The Aging Soul

“I am many years older than I was a few days ago” Robert Dabney

The preceding quote is taken from a letter that Dabney wrote just days after his sons death. This is a lesson I have learned in 2008 with the loss of Jill and other struggles. We all understand that the body grows weary from age. Things do not work the same when we are 80 as they did when we were 20. The body becomes a burden. However, the thing that I have learned in 2008 is that the soul ages as well. With every sin committed, with every sad goodbye, with every sorrow we watch friends carry, and with every other strike of the rod of suffering our souls grow more weary and tired. This earth feels less and less like home as the soul ages. I contend that this abuse of the soul is a great grace from God. We live in a cursed world that is longing to be redeemed. This is a world that takes more than it gives. Our weary, broken, limping souls send us away from this world towards Christ. Though I am just 31 I feel that my soul has aged by decades this year. Honestly, I have never been one who truly longed for the immediate return of Christ. There has always been more that I longed to do and enjoy on this earth. 2008 will be to me the year that my tired soul finally broke and said “Amen, come (NOW) lord Jesus”.

Letters to Bryce Extension

Lindsey and Cari have extended the deadline for "Letters to Bryce" for 2 weeks. Please send your letter to letterstobryce@gmail.com or lfwatson(at)gmail.com.

Hijacking Christmas Part III: Coming soon.

Hijacking CHRISTmas Part III: Cutting the Root and Tearing Down the Tree

I'm sorry that posting has been light (insert "non-existent") the last few days, we've been busy in the Baird household Christmas-ing and New Years-ing.

In my first post I identified the root problem of the hijacking of Christmas as the idolatry of consumerism. Fundamentally, this is unbelief in the promises of God in the gospel. People believe that by producing, and consuming stuff, they will be made happy. It stems from an atheistic world view, in which we are our own saviors, or at least we can make our own saviors.

We must realize the bankruptcy of all false saviors, in this case, the god of consumerism. It will not satisfy. It will not make you eternally happy. It is an impediment to true happiness.

For believers, the fight is to rest in God's promises and not the promises of the world. I think this is what Romans 8:13 means when it says "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." The fight against consumerism and all other false saviors is to be fought "in the Spirit." Which of course begs the question "what does it mean to fight against sin 'in the Spirit'?" Which is a topic for another blog post. I will be preaching on this in the next few weeks. Suffice it to say that there are right ways to fight against the flesh and wrong ways. We need to fight in the right ways.

For unbelievers, the fight is to rest in God's promises and not the promises of the world. The difference between believers and unbelievers is not that believers never buy the promises of the world and the flesh, but that ultimately we don't trust in them even though we sometimes act like we do.

That's the root. Here is the tree.

This mentality and worldview has permeated our culture and has (especially) infiltrated the church. We play along with the effort of the culture to make us think that stuff can save us. I'm not going to prescribe how we ought to "do Christmas" but I do think that there is a lot of wholesale buying into the traditions of our culture without discernment and prudence and without keeping our priorities. Here's the way Emily and I think about Christmas, even though we haven't implemented these principle perfectly:

1. Christmas is about Christ. We will feel like we have failed if our children don't think about Jesus when they think about Christmas.

2. Christmas is more about giving than receiving. We want our girls to understand the meaning of the coming of Christ as the greatest gift anyone has ever received, therefore we don't want to give our girls so much stuff that they get the erroneous idea that Christmas is about receiving and not giving.

3. Christmas is not about Santa Claus. Ok, this one could be controversial. We have decided not to emphasize Santa Claus in our household. We don't tell them that there is no such thing as Santa, but we don't talk a lot about him. We don't put out cookies for him to eat, and we don't give them presents from him. I'm not saying it is sinful or wrong to do the Santa Claus thing, but we have decided against it. This is a work in process because we definitely don't want our kids to be the snot nosed brats who go around to the other kids and say "There's no such thing as Santa!", but we don't want the fat man in the red suit to overshadow the Baby in the manger.

4. Christmas is not about us. Again, we intentionally limit the amount of stuff we give our kids (even though if you came in our house, you would wonder if we really do!) so that they won't think Christmas is about them. If we just give lip service to Jesus and spend most of our time showering them with presents, I doubt that they'll believe us when we say "Christmas is about Jesus."

I hope these posts on Christmas have been thought provoking at least and helpful to those who are thinking through these issues. This has certainly not been the final word, but it may be a good place to start.

Blessings on you all as you seek to think like Christians. If you are not a Christian, blessings on you as you consider the Christ who's coming we celebrate.

Update: I Now Have a Magic Wand

Outside at Sue-Sue's house.

Addie:(comes and places a stick in my hand) Now you have a magic wand!

Oneness and Strawberry Cake

While lying on our bed this morning.

Addie: Why do you sleep here daddy?
Daddy: That's what mamas and daddies do, they sleep together because they are one.
Addie: Piper's not one, and I'm three. On my birthday I turned three and had a Strawberry cake that looked like a heart.

We'll have to work on the meaning of oneness in marriage.

Hijacking CHRISTmas Part II: The Tree

In my first post on this topic I talked about the root cause of the hijacking of Christmas. Consumerism is one manifestation of unbelief in our culture. We believe that by buying stuff, we will be made happy and all of our fears will be relieved. We have turned The celebration of Christ into an opportunity to worship the god of consumerism.

The meaning of Christmas is the redemptive story of God, who looked on us in our need and came to be with us. Through marketing the elements of Christmas, our culture, and our economy have slowly and steadily transformed the celebration of the coming of the Christ, to the celebration of our own greatness and material wealth. Instead of reveling in the majesty and glory of God in the coming of Christ, we revel in our "mud pies" of tech toys, video games, and doll houses.

Santa Claus- Yeah... well in our household, we are making a conscious effort to keep the fat man in the red suit from becoming more associated with this day and time than Jesus. We are making a conscious effort to focus more on the Greatest Gift that has ever been given to humanity than the gifts that we give our children, or receive from others. No, our kids aren't going to be the jerk kids that say to your kid "Santa isn't real" (I hope). Our goal is that when our children think about Christmas, the first thing they think about is Jesus. We hope that our gifts that we give our children will not be an occasion to worship the false god of consumerism, but that they will be an echo of the grace of God in sending Christ.

Back to SC- The marketeers have picked up on this fat guy in a red suit that goes around the world and gives presents to all the good little girls and boys. Instead of Christmas being a time where we give out of our abundance to others, it has become a time to flaunt our own wealth and spend our money on ourselves. Christmas has become a competitive game encouraged by the culture to get the most stuff. I remember getting into talks with other kids at school where we compared what each of us got for Christmas and the ones who got the most stuff were esteemed higher than the ones who got less.

This is not the meaning of Christmas and I have serious problems with even using Santa Claus as a behavior modification strategy. What are we teaching our children? We are teaching them to be self-righteous Pharisees and not communicating to them the gospel.

Coincidently, the Desiring God website just posted this video of John Piper talking about this very issue.



In summary, the culture has hijacked Christmas in a couple ways, by turning it into an occasion to worship the god of consumerism and replacing the truth of the good news of the gospel with the threat of lost (or gained if you're good) presents.

Emily Baird

Here are a couple Emily Bairds. I couldn't find any Addie Leighs or Piper Elisabeths.

Adam Thomas

Adam's was more fun. I guess with a more common name there are more diverse options.

Jonathan Baird

I thought it would be cool to see what other Jonathan Bairds in the world look like here are a few. Google image search is a pretty neat thing.

Prayer Request

I just got news that a wife of a professor at SAU (Limount Zhao) has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It has spread to her bones and she is on her way to China to receive treatment. He is a professor of finance and the department chair of economics and finance. They are young and have two children 3 and 6. This is a devastating situation, and we should be in prayer for them.

