The Best Summer Reading!

If you’ve been following my ponderings for long you know I’m a lover of the Word of God.  It is a treasure to me.  I read it, savor it, and commend it to you. [See the JUST READ IT tab on this blog’s home page!]  I aim to make it a priority in my life by reading it first and most, before man-made substitutes, and by meditating on it in order to let it shape my ponderings.

But some days, some weeks, it seems flat and lifeless to my palate.  I don’t want to read it.  And when I do, it’s just words on a page that I’ve read before.  Do you know what I mean?

This has happened to me just lately.  It all started with a road trip and an audio book randomly selected to fill the hours…The road trip ended but the book wasn’t finished.  Its ‘due date’ is looming.  I must find out what’s going to happen; I must finish the book!  So instead of filling my day’s lazy moments with the Word of God, I default to the audio book.  It’s well-composed, seems to be based on thorough research and first-hand knowledge, and is a fascinating look into a culture completely foreign to me.  But it is painfully sad, full of intense loneliness and hopelessness and of futile efforts to escape that pain.  It is a graphic picture of man without God and without hope in the world (Eph.2:12).  A remedy is suggested but because the author writes from a false worldview her remedy is nothing more than wishful thinking born of mindless meditation. She is talented and has written well but I feel as though I’ve been dragged back to the Garden and am being offered a taste of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, as though it were the way to life.

In reality the story’s characters, representations of a whole culture, are without hope apart from a hearing of God’s Words.  As a culture they have believed lies and are reaping the deadly consequences.  No wonder the suicide rate in their country is among the highest in the world.  Death seems the only reasonable escape from a life too painful to live.

I don’t often venture into the world of fiction. I find it too captivating, too time consuming for the value gained, and too distracting from real life.  But the due date is tomorrow and the story is not quite resolved.  Will the main characters commit suicide?  Will hope arise from some unseen quarter?  Will the author give convincing evidence that Zen Buddhism is the answer to the despair that consumes her characters? 

In one sense this ‘read’ has been like an overdose of junk food, which spoils the appetite without nourishing the body.  In its offering of novelty and the knowledge of evil it has been a distraction for me from the Words of Life I am committed to living by. But it is no substitute.   It’s just the story of the Garden all over again.  The author has a thinly masked agenda.  Her storyline  is her means of proposing a better way to live-- Life is painful and confusing; God’s not noticing; try this-- and she elaborates on the virtues and methods of Zen Buddhism ad nauseum throughout her story. It is a classic case of ‘the way which seems right to a man’  but only leads to death. 

But I don’t intend a book review here. In fact despite its being a well written and researched book I won’t recommend it. But what it has done for me in the end is to send me running back to the Word for refreshment.  Too much junk food is too much.  There are no answers here, no hope, no joy.  I’ve been struck by the contrast of worlds.  I live known and loved and prone to taking this for granted.  The story has reminded me that this is not a given.  Whole cultures, whole countries of people whom God has created to know and love Him,  are ignorant of this reality.  They are in need of the hope that is only found in the God of the Bible.  Though initially my reading of (or in this case, listening to) this book suppressed my appetite for the Ultimate Story.  In the end it has sent me running back for the water of the Word. It washes off the sliming of human words and it refreshes me more deeply than human words can ever do.

Before I got out of bed this morning I sat and read life-giving Words because I didn’t want to start the day without them. Junk food doesn’t satisfy the appetite it provokes.  Only real Food can do that.
I find in the Bible the ‘God of hope’ reaching out His hands to a people who ‘walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually…’.  (Is.65).  My mind flits back to the story I’ve been reading.

‘Here am I, here am I’ God calls.

I turn to Job where he confirms that there is no hope for the godless but that the fear of the Lord is the path of wisdom, and that turning away from evil is the essence of understanding.  No amount of empty meditation will enlighten in this way. (Job 27,28)

In the pages of this Story, God Most High Possessor of heaven and earth, befriends man.  He shows Himself to be the only justifiable cause for fear and at the same time allays man’s fear: “Fear not, I am your shield and very great reward” (Gen.15). 

He rescues man from slavery and death and turns the curses against him into a blessing.(Deut.23,24) 

He pens man’s name in the Lamb’s book of Life not based on anything he can do or has done, but based on faith. (Rev.20,21)

In these pages the ‘God of hope’ introduces Himself  to mankind.  He freely reveals the Truth by which those who believe are filled with peace and joy. Then He gives His own indwelling Spirit as an eternal fountain of hope. (Rom.15)

It doesn’t matter where in these pages I turn.  There is always hope.  Here is the Story that will outlive even the best of classics.  Here are words of truth and life that make for the best summer eating!

So I commend to you this summer as you find time to relax and to read, let the Words of God be your constant companion and commentary on the words of man. Let the words of man remind you of the lostness and confusion of man without God.  Let them fuel your prayers for the lost and for those who write and speak the Words of Life into all the lost cultures of our world.  But may the words of man always drive you back to the everlasting solace of the true and living Words of God.  Then they will not have been a waste of time.

--LS

“I have given them your Word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world...” --Jesus (John 17:14)

"...as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for here, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word... “ Eph.5:26

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly... Col.3:16

"All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,  but the word of the Lord remains forever."  And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
I Pet.1:24,25

-----------------------

If you should need a reading plan, consider my suggestions at the ‘Just Read It’ tab on this blog’s home page. –LS

There shall be showers…

Yes indeed, after a record-breaking stretch of pure sunshine, with scarcely a drop of rain through all of July and into the first weeks of August, the rains have returned.  For the first time in ten years tonight’s Blackberry Festival street party was rained out   We were there, forking down our annual blackberry cheesecake as the sprinkles started and jostling our way through umbrellas and soggy others in hasty retreat under a steady summer’s shower within the hour…Ah well, perfect illustration of my chosen text.  I found it this morning while digging through Ezekiel—the words to that very old hymn I haven’t heard sung in years: “There shall be showers of blessing”  (Do you know it?).  They just popped off the page in the most unlikely of places.  So that’s where those lyrics came from!

I had taken a detour from Ezekiel because I find it heavy reading.  I’ve visited Psalms, and Colossians and let’s see, Timothy and Corinthians…anything to avoid picking up where I left off in Ezekiel.  But this morning I returned to Ezekiel with a fresh tool in hand, a COMA plan, something I was introduced to this week while reviewing a nifty new  Bible study guide called WALK:How to Apply the Bible. Coma is not what you’re meant to go into as your eyes glaze over amidst passages pronouncing oncoming doom and gloom.  COMA is actually an acronym meant to remind me of helpful steps to take when reading any Bible passage.  Let me share it with you in hopes I’ll get it down right.

C is for Context.  Context is not everything, but almost!  It is, in my opinion, one of the most neglected rules in Bible reading and study.  It’s so tempting to scoop up a line or two that says just what I want to say (or hear) and paste it onto my situation as a promise of happily ever after… while completely disregarding the context, the attached condition, the original recipient of this promise, or even the actual meaning of the passage as made clear by what follows. In snapping up happy phrases in this way, we miss out on so much more.

Take for example the #1 verse for graduates:  “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer.29:11)  Very nice, reassuring.  Happily-ever-after here we come!  But don’t miss the context!  Israel is heading off into 70 years of captivity, not a rosy future! It will take this long before they are ready to pray and seek God with all their hearts. Then He will come to their rescue, delivering them from their captors, restoring them to their own land. Ironically, there were plenty of prophets in their day glad to tell them happy things—don’t worry, you won’t be taken away to Babylon, everything’s good… and this verse falls plunk in the middle of a passage declaring otherwise. They would indeed suffer, but the Lord would bring them through to repentance and deliverance.  The wider context is far more valuable than a vague ungrounded ‘happy’ promise…

But where was I?  Ah yes, Ezekiel.  Sometimes in reading Ezekiel I feel as though I were out back trying to turn old weed-ridden turf into a garden bed.  In the instance I’m thinking of, the plot had apparently been a previous owner’s personal dump.  There were rusting bolts and mysterious hunks of iron and crusty wires.  There was an old purse and lots of plastic garbage that had not yet succumbed to rotting.  I even found, believe it or not,  a piece of petrified wood, looking every bit like a stick but hard as rock!.  That rivaled my other best ‘finds’-- a series of quaint old bottles, surprising little beauties--an old ink bottle, a slim perfume(?) bottle, a chubby white glass bottle—all treasures I eventually emptied of mud and scrubbed up to make useful.

