A Good Word to Close 2011

Sometimes I go to God and say, "God, if Thou dost never answer another prayer while I live on this earth, I will still worship Thee as long as I live and in the ages to come for what Thou hast done already. God’s already put me so far in debt that if I were to live one million millenniums I couldn’t pay Him for what He’s done for me.

- AW Tozer

The Amazing Dance of Bees

Blown away by this video. There are no words to describe the glory and awesome brilliance of our Creator God. As I think about this vector calculus dance with the bees, I am reminded of Job 38-40 and God's response to Job's questions. Here is just a snippet of that passage:

 

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements?

Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?

To what were its foundations fastened?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?" [Job 38:4-8]

The Incomprehensible Incarnation

Man’s maker was made man
That He, Ruler of the stars,
Might nurse at His mother’s breast
That the Bread might hunger
The Fountain thirst
The Light sleep
The Way be tired on its journey
That the Truth might be accused of false witness
The Teacher be beaten with whips
The Foundation be suspended on wood
That Strength might grow weak
That the Healer might be wounded
That Life might die

- Augustine, Sermons 191.1

"Use Your Words"

More and more, I have overheard parents use this phrase ("use your words") when trying to navigate their child's temper tantrum.   It seems this phrase is somewhat in vogue today.   I've even overheard parents discuss how useful this phrase can be to help a child learn to express their feelings in the midst of their fit - implying that it encouraged the child to communicate their needs in the heat of the tantrum.

Now, I'm not a fan of this phrase at all;  And, the problem of saying "use your words" in this context is to imply that in some way vocalizing one's selfishness is somehow redeeming.    That if the child can only vocalize his selfish desires, then all is well and the parent will be more willing to meet his expressed desire.   

Now, to be fair, it's a great thing to encourage communication.   And, it's also wonderful to encourage rational thought in the midst of stress.   But, if a chief goal as a parent is to shepherd and guide your child's heart, then it appears to me that in this context, it's more helpful to hone in on your child's motivation rather than the verbalization of the selfish motivation.   Are his words to be rewarded?     

If anything, shouldn't we encourage our children to just the opposite - knowing that in the midst of  anger, words generally do not help?   That's been my experience; in the heat of a tantrum - be it a toddler tantrum or a full grown adult-sized one, my words have typically not served me nor the situation well.   Which may inform us to lead our children to handle their tantrums by advising,  "Strive to restrain your words" instead of "use your words."    It seems like Solomon had a few things to say about this...

How to Take Down #1

Knowledge is Power ...or not

Last week I attended the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.    It was an extremely interesting conference.

Not directly related to the conference, but one of the more ironic if not entertaining scenes could be seen just outside the beautiful Henry B. Gonzales convention center.   I was surprised almost every time I exited the building to spot a handful of people just calmly puffing on their cigarettes.   "Surely, these could not be conference attendees," I thought.   From their badges and the blue bags handed out to the conference attendees, it was clear that they were indeed conference attendees... and maybe even conference speakers!

Now, don't get me wrong; I am not talking about the moral implications of smoking.   And, truly, I am not even sure that smoking is much of a moral issue.   That's another topic; debatable perhaps in the realm of liberty and what is profitable.   And, I guess in every group there are a percentage of smokers, but at a cancer symposium?!   With an audience of the brightest doctors and researches on the planet - leading experts in the conventional treatment for cancer....SMOKING?!?   It's just surprising... something like going to see a 400lb cardiologist!   To be fair, the percentage of people smoking was quite small, but perhaps I was naive and idealistic enough just to think that in this particular group that maybe... just MAYBE... that number would be ZERO!!    Well, that number was a good bit larger than the ZERO that I had presumed... lending to the idea that even having a PhD in one's field is no 'salvation' from acting in contradiction to what one knows to be true or right... (now that's an interesting idea to play with)    

The Indictment of Twitter

One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.

- John Piper

32000 ft on a Bankrupt Airline

Should it make me nervous that I am somewhere over Northern Arizona/Southern Utah right now flying on an airline that just declared bankruptcy?   This has got to be one of the emptiest flights I have ever experienced...and to think, I was tempted to upgrade!   As it stands, this is nearly a personalized air taxi to Austin. :-)   I would guess this flight is not 10% occupied... 

With all the seats empty, it kind of makes me wonder where they had to take shortcuts to meet the profit margin model for this flight?  Nope, this may just be a break even flight...maybe...

