As Goes . . .

On Sunday's I've been really enjoying (and blessed by) the teaching I am doing through our history—from God's stunning spoken six-day Creation six thousand or so years ago, to the Bible and faith statements and stands we have today. It is so encouraging to see the threads that travel from the Old Testament through the New Testament, and how God is truly the same God in all the ages. It's always been about faith, it's always had a great cloud of witnesses, it's always been about His presence.

Recently I taught on Saul, then currently on David. I used the expression, "As goes the king, so go his people." It wasn't that it was bad the people wanted a king, it is the king they wanted (one like the other nations). We were created for a King. It is in our spiritual DNA. A great lie of Satan is that we ever believe we are our own boss. The Bible makes it clear that we are either slaves of Satan, or servants of Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are never our own.

As goes the king, so go his people. We share the fate and fortune of our king. If it is an earthly king, the nation goes with his rise and fall. And with our King as Christians, as goes our King, so goes His people. Christ was hated and persecuted and sacrificial on earth—and He's promised us that same road. Christ is victorious and eternal and fully in the Father's presence in Heaven—and He's promised us that same road.

But that's not the only "As goes . . ." (I am sure you can think of multiple). The one I would add is, "As goes your home, so go you." The world is the home for non-believers, but for believers, born again by the Spirit of God, it says our home is Heaven and we are just strangers and soldiers and travelers here, sent by our King with our King's authority to do our King's will.

With that in mind, let me share a striking example from my Bible reading this morning. It comes out of Luke 21 where Jesus is talking about the end times. He says, "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21:25–27)

The people of this earth, in the times of the earth's distress (their home's distress) will be fainting with fear and foreboding. Seems plain enough. But then comes the striking contrast, that is only explained if we are inseparably woven into our true home as believers. He now adds, "Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:28)

As those of the world fall with their home, those of Heaven, rise with theirs. As goes your home, so goes you. As goes your king, so go you. It is no wonder we are supposed to be so different from the world in every way. No wonder the world should be able to look at our lives and choices and stands and priorities and see a glimpse of the heart of the Father. Because we are inseparably woven into Him and our Heavenly home. May we live like it and not deny our heritage and King and homeland.

The Only "Economy" That Matters

I had a thought the other day. It was, "What if I only got in Heaven (or for eternal enjoyment) what I freely gave or used in this life on or toward others?" I'm not saying that is theologically correct (or that it isn't), but there is no denying in an honest reading of the New Testament that there is a significant emphasis on investing now for eternity.

God's economy is much different than ours. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Where we put our treasures not only affects our future life past this earth, but it defines where our heart will be on this earth. Considering God is more concerned about our heart than any outward appearance, this makes where we store up our treasures a weighty issue—a heart defining issue.

In my Bible reading this week I've been struck by the emphasis on this that Jesus makes from different angles in Luke 16. There is the confusing parable of the dishonest manager. Setting aside all the different thoughts on who the people represent, etc., there seems to be a clear rebuke by Jesus in there of "the sons of light." While not saying dishonesty is good, there seems to be in His words a pointing out that the unrighteous are often more careful about securing benefits for their future (albeit worldly future) than the children of the Kingdom of God are about their future (eternal). He also, in the parable of Abraham, the rich man, and the poor man Lazarus in their interaction beyond the grave, says of the rich one who neglected the poor at his door, "Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish" (Luke 16:25).

When Paul writes to the believers in Corinth he reminds them, ". . . For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). When we combine verses like these, with the multitude of other similar verses, it would seem that followers of Jesus are faced with two very different paths. We can invest in our now, and receive our reward in this life, or we can invest in eternity, and enjoy our reward for eternity. When we realize this economy, it is no wonder that Jim Elliot, a missionary killed in the 1950s in Ecuador, wrote in his journal this now famous quote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

What are we investing in. Do the words of J.C. Ryle, about the parable of the dishonest manager, apply to us? These words are, "The diligence of worldly men about the things of time, should put to shame the coldness of professing Christians about the things of eternity. The zeal and pertinacity of men of business in compassing sea and land to get earthly treasures, may well reprove the slackness and indolence of believers about treasures in heaven."

