Readers: I am posting this today to offer a new perspective on the work of Martin Luther King and the legacy he has left us.

Dear Dr. King

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You were right. You prophesied, “If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will . . . be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century.”
But we have lost more than a sacrificial spirit. One of your prophetic heirs, Carl Ellis, has made clear that many black and white churches have become “irrelevant social clubs” because they have lost the God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated gospel. God has been sold for good agendas.
There are times I wished you had made the biblical gospel clearer. But I am sure you would agree that the power you wielded was rooted in God.
Today, as I look at the gospel-weak white and black churches, I would say that both need a transcendent reference point in the sovereignty, supremacy, and centrality of God, expressed supremely in the gospel of Jesus Christ. God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated churches where the gospel is cherished — these are the birthplace of the kind of racial harmony that give long-term glory to God and long-term gospel-good to the world.
Again you were right about the folly of passive waiting. Biblical waiting is not passive. It does not compromise. Nothing that needs changing changes without effort.
Some may have quoted, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14)? But this call to wait for the Lord never meant stop doing what he commanded us to do in the pursuit of holy goals.
Waiting for the Lord means our action is essential, but his is decisive. The farmer must wait for the harvest. But no one works harder than the farmer.
Thank you for your sacrifices. May our Lord Jesus hasten the day when the terms “white church” and “black church” will be unintelligible.

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This letter from John Piper is published as part of his chapter in the book Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,

Read and Share

Our Job Description

On November 23, 2015, the International Day of the Bible, it was recommended that we read the Bible and share what we read.  Now that my internet has been restored I would like to share what I read. 

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. - 2 Timothy 2:24-26

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. - 2 Timothy 3:12-13 ESV

So, this is a job description. And yet I wonder how many would apply for this job, how many would qualify? Is this really what is being asked of us who desire to serve.  In today's national climate we can see how far we are from fitting the bill for this job.  It goes against our natural impulses to do what Paul asks. Without help it is just too hard.

1. Don't quarrel  2. Be kind (to everyone?)  3.  Be able to teach (the truth)  4. Patiently endure the evil of others  5. Correct opponents gently   6.  Allow God to decide the fate of others  7. Endure persecution as part of your divine assignment, not wishing to enjoy the comfort of the wicked because they are headed for destruction.

It really helps to remember what God intended from the beginning. These remarkable passages are intended to guide our thoughts, actions and attitudes today, right now, in the mean, ugly environment we wake up to everyday.  Accept that what you think on any given subject may be wrong, based on God's job description. Each day we have to decide if we can do the job we signed on for without being tainted by the self-protection and self-gratification that tempts us as we see our rights challenged by the enemies of God and his Word.  We must keep this list close by so that we proceed only as He intended.

My Walk: Sovereignty

Sovereignty, Revisited

“Our Heavenly Father, in His wisdom and power, is concerned with everything concerning us.”  As Christians, we all affirm that statement. This is His sovereignty.   And yet, when we experience hardship we rarely think those words.  We think many other things because it “messes” with our theology to see a loving God in our pain. 

 It is just difficult for us to accept the same God who is able to heal our infirmities, may not.  So many of us who encourage one another with “God is good!” may find it hard to attribute to Him “No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others,”  and then to wait months, perhaps years for the out-working of the rest of that passage, “God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. “ (1Cor. 10:13 NET) This is His sovereignty. 

 In my foolishness we gave Him charge over my life.  Then He allows in my life those things that will bring me to the place of wisdom and faith where he wants me to be.  I start having temper tantrums, thinking something must be wrong for me to be here in this pain, this failure, this humiliation, this ordinary existence.  I can do better all by myself!” But that is no longer one of my choices because in my foolishness I gave Him charge over my life.  I have to grow up and accept the wisdom He gives those who follow this path.  This is His sovereignty.

An Examined Life

Why Examine your Life?

It was several years after I had begun my serious walk with the Lord. I was walking to the grocery store and talking to God.  I know I have cleaned up pretty well on the outside, I told Him, but do you really care how I look on the inside?

At that moment I entered the store and stopped short behind a elderly woman using the ATM as though she had never seen one before.  I waited as she took several tries at extracting her money.  She finally moved on and I was able to use the machine.  I took off to get the few things I needed. I soon encountered the same woman blocking the whole cereal aisle with her cart, searching shelf by shelf on both sides to make her selection.  I waited until she finished with my annoyance mounting, then dashed away to complete my errands. 

