FAMILY UPDATE - SCATTERED

There was no post yesterday, but I had a legit excuse.

A thunderstorm rolled through Columbus around 4:30 in the afternoon and knocked out power for over 5,000 people, including those here on Hiker Trace. Ours must have been a bit more complicated than elsewhere, though, since our power was not restored until some time after 11:00 am this morning.

So we did dinner on the grill ... in the rain. And when the clocks struck 8:00 pm and electricity had not returned, I decided it would be an excellent night to hit the sack early - especially since we were needing to take Sarah over to the Columbus church by 2:00 am to join the youth mission team as they departed for El Salvador!

Early breakfast - or late, late night snack - was also by grill and by candlelight, but we managed to get Sarah to the church on time. 

And the church had power.

It was tough getting back to sleep, especially knowing our youngest was heading out of the country without us.

It hit me as I drove home: At least for the next few days, our family is scattered across the globe. Melissa and I are the only two in Indiana. Samuel is selling books in Illinois. Caleb is settling in to his new life in Georgia. Hannah has a few more days in Europe and Sarah is now in Central America.

Times are changing!

We would greatly appreciate prayers for Sarah and the rest of the El Salvador team over the next week or so and for Hannah's safe return to the States early next week. 

NO BEFORE YES

You might recall this odd little scenario Jesus puts to his disciples as part of His response to a request to teach them how to pray in Luke chapter 11:

 5Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’

7And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’

8I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

9So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

In commenting on this passage, Robert Capon offers the following in his book The Foolishness of Preaching: 

"When the friend outside shows up, the One inside refuses to give him the bread he's asking for. Radical peculiarity here: God, apparently, has a thing for saying no before he says yes. But it isn't so peculiar after all: he reveals the law before he reveals grace; he meets Nicodemus at night and gives him riddles, not understanding - and he refuses the world's endless requests for signs and gives it the darkness of the whale's belly and of the sealed tomb." (65) 

It's like God is asking, "How serious are you?"

Or perhaps it is a matter of us needing to learn or experience something before He can give a proper "yes".

Either way, I have noticed this before in my own life. 

Have you seen it too?

WRESTLING

When I was a young youth pastor, I was always on the lookout for curriculum that was relevant for teenagers. 

Now that I am at Sardinia and once again getting to work a bit with teenagers, I come up with lesson ideas by simply asking myself, "What do I wish someone had told me - about faith or people or life - when I was that age?"

Tonight we went to the story of Jacob wrestling with the mysterious "man" the night before he was going to meet Esau. 

I love the fact that the "man" changes Jacob's name to "Israel" and that the name (which was taken then by God's people as a whole) means "he wrestles with God". 

I wish that when I was a teenager that someone had told me not only that it was OK to wrestle with God and to ask lots of questions, but it is actually a great thing to do so. 

In fact, it's one of the distinctives of God's people.

And personally I have found that no matter what sort of wrestling match I care to challenge God to, He can hold His own. 

KNOWING GOD

In Jeremiah 22:15-16, the prophet relates God's thoughts about the former King, Josiah, to his son. 

15Does it make you a king to excel in cedar?

Did not your father have food and drink?

He administered justice and righteousness,

and so it went well with him.

16He took up the cause of the poor and needy,

and so it went well with him.

Is this not what it means to know Me?”

declares the LORD.

Josiah was one of the righteous kings of Judah and even gets a mention in the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in Matthew's gospel. 

But here what caught God's attention was Josiah's administration of justice and righteousness and taking up the cause of the poor and needy!

And because of Josiah's concern for the poor and needy, things "went well for him". 

Even more astounding is the final line: "Is this not what it means to know Me?" declares the Lord.

I am not sure how many modern Christians would include "taking up the cause of the poor and needy" in what it means to "know" God! 

PREACHING AND PATRIOTISM

I have a project due in a few weeks for my preaching class. I need to create a year-long preaching plan, mapping out 52 particular passages and a synopsis of each while being mindful of holidays and the flow of the church calendar.

It will be useful, I am sure, but so far I have not had any issue with deciding on what passage to preach on any particular Sunday. I usually have it figured out more than a week in advance.

Until today.

Next Sunday is July 2nd, so that means we will be marking the July 4th weekend. The church likes to meet in the open air of the shelter house behind the church for the Independence Day focus.

