If I Knew that Being a Lifeguard Meant Guarding Their Lives

I NEVER WOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS JOB! Yes, another Sponge Bob quote. But I just can't resist. He is so wise for being a kiddie cartoon character. In this episode Sponge Bob is marveling at how "cool" Larry the Lobster is at being a lifeguard. He gets some sand kicked in his face, and the bit on his nose looks like sunscreen. "Hey", Larry chimes, "you've got the lifeguard look!" Yes indeed. Except for the fact that Sponge Bob can't swim! When Larry leaves him in charge of the beach and Sponge Bob finally realizes his dilemma, he cries out in anguish, "Oh No! If I knew that being a lifeguard meant guarding their lives, I never would have taken this job."

I wish many of the so called "emergent, word faith, cotton candy pastors" would admit to this. Most are young, concerning doctrine very dumb, and for some reason they also think they're hip. "Wow, I want to be a pastor! They have kewl offices, get to be in charge of some people, and have the kewl Rev. in front of their name... Vroom Vroom!" So, they get an new idea...somebody kicks a little sand in their face, and "Dude you da man!"

But what about guarding their lives? What about being the shepherd that protects from the wolves and with his hands feeds them milk and meat from the Word? The lives of men and women are to be handled delicately. "[I]t is appointed to men to die once and after this comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27 NASB). One such pastor, when faced with difficult doctrinal questions, has the mantra of "I don't know". Why don't you know? Why don't you understand the fact that "being a lifeguard means guarding their lives"? Souls hang in the balance, weighed in the scales of God's Sovereign Judgment. His wrath is against sinful men swimming in the waters of sinful humanity. They are drowning, and you're shouting messages of "swim" from the safety of the shore. If you can't do your job, leave your post. Or...methinks you're drowning with them.

My husband was a Rescue Swimmer, one of only two appointed on a Navy ship. Their motto is "So others may live". My husband trained daily. He knew every rule, every drill. One day when a helo carrying Marines crashed into the ocean, my husband was deployed in the rescue. He moved on instinct. He didn't pause, he didn't hesitate. He never called himself a hero, though he received an award for the rescue that occurred within shark infested waters. He knew what he was doing. And he was only trained to save the physical body of men. How much more important are the souls of men?

The Navy Seals have something called "Hell Week". If you can make it past that, you can handle just about anything. Maybe we should have something like that for those who want to be in charge of souls. Just a little something to separate the men from the boys.

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10

Owen on Mortification 8

"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it, hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart." C.S. Lewis

We need to be as diligent in pressing near to the heart of God, as we are diligent in hating the sin that keeps us from Him. And, yes, it is too easy to exchange one sin for another. "God, I haven't lusted for a whole month!" Yes, but there are worse sins than lust. Proverbs 6:16-17 warns of 7 abominations. 7 things that God hates. With these, there is no mistake.

1. Haughty eyes, or a Proud look

2. A lying tongue

3. Hands that shed innocent blood

4. A heart that devises wicked schemes

5. Feet that run rapidly to evil

6. A false witness who utters lies

7. One who spreads stife among brothers

It is easy to keep our hands clean. It is much harder to keep our hearts clean. I was angry at someone and thought to myself, "Well, if he says this, then I'll say that! And if he does this, then I will do that!" Oh my, God pierced my wicked heart. "That is a wicked scheme." He hates wicked schemes and I spent at least 20 minutes offending Him. Owen writes of not being "loose and negligent" (Owen 86) with the sins that do not trouble us as much. "God, I haven't lusted for a whole month!" Yes, but there are worse sins than lust. I find it odd, that lust is not mentioned in the 7 abominations. Don't get me wrong. Lust is a part of the sinful nature that we must mortify daily...but I do find it odd. What is also odd is how we can be pious in abstaining from sexual sins, yet think nothing of spreading strife among brothers. "Who does he think he is, to write a book like this?" I just find it odd, how we can flee gluttony and the drinking of wine, and yet think nothing of devouring the flesh of a true brother or sister in Christ... think nothing of sitting back, and smacking our lips. You know, I think it is the adulteress who sits back, wipes her mouth, and says "I've done nothing wrong." Oh my, but I digress.

