Thoughts on Prayer

How should we then pray?

Tony Woodlief has a must-read post at the World website answering the question. He uses some of George Mueller's principles to form his answer. I've thought a lot about this topic in the last year and Woodlief's thoughts are helpful.

Follow-up

Well, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels beat the Washington State Cougars like a drum last night. Don't ask me to fill out your bracket next year. All told, the Cougars had a great season - nothing to be ashamed of, certainly. Hopefully, they accept the loss, and the end of their season, "in such a way" that God is glorified and honored. May we all do likewise.

The Cougars and God - faith in basketball

The Spokesman-Review (Spokane's newspaper) has published an article by Nick Eaton on the Washington State Cougars basketball team and, specifically, the Christian faith of their coach and several players. The Cougars are still in the NCAA basketball tournament (Sweet 16) - the only Northwest team left.

I'm always interested in how the intersection of belief in Jesus Christ and involvement in sports is covered by the media. It's a mixed bag. This article is pretty good, on the whole.

What was most interesting, though, is a question I like to ask, not just of athletes, but of anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ - "What difference does it make in how you play/work/live/relate/teach/govern/parent, etc.?"

Some of the Cougars have the letters "ISAW" on their shirts. It's a reference to 1 Corinthians 9:24 which says, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." "ISAW" - In Such A Way - is the Cougars motto this year. Coach Tony Bennet, a Christian, wants his team to do everything "in such a way" that they might achieve their purpose of winning.

Taylor Rochestie, junior guard, says that "in such a way" means "kind of not playing for yourself, that's what it really does mean to me. You gotta train in such a way to get the team better. Play in such a way - you know, go for the loose balls, do the little things. It's kind of the same way as saying, 'Do the intangibles.'"

Senior center Robbie Cowgill says, "Because of (faith), I don't have to worry about how people view me or if I miss a bunch of shots, what my identity really is. Because I already know I'm secure in who God says I am, and that's who I am...I think in basketball that helps me a lot, calms me down a lot."

Daven Harmeling, junior guard, says, "You know, tangibly, I think my faith helps me play with passion. For me, a way to honor (God) is to play as hard as I can. And, you know, that doesn't mean He's going to guide the ball (into the basket) every time; I don't think He does any of that. But it does mean that I can play in a way that I can honor Him with what He's given me."

Well done, guys. Beat North Carolina!

Encouraged by God's Good Providence

In His good providence this last week, God encouraged me not to give up, lose heart, and be discouraged.

I've been out of the pastorate for 14 months and counting. So far, the search for my next pastoral ministry hasn't turned up much. In fact, it's been slow, very slow. It's also been discouraging. I love teaching and don't want to give it up, but I would also love to return to pastoral ministry in a church. If possible, I'd like to do both.

But the wait and the relative lack of opportunities (four interviews so far - two face-to-face and two by phone) have almost caused me to lose heart and give up on more than one occasion. The Lord knew that, of course, and used two different passages on different days to strengthen me.

At our Men's Bible Study, I read 1 Samuel 27:1 which says, Then David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. there is nothing better for me that I shoule escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand." David was weary of being chased by Saul, sick and tired of always having to look over his shoulder. In short, he was discouraged. The rest of 1 Samuel 27 is a cautionary tale of what happens when someone loses heart.

Then, at a gathering of the Spurgeon Fellowship at Western Seminary, Pastor Mike Jones of Independent Bible Church in Port Angeles, spoke on the subject of discouragment in ministry. (I'm seeing a pattern here!) One of the verses he read was 2 Corinthians 4:1 - Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart." Paul had every reason imaginable to lose heart and be discouraged (read 4:8-12), but he didn't give in to it. Why? Because he had an eternal perspective (read 4:16-18).

God brought theses verses and their emphasis - don't be discouraged - to me because He knew I needed them. It's possible that I was closer to the edge of despair than I thought and was in danger of falling off. It's also possible that I'm not all that close to the edge, but needed to be reminded (and even warned) not to get any closer.

Is the Lord giving me encouragement for the long haul, which is going to be a lot longer than I hope? Is something going to happen soon? Is the Lord saying, "Don't give up! It won't be much longer"? I don't know. I do know this, though, I'm encouraged and I praise God for it.

