Shaped

Psalm 119:47 ESV

For I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.

It lays broken on the shelf. Decades past its prime, and decades past usefulness. A forgotten memory by the one who gave it and a sorrowful reminder to the one who received it. It lies broken on my shelf waiting for the day, the day when it can be opened once again. Its story is one that predates my existence and has shaped who I am more fundamentally than any other earthly thing. The Story began in February seventeenth of 1979. That is the day that my mom gave this bible to my father.

I do not know if I have always slept poorly, but for all my memories nights have never been a joy to me. Terrorized by nightmares until I learned the trick of not sleeping soundly. At that point I started waking up with my father. In the old 1890s farmhouse that was now in town, I could hear him go to take his morning shower, and I would wait. I might doze but I would wait. Then I would wrap myself in a blanket and go downstairs to find the chair at the table across from him, watching as my dad prepared for his day. Getting his bottle of Diet Coke ready, having his cigarette, and reading his bible. I did not eat breakfast, I remember no conversations, I remember putting my head on the table and simply watching until he went to work, then going back upstairs and getting a thirty-minute nap before I needed to get up and dressed myself. For many years this was my routine, watching my father.

I don’t know how many red pages were turned each morning. The point is that they were and I saw them. I saw them turned until he was done and he closed the book and zippered it shut. I watched until the binding gave out and the padding between the inside and outside was visible. For Christmas, give him a large bible cover for his small bible, to help preserve its dignity. All the pieces are still there; the covers and the spine, the padding and the zipper. In hope I requested a book for Christmas this year, How to Rebind a Bible: Start to Finish, now I get to find time and space. This little bible, redline RSV edition with a concordance, is THE book that has shaped my life and it is not even mine, and I have never read it, another man did. Another man read it until the spine broke, as his children grew and married, and as his marriage broke.

As surely as afterwork my father would be in his shop working on something, in the morning he would be reading his bible, and so my life was shaped. Yet, my mom left and it was a gift from her. The house was sold, the sandbox in the back, the trees, and the shop, all have another family enjoying them. Yet this has shaped me more. So, I have it, the eldest son whose life was changed by this book. I have other bibles that need new bindings as well. They will be the practice, because I fear doing a bad job on this one more than the rest. When you live with other immortal souls you do not know what will make that memory. When the habits you have will be pressed on them in such a way that they will be shaped by it.

As I prepare to go to the mountains with my eldest son this year, I am ever aware that I don’t know. So, I pray. Let us not be so foolish as to think we are ever in charge. I have three siblings. All of us are different, all of us grew up in the same house, one sits and watches his father read, one watches his father work in the shop, one does this or that. We must pray, for we do not know who is watching what. Those that would say they are out of “that phase” of their life, fail to realize how many watch, and how much is still to be done. Never think you are done shaping the hearts of your brothers and sisters until God calls you to himself. Until that moment, reading your bible in view of children, grandchildren, or nurses, might be all that is needed to change a life.  

Coram Deo

My Time Has Come

1 Samuel 11:6 ESV

“And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard those words, and his anger we greatly kindled.”

When Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door in Wittenberg over five centuries ago, he had no idea what was coming his way. He was attacking the monetary policies of the church, and the wrath of that church would come to bear on him. Jesus also would attack the monetary policies of the religious establishment of this day. Holy Week began with a ticker tap parade declaring him to be the promised Messiah. He would begin the next day by making a whip to drive from the temple “those who sold and those who bought” (Mark 11:15). The immoral new way that the temple government had come up with to pay for all the infrastructure and bureaucracy had to be forcibly removed from the grounds by a zealous preacher, armed with a whip! From here he would start to preach messages using parables directly pointed at the powerful rulers of the temple, going so far as to show how ignorant their anti-resurrection theology was. He would preach that the ruling military power should be given tax revenue, that he might anger the zealots. Continuing the trend of “finding toes” he would declare the destruction of the temple and final judgment. Is it any surprise that in Matthew after preaching on the final judgment and the dividing of the sheep and the goats that the next paragraph heading summarizes as “The Plot to Kill Jesus”?

In all this there was no danger. Jesus had made the Ruling Class or “Elites” angry before and had escaped unscathed as he evaded capture. Nor does the anger of the crowd bear any weight on the discussion. He had angered them before as well, even having his hometown attempt to execute him by pushing him off a cliff (Luke 4:29). The anger of the elites was of no concern nor was the anger of the crowd. Over and over again he had simply evaded capture by some unknown means that is best described as God’s providence. What made Holy Week so different? Obviously, God's timing was the first cause, but what of the secondary cause? One thing had shifted greatly this time as opposed to all the other assassination attempts, Judas. Mary, in all her sweet devotion, decided to make a dramatic and costly sacrifice for the man who had raised her brother from the dead, and poured a year’s wages (300 days wages) of perfume on Jesus. This extravagant devotion brought Judas up short and he could not harbor such a faith. The danger to the followers of Christ was never from outside. The elites and the crowd were no danger to the people of God. They would fume, they would cast about for ways to destroy, but they would not be able to do anything.

