George Washington: A Worthy Hero?

During my elementary school years, the month of February was one of my favorites.  As winter daylengths grew longer, February brought Valentine’s Day and the excitement of exchanging Valentines with my classmates.  I gave special attention to preparing and then exchanging Valentines with the girls in my class.

On a more serious note, February invited my teachers to offer interesting projects and studies of two of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.  I was always impressed that, unlike my birthday, theirs was honored with red numbers on calendars--February 12 and 22, respectively. 

George Washington (1732-1799) was born in Westmoreland Co., Virginia, south of what would become our nation’s capital, now named for him. His vocations were varied and significant:  Virginia farmer, Ohio valley wilderness land surveyor (1749-1750), commander of the militia in the French and Indian War (1754-1763), commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), contributor to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution (1787), and first president of the United States (1789-1797). 

Washington’s accomplishments became familiar to me very early in my study of American history—accomplishments that made him one of my most worthy heroes.  Later, I learned to associate George Washington with other titles—Anglican, Deist, Freemason, slaveholder.  More recently, the era of political correctness has labeled Washington as simply “a dead white guy.” 

Peter A. Lillback’s 1,200-page treatise which now rests heavily on my lap is entitled George Washington’s Sacred Fire.  Lillback attempts to portray Washington accurately from his extensive references to the historical records.  I highly recommend this book, and have chosen to include only a few excerpts here in defense of Washington’s integrity and faith in God.

The most frequent attempt to deny that George Washington had placed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior and as his hope of Eternal Life claims that he was a Deist.  Many who label Washington as a Deist would align him with the agnostics who claim neutrality on the issue of whether God exists.  If God does exist, He has been so uninvolved in the world that He is unknowable.

The Deist label upon Washington can be soundly dismissed.  In Sacred Fire, Lillback notes that the practice of prayer was gradually abandoned by Deism.  After all, why pray “to a Deity who on principle had abandoned all contract and communication with his creation?”  On the other hand, Washington is documented as having adopted a “lifelong practice of prayer.” Sacred Fire contains references to and excerpts from over 100 prayers that Washington had written out!  In addition, according to Lillback’s research, “There were numerous accounts from family and military associates—too numerous to be dismissed—of people coming across Washington in earnest, private prayer.”

Regarding our first president’s practice of the Christian faith, Lillback writes, “George Washington was not a perfect man. He occasionally lost his temper, he drank wine—maybe too much when he was a young man…he had a revenue producing distillery on his Mount Vernon estate…he owned slaves…which was not uncommon for a Southern gentleman of his day.  Like other human beings, [Washington] struggled with personal challenges such as illness, fatigue, pain, deaths of loved ones, loneliness, financial pressures, and step-parenting challenges, to name but a few.  Yet, as we can see from his writings, he attempted to walk according to the duties of the Christian faith.

George Washington’s Farewell Address (September 19, 1796) near the end of his two terms as president expresses his humble faith in the Almighty, a love for the nation he helped to form, and a hope that his contribution of over forty years would be viewed with good will for many years after he has gone to his eternal rest:

Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.

I’ve lived through many February’s since I first celebrated Washington’s birthday.  But, having read portions of George Washington’s Sacred Fire, I am pleased to say that he remains one of my heroes.  Any of us who study the history of Washington or any other historical figure ought not to miss the blessed evidence of the hand of Providence in the lives of imperfect men and women.  As for me, I must especially remember that their lives are now history, but my race is still to be run to the finish. 

Lord, may we who fix our eyes on You lay aside the encumbrances and sin that weighs us down, and run with endurance.¹  May we speak and so act, as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty² –the liberty that causes us to live in the Joy of our salvation and to be gracious and merciful to others because of the costly grace and mercy Christ purchased for us and extends to all who will receive.

-----------------------
George Washington:   Monday Evening Prayer:³
Most Gracious Lord God, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect gift, I offer to thy divine majesty my unfeigned praise & thanksgiving for all thy mercies towards me. Thou mad'st me at first and hast ever since sustained the work of thy own hand; thou gav'st thy Son to die for me; and hast given me assurance of salvation, upon my repentance and sincerely endeavoring to conform my life to his holy precepts and example. Thou art pleased to lengthen out to me the time of repentance and to move me to it by thy spirit and by the word, by thy mercies, and by thy judgments; out of a deepness of thy mercies, and by my own unworthiness, I do appear before thee at this time; I have sinned and done very wickedly, be merciful to me, O God, and pardon me for Jesus Christ sake; instruct me in the particulars of my duty, and suffer me not to be tempted above what thou givest me strength to bear. Take care, I pray thee of my affairs and more and more direct me in thy truth, defend me from my enemies, especially my spiritual ones. Suffer me not to be drawn from thee, by the blandishments of the world, carnal desires, the cunning of the devil, or deceitfulness of sin. Work in me thy good will and pleasure, and discharge my mind from all things that are displeasing to thee, of all ill will and discontent, wrath and bitterness, pride & vain conceit of myself, and render me charitable, pure, holy, patient and heavenly minded. be with me at the hour of death; dispose me for it, and deliver me from the slavish fear of it, and make me willing and fit to die whenever thou shalt call me hence. Bless our rulers in church and state. Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and thy son Jesus Christ. Pity the sick, the poor, the weak, the needy, the widows and fatherless, and all that morn or are borken in heart, and be merciful to them according to their several necessities. Bless my friends and grant me grace to forgive my enemies as heartily as I desire forgiveness of Thee my heavenly Father. I beseech thee to defend me this night from all evil, and do more for me than I can think or ask, for Jesus Christ sake, in whose most holy name & words, I continue to pray, Our Father.

