restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations
Thursday, January 30
10:58 AM The dogs and I just fed the goats, cattle, and donkeys. Otherwise the dogs have been staying indoors with me.
The weather is warming up to a high of 34 today. This week saw record-breaking lows in the Piedmont. It was only 7 degrees at 5:00 am this morning in Raleigh, tying a record set in 1977. Dog owners, it is just plain cruel to leave your pets outdoors in this weather. The cold can threaten their lives, even long-haired breeds. Be sure they are warm and dry during the winter, and never leave them in a locked car during the summer heat.
10:26 AM This came in the mail while I was gone. The author even inscribed it for me. (Thank you, Thomas!)
Will make the perfect read on a cold day.
10:18 AM In every area of feuding-style disagreements among biblical scholars, “my” side is usually assumed to be wiser than my opponents’ side. That’s why balanced essays like this one by Henry Neufeld are needed today: On Prettying-Up the Bible. Henry raises some good questions about the use of inclusive language in translation. It seems to me that “brothers and sisters” for adelphoi is just fine as long as that is the meaning intended by the original author (and in many cases, it is). As for the books I write, I have begun using inclusive language pretty regularly — not because my publishers require me to do so, but because I feel it’s the right thing to do in view of my audience. But this can and must be an author’s decision. In fact, one publisher I used in the past has begun requiring its authors to use inclusive language. That’s just wrong, and I have not published anything with that publisher since. At any rate, read Henry’s fine essay if you can.
Be a unifier,
Dave
8:06 AM Good morning, peeps. As I said yesterday, my time in Hawaii was wonderful. It felt great to be back with ohana (family). What makes Hawaii so unique? Why do I love it so much?
1) Hawaii is the most ethnically-diverse state in the Union. It has no ethnic majority. A quarter of the population is multi-ethnic. Felix (whom I mentioned yesterday) is Filipino-Chinese, while Charles is half Hawaiian. Throw in other Pacific Islanders (Tahitians, Samoans) and it makes for quite a delightful mix. 39 percent of the population is Asian, so it is not uncommon to find at least some mixture of Japanese and Chinese. Growing up on Kaha Place in Kailua I was a Caucasian in a sea of Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese. Quite a mixture, eh? Wonderful. And the best part about it is the diversity you see in the churches.
2) Hawaii has the best surf in the world. Sure, I surfed in California too. But it’s all contrast, not comparison. Did you know that the first recorded account of surfing was penned in 1779 by a crew member aboard one of Captain James Cook’s ships? His diary included a description of local people climbing onto boards in the water to wait for “the greatest Swell that sets on shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top.” In Hawaii, you literally grow up on a surfboard. My first board was actually made out of koa wood. It took two of us to carry it to the beach. Then foam came along and life got a lot easier. This past week I loved watching the tourists taking surfing lessons on Waikiki Beach. The thrill of standing up on a wave for the first time is indescribable.
3) Hawaii is the most isolated population center in the world. It is situated 2,390 miles from the U.S. mainland and 4,000 miles from Japan. Some hate this fact. They feel trapped and get “island fever.” To be honest, I can feel this way sometimes. That’s why a lot of us kids who were raised in Hawaii ended up living on the mainland. I guess I would put it this way: The only way you can survive in the islands is if you really love the ocean. Which I do.
4) Hawaiian “time” is great. It simply doesn’t exist. I can go for that. The famous “shaka” hand sign basically means “Hang loose!”
5) The Hawaiian language is absolutely beautiful. It has only 12 letters. Google even has a Hawaiian version. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard live Hawaiian music on Waikiki Beach.
6) You can drive on an interstate highway (like H-3) even when it’s not interstate.
7) Hawaii has the best coffee in the world (Kona) as as well as my favorite nut (the Macadamia).
8) Finally, Hawaii is known for producing such famous people as these two tricycle riders:
P.S. If you ever do vacation in Waikiki, the price of a meal can be outrageous. My first breakfast at the Royal Hawaiian was delicious but it cost me $40.00. Then I got smart. A short walk to Kuhio Avenue lets you eat breakfast starting at only $3.99 (bacon, scrambled eggs, two pancakes). So save some money. That way you’ll have some leftover cash for shave ice — and a surfing lesson.
Wednesday, January 29
5:20 PM This gorgeous picture of the campus was just posted on Twitter.
Sorry students, you’re not getting a snow day today, even though you probably feel like you deserve one!
4:53 PM Nigusse is now a proud member of the seminary grounds crew. He works 20 hours a week. He especially loves working outdoors in the snow and frozen tundra (*wink*).
3:35 PM Yesterday and today were so strange, so full of contrasts. Yesterday I was enjoying Hawaiian food on Oahu and 78 degree temps. Today I drove back to the farm on frozen roads. There is something so incredibly wonderful about watching God’s creation in all of its glory and contrast. I think I see a parallel of sorts in my own life. There I was, in Hawaii celebrating love. But not just that. I was also griefing the loss of love. Will it surprise you to hear that I still flit from emotion to emotion? There is so much I could say about this trip, and words feel so inadequate. Maybe I should just quote to you the email I sent out yesterday. It pretty much tells it all.
Aloha, friends and family! Maikai kakahiaka? Sorry, couldn’t help it. I have quickly fallen into the old ways. I had forgotten just how much salt water I have pouring through my veins. Will miss the ocean and the trade winds. Yep. My last day in paradise. I didn’t accomplish everything I set out to do, but God more than compensated with several unexpected blessings. Today I’m going to have Hawaiian lau laus for lunch with a couple of friends as we plan my next visit. Of course, I may never get off the island. Thanks to the weather y’all are having, two of my flights have been canceled. I do hope to fly out tonight, but the destination is Atlanta, which gets slammed today.
How am I doing?
The embers of Becky’s death are slowly dying out, one by one. As I remember her, think about our life together, I feel myself slowly filling with strength again, as the lungs fill with clean air. This morning as I sat in the shadow of Diamond Head, I let the memories wash over me, listening to them, reminiscing, all the adventure and romance and sparkles of youth, and then the growing older and perhaps a bit wiser. I felt a spasm of pain like the blast of a sudden snow storm, saw her face as she confronted death, a moment that will live on in the brain forever. I was reminded of a girl in a cafeteria line accepting a macadamia nut from me, a blur in the past, an innocent gesture. Who would have guessed where that would have led? I have bought all of my daughters a box of those same chocolate covered nuts. Maybe that will help them to move past the hurts, to sense that God has a good purpose in even the smallest things in life, that His taking Becky home when and how He did was no mistake or act of carelessness on His part.
