GospelLife

First Graduation at the Bible Institute

Sat, 26 May 2012 07:29:42 -0400

For those of you who faithfully supported our family for two years as we lived and taught at the Eurasian Baptist Bible Institute and Trade School, we have an exciting announcement. On Friday, the first ever class of students graduated from the Bible Institute!

As we look at the faces of the thirteen students pictured above, we remember that first year when none of us knew what to expect. Despite our weaknesses, God blessed us and established the Bible Institute under the prayerful leadership of Eric and Stephanie Chapman (also pictured above). We cannot communicate the privilege we felt to watch as these young men and women were transformed by the Holy Spirit from eager, immature students to responsible exegetes of God’s Word.

On Thursday, Stacy Leigh, Jude, and I were able to Skype with the graduating class. Some will be returning to their villages to pastor their home churches. Many others will be sent out by their home churches to plant new churches in the unevangelized villages nearby. As these students begin a lifetime of ministry for the glory of God, please pray that God would keep them faithful until the End.

Also, if seeing this excites you as much as it does me, please pray about supporting a student at the Bible Institute. For $50/month or $600/year, you can fund the education and housing of one student. Looking at these smiling faces, it is hard to think of any other investment that could be as profitable for the Kingdom of God. (You can give by going to the EurAsian Baptist Mission website. If you have questions, you can direct them to EBMgiving@gmail.com)

These men and women are mighty warriors of the Lord, who are now leaving their training and going to the front lines, in order to engage in the combat of Gospel-proclamation where otherwise the Gospel would never be proclaimed! I praise God for them. Please join me in praying for them.

Sonnet On Our Sixth Anniversary

Sun, 20 May 2012 07:40:07 -0400

Penetrating orange mixed with violet
ebbing and flowing each morn and each eve
carried along its course by Helios’s Pilot,
more joys and more sorrows than we could conceive.

Our hearts, black and blue, have burst and broken.
Blood pours from sweat and lashes and water,
more sacred than death, vows not forsaken
as we’ve found forgiveness at crimson altar.

Yet the blood must be shed if glory be won.
What weight of glory awaits undiluted.
What love! What union with the Bridegroom Son!
In your arms my faith is undisputed.

If this marriage be only the taste,
my appetite roars, “Come, Lord, in haste!”

My Messy Manger: Year in Review

Tue, 08 May 2012 16:00:00 -0400

My Messy Manger: Year in Review:

Over on her blog, Stacy Leigh has given a great review of the past year in our lives. Please take a moment to read it and pray for us.

The Underestimated God

Mon, 07 May 2012 20:34:58 -0400

The Underestimated God:

God used this message by Ligon Duncan at Together For the Gospel to nourish my discouraged soul tonight.

I’m so thankful to Joni and Friends for putting together...

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:33:27 -0400

I’m so thankful to Joni and Friends for putting together this video. It is a five minute Autism 101 course to help persons who don’t deal with autism directly understand the disorder and how it affects families. If there is anyone in your family, church, or circle of influence dealing with autism, take five minutes to watch this so that you can be a more informed conduit of God’s love and grace.

Autism Discussion on Moody Radio

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:36:00 -0400

Autism Discussion on Moody Radio:

Yesterday, Shannon Royce from Chosen Families was interviewed on Moody Radio’s program In the Market with Janet Parshall. I encourage you to click the link and listen to their discussion on autism. It is well-balanced, honest, and encouraging. Shannon mentions our family around the 20:30 mark, but I encourage you to listen to the program in its entirety.

World Autism Awareness Day and a Poem

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:59:59 -0400

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Please spend a few moments today praying for the millions of families around the world coping with this disorder.

Autism is not a death sentence. God redeems autism for his own glory, and there are many examples of persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder doing great things and, more importantly, becoming great people. However, these outcomes are not independent of the suffering endured by families for years at a time. Our family knows firsthand both the joys and the sorrows of autism.

Our culture, in its flippancy, often skips too quickly to the happy ending. So, on this day, I want to share with you an incredibly personal poem that will, Lord willing, help you identify with our suffering and with the suffering of other families dealing with this same disorder. Living with autism isn’t always pretty. This poem verbalizes some of the darkest times and darkest feelings, and yet we have hope in God. Pray that we, and others, will not lose sight of His rays of hope in this often dark experience.

