A Plea to the LC Trustees for Light

*An introductory note: I am aware of the gravity of this suggestion, and that as a public Christian leader I am putting myself in the crosshairs here. However, if ever I do fall into sin (God keep me from it!) I hope that someone loves me & the Church of Jesus enough to put the following into practice.

A most sinister lie with which the Deceiver has confused many is that it is more gracious and merciful to keep things in the dark when dealing with disciplinary action. Admittedly, this plays into our own preferences, does it not? It is far easier to let sins fade quietly; to not speak openly because of the embarrassment and shame, both for the one who has sinned and for those of us associated with him/her.

I have heard numerous stories about pastors, ministers, or public leaders caught in flagrant sin who were quietly dismissed, presumably in hopes that there wouldn’t be a fuss. The congregation and public observers are left to wonder why. Theories are formulated. Rumors grow. The original sin of the individual, coupled with the sin of the leaders who did not heed 1 Timothy 5:19-21, brings even greater brokenness to the situation. It is incredibly difficult to face the hammer-blow of openness about sin, but the poison of uncertain whispers is far, FAR more destructive and dangerous. 

What is desperately needed in these situations, however difficult and painful it may be in the doing, is this: to bring open clarity & rebuke to the sins of public leaders. It is not to be done lightly, but is commanded in the case of those who are leaders (cf. again 1 Timothy 5:20). When leaders have acted in ways that dishonor their position, those who have been under their authority need to know. When a leader’s actions bring harm to those he has been called to steward, those harmed must know. 

John 3:20-21 is a pertinent set of verses for us to consider:

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what has been done has been done through God. 

To allow sin to remain in the dark is not kind, nor gracious, nor merciful. It is sinful. 

To bring sin into the light, where the holiness of God can be displayed in our response to sin, and the grace of God can be displayed in His response to the sinner – THAT is gracious and kind. 

Louisiana College Board of Trustees, do not miss the opportunity to heed the wisdom of Christ. If in your meetings you discover that Dr. Joe Aguillard must be held accountable for recent actions, do not be deceived into thinking that a quiet rebuke, or a general/non-specific public reprimand will be easier or more kind. It will only allow the poison of sin to remain.

Open clarity and specific reprimand is what is needed when the sins of leaders have harmed those in their trust. This is the only way for healing to come. 

A Letter to the Louisiana College Board of Trustees

Brothers & sisters of the LC Board of Trustees:

 
Thank you for your service to the kingdom of Christ as you help guide and protect Louisiana’s educational trust. I have been and will be in prayer for all of you as the coming meetings approach. On that note, I feel I must convey my concerns regarding the present happenings at my alma mater. 
 
First, please know that I love LC and attempted to serve it well as I was there from 2004-2008. I was BCM President for 3 years, LC Chorale President for 2 years, a Resident Assistant for 2 years, and the Head Advisor of Church Hall during my senior year. I had the honor of preaching at the student-led chapel my senior year, and Dr. Aguillard asked me to deliver the student address in our commencement ceremonies. Obviously my time at LC included some tumultuous days also, with the conservative shift which took place. During my years there, I often defended the actions and character of our administrators. Up until this point I have had only respect and appreciation for Dr. Aguillard and his leadership to return the school to its biblical foundations. I have even entertained thoughts of possibly returning to LC as a professor at some point in the future. I love Louisiana College, and my time there was pivotal in my Christian growth.
 
I say that to give perspective for what I must now say. It is with a heavy and bewildered heart that I must withdraw my support from the administration, and Dr. Aguillard in particular. The termination of gifted professors who heartily embraced and taught those doctrines contained in the Baptist faith and Message was, at best, perplexing. I did not expect this to be followed by what–for the life of me–appears to be an abuse of administrative power against those who have expressed dissent to his decisions. The censure and punishment of students who have publicly expressed disapproval with Dr. Aguillard is not in accord with righteousness. I grant that perhaps there are underlying reasons, but from what has been made known to the public I cannot see those reasons. Thus I must conclude that Dr. Aguillard is acting wrongly, and I cannot support him. 
 
As a fellow servant of Christ and an alumnus, I urge you and plead with you to hold LC’s present administration accountable in this. I’m not asking for Dr. Aguillard’s head on a platter, nor am I pretending to have all the information, but I am persuaded that Dr. Aguillard is obliged to consider his use of influence and repent of his apparent abuse of it. 
 
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to contact me to follow up or ask questions. 
 
May the Lord grant you all much wisdom and courage.
 

In the name and by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 

-Daniel

God’s Grace Disguised as Car Trouble

Perhaps some of you remember last year’s adventure in Nashville when my catalytic converter was stolen, and how God provided abundantly in the aftermath.

Well, it seems that the Lord has been listening as I’ve told people over the years that I enjoy adventures, because it seems that adventures are often the way the Lord’s blessings come. And apparently, trips to Nashville are particularly good for adventurous blessings. Here’s what happened.

