We have had a great staff advance this year.  What a great group of people I serve with!  Today we will wrap things up with a final round of discussions before heading home this afternoon.  Please pray for us in the coming days and weeks as we kick-off another big year of ministry.

On another note, I hope you have enjoyed our recent focus on the doctrine of divine providence.  What a wonderful and great God we serve!  If you haven’t already done so, let me take this opportunity to once again encourage you to read through, and meditate upon, the wonderful Old Testament book of Esther.

In my last blog I mentioned that the Old Testament book of Esther contains not one mention of the divine name Yahweh, nor does it contain the word elohim, the Hebrew noun for God.  But as the old Puritan Bible commentator Matthew Henry remarks of this great book, “If the name of God is not in it, His finger is.”

I also mentioned that Esther records not even one tiny ‘miracle.’  Nevertheless, in her NIV Application Commentary on Esther, Bible commentator Karen Jobes writes:

Although there is not one tiny miracle found in the book of Esther, the cumulative result of a series of improbable events leads one to ponder the miraculous quality of the ordinary. As it has been said, “a coincidence is a miracle in which God prefers to remain anonymous.” If, as the book of Esther implies, God interacts with individuals in such a way as to move history to the goal ordained by His eternal purposes, surely even the ordinary takes on a miraculous luster. In some ineffable way, ordinary human decisions cooperate with the divine plan.

Indeed, Jobes here touches on a great mystery:  the so-called “tension” between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.  But Christians need not worry about resolving this tension.  You see, the Bible clearly teaches both:  (1) God is absolutely sovereign over all persons and events, AND (2) human beings are responsible creatures who make real choices for which they are accountable.  We must leave it at that, for the Bible does not completely unveil to us all the answers to this great mystery. 

I hope you’ve taken up my challenge to read through this wonderful story, for Esther has much to teach us.  It certainly contains one of the most striking examples of the doctrine of God’s providence in all of Scripture!

Today we are in Kansas City for our annual staff advance.  This is an important time as we advance to the future and hammer out our vision for the coming year.  Please pray for us, that God will use this week to impart a new and fresh vision to each of us.

I have recently been blogging about the doctrine of God’s providence.  That God continually upholds, preserves, and governs His world — including everything and everyone in it — is a great comfort for the believer.  Unfortunately, many live out their lives without giving God’s providence a moment’s consideration. 

Providence in the Old Testament book of Esther
Esther is one of the most interesting and captivating stories illustrating God’s providence in the Old Testament, and yet it seems to get little attention, even among Christians.  There may be several reasons for this.  In fact, some interpreters throughout history have found Esther’s presence in the Old Testament to be troubling. Why?

And yet, in spite of all these things, Esther is one of the most beautiful pictures of God’s providence in all of Scripture.  I suspect that these conspicuous ‘omissions’ were intentionally orchestrated by God in order to show that His divine providence is still able to stand out in stark relief against the backdrop of an otherwise ’secular’ mindset that observes the world only through empirical lenses.

We all do this, I suspect — at least at times.  We and others tend to make the mistake of thinking that, because we can explain various phenomena from a ’scientific’ standpoint, then God is vanquished from the event(s).  We know the sun ‘rises’ because of the earth’s rotation as it travels around the sun.  We know the rain falls because we can explain it from the standpoint of barometric pressure, precipitation, etc.  In doing so, we think we have eliminated the need to evoke God as an explanation for such things.  In fact, He is often called by skeptics ‘the God of the gaps’.  But the Bible unashamedly says that it is still God who stands behind the events of the world.  It is still God who causes His sun to rise on both the evil and the good; it is God who sends His rain on both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), etc. 

How about you?  Do you tend to look at the events in your life merely through empirical lenses?  Let me challenge you to begin looking at your life through the eyes of Scripture.  Would you consider reading the book of Esther this week?  It’s a short book that can easily be read in one sitting.  Why don’t you accept this challenge, read the book of Esther with me, and then let me know what you think.

One of the most comforting doctrines of the Christian faith is that of God’s providence.  The Abstract of Principles, the first official confession of faith endorsed by Southern Baptists, states the doctrine of God’s providence as follows:

God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.

Scripture: Heb. 1:3; Dan. 4:34, 35; Ps. 135:6; Acts 17:25, 26, 28; Job chapters 38 to 41; Matt. 10:29, 30, 31; Prov. 15:3; Ps. 104:24; Ps. 145:17; Acts 15:18; Ps. 94:8, 9, 10, 11; Eph. 1:11; Ps. 33:10, 11; Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 9:17; Gen. 45:7; Ps. 145:7.

