restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Christmas: Going On From Here

 David Alan Black 

(Since publishing BeckyLynn’s article “Why We No Longer Celebrate Christmas,” many have written us with clear testimonies that they also have experienced the same conviction and freedom we have experienced. Many others have written that they want to take this year to evaluate and research the Scriptures. Still others have written expressing a conviction about the Scriptural teaching on our cultural celebration of Christmas [Chm] and a desire to also change their lives in this regard. BeckyLynn has written this follow-up.)

A question is being voiced by many, particularly parents of young children: “How do we make this change?” There are few holidays that are as family-centered as Chm. And the common concern is how to deal with family and close friends who do not share this conviction. 

Here are some thoughts on this subject.

1. Choose Faith: Obey your Lord. Making any change in our lives on the basis of a fresh understanding of Scripture requires faith. I’m reminded of Joshua just before entering the Land. He spoke to the people, saying “You haven’t been this way before. You will be in the midst of unbelieving people. You must choose this day to whom you will commit your devotion and life. As for me and my house, we choose the Lord.”  This is the same scenario for any step of faith. Our Lord is gracious and faithful to us. He is the One who enlightens our understanding, who shows us His way. And He is the One who stands by us at the edge of faith. The Israelites who came to the Land under Moses chose not to prioritize His will.  They chose to live in fear of the presumed dangers, rather than looking to Him and resting in His character. The Wandering was never a part of God’s original plan for the Israelites; it was a judgment for lack of obedience to His revealed will. Like them, you and I will “wander” aimlessly in our spiritual life if we refuse (usually out of fear or laziness) to act on His revealed will. If the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit have led you to delete the Chm trappings from your celebration of the Saviour, then we encourage you to act in obedience, in faith practicing what our Lord has showed you. This takes courage. God’s word to Joshua was, “Be strong. Be courageous. I am with you!” Walking by faith is looking beyond the circumstances, beyond the “what ifs” to the God of the Universe, and entrusting our lives and our families as well as our souls/our eternities to Him.

2. Choose Priorities: Teach the Children. Part of the human experience is our propensity to get all mixed up in our priorities. If one piece of our life refuses to accommodate another piece of our life, then we have to choose priorities. This is true in all aspects (time management, finances, etc.). For those with dependent children, our responsibility before God for the training and spiritual welfare of these “blessings” trumps our responsibility to our parents and friends. The role of parent is unique. Teaching our children in the Way requires integrity, otherwise it will fail. We cannot say with our mouth one thing, or believe in our hearts one thing, yet live another thing. It does not work. Sooner or later the matter gets flushed out, and the credibility of the parent in the eyes of the child is greatly damaged. If doing the Chm thing is wrong, then it is wrong, and it should be taught and lived as such. So, with the children, talk-talk-talk/teach-teach-teach.  Teach constantly, teach simply, teach in varying “styles.” Teach, teach, teach (Deut 6). Model for them what you are teaching verbally. Share with them, to the extent they are able to bear it, your own struggles in living by faith, your own questions and issues. They need to see Christianity in action. True Christianity is a vibrant, living, dynamic relationship with a Living and Personal God. As such, it has life fluctuations and issues. Do not be afraid to deal honestly with your children about deleting the Chm trappings. Many have written to us about how the Lord prepared the hearts of their children. Remember, the children are His children first, and we can trust Him to guide their spirits just as He guides ours.  Remember in your teaching, that you are teaching more than just the Chm situation; you are also teaching how to respond to peer pressure, how to be gracious yet firm with those who don’t believe as you do, how to give grace on the non-essentials, how to prioritize, etc., etc.  So keep the big picture in view in the teaching

3. Choose Grace: Give Space to Others. In dealing with those outside your home, particularly family and close friends, here are some thoughts:
1. Share with Humility. Sit down with those closest to you for the express purpose of sharing with them what you have learned and been convicted about. Humility is a key ingredient. Know your facts, but check your spirit. Express appreciation for them and their positive role in your life. Affirm their love for you and your children and visa versa. You’d be surprised at how many have just never thought about this issue before. They are just bumbling along with the culture like all of us were before our Lord showed us. But when presented in a simple, non-threatening way, they may be open to discovery and change also.
2. Love …Grace…Kindness…Patience…Meekness…Joy. These are all characteristics of the Spirit in us. And they are people-directed characteristics. If you share your new convictions with your close friends and family, it is highly probable that they will not be ready to join you lock, stock, and barrel. Just as you are discovering, it is a “scary” thing to do something different than those around us. (We’re always blaming the young people for caving into peer pressure, but we adults have the same problem!) There are many emotional issues that have to be dealt with. So when dealing with those who do not yet share our convictions, this is how we should respond: with the fruits of the Spirit. It is the same way that our Lord responds to us when our lives are out of sync with His teaching.
3. Recognize boundaries. We are not responsible for the choices of other people. We are not responsible for life in their homes. As such, we can join them for Chm dinner in their home, surrounded by their tree and Santa blow-ups, and it’s OK. This is their territory. When Jesus spent time with mankind, did He require us to get our territory cleaned up for Him?  Of course not! He kept His own house in spiritual order before His Father, and He maintained that integrity while rubbing shoulders with people who were not living according to the Scriptures as fully as He was. 
4. Put things in perspective. Don’t be afraid of your children being at Grandma’s house and receiving gifts from Santa. Just explain, teach-teach-teach, even at Grandma’s house, even publicly if the situation calls for it, the very simple Truth of His person. (For example, if Grandma says to little Johnny, “You believe in Santa, don’t you? Everyone believes in Santa!”, in my opinion it’s appropriate to gently, humbly correct for the sake of the child in front of Grandma: “Grandma, you’re right that many people play the game of believing in Santa, but since Santa is not a real person, only a few little children really believe in him.”) God has put it into the heart of children to give more credit to parents who parent than to any other person on earth. But also remember that the issue of Chm is not the “to die for” issue; only the Gospel has that priority. What did Paul say? “Now abides Faith, Hope, Love…the greatest is Love.” Love says, “I give you the freedom to be where you are at in your spiritual life.” Love says, “For your sake, I will live by truth, even though it subjects me to your ridicule.” Love says, “But for the grace of God, I would be doing the Chm thing as you and everyone else is.”
5. Time can soothe. If you have practiced humility and grace, love and consistency, then it is highly likely that over the years they will come to a position of respect and admiration, if not like conviction. Change is difficult for all of us, especially with something as traditional as Chm. But with each year that we practice “non-Chm,” a new tradition develops: the tradition of simple worship, daily worship, and Scriptural worship. To ease the transition, you might start in your own home by deleting the tree, lights and Santa the first year, the stockings and gifts the next year, etc., so that the change is more gradual. Be sure to explain clearly, though, why you are deleting; don’t sweep it under the rug. (But you also don’t need to broadcast it as if it were the Gospel and try to make it into a battle zone; just be kindly honest.)

Know that Dave and I appreciate your journey to living the Gospel with integrity. In some ways it is a difficult journey; it takes courage to go God’s way when surrounded by the paganism, materialism, traditionalism, and ridicule of our society and even close friends and family. But let’s follow the example of our Lord Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the ridicule, shame, and social pain of the Cross in order to be obedient to His Father. And look where He is now! Seated on high awaiting the placement of all creation at His feet, awaiting the wonderful wedding to His pure bride! Our journey is from faith to faith, ever increasing depths of walking Life with Him, trusting Him, obeying Him and, as a consequence of that faithful obedience, enjoying deeper and deeper fellowship with Him. It is a privilege and honor to be called by Him to the depth of relationship that sets us apart from our society.  Our Lord will give you wisdom and courage, just as He did Joshua, if you are willing to step out and act in faith.

December 8, 2005

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

A Time to Rest

 David Alan Black  

A wise old preacher once said, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). Without doubt that includes a time for rest. Jesus once told His disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest for a while” (Mark 6:31). Notice the “when” of His command – while “many were coming and going.” When do we need to recharge our batteries the most? It is while we are surrounded by people in great physical and spiritual need.

Vance Havner once told the story about two men who discovered their home towns were fairly close to each other. One of them said, “You know, I used to visit your town once a week when I drove a horse and buggy. It took me a while day to get there and back, but I enjoyed it. Now I can get there in half an hour by car, but I don’t have the time.” Are we using our time wisely? All of it? We all have exactly the same amount of time – 24 hours in every day. The important thing is how we use it. And we should consider leisure time as part of our stewardship responsibility before God.

Are we good stewards of our time when we spend night after night allowing a one-eyed god bathe our minds from 7:00 till 11:00? The Internet can become no less a subtle dictator, giving us so little of what is truly worthwhile and beneficial in return. If we sit at a desk all day it would be less than wiseto do nothing more than sink into an armchair during our time off. “Rest” in that circumstance might mean a little physical activity. Nor is there anything wrong with enjoying a “day off” that includes a time for sensible change. For example, all around us in America are many famous places (and some not so famous) that help us step back and remember that history is “His story.” To stand at the base of Mount Rushmore, or under the shadow of the “Clump of Trees” at Gettysburg, or at the spot in Texas where the defenders of the Alamo made their last stand, always fills me with a tingling knowledge that my own life is something more than a disconnected accident.

Let us, then, look on leisure as something the Lord God gives us to enrich our lives. Plan it sensibly – then enjoy it! By any reckoning, hyper-activity is pseudo-Christianity. That being so, our Lord’s words to His disciples need to be heard loud and clear, and heeded here and now:

“Come away … and rest for a while.”

October 27, 2006

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Admitting Our Mistakes

 David Alan Black  

I heard Congressman Ron Paul say recently that our misadventure in Iraq was a mistake. A huge number of his fellow Americans agree with him. Yet have you ever heard anyone apologize? There have been no apologies. Instead we find politicians engaged in the fine art of rationalization.

We, the American people, made an honest mistake. We made a wrong choice. Our judgment was way off base. We were in a hurry, we were afraid, we panicked perhaps, and the result was a very bad blunder. Even if our intentions were good, our nation’s foreign policy has been disastrous. What’s so hard about acknowledging that? The grave and painful manifestations of our miscalculations are all too apparent.

So how do we set things straight? First, I think we have to assess the situation realistically. Mark Twain once said, “Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” That’s true of nations as well as individuals. So we have a dark side. What’s new with that? Let’s admit it and get on with life.

Second, I think we have to correct the problem. Our foreign policy has some huge cracks in its foundation. The floor has buckled. The building has shifted. Permanent damage has resulted. Either we come to terms with this problem now or we’ll regret it later.

When we built Bradford Hall here at the farm, we used oak flooring for the front porches. We figured that oak would be a good, sturdy wood for our decking. We were wrong. After the first major rainstorm, the oak floors buckled. And I mean buckled. There was nothing we could do to repair the damage. So we had to take up all the old flooring and lay down pine in its place, both upstairs and down. That was a ton of work, let me tell you. But we learned from our mistake. We were even able to salvage the oak and built our kitchen cabinetry out of it.

Foreigners don’t hate us but rather the policies of our government. We’ve tried the old approach and look where it’s gotten us. Can we really afford to “act for the good of the world” whether or not other nations understand us and even if they overwhelmingly object? The burning question facing the church in America is whether it has fully faced the consequences of its support for an interventionist foreign policy. The way of the Gospel is not the violent change of existing social or political structures, least of all when our wars are predicated on half-truths and casuistries.

Some time ago I wrote a book called Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon. That book pointed out the lack of even a basic understanding of constitutional government by Christians, including evangelicals. Regrettably, the result is a church with a yawning gap between what it says about peacemaking and what it actually does – and in practice even hinders. If we can’t take a cold, hard look at reality, how can we possibly protect ourselves from ourselves?

