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Wholehearted Thanksgiving
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, November 23, 2007
Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the LORD,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of honor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds;
the LORD is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever.
Psalm 111
After an opening salvo of praise, the Psalmist says, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart” (v. 1). This isn’t the first time we read this sort of thing in the Psalms. Psalm 9:1 says: “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Similarly, Psalm 86:12 proclaims, “I give thanks to you, O LORD my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.”
So here’s my question: What does it mean to thank God with my whole heart? Then I have some follow up questions: How can I give thanks wholeheartedly if, in fact, my heart is heavy? What if I’m not feeling very thankful today? Surely I’m not supposed to fake gratitude, as if I could pull the wool over God’s eyes. How can I be authentic before God and still give Him thanks with my whole heart?
We’ll be able to answer these questions if we understand the Hebrew conception of the heart. We translate the Hebrew word leb as “heart,” and there are places in the Old Testament where leb is associated with emotions. Psalm 13:5, for example, says, “My heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” Yet leb in Hebrew means far more than “heart” in English. The leb is not merely the seat of the emotions, but also of the will, even the mind. The leb is the whole inner person: thoughts, feelings, choices, purposes. In particular, the leb is that which guides our actions. It’s what we usually speak of in English as the will.
So, when the Psalmist says, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,” he’s saying more than, “I will feel very thankful.” Rather, he means, “I will choose to offer thanks to the Lord. I will choose to acknowledge God’s goodness to me, and I will do this with all of my inner strength.”
Thus, ironically, if you’re feeling down, if you’re not feeling thankful, then you’re in a perfect place to thank the Lord with your whole heart, because you can choose to do this. Indeed, you must choose to thank the Lord, because your emotions alone won’t get you there.
Now let me be clear. This doesn’t involve pretending. When we say, “Thank you, Lord,” we’re not necessarily saying, “Oh, Lord, I feel so thankful today. I have all sorts of warm fuzzies inside.” Warm fuzzies, lukewarm fuzzies, or no fuzzies at all, thanking God is saying “You did this, and it’s good, and I acknowledge this.” You may or may not feel anything at the time, but you can always choose to thank God by telling Him the great things He has done.
Psalm 111 gives us plenty of help in this regard. Verse 2 reads, “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.” If you want to give thanks – indeed, if you want to feel grateful – begin by studying God’s great works. Remember all of the wonderful things He has done, not only in your life, but also throughout history.
We will thank the LORD with all our hearts when we remember, not only what God has done, but also who He is. Verse 4 makes this clear: “He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the LORD is gracious and merciful.” Did you see the transition there between what God has done – His wonderful deeds – and God’s character – He is gracious and merciful. So we thank the Lord because of who He is, especially for His grace and mercy.
This points us to the center of our reason for wholehearted thanksgiving. As verse 9 reminds us, “He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever.” The Psalmist was no doubt looking back to God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and to His establishment of the Mosaic covenant at Sinai shortly thereafter. When we read Psalm 111:9 as Christians, however, we have more to go on than the events of Exodus. We remember the redemption we have through Jesus Christ, whose death brought us out of bondage to sin and death. We celebrate the new covenant in the blood of Christ, through which we have forgiveness and eternal life.
Sometimes we feel joyful because of our salvation in Christ. That’s one of the reasons we gather for worship, to remember so that we might rejoice. Yet no matter what we may be feeling at any given moment, we can always choose to thank God for what’s true. And what is true? Because God is gracious and merciful, He has redeemed us through Jesus Christ. Moreover, it’s true that God’s mercies are new every morning as He continues to shower us with His good gifts.
And so we give thanks. We choose to say “thank you” to the Lord. Sometimes we do so when our hearts are soaring with gratitude. Sometimes we do so in the depths of despair. Wholehearted thanksgiving means choosing to remember what God has done and who He is, and to acknowledge His goodness no matter what we feel. Yet, as we do this, even when our hearts are heavy, the act of thanksgiving itself often lifts our hearts. But, even if it doesn’t, we can still thank the Lord with our whole hearts because He deserves it, and because we need it.
Topics: Thanksgiving | No Comments »
Thanksgiving Inspiration from Pray the Gospels
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, November 22, 2007
Excerpt
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Luke 17:15-16
Click here to read all of Luke 17:11-19
Prayer
How well I know this story, Lord. I must have heard it a couple dozen times while in Sunday School. Since then I’ve studied it, taught on it, and preached on it.
