Ephesians 6 – Stamina

praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, – Ephesians 6:18 (ESV)

A simple encouragement in the middle of a filled passage – don’t forget to pray for other believers. Paul then gets specific in asking for prayer for himself. There is a connectedness that believers have with one another that should naturally result in this constant prayer.

Prayer is hard though. Seriously, it really is. It can be long; it means remembering others; it means spending energy. That’s why Paul urges us to give all our stamina to this task. And while, yes, it is hard, I am glad others seek the Lord on my behalf. So too, my care and concern for others must extend to the closet, where only God dwells.

The Jesus Creed - review

The Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight (who writes an excellent blog by the same name) is a seminal work for this very prolific author. As I have mentioned earlier, the big point on the Jesus Creed is that Jesus took the Shema (Hear!) of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and added Leviticus 19:18 to create Mark 12:29-31 - this is the Jesus Creed: love God and love others. McKnight then takes this creed and, by using the people and events in the Gospels, shows examples of transformation, kingdom values, spiritual formation, and joining Christ.

Strengths and weaknesses

The Jesus Creed is full of stories – McKnight tries to connect with the reader lots of real life examples. Also, McKnight has done his research by including relevant voices that supplement his points. This book is very easy to read; there is a clarity in the writing that is refreshing.

The book doesn’t give as much support for his notion of the Jesus Creed being the transformational key to the church as I would have liked to see. Not that I disagree with the power and depth of loving God and others, but some exposition in other texts would have been helpful to flush out the creed’s influence as a creed. McKnight contends for the daily recitation of this Jesus Creed, but yet only gives Jewish tradition as support. His insights into the lives of the individuals in the Gospels are vivid, but some of the thoughts are simply conjecture to some degree. (Just because you can name the Hebrew label doesn’t necessarily mean that such and such happened in that story. There tends to be some blurring of what the passage actually says and reading between the lines.)

There is some automatic hesitancy from me when I read McKnight. In terms of the Kingdom of God, he seems to be more “already” than “not yet” compared to where I land. He also is not afraid to attack some groups that seem to be close to the mark (but not in his exact camp), while being extraordinarily kind to other groups that tend to be all over the place (to put it kindly). While we disagree on other issues as well, he is a well-respected scholar whom I read quite often for insight. The Jesus Creed has quite a few gems within it; I have several pages dog-eared and many passages underlined. He is very lucid and (while he might balk at such a label) represents a good evangelical understanding of Christ in this book.

(BTW – If you’ve heard the lecture, you have a good overview of the book.)

Desiring God Conference: Supremacy of Christ

Several items

1) The audio to this conference is online and free to download. It is worth your time to listen to the messages. They are here.

2) We had a wonderful time meeting friends from now and times past. We were able to stay with some good friends of ours – Boyd and Ingrid. Their passion for the Lord was very refreshing. We were also blessed by many other old friends from Columbia and Trinity (plus a few people from just two days earilier). It was awesome to just see everyone again.

3) I was very challenged by the messages. I want to pursue the Lord with a deeper passion. The gospel needs to more fully impact my life. As I steadily listen to the messages again, I remember afresh the calling the Lord has placed on all our lives to glorify Him and Him alone. The friends are great as are the books and all the free stuff, but to be refocused on Christ is the greatest thing I took away from the conference.

4) Next year you should go. Maybe we could car pool.

Pastors and Wives Conference: Rest

The theme at Hidden Acres this year was rest (with the last session being a high energy presentation about outreach). Rest is good; rest is vital to connecting to the Lord. We are currently working through rest as a topic in our Men’s Refreshers.

The main thought I gained from this time was that the Lord releases captives. Deuteronomy 5 repeats the 10 commandments, but commandment #4 (keeping the Sabbath) has different rationale:

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. – Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Slaves of men get no Sabbaths. When we are slaves of the Lord, He gives us rest (and to our servants as well.) Taking rest is a way of demonstrating our release from captivity; we are saying that we are beholden to the Lord alone.

(And for many of us, taking rest means that others rest as well.)

Upon the Altar of the Nation - review

Upon the Altar of the Nation
by Harry S. Stout
A moral history of the American Civil War

According to Stout, the type of literature that surrounds the Civil War contains either romanticized and glamorized military conquests, or political histories focused on slavery and emancipation. But was the war right? Was it moral? These questions often remain unasked because the drama of this war was too compelling or the evil of slavery was too great.

One item that Stout drew out was the unchanging military tactics with advanced weaponry. Prior to the Civil War, the large frontal assault was key to removing your opponent from the field, but by the Civil War, the weaponry had advanced so that such assaults led to piles and piles of dead bodies. Even though the death tolls were enormous, it still took some time for the West Point trained generals to change their battle strategies. Remember, over 620,000 men died in the Civil War.

