Posting Elsewhere for a While

The reader may notice that I have not updated this blog in a while.  Main reason:  I have been blogging elsewhere with a little more consistency.  Check out www.reformingwv.com.

But there is still a bunch of stuff here that might be good to read too.

2014 Update

Hello friends and family,

Like many blogs, this one has not been updated in many months. I hate that. No one can expect readers if a blog is not updated.  I make no promises to blog here more frequently, but here is an update at least. If you want more frequent blog posts from me, you will have to check out Reformingwv.blogspot.com.  These have been busy days, but I have mainly focused on other things.  "Like what" you ask?

• Fambily.  Kathi's PID is managed, thankfully, although her health does fluctuate within a wide, managed range.  Spencer is in 6th grade and always joyful, except when he is not.  Taylor is in 10th grade and reads fantasy books incessantly.  Josiah is a homeschooled junior but is taking most of his classes at the community college. He will probably enter Covenant College as a sophomore. He is very good at programming.  He cannot take the programming classes at the community college because his knowledge already exceeds them.  He has a working knowledge of about 7 or 9 different programming languages. 
• Doctoral Studies at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. I say doctoral studies, but that is just a way to gentrify a doctor of ministry, which we all know is not in the same category as a PhD, which I will never get.  I am working on my final project, which at this point is titled  Bonhoeffer's Predigerseminar: A Model and Inspiration for Building Community in a Fractured Presbytery.  I had hoped to graduate in 2014, but when your project depends upon the participation of dozens of other people, timeliness can not be predicted.  So I will graduate in 2015, as long as I keep plowing along, and as long as the presbytery continues to support my efforts. I have been very grateful for their support so far.
• Pastoring Trinity Presbyterian Church.   We are small.  But I love being here, and I love the people.  I am learning how powerless I am, and how much I need to pray. 
• Mediating for the Family Courts.  As a minister, I am there at the beginning of marriages, and, unfortunately, as a mediator for other families, I am there at the end, helping divorcing parents set up parenting plans for the children. 
• Working at West Virginia Northern Community College. This is my full-time job, but it is not the reason I moved to New Martinsville.  Some churches will never have pastors unless preachers are willing and qualified to work bi-vocationally. I wish more would. 
• Blogging at Reformingwv.blogspot.com.  I am less likely to blog here and more likely to blog there.  
• Starting a Bible Institute. Some Reformed guys in WV are getting together to start a Bible Institute in West Virginia by West Virginians, for West Virginians.  I have wanted something like this for a long long time, and now it seems it is coming to pass.  We will offer an initial Biblical Foundations Certificate this Fall.  More information on this will be coming soon.  
• There is always more, but this is all I can think of at the moment.  

Four Ways to Mark Your Bible Study Book

The Fall Book Study will meet at my house on Sunday, November 18 at 6:00 pm. You can come to the study or read along at home. I hope many will come because we will have great discussions, fellowship and snacks. We will start in my home and decide which home to go to next. I hope for us to meet every other Sunday. Please pray about asking someone outside the church to attend. Give them a copy of the book if you have an extra.

Our book is Delighting in the Trinity, by Michael Reeves.

I have asked all those who are planning to attend to read the introduction and first chapter in preparation for our first meeting. I have some suggestions about how to mark your book as you read. These markings will help you keep track of things that would be good to discuss together as a group.

In addition to whatever other markings and notes you make, here are four things to note:

1. I like this. Make a note of something you thought was well-stated, clear, or encouraging. 
2. I want to know more. Note anything that inspires your curiosity or raises unanswered questions. Note topics that you would enjoy studying more deeply later or that you wish had been discussed in more detail. 
3. I do not understand. Note anything that confuses you or you think is not explained well. 
4. I disagree. Mark statements that cross you the wrong way, that you think are stated poorly, or that you believe are wrong. 

These highlight your book in ways that will prepare you to contribute to our discussions when we meet together. As a sort of legend, you may want to write these in the front or back of your book and give each of them a number. When you underline something in the text, you can then write the number in margin rather than writing the whole phrase. Enjoy your reading! I hope it stirs your imagination and strikes up your curiosity.

A Report on Kathi’s Health and Her Visit to the NIH

At the beginning of May, the National Institute of Health (NIH), a government medical research facility, finally brought Kathi to Bethesda, Maryland to participate in an ongoing study of Common Variable Immune Deficiency (CVID). We have been waiting for this for over a year, and it was good to finally have it take place.

What is CVID?

CVID means that her body does not produce the immunoglobulins that coordinate her body's ability to fight off infection. COMMON means that this condition is the most common of the immunodeficiency disorders (1 in 25,000-50,000). VARIABLE means that it manifests itself in a wide variety of ways that can be different for each person. Pneumonia, sinus infections, ear infections, and gastrointestinal infections are some of the many manifestations. This variety of presentations often leads to delayed diagnosis. IMMUNE DEFICIENCY means that the body cannot fight bacterial and viral infections like most people.

How does it affect Kathi?

Kathi’s manifestations are mainly twofold—repeated sinus infections, and gastrointestinal enteropathy. The sinus infections are inconvenient, uncomfortable, and fatiguing, and one may have led to an ear infection that made her deaf in her right ear a couple of years ago. However, her intestinal problems are the most acutely dangerous. They cause her either to not be able to eat or to not be able to absorb nutrition when she does eat. When her intestinal issues are acting up, she tends to lose weight quickly and dangerously and lose nutrients that are responsible for the proper functioning of her body—potassium, iron, vitamin B, etc. This condition has led to several scary emergency room visits.

At the NIH, Kathi was poked and prodded for two days by a wide variety of specialists who deal day in-and-out with CVID patients. The NIH is one of the few places in the nation where experts on her condition are gathered together in one place. At several points we sat in rooms with up to five doctors and several nurses for hours on end while they devoted every ounce of their attention and expertise to Kathi. She has needed that sort of attention for a long time now.

We learned several different things, and hope to learn much more in the months ahead. Here were some specific questions that we asked.

Q: Does Kathi have Celiac Disease and/or gluten intolerance or sensitivity?

A: For those who have CVID, Celiac Disease is a common misdiagnosis on the way toward getting a correct diagnosis. This is because Villous Atrophy is common in both conditions. The villae of the intestinal lining are like microscopic fingers which provide surface area that pulls nutrients from food as it passes through the intestines. In both Celiac and CVID, the villae can become blunted and the intestinal lining can become inflamed, preventing proper nutritional absorption and harsh intestinal discomfort. When a gluten free diet fails to reverse the villous blunting and provide relief, doctors often search for other conditions. CVID was confirmed in Kathi many months ago by measuring her immunoglobulin (Ig) levels. All of her Ig’s were very low, consistent with CVID.

