SLEEP!

Twenty-two years of married life was celebrated yesterday. That’s my brother and his wife. We stayed up late to celebrate. At least, some of us did. The rest succumbed to the weariness of married life! (Just kidding, folks!)

Maybe it was the company! Or the all the food we had been consuming the last few days, courtesy of my sister-in-law’s exceptional culinary skills. Whatever it was, they slept.

But there is a theological reason why they—and all believers—can sleep.

For He [God] gives to His beloved
even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

God gives even when we sleep. That’s the Psalmist’s way of saying, “Nope, don’t fool yourself into thinking you are in control, or that you need to be in control—wide awake, senses alert, sweating profusely, working hard, wearying oneself. Not at all. It is God who gives. And He gives even if you are sleeping. And, well, if He gives even when we sleep, we might as well do so peacefully, trusting Him.”

Interestingly this Psalm is labeled as one of Solomon’s. When this dude was born to David and Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet named Solomon “Jedidiah,” meaning “beloved of the LORD.” And Solomon, our author puts his own name in this Psalm:

For He [God] gives to His beloved
[= Jedidiah, a.k.a. Solomon]
even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

“For He gives to me even in my sleep,” Solomon seems to be declaring. God does. All our frantic efforts at manipulating life, forgetting that it is God who gives, even when we sleep. The first two verses of Psalm 127 are worth hearing, especially for us who dwell in a hectic world, living out frenetic days in a feverish pace, never stopping, always going. Worrying, even when we sleep.

Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved
even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:1–2

I don’t know how your 2009 has been. Sleepless? Fretful? Loaded with care? weighed down with woe? And we’re going to do our best to make 2010 nothing like 2009, aren’t we? Struggling, striving, straining, stressing, stretching, …. Sleepless.

If that’s what we plan to do, then we need to read Solomon’s words again … and relax. For it is God who gives, and, you know what? He gives even when we sleep. Even when we are not in control.

But God is. Completely and totally in control. And He, this God of ours—He doesn’t sleep.

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121:2–4

That’s why you should be sleeping …

… casting all your anxiety on Him,
because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

May we sleep soundly in 2010!

The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out
and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 121:5–8

Amen!

Happy New Year!

FATHERLY!

Unrecognized. Unseen. Undiscovered. Nobody knows. Nobody sees. Nobody cares. As long as there is plenty of food, lots of cheer, a plethora of tinsel, and cornucopia of gifts, everyone’s happy. Jesus? Who’s that?

I wonder sometimes if that’s not true of us who are believers as well. Too caught up in the hustle and bustle, and the baking and decorating, the bargain-hunting, gift-wrapping, and card-writing. Too busy to think of Jesus.

Me, too. There’s one facet of our Lord Jesus that I’ve personally not paid much attention to.

And His name will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:5

There it is. An element that has puzzled me often. A facet of our Savior that I hadn’t fully recognized or seen or understood.

Eternal Father. That threw me off: Eternal Father? Jesus? Isaiah, to me, was getting a bit discombobulated here. He should’ve taken a few classes at DTS. We’d have set the old geezer straight on the Persons of the Trinity. Eternal Father? Don’t you know better than that, Isaiah?

The answer is actually rather simple. You see, these titles do not focus primarily on the child’s deity, but on His function.

Wonderful Counselor, standing for Jesus’ function as Awesome Planner, indicating His sovereign design and marvelous purposes. He’s the Planning One.

Mighty God, stands for God who fights as a warrior: Jesus fought for our redemption—He’s the Fighting One.

Prince of Peace, Jesus is the One whose reign alone will bring peace—He’s the Ruling One.

See, all are functional titles, primarily. And then there is … Eternal Father. Well, if the others are primarily functional titles, then so’s this one.

Eternal Father—the One who does fatherly things—the Fatherly One.

This Planning One, this Fighting One, this Ruling One, is also the Fatherly One. This Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, is also … fatherly to us. You know what that means?

Who will separate us
from the love of Christ?
Will tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
But in all these things
we overwhelmingly conquer
through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from
[Christ’s love for us].
Romans 8:35, 37–39

That’s His fatherliness: His care, His concern, His love!

That’s His fatherliness; Our Lord Jesus, the Fatherly One who loves us, who died for us.

The Eternal Fatherly One, our Savior who loves us and gave Himself for us. Everyone else’s fatherhood is self-tainted, not His. His fatherhood is sacrificial, not selfish. Every other father is inadequate. Not this One. Everyone else’s fatherhood is temporary, not His. His fatherhood is eternal. Eternal Father. His love for us is eternal. His love for us will never ever end. Never. Ever! This Child is fatherly to us, and fatherly to us forever.

That was something I hadn’t thought about much. Jesus, Eternal Fatherly One.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.
William Featherston, 1864

He came once. He is coming again. The Eternal Fatherly One who loves me!

UNDO!

Did you ever wish for an “undo” button for life? Did you?

But I get ahead of myself …

This is the story about a cake. A Swiss madrisa. A lush conglomeration of fruits, cream, and nuts, with a little flour and lots of sugar. Healthy. (NOT!)

I’ve already bought six of these for various and sundry parties this Christmas season.

Yesterday was a day that sped by so fast, I don’t know what happened. Engaged in a writing project, I suddenly noticed it was 5:45 pm. And I’ve gotta be at a party 25 miles away at 6:30. It’s the PhD Students’ Christmas Party and I’m on DTS’s PhD Studies Committee. Oh, dear.

Shower. Check. Shave. Check. Etc., etc.

Rushed down to the garage. OK, I need a white elephant for the gift exchange. What shall it be? Yup, moisturizers and soaps. (That will help clear my garage a bit, too). Check. Gift bag for the hostess, a colleague’s wife. More skin stuff. Check. Oh, no, forgot the cake. That Swiss madrisa. Rushed up a flight of stairs. Back down again. Then I forgot my Bible. (Yup, I’m giving a season-appropriate devotional to the assembled faculty/students and their spouses.) Up two flights and down. Check. Ready to go.

It’s a horrible evening. Cold. Wet. And the traffic on Hwy 75 is as horrible as the weather. Crawling traffic for miles leading up to the exit for a major mall and crawling traffic for miles beyond it. Both ways.

It’s 6:25.

Finally things clear and we speed up.

That’s when it happened. The guy in front suddenly braked hard. Screeech! And he swerved into the shoulder to avoid hitting the car in front. Slam went my brakes, too. I missed him by 2 inches. He stopped. I stopped. He had the presence of mind to stop. I had the presence of mind to stop.

But that Swiss madrisa. It did not have the presence of mind to stop.

The Swiss madrisa kept on going even after I had stopped and the guy in front had stopped and everybody else had stopped. It just kept on going. Off the front seat. And on to the floor. Where it finally came to an ominous halt and a sad demise.