Digging through old prophecies is sometimes like this for me.  Seems like just tough slogging without much that feels ‘useful’ or pertinent to me, then out pops a verse that shines and makes it worth the digging.  Ezekiel 34 is like this.

Ezekiel was the prophet who was with the people of Israel at the start of their captivity in Babylon. They haven’t yet humbled themselves or repented.  Thus Ezekiel’s job…tough slogging.  Chapter 33 presents Ezekiel as watchman, doomed if he doesn’t warn his countryman of coming judgment (7-9).  The people are ‘rotting away’ because of their sins(10).  Judgment has come upon them.  They are being called to repent but it rolls off their backs like another country love song(32).  Bleak stuff.  Chapter 34 commences with God’s railing accusations against Israel’s leaders.  They’re abusive profiteers, not the shepherds they are meant to be.  This is the historical and immediate context.  I’ve got it, and I don’t want to read anymore doom or gloom…this is oppressive.  God is dead serious about sin.

The O in the COMA formula is for Observations.  Things like: God is dead serious about sin.  Got that.
God gets angry when his people are not led and fed well.  and look at what He intends to do!  Look at all the I WILL’s… and even a “Behold, I, I myself will…” God is coming to the rescue on no uncertain terms! “I will search for my sheep… I will seek them out…I will rescue them… I will bring them out and gather them…I will bring them to their own land.  I will feed them…I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them lie down.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak.  And UH-OH, I will destroy the fat and the strong, feeding them in justice! I will judge between sheep and sheep, rams and male goats…

Observations may include looking for themes, repeating words or ideas, truths about God, or anything striking.  Well, this chapter just keeps getting sweeter.  Pretty soon, with God as shepherd, the wild beasts are banished from the land  and the people are all safe in the wilderness and may ‘sleep in the woods’. I love that.  Sounds like a camping trip with no threat of bears in the park, (or bears wrecking fruit trees and stealing the harvest!).  I have an inkling what a wonderful feeling this would be, as we are watching plums and pears and apples ripen right now, never knowing if/when they will be ravaged by night or if we will get to enjoy them…

There is lots here to observe, but the verse that jumped out at me is the one where God promises to make his people a blessing and to send rain in season—’showers of blessing’(34:26).  The rain will make the fruit trees and gardens flourish.  There will be no more famine, no more fear, no more captivity and they will ‘know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, …my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.(34:31)  So, the hymn writer wasn’t must making this phrase up ( :  There shall be showers of blessing!

But I’d better be moving on here to the M in COMA. The M is for MESSAGE.  What is the message God is communicating through this passage, not only to the original audience (the context) but to me.  Is there a timeless principle that transcends time and place? In other words, yes, the original audience is Israel in captivity and God did indeed deliver them and plant them in their own land, not once but twice.  There is in our day the nation of Israel because God has kept His promises.  But more than that, the greater promise was to give them ‘one shepherd’ to take care of them, one in the line of David… They looked ahead to this promised One. We look back to the birth of Jesus, the One who would say, “I am the good shepherd.”  The One who would gather both Jews and us non-Jews into His fold.  The One who most importantly would become as one of us, a sheep, led to the slaughter defenseless—because a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.(Jn.10:11) 

These are all part of this passage’s message.  But in a more general sense  what stands out for me is that God is the One I’m dependent on for showers of refreshing rain, for fruitfulness, and even for the discipline that leads to repentance so that the blessings may follow.  I am just a sheep in His pasture, completely dependent on Him for sustenance, protection, and productivity.  The credit is all His!  He’s the shepherd.  My part is to respond to His prompting.  To repent when I’m made aware of sin and perhaps even to soak up the rain He sends so that He can produce the kind of fruit He’s after!

Which has led me to the A in COMA?  The author proposing this ‘formula’ is a Pastor intent on seeing his flock live out the Word they are taking in.  So A is for APPLICATION.  It’s not enough to come up with  ambiguous insights.  He says I’ve got to boil them down to something personal and specific that I can write down on paper, pray about and act on!  Hmm… this is clearly my weak spot.  I will gladly scrutinize contexts, examine details, glean principles, and wax eloquent but how will  my ponderings be galvanized into solid action?  How will I take these ‘finds’ from my digging and turn them into life-beautifying treasures?

Now that is something to ponder…and pray about!

Will you join me?

--LS

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…Eph.1:3

The acronym COMA is elaborated on in: Walk: How to Apply the Bible (James L. Nicodem, Moody Press, 2013, 132pp), the fourth and final book in his excellent Bible Savvy series!  For reviews of all four see my book review blog (“A Few Good Books”) at: http://thestackofdawn.blogspot.ca

-----------------------------------------------------------
Showers of Blessing

    There shall be showers of blessing:
    This is the promise of love;
    There shall be seasons refreshing,
    Sent from the Savior above.

Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.

There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.

There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.

There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!

There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.

--Daniel Whittle, 1883

No Other Name

Just start moving the fingers over the keyboard… yes, there we go.  Sitting here a little tuckered out this a.m. from much cycling yesterday, I’m trying to pull my thoughts together in one place, and get them in print.  Always a little daunting despite my love of written words that come out ‘just right’.  I finished a good read this summer*, one I’ve been been ‘saving’ to savor ever since encountering its author in his first novel several summers ago.

It was entertaining and thought provoking at the same time--the kind of fiction I love best--and an ideal summer read really, set against a backdrop of fly-fishing.  Waiting at the ferry terminal last night for an overdue ferry I got to watch a fellow-waiter wade in and send his line whistling across the water--fly-fishing.  I was reading.  Peaceful backdrop.

Well, I finally got down to writing a review, really more of a critique, of the book this week which you can see here, if you’re interested, but I haven’t quite finished thinking about it.  Something was missing.  It wasn’t really a fishing tale, or an environmental plea, though these elements swam along beside the central theme.  It was the story of a spiritual journey. Young Gus, the avid fly-fisherman is growing up and coming to terms with the beliefs handed down to him—discarding some, adapting others, and sampling from the spiritual smorgasbord he discovers after leaving home.

The rest of my comments will be ‘spoilers’ I’m afraid.  While I loved that the storyline made a case for faith in an unseen God who created this great big beautiful world with all its pristine fishing streams, it also implied that any route to God will do.  We each must find our own way, what ‘fits’ for us.  Very accepting.  Very ‘nice’.  Politically correct, I suppose, (otherwise the Sierra Club would likely not have published it!) So I find myself in the afterglow of this brilliantly told tale fishing for words to supply what was missing, to give Gus a sure foundation not deflectable by every current of ‘spirituality’ that crosses his boots.

The missing factors are two: The Son of God and the Word of God.  While it’s true that all of creation proclaims there is a God and He is awesome, it does not connect the dots that bring us to know Him personally and live for His glory. Neither  the night-sky nor the rippling course of a trout stream can do this.  Nor is God found through mystical experiences induced by long walks alone without food or water, any more than in long moments spent soaking in ‘worship’ music till our minds are suspended and our soul’s pores are open wide.  Experiences that give a vague but reassuring impression that God is real and present do not equal ‘knowing God’.

The book’s author got this part right:

"I wanted to know my soul. I wanted to befriend Whoever it had been that walked with me on the road, yesterday dawn. But when I stuck my feet in the source-spring I could feel too well the limits of my own unguided yearnings. I would never make it. Not alone. I would never make it to the real source of things unless or until Ol' Nameless chose to come and find me fishing….

