MY FAVORITE HYMN

I didn’t know the name Eochaid mac Colla (c. 560 – 640) until today! 

He was a sixth century Irish monk who lived, served and wrote – endearing himself to his people! While visiting a monk friend in a monastery on an island in extreme northwest Ireland he was martyred by pirates who invaded the island monastery. 

    

His nickname, Dallán ("little blind one"), was earned after he lost his sight, reputedly as a result of studying intensively. After writing his best-known work, Amhra Coluim Cille, [a poem about an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland] it is reported that Dallan regained his sight. 

[Credit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall%C3%A1n_Forgaill]

Why is this name significant to us?

Dallen Forgaille is considered the author of the lyrics for one of the most beloved hymns of the church: “Be Thou My Vision”. The text of the hymn was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary E. Byrne in 1905. Oddly, she chose to to keep the Elizabethan language.  “Be Thou My Vision" is sung to the Irish folk song, “Slane,” which tells the story of Slane Hill where in A.D. 433 St. Patrick lit candles on Easter Eve in defiance of the pagan king Loe-gaire.

The context of the hymn is a prayer proclaiming Christ as our model and ideal. Each stanza begins with an aspect of His provision as: my vision, my wisdom, my true word, my great Father, my inheritance, my treasure, and heart of my heart.

It’s helpful to know the history of this hymn.

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me save that thou art.
Thou my best thought by day and by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, I thy dear child;
Thou in me dwelling, with thee reconciled.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be thou my dignity, thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, thou my high tow'r;
Raise thou me Heav'nward, O Pow'r of my pow'r.

Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heav'ns Sun!
Heart of my heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

If you’d enjoy a beautiful video with Christyn Getty singing this hymn, click the link:  

EARLY CHURCH FATHERS: Ambrose, Bishop of Milan

I realize that there is not a lot of interest in learning about the early fathers of our faith, but I find their role to have been vital and courageous. As I’ve stated in several recent blog articles, these early leaders had an enormous task of developing a Christology, distilling the Apostle's Doctrine, determining structure for the new church [especially after Emperor Constantine’s conversion in 312 A.D.], and evangelizing the known world of that time!

An especially controversial and widely followed heresy was called Arianism – named after an Alexandrian presbyter, Arius. The Arians couldn’t accept that Christ was co-equal with God. They believed that He was created by God! In spite of the fact that the heavily influential decision of the Council of Nicea [325 A.D.] was to denounce Arianism as a heresy – it continued to be a problem.

Enter Ambrose of Milan. He was born into power by being part of the Roman family of Aurelius. He was a governor in Italy’s northern provinces before he turned thirty. Even as a governor he had ecclesiastical problems to deal with. The Orthodox Christians and Arians were practically at war at the time.

About that time, the bishop of Milan died. Ambrose attended the meeting to elect a replacement, hoping that his presence would preempt violence between the parties. Much to his surprise, both sides shouted their wish for him to be their replacement. Ambrose was happy with his role of governor and did not make himself available to be bishop. The people wrote to Emperor Valentian, asking for his seal on their verdict. Ambrose was put under arrest until he agreed to serve!

He immediately opposed Arianism – authoring several works against them. He was regarded as an excellent preacher. Remarkably, he spoke frequently and powerfully on the virtues of the practice of strict self denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline.

He became a champion of the Church by arguing with three emperors – and winning each time. When Emperor Theodosius set a trap for a group of rebellious rioters killing 7,000 within three hours, Ambrose was horrified and demanded his public repentance! He forbade the emperor to attend worship until he prostrated himself before the altar.

Theodosius obeyed, making the first time church triumphed over state! He continued to hold the bishop in high regard until he died in the arms of Ambrose! Ambrose eulogized the emperor: “I confess that I loved him, and felt the sorrow of his death in the abyss of my heart.”

Ambrose died two years later on Easter Eve, 397 A.D., having been bishop of Milan for twenty-three years!

However, his influence did not end! He was outshined by a student who had gone to Milan in 384 to hear the bishop’s famous allegorical preaching. By the time this student left four years later, he had been baptized by Ambrose and given a philosophical basis that he would use to transform Christian teaching. This student’s name was Augustine!