It might be good to ask ourselves: How much longer will we turn a blind eye to the injustices caused by our national egotism and pride? How much longer can we afford to underwrite with our dollars and blood an ineffectual and self-defeating foreign policy? Isn’t it time we sought to moderate the conditions that breed violence and terrorism by supporting Ron Paul’s conservative policy of free trade and dialogue abroad and a strong national defense at home?

I believe there’s still time to correct our mistakes. But first we have to acknowledge them.

November 6, 2007

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

home

welcome

about dave

on the road

the book box

columns & essays

reading room

contact dave

April 2006 Blog Archives

Sunday, April 30

7:18 AM It’s odd how we would never choose not to celebrate Easter or Christmas or Good Friday, even though everyone knows these “holy days” are arbitrary and have no biblical support whatsoever. The Bible, however, makes a great deal of the weekly gathering of the church and says it was a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today we tread, therefore, on very holy (and happy) ground indeed. May I wish you, then, a very happy:

Resurrection Sunday

7:12 AM News and notes:

1) Only 18 more days until Becky Lynn and Nathan leave for Africa. Thanks to all who have brought us eyeglasses for the elderly and protein bars for the evangelists. This week Becky will be typing up the final itinerary. I’ll post it later in case you would like to follow their adventure from day to day. We would of course appreciate your intercession while they’re gone.

2) This afternoon the local Episcopal church is having an organ concert. You don’t know how rare such haute culture is in our neck of the woods. Should be good.

3) Tonight four of our local congregations are getting together for a singspiration. Here’s a first: Nathan will be singing a solo. We wish him well.

Saturday, April 29

6:26 PM What a wonderful day. Our guests have just left. Here are a few highlights. Matt Rondeau’s wife Liz came early and helped Becky Lynn set up for dinner. Liz, you were a God-send. Thank you.

One of the first guests to arrive was precious little Abigail, firstborn daughter of Jonathan and Ashley Erdman. What a bundle of joy (she really lives up to the meaning of her Hebrew name.).

Becky and Liz set a beautiful table. Our fare was simple but delicious: chili and cheese over potatoes, accompanied by a fresh garden salad and dessert.

After lunch several of us took a walking tour of the property. Here Nathan is describing the history of Rosewood Farm, including the life and times of the former owner, Anderson Boyd, who is buried here. Mr. Boyd served as a corporal with the 59th Virginia Infantry Regiment during the War Between the States.

Caleb Rondeau was happy to feed the chickens some sweet feed, including everyone’s favorite hen, Brownie.  

Dennis and Connie Myers enjoy petting one of our baby goats. Dennis is the Director of Missions of an association of Baptist churches in and around Petersburg, VA. 

It was a joy getting to know the Surur Yisak family. Surur was imprisoned numerous times for his faith during the Communist regime in Ethiopia, and then was a refugee in Kenya. Since coming to America he and his family have lived in California and Kentucky. He is now completing his Th.M. at Southeastern.  

Surur’s wife Sara brought some Ethiopian food for everyone to sample. Here’s Becky explaining how you go about eating injera and wot with your fingers.  

It’s customary to serve a small handful of food to someone you love and respect. Here Gene Brooks feeds his wife Amanda. Gene, a former missionary to Liberia, is currently shepherding at Amis Chapel Baptist Church, only a few miles away from our farm.  

We thank the Lord Jesus for giving us a beautiful day in which to meet with our students and their families. It was a pleasure and honor to have them in our home. God bless all of you.

10:34 AM A reader just sent this along:

Brother Dave,

Your latest addition to your homepage (Me, a Bible Scholar?) is wonderful. It is especially meaningful to me because this is a matter that hit me squarely between the eyes when I first set foot into seminary. I remember being introduced to subjects for the very first time and being amazed by it.

I grew up in church and spent years in a typical Sunday School system. I remember being taught the same shallow lessons over and over again. When I began seminary I remember thinking, “Why did I have to come to seminary to learn these things? This information is not just for church leaders. This information is for the church.” I remember how I felt that I’d been cheated of the rich depth of God’s Word for all those years.

God used the experience to light in me a passion for the education of the church. I praise Him for it and pray that as time goes by fewer and fewer believers will share my experience because the church will finally began to take seriously the role of making disciples.

Thanks again for your wonderful article.

Sincerely,
C. B.

To which I say, Amen.

9:41 AM The latest addition to our home page is called Every Member a Bible Scholar.

Friday, April 28

6:47 AM This Sunday I will be speaking at my home church and then next Sunday Becky and I will be visiting Clarksville Baptist Church for an Ethiopia presentation. This is one of the oldest congregations in our local Baptist association. Its biography was written by our good friend Warren Turner, who ministers at the local nursing home. If you enjoy Baptist church history, you will enjoy reading it. Go here.  

6:45 AM Ethiopia is in the headlines again. And the news, from a human perspective, is not good. As I write these words the nation continues to be wracked by political instability. And Christians continue to be murdered for their faith. But I am encouraged by an email I just received and I see that God is still very much at work in Ethiopia.

Every Tuesday we have a fast and prayer program. We pray for the church people, for our country and for you…. Let us join hands in prayers. We are continuously praying for you. And would you please pray for us? Our prayer group has four members. Their names are me, A.T., W.T. and G.G.

Imagine! Only four people, but four people who pray. I think we need a refresher course in John chapter 6 to straighten out our warped theology when we measure our churches by quantitative, not qualitative, standards. Will our churches thin out one day when we, too, must face His cross, His obedience, His self-denial?

6:37 AM In Greek class yesterday afternoon we began translating the book of 1 John. This is definitely a “God-thing” for us. I can remember introducing the verb system last August and seeing the glazed-over looks. All the good times and the bad times, the joys and struggles of learning a foreign language, are now reaching fruition in a way that no other course of study can possibly hope to achieve. To read God’s Word in the original!  I am exhilarated with my students’ progress. Thank you, each one, for your diligence, your industry, your conscientiousness, and your faithfulness during these past two semesters. I am very proud of you.

6:33 AM Tomorrow is our Student Day here at Rosewood Farm. We do this every semester. It’s been cold and rainy for several days, but tomorrow promises to be bright and sunny. Either way, come one, come all. Lunch menu: stuffed potatoes, green salad, dessert, tea, and coffee. I even hear that an Ethiopian student and his wife might be bringing some injera and wot. Now that would be a treat. (Below: A pic from last semester’s event.)

6:25 AM It was eight years ago that we began our move from La Mirada, California (where my wife and I had lived for 27 years) to rural Granville County, North Carolina, and thence to Virginia. In some ways it was a difficult move, but I’m glad to say that the satisfactions have far outweighed the stresses, and that we continually praise the Lord for allowing us to live and serve Him where we do. One thing’s for sure: I have learned to trust in the absolute sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. He takes no orders from anyone, least of all from me. For many years I was so in love with my own plans that I failed to bow to His. Today I believe I can honestly say that I am willing to throw my projects into the wastepaper basket if He decrees otherwise. To be Spirit-filled and Spirit-directed – that was the secret of the early church, and that should be our goal today. Despite our failures and weaknesses, we can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Today, wherever you are, live to the hilt whatever you believe to be the will of God for your life (Jim Elliott).

6:14 AM Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, announces an opening in Biblical Studies.  

6:12 AM Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, is seeking a visiting professor of New Testament.

Thursday, April 27

6:15 AM Theopedia has struck again, this time posting an article on the so-called Gospel of Judas.

6:12 AM The American Thinker has a good essay on academic arrogance.

6:10 AM Good news! Our spring conference on New Testament textual criticism is now set. Several of my good friends will be joining me as speakers. Here is a preliminary overview. Details to follow:

Conference Title: “The Last Twelve Verses of Mark: Original or Not?”

Dates: Friday and Saturday, April 13-14, 2007.

Place: Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC.

Main Papers: Dan Wallace, Maurice Robinson, Keith Elliott, Dave Black.

Respondent: Darrell Bock.

Tuesday, April 25

6:25 AM The blogging world is astir with the topic of ecclesiastical power. Should we seek it, or should we abhor it? In my judgment, there can only be one scriptural answer to this question.

The church can be victorious only by sacrifice. It is when she is wounded that she wins. It is by her dying with Christ that the life of Christ is made known to the world. He cannot reach the nations except through her, for she is His Body. But she cannot perform her task without Pentecostal power — the limitless resources which she possesses in Christ. The work of the church today is simply this: It is to be Spirit-filled, and thus Christ-filled. The church today is far more concerned about wealth and programs and organization than about the Holy Spirit. Far better to serve as the humblest missionary in the remotest mission field than to vie for the noblest position among men. Our hope is not in our ecclesiastical structures, much less in our man-made Towers of Babel. It is in Christ, the one at the right hand of power, the one elevated by the Father to Lordship, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This Christ is the one who gathers His people around Him in beauty and strength. He is the absolute Lord in all matters theological, ethical, and political. He is the Supreme Authority before whom every knee shall bow. Our sole business is to know Him and to make Him known — in our lives, in our homes, in our nations, and in our world.

6:20 AM A mega “Mahalo” to the McDermotts of Springfield, MO, for sending my a complimentary copy of their publication, SALT magazine. I read the entire issue in one sitting, it was just that interesting. You can read more here. Thanks, Jim and Cindy, for all you are doing for the kingdom.

Monday, April 24

8:15 AM Is your church designed for preacher function or body function?

If we would take every-member ministry seriously, as was done in the early Christian church, the dull picture of our contemporary churches would be radically altered. Instead of churches designed for “preacher function,” they would intentionally promote “body function.” Formal teaching would be accompanied by informal teaching. Every member would contribute to the success of the Body. Pastor-dependency would be replaced by mutual edification (1 Cor. 14:26). By serving one another in love, we would begin to create satisfying and lasting relationships with each other. And as the Body obeys its Head, Jesus Christ, it “grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its job” (Eph. 4:15-16).

Read more.  

7:32 AM Memorable quote: “If Scripture told me to eat dung, I would do so” (Luther to Zwingli in 1529). 

7:27 AM Only 23 more days.

7:26 AM When the desk clerk at my Richmond hotel mentioned that he was from Bombay, India, I said, “O, you mean Mumbai. I was in India when the name change occurred.” He replied: “Well, over here we still call it Bombay.” Odd, isn’t it, how place names are pronounced differently in different countries. A recent example is Qatar — or is it Gutter?

7:22 AM My esteemed colleague John Davis led the Northeast Piedmont Chorale in a stellar presentation of Mendelssohn’s St. Paul last night at the First Baptist Church of Butner, NC. Nice to see so many old friends there. Becky and I miss singing with all of you. Your performance was impeccable.

7:18 AM Here’s an important article by Patrick Buchanan that you should read. It’s called The Generals’ Revolt. Whatever your stance on the War, it should disturb you that 75 percent of the officers currently serving in Iraq agree with the six retired generals that Rumsfeld should go.

7:12 AM Yesterday morning the good people at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Opie, VA, were our hosts. It was Women on Missions Sunday and the ladies led the entire service, from prayers to song leading to announcements. During the offering, I noted that the ushers averaged about 13 years of age. What a blessing to see so many different saints and different age groups participating. Shock is the only word I can use to describe the look on their faces when we told them about the persecution taking place in Ethiopia. It’s a blessing to see God at work in America raising our consciousness level of what He is doing abroad. We anticipate that this is not the last time we will be asked to share in the missions program of Tabernacle. Becky and I are delighted to partner with folks near and far in the work of the Gospel.