Unfortunately, the most common tests available to doctors for confirming or ruling out Celiac as the cause of villous blunting require the presence of IgA, an immunoglobulin that Kathi lacks due to her CVID. Since CVID patients are approximately 10 times more likely to have Celiac Disease than the average person, no doctor to date has been able to confirm or deny that Kathi has Celiac disease. Likewise, no doctor has been willing to instruct Kathi to go off her gluten free diet, in spite of the fact that it does not appear to be improving her condition. Our (mine and Kathi’s) working theory is that she does not have Celiac, and the diet is unnecessary.

But at the NIH, they have tests available to them that are not commonly used by the average doctor, such as genetic testing. The NIH has taken blood to perform genetic tests that will place her into one category or another—1) genetically incapable of having Celiac or 2) genetically capable of having Celiac. To be in the latter category does not mean that she has it, just that she is capable of having it. The tests have not come back yet, but we have high hopes that she will be in the former category and I can finally buy her a Krispy Kreme donut.

Q: What is the mechanism that connects CVID and her intestines?

A: The doctors provided two answers, both of which can be and are probably true at the same time.

1) Her compromised immune system makes her susceptible to intestinal viruses, bacterial overgrowth and even microscopic parasites such as giardia. Like anyone with an intestinal infection, this can cause diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, malabsorption, and the inability to eat properly. Unlike others, Kathi’s body cannot help fight off the infection, so the condition continues until it is fought off by extended antibiotic regimens that last longer than what is required by those with uncompromised immune systems.

2) The second answer is more complicated and is probably the more serious underlying problem that Kathi faces (this implies that the #1 above is simply a condition that complicates this more significant underlying problem). The body’s immune system requires properly functioning B cells and T cells, which are types of white blood cells which work together to protect the body from infection. The theory is that Kathi’s B cells do not work right, which is why her body does not produce immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, IgG). This causes her T cells to overcompensate by working overtime to produce cytokines. Cytokines in turn overproduce interferons. These interferons are by nature inflammatory and somehow or another end up focusing their attention on the small intestine—producing gastrointestinal enteropathy. This inflammation of the small intestine is manifested as villous blunting, which presents identically to Celiac disease, although it has a different pathogenesis.

The doctors told her that this inflammation of her small intestines does not tend to resolve on its own in patients with CVID. In fact, without treatment it continues to get worse and can eventually be fatal. However with proper anti-inflammatory treatment, this inflammation can be reduced and even reversed, allowing for a relatively normal life inconvenienced by episodes or cycles of intestinal issues. It appears though that the underlying condition that causes the inflammation is not curable at this point. She will need to remain on some sort of anti-inflammatory treatment indefinitely.

Q: What is Kathi’s current and future course of treatment?

Every three weeks, Kathi has an immunoglobulin infusion (IVIG). You can think of this as a transplant of immunoglobulins extracted from several thousand different blood donors in each infusion. This builds up her infection fighting abilities for up to three weeks at a time, reducing the number of sinus and intestinal infections that she is susceptible to. This course of treatment will be maintained for the foreseeable future. IVIG is very expensive, costing several thousand dollars for each infusion. Thankfully insurance pays for a lot of this, but the remainder mounts up quickly.

That takes care of the infections. What about the more urgent intestinal inflammation? After trying a very expensive steroid (entocort) for several months that did nothing for her, her doctor put her on prednisone (thankfully a very inexpensive drug). Prednisone is a miracle drug for her condition. It has reduced most of the inflammation, so that Kathi has been feeling better for several months now. She can eat, has gained back important weight, has much more energy than before, and is generally much happier (and her happiness is so beautiful to me!). She has stepped down to a minimal level of prednisone daily. When she feels inflammation coming on, she steps up the dosage for a few days until it subsides, and then steps back down to her usual low dose.

Her NIH doctors have instructed her to remain on the prednisone for the time being because it appears to be working very well. But they would like to eventually get her on something else for two reasons: 1) Prednisone has other cumulative effects on the body that are not healthy, and 2) Prednisone is an immunosuppressant that can reduce the strength of her already compromised immune system. For the time being however, she has been instructed to stay on Prednisone because it appears to be working so well for her. They will explore other treatment options in the future.

What is ahead for Kathi?

Within the next few months, the NIH doctors will have her back for an extended hospital stay at the NIH during which time they will perform more tests. The tests that they perform will contribute to research that will expand medical science’s understanding of CVID. The results will also be used to formulate a particular path of long-term treatment for Kathi.

Before that though, we are going to the beach. Our first vacation in a long time in which Kathi has felt good.

Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor or a scientist so I cannot vouch for the complete accuracy of my word usage or explanations.  I am merely trying to summarize my layman's understanding of things.  No doubt, professionals could provide corrections.  While this might be useful information for others with similar conditions, please always consult your physicians before treating my explanation as anything more than a layman's imprecise summary.

Another Important bit of information:  CVID is not a communicable disease, so she did not contract it from anyone, and there is no danger of her passing it on to anyone else.

A New Life in New Martinsville West Virginia

This month has been a very busy month for the Bills family. I have started two jobs, one as the coordinator for the tutoring center at West Virginia Northern Community College, and the other as the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church. So I am now officially a bi-vocational pastor. I will have to write more about that later.

We closed on our new house this past Friday, meaning that we are committed to our life in New Martinsville for the foreseeable future.  I have disliked being a part of that generation that changes jobs frequently.  Perhaps now I can settle down and act like my parents and their parents and work the same job(s) for a couple of decades.

Our new home is on the north end of town.  We have a magnificent view from our back porch of a quaint, seldom used, grass airfield, the river beyond that, and the Appalachian hills of Ohio beyond that.  The house has been an incredible gift from God.  We marvel constantly at how beautiful and simple it is.  To date, we have only moved about 20% of our stuff from the other house.  It is a shame to have to clutter this house up with the other 80%.

New Martinsville is a wonderful, small town.  It has all the essentials very conveniently located within a couple of miles of our new home.  What we cannot find here, we can find by taking monthly trips to either Wheeling or Parkersburg.  Those towns are only about an hour away either direction.  And what we cannot find there, we can find in Pittsburgh, which is only two hours away.

We have been incredibly busy.  Kathi with setting up the house, Spencer with his new school, and me with my two jobs.  The big boys are getting a bit of a break from school, but will have to pick it up after we get everything moved.  They will likely be working well into the summer.  But the consensus of us all is that we are loving being here.

Kathi has been feeling much better recently. This is definitely related to getting a good grasp of how to best treat her immune deficiency with medications and diet.  She is stronger now than she has been in a couple of years.  Some of this may also be due to the fact that we have moved out of an unbearably stressful situation. Regardless, we now live with the expectation that at some point she may begin to spiral down, beginning another cycle of ups and downs that will last several weeks.   Our hope is that if she does begin to spiral down, her up and down cycles will be less extreme, less frequent, and more manageable.

We are praising the Lord for our new church home, for the opportunity to freely minister in accord with my conscience and vows, for our new house, for our health, and for God's provision for our needs.  All green grass has brown patches, and there is no telling how large our brown patches will be.  But for the moment, we are enjoying the foliage, sweet aromas, and beautiful sounds of a fresh springtime in our lives.

