Cedar logs crackle in the stone fireplace as their unmistakable scent wafts throughout the cabin. Firelight shadows dance on the ceiling and walls. Human voices speak softly concerning loved ones and matters of mutual concern. Somewhere outside, a pack of coyotes howl at the moon. We step onto the front deck and gaze upward. Millions of stars bespeckle the heavens, bearing silent witness to the Creator's power and presence. From the distance comes the wind's soft whisper, increasing in volume as it crosses the mountain forests of majestic Douglas firs and blue spruce, limber pines and wispy … [Read more...]
WHAT GOD TOLD ME, BESIDE A LAKE IN MAINE
Around me, red, orange and yellow leaves flutter silently to the ground, contributing their variegated tones to the multicolored October carpet. The blue sky and white clouds appear twice this morning, first in the sky and then in the mirror stillness of the lake. I hear a splash. A fish breaks the water's surface to snatch some breakfast morsel. A wild goose circles in majestic observation overhead. From the small island in the center of the lake comes the unmistakable cry of a loon. Behind me up the hill a thin column of smoke rises from the chimney in the borrowed cottage where Sara Faye … [Read more...]
MYSTERY OF THE WIND
We welcomed recent days of steady rain in these west Houston suburbs. Now I welcome this break in the rain for a neighborhood hike. Scattered rain-clouds, flung in a wide sweep across the sky, hide the evening sun on this Texas Gulf Coast. Developers planted our Katy prairie land with trees two and three decades ago, and they now form a trekker's pleasant canopy overhead. Around and below me, the gentle wind rustles through the grass and flowers and trees. Overhead it moves the clouds across the half-darkened sky. I think of Jesus' comparison of God's Spirit to the wind. Both are invisible … [Read more...]
ENCOUNTERING GOD IN THE CATHEDRAL
I can scarcely imagine a cathedral more magnificent, or one more conducive to fellowship with the Maker of heaven and earth. Fiery-red sumacs form a natural vestibule into this holy place. Their branches, thick and low-lying, rightly compel a pilgrim to bow when entering. Inside, white-barked birches and crimson-leafed maples spire upward, directing the mortal gaze heavenward in thanksgiving and adoration. A gentle wind rustles the leaves overhead. The first October frost has come, like some secret Michelangelo to his Sistine Chapel, bequeathing a ceiling which dazzles with a living palette … [Read more...]
ARCHWAY INTO GOD’S FUTURE
A diffused glow spreads across the sky, as if someone is shining a light beyond the horizon and just below it. "Diffused," I say, because this glow is neither direct nor clear. Not a typical sunrise, to be sure. Fog, perhaps, or haze. I am not wearing a watch on this early morning walk, but I judge the time to be about 6:45 a.m. I try to listen to God on these walks, although my brain often has difficulty staying focused. Thoughts flash in rapid succession, thoughts holy and profane, significant and worthless. There must be three persons vying for attention, I think -- God, Satan and … [Read more...]
THE MAGI MEET THE MASTER (2)
"Who were the wise men that visited Baby Jesus? Where did they originate? What does their visit mean?" * * * The Magi seem to have been familiar with astrology but not with the Hebrew Scriptures, suggesting that they probably were not Jews (Matthew 2:2). Their heavenly sign reminds us of the oracle of Balaam the soothsayer, who lived in the days of Moses: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel (Num.24:17). The story of the Magi also brings to mind the prophecy of Isaiah, who revealed with greatest … [Read more...]
THE OLD PATHS
A brother in Singapore hears some persons urge that we should "follow the old paths" and resist changes in the church. He asks what Scripture says that and in what context. "Is there an 'old path' for us Christians today?" * * * "Ask for the old paths and walk therein" is a quotation from the King James Version of Jeremiah 6:16. By saying that, the prophet was calling the people of Judah back from idolatry and immorality to the Law of Moses as given at Sinai. He was challenging them to return from a disregard and neglect of their relationship with God to a hearty love for him and commitment … [Read more...]
REFORMED AND NON-REFORMED
Several gracEmail subscribers have asked for some explanation of the difference between "Reformed" and "non-Reformed" theologians as mentioned in a recent piece. * * * "Reformed" sometimes means "Calvinistic" but I use it in the broader sense to refer to the general framework of understanding held by the principal reformers Luther, Calvin and Cranmer as well as Augustine long before them. It includes a belief that the human race fell in Adam and that all humans since then (except Jesus Christ) are born "sinners" with an aptitude toward sin. The Reformed view holds that Jesus actually … [Read more...]
‘TRUSTING’ NOT ‘TRYING’ (2)
Many who consider themselves zealous Christians today are wearing themselves out trying to obey God's commandments in hopes they will obtain his favor. Yet their zeal is misguided (Rom. 10:2), for they seek the divine acquital, "not by faith but as though it were by works" (Rom. 9:32). The way to God's approval is altogether different, Paul affirms. That way is to trust God. To illustrate this, Paul borrows and adapts the very language from Moses which he had just used to explain "righteousness-by-trying." We do not need to go up to heaven to bring down a Savior, Paul says, for the Savior … [Read more...]
‘TRUSTING’ NOT ‘TRYING’ (1)
"Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," writes Paul, "to everyone who believes" (Rom. 10:4). The word translated "end" here is telos, and it means "goal" rather than "termination." Many Jews in Paul's day tried to keep God's laws so well and so thoroughly that God would examine their record of obedience and pronounce them "righteous" (Rom. 9:31-32; 10:2-3). Their goal to be found right with God was commendable but they were ignorant of the way to attain it. Their approach would never work, according to Paul, because no human besides Jesus ever obeys God's laws perfectly. The … [Read more...]