The way I am wired, I would prefer to completely ignore most secular holidays. My attitude is: This is a worship service and let's focus on God's word. But I am guessing some within the congregation would not be too happy if I ignored the 4th of July. 

So that leaves me scratching my head a bit as I anticipate this next week. I don't yet have any passage in mind for next Sunday.

What can one preach in keeping with a patriotic theme in 2023? 

NOT ARRIVED

There is a great temptation for a preacher to present himself as having arrived, as having his spiritual act together. 

And not just temptation - but actual pressure, as well. Pressure from the congregation - to have all the answers, to have it all figured out.

All the deepest mysteries of God and existence!

But I take comfort in knowing that even the Apostle Paul - who obviously knew his stuff - said that in this present life, we all see "through a glass darkly". (1 Cor 13:12) And he even said that he and every other believer only knew "in part". 

But there is coming a day when we shall see God face to face and then we will "know fully even as we have been fully known". 

Until that day, our perspective is limited and all our best answers and efforts fall short.

Tomorrow I will be able to step into the pulpit in confidence, willingly admitting I don't have a flawless spiritual life or all the answers. 

PAIN AND TROUBLE

I have noted here before that there are certain words which are frequently used in the Bible which often go undefined for us formerly because we assume we know exactly what they mean already. For instance:

Glory

Love

Holy

Faith

Grace

Here's the one that currently has my attention: Evil.

In Luke 11, Jesus points out that the men in his audience would never even consider giving their children a snake or a scorpion if what they asked for was a piece of bread or an egg. Then he draws a contrast between them and God - they give good gifts to their children even though they are EVIL, how much more will the good Father delight in giving good gifts to His children? (Here, specifically, Jesus has in mind the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers.) 

But it just doesn't sit right that when Jesus uses the word "evil" to describe the fathers in the crowd, He has in mind the same thing we think of as "evil". 

(Though, for a Calvinist, perhaps this just further bolsters your doctrine of total depravity and so you have no problem with it.)

In Greek, the word Jesus employs for "evil" is poneros. Its root is poneo, meaning to work, to toil. Specifically, it points to the pain of hard labor. 

There are two other words often translated as bad or evil in the New Testament:

Kakos, meaning "inner malice" and speaking of "essential character",

And Sapros, meaning "degeneracy from original virtue". 

Either one of those would be closer to what the English word "evil" usually conjures in our minds.

But the word Jesus uses here, poneros, could be translated as "causing pain or trouble". 

Anything done outside of God's will causes pain and trouble - either to ourselves, others, or the world at large. This is our natural - fallen - condition. 

We cause pain and trouble.

Jesus reminds his audience that even in this fallen state, where humans function day to day in such a way as to cause pain and trouble, they still know how to give good gifts to their own children. 

And this realization should give us all confidence that our good heavenly Father, will gladly give good gifts to us. 

PERSISTENCE

 As part of His response to a disciple's plea of "Teach us to pray", Jesus sets up the following scenario:

“Suppose one of you goes to his friend at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 

And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 

I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs." (Luke 11:5-8)

It seems like Jesus is drawing a contrast between God and this hypothetical friend who is in bed for the night.

First, God is more than a friend. Jesus' opening teaching about prayer is to address God as "Father" and He goes on to explain that God is a good Father who delights in giving good gifts to His children.

Second, the friend is being inconvenienced by the knocking and the request. As the all-powerful Creator of the universe, God is not inconvenienced one bit by our prayer requests. 

Finally, the friend gets up to answer the request - reluctantly - not out of friendship but because of the persistence of the man requesting bread. The Lord, on the other hand, answers our requests out of love.

And yet the point of the story is clearly to instruct believers to be bold and persistent in prayer. 

My prayers are not lacking in boldness, but my persistence could use some work.

Too often my prayer life resembles a kid sitting in a shopping cart as his mother pushes him up and down the aisles of Target: "Can I have this and this and this and this?" 

(And then I pout when I don't get my way: "You don't love me!") 

But none of those requests are really serious. They weren't even thought of until they were right in front of the kid's face. And the mom knows if she grants every request, the result will not be a happy kid, but rather a spoiled one.

So why does Jesus advocate for persistence in prayer? 

When I continually bring something in prayer before God I suppose it shows:

1. I am serious about wanting this. It is a priority in my mind and heart.
2. I have nowhere else to turn. I know God is the only One who can grant the request.