Once upon a time, it used to be a cake! No longer. RIP!

Where’s the undo button when you need it? Gosh, MS Word has it, Photoshop has it, Excel has it, Powerpoint, and every other piece of software. Why not life?

There is. An undo button for life.

And it will be hit once. And everything will be back where it ought to be. In its right place. Unbroken. Pristine. Perfect.

Jesus Christ is the one with the undo button.

“Behold, the tabernacle of God
is among men,
and He will dwell among them,
and they shall be His people,
and God Himself will be among them,
and He will wipe away
every tear from their eyes;
and there will no longer be any death;
there will no longer be any mourning,
or crying, or pain;
the first things have passed away.”
And He [the Lord Jesus Christ]
who sits on the throne said,
“Behold, I am making all things new.”
Revelation 21:3–5

One day. Soon. That’s what He came to begin the first time. And that’s what He’ll come to finish the second time. Soon.

Hang in there.

Oh, and the cake? Well, guess what? I get to eat the whole mangled mess all by my sweet self. I can tell it's gonna be a great Christmas!

SAVIOR!

The Gap is one of the busiest tourist spots in Sydney Harbor and one of the prettiest. Between two ocean cliffs, it is literally a gap into the Harbor.

It is also a notorious spot. About 50 suicides (and an odd homicide or two) occur there every year, despite the warnings, and the phone help-lines prominently displayed.

But Don Ritchie, 82, has saved over 200 potential suicides in the 45 years he’s been at this task. Some at his urging followed him home for a beer or a meal. Others, tragically, escaped his grasp to leave jackets or hats in his hand as they plunged 150 feet on to the rocks below. Many of the ones he’s managed to save send him letters, champagne, and other such gifts. Their savior! He is the watchman of The Gap. Ritchie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (2006) for his yeoman service to suicide prevention. Savior!

Saving lives is not only for the counselors and others like Ritchie. Christians are integrally to be involved in this enterprise as well, with one difference. It is eternal lives they are after. The good news of the salvation in Jesus Christ is the life-saving message we carry.

In Christ, God was reconciling
the world to himself, not counting
people’s trespasses against them,
he has given us
the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19

God reconciling the world to Himself. Sin would no longer be an issue of separation between God and man, for Jesus Christ, God incarnate, had paid for mankind’s sins.

He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

No more the threat of eternal separation from God for sin for the believer in Jesus Christ.

For the wages of sin is death
but the free gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

And now we are the representatives of the King, heralding this good news.

Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though
God were making an appeal through us;
we beg you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20

Helping save lives. Graciously, prayerfully, lovingly.

… sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts,
always being ready to make a defense
to everyone who asks you to give
an account for the hope that is in you,
yet with gentleness and reverence.
1 Peter 3:15

Paul’s earnestness in his ambassadorial task ought to be our model. Always seeking to preach Christ, always ready, always depending on God for the strength to do so!

… pray on my behalf,
that utterance may be given to me
in the opening of my mouth,
to make known with boldness
the mystery of the gospel.
Ephesians 6:19

Whether he lived, or died, he wanted to be carrying the message of reconciliation. Saving lives. That was his goal:

… that with all boldness,
Christ will even now, as always,
be exalted in my body,
whether by life or by death.
For to me,
to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:20–21

As Fanny Crosby wrote in 1869:

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,

Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;

Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,

Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;

Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;

Back to the narrow way patiently win them;

Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Save lives!

SAVED!

Our venerable local mouthpiece of news dissemination, Dallas Morning News, reported on a little heroine the other day. For her quick thinking and life-saving tactics, she—proudly donning a Rangers jersey and her Brownie vest—got to throw the first pitch before a Rangers vs. Royals game at the Rangers Ballpark in the Metroplex. She also won the Girl Scout Lifesaving Award Medal of Honor for her alacrity and coolness in a time of crisis. She had saved a life!

A few months ago, Katherine, 8, was playing with her brother, Andrew, 5, when he began to choke on something he was chewing. The lassie yelled to her parents, but before they could get to the scene, this sharp witted one grabbed her brother and—believe it or not!—did the Heimlich maneuver on him. Apparently the enterprising young lady had seen it performed on TV. Anyhow, “I pulled as hard as I could,” she explained. Hard enough to make her “patient” cough it up. Ironically, the “it” was … Lifesavers. “Not a good name,” Katherine agreed. At least not for Andrew.

Of course, the 5-year-old’s response to all this was less than thankful. “She made me throw up,” were his complaining first words after the momentous event.

I wondered about Andrew’s reaction to his rescuer. While it is typical of a little brother, it also depicts the reaction of the world to the Savior given to us by God.

I am in need of help—I’m choking.
All mankind is lost in sin.

And you were dead
in your trespasses and sins.
Ephesians 2:1

My rescuer feels concern for me, at my dangerous plight.
God’s love for us moved Him to act.

For God so loved the world,
that He sent His only begotten Son ….
John 3:16

My deliverer is capable of meeting my need—i.e., knows how to perform the Heimlich.
God alone is capable of saving mankind from the plight of sin.

And there is salvation
in no one else;
for there is no other name under heaven
… by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

I couldn’t help myself; I couldn’t do the maneuver on myself; self-help was impossible.
God had to help us, if we were to be saved from the consequences of sin.

For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God
is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

My rescuer saves me: the Heimlich maneuver is performed successfully.
God took action to save.

But God, being rich in mercy,
because of His great love
with which He loved us,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions,
made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved).
Ephesians 2:4–5

The work was performed gratis: my rescuer asked for nothing from me in payment, not that I could make a repayment for the life saved.
God gave us what we did not deserve, what we could not repay, for which we could not work.

He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds
which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy.
Titus 3:5

Mercy and grace!

For the grace of God
has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men.
Titus 2:11

To all who believe in Christ and His payment for our sins on the cross.

For God so loved the world,
that He sent His only begotten Son
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

We’re proud of Katherine. But, even more, we exult in our salvation in Christ—our LIFESAVER!

REALITY!

Last week at a national gathering of evangelical theologians, I attended a session where a group of panelists were discussing each other’s work. Theologians, I have learnt, can get picky easily. These panelists were no different. They demonstrated their ire with choice words and snide comments, befitting evangelicals, of course! “Not altogether clear,” one said of the other. “I cannot explain to anyone else, much less myself,” how his theory works. Another declared: “Betrays a lack of methodological humility.” And: “Seeks to discredit others with pejorative language that tends to prejudice the reader.” Others’ theories are “museum-pieces.” They are all “naïve.” Ouch!

