Tried With Fire

I am Out of the Ordinary today writing on the hope of the resurrection even in the midst of Alzheimer's. I sometimes imagine what life was like in the Garden of Eden. There was perfect harmony with God and between all of creation. There was no illness or death, which is hard to fathom. Yet this was the reality of the state of innocence before the Fall. But that reality is no more. Once sin entered the picture, a new reality took hold. What was once whole and healthy is now broken and dying. Even if you never had a single sick day in your life, the rate of decay is going to eventually outpace the rate of cell growth. Surgery may be able to nip this and tuck that. Medical research may provide new treatments, but there is no fountain of youth. There is no elixir of life. The sad prognosis of this present reality has been on my mind quite a bit lately because I have a family member with Alzheimer's. The disease is still in its early stage, and I'm very thankful for the...

"Wait on the Lord."—Psalm 27:14. It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still. There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption? No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God, and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid. In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith . Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithfu...

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Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia I am thankful for: A big mug of P.G. Tips to help burn off the mental fog. Laughing so hard with my daughter that my stomach hurts. Good discussions in small group about baptism, the Lord's supper, and ambition. Having my daughter stop and ask if she can pray for me when I am distressed. Reminders that this world is not my home and the grave is only a temporary stop on the way to something much better. Christ alone. "Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to the cross I cling."

There has been some lively discussion in social media over the extent that headship and submission go beyond the home to opposite-gender interaction in general. For the record, I affirm male elders in the church. I believe Ephesians 5:22-33 still applies to marriage today. But I do not believe that the human race should be divided ontologically by gender into those who lead and those who follow. Being made in the image of God, which does include gender, is much more complex than that. I am also concerned that practices, which would fall under the heading of Christian liberty, are taught as principles, thus binding the consciences of believers. Therefore, I concur with the concerns of the folks at the Mortification of Spin. (Read the posts here:  Aimee #1 , Carl , Todd , Carl #2 , Aimee #2 ) I especially appreciate Aimee sticking her neck out and writing about this issue. I've had many concerns over the years, but I've been a chicken about expressing them. Maybe I haven't ...

Imago dei has been rather life changing for me especially in terms of my identity. In his sermon No Little People , I appreciated Francis Schaeffer's brief discourse on this doctrine's importance in how we relate to humanity as a whole and to fellow believers. I am also reading Ordinary   by Michael Horton   with my small group. One of the problems Ordinary addresses is celebrity Christianity, so I found it interesting how Schaeffer relates a right understanding of imago dei to leadership and warns what may happen when we forget this common ground: Our attitude toward all men should be that of equality because we are common creatures. We are of one blood and kind. As I look across all the world, I must see every man as a fellow creature and I must be careful to have a sense of our equality on the basis of this common status. We must be careful in our thinking not to try to stand in the place of God to other men. We are fellow creatures. And when I step from the creat...

“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another: as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34, 35 The love which Christ commands His followers to have towards one another is not the ordinary love of man to man as such, but the love of the new-born man to the new-born man. Let us who love the Lord, love each other fervently in that sense. This is a love which arises out of a totally new union. A man who is a Christian belongs to a very special family. That family circle does not comprehend the whole human race—it is a family inside the larger human family, yet separated from it by an inner spiritual life. What if I say that the distance between the saved and the unsaved is like a great gulf? It is true that by the almighty Grace of God, there is a way across that gulf and many pass over it—still, the gulf is very deep and broad. But the moment a man is born unto God he e...