Category: Late night mostly unedited thoughts

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Mop-up Time

Hebrews 9:23–28 (NAS): Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Thought; This passage is full of intriguing hints of celestial truth. I will just touch on some of these. Just notice, again, that the earthly tabernacle is only a type of what really exists in heaven. Jesus really was presented as our sacrifice for sin before the Father in the heavenly holy place. Notice also that it was at the culmination of the age. This means the battle of the universe, the real Super Bowl, if you will, has already been won. This reminds me of the Tampa Bay-Kansa City Super Bowl. Remember how it felt, Tampa Bay won that game quickly. In retrospect we came to realize there was no chance for KC to win—it just wasn’t going to happen. So it is in this age, as we look around at the contemporary struggles, we wonder as we did throughout the game—when would the vaunted KC offense take off. Then it was over. Today, in the real world, there are real and profound struggles in the trenches of life, as mammoth forces wrestle for control, but why do the nations rage and imagine a vain thing. It’s over, Christ has won. We eagerly await Him. So cool. 

Live as one who knows the victory is won.

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Sacred Chores

Hebrews 9:11–14 (NAS): But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Thought: “to serve the living God” The sacrifice of Christ our Savior allows us to serve the living God. He is alive and walks with us as we live in fellowship with Him moment by moment. He is involved with our daily occupation, a copartner in our daily decision making. He is living and moving and acting, and He acts through us and with us. He is intimately involved as we go about your weekly routine.

Understanding this adds meaning to our daily chores.

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Be Expedient

Hebrews 9:11–14 (NAS): But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Thought: Certain phrases strike me as particularly significant: 1) once for all, eternal redemption and through the eternal spirit. The sacrifice of our Savior for our sins is completed “once for all” and it accomplished eternal redemption. Trust in the Savior activates this eternal redemption. 

“Through the eternal Spirit” is a profound utterance. By this, it seems, eternity is attached to the sacrifice making it eternal in its’ moment to moment application. It is once for all forever moment by moment applied to us. This is why we are free from the law. And as Myron Houghton taught me that now all things are lawful but all things are not expedient. Sin is not expedient. It will hurt us. Sin is unwise to partake in, but we will never be condemned by it, for Christ has removed it. 

From my studio study,

Be expedient

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We Can Live Free

Hebrews 9:11–12 (NAS): But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Comment

“of the good things to come” Referring primarily (Jewish Readers) to the complete fulfillment of the New Covenant, when all will know and obey from the heart) but also to the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God indwelled the believers. Jesus, by His blood entered the authentic Holy place, which I believe is a literal place and my be seen in Revelation 4, where the 24 elders fall before the throne of God. Jesus accomplished our eternal redemption.

So, we can live free. This World’s tribulations are simply ripples on a sea of peaceful sailing. All will be good, all is good.

From my coffee house in Boston,

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I Yelled at God but I wouldn’t recommend it

I’m not sure why it happened. I thought I was handling our change well–maybe not happy but content to do God’s will. I guess it must have been the result of reading old prayer letters and editing our supporters website, which is full of global city strategy and detailed plans.

It came crashing down on me how after 20 years, Deb and I having had finally it into the center of Boston and were poised to flourish in the middle of a global potpourri of the nations–a missionaries dream, but then a year of pandemic and then suddenly relocated into a small rural community, our dreams seemingly gone with the wind. All I know is that I was unexplainably weeping and yelling out in anguish–I needed to get a grip.

After sanity returned and repentance occurred, God began to remind me of things that are true and righteous and lovely and just. Our magnificent God gave us 22 years of glory in Boston. Oh, there were tough times to be sure, but mostly I remember the many, many gospel encounters and evangelistic relationships that came our way. The victories despite what seemed like insurmountable odds–the obvious miraculous activity of our awesome God. And God taught me how to walk with Him. He showed me many wondrous truths about Him.

Then God reminded me of who I am. Often times I have read the account of Philip the evangelist and felt he was a kindred spirit–never more so than now. Philip had a successful city ministry but then was whisked off the scene by the will of God and was lead to a wilderness place. Do you remember why? The similarities are beyond coincidental.

After all my years of strategizing to reach the multitudes, God has reminded me of the importance of one soul. And to be used of God at all is an immense privilege, especially for an old cantancerous sinner like me, who doesn’t know better than to yell at God.

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Disappearing

Recently some friends and colleagues took issue/offense at the suddenness of our announcement that we were leaving Boston. It was a surprise to me, since the circumstances of our departure were well known, as we had prayed together about them for months. Really, there was no choice, and I thought this was clear. It seems to me if they thought as much about me as I think about them, they would know what was about to happen.

I’m not sure what was expected, and I expect each person handles goodbyes differently. I don’t like long goodbyes, filled with awkward moments and obligatory best wishes or forced praise.

The main reason for handling the situation as I did was I came to the realization that it was time to go and so I did. It was difficult to acknowledge the reality to myself and once I did, it just seemed best to let others know without delay. After all, our supporters deserved to know what was happening sooner rather than later.

Also, I believe I was I led by the Holy Spirit. Some may dispute this, thinking that love for one another demands a more thoughtful way of departing. However, Philip the Evangelist seemed to move suddenly by the overpowering leading of the Holy Spirit. Its’ difficult to imagine he had time to collaborate with others before going to a destination that seemed to even surprise him. Is there room in the church for Philip like people? Maybe there is, but perhaps they should not be administrators.

That may be the problem. Philip was an evangelist and not an administrator. As an evangelist, he needed to be free to move to where the Holy Spirit would link him up with a not-yet-christian. An administrator, on the other hand, must work more closely with people, and, as a result, sudden disappearances are not helpful.

So, I need to manage Boston and Beyond/City Ministry/Nexus City Ministry as a Philip. What would that look like?

  1. Philip must be free to move about. He needs to be free to go without a lot of collaboration
  2. Philip needs to be free to reach people where they are at intellectually and physically
  3. Philip needs to minister the gospel to an unbeliever, continuing the ministry through baptism, teaching them the fundamentals of Christian living and ministry
  4. The organization and administration of Boston and Beyond must be formed based upon these principles

Adoniram Judson also caused hard feelings when leaving places suddenly and without notice. In fact, when he left for the mission field with his newly wed wife, he did so rising early in the morning to avoid goodbyes. His outraged in-laws caught up with him and chastised him severely. Misery loves company:-)