Sniffing out the work of God in the world…
Here are a couple photos of Kerri Lane and her girls serving communion at Highland. The memorial service will be today at 11:00.
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If you have a high speed connection, check out this clip. Thanks, DU, for the link. [NOTE: At 6:30 this morning, this link wasn’t working. See my note in the comments. ESPN’s version is available on video at espn.com.]
He was more than just King Nebuchadnezzar. He was “Nebuchadnezzar, Inc.” Fresh from a great military victory at Carchemish over the Egyptians (605 B.C.), he was maybe the most secure man in the universe. Youth, strength, wealth, clout–all were his! He was a steel tank, a shining knight, a superhero.
Besides all that, his name was impressive. As one third-grade girl wrote to me: “Dear Mr. Cope, I discovered that Nebuchadnezzar is more than half the alphabet. That’s fourteen letters. Love, Elizabeth.” Good point–he had that going for him, too!
But every night when the king put his head on his royal pillow, he became as vulnerable as the lowliest peasant in Babylon. And it was then that God struck! The chink is his armor is revealed in these three words: “Nebuchadnezzar had dreams” (Daniel 2:1).
In his dream stood an enormous, dazzling statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. What an imposing reminder of the power he had, this King Golden Head (for the head represented him), and of the power subsequent kingdoms would have.
Did Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, or any of the other exiles need a reminder that he held all the trump cards? They’d seen his domination in Jerusalem, and they’d heard of how his Chaldean kingdom had dominoed around the fertile crescent.
But there’s more to the dream: a rock cut out of a mountain strikes the statue and smashes it to pieces. It doesn’t just destroy the feet (representing the final kingdom); rather, it demolishes the whole statue.
This rock is the kingdom of God. And that’s exactly what this rock has done–again and again! The rule of God enters human history, and it overwhelms the power-hungry kingdoms of humans. It happened during the time of Daniel. This pagan king had numerous opportunities to humbly confess the power and deliverance of God (2:47; 3:28f; 4:34ff). It happened a generation later when God worked through Cyrus to return his people to Israel. It happened again when Jews faced the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, and many resisted the urge to adjust, adapt, and follow all the rules.
But it happened supremely in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The people with all the fame and power–Caesar Augustus, Herod the Great, Archelaus, Antipas, Caesar Tiberius, Pontius Pilate–were no match for this one who described himself as “meek and humble in heart.” Through his righteous life and death, the kingdom of God broke in with power and force.
This rule of God continues today–though not in its fulness as it will when Christ returns. During this time when the values of the kingdom come into such sharp contrast with the values of this world, God’s people continue praying, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
During the years that my daughter was becoming more feeble and then following her death, I was drawn to the magnetic writings of Diane Komp. Dr. Komp is a pediatric oncologist who lost–and then found again!!–her faith in the pediatric ICU. She writes of the compelling stories of faith that sprang from dark places.
One of those stories is about a six year old whom she calls Sammy. She bonded quickly with Sammy and his mother, but was distraught because he never responded well to treatment. There were very few days after they met that he could even go home.
One day Dr. Komp chatted with Sammy’s mother about the latest test results. In the room with him were three other brain-damaged boys. One had fallen from a window; another had been beaten; a third was the victim of a hit-and-run. “The room was a vegetable garden, filled with wilting young life,” she remembers.
She had noticed that Sammy was listening to some music, though it was turned down so as to not disturb others. But all of a sudden he turned over and cranked up his little yellow tape recorder. The music blared:
We declare that the kingdom of God is here!
We declare that the kingdom of God is here!
The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame man is walking,
Sicknesses flee at his voice.
The dead live again and the poor hear the good news.
Jesus is King, so rejoice!
When the song was over, he felt for the buttons and rewound it. The testimony–like light in the darkness–screamed out again: “We declare that the kingdom of God is here!”
When the song ended, Dr. Komp asked him, “You really believe that, don’t you, kiddo?” She knew Sammy believed. The bigger question was, Did she?
