At Home On Piety Hill

I’m here at Panera again, blogging as Denise does our shopping… this is wonderful and peaceful… and it’s a long way from Uganda… a real long way.

My nephews (names withheld to preserve their privacy) were talking about the lost children of Uganda and how they would like to do what they can to help these victims of the most brutal civil war imaginable. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) under the command of Joseph Kony continues to ravage the northern districts of Gulu and Kitgum in Uganda along the Sudanese border. You can follow the links for the details of this devilish “rebel” leader and his recruiting methods, along with the different ways that people are helping the “night commuters” — children who make the nightly trek into town to avoid being abducted in their villages. The civil war has been going on for about twenty years, but as is often the case, many people in the west are just now becoming aware of the problem.

I’ve wanted to write about Uganda a number of times before… I’ve visited twice, made lifelong friends and hope to return in the future (with Denise and the kids, too). Camille has been there to teach accounting to medical staff and she has expressed a desire to return.

The first time I traveled to Uganda with Emma in 2000, our hosts took us to a “safe place,” well out of range of the LRA. We were in Nakasake in the Luwero district, just north of Kampala. Our church team taught the Bible, preached in the open air, operated medical clinics and worked with the many schools in the area. Immediately upon arrival, we received news that there were elements of the LRA on “the prayer mountain,” which was a hill about a mile away! We continued to do our work, but the presence of paramilitary security men became more visible and they kept us near the center of town or watched us closely as we traveled to nearby villages. These security men did not like their photos taken, so you will have to settle for these shots of one of our “guardian angels” from a later trip.

I have dozens of stories to tell (ebola outbreak, goat on a stick, naked muzungus showering, etc,) and hope to blog about them later, but the subject at hand is the crisis in northern Uganda. Our first trip to Uganda was the result of a call for Christian workers to establish and support ministries to women, who had been abducted, raped and/or mutilated by the LRA. When they escape or are returned to their villages, they are often treated as outcasts. We helped set up training centers, where these women learned trades like sewing, bicycle maintenance and other skills to earn a living. We also sent food and medicine.

My second trip was with another team, which headed south to take building materials and the Gospel to a small village, where we also held a huge medical clinic. Then, we went north to Kumi, which is very close to the frontlines in Uganda’s war with the LRA and even shuttled people to a leprosy hospital there. We never saw or heard anything about the LRA in Kumi. However, on that trip we arrived in Kampala at the same time our host was just returning from a harrowing escape from southern Sudan, through LRA territory in Gulu. He and another missionary had gone up and met someone with a bulldozer in Sudan, where they had built a landing strip for relief cargo planes to use to supply refugees, fleeing the fighting in Darfur and other places. The first plane to use the strip landed to pick them up, taxied to the end of the runway and planted the nose of the plane in the ground! So, they had to walk out of Sudan into Uganda and then seek safe passage back to Kampala. Life is never easy in Uganda!

I saw a couple of paintings by Shane Grammer at The Underground Cafe… we were there to see Mike Roe perform (Kendall Payne was the headliner and she was very good, too). I checked out the website and was a bit intimidated, but ultimately inspired. He is not only a painter and illustrator, but designs spaces, as well. Amazing. Check out shanegrammer.com

I found a site I like, i am chief, and they have a one-time offer which I found irresistable: Insurrection Eggs. It tickeled me because it’s a parody of a radio program I listen to every morning as I’m sorting the mail at work. In fact, it was concieved by one of the hosts of the show, Family Life. I hope you enjoy Aaron’s blog and a little taste of Arkansas.

It’s not like I’m a big fan of myspace or anything, but the service has been in the news so much it’s hard to ignore. So, I found this Christian version, Ditty Talk, that seems to sport all the same features with three important differences. 1) Visually, it looks much nicer and cleaner… much more sophisticated and adult, therefore I doubt it will supplant myspace with the younger crowd. 2) The pages load very quickly and don’t seem to get pushed out of shape so easily. Everything works without a hitch. 3) Super-responsible moderation for inappropriate content.

Perhaps the difference is Ditty Talk’s PHP/MySQL solution versus the myspace ColdFusion and JavaScript choice. The site was birthed by Brian Bozarth, a web designer from Maui, who promises no banners and a listening ear as far as content and features users are looking for. The site only lacks one feature I would add right now; QuestionPark on the FAQs page. Memo to Levi and Joe: Contact Mr. Bozarth now and put the hard sell on him.

