redeemedson

Humorous Suffering: Is it possible?

2009-05-13T09:47:00.001-07:00

What are some signs that your family is suffering, needs your extra effort as the father/husband, and is providing humorous moments at the same time? This is a tough combination - humor and suffering. Is it possible? I will say “yes” as a Christian father. Read my account and see if you agree.

We are now in the midst of the fourteenth day of our children suffering from a nasty virus, which produced one (so far) hospitalization, high doctors bills, and an average of four or five hours of sleep each night during that span. Fatigue has obviously descended upon us as well as a lingering sickness that rivals the Bubonic Plague. My oldest son David wept bitterly upon discovering that CS Lewis is dead and therefore will not be able to write more Narnia books. My daughter is the main culprit in the sickness escapades. My son John has been sick now for five nights along with Sally.

I came home for lunch a few minutes ago and found Sally dry-heaving at the table while trying to shove down some Cheetos. She was gagging because John was diarrheaing (is that a word?) out of his diaper while eating Cheetos. Where was my wife? I walked into the kitchen to find her huddled in the refrigerator door “cleaning” (we laughed heartily at her feeble attempt to escape).

As the semester ends, my work and school has taken a toll on my family as our circumstances have been “infected” by an intruder. We are worn out and tempted to go to a family member’s house to receive a little help in the midst of these trying times. However, we realize that no one wants us! We would infect everyone, so we have no where to go, no means of escaping. We are just left to the harsh reality of suffering. The Lord, however, has given us the grace to be patient through the past two weeks and laugh. What else can we do? My answer is “yes.” One can find humor in difficult circumstances while walking in God’s grace and ultimately trusting that, despite the unpleasant circumstance, this is what God has for you - to sanctify you and bring you closer to glory.

Meditations from 2 Peter 2

2008-05-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

I rarely write a journal-style blog entry as I think that much of this type of blogging is unproductive and a waste of time for others to read. However, I was so overwhelmed by the glory of Christ this morning as I read 2 Peter 2, I thought that I should post the following thoughts.

As I read this text, I was struck by the severity of God’s judgment as I prayed through issues of my heart and the Spirit convicted me of sin. The more I think and pray through Exodus 20 and the far-reaching nature of the Law, I am truly driven to despair. I despair of my ability to fulfill God’s commandment to be perfect as He is perfect (Mt 5:48). This conviction was not just the realization of how I have recently transgressed God’s Law, but the conviction of the ugliness of my sin nature and the utter corruption deep within me. It made me utterly afraid that I would be counted among the false believers and adulterous peoples of this passage.

I felt as if I were teetering on the edge of hell itself and seeing the judgment of God that I so deserve because of my foolish flesh. In my hurried lifestyle, my initial response was to quickly say, “Yes, yes, but I am forgiven in Christ” and move on to thanking God for my adopted status as His child, but I chose to do something that was highly beneficial. I stayed there, in that state of conviction and despair, not moving my mind and heart from that point by flippantly dismissing what God was doing through this passage. I chose to stay there and fully (as fully as possible) experience the wrath of God until He Himself picked me up and confirmed me in Christ. I found myself utterly driven into the dust and crushed into nothingness in and of myself. This time of meditation was unbelievably humbling to my complete person as I experienced God’s wrath and He showed me the shallows of the depths of my wretched heart-I say shallows because I believe that as I progress in my faith, I will only see the depths of my sin more clearly. I allowed myself to stay here because I subjectively believed that I should do so rather than mentally claim forgiveness in Christ, thus allowing me to test my soul in all honesty to see if I am in the faith.

As I waited on the Lord to move, He did so through His word by flooding my heart with the glorious assurances of pardon as found in Scripture (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 8:1, and 1 Peter 2:24 were a few that came to mind) and the joy which flows from the peace that I have with this just and almighty God. Christ Himself brought me out of the gloomy pit of feeling and sensing His wrath into the green pasture of which He is the shepherd. He opened my soul to an enhanced view of the height and depth and breadth of God’s love for me in Christ Jesus.

