Leaning Forward

Re-read # 4: Knowing God

Published in 1973, J.I. Packer's Knowing God is a standard that I read annually because it impacted my life when I was searching for spiritual meaning many years ago. The original price tag reminded me how long ago it had been. $6.95 was a hefty price for a seminary student in 1979. Still in print, the paperback version at Amazon Prime is $14.67 new, still not a bad price.

When the hound of heaven finally moved me to attend SEBTS I was truly a spiritual and biblical novice. My degree in business and several years in banking and hospital administration didn't give me much background in theological study. So, when I entered SEBTS another new student recommended Packer's work as a theological primer. 

Of course, it was more than that. The back cover blurb promises that "...Knowing God could become, next to Scripture, the most significant book you will read this year, and maybe next". That would be true for me, since I've read it annually every year since my seminary graduation in 1982. And, there are several notable reasons Knowing God is on my personal re-read list.

Packer elevates the study of God with language that fits the topic and moves me to know the majesty of his subject matter, that is, Knowing God. Perhaps it is common that our British cousins use proper English in their writing. But, I find that Packer's use of fine terminology and phrasing draws me into an exalted desire to read more, know more, and learn more. He does not mince words nor is his writing wordy. There's an economy of words that communicates with efficiency but with great clarity.

More so, Packer's thoughts about God and knowing Him are grounded in Scripture. That his conclusions and insights are based on the Word of God gave me initially a tutorial in Old and New Testament that I had not expected. His intended treatise on God (see page 5) is just that with the added benefit of being a survey of the Bible. And, then, more, a review of church history, and a study in biblical interpretation.

More to my heart, at the time I originally read Packer and in the thirty+ readings since, is the fine way of making his ideas so thoroughly Christological. At that early point in my personal journey it was a directional lesson that was important and significant. it still is a constant reminder of the centrality of Christ in all things.

So, I read this book over and over, and highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been with Packer in a great study of our heavenly Father. He closes the book, "Thou hast said, 'Seek Ye my face'. My heart says to Thee, 'They face Lord, do I seek" (Psalm 27:8). If this book moves any of its readers to identify more closely with the psalmist at this point, it will not have been written in vain". 

Amen to that.

Re-read # 3: Affluenza

Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic was written by John DeGraaf, David Wann, and Thomas Naylor (Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco: 2001). It was originally an adaptation of two PBS television documentaries by the same name that used the metaphor a disease to address the materialism and consumerism of contemporary culture. Once again, it is not on my every year reading list because of it's clear spiritual content or underpinning. Rather, it's an honest assessment of the financial sickness that seems to possess so many Americans today. What impressed me most about the material is the way the authors authenticate their assumptions with facts. On the other hand, there are several Bible references in the background that give the insights some credibility for people like me. Therefore, this very insightful book is useful as a ministry resource.

Once again, it tackles the biblical themes of wealth and stuff in a creative manner. The medical metaphor is compelling and easily draws the reader into the process. There are sub-divisions on Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment of Affluenza. The Causes section opens in Chapter 15 with a Scripture quotation from 1 Timothy 6:7-10, the section about the love of money being the root of all evil. This was an eye-opener for me, knowing that the PBS people would have permitted this kind of spiritual value to be included in their assessment of culture. The Chapter title, Original Sin, means that the authors realize the underlying heart issues involved in the economic condition of the nation.

The Treatment section contains recommendations about attending church groups in financial training and implementing the tithe as a method of handling personal money issues with intergrity. There are also chapters on preserving the environment, how to live socially and financially responsible lives, and ways to simplify life. There's are several assessment inventories to assist in diagnosing affluenza and other financial ills, like credit card over-use, planned purchasing, retirement planning, and many other very practical matters related to living financially responsible lives. 

Of course, the factual data presented in their findings changes with every day. But, the trends they identify and predict are accurate, and their assessment of the epidemic is still spot on. The statistical material is useful even though somewhat dated. But, the most stirring thing about this book is the creative way the material is organized and presented, the compelling way the information is arranged, and the manner in which their conclusions reflect the wisdom and truth of Scripture.

So, in a few weeks, I'm going to read this one again, as in the past five or six years. It informs, inspires, and instructs in an area where most of us have a hard time relating the truth of Scripture to the cultures in which we live.

That we cannot serve God and mammon is a core belief on my evangelical faith. Jesus said it, I believe it. These authors said it too in Chapter 15, on page 126. Their ideas and conclusions are generally consistent with my faith, and I appreciate the cool way they packaged this great material.

So, take a read. You'll be glad you did.

Worship 1-January 5, 2014

It's the Lord's Day and millions of believers are gathering in churches and homes around the world to worship, study, grow, and fellowship together. I will be one of them, very eager to worship with the Northwood Baptist Church family and preach a Bible message that will challenge and inspire us all to right Christian living.

