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New Year's Day, 2009

2009-01-01T22:25:00.007-05:00

New Year's Day, 2009

Yesterday we wrote the date '2008', and today we write it '2009'. And although each day follows another, once a year we reach the milestone of the completion of one year and the beginning of a new one. New Year's Day is the one day where we can both look back on a fully completed year, and also forward on a year that is still untouched.

I've now seen twenty-two New Year's Days. And as each day comes hard on the heels of the one before, and often seem to blur together in memory, many of those years have come and gone, blurring together with little to distinguish them from the year before or after, except that each one seems to go faster than the one before it.

But my 2008 doesn't blur in with all the others. This past year, now completed, took me through some of the deepest experiences of my life. It's been a year that has seen my most daring hopes, my most challenging surrenders, and my most undeserved blessings. It has tested my relationship with God in very acute ways, and also my relationship with man. And at the end of 2008 I can only repeat what has been the theme of my life for the last several years: Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.

I just want to thank God for His eternal faithfulness. I want to thank Him for keeping me in His will, for 'holding up my goings in His paths, that my feet have not slipped'. I want to thank Him that because of His forgiveness and grace and faithfulness, I can look back on the past year without the haunting of vain regrets or unsurrendered ambitions. And more than that, that I can look forward on the new year of 2009, though full of unknowns, without doubts.

And in a life of unknowns, in a world of uncertainty, in a time of unpredictable events, that is a confidence that only God can give, and a surety that we can only receive when we completely surrender to Him.

Above all other blessings, 2008 marks the year the Lord blessed me with the most precious and priceless gift man has ever known - something above success, above wealth, above health, above fame, above power. Something I can't buy, or earn, or deserve. It's the matchless gift of one true love - an amazing, Godly, and entirely beautiful woman whom I have admired and esteemed above any other I have known.

I love you Cara, and I thank God for you every day!

Called? Or, Recalled?

2008-03-31T06:51:00.000-04:00

My recent excursion to the left side of the United States of America (read: Kalifornia) took me from snow and ice and sub-zero temperatures, to palm trees and green grass and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It also took me from my immediate family to visit some extended family. And while there, I decided to exercise the Biblical principle of 'not forsaking the friend of my father', and called on some friends of the family I had not seen in some years.

Now, when you're in a Los Angeles-sized multitude of strangers, even the most remotely familiar acquaintance can suddenly seem like an old friend, so after a brief visit in church, I offered to join him for a day at his construction project outside of the city.

It turned out to be a genuine renovation project, the kind I've been familiar with, with plenty of dust and dirt, and crooked walls, sagging floors, and uneven studs. So, we enjoyed the sweat, endured the dust, and tackled the job, while chatting, discussing, and occasionally debating.

"So tell me, Isaac," He mused, "Have you ever considered that perhaps, God may have a calling for your life?"

I smiled. "Of course I have," I answered, "And I can certainly say, that I have no doubt whatsoever that God does have a calling and a plan for my life".

"Well", He paused, "What is it then, and how are you pursuing it?"

I fell silent for a moment, and continued stapling insulation to the ceiling, while I thought about the question.

You see, I knew what he was thinking. I knew that all his life he had wanted to work for the Lord. So he had pursued mission work, and medical work, and teaching work. He had been a pastor. He had, in short, pursued every 'calling' that he felt was 'the Lord's work'. And now he was doing construction, earnestly desiring to be out there, doing the Lord's work, instead of in here, building such temporal buildings.

I knew his heart was honest, and that his desire was pure and commendable. His pursuits had been honorable, and his endeavors never lacking in dedication. And in the question he asked me, I could see that he still felt that a 'calling' simply couldn't be something like... renovating homes.

What is a 'calling', anyways? Is it something that some Christians get, and some don't? Is it something that preachers and missionaries get, while carpenters and fishermen don't? Why are some occupations thought of as 'callings', and others as, well, just whatever you came with? Are some Christians 'called', while others remain in 'uncalled' occupations?

I thought of Paul's words, written to the Colossians, ...and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.... And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

I thought of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty God, working for thirty years in a carpenter's shop - even while His cousin was out on the banks of Jordan, fulfilling His 'calling'. Was one occupation a 'calling', and the other not? Was one 'the Lord's work', and the other not. Was one holy, and the other 'unholy'?

And I thought of myself. And I thought of my own responsibilities, and achievements, and my ideals and ambitions. So much of life ahead is unknown. So much is unclear. And after seeking the Lord's will for all these years, I could only conclude one thing: I know what responsibilities the Lord has given me, but I do not know what He will give me. I know what my present duties are, but I do not know what my future duties may be. And I know, that these present duties, are my present calling. And therefore, in all my occupations, I endeavor to work as to the Lord, and to be faithful in them, to Him. And however small they may seem, however temporal they may be in their own right, my work is for an eternal purpose - not because of the task, but because of the Master.

And so I answered: "Jesus told a parable once, of a nobleman who was departing on a journey. He called three of his servants, and delivered to them diverse talents, and told them 'Occupy till I come'. And we all know what each of those servants did, and how they 'occupied', what happened to the talents, and what transpired upon their master's return.

"Proverbs tells us, 'despise not the day of small things', and Jesus told us, 'He who is faithful in little, is faithful also in much'. To be quite honest with you, I do not know what duties the Lord may call me to in the future, but I know what duties He has given me here in the present. It may seem that my present duties are temporal ones. It may seem that my present occupations as a businessman, or a farmer, or a carpenter are not 'the Lord's work'. But I know, that if I am faithful in what I've been given, and if I work, not for my own gain, but for the Lord's glory, then who knows, but maybe one day, He'll call me to be a ruler over ten cities."

He was silent for a moment, and then concluded, "I never thought of it quite like that, but well, I guess, we're doing the Lord's work right here then!"

"You bet", I grinned, spanking the drywall dust off of my pants, "-Not because of the task, but because of the Master."

I went to the window for a breath of fresh air and looked down through the fog that had rolled in, thinking again about my ambitions and hopes, and desires. I realized that I'd just become aware of one more subtle reality of God's calling:

You see, there's a subtle trap in even the blessed duties of preaching and ministering. Too often when we're called to those places, we begin viewing the 'work' as the focus of our calling. True, it's 'the Lord's work', but even in that, not because of the work, but because of the Master.

I don't know what positions the Lord may call me to in this life, but whatever and wherever, I have resolved to serve HIM to the fullest that His grace empowers me to - whether in music, in business, in farming, in ministry, in government, and (last but in no wise least) family. Do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men.

I know I've fallen far short of that attitude, but even so, God has blessed me with many blessings - the least of which I am profoundly undeserving. Indeed, the years of eternity are too short to balance the accounts of divine grace and my human weakness, but this is not an exercise in futility - this is the Refiner's fire.

God bless you all as you pursue His calling for your life!

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

2008-03-25T05:43:00.002-04:00

The moon slipped slowly past its zenith. The dogs lay, curled in their particular posts. There was nothing at this time of night to warrant even canine attention. The refrigerator lay silent. The clock read 4:30 AM. And I slept.

You see, when I go to bed, I go to sleep. And I sleep until I wake up (or rather, the alarm wakes me up). And when I wake up, I get up. But right now, I'm sleeping... zzzz...

4:32AM.

4:34AM

4:35AM

I'm still sleeping. But, despite the appearances of perfect slumber and tranquility, something is bringing me to consciousness, even though I'm hardly aware of it.

Slowly, a thin, acrid scent filters through my nostrils.

Where there's smoke, as the saying goes, there's fire.

Instantly, I'm wide awake.