I love the Tim Challies reading group. I will post weekly, God willing.

"I...Want...Flowers"

This handsome young man is our son, Jonah. We named him after our favorite prophet. As you can see, he is on a wheelchair and has a trach. He was born with a rare disease called Myotubular Myopathy. It effects the muscles. He is perfect, only weak. He needs help breathing and he eats with a g-tube. We are honored that God gave him to us. He obviously is our pride and joy.

In this post I want to honor my mother, she is wonderful. Not only did she give me a kidney a few years ago, she has been instrumental in helping us care for Jonah. I would like to share with you all, a poem I wrote for her.

"I...want...flowers", he signs, while we are on our way home from the hospital.

He presses his small fingers to his nose,

Wrist red and swollen from the three blood tests,

And pretends to smell imaginary Buttercups.

He inhales them tiredly,

Drained from the bloodletting,

The turnicate,

The second stick of the needle after the collapse of the first vein.

At the hospital my mother and I watched helplessly.

It is a chore to extract his blood.

It turns and twists within small tunnels.

The needle searches as if for a rare nectar,

As if he were a flower and the syringe the tongue of a butterfly.

That would be fine,

Except this one stings as it drinks him.

He sat still as they pricked his hands.

I remembered how he looked up at my mother,

Face turned to a frown, a wince, and then the quiet gasp

As they pulled out the stopper

Slowly bleeding him into the plastic vial.

Now exhausted,

He sits in his wheelchair, strapped to the van his grandmother drives.

He asks her for flowers...

And my mother stops.

Stops as if the world depended upon it,

Stops as if it would somehow save his life.

She pulls over to the side of the road,

And in her dress

Bends down properly...only because it is proper to bend while picking flowers...

And hands him three Black-eyed Susans.

And I saw for the first time that day,

His face opening up towards my mother...

As if she were the sun, and he a Lily of the Valley.

"Oh the Awkward Phase of Diaper Days..."

For those of you who don't know, the above title is a quote from Sponge Bob (why, yes...I do need to get out more...). The complete quote is, "Oh, the awkward phase of diaper days, never to know the feeling of being a grownup." Maturity...isn't that a goal? It should be. Unfortunately, we find too many of us in the "diaper days".

Case in point: My husband and I attended a prophetic conference a few years back. We were hoping to hear encouragement, rebuke, and correction. We wholeheartedly believe in the need for prophetic forthtelling: "Repent, this is the way, walk ye in it..." Instead, we got "Bob" (not his real name, but it seems to be a popular one among all the false prophets). Bob wasn't interested in Scriptures which Christ claimed, "testified of Him". No, I guess maybe according to Bob, Jesus Christ really isn't the Spirit of Prophecy. "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God" (1 John 4:1-3a NASB).

Bob began to preach. (Of course, it wasn't expository...I mean, we wouldn't want the sword of God's Word to come forth and mess everything up.) He spoke of going to work out at the gym. Someone patted him on the back, saying "hi". Then, all of the sudden, he felt weird. All of these lustful thoughts started to fill his head. Where were they coming from? (ummm, prolly our own sinful nature that we need to crucify daily carrying our cross and following Christ?) No...that sounds too theological for Bob. The answer...*drumroll* it was that man who touched him! (Hey, that sounds like that dangerous "transference of spirits" we are warned about in those charismatic churches that poo poo theology!) Yes, indeed it was. Tranference of Spirits. Bob began to speak about how "disgusted" he was. I mean, who did this guy think he was to put all of his yuckies on him? I noticed how Bob couldn't imagine that the sinful thoughts were coming from himself. Maybe he thought the Apostle Paul was speaking in hyperbole when he lamented, "Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:24)

I looked around the conference room. My heart broke. I saw the faces of many men and women. What were they thinking? We all struggle with our sinful nature. Though, it will get better as we continue to mortify the flesh, we will struggle until we die. I do know how I felt. I felt dirty. I felt "unworthy" to be in the presence of this "great prophet". I wondered how many were afraid to go up to him to ask for prayer? What if he saw my sin and was disgusted too?

