Romans and Rhubarb

A heavy rain is falling as I write this. We'd call it "good sleeping weather" at home if the temperature were about 25-30 degrees cooler. I’m ready for bed but I have one more hour to teach. I can tell I’ve been “on” longer than I an used to being “on.”

Today we covered Romans 9, “the most neglected chapter in the Bible.” Rather than re-hash the study, I’ll direct you to a blog entry I wrote several months ago.

Adventure report: The men are getting tired too. They have worked very hard and I think several will ace the Romans final, which is simple: Report that you have read Romans at least four times and be able to identify the main theme of each of the sixteen chapters. Cake.

Hard is not bad...

Classes started today. I am teaching two courses to pastors, the first being a second track of Biblical Counseling (I did the introductory class last year). Today we started with the life of Joseph as a historical example that puts the sovereignty of God into shoe leather. It should come as no surprise that these men are serving people tempted to view life as a bunch of random events occasionally changed by human ingenuity. That worldview pales next to the one with God in absolute control over every molecule in the universe and man as a responsible moral agent being used as one means to accomplish His will. In French, they learned what I have been taught: “Hard is not bad. Hard is just hard.”

Adventure report: So I said yesterday that I got to go to three of the four My Father’s House orphanages. This is a ministry worthy of your support. Here is a link to Wordsower International. I was swarmed with little girls as soon as I got in the gate of the girls’ home (just like my place but in larger numbers). At the boys homes I got swarmed too, but young bucks hold off the approach until they think it’s safe. It took all of five minutes for them to figure I was a safe hug.

I am in a less dangerous neighborhood this year by human standards, so I got to walk down the street, greet students as they arrived and even help push a stalled dump truck. Mom, the motorcycle in the busy street that had to slam on its brakes as I walked away from the dump truck wasn’t really that close. Really.

"Faith is not unreasonable, but it will take you beyond your ability to reason." -Paul Tripp

We are getting ready to head north today. There is only so much one can absorb in five days and most of our group testify to having full "knowers."

Last night's plenary session was an excellent message from Paul Tripp about faith. He argued persuasively from Scripture that, while the Christian faith is reasonable, it sometimes takes us beyond our ability to reason. In other words, faith trusts in God's revealed character even when His works take us beyond our ability to understand.

Some in our day have re-defined faith as some mystical energy we work up within ourselves by which we create reality with our powerful words. Others argue that faith is an unreasoned leap into the darkness. No.

The Bible uncovers the character, the commands and the promises of God. This is the basis of faith. But circumstances are often hard to reconcile with what we know about God. Faith is trusting what we know for sure even when circumstances scream that God cannot be trusted. Faith clings tightly to God's character in the face of the worst pressures anyone can face. Because God asked them to do it...

• Abraham could build an altar to sacrifice the son whom God said would be his heir. 
• Daniel and his friends could obey God and stand against majority opinion and the possibility of execution. 
• The promised Messiah could go to the cross.

As a shepherd/counselor my task is not only to set up encounters with the living God so people will trust Him even when life makes no sense, my task is to embrace those redemptive purposes myself.

Today before a closing session track four is studying Crisis Management for the Believer (Kevin Carson) and Building Godly Friendships (Amy Baker). The first session should provide fodder for my preparation to return to my friends in Haiti.

I anticipate pushing the limits of the traffic enforcement to get home to my bride and little people.

"God is never late but He is very seldom early."

Today our track includes sessions on:

• Understanding the Drug Culture (Heather Starkweather)
• Pitfalls to Avoid & Practices to Advance in Parenting (Stuart Scott)
• Biblical Counseling and the Person of Christ (Steve Viars)
• Counsel from the Cross (Elyse Fitzpatrick)
• Lost in the Middle (Paul Tripp)

Last night we had a plenary session with a masterful handling of Acts 12 by James MacDonald. He used the narrative to illustrate what other texts of Scripture teach propositionally about the sovereignty of God. This is the story of the martyrdom of James the apostle, Herod Agrippa's arrest of Peter, the prayer meeting at the home of the mother of James (and John), the angelic springing of Peter from prison, the humorous greeting of Rhoda, and the gruesome death of Herod.

He pointed out the tense moments of the text when it appeared that God was not giving His people what they needed. Sharing personal stories of his own cancer, rebellious daughter and recent ministry heartaches, MacDonald shared how the sovereignty of God has become more than a theoretical concept to him in recent years. He called us to cling, even in our grief, to the absolute control and good purposes of God. Pastor MacDonald said, "God is never late but He is very seldom early."

Responding to Tragedy

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:25-29, NASB

When you look at today's world news, you realize that, while the people of Haiti are seeing about the worst that life in a sin-cursed world has to offer, they are not alone in their grief.  Historically, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 will end up ranking very high on the list of the worst disasters in human history, but that list of disasters is very large. Right now there are people suffering in Haiti, but people are dying in other nations too. Violent crime, disease and tragic natural phenomena have not ceased on the planet since January 12, 2010. 

Without wanting to take anything away from the compassion we ought to feel right now for the victims of this catastrophe, I remind you that we have not seen the end of shocking adversity in this world—not yet. We should be pouring out our hearts toward heaven and our pocketbooks toward Haiti, but there are serious lessons for us to learn here while the concrete dust is still settling on Port-au-Prince.

Any quick mental review of the Bible invokes examples of tragedy:

·        Job lost nearly everything.