Denise and I vacationed in San Francisco last weekend and it was tons of fun. You can view the paltry few photos we took here. Our original plan was to hit thrift stores all the way down from Nevada City, but that proved disappointing (to put it mildly) and opened us up to an unexpected variety of “divine appointments,” good food and miles upon miles of walking, up and down hills.

Where do I start? Well, we stopped for coffee in El Sobrante and met a wonderful bunch of guys who were out on assignment from a prophecy workshop at a local church, “Hearing From God.” Our conversation started when we overheard one of the men talking about how he had moved to Alleghany, a town smaller than Camptonville and further up in the mountains! We chatted, prayed, prophesied, laughed and carried on for about an hour and a half!

Then, it was off for a quick trip to IKEA and dinner at Tommaso’s. We walked all over Nob Hill, Chinatown and North Beach, had some fantastic pastries and even got some bargain used books at Black Oak Books (under the watchful posters of our neighbor, Gary Snyder, everywhere).

On Sunday morning, we had a continental breakfast on Union Square and headed off to Chinatown for some bulk tea and lunch. At 9:30 we found the First Chinese Baptist Church on Waverly Place and the believers there were friendly. It was a great assembly and the pastor, a Chinese brother from Boston, was preaching about being “less Chinese, not so Asian-American” and more welcoming. He said, “Many of you will be going out to lunch after the service… take a visitor with you!” Denise and I perked up, started nudging each other in our pew, thinking, “Cool! We’re going to be dining in style today and spend time with the family of God around some chow fun or something.” Well, we didn’t get an invitation, but one guy told us he’d been there for 30 years and would point us to the best dim sum in town! We went to Sam Wo’s and it was great.

We spent the rest of the day kickin’ around town and visited with my cousin Brian for a few hours. It was great to catch up and check out his impressive collection of sports memorabilia. That night, before turning in, Denise had a craving so we had a full turkey dinner at this Irish pub/hof brau just down from Union Square. The guy at the piano bar sounded exactly like the Bill Murray character on Saturday Night Live… it was incredible and there were people actually sitting around the piano, groovin’.

Monday came and we had to return home, but there was one more Holy Spirit meeting lined up. We stopped in West Sacramento, because we heard there was a new Goodwill Thrift Store on Harbor Blvd. I headed straight to the books and was browsing, when four (yep, count em’ four) Mormon missionaries showed up, browsing the fiction. I wanted to engage them, so I picked up one of two Book of Mormons there (you will always find them lined up at thrift stores, next to countless Jehovah’s Witness “truth” books and myriad Ellen G. White throwaways). I put my nose in the BOM, pointed the cover in their direction, hoping that, like Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26 ff), one of them would ask, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Well, that didn’t get their attention. So, I reached down and grabbed a different Book of Mormon, the one with the 5 inch picture of Moroni blowing the trumpet on the front, and aimed it at the “ministers of the restored gospel.” Still no interest in me or my BOM. After about ten minutes of this “passive evangelism,” I did something I rarely do with Mormon missionaries… I said something provocative and pointed. I walked up and said, “So, you guys are into fiction.” They replied in the affirmative and I held out the BOM and said, “well, have you read this one yet?” They actually laughed and could tell I was being good natured… non-threatening. We talked for a bit, but it became clear… it was Monday, their P-Day or day off and they were not interested in talking about the BOM, Joseph Smith, the LDS church or anybody’s Jesus. I gave them my card and we parted.

Then, it was off to Richard L. Press fine books, lunch with Camille and home. Wow, what a great time!

I just took the eschatology quiz at QuizFarm.com to see where I slot in on the end times spectrum. It looks like a pretty solid analysis:

The 28 questions yielded an eerily accurate picture of where I stand on the issues. Now, before you go off to QuizFarm, I should warn you that there are some pretty raunchy drills over there, so be careful. On the other hand, you have nothing to fear when you pull up a seat at the Revelation Roundtable (which I have just recently updated).

