Tried With Fire

In honor of National Coffee Day - ht: Wrong Hands

Paulus Orosius (375-418) was a disciple of Augustine. He was from Hispania or what is now modern Portugal. He had been with Augustine, helped collaborate on the City of God , and returned home. By now, his home and most of Western Europe were invaded by Germanic tribes better known as "Barbarians." This is what he wrote: "If the only reason why the barbarians have been sent within the confines of the Roman borders was that throughout the East and West the church of Christ will be full of Huns and Suevi, of Vandals, and Burgundians, of diverse and innumerable peoples, then the mercy of God is to be praised and exalted, because so many people have attained a knowledge of truth that they would never have had without these events, even though it may be through our own loss ." ( History against the Pagans 7:41) I will leave you to make your own application. Source: A Brief History of Sunday , Justo L. Gonzalez, Eerdmans, 2017, pg. 67 (italics mine).

I started a new book by church historian, Justo Gonzalez,  A Brief History of Sunday .  The author traces the practice of the Lord's Day from the early church up to the present. It is a very, very interesting read. Early Jewish Christians celebrated the Sabbath and the Lord's Day separately because these two events were not considered one and the same. The Jewish believers would attend the synagogue as long as they were allowed and then meet for the Lord's Day after sundown on Saturday. The Jewish "day" was still in use, being sunset to sunset. The gentile Christians would only celebrate the Lord's day beginning on Saturday night. They would have the Lord's table before dawn on Sunday morning because they were not given a day of rest unlike the Jews - "who through the passing of generations had found ways to observe the Sabbath, either by working at trades where they could determine their own schedules - such as the tent-making that Paul and ...

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “I will assemble the lame and gather the outcasts, even those whom I have afflicted." Micah 4:6 (NASB) Let those I have spoken of hear the word of promise, “I will gather those whom I have afflicted,” for when God, Himself, gives the affliction, He will bring His servant through and glorify Himself thereby. To close, let us regard this promise, “I will gather her,” as meaning, “I will gather My tried ones into the fellowship of the church. I will bring My scattered sheep near to Me.” The Lord Jesus will gather His dear people into fellowship with Himself. “I will gather them every day around My mercy seat. I will gather them, by and by, on the other side of Jordan, on those verdant hilltops where the Lamb shall forever feed His flock and lead them to living fountains of waters.” Poor, tried, lame, afflicted, limping soul, the shepherd has not forgotten you! He will gather all His sheep and they shall pass again under the hands of Him that cou...

It's that time of year again...

I've posted a review of Finding Grace in the Face of Dementia at Out of the Ordinary today. We are also giving away a copy of the book. You can read the review and enter the giveaway here .

Dr. John Dunlop writes about the importance of honoring dementia patients as God's image-bearers, which I fully affirm, but I think his point is valid for other areas. How do we see people and think about them? Are there certain qualities and categories that would cause us to treat them as less than fully human and less deserving of respect? In the quote below, Dunlop call this devastating and a tragic error . I agree. In a day when there is much confusion as to what it means to be a person, the church must teach a robust view of personhood that is based on our being made in the image of God... if you asked what that really means, it's likely they would say something like, "Well, I guess that means they are like God, they are intelligent, can make their own choices, and have the ability to relate to others." If you probed further and asked, "Does that mean people with severe dementia, who are not intelligent, cannot make their own choices, and do not have ...

The following are quotes from Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life by Christopher Lane, Yale University Press, 2016. I had gotten the book after reading this review at The Gospel Coalition. I was hoping it would give me some insight into the mind-meld between conservative Evangelicals and politics. The reviewer suspects there is a connection between Peale's teaching and President Trump. While that may be true, I am more interested in Peale's influence on the average professing Evangelical and the morphing of Christianity into "God, self, and country," which is civil religion in a nut shell. As to who "God" is, I think He is left conveniently vague enough to satisfy anyone's agenda. Amy Mantravadi just wrote a post on The Ascent of Trump and Impact on Evangelical Ethics.   It is spot on. Her post is the main reason, why I finally started reading about Peale.  As the Bible says, there is nothing new under the s...

