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September 2014 Blog Archives 

Tuesday, September 30 

5:34 AMThink missions is only for professionals? Think again. ReadPhilippians, Missions, and You.

5:30 AM “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”Epictetus.

5:22 AM“We should serve God even if there is darkness enveloping our life and even if we don’t understand what’s happening … even when the circumstances of our life don’t make sense. Because He is worthy of praise. Because He is God.” Max Lucado.

Monday, September 29 

7:42 PM Hope you had a great day. I’m enjoying the sunset and getting caught up on some reading.

Tonight it’s Daniel Levinson’s classic The Seasons of a Man’s Life. The section on mentoring is especially interesting. He describes a mentor as one who combines the qualities of a good father and a good friend. I like that! A good mentor “invites and welcomes a young man into the adult world.” I like that too! And just what is the function of a mentor? According to Levinson it is to (1) guide, (2) teach, and (3) sponsor. As a guide, the mentor represents the qualities a young man aspires to acquire in life. As a teacher, the mentor shares his knowledge with the young man. And as a sponsor, a good mentor is of practical help whenever possible. Mentoring, says Levinson, is the exception to the rule. “Many adults give and receive very little mentoring.” In other words, mentoring is noticeable by its absence in most cases. Most men, he says, have few mentoring relationships and even fewer friendships.

So where do I fit in?

Well, I am past the so-called prime of life (40-60). Yet the Talmud says that full wisdom and the dignity of an “elder” starts at 60. I enjoy several close friendships with men. Some are colleagues. Some are peers. Some are former students. We offer each other encouragement in our struggles and advice and counsel in our quandaries. In addition, I am trying to be a good mentor to several young men who are about to enter their prime, attempting to “guide, teach, and sponsor.” None of these relationships involves formal roles. They just “happen.” My goal is to act as a guide, using my influence to facilitate their entry and advancement in the work place and to help acquaint them with the values of adult life. I am not a pseudo parent to these men. Indeed, giving and receiving is fairly equally balanced. These relationships, in addition to those I have as a father and a grandfather, sure keep me busy. But it puts a human face on relationships, and few things capture the essence of Luke 6:40 better than elders pouring their lives into the “youngers.”

Mentoring. Try it; you might like it!

1:36 PM Regular exercise? Who needs it? I do! The older I get, the more I realize how I need to keep the old bod in shape. Slack muscles can’t be expected to cope with the demands of constant travel, farm labor, etc.

So once again I took a long walk on the farm. (My jogging days are long gone.) Fresh air and great views. Can’t beat the combination.

I’m not my younger athletic self, but I’m not decrepit either.

Yet.

12:52 PM In the summer of 1978, I found myself as a short-term missionary in (West) Germany. The world will little note nor long remember what I did there, but I will never forget the thrill of playing my trumpet that summer on an evangelistic brass octet that travelled the length and breadth of that great nation.

Since then I’ve hazarded about a bazillion missionary trips to foreign lands. So convinced am I about the value of short-term missions that I wrote abrief piece by that title for DBO. How about you? Have you become a world Christian yet? Even if you never leave the shores of the good ol’ U.S. of A., you can still become in some way involved with global missions. Missions is the normal Christian life. It is not a reality reserved for super-saints who have been to seminary. The Lord Jesus Christ has the full right to expect all of us who are blood-bought to abandon our lives to Him. Indeed, blood-bought redemption is the only acceptable motivation for serving King Jesus.

All over the world men and women are dying for such ephemeral causes as political freedom. Isn’t servanthood the least we can offer God in response to His mercy and grace towards us?

11:56 AM “Leadership is only worthy of allegiance when the led freely grant it to the leader in response to the leader’s servant posture.”Donald Kraybill.

8:28 AM Very often (nearly always, actually) I’m in a contemplative mood. It takes no effort at all for me to cogitate. Feelings are there, too, especially when I think of loss. I read yesterday abeautiful blog post that I thought you might want to read too. It’s yet another reminder that the Christian life often entails a giving up to God what we deem most precious in life. Matthea and Jon had to offer up, as a couple, their young son and allow God to do His transforming and healing work. They are learning, as I am learning, to become (as the saying goes) “masters of themselves that they might be the servants of others.” Of course, the Christian can do no less. “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable to him” (Rom. 12:1, Phillips). You can’t talk about God’s mercy and your self-pity in the same breath. It is only through “intelligent worship” that we come to know the fullness of joy. (I know whereof I speak.) No one can fully face up to loss without faith. Faith that the God who created life also gives grace in time of need. Faith in the God knows every detail of our lives.

Thank Him for this, my friend, and live in its light to the hilt.

Sunday, September 28 

4:36 PM The old saying goes, “God comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable.” In my message this morning I think God was trying to disturb us. I am convinced that the needs in India can be met when the church sees the poor and says “enough is enough.”

When the church becomes a place of sharing rather than hoarding, there will finally be the equity that Paul speaks of in 2 Cor. 8. Mother Teresa used to say, “There are Calcuttas everywhere if only we have the eyes to see them. Find your Calcutta and do what you can to help.” Today, Calcutta for me is Bagdogra and the school Mammen Joseph is building. So this morning I shared from Philippians about leadership = service = sacrifice. The needs in India are real, but the root of the solution is right here in our neighborhoods. And so I’m an optimist. God will accomplish His work. He always does. In the words of Hudson Taylor, “There are three stages in the work of God: impossible, difficult, done.” Selah!

You might say that today’s theme was “India” in more ways than one. Attending Cresset today “just happened” to be a believing couple named Ravi and Mary who hail from the Indian state of Kerala.

When I told them I had once spoken at the dedication of a new Bible college in the city of Mavelikara in Kerala, they exclaimed, “That’s the city we’re from!” Small world. Afterwards a group of us enjoyed lunch at theRasa Indian-Chinese restaurant in Chapel Hill, where our host Lasmi treated us like kings.

The ambience was wonderful and the cuisine outstanding. It’s amazing how the world has come to America. Missiologists call this “missions in reverse.” I’m so grateful that God allows us to live out our faith in this world and not just the next. And what an interesting world it is!

I had to rush home sooner than I had wanted to, since the hay had to be baled before tomorrow’s rains. It’s always a blessing to be outdoors. To think that we can find God only in a church building is as absurd as thinking that you can find beauty only in an art gallery. Today I watched the trees of the field clapping their hands and heard the birds singing God’s praises.

Not a day goes by when I do not consciously praise the Lord for puppies that love me and donkeys that bray when they see me in the morning and goats that gleefully butt heads together. The Psalmists likewise observed the ways of bears and badgers, the turbulent waters, the glory of nature. Read any creation Psalm and you will see that the real significance of the universe is understood only by the eye of faith. And this faith was not in some man-made deity but in the eternal God Himself. All creation depends on the Creator for birth, life, and sustenance. “You open your hand, and they are filled with good.” Even death is controlled by the Sovereign God. “You take away their breath and they die and return to their dust.” The point is that God has established creation, and everything God created is a gift from Him.

Today I’m basking in this God of the Universe. May I never get so busy that I do not notice His handwork.

8:50 AM Inspired this morning by my daughter’s linking to a post called20 Signs You’re Entering Your Late 20s, I offer my list of “20 Ways to Know You’ve Entered Your 60s”:

You regret loaning out so many books that have never been returned.

You actually fill out performance reviews of your restaurant servers.

You have no idea who’s on TV.

You are turned off by noisy restaurants.

You think aspirin is the greatest invention in history.

Your ears start growing hair.

You refrigerate leftovers and then forget to eat them.

Your students weren’t even born when you began teaching.

Your grandkids look you up on Wikipedia.

Your children have to explain to you how to use your iPhone.

You yell at kids at the public swimming pool to stop running.

You understand how transient life is.

You feel like a 25-year old trapped in the body of 62-year old.

You don’t sweat the small stuff.

You get compliments on how “young” you look.

You wake up at 5:00 am and again at 7:00.

You hate flying.

You no longer use a land line.

You think “the” war was World War II.

You know what an encyclopedia set is.

And finally ….

You think “getting old” lists are interesting.

Saturday, September 27 

8:06 PM This is how my desktop looks at home. A constant reminder …

7:54 PM More miscellaneous meanderings from a macrobian migraineur:

1) I’ve been having the time of my life this evening listening to some wonderful Latin audio files. Just go here and let the fun begin. Cap II pars III is my favorite so far.

2) Beginning Oct. 1, I will be offering myGreek DVD set at a discounted price of only $150.00 (25 percent off!) while supplies last. The sale ends Oct. 31 (and will apply to any order I receive that is postmarked on or before that date). Here’s a sampler in case you’re interested:

 

3) We tedded (aerated) the hay today and will try to get it baled tomorrow. Rain is expected on Monday. Yes, I work on Sunday when I have to.

4) Learned a new word today: paranurterer. It means something like “Caring for others with the kind of nurture customarily provided to a spouse.” I always knew I was “para” something!

5) Here’s a question. Do you think we can finally lay to rest “the call tothe ministry” language? Each Christian is called of God to fulltime Christian service. The “secret” call of the pastor does not make him more called than the nurse or the bus driver. The life that I live for God as an academic is not less “called” than that of an elder in a local church. The whole church is God’s clergy, and all of us are appointed by God for a ministry both to the church and the world. Note how Ephesians 4 moves from our one calling in Christ to the many gifts for ministry. My friend, if you a member of the body, your ministry is indispensable. Will we ever get this right?

Back to my Latin stories. I think I’ll read Caesar Permanens in Fresno. What a great title!

11:52 AM Just changed some bedding over at Maple Ridge for the guests who will be here while I’m gone.

Not bad for an old bachelor, eh? 

9:40 AM OK, here’s a brief update from Rosewood Farm in case anyone is even faintly interested. I’m continuing to write, using short sentences (thanks, Hemingway). I’ve also got to finish mowing several acres of “yard” (I don’t mow the pastures). I leave Thursday for Asia and plan on working on my book about being Becky’s caregiver while gone. You won’t be getting any blog posts during my trip but that doesn’t mean I won’t be writing. As you know, Bec’s autobiography in Spanish will soon be released. And right now we are working on the final pages for the Spanish edition of my beginning grammar. I’m honored, really, to be a part of all of these projects. Thanks to my assistant, my friends, and my publishers for making it happen.

Being gone on Oct. 2 means I’ll be traveling during the 11th monthaversary of Becky’s homegoing. You don’t realize it at the time, but when you get married and give yourself to your mate, you’re actually giving them life. Not eternal life, of course — but life nonetheless. You are injecting a certain meaning into their life that was absent before, a meaning that itself is a grace gift from God. There is no true marriage without this life, without this gift. In fact, the greatest fear of married couples is that this gift might be taken away from them. And so you treasure this gift — this “other” person whom God has brought into your life to build, encourage, strengthen, and comfort you. But this gift is not unlimited. It is not eternal. The One who gave it to you gave it to you for a particular time, and should He remove it from your grasp you needn’t fret or try to grasp for it or become bitter because it’s no longer there. You are simply to accept that fact and be at peace with Him, for He is still your kind Master and greatest Lover. You learn how to celebrate the gift even in its absence. Those little gestures that made the gift so special to you — seating her at the dinner table, opening the car door for her, walking on the outside of the sidewalk — become special memories, unforgettable tokens not of her helplessness (as if she couldn’t seat herself or open her own car door) but rather of the mutual care you shared with each other. Marriage is love in action, but it always involves a cross. For a husband, the cross means giving yourself wholly and joyfully to your wife because you are joint heirs together of the grace of life, always moving towards that final goal of glorifying God to the very end. I have no use for theoretical love. Even as a widower, let me have something definite to call love, for love is more action than words.

Wife.

Friend.

Lover.

Becky was many things to me. My life was enriched because of her, and it is a naive sort of masculinity that tries to be tough when the pain calls for tears. I who have enjoyed the gift of marriage have no difficulty whatever in saying that my deepest earthly fulfillment in life came not from teaching or writing but from being Becky’s husband. I never thought I would outlive her, that I would be single again. But the will of God is the only true and complete freedom. To think otherwise is to settle for a pseudo-personhood.

So there’s my update!

Tomorrow I’m speaking at Cresset Baptist in Durham. Your prayers would be appreciated.

Blessings,

Dave

9:10 AM Yesterday the BBC posted:Speechless: Three big sins of public speaking. No need for bombast. Just be as natural as you can possibly be.

I think church architecture has huge implications here. John Darby, one of the founders of the Brethren church, encouraged the construction of simple chapels or assemblies with architecture that emphasized the priesthood of all believers. Pulpits and platforms were avoided. A typical chapel was a square room with a table and chairs for the speakers. Darby insisted on sitting among the members during the service and standing among them when he spoke (rather than from behind the table). The Anabaptists denied the significance of church buildings since physical structures were irrelevant to God. The buildings themselves were emblems of mere formalism. Large stone structures could never replace the true church of Christ that is comprised of two or three living stones gathered in His Spirit. They felt that with the addition of large numbers of extravagant temples the church had compromised with worldly standards of success. The Anabaptists energetically condemned this “externalization” of the Body of Christ. See myThe Jesus Paradigm.

Friday, September 26 

6:25 PM I never heard anyone refer to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as “anorexic” before, but I like the word.

It reminded me of a blog post I read years ago calledBlogging and the Value of Conciseness, in which we read:

I learned how to make my writing lapidary and action-packed, trying to convey as much nuance as possible in each word.  These have been the most growing opportunities for me as a writer and presenter.  Blogging forces me to be that brief on a regular basis.

Notice that conciseness is not necessarily brevity. My books are getting shorter and shorter but that doesn’t necessarily make them better. The key is value, not length. I want my doctoral students associating conciseness with efficiency. Our audiences should be able to “get the point” quickly, and without any undue suffering. Just leaving “that” out can help. Avoiding the passive voice likewise (“The passive voice is always to be avoided” — hahaha). Use topical sentences. Etc.

So a tip of the kepi to Ol’ Abe. He was on to something. And today, people’s attention spans are even shorter than in 1863.

Get straight to the point.

Eliminate tangents.

Then quit.

12:52 PM Just got my annual flu shot. Had yours yet?

The good folks at CVS were so kind. Everyone wanted to know how I was doing. You see, last year at this time I was almost a daily fixture at the pharmacy, picking up this or that med for Becky. It felt good to be able to say, Yes, I’m doing fine, God is sustaining me, I miss her terribly but life is going on. Through it all, I was constantly amazed at not only the efficiency of the local pharmacy staff but also their kindness, their genuine empathy. Because that’s how life is supposed to work. When one member of the community suffers, we all suffer.

I don’t miss making dozens of trips to CVS each month. But I do miss the staff. There’s such a peace knowing that, no matter what happens, I’m among people who are interested in more than just a quick business transaction.

11:14 AM Henry Neufeld continues the discussion about divorce and remarriage over at theEnergion Discussion Network. I think the church marquee he posted is pretty telling:

9:48 AM Russ Moore asks a very good question:Is Divorce Equivalent to Homosexuality? His answer is both balanced and biblical. Where I might demur is here:

But divorce and remarriage is not, beyond that, applicable to the same-sex marriage debate. First of all, there are arguably some circumstances where divorce and remarriage are biblically permitted. Most evangelical Christians acknowledge that sexual immorality can dissolve a marital union, and that innocent party is then free to remarry (Matt. 5:32). The same is true, for most, for abandonment (1 Cor. 7:11-15). If the church did what we ought, our divorce rate would be astoundingly lowered, since vast numbers of divorces do not fit into these categories. Still, we acknowledge that the category of a remarried person after divorce does not, on its face, indicate sin.

I am curious as to how widely this view represents the thinking of evangelicals on this debated issue. 1) I think a case can be made, scripturally, that even when divorce is justified on biblical grounds, remarriage is still forbidden by Jesus as long as the first spouse is still alive. And 2) an instance of divorce-remarriage (where the first spouse is still living) would, on its face, constitute sin (adultery). The irony is that, while evangelicals are rightly concerned about the homosexual agenda in our society, they are moving away from a high view of marriage, thus leading to what Moore calls “the charge of hypocrisy.”

The preaching on divorce has been muted and hesitating all too often in our midst. Sometimes this is due to what the Bible calls “fear of man,” ministers and leaders afraid of angering divorced people (or their relatives) in power in congregations. Sometimes it’s due to the fact that divorce simply seems all too normal in this culture; it doesn’t shock us anymore.

So, my message to my fellow evangelicals, in a nutshell, is this: cherish your marriage! Not in a sinful or prideful way, of course, but simply as a precious gift from God that needs to be nurtured and protected. Be daringly committed to your spouse, and hold fast to the vows you once took before God and others. Warning: Do not read this is as a screed against divorced or divorced/remarried Christians. I know of two divorce situations involving Christian friends of mine that are ripping my heart out right now. Those who have read my book The Jesus Paradigm will have no trouble understanding why I feel so deeply for Christians who struggle in life. I realize that my view on remarriage is a minority view in Christian circles, but given the overall theological, psychological, and spiritual implications of divorce and remarriage, I think this one point of disagreement is worth registering.

Thanks to Russ for his stimulating and courageous essay. I’m sure those with interest in this topic will read it with great benefit. In the meantime, let’s all keep reading and thinking ….

9:20 AM She died in an old folks’ home in England, ignored and forgotten. This moving poem was found among her possessions:

Dark days are upon me; my husband is dead,/I look at the future, I shutter with dread./I’m an old woman now and nature is cruel;/’Tis her jest to make old age look like a fool./But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,/And now, again, my embittered heart swells,/I think of the years, all too few, gone too fast,/And accept the stark fact that nothing can last./So open your eyes, nurse, open and see/Not a crabbed old woman, Look closer — see me!“

Who are the aged in your life? Remember: They were once as young and healthy as vibrant as you are today. Take a deep breath. Speak a word of thanks to God for them. Then write them a letter or pay them a visit.

It’s called love.

(Below is a young woman/old woman optical illusion. The old woman’s eye is the young woman’s ear.)

9:01 AM “The world needs young men and women who say no with emphasis, though all the rest of the world says yes.” Josiah Holland.

8:54 AM You know you’re getting old when you talk about Carl Henry, Donald Bloesch, Ron Nash, David Wells, and Francis Schaeffer and people say, “Who?”

8:48 AM “There is a kind of cloud of confusion surrounding politics, a political obsession according to which nothing has significance or importance apart from political intervention and, when all is said and done, all issues are political.” Jacque Ellul.

8:43 AM Writes Thomas Hudgins:

There are bios on Jonathan Edwards, Winston Churchill, Robert E. Lee, etc. I’d exchange them all for My Life Story by Becky Lynn Black. Why? Because it tells the story of a God who uses everyday people to do extraordinary things. And extraordinary they were.

ReadMama B’s Autobiography Available in Spanish.

Thursday, September 25 

3:58 PM How do you spell “I love you”? Here’s how: Kimberly, Nathan, Rachel, Caleb, Michael, and Abigail. They each helped me clean the house today and get ready for the next batch of guests (next weekend), followed by some play time in the “mud” box (the erstwhile “sand” box), a story from Papa P, some Doritos, and then they were gone. All in all, the place is looking a lot better than before. Becky would be so proud of me. I haven’t let the house go to pot, and I’m not too proud to ask for help when I need it. So … thanks to my daughter Kim and the kids for making this day so wonderful for me. It’s good. So very good.

12:50 PM Forthcoming. Should be good. 

9:48 AM Sure glad I didn’t downloadiOS 8.0 like my “smart” phone asked me to do!

9:32 AM It will a great day today. One of my daughters and her kids are coming over to help me wash the linen and towels from our last retreat here, and I will be writing. Frantically. Yes, a deadline approacheth.

9:24 AM Allan Bevere links to a great post aboutNoisy Worship. My how the church needs this message today. How many times have I spoken in a large church where parents are made to feel a wee bit unwelcome if they have small children with them. Yes, I know you’re recording your service. Yes, there might be a few “interruptions.” But honestly, I don’t see Jesus telling James and John to “take the children down the hill until I’m done preaching the Sermon on the Mount.” Gatherings can be messy, noisy, risky, and unpredictable.

I’ll let Spurgeon have the last word (Met. Tab. Pulpit, 1873, vol. 19, p. 323):

I begin to feel more and more that it is a mistake to divide the children from the congregation. I believe in special services for children but also have them worship with us. If our preaching does not teach children, it lacks some element it ought to possess. I like to see the congregation made up not all of the young, nor all of the old, but some of all sorts gathered together.

9:08 AM “Church structures are not inherently good or evil.” I remember missions professor Lloyd Quast making that statement when I was a student of his at Biola in the 1970s. It has stuck with me ever since. He went on to say, “Church structures are either legitimate or not legitimate.” Needless to say, that saying stuck with me too. You see, in those early days I was already becoming an ordinary radical who wanted a revolution in the church. Of course, there are much cooler ways to follow Jesus. But asking questions about church is okay with Him; after all, the church is His idea. Christians are called to be extraordinary, not cool. So what are some extraordinary ways we might follow Jesus when it comes to doing church? Let’s begin by asking ourselves two questions:

1) Are our church structures biblically valid?

2) Are our church structures task-focused?

For example, it seems that Paul was eager to appoint elders in the churches he had established. He himself did not have a settled ministry (with a rare exception or two — e.g., Ephesus). He left leadership to the local believers. Thus we read that the Philippian church had both overseers and deacons (Phil. 1:1). At the same time, a local church can exist without elders. This was evidently the case in Asia Minor where Paul appointed elders in churches that were already in existence. When a local Baptist church in North Carolina decided to have elders (instead of one pastor and deacons), suddenly they were left with no elders at all. The question was asked, “How many elders should we have?” My thought was, “It’s better to have no elders at all than to have unqualified elders.” You see, in the early church, eldership was essentially a matter of recognizing who in their midst was divinely appointed by the Spirit to lead them. Qualified elders are not made; they are recognized. And so this congregation now has several excellent elders. These men do not carry out their mission in splendid isolation or independence from the church at large. Their mission is carried out in the context of community. Their philosophy of leadership also recognizes and allows for a great diversity of personalities and spiritual gifts in the congregation, and through their leadership the church’s cooperation and participation in global missions has increased. The elders lead but they also facilitate. In fact, I get the very distinct impression that they are there to serve and not be served. Titles seem completely irrelevant to them. In fact, if you go to their church’s website, their names aren’t even mentioned. They are eager to recede into the group, just as “fellow-elder” Peter seemed to be in the early church (see 1 Pet. 5:1). Their leadership, in other words, is functional rather than titular.

Does this church in North Carolina have a biblical structure? I think the answer has to be yes. Is the structure inward-focused or outward-focused? Is it centered in on itself or is it task-focused? The latter, for sure.

How about your church? Many churches today are caught up in an “edifice complex” or in rigid structures based on inflexible human traditions. The early church was amazingly unfettered by such factors. There is much to be learned from this. Jesus is the Head of the church, and yet He has graciously given His body equipping gifts. If we look to Him and Him alone, He will provide for our congregations the leaders we need, and they will come from our own number.

8:24 AM “Blessed are they who die in the Lord, for their works follow them.”

Yep. Becky’s My Life Story is now available in Spanish. This was the “second-to-the-last” work that God had foreordained for her. In the postscript I wrote these words:

Becky was created not only to perform the good works for which she is justly famous, but for more, for something infinitely better, for eternal life. And now, what she has left unfinished, we must complete.

It is extremely gratifying, to say the least, to see this project come to fruition. If you would like to acquire a copy, it is available for preorderhere.

There were so many things I loved about Becky. She lived as though every day were her last — even before she got sick. Just trust me when I say that it was one of the best moves I ever made when I married her. For years we were able to live out the love that God had given us, and that ministry continues even to this day through her writings. Add to this the fact that it was Becky who put together the logistics for the school in India (this was her final earthly work), and it’s comforting to know that God is still at work in bringing these projects to completion. In fact, yesterday I received yet another check for India, this one totaling $2,000. Yes, Jesus is making every single day new, and we are part of that work, every single one of us, whether we’re sitting on a sick bed planning a school thousands of miles away or helping our elderly neighbors clean out their rain gutters. We are part of that “making all things news,” and it is beautiful.

Wednesday, September 24 

4:58 PM Odds and ends …

1) Had a great lunch today with Heath Thomas, who heads up our Ph.D. program at SEBTS. He’s doing a bang-up job too.

2) Ben Merkle asked me to consider writing an endorsement for his forthcoming intermediate Greek grammar (co-authored with Andreas Köstenberger and Rob Plummer). I like what I see. Blurb forthcoming.

3) Checked out from our library today a brand new book on church eldership. The author is adamant: unpaid “elders” and paid “pastors” occupy the same role in the church; “pastor” = “overseer” = “elder”; “it’s all the same job”; “…just because a paid pastor may have more availability, education, or gifting, it doesn’t follow logically (or biblically) that a lay elder is any less a real pastor”; “lay elders are still equal”; etc.

Then why is the author described as his church’s “senior pastor” on the back cover? Am I the only one who sees a disconnect? Can a person ever become too much a part of the church culture to be prophetic within it?

4) Talked to a colleague today whose parents were both killed in an automobile accident 30 years ago. The pain seemed fresh in his voice. Thankfully, nothing in the dark and hidden caverns of our hurting hearts is hidden to our God. We can trust Him with the unfathomables.

7:04 AM “Popular opinion is the greatest lie in the world.” Thomas Carlyle.

