I had an awesome time of prayer with two great friends of mine last night. Both of them have been going through difficult times due to loss of loved ones. As I drove home late, this song was on the Indelible Grace cd I had been listening to. What comforting lyrics! I had been struck earlier that day by how much evil and suffering there is in the world. I took a walk in the fields behind my in-laws’ house and reached the same conclusion that Anne Steel reached when she penned these lyrics. I love how they do not by-pass the mind on the way to the heart -rather, they appeal to the logic of turning to Christ alone for our refuge. So, for my two friends and for others who are grieving, I invite you to be comforted by these lyrics as I am.

1. Dear refuge of my weary soul,
On Thee, when sorrows rise
On Thee, when waves of trouble roll,
My fainting hope relies
To Thee I tell each rising grief,
For Thou alone canst heal
Thy Word can bring a sweet relief,
For every pain I feel

2. But oh! When gloomy doubts prevail,
I fear to call Thee mine
The springs of comfort seem to fail,
And all my hopes decline
Yet gracious God, where shall I flee?
Thou art my only trust
And still my soul would cleave to Thee
Though prostrate in the dust

3. Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face,
And shall I seek in vain?
And can the ear of sovereign grace,
Be deaf when I complain?
No still the ear of sovereign grace,
Attends the mourner’s prayer
Oh may I ever find access,
To breathe my sorrows there

4. Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet,
Thy mercy seat is open still,
Here let my soul retreat
With humble hope attend Thy will,
And wait beneath Thy feet

I’m well aware that one could easily get lost in the blog-maze of Southern Baptist Convention reform. It seems everyone with a computer sees themselves as a reformer these days. Well, I am probably much less qualified than most to add a twist or turn to this confusing maze, but maybe you will find this helpful . . .

Having attended one of our great Southern Baptist institutions of higher learning, I have a few thoughts about the seminary structure in the SBC. There are many reasons that I would spend time thinking and writing about the need for SBC Seminary reform. I could discuss the high cost of seminary for the students. Not just the tuition, textbook, and housing costs, but many must leave jobs that provide well in order to relocate away from the support structure of their church, friends, and family. I could even discuss a culture that often births in seminary environments that are filled with pride, one-up-manship, name-dropping, and a striving for accolades. Even worse, seminary often leaves students with a disconnect between their newly acquired head knowledge and practical ministry leaving damaged churches that have been experimented on crippled, dead, or dying. Yes, I would imagine all of these and more problems are too common in any seminary’s life. But, in my opinion, these alone are not worth all the trouble to reform a massive beast like the SBC’s six seminaries.

The greatest problem that exists in today’s seminary structure is that, try as they may, they do not give attention to the priority of the local church. Christ has promised to build His church and though the gates of hell try to prevail against it, they shall never succeed (Mt. 16:18). We too often think that this applies to our particular extra-biblical ministry -a seminary, for example. Christ never promised to build a seminary, a youth ministry, a recovery ministry, a retreat ministry, a printing ministry, or any other extra-biblical ministry. He promised to build His church. I’m crazy enough to think that a way to seek the blessing of God in our ministries is to get in line with His plan to build His church. What are the purposes of a seminary? Are they not the same purposes that the Bible gives to the church? It is through the church, after all, that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10). As Paul and Barnabas passed through Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, they did not send the leaders off to Jerusalem to learn from Peter, nor did they order them to accompany them so that they might go to Paul’s traveling missionary seminary. Instead, they appointed elders with prayer and fasting and committed them to the Lord (Acts 14:19-23). Paul and Barnabas did not look on the wall of these men’s homes for seminary degrees. Instead, they probably looked within the walls of their homes to see if they managed their own households well (1 Timothy 3:4-5) and outside of those same walls to see if they were well thought of by outsiders (v. 7). Our seminary degree culture in the SBC has blurred the lines of qualifications for eldership and removed the importance of a pastor being known in the area in which he is shepherding. I have a deep love and appreciation for those who serve faithfully in our denomination’s seminaries. I have profited spiritually from many of them. And most of them, I believe, probably have a deep love for the local church and this comes through in their labors. But I believe that we can do better. What follows are some suggestions.

1. Close 4 of the 6 seminaries. Think of the impact on our churches if the education is going on right in their midst rather than seeing their called and gifted young people leave to obtain their theological education. 2 Seminaries should remain open (SouthWestern or GoldenGate in the West and Southern or SouthEastern in the East) to ease logistics of suggestion #2. These remaining two campuses would be used to house offices, libraries, temporary student housing, host modulars, conferences, etc.

2. Offer only non-traditional classes. I am referring to on-location modular courses ranging from 1-6 wks at a time. I am referring to weekend simulcasts hosted churches, associations, or state conventions. I am referring to professors visiting these same venues once a week for the duration of a semester. I am referring to DVD and internet-based classes that students may take part in as a group at one of these venues or at home. I am referring to mail correspondence courses. Some, and maybe even all of these, are already being used by our seminaries, but there is no need for traditional classes in this day and age of technology and ease of transportation.

That’s pretty much it. Just 2 suggestions. Of course, this raises lots of questions. Questions, such as:

What about the other 4 campuses? There are any number of options. We could sell them and use the money to pay for expansion of the libraries at the remaining two locations, relocation costs, severance packages, purchasing new equipment to make the new class format necessary, or we could just give it all to missions. Another option would be to keep the buildings to use for ministry as another missionary learning center location, another retreat center, a hospital, or college.

What about the staff? Obviously, we would want to offer a healthy severance package for folks whose jobs have been eliminated. The professors would have plenty of options. Some would continue to teach full-time with modulars, internet, correspondence, and satellite locations. Others would opt for teaching part-time while teaching at another school (secular or Christian), writing for Lifeway, ministering vocationally at a local church or as a associational/denominational servant. Others may choose to teach full-time at a secular university.

There are surely other objections, like, “What about the importance of our tradition, heritage, history, etc?” “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” But I believe the benefits to the church far outweigh the difficult truths of these and any other objections.

Some of these benefits would include: Small churches located near the seminaries would be more likely to look for and find a long-term pastor. The minister as “professional” culture full of church-hopping, ladder-climbing pastors could conceivably diminish. Due to the professors’ and students’ involvement in more churches, local churches would have both better access to good teaching and more opportunity to see how God works in a church to raise up and develop leaders. These are just a few of the many benefits.

If Southern Baptists would seek a way forward, we must do it with the church leading the charge, not denominational servants, structures, or ministries. We must recognize that our commitment to voluntary cooperation, though solid must always be producing fluid and changing ministries. I once heard Al Mohler say that his goal was to work himself out of the job and put the job of the seminary back in the hands of the local church -I couldn’t applaud him louder. Now, let’s see some action.

This is a post that has been spinning around in my head for quite some time and has been in my heart for even longer.

Dreams. Everyone has them. Some folks more than others. Some get acted on while others get swept under the rug of realism or fear. Sometimes I think that God has given me a brain that is good for nothing but dreaming. This can be both a blessing and a curse. Off the top of my head I can think of approximately a dozen dreams that I just knew were great ideas and were going to happen that all crumbled to dust before they even reached the launch pad. So, needless to say, an avid dreamer does not an accomplished accomplisher make. But, doggonit! Some of those dreams I just knew were of God! I knew He had given me those dreams for a reason! Surely He wouldn’t want me to be a failure would He?

