1/31/2016
#170 HE MADE THE STARS ALSO
GOAFS II: #170
HE MADE THE STARS
ALSO
JANUARY 31, 2016
On Sunday, January 24, I came across the
Comics section of the Lexington Herald Leader—it is the first time I have seen
it in at least 10 years. It reminded me of an experience I had 34 years ago.
A caveat is in order: My memory of the details of the story of
the connection is not complete—but the essential point of the story is still
crystal clear in my mind.
When my youngest son was about 14 we were living in Atlanta.
Stan Mooneyham, President of World Vision International, flew into town. My
wife Joan, Jason and I picked him up at the airport in the early afternoon and
took him to the motel. He had come from somewhere half-way around the world and
needed a good night’s rest before we took him up to a conference facility in
North Carolina. His plane had been an hour late and Jason, having seen the
drinks vendor on the way to the room was making rumbles about being thirsty. I
tried to put him off but Stan was having none of it—he went down to the
machine, got a Coke and a bucket of ice, and returned to serve Jason his
“desperately needed cold drink” in style.
The next morning we picked Stan up and took him to his
speaking engagement up north. Betty Elliot was on the program as well. Stan
went his own way and we stayed to hear Betty’s first session. I had read all of
her books but to Jason it was all new and fascinating. He was spellbound for
two hours. This didn’t surprise me because, although he didn’t have much
patience or use for youth ministers, he was often interested in grown-ups with
something worthwhile to say.
At any rate, today I can recall only one brief segment of
Betty’s talk. It was the story of how she ended up at Wheaton College where she
met Jim Elliot, the man she would eventually marry, travel to Ecuador with in
an attempt to bring the Gospel to the Aucas, and lose to their spears along
with his three fellow missionaries.
But the point I’m working up to is the experience Betty had at
Harvard that led her to Wheaton. She had been considering colleges and had
decided to read the Bible cover to cover. When she arrived at Genesis 1.16, she
read this:
Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the
lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
This was on the fourth day of a pretty grand creation project
and it seemed to her that God had tossed in this last bit of information as a
sort of afterthought. She knew something of the cosmos, the stars, and the
greatness of the creation and she decided she wanted to really study the Bible,
the Creator’s revelation.
Harvard was handy so she took her Bible to their library and
inquired about a possible course she could audit on the Book. The librarian
told her they had a course on Religions where they discussed the Bible but if
she really wanted to understand the Bible, she said, “There is a college in the
Midwest that not only has courses on this Book but they actually believe what
it says.”
Betty Howard went to Wheaton and from there the story unfolded
in incredible ways.
So, why did I remember this event, 34 years ago, this morning when
I saw Pickles? I guess it just reminded me that things don’t change very much.
Today there are a few people who with the Psalmist of old say:
“When I consider Your
heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars,
which You have ordained,
What is man that You are
mindful of him,
And the son of man that
You visit him?”
Psalm 8.3-4
And there are the masses
yearning to be free tightly bound to a little machine they carry around in
their pockets, that insists on mediating any “consideration” of the stars on
its own terms and within its own limitations.
I understand that the
cell phone has its good uses and clear benefits, but it also has a way of
getting between people and reality…it becomes a “friend who sticks closer than
a brother,” (Proverbs 18.24) and insists on defining and mediating all of life. It is
quite possible we will see the ability to speak atrophying in future
generations coming up with no other way to communicate to others than by texting.
This is not good.
Jerry Sweers
GROWING OLD
AIN’T FOR SISSIES
Sailing directions for Pilgrims of the Heart.
Remembrances, reflections and rants
of an endangered species;
Curmudgensis Americanus
Bibliophilius
site: crmudgeon.blogspot.com
1/23/2016
THE HUMILIATION OF THE WORD
GOAFS II: #169
THE HUMILIATION OF
THE WORD
JANUARY 17, 2016
The secular nation state is no friend of
grace. Periodically professional atheists and hyper-sensitive progressive
liberals periodically make fuss about the display of the Ten Commandments on
government property. I wrote this poem back when the issue was being hotly
debated once more--I think some of the fuss is still in the court system.
Needless to say, the Herald Leader didn’t
choose to print my poem in the opinion section. But this poem addresses the
spirit of the age of relativism that presently slouches towards a socialist
utopia in America.
++++++++++
ON POSTING THE DECALOGUE IN
PUBLIC PLACES
Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass supports
removal
of Ten Commandments from county
courthouse
Headline--Lexington Herald-Leader, Circa 2.2003
TO THE
INTERFAITH ALLIANCE OF THE BLUEGRASS,
The ACLU, all
Liberal Humanist Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing,
and all
Cultured Despisers of the faith of our fathers.
Who
are these thoughtful Reverends, the Hims and Hers
That
play Conductor on a train God must have missed
Somewhere
back along the Mainline?
And
who are these reasonable Rabbis, to whom belong
The
Adoption as Sons, the Glory, the Covenants,
The
giving of the Law, the Temple Service and the Promises?
