Serving God with His people at Faith OPC has been a great joy and blessing. When I grow up, I want to umpire Little League Baseball. I will revel on that day when I can say to a 10-year-old boy after four pitched balls, "Take a walk in the sunshine."
My wife of 30+ years, Peggy, consistently demonstrates the love of Christ and remains my very best friend. Our six children, our four lovely, sweetie-pie daughters-in-law, and our four grandchildren serve as resident theologians.
I value the hospital patients, on whom I call, who tell of the Lord's healing. No question, after their healing, they turn around and tell their story of healing to others. The same is true for overcomers who have experienced drug addiction, or those who conquer bitterness from unemployment, or those who taste the renewal and hope that comes after the pain of a divorce situation; and to be sure, there are dozens of other kinds of examples of trial and hardship.
There's something about the vantage point of our own wounds, afflictions and diseases where, after God's healing for us, it can flow to others. Through our own wounds, our own stripes, there's healing for others.
In this way, the Christian always stays under the cross of Christ Jesus.
Jesus welcomed the children. He said: Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.
Babies and young children teach us many things. 1. It’s natural to be hungry. 2. It’s common to need rest. 3. It’s expected that they will communicate using cries, expressing frustrations and insecurities. 4. It’s to be expected that they will be bold around others, perhaps brash, adventuresome and uninhibited.
Whoever doe not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.
You are children….be who you are. Are you hungry? Come and eat. Need rest? Come to the Table for refreshment. Frustrated, facing trials—come to Christ, He is our Host, and He is here to minister with food and drink.
Who is admitted to the Lord’s Table? Those who have been baptized, those who are under the care of local elders or the care of a church’s leadership—that means that you and they have spoken together, and you have a credible testimony of faith that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. If so, come today, and receive nourishment. If you havenot been baptized; if you are not under the care of local elders or local church leadership, and there’s no knowledge about your spiritual condition or interests, then wait; speak to an elder first before partaking today. Or maybe right now, you’re being a rebellious child. It is my solemn duty to warn the disobedient, the scandalous, and those who secretly live in unrepentant sin, not to approach the Table lest they partake unworthily, not discerning the Lord’s body, and so eat and drink condemnation to themselves.
You see, the Bible tells us to examine ourselves, so that we might partake of the Lord being the children he has made us to be. Jesus said: receive the kingdom, enter into it being a child.
David was not a believer in the theory that the world will grow worse and worse, and that the dispensations will wind up with general darkness, and idolatry. Earth's sun is to go down amid tenfold night if some of our prophetic brethren are to be believed. Not so do we expect, but we look for a day when the dwellers in all lands shall learn righteousness, shall trust in the Savior, shall worship thee alone, O God, and shall glorify thy name. The modern notion has greatly dampened the zeal of the church for missions, and the sooner it is shown to be unscriptural the better for the cause of God. It neither consorts with prophecy, honors God, nor inspires the church with ardor. Far hence be it driven.
The church communes, shares and participates together as the heart, mind and body of Christ. As far as being the body of Christ, see Acts 9:4; for the mind of Christ, see Phil 2:5; for the heart of Christ, see Eph. 3:17.
We too readily take up the intellectual aspects of Christianity by comforting ourselves with lectures and sermons, along with CDs, blogs, textings and slogans.
Such things can be an individualistic effort. A sermon, a talk, a seminar; there, I've done my duty as teacher or listener.
Harry Blamires penned it well in his book, The Christian Mind, Christianity is emasculated of its intellectual relevance. It remains a vehicle of spiritual and moral guidance at the individual level perhaps; at the communal level it is little more than an expression of sentimentalized togetherness.
p. 16 from Servant Books, 1978
How can we bring intellectual force into our communal life? How can our communal life nurture sound theology?
We must pursue the intellectual faith, but we're to do so communally; and that takes vision and time. 1) Vision to see that our congregational acts of worship (e.g. recitations together, responses, readings, confessions, hymn-singing, gestures, hands raised, knees bent and more) give shape to understanding the faith. 2) It takes time--we must be patient with each other in gaining skills in recitations, for example; and it takes time to learn to sing, read and converse. It also takes time to practice well, and from the heart, bodily gestures as the communal people of God; this too helps us along in learning, acknowledgment and doctrinal maturity.
Isn't it rich, deep theology to read in Scripture of bodily gestures befitting the Lord's presence? When the church participates in such ways as the called-out, together people of God, she grows beyond sentimentality.
Worship must rid herself of sentimentalized togetherness and don the cadence and character of intellectual rigor and triumphal conquer.
