Pioneer Missionary Adoniram Judson

Greetings All!

     After a week in Costa Rica I am back to sending out the weekly thought!  And being in that foreign context led me to choose sending out this encouraging account regarding a missionary who struggled for many years in a foreign context before seeing any fruit whatsoever. I trust that you (especially if you are active in sharing the faith) will be encouraged by it.  It comes to you from "The One Year Book of Christian History" by Michael and Sharon Rusten.  Enjoy.

     
     "Pioneer missionary Adoniram Judson graduated from Brown University as valedictorian at the age of nineteen, and in 1810 graduated in the first class of Andover Theological Seminary.  After much prayer, he and his wife (Ann Hasseltine) sailed from the docks in Salem, Massachusetts, to the predominantly Buddhist country of Burma (now Myanmar), arriving in 1813.  Shortly thereafter he was joined by two other missionaries. However, after six years of labor not one Burmese had trusted in Christ.

     Then on June 6, 1819, Judson received a letter from Moung Nau, a Burmese man who had shown great interest in the gospel but up to this point had not acted on it.  The letter read:  "I Moung Nau, the constant recipient of your excellent favor, approach your feet. Whereas my Lord's three (ie: Judon and the other two missionaries) come to the country of Burma -- not for the purposes of trade, but to preach the religion of Jesus Christ, the Son of the eternal God -- I, having heard and understood, am, with a joyful mind, filled with love. I believe that the divine Son, Jesus Christ, suffered death in the place of men, to atone for their sins. Like a heavy-laden man, I feel my sins are very many. The punishment of my sins I deserve to suffer. Since it is so, do you, sirs, consider that I, taking refuge in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, and receiving baptism, in order to become his disciple, shall dwell as one with yourselves, a band of brothers, in the happiness of heaven, and therefore grant me the ordinance of baptism. It is through the grace of Jesus Christ that you, sirs, have come by ship from one country and continent to another and that we have met together. I pray the Lord's three that a suitable day may be appointed, and that I may receive the ordinance of baptism. Moreover, as it is only since I have met with you, sirs, that I have known about the eternal God, I venture to pray that you will still unfold to me the religion of God, that my old disposition may be destroyed, and my new disposition improved."

     Three weeks later Moung Nau was baptized, and the barrier of unbelief was broken. What enabled Adoniram Judson to faithfully labor so many years before seeing any fruit from his labors? We can see evidence of his motivation in the following lines, which he penciled on the inner cover of a book he used in his translation of the Bible into Burmese:

     "In joy or in pain,
     Our course be onward still;
     We sow on Burma's barren plain;
     We reap on Zion's hill."

     After thirty-seven years as a missionary in Burma, Judson could look back not only on good times, but also on extremely difficult times. He was imprisoned for 20 months between 1824-1826. The sufferings and brutalities of those 20 long months in prison -- half-starved, iron-fettered, and sometimes trussed and suspended by his mangled feet with only head and shoulders touching the ground -- are described in detail by his wife, who passed away shortly afterward from illness in 1826.  From the time he landed Judson struggled against persecution, disease, and the sadness and discouragement caused by the death.  He not only lost his wife Ann to death, but two of the children he had with her -- 7 month old son Roger, and 2 year old daughter Maria, not to mention one that was still-born. After eight years alone, he married his second wife Sarah Hall Boardman and lost three of the children he had with her -- only to lose her to sickness as well.

     Yet at the end of Judson's labors, he could look with satisfaction on a complete Burmese translation of the Scriptures; a Burmese-English dictionary; sixty-three churches among the Burmese and Karens; and best of all, seven thousand Burmese Christians.  Today there are more than two million believers in Myanmar, and 40 percent of the Karen people to whom Judson directed his ministry are now Christians."

     Judson's belief was that nothing enduring comes without sacrifice. Ann was of the same mindset, and her story of faithfulness and perseverance is also well worth reading.  It is hard for many to imagine what makes a people give up and sacrifice so much. Jim Elliot (who lost his life reaching out to the Auca Indian Tribe in the jungles of Ecuador probably summed it up best when he wrote in his diary (addressing those who asked why one would give up so much to go reach a small group of people): "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

     What would you be willing to lose for the sake of Christ, His church, and those who have never heard?