Another of the most beautiful confessional statements of God’s providence are found in the Heidelberg Catechism:

What do you mean by the providence of God? (Question 27)

The almighty and everywhere present power of God; whereby, as it were by His hand, He upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, yea, and all things come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.

What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by His providence does still uphold all things? (Question 28 )

That we may be patient in adversity; thankful in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall separate us from His love; since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will they cannot so much as move.

 What’s troubling you today?  Have you committed it to your loving heavenly Father?  Are you trusting in His loving hand of providence to work all things for your good and for His glory? 

My last post was a quote by J.C. Ryle on prayer.  Recently, Justin Taylor posted the following excellent exhortation from Bishop Ryle on Bible reading:

You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.

To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.

Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. . . . Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. . . . Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?

There are many today, who believe the Bible, yet read it very little. Does your conscience tell you that you are one of these persons?

If so, you are the man that is likely to get little help from the Bible in time of need. Trial is a sifting experience. . . . Your store of Bible consolations may one day run very low.

If so, you are the man that is unlikely to become established in the truth. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and questions about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, etc. The devil is an old and cunning enemy. He can quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to fight a good fight with him. . . . Your sword is held loosely in your hand.

If so, you are the man that is likely to make mistakes in life. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have problems in your marriage, problems with your children, problems about the conduct of your family and about the company you keep. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar either with lighthouses or charts.

If so, you are the man who is likely to be carried away by some false teacher for a time. It will not surprise me if I hear that one of these clever eloquent men who can make a convincing presentation is leading you into error. You are in need of ballast (truth); no wonder if you are tossed to and fro like a cork on the waves.

All these are uncomfortable situations. I want you to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you today. Do not merely read your Bible a little—but read it a great deal. . . . Remember your many enemies. Be armed!

Cited in J. I. Packer, 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know, pp. 40-41.

In his booklet A Call to Prayer, John Charles (J.C.) Ryle (1816-1900) begins with these three words, “Do You Pray?” and then makes statements designed to make you think deeply about your own prayer life:

I ask whether you pray because neglect of prayer is one of the greatest causes of backsliding. Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer; marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without prayer; residences chosen without prayer; friendships formed without prayer; the daily act of prayer itself hurried over, or gone through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.

Ryle’s words cause me to ask myself — and you — “Do you pray?”  Let’s not neglect this God-given discipline; the discipline of prayer. 

On Sunday morning, May 4, 1856, the great Baptist pastor and “prince of preachers,” Charles Spurgeon, preached a sermon entitled, Divine Sovereignty.  Here is an excerpt:

There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation — the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands — the throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne.

On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a foot-ball, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They will allow him to be in his almonry to dispense his alms and bestow his bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends his throne, his creatures then gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and his right to do as he wills with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere better than they do when he sits with his scepter in his hand and his crown upon his head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon his throne whom we trust.

Are you one of God’s children who loves Him upon His throne?  Do you take comfort in and bask in the knowledge that not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of your heavenly Father (Matthew 10:29)?  This knowledge should empower and embolden every Christian to face each day with confidence and joy. What a great and loving God we serve!

Question #2 of an old Baptist catechism asks:

Question:  “What is the chief end [goal or purpose] of man?”

Answer: “Man’s chief end [goal or purpose] is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 16:11; 37:4; 73:25-26; Isaiah43:7)

We should note here that “glorify” does not mean “make glorious.”  We cannot add additional glory to an already infinitely glorious God.  Instead, it means we are to reflect or display God as glorious, much as the moon, which has no light of its own, reflects the radiant glory of the sun.

Unfortunately, many today no longer recognize this.  In an old commentary on Romans, Robert Haldane had this to say:

Men are very unwilling to admit that God should have any end with respect to them greater than their happiness.  But His own glory is everywhere in the Scriptures represented as the chief end of man’s existence, and of the existence of all things.

Even in the days of the great Baptist pastor and preacher, Charles Spurgeon, this view of man’s purpose had already begun to erode.  Spurgeon lamented,

I learned, when I was a boy, that the chief end of man was to glorify God and enjoy Him forever; but I hear now, according to the new theology, that the chief end of God is to glorify man and enjoy him forever.  Yet this is the turning of things upside down…

This attitude continues widely today, even among Christians, in a world that treats God as though His purpose is merely to serve them, meet their needs, get them out of trouble, and keep them happy.  As Spurgeon states above, we have “turned things upside down.”