How
is it these make common cause with the Reverends,
Denying
together their Creator His rightful place
In
the affairs of His creatures?
They
are like a race of pygmies, composing hymns
To
the gods of Diversity, Multiculturalism, Tolerance and
Sensitivity. They dance in the light
Of
a blazing equatorial sun at high noon,
Waving
small candles to show them the way
Out
of their darkness. They multiply candles,
And
Candle Sticks, and hoard Waterproof Matches --
And
think that quantity will make up for
The
shoddy goods they peddle at a loss.
They
crowd into boats of paper machè ````
And
float slowly downstream,
Singing
their inclusive hymns,
Reciting
their bloodless liturgies,
Busily
writing their critical essays about
The
few boats they see making headway upstream.
They
forget that any dead thing
Can
drift with the current –
It
takes life to go against the flow.
All
the while the Son immerses them
In
blinding light as they tend flickering candles,
Thinking
to dispel their gloom.
In
three generations these Reverends and Rabbis
Have
let things slip from Christian to Post-Christian
To
Pagan to Barbarian. They seek,
With
the noble Paganism of Aristotle,
To
hold off the Barbarian hordes,
To
recapture the blessings of Rational Virtue.
But
the Barbarian is blind to their candles,
Unimpressed
by their critiques,
Unchecked
by their collective initiatives.
The
Barbarian is too busy
Offering
his children, if he has any,
To
Mammon, the god who gets things done,
And
to the bloody mercies of the goddess Choice,
Both
sorry deities borrowed from the pantheon of fools.
But
the Barbarian will yield only to Transcendence,
A
thing for which the mythology of Pygmies has no word
And
with which its prophets have no patience…
How
long will it be until a Word from the Lord
Will
be welcome in the land
Where
almost every man does
What
is right in his own eyes,
And
there is no god but the
Autonomous
Self ?
2/03 js
I need to say a few more words about this. On
the one hand, I believe that conservative Christians should not simply abandon
the Public Square to the secularists and atheists. But on the other hand, I
believe that we should not count on calling the country back to the “Faith of
our founding fathers” to deliver us from the mess we are in.
I was recently given a book by a friend who
was mightily impressed by it and I suspect that friend is one of very many who
think mixing politics with religion will enable America to “Become Great Again!”
I took a good look at the book, and here is
what I said to this friend:
Re: GOD IN OUR GOVERNMENT
By Richard Saccone
I have looked this book over and will put some
of my observations in this brief note.
1. I
agree with the last paragraph on the back:
“There has never been a greater need than today for our people to hear
the truth of our Godly heritage. There has never been a greater need than today
for our people to hear that truth reaffirmed by their leaders.”
2. The
author’s credentials are impressive and he has presented his materials in a
well organized way. He writes clearly and well. I would guess you might find
this book in the curriculum of many home school programs.
3.
This being said, I do not think that informing and educating Americans
of these things will solve the problem. We have long been on the slippery slope
of the secular culture. The Church has, at best, failed to confront the enemy,
at worst, joined the enemy.The solution to this problem is not education—it is
revival, a revival that in, the simplest terms, is spelled out in The Message
paraphrase of Eccclesiastes 12.12-14:
“There’s no end to the
publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for
anything else. The last and final word is this:
Fear God.
Do what he tells you.
And that’s it.
Eventually God will
bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its
hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.”
Those who are interested in these things
should buy and read the book only if they intend to listen closely for God’s
marching orders specifically to them in the reading and obey Him.
Richard
John Neuhaus summed it up pretty well: “America is a nation under God, but not
even at its best is it God’s nation.” He died in 2009 and even then the motto
had changed from “One nation under God” and what he said reflects that sad
reality.
Jerry Sweers
GROWING OLD
AIN’T FOR SISSIES
Sailing directions for Pilgrims of the Heart.
Remembrances, reflections and rants
of an endangered species;
Curmudgensis Americanus
Bibliophilius
site: crmudgeon.blogspot.com
1/10/2016
COUNTING BLESSINGS
GOAFS II: #168
COUNTING BLESSINGS
JANUARY 10, 2016
A few days ago I finished a book my Grandson
Connor lent to me—he thought I might appreciate it. The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected, by Nik
Ripken and Gregg Lewis. The blurb in Amazon describes it:
The
Insanity of God is the personal and
lifelong journey of an ordinary couple from rural Kentucky who thought they
were going on just your ordinary missionary pilgrimage, but discovered it would
be anything but. After spending over six hard years doing relief work in
Somalia, and experiencing life where it looked like God had turned away
completely and He was clueless about the tragedies of life, the couple had a
crisis of faith and left Africa asking God, "Does the gospel work anywhere
when it is really a hard place? It sure didn't work in Somalia.
