"One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church"

I have a good friend who is Roman Catholic, and he and I undertake in amicable, doctrinal discussions from time to time. Not too long ago though he said something to me that has sent me on another spiritual adventure which is why we should listen and engage with others from differing traditions and not just our own tribe, so to speak. And "tribe" is precisely what he has me thinking on. 

He asserted that his church is the one true church because in Protestantism we have a gazillion different denominations. It is a fair point - because we do. 

I told him even so, Protestants are united and fully committed to the authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ which is not just something we confess once and are done with, no, but the Gospel is the entirety of Scripture. 

Furthermore, two distinctive doctrines at the heart of this discussion make all Protestants Protestant. In other words, though we may disagree on such issues as say, infant baptism and the particulars of predestination, within those denominations, and I'm not letting denominationalism off the hook here, but there are deep, abiding commonalities that glue us all together. 

These essentials of the faith are what the Reformation fathers gave their hearts and lives to and for: Justification by faith alone and the supremacy of Scripture over all things, as well as inerrancy and sufficiency. 

Sadly, even many who claim to be a Protestant don't know this. Some will even assert that they are not protesting anything. Protesting, in and of itself is not bad. Somethings are worth protesting for and sticking to our guns over, and the Bible is one of them. Justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone is another. 

I've found the greatest course of study we as Christians can embark on outside of the Scriptures is a study of Church History, aka our family tree. As Christians, of course, we do study other things other than the Bible even though these studies, in one way or another, seem to lead us right back to God and his Word. 

I continually study the science of veterinarian, farm medicine out of need. Not only has it saved money but has helped ensure a healthy maintenance of our flocks and herd, which also saves money and time, helping me to be a better steward of the little chunk of God's creation that's in my charge. 

But I know my limitations. Today, in fact, my wonderful vet is making a farm visit to draw the dogs' blood and administer rabies shots. And I'll pick her brain as usual, like I do my wonderful Roman Catholic friend who I love dearly. 

The Farmer's extent of study is too broad to post - he's quite the renaissance man. But it's worth noting that God has given us the gifts of a mind and reason, a curiosity to study and learn about all aspects of his creation along with the critical thinking skills needed to ponder it all. He has revealed himself in his Word ( Hebrews 1 ) and through his creation ( Romans 1 ) which includes the amazing creatures who inhabit it. We in turn manufacture all kinds of products, handiwork, technology, and art by this God-given wisdom he allows us to acquire. 

Both learning the Scriptures and our relationship with Christ are a progressive reality. Each day I feel I learn a bit more of spiritual truth and grow closer to Him at the same time, as well as the proper procedure in turning a lamb in the womb. This is how God has arranged our learning. It's not overnight, but through the processes of study, experience, listening, and meditating. 

From the study of God's doctrines of grace in Scripture, our praise springs forth. 

Back to the many Protestant denominations. I want to cover this in some more detail in further blog posts because I'm just getting started with the research and learning. In my doctrinal class at Grace Church, we use John Frame's Systematic Theology Book for our study, and in the chapters on ecclesiology, ( the study of the church ), Frame, a reformed theologian, who I can tell isn't too keen on denominations, doesn't get into as much as he'd like on the subject, but does recommend another book of his for further study and reflection: Evangelical Reunion, Denominations and the Body of Christ. In case you're interested. I also recommend his theology book which is unlike any I've read as it is written in first person and delightfully personal and easy to understand. 

I ordered the denominational book and have been working my way through it and would like to leave you with an encouraging word. It may even be the summary in all of our wonderings about why a sovereign God would allow such divisions in his Church, although I believe and can see through Church History that God not only grows us in the Body of Christ as individuals who start out as babies nursing milk who progress eventually to sinking our teeth into the solid meat, but the Church as a whole is growing in this child-like manner as well.

For instance, "the Church existed for 300 years before agreeing on a definitive formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity." ( pg.92 ) Thanks to our Church fathers' due diligence in the study of the Scriptures, the Church understands these biblical core truths summarized in creeds, confessionals, and catechisms to deepen that understanding and teach to our children. 

