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I just returned from vacation.  I usually put a little bit of thought into what book I’m going to bring on vacation.  This time I was trying to decide between finishing up Sin and Temptation by John Owen (ed. Taylor and Kapic) and beginning The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs.  I figured that Sin and Temptation would be pretty heavy reading for vacation and I would rather have something more light and encouraging.  Boy was I wrong.

I should have learned my lesson in college.  I was a Chemistry major.  When picking classes I learned early to take as few classes as possible that had required laboratory hours.  For those English nerds majors out there, the lab work was in addition to the class work and usually entailed three to four hours in a lab followed by five to ten hours of producing a lab report.  I hated labs almost as much as producing lab reports.  That is probably one of the reasons I’m a pastor now and not a Chemist.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered on vacation that in the divine course registry of God, right beside The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, stood the words laboratory hours required.  From the minute I read Burrough’s first page, I found myself in the school of Christ, the laboratory of God.  I would close the book and immediately I was thrust into some new situation to test whether or not I was finding my contentment in Christ.

How did I do in this course?  I failed miserably.  I discovered, to my horror, that I am one of the least content people I know.  This really was a significant shock.  I mean, I read the Puritans, listen to John Piper sermons, and love the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  I’m a minister!  Of course I’m content in Christ.  Nope, nope, and double nope.

What I am content with is my sin, my circumstances when they are comfortable, worldly joys, earthly pleasures, a Saturday when UVA wins a football game, and krispy kreme donuts.

Enter the gracious and sovereign hand of God into my vacation.

At each turn I found God ordained frustrations.  I was frustrated at the long drive.  I was frustrated when my children didn’t do what I wanted them to do.  I was frustrated with bug bites.  I was frustrated with sleeping in a bed that was not my own.  I was frustrated when I the mini-van I was driving was rear-ended on my last day of vacation.

Each of those frustrations was a lesson in the school of Christ.  Each of those frustrations challenged me to consider where I found my joy.  Though I detested them at the moment, I now count each of those frustrations precious.

The reason I count them precious is because they brought my wife and me to the realization that we were living a life that staked its hope on future pleasant circumstances.  We’d be happy when we arrived.  We’d be happy when the major driving was done.  We’d be happy when our boys adjusted to the new environment.  We’d be happy when we got home.  At each of those moments what I was really saying to God was, “God, what you’ve given me right now really isn’t that great but I have high hopes you’ll get it right in the near future.  I’m not content with what I have but I might be content if you give me better.”

What a bratty child I am to my heavenly Father.  What a denier of God’s sovereign grace I am.  What a snubber of God’s love I am.  What a rebellious son I am to my ring bearing, fattened calf killing God.

After this sweet prick of the heart, what my wife and I began to say to each other way, “This is as good as it gets.”  It wasn’t a phrase stolen from a movie.  It wasn’t even a resignation to difficult circumstances.  It was our honest attempt to see whatever we were immediately experiencing as the exact blessing that we needed at that moment directly delivered from the infinitely loving hands of God.  This was the first lesson that I learned about Christian contentment.  Contentment is not found in favorable circumstances.  Rather contentment is knowing that in any circumstance, God is most favorable toward me through his precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  This only makes sense at the Cross.  The doors of God’s ultimate, infinite, and immutable love were opened wide upon me, of all people.  And every minute of my life, every experience, every motor vehicle collision, is the very sweetest gift from precious savior and exactly what I need.

So, at all costs, don’t read Burroughs’s book.  Unless you’re one of those people who actually believes that the rare jewel is worth finding.  God was pleased to shine some of its radiant facets on my soul last week.  I remain forever grateful, humbled, and longing for more.

Father, make me content in Christ alone.

More of the Same - Al Mohler chronicles the death rattle of the American Episcopal church.  Having grown up as an unbelieving Episcopalian, I have a heavy heart over the events of New Orleans this past week.

Encouragement - Mark Lauterbach writes about how a pastor should follow Paul’s example and encourage a congregation concerning Christ’s work in them.

I’ve been woefully negligent in my blogging over here at The Sweet Dropper.  Well, I’m back from vacation and will try to produce a little more blogging output.  To that end, I’m going to introduce my Nota Bene (note well/worthy) posts.  I subscribe to a few blogs that challenge me to think about Christ and his church in new, different, and better ways.  As I read posts that stand out as pass-along-able, I’ll include them in these Nota Bene posts.  I suppose the blog term for this is blog spotting.  As a side note, I got the term Nota Bene from Dr. Harold O. J. Brown.  He was one of my favorite professors at RTS in Charlotte.  Whenever he wanted us to pay attention to something in his notes he would include next to the item the Latin phrase Nota Bene.

On to today’s installment.   Some of these are a little old-ish since I’ve been catching up on my blog reading following my vacation.

Reading - Challies gives his own and Richard Baxter’s hints on reading well.

Led Zeppelin - Carl Trueman responds to a Ref21 reader’s question about Trueman’s own love of Led Zeppelin.  As a Led Zeppelin fan, I especially appreciated his response.

Blogging? - Michael Haykin  briefly tries to answer what blogs are should be.

Who needs a book that informs and equips people to minister biblically to people dealing with issues such as depression, dementia, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD, and homosexuality? A better question is: Who doesn’t need such a book? We are blessed that such a book has been written: Blame It on the Brain? Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience (P&R, 1998) by Dr. Edward T. Welch of Westminster Theological Seminary. Blame It on the Brain is part of the Resources for Changing Lives Series, published in cooperation with the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation of Glenside, Pennsylvania.