A definition of non-fiction goes this way: “Written works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and events. Encyclopedias, how-to manuals and biographies are all considered non-fiction and so are kept in the non-fiction section of the library.”
Fiction: “Works telling the tales of imaginary people, places, situations or a combination of all of these.”
As people of the Book, as those concerned to delve into the subjects of reading and writing, we ponder these kinds of definitions in everyday conversation and so we ask: “What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction?”
We often hear nonfiction is true, and fiction—well, it’s false!
How can we develop an answer in the affirmative about fiction carrying the freight of truth? First, mark it well that we have a settled way in which we draw a conclusion about what can and cannot carry truth. Many assume that truth is solely a rational consideration, and so we're told, that fits the non-fiction type of writing. Sure enough, non-fiction with its rational facts is one way to convey truth. Second, consider the aims of fiction. Fiction, it should be remembered, uses the imaginary in order to develop truth. Although God's Book is NOT a fictional book, the Lord uses metaphors, examples, objects and illustrations in fiction-styled ways. He communicates with the use of themes and illustrations (i.e. think of the pattern or development of various themes relative to the Exodus story in the Bible). He develops His story line this way because we live in and through circumstances of history. We are made body and soul, with intellect, will, actions, attitudes, experiences and imagination.
As one writer put it, we “tend to exalt the intellect...We lust for knowledge and think that more [rational] information will solve all of our problems.” Such thinking invites us to conclude: non-fiction is true, fiction is not. But we must conclude otherwise, fiction conveys truth vividly, memorably and often forcefully. G. Mark Sumpter
At 5:00 AM every morning, five and six days a week, for a year, I drove this puppy. That was back when Tonya Harding skated as a six or seven year old. I prepped the ice for her workouts, when she was a little snotty nosed kid. But more important---much more important---I worked on the ice for the Rusty Blades league. These old timers were a boot-sized kick in the pants to watch them hustle up and down the sheet.
It takes a village of Rink Rats to make it all happen. I was Rink Rat at the Anchorage Sports Arena from 1972-1975. Good times, super cool times.
Eldership Guidance on Marriage Eligibility On the matter of determining eligibility, an Eldership should suggest that parents or the oversight authority use a pattern similar to how a local church determines if a pastoral-candidate is a right fit for serving a local church.Just as a local church chooses a pastor of like-minded beliefs, so there should be like-mindedness between candidates for marriage. Matters like theological background and practical direction in life should be shared. In the OPC, we call pastors to serve local churches who hold to the same system of doctrine as the local church. Like-mindedness in faith and life is crucial, see Phil. 1:27; 2:2-3; and Eph. 4:3, etc.
Over the last couple of days, when Mike Singletary, coach of the 49ers, welcomed Mr. Crabtree onto the team, there was the fanfare of white towels waving. But they were white towels for a basin and water.
The rookie will be gathering cones and shagging overthrown passes. Lombardi said that Fatigue makes cowards of us all. So does missing July through September all because a man believes he's worth more as a Freshman player.
“Chinese, just like American English, has its own unique metaphorical idioms. The Chinese, however, do not view their world as a game. And so sport is not a dominant metaphor in China.What is central to Chinese life is family and eating. So while in America politicians are compared to sportsmen—they have to run for and win the election; politicians in China are regarded as parents, fumu guan, meaning father-mother officials. Chinese politicians run their country as a mother and father run their family. No wonder that in Chinese, the word for country is guojia, which literally means: guo = state—jia = family. The famous Chinese thinker Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) stated that ruling a large country is like cooking a delicacy dish. While Americans may view their life as business, Chinese view theirs in terms of eating.” HT: Ninah Beliavsky at the Department of Languages & Literature, St. John’s University, New York
The metaphorical jargon we hear relative to President Obama's fatherly care, “Who's Your Daddy?,” makes a little more sense, doesn't it? Mr. President, as dad, will bring the bacon home and provide enough for all.
Is there any staying power for those times when we think there's little hope? Maybe we think there's little reason to stay at our parental post, little reason to keep our hand to the plow. John Calvin on children from Psalm 127.
“It is no small gift of God for a man to be renewed in his posterity; for God then gives him new strength, that he who otherwise would straightway decay, may begin as it were to live a second time….unless men regard their children as the gift of God, they are careless and reluctant in providing for their support, just as on the other hand this knowledge contributes in a very eminent degree to encourage them in bringing up their offspring. Farther, he who thus reflects upon the goodness of God in giving him children, will readily and with a settled mind look for the continuance of God’s grace; and although he may have but a small inheritance to leave them, he will not be unduly careful on that account.” The Lord gives perpetuity of covenantal hope in and through our children. God has ordained them to preach the gospel of His faithfulness to us. Grace comes in generational doses, not quick-relief tablets of Advil. Stay at it moms and dads, stay at it youth workers, pastors, teachers and counselors!
