8:49 PM This just arrived: 

Guess what I'll be doing tonight?

8:38 PM A pastor in Hawaii (no ka oe!) asks What is exegesis? and makes this comment:

Look at what is there in the text to figure out the meaning of texts. Do not rely on outside sources before you dig into the text. If you do not get this step right, forget trying to apply the Bible to your life. And do not forget God has given teachers to the church to teach. God never promises that all Christians will be able to figure out the meaning of all passages without the help of teachers.

Amen to that! We need each other as never before. Are you a teacher? Do you have something to contribute to the Body by way of "upbuilding, encouragement, or consolation" (1 Cor. 14:3)? I'm quite positive that you are, and that you do. Don't be afraid, then, to express your spontaneous zeal in teaching others what the Lord Jesus has taught you. It matters not what level of formal academic training you may have had or not had. (I have met many people who were "educated beyond their intelligence.") If we are members of the Body of Christ, we have the privilege and, yes, the responsibility of teaching one another. I emphasize this great truth everywhere I go. You do not need special training in a theological college to be a God-trained and God-taught teacher in the church. Just read Col. 3:16 ("teach and admonish one another with all wisdom"). Or look at Paul's use of theodidaktoi in 1 Thess. 4:9: "You yourselves have been God-taught." Or read John's instruction in 1 John 2:20, 27 about the chrisma (anointing) you have from God. "You have no need that any man should teach you," he says. Or see the promise in Jer. 31:33-34 that God would write His law on the hearts of His people and teach them directly as part of Jesus' New Covenant ministry (cf. Hebrews 8).

On the other hand, some of you are specially gifted in the area of teaching. Here is my advice to you: Do not think you need to be an elder or a pastor to teach. As Paul puts it in Eph. 4:11, all pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. I believe a healthy church will have both shepherd-teachers and sheep-teachers, working together in harmony for the building up of the entire Body of Christ. In other words, a New Testament church will have a host of teachers, not only ready to impart knowledge, but to receive it.

Are you a teacher? Then teach!

8:15 PM Today the matching pledge for India that Becky and I have presented to our local fellowship comes to an end. Paul wrote to the Philippians, "It was good of you to share in my troubles" (4:14). The Philippians had an eternal perspective. They gave the work of the Gospel priority over their own personal agendas and comfort. The universal church is a partnership, each partner contributing something different to the other. In sharing with Paul, the Philippians were seeking to put the Gospel and its advance first in their lives. Read Phil. 4:14-20 and you will see that God is able to provide all we need to give sacrificially. It may be a challenging exercise to reflect on the answers you would give to these questions:

• Am I eager to enter into partnerships with God’s people in other communities and nations?

• Do I simply shrug off the needs of the church in the Majority World?

• Do I really believe that God will supply what I need so that I can give sacrificially?

If you do not give to India, give where the Lord leads you. But it is inconceivable that a true follower of Jesus will not give to the work of the kingdom. It is always the will of God to draw us closer not only to Christ but also to each other. Jacque Ellul, one of my favorite theologians, put it this way:

There is one act par excellence which profanes money by going directly against the law of money, an act for which money is not made. This act is giving (Money and Power, p. 110).

As we give sacrificially to the needs of our bothers and sisters, we prove our equality among God's people (2 Cor. 8:13-15). Amen?

8:02 PM Evenin', pards! Got back from the seminary and just had to get Becky away from her machine, so we went out for dinner and then shopping for groceries for tomorrow's work day. I love being with my better half. Right now she and Karen are preparing the lunches for tomorrow, while I've been doing farm chores. So much to say but so little time. However, I just had to share this email with you. It arrived yesterday.

Brother Dave,

I simply wanted to drop you a quick line and say that today's blog post was quite possibly one of your best! I have just finished reading your book Christian Archy and the post today spoke volumes to me. Thanks for making clear what's been rolling around in my head for months now. As always we are praying each day for Mrs. Becky. Please pass on our love to her.

First of all, I want to thank this reader for his kind words and prayers. Secondly, I want to make it perfectly clear that I do not consider myself to have arrived when it comes to living the Christian life. The evidence against me is incontestable! But I do hope that my willingness to be transparent (and even vulnerable) and to reveal the personal issues that I deal with on a daily basis will encourage my readers to press on with new resolve in this thing called kingdom living. On this blog I attempt to do two things. First, I desire to encourage a new generation of Jesus-followers in their relentless pursuit of what Paul calls "the race." Basically, I want to peel back the layers of my own life and present some down-to-earth principles that I've gleaned through the years as I've passed through the School of Hard Knocks. Secondly, I seek to inspire within the new generation a clearer vision of what the kingdom looks like and how to reflect the glory of God in the midst of what Paul called "jars of clay." As I do this, I draw great encouragement from other bloggers who have chosen the high road of 1 Cor. 14:3. Your sites draw me as they do many others. It sobers me to think that some of you actually draw inspiration from my daily jaunts into the blogosphere. As long as I live, I fear that people will look to me and not to Jesus. How do we bloggers maintain a healthy equilibrium? By constantly focusing on Christ.

Frankly, I'm tired of so-called experts telling me what to think. I've heard most of it before. I've been listening to sermons all my life. But what I'm looking for are lives that have not only taken in the truth but have learned to give it out in concrete ways. Nothing is ever more important than allowing God to do His work in our lives. And that pursuit is an everyday affair that only gets harder with age and with the onset of physical limitations. I strongly feel that the best days for Becky and me are still ahead of us, even though both of us have had to adjust to our physical challenges. But if you and I live only in memory of dead blossoms we will miss the potential of the new blooms. The resolve to leverage everything for Christ enabled William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, to accept his blindness. He wrote:

God knows best. I have done what I could for Him and people with my eyes. Now I shall do what I can for God and the people without my eyes.

Godly men and women never see any circumstance as meaningless. If Paul could use prison time for writing, can't I choose to cooperate today with God’s maturing love, despite all of my infirmities? How awesome it is to see older saints who have no sign of self-pity but instead delight in continuing to be useful for the kingdom. As crazy as it may sound, I'm actually enjoying these days of slow plodding as much as I did my earlier years when I was full of extra vitality. God still has great purposes for Becky and me that He has not yet unfolded. God loves me, and He loves Becky. He has already done for us more than we could have asked or expected. I’m learning to see Him in all the places of life – big or little, in health and sickness, in a good CT report or a bad one.

Stay tuned for more stories of His goodness.

Dave

6:04 AM Much is being written in the blogosphere these days about American exceptionalism, voting, military service, the pledge of allegiance, etc. The discussion reminds me of another conversation that took place between the 16th century Anabaptists and their Reformed forebears. (History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.) Perhaps I should tell you where I stand.

Claiming God's special blessing for our nation (or race, or class, or group) is nothing but hubris. We co-opt God for our political agenda whenever it suits us. As Lincoln put it in his Second Inaugural:

Neither party [North or South] expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained…. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other….

Radical Christianity pursues a different path. Rather than trying to get God to be on our side, it tries to be on God's side. This means, among other things, putting God's purposes ahead of our own group or nation's self-interest. This is the original NT message called the Gospel. It is a practical vision that creates a people who transfer their human identities from national loyalties to a new identity as the global people of God. Their mission is both to proclaim and live the kingdom of God, in contrast to the selfish kingdoms of this world. This "new nation" of Christ-followers does more than preach the Gospel. It lives it. Wherever you see Christians welcoming Muslims into their community and befriending them for the sake of the Gospel, wherever you see pro-life churches going beyond mere words of protest and actively supporting pregnant women financially so that they can carry their children to birth, wherever you see believers offering hope where nobody else does – there you will see kingdom of God in practice.

In his book, Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, David Kuo, former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, reveals how the Republicans in the Bush administration sought the votes of evangelicals but had no real interest in leading a new Great Awakening. "This [is the] message that has been sent out to Christians for a long time now: that Jesus came primarily for a political agenda, and recently primarily a right-wing political agenda – as if this culture war is a war for God. And it's not a war for God, it's a war for politics. And that's a huge difference," said Kuo in an interview on 60 Minutes. His point? Mixing evangelical faith and Washington politics-as-usual is antithetical to the Gospel.

Herein lies one of the greatest challenges of modern American evangelicalism. Today God and conservatism have practically merged into one. The "wonder-working power" of politics now drives a large segment of the Christian right. But sin is our trouble, not liberalism in government. To treat cancer by temporary measures is to endanger the victim still worse. David Kuo will probably be considered a neurotic pessimist by his cheery fellow-preachers, but he is right and they are wrong, even if he learned his lesson the hard way. Modern political machinations – whether by the right wing or the left wing of evangelicalism – are nothing more than fads that work up mere optimism and positive thinking. Whenever government tries to make men good without being righteous – something the devil would love more than anything in this fallen world – the professing church becomes cluttered with hosts of superficial saints who never sell out to Christ.

