word of God. In my opinion, the movie is an extended visual crucifix. For, lest we forget, it fails to portray an element of the gospel that is absolutely essential, namely the resurrection (1 Cor 15:1-4):

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

It was this message of the death and resurrection of Christ, preached and believed, that had the effect of bringing saving faith to the members of the church in Corinth. Moreover, Paul says it is this message, and this message alone, that is “of first importance,” meaning that it must not be watered down or compromised. So, whatever else The Passion may be, by leaving out the resurrection it most certainly is not the gospel.

I also wondered to myself as I read the reviewer’s comments about the Pieta: Have Protestant evangelicals forgotten what the Reformation was all about? Martin Luther, who was an expert in the scholastic theology of his day, made the study of the Bible, and especially Paul’s epistles, the focus of his life. Luther found that his teachings diverged widely from the traditional beliefs of the Roman church. His studies led him to conclude that Christ was the sole mediator between God and man, and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are effected by God’s grace alone and are received by faith alone. This conviction forced Luther to reject scholastic theology, which emphasized man’s role in his own salvation, and to reject many church practices that emphasized justification by good works (including indulgences and paying homage to images such as the Madonna). It was precisely this theological conviction that led to the dramatic events of the Reformation.

Notice what Paul says about Christ’s death in Galatians 3:1: “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?” When Paul preached to the Galatians he had “publicly portrayed” or “placarded” (Grk. prographo) Jesus Christ before them in such a way that they could easily comprehend His death. Did this involve visual imagery? None whatsoever. What he preached, they accepted. It was not an ephemeral, transient message, meant only for the senses. It had penetrated into them, and they had believed. I ask: Where is the emphasis here on Christ’s physical suffering, the blood and the pain? Paul’s emphasis is upon Jesus as the source of salvation, full and free, in contrast to the Judaizing message of his opponents.

For the Galatians to yield to the latter’s message of good works would be to supplant the finished work of Christ. Such yielding would indicate how foolish they were, says Paul, for Christ had been proclaimed to them clearly. William Hendriksen, formerly Professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary, has rightly noted: “When Paul says ‘before whose eyes Jesus was openly displayed as crucified,’ he is thinking not so much of the historical details of the crucifixion as of the supreme value of Christ Crucified for a world lost in sin, and of the implication that obedience to law contributes nothing to this salvation” (Exposition of Galatians, p. 112).

I find it disturbing that basic New Testament truths about Christ’s death and resurrection are largely being ignored in the current debate over The Passion. It also concerns me that the review cited above appeared on the Baptist Press website, apparently with its endorsement. Reading it I felt like Paul upon entering Athens. Luke says that “his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols” (Acts 17:16). When I first visited Athens and saw the workmanship of the architects and sculptors, I saw them simply as admirable works of art. But to Paul they were temples and images of pagan deities. Whatever else Paul may have thought of the magnificent art of Athens, the spectacle of a city dedicated to the worship of images stirred in him the conviction that these people needed the truth of the gospel. The same thing might well be said of those who, having seen The Passion, “pay homage to the Pieta.”

11:45 AM I am looking forward to attending the Peroutka 2004 announcement party in the great state of Maryland tomorrow and meeting people I have admired for years but have never met, including Mark Dankof, who attended high school in my home state of Hawaii, Bob Wells and Debbie Hopper of the National Coalition to Restore the Constitution, and, of course, the candidates and their families. I go with high expectations and this thought in mind: “Except the Lord build the house we labor in vain who build it.”

Michael Peroutka for President 2004 Click Here to go to his website.

Thursday, February 19

1:45 PM The greater Raleigh area has needed this for a long time, and now it has one. I’m referring to the Institute on the Constitution – you remember, that scrap of paper they mentioned in passing in the eight grade. Here is the latest from its organizer, Mr. Gerry Coleman:

We will begin the US Constitution Course on March 1, 2004, Monday, at 6:30PM at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, 3500 Edwards Mill Road, northwest Raleigh  27612, tel #787-1910, Pastor Tom Vestal.  This church is located between Duraleigh Road on the southwest and Glen Eden Drive on the northeast.

Pass the word! And heartiest thanks to Tom Vestal and Mt. Olivet Baptist Church for being hosts!

8:30 AM Good morning, America. These are exciting days to be alive. Please take a moment and read this email alert from Pastor Mark Dankof on the upcoming election:

Dear friend:

The great Lincoln scholar, Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo (The Real Lincoln) of Loyola College in Baltimore, recently made a credible case on Lew Rockwell.com for sitting out the 2004 election as a deliberately stated act of patriotism.  If you are one who takes the Constitution of the United States seriously and is sick of big government and undeclared foreign wars, he may well be right.

But I would also urge you to consider another option as well–prayerful examination of the Presidential candidacy of Michael Peroutka, who will announce his entrance into the ring for the nomination of the Constitution Party this weekend in Baltimore.  The Constitution Party is the leading 3rd party in America in voter registrations. Mr. Peroutka’s campaign web site is available for your perusal at http://www.Peroutka2004.com.

What are your other voting options in the first Tuesday of November this fall?  One will be a liberal Democrat, quite clearly the reincarnation of another Dukakis candidacy.  The other will be Rockefeller Republican George W. Bush, who has given us 1) a Congressionally undeclared and preemptive foreign war in Iraq on the basis of fraudulent claims and evidence; 2) a never-ending and disastrous occupation of that country which continues to siphon billions of tax dollars and American lives with no end in sight; 3) a Leviathan federal budget of 2.3 trillion dollars with 500 billion dollar+ deficits; 4) a catastrophic immigration policy which has given blanket amnesty to an additional 12 million illegal aliens in the United States; 5) a continuation of America-Last trade policies as outlined in NAFTA and GATT, designed to destroy the manufacturing base and sector of the American economy; and 6) ongoing capitulations in the Culture War to the anti-Christian, pro-abortion, and homosexual lobbies active within his own Party.

If you like these policies, Mr. Bush and/or his Democratic opponent are just for you.  I accept this. But if you share my own anxiety about the future of America and the direction either King George or John Kerry of the People’s Republic of Massachusetts will set in the four years that follow this November’s election, please prayerfully consider Michael Peroutka as worthy of your vote as the next President of the United States.  And tell as many of your friends and family members as you can of this important option I commend to you.  There is indeed a viable alternative available.  And let’s Reclaim our Republic.

May God bless you,

Pastor Mark Dankof
Mark Dankof’s America
 

Wednesday, February 18

8:30 AM Mega-kudos to Pat Buchanan for putting into words what many of us feel so strongly about:

The neocons are not wrong here. With the cost of war at $200 billion and rising, with deaths mounting, and with the possibility growing that Iraq could collapse in chaos and civil war, President Bush appears to be experiencing buyer’s remorse about the lemon he was sold by Perle and friends.

They promised him a “cakewalk,” that we would be hailed as “liberators,” that democracy would take root in Iraq and flourish in the Middle East, that Palestinians and Israelis would break bread and make peace. With Lord Melbourne, Bush must be muttering, “What all the wise men promised has not happened, and what all the damn fools said would happen has come to pass.”

Read No End to War, which parallels my own thinking perfectly.

8:10 AM If you’ll allow me to triviate for a moment, the Clinton Presidential Foundation reports that Bill Clinton, who governed during the dotcom boom, sent just two emails during his time in office. Of the two Clinton emails, one was a test message, and the other was to astronaut John Glenn aboard a space shuttle. Just wondering: did he get the same spam I receive?

7:45 AM Much praise for Michael Peroutka’s courage to enter the presidential race on the CP ticket. If you haven’t seen his statement of candidacy, you are in for a treat. A sampling:

I believe that the people of the United States of America deserve a candidate who is committed to an American view of law and government.  Actually, the people of America have an affirmative duty to vote for only such a candidate who is capable of taking an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.  As of November 3, 2003, one year prior to the presidential election, I am the only candidate who is publicly pledged to do exactly this.  

Based on their campaign statements, not one of the democratic candidates will honor the Constitution.  Almost every position they have taken is antithetical to a constitutional republic.  Our current president also has a dismal record of constitutional leadership.  From his use of military in Iraq and other countries without the benefit of a declaration of war, to his appointment of homosexuals to high government posts, to his huge deficit spending on unconstitutional social programs, to his dangerous and illegal support for the many programs of the new world order as propounded by the United Nations, to his support for the unconstitutional educational initiatives of his predecessor, he has demonstrated his contempt for the Constitution of the United States and for an American form of government in America.

No, this is not an endorsement, but Mr. Peroutka sounds a lot like the candidate I described in my essay Our Next President. He deserves our serious consideration and, most of all, our prayers.

7:30 AM Gary North does a good job of dissecting copyright laws in an age of global technocracy.  If copyright laws were never established to protect authors (and they weren’t), the internet age is about to change all that. If you are an author (present or prospective), you must read -and digest – this essay.

7:10 AM I enjoy reading Alan Keyes because he manages to be informative and provocative even when I think he’s wrong. His article on conservatism is a good example:

And yes, I’m a Republican, too. But I’ll tell you one thing: just as I will not sacrifice my faith to a partisan label, nor shall I sacrifice my political creed to the arguments that are subservient to the single-minded pursuit of partisan political power.

You can read the entire essay here. At least he was one of the few conservatives I know who had the courage to call REPUBLICAN Attorney General Bill Pryor to task for being a turn-coat in the Roy Moore case.

7:00 AM A reader pondered the identity of the “Three Seminary Professors Who Loved the South and Defended the Constitution” and came up with this response:

Today, March 2,  our monthly SCV meeting welcomes Dr. David Alan Black, who has the privilege of speaking on “Three Seminary Professors Who Loved the South and Defended the Constitution.”  These three great giants of the Christian faith are:

Robert Lewis Dabney (1820-1898); was a theology professor at Union Seminary, Virginia, for forty years!!!  (I am sure he was “burned-out”).  He was offered the chair of Church History at Princeton in 1860, but was so devoted to the Southern cause, that he declined this invitation.  Biographers said, “When the Civil War commenced in the following year he believed in the justice of the cause to which the Confederate States of the South were committed.” 

James Henley Thornwell (1812-1862); served as pastor, and twice as professor in the College of South Carolina.

Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve (1831-1924); who graduated from Princeton, has been called “the most brilliant, richly furnished and powerful master in Greek studies this country has produced” (by Dean West).  

Ladies and gentlemen, let us now take our seats and welcome our “fourth Seminary Professor” who loves the South and defends the Constitution, Dr. David Alan Black.

One of out three (Dabney) is a good start, my friend. Please try again!

Tuesday, February 17

5:30 PM Yet another leading evangelical becomes a Bush cheerleader. And for what reason? To avoid a repeat of the Super Bowl peep show….

The son of evangelist Billy Graham told thousands attending the N-R-B convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that if Bush is defeated there won’t be anyone to stop the media from broadcasting pornography. He said the kind of entertainment shown during the Super Bowl halftime show will be just the “tip of the iceberg.”

Franklin Graham added that most of the media will “spin” stories against President Bush and for his Democratic rival, so it’s up to religious broadcasters to “back God-fearing candidates” who’ll stand against what he calls the “moral corruption that is coming like a flood against this nation.”

Guess Franklin has never read Chuck Baldwin or Pat Buchanan or David Brownlow, et al., none of whom place any hope whatsoever in a Bush presidency stopping anything, let alone TV smut. As for media “spin,” I simply ask you to check out Chuck Baldwin’s Bush Record and then ask yourself the question, Who’s doing the spinning here? And before you send me hate mail, I have been an outspoken defender of Graham’s sending food stuffs – and missionaries – to Iraq when most of the media was pounding him. I just think he’s completely over-idealistic about the president. But I doth protest too much: The Bush record speaks for itself if anyone cares to read it.

4:00 PM Here’s one I heard the other day. How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Answer: Four. Calling his tail a leg doesn’t make it one. Writing for Slate, Fred Kaplan ably dissects the president’s now infamous interview with Tim Russert and asks, What in the world was he talking about?

If no commentators have noted, or perhaps even noticed, this new spin on American military policy, it may be because they don’t take Bush’s unscripted remarks seriously. (It’s just Bush, talking off the top of his head. No sense parsing the implications.) That in itself is quite a commentary on this president. But it’s not clear that these particular remarks were unscripted. Bush used the same phrase—”a capacity to make a weapon”—three times; it was almost certainly a part of his brief. Either the statement means something—that we now reserve the right to wage pre-emptive war on a hostile power that has the mere capacity to make weapons of mass destruction—or it’s empty blather. It’s unclear which would be more unsettling.

Read more here. Folks, I really hate to say I told you so, but I did.

3:00 PM Just a program note. For those of you who live near Roxboro, NC, I have the privilege of speaking at the monthly SCV meeting there on March 2 at 6:30. I’m preparing a talk on “Three Seminary Professors Who Loved the South and Defended the Constitution.” Sadly, many Southrons have never heard of these great men. If you can name these three giants of the Christian faith (two of whom lived in the mid-to-late-1800s, while the other lived in the early 1900s), let me know. A free copy of The Myth of Adolescence to the first person to name all three correctly.

2:30 PM Book sales dragging a bit? Need an ego boost? Don’t forget those anonymous reviews over at Amazon.com. Turns out some of them are not as anonymous as we thought. (So a publisher’s dust jacket blurbs aren’t the only unreliable sources of information about a book after all?)

2:15 PM Ian Mather risks the opprobrium of Rumsfeld & Co. with this piece on the coming civil war in Iraq:

Sources say the ayatollah has not ruled out issuing a fatwa, or religious ruling, against the American plan if necessary, which could result in Shi’ites refusing to work with any new government.

Some see the spiral of decline as leading to civil war. In the 10 months since the overthrow of Saddam, rivalry and resentment among Iraq’s rival ethnic groups have escalated. The violence has already claimed hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

The minority Sunnis, already bristling at the loss of their privileges, cannot stomach becoming subordinate to the Shi’ites and the Kurds, whom they have long dominated.

“The potential for a civil war is already in place,” Gareth Stansfield of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at England’s University of Exeter, said. “It does not need al-Qaeda to encourage it. It flies in the face of Iraq’s history of the past 80 years to imagine that the Sunnis will accept Shi’ite domination or allow them to rule.”

2:10 PM My, how times have changed.

2:00 PM It’s baaaack. Snow, sleet, and (worst of all) freezing rain. Although I was sick over the weekend with a nasty cold I am better and will be teaching my classes today and tomorrow. But remember: If the roads are too dangerous to travel, you are always excused from class. Just contact me for the assignments and we’ll see that you get back on track. Coming to class or not, please be careful out there!

[photo]

1:45 PM I’ve got to hand it to Lee Shelton; his commentary section always has the most up-to-date essays and links on the Constitution to be found most anywhere on the internet. If you had any doubt before that Americans need to be “ever vigilant,” doubt no more. Thanks, Lee, and keep up the good work.

1:30 PM Just when I was beginning to think that the American people had forgotten just how unconstitutional our two-party monopoly is comes this great essay by Chuck Baldwin:

It is high time that rank and file Christian people started thinking for themselves and stopped being led around by the nose by the “rich and famous.” It is time they started judging righteous judgment and stopped being a patsy for star-studded charlatans. It is time they started listening to truth and stopped being spoon-fed by religious and political propagandists.

It is not too late to turn America right side up, but it will never happen until some common people start using some common sense and some old fashioned courage to do what is right. And if they can read a Bible, they already know what is right and what the true blessings of God really are. They also know to turn away from those who say that “gain is godliness.”

Chuck is right: Our task today is no different from what it has been throughout history. It is to be the church in obedience to Jesus Christ, and by being the church we will enable the state to be the state. This is the most loyal service the church can render the state—to protect the government from itself, and to strive to ensure that civil authority fulfills its office as instituted by God. But the price for this service can be high. Quite honestly, I don’t think most Americans are willing to take the risk, yet….

8:30 AM What a sad commentary on our church culture when an 18 year old finally feels like an adult in church:

I remember when I first started attending my current church how awestruck I was that I was actually being treated like a real adult, despite the fact that I was eighteen years old. I was amazed that they weren’t trying to shove me in with the teens, despite the fact I was what many people consider to be that middle age between being a teenager and an adult. I’ve been treated as an equal by the rest of the adults the whole way along, and that’s something I’ve really come to appreciate, and as I’ve noticed, the teens aren’t treated like they’re something completely separate from the rest of the church, so it’s easier to get to know them better and be a part of their lives.

Of course, if we were to be biblical about it, this young lady would have been given adult responsibilities at a much earlier age. It is an established fact that we are losing our teenagers in the 11th and 12th grades because they can’t make the transition from the fun-and-games-and-bells-and-whistles of their youth group culture to real church, which involves giving, sacrifice, the exercise of one’s spiritual gifts, etc. By the way, there is no “teenage Holy Spirit” and “adult Holy Spirit.” There is THE Holy Spirit, and if 13 year olds are born again, they ought to be exercising their gifts for the mutual edification of the body, not being sidelined and centrifuged while mommy and daddy are doing “church stuff.” Interestingly, most youth pastors I know seem unaware that there are biblical guidelines for “youth” in the Scriptures.

8:00 AM Paul Proctor on vain repetitions.  One of the best critiques of modern worship music I have read.

Thursday, February 12

1:15 PM My esteemed colleague at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Dr. Tom Schreiner, has written a marvelous book on Pauline Theology. To read the latest review that appeared in the Review of Biblical Literature, go here.

9:55 AM Here we go again: Blair didn’t realize that the “45 minute” claim in his September 2002 dossier did not refer to WMD but only to Iraqi conventional weapons. Hmmm, was he lying or merely being incompetent?

Tony Blair in the Commons debate

9:45 AM Oswald Chambers on ignoring God:

We don’t consciously and deliberately disobey God — we simply don’t listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them — not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him.

9:30 AM Please read 1 Corinthians 14:26 then ask yourself, Why does my church meet?

The reason that the church meets is for the edification of each believer. I know this statement flies in the face of almost all we have been taught. We are told that the church meets to worship God. While the idea of meeting primarily to worship sounds scriptural and pious, the truth is Christians do not meet primarily to have a “worship service.” This is not to say that worship doesn’t happen when Christians meet. It does and it should. Worship should occur at all times, in all places, and in all things, whether Sunday morning in a church building or Thrusday afternoon at the dinner table. A Christian’s whole life is an act of worship (Rom. 12:1-2)!  So, yes, when Christians meet on Sunday mornings or at any other time/place, they are in a sense worshiping God. But it is no more accepted by God than the worship we should be living and offering the rest of the week. We must therefore understand that the primary objective in Christian meetings is not to have a “worship service” since worship is a way of life.

The primary reason Christians meet is to edify one another. The reason that God gave us the gifts of the Spirit is so we might edify one another (Eph. 4:12; 1 Pet. 4:10-11). The term edify is from the Greek oikodome. This word is an architectural term. It means “to build, confirm, or strengthen.” It is used in reference to the church’s position as God’s building (1 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 2:21). Elsewhere it is used to describe the ministry of believers to one another (Rom. 14:9,15:2; 1 Thess. 5:11). The purpose of this edification, this building up and strengthening, is to spur each other onto maturity in Christ (Heb. 24-25) that we might worship him in every area of our lives.

9:15 AM Various essays on Kant (on this, his Todestag) may be found here: 200. Todestag des Philosophen Immanuel Kant. The general topic is: What is Enlightenment?

Kant

8:45 AM If we desire a thoroughly biblical church we must get to the heart of the matter: are the apostolic traditions in the New Testament binding on Jesus’ followers or not? I seem to struggle with this issue every day, trying to make the point that we as a church are engaged more in man-made traditions than in New Testament Christianity. Just as our nation shouldn’t have an empire-building philosophy, so our churches shouldn’t have a “growth-at-any-price” mentality. The seeker-sensitive philosophy is not new. It’s etched in our history. Yet the teaching of Scripture is clear:

The apostles, under the Lord’s own guidance through the Holy Spirit, set up churches to operate and function in a particular and definite way, and in later chapters we will demonstrate just what that way was, but of course the point to underline at this juncture is simply that a church is either based on such apostolic practice, or tradition, or on something else. And if a church is based on something else, then it equates to but one thing – the traditions of mere men! And if that is the case, then such churches simply cannot be said to be biblical churches. They can be said to be unbiblical churches (we are not saying they are not churches), but they cannot be said to be biblically based in any way at all. Indeed, the precious and wonderful believers in such churches may well be doctrinally sound and orthodox in so far as their other beliefs and scriptural understanding is concerned, and they may well also be living faithful lives in so as far as personal holiness goes, but when it comes to what church is all about then they completely fail the test of being biblical, of being how Jesus always intended they should be.

I believe there can and will be a reversal. I am optimistic that this will happen. If you are interested in learning more about this issue, you can read the entire article I quoted above here.

8:30 AM C. H. Spurgeon: “Brethren, if you are not theologians you are in your pastorates nothing at all.”

7:55 AM A physician’s take on the war on terrorism.

7:45 AM It’s getting weirder and weirder, the debate over the Passion that is. Reports say NASCAR is jumping into the fray (pro-Mel), yet another Cardinal speaks out (again, pro-Mel), while MSNBC says that Gibson believes his Protestant wife is going to hell. One thing seems sure: the movie will be a commercial success, at least if Interstate Batteries has its way.

Wednesday, February 11

11:00 AM Mr. Charles Porter cc-ed me his response to Bill Sizemore’s complaint about media Bush Bashing. Among other things, Mr. Sizemore had this to say:

No, I believe we really do have no choice, but to stick with Bush. The President has probably been getting much of his counsel regarding policy from Senior Advisor Karl Rove and others whose primary agenda is not so much moving a conservative agenda as getting Bush elected to a second term. That should change. In a second term, Bush probably will be bolder and more conservative than he has been thus far.

No choice? Who’s he kidding? Mr. Porter (Nota bene: a “Former Republican Voter”) wrote a response that deserves a careful reading (maybe even a re-read or two):

Mr. Sizemore

I enjoyed reading your article on “Bush Bashing”, but sir I voted for a conservative in 2000.  If I had wanted more liberal big government programs I would have voted for Al Gore.  Bush is not a conservative, anymore than his father was.  The American people in their haste to rid themselves of anything that was associated with Bill Clinton did not take a good look at Bush in 2000.  If that had, they would have seen that he caved into the liberals as governor of Texas and alienated conservatives in the statehouse.  I have voted GOP my entire life, but that was back when GOP meant smaller government and staying out of my life. He  is also pro-abortion and that alone disqualifies him to get my vote.  Bush should run as a liberal democrat, because that’s all he has became. When liberal John Kerry is sworn in as president in2004, the only person Bush will have to blame is himself. GW Bush and the neocons have destroyed the conservative wing of the republican!

Charles Porter
MSgt, Ret, USAF
Vietnam Veterans of America
Disabled American Veteran
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Former Republican Voter

My sentiments exactly!

9:45 AM David Hackworth, a highly decorated war veteran, says Maj. Scott Ritter was right all along about WMD:

What a shame that the president and his platoon of let’s-get-Saddam neocons, Congress and the CIA’s Tenet didn’t listen to the man-in-the-know when he cautioned: “U.S. and Iraqi casualties will be significant. … We can’t go to war based on ignorance.”

            

But go to war we did. And now we’ve filled more than 530 body bags, medevaced thousands of soldiers, caused thousands more to be psychologically scarred, created tens of thousands of Iraqi casualties and stuck ourselves dead center in an ever-deepening tar pit.

All the more reason to pray for the safety and quick return of our sons and daughters from the war zone.

7:45 AM I’ve tried to keep this blog a John Edwards free zone, but the good senator’s latest attempt to fool all of the people all of the time has me, well, enlightened. The problem is that PC purveyors like Sen. Edwards try to have it both ways—indeed, they try to have it every way. When it comes to their political interests, they assert their ability to know what is correct and what is not. And the latest craze is for Southern politicians to distance themselves from “red-necks” as quickly as possible. The reality is that while Edwards claims to be a moderate and a good ol’ Southern boy, that claim is contradicted by a four-year voting record that consistently puts ultra-liberal special interests ahead of the people he represents.

  • His voting record matches that of Sen. Hillary Clinton.

  • From 1999-02 he voted with Ted Kennedy 90- of the time.

  • In 2001 Edwards received a 0- rating from the Small Business Survival Committee for his voting record.

  • In June of 2000 he voted against tabling an amendment that would have repealed the ban on privately funded abortions at overseas military facilities.

  • More than 4 out of every 5 dollars raised by Edwards for his hard money PAC, New American Optimists, have come from personal injury trial lawyers.

  • The liberal activist group Human Rights Campaign, which ranks members of Congress with a score representing the strength of their support for the radical gay agenda, gave Edwards a perfect 100- rating for the first session of the current Congress.

The truth is that John Edwards is no Southern moderate. In fact, he’s no Southerner at all. He is a Northeastern liberal with a capital “L.”

7:35 AM Is Bush a heretic? Pieter Friedrich thinks so. (Caution: Put your asbestos suit on before reading this entry.)

7:30 AM Since most Baptists won’t touch this stuff with a ten foot pole, allow me. The willow-creeking of our churches will go on indefinitely as long as Christian leaders refuse to face it squarely – and theologically. This stuff is hardly AOK, and Paul Proctor isn’t loath to say so here. A tip of the kepi, brother Paul!

Tuesday, February 10

2:30 PM Words to live by from A. W. Tozer (especially applicable to those of us who preach “revivals”):

In my creature impatience I am often caused to wish that there were some way to bring modern Christians in a deeper spiritual life painlessly by short, easy lessons; but such wishes are vain. No shortcut exists. God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age. It is well that we accept the hard truth now: The man who would know God must give time to Him. He must count no time wasted Portrait of A.W. Tozerwhich is spent in the cultivation of His acquaintance. He must give himself to prayer and meditation.

The eternal God must be more than a text in a book, an idea in our head. The true Christian will crave to know God with vital awareness that goes beyond words and to live in the intimacy of personal communion. While the Bible is absolutely essential as the revelation of our God, we must plumb the depths and reach to the heavens for the “life” of those words. For many in the church, God may simply be entombed in a book. No, we must see with our own eyes, and hear with our own ears, and our own hands must handle the Word of Life.

1:45 PM Chuck Baldwin gives more reasons why you should not vote for Bush this election. His conclusion:

ChuckAs a Christian conservative, I most definitely believe it is right to defend one’s life, home, and country with lethal force, if necessary. However, it is not right to disregard the Constitution or to preemptively attack nations that pose no imminent threat to us. It is not right for Congress to acquiesce their responsibility to wage war on behalf of the American people. It is not right that our president should seize king-like powers and send Americans to fight and die for personal purposes. And it is not right for our president, be he Republican or Democrat, to mislead the American people regarding so serious a matter as war.

Again, time has vindicated my original position. President Bush’s decision to preemptively attack Iraq was unjust, unconstitutional, and wrong. It is time for all conservatives to face it.

9:30 AM Dr. David Allen, Professor of Preaching at the Criswell College in Dallas, did a marvelous job last week in our Click to download Hi-Res Photoseminary chapel. For a report on his two part series, go here. I especially enjoyed his unabashed emphasis on doing sermon preparation from the original languages of Scripture if at all possible. As he said, it’s time to recover the TEXT-driven sermon in our churches.  Brother Dave, many thanks for this salutary reminder and for taking time out of your very busy schedule to be with us!

9:20 AM Intermediate Greek students: Here’s a list of the major textual variants in 1 Timothy. It’s interesting to me how often “Jesus” and “Christ” are transposed in the manuscripts. We might think this insignificant, but apparently the early scribes didn’t think so. Also, if you haven’t seen this essay on the Majority Text, it’s a good read.

8:30 AM Wanted: Candidates Who Uphold the Constitution:

Just how far the nation has strayed from the Founder’s vision is reflected in the campaign speeches of every candidate. The promise from all the candidates, is more government and less freedom. It will likely remain so, unless a new generation of candidates can be cultivated, starting in every city, county, and state.

8:15 AM Children begin to go wrong at the age of 12, according to this report. Interesting, isn’t it, that our society has bought into a myth and thereby created a monster we no longer know to control. That myth is adolescence – or adolescentism, as it is a social theory and most certainly not a fact. Of course, we are ALL born in sin, and the only real solution to our sin natures is a miracle called the new birth: being born into God’s family and receiving a new nature “created in Christ Jesus for GOOD works.” Meanwhile, wouldn’t it be wise for our families and churches to come to grips, once and for all, with the myth of adolescence?

8:00 AM The passage my Greek students will be translating for Thursday’s class is 1 Timothy 1:12-17. This is a remarkable text. I’ve been comparing several different foreign language translations, including the French:

12   Je rends grâces à celui qui m’a fortifié, à Jésus Christ notre Seigneur, de ce qu’il m’a jugé fidèle,
13   en m’établissant dans le ministère, moi qui étais auparavant un blasphémateur, un persécuteur, un homme violent. Mais j’ai obtenu miséricorde, parce que j’agissais par ignorance, dans l’incrédulité;
14   et la grâce de notre Seigneur a surabondé, avec la foi et la charité qui est en Jésus Christ.
15   C’est une parole certaine et entièrement digne d’être reçue, que Jésus Christ est venu dans le monde pour sauver les pécheurs, dont je suis le premier.
16   Mais j’ai obtenu miséricorde, afin que Jésus Christ fît voir en moi le premier toute sa longanimité, pour que je servisse d’exemple à ceux qui croiraient en lui pour la vie éternelle.
17   Au roi des siècles, immortel, invisible, seul Dieu, soient honneur et gloire, aux siècles des siècles! Amen!

The German is just as interesting:

12   Ich danke Christus Jesus, unserem Herrn, der mir Kraft verliehen, daß er mich treu erachtet und in den Dienst gestellt hat,
13   der ich zuvor ein Lästerer und Verfolger und Gewalttäter war; aber mir ist Barmherzigkeit zuteil geworden, weil ich es unwissend im Unglauben getan hatte;
14   überströmend aber war die Gnade unseres Herrn mit Glauben und Liebe, die in Christus Jesus [sind].
15   Das Wort ist gewiß und aller Annahme wert, daß Christus Jesus in die Welt gekommen ist, Sünder zu erretten, von welchen ich der erste bin.
16   Aber darum ist mir Barmherzigkeit zuteil geworden, damit Jesus Christus an mir als dem ersten die ganze Langmut beweise, zum Vorbild für die, welche an ihn glauben werden zum ewigen Leben.
17   Dem König der Zeitalter aber, dem unverweslichen, unsichtbaren, alleinigen Gott, sei Ehre und Herrlichkeit in alle Ewigkeit! Amen.

Many of my friends tell me that Paul is employing hyperbole here. I doubt it. When he says in verse 16, “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life,” he meant it. He could say, “Ich bin der erste!” and not be lying. People could look at Paul’s life and see his sin and then see God’s grace and be challenged to believe that God really can and does forgive ALL sin – even great sin. So this morning I exclaim with the apostle: Au roi des siècles, immortel, invisible, seul Dieu, soient honneur et gloire, aux siècles des siècles! Amen!

Monday, February 9

1:30 PM L’Express is predicting a Bush/Kerry “duel” in November, the main issue being foreign policy:

Un duel Bush/Kerry pour la Maison Blanche paraît de plus en plus probable à neuf mois du scrutin présidentiel alors que le président sortant est contraint de se justifier sur la guerre en Irak.
 

1:15 PM I appreciate what Jim Elliff has to say about the theological dimensions of revival:

In our day, we think of revival in terms of the Christian life. Questions such as how one can live effectively and handle stress and cope with family problems, loom large in our thinking. We must address these. But historically revival was more centered on the foundational doctrines of salvation. It really was gospel work, in that larger and more doctrinal sense. And at the heart of it all was the repeated call to regeneration. The doctrine was tuned to the sin of the day in this way. Since regeneration, or the giving of life to dead souls, is knowable in the true Christian’s life (“by their fruits you shall know them”), a professed believer can be challenged to examine himself to see the evidence of it. This kind of preaching made regeneration a searching doctrine. Many souls were brought under conviction by the preaching of this truth. I am convinced through this further evidence that we must preach regeneration again today. No doctrine fits our day quite like it.

To read Jim’s essay, go here.

12:15 PM When I spoke for a week in Kerala, India, to a group of national pastors, I was heartened to see how committed they were to biblical discipleship. But do they really need this?

Benny committing financial fraud

11:40 AM Here are two very different views on the marriage amendment: Your typical “government can solve our problems” approach, and another, saner view in my opinion. An excerpt from the latter:

The problem is not with the Constitution. Hello, the problem is those who put their hands on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. They either have not read it, or just refuse to go by it. We have 400 years of case law that states that marriage is between a man and a woman. The judges, until just a few years ago, have always used the Bible as a reference to what was right. The case law in most states uses the scriptures to define sodomy and it is still against the law in this state. In 1971 Baker v. Nelson, Minnesota state Supreme court judge said: “The institution of marriage as a union of man and woman, uniquely involving the procreation and rearing of children within a family, is as old as the book of Genesis.” Dictionary definitions of terms were also used by judges as in 1973 Jones v. Hallan. And the dictionary definition of marriage is between two persons of the opposite sex. In 1975 Adams v. Howerton, the court ruled that the “spouse” means someone not of the same sex, because the dictionary said so. Of course Noah Webster defined all the terms in the first dictionary from the Bible not from his feelings. There have been many lawsuits since the 1970’s to allow sodomites to marry and all the judges used case law, Bible, and the dictionary to make their decisions.

Once again, folks, we come back to whether we prefer the old Constitution to the new, “secret,” one.

11:30 AM The latest from my favorite cartoonist:

Of course, government theft is perfectly legal.

11:20 AM Ok, so I’m not a highly paid professional speaker. But the president is. At least he’s highly paid. Don’t We the People have the right to expect something better than this?

10:20 AM Yet another surfing link just sent to me, with this incredible photo. Yikes!

8:20 AM Mr. Charles Porter sends me these thoughts:

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19. A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about$33 million. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A baseball in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball in Mark McGwire’s hands is worth $19 million. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A tennis racket is useless in my hands. A tennis racket in Venue Williams’ hands produces a championship. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses’ hands parted a mighty sea. It depends whose hands it’s in.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A sling shot in David’s hand was a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it’s in.

Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands. It depends whose hands it’s in.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse. Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands produced salvation for the entire world. It depends whose hands it’s in.

As you see now it depends [on] whose hands it’s in. So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because…

It depends whose hands it’s in.

This message is now in your hands. What will YOU do with it.

8:00 AM Lee Shelton of Ever Vigilant emailed me about my essay So You’re Offended by the Super Bowl Half-Time?:

David,

Great article! I couldn’t agree more. I once heard Michael Medved say he thought the television was perhaps one of the worst inventions in history. I think he may be right. Keep up the good work.

-Lee

P.S.: Can’t wait for your book!

Thanks, Lee. I couldn’t agree more about TV. As we discussed in our adult Sunday School class yesterday, the idiot box is the equivalent of hard liquor or drugs for many in our churches. It’s even more addictive, perhaps.

For Mr. Shelton’s own take on Janet Jackson, please visit his website.

7:50 AM That’s not fair! A reader sent me this link that has me feeling hopelessly nostalgic for my surfing days in Hawaii (see especially clip 3). The same reader asks:

I suspect you re-enact the role of General Lee. If not, you should, as your picture bears a remarkable resemblance to General Lee’s, as no doubt, so does your character. Any relation?

Well, some people do call me “the General” here on campus. On the other hand, I’ve also been called Moses, Santa Claus, and Abraham Lincoln. Oh well….

7:45 AM Have you ever wondered why preachers no longer cite the Great Commission from Mark’s Gospel? When I was a child I memorized Mark 16:15 along with Matthew 28:19- and Acts 1:8. Those days are long gone. If you are one who believes that the last 12 verses of Mark are suspect because they are lacking in “the earliest and best” manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, then you need to read this essay by Jim Snapp. I had seen this fine essay before but was reminded about it this morning in an email I received from Jim. Good job, brother! Concerning the language and style of Mark 16:9-, Dr. Bruce Terry has published his findings online. See his The Style Of The Long Ending Of Mark. The bottom line? Don’t  forget Jesus’ command:

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

7:30 AM Greetings in the name of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We had a delightful weekend in Virginia doing some final preparation for the dedication service of our new house and working on the goat fencing. On Sunday afternoon my son and I visited our neighbors and shut-ins. Those in the nursing homes enjoy having the old hymns of the faith sung to them. Our vast homes are nothing but edifices of wood, hay, and stubble that will go up in smoke one day, but how blessed I am to have a family who is more interested in gold, silver, and precious stones than watching TV on a Sunday afternoon. Romans 8:28 reminds us that we were predestined to be like Christ, and Ephesians 2:10 tells us we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Of course, the best work is to know God. This week let us not allow doing to become a frenetic substitute for being in the presence of the Savior.

Thursday, February 5

8:50 AM Ach, Du Lieber! Die Zeit is now featuring a BUSH-O-METER. You can vote either “Ja” or “Nein.”

Im November wird der Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten gewählt. Wird Georg W. Bush die Wahl gewinnen? Stimmen Sie ab:

8:30 AM I voted for Bush in 2000 but won’t again. And it’s not me who has changed. Empire builders and big government think tankers have taken over the Republican Party:

During the 2000 Republican Primaries, candidate George Bush was running on the platform of “compassionate conservatism”. I must admit, at first I was rather intrigued by such a term, as it had always seemed to me that conservatism was the only true compassionate form of government. Now, four years later, it has become clear that compassionate conservatism is in actuality a euphemism for big government, republican style.

During the Presidential Campaign I was skeptical of how conservative “Dubya” actually was, keeping in mind how his father had governed only eight years earlier. Still, many political pundits insisted that he was much more conservative than his father, and that he would no doubt put this country back on a conservative track. I cannot help but feel that I was hoodwinked.

For more go here. Meanwhile, IMHO don’t accept Tom DiLorenzo’s advice NOT to vote (see today’s LRC), at least not before considering the alternatives.

8:15 AM Carmon Friedrich’s blog reminded me that Vision Forum has a great section on the tenets of biblical patriarchy. I was especially drawn to the following statements on the education and training of children:

18. Educational methodology is not neutral. The Christian should build his educational methodology from the word of God and reject methodologies derived from humanism, evolutionism, and other unbiblical systems of thought. Biblical education is discipleship, a process designed to reach the heart. The aim is a transformed person who exhibits godly character and a trained mind, both of which arise from faith. The parents are crucial and ordinarily irreplaceable in this heart-level, relational process. (Deut. 6:5-7; Lk. 6:40; 1 Thess. 2:7-12; 2 Tim. 1:5; 2 Pet. 1:5-8)

19. Since the educational mandate belongs to parents and they are commanded personally to walk beside and train their children, they ought not to transfer responsibility for the educational process to others. However, they have the liberty to delegate components of that process. While they should exercise great caution and reserve in doing this, and the more so the less mature the child, it is prudent to take advantage of the diversity of gifts within the body of Christ and enjoy the help and support that comes with being part of a larger community with a common purpose. (1 Cor. 12:14ff.; Gal. 4:1,2; 6:2; Eph. 4:16)

20. The age-integrated communities of family and church are the God-ordained institutions for training and socialization and as such provide the preferred pattern for social life and educational endeavors. The modern preference for grouping children exclusively with their age mates for educational and social purposes is contrary to scriptural wisdom and example. (Deut. 29:10-11; 2 Chron. 20:13; Prov. 22:15 with 13:20; Joel 2:16; 1 Cor. 15:33)

Regarding a father and his older children, note this observation:

22. Both sons and daughters are under the command of their fathers as long as they are under his roof or otherwise the recipients of his provision and protection. Fathers release sons from their jurisdiction to undertake a vocation, prepare a home, and take a wife. Until she is given in marriage, a daughter continues under her father’s authority and protection. Even after leaving their father’s house, children should honor their parents by seeking their counsel and blessing throughout their lives. (Gen. 28:1-2; Num. 30:3ff.; Deut. 22:21; Gal. 4:1,2; Eph. 6:2-3)

23. Fathers should oversee the process of a son or daughter seeking a spouse. While a father may find a wife for his son, sons are free to take initiative to seek and “take a wife.” A wise son will desire his parents’ involvement, counsel, and blessing in that process. Since daughters are “given in marriage” by their fathers, an obedient daughter will desire her father to guide the process of finding a husband, although the final approval of a husband belongs to her. (Gen. 24:1ff.; 25:20; 28:2; Ex. 2:21; Josh. 15:17; Jdg. 12:9; 1 Sam. 18:27; Jer. 29:6; 1 Cor. 7:38; Gen. 24:58)

Parents, I hope you will read the entire essay and especially look up the Scriptures that accompany it. You won’t regret it.

8:00 AM Lew Rockwell talks about his journey into web journalism. A snippet from this fascinating tell-all:

Why limit teaching to the classroom? Why not teach the world? And so it is, with many professors now choosing to distribute their thoughts in the widest possible way. After all, their ability to think is their primary marketable product, and the web is the place where intellectuals can interact with the broadest possible community of their choosing. As a result, the culture of academia is changing. Bloggers are no longer looked down upon, but often emerge as the stars in their department. Reducing the isolation of the academic community is not a terrible thing.

The author is certainly correct in his assessment. My own internet pilgrimage has had a similar evolution. Well done, Lew!

Wednesday, February 4

3:30 PM Mr. Charles Porter sent me this email on what is truly a day to remember but one I had never heard of before:

On the frigid night of February 3, 1943, the Allied ship Dorchester  plowed through the waters near Greenland.  At 1:00am, a Nazi submarine fired a torpedo into its flank, killing  many in the explosion and trapping others The Four Chaplains in Stained Glass at the Pentagonbelow deck.  It the ensuing chaos, four chaplains: a priest, a rabbi and two  protestant ministers; distributed life jackets.  When there were none left, the four chaplains ripped off their own  jackets and put them on four young men.  Standing embraced on the slanting deck, the chaplains bowed their  heads in prayer as they sank to their icy deaths.  Congress honored them by declaring this “Four Chaplains Day.”

9:00 AM Laments are never fun to read, but here’s one you will be glad you saw: Alan Bock’s review of The Sorrows of Empire by Chalmers Johnson. I definitely plan to give this book a read as soon as I finish writing my own reviews of Ephesians by my good friend Harold Hoehner of Dallas Seminary and The Precise Parallel New Testament published by Oxford University Press. Speaking of laments, Tom Ascol has an excellent piece on A Pastoral Theology of Tragedy at the Founders website. His conclusion reads (in part):

Expect tragedies and tribulations to occur. Do not be surprised by them. Prepare for them because the Scripture says they are inevitable. Learn from them. Do not miss the lessons. There is much to be learned through suffering. In 2 Corinthians 1:8–10 Paul says that he was “burdened beyond measure, above strength”, so that he “despaired even of life.” And the reason that this happened to him (as he later came to understand) was so that he might learn not to trust in himself “but in God who raises the dead.” He is saying, “tragedy came to teach me to trust God.” Three chapters later he refers to those trials as light and momentary. In chapter 1 he says “I nearly died by them” but in chapter 4 he says they are light and fleeting, “working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (4:17). Tragedy prepares you for glory. Tragedy works in you the ability to experience greater glory. We may not understand exactly how this is so, but that is what Paul says.

8:00 AM Good morning, friends. We had an extremely interesting chapel message yesterday, and today’s should prove to be no less intriguing as our guest speaker, Dr. David Allen, preaches from Romans 6:1-14. Please note that all of our chapel messages are online at the seminary website.

Tuesday, February 3

3:50 PM Our gullibility as Christians is mind-boggling and reminds me of Paul’s words to the Galatians: “Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” Before we blindly accept what any politician says about his or her stand on abortion, we need to ask, What does the Bible and the U.S. Constitution say about this? Nowhere is this more clearly evident than in the way Christians are being duped by those Republicans who voted for the so-called partial abortion ban. Writes Jim Rudd:

This “readiness of mind” to “search the scriptures,” to find out whether those things being said are true, is our Biblical example of nobility. It is the way we find out if people are lying when they tell us that a particular piece of legislation is “pro-life” or “pro-family,” or what ever Christian euphemism they use to tell us a civil law deserves our support. Without prejudice and partiality, we must examine the civil law against the scriptures, having “readiness of mind” to cast “down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.”

