That Pale Blue Dot

"This narrow-angle color image of the Earth, dubbed 'Pale Blue Dot', is a part of the first ever 'portrait' of the solar system taken by Voyager 1. The spacecraft acquired a total of 60 frames for a mosaic of the solar system from a distance of more than 4 billion miles from Earth and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic. From Voyager's great distance Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of a picture element even in the narrow-angle camera. Earth was a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Coincidentally, Earth lies right in the center of one of the scattered light rays resulting from taking the image so close to the sun. This blown-up image of the Earth was taken through three color filters -- violet, blue and green -- and recombined to produce the color image. The background features in the image are artifacts resulting from the magnification."

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

"Earth is the dot in the middle of the bright streak." Earth: The Lone Pale Blue Dot?

So, do you still think Earth is the center of the universe? You and I are specks of dust on a speck of dust on the outer edge of the Milky Way Galaxy in an obscure corner of the universe. In the vastness of the universe we are as nothing.

And yet the God who created it all takes an interest in our little speck of dust and in the even smaller specks of dust that live on that speck of dust; an interest centered in His own glory in creating us in His own image.

And we've not even yet touched on our moral rebellion against that Creator God.

Redemption is not primarily about us. Redemption is primarily about the glory of God, and only secondarily about us.

So it is the Infinite Almighty Creator God condescended in Jesus Christ to become a tiny speck of dust on that speck of dust on the outer edge of the Milky Way Galaxy in an obscure corner of the universe.

Amazing grace! Amazing love! An amazing and awsome God!

We Are One

Coral Ridge Church has taken a huge step forward in breaking down barriers that were keeping believers apart. You might be suprised at what that barrier was. In the article linked to above, Coral Ridge Pastor Tullian Tchividjian explains the what and why.

An appealing, engaging Gospel

Fr. Ernesto Obregon has an interesting post at OrthoCuban regarding the place of suffering in the Christian life. He even takes notice of John Bunyan and C.S. Lewis in discussion of the concept of the "dark night of the soul". You may not agree with all he says, but a lot of what is said will strike a responsive chord in the sensitive evangelical heart. Suffering in a fallen world is indeed universal.

Billy Goat Log: 08/21/2010, 9:33 PM EDST

• So I have not posted in a while. The last few weeks have been somewhat hectic and in some ways emotionally draining.
  
  
• There is a church in our metropolitan area that does a "home make-over" once a year. This year my married daughter and family were nominated for the home make-over, and the church picked their house to work on. The work was done last weekend. A whole bunch of volunteers from the church, a number of businesses providing materials and etc, and Sunday afternoon my daughter, son-in law, and grandchildren returned to a refurbished and redecorated house. I was personally overwhelmed by all the work this group had done. My daughter's family is on the upper edge of the "working poor" blue collar class. It has been a real struggle for them, and what the church did in fixing up the house will be a real help. We are humbled and thankful for this kind providence. God was very gracious and kind to us as a family.
  
  
• While their house was being worked on, they put the family up in a local motel, and had a number of special things planned for them. One of the events was to go to watch our local minor league baseball team play a home game. My wife and I got to go along also. It was really nice.
  
  I don't get out to watch our local team play that often, but every time I've gone to the local baseball park to watch them, I've really enjoyed it. I realized how much I enjoy watching a live baseball game. One of the things on my retirement "to do" list will be to get to more baseball games. and yes, our local team won the game, and we enjoyed the fireworks afterwards.
  
  Did I mention my oldest grandson got to throw out one of the "first pitches"? That was pretty neat!
  
  
• I recently opened a page at Scribd. I published some previous material there, and have been encouraged by the response. I realize I need to come up with some new, never before published material.
  
  
• Summer is winding down. The days are shorter and the nights cooler. This fall I plan on doing some more splitting/transplanting in the flower gardens. There is something about getting out of the house and putzing around in the yard, looking after the perennial flowers we have there. I get some sense of what it may have been like for Adam to tend the garden of Eden; as though in that yard and garden work I touch root with Eden itself...
  
