Because I said so

A woman came in the store this morning and bought several items, including ear buds. She asked me, “How much are the ear buds today?” I told her the price and asked, “Didn’t you just buy some of these?”
She said, “Yeah, but my daughter took them. She was listening to some music that I didn’t like and told me, ‘If you don’t want to hear it, then I’m gonna take your ear buds.’ So that’s why I’m buying some more.”
I sort of laughed and said, “When my children were younger, if I didn’t like the music they were listening to I just said, “Turn that down.”

And that got me to thinking about some phrases I heard growing up. One of my Dad’s favorites was, “Children should be seen and not heard.” Another phrase we heard often was, “Because I said so.” As in, “Jeff, do this.” I would say, “Why do I have to do that? I don’t want to do that.” And the reply would be, “Because I said so.” That meant the discussion is over, now go do it.

I don’t mean to imply that we were always well behaved children. When I was growing up, roaming was a common practice. And did we ever roam. We would be home for lunch and supper, but we wandered all over the place. And got into trouble. I can’t go into any details - there may still be outstanding warrants out on us. I mean, whenever I go to Hawaii I have to use my fake passport to avoid being picked up at the airport.

Would my parents have let me take their ear buds and then go and buy another pair? Well, they didn’t even have ear buds back then, but if they did, not on your life. If we would have asked to use theirs they would have said, “No.” And when asked why not, they would have said, “Because I said so.” And we would have gotten a job and bought our own.

What did I say when my children tried to take my ear buds? They were just coming into reality when my children started to get older, but I would have said “No” and either gotten them some for Christmas or they could have gotten a job and bought their own. But then, I was so mean that when we were travelling together and one of my girls started to put headphones on, I would always say, “No, take ‘em off.” And when they asked why, I would say, “Because I said so.” Actually, it was because I felt like by putting on headphones they were isolating themselves from the family and, after all, this was a family trip. I just said “Because I said so” because that’s what I heard my parents say!

Praying and Watching

The other day I read the account of Alban, the first martyr in Britain. It is quite a story, but there was a line in it that really caught my attention:

“[Alban] was yet a pagan, when the cruel Emperors first published their edicts against the Christians, and when he received a clergyman flying from his persecutors into his house as an asylum. Having observed that his guest spent whole days and nights in continual praying and watching…”

This early pastor “spent whole days and nights in continual praying and watching.” I was really touched by this. Not only was he known to spend a whole day or night in prayer – that alone is convicting, he also spent the time in “watching.” I confess, I have not heard much about this and I don’t think I taught on this. Oh, I often stressed watching, but not praying and watching. I was stirred, What is this? How would you do this? I remembered several verses linking the two ideas, so I thought I would look up the verses and then see if I could find what this means.

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Mark 14:38)
Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Colossians 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Now, here are a few thoughts on this from Chrysostom and Adam Clarke. Why these two? I figured Chrysostom would capture what the early church taught and I really like Adam Clarke.

Luke 21:36 
Perhaps we should connect, continually, with, watch, as it appears to be the most natural order. Indeed the word continually belongs equally to both watch and pray; and no man is safe, at any time, who does not attend to this advice as literally as possible. ~ Adam Clarke

Ephesians 6:18 
Watching thereunto— Being always on your guard lest your enemies should surprise you. Watch, not only against evil, but also for opportunities to do good, and for opportunities to receive good. Without watchfulness, prayer and all the spiritual armor will be ineffectual. ~ Adam Clarke

Now mark the wisdom of this blessed Apostle. He has armed them with all security. What then is necessary after that? To call upon the King, that He may stretch forth His hand. “With all prayer, and supplication, praying at all seasons in the Spirit”; for it is possible “to pray” not “in the Spirit,” when one “uses vain repetitions”; “and watching thereunto,” he adds, that is, keeping sober; for such ought the armed warrior, he that stands at the King’s side, to be; wakeful and temperate. ~ Chrysostom

Colossians 4:2 
Continue in prayer— This was the apostle’s general advice to all; without this, neither wives, husbands, children, parents, servants, nor masters, could fulfill the duties which God required of them.
All might, power, and life come from God; his creatures are continually dependent upon him for all these: to earnest, persevering prayer, he has promised every supply; but he who prays not has no promise. How few wives feel it their duty to pray to God to give them grace to behave as wives! How few husbands pray for the grace suited to their situation, that they may be able to fulfill its duties! The like may be said of children, parents, servants, and masters. As every situation in life has its peculiar duties, trials, etc.; so to every situation there is peculiar grace appointed. No man can fulfill the duties of any station without the grace suited to that station. The grace suited to him, as a member of society in general, will not be sufficient for him as a husband, father, or master. Many proper marriages become unhappy in the end, because the parties have not earnestly besought God for the grace necessary for them as husbands and wives. This is the origin of family broils in general; and a proper attention to the apostle’s advice would prevent them all.
Watch in the same— Be always on your guard; and when you have got the requisite grace by praying, take care of it, and bring it into its proper action by watchfulness; by which you will know when, and where, and how to apply it.
With thanksgiving— Being always grateful to God, who has called you into such a state of salvation, and affords you such abundant means and opportunities to glorify him. ~ Adam Clarke

