The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves...dreams of her in the night, hath her in his eye and apprehension when he awakes, museth on her as he sits
at the table, walks with her when he travels. . . . She lies in his bosom, and his heart trusts in her, which forceth all to confess that the stream of his affection, like a mighty current, runs with full tide and strength.

The Puritans, you see, were rescuing marriage from the shackles of the Middle Ages.  The medieval church lacked high regard for marriage and largely reduced its purpose to the bearing of children.  As Leland Ryken points out in his book Worldly Puritans, the church of the Middle Ages praised virginity and disparaged marriage.  Ambrose, for example, said that married people ought to blush at the state in which they are living.  Chrysostom claimed that Adam and Eve didn’t have sex until after they sinned in the garden.  My favorite is the notion proffered by Bishop Gregory of Nyssa.  He claimed that sexual desire was a consequence of the Fall and that had the first couple not sinned, the human race would have reproduced itself by some harmless mode of vegetation. (One can only imagine what Saturday Night Live might do with that. . .)

Early in the 16th century the Purtians begin to appear and with a united voice they praised the virtues of sex and marriage.  In a sense, the Puritans restored the notion of friendship to marriage.  Henry Smith said a man must chose his love, and then he must love his choice.  Daniel Rogers said, Husbands and wives should be as two sweet friends, bred under one constellation, tempered by an influence from heaven. . . saying, see, God hath determined us out of this vast world each for other.  William Whately wrote, As for love. . . it is the life, the soul of marriage.  Of course this seems self-evident to us, but friendship and love was far from the minds of 16th century husbands and wives.  The Puritans brought friendly intimacy back into the home.

The Puritans went on to rescue sex from procreation.  After a millennium of prudery these pastors and theologians praised sexual pleasure within marriage.  In one New England Puritan church we even have a record of a man receiving church discipline when his wife complained to the elders that he was neglecting their sex life.  In the end, he was excommunicated!  The terms “conjugal duty,” “cohabitation,” and “due benevolence” all come from the Puritans.  Each of these terms speaks of the goodness, and necessity, of sex in marriage.  William Ames said one of the duties of marriage is the mutual communication of bodies.  William Gouge understood intercourse between a husband and a wife to be one of the most proper and essential acts of marriage.

Yes, these quotations from the Puritans are funny.  Gouge went on to say that marital sex was to be conducted with good will and delight, willingly, readily, and cheerfully.  Funny, yes, but the Puritans were on to something that is pertinent to our times.  I saw a cartoon recently which portrayed a couple in bed, each working feverishly over their laptops.  The caption was a play on D.I.N.K.S., double income no kids.  It said, D.I.N.S. (Double Income, No Sex).

On the one hand the Puritans extolled marriage, but on the other they were very realistic.  They spoke of a family being a “little church.”  A family was to function joyfully, and beautifully.  But the Puritans understood the challenge of marriage.  John Oxenbridge said that men and women should prepare for marriage by limiting the expectation and by recognizing that everyone marries a child of Adam, that is, a sinful human being.

To those of us who are married, let’s make it a habit in our unions to practice “due benevolence” in the broadest meaning of that term.  Let those of us who are husbands cherish our wives as Christ cherishes the church.  Let those of us who are wives submit to our husbands as the church submits to Christ.  One anonymous Puritan writer said that in marriage we. . . may joyfully give due benevolence one to the other; as two musical instruments rightly fitted do make a most pleasant and sweet harmony in a well tuned consort.

Are you married?  Let the music play.  Let it play loudly for all to hear.  Are you unmarried?  Make it your ambition to prepare for and to pray for what the Puritans called the “holy estate of matrimony.”  Marriage is not ultimate and life can be very good without it.  We will, indeed, be happy in God for eternity without earthly marriage (Matthew 22:30).   But the proverb is right; He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord (18:22).  Yes.