In an election year this matter of biblical and constitutional truth is all the more important. It is wonderful to see more and more young people turning to the Scriptures and away from the secular press for their source of wisdom on modern politics. May their tribe increase!

3:40 PM An interesting point on youth groups from Elder Scott Brown of Trinity Baptist Church here in Wake Forest:

Search the scriptures! Here is our most important source of information regarding any ministry. All ministry to youth should be judged against the testimony of scripture, for it is not only sharper than a two edged sword, it is also:

“profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. II Tim 3:16-17

As we search the scripture, we do not find the words “youth group” or the practice illustrated anywhere. The closest resemblance to a youth group in the Bible is an incident where at least 42 youth were together. Unfortunately, this resulted in bears devouring the 42 members of the group because of their disrespect for a prophet (2 Kings 2:23-24). This passage of scripture gives us a brilliant illustration of the impact of concentrated foolishness. The concept of youth group is absent from Biblical ecclesiological language. So we first must say that the idea of youth groups does not come from the teaching of the apostles, the prophets or the writers history and poetry.

In other words, sola scriptura!

3:10 PM This letter from a reader in Wilmore, Kentucky, warmed my heart:

I must sincerely thank you for your honest, insightful, and blatantly Biblical commentary on the times here in the States. Your articles challenge me to love Christ and others, as well as to be a Constitution-loving citizen of the United States. As a fellow Greek student and horseman, I thank you for your hard work and devotion to Christ and Country.

1:20 PM C.S.A. General Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born near Farmville, Virginia on this day in 1807. This is very close to my own farm in Virginia. His father was a Joseph JohnstonRevolutionary War soldier who served under Robert E. Lee’s father. Johnston graduated from West Point in 1829. He was wounded five times in the Mexican War and also fought in the Seminole War. He became Quartermaster General of the U. S. Army on June 28, 1860 and was the highest ranking officer to resign and join the Confederate Army. After the war, Johnston served in the U. S. House of Representatives and was appointed Commissioner of Railroads under President Grover Cleveland. He died on March 21, 1891 from pneumonia. He had contracted a cold while he stood in the rain as as he served as a pallbearer at the funeral of William T. Sherman. For a fascinating account of the battle in which Johnston was wounded (Seven Pines) go here.

9:05 AM My good friend and colleague Dr. Dan Wallace of Dallas Seminary concludes his discussion of biblical eldership with these words:

The biblical evidence is overwhelmingly on the side of multiple elders. The few passages which might otherwise be interpreted certainly do not have to be so interpreted and, in fact, most likely should not be. This fact illustrates a fundamental principle of biblical interpretation: do not follow an interpretation which is only possible; instead, base your convictions on what is probable.

Darryl Erkel adds these thoughts:

Traditional pastoral ministry promotes a one-man rule known as “the pastor.” He is the final word and rule within most “evangelical” churches. In contrast, the New Testament teaches plural oversight by men known as elders (Acts 14:23; 20:17,28; Phil.1:1; 1 Thess.5:12-13; 1 Tim.5:17; Heb.13:17; Jam.5:14; 1 Pet.5:1-4). Some churches, recognizing the need for shared oversight, have attempted to improve the traditional one-man rule by introducing a rank structure of “senior pastor,” “associate pastor,” and “board of elders.” This man-made solution, however, still contradicts the pattern set forth in the New Testament which teaches a shared and equal oversight, not to mention that, in the end, it still amounts to basically the same thing: One man alone is exalted to a position over others and has the final word in church related matters! By the way, isn’t Jesus Christ supposed to be the “senior pastor” (Heb.13:20; 1 Pet.5:4)?

These are issues that must remain in the forefront of true reform in our churches, and I trust the essays linked on our front page will help us all to think more biblically about the question, “Who runs the church?”

9:00 AM  Buenos tacos! We are really looking forward to chapel today and tomorrow when our guest speaker, Dr. David Allen of the Criswell College in Dallas, will address the topic “The Preacher and Preaching.” If you are in the Wake Forest area I invite you to attend and learn from this humble servant of the Lord. Chapels start at 10:00 am.

Monday, February 2

2:45 PM  I just heard from Mr. Rick Williams of Virginia Gentleman Books, who called my attention to his LRC essay on Robert E. Lee, comparing the great general with Robert the Bruce. Here’s an excerpt:

Though their paths and outcomes were different, both Robert E. Lee and Robert the Bruce are revered in their homelands today. Both men, through the intervention of Divine supplication, chose the path of honor and sacrifice and altered the course of history. Both died heroes bound by ancestry and by Providence. Perhaps it was Providence speaking and reminding humanity of these two warriors’ ties as Robert E. Lee met the final enemy.

To read this fascinating and instructive essay, please go here. By the way, Mr. Williams is the author of a wonderful book entitled The Maxims of Robert E. Lee for Young Gentlemen: Advice, Admonitions and Anecdotes on Christian Duty and Wisdom from the Life of General Lee, which I link in my Booklog. Thank you, Mr. Williams, for providing us with these excellent resources!

2:15 PM  For a good sermon on the selection of elders in the New Testament and how the notion of “professionalism” has crept into our churches, go to the All Souls Church sermon index and click on the first sermon listed there.

1:15 PM  Even the French think Bush can be beaten by Kerry in November. And listen to what they’re reporting about the president’s foreign policy:

S’il considère la politique étrangère de Bush comme «la plus arrogante, inepte, brutale et idéologique qu’ait jamais connu ce pays», il peine encore à expliquer ses revirements sur l’Irak.

Ooo la la!

12:50 PM  An amazing story for horse lovers.

12:45 PM  It’s now official: Six more weeks of winter.

Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his burrow on Gobbler's Knob /AP

12:20 PM A reader emailed me with the suggestion that I write a response to this pro-war piece that is the stir today in weblogs nationwide. My response? I’ve already given my opinion about the so-called just war position. It’s a well-intended theory that has backfired:

The Just War Theory (JWT) continues to be used by a good number of Americans to justify the president’s war on and occupation of Iraq. The JWT does have some moral value, in my opinion. It was developed to help Christians judge war and to steer the church and society toward peace. But it is also clear to me that in the history of the church the JWT has usually functioned to justify war rather than to judge it. The theory was originally developed to show that some wars might be an exception to the Gospel of peace, but in reality it has become a tool to defend every war that comes along.

Those who truly love freedom love peace. In the end, the JWT does not advance the cause of peace because it does not sufficiently recognize the idolatry of nationalism. The nation-state has become a god in our civilization, and there is a deep-seated propensity to preserve and defend that god at any cost. Paradoxically, one of the things that has contributed most to this idolatry has been the JWT itself.

11:20 AM When I reenacted the Battle of Shiloh in 2002 I visited the very ground in Tennessee where General Albert Sidney Johnston was killed. He bled to death from a leg wound, having just led a charge across a fire-swept field. Johnston emerged without a scratch even though there were many bullet holes in his clothes. Shortly after the charge he was hit in the leg by a stray bullet, but he thought it a minor wound and didn’t even mention it to his aides. Johnston had sent his surgeon off to tend to some wounded Union soldiers. Had they known about his condition, almost any of them could have staunched the flow of blood that was trickling into his boot from a severed artery. Only when the general turned pale did they realize he was wounded and help him down from his horse. But it was too late; he died a few minutes later.

A respectful salute to this great American, who was born this day in 1803.

9:40 AM Now hear this! My good friend Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason reveals that he is actually pro-choice!

I believe in privacy, but privacy has its limits. I believe in choice, but Greg Koukl's Speaking Schedulechoice has limits, too. Our right to privacy and our right to choose ends where harm to another individual begins. That’s true with every law. Every piece of legislation violates privacy and restricts choice to some degree.

In a sense, I’m pro-choice for the woman. She can choose not to conceive. If she gets pregnant against her choice, she can choose to carry the child to term and then keep her baby. Or she can choose to give the child up for adoption so he will be loved and cared for. But she can’t choose the quick way out of a difficult problem by taking the life of that little baby.

9:30 AM The latest review of Grant Osborne’s commentary on Revelation has just appeared. Kudos to Baker Book House (publishers of 5 of my books) for producing this excellent series of commentaries.

9:15 AM Oh, how true this is.

The most serious threat to President Bush’s second term is not a Democrat; it is the growing mass of disenchanted Republicans who are accepting the proposition that there is little or no difference between the two major parties.

Read more here.

8:00 AM Shuttle Columbia: In Memoriam.

STS-107 crew

7:10 AM Many of you have asked me about the availability of the International Standard Version New Testament. I just received this good news from the Executive Director of the ISV Foundation, William Welty:

Greetings:

We are pleased to report that the International Standard Version can now be ordered in printed form from the Barnes and Noble website.

Click on the appropriate link below to order the hardback (casebound), paperback, or student text edition of the ISV New Testament or the paperback edition of the ISV Old Testament Sampler.

ISV New Testament v1.3.0 hardback (casebound)
Davidson Press edition ISBN 1891833049

ISV New Testament v1.3.0 paperback
Davidson Press edition ISBN 1891833030

ISV New Testament v1.3.0 Student Text Edition
Davidson Press edition ISBN 1891833065

ISV Old Testament Sampler v1.0.0 paperback
Davidson Press edition ISBN 1891833057

Very truly yours,

William Welty

The ISV New Testament is also available in e-Sword. Click here for details.

7:05 AM E. E. Roberts of Amelia Courthouse, Virginia, responds to my essay The Best Welfare Reform? as follows:

The myth of federal authority to administer “welfare” programs is based on the FDR administration’s interpretation of what they call the “welfare clause” contained in the preamble to Section 8 of Article I. The preamble reads “Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States.” This preamble is not a grant of power to provide for the specific individual welfare of some citizens but for the general welfare of the States…. It is called welfare to this day because the bogus “constitutional authority” of Congress to administer this redistribution scheme is based on that one particular clause. Such wording is one of the reasons that men like Patrick Henry and George Mason opposed the ratification of the constitution. 

7:00 AM Had a wonderful weekend teaching at the First Baptist Church of Norfolk and spending time with my church family in Southside Virginia. Our little choir traveled to South Boston to sing at a nursing home. Good old country gospel, gut bucket and all. Life don’t get much better than this, folks. This week I welcome a good friend of mine to campus, Dr. David Allen of the Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, where I had the privilege of teaching for two weeks last May. He will be speaking in chapel on Tuesday and Wednesday on the topic “The Preacher and Preaching.” On Tuesday he will walk us through how he actually develops a sermon from Romans 6:1-14; and then on Wednesday he will preach that text. Should be great! If I can get him out to our ranch before dark tonight, I may be able to talk him into an afternoon ride. I’ve got the perfect horse for a Texan like him.

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Europe Is Still a Mission Field

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

Europe Is Still a Mission Field

 David Alan Black

I enjoy Europe. I’ve traveled there extensively. In the early eighties I lived in Basel, Switzerland, while earning my doctorate at its ancient university. In particular, I’ve always been interested in Europe’s religious history. We in North America owe so much of our spiritual heritage to the influence of Europeans like Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and even to lesser known figures such as Zwingli and Oecolampadius, the reformer of Basel. The temptation, therefore, is to think that Europe is a great place to visit but not necessarily a mission field. We think of it as already Christianized, a place to see beautiful churches and cathedrals. But make no mistake about it: Europe is a mission field.

Valery Giscard D'EstaingThis was brought home to me again this week as I read the flurry of reports about the European Union’s new constitution, which was unveiled last Thursday. The draft was presented by former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who is the president of a European Constitutional Convention that includes 105 delegates from the 15 current EU member states and the 10 countries slated to join next year. Praise for the new compact was prolific.

  • Current EU President, Denmark’s Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said: “This is a truly proud moment for the European Union. It is a triumph for liberty and democracy, and to our new members I say warmly welcome to our family—our new Europe is born.”
  • European Commission President Romano Prodi added: “Accession of 10 new member states will bring an end to the divisions in Europe…. For the first time in history Europe will become one because unification is the free will of its people.”
  • French President Jacques Chirac chimed in: “One cannot but think this evening of the victims of the numerous wars of the 20th Century, the absurd deaths… the victims of anti-Semitism and racism, of all the catastrophes… and man’s folly.”
  • British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed: “When we look back at the history of Europe… and we reflect back on all the war and conflict, we realize that we are reuniting Europe. It is a day we can truly be proud of.”
  • And from the White House came this statement: “The European Union’s decision further unites the new and the established democracies of Europe, and advances the creation of a Europe whole, free and at peace.”

Yet the draft constitution is generating—of all things—a great deal of moral controversy in Europe. Officials in Brussels have omitted the word God from the EU constitution. Among its statements are pronouncements of respect for member countries’ national identity and for human rights, as well as commitments to social justice and the environment. But none of the chapters mentions any deity or any explicitly religious or Christian values supposed to underlie the European plan. Nor is there any mention of religion in the draft. “The union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, values which are common to the member states,” reads the draft of Article 2, the section dealing with European values. “Its aim is a society at peace, through the practice of tolerance, justice and solidarity.”

Much of the opposition to the use of religious language in the constitution comes from the European gay and lesbian community. According to a CNSNews.com, The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) argues that due to the “increased secularization of morality and public life,” all references to God should be left out of the preamble. GALHA’s spokesman Terry Sanderson said, “religion is dying throughout Europe and we have to realize that.” Instead the group would like to see the preamble state: “The Union is founded on the principles of secular rule of law: freedom, equality, democracy and pluralism.” GALHA has accused the Vatican of trying to impose “ultra-conservative and cruel doctrines.” It blames the church for the suffering of homosexuals.

Some countries—particularly Poland, a future EU member—have argued for such a mention. In addition, the Vatican and smaller denominations, including Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant organizations, have also advocated its inclusion. The European Catholic Bishops have called for a mention of God in the proposed constitution, though they are not pressing for any reference to Jesus Christ. Bishop Joseph Duffy of Clogher represented the Irish Catholic Church. Duffy told The Sunday Business Post: “Religion is part of our identity. You can’t understand the history of Europe without acknowledging the impact of religion, which has made an enormous contribution to the identity of Europe.” But other countries—including France, a strictly secular state—have strongly opposed it. Even former French President d’Estaing says he’s against a reference to God.

This is but another reminder that the vast majority of Europeans have no meaningful contact with biblical Christianity. Even the tiny minority who do attend a state church seldom hear the Gospel preached. John Blake, the former director of the Billy Graham Association in Spain, has noted: “Europe has almost the lowest percentage of evangelicals in the world.” Indeed, according to one report, the combined populations of Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Austria—197 million people in all—has but a total of 0.7- evangelicals, the same as the entire nation of Egypt! Yet who ever thinks of Europe as being like Egypt in its need for the Gospel?

In World War II Winston Churchill sent out a plea to the United States and Canada for the new world to come to the aid of the old to keep the light of democracy in Europe shining. He said:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Our forefathers heard that cry and responded, and today courageous evangelical leaders are working against all odds to get the Gospel back into the mainstream of European life. But they can’t do it alone. They are asking for help—and deserve it.

May 27, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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Can You Name the Face

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

Can You Name the Face?

 David Alan Black

Dear DBO Reader,

I’ve always enjoyed art, especially oil painting and pencil drawing. Through the years I’ve drawn portraits of famous (infamous?) people, and a number of my drawings hang on my office wall. They often make a good ice-breaker, especially when someone takes up the “Can you name the face?” challenge. Surprisingly, through the years only a handful of people have been able to name all of them.

Feel free to try your hand at identifying the faces below. (I apologize for the long download time.) If you get all nine correct, you can pat yourself on the back—you have a great memory!

Enjoy!

Dave Black

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All pictures are copyrighted by David Alan Black

July 14, 2003

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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August 2015 Blog Archives

 

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August 2015 Blog Archives

Monday, August 31

7:25 PM Morehikes to consider.

7:20 PM Here and Now on NPR ran astory today about the Appalachian Trail (though they mispronounced the word “Appalachian”). Wowsers! The guy who leads the tour is 65. And he’s leading his next group in a few years.

What do you think? Am I crazy even to think about it?

6:54 PM Please help me congratulate the young man wearing the white shirt and the handsome tie.

Wesley Davey is one of my doctoral students and today he passed his comprehensive written/oral exams with flying colors. I consider this exam to be the pinnacle of pedagogy, superseded only by the dissertation defense (which, more often than not, is basically pro forma). I am indebted to many: to Drs. Lanier and Kellum (flanking Wesley) who sat in on the oral today, and especially to Dr. Heath Thomas (foreground) who directs our Ph.D. program and does a fabulous job of it. A seminary is nothing more than a ministerium of simple followers of God who have Christ in their hearts and who have dedicated their minds to Him as well. Above all, I believe God answers prayer, and I am sure a bevy of Wesley’s friends were interceding for him this day. He has answered their prayers for today, but God is not finished yet, and I am positive all of you will be super excited at the topic Wesley will be pursuing as he begins to write his prospectus and then his doctoral dissertation. The whole purpose of life, I believe, is to come to know God in a personal way, but how can this be done apart from a study of the sacred writings He has handed down to us? So a huge shout out to the Lord for making all of this possible today and to Wesley for working so diligently to make this day what it was. And remember friend: no work of faith, no labor of love, not the smallest prayer expended on others is ever lost but is instead the smoke of the incense of the sacred altar rising up to the glory of God alone.

11:38 AM Just cooked for myself a juicy rib eye. Outback, eat your heart out!

11:14 AM Big News! I have to wear a coat and tie today. If I remember how.

11:02 AM Fall Break in just a month! Lord willing I’ll be teaching a class at a brand new Bible Institute on the windward side of Oahu. When I’m not surfing that is 🙂

10:52 AM Enjoyed my workout at the Y this morning but because of the rain I wasn’t able to do my 5K. So I’ve been sitting here writing my questions for this afternoon’s Ph.D. oral exam. I’m already up to three pages. And I’m only one of three examiners. Meanwhile I’ve been making voice recordings of the book of Philippians and hope to have them online (somewhere, not sure yet) by the end of next week. I love my work but I’m discovering that there’s always something new I can try that I’ve never done before (like making audio recordings of New Testament books). I guess I’m just trying to take advantage of my current health and strength because, no, I do not expect to be eternally strong or able to overcome every obstacle that comes my way. Just my opinion, but I think men fear change and aging more than women do, because women are always leading interrupted lives (not least when they go through pregnancy and childbirth). Us guys hate to risk change and often it takes a major crisis or breakdown before we give ourselves permission to make a major life change. Even at the ripe young age of 63 I’m telling myself, “There’s so much more to live for and so much more you can do with your life.” I’m approaching truly uncharted territory as I eventually face retirement. For me, it’s not just living that matters. It’s what you choose to do with your life that matters. “For me to go on living is Christ.” I think for every one of us, Christ can make our lives so much more meaningful and rewarding than they have been in the past. Never look back! Press ahead! Who knows, I may live long enough to see my grandsons grow bald!

Sunday, August 30

8:45 AM Even babies can exercise!

Baby spoon

8:10 AM Good Sunday morning, blogging buds!

As you know, for several months now I’ve been weight training consistently and eating pretty clean. (That Pepsi the other day, however, sure did taste good.) I’ve noticed that I’ve begun to lose abdominal fat and gain muscle mass as well as strength, plus the energy it takes to make it through the week without feeling tired. Sitting back and not taking control of the body God has given me is simply not an option for me anymore. In other words, healthy aging begins with taking care of yourself, as Paul assumes we all do with our bodies (Eph. 5:28-30). Like most of you, I see a doctor regularly for checkups and annual physicals, but I’ve never had nutrition or exercise training. It’s almost as though health care professionals knew nothing about the connection between exercise and health. It was a gentle prompt by one of my daughters that made me realize that I had to change my lifestyle drastically if I was going to be able to maintain my active lifestyle. Soon after that, I discovered the local YMCA — one of the best investments I’ve ever made. For a mere $28.00/month I train there 3 times a week without it interfering with all of my other responsibilities. It has now been about 8 months since I began this exciting journey and not only do I feel great but I’m actually improving my physique. I’m enjoying a new level of mental focus that I lacked since Becky’s death. I am also more productive in terms of my daily work (as both farmer and professor). I also love training with people two-thirds my age and learning from them. The teacher is now the student — and this student is enjoying the role reversal tremendously!

Perhaps your life is on a similar trajectory that mine was on a few months ago. Folks, I’m living proof that anybody, at any age, can become their own health advocate and take charge of their fitness and physical well-being (which are all gifts of the Lord to begin with). But the time to act is now. I’m especially concerned for my friends who are overweight or obese and who sincerelywant to do something about it but don’t know where to start. Some of them are clearly at risk of heart attack and other age- and health style-related illnesses, including diabetes. I believe it’s my duty to help my brothers if I can. Men’s health is not that hard to figure out. To prevent disease and preserve vitality, two basic steps are necessary:

1) You need to carefully select everything that goes into your mouth.

2) You need to do some form of exercise regularly.

At the risk of sounding like a stuffy professor (which I am) or a proud know-it-all (I know very little, believe me!), let me offer a few suggestions for anyone who is reading this blog post today and who would like to prayerfully consider changing their eating and exercise habits. These are principles I’ve been learning along the way and are simply too good not to pass on to you! So here we go, in no particular order.

1) If you’re eating the wrong foods, it doesn’t matter how often you exercise. You must cut yourself off from your bad eating habits.

2) So-called “diets” do not work.

3) Nor does cardio training by itself. Cardio is simply not rigorous enough to take pounds off and keep them off.

4) Weight training is by far the best way to achieve a caloric deficit because, rather than triggering the starvation response (as most diets do), it increases your metabolic rate, thus increasing all of your fat-burning enzymes. It targets body fat rather than muscle tissue.

5) Weight training works. It really does. That’s why it’s the cornerstone of my exercise program. Without it, there is no way I could look and feel as I do. Once you get used to regular weight training, your body becomes a fat-burning machine.

6) You’re never too old to start weight training. I used to lift regularly when I was in college and when we moved to North Carolina 17 years ago. More recently I began aerobic exercises that increase heart rate for a sustained period of time. I’ve noticed that people who do only cardio (walking, jogging, swimming) experience very little permanent weight loss. On the other hand, with basic weight training you will notice immediate results such as fat loss, increased muscle tone, and overall higher energy levels. Let me repeat: Most experts agree that muscle loss and weight gain can be stopped and reversed only through weight training. Cardio alone can’t do it.

7) My own exercise routine (for what it’s worth) consists of weight training for 40 minutes (no longer!) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and cardio training (walk/run a 5K) at least 3 times a week (usually Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday). Sunday is my day off.

8) Once you start an exercise program, keep at it. Join the Y or a local gym. Train for an event like a local 5K or 10K. Start off with one day per week but keep your schedule religiously. “Every Monday I will work out. No exceptions!” At this stage, it’s not so important that you worry too much about sets, reps, and specific exercises, but that you form a habit.

9) Train with intensity but rest between workouts for at least 48 hours. Exercise as if your life depends on it, because in a sense it does.

10) As for your diet, eat more often (4-6 smaller meals a day), eat breakfast every day (I blogged about this previously), drink lots of water, avoid processed foods as much as possible, and eat more fiber and protein. This is what I ate for breakfast this morning (accompanied by a delicious glass of well water).

11) Finally, don’t begin a weight training program without first consulting your doctor. And when you do begin, be sure to avail yourself of the wisdom of a personal trainer who will help you put together an exercise program that’s just right for you and your goals.

The truth is that everybody can benefit from larger and stronger muscles. Without weight training two results are inevitable: reduced functional capacity (leading to less physical activity), and reduced caloric utilization (leading to a slower metabolism). Adding muscle is a double solution in that it increases both your functional capacity and your metabolic rate. This is because muscle tissue requires large amounts of energy during exercise and a significant energy supply while resting.

Okay, these are merely some random reflections from a non-expert. So if you disagree with me, that’s fine! I encourage you to watch the following YouTube if you can find the time. It’s called Muscle Growth. This month the journal Baptist Health published an essay calledMore Evidence That Southern Cooking Boosts Heart Risk. Also this month, The Baptist Messengerwrote:

Our country has an epidemic of obesity in all age groups including children, adolescents and adults.  This is of concern because overweight and obese individuals have an increased risk for many health problems. Heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer are among conditions associated with obesity. Conditions and diseases associated with obesity that were once mainly diagnosed in adults are now found in children and adolescents with excess body weight. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease like high blood cholesterol, hypertension and Type 2 diabetes are increasing in children and adolescents.

So there you have it. It’s pretty obvious to me that we can all do better at taking care of the temples God has given us.

Blessings and good health!

Dave

P.S. You’ll notice I’m not running a 5K this morning. When I woke up my body said to me, “Dave, I’ve worked out 6 times this week. I’m tired. I need the day off.” Always listen to your body!

Saturday, August 29

6:22 PM I see that Energion Publicationswill be at SBL this year in Atlanta. I’m told that their booth will be situated between Eisenbrauns and Wipf & Stock. I’ve had the blessing of publishing books with all three of these excellent companies. Hope you will stop by their booths. Which got me to thinking …

Why do we love the book displays at SBL as much as if not more than the seminars? It’s partly got to do with word of mouth, I believe. You stand there reading a copy of a fairly newly released book and you hear your friend whispering in your ear, “Now that’s a great book. You really ought to get a copy.” Sure, the publisher has advertised for that book. But you can always count on your friends to tell you the truth. There’s always that kind of a buzz at an annual SBL meeting. Everyone is eager to see that newly minted release. The logic of the publishers’ displays is straightforward. If they can get people to talk about their book, its popularity will spread like a virus. And that makes sense. After all, publishers rent display tables at SBL (often at outrageous prices) for a reason. It just makes it faster and easier to connect with real live people. Furthermore, conversations do not end at SBL. I might go home and blog about a new book I liked. Now that’s effective marketing. It all plays into the science of social transmission. Imagine you’re sharing an evening meal at SBL with a bunch of cronies. It’s been a long day, and there are a gazillion things you all could talk about. Certain stories are more infectious than others. But nothing is more contagious than a raving report about so-and-so’s latest tome.

So what’s my point? It turns out that publishers know exactly what they’re doing when they set up their fancy display tables at SBL or at ETS or at other scholarly venues. Their intuition is dead right. Let the buzz begin! And that is very good news for everyone involved — the publishers, the authors, the reading public, and even the booth vendors. And that’s (partly) how book publishing works today — through word of mouth and social transmission. Think about that the next time you stop by one of their displays to gaze upon their unsearchable riches.

2:04 PM Both of my blog readers will know that I can be absent-minded at times, and today was no exception. Today’s 5K in Morrisville was actually scheduled for — you guessed it — tomorrow. Races on Sunday? Unheard of! Well, this one is indeed a Sunday race. I’m thinking of staying away in protest but then again, these 5Ks afford so many opportunities for Gospel conversations that I may very well end up driving there tomorrow. Both of my DBO readers also know that I believe in a serendipitous God who delights in surprising His children with good things, and instead of doing an official 5K this morning I was able to (1) have breakfast with one of my sons (which was absolutely wonderful) and (2) shop at Kroger. The latter is quite a privilege for someone who lives in Podunk. (I once read a book called The Eight Nations of North America. Actually, America can be divided into two basic cultures: those which are fitness-minded and which have a Kroger and a Whole Foods Market, and those which aren’t and don’t.) I love shopping at Kroger where today I found such delectables as:

Notice the California Rolls and the Bodenseekäse? Wow! Afterwards I drove to the high school track and did a personal 5K and am now getting ready to dig into my sushi then rest and write. See how self-disciplined I am? I am thinking about going away tomorrow night on a personal retreat. Of course, I can also accomplish the same goal here. Either way, solitude is such a necessary part of the Christian life but is almost a thing of the past. Jesus frequently withdrew to pray and to prepare for further ministry, and I am learning that I need to do the same thing. No servant is above his or her Master in this regard. I am just a human being, subject to like passions as anyone else. But when we look to God, we get what He can give. 

Blessings!

Your absent-minded friend.

5:58 AM Spectators at today’s race:

Gifs,Cats,frogs

Friday, August 28

6:44 PM Nineteen years ago today, Charles and Dianadivorced. Who would have ever imagined that happening?

In Greek class this week we talked about the difference between “preaching” (the kerusso word group) and “teaching” (the didasko word group). I suggested that “preaching” should be reserved in our parlance for what we do before unbelievers, as the sermons in Acts seem to indicate (these “sermons” being directed toward the lost). The sole exception is a place in Acts where Paul reminds his newly founded congregations that “it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Jesus does not invite us to a fad. He does not call us to pleasant serenity. He did not come with such a powerful ministry merely to inaugurate a social club. Christianity has a price tag. Many of you are paying for it now through obedience. It takes courage to follow Jesus, strength to face the trials He allows to come into our lives and marriages, and humility to submit to His plans with an ear tuned to a different drummer from the one the world hears. May we all learn to pay that price gladly.

Why should I complain
of want or distress,
temptation or pain?
He told me no less;
the heirs of salvation,
I know from his word,
through much tribulation
must follow their Lord.

6:22 PM Quote of the day:

The statistics on pastoral burn-out, moral failure, stress and depression are very high. Could shared leadership help dissolve this problem to some extent?

Read:Musings on the ‘One Guy’ Leadership Model.

6:18 PM Tomorrow: my 8th 5K in as many Saturdays. 

This race, the first of its kind in North Carolina, is created to provide funds to help rebuild Nepal and specifically residences and Primary Schools.

To sign up gohere.

6:14 PM HEADLINE NEWS: Having had nothing but water for several days, I am enjoying a Pepsi tonight on the front porch.

6:05 PM I’m ready.

The Fall

The abundant, redundant season.
Ushering in the winter, like an appetizer before the big meal.
Just a taste of what is to come.
Beautiful and temporary.

Leaves dying, revealing their true selves.
Falling, soft at first, then dry and fragile.
Beautiful and temporary.

Temperatures falling, days shortening,
Sunshine fading, slowly, readying the whole world for rest.
Beautiful and temporary.

Fall.

12:28 PM Picture time:

1) I can go for this!

2) When I moved here 17 years ago, I didn’t even know what a bush hog was. Now I am one!

3) Our new and improved donkey pasture …

4) … and fruit orchard!

Anyway, it’s time to write!

10:28 AM Workout … done. 5K … done. Yet to be done: Change water and air filters in the house; bush hog the orchards and donkey pasture; prepare for our next cutting of hay; write another chapter in Godworld. Yes indeed, I feel inspired to write today, though I’m not sure which s/Spirit is doing the inspiring. I only write when I want to. I don’t recommend this method to anyone of you, but I am too un-self-disciplined to do it any other way. In yesteryear people used to talk about having “unction.” I’m not too sure what that word means, but I think the idea was to refuse to do anything without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Just because a writer writes is no sign that God is in it. The most accomplished author may fall flat where the simplest blogger may ring the bells of heaven.

Enough yakking. I’ve got work to do!

Thursday, August 27

11:12 AM Good reminder today from Henry Neufeld: 

You need to examine everything. Think about these things for yourself. Get multiple scholarly opinions and test your own work against those. If you do this, you may be surprised at how many opinions about the Bible are predetermined by the presuppositions of the person holding that opinion.

ReadWhat the Bible Really Says? Really?

11:06 AM Someone told me they watched the murder video by mistake. How horrific. It’s theperils of autoplay. Maybe it’s time to disengage it if you have Twitter or Facebook accounts.

10:38 AM Welcome to Fall! It was a pleasant 68 degrees as I did my 5K this morning. Embedded in my gray matter was the thought, “If I can just go a little faster I can reach my goal of a 30-minute run.” Thankfully, I’m not in any hurry. It may take me a year to reach my goal but I’m going to give it all I’ve got. In the meantime God has been telling me not to obsess about tomorrow. “Give us today our daily bread.” What is past is past. What is coming tomorrow will arrive tomorrow. I will never have this day again. It is a gift I will never see again. So I’m gonna enjoy it. Sniff the fall weather. Pick some of Becky’s roses. Scratch the dogs’ backs. Study and read and write and do all the things I do on Thursdays after a marathon session of teaching on campus.

Enjoy today, Dave. It will be tomorrow before you know it.

8:18 AM My heart has been strangely heavy since I heard the news yesterday of the two journalists who were senselessly murdered in Virginia, of Tullian Tchividijian’s (Billy Graham’s grandson) filing for divorce, and especially the news that my dear friend David Allen (dean of the school of theology at Southwestern Seminary) lost his wife Sherri to cancer. How can we live hopefully in a world where bad things happen, where relationships wear out, where death happens? Perhaps there is nothing in this world more painful than the death of a marriage, simply because there is no place where grace is more solely needed. Reconciliation is always possible, of course, and this is my prayer for Tullian. As for David, I pray that he may know himself to be surrounded by a company of angels and a loving community as he goes through this great transition and prepares for his wife’s funeral. Dying is hard work, even for the living. “I had seen birth and death,” said T. S. Eliot, “but thought they were different.” Well, they are not so very different after all. Both are scary, unpredictable, strenuous. Last night I lay awake trying to take it all in, memories of Becky’s death washing over me like waves. I wept. Yes, I know that death is not the end but only the beginning for the believer. I realize that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us, and that when we go Home we will finally understand how and why our lives unfolded the way they did. I know that some will offer David pious clichés as they try to comfort him. I also know that David will get through this, will eventually come to realize that grief has a beginning, a middle, and an end, that — as Paul says — in life and in death “we are God’s.” Last night I laid aside my own concerns and lifted up those for whom grief and anguish threaten to crush them. If I need protection from the demons that assail me at night, how much more they? As usual, I turned to prayer — and to music. I worshipped my Creator and Redeemer. I savored the Savior, images of Jesus’ death flooding my tear-soaked eyes. “Oh my God, how I love you. You are more beautiful than anything in this life. May I bless and cherish You all the days of my life, living in gratitude on good days and bad. Let my trust in You uphold me when all I see and hear seems so uncertain.”

As long as life lasts, music will be my partner in sorrow. Last night I met God in an aria so powerful that it defies description. It lifted me to a new level of trust and adoration in the One who meets me in the midst of my sorrow and loss and leads me Home. Gracious God, Oh how I love Thee! May I love Thee even more!

Wednesday, August 26

6:38 PM HappyNational Dog Day! Below are my sweet puppies. When I’m tired of being a good sport or tired of exhorting myself to patience or just plain tired of being tired, I’ll sit with the dogs and it seems like a quiet wind blows through my body and I sense that everything’s okay after all. Sheba and Dayda, you’re the greatest!

Oh, I love this place.

It’s the weight room at the seminary. Had a good workout there at 6:30 this morning. It’s smallish and the equipment is somewhat dated, but it gets the job done while I’m in the Forest of Wake. 

Off to cook stirfry for supper. I’m really in the mood for homemade Chinese tonight 🙂

Tuesday, August 25

6:50 AM There are times in our lives when we come upon the truth with relief. I guess this has happened to President Carter. He realizes he’s got cancer. All other diagnoses have been excluded. He knows. What makes him press on? What made him teach his Sunday School class last weekend? What kind of a man can be so resilient, accepting, joyful, optimistic? No complaining, only serving. Someone has said, “Put up a complaint box and you’ll get complaints.” It’s our nature to grumble. But then there’s the cross. When we’re tempted to complain, it’s time to stop and remember that we are all undeserving sinners, miserable offenders of the grace of God, foolish, weak, and blind. But there’s that amazing cross, telling us that no matter how shocking we see ourselves in the light of God’s holiness, God Himself has done something about all that.

What I wish for President Carter is joy. I want him to have the happiest year of his life. Sure, he is staring death in the face (Vincent Millay puts it so bluntly: “Death beating the door down”), but even a funeral is a celebration for a Christian. I know what it’s like to lose a spouse to cancer. But there are much worse ways to lose a spouse. Mr. President, if by chance you should be reading these words, my prayer for you is the prayer Paul prayed for the Ephesians — “that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to grasp … how wide and long and deep and high is the love of Christ [for you].” I have tried, Sir, throughout most of my life, to trust God in the midst of trying circumstances. Nearly always, people like you have made it a lot easier. Please do not forget this. America needs your example right now. At His death, Christ offered Himself unreservedly into the Father’s hands. May you find safety and peace where Christ found His, in the bosom of the Father.

Monday, August 24

10:14 AM Just back from working out and stopping at the store to get some fruit and veggies. You will NEVER guess what confronted me as soon as I entered the market.

I kid you not. This is like CRAZY! Somehow I managed to resist the temptation and was able to crawl on all fours around the temptation aisle to where I wanted to be. Here are my healthy sugar substitutes for the week:

And here’s today’s lunch:

A cheese sandwich, a mango, and — you guessed it! —  a glass of water. Ain’t you proud of me?

As I mentioned earlier, today at the gym I was trying out a new exercise (no, not the doggy thingy). Here it is. It’s called a barbell curl.

There were about five of us guys working out this morning and we all took turns helping each other in various ways. Since I’m the new kid on the block I need lots of help and plenty of advice. One thing I find helpful is to have a picture taken of my exercising so that later on I can tell whether or not I’m doing the exercise properly. In the above photo you can clearly see that the barbell is slightly tilted. That’s a no-no. Ok, now I know what to correct. Folks, good form is crucial in weight training. Bad form can lead to an increased risk of injury. So I sort of self-monitor and then ask for the input of the more experienced lifters or even the YMCA trainer when he is available.

You see, when you lift, the weight goes up, then it goes down. It goes up and down. As in the acute accent, the grave accent, and the circumflex accent in Greek. (See how effortlessly I transitioned into Greek from weight lifting? Aren’t I smart? I mean, I am really smart, like Donald Trump smart.) This week in Greek 1 we’re working on correct pronunciation, which means, guys and gals, that you should always accentuate the accented syllable in every Greek word you encounter. I can’t tell you how many people fail to do this, even experienced Greek teachers. Remember: The Greeks didn’t need accent marks to help them in pronunciation any more than we English speakers do. Accents were added for the sake of us foreigners. Notice this video clip of Mark 1:1 in Greek. My stars! You will see that the last four words are all accented on the final syllable in Greek but they are not pronounced that way by the reader. So make sure, my dear student, that when you are reading Greek you accent the accented syllable on each word you’re reading. If you need help with pronunciation, ask for help. This is not a sign of weakness. There is no such thing as Super Greek Student or Super Greek Teacher. None of us is perfect, and we need each other’s help in the classroom — as well as in the gym.

Well, gotta boogie and straighten up my messy house!

Later,

Dave

P.S. Couldn’t resist shooting this clip today. It was such a gorgeous morning.

 

6:18 AM Off to the gym. Gotta work on my latest exercise.

Dogs,gifs,french bulldogs,critters

6:12 AM I have a terrible choice to make, largely because I am such a renowned health guru (please play along here). I am addicted to Pepsi and other soft drinks.

So what’s the problem? Only that soft drinks are the leading source of calories in the American diet, accounting for 1 in every 10 calories consumed. Imagine this: a 12-ounce can of soda contains about 13 teaspoons of sugar. Yuck. The problem is that our body perceives the calories in a soft drink as less filling than the calories, say, in an apple covered with peanut butter (both contain around 165 calories). Which is why many of us consume more calories on the days when we drink our meals instead of eating them.

The solution is simple, Dave. Drink more water. Among other things, water fills you up. Studies have also shown that people who drink at least 5 glasses of water a day were 41 percent less likely to die of a heart attack than those who drank 2 or fewer. More water translates into more fat burned.

So there you have it, folks. The question of the ages. Pepsi versus water. To be perfectly honest with you, I don’t know if I can give up my sacred Pepsi. But health wins out, truth by little truth. I really do want to detox from soft drinks even if that means some kicking and screaming along the way.

Sunday, August 23

10:02 AM So here’s another “first” in my life. I’ve begun eating breakfast. Regularly. Up to this point my pattern has been to grab a cup of coffee and get right to work. It shocks me that my lifestyle was so stupid up to this point. Once again, I owe my body an apology. You see, skipping meals — especially breakfast — in order to limit calories is the number one reason why we can’t achieve leanness and muscularity. Every time we miss a meal our blood sugar goes into the tank, increasing our hunger and cravings. The result is overeating later in the day and eating the wrong foods. When our body enters the starvation mode, our basal metabolic rate slows down. We want to avoid that.

Well, this morning I ate a superb breakfast. I decided that since I was able to conquer my Everest yesterday I deserved to be taken out to breakfast. So I got into the van and drove 45 minutes to South Hill, where Brian’s Steakhouse awaited me.

You gotta love this place. Local farmers are greeted by name.

When a senior citizen walked in, she was greeted with “Hey, Miss Georgia, I’ll have your coffee and water in just a minute.” This is what I ate.

Well, most of it. I skipped the bread. While driving home I had a PTIC — prayer time in car. My prayer list is full, a whirl of names and needs. Something inside me — maybe it’s hormones or the grace of God or something — tells me that other people need my prayers. In many ways, praying is like waiting. Waiting, watching, and preparing. In other ways, it feels like you are helping someone lift a heavy burden. Thank God for the gift of prayer.

Thank you, Lord, for the things You teach us, the habits You redeem, the things You refuse to leave as they are. Thank you, God, for giving me a new perspective on something as mundane as breakfast. Thank you for listening to all those crazy requests for miracles I brought before You today while driving. There now, Lord, I feel much better. Thanks a lot, Dad! Dave

Saturday, August 22

6:45 PM Hey there. Got time for yet another boring update from yours truly? Well, here goes.

Since Becky’s death I’ve had to make an investment in a “new self” as it were. I’ve had to struggle with such questions as, “Why am I here?” “What parts of me died with Becky and what parts didn’t?” “What’s the meaning of my new-found bachelorhood?” Thankfully, in the midst of all these questions (and many more like them) there has also been an amazing level of consistency — my work, my family, my farm, my writing and publishing. But at times it felt like I was only going through the motions. I needed to find new passages to a new self. I needed new dreams.

Life offers us many new and rich and varied opportunities if we will only look for them. Since that fateful day in November of 2013, I’ve fought a battle against sameness. I needed to find new ways to make a difference in people’s lives. I guess that’s one reason I’ve enjoyed 5Ks so much. Or why I like going to the gym. My days are full of firsts again. It’s like learning how to surf all over again, or learning Greek all over again, or riding horses all over again. I’ve also had more time for intimacy (with the Lord), exploring new ideas with my publishers, and trying out new foods. I can speak from personal experience when I say that growing older doesn’t mean you have to slow down and stagnate. Even a 63-year old widower can sprout new foliage and choose a new direction.

What’s more, I’m blessed beyond words because I don’t have to worry about many of the things men of my age tend to worry about — dating, loss of libido, a life filled with regrets. In a sense, in moving forward I’ve turned to the past — witness my three trips to Hawaii since Becky died. Waking up morning after morning at Kailua Beach to squint at the endless horizon and the sun rising over the Mokulua Islands works wonders with a sagging spirit. Sitting for hours on a surfboard has given me time to decode the mindboggling changes I’ve experienced in my life. As always, my theologian brain tries to make sense of it all, remembering the words of Jorge Luis Borges, “While we sleep here, we are awake elsewhere. In this way every man is two men.” You might say I’ve lived three times: my pre-Becky life, my with-Becky life, and now my post-Becky life. Becky and I weren’t perfect, but we were perfect for each other. Oh, the happy memories! You see, friends, singleness has its own eroticism, for the erotic lies not only in the physical act but in the millions of memories you build in your mind, memories that converge into a giant waterfall deluging your thoughts with the preciousness of marriage and with the hope of seeing your loved one again in eternity.

Yes, I’m aging, but I’m also trying to outwit it. I’m writing a new map of my life, eager to travel the new passages the Lord has designed for me in His sovereignty and love, recognizing that each new change is a passport to renewal. For far too many men, their whole identity is tied up with the status they’ve achieved so far. That’s not what I want. As far as I’m concerned, 60 is the new 40. I’m not ready to accept “old age.” Where’s the adventure in that? No, I’ve got too much tire tread left in this old bod of mine to coast through my 60s. 60 did you say? In my mind’s eye I’m still that 19-year old who left Hawaii for Biola or that 26-year old who married a gorgeous Southern Belle in Dallas or that 31-year old who received his doctorate in Europe. The 20-somethings who left me in the dust during today’s 5K in Cary ain’t got nothin’ on me. I’ve got more wisdom and I’m probably tons happier too. I can still manage to pump blood and oxygen around my circulatory system with the best of them. Sure, I’ve got my inner battles (as do you), but today I’m more comfortable with uncertainty and I feel far more diversified on the outside and far more unified on the inside.

