Deja Vu!

So, have you ever had times in your life when things just seem to repeat themselves? I'm getting that Frenchy feeling these days that some call "Deja Vu" (to see again). Let me see if I can help you enter into my relapses:

1) I've got a new job! About a month ago I applied to become a missions intern at Bethlehem Baptist Church, the church that houses my seminary. There was an opening and after waiting for others to have the opportunity to apply I decided to enter myself in the runnings when I heard no one took the bait. We'll it looks like I'm their man! I'll be starting in three weeks after we return from Kentucky and the Together for the Gospel conference. That also means I'll be quitting my job as Starbucks for the foreseeable future. Yep, I'm hanging up the green apron again, sorry to those of you who have benefited from all my free coffee perks! Now, this whole pattern happened just two and a half years ago when Rachel and I were married. I was working the espresso bar and was asked to take a missions internship at First Baptist of Geneva. - So, now you understand part of my double-vision.

2) Pastor John is taking a total leave of absence! This past week in worship our pastor for preaching and vision, the chancellor of our seminary, announced that he was taking an 8 month leave of absence to give greater attention to his ministry to his wife and family and as a sort of fasting from public ministry to combat pride. While we're all saddened by this news he sounds very eager to be back with us in 2011 and hopes to continue his ministry of preaching and teaching for at least 5 more years here at Bethlehem. So, pray for this man and his family, that God would bless and use the months to accomplish His mysterious and wonderful purposes. As we reflected on this in class today it was our consensus that this bold and humble act is an object lesson to all of us seminarians that no lecture could ever convey. It's a lesson in humility. It's a lesson in priorities. It's a lesson in love: love to God over ministry, love to wife and family over ministry, love of ministry enough to put it aside when it becomes controlling. (Read More)

Pray for all the staff at Bethlehem (which now includes me) as we seek to press on in the vision God has given us to "spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ."

Prophets as Preachers (pt.2)

Writing yesterday I tried to give means for reading the prophets without being confused and bored! Today reading the account of Balaam in Numbers has caused me to challenge that thought a bit, but not much. Some prophecy is this situational message bearing prompted by the Lord. It takes on both the unique personality of that prophet and the unique message of YHWH to the audience. But even Balaam spoke Bible and perhaps didn’t know it, “Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you” (Num. 24:9). This is a direct echo of God’s promise to Abraham, father of the people of Israel. So, while there certainly is a situational and experiential aspect to many of these prophecies (i.e.-Acts 21:10-11, Is. 44:28, I Kings 19:9-18), I still hold to the fact that the majority of written biblical prophecy is “sermonic”. May God be pleased to bless our reading of ALL His Holy Word.

Prophets as Preachers

Can I share with you some of the fruit of my day in class? Good, because this was powerfully encouraging to me today. It can be hard to sit in class all day, but today was riveting, so buckle your seatbelt, here we go!

Ever wonder what to do with that huge section of the Old Testament we reverently call the prophets? Ever wonder how to interpret all their strange imagery and calls of condemnation? Well I sure did and hoped that my time here at seminary would help me develop my thought instead of indulge an "avoidance ethic". (You know what that is, its skipping tough chapters and avoiding Leviticus entirely! :-) But we don't have to indulge, we just need some solid understanding.

So, the prophets, who were these guys? Radical spiritual ascetics out in the wilderness who came into town with a message and great need for a bath? Did everything they said come as a result of a vision or a divine voice? These were at least the images I had in mind as the semester began here at Bethlehem. But no longer! The prophets were primarily preachers of the Pentateuch. Oh, they were men of God filled with the Spirit and a message, for sure! But their message was already decided for them in one sense. They were preaching a text that Israel already had and yet was living in ignorance it. They were called by God to come shine the light of certain truths already written in Deuteronomy into the darkness of people's lives. They knew their Bibles, were filled with the Spirit, and then preached the truth God's people needed to hear - calls to repentance, promises of comfort, hymns of praise, prayers of intercession.

So, next time you run into Jeremiah or Nahum or Haggai don't consider just flipping over to Matthew again. Read it as a sermon that a godly man is preaching with power and tears to a people he loves and doesn't want to see the curses of Deuteronomy 28 fall upon but hopes that God might stir repentance in them so that they live holy lives and the blessings of D-28 rain upon their heads.

Baby-Blizzard

So, we were in Michigan this past weekend for a baby shower. Turned out though this it was more like a baby-blizzard and we were overwhelmed by the generosity of so many friends and family members. Upon returning home to our Minneapolis apartment we had quite a job squeezing everything in! Whew! Check out so pictures below, and thank you to all who have shown us such great generosity in these days.