The Elders of the Church -

a short book, easy to read - lays down all the issues surrounding the office of elders.  would recommend to anyone who's pursuing the office of eldership.

Brutish Master—

What a brutish master sin is, taking the joy from one’s life, stealing money and health, giving promise of tomorrow’s pleasures and finally leading one onto the rotten planking that overlies the mouth of the pit. It is with honest praise to God I can look up tonight and rejoice in His loving-kindness in delivering me from a life of useless frustration and the ultimate agonies of the gnawing, undying worms of remorse and regret. – [Shadow of the Almighty, 44]

Profound remark by J. Elliot, when he was only 19. Pray that the youths of today would have wisdom such as these…

J. Elliot’s Attitude on Education—

The acquisition of academic knowledge [the ‘pride of life’] is a wearing process and I wonder now if it is all worth while.  The shiny paint laid on by curiosity’s hand has worn off.  What thing better can a man know than the love of Christ, which passes knowledge?  Oh to be reveling in the knowledge of Him, rather than wallowing in the quagmire of inscrutable philosophy!  My philosophy prof says I can’t expect to learn much in his class—all he want to do is to develop an inquiring mind in order to ‘make explicit and critically examine philosoph8ical problems of the widest generality.  Ho hum… [Shadow of Almighty, 40]

You speak of it as ‘rounding out one’s manhood.  It rounds it out, all right, but I’m afraid sometimes it’s more in the style of 1 Corinthians 8:1, ‘knowledge puffs up.’  ‘Culture,” philosophy, disputes, drama in its weaker forms, concerts and opera, politics—anything that can occupy the intellect seems to turn aside the hearts of many here on campus from a humble life in the steps of the Master, though we sing about this most delicately!  No, education is dangerous, and personally, I am beginning to question its value in the Christian’s life.  I do not disparage wisdom—that comes from God, not from PhD’s.  [Shadow, 41]

…it’s because of this that I begrudge myself an education, for at a time when my mind still functions quickly it is forced to work on subjects like René Decartees’ rational epistemology or Laplace’s nebular hypothesis, while I would so much more enjoy study on the things of God.  Be that as it may, my Father knows best, and I’m confident that He has placed me here; my task is to labor quietly until the pillar-cloud removes and leads farther, working out God’s purposes in God’s time. [Shadow, 43]

In spite of these kinds of attitude towards education, J. Elliot still graduated w/ high honors.  This is a lesson on obedience.  It seems like when a lot of seminarians begrudge their seminary years w/ resentful attitude, I wonder if it’s motivated by their own arrogance and desire to be lazy.  If the subject doesn’t interest them, they should at least see it as God’s leading them thru a lesson on faithfulness.  After all, it’s not the institutions that make a man’s heart dry, but it’s their unreachable attitudes of thinking they know better than their instructors or even God who sent them there.  I proudly admit I had to struggle a lot to go thru my seminary training, probably even more than most people.  But, I cherish those years, not b/c I was a good student [I was not] but b/c I always knew I couldn’t have gotten thru w/out God.  I had a profound spiritual experience, in taking every exam and meeting the deadlines for the papers b/c each of those times, I had to depend on God and nothing else to bring me thru.

Jammin’—

Walked out last night and realized how much I enjoyed just making music w/ friends – there was no agenda, no goal, no expectation, just playing music.  As I was thinking about that, I realized that music will always be part of me and how much I enjoyed and appreciated this thing God has given me.  

Monstrous Picture of Whales—

For all these reasons, then, any way you look at it, you must needs conclude that the great Leviathan is that one creature in the world which must remain unpainted to the last. True, one portrait may hit the mark much nearer than another, but none can hit it with any very considerable degree of exactness. So there is no earthly way of finding out precisely what the whale really looks like. And the only mode in which you can derive even a tolerable idea of his living contour, is by going a whaling yourself; but so doing, you run no small risk of being eternally stove and sunk by him. Wherefore, it seems to me you had best not be too fastidious in your curiosity touching this Leviathan. – Moby Dick, 226

This passage strangely reminded me of the modern man’s search for God, particularly w/ the school of liberal theologians of last few centuries who were so caught up w/ finding the ‘real historical’ Jesus. Just like Melville’s description of erroneous whale paintings, most of their attempts have been found unconvincing, resulted in creating Jesus according to their preconceived biased image. Maybe I’m turning mystic, but it feels like the more we rely on our intellect the less likely to understand God. As the book suggest, the only way to truly see God is to encounter him. But, are we willing to be swept away by his awesome power and have our whole world turned upside down? It’s a question one must ask when honestly seeking God.

Challenge to Obey—

ML introduced me to Larry Randolph.  And this clip really struck me!  For a few days, I’ve been seeking to hear the Word of God b/c I really felt his prompting to change a direction of my life.  And the challenge I didn’t consider was, ‘Am I really ready to obey whatever he tells me?’  Over the years, I went from ignoring his voice [and so reaping the consequence] to cautiously following w/ doubting every step I took to now, being pretty excited to be going wherever he will lead me.  One thing I need to work on, however, is to be obedient to the little things that I already know – which is harder than achieving great things for him.

Hope & Expectation—

16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. – Proverbs 24:16

I find this to very interesting - often when we think about tenacity and perseverance, we attribute it to one's own character.   However, this verse says the 'righteous' rises again and the 'wicked' stumble.   Maybe this has to do w/ one's faith in God - to trust him to give enough strength to pick up the pieces and try again.   This certainly addresses the attitude we should have in dealing with our recurring sinful patterns.  But, would this work in the way we approach our lives as well?  Maybe, our tendency to give up the dreams or vision we once had has a lot to do w/ how much we are willing to trust in GOD, especially when we face difficulty and even failure.  I think it was William Carey who said, 'expect great things from GOD; attempt great things for GOD.

Elliot’s Credo—

Before four-thirty that afternoon the quiet waters of Curary flowed over the bodies of the five comrades, slain by the men they had come to win for Christ, whose banner they had borne. The world called it a nightmare of tragedy. The world did not recognize the truth of the second clause in Jim Elliot’s credo: ‘He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” – Shadow of the Almighty, 19

We often have idealistic vision martyrdom. But, the reality is, at least from the world’s perspective, those who give their lives for Christ will go down in the world’s history as foolish fanatics who wasted their lives. Want to give your life for the cause of the gospel? Let go of any inclination to come out as a hero – you will be disappointed…

Fellowship w/ the Contrite—

‘For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy:“
I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’ – Isaiah 57:15

We Americans want to eliminate pain altogether. And to that end, we’ll do anything and pay any price. We often look down w/ pity, those who are going thru trying times, while back of our minds we are so relieved that we’re not the ones in those circumstances. Ironically, in all of our efforts to eliminate pain, we have become one of the most medicated societies in the world, and history.

I often fall into this category as well. So, I have to constantly remind myself to embrace suffering, not to promote masochism, but b/c that’s where I’ll find God – God dwells among the weak, needy, contrite and lowly in order to revive their spirit. And if I find myself among lowly and contrite, I’m in fellowship w/ Him; and if I participate in serving them, I’m doing the work of God.