Jessi’s Wedding Reception

Two hours in a car
with you, delirious.
Blue eyes bright as stars
covered by hazy cirrus,
gray streaks of disorder.

Tantrum quakes you
with no ability to calm.
My heart breaks anew,
praying, no sobbing the psalm:
“How long, O Lord?”

My sister in white,
I didn’t see dance.
Dad won his fight.
I’m holding the lance
combatting an invisible horde.

Wolves I could kill.
Giants I could slay.
Now I sit still
screaming amid the fray,
“I hate autism!”
“I hate autism.”

The Gospel Is For Christians

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0500

There is nothing exceptional about Mitch Chase’s book The Gospel Is For Christians, except for the fact that the book itself is exceptional. I have rarely read a book that is so simple yet so comprehensive.

There is nothing unique in Chase’s book. Everything he writes can be found in a number of other books written by great evangelical authors. However, this very fact makes The Gospel Is For Christians unique. The very best of what can be read in a number of books can be found in this one book. Why? Because of the simplicity and comprehensiveness of Chase’s main idea.

Chase explains:

[W]e need to remember that the gospel is not something that we leave behind at the front door of the Christian faith so that we can pursue other things. The gospel is everything for the believer” (9).

The gospel isn’t only for unbelievers. As the title says, the gospel is for Christians because the truth of the gospel affects every area of the Christian’s life.

Chase intentionally imitates the style of Paul’s letters. He begins with an explanation of the gospel and then turns to application of the gospel in the second half. Because the gospel is comprehensive in the second half of the book Chase applies the gospel to several areas of life: personal spiritual growth, the church, church growth, missions, marriage, and parenting. He does not cover each subject as thoroughly as he could, but his task is breadth rather than depth.

For this reason, The Gospel Is For Christians is an ideal book for use with young believers. Whether you are guiding a young believer through one-on-one discipleship, leading a small group, or teaching a class of adults or youth, this book is perfect for founding young believers on a solid understanding of the gospel and for teaching them how the gospel affects many areas of life.

If I was a pastor, college minister, or youth pastor, I would order cases of this book to give out to everyone in my ministry because if every Christian could understand the gospel and its application as clearly as Chase presents it we would see unparalleled transformation. As Chase himself writes, “Remember, we can’t assume that people know the gospel” (270), and likewise we can’t assume that people know how the gospel ought to affect every aspect of life.

Greece 2012: Summary

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:38:00 -0500

[Romanian Class Group Shot]

Thank you once again for your prayers and financial support. I wanted to encourage your faithfulness to God’s mission by sharing with you what God did in Athens this January.

Unfortunately, many mission trips are short-sighted. My two years in Moldova taught me that missions is hard, slow work. I was excited to work with Training Leaders International (TLI) in Athens because they have a long term vision.

TLI has designed a multi-year curriculum that will train church leaders to faithfully preach God’s word. Ryan, a faithful IMB missionary, coordinates the program in Athens in partnership with TLI. Our team began this work among six language groups—Romanian (which I taught), Albanian, Farsi, Arabic, and English (for Africans). For the next several years, the men we taught will continue their training as other TLI teams go to Athens.

God blessed my time with the Romanian-speaking group. Every night we covered two of God’s attributes. The Romanians and Moldovans were eager to study and asked challenging questions. However, their interest was not merely intellectual. We concluded each night with earnest times of prayer and song as we praised God for who he is.

The Romanian-speaking churches are possibly the strongest evangelical churches in Athens and are actively involved in evangelism and church planting throughout Greece. It is my conviction that these classes will make their work more effective and more God-honoring.

God used my knowledge of the Romanian language and culture to solidify the confidence and trust of the Romanian believers in TLI’s program. My time along with your prayers and money were an investment in these men and in the ministries of TLI and IMB missionary Ryan. I am confident that we will receive a good return on our investment by God’s grace. Again, thank you.