For, since continuing in prayers frequently makes persons listless, therefore he says, “watching,” that is, sober, not wandering. For the devil knows, he knows, how great a good prayer is; therefore he presses heavily. And Paul also knows how careless many are when they pray, wherefore he says, “continue” in prayer, as of somewhat laborious, “watching therein with thanksgiving.” For let this, he says, be your work, to give thanks in your prayers both for the seen and the unseen, and for His benefits to the willing and unwilling, and for the kingdom, and for tribulation, and for refreshment. For thus is the custom of the Saints to pray, and to give thanks for the common benefits of all. ~ Chrysostom

Wow. What powerful teaching! Especially Clarke’s comments on Colossians 4. I need to “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” This is good stuff. Wow.

Impressed and Embarrassed

I have read my Bible from lid to lid several times, and sometimes I fool myself into thinking that I know it pretty good. Then I read and am embarrassed by my paltry grasp of its contents.

What am I reading that causes this reaction? I admit, most of my reading is from the Church Fathers (and Reformation era folk). These guys predate computers and concordances, but they knew the Bible. I mean, they freely and regularly quote passages. I know books today do this, but I assume they do it like I do: start writing in your word processor, have a thought about a verse, look it up in your computer Bible (via a search, Where is that story about Jacob and his dream? Enter Jacob and dream and voila!), then place it in the appropriate place in your saved text etc. But these guys didn’t have this luxury, they just had it all on the front shelf and could pull it out anytime they needed it. I am constantly impressed! Blown away to be more precise. And embarrassed that with so many more tools, I don’t know it that well.

Happened again today in a little different way. I’m looking for a book that was written by The Venerable Bede. He was an Anglo-Saxon church leader who lived from 672 to 735. His most famous work is The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. I have read that one but he wrote many other books as well. The one I am looking for now is called, The Reckoning of Time (De temporum ratione). It appears to be a very difficult book to obtain, but Google has excerpts. So I checked it out.

I went to the chapter, The World’s First Day. This is a discussion of what day on the calendar the first day was. He sets forth the proposition that this must have occurred at the spring equinox because the day and night were of equal length, which only occurs at the equinox. But, the sun wasn’t created until the 4th day, so there couldn’t have been an equinox until then. So, since the equinox is March 21st, three days before that is March 18. “During the previous three days, as everyone can see, light and darkness weighed equally in the balance, for since the stars were not yet made, there was no measurement of hours. Not until the fourth morning did the sun, rising…inaugurate the equinox.” He goes on to speak of the creation of the moon: “The Moon, on the other hand, was full at sunset, for the Creator, Who is justice itself, would never make something in an imperfect state.”

I’m impressed! I’m excited - I really want this book now! I accept his explanation, but I’m not trying to promote that. The thing that impresses me is how thoroughly their thoughts were saturated with the Word of God! Everything was approached from the Bible and answered with an appeal to the Bible. And in the same context he explains how this all relates to salvation, Christ, and the Church.

I’m impressed at how saturated their thinking was with the Word of God and how it was all at the forefront of their thinking. They knew it thoroughly, they thought about it all the time, they applied it to every aspect of life. And I’m embarrassed that this is not so true of me. I mean, I know it pretty good, and as you can tell from my blog, I think about it and try to apply it, but I feel like I’m still in grade school compared to these guys. Now I’m not saying anything about anyone reading this, much less about my pastor friends – I’m sure they are up there with these early brethren. I’m talking about me – I’m impressed and embarrassed. And I will add, grateful that I have access to the works of men like Irenaeus and Tertullian and Bede and Wycliffe and Luther. They educate me, edify me, challenge me.

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Joshua 1:8 - copied and pasted from my computer Bible :-)

Cædmon or Critics Bug Me

Have you ever heard of Cædmon? I have known about him for a while and recently I came across his works again. I also encountered ‘scholarly critics’ who pretty much bash him. As in:

“The name of Caedmon is for ever associated with the birth of Christian poetry in England. In a beautiful legend in the Ecclesiastical History Bede describes how Caedmon was magically blessed with the gift of song, quotes the hymn he sang when the power first came upon him, and enumerates the subjects treated in his poems.”
Did you notice how he condescendingly refers to Bede’s account? A ‘beautiful legend’ and ‘magically blessed.’ These are words designed to dismiss the account as childish and untrue. But notice what he can’t hide, he is “for ever associated with the birth of Christian poetry in England.” 

“About 1630 a manuscript… was discovered by Archbishop Ussher… This manuscript contained the four poems [Bede said he wrote], Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, and Christ and Satan…. Because of a slight correspondence between the opening lines of Caedmon' s Hymn, quoted by Bede, and the opening lines of Genesis, the first poem in this manuscript, and because also of a partial correspondence between the subjects of Caedmon's poems which Bede mentions… the four poems contained in this manuscript were soon accredited to Caedmon…. ”
‘slight’ and ‘partial correspondence’ – again, he is dismissing the claim.