Biblicism One and Biblicism Two by Carson and Keller

The following snippet is from a post by DA Carson and Tim Keller found here: http://bit.ly/Ajl3bq

"There is a kind of appeal to Scripture, a kind of biblicism---let's call it Biblicism One---that seems to bow to what Scripture says but does not listen to the text very closely and is almost entirely uninformed by how thoughtful Christians have wrestled with these same texts for centuries. There is another kind of biblicism---let's call it Biblicism Two---that understands the final authority in divine revelation to lie in Scripture traceable to the God who has given it, but understands also that accurate understanding of that Scripture is never supported by bad exegesis and always enriched by the work of Christian thinkers who have gone before."

A Brief Explanation of my Resignation from Winifrede Presbyterian Church

This morning I told my congregation in Winifrede that I have accepted a call to pastor another church.  That church is a small PCA church in New Martinsville WV--Trinity Presbyterian Church.

As I explained from the pulpit, my reasons for leaving are very complex.  The simplest way to explain it, and hopefully the most gracious, is to say that insurmountable differences make it necessary.  Early in my ministry here, the Lord impressed upon me that my call would serve a much more narrow purpose than I had anticipated when I first came.  That was to bring this church to a certain crossroads, at which it could make a choice of direction.  I did not at the time know when that crossroads would come or exactly what it would look like, but my sense of calling was clear.

Earlier in 2011, that crossroads became obvious, and the choice of which direction to take was made.  That made clear to me that my calling here was complete.  When that choice was made, I began asking the Lord for another call.  He answered that request, reassuring me once again that that my calling here was complete.

Whether or not one direction is better than another for this particular congregation is no longer for me to say.  I only know that my denominational vows and the conviction of conscience that led me to take those vows prevent me from traveling the chosen path with them.  I pray that the Lord blesses this congregation on its path.   That it continues to enjoy and grow in the grace of the Gospel, that it grows in its desire to have the Word of God clearly preached from its pulpit.  It has been a light in this community, preaching the Gospel clearly, for over 100 years, and I hope that it remains so for the next century.

I have no regrets about coming to Winifrede. My greatest joy has been to preach the Word to them every week.  The congregation is filled with wonderful people who have poured out their love for us in ways that we could never repay.  So many have been patient with me as their pastor, and they have really stepped in to show love, care and concern for my wife and family as she struggles with her illness.   I have learned so much that hopefully will make me a better pastor to the next congregation.  I only regret that I do not have the personal gifts that would best fit this congregation.  I pray the Lord will bring them a pastor that is better fitted to meet their needs.   I fully trust that my time here has served the purposes, both for me and for the church, that he desired it to serve.  This is his church, and he loves it dearly, and he will continue to work in its midst to accomplish his will.

The Presbytery will take up the matter of my relationships to this church and the next church at the Presbytery meeting this Saturday.  Since we will not be able to move until we have a home in New Martinsville, I have asked the Winifrede Church to continue to allow me to preach until we close on new home in New Martinsville.  That will take between 45-60 days from the time that we have a contract on a home.  We are very close to making an offer on a house.  Until the day comes for us to move, if the church is willing, I will continue to faithfully preach the Word and minister to the needs of this congregation.

May God bless the leaders and members of Winifrede Presbyterian Church.

Jesus Invites us to Pray

The following sermon was preached on Sunday, January 15, 2012 at Winifrede Presbyterian Church.  The Title is "Jesus Invites Us to Pray."

http://www.box.com/s/lk3gbo65s4px5di2sthy

Inscrutable Beauty--A Slightly Different Take on Ecclesiastes

Some believe that the book of Ecclesiastes is only an inspired record of human wisdom, and, as such, it is a record of human error and should be preached from very selectively. I have never accepted that interpretation.  For the longest time, I believed that the book presents human hopelessness apart from God, but that it it also presents the antidote to human hopelessness—God can give life meaning and remove the sense of hopelessness. I believed that the opening mantra of the book—Vanity of vanities, all is vanity—was  an expression that described the unfortunate conclusion of those who have failed to find the meaning and value of life in God alone.

After preaching through the book in recent years, I have begun to think of the book in a slightly different way. While I do believe that the book presents an antidote of sorts to human hopelessness, I have come back to that initial mantra to reinterpret it, not just for the hopeless, but for all—for those who have hope and for those who do not. I believe it should be understood in this way:  Inscrutable, incomprehensible--the  rhyme and reason of life on this earth is beyond our ability to figure out.

According to this interpretation, God intends for life to be inscrutable for all. Even for those who have the advantage of a relationship with God, the ability to figure out life is beyond them. The author demonstrates again and again that life is full of injustice (3:16; 8:14), futility (1:1-11), and death (3:19; 9:3), and it all just comes back around again for everyone (1:4-10; 3:15). The book is very bleak in its frankness. “Face the facts, folks. Life is unfair, as most people understand fairness. Everywhere you look—in your own life and in the lives of others, in the past and in the present—you will find evidence of the inevitable inequities and futilities of our existence on this earth.” Where this interpretation differs from my prior understanding is that this apparent inequity is not remedied, or re-framed in a more palatable way, simply by having a right relationship with God. In other words, it is proper for all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, to face the reality of life’s inscrutability.

The author of Ecclesiastes proposes to lessen this inscrutability by searching for rhyme and reason in different activities and pursuits—in pleasure (2:1-11), in wisdom (2:12-16), and work ( 2:17-22). All three are common retreats even today for those who want to overcome the incomprehensibility and mundaneness of existence. But the author concludes that these things are unable to lift the fog and provide the rhyme and reason that most people search for.

But Solomon does not leave us with mere nihilism. In the centerpiece of the book, the author tells us that “There is a time for everything under heaven (3:1ff).” He says that God has made everything beautiful in its time (3:11). The arranging of all things, even the apparent inequities of our existence, serve the hidden purposes of the Almighty God. Unfortunately for us mere creatures, we are never guaranteed to be privy to those secret purposes. There is in fact a reason that these purposes are hidden from our intelligence—God built the constant need to find meaning and purpose in life right into the fabric of our being, and he has removed those meanings and purposes far beyond our ability to grasp (3:14; 7:13-14; 8:16-17; 11:15). Our lack of ability to locate that meaning and purpose—that rhyme and reason—in our activities on this earth points to one solution and one alone—Simply trust God. Solomon calls this “fearing God.” The book never implies that trusting him will provide the rhyme and reason that we are looking for. The answers and solutions do not come simply because we trust God. The book simply asks us to trust him in the bad times and in the good regardless of the outcome in our earthly existence. We are to trust that everything that happens, everything that we are going through, is beautiful in the timing of God. The only way that we can see beauty in the futilities of life is through trust. This removes from our handbook of solutions the notion that to have a right relationship will make everything turn out all right in the end. Sometimes—in fact quite often, according to the book—God intends for life to be incomprehensibly difficult. And yet, we are expected to trust him regardless. We are never promised that God will make everything turn out all right in the end of our earthly existence. We are to trust him even if life ends in death, injustice, and futile repetition. We are to trust that in the hidden purposes of God, everything is beautiful. Everything is planned perfectly. Everything is moving toward goals that serve the greatest ends. These purposes do not always require a happy existence for his creatures, but they are beautiful purposes nonetheless.