Greece 2012: Confidence and Trust

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:38:30 -0500

Our team is slowly waking up and getting ready to head to the airport for the long trip to Europe. Before leaving I wanted to share one item of prayer with you so that you can join me in presenting this before God.

Please pray that we can quickly gain the confidence and trust of those leaders who will be studying. This is critical to good teaching.

There are at least three crucial things we need to gain our students’s confidence and trust:

First, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Spirit-filled people respond to Spirit-empowered teaching. We have great curriculum, but we must proclaim it with His power rather than depending on our own feeble abilities.

Second, we must be well studied and knowledgable. Pray that God will give us time and that he will bless our preparation for this class.

Third, pray for a humble attitude among these students. There are no superstars on our team and no PhDs. Pray that these students will be willing to learn from a bunch of normal guys who are speaking God’s word with God’s power.

Greece Trip Journal

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:07:03 -0500

Greece Trip Journal:

Tomorrow morning I leave for Minneapolis and then for Athens on Friday. One way you can keep up with the happenings of this trip and pray for our team is by reading our trip journal on the Training Leaders International website. I will do my best to also keep my website, Facebook, and Twitter up to date, but, even if I am not able, you can keep track from this site.

Thank You: Goal Met for Greece Trip 2012

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:11:51 -0500

Thank you to everyone who contributed to my upcoming trip to Greece. My goal has been met, and now I am working to pack everything for when that plane takes off on Wednesday, January 5th.

I also want to say a special thank you to everyone from Hardin Baptist Church for you generous gift.

Whether now or while in Moldova, it has always been amazing to witness God providing for his mission through his people. Please continue to pray that God will be glorified through this trip.

"Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to..."

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:35:58 -0500

“Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp’d town to’another due,
Labor to’admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly’I love you, and would be lov’d fain,
But am betroth’d unto your enemy;
Divorce me,’untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you’enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.”

- John Donne (1572-1631)

Christmas Means Theological Training Is Important

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:41:00 -0500

At Christmas, we take the time to remember the amazing truth about the person of Jesus. “Remaining what he was, he became what he was not.” When he was born in Bethlehem, Jesus remained fully God, but he also, in a mysterious way, became fully man.

By becoming fully man, the eternal Son of God gained the ability to experience every temptation and trial that we face while also gaining the ability to suffer and die. If Jesus was not fully human then he could not have been the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. By remaining fully God, Jesus was able to bear the penalty for the sins of the whole world and able to be the mediator between God and man.

To misunderstand who Jesus is is to misunderstand the Gospel of salvation. Jesus could not be our Savior if he was only half God and half man. He could not be our Savior if he was created, as some heretical groups teach. Our salvation depends on this important yet difficult Gospel truth.

Please lift me up to the throne of grace in preparation for my trip to Athens, Greece from January 5-14. I will be partnering with Training Leaders International to teach the leaders of the Romanian-speaking churches there. Although some of the older pastors have received training in Romania, many of the younger leaders are unable to receive training in their own language.

It is vitally important for these churches to have men who know how to study and proclaim the Bible. Without training, churches easily fall into errors that can keep them from reaching people for Jesus. As we are reminded every Christmas, what we believe that the Bible teaches has eternal significance!

Please partner with me in prayer as I prepare for this trip. I have raised about half of the $2500 that I need for my portion of the trip. Please pray that God will provide the remaining amount. Also, pray that God will provide a skillful translator for the teaching time. Pray that God will prepare all of our hearts as we study about God’s attributes, and pray that God will strengthen the Romanian-speaking churches in Athens and that many people will meet Jesus through their ministry.

If God impresses on your heart a desire to support my trip financially, then you can do so online by following this link.

I hope that all who read this have merry Christmas that draws you closer to your family, to your church, and most importantly to the God-man we worship! What a privilege it is to proclaim the same good news that angels sang about to those bewildered shepherds all those years ago!

A Quest for Godliness

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:16:06 -0500

Many lovers of the Puritans posses the cultural irrelevance and kookiness of hardcore Trekies or Renaissance faire nuts. Going to a church led by a Puritan-obsessed pastor can be a bizarre experience as twenty-first century persons try their best to pretend they are in fact living in the seventeenth century with the exceptions of their clothing, sound system, and electric lights. To many more normal people, such practices seem just as disconnected from real life as learning to speak Elvish.