•    We need to be wary of a “God of the gaps” theology.  This is one that says we don’t know every detail and thus only a one-time God intervention could have accomplished it.  He’s talking about the argument for the existence of God because there’s no other explanation for something.  The danger here is when (and if) science does figure something out, then what?  For example: eclipses were once thought to be gods or spirits making omens, because no human could effect the “heavenly bodies”… then planetary motion shows the earth making a shadow on the moon, and a belief system is squelched.  And remember, just because science can explain the “how,” that doesn’t discredit God for it, not does it give a “why” – not to mention the power to accomplish it or the creativity behind thinking it up.
•    I learned the meaning of words that made evolution seem like a weird fairy tale, words like “mutation” and “natural selection.”  Mutations of DNA are not as freakish as I previously thought.  “Mutant” sounds so weird and rare, but my offspring each have 60 (on average) mutations in their DNA sequences (deviations from the code passed on to them) that are not from Justin or me.  In just one generation!  That makes changes in species not seem to be so impossible.  Darwin’s theory of natural selection is clearly seen (and accepted as sensible) in mutated strains of viruses that have become unaffected by vaccines.  The strains that have changed are the ones that survive and pass on their genetic code.
•    Science is nothing to be afraid of:  Many believers in God have been drawn to Young Earth Creationism [the literal interpretation of the 6 days of creation in Genesis, which makes the earth only 6,000-10,000 years old] because they see scientific advances as threatening to God.  But does He really need defending here?  Is not God the author of the laws of the universe?  Is He not the greatest scientist?  The greatest physicist? The greatest biologist? Most important, is He honored or dishonored by those who would demand that His people ignore rigorous scientific conclusions about His creation?  Can faith in a loving God be built on a foundation of lies about nature?”  Towards the middle of the book, Collins gets pretty bold and frank about the error he sees in discounting the evidence that 100 years of scientific research has compiled, pointing to the evolution of life on earth.

Through reading this book, I have taken away a more detailed understanding of evolutionary theory.  (Collins points out, by the way, that yes, evolution is a theory, but that word is used in the scientific community differently than you might use it otherwise.  Darwin put forth his evolutionary theory in the way that Newton put forth his theory of gravitation).   When I had the opportunity to learn about this (back in the 9th grade) I was closed to it and rejected the information.  I found learning it in my 30s much more fascinating.  I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the subject, and especially to high school or college students who have taken, are taking, or will take biology.  (Psst, kids, if you want, I can give you the Cliff’s Notes version, or tell you which 3 or 4 chapters to read… it is almost 300 pages long)

I also have a greater awe for God’s handiwork.  Don’t you think God forming man from the dust of the earth sounds ludicrous?!  How about from the DNA of bacteria, slowly morphed and altered to our present state?  Crazy!!  While the added information was fun for me, I am holding loosely to specific ideas of how God did it.  I just know that He did.  And He took such great care in doing it.  I love that creation is so complex that it’s taking us so long to figure everything out.  I hope we never run out of things to discover.  I don’t think we will.  (Hallelujah, Lord, keep us humble!) After pondering all these things – and some of these pages did make my brain hurt – it boils down to something we say with our kids almost every evening before dinner, The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.

As the psalmist wonders at this glory, set so far above the heavens, he finds himself feeling very small.  What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  And here some delicious ambiguity comes into the psalm.  I’m a big fan of lyrics with multiple meanings because it allows me to make new discoveries inside of something I’m already enjoying.  When David writes that the son of man is crowned with glory and honor, is he talking about all of humankind, or about Jesus, who so often referred to himself as the son of man?  Since David wasn’t available I asked for some advice (I’m not going to say who but his initials are BP and he led us in praying Psalm 8 just before I wrote this song) and the ambiguity was unambiguously confirmed: both.  The psalmist writes about something he knows and alludes to something he doesn’t entirely know.  Jesus is the image of the invisible God, we are created in His image, and likewise creation itself bears God’s image.  All three are crowned with glory and honor, and can thus reflect that glory to all the earth:

In the midst of this majestic and intimate poem, the most surprising element is not the mention of God’s enemies, but rather the weapon recommended for opposing them:  praise!  And here we read that praising doesn’t just slow down the enemy – it silences him.  The enemy loves to chatter at us, calling us names, reinforcing old images, reminding us of past arguments or even focusing us on future non-existent arguments!  We are up to bat and some days it seems the entire infield is yelling, Hey batta batta; if we manage to tune out the 1st baseman’s voice, the shortstop’s comes into focus, then right field, then 3rd….   I hear the psalm saying, Don’t just play defense with your ears – play offense with your mouth!  Praise Him – and use the power of scripture, especially memorized scripture, which works in ways we cannot understand:

