restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

Living with Resilience

Becky Lynn Black  

Living as a Christ-follower is like a marathon. It is not the person who starts the race, but the one who finishes the race that gets the applause. In fact, it’s not a race against each other for speed, but a race against the inner self that wants to quit when the route gets difficult. That’s why encouragement along the way, and runner-helping-runner, is so important.  Some runners fall; some step aside for much needed refreshment; some get distracted momentarily. But all who complete the race and qualify for applause will eventually get up and continue onward.

In recent years my marathon has been punctuated by many challenges, some of which have momentarily taken the breath out of me. My last PET scan is a case in point….more pulmonary nodules, larger nodules, new lymph node involvement, new spots on my spine…..an all-round “bad” report.  (Is there any such thing as a “bad” anything for the one who follows Christ?  The Apostle Paul said “And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good,” Rom 8:28, ISV.  It doesn’t sound to me like there are “bad” things in the lives of those seeking to obey Him. Do I believe this? Do you?)

Lately I’ve been thinking about the matter of resilience, that power to get up and keep going.  We all have events in life that knock our breath out momentarily…the foreclosure notice that finally came, the walking out of a spouse, the discovery that our child is on drugs, the termination notice at work, the IRS audit.  This is life, and sometimes these horrific events occur.  The issue is not that they occur; the issue is how we respond to them. And the key “proof” of resilience is joy.

As word of my latest PET scan spread, I got several emails from folk sharing how they had been so blessed to watch my resilience these past almost-4 years.  They asked me about it. Allow me to copy/paste my response to one person:

As a matter of personal testimony, let me say that it takes definite choice to be resilient…it does not happen automatically. It happens when I stop to define Truth as it relates to my situation. It’s like walking along a path, and stopping to check my surroundings and location, to re-affirm/or re-adjust my path before continuing to walk.

I also want to say that sometimes it takes separating myself from those who choose not to live by Truth….those who wallow in their emotions, those who are abusive (destructive), those who choose not to acknowledge Christ as Lord. These people do not understand the separation (because they beat to a different drum), but in order for me to serve Christ as He is worthy, it is necessary for me to “forsake” other relationships.

And lastly, it comes from continuously bowing before the Lord, asking the Spirit to dominate my thoughts, my emotions, my choices. This surrender has to be moment by moment; it’s not an annual or monthly or even daily decision….although those “resolutions” help.

Conclusion…..orient to Truth, assess relationships, yield to Spirit.

I do long to see our Savior….but I also long to work for the Kingdom….mostly I value finishing well (whenever that it). Please pray to this end, as the Race gets more difficult.

In my own life, there are 3 things that contribute to this ability to quickly recover to a position of joy again. May I share them with you? Perhaps they will help you the next time your breath is knocked out by Life.

1.     1) Live according to Truth.  The current “bad” situation is reality, but there is another Reality that is even more important, an eternal Reality. That Reality is the truth about my God.  You see, at the bottom of my PET scan, in writing only a Christ-Follower could read, was this: Your Father is still on His throne, ruling over the affairs of your life with loving sovereignty. He has not abandoned you. He is accomplishing His purposes for you.

Resilience cannot happen if our feet, our thoughts, our choices are not oriented to Truth.  Without that orientation, we are wandering in the woods, lost in the desert, confused in the jungle.

Truth is our North Star. It does not change. It is eternally situated. It is found in the Scriptures.  And we cannot know this Truth without reading, studying, and embracing the Scriptures.

So I ask you again, is Romans 8:28 for real to you?

2.     2) Put aside things and relationships that are spiritually counter-productive.  Can you imagine someone entering a marathon, knowing the long distance ahead of them, knowing the challenges to their endurance…and yet choosing to hold hands with a weakling, or choosing to eat a steak-and-baked-potato meal just before the race, or choosing to listen to music that saps the energy and distracts from the focus needed?  Hebrews 12:1 comes on the heels of the testimonies of those marathoners who had completed the Race.  “Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us,fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Did you get it?  2 things hinged on each other: lay aside/quit/forsake….and focus/streamline/target. We cannot do the one without first doing the other. They go hand in hand.

How can we bemoan our failure to keep running the race when we refuse to “throw off everything that hinders us” (including people who refuse to run, and who keep trying to hold us back with them; including unhelpful habits, like unfaithful church attendance, or lazy Bible reading, or undisciplined recreation)?

We must make choices in life. Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can’t be my disciple” (Luke 14:26, ISV).

All He’s saying is this: we have to make a choice.  Our allegiance to doing life His way must be so strong that all other relationships, including family, are expendable!

3.     3) Continuously yield to the Spirit’s control. It is the Spirit’s job to cause me to finish the Race. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.”  Jesus spoke those words in John 14:26. The Spirit is our coach; He knows the Race; He knows us….and it is He that has been assigned to get us to the finish line.

But He will not over-ride our wills. Like all good coaches, he waits for us to willingly submit to His guidance and warnings.