Instantly my smeller starts processing the noxious odour. It smells... electrical... and synthetic. Almost... like burning carpet, but not quite. I know what that smells like, because when I was three years old I thought I'd press the floor and make it look nice - with my mom's iron. However, when she called me, I jumped up and ran out, leaving it on the floor behind the chair. Well... a few minutes later we discovered what burning carpet smells like - and I still remember it. But this smells more like... polyvinylchloride, perhaps.

I jump out of bed and go to the door. But outside in the hall, the air is clean. I pause and sniff around, and go back into my room.

Phew. It certainly is still here. And getting stronger fairly quickly. I turn on the light, and glance around at all the outlets. The one under the desk has nothing plugged into it. The one by the bed has the alarm clock plugged into it and appears normal. But there's one more - behind the dresser. And on top of that dresser is the fishtank - full of water and rather heavy. And now I can hear an ominous hissing and crackling from behind it.

I heave the dresser and fishtank away from the wall, and there, the light cord for the aquarium is rapidly smoking away. I can't quite reach it, and sparks are flying out of it.

Seventeen years ago I had an unpleasant experience with faulty wiring, and I've had a bit of residual phobia of anything electrical that appears remotely unsafe. I was about four years old, and one afternoon took up the idea of organizing my dad's workspace. It was actually right here where I'm sitting in my office now, but at that time, there were no desks, no curtains, no carpet - it was just a concrete garage with a few machines in it, with extension cords snaked all over the floor, because, of course, there were no outlets wired yet.

And a four-year-old has a way of tripping over extension cords, so I was going to organize them. I picked them up off the floor, untangled them, took the loops and knots out, and routed them in a more orderly fashion. But I never finished the job.

Two cords were connected, and I picked it up to disconnect them. It was a heavy duty cord with a metal, grounded plug. Well, it was supposed to be grounded, but back in the outlet, some wires had shifted, and, no one knew it, but hot current was flowing through the ground line, and to that metal cap.

And the four-year-old boy, standing in stocking feet on a concrete floor, picked it up, and 120 volts of electricity began flowing through his right arm, down through his body, to his feet, to the floor.

I'll never forget the feeling. There was thunder in my ears, and the world spun around me, and the floor felt like it was violently quaking, as if I were being shaken like a rat in a dog's mouth.

And what was worse, was that the electricity flowing through my arm had entirely hijacked the control of my muscles, and caused my hand to uncontrollably grip the plug. I couldn't let go.

I don't know how long the ordeal lasted, but it lasted as long as it took my mother to hear some whimpering from the other side of the house, and get there, and yank the cord from the wall.

The Lord preserved my life and health, but the burns to my hand took months to heal, and I will carry the scars for the rest of my life. And ever since then, I hesitate to approach unprotected electricity.

So I heaved the dresser farther away from the wall, and tried to pull the plug. But the two probes were in the process of welding into the outlet. So I gripped the melting plug, and heaved it out.

The outlet was black with smoke, and the plug was partially melted. A few minutes more and the wallpaper would have caught fire.

I opened the window, and got up for the day.

And the rest of the family, slept.

So, one more occasion of God's protecting grace. And since I'm not fighting a house fire this morning, I'll sit down and write about it. :)

God bless you all this day, and protect you from all the unseen dangers and perils of this world!

Absence...Makes the Heart Grow Fonder.

2008-01-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

The house is quiet.

Too quiet.

Much too quiet.

You see, last Thursday my whole family - minus myself - drove out the lane and down the road. A very long road. And they won't be driving back in the lane for another three weeks.

And - I don't believe it makes me one wit less a man to wholeheartedly admit this - I miss my family. In fact, I think I started missing them before they'd even left. (My mom almost made me tear up...)

(No pities, or condolences please - sometimes it's a good thing to feel lonely. :D)

Anyways, the life of a newly knighted bachelor... begin the escapades.

You know, I'd determined years ago I was going to skip that stage of life, but, well, at least this is only a taste and not a stage.

So I sat down at breakfast the next morning. At a long table with seven chairs around it. Six of them empty.

Munch, munch.

Clink. Tink

Tick tock, tick tock.

Munch munch munch.

Screech.

I pushed my chair back and walked over to the living room CD shelf.

Whaddya know, most of the good stuff went with the travelers.

So, shall I pick one of those ridiculously giddy Mozart flute concertos, or a gritty Handel harpsichord sonata, or...hey, here's a George Beverly Shea album...better choice.

For some reason, breakfast seems to take whole lot longer than usual. And for some reason, it just doesn't taste quite the same.

Well, just because my mother isn't here doesn't mean that I'm going to look like it, so today I commenced the task of washing my clothes. Laundry, they call it.

Now, I'm not a total neophyte in domestic duties, so I'd better prove it. Yes, I separated the colors and took everything out of the pockets. And yes they got washed and dried, as only a machine knows how.

But that's not all there is to laundry, of course. Once the clothing is back in my hands it must be made fit to wear. And believe it or not, I do know what that means. So I pulled out the ironing board, and plugged in the iron.

So, eventually, the result is presentable, and the tools get put away.

But for some reason, this takes a lot longer than when the experts do it. And for some reason, it doesn't quite look the same.

I fold the shirts up.

But for some reason, it takes so much longer. And for some reason, it doesn't look quite the same.

And then the phone rings. And it's my mom, of course.

"Hi Mom! How are you all doing?"

"Oh, good," she says, "But it just isn't the same without you".

So, I'll say it again. Yeah, I miss my family!

2008!

2008-01-01T10:32:00.000-05:00

... is upon us.

Happy New Year!

Several hours ago, we crossed the line from 'the year of our Lord - two thousand and seven', into 'the year of our Lord - two thousand and eight'.

We've had one more year of blessings, of grace, of testings and tryings; one more year of opportunities, experiences, and conquered frontiers. And I know that I've received a portion of blessings of which I am profoundly undeserving - and a measure of grace which I cannot claim. I've been brought through dangers, toils, and snares - some of my own making, others of my own earning. 'Tis grace, my friends, that has brought us safe thus far - and grace will lead us home.

And most of all, we're one year closer to that day 'which no man knoweth, no, not the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but only the Father' when the Lord will return in clouds of glory, with all the holy angels with Him. Lord, haste the day, when our faith shall be made sight.

This, my friends, is reason to celebrate. Reason to give thanks and reason to rejoice, for we can enter this day, this year, and the days and years to come, with a great hope which others may not have, because it is truly 'the year of our Lord.'

May the Lord bless you abundantly. May He guide your steps and direct your paths. May He go before you as a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. May He cause His face to shine upon, to protect and defend you, to keep you, and give you peace.

So rejoice! Give thanks! And celebrate the year of our Lord - Two Thousand and Eight! :D

Arise, Shine.

2007-11-24T18:05:00.000-05:00

I slept in this morning. Meaning, I didn't set my alarm. And as I slowly came out of the realms of unconsciousness, like a submarine slowly rising, with the buoyancy point somewhere just beneath surface, and my mind began to assume it's waking order, it came back to me:

I was talking with someone, and another individual entered and handed me a paper with something printed on it, in bright red toner, in 26 point Courier Bold. I glanced down at it, and...wasn't impressed at first glance. But I scanned through it.

There was something odd about it.
I flipped it over, and to my horror, I saw my own name at the foot of the page.

shurly this is a miracle of gods grace. god is not only promising 2 perfect us, but all that concerns us thats rite every 1 of those unknowns every desire of the heart every perplexity and complexity all those variables all the obbstacles even all the ppl involved will be perfected according 2 gods promise & according 2 his will. and let me tell u if god can perfect me, if he is able 2 keep that i have committed 2 him, then i assure u that he can perfect u and he is able 2 keep n e thing that u can commit 2 him. if he can perfect that which concerneth me he can perfect that which concerneth every 1 of u. and if he can give me the desires of my hart he can due the same for n e 1 of u. but theres 1 thing that god will not perfect and that is whatever has not bin comitted 2 him.