BTW, Opie is the real name of the little bump in the road near the church. At lunch I asked (jokingly) who the “mayor” of the town was. Since no one was mentioned, I went ahead and appointed the major, sheriff, and dog catcher of “Opie, Virginia.” They’re all kinfolk, of course.

Sunday, April 23

6:54 AM Timothy was Paul’s son in the ministry. Paul referred to him as “my son in the Gospel.” He said to him, “I’m passing the torch on to you. Fight the good fight. Hold on to your faith. I thank God as I constantly pray for you.” I’d like you to meet one of my Timothys. Fasil lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His life has been far from easy. But he knows and loves the Lord Jesus. He was my assistant when I taught beginning Greek for 6 weeks at the Evangelical Theological College (ETC) in Addis last summer. He translated for me everywhere I went. Fasil also accompanied Becky and me during our 4-week visit to Southern Ethiopia last winter. Fasil loves the Bible and especially his Greek New Testament. He is currently completing his masters degree at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology, writing a thesis on the transfiguration of Jesus. He has just been hired on to teach Greek and New Testament at ETC, and this summer he will teach his very first Greek course, the same one I taught last year.

Fasil, my son. Like Paul and his Timothy, I long for the joy of seeing you again. I remember your sincere faith. I am anxious that you be the best you can be for Jesus. I want you to set a pattern for your students of faith, love, and truth. I want you to shun youthful passions and aim for such qualities as integrity, peace, and a pure heart. You are beloved to me and to many others. Never forget your worth in the Savior. Serve Him faithfully with all that you are and all that you have. Grace and peace be with you.

Saturday, April 22

8:13 PM News and notes:

1) It rained all day today. And mighty grateful we are. Our main crop is horse-quality hay. You can fertilize, lime, and otherwise tend to your fields, but without rain nothing grows. This is a real blessing from the Lord, and we thank Him publicly for it. I hope to get in one good cutting before Becky and Nathan leave for Ethiopia on May 18.

2) Tomorrow Becky and I are speaking at Tabernacle Baptist Church in South Hill, VA. I’ve been asked to do something I haven’t done in years: give the children’s sermon.

3) Becky spent the past two days baking banana bread for my Greek class (about 65 students) and sewing a dress for our Ethiopian daughter. Industrious is an excellent word to describe her. A Proverbs 31 woman in every way, shape, and form. I am uniquely blessed.

7:20 AM This atlas contains maps of 153 species of fish. Wasn’t it Jerome who, in referring to John 21:11, claimed that Greek zoologists knew of 153 species of fish?

7:16 AM I think there’s wisdom in Darrell Dow’s essay on Christian engagement. Here’s a sample:

The early church did not depend on the Roman civil authorities to meet social needs. Likewise, we see Jesus on the cross with His dying words ensuring that His mother is taken care of by John (John 19:25-27). The modern State has encroached into all these areas that rightly fall under the purview of family government. Strong and stable families, jealously guarding their prerogatives, are the foundation of strong and stable communities, and only these mediating institutions can protect the naked individual from the maniacal, power-hungry State.

You may not agree with me, but I think the extent to which our society has been stolen from us by an inhuman elite is mind-boggling. Deceit and evil always go hand in hand. I agree with Darrell that statism is an open door for a new Utopianism in which the taking of innocent life (e.g., abortion) becomes as commonplace as eating. We must speak out, as Darrell is doing.

7:12 AM A blogger’s version of 1 Corinthians 13.

Friday, April 21

2:43 PM John G. in Australia sent me this kind note:

Dear Dave,

I am continually encouraged to read your pages. I thank our Lord for
allowing me to find them so many months ago….I thank God for moving you to do what you do.

By the way, I was raised on the land, here in the land down under, and appreciate, and am sometimes amused, by the news regarding your learning experiences. I sometimes wish I was there with you, hands on.

John, you are welcome to come to Rosewood Farm anytime. We could use your experience and advice. Meanwhile, here’s a photo just for you. It shows the path we cleared and the wire fencing we put up yesterday for our new pasture. Hope it brings back some happy memories for you. Enjoy.

7:53 AM Just a reminder: I am beginning to revise my beginning grammar. Your suggestions (especially negative criticisms of the book) are welcome.

7:50 AM Only in California.

7:26 AM Have you ever thought about how 1 Cor. 14:3 can apply to the blogosphere? Paul has been contrasting tongues and prophecy and restricts tongues-speaking because it doesn’t edify the Body. Prophecy, on the other hand, “builds people up, encourages them, and consoles (or comforts) them.” That’s always to be the goal of the church, isn’t it? And what better goals for blogging: edification, exhortation, and comfort? In Ephesians Paul puts it this way. We are to speak the truth, control our anger, work honestly, speak carefully, and avoid bitterness, slander, and malice. We’re to be kindhearted, tender, and forgiving. Above all, we’re to walk in love. Let’s serve without grumbling (Phil 2:14). Let’s set our minds (and our cursors) on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious (Phil 4:5-8). Let’s edify, encourage, and comfort.

7:22 AM Thank God for answered prayer. I asked the Lord that during the semester break I might be allowed to finish fencing in the southern property line and He allowed us to accomplish that and a lot more. Yesterday we finished putting up 850 feet of woven wire that will allow us to open up 30 additional acres for our cattle. God has done “above and beyond,” as He usually does. Thanks be to Him.

7:18 AM Greek students! Ron Fay of TEDS has published some excellent handouts for his Greek courses. Check them out if you can.

Thursday, April 20

8:10 AM The latest addition to our home page is called The God of Ethiopia.

8:05 AM In exactly four weeks from today Becky Lynn will leave for the land of her youth. I know of no more beautiful people.

7:51 AM The Hawaiian housing bubble is about to burst. The average home in Kailua sells for a whopping $780,000. Living in paradise comes at a high price tag.

7:47 AM Trivia: A thoroughbred can run at top speed for only about a quarter of a mile. The jockey’s job is to decide when to apply that power in order to win the race. Timing is crucial in life.

7:44 AM Darrell Bock tells us what Dan Brown didn’t in the Da Vinci Code.

7:41 AM Our son recently took apart two old houses and is now selling the materials. For his ad, click here.

Wednesday, April 19

8:33 AM This email encouraged my heart:

Dear Dave:

Thanks for the good word.  Amazingly, the 21st century church may not be so different from the 1st century church at Corinth.  It appears that “pulpiteering” (polished rhetoric) had won the day (“I’m of Apollos.”  “No. No.  Apollos doesn’t have the flare of Peter.” etc.)  To the Corinthians way of thinking, Paul lacked the necessary “polish.”  They cashed in the Spirit-filled preaching of the Word for self-filled oratory.  The results were tragic for the Corinthians (immorality, law-suits, factions, abuse of Spiritual gifts et al).  As they listened to “self-filled” preaching, they themselves became self-filled in every way, so much so that they would “despise the church of God” at the Lord’s Supper by neglecting the poor among them.  May God have mercy.  The church in America some 20 centuries later reflects the Corinthian’s fascination with the ways of the world.  Pulpit showmanship differs precious little from the self-help pep-talks dominating the business world.  Sad.  Seriously sad.  But thank the Lord for elders whose hearts are being renewed to place all our hope (in belief and practice) in the “foolishness of the cross.”

Blessings.

Looking to Jesus,

J. M. 

8:30 AM She’s back. And mighty glad we are. She was gone for a week but it seemed like a year. You should have heard her speaking Amharic to our Ethiopian waitress last night. Even the natives were amazed.

Tuesday, April 18

4:31 PM The Lord gave us a wonderfully sunny yet cool day to work outdoors. Our current farm project is fencing in about 30 acres for another cattle pasture. Today we cut trees from the back pasture down almost to the creek. Tomorrow or Thursday we’ll start putting up the woven wire. What would we do without our chain saw?

9:55 AM The latest addition to our home page is called Dressing Up the Truth.

6:51 AM Becky Lynn reports that their Ethiopian Evening last night at Grace Bible Church went extremely well. This is the same church family that sent her parents to Ethiopia over 50 years ago. I’ll be picking Becky up at 6:30 this evening then taking her out to an Ethiopian restaurant in Raleigh before heading home.

Monday, April 17

2:10 PM Good news! We just finished the southern property line. We’ve done 4,025 feet of fencing so far. God is good.

Tonight I’ll cook Chinese food (with my secret ingredient) in celebration of this august event.

7:21 AM I’ve finally finished my study of the Book of Acts, which I began during my last trip to Ethiopia. Lessons learned were many. These included:

1) The need to rely totally on the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit was a dynamic, ever-present reality to these early Christians.

2) The need for constant prayer. The New Testament church was a pliant, praying church. The early believers triumphed over adversity through petition and supplication and praise.

3) The need to care for the poor and disadvantaged. I think especially of Barnabas’ generosity (4:37) and Cornelius’ almsgiving (10:4-5). The Lord’s grace toward the needy and the outcast characterized the ministry of early Christians. They had a deep sense of accountability to God for the use of their possessions that led to the actual sharing of those possessions. Their heart was huge.

May God grant me a reliant, pliant, and giant heart.

7:16 AM It looks like we’ll have storms on and off all day today. We’re still going to plow ahead with our fencing if at all possible.

7:14 AM I enjoyed being at Red Bud Baptist Church last Saturday evening teaching about the myth of adolescence. It’s a small world, too — one of the pastors at Red Bud used to live only a few miles from our farm and knew most of my neighbors. My thanks to each of the young men (and older ones too) who attended. I met many strapping teenagers who are eager to be about the Lord’s business. They put a lie to one of the great shibboleths in our society — that youth are unwilling or unable to actively serve the Lord. Many of these young men will be devoting a week of their lives this summer to building homes in New York.

7:10 AM If you live in Dallas and need something to do tonight, might I suggest “An Evening in Ethiopia”? Place and time: Grace Bible Church, 7:00 pm. Becky will be showing slides and video clips of our trips to Ethiopia. The meeting will be held in the Hearthstone Room. Now doesn’t that sound inviting?

Saturday, April 15

1:31 PM Heading off to Castalia. We got a lot of fencing up today, despite the heat. In fact, we’re almost done with the southern property line. Can you believe it?

7:10 AM Corrie has been studying Hebrews, including the warning passage in 6:4-6. The big question is how to translate v. 6 — “since they crucify to themselves…and expose Him to public shame”? Or is it “because…? Perhaps the best explanation is neither. As Keith Elliott of Leeds pointed out years ago in an Expository Times essay, the author’s switch from the five aorist tense participles to the two present tense participles  suggests that the best rendering is “as long as they continue to crucify to themselves the Son of God and expose Him to public shame.” We did something similar to this in the ISV.

6:55 AM Gary DeMar says that hermeneutics ought to be applied to the interpretation of the Constitution’s statement about “welfare.” I agree:

I believe that any person who will read the Constitution with an unbiased mind will conclude that, if our Constitution is to have any meaning at all, there is absolutely no federal authority for welfare programs.

I am astounded by the Bush administration’s bald assertion regarding the capabilities of the federal government to transform human life, including marriage. The state has taken over the role of God. Government employs us, feeds us, regulates us, and now claims to be able to solve our problems, including gambling (is Bill Bennett listening?). For many Americans, the state has become their church, and the federal government has become an idol, stripping individuals and communities of their social responsibilities and engaging in the immoral transfer of wealth. And since the New Deal, a trickle has become a flood.

6:44 AM The latest addition to our home page is called On and Off Christians.

