tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18515409275824007792024-02-06T21:42:56.527-06:00The Benediction ProjectPostings and discussion concerning life and benediction.espíritu pazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17483308467615005496noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-53226019552748230962013-08-30T14:38:00.003-05:002013-08-30T14:38:27.148-05:00We've create a new blog! <br />
<br />
It is called <a href="http://newbenedictionproject.blogspot.com/">The New Benediction Project</a>.<br />
<br />
This site is beginning to generate so many technical difficulties that we
decided the best solution was to move to a new blog with a new look. The old blog will still be there for reading and reference for as long as
Blogger allows us to keep it here. But new posts will be posted over there.<br />
<br />
Here's the link.<br />
<a href="http://newbenedictionproject.blogspot.com/">http://newbenedictionproject.blogspot.com/</a>espíritu pazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17483308467615005496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-68635494941074252372013-08-17T11:41:00.002-05:002013-08-30T13:52:58.714-05:00Guilt, Shame, Regret…and Grace Part Five<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.72px; margin: 0in 9pt 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<strong>Guilt, Shame, Regret…and Grace<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
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<strong>Part Five<o:p></o:p></strong></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Bob Rakestraw</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">August 5, 2013</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“The Benediction Project”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.<wbr></wbr>com</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">(This is the fifth and final entry in a series on guilt,
shame, regret and grace. The series began April 1, 2013)</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Someone has wisely said, “Speak kindly to everyone you
meet, for each one is probably carrying a heavy load.”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">The more we move along on this journey of life the more we
see the wisdom and truth in this saying. A heavy load is a burden—something
difficult to carry. Whether we think of our own life or the lives of those we
know well, we have all experienced and/or seen this matter of burdens. We understand
burdens not only as a concept or idea; we understand them personally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Some people carry more than one burden and some burdens
are heavier than others, but we almost all (perhaps all) carry some weight
around with us. I am thinking primarily of adults, but unfortunately, large
numbers of teenagers and children are weighed down as well. Furthermore, I am
thinking here not of burdens as physical weights, even though the material
aspects of life can surely be burdensome. I am referring instead to the mental,
emotional, psychological, social and/or spiritual concerns that tend to weigh
on our minds, pull down on our spirits and keep us from a positive and kind
attitude to others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">When two people meet or do business together, which
frequently happens several times a day, each one (usually) tries to be as
cordial as possible to the other. This is a good thing, and is not the same as
being phony. It helps to lighten and brighten the atmosphere where we are, and
makes life a little bit easier for everyone. Yet the burdens stay with us, even
though they may be hidden. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Many of the burdens people carry have to do with guilt,
shame or regret, or perhaps two or all three of these. In the previous postings
in this series I have tried not only to explain each issue, but also to point
out God’s remedy for each of these burdens. With each one, God’s remedy can be
summed up in the word “grace”—the most important word in the Bible except for
the names of God. (This is my personal opinion, but I believe a great many Bible-believing
theologians and students of scripture would agree.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Definitions and discussions of God’s grace usually focus
on his free, unmerited favor toward us because of the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. Because Christ the sinless one died
willingly for us in our place, and took upon himself the burden and guilt of
our sin, the Father welcomes and forgives all who come to him in repentance and
faith. If we have trusted Christ as our Savior and Lord, our guilt, shame,
regret and the ugliness of all our sin is now forgiven—forever. God remembers
it against us no more!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">The above concept of grace is totally biblical and truly
liberating. It is the answer—above all other answers—for the billions of people
on earth who are trying to get free from their burdens and the sufferings of
this life by man-made religious systems and rituals.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">However, the truth of grace as God’s “unmerited favor” is
only part of the biblical teaching on grace. There is another huge aspect of
grace that is so closely entwined with the nature of grace as favor that
neither can properly be considered without the other. This second aspect of
grace is the power or energy of God on our behalf.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">Our thinking of grace as favor and grace as power offers
us two perspectives—two vantage points—from which to “see” into the one deeply
loving heart of God. While our vision and comprehension of God will always be
incomplete, because he is infinite and we are finite, God has revealed much to
us in his written word about his heart of grace.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">As we read the following scriptures (all from the NIV
2011) we may be inclined to think of grace as a “substance,” especially when
the text is focusing on grace as power. I have done that at times as I have
tried to grasp this truly amazing and mysterious concept. Yet grace is not
something tangible. It is not a substance or a thing. It is rather, the very
presence of God himself living and flowing within us and allowing us to
experience his face shining upon us, his mercy consoling us and his power
strengthening us for each task and situation we face.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need” (Hebrews 4:16).” The scripture writer refers to the merciful,
favorable nature of God’s grace, but then puts a special emphasis on grace as
the power within us to accomplish what we need. It is good to see someone’s
smiling face directed toward us and to sense their merciful spirit, but without
the actual strength at work on our behalf the person’s favorable attitude is
not very helpful. The same writer of Hebrews adds later, “It is good for our
hearts to be strengthened by grace… (13:9).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to
me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but
the grace of God that was with me” (I Corinthians 15:10). John Wesley wrote
that when the word grace is used in the Bible with the idea of power or energy,
we can just as easily read the “Holy Spirit” in its place.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for
my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all
that there were no needy persons among them” (Acts 4:33).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says,
‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble’” (James 4:6). This
reminds me of a wonderful old hymn that includes the words, “He giveth more
grace when the burdens grow greater.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">To close this five-part series, I leave you with some
remarkable words from the apostle Peter. Whether our burden pertains to guilt,
shame, regret or some other matter that weighs heavily upon us, hear these
words from “the God of all grace.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;">“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal
glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore
you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and
ever. Amen” (I Peter 5:10-11).</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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espíritu pazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17483308467615005496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-74584632920854460802013-07-01T10:33:00.001-05:002013-07-01T10:33:40.069-05:00Guilt, Shame, Regret…and Grace
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Guilt,
Shame, Regret…and Grace </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Part
Four</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
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Bob Rakestraw</div>
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“The Benediction Project”</div>
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<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<o:p> </o:p><br />
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(This is a follow-up to the previous posting, in which we
began to consider “regret.”)<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have all experienced regret, and perhaps are still
suffering from this very painful condition of heart and soul. We may struggle
with regret because we have done or said harmful things to others, or did not
do or say the helpful things we should have. The apostle Paul had some initial
regret over the doing of good, as we saw in the previous posting, and this was
good regret. But what if we have regret over the doing of harm, and the
committing of sin against God and others. How could we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> possibly regret such things?<o:p> </o:p></div>
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Wouldn’t we be terribly calloused if we said, “I don’t
regret having sold addictive drugs to young people. God has forgiven me and I
live with no regrets. After all, I’ve heard people state their philosophy of
life as ‘No regrets,’ and they seem to be happy.”<o:p> </o:p></div>
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People might say such things as “I made some poor choices,”
or “I did not intend to offend anyone,” or, the most evasive of all, “mistakes
were made,” but rarely do we hear “I regret” or (even more scarce) “I was
wrong” or “I sinned.”<o:p> </o:p></div>
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It is true that regret for wrongdoing is, for people of
conscience, difficult to live with. The starting point for help is, without
hesitation, to come to our merciful Lord and ask him for forgiveness of those
things that have grieved God and harmed others. Ask him, as I often do, to
search your heart and show you the sin—past or present—you may not even be
aware of (Ps. 139:23-24).<o:p> </o:p></div>
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Then we need to do or say whatever we can to help right the
wrong. This is often no longer possible when, for example, the person we hurt
has died. But if we can acknowledge our wrongdoing and our regret for it, and
do what we can in specific ways to improve the lives and spirits of those we
harmed, we should do so. <o:p> </o:p></div>
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One specific matter concerns decisions and decision-making.
You may say, even after many years, “I regret that decision.” In some such
cases you may not have asked God for guidance, either because you never thought
of it or because you were in a place of rebellion against God. In other cases
you may have asked God to lead you, but you already had your mind made up
before.<o:p> </o:p></div>
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In situations such as these God does not berate us nor keep
bringing up the past to torment us, but he does want us to acknowledge our
failure and seek him with our whole heart in the future. It may not be possible
to undo some poor decisions, but God has ways of turning ashes into beauty when
we choose to live in faith and obedience from this time onward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p> </o:p></div>
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There may be cases when you sincerely asked God for the
wisdom to make the right decision and then chose what you believed was God’s
will. But as time passed after your decision you found yourself thinking “I
regret that decision.” You may have thought this, and perhaps still do, about
such major matters as your choice of a marriage partner, your decision
(consciously or subconsciously) to follow a certain philosophy of parenting,
your heavy borrowing for an enjoyable but not very practical college education,
or your too “day-at-a-time” attitude about pursuing the advanced schooling that
you, for years, have wished that you had pursued.<o:p> </o:p></div>
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In such situations, when you sought God in submission to his
will, open<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to his direction, you are not
pleasing God if you say, “I regret that decision.” The epistle of James (1:5-8)
makes it clear that if we ask God for wisdom as I just described, we are to
trust completely that the decision we made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i>
the one God had for us. <o:p> </o:p></div>
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As you pray and make a decision in such situations, you are
to do so with full confidence in the Good Shepherd who leads his sheep, knowing
that your choice <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will be</i> God’s
choice. This is true even if you have some “fuzziness” about your choice at the
time you make it. 100% certainty is not always present, but you should never
move ahead with any serious doubt. <o:p> </o:p></div>
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Once again, there may be times—sometimes painful times—when,
some time after you made a decision while seeking God’s will, you begin to feel
that you made a bad choice. It is my conviction, based upon personal experience
and over 50 years of Bible study as a seeker of truth, that you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> make a right decision. (See also I
John 3:18-22; 5:14-15.)<o:p> </o:p></div>
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Think of it: if you met the conditions of James chapter one
and asked God for the wisdom to choose rightly, why should you dishonor him by
doubting that he did what he said he would do? He knows we are very imperfect
and that our motives may be somewhat mixed even when we desire them to be pure.