Sadico Junction does it again… Sadie posted a reasonable response to counter some good ol’ fashioned intolerance and a trinity of religion experts showed up to remind her that Christians are to be seen, but not heard. One of these erudite scholars made the time-worn observation, “The problem is that most “Christians” don’t exactly follow Jesus’s example.” At last count, there were about 2.1 billion Christians on the planet, so does that mean that he’s monitored the WWJD quotient of a third of the world’s population? I suppose 1.52 billion would qualify as “most” and that would be a more manageable number for him to keep tabs on. Still, that would make him God… or, at least a demi-god. Then, another wizard tossed out the chestnut “I’ll say it again - what about the christian anti-abortionists who blow up Dr’s & abortion clinics?” Let’s see, how many clinics and doctors have been blown up? I looked online, but couldn’t find the statistic. I think it would be safe to say that it’s less than the number of Christians burned, blown up or murdered in the past week by pagans, atheists and socialists around the world. Finally, this gem: “How about the Christian groups who work to remove practical sex education from public schools - thereby forcing their view (that sex is icky, evil and BAAAAD) onto all the rest of us?” I really don’t know how to respond to this kind of silliness… so, on one hand Christians think “sex is icky, evil and BAAAAD,” but then these same folks will rail on the Jesus crowd for having too many kids. I suppose they think Christians with kids are simply breeding and not deriving any pleasure from… Aaaargh. why am I even talking about this? It’s laughable so, check out my comments.

It’s been 15 years since I last saw Mike Roe perform with the 77s, my favorite band. Last Monday the Nevada County Chapter of the Mike Roe Fan Club traveled down to Auburn CA to see the Roe vs. Pritzl Winter Tour at the Fishbowl Cafe. The set began with Mike Pritzl of The Violet Burning singing some of the most serious, introspective and spiritual songs I’ve heard in a long time. After about 40 minutes, he introduced Mike Roe sporting a pair of secret agent style sunglasses. Mike sang some new favorites and some old ones, too. His guitar playing was muscular and his vocals were flawless. It was great to hear him again and we were in a wonderful spot — front row sofa center. Then, they brought their Lewis and Martin comedy team to the stage, trading inside jokes, barbs and humorous anecdotes from the road, almost going to blows over Mr. Pritzl’s outspoken disdain for Lynard Skynard (who Mike Roe saw live twice). My favorite of the evening was Mike Pritzl taking the lead on Roe’s I Can’t Get Over It. We enjoyed talking to the two Mikes after the show, as well as Mike R’s daughter, Devon Siobhan. I tried to extort money from Mr. Roe, flashing a set of potentially embarrassing photos I had taken of him twenty years ago, clad only in a long mohawk, tie-dyed t-shirt, plaid trousers with suspenders and Converse tennis shoes. Rather than recoil in horror, Mike seemed to really enjoy them and I heard belly laughs from Devon. We’ll see if they show up on a website somewhere, ending his career.

Today I got my Revelation Roundtable blog shaped up. We are going through the Book of Revelation in our Tuesday night Bible study. When you study Revelation in a group, you have to choose one of a number of approaches and follow it through. There simply isn’t enough time to discuss all the different options and questions which pop up, so I hope we will be able to engage in further discussion through the blog. Feel free to drop by and participate or just follow the converstion.

Some time ago I created a website for Scott and Carol Kellermann highlighting their work among the Batwa people. The Batwa are conservation refugees, meaning they were forcibly removed from their ancestral home in the Bwindi Inpenetrable Forest to create a preserve for the mountain gorilla. Scott recently completed a very infomative video, which has been added to the site. Check it out.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Revelation 4:6b – 8

Jim and Kevin wondered if the faces of the four creatures might relate to Israel somehow or if that idea, which they remembered hearing before, really had any validity. Again, what do we know? We see simile again; the first creature was like a lion. But, what significance can we see in them? Well, we saw the relation to the common thread running through chapter 4 and that is God receiving glory in all of creation. So, what about the appearance of the four creatures and their relation to Israel in the wilderness? Actually, Beale finds a source in the Targums and provides an application here:

The tribes of Israel were divided into four groups in the wilderness, and each group was located at one of the four directions of the compass, with the sanctuary in the middle of the camp. According to Targ. Pal. Num. 2 each group had a standard with the colors of the stones representing their tribes on the priest’s breastplate and with an insignia on it: a lion, a stag (originally an ox), a man, and a serpent (which later tradition changed to an eagle). Later Jewish tradition affirmed that this configuration was intended to reflect the arrangement of the four guardian angels around the divine throne… it could suggest further that the living creatures in Rev. 4:8ff represent humanity, especially the worship of the ideal community of God. The Book of Revelation pg. 331

