Stirring Stories of Mission Work

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I have been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to finally announce that this book is now available: Soaring Higher: Itinerary of a Fifty Year Flight of Faith. The “blurb” I wrote for the book is pasted in below. Not only have I enjoyed- been challenged, helped, and encouraged by- this book, but I have read significant portions to my children, humorous stories to laugh at and stirring stories of faith and perseverance which I pray will help fortify their souls.

This is a great book which I heartily commend to you.

I am absolutely delighted to see this book come into existence. I have long hoped for others to have the opportunity to hear these stories which I have seen and heard. Whether huddled up against the cold in Nepal, or resting in the shade in Ghana, or sitting in my own living room in the United States I have listened with laughter, joy and conviction to many of these stories over the years. You have a real privilege in getting to read them yourself now.

It has been my privilege to know Phil for over 20 years and to see him in action on four different continents. He embodies for me two terms which are so often abused- “evangelist” and “living by faith.” So often I saw “living by faith” used to cover foolish presumption, but Phil has given me an example truly and faithfully depending on God which has deeply encouraged and challenged me. Then, too often supposed evangelists were interested only in counting responses, relying on shallow messages and having no concern for discipleship or the life of the local church. Phil is the healthy example of evangelist to which I point my students, a man gifted in gospel proclamation as well as teaching with a heart for the local church. We need many more of his type today. I pray many will read this book and be challenged to pursue the sort of ministry modelled here.

I still remember Phil arriving at our house- just in from evangelizing in a remote, unreached area having also with him a Hebrew psalter, his Greek New Testament, and an unabridged copy of Les Miserables. He also typically had with him several DVD’s of deep theological lectures, the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes stories and BBC productions of Dickens or Jane Austen. Conversation would range easily from movies to travel gear to world history, literature, politics, theological controversies and mission strategy. This is an interesting man with fascinating stories which will entertain, instruct and convict. Take up, read, ponder and pass this book along to others. You, and they, will be glad you did.

“The End of Comfortable Christianity”

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The most recent issue of Touchstone magazine contains a powerful, timely editorial by Robert George titled, “Ashamed of the Gospel?: The End of Comfortable Christianity.” Here are the first two paragraphs:

The days of socially acceptable Christianity in the West are surely over. The days of comfortable Christian orthodoxy are past. It is no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an authentic Evangelical witness to the truths of the gospel. A price is demanded and must be paid. There are costs of discipleship—costs that are burdensome and painful to bear.

Of course, one can still safely identify oneself as a “Christian,” and even be seen going to worship services at church. That is because the guardians of those norms of cultural orthodoxy that we have come to call “political correctness” do not assume that identifying as “Christian” or going to church necessarily means that one actually believes what the Church teaches on issues such as marriage and sexual morality and the sanctity of human life.

The whole thing is well worth reading.

Herbert’s Poetic Portrayal of Pastoral Ministry

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I’m continuing to glean from the reading of George Herbert’s The Temple, an amazing collection of poems describing the Christian life.  His poem, “Aaron,” is a compelling, honest portrayal of the challenge of pastoral ministry. Herbert poses the problem of the reality of the preacher’s sinfulness and the holiness of God. How can a sinful man lead people to God? The Old Testament picture of priestly service emphasizes the need for holiness. The answer is found only by being clothed in Christ. Any pastor who, deeply aware of his own sinfulness, has struggled with this adequacy should find this poem deeply moving. The culminating line is amazingly beautiful to me, representing Christ-robed confidence.

May this encourage faithful pastors on this Monday.

 “Aaron”

                Holiness on the head,

Light and perfections on the breast,

Harmonious bells below, raising the dead

To lead them unto life and rest:

Thus are true Aarons drest.

 

Profaneness in my head,

Defects and darkness in my breast,

A noise of passions ringing me for dead

Unto a place where is no rest:

Poor priest, thus am I drest.

 

Only another head

I have, another heart and breast,

Another music, making live, not dead,

Without whom I could have no rest:

In him I am well drest.

 

Christ is my only head,

My alone-only heart and breast,

My only music, striking me ev’n dead,

That to the old man I may rest,

And be in him new-drest.