I was astounded. I was amused. I was indignant. I was insulted. It was an assault on my character! How far has this been published! WHO is trying to purloin the message of the Word of GOD!

And then I woke up.

And I started laughing.

I got out of bed. It was 8:53AM. "What a way to start the day," I thought, "That's what I get for sleeping in this late".

Don't try it for real now. I might not get out of bed on the right side the next time.

Hitherto hath the Lord helped me

2007-10-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills. From whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121:1-8)

It's been some time since I last posted anything here. In fact, it's been even longer since I actually wrote anything of more than minimal substance. I've been well occupied, however, and in recent weeks have been seeing more clearly than ever before that- 'Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.' (Psalm 127:1)

You see, I've grown up well familiar with the concept of manual labor. I've learned to work (hard sometimes), and I've learned to enjoy it (most of the time). But I'll be honest, nobody enjoys working just for the sake of working. Anyone, even of the most scrupulous work ethic, will soon grow weary of work without results. You see, we like to work because we like to get things done. If all our labors were exercises in futility, we would soon cease to enjoy those labors.

I enjoy getting things done. And the more effectively and efficiently my labors become accomplishments, the more 'effective' my enjoyment of the labor is. Don't get me wrong, I can even enjoy those tasks which require dogged determination and patient, persistent perseverance. But it has occurred to me, that quite honestly, if all my labors were in vain, and all my efforts were exercises in futility, then really, I'd be one weary young man.

So that's why today when I look at all the multiplied blessings, when I consider the 'accomplishments', every time I have the privilege of savoring a job well done, I am reminded that 'hitherto hath the Lord helped me'.

I am reminded that there is no strength that is my own. That there is no blessing that is of my own earning. There is in fact no accomplishment that is of my own labors. In total, without the Lord's blessing, and without the Lord's help, and without the Lord's keeping, my labors are in vain.

Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.

Scientist Seeks for the 'Mommy Gene'

2007-09-25T06:58:00.000-04:00

Some people can get it so right, and yet so wrong.

For a comparison of perspectives, take the time and read the above article, and compare it with this speech by Theodore Roosevelt, just over a hundred years ago.

Lonnie Aarssen is right. The mommies will win. But not because of a particular gene that becomes dominant. They will win because they sacrificed a life of ease for a life of service. They will win because they fulfilled their God-given role instead spurning the primary laws of life. And all people, and all nations, will rise up at her coming, and call her blessed.

Grow Up Or Grow Old

2007-09-19T21:43:00.000-04:00

Just nicely in time to chime in with the last Rebelution Conference, StatsCan has released a study showing that (shock) kids are in fact and in statistic taking longer to grow up these days.

People say, "Times have changed".

But I think that 'the times' are saying, "People have sure changed".

In recent years, both young men and women have delayed many transitions. For example, in 2001, half of all 22-year-olds were still in school. Only one in five had a partner (usually common-law), and one in 11 had children.
In 1971, three-quarters of young adults at the age of 22 had left school. Nearly half were married and one in four had children.

Kids, you have one of two choices. Grow up earlier, or grow old earlier.

The Lord SHALL Perfect That Which Concerneth Me.

2007-08-30T06:15:00.000-04:00

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.

You’ve all heard of the concept of a ‘loaded statement’ before. Now, the Bible is full of loaded statements. Loaded statements are great things to build sermons on, so if you didn’t know, that’s why there are so many sermons out there.

But this statement, I believe, beats all other loaded statements. Now I’m not saying that this sermon will beat all other sermons, not by a long shot,- in fact on Wednesday morning I was up somewhere in the vicinity of 5:30, working on the outline for this message, and my quote of the day brings me this incredibly encouraging statement: 'It takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech'. Mark Twain, of course. So, I promise you, this is not a 'speech'. But – ‘The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me’ – now THAT is one loaded statement. So what I’d like to do here today is to share with you the power that this verse has had in my life, and the power that it can have in your life – every one of you.

Who here has ever wanted to be an explorer? Anyone ever intrigued by the challenges of Daniel Boone, or Lewis and Clarke, – at least in our younger days? I don’t know if I’m the only one, but I used to really think it was unfortunate that there just wasn’t anything left to discover on this earth. There wasn’t a single island, or continent, or land left to find for the first time in history. In short, there is nothing new under the sun. Modern life has its advantages and disadvantages of course, and the most aggravating misfortune is that there was nothing left for ME to discover – well, almost.

Anyone here ever thought that they knew everything? Surely, in a group this size I’m not the only one. Well, I’m going to talk today about a frontier that has never been conquered by any person. Simon Fraser didn’t map it. Not even Neil Armstrong, for the great leap of his one step, ever came close to conquering this frontier. It’s the frontier of the UNKNOWN, aka the ‘future’.

In the year A.D. 1492 Christopher Columbus set out to conquer his unknown. Problem was, he started out with the same problem some of us do. He thought he knew it all. And he was going out to prove it. After obtaining some government subsidies, which were expropriated from a privately owned shipping company, he sailed west from Spain, and he was headed for China.

It took longer than he thought, so when they sighted land, he declared that they must have missed China and gone all the way to India. That’s right, they land on this island, and Columbus says “We’re here!”, and one of the sailors says, “Ummm, where are we?”, and Columbus says, “India of course. We must have missed China.” You see, Columbus wasn’t a very good explorer in that respect. But of course, if it wasn’t for that, Spain would never have been interested in the voyage.

Whether he realized it or not, Columbus didn’t know what he was going to find when he set out from the Canary Islands. Whether he admitted it or not, he was setting out to explore the frontier of the unknown. And ultimately, to conquer the unknown is a worthy mission. It’s part of the commission of mankind – to fill the earth, and subdue it. However, through all the unknowns that have been conquered, through all the explorations that have been made, beyond all the maps that have been drawn, there remains one frontier, one unknown, that has not been conquered.

Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

This, my friends is the frontier of the future. Tomorrow is a day that no one has seen. We have not seen it; it has not seen us. And not a single invention, or device, or machine of man, has ever been able to ‘KNOW’ this fundamental ‘UNKNOWN’.

What I’m sharing with you today is simply a portion of my own frontier of the last number of years. It isn’t an abstract study on philosophy and theology – it is a genuine path of slowly understanding the relationships of the most significant challenges of life. The Known vs. the Unknown - understanding the role of each, and most importantly, their roles in our relationship with God, and knowing Him. For a brief insight into this, I’m going to read an excerpt from something I wrote almost a year ago, in reflection of my twentieth. From this point in my life, I can look back over the fields and farms of youth, and over the lawns and gardens of childhood, even over the doldrums of toddler days, and I can also look forward over a view in which I can see that there are hills that have never been climbed, cliffs that have not been scaled, oceans that have never been navigated. I see that there are challenges no human has met before, there are battles yet to be fought, and victories that must be won. There are tragedies yet untasted, there are adversities yet unseen, dilemmas undeliberated, sacrifices that have yet to be made. There are days yet undawned, sorrows yet unknown, and joys yet to be experienced.