Christmas morning I left Louisville at about 6:45am to head to Nashville so I could catch my flight home to spend time with family. I had planned on this being the last time I made the trip in the Isuzu Rodeo, because it had begun displaying some slightly worrisome quirks — nothing major, but things I assumed meant the car wouldn’t be reliable for another year. In fact, I had actually already started looking at vehicles to replace the Rodeo, but had been unable to find anything I really wanted in a price range I was comfortable with.

So, on the way to Nashville, I had the music turned up loud to keep me awake, and things were fine until about 45 minutes from my destination. At that point I had turned off the music and noticed that an odd grinding noise emanating from the front passenger wheel well was gradually getting worse. I assumed that perhaps the rotor had warped or something, so I kept driving.

About 15 miles from my destination it started to get much worse, and I realized that it was definitely not the rotor, but had no idea what it could be. The increasingly disconcerting noise had put me on guard, which is a good thing. If it hadn’t, what happened next could’ve been far worse than it turned out to be.

Going 70+mph down the interstate, about 8 or 9 miles from my destination, the brake caliper on the front passenger wheel suddenly seized up on the rotor. Basically it was as if I had slammed on the brake for that one wheel. The front of the Rodeo took a nose dive and swerved into the lane on my right. It was a mercy of the Lord that I wasn’t driving beside a concrete barricade or ditch, and that there wasn’t a car in the lane next to me. Any of those things would’ve meant a pretty severe wreck. But as it was, I was able to get the car under control and over to the side of the road.

Now, after I had caught my breath and breathed out profuse thanks to God for His mercy, I decided to go ahead and try to get to my flight. So, I slowly and ever-so-carefully eked out the final few miles, parked the Rodeo (which had lived up to its name, since I had to hang on for dear life like a cowboy on a bucking bull), and got on the plane.

Now, to make a long story short, here’s how that resulted in more grace:

While in Baton Rouge I went on a mad hunt to find something reliable and manageable and in my price range. AND, since it was the end of the year, car salesmen were willing to make great deals. I looked at some trucks, but couldn’t find anything really close to what I wanted. Started looking at Jeeps, found one I really liked, talked to the salesman, and got it for about $3500 below retail because it was the last day of the year.

Drove it back to Nashville where my Rodeo was parked so I could try to do something about the fact that I now owned 2 vehicles. (By the way, I had to exercise an agonizing amount of self-control to not take the Jeep off-roading in the many fields and forests off the side of the interstate through Louisiana and Mississippi.) Someone had mentioned that Carmax bought vehicles, so after cleaning the Rodeo out I limped through back roads going about 20mph and got to the place. It turned out to be the easiest part of the whole process. I pulled the car in, 5 minutes later I was in a manager’s office giving them vehicle info while their appraisers test-drove it.  I wasn’t hoping for much more than $1000 for it – being that it was 11 years old and driving terribly. The offer came back triple that! I accepted, signed over the title, and 20 minutes later had a bank draft for $3000 in my hand as one of the salesmen drove me back to my Jeep.

Great deal on a new car, which I would not have found if I hadn’t been forced to for something.

Great deal on the Rodeo, which I don’t think I would’ve gotten anywhere but Carmax in Nashville.

This is God’s grace.

Thank God for adventures in Nashville!

A bit o’ yuletide verse

First, a new one:

Yuletide Muse
The yuletide Muse, that ancient one
who sleeps the year-long sleep of seasons,
stirs my soul as Poseidon the seas.
Spring, Summer, Fall – all are gone;
their various symphonies are silent,
having yielded to the immensity
of the yuletide Muse; of him
who quiets the heart with quilts of white
laid over memory’s fields. Peace!
He speaks a language not of words,
but of visions of things that were.
A family hearth, a familiar face,
the longing for the peace of love,
the joy of giving, the sound of song,
and all the snow I ever saw -
these he stirs to mind; thus moves
my heart. A language all his own,
but one that we yet understand.
Don’t silence him! No, we dursn’t,
lest he leave us all to soon.
Make merry, then! Let swell the tide
of the yuletide Muse’s music!
All dark and woe let us refuse;
let us be moved by the language of peace.

Now, two older ones:

caroling
lookingly, lookingly carols warm carols;
cold steals the edges of clear little pane’s light
and carols on carols on Jack-Frosty-nose nights,
with bright so many clear little glass lit
and shining from out bright light-halos from in.
singing and singing and warming to cold
and songs dedicated to kids 92-years-old
in lookingly, lookingly carols warm carols.
families in are families out with kids to listen
to caroling, caroling with breathfog and snowwind.
rosey red cheekies, all greenly scarf wrapped
to keep warm the carolers, caroling go
to warm-fuzzy listeningly keep back the snow!
walkingly caroling, warmingly songs
through streetlamps and trees lit and fullheart snowfall.
caroling, caroling, caroling we
carolingly sing; caroling be
delightfully warm this lookingly Eve.

