o baby! and a new book

The news is officially public: my sister is having another baby! I am thrilled. Spent the evening walking through Barnes and Nobles trying to search out a few birthday presents for friends. The price of new books and my own inability to pick out gifts made it a long evening. In the end I stuck with a few classics and only one book for myself which I thankfully did not have to take out a loan to cover the bill. Stay tuned if any are interested, there may be a book club started up with a few old friends from Pullman. I suspect that it will be more of a time to gather and drink in shared memories along with perfectly steeped tea, but a book in hand can surely add a nice flavour. Hope in Christ Ministries is poised to receive a hefty grant from the state to fund more workers to pursue relationships with youth. Pray that we will find skilled and anointed workers that will work the field of Bremerton. The 90+ degree days in Bremerton are bringing more kids in the in afternoons so please double your prayers for the staff that are always "available."

In the evening I have had the opportunity to spent an hour each night on my deck reading and praying. It is time that I would not trade for ten thousands loud moments. My companions have been two new books: The Journals of Jim Elliot and a new book written by the most established academic atheist of the 20th century Antony Flew. Then a chapter of the Bible to lift my eyes beyond my railing and to appreciate the world beyond my mind. Then I breath and praise and think of lovely things--all made available by the One who loves me and gave Himself for me. I read a quote in the second book concerning the late philosopher Bertrand Russell, author of the book Why I Am Not a Christian, written by his daughter, Katharine Tait. She writes, "I could not even talk to him (Russell) about religion...I would have liked to convince my father that I had found what he had been looking for, the ineffable something he had longed for all his life. I would have liked to persuade him that the search for God does not have to be vain. But it was hopeless. He had known too many blind Christians, bleak moralists who sucked the joy from life and persecuted their opponents; he would never have been able to see the truth they were hiding...his life was a search for God....Somewhere at the back of my father's mind, at the bottom of his heart, in the depths of his soul, there was an empty space that had once been filled by God, and he never found anything else to put in it." She also commented that he "had a ghostlike feeling of not belonging, of having no home in this world." And Betrand personally wrote this, "nothing can penetrate the loneliness of the human heart except the highest intensity of the sort of love the religious teachers have preached." Open your mouths and do not close your hearts, dear Christians. Stopped running after the world and realize the hope that is within you.

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." - Ephesians 1:17-23

a porch panoramic

I am enjoying the evening cool from the deck of my 2nd story apartment. There is a thick greenbelt around the complex that is garmented in non-bearing fruit trees and evergreens. Between a few of the evergreens, one having the broken top of an eages perch, I have a sunset view over the eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, which faithfully stands each day as tables beneath the peach spring sky. I swing upon a tilting bench that is just big enough for two and a child. Directly in front of me are the blinking lights of Green Mountains cell towers and above the moon holds pause as a rearview mirror for the sun keep a watchful eye over that it misses. Teach us to number our days aright, that we might gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

dozens of lovely encounters

The last two weeks has brought over a dozen friends from Pullman through the Bremerton area. Jesus told his disciples, "I call you friends...love each other" (John 15:15). We are not to be scanty with our love. Have you been? Cease to be so scarce! Love outright! Not merely because it is a command ("This is my command: love each other." - John 15:17) but because it is renewing ("love builds up" - 1 Corinthians 8:1). Companionship is often underestimated. I remember reading Leonard Ravenhill comment on how great eagles fly alone and kingly lions hunt alone, but is it good for man to be alone? I talked with a friend the other day as we worked in the kitchen and she told me about her favourite parts of Chronicles of Narnia, since she is in the midst of reading through them again. She is also likes to taste books and talks about them like a gluttonous child might describe a perfectly scrumptious doughnut. One of her choice parts was when Alsan, having discovered Lucy and Susan following him, asked the two girls to put their hand in his great mane so he could feel them beside him as he walked towards the stone table. He laid down life as he walked, bearing even then such an unimaginable weight that his paws barely left the ground as they proceeded toward the climax of law and love. It was a new perspective for me of the last hours of Jesus in the garden. My view up till this point has been that his request of the disciples to stay with him for an hour of prayer was a final word of instruction. I do not think it was a last moment teaching opportunity. He wanted them to be with Him, to share time, knowing that time was short. Do you have time? Do you ever make "sacrifices" for love? What do you love? Who do you love? Do they know?