Not that I have agonized over these sorts of questions (I’m a dreamer, not a worrier, remember?), but I do often consider this question, “What in the heck are You doing, Lord?” Please understand, my life is deeply rooted in the absolute sovereignty of our Lord to do whatever He wills. And just as equally do I trust in His goodness -that He loves to shower His covenant steadfast love on His children. But, sometimes I feel like I have a huge question mark over my head. “Why get so bent out of shape?”, you may ask. Because sometimes I just knew that this dream was not like the rest. This one was from the Lord.

But I’ve read Job enough to know that it’s not my place to question God and especially not to expect an answer. He’s already told me all I need to know. My question has now changed from, “What are you doing God?” to “What do you want me to do now, God?” OK, so He does not want an overseas tribal missionary out of me right now. Alright, so maybe the Pastor thing will have to wait a while longer. Yes, I suppose I can see why it might not be the best time for me to start a new ministry right now. So, what should I be focusing on?

It is at this point, that I received some insight from the life of Noah. Best I can figure, Noah was 500 years old when he got the orders to go insane in the eyes of all his neighbors and start building a huge boat. I’ve heard several preachers point out the fact that it was 100 years later that the flood actually came. What faith was needed to build a boat for 100 years! “Yes”, says Clay the dreamer, “but at least he was getting to work on his God-given dream!” It is not the many years of working, being teased by neighbors, and preaching that gets me. It is the 500 years beforehand. What did Noah do before he even received his orders?

Answer: he found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

So, maybe some of my dreams (even God-given dreams) are on hold right now. Maybe they’re even dead. What am I to do? Answer: find favor in the eyes of the Lord. I have a beautiful wife that the Lord has called me to love and lead. I have 3 beautiful daughters that the Lord has called me to evangelize and disciple. If that means killing bugs for a living in the meantime, so be it. May I find favor in Your eyes, oh Lord.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Ok, I admit it. I haven’t been posting anything lately -I stink at blogging. Well, here’s something very unoriginal that impacted me (a softer way to say, “convicted me.”) Maybe it will “impact” you too?

From Heartcry a journal on revival and spiritual awakening (www.lifeaction.org):

17th-century Puritan, Richard Mayo says, “Pride is a big-bellied sin’ most of the sins that are in the world are the offspring and issue of pride.”

-Joe Thorn points out that pride causes . . .

-Covetousness-because you believe you deserve something more than others do.

-Complaining-because God should have consulted you before orchestrating the events of your life.

-Ungodly ambition-because you believe that you are most qualified, and the idea of someone else being preferred over you is an insult to your perceived worth.

-Hypocrisy-because you must hide the truth-your own failures-in order to avoid shame and accumulate praise.

-Gossip-because you look so much better when telling others how awful someone else is.

-Ingratitude-because you deserve everything you get!

-Selfishness-because others do not!

-Contention-because in picking fights you feel a sense of superiority over those who may (or may not) be in error.

-Boasting-because everyone should know who you are and what you have accomplished.

-A judgmental attitude-because you believe the errors of others are much more serious than your own.

When I was growing up, we often sang, “Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before! Christ, the royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle, See his banner go!” We also sing a song sometimes with Abigail entitled We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder which ends with the phrase, “soldiers of the cross.” And when I graduated from Bible College, we sang the seminary hymn which begins by saying, “Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed, A world in ruins needs your aid.”

What the writers of these songs understood is that there is a very real aspect of the Christian life that is war. For some reason, God has deemed it so that most of us should enter Heaven as battle-weary saints rather than as spiritual pacifists. Before I go on, let me just say that I am not suggesting a second Crusade, nor am I about to unveil the master plan for the Christians to take over the world. I am merely trying to show that much of Scripture uses war-like language:
1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare.
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith.
2 Timothy 4:12 I have fought the good fight.
1 Corinthians 14:8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?
2 Timothy 2:3, 4 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
2 Corinthians 6:4, 7 As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way . . . ;with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;

And so, we see that the most important battles going on right now are not between any two governments. They are not between the terrorists and the Democratic Republics. They are not between Israel and her most recent neighboring Middle-Eastern aggressor. Rather, the most important battles going on right now belong to the same war that has been going on for more than four thousand years –the war against God for the souls of men. Compare this truth with what A.W. Tozer said a number of years ago, “Men think of the world, not as a battleground but as a playground. We are not here to fight, we are here to frolic. We are not in a foreign land, we are at home. We are not getting ready to live, we are already living, and the best we can do is rid ourselves of our inhibitions and our frustrations and live this life to the full.” Unfortunately, most of us have settled into a peacetime, rather than wartime mentality.

Of course, we know that the commanding general of the opposing forces is none other than the great enemy himself, the devil. It is against this devil that Paul writes his famous armor of God passage:
Ephesians 6:11-13 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Unfortunately for us, we are born on the wrong side of the war. We are born as spiritual rebels, all on Satan’s side. We had no choice in the matter, this is the just effects of our first parents’ sin. For this reason, our first enemy (the devil) along with his host of evil spirits is aided by another host of wicked people. Jesus told us that “in the world [we] will have tribulation” (John 16:33) and so we should not be surprised that our second enemy (the world) is the playground of our first—after all, he is “the ruler of this world” (John 14:30). Unfortunately, living in the world, many of us are often tempted to also be of the world. For this reason, James wrote to the baby Jewish Christians: You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4) Do not be deceived, you cannot be at home with the world and still have a home in Heaven.

But, truth be told, we don’t have to go to the mall, to school, or watch the news to see evil. We don’t even have to read about Satan’s workings in the Bible to see evil. It is in our own selves –dwelling there within us –remaining sin in its deaththrows, lashing out and causing all of the wicked destruction that it can—right in our own bodies! It is our third and most dangerous enemy –our flesh!
Romans 7:23 I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
James 4:1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
The great teacher on this subject, John Owen put it this way, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” We must constantly be doing battle with the sin that dwells within us because it takes no rest in its battle against us.

Though the Bible has more to say about the three enemies of the Christian (the flesh, the world, and the devil) and about how to fight these enemies, for now I am going to focus in on the grace of God in calling us to be a warring people. Specifically, I want to answer the question, “Why does God want us to have to fight on our way to Heaven?” And to attempt to answer this question, I’m going to look at the book of Judges. Take a look at Judges chapter 3.

The book of Joshua is all about the people of God claiming the promise of God by taking the land God had prepared for them to take. And the way he told them to take it was by violent force: And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. (Deut. 6:16)
But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction (Deut. 20:16, 17).
The book of Judges, however is the dismal picture of the failing Israelites who have not accomplished what God had set out for them to do. It is also a picture of the mercy of God, the judgment of God, and the sinfulness of man’s heart.
Judges 1 gives us a little background:
And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. (v. 19)
Keep in mind that this verse is coming on the heels of Joshua and the beginning of Judges 1, all about the victories against the Canaanite peoples that God had given them. Is the God who gave them all these victories really too weak to handle some iron chariots?
We read on through verse 36 and see that there were many areas where they did not fulfill the Lord’s command to take the land and slaughter the people.

Chapter 2 tells the grim facts. Verse three says, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. We know that the great warrior of Israel was no mighty soldier or king, but rather the warrior God of His people. It was the Lord who gave His people all of the conquests described in Joshua and in the beginning of Judges. The question now is, if He did before, and He could now, why won’t He again? Verse two lays an accusation at the feet of the Israelites that they must answer: you have not obeyed my voice. This is the reason –they are a sinful people who were not faithful to their ever-faithful God and God is punishing them. But there may be more to it than that.