The only thing I’m having difficulty understanding is why people like you would even be faintly interested in anything I say here at DBO. Maybe it’s curiosity. Maybe you want to know what a major life-passage looks like. If so, that’s normal and necessary. Glad I can be of service! But listen, folks, there are no rules for aging today. The answer to the manhood puzzle must come from within. If there is a key to successfully negotiating the aging process, it’s to be self-directed but geared toward goals that are larger than yourself. Go where your spirit (and the Spirit) leads you. Stand apart from the crowd. Like William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson in Braveheart), be willing to risk your life for what you believe in.

At the same time, discover your nurturing side. You can’t help everybody but you can help someone. Bottom line? To speak of aging as being “over the hill” is as absurd as it is destructive. God has a purpose for our lives regardless of our age. The greatest joy in life comes from seeking His will and then obeying it to the very best of our God-given ability.

“I find my zenith doth depend upon a most auspicious star,” spoke Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “whose influence if I now court not, but omit, my fortunes will ever after droop.” Friend, there is still time to redirect your life toward that Star, the Lord Jesus Christ. Health never lasts. But influence can outlast our mortality.

Blessings!

Dave

12:20 PM The race today was very well attended, which made me very happy because it was for such a good cause.

Here I am with Linda Plummer, the CEO of Birthchoice, which sponsored today’s Run for Life.

In her pre-race speech Linda reminded everyone of an amazing statistic. She said that if a pregnant woman sees an ultrasound of her baby, she is 80 percent less likely to have an abortion. 80 percent! I praise God for the work Birthchoice is doing in “empowering women to make informed decisions.” I hope they raised tons of funds today.

As I said before, the course was grueling. I woke up this morning feeling strong so I decided I would try and go all out and RUN the entire race, hills and all. And guess what? I did it! No walking. No jogging. All glory to God! Here I am not 5 minutes after I crossed the finished line.

I was super energized! That’s what exercise will do for you, folks. The more you work out, the more energy you have. Sounds ironic but it’s true. When I began “Operation Getfit” a few months ago at the urging of one of my daughters, I weighed 245 pounds. Today I stood on the scales and couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m 214 pounds. And all of this without trying to lose weight. It’s just the result of eating better and regular exercise. Several words come to mind: Motivation. Exhilaration. Improvement. Change. 5Ks are great motivators. They are excellent fitness boosters. When you’re running, you really feel like you’re competing. But perhaps the best thing about a 5K is that you can work up to it easily and quickly if you’re disciplined. 5Ks are for everyone — beginner or veteran, fast or slow. And they can fit into any training plan.

Can’t wait to run my next race next Saturday, Lord willing. It’s called “Run for Nepal” and it will provide desperately needed assistance for food, shelter, and funding to rebuild homes after the devastating Nepal earthquake this spring. You will recall that some 9,000 lives were lost and nearly 600,000 homes were destroyed at that time.

The race will start at 8:00 am at the Cedar Fork Community Center in Morrisville (near Cary). I ran this course several weeks ago and I can tell you that I am VERY thankful that the course is flat!

5:52 AM Off to the races. Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

OK Chuck Norris

Friday, August 21

5:42 PM So tomorrow is my seventh 5K run in as many weeks. It’s theRaleigh Run for Life. (Memo to potential racers: This course is my Everest. It’s wonky that I’ve decided to try and run it again. You’re probably thinking I’m crazy. Duly noted.)

The course is a wild one. You finish and you’ll get a fist bump for sure. I’m not expecting to make a very good time. But I’m determined to run my race as ably as possible. Doing 5Ks is so neat. It allows you to maintain the façade that you are cool and smart. Thank you, Cary, for giving people like me an excuse to dart around in circles until we’re panting. I don’t care a whit about winning my age group. But if you’re 60 or older I’m warning you: I’m gonna have it in high gear. It’s like, Christians were made to run, man (Heb. 12:1).

So let the whippersnappers duke it out for the honors. I’m just gonna smell the roses and enjoy myself. Probably about halfway through the race I’ll ask myself, “What in the world do you think you’re doing, you idiot?” There really is no answer to this question other than, “I have no idea.” 

This is going to be so fun.

4:38 PM These came today from Baker Academic — 30 copies of my books (5 each).

I’m expecting to pass out a lot of free books this semester to the 110 Award recipients who get a perfect score on their exams.

4:32 PM While working around the house today I listened to my favorite songs of the 70s. Here’s what my “top 20” play list looks like:

  • Hotel California

  • Bohemian Rhapsody

  • Go Your Own Way

  • Another Brick in the Wall

  • Sultans of Swing

  • It’s Too Late

  • Don’t Fear the Reaper

  • Killing Me Softly with His Song

  • Comfortably Numb

  • Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

  • You’re So Vain

  • Message in a Bottle

  • One of the These Nights

  • American Woman

  • Roundabout

  • Reelin’ in the Years

  • The Boys Are Back in Town

  • Just What I Needed

  • I Can See Clearly Now

  • Listen to the music

Comfortably Numb contains the world’s greatest guitar solo. Ever. Period. End of discussion.

 

11:44 AM Today I finished limbing all the trees on the farm and bush hogging all the “whiskers” left over after haying. Now I can finally see the farm sign again. Hooray!

9:12 AM Travel note: In two weeks I’ll leave for Pensacola, FL, to tape several interviews with Energion Publications. While there, I’ll also be privileged to speak in the 9:00 am and 10:00 am services at Chumuckla Community Church on Sunday, Sept. 6. I had the joy of speaking there several years ago on a previous trip to Pensacola (thank you brother Tom!). For the church website, gohere. Pensacola is an interesting place. I’m eager to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum as well as historic Fort Pickens. I love combining teaching and sightseeing.

8:26 AM Spending the morning working on family finances while listening to Pandora live stream Gregorian chants. How awesome is that?

Veni Creator Spiritus,
Mentes tuorum visita
Imple superna gratia,
Quae tu creasti, pectora.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
Et Filio qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito,
In saeculorum saecula.
Amen.

8:14 AM Greek students, are you enjoying the ride yet?

The 40 Greatest Dog GIFs Of All Time

Remember: Next week we’ll have 10 extra credit points on our first quiz. Raise your hand if you’re gonna try for a 110. Yay!

7:58 AM Like everyone else, I have pet peeves. For my whole Christian life I’ve listened to boring sermons. The speakers were obviously “pumping sunshine” (as we would say in California). I mean, like it was obvious. No depth. Same old same old. Nothing memorable. Last night I watched Donald Trump’s New Hampshire speech and he nailed it when he said, “We ought to outlaw teleprompters” during campaign speeches. Like, I love this. I mean, We the People are obviously not stupid. We can tell if you know your subject. We can see whether or not you’re really passionate about what you’re saying or just reading a lecture someone else wrote for you. I’m about 100 percent positive that public speakers would make a 100 percent greater impact on their audiences if they simply got rid of their notes. Pay attention to the people you’re trying to reach. Look them in the eye. “Read” their reactions. And do it authentically. You say, “How is that done?” Watch a good TED Talk and you’ll see. Oh my, you will see. They are the most popular lectures on the web. They’ve been called “spectacles for smart people.” Their motto is “Spreading ideas worth spreading.” Which means, when you’re done speaking, I want to feel a very strong felt need to share what I just heard with others. Their audiences are hooked. Speakers are “talking” — not lecturing or scolding or shouting. Their content is great. The information is not coming from the canteen of Saturday night but from a reservoir of knowledge and expertise. TED Talks take the audience on a journey. I’ve enjoyed a good many excursions myself — which is why I’m pretty much a hopeless TED Head.

When I was at Biola my CE prof once told me, “Dave, there are no boring teachers. If they’re boring, they’re not teachers.” Ask yourself, “How can I inspire when I teach the word?” “What can I do to present the best and boldest ideas the Bible contains?” If you’re familiar with TED Talks, then you’re probably familiar with their Ten Commandments:

  • Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.

  • Thou Shalt Dream a Great Dream, or Show Forth a Wondrous New Thing, Or Share Something Thou Hast Never Shared Before.

  • Thou Shalt Reveal thy Curiosity and Thy Passion.

  • Thou Shalt Tell a Story.

  • Thou Shalt Freely Comment on the Utterances of Other Speakers for the Sake of Blessed Connection and Exquisite Controversy.

  • Thou Shalt Not Flaunt thine Ego.

  • Be Thou Vulnerable. Speak of thy Failure as well as thy Success.

  • Thou Shalt Not Sell from the Stage: Neither thy Company, thy Goods, thy Writings, nor thy Desperate need for Funding; Lest Thou be Cast Aside into Outer Darkness.

  • Thou Shalt Remember all the while: Laughter is Good.

  • Thou Shalt Not Read thy Speech.

  • Thou Shalt Not Steal the Time of Them that Follow Thee

I’ll add an eleventh if I may: Make your sermon relevant, interesting, enjoyable, and exegetically deep or don’t waste our time. Give us a reason to focus. Give us something to chew on afterwards. Show us some passion (and compassion).

Thank you.

Thursday, August 20

7:20 PM Had dinner tonight with Nate, Jess, and the boys. Now I don’t mean to sound biased, but my grandkids are so cute it hurts. Here’s Peyton — now weighing in at a whopping 11 pounds.

Of course, Nolan and Bradford wanted in on the photographic action.

Graham still thinks Papa B is a pretty cool gadget to play hide and seek with.

It was a delight to be with the family again.

I am blessed!

10:46 AM I just finished one of the best workouts at the Y that I’ve ever had. I am gradually making my muscles work harder than they are used to working. Today I reached a goal of 75 pounds for the bench press, which for me is an Olympian accomplishment. I’m also discovering that one of the most important factors in weight training is intensity. Raising the intensity of your workouts makes your muscles work harder. So my workout today was shorter but more intense than all of my previous workouts. Afterwards I walked/jogged 5Ks at the track. The one thing I am absolutely sure about is that I have weak knees. I’ve let them atrophy over the years simply by not using them (except while surfing and riding horses, but I’ve haven’t ridden horses regularly in a while). Thus I am very very very gradually building up my strength in my knees. I am so excited because today I discovered a new way (at least new for me) of running. My form looks like I’m jogging but actually my feet barely leave the ground — hence the absence of that “pounding” sensation one gets when one runs. And get this: whereas my walking pace is 14 minutes per mile, my new pace (using this “hybrid” walk-jog method) is 12.5. Man am I jazzed to say the least. I’ll try this method out this Saturday at the Run for Life race in Cary and see if I can keep up that pace for the entire race. (Bummer: the venue is the same cross-country course that practically killed me a couple of weeks ago because of all the hills).

So what do I do now in terms of exercising? Two things:

1) Rest. In fact, I will do no exercising (whether weights or cardio) between now and Saturday. When you work out your body needs lots of time to recuperate and repair itself from your workout. In other words, non-training days are just as important as training days, if not more important. My current habit is to rest for at least 48 hours between workouts. “Rest is not idleness,” said John Lubbock. He was right.

2) Eat properly. We are what we eat. What is proper nutrition? Don’t ask me! I’m just a beginner. But I do know it’s better to eat 4-6 small meals daily spaced every 2-3 hours apart than to pig out twice a day. One of my daughters reminded me yesterday to stop by the local farmer’s market to buy fresh vegetables. Just now I had a small steak and some fresh corn. I also want to eat more apples, bananas, and melons. We’ll see. I’m not very good at this bachelor thing yet and tend to be indifferent about meal preparation.

So where are you on this journey of getting fit? Find your own path. Don’t dare be afraid to follow it. You don’t need others to tell you that you need to get into shape or anything else in life. Listen to your heart (and conscience) and you won’t go wrong.

7:38 AM My kids tell me I should eat healthier. Like this perhaps?

Gifs,turtles,food

7:28 AM Sad news for anyone who travels: The 747 isflying into the sunset. The jumbo jet’s first commercial flight was on January 22, 1970. For me, I recall boarding a 747 at Honolulu Airport in 1971 as I was leaving Hawaii to attend Biola. In those days the aircraft had a cozy lounge and plenty of leg room. The flight is still etched in my memory. The 747’s normal capacity was 350-400 people but a single 747 once carried 1,087 Ethiopians to Israel in 1991. It’s a beautiful machine, wouldn’t you agree?

The good news? If you’re an eccentric person they might sell you the frame as scrap metal. What a cool house that would make!

7:14 AM So you just started a Greek class this week. The day I began learning Greek was the day my life was changed forever. This will be a very exciting time for you. Yet one thing never changes: you will not learn Greek without mastering the fundamental basics you must know before you can begin using Greek in your ministries. So as you begin your lifelong pursuit of excellence in Greek, allow me to offer you a few words of encouragement:

1) Enjoy yourself and have fun. Enjoy our pace in class (one lesson per week). Enjoy your textbook. It’s a book you’ll keep for a very long time and something you’ll refer back to again and again when you have questions or when you need motivation.

2) You can’t build a house without a strong foundation. I’m talking about mastering each new lesson before you go on to the next one. Our textbook has 26 lessons, which means that we will cover 13 chapters each semester with ample time for review. I know it’s a pace you can live with. So take the time to build a strong foundation. No exceptions to this! None!

3) Don’t compare! Forget your image of the ideal Greek student. You are you. Do your best and work at your level of aptitude. Comparison is nothing but a recipe for frustration and unhappiness. But if you do your dead level best in the strength of the Lord, God will be pleased with you — and so will your prof.

4) Finally, thank God for blessing your life with opportunities to study His word, including the original languages. I travel to many foreign countries where this is just not possible. Think of it this way: Greek gives you a toolbox with tools you’ll need to transform yourself and unleash God’s power inside of you. All you have to do is use them. There are so many works that are worth reading in Greek. I’ll never forget my first encounter with Paul’s letter to the Philippians in Greek. The beauty and precision of Paul’s prose struck me as something valuable beyond words. It was like glimpsing the Sistine Chapel for the first time. Another moment engrained in my mind was reading the church father Origen in Greek for the first time. I read Luther in German and Kuyper in Dutch and Collange in French and Calvin in Latin. Likewise, Greek works should be read in Greek if at all possible.

So welcome to Greek, my friend. You’ve arrived at a road in your life where incredible things are about to happen. May this class help you accomplish them!

Below: Yours truly when he took his first Greek class at Biola. And no, I did not Photoshop this picture.

Wednesday, August 19

4:42 PM Convocation was yesterday. It was great. Quite a crowd, eh?

I’m delighted with all three of my classes. My baby Greek sections got off to a superb start. That’s because I have superb students. And last night, our Mark class went 20 minutes over time before anybody noticed. Too much fun! In the meantime I’ve had students stop by to pick up their free book for completing the “Five Minute Greek Club” this summer. Here’s a couple of pix:

I’m so proud of these students. They would hate the tag, but they are great role models of what a good student of Greek should look like for all of us. As for me, last night I started reading Dave Croteau’s latest book called Urban Legends of the New Testament. So far I love it.

I’m feeling great. I’ve faced down 63 candles on my birthday cake and am just now discovering that everything I knew about aging is false. My life has been far too sedentary, I’ve been indifferent about my diet, and I allowed myself to develop “love handles.” In short, I had refused to take control of my body. Folks, fitness isn’t automatic. You can’t recoup your mistakes over the years but you can take control of your life. At the very least, I owe it to my children and grandchildren to stay in good shape as long as God allows me health and strength. Friend, even if you’ve never picked up a dumbbell in your life it’s never too late to get started. I guarantee you’ll feel and look 10 years younger. I’m learning this journey and you can too. I love being energetic and fit. Forget the past. Forget what you should or shouldn’t have done. It doesn’t matter one iota. Right now, today, you can get a fresh new start.

Tonight I’m devoting to grading student papers and scheduling a trip to Southern California. Then tomorrow (D.v.) it’s back to the gym and the pool before cleaning up the farm with the bush hog. In keeping with my present obsession with all things Latin, I’m spending a lot of time reading the Vulgate and listening to Gregorian chants. I delight in the somewhat bizarre harmonies of this period of music. Which means you probably think I’m nuts to be spending so much of my time living in the 15th century. But I’m fine with that. How about you? Time, is it, for a little extravagant pleasure?

Blessings to ya’ll!

Dave

Tuesday, August 18

6:34 AM To all of my students: Hope you score big this semester, to the glory of God!

Brilliant solo goal

6:30 AM “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” — William Arthur Ward.

Monday, August 17

7:32 PM Becky’s roses have come back! Yahoo! They remind me of my Rose of Texas!

5:44 PM Just published: The Last Twelve Verses of Mark: A Bibliography.

4:30 PM This morning I worked out and then swam laps. Afterwards, as I lazed at pool’s edge, I thought to myself, “Maybe this is a good time to review Con Campbell’sAdvances in the Study of Greek: New Insights for Reading the New Testament.

Campbell’s new book is a shameless plea for sanity. The author, a keen observer of all things Greekish, is writing for people who love New Testament Greek (as I do) and who are willing to change their minds (as I am). The book is a victory dance on the fresh graves of apathy and mindless rationalism. Here’s a comment or two on each chapter:

Chapter 1 (A Short History of Greek Studies). The key word here is “short” but, happily, the author does give credit where credit is due. I am glad to see that A. T. Robertson’s big grammar is given the praise it so rightly deserves. Indeed, “… Robertson handles Greek in a way that is not (on the whole) overturned by modern linguistic principles and methodology” (pp. 34-35). James Barr (The Semantics of Biblical Literature) exposed “problems” that “have taken decades to rectify within biblical studies.” I could go on and on. For some reason the author failed to mention either of my “seminal” contributions during this period (Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek and Linguistics and New Testament Interpretation), but I forgive him for the oversights.

Chapter 2 (Linguistic Theories) is the best written chapter in the book and includes an excellent discussion of generative, functional, and systemic linguistics.

Chapter 3 (Lexical Semantics and Lexicography) largely repeats what Moisés Silva and I said in our booksBiblical Words and Their Meaning and Linguistics for Students of New Testament Greek. The chapter includes an exceptionally clear and unambiguous discussion of ambiguity, including “intentional” ambiguity.

Chapter 4 (Deponency and the Middle Voice) — did Dr. Campbell actually say the “d” word? — is a very balanced discussion of a hotly debated topic. I’m glad the author agrees that Neva Miller “has provided a good starting point for improving our capacity with the middle voice” (p. 102). Indeed, my own Learn to Read New Testament Greek makes ample use of Neva’s categories in my chapter on the middle voice.

Chapter 5 (Verbal Aspect and Aktionsart) is a highly technical chapter that concludes: “The issue of whether Greek verbs are tenses remains unresolved” (p. 130). Well, not in my mind!

Chapter 6 (Idiolect, Genre, and Register) breaks new ground. It was my favorite chapter in the book and a reminder that I need to be a lot more intentional in my classes to help my students discover and appreciate each New Testament author’s style and diction.

Chapter 7 (Discourse Analysis I: Hallidayan Approaches) and Chapter 8 (Discourse Analysis: Levinsohn and Runge) are tedious but important. I have always found the best way of introducing students to discourse analysis is by providing them with an actual example (e.g., my Novum Testamentum essay,The Discourse Structure of Philippians: A Study in Textlinguistics).

Chapter 9 (Pronunciation) will bring you up to speed on yet another controversial topic. For me, pedagogy trumps all at this point — hence my continued use of the Erasmian system. (When in Greece I use, of course, the modern pronunciation.)

Chapter 10 (Teaching and Learning Greek) is a reminder that teaching doesn’t take place unless learning occurs, and perhaps no one is more qualified to issue this reminder than the author of Keep Your Greek: Strategies for Busy People.

Campbell concludes, “The study of New Testament Greek is probably more exciting now than at any time since the discovery of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri in 1897.” The author may be forgiven his use of hyperbole — he’s a Greek prof after all — but if Greek is not more exciting today than in yesteryears it is certainly more demanding, interesting, controversial, and relevant to a church that is rapidly losing its adherence to sola scriptura. We Greek teachers are indeed an interesting lot. We all love our “baby” so much we endure (it seems) endless controversy and debate (“discussion” is perhaps too polite a word to use in view of some of the SBL meetings I’ve attended). If I had edited this book, I might have written a note to the author along the lines of, “Hey, Con, I absolutely love your book! It’s the best thing on Greek since Robertson published his Weightlifting 301 volume! But could you please make it a bit more readable, maybe even include a few dumb jokes and anecdotes just for fun — you know, like that guy named Black did when he wrote It’s Still Greek to Me?”

No worries, though, folks. You’ll still learn tons from reading this excellent book. And when you’re done reading it, pass it on to someone else who could use a refresher course in all things Greek.

7:08 AM Greek starts this week you say?

Distraught crying fan

Well, it’s really not as bad as that. Come to class tomorrow and see for yourself!

Sunday, August 16

5:50 PM Eagle versus drone. Guess who wins?

5:38 PM All I can promise you is this. Afterwards you’ll be soaking wet and tired. But you’ll have a huge smile on your face because you’ve helped out a very worthy cause.

So why not join me next Saturday — all you “former” 5K racers? This is what community looks like. Acting out God’s love for other people in tangible ways. Imagine that! By running a silly foot face we remind each other of who God is.

See you there, blokes and blokesses!

8:45 AM Good morning! In just two and a half weeks my travels pick up again. Between now and the end of the year, Lord willing, I’ll be in Florida, Hawaii, New York, South Carolina, Asia, and Texas. I have to admit that I’ve always had what the Germans call Wanderlust. It’s pretty easy to fall in love with Switzerland, but Switzerland was just the beginning for me. I love Vienna and London and Madrid and Athens and Odessa and Amsterdam. I love the dumplings of Shanghai and the rice pilaf of Bucharest and the injera b’wat of Addis and the dog meat of Seoul and the humus of Cairo and the pastries of Denmark. It’s strange, this Wanderlust is, but I feel that I belong to the world as much as I belong to the U.S.

When I think of how God made us part of a world community, I think of the wonderful places I’ve been privileged to visit. Traveling has exposed me to many different peoples and cultures. They have taught me far more than I ever taught them, and the best thing they taught me is the permission to love other people with impartiality. Right now, with so many ethnic and racial tensions in the U.S., this feels like a rare gift I carry with me. The world we live in is sacred and beautiful but also fallen and ugly. But it’s the only world we’ve got. I think traveling makes you believe in God because there’s something just beyond understanding about the variety and freshness of different cultures that only God could be responsible for. His creativity is amazing. I am stunned by the beauty and the evil that is in this world, a world that one day will be made brand new. All of life is lived in the interim between creation and new creation, and if we’re honest with ourselves we feel the ache that Paul describes in Romans 8. Thank God there’s another reality, that there’s a better world to come, that there’s a world in which hope and change are real and eternal. I love this world. “Christians” are a dime a dozen, but lovers are harder to come by.

Are you a lover of the world for which Christ died? The transformation begins with us. The Donald Trumps of this world will not lead us into peace. The true peacemakers are those who follow the Prince of Peace and who whisper hope in the ears of hope-hungry people around the world. A hope-whisperer — that’s what I’d like to be known as while I enter old age. During even the darkest eras of human civilization there have been hope-whisperers. Everywhere I travel I meet them. Over and over again I meet people who no longer feel alone in their dreams for another world — this “Godworld” I will be describing in my book by that title.

Do you think we could learn to love this world again?

P.S. This morning I received several pictures of the “Becky Black Building” in Bagdogra, India that many of you helped to fund. Here the students are lining up before school.

The principal addresses them at the start of each new day.

Your typical classroom.

“Your” building houses both the Hebron School and the North East Theological Seminary, which uses the facility in the afternoon. I’m told that the seminary currently has 80 students and the enrollment is constantly increasing. Praise God! If you’d like to teach a class there write me and let me know. As the Head of the church, Jesus invites us all to get involved in what He is doing in this old world. He died for us, and He doesn’t want us to forget that act of pure love.

Peace,

Dave

Saturday, August 15

7:24 PM Who needs TV when you’ve a got a dog.

 

7:14 PM Reading Greek in bed. Yes, I am officially a “lazy bum.”

7:14 PM The HBU Theology Conference will be held in Houston Feb. 25-27. The theme is “Ad Fontes, Ad Futura: Erasmus’ Bible and the Impact of Scripture.” For details gohere.

12:25 PM Hey there folks! This morning I took a (much needed) break from working on my Mark class preparations to run my sixth 5K in as many weeks, this time just outside of Petersburg, VA. I had to get up at 5:00 am to make it work but it was for a very good cause. This is just a small part of the crowd that raced today in search of a cure for cancer.

And here I am just after crossing the finish line.

I’m smiling because I knew I had just topped my personal best race time in a 5K. As I drove home today I apologized to my body. “Body,” I said, ” I’m sorry for the millions of times I’ve abused you, stuffed you with all kinds of trash food, tried to hide you, and on occasion even hated you. Thank you for always wanting to look different and hanging in there until my delinquent brain finally got with the program. Thank you for carrying me through the race today and for all the races that are yet to come. I really do like you. Dave.”

I’m going to spend the afternoon resting up and working on a book project. Not surprisingly, I’m a super huge fan of the Gospels and so I plan on spending lots of time this weekend in According to Mark. At the same time, I got Con Campbell’s new book Advances in the Study of Greek in today’s mail, and I’m eager to see what he has to say.

Hasta luego!

Dave

Friday, August 14

7:35 PM I think I may have finally discovered my favorite New Testament word for a “Christian.” It’s a term that’s used in the New Testament as a synonym for commitment. The term is suzugos, which is usually rendered “yokefellow.” It’s found in Paul’s description of one of his co-laborers and friends in Phil. 4:3. The allusion to Matt. 11:29 is obvious. Christ calls each of us to “Take My yoke upon you.” Imagine an Amish farm for a moment. Look into the fields and there you will see an untrained horse hitched with an already well trained one. Or imagine a man on horseback. He has trained his animal to be praus — another fantastic Greek term filled with theological implications. A horse that is praus (“meek”) has been trained to work with humans. The horse retains all of its original wildness of course. We should never try to “break” horses of that. (I emphatically dislike the idea of “breaking” a horse.) I’ve owned and trained two horses — a purebred Arabian and a Thoroughbred. I can guarantee you there was nothing weak or spiritless about them. They were tamed but not tame. Meek but not weak. Their power had simply been put into the service of their rider and friend. 

As we will see in our Mark class this semester, meekness is a quality Jesus wishes to foster in us. Disciples of Christ do not lose their natural powers or prowess or interests or hobbies or aptitudes. These have, however, been put into service to Christ, even at the price of temporary inconvenience and perhaps even opposition. We know something important about this kind of meekness when we look at a New Testament man named Epaphroditus. That Epaphroditus should have “gambled” with his life for the sake of the Gospel is shocking to our generation because it goes directly against the grain of some of our most cherished ideas. Living a radical, scandalous life is expected for followers of Jesus. And I would add this: Theology that is not based on testimony is to be viewed with very great suspicion. It is one thing for us to hold our Bible conferences but it is quite another thing to back up our faith by serving in a soup kitchen or evangelizing a murderous tribe in Africa or giving away one’s wealth without reservation. As I see it, this is the fundamental weakness of the modern evangelical church in North America. Attending church faithfully, participating in “worship,” singing praise hymns — if this is all we do, the result is bound to be superficiality. After all, when Jesus said He would build His church, He wasn’t referring to a building. For Christ, worship was never a matter of place. Nor can it be for followers of Christ. Let those who malign the church ponder the book of Acts! The early Christians were known for certain marks. (I have recounted seven of themhere.) They were not satisfied with observing the sacraments or exercising church discipline or conjuring up a thousand new “plans” for discipleship. Their strategy was simple: penetration. Their goal was to penetrate concentric circles to the farthest reaches of the world (Acts 1:8). The marks of a true church, contrary to many of our expectations and spurious publications, go far beyond mere theatergoing. As Christ envisaged it, the church is His body that He gave for the world. Of course, loyalty to Christ does not mean that we neglect the assembling of ourselves together. What we must always oppose is the idea that we gather for the gathering. Nope. Wrong again. We gather not for the gathering. We gather for the going.

Nothing could be more effective in the effort to discover “simple church” today than a serious acceptance of these marks of the early church. In the New Testament, Christ already has a plan worked out for His church. He knows the solution. He always does. What may seem impossible to us is possible with God. 

7:48 AM What I’m clicking:

1) Stanley Hauerwas isinterviewed about his new book The Work of Theology. My stars! So this is what retirement looks like? Not bad.

2) The top 10 cities in Americawith the most evangelicals.

3) McMaster University announces an opening in New Testament.

4)Surfing on fire.

5) Praying forJimmy Carter.

Thursday, August 13

6:40 PM I’m so glad to be teaching an elective on one of the Gospels again this semester. Most of us are familiar with the Gospels. We’re familiar with Jesus. But is it a love story?

I recall when I was dating Becky in college (yes, Josh Harris, I dated). One year I decided to take a semester off from Biola and go home and surf. Becky and I continued to correspond with each other by letter. Mostly we talked about superficial things. I usually signed my letters, “Regards, Dave.” Later on, after I had returned to Biola, things began to change. I started to send her cards on special occasions. And one day I noticed that my “Regards, Dave” had become “Love, Dave.” There was no doubt about it. I was in love with Becky Lynn Lapsley. The change was total and radical.

This semester I’m teaching three classes. Each of them has something to do with Greek — but only tangentially. Should any of my students have a strictly long-distance relationship with Jesus, I’m hoping all that will change this school year, totally and radically. It’s not that our relationship with the Lord will always be sunshine and roses. Some days I feel acutely, voraciously in love with Him. I feel more sensitive to His person, find it easy to talk with Him. I find myself moving toward — rather than away from — the relationship. Yet even on the best of days I know that my relationship with Christ isn’t what it’s supposed to be. The apostle John once leaned his head on Jesus’ chest. That word picture shocks me.Jesus and John, sharing an audible heartbeat. These days I’m realizing that neither trust nor obedience is simple. Some days I’m filled with restlessness and anxiety. Now, especially with Becky gone, I want to live out this season of life with my whole heart and mind. I keep thinking of how Jesus “set His eyes toward Jerusalem.” Jesus knew what He could expect when He got there, but He went forward to meet it anyway. I love life. But to be honest, sometimes I fear the future. Will my health fail me? Will I become too old to travel? Will I experience rejection by those I love? What will my children remember about me when I’m gone? Grief still ebbs and flows. Sometimes I weather it. More than anything, I think it’s love that keeps me going.

Whatever you’re facing today, friend, let love detoxify it. You can’t simply drive grief and pain away. It is something that has to be borne and released as soon as possible. What helps me the most, when I can do it, is to simply relax on Jesus’ chest and relinquish everything to Him. The words “I love You” tend to come more easily during those moments of intimacy. Tonight, my prayer for myself, for my students this semester, and for you is that you may know yourself to be the object of Jesus’ unconditional love, and might hear His heart beating close to yours as you lay your weary head on Him.

4:58 PM Right now I’m writing a pop quiz for Tuesday’s Mark class. It won’t count for a grade. Instead, the person with the highest score will receive a free book. I kinda like that.

4:42 PM As I finished my 5K this morning, my Map Your Run app brought up this outrageously silly add:

Surf Huntington Beach.

Discover why Huntington Beach is called the “Center of the Surf Universe.”

Book Now!

Balderdash! I lived in La Mirada, CA for 27 years and I can tell you with complete objectivity that this is the zaniest thing I’ve ever read. I’ve surfed Huntington a zillion times and I’ve surfed Sunset Beach a zillion times and there’s no comparison folks because it’s all contrast.

California versus Hawaii? You’ve got to be kidding. That’s like preferring Coke over Pepsi. Or Star Trek over Star Wars. Or Microsoft over Apple. Or saying that cats are better than dogs. Man, everyone knows that the world’s best surf towns are all on Oahu: Ala Moana, Diamond Head, Queens, Makaha, Haleiwa, Sunset, Pupukea (my favorite), Waimea Bay, Pipeline, Velzeyland, Kailua, Makapuu, Sandy Beach. Like totally, dude. The problem with Hawaii is that the cost of living is absurd and if you work for a living you’ll have very little time to surf. If I lived there again, after about three weeks I’d begin to hate it because by then I’d have to get three jobs to pay for my $750,000 studio apartment in Kailua. But then again, you can always do what I do: Take a surfing vacation there every year and get it out of your system all in one fell swoop. 

Huntington better than Hawaii? Huntington the “Center of the Surf Universe”? Even the thought of it is enough to drive a person nuts.

 That last half hour at work on a friday

3:34 PM As you would expect from someone who uncompromisingly keeps his word, I’ve just changed my mind again. I told you I wouldn’t be doing a 5K this weekend but I found a race in Colonial Heights, VA, that’s only an hour and a half away from the farm. It’s calledRace for the Cause 5K and it only makes sense that I would want to participate in it since all of the proceeds go to cancer education, detection, and treatment. How cool is that? Here I am just before last week’s race in Cary got started.

Man was I pumped. (I won’t show you the “after” picture.) Later on I reflected on 5Ks and jotted down some of the zany ideas that go through your mind during a race.

1) Did I remember to lock the car?

2) Relax, Dave!

3) Push harder, you old duffer!

4) Man, I feel great.

5) Man, I feel terrible.

6) Why does Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” keep playing in my mind?

7) Oh oh, I think I drank too much coffee this morning.

8) So that’s why they say to stretch first.

9) Since when did a kilometer get so long?

10) Water. Pleeeease!

11) Never again! (Until next Saturday, that is).

Say, if you live in the greater Richmond-Petersburg area come on out and join us on Saturday. Race kicks off at 8:00.

7:34 AM This is interesting. Just accepted an invitation to speak at a hunter’s “Wild Game Dinner” in South Carolina in November and I don’t hunt. But I do know what a wild turkey looks like. Does that count?

Wednesday, August 12

6:32 PM My emails and texts and phone haven’t stopped since about noon. Each a different request or need or question or report of suffering and pain. So much to pray for today. Let’s call a spade a spade. The Christian life is tough. Yet Paul’s “If God is for us, who can be against us?” stands as an everlasting rebuke to us. There can be no higher assurance than that. Lean, weary one, upon His breast. Prayers with all of you who wrote.

11:12 AM I want to talk to you for a minute about three words: Motivation, Commitment, and Enjoyment. But before I start ….

Everyone knows I think I’ve got the best job in the world. Not having studied at all in high school, God mercifully intervened in my academic life and now I get to give lectures and write books and teach classes and speak in chapel services and talk in churches and travel the world. I even get paid for it. Education is, for me, a way of life. How about you? What is a “way of life” for you? What is something in your life you are motivated to do, committed to performing with excellence, and are enjoying beyond practically anything else?

I’ve had several of these “passions” in my 63 years on this earth. Surfing was one of them. It still is. Greek is another (you knew I’d say that). Some of you have taken Greek but hardly use it all. You probably lack one (or more) of three things: motivation, commitment, and enjoyment. I love Greek. I can’t stand to be a day away from my Greek New Testament. I know a few of you who feel the same way. I visit an online chat group fairly regularly. They call themselves “The Seven Minute Greek Club.” They read and translate two verses every day from their Greek New Testaments and then hold each other accountable. It’s so funny — everyone seems to want to be the first one to say “Done!” What passion!

My latest passion, as you know, is physical fitness. Really, it’s become a way of life. I work out 6 days a week. Today, along with my friends Abraham, Colin, Ken, and Chris, I lifted weights for an hour at the Y.

Then I did a 5K walk at the local high school track.

Normally I lift 3 days a week and walk 3 days a week — including a Saturday 5K. I’m taking this Saturday off simply because there aren’t any 5Ks being run in the Raleigh area this weekend. But the following weekend (Aug. 22) is already on my calendar: the21st Annual Run for Life in Cary. What a great cause for sure. You might say I’m motivated, I’m committed, and I enjoy what I do. So, whether you are trying to get (back) into shape or trying to learn a foreign language like Greek, you need three things: motivation, commitment, and enjoyment. I have plenty of friends who want to lose their belly. They are motivated but lack commitment. Commitment, to me, boils down to two things: self-discipline, and time management skills. You may want to get into shape but you lack either the discipline to do it or you fail to manage your time in such a way as to make it happen. Then again, I know plenty of pastors who were motivated to study Greek and who you might say are even committed to a knowledge of the language, but who (frankly) don’t enjoy it. I don’t blame them at all for not keeping up with their Greek. I don’t do things I don’t enjoy either.

“Okay, wait” (you say, with eyes rolling). “If I don’t have motivation, commitment, or enjoyment, how do I get them?” That’s the easy part. You ask God for them. It’s as simple as that. Everything that comes to us in the Christian life comes to us in the name of grace and not works. So let’s say you lack wisdom about a decision you need to make. Whatcha gonna do? Ask God of course (James 1:5)! You don’t love your wife as you know you should? Ask God to give you the love you need. You’re lousy at time management (like me). It’s a discipline that God can and will give you. Getting into shape is as shocking as it is thrilling to me. I feel better and more energetic right now than I did before I worked out this morning. Life for a 63-year old can be physically demanding, but there’s really no excuse for not helping the old bod out so that it can function like it’s supposed to function. Today I get the same pleasure by working out as I used to get by opening a huge bag of Doritos. Our bodies are like clay in our hands. I can’t blame anyone but myself for being out of shape.

So … there’s motivation, commitment, and don’t forget the third factor: enjoyment. Jesus may be invisible, but evidences of His greatness are everywhere. When you needed salvation, He was there. When you needed healing, He was there. When you needed to do the impossible, He was there. If you need anything today, He is still there. Is there anything more we could ask for in life?

Take good care,

Dave

6:35 AM What do you do when you make a mistake? You correct it.

Newspaper editors aren’t the only ones who need to make course corrections from time to time. Let’s face it, ordinary men and women like John Mark, Epaphras, Aristarchus, Bartholomew, Euodia, Phoebe, and Syntyche would feel out of place in today’s church. The church of the first century church had no superstars. What it did have were ordinary men and women who were used by the Spirit according to their gifts. In an article published on Monday calledAll Hands on Deck, David Platt makes a similar point:

The spread of the gospel in the New Testament took place primarily because ordinary people, empowered by an extraordinary presence, were proclaiming the gospel everywhere they went. To be sure, God appointed well-known apostles like Peter, John and Paul for certain positions of leadership in the church. Yet it was anonymous Christians, not the apostles, who first took the gospel to Judea and Samaria, and it was unnamed believers who founded the church at Antioch, which became a base for mission to the Gentile world.

Platt’s point? It’s time to go back to the New Testament to find a biblical concept of the church compatible with the new stirrings of the Spirit in our day. Praise God for the well-known leaders of Christianity we have today! But the church can’t operate on the strength of the few. I’m praying that the Lord of the Harvest will raise up ministers and missionaries in every congregation, each going about his or her own proper function in the body. But for this to happen, our churches must provide structures and platforms that are sufficiently informal to permit freedom of the Spirit. We must foster conditions in our churches in which every-member ministry is not just talked about but practiced. Let it begin with our elders. Why can’t they be home-grown? To incarnate the mind of Christ in our churches, as David Platt is suggesting, will require some clear thinking about local church eldership and some rethinking of the whole matter of spiritual gifts. Every true member of the local church is a minister of the Gospel in the fullest sense of the word. And when the gifts of all are affirmed under the leadership of the Spirit, we can be sure that God will give to each local church the gifts necessary for its own upbuilding.

“All hands on deck!” writes Platt. “This is God’s design for His Church. Disciples of Jesus must not settle for anything less. Your life on mission really does matter.” As I’ve said before (The Future of Southern Baptist Missions), it’s time to stop outsourcing missions to professionals. That method is simply not getting the job done. Thankfully, it’s never too late for a course correction.

Tuesday, August 11

5:52 PM FYI: TheSpring 2015 issue of the Journal of Baptist Theology and Ministry has some excellent articles and book reviews. (Thanks to Jacob Cerone for the link.)

5:44 PM I have my moments when, frankly, God startles me. We just had a huge downpour. It was a deep, soaking rain. I say I’m “startled” because we just fertilized all the fields hoping for a good rain today. It could have been sunny all day. Instead, God’s grandeur was funneled into the plain package of an ordinary rain storm. God is so like that. He delights to reveal Himself in normal-sized glimpses. Aren’t you glad?

God in heaven, You are my life, the source of all adventure. Thank You for opening the clouds of heaven on my behalf. You once said, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” I’ve been pretty good lately at not trusting You very well. But in these rain drops I’m reminded again that I am being met and reassured by Your love, that I don’t travel this lonely path alone, and that I can dwell in Your presence with complete trust. Thank You. Dave

4:48 PM The final day of our 2015 faculty workshop is now history. Lots of good stuff today. Heath Thomas, for example, spoke on the topic of “Effective Doctoral Supervision.”

It was classic Thomas. I jotted down plenty of takeaways, such as :

The best and most effective doctoral supervisors are pastors.

We are supervisors who can shepherd our students through the good and the bad.

I couldn’t agree more! My heartfelt thanks to Danny Akin and Bruce Ashford for putting together such an outstanding workshop. I’d blog some more but I’ve got the kitchen to clean and my clothes to wash and dry. A bachelor’s work is never done I guess. But one thing I will say: As clowns yearn to play Hamlet, so I love to teach.

Stay centered in Christ’s peace,

Dave

Monday, August 10

5:50 PM Another great faculty workshop. Here Ken Coley is leading us. I love my faculty colleagues — all 70 of them!

5:58 AM “I am not a teacher, but an awakener.” ― Robert Frost

5:54 AM Mother Theresa:

These are the few ways we can practice humility:
To speak as little as possible of one’s self.
To mind one’s own business.
Not to want to manage other people’s affairs.
To avoid curiosity.
To accept contradictions and correction cheerfully.
To pass over the mistakes of others.
To accept insults and injuries.
To accept being slighted, forgotten and disliked.
To be kind and gentle even under provocation.
Never to stand on one’s dignity.
To choose always the hardest.

5:48 AM ReadTen Best Books for Studying New Testament Greek.

Sunday, August 9

8:18 PM I hope every student of mine will read this essay by Roger Olson:Whatever Happened to the Christian Mind? People speak of the “gift” of learning, and now I think I know why. I want to learn to accept that gift, improve upon it, never let it languish because I’ve “arrived” as a scholar in my field. Never! But how to turn things around? For most would agree that our educational system is broken. We may have degrees, but have we learned anything? Especially to think for ourselves? Writes Olson:

The solution is simple. Go back and start over. Wipe away the last quarter to half century of sole emphasis on “practical Christianity” to the exclusion of Christian discernment. Start teaching children the Bible, not just “Bible stories.” Return to memorizing key portions of the Bible and singing songs and hymns with meaningful lyrics. Teach everyone that God expects us to worship him with our minds, not just our feelings. Institute catechism classes. Gently but firmly correct church members who protest that “All our ideas about God are equal.” Re-invigorate the idea that biblical-theological education is a must for pastoral leaders and that sermons ought to teach as well as inspire. Encourage “life groups” to study Christian books that teach and stretch the mind. Invite theologians and biblical scholars to speak in the church and (pastors) urge the people to attend. A few years ago I visited a church where the pastor routinely devoted ten to fifteen minutes of the Sunday morning worship service to a mini-talk by a visiting and invited Christian scholar. It’s a beginning.

I remember my last trip to Hawaii. I was at church on Sunday morning when the pastor told me about the Lay Bible Institute they had begun in order to disciple the believers in their community. I’ll be teaching there, Lord willing, this October. I want you to know how much I cherish this task, this privilege of teaching a class to Islanders whose access to any form of higher Christian education is extremely limited. Dig out your high school yearbook sometime today and ask yourself, “Who were the teachers that had the greatest influence on me?” In my high school yearbook I can think of two — only two — but they made all the difference in my life and future trajectory. Their classes stretched my mind, and I soaked up knowledge like a sponge. Such simple things are the very things that matter to educators … and make a good teacher stand out from the crowd. You want extravagance? I’ll give you extravagance. Walk into a classroom that is alive with learning. Inhale deeply the fragrance of thoughts and wisdom. A good classroom can be a place where time intersects eternity, where God bridges heaven and earth. There is nothing like it in the world.