With this in mind, the author encourages his readers to enjoy life as much as possible. Do not be afraid to take advantage of every opportunity to milk this life for all the joy and happiness that you can get out of it. As long as we are trusting God—and keeping his commandments, as he concludes the book (11:9; 12:1, 13-14)——there are no limits to the joy that we should try to find in our earthly existence. This joy may be beyond some people most of the time and most people some of the time. But when opportunity presents itself, enjoy life as much as possible. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Solomon asserts that life is God’s gift, so enjoy what you can while you can—work, food and drink, possessions, relationships, etc. (2:24-25; 3:13; 5:18-19; 8:15; 9:7-10). Rhyme and reason are not necessary for us to enjoy life as long as we are obeying God’s commands and trusting him.

[First and second paragraphs have been reworked to reflect some input in the comments below.]

[My interpretation is not as different as I thought it was.  It is likely that much of my thinking was informed by what I learned from Dr. Michael Barrett in seminary.  However, there may be some slight differences in emphasis regarding the word translated variously as vanity, breath, wind, meaninglessness, or (my choice) inscrutableness. Here is his excellent series of lectures on Ecclesiastes:   http://bit.ly/sMZjQ7.]

Today's Sermon: The Elders' Right and Responsibility to Exercise their God-given Authority

Today's sermon was the next in line in our study of Hebrews.  It is providentially timely because it naturally  addresses some controversial issues that are facing our congregation right now.  Several people have expressed concern that I have over the last three years only invited those who are members of Gospel-preaching churches to participate in communion. They feel that this leaves out those Christians who are not members of churches.  In this sermon, Hebrews 13:17 addresses the elders' right and responsibility to exercise their God-given authority, and I make application to the communion controversy that we are now experiencing. I upload it here to give those who missed the sermon the opportunity to hear how I understand the Bible on the matter. Click the link to listen or download.

http://cl.ly/9h37

The Place of Israel in Prophecy

People still say, "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem." As I understood Dispensationalism when I was once counted among them, this means that we are to pray that the nation of Israel will experience peace from the frequent conflicts it has suffered over the centuries within the borders of its national territory and by those who have been dispersed abroad. Pray that they will be left alone and be allowed to return home to live peacefully in the territory it was promised in the OT. This perspective has unfortunately influenced national politics, particularly those of conservative Christians, for generations now. They champion Israel's statehood last century as a key sign that the end is near and the promises are finally coming to fruition. They champion political policies toward Israel based upon some mistaken belief that God still owes them a land. I suspect an ulterior motive though, because on the other side of this fulfillment, the dispensational charts tell us that we gentiles will finally get our mansions and streets of gold. We have wasted much of our Christian political energy to bring something to pass for Israel that God never promises in the Bible.

However, I cannot accept this perspective, because I believe that all the covenantal promises made to Abraham have been fulfilled in Christ and the Church. Christ is the King that was promised. The Church is the people of the Kingdom, vast as the sands by the sea. The promised land is the world that now is and the new world that will someday be. The Kingdom of God is the promised land. Its king is the promised king. Those who believe in Christ are the people of the kingdom. In my mind, the exegetical evidence for this is utterly overwhelming, given a correct hermeneutic.

What this means is that for Israel to have any hope of any participation whatsoever in the promises, they must repent and believe in Jesus, and become a part of the Church. Then and only then will they receive what has been promised. There is no promise of land in the middle east that remains to be fulfilled. There will be no restored temple on the temple mount. No more sacrifices. No ashes of the red heifer. Those who look ahead to these things in a literal sense misinterpret vast amounts of biblical prophecy and typology, and lose out on the blessedness of seeing Jesus everywhere in Scripture. Instead of seeing Jesus, they get caught up in timelines and charts. A complete waste of time.

And yet there is one promise that remains to be fulfilled for Israel--one that nearly brings me to my knees to consider the awesome power of God to save. I do not understand it completely. Romans 11 says that "All Israel will be saved." Obviously, "all Israel" does not mean every Jew, because generations of them have already passed into faithless damnation. But it must mean that at some point to come, some significant portion of the Jewish people will be saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Enough at least to merit the word "all" as a description of their number. This would have to mean that there is a generation (and with perhaps subsequent generations) of Isrealites that will some day walk the earth that will, for the most part, repent and embrace Christ as the true Messiah. We do not know exactly what this means because the word Jew has lost definition--is it those who embrace the Jewish religion? If so, which versions of Judaism? Or is it those who have some Jewish blood in their veins? Those who live in the territory of Israel? Who knows? But what is clear is that there will be a wholesale conversion of Jews (whatever that means) to Jesus Christ.

Romans 11 says that this will happen after all the non-Jews that God has ordained to salvation have been saved. What this means is that there is now or will be in the future a final generation that contains the last of the gentile elect. When the last of them has been saved--perhaps piecemeal conversions here and there much like what we are used to--there will be one last magnificent display of fireworks--the climax of the show. It is a miracle that any one gentile comes to Christ. How much greater will be the miracle of the wholesale conversion of an entire generation of Jews. Imagine that climax--the wholesale conversion of a people whose fathers have rejected Jesus Christ for centuries.

It sounds impossible to my human ears. Consider the Jews today, how far they are from Christ. But I know that salvation does not come by human will or exertion. I know that salvation comes through the work of God alone. He is the miracle worker and can do the impossible. No one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him. All that the Father gives to Christ will come to him. Someday, a generation of Christians will have the privilege of seeing a display of God's power unlike anything that has ever been seen by human eyes. That so many who have adamantly rejected Christ would come to Christ is almost unimaginable. Those Jews (whatever that means only God knows) will repent, join the Church, and enter the Kingdom. Once again, the Israelites will be brought back into the promise that was made to Abraham. We will all be in the Body of Christ together. The Covenant promise will come full circle as the Jews are joined to Christ and the Church Universal.

So there is no promised land for Israel outside of Christ. No King. No special status as a nation. The promise that remains for them is the same promise that those who believe have already received. God brought promises to us through Israel, and God will bring Israel back to the promises.

In his mind's eye, Paul saw the magnificent final volley of fireworks that ends the show, and he said,

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

(Romans 11:33-36 ESV)

Move Chicken Coop. Check. Chase Chickens. Check.

This may not seem like blogworthy news, but we moved the chicken coop this evening.   It was too near the garden and too close to the neighbor's yard.  So I moved it out behind the barn with the help of a couple folks from the church. Then spent the next 45 minutes chasing chickens, because we doubted they would be able to find the new location on their own.  My boys and the neighborhood kids helped with this, by circling them around so that I could grab them with my fishing net.   The trauma will probably put them off laying for a few days unfortunately.