  
• We were at a Christian bookstore today. I didn't buy anything. As I wandered through the aisles, I really wondered if there was much there that really met people where they really needed to be met, and how much of it was just so much fluff and vapor. I tend to be cynical, but it would not be at all fair for me to pass wholesale judgement on books I have not read. But then I don't feel compelled to have to read whatever "latest and greatest" just came out either. The only "must read" for the Christian is the Bible itself. Other books can be helpful, and I myself have been helped along the way by other books, but when you get down to the very root of the matter, there is only one book absolutely needful.
  
  
• The relationship of Isreal and the church, the degree of continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments, suprasessionism or "replacement theology" vs. dispinsationalism: I'm not convinced anyone has really come up with a Biblicaly satisfactory answer. The answers I've seen from all camps are at some point or another less then so.
  
  
• Jesus Christ is LORD...

The Future of Evangelicalism

The folks over at Patheos are having a discussion on the future of Evangelicalism. The discussion is on-going through the week and covers a wide range of topics relating to the theme. Some intersting and challanging reading here...

Of This & That

• It seems I get ideas of things to write about, but then when I do have some time to sit down and write, the energy is not there... Another reason retirement looks better all the time.
  
  
• I've been doing some thinking on the Lord's Supper and sense there is perhaps an aspect of the Lord's Supper that tends to get over looked by those who, on the one side, hold a sacramental view of the ordinance, as well as those on the other side who hold a memorial view of the ordinance. I need to pull some notes together and do some further study.
  
  
• What if what we have is an old universe, but a young biosphere? Both secular and theistic evolutionists accept "survival of the fittest" as the driver of evolutionary process. But what if instead of the survival of the fittest, the driver of evolutionary process before the fall was a benign benevolent purpose centered on creating bio-diversity in a way that did not involve death? Does the recent young-earth creationism movement read into Genesis 1 more then Genesis 1 really says?
  
  Do you want to tell someone they have to give up their belief in evolution, theistic or otherwise, before they can be saved and become a Christian? Are you ready to use the process of church discipline on someone who holds to theistic evolution? Would someone who holds that view be allowed to join your church and participate in its ministries? Do we really want to make young earth creationism a sine qua non of orthodoxy along with the deity of Christ and the trinitarian being of God?
  
  Can we evangelize in a way that the offense of the Gospel is the cross, and not the issue of creationism versus evolution?
  
  My sympathy and leaning is towards the recent-creation view. That said, I do not find I can clinch that view as tightly in my hand as some seem to insist we must.
  
  
• August 1914, ninety-six years ago. The world went insane... Strident nationalism and militarism overrode reason and prudence. Ninety-six years latter and not a lot has changed. All it will take is another "assassination" of some "archduke" and madness will again plunge the world into darkness.
  
  
• Reading books about war can really be depressing. I think this year I've read more then enough about war for a while, and "We Were Soldiers Once and Young" will have to wait. I have seen the movie, though I'm not sure I could watch it again because the memories it invokes stir a deeper grief each time they come flooding back into the conscience.
  
  
• In my last post I linked to a blog post by Dr. Russell Moore regarding a question about Robert E. Lee. (See the link in the post just below this one.) Sad to say, but not totally unexpected, one of the replys to Dr. Moore's post gives a classic example of the cultic nature of the "Lost cause" mythology regarding the Civil War.
  
  
• It is that time of Summer where the colors of leaves and plants get a sort of washed out tired look. The frenzy of bright and vibrant colors begains to dissipate in anticipation of the autumn days that will shortly be upon us. The days are noticably shorter.
  
  
• Jesus Christ is LORD...

Peace,

~ The Billy Goat ~

Is It Wrong to Display a Picture of Robert E. Lee? My Response

Dr. Russell Moore, who grew up in Mississippi, has published a very thoughtful and well balanced response to a question he received concerning Robert E. Lee.

August 1914 Aftermath

"When at last it was over, the war had many diverse results and one dominiant one transcending all others: disillusion. "All the great words were cancelled out for that generation." wrote D. H. Lawrence in simple summary for his contemporaries. If any of them remembered, with a twinge of pain, like Emile Verhaeren, "the man I use to be," it was because he knew the great words and beliefs of the time before 1914 could never be restored.

