Tag: bible

Dawn Waits

James HoganLeave a comment

Another morning, another logging of the books. Well, actually only one book this time! Just finished it this morning, so thought I’d write a few words while my thoughts are fresh…

44. A Sad Departure by David J. Randall. This book was both depressing and encouraging at the same time. How can that be? This small book, published in 2015, is subtitled “Why we could not stay in the Church of Scotland”. And this book resonates deeply with me because of the fact that it is a historical account of something that I was very much a part of. A controversy arose in the Church of Scotland in 2009 when it was deemed acceptable that a man living with another man and practicing homosexual sin should be inducted as a minister of the Church of Scotland. For the next few years, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland discoursed and debated and defined a trajectory upon where it would be acceptable that practicing homosexual ministers should lead churches. This book was a concise and darkly fascinating look at how this happened and the response of those who believe that the Word of God is a higher authority than any denominational structure. At the end of the day, that is really the question. Rather than a question of a particular sin…from where do we get our authority? From the cultural mores of the world or from the very Word of God? To what or whom do we owe our honour and allegiance? This fallen world we live in or very God Himself? There is a very telling phrase that was actually spoken in one of the General Assembly meetings – in May of 2011, I believe. It was acknowledged and agreed upon by all that the Bible only speaks of homosexual practices in a negative and condemnatory way. But, as was stated on the floor of the General Assembly, “…we now know better” than the Bible. When the foundation is allowed to crumble – nay, when the foundation is attacked with C4 charges! – the degradation of the house is surely not far behind. So this tragic decision by the Church of Scotland led many churches and ministers to decide that they could not in good conscience remain part of a denomination that valued the praise of man above that of God. Many churches left, many pastors left. And my church – Gilcomston – was one of them. This is part of the reason why this book was one I knew I had to read. I was a part of Gilcomston South Church of Scotland from the years 2010-2013, during the heart of this controversy. I knew the basics of what was going on, but as I read this book, I realized that there were a lot of details that I had no idea of. It was even worse than I thought at the time! And this book was full of names and places that I remember hearing Pastor Dominic talk about and ask for prayer for, as these various churches submitted to God even in the midst of persecutions and troubles. And my own church made our decision sometime in 2012 that we also would not remain part of the church of Scotland. As a member of Gilc, I cast my vote along with the rest – and it was almost unanimously that our congregation voted to leave the Church of Scotland and form a new congregation. And so we did. I still remember the abuse that our church (and specifically Pastor Dominic and his family) received in the papers and media for this decision. I probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time the weight they were under. I probably didn’t fully understand the attacks of Satan that were aimed at Dominic and his family and our church. But God strengthened us mightily and enabled us to carry out the decision that was made. We indeed left the Church of Scotland. And so I’ll do something I don’t normally do and link back to a post that I wrote the day we worshiped together as an independent church for the first time, on March 10th, 2013. Click here for my words on that day. Now to get back to this book. It is a small book, but it is a good history that was written very shortly after the events for which it speaks, which is always useful. Many years from now, memories dim and accounts of this may be muddled. So this work by Randall is surely important for the look it gives into the mindset and spirit of various ministers and congregations. This book depressed me because of the apostasy and feeble-mindedness of the Church of Scotland. This book encouraged and uplifted me because I am reminded that there is yet a remnant that God preserves. There are even yet faithful believers in the Church of Scotland – never let it be said that I am condemning those who remain within. But I am encouraged that God has empowered various churches to take a stand for the truth and authority of God’s Word. May we be ever faithful to the Word of God. May we be ever obedient to our God. May we humble ourselves continually under God’s mighty hand. And He surely will lift us up – at the last day, if not sooner. To God be all glory, now and forever. Amen.