As I have been focused on my prayer life this week, I have been forced to admit to myself that it has been fairly shallow for quite some time.

Persistence drives prayer deep. 

Let's find some prayer requests worth persistently asking, seeking, and knocking. 

RELAX

I am having trouble relaxing these days. 

Even while on vacation recently, I just couldn't let go during the day and I wasn't sleeping well at night.

In fact, I woke up every morning between 2:30 and 4:30. (It didn't help that our windows overlooked the pool - which was fully lit throughout the night.) 

My work schedule these days is extremely flexible - for which I am thankful - but my days are choppy and there's no daily "quittin' time". No finish line.

Not to mention the fact I am left setting my own schedule hour by hour, which requires a boatload of second guessing for an overthinker like me. 

Add the doctorate work on top and I'm left alternating between jittery and paralyzed from morning to bedtime.

And when I do take time to relax - like sitting down to watch something on Netflix with Melissa - it is the same sensation as sneaking junk food while on a diet: It fulfills a craving, but guilt overshadows much of the enjoyment. 

I know I am not the first one to struggle with this - anybody have a book or article to suggest?

AN INTERPRETATION

One of the clumsy parts of my sermon last Sunday was my attempt to say something intelligent about the original Greek wording of the text. 

I have an interest in Greek and a year of study under my belt (nearly 30 years ago now), but I am no expert. 

And, as the saying goes, what was a mist in my mind became a fog in the pews. 

Still, in general I believe it's important for the preacher to pay close attention to the original languages, to whatever extent time and study and familiarity allow, even if nothing gets mentioned directly in the sermon itself. 

Greek and Hebrew both have some unfamiliar properties which can at times be vital to understanding the original author's intent.

My professor this week summed up the importance of knowing something of the original languages in these terms: 

"Every translation is an interpretation." 

That is something church-goers and preachers alike should consider when reading the Bible. 

TEACH ME

This morning I started to rectify my prayer problem. 

Here's where I started: 

With another look at Luke 11:1 where the disciples walked right up to Jesus and said, "Teach us to pray".

Just that way - as a demand, not a request. 

It wasn't "Would you teach us?" or "Please teach us". 

Instead, it was a flat out, unapologetic imperative: "Teach us". 

And then the crazy thing is that Jesus turned around and modeled and encouraged similar imperatives in their prayers to their heavenly Father:

"GIVE US this day our daily bread."

"FORGIVE US our sins."

"LEAD US not into temptations."

It's a bold approach, but it's also the way you talk to a real person. 

At least to a person above you whom you acknowledge as the only one who can give you what you need. 

So this morning I said, "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - teach me to pray." 

And tomorrow I am going to say it again.

FACE PLANT

I stepped into the pulpit this morning - Father's Day - and face-planted.

Hard.

I stumbled through the opening of a sermon about prayer and then put the whole thing on pause to admit that the message hadn't traveled through me in any authentic way before I tried to pass it along to the congregation. 

The reality is that my prayer life has never been consistent nor deep. I have had my moments and my seasons, true, but the moments have been sporadic and the seasons have been short. 

I am no prayer warrior.

I have "wanted" to be a prayer warrior. 

But this morning I had to admit to myself, in front of every one, that I have never WANTED to be a prayer warrior. 

I am not even sure that "prayer warrior" is the term I would choose. Maybe simply "man of prayer" is what I am after. 

This morning was embarrassing, but the congregation was full of grace and encouragement. And my family propped me up the rest of the day. 

It was a Father's Day I won't soon forget. 

Fortunately, tomorrow is a new day. 

I think I will start it with prayer. 

RETURN TO ROUTINE

Yesterday became one of the handful of days I have not written and posted at least some little thing daily over the last 2 and a half years. 

It crossed my mind to sit down at 1:00 am and write but I gave myself permission just to give in to the exhaustion.

Yesterday morning was the final class meeting for the week of intensives on campus at Wesley Biblical Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Each of us had to prepare and deliver a sermon - and then be critiqued by the other students.

Yes, it was as stressful and awkward as that sounds.

To compound the pain, I had not been sleeping well for the previous ten days or so. Falling asleep was no problem, but I was waking up between 2:30 and 4:00 am each morning. Wide awake and no return to dreamland possible. 