Campus Crusade For Christ

Last week I had the privilege of meeting with a couple who will be going to Iowa to do college ministry at Iowa State University. If anyone is looking for someone to support in college ministry they come highly recommended from me. Here is a little blurb about their ministry from Jake.

"My wife Hilary and I are on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at Iowa State University. We are currently raising our financial support to report to Iowa State. There are 26,000 students at Iowa State and we are trusting God to reach out to these students. Our heart is to win students to Christ, build them up in their faith, and send them out as laborers for Christ. Our mission is to help turn lost students into Christ-centered laborers. We want to see students come into a dynamic relationship with Christ. We also desire to send out our students after their time on campus. We want them to leave college and have a fruitful ministry in their workplace and in the churches they become a part of. We are excited to report to Iowa State and be a part of God's work on the college campus. We currently are looking for people who will partner with us prayerfully and financially in a monthly manner to reach students for Christ."

Jake and Hilary Mlsna
Campus Crusade for Christ

If you would like to get in touch with them please email Jake at Jacob.mlsna(at)uscm.org, or you can mail them at P.O. Box 2041, Eau Claire, WI 54702.

Christians and Discipleship

All Christians should be involved in discipleship. If what we say we believe is true then there is no excuse for not pouring ourselves into others.

I'm not prescribing exactly what it ought to look like, I'm just saying it has to be present in whatever form is biblical and helpful.

If you say you are a believer, you need to be discipling someone.

If you say you are a believer, and want to be discipling someone, but don't have anyone to disciple, be on the lookout for someone to pour into.

If you say you are a believer and don't feel qualified to disciple someone, you need to be discipled.

If you say you are a believer and don't feel qualified to disciple someone, and don't want to disciple someone, you need to be discipled, and you need to examine your heart.

If you say you are a believer and don't feel qualified to disciple someone, and don't want to disciple someone, and don't want to be discipled, you need to examine your heart.

Why wouldn't we want to allow the truth of God that we have been changed by to overflow out of our lives and reach into other people's lives?

Deal of the Day

I may not do this everyday, but I have a hobby of searching deal sites for the best deals out there.

Today, you can get $15 cash back if you spend $75 at Buy.com and use Paypal to checkout.

Yes, I did just post this two posts after my rant against consumerism.

A Little Self Deprecating Humor- For Those Who Have Ever Gone Out to Eat With Me You Understand

Indeed, I Do Not Have a Magic Wand

At Dinner Tonight

Addie: Can I have a treeeat?!

Daddy: They are not done yet.

Addie: (Begins to cry and yell) But I want a treat!

Daddy: What do you want me to do wave my magic wand and make the cookies be done?

Addie: (In a whiney voice) You don't have a magic wand.

Hijacking CHRISTmas Part I: The Root Problem

The Root Problem

I love Christmas. I love Christmas, because the coming of Christ is important. That is what Christmas is all about anyway right? Well, not so much in our culture. What is most associated with Christmas these days? Santa Claus, Reindeer, Elves, maybe even something benign like "family togetherness." I would imagine though that the number one thing that people think about during CHRISTmas time is presents. The fact that on the celebration of our Lord's birthday, we go out and spend ridiculous amounts of money on a bunch of crap that we don't need is an indictment on our culture. Of course it's nothing new, and it's not even confined to Christmas time. We do this all year round. A very good post by my cousin Ashley got me thinking about this.

We have to ask how we got here. Saint Nick was a good guy who went around giving presents to people who were less fortunate. I'm glad he did that, and that is a great testimony to what the Spirit of Christmas really is. God looked on us in our need and gave us the greatest Present in the world. Somehow we have turned Christmas into an opportunity to commit idolatry with the god of consumerism.

Our culture is driven by marketing and advertising which is designed to make you think a certain way. They put a fear in your mind, and then offer the solution to the fear. What does that sound like? Brainwashing? You think that's too strong? I don't. We are bombarded with all kinds of messages about what we need and don't need, all to get you to do one thing, buy a product that will relieve your fears. I am tempted to go off on a tangent here about false hells and false saviors like this dude would do, but I digress.

Our culture is constantly preaching to us, and we listen and conform our lives to it. So, for our families and our children it is not a matter of if they will be taught, but what they will be taught and who will do the teaching. Personally, I think I can teach my children more effectively and with better content than the culture at large. I would much rather be accused of brainwashing my children than allow our consumerist, secular humanist, culture of death to teach my children their values.

What does all this have to do with Christmas? Marketeers have hijacked this holiday, and even used "Christ" to do it. In my next post I'm going to talk about how this "root" has grown into a "tree" and in the final post I'm going to talk about how we can cut the "root" and tear down the "tree."

Question: What Was Jill's Study Bible?

Answer:
She had the "Reformation Study Bible" which is a great resource. You can find it here at the Westminster Bookstore.

While the Reformation Study Bible is a great resource, an even better resource that only recently came out is the ESV Study Bible. The scholars that worked on it are more broad than the Reformation Study Bible and it has more content. This study Bible can be found here at a cheap introductory price.

The Obscenity of the Cross

I was listening to a great sermon this past Sunday at church by this guy, and I was struck by the awfulness of the cross. Sometimes we wear it around our necks, or on our fingers (as I do). In many people's lives it becomes a decoration, when it was really a torture and execution device. Why don't you see people wearing nooses on necklaces? Why are there not electric chair earrings? I'm not saying we shouldn't have crosses around, I'm just saying that we don't need to forget the horrors of the cross.

This is a great quote from R.C. Sproul on the obscenity of the cross:

"In some instances, the prevailing indifference to the cross mutates into outright hostility. I once was asked to deliver a lecture explaining the relationship between the old and new covenants. In the course of delivering this lecture, I referred to Christ’s death as a substitutionary, vicarious sacrifice for the sins of others. To my surprise, someone in the back of the room yelled out, “That’s primitive and obscene.” I was taken aback for a moment, so I asked, “What did you say?” He said it again with great hostility: “That’s primitive and obscene.” At that point, I had recovered from my surprise, and I told the man I actually liked his choice of adjectives. It is primitive for a blood sacrifice to be made to satisfy the justice of a transcendent and holy God, but sin is a primitive thing that is basic to our human existence, so God chose to communicate His love, mercy, and redemption to us through his primitive work. And the cross is an obscenity, because all of the corporate sin of God’s people was laid on Christ. The cross was the ugliest, most obscene thing in the history of the world. So I thanked the man for his observation."

The cross was the most horrible, merciful, awful, compassionate, painful, loving, scandalous, restorative, punishing, justifying, propitiating, ugly, beautiful event in the history of mankind. God came and bore our sin in His body on the tree. He can truly empathize with any suffering no matter how deep and how persistent. We should not forget the full scope of the of the meaning of the cross.

What Lies Beneath

The last week or so I have felt a bit numb emotionally. Obviously, I still miss Jill often and hurt for Scott constantly. However, my grief has felt a bit shallow recently. A friend of mine gave Kristel and I a book entitled From Grief to Glory. I began reading it this morning not because I needed to feel comfort, but because I needed to feel. As I read of the loss of others, it did not take long before I once again could see and feel the deep wound to my soul that Jill’s passing has left. It felt good in a way. Does that make sense? I think at times we put makeup over our wounds instead of dealing with them. We busy ourselves so we do not have to think about the fact that we are not doing so well. Pain is our body’s way of telling us that something is wrong and to slow us down. It works the same way with our wounded souls. If we ignore our pain we could stunt the growth that God intends for us during this loss. I would encourage you to find ways to stir your soul and see what lies beneath the surface. As painful as it sounds, let us tear open the wounds treated with superficial treatments and allow Christ to give us true life altering healing.