It is a question worth asking. When we face that moment when we cross the line, and if we are able to see our life and priorities and "treasures" in perspective, will we be pleased with the choices we made, or will we wish we could do it over? If you could write your obituary, what would you want it to say? And what are you and I doing to bring that to pass?

Two Good Reads

I will not be blogging for the next few weeks, but I wanted to share two links that I felt were worth reading.

1. A post by Randy Alcorn on hope, its power, and our hope as Christians.

2. An article on Global Warming that confirms much of what I've felt and even blogged on in the past (I recommend you read that post if you didn't when I made it). "Science" says "jump" and we jump—until they change their mind. Unfortunately, in regards to Genesis, that jump has undermined so many people's faith in God and His Word that by the time they change their mind it will have been devastating to so many people.

As a side note on the whole Global Warming issue—I am not even saying that the earth isn't warming up, but I am questioning man's role in that. If it is man that alters the earth's climate then what caused the earth to warm up and end the ice age in a day when man was not producing emissions? We know that the earth was much colder at an earlier time (for a season), and it was a time man couldn't have impacted that, so if the earth goes through temperature cycles on its own then why are we all of a sudden saying it is man's fault?

May God bless all of you richly with a deep sense of His love for you in the weeks ahead.   —Erick

Taking a Step Back . . .

Recently I had to take one of our cars into town for some service on it. Town, for us, because we live so rurally (is that a word?), is about 55 minutes away. When I got to town a friend picked me up at the repair place and we went to get some coffee and a light breakfast before going together to a ministerial meeting.

For getting our coffee and bite to eat I suggested a spot I like where you can get a cup of coffee (and a refill!) and a bagel for only $3, but my friend took us to another, closer place since my suggestion was "on the other side of town" (about 7–8 minutes away) and our ministerial meeting was on the side we were already on. I was totally OK with him picking—this post isn't about his choice!—but I was struck by the matter of perspective both suggestions revealed.

To me, who had just driven 55 minutes into town, the idea of a "mere" 7–8 minutes being far, or out of the way, was not even a thought. But to my friend, who lives in town, "the other side of town" is a distance. I remember this feeling from when I lived on the Monterey Peninsula. Then, to go the 10 minutes from, say, Pacific Grove to Monterey, to run an errand or get a cup of coffee was "a long way" and avoided unless really necessary. Now, however, when we go to the Peninsula to see my folks, running over to Monterey or Carmel from Pacific Grove is nothing—because where we live now even the most basic errands are a minimum of 30 minutes away, and most almost an hour away.

As I reflected on this difference in perspective I thought how it really is a picture of the perspective we must have as Christians to live effectively in this world and not be pulled by this world. If we can't step back from the world and see things from the much bigger perspective of eternity then the things (events, circumstances, physical items, lures, etc.) of this world will seem really big to us. But, if we can step back from our narrow focus of the world around us and see things eternally, from the big picture, I believe we will find the things of the world not seeming so big to us—hence, they will not have the weight of pull on us they might when our life defines the boundary of our perspective.

Just as from my "distant" perspective "the other side of town" seemed like nothing (and from my friend's town perspective, it was too far), if we can see the things around us and that pull at us through eternal eyes I believe we will see them in the proper weight and perspective we are supposed to. Just like Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12), we must live in this world constantly aware of our heavenly home, of eternal life, and of the things that carry into eternity and the things that are temporary and rust and are consumed by fire.

The expression is often used of people with eternal perspective that they are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly good, but I don't see that. To me, and I think to the Bible, we won't be of earthly good unless we are heavenly minded because a heavenly, eternal mind is the only thing that can keep us keeping things in their proper weight and perspective. If this world is our biggest reality and hope then is stands to reason that the things and events of this world will be our highest influence and weight. But if eternity is our biggest reality and hope then the things of eternity will have the most influence on us and carry the most weight with us. But, because the lure of the world is so powerful and because we live in the world, having an eternal perspective is not natural. We must cultivate and tend it.