Maybe you're sleeping in today, or are experiencing some symptoms of the bugs making the rounds in the winter weather. Whatever the reason, perhaps you would appreciate a personal moment of worship. If so, listen to Chris Tomblin on YouTube here. There's a short advertisement that you can skip if you want to.

Now, read this.

Shout triumphantly to the Lord all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness. come before Him with joyful song.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are His---
HIs people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and HIs courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is goodm and His love is eternal.
HIs faithfulness endures through all generations.
Psalm 100

Now pray.

Our Fatherin heaven,
Your name be honnored as Holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we aso have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13

Happy Lord's Day!

Pause 1

Most Americans don't do the pause thing too well. Culture is defined by motion and fast-forward is the default setting any more. We've learned the jargonn of chill and chive, and have made recreation the icon of pop with-it idealism. At the heart, though, only true slackers know how to un-plug and really enjoy rest, relaxation, and refreshment. Even recreation is manic pursuit anymore.

So, here os Pause 1. The first Saturday of 2014, and the way we'll spend every Saturday, in pause. Here's your assignment, should you choose to accept it. Watch a movie with your wife and children.  

Re-read # 2: The Secular City

Liberal Harvard theologian shocked the world in his 1965 bestseller The Secular City (New York: MacMillan:1965). Of course, Cox wasn't speaking of a particular geographical setting as the image behind his thesis. He was rather describing a future world where secular ideas were the "outcome of Biblical religion." Cox predicted a collision of secular urban reality and the breakdown of traditional religion.

The picture I selected to display today depicts, at least in my mind, the two marks of the secular city as envisioned by Cox. He envisioned a future world of mobility and anonymity. Perhaps a bleak photograph of cars jammed bumper to bumper in a traffic circle accurately pictures the frustrations of a world that is moving and dis-connected. They're the sad faces of indistinct people caught in the suspended motion of the population explosion. It's a world of people living unnoticed lives, hiding out in high rise office buildings, apartment complexes, cubicles, and even cars. Even more, it is a world with little hope, the secular city with inanimate hand-made gods apart from any systematic system of belief. It's the world where the unholy trinity of me-myself-and-I rules.

And, over there in their little corner of it is the church, disconnected from it but finding some measure of peace and meaning in their protective huddles. It is the godless world in one corner, and the fortress church in the other, ready for the crash should one make a move toward the other. They will not be unequally yoked, these two worlds, because they fear each other so. The fortress church cannot be made uncomfortable by any concessions to secularism, and the world doesn't have any idea of God in the first place. It's a stand off, and the only apparent solution is the dismantling of tradition and orthodoxy and standards, a thumbing of biblical values and morals.

It is totally sad, this disconnection. With the wagons circled in defense from the savage secular monster, we've become the enclave church, the cloister of safety from the demons of secularism. The other option, to accommodate the world and let water seep into the vessel, the slowing sinking ship, is just as offensive. Standing our ground is a natural reaction, knowing that the gates of gehenna cannot prevail against His church. Of course, how much this current version depicts His church may be an arguable point and may be just the reason we're closing so many church doors these days. It is possible that the church of the twentieth century has morphed into something quite different than the church Jesus is building?

Reading Harvey Cox is a depressing survey of what he anticipated in the future. As a biblicist Cox leaves much to be desired. As a prophet he may be judged more lightly because his predictions are pretty much accurate. And, like most prophets he went unheeded, discounted because of his liberal leanings and Harvard pedigree. But, his ideas about a secular world and the breakdown of traditional religion were basically on point. So, witness the rise of the non-traditional phenomenon sweeping across our nation and the world, spirituality apart from the traditional church.

So, we're suddenly about connections. Contemporary spirituality is more about the horizontal than the vertical. So, theology and practice and even morality are down the list, people and relationships up. Of course, Harvey Cox, like many modern voices, was light in the biblical authority stuff too. So, he was good at saying what is wrong with the world and the church, but doesn't offer many workable solutions except to discount the church as a viable means of addressing societal problems.

Somewhere Cox's cohorts forgot about the promises of God, the joys of faith, the stronger one that is in us than the one in the world, and the times in human history when the church did actually influence the times. If Scripture means anything to evangelicals today, we must rally around Bible teaching and be the church Jesus is building, the one we read about in the New Testament.

Our dilemma isn't so much the need to get in touch with them as it is to stay in touch with Him. And, that means that I, and every church person these days, must place ourselves under His authority as Lord, and be the church of Scripture, not the church of the world, or the church of our dreams. 

