Lest We Forget

Is our memory as long as the last media clip on the internet? Is our attention drawn to the urgent—always? Nearly 50 years ago a book was published with the title Tyranny of the Urgent. The problem? The urgent often clouds our ability to see the important. Has that changed in the last 50 years? Not really. What about headlines that capture us today, but are forgotten within hours or days?

The Need

I have written about abuse in its various forms. How devastating it can be within families, communities, churches. The affects of abuse are much longer lasting than we want to admit. Therefore, when we know someone who is coming out of an abusive situation, what kind of timeline do we set for “getting back to normal”? Unless we are intimately involved in the care, we might be tempted to set a timeline for them. Rather, as Christians let’s refrain from that and take a different approach.

It has been eight days and yet how many have already forgotten?

Gina DeJesus

Michelle Knight

Amanda Berry and Jocelyn Berry

What kind of news coverage is happening now? Thankfully, they have asked that the media step away from them and their families. Good for them! They need time, space, safety, love, and help. They have at least 10 years of days they want to forget. But let’s not forget these women.

We don’t need to rush to Cleveland to listen to them. We can speak to God who listens to each of our prayers. These people need continued prayers and support.

We take time now, to remember each of them, and their new lives. They have much to learn and unlearn. There may be times of painful memories, flashbacks, nightmares, and sadness, and perhaps depression. Most importantly we ask God to bring them peace, safety, and wholeness in Jesus Christ.

Our Prayer

Lord God, we as a nation were shocked by the details of the kidnapping, rape, and abuse that these women endured. Sin is horrible in any manifestation, any kind of outer dress that it is enclosed in. We lift up to Your throne of grace Gina, Michelle, Amanda, and Jocelyn. As deep as their physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds are, You are the God who understands, who cares, who loves especially in the worst of times. According to Your great mercy, work all that is necessary in their lives. Surround them with people of love and patience. Grant them nights of rest, free from fear, uncertainty, and confusion. Sustain them each step of the way as You grant healing of body, mind, and soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen

And for others…

Perhaps you know someone in an abusive relationship. You can adjust this prayer, or say it in your own words. Regardless, prayers for those who are or have been abused are an important part of our plea as Christians before our God.

Lest we forget

Sober Mercies

Kopp, Heather Harpham. Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up With a Christian Drunk. Jericho Books, 2013.

Sober Mercies

I have read thousands of books over the last 50 years, many of them very good, a few superb. And I have read more intently many in the last two years. I pay particular attention to books now because I have written several reviews, but even more so, because those that I write about affect me personally. But two books stand apart from all the others. Aside from the Bible, these two books have profoundly affected me, and in several different ways.

Emily Cook wrote Weak and Loved, and I had the privilege of reading a preview copy and writing a review. Her writing was gripping, realistic, and compelling. I read it in one day, literally spending 10 hours reading. As a parent I agonized with her in the long, unknown future of her daughter. I rejoiced with her in the answer to prayers, far beyond the miracle of Aggie, to the miracle of God working in Emily’s heart.

And now Heather has written the second stand-out book. The writing is on par with Emily’s, the story is just as riveting. But this one is so much closer to home for me. I am still reeling from the emotional impact (I may not be able to write about that for a while). I didn’t expect this; but it is probably the highest compliment I can pay to Heather. As I read, I marked several places, “this is right on target” —not for her, but me! I began thinking how many quotes are so pertinent to me. Half way through I gave up, because there were too many quotes to remember.  As the days go by I will post a few of these quotes; they are too good not to share.

By opening her life to us as she relived the pain, struggle, hurt, anger, and more, she opened my heart for some needed searching and examining in some long forgotten recesses where I still struggle. Her Christian training had given her a sense of grace and all the intellectual support for understanding it. But her alcoholism exposed her need for grace in a different, more profound way. Not an intellectual appreciation, but experiencing God’s grace at the deepest level, the bottom of the barrel (or bottle in her case).

