Tried With Fire

Believing that all will be well if we just follow certain rules is common to us all. The question is what are we willing to overlook for that well-being? What will it cost us to maintain nostalgia or self-security in an organization? How much are we willing to betray others and even betray ourselves for the sake maintaining the status quo or obeying the leader? If disagreement with the powers-that-be means walking on eggshells or invokes a strong sense of fear, perhaps the system itself is abusive. Judgment begins with the house of God - not only for the leaders but for those of us in the pews. We may not wield power, but we can shore it up with our silence and idolatry of people and ideologies. Perhaps these recent shakeups in the SBC are demonstrations of God's kindness that will lead us to examine ourselves and repent. The following quotes are from  this article by Rod Dreher  on the SBC/Patterson scandal. It's worth reading for the insight he gives on why the ...

In the latest round of revelations, Paige Patterson was allowed to retire as President Emeritus from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a retirement package, a house on the grounds, and a stained glass window in the chapel. Just prior to this, the Washington Post broke a story of how a woman was raped while a student and counseled by Patterson to not report it to the police. Anger and tears were my first response. What were they thinking? Does the life of a woman matter so little when it's stacked up against the reputation of seminary? The sick irony is that a seminary is supposed to train pastors to care for the flock of God. Pastors who are supposed to be like their Master in laying down their lives in service. Was that exemplified? Hardly. Pastor Wade Burleson has written a post detailing the back story behind the Washington Post article. Read it and weep. Read it and pray that God will tear down the curtain hiding the spiritual abuse and misogyny in His church...

I'm rereading Humble Roots by Hannah Anderson with a group of women in the church. This excerpt is from the chapter we will be discussing tonight. As often is the case with providence, I needed to read these words again because a stray thought and unanswered question brought a wave of anxiousness. I am the planner who tries to calculate all possible outcomes. My mind works like a decision tree. But it's not all up to me. I am a child of a Father who knows exactly what I need, not the Little Red Hen who has to do it all herself. Part of humility means trusting God with our plans and submitting to the possibility that they will not be fulfilled. We pursue certain ends, but we can't know the future. But part of humility also means trusting God with our plans and submitting to the possibility that they will be fulfilled in ways we cannot imagine.... If we limit ourselves to working only when the signs are promising, if we only plant when everything is perfect, we limit ou...

We can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for He Himself is also compassed with infirmity. Hebrews 5:2 Many of us, I trust, have a desire within out hearts to come to God, but we need a high priest. But we need a high priest in order that we may draw near—one who shall be a man as well as God. We may reflect with joy upon the Godhead of our great High Priest. Inasmuch as it is His right, He counts it not robbery to be equal with God, but He communes with the Father as one that was by Him, as one brought up with Him, who was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. But we ought also to be very grateful that we can come into touch with our High Priest on His human side and rejoice that He is truly man. For thus says the Lord, “I have laid help upon One that is mighty: I have exalted One chosen out of the people.” He is anointed, it is true, with the oil of gladness above His fellows, but still, He and they are one, “for which cause He is not...

I'm thankful for - - My daughter's commencement and associated festivities. I sat with the pastor's wife, since her husband was among the faculty, so we had a good time of fellowship, trying to stay cool in the heat, and cheering for the few students that were part our church. It was a very full day but also a day to reflect on God's providence. He has been faithful and will continue to be so to my daughter. - The privilege of prayer and committing everything to God. - God the Holy Spirit. In Sunday's sermon, the absolute security and assurance we have because the Holy Spirit is the down payment of our redemption was driven home like never before. If God cannot deny Himself, how can He deny His children whom He has given Himself to? - Small mercies in my never ending car saga. There's still a leak in the coolant system. Thankfully we made it to small group where a couple brothers could give advice as to what to do. The pastoral intern followed us home...

After many nights of working in the evening, I've had a break. It's been nice to be able to relax after the dishes are done and read "depressing books about where America has gone wrong." That is my daughter's opinion of some of my reading material. It's not that I like reading depressing books. I want to understand the mindsets and fears that led us to where we are today. My current "depressing" book is One Nation Under God by Kevin Kruse. "Grimly fascinating" would be a better descriptor, though. It's fascinating to learn how easily America was satisfied with civil religion. The generic nature of God didn't seem to bother many people as long as "God" was mentioned in some vague way. But this casual appropriation of God is rather grim and led to a syncretistic mishmash of outward practice minus any theological foundation. During Eisenhower's campaign for the presidency, he "vowed to take the vague religion ...