Cute and Funny Interchanges

I have been inspired by my good friends Kristen and Scott over at The Dunn Show to blog on dialogue that happens in my house hold. So I will start with humor and end on cuteness.

Daddy: Addie, why did you get out of bed?
Addie: Because I did.
Daddy: That's not a reason. You said you needed to poo-poo, but you really didn't. Why did you say you needed to poo-poo?
Addie: It's a reason!?
Daddy: (Through laughter) Well, you said you needed to, but you really didn't. What do you call it when you say something is true but it really isn't?
Addie: A mystery!


While rocking Addie before bedtime.

Daddy: I'm glad God gave you to me.
Addie: Thank you for saying that.

Things They Are A-Changin'

You'll notice a few things that may be new on the right side of the blog--->

The first box is "Organizations That I Like" these are my work websites, my church website, my favorite ministry website and Hannah Medical Center's website (not in that order).

The box below that one is a link to subscribe to my blog through an RSS feed. If you still don't have some kind of program to consolidate all of your readings into one place, get Google Reader along with your Gmail account. You WILL thank me if you use it. If you come to this site or any other site daily to see if there is new information on it, you need an RSS feeder. Google Reader is the best one I've used (yeah, it's the only one I've used, but it integrates with my email and that makes it the best. If you say otherwise, I reject your reality and substitute my own- to quote Adam Savage.)

The next box is my "Shared Items" these are articles or posts that I read that I think would be helpful to a wider audience. I consider these items as "must read."

The following two boxes are pretty self-explanatory- the blog archive, and the list of contributors.

The following box is "Blog Favorites", but it's actually Emily's so I can't change it. I will probably put my own list up and add some more great blogs to frequent.

The last box is the counter- again, self-explanatory.

Tax Saving Tip- Charitable Giving

The year is drawing to a close and and now is a good time to "make-good" on any commitments you have made to charitable organizations. The government has chosen to give those of us who are charitably inclined the great benefit of being able to deduct our contributions to 501(c)3 organizations from our income, reducing our tax liability.

Contributions to your church, your local homeless shelter, relief organizations, and other entities involved in charitable endeavors are all deductible on your tax return. In any given year you can deduct up to 50% of your adjusted gross income for charitable giving. If you give away appreciated assets, you are limited to 30% of adjusted gross income. The good news is that if you want to give away more than 50% of your income in cash or more than 30% of your income in assets, you can carry your giving forward into years where you may not be able to give the maximum.

For the most part, Americans are ungenerous. While we are one of the most charitable countries in the world with our personal income, the percentage of income that the average American gives away is only 3.2%. We are (still) one of the richest countries in the world, and we give only a token amount of our great wealth away.

As Christians our primary responsibility to give is to our local church, and then to give to other organizations that are worthy. The Hannah Medical Center is one of those worthy organizations. It is an explicitly Christian organization that seeks to communicate Christ’s love by providing life-affirming services to women facing pregnancy decisions and by upholding biblical standards for sexual integrity. I have had the privilege of being on the board of the Hannah Medical center for the past year. Jill Attebery was the Chair, and was passionate about what the Hannah Medical Center stands for. It would honor her memory to support a cause that she was passionate about.

To donate, please visit www.hannahmedical.org and click on the "donate now" button on the left hand side of the screen.

Please let me know if you have any questions about charitable giving or gifting.

Brothers In Arms

This past Sunday I was privileged to be able to meet Anthony. He is one of Jordan Thomas's friends, and he recently went through the loss of his wife back in February. They came to church Sunday night and went out to eat with us afterward. Scott and Anthony talked for a good while and it was very encouraging. One of the most encouraging things to me was just seeing someone who was 10 months removed from a similar tragedy, and to see how well he was doing.

I really appreciate Jordan and Anthony in their service to Scott during these difficult days.

Scott is doing very well. He has completed multiple home projects, and even came to church last night and went out with us in our visitation team. I am very encouraged by his demeanor these days. He still has some down times, but over all I would say he is doing as well as could be expected. He is facing this situation head on and being careful not to hide.

Year End Financial Tips

It is getting close to the end of the year and many of you may not know that I am a financial planner by vocation. I thought it would be appropriate to give a couple reminders of some things you can do to plan for your financial future.

529 Plan
In Arkansas you can take advantage of our state 529 plan. I have done extensive research in this area and it is the best plan out there for Arkansas residents. In addition to being able to save for college for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, spouse, or even yourself, you can get an Arkansas state tax deduction on contributions to these accounts. Money put in these accounts will grow (hopefully) tax free until they are pulled out for college expenses at which time, no tax will be owed on withdrawals as long as they are used for qualified educational expenses. Just go to www.thegiftplan.com to find out more information about these excellent accounts. You may also qualify for the "Aspiring Scholars" grant match if your income is low enough. It really does work, we did this for our girls last year and will probably do it again this year.

IRA Contributions
You have until April 15th of 2009 to contribute to your Traditional IRA or Roth IRA for the 2008 tax year. This year the limits are $5,000 each, unless you are age 50 in which case your limit is $6,000. Pay attention to how much you have in both Traditional Accounts and Roth, you should have money in both types of accounts for a tax saving strategy in retirement-Christian reengagement.

Health Savings Accounts
These are some great accounts that help you save for future health expenses and also give you an immediate tax deduction. If you have a qualifying High Deductible Health Policy you can take advantage of an HSA which will allow you to sock money away for future health expenses. The money goes in tax free and comes out tax free when used for qualified health related expenses, including over the counter medication.

Let me know if anyone has any questions about these tips.

"Drunk Peasants"

This was a followup question to my answer about depravity:

I think everything you said is true, and it's a great reminder. I'm still not clear about whether you think that sometimes we focus too much on our depravity and not enough on Christ's FULL redemption of us. I think it may be like recognizing a quarter only by the man on the side. (Who is on the side?) and not by the other side - that has something else on it.

Clearly, I know exactly what I'm talking about.

Example: What exactly does it mean that our hearts of stone have been replaced with hearts of flesh?

Great followup, here is what I would say:

We are like drunk peasants who are constantly falling off one side of the donkey (an illustration by Luther). The Bible speaks of both our abiding sinfulness and Christ's full redemption of us. We must not forget our sinfulness (to keep us humble), and we must not forget Christ's mighty and sufficient power to save (to keep us from sliding into despair). I have called it the "dance of redemption" which I'm sure I ripped off of somebody. As Christians we should constantly be aware of our sinfulness, repent of it, cast ourselves on Christ believing that He has borne our sin and absorbed the wrath of God, and press on, only to fall again, and repent and believe that Christ is mighty and sufficient to save... you get the idea.

As far as the heart of stone being taken out and a heart of flesh being put in. Obviously this is figurative language describing the change of heart that a believer experiences. It does not mean that all believers will have a cataclysmic shift in thinking or behavior (though some will- see CJ Mahaney's testimony for an example of a radical change.)


More than likely your experience, like mine, will not be (have been) as dramatic as CJ's. It probably looks more like a change in trajectory, or a change in direction. Primarily, regeneration softens our hearts toward God. Whereas before, we were at odds with God, and now we love Him and seek to obey Him, no matter how unsuccessful we may be at it. We want to please Him, we want to glorify Him. That is what a ransomed heart looks like.

By the way, it's Washington.

Dirty Children

Question:
Jon, I think there's something to be said for the condition of our hearts under the new covenant. In my own life it has been very hard to reconcile my theology and my reality, especially concerning depravity. (For instance, when my nonbelieving friends do something good. What do I make of that? They are indeed good people with charitable hearts. They have morals they strive to maintain and they are compassionate and helpful toward one another.)