This submission is a daily, hourly thing. It is a sort of “flowing” that with practice becomes almost subconscious. It is the instant check-thought when faced with a decision.  It is a subterranean communion….sort of like husband and wife in the same house. They may be in different rooms, doing different work….but they are very much aware of each other, their obligation to each other, and their love for each other.

Galatians 5 discusses the power of the Spirit in our lives. When we yield to His control, then His fruit becomes evident in us….it is the super-natural ability to love, to have joy, to be meek, to be self-controlled, to be patient, etc. Everyone can do these things when the going is easy. But when we’re punched in the gut by Life, we realize that ONLY the Spirit can make these things to happen with His super-power. That’s why I’m always saying….it’s the JOY in difficulty that separates the believers from the non-believers.

So, my dear friend, resilience isn’t something that comes from pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, or “thinking positive,” or covering ourselves with support systems. Those things may do well for the little bumps in life….but for the gut-wrenching, breath-knocking, dizzying events, we need super-natural power. And that power is able to flow through us unhindered, when we anchor ourselves in Truth, when we streamline ourselves to focus on Jesus, and when we yield to the Spirit as our coach.

Only then can we abound in JOY.

Yours in the Race,

BeckyLynn

May 18, 2013

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Living in the Wilderness

 Becky Lynn Black  

The Israelites had lived through the plagues that marred the whole land of Egypt.  These plagues were far worse than the tornadoes, the fires, and the floods that have visited our land in recent months.  The culmination was the death of all first-born, both man and animal.   But the Israelites had showed their confidence in their God by putting themselves and their families under the blood-soaked doorway.  In drawing the knife across the throat of that innocent young lamb, in dabbing the blood on the entrance to their home, and in staying inside their home all night, these Israelites showed their confidence in the saving character of their God.

And what a saving it was!  Laden down with the treasures of Egypt, all the gold and silver of the wealthy ones, these Israelites rushed out of their land, headed for the Sea.  But everything was so rushed!  Soon they found themselves caught between 2 cliffs, with the Sea in front and the greatest army on earth behind!

God’s character is to save…..always!  He doesn’t forsake His people.  He doesn’t dump us when we get into a hard spot.  And He miraculously opened the Sea for the people, and then used that same Sea to defeat the enemy of His people.

And after the salvation, He stayed with them.  Leading them by His presence….a pillar of fire during the nighttime, when the desert was dark and cold, and a cloud during the daytime, when the desert heat was unbearable.   Where did He lead them?  Deeper and deeper into a terrain that is among the worst in the world.  The Wilderness of Sin is in the Arabian Peninsula.  It is a desolate place!!!  Like deserts around the world, it is a place of vulnerability, of exposure, without reliable water, with little food or shelter.  Sand storms arise suddenly.  Poisonous snakes hide in sand holes.

Yet God led them there.  Why?  For the simple reason that before they could dwell in His promised land, they had to get Egypt out of their hearts.

The same is true for us in the 21st century.  If you are one of His people, God has miraculously saved you.  The culture around you… the hopelessness, the anxiety, the addictions…spells death to you. God has miraculously, by His grace, chosen you to come apart to Him, to escape a living death brought on by wickedness in the culture around you.

And just as He led the Israelites into the place of vulnerability and exposure, so He leads you and me into such places.  He has not forsaken us in these trips.  Rather, He wants to remove Egypt (our cultural thinking and values) from our minds, our affections, our relationships.

Let’s look at 3 of these places in the Wilderness.  The first place is in (Exodus 15:22ff.).  After 3 days of walking in hot temperatures, where the humidity was almost zero, the water of the Israelites was at the bottom.  Many canteens were empty.  Mouths were dry.  Bodies were becoming weak.  They needed refreshment; they needed re-creation.

Ever been there?  Have you ever “walked” in stressful paths for a length of time, and found yourself needing refreshment?  Oh, to have a glass of nice cool water!  The imagination runs wild.  You can feel that water going down the throat, soothing your anguish, strengthening your muscles!

The Israelites came to one well.  One well for thousands, perhaps millions, of people! They scrambled…rushed to satisfy their thirst.  But they found it was bitter water.  It did not satisfy.  In fact, it made their situation worse!  And their spirits turned from complaining to anger!  They were emotionally shaking their fists at God…..”How dare You!!!”    “What right do You have not to satisfy our need for refreshment? ” “Can’t You see the state of exhaustion and need we are in?”

Ever been there?   Ever looked to a miserly little well for your deep need for refreshment?  Ever sought the needs of your soul in the wells of the world system? 

The typical person who claims to be one of God’s people will run to the beach, or a mountain cabin, or perhaps a casino, or a baseball game, or a movie, to get the refreshment that his soul craves.  But like that well in the Wilderness, there is no refreshment here.  There is only bitterness, and the end is worse than the beginning.  And we shake our fist at God and declare “How day You!!  How dare You not satisfy my soul in the manner that I chose?”

Before we can live in the Promised Land, we must learn to allow God, in His time and His way, to satisfy the needs of our soul.  We must leave our need for refreshment, for re-creation in His Hands.  We must trust Him.  We must keep walking in the dry land, without complaining, until He brings us to the refreshment of His choice.

