MONEY!

Act I, Scene II, of Macbeth mentions “ten thousand dollars”. See, I knew there was a Scottish connection to the coinage of the USA (and to that of the Australians, Canadians, Bahamians, Fijians, Singaporeans, Liberians, Namibians, Zimbabweans, et alii)!

Some kind of money called “dollar” appears to have been extant in this bonnie land of Scotland in the 17th century; nonetheless, the reference in a play that is supposedly based on an 11th-century Macbeth MacFindleach (?) is quite anachronistic.

This Dollar (in the picture), however, is a small town (pop. 2,759) in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, the proud location of Castle Campbell, where Mary Queen of Scots once lived in the 16th century.

(I gave the castle a miss! And the town as well; I drove right through it, without even seeing it. I turned around just for the photograph. The sign was far too intriguing to skip.)

The name of this town apparently comes from the tale of a princess who died in the castle of a broken heart—so, ”Dollar,” derived from dolor, grief. Or perhaps from the Gaelic doilleir, dark and gloomy.

Appropriate, I figured. $$ brings dolor, making life doilleir.

For the love of money
is a root of all sorts of evil,
and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves
with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10

By the way, this monetary focus of the Bible is quite telling: 288 verses in the four Gospels—a full 10%—deal with this issue. There are more verses on this topic than on heaven and hell combined! The Bible has about 500 references to prayer, about 500 to faith, but over 2,000 references to money and possessions! Money, folks, is a major spiritual issue, and usually in the negative sense.

No wonder Scripture casts a jaundiced eye upon lucre (always prefixed in the KJV New Testament with the adjective “filthy”).

Explicitly, Paul rules out of leadership those who are possessed by the love of money. Elders, he asserts, must be …

… free from the love of money.
1 Timothy 3:3

All believers are, instead, bidden to be content; the reason is forcefully brought home with a cascade of five negatives (in the original) in a single verse!

Make sure that your character is
free from the love of money,
being content with what you have;
for He Himself has said,
“I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU,
NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU” ….
Hebrews 13:5

The sufficiency of God, His supply of our need, the succor of His grace, the security of His love … what more do we need?

For we have brought nothing
into the world, so we cannot
take anything out of it either.
If we have food and covering,
with these we shall be content.
1 Timothy 6:7–8

Money doesn’t relieve dolor. Money doesn’t alleviate doilleir. Money doesn’t even last.

When you set your eyes on it,
it is gone.
For wealth certainly
makes itself wings ….
Proverbs 23:5

How true! So, rather than chasing after the monetary dividends of market and the mercenary dealings of mammon, Paul exhorts, …

… you man/woman of God, …
pursue righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, perseverance
and gentleness.
1 Timothy 6:11

For, indeed, great gain is to be gotten by being godly, both in this world and the next.

… godliness is profitable
for all things,
since it holds promise
for the present life
and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:8

So let godliness constantly be our quarry. And quiet contentment consistently our character.

KIDS!

Last weekend I made a pilgrimage to the Athens of the North, Edinburgh (“Embra” to locals; known in times past as “Dunedin” [Dùn Èideann = fort of Eidyn]), where I was meeting a good friend from my Dallas days, a fellow-Indian, and a fellow-physician, who was visiting the U.K. on business.

Last weekend also marked the beginning of the Edinburgh International Festival. Which meant one thing—crowds! And more crowds!

We milled through the millions, mulled over the possibility of doing something else, and then, being the malleable minds that we were, gritted our maxillae, and decided to make the best of it. It was good exercise, walking all around town, I admit, catching the odd performer of mellifluous bagpipe music (an oxymoron?) along the way. We had no agenda. No plan. No goal. It was nice being “kids” again.

We hit pot gold, though, when we came upon a street of half-a-dozen used bookstores. Needless to say, we also spent pots of gold there, pillaging and plundering, mollified finally that there was some benefit, beyond fellowship, in having made the expedition to yon marvellous city.

Ye olde castle? Not us. Other miscellaneous historical concoctions of architecture and slices of art there were aplenty. Nor for us. We were kids again. Browsing … and buying. Books = Bliss!

We did what we wanted. No more. No less. That night we even ate like kids: Chocolates, sodas, two bananas, and half a bag of spicy potato chips, apiece! Considering that what I usually consume for dinner is JIF, this was a balanced diet. Seriously! (Never trust two doctors together, behaving like kids!).

Oh, and by yon bonnie banks and braes of Loch Lomond, we drove. (Just because we wanted to—kids!) Pretty spot. Lots of water. And people. We took the high road and headed back to town and to remain close to the bookstores! Kids!

I thought about life as a kid on my drive back to Aberdeen. Care-less. Concern-less. Complaint-less. A far cry from the tumults and turbulences of adult life.

But should it be so different? Aren’t we still kids? Children of the Almighty? Heirs with Christ? Begotten of the Spirit? Indeed, we are, those who have placed their trust in Christ as their only God and Savior.

But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right
to become children of God,
even to those
who believe in His name.
John 1:12

And, if children, well, then we can surely be care-, concern-, and complaint-free, can’t we?

Look at the birds of the air,
that they do not sow,
nor reap nor gather into barns,
and your heavenly
Father feeds them.
Are you not worth
much more than they?
And who of you
by being worried
can add an hour to his life? …
for your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things.
Matthew 6:26–28, 32

If you … know
how to give good gifts
to your children,
how much more
will your Father who is in heaven
give what is good
to those who ask Him!
Matthew 7:11

... for the Father Himself loves you.
John 16:27

… we are children of God,
and if children, heirs also,
and fellow heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him
so that we may also
be glorified with Him.
For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory
that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:15–18

Care-less! Concern-less! Complaint-less! Just … kids!