Is it possible that we can make too much of "total depravity"? Or is it possible that we sometimes swerve too far to the right or the left when teaching certain doctrines instead of striving for the balance that wholeness of Scripture would offer?

Great Question! In fact, I was hoping someone would ask it.
Here's my answer:

There are two legitimate ways to look at acts done by humans (believing and non-believing).

Obviously there is a sense in which an unbelieving philanthropist giving $20 Million to build a hospital in Africa is a "good" thing. It is accurate to say it is better to be a good pagan nurse who seeks to help people, than be a bomb throwing anarchist. Consequently only Christianity can satisfactorily explain any moral difference between these two chosen professions!

On the other hand when looking at works from God's perspective (as only God can do). He sees a fundamental difference between works done by those who are His and those who are not.

Christians- Yes, every work we do is tainted by sin, even our best actions are like bloody tampons. Sorry to get crude, but that's the way the Bible describes our works (See Isaiah 64:6). Christians are by no means perfect, and as Romans 7 makes explicitly clear, we all live in the reality of abiding and indwelling sin, but there is also another law at work in us. Christians are sinners in whom the Spirit dwells and motivates us to put to death the deeds of the body, this is always the case with believers. We never "arrive." We never get to a point to where we have sin "licked." In this life, sin will be a constant enemy of Christians that must be put to death.

Non-Christians- Yes, every work they do is sinful in God's eyes. Even their best actions are not done in faith. Romans 14:23 says "But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin." and Hebrews 11:6- "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." Therefore only works done "in faith" (whatever that means) are not sinful to God. By definition an unbeliever does not have faith, and therefore every work is sinful. Even good works done by Christians not in faith are sin.

Bottom line: Being a Christian does not mean sinlessness, but it does mean that you hate sin, and fight against it. It is good and right to recognize when an unbeliever does something good and even to thank or compliment them. At the same time we should not mislead them into thinking that God is pleased with their "good works" nor that He is pleased with ours. He is pleased with Christ and anyone who is "in Him." That's what it means to do works in faith. We work trusting that God is looking at us through the lens of Christ's work.

Hope this is helpful and it may even spur more questions.

Does Anyone (Besides Me) Think I Use Parentheses Too Often? (Be Honest)

In our ever changing world of language, we must find ways to creatively and clearly communicate. Sometimes it even means to make up words (like "literality," or "enoughness"). Short headlines to describe yourself seldom work anymore. For instance, it is not enough to say "I'm a Christian" for anyone to know what you actually mean. I could say that and mean something completely different from what my Mormon friends would mean by that same statement. Communication and language are fascinating to me. The changing connotations of words cry out for definition. In order for us to be clear in our communication we must continually go back to the drawing board. We must not be afraid to look stupid. We must ask questions. We must answer questions. We must criticize candidly and constructively. We must be willing to take criticism without being destroyed.

Bonus points to the one who can comment on the significance of the photo (I know it's too easy).

Would The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

Here's the explanation of the question and the question.

Explanation:

Right now I typically read from the ESV. To go along with that I use Bible Gateway to read these other translations - KJV, NIV, NLT, MSG, AMP.

Most of them say something like "John said, 'Master, we saw this dude casting out demons IN YOUR NAME...'" I noticed that the NLT and MSG (yeah, they are totally the black sheep of the Bible Translation Family) say something like "Jesus they were USING your name." See, totally different connotation, right?

Question:

When John says this is he being accusatory? Is he saying that they were "using" the name of Jesus? Clearly, because of Christ's reply he is to a degree, but I'm always curious to see how the disciples talked to Jesus. What kind of words was he using?

Which also brings me to this. In Adam's morning sermon last Sunday he said something about "doing something in Jesus name." What exactly does it mean to do something in Jesus name? This fits perfectly into the account of this passage in Luke when you read it in Mark 9. Is it as simple as doing something BECAUSE YOU BELONG TO CHRIST? Or is there more to it?

Great question(s)!

(My) Answer:
RE: John's Comments- He was being accusatory. I would say it like this, John was saying "Jesus there were these guys casting out demons in your name, can you believe that? They don't even follow us and they were trying to infringe on your copyright, should we try to sue them? Your name is proprietary, and should only be used by you or us, not just anyone can utter that word." I don't think it was directly disrespectful to Jesus, John had good intentions mixed with a little pride.

RE: Doing something in Jesus name- I think this means that if what motivates you to do something for someone is Jesus (either in what He has done or will do for you), then you are doing it in Jesus name. If your acts of mercy have a redemptive goal (they picture in a physical way, what Christ has done for you spiritually) they are done in Jesus name. In a very general way, any good act done by someone known to be a Christian is doing something "in Jesus name." Another important point to this is that you have to be speaking in the name of the "right Jesus." Not the Jesus who is wimpy, feminine, girly or who wears a dress and has product in his hair (as Mark Driscoll would say). Not the "good moral teacher" Jesus who certainly wasn't God, and got killed because he talked about loving your enemies and whose body probably was eaten by dogs. Not the lunatic Jesus who only thought he was God, but really was just a loon. Anything done in one of these "Jesus'" name is not really done in Jesus' name. We are not given the freedom to define Jesus in any other way than what Scripture defines Him. Christian good works must be done in the name of the crucified-risen-and-reigning-ruler-of-the-universe Jesus.

Another Question

Question:
When Jesus asked why the father forsake him on the cross, was that doubt? I want to know it isn’t but the human in me wants to know what it is, I should have paid more attention in English!

Answer:
I guess it depends on what you mean by "doubt." Sometimes it's easier to say what things aren't than what they are.
We know Jesus' words and emotions here were not sinful. Therefore we know when Jesus said these words it did not mean, that He doubted God's goodness, or even His sovereignty. In fact He was declaring His sovereignty by what He said. He could have just as easily cursed the Jews or the Roman officials who put Him unjustly on the cross, but He says (kind of like Job) "why have you forsaken me?" Even though we know from Acts 2:23 and 4:27-28 that there were evil intentions of evil men who conspired to kill Christ, we also know that God had a good intention for Christ's crucifixion and that Jesus was aware of this and never doubted it (this fact is obvious from the many allusions to His crucifixion during His ministry recorded the gospels).
Therefore I think it is better to understand this statement by Jesus as a cry of agony. God "turned His back" on Jesus when Christ took on the sins of the world. He was forsaken by God in His darkest hour. He had enjoyed intimate fellowship with the Father His entire life, but this fellowship was cut off for a time (whatever this means in light of the truth of the Trinity) while Jesus was taking the full wrath of God for sinners. Jesus quotes Psam 22:1 here (even He struggled in a biblical way!). Just because Jesus knew that He would have to endure this, does not take away the actual pain of the event. Jesus was in the worst possible agony, worse than any that anyone has ever experienced in the history of the world, yet by His words we see where His comfort was, even though it had left Him for the moment.

Addie's Evil Heart of Unbelief

A constant struggle in the Baird household is making our oldest daughter (Addie Leigh) stay in bed. Tonight she got out of bed four (make that five) times. We disciplined her three times, and talked with her each time. I explained to her that by getting out of bed she was being disobedient, but even worse, she didn't trust me. When she gets out of bed she believes that by getting out of bed it will be better for her than if she obeys me and stays in bed. Here we have a little atheist in the making. Wanting to "do what is right in her own eyes." I asked her who knew what was better for her... Addie or daddy? To which she responded (rightly) "daddy." Maybe it was just lip service, but at least she knew the right answer.

