A Father's Tribute

I suppose every boy remembers the days when he dreamed of being the hero. Whether it is the blanket and safety pin used to make the cape, or the front yard where the World Series was won numerous times by one swing of the bat. Every boy wants to be the hero.

There is something inspiring about wanting to be the cowboy who rescues the lady from the villain; or the knight who comes to the aid of the fair maiden; or the superhero who rescues the lady from the clutches of the villain. Every boy wants to be the hero.

I am not too sure the boy ever outgrows wanting to be hero. The boy may one day become a man, but he still wants to be the hero. The cape may become tattered and the baseball fantasies fade into oblivion. But he still wants to be the hero.

For most of us, heroics are not borne on a World Series size platform. Heroic credentials are not given through death-defying feats of superhuman strength. There are no spotlights and television crews as he receives his reward and recognition.  

Rather, a hero receives his credentials as he does the daily grind of being a father to his children.

 For me, that begun 23 years ago today. Not with an earthshattering event where I swept in to save the moment. But by simply being the first one to cradle a little girl in my arms.

Today, my mind is filled with memories of holding her hand while she received stiches following a skating accident. I had the privilege of quieting her cry as she suffered from yet another ear infection. I was the hug she desired when that boy broke her heart. We wept together following the death of my father – her Pappy. None of these contained spectacular moments of death-defying feats where buildings were leaped and bullets were stopped. Nonetheless, when the eyes of my little girl captured mine, hers were written with the words “you are my hero.”

So you can keep your mask. I don’t need an ‘S’ on my chest. I no longer desire webs to shoot out of my wrists or a bullet proof car. I have been a hero. Her eyes have confirmed it.

Kendall, today you turn 23. You are going to work, pursuing your nursing degree, and planning your wedding. Your love for the Lord is an example for all to follow. Your beauty and grace encourage all who are around you. Your smile is infectious. My little girl has become a beautiful young lady. I couldn’t be more proud.   

So you keep pressing on. Keep running the race. My coming to the rescue may be less needed now than before. You no longer have dolls to fix or berets that need to be reshaped with a pair of needle-nose pliers. The training wheels have been removed from the bicycle and you can get your own bowl out of the cabinet. But just so you know, I will keep my cape close – just in case you ever need a hero.

Happy birthday baby girl. 

Unholiness and the Silence of God

For close to two years the Lord has been dealing in my heart about a return to the pursuit of holiness and the lack thereof in the life of Christians on the grand scale. Infighting, divisions, gossiping, slander, and power struggles are all fruits that reveal a root that could not be tapped for the commodity of holiness. Just as a diseased root is a silent creeper that quietly kills a tree, so our unholy root will eventually be the death of many churches and denominations.

As people clamor for more relevance in a younger generation and lament the loss of fellowship in the older, the personal calling we have been given to pursuing holiness has given way to the voice of those crying about the sky falling on our churches for a void of relevance. Seminars are offered, sermons are preached, lessons are taught, all for the purpose of seeking to revive that which has yet to have even had life.

Prayer has become a good luck charm seeking a material blessing instead of a holy pleading for the presence of God. Ministries have become territories to be protected instead of lives to be shared. As we gain more stuff we lose our sense of the God who in His nearness is quite distant (Jeremiah 23:23-34).

Recent days have seen a practice of ‘sex-talk’ from the pulpit in order to captivate a younger audience. Preacher’s have shed “holy jargon” and adopted “street talk” so that seekers can understand – all in an effort to get more to attend. Church divisions are at an all time high. Music wars (of whom both the young and the old are guilty) continue to rule the day and a generational clash of epoch proportion looms large at the intersection of yesteryear and tomorrow. All the while we fail to notice the One who is not present during our worship, a sure indicator of self-worship as opposed to God-worship, for worship can only occur if the One worshiped is the One known (John 4:21-24).

I suppose there are many reasons why this has occurred. I will mention two. First, the Pastor has become more interested in filling the Fellowship Hall with chatter instead of filling the Pulpit with vigor. He has abandoned the desk in the study for the coffee table in the living room, and in doing so, has allowed his heart to grow quite timid in the face of opposition instead of being flamed with passion and courage that is ignited by prayer and Scripture.

Second, the congregation has come to enjoy the desserts of the sweet anecdotes of therapy and abhor the main course of the exposition of Scripture. Therefore our churches have become quite obese and lazy instead of being equipped to run the race of ministry. That is both the fault of the one serving the meal and the one demanding the meal.

