"And the Darkness has not Overcome it"

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness." ( Genesis 1:1-4 ) 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." ( John 1:1-5 )

The famous British philosopher Bertrand Russell who, depending on his audience identified as an agnostic or an atheist for most all of his 96 years, was asked once in an interview what he would say to God if he did in fact come face to face with him after he died. Russell replied, "God! Why did you make the evidence for your existence so insufficient?" 

To which I imagine God replying, "I made my existence abundantly clear, you simply refused to see it." 

Romans 1:19-21 says, "For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." 

While atheists claim they do not believe in the existence of God, we see God saying in his Word that he doesn't believe in the existence of atheists. 

Not only can we look at creation and see beautiful and powerful proof of the Great Creator, but we can look inwardly and see that proof in us as well. After all, we're a part of his creation too. We were made by God, and intricately so. 

Inside each of us at birth is a hunger for identity, meaning, purpose, morality, satisfaction, a way to deal with suffering, and hope. Where did these yearnings come from? The horrifying processes of the strong eating the weak then somehow, someway in the randomness of it all becoming all mushy and lovey-dovey? I don't think so. 

Russell may have been a brilliant man, but he couldn't live consistently inside of his world view. For instance, what I mean by that is in order to account for the hope that lies deep within the marrow of our bones, atheists must borrow from another belief system because secularism is going to fall way short on offering hope. 

Secularism says that when we die we will slip back into the bleak darkness of oblivion to exist no more. There is no light at the end of the tunnel waiting to embrace us and for now that means living in such a way as to trick our brains into avoiding the question of how such shallowness could be attached to the devoted, loving relationships we encounter in this life. 

Our lives will be snuffed out like a candle for all eternity without rhyme or reason or meaning. And the existential despair that overtakes the mind when this lack of hope pervades it has succumbed to much self- medicating as one attempts desperately to make the narrative fit. 

Why do we long for hope? For a happy ending? Why when we attempt to suffocate hope in our human heart does it resuscitate itself again and again refusing to die even as some of us continually try to smother it to death? 

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." ( Proverbs 13:12 ) 

We are born desiring a happily ever after ending to our story. 

In the 2012 movie "The Grey," Liam Neeson plays John Ottway an oil worker whose plane has crashed in the Alaskan wilderness with his team. He and the other crash survivors now fight to survive the harsh weather conditions as a pack of grey wolves stalk and kill them one by one. Something to note is that Ottway's wife has died of a terminal illness and before boarding the plane he contemplated suicide. 

Oh, and Ottway claims to his fellow workers that he is an atheist. In spite of the grisly circumstances, he struggles to live. Interesting. 

The reality of Ottway being an atheist means that his life was extended a bit in an icy, Alaskan wilderness only to be snuffed out forever. His life will not just end in utter darkness, but in tormented, bloody pain. The help he has offered to his fellow coworkers is meaningless. His life is meaningless. He'll never see his wife again, because in a secular world view, her life too was meaningless, everything is meaningless.

And everything in us screams out against this knowledge. That's why this film, although I think is a good conversation piece to open up dialogs about our existence, was met with numbness from many viewers, mostly because of the existential despair in the ending. 

Listen to Roger Ebert, from the famous movie critic team Siskel and Ebert, after he watched "The Grey" and began to watch the next movie after it to review that day: "It was the first time I had ever walked out of a film because of the previous film. The way I was feeling in my gut, it just wouldn't have been fair to the next film." 

Coming to terms with the lack of hope, that's not even the right words, the dark despair of the atheistic future world view, or lack of future, and the horror it evokes in us is a clue we should not ignore. 

We were created for a happy ending that never ends. 

The biblical narrative of fallen mankind being redeemed by a loving God through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son who will come again for his children that they may live with him, holy and blameless, for all eternity fills every need in the human heart. Every single one of them. Our lived human experience matches the biblical narrative in a way that no other world view or religion does. Please don't miss this. 

"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it." ( John 1:5 ) 

"a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." 

And Jesus Christ - the light of the world - is the fulfillment of that hope. The darkness in us is swallowed up by the atoning work of our Savior on our behalf. 

Repent and believe. 