 
Nothing gets me deeper into a psalm than rewriting it.  You probably have your own way of enjoying a scripture.  Since I had an assignment for a small hymn-writing group to write a song in meter, Psalm 8 ended up in 8-8-8-8 – that is, four lines of eight syllables each.  (Many hymns were written with a certain number of syllables in each line so that they could be used interchangeably with common tunes of the day).   Sure, that’s a cool math fact, but it also means this song, Rehearse Your Glory, can be sung to any number of tunes including, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, which just might come in VERY handy some December afternoon.

Click HERE to download an mp3 of Rehearse Your Glory

•    Critique others when invited or when absolutely       necessary.
•    Make it your habit to speak well of other                  believers.
•    If you can’t say something nice, don’t say it at          all. . . but say something nice. 
•    Cultivate and use words that encourage rather     than reactions that tear down.
•    Let your smile flow from a heart that wishes              others well.
•    Speak well of other churches. 
•    Celebrate what God is doing in those churches,       pray for those congregations and tell those you       know who are members, that you are doing so.
•    Pray especially for those who bug you.
•    Love your enemies and pray for those who              persecute you.
•    Words are powerful . . . Renounce gossip.
•    Gossip is a noun.  It is hearing something you li         like about someone you don't. (Earl Wilson)
•    Gossip needn't be false to be evil - there's a lot       of truth that shouldn't be passed around. (Frank       A. Clark)
•    Don’t pass it around.
•    Be careful with the tweezers you use with the          speck in your brother’s eye. 
•    Make sure they are smooth with no sharp              edges.
•    And ask for permission before you try to use          them.
•    Kind words are inexpensive but very valuable. . .      spend extravagantly.
•    When feelings of your own moral superiority               creep in to your soul . . . be quiet, repent.
•    Surround yourself with un-judgmental people. . .
•    Have to courage to ask your friend if there is a      plank in your eye.
•    Don’t be offended when that friend says “yes.”
•    Ask that friend to help you take it out.
•    Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
•    For in the same way you judge others you will be      judged and with the measure you use it will be         measured to you. . .

We have other habitat restoration projects in planning stages. Thirdly, we are committed to Justice. The poor around the world have become the proverbial canaries in the coal mine in regards to environmental degradation. As wealthy members of our community we can buy our way to a healthier lifestyle, but it is often the poor who are restricted to the lowest quality food and living opportunities. We are addressing this need directly through community organic gardens. Our current garden at El Calvario Baptist Church will provide fresh organic produce for the 75+ families that show up twice a month for food distribution at the church. This fresh produce will supplement the packaged foods they are currently receiving and provide opportunities for families to become involved in growing some of their own food. We have been approached with requests to establish several similar garden plans around town. Yeah, we’re busy! And we are excited about getting the word out and getting the church plugged in.

This official commissioning by A Rocha USA means that Rich and I have been called to see this plan though. Here’s what you can do to get involved. Pray. We covet your prayers. We know that someone out there is really praying because so many doors have opened for us along this journey. We need God’s direction. We desire the Holy Spirit to continue to soften people’s hearts to this area of Christian discipleship and stewardship. We desire the active works of our faith to be a witness to our community. Pray for us in regards to finances. Both Rich and I currently work full-time jobs and have been laying the groundwork for ARSB at night when we should have been sleeping. We are seeking full funding to free us up to see this task to fruition. Sign-up. As we become more freed up there will be more opportunities for learning and more needs for workers. We will regularly email you news of upcoming events as well as our ARSB newsletters. Drop us a line and we will add you to our list of friends. Marty Robertson, marty@arochasb.org, or Rich Dixon, rich@arochasb.org. Our web page should be up by the time this article goes to print at http://www.arochasb.org/.

How can we at SBCC escape the tide of indulgence that wars against the souls of western Christians? I maintain that the neglected discipline of fasting coupled with prayer will lead to a life more controlled by the Holy Spirit, and less enslaved to a host of fleshly appetites. Let me offer a definition. Biblical fasting is a periodic discipline in which we temporarily abstain from food in order to draw near to God and sharpen our focus on His kingdom. In doing this, we offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices, emptying ourselves physically that we might be filled spiritually. Fasting is full-body prayer, in which the hunger of our bodies is a parable of the poverty in our souls, desperately crying out to be filled.