This, my friends, is the frontier of the future. Advance I must, retreat I cannot. It is not possible to move faster or slower, for time's relentless hands bring it on with a constant and unrelenting rate. Whether scaling a cliff or traversing a desert, it will not change pace, but will continue to test; continue to challenge. This is a frontier that has no end, except for future frontiers of eternity. No man knows, nor can know, the events that will lie ahead, but God indeed is the One Who sees, and Who knows, the terrain that I must travel.

This is a frontier that calls, as all frontiers have, and all frontiers will, for men of valour, and for women of virtue. And in doing so, it calls for that which is not common to humanity. The boldest bravery that I can muster up as a mortal man is insufficient to conquer this frontier for eternity. The most valiant of men have fainted behind us in the kaleidoscope of history, because all vigour and all valour that finds its source within the mortal man will prove to be a mortal figment of a mortal imagination.

Anyways, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself here. I’m not saying the whole of life is an unknown. In this life there are Knowns, and there are Unknowns. In fact, if we can wrap our magnificent minds around this, there actually are more unknowns than there are knowns. We just don’t know what we don’t know, so in our minds, there are more knowns than unknowns, and depending on how our brain swells, sometimes we think there are no unknowns at all.

However, in the course of human endeavours against this frontier, there has been discovered the law of human knowledge. It declares: The greater the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of the unknown.

Life is fundamentally comprised of two things: the Known, and the Unknown. And these two things have an interesting relationship, as we can see. Knowledge is good. It is a virtue, not a vice. Proverbs speaks highly of Knowledge, and admonishes us to seek after it diligently. But as we can see, the Unknown is related to the Known by a factor of multiplication. I’m not going to put a number on it. It’s just a ‘factor’. Why?

And, after all, what exactly is the ‘Known’ and what is the ‘Unknown’? Brilliant question I know, but necessary for the sake of the point: The truth is that the ‘Unknown’ is an infinite expanse of a frontier, and the ‘Known’ is that island of conquered unknowns that we have built.

Ultimately, the Known cannot exist without the Unknown. The very concept of Knowledge, of seeking and getting knowledge, cannot exist without the Unknown. And here comes into play the relationship between the Known, the Unknown, and Wisdom.

The Known does not require Wisdom. The Unknown does. And it is for this specific reason that the Unknown is related to the Known by a factor of multiplication. The more Knowledge, the more Unknown. The more Unknown, the more Wisdom required. Hence a proportionate amount of Wisdom is required to maintain knowledge, and to conquer the frontier of the Unknown.

So it is obvious. Every one of us, in any generation, has a vast, unexplored, untouched frontier. It is an unknown frontier, and it is a frontier without end. This wilderness is conquered, as all frontiers have, and all frontiers will be, one day at a time. There has never been a time when a true explorer knew what he would find before he found it. Therefore it is self-evident that our island of knowledge is what we have experienced, and the expanse of unknown is what we have not experienced. In other words, the very present is known, and the past is experience, but the future remains that area yet beyond the shoreline of the unknown.

The Word of God positively identifies this as the fundamental unknown of life. Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. This is what I call The Law of Time and Knowledge – and it is as sure as the law of gravity – the future remains the future. God has established it, and decreed it. Tomorrow is tomorrow, today is today, and yesterday is yesterday. Tomorrow is not ours to conquer, until it becomes today.

As long as that law stands, you and I stand before a frontier. And as long as there is that unknown frontier before us, that calls for valour, for virtue, and for strength, we stand in need of Wisdom, and we stand in need of the fear of the Lord.

Here I want to elaborate a little on the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom. Both are highly regarded in Proverbs, and both are given very lofty attributes. In fact, we are told that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’, and also, in the same wording, that ‘the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge’.

However, Knowledge and Wisdom are two different things. Knowledge of course, is the island we’ve been talking about. But Knowledge is not what conquers the unknown. In fact, knowledge, in and of itself cannot even sustain itself. Wisdom is that power by which we gain; knowledge is the gain.

But oftentimes, in our conquest of this frontier and in our pursuit of Knowledge and Wisdom, we find ourselves yearning to be able to press beyond the Law of Time and Knowledge. “If we could but see beyond today…” Why?

You see, in our conquest of this frontier, and in our pursuit of knowledge, our human nature wants to make this MY conquest, and MY pursuit, and really, we simply want to know what nobody else in the world knows. Just think how this could help me in my pursuit of world domination. I could cut hay at just the right time, every time, and I would KNOW that it wouldn’t rain until it was in. I could know exactly what to say in every situation. I would know exactly what do, and when to do it, and how to do it. And just think what would happen when I stroll into the Wall Street Stock Exchange…It would be incredible! And after all…doesn’t God promise to give wisdom to him who asks?

Absolutely He does. Here we are going to dig out another one of the precious promises of the word of God: James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

‘If any of you lack WISDOM, let him ask of God…and it shall be given him’. That is a promise, and the Lord is faithful concerning His promises. Unfortunately, many people who claim that verse are not looking for wisdom at all – they’re looking for knowledge. Has the Lord ever imparted specific knowledge to men? Yes He has, but the promise here and for all people, is for wisdom. You see, so many of us who stand on this frontier, knowing that God has a divine plan for us, are not eager to face this unknown. We want to see the way clear to the horizon, We want I-40 with signs to tell us all the details. We want a map to go with it. We want to know how long, how far, how many, what then, and where next.

But God is not giving us an interstate and a highway map. He’s putting before us a frontier that must be conquered. He’s giving us a route that requires the fear of the Lord, not fear of the unknown. Instead of sight, He’s giving us Faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. He’s giving us Wisdom to conquer the unknown, not knowledge of the unknown. He has given us The Law of Time and Knowledge – the fundamental unknown of life – THOU KNOWEST NOT WHAT A DAY MAY BRING FORTH, to keep us eternally confined to the acceptable day of salvation. TODAY, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.

Things are often not what they seem to us. Just like Columbus landing in the Caribbean and being stoutly confident that he was in India, we often think we are really getting somewhere, when in reality we’re on the other side of the world. You see, the ultimate goal of all my ponderings of the Known and the Unknown has been the quest to know God’s will for my life – Or rather to understand the relationship between the will of God and our knowledge of it.

One of the first things I learned was the vast difference between seeking the knowledge of God and His will, and seeking to know His plan for my life. These two are diametrically different things. They’re on the other side of the globe from each other. However, in our minds, they have a way of appearing the same. Just like Columbus arriving in ‘India’, and giving the Caribbean the perpetual misnomer ‘West Indies’. And I’ll tell you, you can ask God to show you His plan for your life as much as you want, and the only thing that might happen is that satan will deceive you. God is giving us a frontier, and we want an interstate with mile markers and road maps. God’s offering us wisdom, and we want knowledge.

You see, wanting to ‘know’ God’s plan for your life just doesn’t work. God considers that proprietary information. What He wants you and I to do is this: Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

He’s not asking us to find out what, and then direct our own paths. He’s asking me to trust in Him with ALL me heart, and then HE will direct my paths. So many times we want to be directing ‘His paths’ in our life, and He’s trying to direct our paths!

We want to see the plan, we want to see the path. We want to know the route. We want to see where He’s taking us, but God does not want us to be looking our own way through, He wants to look to Jesus Christ, the Author and finisher of our faith. THAT is seeking His will.

We want to know, so that WE can conquer.
He wants us to trust Him, so that we can be more than conquerors.

We want to KNOW; God asks us to COMMIT.