She faced the double challenge of her own addiction, and that of her son. Either would be overwhelming for most people, but combined, it was not only a vicious cycle, it was one that seemed to offer no hope. And yet God’s grace…

On a larger scale, her life story needs to be heard by those “comfortable” with church as usual. An encounter with God’s grace is life-changing, not just a one time event, but a daily life-changing encounter. That is the whole point of Paul’s letter to the Galatians!

Jesus “came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10)— the lonely, the messy, the broken, the hurting, the outsiders, the victims, the volunteers (you need to read the book to catch that reference), the addict, the addict’s family, the forgotten…

At the end I wanted to hug Dave and Heather and the rest of the family. To celebrate, to walk with them, to learn from them. But even more, I want to hug those who suffer or struggle, people who need that kind of hug. A hug that reassures of God’s life-changing grace. They need someone to love them unconditionally. They need God’s grace in its fullness, just as Heather does, just as I do.

Thank you, Heather, for such an important book—to me, and I am sure, to many others.

Random thoughts about life and death

I just finished reading a gripping book. Normally I read books very quickly. This one I could not. I knew some men who fought in World War I. The “war to end all wars” was not the glamorous new era, but a continuation of the reality of sin, and the depravity of humans.

Groom, Winston. A Storm in Flanders: The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front. Grove Press, 2003.

Storm in Flanders

Powerful book, well written, worthy to be read by everyone.

Groom provides an overview of the conduct of the war regarding Flanders, such that the reader gains an appreciation of all factors weighting upon decisions that at times seem brilliant, more often idiotic, and usually puzzling. The ranking officers in the British Army had their own agendas and battled the political leaders (especially Gen. Haig vs. David Lloyd George). In addition, Groom adds the view from the trenches that shows the heroism, despair, and futility of fighting in the trenches. The contrast between what the Generals knew and what the men experienced comes through in this perspective from General Haig’s chief of staff after the battle of Passchendaele (in 1917).

The day that Passchendaele fell, Haig’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Launcelot Kiggell, went forward to see the battle area for the first time. Nearing Ypres in his big Rolls-Royce staff car Kiggell was first amazed, then dismayed, and finally horrified at the breathtaking morass where the battle had taken place: an almost indescribable sea of mud littered with the bloated, rotten carcasses of artillery horses, smashed guns and wagons, and other detritus of war. He is reported to have broken into tears, crying out, “Good God, did we really send men to fight in that?” His companion, an officer who had been in the battle, told Kiggell, “It’s worse further on up.” (pp. 224-5)

The brutality of war comes through as the mud intensified the drudgery of daily life. And in this case brought horrendous choices.

One sergeant related: “We heard screaming coming from another crater a bit away. I went over to investigate with a couple of the lads. It was a big hole and there was a fellow of the 8th Suffolks in it up to his shoulders. So I said, ‘Get your rifles, one man in the middle to stretch them out, make a chain and let him get hold of it.’ But it was no use. It was too far to stretch, we couldn’t get any force on it, and the more we pulled and the more he struggled the further he seemed to go down. He went down gradually. He kept begging us to shoot him. But we couldn’t shoot him. Who could shoot him? We stayed with him, watching him go down in the mud. And he died. He wasn’t the only one. There must have been thousands up there who died in the mud.” (pp. 214-5)

The ghastly image cuts through any civility that anyone tried to put on the war and the consequences.

Ugly, Harsh Realities of Life

This is a hard book to read, but a necessary read. We get immune to the ugly, harsh realities of life, if we only watch what we want on TV/internet, etc. This book opens our eyes at several levels to challenge the status quo of indifference.

The longer I read the book, the more I realized that it has a present application. We have a sanitized view of life. Are we indifferent to the sufferings of many? Perhaps more than we want to admit. What about the indifference 20 years ago in the Balkans? It got to be old news, except for sensationalism.

Human trafficking is a huge worldwide problem, millions of people caught in it. And yet, for many in the US, unless it is a family member or friend who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, it is not “real.” “Not my problem.” “Do we have to talk about such unpleasantness?”

