“Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!”

In the last verse of the last chapter in the last book of the Old Testament, these words are spoken of the Messiah:

Trinity College Library, Dublin

And now, the final installment of these (very) brief reflections on this year’s readings…

Trinity College Library, Long Room

Moving right along in this series as I look back on the books of the past year…

New York Public Library

After some delay, I’m continuing with this year’s list of literary discoveries…

Joanina Library, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Pressing on with the second part in this year’s reading list…

Robert E. Lee on Leadership (H. W. Crocker) – The subtitle sums it up well:  “Executive Lessons in Character, Courage, and Vision.”  Winston Churchill once described Lee as “one of the noblest Americans who ever lived.”  Each chapter covers a major period of Lee’s life and ends with some applications for leaders today.

Biltmore House Library – Asheville, NC

Well, I had so much fun doing this last year that I thought I’d take another crack at a year-in-review reading list.  It’s interesting (at least to the author) to trace where I’ve been with my reading time outside of sermon preparation.  In many cases, these were books that I targetted at the beginning of the year.  In several other cases, they came from urgent recommendations from others.  Themes related to my interests can be easily traced.  But there is definitely an eclectic element to this as well.  Perhaps it will prove useful to you if you’re looking for a gift for that bibliophile on your list.  The order is simply alphabetical according to the author’s last name.  Here goes…

Not the whole collection but a good place to start

Jonathan Edwards served the church of Northampton, MA for twenty-three years.  He began in 1726 as the assistant to his grandfather who had been there since 1672.  It ended in 1750 with Edwards being ingloriously dismissed for various reasons – partly because of some mistakes he had made, mostly because of the hard hearts of his people.

Whenever he preached, the text was the Scriptures.  Whatever the topic, the theme was the glory of God as manifested in the gospel of Christ.  It was his priority week by week.  This is what occupied his thoughts and affections.  And it showed itself as he stood before his congregation on July 1, 1750 as he preached his Farewell Sermon.  Consider what he is saying here, especially in its context.

I now take leave of you and bid you all, farewell; wishing and praying for your best prosperity.  I would now commend your immortal souls to him, who formerly committed them to me, expecting the day when I must meet you again before him, who is the Judge of the quick and the dead.  I desire that I may never forget this people, who have been so long my special charge, and that I may never cease fervently to pray for your prosperity.  May God bless you with a faithful pastor, one that is well acquainted with his mind and will, thoroughly warning sinners, wisely and skillfully searching professors and conducting you in the way to eternal blessedness.  May you have truly a burning and shining light set up in this candlestick; and may you, not only for a season, but during this whole life, be willing to rejoice in that light.

And let me be remembered in the prayers of all God’s people that are of a calm spirit, and are peaceable and faithful in Israel…And let us remember, and never forget our future solemn meeting on that great day of the Lord; the day of infallible decision, and of the everlasting and unalterable sentence.  Amen.

Yes, it is serious.  But note how it is without any personal rancor.  These are words of graceful yearning.  How can this be?  Again, as was alluded to in the last post, the gospel not only demands that we seek peace.  It does impel us.  But it also enables and frees us to do so.

Jonathan Edwards, 48, painting attr. to Joseph Badger

To the church in Collossae, Paul wrote, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:12-13)

That’s really surprising to many of us.  Even worse, when we hear that God is a “joy-taking” God, we immediately assume that means He takes joy from us.  Our instinct is most decidely not that He desires to give joy to us.  Where did that come from?  How did we get things so wrong?  Undoubtedly, others have indeed steered us wrong.  And we’ve bought into the lie too readily.

But the roots go further back than our own individual lifespans.  This is traced all the way back to the Fall (Genesis 3) where Satan sowed the bitter seeds of doubting the goodness of God into the hearts of Adam and Eve.  And those seeds have flourished into life choking weeds within our own hearts ever since.

Praise God that’s not the end of the story.  He is so intent on our joy (and it being in Him) that He has come in the flesh to begin a work of renewal.  And He’s coming again to bring it full circle.

Feeling the sting of a VT loss

As far as definitions go, a “fan” is said to be ”an aficionado or a supporter,” “a person with a liking and an enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team.”  This is, of course, also an abbreviated form of the word “fanatic.”

The likely predator

Our family has joined the growing movement of backyard chicken farmers.  But let me be clear.  It is not for the meat but for the eggs.  And these little ladies are far more like pets than livestock.  Each have been named for English queens.  And we delight to watch and care for them.

But there’s something else.  Let’s assume everybody does love you.  What do your really have?  I was reminded of this in a quote I came across recently from General William Tecumseh Sherman.  (NOTE TO ANY READERS IN ATLANTA:  You get a pass here) It’s found in a letter to his brother, Senator John Sherman of Ohio, on August 3, 1863:

As to the press of America, it is a shame and a reproach to civilized people…I begin to feel a high opinion of myself that I am their butt; I shall begin to suspect myself of being in decline when a compliment appears in type.

Sherman was on to something here.  In fact, it reflects something of what we read in John 2:23-25.  The Apostle writes:

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that He was doing.  But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Or, to put it another way, so everybody loves you now.  Big deal.

The Berlin Wall, 1989

Two quotes to consider.  The first has to do with the ugly potential for human division.  Describing the attitudes of the 1st century Jewish believer towards the Gentiles, William Barclay wrote:

At Lizzie Jackson’s (Cherokee, NC)

On a recent mission trip to Cherokee, NC with Mission to the World (MTW), our team was given the task of building a handicap ramp onto the home of Lizzie Jackson.  It was a challenge but well worth the effort.

General George McClellan (“The Little Napolean”)

It helps to know what you’re there for.  By “there,” I mean in a position of some responsibility.  An obvious example would be a parent.  Why has God placed you in the life of that child as their mother or father?  What are you there for?  To the degree we are confused at that level will have great (and perhaps dire) consequences in how effectively we carry out our responsibility.