"It's a damned tough business sitting around trying to force yourself to force God to force feed you a revelation or vision or spiritual assistant or something." p.246, The River Why, Duncan

True spirituality is not born in mysticism or based on warm feelings or nudges or visions or signs.  The knowledge of God is not a mystery hidden for the mystic few. It once was a mystery, but no more. (Rom.16:25,26).  The path to God is not a trail we each must blaze on our own hunches and haunches.  He is not one thing to me, another to my New Age friend, and something quite other to the fly-fishing, pot-smoking hippie across the street.  God Almighty does not come in user-friendly variations to suit the customer in need of love and purpose!  He is God and has revealed to us all that we need in order to know Him-- in His Son and in His Word. Non-negotiables.  Unfortunately, neither of these mediums is politically correct.  Handing out Bibles in the town parade is not cool.  Using the name of Jesus in any meaningful way is offensive.  These are things belonging to those ‘churchy’ types.  Sad.

But how much have things changed?  In the Garden there was God, walking and talking with His ultimate Creations, Adam and his lovely soul-mate, Eve.  One basic instruction: Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  One basic temptation:  You’ll be as gods, knowing good and evil.  One hidden flaw:  They would indeed know evil, but not as God knows it.  He knows it as a cancer surgeon knows cancer.  They would know it as a cancer victim knows it.  Big difference.**  But that was the hidden consequence of taking and eating.  They took and ate with misguided self-confidence (‘We can chart our own destiny.  Who needs rules?!) and instead of finding a better life, something inside actually died. Relationship with God was severed. Sin does that.  Severs relationships.  Destroys life.  Look around you, in you, beside you.  You’ll see its effects. I do.

So we’re descended from this garden pair, wanting to define our gods, to be our own gods,  to live how we want to live and still know love and purpose like we had in the Garden.  This messy stew is called by the tidy name of  ‘moral relativity’. What’s good for you may not be good for me.  Let’s each find our own gods.  Don’t push your truth on me.  So spiritual journeyers surround us on pilgrimage each to his own mecca while the Word of God is relegated to some out of the way shelf or drawer and the Son of God is just too narrow, to controversial, too radical to talk about. 

Such behavior is understandable for those who do not have the Word of God and have not been introduced to the Word Incarnate.  But strangely it has become common practice among those who would identify themselves as ‘believers’.  Strange indeed.  Or maybe not.  If like Adam and Eve we prefer to live by our own wisdom, not any hard and fast limitations, I suppose it makes sense.  How could such an archaic bunch of words as contained in the Bible pertain to me today in my modern lifestyle?  Too restrictive.  Too ‘old school’.  Nevermind, I’ll make my own choices.  Somehow it’ll all work out.  And we forget the lesson Adam and Eve learned the hard way.  There is a way that seems good, but it’s not.  Sin, by definition, destroys what it promises to deliver.

And when we neglect to study well the Word of God, we fail to perceive the true character of God. He is love and He is holy.  He is grace and He is truth. We may choose to ignore the ‘harshness’ of God toward sin in the Old Testament preferring to focus on the Jesus of the New Testament who went about doing good and healing everybody and loving sinners.  We may sidestep the issues of sin and holiness and  see in Jesus only a lifestyle to try to emulate.  If so, we have missed the Gospel, the message that liberates us from forever trying to find a way back to the garden on our own.

Love and Justice, Grace and Truth are inseparably linked even in Jesus.  Sin is forever the impediment to finding God.  His love does not negate His Justice.  We deserve death, whether He loves us or not. Therefore, He provided Jesus. 

Jesus was not tolerant of sin either, though He loved the sinner. He railed against self-made paths to being right with God!  Then  He suffered the horrors of crucifixion, an undeniable testament to the seriousness of man’s sinful state! He made Himself the way back to the Garden. ‘Take and eat, this my body, given for you.’  (Lk.22:19) Here at last, the solution for the rebellious ‘taking and eating’ of forbidden fruit in Eden.  Jesus’ own body,** His blood shed, (Jn.6:53,54) our only chance at finding life, love and  purpose that will last an immortal lifetime. 

And that’s what I want Gus to know.  Now that he has come to believe there is a God who makes all things beautiful and longs to be known, a God who is drawing Him to this knowledge…it’s imperative that he open God’s book, God’s autobiography, and find out who this God truly is and what He most wants Gus to know.  Otherwise, he may miss Jesus.  He may miss the Gospel.  He may spend a lot of years feeling good about being so spiritually attuned to nature only to arrive at this deathbed short of that one-of-a-kind Life that is only found  in trading my sin for Jesus’ blood, my impertinent longing for god-ship for the worship of the Only One who is worthy. 

Peter’s Spirit-inspired words put it best: “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men  by which we must be saved. Acts 4:10-12

It’s a pretty narrow viewpoint alright, a narrow path. But the destination is Life as it was intended to be! Life beyond our wildest imaginings.  And a freedom we had not imagined at the end of such a narrow way. “If the Son shall set you free,  you shall be free indeed!” Jn.8:36

There’s an orchard of trees out there-- all sorts of alternate roads to ‘spirituality’ and ‘experiencing God’, but only one Tree of Life, one Cross, one Word of God.  And that’s I guess what I wanted to say to Gus and affirm to myself here today.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Pursuing the knowledge of Him through the revelation given in the Word is the only surefire way to really live! 

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith… Phil.3:8,9

If you’re looking for some summer reading that will point you to the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all other options, consider Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  Dwell long with me on these good words.  Here’s the real thing; accept no substitutes. “Therefore…as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Col.2:6,7)

‘for in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who it the head of all rule and authority.’ (Col.2:9)

--LS

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Jn.17:3

And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I Jn.5:11,12

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Mt.7:13,14

 

*The River Why by James David Duncan, Bantam/Sierra Club, 1983.

**I’m indebted for this idea to James Nicodem, author of a nifty brand-new four-some of books designed to increase “Bible Savvy’ among laypersons.  They are an excellent little set.  Reviews coming soon to a blog near you!  This picture of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin was in the first in the series:  Epic:The Storyline of the Bible. (I recommend it! See review here.)

The manifold grace of God

I needed grace this week.  I need it always I suppose, the need is just more evident at some times than others. And God’s grace picked me up and carried me through another week of homeschooling.  Perhaps someone prayed, I know I did.  I had been reading of Moses, and was envying him, not because of his oh-so-difficult-job but because it seemed so simple for him to just ‘cry out to the Lord’ for help and then hear some specific instruction from Him.

Like the time the Israelites are all cornered at the Red Sea and God says: ‘Lift up your staff; stretch out your hand.’  (Ex.14) and voila, the sea parts. 

Or, the time when the water’s undrinkably bitter and everyone’s thirsty--‘look there’s a tree’ and Moses throws it into the bitter water and it is made sweet. (Ex.15)

Then there’s the time when the people are about to stone Moses, again, because they’re thirsty. And the Lord says: “strike the rock, and water shall come out of it.”(Ex.17)

The contingencies keep coming.  Moses keeps calling out for help. God keeps instructing him in what to do.  I felt a little envious of Moses, (though I think I’m changing my mind, having taken a second look at the miserable job he had!) because it seems God answered him so clearly, with such specific instructions.  And I was wishing I would get such detailed lesson plans.  Then I had to wonder, is it that God’s not instructing?  Or that I’m not listening well?   I read somewhere once that the prerequisite for hearing from God, is a heart ready to do whatever He says. Moses was known as the meekest man that ever lived for a reason.  He was ready and listening for every drop of counsel God would give, glad to comply!

But in retrospect, though I did not get an audible response to my pleas for guidance—little germs of wisdom did begin to gel in my mind. Insights, ideas, new ways of doing things presented themselves.  And fresh determination and renewed hope seemed to spring up overnight. I didn’t have to raise a staff, or toss a tree, or strike a rock but grace did flow and it was enough for one more week in our journey.  God’s manifold grace was evident.

