Dorothy L. Sayers on The Value of Work

Dorothy L. Sayers was not only a writer of detective fiction, but she wrote religious plays as well. The following excerpt was from her first religious play. It concerned the principle she kept defending her whole life that the quality of the work reflects the value of the worker. Thus, Christ's work that manifests His wisdom the most is the finished and perfected Bride of Christ, the church.

Zeal of Thy House
Let me lie deep in hell,
Death gnaw upon me, purge my bones with fire,
But let my work, all that was good in me,
All that was God, stand up and live and grow.
The work is sound, Lord God, no rottenness there –
Only in me. Wipe out my name from men
But not my work; to other men the glory
And to Thy Name alone. But if to the damned
Be any mercy at all, O send Thy spirit
To blow apart the sundering flames, that I
After a thousand years of hell, may catch
One glimpse, one only, of the Church of Christ,
The perfect work, finished, though not by me.
(p. 163, Dorothy L. Sayers by Brabazon)

Dorothy L. Sayers Commenting on G. K. Chesteron

I am reading a biography of Dorothy L. Sayers, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography Here is a quote about how Sayers views Chesterton, which uses Chesterton's rather colorful figures of speech.

In later years Dorothy wrote to a young theologian, John Wren-Lewis, that she might well have abandoned Christianity altogether at this time had it not been for the vigorous example of G. K. Chesterton, who saw the history of Christendom as "one whirling adventure...[in which] the heavenly chariot flies thundering through the ages, the dull heresies sprawling and prostrate, the wild truth reeling but erect. (p. 35, Brabazon)

Charnock: The whole creation is a poem ...

Here's a quote I really like on creation from The Existence and Attributes of God by Stephen Charnock in his chapter in God's Wisdom. He is a Puritan, so to make it easier for you, I defined one of the technical terms and copied in some of the verses to make reading the quote easier.

The "Targum" is basically an Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew bible used in 100 BCE.

Romans 1:20
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Proverbs 3:19
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
         by understanding he established the heavens;

Psalm 104:24
O LORD, how manifold are your works!
          In wisdom have you made them all;
          the earth is full of your creatures.

Jeremiah 10:12
It is he who made the earth by his power,
          who established the world by his wisdom, 
          and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Stephen Charnock
What we translate, Gen. i. 1, 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,' the Targum expresseth, ' In the wisdom God created the heaven and the earth;' both bear a stamp of this perfection on them.* And when the apostle tells the Romans, chap. i. 20, ' The invisible things of God were clearly understood by the things that are made,' the word he uses is, ποίημα, not  ἔργοις ; this signifies a work of labour, but ποίημα a work of skill, or a poem. The whole creation is a poem, every species a stanza, and every individual creature a verse in it. The creation presents us with a prospect of the wisdom of God, as a poem doth the reader with the wit and fancy of the composer: ' By wisdom he created the earth,' Prov. iii. 19;' and stretched out the heavens by discretion,' Jer. x. 12. There is not anything so mean, so small, but glitters with a beam of divine skill; and the consideration of them would justly make every man subscribe to that of the psalmist,' O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all,' Ps. civ. 24 ;—all, the least as well as the greatest, and the meanest as well as the noblest, even those creatures which seem ugly and deformed to us, as toads, &c., because they fall short of those perfections which are the dowry of other animals. In these there is a footstep of divine wisdom, since they were not produced by him at random, but determined to some particular end, and designed to some usefulness, as parts of the world in their several natures and stations. God could never have had a satisfaction in the review of his works, and pronounced them good or comely, as he did, Gen. i. 31, had they not been agreeable to that eternal original copy in his own mind.

God's Knowledge and Our Self-Examination

God is omniscient, which means He knows everything. He knows what was, what is, what will be, what could be, and what could have been. He knows the future and all potential futures. He knows us. God especially knows our hearts, our minds, and our every thought.

The following verses validate this doctrine. The scriptures teach that God knows us personally and even more amazing is that he knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. This doctrine should prod us to faithfulness and give us great comfort.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

1 Chronicles 28:9
And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Psalm 44:20-21
If we had forgotten the name of our God
   or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
would not God discover this?
   For he knows the secrets of the heart.

Psalm 139:1-6
O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
   and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
   behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
   and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
   it is high; I cannot attain it.

John 2:23-25
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Charnock in the following quote explains why one of the comforts of God's intimate knowledge of ourselves is we can go to God to help us with our self-examination: our soul searching.

Stephen Charnock
In particular, it is our comfort that we can, and our necessity that we must address particularly to this, when we engage solemnly in a work of self examination; that we may have a clearer eye to direct us than our own, that we may not mistake brass for gold, or counterfeit graces for true; that nothing that is filthy and fit to be cast out may escape our sight, and preserve its stations. And we need not question the laying at the door of this neglect (viz., not calling in this attribute to our aid, whose proper office it is as I may so say, to search and inquire) all the mistakes, ill success, and fruitlessness of our endeavours in self examination, because we would engage in it in the pitiful strength of our own dimness, and not in the light of God's countenance, and the assistance of his eye, which can discern what we cannot see, and discover that to us which we cannot manifest to ourselves. It is a comfort to a learner of an art, to have a skilful eye to overlook his work, and inform him of the defects. Beg the help of the eye of God in all your searches and self examinations. (p. 254, The Existence and Attributes of God, Volume 7 of 50 Greatest Christian Classics, 2 Volumes in 1)

As we read Charnock, we need to remember that self-examination is not for self-recrimination. We are not to beat ourselves up over our sin. We are to identify it, repent of it, confess it, and press on to know Jesus. Here are some of the reasons to practice prayerful self-examination with the help of the Holy Spirit.

First, sin is a roadblocks in our relationship with God. The Psalmist models the appropriate way to identify sin in our lives. We need to trust God to reveal our sin. Sin will distort our view of God and move us off the path to righteousness.

Psalm 26:2-3
Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
    test my heart and my mind.
For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in your faithfulness.

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
   Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting!

The apostle John writes we should not delude ourselves that we have no sin. Once we identify the sin, confession is key.

1 John 1:8-10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Second, self-examination is key to our relationship with others. Sin injures our relationships with both God and others. When we go to reconcile with others, we must first prayerfully identify, through the Holy Spirit's help, the areas of sin in our own lives.

Matthew 7:1-5
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Third, sin is not the only reason for self-examination. The apostle Paul teaches in Romans that we need to assess our abilities and our ministries. When we function within the body of Christ, we must soberly judge how we are gifted, both naturally and spiritually, to fit into different ministries.

Romans 12:3-4
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,

Fourth, when we celebrate communion together, we should examine ourselves to see if we are prepared spiritually to worship with others and understand the purpose of communion.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Charles Hodge, the great Princeton theologian from the 1800s, elaborates from his commentary on this passage.