     If you would like to read more about the amazing life of Adoniram Judson, the book "To the Golden Shore - The Life of Adoniram Judson" is superb, and there is a free ebook "Adoniram Judson Biography"   Download eBook as a PDF file.    Download eBook as an EPUB file formatted for readers like the Nook, Sony Reader, and Apple iBooks (iPad, iPhone, iPod)  Download eBook as a MOBI file formatted for Kindle applications (this option works well on some mobile devices, and not so well on others).

     Prayer note: Between 2001 and 2004 up to 200,000 Karen people were driven from their homes due to war, with 160,000 more refugees, mostly Karen, living in refugee camps over the border of Thailand. The largest camp was the one in Mae La, Tak province, Thailand, where about 50,000 Karen refugees are hosted.  As recently as February 2010, the Burmese army continued to burn Karen villages, displacing thousands of people.   A 2005 New York Times article on a report by Guy Horton into depredations by the Myanmar Army against the Karen and other groups in eastern Myanmar stated: "Using victims' statements, photographs, maps and film... he purports to have documented slave labor, systematic rape, the conscription of child soldiers, massacres and the deliberate destruction of villages, food sources and medical services."  Many of the refugees form that attempted genocide were brought to the United States and settled in Nebraska, central New York, Pennsylvania and California.  Pray for their adjustments, faith, and the painful memories of atrocities like those mentioned above.

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Attitude Adjustment

Greetings All!

     This week's "thought," which comes to you from F. Congreve, has to do with a commonly needed "attitude adjustment" in the believers heart and mind.  For as believers in Jesus we can sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking (because of the sinful things we did in our past) that we should not be joyful. That joy would be wrong.  That being joyful would somehow imply we didn't take our past sins seriously enough. But often just the opposite it true.  The sense that we must remain sullen comes not from the fact that we haven't taken our past sin seriously enough, but that we haven't taken divine forgiveness seriously enough!  For if we are forgiven - truly forgiven by God - how can we not experience joy, even despite the sinful things we may have done.

     Hopefully today's thought will reinforce that truth.  If God has forgiven your sins there are only two reasonable responses: 1.) Tears of joy and gratitude (Luke 7:38) and 2.) smiles of joy and gratitude.  But never should the knowledge of our gracious forgiveness lead to a conscious attempt on our part to repress the sense of joy that should follow!  For as Paul says, "Blessed is the person whose sins are forgiven; whose transgressions are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him" (Rom. 4:7-8).  Enjoy.

     "The feast which Levi gave to our Lord Jesus on the occasion of his conversion (Luke 5:27-35) is such a cheerful metaphor of the Christian life.  It is a festival of joy and gratitude for a conversion.  We are sinners forgiven - abundant reason for perpetual praise.  A feast represents a forgiven sinner's whole course; he is embraced, welcomed home, and has brought more joy to heaven than there was before.  His sorrow for sin is not a mortified, humiliated, angry disgust with himself.  It is a humble, hopeful sorrow always 'turning into joy'.  So, if his very sorrows become the material for his joy, his life may be represented by the feast Levi gave to the Lord, who had forgiven and called him. 

     "But I am unworthy of joy," says the forgiven sinner.  "I am willing to work and suffer if need be. I don't deserve joy."  That is the sentiment true of a pagan, but it contradicts the whole Creed of the Church - "I believe in...the forgiveness of sins."  So, our life ought to be full of the joy of grateful love; the remembrance of sin means the remembrance of the love that called us out of our sins and forgave us our whole sin-debt.

     And notice that Levi did not just make Jesus a feast, he made Jesus a great feast.  It is not that we are to be cheerful for our own gratification.  Our life is to be full of praise and thanksgiving, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord - for the honor of Jesus.  Levi made the great feast for Him.  Our habitual joy is due God, and honors God, and our joy means not simply a reflection of the joy of God, but is the joy of God... If we are sinners forgiven, we ought to behave as forgiven, welcomed-home sinners. People crowned with wonderful love in Christ. We should cheer and encourage everyone around us, who often go about so heavily because we have reflected our gloom upon them instead of our grateful love, hope and confidence."