When a pursuit of holiness is regained and the root is restored to health, we will see the restored root through a healthy fruit. No longer will the 15 minutes between Bible Study and Worship be filled with complaining and lamenting, but there will be an awesome sense of the presence of God. When God is present in our worship, there will be a profound sense of the Holy One. In His presence, chatter will be stopped, gossip will be rejected, the sinner will feel quite uncomfortable, and the saved will still be awed. God often captures the attention of the masses not by a booming voice, but by His silence. Perhaps His silence is our lecture.

His is often a still-small voice that cannot be heard over the chatter of the mocker. Why does God use a still small voice with His children? So they will be close enough to hear. Where the voice of God is not heard, there is an indication of the distance between the mouth of God and the ear of a man. Whose voice will you seek this Sunday will determine whose voice you hear. My sheep hear my voice (John 10:27). Holiness is not so much of a practice, as it is an awareness of a presence: His.

A Note from a Proud Father

God has blessed me beyond anything I have ever deserved. I have two beautiful girls and a beautiful wife. Though each one of them deserves special recognition, I had the honor of writing the following piece as my youngest daughter was recognized on "Ring Day" for her advancement to the Senior Class. These are the thoughts of a proud mother, father, and sissy of an ornery little girl who has grown to a beautiful young lady.

As is eluded to below, Lauren was born with an illness that almost took her life. By the grace of God and some amazing circumstances that only He could work out, her life was spared. For the first few years of her life there was concern whether or not she would ever walk. Last night her team won their first playoff softball game of the year. She's a pretty good catcher for a girl who was not supposed to walk!

My wife chose a ring for her that was a ribbon that has been formed into a cross. My thoughts on that are below.

-----------------

Lauren,

There are no words to express the depths of gratitude that we feel for God’s favor upon us by allowing us to be your parents. Your strength, tenacity, and diligence have shone through in every area of your life.

Told as an infant that your continued life was questionable, you began a battle that you have fought for the entirety of your life. Told as a young toddler that you would never walk, you defied the odds and taught yourself to walk, even against doctor’s orders.

You have battled against disease, difficulties, and disappointments. In doing so, you have developed an infectious personality that does not know how to quit. You have grown to a young lady of beauty, admired by all. You have become a champion on the field because you have been a warrior in your heart. Indeed, the words of Romans 8:37 have often been poured into your life, and they have become true: In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

It is because of this tenacious and conquering spirit that we give our beautiful young lady this ring. The Eternal Ribbon Cross Ring is given to you because your life has become bound up in the Cross of our Savior. This ring symbolizes that you are a ribbon of beauty who has been joined to Christ for eternity because of His love for you.

Lauren, we continue to pray for your health, happiness, and holiness. We pray that you will continue to fight the battles with the measure of faith given by God. As you remember that He has made us more than conquerors, remember that he has done so only for His glory. As long as your life is bound up in Him, you can know that you will always continue to conquer the battles because there is neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything in all of creation that will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We Love You!!

Daddy and Mommy

Re:visiting Richard Baxter

One of the first books I read as a seminary student was Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor. Baxter utilized the title, not to refer to a theological persuasion, but to designate a regenerated ethic that should accompany the pastor. Written in a day where pastors were known to be drunkards, brawlers, and fornicators, Baxter issues a plea for the Christian pastor to renew a movement of doctrinal education leading to moral transformation.

A practice I have had for numerous years is to keep a regular reading schedule of preaching and pastoral ministry books. Not so much focused on method (for they are countless) but ones focused on a foundational theology developed from Scripture. Today, as I sought to update my reading list, I was persuaded to pick up Baxter's classic work for another read, now a few years and many experiences since my first exposure to it. I have spent much of the day meditating on Baxter's "character of the pastor," for which he lists twelve.

1) Purity of Motive - "hard studies, much knowledge, and excellent preaching are more glorious but still hypocritical sins when they are done for our glory."

2) Diligence and hard work - "[I]t is of infinite importance to others and to ourselves. It is our task to save ourselves and others from temptation, to overcome the devil, to demolish his kingdom, and to set up the kingdom of God."

3) Prudence and efficiency - "The work of conversion, of repentance from dead works, and of faith in Christ, must be taught first and in a frequent and thorough manner." Baxter emphasizes the teaching of basic doctrines over and above speculations, that each might grow in the meat of the word.