Today I challenge you to turn things rightside up again, and live out 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Years ago as a young college student I had an opportunity to share my faith in Jesus Christ with a fellow student, Emily.  One particular day after class we had a lengthy discussion about the things of God, and Emily was clearly very moved.  I really believed that the Spirit of God was working on her heart and mind.  As I shared Scriptures with her, it was clear that she struggled with doubts and uncertainties.  Yet it was also clear that she was sensing the truth she was hearing from God’s word. As tears welled up in her eyes, a spiritual battle was being waged.

I invited Emily to give her doubts to God, and to come to Christ then and there as we stood on the campus grounds.  And just at the point she seemed to be so close to doing so, she said: “I need to talk to my brother about this, first.”  Her brother was not a believer, and my heart sunk.  I knew that if Emily put off such a momentous opportunity now, it was possible that she might never have another.  The next day I spoke to Emily again, and she said something like, “No, my brother said that’s all just a bunch of baloney.”

Nearly twenty-five years have passed since that day, but I still think about Emily from time to time.  As best as I can recall, she and I never discussed spiritual things ever again.  Where is she today?  Did she ever find new life in Jesus Christ?  Is she even still alive?  Perhaps I’ll never know, this side of eternity. 

In 2 Corinthians 6:2, the Scripture says,

For He [God] says,
“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,
AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”
Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”–

When the Spirit calls, we cannot afford to put Him off until another day.  Another day may never come.  Now is the acceptable time; Now is the day of salvation.

I recently started reading Michael Haykin’s little book entitled, A Sweet Flame: Piety in the Letters of Jonathan Edwards.  What a treasure this book is, providing a glimpse into the personal life of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) as seen through his correspondence with various persons throughout his lifetime. 

Edwards and his wife, Sarah, had eleven children — ten girls and one boy — of whom a personal friend of Edwards states “reverenced, esteemed, and loved him.”  This is evident in a diary entry by Edwards’s third daughter, Esther Edwards Burr, who wrote:

Last eve I had some free discourse with my father on the great things that concern my best interest.  I opened my difficulties to him very freely and he as freely advised and directed.  The conversation has removed some discouraging doubts that distressed me much in my Christian warfare — He gave me some excellent directions to be observed in secret that tend to keep the soul near to God, as well as others to be observed in a more public way.  What a mercy that I have such a father!  Such a guide!

Edwards’s fourth daughter, Mary, had married a judge and moved a considerable distance away.  In a letter to her Edwards wrote:

Though you are at so great a distance from us, yet God is everywhere.  You are much out of the reach of our care, but you are every moment in His hands.  We have not the comfort of seeing you, but He sees you.  His eye is always upon you.  And if you may but be sensibly nigh to Him, and have His gracious presence, ’tis no matter though you are far distant from us.  I had rather you should remain hundreds of miles distant from us and have God nigh to you by His Spirit, than to have you always with us, and live at a distance from God.

Edwards then gave his beloved daughter some fatherly advice:

I hope that you will maintain a strict and constant watch over yourself and against all temptations:  that you don’t forget and forsake God; and particularly that you don’t grow slack in secret religion. Retire often from this vain world, and all its bubbles, empty shadows, and vain amusements, and converse with God alone; and seek that divine grace and comfort, the least drop of which is worth more than all the riches, gaiety, pleasures, and entertainments of the whole world.

Haykin notes that “Edwards surely has in mind here the way that the world and all its allurements seem so attractive to the young.  The solution is times of solitude and prayer, when the worth of eternal realities may be rightly seen.”

Sound advice indeed!  Have a great weekend.

While taking a seminary class on world missions, I was required to read To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adonirom Judson by Courtney Anderson (Valley Forge: Judson Press, 1987, 530pp.).  To The Golden Shore is a detailed and gripping account of the life of Adoniram Judson – North America’s first Protestant (Baptist) foreign missionary who labored in Burma (modern Myanmar) for almost forty years. 