When my class ended at 11:30, I offered to take Caleb and his friend Ethan out to lunch. 

(I don't know that I have mentioned here that Caleb was with me for the week to visit with Ethan, his best friend from our years in Haiti who is now living in Jackson while studying at - and working for - the seminary.)

Lunch was good and a great opportunity to procrastinate on hitting the road for the 10 hour drive home. 

So most of the day was a tedious drive north and we arrived back home just before 1:00 am. 

And that is my excuse for not writing.

It's a good one.

I did find that I was anxious to get home after being away for two weeks. Vacation and my classes were all good, but I am one who appreciates routine. 

Speaking of that, it is Saturday night as I write and the clock has already hit 10:30. I aim for no later than 10 in order to be as rested as possible Sunday mornings, so I will sign off.

Back to the routine! 

BECOMING A THOROUGH CHRISTIAN

In class today we were reminded of these tough words from John Wesley to one of his preachers, a certain John Trembath. In a letter dated 1760, Wesley took Trembath to task for his lack of self-discipline: 

"What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is want of reading. I scarce ever knew a Preacher read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep Preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. O begin! Fix some part of everyday for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not: What is tedious at first, will afterwards be pleasant. Whether you like it or no, read and pray daily. It is for your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days, and a pretty superficial Preacher. Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer. Take up your cross, and be a Christian altogether." 

Poor Trembath didn't even have a smartphone as an excuse for being distracted from regular reading and prayer. 

Notice that Wesley thinks these habits are not something for preachers only, but anyone who desires to be "a thorough Christian". 

Instead of a "trifler". 

How are your daily prayer and reading habits?

PREACHING IN THE SPIRIT

Review of Dennis F. Kinlaw, Preaching in the Spirit, Francis Asbury Press: Anderson, IN, 1985. 

Introduction: Preaching Without Inspiration

I once sat under a pastor who described his approach to preaching in this way: “In truth, I only have two or three sermons that I preach. Each Sunday I deliver a variation of one of those three.” His most common sermon was an exhortation to reach out to the surrounding community of unbelievers. He considered his repetitive approach a virtue. The congregation, however, was never transformed. 

He, and not the Spirit of God, determined what the congregation needed to hear. When he saw no movement, he hit the crowd with another version of the same message. His preaching was uninspired and, therefore, uninspiring. This fundamental issue of preachers lacking inspiration – which kills the effectiveness of preaching before the sermon even leaves the pulpit – is what Dennis F. Kinlaw addresses in his book Preaching in the Spirit. His thesis is clear, direct, and simple: “The greatest problem in preaching is not the preparation of the sermon, but the preparation of the preacher” (17). 

Overcoming The Greatest Problem

Kinlaw begins his book with the foundation upon which his solution to this “greatest problem” is built: the preacher’s first call is simply to be with Jesus (18). The author raises Abraham as the model of being in right relationship with the Lord. What God found in Abraham was “a friendship of personal intimacy and trust” (24). The preacher must be God’s friend before being God’s preacher and, in order for his sending to be useful, he must be more attached to God than to any other thing, including the congregation itself (26). 

Although this relationship between the preacher and the Lord is a friendship, it is also about the work which God desires to be done in his church. Kinlaw believes it is key for the preacher to understand “our calling … is not to work for God but with him” (40, emphasis in original). If the preacher gets this wrong, the danger is the temptation towards self-glorification (45). The key to working with rather than for is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Kinlaw further explains that the Spirit must fill and empower not only the pastor but the collective worship of the church as well. Here, as in the life of the pastor, sin threatens to interfere with the Spirit’s work, but the Spirit can and does enable sinners to turn to Christ (58). In fact, Kinlaw believes, if the preacher is faithful in presenting God’s message in the sermon, the listeners will recognize the ring of God’s Truth (70). Since God’s word often stands in contradiction of the culture and human nature, it is useful if the preacher is a careful observer of both (73). 

Kinlaw’s “Law of the second witness” states that before the delivery of a sermon, the preacher must humbly remember that God has already been at work in the lives of the congregants (81). There is no need to manipulate a person into feeling his or her own guilt; Christ can do that work if it is necessary. 

Kinlaw concludes his short book with the reminder that the Spirit brings life while the preacher merely acts as a midwife (95). Preachers must remember their dependence on the infilling of the Spirit if they hope to hear the Lord’s guidance in finishing the work which Christ started and doing it in His way (119). 