As parents it is our job to instill confidence (in us as parents) in our children so that obedience becomes a matter of trust.

Ok, so while you're thinking about how your kids don't trust you, I'm going to throw it back in your (my) own face. Think about how many times that we, by our actions, disbelieve God. We think that by lying on our resume (don't try to get sophisticated on me and say you are embellishing), or covering up our mistake at work, or eating those two (or four) extra donuts, or (men) lingering a little longer at the Victoria's Secret store, or (women) watching the soap opera or reading the trashy romance novel, that somehow by doing these things, we will be better off than if we take God at His word when He says "do not lie," or when He says "do not be a glutton", or when He says that there shouldn't even be a hint of sexual immorality among us (I need Scott Dunn to help me construct this extremely long sentence properly). All sin can be traced back to the root of unbelief. We don't take God at His word and believe that by sinning we will be better off than trusting and obeying God. When are you (am I) going to grow up and believe our Father?

We Should Struggle Like Jill

I am currently scanning Jill's journal and it makes me feel like a spiritual midget ("little person" if you want the PC terminology). Jill had spiritual struggles like we all do, but she handled them so biblically. It was said of John Bunyan by Charles Spurgeon that his blood was bibline. "Prick him anywhere and he bleeds scripture." The same could certainly be said about Jill. In her journal there are segments of Scripture and segments of her personal thought, but sometimes it's hard to tell which is which. Her mind was saturated with God's word. I want to be like that, I want to bleed Bible.

The Inner Consistency of Being a Wretched Christian

It gives me hope and comfort that it is not inconsistent with Christianity to be a sinful and doubting Christian. However, it is never ok to be doubting or sinful, nor am I ever to be at peace with my sin or my doubt. It is the nature of humanity to be sick, but this doesn't take away the impetus to fight against sickness.

Ultimately my hope and comfort is found in Christ alone, but it is good to be reminded of our indwelling sin as believers so that we will have a sober understanding of ourselves, and not fall into pride, and so that when we sin, we will not fall into despair.

Goodsearch

This is on the Wyatt Baptist Church website. Go support our church by searching through our website!

How many times a day do you search for something on the internet? What's your favorite search engine? Can we make a suggestion? GoodSearch allows you to search the internet and find what you're looking for in seconds, just like Google, Yahoo, etc. But with GoodSearch there's one difference. For every search you make on GoodSearch, they will in turn donate one cent to Wyatt Baptist Church. Here's all you have to do. Just click on the GoodSearch link above or type it into your browser window and off you go.

Here's the important part! When the GoodSearch homepage opens and you are ready to type in your search, look at the drop-down box located under the words "Who do you GoodSearch for?" In that box type in "Wyatt Baptist Church" and click the "Verify" button. Now you are ready to search and the church just got a penny!

Shopping for something online? Why not GoodShop? Click the GoodShop box below the search window and choose from more 700 great stores. GoodShop will in turn donate a percentage of your purchase to the church, some as high as 37%. GoodSearch or GoodShop today!

Peril

(A Prayer entitled "Peril" from The Valley of Vision book of Puritan prayers.)

SOVEREIGN COMMANDER OF THE UNIVERSE,

I am sadly harassed by doubts, fears, unbelief, in a felt spiritual darkness.
My heart is full of evil surmisings and disquietude, and I cannot act faith at all.
My heavenly pilot has disappeared, and I have lost my hold on the rock of ages;
I sink in deep mire beneath storms and waves, in horror and distress unutterable.
Help me, O Lord, to throw myself absolutely and wholly on thee, for better, for worse, without comfort, and all but hopeless.
Give me peace of soul, confidence, enlargement of mind, morning joy that comes after night heaviness;
Water my soul richly with divine blessings;
Grant that I may welcome thy humbling in private so that I might enjoy thee in public;
Give me a mountain top as high as the valley is low.
Thy grace can melt the worst sinner, and I am as vile as he;
Yet thou hast made me a monument of mercy, a trophy of redeeming power; in my distress let me not forget this.
All-wise God, Thy never-failing providence orders every event.
Sweetens every fear, reveals evil’s presence lurking in seeming good, brings real good out of seeming evil, makes unsatisfactory what I set my heart upon, to show me what a short-sighted creature I am, and to teach me to live by faith upon thy blessed self.
Out of my sorrow and night give me the name Naphtali - “satisfied with favour” - help me to love thee as thy child, and to walk worthy of my heavenly pedigree.

Pithy Comments

Never underestimate the power of words. What are some of your favorite (short) quotes from books, sermons, heros, parents etc? If it's a really good one I'll post it.

I like this one by John Bunyan:

"Do you see more worth and merit in one drop of Christ's blood to save you, than in all the sins of the world to condemn you?"

(Keep in mind this is poetic language, Jesus could not have ransomed us with a paper cut).

The Great Eight

Romans is probably the most complete (and therefore the most important) book in the Bible. Romans Chapter 8 is probably the most important chapter in the Bible. Romans 3:23-26 is probably the most important paragraph in the Bible. Romans chapter 1 verse 16 is probably the most important verse in the Bible. (Notice my epistemological humility by using the word "probably").
I have mentioned this before but I go back to Romans 8 over and over again. The puritans called it "The Great Eight" and for good reason. It is massively helpful in thinking through the Christian life.
I would encourage you all to meditate deeply on this remarkable chapter. Drink heavily from it's meaning and comfort that it brings.

Question: What Was Jill's Study Bible?

Answer:
She had the "Reformation Study Bible" which is a great resource. You can find it here at the Westminster Bookstore.

While the Reformation Study Bible is a great resource, an even better resource that only recently came out is the ESV Study Bible. The scholars that worked on it are more broad than the Reformation Study Bible and it has more content. This study Bible can be found here at a cheap introductory price.

Why I Quote John Piper Often

Some may not know who John Piper is, but he has been extremely influential in my life. About 10 years ago I was introduced to him through the book "Desiring God" from my father-in-law, and I have never been the same since. He helped me to see God in all of His glory by unfolding the Scriptures to me and showing that my desire to be joyful and God's desire to be glorified are not at odds. The maxim by which he lives is biblical and helpful- "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him."

I have been criticized for my seeming "devotion" to this man, and perhaps that criticism has not been completely unfounded, but one of the main things I have learned from John Piper is that God is my rock, my shelter, and my hope. No created person or thing can be that for me.

One of the reasons that I quote John Piper so much in times like these is that he is one of the few people who constantly talks about suffering. So when I'm suffering and I want to hear some biblical, encouraging words, he is who I go to. In addition to "Christian Hedonism" his ministry is probably most closely associated with enduring suffering. I am never not helped by what he has to say and am thankful to God for his servant John Piper.

I said all that to say that in the area of preaching to yourself it is good to have examples of this, and John Piper preached this sermon after being diagnosed with cancer and having his prostate removed. In it he gives some good counsel on preaching the gospel to yourself.

Preach To Yourself

I have been familiar with the concept of preaching to myself for a while now. It has recently become even more important. As I have been able to read through Jill's notebook, she was constantly preaching to herself. Her devotional life is a great example of a radical, realistic, and persistent dependence on Jesus.

Here are five reasons to preach to yourself:
1. We are stupid- It takes at least 5 times of us hearing something for it to get into our heads and even more to get into our hearts.
2. God's Word is powerful- If we truly believe the Bible to be what it claims to be we should hide it in our hearts and one of the best ways to do that is to constantly remind yourself what it says.
3. The Psalmist does this over and over.
4. It means that you recognize your dependence on God for sustaining your spiritual life.
5. It's a good way to redeem the time and gives you opportunity to reflect on your many imperfections.

