Nov
20
Nota bene. 11.20.07
Filed Under Christian Living, Culture, Current Events, Ethics, Family, Men, Nota Bene, The Church, Youth Ministry | Leave a Comment
I’m borrowing Joe’s Nota Bene category to post a link to piece written last week by John Piper about a phenomenon sociologists are calling adultolescence–the postponement of adulthood into the late twenties or even into the thirties. I have always defined adulthood as paying your own freight and taking responsibility for providing for yourself and your dependents (if you have any). Piper offers a 15-point strategy by which the Church should respond to this sociological trend in his piece entitled A Church-Based hope for ‘Adultolescence.’
Nov
19
Baghdad Muslims seek Christian neighbors
Filed Under Apologetics, Current Events, Evangelism, Islam, Missions, The Church | Leave a Comment
According to an article that appeared in the April, 2003, issue of The Banner of Truth, Presbyterian missionaries began working in Iraq in 1836. Some five congregations belong to the Assembly of Evangelical Presbyterian Churches-Iraq. The oldest of these congregations dates to 1840 and is located in Mosul. The National Presbyterian Church in Basra dates to 1940. Other congregations are located in Kirkuk and Baghdad.
According to tradition, in the first century the apostle Thomas evangelized the region on his way to India. Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an estimated 600,000 Christians lived in the country of 22 million people. By far the largest group is the Chaldean Catholic Church, followed by the Assyrian Church of the East (called the Nestorians), the Syrian Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Informed accounts tell us that the Ba’ath party of Saddam Hussein tolerated the presence of Christians in Iraq. After the March, 2003, invasion and toppling of the Hussein government, radical Islamic forces felt free to harass Christian churches. As a result, it is believed that most Iraqi Christians fled to Jordan, Syria or the northernmost region of Iraq.
In an article by Michael Yon on his personal website last week, he tells the story of a 15 November church service held at St. John’s Church in Baghdad. The story includes some beautiful photographs. It was the first service held in St. John’s in years–since nearby St. George’s Church was destroyed and a number of clergy in the area were kidnapped and killed. Yon reports that a crowd of locals welcomed home the Roman Catholic bishop. “They were joined at the service by soldiers from the 2-12 infantry battalion, many of whom had fought hard to secure these neighborhood streets. Members of the hard-fighting Iraqi Army 3rd Division were also here for this special day.”
Many local Muslims were in attendance at the service (and yes, it was a Mass–and yes, there are huge theological issues with the Mass–just hold on that for a few minutes, OK?). The locals sent out a plea for their Christian neighbors to come home.
I’m not going to engage in analysis about the American news media or speculate about the significance of the presence of local Muslims at a Catholic mass in a Baghdad neighborhood. What is interesting is the “Y’all come home” plea to the Christians who have fled. Whatever relationships were like prior to 2003, whatever politics are in play, whatever kind of understanding these folk have or don’t have about the gospel, the local Muslim neighbors want their Christian neighbors to come back. That says a lot for the kind of people these Christians are. Could the same be said in your neighborhood if the Christian folk moved out?
Nov
16
In everything give thanks
Filed Under Christian Living, Tragedy | Leave a Comment
In the past I’ve shared (with permission) some of the thoughts of Buddy Wood, brother-in-law of one of our FPC members, as he grows in grace while being treated for multiple brain tumors. Last week Buddy, who lives in Maryland, underwent gamma knife surgery to deal with lesions on his brain. All went well, and I wanted to pass along to you some of his thoughts about suffering and thankfulness:
GLIMPSE INTO THE GARRISON (#71): Thanksgiving is overflowing inside the garrison these days and, given the season, perhaps it is a good time to share some recent thoughts about thanksgiving.
First, it is God’s will that I thank Him in everything:
“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
This is a pretty straightforward statement of God’s will for Buddy. Certainly it would be good to “just do it” (i.e. give thanks) and press on.
But sometimes I don’t feel thankful. Life-threatening disease can feel like an emotional roller coaster ride of ups and downs, good scans and bad scans, good labs and bad labs, successful and unsuccessful surgeries and procedures. My natural tendency is to give thanks for the good things and complain about the rest.
Would it be hypocritical to give thanks when I am not really thankful?
Notice the phrase “in everything”. I understand this phrase to indicate broad context or sphere of occurrence. In other words, in the context of everything or all things, give thanks. The broad view presents a powerful perspective that gets beyond the dynamics of daily circumstances. What would the broad context look like?
The broadest possible context would be God’s magnificent character, goodness and kindness. Getting the focus off of me and getting focused on Him creates an natural overflow of thanksgiving out of my heart.
“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:15)
Remember the objective to glory God somehow in this experience? The natural overflow of thanksgiving is a part of getting there.