And here we have another great and exceeding precious promise: Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. I’m going to bring us all back to reality here for a little bit. If we really stop to think about it, most of the unknowns of life that perplex us, most of the complexities that confound us, are inherently tied to the desires of our heart. The fact that we don’t know everything, or that there could possibly be something we don’t know isn’t really a big deal. Unknowns just do not obsess us or haunt us when they are of no interest to us. The truth is that the unknowns that are important to us, are important to us because they are important to something that is important to us. And believe me, when you’re my age, there’s a whole lot of things that are important to us. There are so many important things to take care of, and that’s why there are so many unknowns that perplex us. Desires of the heart are not a vice – if we delight our self in the Lord, He delights in giving us the desires of our heart. But He requires one thing:
Psalm 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Delight in the Lord. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Commit ALL thy way unto the Lord. Commit the knowns. Commit the unknowns. Commit the perplexities and complexities. Commit the desires of your heart. Trust also in Him, and HE shall bring it to pass. And when we have commited our way unto Him, we have this great and precious promise: For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.(2Timothy 1:12)

Herein lies the relationship of the known to the unknown: For I KNOW whom I have believed. And for the unknown – ‘He is able to keep that which is committed unto him’.

I’d like to ask one question about this verse. What is ‘that day’? Is it a special day? A dangerous day? A far-off day? Is it the day we die? Is it the day of His coming? Perhaps the Judgement day?

The single most blessed part of my own experience with God is that ‘that day’ is today. That day is tomorrow, and that day is the day after that, and He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against all eternity.

I’m going to ask everyone a question here today. What have you committed, to him Who is able to keep, against today? How would your day look today, if you had committed the desires of your heart, and the petitions of your soul; all your knowns and unknowns, all your perplexities and complexities, to Him Who is able to keep you from falling, against today?

I’ll tell you what it would look like, for in this commitment we have the most profound blessing, the most precious promise: The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.

The Lord will perfect all that which concerneth me. Surely, this, is a miracle of God’s grace. God is not only promising to perfect us, but all that concerns us! That’s right – every one of those unknowns, every desire of the heart, every perplexity and complexity, all those variables, all the obstacles, even all the people involved, will be perfected according to God’s promise and according to His will. And let me tell you, if God can perfect me, if He is able to keep that I have committed to Him, then I assure you that He can perfect you, and He is able to keep anything that you can commit to Him. If He can perfect that which concerneth me, He can perfect that which concerneth every one of you. And if He can give me the desires of my heart, He can do the same for any one of you. But there’s one thing that God will not perfect, and that is whatever has not been committed to him.

In the quiet of each morning, when you kneel to pray, instead of asking God to show you ‘what’ to do, commit yourself, your problems, your unknowns, your desires – whatever it may be, to the keeping of God against that day. Instead of trying to discover the paths He has for you, discover God Himself. Commit yourself, as it were, captive to His Providence, and He shall direct your paths.

How do I ‘know’ God’s plan for my life? My friend, God’s plan for my life, and for your life, is that you commit yourself – body, soul, and spirit, to His keeping. His will is not that we should ‘know’ the future, but that you trust in Him with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your soul; that you lean not on your own understanding, so that HE can direct your paths, and order your steps. So that He can instruct you and teach you in the way. So that He can restore your soul. So that HE can give you the desires of your heart. So that HE can bring it to pass. So that HE can perfect that which concerneth you.

The frontier lies before us. We can shirk it. We can strike off on our own course. We can try to conquer it in our own strength. We can try to perfect it according to our own knowledge. We can torment ourselves with unknowns and perplexities and complexities. But as for me, I will commit my way to the Lord. I will trust in Him with all my heart, and He is the One who orders my steps. He is the One who directs my paths, He is the One who restoreth my soul, and I can face adversity and peace, tragedy and triumph, sorrow and joy, poverty and wealth, life or death, known and unknown, knowing, that in this frontier, I am more than conqueror, for He is able to keep that which I’ve committed to Him. And I know that though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, for according to His will, and through His Providence, the Lord has perfected that which concerneth me.

So help me God.

(Audience question: “Isaac, why are you leaving us with a cliff-hanger with all these general revelations? Tell us some of these important specific things that you’ve committed to the Lord, that you’re trusting Him to bring to pass!”

Me: “You see, there’s another reason why we ought to commit the deep things of the heart to God, because He is able to keep it, and that’s something that just doesn’t happen when we share those things with other people – they can’t keep it – at least, not for long. Nor can they do anything toward perfecting it – they can only complicate it. But if you want to know what it is ‘that concerneth me’, if you want to know the desires of my heart, if you want to know what things, what unknowns I’ve committed to the Lord, then you just wait, for He is able to keep that which I’ve committed to Him, and He is able to keep me from falling, and He will bring it to pass, for the Lord SHALL perfect that which concerneth me!”)

Redeeming the Time

2007-08-17T05:58:00.000-04:00

I've discovered something sublimely satirical about this month.

You see, every time I'm dashing off a date line - which is at least every day for me, for the last two weeks, for a split second my mind thinks, "August 2008".

It must be the /08/ for the month, of course, that's doing it to me. And there's something defiantly satisfying to be able to firmly write "2007" down.

We are NOT THERE YET!

I think August is trying to teach me a lesson.

You see, it's getting me back for something I'd done to it. It used to be a standing humor line for me, that when someone - you know the kind - came up to me and asked me, "So Isaac, when are you getting married?" that I'd answer smugly, "August 8th, 2008. When are you getting married?"

I made it up on the fly once, and it was reused on several occasions. I stopped though, ummm, a while back. But now August is retaliating by using that split-second brain glitch to treat me to a split-second panic sequence. And not only once, but it seems to be able to pull this off every time, until full confession has been made.

So, I smugly write down, "August 2007".

And back there in my mind, August is saying, "But not for long..."

While the evil days come not.

2007-08-06T06:06:00.000-04:00

I thought I knew on Friday what my next post was going to be about. But to make a short story long, that all changed yesterday after a 'conversation' with a surprise visitor.

Last I knew her, when I was about ten and she around twelve or thirteen, she was actually a very simple, attractive young lady. Yesterday, well, I won't pick on her appearance, except to say that it was the epitome of the foolishness of modern fashion. Twenty-two, someone said. Already with one degree to her name, and working on three more.

Anyways, I sat across from her father at the picnic table, and started catching up on the family, children, education, employment, etc.

My sister joined me shortly and her father left for a second helping. We ate for a moment, and then she asked "So...what do you guys do for... fun - out here?" Her horizontally compressed sunglasses swept the landscape, taking in the cornfields, the horses and sheep in our neighbour's pasture, and the recently cut alfalfa field across the road. "I just don't see...like, anything".

I smiled. "We have fun - plenty of it. BUT, since you asked the question, and since you don't see the potential for what you're looking for, I'm going to have to ask you to define your version of 'fun things', before I can answer."

"Oh", she said, shifting slightly on the bench as her mother sat down beside her, "Like, shopping... going to the movies, that kind of stuff."

I almost choked on my egg salad sandwich. "Shopping you're looking for? Of course we have that out here - my mom goes grocery shopping every week. I used to go with her on occasion - to push the cart you know. That was a fun job I tell you, my sister can confirm, because she used to ride on the front bumper. Oh yes, those were the days.." The table started shaking with laughter.

"Nooo, not that kind of shopping!", she protested, "I mean, like, malls, and-".

"Elizabeth" I interrupted, "You're talking to a guy here. Not even city guys go shopping 'for fun'. But yes, if we need to we can go to malls - the less often the better of course, but on our way back from Cincinnati last week we stopped at a JC Penney, and guess what, I got four shirts - one of them I'm wearing right now, and another one is on David. And as for movies-"

"You can just sit out here and watch things 'move'," Her mother laughed, watching the younger girls running around, each carrying a puppy, some wrapped in blankets.