Here, in eschatology, in hope and confidence with respect to the Lord's faithfulness and confirmation that our present labor is not in vain, God rears grace in those who come after us. Calvin says, tending to children gives a second wind, a second life; it's like being born again. It's the continuance of His grace.
In hand to hand work around the rink, like these two guys, one of your objectives is to grab the backside of the jersey of your opponent and with lightning speed drape it over his head. Then it would be open season to get your licks in.
Look at the two guys down below. It's pretty much lights out for the headless player.
Jerseys can be a useful tool in taking the high ground. You can already see that the guys above are working angles for grip and leverage for that very advantage.
At heart, I am a hockey fan. This part of the game, however, is my least favorite. But it does remind me that hockey is three sports. 1. Skating. 2. The Game. 3. Body Checking.
I remember coaches hammering it into our heads to play all three games.
My favorite team in the National Hockey League since my upper elementary days in Anchorage has been the New York Rangers. Brad Park was my hero in the 1970s. This year's season has just gotten underway. I am so amazed at the speed with which the game is now played.
I think it was George Marsden in his Fundmentalism and American Culture who wrote of the intellectually well-grounded men of Fundamentalism who lived with a seeming paradox between their pessimism from the reality of seeing the loosening of the grip of the gospel in the church and American culture, and with that loosening grip, being tempted to give in and give up after seeing things getting worse and worse, and yet on the other hand, the radical, visible and ardent devotion of giving themselves with sweat, tears, time and money to the forward-looking, long-haul, multi-generational establishment of institutions, e.g. the Bible Institute and Bible College movement.
Why did these Christian fathers of the 19-teens and 20s, 30s and 40s live this way? These men gave themselves in spite of all the ecclesiastical and cultural discouragements and they did so in earnest because it typified the movement mentality that churchman so easily fall into.
When the church marginalizes herself with a neglect of faithful worship and preaching, she starts to grow arms as voluntary associations, groups and movements. If the church will not be who she is supposed to be, and if she will not do what she's supposed to do, then groups surface to the top. Something has to get done!
The movement mentality sports an episodic look. Movements come and go based on episodes in church and cultural life. Cultural episodes dictate the rising and falling of movements.
Youth ministry often falls right into step with movements; it is comfortable being an arm of the church. It's a group attached to the church, but not very church-like. As an arm, youth ministry becomes a cross-cultural ministry. She targets an age group and a language-group.
The paradox found in Fundamentalism plays itself out in youth work in the church. If the church has lost its grip on faithful worship, the gospel and discipleship, she starts to grow arms and she starts to forge ahead with institutions. It's a movement that gets fueled and fired up. In this case, the movement of youth ministry built the institution of a youth group. Youth groups have their wholesome and rightful place but they need to be church-like.
Outside of the city, out in the rural domain of Oregon on a clear night we look up and see that the stars are brilliant. You can't miss their gussy dress delightful in their sparkle and shine. They sing and dance to the music that tells the familiar anthem, To the Glory of God. What about the words of the Bible? What about each word, each and every individual word? Do they sing and dance to the music, To the Glory of God, too? They do. "Your words, O LORD, give light."
Both forms of revelation from God, natural revelation and special revelation, have their job to be self-explaining, self-interpreting. It's tricky to be faithful, as fallen humans, when it comes to explanation and interpretation of general revelation. What about God's special revelation? The words of Scripture are wordy in their explanation! The Old and New Testaments relate to each other and they explain each other. Wordy, they are, as we say.
The non-inscripturated revelation, general revelation, requires the lens of the words of Bible to rightly explain and interpret the creation around us. Calvin spoke of the illustration of the spectacles of the Scripture. Look at the creation through the lens of the Bible, he taught us. Unfortunately, the spectacles of the Bible are put to the side by contemporary unbelieving scientists when they look at creation. Man, it is wrongly taught, can approach the creation naturally, unbiased and factually.
But words? Words need to be interpreted--after all, the Bible is merely a human book we are wrongly told. Therefore, spectacles of some kind are needed for the Bible they say; it needs interpretation.
But how about the creation? The stars, along with the rest of creation, well, they carry an objectivity. They get an immediate respect.Modern non-Christian science requires that we be scientific with the Bible, not so with God's other book--the creation. G. Mark Sumpter