Friday, April 14

6:18 PM News and Notes: Got more fencing up today. Having worked outdoors all winter, I am not at all used to this heat. I wanted to work longer today but ran out of gas. Still, by the grace of God, I am determined to finish fencing in the southern property line by next weekend…. Had a nice talk with Becky in Dallas today. She is having a great time. Tonight for supper we are having a dish she prepared for us before leaving. It’s called Veepa’s Rice — curry and chicken mixed with rice. A delicious meal. Needless to say, this Acquila really misses his Priscilla…. Tomorrow I will be speaking in a place called Castalia, North Carolina. Never been there before. It’s always neat to visit a new location. I do know that the area has many historic homes. Maybe I’ll see some on the drive.

7:53 AM This just confirmed. In October I will have the privilege of speaking for a week at the Dumitru Cornilescu Colloquium in Romania. This is a traveling colloquium that meets with young pastors and Bible scholars throughout the country who need encouragement and instruction. This will be my first trip to Romania, and it’s about time. I am half Romanian (my mother’s family came from Cluj). Better start brushing up on the language.

6:59 AM I have just posted Part 2 of our interview with Maurice Robinson.

6:55 AM I am beginning a study of Ephesians in my personal Bible time. Peter Head of Cambridge University offers an excellent introduction, including hyperlinks to essays, maps, and study tools. And here’s a site that practically takes you to Ephesus via photos.

6:53 AM Southeastern Seminary’s Male Chorale and The Northeast Piedmont Chorale (with which Becky and I once sang) will present Felix Mendelssohn’s “St. Paul” on Friday, May 5 at 8 p.m. in the seminary’s Binkley Chapel. Go here to listen to brief excerpts.

6:50 AM One thing’s for certain: It’s heating up in Southern Virginia. It is supposed to get into the mid-80s today, which is nice weather for working outdoors.

6:43 AM Liz Rondeau sent home with Nathan yesterday a big tub of Lasagna and a bag of Doritos. Both were excellent. Thanks for taking pity on the bachelors, Liz.

6:40 AM This is one of the best collections of original documents relating to the American Civil War that I know of. 

6:36 AM Last night I had a wonderful time at New Life Baptist Church in Youngsville, NC. During our meal time (“while they were eating”) we broke the one loaf and drank from the one cup as we commemorated Jesus’ death and looked forward to the Great Marriage Supper we will enjoy with Him one day. David Henry and others are doing a great job of moving the church toward a more biblical understanding of the Lord’s Supper. After I spoke I met lots of people that either have attended Southeastern’s college or are current students. The people were very attentive as I led them in a brief study of Acts 20:7 — a key text if ever there was one. So it was a good evening seeing many old friends and meeting some new ones.

6:32 AM Because of illness in her sister’s family Becky has canceled her plans to go to Houston. Instead she’s been taking Amharic lessons from her dad, several hours a day in fact. You have to hand it to her — she is persistent. As a child she could speak the language somewhat fluently, but that was decades ago. My father-in-law is concerned that his accent might not be up to snuff. With his huge Texas drawl, he has every right to be worried. But better to try speaking the language with an accent than not trying at all.  I remember when we lived in Basel that the Baslers thought I was from Prussia because of my High German accent, but when I was in Germany the Germans thought I sounded like a Basler. Between hands and feet and German and English I could, however, make myself understood wherever I went, and that was the main thing. Honey, hang in there with your Amharic. You’ll do fine.

Thursday, April 13

6:25 AM In the foreground of this photo is Kailua High School, which I attended from 1967-1970. This morning I was thinking back to those days and regretting the fact that I had not taken any foreign languages during my high school years. None was required in fact. So when I got to Biola College in 1971 I was ill-prepared for the two years of Greek I was required to take as a Bible major. Young people, I encourage you to take a language before you get to college if at all possible. An ancient language like Greek or Latin would be a good choice, but modern languages such as Spanish or German are just as useful. I imagine the experts in pedagogy during my high school days thought they were being smart in making languages optional, but I paid a heavy price for my ignorance when I got to college.

6:20 AM Some are asking what Becky will need when she returns to Ethiopia in only 35 days. We are currently collecting three items:

1) Protein bars. We usually get the Zero Perfect brand with 15-16 g protein, available at Wal-Mart for $.96 each. We give these to the evangelists who need more nutrition, and also to women who are pregnant and borderline nutritionally. 

2) Packages of shiny stars, available in the W-M stationer/office supply dept. for $1.77/pkg. These are used for the Bible Memory Program.

3) And we are always eager to take back more eyeglasses – the nonprescription kind you can get at Dollar Tree for a dollar a pair. The best strengths are 1.75 to 2.50.

If you see a bucket outside my office door, it’s a collection station for these items.

6:17 AM I’ve just posted Part 1 of an interview with textual critic Maurice Robinson. Here’s a brief quote:

I suggest that Occam’s Razor applies, and thus prefer the theory and method that, when consistently applied, appears to possess the least number of problems or complications. Assuming such to have occurred, that theory and method should be followed steadfastly, brooking no exceptions so long as the evidence and conclusions remain commensurate with the principles that characterize that theory (cases remain where any theory will retain some problematic variant units; I do not speak here regarding those). As a result of the consistent application of these principles, I draw a solid conclusion in favor of the Byzantine-priority hypothesis.

6:14 AM Here’s an example of continuous writing, the kind we find in the earliest New Testament manuscripts.

PERHAPSTHISISHARDFORYOUTOREADBUTYOUCOULDGETUSEDTOIT.

6:12 AM A hearty blogosphere welcome to Ed and Leah Payne of Our Payneful Memories.

6:10 AM This seems like a good way to educate our “laypeople” to study the Bible for themselves: Take what you learn in seminary and “pass it on.”

6:08 AM If you speak or read Español, this is a great apologetics website run by a former student of mine in California. It includes essays on Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. Recomendado altamente.

6:07 AM Greek students! In case you haven’t seen this, here’s a parsing guide for the Greek New Testament. No, I don’t mind you using helps like these. As someone once put it, halitosis is better than no breath at all.

6:00 AM Here’s one reason why the Amplified Bible is of questionable worth.

Wednesday, April 12

4:34 PM Stop the presses! We just received the most wonderful news one could ever hear. Our son Bereket’s older sister Ashageru has come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. I bow my knees in tears of joy and thanksgiving to our wonderful Redeemer God who delights in lifting up the lowly and downtrodden. This is a special, special day. More:

1) Here’s a picture of Ashageru and Becky Lynn. It was taken when we visited Bereket’s sister and mother in their hut last year.

2) The victims of religious persecution in Ethiopia are meeting in the mud after their churches are burned to the ground.

3) In Eritrea, which borders Ethiopia to the north, the number of imprisoned Christians now numbers 2000.

4) For a breakdown of the religious demographics in Ethiopia, including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, click here.

How can we ever settle down in our comfortable sanctuaries and become Laodicean in our lukewarm contentment when there’s a world to be touched with the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

Tuesday, April 11

6:40 AM The latest addition to our homepage is called Every Lord’s Day Is Resurrection Sunday.

6:38 AM Recently we recovered two boxes full of Reader’s Digest books from a dumpster. They are all in superb condition — a real treasure trove. I’ve already read the Sinking of the Morro Castle and the Flight of the Phoenix. The latter story was phenomenal.

6:34 AM Technorati tracks about 33 million blogs, about half of which are still posting 3 months after they started. Only 9 percent of blogs are updated at least once a week. This essay wonders out loud how many blogs update 3 times a week or more. That’s a good question. In case you’re interested, I had a lot of fun with this topic several months ago in my essay To Blog Or Not To Blog?

6:31 AM Just saw this nice tribute to one of my professors in Basel, Markus Barth (the son of Karl). I’ll never forget his lectures on the Gospel of Mark (including his lengthy discussion of paedo-baptism, which he adamantly opposed) and the warm hospitality I enjoyed with him and his wife in their home in Riehen. I also recall one doctoral seminar with him in which I was the only non smoker in a very small room in Nadelberg. Barth loved his pipe, and cared deeply about his students. I still think his two-volume Anchor Bible commentary on Ephesians is unsurpassed.

Speaking of the Barths, I see that a letter the senior Barth wrote to Francis Schaeffer has just been posted online.

6:27 AM Greek geeks! I’ve found a site where you can get the latest world news written for you in Attic Greek, of all things. Here’s a sampler:

China agrees to rural reform – “Da Vinci” author says he is astounded at allegations.

Amazing.

6:25 AM I recently counseled a student to use the KISS method when speaking in church: Keep it simple, stupid. I think Martin Luther would have agreed:

When I preach I regard neither doctors nor magistrates, of whom I have above forty in my congregation; I have all my eyes on the servant maids and on the children. And if the learned men are not well pleased with what they hear, well, the door is open.

I also speak directly from my Greek New Testament, but nobody knows it. 

6:23 AM The latest from Clay Bennett:

6:20 AM As you know, one half of the Dave and Becky Black Singing Duo is in transit right now. My wife’s enjoying her visit to Dallas. Actually her parents live in Murphy, which is just east of Plano. Murphy used to be “in the country.” Now it’s in the middle of subdivisions. Later in the week Becky will spend a couple of days with her sister’s family in Houston and then visit with the Keith family. Meanwhile, us bachelors have been surviving on dad’s cooking. Hurry back, honey.

Here’s a shot of Becky and my wonderful mother-in-law, Betty Lapsley. Wherever they go in public, people always think they’re sisters. Aren’t they beautiful?

Monday, April 10

4:13 PM I like this from the Stand to Reason Blog: 

A single manuscript of the Gospel of Judas about a secret just isn’t to be taken seriously when compared to the New Testament manuscript evidence of public teachings with corroborating witnesses.

The current debate over the Gospel of Judas raises two points of interest in my opinion. It shows that secular interest in Christianity is not dead. And it shows that some people are very anxious to believe that the Christian Gospels are false. Is the Gospel of Judas that much sought-after thread of “evidence” that will discredit Christianity once and for all? Hardly. But it is a reminder of a very important truth: remove Christ from Christianity and you are left with an empty shell.

4:10 AM New Testament scholars often speak of an amanuensis. Here’s an interesting use of the term in reference to Judith Miller.

Hopefully, Miller’s public pratfall has taught them something. A True Believer, Miller apparently became an amanuensis to neo-conservative dogmatists in the Bush administration intoxicated by their own propaganda and determined to invade Iraq. Five of the six stories touting Saddam Hussein’s imaginary arsenal of WMD for which the Times has apologized carried her byline.

Sunday, April 9

6:46 PM While driving to the local nursing home to sing this afternoon an amazing thing occurred. As we went around a long curve in the road we came across a wild turkey. Rather than flying away from us, however, he began to fly alongside the passenger side windows, going in the same direction we were traveling and about the same speed. For 25 yards or so we were treated to the magnificent view of a bird in flight not 10 feet away from us. I clocked him at 30 MPH.

8:26 AM Fascinating post here on the Gospel of Judas. I do think this document will shed important light on second-century Gnostism. I wish I had taught myself Coptic. I am always a bit wary of translations.

8:23 AM What can I say about my horse riding these days other than it hasn’t been frequent enough. Seems just when I have time for a ride the weather turns sour. I think it’s as hard on Traveler as it is on me. He’s a top class athlete and needs to be ridden frequently or else he gets lazy. In fact, I think he enjoys riding more than I do. I don’t want an automaton but a confident, free-striding and happy horse with whom I can communicate and merge into a perfect partnership. With all of its ups-and-downs, I am still convinced there is no more enjoyable pastime than riding.

In case you’ve never met him, here’s a pic of Trav striking a lovable pose (note tongue). I just have to smile every time I see him.

