Bottom line up front: Consistency is key.

Illustration: When I was earning my B.A. and M.A. in English many moons ago, I worked many jobs to put myself through school in those years. One of my jobs was as a carpenter’s assistant. Though I am not naturally gifted in carpentry, I have a deep respect for carpentry. I learned a great deal about the craft in those years. One of the blessings that came my way during those years was being an assistant to a master carpenter named Lyman. Lyman had a long, silver, grizzly beard, and he sipped coffee all day long from his large, very dented, very worn Stanley thermos. He wore suspenders and a button shirt, and he carried a thick carpenter’s pencil in his right breast pocket. He wore faded and worn jeans, and he always wore suspenders over his button shirt. He rolled his own cigarettes from a tin of tobacco. When he rolled his cigarettes, he always knew I’d be watching him. Though I have never been a smoker, I was mesmerized by the smoothness and grace with which he rolled the tobacco into the papers, licked the cig quickly, lit it with his Zippo, and enjoyed his time during our breaks. Lyman was as consistent and faithful in his work, his craft of carpentry, and in his dedication as any man I’ve ever known. When I look back on those years now, I’m amazed how many years have gone by, and by how much Lyman impacted me. He was truly a remarkable (and remarkably consistent) man.

Context: Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem of 22 letters, each section beginning with the subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As a whole, the psalm is a psalm of praise; it praises God’s Word and God’s law. The psalm, quite lengthy by standards of Hebrew poetry, is comprised of 176 verses.

Text: “I hate the double-minded, but I love your law” (Psalm 119:113, ESV).

Takeaway/encouragement: What does my old buddy Lyman have to do with Psalm 119:113? Much. Lyman was consistent. You could set your clock by him if you’d had to. When the sun was up, or if weather permitted him (and us) to work in carpentry at all on workdays, he’d be there. He’d measure, cut, nail, stand up walls, lay on the level, snap the chalk line, and we’d nail some more. He’d roll his cigs and enjoy his smoke. He’d sip coffee from his old Stanley thermos. He was single-minded in his dedication, calling/purpose. He was consistent. What a testimony. God says in Psalm 119:133 that he hates double-mindedness. Many people mislabel God as a soft Santa Claus-like figure who dispenses joys and trinkets for spiritual infants, but that’s not the God of Scripture. Here, God says that he “hates.” And one of the things he hates is “the double-minded.” All the psalmist is teaching is that God loves and awards those who labor (Lyman-like) in their obedience to his (God’s) law and Word. Simple. Not easy, but simple.

Introduction: In some of my studies, I am in Paul’s letter of Ephesians. Structurally and theologically, no matter how many times I study Ephesians, I stand amazed. At its most basic level, it divides into two theological sections. Chapters 1-3 are indicative chapters; that is, they tell Christians what God has already accomplished. Chapters 4-6 are the imperative chapters; that is, they tell Christians what we are to do. In short, Ephesians is structured along this model: Since God has done A,B,& C, his people are to do X,Y, & Z.

Text:

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:6-17)

Pauline Paradigm: Paul is such a masterful writer. Look at the contrasts he has in the section above:

• Empty words (bloviating) vs. Truth/depth

• Darkness vs. Light

• Drivel/filler vs. Discernment/wisdom

• Secrecy/darkness vs. Transparency/light

• Foolishness vs. Wisdom

Encouragement/takeaway: The beauty of imperatives is their simplicity. Not their ease, but their simplicity.

God’s people are not to settle for empty words, bloviating, drivel, filler, folly, and ramblings.

They’re instead to expose such perversions. In Paul’s words, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph 5:15-17, ESV).

God condemns foolishness and he commands his people to be discerning and wise instead.

Trying to be unbiased about a story and setting one loves so fully is less than easy. Set in South Carolina and parts of western North Carolina, Rash’s novel is simple structurally: there’s been a murder; there’s been an affair. It’s in a sense a “whodunit?” Where’s the body? Is it buried? If so, how was it accomplished and by whom? Can the sheriff prove it?

There’s no lack of lying and Southern protectiveness about one’s past, one’s property, or one’s privacy.

As to describing the crushing infiltration of the massive monstrous electric company clearing the region of its history and identity (not to mention its trees, creeks, streams, wildlife, and simple farms), Rash excels. Perfect.

Rash’s greatest strength is his ear for spoken upstate SC and WNC language. He’s a fine ear. The dialogue of his characters, especially the interior monologues of his characters, demonstrates that.

