Sermon Posting

This morning's sermon is being uploaded right now.

See if you can catch where I messed up.

Clean whiff. For once in my life, I'm not the smartest guy in the room. I mean, EVERYBODY in the building was pointing it out to me -- after church, at lunch. Small woodland creatures and inanimate objects were pointing and laughing.

Doofus.

Sad News out of Mankato, MN

A very dear friend lost his son this week.

Barry Ries is the chairman of the Psychology department at Mankato State University. When I was finishing up my Master's degree at Lipscomb, Barry was my field mentor for a practicum project, and advisor for an independent study on adult sibling rivalry.

But in addition to taking time he probably didn't have for somebody he met once at Bible camp -- twice -- he also gave me some profound insights into ministry in the upper Midwest.

Even his coffee cup was inspiring. The Stroup Effect -- named, incidentally, for a psychologist who preached at Pleasant Grove back in the day -- is a cognitive delay caused when a word spelling one color is printed in a different color. Barry's coffee cup demonstrated this effect, and in many ways sparked my own fascination with how the human mind processes information.

This past Sunday, Barry's 15-year-old son Michael passed away suddenly. I remember Michael from Flaming Pine Youth Camp the one year we went up there. Michael was six, or maybe seven, the last time I saw him in the fall of 2002. I remember him as a fun-loving, playful little boy. But that said, it's been eight years since I last saw him. The memories that others have posted indicate that he grew up to be a fine young man, someone whose loss will be felt deeply, and not just by those who knew him best.

The funeral is tomorrow, but the hurting will go on for a while. Please pray for Barry, his wife Leah, daughter Carissa, and the whole family as they struggle through the coming weeks.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Pulpit

The power went out. Lights, AC, everything just went click and stopped.

Fortunately, I had about 20 minutes of worship service time to do an "emergency re-write" and edit out the parts where I had to read long passages from the Old Testament. The remnants are in the link to the right.

Of course, just as I get all the non-essential reading excised, the power came back on and I could see to read Jonah chapter 2. I think Lenny gave the circuit breaker the "Don't Make Me Come In There" Look and scared it into cooperating.

Song In My Head -- We Shall See the King Someday

Though the way we journey may be often drear,
We shall see the King some day;
On that blessed morning clouds will disappear;
We shall see the King some day.

Refrain

We shall see the King some day,
When the clouds have rolled away;
Gathered ’round the throne,
When He shall call His own,
We shall see the King some day.

After pain and anguish, after toil and care,
We shall see the King some day;
Through the endless ages joy and blessing share,
We shall see the King some day.

Refrain

After foes are conquered, after battles won,
We shall see the King some day;
After strife is over, after set of sun,
We shall see the King some day.

Refrain

There with all the loved ones who have gone before,
We shall see the King some day;
Sorrow past forever, on that peaceful shore,
We shall see the King some day.

Refrain

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." -- 1 Corinthians 13:12. Clouds (or whatever else) stands between us and God and prevents full fellowship will be taken away. And while just being in the presence of God for all eternity reward in and of itself, we get to be together in bliss and happiness.

Wednesday Word of the Week

Kaphar (kah-FAR) v. -- To cover

Noun form kopher (KOH-fer) -- Pitch, tar

Derivatives of this word also refer to a walled village and a lion's mane.

Key verse: "Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch" -- Genesis 6:14

Thoughts on Kaphar/kopher:

A kopher is a protective coating. It doesn't change the nature of the object protected. In many contexts it allows the object underneath the kopher to be placed in dangerous environments without being damaged.

This is the analogy God uses to help us understand what happens to us when sin is forgiven. Bare, naked, and exposed, we come to God completely at the mercy of our environment. We have nothing to hold us together, nothing to keep us from simply soaking up the destructive forces around us until we are warped and useless.

God then takes us -- just as we are -- and covers us. His forgiveness shields us not only from his wrath, but also from the power of the world in which we live. Forgiveness by itself does not change who or what we really are; it only affects how we interact with our surroundings.

When we are covered in this way, our sinfulness is concealed not only from the eyes of men, but also from the eyes of God. To be sure, He has the power to see through the covering, but He chooses not to. The fact that we are covered is all God needs to know about us to treat us as though we had never sinned at all.