In Exodus 15 we see that He supplied a special branch for the sour well….but more than that, He led them the next day to a place that had 12 (TWELVE!) wells.  Out here in the middle of the wasteland, God had a dozen wells close together, with easy access, with palm trees for shade!  For those willing to be taught, God was showing the Israelites who He is.  He is the God who provides.  And we can trust Him to be Who He is!

After a while the Israelites began to dream. The story is in Exodus 16.  Walking along the dusty road, day after day of barrenness surrounding them, their food reserves were getting boring, they began to remember the mountains of fresh meat and abundant fresh vegetables that was their former life.  The Scriptures do not say they were hungry…they say only that they were remembering the food of Egypt.  They were lusting after the Old Way (Num. 11:4-35).

So what are your dreams? 

Possessions….Comfort…Education….Salary…Children…Grandchildren…”Happy Marriage”….Ministry…    The list can get very long!!!   Where is the place of the One who saved you out of bondage in all these dreams?  Have you forgotten the bondage that accompanies these dreams?  The Israelites forgot all the slave labor. They forgot the beatings, the sweating, the forced murder of their children.

How human we are!  We have very selective thought patterns.  With possessions, comfort, education, children, grandchildren, ‘happy marriage’, ministry….the whole list of potential dreams….comes slavery.  Of course, the Evil One will not allow us to see that slavery.  He sets the trap with the dreams, the visions, the hopes…and then he springs the clamp of entrapment before we realize what happened!

As the Israelites’ fantasies turned to complaining, the Lord met them.  He supplied their cravings, and He gave to them the natural consequences of their cravings.  You see, the Old Way was to get all you can!  The Old Way was to satisfy your cravings, to indulge, to gorge yourself on good things. And with that engorgement comes sickness and death.

The New Way is to take what is needed for today, in moderation, expressing thanks to the One who supplies.  God told the Israelites:  “Every morning you must gather only the amount you need for that day.  And on the 6th day, you must gather 2 days’ worth” (Exod. 16:4-5).   God has told us: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5 ).         

The New Way is one of contentment with the Savior.  The cravings are changed to crave the Savior, not the old food.  And the new dream is obedience.  The vision, the dream, the hopes of the person headed for the Promised Land is to just be obedient, and then to be content with what He supplies day by day.

Are you there yet?  Are you in the Wilderness bodily, but still in Egypt in your heart and mind.  Are your thoughts on the ways of the unsaved, longing for the pleasures that they seem to be enjoying?  Do you fantasize about what good times you could have if you only didn’t belong to Him?

The One who called you, who saved you by His blood, wants to teach you the joy of obedience and the satisfaction of simplicity.   Remember the sample prayer of our Lord Jesus? “Thy will be done…Give us this day our daily bread”   Jesus had His time in the wilderness, then the Tempter showed Him all the glories of the future kingdoms (Matt. 4:8-10).  The gold, the glitter, the comfort, the prestige.  But Jesus knew the slavery that accompanied those things.  “All these things will I give to you if you will fall down and worship me,” the Tempter said.  Dreams that end in slavery.

Jesus said to the Tempter what the Israelites were taught in the Wilderness: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”  The dream to obey, the vision of service to Him is the dream that does not carry a bitter enslavement with it.  It is a lesson that you and I need to learn.

The last lesson in the Wilderness came in Exodus 17:1-7.  “Where is God?!”  “Show Him to us!”  “Prove His presence here amongst us!”   In walking with God, we expect companionship that we can see and feel.  How often do people going thru the Wilderness say to God “Show Yourself to me!”

This challenge to God’s Personhood is a dare.  We dare Him to be who He says He is.  We draw a line in the sand and tell God to step over it, to accommodate our terms of the relationship.  “If You do this, then I will do that.”  “I won’t…. until You….”    Challenging, bargaining, demanding.  Wow!  Who do we think we are???

The Tempter encouraged Jesus to challenge God.  “Hey, Jesus!  God has said that He will protect you from harm.  I challenge you to see if He keeps His word.  I challenge you to see if He can really do what He has said He can do.  Throw yourself off this temple spire, and let’s see if God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do!” (Matthew 4).

Ever been there?  The emotions are dried up. The circumstances are getting darker.  The Scriptures seem as lifeless as dead men’s bones.  And the natural inclination is to question God’s character, even His existence!

If we are to live in the Promised Land, we must learn to trust His character by faith.  He has said it, and that settles it.  No ifs, ands or buts.  Our feelings, our circumstances are irrelevant.  The innuendos of others that God has somehow failed are utterly out of line.  The subtle thoughts the Evil One plants “Has God said?” are from the pit of Hell, and His purpose of destruction is clear.

You see, it’s not over until it’s over.  And God will always have the last say.  He is faithful.  He is present.  He is sufficient.  He is just.  His mercy is new every morning.  His love never fails.  So many, many things He has delighted to tell us about Himself….and all He asks is that we accept His word on the matter.  “I am that I am” He told Moses.  And it is enough for those of us who dare to live with Him.

So, my dear friend…are you in the Wilderness?  If so, learn the lessons of the Wilderness….