The islands have been exactly the balm my sometimes tortured soul has needed. I will miss this place. It will always be the first true home I have ever known. It has been like the landing on a stairway, the transition between the past and the future. For that I am truly grateful.
Much love and aloha!
Dave
My heart sings, because God accomplished on this trip more than I ever could have imagined. I feel like a kid who just woke up to find a birthday card in the mail with some spending money. And I plan to spend it wisely!
Did I surf? Nope. The beaches on the North Shore were all closed because of the huge waves, and the beaches on the South Shore (Ala Moana, Waikiki, Queens, Diamond Head) were turned into useless mush by the freak presence of rare Kona winds. Surfing’s for next time. Except next time, Hawaii won’t feel so strange. It may even feel like home again.
I think I’m at the beginning of a long road, and somehow, in the background, I can see God smiling.
Pix, naturally:
1) The Pink Lady herself. The Royal Hawaiian is nothing if not royal.
2) The view from my room.
3) My hosts: Felix and Karen Tan. Felix is one of 6 pastors at Calvary Chapel West Oahu.
4) Sharing about missions at the Tans’ lovely home in Ewa Beach on Friday night.
5) Sharing the Word on Sunday morning at CCWO …
6) … where Charles Couch is lead pastor.
7) Enjoying authentic Hawaiian food at the famous Highway Inn in Waipahu.
8) One night, while listening to live Hawaiian music on Waikiki Beach and watching a hula dancer interpreting the songs, requests were invited. I asked for “I’ll Remember You.” You can Google this Hawaiian song if you’re unfamiliar with it. I watched it through tears of joy as I remembered the 40 years Becky and I were privileged to share together.
It would seem that God was not joking when He said He would bring peace and purpose out of loss. All I know is that His compassion never runs dry.
Now if you’ll excuse me, this local boy needs to brave sub-freezing temps to feed the animals 🙂
Thursday, January 23
4:16 AM Good morning, thoughtful blogging buds.
I’ll start by saying I’m delighted to be flying to Honolulu via Los Angeles today. Moving on. Closing up. Or something like that. It’s all very complex and ambiguous, this post-death process. I read somewhere that it normally takes two years to recover from a natural death in a family. Quite a factlet, eh? Knowing this doesn’t make it any easier, of course. I’m a complete novice at this business. Walking through the valley of grief is a journey that was imposed on me. But grief is a great teacher. I think I’ve grown in my faith more in the past 6 months than in the past 10 years put together. Grief, I’m discovering, is God’s gift to mankind to help us work through the pain of loss. Going to Hawaii is, I suppose, just another step in this process for me. I still cry from time to time. The pain seems unrelenting at times. Yet at the same time there has been healing. I’m finally getting some sleep again. I’ve jump-started activities that I had been putting on hold. The fatigue has begun to lift a bit. I’m beginning to experience life again. The pain is slowly subsiding. I have found a new depth in my relationship with the Lord. The task before me, as I currently see it, is to begin to construct a new life for myself while building memories of my past life with Becky. Hence this little jaunt to the Islands. I suppose it’s my way of saying “goodbye” to her for the millionth time. Of imagining Becky in the presence of the Savior. Of experiencing the joy of knowing that she is pain free. Of inviting Becky back into my life through the magic eyes of memory. Easy? No. Necessary? Yes. I’m ready to go there again in my mind — to the places where Becky and I enjoyed so many happy moments together. I’m ready for Jesus to create small vignettes in my mind and then weave them together into a more complete story. Faith means clinging to God in the midst of the stormy waves. It’s clinging to the One who in the Garden of Gethsemane said, “My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow.” Then He used his grief creatively, turning it into something good.
I look forward to the day when Becky and I will embrace again as we celebrate the goodness of the God who conquers sin and death and heals all wounds. Somehow I sense she is with me on this zany 6-day adventure of mine. Thank you, dear readers, for putting up with me and my confused ponderings. Yall are the best. I think the greatest proof that God exists is the ability He gives grieving mothers and fathers and husbands and wives and sons and daughters to cope with the loss of a loved one. Whatever evil the enemy may inflict on us, the greater evil is allowing ourselves to wallow in self-pity, ignoring the Man of Sorrows who is eager to walk with us through the valley of death. This, after all, is what Jesus Himself refused to do.
Blessings on all of you. Remember that life is short. Remember, too, to let your family know how much you love them while you still can.
Mahalo and aloha,
Dave
Wednesday, January 22
9:17 AM Okay, so here are a few of the places I’m planning on (re)visiting on Oahu. Being the mature, God-loving, and non-whining individual that I am, I will only post three pix. Remembering is a vital part of life. So is moving on. Can one do both at the same time? We’ll soon find out!
P.S. Ain’t my Becky a beaut?
8:06 AM I quite agree: All authors should have a blog.
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Blogs help authors practice the art of writing.
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Regular blog posting helps authors develop the discipline of writing.
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Blogs helps authors build an audience and connect with readers.
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Blogs give readers a chance to ask questions and interact with authors.
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Blogs are a great way for authors to give their ideas a test run with readers.
7:33 AM There’s a problem when social media keeps you from actually being social.
6:46 AM Hi bloggers and bloggerettes,
Well, we’ve gotten our first snowfall of the year and it sure looks pretty, though I’m not looking forward to driving in it to campus today. Nigusse begins his final semester and I am meeting up with two of my doctoral students. I also plan on writing another few pages of my book Godworld. Right now I am wrestling with the issue of the depiction of God as violent in the Old Testament. I’ll let you know how it goes. Meanwhile, this morning a good friend sent me a link to this report about the huge waves in Hawaii, along with the following (snide) remark, “Don’t try to hang ten on those.” Aren’t my friends terribly mean to me? Of course, everyone knows that I leave tomorrow for Oahu to celebrate my marriage. Becky’s love for me was a constant source of encouragement and strength. I can’t believe how many years God gave us together, the ministry we enjoyed together, and the process of aging we were privileged to experience together in her last years. It is awesome to realize that this unbelievably difficult and even “impossible” thing we call marriage is actually a symbol of the beautiful marriage between God and us. Only when seen from God’s perspective does marriage make any sense.
At any rate, it’s meetings on campus today, then lunch with a brother in Wake Forest, coffee with one of my daughters, and dinner in Roxboro with a friend. Hope I have time to pack my bags! I leave on this trip feeling a bit rundown, so I certainly wouldn’t mind any “hope-he-feels-better-soon” prayers you’d shoot up on my behalf.
Finally, I am really grateful for the news that my colleague Joshua Waggener has finished his Ph.D. at the University of Durham in the U.K. That’s really quite an accomplishment, especially when you’re teaching fulltime and raising a family.
