I agree.

Listen to this...

Happy New Year 2008!

It is a tremendous blessing, and a gracious gift of God, to be alive to see the beginning of 2008!

I cannot but remember that there are many who started out with us into 2007 who are no longer here. This past summer, my immediate family lost cousins Ludy (Virginia) and Adam. Both deaths were sudden and unexpected. It was in June when Ludy, my maternal grandmother’s niece, returning home to South Carolina from a vacation with her husband and son, suffered a massive heart attack. Adam died in July as a result of a sudden, massive stroke. He was only 38 and lived in the Boston area for most of his life. My uncle’s oldest son, Adam and I met when he was around two years old and I was about seven or eight. When he and his brother Gabriel would come to Illinois for visits or to spend the summer, we would play together. And now, he’s gone! What a somber reminder of both the certainty of death and the fragileness of life. We may live to be a senior citizen, like Ludy, or we may not live to see 40, like Adam, but it is guaranteed that we will die.

And then, like my great-grandmother used to say, one can never know “how you’re gonna leave here”. Some people die after suffering years of lingering illness, while others die suddenly with no warning, like my cousins. Some people keep their presence of mind to the end, while others suffer some form of dementia for years and come to their deaths no longer able to recognize even family and loved ones.

This is why it is such a blessing to be alive and well. To see 2008 is a cause for praise, thanksgiving and rejoicing. In Methodist tradition, each Annual Conference opened with the singing of Charles Wesley’s hymn, “And Are We Yet Alive”. As we begin a new year, I think it’s appropriate to quote a few verses of that old hymn:

And are we yet alive,
And see each other’s face?
Glory and praise to Jesus give
For His redeeming grace!

Preserved by power divine
To full salvation here,
Again in Jesus’ praise we join,
And in His sight appear.

What troubles have we seen,
What conflicts have we passed,
Fightings without, and fears within,
Since we assembled last!

But out of all the Lord
Hath brought us by His love;
And still He doth His help afford,
And hides our life above.

Some end-of-year words from Scripture

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:11-14).

“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:7-8).

May the Lord bless you in 2008 with his peace and joy.

“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”

When growing up, there were two hymns that we sang in church which were set to the Welsh hymn tune, “Cwm Rhondda”: “God of Grace and God of Glory” by the American Baptist minister Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969) and “Guide Me, O Thou great Jehovah” by the Welsh preacher, poet and hymnwriter, William Williams (1717-1791).

Recently, I was comparing the words of these two hymns. It’s interesting how these hymns vary in the level of dependence upon God that they encourage. For instance, though it’s a fine hymn in many ways, if you read it carefully, you’ll notice that “God of Grace and God of Glory” expresses a kind of if-it-is-to-be-it’s-up-to-me philosophy:

God of grace and God of glory,
On Thy people pour Thy power;
Crown Thine ancient Church’s story;
Bring her bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the facing of this hour,
For the facing of this hour.

Lo! The hosts of evil round us
Scorn Thy Christ, assail His ways!
Fears and doubts too long have bound us,
Free our hearts to work and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
For the living of these days,
For the living of these days.

Cure Thy children’s warring madness,
Bend our pride to Thy control;
Shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal.

Set our feet on lofty places;
Gird our lives that they may be
Armored with all Christ-like graces
In the fight to set men free.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
That we fail not man nor Thee,
That we fail not man nor Thee!

Save us from weak resignation
To the evils we deplore;
Let the search for Thy salvation
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee whom we adore,
Serving Thee whom we adore.

Although Harry Emerson Fosdick, the author, acknowledges God as the source of wisdom and courage, it is clear that he sees the task of accomplishing God’s will on earth as being ultimately dependent upon the work of God’s people: “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage/That we fail not man nor Thee!” Fosdick’s God is dependent upon people.

It is even more interesting when you consider that Fosdick was a leading figure in the Modernist-Fundamentalist controversies of the 1920s and 30s, as a prominent liberal minister and the pastor of the famed Riverside Church in New York City.

Now, compare Fosdick’s hymn with William Williams’ “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”:

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more,
Feed me till I want no more.

Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through;
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my strength and shield,
Be Thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side;
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to Thee,
I will ever give to Thee.

In Williams’ hymn, the Christian is totally dependent upon God. God is the believer’s guide, source of strength, spiritual deliverer and sustainer, companion at death and focus of praise in eternity. Williams, it turns out, was a friend of Howell Harris and George Whitefield, and was a leader in the 18th century Welsh revival and a notable figure in Calvinistic Methodist history. Theology makes a difference in the words we sing.