“This much is clear, however, that no critic to-day would be so bold as to assign the four poems of the Junius manuscript to Caedmon, or to any one poet.”
This final thought is the thing that gets me. But he is right, “no critic today” would say this. Critics, folk who thrive on the negative. And that bugs me.

A little background: Caedmon was active from 659 to 680. The Venerable Bede, who lived from 672 to 735, wrote about Caedmon. They were nearly contemporaries. But as we shall see, ‘critics’ maintain that Bede knew not of what he wrote.

According to another article, “Bede tells us that Caedmon kept the animals at the monastery and could not sing or compose until he had a dream and was given this gift by God. Bede said Cædmon would hear a passage of Scripture or some teaching and would it turn into the most beautiful verse. According to Bede, Cædmon was responsible for a large number of splendid vernacular poetic texts on a variety of Christian topics.


The details of Bede's story, and in particular of the miraculous nature of Cædmon's poetic inspiration, are not generally accepted by scholars as being entirely accurate, but there seems no good reason to doubt the existence of a poet named Cædmon. Bede's narrative has to be read in the context of the Christian belief in miracles…”

We have a couple of things going on here. One, modern scholars/critics, living 1200 years later, have a more accurate knowledge of events than does Bede, who was the very next generation. Two, much of what Bede says has to be discounted because he believed in miracles, which, as we (apparently) know, are impossible. Ha!

I appreciate and applaud the work of diligent scholars who have discovered and translated ancient works. I have enjoyed them and we can all benefit from them. But I deplore their egotistical approach to ancient literary works. This is manifest in their revisionism and their declaration to have a better grasp of facts than eyewitnesses. If you have ever read ancient works, you immediately notice that often in a book of 150 pages, 40 are the actual work, while the first 110 are the words of the “scholar.” Why is this? Because they want to make a name for themselves. As in: “Here is the work of ________. But I will tell you the true story and I will tell you how to understand this and I will tell you …”

The scholar/critics are also extremely biased. Bede said Cædmon had an encounter with God and was given a gift. Yet this is dismissed out of hand as not true because it could not have happened that way. But when you read Bede, he isn’t embellishing, he is simply telling the story of Cædmon and God’s grace in his life.

As I said, I appreciate the ‘scholars’ who restore ancient works for us. But I despise it when these same folks become ‘critics’ and try to pass their negativity and unbelief off as the standard, the norm, the only historical and scientific view.

I like Cædmon and plan to peruse his poetry (on my Nook!). I have read Bede and like him. But these ‘critics’ bug me. Now, to end on a positive note, here is Cædmon’s hymn and the opening lines from his Genesis poem:

PRAISE we the Lord
Of the heavenly kingdom,
God's power and wisdom,
The works of His hand ;
As the Father of glory,
Eternal Lord,
Wrought the beginning
Of all His wonders !
Holy Creator !
Warden of men !
First, for a roof,
O'er the children of earth,
He stablished the heavens,
And founded the world,
And spread the dry land
For the living to dwell in.
Lord Everlasting !
Almighty God !


RIGHT is it that we praise the King of heaven,
the Lord of hosts, and love Him with all our
hearts. For He is great in power, the
Source of all created things, the Lord Almighty.
Never hath He known beginning,
neither cometh an end of His eternal glory.
Ever in majesty He reigneth over celestial
thrones ; in righteousness and strength He
keepeth the courts of heaven which were
established, broad and ample, by the might
of God, for angel dwellers, wardens of the
soul. The angel legions knew the blessedness
of God, celestial joy and bliss. Great was their
glory ! The mighty spirits magnified their Prince
and sang His praise with gladness,
serving the Lord of life, exceeding
blessed in His splendour.

The thoughts I think at night – I wonder

It was Sunday night. It was a little slow and I was getting excited about my upcoming two days off. And I got to thinking, “Wonder what it would be like to have my two days off, then wake up and find my week had gone by and it was my days off again. Then I remembered what a friend used to say, “Be careful you don’t wish your life away.” 

I’m not wishing it was so, but I got to wondering: What if I did wake up and a week had gone by, and I was at my next days off? Would I be diminished in any way? Would I have missed some personal character development? How important are 5 days of routine, mundane living? I mean, nothing big is planned for next week, or expected, just your everyday stuff. So what would I have missed? Would I be any less?

Then it got interesting. What if you could do that, just skip a week like that and evaluate how you feel, what you think, and somehow record that. THEN go back and live through that skipped week. When I once again reached my days off, I could compare how I felt and what I thought after living through that week with what I thought and how I felt after skipping it. Then I would know.

Just some of my random thoughts on a slow Sunday night.

Then some guy came and in and we got to talking about a lot of stuff, including some scientist who was sort of his hero. Turns out this scientist spent a lot of time researching “time travel”. Can you believe that? I think just like a famous scientist!