Olson concludes his post with these words:

Christianity in America has by-and-large been reduced to folk religion. A folk religion is a spirituality divorced from tradition and critical thinking. It thrives on clichés, evangelegends, and feelings (mostly of comfort). It lacks intellectual rigor, concern for coherence (among beliefs), thrives on spiritual stimulation devoid of discernment, and regards everyone as an “expert” in his or her own spirituality. The result is a loss of credibility and influence and, tragically, eventually of the gospel itself.

Of course, Olson asks much of his readers. But so does the Gospel. Christianity is not an anti-intellectual faith. Quite the contrary. Or so I was told by Francis Schaeffer when I heard him speak in Switzerland. Or by Markus Barth in his Basel seminars. Or by Harry Sturz in his Greek classes at Biola. I just thank God that each of us, regardless of the world’s standards, stand equal before Him. He has given each of us a mind, and soon, perhaps very soon, we will all be asked to give an account for our use of it.

7:28 PM The faculty workshop this week focuses on pedagogy. I am looking forward to learning a lot. My favorite approach to teaching is called the maieutic method (deriving from the Greek adjective maieutikos, from maieuesthai, “to act as a midwife”). I loved learning from this method when I was in seminary (though not many teachers used it). It is unique in that (1) it is based on asking and answering questions, and (2) it often involves discussions in which the consensus opinio is challenged, and (3) it seeks to determine truth by a method of hypothesis elimination. The goal is to have participants working together to arrive at an answer. I was taught this method by the great and good Dr. Bill Bynum, who headed Biola University’s education department for many years. Unfortunately, today many educators assume that there is only one way to learn, and that is through the lecture method. My preference is to have the students read the material (in a book or online) beforehand to free up valuable class time for discussion. My role as an educator is solely to coach the learners. This is true even in my beginning Greek classes. My primary goal there is not to disseminate information (which can be acquired in one fourth the time by reading the textbook) but to remove distractions, overcome fears, and set the scene for self-learning through motivating my students. I am a teacher at heart, yet if I care about teaching I must care not only about my subject but also about the best conditions in which my students can learn. Underlying all teaching is an aspiration towards self-learning.

At any rate, lots to learn. Eager to hear from my colleagues. More tomorrow.

2:56 PM What are these animals thinking? 

2:42 PM Our message this morning was on marriage from Ephesians 5. It forced me to ponder yet again the magnificent mystery of marriage — the love, the leadership, the submission, the intimacy, the vows, the sex, the death to self it requires, even the goofiness.

I was married once. Our marriage was a love song filled with ugly warts and indescribable delight and unspeakable pain and majestic awe. I can’t verbalize it but Paul sure can. Check this out (The Message):

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

What a perceptive, insightful, witty, beautiful translation! Years ago in my Greek New Testament I jotted down this line from one of I. Howard Marshall’s essays:

The de facto patriarchal authority of the husband is so transformed by the command to love his wife that it ceases to be exercised in the old way.

This is so right on! The wife is to submit herself to her husband (note, gentlemen, the middle voice here: the husband is never commanded to place his wife in submission to him; it is her decision). For his part, the husband loves his wife and does nothing considered to be harsh, which means at least that he will not make decisions that cause her pain or grief or bitterness (see Col. 3:19!) unless there is mutual agreement between them. Listen again to Paul:

No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body.

In other words, we husbands are to treat our wives just like we treat our own bodies: with great care. Paul says that the husband “feeds and pampers” his body. That is, he is concerned about proper nutrition and nourishment and resists the temptation to be constantly stuffing junk food into his mouth. Paul also says that the husband “pampers” his body — an unfortunate mistranslation, in my view. The Greek here simply implies that he takes very good and proper care of his body. He keeps himself in good physical condition. He is “fit.” (By the way, that’s why I would find it so difficult to give a message about marriage if I did not take care of my own body. We Baptists are the worst!) At any rate, I love Ephesians 5. What a script! What lessons! Jill Briscoe once said that she and Stuart were incompatible. “And we live with incompatible children and an incompatible dog and an incompatible cat.” Her point? We all need lots of grace to make a marriage work. But God is anxious to supply us with endless grace — if we are willing to receive it.

So, bride of Christ. Got a question for ya. Are you being submissive to your loving Head? The church always faces the danger of being polluted by the thinking of the world. It then begins to choose unbiblical traditions over Scripture. It does things for the sake of expedience and convenience rather than because it’s right. But whenever a church takes this daring step of disobedience there is always a risk and there’s always a high price to pay.

Are we as congregations submissive to Christ?

That is the question.

That is the only relevant question.

2:08 PM A blogger lists the25 books he wants in his library (and, by implication, the 25 books you should have in your library, including two of his). Not that it matters much, but here are my recommendations for elders/pastors (assuming we are not talking about e-resources):

1) A Greek New Testament.

2) A Hebrew Old Testament.

3) A Greek Old Testament.

4) A Hebrew New Testament (I have two versions).

5) A concordance to the Greek New Testament.

6) A concordance to the Hebrew Old Testament.

7) A concordance to the Septuagint.

8) A good beginning Greek grammar (notice I said “good” — wink wink).

9) A beginning Hebrew grammar.

10) An intermediate Greek grammar.

11) An intermediate Hebrew grammar.

12) A primer on New Testament textual criticism (I like Metzger’s the best).

13) A primer on Old Testament textual criticism (I prefer Brotzman’s).

14) An English Bible.

15) A standard New Testament lexicon (such as Bauer).

16) A theological dictionary (I prefer Brown’s New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology to Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament).

17) Metzger’s Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament.

18) Aland’s Synopsis of the Four Gospels.

19) The Anchor Bible Dictionary.

20) Hendriksen’s New Testament Commentaries.

21) Stuart’s Old Testament Exegesis.

22) Fee’s New Testament Exegesis.

23) Beale’s Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament.

24) Harris’ Prepositions and Theology in the New Testament.

25) Silva’s Biblical Words and Their Meaning.

Notice that (1) I did not include any of my own books (I am so humble!), (2) I am a firm believer in ad fontes, and (3) no list like this one can ever be considered exhaustive.

6:42 AM It has been a great time of prayer thus far. The other day I mentioned that Christians are in an armed struggle against the world system, our “arms” being completely spiritual in nature. According to Eph. 6:18- they consist only of (1) prayer and (2) our participation in spreading the Gospel of peace. In particular, Paul emphasizes “praying in the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). Prayer is the ultimate (and only) antidote for anxiety (Phil. 4:6). In every situation we are to make our requests known to God. This involves any number of “acts” of prayer: adoration, confession, petition, requests, entreaties, intercessions, thanksgivings, and general communing with God. If there are to be any specific, definite requests, these must all be first prompted by the Spirit. Hence “praying in the Spirit” means, for me at least, a willingness to be silent before the Lord and allow Him to lead me every step of the way in my prayer time. In Paul, prayer is always linked with the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:26-27; 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 6:18). Moreover, prayer is always linked with the presumption that our Heavenly Father is eager to give to His children good gifts/the Spirit (Matt. 7:7-11; Luke 11:11-13).

The simple fact is that we can (and should) pray anytime and anywhere. But if we are to set aside a separate season for prayer, let it be prayer in the Spirit. We deceive ourselves if we think we can pray as we ought or if we claim to hear His voice but neglect the primary channel through which it comes: the word. Hence, whenever I set aside a special time for prayer I always have three items at hand: my Bible, my notepad, and my iPhone. As Scripture brings to mind a need — whether confession, worship, petition — I respond. The notepad is necessary because I tend to forget the lessons the Lord is teaching me unless I write them down. Finally, the iPhone is there should the Lord impress upon me the need to share a word of edification, encouragement, or consolation with another. I sent out several such texts last night.

Prayer, then, is first and foremost listening to God. It is allowing the Spirit to direct your thoughts. Praying in the Spirit is when prayer stops being a do-it-yourself activity. Ultimately, then, prayer is an inter-Trinitarian process: God speaking to God through us (read Rom. 8:26-27). If I don’t know what to pray for people whom I haven’t heard from in a while, I will often use the prayers of the New Testament, such as Eph. 3:17-18 or Col. 1:11. In recent months I’ve been thinking about prayer as a calling to share the pain that others are experiencing. We who have experienced deep loss share something with each other that others just don’t have. Even as we grieve, others are grieving. During my times of prayer I want to find ways to reach out to these fellow-sufferers and give them a word of encouragement. It’s the least I can offer. I don’t pray that God would take away their pain necessarily. I pray that God would help them welcome each day that He gives them. Sometimes, like last night, I simply weep for (and with) them. I don’t like to cry, but the gift of tears has become a very special gift to me. Tears are our “Yes” to God’s will. They stretch our faith and wash away our denial and resistance. Through my tears I have a chance to reach a new level of honesty with God. In fact, my entire body — tear ducts included — was given to me as a gift and an instrument of grace.

Are our prayers effective? I have every confidence that God hears the groans of His children. “Do not be afraid,” say the angels of Scripture over and over again. And I’m not. Not when I have a Daddy like the One I’ve got.

Saturday, August 8

6:16 PM Today and tomorrow I’m taking a personal prayer retreat to focus on five areas:

  • My walk with the Lord.

  • My family.

  • My local church.

  • My school.

  • The persecuted church worldwide.

Open my heart, O Lord, as I meet with You these days. May You know Yourself to be the object of my everlasting love. Deepen my hunger for the spiritual food of Your word, and help all I know to keep listening, wondering, and opening their hearts and minds to what You are seeking to teach them. Author of salvation, keep SEBTS a Great Commission seminary. I also pray for Your body that is suffering. I ask for patience and faith and trust in this trying time. May they rest in Your great love. Amen.

12:18 PM Making decisions has never been very easy for me. But the decision to participate in 5K races was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Today’s race was no exception, though it was very grueling. The race was called the “Bella Rose Strides for Babies” 5K and was sponsored by the Carolina Family and Sports Medicine in Cary, NC. The race is named in honor of Bella Rose who passed away four years ago from SIDS. Here I am with Bella’s precious parents and sister.

I shudder to think what they’ve gone through these past four years but I was glad I could help their cause today. I suppose whenever you experience loss you want to make sense out of it. You at least want to leverage it for a greater good if you possibly can. I’m glad Bella’s mom and dad decided to take their cause public. I expect to be back next year in even better shape Lord willing.

Today, as you know, I was committed to running or jogging — not walking — the entire race, which I barely managed. It was a very rugged course and I wasn’t expecting so many hills. The downhill sections were great, but the uphill sections were torturous, and at times my pace was reduced almost to a walk (think: jogging in place!). Still, I was pleased with my overall time and pace.

In the end, of course, none of this matters in the least. What matters is the cause and the people and the fellowship. For a brief moment in time a sudden, faraway picture clouded my eyes, and it wasn’t an innocent baby I was thinking of, but Becky. Maybe, just maybe, I would have made her proud today.

This award is for you, Bella and Becky.

Friday, August 7

6:08 PM James Horner’s magnificent “Take Her to the Sea.” Speakers up!

11:24 AM It’s been 38 years since I began teaching Greek and I find it really hard to believe that things kick off again next Monday with our faculty workshop. It is an undeniable fact that I am the most blessed man on planet Earth. I am grateful beyond words for the privilege of teaching at SEBTS amidst such great administrators, students, and colleagues, one of whom will be sorely missed as he takes a deanship at Oklahoma Baptist University. Heath, I’ve enjoyed the years we’ve known each other and though I’m sorry to see you go I have no doubt God will use you mightily in your new post at one of North America’s great Christian liberal arts universities. Folks, whenever I speak with potential Ph.D. students I ask them if they would ever consider earning their degree abroad. I often bring up the name of Heath Thomas as a scholar whose academic pilgrimage I find to be both interesting and inspirational. If you’re interested, you can read all about it in aninterview I did with Heath several years ago when his book on Lamentations had just come out. At any rate, wishing you the best, Heath, as you begin this new chapter in your academic life.

So it’s back to school for me and I feel as happy as this sweet little Sheltie:

10:58 AM Showed up an hour early for my oil change and they took me right in. Love country living.

8:18 AM Hello thoughtful internet friends. Well, I’ll just start by saying I thought the so-called “debate” was completely underwhelming, all the way from the predictable one-liners to the gotcha questions. I suspect, though, that many Christians were happy to hear that all God’s candidates are Republicans. Actually, the movement Jesus came to establish can’t be identified with any religious or political party. We who have pledged our lives to follow Jesus are called to mimic His love to all others, including our political enemies. We’re not called to pretend we have any superior wisdom when it comes to politics. As understandable as it is to get angry about Planned Parenthood, I honestly think it’s a mistake to point our finger at government while we as the church are so eager to relinquish our responsibility for caring for the poor to Big Brother. I would add that I think inviting political disagreements into our fellowships is a certain recipe for disaster. This doesn’t mean that I or anyone else can’t pass judgment on this or that politician’s views. But neither can I with integrity claim to be able to reconcile worldly politics with the teachings of the New Testament. Kingdom people should remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the forces of evil in the heavenly places. We are not called to fight this battle “as the world does” or “with the weapons of the world” (2 Cor. 10:3-4) but rather by manifesting the beauty of God’s saving design for humanity.

Okay, that’s about it for the “debate.” I wish all of the candidates the best with their campaigns and encourage those of us who are interested in debating their policies to be respectful and informed. In the meantime, the world is being held hostage to cosmic forces but thankfully this situation will not last forever. I think we would all agree that commitment is of the first importance, but there may be many different objects of our commitment. Millions today are committed to politics whether Democrat or Republican. Other thousands today are committed to killing in the name of religion. Christians have no monopoly on commitment. We simply have chosen a different object. A Christian is one who follows Jesus in lowly obedience and who imitates God as He is revealed in Christ (Eph. 5:1-2). Once we have made this primary commitment, the Voice of Christ will be heard above all of the confusing and self-contradictory voices heard in the world. An example of this may well be the full out testimony to the power of the Gospel in one’s life and family as we heard last night in one of the candidate’s responses.  

Thursday, August 6

7:50 PM This amazing storm video will blow you away.

 

5:28 PM “We’re gonna have a good time tonight.” In less than 4 hours it will be 9:00 pm and time to PARTY!!! Gohere to watch live.

11:55 AM Hey all of you runners out there! What’s a good split time for a 5K for a 63-year old male who is in good physical condition but whose knees are a little bit on the weak side? Being a swimmer, I’m big into splits. My average walking pace is 14 minutes per mile. That’s without straining too much (I’m tall). Do you think a 10 minute per mile jogging pace is unrealistic for me? I’ve jogged a little in all of my races thus far. Last week I jogged the last half of the 5K and felt really great afterwards with no resultant knee pain or discomfort at all. Are even splits the best way to go during the race? Any other advice for a novice? I’d really like to see if I can finish under 30 minutes but won’t push myself to do it if it means injury. Thanks!

FYI: My last four races were:

Barefoot for Kelly:

  • Time: 37.24

  • Pace: 11:52

Cantaloupe 5K:

  • Time: 37.22

  • Pace: 12:02

Run with Heart 5K:

  • Time: 36.24

  • Pace: 11:43

Java Jive 5K:

  • Time: 37.55

  • Pace: 12:13

11:30 AM Last day of training before Saturday’s race. Wish me well!

9:10 AM Jon Stewartbemoans the futility of his 16-year run as host of The Daily Show. “The world is demonstrably worse than when I started. Have I caused this?”

If you will, here’s my take. We are a living at the close of one age and the beginning of another. It is a momentous hour in world history. The tragedy of our times is that we are failing to get to the bottom of our troubles. Nothing is so popular today as the intoxications of Satan. The unregenerate try to remedy the condition with temporary palliatives such as comedy and entertainment. It’s like trying to cure cancer with an aspirin pill. Even in the church, modern religious fads such as the prosperity gospel only further the deception. In his final show tonight, Jon Stewart wants to come across as the neurotic pessimist whose “rousements” sadly failed to improve our lot as human beings. He is unaware that God has provided a true stimulant. All the well-meaning comedians in the world cannot make us equal to the opportunity. Sin is our problem, and nothing less than the divine cure will alleviate it. There can be no revival in the land until we turn from amusement to amazement. We will first have to ask in wonder, “What must I do to be saved?” Chase fleeting fame and you have your momentary reward. Just ask Johnny Carson or Jay Leno or, now, Jon Stewart. If you want to outlive yourself, you must first come to Christ. Dead with Him, you live to walk in newness of life. There is no other way.

Stewart ends his show on a depressing note. As the studio goes dark, he will pick up a skull and, in his best Hamlet voice, ask, “Hath my efforts all be for naught?” It is our task as Christians to answer this question. We must think critically about culture and about the world views our kids are formulating by watching TV. “If anyone is thirsty, let them come to Me and drink,” says Jesus. Not only is Jesus the cure to our spiritual cancer, He transforms us into people with living water flowing in our innermost beings. As individuals, this is the only way forward. Even as churches and congregations, the solution is no different. Might I suggest that the next time your church has a business meeting someone make the following motion: “I move that we call as our senior pastor Jesus Christ.” Folks, we need Someone greater than ourselves to forge a new sense of unity in our midst. Robert’s Rules of Order will not cut it. Until that happens — until Jesus Christ is given His rightful place as Head of the church, the only Senior Pastor, He will not have preeminence in all things (Col. 1:18). Until then, our religious enthusiasms will only exhaust us more.

This morning I was trying to envision God on His heavenly throne. What is He thinking about all this? Is He laughing? Is He weeping? “It is said of God that no one can behold his face and live,” said Nicholas Wolterstorff. “I always thought this meant that no one could see his splendor and live. A friend said perhaps it means that no one could see his sorrow and live.” When Jesus arrived at the tomb of his friend Lazarus, John records that He “burst into tears” (John 11:35, ISV). There are indeed serious implications in evil’s advance in our day and in our nation. “A sword, a sword is sharpened. Should we then make mirth?” (Ezek. 21:9). Yet there is hope. Jesus can breathe life into death. And the good news is that He is yet willing to do so.

8:02 AM Quote of the day:

You can laugh and snicker at Trump all you want, but there’s actually a reason why he’s at the top of the polls: American voters are fed up with the “professional politicians” who have forgotten who works for whom, and they’re perfectly willing to vote in an arrogant showboat to replace the self-serving con-artists of the last 50 years.  

Wednesday, August 5

12:12 PM While working out today at the gym, my mind was fixated on the Christology of Mark’s Gospel. In 1950 Oscar Cullmann published his now famous Christ and Time in which he argued that the New Testament is primarily interested in “functional Christology” rather than mere abstract ideas. I can recall discussing this perspective with Professor Cullmann many times in his apartment in Basel in the early 1980s. He was then in retirement but always seemed to find time to open his home to fledgling scholars. I came away from these discussions with the firm conviction that New Testament theology must be done from a starting point that is biblical-historical in orientation. For all the diversity in the New Testament writings, there remains a genuine unity about the person and work of Christ. Jesus’ mission of salvation involves His incarnation, humiliation, and death. He is the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies … and bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Jesus was fully conscious of this mission, too. He knew Himself to be the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, and His earthly career focused dramatically on His fateful “hour.” Good shepherds don’t merely lead sheep. They die for them. Thus, in According to Mark, suffering is the normal experience for Christians because for them the world is an utterly alien place. But with the suffering comes blessing, particularly the blessing of bearing up under suffering with patience and steadfastness. If I might make a practical application for today, Christian living is not so much the condemning of the world as it is living lives of goodness and kindness in contrast to pagan sinfulness. It is our “good works” (the Greek can also be rendered “attractive works”) that are a witness to unbelievers of Christ’s love for them. Such love toward the enemies of God frustrates their hostility and even possibly wins them to the Savior.

Hence we find in According to Mark an explication of the theology of discipleship. The point is that Jesus’ followers have a duty to display to an evil world the value of the kingdom of God. Many scholars see in Mark an excellent example of a primitive Christian theology, recognizing strict parallels between According to Mark and Peter’s sermons in Acts. Thus Peter, like Jesus, desires his readers to face persecution and suffering not with stoic pessimism but rather with rejoicing — a response that proves the validity and reality of the Christian faith.

Folks, Greek exegesis has everything to do with discipleship, because the kind of student of the Scripture that I am determines the kind of person that I am, the kind of father that I am, the kind of missionary that I am, etc. So my work in this Mark class is so much more than Greek. My work is to present my students to Jesus as single-minded disciples who are fully committed to living out their mission. My job is to send my students into this world as disciples who will contend for God’s glory because they understand what their mission is.

How exciting is that?

11:50 AM This morning I forget to mention that my book on textual criticism is also available in Mandarin, in case any of you are interested.

Gohere for ordering information. I anticipate that within the next year four more of my books will appear in a Chinese edition (nice work, U.S. publishers).

Isn’t this crazy?

11:32 AM Greek and Weight Training Part 2:

7:26 AM “Mark’s gospel is a puzzling gospel” (F. Thielman, Theology of the New Testament, p. 57). The “final mysterious stroke,” of course, is the absence of the mention of any post-resurrection appearances of Christ. Moreover, the “puzzling nature of Mark’s gospel … may be one reason why Matthew and Luke both made use of Mark to write gospels of their own.”

Is According to Mark really all that puzzling? I think not. Come to our Mark class on the 18th and find out why!

7:14 AM Interested in the subject of New Testament Textual Criticism? So am I! Abidan Shah recently interviewed me about my bookNew Testament Textual Criticism: A Concise Guide, and you can listen to it here. The relevance of textual criticism is not limited to the seminary classroom. As we try to show in the interview, New Testament Textual Criticism is relevant for our practical lives, including the question of whether it is ever proper to get angry. So listen in and then share the interview with a friend.

Tuesday, August 4

4:33 PM Heading out to have Mexican food with a good friend and brother. Esta noche yo quiero un enchilada de queso y arroz. Nada más.

It will be the perfect capper to a great day of exercising, swimming, writing, and prepping for the new semester. The Y has a very nice oval track that sure beats the tread mill.

Earlier, my son sent me this picture with the words, “The only time my truck will have the date on the odometer!”

How cool is that? Gives an old clunker like me hope!

8:30 AM Vote now for the Wipeout of the Year Award. Warning: Not for the faint of heart.

8:18 AM Here’s a great quote for my students in our Mark class (Richard Rohr, Simplicity, pp. 56-57):

Jesus’ harshest words are aimed at hypocrites, and the second harshest at the people who are primarily concerned with possessions. He says that power, prestige, and possessions are the three things that prevent us from recognizing and receiving the reign of God…. The only ones who can accept the proclamation of the reign are those who have nothing to protect, not their own self-image or their reputation, their possessions, their theology, their principles, or their certitudes. And these are called “the poor,” anawim in Hebrew.

Believer, your life is too precious to God and too essential to the kingdom to waste on greed or ladder-climbing. Let’s follow the downward path of Jesus. It’s a great adventure to be sure and requires nothing less than becoming “poor” in Him. But it’s the real deal. There’s a party going on at the bottom. Believe me, nothing can hold a candle to it.

Monday, August 3

6:08 PM My thanks to Abraham Paniagua for his endorsement of ourGreek grammar in Spanish.

5:36 PM I know someone who is about to homeschool her kids Greek. If there is one TED TALK she should watch, it’s this one by Ken Robinson. He is a master teacher and you can be one too, if you take his advice to heart. Bravo, Ken!

5:18 PM Eight similarities between studying Greek and running a 5K:

1) Neither is an end in itself. I study Greek to know the Word better and eventually to know its great Author and Subject better. I run 5Ks to take part in charity races for some goal that I think is worthwhile. (Some goals are more worthwhile than others of course). When you feel like quitting you just keep saying to yourself, “I’m running for cancer or for SIDs or for some other cause.” That usually does the trick!

2) Beginners are always nervous. I was scared to death when I entered the Greek classroom at Biola for the first time. When I ran my first-ever 5K four weeks I had some butterflies. Can I finish? Can I meet my personal goals? What will other people think of me? Nervousness is normal.

3) You’ve got to pace yourself. I tell my students it will take them about 9 months of constant practice before they will be able to read their Greek New Testament with the use of a dictionary. As for 5Ks, I am a rank beginner — and right proud of it. I know myself, and I pace myself. No need to start out with the front runners only to fall way behind.

4) There is no shame in walking or even stopping if you need to. Get your heart rate down to a safe level, and then get walking or running again.

5) Everyone started from scratch. Even the winners.

6) You’ve got to set personal goals for yourself. I repeat: for yourself. Not to please your mom or dad or your kids. You know what you want to accomplish. Set your sights as high as you can make them. My goal with Greek is to be able to read anything I can get my hands on without the use of a dictionary. My goal for running is to maintain good health for the glory of God and for the sake of the ministry He’s called me to.

7) Enjoy your fellow competitors. Look to your right and left and you will see some really fine people.

8) Expect setbacks. Maybe the event will be rained out. Or you’ll get an injury. Or you’ll have to miss a day of class. If you mess up or get behind, just get back on the beaten path and — boom! — you’re on your way again.

In short, a 5K race is the best race for beginners. Each time I run I want to make it my best race ever. And it will be — if I give it my very best. And just think: running can burn up to 700 calories per hour. Likewise, an introductory course in New Testament Greek is something any Christian can master given you have enough time, energy, and motivation.

So what’s holding you back?

4:35 PM In exactly one month I leave for Florida. In exactly two months I leave for Hawaii. Lots of surfing on the schedule. Or maybe I should change to this sport?

10:02 AM Special 5K announcement:

More informationhere. Come on out and support this worthy fundraiser!

6:58 AM Hi folks,

As a 10-year old boy growing up in Hawaii, I clearly remember the day our pastor was fired. He was a gentle, elderly saint — an exceptional shepherd and a good Bible expositor. And then he suffered a stroke. His willingness to persevere in the midst of his weaknesses and debilities left me gasping. What an example of power-in-weakness, I thought to myself, little knowing that 20 years later I would write my doctoral dissertation in Basel on the very same topic (Paul, Apostle of Weakness). Suddenly, he was gone. The adults kept saying, “It’s too hard listening to him talk,” or “He was ready for retirement anyway,” or “We were losing our youth because of him.” “Merciful heavens!” I cried out. “Is this how the church is to treat its pastors?”

Jesus faced a similar struggle with His new disciples. From the experts in the Jewish law, they had learned a distorted view of leadership. Knowing this, Jesus redefined their concepts of power and spiritual leadership. That redefinition was so profound that we are still talking about it 2,000 years later. As I begin to teach through According to Mark in 2 weeks. it’s my job to make sure my students get it.

It is generally agreed that According to Mark is our earliest Gospel. There are many reasons for questioning this conclusion (see my Why Four Gospels?). Mark’s Gospel is really comprised of the eye-witness testimony of the apostle Peter, an “elder” who witnessed the sufferings of Christ (1 Pet. 5:1). Mark is his “son” in the faith (5:13), and the patristic evidence is clear that Peter used Mark as his stenographer in composing According to Mark just as He used Silvanus as his amanuensis in writing 1 Peter (5:12).

Recent scholarship has suggested that According to Mark is a “passion narrative with an extended introduction” — a witty yet accurate description. As I have attempted to show in Why Four Gospels?, According to Mark directs our attention to two major themes, one dealing with Christology, the other dealing with ecclesiology. Of primary importance is the Christological theme. According to Mark introduces Jesus as the Son of God who accepts suffering and death at the hands of the same Jewish leaders who were responsible for the death of Jesus’ predecessor, John the Baptist. (There are actually two “passion narratives” in According to Mark: John’s and Jesus’.) Thus Mark’s Gospel is a Gospel of paradox from the very beginning. Jesus, the Son of God, not only commended but exemplified the lowly attitude that contrasts with the world’s sense of self-importance. Jesus’ mission was not to rule in earthly triumph but to suffer and be rejected by His own. Some scholars (most notable Ralph Martin in his book Mark: Evangelist and Theologian) have suggested that According to Mark was written for a church that faced the danger of misunderstanding Paul’s message, particularly the latter’s theologia crucis, his “theology of the cross.” For both Peter (=Mark) and Paul, Jesus achieved glory only by way of rejection and the cross — cf. the divine parabola in Phil. 2:5-11, about which I have written considerably in my book The Jesus Paradigm.

This theme of suffering and rejection is then carried forward in According to Mark by means of a magnificent rhetorical ploy. If the Messiah will experience suffering rather than triumph and rejection rather than popularity, how much more will His followers expect the same treatment (8:34-38; 13:9-13)? “Mark campaigns against balcony-type Christians who are too high for the mission and discipleship that in Mark’s terms necessarily involves cross-bearing and self-sacrifice” (H. Anderson, The Gospel of Mark, p. 55). Therefore, any person or thing or human tie or affection that might stand in the way of a disciple’s commitment to the kingdom of God must be dealt with decisively and be broken. The cross is not a religious symbol but an instrument of death. And “taking it up” requires the death of self, all personal ambition, and any form of selfish attainment, no matter how noble it may seem to others. True discipleship is a treasure worth more than all other earthy possessions. It is a pearl of great price and will cost a person everything he or she has. Moreover, According to Mark makes it absolutely clear that discipleship cannot be carried out in the abstract. Words must be matched by deeds, and because this is true, According to Mark strikes the reader as a Gospel of action, not of speculative theology. Likewise, in our day and time there is no possibility of a genuine renewal of the life of the church unless the principle of suffering is accepted without reservation.

Here, then, is the fundamental message of According to Mark as I see it. It is the message of personal involvement and it applies to all persons, male and female, clerical and lay, old and young. All Christians must be in the business of cross-bearing whatever their occupations might be, because the non-obedient follower of Christ is a contradiction in terms. Millions of back-seat and back-slidden Christians are content to be willing observers of a performance staged by professionals, and not a few of our clergy class are content to glory in the contrast between their exalted status and the lowly status of the ordinary Christian. Their attitude seems a far cry from that of Jesus when He washed the feet of His disciples.

So you see, our task in studying According to Mark is far more than exegetical. It is to try and see the entire problem of ministry in biblical perspective. “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” The only kind of exegesis that is worth encouraging is that which makes a radical difference in the entire Christian enterprise. We may as well face the fact that the message of According to Mark — this theologia crucis — is bound to be an unwelcome word in a church that fails to understand the concept of commitment. But what Jesus sought to produce is not a fellowship of the self-righteous but a fellowship of men and women who, though recognizing themselves as inadequate and unworthy, nevertheless are absolutely committed to becoming personally involved in the effort to “go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature” (16:15). The churches that are succeeding best at this are are those in which every-member ministry is most nearly complete. The sooner you and I acknowledge the role we play in this universal task, the quicker the forces arrayed against Christianity in the modern world will realize that Christ’s cause is something worth paying attention to.

Blessings,

Dave

Sunday, August 2

7:44 PM Hmm. I wonder. What would happen if I shaved my beard?

7:08 AM I am one developmental stage ahead of most of you, dear readers. I’m also single again. Here’s a slice of my morning: woke up early to enjoy the 58 degree temps, a gorgeous sunrise, and the wisdom of Paul about singleness (1 Cor. 7):

Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others.

I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them,

And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches.

I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God.

You might not see a single thing here that is applicable to your own life. But the kingdom thinking embedded in these verses is remarkable. In my immature moments when I think I know God’s will for my life better than He does, I squirm under His teaching in this chapter. And then it occurs to me: Paul wrote this chapter for me. And he was right (and so was Jesus): Singleness is truly a gift of God. It’s the work of His mercy and compassion. Because life is not about us but about the work of caring and sharing and loving, regardless of what our marital status might be.

So thanks, Paul. I always appreciate wise words coming from a guy who’s been there and done that. And thank you, God. The sunrise you allowed me to enjoy this morning was a blessing.

Saturday, August 1

7:25 PM Concert note:

John Rutter to Conduct NC Premiere of New Work at Hinshaw Concert.

All are invited to the 41st Hinshaw Celebration Concert, featuring the North Carolina premiere of a new work written and conducted by John Rutter. The performance will be held on August 7, 2015 at 8:00 pm at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh. Admission is free and all are welcome.

The evening’s highlight will be the North Carolina premiere of The Gift of Life: Six Canticles of Creation, a new larger work by Rutter.

More infohere. Just think — Rutter himself! And the Edenton Street Church is a fabulous venue for great sacred music. I know; I’ve been there many times. Woohoo!

7:06 PM 37.55. That was my world-record shattering time from today’s 5K in Cary. [Lie detector blinking!!!!!] Ok, so it wasn’t anything special — except to me. This was my fourth 5K in as many weeks and when it was over I felt really good about myself because (1) I decided to race even though I had some pain in my left knee, (2) I worked through the pain, and (3) I was able to run (and not just walk) the last half of the competition completely pain free.

Actually, I felt stronger and more refreshed after the race than before it. Moreover, I think my brain actually told me something like this today: “I get this.” I felt something new in my legs. I could literally feel it for the first time. They want to run. That is so cool. So we’ll see what happens during next week’s race (also in Cary). I’m praying about running the entire 3.1 miles this time around, going as slowly as necessary. My goal is to eventually enter the elusive under-30 minute club. At any rate, it was a fun race with a cool and shady course and plenty of fun and food afterwards. A huge shout out toSmall Hands Big Hearts United for organizing such a fantastic event. Here I am with Anita Pease, executive director.

I also want to thank Young and Associates who have organized all four of these races and have done an uber-professional job, so much so that I’m thinking of organizing a race with them in Becky’s memory next year in the Raleigh area. I’ll call it “Run for Your Cancer Hero” (or something like that) and the proceeds would go to women’s cancer research. In the meantime, you can check out their race schedulehere and maybe even come out to an event.

6:24 PM Well, tomorrow it will be exactly 20 months since Becky died and I haven’t given you an update in a while. I’ll start with the basics. I miss Becky more today than the day she passed away. I still love her. I still wear the wedding band she placed on my finger 39 years ago come September. I miss her tons and tons and tons. Her absence has introduced me to several big changes.

1) Becky was the link to certain important relationships we enjoyed together. Now that the link is gone, it’s only natural that some of these relationships have begun to fade. Even though I mourn the loss of these relationships, I’m good with that. It’s to be expected. Oddly enough, though, some of these relationships are even closer than before. Either way, I’m enormously grateful to all of you who stood by me during the period right after Becky’s death. I could not have made it as well as I did without your compassion and understanding.

2) Occasionally I still live in the past, thinking about what Becky and I would be doing on a nice day like today, or what countries we’d be visiting, or what new adventures we sensed the Lord was taking us on together. But mostly I live in the present with a deep sense of gratitude not only to God but also for the grief, which is a great teacher. I’m still madly in love with my profession and its variety — teaching, mentoring, writing, publishing, blogging, traveling, and speaking in churches. Who knows, one day I may get good at it. I never in a million years anticipated closing out my teaching career without Becky. When I married her in 1976, I made this very clear to her when I proposed with these words: “Honey, I’m teaching at Biola in the fall and I don’t want to begin my career without you by my side.” Becky was absolutely thrilled that I found so much fulfillment in my profession. How many people on this planet can say that they absolutely love their jobs? It’s a rare blessing to wake up each morning eager to engage my mind and soul in something as satisfying as teaching. It is wonderful to contemplate that in heaven Becky is meeting all the great teachers of the faith, from Paul to Peter to James and to moderns like James Boice (who also studied for his doctorate at Basel).

3) The Lord has been so tender to me through this entire ordeal. It wasn’t too long ago when I felt like the solid footing I had before Becky died was completely gone. Yet the instability of yesterday’s emotions have begun to give way to feelings of settledness, peace, and trust. You can’t make your grief get better, but God can.

4) It has helped to deal with my pain a little bit at a time. At first I tried to accomplished too much. I allowed grief to get in the way of making good decisions and to cloud some relationships. At the same time, I found myself tolerating criticism and behaviors from certain quarters that can only be described as abusive. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to ask God to give me a clear mind and the wisdom to know which relationships to invest in with openness, trust, vulnerability, and warmth. I cannot begin to guess what Becky would think of all of this. Oh how I wish she were here to share her insights and woman’s intuition with me! I am so naive; she could cut through a person with a knife. But I do know that if she were here she would be touched beyond words at the lavish outpouring of love I’ve experienced from my church family to my seminary administration and colleagues to my students and to my children and even to complete strangers who have cried with me.

5) I guess you could say that my life has settled into a “new” routine. Like most of you, I work fulltime (two jobs in fact), stay involved in the lives of my kids and grandkids, and continue to pursue the crazy, adventurous role God has for me this side of heaven. Part of my new normal is something I’ve brought over from my old normal, and I’m referring to this blog of course. I thank you for reading DBO up to this point, and I hope you will continue to benefit from reading the sequel too. I am so thankful that God allowed Becky to complete her autobiography, which, by the way, is now available in the world’s three most widely spoken languages (English, Spanish, and Chinese). I continue to write, and people have been very kind to get my books into print. I feel I am the most blessed man on the planet. I still have significant and satisfying work to do. I still enjoy thinking outside the box. I’m in better physical shape today than I have been in a very long time. I’m dreaming new dreams and setting new goals. Becky’s death remains now, as it has always been, a painful memory that follows me day after day after day. That fateful morning in November 2013 will remain a traumatic chapter in my life story for as long as I live. But on the whole, hope has returned to replace despair, and more often than not there is a smile instead of a frown, there is calmness instead of panic, trust instead of doubt. The ache in my heart is gradually going away and I’m beginning to discover new personal growth through my loss.

6) In short, I still miss Becky. I miss her singing in the morning and her joy as she gardened and the days we traveled together and the songs we cherished and the delights of marriage we enjoyed and the relationships we nurtured together. I mourn these losses deeply but not in such a way as to interfere with the new life of singleness to which God has graciously called me. Thank you for traveling this road with me. Time and again I’ve read and reread your emails and texts and I simply will never be able to thank you enough for your love and support.

Sorry about the length of this update. I’ll stop here and pray that as you consider your own departed loved ones, God might enable you to adjust to life without them, working through your pain, renewing your emotional energy, glorying in God’s “new normal” for you, and successfully transforming the relationship with your departed loved one from joyful presence to happy memory.

To God alone be all the glory.

“For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest”

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confess,
Thy name, O Jesu, be forever blest,
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

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August 2012 Blog Archives

Tuesday, August 28

5:38 AM Greek 3 students! Free book to the student with the highest score on today’s quiz!

5:34 AM Looking forward to hearing my friend and colleague Bruce Ashford speak on the Great Commission in chapel today. Join us!

5:27 AM Think missions is only for professionals? Think again. ReadPhilippians, Missions, and You.

5:18 AM Only a few more days until our anniversary trip. Here’s the Magnolia Room where we’ll be staying:

It’s on the second floor of the main house and boasts an antique high bed, a sitting area by a wood-burning fireplace, a private bath with double whirlpool tub, and a large deck with a country view. Will be nice to get away with my bride.

5:15 AM “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows” (Epictetus). Student, are you teachable? Professor, are you?

Monday, August 27

8:52 PM Today I sprayed the pond reeds — again. It’s not easy to do, I discovered — again. So I went deep, dug down into the Redneck in me, to find the gumption to wade out into a morass of muck and algae. I’m so glad farm work isn’t always like this.

As you know, last week had its share of crises. But we also saw God intervene in miraculous ways. Becky came home from the hospital barely worse for the wear. A couple Becky and I had been praying for had a real breakthrough in their marriage. The power of our Lord is really amazing. I’m still waiting on the Lord for miracles in other areas, but I wait with hope and expectation, not with despair. God’s unfailing faithfulness has held us up all these years. May He be glorified in all we do.

Pix (of course):

1) Becky captured for posterity the Pond Guy hard at work.

2) Doesn’t it look SO much better now?

3) This was the view that greeted Becky and me as we slurped ice cream on the front porch this evening.

4) My faithful walking companions.

What would a day on the farm be like without them?

2:14 PM I’m back and have somehow managed to keep my head on. On the drive home I though a lot about heroes. What is a hero? William Safire wrote aletter that President Nixon was to read had Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin been stranded on the moon. It reads, in part:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by the nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

If I may, I beg to disagree. I believe there is a more noble goal than space exploration. My definition of hero? A hero is someone who eternally impacts other people for good. The word “eternally” makes all the difference in the world (and in space too). You may never be a famous astronaut but you can be a hero in God’s eyes. In fact, God delights in using “little people” to confound the wise and successful by this world’s standards.

Are you faithful to the task to which God has called you? You are a hero in my book.

8:58 AM I’m off to see a headache specialist in Chapel Hill. Hope he doesn’t recommend amputation.

8:51 AM “And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives…and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.”  – Nate Saint (martyred for Christ in Ecuador). 

8:45 AM My alma matter, Biola University, offers free educational resources at a site called Open Biola. One resource is called “Thumbnails for Remembering the Apostolic Fathers.” The section on apologetics includes “Understanding Intelligent Design.” Much, much more.

Sunday, August 26

6:30 PM Here’s how Neil Armstrong’s family asks us toremember their loved one:

For those who may ask what they can do to honour Neil, we have a simple request. Honour his example of service, accomplishment and modesty….

I think there’s a spiritual lesson here. To gratify the flesh does not necessarily mean grossly immoral living. It means pandering to the old self-life, the Adamic nature, as opposed to Christ. A young seminary student (or professor for that matter) seeking to establish for himself a “name” is living for the flesh as surely as the worst profligate. Certainly the apostle Paul had more right than anyone to claim that he had “made it,” yet even he would boast only in the cross of Christ. A sure sign of revival in our churches will come when our preachers and academicians put away their titles and diplomas and refuse to live any longer in rarified spiritual superiority far removed from the problems of the common parishioner.

1:27 PM Are you ready for the news? Meet Nigusse’s fiancée:

Her name is Netsanet. Her parents are two of the most gracious and humble Christians you will ever meet, Martha and Demissie. Nigusse and Netsanet became engaged during our recent trip. She is a wonderful servant of God and a godly Christian woman. We could not have asked for a better spouse for our son. Nigusse, congratulations! We are so happy for you! Praise God for His gracious provision!

9:02 AM Last week one of my doctoral students asked me for help. “Do you know a good tutor in German? I would like to learn how to speak the language, not merely read it.” Well, indeed I do. My former student Andy Bowden had been meeting with a German ex-pat in the Wake Forest area on a weekly basis for conversation. It made a huge difference in his ability to speak the language. (Andy is now enrolled in a doctoral program in New Testament at the University of Munich.)

How did I learn to speak German? Here’s the answer:

Let me introduce you to Paul and Margaret Mittmann. For many years, Paul was the pastor of the Lutheran Brethren Church in Anaheim, California. It was a German-speaking congregation, composed most of ex-pats who had settled in Anaheim after World War II. A former Wehrmacht soldier, Paul had seen action in France, Russia, and Italy, and was finally captured by the U.S. Army in 1945. He spoke the most perfect High German imaginable. I would attend his services on Sunday morning before attending my own church in La Mirada. Then we began meeting weekly in his home for conversation. Eventually he had me reading the Scripture texts during his worship services, and before Becky and I left for Basel in 1980 I had preached 4 times in his church, in German.

You cannot master German without speaking it. Just my two cents.

8:45 AM “The more we know of God, the more unreservedly we will trust him; the greater our progress in theology, the simpler and more child-like will be our faith.”
― J. Gresham Machen.

8:32 AM Brief bio of the new acting prime minister of Ethiopiahere.

He needs our prayers, as does the nation during this time of major transition. 

Saturday, August 25

9:51 PM Beautiful to see the team again. Best story was told by Tope. Funniest story was told by Josh. Most moving story was told by Jon. You should do a mission trip if for no other reason than the memories.

9:42 PM The party’s over, but I cannot make the big announcement on the web until tomorrow. Believe me, it’s worth waiting for.

4:37 PM From The Jesus Paradigm:

The New Testament presents a clear picture of how the early Christians viewed themselves. They understood each church to be an extended family (an institutionalized church was unimaginable) that practiced plural leadership. This eldership was non-hierarchical (each elder was equal in authority to all the other elders) and arose from within those churches the elders would lead. Because the Lord Jesus is the head of the church (Col. 1:18), the elders led by example, not by “lording it over” the church (1 Pet. 5:2). The elders’ authority lay solely in their ability to “persuade” with the truth of the Word of God (see the use of peitho, “persuade,” in Heb. 13:17).

1:23 PM Welcome home, Alex and Jenny. Glad to see you enjoyed yourstay in the Netherlands. Excited to see what the future holds for you!

1:18 PM Ministry house update:

1) The dust has yet to settle over at Maple Ridge. Which is a good thing. It means that work is getting done.