Rash also is dialed when it comes to the complexity of family tragedy. This book is not written at the level of one of Faulkner’s masterpieces about Thomas Sutpen, that’s certain, but Rash is adept at dramatizing how our families are all fractured. Each family has at least one beloved who is estranged, arguably with good reasons.

Again, I concede my prejudice in favor Rash’s setting in this book. His characters, too, I respected. Why? Well, they were real. Warts and all.

Some days I step back, so to speak, and realize the blessings God has sent to me via certain friends. One such buddy is Jimmy.

Though from very different regions of the country, though raised quite differently, we both married well. The Lord provided brides who made us better husbands, better men.

Jimmy encourages me consistently. Today, for example, we were texting and he sent me this gem above from Sam Cooke. Why? To remember the good stuff. As we say in the MRT (Master Resilience Trainer) world, “Hunt the good stuff.” That’s what this song from Sam Cooke reminds me to do, and it was a reminder from Jimmy today.

Few singers did it with more soul, more life, more pathos and joy than Sam Cooke.

My thanks to Jimmy for your friendship, your encouragement, and for your (almost always) solid taste in music. I’ll try to forgive your penchant for 80s ‘music’:-)

Now … back to Sam Cooke’s musical gems.

In my times in London, I’ve always enjoyed riding “The Tube” of the London Underground. Each time the train’s doors open, you hear the warning: “Mind the Gap!” That’s wise counsel.

For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, the West is amidst a cold civil war. It is a war of ideas, of course. To use a cliche, ideas have consequences.

Like the lyrics from one of my enduring favorite bands expressed it in “A Day In the Life,” “I read the news today, oh boy . . . .”

Well, I read the news today, too, but it wasn’t about a lucky man who’d made the grade. A day from our contemporary lives is more likely to reveal that millions of Americans apparently want a borderless nation. I don’t mean to patronize such people, but may I call their attention to definitions? A nation without borders is not a nation.

It’s interesting that they don’t see their cognitive dissonance. They lock their car doors. They lock the doors in their homes. They keep their pets on leashes or on their property, behind fences, etc. But yet they don’t seem bothered by illegal aliens entering the nation illegally, raping, pillaging, murdering, etc. That is, until the evil comes to their home. Then suddenly, reality gets real clear. But it’s too late then.

So much for “Mind the Gap!” counsel.

Will we mind the gap before it’s too late? I hear some thinkers pontificate that it’s already too late. I do not accept that. Defeatism is suicide. If you’ve already given up, I’m not sure what one might say to you. I guess you can stream more videos until your heart stops beating and eventually die. But the reality is that you died long ago, when you gave up. Let us not give in to despair. Some folks do have eyes to see and ears to hear. Not all are fools and stooges.

Paul wrote in Philippians 4:8 (ESV), “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

That’s wisdom. That’s minding the gap. That’s not ostrich-like, head-in-the-sand Pollyannaism. That’s wisdom for those who are in Christ, for those who think God’s thoughts after him, for those whose minds are being renewed (Romans 12:1-2).

Will we mind the gap? Will we recognize that blind guides lead the foolish into the ditch (Matthew 15)? As Solomon writes again and again, “Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?” (Proverbs 8:1, ESV). In other words, will we mind the gap?

Bottom line up front: Less Is More

Text: At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1-4, ESV)

Context: As I have continued teaching through Matthew’s gospel line-by-line over the past year or so, it is amazing to me how often we find Christ has to humble us. I’ve probably read Matthew’s gospel over 50 times over the last year, trying to be sure I follow the storyline that the apostle lays out. Teaching it verse-by-verse forces me to slow down. When one is a fast reader, it is easy to read right past something that I should not have. And when it comes to Scripture, there’s never a passage to neglect. This is the Book of all books.

About the passage above (Matthew 18:1-4), J.C. Ryle wrote, “Would we know whether we are really converted? Would we know the test by which we must try ourselves? The surest mark of true conversion is humility. If we have really received the Holy Ghost, we shall show it by a meek and childlike spirit” (Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew).

Humility. Not exactly sinners’ default posture, is it? Nope. We like to think we’re better than the next fellow, don’t we? We thrive upon comparison, at seeing the speck in other people’s eyes. Meanwhile, we’ve got logs the size of redwood trees in our own.

But Christ just kept hammering home that non-negotiable: humility.

He says to his disciples that they’ll never enter the kingdom of heaven without it (v. 3).

