A reader took issue with me recently, saying that me pointing out things related to a teacher’s lifestyle is hitting below the belt, is wrong, and now she has to wonder at my heart motivations.
This kind of discussion often comes up when I post about a false teacher’s lifestyle. People seem to think that their lifestyle is off-limits while only comparing their doctrine is acceptable. That is what being a Berean is all about, look at doctrine only, they say. Lifestyle is off the plate and not our business.
For me, the lone tree speaks of God’s wonderful handiwork, not only representing His gift of nature, but brings to mind that His redeemed are not alone, but safely tucked within His Might eternally. And as the brilliance of the sun pierces boldly through the dark-ending of the storm, one thought leads me to another — remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection. Then speaks to His beloved redeemed: the “things” of this world are now more clearly seen through the light of His Salvation! We must daily pause to remember…
This is my last day of summer. In fact, yesterday really was. Today I have a church event for 2/3 of the day. And tomorrow is the Lord’s Day.
It was a good and relaxing time of peace and quiet. I work 190 days a year in school, spread out, but the summer is the longest break educators have. I try to put the time to Godly use, making the most of my singleness. (1 Corinthians 7:32).
I had some goals I’d set out in May at the last day of school/first day of summer. I think it’s good to set goals. Reagan Rose of Redeeming Productivity has a lot of helpful essays and podcasts teaching how to be productive, if you’re interested. My father always used to say “A body in motion tends to stay in motion, a body at rest tends to stay at rest.” (Newtons’ First Law of Thermodynamics). And boy is that true of me and my flesh! It doesn’t want to do anything. That is why I set goals. AN unmet goal drives me crazy and being driven crazy keeps me in motion.
I’ve read some books that were good, some that were bad, some that were forgettable, and some that were unforgettable. Two of them in the unforgettable category have been
From Death to Life: How Sanctification Works, by Allen S. Nelson IV. Fantastic book.
Internet Inferno: A Contemporary Warning and Reminder Regarding this Ancient Truth – “The Tongue is a Fire, the Very World of Iniquity, and is Set on Fire by Hell” James 3:6,” by Michael John Beasley. Digestible and convicting treatment on social media and the Christian.
And now this summer I add a third book in the unforgettable category: Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop. It’s not a surprise to anyone that times we live in are bringing much sorrow, grief, and confusion. I was asked if I had written any blogs on how to biblically lament. I hadn’t but it was a GREAT question I sought to rectify immediately. I “happened” to have Vroegop’s book on lament, so I read it and wrote a three part series. Vroegop’s book was helpful in understanding the elements of lamenting, how complaints can be OK (with a caveat), and how through grief, we can trust.
I love the Puritans and I love studying about them. At Media Gratiae (The Means of Grace) they have some wonderful documentaries, and of course essays, podcasts, and a store. For my summer gift to myself, I bought the Documentary Puritan in streaming form. It’s a 2-hour documentary, and includes 35 different, shorter lessons focusing on various Puritan man, women, and topics.
I watched 21 of the short bios, I have 15 more to go. So I didn’t quite make it through all of them but I watched 2/3 of them and found the videos edifying. I loved them. I’ll continue.
I did finish my Institute for Church leadership course at The Master’s Seminary (online). The course was Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, with John Street. Those videos were sprinkled in with the Puritan ones, so having both those goals going on at the same time seemed to be a bit much for my poor brain to take in.
Open Hearts in a Closed World (OHCW) is an online conference founded by Brooke Bartz. Over the 3 years since the conference was founded, we’ve been blessed by music from CityAlight and The Master’s University Praise Band, hosts such as Media Gratiae, the Master’s Seminary and American Gospel TV, and from teachers such as Susan Heck, Brooke Bartz, Erin Coates, and Martha Peace. That’s quite something!
I like all the teaching from everybody on the schedule that Brooke presents to us. It’s all good. This year Martha Peace’s teaching stood out to me. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and educational time. Her video is here. It is called “Developing Godly Character.”