Although I have long been an admirer of the Puritans from a distance, the bizarre practices of many who emulate Puritan forms as the means to the Puritans’s godliness have long caused me to keep the Puritans at arms length. J.I. Packer’s A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life finally proved to me that both my approach and the approach of the Puritan-ophile are wrong.

Both in secular history and Christian history, there is a tendency to portray the Puritans as being “so heavenly minded that they were of no earthly good.” In my public school education, the Puritans were portrayed as the enemies of Shakespeare, the hysterical witch-hunters of Salem, or the hypocritical victimizers of Hester Prynne. The only primary Puritan source that I recall reading in high school was Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” but even in my conservative school, it was derided as uncouth, judgmental, and, well, Puritanical.

Going to Boyce College was quite a different experience when it came to the study of the Puritans. I learned to better appreciate them and respect them, but even there I got the impression that, with a few exceptions, the Puritans were largely irrelevant. I know this was not the intention of my instructors, but this was the perception I received from the Puritans’s own book titles, which are about as long as the books themselves, and the reports that certain Puritan preachers spent decades preaching through books of the Bible. I thought of the Puritans as great men, great theologians, and great men of devotion, but largely irrelevant residents of an ivory tower.

Packer takes great pains to portray the Puritans as truly earthly saints—men of God who wanted to apply God’s truth to every area of their earthly life. Like Roman Catholic monks, Puritans sought a life wholly devoted to God, but, unlike Roman Catholic monasticism, the goal of Puritan “monasticism” was to live out piously in the context of normal human relationships. Rather than pursuing godliness by escaping the world, the Puritans pursued godliness in the world—in their countries, in their communities, in their churches, and in their families.

For the Puritans, no dichotomy between doctrine and godly living existed. The study of, writing about, and preaching of doctrine was important because right doctrine is the means to godly living. Due to this, the Puritans set a great example for us to follow. They were “physicians of the soul,” masters of application. They were not superficial but were penetrating in the way they applied the Word to life. They understood people—their motives, actions, and processes—much better than we do even with all our studies in psychology.

Because of this, the Puritans can aid us today as we attempt to apply the truth of Gospel to our own day and to the lives of people to whom we minister as Christians. Their wisdom should be valued by us today, and it is my hope to read many more Puritan works myself, not because I want to cloister myself away from the modern world but because I want to reach it. Let us imitate the Puritan heart and not merely their forms in a superficial way. Let us not sin against these brothers—these fathers rather—in the faith either by ignoring them or by making of them the Reformed pastor’s equivalent of nerdy, anti-social sci-fi obsession.

Failing and Re-Learning Family Worship

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:10:05 -0500

Consistent, meaningful times of family worship have long been a goal of mine. When Stacy was pregnant with Jude, she obsessed over cloth diapers and baby slings while I spent my time perusing Amazon and bookstores for resources for family worship. I imagined reading and re-reading the Bible storybooks until we all had them practically memorized. I imagined catechizing Jude and hearing him say with a little kid voice that our chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

With this enthusiasm, I started family worship early with Jude. He was barely able to sit in his high chair when every morning after breakfast we began reading a chapter of The Big Picture Story Bible followed by prayer for our day and for an unreached people group. We did this faithfully for almost a year and a half, but over time we became increasingly frustrated with Jude’s lack of engagement. I would swing him in our backyard in Moldova repeatedly asking him the most basic catechetical question: “Jude, who created you? God. Jude, who created this tree? God. Jude, who created Peanut and Heidi (the dogs)? God.” Over and over and over again, I would ask and answer the creation question just hoping that he would attempt to say, “God,” even if it was only because he thought it an amusing sound to make.

Of course, at this same time, we were becoming aware of Jude’s developmental delays, which has only recently been diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder. Feeling defeated by my inability to gain Jude’s interest, I put the story Bible on the bookshelf and left it there. “Some day in the future,” I told myself, “when we overcome these problems, I’ll start family worship again.” After this came our move back to America and the resultant hectic schedule. Any random attempts to revive family worship have been unsuccessful.