The most counter-cultural thing the church can do is to continue praying “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done . . . .” For this rock (the reign of God) has come and smashed the strongholds of this earth. And it continues beating away.
One day this kingdom will come in its fullness. There will be no more death, no suffering, no terrorism, and no weeping for the people of God. No wonder the church continues to pray, “Maranatha. Come, O Lord.”
Jerry’s sermon this morning was profound. Speaking from Matthew 6:1-18, he talked about the addiction of approval. I would encourage everyone to download it from our podcast (in a couple days) and listen to it. Many of us probably need to hear it about once a month!
Most years no one wanted to bother running against Bob Hunter. It wasn’t worth the time and effort. Bob has been such a respected state representative that he always cruised through elections–with or without opponents. Bob was never afraid to cross political boundaries to support important causes.
This year he isn’t running for reelection because he’s battling prostate cancer. So my friend Mel Hailey has tossed his hat in the ring.
Mel will soon know who his opponent is. There are four good candidates in the Republican primary. And if Susan King happens to slip past Rob Beckham (who’s surely the favorite to win), Mel will have to work to get Diane’s vote. Diane, like many public school teachers, is a big fan of Susan. She has worked hard, following in the tradition of Betty Davis, to be an advocate for both students and teachers in the Abilene Independent School District.
Of course one other possibility is that Beckham and King could split a lot of the same voting constituency, and one of the other two candidates (John Young and Kevin Christian–both of whom are impressive) could forge ahead. Or what if the three Abilene candidates (Beckham, King, Christian) split the Abilene vote, and Young carried Sweetwater?
My guess? Mel will be facing Rob Beckham.
But whoever wins will be filling the position of a very good state rep! Thanks, Bob Hunter, for these many years of service to our district.
From the No-Wonder-So-Many-People-Hate-Christianity Department:
A dozen states are scrambling to restrict picketing at funerals. They’re doing it because Pastor Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, consider it their mission to protest at the funerals of American troops. They believe that what’s happening in Iraq is God’s judgment on America for our toleration of gays.
“Thank God for IEDs” (improvised explosive devices) and “God Hates Fag Enablers” read their signs.
“By your love they will know you are my disciples,” said Jesus. But then, so much of Christianity has nothing to do with Jesus.
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Sixteen guys at our 20th and final meeting. As I wrote a couple days ago, we began in 1987 as young preachers. At the time our ages ranged from 29-41. Now, 19 years later (making 20 years) we’re 48-60. At times life has been hard. But through it all we’ve gathered each year to share our journeys. We’ve always known that no matter what happened there were other guys praying.
What’s so very strange right now is knowing that we won’t be doing this again. We won’t get the regular update–at least like we’re used to–on marriages, children (and now, grandchildren), ministries, hopes, disappointments.
What a privilege it’s been. We began as a group meeting to talk about expository preaching. Thanks to the honesty of a couple guys in “the circle” our first year, we quickly became something else. “Band of brothers” is a bit overworked. But that’s what we’ve been.
Diane and I are fortunate to have other bands of brothers and sisters. And I think we all need them. We need people whom we’ve been with over the long haul who will take genuine interest in our story/stories, who will be completely honest with us, and who don’t need to be impressed by us.
As friends we’ll still connect. But as a group we’re defunct as of noon today. Go with God, YBB. . . .
Earlier this week I wrote a post for this morning, knowing I wouldn’t have time today. It’s the one I posted earlier. But now I’m going to stop and take the time to post again.
Kerri Lane died last night. She was an amazing woman–a godly mom raising two of the sweetest girls in the world (kindergarten and 4th grade) by herself. This past summer, in the midst of her battle with melanoma, she wrote these words as she meditated on the word “dance”:
Dancing With God
When i meditated on the word Guidance, i kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word.i remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn’t flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word Guidance.