The great assurance that can sum up all of Scriptural passages of pardon is that nothing can separate believers from God. Why? Not because of anything that we bring to this journey or even because we become more experienced in the Christian life. Anything associated with us would lead to a foolish re-enslavement of our souls and bodies to the lusts of our flesh so blatantly offered to us by our culture. We are inseparable from the Lord despite our remaining folly for His name’s sake. For His own glory, He will complete what He has begun in us. He would not be God if He could not graciously sanctify us and His name would be dishonored if He did not graciously sanctify us. He will not share His due glory with any person or thing, thus the humbling nature of the gospel. His jealousy for His sole reception of complete glory also extends to the gospel’s reshaping of our lives throughout the remainder of the Christian’s journey on this earth. How glorious is God that He will not share His glory and He will not leave His children to themselves before or after initially entrusting oneself to Christ alone for salvation.

Malachi 1:11-For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

Hinckley Continues Deception

2008-01-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

The praise of recently deceased Gordon B. Hinckley, president of the Mormon Church (LDS), begins this week as men and women around the world laud this man who continued the pattern of 2 Timothy 3:13-"...while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." He is yet another example of men who desire to put forth an evil lie as being "truth" all the while knowing that it is false.

Think about this reality for a moment: The central authorities of the LDS church know that no such golden tablets given to Joseph Smith exist in their secure vault, yet they continue to hold fast to their assertions! How evil and demonic is such a position!

We ought not be surprised by this situation however as we know that men have always preferred the vain creations of men's minds and hands to the humiliating position that one can only be saved by God's grace without NOTHING to contribute and a preference for the shedding of God's rightful authority to the self-determined moral grounds of man-made religion. May we all heed the warnings of Paul in Colossians 2:8-"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ" (emphasis mine). The central issue is that Hinckley and the other Mormons are putting forth a man-made philosophy that is not according to Christ, that actually denies the Christ of the Bible. May we not be deceived by America's mantra that all religions are equally true and fall into the trap of thinking that Mormons are good people, another form of true Christianity, or other such nonsense, but pray that God will perhaps show them grace and convert them to a true saving knowledge of Jesus Christ according to Scripture. Guard your hearts, pray for unbelievers and preach the Word.

God is Good Even in the Midst of Death

2008-01-23T06:49:00.000-08:00

Danielle and I received a terrible phone call late last night notifying us that one of Danielle’s friends from college died earlier in the evening. Our hearts were filled with deep sorrow and our eyes shed many tears for the loss and also for the husband and two small children grieving at this moment. The Lord was good in bringing the firm foundation of His word to us in the midst of the pain. I pray that this will be an encouragement to you as it was to us either in your current trouble or in preparation for the inevitable suffering that will one day come to you in the natural course of life. Psalm 46 is a comforting text during times such as these as well as How Firm a Foundation (notice verses three and six copied below).

Psalm 46
God Is Our Fortress
1God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

2Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

3though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!"

11 The LORD of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

How Firm a Foundation
1. How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What more can He say than to you He has said,

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

3. When through the deep waters I call you to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;

For I will be with you, your troubles to bless,

And sanctify to you your deepest distress.

4. When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,

My grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply;

The flame shall not hurt you; I only design

Your dross to consume, and your gold to refine.

6. The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

May the God of grace comfort us in His steadfast love during such trials. As believers, we grieve as those with tremendous hope and not like those “who have no hope” (1 Thess 4:13). Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, death has lost its sting for the believer (1 Cor 15:55). God is good and in control of all things. This truth is our comfort and hope in the midst of death itself.

What Do Christ & Psychiatric Drugs Have To Do With One Another?