A Foretaste of Things to Come

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Guess what? It’s the coldest day thus far this season and it is beautiful. 40 degrees outside…and I love it. Got to wear my black wool coat to work for the first time in ages. This cold weather is just blissful. Long may it continue. Also today, apart from the usual work nonsense, we have our office Thanksgiving lunch! As I walked in the building, saw the whole lobby/break room area full of tables and chairs for our upcoming feast. Hurrah! Yes, I will have to eat semi-quickly since I have a Transocean meeting (AT Transocean) at 1pm that I will have to depart for, but still. Thanksgiving feasts are never to be taken for granted. And speaking of such…tonight, Becky and Mary Beth are hosting a Thanksgiving potluck at their apartment! I will attempt to make an apple pie to bring to that – we shall see how it turns out. I’m excited for a relaxing night of yummy food and fun conversation with good friends.

Now quickly before I begin the work tasks of the day…a couple words on my reading this morning. Firstly, sobering words from 2 Chronicles 12. We start with King Rehoboam (the son of Solomon), who seemed to be doing ok in earlier chapters. Yes, he’d made some mistakes, but it seems the people of the land were genuinely seeking after God, to obey and honour Him. But what do we see in the first verse of chapter 12? “When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him forsook the law of the Lord.” Oh. Well then. Is that something we need to beware of in our own lives? As much as we know and are confident that our Lord God will surely complete His work in us – He shall never forsake us – pride is not yet dead in us, is it? When we are in a good place, when we are ‘established and strong’, is it not tempting to slack off and rest in our own accomplishments? When you stand, take heed – lest you fall. Ever be seeking the Lord in your life, during the full years as well as the lean years. Ever be humbling yourself before the Lord…because if not, you shall be humbled. As in this passage, when God uses King Shisak of Egypt (with armies innumerable) to conquer throughout the land and humble the people. And so eventually Rehoboam and the people of Judah do humble themselves…and God has mercy and compassion yet He still proclaims that “they will become his slaves so that they will learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.’ Let us crave that we may be in service to the Lord, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The yoke of other gods is not near so fun as we may like to think.

And secondly? A couple verses in James 5. He’s speaking to Christians that are apparently weary from suffering and impatient for the return of Christ. James has been giving them many comforting words (as well as severe exhortations!), and now He’s going to continue to comfort them with examples of God’s compassion and mercy. What example does he choose? Verse 10 – “As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” Hm. I have to say, if I was looking for an encouraging example of God’s mercy…I would probably not be happy with the example of Job. Wait, God – I don’t want that. Job went through terrible things! He lost everything – possessions, children, health! The only things he didn’t lose was his blaspheming wife and his depressing friends. You’re saying that I should look to Job and be encouraged at God’s mercy? I don’t want that mercy! I want no part of the book of Job, nope. But now – look at the key phrase in this verse, you “have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings…” We may not partake in sufferings as severe as Job’s. I pray that you do not. But you know what, we may. And even if our sufferings aren’t quite as bad as all that, we still suffer, do we not? We still have physical pains, mental anguish and emotional turmoil that plague us. But we cannot focus on that. To focus and fix our minds on ourselves rob us of the joy that comes at looking to Christ and recognizing that we have a higher hope, that God indeed causes all things to work together for good for those that love Him. And so the end of all things will indeed show the mercy and lovingkindness of the Lord – when we are with Christ forever. We may suffer now. But not forever. The outcome of the Lord’s dealings with us? Life eternal. And even in this life, we see the blessings of the Lord. See and be thankful and praise the Lord for every small mercy that our Lord grants us in this life. All praises to Him, now and forever. Our Lord is full of compassion and oh so merciful. May the knowledge of that glorious truth warm our hearts this day.

From the Quarries to the Temple

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Book complete? Yes.

40. Evangelicalism Divided by Iain Murray. Surely one of the best books I’ve read this year. I wish you all could read it, even if one isn’t as interested in church history as I am! This book’s subtitle is “A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950 to 2000” and that is indeed a good description of this book. This book can at times be a bit dense, and if you aren’t a huge fan of reading church history, reading this may be a struggle at times. But I am most grateful I read this book.