·        Israel lost thousands of male babies in the Nile at the command of Pharaoh.

·        Daniel and many other bright young Jews were deported and their nation and families pillaged.

·        Israel lost many male babies near Bethlehem at the murderous command of Herod.

Now it is in our time and in our back yard. You feel pretty detached when people are suffering and it seems there is nothing you can do about it. What should you do when tragedies like this strike others?

·        Pray for them. Beg for God’s mercy to put an end to the general suffering, but ask Him to give His people the grace to represent Him well. Even ask Him to help the dying die like Christians.

·        Weep with them (Romans 12:15). Ask God to help you love Him and His purposes more and to love your neighbors more. When you care more you will be moved to pray more.

·        Give. Scripture calls the people of God to do more than offer kind wishes of warmth and food (James 2:15-17). We demonstrate that we would lay down our lives for our friends when we are willing to lay down some cash for them. Action and truth are more convincing than word and tongue (1 John 3:18).

·        Refrain from pointing fingers. If you want to know who is to blame for this tragedy, do not go digging to see who sacrificed a pig to the devil. Look in the mirror. You sinned when Adam sinned, which means you are as responsible as anyone for the calamities that fall on a sin-cursed planet.

·        Say to yourself: "I deserve far worse." When people told Jesus of a brutal killing by Pilate in Luke 13:1-5, Jesus responded with an example of another tragedy in which a tower fell on 18 people. Instead of deflecting blame He reminded them twice: “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” The real question people should be asking is not, “How could a loving God do something like this?”  We should be asking, "How could a just God spare me from something far worse than this?"

After looking around the globe, you need in times like these to consider the smaller-scale crises that are going to touch you. They will come. If you have not experienced great loss in your life, the primary reason is that you have not lived long enough. What should you do when tragedy like this strikes your life?

1.      Ask “Why?” The psalmists did so in the context of worship (Psalm 10, 22, 42, 43, 44, 74, 80, 88). This is not the same as assigning blame to God. That is blasphemy. Asking why, like Jesus did on the cross, can be a confession of weakness and submission to the Father’s decrees.

2.      Mourn. This is not a waste of time. Jesus said this is a blessed activity (Matthew 5:4). Only mourners can know the sweetness of the God of all comfort.

3.      Rehearse the attributes of God. You should do this before the next tragedy strikes.

·        Rest in the knowledge that He rules.

·        Delight in the knowledge that He is good.

• Give thanks in the knowledge that He is merciful.

4.      Get back to work. God’s mission is all about Him, not about you. Elijah had to learn after a personal crisis that the “still, small voice” was not telling him anything new (1 Kings 19:13-16). It told him to finish the course.

The photo above was taken by James Kiffmeyer and used by permission.

Here is an expanded audio version of this article.

The Ruler

Enough about the November election. Maybe you got your way and maybe you didn't. But it's over. Likewise that memorable event from your recent or distant past. Maybe you got your way and maybe you didn't. But it's over. 

People often define themselves by events of the past--good or bad. You are may perceive yourself a lifelong winner because you won that state championshship in high school or you may perceive yourself a lifelong victim because of that horrible abuse you endured as a child. You may consider a day bad because people (or your car) failed to meet your expectations or consider a day good because you got what you wanted. 

It is short-sighted to think joy is wrapped up in getting your way. When you start living this way you become a slave to your environment. Your emotions are controlled by everything from the weather to national elections. But if you follow Jesus Christ should your identity be found in him or in some event that happened in a sin-cursed world? It makes every difference to embrace the sovereignty of God when facing things you never would have chosen.

Read of the topsy-turvy life of Joseph in Genesis. He believed that the events in God's world--even the evil deeds of evil men--are sent by God to accomplish his good purposes. Joseph was hated and favored, falsely accused and promoted, made a slave and made a ruler. Yet his confession in Genesis 50:20 was, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive."

There are increasing levels of growth when you recognize that God is sovereign. I have observed this in counselees who wrestle with anger or bitterness. Anger and bitterness often spring from the belief that says, "I don't deserve this." So whether your spouse mistreats you or you fall on the ice, if you fail to see him in the trial you will just see an event or a person that is in the way of your happiness.

The first step in this growth is to acknowledge God's right to rule. He can do what he wants with you because he is God. He rules whether you acknowledge it or not, but seeing him as he is gives you the right persective on what you are going through. But you must do more than see him as he is.
A second step of growth in this recognition of God's absolute rule in your life is to submit to it. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, one of the most powerful kings who ever lived, endured seven years living as an animal. Most people would call that "bad." But God rules. Nebuchadnezzar was humbled at the end of that time and confessed, "For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation." God sent that hard time. Are you okay with that?

The final step of growth in this knowledge of God's sovereignty is to delight in it--even when you are hurting. After a vision of heaven that few have been privileged to see, the apostle Paul was given a "messenger of Satan," possibly some severe physical disability, to keep him humble. Even after praying for deliverance the Lord told Paul that grace is better that healing. Paul demonstrated more than an admission that God was in control (for you can say that and remain bitter). He showed more than a submission to God's control. Paul was actually able to delight in his hard times. He testified: "Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

What is it with you? Illness? Money trouble? Relationship problems? Lost your fight on a political issue? You do have responsibility in many areas, but in those areas beyond your control you need to find satisfaction that God meant it for your good and his glory.