"He said to me, 'Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your inward parts with this scroll which I am giving you.'  Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth" (Ezekiel 3:3).

A few days ago I heard a popular outdoor speaker brag on his grandmother's godliness.  Now, I do not doubt for a second his grandmother's godliness.  But, the "proof" the speaker offered the audience of this godliness was that grandma had read the Bible three times.

"Three times" the speaker exclaimed!  "Three times . . .the WHOLE Bible!"  I guess this was intended to "Wow" us.  Maybe some listeners were "wow'd."  I was not.

The emphasis this man placed on her reading the Bible three whole times saddened me.  He said it as if that were an unbelievable feat, something only the holiest of saints could ever aspire to.  Perhaps it was wrong of me, but I admit this thought crossed my mind:

Maybe if you did not spend 90% of your time chasing deer and traveling the world to hunt you would have more time to read through the Bible yourself. 

Now, I am an outdoorsman myself.  I have often thought that if duck season were 9 months long I might not ever get anything else accomplished in life!  So, I am not against outdoor recreation.  And, maybe my assessment of this particular man is dead wrong.  Maybe he does not spend an exhorbitant amount of time in treestands.

My real point here is that it should strike us as sad when a grown man who claims to have been a Christian for many years thinks that it is a monumental accomplishment for someone to read the Bible three times over the span of 70-80 years. 

I distinctly remember when God convicted my wife and I to begin reading through the Bible each year.  It was about five years ago.  We have read the Bible through at least 5 times now, and have no plans to stop!  God has worked more powerfully in our marriage, our home, our witness, our giving, our repenting, our resting in Christ, through this simple discipline of reading His Word than any other thing we have experienced.  The more we have been in the Word, the more hunger we have for it!

For those of you who are doing gospel life together with us at Corydon Baptist Church, begin praying and preparing your hearts now to be in the Word more in 2013 than ever before in your lives.  Be ready to be challenged to read through your Bibles together next year.  Be ready to ask God to make you willing to teach the Bible in your homes day-by-day.  I believe with all my heart there is nothing more valuable we can do together as the family of God in Christ than "Get in the Word and Stay There!"  Three to four chapters a day, 20 minutes a day, that's doable for every one of us!

If God grants us several more years of life, may we ALL be able to say we have read His Word through more than 3 times!  And, let's keep this spiritual discipline in its proper perspective.  The speaker mentioned above did not just grieve my heart by his amazement at someone reading the Bible three times.  He also disturbed me by his comment insinuating that if grandma - someone who had read the Bible a whole 3 times - could not make it to heaven then surely nobody could.

Well, my outdoor speaker friend, if your grandma made it to heaven it had nothing to do with how many times she read the Bible and everything to do with what Jesus had done for her in His life, death and resurrection.  Grandmas and grandkids get to heaven the same way - by the Holy Spirit powerfully birthing them anew and granting them repentance of sin and saving faith in the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

That said, let's not forget the means the Spirit uses to bring salvation to us: "In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth" (James 1:18).  And, let's not forget how He sanctifies us: "Sanctify them by your truth; Your Word is truth" (John 17:17).  "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ" (Rom 10:17).

The Spirit has lashed Himself to the Word.  We do well to get in the Word and stay there!

*Let me introduce Lori Beard.  I have invited her to be a guest blogger on this site from time to time.  Lori serves the church I pastor as a Biblical Counselor and Women's Ministry Leader.  I know God will bless and challenge you through her blog entries.  So, enjoy this first "entry" from my Sister in Christ. 

Ecclesiastes 3: To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and ; a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to gain and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens. I have always lived my life believing this passage in the Bible and thinking that I truly understood it; recently that faith has been tested. If we believe the Bible then we must believe that every single thing in life is God-given; God ordained; he gives life and death; joy and sorrow; rich and poor; everything comes from him and it all serves his eternal purpose.

I can look back and see the seasons in my life so clearly.  I see my childhood as a season that was full of joy, sorrow, dancing, mourning, laughter, and tears. I see my marriage as a season that is still continuing; early marriage that was rocky and stupid, many times, to middle marriage that has emulated God somewhat closer, for sure, while still being so far from what the Bible has called me to in the area of marriage.  The situation that has made me most aware of seasons in my life is that of being a momma. I see my daughters from the very beginning; tiny, helpless, lost without me and daddy; and then I see them grow and the season of full helplessness begins to change. They become a little more independent and sure of themselves. They begin to notice the world and people around them and to ask questions apart from me and daddy. That season continues until they become grown women who love the Lord and begin to live their lives apart from daddy and I.