In the abortion struggle, those who cover their eyes think that Gosnell and others are being treated unfairly. Yet, the hideous reality is that babies are being murdered. No, not just 12 week old infants in the womb, but babies, living, breathing. The mantra of “right of the mother to her body” has changed to “right of a doctor to murder.”

An Ugly Answer

Obviously, the litany of horror has marked humanity since Genesis 4. But it doesn’t end with that. Jesus’ death, for some first graphically portrayed in the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” brings to light the cost of paying the penalty for sin. And Jesus died for all people, even those indifferent to suffering, and those causing the suffering, and even me. As John wrote in his first letter:

He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 GW)

The answer to suffering is the suffering of Jesus, the answer to death is the death of Jesus, the answer to despair is the raising of Jesus back to life.

Real Ugliness—True Beauty

So, back to the book. I hope that as a Christian with the message of life, I am not like General Kiggell. And yet sometimes I am like him. I don’t want to be in the shell hole watching someone die because there is nothing to be done. But sometimes I am. And I seek forgiveness.

I also pray that my heart never becomes indifferent to the sad consequences of sin in this life. Jesus came to bring life and it abundantly.

God hears, remembers, knows

Cry for Help

Yesterday’s post about “hollering and whimpering” when at the bottom of the depression barrel triggered further thoughts. And then this morning I read in Exodus

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out; and their cry for help ascended to God because of the difficult labor. So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and He took notice. (Exodus 2:23-25 HCSB)

After the great days of Joseph and the favor that the Israelites enjoyed in Egypt, the days affliction came to them. Not only did the political environment change, but the personal circumstances changed for every Israelite. Moses was gone when he hastily fled from Egypt when he tried to correct a wrong (Exodus 2:11-15).

The joy of Joseph is replaced by the groaning of the burdens. As oppressed people who saw no hope in their circumstances, “they cried out; and their cry for help ascended to God because of the difficult labor.” Whether this was “hollering or whimpering” does not matter. From the anguish of the burdened soul, such differences are meaningless. This is a “cry for help”—forget categories, forget subtle differences. The broken heart does not care, cannot care.

The three fold response by God

God is not indifferent to the people, His people. He “heard” and “remembered” and “took notice.” These three actions by God are critical; they are the turning point for the Israelites—and yet nothing “happened” for them. The burdens continue, the agony does not cease, and God seems to have a deaf ear.

O Lord,…

God heard

But the reality of change depends not on their (or our) ability to see change. Rather, the key is that God is already poised to act in behalf of His people. In yesterday’s post I finished with 1 John 5:13-15, “We are confident that God listens to us.” This is something the Israelites will learn. This is something that all God’s people learn. For the Israelites in Egypt, “God heard their groaning.” Their groaning does not reflect our use of muttered sigh to a bad joke, but the extreme cry of the heart that is longing, yet cannot see any solution. The groaning is real, the expression of a heart overwhelmed by experiences. No matter the outward circumstances, God hears our groaning.

God remembered His covenant

This is the critical turning point in the story. God had made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12, 15, 17). It is a one-sided covenant, dependent on God’s fulfillment. God said, “I will …” to Abraham.

I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, … (Genesis 12:2-3)

Further, it is not Abraham who fulfills the covenant, but God Himself. “When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals” (Genesis 15:17 HCSB).

It is this covenant that God remembered, His promises, His commitment, His action, His fulfillment. Thus, while the Israelites groaned, God remembered. And that is the key for God’s delivering action. After their deliverance and as Moses wrote his farewell, Deuteronomy, notice how many times Moses urges the people to imitate God by “remembering.”

God knew

Several translations have “God took notice.” ESV has “and God knew.” This reflects the basic sense of the Hebrew yadah (ידע). Same word used for Adam when he “knew” Eve. An intimacy of knowing, and for God that means he understands, even feels, the agony and misery of His people.

We may be tempted, okay, I am tempted to think that God does not know what I am experiencing. My pain, my hurt is too deep, too personal. Or so I imagine. But no, God knows, He knows everything about me, even my desire to set up a protective cocoon that keeps out anything that might hurt.

But God wants more than that for His hurting, groaning people. He hears, remembers, and knows.