And this pattern continues throughout the centuries with other biblical truths as the doctrines are not always presented straightforward, but are slowly extracted from the Scripture's various genres and types of language, including poetry, narrative, wisdom literature, apocalyptic, law, and epistles, in indicatives, imperatives, parables, so on and so forth...

Again we see how God has encouraged us to use our minds to love him as well as our hearts. This is how God chooses to grow us. "We are his field." ( 1 Corinthians 3:9-15 ) 

"It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." ( Proverbs 25:2 ) 

Here's the end of the matter; I would love to write more about the middle later as I learn. Not only does Jesus promise in Matthew 16 that he will build his Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, but in John 17, the Priestly Prayer, Jesus prays to his Father four times for unity within his Church. 

"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." ( 20 & 21 ) 

Frame's response to this passage: 

"Do we really want to say that the Father did not answer Jesus' prayer? I have no doubt that the prayer of Jesus will one day be fully answered, that God will unite the church in his own time and will unite it organizationally as well as in all other respects. That seems plain from many other passages. But we also know that God does not always immediately accomplish his will ( and that of his Son ). For some reason, God often accomplishes his purpose through a historical process that sometimes tries our patience. There is always at least a beginning of a fulfillment. Biblical theologians speak of "the already, but not yet." God has begun to unify his church ( even organizationally! ), but there is more unity to come in the future." ( pg. 29 ) 

Friends, I think in the midst of the mystery and the promises that's a comforting thought to end on, and may God direct our hearts to love, truth, grace, and unity, whatever denomination we think is best. 

For now. 

Dark Night of the Soul

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, 

whose sin is covered. 

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, 

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer." ( Psalm 32:1-4 ) 

I feel as if I could have written this Psalm of David. In 2018, this was my life. After years of abusing alcohol as a closet, functioning alcoholic after my sister's death, everything in my life was about to explode. I'm not sharing many details of that journey because I've written my testimony before. Suffice to say, I tried to get out from under the weight of guilt and shame and addiction and no amount of my own effort could even budge the weight or lift the darkness that had become my constant companion. I really thought I was about to lose my mind. 

The sin, though hidden to almost everyone, never hidden in the least to God, began to permeate throughout my family and my farm, as sin spreads like wildfire, an unrelenting inferno which no human can ever hope to control. It was the rainiest year on record with many loses of animals trapped in the thick mud that resulted from the constant storms. I was a horrific example to my oldest son who drank to battle a mental illness. And the list goes on. 

I had allowed something into my life that had become more important to me than God, and now I couldn't get rid of it. No matter how hard I tried. 

As I attempted to sleep one evening in January of 2019, tossing and turning in a dark night of the soul, I came to the end of myself. I cried out to God not just from my pain, but I cried out over my sin. 

"I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity,

I said, ' I will confess my transgression to the LORD,'

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." ( verse 5 ) 

I didn't go to a faith-healer or a demon slayer or a conference or a revival. I was alone on my knees. There was no fanfare or power shooting throughout my body, in fact, I didn't feel a thing except utter humility and neediness and sorrow for my disobedience to the God who had created me and the Jesus who bore my sin and shame. 

The next morning when I woke up, the weight was gone. I've never been the same since. I believe I was saved that night, although some others, including the Farmer, believe it was a "spiritual awakening." I don't have that part quite figured out yet. I just know that God draws all of his children uniquely; I've heard a multitude of conversion stories, all beautiful, some immediate, some over time, all by the way of the cross. 

Even though storms are still allowed to make landfall - it's different now. I know beyond all doubt that I am a true believer with new affections since that day to serve God and Christ who saved me by his grace. He is my trust. 

At times my passion for the gospel and new learning of Scripture has caused my head to get out in front of my heart as the truth seemed to slowly bottleneck its way to my heart. In time, the doctrines of grace overwhelmed me with the love of Christ, ( biblical doctrine truly is the source of our devotion; it can't help but spring out of it ), as I journey on this path of life with the other "saints in light." ( Colossians 1:12 ) 

So, although the desire to drink alcohol is gone and has not returned, the Holy Spirit began to reveal other sins to me over time that were hidden within my heart. This transformation lasts until we fly home to Jesus. Alcohol is not bad in and of itself, after all, Jesus turned water into wine, but it is the inordinate affection of anything bad or good that is a sin. God requires our whole heart. 