Anyone who reads the New Testament will see that Jesus refused to identify Himself with any of the politico-religious parties of His day, whether they were called Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, or Zealots. Likewise, Christians today must maintain an ultimate commitment to Christ and eschew loyalty to a political party – any political party. It is indeed a decadent citizenry that rejects sound doctrine and heaps to itself politicians to tickle its itching ears. Yet who will deny that this is happening? Mr. Kuo is undoubtedly aware of the risks he is taking in airing his criticisms. When Alexander Solzhenitsyn delivered the 1978 commencement speech at Harvard, one newspaper said, "Prophets are not popular. They are uncomfortable people; they make poor house guests. Not only are they not honored in their own countries but sometimes not even in their own times. The greatest of them have been labeled as arrogant, self-righteous, presumptuous, unpatriotic." Mr. Kuo's experience is a reminder of how easy it is for well-meaning Christians to substitute political activism for genuine compassion. As long as good people try to remedy conditions with temporary palliatives there will be a need for prophets like David Kuo. That's because lostness – not liberalism, not libertarianism, not "compassionate conservatism" – is our problem. We are sinners, blind, even lepers, and to try to make people religious without making them righteous only makes them harder to reach with what they need most.

If there is to be today a new politics of faith based on the cross of Christ, it will have to meet critically these issues. This means for me personally that it is not enough to question the just war tradition or to condemn the Constantinian compromise in the abstract. Nor is it enough to rail against the Christ-washed militarism being offered in His name by our politicians. Nor can I merely exegete Jesus' mandate in the Sermon on the Mount disinterestedly. The only responsible Christian ethic is for me to become an active participant in service and sacrifice for the sake of the Prince of Peace. I must discover what it means to rid myself completely of the baggage of self-will and to plunge into the tranquil sea of God's will where alone I will find joy. There are countless situations in my life in which I must decide to put the interests of others above my own life-interests. The power of nonviolence is an important step on the downward path of Jesus, but only if I deliberately chose such a path can "peace on earth" begin to be realized. At the very least, this means for me:

• rejecting the mindset of Western imperialism

• refusing to support the notion that Christian missions benefits from the spread of empire

• preaching the cross instead of the protection of the sword

• placing love of enemy at the heart of the Gospel rather than at its periphery

• affirming an allegiance to Christ that transcends national boundaries or roles

• bearing witness of sacrificial service in the name of Christ

• helping to move peace toward the center of the church’s witness in the world

• teaching about the alternative model provided by the historic peace churches

• living a life of radical discipleship

• being willing to suffer in the spirit of the cross and to undergo a literal baptism unto death if need be

• focusing on the cross as the center of my faith and life

• manifesting the firstfruits of the kingdom of peace in mutual aid and love with the community of faith

• repudiating any coercion or manipulation of faith by the state

• praying constantly that God would move to ameliorate the hatred and pride that provide the occasion for war

• struggling to perfect my life by the Holy Spirit in the confidence that the Lord is at work

• being nonconformist yet involved in attempts at reconciliation worldwide

• preaching the Gospel persuasively and powerfully in deed as well as in word

• maintaining warm Christian fellowship with all who sincerely follow the guidance of conscience with regard to military service, including those who feel obliged to render such service

In the end, while I cannot say that I am currently a peace church pacifist, this is irrelevant since pacifism, unlike the just war tradition, is not as much a dogma to be believed as a lifestyle to be practiced. The work of a genuine peacemaker must be to call civil governments to account and to help limit the violence when conflict is actually in progress. At the very least there is never any reason to glorify revolution or war or to utter blatantly warmongering statements such as were made by candidate John McCain in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. The downward path of Jesus to which the Gospel calls us requires both peacefulness and peacemaking, and the history of the church shows our urgent need to be reminded of these twin emphases again and again in view of the church's compliance with violence.

5:55 PM I've gotten behind in yard care and landscaping, so today I called in the reinforcements -- the Dave Black Lawn and Auto Care Co. The first thing I had him do was to bush hog the whiskers in the fruit orchard.

I'd say it looks much better now, wouldn't you? 

Then the fruit trees needed bracing.

Finally, I had him change a flat on the farm truck.

I tell you, it's awfully handy having such a skilled laborer around.

11:54 AM Last night I read a new book entitled Called to Lead by Anthony Robinson and Robert Wall. It's a commentary on 1-2 Timothy. These are said to be "letters to a young pastor" (p. 4), and we are told that "These are a pastor's letters to another pastor" (p. 5). Hence, "we who are called to pastoral leadership may turn to these letters with special interest, anticipating a particular benefit" (pp. 5-6).

Of course, a few moments of sober reflection will poke massive holes in the assumption that 1-2 Timothy were written by a pastor for pastors. This cliché reflects ignorance of the history of the early church and especially the book of Acts. A reading of Acts 20, for example, will show that the church at Ephesus already had elders (note the plural) when Timothy was left there as Paul's personal representative. I grabbed from my shelf Homer Kent's commentary on the Pastoral Epistles. On p. 19 he notes, "The function Timothy fulfilled in the early church should not be confused with the present-day pastor." He is absolutely correct. Neither Paul nor Timothy was a "pastor" in the NT sense of the word. Paul was an apostle, and Timothy was his "official delegate to assist the Ephesian church with its officials in conducting the affairs of the church" (p. 19). I'm not sure it is helpful to ignore these basic historical facts when interpreting these letters.

11:32 AM I've just returned to the farm and am feeling in an introspective mood. I've been thinking a lot about Becky. Got a second for a little theology? Throughout our long cancer journey, Becky and I have tried to maintain a relentless and even tenacious commitment to Truth. One verse that has meant a great deal to us is Phil. 1:21: "For to me, to go on living is Christ and to die is gain." Whether Becky is destined to live only a few more months or several more years, life will mean to her – as it has meant to her since her conversion in childhood – Christ. Life to her has no meaning, no significance, apart from Him. Of all she does, Christ is the inspiration, the motivation, the model, the goal. That's why death will mean gain. At death, she (and you and I, if we are too are in Christ) will be ushered into the presence of Christ, with the limitations of this earthly existence removed. However, as long as God has "fruitful labor" for her to do, she will go on "living in the flesh."

What are we to make of this attitude?

The apostle Paul is very clear about the situation in which he finds himself. If death means gain for him (and it does), it does not mean that he is tired of life or pining for death. It's as if Paul is saying, "I have a strong desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is by far the best thing. But if my work for Christ, in all its rich results in the mission field and the harvest it has produced in lives, is destined to continue, then I am well content. If for your sakes it is necessary that I should go on living in this mortal body, I am sure that this will be advantageous to you – and me." I think this is Becky's attitude precisely. I cannot think of anyone who has a healthier attitude toward life and death than she does. Death holds no terror for her. She faces it with the same strong resolve that has marked the 36 years of our married life together. For her, both life and death mean service to Christ, and serving Jesus faithfully is her primary goal in living. I think that’s worth emulating, don’t you? Physical life is not of ultimate importance. Faithfulness is.

By the way, as I was reading Philippians chapter 1, I just had to smile at Paul's metaphor, "fruitful labor." Becky, along with one of her spiritual daughters, will be spending this summer canning jam as soon as our fruit trees start bearing fruit. Sure sounds like "fruitful labor" to me. The jars of jam will be used for ministry and as thank you presents. In a word, Becky leads a surrendered life and finds the utmost joy in even the smallest act of service. Just as crushed fruit can produce wonderful jam, sickness can bring a blessing. But just to eke out a useless existence holds no charm for Becky.

I don't know why I'm telling you all of this. Perhaps I need the catharsis. It's hard to understand how God can be healing my heart even as He's breaking it. But this I know. I know His heart aches as much as mine does when He thinks of Becky's condition. I also know that He smiles as much as I do when He thinks of her canning fruit this summer.

You understand, right?

6:28 AM The fields are white unto harvest. Weather permitting, we hope to get this hay up this week:

Fescue:

Orchard grass:

Can't you see the horses drooling?

6:23 AM And the winner of this weekend's contest? Don Stewart. He wrote:

So the Argentinian dictator (general) George (Jorge) Bidela (Videla?) died after spending five years in the slammer? This is one Argentinian I won't cry for!

By the way, love your blog, your Greek portal, your ministry, but most of all your heart for the Lord and for missions! Keep up the wonderful work.

Until the whole world hears,

Don Stewart

P.S. I was with you in the 70's in Harry's 2nd year Greek class (summer). You were by far the best student. Still remember the report you did on the word amen.

The book will go out in today's mail.

8:18 PM It's after 8:00 pm and the farm has settled into a quiet hush. Becky is outside replanting a few bean plants. Nigusse is upstairs studying. I just finished mowing Maple Ridge and spraying the south pond. I hope you'll forgive me for posting more pictures, but today we enjoyed a wonderful visit with Nate and his family. Would you like to see them?