2007-10-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

The question addressed in this entry really concerns the relationship between Christ's followers and the use of psychiatric drugs. I found an incredibly insightful interview series, which I have linked below, addressing the realities of psychiatric drugs and their effects. I am pretty sure most Americans have either taken a drug in this category of medicine or have a close friend or relative who has had this experience. The larger question that supersedes the issue of whether or not they actually work (and the evidence is far from conclusive that they work for the good of those taking them and actually weighs heavily against their positive effectiveness) is whether or not they are a viable option for believers. Sure, we all struggle with attentiveness in long meetings or the ability to concentrate from time to time, but should we all go around popping Ritalin as if it is the new flavor of Certs? Some believers would object by saying that God has made these drugs and they are therefore permissible. However, not everything that God has made is free from the tainting of the Fall. Please remember that just because it is what the doctor ordered does not mean that it is good for you.

Downcast feelings and depression are a reality for all humans as everyone will ultimately face certain circumstances that will not be pleasant or worse. For the believer, such times force one to ask where or from whom will he find relief. The Psalmist clearly states that the believer's hope is not in man or the creation that points to the Sovereign God, but the Lord Himself. King David was certainly a candidate for clinical depression as were the OT prophets, the NT apostles, and others throughout Scripture. I am afraid that we are too quick to turn to easier options such as taking a pill than the hard, patience-building exercise of seeking and trusting Christ in times of difficulty. Of course there are rare and difficult situations that may call for the use of such medicines, but the stakes are way too high to flippantly take them without careful consideration. Think for yourself on this issue. Begin with the two following links.

1. The interview series conducted by Joost Nixon. Note: He interviews some non-believers who are experts in Psychology and Psychiatry, so you cannot simply dismiss this link as biased. Also, for anyone who does not partake in alcoholic beverages, please overlook the theme of the website to hear the truth of this series.
http://www.stannespub.com/newdraught/

2. A short paper written by John Piper on William Cowper, who greatly struggled with deep and dark depression . Cowper tried to commit suicide on several occasions and struggled with depression all the days of his life, including post-conversion. He wrote several of the best hymns that you and I sing regularly such as "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" and "There is a Fountain Filled with Blood" and "O for a Closer Walk with God."
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1463_Insanity_and_Spiritual_Songs_in_the_Soul_of_a_Saint/

The purpose of this entry is not to argue for my personal position, although you can probably take an accurate guess from my statements above. My hope is to expose all of us to the realities of psychiatric drugs and their effects, while asking the simple question, "What do Christ (and therefore His followers) and psychiatric drugs have to do with one another?"

Straying From The Solas

2007-09-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

How wise were the Reformers in expressing biblical Christianity in the form of the Reformation Solas! Yet how quickly do you and I stumble away from the simplicity of the gospel and these clear expressions of the one true faith. In my pastoral counseling, I often see such straying in one of two forms.

The first variety comes in the way of an Antinomian Christianity, meaning a lifestyle that is undisciplined, being justified by one’s “freedom in Christ” from the law of God. After all, if we are saved by grace, I do not want to try to “add” something to the work of Christ in my life. This thought sounds noble on the surface and it may be a genuine desire of this person, but one will find much deeper issues upon probing a little further. Although this mentality can lead to licentiousness I generally find that people falling into this trap are spiritually lazy as well as lazy in other areas of life. The attempt to excuse one’s behavior, or more accurately the lack of activity, is often hidden within this appeal. Scripture is clear that we as believers must be disciplined in our pursuit of godliness if we will follow in Christlikeness. Romans 5-7, 1 Timothy 4:7, and other such passages point us to the necessity of being disciplined if we will experience the full bloom of Christianity on this side of death. A disorderly approach to seeking the face of God, in which one may or may not rise early in the morning for Bible reading and pray or one may or may not share the gospel or one may or may not attend corporate worship on a regular basis, will result in a weak faith followed by meager attempts to quite the conscience. I love what Donald Whitney says about this subject. He writes, “The only road to Christian maturity and Godliness (Christlikeness and holiness) passes through the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines. These personal and corporate disciplines promote spiritual growth and have been practiced by God’s people since biblical times. Jesus modeled them for us and expects us to pursue them.” Such discipline will actually result in greater freedom as one adheres to the commands of Christ as found in Scripture. After all, the Truth shall make us free, including the truth that Christ requires something from us for godliness-a disciplined pursuit of Him.

