my burg

Why I journal 1) To have a record of God's dealings with me .  Many of these I would soon forget if I did not write them down.  This includes answered prayers, verses illumined by the Spirit from my Bible reading, or special quotations, or things people have said to me. 2) To think by writing .  Some people think to write, others like me write to think.  There's a joy to putting ideas into words, and a seriousness, too.  Albert Einstein once said, “Have the courage to take your own thoughts seriously, for they will shape you.” 3) To write out prayers to the Lord .  The Psalms are expressions of the heart written down for all time.  I too transcribe my praises, problems and petitions.  Usually they're short, but there's something about seeing a prayer written down that tells me, yes, that's what I mean.  4) To record events, significant or otherwise : family, personal, church, international, or anything I might deem significant.  Often I just write down what

“I glorified you on earth by completing  the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:4) “Lord, grant us: in our work, satisfaction; in our study, wisdom; in our pleasure, gladness; and in our love, loyalty.”  (William Barclay)  Fred Smith reflected on this prayer, specifically the request about satisfaction in work:  “ In our work, satisfaction... ”  Peter Drucker told our son , “Let the task be the reward.”  He was saying money isn’t the the full reward.  It is a necessary component, but shouldn’t be the primary goal.  I played golf with a CEO who lost $80 million in a corporate debacle.  His comment to me was, “Fred, I wasn’t in it solely for the money.  When I am gone, what I contributed will live on in my industry."  What a pity it would have been if money had been the measure of his satisfaction. I asked Seth Macon, the retired Senior Vice President of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company, what his greatest satisfaction was in his 40+year career. “The present leaders are

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. (Isaiah 54:10) "One of the most delightful qualities of divine love is its abiding character. The pillars of the earth may be moved out of their places, but the kindness and the covenant of our merciful Jehovah never depart from His people. How happy my soul feels in a firm belief of this inspired declaration! The year is almost over, and the years of my life are growing few, but time does not change my Lord. New lamps are taking the place of the old; perpetual change is on all things, but our Lord is the same. Force over turns the hills, but no conceivable power can affect the eternal God. Nothing in the past, the present, or the future can cause Jehovah to be unkind to me. "My soul, rest in the eternal kindness of the Lord, who treats thee as one near of kin. Remember also the ev

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  (Luke 2:15-20 ESV)   [Above: Caravaggio's "Adoration of the Shepherds" (1609)]

What a blessing to receive a copy of this new book as a gift from some very good friends! Gerry McDermott is the editor of this Oxford-published volume of essays, backed by a who's-who list of contributors: Mark Noll, Alister McGrath, Henri Blocher, John Stackhouse, Donald Bloesch, Dallas Willard, Darrell Bock, and many others.   This is an important work for such a time as this, when the word "evangelical" has come to mean practically anything and often, virtually nothing.   In the opening essay Mark Noll notes that historically there have been four ingredients to evangelical religion: the importance of conversion, the ultimate authority of the Bible, the inevitable fruit of charitable works (and often social reform), and the centrality of the Cross (substitutionary atonement). Just getting started... The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology, Gerald McDermott, editor .  

Here's Carl Trueman on "A Dissenting Voice on Lausanne III " First he wonders first if such declarations makes any difference to the world at large:  Evangelicals typically make the fatal mistake of assuming that the wider world actually cares about what they think. It does not: it increasingly regards us as fringe lunatics, rather as it did in the first century.    Then he wonders if anything new or ground-breaking came out of it, especially in light of its great expense... To read some of the blogs and reports on the conference, you would think that something new and radical was being proposed.  Nothing I have seen could not have been found better expressed elsewhere by somebody else at some point in the past.  The question then becomes: did we need a gathering of thousands of church leaders (though no leader from my own church, local or otherwise, seems to have been present), at huge expense, to tell us these things? He wonders about how representative it was...

  "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."   (Luke 1:31-33 ESV) "This is a wonderful promise, because it means that Jesus is just as much King now as He was when He ascended into heaven; He is ruling His people today just as much as Barack Obama or David Cameron or Vladimir Putin or any other world leader are governing, and He will continue to reign long after they are in their graves, and until He returns to establish his kingdom." (David Kingston) “If Gabriel has spoken the truth, the issue in 2010, no matter where you live on this planet, is: Will you bow before the kingship of Jesus and obey the rule of his kingdom?”  (John Piper) And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the L

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."  (Titus 2:11-14 ESV) In my own words: Jesus died for sin that he might destroy sin.  Or put another way: he died for my sins that he might deliver me from my sins .  To redeem is to set free from bondage in order to bring us into a glorious, life-giving relationship with God. Trust in Christ for salvation also means obedience to Christ for a new life.  This too is included in "grace".  Grace instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldliness and lawlessness.  There is a negative aspect to it -- but for a positive