7:00 AM “There is nothing in Ephesians 4 (or elsewhere in the New Testament) to suggest that pastor in the early church had anything like the highly specialized and professional sense it later came to have in Protestantism.” Howard Snyder.

Tuesday, September 23 

5:15 PM From the time I joined the Jesus Movement in the 1960s I’ve always been excited about the church. The very thought is staggering: What Jesus began in His flesh He now continues in His “body,” the church. There are some honest disagreements among sincere Bible scholars about church leadership, but the Bible is clear about one thing: God’s master plan is for home-grown, non-hierarchical leaders who recognize that Jesus Christ alone is their Senior Pastor (1 Pet. 5:4). This fact by no means cancels out pastoral leadership. But the preeminence of Christ is fundamental. This has immediate implications for church polity. Each believer’s first responsibility is to the entire Christian community and its head, Jesus Christ. The church grows by bringing people to faith in Christ and then leading them to submit completely to His word. Ray Stedman (Body Life) and many others have rightly called attention to the unbiblical clergy-laity division that stifles “lay” initiative and the broad exercise of the church’s spiritual gifts. Although this pattern should be obvious, it is often overlooked or violated. We may pay lip service to the headship of Christ, to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and to the priesthood of all believers, but our structures reveal how little we truly believe in these tenets. The senior pastor model is flawed, no matter how efficient or venerated it may be. The New Testament writers were zealous to guard the truth of the Gospel against encroachments from the world by a “Diotrephes.” The point to emphasize here is that gift-based lay leadership was, in practice, normative for the early church and not just a pet theory. The fact that Jesus alone is the head of His body provides the foundation for all of New Testament ecclesiology. The important thing for every form of ministry is that the biblical church be built upon Christ and grow to maturity in Him and not in any man. Locally, this means mutual involvement, interdependence, and ministry within the congregation by every member.

This is what it means to be Christ’s body in and for the world. Increasingly, Christians are recognizing that many of the problems they face are self-inflicted. To say that Jesus Christ alone is the Head of the church is to say that none of us can ever assume that title or occupy that position. The church’s call is thus a call to become a community that takes form around Jesus, based on His resurrection and the work of His Holy Spirit. Through the Lordship of Christ, true unity finds concrete expression.

So … let those of us who call ourselves biblical Christians imitate the example of the early church and work for a biblical ecclesiology. It worked well in the past. Why stop now?

5:31 AM “We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.” Arthur Schopenhauer.

5:25 AM “Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.” Stephen Vincent Benet. 

Monday, September 22 

7:38 PM Has here ever been a more beautiful day in the Piedmont?

1) Washed the car:

2) Fed the donks a few carrots:

3) Walked the dogs:

4) Admired the hay in the front yard:

5) Enjoyed the sunset He provided.

I repeat: Has there ever been a more gorgeous day?

6:15 PM Goodness! There’s so much to blog about I hardly know where to begin.

1) Just got back from seeing my primary care physician about the painful left ear I’ve had for a week. She irrigated it and then sent me to CVS to get some antibiotic ear drops. Hopefully that will resolve the problem and I won’t have to whine to you any more. I really don’t want to have to fly to Asia with an ear infection, if you know what I mean.

2) NPR is usually on in my car radio, and today a “culinary linguist” (of all things) was being interviewed about the words we use to describe the way we eat and the terms we use in the kitchen or restaurant. I laughed out loud when he mentioned the real meaning of “entrée,” which in most European countries refers to an appetizer, whereas in the U.S. it refers to the main course. Our linguist friend pointed out that we Americans actually get it right: the term originally referred to the first meat course (of several meat courses) and hence the meaning “main course” is the correct one (take that you Brits!). The reason I laughed is because the word for appetizer in Hawaiian Pidgin (my mother tongue) is “pupu,” and I will never forget using that term when I arrived in California to attend college. People stared at me in open-mouthed amazement that I would refer to an appetizer as “poo poo”!

3) While waiting in the doctor’s office I stumbled across Henry Neufeld’s post about the loss of his son 10 years ago. This is blogging at its very best. A sampler:

The thing I’d want to say to everyone is that there is life after loss. I can tell you today, 10 years later, that you don’t forget, that there doesn’t come a time when there is no pain. But you do learn to live and go on, and you can still accomplish what you need to accomplish. Not only that, we’re each different. One of the blessings Jody and I have experienced is not being down at the same time. The fact that I tend to remember dates less precisely, such as being a year off on when she completed her first book, also means that my moments of memory are more scattered. You can’t tell when I’m going to be thinking of James. I know Jody will be thinking of him especially as his birthday and the anniversary of his death are approaching. It’s not a time for me to be up, as in pasting on fake smiles and acting like everything is wonderful. But it does allow me to think of her and be there for her.

That kind of writing leaves me breathless.ReadTen Years Ago and be blessed.

4) I don’t know about others, but wherever I go, my trusty writing pad always goes with me. As I sat in the waiting room, I began jotting down a few thoughts about church leadership, primarily because in the past 4 days I’ve had major discussions on the topic with 3 different people. If I have the time I’ll share my perspective with you later. Folks, it’s all about getting the sole headship of Christ right.

5) Among my other errands today was a trip to Dollar General and to the local post office to mail out some Halloween presents. I was reminded just how polite and friendly everyone here is in the rural South. No one is in a hurry, and small talk is not only acceptable, it’s expected. So I chatted with the lady at the post office for about 10 minutes and with my nurse and with the lady at the checkout counter. Here people grin and say howdy to complete strangers and mean it. By the way, remember if you do visit us, “y’all” has two syllables, not one. If you can’t say it with two, don’t bother trying to say it. 

All y’all get it?

10:16 AM Every September we get up our last cutting of hay.

It’s a reminder that fall is here and that winter is not far behind.

Bursts of orange will soon be replaced by bare hardwoods and ice and snow. I can’t think of that without thinking of the people in my life who have entered the winter of their earthly existence. Mercifully, spring always come after winter, and the brown trees will suddenly burst forth with luscious green growth. On that Day of days we will stand together, face-to-face with our Savior. Winter will be a thing of the past. The Spring of springs will have arrived.

In the days and weeks ahead, pray for those you know who are living in the winter time. Ask God to keep them joyful in their anticipation of the spring that is sure to follow. More importantly, pray that God will keep them focused on living daily with a desire that others might come to know Christ as Lord.

9:58 AM I thought I knew a lot about New Testament Christology. Boy was I wrong. This morning during my daily Bible reading/devotions/academic study (can one really make such distinctions?) I saw something I had never seen before.

In Acts 16 Paul tells the Philippian jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your family” (Acts 16:31). Then, a mere three verses later, Luke comments: “He and his family were filled with joy, because he [the jailor] had believed in God.” I let out a cheer when I saw that. Here “Jesus” is being equated with “God.” Now that’s Christology! It’s a cameo appearance and you’d miss it if you blinked at the wrong time.

Aren’t you glad that there are always new discoveries to be found in the Scriptures?

8:14 AM “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Gen. 8:22).

Happy first day of the Fall season! 

Sunday, September 21 

9:32 PM Student, are you a Greekapostate?

9:28 PM As the population ages and more and more people acquire health insurance ….

(Source:AAMC.) Could high debt loads be part of the problem? So grateful for the Cooperative Program of the SBC that offsets student tuition at our seminaries. Thank you, Southern Baptists, for your generosity!

9:01 PM “Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural” (Oswald Chambers). This week God answered yet another prayer of mine. Very grateful.

8:50 PM “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon!” (Phil. 4:4-5).

4:10 PM As you know, India has been at the center of my ponderings for a long time now. The Peniel Gospel Team is providing genuine help to orphans in addition to reaching many unreached people groups in the northeast corner of that great nation. It’s hard to quantify just what makes a good mission work that is worthy of support, but I have personally known Mammen Joseph for many years along with his wife Alice and their son Moncy (who was my student at SEBTS). That’s why I’m so excited about their vision to complete the construction of an English-only high school that will serve potentially up to 2,500 tuition-paying students, allowing the proceeds to fund their ministries (orphanage, Bible school, evangelists, etc.). I received a check this week for $10,000 for that project, which makes the total that has been provided thus far around $60,000 (out of the $200,000 still needed). Of course, once we reach $100,000, the remaining $100,000 will be matched and the need will be fully met.

My thanks to all who have given. Remember, the purpose of this project is to make the ministry there in India completely self-supporting and indigenous. I think this is a very worthwhile goal!

9:22 AM On Saturday, Nov. 1, we will gather as family to remember the death of Becky on Nov. 2, 2013. Becky was not a public celebrity so it will be a quiet ceremony. My goal is to remember the legacy she left to so many of us. To her last breath she was a woman who honored God. A year ago our family was tight, perhaps tighter than we had ever been in the past. We needed each other. We felt abandoned and frightened. Since then, we have moved on. I was no longer a caregiver but a widower. A study made between 2001 and 2006 showed that men made far less adequate caregivers than did women. In fact, women with a serious illness were seven times more likely to be divorced as men with similar health problems. I have also heard it said that men are less able to cope with loss than women. I don’t know if that is true across the board, but I often wonder what Becky would be doing today had the roles been reversed. I know, speaking personally, that I almost reached the point of “I can’t do this anymore.” I was facing not only the loss of a spouse but the loss of a relationship that mattered. There is, of course, no escaping death for any marriage. One partner sooner or later will depart before the other one does. When this happens, the Christian partner must put him- or herself entirely in the hands of God and let Him rule. Love ultimately wins only when it relinquishes its object. I stress this point because it’s hard to see a divine purpose in life without devoting ourselves entirely to Jesus. I used to think that neither Becky nor I were perfect partners. But actually, we were perfect — perfect for each other. And so are you and your spouse,  the person God has brought into your life. As I watched Becky die, there came a sense of urgency, even a sense of clarity. Death, in its basic definition, is separation. We knew it was coming, this separation, and so we were reminded of the preciousness of life. We strove to live each day as if it were our last together. Husband, wife — that day of separation is coming for you, and somehow you must learn to mourn your loved one while they are still alive. Today is the day to love, and to love unconditionally. And the only way you will be able to do this is to receive God’s unconditional love for you.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that people who have lost a loved one through death seem to be more sensitive to the loved ones they still have. Some even find a deepened relationship with God. This is the result of pain. Being without Becky doesn’t mean that I no longer feel sorrow or that I no longer mourn. It simply means that now I must invest my emotional energy elsewhere. And this involves a choice. It means that I must reevaluate my relationships. It may mean reordering my priorities. When death comes, all of life is reexamined. This is a good thing. The goal is interdependence rather than dependence or independence. Dependence is when we have to have others in our lives. Independence means always sorting out our problems on our own. Interdependence is how God made us to function. We ask others for help when we need them. We open ourselves up to the joys and pain of relationships. We care for each other and support each other. In short, we feel connected. This sense of connection is, I think, the greatest blessing I have experienced since Becky’s passing. There are people in my life I know I can count on to be there for me, come hell or high water. I do not cling to them. I do not expect them to meet my deepest needs. But we make huge deposits in each others’ lives. What a blessing. What a joy. Interdependence means purchasing others at the cost of ourselves, just as the Lord bought us through His self-giving on Calvary.

The best and deepest of earthly relationships grow out of the realization that there is nothing we can do to earn the love of another human being. If they love us, theychoose to love us. And when this choice is exercised consciously and habitually, there is nothing quite like it on earth.

Saturday, September 20 

6:40 PM Gail Sheehy, author of the book Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life, was interviewed this evening on NPR. I listened to the interview while I was driving home from dinner in Henderson, NC — you know, one of those old haunts that Becky and I used to frequent. Sheehy’s book traced the “passages” of life through the age of 55 only, so I was intrigued when she was asked, “Now that you’re 70, what have you learned about life after 55?” Her answer both surprised and delighted me. In essence, her response was that people go through a “second adulthood” once they get past 55, and the chief mark of this passage is that they no longer have to “have it all” but have learned to be content with “enough.” I can attest to that. Reaching mid-life was indeed a bit of a crisis for me, partly because I was never taught about coping with transition by my elders and partly because the so-called “mid-life crisis” is often joked about but rarely discussed. But I like Sheehy’s distinction between “all” and “enough.” I once read that men and women who live to their 65th birthday usually end up living to 85 and, if they become widowed, can actually learn to enjoy their independence. Sheehy, who (like me) watched her spouse die a slow death, seems content to be single at 70, and is still productive — still writing, still interviewing, still living. To put a spiritual twist on things, for me aging has meant operating in life from a completely different motive I had when I was younger. Verses like Eph. 6:6 — “As the servants of Christ conscientiously do what you believe to be the will of God for you” — take on new meaning. No, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the kind of ambition I had when I was in my twenties, but the nature and focus of one’s ambitions can make all the difference in the world. The older I get, the more I realize just how much we are made out of dust and how we need lots of grace. And this grace is something that God supplies plenteously, sufficiently, and at times even abundantly. I know that grace. I’ve experienced it time and again. A hopeless failure, I know that kind of love because I know that kind of a God.

Really, I don’t mind getting old. The closer I get to glory, the better I can see the Unseen. Sure, I’d love to have it all, but enough is, well, enough.

10:48 AM Even if I’m not 100 percent, farm work goes on. Just finished bush hogging the edges of the fields in preparation for mowing, raking, and baling. The weather could not have been better. Right now it’s 69 degrees and sunny. We’ve got several clear days ahead too. God has been so good to us Piedmonters this year.

Gotta go. One of my kids is coming over to visit dear old dad.

Pix: 

9:08 AM Nice note here:

Hi Dave. Thanks for the link to the Daily Dose of Greek. Those videos are a great help. And I look forward to his series of daily 2 minute videos. 

9:04 AM Just bought 2 tickets for the North Carolina Symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto in Raleigh on Oct. 24. Love the solid chords played at the opening by the pianist. Love classical music period!

8:40 AM Hey friends! I hope you’re enjoying your weekend so far. Mine is going great, though in a fallen world things won’t always be wonderful. My left ear is still aching (it wasn’t a good idea to fly with a head cold) and I’m still coughing, but I’m improving slowly but surely. Today I’m trying to wash the linens and towels left behind by our retreatants and get the fields ready for haying. Yes, the Lord is granting us a second cutting, and we are thrilled!

But moving on….

This morning I was reading some of the “Christian agrarianism” blogs and stumbled across a post that basically called for everyone to leave their jobs and begin farming. After all, doesn’t Paul tell us to “work with our own hands”? Think about it. I run a 123-acre farm but I’m not an “agrarian” because I don’t see this is as the only legitimate Christian lifestyle. I enjoy it. It’s healthy. It’s hard! All well and good. But I am not an advocate, if you know what I mean.

Of course, all of this is to miss the larger point, the elephant in the room if you will. You see, regardless of the work we do or where we live, we forget that the main purpose of work has nothing to do with us. Note what Paul says in Eph. 4:28:

Did you use to make ends meet by stealing? Well, no more! Get an honest job so that you can help others who can’t work.

That’s The Message. The NLT puts it this way:

If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.

Sadly, instead of confessing that the real purpose of our work is to help others, we idealize a particular lifestyle that enables us to be “fulfilled” or to home school or to never retire, etc. I suspect that even the Christian agrarian movement has been influenced by narcissism and greed every bit as much as capitalism. Related to this, I think we’ve relinquished the care of the needy to the government for so long that most Americans can’t picture themselves as doing anything to help them or taking responsibility for the social needs all around them. Due to this faulty way of thinking, we sadly imagine that our greatest duty in life to work the soil and we tend to avoid the messy realities of poverty and need all around us.

I know this issue is terribly complex and ambiguous, but I think it’s clear that once we “take a stand” for any kind of “Christian” lifestyle we miss the point. We become Christian archists (and the “archy”/”rule” we are defending can be any number of things) instead of anarchists whose only concern is with expanding the kingdom of God. (See my bookChristian Archy.)

The real divisive issue is not the way we earn our living but the way we polarize around our belief systems to the neglect of what is of most importance. As citizens of the kingdom of heaven our concern  isn’t to criticize what Caesar does so poorly or even to eschew the “American Dream” of bigger and better, but to try and understand the needs all around us (both in our families and in our world) and do whatever we can to help others through making radical sacrifices with our own earthly goods. If we would learn to do this, then the glory would go to God (where it belongs) instead of to us (and our paltry little “movements”), and the kingdom would advance. And we would keep the kingdom holy. Now, I’ll admit that I’m not great at doing this. But I’m trying. When I see genuine unmet needs in my family, if I can meet them (and if it is right for me to do so), I will try and meet them. Ditto for the work of the Lord in other nations. You see, the cross of Christ revolts against all that is self-centered. But you’ll have to work against going with the flow of our culture.

“Give generously to others in need.” This is where Christianity really shines. But it means that we will have to give up our platforms and get off our soap boxes and put our arms around this confused and dangerous world. I’m proud to know several Christians who live this way. They are a model of the kingdom for me and others. To them I say, thank you!

Friday, September 19 

7:40 PM A couple of highlights from my day:

1) Stopped by Bethel Hill and left some roses for my rose:

2) Spent the early evening on the front porch re-reading this book by Paul Himes. (Full disclosure: I was Paul’s Ph.D. supervisor and wrote the foreword.)

Paul’s concluding chapter is a doozy. In fact, this is one of the most clear-thinking books I have read in a long time. Under “Theological and Practical Implications,” the author makes several important points. Perhaps the most important is that “this world is not my home.” That fact, says Paul, is overlooked because we American Christians take one of two incorrect theological approaches. First, while we claim that “our citizenship is in heaven,” we forget that we do indeed have an earthly home as well, namely, the church, the body of Christ. “Consequently,” writes Paul, “there is no excuse for a ‘holy’ withdrawal from engagement with the world.” In the second place, Paul says that we American Christians are all too eager to set up a rival kingdom in place of kingdom of heaven in the form of the United States of America. The result is that “…nationalism and politics are inadvertently set up as idols against the God who alone deserves the praise of the Church.” This is so right on. The Gospel that Jesus preached isn’t one that boasts about American freedoms but instead is one that turns the other cheek and in which there is no difference between Jew or Greek or (by implication) American and Chinese. This is a corrective that is needed more today than ever, and Paul is correct to emphasize it. I am not sure that we Christians in America get it. We tend to elevate political power to the level of a theological virtue. Paul Himes clearly shows how this is misguided as he debunks the myth of Christian America.

This is a very thought-provoking book, as I said. I highly recommend it (again!).

3) Finally, my thanks to everyone who played our little “guess the scholar” game. The answer, of course, is A. T. Robertson. And the winner is:

John of Greenfield, Indiana

Congratulations, brother. I’ll get the book in the mail next week.

5:22 PM Let’s see… what does this double delta stand for?

Dave’s Dope-Slap?

Dastardly Deed?

Dudley Do-Right?

Nope! How ’bout Rob Plummer’s Daily Dose of Greek! Greek students, take note! Especially if you are using the grammar written by yours truly!

11:48 AM Hello bloggers,

Sorry for posting so much about me of late. I think we all need a break from that, don’t you? So, to change the subject ….

The journal New Testament Studies has kindly been allowing access to several of itsessays for free. I have been reading Graham Stanton’s “The Fourfold Gospel” with great interest, since I am a proponent of the “Fourfold Gospel Hypothesis.” (See myWhy Four Gospels?) The essay, of course, assumes a commitment to the Markan Priority Hypothesis.

When Matthew wrote his Gospel, he did not intend to supplement Mark: his incorporation of most of Mark’s Gospel is surely an indication that he intended that his Gospel should replace Mark’s, and that it should become the Gospel for Christians of his day. Similarly Luke. Luke’s Preface should not be dismissed merely as the evangelist’s way of honouring literary convention. There is little doubt that Luke expects that his more complete Gospel will displace his predecessors, even though he may not intend to disparage their earlier efforts. Whether or not John knew of the existence of one or more of the synoptic gospels, he seems to have expected that his Gospel would win wide acceptance as the Gospel.

If I may be permitted a few random reflections …

I deeply appreciate Stanton’s tireless work in Gospel studies. However, as I have tried to show in my book, to understand how the four Gospels got to us, one needs to forget virtually everything that has been previously accepted as fact about the Synoptic Problem. The Fourfold Gospel Hypothesis does not allow readers to acquire a new idea that can be applied to their existing solution to the problem. Simply put, students of the Gospels cannot hold to the traditional solution of Markan Priority and accept the concepts that are put forth in Why Four Gospels? Let me elucidate:

1) The Markan Priority Hypothesis — which is the “affirmed” interpretation of history based almost exclusively on the internal evidence — is fatally flawed when one takes into account the writings of the earliest Christian fathers. Regrettably, any theory of New Testament interpretation, once it is established, becomes nearly impossible to dislodge, even if new (and seemingly contradictory) evidence is produced. Any new interpretation of the events, if it is to be accepted, must be built around the old consensus and incorporated into it, even at the expense of logic. An example of this is the Farrer Hypothesis, which dispenses with “Q” while insisting on Markan Priority. Indeed, so embedded is the popular view in the public consciousness that it is nearly impossible to dismiss it. The story is “safe,” and the matter is not really open to debate. In my opinion, New Testament scholarship has become so preoccupied with maintaining the status quo that it has neglected to explore the external evidence. Moreover, I think there is insufficient curiosity, generally speaking, as to why the Gospels were written in the first place.

2) As I have noted, the accepted version of the story focuses on the internal evidence. If, however, one were to seriously investigate the external evidence — the evidence provided by the patristic testimony — it would become evident that current explanations are incongruent and incompatible with the opinions of the fathers. Why, for example, did Clement of Alexandria insist that the Gospels “containing the genealogies” (i.e., Matthew and Luke) were written first? And why is Matthew always listed as the first Gospel? Why is Mark’s Gospel consistently described not as an independent work of Mark but as a record of the words of the apostle Peter? In light of this evidence, it seems illogical to believe that our earliest Gospel was written by Mark, a non-eyewitness.

3) Ensconced deeply in the affirmed version is the notion that Mark contains inferior grammar to that found in Matthew and Luke. Some Markan priorists have even gone so far as to claim that Mark contains “errors” that were subsequently “corrected” by Matthew and Luke. Yet each of these supposed “errors” allows for a plausible alternative explanation that does not require Markan priority (as I have attempted to showhere). If the New Testament student desires a complete understanding of the factors that led up to the writing of the Gospels, the internal evidence alone simply does not provide it. The external evidence keeps getting in the way of the affirmed version.

4) Again, why are the fathers so adamant that Matthew came first? Why did Clement aver that Matthew and Luke came before Mark? Why do the fathers go to great lengths to show that Mark never set out to write a Gospel but simply recorded the words of Peter as they were spoken before his Roman audience? What has prevented proponents of the affirmed view from asking these vital questions? The answer, in my opinion, is that the consensus view is falsely shackled to a misguided preference for the internal evidence. In short (and this post is already way too long!), as long as the patristic testimony is ignored, the internal evidence, which by its very nature is subjective, will continue to reign supreme. And as long as the traditional view is anchored in the minds of scholars, the solution will remind hidden.

So what is the simplest explanation of the facts — all the facts? To discover that, one must be bold. The missing pieces of the puzzle must be included if we are to assemble the whole puzzle rather than leaving them out because they do not seem to fit. Taking the external evidence into account will have serious repercussions. The answer to the Synoptic Problem will remain incomplete until a central piece of the puzzle is in place.

Think about it 🙂

Dave

10:45 AM New Festschrift in honor of Keith Elliot:Texts and Traditions. Just had our seminary library order it. (At $171.00 it’s a bit expensive for us average Joes.) The contents follow. I am eager to see the essay on “St.” Mark’s style.

Michael W. Holmes,When Criteria Conflict
D. C. Parker, Variants and Variance
Eldon Jay Epp, In the Beginning Was the New Testament Text, But Which Text? A Consideration of ‘Ausgangstext’ and ‘Initial Text’*
Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, Eclecticism and the Book of Acts
James A. Kelhoffer, Hapless Disciples and Exemplary Minor Characters in the Gospel of Mark: The Exhortation to Cross-bearing as both Encouragement and Warning
James W. Voelz, The Characteristics of the Greek of St. Mark’s Gospel
Tjitze Baarda, The Syro-Sinaitic Palimpsest and Ephraem Syrus in Luke 2:36-38 and 1:6
Peter Doble, Codex Bezae and Luke 3:22: A Contribution to Discussion
Jeffrey Kloha, Elizabeth’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46)
H. A. G. Houghton, A Flock of Synonyms? John 21:15-17 in Greek and Latin Tradition
L. W. Hurtado, Textual Ambiguity and Textual Variants in Acts of the Apostles
Holger Strutwolf, Urtext oder frühe Korruption? Einige Beispiele aus der Apostelgeschichte
J. Lionel North, 1 Corinthians 8:6: From Confession to Paul to Creed to Paul
Peter M. Head, Tychicus and the Colossian Christians: A Reconsideration of the Text of Colossians 4:8
David R. Cartlidge, How to Draw an Immaculate Conception: Protevangelium of James 11-12 in Early Christian Art
Paul Foster, The Education of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Denise Rouger et Christian-B. Amphoux, Le projet littéraire d’Ignace d’Antioche dans sa Lettre aux Ephésiens
William J. Elliott, How to Change a Continuous Text Manuscript into a Lectionary Text

10:28 AM “Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.”

