I’ve obviously been out of blogging for a while. Some have heard what has happened and have inquired, so I thought I’d give a brief update. Last Thursday afternoon my oldest son, Nathan, was struck by a truck. It was a hectic time getting information, getting to the ER, him being sent by helicopter to LeBonheur to Memphis, etc. In the end he had only one serious injury, a depressed skull fracture which punctured the membrane surrounding the brain. That was serious enough, but there could have been so much more. At LeBonheur we had a great surgeon who repaired the fracture and membrane. Now Nathan is totally fine. The doctor sent us home Sunday morning with all clear.

Many have called and written telling us of their prayers, and we are very grateful. We have been very blessed. So many have been helpful, caring, etc. Friends and family came through in so many ways. We were reminded again of the importance of community.

Praise be to God!

The King’s Book, by Louise Vernon
(Herald Press, 1980), pb, 128 pp.

This is another of Mrs. Vernon’s historical novels (you can see reviews of other of her novels here- Tyndale, Luther, Erasmus, Gutenberg, Wycliffe, ). This book focuses on the translation of the King James Version in 1611. As usual in Vernon novels, the story centers on the adventures of a young boy. The boy in this novel, Nathaniel Culver, is the son of one of the translators. Nat watches the intrigue surrounding the work, the work of secret Catholic priests and their persecution, etc.

This story was more exciting and intriguing than some of the other Vernon novels we have read. However, the history (and even theology) is dubious and questionable. Much is made of Bacon being the final editor of the King James Version, a point which is not verified but shows up in various places including conspiracy theories of various sorts. It is also suggested, though slightly downplayed at the end of the book, that Bacon was actually the illegitimate child of Queen Elizabeth. This is again is without historical basis. Why this was necessary, beneficial or even appropriate in a children’s book is entirely unclear to me. Then, Mrs. Vernon seems to attempt to make some points on the power of words. However, what she is aiming at is never quite clear. At one point she introduces a Hebrew scholar who is a proponent of cabala, hidden teachings about symbolic meanings in the Hebrew of the Old Testament. Whatever Mrs. Vernon believes the story gives a positive impression of this esoteric teaching. Why introduce our children to this? Also the story points out some moral inconsistencies in translators and other characters. This could be appropriate to make the point that all are fallen. However, the story seems to minimize sin by equating gross wrongs and lesser failures. Further she appropriately points out the wrong of persecuting Catholics in England. However, the story seems to suggest that any sort of worship would be fine, downplaying the significant difference between Protestants and Catholics even in 1611.

My boys enjoyed the action, but I had to do a good bit of editing to get through it. I would not recommend this book. If you want to learn about the production of the King James Version there are better ways. I find myself wondering why this book, for example, is included in reading lists in such prestigious places as Veritas Press and others. I would be interested in an answer to this question if anyone has one. This is one reason I began these reviews, to give parents one family’s assessment of books as we seek good books for our children.

I just received word from James Grant, pastor of FBC Rossville, TN, that their Fall Bible Conference which begins this Friday (Sept 8) will feature Dr. Dan Block speaking on the theme “The Gospel According to Moses: Recovering the Message of Deuteronomy.” You can view the conference brochure here. The conference will run from 7pm-9pm Friday night and then 9am to 2pm Saturday with lunch provided and the cost is only $10!! That’s amazing. There is also a special session for church leaders at 2:30. Dr. Block will also speak twice on Sunday.

I did not find out about this in time to attend myself, but I wanted to let anyone else know who might have the chance to attend. You can find contact info at the church website or on the conference brochure.

Here are some more nuggets from the address mentioned in the previous post. Johnson goes to some length to exhort young pastors to remember their place. He is no enemy of pastoral authority; but he does take dead aim at abuse of authority. He writes:

“Let no Baptist preacher ever seek to reimpose these barriers [priestly acts] that Jesus removed at so great a cost.
I believe Baptist laymen everywhere would like for me to say to young preachers here today, ‘Remember always, you are not a priest.’ You are God’s messenger to preach Christ as our only priest. . . . never get the idea that you are part human and part divine. Remember that no church congregation is obligated to follow your will rather than God’s will.”

“So never yield to that human temptation to substitute your authority for God’s authority, or to claim your will to be God’s will, or to make your goals to be God’s goals, or to accept self-praise where God alone ought to be praised.”

These are good words of reminders especially since the culture of self-aggrandizement continues to be encouraged in pastoral circles. This is worsened in situations where pastors think they are the only ones who hear from God and can simply tell their people God has told them to do something and the people should obey. The New Testament does uphold significant pastoral authority but only as it is rooted in the Scriptures. When pastors suggest their inner promptings are authoritative we might as well return to a Pope! Johnson even says (writing in 1954!):

“The greatest threat to our Baptist faith is our trend toward modernism in organization; the tendency to revert back to the priesthood and build a religious hierocracy.”

“Let us never forget that is was over-organized and over-commercialized religion that sent Jesus to the cross.”

These quotes also speak to the issue of what our churches need today- not primarily better organization or marketing. We simply need to teach and live the word of God, and we pastors can lead the way by actually taking the cues for pastoral ministry from the Bible- teach the Word, shepherd the flock, live holy. Then God will do His part.