On the identification of the creatures with the four gospels, George Eldon Ladd gives us a brief synopsis for those who may want to track these down:

From early times, these four creatures have been thought to represent the four gospels. Irenaeus… thought that the lion represented John, the ox Luke, the man Matthew, and the Eagle Mark. Victorinus… followed by Jerome … changed the order. The lion was Matthew, the man Mark, the ox Luke, and the eagle John. Such interpretations are interesting… A Commentary of the Revelation of John pp. 77 & 78

John Walvoord gives us a very good discussion on the four creatures in The Revelation of Jesus Christ pp.108 – 112 and comes to virtually the same conclusion as Beale, Alan Johnson and Robert Mounce; the creatures are angelic or heavenly beings, reflecting God’s majesty, “fullness of life and power.”

Tonight, at our study in Revelation we discussed thoroughly the thrust of chapter 4, which we concluded was the centrality of God in His universe and the promise that in heaven and soon (we hope) on earth, all creation will fulfill it’s purpose in glorifying God and bringing Him praise.

Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. Revelation 4:6

Some of us were captivated by the imagery of the sea of glass and Paul took us to Ezekiel chapter 1, the most likely background for John’s image. Jen began musing on this and wondered if there was a connection between the sea of glass in chapter 4, the crystal expanse in Ezekiel 1 and the sea spoken of in Revelation 15, where the victors stand on the shore of the sea of “glass mixed with fire.” Then, she went to the “river of the water of life” in chapter 22. She wondered if she was coming up with a novel concept or if someone else had followed these lines. I quote Greg Beale, who is so thorough:

The “sea” is also associated with the idea of evil. Caird has argued that here it connotes cosmic evil, since it often has such a nuance in the OT and sometimes elsewhere in Revelation (see Rev. 13:1; 21:; and especially 15:2, as well as “abyss” in 11:7). This speculation receives support from the modeling of these chapters on Daniel 7, and the scenes of Daniel 7 and Ezekiel 1 have integral literary links, the former usually seen as dependent on the latter… In view of the Daniel and Exodus [24:9-1] imagery, there is then a hint that John sees the chaotic powers of the sea as calmed by divine sovereignty. Rev. 5:5ff reveals that Christ’s overcoming through his death and resurrection is what defeated the power of evil and so calmed Satan’s watery, tumultuous abode. 4:6 gives a picture of the stilling of the hellish waters from the heavenly perspective, though the devil displays his wrath even more furiously on earth because he has been decisively defeated in heaven… The lamb’s “overcoming” has also paved the way for the saint’s “overcoming” of the beast at the same sea, as pictured in 15:2-4. When John later says that “there is no longer any sea” (21:1), he means that all evil on the earth will be not only defeated but also eradicated when Christ’s kingdom is established consummately on earth. In fact, the “sea of glass like a crystal before the throne” in 4:6 may be an intentional contrast with “a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne” in 22:1. The sea as the source of satanic evil opposing God’s throne has been eliminated and replaced by the river of redemption, which has its source in the throne. The Book of Revelation, pp 327 & 328

That sounds almost exactly the way Jen articulated it to me. So, if you are tuning in, you are not alone Jen. In fact, you are running with one of the foremost authorities on Revelation, on John’s use of Daniel in Revelation and on apocalyptic literature. Not bad.

What do most seem to agree on with great certainty? That we are seeing a simile here… the sea is like glass. It certainly conveys the glory and majesty of the presence of God and is related somehow to His sovereignty over creation (4:6 – 11). It also has something to say about His ability to see all and manage His creation.

Let me take a moment to say that this is just the sort of thing I wanted to open this discussion up for. A worthwhile topic was brought up, which was beyond the scope and time constraints of our study. It involves a number of opinions from various sources and Beale even refers to this line of thought as “speculation,” even though he cites some pretty compelling (if circumstantial) reasons. But, these kinds of topics can be rich, rewarding and build up the Body of Christ, if done with thoughtfulness and love. So, feel free to comment here.

Next, I think I’ll track down those references to the faces of the four beasts and their relation to the tribes of Israel traveling through the wilderness.

