SECOND BEST Strivings That Miss Faith’s Mark When Will the Lights Come On?
There’s just a hint of anger Each time the Church comes up. You must have felt its judgment; You must have feared the cup. You must have heard “unworthy” So many times you quake, 1
C. 2012, Doug Blair
And all your parents’ efforts Somehow a big mistake. The cloister and confessional, The habit and the rail, The incense and the Latin, The good intents that fail. The words sadly out-dated. The sin that looks like fun. The myriad of sainted names That somehow cloud God’s Son. Oh pity that your light to date Has been the counterfeit. The rules, the regs, the form That begs the very heart of it. Religion is a love affair With history’s greatest Friend He waits for you, and your breakthrough To joy that knows no end.
Apollyon
I am slipping it ever so gentle ‘Round men and their plans, you see. ‘Round projects so seemingly worthy Hah! The net that will draw them to me! I cut them some slack for endeavour, For good deeds at no paltry price. And men will speak well of the effort Of service that disregards Christ.
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Oh yes, I have serfs in the gutter Who roll in the mud and morass. But happier am I at the praises These do-gooders hear as they pass. They think they are earning right-standing. Exactly with whom they’re not sure. And meanwhile my net has been tightening It will, when their motives aren’t pure. (Apollyon in the Greek means Destroyer)
Guest Speaker
“Thank you Pastor for the opportunity to speak to these people. Ladies and gentlemen. I am not a Lutheran. I am not a Pentecostal. I am not a Methodist. I am a beggar. One who has simply asked for the privilege of being incorporated into Christ’s worldwide mystical Body. I had a sorry season for sin. This world and my puny efforts lost their delight. I opened with hunger to the life-giving Words of the Gospel. I allowed them to have their impregnating effect. I knew that the Holy Spirit was behind it all; that I would be changed forever; that many would not understand. I am still messed up, but the more I relinquish, the more I become like Christ, although I hardly know it. Does this little community in this little building really GET the process? Really want the membership? Really adore the Crucified One?” With that the speaker descended from the podium as if to conclude. Members of the congregation looked at each other in surprise as if to say ‘Is that it? This is weird. What did he say?’ 3
The speaker turned around smiling and regained the pulpit to continue with an address about Jesus’ encounter with the faithful centurion whose servant was sick.
Ripped By the Passion
Has it ripped you? That look on His face As the mother caught A glimpse And they yanked Him away. The momentum Of prosecution Sweeps over Goodness; The chains, the sweat, The martial pace. A rude woodwork Lades His shoulders. Streets once rejoicing At the message Now curse and scrape. But has it ripped you? Seeing many falls And lashings. The Peacemaker Inciting matchless hate. And friends stare mutely But dare not step up. 4
Even the governor Flinches at this task. God’s will be done. It ripped Him…God To see a Son so Badly shamed, pained, Rebuked and drained, As per Plan. That target hill on Which salvation stands. The spikes that butcher Feet and hands. The ridiculous crown. But show me, Man. It rips and rocks you. Or else REMOVE! Another broken reed, Christ’s worth to prove. Easy Sundays
Easy Sundays Are you caught in the snare Of the preacher? In the logical loop Of his art? In the comfort and ease Of the teaching? In the flow of his Overhead chart?
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Is the God you now serve Proving pliant? Are His ways now within Mortal span? Has the Bible become Less a mainstay. As you harvest the truth From one man? Will it prove your escape From the struggle? From the bleary nights Given to prayer? From the battle with Concepts of scripture? And the sense you are Getting nowhere? Does the Cross now appear Isolated? And “reproach� just a word From the past? As you perch on the Threshold of victory, Reassured current clear Skies will last? Such a joyful, new-found Revelation. And a quicker ascent To the height. And a confidence one Now is certain Both in grasp of the Good and the right.
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But I doubt such convenience Is Holy. Nor the path which, before, Saints have trod. For the trials that they bore In the night-time, Brought a richer sun- rise With their God.
Latest From Eldredge “Have you read the latest from John Eldredge? I tell ya, the guy really seems to get inside my skin. I can relate to so much of what he says about the plight of Christian men in today’s society. Marriage. Parenting. Relationships with other men. Finance. Competition. Community service. He seems to find some really stirring testimonies. And they are honest both in challenges and successes. In dealing with the testosterone – sex, anger, drive for legacy. I never miss one of his volumes. And our Men’s Group at the Church has made good use of several.” The speaker was about thirty-eight. Connected. Visibly successful. Trim. An honest and straight expression. The other man was about sixty-seven. Stooped. The shoulders massive. The gaze incisive. “No Dave, I haven’t read Eldredge. Instead I have read again the four Gospels, Acts, Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. And many stirring Christian biographies. David Livingstone, Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, D. L. Moody, Amy Carmichael, Corrie Ten Boom, Martin Niemoller and others. I find it very bracing to realize how much those men and women of former times had hearts beating with the same love and compulsion. How timeless was and is our Gospel.