Good word from the apostle James (James 1:19, The Message). In recent days, God has been doing things in my life that I don’t understand. Sickness. Disappointment with people I trusted. Cancellation of ministry trips. When God’s actions — or the actions of others — do not conform to what I think is “justice,” I am tempted to act in the flesh. But God is perfect in wisdom, power, and love. James says we must trust Him to “landscape” our lives. And so we must be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” It is my hope that as you go through the day you might remember that God can do what you can’t do. Seek the lessons God wants to teach you today. Pray repeatedly, earnestly, even for those who have let you down. God is your Father still and He has a good plan for your life. Absolutely nothing can get in His way if we will only submit to His way.

Thursday, September 18 

7:14 PM Just added this portrait to the mantle in my library at Bradford Hall. A good friend gave it to me.

This scholar was born not far from where I live near Chatham, VA. He attended Wake Forest College prior to opening the Civil War. My favorite quote of his? “The greatest proof that the Bible is inspired is the fact that it has withstood so much bad preaching.”

And his name?

Send me the correct answer (along with your mailing address) and I will add your name to the pool of contestants. I’ll announce the winner this time tomorrow. The prize is a copy of my It’s All Greek to Me: Confessions of an Unlikely Academic.

5:42 PM My little buddy Sheba getting groomed.

5:22 PM Why we need to lift both hands up to God when praying: 

Lift one hand to the Lord in prayer. Taking all your petitions and worries and griefs to the Lord in prayer. Don’t leave one thought or feeling or worry hidden from His presence. Cry out to Him in the anguish of your soul. Lift up the other hand in thanksgiving. One steady theme has emerged for me in my reading of the scriptures. It’s like God has grabbed my face and said, “LOOK at Me. Worship Me. Hope in Me.” When I begin to view my life with eternity in mind the present sufferings are becoming smaller because I can see the Glory of the Cross. I can be thankful that MY GOD IS BIGGER than anything that I face. Thankfulness that God sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood!

ReadWhat is in a name? I’m glad I did.

4:04 PM Along with my iPhone 5s I bought a recharger that also functions as a phone case. It is pretty nifty. I’ve been talking on the phone all day, so when the “20 percentage battery life left” message popped up on the screen I immediately flipped the little switch on the back of the phone and now it is recharging. Oddly, every time I do this I notice something strange. The iPhone heats up. You can literately feel it get hot in your hands. It’s an odd feeling, let me tell you.

Right now I am allowing my spiritual batteries to be recharged. And slowly, very slowly, the life is returning to my weary soul. I’m beginning to warm up again to life, to the responsibilities I face, to the challenges I must conquer. It’s a good feeling. No, it’s not happening all at once. No legion of angels has intervened. Even the apostle Paul (whose handkerchief healed others) had to become weaker in himself until the divine power (and heat) was seen in his life. He slogged through life with his “thorn” (or, better, “stake”) in the flesh. That was simply God’s will for him.

What is your thorn in the flesh? How are you handling it? Know where to find help? There was once an old rugged cross, on a hill far away, and it freely offered to anyone who would receive it everything the Father promised — forgiveness, renewal, strength, passion, power. I’m not the least bashful telling you that I have grown weary in well doing. But two things are holding me up: the hands of God. “Oh God, all my life I have proclaimed Your marvelous works, and now that I am old and my hairs are gray … I will sing songs to You, because You have redeemed me” (Psalm 71:17-24). I am meeting God. Alone. That is the energizing principle of everything we do. I am in my “closet” (Matt 6:6), apart from the eyes and ears of others, alone with my Savior and Best Friend. My Heavenly Father knows my needs. It is my faith in Him that sustains me.

As God has promised, His word always proves true.

11:02 AM I am feeling worse today so I have cancelled my trip to Guyana. I need rest and replenishment. A quick nap isn’t enough. A daughter of mine reminded me today of the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. What a lesson! What an encouragement! “The spirit needs to be fed, and the body needs feeding also. Do not forget these matters; it may seem to some people that I ought not to mention such small things as food and rest, but these may be the very first elements in really helping a poor depressed servant of God.” So said Spurgeon. This is a profound lesson that I have been all too slow to learn. So I will rest up and be ready to teach my classes next week and for my trip to Asia on Oct. 2. I’m thankful for your prayers — and for the Scriptures: “Don’t worry over anything whatsoever. Instead, tell God every little detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer. Then the peace of God that transcends human understanding will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.”

Wednesday, September 17 

5:23 PM Last Sunday someone noticed that I was still wearing my wedding ring. They even commented on it to me. I hadn’t realized that people were actually checking out my left hand to discover whether I was ringed or not! I said that, yes I was, and that my heart is still held in a vice-like grip by my bride. I recalled that in the Garden the two genders were already joined together and had to be separated by the Lord in a surgical procedure. Death is that surgery for a widower, but the loss is more than a rib, way more.

Anyway, in case you were wondering, I’m still ringed.

12:04 PM “I do not want to act in the flesh. I want the church to act in the Spirit.” These are the words of “Brother Victor,” a Christian on the ground in Iraq. Please listen to the interview with him called The Trauma Is Indescribable. The suffering has been going on for centuries. The atrocities are barbaric. Christians have never been accepted in the Middle East, merely tolerated. What can you do?

1) Pray. This is what Brother Victor calls for more than anything else. When we look at the life of Christ, we see how important He considered prayer. Pray that the God who designed the universe will intervene and bless. Let us wait upon God for His grace and mercy to help in time of great need.

2) Surrender. Do not be surprised when suffering strikes you. Paul says that suffering is as much a gift of God as is faith (Phil. 1:29). I believe we are on the verge of the time when genuine Christianity will be considered a cult in America. Be prepared to accept suffering as a normal way of life. Be willing to enter the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Don’t listen to the lies of American churchianity. Our culture, even our church culture, is geared to avoid sacrifice and suffering. But that’s not the way real life works.

3) Give. Don’t just talk about the trauma in the Middle East. Here’s my challenge to you. Live on less if that’s what it takes for you to give and to give sacrificially so that your brothers and sisters might have food, clothing, and shelter. I recommend theBaptist Global Response. But don’t just talk about the problem. Don’t just link to the above interview. Don’t just pray about the situation. May I ask you, dear reader, to prayerfully consider giving at least $10.00 to this need? You see, love is the only force that can draw us to reality in the handling of our finances. Let love rule!

10:50 AM Just received this awesome email from a dear friend:

Praying that your cold will abate and you will feel better soon. Thanks for speaking of your black night and Dust Bowl. I just called [wife’s name] and told her how much I love her. Boy, do I take her for granted. Thanks for the reminder and thanks for being willing to love us (readers/sons/daughters/students/apprentices) enough to share from your heart of hearts.

I wrote back (in part):

I’m glad you called [wife’s name]. I regret that I did not tell Becky more often how much I loved her. I say that with tears welling up in my eyes. Life is too short not to be intentional about our relationships.

Barry Manilow’s Could It Be Magic is so good it hurts. It came out a year before Becky and I got married.

I watched this YouTube on my anniversary. Becky was my best friend. “You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes” (Song of Songs). 

Lady take me
high upon a hillside
High up where the stallion meets the sun.
I could love you,
build my world around you,
Never leave you till my life is done.

In 1976 God opened my side, placed a woman there, permanently, intrusively, achingly. We cleaved to each other the way flesh cleaves to the bone. Out of the world’s billions she was the one He had chosen. Thus began a rich adventure ended only by death. Loved she was, imperfectly but deeply. Missed she is, deeply and achingly. Regrets? Many. But the greatest is not telling her daily — many times a day — how much I loved her.

Maybe it’s time you called your wife?

9:50 AM Hey thoughtful readers! I’ve got a new book for you. If you’re looking for a great discussion of the ever-debated subject of foreknowledge, then this is the book for you.

It is not a philosophical work. It is rooted in the actual situation facing the readers of 1 Peter. I think Paul has done a masterful job, and my opinion is completely unbiased! As my SEBTS colleague Dave Beck puts it:

This work by Paul Himes is an excellent example of the merging of detailed lexical and semantic analysis with social scientific investigation and theological interpretation. He sets aside the often predetermining theological debate on the relationship between foreknowledge and foreordination to focus on the social identity of the original recipients and how they would have perceived the foreknowledge of God and its function in their circumstances. The result is a careful analysis that advances our discussion of the interpretation of 1 Peter and provides practical theological insights for the church today.

Also, I think we owe good deal of gratitude to Wipf & Stock for publishing the work of freshly-minted Ph.D. students. This is Paul’s first entrée into the wild and wooly world of publishing but I am quite certain it will not be his last.

Kudos, Paul!

9:22 AM As a follower of Jesus, an attitude of gratitude is to be an everyday thing, but today I am thinking deeply of all the things I am thankful for.

1) I’m thankful for your prayers. Whatever I have is nasty, but I’m already feeling a bit better. I need to catch a flight to Guyana on Friday so your continued intercession would be appreciated.

2) I’m thankful for a very good night’s rest. I slept 10 hours straight until I was awakened by the dogs barking loudly. I got up to see what the fuss was all about and saw the donkeys grazing happily in my front yard. Recalling James 1:14 (“Each person is tempted when he is lured by his own desires”), I got a bucket of oats and the donks were back in their pasture in no time. Five minutes of fence-mending and I think we’re good to go — until the next prison breakout.

3) I’m thankful for family. Here’s my grandson Bradford celebrating his third birthday at the family’s favorite Mexican haunt.

Nate sent me this pic yesterday. Sweet!

4) I find that I am especially grateful for friends who constantly write and check up on me. These guys are the greatest.

Oh God, forgive me when I whine. I am as blessed as any other man on earth. Yes, Becky is gone, but I can think of much harder ways to lose a spouse than to cancer. Today I am resting up and working a little bit on a Festschrift article that’s due on Nov. 1. It’s on the origins of the Gospels. I want to give a quick summary of the external evidence. It’s not easy to do, I’m finding.

The past 7 days have been a time of triumph as well as some pretty rough stuff. So I give thanks for the good and the not-so-good and touch the words of Scripture and pray for the Lord who heals to do His work.

Tuesday, September 16 

11:42 AM Watch this beautifultime-lapse video of the aging process. The idea that we have all the time in the world to serve Jesus is a myth. We can’t give God “a little bit” of our time to keep Him happy. If we are serious about following the way of Jesus, we have to submit each day to Him as if it were our last.

9:45 AM Hello blogging friends,

Well, here I am sitting at the computer again, this time sipping hot tea and nursing a cold I picked up in California. I want to begin by saying that speaking at 412 Church was one of the highlights of my teaching ministry this year. Never have I met people more hungry for simple Bible study. And this in a denomination often called out for its anti-intellectualism. Hogwash. Each Sunday service was packed. I guess I spoke to upwards of 1,500 people this weekend. I had very much looked forward to getting reconnected with my friend Don Stewart and meeting Joe Holden of Veritas Seminary. My talks focused on the reliability of the New Testament and Jesus’ call to follow Him in radical obedience and love, expressed both through correct doctrine and scandalous acts of Calvary-love. American exceptionalism runs deep in evangelicalism, so I also felt I needed to address the futility of politics. Jesus Christ is the only answer to the malaise that afflicts our homes, families, and societies. Well, it was a great time. I’ve posted some pix below. I’m told the church will have DVDs made of the conference in case you’re interested.

You would think that a guy who lived in California for 27 years could have adjusted to the heat, but I wasn’t used to experiencing temps in the 100s each day. My main problem was going from the heat into frigid, climate-controlled indoor venues. I guess the old bod couldn’t take it, hence this bout with pneumonia. (Just kidding. But whatever I’ve got is nasty.) I have nothing but the greatest envy for people who can sleep on airplanes, but I guess that’s just not my gift. Also, Thursday I was hit by an emotional firestorm as I remembered my wedding day. I hope it’s okay if I tell you what I was feeling. It felt like the night was black. It felt like the dawn would never come. It felt like the clouds were veiling the sky. I was in the Dust Bowl and the pain of loss was overwhelming. I told the folks at church, “Thursday was the second most difficult day of my life.” And it was. Again and again that day I had to relinquish control. You know, self-pity can ruin a life. Grief reduces all decisions to one, one simple decision that must be made over and over again. When God brought Becky and me together it was a true joining of two unrelated people through a solemn exchange of promises. But that covenant we agreed to so many years ago was but a foreshadowing of the greater covenant that God made with me by bleeding for me on the cross, enabling me to become His own blood relative in a relationship that, unlike marriage, will last forever. On Thursday past, there was an overwhelming reality of loss to come to grips with again, and it is little wonder that people try to evade it through drink or busy-ness. Yet even while I was struggling with the absence of Becky, I had a sense that Jesus was every bit as involved with me as a wife could be, only more so. Last Thursday on this blog I gave voice to my memories of Becky, and don’t be too surprised if I continue to do that from time to time. I’m creating a biography for my children and grandchildren, and it’s not just stories. It’s who she was as a person. It’s about the one person in my life who, apart from God Himself, was the impetus for me becoming more conformed to the image of Christ. Letting go doesn’t mean you don’t remember the past. It’s just a shift in focus, from presence to precious memory. And how painful those memories can be! I had a rich life because of her. I’m still learning how to say goodbye so that I can eventually move on to another hello. I’m still learning how to mourn in a way that doesn’t interfere with my new lifestyle. Alas, so much to learn!

Today, I’m just tired. Last night I never worked harder at sleep or failed more miserably to attain it. And now, here I am. Blogging about Becky when I should be in bed. For now, I’m content with sipping tea and resting in the love of my Savior — and hers. As for Becky, it’s time to say goodbye to her again. I’ll see her on the other side. I know that. And that’s the truth that will fill me again each time I pour myself out.

Thursday, September 11 

11:50 AM ¿Tiene usted el deseo de aprender el Griego del Nuevo Testamento? ¡Si es así, estamos contentos de anunciar la publicación de la gramática introductoria de David Alan Black!

Read morehere.

10:12 AM Today, as you know, marks my 38th wedding anniversary. Where to start? How about with a little reminiscing.Let’s go back a year, to the last time Becky and I celebrated “our big day” together. Never was a couple treated more royally. All day long, Becky and I had been excommunicated from the south side of the house while the conspirators carried out their carefully planned plot. This included seeing that the Waldorf Astoria cake (our favorite) was ready to go. Eventually the dinner bell was rung and out came the honeymooners. We were both in a goofy mood, so we began singing the “Wedding March.”

All of a sudden our piano picked up the tune. Does Karen play the piano? I asked myself. No, they had connived our church pianist into providing live piano music during our meal. Leanna played all of our favorite hymns and worship songs.

It was the perfect ambiance for our evening. Here you see our first course. Karen and Becky’s mom (who had been visiting with us) had thought of everything. Recalling our days living in Switzerland, they started us off with delicious fondue and fresh, crispy vegetables with a side of humus.

The only thing lacking in the fondue was the wine but, hey, we’re Baptists. The main course consisted of roasted veal and artichokes tenderly wrapped in bacon, and the dessert, as I said, was our favorite cake. Becky and I just talked and reminisced and read the cards that had been laid on the table. We had shared life together and we knew that soon we would share death. I was never more at peace, and yet I was never more scared than that night. Just when I thought they had thought of everything, out comes a box of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii.

Becky and I immediately went into reenacting mode. I offered her a nut (just as I did 40 years ago in the cafeteria line at Biola when we first met), and she accepted it, saying to me, as she said to herself those many years ago, “You don’t know this, but you’ve just met your future wife.”

My favorite moment of the evening was inviting Becky to take a drive with me. She had just enough energy to make it down the front steps, so off we went into the sunset, as they say.

Then it happened. Suddenly I could smell it all over again. It smelled like youth, and it smelled like innocence. All of a sudden we were young again, and life seemed like an endless highway.

It’s hard for me to explain how looking at this picture brings unspeakable joy to my heart even as it is breaking it. We were young, and then we were old. It seemed to happen just that fast. (Take note, you younger couples.) Before you knew it we were back home. We got Becky reconnected to her oxygen supply and she fell fast asleep, exhausted by the day’s events. We didn’t know it then, but she had less than two months to live. We settled into an easy rhythm, preparing the best we could for the inevitable. Many friends emailed us words of encouragement. We knew we were very nearly there. And then she was gone.

And so here I am, on one of the most surreal days of my life, sitting at the computer trying to tell complete strangers what I’m feeling. I still can’t get used to Becky’s death but I have accepted it. My mind is flooded with images. It’s as though I can’t stop talking to her, telling her how beautiful she is, how much she means to me. I say to myself, You should be adjusted by now, but death is a terrain so vast and rugged that you never adjust completely to the loss. It’s been said that it takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months to recover from the death of a spouse. So I’m being patient with myself. I’m so encouraged to see how God is working through all of this, and not only in my life. I’m so grateful to be able to look back and not see just the darkness but also the light of the Lord breaking through the dark clouds. I know that I am not the same person I was on this day a year ago. If nothing else, I’ve learned to love more and empathize more and serve more. I can’t be the same when He is in my life, when He makes everything new, when nothing in my life is hidden from Him. “It matters to Him about you,” says Peter. Allowing God’s presence to penetrate our lives and renew our hearts is the first step toward healing.

One thing is for sure. I can’t wait to see her again. I want to sit here and write for hours. I want to type a million words and underscore them and yell at the top of my lungs, I love you! I know she can’t hear me but I’ll say it anyway.

I miss you, Becky.

I will never forget you.

Happy anniversary.

7:45 AM Received some sad news from Odessa today. The elders there are anticipating the war to spread to their city and hence they have cancelled my trip in November. Please join me in praying for the peace of Ukraine. Speaking of traveling, as you know today I leave for California to speak at anapologetics conference on Saturday and to minister the word on Sunday. While I am gone a group of elders from a Raleigh church are meeting on the farm for a retreat. (I always try and have someone on the farm while I am traveling.) On Monday one of my colleagues from SEBTS will be holding a personal retreat here. I am so glad to see this ministry, the vision of Becky, continuing in her absence. Before I leave for the airport I hope to share some thoughts about her and about this, our anniversary. In case you were wondering, the speakers’ schedule at 412 Church in San Jacinto is as follows:

9:15: Don Stewart,The Case for Christianity.

10:15: Dave Black, Can We Trust the New Testament Text?

1:30: Dave Black, Why So Many Bible Translations?

2:45: Joe Holden, Archaeology and the Bible.

4:00: Q & A.

Hope to see many of my friends who live in SoCal there.

Wednesday, September 10 

10:18 PM Weekend weather forecast for San Jacinto? 104 degrees. Yep, it’s Southern California during the month of September.

9:44 PM A few more odds and ends …

1) Aussie Craig’s latest post will get you thinking. Read Neither Calvinist nor Arminian; but, I’m not sure I’m Baptist either.

2) What’s new at ourGreek Portal?

Key Issues in New Testament Criticism (Audio Series)
Added 9/10/2014

HCNTTS New Testament Textual Commentary 
Added 9/10/2014

Cambridge New Testament Greek Grammar 
Added 9/10/2014

Hoi Polloi Podcast Episode 4 – Dr. David Alan Black 
Added 9/3/2014

Thanks to my ever-able assistant Joshua Covert for adding the links.

3) I want to put in another plug for my friend Robert Martin’s excellent bookThe Caregiver’s Beatitudes. I am deeply grateful for what his words meant to me when I was caring for Becky, and I predict that the same will be true of many other caregivers who acquire this book.

6:14 PM Good reminder here:Learning Contentment.

6:04 PM A friend just sent me this from Kona with the words, “For several reasons, this made me think of you.”

Everyone’s a comedian.

5:50 PM Hey friends. I hope you had a good past couple of days. Mine were just fantastic. Got to teach my classes and meet with friends and students and write and spend time with family — nothing too out of the ordinary but every facet I just mentioned made my life wonderful. Anyway. I’m too tired right now to blog about anything too heavy (but wait till the morning — the actual day of my anniversary!) so I’ll leave you with a few odds and ends.

1) Ourporous borders. Shameful!

2) Brian Fulthorpreviews my Why Four Gospels? I love his sense of humor:

Robert H. Stein, in his book Studying the Synoptic Gospels: Origin and Interpretation, 2nd Edition (Baker Academic, 2001), wrote the following:

….the plausibility of the Griesbach hypothesis is greatly weakened by the difficulty of not being able to provide a credible explanation of the activity of Mark that is consistent and coherent (148).

Well, I guess he hasn’t read Dave Black’s Why Four Gospels? yet, has he?

3) The Spanish edition of my Learn to Read New Testament Greek is nowavailable for pre-order. Sweet-tastik!

4) This email brought a smile:

I am working through your book and the DVDs, and they are such a blessing. I truly appreciate your enthusiasm as you teach, and I can honestly say things are making sense (using the morpheme approach), which for me being 45 is a major accomplishment at times. 

5) I am eager to hear the president’s speech tonight and his plans for degrading and defeating ISIS/ISIL, a group that is perhaps the epitome of evil. But let’s remember that our uniqueness as Jesus’ followers isn’t in how we vote but in how we live, even how we pray for our enemies and seek their salvation.

Walk in love.

Dave

8:12 AM As you know, on Saturday I am speaking at an apologetics conference on the Left Coast. My talks will center on the veracity of the New Testament. Indeed, I wrote my bookWhy Four Gospels? not so much to argue for Matthean priority as to affirm the complete historicity and apostolicity of the Gospels. Early in my Christian experience I discovered that the Gospels were — and needed to be — central in my understanding not only of the Good News about Jesus Christ but of life itself. Only the cross of Jesus can supply meaning to life, and that is because the cross and the resurrection are an interwoven reality. Of one thing I am certain: Christianity is a historical faith. It is rooted and grounded in historical fact. No “leap of faith” is required to believe in Jesus. As I once heard Francis Schaeffer put it in Switzerland, you don’t have to put your brain in park or neutral to become a Christian. His cross is the center of all history. It is the crossroads of the universe. No one can avoid confrontation with it.

It is my prayer for the weekend that skeptics may come to the Gospels with an open mind and heart, for there the living Christ is ready to meet Doubting Thomases in their pessimism and travelers to Emmaus in their intellectualism. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.

8:04 AM Check out this headline:

Well, Eddie may have stopped blogging, but Matthea Glass has just started. She is on a roll, let me tell you. Her site is called Nevertheless…

Tuesday, September 9 

9:28 PM It’s hard to sit down and try to summarize what a great day I had today. One of the best moments of the day came right after my Greek 3 class when I had my third interview with brother Abidan Shaw ofHoi Polloi podcast fame. We discussed my bookSeven Marks of a New Testament Church.

I’m told the link should go live in a day or two. Then I hopped into the car and drove to our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, the justly famousQueen of Sheba in fabulous Chapel Hill, where a group of us met to eat, drink, and be merry — and just remember the marriage God blessed me with.

We sat and talked and hugged and held babies and as we all went our separate ways I think we had grown just that much closer and our hearts were a little lighter because of the fellowship. Now that I’m back home I can’t stop thinking about it. I can still see my grandson Graham’s clear blue eyes.

I can see little Christian yakking about his dog and, in the midst of it all, I can still see a beautiful women I married 38 years years ago. You see, I love her still, after all these years, and let’s be honest, if you had been married to Becky you would too, for she was, well, Becky. Is there anything better on this old earth of ours than to love and be loved? A bereaved spouse is like a double amputee, and only the Lord can heal the wounds, can close up the naked flesh. Tonight, again, it was perfectly evident to me how blessed a man I am, have always been, a man who is grateful to God for the bizarre and beautiful mystery of marriage, a mystery that becomes more profound to me as the days and weeks wear on. Thank you, family, for standing with me, for loving me and loving on me tonight.

As all of you know, I had nothing to do with the gruesome, unwelcome stranger that visited my house 10 months ago, but I can determine to live my life in gratitude toward the One who is greater than death, who called Himself the resurrection and the life, who reconciled both me and Becky to God through His blood, and who walks with me and talks with me day in and day out.

Glory to God!

5:40 AM Ever considered what to make of so-called “seeker-sensitive” churches?

Whereas many of our churches will do practically anything to draw unbelievers to their services, the earliest Christians were so committed and so radical that few if any unbelievers dared join them. In New Testament times the early disciples came together not for evangelism or even for worship but for teaching, for fellowship, for the Breaking of Bread, and for times of prayer (Acts 2:42). The Lord’s Supper was not an addendum celebrated quarterly or monthly but the main reason the church assembled on the Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7). Jesus was front-and-center, not a pulpit.

“Church” did not mean a state-of-the-art building with all the latest gadgetry. It meant a company of committed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who met regularly (at least weekly) in homes or perhaps small rented rooms where a committed family spirit could develop. To reach outsiders they took the Gospel to them – a riverside (Acts 16:13), a marketplace (Acts 17:17), a school hall (Acts 19:9). Because expenses were kept to a minimum, funds could be used to support the poor and, when necessary, their teachers (Acts 11:29; Phil. 4:16). Each believer was taught to exercise his or her own spiritual gift (1 Cor. 12) in a spirit of love (1 Cor. 13). When the Body gathered, its goal was that of strengthening itself and building itself up in love (1 Cor. 14:26).