And yet, in spite of how familiar I am with this story, I end up just like the nine who did not return to thank You. I find it so easy to receive Your gifts and move on without stopping to reflect or express my gratitude. Oh, to be sure, there are times when I thank You. But my thanks is so often shallow and scanty. Forgive me, Lord, for my failure to give You the credit You deserve.
Forgive me . . . and help me. Help me, Lord, to see with clear eyes Your manifold gifts to me. Slow me down enough so I can be thoughtful, and thus thankful. Help me not to charge on to the next thing, even the next good thing, so that I fail to appreciate and acknowledge Your goodness to me.
Gracious Lord, today I thank You for the big things, for Your love, for saving me, for giving me a reason to live. Thank You for my family, my friends, my work, my health. Thank You for blessing me in countless ways.
But may I also thank You for the little things, for the warmth of hugging my daughter, for the smell of the autumn air, for the refreshment of rest.
Fill my heart with gratitude, Lord. You deserve it. And, to be honest, I need it too.
Questions for Reflection
In what ways are you like the one man who returned to Jesus? And how are you like the other nine?
What helps you to be grateful? What might you do to enhance the gratitude of your life?
I’m grateful for the amazing skies in Texas.
Pray the Gospels
Pray the Gospels is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Psalms. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Gospels or the Psalms, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
Topics: Thanksgiving | 1 Comment »
How Can I Be Thankful When . . . ?
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The Bible instructs us to be consistently thankful. In writing to the Thessalonian Christians, the Apostle Paul said, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess 5:18). This sounds nice enough, until you find yourself in difficult, even painful circumstances. Then inspired biblical truth can feel like an insensitive platitude.
“How can I be thankful when . . . ?” Various scenarios complete the sentence. “How can I be thankful when this is the first Thanksgiving since my mother died? Or when my family is in such disarray? Or when I’m in the middle of chemotherapy?” Throughout my years as a pastor, I’ve often heard this sort of question, especially as Thanksgiving Day draws near. People would really like to feel grateful, but their life circumstances seem to make genuine gratitude impossible. They feel stuck in discouragement and despair.
If we take the Psalms as a model for prayer, then we should certainly feel free, even obligated, to share with the Lord our frustrations and disappointments. Genuine prayer is not putting a happy face on our true feelings. If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, or feeling afraid because you’re facing a serious illness, you should surely share these feelings with God in prayer. Being thankful in all circumstances does not mean pretending or denying.
But it does mean that we must look beyond our particular circumstances. Gratitude comes when we look at the bigger picture, when we remember the multitude of ways in which we are blessed, even if we’re also feeling sadness or fear or whatever else seems inconsistent with being thankful. For example, this will be my twenty-first Thanksgiving without my father, who died of cancer in 1986. Every year on this holiday I think about my dad. I miss him. I wish we could watch football together. I wish he were there to carve the turkey. Mostly I just wish I could be with him. So, ironically, on Thanksgiving Day I feel more sadness than usual over the loss of my father. (Photo: my dad and me in days gone by)
And yet I also feel thankful for him. Although I wish I could have had more time with my dad, I treasure the time I did have. I thank God for the hours my dad and I spent playing Candy Land and Star Reporter; and for his subtle sense of humor; and for his solid example of Christian faithfulness; and for his support when I desperately needed it. I am able to offer genuine thanks for my father, without denying the sadness I feel over his early death.
“But,” you may object, “you lost your father a long time ago. You still feel pain, but the wound isn’t fresh. What about people who are in the midst of suffering right now? Can they be truly grateful?” My answer is “Yes.” How do I know this? Because I’ve seen it time and again in my ministry. I’ve watched people in the midst of a crisis nevertheless be able to express authentic thanks to God.
This year will be the first one since 1982 that I will be away from my extended family at Thanksgiving. As you know if you’ve been reading my blog recently, earlier this year my wife and two children moved to Texas. So this year we’ll be spending Thanksgiving Day 1300 miles away from the people who have always been part of our celebrations. I know we’ll miss them. But I also expect that the sadness of being away from our family will accentuate our appreciation for them. If anything, hard times can make gratitdue even more accute.
But what about suffering that is far greater than missing loved ones? Can one be thankful in such a predicament?