WARNING: Proud grandparents' pictures ahead!

1) Nate, Jess, and the three boys. Yes, you heard me right. Jessica is expecting another son in September. Isn't our God gooooood?

2) Here's Nolan, my little buddy.

3) He is one good hugger, let me tell you.

4) That boy is always on the go.

5) Here he is swinging with his daddy.

6) And sliding to Nigusse.

7) Go, go, go!

8) He slowed down long enough for Becky to read to him one of his favorite books -- Three Boys Who Walked In Fire.

9) Bradford is my other best buddy. Don't you just love his Aloha shirt?

10) Super-Boy!

11) Swinging with Papa B.

12) Here Bradford "reads" with Mama B.

13) At his age, he likes the pictures best.

14) Saying bye-bye to Mama B with a kiss and a love.

So there you have it. I am, in a word, grateful. Grateful for this farm, even if it is a fulltime job just trying to keep up with the work it requires. Grateful for my church family (our services this morning were, well, indescribably edifying). Grateful for the grace of God that allowed me to fix the lawn mower all by my-klutzy-old-dorky-self. Being so isolated here is lovely. You feel God's presence every step you take. After all, it's His creation. I am by no measure a wise man, but I feel like I'm on the edge of discovering something profound about life. Simple blessings are the best. Farm. Family. Hard, healthy work. I have who-knows-how-many years of good health left. I pray that I use them wisely. I think I succeeded today.

As I crawl into bed tonight I do so with a smile on my lips and a contended feeling in my heart. Today was an exceptionally good day. God deserves lots of praise for it. So if you'll please excuse me, I need to do some thanking right now.

7:25 AM Just beginning your studies at Southeastern? Here are Ten Tips for New Seminary Students. Numbers 3, 5, 9, and 10 are the most important.

7:12 AM How to survive a week on campus? 1) Load up on all the healthy meals Becky sends with you; fuel is necessary to keep a 60-year old body going strong; 2) make sure you get your photocopying done ahead of time as you never know when the copier will have a nervous breakdown; 3) do the same work and assignments you're asking your students to do, so that you can at least empathize with them; 4) use humor when teaching -- the drier the better; 5) rabbit trails are a necessary part of teaching; 6) don't forget multimedia (this week I'll show a YouTube); 7) keep shooting upward those little arrow prayers; 8) recognize this will be the last Greek class you'll teach until your sabbatical ends -- so don't take it for granted!

7:02 AM A very exciting week ahead in Greek 1: the aorist, imperfect, and perfect tenses, plus a whole bunch of pronouns. Our first take-home exam is tomorrow night. Who will earn the much-coveted 110 Award????

6:50 AM I hear that today is Trinity Sunday -- "trinity" being a concept that is better expressed by "triunity," lest we emphasize the threeness of the Godhead at the expense of the oneness. Christian unity is, of course, based squarely on the doctrine of the triunity. Jesus taught us as much in His famous prayer for unity in John 17. I've thought a lot about that prayer. In interpreting it, I think we need to avoid two errors. The first is to regard denominationalism as inherently evil. Diversity is not necessarily divisiveness; and it is just what we should expect when the Gospel is being spread among 9,000 different people groups. Such pluriformity should be expected and even celebrated, not merely tolerated. The second pitfall to be avoided is to see unity as something merely spiritual or social. The unity that Jesus prays for, while essentially spiritual, has an outward expression since it is a unity the world can see and know. As the Lausanne Covenant of 1974 puts it, we can all be unified "in fellowship, work and witness." This is one of the reasons Becky and I have adopted an intentionally cooperative philosophy of doing missions. (See How We Do Missions.) At the very least, we can share our resources. In my published study of John 17, I wrote:

Only as unity is sought with passion and bathed in prayer can it be cultivated.

Perhaps today, then, would be a good opportunity for us to acknowledge by name and pray for the other expressions of the Body in our community. This might be done in our corporate prayer time: "And Father, we thank you for [name the other Gospel churches in your community] and for our oneness in them created by Christ. We ask that by the power of the Spirit you would show us how to flesh out this unity in ways that promote the growth of the whole Body." Just a thought -- by someone who is still groggy and has only had one cup of coffee so far.

At any rate, Happy Trinity Sunday!

7:58 PM Thousands of runners finally finished the Boston Marathon today. Good for them.

Their story is inspiring to this old geezer. Is it too stupid a question to ask all over again what endurance looks like? Look inside the life of a mature Christian and you will see the secret of finishing well. I have spent a lifetime listening to the excuses of students who have dropped out. Their tank is empty. They have no spiritual passion. They feed on nothing but thrills and excitement. They flit from one interest to the next. Then there are those who have never quit. They reach Heartbreak Hill and keep on going. The passion to finish the course remains. I want to be like them. What they have is a kind of reserve energy. And it is at Heartbreak Hill that the best runners prove their mettle. Something in me admires that. Something in me prods me to think that I can have that kind of passion too.

7:24 PM Received yet another invitation to join Twitter. No thanks. Besides, I was tweeting long before there was Twitter.

7:08 PM Just finished my work for the day, and I for one am happy to sit down again and relax. Which is a little odd, really, as my list of jobs is not greatly diminished. But I am done (in) for the day, and I think the Lord understands. I'm not quite steady enough with a tool to call myself a good farm hand, but if I keep plugging away at it I might begin to feel a little more comfortable in the job. For some reason, I feel the need to post some pix, not that anyone but my wife will be all that interested. I always find it hard to blog after a good day's worth of work on the farm. It's as if my life is so full, so satisfied, so content, or at the very least less boring and apathetic. So here are those pix:

1) Becky and Nigusse finished packing away all the sewing boxes in the sewing shed.

2) This is the sight that greets you from behind Bradford Hall. I never tire of it.

3) One of my jobs today was to get Becky's bean poles in.

4) Another was to trouble-shoot the mower. I think all I need to do is replace the fuel filter. At least that's where I'll start.

In the meantime I've been helping Becky in the kitchen. We've attained another one of those "new normals," if you know what I mean. Her back really really hurts. And her lungs aren't doing that great either. I keep thinking about hope. Hope is what keeps a 60-year old couple going forward, despite their weariness. Hope is the tiny flame in the midst of the darkness. Hope is such a small thing but it's everything. And its name is Jesus.

Rejoicing in hope,

Dave

1:38 PM You'll never guess what the men folk built this morning.

First we framed in the floor (with the help of our good friend Robby).

Then we dug the holes and set the posts. (At the same time, I gave Nigusse a grammar lesson in English. "The verb for today is 'tamp.' Tamp, tamping, tamped. I tamp, you tamp, he tamps, etc.")

 Decision, decisions -- how high to make the floor?

Drive them nails, Nigu!

Up goes the framing.

Et voila!

Recognize it now? Our famous campground

Outhouse

No, it's not done yet, but we plan to put the finishing touches up on Tuesday. Wait till you see what we do with the "his and hers" feature!

7:22 AM It's contest time again! A free copy of Will You Join the Cause of Global Missions? to any Greek student who can correctly translate this Akropolis World News headline without the use of any helps:

Contest closes tomorrow at 6:00 pm.

6:42 AM In Greek class this week I asked my students, "How's your hekastology?" They thought I was asking them how their eschatology was, but I wasn't. Hekastology comes from the Greek adjective hekastos, "each, every." The apostle Paul often used it when describing what believers do when they gather -- "each one" participates in mutual edification (see 1 Cor. 14:26, for example). We live in a day when many Christians have their priorities backwards. In the first place, the New Testament teaches that worship is a way of life. It is not a Sunday morning religious exercise. The New Testament never describes a gathering of Christians as a "worship service." The reason is simple. According to Scripture, worship cannot be confined to a particular time or place (see John 4:23-24). God designed worship to happen at all times and in every place. Everything in our life should be an act of worship (Rom. 12:1).

In the second place, the New Testament teaches that one of the marks of the church is its highly participatory nature. Whereas our Sunday morning services tend to focus on one man (the "pastor"), the New Testament focuses on "one another" in the building-up process. Hebrews 10:24-25 indicates that "assembling ourselves together" means much more than sitting still and being entertained for 60 minutes (and God help the preacher who goes past 12:00 noon). The Old Covenant priesthood involved only a relative few saints, but the New Covenant priesthood included all the saints (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Each member of Christ’s Body is to function as a priest when the church gathers (Rom. 12:1-8).