What is the opposite line of failure in the pursuit of godliness? The opposite of Antinomianism would be the second form of straying from the biblical faith, namely man-centered Fundamentalism. By this phrase, I mean a list of do’s and don’ts that will supposedly lead of godliness. Am I being contradictory in this statement? Am I condemning what I just promoted? It is not a contradiction, but a difference in understanding that the above is only accomplished by the grace of God through faith in Christ rather than by one's righteous works. The difference is that those who create regulations for godliness stray into the mentality that their works have produced their “godliness.” Somehow they have accomplished something that they can bring to the throne of grace as merit before God. What a person with this mentality does not grasp is that the heart is the wellspring of all actions and simply creating certain standards, even the best ones, will never get to the root problem of the heart. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees of Israel for thinking that their man-made regulations would justify them before God, when their hearts were corrupt. Out of the heart flows sin, even sin that does not hatch into outward manifestation (Mt 5). This is the point of frustration for such individuals as their actions may be regulated and their sins of the flesh may be squelched for a time, but sin will always rear its ugly head and leave the Fundamentalist to “try harder” and “hunker down” in this battle. To this person, the simplicity of walking by faith in the grace of God is too elemental. This person says, “Now that I have received Christ for salvation, I must proceed in godliness by not doing _______ or by making sure that I ________.” Such efforts are far short of godliness and actually distract from the joyful delight that one experiences when he realizes the existence of and honestly admits to his inability to be godly, thus requiring him to humbly approach God for grace.

What a freeing reality is the pursuit of godliness through disciplined adherence to the commands of Christ as found in Scripture. If we love Him, we will keep His commands…commands such as making disciples (evangelism & discipleship), loving our neighbors (evangelism and mercy), not forsaking the bride of Christ (fellowship and corporate worship), fasting, prayer, etc. Pursuing God through disciplined grace will bring about godliness and freedom from our feeble attempts to be perfect. When we fail, we are pointed back to the simplicity of the gospel (Colossians 2:6-15) that confounds the ungodly man, who cannot understand the wisdom of God. It is only by Grace through Faith in Christ as seen in Scripture for the chief end of man, which is Glory to God Alone. Soli Deo Gloria.

"I Have a Vision"

2007-08-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

With all of the recent books flying off the Christian bookshelves concerning this ministry model versus that approach, it is no wonder that ministers are buying into the latest and greatest. After all, if I can take a general truth about ministry and tweak the language just a bit, I could make a boat load of cash with my own book (of course I would have to donate it to the ministry...maybe one or two trips to Cancun...no...to the ministry). The result...chaos.

Man-made religion is nothing new. The apostle Paul dealt with this very issue in Colossians 2 and exhorted the church not to allow anyone to draw them away from the faith, to hold fast to the Head, which is Christ. When men are called by a church to minister in the name of Christ, but rather usher in "his vision," the result is confusion as one minister's vision differs from another and who is correct? The resulting mentality is the bunker approach, meaning "I was here before you came here and I will be here after you leave." Granted there are other issues that contribute to this lack of trust, such as the longevity aspect, but it all starts with the message being proclaimed. Is it the gospel of Jesus Christ or is it a message invented by the wisdom of man.