After serving in Burma for many years, Judson returned on furlow to leave his three children in America so they could obtain a good education.  Nine months later, with his health failing but his burden for Burma still strong, Judson made preparations for his final voyage to Asia. On July 10, 1846, aware that he would probably never see his children again, Judson wrote them all letters:

My Dear Sons,
       Farewell. We embark tomorrow about noon. Many a time I shall look at your likenesses, and weep over them, and pray that you may early become true Christians. Love your brother George [Boardman, their eighteen-year-old half brother] and your uncle and aunt Newton. Pray every morning and evening. Your new mama sends you her best love. Forget not
Your affectionate father,
A. Judson

To his daughter, Judson wrote:

My Dear Daughter,
       Farewell. We embark tomorrow about noon. I think the likenesses taken of your face are very good.  I shall take one with me, and shall many a time look at it and weep over it, and pray that you may early become a Christian…
       Love your dear aunt and cousins, with whom you live; Pray every morning and evening, and may we meet again on earth, and if not, O may we meet in heaven, and be happy together.  Your new mama sends her best love.
Your affectionate father,
A. Judson

To the other friends and loved ones he was leaving behind, Judson offered the following parting comments:

“Great is our privilege, precious opportunity, to cooperate with the Savior in the blessed work of enlarging and establishing His kingdom throughout the world.  Let us not, then, regret the loss of those who have gone before us, and are waiting to welcome us home, nor shrink from the summons that must call us thither.  Let us only resolve to follow them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.  Let us employ the remnant of life and so pass away, that our successors will say  of us, as we of our predecessors, ‘Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.  They rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.”

Judson’s Legacy.  When Judson began his mission in Burma, he set a goal of translating the Bible and founding a church of 100 members before his death. When he died, he left the Bible, 100 churches, and over 8,000 believers. According to Wikipedia, due to Judson’s influence, Myanmar has the third largest number of Baptists worldwide, behind the United States and India. Each July, Baptist churches in Myanmar celebrate “Judson Day,” commemorating his arrival as a missionary. Inside the campus of Yangon University is Judson Church, named in his honor, and in 1920 Judson College, named in his honor, merged into Rangoon College, which has since been renamed Yangon University.

Scriptural doctrine (II Tim. 3:16) determines our eternal destiny (II John 1:9; II Thess. 1:1-10); our actions (I Tim. 1:10; II Tim. 3:10); preserves the purity of the Gospel message (Gal. 2:5; II Tim. 2:15); edifies believers, maintains unity, & brings stability (Eph. 4:11-14; Titus 1:9); and is essential for our spiritual growth in Christ (Eph. 4:14; I Tim. 4:6). Yes, Doctrine Matters!

Is it enough to “believe in Jesus” in some amorphous sense that divorces “faith” from any particular doctrine about Him, or is doctrine—and the content of our faith—really important after all?

Scripture plainly teaches that we must be sound in the faith—which is to say that doctrine does matter (1 Tim. 4:6; 2 Tim. 4:2-3; Tit. 1:9; 2:1). It matters a lot.

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing” (1 Tim. 6:3-4, emphasis added).

Sound, biblical doctrine is a necessary aspect of true wisdom and authentic faith. The attitude that scorns doctrine while elevating feelings or blind trust cannot legitimately be called faith at all, even if it masquerades as Christianity. It is actually an irrational form of unbelief.

God holds us accountable for what we believe as well as how we think about the truth He has revealed. All Scripture testifies to the fact that God wants us to know and understand the truth. He wants us to be wise. His will is that we use our minds. We are supposed to think, meditate, and above all, to be discerning.

The content of our faith is crucial. Sincerity is not sufficient.

Consider, for example, these well-known verses. Note the repeated use of words like truth, knowledge, discernment, wisdom, and understanding:

“Thou dost desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part Thou wilt make me know wisdom” (Psa. 51:6).

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments” (Psa. 111:10).

“Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Thy commandments” (Psa. 119:66).

“Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the Lord, and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:2-6).

“The beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding” (Prov. 4:7).

“We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9).

“In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that He wants us to use our minds. And one of the most vital duties facing every Christian—especially in an era (such as ours) when the church is overrun with contradictory ideas and spiritual confusion—is the duty of discernment. As those who would be faithful Bereans of the Word (Acts 17:11), we must be careful to watch our lives and our doctrine closely (1 Tim. 4:16).

(John MacArthur, Why Doctrine Matters, Pulpit Magazine, May 9, 2008.  Quoted by Tom, at the Doctrine Matters blog.)