I remember saying of my father-in-law that he lived the best sermon I ever heard preached. What did I mean? Simply that he was among the greatest and simultaneously humblest men I’ve ever known, respected, and loved. And I have no doubt that he heard a heavenly welcome that went something like this: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Introduction: This Sunday I will again be teaching the saints as we gather again under the authority of the Scriptures. We are exploring Matthew 17:14-27. A few of the themes God addresses in this passage follow:

• ‘Levels’ of faith
• the nature of spiritual warfare
• the sovereignty of God

Questions: One of the questions that fascinates me in this passage is, How ironic is it that Peter, James, and John just descended the Mount of Transfiguration where Christ alone had received the glory via the cloud, the Father’s voice, Jesus’ face shining like the sun, the radiance of his garments, etc. and yet the next episode revolves around some of the disciples’ little faith?

All of these manifestations surely stirred the theology of Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John. The books of Exodus, Revelation, and Elijah’s ministry in the Old Covenant surely were brought immediately to their minds and hearts. But when verse 14 begins the transition, we see that some of the disciples apparently had weak faith. Why do I say that? Because Jesus said it: “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Mt 17:17, ESV) That’s a stinging rebuke from the Lord Jesus. No ‘meek and mild’ Jesus stuff there.

A man had come to some of Jesus’ disciples for the healing of his (the man’s) son. The boy, according to verse 15, had seizures. Perhaps he was what we might call epileptic, I don’t know. But in verse 18 of the text, Jesus “rebuked the demon” that plagued the boy, and in verse 20, Jesus rebuked his own disciples for their little faith. I write all this to ask this question: How ironic is it that Peter, James, and John just descended the Mount of Transfiguration where Christ alone had received the glory via the cloud, the Father’s voice, Jesus’ face shining like the sun, the radiance of his garments, etc. and yet the next episode revolves around some of the disciples’ little faith?

I think the teaching is clear: Our ‘levels’ of faith ebb and flow. I cannot speak for others, but I know if I’m honest that there are times in my life when I’ve relied on myself and my strategies to make things shake out like I desired. And very often the Lord has seen fit to take me to the mat. He’s closed doors that I desired to walk through. Looking back, God’s ways were right and mine were selfish and wrong.

Then there have been times when I trusted the Lord at levels that were much greater, where I lived out a total reliance upon the providence and direction of God. I even wrote a novella with that theme: Lily is about an English teacher who seeks to find her way when God seems to hide his face.

A second question that interests me in this passage is, What do we see in this episode about spiritual warfare? There is no paucity of wacky stuff out there about spiritual warfare, but much of it is, in my view, far afield from what Scripture teaches. Nevertheless, it is clear that God allows demonic influence in the world in order to show his (God’s) glory and his power over the demonic realm. It seems to me the whole point of Matthew 17:14-21 is that our faith is to be in the Lord Jesus Christ because he (God the Son incarnate) is sovereign over weak faith, strong faith, illness, the demons, and evil. That seems to me the point. It’s the same lesson as God was teaching at the Mount of Transfiguration, namely, for us to get our eyes upon Jesus–that Christ is bigger than our crises.

Bottom line up front (BLUF): Do you wish to be great? The path may differ from what you envision.

Currently I’m reading a handful of books on significance. Why? Because I’m seeing a trend on the mission field, namely, that many people (younger people, esp.) experience feelings of insignificance. They feel they don’t matter—at work, at play, at home, at church, etc. Their reactions are often to create false images of themselves as important, influential, brave, and sought after. Many of these folks are being disingenuous and they know it. So, how does one speak wisely to such an issue?

The Folly of Secularism: The secular worldview has no transcendent unchanging standard by which to speak to this, of course. Since God is removed in secular humanism, all folks are left with is preferences. If someone experiences feelings of insignificance, too bad. “Suck it up, Buttercup!” talking points is what you can expect. Why? Because there is no objective, unchanging, righteous standard (God) by which to evaluate wisdom from folly in the religion of secular humanism.

Greatness God’s Way: Much of Jesus’s teaching in Matthew’s gospel is consumed with Jesus excoriating the scribes and Pharisees. Why? Well, they should have been the wise, humble, godly teachers and shepherds. Instead, they were foolish, cocky, defensive, ungodly theological bureaucrats who led themselves and their followers into destruction (see Matthew 23, e.g.). But will we listen to what Christ taught all who would be significant and even aspire to greatness: “The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:11-12, ESV).

