O Eternal and Most Gracious God...

Prayer Before Meal, 1660

Jan Steen

A Prayer, John Donne

O ETERNAL and most gracious God, who, though thou have reserved thy treasure of perfect joy and perfect glory to be given by thine own hands then, when, by seeing thee as thou art in thyself, and knowing thee as we are known, we shall possess in an instant, and possess for ever, all that can any way conduce to our happiness, yet here also, in this world, givest us such earnests of that full payment, as by the value of the earnest we may give some estimate of the treasure, humbly and thankfully I acknowledge, that thy blessed Spirit instructs me to make a difference of thy blessings in this world, by that difference of the instruments by which it hath pleased thee to derive them unto me.

As we see thee here in a glass, so we receive from thee here by reflection and by instruments. Even casual things come from thee; and that which we call fortune here hath another name above. Nature reaches out her hand and gives us corn, and wine, and oil, and milk; but thou fillest her hand before, and thou openest her hand that she may rain down her showers upon us. Industry reaches out her hand to us and gives us fruits of our labour for ourselves and our posterity; but thy hand guides that hand when it sows and when it waters, and the increase is from thee. Friends reach out their hands and prefer us; but thy hand supports that hand that supports us. Of all these thy instruments have I received thy blessing, O God; but bless thy name most for the greatest; that, as a member of the public, and as a partaker of private favours too, by thy right hand, thy powerful hand set over us, I have had my portion not only in the hearing, but in the preaching of thy Gospel.

Humbly beseeching thee, that as thou continuest thy wonted goodness upon the whole world by the wonted means and instruments, the same sun and moon, the same nature and industry, so to continue the same blessings upon this state and this church by the same hand, so long as that thy Son, when he comes in the clouds, may find him, or his son, or his son’s sons ready to give an account and able to stand in that judgment, for their faithful stewardship and dispensation of thy talents so abundantly committed to them; and be to him, O God, in all distempers of his body, in all anxieties of spirit, in all holy sadnesses of soul, such a physician in thy proportion, who are the greatest in heaven, as he hath been in soul and body to me, in his proportion, who is the greatest upon earth.

Happy Reformation Day!

Sola Scriptura

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, 

because you know those from whom you learned it 

 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures,

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

2 Timothy 3:14-15

Sola Fide

"For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too?

Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God,

who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith."

Romans 3:28-30

Sola Gratia

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—

and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 

not by works, so that no one can boast."

Ephesians 2:8-9

Solus Christus

"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 14:6

Soli Deo Gloria

"If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God.

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides,

so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."

1 Peter 4:11 

Without a Vision, People Perish?

I am in my Bible reading cycle now at the point where I am reading through the entire Bible again.  My cycle is to read through the entire Bible, then take a break for a year or two and read specific books to study them, then read through the entire Bible again.  When I read through the Bible, I try to find a new way to read through it each time, either by reading a different version or reading a different format.  At this time I am reading through the NET version of the Bible.  The NET pays specific attention to the original languages of the Bible with its copious footnotes explaining why certain terms are translated as they are.  I have been in Proverbs lately and I hit a verse that surprised me--and made me realize how it is has been misused in Christian culture.

The verse is Proverbs 29:18.  The version I am used to hearing is the KJV: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."  I've heard this used often to support the idea that people need to have goals and objectives.  You usually hear it at church planning meetings or ministry meetings: "If we don't have goals, we won't make it."  Now, I am all for goals.  But that is actually not what this verse is about.  Actually, even in the way it's quoted above, there is an immediate problem: it's only half the verse and it's the only half I ever hear in the goal context.  In the KJV, the rest of the verse says: "but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."  Hum...This is a contrast with the first part as indicated by the "but."  How does people not having goals contrast to keeping the law?  Are people without goals inherently against God's law?

The answer was revealed to me in the NET translation.  A clearer translation of this verse is "When there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but the one who keeps the law, blessed is he!"  The footnote in the NET points out that the Hebrew term here for "vision" refers to "divine communication to prophets."  This is not about a group communicating their vision for a church or ministry.  It is about God communicating His word to His prophets.  Thus, the people in the first part are without God's direction and "cast off restraint."  The Hebrew says the people are "let loose" or "let alone," the idea being that they "run wild."  Now we see how the first part of the verse does indeed contrast easily with the second part.  People without God's direction run wild, but the one who follows the law is blessed.  The person in the second part is not running wild or let loose, but is under God's guidance.

Instead of telling churches and ministries to impart their vision, this verse is making the point that those without God's communication will throw off restraint.  It's a warning even to us today that without God's word, people will run around doing whatever they want bringing chaos to society.  Unfortunately, much of our society today is a perfect example of this proverb.

He's Alive and I'm Forgiven!

Each Easter it's our tradition to listen to Don Francisco's song "He's Alive" on the way to church.  It's from the perspective of Peter and captures the point of Jesus' resurrection--forgiveness.  Here's a link to listen to this song.  It always makes me all the more joyful on Easter Sunday.

And a comic by Johnny Hart--click on the comic to view it larger.

Oh My Black Soul!

Oh My Black Soul! Now Art Thou Summoned
by John Donne

Oh my black soul! now art thou summoned
By sickness, death's herald, and champion;
Thou art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done
Treason, and durst not turn to whence he is fled;
Or like a thief, which till death's doom be read,
Wisheth himself delivered from prison,
But damned and haled to execution,
Wisheth that still he might be imprisoned.
Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lack;
But who shall give thee that grace to begin?
Oh make thy self with holy mourning black,
And red with blushing, as thou art with sin;
Or wash thee in Christ's blood, which hath this might
That being red, it dyes red souls to white.