Reminder: Letters to Bryce

This is a repost of the information for the project "Letters to Bryce." Some have had trouble sending the letters by email. If you continue to have trouble please try emailing them to lfwatson(at)gmail.com.

We have set up an e-mail address for people to send letters to. After the deadline we will compile these letters into a book for Bryce to have. So, here are the instructions:

Please write a letter TO BRYCE telling about what Jill meant to you and how she influenced your life. Yes, Scott will probably read these to him when he is little, but we want him to have this book forever. Please be detailed and share any fun memories of her that are SPECIFIC to your relationship with her. E-mail them to letterstobryce@gmail.com. If you would like to include any pictures you might have of Jill, please do that as well. You can also include any newspaper articles or other scrapbook type items. If you need to mail anything, you can mail it to Lindsey Watson, 2404 Broadview Ave, Conway, AR 72034. Please note "letters to bryce" on the outside of the envelope. PLEASE DO THIS BY JANUARY 1ST, 2009. Cari Calhoun and I will compile all of these letters and pictures into a book.

Please note - Scripture and poetry are great and we want that, but please include a letter of at least one thing about Jill and/or your relationship to her. Thank you so very much!
Lindsey Watson

Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering Part II

Job 1:1-2:10

A very popular theology today is the Health Wealth and Prosperity teaching. It says that if you have enough faith, your business will prosper. You won’t get sick. Tragedy will not strike. You won’t be late on your bills. God wants you to live in “total victory” as one popular teacher has said. This is the exact opposite of what Christ promised us.
Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them m to continue in n the faith, and saying that o through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Matt 10:26, 25 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
John 15:20 - Remember the word that I said to you: g ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

II. God Owes Us Nothing vs 1
God owes none of us an easy life of health, material wealth, free of sorrow. One of the points of this book is that Job was the “best” man, yet God allowed unimaginable pain and sorrow to come into his life. We must not understand pain and sorrow as purely God’s retributive justice for our actions. In other words, it is not always the case that righteous people prosper and wicked people suffer. There are many instances where the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

1. Remember when Katrina happened, and some televangelists said it was because of homosexuality or gambling? The truth is that if we got what we deserved Katrina would come and land in our backyard.
2. Vs 14-17 God does not owe it to us to prevent people from sinning against us. Even though it was sinful for the Chaldeans to attack Job, God in allowing them to do so was not acting in an unjust manner. Think about what this means. Anytime anyone sins against you, God could have stopped them but didn’t and He is not blameworthy.
3. Vs 6-12 God does not owe it to us to prevent Satan from attacking us.
4. The reason God does not owe us a good life is because we have sinned against Him. Even the best of us have nothing we can hold over God’s head. We cannot blame Him as being unjust. We see Job’s repentance in Job 42:6.
5. A popular question that many people ask is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” There is even a book by that title written by Rabbi Harold Kushner.

a. The logic is that some people are “good” and others are “bad” and in our minds it is unjust for bad things to happen to good people. This is a logical question to ask of this passage, but it is not a legitimate question to ask, ever. It is a loaded question like “Have you stopped beating your wife?” If someone asked me that it would be loaded. A loaded question presumes some truth and then answering the question legitimizes the asker’s inferred point. The load is that I am currently beating my wife, if I answer the question I either beat her in the past or am still currently beating her. The question about why bad things happen to good people presupposes that there is such a thing as “good people” which the Bible is explicit in saying there are none (Rom 3:9-10).
b. A better question to ask would be “Why in the world doesn’t God immediately destroy any and all who sin? Where is the outrage at God’s failure to execute justice? If there is any outrage to be had it ought to be because God forgives sin. He is the just judge of the universe and I have committed the most heinous atrocities against His great Name, and yet He forgives. What a scandal! What a brazen disregard for justice! How could He possibly overlook sin? Nobody talks that way, but that is much more legitimate than asking “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Why does anything good happen to treasonous sinners like us?

III. God intends even the worst experiences for our good. We see this later in 33:17 that God intends suffering for our good. We learn from Romans 8:28 that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This is one of the greatest promises of the Bible, and we should constantly be banking on this.

IV. Conclusion- How should we respond to tragedy?

1. All of what we have said (God is sovereign, God owes us nothing, God intends evil for our good) does not mean that we don’t have real pain and real sorrow. It does not mean that we won’t be devastated by calamities, but it does mean that when we fall, we fall on Christ, Job had incredible, unbearable pain. As we heard in Romans chapter 8 a few weeks ago “in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Not “instead of these things…” Part of the Christian walk is sorrow and pain, and it is real. Experiencing pain is no sign of unbelief, but it is important to note that we do not mourn as those without hope (I Thess. 4:13). In a sense our suffering should be worship. When we mourn we recognize God's gifts as valuable. We don’t need pasted on smiles and a fake chipper attitude, be broken, yet always rejoicing. II Cor 6:10.
2. What about anger? We never have a legitimate reason to be mad at God. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be mad at God, and if we are, we should admit it.
3. We should respond to God in faith and worship (Job 1:20-21), not because we necessarily like or even understand our circumstances, but because we trust God that He means this for our good and realize we have no grounds to be angry at Him.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan his work in vain
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain

4. We should respond in repentance (Job 42:6), realizing that our time is coming to, and we need to be prepared. Luke 13:4-5
5. The answer to the question about why God doesn’t destroy us immediately is found in our evangelism verse Romans 3:24-25. “In God’s divine forbearance He had passed over former sins” Why did God pass over former sins? Answer: the cross. Why is God patient toward us? Answer the cross. Why does God plead with us, and give us opportunity after opportunity to repent? Answer the cross. Job’s situation pushes us to the cross where we can find our peace with God. That is where He made peace with us, so that is where we should go to find it. We believe that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, and so any pain and suffering that we experience is not punishment for sin, but is a painful but necessary surgery to rid us of our imperfections.

And now come, broken, to the cross,
Where Christ embraced all human loss,
And let us bow before the throne
Of God, who gives and takes his own,
And promises – whatever toll
He takes – to satisfy our soul.
Come, learn the lesson of the rod:
The treasure that we have in God.
He is not poor nor much enticed
Who loses everything but Christ.

First Question: Warning! Deep Theological Reflection Ahead!

Dear Jonathan,

Greetings. I have a question regarding the sermon notes that you posted today. If I understand you correctly--I might not have--this past Sunday, you preached that the idea that God lacks exhaustive knowledge of the future is un-biblical. (I take it that you have in mind the "Open" view of God?) While I do not wish to drag you into a debate on this point, I would find it helpful if you could provide me with concrete reasons why you hold to this strong claim. In particular, I am wondering if you think that there are exegetical, theological, or perhaps even philosophical reasons to think that the open view is contrary to the Scriptures. Many thanks.

Sincerely,
XXXX


Then I responded with this answer:

Thank you very much for the question.
I certainly had the "Open" view of God's knowledge in mind when writing the sermon.
There are many exegetical reasons to believe the Open View to be error including:
Isaiah 41:21-29- Part of God's "Godness" is dependent upon Him knowing what the future holds and being able to declare exactly what will happen. (See also Isaiah 45:18-25 and 46:9). There is also the issue of Psalm 139 etc. where God is said to have very specific foreknowledge (David's words before they are spoken, his days before they are lived etc) that the "Open" view could not explain. There are many New Testament texts where Jesus makes specific predictions about what will happen in the future- John 13:19. Jesus predicts Peter will deny Him 3 times (not 2, not 4, not 15, but 3)- John 13:38 and 18:19-27. Jesus predicts the kind of death Peter will die John 21:18-19.