     It's a thought worthy of prayerful consideration!

Living in the Grace of Jesus, Pastor Jeff

The Gospel of Self-Esteem

Greetings All!

     This week's "thought" comes to you from Prof. Archibald Hart, PhD.  He is professor of psychology at the Graduate School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary.  Hart is the the author 24 books, including: "Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure is Leaving Us Numb."

     This particular thought deals with the American obsession with self-esteem and offers us some balanced and helpful insights. Many of the things he points out will not come as a surprise to you, since both experience and common sense would affirm the statements and findings he cites. As with many widely embraced cultural trends, they can tend to go to unwise and even counter-intuitive excesses and extremes before people realize the claims of their wonder-working power were grossly exaggerated.

     This article comes from "Faith and Culture," a book that offers a collection of articles on hundreds of topics relating faith to culture.  It is by Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington. If you are looking for a book with short and interesting articles across a span of topics, this is a book you may consider purchasing. This particular article is entitled: "The Gospel of Self-Esteem."

The Gospel of Self-Esteem

     "Is high self-esteem all its cracked up to be?  If you suffer from low self-esteem are you doomed to failure?  What new picture of self-esteem is emerging from the science of psychology, and how does it agree with God's Word on the subject?  In the upheaval of the late 60's and early 70's, the concept of self-esteem took off. "If only we can help people to feel better about themselves, we will solve many social problems and mental illnesses" became the driving force that sent teachers, parents, and even the states of California and New York in the 1980's scurrying to set up commissions and task forces on self-esteem. It became a national preoccupation that has now ended as a hopeless quest.  Research now conclusively shows that such efforts do little to improve social problems, academic performance, success in the workplace, or even to enhance our happiness.

     The bottom line is that while everyone intuitively recognizes the reality of "self-esteem," there is no evidence that by boosting these self-feelings one can accomplish more in life.  Research psychologists have now clearly demonstrated that self-esteem is the CONSEQUENCE of accomplishing something significant in life, not the CAUSE of accomplishments or failures.  In his 1994 presidential address to the American Psychological Association, Martin Seligman, a significant leader in the new "positive psychology" movement, denounced several "sacred cows" of psychotherapy, one being that in order to reduce mental illness we should try to increase the self-esteem of our children.  He stated: "undeniably, depressed people have low self-esteem. But bolstering self-esteem without changing hopelessness... accomplishes nothing."  He received a standing ovation!  His research shows that teens from the ghettos have the highest self-esteem ratings of any group, not the lowest!  The problem is that their self-esteem is "unwarranted."  As we teach and counsel others, we must caution one another to identify and address the myths that have penetrated the whole concept of self-esteem. Sermons abound on how one is to "love oneself," but we need to carefully interpret Matthew 19:19. We must be mindful that our participation in newly emerging worship styles is radically God-centered and not unduly influenced by the self-esteem movements emphasis on my needs and my feelings.

     Perhaps we need to pay more attention to the wisdom that Paul expresses in Romans 12:3 which tells us all we need to know about the self-esteem problem even though its focus is not on low self-esteem, but rather on an inflated and distorted sense of self.

"For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."  Romans 12:3

     Paul outlines the essential ingredients for building a Christian understanding of what I call "authentic self-esteem," an understanding and acceptance of yourself for who you really are. There is nothing wrong with being imperfect. Sometimes feeling bad acts as a stimulus to do better or try something different.  It can prompt confession, change, and courage.  One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a parent is to always protect your children from pain or failure. By cushioning them from feeling bad, the self-esteem movement has made it harder for us to feel good. It has encouraged cheap success. From the words of Paul I deduce that the essence of a healthy self-attitude must be based, first, on an honest and truthful self-understanding and image ("Think... with sober [honest] judgment); then, second, on a willingness to accept that you are who you are, created in God's image ("in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you"). All other self-feelings lead to self-hate. Your attitude to yourself (which is what self-esteem is really all about) must be based plainly and simply on thinking about yourself with complete honesty. You must own your flaws and your strengths.  It must never be dishonest (Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought"), not exaggerated or distorted.