Look now, to verse 22. We see another dynamic, it was in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did or not. There is an old saying that goes, “When you’re flat on your back, you only have one way to look—up.” Unfortunately, this is not always true. God lays many people on their back as He did the Israelites and they still respond with more sin—anything but “looking up.” God was testing them to see if they would repent and be faithful to the covenant that He had entered into with His people. We see it again in our Judges 3 text: Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. So, in answer to our question, “Why does God want us to have to fight?” we can say that one reason is because of sin. We live in a sinful world and are ourselves sinful people and God is testing us to see if we will rise above this sin and be faithful to the covenant that He has entered into with us. What is the nature of this test? War.

It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before (Judges 3:2). God wanted his people to be a people of war –this was His test. We know that this was something that God did on purpose (though all He does is on purpose), because He told us so: I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died (2:21). So we know that God drove them out in the past and He made the decision not to drive the remaining Canaanite nations out to test His people who had not tasted war.  This leads us to another question: What is it about war that God wanted them to know? We know that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23) and that many wicked people die in war. So, there must something that He more pleased by than He is displeased by the death of many wicked people.

I believe this thing (and the answer to our question) is: His glory displayed in our reliance on His infinitely holy and loving grace and mercy.

What did He want from the Israelites? To be honored, worshipped, cherished, prized, and depended on above all else. The test was war because war takes every ounce of reliance upon other things and sweeps it right out from under you, like a rug. So, why does God do this to us today? Same reason. To be honored, worshipped, cherished, prized, and depended on above all else.

Think with me, if you will, back to the time when you were a brand new Christian. Chances are, you had some sins in your life that dropped like flies and you are still struggling with others. How often do you rely on God’s grace to get you through the day without committing those sins that dropped dead? How often do you praise Him for His infinite grace to you by ridding you of this sin that you haven’t knowingly committed since the day you became a Christian? What if God gave instantaneous victory to us like this over every sin in our life? How much would we honor, worship, cherish, prize, and depend on God then?

The Israelites had a God-sized task before them. It was only as the people depended on Him –first, under Moses, then under Joshua –that God gave them the grace to complete this God-sized task of conquering the Canaanites. It was not until the rule of David hundreds of years later that the Israelites were finally able to complete the conquest of the promised land. A major theme of the book of Judges is that imperfect people can only bring imperfect deliverance. One of the purposes of Judges is to show the need of a perfect Savior—Jesus.

So, what do we do with this truth? 1. Realize that we are in a war! If you don’t see it, you have become passive, asleep, and blind and you need to wake up! It is all around –Satan is laying traps and snares for you and your family at every turn. The world is doing its best to lull you into a comfortable peacetime mentality with all kinds of God-denying entertainment and education. And your flesh is vicious and relentlessly exploiting every area of weakness and temptation that you have, trying to get you to sin away every ounce of your assurance of salvation.
2. Realize that the Lord is a merciful warrior God who delights in fighting for His people. Listen to what God has said to his people in the past:
The Lord will fight for you Exodus 14:14
The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you Deuteronomy 1:30
Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s 2 Chronicles 20:15
Our God will fight for us. Nehemiah 4:20
Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Psalm 24:8
And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am you servant. Psalm 143:12
3. Realize that Christ has the victory!
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of  of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. Hebrews 1:3
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Colossians 15

So, yes -it is frustrating that the Christian life is a battle, but the battle serves a purpose. May He be made stronger in our weakness.

This year, my wife and I made a new new year’s resolution. No, that wasn’t a type-O. It’s just that this year, we actually made one we hadn’t made before. So, what was this groundbreaking idea? Three words . . .

ATTACK – OUR – DEBT

You see (to play off of the Pharoah’s dream), we have been guilty of allowing the lean cows to eat up our fat cows. When things were great for us financially, we lived it up. When things were not, we had nothing to fall back on. So our mistakes have been two-fold: we didn’t save for difficult times in the future and when the difficult times came, we didn’t lower our standard of living.

This is how we come to find ourselves in this sad state of affairs. The most recent statistics that I have heard (from 2 different sources) say that the average household in the US has $9000 worth of consumer debt and this totals up to about $900 billion worth of credit-card debt. Well, let’s just say that we have definitely contributed to these statistics and that our household average is considerably higher than the household average.

While we applaud our government for the tax rebate help, etc. that they are giving us, we don’t hold them responsible for our foolish choices. We’ll take the money Uncle Sam gives us for having 3 kids, but we need more of a plan than that.

So, what’s our plan? It’s not some complicated get out of debt quick scheme. In fact, it’s very simple: #1, we need to make more money. We are not able to pay our bills, so guess who’s looking for a new job and talking to his bosses about how he can make more money at his current job?

#2, we’re majorly cutting back on expenses. To the extent that we crammed our family of 5 in the Focus to go somewhere because we didn’t have gas in the van and no money to get any. We even buy the cereal in the bag now -you know, the kind that you have to shove in your mouth as quickly as possible after you get the milk in the bowl, because it gets disgustingly soggy in 1.45 seconds.

We feel like God is honoring this and the angels are probably going, “they finally get it!” Two confirmations of this: 1) We were discouraged that our pantry was as empty as our mini-van’s gas tank and it was a long time till I got paid again, when a cousin of mine called and said she had some money for us and it would arrive in the mail very soon. 2) We were waiting until the last possible second before going to the store armed only with a credit card (I’m serious -the last possible second! We even prayed at lunch for money to come in the mail so we could buy dinner.), when a large check arrived from a couple at our home church enabling us not only to buy dinner, but to take care of a couple of other things we had need of.

It looks like this may be a resolution that we may actually be able to keep. We realize that it will take time, hard work, self-discipline, and patience, but we are in it for the long haul. I think January proves it as it will be the first month in years that we have put nothing on credit card.

In my job at Terminix, I’ve learned lots of things, one of which is: it’s better to be like the ant and store up for the winter than it is to be like the grasshopper who devours everything in sight as soon as it is seen.

Debt is bondage. God, grant us freedom.

I sat down to write a sermon a few years ago while preaching through Matthew at my first youth pastorate and this poem just flowed right off of my pen like it had been in my head since the day I was born. I hope it will bless someone.

Once was a man on a journey-his destination was Peace of Mind

He barely had even started when the path it did divide

More than chance had brought him here-no simple twist of fate

Desiring the easy road, he looked at the wider gate

“It appears I’ll have to choose,” he mused and he sighed

The grass was looking greener on the other side

The wider path seemed pleasant

With many a print to follow

But the young heart of this peasant

Felt empty and hollow

Looking to the right, he saw the straight and narrow

with nothing to attract even the smallest sparrow

On these two paths he fixed his gaze

“Decide I will come mornin’. Right here I stays”

Through the night passed many a sojourner

Not a one chose the hard-each one took the easy

The peasant man-being a fast learner

Said to himself, “I have no reason

To be different and to choose the lesser path

For I haven’t got food shoes-not even a walking staff”

But something seemed to draw him on the harder way

So on that way he went as he saw the light of day

Now every man must choose

And though many will lose

By choosing the way that’s hard

In the end it’s they that gain

Their destination is in their hearts

Placed there by the King

He who is the way

Gives life and will to obey

Many a traveler scoffed and laughed

At that young man that day

And every one went on past

 Then much to their dismay

 The way they chose

Destroyed their souls

For they had chosen destruction

-When it’s you who stands Before these two gates

Will you go the ways of man

Or the way that mankind hates

For hard is the way and narrow is the path

that leads to eternal life

But it is the way filled with strife

That escapes God’s holy wrath.