And if that weren't enough of a miracle, God takes it one step further. We get forgiveness. We get God looking at us and choosing not to see certain parts of our personality and history. Then, He binds us together with other nearly-rotten planks of wood and makes us into something that can float, carrying passengers to safety.

As long as we who are covered stick together, we can walk on water.

Sermon Up

This morning's sermon, "The New Covenant," is up and available for download in the box to your right.

Friday Link-Around

Blog of the Week:

Preaching Help, by Steve Higgenbotham. Steve preached in Glasgow, KY until moving this summer to Knoxville to teach at the school of preaching there. he doesn't post often, but when he does he's really good.

Bible Study Resource of the Week:

E-Sword. An electronic Bible you can search, complete with concordance codes. Original language translations pop up when you roll your mouse over the Strong's number. A handful of translations are free (as are the Greek and Hebrew texts), with more available in the paid version.

On-Line Trivia Game of the Week:

The Summer Hiatus Challenge, written by . . . well . . . me. This is the sixth consecutive year I have provided a daily quiz for Jeopardy fans who don't get to see original material when the show goes away for the summer.

A new round starts every Monday, and all comers are welcome.

Podcast of the Week:

Garage Logic, hosted by Joe Soucheray. Based in Minneapolis, Joe talks about what's going on in the world without having his thoughts based on which side he wants to win an election. KSTP-AM 1500 posts two hours of his show every day, typically on a 24-hour delay.

And no, it's not all about cars.

Word of the Week

ktisis (n). -- Fabrication, creation (as something from something else).

Key verse -- 2 Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Thoughts on ktisis -- When you become a Christian, the scars of your old life don't really disappear. There are still consequences of past mistakes to be endured. What happens in conversion is God takes the old parts and makes something new with them. It no longer matters where the parts came from; what matters is how they will be used going forward.

Whether God makes His saints out of gold or dirt, what makes them saints is not the material He uses, but the fact that it's Him who made them.

Song In My Head -- Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee,
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

Great lines:

Start with the byline. John Greenleaf Whittier. An actual poem written by an actual poet. The literary quality of the entire piece is just wonderful.

Then there's the premise. Whittier wrote the poem in response to the craziness he saw at a Shaker revival meeting. Instead of more emotional fervor, his call is for reverence, purity, and above all sanity. The greatest testimony of the presence of God in a person's life is not how "out of control" they can get, but how ordered and calm their lives are in spite of the craziness of life.

Wednesday Word of the Week

eis (ACE, or possibly ICE) (prep.) -- For, toward, moving in the direction of.

Key verse: Acts 2:38 "Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.""

Thoughts on eis: I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how big a fan I am of Isaac Newton. This week's word is a bit controversial, in that there are occasions in the New Testament when the order of the words in the sentence place the effect before the cause. In Matthew 12 and Luke 11, for instance, Jesus says that Nineveh repented "eis" the preaching of Jonah. Then, in Acts 2:38, baptism is "eis" the forgiveness of sins.

So which is it? Does forgiveness come before baptism, or does baptism come first?

The truth is you can't really tell from eis. There is no automatic, universal implication of time moving in a particular direction across the preposition.

What eis does is demonstrate a Newtonian causal link. It explains one state in terms of the other. And there is clearly a causal link between baptism and forgiveness of sins.

Now, which one causes which? Does the forgiveness of sins result in a person being baptized, or does baptism result in forgiveness? Eis doesn't know. Eis doesn't even really care much. The answer to that question has to be found elsewhere (I'd start with Romans 6 and Galatians 3, but that's just me).

But there can be no denying that the causal link exists. Eis says so.

The Power of Context

One of the first social lessons human beings learn is that there are certain actions where whether they are right or wrong is determined by the context in which we do them.

Examples:

Potty training -- Nobody minds if a small child relieves themselves. We just prefer that it happen at a particular time and place. This is typically the first lesson in social context we learn. Biting or hitting the kid next to you is always wrong, but going to the bathroom is fine as long as it's in the bathroom.

Gossip -- The difference between a true and false witness is whether or not the information is factual. But even factual information can be gossip if is deployed a) by the wrong person, b) to the wrong person, c) at the wrong time, or d) for the wrong reason.

There are others, but the point is this: Understanding the will of God involves both knowledge of His word and awareness of your own surroundings.

Sumday Morning Sermon Now Up

Today's sermon is now available for download or listening online.