• Find your recreation, your satisfaction in the Savior…not in the worldly system of our culture
• Learn contentment; make your dream to be only obedience
• Trust Him…he is present, he is faithful…regardless of your emotions

June 30, 2011

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Living in Denial: Cancer and Romans

Becky Lynn Black  

“You have a disease, and it’s going to kill you,” Dr. Paul told the people.

“Death is coming. It is inevitable, but here’s the treatment plan,” he continued.

The book of Romans is a discussion of the Sin sickness that is killing the human race. Every one of us is stricken. This sickness ALWAYS ends in death…there are no probability statistics. 100- of those stricken with this sickness die, and 100- of the human population is stricken.

“Can’t be,” you say. “I’m strong, healthy, independent. I’m able to cope with Life. I’m relatively happy. Things aren’t so bad. 

I know the feeling. When I was told that I had clear cell uterine cancer, my first thought was, “Isn’t it amazing how I can have this in my body, yet feel so strong & healthy!” The temptation to deny the diagnosis was appealing.

But the diagnosis stands. And the end result stands. The only variable is Time.

“The end result of Sin is Death,” Dr. Paul wrote (Rom 3:23)

“Now here’s the treatment plan – a guaranteed 100- cure. The prescription is called “Death.” It is Christ’s blood. He gave it for you when He died. Take it every hour by dying with Him” (see Rom 3:23 and Romans 7).

What! Blood? More death? Yuck!

No thank-you. The cure sounds worse than the sickness! Besides, I’ve got no real symptoms. I’m reading my Bible. I’m praying. I’m going to church. I haven’t committed any great sins. Maybe I’ve made some mistakes, but only an intolerant person would call them sin. 

I’ll pass on that prescription, thank you.

Dr. Paul said, “Think of all the Time you will lose in a slow death. Think of all the wasted pain to come. Think of all the peace of mind you could have. Think of all the damaged Life you could avoid.”

But to take a prescription called “Death”?

“Yes, it is the only way. Die to yourself by living in His death. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Therapy doesn’t always make sense, but in the hands of the Professional, it works. You must trust Him.” 

And so Paul continues in the book of Romans to describe the death to self that really is the coming alive of the one stricken with Sin.

In my own life, dealing with the treatment plan for this cancer has been much worse than dealing with the cancer itself. Pain, weakness, neurological tremors, bowel disturbance – all have come from the chemotherapy. The tumor cells have not disturbed me in the least!

But death reigns in the tumor cells. 

And I must make the choice: deny the presence of the disease because of the lack of symptoms, or deny the treatment plan because of the presence of symptoms.

And in the end, if I am to live, I cannot afford to live in denial. The reality of the disease must be accepted, and the treatment must be accepted.

And so it is with Sin Sickness. If we are to live, we cannot afford to live in denial.  We must accept the diagnosis, and we must accept the treatment plan.

The diagnosis is guaranteed accuracy, and the treatment is guaranteed effective.

But it takes dying to live.

October 23, 2009

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Living in Community

 David Alan Black 

During the Great Depression, Will Rogers quipped, “This is the first nation in history that has gone to the poorhouse in an automobile.” You see, up until the Depression, Americans lived in community. But the automobile put an end to that.

My favorite translation of the Greek word ekklesia is not “church.” Nor is it “congregation” or “assembly,” and it most certainly is not “called out ones.” I think the best rendering of this term is “community.” In the first century one could use it to refer to any type of community – a civic community, a religious community, and even a Christian community.

I recall driving through West Germany for the first time. (This was back when there was a West Germany.) We came to the hamlet of Lörach, and just on the outskirts of town was a sign that read Gemeinde Lörach, i.e., the “community of Lörach.” But just inside the town one could attend (as I did) die Baptisten Gemeinde Lörach, that is, the Baptist Church of Lörach. It seems to me that we can think of the New Testament churches in much the same manner:

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the community of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…. (1 Thess. 1:1).

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the community of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours…. (1 Cor. 1:1-2).

Now, one of the reasons I so detest statism is its propensity to encroach upon local communities. Roland Watson puts it this way:

[T]ake away the tribe or nation-state and the community is at the mercy of other tribes and nation-states.

Take away the community and the family is at the mercy of foreign communities and tribes/nations.

Take away the family and the individual himself is threatened and neglected by foreign families and beyond.

Take away the individual and the destruction of society is complete.

In short, Watson argued that the state is at war with other communities that vie for man’s allegiance – the family, church, and so on. The state wants to destroy all communitarian opposition so that it can remake man into a pliable agent for state purposes.

Think of the Great Society programs of the 1960s. These programs were designed to eliminate poverty, revive neighborhoods, and lift up the downtrodden – those who seemingly were left at the periphery of society. Today we realize what a huge mistake the Great Society was. (Well, not everyone realizes this, but some of us do.) The Welfare State did nothing but perpetuate poverty, destroy neighborhoods, and create an underclass of unemployables. It dehumanized us and anesthetized us to our sense of self-responsibility. So much for social engineering.