The theological reasons would simply be the understanding of these and other texts to teach that God has exhaustive divine foreknowledge and that that type of knowledge is inconsistent with the belief that God doesn't know the actual decisions of His free creatures (even though in the Open view He may know all future possibilities). I would understand the "repentance" texts and the God "changing His mind" texts as anthropomorphic (this word means "attributing human characteristics to God in order to communicate some other truth about God"- for example when the Bible talks about God's arm, or hand) because some of them taken literally would imply a lack of knowledge of present realities (Genesis 22:1-19- In this text God is said to only know Abraham's heart at the point where he raises the knife), and they seem to be much less clear than the exhaustive knowledge texts.

Philosophical reasons would be the Open view's problem with the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, that is, how could God ensure that the writings of the Bible were exactly what He wanted under this view? Also, how could God ensure that Christ's death would occur exactly as it did?

I know this is oversimplified and short, but I figure that's enough to get the dialogue going.

I appreciate you asking the question.

For reading I would recommend (if you are unaware of the relevant books) God's Lesser Glory by Bruce Ware (where I got most of my Scripture refs). No Other God by John Frame, Beyond the Bounds eds. Piper, and Taylor. I have read (some of) Most Moved Mover by Pinnock, God of the Possible by Boyd, and Is God to Blame? by Boyd on the Open side.

In Christ,

Jonathan

Here was the reply

Dear Jonathan,

Thanks so much for taking time to respond to my question. I have been reading and thinking about these issues for many years, although I have not had the opportunity to do a really in-depth study of the issues. I have worries on both sides. For one thing, I am not convinced that proponents of Open Theism really understand the classical doctrines of impassibility and immutability that they claim to be rejecting. I believe that the classical doctrines allow for responsiveness on God's part even while maintaining that God eternally has exhaustive (fore)knowledge. On the other side, I get worried when classical theists throw around the idea of divine sovereignty as if just mentioning this fact conclusively ends the debate. There seems to be a tendency for classical theists to miss the fact that God could have sovereignly chosen not to micromanage human behavior. Also, unless you are going to go whole hog supralapsarian, the problem of evil seems to be a particularly potent liability for the classical theist position--at least as far as I can tell.

Thanks again for your helpful response.

Sincerely,
XXXX


To which I responded

Thanks for your response.
I agree that some Open proponents may not understand impassibility or immutability, but I think one of the main problems with this view is that they have not thought it all the way through to the end. There are just too many doctrines that are called into question when holding an Open view of God's knowledge and interaction with creatures. They truly believe in libertarian freewill, while compatibilistic freedom is a much more biblical position (Gen 50:20, Acts 2:23, 4:2-28, Phil 2:12-13 etc.). I would much rather err on the side God's freedom than man's freedom.
The debate is certainly more difficult than most people know, and as I've studied the Open view, I have seen that their position is stronger than I thought, but I still am not persuaded. Another problem is the direction that some of the proponents are naturally drifting. John Sanders for instance says that Christ's intention to die on the cross was not set until the garden of Gethsemane. Here is the relevant citation.
As far as God responding to His people, and having real emotional responses (in accord with His nature as a lover of good, hater of evil, comforter of the downtrodden etc.), I don't see God's divine sovereignty, exhaustive knowledge, impassibility and immutability as necessarily contradictory to these activities of God.
Thanks again,
In Christ,
Jonathan

Disclaimer: I realize that this dialogue assumes a basic knowledge of these issues. For more information on the "Open" view of God also known as "Open Theism" please read this article on Wikipedia.

If anyone has any questions please let me know.

Jonathan

Snake Bit

I have heard people respond about the two tragedies that have hit our church in many ways. One such instance that I heard of is someone referring to our church as being “snake bit”. The phrase “snake bit” refers to being cursed or unlucky. Not to be judgmental but this phrase demonstrates a small view of God. My two staff members mean the world to me. They are my brothers in arms. Donny is one of the greatest fathers I have ever known and I have had to watch him bear the loss of his daughter. Scott loved his wife more than anyone I know and I cannot bear to think about the pain he is experiencing and will experience in the coming days. I have been forever changed by these events. It is an odd thing to be both in the middle of the grief and also in another sense watching it from the outside. It is hard to explain the wounds that have been inflicted to my soul through watching my brothers suffer. God draws for us a much more crooked path than I ever imagined. This is not the carefree Christian life that I expected but it is the one that God has graciously given me. If I could not stand on the rock hard foundation of the sovereignty of God I think I would go insane. Is Wyatt snake bit, cursed, or unlucky? I guess that all depends on how big your God is. I guess in one sense we have all been snake bit. The serpent in the garden struck us hard and the suffering is still being experienced through death, sin, and all matter of pain. But, we serve a God that brought his heel down firmly on the snake’s head and redeemed us from the bite. On the cross Christ redeemed both our sin and our pain. Me, Donny, Scott, and Wyatt believe in a God who is working out his plan according to his good and perfect will. Our loss is substantial and our pain is very real, but our God is big. Is there any other type of God worth worshiping? Though he slays Wyatt, yet we hope in Him (Job 13:15). Do you?

Outline of My Sermon on Job 1:1-2:10

This is a sermon I preached at Wyatt Baptist Church last Sunday night. I'll post the second part next week sometime.

Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering Part 1

I. God’s sovereignty over all things:

There are some who say that God does not know what will happen to us, and that He is just as surprised and upset by what befalls us as we are. The intentions of this teaching are good. They seek to get God off the hook for allowing evil to come into our lives. Unfortunately it is simply not what the Bible teaches.

This is not helpful. If it were biblical, that would be one thing, but this idea is neither biblical, nor is it true.


1.God is sovereign over Satan as we see in verses 6-12. God has a leash. God is so much sovereign over Satan that Satan’s work is attributed to God.
a. We must not say that God does evil because the Bible says God is not the author of evil (I John 1:5, Genesis 18:25). He does not sin. (relevant texts: I Sam 2:6)
b. We must however affirm that God is completely sovereign over Satan. Satan does not move an inch without God’s permissive providence. God could end Satan by simply willing it to happen, but God has His good and sovereign purposes for allowing Him to remain for a time.
2. God is sovereign over sin, verses 14-17- Chaldeans in an unjust and unprovoked manner decimated Job’s property.
a. Again, God does not make people sin (James 1:13), but the Bible teaches that God uses the evil intentions of men for His great purposes (Gen 50:20, Acts 2:23, 4:27-28).
b. God’s sovereignty over sin does not negate our responsibility to God to not sin.
c. Though He does not sin, He accomplishes His purposes by restraining and permitting sin. (Romans 1:21-27). Picture it like a flood gate, God does not have to restrain sin, and Romans 1 even says that God can judge people by turning them over to their own desires. In other words, right now, God is restraining you and me from becoming the worst possible sinners that we could be. If He were to let us go, there would be no limit to the depths that we would sink. If God ceased to restrain us, we would dive into a spiral of depravity.
i. Example of Sabeans and Chaldeans- they were a mean group of people sitting around this day deciding whether to go kick some kitties or go decimate Job’s property. God restrained them from kicking the kitties and they went and decimated Job’s property. So these men had any number of options about what to do that day, and God ruled out the other possibilities that they could have done and left attacking Job’s property as the only one possible.
ii. Example of Christ- God restrained some courses of action that could have been taken not resulting in the death of Christ, and permitted the ones that would end up with Christ crucified.
3.God is sovereign over the natural order as in verses 18-19.
a.God is sovereign over the physical world- Psalm 135:6-7, Proverbs 16:33, Matt 6:25-30
b. God is sovereign over animals- II Kings 2:23-24,
c. God is sovereign over weather and catastrophes. Mark 4:35-41


Since God is sovereign over all of these things we should take heart. Believing that God is sovereign and that we can trust Him is massively helpful in living your daily lives.