By far, I have had more feedback (positive and negative) on my book reviews of The Shack than anything else I’ve written in recent weeks.  Some simply do not understand what is wrong with describing God in unconventional or non-biblical ways.

In light of all of the attention being give to The Shack ’s distinctly feminine portrayal of God, Tim Challies cites the following quote from Bruce Waltke’s Old Testament Theology.  Waltke argues here that it really does matter how we think of God and how we address Him:

God, who is over all, represents himself by masculine names and titles, not feminine ones. He identifies himself as Father, Son, and Spirit, not Parent, Child, and Spirit, nor Mother, Daughter, and Spirit. Jesus taught his church to address God as “Father” (Luke 11:2) and to baptize disciples “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). God’s titles are King, not Queen; Lord, not Lady. God, not mortals, has the right to name himself. It is inexcusable hubris and idolatry on the part of mortals to change the images by which the eternal God chooses to represent himself. We cannot change God’s names, titles, or metaphors without committing idolatry, for we will have reimagined him in a way other than the metaphors and the incarnation by which he revealed himself. His representations and incarnation are inseparable from his being.

You may recall that a few weeks ago I posted my testimony of, “How God Used a Letter to Change My Life.”  If you didn’t get to read that, you can do so now by clicking here. 

In that post I told of how, when I was a backslidden young college student at the U of A, God had put a concern for me on the heart of Clint Block, a friend who I knew from my home church back in Missouri.  Clint felt like the Lord was prompting him to write a letter to me, asking about my relationship with the Lord. Clint had neither seen nor talked to me since I left for college, and knew nothing of my circumstances. 

I am delighted that, since that post, Clint filled me in on some of the details of how things transpired from his side of the story, and has been kind enough to share it with us. 

Clint picks it up from here:

After reading this post, I thought it might be interesting for the readers to know how I was led by the Lord to write and sent the above letter “sent at just the right moment.” I’m not sure if I have even told Scott how it came to be.

Back in 1980, while in prayer, I had a tremendous burden for Scott. I had seen his enthusiasm for following Christ, before he moved away to college, but was unsure of how he was doing. While in prayer that night, I felt a distinctive leading of the Holy Spirit to write him a letter. As I sat down and began to write, with Bible at hand, I sensed the Lord’s guidance in what I wrote.

After finishing the letter, I put it in an envelope but did not have his address. A day or so later, I asked a mutual friend, who knew Scott better than I, if he had Scott’s address. He didn’t, but said that he would try to get it from Scott’s parents. Two weeks passed before he got the address to me. During those two weeks, I had begun to have doubts of whether I had really heard from God. If God had truly inspired me, why was I having such trouble getting the address? Maybe it was His way of showing me that I was mistaken?  Even after receiving the address, I considered not sending the letter that was, by then, two weeks old. So again I prayed, and again I felt that burden, so somewhat hesitantly, I placed the letter in the mail, hoping I was truly hearing God and that Scott would not be offended.

Within a few days, I received a letter back from Scott. I think the first line of it read, “Your letter came at the perfect time.” Scott went on to relate that the night before receiving it, he had cried out to God for help. The very next morning he received the letter.

What has blessed me about this event is seeing God’s timing. He heard Scott’s prayer for help before it was prayed (Isaiah 65:24)*, and two weeks before Scott cried for help, led me to write the letter that “came at the perfect time.” 
[emphasis added]

* Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. — Isaiah 65:24, ESV

I praise the LORD for Clint and his sensitivity and obedience to the Spirit.  Thank you, brother!  You will always be a very special friend and brother to me.

About Clint Block: Today, Clint pastors Calvary Church, located near Forsyth, Missouri.  Calvary is a Spirit-filled, non-denominational church where people join together to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ, and minister to one another through worship and the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. 

Clint, along with his wife, Debbie, founded Calvary Church in 1992.  They have been married since 1983 and have one married son and daughter-in-law (Matt & Rebecca), and three sons living at home (Michael, Mark & Noah).

Before entering the ministry, Clint was a professional musician performing in Branson.  He accepted the call to preach in 1980 and has served as pastor of Frenchport Community Church, Camden, AR, and assistant pastor at New Life Temple Hollister, MO before founding Calvary Church at Forsyth.

Today we continue our discussion of time and the brevity of life.  I am currently reading a book (along with the rest of the staff where I work) entitled, One Month to Live. This book has also caused me to think much about time, and how precious it is.  We only have so much of it.  And for us it only moves in one direction.  The days past are forever gone, never to be recovered. The present is all we have, and there is no guarantee of tomorrow.