Murray is one of my very favourite authors and this book definitely doesn’t change that. How can I describe this book? Well, Murray is writing about a change in the wider evangelical church in the past fifty/sixty years. I am struggling to adequately describe this book mostly because again – I want to tell you to read it, not my words! But surely there has been a change in Christian thought in the past few hundred years. First with the advent of modernism and higher criticism, beginning with German intellectualism in the 19th century and the application of modernist thought to the study of theology and the Christian life. Surely that last sentence made things clearer, right? Well, evangelicalism could be said to be a response to the liberalism in the mainline Protestant denominations, also known as “fundamentalism” in the United States. One of the central tenets of the evangelical movement was the assertion that the Word of God is truly inerrant, containing all that is necessary to come to faith in Christ. But as Murray states…in the past half century, things have changed. Prominent evangelical leaders made the decision that they could do more good by working with various Christian churches and organizations, even if there were some disagreements in certain areas of doctrinal thought. The motives of these leaders were often pure, but discernment and wisdom were sorely lacking. So while ecumenicism can seem to be a good thing in certain circles…when it comes to the defense of the true faith that we have been given in the Word of God, the quicksand of compromise quickly imperils the witness of the church. And so even a great teacher like J.I. Packer(whose book Knowing God I plan on reading next!) can think it is a good idea to dialogue and work closely with the Roman Catholic Church(ECT in the mid-90s…something I was excited to read about, because this was something I actually remember being a big deal, Mom and Dad talking about it, the critical comments of MacArthur about it, etc! History that I’ve lived through, I’m now reading about. A bit strange). So a rapprochement with the “wider church” may seem to be a glorious, praiseworthy objective! Yet, in actuality, we are flirting with false teachers who serve the father of lies. Oh woe is us for our arrogance. So in one way, this book is a sad read. It is about the slow slide of the evangelical movement into liberalism and plastic orthodoxy, the specter of apostasy hovering close. But also…this is history and this is important to read because as sad as some of the events chronicled are, knowing that God is sovereign and that He yet works even amidst the chaos is a glorious thought indeed. Murray writes with force, vigor and clear-sighted passion. He understands that Christian unity is essential, but also that unity not based on the foundation of the true gospel is worse than useless. It imperils our witness to the world, weakens our faith, and retards our growth as sons and daughters of God. One of the most important questions that needs to be asked and understood by the leaders of our churches is this: What is a Christian? The answer to that question is what should drive and determine church policy. The lures of pragmatism and church growth theory are flickering candles compared to the bonfire of the true preaching of the gospel as given to us by the inspired and inerrant Word of God.

So I really did write a bit more than I meant to, and obviously my writing is much less clear and stimulating than Murray’s! But one more quick thought before I close. Where shall we go from here? Understanding the drift of the evangelical church, what should be our response? What should we pray for? We pray that God works and brings revival. We cry out for God to send His Spirit to work in us. We pray for the preaching of the true gospel amidst the churches of this land. We pray that the leaders of our churches proclaim with power and might, empowered from on high by the Holy Spirit to preach the Word, in season and out of season. We pray that God has mercy upon us and forgives us our weakness and slackness in obeying and following Him in all things. We pray that God fills us with His love and charity as we yet hold firm to the truth in His Word. We pray that God keep us humble before Him, never thinking we know all things, but always having faith in the One who does know all things. And what is this faith in? Again, what is a Christian?

In the words of Murray, page 299:

There are two ways in which Scripture identifies a true disciple of Christ. The first is by the evidence of a person’s faith in Christ, and the second by the insistence that the accompaniment of true faith is always a new life. On the first evidence enough has already been said in these pages. Faith in Christ, according to the New Testament, is the same as receiving the truth; not, that is, all truth, but certainly the truth of salvation from the guilt and power of sin through Christ alone. The Christian knows that he is a sinner, that Christ is the divine Saviour, and that his salvation comes entirely from what Jesus has suffered for him and in his place. Every such person has ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:6). The content of that knowledge admits of unending progress, but where it does not exist at all there can be no salvation. All true Christian faith rests on the same foundation.

Praise God for the encouragement and wisdom granted me in reading this book. All glory to Him.