After the Marne the war grew and spread until it drew in the nations of both hemispheres and entangled them in a pattern of conflict no peace treaty couold dissolve. The Battle of the Marne was one of the decisive battles of the world not because it determined that Germany would ultimatly lose or the Allies ultimatly win the war but because it determined that the war would go on. There was no looking back, Joffe told the soldiers on the eve. Afterward there was no turning back. The nations were caught in a trap, a trap made during the first thirty days out of battles that failed to be decisive, a trap from which there was, and has been no exit."

(The Guns of August; Barbara W. Tuchman; (1962, Bantam Books edition, 1976); (Page 489)

To him who overcomes: The Promises of Revelation 2 -3

(The following material is a refinement and expansion of some notes prepared for a Sunday School class I recently taught.)

Introduction & Context

• Brief Outline of the Structure of Revelation; “The Book of Sevens” :




• 7 Churches, 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, 7 Bowls of Wrath



• One Other group of 7: The 7 Thunders (10:1-4) between the 6th and 7th Trumpets. Lesson of the 7 Thunders = We don’t have the full story...



• The Letters to the Seven Churches (Chapter 2 - 3)
  
  
  
  • Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea
    
    
  • “I know...” 2:2, 2:9, 2:13, 2:19, 3:1, 3:8, 3:15
    
    
  • Indictment & Warning: “But I have...” (Exception of Smyrna & Philadelphia)
    
    
  • Exhortation: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
    
    
  • A Promise to him who overcomes.
    

The Promises to him who Overcomes:

• The one receiving the promises: “To him who overcomes (νικῶντι)...” conquers, being victorious, one who wins.. (I John 2: 13 - 14, 5:4-5) (Persus identifies νικῶντι as the 3rd pl pres ind act of νικάω.)
  
  John uses the the same verb, νικάω, in his first epistle. In I John 5:4-5, we are told that the mark of our being one who overcomes is our faith.
  
  

  "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

  
  
  Faith is a vital element of what it means to overcome.
  
  (In I John 2:13-14, while addressing the young men, “overcome “ is in the perfect tense, speaking of one who “has overcome and continues to overcome”. The “overcomes” in Rev. 2-3 is present tense, with focus on “the one who is overcoming...”.)
  
  
• All the things promised in the seven letters to the seven churches to the one who overcomes are pointing to different aspects of the one main overarching thing that is the central focus of these promises; eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth. Each of the things promised point to some specific aspect of what that eternal life will be like. (Kudos to my friend Mark Evans for pointing this out.)
  
  
• Ephesus (2:7) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.' - Genesis 2:15, 3:22-23
  
  As a consequence of the fall, in Genesis 3:22-23 mankind is barred from access to the tree of life.
  

  "Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—" therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

  
  The promise is that in the consummation, the overcoming one will no longer be denied access to the tree of life. The redeemed humanity will be allowed to partake of its benefits (Revelation 22:1-2).
  
  
• Smyrna (2:11) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death."
  
  The phrase “Second death” is found only in Revelation: 20:6, 20:14, 21:8 The second death is clearly identified as the lake of fire. This promise reiterates the specific promise in vs. 10 regarding the crown of life, and expands the scope of the promise beyond the specific believers in Smyrna who are the focus of vs. 10.
  
  
• Pergamum (2:17) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.”
  
  The reference to manna brings to mind the imagery of Exodus 16 and how God fed the children of Israel in the wilderness. In John’s Gospel account, Jesus makes reference to that account in his Bread of Life discourse in John 6.
  
  The best understanding of the white stone has reference to an athletic event. The victors would be given a white stone with their name on it . This white stone was their ticket to the athletic banquet held after the competition (MacArthur, Thomas). This is rather striking imagery when considered in the eschatological context of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
  
  
• Thyatira (2:26-29) “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
  
  Psalm 2, “the morning star” Isaiah 14:12, 2 Peter 1:19, Revelation 22:16
  
  The imagery of this promise immediately points us to the Messianic features of Psalm 2.
  
  
• Sardis (3:5-6) “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
  
  "the book of life" - Philippians 4:3, Revelation 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27
  
  
• Philadelphia (3:12-13) “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 21:1-4, 21:9-10
  
  The placing of someones name on another was a sign of ownership. The placing of these three names on the one who overcomes is the assurance that they belong to Christ.
  