The greatest danger to the church of God, is those that are in it who are not of it. The real reason Jesus was crucified is that his time had come. The time for his passion for us to bear fruit in his sacrifice on the cross that those who trust in him might be free from their sin. Free to worship and glorify God in righteousness and truth. The means for the scandalous act of a righteous man being condemned and executed, the means, “woe to that man” (Matthew 26:24).

When Saul heard of the great plight of the men of Jabesh. The Spirit rushed upon him and so unfolded his kingdom. Until another event happened and the Spirit left him to be replaced by his tormentors. It did not leave Saul because of what someone had done to him but because of what he had done. Saul’s greatest danger was never the Philistines or the Ammonites, it was always Saul. Such it is with us. It can be the individual, the church, or even the United States of America, the greatest danger is always from within. Guard your heart and do not give the Devil a foothold.

Coram Deo

Spellcheck

Proverbs 15:22 ESV

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

“You make yourself look incompetent and my company.” I was once again in my employer’s office. This time he was suggesting I take a class to improve my spelling. He was correct that my spelling was, and is, atrocious and the instant messenger program he wanted to use did not have spellcheck leaving quick notes back and forth open to full critique. Such are the advantages of spellcheck and autocorrect, laziness. As I type a fun little red line appears under my words and I know to investigate it. If something is wrong on a quick message, I can simply blame autocorrect and keep going. That is why I think Spellcheck is destroying society.

Seeing the little blue line reveal itself under one of my many poorly worded sentences kept me wondering. As Devin was having to write a rough draft of his letter for English, the curriculum informed him he would have to get it proof read and then rewrite it. That way going in he knew he would be required to write it again. A long, long time ago, people would ask their neighbor to do the tedious task of reading and checking something for them. The spelling, grammar, and ideas would all be evaluated before it would go public by another person. Openness, familiarity, and trust would be built as men and women would depend on one another to help them look less incompetent. Today because we are too busy and unwilling to show our incompetence, robots accomplish this task for us.

Training ourselves away from the skill of recognizing when we need help, and getting that help. It was not long after Barnabas started working with the church in Antioch that he showed his quality. The task was beyond him and he knew it. So, he went and recruited Saul/Paul to help with the growing church. A millennium and a half later William Farel would convince the council in Geneva to depart from the Pope and embrace Protestantism. Even as Farel had done so much already, he knew that he was not the man for continuing the work so he recruited John Calvin, TWICE. Once, at the beginning, then again after the council ran Calvin out of town.

Our society has problems. It has many problems, many small problems, many large problems. The plane is going down. The masks have dropped from the ceiling. If the church is to be of any help, we have to take care of our mask first. I am not concerned with spell check overtly but implicitly, even as I will scroll up and do what I can with the red and blue lines above when I am done. The bible tells us what will happen when we stop asking for help. More than that it tells us what we are when we stop asking for help. The word it uses is fool.

If we want to accomplish anything for the Lord of lasting significance it must be done in community, with those immortal beings he has placed on earth with us. Yep, you might be too busy to get counsel (i.e., help) there is a word for that, fool (Proverbs 12:15). Our churches have a dearth of those willing to give counsel and not be hurt when it is not taken. When a king, by wisdom, gets many counselors, some are going to disagree with each other. If they all pull an Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23) it won’t take long before we are left bereft of all help. Do not be afraid to ask for counsel. Do not be afraid to give it. Do not hurt when it is not taken.

Coram Deo

Counsel

Proverbs 25:4-5

Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;

Take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

The Covid response from the leaders of the world was bad. From China were they withheld information to allow themselves time to get resources to the President Trump who fast tracked a vaccine with questionable results to the current administration that forced vaccination on as many as it could. The latest pandemic was a failure by people to hold some things more valuable than their future. Freedom of Speech was less valuable than government propaganda for your safety. The right to make choices about your healthcare was revoked to any number of government or corporate organizations. The response to Covid was a failure and all parties know it and attempt to spin their minor failures as significant successes. The World Health Organization is not immune from failure in this endeavor as they highlighted and encouraged draconian Chinese measures as the gold standard for response. Now those who implemented those measures are left seeking “pandemic amnesty” for their crimes against their neighbors.

