Call to Worship: When All Thy Mercies

Have you ever noticed how good you feel when you recover from an illness?  Do our bodies actually have better health right after being sick than before we were sick, or is it just that we finally notice and appreciate the health we had before?  

That reminds me of a verse from Joseph Addison's hymn (take time to read all the verses): 

When worn with sickness, oft hast Thou
With health renewed my face;
And, when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

You can sing along with this video:

Mercy for Job (and Dad)

If you were trying to select two attributes of God we learn from the story of Job, which two would you pick?  We don't have to guess, because the book of James actually tells us.

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:11, NASB)

At first glance, it's hard to see God's mercy and compassion in book the book of Job.  God starts out by allowing Satan to sadistically snatch Job's children, wealth, and health.  Then after endless arguments and accusations from three "friends", God shows up, only to grill Job with seventy questions.  Really, God, this is mercy?

Actually... yes!  

And I'm not just talking about the restoration of his health, the gift of another 10 children, and the doubling of his previous wealth, as nice as those things are.  Or, even God's honoring Job before his "friends" by calling him "my servant Job" four times.  Perhaps God's greatest mercy to Job was simply in getting to "see" God.  Job came out of this experience with a greater relationship with God.

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You (Job 42:5 NASB)

We got to "see" a little more of God last night when I wound up taking Dad to the emergency room at 10 PM.  Everything turned out OK and both of us got home around 3 AM this morning.  (Yes, I set another personal record for 'latest time going to bed in my life'.  Even the McGuireville Tavern was already closed when we drove by.)  But the medical staff at Verde Valley Medical Center were very kind and professional.  Despite the long wait, we were thankful for the mercies of a good treatment, a good outcome, and a good friend who came and spent several hours with us there. Despite all the unpleasantness that brought us to the Emergency Room, it was worth it simply to experience the goodness of God.

This week has had its share of poignancy.  Two memories from my early childhood have been repeated in reverse this week.  I remember Dad staying up through the early hours of the morning to put wet towels on my body to bring down a bad fever.  And I remember Dad taking me to the ER for a problem that seemed serious but turned out not to be.  (There was a long waiting line in the ER even then.  It seems they still haven't caught up!)  So it's very appropriate to experience all this as I prepare to celebrate Father's Day this Sunday.

Right now, Dad is doing much better.  The fever seems to be diminishing and he is feeling more like his old self.  Thanks for the many friends who have encouraged and prayed for us.  You are another mercy from our Father.

Dependent

Tuesday night was a long one.  I don't think I've ever stayed up until 1:30 AM before.  Dad's low-grade fever (which we thought he had under control) had suddenly shot up.  In a matter of hours he went from (seemingly) barely sick to barely able to speak or move.  Mom and I were on the verge of calling an ambulance, but the Lord turned the situation around through aspirin and hydrotherapy.

I learned how strong God can make us.  It seemed so odd for me and Mom to be the strong ones; normally it is Dad.  I learned that I can focus and hold together in the middle of a medical crisis.  I learned that I can get by on far less sleep than I knew (a lesson most mothers learn early).  I have fewer things to fear now, having experienced God's provision in the middle of a storm.

I also learned how frail we are as humans.  I have never seen Dad this sick before.  It came on so suddenly and unexpectedly that he didn't realize how sick he was until we told him about it afterwards.  If he had been alone, he probably would not have lived through it.  The seeming strength we have as humans is all due to God's sustaining hand, and it doesn't take Him long to prove it.

²⁷ They all wait for You
To give them their food in due season.
²⁸ You give to them, they gather it up;
You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
²⁹ You hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You take away their spirit, they expire
And return to their dust.
³⁰ You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground. (from Psalm 104, NASB)

Dad received medical attention today.  It seems he has a bad UTI (perhaps picked up e coli in India?), and is now taking Cipro.  Thank you all for your prayers!

The Evangelist's Hymn

If you do evangelism Biblically -- without pretense, manipulation, or 'persuasive words of wisdom', but simply preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified -- you have already discovered how dependent we are on God.  We speak, but only He can make the words penetrate and stick.