When i saw “G: i thought of God, followed by “u” and “i”.
“God, “u” and “i” “dance.”
God, you, and i dance.
As i lowered my head, i became willing to trust
that i would get guidance about my life.
Once again, i became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God’s blessings
and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.
May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.
Prayer is one of the best gifts we can receive.
There is no cost but a lots of rewards;
so let’s continue to pray for one another.
i hope you dance…and let Him lead!
And now, I hope you’re dancing, my dear friend. Thank you for being Jesus among us. We’ll never be the same.
I weary of the triumphal claims made by some about healing. Here’s the truth: lots of godly people who pray for healing don’t get well–at least not in the way they hoped for. It isn’t because God doesn’t love them or because not enough people had real faith. So much damage is done by supersaints who claim that healing is a done deal to those who believe. Yet on the other hand, we aren’t deists. We believe that God hasn’t retired and that at times there are hints of the future healing even now–thanks not to some super-healer but thanks to the Healer himself.
Typical Ed Fudge balance:
HEALING IN PERSPECTIVE
Edward Fudge
Feb 12, 2006
Someone has said that error is truth out of proportion. Balanced truth takes into account the great biblical doctrines of Creation, the Fall, Redemption, the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the End. In such perspective, biblical revelation resembles a polished diamond which sparkles in all directions. To that end, and after four decades of adult reflection on the topic and praying for the sick, I offer seven biblical perspectives on divine healing — charting a scriptural course, I believe, between some extremes often heard today.
1. We may affirm that God’s will for his creation is health and wholeness. We may deny that God is the author of sin, disease or death. (Gen. 1:27, 31.)
2. We may affirm that sickness, like all the world’s brokenness, is an ultimate result of human sin. We may deny that specific wickness or trouble is necessarily related to any specific sin, or to the sin of any particular individual. (Rom. 5:12; 8:20-22; John 9:1-3; Book of Job.)
3. We may affirm that God, by Christ’s redemptive work, will finally restore to its intended wholeness the creation he has made. This includes our bodies and whole selves. We may deny that God is interested only in our “soul” or “spirit,” or that redemption excludes from its final benefits complete wholeness for the entire person. (Isa. 53:4-5; Phil. 3:20-21.)
4. We may affirm that this full redemption will not come until the resurrection at the End. Until then, even God’s believing people continue to share in elements of the Fall. We may deny that even mature believers can always expect perfect health and wholeness now, or that their sicknesses necessarily reflect any personal fault or lack of faith. (1 Cor 15:42-49; 2 Cor. 4:16-5:4.)
5. We may affirm that, because of Christ’s atonement and resurrection and the coming of the Spirit on Pentecost, we may begin even now to share in God’s victory over sin and its consequences. This victory at times includes the healing of the body, mind and relationships, in ways that exceed human prediction, understanding or ability to produce. We may deny that God has stopped working in the world and in our lives, or that we must wait until the End to see any signs of our redemption. (Eph. 1:18-21; 3:16; 3:20; Heb. 6:4-5.)
6. We may affirm that all health and healing is God’s gift, regardless of the means by which it comes or the speed with which it occurs. For all health and healing we should give God thanks and praise. We may deny that health or healing ever occur apart from God’s sovereign grace, or that so-called “natural” processes are any less the supernatural work of God. (Ps. 103:1-3.)
7. We may affirm that God gives us many means of wellness. These include, but are not limited to, the body’s “natural” processes, healthy physical, mental and emotional habits and lifestyles, the special ministry of those who practice the healing arts, the loving attention of family and friends, and also effective, believing prayer. In times of illness, we should gratefully apply all appropriate means, asking for God’s healing according to our needs and his glory. We may deny that Christians ought to spurn or neglect any appropriate means of good health or healing, since to do so violates both Scripture-revelation and common sense. (Phil. 4:3-7; 1 Tim. 5:23; Col. 4:14; see also Sirach 38.)__________________________________
Copyright 2006 by Edward Fudge. Permission hereby granted to reprint this gracEmail in its entirety without change, with credit given and not for financial profit. Visit our multimedia website at http://www.edwardfudge.com.