Is fasting really necessary for us as Christians? If our sinless Lord inaugurated His earthly ministry with a 40-day fast, we would do well to take notice. Furthermore, Esther, Daniel, David, and the nation of Israel fasted. Jesus gave instructions about how to fast to His disciples, and predicted they would fast in his absence.  Paul, Barnabas, and others in the early church fasted. Add to this Paul’s instructions to imitate his way of life, and his aspirations to imitate Jesus, and it is hard to escape the conclusion that we, too, are called to fast.

A look at church history reveals many more fasting men and women whom we regularly quote in our sermons and whose books we devour as a church. The Puritan William Law, for example, said the man who never fasts is no more a Christian than the man who never prays. Harsh words, perhaps, but worth probing. 

In recent years fasting has been largely ignored by the church, primarily because we have confused a grace-filled life with an undisciplined life. Far too many Christians proclaim they tried fasting and it didn’t do anything for them. Such words betray seduction by the quick-fix spirit of the age. Fasting is not magic. It is a discipline that when faithfully practiced over the years will utterly transform us, producing humility, thankfulness, discernment, purity, patience, verbal restraint and an increased appetite for God’s Word and work.

The cultivation of purity is one of the more relevant fruits of fasting for a scandal-tainted American church. Conversely, failure to control our stomach will open us to sexual temptations. The writer to the Hebrews hints at this coupling of gluttony and sexual immorality, warning his readers, See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance. Similarly, the sexual immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah was accompanied by being overfed, arrogant, and unconcerned. Three years ago, I went on a 2-week business trip to Sydney, Australia. Being 9000 miles from home in a lonely hotel room with unlimited access to fine food, in a city where lingerie ads wallpaper the subways, is not good for any man. Surrounded by temptation, I found escape through a 24-hour fast.  I discovered it is easier to make a covenant with your eyes when you have first made a covenant with your stomach.

Remarkably, in my scan of men’s books on fighting sexual temptation, none give serious consideration to a regular discipline of fasting and prayer as a weapon against sexual addiction, though much is made of accountability groups. Recent years have seen a number of well-known American evangelical leaders fall into sexual sin. Is it possible the affluent west has raised a generation of leaders unschooled in the disciplines of self-denial? Many fallen leaders were courted by presidents and politicians, but unlike Daniel, did they lack the wisdom to refuse the king’s food and wine, in order that they may preserve their saltiness?

As we seek to be different, a great place to start is to read the chapter on fasting in Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, or John Piper’s book, A Hunger for God. Beyond these, consider the following:

1. Fast before Tuesday morning prayer. Wouldn’t it be great if a number of us fasted on Monday, and showed up Tuesday morning with empty stomachs and open hearts?
2. Fast for discernment. I remember a workplace decision I made as a result of a 24-hour fast coupled with reflection on the book of Proverbs. Before the fast, I thought the obvious choice was “A”; but by the end of the day I had decided on “B.” Two years later, I am still thanking God for changing my mind.
3. Fast for the impossible. Broken marriages and broken hearts, unrepentant sinners, persecuted Christians, addictive behaviors, evil governments, gang violence, prodigal children, and abortion. Ask God to fight for us in these places.
4. Prepare for battle.  Fasting is an act of war against the world, the flesh and the devil. Expect them to fight back.

I write this article acutely conscious that I am very much a beginner in the school of fasting. But it is a school in which I am unambiguously enrolled. Even as a beginner and reluctant student, my feeble efforts have at times been met by extraordinary grace. If I were in the habit of keeping a journal, here is a record of grace that it would contain…

I come home from work this Monday tired and hungry. I help get dinner on the table for a meal I will not be eating. After dinner, I am strangely motivated to persevere in praying with my children. I surprise myself with a kind of supernatural patience, enduring repeated interruptions and childish squabbles. I open a Psalm with little inspiration, but in a few moments the living and active Word directs our prayers. As a family, we are repeating, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” The Spirit is moving. My body is empty, but my heart is full. The morning arrives; the Father’s fellowship is especially sweet. I have discovered an ancient spiritual weapon, and it is working.