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit doesn't dump all of the "purse dirt" out at once, but gradually works in us over time to transform us into the image of Christ, promising to complete the good work he began in the life of every believer at salvation. ( Philippians 1:6, 2:12 ) 

I've learned since that this process is called progressive sanctification that the Holy Spirit brings to pass out of the positional sanctification already deposited in us when he connects us to Christ. But these are theological terms I'm still gaining knowledge into; the important thing in all of this blogging today is: 

Continuing with Psalm 32:

"Therefore let everyone who is godly 

offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;

surely in the rush of many waters,

they shall not reach him.

You are a hiding place for me;

you preserve me from trouble, 

you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,

which must be curbed with bit and bridle, 

or it will not stay near you.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked.

but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.

be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous,

and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!" 

( Psalm 32 ) 

"For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." ( 2 Corinthians 7:10 ) 

"Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." ( Hebrews 4:7 ) 

"Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" ( Mark 1:15 ) 

"There was a Farmer who had a dog(s)" lol and a wife who loves him also along with those big, white, lovable behemoths who grace this farm with their protection and devotion. God's creatures are amazing, aren't they? 

Holy, Holy Holy! Merciful and Mighty

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim.....And one called to another and said: 

'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'

And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!'" ( Isaiah 6:1-5 ) 

In this well known passage, the epic details of the prophet Isaiah's call to ministry unfold in a glorious, if not terrifying scene. Isaiah sees the Lord in the temple sitting upon his throne as the very foundations of the sanctuary begin to shake encapsulated by a smoke filled atmosphere, and the seraphim, celestial beings, their name, interestingly, means "burning ones," - these creatures call out above the Lord "Holy, holy, holy... " 

Not surprising, Isaiah is completely undone and overwhelmed by the sight. Anytime anyone in the Scriptures experiences the manifold presence of God, there was only one place to go: down. 

Not to go down a rabbit trail, but one of the many differences between God and us, and there are many, between Creator and creature, is "the  Simplicity of God." This doesn't mean God is simple, but unlike man, God can't be separated from any of his attributes. In other words, God isn't broken into parts. He is all of his divine attributes at once. On my best day, I forget kindness and embrace impatience when I encounter road construction. However, God doesn't stop being merciful so he can execute judgement or stop being love because he's angry at sin. 

God is love, holy, sovereign, gracious, all-wise, all-powerful, all-knowing, kind, merciful, wrathful, just, majestic, and all of his other attributes, all at once, all the time. 

In the American church today it seems we've lost our reverence for God and especially knowledge of his holiness, or maybe we never had a good grasp on it to begin with, and this truth is vital for us to come to faith in Christ "How so?"

Look at Isaiah. When he sees the Lord in the temple, in the light of God's holiness, he concludes, "I am lost." Isn't it interesting that those are the words Isaiah chooses in the midst of seeing God's holiness? From this lasting impression of God's infinite holiness, it's no wonder that Isaiah's specific title for God becomes the Holy One of Israel throughout the Book of Isaiah. 

This entire scene is a picture pointing forward to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before we come to faith in Christ, we must understand our true, sinful human condition, and this knowledge is revealed in the light of God's holiness 

If we think we're born good or doing pretty well on our own in spite of a few, pesky vices that aren't as bad as some folks, we fail to understand the doctrine of original sin - aka the sin our first parents committed by breaking the one and only commandment God gave to them, and thus causing sin to come to all mankind. ( Romans 5:12 ) 

And if we don't understand this core doctrinal truth, then we won't come to Christ because we don't think we need him. There's a lot of self-help gospel that's taught from many pulpits today saying, "You're just fine the way you are. You are enough."

Friends, we are not enough - ( Psalm 14 & 53, Romas 3 ) that's why God sent his Son into the world. It would be the most unloving thing not to speak this truth. "This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." ( 1 Timothy 1:15 ) 

Only in Christ are we enough to stand before a holy God. We are accepted in God's eyes and adopted into his family ONLY in the Beloved. ( Ephesians 1:6 ) We do not need our ears tickled with false teaching - we need our hearts confronted with the truth of Scripture. 

And if we think a little bit of morality is all we need to clean ourselves up, we haven't understood this passage in Isaiah or the entirety of God's redeeming story. 