In other news, we are finally getting more eggs as some of our pullets are finally getting to laying age.

John Calvin on the Doctrine of Separation

The following quotations are taken from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 1. Each section is preceded by an editorial question. Other editorial comments are in brackets [ ].  Stephen P. Crawford compiled these quotes for our old website The Fundamentalism Help File.  All Rights Reserved. 

What doctrine is ground for separation?

“When we say that the pure ministry of the word and pure celebration of the sacraments is a fit pledge and earnest so that we may safely recognize a church in every society in which both exist, our meaning is that we ought never to discard [such a church] so long as these remain, though it may otherwise teem with numerous faults. Nay, even in the administration of word and sacraments defects may creep in which ought not to alienate us from [the church’s] communion.

“For all the heads of true doctrine are not in the same position. Some are so necessary to be known, that all must hold them to be fixed and undoubted as the proper essentials of religion, for instance, that God is one, that Christ is God, and the Son of God, that our salvation depends on the mercy of God, and the like. Others, again, which are the subject of controversy among the churches do not destroy the unity of the faith. For why should it be regarded as a ground of dissension between churches if one, without any spirit of contention or perverseness in dogmatizing, holds that the soul on quitting the body flies to heaven and another, without venturing to speak positively as to the abode, [does not think] it for certain that [the soul] lives with the Lord?

“The words of the Apostle are, 'Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you' (Philippians 3:15). Does he not sufficiently intimate that a difference of opinion as to these matters which are not absolutely necessary ought not to be a ground of dissension among Christians? The best thing, indeed, is to be perfectly agreed but seeing there is no man who is not involved in some mist of ignorance, we must either have no church at all or pardon delusion in those things of which one may be ignorant, without violating the substance of religion and forfeiting salvation.

“Here, however, I have no wish to patronize even the minutest errors, as if I thought it right to foster them by flattery or connivance. What I say is, that we are not on account of every minute difference to abandon a church, provided it retain sound and unimpaired that doctrine in which the safety of piety consists and keep the use of the sacraments instituted by the Lord.” [Section 12]

What conduct is ground for separation?

“Our indulgence ought to extend much farther in tolerating imperfection of conduct. Here there is great danger of falling, and Satan employs all his machinations to ensnare us. For there always have been persons who, imbued with a false persuasion of absolute holiness as if they had already become a kind of aerial spirits, spurn the society of all in whom they see that something human still remains.

“Such of old were the Cathari and the Donatists who were similarly infatuated. Such in the present day are some of the Anabaptists who would be thought to have made superior progress. Others, again, sin in this respect not so much from that insane pride as from inconsiderate zeal. Seeing that among those to whom the gospel is preached the fruit produced is not in accordance with the doctrine, they forthwith conclude that there no church exists.

“The offense is indeed well-founded, and it is one to which in this most unhappy age we give far too much occasion. It is impossible to excuse our accursed sluggishness which the Lord will not leave unpunished, as he is already beginning sharply to chastise us. Woe then to us who, by our dissolute license of wickedness, cause weak consciences to be wounded!

“Still those of whom we have spoken sin in their [own] turn by not knowing how to set bounds to their offense. For where the Lord requires mercy they omit it and give themselves up to immoderate severity. Thinking there is no church where there is not complete purity and integrity of conduct, they through hatred of wickedness withdraw from a genuine church [when] they think they are shunning the company of the ungodly.

“They allege that the Church of God is holy. But that they may at the same time understand that it contains a mixture of good and bad, let them hear from the lips of our Savior that parable in which he compares the Church to a net in which all kinds of fishes are taken but not separated until they are brought ashore. Let them hear [the Church] compared to a field which, planted with good seed, is by the fraud of an enemy mingled with tares and is not freed of them until the harvest is brought into the barn. Let them hear, in fine, that [the Church] is a thrashing floor in which the collected wheat lies concealed under the chaff until, cleansed by the fanners and the sieve, it is at length laid up in the granary. If the Lord declares that the Church will labor under the defect of being burdened with a multitude of wicked until the day of judgment, it is in vain to look for a church altogether free from blemish (Matthew 13).” [Section 13]

What about when whole churches have gone bad?

“They exclaim that it is impossible to tolerate the vice which everywhere stalks abroad like a pestilence. What if the apostle's sentiment applies here also? Among the Corinthians it was not a few that erred but almost the whole body had become tainted. There was not one species of sin merely but a multitude, and those not trivial errors but some of them execrable crimes. There was not only corruption in manners but also in doctrine.

“What course was taken by the holy apostle, in other words, by the organ of the heavenly Spirit by whose testimony the Church stands and falls? Does he seek separation from them? Does he discard them from the kingdom of Christ? Does he strike them with the thunder of a final anathema? He not only does none of these things, but he acknowledges and heralds them as a Church of Christ and a society of saints.

“If the Church remains among the Corinthians where envying, divisions, and contentions rage, where quarrels, lawsuits, and avarice prevail, where a crime which even the Gentiles would execrate is openly approved, where the name of Paul, whom they ought to have honored as a father, is petulantly assailed, where some hold the resurrection of the dead in derision though with it the whole gospel must fall, where the gifts of God are made subservient to ambition, not to charity, where many things are done neither decently nor in order -- if there the Church still remains simply because the ministration of word and sacrament is not rejected, who will presume to deny the title of “church” to those to whom a tenth part of these crimes cannot be imputed? How, I ask, would those who act so morosely against present churches have acted to the Galatians who had done all but abandon the gospel (Galatians 1:6) and yet among them the same apostle found churches?” [Section 14]

What about those who would separate under such conditions?

“Still, however, even the good are sometimes affected by this inconsiderate zeal for righteousness, though we shall find that this excessive moroseness is more the result of pride and a false idea of sanctity than genuine sanctity itself and true zeal for it. Accordingly, those who are the most forward and, as it were, leaders in producing revolt from the Church have, for the most part, no other motive than to display their own superiority by despising all other men.

“Well and wisely therefore does Augustine say, 'Seeing that pious reason and the mode of ecclesiastical discipline ought specially to regard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, which the Apostle enjoins us to keep by bearing with one another ..., those bad sons who, not from hatred of other men’s iniquities but zeal for their own contentions, attempt altogether to draw away or at least to divide weak brethren ensnared by the glare of their name, while swollen with pride, stuffed with petulance, insidiously calumnious, and turbulently seditious, use the cloak of a rigorous severity that they may not seem devoid of the light of truth and pervert to sacrilegious schism and purposes of excision those things which are enjoined in the Holy Scriptures ... to correct a brother's faults by the appliance of a moderate cure' (August. Cont. Parmen. cap. i.).

“To the pious and placid [Augustine’s] advice is, mercifully to correct what they can and to bear patiently with what thou cannot correct in love lamenting and mourning until God either reform or correct or at the harvest root up the tares and scatter the chaff (Ibid. cap. ii.).

