The Sanctification Workout

This week’s sermon looks at the last section of Ephesians 4 as an exhortation to sanctification. One of the things I appreciated most about the sermon was Pastor Allen’s explanation that sanctification is not a passive experience that is “done to us” without our participation, as exemplified in this quote:

“Sanctification is a real workout, moment by moment, not an anaesthetized “nip and tuck” plastic surgery, from which we wake up transformed.”

I also appreciated his opening definition:

“Sanctification : the process of becoming in our experience who we are by faith; we are active participants in this process, in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Here is the scripture passage with footnotes to other quotations from the sermon:

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour(1): for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry(2), and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more(3): but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth(4).
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers(5).
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another(6), tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

1 “ Sanctification is the putting away of falsehood; the putting on of truth.”
On fleeing hypocrisy: “Because we confess Jesus as Lord, whenever we deny Him through fear, anxiety, unforgiveness, etc., that is hypocrisy.”

2 “There is no such thing as a passionless Christian; to be cool is a sin. To be indifferent to sin is to allow unrighteousness to triumph in our land. David fought Goliath because he was offended for the honor of the Lord God.”

3 Desert Christian School refrigerator story: “I wanted so much to be a thief, but I wanted to do it righteously.”

4 “Christians are called to work: to provide for families, ourselves, and to have the resources with which to be generous to those in need.”

5 Story of the rocket ship and his dad: “We are to use words that encourage, edify, enoble, and inspire.”

6 Attributed to Plato: “Be kind, for every person you meet is fighting a great battle.”

What those who have left the church miss the most (and don't miss at all)

"When asked about what they missed about church, (the one thousand twenty-somethings who were polled) report that they miss the pastor's teaching. What they object to, however, is hypocrisy, legalism, and self-righteousness. The Bible is relevant to them, but the church is not."

from Already Gone by Ken Ham

Pursuing the virtues in The Lord of the Rings

“The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it…Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.” Elrond (1.283)

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” I Corinthians 1:27


This will be a little bit longer than my normal blog, because I am using this opportunity to process a challenge I received recently.

On Tuesday, August 4, over two hundred Christian school teachers from all over Tucson, and as far away as Casa Grande, descended on Catalina Foothills Church for our annual “Back to School” rally. Our guest presenter this year was Jay Winslow, who is affiliated with Worldview Academy during the summers. His theme for the day was Worldview: The Image of the Logos.

In his afternoon session, He presented a list of four virtues identified by German Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper, and challenged us to think about how to pursue them in our lives. Pieper’s four virtues are wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance.

As I considered the two quotes at the top of this page (which Winslow also placed at the head of his exercise), I was struck by the contrast between what “small hands can do” and where the “eyes of the great” are. Considering ourselves at Dove Mountain as “small hands,” here are just the beginnings of some of my thoughts on how we must pursue virtue in our context (as opposed to where the “eyes of the great” are looking).

Wisdom: Small hands should be looking at and passing on the “old ways” revealed by prophets and history (sometimes requires the actual reading of books!). The eyes of the great are on science, technology, and media to give us wisdom.

Justice: Small hands must find the widows and orphans (literal and virtual), and act on their behalf. The eyes of the great are on government and legislation to solve all problems.

Courage: Small hands must point out when the emperor is naked, and not be afraid to say so (all the while careful to keep his own clothes mended and intact!). The eyes of the great look for approval from those in power and nod sagely in affirmation when they spout nonsense.

Temperance: Small hands come alongside those who are weak and struggling and offer to carry part of the load for them, even going the extra mile when necessary. The eyes of the great assume that only the fittest of the species will survive, and act as though men must be protected by a police state from their own wrong choices.

As I said above, these thoughts are only the beginning of a discussion on what the “small hands” of Dove Mountain should be doing in order to build the virtuous community. Who would like to continue the discussion?

Aslan's Reply to Hwin

Another great quote that slipped into Pastor Allen's sermon Sunday was from The Horse and His Boy, Book Six in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

Her is the part from the sermon:

Hwin, a talking mare, says to Aslan:

"Please," she said, "you're so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I'd sooner be eaten by you then fed by anyone else."

I thoguht you might enjoy Aslan's reply:

"Dearest daughter," said Aslan, planting a lion's kiss on her twitching, velvet nose, "I knew you would not be long in coming to me. Joy shall be yours."


Now go read the whole series. Again.

About those golf balls

Sometimes little jewels slip by quickly in Pastor Allen's sermons, but they need to be revisited and meditated on. One such jewel in this past Sunday's message was this quotation from T.S. Eliot:


"And the wind shall say: "Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls."