Only in the pure light of God's holiness, can we see our sin. Until we know we are lost, we can't be found. In his classic work Knowing God, J.I. Packer states "modern man's heart is pagan, make no mistake about that, he imagines God as a magnified image of himself." 

"you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you." ( Psalm 50:21 ) 

In the light of God's holiness, Isaiah immediately sees his uncleanliness and the uncleanliness of his people. 

Here in Isaiah unfolds the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the life of a believer. Some suppose the Gospel is not found in the Old Testament, but the Gospel is woven throughout the Scriptures starting in the Garden of Eden when God sovereignly chose not to abandon Adam and Eve after they sinned against him. 

"But God" 

God himself proclaimed in Genesis 3:15 what is known as the protoevangelium - the first proclamation of the Gospel found in the Scripture. God promises to send his Redeemer. 

After Isaiah acknowledges his and his people's sin: 

"Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: 'Behold this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.'" 

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me. And he said, 'Go....'" 

Knowing God, 

leads to knowing my true self, my sinful nature,

leads to repenting of my sins

leads to trusting in the sacrificial, atoning work of Jesus on my behalf as my Savior and my Lord for the forgiveness of my sins,

leads to wanting to go and tell everyone about the grace of God in Christ,

in conversations, in living, in preaching, in music, in blogs. 😁

One more thing: 

God did not leave Adam and Eve in the Garden in condemnation, slaves to sin, no, because his will has always been to dwell with his people, and he went to the most costly lengths to bring his purpose about "By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.." ( Romans 8:5 ) 

From the rescue out of slavery in Egypt to his presence residing in the Tabernacle and Temple to his living within the very life of the believer through Christ, God's redeeming narrative has always been to bring his children home. 

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." ( John 17:3 ) 

Do you know him? 

Is your life in Christ about knowing God or have you drifted? Is it about having fellowship with him? 

Or is it about being comfortable, saved from hell, effective, or moral? 

The Good News is that if you're not sure and this whole thing is causing you angst, that's a great sign. You can come now. The truth about our sin isn't to lead us to despair, but to Christ. 

Repent and believe. 

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." ( Romans 10:13 ) 

Our family gathered in front of the blacksmithing shop where my late brother-in-law James taught his craft to students and children. We didn't say good-bye, but see you at the finish line as you cheer us on. At James's memorial service the Farmer asked if all those present would raise their hands if James ever talked to them about Jesus. He said it appeared every single hand went up. 

How is Our Hearing?

"Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away." ( Luke 8:18 ) 

This verse is in the context of Jesus teaching the great crowds that gathered around him, people from town after town came to him. ( Luke 8:4 ) His twelve were with him, and also some women, including Mary called Magdalene from whom seven demons had gone out of the Scriptures tell us. ( Luke 8:2-3 ) 

Jesus is performing signs and wonders, healing and delivering as he preaches words that captivate the crowds, nothing the likes of have ever been seen or heard before. These things really happened. Jesus is fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies and quoting them as he goes along the ancient, dusty roads. John is clear in his gospel that these miracles were done to authenticate Jesus's ministry and to prove that he was in fact the Son of God - the Christ. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. ( John 7:46, 20:31 ) 

"believe on account of the works themselves." ( John 14:11 ) 

Jesus said this again as he taught the disciples and confronted their doubts. "Greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." ( John 14:12 ) He explained this truth to them as we see in the following chapters, how he would send the Holy Spirit to teach them and guide them and be with them ( and us!)  forever. This would empower his Church to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth where Jesus taught only within Judea. His body would be his hands and feet and his voice in the Great Commission, impacting and reaching the world he created. Jesus said that apart from him we can do nothing, but praise God he has equipped his Church. ( John 15, 16, 17 ) 

Many say that this means we can do the miracles Jesus did. But no one is doing or has ever done the miracles Jesus performed, not even his apostles and prophets who were gifted to kick start his Church and lay the foundation. No one is walking on water or turning it into wine. No one is multiplying bread and fish, opening blind eyes and deaf ears and cleansing lepers as he did or calling linen wrapped corpses out of the grave. And last, but certainly not least, no one has ever raised themselves from the dead. Only Jesus. 

