Call to Worship: Psalm 103

I love singing Psalms because it is singing the actual words of Scripture (as nearly as they can be put into poetic form).  It is a puzzle to me why Psalm-singing, which for centuries after the Reformation dominated church music, is so rare today.  Sing this version of Psalm 103:1-7 from the 1600s!

Free: God's Smuggler audiobook!

God's Smuggler is one of a handful of books I've read that can be truly described as amazing.  The story of how God took an angry young Dutch man and turned him into a daring servant of suffering Christians in Soviet eastern Europe is far more unpredictable than the best whodunnit. 

I first read God's Smuggler as an unconverted but professing Christian.  Brother Andrew's walk with God is one of the things God used to show me that my own life was fake.

This book will compel you to trust God by taking bigger risks in your own proclamation of the gospel.

The professionally recorded audiobook is available this month for free from ChristianAudio.com.  Don't miss it!

Call to Worship: Before the Throne of God Above

This modern hymn is proof that "contemporary" music doesn't have to be bad or shallow.  We will never be able to tell God, "No new songs for you, we've already praised you in every way possible!" I pray that many more hymns of such depth and beauty as this one will be written during my lifetime.
 

How to Share Jesus with... My Neighbors?

Daniel,
I saw your prayer request about witnessing in your neighborhood. We prayed for you, of course. I also wondered what exactly you did and how it went.
 I have been praying about doing something in my own neighborhood, town. It bothers me that I am supporting Christians in spreading the gospel halfway around the world, but do not do likewise here.
Twice in the last 2 years I went with a group from my church to {my town's} fairs. We set up a booth and witnessed Way of the Master style. It was exhilarating, terrifying and fun all at the same time. I had a 45 minute conversation with the New Age Crystal dealer next to us about why the hippie movement in the 60's did not change lives, but the Jesus Freak movement did. I still pray for that man occasionally. No visible fruit though. I have been praying ever since.
Not sure what to do. I would appreciate hearing about your experience.
Blessings, L. 

Hi L,

I very much identify with your uncertainty about how to reach out in our own community.  Like you said, if they can do it in India, why can't we do it here?

Doing evangelism at community events sounds great.  I have evangelized at July 4th, Halloween, and Christmas events.  Anytime you can find people sitting or standing around, it can be a good opportunity.  But it's hard to find people who aren't in motion. 

My latest evangelism idea, the one you've been praying for, is starting a neighborhood Bible study.

There are about 100 homes just in our immediate neighborhood, what I call the North Mesa.  We have developed relationships with some of our neighbors with the hopes of sharing the gospel with them, but I began realizing that I would never have time to build relationships with most of them.  I wanted a way to quickly find the people in the neighborhood who are most spiritually receptive/interested, so that I can focus my limited time on them.

I went around to the homes where we don't know the people and asked, "Do you know of any one in our neighborhood who has a Bible study?"  No one did.  Then I asked them "If there was one, would you be interested?"  Only a few people were potentially interested.  (But it was really interesting to ask people these two questions -- a very fast way to take someone's spiritual temperature.)

Now I am praying about what sort of Bible study to lead (I'm thinking of starting with a 6 week basic introduction to Christianity based on the book of Mark called Christianity Explained) and where to host it (I'm thinking of asking a Christian neighbor if she would be willing to host it in her home). 

Thanks for your prayers, and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

Because of Jesus' mercy,

Daniel

Baseball in Heaven?

Randy Alcorn's book Wait Until Then is a beautiful story for children, particularly boys.  Through the short and simple story of a grandpa dying of cancer while mentoring his wheelchair-bound grandson Nathan, Alcorn models a Christian view of suffering, death, and eternity.  This would be a good book to read with a child who is experiencing the sickness or death of a good friend or beloved relative.

This is a hard book to criticize (the illustrations alone are so beautiful you almost want to put them on the wall) but I do have a few concerns.

Dr. Alcorn uses baseball as a common interest that both Gramps and Nathan share.  Nathan wonders whether they will play baseball in heaven.  Gramps says, "Well, there's a lot that I don't know.  But I do know God is our Father and fathers love to see their children play.  Since we'll have new bodies on the New Earth, we know we'll be able to play baseball... and since they'll be better bodies, I'm pretty sure our best baseball is still ahead of us."

I have two concerns here.  One is that baseball like many sports has become something of an idol in our culture.  Visit a major league game sometime and you'll see what I mean.  Neighbor boys playing ball in the empty corner lot is one thing (do any American boys still do that? or do they all play ball on their Xbox now?), but the billions of dollars and hours spent in watching other people toss the ball around is another thing.

Dr. Alcorn anticipates concern this by having Gramps tell Nathan, "It's fine to enjoy baseball.  But remember, everything we love should cause us to love Jesus more, not less."  But he doesn't explain how baseball should help us love Jesus more, and young readers could easily get the idea that we should love Jesus because He will, ultimately, feed our idols.  Baseball on the New Earth becomes the child-sized version of '72 virgins in paradise when you die'.

My second concern is that this actually diminishes the joy of heaven.  I am sure we will be able to play baseball on the New Earth, but I'm not sure anyone will want to.  Dr. Alcorn would probably accuse me of 'Christo-platonism' here (a fancy term he coined for being overly spiritual), but I'm not disputing that the New Earth will be very physical.  I just think the physical things we will be doing will be far more joyous and exciting and fulfilling than knocking a white ball around.  Baseball on the New Earth will probably be as attractive as playing pinocle is for most of us today.