See the previous post.  And now the search for a new church has begun for my friend, and he's having a difficult time of it. My insight for today is that people don't go to church because those in charge of church make it too unpleasant. This is a distressing discovery as I loved going to [a previous church] every Sunday for about 5 years.  Here, after 1-1/2 years I've come to dread much of the experience. In our immediate area (10-mile radius) we are surrounded by Baptists, with a smattering of liberal Methodists and Presbyterians. There are some Roman Catholic churches, but they keep pretty quiet, which is probably a good thing considering the kinds of things the bishops have been up to with the homosexual priests over the past several decades. The local Presbyterian church is in a state of collapse following the pastor's affair with a member of the congregation. One of the Baptist churches publishes on its web site a demographic survey showing the education levels

I followed with some interest a longtime friend who is leaving his church.  Here's one installment of what he wrote me, with a few things changes or omitted to protect the innocent (and the guilty)... I'd appreciate prayers for our family as we search for a new church.  We are quitting our church this week. Our misgivings about this church have been growing for the past several weeks. Things came to a head this past Sunday. The worship service was a preview of what will be a new service starting soon. It was basically a rock concert with smoke filling the auditorium, chanting of mindless phrases, and the prancing around of our new worship leader who came from a mega-Church several weeks ago. He seems to think he is a performer rather than a leader. As it turned out the whole experience adversely affected all of our family, both spiritually and physically. After the service I learned from the pastor that the sound level was adjusted to 92 decibels, which turns out to be no

Lately I have been thinking about grace and coming across good quotes (so random it might seem) on the topic... First, this from Fred Smith, former Dallas businessman: Grace was genuine, real, personal, and palpable to the great saints.  Brother Lawrence, Frank Laubach, Francois Fenelon…these Christian mystics never doubted they were the constant recipients of God’s amazing grace.  Grace was a practical part of their every day lives. For example, Brother Lawrence said when he made a mistake, he didn’t spend time agonizing about it - he just confessed it and moved on.  Before I read this, I spent a lot of time trapped by guilt.  Immediate grace was too good to be true.  Brother Lawrence released me. Nevertheless, legalism appeals to our common sense and reasoning.  I find it necessary to remind myself that the very Scripture that makes me know my guilt lets me know His grace.  By refusing grace, we play God striving to discipline ourselves.  We view events as punishment.  We see

Just noticed that the opening and closing teaching sessions by our Lord Jesus, according to Luke's Gospel, have a striking similarity: And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me , because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him . And he began to say to them, " Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing ."  (Luke 4:16-21 ESV) And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and s

I like Fred Smith's advice on how to live life .   Here he writes on dealing with boredom. Boredom is the dry rot of our souls. It is a sure sign of poor self-management.   It comes when we feel what we’re doing isn’t worth the time, isn’t interesting, or isn’t challenging enough.  Boredom can be the result of living too efficiently and less effectively.  When our life becomes a series of habits and routines, our creative juices dry up. Oftentimes I hear my grandchildren say, “I’m bored.”  My response is always the question, “So, what are you going to do about it?”  We must learn early on that the cure for boredom is our responsibility, not the job for others . We live in an entertainment culture.  We too quickly cry “foul” if the TV screen goes blank for a few seconds. A prolonged stay in boredom allows us to fall into pseudo-sophistication, grow melancholy, or adapt a lifestyle of ennui.  If we stay there too long, we lose the ability to pull ourselves out of the quagmire

On the topic of seeing Christ -- that faith is a miraculous work of God, and that we should be seeking to see more of Christ's glory:    Simon Peter replied, " You are the Christ , the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you , but my Father who is in heaven."   (Matthew 16:16-17 ESV)   "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."  (John 17:24 ESV) Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise, Thou mine Inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art. (Dallan Forgaill, 8th Century) “

“Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”  So said G. K. Chesterton, who is one of the most quotable writers in history, though I think C. S. Lewis still holds first place in that category. I finished reading an excellent quote on education by Chesterton here . This struck me as so relevant that it could have been written this week on our own campus.   Many liberal arts professors today would tell me that my own view of truth is absolute, dogmatic, and ultimately leads to domination.  Instead, any "truth" should be seen as subjective and relative. Absolute truth claims only serve to subjugate others -- all truth claims, then, are power plays. Except their own, they think. I hear often from Christian students how their views are frequently belittled and berated by teachers who would otherwise say truth is relative.  So even the postmodern professor ends up being exclusive, domineering, and power-playing.  They sim

Fred Smith on motivation. This applies to work, marriage, ministry or child-rearing... Many people think of motivation as a quick, easy blast ---- a shot to the solar plexus to spur action.  Not in my book.  I hear a lot about the time Knute Rockne stayed out of the Notre Dame locker room at half time until the very last second.  He then poked his head in the door and yelled, “Let’s go, girls!”  Of course this story is famous because the Fighting Irish went on to victory.  Somehow, I think this bleeds over into manipulation rather than motivation . What is the difference? 1. Motivation is the process whereby a mutual interest is developed between two people.  This is usually recognized by both as they work together for success.  Motivation involves a long-term healthy drive in a psychologically friendly atmosphere where people are developed, not used.  There are common goals and positive outcomes. 2. Manipulation is the process used by one who gets others to do what he wants

This desk set I received from my father-in-law.  It's a Sheaffer Imperial fountain pen with white onyx (or marble) base and monogrammed brass plate.  Steel inlaid nib, a very smooth fine.  1960s.  