Shortcuts...    it reminds me of being in Ottawa earlier this year in an "I can't see 5 feet in front of me" snowstorm... I had just sat down on the full flight when the stewardess came on to let us know that there would only be a short delay because there was a problem with the wing... the WING!?!     At that, everybody just looked in at each other in astonishment as if to say, "she didn't just say WING, did she??"  That whole Bernouilli effect, fluid dynamics, wings... it just sounds kind of important.  Shortly thereafter, she bounced back to the PA system to "reassure" everyone that they would have us off the ground in "no time at all!"     ...no, seriously, please take your time... take your time... make sure that thing is bolted on! 

If you want me to...

Feels like a Ginny Owens kind of day...

Abandon Your Pride

A good word before Christmas... 

Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize winning photo taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force base.   

If that photo does not represent you and the key relationships in your life, seek reconciliation, abandon your pride, and build and rebuild those relationships with time, attention, prayer and patience.

- Dr. Jay Smith, Professor of New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary 

   "Plan to Finish Well", Oct. 11, 2011, Dallas Theological Seminary Chapel

A Message from Alaska...

A friend of mine sent me this link.   A clever and cute Christmas message from the 5th grade class of the Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat school in the very remote and cold village of Quinhagak, Alaska! Brrr!!! Thank you from the 'Lower 48!'

2 milliseconds into eternity

John Maisel of East West Ministries is of the ilk of what might be described as the Christian special forces. He's all about risk for the sake of advancing the gospel, and his talks always make me realize that I have little idea of what 'sacrifice' really means. Here he describes some friendly banter with a pretty high dollar donor to 'East West'.

This friend of mine - we joke a lot.   Yet God struck a chord in both of us where he came to me and he said, "Maisel, how in the world did you ever hook me into giving East West Ministries a million dollars?" I said, "Let me tell you something, Bozo.  Within 2 milliseconds after you are in the presence of Christ you will come looking me up saying, 'Maisel, why didn't you talk me into two million?'

- John Maisel, Sermon: A Kingdom Agenda, Dec. 5, 2010

Dead Man Walking

Classic commentary on Galatians 2:20 from Watchman Nee...

I remember one morning—that morning was a real morning and one I can never forget—I was upstairs sitting at my desk reading the Word and praying, and I said, ‘Lord, open my eyes!’ And then in a flash I saw it. I saw my oneness with Christ. I saw that I was in Him, and that when He died I died. I saw that the question of my death was a matter of the past and not of the future, and that I was just as truly dead as He was because I was in Him when He died. The whole thing had dawned upon me.

I was carried away with such joy at this great discovery that I jumped from my chair and cried, ‘Praise the Lord, I am dead!’ I ran downstairs and met one of the brothers helping in the kitchen and I laid hold of him. ‘Brother’, I said, ‘do you know that I have died?’ I must admit he looked puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’ he said, so I went on: ‘Do you not know that Christ has died? Do you not know that I died with Him? Do you not know that my death is no less truly a fact than His?’ Oh it was so real to me! I longed to go through the streets of Shanghai shouting the news of my discovery. From that day to this I have never for one moment doubted the finality of that word: “I have been crucified with Christ”"

- Watchman Nee(倪柝聲), The Normal Christian Life, pg. 64-65

underwearheads...

On a lighter note, the "underwearheads" will be making their debut soon... we have a drummer, but if you know of a good electric guitarist, can you let us know?

T-day Thoughts...

Thanksgiving day... woke up this morning and this passage was rattling in my head...

“Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: 'Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever...

Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” [Joshua 4:4-7,21-24]                  

It sounds too cliché so as to strangely minimize the force of the statement, but truly there is much to be thankful for.  An appropriate posture would be for me to have my face in the dirt in utter thanks and worship.  As I look back over the last month, year, lifetime, I have more than a large pile of rocks to serve as a signpost to God's faithfulness.  But, we are a forgetful people; I am forgetful.  Thanksgiving is appropriate and right.   God wants us to remember His faithfulness, give thanks and declare His works to the next generation.

Not one of them is missing...

"To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.  Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing." [Isaiah 40:25-26]

The Self-Existent One

"Philosophy and science have not always been friendly toward the idea of God, the reason being that they are dedicated to the task of accounting for things and are impatient with anything that refuses to give an account of itself. The philosopher and the scientist will admit that there is much that they do not know; but that is quite another thing from admitting that there is something which they can never know, which indeed they have no technique for discovering.