2) This is a new door. It leads outdoors where we still need to build a screened-in porch.

3) And this new door leads from the dining room into the mud room. When I say “new door” I am not, of course, referring to the cheap substitutes sold today. These are true doors made out of solid wood. Remember those?

4) Here we’ve expanded the doorway leading from the house’s entryway into the kitchen area. Becky thought it would “open up” the house. It does indeed.

5) Finally, I’m glad we decided to leave the old ceiling beams exposed. They are simply beautiful, so rich in texture.

Thanks for sharing the journey!

10:24 AM Brian LePort’s latest post is a must read:You’re going to be an adjunct and it is going to be terrible.

Right now I am an idiot. I know that there are no jobs in biblical studies. I know that there are people who are far more intelligent than me who will be fighting for those jobs. I know that being a realist means that I may have to settle for adjunct work if I am going to teach somewhere. As Enns said, once you factor all the data regarding adjunct work and the low pay it offers, “….it begins to sound like you are in a pretty stupid line of work.”

My advice to students contemplating a doctorate in biblical studies? Stay focused on Jesus. I sometimes say to them, “Have you gotten sidetracked from your first love, Jesus?” If you hunger and thirst to be His true disciple, He will take care of you vocationally. May I dare you to think outside the box, the “box” being North America? May I challenge you to prayerfully consider using your doctorate to serve Jesus in China or some other nation? It has been done and it is being done. I believe there are a few people reading this blog whom God is perhaps calling to go to the uttermost parts as a fulltime Christian academic. The doors are open. Some may think you are throwing your life away. But obey God, and He will open doors to places where you can be effective and used by Him on the front lines.  

Sermon concluded 🙂

10:11 AM All earthly blessings are only temporal and conditional. Are we being good stewards with the blessings God has shed upon us as individuals and as a nation?

9:35 AM It’s a rainy day. Sure glad I mowed yesterday. The donkeys eagerly await our dinner guests!

9:31 AM Looking ahead … Just accepted an invitation to speak at Farrington Road Baptist Church in Chapel Hill on Sunday, October 21, at 11:00 am for their Homecoming … on Friday, October 26, at 6:00 pm. I’ll be at Imago Dei Church in Raleigh speaking on the subject “A Great Commission Marriage” to the men’s group … Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC, has me speaking in their evening service on Sunday, October 28, at 6:00 pm. … I’ll be sharing my thoughts about using New Testament Greek in ministry at the Shepherd’s Seminary in Cary on Monday, October 29, at 11:00, 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00.

9:23 AM As co-editor (with Allan Bevere) of theAreopagus Series, I am delighted to have received this morning a new manuscript that we will begin editing this weekend. The author is David Croteau of Liberty University. David received his Ph.D. under Andreas Köstenberger here at SEBTS. His dissertation was published as You Mean I Don’t Have to Tithe? A Deconstruction of Tithing and a Reconstruction of Post-Tithe Giving (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2010). David also edited Perspectives on Tithing: 4 Views (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2011). His current project is titled Tithing After the Cross and is slated to appear early next year. A preview:

I recently was on a radio show and an offended caller questioned the radio show host asking why in the world she would put someone on the air who was trying to deconstruct tithing? How on earth could that be edifying to the body of Christ? The caller was convinced my ploy was to coerce people to give less! If you think my purpose in this book is simply to deconstruct tithing or to convince you to give less, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

God is calling every Christian to learn the secret of service to a world in need, not just in terms of our spiritual gifts but in terms of our stewardship of the possessions He allows us to manage. I’m hoping this book will be a prod in this direction.

Friday, August 24

9:44 PM “We should serve God even if there is darkness enveloping our life and even if we don’t understand what’s happening … even when the circumstances of our life don’t make sense. Because He is worthy of praise. Because He is God.” Max Lucado.

 

3:54 PM As you can see, we’re back home. (I can only update my blog from home.) Without a doubt, I’m the most blessed man on earth. Despite her stroke, Becky was spared any permanent damage. Imagine waking up at 1:30 in the morning only to find your wife at your bedroom door unable to walk and barely able to speak. Not a fun thing to see. She had gotten up to check emails but found she couldn’t raise her left hand to the keyboard. So she goes into the kitchen for a glass of water. She holds the glass with her left hand while with her right hand she turns on the tap and — voila! — the glass drops into the sink and shatters. She then falls to the floor, bumping her head on the handle to the dishwasher on the way down. It’s amazing to me that she managed to pull herself up again and walk down the hallway to our room, hanging on to the chair rail for dear life. When I got her to the bed, her left leg and left arm were immobile and her speech slurred. We knew exactly what we needed to do. I got us dressed, and off to the nearest hospital we went. The trip got off to a rough start. When I called the ED all I got was the answering machine. Happily, a 911 operator passed my message along to the hospital and they were expecting us when we arrived 10 minutes later. (I won’t say I drove dangerously fast, but NASCAR had nothing on me that night.) Now we are home again, still processing the tornado we just passed through. Tomorrow we had scheduled an Ethiopia team reunion here at Bradford Hall with about 35 people attending. It’s going to happen as planned, not least because I just can’t deprive Becky of the joy of making a very special surprise announcement to the team. A professional came today to clean the house, and a student from the seminary will be here tomorrow to help Becky with preparations. Of course, Nigusse and I stand ready to wait on Becky hand and foot.

So we’ve passed through yet another crisis. We are simply overwhelmed by your prayer support and emails. God in His grace has answered. Becky looks and feels good. Everything that should move does. I am very grateful. We’ve still got some important decisions to make regarding her treatments at UNC, but we are almost 100 percent sure that the Avastin was the culprit. However, that’s for another post.

In an email Becky wrote today, she said:

I cannot express adequately my joy when He returned the function of my left arm so that I can type again and continue that ministry.

Yes, it could have been far worse. Had her stroke occurred at practically any other spot in her brain, the doctors tell us that at the very least her speech would have been affected, and possibly the use of her hands. Thank you, Jesus, for being so tender and merciful toward us. We love you and trust you. You are indeed our great God and Savior (Tit. 2:13).

P.S. No, this is not a picture of a friendly puppy dog but of Becky’s brain. That big white spot you see on the right is where Becky’s “event” took place. The neurologist assures us that this is one of the “safest” spots in the brain for this to have occurred.

Yes, the farm is counting its blessings tonight!

Thursday, August 23

5:45 PM Update: A whole day has gone by. Where did it go? The hospital staff has been great. And Becky’s been a real trooper (no surprise there) — CT scan, EKG, Sonogram, etc. today. Tomorrow she’s scheduled for an MRI and an MRA. We’re on the fifth and top floor of the hospital, which the staff jokingly calls the Penthouse Suite. Big room and nice bed for hubby to sleep in tonight. Thanks so much for all the encouraging emails. Becky’s read every one. And thank you for your prayers for Becky. Please pray for her now. And when you get home from work tonight, hold your family close and tell them that you love them.

I do not know what the end results of the tests will be. But this I do know: I am eager to have Becky HOME again.

6:51 AM Becky was admitted to Halifax Regional Hospital in South Boston this morning. I drove her there at 2:00 am with stroke symptoms. They will run tests today. She is resting comfortably. Her symptoms have already abated, praise God.

So grateful for your prayers.

Wednesday, August 22

7:49 PM Good news! The wound specialist says Becky’s leg sore is definitely on the mend, just taking its time. She’s scheduled follow-up appointments every two weeks. Her chemo also went well today. Thankful for these blessings.

4:15 PM A few odds and ends…

1) Danny Akin’s convocation message yesterday really caught my attention. He spoke from Psalm 116 and used the life and death of Harriet Newell as a foil for his teaching. Harriet died at the age of 19 on her way to India as a missionary in the early 1800s. She was no run-of-the-mill church member. Really, her red-hot devotion rebukes my lukewarmness. When people like Jim Elliott and Harriet Newell come along they are very disturbing to those who are not totally committed to the Cause of causes. Oh God, let me not fritter away my energies in all directions. Let me not dabble in a hundred things. Rather, like Paul, let me say, “This one thing I do.”

2) What is the “Five Minute Greek Club?” Well, I started it several years ago. We never meet and there are no dues, but you do have to agree to translate two verses from your Greek New Testament every day throughout the summer. The reward? A copy of one of my books, free no less. Here’s my Greek student Billie Haselton picking up his award yesterday. Way to go, budding Greek scholar!

3) My former student Andy Bowden and his family attended their first church service in Munich. He reports about his experiencehere. Andy concludes by saying:

We are still trying to decide whether we will attend an English or German-speaking service. This was our first time to attend a service since arriving in German, and we thoroughly felt at home.

For what it’s worth, here’s my comment:

Another wonderful update, Andy! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Basel also had an English-speaking international church, founded by James Boice, who was a Docktorand at the Uni at the time. The church had a great ministry to American ex-pats. However, Becky and I felt our purpose in studying in Switzerland was better served by plugging into the local Baptistengemeinde there. Please do at least try a local German-speaking church. I think you will find the overall experience rewarding beyond belief. Plus, at our little local church Becky met an older woman who mentored her in German and thus enabled her to speak the language within three months of our arrival!

Remember: If you wanted to “feel at home” you could have stayed here in the States. Stretch yourselves to the max while you are there. Let your education be more than academic!

With all best wishes,

Dave Black — your “former” professor.

Of course, the Lord will show the Bowdens where to plug in. But Becky and I never had better friends than the brothers and sisters we met at the Baptistengemeinde Basel.

4) I was glad to see Allan Bevere’s review of Bob Cornwall’s Faith in the Public Square. As readers of DBO know, I’m fond of books that challenge consensus opinion thinking when it comes to politics.

5) Over at UNC, Becky saw the wound specialist AND had chemo today. What a lady!

6) Always enjoy reading Alan Knox’s observations about church leadership, and his essay Paul’s thoughts on superiors and subordinates: defining the terms is no exception. He asks:

Did Paul think of himself as being higher in rank, status, authority, or quality than the people he traveled with or the people in worked with in various cities?

We discussed this very question in our 1 Thessalonians class today as we exegeted 1:1. It would be interesting to see what Alan makes of the order Paul-Silvanus-Timothy here in the epistolary prescript. All three had shared in the missionary work in Thessalonica. Paul had clearly been the leader of the team. Silvanus is mentioned next perhaps because of his Jerusalem roots (unlike Timothy, who hailed from Lystra) and because he may well have been a co-apostle (see 1 Thess. 2:7). Timothy, of course, was Paul’s own convert. So the order is probably significant. But not critical. I suppose we could refer to the founders of the Thessalonian church as Timothy, Silvanus, and Paul if we wanted to. At my local church we have three elders. How should I list their names here? Let’s see – we’ll try Jason E., Jason, H., and Ed. I don’t know why I listed them that way, except for the fact that Jason E. was our “pastor” before we changed our polity to elder-led congregationalism. One thing I do know: It would not matter one whit to any of them how their names were listed. Eldership for them is completely non-hierarchical. We have no “senior” or “lead” pastor. None of them is our “pastor of vision.” Today the Holy Spirit is using all of them, and each of them, to help guide and steer our congregation along, but He is doing the same thing with the entire congregation as well. We as lay people are not the flunkeys of the top brass. None of us is so in love with our own ideas that we cannot submit to the group.

Oh, one more thing. Notice there are no titles here, none at all. No “doctor” Paul, no “apostle” Silvanus. I think there is a lesson here. That aside, I would have to agree with the implication behind Alan’s question: in the Pauline circle there probably was very little emphasis on title and status. We are of a generation of American Christians who think otherwise.

7) Jeremy Mann has written an insightful article calledAdvice for Undergraduates Planning on Seminary. Read through to the end to get the connection between academics and your personal walk with God.

8) Greek students: Mark Goodacre is an Associate Professor in New Testament at Duke University. The New Testament Gateway is his award-winning web directory of internet resources on the New Testament:http://www.ntgateway.com/. Check it out soon!

9) I almost forget to mention that my Th.M. student David Coker passed his Th.M. orals today with flying colors. David’s thesis is called ‘Jesus as the Prophet Like Moses in the Fourth Gospel.’ A bland, boring thesis it certainly was not. David showed scholarly competence in his field as well as a critical understanding of the primary sources. Congratulations to David (who is shown here with his persecutors-in-chief Beck, Robinson, and Black).

10) I just realized that I hadn’t linked to anything by my esteemed colleague and friend Chip McDaniel in a while. Well, let me correct that lacuna. His latest essay is calledWhy the Old Testament is Important for the Great Commission Task: Some Thoughts from the Mission Field. This is really good stuff.

Tuesday, August 21

5:30 AM Education quote of the day:

My heart is singing for joy this morning. A miracle has happened! The light of understanding has shone upon my little pupil’s mind, and behold, all things are changed.

— Anne Sullivan referring to her student Helen Keller. Inspiring!

5:26 AM Do you want to be published? A leading Christian publisher discusses the differences between evangelical publishing houses in a fascinating essay calledOverlapping Publishing Models. You’ll learn a lot about Christian publishing by reading it. I know I did. Every author needs a publisher, but finding the right match isn’t always easy. I could never run a publishing business. But I love publishers and publishing houses, especially the convenience that comes with a modern publisher.

Speaking of publishers, congratulations to Henry Neufeld of Energion Publications, which is celebrating itseight anniversary this month. Can you believe it — Henry took great risks by publishing four of my works!

5:19 AM Year 14 at SEBTS starts today. Before that, 27 years at Biola in La Mirada, California. Prior to that, 19 years in Kailua, Hawaii. Grateful for every place I’ve lived.

Monday, August 20

12:03 PM Farm update:

1) Nigusse insisted on taking this picture — the stalwart labor force at Rosewood Farm on their way to work at Maple Ridge this morning.

 Like Beck’s hat?

2) I just put two coats of polyurethane on this 200-year old chimney.

We thought we’d keep it exposed in the new kitchen at Maple Ridge. You know, for old time’s sake.

3) Figs anyone? I’ve never acquired a taste for them, but Nigu gobbles them up. This year’s harvest has been abundant.

4) Since B’s so tired we’ve postponed her chemo to Wednesday, which means that I have the whole day for farm jobs. Right now it’s back to landscaping Maple Ridge. The grass is wet, but I’m thankful for the rain the Lord sent us over the weekend. This means a second cutting of hay, which is something we definitely do NOT take for granted around here.

9:02 AM The puzzles are now framed.

Nigu wants to take them back to Ethiopia with him. After all, they were his idea! 

8:55 AM From the BBC’s The enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes comes this wonderful quote:

Holmes has the knack of knowing where to look, asking the right questions and crafting theories to account for what he has found.

That, in a nutshell, is why I teach. I teach in order to try and help my students to ask the right questions. Alas, so few do so today. It’s what I have called evangelical group think. Take almost any topic — the synoptic problem, or New Testament textual criticism, or authorship issues — and the consensus opinio is rarely challenged.

Students, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Challenge everything I say. If you think that Q ought to be challenged, challenge away! (But why stop there?) Know where to look, ask the right questions, and then craft your theories to account for the evidence  — and you won’t go far wrong.

8:49 AM I went to church yesterday not really expecting that I would hear so many reports of new cases of cancer. As a church, we’re seeing the effects of the Fall in some very personal ways. The news of yet another cancer patient hit me harder than I would have expected. The power of something so small yet so evil to destroy is mindboggling. I am still marvelling that God has spared my Becky for so long. As she and I sit on our front porch and watch the goats grazing, I often think to myself, Now that’s the definition of peace, right down to not having to worry about pasture and water. Without a doubt, God has taken very good care of Becky and me. Still, cancer is one of those things that are hard to deal with. There’s so much about it I still don’t understand. So my goal is to be as totally trusting as possible toward God and as totally trustworthy as I can possibly be toward Becky. This means that you pray — a lot. It means that you ask others to pray for you. It means that you try to manage your stress. It means that you trust God to give you the wisdom and courage and trust that you know you lack.

To my brothers and sister at The Hill who are facing cancer for the first time, I know your fears, your questions, your fragile hope. When everything in you wells up and you want to scream, God will be there to give you the strength and peace that only He can give you.

So we pray. For healing. For strength. For wisdom. For acceptance. For trust. For peace.

Church, we are one Body. I love you, my fellow cancer-sufferers.

Sunday, August 19

6:03 PM Quote of the day:

To every Christian who reads this book: you are a missionary. Missions is the joyous work of informing the world that it is loved. Missions is unrelenting in its desire, it pushes in flaming light against the dark walls of human ignorance. It is honest about all things eternal: we can be free only when we know the truth (Jn 8:32).

Missions is clear, cold water–a cup of grace, a draft of life in the desert. It is as free as air, yet as precious as a pearl buried deep in the brokenness of the human spirit (Mt 13:46). Missions is a message, as simple as two words Jesus Saves–one noun, one verb–and yet this simplicity is God’s broad banner posted just above the gates of eternity (Lk 19:10).

Missions is ravenous in its hunger to please God. It knows no other purpose for its existence. It lives for the single pleasure of hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful slave (Mt 25:21). You have told the truth in a false world, you have turned the iron key of liberty in the steel door of hell, and the captives are freed (Lk 4:18)! For this liberation you have been called “missionary.”

The words ofCalvin Miller, who went home today.

5:55 PM The latest additions to the south bedroom at Maple Ridge are these beautiful curtains.

Nigusse and Becky hung them this afternoon.

What a happy-looking place.

5:29 PM Number one priority today: Recharging the golf cart batteries so that Becky can boogie wither she will on the farm.

2:26 PM Greatly appreciated brother Jason’s message from Rom. 8:16-17 today. If there’s no battle against sin, there’s no Holy Spirit presence. It’s just that simple. I have students coming to my office all the time telling me they can’t be true Christians — the battle against sin is so strong. “Actually,” I say, “that’s proof you are saved. The Holy Spirit has awakened holy sentiments in your life, sentiments you never had before you were saved.” Too often we can become preoccupied with somebody else’s sins and forget our own. In his Letters to an American Lady, Lewis wrote, “Try not to think — much less speak — of their sins. And if, on consideration, one can find no faults on one’s own side, then cry for mercy: for this must be a most dangerous delusion.” In spiritual language, this can be translated “brokenness.” Transparent and broken. And yet always with the potential for victory. Let us rejoice that Jesus has poured His Holy Spirit upon us all. Is there anything in our lives too strong for Him to overcome?

2:14 PM Awesome time at The Hill today. In Sunday School this morning brother Chris talked about Epaphroditus as Paul’s brother, fellow-worker, and fellow-soldier (Phil. 2:25). In other words, he shared the faith, shared the work, and shared the danger. Becky and I have been privileged to know several Epaphrodituses throughout the years, but none worthier of that title than Leigh and Jason, our co-team leaders during our last trip to Ethiopia. This morning we were able to have a solid de-briefing with them.

They are truly “fellow-workers” — one in work and spirit. Beyond that, they have fought shoulder-to-shoulder with us. They are battle-tested warriors. Finally, like Epaphroditus, they are what someone might call “lay people” — people you’d never hear of normally, behind-the-scenes servants of the Most High God. Believe me, they did not serve so that they could be recognized on this blog! But serve they did, and Paul tells us that we are to honor such people and hold them in high regard. Leigh and Jason, we love you. Like Epaphroditus to Paul, you are our young, strong, healthy, godly co-workers, people to whom we can entrust the work. Truly you are models of commitment to the advancement of the Gospel of Christ. May He get all the praise and glory!

Saturday, August 18

4:56 PM Here’s the 1842 Virginia plantation house I’ll be taking Becky to for our anniversary next month. Very quiet and very secluded.

Shhhh. Don’t tell her. It’s a secret.

4:48 PM As I type, Becky is curled up on the sofa in the library, and Nigusse is translating for her letters her loved ones in Ethiopia sent back with him. In one, she is compared to the Dorcas of Acts. I couldn’t agree more.

Becky has given and given for others. Little wonder she is so loved.

1:52 PM Would love to see Becky able to eat again. No appetite for days. Nausea. The whole 9 yards. Tired to boot. And we’ve got another chemo scheduled for Monday. Well, God knows. He knows that from head to foot we are as weak as kittens. He will supply ALL that we truly need. I keep telling myself, If we can amply supply the needs of our dogs, goats, and donkeys, how much more will He supply our needs?

1:45 PM Can you believe it? It’s already time to get ready for winter here on the farm.

Today the Farm Boss finished cutting up logs for fire wood. (“Farm Boss” refers to the chain saw, not yours truly.)

Next step: splitting them.

Care to join us?

9:10 AM Here’s a book I will enjoy reading when it comes out (Paternoster):

The Missing Imperative: A Discussion of the Absence of a Clear General Imperative to Proclaim the Gospel in the Pauline Epistles with Particular Reference to Philippians.

The author isMark Keown.

9:04 AM Gardening for Jesus? ReadBack to the Garden.

Notes:

1) Greek students will observe the special meaning given to the verb karpophoreo.

2) About 40 percent of Americans grow some of their own food, and the trend is growing.  

8:59 AM If a limbless man can swim the English Channel, surely I can go out and cut firewood.

8:55 AM Very excited about fall convocation this Tuesday morning at 10:00 in Binckley Chapel. Join us!

8:48 AM Greek students! The NET Bible Study Environment is based around the New English Translation but this tool provides a wonderful look at the translators’ notes, comparison with English parallels, articles, and original language tools. You can check it out here: http://net.bible.org/.

8:32 AM In her marvelous essay Family — Not Always Easy, Jody Neufeld reminds us that Jesus challenges us to a connection that goes beyond the normal cultural expectations of family or tribe.

Jesus is busy with the mission He has been called to do. His family will have to wait. If I have family that, by their behavior to me, distract me, are destructive to me emotionally or spiritually, or do not support what God is doing in my life – then I need to try to have some conversation with them but I may have to lovingly cut them loose. Just as I made it clear to Henry when wefirst began to get to know each other that God was #1 in my life and that would never change, so I must also make that clear to my family.

Our society places enormous emphasis upon flesh and blood. Jesus taught a much higher brand of commitment. I could wish that our marriage enrichment seminars emphasized this point as much as Jesus did.

8:26 AM Mark Steven’s latest postWhat’s love got to do with it? is crucial. It reminded me of the Peanuts cartoon in which Lucy tells Linus that she is feeling unusually blah but she doesn’t tell him any of the details. So Linus thinks he might be of help if he brings her some cookies and milk. “There’s one thing you don’t understand,” cries Lucy. “I don’t want to feel better!”

Confessing one’s need to feel loved is not for wimps. Thanks for the reminder, Mark. 

8:19 AM Excited to be teaching Philippians again in Greek 3. Paul was both a Gospel-first man and an others-first man. Can’t be one without the other.

Friday, August 17

8:56 PM 2.3 million of them are being recalled in the U.S. alone. You’ll never guesswhat they are.

8:50 PM After a day of working outdoors, I’ve been enjoying browsing the web. I loved this piece about the great C. K. Chesterton,the prince of paradox.

Some will say 20th Century Christianity was saved by C.S. Lewis. Others will claim Billy Graham. But for me, that person will always be G.K. Chesterton. Dubbed the “prince of paradox,” this English writer spoke to a progressive Christian paradigm long before it was cool to call yourself “postmodern.”

His most (in)famous quotes include:

  • Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.

  • I am not absentminded. It is the presence of mind that makes me unaware of everything else.

  • The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.

  • If there were no God, there would be no atheists.

  • I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.

My kind of man, exactly.

12:33 PM Never lose heart in the power of the Gospel, even when you feel a bad sinus headache coming on.

12:24 PM Anyone can claim to be a Great Commission Christian. But Jesus equated commitment with a willingness to die for others. In true Christianity, discount rates do not apply.

10:08 AM Funny church sign:

The one church sign I am STILL waiting for is the one that reads:

Senior Pastor: Jesus Christ

Ministers: Every Member

Assistant to the Ministers: Your pastor’s name

9:59 AM Homesteader and Greek scholar John Mureiko asks,Am I Missing God’s Presence? The answer will both delight and challenge you.

9:54 AM Quote of the day: 

“I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

(Acts 20:33-35)

9:46 AM Ralph Powell’s name might be known to you. For many years he taught theology at Sioux Falls Seminary. Dr. Powellpassed away this month at the age of 96.

One of his former students, Roger Olson, published a touchingtribute to his erstwhile professor and mentor. In part it reads:

I was absolutely captivated by him–not because of his style but because of his wisdom and piety. I spent many hours in his office talking theology with him. I’m sure I drove him crazy with my questions, but he was always patient.

That’s quite an affirmation. Wisdom and piety. Looking back over the years of my own educational journey, two names stand out as possessing the same qualities: Harry Sturz and Bo Reicke. Sturz taught me Greek at Biola (and later became my colleague after I had joined the Greek faculty there), while Reicke was my Doktorvater in Basel. The one thing I remember most about these two great scholars was not their scholarship but their accessibility and godly example. Both seemed to possess an almost perfect balance betweenhumanitas and pietas. I’m sure I “spent many hours” talking with them and, probably, driving them crazy. I’ve got a few students like that myself today. No worry. They don’t bother me. In fact, I love their inquisitiveness. I imagine I was a bit like that 35 years ago.

Drs. Sturz and Reicke are two reasons my office door is always open today. To paraphrase Professor Olson, “If any of my students over 30 years think I did them any good at all, Drs. Sturz and Reicke get much of the credit.”

7:18 AM Looking for a good commentary on Hebrews? Here arethe top five.

7:13 AM For a helpful comparison of beginning Greek grammars, gohere. It may surprise you to see just how many grammars there are to choose from.

7:08 AM Thrilled to see my research assistant’s latest essay in print. Read Thomas Hudgin’s An Application of Discourse Analysis Methodology in the Exegesis of John 17. The abstract reads:

This study applies discourse analysis methodology to the study of the seventeenth chapter of John. Instead of adopting the typical three-fold division of Jesus’ prayer based upon the three referents (Jesus, the immediate disciples, and future disciples), greater attention is given to Jesus’ requests and final commitment, the mainline verbs. By giving more structural significance to the mainline verbs, the structural division and natural outline of Jesus’ prayer become more evident.

6:57 AM What do trash cans and doctoral studies have in common? Read Andy Bowden’s newest post,Learning a new culture.

6:47 AM Saddened this morning bynews of the death of Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The patriarch held a degree in theology from Princeton Seminary and spoke splendid English. I remember him as a gracious, warm-hearted man.

Abune Paulos was 76 years old. For a brief bio, clickhere.

Thursday, August 16

9:14 PM Almost forgot: Happy Birthday to Becky’s dad, Brad Lapsley. He turned a youthful 85 today. Here he is in Ethiopia with his eldest daughter Becky.

“And many more,” dad!

8:50 PM Just finished grading a Ph.D. entrance exam for a student in New Testament. It’s a blind review so I have no idea who this person is. But a mighty fine exam it was. It is always a joy to read an exam that displays a good mastery of the field.

6:40 PM Still plugging away at my “to do” list. Just scratched off 3 things. My moment of power!

1:08 PM Today is fall orientation at SEBTS. Here’s a picture I got from Alvin Reid:

This is our largest incoming enrollment in history. Grateful for each new student, whether a college freshman or a new Ph.D. student.

12:04 PM Announcement! It is officially too hot to work outdoors. But not too hot to take pictures.

Here’s Maple Ridge:

And here’s the old barn:

And finally, here’s the chicken mansion and the new hay barn.

All have been cleaned up, weeded, and spiffy-fied. The big question: Who will the Lord send as our first guests? Seminary students? Missionaries on home assignment? A recently fired pastor? (Yes, pastors do get fired, sometimes for the oddest reasons.) Can’t wait to find out.

11:16 AM Our job du jour: weeding out the vegetable garden. Actually, we pulled up everything except the tomatoes and beets.

Sorry to see our summer garden go the way of all summer gardens. At the same time, I could sense that fall was in the air today. And I LOVE fall.  Becky, too, has been busy gardening. This is her rose garden after pruning.

Purty, ain’t it?

I used to be a huge advocate of agrarianism. No longer. But that said, I do think the agrarian life is a good life. I think my friend John in Texas would agree. Hard, but good.

Off to Maple Ridge to do more landscaping.

7:11 AM To all my beginning Greek students: Yes, class begins next week. And here are some aids to help you master your Greek vocabulary this semester:  

Remember: Vocabulary is the key that opens the door to the rapid reading of your Greek New Testament.

6:52 AM Yesterday I sat in on a Ph.D. oral at school and then returned home to try and get caught up on farm chores. Becky cooked a superb roast last night for two very hungry men.

I especially enjoyed the “Burji Beets” she prepared. This is the way beets are cooked in Burji, Ethiopia. Scrumptious.

Today: more work on the ministry house and landscaping.

Wednesday, August 15

2:22 PM Here are some odds and ends on a busy Wednesday afternoon:

1) Your help is needed! If you know Greek and Spanish, please send Thomas Hudgins an email and let him know you’re interested in hisspecial ministry opportunity. Also, special thanks to Thomas for proof reading my Paul, Apostle of Weakness manuscript and finding several overlooked typos, including “consciousness” instead of “consciences”!

2) In case you didn’t know, we have a section here at DBO calledEthiopia Files. We try to give fairly detailed reports about our trips to “Utopia.”

3) I have been invited to teach a course in advanced hermeneutics at theOdessa Theological Seminary next March. This will be a unique opportunity because it combines a chance to teach European students and to get reacquainted with a former Greek student of mine in California who now teaches at the seminary.

4) “A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.” Chinese proverb.

5) In one month Becky and I will be celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary. I have a pretty good idea where I want to take her but I can’t mention it here because she reads the blog.

6) A huge shout out to Wesley Davey from Chesapeake, VA, who begins his doctoral studies with me this semester. Wesley’s interests include Pauline Christology. Wesley, it was great to see you again yesterday!

7) Nigusse did not come home empty-handed. He brought back lots of frozen Ethiopian dishes as well as a jar of delectable and totally awesome honey.

8) Glad to see that Billy Graham isback home after a brief hospitalization for pneumonia. Can you believe it – he is writing yet another book at the age of 93.

6:50 AM Yesterday was another very long, very good, day. I’m happy to report that Nigusse arrived safely at the Greyhound Bus station in Raleigh. That’s right: we had him take the bus instead of fly from Dulles. After all, what can be more American than to ride public transportation?

Yesterday we also wrapped up our annual faculty workshop. Our theme this year was scholarship. I enjoyed the workshop but the best part was getting reacquainted with friends and colleagues after the summer break. The seminary continues to break enrollment records but, as someone pointed out during the workshop, we can’t sacrifice quality for quantity. Next week I’ll begin teaching my three classes: Greek 1, Greek Syntax and Exegesis, and Exegesis of 1 Thessalonians. If you’re interested in looking at my analysis and outline of 1 Thessalonians (published in theSouthern Baptist Journal of Theology), I’d be happy to send you a copy.

Finally, a few reflections on teaching. Jesus said we are to eat His flesh and drink His blood. No instructor is quite as effective as the flesh and blood type. The only real teaching takes place when we translate God’s Word into living epistles. Christianity is a revolution and breeds revolutionaries. A true Christian is different. We must believe in our hearts that education is for life and not for a degree. This is what we are here for. By life or by death, we are to advance the Cause of the King of kings on this earth. That’s what we need to be modeling as a seminary. Kingdom people not only stand, they serve. We must walk as He walked who took the form of a servant. So if you pray for me, pray that I will take a towel and water and wash the disciples’ feet. Pray that I will be willing to bend this semester in lowly service. May my “translation” of God’s Word be true in letter and spirit.

Monday, August 13

8:02 PM Good evening, one and all. It’s been 12 hours since we last talked. Becky’s oncologist looked at her wound and decided to go ahead with the chemo today but to stop the Avastin — for now. Apparently Avastin is the main culprit behind the problem. So we’ll see how things turn out. Our appointment with the wound specialist never materialized as we had hoped, but we were able to make an appointment for a later date. So, all in all, the day went as well as could be expected. Tonight I’m catching up on emails, including answering this one:

Dr. Black,

I was wondering when our 5-minute Greek club will meet for the last time. I’ve faithfully attended every day (and I plan to continue even after the summer is finished). I’m looking over the textbook list for the Greek Exegesis class, and I was just wondering if you offer of a free book is still valid. (I hope my coupon hasn’t expired.) Let me know the terms and conditions of your offer, and maybe I can drop by sometime to redeem it.

Thanks so much.

I answered, “Redeem away!” Tomorrow I plan to be on campus for our faculty workshop. But the really big news is that Nigusse is arriving in Raleigh tomorrow from Ethiopia. Can’t wait to see him. Neither can his mom. Hurry home, Nigu!

7:38 AM Good morning, blogging buds!

Today marks an anniversary of sorts. Becky and I were driving to Durham yesterday when it occurred to us that it was exactly three years ago this month that Becky was diagnosed with cancer. As we drove along we spoke of the goodness of God, but also of the weight of the journey. We tried to remember what it was like when we first heard the news. We had just returned from a trip to Ethiopia. Prior to leaving, Becky had noticed some suspicious bleeding and had made an appointment to see a gynecologist. The appointment was scheduled for just after we returned home. I’ll never forget going to Rex for her biopsy. I thought, No way my Becky has cancer! But I’ve learned through the years: God’s ways are not always our ways. I’ve also learned (the hard way, usually) that there is unparalleled joy when we cast our every care upon Him. Later on, as we were waiting for the results, I had the “privilege” of being hospitalized for seven days at UNC for malaria. Reflecting back now I have to smile. Was God trying to teach us trust or what? When the report came back positive for clear cell — the most aggressive form of uterine cancer there is — I was amazed at how calmly we both took it. Three years ago neither of us had any idea of what we were getting into. Today — after a hysterectomy, intense radiation, and three years of chemo — we are still trusting the same God of Shalom. I take joy in walking this path with Becky. I’d give my right hand to see her healed completely. But which is the greater miracle — a healthy Becky, or a suffering Becky who faces a gnarly situation with grit and unshaken confidence in her God? As her husband, I get to see all of this up close and personal. I get to be there for the surgeries and the hospitalizations. I get to nod off to sleep with her in the infusion room. I get to see her cry out in agony with bone pain from the chemo. But I also get to see the power of the resurrection and the soft, gentle reality of a woman walking through difficulty with her Lord. I get to see courage and selflessness and acceptance (not just acquiescence but real acceptance) and peace and joy. There is so much more I’d like to say on this anniversary but I can’t. I do love Becky so. And how we love Jesus! It is He who got us through the diagnosis and the initial surgery. And it is He who sustains us today. And so I am not bitter. Instead, I’m thankful. I’m thankful for our prayer partners and our great hospital staff and even the Starbucks at UNC. I’m seeing the impact of Becky’s life on others. If you stop and think about it, that’s an awful lot to be thankful for. Becky’s cancer is a sacred thing to me. It is shared, in its depths, by no one but us. On this day, three years after her diagnosis, three years after being introduced to our “severe mercy,” we know there will be many other challenges ahead. But we are together. And by God’s grace, we will see this crazy journey through ’til death do us part.

Dave

P.S. Becky’s infected leg has still not healed. We’re hoping to see a wound specialist at UNC today. We’re also scheduled for more chemo today. Please pray that God would heal her leg.

Sunday, August 12

7:58 PM Hey friends!

It was a splendid day today. No rain either. I just finished mowing Maple Ridge. Things are beginning to look green again on the farm after the near-drought conditions we had a few weeks ago. Very grateful for the rain the Lord has been sending.

Grateful, too, for the wonderful reports we heard at Cresset today. The clear command of our Lord Jesus Christ is to go into the world — but not with cold, perfunctory hearts! It is out of our love for Christ that our love flows out to the world. Where a church is not first rich in love for God, it will never become a mission church. If it is poor in terms of its horizontal relationships, it’s only because it is poor in its vertical relationship with Christ. But when both of these priorities are active all at once, there you will find a church that pleases God. Such is Cresset Baptist Church. Let me say it once more, loudly: There is nothing in this world quite like a group of Christians who have given themselves unconditionally to God and then to the world. Here’s the Cresset gang:

Each of them shared what God did in and through them in Ethiopia. Their testimonies prodded and challenged me. Afterwards we went out for lunch where Becky was able to hear firsthand from the women what God did.

I loved watching them interact with each other as sisters in Christ. These are ladies who are eliminating the inconsequential and maximizing what is eternally important. They are seeking, in specific and creative ways, to be Jesus’ hands and feet in this world. What is the most important thing you should know about them? It is this: They love the Lord, and because of their love for Christ they love the lost. I see in each one of them a genuine, heartfelt reach to the world.

I thank God for our Ethiopia team. In the nitty-gritty give-and-take of Ethiopia, we learned how to be unified, how to act out this unity, and how to visibly and audibly love each other. I was just a member of the group — sometimes leading, sometimes being led, exposing my needs as well as my knowledge. No two individual Christians are alike. Likewise, no Ethiopia team has ever been like another one. But I’ll never forget the Cresset bunch. We had unity because we had a common love. And we get this love only as Jesus ministers to us through His Spirit.

It’s just that simple.

Peace,

Dave

Saturday, August 11

7:26 PM I assigned my Pastoral Epistles students in Ethiopia the task of coming up with a title for every paragraph in these 3 letters.

 What fun they had! There is nothing quite like watching the process of self-discovery.

Long ago I realized that all learning is self-learning. This is true whether we are working together in a small group, or whether we are listening to a lecture (in which case we listen selectively, we remember selectively, and we apply truth selectively).

All learning is self-learning.

7:13 PM Becky served a huge pork roast for supper tonight. We were so hungry after working all day that we finished the whole thing. Still can’t believe it.

5:58 PM Do you believe that a Christian should retire? My father-in-law, Brad Lapsley, would say No. Even in his mid-80s he continues to work tirelessly for the church in Ethiopia. Here’s an example. Below is an Amharic-English diglot New Testament:

It was dad’s brainstorm. And it is used all over Ethiopia. As if that were not enough, dad is now talking about publishing an Amharic-Greek New Testament. And you know what — I just think he’ll do it, too. The apostle Peter wrote, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:6). Dad, I’d say, is a good steward. Indeed, all of us are brothers and sisters in Christ who gladly echo the words of Jim Irwin as he journeyed back to earth from outer space:

As I was returning to earth I realized that I was a servant – not a celebrity. So I am here as God’s servant on planet earth to share what I have experienced that others might know the glory of God.

Thanks, dad, for your example. Thanks, too, for not “retiring.”

4:40 PM Farm update:

1) The work on the ministry house (Maple Ridge) continues. Today we were able to frame in the bathroom. I managed not to slow the carpenter down too much.

2) The weather here has been something else. It changes between awe-inspiring thunderstorms and brilliant sunshine.

3) I couldn’t keep from yawning all day long. That’s what I get for spending a couple of weeks in Ethiopia and then teaching two weeks of Greek immediately thereafter. Boy, did my students work me hard!

4) Speaking of thunder, Becky has been working up a storm in our kitchen and pantry. She’s “thinning” everything out, much of which will go to Maple Ridge for our guests there. Right now wonderful smells are emanating from the dining room, and it won’t be long before I will enjoy another home-cooked meal prepared by my bride.

7:56 AM Do I detect a shift in New Testament studies? I notice that the latest issue of theJournal for the Study of Paul and his Letters contains not one, but two, articles about missions:

  • Citizenship and Empire: Paul’s Letter to the Philippians and Eric Liddell’s Work in China.

  • Why Spain? Paul and His Mission Plan.

My colleague Alvin Reid, professor of evangelism here at SEBTS, says, “Life is a mission trip. Take it.” I couldn’t agree more — intellectually. I need to become radically convinced that the mission field is not only Ethiopia but the ground between my own two feet. Wherever I go I want to be on fire for Jesus. I want to be quick to take advantage of discipling encounters the Lord brings my way. I want to learn how to pray regularly, frequently, even for long periods of time for those who do not yet belong to the Sheepfold. I want to develop attitudes and actions that influence non-Christians toward salvation, help other believers develop a closer relationship with God and a more Christ-like lifestyle, and reveal the love of Christ toward those who are in physical need.

Paul was, first and foremost, a missionary. Am I?

Friday, August 10

8:02 PM Here’s a book I’d like to get my hands on:The Ancient Armenian Text of the Acts of the Apostles.

The purpose of this eclectic critical edition of the ancient Armenian text of the Acts of the Apostles is to provide the earliest attainable text of Acts found in the extant Armenian manuscripts. It is meant to assist the Institute for New Testament Textual Research at the University of Münster in Münster, Germany, in preparing Volume II of the Editio Critica Maior, a complete and accurate critical edition of the Greek text of Acts.

I have long had an interest in the ancient Armenian manuscripts of the New Testament. In 2008 I even had an opportunity to teach a group of students at the Orthodox Seminary in Yerevan, Armenia. My topic was hermeneutics — especially the role of textual criticism in interpreting New Testament texts. Here’s a picture of my class:

On this visit I was privileged to be able to visit Yerevan’s famous Matenadaran Library, which contains over 17,000 ancient manuscripts and numerous Bibles from the Middle Ages. Can’t wait to get back there again.

7:45 PM In case you haven’t noticed, I always find it hard to describe what I experience in Ethiopia. Don’t get me wrong. The words are there. It’s just that they’re stuck in my heart. Here in America, we use the word Christian as a noun. Whenever I travel to Africa or Asia or the Middle East, the noun is forced to become an adjective. It is one thing to claim the name; it is another thing to live it. There have been so many times when I’ve wondered whether or not I too am really “Christian” (adjective). Our church membership rolls are filled with people who think are they Christians. Many of them have never been converted. They come to Christ but not after Him. I’ve been there. A Noun Christian. But the noun needs to become an adjective. We’ve been called out of this world in order to be sent right back into it. The basic trouble with the old self life is that it wants to take the easy way out. This can be true even of Greek professors. We can know all about the New Testament, teach our classes, and grade our papers, but fail to know the Great Author. A simple assembly of Ethiopian believers can know more about Jesus than all of the seminary professors trying to get their books published. There is no place in the will of God for cultural Christianity, folks. Simply recruiting more Ephesians to do more works without genuine love for others only worsens a situation that is already bad enough.

There’s something magic about Ethiopia. It makes me long for my true Home, on the other side of the universe where my Best Friend lives. Traveling isn’t easy, but it does have its upside: The disjointedness one feels is meant to increase our appetite for another place.

5:36 PM This and that …

1) Here’s an excellent summary ofelder qualifications. Does anyone know of an equally helpful summary of deacon qualifications online? If so, please email me atdblack@sebts.edu.

2) Columbia International University announces an opening inNew Testament.

3) So … what’s going on here at home? We’re continuing to work on the ministry house. In fact, tomorrow I plan to work all day with our carpenter doing the Mud Room door and framing in the wall around the bathroom. If we have time, we will close in the bathroom window and dining room door and install the quarter round. Of course, all of this is a strange task for me, as I am the world’s klutziest klutz. So odd. Must be God’s sense of humor. Meanwhile, Becky is doing great – no more bone pain or swelling in her legs. Huge relief doesn’t begin to express my emotions. God’s latest gift to us leaves me breathless. On Sunday B. and I are looking forward to attending Cresset Baptist Church and hearing our intrepid missionaries give their Ethiopia report. I love these reports. So many memories are built. It was great fun having the Cresset folk join us on this trip. Can’t wait to hear their stories.

4) I am very glad to see this post: Why your blog shouldn’t stop you from writing (and publishing) your book. Blogging doesn’t keep me from writing books, nor should it you. Don’t stop with blogging, even if that means turning your blog posts into books. The apostle Paul wrote about one letter every two years. Sounds like a worthy goal for us lesser mortals. If you’re a recently minted doctoral student, might I suggest that you set publishing goals for yourself? I did and have never regretted it.

5) As a follow-up to something I wrote about Phil. 2:12, Steve Sevy writes:

I am reminded again that Christianity is not a solo flight and even The Lone Ranger had Tonto! I thank God for my friends and the healing communities I have been a part of. We need time alone with God and we need time with community. Inspiring sermons and uplifting worship are wonderful. I love them. But the Christian life is lived out and grown in community. Two’s and three’s, four’s and five’s, ten’s and sometimes twenty’s.

ReadKeep Working at All Y’all’s Salvation in Holy Awe. Truly great souls are never loners.