“Dignity and Valor” (Mort Kunstler)

Of Gen. Robert E. Lee, it has been said by such notable figures as Winston Churchill, “(He) was one of the noblest Americans who ever lived, and one of the greatest captains known to the annals of war.”  President Theodore Roosevelt thought Lee was “without any exception the very greatest of all the great captains that the English-speaking peoples have brought forth.”  Pulitzer Prize-winning James McPherson, author of the best-selling Battle Cry of Freedom, has called Lee the “greatest tactician and most charismatic commander” of the Civil War.

What made this man so deserving of such praise by such minds in the years since?  Perhaps this quote from one of his men captures it best.  Sergeant John H. Worsham, 21st Virginia Infantry, said that Lee “believed in his men and thought they could do anything that mortals could do.  His men worshipped him, and I think the greatest man the world ever saw was Robert E. Lee.”  High praise indeed.  And it stems from the great expectations Lee had of his men.  Which is something we could all stand to learn from today in whatever role of leadership we have – employers, superior officers, elders, parents.  Dignify the folks you lead by setting the bar high.

That said, we need to be careful.  As Lee himself told his most reliable corps commander, James Longstreet, the day after the defeat at Gettysburg, “It’s all my fault.  I thought my men were invincible.”

Which points us to the delicate balance always needed to be kept by a leader – again, of any form – between great expectations and the realization that we are all finite and fallen.  And the wisdom needed for such balance.

"Keep to Your Sabers, Men" (Mort Kunstler)

“‘Thank God,” said a man with his leg amputated, “that it was not my right arm, for then I could never have fought again; soon as this stump is well I shall join Stuart’s cavalry; I can ride with a wooden leg as well as a real one.’” – Judith Brockenbrough McGuire, written on June 9, 1862

This shames me.  Completely apart from any thoughts you may have about the Southern Cause and all the tangled conversation into which that can lead (which I really have no intention of getting into on this blog), think with me here.  Right or wrong, is this not devotion to a cause?  Should it not show itself in our lives as Christians?  Ah, but how easily blown off course, off topic, off target we can be moved by distraction, discouragement, fatigue, or even a mild headache or hunger pang.

And who said we can learn nothing from history?

First – The Stupid.  This applies to myself.  Just why would someone cheerfully decide to go down the “Dueling Demon Speed Slide” (see picture) a couple more times after said slide had proved to have a rather bruising effect on your posterior?  That made for a less-than-comfortable drive back home.

Second – The Irrational.  This applies to all those (including myself at times) who yell and scream while going down those steep descents.  As if these rides weren’t designed by professional engineers.  As if the inspection stickers at the top of each had been forged.  Although some of the notices don’t help.  “This is an extreme ride.  Do not attempt this if you have back pains, seizures, pregnancy, allergies, or if anyone in your family has ever been ill.”

Third – The Foolish.  This applies to all those young ladies walking around the park nearly naked.  Think with me.  Ladies’ underwear is more modest than some of those outfits.  If you saw somone dressed in such a fashion in the grocery store, charges of indecent exposure could be lodged.  What exactly is going through the mind when these scraps with straps are purchased?

Which takes me to the next thing.  What exactly is going through the mind of the parents – especially the fathers – when these scraps with straps are purchased?  Has the man suffered some grievous head injury, rendering him incapable of considering what it would be like to be a teenage boy and to have this low-grade porn paraded in front of his face?  What are the thoughts sure to come to the boy’s mind?  How will that boy then view her?  Does a father actually show love to his daughter when he allows her to wear this?

Hmmm.  I take it back.  The fool here is not so much the girl.  It’s her father.

As Haugen relayed in an interview,

The last time I saw Kanmani, she wasn’t rolling cigarettes any more.  She was coming home from school.  She proudly showed me how she had learned to write her own name.

A few months before, an investigative team from the IJM had conducted an investigation of bonded laborers in her village.  They prepared affidavits of bonded servitude from the children and captured the moneylenders on videotape bragging about all the children they had in bonded labor.  The investigation exposed a larger sydicate of bonded servitude.  Through the intervention of a district magistrate, almost five hundred bonded laborers were released (including Kanmani) and more than a hundred moneylenders were arrested.

Of course, Kanmani and her family will need ongoing assistance from the local Christian relief and development agency that works in her village…But these faithful efforts by my IJM colleagues shatter the paralyzing lie that there is “nothing we can do” to help those who suffer abuse in our world.  God does not give us a ministry that He won’t empower.  Christ Himself promised when He departed this earth that He would grant us “power” to be His witnesses “even to the uttermost parts of the earth” – witnesses to His salvation, His love, His mercy and His justice.  Let others lose hope – but let God’s people trust in the God of justice.

This sounds like the Servant at work, through the labors of His people.  “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.  I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”  (Isaiah 42:1)

But have you ever considered how it is He is able to do this?  What is it about life in this world that makes it such so rich in illustrative material?  Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895-1960), the pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia for 33 years, a teacher well known for his skill in illustrating his points, said in his book Timeless Illustrations in Preaching and Teaching:

As an introduction let me tell the story of the time I meditated on the fact that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.  Suddenly I realized that in the plan and thought of God, I was older than the sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the trees, the garden and everything else.

“Since God planned me before He planned trees and lakes and mountains, and storms and sunsets,” I said, “everything that there is was created in order to illustrate spiritual truth.  Everything.  I don’t care what it is – the way the echo sounds if you clap your hands, the way light gleams off metal, the way paper tears, you name it – you can find a sermon illustration in it.  A sermon illustration is in the things right around you.”

Well, that begs a question, doesn’t it?  What do you see around you?