Our church watched the 2019 documentary American Gospel 2: Christ Crucified. It’s a PHENOMENAL documentary. The film is a masterpiece of truth, and a hugely beneficent gift to the church. SO many of us were edified, left revived with gushes to share with family and friends, convicted over our sins, unified in our understanding. THANK YOU, Director Brandon Kimber! The film’s blurb says:
“The gospel message of “Christ crucified” has always been offensive. In our culture it is common for preachers to soften the offense of the cross, and the attributes of God that are displayed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. “American Gospel: Christ Crucified” explores how the paths of post-modernism and progressive Christianity lead to a different gospel, and a god created in our own image. “But we preach Christ Crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness…” (1 Cor. 1:23)”
We often hear the phrase, “Jesus died for our sins.” What does that mean?
Is the God of the Old Testament the same as the God in the New Testament?
Did God the Father kill Jesus?
Can a loving God also express wrath?
Why is hell necessary?”
The pacing, the graphics, the interviewees…all so fantastic. Going through those complex doctrines together is so helpful for our church and progresses us toward not only unity among ourselves (which is GREAT) but a growing love for Christ. The day we all watched that together was one of the best days of the summer.
I like to kick back after a day of writing and absorbing Godly content with some good ole TV. I like well-written, well-acted shows, with nice scenery and clean of skin, cleavage, yelling, quick cuts, (the yelling and quick cuts leaves out most cooking competitions), and no profanity. Ha. I’m looking for a unicorn.
Bu unicorns exist. Just not in America. I found three shows I love, one is Japanese and two are Korean.
Old Enough is a long-running Japanese show of many years. Netflix has acquired the latest season. Toddlers aged 3 and up are sent on their first errand alone. They’re told to go to the store to get tofu, or to bring some mandarins to a neighbor down the street or bring Daddy his lunch. At first it seems ridiculous to watch toddlers toddle off into the world alone, crossing streets, having to remember the list of things mommy told them to get (usually two or three). But it turns out that Japan’s cities are designed for pedestrians, set in small communities with small shops, where everyone knows everyone. In addition, a cadre of crew from the show surround the kids in the form of cameramen, and fake pedestrians, gardeners, electrical workers, etc. The child isn’t alone at all. It’s a lighthearted fun, cute show of about 20 minutes each episode. Rated G!
Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha are two Korean dramas, or K-dramas in the lingo. I liked Attorney Woo because I like lawyer shows with court cases. It’s interesting to see how Korean courts work. Woo is autistic, and it’s the best show I’ve seen that accurately depicts a life of an autistic person, with all the intentional insults, unintentional slights, marginalization, and difficulties of the autistic person’s life and also the the life of the people around her. Though the show does it subtly and is not the total focus by any means. The show is good at subtlety with developing characters during the season, too. No profanity, skin, sexual innuendo, or really anything to object to. The elderly are honored, the clothes cover, education is prized, politeness is expected…Ahhhh.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a romantic comedy (subtle comedy, not guffaw har har). A dentist resigns from her big city job in Seoul for various reasons to move to the sticks to open an dental clinic. The show presents the difficulties of changing her mindset from big city, high income, credible reputation to small town community, being involved with people not just patients, and lower reputation (Koreans apparently have a high regard for education and if you attend University you’re expected to do something huge with it). She meets a cute guy who seems to be a simple laborer and she resists on that basis, but learns there’s much more to him along the way and also about life’s priorities.
Netflix has an enormous cadre of Korean shows. You can watch them either dubbed into English or with subtitles.
I’ll Fly Away is simply the best TV show ever made in my opinion. It was SO GOOD it only lasted two seasons. (1991-1993). It stars Sam Waterston pre-Law & Order role. IMDB has the info here.
A reviewer summarized the plot: “This was a sensitive, complex series about a family struggling with the complexities of life in a small Georgia town during the Civil Rights Movement. It was ably acted by the entire cast, beautifully written. Never cloying, always intelligent.” So of course they cancelled it. It is not available on any streaming platform, but as of this writing you can see it on Youtube. The Network did allow for a concluding two hour TV movie to tie up loose ends, which was as expected, well done and satisfying. The entire series plus movie is available below, except for the 1st episode, which you can find as of this writing, below the video below.