"Like that was even remotely funny, mom," the girl frowned, picking annoyedly at an unwelcome picnic beetle.

"I'm sorry dear, it is to me." She replied, still smiling.

"We do lots of things for fun", My sister interjected, "We get together and help Isaac put his hay in. Before he had the farm we always helped our neighbours and friends too. Last week we went to the Creation Museum, and yesterday we went to the lake for the evening. We're going canoing with some friends next week. In the winter we go sledding or skating - or have some snowball fights. We're never bored around here."

"OK. Whatever." She said, "I guess you do way different things out here than in the city."

"So what did you do for fun when you were growing up"? I addressed the mother.

"Oh" she said, her eyes drifting over the fields "We used to have chickens too, of course. My father would carry the eggs in every day to the market. And I had a pet hen all my own...she sat on twelve eggs, and nine of them hatched. She would come to me when I called, and when I had some food for her, she would just fly for it, and all those nine little chicks would be fluttering after her... they would jump up on her back, and sometimes they'd climb up on my back too, when I bent down. That was just beautiful, I enjoyed watching them so much."

I was watching Elizabeth out of the corner of my eye as her mother talked. Her head was ducking a little lower over her plate and the tips of her ears were turning redder.

"But the thing I enjoyed most" Her mother continued, "Was going to church on the Sabbath. We worked hard all week, but then we'd go to church all fresh, every one of us. We used to spend hours singing afterwards. That was really the highlight of my week, I would never have missed it, not for anything."

"You see, Elizabeth", I said, warming up to the topic, "With the right attitude, everything is fun. We enjoy all our work, as well as some play, and there really isn't any reason why we shouldn't. We were made to enjoy life, -in fact, it is our duty to do so, and we ought to enjoy that duty to the fullest. But there's one thing that no one has ever enjoyed, or will ever be able to enjoy - and that's idleness. And THAT is why city people have to go pay for 'entertainment'!"

Elizabeth straightened up a bit. "Of course you can't enjoy idleness", she said, "It's just plain boring!"

"That's right", I answered, "So therefore, since we are never idle, we are always having fun. I can get up at 5:30 AM and work until ten at night and enjoy every bit of it. It isn't boring in the least. I can also run around and play games with these children half my age, and enjoy every bit of it. In fact, I can still even go to the MALL with my MOM and enjoy it - well, for a little while, anyways. Entertainment might be able to give you a blast for a few hours, and sure, it might be fun, but it can, and often does, strip very respectable people of the capability and opportunity of enjoying the whole of their days, and not only just the 'fun things'."

She shrugged, "Whatever".

I had more to say, but it seemed that she had heard about as much as was going to be worthwhile. We went on to other topics, with similar results. But here's the fundamental of this issue - one which I brought out in a sermon a few weeks ago:

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

'The days of our youth' - I don't need to elaborate upon that, 'While the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them' - Why should the 'evil days' ever come?.

The years will draw nigh - that is certain. Old age will overtake us - we can't avoid it. But what if, when we reach those years, we could look back on the days of our youth, and say 'I HAVE pleasure in them'? What if we can enjoy the days of our youth now, in the full vigor of it, and also in the days 'when the grasshopper shall be a burden'?

It IS possible. We can 'rejoice in our youth', now and in later years, under one condition: Remember now thy Creator.

There's a counterfeit, and Elizabeth is suffering from it. God says, 'Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth', and satan says, 'You're young, have fun'.

They are two different paths, with two different destinations. Of one, we can reach old age, and look back at our youth and say, 'I HAVE pleasure in them'. The other, when the evil days come, then we can only look back on our adolescence, spent in frivolous vanity, and say, 'I have NO pleasure in them'.

You see, God means for us to truly enjoy our whole life, and ultimately, the only way that is possible, is for us to truly ENJOY GOD. This world offers vanity, entertainment, and every form of 'fun' - for a fee of course - and corruption, sorrow, and vanity to follow.

To remember our Creator, to fear God from our youth, to enter now into the joy of our Lord - this is the course of eternal joy, of profound pleasure, indeed, of eternal youth. This, my friend, is what I call a 'fun time'. REJOICE, O young man (and young women), in thy youth.

Or of course, you can always go shopping.

Things unseen

2007-08-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

I'm missing something.

I really haven't written anything in the last few months. Oh, well I did script a rather clumsy sermon, but I'm starting to feel slightly listless and disoriented...maybe the heat has something to do with it, but yeah, I know what I need to do. Time to buckle up and nail down something constructive.

No, I don't have writer's block. -That is, not yet anyway.

Coming soon, coming soon...

Representation

2007-05-26T18:00:00.000-04:00

"It's so nice to see someone wearing a suit when travelling. You hardly ever see it nowadays."

I was standing (in line) for the rear lavatory of Air Canada flight# 873. We were halfway through the eight hour flight, and the flight attendants were back at their station, right beside where I was standing, and one of the stewardesses had spoken to me.

I acknowledged the compliment. (In a partly gracious, partly clumsy manner.)

But she pursued: "Are you going to some special occasion?"

I smiled. "Actually, I'm just returning from a business trip - nothing very special, but I make a point of dressing professionally when I fly - particularly if for a business trip."

She looked at me steadily. (And I mentally noted that I was glad it was this older, motherly woman, and not the young and rather glamorous blonde who was serving the other aisle, who was giving me this much attention. :P)

Finally: "Well, that's quite remarkable! It's extremely rare to meet people who dress decently, or consider public travelling worth doing so, anyway. It's much appreciated, and it always seems to greatly improve the quality of the atmosphere."

She passed on to serve some passengers, and I didn't really have a further comment on my tongue, but I kept thinking.

Well, why do I wear a suit when I fly? Or on any other occasion for that matter?

I told her I usually do, but why do I do so? I don't wear a suit every day, or every week for that matter, but different activities call for different attire - what's so special about flying?

Well, there is a rather lame practical reason for it: If I'm taking a suit with me, it's easier to wear it than to pack it and have to work the wrinkles out later - but really, that's not the real reason.

It isn't really a matter of conviction, nor is it a matter of preference, but it is in truth, a matter of principle.

Why a dress code?

You see, a person's attire speaks a good deal about their character. Modesty and decency, are of course the basic elements of Christian apparel, but further to that there is one fundamental to what dictates any dress code: Representation.

Air Canada has a dress code for their employees. Not only for their flight crew, but for any airline employee who may be flying on their flights. My mother's father worked for the airline, and so did her sister, and airline employees receive a number of free passes every year for their own travelling. However, the airline imposes a dress code for such passengers - included people who may have been given passes as gifts.

We had a copy of that dress code about ten years ago - and I'd love to have it now, just for documentation. Unfortunately it has been lost, and I haven't been able to locate another.

The reason is simple: Firstly, that employees represent the airline when on duty, and secondly, are required to contribute to an improved flight quality when off duty.

But I don't represent Air Canada, and Air Canada doesn't impose a dress code on me. Nor does my business. But every person on earth is a representative of someone.

And obviously, most people care only to represent themselves.

That's not my position, and that's not the position of any Christian. We're not here to present or represent ourselves. Indeed, Paul calls us, 'ambassadors for Christ'.

And indeed, as a Christian, as a representative of Christ, my dress code cannot be inferior to that of an off-duty Air Canada employee.

So that's why I wear a suit when I fly.

The Japanese Sheepdog

2007-05-26T16:40:00.000-04:00

Talk about being fleeced - sheep in wolves' clothing?

Turn Ye Not Aside

2007-05-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain. (1 Samuel 12:21)

There are occasions in life when we encounter painful evidence of this. Friends who once served the Lord - indeed were brought up in the fear of the Lord, who have turned aside and gone after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain.