I thought of Jesus. Oh, my sweet Jesus. God in the flesh, that You would come down to dwell with sinful men, that you would save a wretch like me, will amaze me for eternity.

I thought of Jesus. Oh, my sweet Jesus. God amongst the lepers and the prostitutes...God touching what is dirty, and making what is dirty, whiter than snow.

They marveled of Jesus, "who is this who has the power to forgive men's sins?" They marveled. Do we marvel? Do we have the ability to forgive men's sins? As the Church we are enabled to give the assurance of pardon for those who grieve over their sin, and the way of salvation for those who cry out to be saved. What an enabling...to grab the hand of the unclean leper and not be disgusted...to point the sinner to Christ...to say, "this is the way, walk ye in it." It is the mature Christian who, when approached by sinful men, doesn't shrink away. He is not afraid. Why? because he knows the straight and narrow way that leads to Christ.

By-the-way:

Hey, Bob, "let me introduce you to my little friend..." Meet the Puritans... John Owen especially. We are reading his book Overcoming Sin and Temptation over at Tim Challies' site. A great theologian once said, it is "theology that overcomes biology."

And really, Bob, aren't you a little too old for the "awkward phase of diaper days"?

Tales from the Dark Side

I posted yesterday from Bernard Bangley's Near to the heart of God. I love the classics. They are, of course, timeless. I love the saints because they are ours, even with their flaws. Saint Francis de Sales in his Devout Life expresses his obvious passion for God.

My husband and I have experienced Spiritual Mushrooms, we've even been mushrooms ourselves at times.

Here is the tale "muh ha ha ha ha ha". In a Charismatic Church we used to attend, they would have us remove the chairs in order to form a large circle. This was so we could see the "proper" responses to the "presence" of God. The proper response would have been to fall on our knees, and cry out "oh wretched man that I am." The "presbytery" would go from person to person. The people would fall, scream, shake, quake, roll, the whole 9 yards. Some of us would not. They told me and my husband, that we were resisting God. I was heartbroken...I did not want to resist God. We looked around us. On the floor, we saw the same people fall down and react. The same people would get back up again...the same. They were the same busybodies, the same backbiters, the same gossips, the same gluttons. They were bitter and envious and judgmental. I didn't know why some of us did not respond to their "charms"...(it must of been the crucifix around my neck and the garlic cologne.) I learned early, by the grace of God, that all was not well in la la land. My husband and I wanted so much to submit to God, to respond to His Holy Spirit. Instead, God prevented us from being manipulated by deceitful men and women. We are grateful for His grace. We are grateful for the change, the metanoia, that God accomplishes within us. It is in these secret places, that God molds us and makes us....where no one else can see the trials and the tribulations, but the fruit will be good and sweet. It is to easy to be a mushroom. Too easy to learn all of the correct answers, too easy to mimic. God often crushes us in private places, often teaches us in dark rooms. This is a very good thing. Too many of us hide in the crowds, putting on a show. It is easy to be accused of being non-responsive...but they will almost never know the intimacy you have with Christ, hidden with Him, where they cannot find you. True responsiveness is a humble, loving, obedient submission to the Word and Will of God...