For unto you is born this day . . .

"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. . . ." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"  (Luke 2:10-14)


An article by Stephanie Samuel in the online Christian Post today gives Christians a pause for reflection. The article, titled, "Author: Most Evangelicals Believe Good People are Heaven-Bound," has some interesting quotes (you can read the whole article by clicking on the name of it above). Some of the things it says are (the words in #s 1–3 are quotes from the article):

1) The majority of Protestants and evangelicals believe that good people and people of other religions can go to heaven, according to author David Campbell. . . . surveys of 3,000 Americans, used to write the book, show that American people of faith, though devout, are very tolerant. So much so that most believers also believe that good people, despite their religious affiliation, can go to heaven.

2) Campbell . . . explained at a Thursday discussion of his book that the numbers can be explained with the “Aunt Susan” theory. Aunt Susan, he said, is the nice family member who is well-loved and is an all around do-gooder. “You know that if anyone is destined to go to heaven, it’s Aunt Susan,” described Campbell. However, Aunt Susan is of another religion. Rather than condemn that person to a lost eternity, Campbell said, most American believers choose instead to believe that that person is heaven-bound.

3) Land lamented that more evangelicals are being taught the doctrine of universalism. “It’s emphasized from the pulpit; it’s emphasized in the seminaries,” he decried. Universalism is the theological doctrine that all people will eventually be saved despite a relationship with Christ.

My Thoughts: This survey raises some interesting questions around Christmas that the Evangelicals who this describes need to answer. The first of these is, "Then what was Christmas, and ultimately the cross, about?" If a Savior was given to us, and that Savior was God's Son, and God allowed Him to suffer so ultimately for us, then why did that happen if there were other ways? How can anyone believing in Jesus as Jesus describes Himself believe that if there was any other way to save us that God wouldn't have taken that path?

Another question is about God's Word. Do you believe it is His Word or not? If you are going to pick it apart and decide arbitrarily which parts you believe and which you don't then who are you to state John 3:16 with confidence, or how do you possibly offer confident hope to someone contemplating suicide or struggling with hopelessness? 

Another question, equally relevant around Christmas, is, "What were we being saved from if all people end up in Heaven?" It is amazing to me how reluctant most Christians are to talk about things God was not hesitant or apologetic talking about—Heaven, Hell, fear of God, sin, holiness, condemnation, redemption, etc. It doesn't mean that we should talk about these things with a pointing and "in their face" finger, from a platform of arrogance, but we are very remiss if we don't share what God openly shares, and do so from a place of humility and love because we know that, but for Christ, we, too would be separated from God in Hell forever.

Christmas is a message of great joy! Indescribable joy! All Heaven declares the glory of God and the news! Why? Because the bad news is so bad. Because man is sinful and fallen and there is not one good among him according to God's Word. Because eternal separation from God, in Hell, is a fate to wish upon no one. Because we were helpless to save ourselves, but God came and saved us. He didn't steal us from the devil on some "Underground Railroad" smuggling us away—He recognized Satan's lawful right to us as his slaves and He bought us from him, and the purchase price was His Son's blood . . . the only innocent blood that could be shed in another's place because we were all guilty and condemned to die anyway.

Glory be to God in the highest! He has saved us, and He has given us His precious Word to show us the way and to make sure we understand that His Way, through His Son, is the only way—and that is the message of Christmas! God, please help us to stand strong in your Word, to not be ashamed or apologetic of what you are not ashamed or apologetic of, to be filled with joy at your message, and to shed it abroad with all love and humility.

Darkness and Light — Part I

Yesterday we went to the east side of the Pinnacles National Monument with our youth group. It was a really special day. We got there a little after 10 am, and then hiked up through the natural caves created by large rocks covering parts of a canyon. At the top we stopped and did a little study by a small reservoir and then came back down for lunch and heading home.