  
• Laodicea (3:21-22) “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
  
  Hebrews 8:1, 12:2 Revelation 12:5,

Application:

On what basis do we overcome? From Romans 8:31 - 39, verse 37 states that we are “overwhelming conquerors” through him who loved us.

In I John 2, it is our faith that overcomes. In Romans 8:37, the same word is used as the root word for a compound verb form. The prefix used in this compound construction carries the meaning of overflowing, or overwhelming, above and beyond. In this Roman passage, our overwhelming overcoming is based on “him who loved us...”

Putting together these two thoughts from I John 2 and Romans 8, we overcome by faith in “him who loved us...”; faith in Jesus Christ, faith in His word, faith in His promises.

The promises found in Revelation 2 - 3 are for all those who overcome through faith in Jesus Christ and His promises.

References:

Bible (ESV, NASB, KJV)

The New Greek - English Interlinear New Testament; (Nestle/Aland Greek text); (Tyndale House, 1990)

Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary; Robert L. Thomas; (Moody Press, 1995)

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Revelation 1-11; John MacArthur Jr.; (Moody Press, 1999)

The Perseus Digital Library

A Broader Vision of Ministry

"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:36-38)

We live very close to a metropolitan area with a population estimated to be over 775,000 people. Within a 10 mile radius from where we live there are about 218 churches, and that includes all denominations; Catholic, Lutheran, other mainline Protestant denominations, and so forth. Do the math and we have approximately 1 church for every 3,500 people in the metro area.

Now lets include a plus/minus for other factors involved in where people in the area might go to church, if they go at all. For that plus/minus, lets go as high as 30%. Why 30%? Because that's the number I pulled off the top of my head. (I'm not claiming this is scientifically precise.) Our range is now 4,550 - 2,540 per church. Even if my estimate for the number of churches in the area is off by plus/minus 30%, the ratio of the total population to the number of churches is pretty high. And it should be clear that if we divided the area's population by only the number of Evangelical churches in the area, the ratio goes up even higher. Let me ask a question.

Is this area "over-churched"?

I think not...

So what do we do? One of the things we do is pray for laborers to enter into the harvest, but do we recognize them when we see them? Do we recognize the answer to our own prayers?

A brother has a vision for the need. He wants to do something about it. He even has the audacity to believe there is a need to start another church in the area. How do we respond? Do we encourage him? I'm not talking about a man who is a novice, new to the faith. I'm talking about a man that has a relative level of spiritual maturity, and has even had some level of ministerial and theological training.

One of the objections we might hear is, "But he's not qualified..."

Oh really?

Maybe for your church and tradition he isn't. And maybe he doesn't fit your ecclesiastical circle, but do you really want to write him out of all ministry whatsoever because he doesn't cross all your "t"'s and dot all your "i"'s? You really want to claim that your tradition alone has the market on the what and how of the Timothy and Titus passages on the qualifications for ministry? Oh really?

What would happen if instead you said, "Brother! I thank God for your vision and desire. I'm not sure how well you fit our tradition and our way of doing things, but if you can find some group that you fit better with, and they are willing to help you, then go in peace with our blessing, and we will pray God uses you to start that church and that it will be able to reach some of those in our desperately needy metropolitan area that we are not able to reach."

To say such a thing and really mean it would require humility in several areas.

We would need to be humble enough to realize we in our particular Christian tradition are not Lord of "the call".

We would need to be humble enough to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in building Christ's church is not limited to our particular Christian tradition or ecclesiastical group.

We would need to be humble enough to look beyond our own particular tradition and ecclesiastical circles and actively embrace and pray for God's work outside our limited boundaries. To do so requires the humility to admit that the churches of my own particular tradition or ecclesiastical circle cannot meet the massive overwhelming need in our metropolitan area by ourselves.

Over the past few months I've become aware of two separate situations of men with a vision of the desperate needs in our metropolitan area and a God given desire to do something about it. All tradition and ecclesiastical circles aside, here is my response.

"Brothers! God bless you! May He use you to reach some of those desperately needy people in our metro area that the rest of us are not reaching. God bless you! Go in peace! May He guide and direct you in all you do to His honor and glory alone! Amen!"