I am the bread of life. John 6:48 Those who feed upon Christ are supremely blessed! They shall never hunger. They shall hunger after more of Jesus, but not after anything else besides Jesus. I was greatly pleased some time ago to hear a gentleman say, who had tried to preach another doctrine, that a certain neighborhood which he spoke of was so impregnated with what was called “the gospel” that he could not succeed with his speculations. He said that if men once drank this gospel doctrine it made them so bigoted in their love for it that the cleverest person could not get them out of it. I thought to myself, “This witness is true.” ...  Moreover, he has in Christ food that he can never exhaust. He may feed, and feed, and yet he shall never find that he lacks for meat. I have many an old book in my library in which there have been bookworms, and I have sometimes amused myself with tracing a worm. I do not know how he gets to the volume originally, but being there he eats his ...

There's a beautiful and poignant post over at Fathom Mag by Tasha Burgoyne. Almond Eyes is a letter from a mother to her daughter telling her that she is made in the image of God no matter how people treat her. This article is even more meaningful because of a prior post  where her child, still young enough to be riding in a stroller, was the subject of racial remarks. In some ways, this country has come so far, and in other ways, it's as though nothing has changed. When Tasha writes  about "people who might pull back the corners of their eyes and laugh at you on the playground," 40+-year-old memories came to mind. I still remember the faces of the kids who thought it was hilarious to mock the only Asian in the school. I remember some of their names. Not because I've been holding a grudge all these years, but the whole "sticks and stones" is wishful thinking. Words leave scars that take a long time to heal especially when they have undermined your se...

I am thankful for - A good cup of coffee. It's taken until my 5th decade, but I have finally succumbed. The medium of writing to get thoughts out of my head so I can see them more clearly. The writing of others that move, challenge, and encourage me. God is able to heal decades-old misplaced shame. The reminder that God is God and I am not. With that being said, perfectionism can take a hike. Reminders that in moments of discouragement, the Holy Spirit doesn't stop sanctifying me or my brothers and sisters. He also doesn't stop calling people to repentance and faith.

How we measure a person's worth determines how we treat them but also how we see ourselves. The messages we hear from the culture and from our closest influences feed into that understanding. Am I worth something based on my education or salary? Am I worth something because I am married and have children? Am I worth something because of physical abilities or beauty? Am I worth something because my kids have turned out okay and I am set for retirement? These things, which are not bad in themselves, are temporal and can change in a heartbeat. What are we left with when an incurable disease is chipping away at our ability to function at the most basic level? One of the saddest things I have heard from a person with memory loss is, "I can't do what I used to anymore. What is the point of living?" Is that true or is there another source of value that goes deeper? I think there is. We have to go back to imago dei - being made in the image of God. dementia is a threat ...

Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. George Santayana The following is the trailer for a PBS documentary on the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act . I don't remember learning about this in American history. Do you? I'd have a hard time forgetting because if I had lived back then, I would have been excluded. The Chinese were a source of cheap labor during the California gold rush and the building of the transcontinental railroad. But when economic times got tough, they were accused of taking work from "real" Americans. They were considered unassimilable and inferior by their very nature thus unfit to become citizens. In 1882, the federal government banned any Chinese from entering the country and denied citizenship, which led to an eventual ban on all Asian immigration until 1943. Even with repeal of the exclusion act, only 105 Chinese per year were allowed to immigrate until 1965. This is the first law to single out a specific ethnic group for ex...

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John 4:10, 11 I suppose that all these stars which we see at night, all the countless worlds within our range of vision, are but as a little dust in a lone corner of God’s great house. The whole solar system, and all the systems of worlds we have ever thought of, are but as a drop in a bucket compared with the boundless sea of creation. And even that is as nothing compared to the infinite God. And yet, “He loved us ”—the insignificant creatures of an hour. What is more, He loved us though in our insignificance we dared to rebel against Him. We boasted against Him. We cried, “Who is Jehovah?” We lifted up our hand to fight with Him. Ridiculous rebellion! Absurd warfare! Had He but glanced at us and annihilated us, it would have been as much as we could merit at His hands. But to think that He should lov...