At the top, for our study, I began by asking the youth what they could turn on in the dark parts of the cave to help them. The answer was their flashlights, or "light." I then asked what might happen if they walked in the dark without their light and we came up with answers like falling, getting hurt, getting lost, dying, etc. I then asked them, as we sat out in the beautiful sun, to turn on the dark. The blank looks said it all—you don't turn on dark, you just remove light and what is left is dark. Dark is the absence of light. Remember that for what follows . . .

When Jesus came Matthew 4:12-17 tells us He fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy that the people who live in great darkness have seen a great light. In Luke 1:78-79, Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, filled by the Holy Spirit, prophesied, "because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." [boldface is mine]

I asked the youth what the land was like when Jesus came, and the answer, according to the Bible, was that it was in darkness. So, I asked, does that mean the sun wasn't shining? Obviously, the answer is "no." This is a description of spiritual darkness, and based on what we talked about to start—darkness is the absence of light. Who is the light of the world? Jesus. The people lived in a spiritual darkness, absent of God (they had plenty of religion, just not God).

Light and dark are big words in the Bible. In the English Standard Version there are 88 different uses of a variation of the word "light" or "dark" in the Gospels, alone—and almost all of them have to do with light in the sense of illumination, not weight. If it is true that darkness, in a spiritual sense, is the absence of God, then we would expect to find Hell described like that. Sure enough, in multiple places, it is the place of "outer darkness." To the contrary, if God is light and light chases away darkness, then we would expect to find Heaven a place of tremendous light. Hence the words of Revelation 21:22-25, "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there." [again, boldface is mine]

So, darkness is the natural state without the addition of light. When we walk in darkness we get lost, hurt, and even die. This is the condition of man until the light comes in and shines in the darkness. I'll talk more about darkness and light and walking in them in the next post, but for this one simply reflect on the fact that, absent of light there is darkness. It is the natural condition. You don't need to do anything to make it dark. You do need to apply light to remove the darkness. So many people who don't know Jesus seem to believe that they are on a road and one day they have to choose Heaven or Hell, God or not. The reality is that all are on the road to Hell. It is not one we choose. It is our natural path. We are all absent of God and in the darkness. We must choose to apply the light to get out of the darkness, and that light has a name. It is not some mystical idea of "light" or "God." It is Jesus who said, "I am the light of the world."

Sinners and An Angry God . . .

Today, July 8, marks the anniversary of Jonathan Edward’s 1741 delivery of probably the most famous sermon ever given in America, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Sadly, most Americans (even Christians) know little more about the mighty move of God in the 1700s that we call the Great Awakening (or the great man of God named Jonathan Edwards) than the biased, slanted, out of context excerpt that they have read in a English class as a brief excerpt of his sermon. I believe that we can, and should, grow tremendously by studying the lives of men and women of God—a great "cloud of witnesses"—who have gone before us, to help us understand their victories and falls, and the part WE are playing in the move of God’s Kingdom across the ages.

While I do not share all of John Piper’s theology, I admire his heart for God and his biographies of great men of God. Rather than try and come up with my own words about Jonathan Edwards, I find it easier to quote from him (with permission). Information about links to Piper’s biographies is given at the bottom of this post.

In his 1988 teaching at the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors called The Pastor as Theologian:
Life and Ministry of Jonathan Edwards, Piper, asks:

Does any of us know what an incredible thing it is that this man, who was a small-town pastor for 23 years in a church of 600 people, a missionary to Indians for 7 years, who reared 11 faithful children, who worked without the help of electric light, or word-processors or quick correspondence, or even sufficient paper to write on, who lived only until he was 54, and who died with a library of 300 books—that this man led one of the greatest awakenings of modern times, wrote theological books that have ministered for 200 years and did more for the modern missionary movement than anyone of his generation?

Though I know that the following excerpt from another point in Piper's teaching is long, I encourage you to chew the solid food and read it through and meditate on it:

And for many text books, Edwards is no more than a gloomy troubler of the churches in those days of Awakening fervor. So what we get as a sample of latter-day Puritanism is an excerpt from his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Perhaps one like this,

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousands times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.

