Nuts and Bolts

The last few weeks have been an animal fest around my house.  First my two cats now banished to the outdoors have decreased the rabbit population throughout the summer by bringing carcasses of rabbit, birds and moles to my door every morning. 
Our gray squirrel affectionately known as “Texas”
has returned once again ignoring the corn I put on the squirrel feeder choosing rather to eat the bird food from the kids playhouse.  Here he is in action.

I put out cat food on our front porch only to find it is empty every morning.  We seem to be feeding a raccoon.  Our cats themselves about became dinner the other night.  For several weeks in the evening I have heard the most eerie sounds coming from my neighbors flower garden.  One night recently I was out on my back patio in the dead of night, and I heard this scream near my yard.  Fortunately, I had a fence between me and the creature.  I saw it move into the streetlight, and my cats went scrambling.  It was a fox lurking about, and I have sense spotted four.  Here is an audio version of what I encountered.

So the glorious food chain.  Squirrels eat bird food, while birds are eaten by my cats probably because the raccoon eats their food, and a fox desires to have my cats for supper. 
In other animal news, I recently watched the movie Secretariat because I secretly aspire to be a cowboy, and my father was a tremendous horseman.  My dad loved Secretariat.  I always wanted to take my father to Secretariat’s grave.  My dad often told me about the year the greatest horse won the Triple Crown.  It was a year before I was born.  My dad, like most Americans, watched this race on television.  This Belmont Race was and still is the greatest race and record by any horse in the history of competition.  Having known this I watched the movie which was similar to “Seabiscut” so it was a bit of a disappointment.  While there were inspirational moments, the real downer for me was the movie’s coverage of the Belmont particularly the scene when Secretariat pulls away, the movie played this stupid “O Happy Day” with voice over of a poem of Job thus neglecting one of the greatest moments (besides the horse) of the race, the play by play.  You can listen to the announcer in real time here:

While the audio is horrible, you can get the feel of what of the greatest play by play in sport’s history (with the possible exception of Al Michael’s Miracle).  “Here comes Secretariat blazin’…” is epic.  Sadly the movie was virtually ruined because of inauthentic commentary and music.  I can only guess the producers did it because they felt the real audio was not quality. 

KIDS NOTES

WHAT I AM READING

Thomas Cranmer is probably most famous for giving the church “The Book of Common Prayer” and many of these collects come from that source.  This is a collection of prayers (and commentaries) that follow the church calendar year beginning with advent.  There is one for each Sunday as well as some holy days.  This is a good resource for pastors and worship leaders who want to frame prayers in public worship.  It can be a good devotional guide as well though I found the editoral comments rather distracting. 

THERE ALWAYS WILL BE GOD

“They cannot shell His temple nor dynamite His throne; they cannot bomb His city, nor rob Him of His own.  They cannot take Him captive, nor strike Him dumb or blind, nor starve Him to surrender, nor make Him change His mind.  They cannot cause Him panic, nor cut off His supplies; they cannot take His kingdom nor hurt Him with their lies.  Though all the world be shattered, His truth remains the same, His righteous laws still potent, and Father’s still His name.  Though we face war and struggle, and feel their goad and rod, we know above confusion there always will be God.”                  

JOHN CALVIN ON CHRIST’S POWER

“When our minds rise to a confident anticipation of righteousness, salvation, and glory, let us turn them to Christ.  We still lie under the power of death; but he, raised from the dead by heavenly power, has the dominion of life.  We labor under the bondage of sin, and, surrounded by endless vexations, are engaged in a hard warfare, but he, sitting at the right hand of the Father, exercises the highest government in heaven and earth, and triumphs gloriously above the enemies whom he has subdued and vanquished.  We lie here mean and despised; but to him has been “given a name”, which angels and men regard with reverence, and devils and wicked men with dread.  We are pressed down here by the scantiness of all our comforts: but he has been appointed by the Father to be the sole dispenser of all blessings.  For these reasons, we will find our advantage in directing our views to Christ, that in him, as in a mirror, we may see the glorious treasures of Divine grace, and the unmeasurable greatness of that power, which has not yet been manifested in ourselves.”

To The Garden We Go...

Like everyone else, I am trudging through the dog days of summer.  Gardening is funny.  My okra is doing nothing; my tomatoes are just now starting to blossom out.  However, our garden has exploded with a cucumber crop.  Here is Noah retrieving one.

Here are some small petunias that I always put in an old washtub so that they always have a source of water (in the bottom).  I have a pair in the front of the house.  They actually look better than this picture displays.