This season came full circle for us this past weekend when our precious Amy married the man God had made just for her. Over the last few months, there has been a rending,a tearing away from her dad and I that we have been aware of  with tears and joy. How hard it has been to see Amy begin to turn to her precious David in place of daddy for advice and comfort; to ask him first as opposed to speaking with us first; and we are just in the beginning stages of this new season. We are praying peace and joy as we walk through this new time in our lives and the life of our daughter. We need wisdom and guidance, grace and patience as we learn how to let go. But, I was so reminded of this passage in Ecclesiastes 3 during this time, God clearly tells us that nothing lasts forever; everything comes to an end but him and his reign.

Ecc. 3:14 says, "I know whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it." So, I am looking back to the seasons in my girls' lives. Did I live them in the moment or worry about the future and miss out on the moment? Did I live them with passion and joy, understanding what a gift and privilege it is to parent them? Did I spend time with them; real time, talking and listening and caring about what they said, thought, wondered, desired? Did I laugh and cry with them? Did I grow with them? Did I apologize to them? Did I seek their forgiveness when I needed to? Did I cherish them in words and deeds so that they knew they were cherished?

Cliff and I are starting a new season with Amy; we are mourning the loss of the old but only for a short time because we do not want to miss one minute of this new one. Life is about seasons; they come and they go; they do not last forever. If you are hating the wintertime and just waiting for spring; spring will come but all that God intended you to enjoy and learn and love in the winter has passed. You cannot get it back; you cannot ever regain that particular season. Matthew 6 says not to worry about tomorrow...live today. His grace is sufficient for today. God give me grace to live today; this new day; this new season in my life with joy and passion and in such a way that it bring great glory to you.

Parents; do not spend time wondering about when you will get time for yourself or when you will have a moment to do just what you wanted. Do not fret about what is coming when you have to kiss your children goodbye as they walk down the aisle to start their own family; do not think about anything but this particular season. Live it with joy, commitment, passion and dedication. Whatever season you are in at this particular time in your life will come to an end: ask yourself these questions:

1. What is God teaching me during this season of my life?
2. What have I gained during this time; what do I know today that I did not know when it started?
3. Am I living this season or longing for the next?

Seasons come and seasons go; love them because they are a precious gift from God. They are not our "right"; they are our privilege. God bless you as you live out your seasons with Jesus as your pilot. I pray you do so with joy and abundant life.

In Christ,

Lori Beard

Our part of the country (Southeast Indiana) has been experiencing some drought, but nothing as severe as our neighbors to the west.  As we have now begun harvesting from our garden, and being blessed by the giving hearts of other gardeners in our church family, the explosion of color and variety in this basket on our kitchen counter just reminded me of how creatively good and glorious is our God!

God made yellow.  God made squash.  God made yellow squash.  That was His idea!

God made green.  God made zuchinni.  God made green zuchinni.  That was His idea!

God made red.  God made tomatoes.  God made red tomatoes.  That was His idea!

God made green.  God made apples.  God made green apples.  That was His idea!  And green peppers, and green husks concealing yellow and white kernels of fresh corn.  That was His idea!

God made flavors to burst from fruits and vegetables.  That tart green apple was His design!  That juicy rich tomato was His doing!  Getting corn all over your face as you gnaw on it like a horse - yep, that was His glorious plan too!

Have you celebrated the creative glory and genius of God lately?  Have you thanked Him for flavorful meals and the very means to have them?  No science can possibly explain how a seed defies gravity.  It is God's doing!

And, no scientist or theologian can possibly explain how the seed of the gospel takes root in our hearts and blossoms into love for Jesus the Savior and everlasting joy and life.  That is God's doing!

"Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful" (Deut 16:15).

"For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23).      

This is a continuation of the previous post.  Let's briefly look at the final 5 big issues facing families today per the Lifeway Research article http://www.lifeway.com/article/164120.

6.  Financial Pressures - "The chronic misuse of debt and/or mismanagement of financial resources."  This one nearly always tops the list of reasons for divorce.  We parents need to ask ourselves, "If I died today and my children were forced to pick up all my debt-load and pay it off, how would they fare?"  And why are so many of us in so much debt?  "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Tim 6:10).