“Let all the godly study to provide themselves with these weapons, lest while they deem themselves strenuous and ardent defenders of righteousness they revolt from the kingdom of heaven which is the only kingdom of righteousness. For as God has been pleased that the communion of his Church shall be maintained in this external society, anyone who from hatred of the ungodly violates the bond of this society enters on a downward course, in which he incurs great danger of cutting himself off from the communion of saints.” [Section 16]

But isn’t the Church supposed to be holy?

“Since they also argue that there is good reason for the Church [to be] called holy, it is necessary to consider what the holiness is in which it excels lest by refusing to acknowledge any church, save one that is completely perfect, we leave no church at all.

“It is true indeed, as Paul says, that Christ 'loved the church, and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot, or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish' (Ephesians 5:25-27). Nevertheless, it is true, that the Lord is daily smoothing its wrinkles and wiping away its spots. Hence it follows that its holiness is not yet perfect. Such, then, is the holiness of the Church. It makes daily progress but is not yet perfect. It daily advances but as yet has not reached the goal ...” [Section 17]

Do the Scriptures give precedent for these ideas on separation?

“On this head Christ himself, his apostles, and almost all the prophets have furnished us with examples. Fearful are the descriptions in which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Habakkuk, and others deplore the diseases of the Church of Jerusalem. In the people, the rulers, and the priests corruption prevailed to such a degree that Isaiah hesitates not to liken Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:10). Religion was partly despised, partly adulterated, while in regard to morals we everywhere meet with accounts of theft, robbery, perfidy, murder, and similar crimes.

“The prophets, however, did not therefore either form new churches for themselves or erect new altars on which they might have separate sacrifices but, whatever their countrymen might be [and] reflecting that the Lord had deposited his word with them and instituted the ceremonies by which he was then worshipped, they stretched out pure hands to him though amid the company of the ungodly. Certainly had they thought that they thereby contracted any pollution, they would have died a hundred deaths sooner than suffered themselves to be dragged thither. Nothing, therefore, prevented them from separating themselves but a desire of preserving unity. But if the holy prophets felt no obligation to withdraw from the Church on account of the very numerous and heinous crimes, not of one or two individuals but almost of the whole people, we arrogate too much to ourselves if we presume forthwith to withdraw from the communion of the Church because the lives of all accord not with our judgment or even with the Christian profession.” [Section 18]

“Then what kind of age was that of Christ and the apostles? Yet neither could the desperate impiety of the Pharisees nor the dissolute licentiousness of manners which everywhere prevailed prevent them from using the same sacred rites with the people and meeting in one common temple for the public exercises of religion. And why so but just because they knew that those who joined in these sacred rites with a pure conscience were not at all polluted by the society of the wicked? If anyone is little moved by prophets and apostles, let him at least defer to the authority of Christ.” [Section 19]

Our New Chicken Coop

The family got the urge to keep chickens for eggs.  So I built a hen house and chicken run this past week using some store bought lumber and some scraps laying around.  Turned out fairly nice, but extremely heavy.  Hard to move, but my boys and one of the neighbor kids helped me drag it into place behind the garden.  It is not yet finished.  Need to cut more ventilation in the house, and probably will paint it red at some point. Since I built it without plans, it is basic but very sturdy.  I will probably modify it as I learn more about what will be best for the hens and convenient for us.

Inside the hen house, I built some nesting boxes in hopes that we will get some eggs. We only plan to keep hens.  Not interested in raising chicks right now, so no rooster.  Bought a couple of Barnevelder pullets and threw them into the coop, where they promptly made themselves at home. 

We will get a few more pullets this next week, and then I will probably post some more pics. Hope to have them ready to lay eggs by the middle of June. 

Why I Value My Legalistic Fundamentalist Upbringing

I left Independent Baptist Fundamentalism about 12 years ago.  Today I preach as often as I can against the legalism that I was exposed to when I was churched and educated within the movement.  I refuse to allow my own children to be exposed to that sort of legalism.  I would not wish fundamentalist legalism upon my worst enemy, so to speak. However, had I some magical ability to do it all again, I would not go back to change anything in my own upbringing.   The reason is that while Fundamentalism was desperately trying to make me more righteous and holy through strict applications of extrabiblical and unbiblical rules and regulations, it actually "shot itself in the foot."  Instead of making me more holy, Fundamentalism's rules revealed just how utterly incapable I am of holiness.  Through my struggle to achieve righteousness, I learned the extent of my own depravity.   

I value this because Fundamentalism unwittingly prepared me for the grace of the Gospel by beating me with the Law (or its version).    As I left Fundamentalism, I felt as if I had finally met Christ, had been truly saved, had begun swimming in grace for the first time in my life.  I now knew what it meant to live with Christ as my righteousness instead of me or others having to constantly endure either the weight of my failure or the arrogance of my success.

There are more biblical ways to learn about grace than through fundamentalist legalism.  The fact that learning about grace is its frequent result is no excuse to abuse either people or the Word of God.  But for me at least it was the Providence that gave me my own personal lessons about grace and, as the Law is a schoolmaster, eventually brought me to a more full understanding of Christ.    I would not change a thing for myself because my understanding of grace and the Gospel is profoundly influenced by my upbringing as a legalistic Fundamentalist.

It is an odd mix to preach against legalistic Fundamentalism and to be grateful for its role in my life all at once.  I think the paradox demonstrates the wisdom and sovereignty of God to use people in spite of themselves, like Cyrus was both judge and judged in the Providence of God.     

Turkey Season in West Virginia

Spring Turkey Season opened in West Virginia on April 25, 2011.  The first morning, I got to my spot before dawn and called in a couple of gobblers within the first hour.  The first stayed out of range.  The second saw me raise my shotgun and then took off.   I did not leave empty handed, however, as I stumbled upon a handful of mollymoochers on my way out of the woods.  

The second morning, Tuesday morning, I was making my way to my spot just as the sun was coming up, when I heard a gobbler ahead of me and over the ridge near the spot to which I was heading.  I stopped short of the ridge and headed around the ridge instead of over.  Before I broke around the ridge I heard him gobble loudly, revealing that he was heading my way.  He must have heard me climbing through the woods, because there was no need to call.  They do not mind noise as long as they imagine that it might be another turkey.  

I froze when I heard him again.  Dropped my gear and stood with gun to the ground.  When he came around the ridge in front of me, I waited for him to pass behind a tree, and then aimed at where he would reappear on the other side of the tree.  He poked his head out about 40 yards ahead of me.  Standing frozen on a steep hillside with a heavy shotgun aimed  at a fixed point is not easy, but is essential due to turkeys' immediate reaction to any movement whatsoever.  I waited for him to clear the tree and then fired.  