------------------------
¹Hebrews 12: 1    ²James 2: 12  
³From:  George Washington’s Sacred Fire, page 807 (Providence Forum Press, Byrn Mawr, PA)

Science Research: Is Smaller Better?

Today, a large percentage of scientific research is conducted in large, collaborative teams.  But according to a paper published in Nature yesterday (February 13), “researchers may be better off working in small teams.”  The Nature study, led by James Evans of the University of Chicago, was reviewed by Ruth Williams’ article in today’s online edition of The Scientist.

Evans et al. studied the citations of tens of millions of research papers and patents.  Papers were evaluated for degree of innovativeness or “disruptiveness” based on the degree to which subsequent research articles cited the papers alone without including citations used in the paper itself.   Highly disruptive papers, those cited alone by subsequent authors, were found to contain research that was more transformative.  Such innovative papers provide a ‘jumping-off point’ for a new field of research,” says sociologist Jason Owen-Smith of the University of Michigan.

A closer look at the disruptive papers revealed that “big teams tend to work on existing theories rather than instigating new ones.”  The analysis showed that “the most disruptive papers, patents, and software products tend to be produced by small groups, and that, as team size grows, disruptiveness declines.”  Interestingly, even an individual scientist’s disruptiveness tended to drop as the number of co-authors increased.

At a time when big government funding has contributed toward major inflation in cost of health care, housing, and college tuition, the Nature report affords the scientific community a timely opportunity to consider how research funding approaches affect research progress.  According to Anita Woolley, who studies organizational behavior and teamwork at Carnegie Mellon University, funding agencies often “push us in the direction of having bigger and bigger teams.  This [research] is really calling that into question.”

I thank my friends Roger and Margaret Riffle who have long ties to West Virginia for sharing an article by Connor Griffith, business editor of WVNews.  The article, entitled “Touchstone Labs: Growing Business and Sending WV Coal into Space,” features the innovative research by a small R & D firm, named Touchstone Research Laboratories.  Touchstone was launched in the basement of a monastery, in 1980, by president and CEO, Brian Joseph.

Since its founding, Touchstone Research Laboratories has become a “three-time Tibbetts Award recipient for its broad-based product development research philosophy, which focuses on the development of next-generation, over the horizon materials and products.”*  Since its founding, Touchstone has formed a research park and has spawned three other companies. Other spin-off companies are in the works.  According to Joseph, “This is not that far off from Thomas Edison’s whole approach.  He called his place the Invention Factory and what we basically have is an invention factory.  Everything we’ve been spinning out, we invented this stuff.”

One of the companies spawned by Touchstone is CFOAM, named after its principal product, CFOAM®, short for “carbon foam.”  CFOAM is produced by pulverizing coal (something West Virginia has plenty of), foaming it under pressure, then heat-treating and cutting it into desired shapes.  This structural foam is light-weight and can withstand temperatures above 6,000 degrees!  CFOAM is now used in place of ceramic tiles on space shuttles, and its future is promising for applications not yet discovered.

Touchstone Research Labs also developed Metpreg, the world’s strongest aluminum.  Metpreg is now used in bicycle frames where it provides as much strength as current commercial frames at one-third of the weight.

I’m sure that Touchstone is but one example of the many “invention factories” that have arisen from the innovative ideas of small groups of researchers.  Such stories make it tempting to conclude that the future of science and technology rests in the philosophy that “small is better.”  However, Ruth Williams concludes her article in The Scientist with a reasonable assessment by Jason Owen-Smith who believes “we need a combination of big teams developing and strengthening existing ideas and small teams performing high-risk, high-reward, innovative projects.

The fact that there seems to be no end to the creativity of humankind is a testimony to our Creator God in whose image we were created.  The Genesis account in Scripture records that, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1: 1-2).  Into this formless void, God began to create order and diversity of mineral, microbe, plant, and animal.  God created these things with the capacity for further development and diversification through science and technology.  And then, He created Adam and gave him and his descendants dominion over creation with a mandate to exercise servant stewardship as His representatives on the Earth.  The current article seems to have featured some of the more positive examples of God-given creativity in science at work.