Today was one of those occasions. Painful it is, but I also found some admonition from the words of Samuel in response to such an occasion: Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you...(1 Samuel 12:23)

Clearly, praying for the wayward is not an optional pious pastime.

A little slumber, a little sleep...

2007-05-15T06:38:00.000-04:00

The sleep of a labouring man is sweet.

That's all. It's not an excuse - just a good, one line description of what my life has been like in these last days.

Short and sweet, too. But this morning I decided to dash off a few lines here to keep things current.

As some of you may or may not know, some time ago - actually, four months ago today - I became the owner of a humble 54.98 acre farm. It's been unofficially dubbed 'Ebenezer Hills', signifying above all other adjectives: 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped me.'

Spare time was never of great availability in my life, but now I can assure you that it is scarcer yet. It's been keeping me out of trouble - and will likely result in sparser updates.

But anyways, as far as blogging goes, I even have some drafts sitting there for a while, waiting for their attention. So, personal stuff aside, time may reveal additional subsurface brain activity.

VA Tech

2007-04-21T17:38:00.000-04:00

It would almost seem sacrilegious of me to ignore the recent tragedies at VA Tech, but quite honestly, so much has been said in the blogosphere that I think I'll refrain from joining the throng, reiterating and parroting what so many have already said.

These are moments when we all seem to be eager to proclaim the world's problems, or the solution to the world's problems, - indeed I have a lot of things I could and would say about crime, criminals, guns, gun control, leftists, and many other things.

But they've all been said before. I'll let it rest for now.

One thing, though, I must say. The problem is not that there are too many guns, or too few guns. The problem is that America has been destroying the one and only foundation that can provide a country and society with integrity and stability: The foundation of faith in an all-seeing, all-powerful God, Who is the Provider and Sustainer of mankind.

That is why there are criminals, that is why there are cowards, that is why over 30 people were murdered last week.

You won't fix the problem by giving people guns or by taking guns away. Only faith in God will give a people the integrity and courage to defend the defenseless, to protect the vulnerable, to prevent incidents such as we saw last week.

We can pray after these things happen, and indeed, everyone seems to do so, but it does a country no good to become a praying nation only for funerals. Maybe this would be a good time to keep on praying.

Music and Metropolitans

2007-04-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

The news is out, and has been for ~~a week~~ almost two weeks, but if you haven't read it yet, it's still new news to you.

It was an experiment: What would happen if a world renowned musician started playing on a street corner of a North American city?

It happened. But you need to go read what happened. Pearls Before Breakfast

This is not just a news article. It's a report, and a very detailed report, of a simple experiment that reveals some profound and complex realities. About humanity, and about society.

Amid the white noise of chattering radios and the hustle/bustle of morning rush hour in Washington DC, one morning there came down the Metro escalator the thrilling sound of the master's touch on the violin.

How did people react? Well, if you go by the vast majority, they stalked right on by, without even looking.

I feel so sorry for them. Not because they missed seeing a famous person in real life, but because they missed a whole lot more than Joshua Bell. They missed the music - no they didn't all miss the music, they couldn't avoid it, but they missed appreciating the music.

Some things I still don't understand. It's obvious that one major reason why they didn't appreciate it that morning was because they never took the time to appreciate it any other time. But still, suppose all you ever listened to was white, pink, and black noise - chattering radios and urban hustle/bustle: Wouldn't you think that such music falling on the unaccustomed ear would cut such a contrast as to lift the heart and soul enough to raise the eyes?

Now maybe I'm biased, because being as familiar with music and violins as I happen to be, I would have known in two seconds that this was a master, and in two more seconds that he was playing on a master instrument. I know those things because I listen for those things, and I listen for those things because I appreciate those things. It would have been impossible for me to pass by.

Or, hmmm - do I listen because I appreciate, or do I appreciate because I listen?

It's both, of course. I listen because it has intrinsic value which is inarguable, and listening expands upon that until it becomes more and more valuable.

Reading that very detailed article, this is what I couldn't help thinking: This illustrates the tragic relationship that the world has with God. He can stand on the street corner and give us gifts of the most immeasurable value, and they stalk right on by without looking. If Joshua Bell was in Carnegie Hall, they pay for the tickets and sit quietly, and applaud wildly. If they're in church, they dress up and sit at the right time, kneel at the right time, sing at the right time, and walk in and out at the right time.

But when they meet on the streets the next morning - ignorance is bliss.

What happened in DC was pathetic, but what happens every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, is tragedy.

I Depart

2007-03-25T21:57:00.000-04:00

Well, I think I've managed one post a week so far this year...or pretty close to it.

But you're going to have to miss one week, because business is taking me across the Atlantic for two weeks, starting tomorrow.

But I'll make up for it. Sometime.

Until then, Auf wiedersehen!

...Have Made Shipwreck

2007-03-22T22:45:00.000-04:00

On this day in history, one year ago, BC Ferries' Queen of the North left the port of Prince Rupert for the run to Vancouver. It was evening on the 21st of March, and there were 101 people on board, including crew. She was following a course she had taken many times before, with the waterways well charted and planned.

But several hours later, just after midnight on the 22nd of March, the Queen of the North crashed into underwater rocks in Douglas Channel, just off Gil Island, going to the ocean floor just an hour later. 99 people were rescued in lifeboats - two perished.

There is no official conclusion regarding the cause of the sinking, but sufficient is apparent at this point to draw upon the current knowledge. An autopilot aberration coupled with human error combined brought the 125 metre (385 foot) ship, according to some reports, about a kilometre off course.

'It was a dark and stormy night' with choppy 1-2 metre waves, 80 km/h winds, and lashing rain. Most passengers were awakened by the collision, and many were hustled into open lifeboats wearing only pajamas in the wind and rain. Remember this is March in northern BC, and not likely many degrees above freezing.

The nearest civilization was Hartley Bay, a mostly aboriginal fishing community of about 200 residents. Accessible only by sea or air, no grocery stores, nothing but unofficial people.

They heard the mayday over their VHF radios, and they sent their boats, they opened their homes, cooked hot meals, supplied blankets and clothing and all manner of hospitality to the cold, wet, and stranded survivors.
(More data...)

Shipwreck is not something we're accustomed to in this day of modern technology. Most Canadians were astounded that such a thing could happen to us. This is not Indonesia, or India, or Bangladesh, where they use every manner of floating device for ferries, and overload them. This was a sophisticated, proven vessel, and had a very small load. Why should she sink?

The answer in this case is very simple: She strayed off course.

I think we should make a fundamental note of this principle today. We may have education. We may have money. We may have experience. But if we become careless, and depart from the charted course of safety, rocks of destruction await that will respect no ignorance or imagined sincerity.

This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. (1Timothy 1:18-19)

We may watch for leaks, we may press for education, we may achieve success and experience, but if we haven't kept the course... -we've made shipwreck.

Staying afloat is about staying on course. On this day, let's pause and remember, and engrave in our character the remembrance of the importance of keeping the faith.

Running the Race of Patience

2007-03-17T16:50:00.000-04:00

"A paradox", G. K. Chesterton said, "Is truth standing on its head to get attention".

So, here's a paradox for today's post. In Hebrews 12:1.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

'Run', with 'patience'.

This is a paradox, and it's designed to get attention. And applicably enough, the truth that it holds is one that's quite important to all of us, but probably more so to those of us 'in the days of our youth'.

You see, we get the idea of running a race. We get the idea of training with weights, of building endurance, and of laying the weights aside and running the race, all stops out.