If the New Testament makes a distinction between the people and their leaders (1 Thess. 5:12-13), it nowhere creates the false idea that only "ordained ministers" are qualified or responsible for ministry. All of us have some ministry through the exercise of spiritual gifts. According to 1 Corinthians 12, ministry in the church should never focus on one or two members, but on the "many." Each member of the body has a vital function. This means that pastor-teachers are not to bear the entire burden of the edification process. They are to equip the saints so that they can minister also (see Eph. 4:11-12). Elders serve as a vitally important element in the building-up process, but they do not constitute the sole sources of edification. 1 Corinthians 14 indicates that when the entire church gathered the service was open to anyone who had something from the Lord to contribute. Nowhere can you find a pulpit centrality that focuses on one person. Edification was not limited to the instruction provided by the leaders. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, others spoke unto edification – "admonishing one another" (Rom. 15:14), "comforting one another" (1 Thess. 4:18), and even "exhorting one another" to live more godly lives (Heb. 3:13).

A. W. Tozer once said: "We must have a new reformation. There must come a violent break with the irresponsible, amusement-mad paganized pseudo-religion which passes today for the faith of Christ and which is being spread all over the world by unspiritual men employing unscriptural methods to achieve their end."

I could not agree more.  

8:58 PM Got back home just in time to mow the front yard at Bradford Hall and cook a few burgers on the (homemade) grill for our overnight guests.

They are now enjoying the Renn Room, along with a live fire in the fireplace.

Tomorrow is a big work day around here for yours truly so I don't expect to be blogging too much. But who knows? I might surprise you.

6:25 AM Mornin', yall! Before I leave for campus, mind if I mention a couple of former Ph.D. students? Of course you don't. First of all, please join me in wishing Alex and Jenny Stewart a fond bon voyage as they move to the Netherlands to begin serving fulltime at Tyndale Seminary. You can read Jenny's thoughts here. Secondly, you've just gotta read Paul Himes' latest post called A Dissertation: The Raw Data. You will love his sense of humor. Gentlemen, it was a joy and delight to work with both of you, and I wish you God's richest blessings as you begin writing the next chapter in your lives. I'll take a dozen just like you any time.

Side bar to Alex: You call your wife "Mrs. Doctor Stewart." You then are much too humble when describing yourself simply as "Dr. Stewart." Might I suggest, therefore, the following rectification?

Sehr Geehrter Herr Professor Doktor Stewart

Alles Gute und Aufwiederschauen!

7:32 PM Of the 3,000 or so languages in the world, my Greek students have decided to learn one of the finest. It is a great language not because of its complex morphology but because God in His infinite wisdom chose it as the vehicle whereby He would inscripturate the New Testament. This business of learning Koine Greek involves at least a mastery of the indicative mood, a topic that we have introduced this week. The complexities of Greek grammar are such that the authorities themselves often stumble. I think it patently absurd, for example, to call the sigma tense marker anything other than what it actually is -- the future time morpheme. It amuses me that linguistic terms are so often greeted with cries of despair and alarm by Greek teachers. Few acts are more salutatory than looking at the language of the New Testament and seeing how beautifully and wonderfully it is made, down to the smallest morpheme and phoneme even. It must be said, however, that in the end I do not really care how the student arrives at a reading knowledge of Greek. The goal is a facility in the language, not in memorizing jargon. Still, I must ask a question: Since Greek grammar is so complex and confusing to the beginning student, is there any good reason why we should not make the learning process as simple as possible? Forgive me for being so outspoken, but I cannot help it if I am such an unalloyed fan of logic in language.

7:04 PM Thousands want to know: How's Becky doing? Here's the lowdown. We are continuing to aggressively treat her cancer. She is currently taking 16 different combinations of R-F treatments for her cancer. Add to these her detox and total body scans, and we are talking anywhere from 12-15 hours of treatment daily. She continues to experience discomfort and tightness in her chest. Is this the pleural effusion or something else? We hope to have a chest x-ray shortly, which should shed some much-needed light on the question. On the other hand, she is adjusting to her treatments well, and her fatigue is much improved. Needless to say, we are spending a lot of time together. This afternoon we drove into town to go to the bank, post office, and Food Lion, but the real reason was we just wanted to be together. Right now she is trying some herbal tea to help relieve her chest discomfort. I've also detected a tendency for her to cough more often than usual.

As I type she is enjoying her new iPad (playing a game called "Flow"). Tonight we'll just relax. This weekend we are having overnight guests on Friday and a work day on Saturday (we're building, of all things, an outhouse for the camp ground -- replete with crescent moon). So life goes on, one step at a time. I wouldn't say we're exactly mounting up with wings like eagles. But we're not crawling either. Either way, life is good.

Thankful for your love and prayers for my Becky,

Dave

5:56 PM Well, I've bit the bullet. I've decided to publish my thoughts on the Pauline authorship of Hebrews as a book.

There goes whatever is left of my academic reputation.

5:40 PM I'm back in bucolic Virginia, checking up on my loved ones and animals. Thought you might enjoy a picture of my Greek class taking their first quiz.

And a great job was done by all. On the very first day of class I warned my students never to use Greek when they are preaching. The temptation for abuse is simply too strong. People know when you've done your homework; you don't need to impress them with a long list of grammatical terms and explanations. But if you do decide to use Greek in your preaching, please, I beg of you – use it correctly. Exegetical errors continue to crop up in evangelical preaching, and Andy Bowden calls our attention to just the latest example. Read his post from Monday called Trampling on grammar (for the sake of a sermon). It is a real eye-opener. The preacher says exactly the opposite of what the Greek in his passage is saying. Andy's tone may sound a bit harsh to our ears, but all of us deserve to be chided when we so blatantly misinterpret the Greek. There is so much linguistic nonsense out there that it boggles the mind. Students, your generation can do better. You must do better.

Speaking of SEBTS, John Sailhamer was my colleague here at the seminary for several years before he moved back to California to teach at Golden Gate. Now retired, he and his family have donated his entire personal library to Southeastern. The details are here. An excerpt:

Dr. Sailhamer served as professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Southeastern from 1999-2006. Dr. Shawn Madden, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew and Director of Library Services, said, "Dr. John Sailhamer has been a major scholastic force in the evangelical community for a very long time. Dr. Sailhamer had a great concern and interest in the scholastic responsibilities of the evangelical community, imbuing in his students an intentional devotion to God’s Word and its proper understanding, interpretation and teaching."

So there are lots of good things happening on campus these days. I'm praying real hard for my students in Greek 1. Theirs is a daunting task, but God is able. If I could learn Greek, anybody can. Praise God!  

6:13 AM Hey there folks! I hope you're enjoying these fine summer days as much as I am (or, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, these winter days). Sorry I didn't blog too much yesterday but I've been very busy here (loafing, napping, listening to the rain, etc.). I'm super jazzed to begin a new Greek class this morning. Just wanted to say thanks to the Lord for granting me this awesome privilege. In the next few days I'll be "thinking out loud" about Greek with you. Don't expect anything too profound, however. I'm a simple kinda guy who is trying to pursue a Christ-centered way of learning that leverages knowledge in self-sacrificial, loving ways. That's it in a nutshell.

Well, I've got to run. I'll have more (un-profound) thoughts later.

Dave

8:56 AM Good morning, thoughtful cybernetic friends! I am very excited this morning. Today our elders will begin a series on ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the church. And why shouldn't they? I think, for example, of a church in Hawaii that I was a part of many years ago. It offered classes designed for "laypersons," and many of us eagerly attended them. I can still remember my lessons as well as my teacher, a Mr. Cook. He was a mentor and a model, and not merely a lecturer. The result? An unquenchable appetite to go even deeper in my studies of the Christian life.

There is a real need today for ministry to become de-professionalized. Let's not forget the sufficiency of the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to guide even the simplest believer into truth. Any church can, if it is willing, follow the pattern of the early church in this regard. It can begin by ensuring that its shepherd-teachers are steeped in the Word of God and able to teach its magnificent truths to others. Happy the church that, like the Berean congregation, can listen sensitively to the Holy Spirit as He speaks through the Scriptures! I cannot help but think of the example set for me so many years ago by Mr. Cook. He had a true pastor's heart, and he knew the Word. He was a mature Christian who walked daily and deeply with his Savior. And what of his students? They came from all walks of life, but each was prepared to listen and discuss and study and learn.

I am not saying we should not have seminaries or Bible schools. What troubles me is that we so often equate a formal biblical education with true biblical understanding. It seems to me that it is time to say "Enough!" to the fallacious notion that a degree in theology makes one qualified for leadership in the church. Throughout the Scriptures the summons is given to forsake conformity to the world's wisdom and to pursue the wisdom that is from above. Paul reminds us that in Christ "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3), and that we "are complete in Him" (Col. 2:10). Call this the "sufficiency of Christ," if you will, but it is insufficiently acknowledged. A major exception was the sixteenth-century Anabaptists in Europe. It was their devotion to the Scriptures that set the Anabaptists apart from their Reformation counterparts. They listened to the Word of God with humble reverence. They were anxious to obey it too, whatever the cost to them personally. Elsewhere I have noted that they believed in "the Bible as a book of the church instead of as a book for scholars," and in "a hermeneutic of obedience instead of a hermeneutic of knowledge." The Anabaptists well understood that we learn to apply the Word not in the abstract milieu of the classroom but in the world. And when we truly understand the truth of God’s Word, it shapes our entire life and worldview.