     Many psychologists have pointed out that the struggle often is with an "internal filter system" we develop early in life that tends to deny our successes and hoards the memories of failures. Self-honesty requires one to be diligent in challenging these denials. After all, in God's kingdom there is always forgiveness and restoration.  No matter how inadequate you may feel about yourself, or how insignificant your life may appear to be on the outside, you should always remember that the grace of God covers every shortcoming.  You will always be precious to him, however you feel about yourself.  One can never go beyond the reach of his grace and forgiveness. Here lies the key to how you should feel about yourself: Your self needs to become more and more transparent to itself as you become less and less self-conscious. This is authentic self-esteem. You need to know who you are, how you have been redeemed, and how precious you are to God -- NOT because you are wonderful, but because he has made you his child."

     As I mentioned, experience and common sense would lead us to many of the same conclusions.  I once had a foster daughter who did not do well in school.  All of a sudden, in one marking period, she went from failing to straight A's. She came home ecstatic!  But we wondered how it had happened, since she hadn't studied any harder nor done any more work then she ever had?  It did boost her feelings about herself for a short three or four weeks, but she soon began to realize she got an "A" pretty much no matter what she did, and was allowed to re-take tests as many times as she needed to get it. She even came to feel somewhat betrayed and foolish and resent their manipulative attempt to play with her mind and "boost her self-esteem" by giving her grades she did nothing to deserve. In essence, it back-fired, since like most kids she knew it was all a game.  She knew, and we knew, that despite what studies at that time were saying, there is no evidence that by boosting these self-feelings one can accomplish more in life...  self-esteem is the CONSEQUENCE of accomplishing something significant in life, not the CAUSE of accomplishments or failures."

     Just some wise, insightful, and much needed food for thought, Pastor Jeff

Causes of Persecution Against the Church and Our Response To It

Greetings All!

As part of the preparation for my Adult Sunday School class on, "Causes of Persecution Against the Church and Our Response To It,"  we have been examining (and are now watching a video series on) the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian pastor and theologian martyred (hanged) by the Nazi's in the closing month of WWII for being outspoken opponent of the gross evil and injustices of Hitler's regime.  In doing so I came across this excerpt from his wise and extremely insightful book, entitled, "Life Together."
     It's book dealing with the nature of Christian community and the interdependent fellowship we are to have with one another (not independent, but interdependent).  You will surely notice he is a deep thinker, having received his doctorate at only 21 years of age.  Yet he's a thinker who was deeply devoted to Christ and His Church.  With that being said, I will merely let his own words speak for him (with an explanation at the end for those who might struggle with a few of his comments)!  Enjoy.

     "Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone.  Because they cannot stand loneliness, they are driven to seek the company of other people.  There are Christians, too, who cannot endure being alone, who have had some bad experiences with themselves, who hope to gain some help by being in association with others. They are generally disappointed.  Then they blame the fellowship for what is really their own fault.  The Christian community is not a spiritual sanatorium.  The person who comes into the fellowship because he is running away from himself is misusing it for the sake of diversion, no matter how spiritual this diversion may appear. He is really not seeking community at all, but only a distraction which will allow him to forget his loneliness for a brief time... 

     Let him who cannot be alone beware of community.  He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ's call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called. "The challenge of death comes to us all, and no one can die for another. Everyone must fight his own battle with death by himself, alone... I will not be with you then, nor you with me" (Martin Luther).

     But the reverse is true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called; the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of a great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you. "If I die, then I am alone in death; if I suffer they (the fellowship) suffer with me" (Martin Luther).

     We recognize, then, that only as we are within the fellowship can we be alone, and only he that is alone can live within the fellowship. Only in the fellowship do we learn to be rightly alone and only in aloneness do we learn to live rightly in the fellowship...  One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.

Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.  Along with the day of Christian family fellowship together, there goes the lonely day of the individual. This is as it should be. 

The day together will be unfruitful without the day alone, both for the fellowship and for the individual. The mark of solitude is silence, just as speech is the mark of community.