-----------------------
* https://www.sbir.gov/sites/default/files/SBAsuccess_TRL_FINAL.pdf

LOVE: Part 6 – Humbly Received, Graciously Given

Valentine’s Day helps us focus on the love we share with special people in our lives.  We express our love by sending cards, candy, flowers, or more extravagant gifts.  In most cases we do not create the gifts.  We purchase them, add a few tender words, and share them with our love.  In doing this, we are acting out the meaning of stewardship—i.e. handling things which we didn’t create and which ultimately do not belong to us.

If we agree that buying and giving gifts is a form of stewardship, we might say that being loved and loving others is the ultimate core of stewardship .  As explained in LOVE Part 2: “It’s Out of This World”, love does not originate from us.  Like a Valentine gift that we didn’t create, love enters our lives and relationships from God.  God’s love (agapeo and phileo), like the sweet fragrance from a flower, is the central essence of His character. As 1 John 4: 8 states, God is love.  God’s inspired Word and His actions continually express His limitless love for His creation and humankind--expressed ultimately through the Life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Since Christ’s resurrection some 2,000 years ago,  His Spirit has been transforming sinners into Christ-followers who submit to the authority of God’s Word.  These who follow Christ, do so as stewards of the gifts of His Spirit, including love—or, as 1 Peter 4: 10 states, we are stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Reverential Fear of God, Repentance, Forgiveness
Christ-followers demonstrate by their love for God and for one another that they have died to self, have submitted to the Word of God, and have yielded to the rule of Christ as Lord of their lives.  This submission begins a life of repentance, humble confession and rejection of sin and selfishness.  These spiritual disciplines are motivated by our reverential fear of God our Supreme Judge, and by our emersion (baptism) into His love.  [See LOVE: Part 2 – It’s “Out of this World.”]  In love and mercy, God responds to our repentance, cancels our “sin debt,” and withholds His harsh judgment of us as rebellious, undeserving sinners.

The psalmist understood the relationship among three elements: 
(a) God’s holiness and justice,
(b) His mercy and forgiveness, and
(c) our reverential fear of God.  In Psalm 130: 3-4, we read (emphasis mine),

LORD, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O Lord, could ever survive?
But you offer forgiveness,
that we might learn to fear you.

But, how is that?  How do Christ-followers "fear” a loving, forgiving God?  If this seems contradictory, see LOVE: Part 5 - Is God-Fearing Love a Contradiction?

Our Motivation to Love:  God Has Canceled Our Debt.
Forgiven sinners, freed from the burden of their sin, in reverent fear and submission to God’s Spirit, offer the sweet aroma of God’s love (fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5: 22) back to God.  They also extend this love to their neighbor.  If we truly love God, then according to 1 John 4: 21, …he who loves God loves his brother also.  Christ-followers are empowered to love God and neighbor out of a spirit of thankfulness for all God has done and continues to do.  Their remembrance of God's forgiveness causes them to extend mercy and forgiveness toward others, even their "enemies." 

Love originates from God and transforms humans and
our relationships to God, neighbor, and creation.

Loving God and loving our neighbor falls short unless we love what God also loves.  God loves our neighbor, but also His creation (Genesis 1: 31).  As I have explained in Fundamentals of Conservation, Part 1, our stewardship of creation is an integral part of our obedience to God’s plan.  Thus, loving our neighbor should include adopting a lifestyle that rejects materialism, needless consumption, and waste that can adversely affect soil, groundwater, air, community health, and conservation of creature habitats.   That said, Christ-followers must be wise in evaluating current assessments of human impacts on the environment, or creation. Thankfully, God has lovingly commanded that we observe a weekly Sabbath rest to enjoy His provisions and to take stock of our purpose and place in His plan for us.  [See Creation Care– Doing It Our Way?]

God’s love calls us to remember the Cross on which Jesus died.  Our regular focus on the Cross of Christ serves to impact and so permanently mark His followers that we become forever grateful.  Juanita Byrum’s song, “Forever Grateful,” should express our response:

And I'm forever grateful, Lord, to You
And I'm forever grateful for the cross
And I'm forever grateful to You
That You came to seek and save the lost

Still, I’ve been asking myself how it is that God’s love can become more real to me each day. 
God’s Spirit answers my question through His inspired Word—Man shall not live by bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the  mouth of God (Matthew 4: 4).  We “feed” the life of Christ in us by “eating” (reading, studying, meditating, memorizing) God’s Word which reveals the Life of Christ and His teachings.  Through both His Life in us and His teachings, we learn how to love others.  For example, a parable of Jesus known as the “Parable of the Unforgiving Servant,” recorded in Matthew 18: 21-35, teaches me three things: 
(a) the infinite magnitude of my sin debt
(b) the infinite mercy shown when God cancelled my sin debt
(c) the proper response—my love shown by thankfulness and forgiveness of others