He does not look for perfection in us but for a heart that yearns for his will,
for his glory above all. <o:p> </o:p></div>
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Today, much of what we are and who we are is the result of
our past decisions. None of these decisions can be re-decided, unless it
concerns some choice made so recently that the consequences of the decision
have not yet taken effect. Whether our choices were made while we were seeking
God or not, we must move forward. In the former case, with regard to a specific
decision, we are to live with the confidence that God did guide us. In the
latter case, we are to repent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">once and
for all</i> of our failure to seek God wholly and ask him regularly for the
“joy of the Lord” which will be our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).<o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-21219582192750039252013-06-03T18:22:00.000-05:002013-06-03T18:22:06.240-05:00
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Guilt,
Shame, Regret…and Grace </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Part
Three</span></b></div>
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</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 9pt 0pt; tab-stops: 6.5in; text-align: center;">
Bob Rakestraw</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 9pt 0pt; tab-stops: 6.5in; text-align: center;">
“The Benediction Project”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 9pt 0pt; tab-stops: 6.5in; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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(This is the third in a series on guilt, shame, regret and
grace. The two previous postings considered guilt and shame.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<o:p> </o:p><br />
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I think it is safe to say that all of us have done some
things we now regret doing. We wish we had never done them. Also, we have said
some things that we regret saying. Furthermore, we regret not doing certain
things and not saying certain things that we should have. As with guilt and
shame, regret can cause great harm in our lives unless we learn to understand
it and deal with it properly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The word regret can be either a noun (“Does the prisoner
show any regret”?) or a verb (“I regret that I said that.”). As a noun it has
the idea of sorrow, remorse, or a troubled feeling over what has happened,
especially if we were responsible. As a verb it means to feel sorry or
remorseful over something, especially one’s own words or actions. Whatever it
is one regrets, it is usually spoken of with negativity or disappointment: an
angry outburst, cheating on one’s taxes, not making an important phone call, or
even regret that we could not stay longer nor attend a friend’s wedding.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
The Bible seldom uses the word regret. It is not found at
all in the King James Version and occurs only four times in the New
International Version. Second Corinthians 7:8-10 contains the fullest
discussion of our topic, and deserves our consideration. <o:p></o:p><br />
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The apostle Paul had written a previous letter to the
believers at Corinth, one that had caused them sorrow. (This was probably not
the epistle of 1 Corinthians.) He wrote, “Even if I caused you sorrow by my
letter, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do not</i> regret it. Though I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did </i>regret it—I see that my letter hurt
you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made
sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful
as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings
repentance that leads to salvation and leaves <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no regret</i>, but worldly sorrow brings death” (NIV 2011, italics
added).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paul writes that it is possible for us to regret, at the
moment, the necessity of having to do something (because it will hurt someone
for a while), but not regret the action itself once we see the good results
from the action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul also writes of two
kinds of sorrow and commends the Corinthians for having the first: “Godly
sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but
worldly sorrow brings death.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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This last verse strikes at the heart of our topic: there is
a good, beneficial, godly form of sorrow (probably the key element of regret)
and a bad, destructive, worldly form of sorrow. Worldly sorrow is not deadly
because sorrow is a wrong thing in itself; it is deadly because it is so
inwardly focused that it does not look to God in repentance and hope. Worldly
sorrow, entwined with worldly regret, led Judas to hang himself. He was filled
with remorse, not repentance, and he died in his sin (Matthew 27:3-5).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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It is essential to realize that godly sorrow may have (and
sometimes should have) a strong element of regret in it. Paul said that godly
sorrow “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">leaves</i> no regret,” not that
it “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">involves</i> no regret.” He had just
written that he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did</i> regret having to
write the letter—he felt sorrowful that he would cause sorrow—but it was sorrow
that, in the end, “leaves no regret.” One admonition from this line of thought
is that when we believe we should offer constructive criticism, we should not
let the sorrow and regret of the moment keep us from doing the right thing. If
we do hold back, we may experience more regret—long lasting regret with sad
consequences for others and ourselves—than we would by offering the correction
that was needed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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(In our next posting we will consider this matter of regret
further.) <o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-8123713330979558882013-05-02T20:47:00.000-05:002013-05-02T20:47:49.779-05:00
<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Guilt,
Shame, Regret…and Grace </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Part
Two</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b>Bob Rakestraw</div>
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“The Benediction Project”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 9pt 0pt; tab-stops: 6.5in; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a></div>
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<o:p></o:p> </div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Many people, whether religious or not, struggle with guilt,
shame or regret. Or they struggle with two or possibly all three. These are
closely related and intertwined, and are such major issues that, if not dealt
with properly, will hinder and maybe even destroy one’s stability and success
in life as well as one’s peace of mind and will to live. In the previous
posting we considered guilt. In this article we focus on shame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Shame is generally understood as an unpleasant emotional
reaction by a person to an actual or presumed negative judgment of him or her
by others, resulting in self-depreciation in relation to the group. (This
definition and certain other insights in the first part of this essay are from
the article, “Shame,” by R. L. Timpe, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baker
Encyclopedea of Psychology</i>, edited by David G. Benner, 1985.</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Shame involves an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">objective
act</i> and a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">subjective feeling</i> of
the person. The objective act violates some social convention (which may or may
not include a violation of God’s law in the thinking of the person) and, as a
consequence, leads to the subjective feeling of condemnation and derogation.
When we feel shame we experience it as a wound to our self-esteem, a painful
feeling or sense of degradation aroused in us by the consciousness of having
done something unworthy of our previous idea of our own excellence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Some examples may be helpful. If a piece of our clothing
becomes loose and exposes part of our body inappropriately, or if we begin to
eat our meal too soon among high society, where everyone is expected to wait
until the ringing of a certain bell, we experience shame. We have committed a
sort of “social transgression.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Guilt and shame are related but not the same. Some maintain
that guilt follows transgression of prohibitions, whereas shame follows one’s
failure to reach his or her goals or ideals. A similar view is that guilt
arises out of wrongdoing, whereas shame comes from inferiority. I find these
distinctions helpful in thinking about the two concepts.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>If I break God’s law of neighbor-love by shouting angrily at
an innocent person in the company of others, I will feel (I hope) both true
guilt, because I will know I did wrong in the eyes of God, and shame, because I
will be aware that I offended not only God and the one I wrongly accused, but
also because I violated societal expectations and (perhaps most painful of all)
I violated my own ideals and expectations of myself.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Shame may be either beneficial or harmful. Just as guilt
feelings may help us or hurt us, so feelings of shame may benefit us (leading
us to apologize, for example, in front of a group) or damage us (as in the case
of parents shaming their children for spilling their milk or getting their
clothes dirty).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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In the Bible we read about Adam and Eve, who, as created,
“were both naked, and they felt no shame” (Genesis 2:25, NIV 2011). Immediately
after they sinned they obviously felt some kind of shame because they made
clothes for themselves (Genesis 3:7-11). This kind of shame, while not
something God originated at creation is, in itself, not a bad thing. It is
actually good to have an inner sense of modesty and propriety. It is also good
to have a sense of shame over our sins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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If we experience a feeling of shame it is important to
consider whether the shame is due to a violation of God’s will or of social
customs or of our own expectations of ourselves, or all three. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first case we also have (or should
have) feelings of guilt, and thus need to confess our sin to God and ask him to
take away our sin and our shame. In the second case we need to apologize to
others if and when that is necessary and then try to learn from the situation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The third case is often the most difficult to deal with. And
it is here where Satan and his forces may work very hard to destroy us, or at
least ruin our effectiveness as servants of Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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In this case we feel that we have let ourselves down and
failed to live up to our own expectations of ourselves. It is very painful to
admit to ourselves that we are not as good as we thought we were, especially
when others come to know this about us (or we assume they know this about us).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Another huge aspect of this third source of shame is when
there are ongoing—perhaps permanent—negative consequences, particularly in the
lives of others, due to something we may have done. A person who killed a
pedestrian while driving, or a parent who tried to train properly his or her
now-adult child, who now lives a life of crime, is a prime candidate for
Satan’s assaults.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Whether it be guilt feelings or shame feelings that rob us
of joy, peace of mind and the ability to do our daily work well, we need to
know that, if we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we may
experience true and lasting liberation from the heartsick condition and
downward spiral of guilt and shame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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If we have sincerely confessed (literally, “said the same
thing about” as God) all known wrongdoing, from long ago or more recent times,
and have accepted God’s complete forgiveness (1 John 1:5-2:2), then we now
stand before God clothed in clean garments. Any feelings of guilt and shame we
may still experience are from the evil one. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Satan is said to be “the accuser of our brothers and
sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10). In
the book of Zechariah we read of “Joshua the high priest standing before the
angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.” The
very next words, from God himself, are, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan!” And then God
said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments
on you” (3:1-5). We also may say, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan. You are a
defeated foe through the blood of the Lamb!” (Colossians 2:13-15). And then we
can hear and cling to the words of our Lord to us:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“Do not be afraid; you will not be
put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget
the shame of your youth.… In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a
moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says the
LORD your Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:4, 8). <o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-44940254208558936952013-04-01T18:19:00.000-05:002013-04-01T18:19:22.210-05:00
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Guilt, Shame, Regret…and Grace </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Part One<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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Bob Rakestraw</div>
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April 1, 2013<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>“The Benediction
Project”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Not long ago a friend told me that the area of her biggest
spiritual struggles concerns matters of guilt, shame and regret. She has been a
faithful follower of Jesus Christ for many years, knows her Bible well and has
a close daily walk with God. She is not living a defeated life, but the evil
one knows how and when to bring certain issues to her mind in order to rob her
of the joy and peace of the Lord.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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As I thought of her remark I thought of my own struggles in
these matters, and those of others I know or have known. Probably all of us
have dealt with guilt, shame and regret at certain times in our lives, not
necessarily all at the same time but quite possibly so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The more I thought about this realm of the Christian life
the more I realized—from long experience and decades in the scriptures—that
these matters deserve far more attention than they receive in Christian
preaching, writing and conversation. In fact, I recall thinking
previously,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>often, that this cluster of
issues is one of Satan’s most powerful weapons for keeping sincere Christians
from serving Christ more actively in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>their churches, their neighborhoods and even
in their homes. That weapon is the enemy’s constant whispering in our ears such
accusations as: “you are not living as you should in order to serve God in an
active way—you would be a hypocrite; you have sinned so much in the past that
you are not qualified to teach, preach, pray, witness or be in any other way,
in front of others; forget any thoughts of teaching your children about really
knowing and following God by holy living, as you have been such a poor example
to them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I believe that by considering these matters biblically,
though briefly, we may come to live as “more than conquerors through him who
loved us,” for “we are not unaware of [Satan’s] schemes” (Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor.
2:11).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The word “guilt” will be considered first. Here I am going
to do something I have never done before in almost six years of writing these
blog postings: I am going to quote extensively, verbatim, from an expert whose
presentation I could never improve upon. Dr. S. Bruce Narramore is the author
of the article “Guilt” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baker
Encyclopedia of Psychology</i>, edited by David G. Benner, 1985. Here are his
valuable insights.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guilt</i> can be used
either as a judicial term referring to violation of a law or to designate an
emotion that follows judging oneself in violation of a standard. The first
usage refers to an objective state or condition. When individuals break a civil
law, they are objectively guilty whether they feel guilty or not. The second
usage refers to a subjective experience. People may feel guilty even though
they are not legally guilty.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“Objective and subjective guilt can be further divided into
two types. Objective guilt can refer to one’s condition in relation to either a
human law or to God. In reference to God all persons have been judged guilty
(Rom. 3:23 Isa. 53:6) whereas only some people are guilty before human law.
Subjective guilt can be divided into self-condemning emotions called neurotic
guilt (false guilt, punitive guilt, or simply guilt feelings) and love-based
corrective feelings variously called true guilt, ego guilt, existential guilt,
or constructive sorrow. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“Much confusion has been created by the failure to
distinguish among these four types of guilt. Theologians have sometimes been
alarmed by psychologists’ efforts to eliminate neurotic guilt feelings because
they were not aware that psychologists wanted to replace these punitive
feelings with healthy love-based moral motivations. Similarly, some
psychologists have viewed Christianity as a neurotic guilt-inducing religion
because of its stress on humanity’s guilt before God. Not realizing the
difference between objective and subjective guilt, they assumed that the
concept of guilt before God meant that people should experience punitive
feelings of guilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, some
Christians have also failed to differentiate between objective and subjective
guilt and have assumed that since they are objectively guilty before God, they
should experience feelings of guilt.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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************<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guilt in the Bible.</i>
Although the Bible has a great deal to say about humanity’s objective guilt
before God, it has surprisingly little to say about punitive feelings of guilt.
In fact, not one of the three Greek words translated as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">guilt</i> in the New Testament refers to the subjective experience of
guilt feelings. They refer instead to our objective condition of guilt before
God or to being under judgment or indebted to another person. This fact and the
scriptural teaching on the atonement has led some (Bonhoeffer, 1955; Narramore,
1984; Thielicke, 1966) to conclude that guilt feelings are not a divinely
ordained type of motivation. Since Christ has already paid for the believer
sins and made us acceptable to God, there are no grounds for continuing to
punish and reject oneself by feelings of guilt (Rom. 8:1).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
“Since the believer’s sins have been paid for by Christ, any
further self-punishment can actually be seen as a form of self-atonement, which
is ultimately based on a rejection of the efficacy of Christ’s atoning death.
From this perspective guilt feelings are seen as legalistic efforts to satisfy
the demands of conscience apart from Christ. This perspective is supported not
only by biblical teachings on justification and forgiveness but also by John’s
explicit statement that ‘we shall know by this that we are of the truth, and
shall assure our heart before him, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God
is greater than our heart, and knows all things’ (1 John 3:19-20).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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************<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“Whereas punitive guilt feelings are a self-centered form of
punishment designed to atone for one’s failures, constructive sorrow focuses on
the damage done to others and the desire to make things right. Feelings of
guilt are focused more on past failures, whereas constructive sorrow is
oriented toward future changes. And feelings of guilt are based on anger,
whereas constructive sorrow is motivated by love. Paul wrote of this type of
motivation when he spoke of the sorrow that is according to the will of God ‘that
produces repentance without regret in contrast to the sorrow of the world that
produces death’ (2 Cor. 7:8-10).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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************<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“For Christians this constructive sorrow (or true guilt) is
encouraged by God’s loving care and provision. Before Paul wrote of a godly or
constructive sorrow in 2 Corinthians 7:8-10, he reminded the Corinthians of a
number of God’s Old Testament promises (2 Cor. 6:16-18) and then wrote,
‘Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God’ (2 Cor.