He rolled down the hillside, flapping violently, in a way that made me wonder if I would lose him.  West Virginia hillsides are very steep, and he could easily keep rolling toward the bottom if nothing stopped him.  I grabbed my gear, put my gun on safety and then ran downhill as fast as I possible could.  Had anyone seen me, I am sure they would never have imagined that I could have moved so quickly or easily through rough terrain.  I am sure it was a combination of both the adrenalin and my imagination that made my feat possible.  I caught up with him about 50 yards down the hillside.  

He weighed well over 20 pounds and is now situated neatly in my freezer.    Eager to do it all again. 

A Couple of Brief Hints for Better Reading Instruction

The following hints are distilled from the Academic Associates Reading Program

How to Sound Out Consonants 

    Some instructors teach children to sound out words awkwardly by adding a full “-uh” sound after consonants.   For example, bad is sounded out as BUH— Ă—DUH.  Unfortunately, adding vowel sounds during the sound-out process can delay fluent reading  for some children.  Instead, instructors should teach each consonant’s most briefly distinguishable sound. Instead of LUH for the letter L, teach only the LLLL- sound.   Instead of a voiced PUH, teach P using only the lips and a short, voiceless puff of air.  Lap becomes LLL—Ă—P-- instead of LUH— Ă —PUH.  Teach only the most essential sound of each consonant, and children will identify words more easily and read more quickly. 

How to Teach Consonant Blends 

    Some instructors make students memorize consonant blends from charts out of context.  For instance, Blah-Bleh-Blih-Bloh-Bluh.   Instead, teach separately the consonants that make only one sound each and then blend them each naturally as they occur in words.  Instead of isolated blends, simply teach the sounds of the individual consonants and help students say them sequentially. In the vast majority of cases, the sounds will blend into words naturally. Teachers can incorporate this method into whatever reading instruction program they are currently using and will save many frustrating hours each year as students make unprecedented progress.

Dealing with Bitterness in Preparation for Dealing with Conflict

Most people have enemies—people who stand or work against them, who are quick to point out and capitalize on their failures. These enemies are usually in a very bad place spiritually. They do not themselves have a grasp of biblical conflict resolution. They are often filled with pride, jealously, fear, or hate. Sometimes it is appropriate to avoid enemies. Sometimes, one cannot avoid enemies because they intentionally place themselves in the way. Sometimes, one must meet them head on.

Spiritually stunted enemies can have a devastating impact upon peace of mind. A strong need for justice is built into every human being. When we do not get justice, or when we feel as though we have been treated unjustly, unkindly, or even simply misunderstood, we can get very, very defensive. This defensiveness destroys the peace of the Gospel in our lives and stirs up turmoil and bitterness in our spirits. This bitterness can effectively take over and overcome good intentions, wise words, and godly actions. It can turn a situation with only one enemy into two enemies, dead-set upon destroying one another. If this battle does not come to pass in actual circumstances, it will at least be played out in the battlefield of the mind. Bitterness rehearses the injustices. It dwells upon them. It enjoys imagining ways to defeat the enemy. It tells others about the injustice, looking for confirmation and support. Bitterness desires to be justified and is very needy. It works hard to infect others, and destroy whatever good impressions others may have of the enemy. It preoccupies waking hours and keeps people up at night. It re-imagines the injustice, regretting brilliant unspoken retorts and planning what will be done and said when the same injustice rears its head again. Bitterness takes over the soul and destroys the peace of the Gospel that should rule in hearts. It takes root deeply and spreads through relationships like kudzu across a hillside.

Christians should be champions of justice. More often than not ignoring injustice under the pretense of peace creates fertile ground for bitterness. However, dealing with injustice while caught in the throes of bitterness often leads to more conflict. Therefore, resolving bitterness should probably precede the resolution of injustice. After all, if resolving bitterness depends solely upon the ability to resolve injustice, then bitterness will often go unresolved. Champions of justice though we should be, we cannot control other people. The simple fact is that, after all efforts to change enemies into friends have been exhausted, often and unfortunately they will remain enemies. It is good if the injustice can be resolved, but it is better if the bitterness is not dependent upon the resolution. It is best if the peace within you trumps the turmoil around you.

How does one prepare the heart to deal with injustice? How does one settle the spirit and restore peace and joy? How does one resolve bitterness prior to or even apart from the resolution of injustice? Three biblical points of meditation have been helpful to me:

1. Love your enemies. 
2. Leave vengeance to the Lord. 
3. Let Christ be your defense, whether you are right or wrong. 

These are not easy points to master. In fact, they are extremely difficult because our God-given sense of justice, warped by depravity, seeks to undermine them again and again. Nevertheless, God commands them, and they do not appear to be dependent upon whether or not justice has been achieved.

Love for enemies is a radical notion. Frankly, we do not even know how to love enemies. It is natural to hate enemies and to seek to destroy them. If we only love our neighbors, then we are no different from unbelievers, because it is normal for them to hate their enemies. Christians should be radically different from the world in that they are called to not only love those who are good to them but also those who use and abuse them. What does love for enemies look like? Frankly I do not always know. But I do know full well when I am hating my enemies.

Though love is much more than the absence of hate, I am quite sure that it at least starts with the absence of hate. And I am quite sure that love and hate cannot occupy the same heart space at the same time. They might alternate though. One could go back and forth between love and hate. Forgiveness is seldom something that needs to be given only once. Our depravity easily stirs up past bitterness and hatred, especially when we rehearse the injustices in our minds or remember them as we relate them to other people. Reaching a place of love for the same unjust enemies will probably need to be done again and again.

Vengeance is often subtle. It seldom involves breaking car windows and burning down houses. Instead, it more often involves a more rational retaliation. Vengeance seeks to destroy the spirit of the enemy, often through wars of words and one-upmanship. It celebrates when bad things happen to those we hate. It is smugly satisfied when others see our enemies as we see them. It views an enemy’s failure and demoralization as victory.

Leaving vengeance to the Lord leaves justice to the Lord and leaves us with the resolution of personal bitterness. It is ostensible to "leave vengeance to the Lord" while retaining a spirit of bitterness. To leave vengeance to God is to put the matter in God’s hands, to let him deal with the injustice as he sees fit and in his time, and to put away the desperate need for one’s own satisfaction. Leaving vengeance to God celebrates his justice by faith. Vengeance that is left to God alone leaves room for love instead of bitterness. How does one know if one has not truly left vengeance to the Lord? Probably if the thought of and hope for God’s vengeance still preoccupies a person. One knows when one has left vengeance to Lord when the need for vengeance no longer rules the heart and preoccupies the mind.

Letting Christ be your defense is a key to these first two points. In fact, all three are tightly interwoven. To accomplish the one without the others is probably not really to accomplish the one. But letting Christ be one’s defense is foundational.

Often, injustice is a personal affront. When personally attacked, we can be desperate in our own self-defense. This desperation, once again, does not represent the peace of the Gospel. It is anything but peaceful, like flailing for a life line in deep, swift water. To what do we look to defend ourselves from attack? To what do we look to protect us from danger? To what do we look to console us in a crisis? The answers to those questions tell us what we are relying upon for our peace, joy, satisfaction, and sense of self-worth. We may have some semblance of peace, joy, satisfaction, and self-worth if we get what we want in answer to those questions. But the real test occurs when we do not get what we want. If we do not get what we want, or have no ability to get those things, our peace, joy, satisfaction, and self-worth is destroyed, and we reveal that we are not letting Christ be our defense.