Good Friday

The verse of the moment for Good Friday -

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

Jesus, who died a vicious, cruel, horrible, and bloody death - crucified on a cross - did it for the salvation of His people. He died a sacrificial death for our sins as our substitute. He offers us His perfect righteousness in exchange for our sins - the great exchange! That's what Good Friday is all about.

Quick Takes

"I don't need all that theology stuff. I just want to love Jesus. Isn't that enough?"

Honestly, I don't know how many times I've heard someone say that. It always seems to produce the same reaction in me - a mixture of anger and sadness. Anger because although it's good to love Jesus, there is so much more to be learned and lived as a Christian. God has revealed far more to us than simply, "Here's Jesus. Love Him!" Sadness because people who think this way don't know what they're missing. Theology is multi-layered and multi-faceted - it takes us "further up and further in" to quote C.S. Lewis.

The way to point out the flaw in this line of thinking is to ask the next logical question - "Who is Jesus?" The millisecond they begin to answer the question ("Well, He's the Son of God, our Lord and Savior...") they're dealing with theology. Simply defined, theology is "the study of God." When we study theology, we're seeking to learn more about the God who has revealed Himself to us - His person and His work. If we're to know anything about God, salvation, the nature of man, the church, last things, or what God demands from us, we have to know theology. In fact, when we make any statement on any of these subjects, we're proclaiming our theology whatever it may be (whether it's good or bad).

We can't know or love Jesus without knowing some theology. As we learn more theology, we'll know Him even better. Someone who wants to just love Jesus and forget about theology is saying, in effect, "I want to love Jesus, but I don't want to know anything about Him." We wouldn't say that about a husband, wife, or a friend, so why would we ever say it about our Lord and Saviour?

"I just want to love Jesus. Isn't that enough?" With anger and sadness, the answer is "No, it isn't."

Ligonier Joins Blogging World

Ligonier Ministries has joined the wide, wide world of blogging. Keith Mathison, Tim Challies, R.C. Sproul and others will post thoughts. Currently, they've posted an interview with Sinclair Ferguson. Check it out here.

Turkish Delight

In the course of explaining a proverb to both of my Bible classes today, I used an example taken from C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The dialogue I quoted - between Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and the four children - regarding Aslan is an excellent description and portrait of what the Bible calls "the fear of God."

I have a confession to make, though. I've never read the book. I've never read any of the books in the series - The Chronicles of Narnia, either. I did see the movie, which was fantastic.

While my students were taking their quizzes, I read the first several pages of Lewis' classic. After I got home I read the first several chapters. I'm now in the process of reading, for the first time, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

In chapter 4, Edmund meets the White Witch, who asks him, "What best do you like to eat?" "Turkish Delight, please, Your Majesty," said Edmund. As he ate the entire contents of the large box, "Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious." The more he ate the more he wanted to eat. "At last, the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more. Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking; for she knew, though Edmund did not, that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed to, going on eating it till they killed themselves." After Edmund meets up with Lucy, who was the first to discover Narnia, "he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else."

Lewis has done a masterful job of describing the nature and power of sin. It's interesting that, like Adam and Eve, Edmund was tempted with food. The food, in this case Turkish Delight, was "pleasant to the eye" - it looked good. Sin is deceptive because it looks good, not because it looks bad. Sin is a disposition, meaning that it's part of our fallen nature. The only way Edmund, or any one of us, could be tempted is because we already have a bent to sin. All of us are Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve this side of the Fall - we sinful by nature, habit, and choice. Sin is a desire to go our own way, to disobey God and, in fact, to be our own god. When we sin, it is because that is our strongest desire at the time. Finally, sin leads to death. That is the ultimate price to pay for our moral crimes against God. Sin's price tag doesn't say "$11.99," it says "your very life."

Wow! All of that from a one meeting of two fictional characters. Thank you, Professor Lewis! I look forward to more.

R.I.P. WFB

William F. Buckley, Jr. died last week - man knows not his time.

Not only was he the founder of a great magazine - National Review - he was a towering intellect who had a winsome way of dealing with everyone, especially those with whom he disagreed. He made being a conservative cool. In my opinion, Buckley is just as reponsible for today's conservative movement as Ronald Reagan.

If you want to read a number of tributes to WFB, go here - the National Review website.