Tried With Fire

1. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, He sendeth more strength when the labors increase, To added affliction He addeth His mercy, To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men, For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again. 2 When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half-done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun. Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932) Annie Johnson Flint's life behind the words.

I am reposting a piece I wrote in 2013 at Out of the Ordinary: "We like happy endings and success stories, so it's easy to think experiencing triumph is the epitome of the Christian life. The prayers were answered. The sin was conquered. The problem was solved. We don't have much stamina either, so the quicker God moves, the better. If He comes through according to our expectations, hallelujah! But what if He chooses otherwise? What if the battle with sin is lifelong or the circumstances don't change? If I am only willing to share my struggles when they are over, I could be waiting a very long time trying to hold out on my own." Read the rest here .

A few years ago, I read a novel based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . In this case, it was told from a housemaid's point of view. There were a few storylines that were over the top in my opinion, but my main objection was that this book burst my bubble. I didn't want to know about how hard a servant's life was in the Regency Era. I didn't want to think about lack of plumbing or chamber pots. I preferred to imagine Austen's works through the lens of modern film adaptations with their beautiful costumes, dancing, witty dialogue, and actors with historically inaccurate perfect teeth. But history is not as nice and tidy as a novel or a film. Sometimes it is easier to edit my intake because I don't want to face the toll sin has taken on mankind since the fall.  Being a self-revisionist may shelter my sensibilities, but nostalgia, no matter how pretty, is no substitute for the truth. As George Santayana said, "Those who cannot learn from history are...

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4. Was there ever a better reason given under heaven for being fearless than this—that God is with us? He is on our side! He is pledged to help us! He has never failed us. He must cease to be what He is before He can cast away one soul that trusts Him. Where, then, is there room for terror? The child is confident because his mother is with him—much more should we be serene in heart since the omniscient, the omnipotent, the immutable God is on our side! “Whom shall I fear?” Whom shall we select to honor with our dread? Is there anybody that we need to fear? “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns?” Christ has died and risen again and sits up yonder at the right hand of God as our representative—who, then, can harm us? Let the heavens be dissolved and the eart...

This is a quote from Divided by Faith : [W]hite evangelicals view the race problems as (1) prejudiced individuals, resulting in poor relationships and sin, (2) others trying to make it a group or systemic issue when it is not, or (3) a fabrication of the self-interested. Given that issues of inequality, systemic injustice, and group conflict are not part of their assessment, we did not expect to hear these addressed as part of the solution. And we rarely did. What we did hear from many was what others have called the "miracle motif." The miracle motif is the theologically rooted idea that as more individuals become Christians, social and personal problems will be solved automatically. What is the solution to violent crime? Convert people to Christianity, because Christians do not commit violent crimes. What is the solution to divorce? Covert people to Christianity, because Christians are less likely to get divorced? What is the solution to hate problems of race? ......

The earth is flat.

Michael Luo, deputy metro editor for the New York Times, was yelled at by a woman on the street and told to "Go back to China!" This is 2016. This happened in a major city with a very large Asian American population. Here is Michael Luo's  open letter to the woman, which was on the front page of the New York Times. In addition, this is an article with some of the many responses to the open letter and a video of several responders. (Warning: The video contains vulgar language and racial slurs. The language is from the comments made to Asian Americans.) I won't deny that this hit me hard. I have my own set of stories to tell from childhood and adulthood of being mocked and made to feel ashamed of my ethnicity. Some remarks were subtle and patronizing. Others were not. I also remember what I said and did to make the point that I was as much an American as the next person. In some instances I tried to fit in as much as possible which meant acting like the predominan...

“Come unto Me,” says Jesus, “and I will give you rest.” “Rest! Rest! Rest!” I could keep on ringing that silver bell all the evening—“Rest! Rest! REST!” “You gentlemen of England who live at home at ease,” you scarcely know the music of that word! The sons of toil, the mariners tossed upon the sea, the warriors in the battle, the men who labor deep in the mines—these know, as you do not, how sweet this music sounds! Rest! Rest! Rest! Rest for the weary body is the outward emblem of that inward blessing which Jesus Christ holds up, tonight, before the eyes of all laboring and heavy-laden souls. Rest—rest which He will give, which He will give at once—rest to the conscience . The conscience, tossed to and fro under a sense of sin, has no peace. But when Jesus is revealed as bleeding and suffering in the sinner’s place, and making full atonement for human guilt, then the conscience grows quiet. As Noah’s dove lighted upon the ark, so conscience lights on Christ and rests there foreve...

I'm reviewing Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson at Out of the Ordinary and giving away one copy. It's a beautifully written, wholesome, theologically sound book on humility and dependence upon God. Something we all need. Read the post and enter the giveaway here.