6) Paul Felix isAssociate Professor of New Testament at the Master’s Seminary in California. He is also the proud father ofgold-medal-winning Olympian Allyson Felix, who once described her running abilityas follows: “For me, my faith is the reason I run. I definitely feel I have this amazing gift that God has blessed me with, and it’s all about using it to the best of my ability.”

My heartiest congratulations to both father and daughter. Greek students, please remember her words: “To the best of my ability.” Holy shoddy is still shoddy.

7) Quote of the day (Danny Akin):

When it comes to marriage I want to think like Jesus. That means I will affirm covenantal heterosexual marriage. It also means loving each and every person regardless of their lifestyle choices. It means, as His representative, proclaiming His Gospel and extending the transforming grace of the Gospel to others that takes us where we are, but wonderfully and amazingly, does not leave us there. That is a hope and a promise that followers of Jesus gladly extend to everyone, because we have been recipients of that same amazing grace.

Every one of us has made a contribution to Calvary and should weep for the sins that put Christ on the cross. Thank you, Danny, for speaking truth in love.

8) Travel note: Lord willing, I plan to be in Dallas from Sept. 13 to Sept 17 to attend a conference at Dallas Theological Seminary (Recovering Our Creative Calling). I’m also planning on taking my father-in-law to see theDead Scrolls Exhibit at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth. If you would care to join us at either event, let me know.

9) Grateful to my colleague David Beck for his gracious endorsement of Paul, Apostle of Weakness:

A model of careful and detailed exegetical analysis, fair and balanced in its conclusions, David Alan Black’s revision of his work on astheneia and its cognates in Paul’s writings is a welcome addition to contemporary discussions within Pauline scholarship. Exemplifying scholarly depth and thoroughness, Black’s writing is nonetheless eminently readable and extremely practical for all who seek to understand God’s manifestation of His power through our human frailty.

10) Finally, I have been thinking a lot about miracles and the supernatural recently. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I’m finding ministry hugely demanding. I so enjoy teaching and helping students that it is easy for me to grow weary and begin to rely on my own strength to get my work done. I think to myself, How many of my religious activities can be accounted for apart from the Holy Spirit? How much of my work is accomplished without divine help? I never want to get to the place in my life where I forget that living the Christian life is a miracle of grace. I never want to live on such a low level that I do not look for supernatural power to accomplish my goals. It is so easy for me to coast along, to live in such a way that things can be done “naturally.” All too often I have left no room for God to break in. The Christian life – and certainly my teaching and writing ministry – is itself a huge miracle and every part of it ought to bear the mark of the supernatural work of the Spirit of God. There is only one way to handle this problem correctly and that is by surrendering my unsurrendered life, again and again, to God. I want to experience heaven NOW. Know what my definition of heaven is? Heaven is simply to be with Christ. That’s what makes heaven heaven. His presence makes all the difference between merely going through the motions and genuinely living in the Spirit. I desperately need a fresh touch of His fire because if I don’t have the fire I will never have the results I want. Oh, to have Isaiah’s experience of having lips touched with fire! Oh, how I need a red hot coal in the mouth today!

Dare I hope?

Thursday, August 9

5:08 AM Important announcement:

FlashGreek has arrived!

The evolution of the flashcard has just landed on the iTunes app store! This app has been in the making for many years and I’m really excited to release it to the world.

FlαshGrεεk puts multimedia Greek flashcards on your iOS device. What do I mean by multimedia?

  • an image mnemonic
  • audio
  • a scripture example
  • additional info on the word (part of speech, applicable English derivatives, principal parts of verbs)

FlashGreek is packaged in numerous ways. First – there is a unique version of FlashGreek compatible with most of the major intro Greek grammars out there:

  • David Alan Black, Learn to Read New Testament Greek (2009) [app link]
  • N. Clayton Croy, Biblical Greek Primer (1999) [app link]
  • Jeremy Duff, Elements of New Testament Greek (2005) [app link]
  • James Hewett, New Testament Greek (2009) [app link]
  • William Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek (2009) [app link]
  • Gerald Stevens, New Testament Greek Primer (2010) [app link]
  • (soon!) S. M. Baugh, A New Testament Greek Primer (2009)

All of these are priced at only $5.99. These are ideal for students who are only taking 1 year of Greek. But if you’ll be in Greek for the long haul then….

Gohere for more information.

5:02 AM I sent the following to our private email list yesterday. I post it here to share it with a wider audience.

Dear Prayer Partners,

Becky and I are entering the fall season with a thankful heart and a renewed appreciation for the sovereignty of God. I can’t think of a better way to begin this season of life than by thanking all of you for your prayers on our behalf this past year. It is clear that God is not finished with Becky yet and she works as hard today for Ethiopia (and for others) as she has in the past. Tonight we will be de-briefing with our Ethiopia leadership team. Leigh and Jason did a great job and we owe them a huge word of thanks. In the last decade I’ve made 16 trips to the land of Becky’s youth, and each trip just gets better and better. There are three things you need to know about the work in Ethiopia.

1) It is not our work. We simply seek to obey the Holy Spirit’s leading. It is always amazing to me how the Lord will lay a ministry on our hearts, and then we simply obey that prompting. In the past 8 years we have distributed Amharic Bibles, non-prescription reading glasses, protein bars for evangelists, and pre-natal vitamins for pregnant women. Each of these ministries began when God put a burden on Becky’s heart. If you were to ask us what our future goals are, the honest answer would be “We don’t know yet.” We are waiting upon God to show us. After all, this is His work. Thus we are reduced to humble dependence on the Lord.

2) We are not an organization and probably will never become one either. People ask us, “When will you incorporate and become a 501(c)3?” I believe God has other plans for us. We have always been a grassroots, mom and pop ministry, partly because we feel this keeps the focus where it ought to be – on openness to the Spirit’s leading rather than on perpetuating yet another organization. It also allows us to send every penny we receive directly to Ethiopia. I love watching God provide partners with us who become involved in the work. We’ll never meet most of them until we meet them in heaven. We are delighted to be the conduit for them to get involved personally in what God is doing in Ethiopia. And we feel we can do this most effectively and responsibly without any bureaucratic overhead.

3) Finally, we firmly believe that “whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” If you want to get into heaven, trust Christ. It’s that simple. Richard Sibbes (1577-1635), Puritan preacher and author, once said “There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.” Yes, we are involved in mercy ministries. Yes, we have opened a health center in Ethiopia. But the purpose is and always will be evangelism. By God’s grace, we seek to introduce others to Jesus. Evangelism is profoundly Christian because it focuses on God as the true source of every blessing in life.

One other all-important note. As I wrote in my essay How We Do Missions, we have intentionally adopted a cooperative model of missions. We will gladly work with any Christ-centered evangelical church that is willing to answer Christ’s call to obedience and self-sacrificing love. This means that when we travel abroad, the first thing we do is to seek out the existing church in that country and ask, “How can we best help you?” We have found this to be the best way of affirming the biblical truth that there is only one church, one Lord, and one kingdom.

So there you have it: some thoughts about the work we do in Ethiopia. Satan still assails us, but our Savior defeated him with a few verses from the Bible, and we too can prevail. There is nothing weak or effeminate about missions. It’s just plain old hard work. It’s so much easier to send a check to take the Gospel across the seas than to take it across the street. Let’s be sure that when we are helping to send missionaries, we are one!

Thanks so much for your prayers and partnership in the Gospel,

Dave

Wednesday, August 8

6:45 PM I wept when I saw this You Tube commemorating 9/11. The music is so beautiful and inspiring.

Our poor frightened world limps along from one crisis to another. I suspect we are so avidly turning our attention to space partly to hide our embarrassment at not knowing how to co-exist on earth. The way out is not to love the universe but the God of the universe. There is a balm in Gilead and there is a Great Physician who invites us to experience His rest. He is our Comforter today. This tired old world needs nothing so much as to come to Him.

Watch the video. Feel the suffering, the grief. 9/11 was more profound than we will ever know. We stood there, all of us, raising our eyes toward heaven. And Someone looked down from the skies and wept along with us. And suddenly life doesn’t seem so hopeless after all. The nails that pierced Him to a Roman cross now pierce our hearts back together again. There is life after death. There is healing. But not for everyone. We must allow His love to penetrate our hearts. There is Someone, lovely and precious, who can make the difference. Oh world, let His love break through your pain. Let Him shelter you.

6:32 PM This and that …

1) We worked on the discourse structure of Phil. 1:9-11 in class yesterday. So I just had to pass on to you this excerpt from the Hawaiian Pidgin Bible:

So den, dis how I pray: “God, help da Philippi peopo fo get mo an mo love an aloha. Den dey goin undastan plenny, an figga wass good an wass bad. Den dey can pick da bestes kine stuff, an no take da junk kine stuff! Dey do dat, everybody can see dat dey fo real. Den nobody can poin finga dem, from now till wen Christ come back! Den dey goin everytime do da right kine stuff, cuz Jesus Christ help um. Wen dat happen, everybody goin know how awesome you stay, an dey goin all out fo tell all da good kine tings bout you!” Dass how I pray to God.

Man does that bring back memories of da good ol’ days in da islands! Hawaii no ka oe!

2) Yesterday I enjoyed lunch with the Lee family from South Korea. As everyone knows, Korean cuisine is my absolute favorite.

After he completes his Th.M. with me, Heebum will return to his home to serve Jesus there. South Korea, a nation I’ve had the privilege of visiting on numerous occasions, had no Protestant churches in 1900. Today there are 7,000 churches in Seoul alone, one of them numbering 750,000 members. Everywhere I go in the world there are Korean missionaries proclaiming the Gospel message. It is glorious to witness what God is doing in Asia these days. And I consider it a great joy to be able to train Asians for the work to which He is calling them.

Thank you, Heebum and Yungju, for the wonderful meal and fellowship. It is always an honor to be in your home.

3) Jody Neufeld has a novel idea. She says we should actually PRAY about the person we should vote for this year.

God has the “inside” information on the candidates also. Am I seeking God’s advice on who I should cast my vote? Does that sound too ‘easy’ or too ‘silly’? I actually think it sounds hard! I think that to seek God’s desire and listen for HIS answer is going to be hard. It means that I will not take my agenda into the voting booth. I will be taking only God’s choices. I will listen with my ears tuned to HIS voice and not the media’s spin or the candidate’s advisers.

Her post might be called The Voter’s Declaration of Dependence. A lot of politics may coexist with outright disobedience to God. Well said, Jody!

4) On Saturday I spoke about the need to become a world Christian. Brian Fulthorpresponds:

One thing I might like to add is that perhaps one way to ensure this globalization of your faith life and practice would be to go on missions trips! Go overseas as often as you can and for a long as you can (more than just a week – the typical “missions” trip). Regular excursions across the boarders of your home country as often as possible will, more likely than not, easily ensure you maintain a decentralized geography when it comes to “being a Christian”!

I could not agree more, Brian. (See myThe Value of Short Term Missions!)

5) The Bowdens have arrived in Munich and are settling into their apartment at the university. Read about their new life in Germanyhere. If you are praying about pursuing doctoral studies in Germany, be sure to check out Andy’sinsightful web page. All of us who studied abroad can testify to the excellence of European programs.

6:12 PM Monday in Greek 3 we finished our study of Philippians chapter 2. So many takeaways. Here’s one of my favorites:

Make room in your life for trouble (2:17). We cannot preach the cross and not share in it. Suffering is inherent in the very nature of the Christian experience. Jesus grappled with the ugly, the sordid, the hideous, and if we are to follow Him we too must grapple with a bruised and suffering society. Our proving ground is the world, not the church. Great soldiers are developed in battle, not on parade. Paul poured himself out for others, and so must we. It is a decadent generation that cannot endure sound doctrine and heaps to itself teachers who promise nothing but health and wealth. Our Lord, when He lived among us, worked tirelessly and died on a cross. He never meant to leave us smug and self-satisfied. A comfortable Christian is an oxymoron.

For more, gohere.

6:04 PM Next week I’ll be attending the faculty workshop on campus. Then I will begin my 36th year of teaching. Over the years I’ve become increasingly aware of how much I owe to those who have supported my ministry in the classroom, from my omni-competent secretary (thank you, Miss Phyllis!), to my talented personal assistant (graciasTomas!), to my area dean (you da man, David!), and last but not least to the wife of my youth (I love you, honey!). I have enjoyed working with a wonderful team. There are times that I am teaching when I have sensed the power of God — and times when I feel like the wind is completely out of my sails. No matter. On bright or cloudy days, I am grateful that I have known the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. What a marvelous Savior we serve. And so I teach, “struggling with all the energy that He powerfully works within me” (Col. 1:29), knowing that I am a man in Christ, and as such can “do all things” (Phil 4:13).

Soli Deo Gloria.

Sunday, August 5

6:34 PM In an election year, thewords of Dan Clendenin seem appropriate:

Two radical corollaries follow from the global character of God’s kingdom — the decentralization of your geography and the reorientation of your politics.

Christians are geographic, cultural, national and ethnic egalitarians. For Christians there is no geographic center of the world, but only a constellation of points equidistant from the heart of God. Proclaiming that God lavishly loves all the world, each person, and every place, the gospel does not privilege any country as exceptional. A Bosnian Muslim is no further away from God’s love than an American Christian. A Honduran Pentecostal is no closer to God’s love than an Oxford atheist.

Much has been written lately about American exceptionalism and our global dominance. In terms of economic, political, military, scientific and cultural influence, America is unrivaled. In that sense, it’s accurate to say that America is “exceptional” (although there’s no reason to think this will last forever, or that all our influence is good). But from a theological or Christian point of view, America is no more or less “exceptional” in God’s eyes than Iceland, India, or Iraq. While allowing for a natural and wholesome love, even pride, in your own country (“there’s no place like home”), in the long run, Christian egalitarianism subverts every form of geo-political nationalism. Our ultimate citizenship, said Paul, is a spiritual one (Philippians 3:20).

So … has your geography been de-centralized? That is, are you a world Christian? And … have your politics been reoriented? That is, does your heavenly citizenship trump your earthly?

Good questions, if you ask me.

By the way, Dan’s website,Journey with Jesus, is simply outstanding. He publishes a new essay every Monday. Now that’s consistency!

5:47 PM Well, my chores are finally finished. Becky, thank the Lord, is up and about, sewing curtains for the ministry house and cooking mashed potatoes and fried chicken for supper. I finally got around to reading Paul’s discussion (see the post below) and have to hand it to him: that was some analysis! I think Tim Decker asks the question of the ages in the comments section: What to do with “deponency”? If there’s one part of my grammar I might consider rewriting, it’s that section. (Wouldn’t that be funny — applying “deponere” to deponency and “laying it aside”!) 

12:42 PM Millions have been asking: When will Paul Himes publish his comparison of beginning Greek grammars? He’s been promising us this treat for some time now. Well, today’s the day. ReadA Comparative Analysis of Four 1st Year Greek Textbooks. And please do remember: Even though Paul is a student of mine, he is completely impartial!

12:32 PM I stayed home from church today to be with Becky. Also, I needed to get caught up on a few farm projects like bush hogging the goat pasture.

I also dragged the ponds for algae. Still to do: Replace the water filter in the crawl space, replace the air filters in the house, spread granules on the pond to kill the unwanted growth, bush hog the horse pasture, sweep the porches, and review my calendar with Becky. By the way, when we first moved to the South in 1998, I had never heard of a bush hog. Now I AM one. Goes to show you’re never too old to learn new tricks. Here’s a partiallist of “old fogey achievers”:

At 100, Grandma Moses was painting.
At 94, Bertrand Russell was active in international peace drives.
At 93, George Bernard Shaw wrote the play Farfetched Fables.
At 91, Eamon de Valera served as president of Ireland.
At 91, Adolph Zukon was chairman of Paramount Pictures.
At 90, Pablo Picasso was producing drawings and engravings.
At 89, Arthur Rubinstein gave one of his greatest recitals in New York’s Carnegie Hall.
At 89, Albert Schweitzer headed a hospital in Africa.
At 88, Pablo Casals was giving cello concerts.
At 88, Michaelangelo did architectural plans for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.
At 88, Konrad Adenauer was chancellor of Germany.
At 83, Aleksandr Kerensky wrote Russia and History’s Turning Point.
At 82, Winston Churchill wrote A History of English Speaking People.
At 82, Leo Tolstoy wrote I Cannot Be Silent.
At 81, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe finished Faust.
At 80, George Bums won an Academy Award for his performance in The Sunshine Boys.

So there’s hope for us dinosaurs!

9:11 AM I always enjoy and benefit from reading Roger Olson’s blog posts. Since we’re studying Philippians in our Greek 3 class this summer, I was especially glad to see his recent sermon called“Grace Works” Philippians 2:12-13. I partly agree, and partly disagree, with his exegesis. I agree that the term “salvation” (soteria) in 2:12 is not referring to forensic, juridical justification but rather to what Olson calls “life after conversion.” Where I might diverge a bit from Olson is in his definition of “life after conversion”: “maintaining a healthy relationship with God as a converted believer.” This interpretation, in my view, is short-sighted since it begs the question of context and the macrostructure of the book (see my Novum Testamentum essay,The Discourse Structure of Philippians).

What does Paul mean by “work out your own salvation”? As Olson correctly notes, there are too many contextual clues to conclude that Paul is referring to initial justification. The emphasis is on the life of a Christian. But let us take that thought one step further. There are two main imperatives in 2:12-16: “work out your salvation” and “do all things without grumbling and complaining.” Hence 2:12-16 may be analyzed as a continuation of the plea to unity begun in 2:1-4. The theme of 2:12-16 may be stated thus: “I plead for you to obey me and to work at bringing healing to your community. For God is already at work among you to foster mutual good will instead of ill will. Do this in order that one one will be able to find fault in you as you share with others the message of life.” As F. F. Bruce writes (Philippians, 56-57), “In this context Paul is not urging each member of the church to keep working at his or her personal salvation; he is thinking of the health and well-being of the church as a whole. Each of them, and all of them together, must pay attention to this.”

In other words, what many commentators fail to consider is the corporate dimension of Paul’s exhortation in Phil. 2:12-13. Apparently his concern is that the Christians in Philippi, torn apart by dissension and strife, will work to complete the sanctification of the church (and each individual within it) lest the work of the Gospel be hindered. Believers are “co-souled” (2:2), inextricably linked together by the Spirit of God on the basis of their common faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, who is in the process of creating a visible community of faith — a living, breathing organism that knows that its most credible form of witness to the world is its own unity and love. In this light, verse 14 now makes perfect sense: the Philippians must “do all things without grumbling and complaining.” To be saved is to enter into a faith community that grants all of its member the opportunity to experience the depth of Christ’s love. Thus Paul is addressing the matter of unity where it matters most — in the area of interpersonal relationships. Perhaps this explains why his love ethic is so thoroughly eschatological. It is an ethics bound up with the purpose of the church as the New People of God whose citizenship is in heaven and whose ethics are best seen in the virtues of self-abnegation and humility of mind (2:3-4).

From this point of view, “salvation” in 2:12 is not simply a matter of one’s relationship with God. The role of the saints is much broader and deeper. Salvation helps us to structure our congregational life in such a way that we have the greatest potential to be influential witnesses within our families and communities, among whom we shine as stars in the world as we offer them the life-giving message. Hence we must always be praying that our love for one another (and, of course, for God) “might abound yet more and more in knowledge and full discernment” (1:9), simply because lovelessness is one of the main reasons people say they do not want to accept the Christ of Christianity.

Saturday, August 4

9:26 PM Being a history lover, I was fascinated to see that on this day in 1873 George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Calvary were attacked by Sioux Indians as they were encamped along the Tongue River in Montana. The U.S. Army easily fought off the attack — which may have led to their defeat 3 years later during the Battle of the Little Big Horn. You can read the amazing storyhere.

Incidentally, our family once camped on the Tongue River to do some fishing. It was on that trip that we happened upon a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming that would change my life forever and lead me to buy my first horse when we returned to our home in Southern California. For the next 15 years I was an avid equestrian, riding almost daily my Arabian and Thoroughbred horses. And all because of a fishing trip to Wyoming….

6:52 PM Took Becky out for dinner tonight. Just had to get her out of the house. Spine pain is still there and we crawl along like turtles. But grateful for the strength to be a turtle.

9:30 AM Just finished reading chapter 2 of a doctoral dissertation and an entire Th.M. thesis. Very grateful for students who know how to write well.

8:46 AM Quote of the day:

‘John the Baptist’ was really like ‘John the Dunker,’ ” Hoffman said.

John was doing something new by submerging people in water to cleanse them of their sins, but that is lost on people 2,000 years later, Hoffman said. Today, people hearing John’s title might think it refers to a Baptist denomination rather than his then-strange behavior.

Now if that don’t burst some bubbles. ReadNew Bible translation offers screenplay format.

8:23 AM Saturday sundries …

1) By now the whole inhabited world (by which I mean anyone who reads the biblioblogs) knows that the newNestle-Aland  is about to appear. Gohere also. I will be curious to see what they do with Matt. 5:22, Mark 10:20, John 3:13, Eph. 1:1 and other variants I have published essays about.

2) Excitement is building for our Ethiopia team reunion on August 25 at the farm.

3) I just accepted an invitation to contribute an essay on the “kingdom” for our in-house journal, Southeastern Theological Review. I guess the editor knows I have some strong convictions about the topic. In the kingdom of God, what matters is obedience. The essence of the Christian faith lies in our willingness to walk in the way of Jesus. Paul writes, “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). In other words, the essence of the kingdom is not theology (word) but practice (deed). We must let go of everything else in this world. We must live as citizens of the kingdom, a kingdom that requires a loyalty surpassing our loyalty to our parents, spouse, church, country, and even our lives.

This is the message I’ll be attempting to get across in my essay. Your prayers will be appreciated.

4) This post by Alan Knox made me stop and think:Who are you? How would you describe who you are in just a sentence or two?

5) Becky had a rough night last night — severe bone pain in her spine due to chemo. Thanks for your prayers on her behalf!

Friday, August 3

5:34 PM In class this week we read a lot from Hawthorne’s outstanding commentary on Philippians. I enjoyed his emphasis on the civic implications of politeuesthe in 1:27 as well as his careful attention to detail in the Christ hymn of 2:5-11. “The incarnation is both humiliation and mission.” I’m thinking right now about our Ethiopia team. I love this picture of one of our teammates walking to a faraway village for ministry.

What a great combination of humility and mission. Service to others in the name of Christ is the task of every Christian, the task of the church, and supremely the task of everyone who considers him- or herself a missionary.Amen?

Speaking of missions, check out my dean’s latest essay,Is Southeastern Part of a Calvinist Plot? The money quote:

Southeastern Seminary does have an agenda – the Great Commission. When we say that SEBTS is a Great Commission school we are not pitting obedience to the Great Commission against commitment to doctrine. Quite the opposite: few things are more doctrinal than the Great Commission. The Great Commission entails certain powerful theological truths: all humanity is lost and is in need of salvation, Jesus Christ is the only Savior, people can get saved only if they hear the gospel, and our Lord has commanded us to preach the gospel to everyone in the world. These are the truths that motivate us.

I quite agree.

5:30 PM The always provocative Arthur Sido has written an excellent post calledAre We Really Scorned? The same God who privileged us to believe in Christ also privileged us to suffer for Him. Salvation and suffering are mutual gifts of grace (Phil. 1:29). Whatever suffering comes to us as Christians is not a sign of God’s displeasure but of His favor. No Christian ethic is worthy of that name if it does not potentially require our suffering or the suffering of those we love. That’s why faithfulness, not effectiveness, is the ultimate goal of the church. The confessing church will always be a church of the cross.

And – let me add – the overriding political concern of the church is the task of becoming a community of the cross. How bland and unfaithful our so-called “ethics” (i.e., eating a chicken sandwich) appear when set in contrast to the cross. I can’t stop thinking about the Ethiopian church. In my mind’s eye I see all the suffering – all those who have died in the cause of the Gospel – I see their faces and feel their pain, and I begin to rage and rail about the “scorn” we experience here in America for being Christ-followers. Have we forgotten what Christ has called us to? Oh, we are very glad to be beneficiaries of Christ’s death, but are we glad to be sharers in His sufferings? Are you kidding? We are so sheltered here in America that we actually think an economic boycott is suffering for Jesus. I have no answer – no explanation – I can give to the Ethiopian church when they ask me, “How do you suffer in the States?” I’ve been so frustrated by my inability to grasp why we complain as we do. Have we never traveled to the Majority World? But, thank God, He is my covering, He has walked through the fire with me, He has allowed me to share in the sufferings of Christ, paltry though they may have been.

I don’t necessarily expect you to agree with me, but if you would, please stop complaining about how hard life is in America for Christians. I think God’s heart must ache when He looks at us. It is hard to imagine a lost world being redeemed by such soft people.

5:06 PM It’s the oldest cliché in the world, and I can’t believe I’m uttering it, but it’s so true: Satan attacks the hardest when the fruit is the ripest. It’s such a strange thing – this sense of exhaustion and spiritual weariness that comes over you when you have personally witnessed miracle after miracle from the hand of God. Going to Ethiopia (and other nations) is living my dream life. Getting to serve others is the highest of all highs in life. And yet I’m finding it strangely hard to describe our trip, even to describe the miracles we all saw with our own eyes. I can’t even explain how cool it was to see someone for whom I had prayed for so many years finally put his faith in Christ. Last week I stood at the summit. The climb was long, but it was a marvelous experience. Now I stand in the trough, knowing that there will be many other climbs to make (how will I ever be able to get those farm chores done when I am so tired?) and other risks to take. I grieve over reports from teammates that conflict is raging all around them, especially in their most intimate relationships. I realize that the conflict is due to productivity, the result of reaching beyond ourselves, of accomplishing things you thought were impossible – and so they were, apart from grace. It’s a horrible feeling when soul and body are in conflict. We then lack intimacy with others because the pain is so real.

Lest anyone wonder if I have ever known spiritual defeat after my mission trips, the answer is a resounding, yes, I have! Unfortunately, I can speak with considerable expertise when it comes to the post-trip blahs. I know what it feels like to hit the ground running, to wonder if you can make it through another day of work and responsibilities, to feel the very fabric of your life being torn to shreds. There is nothing new about this. No one serves God without having their energies depleted. But something else can be said: no one wanders so far away or falls so low that they cannot be welcomed home to a “safe place” in Christ’s presence and be given the greatest gift in the universe: peace. No one is so tired and worn out that Christ cannot renew His fellowship with us, and we can again sense His joy and strength.

Exhaustion is no respecter of persons. It strikes us all, whoever and wherever we are. The greater the euphoria, the greater the crisis. Day-to-day living drags us down. When this happens, it’s okay to admit it. Maybe it’s because we fear showing weakness or inadequacy that we clam up and grit our teeth and say to ourselves, “It’s nothing.” But it is SOMETHING. This is one of the strange paradoxes of the Christian life. It is when we think we are strong that we are the most vulnerable. No intimacy in life can exist as long as this vulnerability goes unconfronted and unresolved. When we are spiritually, emotionally, and physically exhausted, we must frankly admit the fact to ourselves, face the piper, and, having faced it, get on with life again. I am forced to peal all pretensions away. The Good News is the only thing can lift us up when we lay wounded, knowing that one day we will laugh all of this off as a “present light affliction.” I plead with you, my friend, if you are going through weariness, defeat, or even depression, don’t turn to books and blogs and counseling theories. Instead, I encourage you, as I encourage myself, to return to Jesus. In Him you will find help. No one else can do for us what God can do.

Jesus, I come. Weary and heavy-laden, I come to You to find rest. I can’t believe how tired I feel! But just in acknowledging before You my weariness is empowering. I think that’s just what I need. The energy You have poured into me has been the major secret of my life. I will never stop being grateful for that. Right now I need to hold You close to me again – the tenderness, the caring, the strength. Then I think I’ll be able to go on again. I don’t think I can make it without You. I KNOW I can’t. “Come to Me,” You’re saying. “Come and be healed,” You are telling Me. That’s Your modus operandi. And, I must say, You do that rather well.

Wednesday, August 1

9:36 PM Hello virtual friends,

I’ve been reflecting on the concept of self-emptying in Philippians. Here are a few comments for reflection and interaction.

The human mind cannot grasp the divine kenosis (or emptying) of Christ. His sacrifice on our behalf is unfathomable, unimaginable, incomprehensible. It boggles the mind. When we try to grapple with Christ’s self-emptying, we make things a little easier when we remember that what we cannot underrated with the mind we may yet feel with the heart. Jesus became obedient unto death – a death for ME. The doctrine of Christ’s self-emptying sets forth what God had to give up in order to come into this world for our salvation.

What we can barely understand with the mind, and what we can feel in the heart, ought to drive us to greater obedience. Paul would have nothing to do with the kind of academic, esoteric, stuff-shirted theology we are so fond of. His resurrection is proof that love is more powerful than death. It is proof that in the end love can defeat all that hatred can do to it. One must NEVER reduce the kenosis to a mere doctrine. It means that all of life today can be lived in the presence of the love and power of Jesus Christ. Again and again Paul links the resurrected life of Christ with the life the Christian is supposed to live. There is no incomprehensible mystery here. If Christ is risen from the dead, it means that His mind is now available to every one of us. It means that I no longer have to live for myself. It means that Jesus does not just command me what to do; He is constantly with me to enable what He requires. For Paul, the Christ hymn of Phil. 2:5-11 is neither simply a fact of history nor a theological dogma. It is the supreme reality of the Christian life. It means that all of life may now be lived in the presence of the one who loved me and gave Himself for me.

And so I pray. For the mind of Christ. For healing from my self-centeredness. For courage and wisdom. For the power to continue to fight my prayer battles. For the courage to join others in their struggles.

So much to reflect on. I need all the help I can get.

Jesus bless you!

Dave

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Friday, April 30

1:00 PM “When chaos shows its head,” Radetski said, “we need an anchor for our faith. You need that rock that God promises to be. I consider it an honor to fulfill their request.” Thank God for our chaplains.

8:30 AM I was asked yesterday what we as a nation can actually do to stop abortion. Here are a few suggestions from David Brownlow:

We should all mourn for the 44,000,000 children that have been murdered in the abortion holocaust since 1973.  And we should all beg God that He would have mercy on our nation for what we have allowed to happen, since it is our own government that is the chief sponsor and protector of the legalized child killing industry – leaving all of us with the stain of this innocent blood on our hands.

 

We now know one thing for sure, the carnage will not stop with the compromises and false promises made by insincere politicians.  Thirty years of endless talk has proved that.  Congress has the authority to end abortion tomorrow by defining the 5th Amendment “person” to include unborn American persons – and there is nothing the courts could do about it!  Why do our “pro-life” leaders refuse to even talk about this?

 

Congress could also throw a major wrench into the works of the death peddlers by invoking Article 3, Section 2 provisions in the Constitution to overturn Roe vs. Wade.  The inaction of our “pro-life” leaders in Congress can either mean they have no intention of taking even the slightest political risk to end the slaughter, or they really do not think the killing of an innocent child is that big a deal.  

 

When bloodthirsty madmen drove those planes into our buildings and killed 3,000 Americans, we knew exactly how to respond.  How do we stand by and watch the slaughter of 3,800 Americans every single day by men just as bloodthirsty, and just as mad, and not have the same outrage?  

 

We need leaders who will fight for the lives of our precious children.  We need leaders who will not compromise and who will never back down!

Brownlow also has some perceptive comments on the partial birth abortion scam. Yes, this issue is a hill on which to die, as Baptist pastor John Piper has also noted:

Now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An eight-week-old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb-sucking, pain sensitivity, finger-grasping, and genetic humanity, but under our present laws is not a human person with rights under the 14th Amendment, which says that “no state shall deprive any person of life . . . without due process of law.” Well, I wondered, if the unborn do not qualify as persons, it seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog, or at least a cat. Could we not at least charge abortion clinics with cruelty to animals under Statute 343.2, subdivision 7? Why is it legal to “maim, mutilate and kill” a pain-sensitive unborn human being but not an animal?

These reflections have confirmed my conviction never to vote for a person who endorses such an evil-even if he could balance the budget tomorrow and end all taxation.

Dr. John Piper is a one-issue voter. If you’re not, why not?

6:45 AM The pollsters and pundits have been busy lately. On the Wall Street Journal‘s opinion site last week, Peggy Noonan insisted that recent polls indicate Americans love Bush: “They can tell that George W. Bush is looking out for America.” She stressed his “popularity continues high.” According to the latest Gallup/CNN/Time poll, 56 percent have a favorable opinion of Bush, compared to 42 percent who had an unfavorable one. But just three months ago, 65 percent had a favorable opinion of Bush, while 35 percent were unfavorable. That’s a 16-point shift away from Bush already in 2004. Fox News recorded a 21-point swing in the favorable/unfavorable category since January. And in the latest Zogby International poll, the president’s favorable rating was just 53 percent, the lowest ever. All of which raises questions about Bush’s vulnerability in the fall campaign.

Earlier this year I asked:

Can the Constitution Party’s candidate win this year’s presidential election? Many people say that’s impossible. I disagree.  

In the first place, the party’s message of “God, Family, Republic” is resonating more and more with voters who are disenchanted with both the Democrats and the Republicans. Which other national party takes a consistent stand both for the U.S. Constitution and against such unconstitutional actions as President Bush’s undeclared “wars,” his failure to ban RU-486 or to speak out against abortion, his “compassionate” policies toward illegal immigration, and his abhorrent treatment of civil liberties through the misnamed Patriot Act?

Moreover, the Constitution Party is already the nation’s third largest political party in terms of actual voter registration. It has due-paying party members in nearly all 50 states. And, I predict, it will continue to grow as the election gets closer, due to the fact that other third-party alternatives are far fewer than four years ago. As Howard Phillips, founder of the Constitution Party, has noted, this year there is no Perot or Buchanan or Keyes or Bauer to siphon off votes like there was in the 2000 presidential race.

If the trends noted above continue, Bush’s “popularity” will continue to plummet, perhaps even making him unelectable. Time will tell, but a third party candidacy is making more and more sense in this volatile year of politics-as-unusual. Above all, it is a time for national repentance. As I speak in churches across the nation I have reiterated continually that when nations turn their back on God their fate is clear: “The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God“ (Psalm 9:17).

6:30 AM The latest Freedom Watch contains this classic quote by former Sen. Barry Goldwater, a Republican conservative:

I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is ‘needed’ before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents’ interests, I shall reply that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can.

How far we have fallen – and yet what a tremendous opportunity, I believe, for all true conservatives to take an uncompromising stand for God and the Constitution this election cycle.

Thursday, April 29

1:35 PM Bernard Goldberg’s Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distorts the News is a good reminder of why I refuse to get my news from TV.

1:29 PM Last night I read the story of Jessica Lynch and was reminded of the words of John Chrysostom (AD 344-407):

O ye subverters of all decency, who use men, as if they were women, and lead out women to war, as if they were men! This is the work of the devil, to subvert and confound all things, to overleap the boundaries that have been appointed from the beginning, and remove those which God has set to nature. For God assigned to woman the care of the house only, to man the conduct of public affairs. But you reduce the head to the feet, and raise the feet to the head. You suffer women to bear arms, and are not ashamed.

If you need to explore this area in greater detail, please see my essay “Women in Combat: Still a Bad Idea” as well as the numerous links on this excellent page compiled by Michael Marlowe. 

12:27 PM Political machinations are nothing new in the GOP, but the president’s support of a pro-aborticide, pro-sodomy Republican Senator in Pennsylvania over a pro-life candidate reaches a new low. Does anyone really think that Specter is going to go to bat for Bush after receiving such undeserved support? Such political cowardice is mind-boggling. Tomorrow I will post more on this subject, which will dog the Republicans all the way to the November polls.

8:25 AM Joseph Farah on just how “conservative” Republicans are in Pennsylvania. Truth be told, those of us who voted for Bush in 2000 didn’t leave the Republican Party; the Republican Party left us.

If the Republican Party really stood for principle, its members would refuse to seat someone like Specter. He doesn’t uphold the Constitution as he swears under oath to do. He aids in its deconstruction. He gives cover to the immoral Democrats in their unseemly attacks on people like Bork and Clarence Thomas and any other judicial nominee not in lockstep with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Republicans are so determined to hang on to control of the Senate in November’s election that they’ve lost control of their own party’s soul.

8:23 AM Another good reason to live in Virginia. (Hat tip to Pieter at Deux Ego. By the way, Pieter: You and your family are welcome to stay on our farm while y’all are looking for your new home in the Old Dominion state.)

7:45 AM Yet another response to my essay “Suffer the Little Children“:

Dear Dave:

I like your blog/website more and more every day, and all the more with your recent article on children in church.  Our (Christian Reformed) Church (http://www.familyoffaithchurch.org/) was founded on the vision that the nurture of children in the faith was the responsibility of parents (done daily, in the home) and not to be done by surrogates on Sunday morning.  The result has been going from a few families meeting in a garage to a congregation of over 250 meeting in a building designed to hold less than that in an essentially program-free environment (no sunday school, no nursery, no age-segregated meetings, etc.).  It’s amazing how strong the reaction against such a simple idea as children in the church can be, but I’m thankful I’m hearing such an “outrageous” idea more often.

God Bless,

Russ

If you have a moment, you might take a look at the Family of Faith website mentioned above. 

7:02 AM Douglas Southall Freeman’s biography of Robert E. Lee is perhaps the finest treatment of the character and military genius of that great Southern gentleman. While I prefer reading the hardcopy version, an electronic version is also available, free of charge, here. It is my privilege from time to time to speak on Lee in schools and clubs. I usually give my talk, “How Tall Was Robert E. Lee?” In ten lifetimes I could never be the man he was, but his example, I believe, is one we can all aspire to.

Wednesday, April 28

12:45 PM Fox News is running an interview it had with Constitution Party presidential candidate Michael Peroutka and former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore. Don’t be surprised to see the CP candidates (Peroutka/Baldwin) getting more such attention from the mainstream media in the very near future.

9:07 AM A few more Hunley funeral pics from Charleston (Pvt. Black – the bearded feller – is dead center in second photo from left):

        

8:35 AM Just came across this disturbing report about SBC membership/attendance statistics. Most troubling, perhaps, are these stats: (1) of 16.5 million members, less than 6 million regularly attend primary worship on Sunday mornings; and (2) more than 10,000 SBC churches didn’t baptize a single person last year. In an essay entitled “Deadly Evangelism,” SBC pastor Tom Ascol has noted:

[Roy Edgemon’s] address at the 1991 Louisiana Baptist Convention Evangelism Conference revealed some alarming trends. After lamenting the fact that only 50- of those who are identified as Southern Baptists can be described (even in the most charitable sense) as “active” members, Edgemon stated, “We are losing more people out the back door than any time in the history of our denomination.” Further, he cited the results of research which indicates that “in 1980 Southern Baptists had to baptize 2.6 persons to gain one resident member. Five years later they had to baptize 7.4 persons to gain one resident member. In 1989 we had to baptize 19.8 to get one resident member.”

The diminishing correlation between our baptism statistics and genuine church growth has become increasingly obvious even without the stark revelations of research analysis. The Sunday School Board reports that over the last several years Southern Baptists have added 35,000 members a year while watching their “non-resident inactive” roll swell by 55,000 a year. For some reason it seems that those we reach and bring into our churches are more likely to fall away than to persevere. Why is this?

The truth is that there is no such thing as “inactive” church membership according to the New Testament. I don’t have the solution to this problem, but Ascol may be right: perhaps we are more interested in decisions than discipleship. Let us remember that pastors are teachers, that all things are to be done for edification (1 Cor 14:26), and that discipleship is every bit as important as evangelism.

7:50 AM This Sunday I have the privilege of kicking off a series of messages at Front Street Baptist Church in Roxboro, NC. The schedule is as follows:

  • Sunday Morning: Dave Black

  • Sunday Night: Logan Carson

  • Monday Night: J.D. Greear

  • Tuesday Night: Alvin Reid

  • Wednesday: Danny Franks

If you are interested in attending any of these services please contact pastor Lance Murphy for times and location at  rlancemurphy@earthlink.net.

7:05 AM Now THIS is interesting: a Republican telling Republicans on a Republican website why it’s foolish to continue to vote for Republicans like Bush and Specter (who just defeated Pat Toomey in the PA primary):

Incumbent “Republican” Senator Arlen Specter, an unabashed opponent of virtually every facet of conservatism, now finds himself in a tight race against State Senator Pat Toomey, who has steadfastly championed conservatism throughout his political life. Yet for all his devotion to principle, Toomey has been virtually abandoned by conservative organizations such as the College Republicans. President Bush is actively supporting Specter, along with conservative “lightning rod” Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania’s junior Senator.

6:50 AM I’ve been meaning to subscribe for a long time, but finally took the plunge today. Pat Buchanan and Taki Theodoracopulos are stirring up the establishment like no publication has done in some time, and that alone is worth the subscription price. If you are unfamiliar with The American Conservative, it deserves a look-see.

Tuesday, April 27

1:05 AM When I heard the news today that Pastor Chuck Baldwin will officially be Michael Peroutka’s running mate on the Constitution Party ticket I immediately fell upon my knees in praise and adoration and thanksgiving to God. If man can influence history, he can influence it for evil as well as for good. The Bible says that God created history – in contrast to what Eastern religions teach – and that history is real and significant. I believe that this is a truly historic moment in our nation’s life. My joy is in seeing many who have come to the end of themselves and of all human solutions to our cultural problems and who seek to return to the old paths under the aegis of the Sacred Scriptures and the U.S. Constitution. Tomorrow I will have more to say about this, but for now, heartiest congratulations to you, Pastor Baldwin, and to the Constitution Party. In multos annos!

8:24 AM The Biblical Studies Foundation posted this interesting essay on marriage and the husband’s role specifically. It contains sound teaching on the kind of selective, sacrificial, and servant love a husband must express toward his wife. Here’s the conclusion:

Paul’s teaching to both husbands and wives should cause us to be very discerning about the content of the “how-to” books on marriage. Paul’s teaching on marriage is not like the teaching of most marriage manuals. Most books on marriage are based on this kind of motivation: “How can I have a successful, happy, and fulfilling marriage?” The Bible starts with a very different motivation: “What is God’s purpose for marriage, and how can my conduct as a husband or wife fulfill this purpose and thus bring glory to God?”

7:13 AM A reader sent the following response to my essay “Suffer the Little Children”:

Where other than the common practice implied, do we see an imperative in scripture for children worshipping with adults? The common practice was also to recline at the Lord’s Supper, and stand during worship, but this is not an imperative practice for today. How do I build a bridge from the common practice to the imperative when it comes to this issue with children?

I’m grateful that this brother raised this issue. It gives me an opportunity to address an extremely crucial question for modern church reform that deserves a careful answer. Contrary to what the reader might think, those like myself who are calling for a return to New Testament ecclesiology are not asking Christians to implement practices that were clearly cultural (e.g., using candles in our meetings, wearing tunics or sandals, writing on parchment, etc.). Neither are we exalting first-century Christianity (the early churches had many problems as exemplified by the Corinthians and the Galatians), except where a distinctive apostolic pattern is established.

However, it is an absurdity to think that only those things that are directly commanded in the New Testament should be practiced by our churches. For instance, since there is no direct command in the New Testament to meet on Sunday, should we meet on Mondays? Since no passage commands us to meet weekly, should we meet every other month (incidentally, this would “technically” fulfill the command in Heb.10:25)? Since there is no command to observe the Lord’s Supper weekly, should we do it once a year? Since there is no explicit command that every church have a plurality of elders, should we install one man as our sole leader?

A great Southern Baptist theologian, J.L. Dagg, in his Manual of Church Order, spoke directly to this issue of direct command (and its absence) in matters of church practice. Please read what he said prayerfully and carefully.