 

So, holy in my head,

Perfect and light in my dear breast,

My doctrine tun’d by Christ (who is not dead,

But lives in me while I do rest),

Come people; Aaron’s drest.

Perseverance, by George Herbert

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I have enjoyed reading through the poems of George Herbert with my sons the last week or so. They are rich, full of the struggles of life and conscience and full of hope. I was struck by how often the word “mirth” appeared.

My poem of the week this week has been his poem titled, “Perseverance.” I love the determination of faith shown here, particularly in the last stanza.

My God, the poor expressions of my Love
Which warm these lines, and serve them up to thee
Are so, as for the present I did move,
Or rather as thou movedst me.

But what shall issue, whether these my words
Shall help another, but my judgement be;
As a burst fowling-piece doth save the birds
But kill the man, is sealed with thee.

For who can tell, though thou hast died to win
And wed my soul in glorious paradise;
Whether my many crimes and use of sin
May yet forbid the banes and bliss.

Only my soul hangs on thy promises
With face and hands clinging unto thy breast,
Clinging and crying, crying without cease,
Thou art my rock, thou art my rest.

Paul, the Pastor of Particular People

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One key point I have sought to make here and elsewhere is that Paul models a pattern of ministry which is attuned to each individual in the church and not just to a corporate mass. He conceives of ministry as serving particular people not simply people in the abstract. I think his language bears this out, though this is new to some people and they are uncertain.

A student of mine, Caleb valentine, is writing a fine honors thesis on Paul’s pattern of ministry as found in 1 Thessalonians. In his work he pointed out to me the following great quote from Paul Beasley-Murray.

“Paul was concerned not just for the corporate health of the churches in his care, but also for the well-being of individuals. People mattered to Paul… In 1 Thessalonians 2:11 Paul declared: “We dealt with each one of you like a father with his children,” implying that he had concerned himself with his converts on an individual basis.  Similarly, Paul emphasized the personal character of his work in Colossians 1:28: he sought to promote individual maturity by “warning and teaching everyone in all wisdom.” All this is in line with Luke’s account of Paul’s speech to the Ephesian elders, which suggests that his normal practice was to combine preaching to the church at large together with the visiting of individual church members (Acts 20:20).”

[Beasley-Murray, P. “Paul as Pastor.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, eds. Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid. Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1993.]

Amen. Let us do likewise.

Broadus on Puns

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Next to my enjoyment of puns themselves is the delight in finding so many worthies of the past extolling the virtue of puns. I should have been collecting these statements along the way, but here is one recently sent to me by Greg Wills. John Broadus, whom Spurgeon deemed the “greatest of living preachers,” second president of Southern Seminary, said of puns:

A pun now is regarded almost with contempt, but it was not so in ancient times. Punning was very common and indulged in by the best writers and speakers. Really, the Bible is full of puns. Jesus said to Peter, ‘Thou art a rock (petros) and on this rock (petra), etc.’ Other examples are Luke xxi, 11; Heb. v, 8; Rom. i, 29 and 30; 2 Cor. ix, 8; x, 12; Matt. xxi, 41; Gal. v, 7; Rom. i, 20; Phil. iii, 2; 2 Thes. iii, 11; Acts viii, 30; Rom. xii, 3.”

(Seminary Magazine, April 1, 1891, p.157)

 

Nice!

Chesterton, “O God of Earth and Altar”

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My friend, Greg Thornbury, mentioned this poem recently, and it grabbed me as a fitting poetic prayer for our time. So, this poem from Chesterton is on my door as the poem of the week.

“O God of Earth and Altar”

by G.K. CHESTERTON

O God of earth and altar,

Bow down and hear our cry,

Our earthly rulers falter,

Our people drift and die;

The walls of gold entomb us,

The swords of scorn divide,

Take not thy thunder from us,

But take away our pride.

 

From all that terror teaches,

From lies of tongue and pen,

From all the easy speeches

That comfort cruel men,

From sale and profanation

Of honour and the sword,

From sleep and from damnation,

Deliver us, good Lord.

 

Tie in a living tether

The prince and priest and thrall,

Bind all our lives together,

Smite us and save us all;

In ire and exultation

Aflame with faith, and free,

Lift up a living nation,

A single sword to thee.