4) Certainty about basic doctrines - Similarly, "To teach Christ to our people is to teach everything... Thus the great and commonly acknowledged truths are those that men live by, and which are the great instruments that raise men's heart to God."

5) Plain and clear teaching - "All our teaching must be as plain and evident as we can make it. He that would be understood must speak at the level of his audience. He must make it his business to be understood. Truth loves the light."

6) Dependence upon God and docility before others - "Our whole work must be carried on in a humble sense or our own insufficiency. We need a pious, believing dependence upon Christ for all things. We must go to Him for light, life, and strength. For it is He who sends us into our work."

7) Humility - "Where there is pride, all want to lead and none want to follow or agree. Hence is the cause of schisms, apostasies, arrogant usurpations, and other forms of imposition. Hence also is the concern of ineffective ministry of far too many ministers, who are simply too proud to learn."

8) A balance between severity and gentleness - "If there is no severity, then there will be contempt of our reproofs. If all is severity, then we will be taken to be domineering rather than persuaders of the truth."

9) A zealous and affectionate spirit - "The importance of what we are commissioned to teach will condemn any coldness or sleepy dullness which we may be tempted to indulge in. Let us then be wide awake. Let us then be in such a state that we awaken others."

10) Reverence - "The more God appears in the midst of our duties, the more authority they will have before men. For reverence is that affection of the soul which comes from the deep apprehension of God. It reveals a mind which is intimately conversant with God."

11) A caring love for people - "Be sure that your love is not carnal, coming from pride; let it not be as from a suitor of self-esteem, rather than coming from the lover of Christ. Take heed, then, that you do not connive at secret sins under the pretense of love. So friendship must always be cemented by piety. For a bad man can never be a true friend."

12) Patience - "We must bear with many abuses and injuries from those for whom we are doing good. When we have studied their case, prayed with them, and besought and exalted them, and spent ourselves for them, then we may still need more patience with them. We can still expect that after we have looked upon them as our own children, that there may be some who will reject us with scorn, even hate and contempt. They will cast our kindness in our teeth with disdain, and look upon us as their enemies. They will do this simply because we told them the truth. Yes, even the more we have loved them, the more they will hate us. All this has to be accepted, and yet we still need unswerving and unwearied desire to do good on their behalf."

I have enjoyed my fellowship with Baxter today, probably even more so than I did the first time. In a day of leadership principles, success models, and product promotions, it is good to be reminded that the work of the pastor is not selling his message, but exalting his Lord.

A Holy Voice

For close to two years the Lord has been dealing in my heart about a return to the pursuit of holiness and the lack thereof in the life of Christians on the grand scale. Infighting, divisions, gossiping, slander, and power struggles are all fruits that reveal a root that could not be tapped for the commodity of holiness. Just as a diseased root is a silent creeper that quietly kills a tree, so our unholy root will eventually be the death of many churches and denominations.

As people clamor for more relevance in a younger generation and lament the loss of fellowship in the older, the personal calling we have been given to a pursuit of holiness has given way to the voice of those crying about the sky falling on our churches for a void of relevance. Seminars are offered, sermons are preached, lessons are taught, all for the purpose of seeking to revive that which has yet to have even had life.

Prayer has become a good luck charm seeking a material blessing instead of a holy pleading for the presence of God. Ministries have become territories to be protected instead of lives to be shared and desires to be sacrificed. As we gain more stuff we lose our sense of the God who in His nearness is quite distant (Jeremiah 23:23-34).

Recent days have seen a practice of ‘sex-talk’ from the pulpit in order to captivate a younger audience. Preacher’s have shed “holy jargon” and adopted “street talk” so that seekers can understand – all in an effort to get more to attend. Church divisions are at an all time high. Music wars (of whom both the young and the old are guilty) continue to rule the day and a generational clash of epoch proportion looms large at the intersection of yesteryear and tomorrow. All the while we fail to notice the One who is not present during our worship, a sure indicator of self-worship as opposed to God-worship, for worship can only occur if the One worshiped is the One known (John 4:21-24).

I suppose there are many reasons why this has occurred. I will mention two. First, the Pastor has become more interested in filling the Fellowship Hall with chatter instead of filling the Pulpit with vigor. He has abandoned the desk in the study for the coffee table in the living room, and in doing so, has allowed his heart to grow quite timid in the face of opposition instead of being flamed with passion and courage that is ignited by prayer and Scripture.