The new issue of Wineskins is on unity and has several excellent articles. (Great job, GT.) But please, please don’t miss the article entitled “Circle of Fire: Barton Stone and a Spiritual Model of Unity” by Gary Holloway at wineskins.org. This piece by Gary, a member of the Bible faculty at Lipscomb, confirms again my belief that, under the leadership of Randy Lowry, a lot of growth and renewal is going to come to that campus.
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Last night I talked briefly about my first place to preach. One year while I was a student at Harding, I drove every Sunday with Stan Granberg and our girlfriends (now our wives) to Allred, Arkansas. One of us would preach in the morning while the other led singing. Then we switched roles in the evening. I haven’t been back to that tiny church in central Arkansas since 1978, but I’ve never forgotten it. What an important role those good folks played on my development as a preacher and, more importantly, as a follower of Jesus.
Later this week I’ll be meeting about 20 guys whom I’ve met with for a day or two each year for 20 years, usually right after the ACU lectureship.
When we started we were all young preachers in Churches of Christ. Through the years, there have been lots of ups and downs that we’ve celebrated together and grieved together. We’ve connected with each other through divorce, death, struggles, firings, career changes, and denominational changes. Of the original group, three or four chose to drop out at some point through the years. But, amazingly, the vast majority kept making the pilgrimage to share our stories with each other and pray for each other.
We’re no longer young. Several aren’t preachers. And some aren’t in Churches of Christ.
It has been a powerful thing to be connected with these brothers through the years. And while our regular gatherings will end, the history and the friendships won’t, I’m sure.
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Last night, David Fleer’s message was excellent. He walked us through the text of John 4 with the image of a slideshow. In one of his slides, he asked us to imagine him standing at customs with two bags: the baggage he was trying to bring into the text. It was a good reminder that we have an incredibly hard time hearing texts when we come with our preconceived notions.
Tonight is my turn at the ACU lectureship. My text is John 6 where Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” I dreamed the night before last that I forgot my audience could speak English and I tried stumbling through in Spanish. It was a tiring night as I kept trying to remember how to say things.
As a fan of bread, I love driving past the Mrs. Baird’s store factory on the way home. And I love standing around the tortilla machine at HEB. And I love it when the hot fresh bread comes out at Johnny Carino’s. So how about you — what’s the very best bread you’ve ever had?
This morning I’m supposed to talk about how and why I got into blogging. I’m just trying to remember how and why I got into this class.
I just looked back to see what my first blog entry was about. It was on August 4, 2003, which is probably old by blogging standards. Here it is:
Monday, August 04, 2003We just returned from Pensacola Beach–our 15th straight year in the same condo (since 1989). It is now like holy ground. We can look out at the sand on the gulf on one side and the sand on the Santa Rosa Sound on the other side and picture our children. We remember taking a little boy and his younger sister. We remember taking the brand new baby in 1992. We can still see Megan there during her very ill days. We recall clearly the first summer of grief following her death. And now this year, we got to return with our boys and a girl (who next year will be our daughter-in-law).
It has been a sanctuary, an oasis, a respite, an emergency care center through this decade and a half. We have swam, played tennis, bought fresh fish at Joe Patti’s, eaten the best grouper sandwich in the world from Peg Leg Pete’s, jumped in the waves, collected shells, biked, thrown baseballs, played Uno and Hearts, read, listened to Jimmy Buffett and Michael W. Smith (not together usually), watched movies, prayed, and grown deeply in our love.
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Last night’s lectureship got off to a good start with Zoe leading the singing. I was reminded of what a steady, godly leader Royce Money has been for the past decade and a half. He and Don Jeanes, president of Milligan College (a school associated with the Independent Christian Churches), shared the evening lecture.