Another one, recognizing the sniping said, “It’s a war zone out there; the jihadist [I suppose he meant his fellow evangelical colleagues?] you will always have with you.” Boy, I was sure glad I wasn’t one of those panelists! We theologians not only have sensitive skins, but also acid tongues!

One of the more telling, trenchant critiques went like this: He “seems to have spent modest [an evangelically-appropriate way of saying “zero”] time teaching, preaching, and leading in the church.” His work, the critic alleged, would have been different “if he … had been a pastor or even an interim preacher for an extended period.” And later, “A stint in the church might also remind him” of the value of rubbing shoulders with reality. Out of touch!

That’s a lesson for all of us. Ivory towers benefit nothing and nobody. Many believers—evangelical theologians and seminary profs included—live in functional isolation in hermitages, monasteries, asylums, cocoons of self-interest, foxholes of seclusion, sanctuaries of privacy. Refusing to get involved with the real lives of real people in the real world. Often it is the church, itself, that is completely out of touch with reality, living in a world of its own. No recognition of where culture is, no acknowledgement of the needs of the world, no realization that time has moved on all around it. Out of touch with reality!

It is not for aught that the church is planted right smack in the middle of the world, literally, like St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney, one of the strongholds of evangelicalism in Australia, in the middle of downtown. I suppose God could have taken us all straight to heaven when we became believers, trusting Christ for salvation. He could have, but He didn’t. He kept us here. In the world.

In Jesus’ prayer for His followers, He says:

“I am no longer in the world;
and yet they themselves
are in the world ….”
John 17:11

But we are not of the world.

“… they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world.
I do not ask You
to take them out of the world ….”
John 17:14–15

But the fact remains: we are in the world. The church is in the world. And as individuals we’re to be in contact with the realities of the world. For a reason:

… so that you will prove yourselves
to be blameless and innocent,
children of God above reproach
in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation,
among whom you appear
as lights in the world.
Philippians 2:15

Indeed, like our Lord, we, too, are to be shining lights … in the world.

“You are the light of the world.”
Matthew 5:14

Unlike that panelist out of touch with reality (as alleged), let us never forget we are in the world, entrenched in reality, in touch with one another, and with the world around us, caring, sharing, shining, loving.

CURTAIN!

The twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the most prominent symbol of the “Iron Curtain,” was celebrated this month. Following that momentous event, the former Soviet bloc began to crumble, changing, dramatically, the alignments in world politics. It was Churchill who first used the phrase “Iron Curtain,” in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, in March 1946:

“… an ‘iron curtain’ has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow.”

Though the good man was criticized at that time for his seemingly warmongering comments, history proved him to be right. The Iron Curtain had split the world in two, as the ideological and physical boundary between the East and the West.

In 1999, the Bundestag (parliament) of the reunified Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, met in the 100+ year-old historic Reichstag building in Germany, towering pillars and all. It is now the official house of German government.

Of the many historically consequential events that have taken place in this century, the fall of the Iron Curtain ranks up there.

But the fall of a portentous curtain is not a unique event. An even more important—indeed, eternally important—curtain “fell” about 2,000 years ago.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry
and breathed His last.
And the veil of the Temple
was torn in two from top to bottom.
Mark 15:37–38

The tearing of the veil, humanly impossible (the outer curtain was about 75 feet in height), is described in the passive voice, hinting at a divine hand at work (the “divine passive”). The unusual nature of the rending—from top to bottom—is certainly corroborative of supernatural activity. The juxtaposition of this event with Jesus’ breathing his last presents the “fall” of that curtain as the consequence of the death of Jesus Christ. Something momentous had happened.

Not surprisingly, the Roman centurion in charge of the execution detail, acknowledges, immediately afterwards, …

“Truly He was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:39

The curtain had fallen. The curtain that separated sinners from a holy God.

But your iniquities have made
a separation between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face
from you so that He does not hear.
Isaiah 59:2

But now the price of sin had been paid.

He [Jesus Christ] Himself
bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed.
1 Peter 2:24

Access to God was now open.

… for through Him we …
have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Ephesians 2:18

Indeed, there has, is, and will be, only one way to the Father.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father
but through Me.”
John 14:6

The curtain has fallen! And all who believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ have gained access.

But now in Christ Jesus
you who formerly were far off
have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:13

A curtain-fall with eternal ramifications, making possible access to God … for all those who believe.

Willkommen!

PERFECT!

99.94! If there ever was an iconic ball-game statistic, that is it. 99.94! The batting average of the Australian cricketer, Sir Don Bradman (1908–2001), said to have been the best of his kind ever. His statistics show that no other athlete has so dominated a sport to the extent Bradman had cricket. A phenomenon. One statistician crunched the numbers of prominent sportsmen by comparing the number of standard deviations they stand above the mean for their respective sport. Bradman topped them all at 4.4 (Pelé had 3.7; Ty Cobb, 3.6; Jack Nicklaus, 3.5; and Michael Jordan, 3.4). Bradman pretty much broke every record there was to break in cricket, some of them still unbroken, after half a century, including the iconic number 99.94! Perfection! To attain to that golden number, a baseball batter would need a batting average of .392 and a basketball player would need to score an average of 43 points per game!

His early years were spent in Bowral in New South Wales and, a few months ago, I had the delight of visiting that fair metropolis and the “Oval,” where Bradman played his first games. Malcolm, an old Dallas Seminary friend and Aussie, led me to those hallowed grounds.

Songs have been sung about Bradman, movies have been made, children have been named and ships christened “Bradman” (HMS Bradman, alas, was sunk by a German aircraft in 1940). An Austrian Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft (yes, Austrian!) is called “Donald Bradman.” Stamps and coins have been struck for him. There’s even a hybrid tea rose named for Bradman.

He was the Englishman’s nemesis, singly serving to give the Aussies victory time and again. One English cricket writer wrote, upon Bradman’s retirement, “A miracle has been removed from among us. So must ancient Italy have felt when she heard of the death of Hannibal.” The British, however, were magnanimous enough to knight the man in 1949.

But not even Bradman comes close to true perfection. No one does.

… it is written,
“There is none righteous,
not even one.”
… for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.
Romans 3:10, 23

Except for One. The Perfect One.

… holy, innocent, undefiled,
separated from sinners and
exalted above the heavens ….
Hebrews 7:26

Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The One who had no sin, but came to die for ours. And for those who believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only God, for salvation, to them ...

He made Him who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

And those who so believe become the children of God.

But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right
to become children of God.
John 1:12

Nowadays the Bradman Foundation governs and protects the name of the great sportsman. “Bradman Bitter Ale” was quashed in court. “Bradman Corporation,” a group of Sydney developers, was forced to become “Bradcorp” and had to surrender the domain name bradman.com.au. (They have so far left alone Melbourne-based wrestler, Bradman, who supposedly once said: “Life is fake, wrestling is real.”)