You get in the cab, the driver says, “Where do you wanna’ go?” “Heaven,” you respond. Okay, maybe that’s a little far-fetched, but we all want to go to Heaven, right? If such a place really exists? Well, Heaven is a real place and you can really get there from Lafayette, but not by Cab. What follows are your directions to Heaven from where you live. Like most directions, if you skip a step or toss them aside, you won’t reach your destination, so pay close attention.

Lost. Ever been lost? I mean really lost? Remember the feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realized just how lost you were? Well, the first step to getting to Heaven is to realize that you are lost. In talking about this, the Bible says that, spiritually speaking, we have all turned aside and have not known the way of peace. Once I was travelling from Lexington, Ky to a small town near Louisville, Ky. I was beginning to wonder if I was headed the right way when I realized I was heading for Cincinnati, Ohio! I was on the wrong interstate! I had begun to realize I was a little lost, but had no idea exactly how lost I was. Like me, you, along with the rest of the humans on this earth may be much more lost than you have even realized. Many will tell Jesus of the great spiritual things they accomplished in their lifetime, only to hear Him reply, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Reckless Driving. Not only must you understand that you are lost, but God even calls you a law-breaker. Once, when I was sixteen, I was trying out my new driver’s license with my friend as the co-pilot. Next thing I know, I’m seeing blue-lights behind me and trying to come up with a reason for going 90mph in a 45mph zone at night with no headlights on. Several days later, in court, I pled guilty to the charge of reckless driving. There is just no excuse for that! One day you will also stand before the most righteous Judge in the universe with no excuse for breaking His perfect law. It doesn’t matter how many laws you have broken—that is, how many sins you committed—one is enough to be declared “guilty.”

Bridge Out! Well, now you’ve gone from bad to worse, right? The situation is even worse than you may have thought. You’re lost, you’re guilty—what other good news do I have for you? Unfortunately, I do have more. There is a big distance between Heaven and Earth (ever try to touch the sky?). This distance is way too big to cross with a “clean” driving record. You’ll run out of gas every time. What I mean is, you can’t bridge the separation between you and God with good works, hard work, righteous relatives, or anything else you might do. Ever since the Garden of Eden, there has been a huge chasm between mankind and God with no bridge in sight!

One Way. No bridge, that is, except one! The cross of Jesus is the bridge to Heaven! He has bridged the gap! Because he is fully God and fully man, because He never committed one sin, and because He took the punishment designed for sinners just like you and me, you may now have a way to Heaven! Things are starting to look up! There are several different ways to get across the Wabash River and travel from Lafayette to West Lafayette, but this bridge is not like that. Jesus said, “ I am the way . . . . No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus is the way! Remember how I said you have to realize that you’re lost before you can begin to follow these directions to Heaven? Well, there’s good news! Jesus said that He came to seek and to save the lost! So, not only is Jesus the Way, but He actively pursues lost people just like you and me to help us find our way to Heaven! So, what is this way?

Can You Give Me Directions? “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “Whosoever will may come.” This is good news right from God’s roadmap to Heaven—the Bible. If you truly desire to know God and to be with Him in Heaven, this is the answer. So, what does the Bible say is the path to Heaven?

U-turn. The Bible says that we have all gone our own way. This means that you, like me and so many others, have gone the way that seems right to you. The Bible talks about this: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” If you continue doing your own thing, you will not experience the eternal life of Heaven, but the eternal death of Hell. The remedy for this is to do a u-turn from following your own way, even if it did seem right to you at first, and follow Jesus. In other words, to repent –to reconsider, or to change your line of thinking resulting in action.

Let Me Drive. The next step after turning from your sin is to scoot over and let Jesus drive. I know it sounds corny, but I like the illustration and here’s why: when you let someone drive, you are putting your life in their hands—you are putting faith in that person. Christ calls us to put our faith in Him –to trust that He has paved the way to Heaven for you and that you can’t get there any other way.

Stop. Remember our cab driver at the beginning? Actually, he asked the wrong question. It doesn’t really matter where you want to go—we all want to go to Heaven. What He should have asked is, “Where ya’ headed?” This is the question that I am asking you to answer for yourself. Where are you headed? Stop and think. Give yourself an honest answer. Are you on the broad road, or are you on the narrow road?

Exit. Jesus said that there are only two roads that all people are travelling on: the broad road or the narrow road. You have always been on this wide interstate road headed straight for Hell, but if you are willing, you can call out to Jesus in repentance and faith and make a quick exit onto the narrow country road headed for Heaven. It’s easier to stay with the majority and head down the wide comfortable road, but those on the narrow road, though it is tough, would never want to forfeit their right to see if the next turn will be the one that leads to their final destination.

Fork in the Road. You have come to a fork in the road. Will you choose life through Jesus’ death? Or will you choose death with all the other folks who seem to be living it up?

Watch for Sudden Stops. I would not be kind, if I did not warn you of the consequences. Death is unavoidable and unpredictable. Recently, in one year alone, 42,815 people were killed in fatal car accidents. You only die once, and then comes the judgment. I don’t know about you, but when I face the Judge that judges even our thoughts, intentions, and every careless word, I would much rather show Him Jesus’ perfect record than my pitiful excuse for “good deeds.”

Construction Ahead. If you chose life, you have chosen well. Let me give you an idea what you can expect. You can expect things in your life to be different. “If anyone is in [Jesus] Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come.” Your desires will be different. You will have a new roadmap (the Bible) and a new Guide (the Holy Spirit). This will mean you will want to make time to learn the Bible and talk to God in prayer. Of course, there will be bumps and potholes in the road, but there will also be plenty of rest stops where you can be refreshed by spending time with other travelers on the straight and narrow road. This means that you will want to fellowship with other believers in a church. May the Lord bless you on your journey!

If you have been impacted by reading this or if you have questions, please contact me.

i love walking in the Spirit. just one quick example from today:

i was ready to pull through a drive through several times today while working, but felt led of the Lord not to. this was puzzling to me as i was not fasting. but, by 1:30, i knew why. i unexpectedly met up with a co-worker for lunch and before i could stop him, he was buying my lunch. thanks for lunch, dan. thanks for lunch, Lord.