Art Deco

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It is a most glorious day. This morning – finally! – is sitting at sub-60 temperature and it is drippy and wet and slightly cold and it is beautiful. I forget how much I love the “winter” (quotation marks most definitely required) here in Houston. And it is here at long last! So now I get to enjoy my hot coffee inside after having walked in from the (marginally) cold outside and I am happy. Another reason for happiness – I got quite a good long reading time this morning…woke up (reasonably) on time and thus was able to luxuriate in reading through sections of Psalm 119, some Proverbs, 1 Kings 19-20(1 Kings 19 – will always be one of my very favourites after preaching through it in Scotland…oh how encouraging are those words! God indeed takes care of our needs and encourages us with his presence and reminds us of the truths we ought to know…and gives us good works to do. May I remember that this day) and then finally Galatians (yes, I had time to read all of it – which truly is necessary as Galatians is such a lovely book and needs to be read straight through!). So I am ever more aware of how truly blessed I am. Might I constantly be reminded today of how I ought not boast in anything else other than the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. Always.

Bread and Wine

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“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like
the covenant which I made with their fathers in
the day I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which
they broke, although I was a husband to them,”
declares the Lord.
“But this is the covenant which I will make
with the house of Israel after those days,”
declares the Lord,
“I will put My law within them and
on their heart I will write it;
and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.
They will not teach again, each man
his neighbor and each man his brother, saying,
‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,”
declares the Lord,
“for I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more.”

Mirror Universe

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Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech,
and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the
sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading
away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the
reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted,
because it is removed in Christ.
But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty.
But we all,
with unveiled face,
beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord,
the Spirit.

Honey on the Horizon

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Read some sweet words this morning that encouraged my soul. Thought I’d briefly share. 1 Samuel 30…reading about David’s continued adventures. He decides to spend some time living in the Philistine territory because it’s not exactly fun being chased around by Saul all the time, right?? He’s there for a year and a bit, going on raids with his men to fight the enemies of Israel(even though he’s not entirely forthright to the Philistine king about this!). Anyway, the Philistines gear up for a big campaign against Israel and David and his men get recruited for the cause. David puts on a good face (I do honestly wonder what his backup plan was…? Would he have betrayed the Philistines mid-battle? I am most curious) but the Philistine high command ends up kicking him out, fearing his possibly inevitable betrayal. So that’s all the backstory. David and his men trudge back to the city the Philistines had given them…only to see smoke rising high, the city in ruins. The cursed Amalekites had raided the city and taken all the inhabitants captive. At this point…David and his men can do nothing but cry – indeed, the text says they “lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.” But following that…David’s men were pretty upset with him and decided to blame David for the loss of their families so they started talking about stoning David!! Now this is where David was at. His city that he’d lived in for the past year was destroyed. His men were turning on him and talking about killing him for something that surely wasn’t his fault. And last but certainly not least…David’s family had been taken too. So it makes sense that the text says “David was greatly distressed.” I think I would be pretty distressed as well. So what was David’s response to all this? He had spent time crying, yes. Emotions are good and proper and part of what it is to be human, yes? But…what did David do next? Well – “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” And following that line, he sought to communicate with God and ascertain what his next steps should be.

I think this is a good lesson for us all. Surely we are in dire straits at times (maybe our whole city hasn’t burned down and our closest companions aren’t talking about killing us and our family hasn’t been kidnapped by our worst enemies…but well…we still suffer, right?) and surely we feel as if there is nothing we can do to make things better and surely all is just crumbling around us. Yet. Let us remember that our strength does not come from our circumstances or our surroundings or our friends (who may turn against us!) or even within us (because really – what strength do we have…? We are oh so weak at times). No – our strength comes from the Lord. So let us strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God when all else seems dim. Let us remember that no matter how greatly distressed we are in the moment, we can find strength and comfort in our God. Let us flee to him. We may weep first, yes. But then, let us turn to God and rejoice in the love and strength He has to offer. Strengthen yourself in the Lord this day, dear friends.

