Death to a Mom and to Israel

I just learned that a friend's mom, aged 92, went home to her Savior. "It was a powerful day of graduation complete with joy, celebration, sadness, tears and a whole lot of gratefulness," he wrote. 

What a lot of life she's seen. What a lot of eternity awaits her. And such a contrast between the two.

Yesterday I read again about some of the hate and stupidity in the world (Ahmadinejad vomitting that Israel's existence is "an insult to all humanity": http://news.yahoo.com/iran-israels-existence-insult-humanity-093922735.html) and an Islamic "intellectual" claiming that Jews consume the blood of children believing "that this brings them close to their false god, Yahweh”: http://freebeacon.com/saudi-cleric-questions-holocaust/). I wanted to despair.

Admittedly, tiredness and various other challenges don't make world conflicts seem smaller, but all-defining.

Thank God for the transcendent perspective His Word provides. This morning I read these words from Isaiah 25:

On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
a banquet of aged wine--the best of meats and the finest of wines.

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.

One day the days of this present earth, which "reels like a drunkard...so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion" (Is 24:20), will be swallowed up by an eternity that will render all else but a faint shadow of a memory!

The "Sinner's Prayer"

David Platt, the young Southern Baptist wonder child, has a great article on 'The Sinner's Prayer.' Well, it's actually got a lot longer name, but I didn't want to use that much space in this blog. Though I do want to quote a little just to tease you. It's worth a read:

 Let us beware the danger of spiritual deception. Verse 23—"Many trusted in his name." Verse 24—"Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them."

Many trusted. Many people in John 2 believed in Jesus, but Jesus did not believe them. Many people in John 2 accepted Jesus, but Jesus did not accept them. Clearly, from the beginning of the gospel of John—this gospel that revolves around the necessity and centrality of belief in Christ—John makes clear to us that there is a kind of belief, a kind of faith, that does not save.

Read more here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/juneweb-only/david-platt-sinners-prayer.html?paging=off

The Contemplative Life

Just got back from a 2 1/2 day planning retreat with 12 church leaders (sounds almost biblical). It was held at the Saint Andrews Spirituality Center in Marathon, Wisconsin.

What an amazing place. A labyrinth of corridors and tunnels I'd like to explore at leisure sometime.

Ours was not like the previous group  there--which said not a word to each other in eight days, even at meals!

Reminds me of a man, Sylvester, who joined a religious order in which silence was strictly maintained. Only once every two years could the ordinands say anything, and then it was only two words to the Abbot.

Two years passed and Sylvester had his first interview. "Bed hard!" he said.
Another two years passed and he went in for his second interview. "Food Terrible!" he said.
After he'd been there six years, it was time for his third interview. "I quit!" he said in a loud voice.
"That doesn't surprise me in the least," said the abbot who suddenly lost his cool and forgot about the two word rule. "Ever since you've arrived you've done nothing but complain!"

Well, I have to say that at St Andrews, the food was superb and the bed was soft. Without airconditioning in our rooms, however, it was incredibly hot at night. Guess who was in the last group to bed each night--enjoying the a.c. in our meeting room and learning how to play Farkel?

I think I'd like to go back there sometime. To explore and to reflect, to be silent and to pray.

"In repentance and rest is your salvation,

in quietness and trust is your strength" (Isaiah 30:15).