When I think of gratitude in the face of suffering, I think of Martin Rinkart. He was a pastor in the city of Eilenburg, Germany during the first decades of the seventeenth century. If you remember your European history, this was during the so-called Thirty Years’ War. Eilenburg, as a walled city, was often overcrowded with refugees. This often led to famine and disease. Conditions were so horrible in Eilenburg that thousands of people died, and, for a season, Rinkart was the only minister in town. During this period of time he performed up to fifty funerals in a single day. Over his lifetime he officiated at over 4,000 funerals. We can only imagine the horrific suffering Rinkart experienced.
In the midst of this ordeal he wrote several hymns. One caught on among German speaking people and, in translation, among English speaking people as well. What was this popular hymn? In the original language it begins: “Nun danket alle Gott, mit Herzen, Mund und Händen.” In English translation the hymn is a Thanksgiving favorite:
Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in God’s grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.All praise and thanks to God,
Who reigns in highest heaven,
To Father and to Son
And Spirit now be given.
The one eternal God,
Whom heaven and earth adore,
The God who was, and is,
And shall be evermore.
I’ve always liked this hymn. But I had probably sung it fifty times before I learned about its background. Now it means so much more to me. Martin Rinkart was calling for thanksgiving, not in a season of plenty, but in the midst of want. He was reminding us to look above our pain and to remember God’s “wondrous things” and “countless gifts of love.” The hymn acknowledges that we will sometimes be “perplexed” and suffer “all ills.” But by lifting our eyes above these immediate circumstances, we are able to give thanks to God. The last verse looks, not to the good things God has done for us, but to the very nature of our good God, who deserves “all praise and thanks.”
The ability to look beyond our immediate circumstances is itself a gift of God’s grace. If you’re struggling to be grateful, ask the Lord to give you a fresher and truer perspective on your life. Allow yourself enough time to remember and reflect upon God’s gifts. Most of all, think about who God is. Meditate upon his mercy and love. The more you do, the more you’ll find true gratitude flowing from your heart.
Topics: Thanksgiving | 5 Comments »
A Brief History of Thanksgiving
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, November 20, 2007
For several years, it has been my history to put up a bit of Thanksgiving history during the week prior to the holiday. So, once again, here is a brief history of Thanksgiving.
A couple of years ago I asked my six-year-old nephew, “On Thanksgiving, to whom do we say thank you?” He quickly responded, “To the native Americans.” (No, I’m not kidding.) “Do we say thank you to anybody else?” I queried persistently. “To the Pilgrims.” “And to anybody else?” I prodded further. “To God!” he exclaimed.
Well, though his order may be a little curious, that just about nails the historical roots of Thanksgiving. It’s common knowledge that the American celebration has its origin in 1621, as the Pilgrims invited the neighboring Indian tribes to join them in a feast of gratitude for God’s blessings. There’s no evidence, however, that they actually celebrated this on the fourth Thursday in November, or that it lasted only one day, or that they played a mean game of touch football after dinner. (Note: Ed Boyce comments that the first official Thanksgiving in the New World happened, not in New England, but in Virginia. Check out this link for the evidence. More discussion of the issue of the first Thanksgiving here.) (Picture: “The First Thanksgiving” by Jennie August Brownscombe, 1914)
New Englanders remembered the Pilgrims’ effort for many years through regional celebrations of Thanksgiving. Sometimes American Presidents would set aside a day for the nation to be thankful. In 1789, for example, President George Washington proclaimed November 26th as a national day of thanksgiving. Here’s the core of his presidential proclamation:
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor–and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be–That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war–for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed–for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions–to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually–to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed–to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord–To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us–and generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
The idea of a permanent, national celebration each November came 242 years after the first Pilgrim-Indian festival in the early 17th century. During the Civil War, many Americans clamored for some sort of national religious holiday. One of the most vocal was Sarah Josepha Hale (who, by the way, wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb”). Hale used her clout as editor of the influential Godey’s Lady’s Book magazine to motivate President Lincoln to proclaim a national holiday. On September 28, 1863 she wrote a letter to the President encouraging him to “have the day of our annual Thanksgiving made a national and fixed Union Festival.” Five days later Lincoln issued the “Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863” (which we’ll examine below). (Picture: The first part of Hale’s letter to Lincoln. The underlined part reads “have the day of our annual Thanksgiving made a national and fixed Union Festival.”)
In his proclamation, Lincoln set apart the “last Thursday of November” as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” Throughout the next eight decades, all American Presidents followed Lincoln’s example. But during 1933, as the Great Depression raged, many merchants appealed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to change the day from the last Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday. The reason for this request? November, 1933 had five Thursdays, which left the minimum number of shopping days between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Roosevelt denied this request, leaving the holiday on the last Thursday of the month.