[Some information gleaned from Wikipedia and '131 Christians Everyone Should Know' pp.80-82]

MINISTRY STORIES: They’re Going to Make It!

They called for an appointment for marriage counseling. They were not part of the church that I was leading. They’d heard that I counseled from a friend.

He was a tall, lean, very muscular guy – at least 6’3”. He was the kind of guy that I would NOT want to be angry with me. 

She was a short, thick but very attractive young woman.

Finances were not a problem.

Their relationship was very broken. 

Sometimes, when counseling, I will let a couple fight. I learn a lot from watching. It always ends the same: both sitting fuming and defeated – usually facing in opposite directions. A picture of hopelessness!

That’s my cue to ask: “How are you feeling right now?”

In their emotional exhaustion, one or the other will usually answer with one word responses.  Hopeless and exhausted are the two most frequent answers.

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So many things need to happen for healing to manifest in a relationship like this and it is greatly helped by an impartial, fair and skilled mediator. 

o   It can help for them to remember what originally brought them together.

o   They need to be taught to fight fairly.

o   They may need emergency intervention.

In cases of extreme brokenness I sometimes make myself available for immediate intervention when a breakdown occurs.  I made this offer to this couple.

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It didn’t take long for them to call. I was free and invited them to come directly to my office.

When they arrived, they sat down with their chairs facing away from each other. They were clearly in a broken-down situation!  I could feel the anger and tension in the room!

I told them that someone would have to break the silence and fill me in on how they had arrived at this lockdown.  Silence and fuming.

If I have to, I will call on the one I deem to be most open to report, but I didn’t have to in this case.

After an uncomfortable period of silence, she got up and turned her chair toward him. This little powerhouse looked him dead-in-the-eye and with fearless passion said something like the following:

“All through our relationship you have NEVER used the ‘F’ word with me. But in the last several months, you’ve used it with me over and over again!”

She spoke these words with her finger in this big guy's face!  She was bold, forthright, angry and hurt!  She was half his size!

I watched him closely! I saw a wave of rage cross his face – but it was short-lived. Something was going on inside his mind – but I couldn’t get a read on it.

After a thirty-second pause, he got up and turned his chair toward hers. Now, it was his turn! He looked her square-in-the-eyes and said:

“You’re right! I’m sorry! [And then with his finger gently pointed toward her, he added in a voice that was shaking with intensity] “And you will NEVER hear that word come from my mouth again!

The rest of the session went quite well and they left holding hands.

I knew in that moment that they were going to be okay! 

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Was it really so simple as leaving a word out of his talks with her?

Absolutely not! 

There were many more issues to be resolved and lessons to be learned! We continued to meet for several months – but they never returned after that. 

When a couple gets to a point similar to theirs, THEY NEED HELP! They need skilled, experienced, bold, instructive, impartial help!

If only one person from the relationship comes to me, I will agree to talk with them only once! If I go beyond that, I will always be perceived by the other partner as biased!

After that initial meeting, I will reach out to the missing partner and make a strong appeal to hear their story. Remarkably, the other spouse will often respond and come in to talk!  If this happens, it is a tremendously hopeful thing.

As a counselor, I’ve developed many ‘tools’ to use in couple’s counseling. But not all make it. Some have let the wall become too high. One may have already moved on into a new relationship. Sometimes they wait too long before reaching out for help.

If you’re reading this today and are in this dilemma, reach out for help today!  Don’t delay. Ask your spouse to accompany you. If you don’t connect with the counselor – try another! We have different training, practices, experiences, approaches and personalities. Ask friends and family for referrals. YOUR MARRIAGE IS WORTH IT!

THE PERFECT PASTOR [doesn’t exist]

A phrase was shared a lot several decades ago: "I'm not perfect; just forgiven!" It made a great bumper sticker!

Most of us would be fairly quick to confess a lack of perfection. One of the pressures of being a pastor is that people expect Christian perfection from you. You're a role model or 'poster-person' for the Christian life.