To admit that there is One who lies beyond us, who exists outside of all our categories, who will not be dismissed with a name, who will not appear before the bar of our reason, nor submit to our curious inquiries: this requires a great deal of humility, more than most of us possess, so we save face by thinking God down to our level, or at least down to where we can manage Him. Yet how He eludes us! For He is everywhere while He is nowhere, for ”where” has to do with matter and space, and God is independent of both. He is unaffected by time or motion, is wholly self-dependent and owes nothing to the worlds His hands have made."

- A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy

The Parrot and the Prelude

"Sometimes we smile when we hear children parrot spiritual words they've heard adults say - and we know they don't understand the implications...They grow up repeating what they have heard; but it's the prelude to their one day speaking from their own reality.

All little Samuel could say to God at first were the words old Eli told him to say: 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening' (1 Samuel 3:9,10). It was pure parroting, but God didn't mind. And Samuel grew to be a great mouthpiece for God."

- Anne Orlund, Children are Wet Cement, pg. 79

A Secret Language

"Never lose the wonder of watching her and her mother together "

Father to Daughter: Life Lessons on Raising a Girl by Harry H. Harrison as quoted in Bringing up Girls

All Glory is Fleeting

”For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeteers, musicians and strange animals from conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conquerors rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children robed in white stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.”

- from the movie Patton (1970)

Two Scriptures come to mind from this quote (Daniel 2:44, 2 Cor. 2:14-17).  For the sake of brevity, I will only talk about the first for now...

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” [Daniel 2:44]                  

It's true.   All earthly glory is fading away.   All earthly glory, earthly power, earthly kingdoms are fleeting.  Are you on top of the world today?  Have you won the championship?  Is the wind at your back?   Is your popularity soaring?   Your beauty blossoming?  Are you in a place of power?   Drink it in if you will, but know this, all earthly glory is fading away and will be as quickly forgotten as it came.    Only one kingdom will stand forever.   Attach every resource, every endeavor, every desire, every motive to that kingdom.

The Mathematical Advantage of a Campout

Good advice from my Greek professor. Don't remember much about parsing or Greek tenses, but I remember Dr. Jay's walk with the Lord and how the Word of God and his family were a priority.

"Let me get very practical for you seminary fathers. You need to play Legos at night on the floor on a very regular basis. You need to tell bedtime stories and play hide and seek. The game Chutes and Ladders needs to be a staple for you… And, I have one specific suggestion… I’d like to see you fathers… have a campout…flashlights, s’mores, ghost stories (yeah, ghost stories), the whole works. I learned this trick from my older brother as I watched him and his young son crawl into a tent in the backyard. And, I listened to the excited chatter of a 4-year old and watched beams of a flashlight ricochet off the tent constantly… Here’s my mathematical assessment: one such campout equals at least 100 so called family devotions. "

- Dr. Jay Smith, Professor of New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary 

   "Plan to Finish Well", Oct. 11, 2011, Dallas Theological Seminary Chapel

A Peculiar Way of Victory

"For God's way of deliverance is altogether different from man's way.  Man's way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God's way is to remove the sinner. Many Christians mourn over their weakness, thinking that if only they were stronger all would be well.  The idea that, beause failure to lead a holy life is due to our impotence, something more is therefore demanded of us, leads naturally to this false conception of the way of deliverance.  If we are preoccupied with the power of sin and with our inability to meet it, then we naturally conclude that to gain the victory over sin we must have more power. 'If only I were stronger,' we say, 'I would overcome my violent outburst of temper,' and so we plead with the Lord to strengthen us that we may exercise more self-control.

But this is altogether a fallacy; it is not Christianity.  God's means of delivering us from sin is not by making us stronger and stronger, but my making us weaker and weaker.  That is surely rather a peculiar way of victory, you say; but it is the divine way.  God sets us free from the dominion of sin, not by strengthening our old man by by crucifying him; not by helping him to do anything but by removing him from the scene of action."

- Watchman Nee (倪柝聲), The Normal Christian Life pp. 53-54

Kung Fu Biker

What can I say... Wow!   Not sure what is more amazing in this scene: this fellow's incredible survival or the fact that the onlookers don't seem to care or notice while going on about their daily routine. Just another day in China.    