But in 1939, the next five-Thursdays-in-November year, President Roosevelt gave in to the requests of business owners and established the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. National chaos ensued, with some states following Roosevelt’s lead and others sticking with the traditional last, and in this year, fifth Thursday. This meant, among other things, that families living in different states were in many cases unable to celebrate Thanksgiving together. The national controversy over the day of the holiday continued, until Congress passed a law on December 26, 1941, making the fourth Thursday of November the one, official, national day.
Recalcitrant Canada, I might add, does not recognize the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. I learned this the hard way while in college. Some friends and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving by driving from Boston up to Montreal. It didn’t dawn on us that Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. This wouldn’t have been so bad, except that the restaurant in which we had our Thanksgiving dinner didn’t even have turkey on its menu. I had to settle for quiche, of all things. Now that’s a Thanksgiving travesty! (Picture: One of many critical communications Roosevelt received in light of his controversial Thanksgiving decision. This telegram, written in November 1940 by two restaurant owners reads: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR REELECTION. WHEN SHALL WE SERVE OUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY 21ST? OR 28TH?)
I want to close by printing the text of Lincoln’s original Thanksgiving proclamation. I won’t add my own comments. But I will italicize a few sections that strike me as especially profound. As you read this proclamation, you might ask yourself: What would happen if an American President used this kind of language today in an official proclamation? What in this statement speaks to the heart of our national crisis today?
Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility [sic], and union.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.
Topics: Thanksgiving | 10 Comments »
Guest Blogger: The Gospel Traditions: Melt in your mouth?
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, November 19, 2007
Dr. James Arlandson continues his series on the Gospels, this time focusing on the oral traditions behind the writing of the Gospels. As usual, this is a substantive post with lots of information and lots of links. Thanks, Jim, for this excellent post!
Topics: Gospels, Guest Bloggers | No Comments »
Greg Ogden at Laity Lodge
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, November 19, 2007
Part 5 of series: Sharing Laity Lodge
Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series
This past weekend Greg Ogden spoke at Laity Lodge, at a retreat for Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church of Austin, Texas. Greg is currently the Executive Pastor of Discipleship at Christ Church of Oak Brook, Illinois. Before going to Christ Church, Greg served as a pastor in several churches, mostly in California. He was also the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Fuller Theological Seminary. Greg has written several books, including Unfinished Business: Returning the Ministry to the People of God (Zondervan, 2003), Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Build Your Life in Christ (InterVarsity Press, 1998). Next month his new book, co-written with Dan Meyer, will be released: Leadership Essentials: Shaping Vision, Multiplying Influence, Defining Character (InterVarsity Press, 2007). (Photo: Greg Ogden speaking at Laity Lodge)
I had not met Greg before this weekend, which is a bit strange, as I’ll explain below. I was familiar with him mostly because he and I share many friends in common, and because of his writings. Greg’s books, especially Unfinished Business (which was published in an earlier version in 1990 as The New Reformation) and Discipleship Essentials have become popular classics because of their clarity and biblical faithfulness.
Greg’s speaking is much like his writing: engaging, lucid, based on Scripture, and relevant to the challenges facing every Christian today. During the retreat he focused on “Returning the Ministry to the People of God,” using material from Unfinished Business. His first message had the intriguing title, “Jesus is Not Enough.” Don’t worry about Greg’s orthodoxy. He believes that salvation comes only through Christ. But what Greg pointed out was that the Christian life is more than simply a personal, individualistic relationship with Jesus. It necessarily includes relationship with our fellowship disciples as we serve Jesus in the world.
In his second message Greg explored the tricky issue of how to help churches move from a sub-biblical model in which pastors do all the ministry to a biblical one in which all members are also ministers. He asked many challenging questions, including one that really got me thinking:
How do we help people have expectations that ministry received from fellow gifted members is equal to ministry received from the pastor?
In my experience as a pastor, this question is not easy to answer in principle, but not in fact. If people grow up in the church with an understanding that the pastor is the professional caregiver, and if they tend to view pastors as somehow more spiritual than other members, then they are reticent to give up their expectations for pastors. If a church member is in the hospital and gets ten wonderful visits from other members trained by the pastor, but not one from the pastor himself or herself, chances are that this person will be unhappy with the pastor. It’s very, very hard to help people’s expectations for ministry change once they have experienced a traditional, pastor-centered model of church.