Surfside

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I have so much I could write about…but so little time…hence, I shall log my latest read(already a few days late on this!):

25. The Works of John Owen, Vol 3: The Holy Spirit by John Owen. And there you go. After more than a year(not exactly sure when I started it, but I think it was in 2017??), with gaps where I took time to read other theological works…I have finished Vol 3 of Owen’s Works. What a masterpiece of a book. I’m not sure how often I’ve written of Owen here, so I guess I should be brief. This book was all about the Holy Spirit and His work (mostly in our lives as Christians – but not exclusively!). Apparently this volume was not big enough to contain all of Owen’s thoughts on the Spirit though…as Volume 4 is called “The Work of the Spirit”! But this book was very encouraging to my soul. I very much hesitate to recommend Owen, as he’s a difficult read at the best of times, and most would probably not get much out of it. I tend to read so quickly though, that when reading many books, I miss out on the truth within because I’m just reading so fast! With Owen though…because of his dense and obtuse writing style, I’m forced to read slower and analyse carefully what he’s saying…and so in a weird way, I am more greatly benefited by his Puritan language than I am by more modern authors(like a Keller or a Piper…both of whom for some reason I’m not really either edified or moved by as much…). But reading Owen’s words on the Spirit of God – and how He indeed actively works in our lives and how this knowledge should drive us to holiness and dependence on God for all things…indeed humbling and thrilling all at the same time. I’m rambling a bit, I know, so I shall close. But one of my takeaways from this hefty tome is the beauty and sheer necessity of our holiness as Christians. When we sin before God, we show God that we despise Him and His words. Is that what we want? As we know that we are sons and daughters of God…as we know that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit…our driving passion should be to honour our Lord God in every word we speak and every step we take. Be holy, as our Father in heaven is holy. We are God’s children, fellow heirs with Christ Himself. Meditate today on what it means to truly abide in Christ. Remain at peace in the love of God, which burns brighter and hotter and more beautifully than anything we can even begin to imagine.

A somewhat Odd phenomenon In this Early morning

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So very quickly I write!! Just wanted to comment briefly on some words I read this morning in 1 Samuel 2. Sobering words, but God’s Word nonetheless. Was reading about the sons of Eli, who were…not nice men. As is made abundantly clear. The text describes some of their sins against God, against the people who brought sacrifices, and against women. I shall not go into all that here. But we do see these lines, “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord.” And again a few verses later, “Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord”. Chilling words. Now eventually their father Eli heard about his sons’ reputation. Why he didn’t already know about their wicked behaviour and terrible sins, I know not. I don’t think Eli can be held up as a model father, that is for sure. But we see that he learned through various rumors and reports about what his sons were up to and we see that he (finally!!) talked to his sons and chastised them and made it clear that what they were doing was “evil” and that they were sinning “against the Lord”. But what does the text say next? “But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death.” Right then. This is a hard verse to understand…could not the Lord show mercy and give them a chance to repent? But it seems clear that their hearts were hardened and God had judged them for their sins and now despite the warning of their father…they could not hear nor could they repent, nor desired they to repent – because God’s judgment was incoming and could not be turned away. These are fearsome words. At the end of the day, we do not understand all of God’s ways, but we must rest in His sovereignty and His goodness. God is just in all His ways, so do we all confess. So do I confess.

And so what can we learn from these words? Firstly, to sin against the Lord and to disobey His commands is most grievous indeed and worthy of all judgment, worthy of eternal horror and death. Do not take lightly the commands of God. Holiness is greatly prized by God, for God is holy and He desires that we all be holy before Him. Secondly, be warned that to reject God and His commands is a very serious thing, for as you reject God, so shall God reject you. Thirdly and finally – I must end on a note of hope, so the hope that I offer is that because we are all utterly wicked apart from God, so does God offer a pure and perfect sacrifice of His only Son, who can make us right before God. Only through Jesus can we find peace with God. And peace with God…there is nothing greater than that. Flee to Christ this day. Before it is too late and before the words of this passage could be applied to you – “for the Lord desired to put them to death”. Flee to Christ, cry out for your salvation. For God is truly merciful and compassionate and desires that you would come to Him. And God does most surely offer you rest for your souls.

The Dying Light of 6 O’Clock

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Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!

Remember this. Forever and always.

Praise the Lord, oh my soul.