As we at SBCC wrestle against the powers of this dark world, let us walk the road of fasting and prayer until the Bridegroom returns, puts all enemies under His feet, and we feast with Him forever.

SBCC is in the middle of her twenty-ninth year as a community.  We have just merged with Trinity Baptist Church, a wonderful body of believers in its forty-fifth year of church life. SBCC needed a facility and the collective wisdom of people with gray hair.  TBC needed some younger people, teaching pastors, children’s ministries, etc.  So we started hanging around together last autumn, and a funny thing happened on the way to Christmas. . . We fell in love with one another.  We’ve come together with great joy and appreciation. Never a day goes by when I don’t hear several people from both congregations express their delight and gratitude to God for his bringing us together.  And so. . . we’ll all live happily ever after, right?

Well, maybe.  In the midst of great excitement, that we all seem to be sharing, we would do well to heed the warning Jesus made to the New Testament church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22).  Like Santa Barbara, Laodicea was a wealthy city in a beautiful location.  Trade was good.  People went to there to make money and to enjoy the surroundings.  A church was planted in Laodicea, and it thrived.  But by the time Jesus addresses this congregation, the church has become lukewarm. 

In most of the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, Jesus begins with a compliment to the believers.  Not so to the Laodiceans:  I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot!  Would that you were either cold or hot! And these harsh words had special significance for the hearers. You see, the price for living in Laodicea was terrible drinking water.  No Evian, Perrier, or Sparkletts here.  The drinking water for Laodicea was brought from Hierapolis, six miles to the north.  By the time it got to the city on an aqueduct it was, indeed, lukewarm.  Its high mineral content probably didn’t kill anyone, but a good glass of fresh, cool water was not to be found.  One had to go seven miles to the south, to the cold springs of Colossae, for that.

And what does Jesus say to this church?  He says, Your faith is like your water: tepid and disgusting.  Consider what Jesus doesn’t say.  He has no criticism of the Laodiceans’ sexual immorality, nor does he criticize them for tolerating false teaching.  He doesn’t even say that they have lost their first love, as he says to the Ephesian church.

But, reserving some of his harshest criticism for this church, our Lord calls them lukewarm!  The Laodicean church, evidently, had it all—a cute pastor, great children’s ministry, bumper stickers advertising the church, a vibrant college ministry, t-shirts, the whole shebang.  But somewhere along the way the Laodiceans stopped begging Jesus for his blessing.  They stopped crying out for his anointing.  They ceased praying for the filling of the Spirit.  They were lukewarm.

What can we do as the merged church of TBC/SBCC to avoid this dreadful condition?  What can we do to avoid being spit out of our Lord’s mouth?

The answer lies in this simple call to our church community: Let us put first things first.  In the end, “church” is not about ministries or missions.  Church is not, in the final analysis, about outreach or even discipleship.  Church is not ultimately about music, preaching, sharing, or giving.  Church is about the glory of God.  Church is about God calling people to himself—people who are so captured by his beauty that they cannot look away.  A healthy church is essentially a group of people to whom God has made known the path of life.  They are filled with joy in his presence, with eternal pleasures at his right hand (Psalm 16:11).  That joy and those eternal pleasures fuel everything else in the life of a healthy church.

Have you heard the story of George Müller (1805-1898)?  By any measure, he was an activist.  He was busy doing things in his Christian life.  He was the pastor of a rapidly growing church, he started orphanages, and he distributed literature and Bibles worldwide.  Et cetera.  What would you expect Müller to say about priorities in the Christian life?  Stay busy?  Never grow tired of doing God’s work?  Suffer the little ones?  Müller said nothing of the sort.  In his autobiography we find these words:

According to my judgment the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord.  Other things may press upon you, the Lord’s work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life.

Let us, as a merged body of believers, make this the business of our church.  May we busy ourselves making our souls happy in God.  The rest, then, will take care of itself.

Recycling is a part of a larger theme of stuff white people like: saving the earth without having to do that much…

Rats! A quick scan through the various topics highlighted in this hilarious blog confirmed my worst fears – I had become a cliché!