It comes from a 1934 work of Eliot's, entitled "Choruses from the Rock." You may have had to read it in high school, if you're very old, or college, if you're moderately old. However, you will enjoy it more now, so read it here.

And if you are still in high school or college, read it anyway. I did, and it didn't hurt a bit.

More wardrobe suggestions for Steve

I had so much fun last week with the Hawaiian haystacks, that I couldn't resist making these wardrobe suggestions for Steve. This could become a signature Dove Mountain "Barleymen's wear" line. Or not!

I Need Thee Every Hour

From www.cyberhymnal.org, we learn this story behind the meditation Pastor Allen selected for us for this morning, told in the words of its author, Annie Hawks:

One day as a young wife and mo­ther of 37 years of age, I was bu­sy with my reg­u­lar house­hold tasks. Sud­den­ly, I be­came so filled with the sense of near­ness to the Mast­er that, won­der­ing how one could live with­out Him, ei­ther in joy or pain, these words, “I Need Thee Ev­e­ry Hour,” were ush­ered in­to my mind, the thought at once tak­ing full pos­sess­ion of me.

After writ­ing the lyr­ics, Hawks gave them to her pas­tor, Ro­bert Low­ry, who add­ed the tune and re­frain. The hymn was first pub­lished at the Na­tion­al Bap­tist Sun­day School Con­ven­tion in Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio, in No­vem­ber 1872. Some years lat­er, af­ter the death of her hus­band, Hawks wrote:

I did not un­der­stand at first why this hymn had touched the great throb­bing heart of hu­man­i­ty. It was not un­til long af­ter, when the sha­dow fell over my way, the sha­dow of a great loss, that I un­der­stood some­thing of the com­fort­ing pow­er in the words which I had been per­mit­ted to give out to others in my hour of sweet se­ren­i­ty and peace.

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessèd Son.

Cool is not innocent

"Cool is not innocent. Cool is the sunglasses we wear so people don't see that we're lonely, frightened, or ashamed. It can alienate us from community, family, and God. We're so attuned to cool that we can hardly imagine life without it."

from Blessed are the Uncool by Paul Grant

He gave gifts unto men

Ephesians 4:7-16



7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

In expositing this passage for us on Sunday, Pastor Allen mentioned the other passages in the New Testament which are typically used to teach about the giftings of God through the Holy Spirit: I Corinthians 12 and 14, Romans 12, and II Peter 1. For ease of communication, sometimes the I Corinthians gifts are referred to as the “sign” gifts, and the Romans 12 list are called “ministry gifts,” since they seem describe a personality type or lifelong calling, as opposed to a one-time event or episodic occurrence. The list in II Peter 1 are more like character qualities, which verse 3 calls “things that pertain unto life and godliness.” The same verse emphasizes these are given “according to His divine power,” reminding us that they can’t be replicated through human will or virtue.

An interesting list not mentioned as often is found in the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 11:1-2:

1And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Of the six gifts listed, wisdom, knowledge, counsel (discernment), and might (fortitude) are repeated in various New Testament listings. With the addition of piety (from the II Peter listing) these were sometimes referred to in church history as the “sevenfold gift of the spirit,” and were said to be conferred on young communicants at confirmation.

Any way we look at it, God is a gift-giving Creator who delights in and equips his servants for ministry here on earth. May the gifts of all kinds continue to flourish at Dove Mountain Church!

A time to honor...

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor... I Timothy 5:17a




I went to church with a heavy heart on Sunday, August 9. It was our 34th anniversary, and Linda was at home in bed, not feeling well enough to go with me. On the advice of a doctor, we had taken her to the emergency room the night before. The test they ran was inconclusive, and she was taking heavy painkillers and sleeping in for the morning.

Ninety per cent of the time, when I am asked "How are you?" I respond, "Great!" because no matter what setbacks life may deal us, I prefer to look at the big picture. "Count it all joy," "in everything give thanks," "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us," (references below)and so on are verses that have always inspired me not to get bogged down in temporal problems.

But it's different when it's your wife, and there seems to be nothing you can do to help her. I wondered if I should, in obedience to James 5:14-15, ask the elders to pray for Linda, but I got there too late to make such a request, and it turned out to be the Sunday Pastor Allen led us in the Lord's prayer, anyway.

After the service, an elder whom I don't get a chance to speak to very often, greeted me and asked the inevitable, "How are you doing?" and I found myself telling him about my concerns for Linda (instead of saying, "Great!"). He listened attentively, expressed empathy, and urged me to call on him if there was anything he could to help. I was grateful for his attention, and left encouraged.

Fortunately, Linda recovered a few days later (after working through he first two days of school on painkillers), and I didn't need to call on anyone. And as often happens, when things return to "normal," my time and attention went on to more "urgent" matters.