God always makes a  way, still.  In temptation he promises a ‘way of escape’. In weakness he promises ‘sufficient grace’. In times of plenty he instructs us to maintain thankful hearts.  His grace is always there though at times we may miss seeing it or experiencing it…  

‘See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled’ (Heb.12:15)

“I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.” (Gal.2:21 NLT)

The stories of the children of Israel illustrate this so well.  There they were on the verge of entering the Land of Canaan at last—the spies go in and find it ‘’an exceedingly good land” (Numb.14:7ff) Joshua and Caleb try to persuade the people that “if the Lord delights in us, He will bring us into this land and give it to us…” But all the other spies can talk about are the giants and the insurmountable difficulties they will have to face. They fail to obtain the grace of God.  This grace is contingent on faith in God’s ability, not our own.  It requires confidence that what we are too weak to tackle, He is well able to take care of.

Fear led the people to rebel against God’s direction. They missed out on what His grace would have provided.  And the Lord took them to task: “How long will this people despise me?  And how long will they not believe in me? in spite of all the signs I have done among them?” (Num.14:11)  GULP.  God’s grace is always there for every task He sets before us.  We can access it by faith, or brush it aside in fear and obstinacy to ‘do it my way’. Wow.    The verdict was not good for these folks.  They would traipse about in the wilderness for another 40 years till the whole adult population had died.  The children would suffer for their parents’ faithlessness. (Num.14:33)

Wow (again).  A pertinent object lesson for me.  I am so grateful for grace, the grace I’ve been shown this week, the multi-faceted graces of God scattered through all my days.

As we receive God’s grace, we become stewards of it to others “…as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  (I Pet.4:10) This concept was brought home to me this week in the reading of Joni’s memoir: The God I Love, her story of a lifetime of walking with Jesus  through a degree of  disappointment, suffering and loss few of us will ever know.  It is a joyful testimony to God’s incredible grace as she embraced her lot (quadriplegia) and found God to be more real than she had ever imagined. It is God’s story of using Joni in her weakness to encourage innumerable others and to offer a perspective of eternity not easily come by in times of health and plenty.  Her story, her faithfulness to walk with Jesus in joy, is a gift of God’s grace that extends to me.

I have to take these things by faith. I have not known much suffering.  I sometimes fear because I’ve been given so much. Not just material goods, but faith, family, health, friendships, marriage, freedom, wisdom, the very Word of God!…so many good things.  So much to lose. (And so much to use. ‘To whom much is given much will be required’ is a haunting concept! But that’s another issue.)

Being one who fears suffering, I admire Job, who wouldn’t? Even Satan knew he was an amazing tribute to the grace of God—in the loss of everything but life itself he submitted to God his rights: The Lord gives and He  takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21) What does any of us possess that is not a gift anyway?  When did it become an inalienable right?

It occurs to me that noone likes suffering, anymore than our kids enjoyed being disciplined. But we do fall down and scrape our knees. Bad dogs do bite. Pets do die, and people too. And we do get spankings. As children of God, we will suffer for one reason or another.  But by faith, I can hear such testimonies and know that there will be grace, because we will never lose Jesus.

I bumped into these words today, written more than a century ago: “The only inalienable gift I have, is a Divine Savior. He never will be taken away from me. He is mine--mine forever.” –Stephen Tyng

And right along these lines is a new ‘hymn’ I also met this week, another testimony to God’s sufficient grace in every circumstance.  With it I close:

I Run to Christ
[Click here to listen in]

I run to Christ when chased by fear
And find a refuge sure.
“Believe in me,” His voice I hear;
His words and wounds secure.

I run to Christ when torn by grief
And find abundant peace.
“I too had tears,” He gently speaks;
Thus joy and sorrow meet.

_____

I run to Christ when worn by life
And find my soul refreshed.
“Come unto Me,” He calls through strife;
Fatigue gives way to rest.

I run to Christ when vexed by hell
And find a mighty arm.
“The Devil flees,” the Scriptures tell;
He roars, but cannot harm.

_____

I run to Christ when stalked by sin
And find a sure escape.
“Deliver me,” I cry to Him;
Temptation yields to grace.

I run to Christ when plagued by shame
And find my one defense.
“I bore God’s wrath,” He pleads my case—
My Advocate and Friend.

----------
by Chris Anderson and Greg Habegger
with Gregg Howlett at the piano

The testimonies of ones who have walked with God and found Him good, these too are God’s gifts of grace to us--whether a beautifully penned memoir, or Christ-exalting lyrics, or  the tinkling of fingers on a keyboard… Whether a smile or a FB note or a warm hug,  all are gifts of God’s grace-- the wonderful manifold grace of God dished out by His stewards, tokens of His delight in His children. 

May we all have eyes to see and hearts to embrace
His all-sufficient manifold grace.

--LS

“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land.  If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.” Numbers 14:7,8

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus”
II Tim.2:1

-----------------------
If you enjoyed Gregg Howlett at the piano, consider No More Night, a spine tingling reminder of the good land yet to come!

For my review of Joni’s THE GOD I LOVE, go here.

Chewing on Chesterton

I dived into G.K. Chesterton earlier this week, never mind that there are dozens of books on my priority shelf waiting, barely waded in to…No, instead I tried something new, an online audio book.  And while I listened I looked at an online print version, and cutandpasted thought-provoking morsels to chew on later.  Chesterton churns out a lot of these. He was a man characterized by indomitable joy from what I’ve read, along with a brilliant mind and a charming wit.

So I decided to try The Man Who Was Thursday: a Nightmare.* Peculiar title, I know, but fitting; the chief characters each had code names after the days of the week.  The genre of ‘metaphysical thriller’ did little to pique my interest.  What does ‘metaphysical’ mean anyway?  (I now have turned to Wikipedia and sort of get it)  And I’m really not into thrillers, but I do admire Chesterton’s genius and optimistic outlook, and the book was recommended by a friend, so… I tried it.

I think I might not have persevered without the excellent rendering, complete with wonderful accents, at LibriVox. [Don’t miss this terrific free resource if you enjoy an audio book!] It was definitely not a story to fall asleep to, or even doodle idly to.  Once I’d realized this and took it seriously enough to start at the beginning a second time, (with notebook at hand) the chapters started flying—suspenseful and strange, surreal and outrageous, full of intriguing symbolism.

On the surface were issues of anarchy vs. law and order--a plotline based on a police detective infiltrating a top-secret Anarchist society. But this is an allegorical and impossibly bizarre tale of a world that is not what it seems. (And do we not live in just such a world?) The detective’s profound and unexpected discoveries culminate in a profoundly soul-satisfying finish, revealing…

Well, I don’t want to give the whole story away.  Suffice it to say the story, in retrospect, is all wound around with God superintending the affairs of man, God who appoints all things (and people) to accomplish His purposes, and ultimately wishes to be known.  And scattered all along the way to keep me from getting too serious in sleuthing out the story’s hidden meaning were gems of dry wit that tickled my elusive funny bone!

Even if an allegorical ‘thriller’ is not your idea of a good read, this one is worth the effort just for its triumphant, faith-affirming, every-thing-is-gonna-be-alright conclusion. Only after you’ve been along for the harrowing journey of Thursday can you appreciate these closing lines:

“He felt he was in possession of some impossible good  news, which made every other thing a triviality, but an adorable triviality.”

Are we too not in possession of such Good News? Pessimism be vanquished! God is in control.  His redemptive purposes will be accomplished in and through and despite the evil and heartache which surrounds us.  Though we be called to suffer, though we may long to understand what’s going on when things just don’t  make sense…God knows and ordains all things for our good, for He is not only supremely powerful, He is supremely good, no matter what the enemy of our souls may say! 

And that has been the storyline undergirding my thoughts this week—as I wrestle for answers to perplexing problems, as I live day to day on the manna He does supply, and as I revel with thankful heart in His plentiful blessings… In all these things God is superintending and sufficient.  In all these things, whether obvious or hidden, God is good.