Encouragement/takeaway: Did we catch it? “The greatest among you shall be your servant.” In a world where people are longing to matter, the secular reflex is to say, “Well, you do you,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. It’s a sort of bubblegum psychological band-aid devoid of substance. But the biblical worldview completely upends that and says to us: The reason you long to matter is because you do matter to God and to fellow pilgrims but human sin has alienated us from our Creator and Redeemer. In short, the bad news is that you and I are sinners, east of Eden, rebels against the Holy. But Christ is the rescuing, redeeming, atoning Savior for all who come to him in repentance and faith. And the way to experience your significance is to know you’re created in the image of almighty God who was, and is, and is to come. He knows the very hairs on your head and the very innermost recesses of your mind and soul. Use your best labors to honor him and those he puts in your path by serving him and others. Why? Because God delights in exalting the humble and humbling the proud.

Bottom line up front: The hubris of inexperience vs. the wisdom of experience and lessons learned.

Introduction: In some of my student days, I was blessed in particular by one of my professors being a man of remarkable giftedness. He was an OB/GYN doctor, a pastor, and a seminary professor. But perhaps more than anything else, he was a true shepherd. He loved us students; his actions made that clear. He invested in us. He was others-centered. If you’ll pardon the awkward syntax, he was very unfull of himself and focused on serving others.

Scripture’s Connection: This morning after PT, I was in said professor’s favorite book of the Bible–Leviticus. I used to marvel at how people could actually enjoy the book of Leviticus–until I understood and learned to see and savor Leviticus for what it teaches about holiness vs. sinfulness, about cleanness vs. uncleanness, about God-centeredness vs. self-centeredness.

As I read and thought this morning over what I was reading, I returned again and again to this: “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and shall fear your God: I am the LORD your God” (Lev 19:32, ESV).

Practical Questions of Application for Soldiers in the Military and Soldiers of Christ: Ever experienced trying to follow the lead of one who had positional authority but who was not ready to lead wisely? Sure, we probably all have. Some folks, by hook or by crook, may have titles, offices, or positions of leadership, but they don’t have the character or competence to lead wisely. They’re oftentimes full of themselves. Their aim is not to serve but to be served, the opposite of what Christ commands of his people: “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28, ESV). That’s what my professor-shepherd taught so well–how to be others-focused.

A second question comes to mind, too. Ever recognized a pattern of wisdom wherein a wise leader surrounds himself with many aged and wise and not just the young and ambitious? One of the men of old whose works I continually study penned this: “The young soldier may be more mettled and venturous, but the old soldier is more to be trusted because of his experience and skill. It is no small advantage to have been an eyewitness of the several appearances God has made for his church, and of several storms that have gone over her head” (Thomas Boston, A Complete Body of Divinity).

Encouragement/takeaway: What God is teaching through Moses’ pen in Leviticus remains practical wisdom: Welcome and heed the wisdom of the aged and experienced in your life. Look to them. Why? It’s not just because they’ve lived longer. There is (sadly) no lack of old fools. But there is, by God’s grace, also a body of precious, wise, Spirit-filled, others-focused saints in your midst. Honor them. Seek to learn from them. Listen to them. They’ve seen much but they’ve also learned much. They can be–and should be–your concern, too. May we have the humility to cultivate relationships with the wise in our midst. Or as Moses wrote, we should “stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and shall fear your God: I am the LORD your God” (Lev 19:32, ESV).

Question 1: Have you not heard something along these lines? “Fear is cowardly!” Or perhaps a Joshua-laden encouragement along the lines of, “Don’t be afraid; be of good courage!” Or perhaps, “Be a man! Don’t wuss out!”? I have. Endlessly. Often completely ripped from their proper context.

Proposal: God blesses (wise) fear.

Scripture: “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!” (Psalm 112:1, ESV).

Question 2: When’s the last time you heard that taught accurately?

Teaching: The Lord does not solicit pittances or sham honesty. He actually vomits such overtures. There’s a biblical picture for you (Rev. 3:16).

The Lord says to his people that he blesses wise fear. Why? Because once one comes into true recognition of who God is, he/she sees who he/she is, and is broken by the devastation of truth.

Encouragement: There’s no end of acting. (Actually, there is, but that’s for another article.) It’s among the world’s oldest professions, alongside others which go without saying.

Here is all I want to encourage us with for now:

God sees; God knows; and God is altogether holy.

Once we get that in our viscera, we will be changed to fear the Lord, as a wise person ought to and does.

Leave the fools and hirelings to entertain fellow fools. But as for the Christian, let him/her fear the Lord, and discover the benediction of heaven.