     Silence and speech have the same inner correspondence and difference as do solitude and community.  One does not exist without the other.  Right speech comes out of silence, and right silence comes out of speech...  The speech, the word which establishes and binds together the fellowship, is accompanied by silence. "There is a time to keep silent, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:7). As there are definite hours in the Christian's day to speak, particularly the time of common worship and prayer, so the day also needs definite times of silence, silence under the Word and silence that comes out of the Word. These will be especially the times before and after hearing the Word...

     Silence is the simple stillness of the individual under the Word of God. We are silent before hearing the Word, as a child is quiet when he enters his father's room. We are silent after hearing the Word, because the Word is still speaking and dwelling within us. We are silent at the beginning of the day because God should have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep because the last word belongs to God. We keep silence solely for the sake of the Word... not to show disregard for the Word, but rather to honor and receive it."

     For those who have not tried to oversee a group of believers, or seek their growth in the ways of Jesus, some of his words may seem confusing.  But for those who have, I'm sure his words resonated deeply in your soul as he spoke about the life-giving and spiritual-growth-enhancing need for God's people to engage in silence before God, and engage with His people.  The need to spend time alone before Him, and spend time together. The need to still ourselves before God and His Word in purposeful respite from our hectic busyness, on the one hand, and then join with the community of the faithful to speak words of life regarding what God has spoken to us, on the other hand.

     In it's simplest form this is nothing more than to follow the example left to us by Jesus.  If ever there was anyone who did not need others, it was Jesus.  Yet He gathered people around Himself and spoke truth into their lives constantly.  Not because He "(could) not stand loneliness," and was "driven to seek the company of other people," but  but because in His times of solitude, purposely going away to be alone with His Father in prayer, He had received from Him truth He needed to share with them.  Jesus life is the prime example of a life of radical balance -- fellowship, service, instruction and ministry empowered by times alone, in solitude, away from the crowds, off in the wilderness or on the mountaintop.  It was there in the alone times that He renewed His strength through a life of prayer that mingled silence with speaking.  We could all learn an important lesson from His example!  This is what Bonhoeffer advocates -- Along with the day of Christian family fellowship together, there goes the lonely day of the individual. This is as it should be."

And in relation to Bonhoeffer's last few remarks, I also have to encourage what he advocates -- silence before and after hearing the Word of God.  

Too many times I have seen life-changing truth that wasn't taken in because the soul was not stilled or prepared before the presence of God to be able to hear it. And the same is true in regard to after hearing the Word.  Often, people do not give it time to percolate deep down into the soul, because they rise from hearing the Word proclaimed only to engage in trivial chatter which immediately makes it drift from the memory.

     As a pastor I know my words are obviously not God's words -- unless all I do is say what His Word says.  Then they are His words.  And to hear a message from God, and then rise to disregard it with speech that has no relation to it, is to reveal a desire to shelter the soul from His truth.  We must prepare our soul to hear it, and we should then give it time (in silence) to seep down deep into our soul that we might be transformed by it.  Bonhoeffer is right:  "We are silent before hearing the Word..." and "We keep silent after hearing the Word... not to show disregard for the Word, but rather to honor and receive it."

Just some wise food for thought!  Pastor Jeff

Sexual Morality in a Christless World

Greetings All,

     This week's selection is about sex. Or more to the point, it's about the new views of sexual morality and how they vary from Christian sexual morality.  I copied and pasted it from a blog by Tim Challies.
     It's actually a critique of a book by Matthew Rueger entitled, "Sexual Morality in a Christless World."  Yet it offers to us some very helpful insights about the revolutionary nature of Christian sexual ethics in light of history, and I would add, the alarming rise of sexual violence, human sex trafficking of children and adults, and the type of environment that arises when people throw off all thoughts of sexual restraint.  I recommend both this blog entry by Challies as well as the book by Matthew Rueger. Enjoy.

Sexual Morality in a Christless World

Tim Challies

Times are changing. Sexual morality is undergoing nothing less than a revolution as traditional morality gives way to something radically different. The former morality, based on the Christian scriptures, is being shoved aside by a new one that not only departs from the Bible, but outright rejects it. Meanwhile, Christians who abide by those traditional sexual morals are increasingly seen as outcasts, backward people dangerously hung up on ancient, oppressive principles. It is all very disconcerting.

