Jul
14
Ave atque vale: John Brawand
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Wycliffe Bible Translators informed us today that John Brawand, 84, entered the Savior’s presence on 18 June. FPC Kosciusko has supported John and his wife Alice for many years. The Brawands went to Guatemala in 1961 to translate the Scriptures for the Rabinal Achi people. Before leaving Guatemala in 1973, they reduced the Rabinal Achi language to writing, taught many to read their own language for the first time, and translated a number of the books of the New Testament. Over the next quarter century John served a number of important administrative roles for Wycliffe. Alice anticipates going to Guatemala son to assist the translation team in the final stages of publication of the New Testament.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for those who serve him with faithfulness, zeal and joy, making glad tidings known to “other sheep.”
May
12
And are we yet alive?
Filed Under Around the Church, Bible, Music, Poetry, The Church | Leave a Comment
A couple of folks have asked for the text of the Charles Wesley hymn I quoted in yesterday’s sermon on Genesis 8. Here it is–a hymn that the eight who emerged from the ark into the world previously submerged beneath the flood would have heartily sung:
And are we yet alive,
And see each other?s face?
Glory and thanks to Jesus give
For His almighty grace!
Preserved by power divine
To full salvation here,
Again in Jesus’ praise we join
And in His sight appear.
What troubles have we seen,
What mighty conflicts past,
Fightings without, and fears within,
Since we assembled last!
Yet out of all the Lord
Hath brought us by His love;
And still He doth His help afford,
And hides our life above.
Then let us make our boast
Of His redeeming power,
Which saves us to the uttermost,
Till we can sin no more.
Let us take up the cross
Till we the crown obtain,
And gladly reckon all things loss
So we may Jesus gain.
Apr
22
Exegesis and lovers
Filed Under Bible, Books, Christian Living | Leave a Comment
Exegesis is what I do. I bring the text of Scripture to bear upon my life and upon the lives of others. A dictionary definition of exegesis looks something like this:
explanation, critical analysis, or interpretation of a word, literary passage, etc., esp. of the Bible
I strongly prefer Eugene Peterson’s definition from Eat This Book:
Exegesis is the furthest thing from pedantry; exegesis is an act of love. It loves the one who speaks the words enough to want to get the words right. It respects the words enough to use every means we have to get the words right. Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully to what he says. It follows that we bring the leisure and attentiveness of lovers to this text, cherishing every comma and semicolon, relishing the oddness of this preposition, delighting in the surprising placement of this noun. Lovers don’t take a quick look, get a “message” or a “meaning,” and then run off and talk endlessly with their friends about how they feel.
I love the title Eat This Book. My children, unaware of the allusion to Ezekiel 3 and Revelation 10, look at me quizzically as I read it, with a look that says, “If you decide to do what the title says, I want to be there to watch.”
Apr
10
I don’t see how…
Filed Under Bible, Christian Living, Culture, Family, The Church | Leave a Comment
“I don’t see how a Christian could…
• Vote for a Democrat
• Practice birth control
• Send his children to public school
• Drink beer
• Play along with the Santa Claus myth
• Allow his wife to work for pay outside the home
• Watch TV on Sunday
• Vacation at a Disney theme park
• Use an epidural during childbirth
• Let someone else care for his child more than ___ hours a week
• Listen to secular music
• Take an antidepressant
• Bottle-feed a baby.”
Over the last twenty years I’ve been around fellow Christians who have voiced those exact opinions, and each time a compelling, confident biblical justification followed. I must admit that in the past I have held some of the above opinions with great confidence. In fourteen years as a minister I’ve also had to let go of some of those things and clean up the mess behind those who won’t.
