Afterwords -- week 51
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching." (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
December 10, 2022
Dear friends,
"Preach the Word" (2 Tim 4:2) was a biblical mandate emphasized and reaffirmed throughout my years at Dallas Seminary. I'm so very thankful for the quality of theological education I received there! The drawing above is Chafer Chapel, where I sang with classmates and heard many fine speakers and messages.
REMEMBER OVERHEADS? In my downsizing effort of many files at home I've been going through old teaching notes, including stacks of overheads, also known as overhead transparencies. Here are outlines from a couple of them...
"Lessons from King Josiah", a model for our spiritual growth (2 Chron 34-35).
1) Desiring: Seek the Lord (34:3)
2) Purging: Tear down the idols (34:3-7)
3) Building up: Construct a new life (34:8)
4) Responding: Take God's Word to heart (34:19, 27)
5) Committing: Dedicate yourself to obey the Lord (34:31)
6) Worshiping: Know and love God with zeal (35:18)
7) Humbling: Avoid the pride of success (35:21-22)
And, "The Paradox of Glory" (John 12:24-26)
-- Dying leads to fruit-bearing (v 24)
-- Losing leads to preservation (v 25)
-- Serving leads to honor (v 26)
Okay, so that's not as exciting as, say, discovering ancient NT manuscripts, but still, they're fun to go through, and they seem ancient to me.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST.
-- "Humanity is an incomprehensible alloy of greatness and misery, to which Christianity holds the key." (Pierre Manent on the importance of Blaise Pascal for modern Europeans, who "no longer know what to do with the Christianity that has formed them.")
-- Kevin DeYoung with a simple explanation of what is meant by "the simplicity of God".
-- The Oxford Word of the Year 2022 is "goblin mode." (Second place: metaverse.) Why are people going "goblin mode"?
-- Speaking of goblins, Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch asks, would you rather be a wolf or a vampire? (A question about the state of your soul...)
BOOKS I'M READING.
-- On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions, by C. S. Lewis (HarperOne, 2022).
-- To Be Near Unto God, by Abraham Kuyper (Eerdmans, 1918; Baker Books, 1979).
-- Galactic Derelict, by Andre (Alice) Norton (1959).
MUSIC. I'm enjoying listening to "Hallelujah" from Reawaken Hymns. This is a new Christmas carol by Nathan Drake, adapted from "The Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus".
Hallelujah (Christmas Lyric Video) - YouTube
-STREAM THE ALBUM: https://streamlink.to/the-soul-felt-its-worth-stream-CHORD CHART and more worship resources for Hallelujah: https://www.reawakenhymns.com/…
FINAL QUOTE. "For many years we may have had love for God in general and never have known him. He is only known when love for him takes on a personal character; when we meet him in the pathway of life; when He becomes a person in contrast with our own; when we enter into conscious, vital and personal relation with him, so that He is our Father and we his children; not merely one of his children, but his child in a special way, in a personal relation different from that of his other children, even the closest relation conceivable in heaven and on earth..." (Abraham Kuyper, To Be Near Unto God)
That's it for week 51! And thank you to those who have been praying for my health. The second round of antibiotics have worked to reduce parotiditis (salivary gland infection) in my jaw. After several weeks of virus, sinus problems, and bronchitis, I realize that being in good health is no small thing! Thank you, Lord!
Sandy
Image credit. Pen and ink drawing of Chafer Chapel at Dallas Theological Seminary (c. 1985) by Helen Chouinard, wife of one of my classmates there. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.