The parable tells of a servant who owed him the equivalent of several million dollars in today’s market (Matt. 18: 24).  Jesus wanted us to understand that this debt was larger than the servant could ever hope to pay off.  The master …commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made (v. 25).  The servant’s response was to fall down and beg his master for mercy, 'Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all (v. 26).'  He was so desperate and fearful of the consequences of not being able to pay that he promised more than he could ever do.  Jesus wants sinners to realize from this story of the unpayable debt that we are great debtors facing a similar fate. 

Our Motivation to Forgive:  Realizing the Magnitude of Our Debt
Psalm 49: 7-9 helps us realize the human impossibility of paying our “sin debt” to God: 

Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death
by paying a ransom to God.
Redemption does not come so easily,
for no one can ever pay enough
to live forever and never see the grave. 

Now, back to my question—“How can God’s love become more real to me each day?”  I must focus on the Cross of Christ where I realize the great love and mercy of a Holy God who made possible the cancellation of my sin debt, thus sparing me of eternal judgment.  In light of this realization, my love for God and my neighbor ought to flow freely—loving God in return, and loving others through patience, mercy, and forgiveness.  This is not a small task for me in day-to-day human relationships with spouse, family, friends, and frustrating world and national news—especially, because relationship challenges reveal my own lingering selfishness.

Beloved pastor-teacher, Timothy Keller, refers to a scene from his favorite novel, Lord of the Rings, to illustrate the habit of remembering the costly suffering and death of Christ for our salvation.  Keller asks us to picture Pippin, a Hobbit, standing at the gate of the city which is about to be attacked and destroyed by the demon king.  But then, there is the sound of horns from the Riders of Rohan who arrive in the nick of time to save the city.   But the cost was great. The King of Rohan gave his very life in the battle.   Pippin’s greatful reaction is a model for us:

Pippin remembered the sound of the horn.

“For the rest of his life, Pippin could never hear a horn off in the distance without bursting into tears. Why?  Because every time he heard a horn in the distance it reawakened the memory of his salvation and the memory of the one who died for him.”  Keller then asks his audience (and all Christ-followers): 

“How do you listen to a distant horn?   What are your distant horns?”  What music, people, places, activities, or Scriptures helps reawaken in you the memory of the victory that Christ purchased for you there on that rugged hill?

Back to Jesus’s parable, the unforgiving servant represents those who forget the King and the sound of His horn.  The unforgiving servant’s desperate plea melted the heart of his master who then forgave his multimillion-dollar debt—entirely!  Jesus does not describe the response of the servant to this life-changing show of mercy and forgiveness.  If the forgiven servant had any gratitude, it was shallow and soon forgotten because we read that the unforgiving servant immediately went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him [a few thousand dollars]: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

Just that quick, the unforgiving servant had forgotten the love and mercy his master had shown him.  So, he suddenly became unforgiving and merciless to his fellowservant.  Jesus ends the parable, warning us that we will not receive mercy and joy of forgiveness if we refuse to forgive our brothers and sisters from our heart (v. 35).  Genuine repentance and acceptance of God’s mercy ought to give us true joy and make us loving and forgiving of others.  Matthew Henry writes, “How justly will those be condemned, who, though they bear the Christian name, persist in unmerciful treatment of their brethren!  The humbled sinner relies only on free, abounding mercy, through the ransom of the death of Christ.  Let us seek more and more for the renewing grace of God, to teach us to forgive others as we hope for forgiveness from him.”

I am thankful for God’s provisions that help us remember what He has done for us:  His commands (really, loving invitations) to worship together on the first day of each week (Acts 20: 7; Hebrews 10: 25) and to regularly observe the sacrament of Lord’s Supper.  These are essential disciplines that bring us into communion with our Savior and with fellow blood-bought brothers and sisters in remembrance of the wonderful Cross.

Of course, Valentine’s Day provides an annual reminder to express love to God and to our friends (and enemies).  Since Valentine’s Day last year when I wrote about love and marriage, in Valentines and a Better Love, I have been reading and thinking much about “true love,” hopefully from a Christian worldview.  As I conclude this sixth part in my series on LOVE, I confess that I haven’t even scratched the surface.  Nor has my stewardship of sharing God’s gift of love reached anything like the fragrant love that emanates from Jesus.  But, my prayer is that you and I, and all who come across these writings will be drawn closer to Jesus the Source of this Love and to the Cross where Love met God’s judgment of sin, and prevailed! 