Greg is asking the right questions and addressing the right issues, in my opinion. If you’re not already familiar with his writings, let me recommend them to you. They are readable, well-informed, and solidly-based on Scripture. Unfinished Business is one of the finest recent books on the ministry of all of God’s people. It’s a great resource for church leaders and adult educational classes. (Photo: A scene from Laity Lodge in the late autumn.)
On a personal note, I mentioned above that I had not met Greg before this weekend, though I had known of him for years. He works with Dan Meyer, the Senior Pastor of Christ Church of Oakbrook, who is an old friend. Moreover, as it turns out, our lives are even more intertwined than I had expected. Greg and I are both graduates of Glendale High School, though I came along a few years after he did. His wife’s brother, Sam, was a classmate of mine at GHS and a good friend. Sometimes the world seems very small.
Topics: Sharing Laity Lodge | No Comments »
Inspiration from the Pray the Gospels
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, November 18, 2007
Excerpt
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 7:12
Click here to read all of Matthew 7:7-12
Prayer
There it is, Lord, the famed Golden Rule, that which is so often quoted, referred to, and named. This is, perhaps more than anything else, the teaching that has given You the moniker of “good teacher,” even among those who are otherwise dismissive of You and Your mission.
How easily I can read right by this teaching! It’s so familiar. Old hat. Yet if I pause and begin to think about the implications of what You have said, I’m flooded with ideas. If I think about how I would like to be treated by my wife, then I have new ways to show my care for her. Ditto with my children, my co-workers, the person who served me in Starbucks, etc. etc.
Help me, dear Lord, to take to heart the simple directive: to treat others as I would like to be treated.
Questions for Reflection
In your life, whom do you need to treat as you would like to be treated?
What could you do today in response to Jesus’s teaching?
A Different Take on the Golden Rule
When I was about nine years old, my younger brother, Gary, hit me. I didn’t hurt too much, so rather than hitting back, I decided to teach him some good theology. “God doesn’t want you to hit me,” I said.
“No, it’s okay,” he answered.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“Do unto others as you would like to do unto them,” he said, confidently.
Sounds like a budding theologian, doesn’t it? Actually, my brother is a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County. In the picture below, he’s the second from the right end.
This is my extended family last Thanksgiving. It will be very strange for my wife and children and me to not be with this group on Thanksgiving this year. Too far a drive from Texas! We’ll miss them, that’s for sure. But we’ll also be very grateful for them. Maybe distance will even enhance our appreciation. It’s so easy to take people for granted when you’re with them a lot.
Pray the Gospels
Pray the Gospels is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Psalms. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Gospels or the Psalms, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | 2 Comments »
Approaching Laity Lodge
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, November 17, 2007
One of the paths to the center of Laity Lodge, with the cliffs of the Frio River in the background . . .
Topics: Sharing Laity Lodge | No Comments »
Fascinating Links from Christianity Today
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, November 16, 2007
I regularly peruse Christianity Today Magazine’s online website and its Liveblog. I recommend that you do the same.
Some of today’s posts I found particularly striking. Ted Olsen, writing for the Liveblog, put up “Postcard from San Diego: Fighting ‘Bibliolatry’ at the Evangelical Theological Society.” In this post he summarizes an address by J.P. Moreland at the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in San Diego. According to Moreland, as quoted by Olsen,
“In the actual practices of the Evangelical community in North America, there is an over-commitment to Scripture in a way that is false, irrational, and harmful to the cause of Christ,” he said. “And it has produced a mean-spiritedness among the over-committed that is a grotesque and often ignorant distortion of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus.”
Wow! Them’s fightin’ words in a group that prides itself on its commitment to Scripture. And coming from Moreland, a highly-regarded evangelical philosopher and professor at Biola University, such an accusation can’t be ignored. I once had Moreland preach in my pulpit at Irvine Presbyterian Church. He did a great job interpreting the Scripture and challenging us to take it seriously. Moreland’s latest book, picture to the right, is called Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power. I haven’t read this book yet, but I expect it’s a good one. (Thanks, Ted Olsen, for this overview.)