Yet pastors are people and people have flaws. ALL people!

In my years of serving as a pastor, one of my pitfalls was trying to be good at every aspect of my life and ministry. I wanted to be a great husband, dad, teacher, leader, preacher, brother, uncle, neighbor, writer, etc., etc. ad infinitum...

This is a path to burnout, and I've experienced that trauma! As a result, I've learned a few things over the years; there's always someone smarter, quicker, funnier, more effective, more creative [this list could go on-and-on].

I initially left seminary without graduating primarily because I didn’t like the competitive environment on campus [I later graduated from a different seminary.].  

I never excelled in sports partly because I didn’t have that ‘killer instinct’. If I got a lead, I would lay back – and occasionally lose the game as a result. 

For years, ministry was hard for me because I was not the ‘High Dominant’ type of leader.  Going to conferences where they asked us to fill out personality profiles made me groan.  Those with scores in ‘High D’ were praised and encouraged. Most of the content of those seminars seemed targeted toward them. I was a ‘High C’ = Cooperative Leader.  I’m the guy that wanted us all to cross the finish line together!  I was the traditional misfit! 

I remember a night when I was leading a council meeting at one of my latter churches.  We had about twelve at the table.  I had given a presentation about significant change for the church that I believed would facilitate growth.  I considered it a ‘seed-planting’ presentation, however, the council members seemed to readily embrace the ideas.  In a short time, it was vigorously discussed with many favorable thoughts shared.  As the end of our meeting time approached, people knew that I would end the meeting at 9:00 PM promptly.  In those final moments, a new leader made a motion to accept my proposal in its entirety.  We voted – and it passed - with three members abstaining.  I chose to end the meeting encouraging the council to pray about this matter and that we would vote again at the next month’s session.  As I prepared to adjourn the meeting, one of those who had a lot of questions about the changes, interrupted me.  He said, “Pastor, why don’t you pray about it right now and then take another vote.  So, I prayed for God’s direction and for clarity regarding the future of our church.  Then I reluctantly called for a revote by paper ballot.  The decision to move forward was unanimous – with no abstentions!  

Within the next three years our congregation exploded with growth!  PTL!  We all crossed the finish line together! 

‘High C’ leaders can be effective!  Their process however, typically takes more time – but the results are sometimes more permanent. 

But, I digress.

A primary problem for male pastors [I’ll leave the issue for female pastors to someone of that gender] is that out of our great desire to be the ideal leader, there is a temptation to conceal imperfections and failure rather than confessing them. This leads to living behind a façade.  While ministry activity is carried on satisfactorily – even exceptionally – the pastor is hiding horrendous practices and behavior!  There are far too many headline stories that illustrate this point. And the Church is severely damaged in the process. Faith in pastors is undermined.

We’re left wondering how this pastor could have acted so corruptly?

The answer is, of course, quite simple.

A lack of accountability. The podium role is largely unquestioned. This is exacerbated by a growing church! Who can question success? Consequently, a pastor who starts out working hard, being diligent and with exceptional goals and effort can gradually come to think that s/he deserves certain benefits. Fill in the blank here. They create a caveat that allows them to do things that they would have never considered earlier in their ministry. 

And once begun, the escape route of confession and reparation becomes too difficult to face!  Until finally the marriage crumbles or the sin is exposed. From that point, the damage has to be assessed and dealt with. Many congregants will walk away disillusioned. The next waves of leadership will live under suspicion. Everyone loses!

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It’s personal for me! I have felt all of the above mentioned stresses and temptations. Although my official record is clean and clear, I know of the dalliances with sin that have dotted my life – as does God!. Thanks to the prayers and support of fellow pastors, parishioners, family and friends, I was able to repeatedly come to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace to help in my times of need! 

I made a decision fairly early in my life to lean toward transparency. I’ve talked openly throughout my ministry about difficult seasons and times of distress. I’ve repeatedly aired my struggles and talked about challenging seasons. I’ve paid to see counselors at least four times over the years!