Two passages come to mind that affirm Chesterton’s storyline and with these I’ll stop, not having intended a book review today but glad for the chance to re-affirm God’s steady goodness towards the likes of us.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  II Cor.4:17,18

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Rom.8:18

Oh and never mind stopping there, may as well keep going and read the whole of Romans 8, very good news indeed! 

Need that to music?  Consider these perspective restoring lyrics: “…purpose in all our suffering and Joy that will never die."

[from Risen, by Sovereign Grace Music]

You are Our Hope

[Doesn’t work in your browser?  Click here to go directly to YouTube]

Thanks for stopping by today to consider my ponderings ( :

--LS

May I leave you with a little taste of Chesteron thought, excerpted from The Man Who Was Thursday:

“Through all this ordeal his root horror had been isolation, and there are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematicians that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one. That is why, in spite of a hundred disadvantages, the world will always return to monogamy.”

 -------------------

*Full audio version of The Man Who Was Thursday available here.

Online print version, available here.

Simply Jesus

*

Warm sun on the back of my stiff neck. Feet up and tucked in a cozy fleece-lined quilt. Laptop purring warm in my lap. It's easy to get into my little comforts and let the lethal impression settle in my bones that this life is all about celebrating me, or at least it should be!

There are an awful lot of books and media messages out there to help me along toward this conclusion. Strangely, even well-meaning Christian books on experiencing Jesus can leave me with this impression. It's as subtle as suggesting that Jesus wants to heal your pain (which He does), so come to Him--for relief. That Jesus suffered and died for you—so you don't need to suffer. That meeting Him will make your world revolve more smoothly-- around you… All these things are true, at least in part. But there's a subtle me-centricity to them which will come back to bite hard when relief is delayed, when I am called to suffer or when my world stops revolving around my dreams and ideals.

I've read two books on experiencing Jesus in the last two weeks. The first, a new book, emphasized the irresistible human personality traits of Jesus and how easy it is to fall in love with Him once we cast off the toxic fog of religion and its attendant qualms and duties. It was an enticing view but left me wary of a self-serving motive akin to the 'I love you because you make me feel good' notion that precipitates 'love, marriage, and the baby carriage'! Infatuation can get the ball rolling but it's only the bare immature beginnings. It may or may not materialize into a long rewarding relationship, depending largely on the expectations and commitment of the partners. What will happen when the 'feelings' fade? Is it just a matter of kindling and re-kindling feelings that assure me I am still at the center of the universe? To be fair, this author did briefly address the concept of surrendering our self-determination and a brief epilogue acknowledged the inevitability of suffering, but somehow this didn't undo the impression that experiencing Jesus is about my satisfaction more than anything else. [Curious? my full review is posted here.]

The second book I finished just last night is a wee thing I read when it first came out ten years ago. It drew me then, as it did again this week, by its title and conciseness: Simply Jesus ** In a mere eight-six pages Joseph Stowell affirms that yes, there is a reality of experiencing Jesus that goes beyond mere head knowledge and religious exercises. The first difference in his treatment of the subject however, is that he affirms regular Bible study and a life of prayer (religious 'duty' by some estimations) as essential foundations to this experience before he proceeds.

His descriptive list of what such an 'experience' is about gives clarity to just what we're after…

--It's about a deep and abiding sense of His nearness on the journey.

--It's about an unshakable confidence that only His abiding presence can give.

--It's about a closeness that enables your spirit to commune with Him, anywhere, anytime, regardless.

--It's about meeting Him in places you may have never dreamed of… in the most heated of seductions, in the midst of suffering, and in acts of unflinching surrender. (10)

That last point I found to be the most intriguing aspect of this book. It is the author's interpretation of Paul's professed passion to: 'know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death' (Phil.3:10) It doesn't fit the popular standard for how (or why) to know Jesus. In times of temptation? In suffering? In giving up what I crave? This is not a picture of using Jesus to fulfill my agenda. Are these the places I must go if I want to truly experience Jesus?

Here's where I found the most striking contrast in the two books. Both hold out the potential of a satisfying experience, but in one the motive seems to be my well-being, my peace and contentment and my feeling better about myself. It's heavy on emotional realities and light on the tough aspects of conforming my will to His. One holds my pleasure as the ultimate purpose for intimacy, suggesting that if I feel hurt I should 'forgive Jesus' and I'll feel better. While the other holds my conformity to Christ at any cost as the actual purpose of getting acquainted with Jesus. Both hold threads of truth but it was the latter one I needed this week.

Yes, I could likely use a more emotional connection with Jesus, but Stowell did me the favor of pointing out the barriers I raise that hinder making that connection. Stated bluntly, one of the greatest obstacles is self-absorption: "At some point, the sooner in life the better, we have to come to grips with whether "He" or "me" will be the main feature of our existence." Stowell adds a caution, it's easy to fool yourself into thinking "that you can be fully absorbed with yourself and in hot pursuit of him at the same time. But that isn't reality. You can't have it both ways." And just in the nick of time, before I squared up my shoulders to resolve (again) to 'work on that' (Ha! Like determining not to think about hulking gray elephants pirouetting in lacy pink tutus!) I was reminded this will have to be His work in me. Mine to acknowledge my shortfall. His to pour in the grace and ability to become so enthralled with Jesus that myself becomes a non-issue. Imagine it.

Well, then came two practical tips—a couple attitude shifts to practice:

#1 Rejoice in the Lord. Now, I've thought on that one many times but hadn't considered its opposite: "It's time to stop rejoicing in ourselves and start rejoicing in Jesus" (35) Well, that surely runs counter to popular psychology. Hmm… And before you start thinking Stowell a dull kill-joy, consider his reasoning:

“It's just that 'no matter how charming, witty, or profound we may be, we were not created to enthrall ourselves with ourselves for long periods of time." (22)

I had to chuckle at that. He clarifies that rejoicing in the Lord isn't about becoming a smile machine, or denying hard times. It's about 'living to brag on Jesus instead of ourselves'! (36) And it starts by taking that spark of joy that comes with personal blessing or accomplishment and turning it into a celebration of His provision and grace in my life. Unlike rejoicing in my attainments, rejoicing in the Lord is an endless source of boasting. Always fitting. Never growing old. If I will learn to take that impulse to make much of me and mine and let it spark appreciation for Him, I will be on my way to experiencing Jesus continually (and will spare myself hitting a self-absorbed dead end!)

I know all about these dead-ends. I've been hitting my head against one just lately. How, for instance, did I come to be slumped in a disheartened 'funk' first thing this morning despite the early sun rising in a cloudless sky promising the coming of a beautiful day?

I was pouting really, sick and tired of not being able to 'make happen' what I want (and I'm confident Jesus also wants) to see happen, sick of asking for enabling and still feeling powerless, sick of feeling like a failure… Hmm… the rejoicing in me runs out pretty quickly!

What was that other attitude shift I needed?

#2 Value Jesus above Everything

Just last night I sat half-heartedly scrawling notes about that in my journal: "My greatest treasure must be Jesus. Attaching my heart to any lesser thing will limit my ability to experience Jesus. What do I really value most? Does it show up in the way I live?"  Well, at this moment my focus was not on valuing Jesus but on my frustration at not getting answers or apparent help for my mission in life… I sat in the quiet chill of my 'woe-is-me'-ness this morning journaling—what does this quick descent to apathetic weariness (again) reveal about what I value most? Can I not 'persevere in doing good' without tangible instantaneous rewards and affirmations? When I don't get what I want when I want it (now) can I not rejoice in the Lord and cherish all He is to me in every circumstance?

The house was cold. My tummy hungry. My body sapped of energy from my mental gloom… I would really have preferred to curl up and close my eyes than face this need for soul restoration. Yet that is in fact why I climbed out of bed in the first place!