Dr. Alcorn also intimates that our old pets will be with us on the New Earth.  The same two concerns apply.  I think that getting to see Rover again will not be high on our minds there, about as exciting as getting back our past fingernail clippings.

Lastly, the gospel presentation is short: "We need to say we're sorry for our sins, and accept {Jesus} as the one who died on the cross for us and came back to life.  Then God will forgive us."  While true, this is deficient.  In the context of the story, the gospel could easily be taken by children as simply a procedure they must follow to get their ticket to heaven.

But, if used by a parent who will take time to explain these "missing pieces", the book can still be a wonderful tool for teaching children that because of Jesus, we need not hate suffering or fear death.

I got this book for free through the Tyndale Rewards program.  I was not even required to write a review, but I earn points for more books by doing so!

Call to Worship: Arise, My Soul, Arise

This hymn by Charles Wesley is one of my all-time favorites. It beautifully encapsulates Hebrews 4:14-16.

To the Edge of the River

This update from a dear friend on the death of his father was an encouragement and example to me.   Names and personally identifiable information have been changed or omitted, but otherwise this letter is unchanged. Daniel

Dear Friends & Family,

Last week we sent out our Family Update and requested prayer for my father’s condition. Five days later, at __ a.m., Dad passed away with my hand on his shoulder, and with Mary and David standing together with us.

Since we sent our update last week, many people have prayed with us as we dealt with this difficult situation. Thank you for your involvement and words of encouragement as we hoped in His mercy.

We believe that these past five days were an expression of God’s mercy, extending Dad’s life and giving us many more opportunities to share Christ with him. In those final days, my Dad was surrounded by our visiting family members each night, and then with Mary and I staying “on watch” through the nights with him after everyone left.

We needed wisdom as we handled Dad’s care in our home. Two times this week one of the visiting nurses came from hospice strongly encouraging us to use the low-dose morphine to “ease your father into the next life,” even though we and other nurses who had observed his heavy breathing felt that my father was not in any distress or pain. We opted against her advice and believe that minimizing the medicines allowed us to have more opportunities to talk to him.

Mary and I continued daily to witness to my father through singing hymns, sharing God’s Word, praying with and for him, relating memories, expressing forgiveness and release, and including each suggestion that came to us from those of you who wrote to encourage us. Even David talked with his grandfather and told him that he wanted Grandpop to go to heaven.

During these last days of my father’s life, he was unable to communicate with us, except through an occasional hand squeeze, slight shake of the head, or almost inaudible word which we could not understand. Even though we had to rely on these minimal and subtle signs of demeanor, we believe that in the final 24 hours of Dad’s life, several special things occurred.

On Monday afternoon, David and I had visited with a Christian neighbor, Mr. Smith, who I had only met twice before, to ask if he could help my mother in the future with little household needs. Mr. Smith is a building contractor and handyman, and as a believer, he agreed to be available in the future if he could help.

As I awakened early Tuesday morning, I was impressed by the Lord to call Mr. Smith and to ask him to come to witness to my father. When I called him to make my request, he said that his last prayer the night before was that he would have an opportunity to come and witness to my Dad. He was just waiting for my call!

He came to our house around 8 a.m. before going to his first job for the day, and with the hospice nursing aide standing nearby, presented the Gospel to my father. Mr. Smith talked directly with my Dad, using words of encouragement, including the way that Mom would be taken care of when my father was gone. My father seemed to hear and respond in a more affirming manner, which was unlike the many other times Mary and I shared with him before, when he would often show signs of agitation.

Finally, that last night, after my brother, sister, and Mom had all gone, Mary and I talked with my father again about the Lord, and the salvation available through Jesus Christ. I affirmed that we all loved him very much, and he was the very best Dad I could ever have. I held him in my arms, and hugged him so he could feel our love for him. I told him that if he had believed in Christ, he could go in peace, but if he did not, then I believed God was keeping him alive until he would surrender.

As I stepped back, we saw a tear come out of his left eye, and almost all of his facial expressions while we were sharing were peaceful, similar to the ones earlier that morning when Mr. Smith  spoke with him. After hugging him again, and telling him repeatedly that we loved him, forgave him, and many other special things, he seemed to go to sleep. Through the night and early morning hours, Mary and I sat with him, again sharing, singing, praying, and pleading with Dad to cease struggling and receive the peace Christ wanted to give him through faith.

On Wednesday morning after the nursing aide was gone, Dad’s breathing slowed. Mary called me from watching David downstairs (who often bounded through the house with great energy and noise enough to alarm my Dad), and I came upstairs to hold my Dad and talk gently with him. He winced twice, and then quietly slumped back down as his failing heart gave way and his breathing came to a stop. It was a very peaceful departure.

In reflecting on the past few days since the last Family Update, we wanted to thank you for your prayers as we put our hope in God’s mercy. We cannot say for certain that Dad received Christ, but a few days before, whenever he seemed to resist or grimace as we shared, Mary and I had prayed that the Lord would “shew me a token for good” and I believe God has answered those prayers.

Thank you again for your prayers, love, and support during this precious season we have had with my Dad.