This is a link to Kim Riddlebarger's article - Civil Religion: The Chief Rival to Biblical Christianity . Given the press about the "evangelical" vote in the last election and that many "evangelical leaders" vie for  political connections for the sake of "Christianity," I think Riddlebarger's warning is worth considering. It is very interesting that in his first paragraph, he argues that those who buy into the "Christian America" myth and those who are uncomfortable with exclusive Christian truth claims are both pursuing a form of civil religion. My first impression would be that the myth crowd would be on opposing sides from the non-exclusive truth claim group, but perhaps they have much more in common. While the myth crowd claims to be under the authority of God's Word (see 2nd paragraph quoted below), does one have to compromise the truth at some level to maintain the myth? Also are both groups looking for affirmation and power wi...

I used to write "thankful" posts weekly but somehow got out of the habit, but I want to start again. It's easy to get sidetracked with all the wrong that is going on in the world and forget the good, especially the goodness of God in the midst of the bad. All the more reason to thank Him for the seemingly insignificant all the way up to the "big" things. So I am thankful for: - A good start to my daughter's senior year in college. These years have been a learning experience for me in transitioning from a primarily parental to a sisterly role. Not always easy, but necessary and good for us both. - Answered prayer. - The little kind providences that I don't even think of praying for. - The middle-aged-ish women's group will begin reading "Humble Roots" by Hannah Anderson next week. It was such an encouraging book for me, and I hope it will be for them. We never get past needing rest in God when even normal life is more than we can...

There wasn't room in my post on John Calvin's younger years for this interesting tidbit. The following would have been the typical schedule for a student at the  College de Montaigu where Calvin was enrolled in 1521/1522. 4:00 am  - Morning office, lecture. 6:00 am - Mass, breakfast. 8:00 - 10:00 am - The grande class e and discussion. 11:00 am - Dinner with readings from the Bible or the life of a saint followed by prayers and college notices. 12:00 pm - Questions on the morning lesson. 1:00 - 2:00 pm - Rest period with public reading. (Was the missing hour perhaps free time?) 3:00 - 5:00 pm - Afternoon class.  ? - Vespers and questions on the afternoon class.  ? - Supper with more readings. 8:00 or 9:00 pm - Bedtime depending on the season. Earlier time was during the winter. When did the students study? During free time? Given that Gutenberg's press was invented in 1440, were books used at all or was it mostly lecture and discussion? Did they have...

It is hard to watch people I love going through times of suffering. It's especially hard when I haven't been through it myself, so I don't know what to say. In an effort to try to relate, I may search my experience database to see if there is any commonality, but even if that is the case, situations are so nuanced that it probably isn't wise to project my experience onto someone else. In an effort to break the silence, it's tempting to say "This reminds me of ..." which may not be helpful at all. But why is silence even a problem? Job's friends gave their best comfort when they sat quietly with him and mourned. Keeping their mouths shut would have saved him a lot of additional pain. But maybe what matters isn't about how closely I can relate or even give advice. When one member of the body suffers, we all suffer. Then isn't it enough to weep with those who weep because we love them even if we don't fully understand? A simple, "I don...

How do you condense the life of a person into a short blog post, particularly the life of one the great Reformers? Well here is my attempt. For more details, I would recommend T.H.L. Parker's biography on Calvin. Calvin's Life: The Younger Years

[In last Sunday's evening sermon, Elder Ron described Peter as the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth. But it's not just Peter. I've said things I wish I could take back, so I appreciate the following words from my favorite dead theologian.] “But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Acts 10:14. “Not so, Lord.” This is a very curious expression. I do not mind how you turn it into English from the original, but it is a very strange compound. If Peter had said, “Not so,” there would have been a clear consistency in his language and tone. But “Not so, Lord ,” is an odd jumble of self-will and reverence, of pride and humility, of contradiction and devotion. Surely, when you say, “Not so,” it ought not to be said to the Lord, and if you say, “Lord,” you ought not to put side by side with such an ascription the expression, “Not so.” Peter always was a blunderer in his early days, and he had not grown out of his old habits o...

This video shows the diversity of the Chinese immigrant experience. I love the juxtaposition of the Mississippi accent and Chinese ethnicity. We need to hear more stories like this to knock down Asian stereotyping.