When I saw on my syllabus this semester that Dr. Whitney would be teaching on family worship, I thought cynically, “I’m sure he’s never tried to lead a child on the Autism Spectrum in family worship,” and when the day came for his lecture on the subject, I entered the hour with bitterness in my heart. However, my bitterness dissipated as Dr. Whitney made a point that I had never understood before. I had restricted the goal of family worship to engaging children, but Dr. Whitney emphasized that even newlyweds should be worshiping together through Scripture reading, prayer, and song.

Family worship isn’t for children alone. It is for any and every family member capable of being involved. Stacy Leigh and I both need to worship together. As we fight the spiritual battles of discouragement, depression, and despair, we need to strengthen one another through times of worship together, and, as a husband, it is my duty before God to provide such experiences. Previously, my misguided expectations resulted in an unsuccessful practice. With Advent beginning this Sunday, I want to recommit to the practice of leading my family—and more specifically my wife—in worship. I know that doing so will never be easy as Satan desires to keep us from the worship of God and to deprive our family of spiritual food. Yet, I am confident that a clearer, truer expectation for family worship will result in a more profitable experience, and I hope that one day when Jude is capable of joining us, we will have already established a consistent, meaningful family tradition.

Was Judas Iscariot Unique?

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:11:06 -0500

When introducing ourselves in Moldova, people often had difficulty with our foreign-sounding names. To alleviate this difficulty, we would give the Romanian equivalents of our names: Joshua is Iosua, Stacy is a version of Anastasia, and Jude is Iuda. We were surprised, however, when a friend said to us one day, “Don’t tell people that Jude’s name is Iuda.” In English, we have two names, Jude and Judas, that translate the one Greek name Ioudas. Our English-speaking forefathers decided to utilize two different names to avoid confusion between the author of the Letter of Jude and Judas Iscariot who betrayed our Lord. However, in Romanian, there is only one name, Iuda, and this name is most closely associated with Judas Iscariot. We were causing great confusion because people assumed that we had named Jude after Judas Iscariot. I suppose they were asking each other, “What sort of missionaries name their son after the betrayer of the Lord Jesus?”

Even though I did not name my son after him, I think it is important to understand Judas and his actions. If you watch the History Channel specials about Jesus that are always aired around Easter time, you will see liberal theologians trying to analyze Judas and understand his actions. I’ve heard these theologians say things like, “Judas wasn’t really a bad guy. He just became disillusioned with Jesus because Jesus was not taking the action he thought was necessary to establish his kingdom over against the Romans. Judas thought that by getting the Jewish leaders involved Jesus would be forced to act. Judas thought that one day he would be seen as a hero.” Unfortunately, these men treat the gospels like biased news accounts rather than the inspired Word of God.

The Bible affirms that Judas‘ actions were evil. Judas was evil. We should not and cannot justify him and his actions. We do not question the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. However, we must question the uniqueness of Judas‘ evil. Were Judas‘ actions unique? Was Judas Iscariot unique? The answer to this question is both yes and no. Yes, Judas‘ actions were unique because no one in all of history will be the tool Satan—and God, also, in an inexplicable way—uses to bring about the death of Jesus. However, the answer to the question is also no—Judas is not unique.

Judas received incredible blessing. He witnessed Jesus‘ teaching, miracles, and friendship firsthand. He beheld the glory of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Yet, Judas spurned the blessing of God and sought to achieve his own, personal, monetary blessing by delivering the Son of God to be killed. Following these actions, Judas felt the weight of God’s judgment and sought his own way of atonement by returning the money and committing suicide.

These decisions were a particularly Adamic series of decisions. Where else do we see the same series of events? Genesis 1-3. Adam received incredible blessing from God. He beheld God firsthand. He experienced God’s grace and truth. Yet, Adam spurned the blessing of God and sought to achieve his own, personal blessing by rebelling against God in order to become “like God” himself. But immediately following this, he felt guilt and sought his own way of atonement by making clothes from fig leaves. Just like his son Judas, Adam’s decisions were suicidal in nature. He knew that eating the fruit meant certain death!