7:1). His appeal was not to avoid the pain of guilty condemnation, since that
issue was already settled. Instead it was to respond in love to the work of
God. It is this positive motivation that is the biblical alternative to guilt feelings.”<o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-88108050875546221732013-03-02T16:09:00.000-06:002013-05-16T12:11:13.127-05:00Which Bible Translation?<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Which Bible Translation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 108.75pt center 3.0in; text-align: center;">
Bob Rakestraw</div>
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</div>
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“The Benediction
Project”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Until Jesus returns, Christians will continue to make new
translations, versions, revisions and editions of the Bible. (For the purposes
of this essay I am using these terms more or less interchangeably, even though
they have different meanings in academic studies.) On the one hand this is a
good thing, in that it shows the great interest in and respect for the Bible.
It also may indicate (and I hope it does) that those responsible for these new
versions believe that as language changes and recent archaeological discoveries
cast new light on the ancient biblical manuscripts and languages, we should be
reading, studying and meditating in the most accurate Bible in our language. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
On the other hand, since the Bible is the best-selling book
of all time, many publishers—religious and otherwise—want a piece of the
financial pie regardless of the message of the Bible. There are other motives
as well for producing a new version, not the least of which are ideologies and
agendas (such as how to render faithfully the original languages with respect
to both male and female readers), and commitment to certain translation
principles (such as literal, paraphrase or somewhere in the middle).<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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Every Bible version worthy of its name should have as its
overarching goal the honoring of God. Second to that should be the producing of
a Bible that is as faithful as is humanly possible to the intentions of the
original writers as these may be discerned by careful study today.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Not every Bible version on the bookstore shelves or online
sites needs to be in your personal book collection, no matter how “essential”
or “indispensable” its promoters say it is. Such a requirement would take a
good chunk of our income regularly and probably force us to build or buy more
bookshelves. I’d rather have one or two excellent translations than eight or
ten that are not of the highest quality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Before I go on, however, I want to put your (possibly
troubled) mind at ease. Whichever Bible version you have been using, in
whatever language, as long as it was produced with God-honoring intentions, you
will not be led astray if you are searching sincerely for God’s truth. The Lord
said in the book of Jeremiah, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me
with all your heart” (29:13).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Throughout the millennia, God’s people all over the world
have yearned for the Bible in their own language, since most people on earth do
not know the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek in which the Bible was written. Many
hundreds of translations, therefore, have been made in many (I hope all, very
soon) languages, to meet this longing for God’s word. Some of these
translations were not well done by today’s scholarly criteria. Yet multitudes
have read them and have come to salvation through the Christ presented in their
pages. And they have learned how to live the life of the Spirit as God intends.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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For example, the Bible of the early church for most
Christians was the Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into
Greek that is, except for the Pentateuch, not a high-quality piece of
workmanship. As an illustration, the writings of the prophets are often
rendered in paraphrase (a free-flowing departure from the original in order to
make the meaning more clear, yet which often changes the original intention of
the writer). Yet this was the Bible Jesus used when he referred to the
scriptures in Greek, and this is the main Bible the Spirit of God used to “turn
the world upside down” through his followers!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> A</o:p>nother example is from the time of the Protestant
Reformation in the 16<sup>th</sup> century. The Bible that God used to show
Martin Luther the way to peace of mind and salvation through faith in Christ
alone was an inferior translation known as the Latin Vulgate. And yet the
Reformation—ignited by Luther—was another turning of the world “upside down.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It is far more important to read and meditate in the one
not-so-great Bible translation you may possess, with a heart open to hear and
follow all of God’s truth, than to have a half-dozen excellent translations you
never use or which you use only for intellectual pursuits. Ideally we will have
both: an excellent Bible translation and a heart and mind yearning for God and
his truth.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
To conclude this much-too-brief introductory piece I want to
mention the versions that I recommend and use most. My favorite by far is the
New International Version, copyright 2011. I highly recommend the 2011 edition
because it is a significant improvement over the earlier editions of the NIV.
The same is true for a study Bible: the best is the NIV Study Bible, 2011
edition. I intend, as far as I know now, to use this study Bible as my main
Bible for the rest of my life. I know two of the three editors well, and think
highly of them and the third editor. You will always benefit by consulting this
version, as well as the Study Bible notes (over 20,000 of them), even if you do
not use this version as your preferred one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Two other versions that I recommend are The New Revised
Standard Version (a very accurate, reasonably literal translation) and the New
Living Translation (also accurate and very readable, but using paraphrase
more). If you use the NIV Study Bible (2011) and the NRSV (latest edition) for
studious work, and the NLT (latest edition) for situations when an
easier-to-read translation is preferred, you will likely do well for years to
come. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are many other worthwhile Bible versions and study
Bibles on the market, and I think it is good for you to become familiar with as
many of them as possible. But do not feel compelled to purchase every new,
“must-have,” Bible version that comes on the market. There will probably be a
new “indispensable” version within the next few years! We do not need more
Bible versions, especially in the English speaking world. Revisions, of course,
are beneficial as language changes, but the many millions of dollars spent
every year to produce and advertise new Bible versions in English would be much
better used to support the translation and distribution of God’s word where
little or no Bible exists in the language of the people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
And remember always that our trust in and obedience to the
scriptures is far more important than certain details of translation that do
not affect the overall meaning of a text. May the grace of God be with you!<o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-55967435126580060672013-02-02T19:38:00.003-06:002013-05-16T12:10:26.933-05:00Sex and the Son of God<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 108.75pt center 3.0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sex and the Son of God<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 108.75pt center 3.0in; text-align: center;">
Bob Rakestraw</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
February 2, 2013<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p> </o:p>“The Benediction
Project”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Jesus was fully human. In the remarkable book of Hebrews we
read: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity
…. [and] had to be made like them, fully human in every way …” (2:14, 17; NIV
2011). The wording is very strong and very clear. Not only was Jesus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like</i> human beings, but he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> human. And not only that, he was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fully</i> human. And fully human <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in every way</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Because the truth of these words is unmistakable, and
because sexuality is very much a part of being human, we know that Jesus was a
sexual person. His sexuality was like ours, not only in our physical bodies but
in our souls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The “soulish” aspect of our sexuality is as significant as
the physical if not more so. Our desire for closeness, our awareness of mystery
and excitement, our sensations of bodily needs longing to be fulfilled—all of
these would have been experienced by the holy Son of God. If this were not the
case, Jesus would not have been a true human being.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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And this error was exactly the doctrine taught by one
ascetic sect (the docetic gnostics) in the time of Jesus. Because these false
teachers believed that the human body and everything about it was evil, they
said that the holy Jesus could not have had a human body. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In the thinking of the docetists, Jesus only seemed (the
Greek word is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dokeo</i>, where we get docetic)
to be human. Because this heresy was widespread throughout the Greco-Roman
world, the apostle John, at the very beginning of his first epistle, emphasized
the physical nature of Jesus. “That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands
have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. … We proclaim to you
what we have seen and heard (1 John 1:1, 3).”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Since Jesus was fully human, we know he was tempted. And
since one of the major realms of temptation faced by human beings is that of
sexuality, Jesus would have experienced sexual temptation. In the book of
Hebrews once again we read further revealing words about Jesus: <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Therefore, since we have a great
high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold
firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable
to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in every way just as we are</i>—yet he did
not sin. Let us then [because Jesus experienced these same temptations]
approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This line of reasoning leads us to wonder how exactly Jesus
felt the force of sexual temptation. It is obvious that since Jesus never
sinned in thought, word or action, he never experienced the kinds of
temptations that gather their strength from previously yielding to those kinds
of temptation. In other words, if Jesus had been tempted to steal some delicious
figs, yet rejected that temptation, then the next time the same temptation
came, he did not have the weakened conscience and will of the person who did
steal the figs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
With regard to sexuality the same is true. Jesus never
experienced those kinds of sexual temptations that get special power because
they have been yielded to previously. However, to say that Jesus never sinned
once is not to say that his temptations were not as severe as ours. In fact,
Jesus must have felt the force of temptation (in many areas of life) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more than </i>anyone who ever lived. Those
who have given in previously to a certain temptation (perhaps to lie, to steal,
or to yell angrily while out of control) will probably find it easier to give
in again and again, especially if they have experienced no negative
consequences from their sin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In light of the above, then, Jesus face very strong
temptations. Three of these are recorded in the gospels concerning the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (Luke 4:1-13; 1 John
2:16). He no doubt faced these same kinds of temptations—and many others—all
through his life, because we are told that just after the three temptations,
“When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune
time” (Luke 4:13).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We cannot know precisely how Jesus experienced and resisted
sexual temptation. As a devout Jewish rabbi he knew his Hebrew Bible well,
including the extremely helpful instructions in Proverbs, chapters 5 to 7.
Perhaps he had memorized Proverbs 6:25: “Do not lust in your heart after her
beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes” (see the similar words of Jesus
in Matthew 5:28).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We can be very grateful that the Holy Spirit of God inspired
the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews to inform us that “we have one [a high
priest] who has been tempted in every way just as we are—yet he did not sin.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The immediately preceding and following words of the above
text let us know why these matters are in the Bible:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to empathize with our weaknesses. … Let us then approach God’s throne of
grace with confidence [no matter what kind of temptation, nor how severe it is,
nor how often we have yielded to it], so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>May our merciful and gracious Lord guide you and guard you
always!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
</div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-7372303905985436202013-01-02T15:03:00.000-06:002013-01-02T15:03:21.406-06:00Ants
<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Ants<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 108.75pt center 3.0in; text-align: center;">
Bob Rakestraw</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
January 2, 2013<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p> </o:p>“The Benediction
Project”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p></o:p>There is an image I have had in my mind for many years, and
I am glad for it. I picked up the idea somewhere along the journey of life, and
it helps me greatly to see the big picture—the overall purpose of life on
earth. I share it here because you, like me, may find it a powerful image to
guide your days here on this planet, and to help you help someone else grasp
the big picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Imagine that you are sitting outside on a rock, a hill or a
chair, and you look down and notice a column of ants marching in single file,
each carrying something to a hole in the ground where they disappear. Coming
out of the same hole is another column of ants marching alongside of the first,
but heading in the opposite direction, probably to the same food source. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The ants seem to be doing their work well, as their ancestors
have been doing since the beginning of ant-life on earth. They eat, work,
reproduce, sleep and occasionally repair or move their nest. Then they die. The
seemingly-forever nature of this cycle of ant-life is, above all, to ensure the
perpetuation of the species. The ants, of course, are not aware of this cycle
of life; the instinct to carry on as the do is programmed in them from before
birth. They never stand back and consider the big picture of their lives; they
just do as their ancestors have done for ages. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
These columns of ants remind me of the many people on earth
who simply move through life from birth to death without stopping to give
serious thought to why they are doing what they are doing—the overall purpose
of their lives. They simply follow the line of ants in front of them, doing
what the other ants are doing. And then they die.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are many others, of course, who have considered such
matters. They may have even accepted some big ideas about God and life after
death. They now, however, either dismiss such notions as false or live as
though their religious beliefs have little or nothing to do with their daily
living.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are still others who have thought—or been told—about
the ultimate questions and have adopted or been indoctrinated into a set of
religious ideas and practices that govern their lives in major ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of this group, some are living (often
sincerely) according to unbiblical religious systems while others are living,
or trying to live, according to the One who said, “I am the Way, the Truth and
the Life.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
All of these groups and categories need the grace of God
through Christ and the Spirit. I am thinking, however, especially of those who
know and accept something of the life and teachings of Jesus and his early
followers. They may think of themselves as Christians, or even as faithful
disciples of the Lord Jesus, and maybe they are. There are, praise God, many
such in this world. They know that they, and all people, have been created in
the image and likeness of God to be his representatives on earth, to reveal his
mind and will to those living in ignorance of the truth. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Yet there are also many who call themselves Christians but
live like ants. Of course, as humans, they have self-awareness, the ability to
reason and the power of the will. These capacities obviously set them far above
all animals. But as I observe them living they seem much the same as ants. They
are not all marching in a fixed line, true, but their pattern of life appears
to follow the customs, ideas and values of those around them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
They are heavily influenced by contemporary culture and
majority opinions, and, except perhaps for attending church, they are driven by
an established blend of worldly, materialistic goals and practices which they
gradually have absorbed from others.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I am not making up this scenario. I wish I were. I have seen
it. Children who grow up under the care of such ant-Christians often turn out
to be the same as their parents or guardians. Fortunately and surprisingly,
other such children recognize the shallowness and emptiness of the ant-life,
and by God’s grace early in life, grow toward the way of the cross. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
These may even notice their parents beginning to live lives
that are less and less self-centered and more and more God-centered. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such youth may not even realize that they are
being used by the Lord to show their earth-focused parents a heavenly view of
the big picture, just as God in the heavens may show his angels a view of all
living things on earth, including human beings and ants.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
The ants and the other creatures are doing what they are
meant to do, but we human beings often are not. In this new year, on this
pilgrimage called life, let us resolve to regularly lift our heads from their
horizontal orientation and look up as well as out. Let us be willing to
challenge the status quo, step out of the ant column, and move with the
assurance and joy that God gives to those who think and live in harmony with
the big picture designed by God almighty for those made in his image and likeness.