God of the Waves and Billows

"But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed."

- Amy Carmichael

Free Grace

"If your preaching of the gospel of God's free grace in Jesus Christ does not provoke the charge from some of antinomianism, you're not preaching the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ."

- D. Martin Lloyd-Jones

Pacific Blue

No, that's not the crashed Windows XP screen...    But, have you ever wondered what shade of blue is the true color "Pacific Blue"?  I did.   Snapped this picture at 36,000 feet, just northeast of Kauai.    The vastness and beauty of the ocean is just beyond mind boggling.    And, it always makes me a little nervous when I fly to Asia - flying over the deep blue for such a long time.    Is it any wonder that so many have compared the matchless grace of God to the vastness of the ocean?    Perhaps, it's the only jaw-dropping picture that we tangibly have that comes anywhere close to describing the overwhelming, unfathomable grace of God.

Got Comfort?

"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair."

- CS Lewis

Control is a Myth

Stumbled upon a message from Dr. Bill Lawrence a few years ago that has truly blessed me.   This is one of those gems of a talk that you just want to soak up again and again.   I've probably listened to this 15 times in the last 3 years, and each time I have been blessed.    I can say that if you choose to listen, this will be 38 and a half minutes wisely spent  --> Stormology 101.   

I'll get the Ice Creams...

A pretty familiar scene around our house... minus the ice cream. 

James 2 revisited...

The traditional Reformed view of James 2:14-26 has been one of progressive sanctification. This one text perhaps more than any other has been used as a something of a proof text that a genuine saving faith is a faith that will inevitably produce good works.  This begs the question, of course, regarding the one who claims to have a faith unto salvation but no enduring works to support such a claim.  What do we say to such a case?  The traditional answer is that such a man may never have had a true faith in Christ to begin with.

James 2 is certainly perplexing... so much so that Luther had doubts as to whether James even belonged in the canon of Scripture.  Not long ago, I came upon an excellent message that I have found helpful and worth consideration --> Faith and Works.

The view Fisher presents here cuts against the grain of the traditional view of James 2, and that should give us pause in and of itself.   Yet, Fisher presents a striking and compelling argument - mainly, the readers of James would not have associated the word "save" (that occurs in vs. 14 and sets forth James' discussion) in the same way that Paul's readers would have heard this word.  What's more, after 2000 years of Christian teaching, we naturally assume when we come to the word "save" in our English Bibles that this pertains to "final deliverance from Hell" in a legal justification sense. While Paul certainly uses the word in this sense commonly, I don't believe this is what James has in mind.  Indeed, Fisher is right on we he argues that we should be asking the interpretive question, "saved from what?"

Double Liberation...

Really enjoyed reading Dane Ortlund's insightful article "Justification's Double Liberation".    It challenged me to reflect afresh on how the truth of what Christ accomplished for me in securing justification not only wrought my eternal salvation and eternal blessing, but also is the prescription for the insecurities that plague me in the here and now.   Were only my emotional life so intertwined with the truth of the gospel - the liberating truth that I have final acceptance from the only Audience that matters! 


Said in a slightly different way, but I suppose the "second liberation" that Ortlund notes is simply becoming more acutely in tune with our true identity in Christ - with all the blessings and all that we are positionally 'in Christ.'   Indeed, isn't that the format of many of Paul's letters and at the core of his appeal for any life of holiness?   Part A --> here's who you are in Christ.    Part B --> in the light of glorious truth(s) of part A, live out your true identity.

Assurance... Objective or Subjective?

Thought anew this week about this issue of "assurance of salvation."   And, just where should a believer derive the assurance of salvation?    No doubt, there is much debate on this subject.    I found Joseph Dillow's comments to be helpful:

"How can the believer know whether or not his faith is temporary?   How much evidence would be adequate to give him assurance now?   Only with Christ in the forefront of the believer's mind and as the direct object of his faith can there be any assurance at all.    As soon as we begin to examine our love for Christ, we substitute another object.   This results in a reduction of our love for Him by the very act of measuring it.   As the love for Christ subsides through self-examination, the introspection is more and more likely to return a negative verdict.  How then can assurance ever come via self-examination?"