And so the kids are given the impression that Edwards was a gloomy, sullen, morose, perhaps pathological misanthrope who fell into grotesque religious speech the way some people fall into obscenity.

But no high school kid is ever asked to wrestle with what Edwards was wrestling with as a pastor. When you read "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," you see quickly that Edwards was not falling into this kind of language by accident. He was laboring as a pastor to communicate a reality that he saw in Scripture and that he believed was infinitely important to his people.

And before any of us, especially us pastors, sniffs at Edwards' imagery, we had better think long and hard what our own method is for helping our people feel the weight of the reality of Revelation 19:15. Edwards stands before this text with awe. He virtually gapes at what he sees here. John writes in this verse, "[Christ] will tread the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty."

Listen to Edwards' comment in this sermon,

The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God!” The fierceness of Jehovah! O how dreadful must that be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them?

What high school student is ever asked to come to grips with what really is at issue here? If the Bible is true, and if it says that someday Christ will tread his enemies like a winepress with anger that is fierce and almighty, and if you are a pastor charged with applying Biblical truth to your people so that they will flee the wrath to come, then what would your language be? What would you say to make people feel the reality of texts like these?

Edwards labored over language and over images and metaphors because he was so stunned and awed at the realities he saw in the Bible. Did you hear that one line in the quote I just read: "Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them?" Edwards believed that it was impossible to exaggerate the horror of the reality of hell.

High school teachers would do well to ask their students the really probing question, "Why is it that Jonathan Edwards struggled to find images for wrath and hell that shock and frighten, while contemporary preachers try to find abstractions and circumlocutions that move away from concrete, touchable Biblical pictures of unquenchable fire and undying worms and gnashing of teeth?" If our students were posed with this simple, historical question, my guess is that some of the brighter ones would answer: "Because Jonathan Edwards really believed in hell, but most preachers today don't."

But no one has asked us to take Edwards seriously, and so most of us don't know him.

Most of us don't know that he knew his heaven even better than his hell, and that his vision of glory was just as appealing as his vision of judgment was repulsive.

Most of us don't know that he is considered now by secular and evangelical historians alike to be the greatest Protestant thinker America has ever produced.

How would you describe to someone the fierce reality of hell and God's wrath toward sin? How would you magnify the vastness and depth and majesty of God's love apart from contrasting it to His wrath and hell's awful reality? Does it worry you to turn someone off by talking about hell and God's wrath? Does hell's awful reality, and the fact that it is the destination of the majority of people you meet, bother or motivate you? Does eternity, or does your present comfort, drive your choices and how you spend your time? Do you share the Gospel as a way for people to have a better life, or as salvation from hell?

These are all questions worth pondering in our hearts—questions we all probably need to ask ourselves and meditate on. Time is short. How will we spend it, and whose approval and pleasure will drive us as we move through it? Jesus says that those who are worthy of Him will, daily, deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him. To follow means to go where He goes, to do what He does, to say what He says. Jesus talked a lot about hell. Should we be talking more about it? And, truly, can we fully appreciate God's love and Heaven's glory and the cross' majesty and horror apart from honest consideration of Hell's terror, God's wrath, and sin's cost?

Credit: The quoted text above is by John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org.

Note: I wrote about Piper’s biographies, and gave a link to them, in my Feb. 9, 2010 post, “Velvet Mouthed Preaching” which you can view by clicking here, or by navigating through the blog archive in the column on the right.

Intellectual, or Childlike?

The other day Mary Ann and I are out enjoying a little sun, sitting on our deck having a cup of coffee and visiting together. Mary Ann sets up the easel for Abigail to paint while we are having our cup. She puts a smock on her, lays out the paints, and lets Abigail go to town. A short while later we are admiring her picture and she matter of factly tells us it is of flames of fire swooping down to lift her up to heaven!