We in the church of Jesus Christ are always in danger of magnifying titles and degrees and forgetting that a formal theological education guarantees neither sound doctrine nor mature character. The essential mark of Christian leadership is love not ability, humility not arrogance, wisdom not knowledge. We must cease viewing knowledge as an end in itself, but must pursue the mind of Christ, remembering that "truth is in Jesus" (Eph. 4:21). I wonder if anything is more urgent today, for the building up of the Body of Christ, than that its leaders should be, and should be seen to be, men who have "been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13).

The crucial thing is that local churches take discipleship seriously. And it is neither biblical nor helpful to abdicate this responsibility to institutions of higher education, as valuable as they are. The seminary exists to serve the local church, not vice versa. So when opportunity occurs to return biblical education to your local church, I say grasp it with both of your hands!

8:08 PM Civil War photographer and founder of photojournalism Mathew Brady was born on this day in 1823. Without his efforts we would have forever gone without such magnificent photos as this one:

For more, click here.

1:29 PM On Monday I will be greeting a brand new class of beginning Greek students. Welcome to each one of you! Let me tell you why I am teaching Greek. It is simply this. God has a plan for individuals. And He has communicated this plan to us in His Word. Our God is a communicative God, and He has made known His will to and through His spokesmen who penned the Scriptures. Biblical truth is just that: truth that is communicated in and through the Bible. It is truth that is at once "inspired by God" and "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man [or woman] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." It is clear that biblical truth is not given for knowledge's sake alone. I therefore emphatically agree with the old Scottish proverb that says: "Greek, Hebrew, and Latin all have their proper place. But it is not at the head of the cross, where Pilate put them, but at the foot of the cross in humble service to Jesus." The ultimate reason for teaching and learning New Testament Greek is that, properly applied, it can issue in a "readiness for every good work" – that is, a life that is equipped to do God's will and go God's way.

What all this implies is that if we are to move from the classroom to real life we will have to prize what we learn and view it as a life skill and not merely as an educational attainment. Of course, this is not easy. Almost all of us feel tremendous ambivalence as we wrestle with the question of just how to apply what we learn in the classroom to the real world. Obviously, knowledge of Greek is essential if we are to have a firm foundation upon which to build our exegesis of the New Testament. On the other hand, I must say forcefully that facts, no matter how brilliantly taught or diligently acquired, are nothing more than the raw building blocks of life. How we put them together, and for what use (and whose glory), is another matter altogether.

On Monday you will take the first step in the adventure of a lifetime. I will be there as your guide and encourager. But we will have only one Teacher. My prayer is that all of us will look to Him and Him alone for the help we will need not merely to get by in this class but to excel for His glory.

10:18 AM Okay, folks, Becky's done it again -- written a fantastic essay. It's called Living with Resilience. It's a great reminder from someone who walks the talk.

9:33 AM Glad to report that 12 students have joined my "Five Minute Greek Club" this summer (where you translate two verses of Greek daily and thus earn a copy of one of my books for free in the fall). I'm also looking over the class list of my Greek 1 course that starts on Monday. The class has been closed at 40, which a good mixture of college and seminary students. This will mark my 37th year of teaching Greek. I never tire of it.

9:15 AM Just received this photo from one of our Korean grads:

Thank you, Peter!

9:10 AM Do you remember Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top? He was born in Maine and educated at Bowdoin College and Bangor Theological Seminary. His teaching career at Bowdoin was a stellar one. As Professor of Natural and Revealed Religion, he spoke seven languages. After Gettysburg he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. In 1871 he was persuaded to accept the presidency of Bowdoin, where he reshaped the curriculum to include modern scientific and engineering subjects. It is mainly as an educator that I remember him. Jeff Shaara, in his outstanding book Gods and Generals, describes Chamberlain's style of teaching (p. 198):

Chamberlain had built a reputation at Bowdoin for respecting his students as much as they respected him. He advocated less strict discipline, and more equal exchange of ideas, and this put him in conflict with the old professors, the men who treated the students with mindless rigidity, an inflexible doctrine of study and examination. The attitude appalled him, and he did much to show the students that they not only had the right to question their instructors, but were obligated to do so. He taught them to accept the responsibility for their own education, because, sadly, many of the professors would not.

I fondly remember the Joshua Chamberlains who taught me at Biola, at Talbot, in Basel. Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about learning. Good teachers genuinely respect their students and show it. They have no need to require attendance since their students are their peers in the learning process. Good teaching is about style as much as it is about substance. Good teaching is about mentoring, about listening, questioning, seeking and eliciting responses. It expects students to accept responsibility for their own education.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a good teacher. His qualities are worthy of emulation today.

8:54 AM Right now I'm reviewing my lessons on Philippians for my June class at Calvary Baptist Seminary in Pennsylvania. The book, of course, is all about missions. Talk about practical applications.

1) For starters: The church at Philippi began in the place of prayer. That was due to Lydia, you will recall. For example, our Ethiopia 2013 team dares to do nothing without intensive prayer. The team will pray, as a team, twice daily. And, as you know, Becky will provide a prayer itinerary for you all of you to use. Why? "We have this treasure in earthen jars of clay so that the surpassing greatness of the power might be of God and not of us."

2) Then, too, have you noticed that women played a very prominent role in Philippi? This included Lydia as well as Euodia and Syntyche. Many on our team are females. Truth is: we could not do this work without the ladies, and this includes one special lady who is phenomenally gifted in organization.

3) The ladies in Philippi, unfortunately, began quarreling. It was such a grave danger to the Gospel that Paul had to confront them -- by name -- in 4:2. We leave for Ethiopia aware of the dangers that face us externally but the even graver danger of internal strife. Disunity is a sin that threatens the heart of the church. It destroys the church's witness and effectiveness. It was abhorrent to Jesus, who prayed that we "may be one." I think it helps to recognize that this is a constant danger and to pray accordingly.

4) Paul addresses both the saints and those who oversee and serve (these are not titles) in 1:1. These latter folk are not "over" the others but "alongside" them. Every member of our team is a priest, a minister, a servant. Yet there are leaders. Bottom line: on our team we have some leaders and some followers but we are all slaves of Jesus.

5) Oh, and how about the theme of "joy"? Paul is joyful! The Philippians are joyful! I'd say our team is very joyful! You know why so many Christians are unhappy? Because they fail to acquire what they think is essential to their happiness. (I know this from many years of experience.) The key to joyful Christian living is acquiring what will bring true, lasting joy. For Paul, that was partnering in the Gospel (1:5) -- becoming a Great Commission Christian. So, Paul can be in prison and still rejoice because the Gospel is being proclaimed. Now, I admit I haven't always had that kind of joy but I do now, and I want to taste more of it.

6) Missions is the work of God. See 1:6. Yes, we will preach "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." But the work of the Gospel is the work of God from beginning to end. To return to Lydia for a moment, here's a wonderful verse that says it all: "The Lord opened her heart to listen to what was said by Paul" (Acts 16:14). I am praying for the Lord to open many hearts on our trip this summer. That's His job, not mine.

7) Finally, Paul prays that the Philippians might "choose what is best" (1:9-10). Christianity gives us a new priority system. A new value system. What's best? Not my health. Not my comfort. But the Gospel. As Paul says in 3:4-11, everything the world values turns out to be unspeakable filth in comparison to Jesus.

Well, you didn't need this little sermon, but I did. Between now and December I will leave for Ethiopia and then Asia and then Guyana and then India and then Asia again, no doubt a bit bedraggled in body but convinced that my calling in life is not to be just a Greek teacher (or even a just Greek teacher) but to be a Christian.

"Join me in suffering for the sake of the Good News, with God's power," wrote Paul in 2 Tim. 1:8. Okay Paul, I'll give it another whack.

7:32 PM It's early evening. Nigusse is recording a book in Amharic, while Becky and one of her adopted daughters are working over at Maple Ridge. I'm sitting here at the computer trying to take it all in. I honestly can't say enough about today's commencement service at the seminary. I think everyone was ready to breathe one long collective sigh of relief that the school year was finally over. Now all that's left is to pray that these graduates would find their fulfillment in serving Jesus. I'm ready to see God do great things through them. I am now, more than ever, convinced that nothing is more important in life than putting our God-given assets in service to His kingdom, and that includes whatever paltry academic achievements we have been blessed to have earned. And earned they were. Just ask my two doctoral students. They worked their tails off. But God's grace was (and is) always sufficient, both for them and for me. There are so many things I love about teaching. But at the top of the list is watching well-educated men and women place their learning at the feet of Jesus and live out the love He's given them to share. Add to this the fact that we are privileged to have the most beautiful campus on earth bar none, and you can see why I feel super blessed today. He is making everything new, and that's true whether you have just earned a doctorate or whether you are serving Jesus in absolute obscurity. Folks, I'm officially declaring today a day of rejoicing and praise to the One who makes all things possible. Care to join us in the celebration?