7.  Lack of Communication - "The increasing abbreviation or near elimination of meaningful family member interaction."  Is texting and facebooking and video-gaming and TVing helping or hurting us?  Why do young men and women (teens) in churches feel more comfortable talking about deep struggles or issues with a Youth Pastor or friend than they do their own parents?  We had better re-learn the art and value of life-on-life, face-to-face discussions about all of life with our families!

8.  Negative Media Influence - "The growing influx of destructive images and messages into the home."  I am not sure more commentary is needed on this one - we're all living it daily!  But, maybe I should ask, "If you are not with your children most of every day, then how can you possibly know what they are being exposed to?"

9.  Balance of Work and Family - "The rising pressure to invest more of one's energy in work at the expense of family."  Priorities.  Priorities.  Excuse it all you want, but we all essentially do what we want to do.  Is a change of heart needed?  Seek the heart changer Himself, Jesus Christ!

10.  Materialism - "The placing in high regard of ownership and consumption as a family priority."  Are you a user or a giver?  A consumer or an invester?  What are you teaching your children in this area of life?  They learn by watching!  Are you giving them everything they want and more?  Do you expect them to give away their time, talents, clothes, toys, as they see people in need?  Are they learning hard work?  Are we training them to recognize God's absolute ownership of all things?  Are we holding all things with open palms?  1 Chron 29:10-20 is a great place to start!

Do you see how intertwined all 10 of these issues really are?  Our lives are so complicated, why not start simplifying and biblifying?

We at Corydon Baptist Church have just finished a two month sermon series aimed at the family.  While in my mind "Family Ministry" is never-ending and all-encompassing (because the church itself is a family regardless of our various life situations), I have been pondering how to use this blog to wrap up the last two months of sermons and emphases.  While digging through some files this week, I came across a study done by Lifeway Research titled "The Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Family."  (You can view the article here: http://www.lifeway.com/article/164120/ )  Here are the Top 5 (with some brief comments by me) per this particular study:

1.  Anti-Christian Culture.  The article defined this as "the stripping away of Christian heritage and traditional values."  I affirm that our culture is definitely growing more and more anti-Christian.  Nearly every view point is tolerated in the name of "tolerance" except the biblical one!  And if you think our local public schools are somehow immune to doggedly promoting the Darwinian secular humanistic worldview just because they say a prayer every morning over the loud speaker, then you are obviously not reading your children's textbooks or listening to the few conservative Christian teachers who are fighting the darkness of this system daily.  Our children and adults are being overwhelmed by a tsunami of godless thinking and man-centered ideology.  Guard those TV sets, or maybe sell them.  Be careful about putting iphones in your pre-teens' hands.  Computer access is so widespread you can hardly keep your kids off them.  Why not send your teens to a Christian Worldview camp this summer like the one run by Summit Ministries?

2.  Divorce - defined as "the ongoing wave of broken marriages and families both within the church and without."  Perhaps nothing has so fractured families in our nation and churches as rampant divorce.  It is time for Christian couples to take divorce off the table, to not even consider it an option.  If divorce is not an option in our marriages, then this forces us to make some changes and pursue holiness, forgiveness, repentance, and Christ-likeness.  And these are the things that make marriage great and glorious!

3.  Busyness - "the participation in numerous activities crowding out quality family fellowship."  Friends, I could write a novel on this one!  Men working 60-70 hours per week is devastating families.  We make excuses that "we have to work" or "have to keep my job" but how many of us have ever had a heart-to-heart with our bosses explaining the importance we place on time with our families and worshipping with our eternal family?  How many have asked for reduced hours, less overtime?  How many will aggressively seek another job, even if it means less of that precious idol (money) but more time to pursue holiness in our homes and churches?  And then there's sports.  I like sports, but I must tell you Christian parents that riding a hard bench for hours and hours to "support" your child at the expense of true family time and more time spent doing life together with your family of God in Christ is NOT time well spent.  For many Christians, sports literally drive their whole home for months and months out of every year.  How much gas money is spent on sports in your family?  How much do you give to missionaries?  Is sports idolatry hurting your ability to do life deeply in small groups or small Bible study groups?  Do you spend more time doing sports than you do reading the Bible with your kids, or serving in your church's ministries?  What eternal value are your kids really deriving from involvement in sports?  And what other hobbies are you doing that also harm and do not help your biological or spiritual family?  Busyness is the real American Idol!!!  May we repent for God's glory and the eternal sake of our children who may be champs on the fields but chumps in their love and loyalty to King Jesus and His bride.