Christ as our defense is a part of the Gospel. We find all our value in Christ—all our peace, satisfaction, joy and self-worth. He has made us righteous. He has declared us to be perfect and accepted. Nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ; no act of man, no circumstance of injustice. We can have peace in spite of all that goes wrong around us as we learn to rest in Christ.

What is wonderful about this last point is that often enemies are enemies for good reason, that is, because of some failure on our part. Of course, enemies often respond in ways that are totally disproportionate to the offense, hence the injustice that still causes bitterness. However, the fact remains that we mess up and bring some things, at least in part, upon our own heads.

When Christ is our defense, we can deal with whatever results from our errors or sins. We can ask forgiveness and rest peacefully, even when enemies abuse instead of forgive. When Christ is truly our defense, we are not desperate to defend ourselves. Sometimes self-defense amounts to desperate rationalizations. We make lists of ways that the injustice was disproportionate. We might even rationalize our own sins and failures, comparing them to the injustice, and seek to justify them in some way. Or we may seek to hide them, perhaps going so far as to lie, all in the name of self-defense.

Resting our defense in Christ removes any need to do these things and allows us to own up to our weaknesses and failures, taking consequences without fear. When all is said and done, even if we are undone, we will still be complete in Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

As I said before, none of these three things comes easily. I find myself needing to spend much time in prayer and meditation upon God’s Word before I can even begin to grab hold of the nearest edge of these admonitions and truths. My own depravity fights against these things. But when praying to grab hold of them, there is a starting place that begins to bring them into reach. Paul says to forgive as the Lord forgave me. He says to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ forgave me. Christ leads us to pray for forgiveness just as we have forgiven others. Each of these compares God’s forgiveness of our own sins to our willingness or unwillingness to forgive others for theirs. The point is simply that there is no grievance that can be committed against us that we ourselves have not exceeded in magnitude and turpitude against God. We were at one time haters of God, dead in our trespasses and sins, gratifying our sinful cravings and following wicked desires and thoughts. We were deserving objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The starting point for meditation and prayer that moves these three points into our reach is a full consideration of how much we ourselves have been forgiven. There is no sin that has been committed against us that matches the sins we have already been forgiven through Christ. God was merciful to us; can we not find room to be merciful to others, no matter how great their wickedness toward us?

In the end, the injustices if our enemies will probably need to be handled in some way or another. Christians do not have to just roll over and play dead when they are wronged. However, Paul tells us to speak the truth in love. The author of Hebrews tells us to pursue peace with all men. We can deal with injustices in ways that do nothing to really deal with our sinful bitterness, or we can deal with bitterness in ways that prepare us to deal justly with the unjust. In the end, our peace must rest with Christ, who has been merciful to us when we did not deserve it.

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. . . .Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:25-32 

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Colossians 3:12-15 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:14-21 

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 

Movies I would Buy If I Bought Movies

I do not buy movies, because I think it is a waste of money.  But if I did, it would be the best compliment that I could give a movie.  It means that I enjoy a movie enough to want to watch again and again.  That is why, when I give my opinions of movies, I often use the following rubric:  Not worth watching, worth watching once, worth watching twice (once in theater and again at home), and worth buying.  I recently thought of trying to add another category called "forgot I already watched it," which would be the worst criticism you could give a movie. Not just implying that the movie was forgettable, but actually forgetting that I had watched it already says a lot about whether or not I enjoyed it.  So what movies would I purchase?   I can only think of a few off the top of my head, but I know there are many more.  If I cannot remember them now, I may be reminded of them when I am watching TV and find myself eagerly rewatching a movie that I have already seen many times before, not just out of  boredom, but out of delight.  What would you buy if you only bought your absolute favorite movies?

• The Sixth Sense
• Unbreakable
• Signs
• Serenity
• The Big Lebowski
• Fargo
• Alien
• Aliens
• The Incredibles

Liberal Guilt

I am always curious about mechanisms that explain unilateral, predictable behavior among political liberals and conservatives.  I do not view myself as either one, because I have massive problems with each.  But conservative behavior is more difficult for me to pinpoint.  I am quite sure that depravity is influencing most conservative political behavior and policy, just as I believe it is influencing liberal political behavior and policy.  I am also quite sure at the same time that common grace has its influence upon both as well.

But liberals seem a little easier to speculate about.  It seems to me that government programs  like medicare, medicaid,  health care,  welfare, etc.,  are viewed by so many as the primary means by which the poor should be cared for in this country.  One could easily see how the beneficiaries of these programs would  support these programs.  But what explains the unilateral support of these programs on the part of liberals?

Perhaps an analogy would be enlightening--I remember when I was on staff at a church for a couple of years in the early 2000's that the church gave its mercy ministry money, ie money intended to help people with heating bills, food, rent, etc, to a local clearing house agency, and would let them fool with the difficult task of evaluating needs.   People would call the church asking for assistance, and the standard response was to have them "call Such-and-Such charitable agency, because we support them and expect them to do this work for us."  When I began working there, I worked differently by becoming involved in people's lives, helping them work up budgets, talking them through problems, and when appropriate, giving them the Gospel.  I also asked the church for money to pass directly to people's needs rather than passing them off to an organization.  It just seemed to me that by using the charitable organization, we were passing off an important responsibility and opportunity.  It seemed to me that we were sort of saying to people who called, "Sorry, I gave at the office."  Our consciences were then salved, and we felt like we had done all that we needed to do.  A sort of legalistic love for our neighbors.

Could it be that support for government programs operates much the same way?  So many feel as if the poor are poor unjustly, and maybe they are in many cases.  But the solution to this guilt appears to be that  government agencies should handle the problem.  We pay taxes and support government agencies so that we can continue on with our lives, and our standard of living, while at the same time minimizing our contact with the poor, and feeling as if we have met their needs at the same time--a salve for the conscience.   Is it possible that sometimes this is the hidden, self-deceived motivation behind support for government assistance for the poor?  The liberal version of "I gave at the office?"

Is there any correlation between the statistical verity that liberals, who predominantly support the expansion of government assistance, tend to be less religious than conservatives?  Is there any debate about this?  Of course politically liberal Christians exist, but they are the exception rather than the rule.  Who will most likely take public stands against perceived Christian morals in society?  Political liberals or political conservatives?   Is there a also a correlation with regard to support for government assistance programs?

Note that I am not saying that we should not help the poor. I do in fact believe that we should.  I question though whether the government is the best solution to the problem of our guilt for the injustice of poverty.  It seems to me that the Christian solution would be to have much more direct involvement with the poor rather than merely rely upon government to perform our responsibilities for us.

Thoughts in flux--which means that they are subject to change.