<o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-90064620769163035532012-12-01T19:41:00.006-06:002012-12-01T19:41:55.253-06:00God-talk
<br />
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</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 108.75pt center 3.0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
Bob Rakestraw</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
December 1, 2012</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
“The Benediction
Project”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
A couple of years ago I read a piece from a churchgoing man
that went something like the following (I can’t remember the actual words). “I
find that one topic people in church rarely want to talk about is God! Why
should it be so difficult—in church of all places—to find someone wanting to
discuss things of God?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
This man was not saying that God was not mentioned in the
church services, but that in the “free time” before and after services, or
between scheduled activities such as a class and a worship service, or even in
the midst of social “fellowship” times, people seem eager to talk about many
things (such as their childrens’ school activities, their jobs or their
friend’s recent diagnosis of cancer) but not about God—at least not in a
personal way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I had often noticed this pattern over the years but had
never come across anyone who actually wrote or spoke about it. I myself have
come to accept and participate in this type of conversation with people at
church, and have often found it enjoyable and even beneficial. There is nothing
at all wrong with such talk unless we knowingly quench the Spirit of God within—when
the Spirit is prompting us to bring up a different line of thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I am not suggesting that, in the hallways, aisles, and
foyers of our local churches we should be continually asking people such
questions as: “How is your relationship with God these days?” or “What has
impressed you lately in your Bible reading?” I would absolutely love to be
asked such questions but I realize many people would be surprised or (in a few
cases perhaps) even offended. I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">am</i>
suggesting, however, that we should be sensitive to the spiritual atmosphere if
and when we become aware that our conversation partner might benefit from a
word of encouragement or blessing (benediction) from us—not spoken in a
paternalistic manner but in a genuinely caring way, from one weary pilgrim to
another on the dusty road to the heavenly city.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Sometimes it is easy to bring up spiritual issues,
especially when someone <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not in a hurry</i>
asks “How are you?” or “How are you doing?” Most of the time with me in recent
years the person is asking about my health, since I have had—both before and
after my heart transplant in 2003—serious medical problems. But, whether or not
someone is asking about your health, you may wish to answer (and perhaps
should, if it is true) with something like: “I have been spiritually dry
lately, and I would really appreciate your prayers for revival in my heart.”
The person might be quite surprised by your reply (since the expected answer,
at least here in the United States, is “fine” or something like that), but they
will usually be very glad to say that they will pray, and feel very honored
that you asked them. All true Christians want to help others if they are able,
if they have the time and if they are asked personally. It really is more
blessed to give than to receive, as Jesus taught. Many of God’s choice servants
know this “secret” of happiness!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In the situation just mentioned, however, the person might
answer, “I am also spiritually dry, so I don’t know if my prayers will get
through.” In this case you could agree to pray for each other, and perhaps do
so right there, in the hallway, at the front of the church or wherever else you
may be: two thirsty souls crying out for the water of life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
There are several reasons I am writing on this topic. One is
that I long to grow in my Christian life and know many others do also. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another is that I regularly need godly
encouragement and know many others do as well. If someone is bold enough to
bring up sensitive matters (their own or others) and/or introduce into the
conversation specific scripture texts or other direct “God-talk,” the invisible
barrier that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sometimes keeps even
sincere Christians from discussing matters of the heart and soul suddenly falls
away, and the Spirit (the one Jesus spoke of as the Comforter and Counselor)
moves in and does some wonderful work. I have been fortunate for over twenty
years to belong to a solid and loving church where this kind of mutual ministry
often takes place.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In addition to our own needs and the needs of others, we
should be eager to speak of God’s activity in our lives because it is biblical.
There are numerous scripture texts that advocate this highly beneficial practice,
and I will close with four of them. A most blessed and fruitful Advent,
Christmas and New Year to each of you!<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing”
(1 Thessalonians 5:11).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let us not give up meeting together, as some
are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as
you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of
your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their
needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit
of God. …” (Ephesians 4:29-30).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Then those who feared the LORD talked with
each other, and the LORD listened and heard” (Malachi 3:16).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-57431798473905026842012-11-02T14:40:00.000-05:002012-11-02T14:40:16.427-05:00A Thanksgiving Story<br />
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Bob Rakestraw</div>
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“The Benediction
Project”</div>
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<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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When I started “The Benediction Project” in the spring of
2007, I had two purposes in mind. First, the blog would serve to inform people
of my health condition, because so many were asking how I was doing since my
heart transplant of November, 2003. Many were praying for me and wanted
updates. And I very much needed their prayers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Second, I desired to write materials that would be
encouraging, concerning matters that I thought (and hoped and prayed) would
bless and strengthen readers all over the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I decided to call this new endeavor “The Benediction
Project,” I realized that the underlying <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>project would have to be me—a project under
construction, a work in progress. The focus would be, however, on the
magnificent and compassionate Trinitarian God I love and serve: Father, Son and
Spirit. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I was well aware that if the blog was ever to be a blessing
to others I myself would need to ask God continually to make me into a living
benediction. I wanted to be, as I responded in faith and obedience to God’s
ongoing construction work, a benediction project in the flesh, while the blog,
flowing from God through me, would be a benediction project in writing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The decision to start a blog was not a casual one. I felt an
urgency because I had just been told by two doctors that I probably had no more
than six months to live. Since my immune system had been fighting so hard to
reject this foreign object (my new heart) I now had a condition known as
chronic (permanent) transplant vasculopathy. The 18 or so arteries that
surround my heart and bring oxygenated blood to the heart tissue (it needs
fresh blood too) were being silently and steadily squeezed shut by the disease.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This, of course, would block all blood—and therefore all
oxygen—flowing to my heart. I would then have either one big heart attack or
several smaller ones, or both, and my heart and I would then die. There was
(and is) no medical means to overcome this disease other than a second heart
transplant, which I declined.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was now in hospice care, but able to live at home. My new
sense of urgency to serve God arose out of the probable shortness of time I had
to live and out of my personal desire and need to keep busy with some
worthwhile project that would be an outlet for loving God and loving neighbor. As
it turned out God gave me two projects and two valuable assistants—one for each
project—to help Judy and me in these new tasks. Within a few weeks of being
placed in hospice care both projects were up and running.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Abigail Miller (now Sengendo) encouraged me to start a blog
and offered to set it up and manage it. Thus began “The Benediction Project,”
now completing five-and-a-half years.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Jane Spriggs then encouraged me to write the book on prayer
I had been considering but knew that I could not do without additional help.
Jane offered to provide the editorial assistance and by the end of 2007 we had
nearly completed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Praying by the Spirit</i>.
The book was published in 2008 by Christian Growth Ministries in the
Philippines. Jane and some very loyal friends revised it slightly and
re-formatted it and in 2010 we self-published it in the United States as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heart Cries</i>. This is the book whose
cover appears at the top of this blog.<o:p></o:p></div>
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God has been pleased to bless others through both editions
of the book as well as “The Benediction Project.” Judy and I are very grateful
to God, and to Abigail, Jane and numerous others who have been, and continue to
be, valuable co-workers and supporters in my modest writing ministry. I
literally could not have this ministry without their encouragement, knowledge,
skills and desire to join me in advancing the reign of Jesus Christ over the
earth. Every day I struggle with health issues and the burden of life, and I so
greatly value the assistance of friends.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If the original supposition of the doctors had become
reality I would have gone home around the end of September, 2007. The doctors,
however, released me from hospice that November—five years ago—and this month I
celebrate my ninth transplant anniversary. I attribute my ongoing earthly life
to God’s sovereign power and wisdom, Judy’s consistently helpful and
understanding character, the prayers of very many (including some of you), the
knowledge and skills of several excellent doctors, the medications and
nutritional supplements I take, the personal encouragement and faithful labor
of family and friends, and the sense of purpose God gives me in writing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am now writing my life story—a spiritual autobiography
tentatively titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grace Quest: A
Theologian’s Search for Salvation, Spirituality and the Strength to Suffer Well</i>.
Since last year about this time I have been ably assisted in this new project
by Kim Olstad and her daughter Jessie. I thank God very much for their
encouragement and abilities. The book is approximately half finished and our
tentative target date for completion is November, 2013. I have no idea whether
I will live to finish the book, but I believe God wants me to continue working
on it. I am also planning other projects for the years ahead, as God gives me
the strength and the will.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you for reading this piece of my personal history.
Somehow, somewhere, for some of you this brief essay will, I trust, be a
benediction—a blessing that will encourage you to move forward toward the
celestial city John Bunyan wrote about in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pilgrim’s
Progress</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Review some part of your personal history to create your own
thanksgiving story. At some point in the future—perhaps soon—you may have the
opportunity to bless someone with your account. You may not only encourage
others, but also encourage yourself. Rich blessings always to you from the One
through whom all blessings flow. <o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-76380018775261046822012-11-02T14:39:00.002-05:002012-11-04T10:54:37.280-06:00Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-67667612601964193032012-10-09T10:09:00.001-05:002012-10-09T10:09:56.904-05:00Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-53304461587857827762012-10-01T18:45:00.001-05:002012-10-01T18:45:31.579-05:00Alone - Part Two
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Alone – Part Two<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Bob Rakestraw<o:p></o:p></div>
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October 1, 2012<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>“The Benediction
Project”</div>
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<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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This is the second half of my previous piece on being alone.
Part One was posted on September 5, 2012. In the first part I considered the
fact that, even though we very much need people in our lives to live well, each
of us must learn to walk through life alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This then, still leaves us with the question of what it
means to walk alone in this world. To me, it means that when the realities of
life face me I need to know what it is, within my own mind and spirit, to
consciously, obediently and confidently trust in the perfect power, love,
compassion and wisdom of our merciful Lord. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It means that when you lie on your sick bed, pray for your
lost child or friend, ask God for wisdom to make the coming difficult decision,
seek to recover from the painful news you just received, or face a future that
looks to your natural self as only bleak, bleaker and bleakest, you are in
harmony with your indwelling Counselor, resting quietly in his very personal
concern to do or allow only those things that are for your eternal benefit. It
also means that, with the confidence described above, you go about your
responsibilities, one at a time, doing what you are able to do each day and
leaving the rest in God’s hands.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The lines above present a glowing picture of the soul at
rest in God. I believe earnestly that such a life is both desirable and
attainable for every child of God. I believe just as earnestly, by experience
(mine, that of others I’ve known, and that of biblical characters and other
historical figures), that such godly composure and trust is not easily
attained. In fact, it is impossible to live this way by our own strength and
will power.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Furthermore, no one else on earth can give you the necessary
moral courage you will need, no matter how much others pray for you, read
scripture to you, hold you, play music for you, or assist you in essential
ways. All of these helps are important—very much so—yet no one but God himself
can infuse into your total being the assurance that he does all things well for
you, and always will, even as you walk confidently over the hills and through
the valleys of life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why is it, then, that some of God’s children face their
aloneness with a deep trust in God (although they may experience great
suffering and tears), while others literally worry themselves sick. The latter
may wave their arms and yell in panic or anger, searching for someone to blame
or demanding that someone solve the problem for them. Why the difference? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Perhaps my brief account will be helpful. In my mid-fifties
I was struggling with both serious heart difficulties and personal career
concerns. In the midst of these trials it came to me: “I am alone; no one can
solve these problems for me; no one can fully understand me nor really feel my
pain.” I had to face the realities, try to understand the factors involved,
accept my situation, and turn my concerns over to God every day, sometimes many
times a day. I had plenty of friends, and had never (in my memory) felt lonely,
but this sense of aloneness (which is, of course, different from loneliness)
added a major new dimension to my life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to putting one foot in front of the other and
doing my daily work as best I could, I tried to keep in mind three of my
favorite scripture passages. If I was able to (sometimes I was not) I called
these to mind deliberately and recited them to myself, with an attitude of trust,
hope, and obedience to what God was saying to my heart through these remarkable
words.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One text is from the prophet Isaiah: “You will keep in
perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you”
(26:3). <o:p></o:p></div>
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The second is in Philippians, where the apostle Paul wrote
from prison: “I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me” (4:3).