But not that elder. He didn't forget his promise, and called later in the week to check on us, inquire about Linda's condition, and offer his help once again. Now this may not seem like a big deal to you, but I've belonged to a number of churches where elders would not have shown this degree of "follow through" and attention to detail from a casual conversation with a fellow member after church. It meant a huge amount of encouragement to me, and I am grateful for that level of commitment on the part of Dove Mountain elders.

References cited in paragraph 2: James 1:3-4, I Thessalonians 5:18, Romans 8:18

Prayer of St. Francis

In our corporate prayer time on Sunday, Pastor Allen led us in the Prayer of St. Francis, which is reprinted below.

I often emphasize that as Reformed Christians, we are connected by history to the entire body of literature and tradition of western Christianity, and the use of this prayer is a fine example of how we can incorporate the best of what has gone before us. It has been quoted at strategic times in history by figures like Mother Teresa, upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize,and Margaret Thatcher, at her installation as Prime Minister of England.

It first appeared anonymously in a small French publication in 1912, and was known in ensuing years as "the prayer for peace." Because it was widely distributed in Europe on the back of a picture of St. Francis of Assisi, it eventually came to be attributed to St. Francis, although there is no historic record to connect him with the prayer. Ironically, it was first identified as "The Prayer of St. Francis" in France in 1927 by a protestant movement, The Knights of the Prince of Peace.

Here is the most commonly quoted translation from the French:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

There are many beautiful musical settings for this text of the prayer, but I also like this metrical hymn version, which is used by the British Royal Legion in their Service of Remembrance each November:

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury your pardon Lord,
And where there's doubt true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

O Master grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we are born to eternal life.

The Body of Christ is like a.....Hawaiian Haystack?

Okay, I have some serious things to say about today's sermon later in the week (all good, of course!), but I can't resist illustrating Pastor Allen's opening....illustration! These are just three of the MANY images of Hawaiian Haystacks I found online, and Cooks.com has NO LESS THAN nine recipes for this culinary delight. All pretty similar in the end, they differ over trivialities like what the broth should be made of (just cream of chicken soup, or cream of chicken plus broth, or cream of chickem plus cream of celery, or just broth?) and whether to use slivered almonds, toasted almonds, cashews, or just any nuts! By the way, my friend who moved to Hawaii a few months back has a cashew tree in his yard, so I vote that version to be most authentic!

A Diary of Private Prayer

I always enjoy the prayers that Pastor Allen chooses for our corporate confessions, and noticed early on that many of them come from John Baillie's A Diary of Private Prayer.

Curious to know more about the man and the book, I fould this (rated "most helpful") review on Amazon.com:


"John Baillie was an Anglican theologian, and evidently not a bad one. But his greatest work was this compilation of prayers. It is arranged into prayers for each morning and evening of 31 days, plus extra prayers for Sundays. The odd-numbered (right-side) pages have the prayers, while the even-numbered pages are empty for your own notes. The prayers are a combination of ancient prayers, various Christian liturgies, Scripture, and Baillie's own writing. It is written in elegant King James English, but it is certainly accessible to anyone who can read.

I can't recommend this highly enough for anyone, in any Christian tradition, wanting to grow in prayer. My God-mother gave it to me, and very quickly I was buying copies for my own good friends. Some of them were buying copies for their friends before long as well. I recommend it very enthusiastically. At least give it a try."

Continuing in Ephesians

Ephesians 4

Walk in Unity

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,
3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Quotes of note from the sermon:

Tertullian (of the early Christians):
"See how they love one another...."

Justin Martyr:
"That the prophecy is fulfilled, you have good reason to believe,
for we, who in times past killed one another, do not now fight
with our enemies."

"In Rome, Christian would roam the hillsides looking for babies who had been abandoned."

"During the plague, Christians would go back into the towns, putting their own lives at risk, to nurse the dying."


And finally, Pastor Allen's advice to the students "seeking God's will," and even praying to be martyrs:

"Why don't you do your homework? Or pay attention in class?"

Speaking of music...

I hope everyone appreciates the song selection and worship leadership of Pat Daniels and the Dove Mountain Praise Team as much as I do. Their exposing us in recent weeks to Psalm 62 has been inspirational. You can hear the Aaron Keyes and Stuart Townend version of this psalm on YouTube by typing in "Psalm 62."