- Joseph Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings,  pg. 305

Unchanging

"Faith follows the One believed while feeling turns on how one feels. God does not change: He is the same God in either the cloudy day or the sunny day. Hence he who lives by faith is as unchanging as is God; he expresses the same kind of life through darkness or through light. But one who dwells by feeling must pursue an up and down existence because his feeling is ever changing."

         - Watchman Nee

a knothole peek

"The best we can hope for in this life is a knothole peek at the shining realities ahead. Yet a glimpse is enough. It's enough to convince our hearts that whatever sufferings and sorrows currently assail us aren't worthy of comparison to that which waits over the horizon."

         - Joni Eareckson Tada

Live Dependently?!?

       Remember several years ago when the Lance Armstrong bracelets were so popular?  Remember when folks in groupie like fashion were sporting yellow arm bracelets? The bracelet simply read “Livestrong.” These things go in and out of style with the young and teenagers especially, but interestingly the Lance Armstrong craze had a wide following among adults.  People drew so much inspiration from seeing this athlete climb to the pinnacle of his sport, win the Tour de France all with the backdrop of a successful fight against cancer. 

       I suppose the armbands were sort of a banner for the power of the human spirit, the battle of the mind and the power of sheer determination to climb any mountain, overcome any obstacle – to in essence “live strong”.   In the months that followed the sweep of popularity of the Lance Armstrong yellow armbands, many other armbands popped up with different flavors of a message. Some touting virtues like “Strength” or “Courage” or “Determination.” 

       As I mused about these armbands, a thought struck me. What if there were a Christian version of the Lance Armstrong inspirational armband? What would this armband say? Would it say “Perseverance”? Would it say “Commitment”? "Dedication"? "Holiness"? "Grace"? What would convey the heart of what it is to live the Christian life? Truly it might simply read “Christ” and that would succinctly say everything. But, if we had to limit it to a virtue of sorts, what would it say? 

           Silly as it may sound, I think that a Christian armband might just simply read “Dependence.” Wouldn’t that look odd? Imagine the scene of being in a crowd with your friends who are equally as groupie minded and you are sporting an armband that read “Dependence” or “Live dependently”.  Who would extol that sort of life? Who would say “Wow, where can I get one of the ‘dependence’ armbands!”  Dependence is not a quality we would put in the same zip code with victory.   
           
           And, yet, dependence on God the Holy Spirit and God's resources is at the heart of the Christian life. And, paradoxically, victory in the Christian life is not achieved by getting stronger and stronger, but by becoming weaker, more dependent. It's the great inversion to the natural order. The strengths in the natural world are deficits in God’s economy. And, conversely, the deficits are strengths. Amazing!

Exchanged Life

“We think of the Christian life as a ‘changed life’ but it is not that. What God offers us is an ‘exchanged life,’ a ‘substituted life,’ and Christ is our Substitute within.”

         - Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life

Victory over Circumstance

"If you would live in victory over the circumstances great and small that come to you each day. . . and if you want God's life and power to well up from the depths of your being. . . then you must refuse to be dominated by the seen and the felt." 

                  - Amy Carmichael

The Skeleton at the Feast

"Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you."

         - Frederick Buechner

"for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God."

            James 1:20

Giddy in the Getty

Took my daughter to the Getty a few months ago and captured 17 seconds of butterfly dances & carefree bliss.     They don't sell this in stores, of course, but I would be first in line to buy "carefree bliss" in injectable form.     Wish I could freeze time, sweetie! :-)

The 2nd Before the 1st

"The controlling principle of the biblical philosophy of history rests in the precept of the second before the first. God often chooses the 'nothings' (1 Cor. 1:26:27). Only in this way is the self praise of man destroyed. It is a pervading characteristic of the whole course of redemption that God chooses the younger before the elder, sets the smaller in priority to the greater, and chooses the second before the first. Not Cain but Abel and his substitute Seth; not Japheth but Shem; not Ishmael but Isaac; not Esau but Jacob; not Manasseh but Ephraim; not Aaron but Moses; not Eliab but David; not the Old Covenant but the New; not the first Adam but the last Adam. The first becomes last and the last becomes first."
 
          - Joseph Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings

Gospel-Based Sanctification

"The irony of gospel-based sanctification is that those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience, but Christ’s.

The people who actually end up performing better are those who understand that their relationship with God doesn’t depend on their performance for Jesus, but Jesus’ performance for us."

- Tullian Tchividjian, from his post “Does the Gospel Scare You?”