Into the fray steps Matthew Rueger with his book, "Sexual Morality in a Christless World."  Though the last few years have brought us no shortage of books on how to live on this side of the sexual revolution, Rueger offers something unique… he shows that Christian sexual morality has not always been traditional but was at one time its own revolution. In other words, Christians have been here before, and there is much we can learn from our own history… He offers a fascinating yet disturbing examination of what Roman culture considered good and normal. “Rome’s sexual climate is a model of the utopia for which today’s sexual ‘progressives’ are striving.”

     Yet it was hardly Utopian. He shows that “In the Roman mind, man was the conqueror who dominated on the battlefield as well as in the bedroom. He was strong, muscular, and hard – in both body and spirit. Society looked down on him only when he appeared weak or soft.” Respectable men were permitted to have sexual relations with just about anyone, provided they were the aggressors rather than receivers of such sexual acts.  Marriage existed, of course, but was not first about mutual love, but about the provision of an heir. A far purer form of love was the love of a man for a boy, so a culture of pederasty arose in which adult men carried on overt sexual relationships with adolescent boys. Prostitution was rampant. Rape was widespread and accepted, provided a man raped someone of a lower status. In so many ways Roman sexual morality was abhorrent and one of its most prominent features was the strong dominating the weak.

     And then Christians showed up. Christians began to teach that men were to be chaste, that homosexuality and pederasty were sinful, that men were to love and honor their wives, that wives and husbands had equal authority over one another’s bodies. Such teaching was not only seen as repressive, but as full-out destabilizing to the Roman system. No wonder, then, that the whole culture turned against Christians.  “Though Christian morality promoted genuine self-emptying love and was positive for society, it nonetheless set Christ’s people against the prevailing culture. Romans did not like being told that some of their favorite activities were displeasing to the Christian God, and they pushed back.”  And here is where we can draw important lessons for our day, for today, too, Christian sexual morality is seen as destabilizing to the culture around us, as a serious societal sin…

     Rueger also shows that Christian morality was almost as opposed to contemporary Judaism as it was to Rome. This was especially true in according equal rights to men and women, in protecting women from divorce, and in putting away notions of sexual purity that harmed women. Again, Christianity offered a sexual morality that was kind and equitable and that protected the weak and marginalized.

     With all of that context, he is able to show how these Christian teachings were full-out counter-cultural, how they were radical, not traditional. He shows how Christian sexual morality helped individuals, helped the marginalized, and helped society—it was a tremendous blessing to everyone.  Yet Christians suffered because their views were seen as destabilizing and harmful. Though today we see that their morality was actually a blessing, at that time it was considered a curse. And Christians suffered terribly for it...

     Rueger says “My desire in writing this book is to help Christians engage the world around them in reasoned discussion.” He does so very well. And his greatest contribution is helping us understand that this is not the first time that Christians have been at odds with the culture. This is not the first time the biblical understanding of sex and sexuality has caused the culture to turn on Christians, to consider them disloyal, to push them to the margins. For that reason we need books like this one to interpret the times and equip us for today and the days to come. I thoroughly enjoyed this work and highly recommend it."

     As I have repeatedly stated over the years (in light of studying history) -- our cultures sexual morals (or progressive eradication of them) is not a sign of progress, but the sign of a cultural regression which is taking us back to what existed before Christianity appeared on the scene some 2000 years ago.  And as those sexual morals are separated entirely from Christ, and Christianity, history will likely repeat itself and we will actually see more sexual violence toward women, more children put into the growing sex trade, and a continuing devaluation of the Christian virtue of committed and sacrificial love between a husband and a wife. And it will become harder and harder to police, because it will become more and more common, and more and more acceptable, and seen as less and less problematic to the societal conscience.

     As Jesus predicted for the latter days, "the love of most will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).  And Paul restated that same truth when he said that people being "without love" (for anyone but themselves or money or pleasure - II Timothy 3:2-5) will be a sign of the approach of the last days.