No such copyright on the name of Jesus Christ. On the contrary, God wants us to call on His name.

Whoever will call on
the Name of the Lord
will be saved.
Romans 10:13

For …

… there is salvation in no one else;
for there is no other Name
under heaven …
by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

For He is the One. The Perfect One.

BODY!

For the past year, I’ve had the delightful privilege of preaching about a couple of Sundays a month at a local church going through a pastoral transition. That “gig” has ended, with their identification of the next senior pastor in their 100-odd-year history. And so, with his arrival imminent, with the increasing demands on my time at Dallas Seminary, and, particularly, with a couple of writing projects that have fast-approaching deadlines, I made last Sunday my final one in their pulpit.

I had decided sometime ago that my final day there would be a “dress down” occasion for me—no bowtie, no jacket, no tucked-in shirt (which is my idiosyncratic norm)! So, imagine my surprise when I walked into church last Sunday looking pretty casual and suddenly spied a whole host of distinguished looking gentlemen clad in bowties of various species—bowties that tie, bowties that clip, cut-off regular ties masquerading as bowties, cardboard and Scotch-tape varieties, etc. How I laughed at the odd turn of events that had me looking pretty shabby in the glorious light of these impeccably attired churchmen! May their tribe increase!

But it was such a heartwarming gesture from the body of Christ!

Now you are Christ's body,
and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27

And the body of Christ is beautiful, indeed!

How beautiful the feet that bring
The sound of good news

And the love of the King
How beautiful the hands that serve
The wine and the bread

And the sons of the earth
How beautiful is the body of Christ
Twila Paris © 1990

The beautiful body of Christ that reflects Christ’s own beauty.

How beautiful the heart that bled
That took all my sin and bore it instead;
How beautiful the tender eyes
That choose to forgive and never despise;
How beautiful is the body of Christ!

I was grateful for this church having given me the delight of laughing and enjoying life in Christ with them, all this past year. It was a wonderful season for me: I was blessed much; I learnt much; I got to know and love my God more as a result! This body of Christ encouraged me, tolerated me, prayed for me, loved me (and fed me, too, I might add!).

May the incoming pastor have as much fun as I had, and even more!

I also got a literal basketful of cards last Sunday. They are all keepers and will be treasured. Those wonderful people in that church will continue to be loved and will surely be missed. I thank God for them and their leaders. They will all continue to be close to my heart. The bonds I have made there will never be broken; the people I have learnt to love will be dear brothers and sisters in Christ for all eternity.

Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is from God;
and everyone who loves
is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7

I will count it a privilege to have been a small part of God’s great work in that precious community of His people here in that corner of Dallas and I praise God for His having allowed our lives to intersect.

How beautiful the radiant bride
Who waits for her Groom

With His light in her eyes;
How beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live;
How beautiful is the body of Christ!

Let’s not forget to be involved. Deeply involved with the body of Christ. The beautiful body of Christ!

NAMED!

That’s a 1-month-old calf at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney. And seeing the little one (over 200 lbs!) was the highlight of my visit to that animal assemblage this summer.

The Zoo set up a competition to name the baby. Out of over 30,000 entries, the keepers went with “Luk Chai.” You see, the entire herd of elephants in Taronga hails from Thailand, so it was appropriate to give the latest arrival a Thai name. Protective Mama, the other pachyderm in the picture, is Thong Dee (“Golden”); proud Papa is Gung (“Prawn”).

“Luk Chai” means “son,” and that’s right and proper, for he is the only other male in the entire herd besides father Gung.

The other day, I preached on a dude in the Bible who, too, was given an appropriate name—twice!

This guy’s story began even before he was born. For the first time in biblical history, a woman had conceived twins! Uh-oh! Who’s gonna be firstborn and thus get the patriarchal blessing? Apparently the kids in utero were aware of this dilemma.

But the children
struggled together within her ….
Genesis 25:22

This was no brotherly tussle. The word connotes a serious street fight, brass knuckles, knives, and all. They’d already begun fighting for the blessing. Anyhow, Esau is born first.

Afterward his brother came forth
with his hand holding on to Esau's heel.
Genesis 25:26

The younger guy came out fighting. Chasing his older brother, Esau. Fighting to be the firstborn. Chasing the blessing. So they find the perfect name for him.

His name was called Jacob.
Genesis 25:26

“Yakov” = “heel.” From the outset Jacob is a heel-grabber. Fighting. Running. Chasing. Chasing in the womb. Chasing coming from the womb. And for the next 10-odd chapters in Genesis, chasing outside the womb. Chasing for blessing. Chasing for recognition. Chasing for significance. Life was one loooong chase for the heel-grabber.

To cut a long story short, years later, the heel-grabber comes to his senses and returns home, risking life and limb at the hands of his older brother, Esau, whom he had cheated long time ago. Desperate and fearful, the night before he meets his brother, he encounters God Himself.

He [Jacob] said,
“I will not let you go
unless you bless me.”
Genesis 32:26

I won’t let you go unless you bless me. Finally, finally, the heel-grabber realizes who can really bless him. Finally, he realizes the folly of his deceiving, and defrauding, and duping. Now he realizes that only one person can bless him—God.

And he [God] blessed him there.
Genesis 32:29

From heel-grabbing to God-grabbing! And at last, Jacob had found blessing at its true source, its only source.

Have you come to that recognition? Have we reached the point of realizing that only God, only God, can bless us? Nothing else will satisfy. Nothing else will fulfill. Nothing else will delight. Only God. God alone! God alone can bless us. And to Him we must cling!

And, BTW, Yakov gets named … again.

He [God] said,
“Your name
shall no longer be Jacob,
but Israel.”
Genesis 32:28

No more the grabbing of heels, snatching of dreams, clutching at straws, chasing of wind. No more Yakov. No more chasing. Henceforth “Israel.” Yisra-El = God fights. No more will you grab heels. No more will you need to grab heels. Because God fights for you.

You don’t have to fight any more. You don’t have to chase anything anymore. You don’t have to run after anything anymore.

“Israel”—God fights. He does! For us too. Grab Him!

PROCLAIM!

The Evangelical Homiletics Society (EHS) had its annual meeting last week. This is an academic society promoting the cultivation, exchange, and development of ideas related to preaching and the teaching of preaching.

That’s the Executive Committee of the Society for 2009-2010 pictured at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, the location of this year’s gathering. From left to right: Communications Coordinator, Member-at-Large, Vice President (yours faithfully), Site Host (for the meeting in 2010, at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Chicago), and President (our Secretary–Treasurer is not in the picture).

The first item in our Statement of Faith reads: “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”

It is on that foundation that our burden for preaching rests. As the Word of God, the Bible is meant to be applied. Divine revelation, God’s Word, is not intended to remain simply as black marks on white pages in a book. It is intended to be lived out.