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah.
-- From Reckless Love, by Cory Asbury

How About You…and I?
This Valentine’s Day, I am asking myself:  Do I truly love God, my Creator and Savior, even though at times He seems distant?  Do I love my wife as God’s gift for nearly 50 years, even when one of us is grumpy?  Do I love my family, my friends, many of whom pray for us and encourage us every day?  Do I love and pray for our leaders and for Christians living under very hard, dangerous conditions; and for the millions who are homeless, both locally and internationally?  The answer rests not on me alone but on Christ alone, by faith alone, in His Word alone, by His grace alone.  For it is not that we loved Him but that He loved us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5: 8).  Christ demonstrated His love through His death, resurrection, and promises of His return.  Until that time or until He takes me home, I want to be a good steward of His love.

LOVE: Part 5 - Is God-Fearing Love a Contradiction?

Christianity is unique among all religions of the world.  According to the Bible, God is a living and personal God who created all things and seeks relationship with us through the Gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. This relationship will last for eternity in a real place called Heaven where Christ-followers in new bodies will personally recognize and enjoy relationship with each other for all eternity.   Christianity is also unique in its encouragement of virtues such as unconditional love. 

According to 1 John 4: 16, God is love.  Love (agapeo and phileo) originates from God and is expressed most fully by Christ-followers through a spirit of thankfulness and forgiveness.  I am planning to discuss these elements of love in PART 6 of our series of articles on LOVE.  But first, I want to address an often confusing question; namely, “How can a God of love be a Holy Judge who requires that we approach Him with reverent fear?”  A correct answer to this question is important.  The Bible teaches that we cannot acquire a spirit of thankfulness or express forgiveness to others unless we first learn to approach a holy God with reverent fear and respect.

What Does It Mean to “Fear God?”
The Bible commands us to “fear God.”  This teaching of Judaism and Christianity may be an immediate “turn-off” for you unless you understand what the Scriptures really say about the fear of God.  Moses used the following words, recorded in Deuteronomy 10: 12 (NIV), to underscore the importance of fearing God (emphasis mine):

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…

Notice the sequence Moses uses:  fear --> obey --> love --> serve.  He means that our love for God is made real to God only when we obey His commands in His Word.  In turn, obeying God as willing servants or stewards is grounded in reverent fear of God.  Fear of God allows God’s Spirit to empower Christ-followers to love and serve Him.

One of the purposes of the Old Testament biblical revelations of God was to teach fallen mankind to fear or show reverent respect toward Him.  For example, Moses reacted in great fear of God when he interceded for the people of Israel after they had sinned by worshiping the golden calf.  Moses wrote to Israel and to us, I was afraid of the LORD's fierce anger, because he was furious enough to destroy you; but once again the LORD listened to me.  (Deuteronomy 9: 19, GNT).  The author of the Book of Hebrews writes that when Israel gathered at the base of Mt. Sinai near the presence of God, The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear (Heb. 12: 21).”

Love God…and Fear Him?
But how can a God whose anger and wrath incites great fear be called a God of love.  One explanation is that the word “fear” does not mean that God incites unhealthy fear or terror.  But, try explaining that to Moses!  Based on the writings of Moses, there should be no question that he had learned to “fear God.”

 I have often wondered how a fearsome God can expect us to believe He is a God of love whose commands are worthy of our obedience.  I received my best answer to this question recently when I was checking the electrical circuit breakers in our basement.  Like most “breaker boxes,” ours contains two thick cables that connect electrical power to our home from outside utility lines.  The exposed wire within each cable is anchored to a contact within the breaker box by large screws.  From these contacts, electricity flows to and from individual circuit breakers, each wired into a separate circuit or path of electricity that serves to power individual appliances within our home—e.g. kitchen lights, furnace, etc.  Each circuit is protected by a circuit breaker which can be “thrown” in order to interrupt current flow in the event of an overload.

Knowing what I have just explained about electrical power, you can understand why I “fear” the inside of our breaker box.  I believe my fear is justified.  Touching the bear wires without insulated gloves could prove fatal.

By analogy, my question becomes, “How can I ‘love’ something like electricity that causes fear of death?”  The answer is found in the same sequence as the commands God gave to Moses:   fear --> obey --> love --> serve.  When I base my attitude and behavior on my fear (healthy respect) for electricity and don’t touch the wires, then I have nothing to fear.  As part of God’s creation, electricity “obeys” the laws of His creation.  Therefore, as long as I respectfully follow God’s unchanging laws governing electricity, I am safe from harm.  There are no unwanted surprises and I am free to enjoy, even “love” the benefits of having electricity flowing in and around me in our home.  Likewise, as Moses teaches us in the Scripture cited above, Jehovah God loves us and desires that we learn to love Him in return.  But we can only learn to love God when we first become aware of His awesome power and discipline, and then respond by offering Him our reverent fear and respect.