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
The third portion states that God “will not let you be
tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested he will also provide a
way out so that you can stand up under it” (I Corinthians 10:13).<o:p></o:p><br />
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I trust that, for all of us, the stark truth of our human
aloneness in this world will lead us to a quiet confidence and peace as we live
our lives in this world, resting in the very being of God and supported by the
presence of even one or two fellow pilgrims, because Jesus said he will be
there—in our very midst (Matthew 18:20).<o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-73807417844954323802012-09-05T20:51:00.000-05:002012-09-05T20:51:51.158-05:00Alone – Part One
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Alone – Part One<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Bob Rakestraw</div>
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September 5, 2012<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The Benediction
Project”</div>
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<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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I am a strong believer in people being with people and
people helping people. To live in this world we need one another almost as much
as we need food and water. We especially need groups, whether they be local
church congregations, study groups, book clubs, or support groups for those
grieving, for addicts or for new parents. Groups of seven or under where the
common desire is to know and follow God totally, are particularly beneficial to
the participants. Even two or three people can constitute a strong life-giving
support group.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I do not like to think of where I would be today if it were
not for the many small groups, especially prayer groups, of which I have been a
part during the nearly half-century of my Christian life. The picture would not
be pretty. I am fairly sure that, without these groups in my life, if I still
called myself a Christian, I would be a self-centered, prideful, opinionated,
self-deceived, lonely and critical person, looking down on most people (and
churches) and having little or no compassion toward the poor, the sick, the
blind, the deaf, the lame, the mentally ill, the immigrant, the hungry, the
jobless, the abused, and those who do not know Jesus Christ. I might have a
strong interest in the Bible and certain theological issues and beliefs, but I
would likely avoid (or be so blind as not to notice) the great amount of
scripture that points Christ’s followers toward a holistic love of God and
neighbor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>It is an ugly and sad picture I just painted, and I give
high praise to God that it is only hypothetical. The truth the picture brings
out is that any of us who attempts to go through life on our own will wander
through the dark streets and fields of a very bleak and lonely world, without
light, without joy, without fulfillment, and being of no lasting benefit to
anyone. People need the Lord, and people need people.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Having said all this, however, I firmly believe that each of
us must learn to walk through life alone. Christian or non-Christian, strong
believer or merely religious, everyone must journey alone on this path called
life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This sounds, I realize, like the complete opposite of what I
just wrote about people needing people. But as I have lived my life I have
learned that these are not polar opposites but complementary facets of one’s
existence. Each is a vital truth that must be faced, understood accepted and
embraced. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The apostle Paul brings these two aspects of life together
nicely in his letter to the Galatians, chapter six. In the King James Version
we first read, “bear ye one another’s burdens” (v. 2), but three verses later, “every
man shall bear his own burden” (v. 5). At first reading it appears that Paul is
contradicting himself, but this learned rabbi, a specialist in both the Hebrew
and Greek languages, would surely not contradict himself in such a brief,
tightly argued section of his letter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is helpful to know that Paul is not using the same Greek
word for “burden” in these two verses, although their meanings are similar and
overlapping. The word in verse two (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">baros</i>),
is used of “the burden and heat of the day” (Matthew 20:12) and other figurative
kinds of the pressures of life. It refers to a heavy and oppressive weight, and
here in Galatians it is referring to the weight of temptation and spiritual
failure. Paul exhorts the spiritual believer in the community to restore gently
those struggling with these issues. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The word in verse 5 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">phortion</i>)
has a similar but not identical sense. While it is used to speak of “burdens grievous
to be borne” (Luke 11:46) and the crushing weight imposed by the legalistic
teachers and Pharisees (Matthew 23:4), it also has the sense of a lighter load,
like a shoulder-pack, as a porter, peddler or marching soldier might carry. It
is this word Jesus used when he said, “my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Even
though we all must carry our own backpack, Jesus says it is light. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Jesus says “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> burden is light” he is teaching that even though <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> must carry it, if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he</i> packs our load and places it on our
backs it will be light.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the context of Galatians 6, then, Paul instructs us to
bear one another’s burdens when their spiritual weaknesses are evident, but to
be very careful not to consider ourselves superior to the fallen. We are to
concentrate on our own lives and work, and in this sense we must carry our load
alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I remember when, well into mid-life, the truth of my
aloneness struck me. As far as I can recall it did not come from something I
heard, some article I read or something from any human source, although I had
thought about Galatians 6:5 many times over the years. At first this reality
stunned me, saddened me and even frightened me. Even though I had a wonderful
wife, two delightful daughters and their families, and great friends, there was
not a single person on earth who could fully understand me nor resolve my
deepest issues and concerns. These constituted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> burden, even though the burden was given to me by Jesus. There
was no one who could really meet my needs. Yet it is no exaggeration to say
that this truth is one of the most valuable insights I have ever received from
the Lord about living life successfully.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Before I go on I need to say that I am speaking of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">human</i> relationships, not our intimate
journey with God who is our constant companion, guide, comforter and sovereign
Lord. In this latter sense God’s people are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">never</i>
alone. Concerning his obedient followers Jesus spoke some amazing words:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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If you love me, you will obey what
I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor
[or Comforter] to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. … Because I live,
you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and
you are in me, and I am in you (John 14:15-20, NIV; see also I John 4:12-16).<o:p></o:p></div>
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God willing, I will complete this essay in my next posting.<o:p></o:p></div>
Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-37956255016997613032012-08-01T14:11:00.000-05:002012-08-01T14:12:02.991-05:00As Close As It Gets<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">As Close As It Gets </span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Books </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That Have Shaped Me – Part Thirteen</span></h4>
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Bob Rakestraw</div>
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August 1, 2012<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“The Benediction
Project”</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rose from
Briar</i></b>, by Amy Carmichael (Christian Literature Crusade, 1973), 200 pp.
First Published 1933.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>This posting brings to a close the series I have been
writing on the 15 books that have most shaped me, primarily in my personal life
but also in my professional life. These two spheres of life are so overlapping
and entwined that I am not able to separate them very well. I trust that this
series, which began with the June 30, 2011 blog posting, has been of benefit to
you in your life and service for God. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
The final book in the series is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rose from Briar</i> by Amy Carmichael. The title may sound familiar to
you because in the five years I have been writing this blog I have considered
Carmichael’s remarkable little book twice before (April 30, 2010 and February
26, 2011). <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote in my posting
of April 30, 2010, that this has to be one of the top five books in my entire
life, from the standpoint of helping me live well. It was written over 75 years
ago, but I read it only within the past several years while I was experiencing
an extended, intense period of suffering. It is not an easy work to read, not
only because of the tight, sometimes turgid English (British) but because of
the depth—true profundity—of the author’s understanding of suffering. If I had
read this book in my earlier or middle years, even though I have suffered
frequent piercing headache pain all through those years, I suspect I would not
have benefited from it very much. But with the chronic health trials since my
heart transplant in 2003, and with the growing realization that I was getting
steadily worse, not better, I developed a much deeper need and longing to be
understood and guided by one who had traveled this way before me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Amy Carmichael lived from 1867 to 1951, most of her adult
life (55 years) as a missionary to the Donhavur region of South India.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1901 she began a home for little girls who
were taken and trained as dancing-girls for the Hindu temples, which meant a
life of evil for them. Boys were also rescued from moral danger and taken into
the home. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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In 1931 Amy Carmichael had a serious fall and ended up as an
invalid for the last 20 years of her life. She came to know God intimately
through her sufferings, and she expresses the most helpful thoughts about
physical, emotional and spiritual suffering I have ever read. Ruth Bell Graham,
deceased wife of the famous evangelist Billy Graham, said, “By far the best I
have found” on the subject of living with serious illness. Many books and
tracts written to the ill are written by the well. This work is written to the
ill by one who understands by personal experience the depths of illness. I keep
this book close by my bedside.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The most powerful impact <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rose
from Briar</i> has had on me (and thus has shaped me) is twofold. First, the
author’s descriptions and analyses of her sufferings, both physical and
(especially) mental-spiritual, are closer to those concerning my own sufferings
of recent years than anything I have ever read. This is the basis for the title
of this posting. I knew (and know) that someone actually understood the way I
feel, and, to a person living with a serious chronic illness, this (other than
immediate relief for excruciating pain) is the sufferer’s greatest need. At
least in my case it has been, and continues to be. I deeply long to be
understood, even though I know that no one but God can fully understand me.
Carmichael “gets it,” however, and I am held captive by every page of her book.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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The second way this work has impacted me flows directly from
the first. Not only does the author describe and analyze her suffering (and
mine) with greater depth than I have ever seen, but she offers—gently and by
way of her own experiences—the most helpful thoughts about how to live with
one’s sufferings. And not only live, but live triumphantly. I have no doubt
that I will read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rose from Briar </i>for
the rest of my life, over and over as long as God allows me to read. I will do
as I have been doing, reading one page or one brief chapter at a time,
regularly but not necessarily every day, until I come to the end of the book,
at which point I will start over. And so on, and so on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I will close with one of many selections from the book that
has strengthened me greatly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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“Those who have had that peculiarly piercing pain which is
as though a nail were driven through the palm know how close it can draw the
heart into a tender fellowship with Him whose two hands were pierced, not ‘as
though,’ but in awful fact, by very nails of iron. There is a kind of solemn
joy in coming in the flesh anywhere near the suffering flesh of our Lord. As a
child I remember the thought of His Divinity so far overwhelmed the thought of
His humanity that it was impossible to realize that He suffered being tempted.
… The holy, pure and beautiful spirit of our Saviour suffered so much more than
we can understand that words fall off, afraid to touch so profound a mystery;
but there was also the sensitive flesh born of a woman. There cannot be a pang
in our flesh that was not, and sharper far, in that sacred Body on the Tree.
And so in a new way, as we newly understand even only a little more of what He
bore for us, we draw near to Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
“Sometimes in Donhavur we, who dearly love the little children
about us (and the older ones too), have looked up from some engrossing work to
see a child beside us, waiting quietly. And when, with a welcoming hand held
out, to the Tamil ‘I have come,’ we have asked ‘For what?’ thinking, perhaps,
of something to be confessed, or wanted, the answer has come back, ‘Just to
love you.’ So do we come, Lord Jesus; we have no service to offer now; we do
not come to ask for anything, not even for guidance. We come just to love You”
(pp. 118-119).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-18851009381476784732012-07-31T17:44:00.001-05:002012-07-31T17:44:49.406-05:00Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-26903392005904857412012-07-02T19:09:00.004-05:002012-07-02T19:09:54.588-05:00Just War, Pacifism and Nonviolent Resistance<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 108.75pt center 3.0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Books That Have Shaped Me – Part Twelve<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
Bob Rakestraw</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
July 2, 2012<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p> </o:p>“The Benediction
Project”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
14.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nuclear
Holocaust and Christian Hope: A Book for Christian Peacemakers</i>, </b>Ronald
J. Sider and Richard K. Taylor, InterVarsity, 1982, 369 pp., paper.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<br />
During the fall of 1982 I was serving as a T.A. (teaching
assistant) for the dean of Drew Theological Seminary, Dr. Thomas Ogletree. I
was a doctoral student in the graduate school of Drew University in Madison,
New Jersey, and I appreciated the opportunity to work with this highly regarded
Christian ethicist.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Part of my service as one of the dean’s two T.A.’s during
that fall semester was to attend his lectures on Christian Ethics and then meet
with the seminary students (half of the class of 50 or so) twice a week to lead
them in discussion and cooperative work on a project concerning disarmament.