All of these miracles are multi-layered as they point to the people Christ came to save, feeding them the Bread from Heaven, washing away their sins, bringing them from death to life, giving them sight and hearing to understand the kingdom of God, his perfect will, and the Good News as we see on display all throughout the four gospel accounts in the New Testament. 

And Jesus warned us to "take care then how you hear." We must be careful how we hear God's Word. We must hear the whole counsel taught in context under sound pastors and teachers. Ephesians tells us that pastors and teachers are Christ's gift to the Church, along with the apostles, prophets, and evangelists, to help equip her and build her up. 

But Jesus warns that there will also be many false teachers and prophets who in the last days will tickle ears and lead people astray. Many will lead many astray. And many will say to him on the last day, "Lord, Lord," and he will say that he never knew them. ( Ephesians 4:1-16, Matthew 7:15-23 ) 

So be careful how we hear. Let's be like the noble Bereans and examine all that we hear against the Scriptures. They fact checked the Apostle Paul, and he commended them for it! ( Acts 17:10-11 ) 

"Even what he thinks that he has will be taken away." (Luke 8:18 ) 

"what he thinks he has" 

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." Proverbs 14:12 

My ESV commentary says concerning this verse: "The one who has a knowledge of God's Word will understand it better (more will be given ), whereas the one who does not listen carefully ( has not ) will lose even what he has heard." 

This is why I speak here and on my Instagram account so candidly about the false teachings of our day. First, I was caught in the same snare for many years, so I know what it is like to be deceived. When you are in these false movements, they seem "right" - they have a Christian veneer. But you can't see it. If the devil came dressed as Dracula, we would run for our lives, but he's slicker than that. He comes as an angel of light. ( 2 Corinthians 4:4, 11:12-14 ) 

"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." False teachers are Satan's servants, wolves in sheep's clothing, because Jesus is clear that we either serve God or Satan; it's one or the other. It can't be both. With God, it's all or nothing. ( Matthew 6:24 ) 

The Word of Faith movement has taken the world by storm since the 1960s because it is clothed in sheep's wool and appeals to our sinful nature, promising health, wealth, success in every area of life, speaking into existence your heart's desires with the same creative force as God because they teach we are ourselves little gods. 

Word of Faith overlaps with the New Apostolic Reformation, health-wealth and self-esteem gospel, and even the progressive movement, all of which pollute the pure milk of God's Word by only focusing on certain verses which are plucked out of their context and twisted, separated from their original meaning. 

We must take care how we hear. 

Or what we think is true of God's Word, but is actually false teaching, because even that will be taken from us. 

At the end of the age, it won't be atheists who are floored that Jesus denies them, no, it is people who are in the church, going to church each Sunday, performing what they think are mighty works, using the Bible to fit their own theology instead of reading the entirety of it with care and integrity, allowing the hard parts to stick and wrestling with the passages in context, dividing it rightly, handling it with fear and trembling. 

Word of Faith followers do not remember that God says, possibly in a sarcastic tone, "You thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you." ( Psalm 50:21 ) 

The ESV footnote says that "I" in this verse is translated "I AM." I think of Kenneth Copeland saying that he is "I AM" just like God and teaching such blasphemy to others. Paul says in Romans 3:8 that their condemnation is just. God is in a category of One, dare we ever forget this truth and fall like a lightening bolt as did Satan from heaven when he forgot. 

Understanding and unpacking the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are the sinners and He is the hero of His own story, the One and only, the true Messiah, rescuing us from death and bringing us to life through his sacrifice for us, forgiving our sins, clothing us in His righteousness, is the only way to eternal life, brought about by the greatest miracle in our lives of the Holy Spirit regenerating our sinful hearts. 

At the farm one of my sweetest things to watch is when a goose hatches a gosling. It happened just this past week. No matter which goose hatches the baby, all of the geese, male and female, surround the baby constantly feeding it and protecting it as a flock during the day, and at night the mother covers it with her soft body to keep it warm in the chilly, spring air. In the morning when the gosling comes out from under the mother and into the new day, the geese encircle the baby once again providing for the young one until nightfall. 

This is a beautiful picture of how we are called as seasoned saints to act toward new, vulnerable, Christians, encouraging them and surrounding them, protecting them from the wolves in sheep's clothing and making sure they are fed sound biblical truth. 