Fear Those in Authority Over Us
My illustration of a healthy fear and respect for electricity also applies to relationships with human authorities.  The basketball player who has a reverent respect for his or her coach has learned to be respectful because he or she knows the consequences of being disrespectful or lazy.  Athletes who willingly submit to well intended demands of their coaches will often develop a greater love and devotion to them, resulting in a more excellent performance in competition.

When we learn to fear God, we can expect that we will experience God’s love and the benefits of His love and mercy.  Wise King Solomon gave us a major principle at the beginning of the Book of Proverbs:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
but fools despise wisdom and instruction. – Proverbs 1:7

Notice that Solomon’s teaching is very much in line with that of Moses.  The progression is: fear --> knowledge --> wisdom --> obedience (implied).   When we submit in reverent respect for God and His Word, our heart and mind are open to receive both knowledge and necessary wisdom to help apply that knowledge in God-honoring obedience.  And, God interprets our obedience as a language of love for Him.  In return, according to the psalmist, God grants us peace of mind.  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them (Psalm 119: 165).

In recent years, we have been struggling as a culture to render necessary fear and respect for those in authority.  News reports frequently report incidences of disrespect and threats of violence toward authority figures including the President of the United States, high court justices, law enforcement officials, and school teachers.  But we should have no reason to be terrified of those in authority unless they we have broken the law.  Law-abiding citizens should know “great peace,” being free from the fear of being arrested.  If we want to live quiet and peacable lives, we ought to obey the law; then, love and pray for law-enforcers who risk their lives daily to protect homes and communities.

No Fear of God Brings a Fateful Future
We should not be surprised by the behavior of those who choose not to fear God and who refuse give Him the reverent respect He deserves.  For example, in Romans 3: 9-18, the Apostle Paul describes the traits of the unrighteous human race as unprofitable with mouths full of cursing, bitterness, and deceit; their feet are quick to shed blood, and the way of peace they have not known.  In 2 Timothy 3: 1-5, Paul elaborates the behavior that will characterize “the last days:”

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

It is clear that those who refuse to submit to God in fear and reverent respect according to the progression of  fear --> knowledge --> wisdom --> obedience (implied), are instead destined to a progression that we might outline as follows:  no fear of God --> rebellion --> foolishness, ignorance of truth --> dysfunctional life (as described above).  Eventually, a godless approach to life leads to hopelessness, despair, and fear. 

In summary, we have explained that fear, or reverent respect, is essential to obeying God and God-ordained authority figures; and also, to obeying laws of nature regarding its potentially harmful aspects like electricity.  Likewise, fear of God motivates respectful obedience to His special revelation (His Word) and His general revelation (e.g. laws of creation regarding electricity).  Our obedience in turn demonstrates our love for God and opens our hearts to His love and peace.  Read 1 John 4: 13-18 which underscores the security that is assured to Christ-followers through God’s Word and the inner voice of His Holy Spirit.


The child of God who is secure in God’s love is empowered to express unconditional love through two actions that uniquely authenticate his or her Christian faith in daily practice; namely, thankfulness and forgiveness.  These virtues will be the subject of my next article, “LOVE: Part 6 - Humbly Received, Graciously Given."

Social Gospel, Version 2.0 - Social Justice

Scott Allen, president of Disciple Nations Alliance, compares the current social justice movement within Protestant churches today with the Social Gospel movement in the early 20th century.  According to Allen, "advocates of the Social Gospel believed the church should be engaged in the culture, fighting against injustice and working to uplift the impoverished and downtrodden—all admirable goals. The problem was they unwittingly allowed secular assumptions to inform their theology of cultural engagement."

Fundamentalists reacted to the Social Gospel movement by emphasizing the preaching of the Gospel and individual soul salvation largely to the exclusion of involvement in social issues.  Consequently, the evangelical church was caught unprepared to deal with emerging social issues of the latter half of the 20th century with a biblical worldview--issues like racial injustice and sexual morality.

Allen applauds evangelical social justice champions for caring about social issues like poverty, racism, and the refugee crisis.  Because of this commitment, he believes the evangelical church can avoid the unfortunate sacred-secular dichotomy that resulted from its reaction to the Social Gospel movement.  

But Allen is deeply concerned about the evangelical church because it has uncritically "absorbed many of the assumptions and much of the language of the social justice movement—assumptions that veer sharply from a Biblical worldview.  As a result, they find themselves unwittingly syncretized to a false religion, one that works against the very thing they purport to champion—genuine justice."

I would encourage you to read Scott Allen's complete article, “History Repeats Itself.”  Then, please respond with your thoughts and insights in "Comments" below. 