John Stott, commenting on Revelation 3:18 - 20:

But it is not merely for supper that Christ enters the human soul. It is also to exercise sovereignty. If he comes in to bestow his salvation, he comes in also to receive our submission. His entry is an occupation. He comes in to take control. No room may be locked against him. He has conquered us. He is the master of the house. His flag flies from our roof. This is what it means to be committed to Christ, and to be wholehearted in our allegiance to him. It is to surrender without conditions to his lordship. It is to seek his will in his word and promptly to obey it. It is not just attending religious services twice a Sunday or even every day, let alone on the major festivals. It is not just leading a decent life or believing certain articles of the creed. No, it is first to repent, turning decisively from everything we know to be wrong, and then to open the door to Jesus Christ, asking him to come in. It is getting our gold, our clothes, and our eye salve from him. It is being personally and unconditionally committed to him. It is putting him first and seeking his pleasure in every department of life, public and private. Nothing less will do.

What Christ Thinks Of The Church, pp. 121 & 122

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw — that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:1 & 2

When studying Revelation, it doesn’t take long before we find diverging opinions. I think Alan Johnson has some good advice for us here:

What do the imagery and visions mean? Another problem involves chronology: When do the things spoken of occur… what is symbolic and what is literal? Answers to such questions will determine the interpreter’s approach. Since few of these questions are capable of dogmatic answers, there is a need for tolerance of divergent aproaches in the hope that the Spirit may use open-minded discussion to bring us further into the meaning of the Apocalypse.

In chapter 1, verse 1, we are told that what follows must soon take place. How soon is soon and how does the answer to that question affect our approach to the rest of Revelation? This is how Robert Mounce deals with the question:

That more than 1900 years of church history have passed and the end is not yet poses a problem for some. One solution is to understand “shortly” in the sense of suddenly, or without delay once the appointed time arrives… The most satisfying solution is to take the word in a straightforward sense, remembering that in the prophetic outlook the end is always imminent. This perspective is common to the entire NT. Jesus taught that God would vindicate his elect without delay (LK 18:8), and Paul wrote to the Romans that God would soon crush Satan under their feet (Rom 16:2o).

I might add that the end is always imminent in apocalyptic, which is so prevalent in Revelation. Greg Beale, an amillennialist, takes soon or shortly in the literal sense as we would expect — that the events in Revelation would take place in the very near future. However, he has a unique take on what is taking place:

John’s substitution of en tachei implies his expectation that the final tribulation, the defeat of evil, and establishment of the kingdom, which Daniel expected to occur distantly “in the latter days,” would begin in his own generation, and indeed, that it had already begun to happen (for the idea of tribulation preceeding the divine kingdom see Daniel 7, which is a parallel prophecy to Daniel 2).

Yet, he goes on to point out:

Indeed what follows shows that the beginning of fulfillment and not final fulfillment is the focus [Daniel's prophecy of the latter days].

I suppose this is an example of the “already” - “not yet” approach to Revelation.

Welcome to the first installment of our online discussion of The Apocalypse or The Book of Revelation! Each Tuesday night at Nevada County Christian Fellowship, we are going verse by verse through the revelation of Jesus Christ, which He showed John the apostle in the first century. Our purpose in the Tuesday night study has a very practical aim: we are approaching this letter as written specifically to us — disciples of Jesus Christ engaged in the monumental struggle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. Each week, we conclude by asking ourselves, “what will be my response, as a disciple of Jesus?” We want to worship Him, tell others about Him and live for Him.

“To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:21 & 22

So, if you would like to participate, you are welcome. I’ve posted some etiquette for participation in the discussion in the left column. Our purpose in this blog is to dialogue on topics of interest that we don’t have time to cover in detail on Tuesday nights or those things that are beyond the scope or outside the purpose of our weekly study. For example, we touched briefly on the dating of the Book of Revelation, but this would be an appropriate venue to talk about that issue in greater detail. I hope this will prove fruitful.

I thought it would be good to begin by asking, “where are you coming from?” What is your purpose in studying Revelation along with us on Tuesday nights? Do you have a view of eschatology that guides you through Revelation or do you favor one interpretive method above another? Are you a futurist? A preterist? A partial preterist? Historicist? Idealist?