I discovered something remarkable and unexpected from the practice of sharing openly about my tough times. It didn’t make people move away from me. Rather, it seemed to draw people toward me. The confession that I thought might damage my ministry often became something that caused my ministry to prosper! I still marvel at this.

What does this say?

It seems to say that we all struggle in many ways. We can identify with pain, discouragement, setbacks, opposition, meanness, unfairness, bad luck, disappointments, stress, being overwhelmed, even bad decisions or sinful behavior etc., etc. 

In spite of high expectations for our leaders, we also recognize that they – like us – are human. Even pastors.

Gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Help our pastors to learn to practice humility and transparency so that even in their weak times – which we all have – they can be enabled by grace to continue to lead with strength and humility!

For the Kingdom’s sake. Amen.

YOU READ MY JOURNAL? 😱

It occurred to me this morning as I read one of David’s psalms, that it would be very similar to someone finding our personal journal and reading it. 

The concept of keeping a diary is embedded in many cultures. What an amazing treasure are the endearing words of Anne Frank!  This image of a young girl [they seem more prone to diary-keeping than boys] confiding her deepest thoughts and observations into a diary and then keeping it hidden for fear of discovery is commonplace. 

But many have practiced this art form through the centuries, and continue to do so to this day. 

There is something that resides within many of us that yearns for expression.  To think the thoughts or hold the moments in our memories is not enough.  There is a compulsion to write it down, perhaps for future reflection or just for memory’s sake. 

Certainly David never dreamed that people would be reading his deepest thoughts and prayers three thousand years later!!!! 

Clearly, some of his writings came from younger years when his occupation was guarding his father’s sheep.  We also know that he was skilled to play various stringed instruments, so it isn’t difficult to imagine him playing and singing his songs for an audience of One!  It’s likely that Psalms 1 and 23 were created during this early period. 

Take a minute to think about the dynamic impact that Psalm 23 has had on multiple millions of readers over the centuries.  Its words offer us instruction, assurance, comfort and hope!  Many have committed it to memory because of its impact on their lives!

Later – as a young man – David was recommended to King Saul as a source of peaceful reflection to minister to his episodes of depression and rage.  This demonstration of music therapy clearly had an extremely positive impact on Saul – so much so that he kept David close as an available resource! 

Many have declared the benefits of having these many psalms of David.  In these writings, he expressed a massive variety of emotions before God.  He praises, honors, expresses joy, celebrates and worships.  However, we also find him:

• Crying out for help
• Raging against his enemies
• Manifesting despair
• Emoting anger
• Mourning his sinfulness
• Creatively expressing his devotion to God
• Calling down God’s justice on those who do evil

So many have found comfort and courage in David’s psalms!  The Holy Spirit conveniently located them in the very middle of our Bibles so that if we open it halfway, we are likely to be in the middle of the psalms! 

This is the book from which pastors and liturgists draw most of their ‘Calls to Worship’ and ‘Responsive Readings’. 

We admire David’s wisdom in expressing himself so openly and candidly throughout his life! He has given us a literary treasure of untold wealth! 

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Have you discovered the value of writing or recording your thoughts, concerns, joys, sorrows, prayers and feelings? 

Word processing and storage systems have taken this practice to new levels. Although some may still utilize books and journals for these purposes, many have opted for more contemporary methods.

I recently was privileged to teach – for a series of weeks – a women’s Bible study group. In one of the lessons, I shared a very personal practice that I have adapted over the years.

I frequently type out prayers in the early morning hours of my day. These are VERY PRIVATE prayers that are only between me and God! I confess my sins and call on Him for help in reforming me. I spare no details. It’s raw. I am painfully open and honest with Him. Remarkably, it’s a healing process for me. It helps me to remember how corrupt and dependent on His grace I am!

----------------------------- And when my devotional time is over, I delete the document!

 

You see, I’m not much different from the young girl who hides her diary so that no one will discover her secret thoughts and desires. 

I am not proud of the ways that I fail my Savior. I had such high spiritual expectations as a young man entering the ministry. Back in that day, we held our ministers in high esteem. I was one of the youngest pastors in the Pittsburgh Conference. I tried to be fully supportive. I attended all the prescribed conference meetings.  At one of those meetings, an older, mature pastor gave a presentation on the topic of ‘eradication’.  It was a belief that existed in Free Methodism [and other ‘holiness’ groups] that taught that there were two works of grace for the believer.