Another point made by Stout is that the religious leaders of the time often reflected the feelings (and moral evaluation) of their people. Stout observes that “in 1865 no less than 1860, [Southerners] believed that abolitionism was the ultimate sin such that, ‘all who love the Lord Jesus Christ must and will oppose this monster heresy unto death.’” (409) Northern pulpits cheered Sherman’s savagery in Georgia and South Carolina and jeered at his gracious offered of peace to the surrendered armies of the South.

In a side note, Stout takes a brief look ahead to the Federal government’s dealings with the Native Americans (1868-1883). The US generals employed the same ‘total war’ tactics that were used in the Civil War – attacks upon personal property and upon non-combatants. Stout then closes the book with this consideration:

“Why is it important to finally write the moral history of the Civil War? It’s important because we are its legates, and if we question nothing from that costly conflict, then we need question nothing in conflicts of the present and future. Issues of discrimination and proportionality recur in every war. The Civil War does not provide an especially encouraging model in this regard, especially if the crimes go largely unnoticed beneath the natural urge to forget and move on. But as with the holocaust, if we forget, we do so at great peril to our own humanity.” (461)

For those interested in politics and following Christ, this book is a great read. It is thick, but Stout does a good job piecing this information together. While this is not a comprehensive overview of the Civil War, the battles, the politics, or the personalities, it does live up to the claim of being a moral history of this dark time.

Galatians 3 - Ending like we started

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? - Galatians 3:3

Some things are just easier, like going back to our old golf grip, or cheating on the fingering of particular guitar chords. But we gave up the old grip for a reason and Paul is reminding us to not turn back on something a bit more serious.

Again, Paul is saying that our salvation is by the grace that is given to us in Christ. Period. But I still want to earn my place with God. I want to be recognized by my merit.

We just came from a Pastors' and Wives' Retreat. Since you are around your peers, you want to have great stories to tell. You want to be given special recognition. You want others to love and adore you for your achievements. Truth be told, you want God to take special notice.

Fortunately at this retreat, we are pointed to our absolute dependence upon the Spirit. It is not our effort we marvel at, but it is the Lord who is the focus of our glory. We are driven back to the cross, back where we had nothing. That's because, except for the grace of God, we still have nothing.

Rochester Conference: Jesus Creed

This past Thursday I went up to Rochester to see Scot McKnight give a lecture on the Jesus Creed. I read his blog daily. While I don't always agree on the positions he takes, he often gives insight into the Scriptures that is thought through and helpful. Plus he keeps everyone up to date on the latest and greatest in Christendom.

The big point on the Jesus Creed is that Jesus took the Shema (Hear!) of Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and added Leviticus 19:18 to create Mark 12:29-31. This is the Jesus Creed: love God and love others. McKnight also talked about Joseph and Mary; how their piety would have been tarnished in the eyes of others by the birth of Jesus. It was a good lecture that stimulated my thinking in the areas of spiritual formation and for giving people some helpful hooks in following Christ.

Currently I am reading the Jesus Creed and I hope to give a brief review soon.

Conference time!

The same situation came up last year – several excellent conferences are scheduled all at once. There is quite a bit going on at the church, but these times cannot be missed!

Rochester Conference: Scot McKnight spoke on the Jesus Creed (among other topics).

Pastors' and Wives' Refresher: It is what it says it is: refreshing! It is a good opportunity for me to catch up with by E-Free buddies and just spend time getting challenged and helped by people who are in very similar situations.

Desiring God Conference: Keller, Carson, Piper. A combo of any two of them would probably be enough to drag me up to Minneapolis. Add in Driscoll, Wells, and Baucham (don't know him, but I'm sure if he was invited, there is a good reason), a few old friends, and it should be a great conference!

2 Corinthians 13 - Plea for unity

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. – 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

After three scathing chapters, Paul finally concludes his letter with the exhortations in the preceding paragraph. As we have seen before, unity becomes a huge focus of Paul's letters to the church in Corinth. There is a strong vain in Christendom that doesn't give much thought to unity. Unity is often seen as a value that is opposed to truth, and therefore, will be chucked the moment it gets in the way.

Unity is a value that comes from the Godhead. Unity is displayed perfectly within the Godhead, giving us all kinds of headaches as we try to get a mental grasp on the Triune nature of the One True God.

In light of his pleadings for unity, Paul gives the Corinthian church an excellent picture of how the Triune God operates in their lives:

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (v 14)

2 Corinthians 8 - Giving: for better or worse

I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack." - 2 Corinthians 8:13-15

What does it mean to be rich?