4.  Lack of a Father Figure - "The absence of a father in the home or lack of strong participation in the family."  Can I just say that even the way this point is worded shows how far we have fallen in our nation and churches.  "Lack of a Father Figure."  Why not just say "lack of a father"?  We are told 4 of 10 children in our country now grow up fatherless.  If God is serious about caring for orphans (and He is), then we American believers need not look far to find them!  We are now living in a Feminist Utopia in America.  How do you like it?  Sadly, even fathers who are in the home and involved in their children's lives are NOT leading spiritually, are not reading and teaching the Bible to their wives and children, and are not ensuring their children drink deeply of gospel life together in the local church as God intends.  They are physically present but spiritually absent.  Dads be warned - you leave all that "spiritual stuff" up to your wives at the eternal peril of your own soul, not to mention that of your precious children.

5.  Lack of Discipline - "the death of respectful behavior as a norm in our schools, churches, and families."  The recent outrage at the bullying of an elderly school bus monitor serves our point here.  Why do these kids treat anyone, much less a grandma, that way?  Well, let's see, they are not even with parents 80% of every week, so they are raising themselves.  Or, they are being raised in a system that extols the virtues of philosophies like relativism (no absolute right and wrong).  Boys do not have strong fathers, and girls have to learn to fight for survival in a sea of these over-sexed boys.  Parents are told never to physically discipline a child.  Teachers cannot even think about it!  Parents blame teachers for their child's misbehavior.  Hard work is missing from a child's upbringing.  It's all fun and video games in the a/c all the time.  Ask our military drill instructors what kind of young men and women our nation is producing.  They see it first hand and are given the impossible task of converting the competely undisciplined into the most disciplined fighting force in the world (though I think that status is crumbling before our eyes as our spineless generals cave to demands of liberal politicians and themselves promote sinfulness in the `rank`s).  Where is this all heading?

Well, next post we'll deal with the last 5 issues listed in this survey.  These top five have given me a headache!  I am so glad God is in control and I rest in His promise to one day make all things new in Christ the King.  Until then, however, my heart aches for families at CBC to grow into a committed body of believers who are training up the next generation to live as those who truly grasp the significance of calling one another "brothers and sisters in Christ."  That bond meant so much to the early church because in their society, the blood family was the strongest possible of human relations and links.  But today we don't "get it" because our blood families are in disarray, and because our ties to so many other social groups supercede our ties to our church family.

God help us make sacrifices to reclaim His vision and truly grow into the "household of God" (Gal 6:10).  For His glory in the gospel of Christ, and for the eternal good of the generations to come!        

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).

"Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children is their fathers" (Proverbs 17:6).

Last Sunday, June 17th, 2012, my Dad preached his last sermon as the Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Richmond, KY.  He retired after pastoring that congregation for over 31 years.  All his children and grandchildren were present.  It was precious. 

Rarely am I rendered speechless!  But, as I sat and listened to my Dad preach his final sermon as Pastor of that church that I grew up in, I was speechless.  It was such an odd experience for me.  The emotions even still are so mixed and scrambled that I cannot really make heads or tails of them.  I was grateful to a church that stood by my family for 31 years, messy and demanding as it was on them.  I pondered how many people from that church my Dad had buried (only one man who was on the pulpit search committee that called him there is still alive).  My wife's own parents are two of the members of that church that my Dad buried.  I was sad at the closing of an era.  Cleaning out the home (parsonage) where I grew up with my sister and two brothers was almost surreal (not to mention the effect it is having on my brother who has lived there practically all his life and only recently got married and moved out).

But, as the Country Crooner-Theologian Patty Loveless once said in a song, "Life's about changing nothing ever stays the same." 

Well, almost nothing stays the same. 

My Dad chose to preach as his final sermon the very first sermon he preached as Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church over 31 years previously.  Now, that's a testimony to consistency in the pulpit!  The gospel never changes!  The sermon centered on the bloody cross-work of Jesus the Christ on behalf of all those He would save.  My heart and soul were moved to yet deeper adoration and awe of the awful cost Jesus paid to rescue me from sin and death and damnation.  My Dad ended his pastorate the way he began it - by preaching Christ crucified and risen for the salvation of unworthy sinners!