And the question came to mind from the previous night's reading: Can I experience Him here—in the midst of frustration and disappointment? And I began to reflect on Jesus' temptations and potential frustrations… Was He ever tempted to self-pity? After all He had disciples that were forever bumbling cluelessly despite the best of teaching and modeling. He walked alone when it came to the hard choices, to setting an example, to going the extra mile or taking the path of greatest resistance…

He got hungry, tired, cold and surely was tempted to wallow in discouragement sometimes? But He had one thing clearly in mind. He hadn't come to this sin-sick earth to please Himself. The deprivation and struggle of his earthly mission wasn't something He'd volunteered for out of self-interest. So what was to be done but to persevere in 'seeking and saving that which was lost', enduring 'for the joy set before Him', 'loving His own' no matter what slow learners they were… washing feet, touching lepers, taking time to teach, living a lifestyle of interruptions, inconveniences, unpleasant confrontations, criticism and rejection but saying and doing what needed to be said and done anyway.

So can I experience Jesus in my place of temptation today, in my miniscule 'sufferings'? And know that He fully sympathizes with my frustrations and my weakness? (It gives His strength a place to shine!) Can I re-commit to this path chosen for me, this calling that isn't all sunshine and hollyhocks?

Jesus,
You were where I am, only without the pity party, the slumping shoulders, the 'woe-is-me'. You knew Your calling—the joy of 'bringing many sons to glory', so you kept on in the face of opposition, entrusting yourself to 'Him who judges justly' (I Pet.2:23) and doing the next thing step by step… I have overlooked the possibilities of experiencing You in the now, 'as is' of my life, in the process of life as it comes…It's not about finding you in some sacred 'other' state of mind, but about realizing that you are at the door at this moment, waiting for my invitation to meet me here and share in this conversation with my heart's 'self-talk'. Like the 'stranger' on the Road to Emmaus, you show up to interject Your perspective to open my understanding, to help me see what you see... It is enough.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want….He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul… (Ps.23:1,2)

--LS

"…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil.3:13)

----------------

I must tuck in some quotes that speak volumes:

"It's time to stop turning our backs on Him in pain and flee to His embrace.

But we are only free to do this when we have ceased to live to rejoice in ourselves. If we are intent to celebrate 'me' in life, we will resist trials and quickly become embittered when they settle in for the long haul—to say nothing of the difficulty in meeting Jesus in pain when we have valued comfort and peace more than nearness to Him. If He is the supreme value in our lives then we will be willing to meet Him in times of trouble." Stowell—Simply Jesus, 71

"If we really desire to experience Him, we need to stop blaming God, reverse our self-centered demand for release, and realize for the first time in our lives that we are getting a firsthand experience of what he felt and experienced as He suffered for us. Stop and identify the type of trouble you feel. Think through Christ's suffering and identify where His pain meets yours. Ask Him to forgive you for feeling that you should be exempt. And as you feel His pain in yours, thank Him that He loved you enough to suffer like this for you." (70)

"To experience Him in the midst of our pain requires that we stop whining about our trials." (70)

-------------------------------------

**All quotations from: Simply Jesus: Experiencing the One Your Heart Longs For by Joseph Stowell (former president of Moody Bible Institute), Multnomah Publ., 2002.

---------------------------------------

*[I am indebted to Amanda Spencer for this irresistibly bright hollyhock watercolor.  View more of her work here.]

Creative Joy

I am seldom happier than when I have creative projects on the go, at least once they are taking shape and I can see the end in view. The joy of creating is only rivaled by the joy of beholding the finished product and realizing, "It is good". Do you suppose this is a way we share God's likeness? When we create, whether it be a quilt or a sketch, a clean window or a tasty meal… we are exhibiting that which sets us apart from all other creatures; we are displaying the image of God, the ultimate Creator and designer of every good thing. We are fulfilling our design, and it is good!

"And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Gen.1:31

I finished a long-standing project last night. The process was not fun, but it was needful. I had to pin myself down to a deadline to get it accomplished. I guess you could say it was a creative project, but the grist I had to work with was not of my own choosing. It was a tangle that needed sorting, defining, straightening—a messy mental project. Critiques are like that. Not only must you sort another's thoughts and words, and weigh them against your perception of God’s thoughts, but you must capture your own voice in words and then order them in such a way as to present an honest but not caustic perspective—one that will bring clarity (and hopefully the mind of the Lord) to benefit the hearer, not merely generate dissension! It is a relief to have it finished. This was a creative task I've felt compelled to take on for months now, but have squirmed out from under till now. For creativity, even a critical book review, [“Face to Face with Bill Johnson”], makes one vulnerable to criticism and disapproval too. It reveals something of what's inside its creator, for better or for worse. The fear of man can stifle it. A word aptly spoken is not always a welcome word. And yet there is this calling to create…and this deep satisfaction when it is finished….

So I woke this morning to my quiet interlude with joy. The robins were singing before the sun had fully risen. I reflected on the joy of creating and remembered God's words to Job, hinting at the creative joy He knew as the foundations of the world were laid:

"…when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:7

I read on down through Job 38 listening to the marvel of God reciting the glory of all His creative genius. Take a minute today to do the same. What an incredible chapter, a set of chapters actually..."things too wonderful for me, which I did not know"…awesome! And Job's heart is transformed in the hearing and the yielding to His awesome Creator's right to do what He wills…Glorious passage!

I was tugged away from my solitude to put the Red River cereal on to boil, and found rare sunshine streaming in my big kitchen windows. Residue from my last cleaning attempts was all too obvious. Can't have that! Vinegar to the rescue! And then the outsides showed their dust and next thing you know I'd whisked outside to the fresh, song-filled air and hit them with Car Wash solution and a good hose down, while the Red River simmered on the stove. Water streaming, making rainbows. A perplexed but patient husband looking out through all the water on his happy wife creating beauty for the joy of it…

Back inside I put on my happy Saturday song (even though it's only Friday!)—Fernando Ortega singing 'This Good Day':

”This good day
It is a gift from You.
The world is turning in its place
because You made it to.
I lift my voice
To sing a song of praise
On this good day.”

The day is just beginning. A quilt top lies wildly beautiful on the living room carpet, awaiting just its borders—hopefully today?! A piece of watercolor paper is at the ready in my new creative space—Joshua's old room-- begging for the pale yellows and pinks to flow to orange on its face…This new day with all its creative possibilities lies before me. What joy!

“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Ps.126:2-6

For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. Ps.92:4

Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven!

--LS 

"May the Lord rejoice in His works." Ps. 104:31

---------------------------------------------

From the archives…for more thoughts on joy, see: Fresh Joy

Revive us Again

 

OK, so I’ve  thrown my energies this week into reading and reviewing a couple books so I can start on the fresh stack I picked up at Missions Fest over the weekend… I realized I still had a book I’d picked up there last year but not yet read.  So it’s now been read and underlined in, reviewed and regurgitated for your perusal at: http://thestackofdawn.blogspot.com/2012/02/azusa-streetbartleman.html

It’s called Azusa Street (by Frank Bartleman) and is the account of the revival there from 1905-1911 that birthed the Pentecostal Movement.  I picked it up out of curiosity I guess, to know what exactly did happened there. The church I grew up in was birthed at very nearly the same time so I wanted to see if there was any connection.  We’ll let the old bones lie.  The connection wasn’t a friendly one.  Those were controversial times for sure.  Churches and theologians were polarized over the revival.  Was God in it?  Doubtless.  Was everything sensational attributable to His Spirit.  Not likely.  But as I picked through the author’s observations trying to separate fact from opinion I realized he had a lot of wise insights to share based on the glories and the pitfalls of revival as he’d experienced them. 