Live in love,
Dave
Tuesday, January 21
5:04 PM Jay Thomas offers a post called A Biblical Understanding of Depression and Anxiety. An excerpt:
Everyone will struggle with DA at some point. Everyone is going to feel the pangs of loss, disappointment, relational hurt, etc. Most DA is short term and a result of a painful experience. DA in such cases is a natural response to living in a fallen world with fallen circumstances.
I still need to read it slowly and digest its contents, but it looks like there’s plenty of practical wisdom here.
4:15 PM Ever feel like driving off the freeway of life and pulling into a rest stop? What should you do when you’re on the edge of exhaustion — physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Here are four suggestions:
BE HONEST: With yourself, with others, and with God. He knows your body. He knows you’re worn out. He knows your spirit. He knows you’re discouraged. He also knows your future. He knows it is still good.
BE REALISTIC: If you’re anything like me, you’re very passionate about what you do. You have high goals and standards. You feel you need to make a contribution to your worlds — family, church, school, missionary calling. You feel a need to pour your life into others. This makes you vulnerable. Vulnerable to exhaustion, weariness, loss of passion, fatigue.
BE PROACTIVE: You need to stop ignoring the Rest Principle. You need to recover your scattered energies. You need to give yourself — and others — grace. You need to let your soul catch up with your body. You need to allow the Word to renew your inner force.
BE TRANSPARENT: Never be ashamed to ask your friends for their prayers. Bonhoeffer once wrote, “A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another.” Prayer makes a difference.
Today, I urge all of us to be honest, realistic, proactive, and transparent.
12:28 PM In honor of all our new and returning SEBTS students, I offer the following aphorisms on education:
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A burden to reach the lost can be developed in seminary but never created by it.
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The best education for ministry takes place within the ongoing life of the local church.
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The best professors teach by example. They serve Christ wholeheartedly, live for the kingdom of God, and model costly service and faithful involvement in missions.
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Worship is not what we do in chapel but what we do when we are driving our car or doing the dishes or mowing the lawn.
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True education is intended to lead us into a practical love and sacrificial service in the world.
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The most blatant sin of education is knowledge without humility.
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The call to serve is the call to downward mobility. Forget the top position. Fight for the bottom of the pile.
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Be careful of becoming a producer of spirituality and not a consumer.
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You cannot serve two masters: God and power. Resist the temptation to use your position to manipulate others.
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Avoid relational promiscuity — chattering your life away in shallow friendships while dodging exhausting relationships.
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“Superficiality is the curse of our age” (Richard Foster). Strive to be simple without being simplistic.
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Beware of self-absorbed hedonism. Deliberately put yourself in risky situations for God.
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Remember: to reach the world for Christ will take all of us. The most expedient thing we can do today to reach our generation is to have fewer supported workers and more self-supporting ones.
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The very worst thing that can happen to you can turn out to be God’s appointed means of preparing you for kingdom work.
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Finally, always allow for a fresh leading of the Spirit. Let God surprise you!
Blessings on you, men and women! My prayers are with you.
10:20 AM This morning I’m working on my book Godworld: Enter at Your Own Risk. It’s slow going. The idea is that there is only one holy nation, and it is not America but rather “Godworld” (the kingdom of heaven). Right now I am in the book of Acts. I am struck by the eagerness of the church in Antioch to help the believers in Judea (Acts 11:27-30). Think about it. From the outset, the early church recognized that salvation was more than positional. It has a moral aspect. Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith has been rightly criticized because of its overemphasis on the forensic aspect of salvation. He was primarily interested in forgiveness, and not in renewal. Hence his trouble with James. But early Christianity was not aloof from society. It penetrated it with love and good deeds. And it was love of Christ, not of country, that impelled them to be involved in the affairs of society. Note the words of the second-century document The Epistle to Diognetus (5:1-5):
Christians are not distinct from the rest of men in country or language or customs. For neither do they dwell anywhere in special cities nor do they use a different language…. They inhabit their own fatherland, but as sojourners…. Every foreign country is to them a fatherland and every fatherland a foreign country…. They live on the earth but their citizenship is in heaven.
True Christianity never pits “Christian culture” against non-Christian culture. Instead, it infuses new leaven into the existing culture. The church is a people within a people, but it is never part of the sacral society that idolizes man or nation. When Luther put the trumpet of reform to his lips he was prepared to make a break with the state, though not a complete one. As soon as he joined himself to the secular rule, the Reformation came to a crashing halt as far as I am concerned. I am greatly indebted to God for allowing me to live in these United States. But, like God’s people of old, I “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:16). The kingdom of God transcends national borders, so why should cultural values craft the church’s institutional forms? If we were to view our national holidays as human creations, we would be less likely to sacralize them. And then the kingdom would advance. And even Caesar might become interested in learning a thing or two from the church.
Think about it.
10:06 AM Is your church unified? Jesus commands us to go to the world, but not in the context of dissension within our ranks. His overriding command is that we be committed to one another in love, affirming and strengthening each other as fellow workers in His kingdom. It’s no exaggeration to say that, without a deeply spiritually united team, our hearts can never be synchronized with God’s.
9:47 AM From Will You Join the Cause of Global Missions?
For several years now I’ve been studying the missionary movement in North America. I believe we are on the cusp of an era when insourcing missions will become the strategy for achieving global evangelization. A strategy that depends on outsourcing the work to paid professionals is not going to get the job done. Outsourcing will be around for a while longer because it is what everyone is used to. But insourcing will require a wholly different mindset. It’s not just about producing more missionaries. It’s about creating a completely different kind of environment — a collaborative environment in which everyday people like you and me are constantly thinking about how to generate towel and basin ministries both at home and around the globe.
7:48 AM Today is convocation. Wishing all of my colleagues at SEBTS a great semester.
7:37 AM In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh, not pixels. Computers can never be a substitute for relationships.
Monday, January 20
2:08 PM Monster waves arrive in Hawaii on Wednesday. I arrive on Thursday. Is there a message here for me?
12:34 PM Pray for Billy Graham.
10:43 AM When you share the love of Jesus with someone, don’t forget to bring up repentance. The Gospel is not the Gospel if we strip it of the whole package. It’s like saying the NFC Championship Game score was “Seahawks 23.”
10:40 AM The Reader’s Digest once published an article entitled “13 Things Used Car Salesmen Won’t Tell You.” Well here are “13 Things Your Greek Teachers Won’t Tell You”:
1. Greek is not the only tool you need to interpret your New Testament. In fact, it’s only one component in a panoply of tools. Get Greek, but don’t stop there.