Charles Hodge on 1 Corinthians 11
Let a man examine himself. In other words, let him ascertain whether he has correct views of the nature and design of the ordinance, and whether he has the proper state of mind. That is, whether he desires thankfully to commemorate the Lord's death, renewedly to partake of the benefits of that death as a sacrifice for his sins, publicly to accept to accept the covenant of grace with all its promises and obligations, and to signify his fellowship with his brethren as joint members with himself to the body of Christ. (p. 233, 1 & 2 Corinthians (Geneva Series of Commentaries))

Fifth, Paul exhorted the carnal Corinthians to "examine yourselves." We should routinely ask ourselves. Do we still love Jesus or are we just going to church? Is our faith an empty faith? Or is our faith producing fruit??

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Charles Hodge on 2 Corinthians 13
To examine and to prove mean the same thing. Both express the idea of trying or putting to the test to ascertain the nature or character of the person or thing tried. Whether ye be in the faith, that is, whether you really have faith, or are Christians only in name. This exhortation to self-examination supposes, on the one hand, that faith is self-manifesting, that it reveals itself in the consciousness and by its fruits; and, on the other hand, that it may exist and be genuine and yet not be known as true faith by the himself. Only what is doubtful needs to be determined by examination. The fact, therefore, that we are commanded to examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith, proves that the a true believer may doubt of his good estate. In other words, it proves that assurance is not essential to faith.(ibid. p. 681)

In conclusion, although we will struggle with sin our entire lives, the book of Romans teaches us that Christ has won the battle for us.

Romans 7:21-25
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Christ has won the battle, but sin encumbers our walk with God. We need to put away our old selves as it says in Ephesians 4:22. Let us lay aside every encumbrance and race toward Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

John Owen, a Puritan theologian, explains what "lay aside" or "throw off" means.

John Owen
Let us throw off. The Greek word is used once in the New Testament to refer to natural things: "The witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Acts 7:58).  The people about to stone Stephen laid down, or took off, their clothes, which sheds light on how we are to understand this metaphor.  In other places it is used of vicious habits, or causes of them, which we are to part from and cast away, since they hinder us (see Ephesians 4:22, 25; Colossians 3:8; James 1:21,; 1 Peter 2:1).  The word concerns our duty to all vicious habits, especially those that hinder our Christian life.  Unless these things are disposed of, laid aside, thrown off, we cannot run successfully the race we are called to. (p. 242, Hebrews (Crossway Classic Commentaries))

Our goal is not a self-maintained purity, but our goal is to pursue Christ. Our transformation rests in fixing our eyes on our Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

A Tentmaker, A Tinker, and Eldership

Qualifications for being an elder has been a topic in my studies lately.  I keep encountering the same theme in different variations over the last year. Here are some meditations gleaned from my bible studies and my life experiences over the last several months.

The Corinthian Church

My Wednesday Morning Men Bible Study is studying 1st Corinthians. In the epistle, the apostle Paul has to defend his apostleship to some of the members of the Corinthian Church. At the start of chapter 9, he is encouraging the Corinthian church to give up their rights as believers in order to show love to one another. At the same time, he is defending his authority as an apostle. Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions to point out that he has laid aside his rights for his love of the Corinthians. Verse 6 refers to how Paul works as a tent-maker to support himself as he ministers in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 9:6
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?

Paul is pointing out that he and Barnabas have the right to not work with their hands for a living and to be supported by the Corinthian church. He argues later in the passage that a preacher should be supported for his preaching. However, according to the following commentator, Paul is also making a subtle point about the value of his work as a tent-maker.

Gordon D. Fee
The implication is that the problem for the Corinthians is not simply that he took no support from them (i.e. that he refused to take patronage in the home of one of their wealthier members), but that he supported himself in the demeaning fashion of working at a trade. What kind of activity is this for one who would be an “apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ”? Paul’s point of course is that he has the right not to, even though he rejected it. (p. 404, First Epistle to the Corinthians (The new international commentary on the New Testament) by Gordon D. Fee ( 1987 ) Hardcover ).

Traveling philosophers came through Corinth all the time. They supported themselves by getting wealthy patrons to support them while the philosophers taught in the city square. The Roman and Greek cultures disdained manual labor. The Corinthians must have thought it was pretty strange for Paul to work as a common laborer while he was preaching the gospel.  However, Paul was establishing the church and was removing any obstacles to the Gospel. Paul had a dual purpose in asking this question. He wanted the Corinthians to follow his example of sacrificial service and he wanted them to realize that being a manual laborer did not detract from his credentials as an apostle. Paul teaches elsewhere that work, even manual labor honors God (Colossians 3:23).

Great Commission Leadership Institute

The Downtown Campus Leader are studying the Great Commission Leadership materials together. One of the chapters mentioned the problems the Great Commission Church Movement experienced and addressed. The Great Commission Churches admitted that they did appoint unqualified elders back in the 1970s and 1980s. They had good reasons. The movement was made up of young men and women just out of college or still in college. Churches were being planted in campuses all over the United States. They needed pastors immediately. GCC leadership patterned their church after the model of the first century church and as they read Acts they noticed apostles were uneducated and young. They concluded they did not need to follow the elder requirements outlined in in 1 Timothy and Titus too closely. The leaders decided the new pastors would learn on the job. They chose men who showed leadership skills and called it good. However, many of the problems the Great Commission churches encountered in the 1980s were because of immaturity in their leaders and their lack of doctrinal knowledge. David Bovenmeyer, one of the key leaders of the GCC, commented on the problems.

David Bovenmeyer
We acknowledge that there were instances where some of us in our immaturity tended to lead more by coercion and compulsion than by inspiration and example. Some men, especially in the early years of our movement, were appointed as pastors, or assumed the responsibility of a pastor, before they fully met the qualifications set forth in the Scriptures, and so were unable to consistently lead in a God honoring way. ... At times, were overly directive in the personal affairs of church members and were not always sufficiently sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading in the person's life. (p. 218, GCLI Book III, Grace in Dealing with Criticism)

Haiti

In Haiti last spring, I had a conversation with one of the World Wide Village staff. She pointed out that a couple of the pastors let a fingernail on one of their pinky fingers grow long. We asked her why? She said it was a fashion statement. It was a way to indicate to the world that they were not common laborers. They wanted to demonstrate they were respected men in the community who did not need to keep their fingernails trimmed to make a living. These men are godly men who sincerely love the Lord, but their culture has blinded them to a pride issue. In the United States, we need to pray humbly for the Holy Spirit to identify blind spots in our ministry.

John Bunyan

John Owen was one of the most famous Puritan pastors of the 17th century. He was an Oxford educated theologian, who wrote theological treatises that are still studied and quoted today. Owen was extremely well connected politically and academically. He avoided most of the persecution of the Puritan churches because of his connections.

John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress: a book that became the most influential Christian classic ever written. However, Bunyan was not connected politically: he was imprisoned several years for his beliefs. John Bunyan was not well educated and was a lowly tinker. A tinker repaired pots and pans. It was not a highly respected occupation. It was considered a semi-skilled occupation fit for only for gypsies and transients. It was probably considered to be very similar in how tent-making in the apostle Paul's day was considered. John Bunyan; however, had one big fan. John Piper told this story in one of his biographies, but this website had a shorter synopsis.