Brooklyn Bridge is another well received, well done 1990s series that only lasted a short time Starring Marion Ross (Of Happy Days fame) and Amy Aquino, it is about a Jewish family in Brooklyn in the 1950s. The show evokes a sense of place, atmospheric and full of nostalgia, but more sensitively and realistically than Happy Days did. It’s just a plain old nice show. A Unicorn. On Youtube as well.
baba ganouj: I love making this Mediterranean dip in the air fryer. I let the eggplant cool, scrape the meat out and add lemon juice, tahini (peanut butter of I’m out), salt and blend. A hearty dip or a sandwich spread, it is one of the best things of my summer. After tomatoes!
One day I had too many grapes. So what do I do with them? I roasted them, of course! I figured out that if I roasted grapes the flavor intensifies. I topped my salmon steak with them and it added a sweet-tart flavor and juices that blended well with salmon. A new dish was born!
So that was summer. The best of! I hope you’re enjoying the warmer weather wherever you are and have an opportunity to get out and enjoy God’s green earth.
When I want to recalibrate, or refresh, or just bask in God, one of the ways I especially like pondering Him is His creation. It’s what got me started on the path to the cross when I was a pagan. I’d traveled far and wide, in a camper van, on a sailboat, ice breaker ferry, European train, airplane, hiked, walked, biked, and motorcycled the US, Canada, South America, and Europe.
I’d seen the regularity of the tides, the beauty of the waves, clouds from above, majestic mountains, a pine cone, Amazonian jungles, eclipses, sunsets, agate, white topped mountains of marble, granite hills, flamingos, dolphins, storms… I’d think, “This didn’t just happen by chance. This all is created.”
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men, of the same nature as you, preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these useless things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them. (Acts 14:14-15)
May you be blessed by the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 115:15).
The images coming back from the new James Webb telescope gives us pause. We see things no human has ever seen, we admire and we breathe out gasps at the majesty and beauty of our universe. The James Webb Space Telescope is a space telescope designed primarily to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its greatly improved infrared resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too early, distant, or faint for the Hubble Space Telescope, says the blurb about it. It is run by NASA.
Above, Two views of the Eagle Nebula’s “Pillars of Creation,” both taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The left shows the pillars in visible light; the right image was taken in infrared light. NASA, ESA/Hubble and the Hubble Heritage Team.
Above, this image, known as “Webb’s First Deep Field,” is the first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope. It is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institute / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO. The James Webb Space Telescope’s imagery of NGC 628 (the “Phantom Galaxy”) shows glowing dust in this citizen science image. (Image credit & caption: NASA/ESA/CSA/Judy Schmidt).
They call this the Ghost Galaxy. It looks like a wormhole. NGC 628 as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI/JUDY SCHMIDT
God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. (Genesis 1:16).
Here are some down to earth photos of God’s glorious creation, photos are winners in different categories of Nature Photography seen at Insider.com
Above, Monarch butterflies land on branches at Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, Calif., in 2021. Nic Coury/AP
Peter Lindel won the overall Nature Photography award for 2020 for “A Hare’s Dream” NPY 2020/ Peter Lindel/ GDT
In Titus 2:3-5, we read about the Lord’s exhortation for different believers in various demographics. Older men, older women, younger men, younger women, and slaves (today: employees). We can interpret that as a gift of a ministry to the older woman. It’s familiar. Let me post it:
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
But what if you’re not older yet? What do you do? You train for it. Younger women, if God grants a long life, you’ll be older someday, too. Get ready to be the older teaching the younger.
Deep was Ezra’s despair when on arriving within the walls of Jerusalem, after his desperate journey he discovered the condition of affairs existing there. G Euzet, Print taken from a book, copyright 1910
I’m looking at what the Bible says about lamenting, in three parts. Part 1 dealt with three biblical figures who allowed their grief to send them into depression, anger, and bitterness (Jacob, Mrs. Job, Naomi.)
In Part 2 I looked at the laments of 2 biblical figures, David and Job, and what they did right, according to God.
Today I will look at explaining more of what a lament is, and also the importance of music to help us when our deep grief turns to lamenting.
Yesterday I introduced the subject of lamenting. I looked at what happens when we allow grief to take over, and improperly expressed, can lead to depression, anger, or bitterness. I showed three biblical people who allowed that to happen: Jacob, Mrs. Job, and Naomi.