John Piper puts it this way:
“Gratitude honors God. Gratitude is the echo of grace as it reverberates through the hollows of the human heart. Gratitude is the unashamed acceptance of a free gift and the heartfelt declaration that we cherish what we cannot buy. Therefore gratitude glorifies the free grace of God and signifies the humility of a needy and receptive heart.” (Proud People Don’t Say Thanks, Sermon, 11/20/83)
I must recognize the obvious fact that God has been extraordinarily gracious to me during this season and most of my medical results have turned out great. But even then, limiting my focus to the good things I have received is an unnecessarily narrow focus. It must all come back to Him - the one who is absolutely packed with Glory.
Second, there is a strong connection to thanksgiving in the garrison verses, Philippians 4:6-7:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, WITH THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [garrison] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The phrase “WITH THANKSGIVING” suggests that our specific requests are to be made in association with thanksgiving.
Third, thanksgiving has been described as a spiritual thermometer that reflects our spiritual health. When we are thankful it is a good sign that our spiritual lives are in tune and that we have the broad view. Conversely, loss of thanksgiving is a warning sign that we are slipping down the slippery slope to debauchery, as described in Romans: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”(Romans 1:20-21)
I want to be thankful. I will give thanks.
Nov
14
Ordination: lashed to the mast
Filed Under Around the Church, Four big ideas, Music, Poetry, The Church | Leave a Comment
I was ordained to the gospel ministry on November 13, 1994, by Southeast Alabama Presbytery. That was thirteen years ago yesterday. I remember it very well. I won’t bore you with the details. But, in God’s good providence, I found this on the web today: a recording of Rev. Greg Thompson of Trinity PCA in Charlottesville, Virginia, performing a beautiful song he wrote for an ordination service. You can listen here. I transcribed the words as best I could from the recording (with Joe’s help). If I have misheard something, I apologize and welcome correction.
Ordination Song
by Greg Thompson
Father, O you are the beautiful shepherd.
Who am I, Lord, that you summon me now
To serve at your table, to bless in your name, to shepherd your people somehow?
The way that you lead is a way that leads downward.
O, if I follow, the low place is mine.
Honor forsaking, my glory my shame, my footsteps imaging thine.
In darkness thou my portion art, my laughter in the light,
My comfort on the downward path, my goal and my delight.
From self-reliance, O King, would you guard me?
Almighty hands are more able to bear.
The Fall’s ridden sorrow and Eden’s lost dream, teach me to lay down there.
You are my Father and I thy beloved—this, my identity, etch in my soul:
Driven by mercy, singing of love, welcome thy welcoming goal.
So now do send me to comfort your people.
My God, I beg you, to go with me there.
The strength of my weakness, my poverty’s wealth, this, for thy glory, my prayer:
Further thy kingdom.
Restore our true home,
And may I be found with thee there.
Nov
8
Cyber-sainthood
Filed Under Christian History, Current Events, Nota Bene, Prayer, The Church | Leave a Comment
Just when you thought the Reformation was old, dusty, irrelevant history–here’s this: Last week marked the 490th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on the doors of the Wittenburg Church. He was calling for a debate on the Roman Church’s aggressive marketing and sales of indulgences, which, Luther argued, obscured the biblical doctrine of repentance and exploited the poor. Indulgences offered a way to have a sin’s penalty pardoned by the church and therefore to be released from paying for it in purgatory. The sinner’s sincerity was quantified through money–seen as a tangible expression of self-sacrifice. In Luther’s time the indulgences were sold as a fund-raiser for the construction of St. Peter’s in Rome under the leadership of Pope Leo X. But let’s call it what it is: the attempt to buy/do/feel one’s way into right standing with Almighty God.
Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the church door (like a public bulletin board) on 31 October, the eve of All Saints Day–the climax of popular Catholic piety regarding the veneration of saints and relics–much like airing a TV show on 24 December in which you calling Christmas into question!
Why bring this up? Well, in the spirit of ‘There is nothing new under the sun,’ a website exists for the purpose of drumming and up (and funding) popular support for the beatification and canonization of Pope John Paul II. Devotees are asked to share stories, seek the intercession of the late pontiff, request a piece of his priestly vestments and make a donation–all to hasten the efforts to have him declared a saint. The site strongly defends itself against the charge that it is selling relics.
Back in Luther’s day the hucksters who sold indulgences had a great jingle which translates easily from German to English: Once the coin in the coffer clings, a soul from purgatory heavenward springs! Maybe the 21st century version would be something like this: Once the mouse on the website clicks, John Paul one step closer to sainthood flicks/licks/kicks/tricks???