💚

Pearls and Diamonds

I didn't read many books in 2024. I mostly stuck to my Bible. I say this not out of any measure of personal piety whatsoever, but out of neediness. Crazy as it may sound, my favorite book I read last year was written by a Puritan. It is one of the most helpful I've ever read outside of the Bible, for me it is up there with J.I. Packer's "Knowing God" and is actually a series of sermons written by the famous theologian Richard Sibbes. The book is based on Matthew 12:20 - Isaiah's prophecy of the bruised reed and the smoking flax: 

"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him, 

and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud, 

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a smoldering wick he will not quench,

until he brings justice to victory;

and in his name the Gentiles will hope." ( Matthew 12:18-21 ) 

I think Charles Spurgeon said it so well in his quote listed on the back cover of the book that "the heavenly Doctor Sibbes" scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands. 

"The Bruised Reed" is a thin book, divided into sections, so it can easily be used as a daily devotional if that's something you're looking to add to your mornings or evenings. Sibbs lived from 1577 - 1635; however, the language is easy to comprehend even if the richness and beauty of its content take time and effort to absorb. It's well worth the meditation. 

The Scriptures reveal many firm and serious depictions of our Lord Jesus. There's the one in Psalm 2 that says, "Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled." Before it says, "Blessed are all who take refuge in him." 

There's Jesus at the final judgment in Matthew 25 coming in his glory with all the angels and then sitting on his glorious throne saying to the goats on his left, "Depart from me you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." 

Then who can forget John's description in Revelation 1 of Jesus in his long robe and golden sash with his hair like white wool and his eyes like a flame of fire. His voice is like the roar of many waters, out of his mouth comes a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face like the sun shining in full strength. 

If you're like me, maybe you tend to focus on these powerful images and forget as Sibbs reminds his congregants, "There's more mercy in Christ than sin in us."  The cross proves that this is true. 

Like Dr. Packer reminds us in "Knowing God," and Chesterton in "Orthodoxy" ( 2nd favorite last year, thanks, Johnny ) we must hold both truths in our hands and live within the tension of God's sovereign will and man's responsibility; we must also live within the complexity of his severity and his mercy. He's both. 

We need him to be both, and He is. If we refuse to live in this tension and attempt to explain in our limited human thinking how our all-mighty, sovereign God rules and governs his universe, we can land in aberrant territory, embracing the open theism view that has seeped into the western church in the past few decades. 

Christ is severe, yet merciful. 

Sibbs points out the first bruising we undergo is when the weight of our sin is realized, and when we understand the helplessness of the condition we are born into because of the fallen state of mankind. If we aren't grieved over our sin against a holy God and crushed by the law, we aren't ready to hear the Gospel. 

We have to know we are bruised.  

After our conversion, even before our progressive sanctification process starts, already life has wounded us. We come to faith bruised, and in our weaknesses and struggles with sin, in the still fresh wounds of our past abuse and the present lingering of pain, Christ promises not to break us. There is no part of our pain that his love can not heal. 

So gentle and tender is Christ's love that he likens himself to a mother hen longing to gather and protect her chicks beneath her warm wings, against soft feathers, as he laments over Jerusalem. ( Matthew 23:37-39 ) 

Our Lord knows what it's like to wear human flesh, he understands the temptations we face, the sin we struggle to overcome. He knows that life is fragile hanging by a thread and painful. He promises not to break us. 

At times we feel our faith is so small and weak, but we can trust that Christ will not quench our little smoking wicks. "First because this spark is from heaven:" Sibbs reminds us, "It is his own, it is kindled by his own Spirit. And secondly, it tends to the glory of his powerful grace in his children that he preserves light in the midst of darkness, a spark in the midst of the swelling waters of corruption." 

"Ungodly spirits, ignorant of God's ways in bringing his children to heaven, censure broken hearted Christians as miserable persons, whereas God is doing a gracious, good work with them. It is no easy matter to bring a man from nature to grace, and from grace to glory, so unyielding and intractable are our hearts." 

"In pursuing his calling, Christ will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, in which more is meant than spoken, for he will not only not break nor quench, but he will cherish those with whom he deals." 

This is the mercy and love of our Savior. 

Pearls and diamonds. 

💜

T.G.I. 2025 / "Yes, That's the Book for Me."

One day on a whim while I was keeping my grandchildren I played the VeggieTales version of a kids' Sunday school song on Spotify for them. I had no idea it would be such a big hit. I was singing the tune in my sleep that night. 

Baby's ears just tend to harmonize with a catchy beat and a spunky rhyme. I'm guessing that's why these type of songs are good learning tools with a number of subjects. Maybe I'll try it with the Farmer. lol Plus the VeggieTales were a bit after my boys, so like the grandkids, I was new to and enamored with Larry the Cucumber. Along with the present day Paw Patrol pack, of course. Those pups are so stinkin' adorable. We each have our favorite. 