Welch’s book consists of two parts. In Part 1 he lays a biblical foundation for understanding brain-related problems. He begins by reaffirming the teaching of Scripture that we are a unity of material and immaterial substance–body and soul. In this discussion he also interacts briefly but helpfully with some of the history of Christian thought in this area. Welch sees four important emerging from his mind-body discussion: (1) The brain cannot make a person sin or keep a person from following Jesus in faith and obedience; (2) Each person’s abilities, including brain strengths and weaknesses, are unique and worthy of careful study; (3) Brain problems can expose heart problems; and (4) Sinful hearts can lead to physical illness, and upright hearts can lead to health.

In Part 2 Welch applies the aforementioned principles to common brain problems, such as diseases or damages which affect behavior, psychiatric problems, and behaviors that once were called sin but now are considered either sickness or normal. In these applications he seeks to provide the reader with a template for sympathetic counsel that distinguishes physical weaknesses from issues of the heart. He subdivides Part 2 into three sections: The Brain Did It, in which he examines dementia from Alzheimer’s disease and head injury, Maybe the Brain Did It, in which he explains principles relevant to psychiatric diagnoses such as depression and attention deficit disorder (ADD or ADHD), and The Brain Didn’t Do It, in which he focuses on homosexuality and alcoholism as behaviors that have long been considered sinful but recently have been reclassified as either normal (homosexuality) or the result of disease (alcoholism and many other addictions).

Welch provides a great deal of helpful information regarding the science of brain injury, as well as the still murky science of depression and psychiatric disorders. In cases of the latter, Welch argues that “it is neither sinful nor a sign of spiritual weakness to take medication [to treat depressive symptoms]“[126]. He points out, however, that there is no evidence that such medications treat specific chemical deficiencies that cause depression in people. Further, counsel fed and led by Scripture will help a person to distinguish between physical and spiritual symptoms and then address heart issues and personal suffering in light of the Gospel.

The Sweet Dropper considers this book essential reading for pastors and elders.

As a bonus here are the lyrics to the 1989 hit by the rightly-despised lip-synching duo Milli Vanilli, Blame It on the Rain (I know many of you have already been humming the tune while reading my review):

You said you didn’t need her
You told her good-bye (good-bye)
You sacrificed a good love
To satisfy your pride
Now you wished
That you should have her (have her)
And you feel like such a fool
You let her walk away
Now it just don’t feel the same
Gotta blame it on something
Gotta blame it on something

Blame it on the rain (rain)
Blame it on the stars (stars)
Whatever you do don’t put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain yeah yeah
You can blame it on the rain
Get
Ooh, ooh (ooh)
I can’t, I can’t. I can’t, can’t stand the rain
I can’t, I can’t. I can’t, can’t stand the rain
Yeah, yeah
Should’ve told her you were sorry (sorry) huh
Could have said you were wrong
But no you couldn’t do that. No, no
You had to prove you were strong ooh
If you hadn’t been so blinded (blinded)
She might still be there with you
You want her back again
But she just don’t feel the same
Gotta blame it on something
Gotta blame it on something

Blame it on the rain that was falling, falling
Blame it on the stars that did shine at night
Whatever you do don’t put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain yeah yeah

You can blame it on the rain
Cos the rain don’t mind
And the rain don’t care
You got to blame it on something
(Blame it on the rain)
(Blame it on the stars)
Whatever you do don’t put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain yeah, yeah
You can blame it on the rain
Girl

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14: Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. John Crotts, pastor of Faith Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Georgia, has written a booklet aimed at spurring men on in that direction called Mighty Men: The Starter’s Guide to Leading Your Family [Sand Springs, OK: Grace & Truth Books, 2004].

In Mighty Men Crotts hopes to give men something of a kick in the pants, but also give them a set of basic tools to set about the work of demonstrating Christ-like love and solid spiritual leadership at home. He correctly identifies the idolatry of laziness and passivity that grips so many men for what it is–idolatry! He also groups with it the laziness of what he calls ‘the Dictator Dad’–the ‘me Tarzan, you Jane’ approach to headship, which some numbskulls (pardon my use of technical theological terms) confuse with biblical headship. Crotts also addresses with warmth and compassion what I call the intimidation factor of Christian leadership. He writes, “My assumption is that men are so overwhelmed by inflated expectations of spiritual leadership, they don’t even try to take responsibility for the spiritual well-being of their homes” [37]. Crotts encourages men to think of themselves as managers of their home, working under the sovereignty of the owner. He goes on to apply this in some very practical ways.

The strong points of Mighty Men include:

• It is a booklet–only about 40 pages long. In other words, it is short enough that a man might actually read it! Alas, this short attention span is the norm among the majority of our men, and we must pray and labor that God would cure them of this malady! But in the meantime, it’s good to accommodate teaching to the capacities of the hearers.
• He is simple and illustrative in the points he makes.
• He urges healthy Christian growth through the ordinary means of grace as the foundation for the development of Christian character.
• His advice about family worship and prayer/Bible reading with your wife is some of the best, most practical that I have read.

A booklet such as this one might be faulted for what it does not say, but that is not fair. He sets the matter squarely on the table and within reach of any man. Men must go deeper than Mighty Men will take them, but Crotts work is an excellent, succinct resource for men who need to put the shovel into the ground for the first time. It’s time to act like men.

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

~Proverbs 16:32

A little extra something re: the 9/2 sermon on anger in Proverbs. This morning Andra Mooney, retired English teacher, reminded me of William Blake’s 1794 poem “A Poison Tree” concerning unresolved anger:

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I water’d it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with my smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veil’d the pole:
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree.

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