Today I’ll look at two biblical figures who expressed their grief in laments, properly, which even including complaining! David and Job.
“I am always on the hunt for podcast right now that talks about lament what does it look like to lament biblically? I am learning as I go through this grieving process.”
I received that message from a listener to The End Time Blog podcast. I am on various social media and as I scroll I inevitably see pain, grief, sorrow, anger, confusion, and fear. People are hurting right now. People are dealing with miscarriages, child death, parent dementia, accidents, tragedies, and dread diagnoses. The person above reached out asking about how to express grief in ways that would be honoring to God. What a great question.
We say things like “Oh no that’s lamentable” without really knowing what lament is. We see biblical characters putting ashes on their head and wearing sackcloth and think, “Gee, that’s kind of a weird way to grieve”. Sometimes we’re just embarrassed or struck silent at the outpouring of another’s grief and we stiffen up, or edge away.
How DO we express our grief? We know there is a right way to worship Him, is there a right way to lament? Is complaining acceptable, or not? Can we be angry at the things coming upon us? We are so tired of our own sin, and definitely tired of the waves of the world’s sin washing up on us. There’s nothing we can do about our own and others’ sin as long as we are in this flesh, except strive toward the prize, mourn, and strive some more. How do we keep depression, anger, or bitterness away?
It’s a big topic but I am going to tackle lamenting as best I can, in hopes that it will both honor Jesus, and help women who might be going through unimaginable pain. It will be probably 3 parts: what biblical figures did wrong in their grief, what biblical figures did right in their grief, and what lamenting is.
What not to do
God is orderly. He has a right way to do things and a wrong way. He demands worship, as well He should, but in proper, certain ways. He also expects self-control on our emotions. For example, we know we can be angry, but not sinfully angry (Ephesians 4:26). We know we can demand justice (Psalm 82:3, Isaiah 1:17) but only if our motivation is for God’s glory and not our own personal vengeance (Romans 12:19).
Since the first sin that caused the fall of humans and the entire creation to become cursed, which groans even now for redemption, sinful actions flowing out from the first action have caused grief.
Immediately after the Fall, we see all the sins begin to rear their head; lying, blame, guilt, jealousy, rebellion, and murder. Cain did not fear God. He argued with God and was irreverent with Him. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Soon after, he killed his brother.
A scene which is not in the Bible but probably happened, was depicted in the painting called The First Mourning (Adam and Eve mourn the death of Abel); oil on canvas 1888 by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Here it is:
When they discovered the body of their son lying lifeless on the ground, they must have mourned. They knew what death was, since God had killed an animal and given them its skins to wear for clothing. They must have killed animals in order to eat, since having been thrown out of the Garden. Abel was a keeper of sheep. Their death was graciously staved off, but their son! O, their son! Their original sin comes back to haunt them in an intimately devastating way.
We have been grieving ever since.
Grief and deep grief of lament, is laced throughout the Bible. Some of the causes for it are largely unimaginable for us westerners in this day and age. Not only in personally intimate scenes like the one with Abel’s death, but widespread. The Pharaoh who demanded the death of all the firstborn sons, what a horrible grief for all the mothers! And again in Ramah, when Herod ordered all boys under the age of two killed, known as the Massacre of the Innocents. I can’t imagine killing babies, and the wails of the mothers!
This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamenting and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.” Jeremiah 31:15.
How does one deal with that kind of grief? I’ve mourned in my life. The emotion swelled up into a ball in my spirit so massive it could not emerge from my throat constricted with tears. But it must emerge. Stoic suppression of such grief ruins a mind and a heart, poisons it. Constant petty venting of such grief allows for anger and bitterness to slide in. Wallowing in it caused depression. Let’s look at three biblical people who did this.
One example of a way not to deal with grief and anger might be Naomi, who was bitter.
But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?” (Ruth 1:20-21).
Naomi, hardened by life, grief, and want, was not only bitter, but she blamed God in her grief. This is not the way.