Jack Marshburn, the Pastor I was privileged to serve with in NC for nearly 10 years, likes to tell preachers he's praying that they will end well.  That's a prayer for grace-enabled, gospel-infused endurance.  That's a prayer for faithful Bible preaching.  That's a prayer to fight the good fight and finish the course for God's glory in the gospel of Christ.

Last Sunday I saw my Dad finish well by the amazing grace of God's Spirit.  I was so proud to be his son.  I am so proud to be his son.  May the Lord grant Dad many more years to proclaim the good news of Jesus, and may He also give Dad some days of rest in his "glory years."

Thank you, our Lord and Savior for choosing to give me a Dad who loves you and whose zeal for Your gospel has not waned through the years, but has only grown stronger!  I am so blessed.  I give You glory and worship Your Holy Name.  Please draw ever-nearer Dad in his "retired" years.  Fill his heart with Your love and His eyes with Your glory.  For Jesus' sake, amen. 

Not many weeks ago, a man in our local area died.  There is no need to call his name, as most believers in the Southeastern Indiana region will know about him already.  He wrote a book.  Though I have only read bits and pieces of the book, it was clear to me where he was headed with it.  He began the book by speaking of a "more spiritual" way to read the Bible than all of us ignorant folk who just believe God says what He means and that God actually gave us an accurate history of His dealings with mankind and of the sending of His Son to save sinners.

In short, the man who died not long ago was a "Name It, Claim It" theologian.  Now, this was not his only error.  He also taught that Jesus is not going to return (come again) in the flesh.  Remember, for him everything is "spiritual" as he defines the term.  And, he is one of the few who really knows what "spiritual" means.  Can you say ancient gnosticism repackaged?

But I digress.  The point I wish to make in this post is that this man who taught people in this area that nothing harmful will happen to you if you have spiritual eyes and true faith . . . well, he died.

Now I am not rejoicing in his death.  It saddens me especially since I am not at all sure where he is spending eternity.  But, it must be pointed out that death is the ultimate proof of the fallacy of "Name It, Claim It" theology!  Death is the ultimate expression and manifestation of being under the curse of God for sin.

God told Adam, "In the day you eat of it, you will surely die" (Gen 2:17).

"The soul who sins shall die" (Ezek 18:4).

"For the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23).

You see, no amount of faith prevents the ultimate "harm" from coming to us.  No, we are ALL under the curse of death because we are ALL sinners.  Death is the ultimate "sickness" is it not?  One can be healthy and wealthy all his days but when death comes a knockin' all that means squat (see Luke 16:19-31).  I do not mean to be crass or disrespectful, but someone needs to start asking the obvious question:

Why has no "Name It, Claim It" theologian ever escaped death?

Shouldn't their faith have overcome this most poignant manifestation of sin's curse?  They say true faith prevents any and all things harmful or unheatlhy or unprosperous from happening to us.  But, "they" still die.

Friends, do not be fooled.  True Christianity is lived in weakness and trembling, because that is when God shows off how strong He is (2 Cor 7:7-12).  True Christianity knows that sin will bring about its certain consequence in us - death.  True Christinaity knows that sin's ultimate consequence - death - does not have final say because Jesus the Lord smashed its skull with His perfect life, atoning death, and powerful resurrection from the grave (Col 2:8-15)!  True Christianity longs for the resurrected body that is conformed to that of the Savior's (Rom 8:28-30; Phil 3:7-11; 1 John 3:1-3).  True Christianity knows that because Jesus conquered sin and death, He can and will make good on His promise to raise up His followers, not just spiritually through the new birth, but literally one day (John 5:25-29; 1 Thess 4:16; Rev 20).  One day those in Christ will die no more and have no more sickness or tears or pain (Rev 21).  But that day is obviously not yet!

Why can no one "Name It and Claim It" when it comes to our arch enemy - death?  Indeed, One did "Name It, Claim It" over death.  Only One has ever demonstrated such powerful faith:

For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.  No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again (John 10:17-18).

Jesus is the Death Conqueror!  He is the only One who ever demanded that death give up its grip on Him!  He commanded death!  Our faith had better be in Him, in what He has done, in who He is, and in what He will do, period.  And whatever trust and faith we have in Him, all redounds to the praise of His glory and grace (Eph 2:8-10).