Nik and his wife went to Africa to fulfill
The Great Commission. They found a place of inexpressible poverty of
everything, and of intense Islamic hostility to Christianity. This young couple
helped many thousands of the terribly needy in many ways. They built a large,
effective Christian relief and development organization from scratch in their
little home. But found virtually no Christian believers there and the very
small number of converts were immediately driven out or killed if they refused
to renounce their Christian faith.
When they were thrown out of Somalia, they
came home worn out and burned out. During a time of rest and healing they were
loved back to life by many friends. At that point they developed a plan to
visit many of the nations with authoritarian anti-Christian governments and try
to learn how followers of Jesus survive in these hard places. It is a long and
fascinating story—get the book—but I want to mention one thing I learned.
In China Nik found a vast, flourishing,
rapidly expanding house church movement. Through contacts in America he
arranged meetings in various cities with the leaders of some of these churches.
As he traveled from place to place with some of these leaders and a few newer
converts, he found some eager to be interviewed by him who were not allowed to
do so by the leaders.
When he asked why, the leaders explained
that the government was hostile to Christianity and particularly sensitive to
followers of Jesus meeting in groups of any kind. The house church leaders
restricted the size of every church. When a church grew to 30 total members, a
new one was automatically begun. This usually didn’t take long.
A group of 30 could meet without a special
building, move around, and keep their heads down with a minimum risk of being
noticed. There were occasional larger group meetings for training new pastors,
but they were very risky.
The standard penalty for coming to the
attention of the Chinese government was three years in prison on short rations,
hard work, and regular beatings. The church leaders called this “Seminary” and
no one could lead a house church who had not been to “Seminary” and no one who
had not been to seminary was allowed to speak with foreigners about the house
churches.
While I was reading this book, was reading
some of my favorite Scriptures while doing my daily 30 minutes on the exercise
bike. One passage was the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.. I will reprint Gene
Petersen’s paraphrase in The Message
below. Put yourself in the shoes of the Chinese Christians and read it
thoughtfully.
5 1-2 When
Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who
were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet
place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less
of you there is more of God and his rule.
4 “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to
you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
5 “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no
more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything
that can’t be bought.
6 “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God.
He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
7 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being
‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
8 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and
heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
9 “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate
instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and
your place in God’s family.
10 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes
persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.
11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put
you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it
means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.
You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t
like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good
company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of
trouble.”
====================
This paraphrase brings a
different perspective-- true to the text and helpful to pilgrims of the
heavenly way. Like many of the things Jesus said—it turns the world upside down
and inside out. Looking back over 2015, I
find I can recognize most of the Beatitudes at work in my life. I have asked
myself—“have I recognized these gifts of His abundant grace as blessings and
thanked him for them? It is a worthwhile exercise.
This leaves me with two
things to say, then I will be done.
1. God has blessed me
richly in this past year in many of these ways—and all of these blessings have
been accompanied by some measure of pain. Pain is not what praying American Christians
seek who pray to be blessed—they tend to pray more like Jabez. Back in 2001 I
waxed poetic about the Jabez prayer at the height of the craze:
THE
PRAYER OF JABEZ
1 Chronicles 4.10
While
walking through the bible
And
wondering what comes next,
Good
Brother Bruce was taken
With
a wondrous simple text.
Buried
in a list of names,
The
sons of Judah old,
He
found a simple farmer
And
his prayer both brave and bold.
Jabez
called upon the God
Of
Israel in this way:
“Bless
me indeed in all of my need,
And
enlarge the size of my land;
In
all that I do give me great gains
And
save me from all of
Life’s
most hurtful pains.”
Things
must have been slow
In
Heaven that day
For
God granted Jabez
His
every request.
As
far as we know
Ole
Jabez became
A
farmer of fame
With
a prominent name
Whose
family had all of the best.
Brother
Bruce wrote down Jabez
In
a cute little book.
And
all at once Jabez
Is
everywhere you look.
Like
Old Nick, he is ubiquitous,
His
prayer on every lip;
It
almost seems iniquitous,
A
“sold-out Jabez” trip.
Hear
collective Christendom
Chanting
the Jabez prayer –
See
them seeking money
Dropped
in a parking lot,
Or
ringing up their brokers
To
see if the market is hot.
To
pray the prayer of Jabez
Until
you’re out of breath,
Has
the sticky feel of magic
And
the sour smell of death.
4/01
js
2. Verses 10 above, persecution provoked by my commitment to God,
is a blessing I have not experienced, ever. I am thankful for the measure of
religious freedom we still have in America but it is shrinking every day and I
am praying that when this blessing does come, I will be ready for it, see it
for what it is, and praise God for his grace. I think verses 11-12 are added in
recognition of this reality as an encouragement to hang in there when the going
gets really tough—and it eventually will, even in America.
Have a truly blessed new
year in every sense of the Word.
Jerry Sweers
GROWING OLD
AIN’T FOR SISSIES
Sailing directions for Pilgrims of the Heart.
Remembrances, reflections and rants
of an endangered species;
Curmudgensis Americanus
Bibliophilius
site: crmudgeon.blogspot.com