Wow! It is so awesome to hear kids talk about, and see them draw or paint, things of the Spirit and of the Kingdom of God. What is so natural to them in their simple faith and acceptance of the things of God is so beautiful. They haven’t been “taught” that God doesn’t do miracles, or send His Spirit on tongues of fire, or heal people, or talk to us. Instead, they have dreams from God, they see angels, they hear God’s voice, they pray with expectancy, and they believe His deeds. It is pure, innocent, trusting—and it is huge—it is the faith of a child and I can’t wait until I “undo” all the teaching I’ve heard about everything He doesn’t do anymore, and live in the Biblical expectancy of all the great things He does and will do!

Throughout the Bible “Heaven” interjects itself in to earth for those who will see it. Jacob’s vision of the ladder from heaven, Joseph’s dreams, Daniel’s interpretations of dreams and his visions and his encounter with an angel, the horses and chariots of fire that surrounded Elisha and his servant, the angel encounters, the coming of Jesus, the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter’s vision, John’s revelation . . . I could fill page upon page of “invasions” of our earth from heaven and spiritual beings. The veil between our physical earth and the working of the spiritual realm is very thin, and I wonder what would happen if we spent more time looking for, and expecting, that veil to tear and the spiritual to break in to the physical.

Our God is huge and awesome and mighty, and He so loves us and desires interactive relationship and communication with us that He sent His own Son to die to purchase us back from the devil himself. It makes sense that He would then be active in our life, and that the spiritual realm would frequently interact with ours. I wonder what we miss—or what we dismiss—simply because we aren’t looking or listening for it, or expecting it. In many countries and cultures the supernatural is “normal” and accepted, but in our intellectual culture where science is “god”, we have, I believe, relegated much of what the Bible says our life should look like to, at best, intellectual acknowledgment only, or, at worst, total rejection. It is no wonder to me that the Holy Spirit stays back when we fear His coming, or tell Him what He can and can’t do in our services, or restrict His movement to a “Believer’s Night,” or even mock or disbelieve His actions all together.

I know that we need to be wise as serpents, and to be discerning, and to be on our guard—but I also know that Mark 16:14 tells me: Afterward He [Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. Is it possible that our hearts are hardened and our unbelief stronger than we would care to admit, or that we are more comfortable with religious ritual than we are with God actually “showing up”?

I wonder if there is a lesson in expectancy for us in Acts 12 which says: (1–3) About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also . . . (5) So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. (7–8) And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.

Verses 8–11 recount the angel leading him out to freedom and his recognition of what the angel had done. It then continues: (12–16) When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary . . . where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

There they were, praying away for Peter’s freedom—but when they were told he was actually free, they didn’t believe it and tried to explain it away as something else. I wonder what that says about their true expectancy in prayer. I wonder what expectancy there is in my prayer . . . maybe I need to become that child that paints things of the Spirit and earth interacting, and who believes in Daddy and His goodness and His capability with all of his heart . . . I wonder—would God rebuke me for believing in Him too much?

Coffee and Angels

One of the first books I ever had recommended to me as an early Christian was Gayle Erwin's The Jesus Style. Since reading it, Gayle's books have been woven into my life in different, various ways. One of the most special has been his book, That Reminds Me of a Story, in which he shares different anecdotes and stories from his rich life. It has become our family's summer "tradition" to spend some mornings on our upper deck enjoying the beautiful view (see photos from our deck), sip coffee and hot chocolate, and read stories from Gayle's book.

I recently was able to find a copy of Gayle's second book of stories, That Reminds Me of Another Story . . . I have enjoyed what I have read so far a lot. Some of his stories are more serious than others, but all touch or speak to me in different ways. I contacted Gayle yesterday through his web site Servant Quarters (http://www.servant.org/) and asked his permission to share a few of the accounts. He graciously granted me that privilege and I will share the first below. I think, if you know me, or simply knowing the title of my blog, you will understand why I enjoyed this so much . . .

Coffee and Angels
At my first pastorate, an elderly, retired preacher served as one of my favorite people and staunchest supporters. His background in the denomination of his past was highly legalistic. They had preached against coffee, doctors and just about anything else. However, this brother was a few steps beyond that because of his gentle spirit and relationship with God.
He told me that he preached against drinking coffee (an official position of his denomination) until one night he dreamed of dying and going to Heaven. He described it as incredibly beautiful with angles walking around everywhere. He said that every angel he saw had a cup of coffee in his hand. After that, he never preached against coffee.