I’ll start. For the longest time, I was put off by the wrangling and hard feelings in the Body of Christ over eschatology and different views of The Apocalypse. Sure, I’d studied Revelation, Daniel, the letters to the Thessalonians, Matthew 24 and actually remember getting a lot out of A.T. Robertson’s treatment of Revelation in Word Pictures in the New Testament. I was really apprehensive about teaching it, because I didn’t feel I had the depth in the Old Testament it takes to do a good job and, frankly, I still need a lot of work there. But, lately I felt compelled to get into Revelation and it has been one of the most exhilarating and profitable undertakings in my entire Christian walk. As of this writing, I am premillennial in my view of Revelation. I think the millennium is a literal period of Christ’s reign on earth, but I am decidedly not dispensational. I suppose I would be labeled historic pre-mil.

At this point in time, I take a preterist position on the Olivet Discourse… I think most, possibly all of it, took place by about 70 AD. I also take the traditional view that the 70 weeks in Daniel have already been fulfilled. I think there will be a future tribulation, possibly the great tribulation, but I’m not sure how long it will last or if there are multiple great tribulations.

Interpretation? I take an ecclectic view - a position which seems to be gaining popularity nowadays. I see some things as fulfilled, some future, yet all things are ideal or profitable to Christians of every age, who take seriously their discipleship. How about you?

My pal Dan reminded me this week that November 12 was the 390th birthday of Richard Baxter. I can’t believe I didn’t have that marked on the calendar. I am known to refer to Baxter as “my old friend, Dick Baxter,” because I feel that I came to know him personally over the past fifteen years.

Back around 1990, a friend asked me to research and write a brief biography of Richard Baxter for his publishing company, highlighting the puritan’s abilities as a pastor and evangelist. He was looking for a book, which could be read in one or two sittings, spurring church leaders on to energetic, effective ministry in their local congregations. I was happy to do it and my life is much richer from the experience.

As in my research of the Baha’i movement during the 1980s, I experienced a number of “research miracles.” On one occasion, I submitted an inter-library loan request for Baxter’s autobiography, Reliquiae Baxterianae, because I was planning a vacation to Boston and I suspected there was a large collection of his works at Harvard and, possibly, other libraries. This was the olden days, before the Internet was public and even if you couldn’t get the book through loan, they would provide you with a printout of holdings, where copies of rare books could be found.

A card arrived in the mail from our local library weeks later informing me that my book was in. I thought to myself, “I’m not expecting a book on loan.” When I showed up, the librarian hefted onto the counter an original 1696 edition of Reliquiae Baxterianae — 1200+ pages in folio, printed in a small typeface and language of the period. I asked if there was a place I could sit down with it and how long I could access it at the library. She said, “there are no restrictions on it…you can take it home.” No way! Yes way. I was enraptured, handling the coarse 300-year-old pages in a volume that looked as if it had never been handled.

My book was never published, so I edited it for the web and created a site, Richard Baxter: Mere Christian. Most Christian readers do not realize that the title of C.S. Lewis’ apologetic, Mere Christianity, was borrowed from Baxter. Responding to an inquirer, trying to make sense of the warring factions during the tumultuous restoration of Charles II, Baxter responded that he did not align himself with any division of the church, but considered himself a “mere Christian.”

So, why would anyone in this century be interested in Richard Baxter? For starters, he played a central role in nearly every major political and religious controversy during the reign of both Charles I and Charles II, as well as the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.

I think the average American would be suprised to learn how profoundly those controversies affected the beginnings of this nation, influenced US history and continue to color our culture, for both good and bad, right up to the present.

Although the book focuses on the pastoral activities of Baxter, readers may find anecdotes or information, which will show them facets of the puritan movement, which have been overlooked either through simple neglect or outright prejudice in modern portrayals of the period.

Finally, Baxter lived an incredibly productive and energetic life, while in the grip of unbearable physical suffering and ill health, during unstable and dangerous times.

Is this book for you? Read the first chapter, “Good Mr. Baxter.” It will take just a few minutes and I’m certain you will want to read more about this eccentric country preacher.

I found this band, Warrior, while doing an image search for a Bible study. “Let’s see now… Google Image, punch in ’sword.’” This image came up and I thought to myself, “these guys get to wear some awesome costumes!” I checked out their site, listened to I Want A Walmart Girl and I was hooked!