Christianity Today Magazine is featuring a number of articles on the issue of faith and work:
• Uwe Siemon-Netto, in “Work Is Our Mission,” offers a Lutheran perspective on the value of work. On the basis of Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms, Siemon-Netto writes:
“This idea—that by doing our daily chores we are priests equal to the minister serving at the altar—is hugely liberating, especially as we know that in our other abode, the right-hand kingdom, we are already redeemed. With this theology, Luther put laity on par with liturgists, preachers, and others officiating in divine service, and thus laid the groundwork for the modern vision of democracy. And this is perfectly biblical.”
• “Integrating Faith and Work” is an interview by Collin Hansen of David Miller, executive director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, and author of God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement (Oxford, 2006). Here’s one excerpt from the interview:
What have we as Christians lost by not integrating faith into the workplace? We’ve lost a whole generation of people who either go through the motions when they go to church or just don’t go to church anymore. My research shows that sermons seldom wrestle with biblical teachings and theologies of work, which is where most people in the pews are spending their time.
• “The Mission of Business,” by Joe Maxwell, offers a fascinating look at the growing effort by Christians to advance their evangelistic and justice agenda through for-profit businesses. Many think that the next wave of evangelism throughout the world will come through BAM (Business as Mission). Here’s an excerpt from the article:
The phenomenon has many labels: “kingdom business,” “kingdom companies,” “for-profit missions,” “marketplace missions,” and “Great Commission companies,” to name a few. But observers agree the movement is already huge and growing quickly. BAM “is the big trend now, and everyone wants to say they’re doing it,” says Steve Rundle, associate professor of economics at Biola University
Thanks, Christianity Today, for covering such valuable and timely issues. (It occurs to me that since I am now working for Laity Lodge, I should mention that we have a ministry relationship with Christianity Today. Through TheHighCalling.org, we supply the content for CT’s FaithInTheWorkplace.com page. But my interest in and appreciation for CT antedates my working at Laity Lodge by, oh, about 32 years.)
Topics: Links, Faith and Work | 6 Comments »
Apologetics Links
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, November 15, 2007
Today I want to suggest four excellent apologetic links.
The first is a short piece by Stan Guthrie of Christianity Today called “Answering the Atheists.” The subtitle is “A Reader’s Digest version of why I am a Christian.” Good food for thought here, especially if you’re not “into” apologetics.
The second link is to what might be the finest apologetics website anywhere. It’s Stand to Reason, featuring the works of Greg Koukl and several other fine thinkers. This site includes written pieces, podcasts, and other material on a wide range of topics. Greg and his colleagues are thoughtful, non-reactionary evangelical Christians. Greg Koukl has a radio program called Stand to Reason, which is well worth listening to, either live or by streaming/podcast. (Photo: Greg Koukl on the air)
The third link is to what many people have called this generation’s Mere Christianity. It is the book Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. In a simple but compelling manner, Wright lays out the case for Christianity in a way that appeals to postmodern thinkers.
Finally, my fourth link is to the latest entry from my guest blogger, Dr. James Arlandson. His latest post is called: “Did Jesus Even Exist? Can you have an effect without a cause?” As always, this is a thorough discussion with plenty of links.
While I’m talking about apologetics links, I suppose it wouldn’t be out of line to mention my own book, Can We Trust the Gospels? In a readable way, this book makes the case for the historical reliabilty of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It would make a fine Christmas present for anyone who is wondering about the Gospels. I would recommend it especially for high school and college students who are forced to grapple with this issue.
Topics: Thinking about Faith | 6 Comments »
Do You Need to Be Disillusioned?
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Part 3 of series: Sharing Laity Lodge
Permalink for this post / Permalink for this series
At a recent retreat at Laity Lodge, I participated in an early morning devotional led by Steven Purcell, my colleague who is the Director of Laity Lodge. He began by saying that he went through a period of time in his life when he experienced a lot of disillusionment. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, “Of course it isn’t necessarily bad to be disillusioned. After all, doesn’t the word mean ‘getting free from illusions’? Perhaps dis-illusionment is a necessary part of growing in the truth.” (Photo: Steven Purcell)
I’d never thought of that before, though I’ve probably used the word “disillusioned” or one of its cousins a hundred times. (A Google search of my website turns up two uses of “disillusioned.”) If I am fooled by an illusion, if I embrace as true something that isn’t, then disillusionment might be painful, but it is a necessary step on the road to truth and health.
I wonder what illusions I need to be set free from? Where do I need disillusionment? When it comes, will I accept it as a tough but gracious teacher, or will I cling to my illusions?