Conclusion: Proper Preparation

Dennis Kinlaw’s writing in Preaching by the Spirit clearly stems from the sort of conviction which firsthand experience brings. As a young man, he experienced the ineffectiveness of preaching in his own power and the profound difference which the Spirit has made in his preaching since discovering his mistake. Other textbooks can give direction on processes behind sermon forms or advice on effective delivery, but the sort of “preparation of the pastor” through intimacy with the Holy Spirit which Kinlaw urges is simply foundational. 

MODEL OF FAITH

 A quote tonight from Dennis Kinlaw's book, Preaching in the Spirit: 

"Have you ever noticed that Abraham is the prime biblical model of faith? When Paul wishes to illustrate the meaning of justification by faith, he doesn't use one of the twelve apostles or even himself; he points to Abraham. The same thing is found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of James, and various other Bible books.

"Abraham lived long before Jewish institutional religion, before the law was given at Sinai. He demonstrated a faith that was not law-related, church-related, or lifestyle-related. What does God really want from a man? Not primarily obedience to the law, nor liturgical ceremony, nor a peculiar lifestyle. Abraham never preached a sermon nor wrote a page of Scripture, but he did walk and talk with God; and in that we see the essence of what God wants in his relationship with us - a friendship of personal intimacy and trust." (Page 24)

STILL STUDYING

I am in Jackson, Mississippi for a week on campus at Wesley Biblical Seminary. This is my last of four in-person "intensives" as I finish my last semester of class before starting work on my dissertation come October.

It is very different from my first three visits to WBS. My first class in January of 2022 had over 20 students. We are down now to 4 - two who are just starting, one who is on his second semester, and me.

We had several hours of great discussions in class today since it is just 4 students and the professor.

There's definitely nowhere to hide. 

No back row.  

Over the last two years I have met a lot of neat people who have started the program but not finished for one reason or another - health, finances, or turbulent life circumstances. It's sad. 

I guess I entered this doctorate program like I approach most things of importance - determined not to fail or to give up too soon. 

It's tempting to think I have persevered through each semester by sheer willpower. Or that I am still here because I have something special. 

In reality, while I am sure it helps to have a stick-it-through-to-the-end attitude, I don't know that I would be here today if I were anticipating uprooting and moving my family to a new town, or in the midst of taking on a new job, or if I had just discovered cancer growing in my body.

In the end, I can only conclude that if God has cleared a path for me still to be here, I simply need to focus on making the most of it. 

WAIT FOR IT

Being an introvert, I must say that one of my biggest pet peeves is having another person talk over the top of me in the midst of a conversation. 

First, do you understand how much effort I expended just to begin that sentence? 

Only to have you toss it aside to make room for your own?

I can understand a child doing this.

But a grown man?

(And, yes, I do find this more common among men than women. Do you?)

How do you function in life as an adult if you do not have the patience, grace, and manners required to allow another person to finish a sentence before you start into your own? 

It seems like a bare minimum for adulthood.

A BREAK

After preaching weekly for three months now, it is going to be weird to wake up tomorrow morning and not head off to Sardinia to preach. I am guessing it will not even feel like a Sunday. This certainly does not feel like a Saturday night.

It is probably good for a preacher to take a Sunday off now and then and equally good for the congregation to hear from somebody else now and then. 

But I think I will actually miss being able to deliver a message tomorrow morning. 

Although I am taking a short break from teaching, I have not taken any break from sermon preparation. I have been looking over the passage I intend to use June 18th and I am excited about the possibilities.

At one time I couldn't imagine finding enough to say week after week for even a year. Now I am consistently frustrated by not having enough time to cover what needs to be covered.

All this to say: I intend to enjoy tomorrow morning away from the pulpit but I also know that I will enjoy next Sunday morning even more.  

AN UPSIDE TO POSTMODERN "SCHOLARSHIP"

I find it interesting that biblical scholars are all forced to deal with the postmodern mindset. The same twisted ideas and tortured (il)logic that show up in various "theories" like Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, and Fat Theory have been set loose on the Bible as well. 

Both of the books I read for my latest paper addressed to what extent something can be known and whether the meaning of a text is centered more in the author or in the reader. 