We will learn more about how we ought to respond to this truth next week.

New Milestone- 5000 Hits (Officially)

I recently put a hit counter on the site just to know how many people have visited the site. Since the 17th we have had almost 5000 hits with 1100 unique visitors. I'm sure we have more like 25000 hits, but I only recently began the count. Who will be the 5000th hit? It should happen any minute now.

An Excellent Sermon by Jordan Thomas

Here is a sermon preached by Jordan Thomas on November 9th, one week after Jill's accident. The text is Romans 8:1-11. There is something wrong with the video right now, but when he "reads" the text he is actually quoting it. If you were going to memorize one chapter of Scripture I would recommend that it be Romans 8, it is probably the most "complete" (it shares the gospel clearly and outlines the whole story of redemption from beginning to end) chapter in the Bible.

Email Questions

I would prefer that you email me privately with questions and I will either respond directly to you or on the blog. My email address is jonathandbaird(at)gmail.com. I didn't want to put a hot link on here because there are bots that can capture my email address and I would get a ton of spam.

International Outreach at Home

Our church is involved in a great program that pairs host families with international students from SAU. Mark and Vicki Harmon are hosting an international student in their home from Africa, and through that relationship our church has been able to participate in this program at SAU. During the holidays, many of the international students are unable to go home and so they are left on campus by themselves. Host families volunteer to take them in and allow them to be a part of their holiday traditions. We have about 15 international students who are being hosted by families in our church. I am so glad that we have a church family who is concerned with showing Christ's love to the nations through going, sending, praying, and (in this case) welcoming.

What are you or your church doing to reach out to people across the world? Think of opportunities like this that may be in your back yard.

A quick update on Scott:

I have been able to spend some time with Scott over the past few days and he is still doing as well as could be expected. Sunday night I was honored to be able to preach in his presence at Wyatt. Last night he came to our church wide Thanksgiving feast where we introduced the international students and host families.

I know he still covets your prayer, and specifically you can pray for his parents as they continue to prepare to move down to El Dorado. They will need to sell their house soon, and also Scott's dad is searching for a job in the El Dorado area. If anyone knows someone looking for a house in the Greenbrier area or knows of a job in El Dorado (or surrounding areas) please contact me and I'll pass the information along. Bro. Charles is a very talented man (the apple didn't fall far from the tree) and has experience in accounting, fund raising and was the President of Central Baptist College in Conway for many years. They didn't ask me to put a commercial up for this, but I thought it was incredibly appropriate.

I also wanted to thank you all for continuing to read this blog and I wanted to welcome any suggestions for how it might be done better. Many of you have asked for specific information and please know that I take all suggestions/ questions into consideration.

I know many of you are still struggling and I would like to open up the dialogue to any theological questions that you may have. I know in times of tragedy there are questions about God's goodness and sovereignty and I've tried to address those issues, but I know that there may be more. Your feedback is very important. Chances are, if you have a question, there are many others who have the same one.

Do Hard Things

This is kind of piggy-backing off of what Adam said below.

In addition to committing yourself to a rock solid resolve and consistency, you should also take this opportunity to do some of the things that you have been putting off. Have that difficult conversation with your spouse that you have been dreading for months (or years). If you are an unbeliever, consider the claims of Christ and call out to Him in repentance and faith. If you have been "dating" the church and have not joined a group of believers who will keep you accountable and help you to grow, find a good church and join them. Confess your sins to a trusted friend who will help you be more accountable and will help you work through your failures.

Some of the most convicting reading I have ever done is Jonathan Edwards resolutions found here.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction

I have a book in my library entitled “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” by Eugene Peterson. I have to admit that I have never gotten around to reading it but I have always loved the title. The blurb on the back of the book says:

“In an age of thirty-second commercials, thirty-page abridgements and instant banking, it is not difficult to get a person interested in the gospel. It is terrifically difficult to sustain and interest. What we need is not another prescription for quick success, but encouragement to persevere as disciples and pilgrims. Above all, we need to learn to pursue a long obedience in the same direction.”

Jill’s death has challenged many of us in our walk with God. As the wound was fresh many commitments were made concerning bible study, prayer, marriages, discipleship, etc. My question is, how are we doing now that routine life has begun to dull the sting of our great loss? Have our commitments begun to waiver yet? Have you begun to take your focus off of Christ and put it back on other things? I know in my life the fight for a Christ focused life has gotten more difficult each day.

One thing I noticed while reading Jill’s journal is that her amazing relationship with Christ was not made through earth shattering spiritual experiences. It was made through a simple consistent walk with Christ. Jill understood that her walk with Christ was not made by huge sweeping New Years resolution like commitments but rather a long obedience in one direction. She set her sights on Christ anew everyday. As time goes by and God continues to heal his people we need to transfer the reliance of our walks with Christ from the pain of Jill’s death to just a simple obedience rooted in the simple fact that God is God and he deserves our lives. Let’s continue to look freshly upon Christ each new day.

Mark Driscoll on Serving Your Spouse

I'm in Dallas at the Song of Solomon Conference. Last night, Mark Driscoll talked about how he prays that he will outlive his wife. This sounded really weird at first, but then he began to explain. He said that he wants to grow old with his wife, serve her until she dies and then preach her funeral so that he will have the privilege to say wonderful things about his wife in front of their church. He quoted Ecclesiastes when it says that "the end of a thing is better than it's beginning" and asked us what our funeral would be like because that is what we are preparing for.

I had the privilege to be a part of Jill's funeral, and it was not sad, because Jill had been such a servant. We didn't have to search very hard at all to find good things to say about Jill. Seeing Scott's joy in talking about how wonderful his wife was, is one of the most encouraging things I have the privilege to hear.

I have a question for you. Do you serve your spouse in such a way that your funeral will not be sad, but will reflect the great joy that you gave your spouse and those around you?

Update on Scott

I just talked to him on the phone and he is doing well. He went to a Hogs basketball game last night and had a good time. He will be going to Lufkin this afternoon and spend some time with Jill's family. He will be coming back to El Dorado on Sunday and will be there all next week.

It was good to hear from him. I think it does me much more good than him to talk with him.

The Role of Scripture in the Grieving Process

At Wyatt Baptist Church a couple weeks ago Clif Johnson talked about how we can use Scripture in times like these.
Here is what he said:

"In the book Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is on his way to the celestial city and he encounters an evil monster named Apollyon. They begin to fight a ferocious battle. During the fight Apollyon lays a blow so forceful on Christian that it knocks Christian's sword (the word of God) out of his hand and out of reach, and puts Christian on his back. Apollyon walks over to Christian, stands over him and mutters, "I am sure of thee now," meaning, without your sword the victory is easily mine. Without scripture to fight with, we will be defeated in our thoughts, and then our actions. There will not be a time where we walk away from a sermon and say, "That did it for me. I won't have any more doubts, any more questions, any more battles." We will fight every day of our lives to plant the right thoughts and take captive the evil ones. And what we must remind ourselves is that scripture is ultimate reality and truth. Our emotions are not ultimate truth, and they do not need to inform our idea of truth. We must let scripture, ultimate truth, inform our emotions."

This is excellent counsel from a very wise man. The role of the Word in the fight of faith is crucial. Without a strong grounding in that reality, you will be tossed about by emotions, the culture, your sinful desires, your confused-ness about reality, and will be easily led astray by human wisdom and philosophies. I am not telling you not to listen to the world, just get a grip on ultimate reality before you go looking for answers in the world. We all must trust in something before we make any decisions about what is true and what is not. The Bible is trustworthy and will not lead you astray.