Explanation or Excuse? or, The Bible and Jerry Springer

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  1 Peter 3:15-16

Does the Bible have anything in common with Jerry Springer? A fellow I had a conversation with recently said, “Yes. The story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah is worthy of Jerry Springer.” There have been several articles recently that have set forth the same thesis: The Bible is a terrible authority for morals.

Consider just a few charges and questions that are thrown at us: Cain and his wife, Abraham and his wife, Jacob and his wives, Judah and his daughter in law Tamar, the sons of Jacob selling Joseph their brother; and then there’s all the violence; on top of that, the audacity of God to carry out judgements on people. Their conclusion is a heavily sacrcastic, “The Bible is a great source for morals.”

This is being reported so often now that it seems like an orchestrated attempt to discredit the Bible and anyone who makes any statements based on it. And based on the fathers of the 2nd and 3rd century, this has been going on for a long time!

What do we do about this? How should we respond?

First, take comfort. Since this has been going from the beginning, we should not be alarmed. Oh I know, they write and talk like they have discovered the dirty secret of the Christian faith, the one thing that will bring the Faith down to the dust of obscurity. But if these kind of scurrilous charges have been made since the beginning, and the Faith is still intact – there must be an answer. And, of course, there is.

Next, Peter tells us  be ready always to give an answer. These attackers make the same mistakes, same assumptions, and we need to answer them. Consider:

+ Not everything is normative. They seem to think that every statement and deed recorded in the Bible is intended to be the norm. “The Bible also says…” But the Bible is not a series of unrelated texts, each and every one laying down ordinances and statues. Just look at the Jewish community, how normal was it for them to get a wife by working seven years for her, only to get the wrong sister first?

+ The Bible is a book of redemption, so it tells everyone’s story, warts and all. So naturally there are people who do dumb things, bad things, ridiculous things. They are people. They are sinners. But, God uses them anyway?? People stumble over this, “They are the heroes of the faith…” I wrote about this in an earlier post

+ Not everything in the OT applies to the NT. There is revelational and covenantal development in the Bible. God is growing us up.

+ Nevertheless, we have to admit, there may be some things in the Bible that are hard to understand. Our approach to these is based on what is clear: God is good, loving, kind, merciful, just, holy, and all knowing. What we may not understand or be able to explain, we trust to God.

But the real question is, Do they want an explanation or are they seeking for an excuse? I believe many just want an excuse. After all, even when you answer them, they often respond, “Well, I don’t care what you say, I still don’t believe it.” For many this is justification for removing the Bible from public discussion, It’s old and has a bad moral message - “It’s illegal today to sell your brother yet the Bible teaches it.”

So this next step is important, we need to be careful how we speak to them when answering them. Peter wrote: be ready always to give an answer…with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. In other words, speak to them in a kind and loving way. And, be sure to be living right.

Paul also spoke about this, And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

So, when people raise questions, wild questions, ignorant questions, intentionally misleading questions, I should try to answer them, meekly and gently teaching the truth, all the while praying that God would open their eyes.

I confess, it is tempting to get drawn into the controversy and focus on winning the argument. However, I need to remember, we are not preaching the Bible. The message of the gospel is not, Believe the Bible. It is Jesus. The problem is not that they struggle with the Bible, their problem is they don’t believe in Jesus. So I have to focus on this: “Yes, there are some rather interesting and unusual stories in the Bible (and don’t you think the people then thought so, too?), but that’s because it is a story of God’s redeeming love.”

I thank the Lord for whatever opportunities I have to speak with unbelievers, even when they are angrily denouncing the Bible and throwing around outrageous accusations. I just have to be careful not to get caught up in the striving, but to patiently and gently teach truth, and pray that God will grant them repentance.

Mary K came to visit

Mary K and Daniel live in Augusta, along with their beautiful children Lucca K and little Daniel. Our last trip down there to see them, she said they were planning a trip our way. We looked at the schedules, made sure Mary and I would both be off the days they were coming, and it was settled – they were coming Sunday and returning Tuesday.

Then, I went to work one night last week and learned that a co-worker was in jail. For shop lifting. Apparently, you can’t work in retail if you are arrested for shop lifting. My manager told me, “If I have to fire her the schedule is gonna change.” She hasn’t been fired yet, but is still in jail, so the schedule changed. Now, I was going to have to work Sunday. Bummer.

I was awakened Sunday to find Mary K and children had arrived. I don’t really remember Sunday. Oh yeah, we went out to eat at an Italian place in Charlotte. Mary and I, Mary K and children, Sarah and Keith and their children. Ten people. A couple was seated next to our table. I told them as we sat down, “There goes your quiet, romantic dinner.” We had a good time, anyway. Lucca loved seeing her cousins. She would stand next to Tiernan and cry out, “Mommy, I have Tiernan!” And she would stand next to Isabelle and hug her. Jack too.

Mary had plans for Monday that included a trip to the pool. But it rained off and on all day. Nipped that in the bud. When I woke up, there were children everywhere. After all, Mary had planned to take them all swimming. When Sarah went on break she came over, visited for a while, then took her children home. Se we spent the evening hanging out with Mary K.