My daughter's commencement was on Saturday. It was a hot and sunny day, so everyone probably felt like something the cat dragged in from the swamp by the time it was all over. I especially felt for the students and the faculty who had to endure being baked in their black caps and gowns. I brought water with me, but one plastic bottle was not enough. When the ceremony finally ended (everyone walked,) I was able to refill the bottle at a water fountain. The cold liquid was so refreshing. A fancier beverage would not have been able to quench my thirst or rehydrate my body like plain, ordinary water. The next day, we were in church. The Sunday school lesson covered the latter part of the Lord's prayer. A young sister publicly professed her faith in Christ and was baptized. The sermon was on God the Holy Spirit who ordered creation but new creation as well. Then we had the Lord's supper. There were no celebrity preachers present. Nothing flashy happened but the plain and or...

Behold, I have inscribed you upon the palms of My hands. Isaiah 49:16 “I have inscribed you upon the palms of My hands.” My Lord, do You mean me ? Yes, even me, if I, by faith, cling to Your cross. “I am not shut out from Your heart of love, if by faith I have entered into Your happy family. I know that You remember me or You would never have helped me to remember You. Glory be to You, O my gracious Lord.” But I want you, my beloved brothers and sisters, to notice that the word runs, “I have inscribed you .” It does not say, “ Your name .” The name is there, but that is not all—“I have inscribed you.” See the fullness of this! I have inscribed your person, your image, your case, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your needs, your works; I have inscribed you —everything about you—all that concerns you; I have put you altogether there! It is not an outline sketch, you see; it is a full picture, as though the man himself were there. What? Do you dare d...

I am thankful for -  - The arrival of spring even though it is probably the shortest season. - Grocery store flowers. - God's protection over my elderly parents, and my sister and brother-in-law's proximity, presence, sacrificial love, and care for  them. There are still hard decisions to make in the near future, but God knows what is best for them. So we pray and trust. - God's kind providence. We came home from getting carryout on Tuesday evening, and when I walked around the front of the car, I noticed white smoke coming out of the grill. My daughter said she heard a sizzling sound. When I opened the hood, there was water bubbling as well as streaming out the bottom of the car. This is the 3rd time my car has died in the driveway when it could have happened at any number of extremely inconvenient places. I'm also thankful for the offers of help from my church, practical advice about what possibly went wrong from a brother who knows about cars, and a mecha...

In the light of the controversy surrounding Paige Patterson  and his comments on abuse and women, I am sharing this slightly edited post from 2014 that I wrote for domestic violence awareness month.  It's funny how the things we care about the most are often the most painful and emotionally exhausting to put into words. How do you encapsulate an issue that touches theology, history, and culture? How do you write about something so personal and not dredge up memories and feelings that you'd rather consign to oblivion? I wrote drafts that are probably too volatile to be published because they tipped a few sacred cows that we cling to as conservative Christians. It helped to get those thoughts out of my head, but I'm still frustrated at the huge blind spot that the evangelical church seems to have - a sort of hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil about domestic abuse within its walls. After much research, thinking, and praying, I am convinced that domestic violence...

This 1st Q&A from the Heidelberg catechism never gets old. It's an anchor for the soul in troubling and sorrowful times. Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death? A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.  Photo credit: By Heino Ruiso (Eesti Looduse fotovõistlus 2013) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Thanks to technology, nothing ever goes away. It has come to light that a seminary president - Advised a woman to go back to her abusive husband and to just pray, knowing full well that this would subject her to further abuse. I had a woman who was in a church that I served, and she was being subject to some abuse, and I told her, I said, “All right, what I want you to do is, every evening I want you to get down by your bed just as he goes to sleep, get down by the bed, and when you think he’s just about asleep, you just pray and ask God to intervene, not out loud, quietly,” but I said, “You just pray there.” And I said, “Get ready because he may get a little more violent, you know, when he discovers this.” And sure enough, he did. She came to church one morning with both eyes black. Referred to a minor in sexually objectifying terms. Remarked that everyman should own at least one woman. This sounds more like the misogynistic remarks of Archie Bunker than a Christian leader. ...