Nov
7
May it not be charged
Filed Under Around the Church, Christian Living, Ethics, Family, Prayer, Psalms, The Church | Leave a Comment
I have been walking the familiar paths of Paul’s letters while keeping my eyes open for things along the path I have not noticed before. I had one of those moments the other day while reading the end of what we reckon is Paul’s final letter: 2 Timothy. He is writing some closing thoughts (and 4:6 suggests that Paul considers his execution a fait accompli) and warns Timothy about the treachery of Alexander the coppersmith. Paul takes comfort in his assurance that the Lord will certainly deal with Alexander according to his deeds (v.14-15). In the following verses, Paul recalls, At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. Those words deserve some further review.
You can read the commentators’ speculations on exactly what this first hearing incident was among his various encounters with the Roman legal system. Let’s be candid: it’s not that important. At a previous court appearance, Paul felt the disappointment of desertion by friends. He expected some support; instead, no one came. I think back over the last seventeen+ years I have been involved in the gospel ministry, and, while I’ve never faced arraignment before a court, I can identify with Paul to some degree. People let you down. They misunderstand you. They won’t stand with you in the face of opposition. They become hypercritical. They are fickle.
In one case, Paul speaks of enemies in the spirit of the imprecatory psalms–you know, Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun [Psalm 58:8]. In the other, he speaks of friends–people who ought to know and do better–who to a man deserted him at an hour of crisis. But he doesn’t lower the boom on them. Of them he says emphatically, May it not be charged against them! For one party he asks the Lord to repay with vengeance; for the other he seeks their pardon. May it not be charged against them! Paul asks the Lord to repay one to the last penny; to the other he asks the Lord to write the whole thing off.
Calvin comments on this difference:
He desires God to forgive the others, because they had fallen through fear and weakness, for we ought to have compassion on our brethren’s weakness. But Alexander had risen up against God with malice and sacrilegious audacity and was openly attacking the truth he had once confessed, and such wickedness deserves no mercy.
In times past I have been deserted and disappointed by church folk. Maybe there’s been an Alex Coppersmith in my life, but right now I can’t recall. But I can think of many deserters. No unbeliever has ever done me so much harm as fellow believers have. I don’t expect unbelievers to ‘get it.’ When they oppose, that’s par for the course in my book. But when insults, misrepresentations, slander, backbiting, and plain-old meanness and spinlessness come from within the family, that hurts!
Just when I am ready to start singing and praying the imprecatory psalms, I hear the words of Jesus: whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses [Mark 11:25]. Isn’t all of life worship? No, Jesus says. There are times when you stop whatever you’ve been doing to the glory of God and you stand still, and you enter (as it were) the temple of God, and you address God. Then forgiveness becomes a big issue. How often does Jesus speak of the need of his people to forgive those who have sinned against them? Very often. Always he mentions it in the context of our assurance that God has forgiven us. The forgiving heart is a forgiven heart. If we’re not forgiving people then we’ve no reason to believe that God has forgiven us. Jesus teaches this in the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, pray saying, “forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us”. The Lord makes the peril spectacularly clear, that if you forgive men when they sin against you your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you don’t forgive men their sins your Father won’t forgive you your sins. A man in Georgia said to John Wesley, “I never forgive.” Wesley said to him, “I hope you never sin.”
Was it a sin for certain individuals to hang back in the shadows while Paul stood alone defending himself? Absolutely. They prized convenience and safety more than standing with a brother in the midst of hardship. Did Paul ever confront all of these folk about it? Maybe. We don’t know. The loving rebuke of sin is a good thing. Regardless, Paul didn’t write them off. He didn’t savor the offense. He apparently didn’t refuse fellowship with them. On the contrary, he wants the Lord to deal with them as if it had never happened.
I once heard Geoffrey Thomas ask a group of ministers in a sermon, ‘Why do we feel the need to be vindicated all the time? Why the need to be so quick to defend ourselves? What of the glory and honor of Christ suffers when we are misunderstood or criticized?’ I’ll admit, I don’t necessarily like the right answers to those questions. As much as I want to claim to defend truth and righteousness, I am so much more eager to pursue them when my own skin is involved. I am often much more interested in advancing my reputation than that of Christ and his kingdom.
Praise be to God, for he will bring justice to the wicked and avenge the blood of his saints. He alone knows who the subjects of Satan are and when and how he will judge them. We can pray with Bonhoeffer, ‘God, now step in and destroy your enemy. Use your power, let your righteous wrath blaze forth.’ And we must also pray for others, saying, ‘May it not be charged to them. Forgive them for their weaknesses and ignorance and feebleness.’
For me, there can be no grudges. I thank God that he is still at work in me to will and to do of his good pleasure-so much so that I can say more and more, when I remember brothers and sisters who have let me down, May it not be charged to them!