Because every believer was a priest and minister there was no need for an officiating “clergy.” Those who had been appointed by the Holy Spirit as pastors (Acts 20:28) became elders and teachers (Eph. 4:11), guides and leaders (1 Thess. 5:12-13). But their Senior Pastor was none other than Jesus Himself, in whose name they gathered. It was by devotion to Him and not to any human leader that they were held together. How unlike the guilds of the day!

The early church had little of the glitz and glamour of its modern counterpart. Few of its member were from the upper crust of society. It exercised discipline on its members. It preached Jesus as Lord, not as a benevolent butler. It called for total allegiance even when that went against the ruling authorities. Its power, passion, and purity was a flaming sword that guarded the way to the tree of life (cf. Gen. 3:24).

ReadThe Church No One Wanted to Join.

5:30 AM Some of you may have wondered why we call our home “Bradford Hall.”The Hall is named in honor of three of Becky’s ancestors: Governor William Bradford, Dr. William Bradford Brooks, and Mr. Bradford Noyes Lapsley.

William Bradford, author of the Mayflower Compact, was governor of the Plymouth Colony for 30 years and helped shape the political institutions of the first permanent settlement in New England. Bradford is remembered for establishing traditions of self-government (such as the town meeting) that would set the pattern for national political development in years to come.

William Bradford Brooks, Becky’s paternal great-grandfather, grew up in East Texas and operated Brooks Saline, the largest supplier of salt to the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy. During the war he served in the First Texas Heavy Artillery guarding the Texas Coast. Later he became a medical doctor in Fort Worth. A pioneer in the field of medicine, he founded the Texas Medical Examiner, the first medical journal in Texas, and was also the first doctor to specialize in the treatment of chemical dependency.

Bradford Noyes Lapsley, my wife’s father, served with SIM as a pioneer missionary to Ethiopia in the 1950s. Today he continues to publish works for Ethiopian pastors in the Amharic language. (SeeGood Amharic Books.) He has left a lasting legacy in the lives of thousands of Ethiopians whom he has touched with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So now you know.

5:22 AM “If we are going to be made into wine we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes.” Oswald Chambers.

Monday, September 8 

8:22 PM Tomorrow night a few of us are getting together in Chapel Hill to celebrate my 38th wedding anniversary. “Celebrate”? Crazy I know, but my theologian brain stops me in mid-sentence. Why “celebrate”? Don’t you mean “commemorate”? Or “remember”? Or “honor”? Or “memorialize”?

Silly me.

What difference does it make? God gave Becky and me 37 years together, and then some. And that is worth celebrating. Yes, we had our share of problems, but we eventually learned to endure them joyfully. It’s as though God were making a pearl out of our relationship, taking an irritating grain of sand and embedding it into the soft inner folds of our lives and then turning the irritant into a fluid that, in time, formed a pearl. A good marriage can’t be rushed. God needs time to work in our lives, turning our biggest irritants into priceless gems.

How’s your marriage? There is no escaping the need for patience as God works His miracle in your lives. For in one way or another, we must all be humbled. We must all die to self, for there can be no peace in a marriage without it. Marriage doesn’t mitigate the struggles of life; it only deepens them, makes them personal. It is this unrelenting personalness of married life that makes it so rewarding and pleasurable. So what if you’ve got struggles. View them not as a threat but as a great blessing. God is making a priceless pearl out of the two of you.

And that’s something to celebrate, even if your spouse is now in glory.

7:40 PM I leave for California on Thursday. Thankfully, the waves have beenblessed before my arrival.

Yep. Truth is still stranger than fiction.

5:25 PM Care to ride the tractor with me? Be sure to turn up your speakers. Ain’t nothin’ in this ol’ world quite like the purr of a Massie-Ferguson 135!

 

5:04 PM Been praying a lot today for some friends who are going through a tough time. I sent these thoughts to them in an email. Maybe they will encourage you if you are experiencing adversity. (Of course, the message is just as much for me as it is for you.)

Dear _________________,

Elizabeth Elliott, widow and biographer of her husband Jim, once wrote, “We must allow God to do what He wants to do. And if you are thinking you know the will of God for your life and you are anxious to do that, you are probably in for a very rude awakening because nobody knows the will of God for his entire life.”

She was right.

God can lead us from darkness into light. But He can also guide us out of light into darkness, into times when we must simply blindly trust HIM. It is part of the way of the cross. One thing I’ve noticed is the amazing endurance of the earliest Christians. Think of the peace that marked Peter as he slept between his guards the night before his execution, or Paul and Silas lying in prison with their feet in stocks, or Stephen whose face shone radiantly as he was being stoned to death. They were willing to go to their deaths singing. How could people die with such radiant joy and exultation? They did so in the power and love of the Holy Spirit. And because they knew others were praying for them.

You both have been “Barnabases” to me in so many ways. Please let me know how I can best serve and encourage you during this time.

With much love.

3:32 PM Greek students! Check out the New Testament Textual Commentary produced by the Center for New Testament Textual Studies at New Orleans Baptist Seminary.

10:32 AM Last night I received an email from a brother who has been receiving a great deal of what he considered to be unjust criticism lately and was wondering how to handle it. Here was the gist of my response:

Paul clearly teaches that we are not to seek our own good but the good of others. That’s clear. However, sometimes offense is inevitable. If you want to become a redemptive person, sometimes you have to make difficult choices. Peter, for example, had to keep on offending the Jews by eating with Gentiles. That’s called living redemptively. Moreover, within the church you will often find what I am calling “professional” weaker brothers or sisters, people for whom everything is black or white and who have the smallest comfort zone. They expect you to live by their self-imposed list of dos and don’ts. Sound familiar? They are not seeking unity; they are seeking control. Don’t let them! They need to be confronted in love for the Gospel’s sake.  

9:28 AM Looking forward to resuming my Ph.D. seminar on Philippians tomorrow. The book of Philippians has changed my life forever. My study of it, published inNovum Testamentum, showed me what Paul lived for, and what the Christian is to live for. It is our privilege to stand together in one spirit and contend as one person for the faith of the Gospel (1:27-30). Paul’s language pictures an athletic team in which every team member has a job to do — a joint effort, not an individual one. It is a life of selflessness, of giving rather than getting. And it is costly. Kingdom service involves sacrifice. In the words of Corrie ten Boom, “I learned to hold everything with a loose grip because it hurt when God had to pull my fingers away.” Salvation involves more than accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. It must include a commitment to becoming servants in the world. The church of the New Testament does not merely “do missions” or “send” missionaries. It is missions. If we are to be the church we must go to all nations. Please do not learn this lesson as late in life as I did.

9:15 AM My latest essay in Spanish: Recuperando la Perspectiva Paulina sobre el Liderazgo Pastoral. Grateful to mi hermano. I now have12 essays in Spanish. Praise the Lord!

7:56 AM “What God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it.” John Bunyan (Pilgrim’s Progress).

7:50 AM It’s not something I do often, but let me talk to you this morning about the “Pastoral Epistles.” (The quotation marks are intentional.) But first, an analogy from the Civil War. There are several myths that surround the war, but none greater than the myth of “Pickett’s Charge.” It should be called either Longstreet’s Assault or the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Attack. But convention trumps truth. Ditto for the Pastorals. As Curt Parton writes in his blog postWhat about Timothy and Titus?:

Timothy was highly valued by Paul, a great blessing to those to whom he ministered, and a wonderful example to us. However there is no scriptural support for the claim that Timothy was the pastor of the church of Ephesus, or that he or Titus were pastors of any other congregation.

My colleague Ben Merkle agrees. ReadWere Timothy and Titus Pastors/Elders? I love what these “myth busters” are doing. Just one example. Often we hear that pastors are in view when we read such injunctions as “preach the word.” That command, however, was given to Timothy, not the Ephesian elders. The same holds true for “do the work of an evangelist.” The reason Paul is eager for Timothy to do the work of an evangelist is precisely because Timothy was an evangelist/church planter (like Paul), not an elder in a local church.

I ponder what would happen if we took biblical eldership seriously. We would insist that our elders/pastors were home grown. We would also eschew the notion of a “senior pastor” other than Jesus Christ. (See Curt Parton’s Why we don’t have a senior pastor.) Folks, the Scripture is our greatest strength as church leaders. It’s our only guidebook. Yes, I realize that its probably much easier to lead a church with only one man in charge. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus never entrusted the leadership of His church to a single individual. If we want to truly follow and obey the Scriptures, we’ve got to adjust our mental picture of the church so it looks more like the book of Acts. Can you see anyone claiming to be the senior pastor of the church at Thessalonica? Or Philippi?

So I encourage you to read the posts I’ve linked to above. But if you really want to have a life-changing experience, try reading the book of Acts and the “Pastoral Epistles” in the light of their historical background.

Sunday, September 7 

2:44 PM It seems like it’s been forever since I last shared with you my thoughts about Becky. The day started out like any other, but right now I am bawling like a baby, my emotions having been triggered by this rendition of “When I Survey” I heard on BBN on the drive back from church today.

 

Becky loved to sing. For years we sang together in the Northeast Piedmont Chorale. But it was in California, in one of those larger churches with a professional-like choir, that she found her greatest joy as a soprano. And no hymn did she enjoy singing more than this arrangement by Gilbert Martin. Becky enjoyed the hymn as much for its words as its wonderful harmonies. She would often sing it at home.

I’ve said it before: losing Becky to cancer has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face in my 62 years of living. All too often it’s easy for me to forget how truly dependent on God I am. Things go right, and so I start to rely on my own wisdom and strength. But from time to time God, in His great mercy and grace, rocks that confidence to its core. My feelings ebb and flow, still to this day. Maybe it’s because my 38th wedding anniversary is this Thursday. Maybe it’s because I still miss her deeply and love her deeply, even though she’s gone. Usually my emotions erupt because some trigger activated them. Sights, smells, sounds — you never know what it will be. I just sit here and say, “Oh Lord, Oh Jesus,” again and again, thankful that the Holy Spirit intercedes for me with groans that words can’t express (Rom. 8:26). Saint Patrick wrote the following words in 433. They are still apropos today.

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me, God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me.

Some days, nothing hurts. At other times it seems like the pain is unbearable. I am still a teacher and a father and a grandfather and a missionary, but there’s a huge vacant place where Becky stood. Her loss subtracted part of who I am. Grief is an unwelcome intruder. I ask painful questions of God, unanswered questions. One day, if you live long enough, you will ask them too. The bottom line is that God’s ways are not our ways. He is way too big and sovereign and mysterious to fit into any of our little boxes. And that is how it should be. The Father of the Lord Jesus, who spoke not a word because He knew we could never hear Him, sent His Son, crushed Him, and now He loves me with the same love. I need Him. I need Him to hold me and to hear my heart break again and again and again and to shoulder the burden of grief with me. And I’m not too proud to say that I need others to hold me too. Community means everything to me right now.

Speaking of community, here’s where I spoke this morning.

Clement is a favorite of mine, not only because Kim and Joel attend there (Joel is the pastor), but because this church loves Jesus and loves the Gospel. I spoke about when I first caught a glimpse of the hidden treasure that Jesus talks about in Matt. 13:44, an earth-shattering time in my life, and then I spoke about the need to finish the school building in India. That sub-continent is gaining an ever-increasing hold on my heart. I pray that the American church would somehow get a glimpse of the needs there as well as the opportunities. “To love at all is to be vulnerable,” wrote C. S. Lewis. “Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.” India has been born in my soul. I will do whatever I can for her. Why? Because Jesus is coming soon. Whatever your eschatology might be, His return is promised. I have lived a long time on this earth and have studied every conceivable position about the return of Christ, from pre-trib to historic premillennialism to amillennialism. But I refuse to argue with anyone about the matter. For what it’s worth, my own personal eschatology can be summed up very simply. When Jesus comes, I’m going. Until then, until He comes back, He told us to occupy, to keep busy, to give His Cause our best rather than trinkets, to use earthly things correctly, to live in the light of spiritual reality, to choose the way of the cross daily, to think of as many ways as possible to simplify our lives and save money for world evangelism, to take no thought of tomorrow, to be willing to lose everything for the sake of the Gospel, to turn the world upside down for Christ. The alternative is the merry-go-round of churchianity that Satan uses to hold our families in bondage. So I agonize over India. I share the opportunities with others every chance I get. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is really the hinge upon which all genuine Christian outreach turns.

You ask, “What can I do?” Be an informed intercessor. Be a faithful prayer partner. Get personally involved by giving and going. Sponsor a missionary yourself. Arrange for a missionary conference at your church. (I would be happy to speak.) Finishing the task of global evangelization has never been more possible that right now. Yes, I have problems, and yes, you have problems. “In even the happiest of Christian lives there are deep pockets of incurable pain” (Larry Crabb). Let that pain make you more sympathetic with others who suffer. Let it spur you on to greater love and good works. I think the time is now to get started, don’t you? This has been the hardest year of my life. But God is my co-pilot. With Him I can always be myself. Being with Him makes me want to serve more and love more and be more.

How about you?

8:45 AM Over the past week I’ve received several emails from those of you who are Civil War buffs. Well, can you handle yet another post about the “wo-a” (“war” has two syllables where I live)? If you’ve been to Gettysburg you will be able to recognize the Leister House. I snapped this photo just over a week ago.

It’s a very humble setting but it was the Union HQ during the battle. It’s got just two tiny rooms. In one of them, General Meade had his council of war on the evening of July 2. I have absolutely no idea the exact words that were spoken during that meeting. I doubt if anyone does. But here’s the gist of what took place. Meade, in command of the entire Union army, essentially asked for the opinion of his Corps commanders. That takes both humility and courage — courage because what they said might have come out different from what you wanted. But it was important for Meade to ensure that everyone was on the same page. Here was an authority figure who cared about what others in his inner circle thought. He valued their opinions. Just another reason why I admire Meade so much. Turns out old goggle-eyed, snapping turtle Meade did an extraordinary job at Gettysburg, playing the cards he was dealt with exceptional skill. Even Robert E. Lee, some years after the war, commented, “Meade, in my judgment, had the greatest ability. I feared him more than any man I ever met upon the field of battle.”

Just think. It was in this shabby little farmhouse that this conversation took place. I’m glad it was never torn down and forgotten. I think it holds lessons on leadership for us today.

7:58 AM The Peach Orchard. The Wheatfield. The Cornfield. The Sunken Road. Places in American history that, for better or for worse, earned the right of capitalization. The everyday became historic. At each place the stakes were high. At each, soldiers laid down their lives for their cause. I have great affection for these historic sites, which keep history alive. Many of the men who fought and died in these places had not been born in the United States. German, Italian, even Hawaiian immigrants formed a large part of the Union army. Hawaiian did you say? Yep. Just readthis. 200 men from Hawaii served in the armed forces during the Civil War, including forces that fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. A film is currently being produced to document this historic fact (gohere).

What were my ancestors doing during the war? My paternal great-grandparents were farmers and German Baptists. They lived beside a meandering creek in western Maryland. Part of a great battle was fought on or near their farm. They were the Millers. You will read about them if you study the Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg.

History. How can you not love it?

Saturday, September 6 

4:14 PM The ancient Greeks had a saying: gnothi seauton (“Know yourself”). In April of 1862, Union General George McClellan wrote about his potential adversaries Joseph Johnston and Robert E. Lee.

“I prefer Lee to Johnston — the former is too cautious & weak under grave responsibility — personally brave & energetic to a fault, yet he is wanting in moral firmness when pressed by responsibility & is likely to be timid & irresolute in action.” Amazing. If you know anything about the Civil War, you know that McClellan isn’t describing Lee but himself! He didn’t know himself any better than he knew his enemies, including Lee.

Know yourself.

3:48 PM A topic making the rounds in the blogosphere is the problem of evangelical superstardom and its consequences both for the church and for the church’s witness in the world. First of all, let me say a word of appreciation to my own elders who have done a great service to the body by making decisions together and being accountable to each other. Moreover, our leadership has never been sensational or flamboyant, and their genuine humility (humility can’t be faked) has helped our congregation avoid the superstar-loving mentality of the surrounding culture.

Whenever I think of the problem of superstardom, I think of Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthian church. His approach to the problem of superstardom is thoroughly christocentric. His purpose is to bring the thought of every Christian (including the thought of every leader in the church) into obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 10:1-6) and to ensure that all boasting is boasting in the Lord alone (10:17). Believers must live with single-minded devotion to Christ (11:2). Today, I think our preoccupation with superstars stems from an inadequate understanding of Christ’s sole headship and authority (Col. 1:18). Christians are called to ensure that Christ alone has the preeminence (“the first place”) in everything and to see that He and He alone is acknowledged as the only Senior Pastor and Head of the body (1 Pet. 5:4). Paul’s theology in 1-2 Corinthians is nothing than a theologia crucis, a theology of the cross — that is, Christianity is the way of weakness (corporate and individual). “When weak … then strong” (2 Cor. 12:10; see my bookPaul, Apostle of Weakness). Everything Christians have they have in Christ. Nothing, therefore, is to be added to Christ and His archy (see myChristian Archy). The spectacular ego-stroking understanding of the Spirit that had infiltrated the Corinthian church must be stopped, says Paul, for the work of the church is to be the honoring of Jesus Christ. No leader, however “charismatic,” can be allowed to supplant the sole supremacy of Christ. In Him we are all one, and whatever differences exist are primarily functional. The pastor/elder is therefore no more “spiritual” than the least impressive member of the body. Each part needs the other. Hence no part should feel either inferior or superior, for “God has arranged the organs in the body, each one of them, as He chose” (1 Cor. 12:18). The result? A rich harmonizing of purpose (advancing the Great Cause) and an amazing supplementation of each other in the service of equipping the whole.

I encourage you to put no trust in a Christian “superstar.” The only real security is in Christ and living His way.

9:50 AM It’s a gigantic universe but a very small world.

Laniakea is oursupercluster in the universe. But it’s also a beach on the North Shore of Oahu that I often surfed in the winter time. Great waves too.

9:40 AM Sitting on the front porch last night enjoying a bowl of vanilla ice cream and homemade peach pie (courtesy of one of my daughters). Life don’t get no betta!

Friday, September 5 

5:22 PM Newbook on Hebrews. Looks promising.

5:18 PM Chatted yesterday with someone who is thinking about starting a blog. Though hardly an expert, I had this advice:

1) The first key to a successful blog is quality. “Content is king.”

2) The second key is frequent updating.

3) Try to make your blog personal if you can.

I rather like blogging. Even now, 11 years after I began DBO, I still get excited about it. As a general rule, I will probably read your blog if you adhere to the above qualifications.

5:10 PM In his latest blog post, Thomas Hudgins calls our attention to amajor conference on Erasmus’ Greek New Testament to be held in Basel. Wish I could attend. In just two years, the city will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the publication of this, the first-ever published Greek New Testament, and what a celebration I imagine it will be. It is widely assumed that its publisher, Froben of Basel, had heard about the forthcoming Spanish/Catholic Polyglot and wanted to beat the good folks in Alcalá to the punch. A helpful resource is an essay written by my Basel Doktorvater: Bo Reicke, “Erasmus und die neutestamentliche Textgeschichte,” Theologische Zeitschrift 22 (1966), pp. 254-265. Reicke coordinated the 450th anniversary celebration in Basel.

I love church history! I love Basel!

4:56 PM My thanks to Katy Isaacs, daughter of Kevin Brown, for a copy of herlatest book. I finished reading it today.

Katy is one of the most remarkable young ladies I have ever known. Unlike many authors today who write for fame and money, she writes so that others might come to know Christ. The key, of course, is to have an ear cocked toward heaven above the constant drone of the humdrum.

Thank you, Katy, for writing this book. Looking forward to your next one.

10:12 AM Nice write-uphere about my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Raleigh: The Queen of Sheba. This will be the place where I will be commemorate my 38th wedding anniversary next week with family and friends.

9:10 AM The Christian Post is reportingsome sad news: The president of a major Christian university is getting a divorce. I need to tread softly here. I do not know the couple. But any divorce is a tragedy. Any time we break our vows it is a tragedy. “Irreconcilable differences”? I think every marriage has them. On the other hand, Scripture allows for divorce in certain circumstances. The report does imply that the divorce has yet to be finalized; it’s still in process. I am praying for this couple. I am asking God to work a miracle. Can God heal a broken marriage? The answer is yes — in terms of the kingdom. A simple step of obedience can issue in the miraculous repair of something we think is a hopeless mess. I hope there is still time to restore a shattered relationship.

8:58 AM You’ll get a kick out of this:‘Why are you still single?’ My favorite comeback line?

Because I’m a deeply troubled soul. Would you pray for me?

8:38 AM Hey folks! Just a reminder that I’ll have the honor of speaking at a major apologetics conference in Southern California next weekend. The details arehere. Also, in case you didn’t know it, Biola University’s apologetics department has published a two-CD audio resource calledKey Issues in New Testament Criticism by yours truly. It runs about 2 hours.

On another note, here at the farm I met yesterday with an elder from a church in North Raleigh whose leaders are planning a retreat at Rosewood next week. To date we have hosted many hundreds of guests here at the farm and indeed I must say (without any bias whatsoever) that the farm is very conducive to spiritual retreating. So, folks, let me know if you want to take advantage of it for anything from a personal retreat to a family reunion. The price is right (free). Finally (for now), I’ve heard from quite a number of you about my book on Becky’s and my cancer journey, and I’m delighted you think it’s a good idea. Thanks for your prayers as we begin this project.

Thursday, September 4 

6:24 PM So what did the bachelor cook for supper tonight? Korean Bulgogi.

Yep. The real deal too. Well, truth be told, all I did was add some store-bought flavoring, and there you go. The purists might demur. But since I am the cook, I get to name my supper whatever I like. Oh, and here’s yours truly putting everyone to sleep today in chapel.

Sounding like a broken record, I praised God that Christendom is dying a slow death in America, and I reminded these young people that God is positioning them to be used powerfully to advance His kingdom in the years ahead. And they don’t have to graduate in order to get started. Thank you, Jon, for the gracious invitation to share the word today. I counted it a great privilege.

Oh, don’t forget to pray for Saeed!

1:48 PM Just had the privilege of speaking in the chapel at Cresset Christian Academy in Durham. Actually, that was my excuse to go to Durham to visit with my daughter and her husband — and the kiddos. Love my family!

8:15 AM “Do good because God wants you to be happy.”

I’m not sure where we get the notion that Christianity is safe or the cause of ephemeral happiness. Sometimes people ask me if I’m afraid of going to places where the church is persecuted. I’m more afraid of the American suburbs to tell you the truth. Jesus told us not to fear the things that can destroy the body but to fear the things that can destroy the soul. The giddy American church is obsessed with happiness and infatuated with super-stars. Following Jesus is cool. Not to mention all the temporal benefits it brings.

Yeah, it’s funny and disturbing to watch a video like this. But aren’t we guilty of the same philosophy?

7:48 AM This morning I recived an email from a friend who lives in Odessa, Ukraine. He just visited Artiomovsk, Kramatorsk, Slavyansk, Lisichansk, Severodonetsk, Pervomaisk, and Mariupol. He met with local pastors and others who are living in the savage conditions of war. In his email he included letters from eyewitnesses. One such testimony reads as follows:

You cannot imagine how it feels when shells and mines are exploding nearby. Not everyone’s mind can cope with it. Many women and children literally lost their ability to speak, others started to stammer. Have you seen grey-haired children? It is a scary sight. For weeks people are hiding in basements. There is no food, no water, no gas, no electricity. On the streets dead bodies of civilians are lying and often they are not permitted to be buried. Furthermore – some of these bodies are mined! At some point they become a prey of stray dogs, then mines are exploding killing everything on the way.

These believers are being challenged to follow Jesus to the max. While we in America find ourselves embroiled in the narrow issues that define conservatism, our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world are suffering unspeakable horrors. I challenge us to become radicals (in the original sense of the term — people who want to get back to the roots of what it means to love and serve). Obviously, I have not cancelled my trip to Ukraine in November. The world will always be a scary and insane place. Christ is breathing new life into His body in Ukraine, and I want to be a part of it. No doubt, there is much you can do too. Begin by praying. Pray for the moneychangers to be driven out of the temple. Pray for the little voices, the ordinary radicals who are trying to love their enemies. Pray for a new kind of Christianity in Ukraine, a new kind of revolution. Pray for unity among God’s people both there and here, whether Republicans or Democrats, capitalists or socialists, pacifists or just-warriors.

Pray for the peace of Ukraine.

7:32 AM Kevin Brown’s latest blog post (Who Has Access to Your Brain?) has me all choked up.

Where to start?

I can’t read anything Kevin says without feeling totally unworthy of his remarks (not an exaggeration). I am woefully inadequate to mentor him or anyone else for that matter. It’s hard to explain how Kevin’s words encouraged my heart just as they were breaking it. I am utterly overwhelmed by what I read. Honestly, I just can’t get used to it — being considered someone’s mentor. It was just yesterday, wasn’t it, when I was sitting at the feet of Jim Cook at International Baptist Church in Honolulu or Harry Sturz at Biola or Bo Reicke in Basel? I’m so encouraged to know that God does indeed provide us with mentors when we most need them. Kevin, I’m floored by your kindness and your heart for truth and genuineness. One thing I cling to is the knowledge that you would never follow me as you do Jesus. I’m so grateful for your friendship. This is jumbled I know, but so are my thoughts right now. All I want to say is God bless you. There is still so much learning and growing I need to do. You have been a spur to my own walk with the Lord.

Thank you. 