Here's the last portion of my review on Dr. John Hannah's notes on spiritual growth: 10. Mortification : How is the believer to put to death the deeds of the flesh?       “To be Spiritually Minded is Life and Peace”(Rom. 8:6).       “Watch and Pray that You Enter not into Temptation” (Matt. 26:41) . We began our study of the spiritual life stating that there are three important ingredients with numerous ramifications: Know your God, Know yourself, and know your situation. Vivification is about the first of these; Mortification is about the latter of these. a)    Some General Reflections on Sin in our lives. 1) Most people are bothered by the symptoms and consequences of sin, not its causes. 2) Sin is not resolved by avoidance and neglect , nor inadequate, unfruitful remedies. 3) Sin is most often revealed in its fruitful state (i.e., “death” as personal wastefulness), not in its inceptive or casual stage. 4) Sin is rooted in our fallen natures (i.e., disrupti

Continuing my arranging of notes by Dr. John Hannah, from our recent spiritual life conference.  [See previous post.]  Now his section on "vivification", or what God gives us and what we do related to the new life being manifested in us:  8. Vivification: How do you get good thoughts into your mind? How do I determine what is right to think about since the spiritual life is so connected to mental activity? This is vivification , doing those things that promote and help us to grow. A healthy spiritual life is the result of healthy thoughts. But, how do I get healthy thoughts in a God-opposing world? “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, what ever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) a)    Right thoughts require virtuous input : This is the place of the Bible .  If you desire to think correct thoughts, you must good idea

Haven't posted here on fountain pens in a while...   Here's a flea market find that I'm putting back in my rotation for daily use.  It's a Sheaffer Balance, with gold-filled Lifetime nib, fine.  It's a standard size pen, made in a marine green marbled celluloid, which is a pleasure to look at and to write with.  Uses a lever filling system (and internal bladder, which is relatively easy to replace).   This pen was manufactured in the U.S. in 1930-31.  I got it from a flea market for $3.  In my opinion American Sheaffers had excellent nibs, smoother generally than Parkers.  Read more about the history of the Sheaffer Balance here . 

Continuing to edit notes from John Hannah's teaching on spiritual life [see previous post]... 6.    What does God do to cause us to glorify Him more? a)    God graciously redeems us from sin’s condemning power and grants us the Holy Spirit . He provides the basis for spiritual growth (John 3:6). b)    God provides His children with protective mercies and preservation. c)    God chastises us to curb our dangerous tendencies and humble us. This is often expressed in the consequences of moral failure. For the child of God, this action is always remedial in nature, never punitive (Heb.12:5-6). d)    God brings disappointments into our lives to shape us spiritually in that the design is that through them we depend on the Lord more (John 9:1-3). e)    God uses the evil actions of others upon our lives to shape us to reflect His glory (Genesis 50:20). f)    God helps us to understand that this world is but a shadow of a world yet to come . This gives us perspective of the things

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"  "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.  (Romans 11:33-36 ESV) Some notes from the Spiritual Life Conference with John D. Hannah... 1.  There is a lot of confusion in the churches concerning the practical side of walking with the Lord. Some teachers paint an idealized picture that simply is fiction, yet such teachers can lead the serious listener to guiltiness and the naive to misplaced confidence. 2.  Walking with God must begin with the recognition four things: a)  We must become students of our God and ourselves (the mental).   b)  We must come to grips with divine sovereignty and splendor (the ever-first priority).   c)  We must realize the fact t

More information here . 

I enjoyed this word from C. H. Spurgeon, from Faith's Checkbook : "And I, if l be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me"   (John 12:32) Come, ye workers, be encouraged. You fear that you cannot draw a congregation. Try the preaching of a crucified, risen, and ascended Savior; for this is the greatest "draw" that was ever yet manifested among men. What drew you to Christ but Christ? What draws you to Him now but His own blessed self? If you have been drawn to religion by anything else, you will soon be drawn away from it; but Jesus has held you and will hold you even to the end. Why, then, doubt His power to draw other? Go with the name of Jesus to those who have hitherto been stubborn and see if it does not draw them. No sort of man is beyond this drawing power. Old and young, rich and poor, ignorant and leaned, depraved or amiable--all men shall feel the attractive force. Jesus is the one magnet. Let us not think of any other. Music will not dra

"It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writing to a young bride and groom from his prison cell in Nazi Germany in 1943) "A good marriage is the union of two good forgivers."  (Ruth Bell Graham) "I didn't marry you because you were perfect. I didn't even marry you because I loved you. I married you because you gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults.  And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage.  And when our children were growing up, it wasn't a house that protected them; and it wasn't our love that protected them - it was that promise."   (Thornton Wilder, "The Skin of Our Teeth") "What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in