But I want you to see that this problem is not limited to secular society. Our churches also suffer from the stultifying effects of centralization. The pastoral ministry, for example, has become largely professionalized, to the extent that pastors are parachuted into communities in which they have no interest whatsoever in sinking down any roots. The pastors know it, and the parishioners know it. It’s almost laughable to watch rural churches “hire” their latest pastor, knowing full well that he will stick around, on average, no longer than two years before moving on to greener pastures. I hear the same thing is true of city pastors, too.

I have begun counseling pastors and pastors-in-the-making to move to a location of their choice and to settle there. I encourage them to get to know their communities. Each community has a set of shared, core values. The members of that community (whether they were born there or later drawn into it) are taught that community’s values and cherish them as the basis of their sense of identity and belief. For a stranger to challenge or threaten these values is something that no community can reasonably accept or stand for. And to undermine these values is to undermine the foundation of that society.

When you have settled into a community, then it is time to begin to ask the Lord to show you how you can best serve Him. People will know you are in it for the long haul, and they will love and respect you for it. Last year my son attended a celebration for a pastor who was being honored for his fiftieth year of ministry in one church. What made him last so long? The church was in his community, and his community was his home.

Whether we like it or not, life is insecure. But it is far less so when you are a part of living, caring community. For 27 years I lived in the same city in Southern California, but I never really knew my neighbors. I now live in Timbuktu, USA, in the midst of a struggling, overly regulated, aging farming population. But for the first time in my life I feel like I am living in a community. Not a virtual community. Not a theoretical community. A real community.

Henrik Ibsen once said, “A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” Are you ready to assume the responsibilities that come with living in a genuine community? If so, here’s the rudder.  

February 14, 2005

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. If you would like to know more about becoming a follower of King Jesus, please feel free to write Dave.

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Living Church

 David Alan Black  

I can clearly remember the circumstances that led me to compose my brief essay entitled Paper Perfect Churches. Some friends of mine, knowing my convictions, had been asking me if I had the intention of starting a new, family-integrated, elder-led church where I live in southern Virginia. My answer startled them, I think. It was no. Our family has been content to plug into the closest Baptist church to where we live (which in our case is about 3 miles from our farm). Now, is this because our congregation has no shortcomings? Of course not. What church doesn’t have any shortcomings? Currently, our thinking is this: why exchange one set of shortcomings for another by starting (or driving an hour or more to attend) the “perfect” church?

And make no mistake: the perfect church does not exist. Not even close. Age-integrated, elder-led congregations are just as prone to division and carnality as the most tradition-bound churches. Fundamentally, I think we have misunderstood what church is. The title of this essay, “Living Church,” is not referring to a church that is “alive” in the sense that it has attractive programs and charismatic leadership. Rather, the term “living” is meant to suggest that church is something that happens 24/7 (just as our “lives” are lived 24/7). Church is not a physical structure. It is a spiritual temple consisting of living stones constantly offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5). It is, as Hebrews reminds us, a group of believers who stir one another up to love and good works when they meet (Heb. 10:24-25) so that they can engage in those good, loving works throughout the week. The emphasis is not upon a building, but on people. In a living church, relationships are paramount. That’s why I am very happy to belong to my very little, very traditional Southern Baptist church. It consists of my neighbors – and finer neighbors would be hard to imagine – and some of the most loving and caring people you will find anywhere. To be sure, none of us agrees on secondary issues, least of all the fine points of ecclesiology, but we agree there are more important things to be concerned about. Our common goal is to “do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). We seek to obey what Jim Elliott once called the “inner must” of not only acquiring the truth of the Word of God but living it out in our daily lives as a loving church family.

What, then, does “living church” mean? To me it means belief, certainly. I would never deprecate theology. Our church is conservative theologically. I would have it no other way. But belief does not constitute the heart of the matter. Living church means joyfully accepting our mission of loving one another and giving our lives in its fulfillment. This is, I believe, a revolutionary concept that many paper perfect churches simply do not believe and certainly do not practice. If I may be permitted to make a practical application, scripturally we see that God has called His people – the “laity” if you will – to be His basic ministers. Some of them, of course, have also been called to be “player-coaches” (to use Elton Trueblood’s term), but each and every believer is to be in “full-time” ministry. God’s people must understand, accept, and fulfill this call. Living church means that we do God’s work primarily out in the world, not in our “sanctuaries.” When Monday morning dawns, we are still the church we were when we gathered on Sunday. What happens when we meet on Sunday is not the climax. It is the beginning of our being the church in the world during the week. In other words, the call to be God’s people and the call to ministry are one and the same. The key word is “involvement.” Involvement means that we are willing to know and be known, to care and be cared for. It is an involvement so real and so deep that we are willing to take enormous risks for the sake of the brethren.