John Owen once went to hear John Bunyan preach. Charles II, hearing of it, asked the doctor why someone as thoroughly educated as he would want to hear a mere tinker preach. Owen replied, "May it please your Majesty, if I could possess the tinker's abilities to grip men's hearts, I would gladly give in exchange all my learning." http://www.reformationtheology.com/2008/04/john_owen_john_bunyan.php)

The Qualifications

The following passages are the main passages concerning the qualifications for elder in the New Testament.

1 Timothy 3:1-7
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Titus 1:6-9
if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

One of my favorite theologians of the 20th century is Francis Schaeffer. He thought hard and long about the Church in the 20th century and wrote the following about these passages.

Francis Schaeffer
The church has no right to diminish these standards for the officers of the Church, nor does it have any right to elevate any other as though they are then equal to these which are commanded by God himself. These and only these stand as absolute.

Schaeffer also points out that Paul has given the Church much flexibility concerning how the elders are chosen, how they are organized, and how they are to rule. Elders could be hired or elected by the congregation or chosen by the elder board. Because of the church's culture, there may be requirements that are added to help ensure that the requirements are met. For example, there may be a probationary period for an elder candidate so that the congregation can evaluate the candidate and see if he exhibits the character traits needed.  However, as Schaefer points out, we subtract and add to these requirements at our own peril. Any additional requirements should be to support the biblical standard and not be an independent requirement.

Conclusion

Notice in these requirements for elder, there is nothing about the man's occupation, education level, rhetorical skills (Exodus 4;10-12; 2 Corinthians 10:10), manners, or his clothing. A tent-maker, a tinker, a garbage men, a barrista or a college professor should be equally qualified to be an elder, if they meet the other criteria. All work, whether ecclesiastical or secular, management or manual, should be honored in the church.

There are many applications to this truth, but I will only list two. First, when we evaluate an elder candidate, we must be careful not to judge the man on cultural standards. For example, we may be tempted to overlook that a man is a recent convert, because he is a CEO of a company and has great people management and money handling skills. Or we may overlook a godly man because he is just a garbage collector and intends to stay one. If we do not closely look at the man, we may overlook that  he may want to remain a garbage man because his hours are flexible enough to allow him to minister almost full time.

Second, every man should aspire to be a leader in his home and prayerfully consider his giftedness to become an elder. No one should disqualify themselves from becoming an elder because of his occupation. He should consider the biblical critieria and whether he is gifted in that area.

Becoming an elder is a "noble task." However, not all men are to become elders. All men should lead in their home and take responsibility to be godly men in their spheres of responsibility (i.e. family, home, work, neighborhood, etc). There is a certain giftedness to become a pastor. It is a humbling, Word-centric ministry. The men who aspire to be elders should not do it for selfish gain or selfish pride, but to seek the opportunity to proclaim Christ through boldly preaching and humbly serving. All jobs have prestige, if they are done with skill (Proverbs 22:29) and if it is done for the Lord (Colossions 3:23). God has gifted people in the church to serve in different ways and all those ways should be honored.

Augustine: Love and the Trinity

I am reading a book named, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God by Rober Louis Wilken.  In the following quote, the author is summarizing how Augustine pursued knowledge of the Triune God through the love of God.

What Augustine is seeking is not a theological concept or an explanation as such, but the living God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the "Trinity that is God, the true and supreme and only God."  If one asks, What does it mean to find the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit? the answer is not so obvious.  Finding means more than simply getting things straight or discovering the most appropriate analogy in human experience for the Triune God.  There can be no finding without a change in the seeker.  Our minds, he says, must be purified, and we must be made fit and capable of receiving what is sought.  We can cleave to God and see the Holy Trinity only when we burn with love." (p. 108)

Hosea teaches that God wants us to pursue knowing Him.  The knowledge of God is everywhere and He desires us to pursue a loving, intimate relationship with Him through obedience to His Word.

Hosea 6:3-6
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD;
   his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
   as the spring rains that water the earth.”

What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
   What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
   like the dew that goes early away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
   I have slain them by the words of my mouth,
   and my judgment goes forth as the light.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
   the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

John 14 is one of the main teaching passages about the doctrine of the trinity.  The following passage links loving God to obeying God's commandments to a growing knowledge of God.

John 14:20-24
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.  And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

GCLI Book 3: Studying the Scripture

In the GCLI (Great Commission Leadership Institute), Book III: Studying the Scriptures on page 195, the author asked a question that a young leader may ask, "How much time should you spend studying the Word?" The author proceeded to answer the question by providing advice in very practical ways: he gave a set of key questions for the readers to ask themselves. For example, "Can you defend your church/GCC statement of faith?", "What is the nature of your ministry?", "What is expected of you from your culture?", "What is the best use of your time?", and "What phase of your ministry-life are you in now?".

This section seemed misguided to me.  As I thought about the topic, a more biblical approach suggested itself. I propose that the following questions might be better to ask a young leader.

As a young man, how can I keep my way pure?

How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
(Psalm 119:9-11 ESV)

How often should I speak of the Word and meditate upon it?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 11:18-20
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

Joshua 1:8-9
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 119:48
I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
        and I will meditate on your statutes.

Psalm 119:97
Oh how I love your law!
       It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:148
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
        that I may meditate on your promise.

If I should not live by bread alone, how should I then live?

Matthew 4:4
But he answered,
“It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
       but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

How should I learn more about Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith?

Luke 24:25-27
And he [Jesus] said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

John 5:38-39
and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

How should I handle the Word?

2 Timothy 2:15-16 ESV
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,

How should I continue and grow in my faith?

2 Timothy 3:14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

1 Peter 2:2-3
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As a young pastor, in what should I instruct other believers?

Titus 1:9
He [an elder] must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

2 Timothy 2:2-3
and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Plastic Donuts Notes

This post is less a book review, than a way to keep track of my notes for an excellent book I read on giving, Plastic Donuts: Giving That Delights the Heart of the Father.

The author wrote about "acceptable gifts" to God. Using the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), the author pointed out that "Not all gifts are the same to Him. Not all gifts are acceptable." (p. 24).  He defined "acceptable" as "It's a word that expresses delightful, surprising, perfect, tearful, proud, ecstatic, happiness. What word would that be? It's what acceptable means." (p. 25).

The author defined "Acceptable Gift Truths" on p. 108. I added scriptural references that were used by the author earlier in the book to validate the points.

• The amount matters (Matthew, 6:21, 2 Samuel 24:22-25)
• We determine the amount (Deuteronomy 16:16-17)
• We give according to ability. (2 Corinthians 8:12, Deut. 16:16-17, Acts 11:29-30).
• The heart makes the gift count. (Proverbs 21:3, 1 Sam. 15:22).

The book also taught about what the author called, "heart prompts." 