It must be admitted, that the Scriptures contain very little in the form of direct precept relating to the order and government of churches. But we have no right to require that everything designed for our instruction in duty, should be made known to us only in the way of direct command. Judicious parents give much instruction to their children by example; and this mode of instruction is often more intelligible and more useful than precept. It was made the duty of the apostles to teach their converts whatsoever Christ had commanded, and to set the churches in order. If, instead of leaving dry precepts to serve for our guidance, they have taught us, by example, how to organize and govern churches, we have no right to reject their instruction, and captiously insist that nothing but positive command shall bind us. Instead of choosing to walk in a way of our devising, we should take pleasure to walk in the footsteps of those holy men from whom we have received the word of life. The actions of a wise father deserve to be imitated by his children, even when there is no evidence that he intended to instruct them by his example. We revere the apostles, as men inspired with the wisdom which is from above; and respect for the Spirit by which they were led, should induce us to prefer their modes of organization and government to such as our inferior wisdom might suggest. But the apostles designed that their modes of procedure should be adopted and continued. Paul commended the church at Corinth, because they had kept the ordinances as he had delivered them. Some things which needed further regulation, he promised to set in order when he came, evidently implying that there was an order which ought to be established. Titus, whom he had instructed, he left in Crete, to ordain elders in every city, and to set in order the things that were wanting. To Timothy, he said: “The things which thou hast heard of me, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also”[2 Tim.2:2]. As matters of church order formed a part of of his own care and action, and a part of what he had committed to Titus, so we must believe that they formed a part of that instruction which he had given to Timothy, to be transmitted by him to other faithful men, and by them to their successors . . . We arrive, therefore, at the conclusion that, whatever the apostles taught, whether by precept or example, had the authority, not only of the Holy Spirit by which they were guided into all truth, but also of their Lord who had commissioned them (pp.84-86).

Dagg’s conclusion is well-supported by numerous New Testament texts that point to the vital importance of apostolic precept:

 “I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me” (1 Cor.4:16)

 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you” (1 Cor.11:1-2; cf. v.16; 14:33)

 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe closely those who walk according to the pattern you have in us” (Phil.3:17)

 “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you” (Phil.4:9)

 “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thess.1:6-7)

 “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us” (2 Thess.2:15)

 The point is this: the church should be continually reformed by the criteria of God’s Word – that is, the apostles’ doctrine (Acts 2:42). But it does not seem possible to me to be truly faithful to the apostles when we hold firmly to their orthodoxy but hold loosely (or not at all) to their orthopraxy.

Robert Saucy, my good friend and former colleague at Talbot School of Theology in California, wrote a classic text on the church called The Church in God’s Program. In it he has written (pp. 7-8):

The chaos over the church today stems from the disengagement of its leaders from the Lord of the church and His patterns of church life. Perplexing questions as to the nature of the church, the role of the ministry, and the very purpose of the existence of the church can be answered only by a return to the origins of the church in the Word of its Lord. Progress in the church comes not from advancing beyond the biblical patterns but from building squarely upon them.

To which I say, Amen!

Monday, April 26

12:30 PM Just received this insightful response to my essay “Suffer the Little Children“:

Dear Dr. Black,

Your article reminded me of the little backwoods Missionary Baptist church where I went as a child and came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t think we ever heard of such a thing as children’s church or nursery. I do remember a preacher once, when an infant began to cry, proclaiming that if he could not preach over a child crying, then he should leave the pulpit!

So much of what children are exposed to  in church today are stories about the Bible, in lieu of the Bible. Entertainment seems to be the rule of the day, rather than teaching them “line upon line, precept upon precept”. And still we wonder why so few are excited about knowing and following King Jesus!

I could not agree more. Nowhere in the Bible are young children removed from their parents for biblical teaching. The same thing is true for teenagers. Where fathers are delinquent in their responsibility, churches should not focus on the un-taught children but on the delinquent fathers. I say this as a former youth pastor in Hawaii, who has come to the conviction that the flaws and dangers inherent within youth groups far outweigh whatever benefits they might provide.

10:23 AM What do the ACLU, the Episcopal Church USA, Planned Parenthood of America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the National Organization for Women, and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society all have in common?

10:20 AM This day in history:

“For the Furtherance of so noble a Work…in propagating of Christian Religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God.”

Thus the words of the first English settlers in America, who landed in Virginia on April 26, 1607.

9:47 AM Just two weeks to go to the 140th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia, May 7-9 at historic Belvedere Plantation near Fredericksburg. If you live near the event I hope you can attend. And be sure to introduce yourself to us. Just look for the 30th North Carolina Troops (Army of Northern Virginia camp).

9:30 AM Mark Dankof’s latest essay tackles the tough questions of war, empire, Iraq and the Middle East, the 2004 election, and the coming demise of the neoconservative movement. An excerpt:

Pundits of American domestic political developments and their counterparts in Middle Eastern political analysis will duly note that smoldering resentment of George W. Bush’s preemptive war in Iraq is about to burst into open flames in the Presidential campaign in the United States. The evidence is everywhere this week. And the most interesting aspect of this burgeoning crisis is one either missed or deliberately ignored by Corporate Media in the United States–the revolt against King George comes not simply from Left and Middle, but in a renewed ideological struggle within the American Right over its identifiable heart and soul.

Read more here.

7:45 AM My essay “One Christian’s Case Against George Bush” elicited this response from a reader in New Jersey:

Dear Dave,

I recently became by default the County representative for the NJ Constitution Party. I had been a 31 year loyal Republican but finally had the epiphany. Doing the same thing won’t yield different results. Your article on why Christians shouldn’t vote for George Bush is a HUGE in a concise sort of way work. It affirmed what I already knew and added a lot that I didn’t know.  Thanks again.

Thank you, sir, for stepping up to the plate (even if you feel it was by default). I will keep you in my prayers.

Saturday, April 24

7:35 PM Sheldon Richman shows how 9/11 could have been prevented.

7:30 PM A few months ago I began a class in Norfolk that met at the First Baptist Church’s excellent facilities. Today that class came to an end. After my final lecture (it just happened to be on the number 666 in Revelation 13) each of my students shared with the rest of the class an overview of the term papers they wrote, and they did an absolutely fantastic job. Topics ran the gamut – from eldership in the church, to the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, to the home church movement, to the seeker-sensitive model (come and see) versus biblical evangelism (go and tell), to the “contextualized” church on the mission field (written by a young man who has already served as a missionary in Asia for two years), to worship music and styles. I had a blast doing the class and will miss these young men and women. Thanks to all for your excellent notebooks, term papers, and Christ-like attitudes, and best to you as you write your final exam in the following weeks. I look forward to reading (and grading) them. Finally, special thanks to Sandy Alberson of FBC Norfolk for his assistance in setting up the room each month, fetching and/or copying materials for the class, providing me with a write-board and pens, and, in general, just being a great guy with a servant’s heart.

Friday, April 23

9:30 AM A reminder that our chapel messages are available at our seminary’s website. I would especially encourage you to listen to Dr. Akin’s excellent exposition of Philippians 2:1-11 for a resounding call to unity and humility in the Body of Christ. You will be blessed and challenged!

Thursday, April 22

9:45 AM Miscellany: Our 2005 Reformation Tour package is almost complete (pending final pricing); hope to post it shortly…off to Norfolk this weekend to finish up my New Testament Introduction class with some really great students; their papers have to deal with any aspect of ecclesiology from the epistles; I expect some good treatises…my sabbatical for the fall was approved by the seminary’s Board of Trustees…after preaching in Wylliesburg (VA) last night I met a Farrier who “just happened” to be in attendance; I had been looking for a horse shoer who works in Southside Virginia for weeks…had a good showing at our home near Oxford (as my wife likes to say, “It’ll sell when it sells”)…we are gearing up for our next reenactment – the 140th Spotsylvania; should be gobs of fun…off to chapel!

9:10 AM Once again the Bush administration is boasting about its pro-life position. In a recent speech to the National Right to Life Committee, Dick Cheney said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, male or female, black or white, … north or south, east or west, all that matters is your respect for the claim of every life.” The facts, of course, belie this claim, as David Brownlow notes in reference to the Partial Birth Abortion Ban:

The “ban” that was signed into law is a pathetic, watered down fraud that is highly unlikely to save even a single life.  Check out my commentary on this.  Fortunately, the final bill removed the glowing Roe vs. Wade endorsement (which in March of 2003, in an historic betrayal, forty eight Republican Senators voted to approve) that was included in the original Senate version.  Unfortunately, the final bill has no teeth and would more appropriately be called: The “targeting coordinates to legally kill a child in the final inches of the birth canal,” bill.  

Now that the “ban” has been passed, and we protect less than 1/10 of 1- (if any at all) of abortion victims, there are still 3,800 other, equally precious children being murdered every day.  Where are the cries from our “pro-life” President and Congressmen to protect those innocent lives?  (Where is the cry from the church?)

8:40 AM Revelation – the Musical.

8:29 AM Bush’s befuddled responses to questions at his recent news conference are costing the Republicrats.

8:15 AM Lutheran pastor and good friend Mark Dankof wrote this response to Joseph Farah of WND. The establishment drones won’t want you to consider what Mark has to say – which is precisely why you should read this letter.

Joseph Farah

World Net Daily

Joe–I read WND each day and enjoyed your article today entitled Why Kerry Will Win.  Like you, this prospect terrifies me, yet I am simultaneously encouraged that you had the courage to print your non-support for Bush this time out.

At the same time, I am disappointed and disturbed that you state you “don’t have a dog in this hunt.”  There is a dog in the hunt for any thinking conservative this time around.  It is Michael Peroutka of the Constitution Party (www.Peroutka2004.com). 

My letter to Ron Holland of Dixie Daily News on this subject was re-posted today by Dave Black On-Line and Breaking All the Rules.  It is posted for you below.  It is my hope that you will read it and ponder the arguments made.

I hope World Net Daily and The American Conservative will finally come forth this year with a forthright rejection of the Republican Establishment.  Buchanan’s piece for you today on Bush’s Outsourcing of Foreign Policy was a great piece, but it needs to be followed with a forthright endorsement of Peroutka.  The hour is late.  Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.  Take the risk–and the only honorable alternative.  It is Peroutka.  Now.  Today.

Mark Dankof

7:45 AM Here are a few pictures my wife took at the Hunley funeral in Charleston last Saturday (click to enlarge):

         

Wednesday, April 21

12:33 PM A letter from the Peroutka Campaign website indicates growing support for constitutional principles in America:

Dear Mr. Peroutka,

It is my fervent prayer that one day I shall be able to call you Mr. President.

I have never registered as anything other than an independent before because no party affiliation was in line with what I believe to be God’s plan or purpose for this nation as it was founded over 200 years ago. I am grateful to have a candidate I can vote for with 100- confidence. Sir, this is the first time I have ever contacted a candidate, donated to a campaign or posted signs on our vehicles or in our yard, left materials for others to read and display concerning your candidacy and felt confident that the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob was primary in his/her life.

I know God is in full control. I trust Him and His purposes for this outcome, completely, regardless of who is elected. I wanted you to know this blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ is holding you up in prayer, trusting in God to enable you to have the strength to see it through and praying for you to be a light for Christ in an otherwise altogeter dark election field of choices.

May you continue to be blessed. May God be honored and glorified through you. And may this nation once again be called blessed because God reigns here.

I shall pray for God to allow you the victory in November.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

Thank you for your time and convictions,

Mary Winiarski

9:20 AM Robert Sheer says Bush broke the “Pottery Barn” rule: you own what you break.

8:25 AM Deja vu all over again.

Johnson poured U.S. forces into Vietnam in an ultimately failed war in which 58,000 American troops were killed.

8:00 AM Today is Secretary’s Day. The secretary in our quad of offices deserves much more than the card and hanging fern I gave her today. My secretary is as competent, considerate, gracious, and efficient as any assistant I’ve had in 27 years of teaching. Hat’s off to Mrs. Keith on this her special day.

Tuesday, April 20

9:02 AM “Alle Welt schaut auf Spanien.” (“The whole world is looking at Spain.”) Thus begins this interesting essay about the “Zapatero effect” in today’s Die Zeit. No doubt about it: the Empire is engendering more chaos than it anticipated. Today Honduras, David Brainerdtomorrow the world, including GB? Stay tuned….

8:25 AM Prayer of David Brainerd, born this day in 1718:  

Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose. Oh, that God would make me more fruitful.

8:22 AM Quandary for GOP-ers? 

8:02 AM Constitutionalist and libertarian pundit Harry Browne has some observations on what it means to live in a “free” society. Read it and weep. 

7:30 AM Just received this:

Hi Dave:

I came across your website and am finding it to be a wealth of knowledge.  Thanks so much! By the way, I noticed you have NRA as a link but not GOA.  Are you not familiar with Gun owners of America?  They are Christian, and conservative, much more so than the NRA. www.gunowners.org

 In Christ,

 Bryan Mion

Thanks, Bryan. The GOA link has been added.

6:48 AM Once again, some good news on the pro-life scene. I’ve just been informed that from May 10 – 21, 2004, Missionaries to the Preborn will travel to various cities in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. At each stop, the missionaries will line the streets with large five foot photographs of murdered preborn babies.  They will also pass out 100,000 pieces of literature during the twelve day tour that expose the atrocities committed against preborn children. Since 1973, after the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, over 42 million preborn babies have been killed by abortion here in the United States. Now the people of these four states will be able to see for themselves exactly what a preborn child looks like after he or she has been in the hands of an abortionist.

Missionaries to the Preborn is a Christian Mission founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1990.  Since the mission began, five of the eight abortion clinics in Milwaukee have closed and the number of abortions committed in Wisconsin each year has dropped by 41-. 

6:45 AM A long-time reader graciously sent this email:

Thanks for your superb site. Yours is the best I know of to help one follow Paul’s admonition given in II Cor 10:5. Blessings to you!

Monday, April 19

11:40 AM Time to head home and begin weeding, edging, and mowing. It seems we have more Dandelions in our 5-acre yard than ever before. But I enjoy yard work, especially on a gorgeous day like today, and it’s especially necessary when you’ve just put your house on the market. We will be gradually moving all our things up to Bradford Hall in Virginia, and we should be moved in by summer.

Meanwhile my teaching series continues at Wylliesburg Baptist Church in Southside Virginia. Yesterday my topics were “Have You Crossed the Jordan?” (Josh 3:1-3) and “How Not to Raise Teenagers” (Luke 2 and 1 Cor 13:11). Beginning with tonight I’ll deal with “Jesus and the Age Thirty Transition” (Luke 3:23), “The Most Important Question Ever Asked” (John 21:15-17), and “The Gospel According to Four Women” (Matt 3:3-6). The people at Wylliesburg are wonderful, and it was great meeting Edwin Sineath, a longtime DBO reader, who drove all the way from Winston-Salem (NC) to attend last night’s meeting.

11:30 AM The latest from Tom Ascol:

The questions that we must continue to ask and seek to answer with explicitly biblical teachings are these: What is the gospel? What is a Christian (and how does one become one)? What is a church? It is no longer safe to assume that evangelicals—even conservative, inerrancy-affirming evangelicals—mean the same thing when we talk about these issues. Those who recognize the need for reformation and are committed to pressing for it must keep these questions in focus. They are clarifying questions and serious consideration of them can help resolve some of the confusion that reigns in our day.

Read more.

9:45 AM Don’t take a horseman to appreciate this cartoon by Clay Bennett:

 

As Paul Craig Roberts observed in a recent piece:

Our job is to bring freedom to the world, Bush says, on the point of bayonets.

Neoconservatives declare that such a grand scheme is worth tens of thousands of American casualties and countless more wounded and maimed.

You, the public, wake up! Bush is leading us into a wider war that will consume our sons, our incomes, our freedom and our honor.

9:35 AM Deborah and Frank Popper try to contemplate an America without small family farms (as opposed to large-scale agribusinesses). Here is an especially interesting excerpt:

The desertion of the small family farm constitutes the largest population movement in American history. The small-farmer diaspora, here and abroad, partly or wholly underlies other storied American population shifts: the development of cities and suburbs, the settlement of the West, the late 19th and early 20th century European immigrations to the United States, the post-1965 Latin American and Asian ones, the black migration from the rural South to the Northern ghetto, the rise of the Sunbelt, and even the growth of military bases around the country.

As for me and mine, I think you already know where we stand.

8:12 AM Yes, my legs ache, but marching in the Hunley funeral procession was an honor I will never regret or forget. Charles Porter, a faithful DBO reader, sent in these remarks:

Dr Black

I wanted so badly to be at the Hunley Memorial but could not make it.  I know that it was a somber event and a great tribute to Confederate fallen.  I anxiously watched the news yesterday, thinking that just maybe there would of a report fitting of the occasion.  It never came, and I am not in any way surprised.  Maybe National Geographic or the History Channel had coverage.  I’ll just have to wait and see.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a reenactor, and honoring the memory of these eight Confederate Americans, who died for a cause that will never die in our hearts.  I look forward to seeing your pictures from the Hunley Memorial.  Deo Vindice.

Charles Porter

MSgt, Retired, USAF

GG Grandson of Duncan Black, Co F, 15 NC, CSA

Let us never forget: Constitutional principles of government are still worth defending today.

7:35 AM This letter came to me from Soledad Prison:

Hello from California! I am a prisoner doing time in a Northern California prison. I became a Christian at the beginning of my sentence way back in 1994. Since then I have dedicated my life to learning and teaching the biblical languages. I learned Greek via correspondence through Taylor University’s extension program and have since nearly completed my Koine vocabulary.

I have been teaching Greek in our chapel for about two years now with good results. But I am becoming more and more interested in textual criticism (TC). I own and use your “It’s Still Greek to Me” (which is very cool) and I noticed that you have also written materials on TC.

Do you have any extra copies of your books? If so, can I have one? I enjoy your writing style, humor, and approach and I can both benefit from your teaching and use it in my class. It is difficult for me to find materials suited for prison ministry because many of the men do not have a collegiate education. However, your “Still Greek…” book has broken it down for them before and I would love to see your other works. Because I am indigent I cannot pay for them, but if you are willing to loan me a book or two I will read it and send it back if you want.

Thanks in advance if you can help.

Needless to say, the books are in the mail (gratis).

7:33 AM After preaching last night I was asked by a visiting pastor what my thoughts were about The Passion of the Christ. Most of my reasons for not viewing the movie have been summarized in this essay by Andrew Webb.

7:30 AM I hope everyone has a great week enjoying the spring sunshine, the dogwoods, and just getting outdoors again. Thanks to all who so faithfully read DBO and write to tell me about it. May I ask each of you to pray daily for this ministry – that God would be glorified and the church edified through the efforts of your editor? Thank you so very much.

Sunday, April 18

8:25 AM WND is at it again: Pay up or else. Here’s a question for you: Can God supply the needs of a God-ordained ministry without it pleading for money? Where do you see Jesus asking for cash? Where do you see the prophet Agabus asking for green stuff? The truth ought to be free. Al least free from begging. The correlation between ego and money is just too strong to be ignored—or fed. (For more, see my essay False Prophets, Pro$perity, and Website Woes.)

8:15 AM The Germans ought to know something about open flanks, wouldn’t you think?

8:10 AM How many pixels is your church?

Church of Fools

7:57 AM A two-faced Jesus?

Turin Shroud - front (L) and back (R) (Pic: Institute of Physics)

7:55 AM Kinda curious, but I have yet to meet a Southern Baptist who uses the HCSB.

7:30 AM Having just returned from visiting several federal land holdings (Bryce, Grand Canyon) I found this article on de-federalizing federal lands to be interesting and persuasive.

The National Park Service should also be privatized under a special sale. Currently budgeted at nearly $2.75 billion per year, the Park Service has never been able to manage properly its lands. Often the object of a political tug-of-war among environmentalists, preservationists, and local citizens, citizens have not gotten value for the tax dollars. Private firms, such as the large lumbering companies that are immensely successful at managing large tracts of land for maximum value, would be excellent potential owners for such properties and would operate them to turn a profit, thus generating funds for the upkeep and maintenance of these beautiful areas. Selling these would raise further billions of dollars for debt reduction.

One memory stands out on my trip in this regard. At one site we were “granted” a special discount because one of our passengers happened to be a senior citizen (no, it wasn’t me!). After we had expressed our appreciation, the irony hit me: here we were, taxpayers all, expressing our thanks to the government for its “generosity” to us with our own money!

7:00 AM Just back from the Hunley funeral in Charleston (photos shortly). At one of the many memorial services I ran across my friend Chris Sullivan, editor of Southern Partisan and Commander of the SCV’s Army of Northern Virginia. Also bumped into Mike Tuggle at the Hunley display. Mike is doing a great job editing the LOS website. I told him I would be speaking at the Constitution Party National Convention in June, and I think he’ll be there. Meanwhile I’m gearing up to preach a series of messages this week in Virginia on Forgotten Truths from the Life of Christ, starting today.

Checking my emails I received the great news that the Right to Life Act of South Carolina has passed the first hurdle. A subcommittee of the General Assembly has taken the first step in recognizing unborn human beings as “persons” from the moment of fertilization.  This is a historic act on their part and makes the Hunley burial pale in comparison. Let’s keep on praying, and working.

Wednesday, April 14

12:59 PM A few vacation photos (Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Sunset Crater). What a blast! (Click thumbnails to enlarge.)

   

   

12:52 PM Conservative university students are coming out.

12:40 PM Madonna, newest member of the “God-squad.”

12:30 PM The latest board (bored?) game. Them Episcopalians may be on to something here.

Product Picture

9:30 AM Pat Buchanan has some wise words about our ability to win militarily in Iraq. Among other things he notes:

With the battles for Fallujah and Ramadi, the seizure by the Mahdi Army of Sheik al-Sadr of Kut, Karbala and Najaf, the fighting in Sadr City, the recurring attacks on aid workers, the abandonment of their posts by Iraqi police, the refusal to fight of one of four Iraqi battalions we trained, it is clear: We do not have sufficient forces on the ground to crush and snuff out the resistance.

8:24 AM I knew the president was in trouble the moment he opened his mouth in last night’s so-called news conference. The very first statement in his prepared remarks contained this grammatical monstrosity: “This has been tough weeks in that country.” (Oh, my….) The remainder of his speech was replete with the repetitive staccato we have become accustomed to hearing from the Commander in Chief: Nobody could have predicted 9/11, Saddam was a threat, Iraq is better off today, etc. etc. ad nauseum.

On vacation last week I read Against All Enemies, the insider book by Bush’s former Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs, Richard Clarke. Clarke shows how there never was any real and imminent threat from Iraq and how America’s intelligence community has failed and is failing the nation. Worse, he shows how Bush is using the War on Terrorism politically – a fact noticeable in last night’s news conference. I could cite many passages from Clarke’s book, but I will leave you with just this one (p. 264):

I was no fan of Saddam Hussein; indeed, I had urged limiting his access to weapons of mass destruction technology as early as 1989, had been one of the first advocating confronting Iraq militarily in 1990, conceived of the U.N. program to eliminate his weapons of mass destruction in 1991, tried to reinitiate hostilities after the First Gulf War, advocated a large bombing campaign of Iraq in 1993. I know that in one sense the world is better off without him in power, but not the way it was done, not at the cost we have paid and will pay for it; not by diverting us from eliminating our vulnerabilities to terrorism at home; not at the incredibly high price if increasing Muslim hatred of America and strengthening al Qaeda.

Friends, if the way the president is handling the terrorism crisis and the war in Iraq doesn’t scare you, I’m scared of you.

7:45 AM On Feb. 17, 1864, the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley slipped into Charleston Harbor, its crew hand-cranking the cigar-shaped vessel toward Union ships blockading the port. Later that night the Hunley managed to spear the USS Housatonic with an explosive device, sinking the Union warship. Mystery surrounds what happened next. After signaling toward shore, the Hunley disappeared, not to be seen again for more than 130 years. Author Clive Cussler discovered the Hunley in 1995. It was raised amid much ceremony and celebration in 2000. Today it is undergoing painstaking conservation in Charleston. Many artifacts and remains of the eight-man crew have been removed, including the pocket watch belonging to Lt. George Dixon pictured below.

There are only three more days to go until Saturday’s funeral for the Hunley crew in Charleston. My son and I will have the honor of marching in the procession. Some 100,000 spectators are expected. If you can’t attend yourself, perhaps you can catch this historic moment on TV.

Tuesday, April 13

4:15 PM God bless Columbia Christians for Life, who just announced a second public hearing for the Right to Life Act of South Carolina (H.3190).  (See direct link to bill at www.ChristiansforLife.net), or go to www.scstatehouse.net). The bill is being considered by the Constitutional Laws Subcommittee of the SC House Judiciary Committee. Supporters are invited to urge South Carolina state legislators to recognize the God-given, unalienable right to life of unborn human beings under the South Carolina State Constitution (Article I., Section 3.).  The Right to Life Act of SC would recognize unborn human beings as legal persons beginning at fertilization, and would thereby invoke the SC State Constitution’s provision that no “person [shall] be deprived of life,… without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.” This would legally prevent the deprivation of life of unborn human beings, who are judicially innocent, and would thus end de-criminalized abortion in South Carolina.           

4:07 PM My good friend David Allen of the Criswell College in Dallas has been appointed Dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth. Click to download Hi-Res PhotoHe will also head up the Southwestern Center for Expository Preaching. David is a marvelous expositor of the Word of God and models preaching based on the careful exegesis of the original text. David and I (along with my seminary president Dr. Danny Akin) are co-editing a book entitled The Text Driven Sermon. The title came from the lectures David gave when he was on our campus last February. Kudos to Southwestern and heartiest congratulations to you, David; you’re the right man for the job!

9:45 AM A dozen quotes by the great Virginian Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, who was born this day in 1743:

I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month, and I
feel myself infinitely the happier for it.

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against
every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.

I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and
public debt as the greatest of dangers. We must make our choice
between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we
can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people
under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.

In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence
in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the
Constitution.

It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and
occupation, which gives happiness.

Never spend your money before you have it.

Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.

A little rebellion now and then is a medicine necessary for the
sound health of government.

And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers
load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between
economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

9:40 AM Ten days apart from my Sheltie “Shiloh” was almost too much for this dog lover. If you too are a hopeless pet lover, click here.

9:30 AM Having recently paid $2.29 a gallon for gas in Arizona, I can identify with the latest from Clay Bennett:

8:45 AM My essay on the Pledge of Allegiance elicited numerous responses, including this one from a Vietnam veteran:

As a Christian, I have always refused to say the pledge simply because it is idolatry. And so, find myself in agreement with you even though I’m a Vietnam War veteran. All the things you say about the pledge is, of course, true. However, most people see the pledge as nothing more than a patriotic affirmation of American principles which, indeed, it has become since American principles have undergone dramatic change over the last 100 years. Washington and Jefferson would not recognize their country were they alive today. In fact, they would be extremely busy fomenting a revolution to overthrow this Godless socialist nirvana.

Best regards,

Mark G. Kent

Another reader offered this alternative pledge:

Hello Mr. Black,

I read your article entitled “With or Without “Under God”, the Pledge is Still a Bad Idea” and here is a pledge that was written by John Kotmair.  I’m sure you heard of him.  He is the Fidiciary of Save-A-Patriot.  They always start their meeting with this pledge.  Maybe we should start teaching our children this pledge.

I Pledge Allegiance to the Constitution of the American States united, and to the Republic which it created, implementing God’s governmental plan for man, and asking His blessing for its observance, which will provide Liberty and Justice for all.

Let me know what you think.

Sincerely,

David Bridges

8:30 AM A friend of mine sent me this report from Baghdad, where the ever-worsening conditions have parents of soldiers in Iraq more concerned than ever:

The people in the Shi’a slums of Baghdad who are now furiously resisting the Americans hate Saddam with a passion to this day. They suffered under his repression and they also suffered from neglect, especially under the sanctions — scarce resources and repairs went to politically more favored areas. They expected great improvements when the United States took over.

Shaykh Sadun al-Shemary, a former member of the Iraqi army who participated in the 1991 uprising and now a spokesman for the al-Sadr organization in Shuala, told me, “Things are exactly the same as in Saddam’s time — maybe worse.”

8:25 AM A DBO reader from South Florida sent me this heart-warming email: 

I just wanted to say thank you for your books: NT Textual Criticism a Concise Guide, Why the Four Gospels, and Using NT Greek in Ministry. They’ve been extremely helpful. Thank you for your inspiration and encouragement to continue Greek language studies. I know that being a teacher is rewarding and I hope this is encouraging. May God perpetually grant you peace and mercy.

8:15 AM If you’re a fan of Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas (as I am), then you must read this essay by Mark Dankof. 

7:15 AM Warm greetings, friends. Just back from a ten day vacation to visit my in-laws in Dallas. Also spent time at Durango, Mesa Verde, Bryce National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, and the Meteor Crater. Deo volente, will post photos shortly. Had a great vacation but it’s time to get back in the saddle.

Friday, April 2

6:47 AM How’s this for a holiday destination?

6:40 AM If you are new to the KJV only debate or just want to understand it better, here are two websites from opposite sides of the issue that can help:

http://www.geocities.com/brandplucked/articles.html

http://www.kjvonly.org/

6:35 AM The power of television to desensitize our children toward killing is discussed by Berit Kjos in her essay, Toying with Death.

6:33 AM On the Discussing Reformation Forum, this British moviegoer expresses some reservations after viewing The Passion:

Concluding, I would have to say that I am glad that I did not miss the movie for it was a brutal reminder of what Christ suffered, but I had to remember that they could not even come close to the full truth of His death. However, I could NOT ever give a full or wholehearted recommendation of this movie without disclaimers. I believe to do so in the face of some of the glaring inaccuracies found in the film would be to go against my conscience and more importantly to go against the teaching of God’s Word. My country (England) has gone the way of Cain and are on a downhill slide to the judging hand of God if they do not awake. Unfortunately, movies like the one Mel has put out are the only forms of evangelistic outreach that will ever be found in many parts of this country. Pray that God will be merciful to us and that churches as a whole will wake up and realize we cannot leave the preaching of the gospel to Catholics who teach another gospel and another Christ than the One who actually came to die, was buried, and ROSE AGAIN for our justification.

6:30 AM Brad Edmonds has some helpful advice on what to do when you receive Christian chain letters by email. 

Thursday, April 1

8:30 AM Today in history: Okinawa. More people died during this battle (including an estimated 100,000 civilians) than all those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. U.S. military authorities were overly optimistic about how easily they would win the battle. For a fascinating audio report from the island on April 2, 1945, click here.

8:11 AM What’s the deal with Regent College? Don’t they realize how well fluff sells?

7:40 AM Many odes to Dietrich Bonhoeffer could be written. I have written mine. His distinction between cheap and costly grace is one I think about frequently. But Bonhoeffer never spoke of foolish grace, a point made by Ben Cole in a recent blog. Iraq, as Ben points out with irrefutable logic, is a war zone, and we don’t need to be sending our missionaries into harm’s way to die, not as evangelists, but as Americans. But I’ll let Ben speak for himself:

Iraq is a war zone . . . it is not a playground and now is not the time to allow well-meaning civilian humanitarian workers into the crosshairs of conflict whose fires, though reported smoldering, are in fact aflame with hot resentment against anybody who looks Western, i.e. Caucasian.

And to my Christian kinsmen who would suggest that now is precisely the time for missionaries to be in the middle of international terror, I am not as convinced that these horrible events are the signs of the times we are admonished to discern. The Bible may say that in the last days the people of God will hear “of wars and rumors of wars” and to “see that they are not frightened;” but within a few verses it also says, “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” In other words, don’t rush into the midst of the battle. To do so is indiscriminate foolishness.

7:10 AM This day always brings to mind a certain memory. Growing up on the Island of Oahu, I can recall being awakened several times in the middle of the night by the Tidal Wave warning sirens. Everyone in Kailua evacuated to higher ground until the tsunami passed. We took the warnings very seriously in light of what transpired on the Island of Hawaii on this day in 1946. During the 1946 tsunami, there was extensive damage to the town of Laupahoehoe and great loss of life. The school and teachers’ cottages were near the ocean and destroyed. Many students and  teachers were washed out to sea. In all, 16 school children, 4 teachers, and 4 town residents lost their lives. Below is a photo of a tsunami wave taken April 1, 1946.

puumailewaveoverwall.jpg (26320 bytes)

6:47 AM I remain deeply concerned about the purpose-driven model, and here’s yet another reason why.

6:30 AM Is Clarke or Condi telling the truth? Yesterday I stumbled across the following timeline of events surrounding the 9/11 attacks that sheds a great deal of light on this question. It’s lengthy but well worth your time. 

6:00 AM From my morning Andacht:

There are certain things which are given as sinful in Scripture, and these things we as Christians should not do. But then everything else is spiritual. The painting of a picture, the work of a good shoemaker, the doctor, the lawyer – all these things are spiritual, if they are done within the circle of what is taught in Scripture, looking to the Lord day by day for His help.

To that list I could add preparing a sermon, playing in seminary orchestra, teaching a Greek class, doing family finances, checking on the chickens and goats, feeding the horses, meeting with students – all this in one day. Schaeffer goes on:

Thus everything is spiritual because the Lord made everything, and Christ died to redeem everything. And though full restoration will not come until Christ returns, it is our calling, looking to Christ for help, to try to bring substantial restoration in every area of life. Worldliness is seeing anything in life from a materialistic perspective – that is, from a perspective which makes the material world the final reality, and in which man’s finite wisdom (rather than Scripture) is everything.

I trust, dear reader, that together we might seek the things which are above, that is, see everything from the perspective of God’s existence and what is taught in Scripture – as uncomfortable as that might make us with our traditions and daily habits. May you have a wonderful day serving the King of kings.

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Wednesday, June 3

11:04 AM Last night I was sitting in my upstairs bedroom, reading a book. I could hear it coming — a thunderstorm, bringing much-needed rain to our parched farm. The louder the storm got, the happier I was: more rain. I let the dogs in at night but they know their limits: You stay downstairs. So there I am reading when I hear the faint sound of a dog ascending the stairs. It was Sheba, one of my Shelties. She knows upstairs is off limits but she is also scared to death of thunderstorms. Guess who sheepishly shows up and sits down in my room? Without once looking at me, of course. Okay, sweetie pie. You can stay. Until the storm is over.

I shared this story by text with a few of my daughters and one of them wrote me, “So funny … And almost human like. Your presence brings her comfort and protection. It’s craziness outside but she was like, ‘Where’s Dad?'”

Chances are, you’ve had a similar experience. We approach the throne of grace in heaven (Heb. 4:16) through prayer. Somehow, in the midst of our fears, we receive mercy and grace for help at just the right time — liberation from fear and strength for the heart. As I think about the various challenges I’ve faced in my life, my heart is overcome with gratitude to God for the many times He has listened to my petitions. The most important thing is not “Come” but “Come unto Me.” We aren’t promised rest in the act of coming but in Himself. That’s what Sheba found, and that’s what we can find whenever we approach Daddy. The simpler our faith, the better. Come as you are. Trust Him the best you can. Your rest and peace is found not in how you do it but in a Person.

Tuesday, June 2

6:32 PM Since I have nothing better to do I thought I’d talk with you for a moment about books. Here’s one of my faves:

I purchased it in Piccadilly Circus, London’s go-to place for used books of all stripes and colors. One of my most sought-after genres (as you know) is escape books from the Second World War. I ask myself, Why in the world would people try to escape once captured? Sense of duty? Claustrophobia? The chance of promotion? I find myself totally engrossed in the true story of men seeking their freedom under the most desperate of circumstances.

But there’s more to this book than meets the eye. Much more. I love reading this book because, well, it’s a book. A real book. I simply cannot bring myself to read an eBook. There’s no use in trying to talk me into it either. And it doesn’t matter to me one whit that if I should ever have to move again I will be stuck with umpteen box loads of … books. When I say “book” I am referring not only to content but to the tactile pleasure of holding a paper product, admiring its ink and paper and glued binding. This particular book of mine even has a smell of its own, quite unlike any other book I have in my personal library. Maybe it’s because I am entering my dotage, but I like things that age with time. Books are like that. Books are fragile and easily offended. As you can see, it’s time I had this one rebound. Or will I? Would you have a face lift or liposuction? Everyone knows you’re getting old, so why try and hide it? Books really are my best friends. They are always at my side or in my hand. My publishers sell many of my books as eBooks. You can read most of them on Kindle. Ok, fine. Have at it but, again, don’t try to bring me over to the dark side. My heart and soul will always belong to paper books.

Now, you say, what in the world brought this topic up? The answer is NPR, which (while I was cooking supper) ran a superb story called A Publishing Insider Turns The Page On A Bygone World In ‘Muse.’ It’s about a publisher-turned-novel-writer named Jonathan Galassi. Muse is his first novel but I certainly hope not his last. When Lynn Neary read the book’s opening lines, I just about fainted:

This is a love story. It’s about the good old days, when men were men, and women were women, and books were books, with glued or even sewn bindings, cloth or paper covers, with beautiful or not-so-beautiful jackets and a musty, dusty, wonderful smell; when books furnished many a room, and their contents, the magic words, their poetry and prose, were liquor, perfume, sex and glory to their devotees.

Do you see? Do you see now why I can’t read eBooks? I just can’t. Yes, I know there will always be eBooks. But there will be book-books too. Maybe for another 40 years if we’re lucky. But by then I’ll be dead and gone and it won’t matter anymore.

In the meantime, long live books!

5:34 PM Civil War enthusiast? Read how a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthlydescribed Gettysburg in 1865. Fascinating!

4:24 PM Who said it?

The angels laugh at old Karl. They laugh at him because he tries to grasp the truth about God in a book of Dogmatics. They laugh at the fact that volume follows volume and each is thicker than the previous one. As they laugh, they say to one another, “Look! Here he comes now with his little pushcart full of volumes of the Dogmatics!” – and they laugh about the men who write so much about Karl Barth instead of writing about the things he is trying to write about. Truly, the angels laugh.

Why, Karl Barth of course!

(Cited in G. Casalis, Portrait of Karl Barth, p. 3).

4:08 PM Well, I just got back from the doctor’s and she gave me antibiotics and told me to rest. Ugh. I hate being sick. I know I’m not supposed to hate but I do. (My therapist says it will take time but that I will recover.) So what to do? How about lining up future speaking engagements? The dates are now set for my class in Hawaii: October 4-7. So all of you kamaainas as well as you malihinis, come out and join us at Windward Baptist Church in Kahuluu. One more good thing: I’ve just been asked to speak at the Correctional Institution (i.e., prison) in Butner, NC, next month (July 13 to be exact). This is so awesome I am speechless. Well, almost. I don’t know if you were aware that the great Karl Barth regularly preached in the Basel prison. You can read about ithere. Can you imagine listening to the good doctor of the church speaking from Luke 23:33 on “The Criminals with Him”? Wow. It’s just possible I may get to do this on a regular basis. Wouldn’t that be great! But back to my pity-party. I was hoping to do a 5K this Saturday but it looks like that will have to be put on hold too. Rats! Oh well. This too I accept. I find that learning to trust God is like learning to swim. You can’t fight the water. Instead, you’ve got to let the water support you. The hardest part of the Christian life for me is letting go. Surrender is another word for it. There will always be losses to cope with, hassles to work out, and temptations to overcome. I find that sometimes God has to put me flat on my back before I pay Him any quality attention. I have tons of faults, but one of the greatest is my tendency to be so busy doing everything that I have no time tobe anything. True Christian ministry is always the outflow and expression of who we are in Christ. Doing can never become a substitute for being. So grumpy ol’ me is just gonna have to accept this down time and leverage it for good. Must it not delight our Lord when His children seek Him for Himself? We’ll, that’s my goal for the next couple of antibiotic-cough-syrup-filled days.

I crave activity. But when will I seek Him alone?

12:15 PM I finally had the chance to see Selma on my flight from Atlanta to Honolulu. On the whole, I thought it was an excellent film. On the flight back to Atlanta I watched the new release called McFarland USA.

Another excellent film. There wasn’t a single weak link in the cast. (BTW, McFarland USA was released today on Netflix.) The movie’s goal is to make you feel empathy with the culture of Mexican immigrants and it succeeds without being pushy. It’s Kevin Costner at his best, who learns not only how to be a good coach but a good dad. If you like cheering for the underdog, you’ll love this movie.

11:52 AM On the Southern Accent:

 

Monday, June 1

2:40 PM If you ever visit Hawaii, you simply must do the Diamond Head hike (762 feet in elevation). You’ll love every minute of it. The view from the top of the crater is absolutely spectacular. The hike is paved but beware: there are two tunnels and lots of stairs to climb. I managed to complete the hike in about 20 minutes.

Here’s a pano that will give you a good overview of the Leeward Side of Oahu.

On this day, the surf at Diamond Head Point was breaking about 2-4 feet. I recall some days the surf getting up to 15 feet. Hawaii no ka oi!

1:20 PM Kailua Beach has gone to the dogs.

1:10 PM Got out of bed at 11:00 am today. Yesterday it was noon. If I improve an hour a day, I’ll be back to normal on Friday.

Sunday, May 31

7:38 PM I received a question the other day that I get quite often so I thought I’d share the answer with you. “How are you doing, Dave?” There’s nothing simple about the answer but I’ll do my best. Picture it this way. Until Nov. 2, 2013, my relationship with God looked like this. I imagined Jesus and I were walking on the beach together. There were always two sets of footprints — one set belonging to me, the other to Him. But on the day Becky died, I noticed that the second pair of footprints had mysteriously disappeared. “Lord,” I cried, “how could You desert me when I needed You the most?” “My dear child,” came the reply, “I never left your side. When you saw one pair of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

How extravagant is God’s love for His children. And when we are not carried by His love, we slip into emotional quicksand and lose the capacity to live life to its fullest. Since Becky’s homegoing 18 months ago, life has been full of changes. I can honestly say that I feel her absence more today than I did when the Lord took her Home. If there is an exit door to the house of grief, I have yet to find it. Yet grief doesn’t have any value in and of itself. But if allowed to, it can produce growth. One learns to move forward. Values and relationships are reevaluated. Even one’s relationship with God can be enhanced. If I were to list the positives coming from losing Becky, my list might look like this:

  • I’m thinking more about heaven than ever before.

  • I’ve learned to embrace tears and sorrow.

  • I am beginning to help others in a similar situation.

  • I can find a whole lot to be thankful for.

  • I have a healthier appreciation for exercise and healthy eating.

  • I have a deeper sense of the fragility of relationships.

  • I’m not hesitant to say, “I need your help.”

  • I’m not ashamed to vent my feelings.

  • I believe that God still has significant work for me to do on earth.

For 37 years there was a woman in bed beside me. She was “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Yes, there were other significant people in my life, but no one like her. Ironically, from the very beginning of our marriage there was always a tearful sense of mourning over one another, a realization that marriage is ephemeral and that death is something that looms larger and larger in a marriage as you both grow older, a realization that it does no good to mourn over your loved one when they are gone, that now is the time to eulogize and to plant kisses on their lips, to dare to love and forgive and dream and grow from your mistakes as a couple while there is still time. The most authentic love always grows out of brokenness. Husband, don’t be terrified by the prospect of losing your spouse. More than anything, your wife needs your love now, your unconditional love, and the good news is that God is able, more than able, to help you to become a man whose worth is based on grace rather than on performance and to be a husband who proves to a lost and loveless and lonely world that love can actually exist. Friend, only God can do that, can help you as a husband to embrace both the gift and the challenge of marriage, can bind you to that special woman of yours all your life long and even into eternity in the cords of love.

May He do that.

May He do just that.

4:43 PM Grocery prices in the Aloha State are crazy!

2:32 PM “I woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very sweet” (Jer. 31:26). As I noted earlier, today I am enjoying the extravagant pleasure of sleeping in and doing nothing. No exercising either. I’ve got a runny nose, cough, and sore throat. Yes, I’m learning to listen to my body. Which means I’ve got plenty of time for reflection. Meet bruddah Kevin Akana.

He serves at Windward Baptist Church in Kahuluu along with bruddah Mark Napuunoa. They are ministering in a very needy part of Oahu sharing the love of Jesus. We met last Sunday and I was thrilled to hear about the ministries God has led WBC to be involved in. A couple of years ago they started Kahuluu Christian School to provide a biblically-based education for the children of the community. They have also begun a Bible Institute for the purpose of training disciples into Christ-likeness.