Lucca is so cute! When she wants you to play with her she will come up to you and say, “C’mon, c’mon.” Sometimes she called me ‘Dddaddy’, sometimes ‘Grandaddy’ and most of the time on Monday ‘GrandmamaDaddy.’ I answered to all of them. Little Daniel is so cute. And such a happy baby. He just looks at you and smiles. And giggles when you play with him.

Monday night, it really rained. We were out for a walk and felt the change. I said, “It’s gonna rain. We better get back before we are drenched.” We made it back, it just took a little longer than we thought. But when it came, it was a downpour. My front yard had lakes and rivers in it! I love the rain. People are always complaining about it, but I have a lot of trees and grass. I need rain. Have you ever heard the advice, “Don’t water your yard at night, it will cause mildew”? Somebody forgot to tell God, He sends rain at night all the time!

Back to Mary K.

Tuesday I woke up early, I mean 12:30, then 2:30 then 4:30 then 5:10. Typical first night off. Then I heard Lucca and Daniel so I went out to join them. We (MK, Lucca, Daniel, me) went to Dunkin’ Donuts for some donuts. Got a dozen. After breakfast we piled back in the car and went looking for trains. I had told Lucca we would try to find a train. We did! And it was moving. We watched it for a while and went up the road to get a lot closer to it. It was stopped by then and we didn’t hear the whistle. But it was cool. Daniel was watching it. Lucca was watching it. Honestly, I don’t know who was more excited, me or the children!

We came back and played inside and outside and watched our Curious George DVD several times. Every so often Lucca would say, “Monkey” (or “Dog” depending on who was in the picture at the time) and “George.” Mary K and I played several games of pool (9 ball), taking turns watching Daniel. She won every time. Fun anyway.

Then around 10:30 she gathered all her stuff and loaded the car. A little after 11 they headed off down the road to Augusta.

We had a great visit. (Sorry that Daniel couldn’t make it. He had to work. In fact, when we were down there last he had to work then too. That boy works hard. And long hours.) Lucca is so cute. She does everything all out. When she comes running to you get ready, she will plow right into you! And she is very definite about what she wants. And little Daniel is such a happy baby. He wakes up smiling. And at supper Monday night, he really wanted something from the plate. So Mary K gave him some potato (we had low country boil). He seemed to really like it. And Mary K and I had good talks.

What a wonderful visit! And on Tuesday I was simply ‘Grandaddy.’ :-)

The real hero of the Bible

While working on another (perhaps future) post, I realized that we often look at the Bible in a sort of skewed light. We read it and think we are reading about heroes. After all, doesn’t it work that way in literature and movies? Isn’t the history of America built around the adventures and deeds of great men like Paul Revere, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?

We have a tendency to approach the Bible the same way and to think of Noah, Abraham, David, and Peter as “heroes.” And they were men of faith, men of God, but when we expect them to be heroes like Iron Man, or Spider Man, or Caesar, or Washington, or Jefferson, boy are we in for a shock! Unbelievers read it and throw this in our faces – “These guys are your ‘heroes’?

The other night, I returned to Luke and read chapter 22. I think God has sense of humor - I had been thinking about this subject and then, unplanned, I read this chapter.  Consider:

21  But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me [is] with me on the table.
22  And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!
23  And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing.
This seems to be true humility. Or at least I picture it going like this: “Who is he talking about? John? Simon? Bartholomew? Me?” So far so good.

24  And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
But then their pride takes over – strife over which of them is the greatest! Hardly people we want to emulate.

Then a little later on in the chapter, at the end of the supper, we read,

31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may sift [you] as wheat:
32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
34  And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. [see v 54-62]

Surely, the great Peter can not fail like this. But he does. This is terrible! People have stumbled over this from the beginning of the Church: “This is one of your foundational people? One of the chief people of this faith??” The thought is, What kind of hero is this?

Great question. But the question, and the stumbling, just goes to show that we misunderstand something very important. The Bible is not about heroes, or at least heroes as we think of them. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, James, John and Paul are not the heroes of the Bible. The real hero of the Bible is the grace of God! The Bible is about real people who stumbled and bumbled, fell and failed. But God, by His great grace, picked them up, set them straight, redeemed them, rescued them, changed them, and used them to accomplish His purposes.

Look at v 32 again. In the midst of His prophecy about Peter’s soon to come failure, Jesus said:
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Amen! The man we know as the Apostle Peter, that great foundation of the Church, that Rock of the faith, became that man only by the grace of God. That’s the point of the Bible!

Three days that I remember

I remember going to church some when I was growing up. At some point we went to a Lutheran church, I think, and then to a Catholic Church. I went to CCD classes (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, a religious education program) and took First Communion. But I was never really interested. Living in Hawaii, church for me was simply the only day of the week I had to get dressed up for something that I regularly fell asleep during. I was really excited when my Dad offered me the choice of going to church or staying home. I stayed home.