Theology of young people
In order to establish a philosophy of ministering to youth, we must turn to the Scriptures first and foremost. Consider:
Joseph was seventeen years old when his brothers turned his world upside down, but his faith in the Lord remained strong (Genesis 37:2). David apparently followed the Lord faithfully as a young shepherd and was later used by God as a great king (not to mention the whole giant-slayer thing) (see 1 Samuel 17:31-37). Josiah reigned as king over Judah from the time he was eight. At the age of sixteen, he began to seek God and four years later he led the nation in a massive revival (see 2 Chronicles 34:1-21). During Josiah’s reforms, Jeremiah, a youth himself was called of God to prophesy (see Jeremiah 1:6). Almost all scholars agree that according to ancient Hebrew custom, Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have been what we consider a young teenager when she received her miraculous gift. Jesus himself was twelve years old when he amazed the teachers in the temple (see Luke 2:46-47). Many scholars also agree that the apostle John was a young man when he first began to follow Christ as a disciple. The Gospel writer, John Mark even saw fit to tell us that the angel sent to tell of the resurrection appeared in the likeness of a young man (Mark 16:3). In biblical times, God called young people to be kings, prophets, disciples, and pastors. They were expected to apply themselves to know the word of God (Psalm 119:9), to set an example for other believers (2 Timothy 4:12), and to learn to love their spouses and children (Titus 2:4). They also had many responsibilities, which primarily involved learning and mastering a trade to support the family. Young people could legally be put to death for their sins in the theocratic justice system of Israel (Deuteronomy 24:16). This would have included a maximum allowable punishment of being stoned to death for dishonoring (as simple as lying to) his parents. The consistent, though admittedly sketchy, testimony of Scripture seems to be that young people played a major role in the biblical society, culture, and people of God. It seems obvious that the Lord is pleased to use young people to accomplish His plans and He expects them to honor Him and love Him supremely just as He does adults. In short, we could summarize this ministry philosophy by saying that our goal is to lead young people to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love their neighbor as they love themselves.
There is, however, more biblical evidence to consider:

The Family
Many books have been written on the Biblical family. Suffice for our purposes to summarize a few foundational points:
The whole family is to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ as the head of the family.
The husband, as the chief representative of the family before God is held responsible for the entire goings on in his household. He is the spiritual leader of the home.
Both parents hold the primary responsibility for the spiritual nourishment and upbringing of their children.
Parents are responsible before God for the spiritual education of their offspring. From Malachi, we learn that one of God’s purposes for marriage is to produce godly offspring (2:15). Overwhelmingly, the parent has the primary responsibility to fulfill the ministry to their children. They are to teach their children diligently at all times. (Deut. 6:6, 7)  Granted, within the church, others such as pastors and those with the gift of teaching are to teach, but every parent is held responsible before God for the teaching they pass on or do not pass on to their children.
One could even make a strong case that churches need not have any other youth program in their church other than the one that God has already ordained—that of the family. To have any youth or children’s ministry apart from an intentional ministry to the family as a whole may actually work against God’s plan for the family. The Biblical church must strive to come along side the parents and encourage and equip them to parent. Church youth and children’s ministries should focus much attention on helping parents carry out a consistent Bible-saturated, prayer-filled, Christ-exalting parenting ministry to their children.
We may now add to our philosophy, assisting parents to lead young people to love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love their neighbor as they love themselves.

The Church
Recent statistics show that the average teenager has decided by the age of 18 that church and matters of faith are not for them. Though culture and family play large roles in these statistics, we must not ignore that the church itself plays a large role. The typical youth ministry that began in the 50’s and 60’s may not be as effective as it once was. We must raise the bar of expectation for our youth in the North American church. God expects no less commitment from a 15 year old believer than he does from a 45 year old believer. I once heard a youth ministry professor say that the average age of an elder in China today is twenty-one and the average evangelist is seventeen. He also said that most of the great revivals and Christian movements of the last 200 years can be traced back to a group of young adults. There is no age limit to serving God. You are never too young or too old. Therefore, young people should be encouraged to minister to and along side adults on a regular basis. Young people generally have more energy to spend on serving, more spare time to serve, and are usually just as capable to understand scriptural truth as an adult. When you think about it, there is really very little that a young person cannot do in the church. It is well said that young people are the church of the future, but it is also true that they are the church of the present.

Culture
This philosophy would be incomplete if we did not consider the culture. As a youth ministry professor of mine said often, we must use the culture to reach the culture. Or as Paul said, do as the Romans do. Of course we must test everything and hold onto the good. So what is good, or useable about our culture in regards to youth ministry? “Teens” are the largest subculture in the United States, with millions of dollars being spent every year in marketing to them. The good thing about this is Christian youth have a natural “in”. When a church youth event is done well, the culture appreciates it. When youth serve visibly in their communities, the culture takes notice. And most of all, at what other point in history will these individuals ever be around the same people day in and day out for 7 hours a day? What an opportunity to reach our schools for Christ! There is, however, a bad side to our culture when it comes to young adults. Very little is expected of them. A caricaturized version of our culture would say to our young people, “You—12 -25 yr old—you do nothing, but play, have fun, and make mistakes (but not too bad!) until you’re ready to be a responsible adult.” Unfortunately, the church can buy into this idea as well, essentially saying to our young people, “You stay in your youth building and on your youth retreats (out of trouble) until you can learn to be a boring adult who can be a real serious Christian.” Though youth events are seen by our culture as glorified babysitting, the church must realize that the best evangelistic youth events are those events that are already happening in the world. Evangelism geared toward young adults should primarily be more along the lines of New Testament evangelism—going where the crowds were already drawn rather than competing with the world to draw a crowd for the church.

In summary, a biblical church youth ministry will minister to the entire family, equipping them to use the culture to reach the culture by loving the Lord their God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love their neighbor as they love themselves.

So, I watched Letters from Iwo Jima recently. Incredibly well-done movie! I’m not a huge war movie fan, though one of the Hall family favorites is No Time for Sergeants. If I’m going to watch a war movie, I want it to be one that in no way glorifies war. The Clint Eastwood/Steven Spielberg film does not disappoint in this regard. I was struck by several things while watching the film. 1) In true Mel Gibson fashion, they chose to use Japanese with subtitles. As a kid, I always wondered why every movie personality from a different country spoke English with a British accent rather than their own language -we’ve come a long way. This may seem trivial, but I really appreciated the realism. 2) The horrors of war. Enough said. 3) The lack of ethnocentrism in the film. Americans were not made out to be the good guys in contrast to “Japanese savages.” In fact, two scenes were quite the opposite. I’m glad that film is moving away from this kind of subtle racism. 4) The vastly different worldviews of the Japanese vs. the American soldiers. Sometimes represented by threatening to kill deserters and other times by committing suicide rather than be captured, the Japanese culture is mystifying to Western eyes with it’s shame/honor and no-man-is-disconnected outlook on life. Oh, how we Westerners think we have the worldview market cornered with our well-thought out ideas. I have a feeling, Easterners would give many of us headaches, were we to truly try understanding them. 5) The brevity and fragility of life. This is where the movie truly shines brightest. The unrighteous parts of their worldview took the Japanese soldiers to a place that they had never been before -that of realizing the importance of life -even over dishonor or shame. Let us remember, Christians, culture is not evil. There are both sinful and morally neutral/redeemable parts of every culture. Let us strive to redeem these parts of our culture as well as those from of vastly different worldviews.

In his book The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren states that the five purposes of the church are: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and service. At the risk of impinging upon today’s popular Southern Baptist ecclesiology, these purposes must be challenged. If not the purposes themselves, at least the definitions of the purposes according to Warren should be called into question. One glaring biblical mistake in Warren’s definition of the church is the exclusion of the church’s right to exclude –church discipline. Were Southern Baptists to recover this lost “discipline” of the church, they would undoubtedly discover with it, the blessing of God.

Church Discipline in the Bible
The primary biblical text used in advocating church discipline is Matthew 18:15-20. Regarding this passage, commentator John MacArthur states,

It is with the church’s responsibility to keep itself pure that Jesus deals in Matthew 18:15-20. He is still teaching about the childlikeness of believers, illustrated by the young child He had called to Himself and set before the Twelve (v.2). He had declared that a person enters and is considered great in the kingdom by becoming like a little child (vv. 3-4) and that, once in the kingdom, believers are to be protected like little children (vv. 5-9) and cared for like little children (vv. 10-14). He now declares that they must also be disciplined like little children.