Second, the congregation has come to enjoy the desserts of sweet anecdotes of therapy and abhor the main course of the exposition of Scripture. Therefore our churches have become quite obese and lazy instead of being equipped to run the race of ministry. That is both the fault of the one serving the meal and the one demanding the meal.

When a pursuit of holiness is regained and the root is restored to health, we will see the restored root through a healthy fruit. No longer will the 15 minutes between Bible Study and Worship be filled with complaining and lamenting, but there will be an awesome sense of the presence of God. When God is present in our worship, there will be a profound sense of the Holy One. In His presence, chatter will be stopped, gossip will be rejected, the sinner will feel quite uncomfortable, and the saved will be awed. God often captures the attention of the masses not by a booming voice, but by His silence. Perhaps His silence is our lecture.

His is often a still-small voice that cannot be heard over the chatter of the mocker. Why does God use a still small voice with His children? So they will be close enough to hear. Where the voice of God is not heard, there is an indication of the distance between the mouth of God and the ear of a man. Whose voice you seek this Sunday will determine whose voice you hear. My sheep hear my voice (John 10:27). Holiness is not so much of a practice, as it is an awareness of a presence: His.

Evangelistic Atheists

As Christmas time dawns, we can depend on the age-old debate regarding “religion in the public square” like clockwork. The most recent upheaval, at least in the DFW area, involves the transportation system in Fort Worth commonly referred to as the T (read about at http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/30/2669603/atheist-themed-ads-appear-on-fort.html#my-headlines-default). A gathering of like-minded atheists have taken to evangelism by purchasing advertising on the city buses with the slogan “Millions of Americans are good without God.” Though they say their goal is not to “convert anyone,” one must wonder their reason. The implication “we don’t want converts, only acceptance” seems duplicitous at best. But that is beside the point.

First, let’s examine the statement that people can be “good without God.” Is this a true statement? Not to play semantics, but that depends on one’s definition of ‘good.’ It is true that there are countless professing atheists who follow a system of morals, they love their wives, love their children, and do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. It is also true that history is replete with the moral failures of Christians, and even ministers of the Gospel. In these far-too-often-heard-of-cases, the tragedy of the people with faith in God is that they could learn a thing or two from the people who have faith in a non-god.

A Christian should not be opposed to the message that a non-Christian, or even an atheist, could live a life of goodness. The Bible teaches that man has been made in the image of God, and though that image has been tarnished, it has not been destroyed, even in the life of a non-Christian (see James 3:9). To be made in the image of God may mean many things, but certainly it has in part to do with the fact that all men and women have an inherent knowledge of right and wrong. Marred as that knowledge may be, it is still existent.

On the other hand, the Bible teaches that “no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:12 ESV). So does this make my above statement contradictory; that an atheist can do good things? Quite to the contrary. Once again, the crux of the issue is what does it mean to be ‘good’? Man’s definition of ‘good’ is obviously lower than God’s definition of ‘good.’ For Man, being good is more a matter of being responsible – taking care of our families, being honest with our neighbor, and not intentionally causing harm to others. All things an atheist can accomplish.

However, God’s definition of ‘good’ means much more than this. The reason the above referenced verse in Romans rejects the notion that a man can be good is not because they can’t do good things, but because they don’t the Good Thing – namely, seek God. In other words, it is not enough to do good things, but one must do the best thing, seek God. Something an atheist obviously does not do. Thus the question is not “can an atheist be good?” This question makes an assumption of the definition of ‘good.’ The question at hand is “can an atheist be good enough?” The obvious answer is ‘no.’

The specific controversy over posting these signs on the bus is whether or not they have the right to do so. I believe they do. I believe their signs are misleading and misinformed, but I believe they have the right. The tragedy is not they would have the ‘right’ to post these signs; the tragedy is that we have come to a point where they would want to post these signs. But, I believe even an atheist has a right to evangelize. They have a right to communicate their message freely. So do I.

Strength for the Message

Much of preaching focuses on the congregation - the hearers. However, I have discovered that preaching has a profound effect on the messenger as well. There have been times where worn and forlorn I have stepped up to the pulpit questioning my strength to complete the exposition. Yet, in an attitude of prayer, God shows himself faithful to give strength for a new day. We can truly say "when I am weak, then I am strong." He is the God of abundant mercies.