When I got to the 10 items or Less line, there was my favorite shopper digging through her change purse to find buried treasure.   I realized what was happening.  I had to fight hard to stifle my laughter.  In only a few minutes God had shown me how He saw me.  My question was answered. It was then that I began my process of examining myself and allowing God to reveal the areas of my life that still needed serious cleaning.  This is the course from which we never graduate because there is always another exam.

Why Wives?

A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
 Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
 She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life. Proverbs 31:10-12 (NIV)

A while back I wrote to you about resetting your relationship (April 25, 20215) with your husband.  One woman who read it before it was posted asked me why it always fell to the wife to create the atmosphere for a talk to help to improve the marital environment.  I have heard this question many times before, though I have never asked it myself.  I have never asked it because my own dear husband would suffer in silence forever before he would raise the issue for discussion.  Why? Because he has very little talent for that sort of communication.  He depends on me to keep our home comfortable physically and emotionally.  I am his helper, and that is the help he needs from me. 

Husbands are often aware of the tension in the air but don’t know what to do to make it better.  They are unlikely to read an article like this.  They also find our emotional lives very confusing given the hormonal changes (they think) we experience.  Another reason that wives may be the ones to initiate change in the home is because we are more likely to recognize the need and believe that something should be done.  We are far more hopeful that change is possible (even if it isn’t). 

Scripture may give us the third reason that wives usually initiate attempts to improve their relationships.  Proverbs 14:1 states “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” (NIV)  The Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) puts it this way, “A wise woman makes her home what it should be, but the home of a foolish woman is destroyed by her own actions.^[a] I believe God gives woman the wisdom to know how to build and protect her emotional house.  We are admonished not to allow it to be destroyed by foolishness. 

Sometimes it is wise to remember that “wife” is a job title as well as a relationship description.  We have accepted the job of wife for which we have been carefully designed.  Do not allow your frustration with your husband or the struggles you face cause you to neglect the work that is necessary to keep your home strong and healthy. May God be pleased with your service.

 

A Friend Moves On

Elizabeth Elliot 1926-2015

Last week my dear friend, Elizabeth Elliot, passed away.  No, I never met her but she has been a special part of my life for many years, through her books and articles.  I was attracted to her because she believed in marriage, and she believed that the Bible held the answers to making relationships work.  She made it make sense.

Elizabeth is most easily recognized because her first husband was Jim Elliot, the missionary who was killed by South American indians in 1956. (See film: The End of the Spear)  In honor of her life’s work, I am posting one of the articles that illustrates her gifts:

Leave Him to Me

When there is deep misunderstanding which has led to the erection of barriers between two who once were close, every day brings the strengthening of those barriers if they are not, by God's grace, breached. One prays and finds no way at all to break through. Love seems to "backfire" every time. Explanations become impossible. New accusations arise, it seems, from nowhere (though it is well to recall who is named the Accuser of the brethren). The situation becomes ever more complex and insoluble, and the mind goes round and round, seeking the place where things went wrong, brooding over the words which were like daggers, regretting the failures and mistakes, wondering (most painfully) how it could have been different. Much spiritual and emotional energy is drained in this way--but the Lord wants to teach us to commit, trust, and rest.

"Leave him to me this afternoon," is what his word is. "There is nothing else that I am asking
of you this afternoon but that: leave him to Me. You cannot fathom all that is taking place. You
don't need to. I am at work--in you, in him.  Leave him to Me. Some day it will come clear--trust Me."

"Humble yourselves under God's mighty hand, and he will lift you up in due time. Cast all your
cares on Him, for you [and the other] are hischarge" (l Pt 5:7).
Elisabeth Elliot, A Lamp For My Feet

Me, First

^{Me, First}

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 1Cor 1:23(NIV)

There is a great deal of religious confusion in the world today.  As a result many have begun to externalize our Christianity. By this I mean we look outside ourselves for direction and affirmation instead of referencing our relationship with God and following his instruction.  No one knows where you are in your walk with the Lord and no one knows your struggles.  You cannot truly know anyone else.

I knew a woman who sang on the praise team at her church. She told me privately that sometimes during the worship she has to step aside or take a seat.  She said that she needed to do that because before accepting Christ she was a nightclub singer.  When a song had a rhythm or a sound that reminded her of music from her past, she needed to remain silent and keep her heart and mind fixed on Jesus.

It is easy to imagine the chorus of opinions this story would evoke but this woman was being authentic, true to her herself and her pursuit of godliness.  Only she and the Holy Spirit know her struggles.  She does not need external rules, comparisons, or the affirmation of others in this area of her life.  She understands that she must run the course that God has set before her. 

I am convinced that the most important thing I can do to grow in Christ is to look at me, first.

God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,  so that no one may boast before him.  It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.1 Cor 1:27-31(NIV)