LOVE: Part 4, Dying to Be Loved, Reborn to Love

The Christmas story may be considered the world’s greatest love story—a “true love story.”  According to the Bible, the Greatest Lover, Immanuel, meaning “God with us,” takes on human form, is born of Mary in Bethlehem, lives a sinless life of obedience to His Father in Heaven, and eventually gives His life as the “Lamb of God” to take away the sins of the world.  Today, as I read, study, and write my fourth article about love, I am struck by the breadth and depth and height of God’s love for people like me.

As we noted in Part 1, the love of God is “What the World Needs Most,” but many are looking for love and purpose in life in the wrong places.  In reality, both unconditional love (agape) and friendship love (phileo) originate from “Out of This World” because love originates in God.  Thankfully, we can love others “Because He First Loved Us.”   In fact, God was loving all of us even while we were still sinners, rebels rejecting His pursuing love. 

Although the Bible defines love in words, God’s greater purpose is to demonstrate His love, especially through the Gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Even when Scripture seems to define love, there is action involved.  Romans 5: 8 illustrates God’s love in action (emphasis mine):  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  From this principle, we learn that our love for God and our neighbor should not simply be in words, but in obedient actions.  John the “Apostle whom Jesus loved” challenges us, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth (1 John 3: 18).

What should be our response to the love of God through Jesus Christ?  It can be nothing less than a commitment to give up the right to ourselves so that God can take the throne of our lives.  In short, our response to God’s loving pursuit should be repentance.

My Response to God’s Love:  Repentance
When I come and look upon the Cross of Christ, I see the raw, naked exposure of the horrible consequence of my sin.  There, a holy God motivated by His love for me and for the world, yet unable to overlook sin, placed it upon the perfect God-Man, Jesus Christ.  At the Cross, the penalty of my sin was satisfied at an infinite cost to God—the suffering, abandonment, and death of His beloved Son.  Here was death of the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3: 18).  I can only come to God through faith and repentance. 

Oswald Chambers writes, “The bedrock of Christianity is repentance.  Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God…”  Think of it!  Because we are dead in our sin, we cannot come to repentance on our own.  Nor can we truly repent because we are sorry for our sin; or, because we want to try to live a better life.  Instead, as Chambers adds, “The only explanation of the forgiveness of God and of the unfathomable depth of His forgetting is the Death of Jesus Christ.  Our repentance is merely the outcome (not the cause) of our personal realization of the Atonement which He has worked out for us.”

United in Christ’s Death, Raised in His Likeness:  Atonement
By repentance and confession of sin, we identify with the suffering and death of Christ.  But how do repentance and God’s atonement come about in a person’s life?  The short answer is that God’s Spirit is responsible from beginning to end.  Again, Oswald Chambers explains: “The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Spirit, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life.”  Chambers describes the true repentance which brings our atonement (think “at-one-ment”) with God as follows:  “Conviction of sin, the marvel of forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace.” 

"Then your love for me will be in them, and
I will be in them." - John 17: 26

I do not understand the atonement.  The Apostle Paul illustrates the atoning work of God’s Spirit in terms of our baptism or “submergence” into Christ:   Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?  For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism.  And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives (Romans 6: 3-4 NLT).  Having been “born again” through the at-one-ment in Christ, the love and power of His Spirit within us compels us to love and follow Him in obedience.  Chambers concludes, “The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about.”

Set Apart, to Abide in His Love: Sanctification
Although we want to consistently obey, God knows that we still live in earthly bodies that bear the marks of the fall of Adam, prone to wander away from Him and His truth.  But if we have died to sin and become united with Christ in His death, we have all the resources of the Triune God who prays for us, loves us, and teaches us through the Word (Romans 8).  Personally, when I read and meditate on Christ’s intercessory prayer to God the Father, in John 17, I can feel the arms of God around me—arms of protection ready to draw me away from evil, and arms of love to welcome me into God’s love.  For example, in one part of Jesus’s prayer, He asks His Father to make us holy, or sanctify us (set us apart), by His Word (emphasis mine): 

They do not belong to this world any more than I do.  Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.  Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.  And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth (John 17: 16-19 NLT).

In John 15, Jesus calls those who would follow Him to abide in Him, or “remain in Him.” He said, I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15: 5).  This invitation to abide in Jesus is a love-based command to be obedient—i.e. to be a Christ-follower.  It is also an open-arms invitation to join in the loving relationship that has been eternally shared within the fellowship of the Triune God.  Consider this loving invitation in Jesus’s words:  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (John 15: 9-11). 