Naomi could not bear the contradiction between the name she bore, and the person she was. Ten years in Moab with all its anguish, and also the loss of fellowship with God and His people had dried up her finer feelings. Once so sweet, Naomi was now sour, and blamed God for the poverty and desolation she had endured. But why chide God? Was not her cup of bitterness the result of the act of disobedience when, with her husband, she left Bethlehem for Moab? Had she stayed in her own land and maintained her trust in God, in spite of the famine, He would have undertaken for her and her family and brought them through. But the journey to Moab was a journey from God, and consequently her bitterness was the fruit of such an act of disobedience. Source- The Woman Who Tasted the Cup of Bitterness, from Lockyer’s All the Named Women of the Bible
We know the story of Job. Satan demanded to show God that prosperous Job would cave in and blame God if He removed the hedge of protection around Job and suddenly Job was not prosperous anymore. Job never caved. But Mrs. Job did.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Mrs. Job had had enough. Remember, Mrs. Job had lost all her ten children, too. She was grieving. But her grief turned to anger against God and against her husband. Ladies, this should not be.
Improper grief can lead not only to anger or bitterness, but also depression. When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had ‘died’ (he was really put into a pit then sold as a slave so the death report was a lie).
So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. (Genesis 37:34-35).
Jacob sunk into a depression that only looked downward into Sheol (the grave) instead of up to God. He outwardly mourned in the way his customs dictated, with sackcloth and ashes. But his inner spirit was broken and he refused to be comforted. He had 11 other sons, but they did not matter to him as much as the favorite Joseph. Jacob never really recovered … until many years later the brothers returned from Egypt and told their father that Joseph was alive. THEN his spirit revived. (Genesis 45:26-27). Wrongly expressed grief can turn to depression.
All three did exactly the wrong thing: they focused on their circumstances, and for a long time too. They nursed the circumstances. They did not look to God.
Grief is perfectly fine as an emotion. Jesus was the Man of Sorrows. He wept for Lazarus. He wept for Jerusalem. But grief wrongly expressed can dishonor God, as Naomi, Jacob, and Mrs. Job did.
Grief Expressed outwardly
The Bible has plenty of scenes where people mourned a death and expressed that outwardly in their custom. Covered heads, sackcloth, torn clothes, ashes, loud cries, and weeping are main expressions of deep grief. Sometimes they refrained from washing or stripped their jeweled adornments off. They may have sat barefoot on the ground with hands on their head, as Job did and his friends with him. Sometimes hired mourners were brought in who cried and wailed. But that was then, it is not our custom now.
And what of the inward expression? How do we deal with such massive grief in a God-honoring way? How do we let it out and not let it turn to bitterness or anger or depression? The difference between grief and lamentation is that lamentation is the voice of grief, and it is a process of grieving. Grief you feel. Lamenting you do.
We will see tomorrow some biblical figures who lamented and did not dishonor God in their grief.
Our teaching elder read this portion of scripture prior to the sermon. It made me smile and my soul expand with joy. I thought I’d post it so that I could read it aloud too, in hopes that someone else may also be lifted by the glorious words promising such great hope and wonder. It’s all ahead for us, sisters. It will happen!
Kay Cude is a poet whose sensitivity to the glorious salvation of Jesus Christ is uniquely expressed through poetry and picture. Here is her latest offering, in which she explains her thought process. Enjoy
—————————–Kay Cude—————————–
If you look closely at the tower, you’ll see a tiny figure of someone, which refers to the statement, “As gazed I o’er the valley fair, to there below from tower high.”
That little figure caught my eye, as well as the city lighted up and the storm approaching from the left (approaching spiritual death). So I began to write. The city represents the safety of true salvation in Christ and understanding His Gospel.
The people represent those captured by a “different gospel” suggested as the “real” place of safety. Even though they “know” God’s truth — they are persuaded to run to false teaching and reject Christ.
Christ’s refuge is known to them and still stands in its truth, but when extreme peril approaches, they are convinced by someone’s whim (spiritual deception), to flee to eternal death and separation. Even the donkey digs in his heels against the “unknown” way,” and the dog barks at their sudden rejection.
Their end is eternal separation and eternal living death because they quickly deserted Christ’s truth for a distorted gospel.
the-end-time.org 