(For those who have been fortunate enough to avoid these conversations so far, the postmodernists believe that nothing can be known with certainty and that the meaning of a text lies chiefly with the reader.)

You can guess what postmodernists do to the authority of Scripture! (Especially since religion is considered the enemy of the individual.)

Still, author N.T. Wright finds at least some use for the "studies" of the postmodernist "scholars". They can serve as a counterbalance to those evangelicals who are a little too confident that the Scriptures can be fully known and that we can have 100% certainty in our grasp of the message of every page. 

In other words, the postmodernists are kinda right in their outlook on the limits of knowledge and the result for the serious interpreter of the Bible should be a renewed humility. 

DEGREE UPDATE

Doctoral Program Update: 

I am currently approaching the 2/3 mark in my pursuit of a Doctorate of Ministry.

And it is currently ruining my vacation.

That is all.

THE BEACH

I am not much of a beach guy. 

I enjoy sipping coffee on an empty beach as the sun rises, but for the rest of the day - when people are shoulder to shoulder in beach chairs or head to toe on towels in the sand - I can easily pass.

Melissa and Sarah and Grandma Trudy, on the other hand, can spend all day on the beach, doing very little beyond reading, napping, or looking for shells, and be perfectly excited at the prospect of doing the same the following day. 

I get bored. 

After a few minutes, the beach makes me want to go inside and read or go for a long run.

I heard someone recently say that one of the differences between men and women is that men have the ability to think about nothing - to shut off their brains - and women do not.

I don't know if there is scientific data for that or not, but it sounds true to me.

So here's my theory - these women in my life enjoy the beach because it's the chance to shut off their brains for a little while.

And I guess the beach doesn't impress me much because I don't need to drive 11 hours to shut off my brain.

Happens every day. Frequently.

NEW PLACE

We made a slight detour on our way down to Florida in order to see where Caleb will be living for the next 5 months or more. 

We spent last night at a hotel in Columbus, Georgia. We got in too late last night to do anything but sleep, so we were anxious this morning to get out and see what we could see before heading further south in the afternoon.

Our first stop was at "Independence Place" - where he will be living - for a tour. It is off the base but all the residents in this community are soldiers. He will be sharing an apartment with 3 other guys randomly assigned. (I trust God will have His hand in that selection.)

Melissa and I (and Grandma) were impressed and excited for Caleb in this next stage of his life - the place was like a vacation resort. (Especially in comparison to dorm rooms on a college campus.)

"Independence Place" 

Aptly named!

I think he's going to enjoy his independence here. And I think it might be a wee bit easier letting him go in a few weeks now that we have some idea where he is going. 

CELEBRITY

We started a little family vacation today - just Melissa and I with Caleb and Sarah and Melissa's mom, Trudy. We are headed down to Florida tomorrow but decided today to make a slight detour through Georgia in order to see Fort Moore (formerly "Fort Benning") where Caleb will be stationed come July. 

So tonight we are staying in a rundown Comfort Inn on the edge of Columbus, Georgia after a long and mostly uneventful day of driving. Tomorrow we will check out the base and a local military museum before heading down to our Airbnb on Navarre Beach.

The highlight of today was walking into a Cracker Barrel for dinner and meeting a podcaster Caleb listens to on a regular basis. I had never heard of this guy, but he's got millions of views on his YouTube videos. 

Caleb recognized him immediately and was almost speechless after greeting him. His little sister found it amusing that he was so star struck.

It's funny how anyone can become a "celebrity" - at least to some sliver of the population - in this age of the internet.

GREATEST PROBLEM IN PREACHING

"The greatest problem in preaching is not the preparation of the sermon but the preparation of the preacher." - Dennis Kinlaw

Now that I am preaching weekly I keep telling people that I have come to the realization that I was not ready to preach even 3 years ago. It was a few weeks into preaching at Sardinia Baptist Church - where I was called this past March - when I realized that I was, in fact, finally prepared to preach. 

(Admittedly, this means that I was not yet ready when I was preaching weekly at the little United Methodist Church in Marietta, Indiana 25 years ago. By God's mercy for that congregation, it was a short-term gig.)

What has changed in the meantime? What has brought me to a point where I feel prepared to examine and proclaim the word of God on a regular basis?