Holiday Meal

a merry meal and oh so nice.
the children run
around the chairs where mixes
post-feast coffee and choice sweets.
delicious waftings linger;
are breathed deeply
to fill space too small for anything
except scent and coffee sips.
fingers warmed on snow-
painted mugs rest easily
as satisfied faces simply smile
and enjoy the fact of being.

And finally, if you’re not tired of poetry yet, here’s a link to the Christmas poem from last year:

http://manofmist414.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/let-there-be-light/

Sermons, Slippery eels, fire hydrants, and a few fathomless truths

Sometimes, writing a sermon is like attempting to get a solid grip on a skittish eel which has been lathered up with super-slippery-solution. (Whoa, there was a significant amount of alliteration in that sentence. Unintentional, I promise!) At least for me, one of the greatest challenges of writing a sermon is focus. Not mental focus as I’m writing it, mind you, but rather the difficulty comes in the fact that there are is so much I could say. In a single passage of Scripture there might be depths of theology/philosophy/practical spirituality which would suffice to last 10 sermons, and attempting to pin the text down in order to wrestle out a digestible amount of truth is like trying to pin down a slippery, squirming, serpentine eel (alliteration again…but that time was on purpose. Sorry!). Every time you think you’ve got it pinned down it seems to turn or twist, and you see another angle of truth, or another thought strikes you, or another illustration, or another similar Scripture which could be used to explain the one at hand.

Perhaps another apt description is one I often use: attempting to focus a sermon down into a digestible amount of truth**(teachers/preachers: see note @ bottom) is like attempting to drink from a fire hydrant. You just have to sort of stick your face in there and try to catch a little of what’s pouring out. Water’s splashing out everywhere, and you have to step back every second or two in order to catch your breath while water drips down your face and out of your nose. The easiest thing in the world, when crafting a sermon, would be to act like a fire hydrant (and alas, I’ve done it more than a few times), but that’s not the most helpful or pleasant thing in the world.

So, the reason for all this musing on the difficulty of focusing a sermon is that I have several pages of notes which probably will not make it into the final product this week. One set of thoughts in particular, though, I still want to share. It’s the fodder for a sermon on it’s own, and isn’t the side of the eel I’ve pinned down for this week.

Without further verbosity, here are a few incredibly glorious truths about the incarnation of Christ:

How must we apply the truth of John 1:14 — “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us” — in a practical way? 

First, we must consider the ETERNALITY of the incarnation: 
          When the Word took on flesh, He took it on for eternity. The Word which became flesh will always be flesh.
          — And this is our hope: that since He was made like us in flesh, we will be made like Him in glory. He is the pattern of our future.
           * 1 John 3:2 – “…we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Second, we must consider the REALITY of the incarnation:
          Jesus wasn’t God wearing a human costume, but was fully man, even while being fully God.
          — And this is our life: that we are being made like Him. He is the pattern for our present.
           * 2 Corinthians 3:18 – “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory.“

Third, we must consider the PROMISE of the incarnation:
          Jesus, as one who was fully man, was kept from sin and rebellion by the power of God working in Him. The Spirit of God kept the Son of God holy. 
          — And this is our trust: the He can keep us, and make us like Himself. He is the power which conforms us to the pattern.
           * 1 Peter 1:5 – “…through faith [you] are shielded by God’s power.”
           * Romans 8:30 – “…those [God] justified, he also glorified.“

Lastly, we must consider the ASSURANCE of the incarnation:
          Jesus came for a purpose which had been set before the world’s foundation: to display love.
          — And this is our comfort: that God loves us and values us. When you doubt this truth, consider the incarnation of Christ as evidence of the fact that God loves the world, and you personally. 
           * John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He sent His Son...”
           * Romans 5:8 – “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.“

These truths of the incarnation of Jesus, as the Word taking on flesh and dwelling among us, are the ground of our hope and faith. We believe that we will be made like Him one day, that our flesh with be clothed in deity, just as His deity was clothed in flesh. But we also believe that there is promise for the present; that the risen Christ has become the power which has already begun to conform us to His image, and will continue to sanctify us until the day of His return. And for all eternity, Christ has become the full and clear evidence of the love which God has for we who are of flesh in the world. 

He is good!