Let me whet your appetite with a few pertinent quotes:

“Nothing hinders faith and the operation of the Spirit so much as the self-assertiveness of the human soul, the wisdom, strength, and self-sufficiency of the human mind.”(76)

“A true Pentecost will produce a mighty conviction for sin, a turning to God. False manifestations produce only excitement and wonder. Sin and self-life will not materially suffer from these.” (91)

“Any work that exalts the Holy Spirit or the gifts above Jesus will finally end up in fanaticism.” (91)

-----------------

As we headed down the highway to Missions Fest I read the final chapter—a fascinating epilogue entitled “Revival and Recovery”, written by another author, Arthur Wallis.  In it he offers a panoramic survey of the major operations of God’s Spirit in the history of the church, with a view to demonstrating that the purpose of God in each subsequent renewal is not only to revive the church of that generation but to recover some truth that has been lost that will equip the bride to fully experience and fully express the life of Christ to the world.  He proposes that “since truth and experience are inseparable and must be in balance if either is to reach its divine objective, we see the Lord moving to emphasize either doctrine and principle, or purity and fullness of life and power.”  (149)

Then commencing with the early church he cites the characteristics of God’s working in each era.  The early church gave us the New Testament and the model for  walking in the light and correcting error.  It thrived in persecutions.  

The fourth century brought the church under official favor and a spiritual decline set in as the church came under pagan influence and an ecclesiastical hierarchy not based in Scripture.  She descended into the dark Middle Ages until true Christianity was almost extinguished, but for a giant of faith here and there.  There were no widespread movements and ‘for a whole millennium the tide of spiritual life continued to recede.” I tried to imagine how different it would have been to live at this time.  What would my understanding of God be like?  What would my life be like without the Word of God to anchor it?

The Fourteenth Century came ‘round and the revolutionary idea that the people should be able to know God’s Word.  England’s only Bible was in Latin!  Enter, John Wycliffe’s translation into English.  The recovery of true Christianity commenced with the return to the Word of God.

“Poor Priests” called Lollards took off with this word in the following century until half of England were either Lollards or sympathetic to their teaching.  Life had come to hungry people.  The way was being paved for…

The Sixteenth Century brought the Reformation under an unlikely poor priest, Martin Luther.  Other reformation giants arose to free the church from bondage to works and introduce salvation by faith.  There were still plenty of traditions to shake but they got the ball rollling.

In the Puritan movement of the seventeenth century “God raised up expositors, men mighty in the Scriptures”.  They emphasized the importance of being grounded in the Word.  Two church movements stemmed from their work:  The Congregational Movement rejected ecclesiastical hierarchy in favor of local church autonomy.   And the Baptist Movement added to this believer’s baptism by immersion.

By the eighteenth century the emphasis on doctrine to the neglect of ‘life’ had led to corruption in leadership and immorality and blasphemy in the culture.  England was saved by the revivals under Wesley and Whitefield.  The Methodist Revival brought a threefold emphasis—instantaneous salvation with assurance of the Holy Spirit, a strong focus on the subjective side of faith, i.e.holiness of heart and life, and the realization that formal education wasn’t essential in order to preach the Word of God. Multitudes were saved.

By the 1800’s revival was again wanting.  Multiple smaller revivals occurred, among them the Brethren Movement emphasizing the sufficiency of the Bible for daily life and church business.  To balance the emphasis on positional truth came the revival of 1859 in England and a great wave of evangelistic and missionary work across denominational lines.  The Salvation Army was born.  The Keswick ‘deeper life’ movement came into being with its proponents: Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith and Jesse Penn-Lewis and others.

Then with the twentieth century came the Welsh Revival and the birth of the Pentecostal Movement emphasizing the filling of the Spirit and the still active gifts of the Spirit to the church.  The author points out that there were excesses and separatist tendencies that caused this movement to be alienated from the rest of the Church.  Developing in isolation its bent to substitute the Spirit’s empowerment for thorough Bible study, weakened its potential.  Arrogance of superior experience sometimes slipped in to further the alienation from the rest of the Body.  However the author cautions against discrediting the whole movement based on its weaknesses.  It continues to make an enormous impact worldwide. 

And so we come down to our times.  Having surveyed even briefly what God has done down through the history of the church Wallis says, “we should not think that any movement has recovered everything, or has consummated the process. The attitude of ‘we have it all’ has all too often characterized the more enlightened of God’s people.  In fact, the more light we have, the greater the danger of falling into this trap.  This is spiritual pride and inevitably results in the halting of  further spiritual progress.”(160)*  Gulp.   With these and other warnings the author proceeded to knock me off my sometimes flighty horse.  Good to put my feet back on the ground and consider how to be ‘cautious without being critical' and ‘discerning without being destructive.’  Who am I to tell the Almighty how He should do His work? He is the Potter.  I’m a lump of clay for His purposes… More and more my heart cry is to be all He has for me to be, nothing more, nothing less.  Isn’t that what revival’s about?

--LS

Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.
        --William P. Mackay, 1863

 

[*The epilogue by Arthur Wallis was excerpted from his booklet entitled “Revival and Reformation of the Church”.  My comments were drawn from pages 147-167 of Azusa Street by Frank Bartleman.  For the full review go to: http://thestackofdawn.blogspot.com/2012/02/azusa-streetbartleman.html ]

Did you enjoy the fajita?

Arguing with my heart today…I read a sweet little book this past while—an allegory written to show the heart of God for his little orphans.  A line stood out to me, made my heart jump in eagerness for it to be true.  The character representing Jesus had just shared little Willie Juan’s lunch with him, consuming it with obvious relish and attention even though it was but a humble home-made fajita.  The line was this:

“When you get to heaven, Little Friend, which is where I live, Abba will not ask you how many prayers you said or how many souls you saved. No, he’ll ask, ‘Did you enjoy the fajita?’ He wants you to live with passion, in the beauty of the moment, accepting and enjoying his gifts.” (Patched Together—Manning,60)

I like that.

But that’s not the sole criteria for accepting such a statement as true.  What of the ‘judgment seat of Christ’?  the giving an account for every idle word? the “What have you done with your few minas—how did you invest them?”

This sort of welcoming Father’s heart that just sweeps me up in arms and enjoys what I have to share is SO much more inviting than my own imagined version of a reserved conditional sort of welcome…or a rewards ceremony where I sit it out in the bleachers just glad to have made it to the event!

Can it be supported in Scripture? 

I waver between basking in God’s pleasure despite my shortcomings and taking serious stock of my situation and wondering if I’m fooling myself to assume He’s entirely pleased.  I don’t really want to think about it, but if my love of God is shown in love for my neighbors… well, these are concrete persons living beside me.  This is a measurable sort of love.  Do I love my neighbors in the same quality and quantity as I love myself?  (grimace)  And if not, hmmm…Will I just get a sympathetic  pat on the head and a ‘nevermind what I asked of you.’  What’s that verse about ‘trembling at His Word’? But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (Is.66:2) 

Oh, I’m eager to listen for His voice, but honestly, I want to hear good stuff—something congratulatory, comforting… Instruction too is ok if it’s not anything too challenging, too scary, too far from my comfort zone. 

And what of this business of reveling in blessings but being loathe to pass them on?  Enjoying ‘the fajita’, so to speak, but not wanting to share it for fear it will all get eaten and I’ll go hungry, or for fear the sharee won’t like it...  Is this why gratitude seems hardly a sufficient response to so much goodness dished out on my behalf?  I’m pretty good at receiving, not nearly so good at generosity…

‘Between the time a gift comes to us and the time we pass it along, we suffer gratitude.’—Lewis Hyde

And so goes my heart-to-mind talk with myself. Ha!  I was reading this morning in a little book on spiritual practices for the modern pilgrim.*  The author referred to “the athlete view of spiritual life” as opposed to a more receptive, less ‘disciplined’ view, where my job is to make space, to be receptive for the Spirit to work.  Interesting concept.  I obviously tend to be the ‘athlete’, at least in my mind!  Try a little harder, pen more lists, spend more time…But it does seem that when I get all through with my mental strivings, or maybe smack dab in the middle of them, when I least expect it, God speaks to my heart precisely what I most need to hear.