I pondered how I could reconnect my stewardship decisions to their roots. Thankfully, it did not take long for me to do so. One Saturday in February I needed to take my bike to the shop for a big overhaul – a complete replacement of my drive train, which is an all-day job. I wanted to ride my bike to the shop, but could not find someone to pick me up in their car from there. Slowly, it dawned on me that I could just take the bus home.

I shuddered. I had not taken a bus in Santa Barbara since I graduated from UCSB in 1983! What is my hang up with taking the bus, I thought to myself. A recent Q&A in the News-Press (2/18/08) on public transportation summed up my subconscious reservations:

What would it take for you to use mass transit?
If the time between two different buses was shorter, that would encourage me to take it more.

If it was more convenient. . . If it (went) through specific areas instead of just going up and down one street.

It would be nice if it was nicer. It's kind of gross.

If they came and picked me up at my house.


I was embarrassed by these answers when I saw them in print. They were utterly ridiculous. Of course we would like the world to revolve around us… but that is not reality! I was humbled when I realized that I took the bus every time I traveled – whether it was New York City, St. Louis, Rome, Antigua (Guatemala), or all over Turkey and Greece – but I was somehow too proud to take it in my own town?! Now I was determined to take the bus.

It took awhile to figure out the right schedule, but soon I came up with the routes I needed. I ended up taking the bus four times that week. There were a wide variety of people on my bus rides: mentally disabled adults, college students who did not speak English to each other, elderly people, people in wheelchairs, mothers with young children, people with tattoos and body piercings, several folks who appeared to be mentally ill, and a few who looked to be homeless. Sometimes I was the only white person on the bus. I have lived in Santa Barbara since 1979, and cannot recall the last time I went out and about and did not run into an old friend or someone from church. However, on these bus trips, I did not see one person I knew. And that made me sad.

I still want to limit my impact on the environment. I still want to spend less money on material consumption. I still want to exercise more and use my car less. I still yearn to be less consumed with myself and my own need to feel efficient. I still want to make time to listen and to think and to pray. And I have learned that all of those things happen not just as I ride my bike, but when I take the bus. And the bus has one distinct advantage over riding my bike: it is definitely NOT cool.

On the bus something else happens – I enter a world I am less familiar with, a world where people do not expect the bus to come to their front door, and where they are not taking the bus out of environmental concerns. Rather, the bus is the only means of transportation available to them. Just as Jesus left the comfort of heaven to bring the gospel to our world, I want to leave the comfort of my world and enter the world of those folks right here in town.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
      because he has anointed me
      to preach good news to the poor.
   He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
      and recovery of sight for the blind,
   to release the oppressed,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:16-19)

This song evolved during a painful season of life.  I became friends with Matt Steele about twelve years ago.  Matt and I were in a rock band together.  Through the numerous practices and gigs, we came to know one another extremely well and developed a multifaceted, trusting friendship.  Our camaraderie went well beyond our attempts to create the best music we could.  As our relationship grew tighter, we shared the ups and downs of faith.  It was a privilege to have a friend to respect so highly on both a musical and personal level. 

When my wife and I first started attending SBCC in 2003, Matt was one of the only close friends we had. I’ll never forget the joy on his face the first time he saw us walk down the aisles.                                   

He made us feel like we instantly belonged and bridged me into friendships with his friends—people after God’s heart that I now call “lifelong friends”.  In addition, Matt persuaded me to use my musical gifts for worship as soon and often as possible.  The profound spiritual and musical imprints he left on my life will forever impact my future.

Sadly, I only had about a decade of Matt’s intense influence on my life.  As most of you know, he lost an excruciating battle with brain cancer in October of 2006.  Watching my friend slowly
die was the most difficult trial I’ve had to face.  I desperately wanted to help and encourage him, but often felt like there was little I could do to make a significant difference. 

Why would heaven want to take a godly man in the prime of his life?  Wasn’t it obvious that his family needed him?  His church needed him?  I needed him?  As Matt’s life drew to a close, I wrestled with these types of questions.