These are the kinds of things the Apostle Paul calls “disputable matters” in Romans 14:1ff. In that setting the issues were voiced as “I don’t see how a Christian can eat meat” or “I don’t see how a Christian can ignore the Jewish calendar.” To this Paul says, Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind…Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another…And in v.19 he says, So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
Even if we have strong convictions about what we think is right, we are to respect the choices that other believers make in them, even if we are convinced on biblical grounds that they are wrong (Rom. 14:1-15:7). Further, we need to come to terms with the reality that we sometimes lack the “clear, biblical evidence” we like to claim. Each one should be convinced in his own mind, Paul teaches us; yet we also must accept one another in order to bring praise to God and not judge our brothers and sisters for whom Christ died.
Did you notice that about half of the items on the list above deal directly with issues regarding women and children? Sadly women are particularly (though not exclusively) prone to divide and despise and devour one another over disputable matters regarding childrearing, work, education and social involvement. My wise wife reminds me, “Women are sensitive creatures. Sensitivity is not a liability; rather, it is an asset for which we should be thankful. It makes us loving moms, daughters, sisters, and friends. Imagine the Church without the love and care of women. Then again, you probably wouldn’t want to do that. What would things be like in time of crisis and celebration if women were not around to carry the load?” The downside of this wonderful sensitivity is that women can live lives full of doubt and anxiety, victim to the opinions of others and threatened when other Christians disagree. Matters of childrearing, work, and social involvement particularly get under our skin.
It reminds me of an incident in Judges 12. In the midst of a civil war, the Gileadites hold the Jordan River, and whenever anyone comes to cross, they ask him to say the word “shibboleth”—a Hebrew word whose meaning is uncertain. The Ephraimites had a distinct dialect in which they can’t pronounce the “sh” in “shibboleth” and say “sibboleth” instead. “Thereupon [the Gileadites] would seize him and slay him.” More than 40,000 Ephraimites fall into this language trap and are killed. (Wouldn’t you think the Ephraimites would have figured this out at some point? They certainly weren’t the brightest of the tribes!)
At those times when modern-day Gileadites whip out their shibboleths, remember Paul’s questions in Romans 14:10: But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Should I judge the Disney vacationing, beer drinking, brother who wears an “Obama for President” t-shirt while listening to “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” on his iPod? Should I despise the brother or sister who has never stood beneath the shadow of Cinderella’s castle and who curses every yellow school bus? The answer to both questions is “no.”
Quarreling over opinions causes division within the church and ignores the immense sacrifice of Christ on the cross in favor of a self-made righteousness. Ladies and gentlemen, we must be very careful about such things, for none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s (Romans 14:5-8).
I don’t see how a Christian could disagree with that.
Mar
25
Grace in dark places: FPC Bible Conference
Filed Under Around the Church, Bible, Nota Bene, Prayer | Leave a Comment
Thursday marks the beginning of FPC Kosciusko’s 2008 Bible Conference (click here for schedule and info). Dr. Derek Thomas will be coming to us from Jackson to preach on the topic Grace in Dark Places: Finding Hope in Depression and Suffering. We are praying that the Holy Spirit will use this conference to renew the ‘inner man’ of many people in midst of pain–pointing us to Christ as our hope in suffering, encouraging us in faith, and empowering us in our battle with sin.
Extra note: Derek Thomas will be the guest on WFCA’s morning call-in program, It’s Your Call, beginning at 7:30 am Wednesday, March 26. He will be talking about the conference and taking questions from callers. WFCA is on 107.9 FM or click here to find the link to listen over the internet from anywhere in the world.
Feb
21
Because Jesus prayed–not what I will…
Filed Under Bible, Christian Living, Prayer | Leave a Comment
And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” And he came and found them sleeping… [Mark 14:32-37]
This scene is not comfortable. Jesus is not cool here. The God-man, glorious in power, who commands the wind and waves, who can heal diseases, who has walked steadfastly to his Jerusalem date with death, lies on the ground in Gethsemane, and he is weak and overwhelmed, trembling and crushed with anguish at what lies ahead. He wants out, pleading with God to let this hour pass from him.