All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness;
so that the man and woman of God
may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16–17

Because the Bible is held to be authoritative and intended for practice, we preach.

Preach the word; be ready in season
and out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with great patience and instruction.
2 Timothy 4:2

For we grow by the Word into conformity to the image of Christ, becoming more like Him daily.

Like newborn babies,
long for the pure milk of the word,
so that by it you may grow ….
1 Peter 2:2

Therefore we preach, therefore we proclaim.

… for whoever will call
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
How then will they call on Him
in whom they have not believed?
How will they believe in Him
whom they have not heard?
And how will they hear
without a preacher?
How will they preach
unless they are sent?
Just as it is written,
“How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news of good things!”
Romans 10:13–15

But these proud owners of beautiful feet are not only the members of the EHS; they are not only seminary profs, or pastors, or Bible study teachers, or small-group leaders, ….

No, God intends for all who would follow Christ as disciples to be proclaimers.

And He appointed twelve,
so that they would be with Him and
that He could send them out to preach,
Mark 3:14

Throughout, in Mark, the Twelve are portrayed as models (often negative). Christ would have us be what He wanted them to be when He called them—to be with Him and to be sent. What a paradox! To be with Him and be sent from Him. Perhaps to be with Him means to be sent from Him to preach and proclaim. We have our commission—we have been sent.

I solemnly charge you
in the presence of God
and of Christ Jesus, …
preach the word ….
2 Timothy 4:1–2

Never forgetting, of course, that we don’t just preach and proclaim in word alone. The Word of God has to impact our own lives—we have to preach and proclaim in deed as well.

But prove yourselves
doers of the word,
and not merely hearers ….
But one who … abides by it,
not having become a forgetful hearer
but an effectual doer,
this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22, 25

Proclaim … and be blessed!

STRENGTH!

That’s the Sydney Tower, aka Centrepoint Tower, the second tallest structure in Australia, and, apparently, the tallest observation tower south of the equator. At over 1,000 feet, it is #38 in the list of the world’s tallest towers. This one is a prominent Sydney landmark visible from all points of its various suburbs. Standing next to the harbor, it boasts a magnificent 360-degree view of its environs. If one is brave enough, one can also embark upon the Skywalk that takes you to an open-air platform 50 feet above the observation deck. (I wasn’t brave enough! The potential loss of heartbeats was a significant factor in my decision.)

Notice the lacy structure of the tower. I did wonder if it was strong enough. But it is. Remarkably strong. Vladimir Shukhov (1853–1939) conclusively demonstrated the strength of such structures, known, in technical jargon, as hyperbolic lattices (or, as he called it, azhurnaia bashnia = “lace tower”). Hyperboloid geometry makes it possible to use lattice work to support objects high off the ground. Who would have thought that, looking at the seemingly flimsy creation? These hyperboloids are said to be of greater strength than any other kind of “straight” building. The individual elements of the lattice are so structured (with a “negative Gaussian curvature”—whatever that means!) that they end up being much stronger than edifices constructed otherwise. Together the discrete parts of the lattice confer strength upon each other.

Together! Unity is strength.

So also for the community of believers in Christ, the church. Unity is strength. While, to be sure, the decision to believe and become a part of the community of Christians is an act of faith and trust that each of us has to make, the body we are placed in is just that—a body. Community.

… you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God’s own possession ….
1 Peter 2:9

Race, priesthood, nation, people. All collectives. Community. And in commUnity, there is strength. Life is hard, no question. And messy. We need community to sustain us, strengthen us, support us. Individuality, on the other hand, is weak. No one can stand alone. There is no one without blind spots. No one gifted enough, capable enough, adequate enough. Individuality is weak; commUnity is strong.

No wonder the author of Hebrews exhorts Christians:

… let us consider
how to stimulate one another
to love and good deeds,
not forsaking
our own assembling together,
as is the habit of some,
but encouraging one another ….
Hebrews 10:24–25

In commUnity, is strength.

Indeed, those who stand by with us, and run with us, and even those who have gone on before us, strengthen us to keep going.

Therefore, since we have so great
a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside
every encumbrance and the sin
which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1

In commUnity is strength. Care and concern, service and sacrifice, one for one another. Indeed, “one another” echoes frequently in the Bible. Here are a few instances:

Give preference to one another
in honor.
Romans 12:10

Be kind to one another ….
Ephesians 4:32

… comfort one another ….
1 Thessalonians 4:18

… confess your sins to one another,
and pray for one another ….
James 5:16

In commUnity is strength. And that community is, of course, bonded in love.

Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:11

And that is no hyperbole!

INCONGRUITY!

Nope. Not Photoshopped in. Not cut-and-pasted. No manipulation of any kind, manual or computerized (except, of course, for the superimposition of the honorable and honest visage of yours faithfully). That was a picture I took at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney a few months ago. This idyllic animal house, home to over 2,500 denizens on 50 acres, is one of the largest zoos in the world. It’s only a few deep puddles (in the Sydney Harbor) away from downtown Sydney; the “shells” of the Opera House are visible behind the camelopard’s neck—in fact, one pleasant way to get to the Zoo is by boat (see here). So if you are in the right place in the Zoo at the right time, camera poised and ready, many an incongruous shot is yours for the taking.

A giraffe in downtown!

Or as they might say here in Texas, “a turtle on a fencepost.”

Incongruity! No way either beast could have gotten to its destination on its own—not those destinations anyway. Impossible. Downtown or on top of a fencepost. Out of place. Totally. Somebody must have done it to them.

Me, too—incongruity par excellence!

For believers in Jesus Christ also are an incongruous bunch. Indeed, the Bible says they no longer are in the kingdom of darkness but dwell in the kingdom of light.

For He rescued us
from the domain of darkness,
and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son.
Colossians 1:13

Because—simply because—we have been forgiven:

… in whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:14

Why incongruous? Because once …

… you were dead
in your trespasses and sins,
in which you formerly walked …,
and were by nature
children of wrath ….
Ephesians 2:1–3

Destined, then, for the wrath of a holy God who cannot look upon sin. That was once. But now …

… God, being rich in mercy,
because of His great love
with which He loved us,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions,
made us alive ….
Ephesians 2:4–5

The incongruity of it all! How could this happen? Why did this happen? What prompted God to do what He did?

For by grace you have been saved
through faith;
and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

God’s grace alone—nothing we thought, nothing we said, nothing we did.

… not as a result of works ….
Ephesians 2:9

God’s amazing grace in the giving of His Son to pay the price for our sins.

But God demonstrates
His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

And those who have believed in the life, death, resurrection, and atoning work of Jesus Christ, are now these incongruous ones, the result of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s sovereign choice.