I recently attended a church while on vacation that greatly saddened me. It is a church with deep historical roots, having made a great impact on literally thousands of lives. The service, however, was completely man-centered in theology and music on that day. I spoke with one of the ministers after the service and could not believe what I was hearing. He said that he was sick of the same old message every week, referring to the gospel, and wanted to recreate the church to be "relevant" and "interesting." Yet another congregation headed toward the Baptist version of charismatic chaos and the pools of wood, hay, and stubble from an eternal perspective...disastrous. Just because one's vision is covered in Christian terminology, does not prove that the idea is from the Lord. The book of Jeremiah constantly addresses the issue of men claiming to speak for God who were never sent by the Lord. These become dangerous waters when men claim to have a vision from the Lord, especially when this vision cannot be found in Scripture.

So what is the solution? What do we tell people, how do we lead people, what is our message? It begins with and stands firmly on the gospel of Christ found in the word of God! I am a staunch believer that God has revealed to us how He wants us to worship Him, how churches should be structured, how the ordinances must be carried out, etc. We can and should summarize these positions so that we and God's people are clear on what we are seeking to accomplish and how we will get there, but such vision must be biblical, not invented late at night while lying on one's couch and thinking about the church. Here is a good indicator - if my vision contradicts God's word, then maybe it is not a biblical vision. If the songs that we are singing aren't even Scriptural or possibly contradict Scripture, maybe we are worshipping in vain. Allow the Word to dictate vision, music, structure, and all the other necessary issues rather than being "creative" and "original" and find yourself leading others into sub-godliness or even ungodliness.

Defending the Faith Like a Machen

2007-02-21T07:40:00.000-08:00

My last post has generated quite a bit of discussion, although to my disappointment it is over email and not on this blog. Those discussions raised another topic in my mind that we must answer as Christians. How do we defend the Christian faith? How do we effectively answer those who object to Christianity? Will our answers bring them to to point of trusting in Christ for salvation?

J. Gresham Machen was a professor at Princeton in the early 1900's, eventially leaving Princeton to start Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA as Princeton began to drift towards Liberalism. In order to properly defend the faith, he believed that Christians must present the credentials of one's beliefs, showing that Christianity meets the requirements of sound thinking. He asserted that there was enough evidence in Scripture to show that the Bible is true and historically accurate. While using simple "common sense" and utilizing the grammatical and historical methods of interpreting the Bible, one would be forced to admit the truthfulness of the Scriptures. While a non-believer would never come to a saving faith apart from the Holy Spirit's regenerating work, this approach to defending the faith would ultimately give validation to God's Word. Machen was obviously a proponent of what is know as Evidentialist Apologetics...using evidence to convince inquirers of the Bible's assertions.

While Machen's call for giving a sound intellectual basis for Christianity is a much-needed alarm clock for contemporary Christianity's sleeping followers, I wonder if his approach is effective, both humanly speaking and according to what the Lord has called us to do in evangelism and apologetics. As one who has had the priviledge of working in the most pluralistic culture imaginable (Starbucks-you have to love the Lattes and cringe at the company policies), I was given many opportunities to share the gospel with my co-workers. For about a year, I tried to give an intellectual account to two of my "partners" who loved to discuss religion, absolute truth, etc. with me during our shifts. Although I believe that the Lord was using me to speak the truth into their lives, it hit me one day that I would never be able to argue them into the Kingdom. For example, I had answered all of Kate's objections to the faith with sound intellectual and logical answers time after time, only to see her respond in unbelief at each call for her to repent and believe in Christ for salvation.

While I am a strong proponent of possessing a valid belief system, I do not believe this is the way that we will make an impact with the gospel as Christians. We must not rely on our intellectual arguments (even the good ones) to convert men and women to the faith. The Lord works through Presuppositional Apologetics, which is simply laying one's beliefs out of the table for discussion and utilizing Evidential Apologetics to undergird one's presuppositions. What shall be our material in PA? Well, the Bible of course. It is through the Scriptures that the Lord quickens the soul to believe in Christ and come to salvation. He blesses the hearing of the Word as it is preached or read. The problem with Evidentialist Apologetics is that no matter how much evidence we show to unbelievers or how good our arguments prove to be, their presuppositions are still those of unbelief. I assert that we must focus on the tenets of the gospel and address a person's unblieving soul, undergirding our work with strong intellectual evidence.