2. Greek is not the Open Sesame of biblical interpretation. All it does is limit your options. It tells you what’s possible, then the context and other factors kick in to disambiguate the text.
3. Greek is not superior to other languages in the world. Don’t believe it when you are told that Greek is more logical than, say, Hebrew. Not true.
4. Greek did not have to be the language in which God inscripturated New Testament truth because of its complicated syntax. Truth be told, there’s only one reason why the New Testament was written in Greek and not in another language (say, Latin), and that is a man named Alexander the Great, whose vision was to conquer the inhabited world and then unite it through a process known as Hellenization. To a large degree he succeeded, and therefore the use of Greek as the common lingua franca throughout the Mediterranean world in the first century AD should come as no surprise to us today.
5. Greek words do not have one meaning. Yet how many times do we hear in a sermon, “The word in the Greek means…”? Most Greek words are polysemous, that is, they have many possible meanings, only one of which is its semantic contribution to any passage in which it occurs.
6. Greek is not difficult to learn. I’ll say it again: Greek is not difficult to learn. I like to tell my students, “Greek is an easy language; it’s us Greek teachers who get in the way.” The point is that anyone can learn Greek, even a poorly-educated surfer from Hawaii. If I can master Greek, anyone can!
7. Greek can be acquired through any number of means, including most beginning textbooks. Yes, I prefer to use my own Learn to Read New Testament Greek in my classes, but mine is not the only good textbook out there.
8. Greek students think they can get away with falling behind in their studies. Folks, you can’t. I tell my students that it’s almost impossible to catch up if you get behind even one chapter in our textbook. Language study requires discipline and time management skills perhaps more than any other course of study in school.
9. Greek is fun! At least when it’s taught in a fun way.
10. Greek is good for more than word studies. In fact, in the past few years I’ve embarked on a crusade to get my students to move away from word-bound exegesis. Greek enables us to see how a text is structured, how it includes rhetorical devices, how syntactical constructions are often hermeneutical keys, etc.
11. Greek can cause you to lose your faith. When the text of Scripture becomes nothing more than “another analyzable datum of linguistic interpretation,” it loses its power as the Word of God.
12. Greek can be learned in an informal setting. The truth is that you do not need to take a formal class in this subject or in any subject for that matter. I know gobs of homeschoolers who are using my grammar in self-study, many of whom are also using my Greek DVDs in the process.
13. Greek is not Greek. In other words, Modern Greek and Koine Greek are two quite different languages. So don’t expect to be able to order a burrito in Athens just because you’ve had me for first year Greek. On the other hand, once you have mastered Koine Greek it is fairly easy to work backwards (and learn Classical Greek) and forwards (and learn Modern Greek).
Okay, I’m done. And yes, I’m exaggerating. Many Greek teachers do in fact tell their students these things!
10:18 AM Some of my favorite bloggers are leaving the blogosphere. Don’t exactly know why, but they haven’t posted in months. I write online because I love writing, not because I don’t have other things to do, and certainly not because I can’t (or don’t) write anywhere else. I simply have things in my head that have to come out. I try to tell the truth as I see it, but I don’t assume that anyone will agree with what I have to say. After 10 years of blogging I still feel like I’m trying to find my voice, and I have a constant conversation within me about how to blog and when. For better or for worse, I opt not to remain silent. I also try to post interesting links on my site – within minutes of an important news story you can get the word out and even have a comment or two to make about it.
Of course, I need to be careful about what I write or link to, as there’s always a slim chance someone out there might read it. 🙂
10:08 AM Though a bit dated, here are some interesting stats. Out of 4,120,000 bloggers, there are:
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55,500 are aged 10-12
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2,120,000 are aged 13-19
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1,630,000 are aged 20-29
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241,000 are aged 30-39
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41,700 are aged 40-49
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18,500 are aged 50-59
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13,900 are aged 60-69
Two takeaways:
1) Teens and twenty-somethings are living up to their name “Generation Text.”
2) Note the final category. I still think blogging is underused by us aging evangelicals (aka, fossils) to get the Word out.
10:02 AM It’s not my cup of tea, but it might be yours. The One Year Bible Blog, that is. Here’s a companion site.
9:45 AM Just had a huge answer to prayer. I am amazed at how often God reveals His goodness to us in times when there is chaos and confusion, in the opportune moments when an act of servanthood presents itself. It reminds me of one of the unusual traits of my wife, who always had the habit of listening carefully to the wishes of her husband and children, and then doing whatever was needful in response. Prayer is a serious matter. It is also a great privilege. If only I would avail myself of it more often.
9:12 AM Hey, when was the last time you said “Thank you” to your pastors/elders? I am constantly amazed at the relatively small group of people in our churches that hold things together so that the rest of us can enjoy the fruits of their labor. They often pay a high price to serve the Body. And remember: they are human beings, just like the rest of us. They grow weary and restless and grapple (usually silently) with the prospects of just calling it quits. We do them a disservice if we fail to acknowledge their work and servanthood.
Today I sent my elders this note. I hope to do it more often this year. I love my leaders! How I praise God for them!
Gentlemen, forgive me for not doing this more often, but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your lives, your vibrant discipleship, your fervency for the Gospel, and your hard work on behalf of our congregation. I have no doubt that you experience honest exhaustion because of your labors for Christ. Leadership is tiring; it can easily and quickly overcome spiritual passion. Thank you for hanging in there. Thank you for pursuing ever-increasing levels of maturity and effectiveness for Christ. Thank you for your humility and selflessness. Thank you for your example.
You are greatly loved, appreciated, and esteemed.
In the Lamb,
Dave
8:42 AM I see that Thomas Hudgins has been speaking about “A Great Commission Marriage.” Since he cited two of my essays, perhaps I could elaborate here a little bit on the way Becky and I did missions together when she was still with us. We saw ourselves, quite simply, as stewards, not owners, of all that we had. We had gotten out of the ownership business a long time ago. Jesus had become Lord not only of our individual lives but also of our marriage, our home, and our loyalties, affections, and obedience. We had come to realize that the call to follow Jesus involves a submission not only to serve Him but to serve other people as well (2 Cor. 4:5). We viewed not only our possessions as His but also the gifts, special abilities, and talents with which He had endowed us.
At the same time, the Lord gave us a new motivation for living to develop all of our resources and skills to the full in service to Him and to people. In describing what is involved in Christian stewardship, our Lord said that the foremost quality He expected from His disciples was faithfulness (Luke 12:42-48). A faithful steward is simply one who has given up his self-interests and is absorbed with his master’s purpose, goal, and concerns. He is trustworthy with his master’s goods, and he uses all of his master’s resources in the most effective way he knows how in order to achieve his master’s objectives.