Psalm 62

My soul finds rest in God alone
My rock and my salvation
A fortress strong against my foes
And I will not be shaken
Though lips may bless and hearts may curse
And lies like arrows pierce me
I'll fix my heart on righteousness
I'll look to Him who hears me

Find rest my soul in God alone
Amid the world's temptations
When evil seeks to take a hold
I'll cling to my salvation
Though riches come and riches go
Don't set your heart upon them
The fields of hope in which I sow
Are harvested in heaven

(And) O praise Him hallelujah
My Delight and my Reward
Everlasting never failing
My Redeemer my God

I'll set my gaze on God alone
And trust in Him completely
With ev'ry day pour out my soul
And He will prove His mercy
Though life is but a fleeting breath
A sigh too deep to measure
My King has crushed the curse of death
And I am His forever

O praise Him O praise Him
Hallelujah hallelujah
O praise Him O praise Him
Hallelujah Hallelujah
O praise Him O praise Him
Hallelujah hallelujah

Whate'er My God ordains is right!

I love the hymn that Parker quoted from in his sermon Sunday, and thought you might enjoy reading the entire text, below. It was written in German in 1676, and Catherine Winkworth, pictured here, translated it into English in 1863.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

A great resource for learning about hymns is called Cyberhymnal. You can go there by clicking the link below, and hear what it sounded like in it's original form!

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/h/a/whateerm.htm

Tim Keller on "Why hell?"

It was great to hear Parker Tennant quoting from Tim Keller's The Reason for God in his sermon on Sunday. This is the current selection being read by the book club I mentioned in the August 1 posting, and we all agree it may be the most significant book we have read to date.

Parker made a great point concerning the parable of Lazarus and the rich man: the rich man was still unrepentant in hell - demonstrating denial, blame-shifting, and spiritual blindness. In this illumination from the lips of Jesus Himself, we do not see a hell populated by humble people acknowledging God's justice and appealing for deliverance.

I particularly appreciate the next paragraph:

"In short, hell is simply one's freely chosen identity apart from God on a trajectory into infinity. We see this process "writ small" in addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, and pornography. First, there is disintegration, because as time goes on, you need more and more of the addictive substance to get an equal kick, which leads to less and less satisfaction Second, there is the isolation, as increasingly you blame others and circumstances in order to justify your behavior. 'No one understands! Everyone is against me!' is muttered in greater and greater self-pity and self-absorption. When we build our lives on anything but God, that thing - though a good thing - becomes an enslaving addiction, something we have to have to be happy. Personal disintegration happens on a broader scale. In eternity, this disintegration goes on forever. There is increasing isolation, denial, delusion, and self-absorption. When you lose all humility you are out of touch with reality. No one ever asks to leave hell. The very idea of heaven seems to them a sham."

Not Greek to Us!

In his sermon today, Parker Tennant mentioned several Greek words and defined them in ways that helped "open up" the scriptures for us. They were found in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

If you didn't happen to jot them down, here is a reminder:

Greek word: kopiwntes
King James word choice: labor
Literal tranlation: ones-toiling

Greek word: pefortismenoi
King James Wonrd: heavy laden
Literal translation: having been carried; having been laden

Greek Word: crestos
King James word: easy
Literal translation: kind

I always find these comparisons to the Greek very helpful, even more than comparing several different English translations. I remember how excited I was when I got my first inter-linear Greek New Testament. Ironically, it wasn't very long after puchasing it that it became available for free in the internet. You might like to take a look at:

http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm

Speaking of books...

For the past three years I have belonged to a book club comprised of folks from Catalina Foothills Church and Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church which meets once a month for about three hours to discuss a book we have all agreed to read simultaneously. This has become a true case of "iron sharpening iron," as we challenge interpretations, ask text-based questions, and follow enticing rabbit trails arising from the conversation. I think we would all agree that we have become Christians who are better equipped for engaging the culture wars as a result of these stimulating discussions.

Jerry LeMay (pictured above with his lovely Kathy) and I would like to start a similar book club for Dove Mountaineers this fall. Like my other group, we would choose a book of mutual interest, agree to have read the assigned chapters by the date of the next meeting, and meet once a month at homes of different members. Jerry and Kathy have kindly offered to host the first meeting in September. Unlike my other group, we would be open to discussing works of fiction, as well as non-fiction.

What we need now are a few more adventurous souls who would like to undertake this journey with us. You can indicate your interest by either replying in the comment section to this post, or e mailing either Jerry or me directly at: jklemay@yahoo.com or tomaskew@mac.com.

We'd also like to hear what books you are interested in discussing. In my other club, we read thoughtful non-fiction on topics primarily in the areas of history, culture, and theology. We have enjoyed Christian writers such as Rodney Stark, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Tim Keller, as well as non-Christians like Natan Sharansky and Neil Postman. Feel free to make your suggestions for potentially "discussable" books when you contact us. Happy reading!