The arrogance of the "Name It, Claim It" doctrine is dealt a death blow by death itself. 

To anyone flirting with this dangerous false teaching, I urge you to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and cry out for mercy to Jesus.  When your faith has found its resting place in Him, and not in faith itself, then and only then will death lose its sting over you (1 Cor 15:54-57).

Nearly every day since we settled into our new home in Depauw, IN my wife and I speak of being amazed that God has given us such an amazing home on such a gorgeous piece of property.  The home we purchased (or are paying the bank for) sat empty for a year or more and we are astounded!  Now, the home is not lavish.  It is a simple home built in 1964 by a couple who had been, up until we moved in, its only occupants.  And, the property may not suit a city boy's fancy.  But we truly feel like the Lord reserved this spot just for us.  We are amazed!

One of the things we think is cool about our neck of the woods are the sounds of train whistles in the evenings.  In Southern Indiana train tracks are very much still active, and we have a train that runs several times a day in the valley about a mile below our house.  The sound of the whistle is nostalgic.  It makes us long for a by-gone time as it echoes on the hills.  Kinda eery, even, how it generates a weird longing in me for yesteryear.

So often this is true of us spiritually, as well.  Deep within us human beings lies buried a sense of tragic loss.  Something is not just missing; something has gone tragically wrong with us and the whole world around us!  We've lost something precious, but because of sin's effects in us we grope blindly to find it until God's grace in Christ comes to us via the gospel.  This sense of loss is surely one of those truths we sinners "suppress in unrighteousness" (Rom 1:18).

Something has been lost!  In the beginning of creation, God pronounced things "very good" (Gen 1:31).  But very quickly in the Bible's history of this world we see tragedy strike the human race, and consequently the rest of creation (we were, after all, supposed to be ruling the creation as God's vice-regents).  The first man and woman, called Adam and Eve, tried to be autonomous.  They wanted to achieve something no human ever can or ever will - complete freedom to act as one desires with nothing to prevent one's will from becoming reality.  This kind of freedom only exists in God!  We were not made autonomous creatures, but very dependent beings.  The limited freedom we had in Eden disappeared in a flash when Adam and Eve disobeyed their Creator God.

Now, we are even more dependent creatures!  The promised freedom of sin and Satan backfired BIG TIME.  Instead of more freedom we got less - so much less that we became and have ever since been slaves (see John 8:34).  Now, we cannot not sin (bad English grammar, but still true).

I hear well-meaning Christians somtimes say we need to "return to Eden."  I get the sentiment.  It's the "train whistle syndrome."  For sure, Eden would beat the mess we live in now!  But here's the kicker - God always had more in store for His people than Eden.  If you and I could go back to Eden somehow, we'd still mess it up just like Adam did.  How do I know this?  Because Adam represented us all.  And, God chose him to be our representative.  Adam perfectly represented us all as human beings.  If we were Adam, we'd have bitten the forbidden fruit, too, maybe even sooner in the creation narrative than he did!

A preacher I heard one time said Adam and Eve sinned to try to be more like God but they didn't understand they were already as much like God as they were ever going to get.  Let me just say, "I hope not!"  If that were true, we are hopeless and doomed to repeat an endless cycle of disobeying our Majestic Creator.

This really is the point of Romans 5:12-14.  Because we are "in Adam" we all sin and we all die.  We are Adam's race, his children.  He perfectly represented us in that Garden on that fateful day recorded in Genesis 3.  We sin and die because of our union with Adam, our head.  But praise and glory to God His purpose and plan was always for something bigger and better than Adam and Eve in a Garden!

The rest of Romans 5 tells us of a new race of people - recipients of "the free gift" which is not like the lost freedom of Eden.  "For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abudance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ" (v. 17).

Hallelujah!  Jesus perfectly represents His people, too!  Those saved by grace through faith in Jesus are no longer just "in Adam."  We are now "in Christ," the Second Adam.  His righteousness is given to His people.  His headship reigns.  His glory is being restored in us, dear Christians!

And the Second Adam, Christ Jesus, promises us something far better than Eden.  The Bible's whole story-line is that through the Eternal Son of God who became flesh and died in place of His wrath-deserving people, God is moving His redeemed people from a Garden to a City!  And the City is better (though as a country boy it seems counter-intuitive for me to say such a thing).

"No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:3-4).