7:22 AM Civil War trivia — true or false:

1) Union General Abner Doubleday invented baseball. False.

2) Prostitutes became known as “hookers” because of Union General Joseph Hooker’s predilections. False.

3) “Sideburns” get their name from Union General Ambrose Burnside. True.

You can’t believe everything you read. Even the “experts” make mistakes. So test everything (1 Thess. 5:21). Be a Berean.

Wednesday, September 3 

8:15 PM Well, several of you talked me into it. I’ve decided to write the story of Becky’s (and my) cancer journey from the perspective of what it looked like as her husband. I’m tentatively calling the book Grace for Each Hour: A Care-Giver’s Story of Cancer, Loss, and Hope. I hope the book will be honest, sensitive, and occasionally humorous. Please pray for me. Honestly, I don’t know if I’m up to it. But I want to write it for the honor of the Lord, who kept me going when I stumbled and who infused my grief with hope. May the blessing of God be upon this project. Ready or not, it has begun.

Let me know if you’re praying for me, will you?

7:26 PM Help needed! I have a student in my doctoral seminar who is looking for the following essay:

Silva, M. 1982. “The Text of Philippians: Its Early History in the Light of UBSGNT3,” AAR/SBL Abstracts 1982, p. 158, SBL no. 59.

It’s not available in our library. Please let me know if you can help us out atdblack@sebts.edu.

7:18 PM Let’s say your husband or wife was in prison simply for being a Christian. How would you feel? That’s the case with Saeed Abedini. I hope you will consider joining me in praying for him on thesecond anniversary of his arrest (Sept. 26). I believe that God can release him. I believe God can keep him faithful to the Gospel even in prison. After all, as Christians we believe in things we don’t see (Heb. 11:1). If you have the gift of frustration and the sense that this old world is in a pickle, thank God for that. Not everybody shares your vision. The true servant of Christ realizes that obedience will often be dangerous and unpleasant. But such servanthood is the normal Christian life, or ought to be. I am boldly asking you to join me in fulfilling Heb. 13:3: “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them.” God is, after all, in the prisoner-loving business. Thank you.

7:02 PM Taking the quiz today over chapter 3. I was so nervous!

8:34 AM Look who’smemorizing Philippians in Greek.

8:23 AM Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address said the same thing as Edward Everett’s speech but in 1/60th the time. Less is more. 

(Just in case you were wondering why my books are getting shorter.)

8:16 AM Glory be. Abidan Shaw has already scheduled me for my next podcast interview with him for next Tuesday at 3:30. The topic? Seven Marks of a New Testament Church. I think he likes my books.

8:02 AM I forgot to show you pix of the conference center in PA. Here’s the chapel and dining hall.

And here’s the lodge where guests stay.

The whole place is serene and picturesque. It’s not uncommon to watch deer bounding across a field and disappear into the brush or see a wild turkey race along like Beep Beep the Road Runner then flee around a curve in the road, looking as though it should be accompanied by skidding sound effects. At night the place sounds like a bullfrog on steroids, amplified with a loud speaker. It leaves an impression, I tell you. Thomas and Lesly drove up from Maryland for the weekend. Here he is lecturing me —  again. I like him anyway.

Ken Coley message’s was on “wholeheartedness.” Loved it.

Again, I want to thank Ken and Kathy for the honor it was to serve them (and the Lord) this weekend in Pennsylvania. And oh, by the way, the food was really good.

Tuesday, September 2 

6:35 PM This and that ….

1) Enjoyed lunch today with Kevin Brown and his daughter Kandace at the Red Robin in Wake Forest. What did we talk about? Missions of course. Kevin (who blogshere) and I are so much on the same page that it’s downright scary. We agree that the most important thing is to employ material things for the kingdom of God rather than ourselves or our own churches. I am thrilled to be able to speak to his congregation later this year and share with them my vision for India. Thank you, Kevin and Kandace, for driving all the way from North Wilkesboro to have lunch with this old geezer!

2) My recent podcast interview about my book Why Four Gospels? is now available at theHoi Polloi website. I love interviewing with Abidan.

3) Greek 1 students! Be sure to check out thisparsing guide to all of the verbs in the exercises from chapter 3 (due tomorrow). And thanks to Jacob Cerone for this labor of love.

4) Why participles are important. (From our Greek 3 class today.)

5) The “Our Father” written tohonor Hugo Chavez?

“Chávez nuestro que estas en el cielo, en la tierra, en el mar y en nosotros, los y las delegadas, santificado sea tu nombre, venga a nosotros tu legado para llevarlo a los pueblos de aquí y de allá”.

Increíble.

6:12 AM It was 10 months ago today that Becky passed into the arms of her Savior. What to write? My mind draws a blank this morning. So let me share with you the words I posted on my blog an hour after her passing. Blessings, Dave

___________________________________________________________

The moment I have dreaded, and the moment I have been praying for, has arrived. Exactly one hour ago my beloved wife, precious lover, mother of my children, and closest partner in the Gospel, surrounded by friends and family, crossed the finished line. Yes, folks, she made it.

Hooray for Becky!

Three cheers for my gal!

You did it, honey!

Faithful to the end!

Praise the Lord!

Glory to God in the highest!

In case you didn’t know, Becky is scheduled to receive official sainthood from the Church. Well, not really. But she should. Why? Because she married the world’s biggest knucklehead. For 37 years she put up with his rough-sawn personality and taught him how to love other people. She is one of a handful of people you will never forgot. God used her time and again to remind me what life is all about — that people are more important than one’s profession. You really gotta hand it to old Solomon when he penned Proverbs 31. How in the world could he describe Becky when he had never even met her? I bet he’s standing in line to greet her now. I can’t imagine the crown that’s awaiting her as she enters her heavenly Home. “‘Crown’ did you say, Dave?”

The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom’s face; I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace; Not at the crown He giveth, but on His precious hand; The Lamb is all the glory in Immanuel’s land.

Honey, if I could send you a letter up there in glory, it would probably say something this:

My dearest Becky,

Thank you so much for your love and companionship. Thank you so much for opening my eyes to the needs in Africa and India. Thank you for your example of faithfulness to the Lord even in the midst of great suffering. You are the most amazing woman I have ever known. I have been blessed beyond measure to know you as my wife and the mother of my children. Thank you for the love and wisdom you have poured into others’ lives. You often said that you wanted to go out like Samson, that you wanted your last deeds to do more harm to the Evil One than your first deeds. I am pretty sure that the publication of your life story will do just that. Your ministry of disciple-making all over the world will never be forgotten. Only eternity will reveal the impact your life has had.

I love you, Becky Black! I miss you deeply, as do so many others, and you will forever be in our memories. Everything you believed in and hoped for has now been validated. I can just see you worshipping at Jesus’ feet. Enjoy His rest, sweetheart. We will see you very soon.

With much affection,

Your loving husband (for time) and brother (for eternity),

Dave

This morning, I held my wife’s cold hand as she took her final breath. I wish you could have seen her face. I have never in my 61 years witnessed anything more beautiful. Oh my Becky, how beautiful art thou! The moment she crossed the finished line a huge sense of joy swelled my breast as I thought of what she was doing that very moment at the feet of Jesus. Then I led the family in prayer and we sang the doxology.

The Scripture says, “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His holy ones.” No, I did not write “saints.” If ever there was a holy one, that person was Becky Lynn Lapsley Black. Her life was separated, sanctified for the Master’s use — every last cell of it, even the cancerous ones. She has left a legacy that will last into eternity. Will you, will I, follow her lead? Will we live as well as she did, and die as well?

Fare thee well, my darling. I love you with all of my heart. You loved me well. I shall never, ever forget you.

Monday, September 1 

8:58 PM “Never let your studies interfere with your education.” Mark Twain.

8:25 PM Hey folks! I’m back after a whirlwind trip to the great state of Pennsylvania. I tell you, it feels good to be blogging again. The other day Henry Neufeld and I were talking about the joys of blogging. Seems he’s been blogging up a storm lately as have several of my favorite bloggers (Jacob Cerone — welcome back!). I think many of us find blogging to be both addictive and inspiring. I can see why it’s still so popular despite Facebook and Twitter. While some people seem to struggle to post a pic or a comment on Facebook, bloggers are having fun writing away with whatever thoughts come to mind. I once thought about opening a Twitter account but then decided against it. Blogging is lots more fun. I realized I had stumbled onto ideas that people seem to really care about. I write for folks who like to cogitate but who also enjoy curling up in the sofa with something that’s unpredictable. When I’m reading other people’s blogs, I’m always looking for quick bursts of motivation. If the blogger is personable, so much the better. As I read blogs like Henry’s and Jacob’s I discover lots of new ideas that get my own writing juices flowing. You know, blogging can either be a huge waste of time or a very productive avocation. In the end, it’s become one of my most high-value activities as it nurtures my own soul and hopefully the souls of my readers.

Well, as I said, I just returned from 4 days in Gettysburg speaking at a conference as well as revisiting the site of the nation’s bloodiest battle. When it comes to the Civil War, I am mercifully free of all bias on the one hand and personal advocacy on the other. And oh — I’ve got some beach-front property in Fargo, North Dakota for sale as well. Actually, it’s probably impossible to find a completely unbiased American when it comes to the war, perhaps least of all in Gettysburg. Through the town men and women in Union blue and Confederate gray weave their way through the crowds, doing their best to remain in period. Not a few of them are severely overweight — which would have been an absurdity back in the 1860s. Period music wafts through the air, while suttlers push their wares, and store owners sell their gaudy Gettysburg t-shirts by the hundreds. I enter a friend’s photo studio on Steinwehr Blvd.

Rob Gibson is known and revered throughout the reenacting community as perhaps the best period photographer in America. As I climb the stairs to his studio I hear Rob explaining to a group of tourists how a tintype works. Many people are too frugal to sign up for a portrait, but yours truly, under pressure from a good friend who dared me, I stop and pose as one of the more famous combatants of the battle.

Rob gave me the jpeg, which I sent out to my family and friends with the caption: “Look who I ran into while in Gettysburg. Looks a little miffed that he lost the battle.”

There seems something both silly and noble about trying to portray a man like Robert E. Lee. But Gettysburg will do that to you. One can’t help but feel overwhelmed, excited, amazed, and humbled that an actual battle took place right where you’re standing. Like millions of other Americans, I found it engrossing. Having my likeness taken is a reminder that the soldiers who lived 150 years ago and who stare at us from the old daguerreotypes are really not all that different from most of us today except for all that facial hair. I have been to Gettysburg 5 times and still I find the site of Pickett’s Charge mindboggling. I have reenacted the assault 4 times, twice in a full woolen uniform. This time I did it in shorts and sunglasses with a bunch of buddies who met me for breakfast in town. It was their first time to cross “that bloody space.” We talked about the war and about reenacting. Much to my surprise, none of them had attended a big event. You’ve never really lived until you’ve spent the day roasting under a July sun confronted by faux-officers brandishing period sabers in front of a long row of Porta-Potties. Over here is JEB Stuart, instantly recognizable by his red beard and plumed hat, while over there stands Lee himself, resplendent in his colonel’s uniform. My Yankee friends would be able to recognize Grant and Meade in their new blue uniforms. Irony of ironies, Meade’s statue at Gettysburg is dwarfed by Lee’s. Lee you can lionize and certainly Grant, but Meade? Still, I give old Meade a lot of credit — a lot of credit — for the Union victory at Gettysburg. That day the South was outmanned, outgunned, and outgeneraled. Stuart had foolishly deprived the Army of Northern Virginia of its eyes and ears; Longstreet was slow and half-hearted; Ewell’s bloodied and tired men failed to take Cemetery Ridge. Meade, on the other hand, was as tough as nails and all over the battlefield, personally directing his troops. As my friends and I made it past the Emmitsburg Road and began to climb Cemetery Ridge to the Bloody Angle and Copse of Trees, I thought of Pickett’s famous answer to the question of why his division’s attack failed. “I always thought the Yankees had something to do with it,” was his laconic reply. Last Friday, my friends and I stood on the very place where hundreds of Americans were killed, blown apart by musket fire or double canister. During a Civil War reenactment, Federals and Confederates blast away at each other, but no one dies. Not so on July 1-3, 1863. War happened, it really happened, and the results are more significant that the 1,400 plaques and monuments you see plastered all over the battlefield. As Faulkner once said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Gettysburg proved that the seemingly invincible Lee could be defeated. It also led to heroic acts of kindness on both sides. Take the field hospital that was set up at the Lutheran Theological Seminary along Seminary Ridge. I had always wanted to climb into the cupola that stands atop Schmucker Hall (as the building is called). What would General John Buford have seen from those heights? Well, last week I wrote Mark Hoffman, who teaches New Testament and Greek at the seminary. I told him, “Basically you don’t know me from Adam, but since we are colleagues and both teach Greek, perhaps you might be willing to do me a big favor and see if I can get up into the cupola during my visit.” Mark wrote back a very cordial letter with the surprising and welcome news that the building has been turned into a museum, and that anybody can tour the copula by paying an admissions price.

Both Isaac Trimble and James Kemper (Confederate generals) were treated here after the battle, along with hundreds of wounded from both sides. Below I am standing in the exact spot where Sam Elliott (playing Union General John Buford in the movie Gettysburg) calls down to General Reynolds and says, “There’s a devil to pay.”

The seminary even allows skirmishing on its property each year. It has four stories of unforgettable displays, like this one showing Union wounded after the first day of battle.

I was ecstatic to have been in the cupola. The view was more than spectacular. The rest of my time in Pennsylvania was spent speaking at a conference at the Middle Creek Bible Conference Center in Fairfield, only a few miles from the Round Tops.

My hosts were Kathy and Ken Coley. The retreat center has been in Kathy’s family for years. It’s 535 acres of pristine Pennsylvania farmland devoted in its entirety to King Jesus. I was joined by my new friends Matt Olson (former president of Northland Bible Institute) and David Foster (a biology prof at Messiah College), both of whom brought excellent messages.

I spoke twice on missions and sacrifice in the cause of the Gospel (no surprises there, I suppose). Definitely a great time. A thousand thanks to the Coleys for their gracious invitation to minister the word. I kept praying that the Lord would fill us up with love and strength and wisdom so that we could all go back to our daily routines and pour ourselves out all over again. I’m starting to think He may well have accomplished that. To Him be the glory. Here’s a few more pix for you to enjoy while I go and cook supper. Good night.

The place where General Armistead was mortally wounded.

The Codori farm, famous for being right on the Emmitsburg Road.

This is the ground Lee’s men had to cover to reach the stone wall on the third day.

Lee’s HQ. It’s only a block from the Lutheran Seminary.

The site where John Reynolds was killed while leading his First Corps against Heth.

I drove up to Cashtown to see the place where Lee’s troops bivouacked the night before the battle.

Pickett’s reconstructed “Division.”

The Virginia Monument on Confederate Ave. Our “charge” began there.

We reach the Emmitsburg Road!

During the last few yards, we went at the double quick. There’s Armistead (Ken Coley) waving his hat.

Standing with Michael Cooper-White (to my right) and Mark Hoffman, president and professor of New Testament respectively at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg. Two more gracious hosts I have never met.

The Round Tops as seen from the Longstreet overview along Confederate Hwy.

Rob Gibson displays his magic. I was tongue-tied.

 

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September 2013 Blog Archives

Monday, September 30

6:10 PM Becky barely had the strength to dictate the following to Karen. I dare you to capture in your mind’s eye what she is describing without getting choked up. She named her mini-essay “What the Last Fight Is Like”:

I want to describe for you what these last days are like for two reasons. One so that you can be ready yourself for the last fight, and two so that you can help those who are fighting the fight.

The last fight takes place in the mind and heart doing direct battle with the Evil One. I am 60 years old. I accepted Christ into my life when I was 6 years old. So for 44 years I have been walking with Him. Those years have been mostly strong and full of confident faith. If He said it, that was enough for me. In this last battle, the Evil One is doing everything he can to reduce my faith to doubts. He knows his time is short and that if he is going to win the battle over my soul he had better do it now, quickly. The night time is the worst. He brings nightmares, usually causing me to doubt that I did not have enough faith or did not do quite enough good works to be saved or somehow I completely missed the boat.

Some of these nightmares are medication induced, though there is no doubt in my mind that a lot of it is direct spiritual attack by the devil. So, my friend, when you are going to visit those in the hospital or at home who are in their last days, I encourage you to go prepared with verses that teach the confidence that we can have in God’s faithfulness. We are kept by His faith. We have complete confidence in the Gospel because it is God’s power to save us to the uttermost. And I encourage you in your own life to memorize such verses as Romans 1:16-17, 1 John 2:1-2, Ephesians 6:10-, and Galatians 2:20.

These verses should be memorized upwards and downwards, inside and outside, because in that last fight your eyes get blurry and you cannot read them and your thoughts are fuzzy. So you have difficulty understanding them if they are read to you.  Also, the fight often is in the middle of the night, and you are the only one who is awake. In addition to memorizing these verses, it is good for you to memorize songs and carry the strength of these words. More and more they are making songs that are verses of Scripture put to music. Those songs are excellent to learn. One of the negatives about having songs on screens is that we never have to memorize the words. This does a great disservice to us in times like the last fight.

In the days ahead, please keep me in diligent prayer that I will confirm to the Evil One my choice in Christ as my Savior and my belief in the power of the Savior to save the soul of Becky Lynn Black.

“For I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

That verse has a very important truth: I don’t live by my faith but by the faith of the Son of God. It is His faith that holds me to the cross. So the Evil One is attacking the wrong person! Christ has already won the victory over him. That was settled at Calvary, so I cling to the cross and I am clothed in His righteousness. If I have missed the boat, and I am sure I have, I have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous one, who pleads my case before the Father. He is the righteous one, and He has clothed me with His righteousness.

In these last days, I plead with you to pray for me, that I will fight well in this last fight against the Evil One himself.  For I am confident that nothing shall separate me from the love of God which is able to save to the uttermost.

Rejoicing in His salvation,

Becky

5:34 PM Picture time at the OK Corral:

1) Today our newest grandson Graham paid us a visit. What a cutie pie he is. 

2) The boys worked hard in the sandbox.

3) Jessica, Graham, Nolan, Nathan, and Bradford Black.

4) Nolan is a natural gardener …

5) … while Bradford loves animals.

6) Discovering Noah’s ark.

7) Nate and Jess have trained their children well. The only correct way to eat an Oreo cookie is by separating it and polishing off the insides first.

8) Love them boys of mine!

10:22 AM Great quote here (Arthur Sido):

We can have all the studies we want about giving with the implied disapproving finger wag toward those who don’t “tithe” to their local church or who give less than 10- or who, gasp!, “tithe” based on net earnings rather than gross. That doesn’t get to the heart of the problem, a problem which truly is a “heart”  issue. Where is the church focused? Is it on Sunday morning and our own convenience? Or is it on the messy and often invisible work that goes on “out there”? Until we get our spending figured out, our concerns over giving are a wasted effort.

Yep, we “tithe to ourselves,” as someone once put it. That’s not giving, it’s pooling. We can do better.

8:38 AM Good news! Chapter 7 of Bec’s autobiography is now up. It’s calledStateside Ministries. And many and varied they were!

8:30 AM Good morning, blog world!

So how’s our Becky doing? She started on morphine for pain the other day. And, thank God, it worked. The pain is mostly in her spine. She’s not on morphine all the time. It’s just a boost to her other pain meds. We all agree that she is so unstable on her feet that she should stay in her hospital bed. She eats very little — loss of appetite being normal for this stage of the game. She would love to see her Savior.

As for me?

Fatigued.

There, I said the word. I’m more than “dog tired” or “bone weary.” And I’m not too proud to ask for help. So you can expect some major changes around here. This week hospice gets into full swing — nurses, social workers, CNAs, even a chaplain (I forget her name but she was pleasant enough on the phone). To the rescue! — all in the name of fatiguedom, a word I’ve just made up. You know you’re at this point when everyone who sees you asks, “Are you sure you’re doing okay, Dave?” A friend wrote to me from Pennsylvania yesterday: “You can’t continue on a 24/7 schedule. You’ve done a wise thing in bringing in help. Now use it and take some time to get away…. Your body can only go so long like that; your will/heart might stretch it a bit, but you’ll break if you’re not careful.” Wise counsel. It speaks to my desire to just keep on pushing and pushing and pushing. Yesterday I looked at myself in the mirror. A dog never looked shabbier, I thought. Karen agreed, so she gave me a haircut and beard trim. Thank goodness for honest friends.

Everyone is telling me to go somewhere for a couple of days. Of course, I’ll pray about it. If I do go, where? Maybe the beach. After all, I still have my surfboard. Of course, I’ll have to install handicap rails on it if I take this route. Or maybe I’ll go to a nearby Civil War site like Appomattox and disappear into another world, an era when ordinary people were caught up in extraordinary times, each, in his own way, rising to a higher level, some fighting for honor and duty, some for fame and glory, but nearly all driven by amazing courage. Wherever I go and whatever I do, I think the one thing that floors me is the reality of the familial love I share with complete strangers around the world. Every single time I check my emails there’s yet another one from a “stranger,” someone who is technically completely unrelated to me but who I can’t really call a stranger. The thing is, this is good old Dave Black, a man who used to see hurting people as interruptions rather than an opportunity to share the love of Jesus. Yet Christ still accepts me, accepts me so perfectly that at times I feel that we only have each other. And by knowing Him, I am slowly learning to respond to the hurting as Christ did.

Miracle of miracles, after 4 years of this journey called Cancer, I think I’m finally coming to a sane evaluation of myself. I’m learning there is only one person on the cross who can accomplish the salvation of others. God doesn’t need a fourth member of the Trinity. He is not seeking to use me up but to fill me up, as I make Him (not my job or my writing or even my family) the center of my life. In human terms, I am fatigued, used up, but in spiritual terms, I am well-equipped for the task because everything He is in wisdom, power, strength, and compassion is available to me, through His indwelling Spirit. Funny, how often we forget (or feel unable) to draw on the resource of the One who lives within us. I am enough because He is.

To that end, I want to learn how to work not harder but smarter. It has been a growing process for me to understand and accept my limitations and to understand and accept that God is as interested in faithful endings as He is in happy endings. I’m having to exchange my confusion for a divine transfusion of God’s wisdom and clarity. I may not know why, but I know who; and if I know who, I don’t have to know why.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for praying.

Dave

Saturday, September 28

4:11 PM As Becky’s been sleeping I decided to mosey on over to Alex Stewart’s blog to see what was new. Sure glad I did. You have simply got to listen to theaudio testimony he just linked to. It’s by a student at Tyndale Seminary who is on home assignment from China. What he has to say about missions will both bless and disturb you. He asks some difficult questions, especially about our modern-day emphasis on “methodology” and “pragmatics” in missions. Let’s face it. We are fascinated with “bigger and better.” We love our programs and strategies and methodologies and especially our acronyms. Some modern church growth teachers are now openly marketing Madison Avenue techniques to divide churches on the basis of demographics rather than spiritual health. What’s happening is that we’re making our theology into an image of ourselves. Could it be that many of us have never turned from our own ways of thinking to the Bible’s simple approach to missions? Could it be that we adore our own minds and abilities rather than the God who gave them to us?

I was greatly encouraged by what I heard in this testimony. I know you will be too. Thank you, brother Phil, for sharing it with us. And thank you, Alex, for posting it. I hope it gets the hearing it deserves.

12:42 PM Our first ever planning meeting for the new ministry training center in Burji is now history. It’s amazing to think that some of those in this picture will be back in Ethiopia before 12 months are out.

Christ wants us to move in the same authority and power that accompanied His ministry. The exchanged life is the New Testament norm. How grateful I am for these friends who have jumped off the American Dream Merry-Go-Round, who refuse to follow a Convenience Store Christianity. And how grateful I am for a wife whose last earthly act was to organize a planning meeting to expand God’s kingdom in a fairway place. Never in history has their been a society with so much information but so little real knowledge of the Holy. Folks, we have supernatural strength and miracle power to fight this battle. I ask you then: Is your commitment to Jesus Christ real enough that you are willing to sacrifice everything on behalf of the nations and to count the cost of losing friendships, family ties, and anything else that comes between you and the Lord? He is worth it.

10:05 AM Theprint addition is now available at Amazon.

9:56 AM I was strangely moved bythis CNN video of a guide dog who saved the life of his owner’s 4-year old son and died in the process. I recall there was serious flooding in Ethiopia one year and the federal government was sending out helicopters to rescue stranded people. A photo showed a 10-year old boy watching over his flock of goats atop a mountain, surrounded by miles of flood waters. Above him hovered the aircraft. When it lowered the rescue chair the boy refused to desert his herd. After all, that morning his father had told him to guard it, no matter what.

Many students come to me with troubling questions about what it means to fulfill the Great Commission, about how to prioritize the Gospel and integrate it into the rest of their lives. Can you see why “self” has to be placed squarely on the cross for us to have the victory in this area of our lives? If we try to build a personal kingdom rather than His kingdom, there is no way God will support us in the battle. There are many ways you can get involved. Become an informed intercessor. Become a faithful prayer partner. Get involved personally by taking trips every year to a mission field, even if it’s only your neighborhood. Sponsor others in the work. At this very moment, thousands of native missionaries are ready to go to the unreached if only support were available. The opportunities are many and they are great. There is no longer any excuse for us to live mediocre, compromised lives. Every one of has something great to do in this task we call global evangelization.