The first work of grace was salvation. This was accepting Christ as our Savior!

The second work of grace was called sanctification. [Some would later define this in charismatic terms as being a result of being filled with the Holy Spirit.]  At the time of this teaching, we were taught that after one walked with God for a period of time, He simply eradicates [deletes] our sinful nature. 

I recall a very popular evangelist who held a revival in my home church.  While preaching on this theme, he declared publicly that he had not sinned in over ten years! I was a young teen at this time and remember thinking that he was teaching something untrue. I felt the same way as a young pastor sitting under the tutelage of one of our senior leaders. 

You see, my experience parallels that of David’s. I cleanse myself daily, yet find it difficult to remain clean all day.  Just as I wash my hands before supper, I find that I must repeatedly wash my mind and soul before God! 

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Well, this has gone on long enough.  Let me close with an observation that I’ve referenced before.  It comes from the life of the great Apostle Paul.

As a younger leader trying to establish himself as an apostle of equal standing with Peter James, John and the others, Paul repeatedly identified himself in letter after letter as an apostle. He was clearly attempting to gain acceptance and authority by repeating this claim. He was indirectly emphasizing the fact that he was God’s choice as the twelfth apostle!

 

“I, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ…”            [Romans 1:1, I Corinthians 1:1, II Corinthians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:1, I Thessalonians 2:6,         I Timothy 1:1, II Timothy 1:1, Titus 1:1]

 

 

However, as Paul matured in his faith and as a leader, his proclamation exhibited a tone of significant humility:

 

I Corinthians 15:9

For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

 

 

Toward the end of his life, Paul focused on maturing younger leaders in the realization that Christ may not return during his lifetime. In writing to his young protégé, Timothy, he made a remarkable confession

 

I Timothy 2:15

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.”:

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God our Father,

Jesus our Savior, and

Holy Spirit our Helper,

Thank You for Your marvelous grace!

Thank You for being SO WILLING to forgive us repeatedly!

Help us to avoid the sin of presumption and spiritual pride.

Remind us persistently that pride goes before a great fall.

Give us wisdom to see You more clearly,

To love You more dearly!

And to follow You more nearly!

AMEN

AN OLD TESTAMENT STORY

The book of I Kings begins with a pathetic story that includes peculiar details.

Ahab had been an evil king over Israel [the northern tribes].  His wife, Jezebel, was a case-study in haughtiness and hatred!  Unfortunately, they ruled for a lengthy time – twenty-two years! Then, his son – Ahaziah – became king. 

Ahaziah apparently had a bad fall in the upper chambers of his residence.

He sent messengers and told them, ‘Go ask Baal-Zebub, god of Ekron, if I will recover from my injuries.’ 

[I Kings 1:2]

[All quotes from NCV unless otherwise noted]

God intervened by sending an angel to Elijah, the prophet, telling him to intercept these messengers.  When Elijah did so, he asked them why they were going to ask questions of Baal-Zebub, god of Ekron? 

“Is it because you think there is no God in Israel?” [v.3] 

Then Elijah told them to tell the king that he will not recover from his fall.

Upon receiving this message, Ahaziah sent fifty men to bring Elijah back to him.  When they arrived, their captain said, Man of God, the king says, ‘Come down!” [v.9].

Elijah’s response was:

“If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty men.”  [v.10] 

That’s exactly what happened!

So Ahaziah sent another group of fifty men on the same mission.  The scene simply repeated itself!

Ahaziah sent a third group of fifty men.  Their captain was terrified and fell on his knees begging Elijah for mercy. 

God’s angel told Elijah to go with the captain.  Upon arriving, he delivered his message to Ahaziah, confronting him for ignoring the fact that there was a God in Israel!  Shortly after Elijah’s visit, Ahaziah died!

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Strange story – don’t you think?

What should we take from it?