This hymn by Frances Havergal is a prayer, a cry, for God to do that!

Can You Tell the Greatest Story?

Christians' confidence is in a God who has revealed Himself in writing.  A shockingly high percentage of the world (and even the US) is functionally illiterate.  (If you're not sure what 'functionally illiterate' means, you probably are.)  This crimps transmission of the message of the Bible from person to person, culture to culture, and generation to generation. 

In recent years Bible storying has become a widely used tool for bridging this education gap.  The Bible contains a large number of stories which contain valuable embedded theological truths.  In storying, people are trained to accurately retell and pass on stories from the Bible, and ask questions to help listeners see the important truths.  Illiterate people are often better at this than literate ones.

My parents and I attended a storying training course in 2011, and it was one of the most enjoyable and intense classes I have ever taken.  In keeping with their goal of helping illiterate people, the training was conducted entirely orally; no notetaking was allowed!  But far from being "dumbed down", the training actually pushed and expanded the known capacities of our brains.  It was a fight to keep our heads above the waters of information, but somehow we all did, and it was beautiful to see believers of varying strengths help each other to finish.  Perhaps the greatest pleasure was the hours of feasting on Scriptures with other brothers and sisters as we heard, learned, told, and taught the great stories of the Bible. 

A word of caution.  Storying, like any tool, can be misused.  (I touched on some of these possible ways in a blog post here.)  We tend to overuse and overemphasize the tools we like or understand.  The storying skills I learned have greatly helped me in both personal Bible study, as well as Bible teaching and evangelism.  But they're not the only skills I use. 

From May 31 to June 2, the same course that we took in 2011 is coming back to my community.  I hope to attend at least part of it.  If you live in the Verde Valley, I strongly recommend you attend.  If you live elsewhere, keep your eyes open for a course in your area.  To my knowledge, the organization that is providing this training, Simply the Story, is the best of the many storying organizations out there.

Download brochure here and the registration form here.

Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story

Most "love stories" in print are actually "lust stories".  Not Joni and Ken.

Quadriplegic since age 17, Joni Tada is famous around the world as an author, singer, painter, speaker, radio and TV host, and advocate for the handicapped.  She holds six honorary doctorates.  Her husband Ken is famous as... well, Joni's husband.  Marriage is always tough, but the marriage of a severely disabled and incredibly popular, gifted woman to a pretty much ordinary guy is bound to have extra challenges.  Ken and Joni open up in this book with remarkable transparency about how their marriage eroded, and about how God intervened to reconnect them better even than they started. 

The writing is delicious.  Joni is a good author in her own right, but it seems that Larry Libby gave the work some extra touches that make it read almost like a novel.  The skillful use of flashbacks, third-person perspective, and simply exquisite flashes of English keep this book stuck in your hands.  For example, where an average author might have said, "The weather was gorgeous", they write, "It was one of those days when a person could reflect on the multiple millions of people crowded into Southern California and say, 'I get it.'" 

My only concern with the book is that Ken credits John Eldredge's Wild at Heart with helping their marriage.  The problems in Eldredge's theology of masculinity have been well documented by others.  I'm thankful that Ken received help from Eldredge, but I wish it had been from a more biblical source, such as Stuart Scott's The Exemplary Husband or even Doug Wilson's Father Hunger.

But still, the book is well worth reading; an encouraging glimpse into how Jesus' power to sustain a marriage is greater than all the combined forces of hell, cosmos, and flesh to tear it apart.  Watch the trailer too. 


Note: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for writing a review. My review was not required to be positive.

Christian Mysticism: Oxymoron?

I have long been perplexed trying to sift through the good and bad of "mystical" Christian practices such as contemplative prayer.  Recently Proclamation Magazine ran an article about it that is so in depth and insightful that I wanted to share it with you.  Even if you don't consider yourself mystical, you have probably in some ways already been influenced by mysticism.  (It is a natural bent for all human hearts.)  Click below to read the article.

Contemplating Prayer