From the point of view of his involvement with his fellow man, the Christian steward’s lifestyle is one of sacrificial living and sacrificial giving in order to contribute to both evangelism and social relief. He views his faith not just as a private bank account but as public property that has to be shared through proclamation and service. The Lord Jesus claims the first place in his life, and he submits to Him and to His authoritative teaching in a life of obedience. Did Becky and I still lay up for the future in view of our anticipated needs? Yes. But we also sought to function as channels through which the love and provision of God could flow to others. We found this love to be needed not only in our culture but supra-culturally beyond our own borders. We believed that it was the nature of the Christian’s call to participate in the work of the Spirit in the world, always having an eye to the needs of others.
Becky and I considered ourselves as a part, not only of our local congregation, but of the universal church as well. Moreover, though we identified most closely with the Western church, we recognized that no church is self-sufficient. Thus all true churches East and West, American and African should develop with each other relationships of prayer, fellowship, ministry, and cooperation. We should freely share our spiritual gifts, our knowledge, our experience, and our financial resources. Together, Becky and I tried to do what we could with whatever resources we had in order to share the love of Jesus with others, for love is a language that is understood in every nook and cranny of the world.
It blesses me beyond words to see that my former students are seeking to establish in their marriages a Gospel commitment. Look inside their lives for secrets, and you will find a handful of things that defy system and definition. They are just faithful Jesus-followers. Praise be to God.
8:20 AM Quote of the day (J. Gresham Machen):
The gospel of Christ is a blessed relief from that sinful state of affairs commonly known as hundred per-cent Americanism.
8:12 AM Bothered by textual variants in the New Testament? Robert Dabney had this to say about the text of the New Testament (Discussions by Robert L. Dabney: Volume I: Theological and Evangelical, pp. 351, 389):
This received text contains undoubtedly all the essential facts and doctrines intended to be set down by the inspired writers; for if it were corrected with the severest hand, by the light of the most divergent various readings found in any ancient MS. or version, not a single doctrine of Christianity, nor a single cardinal fact would be thereby expunged. . . .
If all the debated readings were surrendered by us, no fact or doctrine of Christianity would thereby be invalidated, and least of all would the doctrine of Christ’s proper divinity be deprived of adequate scriptural support. Hence the interests of orthodoxy are entirely secure from and above the reach of all movements of modern criticism of the text whether made in a correct or incorrect method, and all such discussions in future are to the church of subordinate importance.
Sunday, January 19
9:20 AM Yesterday I received this letter in the mail from SEBTS:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please accept this $200.00 offering in loving memory of Becky Black.
I was fortunate to study under Dr. David Alan Black while a Master of Divinity student at SEBTS from 2002 to 2006.
During that time [we] were blessed to experience the warm and gracious hospitality of Dr. and Mrs. Black, not only on the campus at SEBTS, but also at their farm in Virginia.
Their love for our Lord, one another, the Bible, their family, and their students were always at the forefront of their ministry as they opened their beautiful farm to students on a regular basis.
We remember with great fondness Mrs. Black’s beautiful smile, Christ-like character, easy going manner, and eternal strength.
Thank you for offering Dr. and Mrs. Black the opportunity to impact so many for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Oh, that touched my heart! I am one blessed man.
9:02 AM Sometimes short blog posts are the best!
8:41 AM Energion publisher Henry Neufeld called my attention to this wonderful piece by David Watson called What is a Liberal Christian? David is the dean at United Theological Seminary in Dayton. I would like to express my gratitude to David, a New Testament colleague in another seminary, for his insightful essay. Friend, if you do not like liberal theology, that is fine by me. Neither do I. But don’t waste your time denouncing it. Go and share the Good News. There is no higher priority for a church that has lost her way in ecumenism on the one hand and endless squabbling about theology on the other. If we are Christians at all, then we are not only in the theology business, we are in the Gospel business. When I was in Basel, I was often invited to coffee by theologically liberal ex-pat students, mostly Germans or South Koreans, to discuss theology in one of the local Stuben. As perhaps the only inerrantist among the Doktoranden I was assaulted mercilessly, but I managed to stand my ground, and no friendships were broken over our disagreements. (I never did become a Barthian.) Inevitably the conversation turned to Jesus and the Gospel, as it had to. Both liberals and conservatives need Christ, to learn to obey Him and follow Him radically. And we all need to think for ourselves and not just adopt the party line. As David notes:
Part of the reason for the difficulty is that “liberal” has at least two meanings that are really quite different from one another. On the one hand, liberal could mean a commitment to intellectual virtue. In this sense, a liberal is someone who wishes to get all the ideas out on the table and argue them out using the tools of reason and logic. Opposing ideas are given fair consideration and are accurately represented. Conceivably, ones mind could be changed on even very deeply held convictions. This is the idea behind a liberal education. Students are taught to think, not simply what to think. Yes, there are certain facts and ideas that one should simply have in hand, but all ideas, at least in theory, are subject to critical examination. Theology, then, is as Anselm put it, faith seeking understanding. While it is entirely permissible, even expected, that one will hold certain faith claims, all ideas are subject to intellectual, reasonable, and critical examination.
This is so right. The way to engage liberals is not by denouncing them but by engaging them, using reason and Scripture. But love is crucial. Without it there can be no genuine theological discussion. Without it there can be no effective evangelism.
One final thought: If you are a conservative and wish to debate liberals, you had better have the right academic credentials. You must also be able to translate the Gospel into terms that secular people of the day can understand. The underlying understanding of liberalism in our churches today is puerile, the ignorance vast, the unthinking conformity almost complete. We theological conservatives can do better.
6:22 AM It’s 3:00 o’clock in the morning. I’m sitting in bed with my yellow note pad thinking about the week ahead. I’m trying to resign myself to the fact that I’ll never be able to really explain widowerhood to anyone who has never experienced it. I leave for Hawaii on Thursday. I couldn’t be more eager, or more anxious, to return to the land of my birth. It’s an odd sort of feeling — knowing you’re going “home” when home hasn’t been Hawaii for 43 years. Here’s the thing. I know going back to Hawaii is going to be incredibly wonderful and incredibly challenging at the same time. That’s why I’m a bit apprehensive. I feel so unworthy of God’s love, so unfit to serve Him, so inadequate even to do something as simple as take a plane ride to the paradise of the Pacific. So pray for me, that I will be able to see the Islands through God’s eyes. Oddly, I feel the dull ache of homesickness, not so much for Hawaii but for a new, future Home. The two homes are blurred together by tears of joy and tears of anguish. In Hawaii, I will do what Becky and I had planned to do — will remember one amazing woman with whom I shared a wedding chamber in Kailua and a house at Pearl Harbor and an airplane ride over Molokai and a rental car to Hana and the waters of Hanauma Bay and the freshly sliced pineapple of the Dole Cannery and the scenery of Haleakala. If I live to be a hundred I will never forget her smile as we boogie-boarded at Kailua Beach. If there’s life after widowerhood, if there is hope and healing in this world, it can only come from brokenness, from grateful remembrance, from running towards the Savior and finding sure footing. Is that Him I hear whispering in my ear? “Remember your wife, Dave, this Becky Lynn Lapsley Black whom you loved and who loved you and bore your children and brought you so much earthly joy and ripped your tender heart into tiny pieces. Take your sore-hearted self and deposit it firmly on Hawaiian soil and think about the most beautiful person you’ve ever met and laugh and cry and recall how sweet she was, this beloved of yours, loved and lovely, despite the ugly scars of cancer. And remember My love in the midst of the confusion and chaos, over and underneath it all.”