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Not meaning any disrespect to author Eldredge I must confess that I do not have the time for him. It is another example of the good being the enemy of the best.”
The Dove Comes to the Lamb
Over sixty years ago Roy Hession wrote the classic entitled The Calvary Road, examining the things indispensable to revival, of the individual first, and then of the church community. There is much said about brokenness of spirit, relinquishment of personal rights, repenting of all known sin, trusting in the cleansing power of the Blood of Calvary, walking in the ways of the “unprofitable servant” (Luke 17: 7-10), avoiding the critical spirit, demonstrating the change in manner of fellowship with others. A chapter of particular note is entitled “The Dove and the Lamb”. Our target, and the Church’s target is to be increasingly more like Jesus through the input of the Holy Spirit. But the Dove will only come to rest on the Lamb. The author refers here to the image of Jesus being baptized at the River Jordan by John. There is much profit in studying the characteristics of this Lamb: He is a simple Lamb – no guile, scheming or strategy for personal advantage. He is a shorn Lamb – without rights, reputation or personal liberty worthy of striving or retaliation. He is a silent Lamb – never yielding to the temptation to joust for selfdefence or self-vindication. He is a spotless Lamb – holding no grudges, resentment or bitterness. He is the substitute Lamb. Let this fire our sense of loyalty and dedication to the ways of the Lamb. Jesus took upon Himself all of our wickedness at the Cross, releasing us from the weight and consequence of sin. 8
If in reading this you sense that what is being suggested is some sort of milquetoast personality, then consider the One held forth as the prototype! Physically strong; tempered by the elements; capturing the attention of thousands in His addresses; familiar with the everyday of workbench, fishing net, household and tilled field; fearless of wicked, threatening authority. I conclude with the author’s words: “The Dove is the emblem of peace, which suggests that if the Blood of Jesus has cleansed us and we are walking with the Lamb in humility, the sign of the Spirit’s presence and fullness will be peace. This is indeed to be the test of our walk all the way along. Let the peace of God rule (arbitrate) in your hearts (Colossians 3:15). If the Dove ceases to sing in our hearts at any time, if our peace is broken, then it can only be because of sin. In some manner we have departed from the humility of the Lamb. We must ask God to show us what it is, and be quick to repent of it and bring the sin to the Cross.” Individuals and faith communities, responding honestly to these suggestions, will see a resurgence of light, love and liberty, causing others to say, as Ruth said to Naomi: “…whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:” (Ruth 1:16)
Shield of Faith I have often resorted to a classic book by J. H. Jowett. The Whole Armour of God. The Apostle Paul is addressing the Ephesians and describing available weaponry for spiritual warfare. We have all heard messages on the shield of faith and have been told to expect great favour from God as we focus upon and remind Him of His promises.
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But hereafter you will see that Jowett envisions a much different kind of faith victory. If we cannot see the wisdom of this we will be terribly deflated when adversity in circumstances comes in spite of our tenacity. I feel that this is one of the most important lessons for the Church to receive: “We are prone to live in the incidents of life rather than in its essentials, in environment rather than in character, in possessions rather than in dispositions, in the body rather than in the soul. The consequence is that we seek our shields in the realms in which we live. We live only in the things of the body and therefore against bodily ills we seek our shields. We want a shield against sorrow, to keep it away, a shield to protect us against the break-up of our happy estate. We want a shield against adversity, to keep it away, a shield against the darkening eclipse of the sunny day. We want a shield against loss, to keep it away, a shield against the rupture of pleasant relations, a shield to protect us against the bereavements which destroy the completeness of our fellowships. We want a shield against pain, to keep it away, a shield against the pricks and goads of piercing circumstances, against the stings and arrows of outrageous fortune. In a word, we want a shield to make us comfortable, and because the shield of faith does not do it we are often stunned and confused, and our thin reasonings are often twisted and broken, and the world appears a labyrinth without a providence and without a plan. It is just here that our false emphasis leads us astray. We live in circumstances and seek a shield to make us comfortable; but the apostle Paul lived in character and sought a shield to make him holy. He was not concerned with the arrangement of circumstances, but he was concerned with the aspiration that, be the circumstances what they might, they should never bring disaster to his soul. He did not seek a shield to keep off ill-circumstances, but he sought a shield to keep ill-circumstances from doing him harm. He sought a shield to defend him from the destructiveness of every kind of circumstance, whether fair or foul, whether laden with sunshine or heavy with gloom. Paul wanted a shield against all circumstances in order that no circumstance might unman him and impoverish the wealth of his soul.�
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