B.C. by Johnny Hart

 

People Are Multidimensional

A few weeks ago, I saw this video about a math teacher whose students consider him a bit strict and maybe crotchety.  This was before they discovered something else about him.  Go watch the video now if you don't want a spoiler :-)  When one of the teacher's students went to a meeting about a blood drive at the local children's hospital, he discovered everyone knew who his teacher was and loved him.  Why?  Not only is he the top blood donor at the hospital, but he also spends a good deal of his time comforting sick babies, walking with them, feeding them and rocking them.  When I shared this on Facebook, I mentioned how students often see their teachers as two-dimensional, thinking we are only what they see when we are at school.  But there is so much more to a teacher's life than school.

Really, there is so much more to everyone's life than the static glimpse we usually get.  Yet people continually judge other people because they only see one facet of someone's life. This is especially true of any famous figure.  We only see an actor on the screen or in select interviews and assume we know him.  We only see the politician on the screen or in the news and assume we know him.  We only see the sports person on the screen or in the news and think we know him.  Thus this judging does extend to our everyday life as well.  We only see that driver when he cuts us off, that mother in the grocery store with the crying child, that drunk on the street begging for money.  And we assume we have everyone's number--but we don't.

I have always been struck by how Jesus took time with people.  He already knew what was in every man and woman, yet we still see him doing things like engaging in conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, spending time in Zacchaeus' home, having dinner with Matthew the tax collector.  Jesus was about people.  He knew that the people he saw were "distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:36).

So we aren't Jesus.  We can't read a human heart.  How then can we get to know the heart?  We must spend time with the person.  We have to stop assuming we know someone from one encounter or from afar.  You will only know someone if you are willing to hear their stories, listen to their fears and put yourself in their shoes.  People aren't two dimensional static pictures.  People are multidimensional and complex with experiences and moving lives.  And if anyone should take the time to get to know them, it's Christians.  We should reflect our own Savior's love for people.  He didn't walk this earth seeing people once and brushing them off with a negative thought.  He looked and listened and helped and loved.  And we should do the same.

Christians Aren't Perfect

A while back I was listening to a sermon on the radio and the preacher said that the church is filled with broken people.  In fact, he said the church is for broken people.  The church is for those of us who realize that we are sinful at heart and broken and we can't fix ourselves and we need someone to do it for us.  Enter Jesus.  I suspect if you love Jesus a good deal of that love comes from the fact that you know how broken you are and that you don't have hope without him.  I feel a lot like Paul does in Romans 7:18-19: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing."  And I am just as relieved as Paul when he cries out: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25).

So if the church is for broken people and thus filled with broken people, what should we expect to find when we step inside one?  Selfishness, pride, anger, legalism, greed, gossip, and so on.  Let's face it.  We don't become perfect once we're saved.  When we're saved, what we get is grace.  All that sinful stuff that defines us is washed clean because our God loves us enough to die and be raised for us.  That's what happens.  But we still struggle with that sinful human nature that doesn't want to rest under God's grace.  It rears its ugly head and gratefully we have the Holy Spirit as our aid, giving us a sword to fight the sinful nature.  But you know what?  Sometimes we will fail.  "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).

Of course, we don't want to sin.  Those who love Christ want to live as he did, or at least they should.  John notes that he writes so followers of Christ won't sin--"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1-2).  John notes that those who love Jesus will do what he commands.  We should want to obey and live godly lives.  But thank goodness John says that if we do sin, we still have an advocate who died for our sin.

I don't know about you, but I still struggle against my sin.  I have to turn to Jesus daily.  I have to ask people for forgiveness often.  And I have to remind myself that it is only by the grace of God that I can even take a step without continual self-condemnation.  And this is the situation of most Christians I know.

So this is what I want people to remember: that Christians are not perfect; their Christ is.  Christians want to be like him and the Holy Spirit is guiding them, but until glorification, we won't be entirely there.  And that's why you aren't going to find perfection in the church.  It seems the thing of the day for Christians to write blogs condemning the church and Christians for being horrible people that turn everyone away from the church.  I cringe at those blogs.  Because I know you will walk into a church and be met with mean people.  If you think walking into a church takes you out of the world, think again.  You will meet broken people in the church who wrongly treat you like dirt.  You can't expect perfection.

But you will also find people who don't want to be bound by their sin and who will sympathize with you.  You will find those who in their own brokenness don't crush others in their brokenness.  You will find those who extend to you the same grace they have been given.  In the church, you will find both the mean-spirited and the kind.  The argument goes that the world sees Christians in a bad light.  Of course they do.  The pastor who gets down on his hands and knees to serve the wounded in his community rarely gets the spotlight.  The pastor who has an adulterous affair is prime news fodder.  The church that supports and runs a pregnancy center isn't going to be hailed.  The church that throws mud at girls going to abortion clinics will be on the six o'clock news.  The world gets a heavy dose of the mean and not the kind.

So, yes, of course, we should seek to be kind, welcoming people in the church.  I wish every Christian I knew was kind and gracious 100% of the time.  But I also know that we live with sin and we are broken and sometimes, we aren't going to shine.  And rather than write blogs condemning our brothers and sisters for sinning, we should be encouraging each other to yield to the Spirit, take up our sword and fight the darts of our enemy and our sinful nature.  And reminding ourselves that our perfect Christ has given us the power and the love to fight the good fight.