On a side note: I got a news letter from Biblesoft. I love Biblesoft. The heading is "Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever to Study God's Word!" hey, me likey. I opened it up and saw how they were as proud as punch to announce that they now had the magnum oopses, oh my bad, magnum opus of the Rick Joyner! Aiiiiiiiiii!!! *fake excitement*. Somehow, methinks I will prolly (my husband's favorite redneck word) not have my best year ever to study God's word, with these volumes in my laptop. What does God's Word have to do with Rick Joyner anyway? So, I guess I get to run around with my newletter saying "For just $99.95 I get to be ruined by a false prophet, and you don't, na na na naaaa naaaa!"

Spiritual Mushrooms

"The object of devotion is not sighs, tears, and spiritual delight. Many experience some pleasant consolations and remain vicious people. They have neither the true love of God nor authentic devotion. When Saul chased David into the wilderness, he entered a cave where David and his men were hiding. David had opportunities to kill Saul, but he spared his life. As Saul was leaving in safety, David called out to Saul to prove his own innocence and to demonstrate his mercy. Saul was touched. He called David his child, wept, and thanked him. There could have been no greater display of sweetness and tenderness on Saul's part. Even so, Saul's heart had not changed and he did not cease from pursuing David with cruelty.

In the same way, some people think about God's goodness and our Saviour's passion, and feel a great tenderness of heart. They may even utter sighs and tearful prayers. They seem to be filled with intense devotion. But when a test comes, what a difference! A passing shower in the hot summer sends down great drops of rain. They fall to earth but do not sink in. All they do is produce mushrooms. Likewise, these tender tears fail to penetrate the heart. For all the display of devotion they will not contribute a penny of their ill gotten wealth. They will not surrender one of their perversities. They will not endure the lease inconvenience for the service of the suffering Christ they were just weeping over. Any good feelings they get from their moment of devotion are nothing but spiritual mushrooms.

These things play tricks on us. They keep us from looking for a more authentic devotion to God. True devotion is a constant, determined, prompt, and active will to do what we know is pleasing to God." - Francis de Sales: The Devout Life as prepared for Modern Readers by Bernard Bangley, Harold Shaw Publishers.

A Pelikan Brief

My favorite church historian is Jaroslav Pelikan (December 17, 1923-May 13, 2006). I have his magnum opus, five volume collection of the Church Tradition. What amazes me about him is his respect and compassion for the Body of Christ. He gives an account of the Catholic Tradition, the Eastern Orthodox Tradition, the Reformed Tradition, plus his documentation of Medieval Theology and the Modern Culture. He is careful with the Bride, pointing out her history and progress with all of her magnificent risings, and all of her disheartening downfalls. He has found her roots and branches and has pointed out every new leaf. These books are a wealth of history. His favorite quote was from Goethe "Take what you have inherited from your fathers and work to make it your own." It reminds me of Saint Paul in the book of 1Corinthians admonishing the church concerning divisions. Some were saying that they were of Paul, or of Apollos, or of Cephas, or of Christ. The truth was that they were all theirs. All the saints, with their giftings and callings within the Church, are yours and mine. Now, a quick disclaimer. I am a 5 point Calvinist and a firm proclaimer of Jude's warnings concerning contending earnestly for the faith. Yes, there are certain people who have crept in, or pareisduno. I believe that all are mine in the faith. David Hazzard once stated that we are all a mixture of clay and gold. I believe that we need to all be careful in how we glean. It is important to sit at the feet of great theologians, and in order to do that, we need to read. I believe a vast library shelved with Christian tomes from the entire body, past and present, is best. Os Guiness gives this caveat, "...to jump from Revelation 22 to somewhere in the 20th century is tremendously impoverishing of discipleship. The Christian should be much more like Isaac Newton who recognized that everything he did, he did on the shoulders of the giants who had gone before him." With that said, I want to encourage the reading of Pelikan's historical works. I will end with my favorite quote from Jaroslav, "If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, nothing else matters."

My First Post

Hello,

This blog will be about Theology, more specifically, Reformed Theology. I will also post for my family on how we are doing...and they can comment wise or otherwise. This is simply a test post to make sure this thing works. See y'all later (Yes, I'm from Texas)