I am blessed that God has placed me in such a caring community. Yes, it is a struggling community in many ways. The economy has gone south. Farming is difficult. The population is aging. The curse of Cultural Christianity gnaws away at the heart of our churches. But it is my community. It is where, on bright and cloudy days, I live and farm and assemble as the Body with my imperfect neighbors (none more imperfect than myself). In the final analysis, when all the scholars have had their say, and all the finer points of theology have been debated, and all the authorities have been consulted, nothing remains more basic yet more daunting than this amazing truth: Christians are called to live a life of utterly selfless love, and thus reflect the One who alone reigns over them in love. Just as amazingly, it seems that this life of love can be lived out regardless of the externals – whether your church is age-integrated or age-segregated, elder-led or pastor/deacon led, highly programmed or non-programmed, etc.

One can enjoy new wine even when the wineskins are old.

April 30, 2007

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

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Lincoln, Secession, and the Formation of West Virginia

 David Alan Black

On June 20, 1863, exactly 140 years ago during the Civil War, West Virginia was admitted into the Union as the 35th state (or the 24th state if the secession of the eleven Southern states is taken into account). The same day, Arthur Boreman was inaugurated as West Virginia’s first state governor.

Settlement of western Virginia came gradually in the 18th century as pioneers slowly made their way across the Allegheny Plateau. The region became increasingly important to the Virginia state government at Richmond in the 19th century, but the prevalence of small farms as well as the absence of slavery began to separate it from the east.

When Virginia voted to secede after the outbreak of the Civil War, many western counties were opposed to secession. President Lincoln moved promptly to contest Confederate control of western Virginia when Virginia seceded. Within three weeks federal actions clearly indicated that the area was off-limits to the Confederacy. Arms and ammunition were rushed to Union sympathizers to aid in the formation of militia units, some of which were promptly mustered into federal service. Lincoln restored western Virginia’s economic activities with the neighboring states of Ohio and Pennsylvania and made special arrangements to continue federal mail delivery there, a service discontinued elsewhere in Virginia and the Confederacy.

On June 11, 1861, delegates meeting at Wheeling nullified the Virginian ordinance of secession and proclaimed “The Restored Government of Virginia,” headed by Francis Pierpont. In April 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the admission of West Virginia into the Union, effective June 20, 1863.

The Southern secessionists claimed that according to the Constitution every state had the right to leave the Union. Lincoln claimed that they did not have that right. He opposed secession because he believed it to be unlawful and that it would destroy the world’s only existing democracy. Ironically, however, Lincoln later referred to the formation of West Virginia as “secession” from the Old Dominion! The formation of the new state was attributable to the insecurity of western Virginians and the conviction that the Confederate government that exercised jurisdiction over them did not protect their vital interests—in other words, the very same factors that accounted for the secession of the Southern states! You will recall that Lincoln’s election led Southerners to conclude that the vital interests of the slave states would not be secured by remaining in the Union and under the jurisdiction of the central government at Washington.

In his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln said:

Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A majority, held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or despotism. Unanimity is impossible; the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left.

This was the same Lincoln who had earlier said, “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most sacred right—a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world…. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can, may revolutionize, and make their own, of so much territory as they inhabit.”

In his book The Real Lincoln, Thomas DiLorenzo marshals abundant evidence that virtually every political leader of the time and earlier believed that the states had a right of secession. Thomas Jefferson, in his First Inaugural Address, said, “If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left to combat it.” Fifteen years later, after the New England Federalists attempted to secede, Jefferson said, “If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation…to a continuance in the union…I have no hesitation in saying, ‘Let us separate.’”

At Virginia’s ratification convention, the delegates said, “The powers granted under the Constitution being derived from the People of the United States may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression.” In Federalist Paper 39, James Madison, the father of the Constitution, clarified what “the people” meant when he said that the proposed Constitution would be subject to ratification by the people, “not as individuals composing one entire nation, but as composing the distinct and independent States to which they respectively belong.” In a word, states were sovereign; the federal government was a creation, an agent, a servant of the states.

On the eve of the war, even unionist politicians saw secession as the right of states. Maryland Representative Jacob M. Kunkel said, “Any attempt to preserve the Union between the States of this Confederacy by force would be impractical, and destructive of republican liberty.” Just about every major Northern newspaper editorialized in favor of the South’s right to secede:

• New York Tribune (February 5, 1860): “If tyranny and despotism justified the Revolution of 1776, then we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861.”

• Detroit Free Press (February 19, 1861): “An attempt to subjugate the seceded States, even if successful could produce nothing but evil—evil unmitigated in character and appalling in content.”

• New York Times (March 21, 1861): “There is growing sentiment throughout the North in favor of letting the Gulf States go.”

Today, Americans celebrate Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, but H. L. Mencken correctly evaluated the speech: “It is poetry not logic; beauty, not sense.” Lincoln said that the soldiers sacrificed their lives for the cause of self-determination—for a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Mencken says: “It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue. The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of people to govern themselves.”

In the end, the South seceded because of Lincoln’s encroachment on that vision. The framers of the Constitution had a deathly fear of federal government abuse. They saw state sovereignty as a protection. That’s why they gave us the 9th and 10th Amendments. They saw secession as the ultimate protection against Washington tyranny.