Several years back I was introduced to the writings of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), who is often referred to as “America’s Greatest Theologian.”  Having read much of his writings over the last few years, I now understand why he is thought to be “the greatest theological mind America has ever produced.” 

Edwards has much to teach us about time.  For example, by the time he was around twenty years of age he had written out seventy “resolutions” which he read over once each week and, by all accounts, he lived by to the very day of his death.  Let me share with you some of those which deal specifically with the idea of time and the brevity of life:

(#5) Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

(#6) Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live.

(#9) Resolved, to think much on all occasions of my own dying; and of the common circumstances which attend death.

(#17)  Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

(#52)  I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live if they were to live their lives over again.  Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age.

Edwards also gives us wise advice concerning the use of our time in a sermon entitled, “The Preciousness of Time, and The Importance of Redeeming It.”  Edwards writes,

Consider…that you are accountable to God for your time. Time is a talent given us by God; he hath set us our day; and it is not for nothing, our day was appointed for some work; therefore he will, at the day’s end, call us to an account. We must give account to him of the improvement of all our time. We are God’s servants; as a servant is accountable to his master, how he spends his time when he is sent forth to work, so are we accountable to God. If men would aright consider this, and keep it in mind, would they not improve their time otherwise than they do? Would you not behave otherwise than you do, if you considered with yourselves every morning, that you must give an account to God, how you shall have spent that day? and if you considered with yourselves, at the beginning of every evening, that you must give an account to God, how you shall have spent that evening? 

 If you would like to read Edwards’s entire sermon you can do so by clicking here. 

So how about you?  Are you living your time out wisely?  In Psalm 90:12 the psalmist prays:

Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Wise advice.  Meditate on these things today!

Sandwich a few days of sitting on the beach listening to the ocean waves between nearly thirty hours of driving time and voila!… you’ll find ample time and opportunity to reflect on issues that might otherwise get buried and squelched in the helter-skelter “busy-ness” of life.  Yesterday I mentioned that I’d be sharing some of those reflections with you this week, so here goes…

For me, long hours of driving usually involves switching back and forth between CD’s and whatever radio stations I can tune in to at the time.  One station happened to be playing a country song by Kenny Chesney entitled, “Don’t Blink.”  I had heard this song before, but this time I was particularly impacted by the lyrics, which I share below.  Take a few moments to think them through…

Don’t Blink

I turned on the evenin’ news
Saw an old man being interviewed
Turnin’ a hundred and two today
They asked him what’s the secret to life
He looked up from his ol’ pipe
Laughed and said, ‘All I can say is’

[Chorus]

Don’t blink
Just like that
You’re six years old and you take a nap
And you wake up and you’re twenty-five
And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don’t blink
You just might miss your babies growin’ like mine did
Turnin’ into moms and dads
Next thing you know
Your better half of fifty years is there in bed
And you’re prayin’ God takes you instead
Trust me friend
A hundred years goes faster than you think
(So) don’t blink

[2nd Verse]

I was glued to my TV
When it looked like he looked at me
And said, ‘Let’s start puttin’ first things first’
‘Cause when your hourglass runs outta sand
You can’t flip it over, start again
Take every breath God gives you, for what it’s worth

[Repeat Chorus]

[Bridge]

So I been tryin’ to slow it down
I been tryin’ to take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we’re livin’ in

[Repeat Chorus]

(Source:  www.onlylyrics.com) 

When I was a child, I can remember being told many times by adults that “the older you get, the faster life goes.”  I always thought, “yeah, right.”  Time seemed to go by so slowly as a kid.  But today I understand exactly what they were telling me.  Life has sped up greatly, and the days seem to “whoosh” by so quickly.  It seems like only yesterday I was a young boy playing in my parent’s yard.  Suddenly I wake up and I’m forty-six years old with a wife and two kids of my own.  Where did the time go?  It reminds me of the times I’ve heard my dad (now in his eighties) marvel how quickly life has gone by. “Even if you live to reach 100 years,” he’d say, “…it’s still just a ‘blink.’”

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
(James 4:14b, ESV)

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle
(Job 7:6a, ESV)

Today I’ll close by posting the actual music video of Chesney’s song.  I hope you’ll enjoy it and that it will cause you to reflect on life.  Time is short, so use it to the glory of God and… Don’t Blink!