Pix (of course):

1) My my, but don't I look somber.

2) Here we are hooding my Ph.D. student Paul Himes.

3) Here's Paul with his dad, a missionary to Japan for over 30 years.

4) My only other doctoral student to graduate today is Thomas Hudgins, who also served as the first assistant to the chair I am honored to hold, the Dr. M. O. Owens Jr. Chair in New Testament.

5) Here's one brudda from da Islands. Poor Jayson, his prof is still telling him what to do.

6) We LOVE our international students.

7) Guess what? Today Becky was able to attend the service with us. The icing on the cake.

P.S. If you'd like to see the "SEBTS faculty shuffle," go here.

7:02 AM Memorial Day is fast approaching. Years ago Jacque Ellul warned us that the greatest danger to liberty in Western society proceeds from the military-political state born of a dream of utopian perfection on earth. It seems clear to me that Ellul has touched on something of very great importance. As one who rejected out of hand the para-Marxist realism of my practical theology professors in Basel, I find it just as easy to part company with those on the theological right who argue that evangelicals should inject Christianity into politics. A close reading of the Gospels would show that the opposite is true. Neither Jesus nor His disciples ever engaged in or showed any interest in politics. Our Lord refused to be the political liberator of Israel. I fully agree with the Anabaptists that the state is meant to be secular and that a dualism exists between church and state, between political power and the proclamation of the Gospel. There is in my opinion neither "Christian" liberalism nor "Christian" conservatism. Equally valid (or invalid) perspectives can be found on both sides, but there are no Christian grounds for preferring one side over the other. If Jesus was a capitalist (or a socialist, or a Republican, or a Democrat, or a Libertarian), I fail to see anywhere in the Gospels where He has made that known to us. The fact is that political loyalties are always relative and determined for purely individual and conscience reasons.

To state that the church should reject any form of allegiance with politics does not, of course, imply the separation of church from society or that Christians should not hold or express political views. Quite the opposite is true. Acknowledging Jesus as Lord over all things means that we will seek to be biblically informed about our political decisions and discussions. But it does not mean that a Christian politician can claim to support distinctively "Christian" policies any more than an auto mechanic can claim that he practices distinctively "Christian" car repair. It is the duty of the church to penetrate society as salt and light – this is acknowledged by all – but it fails in that duty when it rubberstamps the platform of politicians of any stripe. According to the Scriptures, the church is not a political community at all. It is a brotherhood that proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord and that expects the coming of his kingdom – or, to put it another way, a brotherhood that lives with a view to the time when Christ will ultimately prevail over all earthly kingdoms. The church knows, therefore, that it lives in the midst of an eschaton that has not yet come, and that the polar realities of the church and the world are the twin sociological units within which it lives. We must be very careful, then, not to confuse the kingdom of heaven with the kingdom of man even as we love and serve the world in Jesus' name. Whatever political differences exist between Christians can be transcended by the common ground of the cross and empty tomb.

(For more, see The Jesus Paradigm).

6:43 AM Good morning, graduates! On Tuesday I mentioned that one of the dangers of the institutionalized form of Christianity is that it fosters a status structure. These structures are perhaps unavoidable in a fallen world. In a highly competitive society, we establish our self worth by rising to the top of our professions. Success is defined by achievement. Even children feel unaccepted unless they are achieving -- or excelling. We talk about "career moves." Even pastors talk this way. "My next church will be a very important move in my career." Status symbols mean everything. At the bottom of the ladder is the pastor of a small rural church. At the top is the "senior pastor" of a large suburban church. How many associates you have under you is also a status symbol. In our prestigious universities, a "successful professor" is one who works for his own fame or perhaps the fame of the institution, while the students are exposed to second-class teachers. The pressure to participate in the rat race is overwhelming. Salaries, even in the pastorate, are competitive. Go-getters prosper. If you are "on the ball" or "well-liked" by the right people you can jump over the heads of your peers. Worth is often defined in terms of bigness -- bigger churches, bigger staffs, bigger budgets, bigger popularity, bigger authority. Academic degrees become more important than character. How can a man in his 50s who pastors a small country church, who is getting nowhere as far as his vocation is concerned, be considered "great"? Yet the words of Jesus are clear: "Many who are first will be last, and the last first" (Mark 10:31). In one stroke Jesus deflates our hankering for status by redefining greatness:

Within minutes they were bickering over who of them would end up the greatest. But Jesus intervened: "Kings like to throw their weight around and people in authority like to give themselves fancy titles. It's not going to be that way with you. Let the senior among you become like the junior; let the leader act the part of the servant. Who would you rather be: the one who eats the dinner or the one who serves the dinner? You'd rather eat and be served, right? But I've taken my place among you as the one who serves" (Luke 22:25-27, The Message).

In Jesus' kingdom, humble servants are honored, not assertive individualists. Slogans, titles, status symbols mean nothing. Each of His followers is treated with equality, dignity, and respect. Everyone matters. There are no small people. Each one of us has a gift from the Holy Spirit. We equally esteem each contribution, whether seminary teaching or cemetery mowing. And we use our positions and power to serve God's kingdom.

7:49 PM Today has been a good day. I've been thinking a lot about and praying for our graduates tomorrow. You will begin writing a new chapter of your life. Truly, you will be stepping out into the deep waters of life. Obstacles aplenty there will be, too. When General George Pickett was asked to explain the failure of his charge at Gettysburg, he dryly replied, "I think the Union Army had something to do with it." Yet press on you must. There's a good reason why tomorrow's celebration is called "commencement." Nothing is really coming to an end. The Battle of El Alamein was the turning point of World War II for the British Army. Winston Churchill said of it, "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Happy "End of the Beginning" to each and every one of you. You've done us and the Lord proud.

9:28 AM It's that time of the year when everybody is buying textbooks for the summer term. And it's no easy task to assign texts these days. Sit down with most any textbook and you'll discover that after a brief period you can't read it. It's too textbooky, too factual, too dull, too dry. Believe me, I know: I've produced my share of them. What brings on this long-winded, heart-breaking wordiness? I'm not sure, but I have a hunch. Everyone who writes textbooks knows that they are written for teachers, not for students. As long as the textbook pleases the teacher it will make the revered and unassailable list of "required reading." Students will be forced to read it, whether it is well-written or not. I think we textbook writers are finally wising up, though. About two or three books into my writing career I decided I would try to write for the student and not for the teacher. (Whether I have succeeded is up to you, dear reader, to decide.) This means that a good textbook will have a simple style. It may even contain personal anecdotes, cartoons, jokes, puns, and -- dare I say it? -- first person pronouns. Scholars will call it unacademic, but students will love it. And, after all, we're here to serve them, aren't we?

What do you think?

9:21 AM Speaking of Ethiopia, a wise old preacher once said, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Eccl. 3:1). It seems that in this season of my life God has called me to be intentional in carrying out His loving and merciful purposes in the nations of this world. As long ago as 1906 G. Campbell Morgan said, "Any man or woman in the church who does not know what it is to share the travail that makes his kingdom come is dishonest and disloyal to Jesus Christ." The early Christians found out that there was no joy like the joy of sharing Jesus with others. They saw evangelism as enabling people to escape from the snares of the devil and be transformed from darkness into light. Once you have been gripped by the need of people who do know the Lord Jesus Christ, you will need no other to reason to spread the Good News about Him with every person you can possibly reach.

To be quite frank, nothing in my life has brought me as much joy as being about the Gospel business. Missionary work allows me to participate in the greatest commission ever given to believers – to make disciples of the nations through Christ’s authority and presence (Matt. 28:18-20). This is the primary way the church glorifies God, and the heart of the great commission is to "make disciples." The tense of the command implies, “Do it, and do it now!” I admit that I have not always felt this urgency. But I do now, and I look forward to discovering in the future even more deeply what it means to disciple the nations for Christ. Notice that there is no option in Jesus’ command. Either we are doing it or else we or not. Either we are being obedient or we are not. There can be no disciple-making without a spirit of intentionality – a spirit of active pursuit that looks for opportunities to evangelize and edify. A great commission person is sharply focused. He or she doesn’t get bogged down in selfish agendas or the soft cultural values of modern American life. A great commission person is one who chooses to be so. We must be intentional about going into our communities and our world in order to turn people into committed followers of Christ. I have decided that my focus in life must be on making disciples. If a ministry does not aim at making disciples, why do it? I am learning to measure everything I do by whether it contributes to the disciple-making process.