So, I read Harvey Cox every year, as a reminder about the state of the world, and the vital importance of Christ's church impacting that world. And, if I understand the church as defined by Scripture, that means me.  

Re-read #1: The Six Thinking Hats

OK, The Holy Bible is the number one best-seller on my reading list. To read through The Bible each year is a blessing that confronts me with fresh truth every day. The promise that The Word is living is certainly proved as He reveals new things each time through.

There are five other books I read every year. They are simply reminders of something I found import- ant in them at first reading. So, for the first few days of 2014 I'm going to review them, even as I begin the process of reading them again. They challenge me to learn and grow.

Edward de Bono is a pioneer of thinking. You can read his biography here. His personal faith is never mentioned in his biographical data. But, reading between the lines it appears he is perhaps a secular humanist. One of his books is "H+:A New Religion" that espouses happiness, help, hope, health, and humor as a key to living the meaningful and purposeful life. It may be his confession of faith.

The Six Thinking Hats is a pace-setter in the study of how humans think and make decisions. De Bono suggests that there are six thinking tools in making important decisions: the white hat considers data and facts; the red hat involves intuition and gut; the black hat brings questions and caution into the process; the yellow hat looks at the positives of the situation; the green hat takes a creative view; and the blue hat requires analysis and focus over the issue. They are significant ways to approach problem solving and decision making. Read about them.

Most importantly, de Bono defined and identified "lateral thinking", that is, the process of thinking at a level beyond the confines of logic and reason. In his reasearch, he characterized most thinking as linear thinking, that is, thinking in a rational, logical, progressive, and usually chronological fashion. Lateral thinking is a thought process that leaps to another plane, a level above logical sequence. It involves thinking beyond what is obvious, tackling problems with a fresh, creative approach.

The catch for me is that lateral thinking is Kingdom thinking. Jesus always challenged His followers and listeners to move to another level in their thinking. He usually answered a question with a question in order to shift his students to Kingdom thoughts. The "mind of Christ" which supposedly defines believers is a mind lived on a Kingdom level. We must see things through Kingdom eyes. De Bono doesn't talk about that. But, lateral thinking is Kingdom thinking.

Here is a problem for the modern church. We are linear thinkers, addressing the times with logic and reason, chronological movement of thought, sequential ideation. To fulfill the Great Commission, we must think as Kingdom people, live under the promise of the supernatural, and envision the world with Kingdom eyes.

Having ears to listen and eyes to see is a shift to Kingdom thinking and Kingdom ways. De Bono doesn't talk about the Kingdom. But, his ideas about lateral thinking went a long way challenging me to think at a different level.

Let this mind be you. Philippians 2:5 

Every day is a fresh start

OK, the calendar has turned and everyone is blathering about a fresh start. It is a new year and there's a good bit of history here, years of cultural conditioning about turning over a new leaf, beginnings, leaving the past in the rear-view mirror, and the positive attitude rhetoric to super-charge the possibilities. It's the boost that some people need to navigate beyond hard times, disappointments, discouragement, failed relationships, and every other dark moment in the old version. Hip hip hooray!

Thirty years ago my friend Curt Bradford challenged me with Isaiah 43:19, depicted in the picture above. It reminds me that every moment of my life happens under the promise of the new thing He is doing in my life. Yes, the clean landscape of the new year does offer a rush of potential and I'm applauding every person who sees this as a thresh-hold to change or course correction. Underneath the veneer of calendars and talk is the truth of human nature and the reality that we're mostly recidivists in the sin department, apt to repeat the mistakes of the past without supernatural intervention.

So, that's the difference between Isaiah 43:19, and all the promises of Scripture, for that matter, and the positive attitude jibe of culture. The new thing Isaiah promises is what God is doing. He is doing a new thing, constantly making everything new, doing the work of new creation over His people, inviting His people to be a part of what He is always doing.

Happy New Year is an appropriate greeting today. In reality, Happy New Thing is the joy of a growing relationship with Christ every single moment of every single day. So, Happy New Year.

Happy New Thing! WOW! 

Resolved

Calendars being what they are, comparing the past and present datings, it would be a stretch to say that Bible characters made New Years resolutions. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year would have been celebrated September 4-6 on the modern calendar. So, with calendar adjustments from culture to culture it's hard to say when the New Year would have been celebrated in Bible times.

Still, when I search "resolved" in my HCSB Study Bible on line app, there are a couple of interesting hits. For example, when Jehoshaphat and the armies of Israel faced the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites, the Chronicler wrote, "Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he resolved to seek the Lord" (2 Chronicles 20:3). Then, in his longest Psalm, King David wrote, "I am resolved to obey your statutes to the very end" (Psalm 119:112). Interestingly, Solomon wrote, "I have tested all this by wisdom. I resolved, 'I will be wise', but it was beyond me" (Ecclesiastes 7:23). In the Prophets there are a couple of references, mostly about what God's resolved to do in the nation. in Acts, Paul resolved to pass through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem.