I absolutely love the hymn tune, “Cwm Rhondda”. Composed by John Hughes (1873-1932), this hymn tune, when combined with great words, lifts my thoughts to heaven in a most powerful way. It matters not what mood I’m in, I feel better after hearing “Cwm Rhondda”. This is, no doubt, why for many years I considered “God of Grace and God of Glory” one of my favorite hymns; in the A.M.E. Church of my youth, it was the hymn most often sung to the tune “Cwm Rhondda”. On the other hand, “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” was most often sung to the tune “Zion” by Thomas Hastings (1784-1872) (an old tune that, by the way, I’ve never heard outside the traditional Black Church). Although “Zion” brings back many wonderful memories of good, ol’ A.M.E. congregational hymn singing (and works fairly well in a slow, gospel style), as a hymn tune it is not nearly as vigorous and stimulating as “Cwm Rhondda”.

So, it turns out that, when I was younger, I was drawn to “God of Grace and God of Glory” because of the music. With the passage of time, however, I’ve grown to appreciate more and more the depth of the words of “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”. Whereas I can identify with some of the sentiments of Fosdick’s hymn, I fully embrace the message of Williams’ hymn: I feel and know myself as weak and look to Yahweh (Jehovah) to hold me up and guide me, I know I can’t survive this life’s journey without the sustenance which the Lord provides, I so look forward to the “death of death and hell’s destruction”, and I hope, through Christ, to land “safe on Canaan’s side”.

Below is a great example of Welsh hymn singing that I found on YouTube. The version of the hymn that this group sings substitutes “Redeemer” for “Jehovah”, but I invite you to listen to their wonderful singing. After you’ve listened a while, feel free to join in with this great song of praise.

Am I “easy to read”?

While browsing blogs yesterday, I followed a link from Thabiti Anyabwile’s blog, “Pure Church”, over to “Christ Is Deeper Still”, the blog of Pastor Ray Ortlund, Jr. Pastor Ortlund has written some short, but soul-challenging posts; I highly recommend you check out this blog.

Anyway, today, I clicked over to “Christ Is Deeper Still” and came across the following post:

As a kid growing up, I didn't need an alarm clock most mornings. I woke up to the sound of my dad, down the hallway, singing in the shower. Every morning he sang heartily, cheerfully, with zero irritation to me, this hymn:

When morning gilds the skies
My heart awaking cries
May Jesus Christ be praised
Alike at work or prayer
To Jesus I repair
May Jesus Christ be praised

I never wondered about my dad. Never once. Never. I knew where he stood. Unlike so many others, he was not hard to read. He did not take a wait-and-see, keep-a-low-profile, play-it-safe approach to life. Jesus was too real and wonderful to him. He praised the Lord openly throughout the whole of his life, public and private. What a man!

I want to be unmistakably easy to read, beginning with my dear family.

When I read that, I had to wonder, “Can others say the same thing about me?” May God grant that we all become “unmistakably easy to read”, especially before our families and loved ones.

A cause for worship and rejoicing

While I’m on Winter Break, I’m trying to catch up on some of my reading. One of the books I’ve begun but haven’t had a chance to finish is Arnold Dallimore’s two-volume biography of George Whitefield. Since the school year started, I generally only read this work when my sons and I make our semimonthly trip to the barbershop, as I wait my turn to sit in the barber’s chair, or as I sit in the car waiting for my boys while they have their weekly piano lesson. I hope to finish Dallimore’s first volume this week so that I can get started on volume two before school resumes on January 7.

This morning, I was reading and came across this quote from Whitefield’s Journals, regarding election and predestination:

“Whatever men’s reasoning may suggest, if the children of God fairly examine their own experiences—if they do God justice, they must acknowledge that they did not choose God, but that God chose them. And if He chose them at all, it must be from eternity, and that too without anything foreseen in them. Unless they acknowledge this, man’s salvation must be in part owing to the free-will of man; and if so,…Christ Jesus might have died, and never have seen the travail of His soul in the salvation of one of His creatures.”