**What I mean by “a digestible amount of truth” is simple: I get 30-40 minutes a week to teach my congregation at large. That’s less than the length of any grade-school or college class. That means if I want people to actually walk away with something tangible, I must give them something manageable. Clarity, precision, and emphasis can accomplish a great deal and allow people to absorb more, but there is a point at which minds/hearts become full. If we get to that point, it’s dollars to donuts that most of my congregation is going to remember nothing from the sermon in a week’s time, and that’s being generous. It’s not that people are stupid or unable to comprehend spiritual things – not at all! It’s simply that we can only digest so much in a single sitting. It takes me a week or more to prepare a sermon. That’s a week of sitting and thinking and studying and mulling the truth of the Scripture. And it is unfair and discourteous of me to uncaringly fling a truckload of stuff at those present rather than giving them the opportunity to genuinely wrestle with a handful of things. The truth is this: a truckload of info might be interesting during the hearing of it, but if it’s lost shortly thereafter it’s of no more lasting value than a television show that entertains for a half hour. If I desire to encourage and aid in lasting change, I must work to root truth deeply in the heart. That means working slowly, though steadily and irresistibly. Choose one or two truths, sharpen the point of it as precisely and clearly as possible through the week, and then drive the sharp tip of that truth as deeply into the hearts of the congregation as I possibly can in the short time given me on Sunday morning. I commend this to you as a methodological axiom and foundational principle for preaching.

How to apply the idea of Christmas

How do we know who God is?

      As you consider the question, perhaps you’ll list several things. There’s a number of things you might focus on to answer that question, and all of them would probably be true to one extent or another. However, one of the things we often forget when answering this question is this:

We know who God is because Jesus showed us who God is.

 “Phillip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father. That is enough for us.’ Jesus replied…’Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!’” Jn 14:8-9

      What we have in the Bible’s picture of Jesus is a picture of God himself! We know about God’s character because of the way Jesus acted. This idea is captured by the apostle John in what happens to be one of my favorite Bible verses about Christmas:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14

The Word, who was God, took on flesh and lived among us. Jesus, the One and Only, who was with the Father from the eternal beginning, put on human likeness and walked bodily in our presence for a time. Webster’s dictionary defines it this way for us:

Incarnation – (1) : the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form; (2) the union of divinity with humanity in Jesus Christ

Applying the Idea of Christmas

      Now, what does this have to do with us this Christmas? The incarnation of Christ, when God the One and Only was revealed to the world through flesh, is normally just something we think about at Christmas, true.

But what if I told you that the incarnation is something that we take part in? What if I told you that you get to take part in this most magnificent Christmas glory?

Here’s how it works:

The Deity of Christ united with human form to show the Father to the world.

Those who are born again and saved through trust in Jesus are being made into his likeness (2 Cor. 3:18), and God the Holy Spirit now dwells in them (1 Cor. 6:19).

Do you see the parallel?

Jesus was God in the flesh, and he came to show the Father to the world.

God the Spirit dwells with our flesh and makes us like Jesus. Why? To show Jesus to the world! Jesus said it this way as he prays:

“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18

God’s purpose for sending Jesus into the world is also Christ’s purpose for sending us into the world:

that the world may know the glory and goodness of the God who saves sinners.

     Brothers and sisters, just as Jesus was the picture of God for the world to see, you are called to be the picture of Jesus for the world to see. Now, be careful here. That doesn’t apply only to the things you do, or don’t do. Far too often we think that if we just live the right way, that’ll be enough.

     If there was anyone who might be able to live a good enough life to bring people to God, it was Jesus. However, you’ll notice that Jesus also talked about God often. Why? Because a necessary aspect of the incarnation was a message.

This is also true for our part. We live incarnationally by living a life the reflects the life of Jesus AND by speaking the message that He spoke. It must be both. Take one away and the incarnation is useless.

So, my friends: during this Christmas season and always, reflect Jesus to the world in the same way that Jesus reflected God to the world.

With joy in Christ,

Pastor Daniel

Musing on a bonfire with friends

Fire Quilt-Makers

As I sit, the fire’s blaze warms my face,
but my eyes do not see the rich-hued flames.
My inner-eye (the mind and heart) are outward turned,
listening to the hum of a dozen different words:
or, perhaps, of a dozen different worlds.
The only ones I know are the three girls –
old college friends — the rest are new acquaintances.
One talks about Morocco; someone else of France.
With the guy beside I speak of India,
and to my left is Milena (someone’s German friend).
Luca from Spain soon bids us all a pleasant night.
Is it any wonder the fire, though quite nice,
suffers from a want of my full attention?
Against the souls, the fire isn’t worthy of mention.
This collision of human worlds holds me rapt,
and I am suddenly taken aback at how abrupt
has been the coalescence. In the space of a blink
is seems that we have woven together a wonderful thing:
a patchwork of life, of worlds: a multi-soul quilt.
One might never think to combine such varied ilk,
and yet this temporary union burns bright –
brighter than the fire’s orange-red light.
The fire destroys the wood, but smelts the fragile bond
between this mixture of souls which I have stumbled upon.
Alas that with the fire’s death the bond will break!
But, thank God, there’s always another quilt to make.