A few things, off the top of my head and in no particular order:

• My recent doctorate classes through Wesley Biblical Seminary (wonderfully relevant information which has landed more firmly in my mature years)
• Developing a consistent prayer and bible study life apart from sermon preparation (without this, a preacher feels like an imposter - because he is)
• Maintaining a daily writing habit for 2 and a half years now (clarifying my thinking)
• Getting knocked around pretty hard by life and by professing believers (the greatest growth comes through the toughest times - and Melissa and I had plenty of fertilizer dumped on us) 
• Learning some things about persuasion and psychology as a result of getting knocked around (this has given insight into fallen human nature and sinfulness - in my own heart as well as in the hearts of others)
• Paying attention to debates regarding Calvinism (which has clarified what I believe and why)

All good stuff - none of it in place three years ago - except the beginning of the knocking around!

To be clear, I am far from claiming to be a great preacher ... yet - I am only saying the Spirit has been preparing me for the serious duty and privilege of preaching. 

RAW DEAL

Remember, The Westminster Confession of Faith is THE guiding document of Calvinism. (Even above Scripture, some would argue. 😏 ) 

With that in mind, check out what Westminster says about infants:

"Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who works when, and where, and how He pleases: so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word."

In other words, just like the rest of the population, some among infants belong to the elect, and many are among the non-elect. Elect babies who are aborted or stillborn are saved by Christ and gain eternal life.

BUT what about the non-elect infants?

They go on to eternal conscious torment. 

Seems like kind of a raw deal to me. 

(Fortunately, you do not find this teaching in Scripture - so don't feel guilty if you don't agree with Westminster.)

CULTURE AND BIBLE

I just finished a book by William Webb entitled Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis.

If you aren't familiar with the word "hermeneutics", it's just fancy talk for the study and interpretation of the Bible. 

In his book, Webb outlines 18 separate criteria which can be used to judge how culturally bound any particular passage of Scripture might be. And there is no question about it - culture is an important consideration when interpreting the Bible. 

I have long been fascinated by culture - the differences in food tastes, holidays, and clothing. But it wasn't until my family and I moved overseas that I got a good understanding of just how deeply we are shaped and influenced by our own cultures. Food and clothing are only surface aspects - there is a whole world going on beneath that surface.

Anyway, the tricky part of bringing culture into the conversation about Biblical interpretations is that it is so easy to go off the rails if you lean too far in either of 2 directions:

1) "This command is purely culture bound - we can completely ignore it."

Or

2) "This needs to be obeyed absolutely literally - culture had nothing to do with it."

Progressive Christians tend to go overboard with #1. The result is a Bible stripped of authority whenever it stands at odds with current culture - like the issue of the sinfulness of homosexuality.

Calvinists and other joyless fundamentalist types go off on #2. I had a Calvinist online admit that he believes God hates the vast majority of human beings - all the "reprobates" who are hell bound. Why? Because God said, "Jacob I loved and Esau I hated" (in Romans 9). And he had no interest in cultural idioms or historical context. The "plain meaning" of the text was enough for him.

We will never come to 100% agreement on the culture question when interpreting the Bible on the hot topics like women's role in ministry or the sinfulness of homosexuality, but the question IS there and it should inspire 2 things:

1) Deep, meaningful conversations

And

2) A little more humility in our stances on difficult questions. 

(Webb concludes his book with a chapter entitled "What If I Am Wrong?"! And I loved it. We could use more of that kind of humility.)

TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT

I hear Calvinist preachers reference the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) almost as often as any particular Bible verse. I had never really looked at it until this evening. 

It is fascinating that each paragraph is footnoted abundantly with Scripture verses - but it's not always clear how the quoted verses actually uphold the stated doctrines of the document.

Probably the most quoted paragraph of Westminster is the following:

"God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeable ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established."

Notice what is being affirmed here: God has ordained absolutely everything that comes to pass. It is all part of His plan. 

Then comes the sleight of hand: for all of God's micromanaging of the universe, He has done it in such a way as to not be responsible for bringing about sin, nor does He violate human will! 

To move it out of the abstract into the concrete: God ordained Bob to become an alcoholic and to climb behind the steering wheel one Friday night and to crash head on into a family minivan, killing all onboard. All this was God's plan from before the first motion of creation. BUT that doesn't mean God did anything evil or sinful! Bob is still responsible for his actions and will face God's judgment for them. 

How is that possible?

The Westminster Confession does not even attempt to explain it. 

"Just take our word for it."