In this passage, we see a four-step “template” for proper discipline in church life. The process is as follows: when one knows of a brother in sin, he is to rebuke him privately first (v 15). If he does not repent, the person is to rebuke the brother in sin with one or two other brothers (v 16). If the brother remains incessant in his sin, he is to be rebuked in the presence of the entire church (v 17). If this third step does not cause the brother to turn from his sin, the congregation is to resort to the fourth and final step –excommunication (v 17). Although each step leads to the next, if the errant brother repents at any point in the process, the process has been successful and is therefore aborted. Though it may sound very mechanical and inhumane to describe it in such terms, the process is actually to be done out of love for the falling brother, for the church and its witness, and for the holiness of God and His people. Scholar Robert Reymond says,

Just as God authorized Israel in its “theocratic” character to place those who committed sins “with a high hand” under the ban (herem) to be punished with extermination, so also the Lord Jesus Christ has given his church the authority to discipline its unruly and reprobate members in order to promote its purity and well-being (Matt. 16:19; 18:15-18; John 20:23). Just as by the preaching of the Word the wicked are doctrinally separated from the holy, so also by discipline the church authoritatively separates between the profane and the holy.

Matthew 18 is the key text for church discipline, but it is not the only inscripturated evidence of the practice. Any avid Sunday School attendee should know it is God Himself who initiated such measures in the church. The story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) proves that God values the holiness of His church, even to the point of discouraging outward growth (vv 5, 11). Paul also says God caused some to be weak, ill, or even dead for ignoring personal sin while taking communion (1 Cor 11:30). But more biblical precedent does exist for the church’s responsibility to carry out discipline.
Reymond sums up the biblical teachings regarding church discipline as follows:

The exercise of discipline is extremely important for the glory of God and of Christ, the purity of the church, and the reclaiming of disobedient members (Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; Gal. 6:1; 2 Thess. 3:14-15; 1 Tim. 1:20; Titus 3:10). However, the authority to discipline that Christ has given his church is for building up and not for destroying (2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10). Therefore, it is to be exercised in mercy and not in wrath (Gal. 6:1). In this the church is to take the part of a tender mother (1 Thess. 2:7), correcting her children for their good, that everyone of them may be presented faultless in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The absence of discipline in the Southern Baptist pulpits of today is not due to an absence of the subject in the Scriptures.

Church Discipline in History
Although today’s average Southern Baptist would probably never know it, church discipline played a key role in the day to day polity of early Southern Baptist church life. Article 34 of 1679’s The Orthodox Creed states,

We believe that the great King and Lawgiver, Christ, the universal and only Head of His church, hath given to His visible church a subordinate power, or authority, for the well-being, ordering, and governing of it, for His own glory and the church’s profit and good, the executive part of which derivative power of discipline and government is committed to His ministers, proportionable to their dignities and places in the church in a most harmonious way, for the beauty, order, government, and establishment of the same, and consisteth in the exercise and execution of the censors, or rod of correction, he hath appointed therein, for the purgation of the same, in order to present scandals and offenses, both public and private.

Baptist fathers Benjamin and Elias Keach state in their 1697 covenant, “We do promise to watch over each other’s conversations, and not to suffer sin upon one another . . . to warn, rebuke, and admonish one another with meekness, according to the rules left to us of Christ in that behalf.” And later, “We do promise to bear with one another’s weaknesses, failings, and infirmities with much tenderness, not discovering to any without the church, nor any within, unless according to Christ’s rule and the order of the gospel provided in that case.”
This sort of covenant did not disappear in the eighteenth or even nineteenth century. In Democratic Religion, Southern Baptist historian Gregory Wills states that Southern Baptists of the 1800’s,

rejected modernity’s individualism. Baptist piety had individualist characteristics rooted in the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of all believers . . . but they repulsed the privatizing trend of democratic individualism. The church, they believed, had prerogatives that superseded those of individuals. The redeemed community determined corporately the meaning of the sacred text, the shape of Christian spirituality, and the regulation of virtue.

Wills then proceeds to present thoroughly researched and documented evidence to support this statement.
It was in the 1850’s when James P. Boyce, founder of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, saw fit to include discipline alongside worship as one of the purposes for Christ’s church. “John Leadley Dagg, the author of a well-known and influential [Southern Baptist] church manual of the nineteenth century, noted: ‘It has been remarked, that when discipline leaves a church, Christ goes with it.’”
Nineteenth century Southern Baptists may, perhaps be faulted in carrying out church discipline, but it is definitely not for being too relaxed. If Southern Baptist churches lack discipline today, it is not for a lack in Southern Baptist history.

Church Discipline Today
Most Southern Baptist churches that claim to exercise church discipline today reserve such practices only for a select group of people within the church, such as church leaders or members well known within the community. Although the exercise of biblical discipline is generally lacking in today’s Southern Baptist church life, there are many influential advocates. While some Southern Baptist churches of today are doing away with the concept of “church membership,” Donald Whitney (professor of spiritual formation at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) sees church discipline as a biblical proof for membership.
R. Albert Mohler Jr., current president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says,

The decline of church discipline is perhaps the most visible failure of the contemporary church. No longer concerned with maintaining purity of confession or lifestyle, the contemporary church sees itself as a voluntary association of autonomous members, with minimal moral accountability to God, much less to each other. The absence of church discipline is no longer remarkable-it is generally not even noticed. Regulative and restorative church discipline is, to many church members, no longer a meaningful category, or even a memory. The present generation of both ministers and church members is virtually without experience of biblical church discipline.

Mark Dever is the pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC and author of the article “Why We Disciplined Half Our Church.” In A Display of God’s Glory, he sets forth that, “it is indisputable that one of the functions of a local church family is to draw boundaries which will exclude people who are themselves unwilling to be excluded from membership in the church.” In Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Dever proposes:

Biblical church discipline is simple obedience to God and a simple confession that we need help. Here are five positive reasons for such corrective church discipline. Its purpose is positive (1) for the individual disciplined, (2) for other Christians as they see danger of sin, (3) for the health of the church as a whole and (4) for the corporate witness of the church. Most of all, (5) our holiness is to reflect the holiness of God. It should mean something to be a member of the church, not for our pride’s sake, but for God’s name’s sake.

If Southern Baptists do indeed lack this biblical mark of a healthy church today, it is not for lack of modern prophets. Within Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches, these three men and other like-minded people are in places of influence prophetically crying for change.

Change is Possible
Change is possible in Southern Baptist churches of today. Church members have already at their disposal, a solid biblical foundation to stand on, a rich heritage to draw from, and a slew of others to link arms with. If SBC church leaders will be willing to redefine the popular notions of the day regarding the purposes of the church, God will be pleased to pour out blessings on these churches and be glorified in the process. “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” (1 Pet 3:13-14).
This is not to say that the road will be easy. As any minister knows, “change” is the wrong word to bring up and stay popular within a congregation. Still, most things worth doing take time and many take hard work. The Bible never presents orthodoxy as a byproduct of love for the Savior; Southern Baptists must be proactive. If SBC churches changed for the worse in the twentieth century, by God’s grace they can continue to change for the better in the twenty-first.

SOURCES
Books
Broadus, John A. Edited by Timothy and Denise George. Baptist Confessions, Covenants, and Catechisms. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1999.

Dever, Mark E. A Display of God’s Glory booklet. Washington, DC: Center for Church Reform, 2001.