But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
… so that you may proclaim
the excellencies of Him
who has called you
out of darkness
into His marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

Incongruous, indeed.

What is man
that You take thought of him,
and the son of man
that You care for him?
Yet …You crown him
with glory and majesty!
Psalm 8:4–5

Yes, upon, and through, these incongruous ones, God has demonstrated His love, His grace, His choice.

I, for one, am thankful.

We, the incongruous, can only say in praise …

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name
in all the earth!
Psalm 8:9

Amen!

PEACE!

They played each other yesterday: India and Pakistan.

The Championship Trophy cricket matches are on, between the world’s cricketing nations, India, Pakistan, Australia, West Indies, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. And yesterday the traditional rivals (in most things, not just cricket) played each other.

Once upon a time, India and Pakistan were considered one nation, and ruled by the British as such. The partition of those countries into predominantly Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan in 1947 created such animosity between the two nations that they have been at war with each other several times, and been on the brink of war more times than one can count. Posturing, accusing, quarrelling, fighting.

Even in cricket. Traditional rivals, both boast terrific teams that have fought for glory on the field. Usually these (war)games are conducted either in Pakistan or in India, with a partisan crowd packing the stands, patriotic blood boiling.

Yesterday’s game, however, was held in Centurion, South Africa, the venue of the Championship Trophy. Flags flew proudly—almost all of them the Indian tricolor, or the Pakistani moon-and-star. It was terrific to see both flutter alongside one another; the packed 22,000-seat stadium was ablaze with green/white/orange and white/green. The flag-flying hordes were, thankfully, completely peaceful, albeit raucous, for the entirety of the 8-hour match. Perhaps it was because it was played on neutral territory. Perhaps it was because to be anything but peaceful wouldn’t exactly be “cricket,” you know. (Maybe soccer!)

Anyhow, it proved that India and Pakistan can fight in peace!

If they can, surely we can, too—we who were redeemed by the Prince of Peace.

If possible, so far as
it depends on you,
be at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18

But human nature is selfish, self-seeking, self-promoting.

Be in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty in mind ….
Romans 12:16

That’s the root of our problems. The self-focused flesh.

And so, when I’m offended, I’m gonna pay them back in their own coin. So there!

Never pay back
evil for evil to anyone. …
But if your enemy is hungry,
feed him, and if he is thirsty,
give him a drink ….
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17, 20–21

What? Treat kindly those who oppress me? But what about my rights?

For this finds favor,
if for the sake of conscience
toward God
a person bears up under sorrows
when suffering unjustly.
1 Peter 2:19

But nobody does that? That’s impossible to practice.

For you have been called
for this purpose,
since Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example
for you to follow in His steps ….
1 Peter 2:21

But then who’s gonna take care of poor ol’ me?

… and while being reviled,
He did not revile in return;
while suffering,
He uttered no threats,
but kept entrusting Himself
to Him who judges righteously.
1 Peter 2:23

That’s the One who will take care of us—our heavenly Father.

I don’t know if the name of an adversary or opponent who has been giving you trouble comes to mind as you read this. Maybe one does. If so, would you take these verses to heart? Even seek ways to reconcile?

… walk in a manner
worthy of the calling
with which you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, showing tolerance
for one another in love,
being diligent to preserve
the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:1–3

Amen!

P.S.:India lost! There goes my peace!

SLOW!

I cut my hair this week. It’s always an experience. The nice kind.

I frequent a neighborhood joint just a hop, skip, and jump from my place. It used to be manned by a trio of old guys, usually found napping in their own barber chairs, waiting for the unwary customer with hair too long or beard too unkempt. It used to be a trio. The founding member died last year. Now it’s a duet of old guys. The consummate artist in charge of my scalp is Dee, a portly character with glasses, a Lutheran, and an active one at that.

This week was no different from the usual visit. One hour! Yes, one hour, of pure relaxation! Dee takes his time. Conversationalist par excellence, he takes frequent breaks to indulge in dissertating on the woes of the world. With scissors in hand, employed like a conductor’s baton, he disparages federal, state, and city governments. His voluble utterances are punctuated by stabs in the air at imaginary opponents, and I try to dodge the flying rapier, as I sit captive under a maroon coverlet, swaddled and straitjacketed! But it’s fun. He takes his time.

This local operation is my non-alcoholic version of the Cheers bar.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,

And they're always glad you came.
Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo © 1982

Dee knows my name, what I do, where I live, when I’ll turn up next, my SS#, everything! He shows me suspicious skin lesions, likes to talk about church stuff, and often tells me (yes, he tells me) what’s happening at the Seminary located just a couple of blocks away.

Yup, he takes his time.

Oh, and the coup de grâce, the shoulder massage, with one of those agitating gizmos that Dee straps on to his hand and places in contact with my scapula, clavicle, spine, and cranium. Everything shakes—brain, eyeballs, cochlea, tongue, heart, trachea …. A delightful way to get a workout. (I bet it literally vibrates a few thousands calories off my anatomy.)

A lost art! He takes his time.

Relationships take time. No instant gratification here. No quick fixes. No rapid fire kinship. So it is with God, too. Relationships take time.

Take time to be holy,
Speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always,
And feed on His Word.

Make friends of God’s children,
Help those who are weak,

Forgetting in nothing
His blessing to seek.
Will­iam D. Long­staff, 1882

Take time!

Devote yourselves to prayer,
keeping alert in it ….
Colossians 4:2

Our Lord gave us the example.

But Jesus Himself would often
slip away to the wilderness and pray.
Luke 5:16

And we? We have no time to pray!

Yet the time spent on TV by the average American per year is 1,512 hours = 63 days of non-stop TV-watching, 24–7.

Relationships take time.

Luther, replying to someone who asked him about his plans for the next day, said: “I plan to work, work, from early till late. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first 3 hours in prayer.”

As St. Benedict said, Orare est laborare. To pray is to work.

So …

Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:17

And that includes praying with others in the family of God.

They were continually
devoting themselves
to the apostles' teaching
and to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and to prayer.
Acts 2:42

Relationships take time. Devoted in prayer. Go slow. Invest. Then … profit.

TAXI

Yup, that’s a taxi. A water taxi. Takes you, on demand, to where you want to go around Sydney harbor (recognizable from the landmark in the background—the iconic shells of Sydney Opera House).

Cities across the globe from Amsterdam to Venice have this species of water transportation. Gets you from point A to point B. In this case from one of the quays in Sydney to the remarkable Taronga Zoo. (More on the Zoo in another installment of the aBeLOG.)

But I’d never seen one before. Rather unusual, I thought. A water taxi!