This was during the “cold war,”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the
politics of deterrence, arms control and disarmament (especially nuclear
disarmament) was all the rage—among the intellectuals at least. With these
issues in mind I bought a copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nuclear
Holocaust and Christian Hope</i> for my personal study.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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There are 4 sections in the book.
First: “The Threat of Nuclear War.” Second: “Biblical-Theological Perspectives.”
Third: “What to Do: Concrete Steps Toward Peace.” Fourth: “Biblical Faith and
National Defense.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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While I had some familiarity with
issues of war and peace from a Christian perspective, I accepted the “just war”
tradition because I grew up with it and never considered any other approach to
war. This view holds that war, while always tragic, is justifiable and even
necessary when an enemy nation sets out to harm and/or conquer our nation or
some other nation/nations our country decides to protect. Our military,
however, should follow certain criteria concerning when to go to war, as well
as how to conduct the war once it has begun. In both respects the war must be
“just.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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One very prominent advocate of
the just war position is Arthur F. Holmes. He writes, “War is evil. … To call
war anything less than evil would be self-deception. … [However], could
participation in war perhaps be a lesser evil than allowing aggression and
terror to go unchecked and unpunished?” Holmes continues, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not all evil can be avoided”</i> (italics his). “We are trapped in
moral dilemmas…such that whatever we do involves us in evil of some sort.” The
early church father Augustine “advises the Christian who goes to war to repent
in advance, because the ambiguities of the situation confuse moral issues and
because passions confuse the moral intention.” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">War: Four Christian Views</i>, edited by Robert G. Clouse, 1981, pp.
117-118, 128.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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In opposition to the just war
position, Sider and Taylor advocate a pacifist view. This is not the only
pacifist position, however. The highly esteemed Mennonite scholar John Howard
Yoder presents 29 (that’s right) varieties of religious pacifism in his book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nevertheless</i> (1992). The just war
approach, while not monolithic, is a much more unified position than pacifism. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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For the purposes of this brief
article we may define Christian pacifism as the view that it is always morally
wrong for a follower of Christ to participate in war in any way. Such Bible
believing pacifists do not deny the ugly realities of evil (including the
cruelty of violent and sadistic rulers), but they believe they are morally
bound to follow the nonviolent life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Actually,
Christ’s life is every bit as important for Christian pacifists as are his
teachings (see 1 Peter 2:21-23).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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Some pacifists call their
position “nonviolent resistance,” meaning that they seek to actively resist
evil in this world, but without the use of violence. They are not afraid to
fight for truth and righteousness. In fact, they consider themselves obligated
to do so. But, even if they and other innocent people will be killed, they—like
the thousands of early Christian martyrs—will fight not by the sword but by prayer,
praise, trust in the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and not
loving their lives so much as to shrink from death”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Revelation 12:11). In addition, those who
hold to nonviolent resistance often participate in large demonstrations,
strikes and boycotts that sometimes, largely or totally without weapons, lead
to the downfall of entire corrupt regimes. The fall of communism in the Soviet
Union and Eastern Europe is the most striking example in my lifetime, and there
are numerous other accounts of similar nonviolent triumphs in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Non Violence: The Invincible Weapon?</i> by
Sider, 1989. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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There are many arguments against
Christian pacifism, two of the most common being that God used warfare in the
Old Testament and Jesus used a whip to cleanse the temple. Sider and Taylor
address these and other objections, especially in section two.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 392.25pt;">
I had never read anything like
the material in this book. I had never considered other perspectives than my
own. But this book profoundly shaped my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">life</i>
(not only my intellectual arguments) and my whole attitude about how, in my
view, Christ desires to advance his kingdom of peace and righteousness in this
world today. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 392.25pt;">
I realize that this is an
extremely sensitive topic and book. My purpose here is not to push a certain
view but to show briefly how the arguments (and facts) affected me. I would
like, however, all Bible-believing Christians, the great majority of whom (I
assume) probably accept the prevailing just war view, to read, think and pray
about the serious biblical and historical case for nonviolence made by devout
people of God over the centuries. Thousands of early Christians martyrs
understood clearly why they held firmly to their views, and knew very well
where their convictions might lead. It would be good for all of us and our
children to understand the minds and hearts of these early nonviolent
believers. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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I have chosen the way of the
cross which, in my (admittedly fallible) view, includes a life of nonviolence.
Many other servants of Christ have chosen the way of the cross also, and to
them this may mean serving actively in the military and following orders to
participate in warfare as their leaders direct. In either case, neither should
in any way look down upon their brothers and sisters in Christ for their
choice, or consider themselves more “spiritual” than those with whom they
disagree. The arguments pro and con are far more complex than most Christians
realize, and total objectivity on the part of either side is simply not
possible in this fallen world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 392.25pt;">
Let us love our God completely,
love our neighbors as ourselves, and love our enemies sincerely no matter how
we think on these issues. And may each of us, whatever our views at present, be
open to further illumination from the Spirit. We may change from one view to
another, stay the same, or simply declare, “I don’t know.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 392.25pt;">
God, however, does know. He knows
our hearts and understands us better than we know ourselves (1 John 3:18-24). <o:p></o:p></div>Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-70200861098029272402012-06-09T20:00:00.001-05:002012-06-09T20:00:13.725-05:00Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-71441890757891260122012-06-02T10:22:00.001-05:002012-06-02T10:22:01.143-05:00The Second Greatest Truth (Part 2 of 2)<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Books That Have Shaped Me – Part Eleven</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
Robert V. Rakestraw<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
June 2, 2012<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
“The Benediction
Project” </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
13b. <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Works of John Wesley</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,
edited by Thomas Jackson, 14 vols. 3<sup>rd</sup> ed. (Reprint of 1829-31
edition), Baker, 1979. [All of Wesley’s writings, esp. “The Scripture Way of
Salvation” in vol. 6, pp. 43-54.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
This posting is the second of a
two-part discussion on “The Second Greatest Truth.” If you read the preceding
posting (part one), this piece will be more clear and helpful.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
In part one I began to write
about the issue of sin in my life after I experienced the new birth at the age
of 19. Before that life-changing conversion I thought of sin only as something
that would send me to hell. Since I became a child of God through faith in
Jesus Christ, I thought quite differently. While I still saw sin, and sins, as
leading to eternal separation from God if not forgiven, I came to see it not
only as a damning power but also as something that grieved and dishonored God,
hurt other people, broke my communion with God and hindered my spiritual growth
and usefulness in this world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
As a new believer and follower of
Jesus, I didn’t want sin in my life and I desired to live consistently above
it. In part one I related my frustration as I tried to find some truth or “key”
that would unlock the (to me) tightly barred gate to God’s victory garden.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
A major breakthrough for me came
when I was reading one of John Wesley’s sermons, “The Scripture Way of
Salvation.” For the previous year or so I had been reading Wesley’s numerous
writings: his letters, journals, essays, sermons and edited works by others
that he highly valued. I had come to appreciate Wesley greatly, and now I was
reading some of his sermons for a course on Wesley I was taking from Dr. Thomas
Oden at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, where I was a doctoral student.
(I later did my Ph.D. dissertation on Wesley.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
Concerning “The Scripture Way of
Salvation,” Albert Outler, one of the premier Wesley scholars of the last
century, said, “If the Wesleyan Theology had to be judged by a single essay,
this one would do as well as any and better than most” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John Wesley</i>, ed. Albert C. Outler, Oxford University Press, 1964,
p. 271).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
Wesley’s sermon is based—very
appropriately—on “You are saved through faith.” By the words “saved” and
“salvation” he includes not only our initial coming to Christ for forgiveness
and pardon (justification) but also our being set apart to be conformed to the
image of Christ (sanctification). Both are accomplished by God’s free grace (his
favor and power) as we receive them by faith (God’s work of opening our eyes
and enlightening us to the truth, and giving us the trust, belief, conviction
and assurance that he will do what he has promised in his word as we call upon
him like little children).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
John Wesley thought much and
wrote much about the issue of sin in those who are justified. Even though new
followers of Christ are regenerated and inwardly renewed by the power of God,
they come, before long, to realize that not all sin is gone from their lives.
They now feel two principles in themselves, plainly contrary to each other:
“the flesh lusting against the Spirit”—nature <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>opposing the grace of God. If they are true
Christians, however, they seek to overcome sin in their lives by worshipping
God in spirit and in truth, taking up their cross daily, and denying themselves
every pleasure that does not lead them to God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
Wesley’s following remarks are
pivotal. “It is thus that we wait for entire sanctification; for a full
salvation from all our sins—from pride, self-will, anger, unbelief; or, as the Apostle
expresses it, ‘go on to perfection’. But what is perfection? The word has
various senses: Here it means perfect love. It is love excluding sin; love
filling the heart, taking up the whole capacity of the soul. It is love
‘rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, in everything giving thanks’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
John Wesley never used the term
“sinless perfection.” He did use “Christian perfection” at times, but even more
used such terms as full salvation, circumcision of the heart, entire
sanctification and—his favorite—perfect love. While God’s people wait for full
salvation by serving him with works of piety and works of mercy, they also need
to receive from him “a conviction of our helplessness, of our utter inability
to think one good thought, or to form one good desire; and much more to speak
one word aright, or to perform one good action, but through his free almighty
grace, first preventing (preceding) us, and then accompanying us every moment.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
Wesley then explains the faith
that is necessary for receiving the gift of perfect love. “It is a divine
evidence and conviction, First, that God hath promised it in the Holy
Scripture. Till we are thoroughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one
step further…. It is a divine evidence and conviction, Secondly, that what God
hath promised he is able to perform…. It is, Thirdly, a divine evidence and
conviction that he is able and willing to do it now. And why not?... He cannot
want more time to accomplish whatever is his will.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
Wesley continues: “To this
confidence … there needs to be added one more thing—a divine evidence and
conviction that he doeth it. In that hour it is done: God says to the inmost
soul, ‘According to thy faith be it unto thee!’ Then the soul is pure from
every spot of sin; it is clean ‘from all unrighteousness.’ The believer then
experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words, ‘If we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 13.5pt;">
Wesley then urges his listeners
and his readers to ask God for this gift. “You shall not be disappointed of
your hope: It will come, and will not tarry. Look for it then every day, every
hour, every moment! Why not this hour, this moment? … If you seek it by faith,
you may expect it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as you are</i>; and if
as you are, then expect it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now</i>. It is
of importance to observe, that there is an inseparable connexion between these
three points—expect it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">by faith</i>,
expect it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as you are</i>, and expect it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now</i>! … Stay (hold back) for nothing: Why
should you? Christ is ready; and He is all you want. He is waiting for you: He
is at the door!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 22.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
As
I read these words, I realized that this was the truth I had been missing for
my twenty years as a child of God. I knew God commanded his children to be
filled with his perfect love (Matt. 5:48; 22:37-40; 1 Cor.10:13; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1
Thess. 3:12-13; 5:16-24; 1 Jn. 3:3-6; 4:16-18; 5:18), but I had never heard
that this full salvation was actually possible in my life right then, by faith,
apart from works and self-effort. In fact, I had been taught (directly or
indirectly) that these scriptures referred to an ideal toward which we should
strive but never expect to live completely. This teaching discouraged me, and
even, at times, gave me license to sin. I wondered: why would God command us to
live a certain way yet not enable us to live that way?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
As I pondered these solemn yet exciting and liberating words of John
Wesley, I knew I was at a crisis point in my life, just as I was when I was
born into God’s family 20 years earlier. God was stirring me deeply, and I
received Wesley’s words as though God were speaking them to me. I knew the time
had come. I cried out to God silently and asked him for the full salvation I
had come to see as God’s will for his children in this life. I came poor and
needy, thirsty and desperate, expecting his blessing by faith (trust) alone,
just as I was and at that moment.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Just as when God brought me to initial salvation many years ago, I
believed at that moment that the work had been done. I felt no tingling, heard
no bells nor angels singing, but simply rested and rejoiced with gratitude and
astonishment that God had begun a new work in me. I knew I had much to learn
(and still do) about this new understanding of the spiritual life. But I also
knew that God had graciously worked in me—in my head and in my heart—The Second
Greatest Truth.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am aware how sensitive—and perhaps confusing, and even boastful—my
words may seem. I know how Wesley’s view is not only greatly misunderstood but
sometimes ridiculed. I will therefore close with three thoughts that may be
helpful.<o:p></o:p></div>
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First, I have not lived a sinless life since that momentous day in 1982.