It was like that this morning.  I was digging into a  couple phrases that caught my attention from II Samuel 13.  The passage reads like a soap opera.  David’s reigning as king now but on the domestic front things are a mess!  It seems his own sins have come to nest in his children’s lives. David’s firstborn rapes his own half-sister.  Then after scheming for two years her own blood brother avenges her shame (and sets himself up to be heir to the throne?)  by murdering David’s first-born.  And twice in this passage you read the words: “Don’t take it to heart.”  Once addressed to the sister who’s just been violated and will now hide in shame for the duration of her life.  Once addressed to David whose beloved son has just murdered his firstborn son!  “Don’t take it to heart” !!! How does that work?

Oh, and the beautiful girl whose life is left in shambles is told to ‘hold your peace’.  Really?  This hardly seems like an appropriate response.  So I went looking at these two phrases throughout Scripture. [Incidentally, blueletterbible.org is a SUPER resource for such studies.  Try it out sometime!]   There are things that should and things that should not be ‘taken to heart’.  As the source of the ‘springs of life’ the heart has got to be guarded with discrimination. (Prov.4:23) 

For instance, Moses warns the Israelites to remember who their God is so they don’t go chasing idols: “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (Deut.4:39)

But Pharaoh, when he should take to heart the plagues as signs of the one true God, refuses to do so and instead hardens his heart. (Ex.7:23)

I won’t take your through all my rich gleanings... but what are the things I take to heart when in fact only what God says deserves to hold sway there?  Reminds me of something Brennan Manning said in that sweet little book I mentioned earlier:

“Live like the beloved of Abba…Your courage in living as Abba’s beloved can give others the strength to do the same. For in the end only one thing remains—Abba’s love… Define yourself as one beloved by God.” (124)

Which brings us back to my mind and my heart arguing…ah, and that other word study: “Hold your peace.” Now this was interesting.  Definitely a range of reasons to hold your peace and definite occasions not to!  Queen Esther on the one hand was brought to her position for ‘just such a time as this’ and strongly encouraged not to ‘hold her peace’ lest she and her family be destroyed (Esther 4:14).  But there are times when the fight is the Lord’s and our job is to ‘hold your peace’. (Ex.14:14)

Okay, so I’m buzzing along through all these references to  charash, the Hebrew verb meaning: hold your peace, be silent, be dumb, be speechless, be deaf…keep quiet, and I’m loving it. ( I love words in their settings and all the nuances of written language! And when their God’s words, it’s even better!) And then I come to God’s answer for my restless debate between heart and mind.  For there is a verse that refers to God holding His peace, God choosing silence as the best expression of His love.  I have read it many times before,  (Oh that reading were believing!) and various translations render it in different ways. 

But Zephaniah 3:17 describes God as resting (being silent, speechless, quiet) in His love for His beloved.  First He is described as being ‘mighty in your midst’ and as One who saves.  Yes, He’s a powerful God and Saviour.  He’s described as ‘rejoicing over thee with joy’.  Yes, there is an exuberance too.  And He’s even said to sing over His beloved.  But in the middle is this resting, this silent love. “He will rest in his love.”  He isn’t hung up with all the objections that hold me back from believing His love could cover my multitude of sins.  He just loves.  This is a silent joy in ‘the possession of the object of one’s love, too great for words to express’.  (J,F, & B commentary).  It is perhaps like the rest of silent satisfaction after the six days of creation, when God looked and ‘behold it was very good’.

As Matthew Henry puts it, “The great God not only loves his saints, but he loves to love them."  Song of Solomon, if we can take it as a figure of Christ and the Church, implies that we captivate God’s heart. “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes…” (SofS 4:9) 

As heirs with Israel of God’s grace we are destined to be “a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God…and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Is.62:3,5)  There is not a lot of room for argument here.  We are objects of an incredible and very personal love.  And I suspect that as we come to live in our true identity as ones well loved, the obedience that seems so scary will begin to flow quite naturally from our well-nourished hearts, constrained by such a great love, to do anything desired by the Lover.

I give thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise…for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (Ps.138:1,2)

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
(I Jn.4:16)

Whew! If you got to the end of that you’re a wonder.  Bless you and be sure to enjoy the fajita!

--LS

“The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.  Do not forsake the work of your hands.” –Ps.138:8

P.S. A brief review of Patched Together by Brennan Manning is posted at: thestackofdawn.blogspot.com

-----------------------------

*God in the Yard: Spiritual Practice for the rest of us--Barkat, p.41ff

Dreaming Big

 I’m reviving an old habit this week, thanks to the faith-boosting writing of Paul Miller in A Praying Life. I’ve pulled out my old prayer-request notebook and have been browsing through the entries…It’s one of those old-fashioned, pocket-size, 6-ring binders. Mine’s got custom pages, mostly hand-cut, color-coded into three main divisions: Family, The Body, and The World. Just about everything I pray about fits under one of those. Then there’s another section for writing out prayers and prayer promises straight from Scripture. Who wouldn’t want Colossians 1:9-10 prayed for them consistently?!

“We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom…we also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need…May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light…”

Some of praying requires dreaming big, asking for the sky! Seeing beyond the present to a future that is altogether different and praying that direction. That’s what praying from the Word spurs me on to do.
I’ve been reading in particular the Family requests. Lots of long-term things for all of us, character qualities to sharpen, bents of heart to bless, habits to shake. There’s a lot of watching and waiting involved in these things…

The catch is, the details--the events that happen on the way to the dream being fulfilled. They don’t always (often? ever?) look like I imagined they would/should. And sometimes that makes me think I’m on the wrong track, shooting for the wrong dream. But after all, every story has a plot and is built around some sort of conflict or suspense (or it wouldn’t be a story!). I just have to remember I’m not the Author of the story! So, I’m back on the written page, working on a fresh index card system, penning my suggestions for how the story line might go, submitting my requests for plot adjustments and waiting in the wings to see how it will all play out in the hands of the Master Playwright.

Habakkuk knew the feeling. His people were about to be taken captive by the meanest guys around, and God was allowing it, orchestrating it even…Sounded like crazy talk but he stood on the frontlines watching to see what would transpire, confident that his hopes were well placed in the God of his salvation and his strength. Here’s what he said, and how God answered:

Habakkuk: “I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me…”

The Lord: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets,…for still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay….but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (2:1-4)

And that’s why I’m putting pen to paper, so I will keep my vision clear and my faith unclouded to watch as the story of our lives unfolds.

--------------------------

I’m keeping this post short so that I can tell you more about Paul Miller’s book: A Praying Life. Here’s an excerpt of my thoughts, taken from my own review at: thestackofdawn.blogspot.com.

“Here it is, a book for Christians “struggling with life, who pray badly yet long to connect with their heavenly Father.” I’ve collected lots of book on prayer over the course of my guilt-ridden life, driven to do something about my substandard ‘prayer life’. I’ve started in to read the classics by the ‘famous’ Christians who knew how to pray and could lay out the ‘doctrine’ of it thoroughly and without a loophole. And I’ve read some ‘loopier’ modern ones-- that imply that God is always talking to me and if I’ll just learn to tune in, I can ask anything I want and voila! I’ll have the answers I’m seeking. It’s just that easy. But buying books on prayer is kinda like buying art books—it’s easier to spend the money collecting the books than the time learning to draw. Prayer comes down to that, spending time talking, and listening, and being conscious of God’s responses as they’re woven into my days.

“What’s neat about this book is that it’s not only inviting to read because it’s built on the real life experience of the author (and his family), but it also makes you want to pray, to stop reading and start in, right now! Life-as-is becomes the starting point for coming like a dependent child to a Father who cares intimately about everything and desires to meet my needs. It’s not so much a matter of discipline once I recognize my utter need for God’s intervention in my days. Prayerlessness implies that I’m trusting in something else—my money, ability, spouse, fate?…to get me through without God. Anxiety is the tell-tale sign of my misplaced confidence. The circumstances of life are better seen as an invitation to talk to my Father about everything….”

To continue reading and sample some choice excerpts please see my book review blog: A Few Good Books, here. I hope you’ll be inspired to take a fresh look with me at the best habit ever, a praying life.

--LS