JRW

A Warning from Warfield

2007-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

While looking at the current Christian scene, many questions arise concerning correct methodology in light of one's theology. I believe that we can turn to B.B. Warfield to learn a valuable lesson. Concerning the topic of contextualizing biblical theology Warfield wrote, "Instead of stating Christian belief in terms of modern thought, an effort is made, rather, to state modern thought in terms of Christian belief" (email for reference). He wrote this statement in his defense against liberalism's invention of a false Christianity. However, Warfield violated his own principle. Rather than holding to the traditional Princetonian position of remaining true to historic biblical theology, Warfield succumbed to an increasingly popular position on creation because he felt that the evidence was too compelling to hold to the traditional six day, twenty-four hour view of this doctrine. Now that we see the "evidence" in light of what it truly is, namely nothing more than theory, we must ask what we can learn from Warfield's error. Just like in Warfield's day, theologians are justifying their refashioning of Christianity to suit their own naturalistic philosophies for the end of modernizing it.

If Warfield fell to the influence of Darwinism, what are the versions of naturalistic philosophy with which we are faced? I would say that one of the greatest enemies of the church that we face is that of humanism cloaked in Christian terminology. Our culture has so influenced the church's theology that many pastors and their parishioners have succumbed to man-centered theology resulting from the current secular humanism of today. Americans are "me-centered" and thus will only accept a theology that imposes our consumeristic view of life on God and His word. How do passages such as 1 Peter 2:21, in which Jesus left us an example of suffering so that we would follow in His steps, or 1 Peter 4:12-19, which teaches us how to suffer as a Christian according to God's will, coincide with the heresy of Joel Olsteen or the semi-Pelagian Church Growth Movement espoused by Warren and others? May our theology drive our methods and may we not allow our culture's disdain for authority to produce a non-biblical theology, which will lead to further atrocities such as "seeker-friendly churches."

JRW

Does anybody care?

2007-01-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

We all find ourselves asking this question from time to time. Anyone finding himself called by God into the gospel ministry really has to wrestle with it occasionally. I attended my first Presbytery this weekend. I attended the committee meetings of the Credentials Committee that examines candidates for the gospel ministry. The first step in the process that the PCA makes a candidate take is that the person "comes under the care of the Presbytery." Some may think that the PCA has stiff requirements for ordination, which used to be my view, but after seeing it first-hand, I see the truth. This process is a very loving and caring way of shepherding candidates to the point of being effective in ministry. After all one "comes under the care of the Presbytery." None of this slap on the back, wish you well, good luck finding a place to minister business of other denominations emphasizing the priesthood of the believer to the point of no accountability and no care. I was greatly encouraged to know that a unified effort to raise up the next generation of men to care for Christ's church exists and I was allowed to see it with my own eyes. To answer my question, the PCA cares...for its ministers and for the flocks entrusted to their under-shepherding.

Children are such a...

2007-01-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

Blessing from the Lord. In today's culture of me-centerdness (is that a word?), children are often looked upon as a hindrance or annoyance. I remember when my wife and I first discovered that we were going to have a baby. We were in seminary, living on the thread of a shoe-string budget, crying when financial surprises came up, and the news that our first child would be on the way hit us like a load of bricks. I remember not knowing what to think. Honestly, some of my first thoughts were how this child would slow down our seminary career and plans for the future and even worse, I would have to get a full-time job to support my dependant family!

It is true that I have had to sacrifice some things over the years that I pursued as worthy goals, but the blessing of having little ones running around our house far outweighs the option of chosen silence. I say chosen silence because many couples desire to have babies but cannot for various reasons. However, many couples choose not to have children because they tend to "ruin" plans.

We found out last weekend that we are expecting our third child. Our house is too small, my salary is not enough, and my time is stretched even further. However, the Lord is good and has sovereignly blessed us with another child. Praise be to you our Lord.