The right of Southerners to defend themselves against the invasion of their duly constituted nation was also recognized by foreign nations, especially Britain. The British press wrote, “It does seem the most monstrous of anomalies that a government founded on the ‘sacred right of insurrection’ should pretend to treat as traitors and rebels six or seven million people who withdrew from the Union, and merely asked to be left alone.” Again, the British asked, “With what pretence of fairness can you Americans object to the secession of the Southern States when your nation was founded on secession from the British Empire?”

Perhaps the best observation was made by Charles Dickens: “The Northern onslaught upon slavery was no more than a piece of specious humbug to conceal its desire for economic control of the Southern states.”

June 19, 2003

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

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The Limbaughing of America

 David Alan Black

The United States has been transformed into a subversive power at least as dangerous as its adversaries in Iran or North Korea. Somehow, this doesn’t seem to matter to the quasi-Christian Right.

Misinformed and yet cocksure, their minds are not to be changed by contrary evidence, however copious and convincing, or by any reasonable argument, however strong. They prefer to listen to professional provocateurs like Rush Limbaugh than read the Constitution. Their goal is clear: America is to rid the world of evil, even if our policies are based more on wild fears than on objective facts. For them, the torture at Abu Ghraib was no worse than a fraternity hazing in the United States (as the Great Rushbo once put it).

Civil government is now the universal agent of salvation. It has become America’s greatest benefactor, ignoring the original intent of the Founders that the federal government should maintain domestic order, defend against foreign aggression, and maintain an honest currency. It is absolutely irresponsible for the White House not to be working night and day to return this nation to its biblical and constitutional foundations. Washington DC, rather than being a place where truth resounds, has become a town filled with sound bites and media handlers who create images and shoot off Roman Candles but don’t ever accomplish anything that would really benefit Americans. They’re picking our pockets five months a year (that’s what the average American works just to pay his taxes) to fund their unconstitutional wars and welfare-based systems.

The good news is that this election year there is an alternative. I have met Michael Peroutka. Now that’s the kind of president you want. No ego strut, no playing for the history books, just tending to the business of the U.S. Constitution. Though largely ignored by the media, he is giving America a world-class campaign – no Willie Horton ads, no obscene stuff. And he is not taking one dime of your money to campaign either. He will most certainly not do whatever it takes to win.

He talks about the issues and despises 10-second solutions to very complex problems. Visit his website and you’ll see that he speaks in great detail about the shape, style, and agenda of a Peroutka presidency. Rather than wait for talk-show pundits and the press to tell you what to think, let the plain-spoken Peroutka speak for himself!

August 19, 2004

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

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Life on the Farm

 David Alan Black 

In Mecklenburg County, Virginia, lies a quaint old farm. The countryside has abundant natural beauty and dozens of old homesteads. Below is the original farm house on our property, the oldest part of which dates back to about 1820. Of the nine outbuildings on the property, we think the oldest was built in the 1790s. Most of the farm’s 123 acres is covered with pine and hardwood forest. The cultivated fields supply hay for our horses and goats. The farm is serene, isolated, and peaceful, and we feel blessed beyond measure to have been granted stewardship of it by God.

In building “Bryn Allyn” (Pleasant Hill), our new house, we utilized wood from other structures, including the historic Renn House in North Carolina (pictured below). We purchased and cannibalized the lumber —wainscoting, panels, beams, etc.—to give our “new” house the “old” feeling we wanted.

Below stands Bryn Allyn, nearly completed. We’ve been painting the porches and, inside, building the kitchen cabinetry and laying the floors. There are 10-foot ceilings throughout and period-looking moldings in each room to go with the five wood-burning fireplaces. In the back will go the new barn, stables, raised vegetable garden, and chicken coop.

Life is truly “pleasant” here. Our neighbors are friendly, gracious, always there when you need them. We enjoy the community, our church home, and the beauty of God’s nature. Plenty of turkey and deer in the winter, too!

Thank you for allowing us to share our joys with you. I hope to have more pictures soon!

July 10, 2003

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

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Life Is a Mission Trip. Take It!

 David Alan Black  

As everyone knows, the Great Commission involves both evangelism and edification. Which is more important? Well, can anyone tell me which wing of an airplane is more important? They’re both vital. And, frankly, I think it’s wrong to prioritize one. Personally, I’ve always loved the teaching side of the equation. I’ve been privileged to teach in South Korea, Romania, Holland, Ukraine, Armenia, Switzerland and many other countries (some of which must remain nameless). This summer I’ll be spending 4 weeks in Ethiopia teaching in both Burji and Alaba. On the other hand, you can’t make disciples until people come to Christ and embrace both Him and His Gospel. So the Lord arranges to have me sent to the white-unto-harvest fields as well, be it a prison in Gondar or a rural village in Guji or my own neighborhood. Evangelism and edification — it’s the only strategy that gets the job done. Obviously, if the chain breaks at a weak link, we’ll miss our goal.