Thankfully, I did not tackle these difficult uncertainties alone.  My church, my friends, my family—we were all seeking insights into the quandary of Matt’s shortened life.  What I discovered were two very simple realities that I already knew but had not yet experienced to this degree.

Reality #1:  Life is hard.
As tough as it was for me to lose Matt, I knew it was far more agonizing for his immediate family and closest friends.  This is one instance of pain in life.  We can all name a myriad of struggles, deaths, wars, conflicts, and misfortunes.  As much as we’d like to escape challenge, it always seems to be looming.  I found comfort in this passage:

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.  (James 1:12)

Reality #2:  Heaven is remarkable.
Matt’s life overwhelmingly pointed heavenward.  At Matt’s memorial, many shared about the wonder of heaven.  This was evident in his time on earth, and also more profoundly now in paradise.  Reed mentioned that if Matt had the chance to leave heaven, he would refuse.  Matt is seeing and experiencing the unparalleled love of Christ in a way that we can hardly fathom.  As I pondered this reality, my enthusiasm for heaven inflated.

Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:3-4)

Why am I holding on?  I believe the enormous blessings that await us far outweigh the difficulties of this life.  As painful as earth can be, the promise of heaven is worth holding on to.  My friendship with Matt, and the aftermath of his passing, inspired me to hold more tightly to my one and only hope—until I see His face.

Labor while you live, to serve God and do what good you can, and endeavor to improve every dispensation to God’s glory and your own spiritual good, and to God’s glory and your own spiritual good, and be content to do and bear all that God calls you to do in this wilderness, and never expect to find this world anything better than a wilderness.  If you lived near us, yet our breath and yours would soon go forth, and we should return to our dust, whither we are all hastening.  ‘Tis of infinitely more importance to have the presence of a heavenly Father, and to make progress towards a heavenly home. Let us all take care that we may meet there at last. (Jonathan Edwards Reader p. 312)

Click HERE to listen to Holding On. 

Jesus, Thou Joy of loving hearts,
Thou Fount of life, Thou Light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to Thee again.

Incline our hearts to Thee, O Lord.
Open our eyes to things above.
Give us an undivided heart.
And satisfy us with your love.

Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest those that on Thee call;
To them that seek Thee Thou art good,
To them that find Thee all in all.

We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still;
We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

Our restless spirits yearn for Thee,
Wherever our changeful lot is cast;
Glad when Thy gracious smile we see,
Blessed when our faith can hold Thee fast.
O Jesus, ever with us stay,

Make all our moments calm and bright;
Chase the dark night of sin away,
Shed over the world Thy holy light.

 
The text of this hymn was written in Latin by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). Martin Luther, 400 years later, called Bernard, the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together.  Central to his convictions was the importance of experiencing Christ rather than just attaining an intellectual understanding of Him:
 

He is himself the Loveable [One] in his essential being, and gives himself to be the object of our love. He wills our love for him to issue in our bliss, not to be void and vain. His love both opens up the way for ours and is our love’s reward. How kindly does he lead us in love’s way, how generously he returns the love we give, how sweet he is to those who wait for him! He is rich unto all that call upon him, for he can give them nothing better than himself. He gave himself to be our Righteousness, and keeps himself to be our great Reward. He sets himself to the refreshment of our souls, and spends himself to free the prisoners.

 
So consumed was he with the love of God, Bernard preached 86 sermons on the first two chapters of Song of Songs plus the first few verses of chapter 3!  (Just think how long his Homegroup study guide to Song of Songs would’ve been!)  The hymn Jesus Thou Joy is an expression of this deep yearning to be filled and sated with that for which our souls truly hunger.  It is an elaboration of the great sentiment expressed so well by Augustine (354-430), the great North African bishop, You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.
 
A few years ago, I was reading John Piper’s When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy.  In it he tells of how he uses the acronym I.O.U.S. to pray over the Word in his fight for joy in God.   It stands for:

I = Incline!  Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain. Ps 119:36
O = Open!  Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. Ps 119:18
U = Unite!  Unite my heart to fear your name.  Ps 86:11
S = Satisfy!  Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

 
It seemed to me to express well the same longing that Bernard articulated and the same conviction that satisfaction of these longings can be found in Christ alone.  With just a little tweaking, this became the refrain I added to the text of Bernard’s hymn.  May we as a people continue to press on in seeking the Lord for that which is of ultimate importance, from which all else flows.  Let us not grow weary of crying out to the Lord, for ourselves and for the church, that He would be our hearts’ desire and satisfaction!
 