I called them up immediately and asked for an audition. That’s me on the left jamming with Mike Goodnight, the bass player. I’m pretty much a blues player, but I thought if I could don the leather and “get into character,” I could pull it off. No dice. All was not lost… what they were really looking for was a drummer, so…

I kept the wig, but lost the leathers and makeup (see photo on the left). We covered a few Stryper compositions, because we all knew the tabs and lyrics, plus they really are the reigning kings of Christian metal. Again, I found myself treading new artistic ground. These guys have their own unique brand of sophisticated metal, they sing some amazingly rigorous harmonies and, well, I tend to “play it like Ringo would.” As much as I hate to admit it, I couldn’t keep up.

The guys in the band were swell about the whole thing, even though we didn’t gel, artistically. We had some good laughs, some serious theological discussions and they turned me onto a great leather outfitter in Pennsylvania. The de facto leader of the band, Tad Donley, was kind enough to point me to another band, where an artist like myself with limited musical abilities, yet decent Biblical expositional skills, might find a home. These guys, it turns out, aren’t so focused on instrumental virtuosity. Instead, they have crafted their own brand of theatrical, Bible-based shock-metal to carry the comforting message of the gospel to a wider audience. Angry Little Freaks or “ALF” are lining up a tour of family theme parks this spring and I hope, by God’s grace, to be up to speed and on board with this evangelistic troupe.

In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, we act all. For that is what produces, viz. our own acts. God is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. We are in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active.
Jonathan Edwards

Only with a God Who is eternal and triune in nature can you come up with math that says 1 + 1 = 1.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” John 17:20 - 21
Jesus

For we are, alas, only too familiar with alluring prophets. We have seen them crumble into fragments. We have seen them bring the Wholly Other into disrepute, by being themselves no more than “very strange.” Karl Barth

Over on Pyromaniac there is a discussion of the role of prophecy in the modern church, which began with Rubber Prophecies and a brief account of two of the “very strange” pseudo-prophets bouncing them. It’s amazing what a wide-ranging and informative overview you can get of this current controversy in the comments that followed.

Pneumatic utterances can be a welcome encouragement to the Body of Christ, but it seems as if the number of oddball oracles nowadays outnumber authentic prophets by about 20 to one. Vance Havner was not far off when he observed:

Prophets are almost extinct in the religious world today. The modern church is a “non-prophet” organization. Vance Havner

Sunday evening Denise and I got together with a community of Christians meeting in downtown Durham, Emmaus Way. This is a missional church, a plant of the Chapel Hill Bible Church. From what I can tell, it’s an emergent church… following that philosophy or bent. Tim Conder led us in a discussion of the dichotomies present in Jesus’ suffering with the two thieves on Calvary. Our reflection on the crucifixion began with Marilyn Ormsbee-Strother speaking about the inspiration for a watercolor she painted and the thoughts that were going through her mind as she created it. Then, Wade sang a wonderful song he had composed after reading The Dawntreaders titled Strip My Skin. Finally, Rebecca read an amazing story she had written, from the perspective of the thief on the cross. The gathering reached its apex in the Lord’s Supper.

The folks of Emmaus Way were mostly younger than us, which is sure to become more common as time marches on. They were warm… friendly, welcoming. It seemed perfectly appropriate for Denise and I, travelers, to find hospitality and instant kinship in Christ.

After leaving our new found friends, Denise and I resumed our search for another sampling of Carolina barbecue. What we found at Q Shack transcends human language. Beef brisket, smoked for hours the same way I do it at home. The chopped pork and beef were pink, tender and moist. Denise was enraptured as she savored the first spoonful of beans… “mmmmmmmm” was the only syllable uttered.

When I think of barbecue, I certainly don’t think “subtle.” No, barbecue by its very nature must be intense… hot… provocative. And, Q Shack was all of that from the slaw to the beans, from the smoky meat to the zesty sauce. This was our favorite so far.

Denise and I split a two-meat platter with two sides: beans and slaw. The complimentary hush puppies were excellent and the bbq was accompanied by what must be obligatory at any quality smokehouse — store-bought, cheap white bread! I suppose if you are going to sop up the mess with the bread, it should be as bland as possible so it won’t taint the heavenly flavor of that hoddgepodge that collects at the bottom of the plate (or take-out container in this case).

The reigning champ? Q Shack! But, stay tuned. Tomorrow on our way to the airport, we’re making one last stop at Allen and Sons. Thank you Jesus for barbecue and for the family of God in North Carolina.