But special circumstances—water!—demand special solutions. One can’t walk, one can’t swim, one can’t fly the distance. The usual means of getting across don’t work. So … an unusual remedy: water taxi!

Some distances in life cannot be spanned even by water taxi. Some gaps in life call for a special solution. Distances that are impossible for us to cover on our own. Gaps too wide for bridging by the usual means. An unusual remedy is needed.

A particular Gap yawns before us starkly—that between us and a holy God.

Your sins have made
a separation between
you and your God …
Isaiah 59:2

The Gap of sin. Our sin. Mine. An unspannable Gap. An irremediable separation. And there’s nothing we can do to bridge it.

And the result, God says, is separation forever from Him, the source of life. So the Bible calls it “death”—the eternal kind.

For the wages of sin is death ….
Romans 6:23a

That’s it! We’re done for. Hopeless! Helpless!

All kinds of remedies have been propounded for this most lethal affliction by all manner of people all across the ages. Epicureans say: Don’t worry about. Just enjoy life! But with eternal death hanging over my head, I can’t. Stoics say: Well that’s too bad, but there’s nothing we can do about it; so, stiff upper lip, old chap! That doesn’t help me one bit. Pythagoreans assure us: God will work a miracle and take everyone home to be with Him one day. Yeah? But that just makes a mockery of God and His righteousness and justice. Platonists assert: God can’t really do anything about it. So just be good and do good and that will outweigh the bad stuff in the end. OK, I’ll try.

[Many tries later (and out of breath) …]

I don’t think I’m any closer to God. In the sinful state that I find myself from birth to death, nothing I do ever seems to outweigh all the divine-law-breaking I’ve engaged in.

Sin is lawlessness.
1 John 3:4

Hopeless. Helpless.

But there is good news. A water taxi!

Well, not exactly ….

For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God
is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

Jesus Christ, God Himself, took our sin and paid its price—forever, fully, finally! Unusual means of transportation, indeed.

But God demonstrates
His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Sins no longer separate us from God, provided, of course, we accept that price.

For God so loved the world,
that He gave
His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
John 3:16

And that’s the “price” of the ticket on the taxi. Belief. Faith. Trust. In the truth that God in Christ died for us, rose on the third day, paying for our sins.

Thanks be to God
for His indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15

Free ride! All aboard!

GROUNDED?

Ever tried spelling “Woolloomooloo”? OK, here we go: Double-U, double O, double L, double O, M, double O, L, double O. Now see how fast you can say it!

Double-U, double O,
double L, double O,
M, double O,
L, double O.

Pure poetry! And a real tongue-twister if there ever was one. Supposedly derived from an aboriginal word, wallabahmullah, i.e., a young black kangaroo.

For those of you non-Aussies, Woolloomooloo is an inner-city suburb of Sydney on Woolloomooloo Bay in Sydney Harbor. A pleasant waterfront to lounge around and watch people. Apart from its tongue-stupefying name, Woolloomooloo is famous for being the home of Harry’s Café de Wheels.

Harry’s culinary establishment is basically a one-room kitchen on wheels, with a large awning. While it used to be mobile, it is now permanently affixed to the ground, despite its name. Fancy murals and pictures of important visitors decorate the edifice, including those of Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum, Marlene Dietrich, and Colonel Sanders. Not the least of that coterie is my friend, Malcolm, the back of whose head you see.

Harry’s Café de Wheels is now included in the National Trust of Australia, acknowledged as having “aesthetic, historical, architectural, archaeological, scientific, or social significance or other special value for future generation.” An icon and a must-see (and must-eat-at) tourist attraction.

I came, I saw, and I ate.

I consumed a Tiger, which—named after Harry “Tiger” Edwards—is, as the sign announces, a beef pie with mashed potatoes and mushy green peas, all collectively drowning in brown gravy, which one consumes sitting on the sidewalk or wherever, out of a paper bowl, with a plastic fork.

Ol’ Harry began this operation in 1938, and it has been running ever since, except for an interlude during the war when Mr. Edwards was conscripted into the army.

The Sydney City Council mandates that food-vending vans like Harry’s Café de Wheels actually be mobile and move at least 12 inches every day. I don’t know how Harry finagled his permanent base with the City Council, but he did: it has apparently moved only five times in the last 60+ years. (Somebody stole de Wheels once, and it was temporarily Harry’s Café de Axles until aforementioned purloined objects were replaced.)

Anyhow, it struck me that something that is by definition mobile can become permanently stationary.

It’s called “falling into a rut.”

I confess I like ruts. They keep me comfortable. They make life predictable. I can navigate ruts by autopilot. No thinking needed. No heartbeats wasted. Gimme a rut!

But that’s stagnation. Hardly what ought to be a characteristic of the Christian life.

Brethren, I do not regard myself
as having laid hold of it yet;
but one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind
and reaching forward
to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call
of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13–14

This is a constant move. Upwards. Onwards. Forwards.

Finally then, brethren,
we request and exhort you
in the Lord Jesus, …
to walk and please God
(just as you actually do walk),
that you excel still more.
1 Thessalonians 4:1

No ruts. Instead, growth. Never stopping. Never ceasing. Never quitting.

… we are to grow up in all aspects
into Him who is the head, even Christ,
Ephesians 4:15

Constant growth, to look more like Christ each day.

… grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory,
both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen.
2 Peter 3:18

Abandon ye olde rut!

ROCK!

Around parts of Sydney harbor are lots of rocky outcroppings and places to climb and explore. Not that I am into that kind of profligate wastage of heartbeats, but it happened to be a nice winter day (which was one good reason to escape to Australia from Dallas in July!) with a sparkling blue unblemished sky, and I just felt I had to climb a rock. At least for a picture. So I did. That’s me. On a rock. In Sydney. Great view of the harbor from there, too.

I kinda felt like the Psalmist.

For in the day of trouble
He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent
He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
And now my head will be lifted up
above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent
sacrifices with shouts of joy; …
I will sing praises to the LORD.
Psalm 27:5–6

Lifted high on a rock, above everything else. Great visibility. Easy defensibility. Stable on a rock, grounded, secure, fixed. Hidden in its clefts, protected. Solid, strong, and safe.

The LORD is my rock and
my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock,
in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the
horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2

The rock-motif is a recurrent one in the Bible. Apparently, actual and literal rocks are few and far between in the Bible! (Well, almost!) Most of the biblical rocks are places of solidity, strength, and safety.

He brought me up out of
the pit of destruction,
out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon
a rock making my footsteps firm.
Psalm 40:2

Not surprisingly, many of the biblical rocks are God Himself—solid, strong, and safe.

For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
Psalm 18:31

Solid, strong, and safe. Unshakeable, unsurpassable, and unassailable.