I remember the day when the family went to Laie to watch the sunset. I was asked if I wanted to go and I chose to stay home alone. I must have been in junior high. Wandering around in my own little world, I suddenly looked up to the sky and said, “God, if you’re there, I want to know you.” And went on my way. That was the beginning of my spiritual hunger and search.

In high school I got involved in Transcendental Meditation. Some days I was agnostic and other days I was atheist. But on no day did I want to hear about Jesus, even though I knew nothing about him.

Then we moved to Nashville, TN. As you might imagine, I was in shock for a while!!

I remember another day. It was the day I was introduced to a girl named Sherry Knott. As I looked into her eyes, something inside her leapt out and touched my soul. I knew she had what I was seeking. And I was utterly disappointed that she wanted to talk about Jesus!

We began to date anyway and, because I violated her curfew on our first date, the only place we could see each other was at church. First Baptist Donelson. Man, I was there more than some of the regulars! Here I was, this long-haired, half-wild, unbeliever, and they began to pray for me.

There is another day I remember. A Sunday morning. I was sitting with Sherry in the morning service and Bro. Baker was preaching. He reached the end of his sermon and gave the invitation. Everything inside of me was urging me to go to the front. And I was resisting. I mean, old time conviction: clenching my hands, wringing my hands, sweating through my clothes. And it must have been obvious because Sherry looked at me and asked, “If I go with you, will you go down to the front?” I said, “NO! I don’t know what he will do to me down there.” I made it to the end of the service. Sherry wanted to hang out with me, to talk this over, but wouldn’t you know it, she had some kind of meeting to attend. So I left and took a walk out by Percy Priest Lake, to think this through

While on this walk, I had the most wonderful encounter of my life. I became aware of a presence in front of me, a little above me. And then these words, “I am Christ. I am alive and I am God. Trust me with your life and I will take you to the true God.” The only thing I wanted, and He was offering to fulfill this. I didn’t know about sin, so I wasn’t interested in forgiveness. I didn’t know anything about heaven or hell, so I wasn’t trying to gain one and escape the other. I just wanted to know God. But I honestly wrestled with this. Do I want to trust my life with someone I do not know? Somehow, Sherry found me and took me to my house. I wrestled some more, but then I decided. I found a tract someone had given me (I had the impression that I needed to pray to do this) and prayed the prayer on the back, trusting my life to Christ.

I trusted Him with my life and He did indeed bring me to the true God. He got me, and I got God. A most lopsided and unfair exchange! And I am thankful every single day!

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. ~ Jesus

Why hasn’t anything been added to the Bible?

Some time ago I read an article wherein the author was lambasting the Bible. One of his charges against it was that nothing has been added to the Bible in 1900 years. This illustrates what I wrote last year, “One of the worst things you can say about something is that it is old.” Here he is making one of the worst charges he can imagine about the Bible, It is old and has not been updated in a long time.

And the author is correct - nothing has been added to the Bible in quite a long time. Why not? Why hasn’t anything been added to the Bible? I mean, computers, computer programs, even smart phones get updated all the time, why not the Bible?

There is a very good reason and it is found in Hebrews 1:

1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

The Bible is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to mankind, and Jesus is the final, full, and complete revelation. Rather than explain it myself, let me quote John MacArthur - see, I don’t only quote old dead guys! In a Christmas sermon on Hebrews 1 he said:

“So God did speak and He didn't speak briefly and He didn't speak in a limited fashion and He didn't speak unclearly. The Old Testament is crystal clear, it lays out the nature of God, it lays out the nature of man, it lays out the problem of sin, it lays out the promise of redemption. And it presents the coming Redeemer, it's all there.


"God, who did speak, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son." He once spoke through human prophets, and now He's spoken in His Son. No prophet has ever grasped the whole truth, only Jesus is the whole truth. The prophets got a part of it. One prophet a little here, another prophet a little there. None of them got it all. But when Jesus came, He was the full revelation of God. When He spoke, God spoke. When He acted, God acted. He is the full revelation of God. He even said, "If you seen Me, you've seen the Father." In Christ the revelation of God is complete. The many and partial revelations are over. The shadows are replaced by the substance. And so Christ comes as the fullness of God. 


When you come to Christ you're not just talking about another prophet. You're talking about God in human flesh. Everything God wants us to know about Himself is manifest in Jesus Christ. He is God's living and final revelation. The four gospels give us the record of His arrival and ministry and life and death. The book of Acts talks about the spread of that message and the building of His church. All the epistles tell us the meaning of His life and death and resurrection and ascension. And the book of Revelation tells us that some day He will come again to establish His eternal Kingdom. The whole of the New Testament is about Christ who is the full and final revelation of God.


He is the radiance of His glory. He is heir of all. He is Creator of all. He is light of all. I don't know another way to say that. The word "radiance" is...it's a great word, really, and in the Greek language it means "the brightness." It means the radiating light. It isn't the light bulb, it's the light that comes off of it. It is the radiance of the glory of God. He literally is God shining. If you want to know the glory of God, the light of the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ.