I sometimes violate God’s word, and when I do, I repent by confessing the sin
to God and anyone I may have hurt. God graciously forgives me and I move on,
trusting God’s perfect love to flow through me again. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wesley never taught that a believer who has
had an experience (or crisis) of entire sanctification (or “second blessing”)
is thereafter guaranteed never to fall. Furthermore, any sin in such a believer
of which he or she is unaware (since no one is perfected in love in an absolute
sense) is continually being washed away by the blood of Christ (I John
1:5-2:6).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Second, I have never been the same since that wonderful experience.
Before, when I arose in the morning I never expected to live that day fully
pleasing to God. Now I start the day with (among other important thoughts) the
very encouraging awareness that, unless I am convicted otherwise, I am living
for the glory of God. Holiness and happiness are blended closely together as I
“pray without ceasing” throughout the day, and as I look to (and expect) God’s
Spirit to produce his delightful fruit in and through me (Gal. 5:22-23). To God
alone be the glory!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Third, my purpose in these two postings is not to advocate for Wesley’s
views or anyone else’s views. I am simply telling my story. It is one among
millions of stories that could be told by God’s people, many of them probably
quite different from mine. One common denominator in all of them, however, is
that our growth in holiness is a process—a lifelong process. If there are
crisis experiences after the new birth for some Christians, they are never
once-for-all. We must continue, until the day we see Christ, living closely to
God and making progress continually in love for our God and our neighbors.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I recognize that this is a long
piece, and if you are still with me I rejoice in your seriousness about holy
living and serving. Of the 100 or so postings I have published during the
five-year span of this blog, the previous article and this one are, in my view,
the two most important I have sent out. And the most difficult to write. I’d
love to read and publish your comments!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-55713377526494462012-05-02T21:17:00.001-05:002012-05-02T21:17:10.898-05:00The Second Greatest Truth (Part 1 of 2)<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Books That Have Shaped Me – Part Ten<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bob Rakestraw</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
May 2, 2012<o:p> </o:p></div>
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“The Benediction
Project” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://bobrakestraw.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
13a. <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Works of
John Wesley</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, edited by Thomas Jackson,
14 vols. 3<sup>rd</sup> ed. (Reprint of 1829-31 edition), Baker, 1979.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For the first 20
years as a new and serious follower of Jesus Christ I experienced some times of
spiritual success and some times of spiritual defeat. Fortunately, the latter
did not dominate, but they did trouble my mind and soul. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">From the time God
revealed to me his way to salvation by grace through faith in 1962 until the
time God revealed to me his way to holiness by grace through faith in 1982, I
was searching for the highly elusive (to me) truth about the way to the
remarkable life of godliness described and prescribed in the Bible. I was
especially struck by certain statements in the epistles of Paul, but also by
the words from the Torah and from Jesus: “Love the Lord your God with all of your
heart, soul, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">During these 20
years I grew steadily (but sometimes shakily) in my Christian life through the reading
of the whole Bible (about12-15) times, reading good Christian literature,
hearing and preaching numerous sermons and Bible lessons, serving as a pastor
in two churches, earning B.S. and M.A. degrees in Biblical studies, missions,
and theology, teaching Bible and preaching courses in college, and studying the
Church Fathers, ethics and more in two years of Ph.D. course work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Over these years,
however, I was hungering for a more consistently victorious Christian life. I
had some areas of my life (thoughts, words, actions, attitudes) in which sin
was sometimes the victor instead of the vanquished. I didn’t know how to take
the “next step” (if there was one) to live a life more pleasing to God—a life
of true holiness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For the first half
of this period of searching I was under the influence of “Keswick” (pronounced
without the “w”) teaching on (what was variously called) the deeper life,
higher life, crucified life, surrendered life and other such labels. Most of
the key points of Keswick teaching are found in Romans 6-8, especially chapter
6. I learned that even though I had been crucified with Christ, in order to
have victory over sin I had to continually “reckon” (count, consider) myself
dead to sin and alive to God, and surrender my will, hopes, ambitions and all
of my “self” to God. I also had to present my body and the parts of my body to
God, not to sin. Victory over sin was available to those who did these things,
and who “let go and let God.” Human effort and struggle were not emphasized in
Keswick theology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While I knew that
these teachings were biblical, I felt there was something more I was not
seeing, or not being taught. I longed for holiness more and more, but sin was
still a bothersome presence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">During my years under
Keswick theology I was also reading many books in the Reformed or Calvinistic
tradition. While a good number of these works helped me significantly in
increasing my thirst for God, I was not able to find the way to positive
spiritual living. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Reformed theology
emphasizes the inbred nature of sin in every person, even born-again Christians
who have the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is a way of living righteously,
however, by reading the Bible and being faithful in prayer, and by refusing the
lures of the tempter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While both Keswick
and Reformed teaching are based in the Bible, and overlap in essential points,
they both left me with a negative view of the extent of godliness possible in
this life. The Keswick approach so stressed our death with Christ and living
the crucified life that it tended to neglect the resurrection life. And the
Reformed approach stressed our inbred sinfulness so much that it failed to
present a robust picture—attainable in this life—of the joyful, holy, Spirit-filled
person we may become. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One Reformed
theologian friend of mine told me he believes there is an element of sin in
everything he does, even when he is worshipping God or helping others. Sin is
ever-present in the life of every Christian, he believes, and taints all that
we do and are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must continue to
struggle upward, even though we regularly slip back down the hillside. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After 20 years into
my Christian life I was more frustrated than ever. I confessed every sin that I
was aware of, and I knew that God forgave me, but I did not really expect to
live as a consistent conqueror in Christ. Perhaps Romans 7 (“what I want to do
I do not do, but what I hate, I do”) was the best any Christian can hope for in
this life. Yet I did not believe that! And I determined that I was not going to
settle for that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Late one night in
our small two-bedroom apartment, after Judy and our girls had been asleep for
hours, I was reading some of the writings of John Wesley. It was very quiet,
Judy was asleep on our bed next to my desk, and I was reading for my work
toward the Ph.D. degree. But, as indicated above, I had been hungering for a
more God-honoring life. I was poor and needy and spiritually weak. I longed to
be drenched and filled with the water of holiness that I knew God had for his
children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In the stillness,
about 1:00 a.m. I suppose, I was reading one of Wesley’s sermons. God saw this
hungry soul—one who had been saved by his grace for 20 years—and came to him
with the breakthrough he had been seeking all these years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Greatest</i> Truth I had ever heard, and
ever expect to hear, is that the eternal God took on a human body, lived like
you and me, was murdered, rose by his own power and now lives forever to draw
all people to him. Those who come to him sincerely, in whatever condition they
are, are welcomed into his eternal family because of the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ in our place.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Second</i> Greatest Truth was about to be
revealed to me. However, because I have exceeded my (self-imposed) word limit I
will need to continue this account in my next posting. </span><o:p></o:p></div>Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-15670506483776197252012-04-03T20:21:00.002-05:002012-04-03T20:25:32.654-05:00Expect the FireBob Rakestraw<br />April 3, 2012<br /><br />“The Benediction Project” <br />http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com<br /><br /><br />12. <em><strong>Preaching and Preachers</strong></em>, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Zondervan, 1971), pp. 325.<br /><br /><br />Most people enjoy a public speaker who has something substantial to say and says it with clarity, creativity, and enthusiasm. Even if we are walking by a political rally and don’t care to hear about the cause being promoted, we may stop and listen a while just because of the speaker’s intriguing ideas and dynamic style of communicating. One famous preacher said, “When you preach, be on fire; at least people will come to see you burn.”<br /><br />In <em>Preachers and Preaching</em> Martyn Lloyd-Jones focuses on the preparation and delivery of sermons. Everything in this book builds on the conviction that during the preparing and preaching of the message there must be the presence and power of the Holy Spirit at work. This should be true of every sermon preached from every pulpit every time.<br /><br />The most powerful way this book has influenced my life and ministry (teaching as well as preaching) has been through this persistent and consistent emphasis on the Spirit. Lloyd-Jones is both convinced and convincing concerning his thesis because it is based solidly on scripture and experience. <br /><br />This is not a formal textbook on homiletics—the art and science of preaching. It is, rather, almost completely a transcript of a series of lectures the author presented at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia during six weeks in the spring of 1969. He was speaking, as he says, in a “conversational and intimate style” about “the various detailed problems and questions that [ministerial students] have often put to me privately, and which have also often been discussed in ministers meetings.”<br /><br />Even though Lloyd-Jones writes, “I can say quite honestly that I would not cross the road to listen to myself preaching,” many thousands of people did just that, and most of them traveled much farther than across the road. During his most active ministerial years the author—a former heart doctor—was the pastor of two churches: eleven and a half years in South Wales and thirty years (1938-1968) at Westminster Chapel, London. <br /><br />He was the most outstanding preacher of his day, and was especially known for his expository preaching—working from one specific text of the Bible and allowing the Spirit to “expose” the truth in it by a sustained and rigorous examination of the content and its implications. He also taught expositorily. I remember reading that he taught a weekly Bible study attended by 1200 people—on Friday nights in London! He spent years just teaching through the book of Romans in these sessions.<br /><br />I wish I had discovered this remarkable book much earlier in my life, instead of serving for 17 years of ordained ministry before reading it. When I obtained the book, however, in 1984, I devoured it. While my years serving as a senior pastor were then behind me, I continued doing guest preaching and interim pastoral ministry until my poor health necessitated the end of my preaching. In the later part of my preaching career, after I read and thought deeply about this God-inspired book, I experienced a distinctly heightened awareness of spiritual power and authority in my preparation and preaching. This was no small thing to me. Actually, it was glorious!<br /><br />After I had preached several sermons led by this growing and gripping power of the Spirit, a man came to me with great seriousness in his face and voice, and said that my past few sermons had been definitely more powerful and convicting (my paraphrase) than my previous sermons. He had sat under my weekly preaching for years before this, so while I rejoiced in his comment I also regretted that I did not fully grasp the liberating and quickening ministry of the Spirit previously.<br /><br />In the last chapter—the most stirring—Lloyd-Jones quotes Paul’s words to the Corinthian church: “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” He then adds: “There is no text, perhaps, of which we need to be reminded so much at the present time as just that.” He also revels in the truth of First Thessalonians: “For our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance.”<br /><br />Lloyd-Jones concludes the book with a strong plea. “What then are we to do about this? There is only one obvious conclusion. Seek Him! Seek Him! ... But go beyond seeking him; expect him. Do you expect anything to happen when you get up to preach in a pulpit? … Seek this power, expect this power, yearn for this power; and when the power comes, yield to Him. Do not resist. Forget all about your sermon if necessary. Let Him loose you. Let Him manifest His power in you and through you. … Nothing but a return of this power of the Spirit on our preaching is going to avail us anything. … It is the greatest need of all today.”Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-76269730957514327332012-03-31T11:02:00.001-05:002012-03-31T11:03:55.869-05:00Searching for TruthBob Rakestraw<br /><br />“The Benediction Project” <br />http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com<br /><br /><br />11. <em><strong>Christian Theology</strong></em>(Second Edition), Millard J. Erickson (Baker, 1998), 1312 pp. First published as three separate volumes: 1983, 1984, 1985.