But what does 'patience' have to do with 'running a race'? I mean, running is about running and patience is about waiting - how is patience supposed to help us win a race when we're running full tilt, no time for delay?

Run with patience. When we were children we often heard "Don't run, be patient, etc." In fact there's a song I often heard, -yes, my mom sang it to me when I was in a hurry: Be patient/ Be patient/ Don't be in such a hurry/ When you get impatient/ You only start to worry/ Remember/ Remember/ That God is patient too/ And think of all the times/ When others had to wait for you

For all it's virtues, that hardly sounds like running a race.

Run with patience. Has this paradox gotten your attention yet?

It doesn't mean 'slow down'. It doesn't mean 'sit down'. It means RUN, laying aside every weight, -but with patience.

I'd like to give you a new look at patience: Patience is not twiddling my thumbs, waiting for 'something' to happen. Patience is a mental powerhouse that enables us to maintain a clear head and clear vision, even in the most tedious, complex, confusing, and stressful conditions.

Consider the race: All runners are ready, set, on their mark, and at the crack of the pistol all are running. The sun is blistering, and everyone is running to the physical limit of their bodies, sweating from every pore. To your left, your nemesis is starting to edge past you, and your temper starts to tingle.

Look at the paradox again, and edit: 'Run, with impatience'. What happens next?

You see, we might have learned patience as sitting still and being quiet, but real life patience for grown men and women takes on a different paradigm - Running, racing, with patience.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4)

Run, with patience.

Offense...And Christian Maturity

2007-03-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 KJV)

Offense: The Mark of Depravity
If anyone needs evidence of the depravity of fallen mankind, here's one place to look. The word 'Offense' holds a bit of a chilly sound to it. And it's not a wonder that it does, because offense is something that has turned friends into enemies, and relatives into strangers. It has the power of blocking communication. It has the power of breaking hearts and breaking homes. Worst of all, it has the power of turning a heart of flesh into a heart of stone.

I'm not talking about criminal offense. I'm not talking about legal offense. I'm talking about the phenomenon of social offense.

Offense: The Mark of Immaturity
So what exactly is this social phenomenon? Why is it that people will cling so tenaciously to petty grievances, grudges, and slights?

I understand why, and at the same time I don't understand it at all. Growing up, I had more than one opportunity to observe this phenomenon take place. People who take offense, hold grudges, and sometimes even nurse feuds. I don't get it. Exactly how is taking offense supposed to solve the problem, if there even is a problem?

It doesn't. It never has and it never will. Most often the act of taking offense manufactures a problem out of a non-problem, and by that act produces a hatfull of other problems to cherish, to take out and look at every once in a while, just to keep the imagined grievance fresh enough to keep from feeling totally immature about the whole thing.

It appears to me that what is obvious is that people have never learned how to deal with problems, period. When we were children who had a 'social conflict' with a peer, we solved it the way we thought was the right way - we'd fight it out and it was over. Then we grew up and we couldn't fight anymore, so the problems we keep incurring never get dealt with at all, we just take offense and never speak to each other again.

The kids fight and the parents take offense. To both, I have the same advice: Grow up.

Offense: The Mark of Pride
Offense has one big powertrain called Pride. It does an excellent job for it too, because Pride is incapable of humility. Pride is also incapable of solving one single problem. It can blow a lot of smoke and hot air, but let there be work that needs doing, and Pride won't stoop to that level. This is the driving force behind Offense - in fact, offense can only occur under the express orders and direction of pride. Solution to offense: Humility. Solution to pride: Humility.

[Light Bulb]: There are a few things that are becoming clearer to me, right here as I'm writing: As it has become more obvious that pride is the ruling faction of immaturity, so also the definition of what true maturity is has become clear. True maturity comes only with true humility, and true humility only comes as we die to our (depraved) flesh.

There is, after all, more than meets the eye with the need for 'true men and women'...

My friend, if you aspire to true maturity, then you must also aspire to true humility. If with all your heart, you seek this in Christ, you shall find it, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Cost of Outreach? Looking At The Numbers

2007-03-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

This is not exactly breaking news, but I'll assume that most of you hadn't known it before - at least, I didn't.

With its last megacensus in 2001, World Christian Trends produced some striking facts. Check it out here.

More than one striking trend there, but this is the one I'm picking on for a post today:

The total cost of Christian outreach averages $330,000 for each and every newly baptized person.

Why?

I don't know exactly how the 'cost of outreach' was calculated, but I'm assuming it does not include humanitarian aid, development, or other charitable deeds, which should not be done as nor counted as a proselytization effort. I'm assuming that this 'cost of outreach' is indeed 'cost of outreach'.

This figure is - a high figure. And as you can imagine, the secular of society look at it and wonder how many starving mouths could be fed with that investment.

Souls must be saved, at any cost. However, I believe that this shows that there is probably something dearly wrong with the general approach of modern Christianity to the mission field. Why is that figure so high?

You see, this means that a whole lifetime of the average believer's tithe won't pay the cost of outreach for one single conversion. That's bad.
It took only about US$22M to come up with that figure. (Dividing the US$1.1B cost of the annual megacensus over the fifty main points that are gleaned.) That's enough to pay for 66 conversions.

There must be some overhead somewhere.

You know, somehow I get the picture that when Jesus walked the earth, when Peter preached and when Paul traveled, they didn't work on that kind of a budget. It didn't take twenty years' worth of savings to reach a soul.

We always took for granted that organized religion made things like outreach operate more efficiently. Evidently not.

I'm sure there are many reasons why. I don't know them all, but I see a few:

1) The edifices of religion have built themselves boats the size of Queen Mary 2, and are trying to fish off the sides. It may look absolutely magnificent plying the Grand Banks, but it will never work as a fishing boat. The Gospel was meant to be spread from one Christian to another, through interaction and witness and preaching and evangelism. It's time for us to get out and weather the waves in the fishing boats of old Judea - as disciples of Christ, not 'authorized representatives of the (insert union division) of the (insert conference denomination)'.

2) Bad Christian witness. Meet my friend Joe. (not his real name) Joe became interested in Christianity after a tumultuous teenage life and became friends with a young Christian pastor who was starting a downtown mission in a city not far from here. Some months later this pastor was found to be in an adulterous relationship with Joe's girlfriend. Joe moved on to other religions, studying with Wiccans and considered them to be at least honest in their corruption instead of hypocritical like Christians were.

'Going out and witnessing' is a secondary duty. The first is to be a good Christian witness. First inreach, then outreach.

3) Too much religion, not enough salvation. Jesus declared: John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. We thought we were lifting up Christ, but we were only waving church signs. Jesus Christ is absolutely the only one we ought to be lifting up.

4) We haven't been listening to the Master. We've been toiling all night long and caught nothing. Somewhere, He is standing on the shore, and He has advice as soon as we'll listen. "Cast your net on the other side of the boat." When we start listening to Him, the harvest is more than the net can hold, or the ships.

In the meantime, look, and count the cost of doing it our way.

Contact Info

2007-03-03T17:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I've concluded that for the sake of being polite, I really should have a 'contact' link somewhere on this page. After all, I do have an email address to go with the domain, and it is possible that somebody might want to comment off the public comment rack.

I would have done it - a long time ago, but of course, I was going to do something more elaborate, like a special html page, and I didn't have time for it, so I didn't get to it. For all functional purposes though, I suppose I can just make a post, and put a link to this post in the sidebar, and I can forget about it - until someone starts using it.

There are numerous ways to contact me, but I'll make it simple and give just one. You can email me with thoughts, questions, threats, challenges, and other diverse and sundry matters at:

contact (at) principlething (dot) com