Seeing the plethora of failures and wanting to learn the lessons needed The World Health Organization (WHO), is seeking to double down. They have formulated a draft that would seek to give them more sway in any future pandemic. Helping them to coordinate response more effectively and thereby avert future pandemics from growing to such proportions. They are basically saying the issue was not our corruption or our totalitarian response, the issue was we were not given enough control. To do our job effectively we need more power. As the latest in “impartial” journalism comes to the plate to defend this direction it must be noted what defense is being made. First alleviating fears by saying it is “only a draft”, no sovereignty will be lost, they are only seeking to be a guide, and any who contradict this are “conservative outlets misleading” the public. The Associated Press then sites a leading “scientist” that has worked for the WHO before.

I think it false to accept all of what they say at face value, but for a thought experiment let's assume it is “just a guide” that is really at issue. Ahithophel was just a guide for Absalom. He gave him wise and discerning counsel that would have won the kingdom. Hushai was also merely a counselor and his counsel thwarted Absalom and preserved David as King. WHO your counselors are is the direst of decisions. Are they wise and discerning, seeking righteousness, and having a proven track record? Absalom allowed Hushai, his father’s friend, to have sway and it ended in Absalom’s death. Even if your counsel has no direct power, they will control the outcome.

If this nation wishes to long endure it will not be by allowing foreign entities and institutions to guide its policies. The same holds true for our churches. If Churches wish to preserve for themselves a place they must not abandon the counsel that is good for those that have proven themselves adverse to it. The Church must look to scripture and the counsel of Godly men. The answer to a failed grab for power is not to hand over more but diminish what power and influence it had. If the church listened too closely to “church leaders” that detested the assembly and loved the acclaim of the talking heads on TV they need to diminish their influence and seek out better counsel.

If you wish to thrive in the Huxley’s Brave New World, you must take away the dross. If your employer was one who thought it had the right to your body, you should investigate saving accounts and other employers. Do not forget that those who have taken power wish to take more.

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;

Our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

Cruce, Dum Spiro, Fido

The Anguish of Truth

Isaiah 53:11a ESV

                “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.”

Psalm 34:9 ESV

                “Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!”

Enes Kanter Freedom is a former basketball star and has put on a clinic, but not on basketball. At the age of thirty he has had his family harassed to the point that the only way they would be able to survive was to disown their son. For good measure the government raided their house and confiscated all the electronics to make sure they had not had contact with him. He pressed and pushed to raise the awareness of the atrocities committed by his native land. After all this he was pressed by fellow Muslims to no longer remain silent on China’s abuses on the Uyghur Muslim population. I said he has put on a clinic and that clinic was one of courage. It is an unfortunate reality that many of the superstar athletes that call themselves Christian are often too willing to raise the name of Jesus until it matters in their behavior. Sleeping with, impregnating, having an illegitimate child, and that is only the publicized life of Chiefs Quarterback! How many are willing to sacrifice money and career for him?

Total Depravity is the reality that we are not as bad as we could be, but we are completely tainted by sin. This helps me to admire a Muslim man while wishing those that claim the name of Christ and identify as my brother and sister in Christ would be so indifferent to the fear of man. Instead, pastors, like myself, choose to pussy foot around issues of sin. Refusing to call out high profile individuals and governments for fear of them leaving for the guy down the street. I don’t blame the NBA for their cowardice in addressing their business partner (The Chinese Communist Party) about his slavery, organ harvesting, and torture, why should they the Pastors in the United States only have to worry about flock stealing and they don’t call out the sexual immorality of the grandchildren of the faithful matriarchs. Loving peaceful assemblies more than they fear their God. How can a people hope to have courage of any measure when the Christians won’t lead in it?

It was no pastor that said “Give me Liberty or Give me death” it was merely a lawyer, possessed with a fervor for his own, yet it was born from a culture full of churchmen. Christians consumed with their right to honor God with their lives. Refusing to be conformed to this world they would leave the old for the new, that they would not be able to look around and see no difference between themselves and the worldlings around them. The United States will never be, and has never been, so Christian that you will not see a distinct difference between your brothers and sisters and hypocrites but the courage to stand before pile of wood that would be his incinerator and cry out to a governor “Eighty-six years have I served him and he has done me no wrong, how now can I blaspheme my king?”

Such are the men that must lead a great nation to regain its courage. The courage and will to choose to suffer for Christ and speak the truth. That they might retain their liberty and freedom to speak the truth generally, and the truth of Christ specifically. We will be required to lose friends, homes, jobs, required to do so by our choice to speak truth. To call sexual perversion what it is perversion and those who practice it perverts. To speak truth into the darkness and depravity of our culture. Marijuana is bad for ALL, Boys and girls are recognized at birth, you don’t owe anyone for what fathers or grandfathers have done nor are you owed for what your ancestors may have endured. The list of “offensive” content is long and extensive. Will we let Christ offend or try to airbrush his sharp edges?

Coram Deo