And so I prepare to leave on the trip of a lifetime, knowing full well that I will agonize over my uncertainties and insecurities, but also knowing full well that God is there to support those who trust in His certainty and security. To them He promises “a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).
The journey to healing begins when you make the first move.
Saturday, January 18
8:23 PM Great Ethiopian food tonight, as always. Thank you, Friesh, for cooking it Habasha style!
4:14 PM Well, seems Nigusse needs a car for his new job. Maybe I can find one for him next week in da Islands at Murdie Murdock’s Used Cars ….
3:38 PM The Hawaiian Islands from space:
They were discovered by captain James Cook exactly 236 years ago today. Here’s one kamaaina hauoli who is awfully glad he did. Hawai’i no ka oi!
2:04 PM Some things aren’t as hard as you think they would be. Like distributing Becky’s possessions. Today Nate and Jess went through the stacks and piles, and I feel strangely ambivalent about the whole thing. There’s something so wonderful to know that her earthly goods are going to people who loved her and who will treasure what they’re getting. The other day I heard the story about a widow who waited 10 years before she went into her deceased husband’s clothes closet. I understand that, believe me. That’s why I said that I can’t really figure out my feelings today. Somehow I prefer moving ahead without dragging out the inevitable. I just wish it didn’t hit me like a sucker punch, this realization that Becky is no longer here. I’m glad I have a family who loves me, and I’m even more glad I have a Father who understands me. This world we will live in is so broken that it’s nice to know there are people who really care.
11:58 AM From chapter 3 of my forthcoming Seven Marks of a New Testament Church:
I recall once sitting on an examination committee for a Ph.D. student in New Testament. He had mastered a good deal of factual information about the New Testament the major solutions to the synoptic problem, the importance of textual criticism, the background to the Corinthian correspondence, and so forth but he utterly failed to provide references when I quoted to him ten well-known verses from the New Testament. When he pleaded time constraints, I gently showed him why it is not enough to know about the New Testament; graduates in New Testament may well be expected to have a mastery of the New Testament itself. It is ironic that evangelical Christians, who often are loudest in their condemnation of biblical illiteracy, are often guilty of it themselves. Learning basic Christian doctrine is a vital part of discipleship. It begins with knowing certain facts about the Bible, but it also involves obeying the truths of Scripture. What we are after is a growing knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ that will change our whole lives.
10:43 AM I love well-thought-out articles like this one: Charismatic Ramifications on the Long Ending of Marks Gospel. Its peroration?
Those who consider the long ending of Mark must understand that its an all or nothing proposition. If one is inclined to accept it as authentic, then, in all intellectual honesty, one is forced to conform to a radical form of continuationism one that must accept that all five signs enumerated in verses 17 and 18, without exception, will be exhibited by those who believe. To explicitly or implicitly reject any of these five will not do. On the other hand, to agree with the scholarly consensus that the long ending is not original to the Gospel of Mark means that no portion of it can be referenced for doctrine or practice.
Now tell me that textual criticism is irrelevant for biblical theology or practical living!
10:12 AM Quote of the day:
Whatever the merits of President Obamas proposed reforms to the National Security Agency, one thing is clear: the Presidents core position means that he will never change the NSAs bulk collection programs to privacy advocates liking. The advocates and the president simply disagree on the proper balance between government power and privacy the heart of the debate over the NSA.
Read Why Obamas NSA Reforms Wont End The Privacy Debate. And remember: They’re watching.
8:50 AM This email put a smile on my face:
Dr. Black,
I just wanted to send you a quick note to thank you for the continued exhortation on your blog for Greek students to read their Greek NT. I started with Matt 1:1 in Jan 2013 and just finished with Revelation last night. During those times that I lost interest or wanted to stop, I would read your blog and find motivation to continue.
8:46 AM Looking ahead …
This year I’m planning on attending the regional ETS meetings in Fort Worth (March 7-8) and Baltimore (March 21-22). If you’d like to drive up to Maryland with me let me know at dblack@sebts.edu. This includes any of my current Th.M. and Ph.D. students.
8:32 AM As a frequent flyer, I scratch my head whenever I read about a plane landing at the wrong airport (think Southwest Airlines) or crashing on a perfectly clear day (think Asiana). I once read that there are three axioms to flying: Aviate, navigate, and communicate. The Southwest crew failed to navigate. The Asiana crew failed to aviate. In neither case was there a complete breakdown of these functions, just enough to cause embarrassment or (at SFO) needless death.
Life offers many analogies. Anyone who is undergoing a significant change in their life must aviate, navigate, and communicate. For me, aviating means being conscious about my daily decisions. It means being intentional about what I do, where I go, and who I associate with. In terms of navigation, I follow an instruction manual written some 2,000 years ago. For me, the Bible is quite enough. Finally, as for communicating, well, need I mention my blog? It’s my “open space,” a place to risk breaking through the high-gloss facades, to shatter the ceramic smiles, to behave like a real-life human being. I’d blog even if no one ever read what I had to say.
So, best wishes to you as you aviate, navigate, and communicate your way through life. Best wishes not only for your future successes but also for your future misfortunes — the good times and adverse times, those times when you are outrageously joyful and those times when only God can move in your weaknesses.
Bon voyage!
8:02 AM Will there be real, spontaneous sharing in your worship service tomorrow? I have a strong suspicion that the Spirit prefers to be trusted rather than controlled.
7:32 AM Read Top homeschooling news of 2013. I used to be an apologist for home education. No longer. I’ve written about this change of perspective in my book Christian Archy.
7:10 AM Meet the man who surfed while Pearl Harbor was being attacked.