• "God commands us to give freely. These giving instructions come through promptings of the heart. Some of these heart prompts--called direct prompts--are firm and clear. Some are less so, like whispers from God." (p. 52). (see Deut. 15:7-8, 11)
• "Direct prompts are commands from God that direct our gifts." (p. 53).
• "Like direct prompts, whisper prompts help us act on the command to give freewill gifts. But unlike direct prompts that are load and clear, whispers are subtle nudges from God." (p. 55). (see Exodus 25:2)
• "God initiates heart prompts to draw you nearer to Him." (p. 58).

Here are some quotes that summarize the author's teaching:

• "Everyone should determine a personal giving standard in their budget." (p. 47)
• "Just because God gives us the freedom to determine our gifts, that does not mean any random choice is a pleasing one to him. To choose or not to give freely and willingly is to ignore God's clear desires." (p. 50).
• "Nor is Plastic Donuts a message about triggering blessings, dodging curses, sowing seeds, or not robbing God." (p. 63)
• "But by now, we have clear scriptural guidelines that address these type of questions. When it comes our gifts, we know the amount matters. And when selecting gifts, we determine the amount, in order to delight our Father.

In summary, the book is very good. It teaches that our goal in giving should be to please God. The more the gift matters to you, the more the gift will matter to God. If you disagree with the book from my notes, it is probably my fault. I am still processing the teachings of the book and hence, the blog. Please read the book and form your own conclusions. It is very short and a very easy read.

Haiti Hangover Part 3 -- Affluence

This is the third in a series of blog posts about what I termed, "Haiti Hangover."  When we go on an one-week medical mission to Haiti, the team is excited to serve.  We go out into the communities.  We see families living in one-room huts with no windows. We see children playing in grassless yards, which have strands of barbwire for a fence.  When we get back home, we watch our HDTVs in living rooms bigger than the huts we saw in Haiti.  Our yards are well manicured lawns with swingsets and sandboxes. We see how our lifestyle contrasts drastically with the Haitian people to whom and with whom we minister.  We feel anguish and guilt.  We feel anguish for their suffering and we feel guilt because we have so many material possessions.

The guilt we suffer could be a good thing.  Because if we have a tendency to make things or money an idol, this time of self-reflection would be an ideal period to re-evaluate our priorities.  However, after a certain period, carrying around guilt is not spiritually healthy. Additionally, spontaneously selling possessions and giving to the poor out of guilt is not wisdom.  We are commanded to give with a "cheerful heart" (2 Corinthians 9:7), not a guilty heart. If we are to combat the Haiti Hangover, we need to ask ourselves how God views our possessions.

Job
The Bible does not teach being rich is sinful.  Consider the book of Job.  Job was rich and God blessed him.  For His own reasons, God decided to discipline Job through trials instigated by Satan. The first set of trials removed Job's wealth and his children.  Prior to the trial, Satan predicted that Job would curse God when God removed His protection.  When Job heard the news of his losses, contrary to Satan's prediction, Job did not despair and cursed God, but blessed God instead.

Job 1:20-21 ESV
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.  And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

The following notes are from Dr. Hughes's excellent commentary.  The author points out that Job understood the Godness of God. God, by His very definition, has the right to take away Job's possessions.

R. Kent Hughes
Job knows that eventually he will die and take nothing away.  It is almost as if he has died today.  He understands that all his possessions and all his children were gifts from the Lord.  By the nature of the Godness of God he gives, and it is therefore entirely his prerogative to take away as he sees fit, as and when he chooses.  This is part of God being God.

So Job blesses the name of the Lord.  He expresses the wish that all who hear his story will bless God for it.  The Satan said Job would curse God to his face.  On the contrary, his response to terrible loss is wonderfully blessing the God who has given and has now seen fit to take away.  In the moment of his loss his first thought is of the God who had first given. (p. 49, Job: The Wisdom of the Cross (Preaching the Word))

The Bill Cosby Show
This teaching from Job reminded me of an episode in Bill Cosby's show titled, Vanessa's Rich. Cliff Huxtable's daughter, Vanessa, came home from school after getting into fight with two other girls. Her mother asked her why she was fighting. Vanessa explained that her fellow cheerleaders found out how much her mother paid for a painting and started to tease her about being a spoiled, rich kid. Vanessa emphasized to her parents that she tried to explain to her friends why her mother spent so much on a painting, but they would not stop teasing her. So she concluded that she had to start swinging at them. At the end of the her story, Vanessa blamed her parents, "Life would be so much better," she exclaimed to her parents, "if only we were not so rich!"

Cliff rubbed his face, paused for effect, and then slowly replied, "Listen carefully. Your mother and I are rich, you have nothing." He continued to emphasize that his children were under a grave misapprehension about what possessions they personally owned. He explained to Vanessa that everything his children owned, Cliff and his wife gave them. Cliff told Vanessa that he could take all her stuff away because she was living in his house by his generosity. The father then encouraged his daughter to explain to her friends that she was poor, she had nothing, and she depended upon her parent's charity.

One of the main lessons of Job is that we all are like Bill Cosby's children: we are under a grave misapprehension that we own things.  We may have worked hard for our possessions; however, God gives us everything we have and He has the right to take away everything from us including our health.  We are merely the stewards of God's resources.  We don't own anything, even our children.  God blesses Job at the end of the book through giving Job possessions and children (Job 42:11).  God obviously intends for Job to enjoy being rich and fruitful for the rest of his life.  In a similar manner, God wants us to enjoy our possessions and use them wisely.

Ecclesiastes
Centuries after Job lived, the writer of Ecclesiastes, asserts that life without God is meanlingless or a "vanity."  But to those who fear God, God gives the gift of enjoyment of food and of work. God gives wisdom and knowledge to those who love Him and from those gifts come joy.

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 ESV
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Walter Kaiser Jr., an Old Testament Professor, points out in his commentary that purpose in life is not found in things, but in fearing God.

Walter Kaiser Jr.
The conclusion of 2:24-26: The purpose of life cannot be found in any one of the good things found in the world. All the things that we call the "goods" of life--health, riches, possessions, position, sensual pleasures, honors, and prestige--slip through man's hands unless they are received as a gift from God and until God gives man the ability to enjoy them and obtain satisfaction from them. God gives that ability to those who begin by "fearing," that is, believing, Him. (p. 59, Ecclesiastes: Total Life (Everyman's Bible Commentary))

A few chapters later in Ecclesiastes the author mentions that wealth, possessions, and the power to enjoy them is a gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 ESV
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

Kaiser points out that having wealth is not the problem. When we start seeing wealth and possessions as an ends in themselves, they become idols. God's tells us the underlying principle to enjoy life: knowing Christ.