Do we need to be disillusioned when it comes to God? Many in our time of history do, because it’s ever so popular for people to form their own theologies on the basis of their wishful thinking about God, not on the solid foundation of God’s own self-revelation in history. But even those of us who know God through Jesus Christ, and who derive our core theology from Scripture, do often believe things that aren’t true about God. For us, God may be a big ol’ friend who is there to give us everything we want . . . hardly the biblical God. Or perhaps our “God” is harsh and severe, rather than gracious and merciful. To some extent, we all need to be disillusioned when it comes to God, so that we might embrace the truth of God’s nature as revealed to us through Christ and through Scripture. (Photo: a scene from Laity Lodge a few days ago. This brilliant tree was no illusion.)
In your next time of prayer, you might ask the Lord where, if at all, you’re in need of theological disillusionment. But don’t stop there. Ask that God reveal Himself to You in the fullness of truth. Give up the illusion, the partial truth, the confusion, and know God in the truth of His revelation.
Topics: Sharing Laity Lodge | 6 Comments »
Blogging Like Jogging, Part 2
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, November 13, 2007
In my last post I presented the thesis that blogging is like jogging. Even as many once became joggers, only to quit after a while, so it is with bloggers.
One of the reasons people quit blogging is that long-term bloggers must have several traits, most of which are somewhat unusual. I’ll mention four of the main ones here.
First, enduring bloggers must have a fairly strong sense of self. Not only do they need to think that their ideas are worth publishing, but also they need to put up with the inevitable criticism that comes by way of comments, e-mails, and the derision of other bloggers. Blogging, especially if one touches upon controversial issues like politics or religion, is not for the thin-skinned. There have been times when I thought about quitting my blog because I was tired of being blasted by my critics.
Long-term bloggers must also have lots of ideas. Preferably, they’ll have good ideas, at least for the most part. But good or bad, ideas are the stuff of which blogs are made, and this means bloggers need to have an over-abundance of them. Most people who try blogging have enough ideas for a couple of weeks, but then they run out of things to say.
Effective bloggers must be able to write easily and quickly. Would it be that bloggers were also fairly decent writers! But if you’re a great writer who labors over your work until it is a masterpiece, chances are you won’t be a happy blogger. For better or for worse, bloggers must suffer with loggorhea (”loggorhea” = from the Greek logorroia, meaning “flow of words;” in English it has a negative connotation of “flow of too many words.”) If you try your hand at blogging and stay with it for a while, odds are high that you’ll become more proficient at writing. I don’t know if my four years of blogging have improved the quality of my script, but I think they have just about doubled my speed.
Bloggers must have a sense of purpose that transcends popularity. New bloggers often get excited about having people visit their sites, understandably so. Maybe they even luck into a popular post that drives lots of traffic in their direction. I remember how it felt when, for the first time, I got more than 5,000 visitors in a day. I was stoked. When I began blogging, I used to check my stats (number of visitors, etc.) on a regular basis. Now I hardly ever look.
For me, blogging isn’t about getting lots of readers or some miniscule amount of fame. Rather, I blog because I want to communicate with people, speaking on issues from an intentionally Christian, thoughtful perspective. I want to help people think about the stuff of life in light of biblical truth. I hope to make some small difference in people’s lives, in the church, and in the world. That’s why I blog, and that purpose keeps me going when I’m a. tired or b. bored or c. discouraged or d. feeling embattled or, e. all of the above.
So, if you hear anybody boast about the world-changing impact of blogging, listen with a grain of salt. Remember, blogging is like jogging. And when the pundits perform funerals for blogging, take out that grain of salt once again. It’s still true that blogging is like jogging. Most bloggers try it and quit, just like most joggers. But some, those who are particularly suited to the blogging medium and who have a larger sense of purpose, will keep on blogging for years and years. (Photo: a grain of salt greatly magnified. From istockphoto.com)
The good news, for those of us who are long-term bloggers, is that we won’t blow out our knees, though we might need to buy pajamas with a larger waist size. In fact, faithful blogging is rather like physical exercise, only for the mind. Blogging demands critical and creative thought. It forces us to work through ideas and to support our theories with evidence. It sharpens our skills as writers, at least when it comes to speed.
Unlike jogging, blogging benefits more than just the individual. When I jog, which I still do occasionally after even 35 years, though much more slowly than I did when I was 15, I derive some modest personal benefit. My heart rate rises and I burn a few hundred dreaded calories. But when I blog, even as I profit from the mental exercise involved, I hope my readers profit as well. Thus I’m motivated to keep up my blogging pace even as my jogging pace continues to slow.