If nothing else, missionary work has challenged my smugness and lethargy. I was born and raised in laid-back Hawaii. My spiritual muscles are naturally flabby and soft. But Jesus calls us to deny many of the comforts and pleasures we take for granted every day. His disciples saw how He refused the things they cherished – physical pleasure, popular approval, prestige – and accepted willingly the things they sought to escape – poverty, humiliation, sorrow, even death. In ministering to the sick, comforting the sorrowful, and preaching the Gospel to the poor, Jesus showed us that no service was too small and so sacrifice too great when it is done in His name. Being a missionary has forced me to renew my dependence on the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can enable believers to carry on the redemptive tasks of evangelism and edification in the midst of the watchful eyes of others. I teach three classes each semester, but on the mission field class is always in session. Our every word and deed is constantly scrutinized by believers and unbelievers alike. We must be willing to be transparent, and the people to whom we open our lives will see our many shortcomings. But hopefully they will also see that the heart of the whole miraculous drama we call salvation is dependent not on any man but on One who sacrificed self for the blessing of others.

Someone once said that to be "in Christ" is to be "involved." A burden is not a burden as long as it is on the ground. Only when it is on our own shoulders is it a burden. Have you taken up the burden of world evangelization? May the Spirit be the prime mover in our hearts today. For only He can give us a desire to see the nations reached with the Gospel. Not only can He break us of the pride and lethargy that come so naturally to us, He can thrust us out into the mission fields of the world so that our lives bear much fruit for Him.

9:15 AM An unknown writer once penned the following limerick: "There was a young poet in Japan,/Whose poetry no one could scan./When told it was so,/He replied, 'Yes, I know,/But I try to get as many words in the last line as I can.'" I am currently chin-deep in preparing my lectures to be given at the Evangelical Theological College in Addis Ababa in July. I am going to try and speak to the issue of translating the poetry of the New Testament into English, using the ISV New Testament as an example of what might be done in this area. The larger issue I would like to address is the question of why we as students of the New Testament are so insensitive to the rhetorical level of language when it comes to reading and interpreting our Bibles. I think Old Testament scholars are doing a much better job of it than we are, but we can all do better both to understand and translate the poetry of the Bible. Why am I so concerned about this matter? Only because my view of verbal-plenary inspiration extends not only to the words of the Bible but also to the rhetorical devices that God the Holy Spirit led the writers to employ. Shouldn’t that drive us all to be sensitive to this level of language as a meaningful level for receptors?

9:12 AM I love the idea behind the Texas German Dialect Project. It's highlighted in this recent BBC report. As Texas German dies out, scholars are beginning to record it. There remain only about 8,000 speakers today in a part of Texas that looks a lot like Germany. An example of this peculiar dialect:

"Die Kuh ist über die Fence gejumped."

Isn't that quaint? I would love to get back to the Texas Hill Country again and speak German with these folks.

9:08 AM I must break the news to you that I have decided to review my French, starting today. I cannot help it. I enjoy speaking in tongues too much to stop. Language study is a great work upon which to engage one's mind, and is a solace for my senility.

9:02 AM Congratulations to all of our LXX students who did so well on their recitations yesterday. Here's Psalm 1 in Hebrew:

And in Greek:

8:32 PM Raked and baled a couple of small fields today. Great fun. Perfect weather. Good fellowship. Excellent hay. Already have a buyer too. God is good, all the time.

8:12 PM When we first moved to the East Coast 15 years ago, we were invited to participate in a Civil War reenactment in the historic Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The Battle of New Market was fought on this day in 1864 and is famous because of the exploits of a young group of cadets from the Virginia Military Academy who were called upon at the last minute.

I'll never forget the reenactment we did. Our unit was encamped alongside the Interstate the night before the battle. Needless to say, no one got any sleep that night. I was overwhelmed at first by the miserable conditions, but one incident, trivial enough in itself, comforted me quite out of proportion to its importance. During the reenactment a huge thunderstorm descended upon us troops, scattering the spectators to the four winds. We, of course, kept fighting. ("The show must go on.") In retrospect I reflected that this was only appropriate as the original battle had been fought during a severe rain storm. The scene was later dubbed "The Field of Shoes" since so many soldiers, on both sides, were deprived of their foot wear because of the mud. In these untoward conditions, the participation of the VMI cadets achieved a direct benefit for the Southern forces.

Likewise, it must be remembered that the youth in our churches are no less to be involved in the work of the ministry today. This summer, in fact, several young adults will be traveling with us to Ethiopia to serve under difficult circumstances. It will be the rainy season, and rain and mud will be our likely companions. But these "thorns in the cushion" -- as Thackeray once called them -- are not deadly, and indeed I find such obstacles fascinating and exhilarating. Young and old alike will face the elements, and a lot more. A friend of mine once said to me, "You know, Dave, there is no teenage Holy Spirit and adult Holy Spirit. There's just the Holy Spirit." He was right. The VMI cadets at New Market delivered a sharp hammer blow to the Federals, enough force to do more than surprise. They turned the tide of battle. The extraordinary event that occurred exactly 149 years ago today is a stark reminder of what a group of young people can do when sufficiently motivated and equipped. (I think my friend Kevin Brown would agree.)

8:02 PM Good evening, blogging buds! I suppose everyone's seen Ariel Castro's backyard by now.

When I lived in Europe I often rode the train, and I would frequently travel through the residential parts of small towns. The tracks would often run along the back side of a row of houses, and I got a good view of the backyards and porches. Many yards were filled with junk—they obviously hadn't been cleaned in years and had become catchalls for odds and ends. Had I been able to walk down the front street instead, I imagine I would have found these homes quite respectable. But because visitors don't usually enter from the rear, the backyards tend to be neglected.

It's easy to keep up a good front when you’re a Christian, but the backyard of our minds and hearts can become cluttered with much that no one should ever see. The Pharisees were good at decorating the front yard in a profession of public piety, but the Lord condemned them for their hidden sins. The Bible says that all things are open and naked before the eyes of God. You and I can only look on the outward appearance, but God sees our hearts in their deepest recesses, grunge and all. The Psalmist prayed, "Cleanse me from secret faults" (Psalm 19:12), and I too must pray for cleansing. Moreover, I must be willing to get rid of all the "stuff" that displeases my heavenly Father.

One of the first passages my Greek students translate is 1 John 1:9: "If we make it our habit to confess our sins [rather than justifying them or rationalizing them away, see vv. 6, 8, and 10], He is faithful and just to forgive us the [aforementioned] sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Here the verb confess means something like "openly acknowledge," and the verb tense suggests continuous or habitual action. I have found that one of the most important aspects of my Christian walk is ongoing confession of sin. When is the right time to confess a sin? The moment we become aware of it. This means that most of us will have to confess our sins on a daily basis. We know we are saved because we have Christ in our lives, but daily confession is fundamental.

God, in His grace and mercy, offers forgiveness and cleansing to confessing Christians. But practicing daily confession of sin is not easy or always pleasant. As Erwin Lutzer has said, "Forgiveness is always free. But that doesn't mean that confession is always easy. Sometimes it is hard. Incredibly hard. It is painful (sometimes literally) to admit our sins and entrust ourselves to God’s care."

God's invitation to us today is clear. Why would anyone want to live with the guilt and despair of sin? Why would we wish to risk so much for so little? Why would we want to live like spiritual paupers and with such mediocre results in our lives and churches and in the propagation of the Gospel around the world?

Maranatha!

Dave

4:48 AM Looking forward to our study of the doctrine of the church on Sunday mornings. Much of what we call "church" today originated, not in the New Testament, but in post-apostolic times.

• The Lord's Supper has changed from a celebration to a ceremony.

• Worship has changed from participation to observation.

• Witness has changed from relationship to salesmanship.

• Leadership has changed from servanthood to professionalism.

• Mission has changed from being missionaries to supporting missionaries.

• Body life has changed from edification to entertainment.

• Buildings have changed from functional to sacred.

• Child care has changed from the hands of parents to the hands of strangers.

The New Testament shows us that the need great of modern Christianity is to return to biblical faithfulness and the profound simplicity of the New Testament.

4:40 AM William Gurnall was a Church of England minister who lived in the seventeenth century. In the introduction to his classic work on Eph. 6:10-17 he writes, in the elevated prose of his day:

Whet your courage at the throne of grace, from whence all your recruits of soul-strength come. Send faith oft up the hill of promise, to see and bring the certain news of Christ's coming to you, yea, and assured victory with him.

"Send faith oft up the hill of promise." We are all likely to need this word of encouragement today. Whatever trials we might have to endure this day, we can face the battles of life with blessed assurance. We can enter our battles with genuine optimism and with complete confidence that we will emerge victorious. Gurnall was expressing his unflinching faith in one decisive fact -- that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Rom. 8:37).