"The prisoner, the sick, the christian in exile sees in the companionship of a fellow Christian as a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God. Visitor and visited in loneliness recognize in each other the Christ who is present in the body; they receive and meet each other as one meet's the Lord, in reverence, humility, and joy. But if there is so much blessing and joy even in a single encounter of brother with brother, how inexhaustible are the riches that open up for those who by God's will are privileged to live in the daily fellowship of life with other Christians!" -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Mother

A quick post before an evening of studying. The sun is holding onto its lofty perch over the jagged jaws of a the tree line in the sky as I write, quite a fantastic site. I wanted to write to honor a woman. A woman who has love me and has been a near friend. She is a fun girl and is not ashamed to dye the sprinkles of gray out of her hair to chase away the creeping later years of life. This morning as I drove up to our house she was on her hands and knees in the dirt (she doesn't mind getting dirty) and look up just in time to give me a funny look. "Oh my! I am always out here long than I plan." She had substitute taught music for 4 period to classes of 1st and 2nd graders, and she was full of stories as she hurriedly put her tools away and wiped the weedy mud off her hands. One thing that I love about my mother is her creativity. What would you do if you taught music to a group of kids that you had no familiarity with? Well, for starters she had them do rhythm exercises with drum sticks, and then scarf dancing while she played the piano (when the music stopped they had to drop down and cover themselves like a caterpillar in a cocoon). The final period she hosted the schools three-person strong xylophone club. So what then? Watch? Surely not! She learned one of the songs and played a duet with one of the girls.

Her faithful life has made mother's day easy for me. It is a joy to be her son and share these short days at home with her. This evening as she cooked I read her the first chapters of "Shadow of the Almighty." I think even that is evidence of her passion. When asked several weeks ago what she wanted to have passed onto all of her children she replied, "an abiding love for God and an enjoyment of books, music, and nature." My life is indelibly marked by her faithfulness.

such a day as today

"I walked out to the hill just now. It is exalting, delicious, to stand embraced by the shadow of a friendly tree with the wind tugging at your coat-tail and the heavens hailing your heart, to gaze and glory and give oneself again to God--what more can a man ask for?" - Jim Elliot

of what angel's sing

On Sunday afternoon Rocky stopped by to drop-off the shopping list for Monday morning. I had just returned from my afternoon run. We shared the kitchen and talked about things that are the theme of angel songs. He told me the story of a girl that has spent the last two months slowly working off her endless hours of community service washing dishes in the afternoons at the coffee shop. On Friday this girl had been severely slacking in her responsibilities so Erica pulled her into the office and gently asked her how they could work together on proficiency. In a moment the girl was out of the office yelling. Erica pursued. For the next two hours Erica washed dishes and told this girl about Jesus. As Rocky told me about this he expressed his own encouragement from the story, "Daniel, this is the stuff angel's sing about!" The next day, today, the girl came in and quit. Erica cried. Erica and I talked together and she told me, "I am just so discouraged. I keep wondering if I did something wrong. Maybe I got too excited that God was going to change her heart." This was my encouragement. I thought of Hebrews 11, "men and women of whom the world is not worthy." Pray for Erica. It is an honor to work with her. On Sunday I preached in Hosea 6, "What will I do with you, O Ephraim? What will I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like the morning mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." Erica's love has not vanished. Within moments a new group of kids had found there way through the swinging doors of the coffee shop and she was back in the fray, praying and counseling, and, yes, crying.

John and Betty Stam

Betty Stam, who was executed as a missionary in China, wrote at age 18:
Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, All my own desires and hopes, And accept Thy will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all Utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit. Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt. And work out They whole will in my life, at any cost, Now and forever.

John, her husband, in writing to his father mentioned the prevailing dangers which lay ahead, had enclosed verses which, though written by another, he said expressed his own feelings.

Afraid?
Afraid? Of what?
To feel the spirit’s glad release?
To pass from pain to perfect peace,
The strife and strain of life to cease?
Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of what?
Afraid to see the Savior’s face,
To hear His welcome, and to trace
The glory gleam from wounds of grace?
Afraid—of that?

Afraid? Of what?
A flash—a crash—a pierced heart;
Darkness—Light—O Heaven’s art?
A wound of His a counterpart!
Afraid?—of that?

Afraid? Of what?
To do by death what life could not—
Baptize with blood a stony plot,
Till souls shall blossom from the spot?
Afraid?—of that?

dawnwind

"There are times when something comes into our lives which is charged with love in such a way that it seems to open the Eternal to us for a moment, or at least some of the Eternal Things, and the greatest of these is love.
It may be a small and intimate touch upon us or our affairs, light as the touch of the dawnwind on the leaves of the tree, something not to be captured and told to another in words. But we know that it is our Lord. And then perhaps the room where we are, with its furniture and books and flowers, seems less 'present' than His Presence, and the heart is drawn into that sweetness of which the old hymn sings: The love of Jesus, what it is / None but His loved ones know.
Or it is the dear human love about us that bathes us as in summer seas and rests us through and through. Can we ever cease to wonder at the love of our companions? And then suddenly we recognize our Lord in them. It is His love that they lavish upon us. O Love of God made manifest in Thy lovers, we worship Thee.
Or (not often, perhaps, for dimness seems to be more wholesome for us here, but sometimes, because our Lord is merciful) it is given to us to look up through the blue air and see the love of God. And yet, after all, how little we see! 'That ye may be able to comprehend what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge'--the words are too great for us. What do we comprehend, what do we know? Confounded and abased, we enter into the Rock and hid us in the dust before the glory of the Majesty of love---the love whose symbol is the cross.
And the question pierces then: What do I know of Calvary love?"
- Amy Carmichael, excerpt from the book If