While visiting Refiner’s Fire Bookshop in Louisville this summer, the owner, my friend, Ron Sloan, pointed me to a real jewel. It was Wylie C. Johnson’s “Tharp Lecture” at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary entitled “The Preacher From the Layman’s Viewpoint” (Feb. 24, 1954). It was a simple, paperback booklet. I don’t know anything about Mr. Johnson or the Tharp Lectures, except that this booklet said it was an annual lectureship which brought in laymen to speak to pastors I training. So, I did not know what to expect from this little address, but it did not take long for me to discover that this was a very useful lecture that deserves to be heard again. In his own “down-home” way Mr. Johnson gave great advice to his audience particularly crying out for pastors to resist the growing popularity of an entertainment model and to beware of pride.

Here are some excerpts:

(This one reminds me of the discussion of Oprah as a model for pastors)

“The gospel of Christ is not just a beautiful philosophy of life. It is not just a sublime impulse. It is not just a reforming and steadying influence upon society and upon the individual.

Many of the sheep are developing religious gout on this intellectual, entertaining, psychological diet. They want and need the spiritual strength that comes only from the “Bread of Life.”

Christ’s preacher is not a dramatic actor, presenting a play that he dreamed up. The gospel of Christ is not a little dab of philosophy added to a cup of psychology, stirred with eloquence, and flavored with a wee bit of religion.”

A wonderful reminder of our duty (reminiscent of an earlier Truett quote I posted)-

[Beginning with a quote from George W. Truett] “Tell it not in Gath. Publish it not Askelon. A prophet of God out in the race with little, cheap theatricals! If I could get the ear and heart of the young man beginning his ministry today, I would beseech him to shun as he would deadly poison every tendency within him, every urge his heart feels for fame, popularity and publicity in the ministry. Fame is nothing. Doing the will of God modestly and humbly is everything, and a record is kept on high.”
The preacher obsessed with this modern mania for headline publicity, who has a flair for the sensational, will soon be forgotten by the laymen, while quiet, humble preachers whose spiritual qualities enrich our lives will long be remembered.”

Good reminder of the temptation to pastoral arrogance-

“Sometimes preachers come to think that they are the only ones to whom God has revealed himself. They sometimes get the messiah complex and claim to be everything from fortune tellers to divine healers, and frequently wind up attacking every other Christian group whose theology differs from their own.”

“The very nature of your calling, speaking for God, is conducive to creating egotism and selfishness. Egotism is destroying more preacher influence than all the combined evils that you preach so much about.”

Then, another note about what we are supposed to be about-

‘We laymen want in our preachers sincerity – not salesmanship. A few years ago there was a book published on ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’ This book became a best seller. Business and professional men bought many copies of it, and I am afraid some preachers also read it.’

[Aren’t some people know encouraging pastors to read this sort of book instead of theological books? We could use a good dose of this layman’s sanctified common sense]

I don’t know if this address is still available anywhere. If anyone knows I’d be interested to find out.

Dispelling the Tyranny: The Sequel to When the Morning Came, Piet Prins
(Inheritance Publications, 1994), pb., 152 pp.

As mentioned in the subtitle, this is the sequel to When the Morning Came, which we really enjoyed. In this book Martin, his father and Boudewyn are not satisified with their safety in exile but long for the freeing of their homeland from Spanish tyranny. They join with the army of Count Lodewyk, brother of William of Orange, to invade the Netherlands in order to drive out the Spaniards. This has been a fun way to learn about this era of history which is not often discussed.

We enjoyed this book, though it was not at the same level as the first book. The story itself just was not as compelling. This was made even more difficult by the reliance on Dutch place names which were difficult to pronounce and unknown to us. This seems to be a result of the fact that it was originally written in Dutch. Thus, the original audience would have probably recognized the place names. For us however, these were obstacles which made the story difficult to follow. There were also more instances of awkward sentence construction in the translation.

In spite of these criticisms, my boys are clamoring for the third book. If you can simply decide upon a pronunciation for names (right or wrong be consistent), navigate the place names, and help your children keep up with who is in view (I would often add, “That’s the bad guys,” or “These are the good guys”), then there is good action, nobility and sacrifice and good examples of perseverance.

As we enter the weekend here’s a great quote sent to me by Brian Denker.

“What we become depends on what we read after all the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is the collection of books.”
–Thomas Carlyle

As we labor for the renewal of the Church, for a return to Biblical thinking and practice, it is easy to get discouraged. The progress is often slow, people sometimes oppose, we see our own weakness and failures, and we can begin to wonder if we are doing anything worthwhile. We can be tempted to think that this guy may be doing something worthwhile, or that pastor over there, but we are simply spinning our wheels, wasting our time, stuck in a place of contempt. What’s more no one seems to notice our hard work. No one seems to be applauding our efforts. We can be tempted to give it all up. Of course we know better. God is in control, He loves His church more than we do, His approval is all that matters- but in spite of our orthodoxy the tempting, self-centered, discouraging thoughts still assail us.

Does our labor matter? We must speak forcefully to ourselves and say, “Yes, our labor most certainly matters- not because of us but because of God. God is at work whether I see him or not. Do we not walk by faith rather than sight? It is God’s job to see how and where things will develop mine is simply to be faithful in the place he has put me. And in doing so I may one day see the part I have played…. One of the most encouraging passages I have read in some time on this is Haggai 2:1-9. I would encourage you to check out Lee Tankersley’s sermon on this text. Much more could be said on this topic, and I hope to return to it. But in closing here is a poem I have also found helpful on this topic.

SAY not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke conceal’d,
Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!
But westward, look, the land is bright!

Arthur Hugh Clough

p.s. This poem also nicely speaks to those who in essence say, “Once you’ve got it worked out I’ll join you,” or the naysayers who while professing their agreement with the need for such work continue to say it is hopeless and so never put their hand to the plow, or those who for fear of failure never step into the fray.