And that is enough!

And it is well with my soul.

Hollering or whimpering

Did I know what I needed? Not really. I could neither holler nor whimper. Heather Kopp wrote on her blog a couple weeks ago about the blahs she was experiencing. As she wrote about needing help, she related it to Jesus’ question to the blind man in Luke 18:35-43, and specifically v. 41:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Then Heather comments.

In the past I’ve been taught that Jesus asks his question because not everyone who’s sick or disabled wants to be made well. Didn’t you know—maybe you’ve heard this too—that some would rather suffer than take responsibility for their lives?

I used to think that. But these days, I’m more inclined to believe that if a really sick person doesn’t want to get well, that’s a good indication that they’re far too sick to know what they want.

Which isn’t a bad laymen’s definition for active alcoholism, or for that matter, clinical depression.

http://soberboots.com/2013/04/18/holler-for-mercy/

The highlighted portion really struck me. At first her assessment seems too strong, too judgmental, too cruel? But after further reflecting on this and my own experiences with depression, I tend to agree with her. I know that at the very worst of my depression 15 years ago, I was so depressed I really did not know what I wanted. I knew something was wrong, horribly wrong, but that was all. I wanted something different than what I was experiencing, but couldn’t even put that into words.

Heather continues:

All he did was holler bloody murder for the one thing Jesus never denied a single person or ever will.

Mercy.

I couldn’t holler (yep, grew up on a farm and knew the meaning of that word!), not when I was depressed. At best I could mumble something close to desperation, nothing more, and sometimes less. But the reality is that Jesus was listening, is listening.

So, whether it is a holler at the top of your lungs, or a gasp of the breath, speak to Jesus. Even if it doesn’t make sense. How many prayers really make sense when they express the inner turmoil, hurt, desperation of the heart?

Come to Jesus—where he may be found

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. (1 John 5:13-15 NAS)

Even when I could not articulate it well, that was my confidence. This is my confidence today.

Depression and the devil

I am teaching a seminary course on Law and Gospel. In preparation for that I am rereading C. F. W. Walther’s Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel. This is my fifth time reading the book, yet this is the first time I recall Martin Luther’s comment on 1 John 3:8. Here is the Scripture text for the last part of the verse:

The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (NAS)

I have taught for many years that Jesus’ work was to overcome the effects of sin entering the world. That includes five items:

1. Forgive and restore a right relationship between God and humans (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)

2. Forgive and restore a person with regard to conscience (1 Peter 3:21)

3. Bring about reconciliation to others (Ephesians 4:32; Matthew 18:15-20)

4. Overcome the sinful separation of humans and creation (Romans 8:18-25)

5. Defeat the devil and all his works and ways (1 John 3:8)

Luther taught this. But then in this particular quote, Luther narrows the last item to depression as the greatest work of the devil:

Therefore, please do not turn away from the one who is coming to comfort you, to announce the will of God to you, and who hates and condemns your desperation and depression as a trial of Satan. Do not by any means allow the devil to portray Christ to you differently than what He really is. Believe Scripture, which testifies that “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Your depression is the work of the devil, which Christ wants to destroy, if you will only let Him. You have had your fill of anguish. You have sorrowed enough. You have exceeded your penance. (Therefore, do not refuse my consolation, let me help you…) (Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel, CPH, 2010, p. 122).

While Luther does not offer every answer about depression, it is interesting that he identifies it as the work of the devil. In my worst days of depression, it certainly felt that way to me.

And how much more powerful it is to read, hear, memorize these words:

The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (NAS)

Yes, this is true consolation.

Book Review: Charts on Hebrews

Bateman, Herbert IV. Charts on the Book of Hebrews (Kregel Charts of the Bible and Theology). Kregel Publications, 2012.

Charts on the Book of Hebrews

My passion is teaching, especially the Bible. Therefore, I look for any tool that will help teach, explain, expand, and clarify. I have taught courses in congregations, college, and seminary on most of the New Testament, but not Hebrews. However, if I had one organizational tool for teaching Hebrews, this book would be it. For me, this is an ideal tool for teaching, replacing many commentaries that can be long-winded. Bateman simplifies and organizes so well.