Let me say again how remarkable it is that Jesus prayed. There is no greater indicator of his humanity—or as Principal Donald Macleod puts it, ‘his own dependentness,’ than this. Christ the God-man simply couldn’t handle the situation that was unfolding before him. The darkness gathering around him and over him made him ‘fall apart’ emotionally. Again Principal Macleod:
“I think we must drive it and ram it home to the depths of our own consciousness that dependentness is not the sign of sinfulness. It is in fact a sign of createdness; it is a sign of humanness. It’s a reminder to us that if Jesus felt that he couldn’t bear his load, or climb the mountain, or cross the river, or overcome the temptation except in the strong crying and tears which he offered to God then how before God can we hope to go through life day by day and say to God, ‘Father, it’s OK. We can handle it.’? We have to come before God in this crushing sense of our own sheer weakness, because when Christ is praying he is saying in the most eloquent fashion possible, ‘There is no way that in my naked and unaided humanness I can carry this load; nor finish this work, nor bear this burden, nor emerge from this trial.’ That is why we have a praying Christ. He is the incarnation of the living power of God. He is the enfleshment of all the ability of God’s grace, and yet he is praying.”
Good theology reminds us that this scene is, in a critical sense, unique. Jesus is hauling a load that I cannot haul. He was becoming sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. He was forsaken that we might be welcomed. We are not called to “do” Gethsemane and Calvary. However, Jesus does call us to deny elf, take up a cross and follow him. And thus we know something of the collision of our will and God’s. Most of us have faced circumstances which have made us cry out, ‘Lord, what are doing to me? Don’t you know what’s happening to me? Why do I have to go through this experience? Haven’t I always loved you and served you? Where is your comforting presence? Is this how you treat your friends, your children? This makes no sense!’ If you haven’t, then let me comfort you by saying that you will.
Martin Luther would say things like this: “I am too busy not to pray.” I have always admired that, but found myself imitating it far too little. But this scene helps get in on that belief about prayer. It suggests to me that regardless of my office as a pastor, regardless of my gifts, knowledge and experience, there is no situation I face in which I can claim spiritual independence or competence. Every load is too heavy, every obligation too great, every temptation too powerful and every privilege too tempting. Here is Christ—holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, filled above measure with the Holy Spirit, beloved of his Father, with every right to claim independent confidence—and here is Christ laid out on the ground, broken and crying to God.
When I pray, I usually do so out of habit or because I see it as a helping resource in times of testing or conflict. But why was Jesus praying here? For Jesus, prayer ends up being the battle itself. Have you ever noticed that once the Judas-led mob of officials arrive to arrest him, Jesus is ‘cool’ again–he is strong and courageous again? Once the writhing, tears and loud cries of Gethsemane had realigned him with the Father’s will, there was no turning back. He sweat great drops of blood not in the praetorium before Pilate, not before Caiaphas, not on the road to Golgotha, but in Gethsemane. There he ‘offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death’ (Hebrews 5:7). Haddon Robinson observes something about Gethsemane that I had never considered:
Had I been there and witnessed that struggle, I would have worried about the future. ‘If he is so broken up when all he is doing is praying,’ I might have said, ‘what will he do when he faces a real crisis? Why can’t he approach this ordeal with calm confidence of his three sleeping friends?’ Yet, when the rest came, Jesus walked to the cross with courage, and his three friends fell apart and fell away. [quoted in Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?, p.86]
Did Jesus embrace the mission? Absolutely (after all, he was in on the drafting of the plan at its beginning!). Had Jesus speak repeatedly and plainly to his disciples about the mission? Indeed he did. But how painful and unappealing it appeared, how extreme it felt to him that night in Gethsemane. And so he prayed and is praying for us now. Prayer is humbling ourselves to talk openly and candidly to our great sympathetic high priest, who himself writhed on the ground and said to his God and Father, Yet not what I will, but what you will.