Yes, Judas‘ actions are evil, but they are not unique. As equal inheritors of Adam’s nature, apart from God’s grace, we all make this same series of decisions. We all act in this suicidal manner. We have all received incredible benefits from God by the very fact that we are alive. We all, at the very least, see God’s invisible attributes revealed in Creation, but we spurn God’s blessings. In our unrighteousness, we suppress the truth. We seek our own blessing by becoming our own God. We are enemies of God. Our sinful motives, thoughts, words, and deeds are attempts to destroy him. When we do feel guilt over our sin, we seek self-atonement through various methods of religion, psychology, and self-help. But no matter what we do these actions will finally lead to our death. Sin is self-destructive.

Jesus said, “It would have been better for that man if he had not been born” (Mark 14:21), and if we do not escape our suicide by God’s grace, we likewise will one day say, “It would have been better for me if I had not been born.” O, But may we not forget that Judas was a disciple! If it was possible for him to fall to such depths, how can I be so prideful to think that I am beyond such self-destructive decisions? “Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it; Prone to leave the God I love.” Is this not the song of my heart? We must make this our prayer: “Take my heart, Lord; Take and seal it; Seal it for Thy courts above!” One day I will see him, and when I am overcome by his unshielded glory all that I will be able to say is “Grace alone. Grace alone brought me here!”

The Pilgrim's Influence

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:35:00 -0500

Our tears to joy, our fears to faith
Are turned, as we see.

Twice I have read the first part of The Pilgrim’s Progress, but only now have I completed the entire book including the second part.

The first part is the classic story. Christian escapes the City of Destruction by going through the narrow, wicket gate. While taking the King’s Highway, he faces many trials and temptations. He fights and overcomes Appolyon. He remains faithful at Vanity Fair, and he escapes destruction by Giant Despair. In the end, he wades through the River with his friend Hopeful, and the two are escorted into the Celestial City where trials are no more and only joy awaits them. There are few passages in all of un-inspired literature that compare with Christian wading through the River, almost losing sight of the Celestial City, and then crying out in triumph:

Oh, I see him again! And he tells me, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.” Then they both took courage, and the enemy was after that as still as a stone, until they were gone over.

While the second part is about Christian’s wife and sons, it is equally about Christian’s influence. The story of Christian—of his trials, ultimate victory, and glorious state—have become almost legendary in the City of Destruction. These stories bring great guilt to Christian’s wife, who had rejected his pleas for her to join him. Christian’s faithfulness eventually compels Christiana to forsake all for the Celestial City. Christiana and her four sons are joined by their neighbor Mercy. Along the way, the pilgrim party grows to include a number of other characters: Mr. Honest, Mr. Ready-to-Halt, Mr. Feeble-Mind, Mr. Valiant-For-Truth, and Mr. Stand-Fast. The group is led by Mr. Great-Heart who symbolizes the ideal pastor. Mr. Great-Heart guides the group, protects them, slays the giants along their path, and finally encourages them as they pass through the River to the Celestial City.

All along their journey, the little church recounts the story of Christian, and as they arrive at various places they marvel, saying, “This is where Christian did such-and-such.” Were Bunyan not a Puritan Baptist, we might think that he was signifying the importance of pilgrimage to holy sites and veneration of the saints. However, knowing his theology, this cannot be the case. Instead, he is pointing out the incredible influence of a faithful life. The fruit of Christian’s faithfulness ripens in the lives of these people.

In my journey to the Celestial City, I often cannot see beyond my trials. I fight with Appolyon. I must pass between lions. I have been imprisoned by Giant Despair. I must remain faithful at Vanity Fair. While traveling through the pain, the disappointment, the temptations, and even the despair, we must not forget that even in these things we are moving closer to seeing our God face-to-face and also that God uses the faithfulness of his saints to influence others. God uses our faithfulness to convict sinners and to encourage other saints to press on.

As Christiana says, “The bitter must come before the sweet, and that also will make the sweet the sweeter.”