Here I found an early morning refreshment. Twelve hours of driving, three hours of sleep, and a storm in the mind. Only the Lord can awake us with such strong peace. I love His encouragement, "Daniel, I, yes I, am your great reward." I love Him. There are many questions that we can ask of God, but few that we are serious enough to wait for. Lord, make us a serious people. A people serious enough to pursue your presence when it means walking a path alone, serious enough to tenderly love even when we don't exactly know how and it only seems silly or hard, and to hope when Jordan's shore and the promises of peace seems so far from our tipsy little boat. May our decision--the people we spend time with, the words that we speak, the purity of our heart, the life of our thoughts, direction of our eyes, and the way we treat others--bring pleasure to Your heart, O God. I am convinced that the Bride of Christ needs to stop thinking that our actions do not effect our relationship with God. They do! We so often wonder at our dispassionate heart when we have not had the courage to despise all else and run towards the infinitely true and valuable love of God. Pray, pray with me, for hearts of passion and purity. O that the two would be united with an aim for the experiencing of God's greatness in all things!

Nicodemus

Love through me, Love of God,
Make me like Thy clear air
Through which unhindered, colors pass
As though it were not there.

Powers of the love of Good,
Depths of the heart Divine,
O Love that faileth not, break forth,
And flood this world of Thine. - Amy Carmichael

I enjoy Nicodemus every time I read about him. He was sincere, "how can a man be born when he is old?...can he?" His heart was not to proud, nor his ways to set, to find Jesus at night and relieve his wondering heart.

His ways are higher than the critics

Here is a brief write-up I did for my seminary class. You might sense a critique of higher criticism of the Bible, which is its intention. Higher criticism, a movement popularized in the mid-20th Century and later repackaged by the postmoderns, asks the reader to find personal meaning in everything they receive, rather than understanding the original meaning intended by the author. It would be like reading fairytale of the 3 little pigs and detailing the psychological and emotional trauma caused by the houses of the first two being blown down. While you might laugh it is actually a very popular movement. I think it is because we pride ourselves in our own abilities, the depth of our own thinking, and do not want to submit or obey. Do you do everything that the Bible so clearly says? Ha! We are so stubborn. Let us be quick to listen, slow to speak, and swift to follow the way of God that He revealed to us in such loving detail. Oh let us stop being stubborn. Let us be changed and transformed. His words are true and His way is lovely. He desires to lead us to mountains of spice (Song of Solomon 8:14)!

Here is the small article:
I spoke to a pair of Mormon missionaries today for two hours. As the points stacked up against them and the evidence of history and the fact of Christ love bore down like an avalanche on their weak shelter they made one final plea, "don't you understand: it is the feeling of the Spirit that testifies within me that this is truth." There is revealed often in our best efforts a mistaken helplessness. In our modern culture we are asked to applaud people who admittedly do not having a grasp on life. You hear the praise begin, "at least they are being honest." I believe that to build relationships, to take people seriously, and to rejoice in truth we must understand what the author intends to say to us. This point is illustrated well on the comedy Dumb and Dumber when the protagonist is told that there is 1-in-a-1,000,000 chance that he will hook up with the girl, to which he responds, "so you're saying there's a chance." Point taken: there is certainly the ability to misinterpret and severely eschew the truth of a matter if the precise information intended by the speaker is not understood by the listener. It should also be pointed out that even the author who wishes their work to be ambiguous still has a certain intention that must be carried out for the piece to be successful--one must understand it to be meaningless, which further reveals then the intention, character, and worldview of the author. There is an old saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all," which could be extended to " and if you don't have anything meaningful to say, then don't bother speaking at all." If we are not communicating information we abide alone. We learn and understand people and situations by the communication of meaningful information; words are more than symbols, they are precise and descriptive with the purpose of transferring information that we have found useful enough to exert nerves and muscles to think and to speak. Likewise, there is a reason for horns in cars (i.e. "get out of the way or I will run you over."), and a proper understanding their use will save us from a world of hurt. Ultimately we find truth by receiving the meaning that is communicated to us. "The word became flesh and made its dwelling with me." The Bible talks in great detail of receiving the word. We must be hearers before we can be partakers, and partaker before we can be sharers. The Bible become joy to the person who is sliced and divided by the two-edged sword, which cuts away our preconceived notion of how things ought to be, revealing deeper parts of us than we even knew existed. We must be changed by the author--the Holy Spirit--if we are ever to understand the life-changing truth contained in the Bible.