An audio clip and lead sheet of this song may be found at: HERE

 Okay, you say, but what about America?  Aren’t things getting worse here?  Isn’t the sun setting on our parade?  Hardly.  The good times roll on and on. 
 
•    Crime rates have plunged across the board.  According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, property and violent crime have reached their lowest levels since 1973. 
•    Teenage drug use has declined 23 percent since the 1990s.  The use of LSD, ecstasy, and methamphetamine has declined by almost 50 percent in recent years. 
•    Our welfare rolls are getting smaller, shrinking 60 percent since 1994.  The rates of child poverty among black and Hispanic children have similarly declined. 
•    The divorce rate is the lowest it has been since 1970, and even the rate of abortion is declining.  In 1990 we performed 1.6 million abortions in America; last year we performed fewer than 1.3 million abortions. 

And what, you ask, is the Christian response to all this good news?  First, as we tiptoe into 2008, let us be people marked by gratitude.  God has placed us in what can only be called good times.  Hand-wringing in such an era as ours must be a sin.  Sure, we can worry about Vladimir Putin, Hamas, Kim Jong-il, and the price of gasoline (which, by the way, when adjusted for inflation costs today about as much as it did in the mid-1930s).  We can fret over our national debt, consumer debt, global warming, housing starts, and the current crop of presidential contenders.  These are real problems.  Is there cause for anxiety?  Clearly.  But every people, in every age, has reasons for anxiety.  Life in a fallen world is fragile.  It always has been and will always be so until Christ comes again.  But God has been pleased to place us in the best of times.  Let us give thanks accordingly.

Second, let us beware.  A delayed apocalypse delights me, but good times frighten me.  Good times tend to make us lazy.  Luxury leads to a sense of entitlement:  We have so much, we are so well cared for, and our needs are so thoroughly met that we might be tempted to think we deserve all this.  We begin to think of God as a cosmic waiter whose primary job is to fill our cup with ice and tea as we bask in the sunlight of his goodness.  When something in life does go awry, we are stunned, even offended, left wondering why God isn’t at this moment making us happy.

Good times also tend to lead us into idolatry. An idol is anything that takes the place of God (a car, a friendship, a job, a marriage, living in Santa Barbara).  When one of these things is inflated to the point that it receives attention reserved for God alone, it becomes an idol. When material prosperity, for example, becomes an end in itself, that prosperity is idolatrous.  Consider the process.  We become accustomed to living with our wealth.  Soon enough we take for granted our good jobs, our nice apartments and homes, and our insurance polices that cover everything from a car crash to an appendectomy.  Yet we grow unsatisfied.  But instead of coming to our senses and

returning to God, we seek to fill our hunger with more—more money, more leisure and travel, more square feet under our roof, more things. Abundance never satisfies; rather, it creates an unquenchable thirst.  We need look no further than the credit card industry for verification of this truth.  Consumer debt is at an unprecedented high as we enter 2008. In 1980 consumers owed $55 billion, in 1997 we owed $367 billion, and today we owe nearly $1.5 trillion! Surely such debt testifies to our materialistic idolatry.  The richest people on the planet, we nevertheless want more than we already have.

Finally, good times tend to lead us into innumerable perversions. G. K. Chesterton noted that it is during the afternoon when the children become bored and begin to torture the cat.   Ours is surely an afternoon society.  Having become bored with our copious bounty, we fall for absurdities such as cosmetic surgery (from the face lift to the tummy tuck), pet cemeteries (embalm your poodle???), and $250 Nike basketball shoes.  Body piercing, facial tattoos, and body branding are surely evidence of a bored society.

But back to our original question: Is the apocalypse just around the corner?  Is the sky falling with the advent of radical Islam, global warming, and the scarcity of trans fat?  Who knows?  But right now we live in good times.  On the one hand, thanksgiving.  On the other hand, vigilance.  It may be that this very night our lives will be demanded of us.  Then who will get what we have prepared for ourselves (Luke 19:2)?