Now, that's a train whistle worth longing for!  That's true freedom!

Just a quick "Thank You" to our military on Memorial Day seems far too small.  Not to mention those who have bled the grounds of the world red on our behalf as Americans.  We are spoiled rotten by God's mercy in this Nation, and one of the primary means God has used to protect us and our freedoms is our military's sacrifices.  So, to troops past and present, I say "Thank You."  We met and worshipped yesterday in freedom (spiritual and political).  We should be quick to thank God for Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Sailors and their families serving around the globe.  Thank you!

That said, let us never forget the words of the Psalmist: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will trust in the Name of the Lord our God."

May God keep us a free people, but if He does give this Nation justice (and what we deserve from Him is wrath), may we as His people in Christ cry out with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!" 

And God give us grace to fix our eyes on the only Ultimate sacrifice that will matter forever: "He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His stripes you were healed.  For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2:24-25).

May we never forget the cross, the blood, the resurrection life in Jesus Christ the King!   

Today, May 20th, 2012 marks my 17th Anniversary!  Seventeen years ago today, I stood in front of my gorgeous wife and made a vow to God and her to be her husband until death.

I am amazed I am still married all these years later!  This is not because of Michele.  No, no, she is the easiest person to love and live with this side of heaven.  Rather, I am amazed I am still married because of the selfishness of my own heart and soul.

Far too often I come home from a day's work and plop down with an eager expectation to be served.  After all, I deserve it - that's what they tell me on TV.  I worked hard all day.  Time now for me to perch on my royal reclining throne and be waited on hand and foot.  God forgive me.

Now you know why I say I am amazed.  It is the sheer grace of God that has enabled my wife to not just tolerate me, but to love and honor and respect me in spite of me!  Truth is, some days I get the whole "love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her" pretty right.  Some days I fumble.  Other days I just flop.

But, every time I am reminded of God's high calling for me to model Jesus to Michele, and to intentionally seek to serve her and lead her and "wash her with the water of the Word" - every time that happens it is an act of God's gracious Spirit in my life and to Him alone belong all honor, praise, glory and dominion forever. 

God has made our 17 years immeasurably good.  God has graced us with friends to sharpen us and love us in the gospel.  God has used men and women to re-form our thinking on marriage and family and child-rearing.  Time and again the Holy Spirit has broken us down "shotgun style" and re-created our minds and hearts to bend our lives to His Holy Word.  Our marriage, we have come to realize, is not primarily about us! 

Our marriage is ordained of God to show off His power and glory and grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This has made all the difference for us.  God has never stopped growing us together as "one flesh."  When we have, by our own sinful stubbornness, threatened to "put asunder" what He joined together, King Jesus has swooped in to our rescue!  He has slowly, patiently used Michele in my life to chip away all the rough edges that do not look like Himself.  What an awesome Savior Jesus is!  I see His beauty so much more clearly in my wife's eyes now then I did even on that day when she strolled down the aisle in a white dress.

And, our precious daughters have only made our marriage stronger, more gospel-focused, more Jesus-enthralled.  Do not believe the culture's message that children "spoil" or "ruin" or "distract" you from marriage.  That is Satan's lie!  God says children are His "heritage" to us (Ps 127) and that a man with a wife who is a "fruitful vine" with precious "olive shoots" around the dinner table is graced (Ps 128).

Nothing has grown us more as "one flesh" than loving our daughters together, teaching them together, correcting them together, training them together, and investing in their souls together.  Our children have only served to increase our "oneness" in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So, today to Meaghan and Keileigh I say, "You are precious gems in my eyes and I delight in you, my daughters.  Your love and laughter have only made me want to love and treasure Jesus and your mommy more and more.  May you always look far above your earthly Daddy to set your eyes on the Father of Lights through His Holy Son, Jesus."

And to Michele, "You are the queen of my heart and I cannot wait to keep becoming one with you in the Lord for yet another 17 years.  I love you more deeply and more truly now than ever." 

And to my Lord and Master, "What have I done to deserve such favor from Your Hand?  Thank you, Precious Jesus for lavishing grace on me through my bride.  I could not be the man you have called me to be apart from Your work in and through her.  Thank you for helping me 'find a good thing' (Prov 18:22) 17 years ago.  Please keep pursuing me and making me like You, that Your love for Your Bride the Church might be made known even through the likes of me."