I am always updating something to the yard.  One of my new creations is a line from the kids tower to the kids playhouse.  This enables them to send mail to each other.  Occasionally, when the weather is nice they like me to send up lunch.  Each end I have enabled pulley’s so that a child can operate it from either end.  I mentioned to Anita that if the economy gets any worse, we can also use it for a clothes line.  She didn’t warm up to that idea, and the neighbors probably wouldn’t either.

SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

“The cross of our Christ, upon which He was extended, points in the breadth of it to former and following ages, his being equally salvation to both, and in the length of it to heaven and earth, reconciling them together.” 

Update on Southern

Why get my PhD?  I am often asked that by people.  I was asked that by the committee that interviewed me to get into the program.  I am often asked that by nervous church members that think I am going to fatten my resume and leave into the sunset.  It is true that a guy needs to count the cost before he does this.  It is the most intense academic work ever.  There is never a break…NEVER!  You have to log about two hours a night (on the average I spend anywhere between 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on PhD work).  Your ministry and family patterns have to catch…THEY HAVE TO.  I haven’t gone on a vacation in I don’t how many years.  So why?
         1. Personal edification.
Anything that causes me to grow in Christlikeness is for my good.  If I had not been involved in this PhD process, there would be some material I would never have delved into, and I would have been weaker for it.  I can honestly say with a view toward being like Jesus is great motivation for these studies. 
         2.  Pastoral fruitfulness.
I will not go into all the reasons (for there are many) but being involved in this intense academic pursuit does refine your abilities and gifts as a pastor particularly in writing which I need much assistance. 
          3.Ministry expansion.
Already being involved in this PhD process has “opened doors” for more opportunities to use my gifts both in teaching and in writing.  With that comes more exposure for my ministry at Calvary thus giving me more opportunity to preach to others the gospel.   
In all it has been a great task thus far.  I still wake up and can’t believe that I was chosen to be a part of this pursuit, but I thank God for the opportunity. 

WILLIAM TEMPLE

According to Archbishop William Temple, the Christian faith is the most materialistic religion in the world because it made matter sacramental. 
He did have a point.  God made human bodies at creation, He took on a body at the incarnation, He suffered with one at the crucifixion, and He raised it at the resurrection.  Human bodies are not unimportant to God.  They matter so much to Him that He raises them.  In the Apostles Creed we joyfully confess, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”  Disembodied souls are not part of the Christian hope; new, spiritual, perfect, but nevertheless real bodies are (Matthew 22:33-43; Luke 24:39; John 20:19-29; 1 Corinthians 15). 

AUGUSTINE ON THE DEATH OF CHRIST

“He died because it was expedient that by His death He might kill death.  God died that an exchange might be affected by a kind of heavenly contract, that man might not see death…what an exchange!”

Nuts and Bolts

We do live in a backwards culture.  One of my angst is the absence of true manhood in culture, home and sadly the church.  The recent and sad episode with Anthony Weiner is proof of this slipping.  Not only do we have the obvious a man unfaithful to his wife, asking people to lie for him, and leaving his position disgraced yet well paid.  The aftermath of this unfortunate tragedy is once again reminder (if we needed it) how desperately we need real men to rise up.  The following article opines that the real problem for Mrs. Weiner is that she married a handsome man.  And as everybody knows (at least they do) handsome men can’t be trusted.


To balance this crazy logic, we have a website dedicated only to handsome people.  Ugly people need not apply.

THE DOCTOR AND THE GOSPEL

At least one element of our lives that should never be outdated and can never be under-prioritized is the gospel, both living and proclaiming it.  Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones’ presents us with five foundational principles in evangelism.  I have referred to them over and over again in my own life.  I believe they have their origins in Scripture, and because of this they liberate us to do work of the gospel rightly.  They are as follows:

1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify and enjoy God, not to save souls.
2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own strength.
3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works is the Scriptures; therefore, we “reason out of the Scriptures” like Paul did.
4. The true motivation for evangelism is a passion for God and a compassion for souls.

There is a constant danger of heresy through false passion and employment of unscriptural methods.

May we remember these wise principles and live them out to the lost. 

SPURGEON ON THE SUFFERING OF JESUS

You shall measure the height of his love, if it be ever measured, by the depth of his grief, if that can ever be known? See with what a price he hath redeemed us from the curse of the law! As you see this, say to yourselves: What manner of people ought we to be! What measure of love ought we to return to one who bore the utmost penalty, that we might be delivered from the wrath to come? 