Before I came into a fully biblical understanding of election and predestination, I used to wonder about Christ dying for all when so many of those for whom He supposedly died go to hell anyway, in spite of the price He paid for them. In regards to those who ultimately reject Christ, I used to wonder to myself was Christ’s blood wasted on them. Now, thankfully, I understand that not a drop of the blood of Christ was wasted. All for whom Christ died will be saved. It makes perfect sense: Jesus came to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), He laid “down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). God “gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish” (John 3:16). In other words, those who believe are those for whom God gave his Son. Jesus said about those who do not believe, “You do not believe because you are not part of my flock.” Speaking of his “flock” or his “sheep”, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27). Is it not clear that only those who hear and obey Christ are his sheep, and that it is his sheep—his people—whom he came to save and for whom he shed his blood?

Nevertheless, Whitefield continued in this quote I read today with a wise word for those of us who embrace the biblical doctrines of election and predestination and are adamant in their defense:

“But I would be tender on this point, and leave persons to be taught it of God. I am of the martyr Bradford’s mind. Let a man go to the grammar school of faith and repentance, before he goes to the university of election and predestination.” (Arnold Dallimore, George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival, Volume I [Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust], p. 570).

That’s a good word: “Leave persons to be taught it of God”. Let the Holy Spirit do His work. Don’t be known as a contentious Calvinist. Let God’s sovereignty in election be cause for worship and rejoicing, not a cause for divisiveness and strife.

Whew!

Whew!

That’s how I, and thousands of other teachers, feel at this time of the year. I’ve been so busy in the month leading up to Winter Break that I’ve not had any time to blog. Now that I’m home I have time, but I want to spend it with family, as I’m sure you understand. Before I go back to work, I hope to write more. For now, let me just extend to you my hope that you will have a wonderful Christmas. In all your celebrating, please don’t forget the Savior; give him the glory due his name.

Until I write some more, I invite you to peruse my archives over in the right margin of this page. Just click on the link to the month you wish to look at. I’ve been blogging for a little over a year now, so there’s plenty to read.

May the Lord bless you and yours this Christmas and into the New Year.

“Jesus, I’ll never forget…”

Although Thanksgiving Day is past, one can never run out of reasons to thank and praise the Lord Jesus. Of course, Jesus is worthy of praise simply because of who He is: He is the Lord and He is God. However, Jesus is also worthy of thanks because of what He has done for “poor sinners” like you and me.

It’s good to remember what Jesus has done...for you. Think about how far you’ve come. Think about what your life could have been had not Jesus saved you. Whatever you do, don’t ever forget what the Lord has done for you.

Speaking for myself: No one else has done more for me than Jesus. To no one else do I owe more thanks than Jesus.

This song, sung by the late Charles Taylor and the Charles Taylor Singers, expresses just how I feel: “You’ve done more for me when You set me free than anyone else could do.”

For Thanksgiving

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday weekend, here are two posts from the Desiring God blog to set us to thinking, and thanking God in response:

“Pray for More Thanksgiving”

“Ganging Up on Gratitude”

For the sake of your children, stand firm upon God’s truth

As a Christian, I am often dismayed by the moral direction in which I see our society going. This shift in moral values is not good, and I’m afraid it’s going to get worse. The challenge for believers in Christ to stand solidly on the truth of God in the midst of the shifting moral landscape of Western society has never been greater.

One casualty of our society’s value shift is seen in the lives of our children. Unless you’ve been living an extremely isolated life, you know that young people are falling for the lies of Satan. The societal situation that the apostle Paul described in Romans 1:18-32 is here. When I read Paul’s words, I see a description of the world we live in today:

“18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

“24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

“26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

“28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

This is an accurate description of the kind of society we live in today. And it is interesting to me that Paul describes God’s giving over of sinners to pursue their sinful desires as a revelation of God’s wrath. Did you see that? Read the above Scripture passage again. The fact that we see sin being flaunted in our society as never before is a sign that God's wrath is already being revealed against us.

This is why, as society increasingly gives its hearty approval to that which God has condemned, it becomes increasingly important for us Christian parents to stand firm upon God’s truth. Our children need to know what God has said and we’re responsible to teach them!

Also, Christian parents must get serious about prayer. Too many Christians, I’m afraid, do not take Satan seriously and are woefully “ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11). You had better know that Satan is real. We must pray with determination against the influence of the evil one upon our children’s souls.

In light of the sad trends in our society and their malevolent effect upon children, I encourage you to read this important post by Dr. Albert Mohler: “Never in the Closet…The New Face of Homosexuality”.

And pray. Pray that God might have mercy upon us and cause His face to shine upon us in a mighty awakening, before it’s too late.