4:32 AM This week I finish my 15th year at SEBTS and my 36th year of fulltime teaching. What an undeserved blessing. Congratulations to the class of 2013. Every seminary grad needs to read Nate Claiborne's post called Theological Identity Crisis. He writes:

Being a seminary student, at Dallas Theological Seminary no less, I have the opportunity to talk to great repositories of theological knowledge on a semi-daily basis (and sometimes even to professors too!). It has been said you can tell a man from Dallas Seminary, but you can’t tell him much. An implication of this is that many of us think we know much more than we actually do. Honestly, I think this follows the stereotypical college path. First year Th.M students know they don’t know much. Second year students think they know a lot. Third year students are starting to get impressed with how much they know. Fourth year students either come out of it and are bewildered by how little they actually know, or they think they are destined to be the next Luther. If no one will play the pope, then they’ll just have to appoint someone to have 95 theses nailed to their door.

"Play the pope." That would be funny if it wasn't so true. Students, let's never forget who we are: fallen human beings. Wear your learning humbly.

3:43 PM I'm feeling a little bit scatter-brained right now, so you'll have to forgive this disjointed update. Here's a snippet of what my day has looked like so far:

1) I couldn't resist taking this shot of B's rose garden in all its beauty. Red, yellow, pink, even orange. Takes one's breath away.

2) Our summer garden is going gangbusters. Here's the herb bed.

3) Looks like we may have 4-5 days of dry weather, so we cut grass today in hopes of baling on Thursday or Friday.

4) Over at Maple Ridge, Becky and I plugged away at little odd jobs, the kind nobody notices but that require a great deal of effort to finish. One example is this silverware drawer. It took two of us to build it, three if you count the page of instructions.

5) Finally, I thought you'd like to see the library/school room. The house is beginning to look like a home -- but, of course, it will become a home only when a family is living here.

Might mention here that I've been quizzing Nigusse on his Greek. Yesterday I asked him to translate these two headlines for me.

Τερατώδης λύσις ἐν τῷ Βαγγλαδές

Ἀμερικανὸν στρατιώτην ἐν τῷ Βιετνᾶμ εὑρίσκουσιν

The language is Classical Greek. Nigu did quite well (after a wee bit of prompting by yours truly). Greek student, see what you can do with them.

7:27 AM Encouraged this morning by this stanza from "For All the Saints." Why not take a moment and sing along?

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

7:14 AM Loved this absolutely delicious quote over at The New Republic. It you are as much a language lover as I am, get ready for a big smile to break out all over your face.

If you really take in the awesome variety among the world’s languages – ones with only three verbs, ones with almost two hundred sounds, ones with only eight, ones where one word covers what we need a sentence for, ones where the basic word order is object-verb-subject, ones where there really are more exceptions than rules, ones with a hundred genders, and so on – then the idea that there is anything especially anything about little English becomes as hopeless as rhapsodizing over the aptness and universality of a squirrel.

7:10 AM In my opinion, Vernard Eller (d. 2007) was one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. Yet he is also almost completely unknown today. His book Christian Anarchy is a classic work of theology and should be required reading by seminarians. (If you're unfamiliar with the term "anarchy" used in its specific religious sense, see my book Christian Archy for a simplified explanation.) In a wonderful little essay, Eller addresses the problem of using the term "sacrament" to describe the Lord's Supper. He writes:

The inevitable imagery that lies behind sacramentalism is that of the abnormal, the exceptional, the esoteric, the supermundane breaking into the sphere of normal life. In the more highly liturgical churches the entire ecclesiastical staging (altar, vestments, lighting, music, the works) is designed to foster such a mood; in less liturgical churches the pastor tries to create the same effect by sliding into unctuous language and a "reverent" tone of voice. But stage it as you will, there is no denying that for people to come together to eat the body and blood of their leader (whether he be man or God, or both; whether it be done in actuality, in symbol, or in drama) - this fairly can be described as nothing other than the Great Abnormality, if not the Greatest Abnormality.

Of course, I agree completely with this point of view. The human tendency is to sacralize our faith and transform it into something the Founder of our faith never intended. I've often smiled at the funereal ambiance in so many of our supper observances: you have the pall bearers solemnly removing the shroud that covers the deceased's remains etc. etc. As Eller notes: "The word 'sacrament' ... is a bad one; it says all the wrong things - although the tragedy is not simply that it's a poor word but that the word all too accurately describes the current practice of the church."

What word shall we use, then? Ah, that's the rest of the essay. You can read it here.

7:02 AM A few more weekend pictures:

8:48 AM I just ran across two news headlines that could not be more different:

• Texas Cheerleaders Win Right to Display Bible Verses

• Human Rights Group Trying to Save Imprisoned Chinese Leader as Health Fails

When the church becomes a place of political brokerage rather than an organic, witnessing community, she ceases to be the church. When we get to heaven, it will not have mattered in the least whether or not I was able to display Bible verses at a pom-pom rally. Christianity can too easily mirror secular organizations that demand political rights. Friend, if you were to lose all rights to be a Christian, would you still follow Jesus? Would I? That is the real question we face today, isn't it?

7:35 AM For every mother who may visit this blog today:

7:29 AM A Fuller prof asks What Is Seminary? I have wrestled with this question for years. The local church in America seems to have forgotten its responsibility to disciple its members. "After all, we have our seminaries." That is a dangerous attitude. The seminary classroom can be a place of magnificent learning, and often is. But every care must be made to avoid a learning experience that fails to give our students an idea of what it costs to follow Jesus. We must not forget that the early church had no formal educational institutions or professionally-trained academics, and yet it turned the world upside-down in a mere 30 years. There were many good reasons for this. Someone once said that the three greatest dangers of a seminary education are extraction, expense, and elitism. A clerical culture develops. Writes Abbé Michonneau in his book Revolution in a City Parish (pp. 131-32):

Our seminary training … has put us in a class apart…. Usually it means that we feel compelled to surround ourselves with those who will understand our thought and our speech, and who have tastes like our own…. We are living in another world, a tidy clerical and philosophical world.

"Clergy" becomes a whole way of living, an ecclesiastical subculture. The church, however, predates the seminary and will outlast it. The book of Acts reminds us that the earliest church leaders were homegrown nobodies. They were not parachuted in from the outside with all of the proper credentials. They were already full participants in their congregations – they had homes, they had jobs, and they had solid reputations. If at all possible, I think we too would do well to train people for leadership in our local churches, equipping them for evangelism and other ministries, thus complementing the work of our seminaries and Bible colleges. The early church knew that leadership is best learned by on-the-job training, not by sending our most promising leaders off to sit behind a desk.

7:20 AM Sunday shout out to Kimberly, Karen, Rachael, Leigh, and Dolores, who made our surprise party for Becky such a huge success last night. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

2:42 PM Hello virtual friends! Hope you are having a great day. Mine has been wonderful. Becky and I have been working all day long at Maple Ridge. You should have seen the two of us old birds. Sorry, sorry SORRY! I know I always go on and on about working together with Becky, but it really is just that much fun. I'd like to write more but Bec has to have a treatment and I have to take a nap. I'll report after our Ethiopian food tonight, if, that is, I'm not as stuffed as a Strasbourg goose.

Thanks for blogging in,

Dave

6:56 AM Read Ride That Horse!

6:48 AM It's interesting to see some of my favorite bloggers leaving the blogosphere. I write online because I love writing, not because I don't have other things to do, and certainly not because I can't (or don't) write anywhere else. I simply have things in my head that have to come out. I try to tell the truth as I see it, but I don't assume that anyone will agree with what I have to say. After 9 years of blogging I still feel like I'm trying to find my voice, and I have a constant conversation within me about how to blog and when. For better or for worse, I opt not to remain silent about many topics, but writing down my thoughts is a good way of setting them in concrete. Of course, I need to be very careful about what I write - there's always a slim chance someone out there might read it.

6:40 AM Quote of the day (Jim Elliott):

Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth! I care not if I never raise my voice again for Him, if only I may love Him, please Him. Mayhap in mercy He shall give me a host of children that I may lead them through the vast star fields to explore His delicacies whose finger ends set them to burning. But if not, if only I may see Him, touch His garments, and smile into His eyes - ah then, not stars nor children shall matter, only Himself.

6:33 AM I'm often asked where students can earn an accredited European doctorate without having to relocate. The Highland Theological College in Scotland offers just such an accredited Ph.D. program. This looks like an excellent course of study. From their online catalog:

The degrees of MPhil and PhD are research degrees with no course work involved. They may be taken either as full-time or part-time degrees. There is no residence requirement for part-time students, although overseas part-time students should anticipate making at least one trip to the UK each year during their studies to meet with their supervisor(s). Prospective students whose first language is not English must have reached 6.5 in the IELTS examination or its equivalent prior to application. Day to day supervision will be undertaken by an HTC supervisor.

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