8:20 AM The top ten hymns of all time. (Here’s a different list from Great Britain.)

8:17 AM One of the nice things Becky is planning on doing with her parents in Dallas is having an “Evening in Ethiopia” get-together at Grace Bible Church, mom and dad’s home congregation. A nice celebration for two very nice people. Becky will be showing pix and video clips of her adventures in the land of her youth.

8:12 AM A big thank-you to our Richmond class, which donated $150 for the church in Ethiopia over the weekend. Our fourth and final class met on Saturday. I enjoyed it immensely. I now have 13 term papers to grade by Tuesday. This is a self-imposed deadline; I don’t like to put things off.

Saturday, April 8

5:59 PM Shiloh and Sheba have a very important message for their good buddy Caleb, who turns 3 today:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

5:22 PM Just unpacked my bags and got caught up on the most important emails that came while I was in Richmond. The house is deserted. I suspect everyone is in Carolina buying newborn calves. This morning the Lord really made my day. I was at IHOP sipping coffee and grading papers when I spoke to my waitress in Amharic. She practically fainted. She is from Addis Ababa. We had a nice talk about Ethiopia. She was surprised to hear I’ve spent 4 and a half of the past 15 months in her home country. I hope she visits DBO and reads our Ethiopia Reports. If you’re reading this, S., I enjoyed meeting you. May the Lord richly bless your stay in America.

Friday, April 7

9:55 AM The latest addition to our homepage is called Yielding Our Unsurrendered Selves. 

9:43 AM This morning while reading my Bible on the front porch I was treated to a nature show: blue birds, red birds, geese flying overhead in perfect formation, crows, a hawk. The crowning glory was a wild turkey who sauntered by not more than 20 yards away.

9:41 AM Midwestern Baptist Seminary announces a Bibles display. I see that the Erasmus Greek/Latin New Testament is also included. I well recall a trip to the subbasement of the Basel Library to see (and handle) this beautiful work. What a remarkable treasure. Below: Erasmus as portrayed by Albrecht Dürer.

9:38 AM Here’s an interesting essay on ancient writing materials and how they were used in the transmission of the New Testament. It’s hard for me to imagine all the work involved in producing even one manuscript of the Greek New Testament. These ancient scribes were something else. Must have been like playing a double-header in suffocating heat.

9:36 AM The Washington Post is running an article on blogging in education called Blackboard Blogging. Educational blogs are skyrocketing. (For a different perspective, go here.)

9:35 AM By the way, did you notice how many bloggers tried to be funny on April 1? Most failed miserably, but I appreciated the attempt.

9:32 AM A big thank-you and shout-out to Intervarsity Press for sending me a complimentary copy of Paul Wegner’s A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible. It’s landed at the top of the pile on my bookstand.

9:28 AM I’m packing up for my last trip to Richmond this semester. The students will be presenting their exegesis papers tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to it. Becky Lynn will stay behind in preparation for her week-long trip to the Big D on Monday to visit her mom and dad. Only 41 days until they leave for Ethiopia.

Thursday, April 6

5:58 AM My friend and colleague Maurice Robinson has kindly agreed to answer several questions that were posed by my Greek students about his textual theory. I’ll share his answers with my class next week and then post them here. If you aren’t familiar with his view of Byzantine priority, here’s a good essay for starters.

5:53 AM Here’s a little something for people (like me) who prefer to use the serial comma:

This book is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

Meaning, “This book is dedicated to my parents, to Ayn Rand, and to God.” Of course, if you’re paying the bill, the choice is yours.

5:50 AM Nothing poultry about this post! We should not hold our Lord so cheeply. (Are you crying fowl yet?)

These are just three responses to this great post on chickens.

5:47 AM “We cannot forget the dictates of Islam or of God,” said Maulawi Habibullah Hassam, a religious scholar who heads Kabul’s provincial council. “According to Islam, the punishment for apostasy is death. If a Muslim converts to another religion, he puts 1.5 billion Muslims in danger. They will think, ‘This man was with us, but now he is leaving.'” Read more. Becky and I are committed to sharing the love of Jesus with every Muslim we meet in Ethiopia.

5:45 AM At Wikocracy, you can now rewrite our magnificent United States Constitution. I think they’re underestimating the ability of politicians.

5:42 AM Now here’s a good use for my favorite board game.

5:40 AM Every so often I like to post something about neologisms in English. Even though you can probably figure out its derivation, this name for the latest geological age might surprise you.

Wednesday, April 5

4:37 PM I just heard a superb interview on NPR’s Fresh Air. If you want to know why America has become an object of hatred and opprobrium throughout the world, and why our interventionism from Hawaii to Iraq has opened the hearts of millions to radicalism, click here.

4:32 PM Crichton College in Memphis, TN, announces three positions in Bible and Theology.  

4:30 PM On April 19, Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia will be hosting Dr. Christopher Seitz of Saint Andrews University for a lecture titled, “We are Not Prophets or Apostles: Christian Identification with New Testament Reading of the Old Testament.” For detailed information, go here.

4:26 PM This letter came yesterday:

What does an Hawaiian accent sound like?  Seriously.  Is it Yankee-sounding, Southern-sounding?  Midwestern??

My answer:

You like foh chek dis out.

http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/hce.htm#sounds-hce

Kawika Eleele (Dave Black)

4:22 PM This morning, at two minutes and three seconds after 1 am, the time and date was:

01:02:03 04/05/06.

I’m told this won’t happen again for 100 years.

4:20 PM Dumbing down democracy. The money quote:

In a two-party system, you can get the evils of both parties at the same time. Maybe you voted Republican because you hated the way the Democrats always inch in the general direction of socialism. The joke’s on you! The Republicans start a war and simultaneously accelerate the drive toward socialism.

4:17 PM Pastor Mark Becton’s comment in chapel yesterday may raise hackles with church growth gurus but is spot on: “You take care of the depth, and God will take of the breadth.” Shepherds (or goatherds, like moi) do not make sheep (or goats). Healthy sheep make sheep.

Tuesday, April 4

5:57 AM The latest addition to our homepage is called Raising the Bar.

5:55 AM Was Barnabas the author of Hebrews? 

5:50 AM “You may be from Hawaii if…”

You know what lei day is…

You can correctly pronounce Kalanianaole, Kalakaua and Aiea…

You know what a “huli huli chicken” is…

You give directions using mauka and makai…

You know how to correctly pronounce “Likelike”…

You can walk through Waianae and not get mobbed…

You know that “Kukui nut” is not some mental person…

You call it “saimin” not “Top Ramen”…

You can understand and speak PIDGIN english…

You eat rice every single day…

You’ve been to almost all of the other islands…

You know what “tutu” means…

You learned to play the ukulele in elementary school…

You eat malasadas…

You eat Portuguese sausage, eggs, and rice for breakfast…

And my favorite:

Your mouth waters when you hear the words li-hing mui…

These are so true. I literally cannot say “li-hing mui” without my saliva going bonkers. Being a kamaaina haole (i.e., born and raised in Hawaii) I could even travel through Waianae and not get killed. When I went to California for college my accent was so strong that people had a difficult time understanding me. And now I’m a country hillbilly trying to relive the 1860s. The Lord has a sense of humor.

Below: Kailua Bay, where I grew up. We were one of the first families to build here in 1955. This is where I surfed about 365 days a year. When I was eight I was baptized in a public ceremony at Kailua Beach Park, shown in the lower right hand corner of the photo. For more aerial photos of Windward Oahu, click here.

5:40 AM Today Becky Lynn is meeting with a group of ladies from Bethel Hill Baptist Church to sew eyeglass cases for Ethiopians. You can’t believe the joy on these Ethiopians when they read their Bibles again. According to this report, over a billion people need eyeglasses in developing countries.

5:36 AM Phillip Jenkins discusses The Next Christianity. This paragraph caught my eye (note the mention of Ethiopia at the end):

The growth in Africa has been relentless. In 1900 Africa had just 10 million Christians out of a continental population of 107 million — about nine percent. Today the Christian total stands at 360 million out of 784 million, or 46 percent. And that percentage is likely to continue rising, because Christian African countries have some of the world’s most dramatic rates of population growth. Meanwhile, the advanced industrial countries are experiencing a dramatic birth dearth. Within the next twenty-five years the population of the world’s Christians is expected to grow to 2.6 billion (making Christianity by far the world’s largest faith). By 2025, 50 percent of the Christian population will be in Africa and Latin America, and another 17 percent will be in Asia. Those proportions will grow steadily. By about 2050 the United States will still have the largest single contingent of Christians, but all the other leading nations will be Southern: Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and the Philippines. By then the proportion of non-Latino whites among the world’s Christians will have fallen to perhaps one in five.

I see the day coming when Ethiopians will send missionaries to America. 

Monday, April 3

6:14 PM Just walked the farm to check up on everyone. The goats are fine.

As are the chicks. These are all incubator babies.

Here are the cedar posts we’ve being cutting for future use in outbuildings, including our new retreat cabin.

Snapped this one 30 minutes ago. The next storm will be here shortly. Time to shut down the computer and cook supper. Talk to you tomorrow.

11:46 AM We just returned, soaking wet, from the back 40. If the rain lets up this afternoon we might give it another whack. The good news: We’ve crossed the creek. I’d say another four or five working days and we should have the southern property line fenced in completely. Isn’t the Lord good?

6:59 AM Do you have a favorite Bible commentary series?

6:50 AM Farm update: 1) We now know how Fudge is getting out. She is simply jumping over the wire fence, all 5 feet of it. I have this on eye-witness testimony. That rascal. Thinks she’s a deer. 2) We had our first thunderstorm of the year this morning. It’s still raining. We were planning on putting up more fencing today. We’ll see.

6:48 AM That pugnacious participle.

6:45 AM Okay, I know this is only for the eccentric among you, but if your culinary desires are radical enough you might want to try your hand at Ethiopian cooking. Becky Lynn has become an expert in no time at all. If you need to decide on just one dish, make it Doro Wat.

6:40 AM Theological Musings offers a brief definition of textual criticism.

6:38 AM Becky is hard at work in preparations for her Ethiopia trip in May. Did you know that she will be meeting with our Ethiopian children the second night she is there? Right now she is sewing matching dresses for herself and Emebet our adopted daughter. I’m expecting this to be a phenomenal evening. I can’t be jealous that I won’t be there — I’ve had 5 dinners with our Ethiopian family in the past 15 months.

6:35 AM Here’s one thing that surprised me about studying textual criticism many years ago. You would think that with so many great minds devoting so much energy to solving the problem there would be greater certainty about the history of the transmission of the New Testament text. But the opposite seems to be true. The next two weeks will be crucial in our textual criticism class, as my students work on their papers and come up with their best shot at a solution. I’ll give a brief wrap-up and then we’ll be turning the class over to these young scholars. Should be great. By the way, one student actually asked me if we could do more collating. I never thought I would hear that request in a Greek class. Phenomenal.

6:30 AM Yesterday at Union Chapel Baptist Church a lady came up to me and said, “You and Becky ought to sing ____ next time you’re here.” I forget the name of the song, but I told her I thought I would stick to teaching. I may need to reconsider, however. Becky would love to do it, and who am I to stand in the way of popular demand — one lady, and one wife?

Sunday, April 2

1:12 PM Today is as beautiful as it gets in Southside Virginia. Although we normally don’t do any farm work on Sunday, Nathan and I will take advantage of the weather to check our fencing in an attempt to keep Fudge in the pasture. I don’t know how or where she is getting out. But leave it to one goat to find a way of escape. Frankly, I’m as befuddled as good old Klink.