On my next trip to the Oahu (October probably) I have been asked to teach a class in the Bible school. Earlier today I gave you a glimpse of what my trip to Hawaii looked like. However, I wasn’t being completely honest with you. I failed to describe the pleasure I derive whenever I see Jesus at work in the islands. There’s also the quiet joy I feel when I see history repeating itself. For you see, as a young man in Hawaii I was well aware that I fell light-years short of God’s standards for Christians. My lapses and struggles gave me a clear picture of my need for good Christian fellowship and, above all, of my desperate daily need of a Savior. For me, that fellowship came in the form of International Baptist Church in Honolulu. I was one of pastor Jim Cook’s “preacher boys” — young men from broken homes who needed a strong father figure in their lives, young kanakas who needed to see that in God’s eyes our mistakes and misfortunes are less important than our response to them. Pastor Jim didn’t run from us; he stood firmly by our side. And the Lord stood beside us all. Through his example I learned that God works for good in everything — even in the negatives. For me, the path forward took a mainland turn — Bible school, marriage to Becky, seminary, a doctorate, and a teaching career that, though completely undeserved, has been more satisfying than I ever imagined possible. (An island boy teaching Greek? You’ve got to be kidding.) That’s why I love churches like WBC that are reaching out to the lost and lonely around them. That’s why I love it when I see accomplished “scholars” leave their ivory towers and get a taste of real life. In truth, Hawaii is no Paradise. The needs are all around. Even a blind man could see them. I’m not sure I can add much to the work that’s already being done there, but one thing I know how to do is teach. My class in the fall might not have cosmic implications, but any day now we’ll hear the trumpet blow and maybe, just maybe, there’s a young man in Kahuluu who will be encouraged and challenged to hang in there because a kamaaina haole from Kailua showed him the way.

12:58 PM I woke up at noon today, which means I slept for 16 hours straight. Guess my body was a bit tired. I may never have the opportunity to compete with the Windward Kai Canoe Club, but I sure did enjoy training with them, as tiring as it was. Practices started at 5:00 pm daily. I was on a 6-team crew. And we were worked to the bone. Success at canoeing doesn’t just “happen.” It comes with training — learning the fundamentals of paddling and perfecting them with the help and encouragement of a good coach. Here’s my coach: Pali.

His job is to steer the canoe and keep us all rowing together. I can still hear him saying, over and over again as we paddled, “Stay together, stay together.” In many ways, church is like those team practices. As head of the body, Christ has invited us to his group practice sessions. Like my teammates, I’m practicing for much more than a race that will last an hour or two. Jesus Himself set out the course 2,000 years ago and stands at the finish line cheering us on. And get this: Practice is meant to be a group event. As we draw together as the body of Christ, we inspire each other on to greater usefulness and faithfulness in Christ. And what kind of work is that? I was visiting a large hotel in Waikiki when I saw a sign on a ground-floor door that said, “Servants’ Entrance.” Serving God is not finding the perfect job or fulfilling our dreams. It is becoming a person who can wash dishes or serve tables for God’s glory. When we live like that — when we refuse to make a false distinction between “work” and “ministry” — all work will become ministry and all ministry, work. And together we will become God’s “ministers” to the glory and praise of His name.

Saturday, May 30

5:55 PM Heart-wrenching storyhere. Want to help? Gohere. Let’s dig deep, brothers and sisters.

5:28 PM A “few” pix:

1) Love the 747!

2) Nice serendipity: Approaching Honolulu Airport we flew right over Kailua Bay. I “just happened” to have a window seat where I could enjoy the view. Isn’t God good?

3) Pearl Harbor and Ford Island.

Interestingly, the initial blow on Dec. 7 came, not at Pearl, but on the windward side of Oahu at Kaneohe Air Station, where the Japanese suffered their first aircraft loss of the attack. During the war, pillboxes became a common site in Kailua, and their remnants can still be seen.

4) My cottage at the beach.

5) Recognize this? 🙂

6) Sunrise at Kailua Beach.

7) Loved reading Scripture at the beach.

8) The exact spot where I was baptized in 1960 at the age of 8.

9) Our house on Kanaha Street.

10) We lived in an apartment when I was in high school. They’ve since been renovated. A new one-bedroom condo in this complex starts at a mere $700,000.

11) I was quite active during my stay in Kailua (one of my daughters dubbed it “Operation Getfit”). I walked a couple of miles every morning and every evening. I also swam in the municipal pool.

12) My daily walks took me past my former elementary school.

Here it was on a dark December morning in 1963 that the student body assembled on the lawn to pay tribute to President Kennedy. The school had a tiny 5-piece band with one trumpet player, who proceeded to play “taps.” I was that fifth-grader.

13) The trail to the Lanikai pillbox.

14) Here breathtaking views await you, including this sunrise over the Mokulua (Twin) Islands.

15) Great view of Kailua Bay as well.

16) Here is the as-yet-pristine Waimanalo Beach.

17) View from Diamond Head facing Waikiki Beach.

18) I got three square meals out of these Chinese dishes.

19) Ever since I was a child I’ve wanted to join a canoe club. This trip I did. The Windward Kai Canoe Club works especially with youth to keep them off the streets.

20) Finally, a video panorama of Windward Oahu for your viewing pleasure.

4:30 PM My “theme song” in Hawaii:  

 

3:58 PM Fan boy alert!

As you know, I just spent 9 days at Kailua Beach on Oahu. Oahu is Hawaii’s third largest island and includes some of the world’s most famous beaches. In fact, Waimanalo Beach — just south of Kailua Bay — has just been named Best Beach of 2015. (Kailua Beach won the top spot so many times it was “retired” from competition.) Oahu is actually very small, a mere 44 miles long and 30 miles wide. For comparison, my drive to Wake Forest is about 45 miles one way. As a child I used to think, “Honolulu is so far from Kailua!” The distance is actually under a dozen miles. You could put Oahu into the state of Connecticut 9 times. Yet despite its diminutive size, Oahu is incredibly gorgeous and the most visited of all the Hawaiian islands. To me, the best thing about Hawaii is its natural beauty and perfect weather. You have no idea just how spectacular the Koolau Mountain Range (that divides Kailua from Honolulu) is until you see it. But the beaches will always be the attraction for me. I think it’s accurate to say that I didn’t live near the ocean as a child but in it, coming to land to eat and sleep. I was enchanted by the endless sea, some days nothing but blue and on others dancing with white caps. Tunnels through the Koolaus would eventually turn the little village of Kailua into a gigantic suburb of Honolulu. Into this suburb our family moved in 1955, when I was 3. Some 60 years later I came back and faced seaward. I was “home” in a sense, in a watery wilderness known as Windward Oahu.

Kailua is where my memories began. The town I was raised in had a quaintness factor of about 15 out of 5 stars. Growing up there I was your typicalkeiki (kid) — fun-loving, curious about everything, and seemingly always getting myself hurt, from riding my bike into a moving car to getting hit on the chin with my surf board resulting in several stitches to getting punched out by the local mokes. Our family didn’t have a whole lot of money and survived on spam and what my mother used to call “Romanian Chop Suey” — cut up pieces of hot dogs sautéed with onions and served over rice. I must have attended school (I have diplomas) but I remember very little about my classes. Seems me and my friends were always at the beach. My first fulltime job was on the Kaneohe Marine Base as an electrician’s helper. I did that for two summers. During my junior and senior years of high school I also played the trumpet professionally in a soul band. We played all of the officers’ clubs on the island. After graduating from Kailua High School in 1970, I attended the University of Hawaii for a year to study music. At the age of 19, I left for Biola in California and never took up residence in Hawaii again. Since Becky’s death I have felt a strong desire to return to Kailua, my home away from home. I brought Becky here for our honeymoon and several times since. Everywhere I go I see her smiling at me, a fragrant plumeria flower in her ear. That seems a long time ago now, another world. Spouses never die; they live on in the brain forever.

Back in the 50s and 60s, Kailua was a small town with hardly any traffic or tourists. For us kids, it was a gigantic playground. As I said, I grew up surfing — a lot. Kailua Bay has many types of breaks to entice a teenager to the beach: the shore break at Kailua Beach, the point break at Mokapu (the Marine base), the reef break about a mile offshore, and even island breaks — specifically Popoia Island (Flat Island) and the Mokulua Islands (Twin Islands). You’ll see these islands in many of the pictures that have made Kailua so famous. On this trip it took me all of one day to adjust to wearing rubber slippers, swim trunks, and a t-shirt (optional) — and to chuckle at all the clothes we wear on the mainland. Street names from my childhood came back to me immediately — Kalaheo Ave., Kainalu Rd., Kaha Place, Kaimake Loop, Maluniu Ave., and (of course) Kanaha St., where we built in 1955. You sense the “aloha” spirit of the islands as soon as you arrive. For me, being in Hawaii means coming back to a place where the people of many cultures get along together as ohana (family). When I was born in the Territory of Hawaii in 1952 (before statehood), the population of the islands was a half million. Today it is one and a half million. That largely explains the horrific traffic problem the islands are experiencing, largely because the roads are under-built and not wide enough to handle the 1-million-plus vehicles registered in the state. Taxes are ridiculously high, and good-paying jobs are scarce. Disposable income is 41 percent higher in Durham, NC, than in Honolulu. A home at Kailua Beach will you cost you at least 3 million dollars — and Kailua has plenty of people (many from the mainland and Japan) who can afford it. Grocery prices are astronomical. On the positive side, the food is off the charts. The cuisine is largely a mixture of Hawaiian, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, and Filipino. And while traffic is a headache, people are gracious and will stop to let you in their lane at the drop of a hat. “What about racism?” you ask. I’ve experienced some in Hawaii, but not a whole lot. There are more multi-racial Americans living in Hawaii than in any other state. Growing up, of course, I had to endure “Kill Haole Day” once a year (the last day of school), but I generally found that if you have a cool attitude you’ll get along fine. I lived in Hawaii long enough to understand the manner of life in the islands. I can also speak Pidgin, which helps, especially outside of Honolulu. People who “talk stink” about Hawaii probably just don’t understand our culture very well. Hawaii is both beautiful and complex. Example: The Aloha State has the longest life expectancy in the U.S. (81.3 years). The people of Hawaii also consume the most spam per capita in the U.S. (You figure it out.) If you do ever visit the islands, my advice to you is very simple: be nice to everyone you meet, say “mahalo” a lot, and show respect to the locals, and there will be few tensions if any at all. Hawaii is where I learned not to merely tolerate ethnic diversity but to love it. The neighborhood where I grew up had one haole family (us), plus Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Japanese households. The most common surnames in Hawaii are Lee, Smith, Wong, Fernandez, Nguyen, and Kim. We used to joke that most people in Hawaii were “chop suey” — half this nationality and half that. But we went to school together, played together, and surfed and swam together — and (for the most part) enjoyed each other. “Everyone is a minority in Hawaii” is more than a saying. Come to Hawaii and you’ll make friends from all nationalities. My point is this: Live a life of aloha, and always remember — you get what you give in life. But be prepared to run on “island time” (why rush?) — and to enjoy the great surf, the warm sun, the golden-sand beaches, and the aloha spirit.

Many people who were born and raised in Hawaii attended college on the mainland and ended up staying. Could I ever live in Kailua again? Honestly, I think I’d get “island fever” if I ever lived there. (There’s plenty on the mainland I still want to see.) Between 1950 and 1960, Kailua’s population surged from 7,740 to 25,622 — an expansion rate never matched before or since in Hawaii. In 1960, Kailua replaced Hilo on the Big Island as the second largest community in the state. Flat Island and the Mokuluas are now overrun with tourists, so much so that many locals are asking, “Will Kailua become the next Waikiki?” The construction of the gigantic 130,000-square-feet Target store in Kailua (it opened in March of this year) probably sealed the fate of the town. Once a quaint seaside community devoid of big-city trappings, Kailua is now a busy regional tourist and shopping destination. In a sense, Kailua will always be home for me. From the ages of 3 to 19 I lived within the gentle embrace of the Koolaus and the ocean. Kailua sits in the caldera of a great extinct volcano, the eastern edges of which have long since eroded away to form Kailua Bay. In the western sky one can see the great, brooding summit of Konahuanui, the highest point (3,150 feet) in Windward Oahu’s 33-mile Koolau Range. The fluted cliffs of the Koolaus point me beyond the island, to a Home in a far better “Paradise” than Hawaii could ever be.

Thursday, May 21

3:36 AM Aloha oe.

 

Wednesday, May 20

4:32 PM I’m packing for my trip. Let’s see…

Swim suit?

Check.

Done.

3:40 PM Thrilled that Nate and Jessie now have four boys. Their latest arrived this morning at 5:07. All are doing well. Family is a blessing.

9:15 AM Oh the memories….

8:05 AM Mark Twain on Hawaii:

No alien land in all the world has any deep strong charm for me but that one, no other land could so longingly and so beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done. Other things leave me, but it abides; other things change, but it remains the same. For me the balmy airs are always blowing, its summer seas flashing in the sun; the pulsing of its surfbeat is in my ear; I can see its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud wrack; I can feel the spirit of its wildland solitudes, I can hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago.

My “home away from home” in Kailua:

 

Tuesday, May 19

8:00 PM Being an incurable tinkerpreneur, I’ve dabbled in a lot of different things in my 62 years, but unreasonable risk-taking has never appealed to me. That’s why I have very mixed feelings as I contemplate the death of wingsuiter/daredevil Dean Trotter yesterday in Yosemite. Someone has said that Dean lived more in his 43 years than most men live in 100 years. That he was a risk-taker, nobody would doubt. I’m all for pushing oneself to one’s limits. Within limits. We all take risks on a daily basis. (You say, “I don’t take risks!” Do you drive a motor vehicle?) I’ve never BASE-jumped or sky dived, but for 15 years I rode my horses full out over hill and dale. A few unplanned dismounts at 25 miles per hour, and you’re likely to realize it’s time for a change of avocations. Yet there is a certain part of me that respects Dean Trotter and anyone who dies doing what they really love. What I don’t understand is their craving for danger. (Heard of Mustang Wanted?)

In one of his final interviews, Dean said that “every death has a lesson.” The lessons for me? I will take risks, but not for their own sake. And I will continue to enjoy flying — in an airplane. 

5:05 PM So what to do on Oahu besides surf?

  • Hike to the top of Mount Olomana.

  • Ditto for Diamond Head.

  • Check out the Battleship Missouri Memorial.

  • Snorkel at Hanauma Bay.

  • Climb the Makapuu Light House Trail.

  • Eat Hawaiian food.

  • Visit with friends.

  • Enjoy shave ice.

  • Pig out on plate lunches.

  • Slurp some udon noodles.

  • Drive to the North Shore (which will be flat this time of the year, but I’ll do it for old time’s sake).

I’m staying in a cottage only a block from where I grew up. How cool is that. Like most homes in Kailua, the kitchen sink has three spigots: one for hot water, one for cold water, and one for pineapple juice. Just kidding, brah. Most of all, I’m planning on spending lots of time with the Lord and His creation. Wish me well!

4:12 PM This says it all. 🙂

Monday, May 18

5:20 PM The poetry of Richard Avedon:

Look around you: All gone and dead. The heavy-lidded, snake-charmed, sunbaked. The poets and actors, Capote with the blotched face, Marilyn in sequins, Beckett and one of his drifters, the powerful and the pretenders.

They stood before a white screen as close as you are to me now — a confrontation that will last. Eyes closed tight and eyes alert. Eyes head and eyes askew, as though they knew not to stare at the viewer  — click! — forever.

This is why I call the taking of portraits a sad art, he said. The camera lies all the time, it’s all it does is lie. But this is no lie: over there, my father — Sarasota, August 25, 1973, staring at me, forever. He does not age, but he will not return.

The camera lies? Indeed it does. And it’s one reason I love photography so much. I love its subjectivity, it garrulousness, its hubris. When you take a picture you have to make a thousand choices. What if you had taken the picture a second earlier, or a second later? Would the faces have looked the same? What if you moved the camera a bit to the right or to the left? Were the faces smiling before you took the picture, or afterwards? For me, pictures always raise more questions than answer them. For example, I wonder who took this picture of Becky and me so many years ago.

What was the occasion? Were we as naive and happy as the photo makes us look? “The camera lies all the time.” Becky stares at me in this picture. Her eyes entrap me. When I see her again, what will she look like? Young and vibrant, as in this memory? Ravaged by disease, as I last remember seeing her? Heaven is another reality. I cannot say what Becky will look like. But I’m sure God can.

Dave, there is a future and there is a plan. It is what made you and Becky see the world so differently from those who weren’t able to share your cancer journey. Nothing you do can lead to peace — not the traveling or the writing or the activity or the shutting yourself off from others. “In acceptance lieth peace” (Amy Carmichael). God is asking you to accept the small discipline of loneliness so that you might walk with Him in greater intimacy. That is indeed a gift.

“I believe, Lord; help Thou my unbelief!”

2:18 PM In the Palestine of Jesus’ day, the religious authorities enjoyed an allegiance with the imperial forces that were occupying their nation. In the Gospels, Jesus is consistently portrayed as resisting both the religious and political authorities of His day. Political allegiances are always problematic for followers of Jesus. This is true in today’s American politics as well. When I heard a certain Republican candidate for president’s belligerent talk yesterday — “If I’m president of the United States and you’re thinking about joining al-Qaeda or ISIL, I’m not gonna call a judge. I’m gonna call a drone and we will kill you” — I could certainly see where he was coming from. Whereas the teachings of Jesus should be a check and a critical corrective to such statements, the assumption among many conservatives today is that world power is politics. They are right, of course. Yet it might be helpful to admit, with Kierkegaard, that much of evangelical Christianity today is “playing Christianity” — a child’s game, a counterfeit even, an ersatz Christianity that masquerades as genuine Christianity but lacks any substance or depth. Being a disciple of King Jesus is meant to be a game-changer. If we are not very careful, political loyalties can easily displace our allegiance to Christ. And if we are not very careful, American Christianity can become so diluted that it ends up mixing easily with allegiances that demand killing without due process of law. Indeed, this already seems to be happening in our nation.

12:54 PM Living where I do is country living at its best. There are so many amenities you can’t find in the city. For example, this morning I needed to see a doctor about a suspicious growth on my leg. Thinking it might be a carcinoma, I didn’t want to wait to have it checked. I called the local clinic (the only one in town) and they said, “Sure, come in right away. The doctor will be happy to see you.” Since I was a walk-in I had to wait about an hour, but I used this time getting caught up on my emails. I was in and out in no time. After that I drove over to the local Ace Hardware store. I needed more pallets for my square bales and I noticed that they had some sitting next to their building. “Any chance I could buy a couple of pallets from you today?” I asked. “Oh no,” was the reply,” they’re free. Just hep [sic] yourself.” As I was pulling into the Ace parking lot a fellow reminded me that the tail light was out on my van. So I get on the phone and call the one-and-only mechanic in town. “As much as I love Mecklenburg County and its Sherriff Department, I really don’t want to get a ticket. Any chance I could have the light replaced today?” “Bring it right in,” the mechanic says, and I did. Five minutes later I drove away with a brand new light bulb. While driving through town I saw that the Farmer’s Market was open again for the summer. The tomatoes were unbelievable — freshly picked from fields in Florida. Ditto for the field corn. And who could pass on the fresh peaches?

Of course, country life lacks cultural events of any magnitude, but I’m only an hour and a half from Raleigh’s Performing Arts Center. Our fair city of Clarkesville at least has a Food Lion where I can get anything I need. I think rural living is best suited for people who like a slower pace of life and cheaper prices on just about everything. Even when we lived in La Mirada, California, we had 21 fruit trees and a vegetable garden and donkeys and goats and chickens and horses — all on a third of an acre. We actually had something called a yard. Here people say “hello” and seem to genuinely mean it. You feel part of a real community. And more often than not, you can see the doctor the same day you call.

1) Free pallets.

2) Organic fruits and vegetables.

3) I bought these beauties.

Can’t wait to have my first mater sandwich for lunch tomorrow. Corn on the cob with a steak for supper tonight. And for dessert? Why, peaches and vanilla ice cream, of course.

4) Food Lion to the rescue.

5) Lunch today. Tuna on rye with avocado and mango juice.

9:02 AM Quote of the day:

Hebrews is the most non-anonymous of all the anonymous New Testament writings.

Who said it? (Hint: His initials are DAB.)

8:52 AM The lives of 440 passengers are at risk when an engine explodes aboard a Qantas A380. It’s quite a story. You can view it below:

There were 5 pilots on the flight deck that day, and the story of how they saved a dying aircraft is amazing, asthis blog post points out. If you are a Christian leader or aspire to be one, you need to watch the video and read this post. The pull quotes:

During the incident everyone knew their roles, and every issue and task was dealt with calmly and professionally.

Everyone on the flight deck and the cabin crew had trained for just this emergency and they instinctively knew what to do. The flight deck team trusted their leader to lead. The leader trusted his team to perform every standard operating procedure and delegated task.

No ego, just teamwork.

Captain de Crespigny knew that height gave them more time and options so he told the flight deck team he was initiating a climb. “No!” they all said in unison. It was the only time in the entire flight that there was any discord – teamwork in action. They were in stable level flight and they did not have all the information about what was wrong… leave everything as it is. No ego, just teamwork. Captain de Crespigny simply said, “okay.”

A few thoughts:

1) God’s pattern for church leadership is shared leadership.

2) Leaders listen to each other.

3) Friction disappears when we are willing to recede into the group.

4) You get what you pay for. Qantas invests millions in pilot training and it shows.

5) Earnestness is not unction. You, as a leader, might be certain where the church should be heading, but you may be dead wrong.

6) With blessings come dangers. Pilots are admired and respected, but the job can easily become hell on earth.

7) Good leaders do not dodge issues; they confront them head on. And there will be plenty of them.

I am not a leader, formally at least. I have never been a local church elder nor do I ever anticipate becoming one. I simply lack the desire (1 Tim. 3:1). But I know a good leader when I see one. And a bad one too. For the latter, Christianity has become a charm to wear around the neck, a kind of ornamentation — like cake for special events rather than bread for daily living. The “I” has never been crossed out.Faultily faultless, they listen to no one. Like the Pharisees, they are fussy about pots and pans, but sinners and harlots are entering the kingdom before them.

If you have good local church leadership, thank God for it. It is a blessing.

Sunday, May 17

7:35 PM Most people know that I was born and bred in the Deep South — the southernmost state in the Union, in fact. Hawaii. Before you laugh, just remember that the kingdom of Hawaii saw its share of Union troops when the U.S. illegally annexed it in 1898. When I was very young we used to play “Civil War” in my dirt garage, and somehow I always ended up being the Virginian in grey. I remember reading about places like Gettysburg and Antietam Creek and battles like First Bull Run and Chancellorsville. I bet I knew as much about the American Civil War as any kid my age who grew up in the Islands. I first began to get interested in actually visiting these sites after I had moved to California and had gotten married. Since then I have made it a point to stop at historical markers, visit battlefields, and read a good deal about this period in our history. What amazes me is how ignorant I still am about the war despite all my study and reading and traveling. This weekend, for example, I decided that since I was going to Fredericksburg to watch Karen run the Marine Corps Half Marathon, I might as well squeeze in a visit to some of the lesser-known sites of the war. Like hundreds of others before me, I went off the beaten path and was hugely rewarded for my efforts. Below are just a few of the sites I got to see this trip. The National Park Service deserves my thanks — and the thanks of Americans everywhere — for the outstanding work they do to preserve many of the places I’ve visited. In particular, I want to thank Frank O’Reilly for his excellent guided tour yesterday at the Chancellorsville Battlefield Park. He spoke about Stonewall Jackson’s wounding there in May of 1863. One of the more famous battlefield tour guides, Frank O’Reilly is perhaps best known for his treatise on the Fredericksburg Battle — a copy of which I bought for Nathan (since I already own one) and which Frank was kind enough to inscribe. I can think of several reasons why what took place at the Chancellorsville crossroads was pivotal in terms of the outcome of the war, but the wounding and subsequent death of Lee’s most aggressive commander surely ranks at the top.

I got back home just in time to get up more hay, very grateful for the dry weather the Lord has granted me (and a million other farmers in the Piedmont) of late. There’s more haying to be done next week, if the weather permits. After a very long drive to Fredericksburg and back, I was tired when I got home, but when work needs to be done, you just do it. I’m reminded of the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Just when the people were desperate for relief, Christ intervenes. In fact, He already had everything figured out. When the disciples were fretting about food — “Where in the world are we to find hamburgers for so many people?” — Jesus knew the solution.

By the way, you’ve got to hand it to Karen. She achieved her targeted time for the Half Marathon. Like me, Karen is goal-oriented. When the Lord allows you to meet a goal, that sure is a good feeling. She’s talked me into running a 5Ker with her, which I think is about my maximum distance. We’ll see….

Pix (naturally):

1) Victory!

2) I stumbled upon this cemetery in Farmville yesterday. Lincoln went to Gettysburg to dedicate the cemetery there. Not sure who dedicated this one, but it is very well preserved.

3) At Farmville, the southern troops crossed to the north bank of the Appomattox River. Grant reached the town on the afternoon of April 7. It was here, on this day, that Grant sent a message to Lee — the first of several communications that passed between Lee and Grant prior to Lee’s surrender. Lee responded, “Though not entertaining the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender.” Here marked the beginning of the end for the Confederacy.

4) In this somewhat dark photo, Frank O’Reilly is marking the exact spot where the most famous casualty of the Battle of Chancellorsville occurred.

Jackson must have been in excruciating pain. Yet his faith in God never wavered. Of course, the age was a very religious one, and I’m not sure anyone could rightly claim that the Almighty was on “their” side (Meade’s letters also indicated his belief that God was on the side of the Union). Still, standing on the exact spot where the great Stonewall was shot by his own men has something of a sacred feel to it.

5) Again, I’d like to express my gratitude to Frank O’Reilly for answering a few of my questions and for signing Nathan’s book. Listening to Frank speak made me realize how much harder I need to work on nailing down the facts of the war.

6) Everywhere you drive in Virginia you run across ante-bellum homes like this one …

7) … or this one.

8) Of course, you’ll recognize Chatham Hall if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time.

I visited it last year as well. From here one could see the entire Battle of Fredericksburg unfold. Union troops could look with envy on Confederate General James Longstreet’s soldiers who had an even better defensive position than did Jackson to the south. Oddly enough, Karen’s race ran along Sophia Street, which runs parallel to the river and where the 116th Pennsylvania took a beating. How times have changed.

9) The race also skirted the famous “Stone Wall” and “Sunken Road” at Fredericksburg. Here the Confederates poured death and destruction on the hapless Union troops. The road looks much like it did in May of 1863, except for the absence of the Southern artillery whose shots and shells tore off heads and limbs and left mounds of dead and wounded Federal soldiers. “Oh, God!,” exclaimed Union General Oliver Howard, “see how our men, our poor fellows, are falling!”

10) But enough of the 19th century. Here’s one of the fields we baled today.

We built the gambrel barn in the background for hay storage. I’ll fill up the other barns first, though.

Well, folks, it’s well past 7:30 and time to stop working (including blogging) and get something to eat. Have a blessed week!

Dave

Saturday, May 16

8:02 AM “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” Augustine.

7:54 AM Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Historic Half in Fredericksburg. To watch. It’s a grueling 13.1 mile half-marathon known for its own version of Heartbreak Hill called Hospital Hill. (Runners, I believe, substitute an “e” for the “i” in Hill.) I’ll be cheering on one of my daughters.

7:50 AM Hola, amigos! Henry Neufeld is running a buy-2-get-1 free sale on his Spanish titles. Gohere. I won’t mention the titles but you can probably guess [wink].

Friday, May 15

8:45 PM It took us only three hours to get the hay up this evening.

We finished just as the sun was setting.

Nate and I work well together.

We have an agreement, you see.

I do half the amount of work because I’m twice as old.

Works out nicely.

Have to end this post with a selfie.

Nice, eh?

2:56 PM Just back from graduation. I believe it was our largest class ever. Even the D.Mins. were rejoicing. A few pix:

1) My office desk top looks like this.

Yep, that’s Kailua Beach. Lord willing I’ll be there in one week. In person.

2) Twas a packed house. Very proud of our graduates.

3) With one of our Ethiopian grads after the service.

4) Working on semester grades with my assistant.

5) My finger is still giving me fits. I thought to myself, I wonder if Becky put anything for cuts in the medicine cabinet at home? Sure enough.

She had. That’s my Becky 🙂

Meanwhile, I’m famished. Gonna get some grub, and then rest up before stacking bales. What a crazy life!

7:34 AM Good morning students and graduates!

When I was learning Greek back in the winter of 1974-75, I couldn’t believe what I was getting myself into. I couldn’t put the textbook down, it was just that interesting. Six days a week I studied and memorized and mastered the material — all part of a correspondence course offered by Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Sometimes I’d sit alone and think I was crazy. Man, I love this language so much it hurts, I said to myself. This was my second try at taking Greek. My first attempt was a humiliating failure. I felt ruined. I couldn’t imagine what I would do with my life if I had to change my college major to any subject other than Bible. All that changed when I discovered those cassette tapes from MBI.

How about you?

At the end of his first missionary journey, the apostle Paul had a “word of exhortation” for his churches. Likewise, as you come to the end of a year of Greek instruction, I’d like to offer a few words of encouragement and advice to all of my Greek students. The danger is great that you will quickly lose what you have worked so hard to acquire. I see this all the time — straight A students who, a year or two later, can’t read a single line of Greek prose. If, after 30 weeks of instruction, you forget everything you’ve learned, what have you really accomplished? Very little. What is it that students lack? Some complain about a lack of self-discipline. Others bemoan their lack of time management skills. Still others blame a lack of language aptitude or passion. But what these students really lack is Christ. Self-discipline is Christ. Time management is Christ. Passion for languages is Christ. Just Him. All we need or could ever ask for is in Christ. So if you lack wisdom — or zeal for Greek, or anything else for that matter — remember that God is eager to give all things to you — in Christ. God is not in the retail business. He’s a wholesaler. You can get what you need directly from Him. Just ask Him. And what He will give you is Christ. When you believe Christ and receive Him, Christ becomes yours, and all of His benefits become yours as well. Nothing will be too difficult for you — even maintaining your knowledge of Greek — because the One who is in you is empowering you. His indwelling presence constitutes our provision. So thank God that Christ is in your heart, accomplishing God’s desires within you. The harder the tasks, the more they prove His power to fulfill them. I will repeat a hundred times that it is not a smart student who can master Greek — or a student with language aptitude, or a special Christian. It is a student for whom Christ is their provision. If you have a love for Greek today, thank God for it and praise Him. It is the experience that God has ordained for you.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us. The work of the Spirit is not to impart anything of Himself. He applies in our hearts what Christ has accomplished for us. He conveys the work of Christ to us. Christ encompasses (potentially at least) all that we need. If you find yourself joyously motivated to use the Greek you’ve learned, this is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is not the result of taking a particular professor or using a particular textbook. (Of course, mine is the best!) If our focus is only on a teacher or a textbook, we are merely stimulated in our soul and the stimulation cannot last very long, because it is not Spirit-produced. So as you move forward from here, having acquired a working knowledge of Greek, my prayer for you is a simple one. I pray that Christ would work directly in your hearts through His Holy Spirit. May He lead you by His own mighty power that you may henceforth consecrate your knowledge of Greek to Him, forever serve Him, and everlastingly return glory to the One who gave you a love for this wonderful language.

Happy Summer! Make it a good one!

Prof

Thursday, May 14

4:34 PM Photo update ….

Beautiful, sunny day today. Only 72 degrees to boot. And there’s a cool breeze blowing. Perfect for horsing around. Practiced some centered riding in the arena and then went out on the trail. We’ve also been cutting hay. Hope to bale tomorrow after graduation. Oh, I just had to include a pic of B’s rose garden. Sweet-tastik!

8:24 AM Tomorrow is commencement and the last day of my 38th year of teaching Greek. I’ve been grieving more than normal the past several days. I’m not sure why, but it’s probably the cumulative effect of having Mother’s Day and Becky’s Birthday the same week. Besides, this is the time of the year when we would be boarding a plane for Africa together. Then again, my heart is filled with gratitude this morning. For one thing, I’m grateful for a family that loves me and that constantly points me back to the sufficiency of Christ. For another, I’ve found great joy in the ordinary labors of life — writing, teaching, caring for others, investing, farming, cooking, cleaning. Christianity is distinctive in that it sees all of life — including the ordinary practices of life — as holy. Human labor is not incidental to faith. As Paul points out in several places, Christianity is bound up with work. In class this week I became aware once again at how meaningful work can be when we view it as a response to the divine work that pulses throughout the universe. In most cases, we work in order to live. But we also live in order to work. Work is God’s good gift to us. As well, it is our response to His work in us. I’m learning that even my “leisure” activities are purposeful and that the line between work and play is nebulous. When I go for a walk or a ride, for example, my aim is restoration of body and soul so that I am able to pursue my work goals.

That said ….

Although I enjoy my work immensely, work neither has any salvific value nor does it provide ultimate fulfillment. Take farming, for example. Agrarian living is very satisfying, but I disagree with those who say that the agrarian life is the only valid “Christian” lifestyle. Simply put, there is no single attitude toward work in Christianity, no one approach to work that best comports with the way of Jesus. In the Scriptures, work is relativized. The value of work is not found in the task itself but rather in the people who do the work. No work endures forever. In a generation my name will long be forgotten among students of the New Testament. “All is vanity and chasing after the wind” says Qoheleth (Eccl. 2:17). “I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it” (3:14). I am God’s son. Therein lies my identity. However, no task that glorifies Him, no matter how menial, is to be despised. Jesus proved this when He washed His disciples’ feet. As I blogged the other day, there need be no division between Mary and Martha, between the contemplative and active life. This is one reason I do not have “daily devotions.” My academic study of the text is as much an opportunity for devotion as is my casual Bible reading. I simply have never been able to drive a wedge between the mind and the heart. In his classic book Work in the Spirit, Miraslav Volf strikes a helpful balance: “The deepest meaning of human work lies in the cooperation of men and women with God” (p. 98). Our labor, he says, is always grounded in God’s labor. It is He who is at work in us to give us both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him (Phil. 2:13). Even my “original” or “creative” work belongs first and foremost to God, who grants the inspiration. Work originates with God, is redeemed by Jesus Christ, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. There is therefore no such thing as “private” work: “God is the One who works all things in all people” (1 Cor. 12:6). My own productivity (whether agricultural or intellectual) is merely a response to God’s creative work in me. I can plant and water, but only God can make things grow. My own academic field — New Testament studies — is predicated on the assumption that our works as Christians have been foreordained by God (Eph. 2:10). Thus one test of our work is how it enhances or undermines the glory of God. Good work always reflects God’s creative work in us. He delights in using jars of clay “so that the surpassing greatness of the power might be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). “My work” is therefore an oxymoron. The paradox is that we choose to take credit for what we think we have done, and this attitude always breeds disastrous results. Work is satisfying, not because it is the source of our identity, but because it is grounded in God’s work in our lives. When the Word became flesh in the form of an ordinary carpenter or builder, God elevated all human work. This includes the work of a housewife or busy mother as much as it includes the labors of a seminary professor. Having received God’s good gift of work, we then seek to share with others the fruits of our labor. Working in order to help others is not a pious truism; it is the heart of the Gospel (Eph. 4:28).

This view of work is not without its mystery, but it’s not the mystery of why God would have us work. The mystery is how we, as frail and fallen human beings, can participate in the work of God on this earth. Thus, as much as I enjoy teaching, the last thing I want to do is to make it the core of my being. For they’ll know we are Christians by our love, not necessarily by our labor. Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

A few pix from my days on campus:

1) My Greek 1 class taking their last quiz of the semester.

They did exceptionally well. There’s nothing like translating from 1 John.

2) Breakfast yesterday with one of my doctoral students. He just finished his first year of study.

3) Ethiopian food last night with my former assistant and his wife. He’s graduating tomorrow with his Th.M.

4) His bound thesis arrived yesterday in my office.

It was while opening the box it was in that I got the cut on my finger. Sweet revenge on his part I guess!

5) Care to take the final exam in our LXX class?

Wednesday, May 13

9:04 PM No blogging today. Sliced the top of my right index finger today at work. That means I’ve lost one half of my typing ability.

Tuesday, May 12

8:48 AM She would have turned 62 today. There is so much I could say but I won’t. All I know is that God cares just as much for me as He does for the birds of the air or the flowers of the fields. He loves me, and He loves Becky. And He provided for us more than we could have ever asked or imagined. Even when there has been heart-wrenching loss, thousands upon thousands have found Him faithful. I am one of them.

So Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! This photo sums her up in so many ways:

Sweet, confident, strong, dignified, caring, trustworthy, capable, convictional, wise, tough, confrontational (when necessary), responsible, multitalented, sensitive, energetic, compassionate. What fun we had together! I remember getting lost together in France. And climbing the pyramids of Egypt. And boogie-boarding in Hawaii. I miss her greatly, but I can just see her there in heaven, singing with the choirs of angels, singing in exultation, singing with all the citizens of heav’n above: “Glory to God, glory in the highest!” and bidding me, “O, come, let us adore Him.”

You know, that’s one thing Becky and I can still do — together.

Monday, May 11

4:15 PM Just back from a 3-hour hike along the River Walk Trail at the Staunton River State Park.

I was the only living thing on the trail today, except for the trees.

Yep. Trying to get in shape for Hawaii. As one of my surfing heroes, Fred van Dyke (now 71) once said, “If I’m getting old, I might as well dig it.”

You young grommets out there, take it from this geriatric surfer: You’re never too old to start taking care of your health.

Sunday, May 10

8:16 PM There is too much to share. My heart is full. Enjoyed my granddaughter Katherine’s concert at Meredith College in Raleigh. She is a member of the North Carolina Girls Choir. Afterwards the Glasses and I enjoyed Ethiopian food and then ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s. I will never forget days like these.

9:36 AM Today Becky is enjoying Mother’s Day with Jesus surrounded by the music of heaven. I can’t even begin to imagine her joy. I taste salt in the corner of my mouth looking at this picture.

What a wonderful wife and mother she was. And here’s the thing. She’s more alive today than when this picture was taken at La Mirada Regional Hospital in 1983. The lesson for me? The Bible promises that my God (not my wife) shall supply all my needs. And when this old life is over I will find at the end a home and a haven in heaven. In the meantime, as the song says:

In times of confusion and chaos and pain
I’m there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame
I’m there through your heartache
I’m there in the storm
My love I will keep you by my power alone
I don’t care where you’ve fallen, where you have been
I’ll never forsake you
My love never ends, it never ends.

 

Saturday, May 9

7:56 PM It was the love of God that brought us together, and it was His love that separated us. But along the way He keeps giving me pleasant memories of what Bonhoeffer once called “life together.” To wit: I have never seen Becky’s rose garden more alive and vibrant.

Flowers to honor her memory on this Mothers-Day-Eve.

I will never forget the investment she made in our children, especially our daughters. I know that each of them will be thinking of her tomorrow. She was a blessing to all she touched, but none more so than the young women she poured her life into.

6:44 PM Howdy folks. Had a wonderful time putzing around the farm today.

I finally have a pine-dust-free front porch to enjoy in the evening, which should also help me with my allergies.

Then it was time to get all 5 of our fields ready for haying, coming up later in the month.

Trees needed to be cut and fences repaired.

Grass edges also needed mowing.

Well, I think the fields are now “white unto harvest”!

I am tired but it’s a good tired. The big question is: Do I cook or eat out? I also know that mother’s day is coming tomorrow and I’m already thinking about what to blog about. It is a huge task!

Blessings on you all,

Dave

12:30 PM According to Baptist Health of South Florida, the obesity rate in the U.S.is up 28 percent. This quote caught my eye:

What’s more, the greatest increase in obesity — up 4 percentage points to 27.4 percent — was reported by those ages 65 and older, according to survey results.

There are, of course, good reasons to put on weight the older you get. At least I’ve got plenty of good reasons. Nevertheless, reasons don’t necessarily make for good excuses. Weight control is a tough challenge we all face. If you take God seriously, you also ought to take your God-given body seriously. I’ll admit — I need help. I need people holding me accountable. When you’re struggling with weight, you want somebody to be with you. To share your struggle. Somebody who understands. Eventually, my weight won’t matter. But how can I travel internationally unless I stay in shape? So here’s my promise to you. You see me putting on extra pounds, you tell me. I promise I will listen. In the meantime, I’m making this a matter for concerted prayer. Jesus, I believe, more than anyone else understands our temptations. He clearly understood that no one was immune to them, including Himself. He was handpicked by the Father to show us how to overcome our temptations and that “easily-besetting sin.” Whatever your weakness today might be, turn to Him. I know that sounds kind of sappy and trite. But in the long run, He really is the One who can help us.

12:22 PM My bedroom is now spic-and-span.

One item checked off my list!

11:04 AM Back to the post I began an hour ago. CNN asks the question:What Went Wrong with Tzarnaev?

What turned an adorable little boy and sweet teenager into a hardened wannabe terrorist?

Years ago workmen repossessed a storage container from a man named Marvin Weisberg of Woodland Hills, CA. When they opened it the stench was unbelievable. Opening the contents, they were horrified to find the remains of 16,433 aborted babies.

We Americans often fuzzify what the Bible calls sin. We blame our problems on heredity or environment. Such linguistic camouflage is a mistake. The reason we have Marvin Weisbergs and Dzhokhar Tzarnaevs is because sin flourishes in the human heart. We seldom face up to the fact that, apart from God, we are all capable of committing heinous crimes, sometimes even in the name of God. Generally speaking, we mess up because we’re messed up. Add into the equation a poor upbringing, and you have a recipe for disaster. As the CNN report states:

There is one thing missing from this pretty picture: his parents. Nobody came to his parent-teacher nights at school. They didn’t attend his middle school graduation, although the landlady came. Nobody cheered him on at his wrestling matches. And, at the banquet where wrestlers honor and thank their parents, nobody came to accept a flower from Jahar, the team captain.

That could be the hole that breeds a criminal. Right there, perhaps, is where we see the first beat of an empty heart.

Our Lord dealt with the sick and the sinful tenderly. But He also insisted that there must be a radical turning from earth’s trash to heaven’s treasure. The picture shown above captures my heart. My own lapses give me a clear picture of my daily need for a Savior. I need to start taking my Christianity seriously — I mean really seriously. As the water of sin rises all around us in our nation, we need to get solid rock beneath our feet, and fast. May the grace of God make us strong in Jesus Christ to do His will and forsake what displeases Him.

10:28 AM A few people I know really understand websites and how to set up and manage blogs. Well, I’m not one of them. I was just updating my blog when I went to copy a simple quote from the CNN news site. As soon as I copied the text into Front Page — yes, I know I still use a dinosaur — the rest of my blog page went bonkers. The best I can do is start a new May website (which this is) and simply link to the now-CNN-revised May archives. The content is still the same, though the photos have been enlarged and the spacing is horrific. Thankfully my other archived pages are “normal” (I use quotes because nothing on this blog can probably be considered to be very normal).

Lesson? Copy web-originated text to a Word doc first.

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The Buck Starts Here

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

The Buck Starts Here

 David Alan Black  

We all know where the buck stops in the church. There is only one Lord and Master of the church, only one Head of the Body. It is Christ and Christ alone who rules the church. But where does the buck start?

In one sense it starts with us, His blood-bought people. We cannot claim to know the Great Master unless we are found doing His bidding. Inactivity belies our profession to be disciples of Christ. There are plenty of such people in our church congregations. They are like Zacchaeus – glad to be spectators and not participants. They have come to look on, to watch, to observe, but they never dream of doing anything themselves. They are tree sitters, not servants.

Have you noticed how we tend to abdicate our responsibility to others, especially those whom we have hired to work in our stead? We forget that, though Christ’s work for us is finished, His work in and through us is not. He told His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses.” Each of us is a debtor to Him to complete the unfinished work.

Speaking personally, I have begun to judge everything in this world by the light of the cross of Christ. I have come to reevaluate my ambitions and activities in terms of service to Him. I am learning the importance of setting my whole heart and affections on things above and not on the things of this earth. Christ is gradually becoming my life, and serving Him by serving others my one passion.

I disagree with those who say our young people are to be recruited into “full-time” Christian service. Every Christian is meant to be in full time service to the Lord Christ. As long as His work is not finished, neither is ours. We cannot give God the scraps, the fragments, the leftovers of our lives and call ourselves followers of the Way. These are unfitting gifts for the Giver of every good gift. He bids us, “Occupy till I come!” That is our one and only obligation.

The buck stops with Him, but it starts with us. Each and every one of us. We deceive ourselves if we think we can advance the kingdom of God by standing aloof from other Christians like a solitary brick on a building site. A church that is nothing but a collection of strangers is not a true church at all in the deepest sense of the term.

May 10, 2007

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.

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