Several of these "resolved" passages are interesting. For instance, David's resolution to obey God's commands to the very end. Of course, the context of that verse is His love and dependence on the Word of God. Earlier he had confessed that God's Word was a lamp to his feet and a light to his path. The greater resolve is a prayer to be taught by God and find deliverance in His Word. The promise of obedience is grounded in His submission to the Father's instruction and guidance. So, his resolution to obey was contingent on God's provision of sustaining power through the Word. See 119:116.

Solomon's resolution is profound. He had resolved to be wise. Well, that certainly did define his pursuits in the life, the prayer for wisdom when he became king, and the many mentions of wisdom in the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. His resolve, however, was bigger that humanly possible. You see, Solomon knew wisdom comes from the Lord, and that it derives from fearing and reverencing God. He had written about it many times. The long of it is that his resolution to be wise was something that only God could do. It was a learning experience for him.

Here's the deal, as I see it. It's a good thing to review life, make note of strong points, perhaps lament some of the weak ones. Without some resolve we'd just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. But, even with our best intentions, our resolve must be realistic. More and more I love what John the Baptist said: "He must increase but I must decrease" (john 3:30). That puts my new directions and goals in a proper context of life, submitting everything to Him and basing all of my achievements on my growing relationship with Him. 

Lose weight. I hope so. Get more exercise. Sure. Be nicer. Yes. Serve more. Naturally. They are all possible if they are secondary to Him being first in my life.

Happy New year.

Finishing strong

My stomach usually tells me when I've had enough. It was calibrated by God to send me a personal IM when I've crossed the fullness thresh hold. Nerves are wired the same way. Most of us can tell when when someone is standing on the last one. And, the body has other innate devices to signal when we're close to an end. Sun-burned skin screams "enough". Ear drums vibrate when they've had enough. And, so on and so on, down the line.

Assessing another year often involves questions about enough. When I scroll down the end of year inventory list the gauges by which I measure success or failure aren't always so quantitative. Some are numbers. But, most of them times I'm just asking if my performance or activity or participation or disciplline was enough. Did I give enough, or love enough, or serve enough, worship enough, relate enough, connect enough, exercise enough, understand enough, play enough, rest enough, and you get the picture. How does enough figure in the evaluation process? Maybe more, how do I know when enough is enough?

Finishing strong, though, does involve dealing with the enough question(s). There are some limits on human activity where enough is actually easy to calculate. Certainly we can know when we've spent enough or had enough to drink, or watched enough TV. Let the spiritual side of life kick in then determine the point at which we've prayed enough or studied Scripture enough or worshiped enough. Find a scale that registers when we've served enough or helped enough or given enough.

Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about becoming weary to the point of saying "enough". At Second Thessalonians 3:13 he wrote, "Brothers, do not grow weary in doing good". Evidently there's no limit about doing good, whatever that may encompass. Jesus said to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). There's no enough in this formula. And, loving our neighbor as ourself makes enough seem a little lame here too.

Finishing strong begins with my understanding that the measurement of enough may not apply in every category. I can beat myself up for being a slacker in some of these areas and try to raise the bar on my own contributions in the future. Maybe finishing strong involves asking the right questions. "Was it enough?" may not be the right angle in some areas. There's never enough in most.

To be like John the Baptist may be the attitude that wins. He said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Maybe finishing strong and starting on the right note involves the determination that there be more of Him and less of me. The promise of Scripture is that when He and His kingdom are first, everything else somehow falls into place. It's a promise with teeth.

Maybe I can't quantify enough. But, more means something. Maybe there just should be more.

Happy New Year. 2014. More.

Fine tuned

Five weeks later the ONE WORD: EXPLAIN THIS series is ending. The final message came to me when I was standing with our group of pilgrims at the Tomb of the Prophet Samuel. it provides a panoramic view of Jerusalem, spread out over the entire horizon, a vast city landscape that shocks the sense of sight. Over a hill to the right of the city is a town in the West Bank. At the time of Jesus it was a small village. Jesus was born there, in the city of David.

Words about what happened there assaulted me. It was evidence of the Father's total calculation of His birth, intentionally engineered to that place, at that time, in that way. Intentionality covered everything about, calibrated to the degree and moment in a redemptive plan that stuns our sensibilities. God fine-tuned every aspect of His birth.

So, today I'll discuss a remarkable text, Galatians 4:1-6, with emphasis on 4:4. Paul used four words that demonstrate His fine-tuning of one of the great moments in the story of redemption.

Time. Sent. Son. Born. Four really important, revealing words.