I had intended before the New Year to blog about the best book I read in 2024, but then just now realized, duh, that would have to be "The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E." 

As we turn the corner into another year and also as people of "the Book" I've seen many friends posting their intended Bible reading plans for 2025 and encouraging others to read along together. I love this. So I just want to add to the conversation a few, ( actually just one today ), hopefully helpful suggestions that have served me well in the past few years, nothing groundbreaking, simply reminders. 

I believe most of us aspire to be better and more consistent readers of the Bible. It seems to be a perpetual goal, doesn't it? That's a good thing. 

It's difficult to come at the Bible with a fresh set of eyes. In America, most of us have been raised with some "knowledge" of the Bible, in a particular faith tradition with our cultural blinders firmly set on the end of our noses and our background beliefs seated straight and tight in the upright and locked position. 

How do we see the truth through such dusty, doctrinal spectacles? Maybe by simply being aware of them in the first place. For some stepping outside of these beliefs to examine how their denomination's claims stand up against God's Holy Word doesn't just feel scary, but sacrilegious, and that perhaps is another clue that we might be more at home with our theology than our Bibles. We have to let the Bible correct and shape our eyesight, ( 2 Timothy 3:16 &17 ) which leads to point one: 

Let the text stick. 

Don't try to soften it up or read your meaning into it. And as we read and study remember!! the three most important rules for sound biblical exegesis: Context, context, and context. Read the entire chapter surrounding the text. I can't tell you how many times over the years that I've hijacked verses to fit my messed up doctrinal beliefs only to find out later as I read them contextually that they did not resemble a hint of the meaning I had assigned to them. Many times I was believing promises that God never promised and at the same time, not realizing my true blessings in Christ nor understanding the Gospel of God's grace. Nor sadly, knowing Christ himself. 

As I began to study my Bible better and learn to allow the tension to stand, I've found freedom. God's meaning is always better than ours. 

Jesus told us that when we know the truth it would set us free, and it does just that. Even if it's a hard truth; nonetheless, it supernaturally and amazingly brings us out of bondage and into liberty. The Bible is powerful in this way, if we will simply let the text stand, then savor and work through the hard layers like a green apple Jolly Rancher, slowly, not crunching down breaking our teeth and demolishing the sweetness. 

We've been trained in the American church at times that we are being helped if we feel good about something or ourselves, and have a positive experience attached to it, but the Bible doesn't teach this. I'll give an example as I close. 

"For his anger is but for a moment, but his favor ( one of the Hebrew meanings is 'acceptance' ) is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." ( Psalm 30:5 )

I don't want to make this too long, so I'll share the rest of the points next time because I want to close with a prayer for reading our Bibles this year. There is nothing we can pray to God better than praying his Word back to him. In John 17, we have an entire chapter devoted to a prayer Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father. It's known as "The High Priestly Prayer." 

Now, I believe that God hears all of our prayers, even if the answers aren't always what we were looking for, so how much more does he hear the prayers of Jesus and answer them!? Even Jesus's most difficult prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane of God's will being done was answered. Praise God! 

Jesus's prayers being answered is something I think I have more than just a little mustard seed size faith to believe in. 

When we feel we don't have the integrity or courage to read God's Word properly, allowing it to shine through all of the spiritual, theological, and traditional darkness we have set in place, refusing to confront them, for whatever reasons, may we pray the prayer of Christ our Lord and High Priest in John 17:

"I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." ( John 17:15-19 ) 

"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." This is my prayer everyday, that God would please sanctify me and my family in the truth, your word is truth. I know he will. I also know it will not come without weeping and at times grieving, but it will always and forever end in freedom and joy. 

That's the power of God's Word. 

Peter, who, by the way, didn't get everything wrong, told Jesus that he wouldn't leave him like so many other disciples because of the string of hard truths Jesus taught them in John 6. Why?  Because he said that Jesus had the words of eternal life. 

If Jesus has the words of eternal life, and he most certainly does, why in the world wouldn't we let those eternal words stand and devote ourselves to wrestling with the text? Why wouldn't we allow them to pierce our hearts and divide the truth from the error? 

What have we got to lose? Our false beliefs, that's what. I'm convinced to the marrow of my bones that if we pray earnestly this year that God will sanctify us in his Word, in the truth, he absolutely will do it. So join me and my friends this year in reading our Bibles and also praying this prayer before we read and study. I'm willing and determined to read the Bible better this year. 

Because "that's the Book for me." 

Happy New Year! 

🎉

Happy New Year!