It may simply be evidence that God desires obedience and recognition!  God will not be ignored.

After reading this chapter, I researched the kings of Israel and discovered that seven of its kings reigned for two years or less and they were all described as having displeased God!

• Nadab – 2 years
• Elah – 2 years
• Zimri – 7 days
• Ahaziah – 2 years
• Zecharaiah – 6 months
• Shallum – 1 month
• Pekahiah – 2 years

Was God trying to guide Israel back into the fold?

Many are unaware that Israel [after the kingdom divided] had nineteen kings and THE Bible clearly announces that ALL OF THEM DISPLEASED GOD!

In contrast, Judah [after the kingdom divided] had twenty-one kings and the Bible declares that twelve of them displeased God!  Of these twelve evil kings, six had relatively short terms:

• Abijah – 3 years
• Ahaziah [different from the one in Israel] – 1 year
• Amon – 2 years
• Jehoahaz – 3 months
• Jehoiachin – 3 months
• Gedaliah – 2 months

Meanwhile, kings of Judah that the Bible clearly declares as having pleased God seemed to enjoy longer terms:

• Asa – ruled 41 years
• Jehohaphat – ruled 25 years
• Joash – ruled 40 years
• Amaziah – 29 years
• Uzziah – 52 years
• Hezekiah – 29 years
• Josiah – 31 years

THIS BEGS THE QUESTION:

If Ahaziah – king of Israel – had responded to Elijah’s correction, would he have lived a longer life and enabled Israel to prosper?

My answer is implied, but you get to consider the evidence and make up your own mind!

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A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY UPDATE:

God wants to be a part of your life!  He wants to be your first love!  He is trying to get your attention! He does not respond well to being ignored!

However, your response to God should not be one of fear.  We should not serve Him in hopes of living a long life. We serve Him to please Him and fulfill His purposes in our lives.  Serving God is a joyful expression of our love for Him and gratitude to Him! 

A DEBT OF GRATITUDE

We continue to commemorate the post-resurrection days of our Lord Jesus.  If you count off forty days, you identify Ascension Day [May 29^th this year - Thursday].  Traditionally, we count off ten more days to arrive at Pentecost Sunday [June 8^th this year]. These ten days approximate the period of time that the [reportedly] 120 followers gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem waiting for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.

The Church has traditionally recognized Pentecost as the close of the Easter season and the beginning of the longest liturgical season of the year – ending in November when the Advent Season restarts the church year!  It is frequently referred to as ‘Ordinary Time’ and encourages the Church to focus on the life and teachings of Jesus. 

So, you see, today we continue to celebrate the most holy season of the year as we anticipate the birth of the New Testament Church on Pentecost Sunday!

All of the above is – of course – a pattern given to us by the tradition of the church over many years of observation and practice!  Nowhere are these practices laid out for us in scripture.  Many churches do not give any recognition to these liturgical elements. 

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It does, however, merit our attention to reflect on the massive work done by the apostles and church leaders during those first three hundred years. They did not have the benefit of years of reflection and practice to draw upon!  In the earliest years there was surely some floundering for understanding and queries about how to move forward. 

The Christological debates were clearly foremost in their minds.  How did this happen? How did God come down to earth? How could Jesus have been God?  The traditions that we consider as resolute had to be thought through thoroughly with much debate and long-term consideration before they became accepted as authoritative guidance for the Church! 

Things that we consider orthodox had to be distilled.  Things like the virgin birth had to be discerned, debated and declared as official doctrine.  There was a strong counter-belief that Jesus was a man that God ‘adopted’ to be the ‘Son of God’.  They debated among themselves when this ‘adoption’ took place.

o   Was it when Jesus was baptized – clearly a special moment when God spoke from the heavens?

o   Or was it when He took Peter, James and John up the mountain of transfiguration – another special moment graced by Moses and Elijah as well as the spoke words of God?

The Church nearly divided over a debate that argued that Jesus was not eternal as the Father was. Just the observation of a triune God had to be thought through and accepted!  This was one of the primary reasons for the next major conference – the Council of Nicea [in 325 A.D.].