1 Degree, 1 Mission Field, 3 Churches, & 2 Denominations...

2006-12-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

The Lord has taken my family through a sanctifying whirlwind over the past two years that makes me tear up when I recall those 730 days and their contained events. Through these tough times, Christ has become ever dearer to my soul and my attachment to the things and idols I held so dear have drifted further from my thoughts and pursuits. During the past two years, Danielle and I have experienced some minor changes in our lives.

I finished my studies at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY in 2004 and our family immediately moved to South Asia as missionaries to Muslims to pursue the calling for which I had been preparing for nine years. However, after only four months on the field, we were forced to resign from our position because our board's doctors believed my wife had experienced several strokes and possibly had a brain tumor. We returned to America without the slightest clue about what our future would hold.

Following a frantic search for a new place of ministry and contemplating other vocations to support my family, the Lord opened a door for us to move to Kentucky to work as the minister of discipleship at a large church in a seemingly quite little town. Only three months into this position, we unfortunately realized that our time there was limited as years of unaddressed sin within this congregation was coming to a head.

Simultaneously with the worsening of our situation at this church, a Presbyterian church (PCA) approached me about becoming their Director of Mercy Ministry (To learn more about Mercy Ministry and what it actually is, see the following website: http://www.davidsapple.blogspot.com/ ). Although my wife and I had been actually doing what is known as Mercy Ministry for several years, I did not have a clue that such a formally recognized ministry existed. After a few months of talking with this church's leadership and praying over the decision, we accepted the call, changing denominations, churches, and ministry pursuits in the blink of an eye. In a matter of two years, we transitioned from aspiring Southern Baptist missionaries to urban ministry within the PCA.

This decision has brought a wide variety of criticism, indifference, and encouragment from my friends depending on various issues. Why would I lead my family to make such a drastic move? We have utterly picked up our roots down to the smallest ones imaginable in leaving our church, friends, family, and even our beloved denomination. The answer can only be found in our desire to be obedient to our Lord. Honestly, I am by no means a fatalist when I say this as I hold to God's absolute sovereignty, I could do nothing other than follow in obedience to this position through His leading. Obviously we have to follow our convictions concerning Scripture, but what happens when the Lord overrides our convictions? What happens when God's sovereign hand outweighs what we think we should never do, specifically in my case, leave one's denomination? I am certainly not a paedobaptist (although I must admit that my polity has always aligned more closely with the Presbyterians than the Congregationalists) and I am by no means a disgruntled baptist, which is seemingly the source from which the PCA in the South gains most of its members. I do not understand why the Lord has brought about this in our lives, but we know that He has (anyone knowing our previous situation and having had conversations with me through all of it knows that this opportunity was not my creation or a decision made flipantly). I pray that you will find refuge in our good and faithful Creator when he calls you to trod through difficult decisions and circumstances for His name's sake (1 Peter 4:12-19). May we never think ourselves wiser than our Lord. Samuel Rutherford penned the following poem that brings comfort during such times,

Inscrutable the ways of God,
Beyond the mind of man!
For who can read His hidden thought
Or search His secret plan?
I had one joy, one garland fair,
The flower I loved the best,
But in a single hour Christ came
And plucked it to His breast.

I dare not say the Lord has quenched
My candle's flickering glow,
Or cast His waters on the coals
That burnt already low;
And still I wrestle to believe
A veiled and covered God,
But faint my heart, my faith bowed down
Beneath the pressing load.

O that my Lord might smile again,
His love upon me pour;
Come home to this afflicted heart,
Bring summer back once more!
Then would I preach with unloosed tongue
His beauty and His power,
My withered branc would bud anew
And bear another flower.

Yet God in wisdowm chose for me
This furnace and this flame,
And doubting not His choice the best,
I greet it in His name.
So will I praise Him for this stroke,
Till Christ at length appears
To turn my long captivity
An dry His people's tears.