 

Book Review: Home Again, A Civil War Novel

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Home Again: A Civil War Novel, Michael Kenneth Smith
(Create Space, 2015), pb., 251 pp.
List $13.95 paperback

I was attracted to this book because it is primarily set in Tennessee and deals with the Battle of Shiloh. So, when I was offered a review copy I took it.

The story centers on two boys who live in Tennessee and meet each other once just before the outbreak of the War Between the States. One boy ends up fighting of the North and one for the South, and the story follows the adventures of each. This is a good narrative set up as you anticipate how the two might meet one another again. The author also strives for historical accuracy, and in places the story is compelling. However, in the end it was disappointing. The two boys do encounter one another towards the end of the story but never know it. And the story ends suddenly with too many loose ends still hanging. This made it less than satisfying to me as a story, though the author does well in communicating the horror of war.

It also needs more proofreading for typos.

“A Sovereign Protector I Have”

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A lesser known contribution from Augustus Toplady is my poem of the week this week. It is a wonderful reflection on the comfort and assurance of the fact that in Christ the Almighty is our Protector.

The bedrock truth of God’s sovereign care over his people rooted in his covenant love is ever the foundation of true perseverance. Any sensible person is too aware of his own frailty and faults to bear up long if all he has to depend on is himself. The awareness of God’s presence, throughout the Scriptures, motivates believers to stand fast. If God is for us who can be against us.

A Sov’reign Protector I have,
Unseen, yet forever at hand,
Unchangeably faithful to save,
Almighty to rule and command.
He smiles, and my comforts abound;
His grace as the dew shall descend;
And walls of salvation surround
The soul He delights to defend.

Inspirer and Hearer of prayer,
Thou Shepherd and Guardian of Thine,
My all to Thy covenant care
I sleeping and waking resign.
If Thou art my Shield and my Sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to Thee.

Kind Author, and ground of my hope,
Thee, Thee, for my God I avow;
My glad Ebenezer set up,
And own Thou hast helped me till now.
I muse on the years that are past,
Wherein my defense Thou hast proved;
Nor wilt Thou relinquish at last
A sinner so signally loved!

Augustus Toplady

James Stalker’s Beautiful Portrait of Pastoral Ministry

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This past week Justin Wainscott sent to me and several others the following excerpt from James Stalker, which is a beautiful, powerful portrait of pastoral ministry. If you have read Eugene Peterson on pastoral ministry you will have seen him echoing many of these images from Stalker. There is so much good here:

 

  • the pastor is first a member of the congregation;
  • not above them, but as one of them he is set aside for this specific purpose;
  • indebtedness to the people to bring to them the fruit of the work he has been freed up to do

Here is Stalker:

I like to think of the minister as only one of the congregation set apart by the rest for a particular purpose. A congregation is a number of people associated for their moral and spiritual improvement. And they say to one of their number, Look, brother, we are busy with our daily toils and confused with domestic and worldly cares; we live in confusion and darkness; but we eagerly long for peace and light to cheer and illuminate our life; and we have heard there is a land where these are to be found—a land of repose and joy, full of thoughts that breathe and words that burn: but we cannot go thither ourselves; we are too embroiled in daily cares: come, we will elect you, and set you free from our toils, and you shall go thither for us, and week by week trade with that land and bring us its treasures and its spoils. Oh, woe to him who accepts this election, and yet, failing through idleness to carry on the noble merchandise, appears week by week empty-handed or with merely counterfeit treasure in his hands! Woe to him too, if, going to that land, he forgets those who sent him and spends his time there in selfish enjoyment of the delights of knowledge! Woe to him if he does not week by week return laden, and ever more richly laden, and saying, Yes, brothers, I have been to that land; and it is a land of light and peace and nobleness: but I have never forgotten you and your needs and the dear bonds of brotherhood; and look, I have brought back this, and this, and this: take it to gladden and purify your life!

James Stalker, The Preacher and His Models: The Yale Lectures in Preaching (A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1891), 282-83. [free online]

Yes, brothers, yes! This is it! Let’s us go and do likewise.