If you think you have something to say to the world, go ahead and start a blog. If you happen to be one of the few who stick it out, great. If you join the majority who tried and quit, don’t worry. Blogging is a whole lot cheaper than running shoes and short shorts.
Topics: Blogging | 7 Comments »
Blogging Like Jogging, Part 1
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, November 12, 2007
A couple of years ago everybody was predicting that blogging would take over the media world. Bloggers had toppled Dan Rather. Soon they would replace the New York Times and CBS Evening News.
Now it’s chic to proclaim the death of blogging. Critics, often from the mainstream media, celebrate the fact that millions of bloggers have quit. “The end of blogging is near,” pronounce the pundits, with undisguised glee.
The initial “blogging is the world” bandwagon was silly and naïve. The new “blogging is dead” repeats the silliness and naïveté in the opposite direction.
Blogging isn’t the world. And blogging isn’t dead, either. Rather, blogging is like jogging.
If you’re as old as I am, you might remember the jogging rage. Near as I can remember, it came in the late 60s and early 70s. Everybody bought jogging shoes and little nylon shorts, and then set out to get healthy and lose weight through jogging. Many wanna-be joggers had visions of their svelte bodies winning marathons, even as the waddled along in their Adidas Viennas.
Most folks I know used to be joggers at some time in the past. Very few are still joggers. Some quit because their knees gave out. Some quit because they didn’t get healthy or lose weight. Some quit out of boredom. Some quit because they didn’t look all that great in little jogging shorts. For one reason or another, jogging just wasn’t their cup of tea. (Photo from istockphoto.com)
And that’s just fine, as far as I’m concerned. Though I hope former joggers have found other ways to stay healthy, there’s nothing wrong with the fact that they tried it and decided it was not for them. Most folks, it seems to me, just aren’t cut out to be joggers.
The same is true for blogging. Most of those who jumped onboard the blogging bandwagon discovered that it wasn’t for them. Their delusions of blogging grandeur, with thousands of dedicated daily visitors, didn’t materialize. Instead, they found themselves running out of things to say to the relatively few people who happened to stop by their blogs. And so the bloggers became former bloggers, much to the joy of those in the elite media who prayed each night for the death of blogging.
And that’s fine with me. Though just about anyone can become a blogger, it’s an unusual person who can remain a blogger for long periods of time. The long-term bloggers, in my experience, must have several traits, most of which are somewhat unusual.
In my next post I’ll outline some of these traits, and explain why blogging is even more valuable than jogging. Stay tuned . . . .
Topics: Blogging | 13 Comments »
Sunday Inspiration from Pray the Gospels
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, November 11, 2007
Excerpt
“But I say to you, Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.”
Matthew 5:44
Click here to read all of Mark 5:38-48
Prayer
Lord, I’ll be honest. I don’t like this verse. Oh, it sounds good in a safe religious context. It sounds like exalted morality. But in real life, I don’t want to love my enemies. I don’t even want to love the guy who cuts me off of the highway, let alone pray for him. And when I think of the larger world, when I remember that there are people in this world who really would want to kill my children if they could, how am I supposed to love them?
Dear Lord, I confess that I struggle to love even my neighbors, not to mention my enemies. Forgive me . . . and help me. By Your grace, help me to love when I don’t want to. Give me compassion when my heart is hard. Give me wisdom to know how I can love when I don’t even know what to do.
And I’m surely not alone, Lord. Help my family, my friends, my colleagues, my church, my fellow citizens. Teach us what it means to love beyond our limits. Help us to reject the values of a world that justifies hatred. Challenge us to love, not only our friends, but even our enemies. Help Your people, Lord, to be like You, especially when it’s hard.
Questions for Reflection
How do you really feel about the command to love your enemies?
Is there someone in your world whom God wants you to love, even though you don’t want to?
© Linda Roberts
Pray the Gospels is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Psalms. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Gospels or the Psalms, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | 1 Comment »
You Know You’re in Texas When . . .
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, November 10, 2007
While driving down the road a couple of weeks ago I saw this on the back of a car. Now in California lots of Christians have an ichthus (Greek for fish) on their bumpers. And some anti-Christians have fishes celebrating Darwin. But I never saw a school of ichthuses before I moved to Texas.
Topics: Only in Texas | 4 Comments »