JOHN PIGGOTT SERMON

I recently read a portion of Baptist preacher John Piggott (died 1713) on corporation for the gospel.  Even though it was preached and written over 300 years ago, it still lives.  Here is a portion of Piggott’s remarks.

“It is not possible that we should concur exactly in all the same opinions for one Christian to censure and condemn another merely because he cannot agree with him in small or indifferent things, is as unreasonable as for one man to quarrel with the rest of the world, because they have not his features and complexion.” 

At a time when people hop, skip, and jump all over churches for the most peripheral of reasons, may we heed these words.  

To The Garden We Go!

I grow an abundance of pansies in the spring, by the middle of the summer they look dreadful.  I have learned to actually purchase them in the fall, and if they live through the winter, they actually double their size by the next spring.  I don’t think these babies have much life left.

In terms of vegetation, we have been harvesting zucchini and squash although of late they have tapered off I guess to the extreme heat.  And my tomatoes while the plants look good are putting out a little bit of fruit so that has me worried.  Here is a picture of one of the zucchinis we have harvested.  It is a striped variety which I have never grown.  They are planted in washtubs, and have a decent taste though I prefer the yellow crookneck squash. 

As to construction, I am always adding something to the outside garden.  This year I added an old school bell that I took from my parent’s place.  Here it is attached.  I should have muffled the sound because it is really loud.  But my neighbors don’t seem to mind.  Here is the bell from the back of the playhouse.  Eventually I will put a roof over it. 

Emma is giving it a whirl.  The kids have to stand on the top level of the tower to really get the sound going. 

Church Signs

I admit for a personal perspective I detest our church sign.  Not only is in ancient (I think we got it from Noah’s kindling from the ark), it is poorly placed (trees hide it most of the year), and half the time it does not light up.  Now that I got that off my chest, here are some of my favorite church sign titles. 

Update on Southern

This past May when I delivered a paper at Southern I was later approached by Dr. Michael Haykin to co-author a book with him on the subject matter that I presented.  I will not “let the cat out of the bag” completely, but activity is in the works, and really out of my hands.  I sent him an update version of the paper in what should be the main body of the book.  He will write the introduction.  Needless to say I am pretty excited, humbled and grateful.  He wants to pitch it to a pretty substantial publisher so I am hoping I will hear something by the end of the summer.  Keep this in prayer. 

What I am Reading

The Dynamics of Spiritual Life by Richard Lovelace is a modern day standard of the subject of spirituality as it relates to genuine revival.  Lovelace who often will parallel “renewal” with revival divides his book into several sections that are extremely helpful and edifying.  The first part of the book deals with certain preconditions of revival that we see reflected in Scripture and therefore we understand revival is a work of God that man cannot manufacture.  The second division of the book highlights the primary elements we will discover during times of revival, and the final section emphasizes secondary matters related to revival.  Lovelace combines biblical exegesis, historical examples and contemporary matters in this work.  The book is worth obtaining particularly for one who has an interest in genuine revival.

BATTLE HYMN OF REPUBLIC

We go back to the vault to celebrate our Independence, Stryper style.

JOHN ADAMS AND INDEPENDENCE DAY

I have such appreciation for our founder fathers.  I like so many of you am a lover of history, but particularly the colonial period has always been a fascination with me.  Granted these men were not perfect, in fact, there was downright hostility in some relationships, but these were men of honor with God and country in a way that is foreign to many today. 

One such father is John Adams who has been maligned and caricatured in modern times.  David McCullough’s biography of Adams is masterful.  Despite his flaws both true and false, he like so many of the fathers was a visionary.  When contemplating our Declaration of Independence Adams had a premonition:

“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. -- I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. -- Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even though We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

He wrote this letter to his wife Abigail believing that the Declaration of Independence would be signed on July 2, 1776 rather than July 4, 1776.  Despite his error in dates, he makes up for it not only in his prediction of celebration but in his praise of human labor and Providence to cherish for what it stands for.   

Years later while assisting on the draft of the Constitution Adams opined:

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people...it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Nuts and Bolts

There are always nutty events happening in our world.  Sad to say often they are real.  For instance, the following article reports that there is a facebook page construct by two Brits about the proper way of recycling trash.  They actually go into people’s homes and video tape the “right way” of disposing garbage.  I suppose if someone doesn’t do it correctly they are turned over to law enforcement. 

Another sad but goofy sign of the times, was when the California school district canceled a fundraiser after bricks had Scripture embedded on them.