So the question I ask is: Are willing to give away your life, like that guide dog or that Ethiopian goatherd? If your answer is Yes, then I guarantee you have taken the first step toward experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promises to His followers. Just like your bank manager who handles millions of dollars every day but has no right to use any of it on himself, so you will realize that your life, and everything in it, great or small, is no longer yours to do with as you please.

For this He has called you. Don’t give up.

Friday, September 27

6:40 PM P.S. Tonight and tomorrow I am answering emails. I am down to 80. Thank you so much for your patience and love.

6:24 PM Hospice came today. I signed them on. I thought about doing this before. But the time has come to get some professional assistance for me, Karen, and Nigusse. It turns out that they offer more than I thought. So next week we’ll have an RN visit Becky twice a week for assessments, a social worker once a week, and a CNA coming every day for two hours. In addition, I have hired someone to spend all day with Becky on Tuesdays, and next Saturday a dear friend (and retired nurse) will be here. Of course, I am here 24/7. We are able to maintain relationships with all of our doctors and keep our same pharmacist in Clarksville. All this has been a balm for the soul. And Becky? The smile is fleeting, the energy gone. She will not eat or drink much, has no appetite. She is still aware, and I try to read her the many emails we’ve been getting, but I don’t do very well. I get too emotional. I am a Greek scholar, not a theologian. I don’t pretend to understand. It’s difficult to forget that this is a woman who has always been as tough as nails and yet as compassionate as they come. She’s been by my side through the hardest year of my life, cooked for me when I got sick, bore my children, believed me when I told her what my dreams were. Still, it’s hard to be too melancholy when you realize that God has already extended Becky’s life a lot longer than anybody had thought it would last. And so we take one day at a time. This evening I asked her what she wanted for supper. “Some Saimin soup, please.” I was back in a jiffy with a small bowl of soup and a half-glass of milk. She took a tiny sip of each and quietly asked that the tray be removed. You tried, honey. Thank you.

These are the times I miss Home. Just as much as Becky does. I’m not trying to be melodramatic. But facing death makes one feel so ALIVE. You realize all over again just who holds you in His hands, the Lover of your soul, the one who mends your heart with the same nails that pinned Him to a cross. The healing I prayed for isn’t the healing I’m witnessing. But it is healing nonetheless. The best healing of all.

She’s almost there. Please pray for us.

4:44 PM Please join me in praying for my fellow New Testament prof Rod Decker as he begins chemo. Also, his paper Mark and Miracle, Mark 16:17-18 is well worth reading.

9:28 AM Psalm 94:19: “When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.”

9:12 AM Joni Eareckson Tada sent Becky this book and personal letter yesterday.

One quote: “Our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night’s welcome home in Heaven.”

Thank you. Joni.

Thursday, September 26

9:39 AM My thanks to Brandon of the IT department at Southeastern for his help in getting our Outlook back online last night. It enabled me to send out “the” email:

This is a difficult email for me to write. But the time has come to send it. Becky is fading fast. Her strength is almost gone. She is ready and eager to go Home.

She has a prayer request to make of you. She is asking you to pray that God would take her Home quickly.

Elizabeth Elliott, widow and biographer of her husband Jim, once wrote, “We must allow God to do what He wants to do. And if you are thinking you know the will of God for your life and you are anxious to do that, you are probably in for a very rude awakening because nobody knows the will of God for his entire life.” She was right. God can lead us from darkness into light. But He can also guide us out of light into darkness, into times when we must simply blindly trust HIM. It is part of the way of the cross. As I write my book on the early church, one thing I’ve noticed is the amazing endurance of the earliest Christians. Think of the peace that marked Peter as he slept between his guards the night before his execution, or Paul and Silas lying in prison with their feet in stocks, or Stephen whose face shone radiantly as he was being stoned to death. They were willing to go to their deaths singing. How could people die with such radiant joy and exultation? They did so in the power and love of the Holy Spirit. And because they knew others were praying for them. You all have been “Barnabases” to us in so many ways. We’ve already received dozens of beautiful emails of encouragement. I suppose this is the most crucial mark of the church: people marked by the Gospel, people who have really found the Good News, are people who love and care for each other. And note: They are willing to give glory where glory is due. This is the supreme secret of a healthy, faithful church: it has a single passion, the person of Jesus Himself. This emphasis upon Christ and Christ alone I did not always understand. But I do now, and I hope to go on discovering further depths in this most wonderful adventure we call the Christian life.

Thank you for bothering with us. For taking time to write and pray for us. Becky and I bow to the will of God. We must allow Him to do what He wants to do, in His timing. And, by His grace, we will.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Today we are having our wheelchair ramp pressure-washed so that I can paint/stain it later. We have set a date for the dedication of Maple Ridge as unto the Lord (Sunday, October 6). I continue to edit Becky’s autobiography for publication (you can expect the next chapter on Monday). My writing continues as the Lord provides time. In fact, you Kindle users can now acquire a copy of my latest book, The Authorship of Hebrews, for a whopping99 cents at Amazon! (In case you didn’t know, in biblical scholarship there are the gadflies and the watchdogs. Each has an important role to play: the gadflies to sting us out of our apathy, the watchdogs to bark when liberties are taken with the text. I suppose I have always been more of a gadfly than a watchdog, so why break the pattern now?) Nor is this all. This Saturday we have a planning meeting here at The Hall to begin work on a new ministry in Burji, Ethiopia with our good friend Oshe, whose 4-year daughter was killed by the enemies of Christ a few years ago. That said, living as we do in a world where we are given to organizing everything, it is still incumbent upon us to make prayer and the ministry of the Word primary. The sheer power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s people is surely one of the most attractive magnets that draws people to Christ. But before He can do that He has to break us down, break us of the pride and independence and disobedience and lethargy that come so naturally to us.

And so I come full circle in this post. Wherever we turn, whatever situation we are facing, we cannot escape our utter and complete dependence upon the work and power and presence and witness and prayer-enabling of the Holy Spirit. He is sovereign. Without Him, we can do nothing.

Thank you for praying for Becky and for our family. One of you wrote:

As the Puritans used to say, “may she die well” and we are convinced that she is and will.

Amen and amen.

Wednesday, September 25

6:38 PM We can no longer access our seminary email. So please bear with us if you don’t hear back from me when you send us an email. Talked with IT just now and they are working the problem. Lord willing, we’ll be back up tomorrow.

6:32 PM Bec and I had a helpful meeting with her pulmonologist today in Clarksville. To you, driving 8 miles might not mean much. But to us, it is like driving to Los Angeles. But the Lord helped us, and, as I said, He brought some clarity to us through the advice of her doctor. Becky will continue to get weaker and weaker until she passes, he told us. The best thing we can do for her is to see that she is as comfortable as possible. Truth be told, she is ready — more than ready — to go Home. I wrestle sometimes with God’s timing, but then I catch a glimpse of His character in the Word, and I can just rest, knowing that whatever path He chooses, it will be the right one. How should I pray? And how do I ask others to pray? Life has gone from being a whirlwind of trips to UNC for chemo and radiation and surgeries and ER visits to spending time with Becky as she wastes away in bed. Tell me over and again, until I listen, until I understand: It’s okay, David. You don’t have to have it all figured out. It’s only a matter of time. And then the battle will have been won. I kinda like putting words in other people’s mouth. And I promise: I will do my best to heed your wonderful advice.

So please do pray for Becky. Pray as you have never prayed before. For peace. For joy. For patience. For comfort. For acceptance.

And will you keep on praying for her husband and family while you’re at it?

6:23 PM Today an officer from the county department of forestry stopped by the Hall to ask me where the loggers where working on the property. Seems it’s his job to make sure they are doing their job well. As he left our driveway he “just happened” to back into our favorite magnolia tree, the one we planted when we first built Bradford Hall. (Yes, a tree can have sentimental value.)

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Remember: Here was a professional forester making sure that the loggers weren’t harming any of the trees on our property. Did I politely remonstrate to the department head? You bet I did. They’re promising to replace the tree. They said nothing about driving lessons for their staff.

1:35 PM “Amens!” for David Croteau’s bookTithing after the Cross. 

As co-editor of the series (along with Allan Bevere), I am delighted to see this.

1:22 PM Please pray for a brother in Iran. Billy Graham asks Iran’s president Rouhani to release him.

On September 26, the one-year anniversary of Pastor Abedini’s imprisonment, thousands will attend prayer vigils in more than 70 U.S. cities, calling on your country to release this husband, father and servant of God. I join them by respectfully asking you to release Pastor Saeed Abedini from prison. Such an action would, I believe, have a positive impact in our nation, and might well be perceived by our leadership as a significant step in reducing tensions.

Prayers going up!

1:18 PM From chapter 3 (“Apostolic Teaching”). The topic is the place of the intellect in Christianity:

A third area that strikes me is the danger of anti-intellectualism. This is the distrust of the mind. A well-known documentation of this phenomenon is Richard Hofstadter’s Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Christianity is a reasonable faith. I shall never forget hearing Francis Schaeffer say to a group of his students in Switzerland that when people become Christians they do not have to put their brains in park or neutral. When you find the apostle Paul spending a long time in a city (say, Ephesus), it was primarily to teach. The early church worked hard on training new disciples. If the spiritual life needs nourishment, so does the intellectual. Exegetical skills are especially important in our day when people are increasingly allergic to the hard work of digging out scriptural truth for themselves. The Bible forbids us from being like animals that are “without understanding” and commands us to be “mature” in our understanding (Ps 32:9; 1 Cor 14:29). “It is fundamental with us,” wrote John Wesley, “that to renounce reason is to renounce religion, that religion and reason go hand in hand, and that all irrational religion is false religion” (cited in R. W. Burtner and R. E. Chiles, A Compend of Wesley’s Theology, p. 26). The plain truth is that God created us as rational beings. Anti-intellectualism is therefore a serious threat to balanced Christianity. It is a combination of intellect and emotion that we must always strive after.

8:44 AM I have been doing a lot of thinking about the intractable problem of pain in connection with my book on the church. Let’s be clear: We Christians will be better able to face suffering when we have done a lot of thinking about it. As I watch Becky’s body deteriorate, I see plenty of evidence that Satan is still in business. Yes, there is a devil, and he intends to destroy. If he can’t attack our bodies, he will attack our spirits. I am not saying that the devil is all-powerful. Satan remains “God’s devil,” as Luther put it. The accuser of the brethren is on a leash, albeit a very long one. Christians are not just individuals; we are part of a common, fallen humanity. When the First Couple sinned, chaos ensued.

You say, “Where in your book on the church are you discussing the problem of pain, Dave?” In my chapter on the Lord’s Supper, which according to Acts 2:42 is the fifth mark of a New Testament church. If the “breaking of bread” here is a reference to the Lord’s Supper, as most commentators believe, then it would be a particularly obvious mark of the church’s koinonia. So often our gatherings today are man-centered. But in Jerusalem it was not. There was a strong emphasis on the common meal, on celebrating the exalted Jesus and the union of all believers with Him. Today it is not uncommon to find congregations combining a real meal and the Lord’s Supper in a time of fellowship and celebration. This practice is to be greatly commended. A communion service like that can be very moving. There will be sharing and singing, a teaching or two from the Scriptures, much prayer and perhaps some weeping. And it will take time; it won’t be accomplished in an hour. As every family knows, fellowship around a table can be unpredictable! But if that fellowship has Jesus at the center, the results can be profound.

In this chapter I want to think with my readers about why the Lord’s Supper is so important. I will seek to make four points:

1. The Lord’s Supper is important because it looks back at the cross.

2. The Lord’s Supper is important because it symbolizes (and even creates) unity in the body.

3. The Lord’s Supper is important because it honors Christ above men.

4. The Lord’s Supper is important because it causes us to look forward to Christ’s return.

Did you notice the first reason? The focus on the cross? It is here that the problem of pain is handled biblically. The cross reminds us that God is no stranger to pain. The cross reminds us that God loves us through the pain. The cross reminds us how God uses pain to accomplish His purposes. And the cross reminds us that God ultimately triumphs over pain through the resurrection.

Such is the Christian hope. Such is the hope that Becky and I cling to daily. It means that we can face suffering and even death in a new light. Why should we go around with hushed, solemn voices as though there were no hope, no life after death? John Bunyan put is like this in his Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian passed over the river: “the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.”

Becky, honestly, cannot wait for the trumpets to sound. We have grown wearing in well-doing, I’d say. But whether sooner or later, one thing we know: when we go through the valley of the shadow, our Lord will be with us. He will receive us, because He has overcome the Evil One.

Tuesday, September 24

5:18 PM Here’s an interesting thing. Some of my favorite websites have abysmal Alexa ratings. (Not that Alexa is the only or even best means of judging such matters; but it is an important tool.) I have no idea why this is. They should have a much wider readership, judging by the excellence of their content:

• Between the Times (SEBTS’s faculty blog): 1,313,129

• Alvin Reid: 3,684,376

• Kevin Brown: 10,696,453

• Evangelical Textual Criticism: 2,248,977

• Jesus + Nothing = Everything: 5,594,071

• Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: 2,963,363

• Scripture Zealot: 3,507,707

• Assembling of the Church: 988,562

• The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia: 12,182,658

Do me a favor: visit these sites and send them some much-deserved traffic. Lots of good stuff to ponder at these sites. PLUS — they update frequently!

1:16 PM In chapter 4 (“Genuine Relationships”) I deal with the matter of “voting” in church. In case you might be interested ….

In the third place, here was a church where unity was valued. We saw in our last chapter how this unity played out among the leadership of the church in New Testament times. There was no hierarchy, no senior pastor (other than Christ), no so-called first among equals. Their leadership was shared. How rarely is this seen in a modern church, even one that practices plural eldership. I am quite certain that nobody would object if the “senior pastor” in their church rescinded his title and receded into the group!

Unity was also seen in their decision-making. A feature of the early church that fascinates me is the way in which consensus was built. They spent time waiting upon God before making a decision. Today we need Robert’s Rules of Order before we can decide on anything. Hardly anybody sits down nowadays to ask where the idea of voting came from. Part of the value of having every-member ministry is the weight it assigns to consensus-building. It seems to me that there are good reasons to reject our manmade modes of decision-making. Not only does it lack a biblical foundation, but it undermines the example of the early church itself. In Acts 15 we read of a time when the early Christians made an important decision. Together the believers sought the will of God, and together they found it. There was nothing mechanical or business-like about their decision-making either. Their protocol was minimal, and the unity it produced was amazing. As James put it (Acts 15:28), “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us….” We vote, and leave an aggrieved minority. They waited upon the Spirit, and it produced a unified whole. This way of making decisions could make a huge difference in the life of many a church today. Why do so many of our business meetings end up in shambles? Are we afraid of the work and prayer needed to come to a common mind? There was no such fear among the earliest Christians. We have a long way to go until we reach their sensitivity to the Spirit.

Please continue to pray for me as I write this book. As the Spirit leads you, of course 🙂

12:42 PM Today it is my joy to be editing two essays Becky has written: “The Story of Maple Ridge,” and “Manual for Maple Ridge.” The first tells the history of how Maple Ridge became a shelter for people hurt in ministry. The second is a guideline for those who end up staying there. The former essay concludes this way:

One thing that has impressed me in the process of establishing Maple Ridge is the fact that Christian community is a continuum. To this point I have tried to clearly express appreciation to those who have been involved in giving sacrificially to the establishment of Maple Ridge. Each family that comes to Maple Ridge will bear the benefit of the labor of these people, and when the family leaves Maple Ridge, it is expected to make its own contribution to the next family. Each family arrives as a needy recipient but leaves as a willing sacrificial donor. So the family that stays here will have farm responsibilities, not only collecting the eggs from the chickens, but feeding them and cleaning the coop. Not only eating the organic beef but also feeding the cows hay in the winter time. Not only eating the fish that has been caught by others but also catching fish to be enjoyed by others. Each family arrives to a Maple Ridge that is clean and painted. And when each family leaves they are responsible to leave the property in the same or better condition than when they arrived. Magic eraser and appropriate paint is available to remove scuff and write marks on the walls. A wet-vac is available for water accidents, and routine cleaning supplies are available for general maintenance. Families that come are not coming to a Bed & Breakfast; they are coming to a home. They are coming not only to be served, but also to serve.  And it will be a joy to watch the Spirit of God as He orchestrates the Body in this continuum of ministry.

I can already see this playing out, can’t you ? A family not only being served but serving. A household restored to help others work through restoration. The principle is simple: We get to give. If we have received mercy, we now need to become dispensers of mercy.

I often think  to myself: I don’t know what I’m going to do when Becky’s gone. I think I’ll just tuck this little essay away, to be read when I’m super-tired or engaging in a bit of self-pity. (Of course, I never feel this way. I am super-Christian and super-professor and super-husband, didn’t you know?)

This essay sets the tone for the rest of my life. I’m coming to realize that my “new normal” is nothing but the same “normal” people have been experiencing for generations. Some days are so incredibly painful that the last thing you want to do is face another. Other days are so full of joy that you feel like you will burst. Either way, what makes life worth living is, as Becky puts it, the “joy to watch the Spirit of God as He orchestrates the Body in this continuum of ministry.” Life is to be lived for His glory and for the good of others. All. Day. Long.

Simple, isn’t it?

11:28 AM Been thinking a lot about prayer these days. I’ve even been writing about the topic for my book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church. Here is an excerpt from the chapter called “Fervent Prayer”:

If a church is to be healthy, it will not happen without this kind of praying. But how is prayer even possible?

The answer is: It is not. Nothing describes the Christian’s weakness and inability like his or her prayer life. Rom. 8:26-27 is highly instructive at this point. Here Paul conceives of prayer as the ministry of the Holy Spirit within us. Implied is the complete inability of the Christian to pray without divine assistance and participation. In a sense, Paul is saying that prayer is ultimately an inter-Trinitarian process: God speaking to God through us. This is a profound truth and a remarkable paradox. I cannot pray unless the Holy Spirit prays; but the Holy Spirit will not pray unless I am praying! Perhaps this is what Paul is alluding to when in Eph 6:18 he says that Christians are to be “praying at all times in the Spirit.” Some exegetes regard this as a reference to praying “in tongues.” But there seems to be little reason to hold this view. Praying in tongues may well be included, but Paul’s language is broad enough to include any kind of prayer we might offer. Paul’s main point is that prayer must cease to be a do-it-yourself activity. It is the Spirit, and the Spirit alone, who activates, empowers, and enables prayer. There is a fine sense of realism in all this. Do not think for a movement that you can pray without the Spirit’s help. Be sensitive to His promptings. When He leads you to pray, pray! There is no alternative means of prayer. The Spirit isthe enabler of prayer.

Just now I prayed a prayer like I’ve never prayed before. It’s as if the words were placed on my lips by Another. Fervent groanings, you might say. I pray that I would pray like this more often!

Monday, September 23

7:08 PM Hey folks. Thanks for blogging in. Today I had a delightful interview here at Bradford Hall with Mark Elkins of Grace Baptist Church in Stuart, Virginia. He’s a masters student at Shepherd’s Seminary in Cary and is writing his thesis on some very obscure theory called the Fourfold Gospel Hypothesis, the view of yours truly. I found Mark to be a wonderful interviewer. I wish him well with his thesis. It ought to be interesting. Mark’s messages on Philippians, by the way, are well worth your time.

To make a slight left turn, the timbering in the back 40 is coming along superbly. The weather continues to be perfect for logging, and the guys love their new logging deck.

Karen and Nigu, for their part, have been working on homework and various other projects around the farm. They were kind enough to test the wheel chair ramp for me today. It works!

Oh, and this is very cool:My friend Becky. Thanks, Bonnie, for a great essay. It was fabulous having you here, all the way from upstate Michigan. And yes, your prayer is ours also.

Blessings on all of you, and remember: Be a thinker, but not a group-thinker!

Dave

9:16 AM Sad trend here:Divorce After 50 Grows More Common. And yes, it can happen to you and to me. How we need God’s grace.

9:12 AM Another excerpt from chapter 4:

In this chapter we have seen some of the marks of genuine community that characterized the early church. What a magnificent picture of life together! Maybe theirs was an idealism that cannot be repeated today. We may talk about community, but if we continue to behave like a group of individualists, no one will believe what we say. The picture that Luke gives us of the earliest church should make us stop and think.

Joseph Hellerman, author of When the Church Was a Family, has some interesting comments to make about the vitality of the church (p. 143). “It is time,” he writes, “to inform our people that conversion to Christianity involves both our justification and our familification, that we gain a new Father when we respond to the gospel. It is time to communicate the biblical reality that personal salvation is a community-building event, and to trust God to change our lives and the lives of our churches accordingly.”

Our modern churches could learn a thing or two from the genuine love of the first Christians. Theirs is a shining example. And if we ask the secret of it, we do not have far to look: the secret lay in the presence of the Holy Spirit. His power is available to us all. And it is life-changing. Just imagine what the Spirit could do in our churches if He were allowed to have control. It could happen again.

8:52 AM This is big day for Becky and me. We’re meeting with an expert in personal home care about hiring an aid to assist us. I think professional hands taking care of Becky at this stage of the game is vital. So pray for us. The meeting is at 10:30. In the meantime, I just published chapter 6 of Bec’s autobiography.

We are now in mid-life. How time flies!

Sunday, September 22

7:27 PM Here’s an extract from chapter 4 of my book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church. I finished typing it today 🙂

We shall have healthy churches to the degree that we are willing to use our gifts in service to others in the body of Christ. Yet how few churches seem to believe this. There is no genuine body life. There is no commitment to every-member ministry. There is no expectation that God can and does use every believer in the building up of the entire church family. There is no feeling that participation really matters – and yet in our churches pleas are forthcoming, heart-rending pleas for more participatory gatherings. If the plea is heard, the response is often, “But we’ve never done it that way before.” The plea seems very radical, because the Christian church has departed so radically from the pattern of ministry established in the New Testament. Perhaps it is time to take stock and to reform. The above passages clearly show us that the main purpose of the gathering is not worship (which is to be 24/7, see Rom 12:1-2) but mutual edification. All Christians are called to fulltime Christian ministry, not some. The earliest Christians knew nothing of a clergy-laity distinction. Every member of the church has a part to play in the service of God. As Emil Brunner puts it in his celebrated book The Misunderstanding of the Church (p. 50):

One thing is supremely important; that all minister, and that nowhere is to be perceived a separation, or even merely a distinction, between those who do and those who do not minister, between the active and passive members of the body, between those who give and those who receive. There exists in the Ecclesia a universal duty and right of service, a universal readiness to serve, and at the same time the greatest possible differentiation of functions.

As we gather with our church families, then, let our purpose be body edification. Each Christian, without exception, has a ministry. That includes you. Edification is not something that is delegated to any one group within the church. God’s purpose is that by mutual edification the whole body might be built up. You ask, “Can I teach?” The answer, as we saw in chapter 3, is a resounding “Yes!” To be sure, teaching is a special function of overseers (who must be “able to teach,” 1 Tim 3:2), but it is not exclusively theirs (Col 3:18). Paul allowed any member to take part in the ministry of the word if he or she was led to contribute (1 Cor 14:26-29). “Can I baptize or serve the Lord’s Supper?” Again, in the New Testament we are never told who should baptize or who should serve the bread and the cup. Both were lay celebrations. The concept of a special priestly cadre that alone could administer the “sacraments” (a term the New Testament never uses) will not stand the close scrutiny of Scripture and ought not to be allowed to stand in the way of congregational participation. If we are to see a return to a healthy body life, there has to be a revolution in the churches in the way we think about ministry.

Saturday, September 21

6:10 PM The ramp is done!

We used all salvaged lumber, too! The price was right! Praise God!

Four exclamation points, Dave? The Lord deserves it!

1:24 PM Good news! Becky’s awake. She got up at 12:30 pm after a good long sleep. The poached egg I made for her has remained in her stomach, and right now she is resting comfortably in our library. Meanwhile, I’ve been editing her autobiography (as I noted earlier) as well as poking away at my book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church. In chapter 3 (“Apostolic Teaching”), I remark:

Another thing we learn from reading the New Testament is how varied the teaching ministry of the early church was. Nowadays we almost always focus on the ministry of the pulpit. “I go to Dr. _______’s church” – the good doctor usually being noted for his prowess in the pulpit. In a church like Corinth or Philippi, we might expect to find a “senior pastor” who was known for his “dynamic expository preaching.” But you will find nothing of the sort in the pages of the New Testament. We do not even know the names of the pastors of the churches in the New Testament. (Timothy and Titus are often incorrectly referred to as “pastors.”) The reason is clear. Leadership in the early church was a shared ministry. Their churches enjoyed a “fellowship of leadership” (the term is Michael Green’s). How wise they were!

In view of this, it seems astonishing that the dogma of Timothy’s “pastoral ministry” in Ephesus should be allowed to bedevil the promising conversations in progress with a view to gaining a more biblical view of Christian leadership. The holders of this view fail consistently to recognize that Paul had already met with the Ephesian elders (note the plural!) long before he sent Timothy to Ephesus as his personal (and temporary) representative. Evangelicals take a stand fairly and squarely on the supremacy and sufficiency of Scripture. Yet we continue to promulgate the fallacy of Timothy’s Ephesian pastorate (ditto for Titus in Crete). Don’t we even bother to read Scripture?