     No predictions. I know better!  Just some earnest food for thought, Pastor Jeff

The Disappearing Bible

Greetings All,

Today's "thought" comes to you from a section of Shane Hipps book "Flickering Pixels," entitled, "The Disappearing Bible." 
     It's a critique of the dangers of the digital age and the growing aversion to right-brain learning (seeking by linear deductive reasoning to solve complex ideas by in-depth study, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of a topic), in favor of left-brain learning (seeking through art, photos, intuition, emotional stimulation, subliminal impressions, and a short not-so-comprehensive, "throw out a personal opinion and see how people respond" approach to topics). 
     The second, as Hipps points out, is an approach to learning that has made in-depth study of the Bible (to know it well) a thing that is avoided, or even seen as obsolete, in many areas of present-day church culture.  He is not opposed to visual or intuitive learning, but simply advocates what he calls "brain balance" -- seeing the need to retain our ability to reason through complex ideas, while taking advantage of digital technology and all that it has to offer.
     To use a common phrase, the growing popularity of the short, non-comprehensive, opinion-based blog, should not cause us to "throw the baby out with the bathwater."  Believers need both, lest they lose their grip on the truth and fall prey to whatever tweaks their emotions or happens to sit well with their current (but soon passing) preferences.  To help you as you read: right brain = intuitive/artistic/emotive, and left brain = reasoning/logic/science.  Enjoy.

The Disappearing Bible

     "Most books present an extensive, in-depth monologue, a thorough argument carefully crafted in linear, successive paragraphs and pages. This is true of both novels and non-fiction. The left brain is heavily engaged by such activity.  But Internet text presents a nonlinear web of interconnected pages and a vast mosaic of hyperlinks with no fundamental beginning, middle or end.  We are immersed in a boundless, endless, data space. These are conditions specially suited to the right-brain...  The power of intuition, emotion, holistic perception, and pattern recognition are all gifts of the right-brain. The right-brain is the hemisphere that allows us entry into spiritual practices like contemplation, centering prayer and silence. The left-brain is allergic to such practices; it is the dogmatic theologian rather than the intuitive mystic...

     The Internet is stunningly effective at enticing us to open a Pandora's Box of perpetual links, sights, sound, people, places, feelings, and ideas. Our intellects are spread a mile wide and an inch deep. Consider blogs. Their great wonder is their dynamic speed.  We are exposed to many more ideas than previously possible and given a chance to dialogue in near real time. Yet because of their brevity and the constant evolution of content, blogs are forced to stay on the surface. Blogs are ill-suited for deep-level analysis and thoughtful reasoning. The Internet makes a flat stone of the mind and skips it across the surface of the world's information ocean. A book, by contrast, is a sturdy submarine, diving the mind deep into the sea..

     The emerging right-brain culture presents other challenges as well. Protestant Christianity is a by-product of a single medium -- the printed Bible. Without printing, no one could have challenged the authority of the pope. How disconcerting to have a faith yoked so closely to a medium that is now in the dusk of its life, at least as we currently know it. Our culture has a shrinking preference for reading books, especially complex ones, and if the Bible is anything, it is complex. So it should not surprise us to see a growing biblical illiteracy in the electronic age.

     The Bible is an extraordinarily demanding library of books. The stories, letters, and laws are shrouded by the fog of time. The thick dusty languages of ancient Greek and Hebrew convey the message through cumbersome translations. The books were born in civilizations and cultures alien to us, and the assumptions and attitudes of the original authors often escape us entirely.  In many cases, excavating the meaning [of texts] requires the fortitude, patience, and discipline of an archaeological dig.

     In other words, bulging left-brain muscles are an essential tool for understanding the Bible. Unfortunately, our digital diet sedates the left-brain, leaving it in a state of hypnotic stupor.  The left-brain begins acting like our great Uncle Jerry, nodding off in his recliner after Thanksgiving dinner. Large portions of the Bible are growing faint and becoming inaccessible to the lethargic left-brain." 

     Hipps goes on to say these two forms of learning must find a way to co-exist.

     We must never allow the tensions and disagreements (and at times contrary purposes of the one as opposed to the other) prevent us from availing ourselves of the benefits of both. Each has its place, and it is always a danger to, "tear asunder what God has joined together."  If we are to "Love the Lord our God with all our... mind," we must seek to avoid anything that would disparage either the right-brain or left brain approach to truth.