Heath aster It finally feels like fall, and there was much rejoicing. I am thankful that the nail hole in the roof and the rotting maple tree in the front yard were dealt with before Matthew swept by. All part of God's providential care which I often forget. Part of being human is feeling grief. Better to let it out than shutting down or bottling it up inside. God created human beings, not Vulcans. Perhaps the problem with privilege is that we are unaware of our privilege. In speaking of an elderly person, a friend told me, "She knows not to trust herself, but she won't trust anyone else." That could easily be me in the future, and I took it as a warning. Competence can be a double-edge sword. It can feed pride and rob me of blessed dependence upon God and a healthy need for others in my life. I wonder if a big part of the Christian life is unlearning all the wrong ideas I picked up about the Christian life? Psalm 2 is still true even with the polit...

I first shared this story in the light of the  Jian Ghomeshi  scandal back in 2014. Given recent events, it bears repeating. I am acquainted with both parties involved. Names have been changed and the story altered slightly for anonymity. Jane had been employed as an administrative assistant for several years. She was hard-working and aimed to do her best. The position for executive secretary to the Chief Executive Officer became available in the company where she was employed. Oddly enough, it was not uncommon for a new hire to not even last a month. One person resigned after a week. However, Jane applied. She was interviewed and then offered the job. What a great promotion! Jane was excited about her new position and looked forward to working for Mr. Smith. After a week or two, it became apparent why Jane's predecessors never stayed long in the job. She was expected to run errands for Mr. Smith and his family such as picking up dry cleaning and other busy work, non...

“I am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. As the Father knows Me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:14, 15.  First, then, consider Christ’s knowledge of His own, and the comparison by which He sets it forth... He knows their number . He will never lose one. He will count them all again in that day when the sheep shall pass again under the hand of Him that tells them, and then He will make full tale of them. “Of all that You have given Me,” He says, “I have lost none.” He knows the number of those for whom He paid the ransom price.  He knows their persons . He knows the age and character of each of His own. He assures us that the very hairs of our head are all numbered. Christ has not an unknown sheep. It is not possible that He should have overlooked or forgotten one of them. He has such an intimate knowledge of all who are redeemed with His most precious blood that He never mistakes one of them for a...

Pumpkin Spice: Official Movie Trailer

To begin, please read this post -  Presxit: The Church of the Normal .  This is so good that I don't want to take away from it by trying to paraphrase what the author wrote so well. However in case you didn't click the link, in a nutshell he is calling the church to greater empathy. Not at the expense of orthodoxy but perhaps a better way to "deploy our orthodoxy." If every presbytery asked every ministerial candidate what it means to love the people of God and how that would play out in their ministry, and if every pastor and every session committed themselves to creating a culture of nurturing, accepting, and accommodating diversity in their congregation, then it would open the way for truer understanding of ourselves and others by leading us behind the generalities of norms and expectations. It would lead us to encounter individuals on their own terms, as they’d have themselves be known. Creating such a culture starts with active empathizing, and it starts wit...

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.  Psalm 68:5 In the wilderness the people were like an orphan nation, but God was more than a father to them. As the generation which came out of Egypt gradually died away, there were many widows and fatherless ones in the camp, but they suffered no want or wrong, for the righteous laws and the just administrators whom God had appointed, looked well to the interests of the needy. The tabernacle was the Palace of Justice; the ark was the seat of the great King. This was a great cause for joy to Israel, that they were ruled by the ONE who would not suffer the poor and needy to be oppressed. To this day and for ever, God is, and will be, the peculiar guardian of the defenceless. He is the President of Orphanages, the Protector of Widows. He is so glorious that he rides on the heavens, but so compassionate that he remembers the poor of the earth. How zealously ought his church to cherish those w...

Why, when confronted with violence or abuse in a home, have we often placed the burden on the victim to justify her actions or somehow prove that she did not "make" him do it, rather than on the abuser to confess his sins and demonstrate change? We have frequently overemphasized the response of the abused to the exclusion of confronting the behavior of the abuser. Are we afraid he will turn his anger on us? Do we fear confrontation? Do we fear we will be accused of not holding the marriage covenant sacred? Do we really think protecting a home full of sin is keeping that sacred covenant? Do we fear standing with the oppressed?  Suffering and the Heart of God , Diane Langberg, New Growth Press, 2015, pg. 259. I have found that victims experience incredible relief, if not disbelief, when they hear me say, "If you are telling the truth, I will know it because I know what abuse is, how it thinks, and how it acts. And I will believe you, no matter who your abuser is or...