The Council of Nicaea was the first council in the history of the Christian church that was intended to address the entire body of believers. It was convened by the emperor Constantine to resolve the controversy of Arianism, a doctrine that held that Christ was not divine but was a created being. The council deemed Arianism a heresy and enshrined the divinity of Christ by invoking the term homoousios (Greek: “of one substance”) in a statement of faith known as the Creed of Nicaea.

 

The Council of Chalcedon was called by the emperor Marcion and met in modern-day Turkey [451 A.D.].  It was well-attended and exceptionally well documented. It approved the earlier Nicean Creed and created its own creedal statement – known as the Chalcedonian Creed.  It determined that:

“We all teach harmoniously [that he is] the same perfect in godhead, the same perfect in manhood, truly God and truly man, the same of a reasonable soul and body; homoousios with the Father in godhead, and the same homoousios with us in manhood ... acknowledged in two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation.” 

 We may scoff at these ideas and wonder about their naiveté in considering such proposals, however, we have the benefit of their deliberations at our disposal. All consequent generations benefit from the painful, deep, theological ruminations that took place in these first three hundred years! 

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Gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Some of us have never appropriately thanked You for the spiritual leaders who worked so diligently to understand the deep workings that You initiated with the Incarnation! 

Surely You were vigorously at work to protect the Truth and expose erroneous thinking.

This guiding work persisted through three full centuries before the Church finally discerned the Truth that we now hold as precious and dear! 

However, even today there are attempts to undermine the fundamental truths of our faith!  Continue to raise up apologists to respond to these challenges to our spiritual/biblical foundations!     

Protect Your Church!

Guide Your Church!

Embolden Your Church!

Stir in Your followers a similar desire to expand Your Kingdom to the ends of the earth!

FOR YOUR KINGDOM’S SAKE!

AMEN!

MOM

It’s remarkable to me that I have written far more about my dad than I have about my mom.  As much as I loved and respected my dad, he was far less engaged with me than my mom was.  She was clearly the primary parent – the real molder and shaper of who I was to become.

She died in 1981 from complications related to her heart.  She lived long enough for our daughter, Tracie, to be born and even held her once.  Unfortunately, neither Troy nor Tracie have any memories of her.  However, she doted on Travis when given the opportunity and went to extremes to influence him. 

She amazed me in so many ways! 

She always knew when I was faking sickness because I didn’t want to go to school [probably because of a test or not having my homework finished].  She would take my temperature and tell me to go ahead and go. Then she would add that if I still felt badly later in the morning, have the nurse call and she would come to bring me home. 

She had been raised in a Scottish Presbyterian home and then aligned with the Free Methodists after marrying my dad.  I wonder if there were any discussions about that?  It certainly represented a pretty significant theological change. 

The Free Methodists during that time were practicing a very legalistic form of faith.  It could probably be best described by a statement I read in a Tim Hansel book:

“Christians don’t dance.
Christians don’t drink.
Christians don’t swear.
Christians don’t smoke…and
Christians don’t like each other.” [Holy Sweat, p.107]

A group of women quickly took my mom to the back of the sanctuary and told her that to be a good Free Methodist, she would have to remove her diamond ring.  My dad had bought that beautiful ‘basket-weave’ ring at a ‘close-out’ auction on 7^th Avenue in Beaver Falls.  But she removed it and tucked it away in her dresser for the next forty years! 

Eventually, her eyes were opened to the foolishness of her actions when she became active with a vibrant group of Christian businesswomen who wore exceptionally nice clothes and excessively beautiful jewelry.  Her comment to my dad was: “Leonard, these women are so full of the Holy Spirit!, and they really know how to pray!”   

The ring came out and she wore it until 1973, when she gave it to her poor son to use as his engagement gift to his fiancé.  😉  [to read that blog article: https://hal-lelujah.blogspot.com/2011/12/engagement.html]

She was a proud home-maker! Her day was spent doing the laundry, cleaning the house, preparing meals, and raising her family!  Married August 17, 1934, their first child – Jeannette - came along in February of 1937.  Ira followed in 1940. Beverly was born in 1944.  And I was their only baby-boomer, born in January, 1952.  The parenting role that began in 1937 finally came to a conclusion in 1969 when I graduated from high school and left home.  That’s thirty-two years she invested in raising, training and releasing us! 