7:02 AM Here is a good biography of Dr. Henry Morris. I had the signal good fortune to be under his tutelage during my sophomore year at Biola College in California. Dr. Morris would drive up from San Diego every Thursday and lecture for 4 hours. He required that I submit to him a 30-page paper on a topic in the field of geology. I chose to write on “The Formation of the Hawaiian Archipelago according to the Flood Theory.” Dr. Morris knew that the best way to learn how to write is by writing, and the paper I wrote for him replete with underwater photos I took myself was my first serious literary production.
If I am grateful to Dr. Morris for contributing to my writing skills, I am doubly grateful to him for enriching my life through his example of humility and kindness. My favorite times during that semester came on Thursday evenings when I sat at the feet of a wise and good man. Eventually my other mentors Harry Sturz of Biola and Bo Reicke of the University of Basel provided me with a model, not only of scholarship at its highest level, but even more of character. Each combined the attributes of keen rationality and unashamed piety the proverbial “clear head” and “warm heart.” Although none is alive today, I feel they are still looking over my shoulder whenever I write.
If we have any doubts whether it is possible in this day and age to be both tough-minded and tender-hearted, we need only look at the lives of men such as Henry Morris.
6:46 AM Here’s our chapel schedule for the spring semester. Don’t miss Don Carson in chapel Feb. 11-13.
6:36 AM Several friends and loved ones have asked for special prayer recently. I want you to know that I am happy to oblige. Prayer is acknowledging the suffering and misery of the world and God’s sufficiency to deal with it. This is exactly how Christ prayed: “In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood” (Luke 22:44, JB). I want you to know that I deeply empathize with you and am interceding on your behalf. One thing is certain: Without the Christ-given gift of courage, none of us could endure life’s crushing blows. I commend each of you to God’s grace — His overflowing, infinitely wise love, never deserved and never repayable.
6:22 AM Recently I met with a student who is contemplating doctoral studies. Of course, I always encourage young people to consider a European doctorate, and one from a university. All other things being equal (which they never are), a university doctorate is more rigorous than a seminary one. I still remember going to the University of Basel and thinking, “This can’t be happening. Graduates of a non-descript seminary like Talbot don’t go to Europe for their doctor’s degree.”
Why did I choose Basel?
Two reasons. First, it was a “liberal” university (in the best sense of the word). The professors there were open-minded. There was no automatic bias against conservative evangelicals. As long as you wrote an acceptable dissertation and had it published, they granted you your degree (after you delivered 125 copies to the university library). Basel has always been known for welcoming people of various theological perspectives. The function of Basel as a city of refuge in the 1500s is well-known. Through the influence of Erasmus we find there Curione, Castellio (who was unwelcome in Geneva), Cellarius, Hans Denck (who died there), Karlstadt, and David Joris (the “Anabaptist flamingo”). Oecolampadius arrived there in 1522, and in the same year Erich Hugwald, a professor at the University of Basel, wrote a book against infant baptism. I arrived there in 1980 and have never regretted it.
The other reason I went to Basel (rather than Tübingen, where I had also been accepted) was a man named Bo Reicke, my doctor father, who to me embodied the perfect balance between humanitas and pietas. Again, I was not disappointed. Professor Reicke was the perfect mentor.
So if you are thinking about doing a doctorate, I would encourage you to put all the options on the table and then let the Lord narrow your choices. I wouldn’t put God in a box in any way, shape, or form. Dream high. And then let Jesus direct your steps.
6:05 AM I once read this purpose statement in the foyer of a church:
Christ Community is a church where the lost are actively sought, won to Jesus and developed into Christ-like, church planting missionaries.
What a radical idea — every member a missionary. But maybe not so radical when we read the New Testament. I am glad to see local churches looking outwards to a degree unimaginable 30 years ago. Instead of being a ghetto church, zealously guarding its borders and fearful of the world, churches are beginning to “earth the Gospel” in a big way.
Is yours a church “for others”? Is mine?
Friday, January 17
5:12 PM So Nigusse had not one but two brand new experiences today (all part of his “seminary” education, mind you): his first “real” (i.e., hand tossed) pizza at Randy’s Pizza in Durham, and his first trip to outer space (courtesy of the Carmike theater next door). Gravity is a smart thriller with an unbelievable ending. This has got to be Sandra Bullock’s best role ever. The special effects were so realistic that you felt sure you were going to be struck by all the satellite debris being flung past you in the theater. The movie is positively brilliant, and it has a powerful (though perhaps subliminal) message to boot: when the chaos of life strikes you, you’re got to keep on going. (Sandra Bullock’s character had lost her 4-year old daughter and lived in the past.) But that’s where the message ends, because it has to. This world offers no genuine hope for us. Self-help can only get you so far. That’s what Psalm 46 is all about. When you’re down and out, when you’re facing the squeeze of hardship, the ultimate (and, really, ONLY) security is knowing He is there and always will be. Still, the underlining premise of the movie is true: we aren’t promised a fail-safe, problem-free life here on this earth (or in outer space, either). And we as believers are not offered risk-free Christianity. There are no guarantees in life period — except that one day we will need God as never before, and that He will be our God if we let Him.
At any rate, go see this movie, if for no other reason than its superb cinematography. And make sure you watch it in 3D.
Your humble movie reviewer,
Dave
10:40 AM I hear that Gravity simply must be seen in a theater. Nigusse’s first 3D movie!
10:32 AM Sink is fixed. Nigusse did all the work. Under my indispensable supervision. But of course.
9:58 AM So how would you translate our verse of the day?
ἰσχύω πάντα ἐν τῷ
ἐνδυναμοῦντί με.
9:22 AM Not far from the farm is un unfinished house. It’s been sitting there for years. What unfinished business is there in your life?
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Maybe it’s a person. Who do you need to call today and ask for forgiveness or just pray with over the phone or invite to lunch?
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Maybe it’s God. What part of your life are you holding back from Him, what sin have you failed to abandon?
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Maybe it’s a goal. Do you feel God calling you to pursue another degree or launch your own business or to become a tentmaker in the Middle East for the sake of the Gospel?
“It is finished” are words of great satisfaction (John 19:30). Do you have any unfinished business?
8:25 AM Looking forward to teaching again in the fall after my sabbatical ends. Just agreed to teach Advanced Exegesis of Philippians for the Ph.D. program (third year level of Greek). Should be fun. In fact, I’ll also be back in the saddle this summer teaching 6 weeks of beginning Greek. If you’re interested in joining us, contact me for a syllabus in early May. The course meets three hours a day from May 19 to June 27.
8:16 AM The Bible is like an ocean in which a child can play in its shallows and an elephant drown in its depths. Our teaching, therefore, must be simple without ever becoming simplistic.