The book is literally a book of charts and nothing more; not that it lacks anything, but there is really nothing else. I was surprised that there was no introductory chapter to explain the approach of the book and some introductory comments on Hebrews. After going through the book, I found the lack of an introduction less jarring, but still a little surprising.

Bateman provides four major sections of charts: Introductory Considerations, Old Testament and 2nd Temple Influences, Theology, and Exegetical Matters. He concludes with a Chart Comment section in which he succinctly describes each of the charts with qualifications and appropriate references to source material. Although the order of the charts does not matter so much because it is a reference tool, I would have expected the Exegetical Matters chapter to be the second one (theology derives from exegesis, not the other way around).

1. Introductory Considerations

The detail on authorship provides what I would consider essential and thorough for a teaching tool. Chart 1 offers a historical overview of when an author was first proposed for Hebrews. Chart 2 expands that to show how each was developed throughout church history. Chart 3 provides the current view of commentators regarding authorship. The charts on canonical placement and related issues are very helpful for the one who teaches Hebrews. Many other charts in this section are equally essential to studying and teaching Hebrews.

2. Old Testament & 2nd Temple Influences

Charts 35-38 offer both a chart of features relative to the tabernacle/Temple, but also simple diagrams to illustrate the key features in the charts. I am teaching three courses in New Testament Survey; the same week I began teaching that course, this book arrived. Charts 42-47 were immediately pertinent  to several topics I presented. So even though not directly related to Hebrews, the book itself proved very practical and timely for my own teaching. Many of the other charts in this part are imminently useful.

3. Theology in Hebrews

Charts 60-64 reflect the role of Wisdom of Solomon in Hebrews. I had studied the influence of this writing on Paul’s writings for my graduate studies. It is nice to see it included and laid out this well. Chart 67 (“better than” Comparisons) is an example of something that is useful, but I may not have thought about it until seeing it. So also Charts 73 (“Once for all”) and 75 (“Perfection”). Chart 72 (“Covenants of God’s Program”) signals my disagreement with Bateman concerning covenants and dispensations. In the Comments part of the book, he notes on this chart:

Like the era of promise, the era of fulfillment  has two stages/time periods/dispensations: the church period where God’s promises are inaugurated and the millennial period where God’s promises are consummated and may, in fact, continue into the eternal state. (p. 248)

4. Exegesis In Hebrews

I am most at home in this part of the book. One helpful aspect was Chart 91 (“Jewish exegesis in Hebrews”), which covers an often neglected aspect of New Testament studies. Chart 97 (“Major Textual Issues”) is especially helpful for looking at critical textual issues. I like the arrangement with both the text and variant readings and which current English translations support which reading. The significance and explanation section of the chart is succinct, but complete enough to assist the reader in evaluating the textual issue. Likewise, Chart 98 (“Figures of Speech”) is extensive, as well as Charts 99-101. Excellent resource and summaries. The uniqueness charts 103-104 provide the teacher/student with a valuable tool for studying the unique words in Hebrews, but also the English translation choices associated with each.

Some Additional Thoughts

The design of the book is well suited for using charts. The layout is helpful in that all the charts are oriented in the same direction (compare Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul. Kregel Publications, 2012). One thing that would be extremely useful for quick reference is to indicate the part in which the charts appear. For instance, on the top outside margin the title of the book is given for both facing pages. I suggest that the Book title could be on the left facing page and the Part title on the right facing page. That way the user could quickly identify into which part the table falls. While it might seem obvious with some charts, others are not so clear. And additional feature might be to shade the edges of the four parts: top 1 inch of page for Part 1, then down that much for Part 2, etc.

Concluding Thoughts

Kregel is to be commended for publishing such a useful tool, especially for pastors/teachers. As noted above I found several of the Charts immediately applicable in a non-Hebrews course. The book is both practical and extensive, often not easily done, especially with a book as complicated as Hebrews.

Note: Thanks to Kregel Academic & Professional for the review copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.