<br /><br /><br />Two thousand years ago Pilate uttered (seemingly in frustration) the famous words, “What is truth?” The very definition of truth, how one can know truth and test for truth, whether any truth is absolute, and whose truth is the “truer” truth—all of these questions, and more, have been swirling in the eddies of vast and often murky philosophical and theological waters for many centuries, and will be with us until the end of time.<br /><br />Millard Erickson is a valuable contributor to the never-ending quest for truth. He has been a distinguished professor of theology in several leading seminaries, including the school where I served most recently before retirement, Bethel Theological Seminary. He is an outstanding scholar and prolific writer, noted for his method of interacting not only with ancient, medieval and modern theologians, but also with the most recent thinkers and the latest controversies. Erickson is the author of dozens of highly regarded works of theology. <br /><br />The most comprehensive and influential of all of Erickson’s works is Christian Theology. It is his magnum opus, and has had widespread use in dozens of colleges and seminaries both within and outside of the United States. As a professor I used it mostly in the three volume set, but some in the revised one-volume edition of 1998. It was my primary classroom text for fifteen years, and served well at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. My students greatly profited from it, as I did.<br /><br />The twofold way this work shaped me and helped me since I first started using it is that it served as a clear and comprehensive overview and review of much that I had learned in my educational pilgrimage, and it taught me and deepened my knowledge in areas where I was not well informed. I agreed with many of Erickson’s conclusions, disagreed with some, but always benefitted from the reverent, biblically-grounded and scholarly manner with which Erickson wrote. <br /><br />All of the main theological loci are covered here, from the nature of God, the nature of revelation, creation, sin, humanity, the person and work of Christ (Erickson excels here), salvation, and every other division of theology.<br /><br />Even those who say they want to learn about the great Christian truths from the Bible, not from man-made theology books, will be very grateful for this volume if they read it. Like me, they will be shaped by the topics studied, the questions raised and the proposals offered. The book will influence both your mind and heart, and will prepare you for further discovery in the never-ending search for truth.Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-25545413029480642602012-02-28T19:21:00.001-06:002012-02-28T19:25:35.981-06:00Amazing Grace Books That Have Shaped Me - Part SevenBob Rakestraw<br /><br />“The Benediction Project” <br />http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com<br /><br /><br />10. <strong><em><strong>Grace Unlimited</strong></em></strong>, Clark H. Pinnock, editor (Bethany Fellowship, 1975), 264 pp.<br /><br /><br />This book came to me at a crucial time in my life and ministry. There was a crisis coming, and I knew I had to face it soon. I was just finishing my second year as pastor of a Baptist church in New Jersey, and the pastoral responsibility that gave me the deepest satisfaction was preaching. I thoroughly enjoyed both the sermon preparation and the sermon delivery. As in most churches, our Sunday morning service was considered the major gathering time for the church members and all others who wished to attend. <br /><br />As I stood at the pulpit preaching, I was always aware of the possibility that some in attendance might not be true followers of Jesus Christ. In light of this, I always—at some time during the sermon—explained in brief the message of the Bible that everyone is sinful and needs to respond to God’s invitation to come to him, through the cross of Jesus Christ, to be saved for time and eternity. I always included a plea to those present who had never received Christ in true repentance and faith to “receive him now—today!”<br /><br />But I had a problem, and it was growing worse every Sunday. Basically, it had to do with my telling the truth. When I urged people to “come to Christ today,” whether they were regular attenders or visitors, I would also emphasize that God was reaching out to them and to all people to bring them by his grace into his spiritual family. God longs for everyone to be saved.<br /><br />My difficulty was that I was becoming more and more aware of a contradiction in my mind between this open invitation to come to Christ and the idea that everyone—before his or her birth—has been predestined to go either to heaven or hell, and nothing can change God’s sovereign decree.<br /><br />The latter view, which has come to be known as the Calvinistic or Reformed view of salvation, is in contrast with the Arminian or Wesleyan view that I was preaching. My issue was that I regarded myself as a Calvinist, because I felt that Calvinism was what the Bible taught, yet I was preaching as an Arminian. The tension within me was becoming unbearable. I knew I needed to present the truth of the Bible consistently, no matter what the consequences would be. Yet, what was the truth?<br /><br />When I came to the church as pastor two years earlier I did not have this problem. I was a Calvinist, but a reluctant one, because the “horrible decree” (John Calvin’s own words) of predestination was extremely difficult to accept, both in my mind and in my heart. Yet I was determined to be faithful to God’s Word. God’s ways were just and good, and his wisdom was past finding out.<br /><br />When I offered an invitation on Sunday mornings before my conversion from Calvinism to Arminianism, I would qualify my words enough so that they did not contradict my Reformed theology. “I urge you, if you sense God working in your heart right now, drawing you to himself, then come to him in repentance and faith to receive his gift of salvation. God will not turn away anyone who comes to him.” Of course, in my mind, I assured myself that my words were biblical because the only ones who <em>would</em> come to God were those who had been predestined to do so. They, and they alone, are given true repentance and saving faith. So my words in themselves were true, but I felt insincere by leaving out the huge Calvinistic qualifications. <br /><br />As time progressed I felt I could no longer perform these mental gymnastics on Sunday mornings. I began to study in a fresh, new way the biblical teachings on how people come to Christ. I studied the major scriptures that seemed to support Calvinism and the major scriptures that seemed to support Arminianism. Gradually I was returning to the Arminian view that I had held for my first several years as a new Christian. And I was becoming more and more excited about this renewed theology that was fitting together harmoniously and biblically. I no longer felt discomfort while I was inviting people to come to Christ.<br /><br /><em>Grace Unlimited</em>, contending for the Arminian view, came along at just this time. My switch from Calvinism back to Arminianism was pretty well complete by the time I discovered this book. Even so, I simply devoured it. So many of the biblical teachings explained in this valuable book were points that I had discovered already. These twelve essays confirmed over and over the truths I had been finding, and explained and refined them even more clearly.<br /><br />In addition to his introduction and article, editor Clark Pinnock includes essays from I. Howard Marshall, Grant R. Osborne, David J.A. Clines, Vernon C. Grounds and other highly-esteemed scholars—all building a solid and biblically consistent case for Arminianism. (I really don’t care for the labels Calvinist and Arminian, but they are so widely used I decided to stick with them.)<br /><br />Even though the church congregation had no idea of my recent struggles, I felt a freshness and a freedom as I preached, counseled, served and lived daily. While I have numerous Calvinistic friends—ones I have respected deeply for many years—I have to live and serve God according to the scriptures as I see them.<br /><br />This is all God asks of any of us. He does not expect us—whether Calvinists or Arminians—to devise a flawless theological system with no loose ends, no questions unanswered, and no elements of mystery. But he does ask us to study his word with diligence, open-minded attention to other views, honesty, humility, and with an eagerness to believe and obey what we are finding. He also asks us to love and respect all people, including those with whom we disagree on predestination and the universal salvific will of God.Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1851540927582400779.post-8251645540537048102012-01-30T20:11:00.001-06:002012-01-30T20:16:38.034-06:00Moral Absolutes—Do They Conflict?Bob Rakestraw<br /><br /><br />“The Benediction Project” <br />http://bobrakestraw.blogspot.com<br /><br /><br />After a two-month bypass on “What I Most Love Doing,” I now return to the series on “Books That Have Shaped Me.” As I stated previously these are not necessarily the best books on their respective topics, nor were they at the time they were published. They are however, the books that have had the greatest influence, one way or another, on my life, thinking and ministry.<br /><br /><br /><strong><em>9. Ethics: Alternatives and Issues</em></strong>, by Norman L. Geisler (Zondervan, 1971), 270 pp. <br /> <br />This was my first book on Christian Ethics. It’s primary value to me is that it gave me a framework to think about approaches to God’s moral absolutes, and how these differing approaches influence one’s whole life in this world.<br /><br />Geisler’s book consists of two parts: ethical alternatives (part one) and ethical issues (part two) such as war, sex and euthanasia. In the first part, which was the most eye-opening to me, and the focus of my remarks here, Geisler lays out the six basic views on moral norms. Norms are ethical laws, rules, commands, guidelines or (in some cases) absolutes. They are statements that tell us what to do or not do, such as “Do not defraud another person” or “Be kind to others.”<br /><br /><em>Antinomianism</em> says that there are no moral laws. It is neither right nor wrong to steal something; just do what seems most convenient for you. <em>Situationism</em> (sometimes called situation ethics) says that there is only one moral absolute—the law of love. You may steal if it’s the most “loving” way to help a needy person. <em>Generalism</em> claims that there are some general laws but no absolute ones. It is generally wrong to steal, but in some cases one may make an exception.<br /><br />Bible-believing Christians rightly reject (in theory) these three options, but the latter two tend to infiltrate the church and corrupt Christian behavior when God’s people do not live in close fellowship with him nor read and meditate in the scriptures regularly.<br /><br />The following three ethical alternatives are more acceptable to Christ-followers. <em>Non-conflicting absolutism </em>(sometimes called unqualified absolutism or the third-alternative position) believes in many moral absolutes which never conflict. They may <em>appear</em> to conflict at times but in truth do not. There are apparent moral dilemmas but no genuine moral dilemmas. A hungry man should never steal because “Thou shalt not steal” is an absolute moral norm.<br /><br /><em>Conflicting absolutism </em>(sometimes called ideal absolutism or the lesser-evil view) holds that there are many moral absolutes that truly do conflict at times, and in such cases one is obligated to do the lesser evil. If you have a very hungry family at home, and you work in a silver mine but will not be paid for several days, it is better for you to steal some silver ore to sell for food money than to let your family go hungry.<br /><br /><em>Hierarchicalism</em> (sometimes called graded absolutism or the greater-good view) affirms that God’s many absolute moral laws actually do conflict at times, and in such cases we are to obey the higher law. In conflicting absolutism, mentioned above, we are to choose the lesser evil, while admitting that it is an evil deed, and confessing it as sin. <br /><br />With hierarchicalism we choose between two options, each of which is good. We need to determine which is better. In the case of the poor silver miner, if you believe that taking some ore is the greater good, then you are not sinning. You are doing what is morally right, because the absolute to provide food for one’s hungry family is a higher norm than the absolute not to steal.<br /><br />Most Bible-believing Christians who give thought to the matter prefer non-conflicting absolutism (my view) or hierarchicalism (Geisler’s position). A smaller percentage opt for the lesser-evil approach, although the idea that we are morally obligated to sin in certain situations seems so bizarre that this view will probably never have a large following among Christians. <br /><br />I hold to my position rather than Geisler’s because, although we both believe that God reveals numerous absolute norms in the Bible, I do not believe (as does Geisler) that these moral absolutes actually conflict. I find it extremely difficult to be convinced that God has given absolutes in such a way that, at times, one of them must (not “may”) be disregarded.<br /><br />In a conflict situation such as stealing to save lives, I believe that God, who is a wise, compassionate and powerful lawgiver (Psalm 119), and who knows we are weak and ignorant of many things (including possible outcomes), will strengthen the heart, mind and will of those who trust in him to care for their starving loved ones without requiring theft to accomplish that.<br /><br />Having said all this, I am very grateful for this book. Even though I disagree with the author I hold him in very high esteem as a brilliant and faithful servant of Jesus Christ. Also, Norm, I thank you for treating me to the delicious Vietnamese egg rolls at the busy lunch spot by Dallas Theological Seminary when I visited you there a long time ago.<br /><br />To conclude, I need to mention that the book under review has been replaced by Geisler’s more recent work, <em>Christian Ethics: Options and Issues</em> (Baker, 1989). While his basic approach to the apparent conflict of moral absolutes remains the same, he has updated and modified some of his views on specific ethical issues such as abortion. In addition, if you wish to pursue the complexities of this topic further, you may refer to pages 113-176 in <em>Readings in Christian Ethics, Volume 1: Theory and Method</em>, edited by David K. Clark and myself (Baker, 1994). These pages contain selections from Geisler, from me, and from other scholars on the subject matter of this posting.Robert V. Rakestrawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15504068204403493778noreply@blogger.com0