He is not only heir of all and Creator of all, and light of all, but He is, in fact, God of all. "He is the exact representation of God's nature." He is not just the shining forth of God, He is the very person of God. He is the exact representation of God's essence. He is the precise copy, the eikon, the exact image, the exact reproduction. Language is basically pressed to its limits to try to express this. He is not just a sketch of God. He is not just a shadow like Old Testament pictures and images. He is the full revelation, the picture complete. So when you think about the One who came into the world, you're thinking of none other than God Himself.”

This is why there have been no other books added – we already have the full revelation of God. The next revelation is of Jesus from heaven, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and giving rest to those who do.

Does this mean God is not speaking to us today? Of course He is speaking to us today. Oh, I know, this gives my Reformed friends fits, because they think this means we are adding to the Bible and contradicting everything said above. That’s simply ridiculous. The Holy Spirit speaks to men today, convicting them of sin and leading them to believe in Jesus; He reveals Jesus to the saints and forms Christ in us; He takes the things of Christ and shows them to us; He bears witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God; He helps us and leads us in prayer; He manifests Himself in the Church through the gifts (including all the utterance gifts); He leads us; He teaches us. But all of this is governed by the Word of God and is directed to one goal: He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.

Of course He speaks today, we have a dynamic relationship with the living God! Anything less than this would be dead religion, mere tradition and formalism. But, He doesn’t reveal anything new about the nature of God, or His purpose and plan. Anyone claiming such “revelation” is, well, not telling the truth.

That’s why nothing has been added to the Bible in over 1900 years: “Jesus is the full revelation, the picture complete.” There’s nothing more to say!

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

The Holy Spirit or, Why I left the Southern Baptist Church

A friend of mine recently wrote a blog post about a controversy in the SBC over their doctrinal statement. He said it was “for his friends in the SBC.” I said I would read it but it was clearly not for me. He replied he was praying for me “to see the light.” All in fun.

But you see, many years ago I was in the SBC and departed. (I’m sure they’ve missed me through the years.) I thought I would briefly recount my years there and why I left.

I became a Christian in Nashville, TN, prayed into the kingdom by the saints at First Baptist Donelson (especially that dear saint, Mrs. Knott). I believed on a Sunday afternoon, went to church that night, professed my faith and was baptized the next Sunday night. I began attending this church. Bro. Baker was the pastor. He retired and Bro. Harris became pastor. While here I was called into the ministry and began working with Bro. Harris. One Sunday night he recommended a book that would change the direction of my life: The Holy Spirit: Who He Is and What He Does by R.A. Torrey. Half of the book must be devoted to an experience called the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I read it, believed it and sought for this. On a Sunday afternoon, on the way to church, God met me and answered my prayer. I went on to Training Union and testified of this. No one gave any evidence of knowing what I was talking about.

The next year I moved to Martin, TN in order to attend the University of Tennessee at Martin.  I began attending and became active in Southside Baptist Church. Oh Bro. Tuton! It was also in Martin that I encountered the charismatic renewal. What a difference in teaching, Christian experience, and worship! But I purposely remained within the SBC.

While at UTM I met Mary and we were married. Mary graduated and we moved to Memphis, TN so she could get a job and I could go to school (that’s another story). While in Memphis we began attending Cherry Rd Baptist Church. Once again I became quite active. And it was while attending Cherry Rd Baptist Church that everything began to fall apart. There was a group of Spirit-filled believers also attending. One Sunday morning one of the pastors made an announcement: “We will no longer tolerate any teaching of the baptism of the Spirit, or speaking in tongues, or spiritual gifts.” Many of these brethren left the church. Just a few weeks later, Bro. Ronnie made an additional announcement: “We will no longer allow the lifting of hands in the worship service and want no more talking about physical healing.” (We all thought this was rather odd since Bro. Ronnie had himself been prayed for and healed!). At this point I left the church.

I realized that I could probably find a Baptist church which would not respond this way, but I also knew that I did not want to spend my entire ministry fighting this battle. I wanted to find a group of believers who, at least on paper, were open to the Holy Spirit. So I departed the SBC.

Once out of the Baptist Church the “Baptist blinders” fell off. Through my regular reading of the Scriptures I came to realize that Baptists (the ones I was familiar with, anyway) taught “decisionism.” That is, all that is required of the sinner is to “make a decision” and he will be saved. This was routinely explained as signing a decision card and frequently as, “Just take a step into the aisle. You make that first step and Jesus will meet you.” Then there was the “With every head bowed, and every eye closed, raise your hand if you want to be saved.” If you did this, made such a “decision” you were saved. And having made this “decision”, you were saved forever. No matter what you may do after this, God was bound to save you because you had “made a decision for Jesus.” But I saw from the Scriptures that neither Jesus nor the apostles preached this. They preached discipleship. One of the first casualties of this enlightenment was the Baptist doctrine of “once saved, always saved.” I mean, if being a Christian is a matter of following Jesus, then I can stop following Him any where along the path. Many explained-away-scriptures made a lot more sense now.