Walter Kaiser Jr.
The conclusion remains the same (5:18-20). Man must get enjoyment, not possessions. And that capacity to enjoy, no matter how great or how small, is a gift from God. It is much better to receive wealth as a gift from God, along with the God-given ability to enjoy it, than to see wealth as an end in itself. The condition for the reception of this gift is the same as it was in 2:26, and therefore it is not repeated. How sad that men can spend all their days working and sweating to receive the enjoyment that God offers as a gift if men will seek it in the manner that He, in His excellent and beautiful plan, has chosen to give it. Happiness, enjoyment, pleasure, and a knowledge of how the whole substance of life is integrated into a meaningful pattern in the plan of God are all linked in the living God. To know the "eternity" of all things is, if we may rephrase John 17:3, "to know Him." (p. 77, ibid)

Contentment
We are commanded in the New Testament to be content with what we have. As the Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:6, "there is great gain in godliness, with contentment." Paul teaches in a couple of verses later in the same epistle (1 Tim. 6:9), "those who desire to be rich fall into temptation." We can commit the sin of greed no matter how rich we are. However, Paul teaches that contentment is more than controlling the desire to be rich: it is a dispostion that needs to be learned no matter what circumstance God has placed us. We need to follow Paul's example in Phillipians 4. We need to be content in both prosperity and poverty.

Philippians 4:11-13 NASB
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Peter T. O'Brien
As he raises the subject of the Philippians' gifts Paul shows a combination of delicacy and independence.  He was clearly sensistive about money matters in general.  But he has been deeply touched by their kindness, and he expresses his great joy at their thoughtful concern for his welfare. For some time they had been concerned about his well-being, but it was only more recently that they had had the opportunity of showing it again in a concrete way (v. 10). Paul had not felt neglected in any sense, and his joy did not arise because of the satisfaction of his material needs (v. 11).  He had learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself, whether in poverty or when he had more than enough.  This contentment, however, was not the self-sufficiency of the Stoic, the cultivated attitude of the wise person who could face life and death with equanimity because of his own inner resources.  Paul's sufficiency was from God and related to Christ, who alone empowered him in various situations (vv. 12-13).(p. 514, The Epistle to the Philippians (The New International Greek Testament Commentary))

The author of Hebrews in verse 13:5 also challenges us to be content with what God has given us, "Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have ...."

2 Corinthians on Giving
A closely related topic is "Giving." However, giving is a complex topic and beyond the scope of this post.  This post will focus only on a few of the many concepts that overlap between affluence and giving. One of the main teaching passages in the Bible on giving is 2 Corinthians 8-9.  The following is a key passage in chapter 8. I highlighted the two verses that contain the key concepts.

2 Corinthians 8:10-15
And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.  So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.  For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.  For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.  As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

Here's Charles Hodge's commentary on those two key passages.

Charles Hodge on "it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have."
The apostle was not desirious to urge them either beyond their inclination, or beyond their ability. What they gave, he wished them to give freely, and with due regard to their resources.
(pp. 578-579, 2 Corinthians (Geneva Series of Commentaries))

Charles Hodge on "For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened"
The meaning therefore is, that Paul did not desire that the Corinthians should go beyond their ability in giving, for had no wish that others should be enriched, and they impoverished. It is not obligatory on the rich to make themselves poor in order that the poor may be rich. That is not the rule. (pp. 580-581, ibid)

Charles Hodge summarizes 2 Corinthians 8:10-15.
This is not agrariansim nor community of goods. The New Testament teaches on this subject,

1. That all giving is voluntary. A man's property is his own.  It is his own power to retain or to give away; and if he gives, it is prergogative to decide whether it shall be much or little. Acts 5, 4.  This is the doctrine taught in this whole connection.  Giving must be voluntary.  It is the fruit of love.  It is of course obligatory as a moral duty, and indisposition to give is proof of the absence of the love of God. 1 John 3, 17.  Still is is one of those duties the performance of which others cannot enforce as a right belonging to them.  It must remain at our own discretion.
2. That the end is to be accomplished by giving is relieving the necessities of the poor.  The equality, therefore, aimed at, or intended, is not an equality as to the amount of property, but equal relief from the burden of want. (p. 580, ibid).

Paul, a chapter later in 2 Corinthians, emphasizes it is the heart attitude that is important.

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Charles Hodge
Though he [Paul] wished them to give bountifully, he desired them to do it freely.  Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, i. e. as he cordially, or with the consent fo the heart, determines.   This stands opposed to what follows, and, therefore, is explained by it. Not grudginly, ἐκ λύπης, not out sorrow; i. e. let not the gift proceed out of a reluctant stae of mind, grieving after what given as so much lost.  Or of necessity i. e. constrained by circumstances to give when you prefer not to do it.  Many gifts are thus given sorrowfully, where the giver is induced to give by a regard to public opinion, or by stress of conscience.  This reluctance spoils the gift.   It loses all its fragrance when the incense of a free and joyful spirit is wanting.  For God loveth a cheerful giver; ἱλαρὸν δότην, a joyful giver one to whom giving is a delight, who does it with hilarity. (p. 597, ibid)

Conclusion
We can fight depression or discouragement through pursuing joy in Christ. We can pursue joy by following these teachings.

1. Everything we have is a gift from God, whether it be possessions or children or our lives God has the right to take them from us at anytime.  Therefore the amount of things we have is dependent on God and not us.  As Jesus commands in Matthew 6:33, We need to "seek first the kingdom of God and and his righteousness."
2. Enjoying our possessions and our work is a gift from God.  If we fear and love God, we will be able to truly enjoy our possessions, our jobs, and even our children.
3. Contentment in our circumstances is key in our walk with God.  Whether we are rich or poor, we should trust God and not ourselves to meet our needs. This contentment is not easily learned, it is empowered by Christ.
4. Our giving should be prayerful and purposeful.  It should meet actual needs.  It should be out of our abundance. On the other hand, in our need, we should be humbly willing to accept God's gifts.
5. Our giving should be out of our love to Christ for what He has given us.  It should be voluntarily and not out of guilt or compulsion.   Our giving should be a joyous celebration of God's love for us. We should be willing to give all our possessions and even on our own lives away, because Christ gave his life for us on the cross.

Haiti Hangover Part 2: Unfinished Business

This is second of series of blog posts concerning what I call the "Haiti Hangover." Short-term mission members suffer depression from a variety of reasons when they return from Haiti. My last post addresses the cause of discouragement which comes from switching from a God-focused, very defined mission to coming back home to the daily grind. This second post concerns the feeling of unfinished business that envelopes team members when they come back. With insufficient resources and very limited time, the team can not help every one medically or spiritually. Furthermore, team members lead people to Christ, but do not have the means to make sure they are being discipled. The team goes back home leaving new believers on their own.  The team members know it is very unlikely they will ever see those young believers again. This lack of closure can cause discouragement. It can also cause cynicism and disenchantment with short term missions.

One of the ways to attack discouragement is to combat it with God's promises. No other prophet preaches on the promises of God more than Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 55, Isaiah is encouraging the people to repentance. He is pleading with them to give up wickedness and to trust and follow God. In the following two verses, God is promising that His Word through which He is calling them, will not return to Him empty.

Isaiah 55:10-11
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
  giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
  it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

J. Alec Motyer's commentary of Isaiah explains how God's Word in Isaiah 55:11 is both a call to repentance and a promise that the people will repent.