He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold;
I shall not be greatly shaken.
Psalm 62:2

Everywhere, shaken we are, and often. Everything around us shakes. Everything! This is indeed a tremulous world we live, quaking and quivering, threatening to undo us, daring to unseat us. Lagging economy, nagging health, sagging relationships. Everything is jell-O, affording no strength, no solidity, no safety. We need a Rock! Yes, we do!

Incline Your ear to me,
rescue me quickly;
Be to me a rock of strength,
A stronghold to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name's sake
You will lead me and guide me.
Psalm 31:2–3

God alone can provide that strength, solidity, and safety in the shivering and shuddering world we live in.

From the end of the earth
I call to You when my heart is faint;
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I.
Psalm 61:2

Jesus talked about the strength and solidity and safety of living a life grounded upon God and His Word.

“Therefore everyone who hears
these words of Mine
and acts on them,
may be compared to a wise man
who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew
and slammed against that house;
and yet it did not fall,
for it had been founded on the rock.”
Matthew 7:24–25

Ours is a living Rock—our God Himself. Solid, strong, and safe.

The LORD lives,
and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be
the God of my salvation,
Psalm 18:46

Rock climbing, anyone?

TOIL!

That’s the Pastoral Ministries team at Dallas Seminary during the annual Faculty Workshop before the new school year begins. And it begins tomorrow. Summer’s over!

Orientation for new students was last Thursday. During lunchtime that day, faculty members sat at various tables and were joined by incoming students. That’s a lot of fun. Free lunch and a chance to meet some of the eager beavers. I had a whole bunch of e.bs. where I was located. A couple, with the husband joining to do preliminary work before applying for the Ph.D. program; two students doing the counseling degree; another for the linguistics program. Lots of fun hearing the great stories of how they ended up here at DTS.

Joining us a bit later at our table was another e.b. who is in the Master of Theology program, likely to be in the Pastoral Leadership track. Quite an interesting fellow, this. Married with two kids. From one end of the country. And … disabled and wheelchair bound. His was a fascinating story, as you can expect. And an e.b. he sure was, ready to begin studies, enthusiastic to serve the Lord.

As I did the others, I asked him why he had chosen DTS. After three years of asking the same question to incoming students at my table on orientation day, I thought I’d heard all the possible answers to that query. Permutations and combinations of influence from friends, alumni, pastors; books published by faculty members; quality of education; etc. But his reason was a new one. And it warmed my heart no end!

“One of the reasons,” he said, pointing at me, “was you.”

Me? Chuck Swindoll, yes. Howard Hendricks, yes. (And he couldn’t be mistaking me for one of them—not by a long shot!) And many other luminaries on the faculty, yes. But, me?

Apparently the guy had listened to one of my sermons on the DTS website a year or so ago that had impacted him.

Yup, it warmed the cockles of my heart to hear that.

You know, as time goes by, one does begin to wonder if any of the stuff one does really matters. Is anyone being impacted? Is anyone being influenced? Sermons I preach galore. But is life change happening to any of my listeners? Is it worth the trouble? Should I continue? Hesitation builds. Uncertainty looms. Questions rise.

And then, this! Affirmation like this is truly a godsend. It encourages us to persist and persevere, to carry on and stay put, to hang in there and dig in … for the long haul. Even if we don’t see much tangible result to our endeavors.

My conclusion after our lunch that day? God can sure use anything! Me, inanimate objects, donkeys, nature …

The heavens are telling
of the glory of God;
and their expanse is declaring
the work of His hands.
Psalm 19:1

God can use them all. And if He so deigns to use us, let’s consider ourselves blessed.

And so all of us believers work together as a team, in Pastoral Ministries and elsewhere, in seminaries and churches, in homes and offices, in schools and marketplaces, all over the world, and all across time. Persistently, perseveringly.

God is not unjust
so as to forget your work
and the love which you have
shown toward His name,
in having ministered and
in still ministering ….
Hebrews 6:10

No, He will not forget. Others might. Ignored we might be. Unsung and unappreciated. But God does not forget. No, He does not and never will. Let’s keep at it!

WARNING!

They do things differently here in Australia. No insipid statutory warnings on packs of cigarettes. No wimpy statements in tiny fonts. Nope! Instead, scary pictures and ominous words. You have been warned!

The Aussie Board in control of these matters mandates that 90% of the area of one side of a pack of cigarettes be taken with gory and graphic warnings, as well as 30% of the other side. In addition another warning on the deleterious effects of chemicals in tobacco smoke occurs on one full (lateral) side of the pack. Only the remaining areas may bear the name and logo of the cigarette manufacturer and the particular brand.

Fourteen gruesome warnings of tobacco-caused dire diseases are mandatorily rotated on packets, along with the national “Quitline” phone number and “Quitnow” website address. All ordained by the government to compel consumers to think twice before lighting up.

And apparently these warnings are beginning to have an effect. Annabel, the 6-year-old daughter of one of my friends here, Down Under, asserts, “They cut off your toes if you smoke!” Yup, folks give heed. Yup, warnings work.

Nothing wrong with scaring folks with the truth.

The Bible does that, too. In it, there is a stark and scary warning of discipline for those of God’s children who disobey.

… you have forgotten the exhortation
which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly
the discipline of the LORD,
nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
for those whom the LORD loves
He disciplines, and He scourges
every son whom He receives.”
Hebrews 12:5–6

Just as earthly fathers discipline their children.

God deals with you as with sons;
for what son is there
whom his father does not discipline?
But if you are without discipline,
of which all have become partakers,
then you are illegitimate children
and not sons.
Furthermore, we had earthly fathers
to discipline us, and we respected them;
shall we not much rather be
subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
Hebrews 12:7–9

Warnings are there for a purpose. They have a goal. Remedy. Reorientation. Restoration.

For they disciplined us
for a short time
as seemed best to them,
but He disciplines us for our good,
so that we may share His holiness.
Hebrews 12:10

For our good. For our transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ. For our sharing in God’s holiness. Therefore, these warnings exhort us, we must accept His discipline, and not reject it.

All discipline for the moment
seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful;
yet to those who have been trained by it,
afterwards it yields
the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Hebrews 12:10–11

We are not just to accept it, but we are to change our lives to return and conform to the standards of God’s holiness.

“Those whom I love,
I reprove and discipline;
therefore be zealous and repent.”
Revelation 3:19

Warnings to be taken seriously! Ours is a good God, a loving God, a holy God, and we are to both love and fear Him. His warnings we are to take to heart.

“You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your might. …
You shall fear only the LORD your God;
and you shall worship Him ….”
Deuternonomy 6:5, 13

We have been warned!

All things considered, it’s probably a better idea, then, for us to change before incurring the discipline of the Lord whom we both love and fear.

I, for one, want to keep my toes!