The other day I saw Rob Bell's "Rich" (number #13) in the Nooma series. The example of the rich person was a young American with a beat up car. My friend Duke told me several years back that the average US citizen is part of the richest 2% of all people who have ever lived. We were in Poland and, at the time, everyone was trying to live the materialistic dream of getting as much as you can. The hope we were giving (Jesus) was different than the hope they seemingly desired (our wealth).

The finger is being pointed at me; I am the one with abundance. To someone in a capitalistic society (and doing nicely), this passage can sound like communism. Why is it so hard to share?

One problem is in dealing with those in need. We feel we have earned our money and so those in need should earn theirs and leave us alone.

Wealth is an interesting thing. If Duke's stat is correct, then my wealth has a great deal to do with my birth. Regardless of the sociological causes for my prosperity, the ultimate cause is the Lord; He has made me this way. I haven't been sued for a bajillion dollars and I wasn't born in Bangladesh. My wife and I have had and currently have jobs that are at least a living wage (by US standards) and at most quite prosperous. I tend over-value my role in the wealth that I do have.

The second problem is receiving help when we are in need. We see those asking for help as under-valuing hard work, responsibility, and/or self-discipline. This may be the case, but the absence or presence of these virtues is only part of the answer when it comes to money. If you make enough, you maybe don't have to be as responsible or even work as hard as someone else. Sometimes tragedy strikes and there is nothing we can do to protect our nest egg.

Because I over-value my role in being financially solvent, I often shun help when I need it. That means I am more apt to look down upon or simply problem-solve for those who aren't. In reality, the issues can be deeper than basic money management. God's provision in your hard times may very well be from my gift - helping me to realize that my abundance is from the Lord and it is to be used for His purposes. God's provision in my hard times may very well be from your gift - to the detriment of my pride, but for the betterment of my soul.

1 Corinthians 16 - Effective work

But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. - 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (ESV)

Couple of thoughts:
(1) Effective work and many adversaries, they just don't seem to go together. At least, we don't want them to go together. As a follower of Christ, this is our destiny – to suffer for the Gospel. Suffering takes on many forms: outright opposition, threats of violence, denial of certain pleasures, swallowing our pride. To be sure, the blessings to be had in Christ outweigh the afflictions, but there will be felt suffering from people and things opposed to the Gospel. Paul writes in Philippians 1:29-30

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

The point is that the presence of suffering is not a negative factor in determining what effective work might be. We often see adversaries as deterrent; Paul says opposition is a part of following Jesus.

(2) The presence of opposition doesn't mean that you are doing effective work. Many people look at opposition as a confirmation that they are doing the right thing. The effectiveness of the work must be measured against Scripture, not the number of emails we receive. I know several ministries that get quite a bit of opposition and I think that it is often deserved. We are to examine our faithfulness to Christ, not the amount of heat we get.

9/11 – A time of reflection

Where were you when you first heard about the attacks? I remember that I was typing at the computer listening to “Mike and Mike” on ESPN Radio. Mike Greenberg seemed extremely concerned about a report of a plane crashing in NY while Mike Golic (initially) wanted to get on with the broadcast. I turned on the TV and the story had begun.

How we react to certain things is an interesting phenomenon. Having been upset over (my perceived) lack of interest in some previous world disasters, I wasn’t (at least initially) as caught up into the horror of this one. In all honesty, I was more affected by the response of the people around me than to the tragedy itself. Maybe I already had a healthy dose of “this world is a bad place” but I was truly mystified that some people were too paralyzed to travel, to go out of their rooms, to come back to college. In retrospect, I was probably too jaded to sympathize properly and too proud, secretly wanting show my 'greater' concern by telling people “this world has been a bad place for a long time – read your papers.” Today I am ashamed of both of these attitudes.

I had some appointments set up with some college students (I was on campus staff at the time) so we talked, prayed, watched TV, and gave blood. We coordinated group worship services that evening. This event consumed our ministry for a good couple of months.

There is no real interest on my part on seeing a 9/11 documentary or movie. But I do want to reflect, mourn, and move from 9/11 in a way that honors Christ. Whether 9/11 deeply touched you or you are struggling on how to respond, here are a couple of articles that have helped me this morning:

Bill Williams: a pastor at ground zero during the 9/11 rescue (HT: Jim Martin)

Mark D. Roberts – a prayer on the 5th anniversary of 9/11


And one more Timothy George - Theology for an Age of Terror

1 Corinthians 15 – A welcome change

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. – 1 Corinthians 15:53 (ESV)

There are times in our lives where we welcome change: marriage, having a child, getting a job, or moving to a new house. There is usually quite a bit of excitement prior to the change and (in some cases at least), there is quite a bit of excitement after the change.