1:05 PM This morning Becky Lynn and I were privileged to fellowship with our friends at Union Chapel Baptist Church, not to preach or teach, but simply to say thank you for their generous gift to their Ethiopian brothers and sisters in Christ. These men and women have farmed the area for generations. Their offering will build two meeting halls in Alaba, where Christians are being killed for their faith even today. When Becky visits Alaba in May she will brings greetings and photos from Union Chapel — from rural church to rural church. 

Saturday, April 1

1:43 PM Oahu has just experienced its worst weather in a decade. Even Waikiki was closed down. Raw sewage drained into the Ala Wai Canal for days. What a difference from the view Becky and I had at this same spot 29 years ago on our honeymoon. By the way, I have a photo of my family at Waikiki taken in 1955. It shows us, two hotels (!), and no one else on the entire beach — and the weather was perfect.

1:38 PM Here’s a book I want to read before I teach in Kansas City this summer. My wife’s kin once lived in Clay County, Missouri, where Jesse James and his band of desperados robbed the Savings Bank of $60,000. Question: Does anyone know if the Winston Churchill museum in Fulton is worth a visit? It was the site of Churchill’s famous post-World War II speech in which he mentioned an “iron curtain.”

1:23 PM Last night Becky Lynn prepared some lip-smacking filet mignon for supper. Today I get to return the favor — I’m cooking Chinese food with, of course, my secret ingredient.

1:16 PM Jeff Downs has asked me to be a guest on his talk show. It will air live on May 4.

1:12 PM Today is also the anniversary of the Battle of Five Forks, where Lee’s right was routed.

1:09 PM One of the most important scrolls in the world makes its debut in Cleveland today.

March 2006 Blog Archives

February 2006 Blog Archives

January 2006 Blog Archives

Nov-Dec 2005 Blog Archives

October 2005 Blog Archives

September 2005 Blog Archives

August 2005 Blog Archives

May 2005 Blog Archives

April 2005 Blog Archives

March 2005 Blog Archives

February 2005 Blog Archives

January 2005 Blog Archives

December 2004 Blog Archives

November 2004 Blog Archives

October 2004 Blog Archives

September 2004 Blog Archives

August 2004 Blog Archives

July 2004 Blog Archives

June 2004 Blog Archives

May 2004 Blog Archives

April 2004 Blog Archives

March 2004 Blog Archives

February 2004 Blog Archives

January 2004 Blog Archives

December 2003 Blog Archives

November 2003 Blog Archives

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Ethiopia Report (Part 1): Addis

 Becky Lynn Black 

The first week of our recent mission trip to Ethiopia was spent in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Although this nation is thousands of years old, this city of over 3 million people is the first permanent capital of the country. It was established in 1889 when King Menelik II imported eucalyptus trees from Australia; the fast growth rate of these trees made it possible to have a ready supply of wood for building and fires. Prior to this, the capital was moved every few years as the supply of firewood was exhausted.

Today “Addis” is a city of rapid growth. It resembles a gangly teenager, stuck between the primitive and modern eras. Rules of traffic have little to do with road markings: donkeys, goats, and other animals share the road with people, cars, and trucks. Mud hovels stand next to 4-story apartment complexes with satellite dishes perched on the porches. An open-air slaughtery is within simple walking distance of elaborate embassies. Living complexes are ringed with high walls to deter night thievery; inside the complexes are single-story, 1-2 room living quarters. Most kitchens are in the open air over wood fires, so wood smoke floats freely, mingled with the exhaust of cars and trucks. About 50,000 children (plus countless adults) in the city are homeless; so plastic tarps or corrugated tin lean-tos dot the sidewalks. The best prices are usually found at shops in the “Mercado,” a giant area of small, crowded shops; here the most expert thieves also are found!

Addis has opportunities not found anywhere else in Ethiopia. People flock to Addis, looking for the possibility of an education or a job. The unemployment rate is very high, so social unrest usually starts in Addis, fueled by disillusion and unemployment. Since the election 8 months ago, the peace of Addis has been very delicate.

Mama B, Papa B, and Bereket

After 27 hours of travel, our flight arrived in Addis about 9:30 pm. Our first 3 hours in Ethiopia were spent dealing with the customs authority, while our sons waited patiently beyond the security guard. In the end we paid about $700 for 2 laptops, 1 projector, and 2 DVD players; the next day we paid another $450 for the other projector. They didn’t charge us for the printers, 2 new laptops, 3 cameras, or 3 cassette recorders. We were the last to leave the airport, so they allowed our son Bereket beyond the guard, carrying 1 ½ dozen long-stem red roses for their Mama B. The next Sunday, at our invitation, the customs man was in church service with us!

We spent a week in the city, focused on 3 objectives.

 #1 Logistics…exchange money, secure important documents, open bank account, buy Bibles, etc., etc. The exchange rate is the best it has ever been…9 Ethiopian birr to 1 US Dollar. A week before we left, we were notified that the price of the Bibles had gone up…we needed an additional $600! Within days of our departure, without knowing of the need, our home church here in Virginia took a love offering of $516, and one of Dave’s students gave us a check for $100. Once again, our Lord had provided everything we needed.  

Sons inserting labels in 1000 Bibles

 #2 Family… we spent every waking minute with our Ethiopian sons and daughter. Each has a story of God’s personal mercy. Four of them are fatherless. One comes from a Muslim family; he’s recently changed his name from Ahmed to David. Bereket is sporting a new, clear eye since his corneal transplant; it looks beautiful and his vision is now about 80/20, but is very light-sensitive. Emebet, our daughter, lives in a girls home sponsored by the SIM Mission; she was on the street for 8 years before that, having been thrown out by her step-mother. Only two come from relatively stable Christian homes. Generally speaking, the Ethiopian family is extremely dysfunctional, due in large part to the extreme poverty that saps the energy of parents. From the time they are walking, children are on their own; where they sleep or eat is very fluid. Culture requires hospitality, so beds and meals are freely shared with whoever shows up. As such, parental protection, training, and care are minimal, and children learn early in life how to survive. Unfortunately, they grow up with much emotional damage.  The strong love we’ve extended to our sons and daughter has served to ease that somewhat. I wish you could have heard their testimonies the night we departed…the theme was the same: “I never knew what it was like to have parents until you came into my life.” It is our joy and privilege to love them and to support them in the life God has called them to.

Posing for a family picture

#3 Library CD material…my father is scanning English and Amharic books onto CD. One of our jobs was to survey/evaluate CD#1 and gather Amharic books for CD#2. As computers become more easily accessible, the role of library CDs will increase and will greatly enhance the work of pastors, teachers, and evangelists. We returned with tons of books to be scanned into future CDs.

Father and sons

As I look back on the itinerary and prayer calendar we gave you, my heart is full of praise to our Lord for His wonderful provision. Although spare parts could not be found for Fasil’s car, the Lord kept the car working well the whole trip. And although His providence dictated that we pay customs, He also provided the funds needed, and He gave us grace in the eyes of officials. Our suitcases were packed to the brim, and weight rules were changed at the gate, so we had to put the over-weight charge on our credit card; but even here, they “let go” what they could have noticed. By the end of the first week, we were already tired, but His hand went before us, and blessed each activity in His own special way. We had a keen sense of your prayers, and we thank you for them!

Next Report: Rural ministry in Burji, the end of the world.

January 23, 2006

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Clinic Work in Burji, Ethiopia: May/June, 2009

Becky Lynn Black  

The Galana Clinic is the outreach of the Burji churches. It sits in a Muslim village in the Burji Valley. The area is very poor, with no modern conveniences like electricity, good water, or phone service.

The clinic was started about 25-30 years ago but was abandoned after funding ran out. We reopened it 9 months ago with 2 nurses, a pharmacist, a lab tech, an accountant, a chaplain, 2 guards, and a housecleaner. 

The clinic provides basic medical service, similar to what you would find in your doctor’s office. There is no advanced diagnostic capability (ultrasound, X-ray, etc.), but we are looking for a portable ultrasound machine. 

The clinic is treating about 1000 patients per month, 99 percent of whom are non-Christian.

Every morning Chaplain Solomon and Nurse Birhanu gather the waiting patients, present the Gospel to them (often using flannelgraph or flip charts), and pray for the Lord to bless the day for His purposes.

Also, every morning Solomon leads the clinic staff in devotions and prayer time. So far, over 60 people have come to Christ through the ministry of the clinic. After they embrace the Gospel, Solomon works with a local church to provide spiritual mentoring.

The ministry of the clinic has been so successful that the Muslim leaders have begun a coordinated effort to close the clinic. During a village meeting one of them stood up and said to the people, “This clinic is not helping us! We must close this clinic!” After his speech, the people rose up in one accord and said, “No! This clinic is helping us very much! We want to keep this clinic open!” So then the Muslim leaders decided to open their own clinic a short distance from our Christian clinic. To their surprise, the people refused to go it. So after 2 or 3 months, they had to close their enterprise.

It is no surprise that the Evil One is working hard against the clinic. He hates any work that reflects the Savior. And he despises any effort to introduce people to Jesus. Our prayers for the protection of the staff are critical to the success of the clinic. We must be faithful to pray for each staff person – for their own spiritual life, for protection from discouragement, for inter-personal dynamics and relationships, for administrative wisdom for the church leaders overseeing the clinic, for wisdom in treating illnesses, for grace in obtaining supplies, for protection from sin, etc. There are many points upon which we can pray, and our prayers are a KEY element in the success of the clinic.

So as you gather for your personal and family prayer times, please remember these staff:

Solomon, the chaplain.  He has a wife and 5 children in another village; he sees them on weekends. He is very enthusiastic for evangelism and godly in his lifestyle. He is happy, vivacious, charismatic, loving, and gentle.

Lately, he has been suffering pain in his legs from walking so much; he walks to visit patients in their homes as well as walking around the clinic compound talking with patients.  We have sent funds to buy him a bicycle, and we have given him a library of spiritual books as resource material. Pray for spiritual protection, physical health, and continued enthusiasm for his work. 

Dawit, the senior nurse.  He worked for the government clinic before coming to us. He is married with several children; they live in a village about 10 minutes’ walk from the clinic. He is an elder in the church of that village.

He is a relatively new nurse, so a concern is his medical knowledge. But what he lacks in medical knowledge he makes up for in humility and teachability. His English is fair; it would be good for him to attend English school. We have given them many medical resource books, and he uses them constantly, but we would like to increase medical mentoring with both Ethiopian and American medical personnel.

Pray for wisdom as he treats complicated health situations. The people often suffer from several things    at once – malaria + pregnancy, or typhoid + worms, or infection + malnutrition – so it is difficult to differentiate and know how best to treat. Sometimes the treatment for one condition is contraindicated   for the other condition! Dawit is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the clinic; pray for      wisdom for him as he deals with issues and personality clashes. Any rural medical clinic in Ethiopia is a place of stress, and often that stress shows up in inter-personal dynamics. So far, we are not having any problems, but we must pray diligently against this potential.

Birhanu, the junior nurse. He has worked in the clinic for about 3 years. Formerly, when the clinic was “closed,” he maintained a presence and did what he could for the people. His English is very good. Because of lack of funding he could not complete his nurse’s training for the “senior” certification, but it is our desire to send him back for the last year of training. He is very smart and teachable and has great organizational skills.