So, for those of you readers who love the Lord and who I will never meet or share a cup of coffee with on this side of the grave, there is now strong evidence that we can share some heavenly brew on the other, and I am looking forward to that time ahead with you!

The only problem with Gayle's story is the deep theological questions that it raises—in heaven do they drink decaf or regular?, Columbian or French Roast or another?, drip or perculated or French Pressed? straight coffee or some foo foo drink? In heaven, do you get a free cup after you've had 10,000? Do they have free wireless access, or are laptops banned in deference to the old school coffee house lovers who don't like being surrounded by them? Are there free refills? Do they care how long you sit? What will Abraham and Moses and Noah and Peter be drinking? Will they think less of me if I don't drink it black?

As the bank robber said in Dirty Harry, "I gots to know!" If coffee doesn't keep you awake at night, I am sure these questions will :) At least we do know this, the coffee shops there will be "non smoking," and they are sure to have quite a view! God bless you all. Love ya!

Esther . . . Part 3

Here are the traditional birthday "nose to nose" pictures from the Pinnacles for this year. It was a beautiful day and we made it to the top in time to have an awesome lunch and take some great pictures from up there before heading back down and then driving up to my folks to enjoy the last hours of my birthday around their fire, together. What a great day, thanks for all of your good wishes and prayers!

Here's another Esther thought: From Esther's place of intimacy with the king she was positioned to save a people. It was a chance that involved risk for herself, but, as Mordecai told her in Esther 4:14 ". . . And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

As Christians, with access to the King's voice and heart, we have had our eyes opened to the eternal realities of heaven and hell, and the glorious news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of men. We are offered the anointing of the Holy Spirit to empower our ministry (even Jesus said He cast out demons by the Spirit of God) and we are given the commission (really a command) by Jesus to go in to the world and make disciples, operating in His name.

Our eyes have been opened to the great, eternal truths, and we have been placed where we are for such a time as this. We operate from our place of intimacy and favor with the king in an effort to save a people. We have been given both the terrible revelation of eternity without God that so many around us are headed toward, and the most amazing revelation of eternity with God that we know the key to. It may involve great risk to ourselves, but we can't keep that to ourselves simply to protect ourselves. Like Esther, we have a call upon our lives and we must decide---do we play it safe to protect ourselves while others around us perish when we might have done something about it, or do we take the risk and answer our call and step out to save a people?

Heaven . . .

Mary Ann and I have decided to homeschool Bethany next year. This has been a long decision for us and we would value your sustained prayers for this. We are all looking at this with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. For Bethany (and for us) some of the hardest part has been the "goodbyes" that came today at the last day of school. While we hope to stay involved at some level with the school and go to some of its activities, we are all going to miss the people there a lot. Mary Ann and I alternated Wednesdays in the classroom and it was really hard to know we won't see those kids and the staff much at all. For Bethany, it was knowing she wouldn't see her friends nearly as much as she does now.

As I was driving away from the school this morning I thought about the pain of goodbyes and the hole they leave in our heart (I have long felt that "goodbye" was the worst word in the English language). As I was thinking about this, and driving toward the mountains in the distance on my way to meet with someone who has really seen their life fall apart and tasted much of the pain of life, I thought, "I look forward to heaven where God has promised us that there is no more pain, no more sorrow, no more death, no more tears." I wanted to share that with you, as a reminder, while it was fresh in my mind. I know that for those who have lost loved ones who didn't know Jesus, or who have loved ones who don't know Him, heaven holds another edge to the sword, but for right now, for just this moment, for you alone, stop and think about the place Jesus has gone ahead to prepare for you---your eternal home where He Himself will wipe every tear from your eye and where you will see Him face to face and experience His love without restriction or barrier, and just rest in that moment and let everything else around you fade away as you pause there. God bless you. Rest well. Erick