A Living and Loving Sacrifice, Offered in God’s Temple
I have been thinking much about how the truths of repentance, atonement, and sanctification should affect my day-to-day spiritual walk as a Christ-follower. First, it helps me to remember the Apostle Paul’s strong urging that, in light of the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living (not dead) and holy (not blemished or stained) sacrifice… And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…(Romans 12: 1-2).  Elaborating on the notion of our bodies as a living, holy sacrifice, Paul asks us in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

My second point in attempting to apply God’s atonement in my life hinges on the first.  If my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, then I should be continually asking myself, “Do I regularly strive to be conscious of the presence of God’s Spirit in the temple of my body?”  I think of it this way:  We have all been in a party or reception where we sensed an absence of the values and behavior that we would consider God-honoring.  If we are Spirit-filled, it’s as if we can sense that the Spirit of God is grieved by what is happening.  Conversely, when we are among fellow Christ-followers, the conversation and values being shared should be uplifting.  If so, there ought to be a bond among us based on our common joy in the love of Christ. 

What is my point?   It is this:  My thoughts, words, and actions should be such that my body and life as God’s temple are a pleasant sanctuary for the Holy Spirit to live within—not like a party or reception with an atmosphere that is godless and grievous to the Holy Spirit.

In summary to this fourth article on real love, God invites us to come to the Cross of Christ as revealed in the Gospels.  There, we stand in awe before this horrible scene of suffering and death where God’s justice was met and satisfied by His mercy and love.  There, God’s Spirit does His work--the conviction of sin in our life that brings repentance and the formation of the Son of God as we are “born again.”  With a new heart and Master, we continually exercise the spiritual disciplines (prayer, time in the Word, fellowship, and service) necessary to maintain our body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

 Chris Tomlin’s added refrain to the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” is a fitting prayer of submission and repentance that leads to forgiveness and the embrace of God’s love:

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
Your name

How About You?  We are all “dying to be loved” whether we realize it or not.  May your response and mine be to die to sin and self-ish-ness, and be renewed in the power of God’s Spirit.  Maybe you have never come to the Cross of Christ in repentance and confession that you are a lost sinner in need of forgiveness of your sin.  If not, may I refer you to Steps to Peace with God which explains how you can become a Christ-follower according to the Bible? Then, you can experience the greatest Gift of Christmas, Immanuel—“God with us.”  God with you!  God in you--through His abiding Holy Spirit.  And, if you have questions, please contact me at silviusj@cedarville.edu

Advent Readings and Activities for Christmas

Riddle:  What causes a great amount of excitement and anticipation each year, makes us very busy, wears us to a frazzle; and, when it passes, it has caused us to feel depleted…and our credit cards are depleted, too?
Answer?   It could be the annual IRS deadline; or a number of annual holidays.  But I’m thinking mainly of Christmas.

Like us, maybe one of your biggest challenges each Christmas season is to set reasonable goals for Christmas and plan well to achieve these goals.  In this way, you can maintain your spiritual and emotional focus while having time to enjoy the “true meaning of Christmas.”  My hope each year is to enjoy Christmas not just on December 25 but in the days leading up to Christmas Day.  When the Day itself is all too quickly past, often the best memories I retain are in my anticipation of the celebration of Christmas with family and friends.  After all, “anticipation” is at the heart of the tradition of Christmas dating back to the Book of Genesis where God revealed that He would send a Deliverer to be born of the “seed of the woman” (Genesis 3: 17).  During the several millennia that followed, the descendants of Adam and Eve remained in anticipation of God’s fulfillment of His promise.  The promise was fulfilled by God’s Gift of a Savior, born in a manger in Bethlehem, and named “Jesus” because He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1: 21).

The approach that Abby and I have used to enhance our time of remembrance of the Advent (arrival) of the promised Savior, Jesus Christ, is to follow an Advent calendar.  These calendars are of different types and are easily found by searching for “Advent Calendar” online.   Most Advent calendars provide daily or weekly Bible readings which are often accompanied by a fun activity suitable for individuals or family.

Let me suggest three Advent resources for you to consider.  The first one invites you to focus on a Bible theme related to Christmas for each week of the four-week Advent season.  It has been prepared by our church, West HillBaptist Church, here in Wooster, Ohio.  The weekly themes, starting with “The Need” of a Savior,” are each meant to prompt us to reflect on why we celebrate Christmas and to consider how God would have us respond to His “greatest Gift.”  Please click on the thumbnail on the left.

The second Advent resource is from Focus on the Family and it provides a daily Scripture reading, a short readable commentary, and a fun activity related to Christmas.  If you would like to try out this excellent calendar, you can DOWNLOAD HERE.  And, if you would like a sample of the calendar, I have included the reading for today, December 6, as a sample (see thumbnail, below-right). 

The third Advent resource is one that I prepared last December.  It contains a daily Scripture reading and a short commentary along with discussion to help you personally apply the truth for each day.  This Advent calendar goes by the title, Daily Meditations to Enrich Your Christmas.  I hope these suggestions will enrich your celebration of Advent and the Christmas season this year. 

We hope you have a Merry and Meaningful Christmas!