Having spent time with people that are more advanced in years (and by listening to my wife who works in a nursing home), aging is not an exciting event for our bodies. Parts don’t work like they used to and when they do, it hurts. Even if are still young, our bodies are frail, corruptible, and always wanting to be satisfied.

I look forward to my new body. Paul spends a good part of this chapter on the subject of these resurrected bodies. I wish he’d make it clear if I’ll be able to fly…

At the end of 1 Cor 15, there is an interesting point. Through Christ, we will eventually triumph over death. In light of this victory, we are to hold fast, giving ourselves fully to the work of the Lord (v 58). So my broken body is to be used to glorify God with my labor now and my new body will glorify the Lord then.

Now I live in light of what he is going to give me. The victory has been won for us, but, for a time, we still have these perishable robes. May our perishable robes serve our Lord to their fullest strength. (Until we receive something bit more substantial.)

1 Corinthians 13 – The first few words

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. – 1 Corinthians 13:1 (ESV)

It is the dream of every pastor to speak with such eloquence and unction so that the people they speak to are moved. Week after week, I labor to produce sermons that convict and inspire those that hear. Everything becomes a potential illustration; everyone becomes a potential person in the audience. Books and articles are devoured that help refine my exegesis, my theology and especially, my homiletical skill. Here Paul says that a silver tongue doesn't get the job done.

Unfortunately, this verse does not eliminate the need for sermon practice and study.

However, this verse does show the need for something more foundational, something less stately than well-formulated rhetoric – the need for love. There must be love. If I do not truly love the people I speak to, I become a source of irritation and pain. If I quit loving others, there are less damaging things that I could do besides clanging and gonging every Sunday.

The Gospel cures the wounds of the soul. If I am truly transformed by the cross of Christ, I too will have a love for those that hear me as I proclaim it.

Matt Chandler on hurting pastors

On our way home from Missouri, Carrie and I listened to Matt Chandler talk about the hurts that are involved in pastoral ministry. His message, called Gravity, was given at the Reform and Resurgence conference this past May.

This message is really quite powerful.

2 Samuel 1 – Song for an enemy

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. – 2 Samuel 1:17-18 (ESV)

Saul, who sent David into exile and killed those who helped him, has now died. David’s response is to write a lament that would be taught to the entire nation. This lament honors Saul and Jonathan as mighty heroes, those worthy of remembrance.

A desire for personal vengeance often outweighs our desire to what is right, especially if it is honoring someone who has hurt us. We usually aren't that great at honoring anyone but ourselves, even if they didn't do anything to us. I want people to remember me and how great I am, not someone else, not someone who was out to hurt me.

Love for our enemies (and even our friends) should be a type of love that doesn't fade the moment they are out of our sight.

The day has come!

Not "the Day" but the day in which blogger switched my account over to their 'beta' service. This allows me to categorize my posts. The engineer in me is excited. Now I can pour over the minutia of this blog, pine about the 'correct' labels, figure out how to change my header to a big picture like Wince's and Brian's.


Hopefully the changes will come quick and we can get back to business!

Romans 14 - A Pauline favorite

"As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." - Romans 14:11 (ESV)

This verse, a quote from Isaiah 45:23, is also alluded to in Phillipians 2:10-11. Is this a memory verse in Paul's packet? Maybe so.

What is more important is what the verse says. In the setting of how we deal with people who differ on eating, drinking, and the observation of special days, there is this sober reminder: everyone will be humbled before the Lord. And, if we didn't catch it from verse 11, we have the next verse to clear up any confusion - "So then each of us will give an account of himself to God."

The account we give to God certainly includes how we and others decide on matters such as certain foods, but more importantly, we will need to show how we responded to others. Usually I think, "Well, you do your thing and I'll do mine - each of us has to account to God." This would be true but incomplete. I also must account for my judgmental attitude towards my sibling in Christ. And, in view of verse 13, this is exactly what Paul has in mind.

"Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer"

How I interact with others should have, at it's foundation, a clear view of God and His sovereignty. The cross has leveled me and my fellow sibling in Christ. How can I despise someone who is in the exact same lot I am - a sinner made saint by the grace of God?

Further info on the blog

I have some new ideas for the blog and I was all ready to get going today, but then I read an article that blogger is updating their service to include some of the features I want!

The long and short of it is - the blog will start again, but there will be some other changes as this account gets migrated to their new service.

Still working on the blog

I'm still trying to do a few things with the ol' blog here. I'd like to expand and do more. And I don't want it to be a mess. So I need categories, which Blogger doesn't currently provide. Therefore I have several choices: tough it out until they do, do a work around solution, or get a different host.

Please be patient and hopefully soon I will be back up and blogging. Keep your nose in the Book!

Grace and peace,