J. Alec Motyer
The word of God is the unfailing agent of the will of God. ... the whole chapter pivots on the call to repent. On the one hand, repentance is the way to enter the great, free feast; on the other hand, the call to repent is a word of God bringing with it its own power of accomplishment. As the rain furnishes both seed and bread, so the word of God plants the seed of repentance in the heart and feeds the returning sinner with the blessed consequences repentance produces. In the present context this is what I desire, the purpose for which I sent it. The Lord wills and effectuates the repentance which brings sinners home to himself, into the freedom of his banqueting hall.
(pp. 457-458, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary)

In our limited viewpoint, we do not have the whole story of how God is accomplishing His purposes. God may be using other people and circumstances to draw people to Himself. God builds His Kingdom through His Word and He does not need a specific missionary or a particular mission team to accomplish His will. As it says in the previous verse,

Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We must humby trust God's wisdom and God's sovereignty that God's Word shall accomplish the purpose for which God sent it.

Here are a few examples where God works outside the limited perspective of well-intentioned believers.

Example 1: Elijah
Elijah humiliated and killed 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah in a showdown. Elijah thought he won, but he miscalculated. The queen, Jezebel, put out a contract on his life. Elijah ran away discouraged. He felt like no one was left to stand up for God. Elijah thought he failed because total victory did not come from him. God found Elijah hiding in a cave.

1 Kings 19:14-18
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

God did not need Elijah to preserve a faithful remnant from Israel. God wanted Elijah to be obedient to God's calling, God was in control. It was God who will save the remnant.


Example 2: The Scottish Reformed Church
In June 1547 AD, John Knox and other Protestant church leaders were captured and enslaved by the French. Protestant leaders across Europe despaired for the church in Scotland. Knox was in slavery for 19 months and then exiled. Knox returned to Scotland in 1555 A.D. and to his amazement, found a spiritually hungry, but thriving Church.

A. M. Renwick
When the Castle of St. Andrews was captured by the French it seemed as if the cause of the Reformed Church was lost. Scotland was virtually governed by the French, and the Roman Church seemed permanently established. Indeed, throughout all Europe, the the Protestant faith was at its lowest ebb. Yet the amazing fact emerges that, at this very time when the Protestant movement in Scotland was without a leader, the Reformed doctrines took an ever-increasing hold upon all classes. Thus, when, in 1555, John Knox returned from Geneva for a visit of a few months, he was overjoyed to find great masses of the people thirsting for the gospel. This he related in a letter to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Bowes, and declared they were 'night and day sobbing and groaning for the bread of life. If I had not seen it with my eyes in my own country, I could not have believed it. Depart I cannot until such time as God quench their thirst a little.'
(p. 48, The Story of the Scottish Reformation)

Example 3: The Church in China
My final example of how God worked outside our limited perspective. The Communist took over China in 1949. At that time, missionaries left the country:  they were expelled or they departed voluntarily. The regime had a complicated relationship with the indigent Church. Eventually, the Communist leaders sanctioned certain Protestant Churches and called them the "Three-Self Patriotic Movement" (TSPM). However, these Churches were very liberal and were monitored very closely by the government. They did not preach the Gospel. Even so, the Communists at times even persecuted the "sanctioned" churches.

Kim-Kwong Chan
For an even longer period (1966–79), all church buildings were closed and Christian activities were banned. Bibles were burnt, and many church leaders (including TSPM pastors) were imprisoned for long years in labor camps. Meeting for prayer and Bible study was extremely dangerous. Miners met in the depths of the northern coal mines, their hymnbooks and scribbled Bible verses disguised as Mao’s “Little Red Book.” Miao Christian tribes people in the far southwest hid Bibles in mountain caves to which they climbed for secret meetings. While the official church was moribund, the house churches kept alight the flame of Christian witness. The church survived as a lay movement, often led by poorly educated Bible women who memorized Scripture and passed on the faith to family members and (if they dared) to neighbors and friends.
(Jesus Rising in the East: The Extraordinary Story of the Church in Modern China (Christianity Today Essentials Book 3))

I remember in the 1980s when Communist China started to allow more visitors: for example, Billy Graham visited in 1988. Stories about how the house church movement thrived in China during the exile of the missionaries sent ripples of praise throughout the global Church. No one expected the church to survive in Communist China, but God's Word could not be thwarted.

The Church throughout history has had Christ's promises to encourage it. Jesus, before his crucifixion, encouraged His disciples with His promises. He not only promised them the Holy Spirit in John 16, but Christ told the disciples that He had already "overcome the world." The disciples may have had to face persecution, but the battle was won and the disciples could take courage in that fact.

John 16:32-33
Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Merril C. Tenney wrote a classic commentary on The Gospel of John which highlights that this command "take heart" is only possible because of our relationship with Christ.

Merril C. Tenney
The close relationship with Christ which the disciple sustains affords him surcease from conflict, from fear, and from doubt. "In the world" is tribulation; "in Christ" is peace. Victory over the forces and circumstances that cicumscribe human life is attainable through Him, for He has overcome the world by His cross. (pp. 242-243, John: The Gospel of Belief )

The apostle Paul understood this principle that Christ has already overcome the world. Paul encouraged the Phillipian church that the work Christ began in them will be completed when Jesus Christ comes back.

Philippians 1:6-7 ESV
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Wayne Grudem comments on this verse in his chapter on The Perseverance of the Saints in his book on systematic theology.

Wayne Grudem
Another example of assurance that believers will persevere to the end is found in Paul’s statement to the Philippians: “I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). It is true that the word “you” here is plural (Gk. hymas), and thus he is referring to Christians in the Philippian church generally, but he is still talking about the specific believers to whom he is writing, and saying that God’s good work that began in them will continue and will be completed at the day Christ returns. (p. 791, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine)

God is at work in Haiti. Like the apostle Paul with the Phillipians, we can be confident that God's work will continue in Haiti because we have seen Him work in the lives of the Haitians already. Furthermore, we have seen Him work in our lives. This confidence will combat the discouragement we feel.

How can we encourage this confidence in Christ's promises? First, developing our personal relationship with Christ is key. The better we know the Promise Giver, the better we can trust His promises. This is where the spiritual disciplines are helpful.

• Spend time reading, studying, and meditating on His Word. 
• Try journaling or blogging about Haiti. Journal about what you are learning in His Word. 
• Pray for Haitian people in general and the Haitians you know. Pray for your mission team members. They are probably going through the same struggles you are.  
• Fellowship with believers. Try talking to other people on your mission team. Encourage them as they encourage you. Have them pray for you.
• Tell other people about the trip. Tell Christians and non-Christians. Tell others about the great things you have seen God do. Have your short, medium, and long talks ready to go. Use these opportunities to share the Gospel.

As our closeness with Christ and His body increases, our joy will increase. The same disciplines we practiced in Haiti will serve us well in the United States.

Second, our obedience to His commandments is key to His manifesting Himself to us (John 14:21). As we abide in Him and love Him, the more we will trust HIm and the more confidence we will have in His promises. Disobedience and sin will feed into discouragement and cynicism. Trust and obedience fosters joy and confidence.

Finally, start praying for the next mission trip. God is using Grace Community Church to minister in Haiti. God is not done working through our church to serve Haiti. Pray that God will give the leadership wisdom on how to best serve Haiti. God will save Haiti.