Jesus had a third strategy that we often overlook. Matt. 9:35 says that He taught, preached, and healed the sick. I was flabbergasted when I first read that. You mean if I’m going to be a missionary like Jesus I have to pay attention to people’s physical needs? In a way I already knew the answer. In any type of medical work that Becky and I are involved in, God wants to use it to serve the larger goal of evangelism and edification. One day in Ethiopia this good old boy from southern Virginia happened upon the grieving father of an 8-year old who had been beheaded because her family was Christian. He had no means to bury his headless daughter’s body. Then I met a woman who desperately needed fistula surgery in Addis but had no means to get there. A boy in Gondar needed a cornea transplant. A pastor’s wife in Dila needed a C-section. And the list goes on and on. In each case God allowed Becky and me to meet that need. If Jesus were to suddenly appear and ask you to do something for Him, you’d do it, right? And I bet you’d do it diligently, selflessly, and immediately — no questions asked. In a way, Jesus appears to us all the time in the hurting people of this world. He’s asking us to make them His disciples. Surely we won’t deny Him the desires of His heart?

God isn’t hunting for extremely capable, highly-educated, hard-driving big shots who drum up magnificent strategies to win the world for Christ. He’s looking for men and women (and this includes our youth!) who are willing to carry out His plans when He asks. And with the helpful leading of the Holy Spirit, we’ll be able to figure out who to help and how, through teaching, preaching, and healing.

So my question is: Is disciple-making a habit of life for you? For me? The Greek verb manthano (“learn”) has been defined as “to learn by practice or experience, acquire a custom or habit” (H. K. Moulton, The Analytical Greek New Testament Revised, p. 257). To learn something means to practice it. The idea is that of thought accompanied by effort. It involves acquiring and applying new information that comes from God.

So, is disciple-making a custom or habit in our lives? Is the Great Commission a lifestyle rather than an occasional “mission trip”? This may sound harsh, but Christ wants whole-hearted commitment to His Great Cause. We need to get serious or get out. As Jay Carty used to say, “Either paint or get off the ladder. Cook or get out of the kitchen.” Frankly, for me the most formidable hurdle to overcome is the chaff in my life. It does nothing but drain me physically and spiritually. There are only so many hours in a day, and I need to learn how to invest them wisely. If you determine — really determine — to become a Great Commission Christian, you will take whatever steps are necessary to get rid of the chaff in your life. Your being the hands and feet (and mouth) of Jesus in this world must be your number-one priority (Mark 16:15). Never forget the absolute indispensability of the Holy Spirit’s power to refocus our lives. It was only after Pentecost that the disciples, filled with the Spirit, went out and changed the world for Christ.

Alvin Reid, professor of evangelism at SEBTS, says, “Life is a mission trip. Take it.” I couldn’t agree more — intellectually. I need to become radically convinced that the mission field is not only Ethiopia but the ground between my own two feet. Wherever I go I want to be on fire for Jesus. I want to be quick to take advantage of discipling encounters the Lord brings my way. I want to learn how to pray regularly, frequently, even for long periods of time for those who do not yet belong to the Sheepfold. I want to develop attitudes and actions that influence non-Christians toward salvation, help other believers develop a closer relationship with God and a more Christ-like lifestyle, and reveal the love of Christ toward those who are in physical need.

Life is truly a mission trip. And I want to take it!

May 22, 2010

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

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Life in the World

 David Alan Black

The essence of the Gospel is that Christ Jesus came into the world in order that it might have life. Even in those parts of the New Testament where the note of moral dualism between the world and God is strongest, every form of metaphysical dualism is rejected. Although Paul recognized the tension between the world and the Christian faith, he also recognized that the world is the place where the Christian is to live out his faith. Paul would have preferred to “depart and be with Christ,” but he considered it necessary for him to remain on “in the flesh” on account of his brethren (Philippians 1:21-26).

Just as Christ was in the world, so His followers are to be in the world. He pictured the Last Judgment in terms of the readiness of His followers to minister to the needs of even the least of God’s children. Because Christ has overcome all the powers of this world, He has shown that He is Lord of the whole creation. Since we His followers are, through faith, no longer under the dominion of the rulers of the present age, we are free to obey Him in all things. Indeed, the church may be defined as that community in which the Lordship of Christ is acknowledged. It is that body of believers that witnesses to the reconciliation of man with God which has been effected through Jesus Christ. The world, on the other hand, is that community or realm of human existence to which the church is sent to proclaim the Gospel.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was keenly aware that the church has been called into the world. He was also aware that, for the most part, the church had alienated itself from the contemporary world. It had related the Christian faith to the periphery of life where it had become only a matter of trivial interest. This is certainly the way it is in much of Europe today, as well as here in the United States.

“The church is her true self,” wrote Bonhoeffer in a book he was never able to complete, “only when she exists for humanity.” Its mission is to tell men, in terms that are concrete and relevant, what it means to live in and for Christ. The church is true to its own nature only when it is busy taking risks and emptying itself in the service of mankind.

The good news of the Gospel is that a radical transformation of human life has now become a present reality—a transformation so radical that Paul called it a “new creation.” Paul captured the heart of the Gospel when he wrote, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In Christ God had shown that He loved the world despite its disobedience, its estrangement, its guilt.

As we go our various ways this summer, let us remember that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and He spent His life ministering to them. A church that is not “in the world” has forgotten what the incarnation is all about (John 17:11-18).

May 29, 2003

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

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