I also include the following in the same chapter:

To say this is not to belittle the teaching ministry of pastor-teachers. All of us have benefited from messages that were prayerful, biblical, Christ-exalting, and delivered in the power of the Spirit and with humility. Nor am I pleading for an “anything goes” mentality when it comes to our gatherings as believers. I am simply pleading for such a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that it should not be impossible for the Spirit to get a message across to the people through any member of the congregation He should inspire to speak. This is no pipe dream on my part. I have seen it happen in many congregations, my own included.

8:52 AM I think Becky went for some sort of record these past two days. She finished the final chapters of her autobiography yesterday, which means that God not only answered our prayers, He did so in record time. I’m still smiling to myself. I’ll be editing this weekend, and Lord willing I’ll publish chapter 6 on Monday. It’s called “Stewardship Lived Out: Careers.” Note the plural. Becky has been anything but lazy during the 60 years God has given her. She’s had several careers, all of them successful. Her essay concludes with these words:

Although I have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 21 years old, God has blessed me with good strength and intellect, and I have offered those gifts to Him in service to others. 

To Him goes all the praise.

I’m a big fan of Becky’s writings. I hope you are too.

8:42 AM Quote of the day (Andy Bowden):

There’s something about reading German theologians on German soil that makes it that much more interesting.

Amen!

8:36 AM Jacob Cerone has been MIA but he has avery good reason. He has also resumed his Greek class. Check out his latest instructional video here.

8:28 AM Worked outdoors all day yesterday. A thousand thanks to Robbie Dunn and Nigusse for their help. We hope to finish the new wheelchair ramp today. I made Robbie, an SEBTS grad, translate Nigu’s shirt before he could leave the farm:)

Thursday, September 19

8:02 PM Pix for Bec:

1) We’ve finished thinning about 15 acres of pines. Only 30 more to go.

2) Another load of logs leaves the farm.

3) Here’s the mother of all rose bushes: Becky’s Burji Rose Bush.

4) Becky insisted on painting the sign herself from her sick bed. You can tell it’s her delicate touch, can’t you? 

5) Today they began thinning our replanted pines.

So there’s your farm update 🙂

As I type, Becky is dictating the final chapter of her autobiography to Karen. She is too weak to type any more. I’ll post the next chapter on Monday, Lord willing.

6:08 PM A common but unreasonable expectation about marriage is that it will last forever. Or at least a very long time. We never anticipate the death of a spouse. Soon I will no longer be a husband. I will receive the gift of widowerhood. It will be another in a long line of assignments that God has given me in my 61 years. Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, and their act of defiance had consequences for each of us. For me, it will mean being half of a couple. My joy will be less the result of my circumstances and more a response to His presence. Somehow my grandiose plans for retirement on the farm and vacationing in Hawaii with Becky will fit into His larger plan. The end of a “perfect” marriage? Hardly. Neither of us has found our fulfillment in the other. But we have enjoyed many good years together, strengthening and purifying each other. We are holding on to each other, but we are not groping or grasping. We will soon be torn apart, and God will stand silently by, allowing us to agonize. For death is the natural outcome of marriage. “Until death do us part.” If we love our marriage more than we love God, it is nothing other than idolatry. Still, it hurts. Deeply. And there is no answer but our faith, faith in the character of God Himself.

Today Becky and I received this email:

I am woefully lacking in words to describe the impact both of you have had on my life. I think differently about things (missions, life purpose, tentmaking vs. “professional” clergy, etc.) because of time spent with you. I will be praying for you during this difficult season of life but please know that you are touching lives even now.

A special note to Mrs. Becky: I take comfort knowing you will soon be in the Savior’s presence. Our deep loss is Heaven’s eternal gain. You are the most loving person I have ever encountered and that is why so many are drawn to you. I know it is a reflection of the Savior’s love that is being demonstrated by one of His own children. May He richly bless you with His presence during these days of physical suffering. Please know that you are loved by so many and that so many are lifting you up in prayer. I will never forget you.

I include this email, a sample of many similar ones, to show you what God can do through the lives of a very imperfect married couple. Note that the writer of this email is himself “dying” — dying to the way he used to think about life and ministry. For him, as for Becky and me, death marks a new beginning. Losses are God’s way of making gains. When Becky and I got married 37 years ago, we died to our independence, we died to our childhood homes, we died to making unilateral decisions, we died to being “I” instead of “we.” We died the very day we said our “I dos.” And so we die again. Death always brings forth blessing. Death to self = a new life of acceptance of God’s will, of suffering, of so many things.

I am writing these words in the wintertime of my marriage. The stark beauty of summer and fall has long since faded away. The supreme and final separation will soon take place. I will learn to say “I” instead of “we” again. Christ requires Becky’s presence with Him in heaven, and who am I to argue with Him? The purest of joys do not derive from gorgeous sunsets in Hawaii. Pure joy is the light of God’s love for me, for us, for Becky.

One look at Him and ….

Wow. Can’t you just see her grasping her Savior’s feet? The tent may have been swept away, but the foundation is still standing.

If Christ’s lordship means anything, it means that I am at peace, whether I live or die, whether my marriage lives or dies. He is, after all, Lord. All that I have, all that I want, all that I do, all that I suffer is placed at His nail-scarred feet, for Him to do with as He pleases.

I have been singing this hymn lately:

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths
its flow may richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine’s blaze
its day may brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow thru the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms
red life that shall endless be.

Thousands upon thousands (Becky and I are but two of them) have found it so.

9:15 AM It’s in!

Wednesday, September 18

7:45 AM Just a note to say how much I appreciate your prayers. These have been pretty intense days. I find myself utterly exhausted long before bedtime. Mom said I should take a couple of days off, get away by myself, but that’s not likely to happen. I find myself worn out long before bedtime. (Did I say that?) There are constant dealings with this person or that, and just plain navigating through life. The bed we ordered ended up having an air mattress that made you feel like you were sleeping on rocks. I think we’re going to have to return it. I’m praying that the spa installation goes without any major hitches today. The house will be a construction zone all day and noise will be a major factor. But somehow I sense that you are right here with us, cheering us on, You can do it, you can do it! More and more, I’m finding this blog to be such a blessing. It’s a way to express my gratitude for you. It’s a way to request intercession on tough days. It’s a way to be honest.

As I type I’m watching the sun rise in all of its glory. I love this farm. What will today hold? God alone knows. My part? I think its called obedience, and I’m not always sure I like the taste of it. But I’m pretty sure that God can make something beautiful out of my crazy old life if I just let Him.

So thanks again. You guys are the greatest. I wish I could share with you all the emails we get. Your love and prayers and encouragement and letters during this time mean everything. So although posting may drop off for a while here, please don’t go very far, because there is always a new adventure around the corner.

Blessings on you,

Dave

Tuesday, September 17

9:23 AM Well, got time for only a quick blog entry this morning. Had a great time on campus yesterday working with my assistant. We bought a new laptop for Becky and are setting it up so that she can finish her writing. When I arrived I found that the air conditioning was out in our building at the seminary. They must have known I was coming! As for my writing, thank the Lord, I’ve finished the chapters on baptism, teaching, and genuine relationships. I hope to do more writing today.

Today B’s new hospital bed arrives and I sure hope the air-cushioned mattress makes a difference. Her spine is killing her and the pain meds don’t seem to be working very well. So I’m very thankful for the new bed. And there’s more good news: Our new bath tub with jets will be installed tomorrow. It’s designed for tall people (Becky is almost 6 feet tall) and will fit in our current bath tub/shower stall area.

Finally,The Authorship of Hebrews: The Case for Paul is still on schedule for an October 1 release.

Off to water the garden!

P.S. Thanks for theshout out, Craig. You are the greatest!

Monday, September 16

7:50 AM Two quick items:

1) I just published chapter 5 of Becky’s autobiography. It’s called Motherhood. It was a real blessing to read.

2) I will be on campus today for business, in case any of you students need to see me (or would like to bring me a caramel macchiato!).

Sunday, September 15

2:04 PM Quote of the day (What about the tithe?):

I have heard of pastors telling people in a choice between paying your electric bill and tithing one should give to God and trust him to provide for their electric bill. This is a problem. The bill does not come before you consume the electricity. The money for that bill was pledged to the electric company when you touched your thermostat. To then take what is actually theirs and put it in the plate is not an act of personal faith, but one in which the electric company is forced to submit to your faith. The money was theirs. Giving it to anyone else is theft. Doesn’t that make the one teaching this an accomplice? Such people should strive through scriptural discipline to adjust their lives so there is money to give before it is owed out to others or consumed. If you are wondering about whether you should give a certain collection of money to the church to pay your bill ask this, “What will it do to my testimony if I tell the collector that I gave their money to God?”

1:50 PM Been readingthis church’s website and found an interesting description of their leadership:

The terms elder, pastor, and bishop all describe the same role in the church.  Elder describes the office, whereas pastor and bishop describe functions of the office.  The term pastor literally means to shepherd or feed.  The term bishop means to oversee.  All qualified Elders must be able both to feed (teach) and lead (oversee) the church (1 Pet 5:1-4; Acts 20:17,28; 1 Tim 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).  Some are specially gifted as pastor/teachers and called vocationally to devote their lives to the preaching and teaching ministry (Eph 4:11-13), but are co-equal within a plurality of elders.

Note the word “co-equal.” The site goes on to say that the church currently has two elders, neither of which is called the “senior pastor” or “lead pastor.” Are elders to be co-equal? Is there such a thing as primus inter pares (first among equals) in the New Testament? Some argue Yes on the basis of Peter’s prominence among the apostles. But even acknowledging that Peter often spoke for the group, do you really think he was considered a “Senior Apostle” and the others “Associate Apostles”? “Senior Pastor” is mentioned only once in the New Testament, and there the reference is to Christ (1 Pet. 5:4). Otherwise, Peter was content to call himself a “fellow elder” (5:1).

Our terminology matters. What do you think?

1:35 PM Just got this photo from Thomas Hudgins. Look who he saw at Capitol Hill Baptist Church this morning.

And please do note: Nigusse is carrying his Greek New Testament. Way to go, son!

9:15 AM It’s a peaceful morning here on the farm. Karen is at Imago Dei. Nigusse is at the Nine Marks conference in DC with our church elders. Today Becky and I hope to get a lot of writing done. She’s working on her chapter called “Lies, Lies, and Lies.” I hope to complete editing Becky’s chapter on mothering (to be published tomorrow) as well as my chapter on “Christian baptism.” Becky got off to a rough start this morning. She requested a poached egg for breakfast but couldn’t keep it down. In many ways Becky reminds me of Elizabeth Elliott: strong, kind, wise, dogged, a talented writer. She also reminds me of Joni Eareckson Tada. I’ve never met Elizabeth Elliott, but I recall meeting Joni. It was the summer of 1978, and Becky and I were on our first mission trip together as a married couple to West Germany. We had just arrived in Frankfurt and had been driven to Seeheim (where the Bible school we would be serving at was located). It had been a long flight and a tiring bus ride, but instead of hitting the hay I was asked to usher that evening for a special evangelistic meeting in town with Joni. So I went, and there I heard the most wonderful testimonial of the power of God in the midst of our human weakness. I think both Elizabeth and Joni are testimonies to how we can take tragedies and turn them into something useful and purposeful. They also remind me that it’s okay to ask tough questions, to examine the hurts we feel, and to explore the nature of a God who is so sovereign He actually asks for our prayers and petitions. Finding confidence in God’s design for our lives is a lifelong process. The same suffering that Satan designs to impede our progress toward hope and confidence can be used by a loving Savior to increase our capacity for surrender and obedience.
 

Pray for Becky. She is almost done with her autobiography. Her days are difficult. And they promise to get even more difficult in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, God is calling me — and perhaps you too — to poverty, to the stripping away of our attachment to all this world has to offer. Becky and Elizabeth and Joni are living proof that it is not health or marriage or ministry that determines happiness, but obedience and joyful acceptance of God’s will.

Saturday, September 14

12:51 PM Today Karen and I decided to begin planting our winter garden. We cleared out a couple of beds, then I roto-tilled them…

… adding a bit of cow manure.

As I type, Karen is planting beets, kale, and spinach.

Swiss chard and collards to come.

It’s a gorgeous day in “our fair city.” How ’bout where you live?

Friday, September 13

6:50 PM The past few days have been so intense that I felt I was coming down with a chest cold. Thankfully, Airborne saved the day. I want to learn how to pace myself, which is very hard for a go-getter like me. Neither do I want to be seduced by my culture into thinking that I can’t have a weak moment or that I have to be something I’m not. Be yourself, Dave, I tell myself, But be your best self.

At any rate, we said goodbye to mom this afternoon. It was real good having her here. I’m hoping our daughter in New York can come to visit sometime. She and Becky are so much alike it’s scary. Becky’s been having a pretty good day. She’s had some nausea and vomiting, but nothing too bad. I am absolutely determined to see that she is as comfortable as possible. The good news is that she just ate a little cottage cheese and Jell-O. Let’s pray that she can keep it down.

As for me, I’ve been piddling around trying to make myself useful. I got more writing done on my book, changed the oil in the van, got the car washed, and managed to complete a project that had been on my list for weeks: tying up Becky’s Burji rose bush.

Yes, this bush came from Ethiopia. It was, in fact, originally planted by her mother back in the 1960s. You can imagine what it means to Becky. So I tied it up and placed some chicken wire behind it so that the cattle wouldn’t be tempted to take little bites out of its leaves.

Oh, the logging continues.

I think we’ve sold about 5 truck loads thus far.

The thing that gets me is just how quiet the whole project is. I was expecting a whole lot more noise.

Today I was guilty of allowing little petty annoyances to get to me and rob me of my joy. That’s just plain stupid, but when you’re a bit on the tired side it’s just something that can “happen.” Right now I’m writing the chapter called “Fervent Prayer” for my book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church. I am a little surprised at how easily this book is coming to me. At the same time, I often ask myself, How can I write anything about prayer? I’ve still got so much to learn about it! Pray for me that I will be able to see all this through God’s eyes. Becky has her race to run, and so do I, and I want to finish well.

Thursday, September 12

5:01 PM Yesterday, as Matthea was preparing to leave the farm after spending the night with Mama B, she couldn’t get the clutch pedal in her car to work. It stayed stuck on the floorboard when she pushed it down. Being the world-renowned “expert” that I am in all things mechanical (you’re laughing), I was duly summoned to fix the problem. I proceeded to pump the clutch pedal by hand a dozen times until it loosened up. Then I started the car and drove it in a couple of gears before Matthea went happily on her way. Now, it had been a year or so since I had driven a stick shift, and something caught my attention. Have you ever noticed how you need to pass through neutral on your way to the gears?

Which got me to thinking…. Don’t we need “neutral” times in our lives when we are not “engaged” in our normal activities? How much more productive and effective we might be if we took time to disengage. The Lord has been very real to me these last few months. The time I’ve spent on sabbatical has been absolutely wonderful. I’m grateful for the chance to take a break from my normal “gears” of traveling and classroom teaching. “Time off” can be tremendously important for the Christian. Of course, it can also be overdone. I’m on sabbatical, but this does not mean I’m idling all the time. Life is still full, as full as it’s ever been. One day I will return to my normal routine of traveling and teaching. In the meantime, I welcome the change of pace. Even in neutral, life is never boring. That’s the charm of the Christian life. There’s always something to be done for Jesus — and for others.

Perhaps it’s time for you to put your life into “N.” How will you know? When you start crunching gears!

8:22 AM Today marks the day after. The day after the most remarkable anniversary celebration I think we’ve ever had. It’s killing me that I wasn’t able to tell you about it last night, but Becky and I were exhausted after the evening’s festivities. Never was a couple treated more royally. As you know, Becky and I had been excommunicated from the south side of the house while the conspirators carried out their carefully planned plot. This included seeing that the delicious Waldorf Astoria cake (our favorite!) was ready to go.

Eventually the dinner bell was rung and out came the honeymooners. We were both in a goofy mood, so we began singing the “Wedding March” when all of a sudden our piano picked up the tune.

Does Karen play the piano? I asked myself. No, they had connived our church pianist into providing live piano music during our meal! Leanna played all of our favorite hymns and worship songs.

She was also very kind to accede to a request: “Above All” by Michael W. Smith. Thank you, Leanna, for providing just the perfect ambiance for our evening. Your music definitely needs to be recorded. Here you see our first course.

Karen and mom had thought of everything. Recalling our days living in Switzerland, they started us off with delicious fondue and fresh, crispy vegetables with a side of humus. Splendid! The only thing lacking in the fondue was the wine but, hey, we’re Baptists. The main course consisted of roasted veal and artichokes tenderly wrapped in bacon, and the dessert, as I said, was our most favoritist cake in the whole universe.

Becky and I just talked and reminisced and read the cards that had been laid on the table. We have shared life and soon we shall share death. I have never been more at peace, and I’ve never been more scared. But hey, how can you complain when Jesus is staring at you though the eyes of loved ones like these? There’s something so wonderful about our family. It defies my best efforts to describe them. And just when you think they’ve thought of everything, they bring out one more treat. Can you guess what it was? Chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from Hawaii, of course.

Becky and I immediately went into reenacting mode:

I offered her a nut (just as I did 40 years ago in the cafeteria line at Biola), and she accepted it (saying, “You don’t know this, but you’ve just met your future wife”). Then it happened. I could smell it all over it again. Because it smelled like youth, and it smelled like innocence.

My favorite moment of the evening was inviting Becky to take a drive with me. She had just enough energy left to make it down the front steps, so Nigusse pulled up the limo and off we went. Into the sunset, as they say.

You see, everythingis okay. How can it be okay? The world we live in is so broken and so hurt and so full of pain. That’s true of your life, and it’s true of mine. But when you are served your favorite meal and your bestest dessert, when you are pampered and loved on, when you are surrounded by oozing affection, how can life not be okay?

Yes, it’s okay. Because there is life after death. There is hope and joy and love in the midst of the pain. No, not for everyone. But for those who have been touched by the Master’s hand, that’s all that matters.

Anywhere I am, whether in a hospital room with Becky or in a golf cart with my best girl, He is there too.

Wednesday, September 11

8:32 PM More pix for Becky 🙂

12:50 PM Karen just told us that the kitchen and parlor are off limits until 6:30 this evening. Entry before then will require blindfolding. What in the world are they planning?

12:37 PM Here it is. How do you like it?

You say, “That sure looks simple!” That’s the point. This is referred to in the business as a “Jewish casket.” No metal, no nails, all dowels and unstained wood. Do we have the money for a fancy casket? Yes, Sirree, but not the interest. What possible kingdom purpose can be served by having frills around your dead body?

9:36 AM We’ve already had our anniversary dinner at Berry Hill. So what to do today? Right now Matthea is getting Becky dressed for our hot date at 10:00 — a meeting with a Jacuzzi rep who will be giving us prices for a hot tub for our bathroom! The thinner Bec gets and the more pain she experiences will require “heat therapy.” Also, get this: We’re getting a new hospital bed with an air mattress cushion. So how’s that for not one but two anniversary presents in one day! Later today I’ll go to the funeral home to get pictures of B’s simple wooden casket. She wanted to see it before she went Home. Nigu and Karen have something up their sleeve but they are very hush-hush about it.

Wonderful day so far!

9:04 AM Oh my! Thank you for all the wonderful anniversary emails. What a blessing!

8:30 AM So here I sit at the computer. The part I hate about writing? Typing. I use the biblical method of typing (“Seek and ye shall find”). This is chapter 3 of my book Seven Marks of a New Testament Church.

50 pages of handwritten notes. I’d ask my assistant to type it for me except that I end up editing as I go. When Paul said “Do all things without grumbling and complaining” he excluded typing, right?

All right, Dave, stop your dithering and get to work!

8:22 AM Which European country is less Christian than North Korea? Stumped? Answerhere.

8:14 AM Whooohooo! Our 37th anniversary! Praise God! What an appropriate day to publish chapter 4 of Becky’s autobiography: Early Marriage. And yes, she tells it like it is!

Happiest Anniversary Ever, Honey!

Tuesday, September 10

7:20 PM Pix for Bec: 

4:28 PM No time to blog today. I am swamped. Been writing like crazy — already got two chapters written on my “Marks of the Church” book. Took Becky to get her blood work done. The loggers have started thinning about 45 acres of our pines. Nigu and Karen have deserted me for greener pastures in Wake Forest (haha). Looking forward to our anniversary tomorrow!

Monday, September 9

7:25 PM And the winner of our blog contest?

Chris Freet

Congratulations, Chris!

8:38 AM Today I will be editing the fourth chapter in Becky’s autobiography. It’s called “Early Marriage.” I’ll post it on Wednesday, Lord willing.

8:30 AM My dean Bruce Ashford has a good reminder up today on the importance of viewingthe academy as a mission field. His suggestions?

1) Teach the Lordship of Christ over every area of life, including the hard sciences.

2) Consider plying your trade as a academician overseas.

3) Encourage students to earn their Ph.D.s from Ivy-League institutions with a view that they might eventually teach there and thus influence their peers and students for Christ.

(Please don’t overlook his third point. Having a doctorate from the University of Basel has in and of itself opened many doors for me to teach internationally. Add to that a quasi-expertise in linguistics, and the combination can be leveraged for the Gospel.)

Will the next C. S. Lewis please step forward?

Sunday, September 8

6:18 PM My friend Phillip Marshall of HBU has written a great essay entitledWhy Study ‘Linguistics’? His answer may surprise you. For me, having some knowledge of a “secular” field like linguistics has opened many doors for me to share my faith in foreign universities. Here’s one example — Yerevan State University in Armenia. You won’t be asked to lecture on Christianity there, but you just might get in with a lecture on ancient Greek morphology.

The students loved it, and I made many new friends.

6:12 PM Praise God! Becky had the strength to join us for Ethiopian food in the library today! Tope and Friesh brought it from Chapel Hill. Thanks for coming, you two!

9:15 AM Good Sunday morning to you, folks! To start things off: It’s Contest Time Again! Drawing will be made at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Just answer the following question to win a tripack consisting of my booksChristian Archy,Will You Join the Cause of Global Missions?, andThe Authorship of Hebrews: The Case for Paul:

What is your favorite blog, and why?

And no, it doesn’t have to be my blog 🙂

Last night Becky and I finished up our reading of the book of Acts. What a thriller! Next stop: Ruth. As for Acts, I just finished sketching another book I plan to write. Scratch that. I’ve already started it! It’s been percolating in my sub-conscious for years. Here’s what I wrote last night:

For years I have wanted to write a book on ecclesiology. This book, however, is not it. Instead, I have tried to ask the New Testament a very simple question: “What does a healthy, biblical church look like?” Of course, many excellent writers have attempted to answer this question. Books about the church are more abundant than ever. I do not claim to have found the only answer to this question. The one thing I have tried to do is allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves. You will notice that I asked my question of the New Testament itself; and it seems to me that the New Testament has provided us with an extraordinarily clear answer. The more I ponder the book of Acts, the more convinced I am that the wonderful chapter describing the birth of the church makes a fitting starting point for the study of New Testament ecclesiology. Should we ask, “Where do we start?” our course is already plotted, in 11 brief verses no less. I am speaking of Acts 2:37-47, which describe seven basic characteristics of the nascent church in Jerusalem. Hence the title: Seven Marks of a New Testament Church.

Before we begin, however, permit me to make three brief but important observations. First, you will notice that I did not entitle the book “The Seven Marks….” No human can claim such certainty. That would be to have omniscience. We may, of course, assert that we have discovered “the” marks of the church. But the definite article betrays, to me at least, not certitude but overweening hubris. In the second place, these seven descriptors of a New Testament church seem to be valid regardless of one’s denominational affiliation. After all, in the first century there were no Baptists or Presbyterians or Methodists or Catholics per se. These marks, I should think, would apply no less to modern mega-churches as to the joyous house churches of the first century. Finally, we will study these marks in the order in which the text presents them to us. The reader will, no doubt, appreciate the logical and natural progression.

Recognizing, then, that our study is neither comprehensive nor infallible, we prepare to start. I ask you for the moment to disabuse yourself of all pre-conceived notions as to what the “marks” of the church might be. Let us seek to allow the Scriptures themes to unfold for us a clear vision of the Body of Christ.

In case you’re wondering, these seven characteristics are:

• Evangelistic preaching

• Christian baptism

• Apostolic teaching

• Genuine relationships

• Christocentric gatherings

• Fervent prayer

• Sacrificial living

So there you have it! Again, the foundational passage is the following:

37 Ἀκούσαντες δὲ κατενύγησαν τῇ καρδίᾳ, εἶπόν τε πρὸς τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀποστόλους· τί ποιήσομεν, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί; 38 Πέτρος δὲ ἔφη πρὸς αὐτούς· μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ λήψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. 39 ὑμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν, ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν. 40 ἑτέροις τε λόγοις πλείοσι διεμαρτύρετο καὶ παρεκάλει λέγων· σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης. 41 οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀσμένως ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν, καὶ προσετέθησαν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι. 42 Ἦσαν δὲ προσκαρτεροῦντες τῇ διδαχῇ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῇ κοινωνίᾳ καὶ τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου καὶ ταῖς προσευχαῖς. 43 Ἐγένετο δὲ πάσῃ ψυχῇ φόβος, πολλά τε τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐγίνετο. 44 πάντες δὲ οἱ πιστεύοντες ἦσαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ εἶχον ἅπαντα κοινά, 45 καὶ τὰ κτήματα καὶ τὰς ὑπάρξεις ἐπίπρασκον καὶ διεμέριζον αὐτὰ πᾶσι καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχε· 46 καθ᾿ ἡμέραν τε προσκαρτεροῦντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, κλῶντές τε κατ᾿ οἶκον ἄρτον, μετελάμβανον τροφῆς ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ ἀφελότητι καρδίας, 47 αἰνοῦντες τὸν Θεὸν καὶ ἔχοντες χάριν πρὸς ὅλον τὸν λαόν. ὁ δὲ Κύριος προσετίθει τοὺς σῳζομένους καθ᾿ ἡμέραν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ.