7:59 AM Was needing to have delivered a bouquet of roses the other day and found the absolute best florist in Raleigh. Check out Fallons Flowers. They even sent me a picture of the roses by email!
7:41 AM Pray for me — the world’s greatest klutz has to fix a bathroom sink today.
Then again, “I can do all ….”
7:36 AM Do Christians misuse Phil. 4:13? Jonathan Merritt says yes.
As Dr. Eric Bargerhuff writes in The Most Misused Verses in the Bible, [Philippians 4:13 is] not really about who has the strength to play to the best of their abilities in a sporting contest . This verse is about having strength to be content when we are facing those moments in life when physical resources are minimal.
What say you?
7:28 AM “Faith is not being sure where you’re going but going anyway.” Frederick Buechner.
7:02 AM Over the past few days I’ve been trying to think of an analogy that would help you to understand where I am emotionally these days. Do you remember attending the circus as a child and watching the trapeze artists? That’s what I feel like right now. I’m “between trapezes.” Hanging in mid-air. Call it a “trapeze moment” where you’re hurtling through the air between two trapeze bars. You’ve got to let go completely of the old bar before gabbing onto the new one. Folks, it’s this transition that I find so disorienting. Palms sweat. Heart races. The safety and security and familiarity of the old are gone, gone forever. Fears keep creeping in. You keep asking yourself, Can I really do this?
The odd thing is that I understand the grieving process intellectually. I know the Bible pretty well too. What I really need is someone to go with me through that small, potentially deadly space. The Bible says that Christ was God’s mediator for me. Jesus stepped between me and death. Why? Not only because He knew that my soul needed saving from death and hell. But because He knew that one day Dave Black would lose the most precious earthly friend he had ever known. He knew that this experience would help to prepare me for the race that will last my entire life — a race that involves some big risks and perhaps a few really scary seconds hanging in mid-air. As head of the church, He calls me to come to the safe place where He dwells and release my heavy load of anxiety, strengthen my slender threads of faith, and most of all think on Him. When Christ died on Calvary, He knew the solution to my trapeze moment. He always does. What seems impossible to us is possible with God.
I can’t say that my life has changed dramatically for the better since Becky’s passing. Yet I find myself being a little more careful with small decisions, knowing that it will ultimately help me with the big decisions. It’s just a matter of letting Him carry me from one trapeze bar to the next. When it comes right down to it, He wants His followers to feel utterly incapable of doing anything. As with Moses, He delights in using self-doubting nobodies who are just willing to follow Him. It certainly is not an easy choice. Our trials might well tempt us to abandon the faith. Life is a painful, anguishing process of counting the cost. But when you are “between trapezes,” partial commitment won’t work. God demands our complete devotion, our complete trust. Not a part of it, not even the biggest part, but all of it. After all the circus training and preparation, you’ve got to let go if you want to grab the next bar. No race — not even a figurative one — can be won living in the past. Right now, my faith can change the course of events, as can my lack of faith.
I’ll tell you one thing: My hat goes off to all the widowers out there who made it to the next bar. Will I be one of them? With God’s help, I can and I will.
Thursday, January 16
8:04 PM Hi folks,
Just back from our favorite seafood restaurant with Nate and Jess and the boys.
It was simply outstanding. Makes life feel pretty wonderful. I am grateful beyond words.
Blessings on all of you, and remember to spend time with those you love.
Dave
1:20 PM A humble, grateful, and adoring spirit toward God is worth more than all one’s diplomas and degrees combined. That said, God can still use our education if we leverage it for the Gospel.
8:24 AM Have you read Tithing after the Cross yet? Short and to the point!
8:16 AM Our marching orders (Matt:28:19, The Message):
Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life.
So glad to see Southern Baptist missions returning to an emphasis on discipleship training. Conversion is vital. But so is after-care.
8:02 AM Students of Koine Greek will enjoy this story about a recalcitrant donkey! (Subtitles included.)
7:55 AM Here’s a great verse (Rom. 12:8): “Whoever shares with others should do so generously.” Am I being generous today? As Phil. 2:5-11 teaches, it is the nature of God not to grasp but to give. Is that my nature as well?
7:40 AM The latest addition to our home page is called Enjoying Nature Without Worshiping It.
7:12 AM The problem with misquoting the Church Fathers.
7:04 AM What’s wrong with this picture?
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“Worship Service”
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“Minister of Music and Worship”
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“Contemporary Worship Style”
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“Worship Guide” (formerly “Bulletin”)
When we think of worship we think of the Lord’s Day, of Sunday. But worship is really all that we do as believers. It is Christian living in its entirety. The essence of worship is living a life of obedience and service to God (see Rom. 12:1-2). It is a God-centered life. It embraces, yes, what we do when we meet together as a church, but it embraces what we do on our own — at work, with the family, in our neighborhoods, at our computer terminals. When we conduct ourselves in ways pleasing to God, then we are worshipping. God becomes central to everything.
How is such a life possible? “By the Spirit of God” (Phil. 3:3). We have the Holy Spirit in our heart. The Spirit brings God into every area of our life. He does this so that God might have first place in our life as a whole.
Are you worshipping only on Sunday?
6:43 AM Yesterday was an especially difficult day for me. There are some things in life you simply don’t forget, no matter how long it’s been. I was at CVS picking up a prescription. A lady in front of me was paying for her purchase — two large packages of Depends. One look at those adult diapers sent me reeling from near whiplash as the memory of changing Becky’s diapers washed over me. I almost began to cry, right there in public. Call it grief, call it whatever you like, but there I was, fighting back the tears. It seemed like such a small thing, but it was a huge thing. There she was — a middle-aged woman making a commonplace purchase. It all seemed so normal. But I knew better. I thought to myself, Who is she buying them for — her father, her mother, perhaps her spouse? Somehow I felt an invisible bond with this complete stranger. I wanted to hug her, whisper in her ear I understand, tell her how grateful I am that someone in her family could depend on her to buy Depends.
I’m not ashamed to say that my heart aches for people who suffer from incontinence. I think God’s heart must ache also. After 10 weeks I still can’t get used to life without Becky. Truth is, I am still in denial. One thing I cling to is God’s sovereignty. “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires” (Psalm 37:4). I’m so grateful I have a Father who understands suffering and loss and who delights in doing good things for His children. So don’t worry about me (too much). I’m in good hands, hands that bear nail prints of love. He is nigh unto those who wear Depends, and those who purchase them. He’s the new life that surges into our lives, enabling us to cope with memories of winters past and causing us to hope for new buds in the spring.
September October 2011 Blog Archives