     The Church suffers when the faith is made into something only the scholar and grasp, but it also suffers when people embrace ideas foreign to Scripture, or contrary to Scripture, simply because it came to them in a moment of earnest contemplation or artistic creativity. The two forms of learning balance each other off. After all, God could have created us without dividing the brain into left and right lobes. He could have created the lobes so they functioned identically. But He didn't.  And therefore, to disregard one, simply because we have a preference for the other, is to insult the Creator, and call His all-knowing wisdom into question.

To the end that we may love the Lord our God as we should -- with ALL our mind -- Pastor Jeff

They Calmly Sang On

Greetings All,

   In light of the many terrorist attacks in November alone -- Beirut, Lebanon (43 dead, 240 injured); Paris, France (130 dead, 368 injured);  Nigeria (55 dead and over 100 injured in two separate attacks) I thought this entry in Ray Ortlund's Blog - Christ Is Deeper Still, was a good word to all believers in Jesus. The entry is "They Calmly Sang On" (Nov. 20, 2015).
     It is written in light of an event that occurred in the life of John Wesley (founder of the Methodist denomination).  What Wesley witnessed on a ship at sea was so startling to him that although he was heading to America to do missions work, it made him realize he didn't yet know Jesus. The Moravian's (of whom he writes) were devout Christians from Germany who had experienced an extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit in mid-August of 1727. It is often referred to as, "The Moravian Pentecost."  From that point on (and lasting for nearly 100 years) their zeal for prayer and missions and godliness (evidenced most notably in their humility and willingness to both suffer and sacrifice for Jesus) has seen few rivals.

     Of the event referred to by Ortlund in his blog entry below, Wesley wrote in his journal on January 25, 1736 that the Moravian's, or simply "the Germans" as he called them:

"...had given a continual proof of their humility by performing those servile tasks for the other passengers which none of the English would undertake; and for which they desired, and would receive no pay, saying, “it was good for their proud hearts,” and “their loving Saviour had done more for them.” Every day had given them occasion to show a meekness which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth..."

     Wesley then states that as they gathered on the ships deck for a worship service (remember this is in late January!) an intense storm whipped up: "As they began the first psalm the sea broke over the deck, split the main-sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up."

     Ortlund picks it up from here. Enjoy.

They Calmly Sang On 

     "John Wesley finally saw how little he knew of Jesus in the middle of the Atlantic, on board the Simmonds, when a storm suddenly broke out.  A group of Moravian missionaries happened to be having a worship service on deck at the time.  Wesley records that, when the storm became intense, “a terrible screaming began among the English.”  But “the Germans looked up, and without intermission calmly sang on." 

     "I asked one of them afterwards, ‘Were you not afraid?’  He answered, ‘I thank God, no.’  I asked, ‘But were not your women and children afraid?’  He replied mildly, ‘No; our women and children are not afraid to die.'”  Wesley then knew that something was missing from his life.  [On May 24, 1738] he found it in Christ.  He found all he needed to face life and death in Christ alone.

When the next 9/11 hits us, may we serve others in every way we can.  But through it all, and even right now, may we not yield to hysteria.  May we calmly sing on, because we have in Christ a hope that nothing in this world can destroy. Our serenity will make an everlasting difference to others."

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     Wesley would actually finish that entry of January 25, 1736 by writing: "From [the Moravian's] I went to their crying, trembling neighbors (the Englishmen), and pointed out to them the difference, in the hour of trial, between those who fear God, and those who fear him not."

     Clearly everyone would wish and pray that terrorist activity would stop. Yet from what we are seeing, it appears that may not be the case in the near future. And though we would hope it never comes near to us, or our loved ones (or anyone else for that matter), it still doesn't erase the questions which the possibility thrusts upon us, like:  How would we personally face danger or death, like those who know and fear God, or like those who don't?   Do we really believe?   Do we really trust that our lives are in the hands of our loving Father who governs the universe? Could we, like the Moravian's, be calm and unafraid in the face of death because we know Jesus?  Do you know Jesus?

In the Grip of His Grace,  Pastor Jeff