Haiti Hangover Part 1: Back to the Daily Grind

I am writing a series of blog posts on what I call the "Haiti Hangover." Mission teams experience a let-down when they come back to the United States. One of the reasons for the doldrums is that they lose the excitement they have in Haiti because they are no longer on such a focused mission. On mission trips, God seems so real and daily activities seem so important. The discipleship teams focus especially on the mission: evangelism, soul care, discipleship and devotions. When they return home, their lives seem mundane and ordinary. They go back to their everyday jobs and their daily chores. They code programs, drive buses, paint houses, rake leaves, cook meals, do dishes or change diapers. These tasks seem so unimportant in progressing God's kingdom.

A quote by Os Guinness helps me sort through this issue. It concerns a theologian named Justin Martyr who lived in the 2nd century AD.

Justin Martyr
In the second century, Christian apologist, Justin Martyr grew up over the hill from Galilee. Interestingly, he notes that the plows made by Joseph and Jesus were still being used widely in his day. How intriguing to think of Jesus' plow rather than his cross -- to wonder what it was that made his plows and yokes last and stand out.(Os Guiness,The Call,p. 202)

The public ministry of Jesus probably lasted between 2 1/2 and 3 years. Luke recorded that Jesus started his public ministry when he was around 30 years old (Luke 3:23). If Justin Martyr was correct, then Jesus probably spent most of his professional life as a carpenter. Jesus claimed in John 5:19 that "He does nothing on his own accord." The author of Hebrews 1:3 described Christ as "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature." Therefore, while He was incarnate, Jesus glorified God the Father through His "secular" work as a carpenter. Whether Jesus was making plows, preaching, performing miracles or dying on a cross, every moment of His incarnate life: Jesus glorified God.

 When we consider the life of Jesus, the dichotomy between sacred and secular work breaks down. As followers of Christ, we need to glorify God every moment of our lives. Paul argues in Colossians that our work can be sacred, if we do the task heartily as for the Lord.

Colossians 3:22-24 ESV
Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

The following commentary on this passage in Colossians emphasizes that no matter where we are or what we do in life as Christians, we are foremost servants of Christ.

F. F. Bruce
But Christian slaves--or Christian employees today--have the highest of all motives for faithful and conscientious performance of duty; they are above all else servants of Christ, and will work first and foremost so as to please him. Not fear of an earthly master, but reverance for their heavenly Lord, should be the primary motive with them. This would encourage Christian servants to work eagerly and zestfully even for a master who was harsh, unconscionable, and ungrateful; for they would receive their thanks not from him but from Christ. A rich recompense is the assured heritage of all who work for Christ; and the Christian servant can work for Christ by serving an earthly master in such a way as to "adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in everything" (Tit. 2:10). (pp.168-169, The Epistles to the Colossians to Philemon and the Ephesians)

The following three quotes emphasize different aspects of the same truth: our work matters to God. Tyndale is the first person to translate the majority of the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew into English. He is one of the first of the English reformers and he gave his life so that the common person could have the Bible in his or her own tongue. The doctrine he is preaching is the "Priesthood of believers," which states that everyone, not only priests, are called into their position of life. God saves not only our souls but our lives. We are to minister where we are. We do not need a calling to be a monk or priest to serve God wholly, we can serve God in our station in life. We can worship God in our work.

William Tyndale
There is no work better than another to please God: to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a [cobbler], or an apostle, all are one; to wash dishes and to preach are all one, as touching the deed, to please God. (Parker Society, vol. 42, 102)

Francis Schaeffer is a 20th century apologist. His books, films and teachings try to demonstrate only the Christian worldview explains and gives meaning to culture and our lives.

Francis Schaeffer's View of Work
His [Schaeffer] view of death and his own death was having confidence that life matters and that the world matters, that life and existence is something real, true and eternal and is not going to just disappear into thin air. Because of that you fight to live, and because of that you need to go out and carry on the good fight. You do matter, and God does exist. So you put your hand to the plow, you work and you struggle—you do what you can in all different areas, with passion. You don’t sit in a corner somewhere and wait to die. You don’t embrace death. You see death as a terrible, terrible enemy. What you look forward to is not death, but the Second coming. You are longing and working for that. Contrary to what people say—that you can’t take anything with you—yes, you do take your work with you. It’s a biblical teaching, that what you do matters and will continue on into eternity—building houses, walls, and hiking paths and the whole of human existence. You live with energy. (Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life. p. 202)

McGrath is a living theologian and scholar. He is an expert on John Calvin and his biography on Calvin is very insightful.

Alistair McGrath
Whatever the precise relation between Calvinism and capitalism may prove to be, it may be said the one of Calvinism’s greatest legacies to western culture is a new attitude towards work, and, supremely, manual labour. Work, far from being merely an inevitable and somewhat tedious means of obtaining the basic necessities for existence, is perhaps the most praiseworthy of all human activities, surpassing all others in this respect. To be ‘called’ by God does not entail withdrawing from the world, but demands critical engagement with every sphere of worldly life… ‘Work’, it may be added, is not understood as ‘paid employment’, but as diligent and productive use of whatever resources and talents one has been given.

Work is thus viewed as a profoundly spiritual activity, a productive and socially beneficial form of prayer.(p. 245, A life of John Calvin)

The quote by McGrath is almost a commentary on Ephesians 2:20. Paul writes in Ephesians that "good works" are prepared beforehand. God is in control. He has placed us into our sphere of work and our home. He has pre-ordained our tasks list at work and our honey-do lists at home. He wants us to worship Him through the performance of these tasks.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Short term missions are important, but we can serve God anywhere. We can combat the Haiti Hangover with joy. There is joy for us in each task because each task is given to us by God. Each task can be done by us with sincerity and heartily for and through Christ. When done this way, each task is worship and worship brings us joy. We can celebrate God through our work. No matter where we are, whether in Haiti or the United States, we can serve God joyfully through our work.

Haiti Hangover: Introduction

Some of the people on the mission teams returning from Haiti experience difficulties returning to "normal" life. This blog is an attempt to clarify the problem and suggest some ways to adjust. I see three primary reasons for the doldrums for the team members.

1. In Haiti, we are very mission focused. We have people to cook for us and wash the dishes. All the discipleship team does is fellowship, pray, have devotions, disciple, and witness. When we come back home, we come back to our jobs and our household chores. All this seems to detract from building God's kingdom. Doing dishes or raking leaves seem to be a waste of time.
2. In Haiti, we only have a week. With our limited time and resources, we just can not help most of the people we meet. Even when people accept the gospel, we do not have good ways to plug them into a church and see that they are discipled. At times, it feels like we don't accomplish anything down there. Who knows if we are doing any good?
3. We live in so much affluence and they are so poor. In Haiti, we see families of five or six living together in huts with only one room. We come back home to our big screen TVs, which are in living rooms bigger than the huts in which we see the villagers live. The excess food we throw away after dinner may be more than some villagers may have for a family of four for a day. How can a just God allow such inequality? Or more personally, am I doing the right things with the resources God gives me?