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church booklet. Washington, DC: Center for Church Reform, 2001.

MacArthur, John Jr. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Matthew 16-23. Chicago: Moody, 1998.

Mueller, William. A History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1959.

Reymond, Robert L. A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998.

Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church. Chicago: Moody, 1996.

Wills, Gregory A. Democratic Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Articles
Mohler, R. Albert Jr. “Church Discipline: The Missing Mark.” In The Compromised Church, ed. John H. Armstrong, 171-88. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1998.

since i’m usually at work all day, the joy usually falls on me to “do night-night” with our girls. among other things, our routine always includes prayers. here’s some of catherine’s prayers (keep in mind, she’s two).

“dear God, help me only sleep good. help me only have bad dreams. help me only have good days. help me only have a new heart. in Jesus’ only name, amen.” at this point, abigail, relieved that she no longer has to bite her lip waiting to hear “amen” so she can talk, says disgustedly, “NO, CATHERINE! HAVE ONLY GOOD DAYS!!”

“dear God, help me sleep good. help me get this baby up. help me get this baby up. help me get this baby up-” at this point, i open my eyes and find her attempting to rescue a wedged baby doll from between the bed and the nightstand. i prompt her to go ahead and close the prayer, “in Jesus’ name . . .” “amen,” she says.

“dear God, help me not touch mommy’s glasses (as she touches mommy’s glasses), help me not get mommy’s ookies (as she reaches up mommy’s nose), help me lay this baby down on this table (as she lays the baby doll down on the nightstand), help me not knock over this picture (as she removes her hand away from said baby which is now laying next to a framed picture), help me . . .” well, you get the point.

and then there’s my personal favorite, “dear God, help daddy be a good mister.”

this was the title of a pop Christian song a number of years ago, but it was also the true account of my first driving ticket. 90 mph in a 45 zone at night with no headlights. no real excuses -just plain stupidity! thought of that today, when listening to a john piper sermon in which he said something to the effect of, “most of you are more concerned about the blue lights in the mirror than you are the impending wrath of God.” that was me at the age of 16 -i was absolutely terrified by the policeman coming up to my window.  and the next time after that, and the next time after that, and the next time after that, and -ok, you get the idea. yes, i’ve been pulled over several times and i’m not proud of any of them. i got to thinking as piper continued preaching through my headphones, “at some point, i lost the fear of the policeman in my mirror.” oh, i don’t mean i’m a hard-hearted criminal now. i mean, on the few (note the word “few”) occasions i do get pulled over these days, i don’t get that nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach. the danger is, we can get that way with other things in life too, most importantly sin and God’s wrath. one of the main points of the book of Hebrews is that if you don’t pay close attention to your faith, you will drift. when you drift, you forget the absolute dreadfulness of sin and you forget the awful truth that God’s wrath rests upon the ungodly. just like i pay much closer attention to the speed limit now because the price is too high for me to pay to do otherwise, let us “pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” -Hebrews 2:1

My wife and I watched the movie Premonition the other night. Though my wife hated it, the Lord spoke to me and helped me see a couple of insights. I’ll put them in question form. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, maybe you’ll benefit from answering these questions too.

If God were to do something in your life to really get your attention, would I: a) go on about my life and give no heed? b) go absolutely insane wondering why this was happening to me? or c) try to learn what it was the Lord wanted me to learn? I have answered all three at one point or another to all kinds of bitter or shocking providences in my life. The truth is, everything in my life is designed to teach me something, whether it’s a big something or a small something. And whatever that something is, part of my assignment is to figure out how it relates to God -who he is and what he has done.

What is most important to me? The things that are most important to me in this life must be nurtured. This is true about virtually everything in life, whether friends, family, Christ, or whatever (you fill in the blank). If I want to be the biggest Cubs fan in the world, I could nurture this desire and maybe even achieve that goal (like the Fields family who just had a son and named him Wrigley). But, this nurture would be taking the place of my opportunity to nurture my faith in Christ or my relationship with my wife and daughters, etc.

What will it take to get my attention? I admit, I have been at times in my life when God had to shock me out of complacency and wake me up to reality with something drastic. Had I been in a time like this when I watched this movie, I hope the viewing would have woke me up (like when I watched the movie Phonebooth -not that I recommend it -too many F-bombs). But if I were in this character’s place, I hope I would think first to God’s purposes and not anything else (she does kind of come around to this, finally going to the priest for answers).

Am I ready to say with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord”? Like the old hymn writer says, “What’e'er my God ordains is right, here will my stand be taken.” Lord, when I walk through that valley, may I find the grace to bless your name.

I had an interesting conversation with my daughter tonight. We were in the van listening to Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire and Abigail asked me if Johnny was really burned or if he was just dreaming about being burned. I thought for a moment and said, “Johnny is talking about sinning. He is saying that sinning hurts us and makes us feel bad just like being burned hurts us and makes us feel bad.” She candidly replied, “But I don’t feel bad when I sin.” It hurt her daddy’s ears to hear that, but I answered, “That’s because God has not given you a new heart yet, honey. When you have a new heart, you feel bad when you sin. That’s why we ask God to give you a new heart.”

Lord, please create in my daughters a new creation.

Jer. 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people.”

wow! God is good! the halls have totally been spinning round and round over the past 15 months. notice i didn’t say, spinning out of control. it is absolutely incredible that i ever have doubt that God is active in the lives of his children.

let me tell you what i mean:

oct. 05 -i lose my job as youth pastor, we can’t make it on my dinky ups salary, so we prepare to move in with my in-laws. the day before the big move, i get a supervisor offer -badabing-badaboom -we’re staying in louisville.

nov. 05 - mar. 06 -nathan and i are looking for what the Lord would have us to do. we check out pastoring in the same association or church planting -convinced that God wants us to work together in whatever we do. “ok, God, sure you provided for us in october, but can you do it in march?”

mar. 06 -we begin talking with a 1 yr. old church plant in lafayette, in. we come up as co-pastors. the God of october is the God of march.

mar. 06 – nov. 06 -we beat our heads against the wall, pouring money, prayers, and effort at a new church plant that just won’t root. we are miserable!

nov. 06 -we are relieved to decide that the church plant will be disbanded. i’ve never been so excited to be unemployed with a mortgage before. we now have until jan. 31 to get new jobs.

jan. 07 -i get a job with calvary baptist church as a part-time ministry intern. knew God would do it! nathan and i both get job offers on the same day from terminix -i take the terminix job and nathan goes for manager of auntie anne’s pretzel store in the mall, which he was also offered that day (jan 29th). surprise, God provided!

jan. 30 -i have never felt so secure in my father’s arms. what a day for elisabeth anne to be born! God just poured on the gravy!

now -i need a bigger vehicle, i’m here in lafayette killing bugs, teaching children, and waiting to see if this church plant is going to take off the ground 2-3 yrs. from now, but am i worried? nope.

the Lord gives strength to his people. the Lord blesses his people with peace. -psalm 29:11.