I've tried to walk away from writing and warning people, but my conscience will not allow it because I know the pitfalls that so many new believers can fall into, including myself at one time, and what easy prey we can be as we begin our new life in Christ and because "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many might works in your name? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" 

Jesus doesn't acknowledge that these false converts were performing authentic works. 

I recently realized this as I studied Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. I realized also that humble pastors and teachers who are teaching sound biblical doctrine to all generations in the church are growing in grace and knowledge and reaching their congregations and the world with many mighty works, sometimes miracles, but mostly through God's providence and the mundane and ordinary means of grace. I love this. 

Ministries that falsely teach we should always be looking for miracles have missed the glory and joy of knowing Christ. They've exchanged the truth for a lie. They've traded the life-giving, transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ for personal encounters, entertainment, and signs and wonders, caught in the trap of a self-centered gospel that can never deliver. 

No one thinks that they are in that lawless group. I didn't. 

Please. 

"Take care then how you hear," 

"The Greater Light"

I haven't published a blog for about a month and a half; the Farmer and I have been busy in caring for our parents. Dad has had to move into a rehabilitation facility for a bit, but we hope within the next few months to get him back home again. Then on Easter morning, the Farmer's brother died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. 

Life east of Eden, in the Bedford red clay, keeps us sober, humble, and on our knees. 

In the midst of it all I thank God for his grace and for all that he is working in the Farmer and me together to transform us into the glorious image of his Son. I thank him for allowing us to be worked on together here east of Eden in the Bedford red clay. 

One Scripture that always floods my mind as I work through my day is Romans 1:20. I've quoted it often in my blog:

"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." 

I think of how a giant, impending tidal wave, an erupting volcano, an approaching hurricane, and a violent, powerful tornado display the eternal power of our God, none of which mankind can even begin to hold back.

I see God's divine nature as I watch a new born lamb being cared for attentively and diligently by his mother soon after sliding out into this broken world, the mother ewe cleaning him profusely and then nudging him to stand and take his nourishment. I think of how in a flock of 70 sheep, he knows her voice. And she knows his. 

Another new, good thing in my life is that my church offers a two year course called "Sound Doctrine Seminar," that meets on Saturdays from 7am-9am once a month. Since I'm a morning person anyway, as well as a theology geek, although I believe all Christians should be, the time works great for me. Last month Pastor Charlie spent a good deal of time going over "general revelation" with our class which is what we see in Romans 1:20. 

In other words, God has made himself known to us in the things that he has created. The only way any of us can know anything at all about our mighty Lord God is if he chooses to reveal himself to us. He is the Creator, after all, and we are the creation. 

So I conclude, a God this immense can be trusted with the suffering he allows in his creation even though I don't understand it always, or often. Again, I'm the creature, sinful and being sanctified. God is the perfect Creator who knows all and does nothing arbitrarily and promises to carry me all the way home.

J.I. Packer said that we need to live slowly so we can think deeply about God, and I get this. After reading in the Scriptures all that God is and does, I have to train my mind to meditate on all of this goodness, holiness, and glory in a quiet space, again, usually in the predawn hours before the Farmer or farm awakens. One can only get so far in this exercise of plumbing the depths of our Holy and Sovereign God, but that's okay. The mystery and the tension are beautiful in and of themselves and worthy of our awe, even if our tiny minds can't do the distance. 

Speaking of distance. 

I'll leave you with the thought I had last night as I was going to sleep: The sun is so hot ( 27 million degrees F, in fact) that it has to be 93 million miles away from the earth to keep us from burning up alive. 93 million miles? It's that hot! I think about how when the Farmer lights up a bonfire. I have to stand back several feet from the blazing flames, but the sun is a fire so hot we have to stand back 93 million miles to stay safe. 

I know, seriously, it boggles the brain. 

And it warms the heart to serve a God that blows the mind with that kind of power. All power. Eternal power. 

Think about that the next time the sun rises. 

Think about the intense, blazing love that would cause God to ultimately reveal himself in the life of his Son by sending him into the world in human flesh to bleed and die for sinners like you and me. 

Think about that. 

Happy Monday!