Further reading of the Scriptures revealed another discrepancy. In the Baptist church you have the Pastor and the deacons with congregational government. This means a once a month Wednesday night “Business meeting.” Always a lot of fun! Anyway, I discovered that the New Testament talks about elders and deacons. Both plural. And the government of the church is in the hands of the elders, not the deacons. Or the congregation, for that matter.

So, it was the Holy Spirit who caused me to leave the SBC. Actually, the gift and gifts of the Spirit, worship in the Spirit. And physical healing. Then, as I studied the Word, I realized I could not go back. Besides, at that time they were constantly fighting amongst themselves as conservatives sought to regain control of the church. They eventually prevailed, but I didn’t want to constantly fight that battle as well. So I was out of the SBC for good.

OK, where did I land? In a full out charismatic church? No. I found the Christian & Missionary Alliance with its’ emphasis on the Four-Fold Gospel. They taught the baptism with the Spirit, allowed for the gifts, believed in healing, had elders and deacons, and the church we began attending taught the Bible. I mean verse by verse, book by book. I was impressed! Influenced by the historical Alliance teaching/emphasis on the Full Gospel and the simple teaching of the Bible I embarked on a 25 year ministry in the Alliance.

Well, I have been out of the Alliance for a few years now (again, another story – it seems I have a lot of side stories!) and the Baptists seem to be fighting again. Finding a church is so much fun!

Observations from behind the counter

Summer has begun with a bang. People will be out all hours of the night.

I place bells on the doors when I come to work. This way I can hear when people come in when my back is turned to the door. I've noticed that when people come in, they fling the door open, as if they were conquerors. When they go out, they open the door normally. Interesting.

I have mentioned before how I feel about the lottery. There is this man who has started coming in who buys a lot of tickets. He doesn’t look like he has a lot of money and he seems to feel that he has to spend all the money in his pocket on tickets. He will leave and come back within an hour, having somehow come into more money and will spend all of that too. He’s mentioned that he is married and has children at home, but for some reason he is out all hours buying tickets. Every once in a while he will comment that he doesn’t have much money because his wife is “sleeping lightly.” He says he is trying to win money for “his kids.” How sad.

I’ve seem promos for these reality shows on TV that feature people arguing and fussing and fighting. I have no interest in them and don’t understand the attraction. I have people coming in all hours of the night talking on the cell phone. That’s a story in itself. But they are carrying on just like those reality shows, arguin’ and fussin’, hanging up and being hung up on, or telling someone else about an argument they were in and how they told so and so just what they thought of them etc. Now I know why people watch those dumb shows – it’s just like their lives! And there is this whole group of people who seem to live for the opportunity to tell someone off. Why would anyone want to live like this?

Did you know there is a big difference between night people and day people? and I’m not referring to drinking. Night people tend to pull up and sit in their car, as if they are trying to decide whether to even get out of the car. Then, when they finally decide to come in, they often wander around trying to decide what to get. I have seen folk stand in front of the beer cooler for a long time, struggling with which beer to get this time. Day people on the other hand, they whip their cars into the parking lot, pop out, briskly enter the store, grab what they want and rush to the counter. They are in a hurry, they are late and I better hurry. I wish I could hang a sign at the register that says, “Lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” I can’t, but I like that.

I’m constantly amazed at the people who can’t seem to find their way around on their own. There are people who can’t find anything in the store. Nothing. They walk in and start asking right away, Do you have ____? and Where is ______? We have a large sign that we place in front of closed registers, This register closed. People will stand in front of it and try to order or pay. Or they will stand in front of it and ask, “Which register?” We only have two! The other night, a lady came in, stood right in front of the 6 large coffees urns, under the large coffee sign, and asked, “Where’s the coffee?” Really? Another time a man came in, took a look at the coffee and asked, “How do you get coffee?” How do they make it through life?

I have a few regulars who come in and they hang around and talk. A few guys have become friends. One is Mark, a brother who comes in the early mornings and we fellowship each time he comes in. Sometimes we talk politics – we have diagnosed and solved many current problems. Sometimes we talk about the Church or the Lord. I enjoy the fellowship. His only fault is he is a Duke fan J I’m sorry that it doesn’t extend beyond the store, but he is a busy brother. Then there is Derek, he would come in at night. We would talk about sports, politics, and the Lord. We did get to get together a few times outside the store. He even came over and played pool with me. Since he was out of work at the time, I let him win most of the games. He is a Michigan fan – go figure that! I musta said something than ticked him off cause he up and moved his family to Myrtle Beach! Then there's John, who comes by on the weekends. At first we just talked about sports – he is a huge Ohio State fan. We have laughed together at each other’s team’s recent struggles (UNC and OSU being under a bowl ban). Recently he has begun telling me about his dating life. He asks me all the time, “What should I do?” His current girl friend knows all about me. Only fair, I know all about her! And this is the only place so far that I get to see Scott, a dear brother that I know from Bible Covenant.

Since they don’t pay me a lot, I guess the fun and friends and entertainment are part of the compensation package.