Her extra-curricular activities were centered around serving the church.  She held many roles over the years:

o Sunday School teacher,
o Cradle Roll Director
o Women’s Missionary Society [WMS] president
o Pittsburgh Conference WMS president for a number of years
o She was an elected delegate [twice] to the Free Methodist National WMS Conference
o As WMS Director, she developed an evangelism program referred to as ‘Coffee-Cup Evangelism’ and promoted it aggressively across the Pittsburgh Conference

Although my dad said the prayer before our evening meal each night, my mom was clearly the spiritual leader of our home!  It was she who taught each of us to pray at the side of our bed!  It was she who built excitement in us as ‘the Lord’s Day’ approached!  It was she who modeled a love for God’s Word constantly before our eyes! 

For many years, she kept a plastic loaf of bread on our table that was filled with small cards that included verses from the Bible.  Someone would be delegated to draw out a card and read it before our evening meal.

Her outstanding gift was hospitality!  I often wonder who wound up with her ‘Guest Book’?  It was a long list of missionaries and denominational leaders who had stayed in our home or eaten at our table!  Most Sundays, our table was filled with guests and opened to its full length!  She had done as much preparation on Saturday evening as possible [potatoes were ALWAYS peeled and covered with water on Saturday evenings]!

Oh yes! Part of her Scottish Presbyterian background included a strict observance of the Lord’s Day!  In our home, there was no television, no games, no outdoor playing on Sundays.  It was a challenge growing up in that environment.  Eventually, dad decided that we could watch television after returning home from the evening service.  I also recall a few times that he took me out in the front yard and threw a ball with me; I’m sure my mom was not happy about that! 

She was also a staunch prohibitionist!  She was a member of the Prohibitionist Party.  She was a leader in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union [WCTU].  !  [For a humorous story see: https://hal-lelujah.blogspot.com/2011/12/egg-nog.html]

But her strong belief system anchored each of us.  All four of us lived out our faith by following in the ways that she had initiated in our lives

After the death of both of my parents, I was gifted with their Bibles.  My mom’s are a treasure-chest of notes, dates and observations.  She went through two, with the first one being given a home-made cover with pockets to hold all of her prayer lists.  She believed in the power of prayer!  Of all the things that she modeled for me – THIS IS THE MOST VALUABLE!  She believed in prayer and practiced it!  Her faith was childlike!  She prayed about all things!  Her Bible is stuffed with lists of people that she had promised to pray for!  I always knew that her prayers followed me!

_____________________________________

Not many folks remember my mom.  I was only 29 when she died!  I know she was proud of me being in the ministry. 

After all these years, I confess that I don’t consciously think of her every day.  That makes me sad, since her impact was so dominant! 

But I do recall that after graduation, I was ready to leave the nest.  Even at the young age of seventeen, I was ready to spread my wings.  Thanks to her foundation-building, I never strayed far from the path she set my feet on. 

I have several pictures of her in my study.  When I examine those pictures, I do so with the knowledge that she set my feet firmly on the path that I still continue following.  Essentially, she’s the one who led me to the Lord!  She wanted me to know Him intimately and modeled a godly life for me faithfully! 

Thanks, Mom!  I’m looking forward to seeing you again someday – probably not too far off!  I love You! 

Your youngest, [the baby] 😊

Harold

 

PS  -  Don’t be confused if you hear a bunch of people referring to me as Hal.  After you and dad were gone I shortened my name a bit.  But I’m still your son!  ❤

 

PPS  -   I mostly remember my mom as being robust woman.  However, her diabetes and heart problems eventually caused her to lose a lot of weight.  She ultimately became quite frail.  A lot of the pictures that remain are of her and dad camping.  They LOVED their little camping trailer and being part of the ‘Happy Wanderers’ camping club!  Eventually, they brought their camper to the Tri-State Campground each year for Family Camp!