Teaching the Perfections of God's Beauty

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:16:05 -0500

In the midst of a psalm that emphasizes God’s judgment and his desire for genuine worship, Asaph sings this beautiful line—“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth” (Ps 50:2). He imagines the glory of God shining forth into the world from Zion, the holy hill where God is worshiped. I am unsure whether Asaph intended the phrase “the perfection of beauty” to describe Zion or to describe God directly, but perhaps the issue is meaningless because, whatever beauty Zion possesses, it is obviously derived from God’s shining forth from it. In The Treasury of David, Spurgeon makes this point: “She [Zion] is made perfect in beauty by his indwelling.”

So, clearly God is the source of perfect beauty. Beauty is emotional, intoxicating, and exhilarating. Beauty is not something to be coldly studied. We must experience beauty. Whether it is the beauty of a breathtaking natural wonder or the beauty of your spouse, beauty is wasted if it is not enjoyed.

When I go to Greece in a couple of months, I will be teaching a course on the attributes of God. I think our traditional term “attributes” tends to be too scientific. In the past, when learning the attributes of God, I have approached them somewhat coldly. I treated God’s attributes as specimens to be categorized, defined, and examined. Perhaps the older theological term, the perfections of God, or a term derived from this psalm, the beauties of God, would more accurately prepare us for the task. We study the perfection of God’s beauty in order to enjoy God, in order to marvel at him, in order to be speechless before him.

As I teach in January, I pray the God will shine forth from me in the perfection of his beauty. Will you pray with me? Will you pray that God will let us glimpse his glory as the Romanian-speaking leaders and I study God’s word in Athens?

Why Read Books? For People.

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:38:16 -0500

Mega-bookstores are overwhelming. On a date last week, Stacy and I went to Barnes & Noble to drink coffee and browse around, and as we were there, I came away with two conflicting impressions. First, so many books exist that should never have been written and should never be read. I saw so many titles that seemed absolutely worthless—books destined to be in the penny bin of a local used bookstore for the next twenty years. I was saddened by the wasted time of the authors, editors, publishers, and readers of such books.

However, just when I was beginning to get discouraged, I spotted a shelf featuring the Barnes & Noble Classics series. I carefully studied the titles to see which books Barnes & Noble had deemed classics. I saw many books that I had read—Pilgrim’s Progress, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn to name a few—but I began to covet the many books in the series that I have not had opportunity to read. I began to imagine spending a lifetime reading such classic books—treasuries of human thought. I imagined myself locked away in some ivory tower—or rather some cabin in Kentucky with a fireside chair—devouring all this information and storing it away into my mind for—for what?—for me, just for me, all for me.

When I realized where my thoughts were leading, I became disgusted with my envisioned self—the miser of knowledge. So, I reacted in my mind by fleeing in the complete opposite direction—I want to give my life to God’s word and ministering in Jesus‘ name to people. I don’t want to lock myself away for the selfish pursuit of human knowledge but give my life for the sake of humanity like Christ gave his life.

It was then that the pendulum which I had been riding slowed to the center. I had made enemies of friends. Perhaps my years of study at institutions and under teachers that cherish books had unconsciously preconditioned me to this. In Bible college and seminary, it seems that many students choose fairly early on to be either a book person or a people person. I had tried to walk the line between the two, but finally in Barnes & Noble I reconciled these friends by coming to this conclusion: People are the purpose of reading. Reading the Great Books opens a window into the minds, hearts, and souls of people. Great literature opens our eyes to the emotions, motivations, and values of people. By understanding people better, we are better able to apply the gospel of Jesus Christ to people’s lives.

I was even more encouraged by this thought when I realized that I was proposing for myself nothing less than the practice of the greatest missionary the world has ever seen—the Apostle Paul. The great missionary had read the great books of his time, even though such books were not available as $6 paperback editions at mega-bookstores. On Mars Hill, he quoted Epimenides and Aratus (Acts 17:28). He quotes Menander in 1 Corinthians 15:33. Then, again he quotes Epimenides in Titus 1:12. Paul’s wide-reading did not hinder his pursuit of biblical study or love for people—he excelled in both. Rather, he filtered such authors through his biblical worldview and used them to understand, explain, and reach the Gentiles with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There are many, many worthless books, but there are also many that help us understand humanity within their cultural contexts. As any missiologist will tell you, if you want to reach people, you must understand people. Read for the purpose of people. I want to read so that all peoples will worship God in Christ.