My goal is to address these issues from a theological approach over the next week. Please pray for insight. Any feedback would be appreciated.

God's Knowledge and Our Will

I have read several books that have tried to reconcile God's foreknowledge and our free will: The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther, Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer, and others. I am reading the puritan, Stephen Charnock, right now. I do not know if I agree with his approach, but his conclusion seems sound. In the end, we must affirm God's wisdom and sovereignty along with our responsibility for our sin. It is matter of trust in God's promises and faith in His character as exhibited in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Stephen Charnock
But what if the foreknowledge of God and the liberty of the will cannot be fully reconciled by man? Shall we therefore deny a perfection in God to support a liberty in ourselves? Shall we rather fasten ignorance upon God and accuse him of blindness to maintain our liberty? God doth foreknow everything, and yet that there is liberty in the creature are both certain; but how fully to reconcile them, may the understanding of man. Some truths the disciples were not of bearing in the days of Christ; and several truths our understandings cannot reach as long as the world doth last; yet in the mean time we on the one hand take heed of conceiving God ignorant, and on the hand of imagining the creature necessitated: the one will render God imperfectm and the other will seem to render him unjust, in punishing man that sin which he could not avoid, but was brought into by a fatal necessity. God is sufficient to render a reason of his own proceedings and clear all at the day of judgment; it is a part of man's curiosity, since the fall, to be prying into God's secrets, things too high for him, whereby he singes his own wings, and confounds his own understanding. It is a cursed affectation that runs in the blood of Adam's posterity, to know as God, though our first father smarted, and ruined his posterity in that attempt; the ways and knowledge of God are as much 'above our thoughts and conceptions, as the heavens are above the earth,' Isa lv. 9, and so sublime, that we cannot comprehend them in their true and just greatness; his designs are so mysterious, and the ways of his conduct so profound, that it is not possible to dive into them. The force of our understandings is below his infinite wisdom, and therefore we should adore him with an humble astonishment, and cry out with the apostle; Rom. xi 33, 'Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!' Whenever we meet with depths that we cannot fathom, let us remember that he is God, and we his creatures; and not be guilty of so great extravagance, as to think that a subject can pierce into all the secrets of a prince, or a work understand all the operations of the artificer. Let us only resolve not to fasten any thing on God that is unworthy of the perfection of his nature, and dishonourable to the glory of his majesty; nor imagine that we can ever step out of the rank of creatures to the glory of the Deity, to understand fully everything in his nature.
(pp. 219-220, The Existence and Attributes of God, Volume 7 of 50 Greatest Christian Classics, 2 Volumes in 1)

What Will Happen to the World?

Timothy George in his book, Theology of the Reformers, quoted "Christus, Die Hoffnung für die Welt." He thought it expressed the heart of the Reformation faith, our hope and our calling.

To those who ask, "What will happen to the world?" we answer, "His kindom is coming." To those who ask, "What is before us?" we answer, "He, the King, stands before us." To those who ask, "What may we expect?" we answer, "We are not standing before a pathless wilderness of unfulfilled time, with a goal which no one would dare to predict; we are gazing upon our living Lord, our Judge and Savior, who was dead and lives forevermore; upon the one who has come and is coming, and who will reign for ever. It may be that we shall encounter affliction; yes, that must be if we want to participate in him. But we know his word, his royal word: 'Be comforted, I have overcome the world.'"

William Tyndale, Sir Thomas More, and C. S. Lewis

One of my favorite movies is A Man for All Seasons with the late, great Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More. The plot revolves around More's opposition to King Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn. The film is a story about a man who uses all his wits to avoid martyrdom, but in the end loses his life because he remained true to his faith. The movie paints More as the greatest saint whoever lived; however, More's hands have blood on them. He is not as pure a saint as the movie portrays. He is guilty of subverting justice, kidnapping Tyndale and having him murdered. William Tyndale is the translator who translated most of the Bible from the original languages, Hebrew and Greek, into English. From comparing the Tyndale version and the King James Version, it is easy to see how the translators of the King James Version borrowed liberally from Tyndale's translation. He is the first major English Reformer.

Before his death at age forty-two, Tyndale translated most of the Bible into English (he had to learn Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German), combated More's theology through an extensive correspondence, and he wrote several pastoral letters to encourage his fellow English believers. He did all this while he was on the run in a foreign country trying to escape More's agents. The following are a few key quotes on Tyndales' doctrine. The first quote is from Timothy George who quotes Tyndale on predestination.

Predestination is not an easy doctrine, and it can never be grasped by those who try to reduce God to a formula or by those "feel good" Christians who have never struggled for their footing in the awful swellings of the Jordan. Here is how Tyndale put it:

Except thou hast borne the cross of adversity and temptation, and hast felt thyself brought in the the very brim of desperation, yea, and unto hell-gates, thou canst never meddle with the sentence of predestination without thine own harm, and without secret wrath and grudging inwardly against God; for otherwise it shall not be possible for thee to think that God is righteous and just.

(p. 355, Theology of the Reformers )

According to Tyndale, here is what happens when a preacher preaches the Gospel and the seed of the Word lands in good soil.

When a true preacher preacheth, the Spirit entereth the hearts of the elect, and maketh them feel the righteousness of the law of God, and by the law, the poison of their corrupt nature; and thence leadeth them through repentance, under the mercy that is in Christ's blood; and as an anointment healeth the body, even so the Spirit, through confidence and trust in Christ's blood, healeth the soul, and maketh her love the law of God. (p. 357, ibid)

Tyndales comments on how works and faith are related.

The man doth good deeds, and profitable unto his neighbor, he must therefore love God: he loveth God; he must therefore have a true faith and see mercy. Any yet my works make not my love, nor my love my faith, nor my faith God's mercy: but contrary, God's mercy maketh my faith; and my faith, my love, and my love, my works. (p.361, Ibid)

Tyndale is saying my works without faith does not save me because they are done without love. God's mercy gives me faith. Faith produces my love for God and thus my works result from my love of God.

All this is set up for me to quote C. S. Lewis. Lewis, who not only wrote fiction and apologetics, but is considered one of the foremost literary scholars of the 20th century. His book, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century is considered a classic. This quote is about More's and Tyndale's contrasting literary styles.

The sentences that stick to the mind from Tyndale's works are halfway to poetry--"Who taught the eagles to spy out their prey? Even so the children of God spy out their Father"--"that they may see love and love again"--"where the Spirit is, there is always summer"... In More, we feel all the smoke and stir of London; the very plotting of his sentences is like horse traffic in the streets. In Tyndale we breathe mountain air. Amid all More's jokes I feel a melancholy in the background; amid all Tyndale's severities there is something like laughter, that laughter which he speaks of as coming "from the low bottom of the heart." (pp. 357-358, ibid).

The main reason for this blog post is that I enjoy good writing. Tyndale and Lewis provide me with much enjoyment and I want to share that joy. These writers not only provide food for my soul, but music to my ears as I read them aloud to myself.