He is married and has a large number of children; his family lives in a large village that is about 2 hours’ walk from the clinic. The clinic license requires a nurse to be available at the clinic 24/7, so Birhanu and Dawit alternate time off. This means that sometimes Birhanu does not get to see his family for 2 weeks! This is a strain on him, but until we can get a third nurse, this is the situation. Please pray for him in this regard – for medical wisdom, for good working relationship with Dawit, for physical strength, etc. He lives in a room on the clinic compound and cooks for himself. In addition to providing medical care, Birhanu is responsible for the operation of the Storage Room.

Memiru, the pharmacist.  Memiru is a very small man; he is single, and his family lives a good distance from the clinic, so most of the time he stays on the clinic compound. Like Birhanu, he lives in a room and cooks for himself. Because of Memiru’s license as a pharmacist, we are able to order medicines in Ethiopia. He is a quiet, gentle, happy man, and he is good at his work.

Methodically, he accepts the prescription written by Dawit or Birhanu, he notes that the medicine has been paid for, and then he fills the order, giving careful instructions to the patients. He uses a piece of paper, coiled to make a funnel, as the container for the medicine, and he writes on the outside the name of the medicine. Everything is done by hand from a little table. When he needs more medicine, he goes to the storage room and gets the supply from Birhanu. During our last visit, Memiru was suffering terribly from malaria; he was too weak to get out of bed, and was running a fever. Malaria is rampant in the Burji Valley, especially during rainy season. It is a disease that is transported by mosquitoes; the disease destroys the red blood cells. There are several types of malaria; one of these types will lodge in the brain and kill the patient within a few hours!  Please pray for the protection of the staff from malaria and other diseases like HIV or infections brought by the patients.

Akelulu, the lab tech. Akelulu joined our staff in February, 2009. He is single and a new graduate.

He has been struggling to get all the items needed for a functional laboratory. He was SO excited to see the new microscope we bought, and how it can be joined to a laptop! He draws blood from the patients with a syringe and needle, but he is lacking some of the reagents needed for testing, like gemsa powder.

None is available in Ethiopian medical supply shops! So I search the internet here, order it, and send/take it to the clinic. I have a whole list of things needed by him in order to test for malaria, typhoid, parasites, etc. We have a centrifuge that operates well on our solar power. What a blessing to have dependable electricity at the clinic! Commercial electricity is available only in the “county seat” of Soyama Town. And, like most of Ethiopia, it is off more than it is on. So our little Galana Clinic has electricity that is more reliable than the government electricity! In the sea of darkness, it is WONDERFUL to have lights burning at night. Medical care for emergency cases is so much easier when a simple light switch is flipped! Praise God for the technical ability to have installed this power, and pray for Akelulu as he struggles with operating a lab that is under-supplied. Getting supplies in Ethiopia is a chronic problem: there is no stable source, even in the major towns. Pray for us to have wisdom in how to help them.

Teshoma, the accountant. When patients come for the first time, they pay a Registration Fee. And then each time they come, they pay according to the service they receive. This might involve a Nurse Fee, Pharmacy Fee, or Lab Fee. On average the patients pay about $2.50 total, but it varies depending upon the situation. If a patient cannot pay the fee, they may apply to the church for charity.  We have yet to have a charity case; the fees are within their capability. Our goal is to make the clinic self-sustaining. Currently it is self-sustaining in pharmacy matters, but not in salary. Year by year, we supplement the Nurse Fee to pay the salaries of the staff; for Year #2, we expect to have to supplement about 60-. Each year we will increase the Nurse Fee until it is sufficient for the salaries. In this strategy we are working to make the clinic strong enough to stand by itself. 

Teshoma is married with several children. They live in the same large village as Birhanu, but Teshoma is able to see his family every weekend. Pray for spiritual strength to collect the fees and to resist any temptation for stealing; it requires much spiritual maturity to handle money, and the Evil One delights to tempt in this matter. Pray for a sense of unity with the medical staff.

Mariam, the housecleaner. She is about 17 years old; she is a very small girl with a sweet, gentle, humble disposition.

Every day, either she or one of the guards collects the rented donkey and heads to a distant well to get water for washing and drinking. It is hard work! And every day she sweeps, mops, and washes down the equipment. The earth is reddish, so her work shines only for a few minutes; then new patients track in more red dirt. Until now she has been “mopping” the floors with an old uniform shirt; now we’ve gotten her two good mops (one for washing and one for rinsing) with two good buckets! Also, we’ve supplied sturdy cleaning cloths, gloves, and a uniform top. You can see how even the very basic supplies are difficult to come by! I was trying to find a decent broom in Soyama Town, the “county seat”; only one store carried a broom, but it was far from sturdy. We do what we can do! Mariam attends school half-day (like all Ethiopians), and she works half-day at the clinic. She also washes the uniforms of the medical staff and burns the trash. Pray for her physical strength and diligence in her work.

Woche and Mengistu, the guards. These two men are married and have families. They are from the local village and sleep at home when not on duty.

They alternate day/night shifts. We have installed outside (“security”) lights around the clinic, and we are building a guard house for them. They are unarmed except for a flashlight; I have now gotten them a shrill whistle to help them. During the night they patrol, watching for thieves (which are common in Ethiopia), and during the day they patrol, monitoring for wayward children loitering on the compound or guiding patients in where to wait, or handling drunken patients, etc. They also manage the clinic garden, pick up trash around the compound, and help in getting water on the donkey.

They have requested heavy coats and sturdy shoes to help them in night duty and for chasing thieves. Pray for diligence in their work, that they would be alert and effective, and pray for physical health. Also pray that they will be aware of their work as being a spiritual work, as they interact with patients.

Gate to the clinic:  

The waiting shelter:

Newly refurbished staff housing:

Chaplain Solomon’s house that must be refurbished:

Placing a clock over the door to the clinic:

Chaplain Solomon leads the staff in morning devotions:

Our greatest need (besides prayer) is an ambulance:

July 3, 2009

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Blasphemous Sodomite Governor Thumbs His Nose at God

John M. Leone  

In the postmodern America of 2004, there seems to be a growing consensus that truth is something that is not objective but subjective.  Truth has not become a standard to strive for but something which can be defined individual by individual.  This anarchist take on something that has always been viewed as objective and eternal has led our nation, and much of the civilized world, into moral confusion and chaos.

New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, on August 12, 2004, contributed to this chaos by announcing his future resignation in the now infamous “gay American” speech.  This resignation speech has been widely covered and the usual “man on the street” interviews have been exhaustive and numbingly repetitive.  Below, I will address the Governor’s comments from a Biblical perspective that you will not hear in any of the usual secular media outlets. 

A Christian Perspective on Homosexual Behavior

Now, before I get into the body of the article I wish to point out my personal views on homosexuality.  In the past, I have not written on this issue due to the fact that I do not feel as strongly about opposing homosexuality as I do about opposing abortion or opposing the expansion of the tyrannical federal government.  For the most part, people engaging in consensual homosexual acts in private are only harming themselves, whereas abortionists and an abusive government harm the lives of the innocent.  If people wish to engage in acts of sinful behavior and sodomy, that is a decision that they will have to own up to when they eventually face the sure and righteous judgment of a holy God. 

I do not support efforts to legalize sodomy-based marriages because I believe, according to the Holy Bible, that an all-powerful Creator God has ordained this institution to be between a man and a woman.  I do not support the concept of civil unions, as I believe there is no difference, other than semantic, between civil unions and sodomy-based marriage.  The concept of civil unions is, however, particularly appealing to weak-kneed politicians who want to have their cake and eat it too. 

I oppose homosexual behavior based on only one fact: God opposes this behavior.  I personally know people who engage in homosexual behavior that are otherwise very caring, intelligent, honest, hard working, and genuine. I do not oppose the behavior of these people based on fear or bigotry or misguided hatred.  I oppose their actions because the LORD does.

I believe the Bible is our only source of ultimate truth in today’s upside down world.  I believe that all of Scripture is theopneustos or “God-breathed,” according to the original Greek text of 2 Timothy 3:16.  Based on this belief, I try to live every aspect of my life according to His will, as revealed by Holy Scripture. I try to be, in the words of Pastor Mark Franklin of Hardingville (NJ) Bible Church, a “Bible-living Christian” and not just a Bible-believing Christian. 

God has condemned homosexual behavior in multiple verses in the Inspired Scriptures.  In Leviticus 18:22 (KJV), the Word of God says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.”  In verses 24 and 25, the LORD says, “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:  And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit [bring judgment for] the iniquity thereof upon it; and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.”  (Note: the words in brackets are equivalent translations taken from the Thomas Nelson Publishers King James Study Bible.)

In Leviticus 20:13, the Word of God says, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”

In Romans 1:26, 27, the Word of God says, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change [exchange] the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly [shameful], and receiving in themselves that recompense [penalty] of their error which was meet [due].”   God’s Word goes on to say in verse 32 that those “Who knowing the [righteous] judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death…”

In 1 Corinthians 6:9, the Word of God says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?  Be not deceived: neither fornicators [the sexually immoral], nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate [homosexuals], nor abusers of themselves with mankind…”

Unrepentant Governor Displays Incredible Hubris and Arrogance During Speech

McGreevey stated that he tried to “force” an “acceptable reality” onto himself by engaging in natural relations with women.  He stated that his reality is “layered and layered with all the, quote, good things, and all the, quote, right things of typical adolescent and adult behavior.”  The hubris and arrogance of this unrepentant statement floored me when I heard it. 

Implied in this statement is that McGreevey looks down upon those things which our culture has, historically, embraced as “right” and “good” based upon the tenets of the Christian faith (America was founded as a Christian nation) and thousands of years of acceptable behavior.  Typical of sniffing liberal arrogance, McGreevey looks down his nose at such archaic values and methods of behavior.  Also implied in this statement is that McGreevey believes that he is part of an enlightened class of people who are courageous enough to break out of the conformist mold barbarically imposed on them by a dimwitted culture. 

McGreevey Ignores Scriptural Truths

I listened to the live press conference of the McGreevey resignation/”gay American” speech and was outraged.  I was not outraged that a politician was caught in multiple acts of moral and political corruption because this, unfortunately, is normal behavior for politicians while in office and under the public trust.  I was not outraged that this man deceived the New Jersey electorate when running for office (the Democratic Party would never even have let him run for the governorship had they known of his homosexuality) because nearly all politicians attempt to deceive people (in one form or another) when campaigning.  I was outraged that this lost soul invoked and intertwined the name of the most holy and high God into this shameful mess.

At every turn, McGreevey’s statements belied the fact that he knows little, if any, Scriptural truths, and yet he spoke of his capability to make decisions on a “spiritual level.”  This type of ignorance shows a disdain for God’s sovereign will and a dangerous vanity for self.  The Bible states that the unrepentant and unsaved are spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).  How can a spiritually dead man make decisions on a “spiritual level”?  The answer is that he cannot.  An unsaved man groping around for a form of “spirituality” will only end up grabbing onto his own darkened intellect or grabbing onto a false religion.  And make no mistake, the apostate and error-filled forms of “Christianity” that are floating around in our churches and culture today are promoting a form of false religion when they do not proclaim the full Gospel message as set forth in Scripture. The apostate Christian denominations may claim the name of Christ but, at every turn, they flee headlong from sound doctrine and from “the faith which was once [and for all] delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

McGreevey’s blind attempt to discern “spiritual” matters speaks to his lost condition.  Any such “soul searching” divorced from Scriptural Truth is prone to become deviant. Ephesians 4:17 states that non-Christians “walk…in the vanity [futility] of their mind.”  In verse 18, the Word of God goes on to state that the unsaved have their “understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” 

Spiritual truth and direction cannot be discerned apart from the diligent study of God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15), or apart from honest, humble, and belief-filled prayer to the sovereign God (Matthew 21:22). 