Seven Marks of a New Testament Church is intended to be a brief but comprehensive overview of ecclesiology. I’m already about 20 pages into the book. I plan on spending a good deal of time in the first chapter on “preaching” understood as evangelistic proclamation rather than what is normally called “expository preaching.” The former is for non-Christians; the latter is directed toward Christians and is better described as “teaching.” At any rate, there is a beautiful but powerful grassroots movement in the church today all over the globe asking such basic questions as “What should be the norms of a church?” What many are being caught up in today is a commitment, more to modern traditions, and less to the exegesis of specific texts. Many are looking for a simple, biblical definition of “church.” Perhaps The First Church of Jerusalem can provide us with some answers. I hope so!

Off to church — oops — the gathering!

Saturday, September 7

6:23 PM Since it’s college football season…

Student: The author of Hebrews was most certainly from Oklahoma.

Teacher: Why in the world do you say that?

Student: Because he states in Heb. 13:19: “That I may be returned to you the Sooner.”

Teacher: *Sigh.*

6:12 PM The work in India continues. For more information, see ourIndia/Ethiopia Files.

4:22 PM After spending this beautiful day doing more bush hogging, I got caught up on the news. The recent election in Australia fascinated me, not least because voting in elections is compulsory Down Under. Voting may be a duty in Australia, but here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. it’s a right. If it’s un-American to stay home on Election Day (and that is a questionable assumption — if candidates are unworthy of my vote, they don’t get it) it’s even more un-American to make voting mandatory. But perhaps a larger point looms. Australia considers voting a duty. Hence voting is required by law. In there a parallel with our own heavenly citizenship (Phil. 3:20)? Paul could not be clearer than when he asserts in Phil. 1:27 (the key verse of Philippians), “The only thing in life that matters is that we live as good citizens of heaven in a manner that is required by the Gospel.” That is not an option for the Christian. The Gospel requires a certain lifestyle of us all. This lifestyle is described in 2:1-4, illustrated in 2:5-11, and modeled for us by Paul (2:17-18), Timothy (2:19-24), and Ephaphroditus (2:25-30). Jesus requires this lifestyle. And the only “vote” that counts is an emphatic Yes! The genuine follower of Jesus will not shrink from this duty. The joyful news of redeeming love should spur us to never-ending obedience (2:13-14).

In early 2000, when I began to break my heart over the lostness of this world, one of the first things I did was to ask myself, “What kind of a steward am I being of the blessings God has shed upon me?” I began to realize that all of my blessings are only temporary and conditional. I began to realize how late the hour is and how urgent it is that I personally respond to the call to “go” in obedience to His mercy and grace. May God open our eyes to the billions of people still unreached with the Gospel. And may we respond to our heavenly citizenship as the Australians do to their earthly one — with a deep sense of duty to take this Gospel to “the whole world” (Mark 16:15). Folks, we’ll never get the job done if we continue to outsource missions to professionals and abdicate our personal responsibility to become bearers of His love and salvation to a world lost in sin and darkness.

Friday, September 6

7:58 PM It’s so easy to forget to say thank you. So, before I turn in for the night, “Thank You.” Your prayers have challenged me to walk by faith and not by sight. Your emails have motivated me to dream big and act bigger. As I was bush hogging today, I was praying. Praying for the church in China, in India, in Iraq, in Iran, in Egypt. I was praying for my students past, present, and future, for my recently-graduated doctoral students who are teaching their first classes this month, for my incoming Ph.D. students who are about to embark on the experience of a lifetime. I was praying for family members, from children to grandchildren to in-laws to my precious wife. As I pleaded with God to allow Becky and me to go out tonight, something in me broke. There, as I sat on the tractor, I prayed one of the strongest prayers I’ve ever prayed, and then I drove on, full of confidence that God would allow us this privilege, one last time. I rejoiced in this: that the God who knows where we were born is the exact same God who decides when and how we die. As Becky and I die — yes, we are both dying, I no less than she — as her ship sails to the far shore and leaves me behind on the near one, I am at peace. God has written the book of her life, not she. It was He who penned each and every page even before she was born to her missionary parents. And it is He who brought us together in a cafeteria line so very long ago and who was there in the car with us as we drove to the restaurant tonight. God is always the THERE ONE if we will only stop and look and listen and see Him.

Tonight was so incredibly awesome. Tonight God, in a form that looked strangely like my wife’s, took my hand and said, “I love you.”

7:25 PM Because of the mercy and grace of God ….

… and your prayers. Glory to God! Doesn’t she look beautiful?

2:28 PM No more perfect day for working outside was ever created.

I ended up bush hogging the cattle pasture …

… and the donkey pasture.

Becky, in the meantime, has taken her shower, her pain pill, and has picked out her dress for tonight’s extravaganza (it’s a navy blue one). Her mom and Karen are her co-conspirators. Hope she’s found her dancing shoes, cause tonight we’re gonna party!

Slow down, David, it’s not 4:30 yet.

Keep praying, folks!

P.S. Care to ride the tractor with me? Be sure to turn up your speakers. Ain’t nothin’ in this ol’ world quite like the purr of a Massie-Ferguson 135!

 

8:21 AM Thomas Hudgins, Greek prof at Capital Bible Seminary, has just published agreat interview with one of his students. He asked him, “What is the ultimate purpose of your Greek studies?” In that vein, I offer theTen Best Books for Studying New Testament Greek.

8:10 AM I’ve just posted the third chapter of Becky’s autobiography. That’s right, you’re seeing it four days before our normal publishing day (Monday). She’s on a roll and I don’t want her to let up now. In the current chapter, Becky tells the story of how she readjusted to life in America, why she chose to study nursing, and where she met her future husband. It’s quite a saga.

The chapter is called Bending His Way.

Thursday, September 5

5:42 PM Special prayer request, folks. Tomorrow evening at this time I hope to be having dinner with my bride of 37 years at Carrington’s Restaurant in the beautiful Berry Hill Plantation House (about 25 minutes from us). And yes, they are equipped to handle wheel chairs. Will Becky be strong enough for this, perhaps our final anniversary celebration on earth? Here’s where you come in. We are requesting an outpouring of prayer to our dear Father that Becky will be strong enough for an evening on the town. Just be forewarned that I am pulling out all the stops for this one. I can’t help remembering the anniversaries we celebrated in this very same restaurant, enjoying the best filet mignon this side of heaven (and yes, there will be filet mignon in heaven, guaranteed). Becky may be skin and bones and may not be able to get out of bed much these days, but I can already see in my mind’s eye a starry-eyed and gray-haired couple enjoying a scrumptious dinner in an antebellum home tomorrow night.

The reservations have been made, and the oxygen bottles are filled to the max.

We’re ready.

Please pray.

4:35 PM Our thanks to Karen and Kelly for putting  up the final stencils at Maple Ridge today.

 Here’s the laundry room:

And here are the stairs.

Thanks again! 

10:28 AM And now a word to my students. Hope you all have been enjoying your semester. I’ve been perusing the discussion of Hebrews in several standard introductions to the New Testament. They almost all say the same thing.

1) Paul could not be the author because the language of the book is different from Paul’s in his letters. Question: Did you actually compare the language yourself? I did, and I came away with a completely different conclusion.

2) The author of Hebrews says that he only heard the gospel from those who received it from Christ. Ergo, Paul could not have the author. This objection, of course, is based on 2:3, a verse that is capable other explanations favoring Pauline authorship (explanations that are hardly ever mentioned).

3) In these textbooks Origen is usually misquoted. His words “… who wrote the epistle, in truth God knows” are assumed to mean that he took an agnostic position relative to the question of authorship. This is, of course, the selfsame Origen who consistently cites the letter as Paul’s.

4) Finally, some textbooks argue that the Western church rejected Pauline authorship. Clearly this is a misreading of the external evidence. The epistle was admitted to be Paul’s by the Councils of Hippo (AD 393) and Carthage (AD 397), as well as in the lists of canonical books set forth in their canons. These canons speak of thirteen epistles of Paul, and then add, “[he wrote] another one to the Hebrews.” In addition, Hebrews was received as Paul’s by Hilary (AD 354), Lucifer (AD 354), Victorinus (AD 360), Ambrose (AD 374), Philaster (AD 380), Gaudentius (AD 387), and Rufinus (AD 397). The tradition in the West that there were thirteen epistles of Paul clearly meant thirteen that bear the apostle’s name. In fact the fifth Council of Carthage in AD 419, at which Augustine was present, reckoned fourteen epistles as Paul’s, without any further qualification.

Students, I have no problem with rejecting Pauline authorship, if your conclusions are based on all the evidence as well as on a personal examination of the data. If this is a topic that interests you, I encourage you to read my book The Authorship of Hebrews: The Case for Paul when it is released next month.

9:30 AM I once spoke at a Baptist Men’s Conference at Crewe Baptist Church here in southern Virginia. This was very exciting to me because CBC is the final resting place of 4-feet 3-inch Lottie Moon, former missionary to China. Why should I feel so honored? Read these two excerpts from herbio and you’ll understand:

Raised in a family “of culture and means,” Lottie at first thought of the Chinese as an inferior people, and insisted on wearing American clothes to maintain a degree of distance from these “heathen” people. But gradually she came to realize that the more she shed her westernized trappings and identified with the Chinese people, the more their simple curiosity about foreigners (and sometimes rejection) turned into genuine interest in the Gospel. She began wearing Chinese clothes, adopted Chinese customs, learned to be sensitive to Chinese culture, and came to respect and admire Chinese culture and learning. In turn she was deeply loved and revered by the Chinese people.

Lottie Moon—the Southern belle who was once described as “overindulged and under-disciplined”—shared her own meager money and food with any and everyone around her, severely affecting both her physical and mental health.

“Over-indulged and under-disciplined” describes the North American church to a tee. I praise God for Lottie’s life and testimony. It sure is convicting.

8:15 AM Interested in taking beginning Greek in the comfort of your own home? Here’s aprogram that can’t be beat.  

Wednesday, September 4

7:27 PM In my bookWill You Join the Cause of Global Missions? I encourage my readers to view modern missions as “a global, cooperative movement,” a partnership, if you will, between local churches in America and local churches in other nations.

Unfortunately [I continue], many U.S. mission teams fail to coordinate their efforts with the churches of host locations. Recently a student of mine mentioned that his local church was going to plant a new church in China. I asked him, “Have you ever considered simply going to China and asking the existing churches how you can come alongside them and help?” Failing to understand and connect with God’s already-at-work global purpose is one of the greatest mistakes we can make as churches. More and more local churches in America are forging effective partnerships with local churches in foreign nations, asking how they can best serve the needs in those countries. When done well, everybody benefits through this kind of beautiful partnership, and Christ is honored as His people submit to one another in love.

Once we understand that we have only one King and one kingdom, we should be able to begin working cooperatively, side by side with foreign nationals, to get the job done. Once we see this principle, it is the most liberating revelation. We will find ourselves working intentionally with national churches as each one of us does our part to finish the task before night falls.

4:22 PM Now that Senator McCain has been busted using his iPhone during a meeting …

…. I suppose I should say something about my classroom policy for the use of electronic devices.

I have none.

As one report said, “… in the end it’s a politeness thing.” And you can’tteach politeness. Students who are rude will continue to be rude. Students who are told they can’t check their emails during class will still find a way of doing it without the teacher’s knowledge. Nor can one wholly blame them. If I had to sit through boring lectures (or meetings) I’d probably be online too. So my rule is to have no rules. Except for one. This is what I write in my syllabi:

We have one rule in this class. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Act accordingly.

Students, remember: As Christians we are free in Christ. But we are only free to do what it right (or polite, or gracious, etc.). The minute we do what is wrong we become the slaves of sin. That said, I am not going to look over your shoulder. I am going to treat you like the adults you are. Or at least the adults you ought to be.

9:08 AM Was reading this in the seminary library the other day.

It’s a 17th-century commentary on Genesis, written in Latin with oodles of Greek and Hebrew thrown in for good measure. Another reminder of why Latin is indispensable for anybody going into biblical studies.

8:56 AM At the beginning of a new semester, perhaps you’ll allow me a few random thoughts about education.

1) Teaching is not teaching unless lives have been changed. It is not mere instruction we need in the classroom. Instead we need men and women who will model the Jesus lifestyle. Those who do, who depend completely on the living God and not on their own intellectual prowess, are the people God will use to shake our generation.

2) Information is not a product to be marketed. Today we have a glut of information about the Bible. The result is often a slavish dependence upon computers, degrees, education, management skills, and human talent. If there appears to be any human explanation for what we do, we jump on it. When this happens, our science and technology become nothing more than tools of the Evil One. It is only when we are freed from our over-dependence on human plans, programs, and leaders are we able to trust God rather than ourselves.

3) Our “studies” often betray our callous indifference to God and what matters most to Him. If we love the Lord our God the way we say we do, how can we spend so little time in doing what is of eternal importance? The world is looking for handsome, self-important people to lead it, but God is looking for humble, Spirit-dependent people who will love the lost as He does.

4) If you are a student and a follower of the Lord Jesus, you have a lot more to worry about than good grades and a diploma. God has prospered you for a reason. The fields are white unto harvest now. Millions of people in Asia have never once heard the Gospel and have never seen a Bible, let alone spoken with a Christian. Remember: we’re talking about real people with real souls.

Through the years I’ve closed my classes with a simple prayer that contains these words: “Lord, make us winsome and attractive for the Gospel.” I got the imagery from 2 Cor. 2:15. Paul says our lives are to be a “fragrant aroma.” We are to influence others like perfume. Our goal is not to beat people into submission with academic arguments. It’s to love them to the Savior.

8:45 AM I well recall when I first fell in love with the Word of God. I was about 16 and part of the Jesus Movement in Hawaii. As I began to read the Bible, I discovered that I just couldn’t put it down. At that time I used the translation called the Good News for Modern Man – line drawings and all. In it I discovered that the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It began to convict me of sin. It began to reprove me concerning my false beliefs. It not only exposed my sins and theological errors, it began to correct my conduct and thinking. It began to put the fractured pieces of my life back together again. I found it to be all the spiritual food I needed.

As much as I enjoy and benefit from reading the writings of other authors, and as much as I enjoy writing books myself, I pray that God will restore to His people an appetite for His Word. I pray that He will make us aware – perhaps for the first time – that we need to feed ourselves every day on the living Word of God and to stay away from the junk. I pray that He will show us that the words of men are nothing in comparison with His own precious words.

Tuesday, September 3

5:07 PM Jason Kees has some good thoughts about learning German for his Ph.D. program at Southwestern (Learning Deutsch). Here many go wrong. By focusing only on theological German you will be able to form only a very rough and general idea of how the language works. If, however, you learn how to speak the language, the rest will all fall into place. At once you will be able look at the whole discourse you are reading through the eyes of a native speaker. You will see why Barth used da here or why Brunner used doch there. Focus only on theological vocabulary and you will end up baffled when you encounter real German. So I ask: What is your goal? Learning German is like learning how to drive a car. What matters in driving is developing an intuitive sense of the road. There are three essential elements in learning a modern foreign language: grammar, vocabulary, and the ability to think in that language. In contrast to the trinity of 1 Cor. 13:13, there is no “greatest of these.” Only the three together, each facilitating the development of the other, will do.

5:04 PM I see that my colleague Charles Quarles has just beenelected into the prestigious Society for New Testament Studies. Congratulations, Chuck.

5:00 PM Just in case you thought that nothing exciting ever happens around here, check out my day today. This morning Becky’s pain and discomfort caused by her catheter got so bad that we ended up back at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill. They decided to remove her catheter in a procedure that wasn’t as painful as we had anticipated. Of course, mom and I (and Becky!) did a lot of praying. I’m not trying to sound super-spiritual here, but prayer really does make a huge difference. After a chest x-ray they discharged her, so we are all nestled on the farm again. God has a funny way of reminding us of how dependent we are on Him. Just when I think I’m too breakable doing this, He reminds me that with Him I’ve got everything. I’ve said it before — I can’t handle all this on my own. But it’s a joy when you’re plugged into His strength. So I’m going to learn to stay connected. I promise.

Monday, September 2

5:24 PM The latest blog posts on Hebrews are only aclick away.

5:20 PM Blaire and Catherine have got to be two of the zaniest people I’ve ever met. But what do you expect from young ladies who took me for beginning Greek? They’ve been working up a storm here at the farm. Among other things, they cleaned the upstairs porch at Bradford Hall from stem to stern (while checking for snakes). Then mom and I went over to Maple Ridge to put up the curtains she had sewn for us in Dallas. They fit perfectly. Like I said, it’s great to have so many people here. As for Becky, we think her catheter is plugged and she is in a lot of discomfort right now. Hopefully we can have her checked out at UNC tomorrow. Life is such an odd kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions. But it feels good to be able to say, with Paul, “I can face any circumstance in union with the One who energizes me.” So thanks to all who have come to serve and (hopefully) to be served and encouraged by Becky’s faith while they’re here. I want to say more but I feel like it’s all been said before. Faith. Family. Love. Sacrifice. Jesus. That’s about all you need.

4:12 PM Since it’s Labor Day, I’m wondering if you’ve seenthis?

4:04 PM She made it! And at the ripe young age of 64! Who’s the Diana Nyad in your life? Mine was my college roommate for 4 years.

Reubens was from the jungles of Brazil. He’d been adopted into an American family. When I first saw him my heart was moved with compassion. Here’s a guy who needs a lot of help, I thought. After all, Reubens was completely blind (from birth) and could hear only with the help of a hearing aid. Boy, did he show me up. There was nothing he could not do. He had been trained as a classical pianist in New York City. He played the clarinet in the Biola college band. He went on to earn a masters degree in Romance Language and Linguistics from UCLA. Today he is a successful composer living in his native Brazil.

So congratulations, Diana! You’re an inspiration to us all. And I’m sure glad that at the end of your swim your helpers didn’t pull a practical joke on you and start speaking French while pointing to the West, though I suppose you would have just kept on swimming!

10:40 AM Forgive me, but I’ve got the church fathers on my mind this morning. Pascal once said that had Cleopatra’s nose been shorter this would have changed the history of the world (to say nothing of her face). His point was that human events (in this case, Mark Antony’s defeat at Actium) are often determined by unusual antecedent conditions. All would agree that where there is a cause, there is an effect. The chief difficulty lies in defining “cause.” I’m mentioning this only because I’ve often wondered why New Testament scholars have been so quick to turn away from Matthean priority. In trying to discredit the “second-hand” knowledge of the fathers, they have become skeptical about patristic testimony in general. Their reasoning goes: The church fathers are contradictory and unreliable, ergo their statements can be rejected out of hand. It is just possible, however, that the modern scholar is the one who is in error. The test of consistency and non-contradiction must be applied, not merely asserted. In other words, what modern synoptic scholars assert to be true (Markan priority) requires testing. William Farmer, to whom I dedicated my book Rethinking the Synoptic Problem, is an example of a scholar who did just that. At many points he found the fathers to be self-consistent and trustworthy. He felt their statements had been entirely misrepresented by his colleagues, that assertions and conjectures had replaced historical investigation. Nor did he stop there. He also asserted that the value of historical testimony generally increases in proportion to the nearness in time and space between the witness and the event about which he or she is testifying. I mention this simply to remind myself (and anyone else who may be listening) that nothing could be more artificial than the scientific separation of a scholar’s theological and historical perspectives. The ultimate question for the historian is: Which facts? At no time should a theologian take a vacation from being a historian. Which means, at the very least, that anyone who is really interested in New Testament studies today must also be a master of early Christian history. It also means that he or she must know not only Greek but also classical Latin. And yet Latin is not required in most Ph.D. programs that I am aware of. But how can we read the fathers in translation? Impossible!

8:23 AM Just a quick note to let you know that I just posted chapter 2 of Becky’s autobiography. She went back in time to her early days in Ethiopia. If you haven’t heard that part of her life story yet, it might be worth clicking through to make sure you’re not missing anything. The chapter is calledStrengthened through Hardship: Growing Up in Ethiopia.

8:22 AM I’m sitting here at the computer. Mom is here. Karen is here. Blair and Catherine from the seminary are coming today to help Karen clean. Moral support, you know. I love my life. I specially love the One who orders it. If prayers are incense (see Psalm 141), then heaven is fragrant this morning.

Sunday, September 1

6:29 PM Occasionally I will visit the Patheos site to get caught up on a couple of bloggers, but lately whenever I go there an annoying popup ad appears on my iPad. Anybody know how to prevent that? If I can’t find a way around them, I’m going to avoid Patheos. 

8:56 AM Jazzed. Only 10 days till my 37th anniversary. (How’s that for a tweet?)

8:54 AM Had to chuckle while reading my colleagues’ tweets this morning. “Bama.” “Ohio State.” “Poor tackling.” “Too many turnovers.” The reason I chuckled is because I had no idea it was football season again!

8:45 AM The current political imbroglio in the Middle East is yet another reminder that we’ve got to place no faith in politics, period. The only security lies in Jesus and His living Way. The irony is that so many of us Bible-believing Christians are running away from what the Bible clearly teaches about following the rule of law. So, my message to my compatriots is, in a nutshell, let’s treasure our great Constitution. Not in a prideful way, of course, but simply as recognizing it as the law of the land. Lest we forget: Only Congress has the authority to decide whether the U.S. will go to war. That’s the law. If the U.S. attacks Syria without just cause and without legal authorization we will be guilty of unprovoked unilateral aggression.

I am eager for some answers: What kind of gas was used? How was it delivered? Who authorized it? Can you prove it? Let me be clear: I have nothing but the greatest respect for our democratic system. But even honest politicians can make mistakes. Even Colin Powell, who presented “incontrovertible” evidence of Iraq’s possession of WMD, is urging caution on Syria. It would be foolish to act on incomplete information. Even the most bellicose Republicans are saying so!

Bottom line: Act unilaterally and you act outside the bounds of international law. Act without congressional authorization, and you act outside the Constitution of the United States. This, of course, is merely my interpretation of the facts. The whole matter will call for extraordinary political discernment. Let’s pray for this to happen.

But the bottom of the bottom line? The New Testament clearly reveals that the battle God wants us Christians to fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. On top of this, Jesus chose to love and die for His enemies rather than engage in “justified” violence against them. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find any exceptions to Jesus’ command to do good to our enemies. This is what I shall attempt to do when eventually I resume my international travels. The unmistakable message we need to show the Syrian people is that if you want to know God, look at Jesus Christ. Jesus isn’t just one prophet in a long line of prophets. He is the unsurpassable revelation of God. He is not a way but the way to God. He alone reveals the Godhead, and there is no competing revelation. But what does Jesus look like? The life of a kingdom-person is always counter-cultural and subversive of power. It takes the downward path of service and sacrifice. While perhaps some good things can come as the result of political involvement, our time and energy must be spent replicating the love of Jesus even to our “enemies.”

I promise to pray for our national leaders. Will you? I will also pray for the evangelical church in America that, for the most part, is absolutely pathetic at living out the radical call of kingdom citizenship.

8:12 AM It’s here to stay. I’m talking about online education.

Higher education is in the midst of an unprecedented shift, brought on by the relatively rapid rise of online learning. Last year alone, nearly one-third of college students nationwide took at least one online course — up from just 10 percent in 2002, according to the Babson Survey Research Group. In the same research, 70 percent of chief academic officers identified online education as “critical” to the long-term strategies of their universities.

Readmore.

8:07 AM So honored to hold the Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair in New Testament. And so pleased to wish Dr. Owens a Happy 100th Birthday on September 3. 

8:02 AM Paul Himes offers a fewthoughts about Bible software. That the electronic “library” is the repository of the largest source of our recorded knowledge about the Bible (including the biblical languages) needs no demonstration. The student who reports the number of aorist imperatives within 5 words of a present imperative in Josephus’s Jewish Wars (to use Paul’s example) found this information on a search engine. It is highly unlikely people find this kind of data by a manual search.

Paul summaries the benefits of electronic resources as follows. These tools will help you to:

• Compare Bible versions.

• Give you immediate access to a theological library.

• Allow basic word searches.

• Allow in-depth syntactical and semantic study.

It is natural for beginning Greek students to feel a little overwhelmed in a library of this type. But such tools are the inescapable prerequisite for serious Bible study, as Paul rightly notes. All of this is common knowledge, but Paul is to be warmly thanked for his timely reminder.

P. S. The best quote in Paul’s essay (for me, at least!) has nothing to do with electronic resources:

In my opinion, the debate on Verbal Aspect Theory would be better served by less theoretical linguistics and more examination of actual 1st century texts.

Does that hit the nail on the head or what? 

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