as i write this i am 29 years old. every year, i wonder what the big deal about aging is. here’s a poetic reflection i wrote a few years ago:
although i don’t have much silver on my head
although only 26 years have passed
although not many books i have read
and not many memories live in my past

still there are some things i’ve learned
still there is some truths discerned

many mistakes have i made while walking on this earth
several regrets in my life that make me hang my head
sad to say the problem began as early as my birth
i did not want my parents’ way but my own instead

so now i see the only way for a child to live
is to hallow that little life and glory to Christ give

regretfully this pattern continued as a growing man
i forsook my holy heritage and God’s perfect plan
but i saw the only way for a young man to live
is to hallow his precious life and glory to Christ give

now God has graced me with a wonderful life
a child, a church, my friends, my wife
i am sure -haven’t a doubt -the only way to live
is to give them all back -his precious gifts -glory to Christ give

i know not what lies ahead
although my future is certain
but when they lay my body with the dead
when i’ve passed on through the curtain

i’m sure i’ll say then, as i do now
though i am not exactly sure how
the only way for a man to live
the only goodness there is to give
is to joyfully give up all of his rights
and make his sole aim to glorify Christ

“but even the hairs of your head are all numbered” -Jesus

you know sometimes, i get so used to the benefits of having all things in common that i forget to rejoice in the goodness of it. what do i mean? i’m referring to acts 4 where the first century Christians had all things in common and there was not a needy person among them. this is a testimony of God’s goodness to those observing Christian lives from the outside. true community. truly depending on one another. this is way better than just borrowing and lending and it was way better than socialism. i experience it almost every day:
-in friends opening up their home to me for two weeks, letting me eat their food and sleep on their couch.
-in giving my car to a friend in need.
-in receiving free fire wood from friends.
-in giving my extra washer and dryer to friends in need of them.
-in countless meals shared at no cost.
-in friends giving valuable time to listen, pray, or counsel.
-in receiving gifts of clothes and babycare items from friends who hardly know us.
i don’t think i’m making too much over nothing here. i really do think the glory of God is sometimes best seen in the little things -a cup of cold water, clothing, or comfort. thank you, Lord for great friends!
“but if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 Jn. 3:17-18

You know, I haven’t always been this interested in spiritual things. Growing up in a Baptist minister’s home, it is easy to look back at my life as a spiritual journey. The first milestone was in kindergarten. At that time, several of my friends were being baptized in church. I don’t remember all that was going through my head at the time, but I felt like I too should be baptized. I talked with my parents and answered all the right questions all the right ways, later to talk with the pastor and be baptized. Looking back, I feel that experience did reflect an understanding that “Christ died for [my] sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), but my reasons for wanting to “get saved” were ignorant and therefore not acceptable to God. My decision at that time was more likely the result of a double desire of not wanting to go to hell and wanting to go to heaven. As a child I did my best to live the life of a good Christian boy although I did not know what that meant.

From fourth to ninth grades, because of several moves, I had a difficult time fitting in with other kids my age. Although I had another significant spiritual experience in the summer of 1991, I never sought counsel from others and never acted on the inner spiritual struggles I was having. My eighth grade year, in order to be more accepted by my peers, I begin making decisions that I knew went directly against my Christian upbringing. I started a path into a downward spiral of sin that only got worse and worse for the next five years. By the time I was a senior in high school, no one would ever have guessed I was raised in a minister’s home –which was just fine with me.

The summer of 1996, after my graduation, I went on what I thought would be my last youth group trip to DiscoveryCamp in Cedarmore, KY. I made it my goal to make it through the last night’s invitation without letting God “get me.” That’s how hard-hearted I had become. But, praise God, when I left that assembly, the Lord followed me right out! The only way I can describe how I felt is that He had my heart in His hand which was getting tighter and tighter. I cried for what seemed like an hour, all the while refusing to tell my girlfriend, Monica, why I was so upset (because I had been living a double life—a Christian life around Monica, family, and church and a rebellious life around all others). He would not let go until I gave my whole life over to Him. There with my Dad and Monica (now my wife) looking on, I prayed a prayer of desperation and the Lord forgave me by His grace. From that point on, I have been a different person.

I still haven’t gotten over that incredible day; it truly changed my life. I went to camp one person and returned a totally different person. It’s true what the Bible says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Of course, I didn’t come home perfect. Some sins I still struggle with today, but many others dropped like flies that very day. God did exactly what I was afraid He would do. He changed lots of things in my life: my friends, my interests, my goals, my affections, and my destination. That’s right, my destination. Although I’ve had struggles and doubts over the past eight years, one thing is sure. Heaven is my home. I know this is true because Jesus promised in the Gospel of John that “whoever comes to [Him, He] will never cast out” (6:37) and He is preparing a place for His children and “[He] will come again and will take [us] to [Himself], that where [He is we] may also be” (14:3).

This is the truth that has changed my life, as well as countless others. Jesus came that we “may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). And so I say with the apostle John that “whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things . . . [so that you may] believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:12-13). Do you have life? Do you believe?

Check out these two quotes from two great Biblical counselors.

The Holy Spirit is the Principle Agent Who sanctifies, working in the hearts of all true believers to make them more like Christ. But He does so by means of the Word. A person simply cannot change in ways that are pleasing to God apart from the Word. The Holy Spirit must have His most effective weapon (the Sword of the Spirit) if He is to so change you . . .

I’ve met an astounding number of Christians who believe they can grow in grace apart from regular and continuous time in the Word (i.e., Bible reading, study, memorization, meditation, and active listening to Bible preaching and teaching). At the risk of overstating my argument, let me state it this way: it doesn’t matter how much time you spend in prayer or fasting, in fellowship with other Christians, in ministering or in witnessing to others; if you’re not spending time in God’s Word (or to be more accurate-if God’s Word does not richly dwell in you), you are, for all intents and purposes, handcuffing the Holy Spirit. Oh, it’s not that He is unable to work if you don’t cooperate. It’s that He has not promised to work apart from the Bible. -Lou Priolo from Teach Them Diligently

That the Holy Spirit operates through the Bible is . . . confirmed in that what the Bible is said to do, the Spirit is likewise said to do. For example, each of the four functions of Scripture (listed below) is said to be performed also by the Holy Spirit (in the verses added):

1. “Teaching”: compare 1 John 2:27 (the “anointing” represents the Holy Spirit).

2. “Conviction”: compare John 16:7-11.

3. “Correction”: compare Galatians 6:1; 5:22, 23.

4. “Disciplined training in righteousness”: compare Galatians 5:16-18; Romans 6-8.

In each case, the Spirit works by means of the Bible. -Jay Adams from How People Change

check out what andrew klavan said to world magazine on becoming a christian:

You know, I suspect everyone who sets sail on the sea of faith is a little bit like Christopher Columbus. There are all these people on shore saying, “Are you crazy? You’re going to fall off the edge of reality!” And instead, you discover a new world.

amen. (to see the whole article, go to http://www.worldmag.com/articles/12661)

it’s time to reveal some of the bug business’s trade secrets (i hope i don’t get into trouble revealing these). here’s a couple of important things they teach you at bug-killing training:

don’t pour pesticides on your hands, or anywhere else on your skin.

don’t keep your chemicals in the same compartment with your lunch.

don’t keep your lunch in the same compartment with your chemicals.

even when you think it’s safe, check for (doggy) landmines in every yard.

don’t store the clothing and gear designed to keep you safe from chemicals in the same compartment that you store your chemicals.

don’t use your mouth to syphon pesticide chemicals through a hose.

don’t try to rob a house that is being fumigated without a self contained breathing apparatus.

when attempting to commit suicide by ingesting pesticide chemicals, make sure that the poison is strong enough to kill you, not just strong enough to leave you suffering with a life-long case of the runs.

there you have it folks. just a few more reasons that terminix is #1 worldwide in the pest control business.