McGreevey Dangerously Perverts the Word of God

There is possibly nothing more dangerous in this world than for a man to take the Word of God out of context in order to pervert it to his own agenda.  Yet, Mr. McGreevey did just this in his press conference.  He stated, “I believe that God enables all things to work for the greater good.”  He bases this belief on a critical distortion of what God has revealed in Scripture. 

A closer examination of Romans 8:28-29 reveals that these verses do not apply to an unsaved man like McGreevey.  “And we know that all things work together for good to them who are the called according to his purpose.  For whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.” 

According to these verses, God works all things together for good only to those who are “the called.”  Scripture often refers to Christians as “the called” or “the elect.”  So it logically follows that God works all things together for good for Christians, but not the unsaved.  For McGreevey to stipulate that God is working to facilitate his abominable and sinful behavior (which the LORD has condemned multiple times in both the Old and New Testaments) is blasphemy and implies a schizophrenic and unjust Creator God who would embrace and abhor the same action at the same time. 

Furthermore, if McGreevey believes these verses pertain to him, he also believes that God has predestined him to be conformed to the image of the blessed Christ through a reverse-sanctification process of repeated wicked and perverted acts of sodomy.  This is an unspeakably horrid proposition that defies revealed Truth. 

Many “Unique” Truths?

According to the twisted logic of the Governor, “At a point in every person’s life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one’s soul and decide one’s unique truth in the world…”  As I have stated above, if a person is unregenerate, and they turn inward to peer at their soul, the Bible tells us that they will only see a deadness and spiritual barrenness.  The height of folly would be to grab onto this darkness for direction.  In complete darkness, no man is capable of finding his way without Guidance. 

This myth of “deciding” what your individual “truth” will be is a very dangerous game to play.  Unfortunately, this type of “soul-searching” is all too common in our “tolerant” and “multi-cultural” society today.  The existence of “many truths” is an attempt to negate the objective fact that there is only one ultimate Truth (albeit with slight variance in the perceptions of this Truth). 

The Scriptures state that there is but One Truth and One Way, not many truths and many ways.  Those who cling to these shadows of rebellion, if they do not turn from these false beliefs and delusory hopes, will ultimately be taken down from their high perches by the righteous One. 

McGreevey Serves the Creature, Not the Creator

The Governor spoke of attempting to craft an “acceptable reality” for himself.  He went on to pose the question, “Which master was I trying to serve?”  I believe the “masters” of which he was speaking were his own wicked and selfish desires versus the desires of his culture and family.  The questions he should have been focusing on all along are, “What does the holy God want from me?” and “What does the LORD desire from me?” 

McGreevey has engaged in the sin that was first committed in the Garden by Adam and Eve.  He has esteemed himself and given in to the appetites of the flesh over the wishes of a righteous and sovereign God (Genesis 3:6).  And because he has esteemed himself and ignored God, he has been given up to uncleanness and disgrace.

Romans 1:21-25 states, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man…Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more [rather] than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.  Amen.” 

McGreevey’s vanity is evident in his statements during the speech.  As the Scripture states, he professes himself to be wise according to the “unique truth” of his own depraved intellect.  In giving into his unnatural lusts, he has dishonored his body and served the creature rather than the blessed Creator. 

August 16, 2004

John Leone is a police officer in New Jersey, editor of the Silverback Standard, and a staunch defender of biblical and constitutional government. He may be reached for comment here.

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

The Astounding Power of Poverty

 David Alan Black  

Recently in my New Testament class (“Jesus and the Gospels”) I characterized biblical leadership as “bottom-up” authority – an authority that acknowledges Jesus Christ as the sole Head of the church and that always emphasizes servanthood protection of that great truth through the equal priesthood of all believers. This pattern is set forth for us in the mystery of the Triune God, which provides the example of Christian unity – an ontological equality in the midst of great diversity. I hope to develop this theme further in my book Unleashing the Church, especially the way the first man Adam set the stage for the Great Human Tragedy by failing to submit himself to the Trinity and by “grasping” after that which was not rightfully his. (We may contrast Christ’s self-abnegating open-handed submission to the Father in Phil. 2:5-11.)

Of particular interest to me is the Adam-Christ contrast in Paul’s “Last Adam” Christology, a recurrent topic in my lectures. I hope my students do not get bored by the repetition of this theme, as it describes a fundamental truth of New Testament Christianity: believing men and women are to minister to each other within a system of flexible relationships with leaders serving, servants leading, and change and progress always coming from “below” and through the consent of the followers. This is why my New Testament course is nicknamed “Becoming New Covenant Christians,” since the New Testament announces the most radical political thought ever to strike the human mind: the astounding power of spiritual poverty.

As it turns out, we see this theme at the very beginning of the New Testament record, where Matthew offends the patriarchal concepts of his contemporaries by including four “irregular” women in the genealogy of Jesus. In my chapel message last semester on this text (Matt. 1:3-6) I was burdened to show how the idea of universal chosenness works – how Jesus chooses the inadequate, the weak, the poor, the sinner, the outsider – thus illuminating the power of poverty. For unless we become “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3), our riches become our hell. Thus from the very beginning of Matthew’s Gospel the author breathes impoverished air. To deny our poverty is to deny the Christian faith.

We see this fundamental theme operating also in Paul’s magnificent writings, where weakness becomes strength, down becomes up, and poverty becomes wealth. Look at the way he develops this concept into a major theologoumenon in his letters. For some reason, possibly because of the false accusations of his opponents, Paul elevates poverty of spirit into a badge of honor and the chief evidence of his apostolic authority. The concept of “high love” in Paul (= servant-leadership) is problematic unless we understand that the apostle accepted the hierarchical notions of his day but radically redefined them. There’s an implied contradiction, of course, in saying that leaders are servants, but the painful paradox is precisely what the New Testament teaches and the early church practiced. This mystery was well explained by the late Corrie ten Boom when she stated, “Look inside and be depressed, look outside and be distressed, and look to Him and be at rest.” This intimate assurance that Christ can be trusted is our security. It resolves the dilemma of our insignificance, our mortality, our futility. Gradually we become aware that God takes unimportant nobodies, fills them with His Presence, and empowers them to live lives of unhypocritical love (Rom. 12:9). Our growing awareness of, and confidence in, the adequacy of Christ constitutes the unshaken rock upon which our faith stands.

I certainly have been experiencing this reality more and more in my own life, partly because of the severe mercies God has allowed me to experience in recent years. I realized – and my first book Paul, Apostle of Weakness had prepared me for this realization – that my career had become idolatry, that my deepest inward attitudes belied my outward spiritual composure, and that I had to come to a complete end to myself before God could use me. If the talented Paul of old needed a stake in his flesh (not “thorn”!), how much more did I? I cannot resist a further speculation that had the Adam-life not been broken in my heart I would still be the same proud, self-sufficient “somebody” I once supposed myself to be.

This brings us back to where we started. I don’t know about you, but as for me, I never tire talking about the power of spiritual poverty, though I still have a long way to go in fleshing out this doctrine. However, the very zigzag process – three steps forward, two steps back – has the power to offer us purpose in our pain and even triumph over it.

October 25, 2007

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Every Member a Bible Scholar

 David Alan Black 

According to Eph. 4:11, the risen Christ has placed teachers in His church, and therefore we are to listen intently and eagerly to what they have to say.

However, it is unfortunately easy for us to distort the scriptural pattern by developing a passive learning-style that makes us dependent on others for our spiritual nourishment. As Paul reminds us in Phil 1:1, the saints are not “under” but “along with” their leaders. No Christian ever need go to God through an earthly mediator. As a kingdom of priests, we all have right of access through the torn veil into the Holiest Place (see Heb. 10:10).

This great New Testament truth is confirmed by the apostle John when he writes, “You all have an anointing from the Holy One… and have no need that any man should teach you” (1 John 2:20, 27). Of course, it was a man who taught us this truth. But his language is a reminder that the priesthood of all believers is an essential part of the biblical idea of the church.

Thus, while teaching is indeed a function required of elders (1 Tim. 3:2), and while the ministry of God’s Word is essential to their shepherding task (Eph. 4:11), this provides no excuse for the kind of pastor-dependence we are witnessing today.

“Every member a Bible scholar” can and must become more than a Christian cliché. Insofar as pastor-teachers deepen our knowledge and understanding of the Word, they serve a good, indeed an indispensable, purpose. The purpose turns sour when being “under the ministry of Dr. So-and-So” is made to mean “living on someone else’s predigested food” and becomes an excuse for dismissing the need and importance of personal Bible study.

April 29, 2006

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

Back to daveblackonline

   restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Confessions of a Limping Theologian

 David Alan Black

As I prepare to cast my absentee ballot in this year’s general election, I remain convinced that the task of the church in America today is to recover its faithfulness to Christ.

In this sense, Christianity is a radical thing – it is always seeking to relate everything in life to its biblical and apostolic roots. Although in the past three years the Lord has led me to respond to the present challenge by becoming more involved in the political scene, I do not believe that this has led me away from the central affirmations of Reformed theology, nor from what I regard as the essence of this tradition, namely the Lordship of Christ over every aspect of life and culture.

From the purely statistical point of view, one might say that the evangelical church in America is a politically correct church with some politically incorrect members, rather than the other way around, as commonly perceived. Moreover, the largest segment of evangelicalism – the so-called seeker-sensitive churches – are an intentional accommodation to the culture, a point that has been made by numerous commentators, including Chuck Baldwin, Dave Brownlow, Doug Phillips, Jim Rudd, Lewis Goldberg, and others.

I was and remain grateful for the detailed and helpful comments these men have made on the current crisis. I must not only admit the validity of their criticisms but also point out my gratitude for having shown them to me. We might have different long-term “approaches” to the underlying problem, but we would all agree that God requires more than passivity in the current struggle. He requires radical obedience (i.e., discipleship; see Matt. 28:19). What He requires is, indeed, more demanding than most of us seem ready to adopt. 

I am just as susceptible to succumb to the mindless alternative of status quo Christianity as the next man. Apathy is a cumulative process, not just an isolated deed or event. But if I have tried to assert one point over and over again, it is that the church cannot expect of the state what it cannot realize in its own life. We do well to remember, especially in light of some recent statements made by President Bush, John Galdwin’s warning (“Politics, Providence and the Kingdom,” Churchman, vol. 91 [January, 1977] p. 48):

[T]he Kingdom theme can be a dangerous place from which to begin in thinking through a Christian view on the exercise of power in the present age. It has a tendency towards political idealism and utopianism.

I must keep reminding myself that the United States is not the kingdom; indeed, neither is the church. It is tragic that Christianity among American evangelicals is often misused to escape the realities of this situation. Our religiosity hides our inadequacies, justifies our social irresponsibility, and gives our apathy and indifference a sanctimonious aura. It is rarely even acknowledged. And now, to cap it all off, evangelicals have gladly identified themselves with the New Right. Such disturbing realties are often pushed down into the unconscious. As a result, it seems that few American evangelicals realize just how widespread our nation’s intransigency is.

It is against this dark background that I cast my vote in my ninth presidential election. I am convinced that the church has to be liberated from its ideological and self-interest if America is to recover from her slide down the slippery slope we find ourselves on. Surely we live in a day when the world is on fire. If we truly give our lives into the Lord’s hands, perhaps He would be pleased to use us in the battle that rages throughout the world today and in our country. May the Lord lead us to take that place and make us such men and women for His sake.

October 6, 2004

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. His latest book is Why I Stopped Listening to Rush: Confessions of a Recovering Neocon.

Back to daveblackonline