And don’t forget …

Therefore
be imitators of God,
as beloved children.
Ephesians 5:1

ARMED!

Relax! It’s only a paint-ball gun!

Your favorite homiletician (hopefully!) hasn’t suddenly developed homicidal tendencies. That picture was a condescension on my part to the indefatigable exertions on the part of my nephews to give their uncle a “cool” look, which, apparently, in their collective (but erroneous, of course!) consideration, I lacked.

Haven’t I always been cool?

(You don’t have to answer that. And I don’t want any wisecrack comments either! They will forthwith be deleted by the Master of the Web!)

I was reminded of the mug shot of menacing-looking me, as I pondered about warfare, not the physical kind, but the other, the spiritual, variety. As I survived a recent stint of non-stop preaching for four weekends in a row in three different pulpits, I was grateful to God for His protection from the wiles of the evil one. Which wiles, I might add, have been known to come my way, especially in times of busy-ness in ministry.

For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood,
but against the …
rulers of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces
of evil ….
Ephesians 6:12

Scripture seems to indicate that this waging of warfare is with us daily; these battles are baiting us all the time; these skirmishes are always skulking in the background; these hostilities are hot on our heels constantly. If spiritual warfare is a constant accompaniment to the Christian life, then we must be always armed, appropriately armed, adequately armed, … armed and alert.

Put on the full armor of God,
so that you will be able
to stand firm against
the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11

And that full armor? Spiritual battles against spiritual foes call for spiritual weapons. Here they are …

Loins girded with truth
Breastplate of righteousness
Shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace
Shield of faith
Helmet of salvation
Sword of the Spirit, the word of God
Prayer, persevering in it at all times, for all the saints
from Ephesians 6:14–18

I’ve gotten into the habit of consciously running through the list of these paraphernalia each morning in my prayer time, to remind myself how much in need I am of supernatural help to withstand those forces of evil. The battle does belong to the Lord! Without His help, we would succumb to the sallies and sorties of Screwtape that seek to surmount us from all sides, to shock us by surprise, to scare us into submission, and if we are not “sober”, to successfully scorch us. To render us attacked … and fallen!

May that never be, for any one of us, for any believer, for any Christian. For God, Himself, who indwells us by the Holy Spirit, is our Protector, our Shield, our Guardian, our Comforter.

You are from God,
little children,
and have overcome [the evil ones];
because greater is He
who is in you
than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4

Therefore we can go forth into the world, the war is as good as won, Satan is already subjugated, victory is guaranteed. The final triumph, of course, we all await, but not with bated breath. For there is no uncertainty about how it’s all going to end. No suspense. No surprise. We know the result. We have won! Already … but not yet.

Let’s hang in there! Armed and ready! For soon …

… the God of all grace,
who called you
to His eternal glory in Christ,
will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you.
To Him be dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:8

CALLED!

One whole year has passed. And quickly at that. I was ordained at Plano Bible Chapel (PBC) on Aug 7, 2005.

A word of thanks is due to PBC for their willingness to see me ordained. And an especial Gracias! to Pastor Larry and the rest of the terrific men who sat on my Ordination Committee (pictured above). I am grateful to them and to the church for the faith and trust reposed in me. For that is what is signified in the laying of hands upon the ordinand. An expression of faith. An affirmation of trust. A confirmation of ministry.

It’s nothing magical. It’s not even a Scriptural prescription, though the Bible does give us several descriptions of this corporate commissioning. Nonetheless, it was a milestone in my life. It always will be. A time of reflection on the past, of rejoicing with family and friends in the present, and of readying for the future.

Indeed, that ought to be a norm for the believer. The Bible explicitly declares, many times, that every believer in Christ is thereby “called” by God. In that sense, all Christians are “ordained” to be part of …

… a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for God’s own possession,
so that you may proclaim
the excellencies of Him
who has called you
out of darkness
into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

This is no mean thing, God’s calling us. He has done so in His grace, saving us for a purpose—to reflect His glory.

[God] … has saved us and called us
with a holy calling,
not according to our works,
but according to
His own purpose and grace ….
2 Timothy 1:9

Ordained formally by man or not, each of us has been called by God. He has called us to serve Him with all that He has given us as stewards—time, resources, energy, means ….

… it is required of stewards
that one be found faithful.
1 Corinthians 4:2

Our response is to be faithful to the call. Faithful to the Caller. Faithful to our duty. Faithful to the end. Faithful!

… walk in a manner
worthy of the calling
with which you have been called.
Ephesians 4:1

And yet the Bible is realistic about our capability to be faithful. We are often “those of little faith,” of foibles aplenty, of fallible natures, failing often. What a blessing it is to realize that even …

If we are faithless,
He remains faithful.
2 Timothy 2:13

Life is not a celebration of our faithfulness. Ordination is not a flourish of trumpets heralding our own faithfulness. Not in the least! It is, on the contrary, a proclamation of God’s faithfulness. The faithfulness of the One who has promised to see us through it all.

Faithful is He who calls you,
and He also will bring it to pass.
1 Thessalonians 5:24

My ordination left its mark indelibly upon me. I pray daily that I may be a good steward of the trust of those who laid their hands on me.

Even more must we all pray that we would be good stewards of what our faithful God has laid upon us. Let us resolve to undertake humbly and faithfully whatever God lays ahead of us, doing all things through Christ, in the power of His Spirit, for His glory, the edification of His people, and the furtherance of His kingdom.

And …

Let the peace of Christ
rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were
called in one body;
and be thankful.
Colossians 3:15

Gracias Señor!