Some Thoughts

From Calvin’s Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life (p37-38):

If anyone, therefore, appears before you who is in need of your kind services, you have no reason to refuse him your help.

Suppose he is a stranger; yet the Lord has pressed his own stamp on him and made him as one of your family, and he forbids you to despise your own flesh and blood. Suppose he is despicable and worthless; yet the Lord has deigned him worthy to be adorned with his own image. Suppose that you have no obligation toward him for services; yet the Lord has made him as it were his substitute, so that you have obligation for numerous and unforgettable benefits. Suppose that he is unworthy of your least exertion; but the image of God which recommends him to you deserves that you surrender yourself and all your possessions to him.

If he has deserved no kindness, but just the opposite, because he has maddened you with his injuries and insults, even this is no reason why you should not surround him with your affection and show him all sorts of favors.

You may say that he has deserved a very different treatment, but what does the Lord command but to forgive all men their offenses and to charge them against himself?

No, all men may not be our brothers in Christ, but they are brothers in Adam. There is a simple and profound dignity to being made in God’s image, possessed of every human, which demands our respect and affirmation. The annoying waitress has unfathomable worth in God’s eyes. The rude customer service representative may have never heard a single word of kindness or respect spoken to him in his life. Perhaps the awkward neighbor has never had someone listen to him patiently while looking him in the eye.

The image of God they bear deserves, even demands, far better.

The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals [money], would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could be safely trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.

October

1. John Owen, The Holy Spirit (Works, Volume 3) (at 650 pps, this one took a while!)
2. John Fesko, The Rule of Love

November

1. Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation
2. Collection, Luther and Calvin On Secular Authority
3. Robert Godfrey, John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor

December

1. Collection, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology
2. G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith : A Study Guide
3. David Hall, Calvin in the Public Square
4. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

Brief comments on the above, if you’re interested, are available here.

Below is the text from an email I sent out to our families and our church recently regarding Megan’s pregnancy with baby #2 (not Ethan).

Dear family and friends,

It appears that the Lord, in his goodness and wisdom, has decided to call our little one home.

We accept this hard providence as good for the baby, and good for our family (Romans 8:28 [show] [28]And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)
). We also echo the words of Job: “Shall we receive good from the Lord, and not receive [hardship] also?”

There are important decisions to be made now regarding Megan’s health, namely, whether to wait for a natural passing of the baby or to perform a medical procedure to accomplish this. There are risks and benefits to both options; please pray that He would grant us wisdom and patience as we work through the next steps.

“The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Thank you for praying with us.

In His Sovereign grip,
Aron, Megan, and Ethan Gahagan

As best as we can tell, the baby was about 6-8 weeks into the pregnancy. I hadn’t posted the news here yet, but for those who knew about the pregnancy and about Megan’s complications, we do appreciate everyone’s prayers. We embrace this outcome as the Lord’s answer to our prayers – may it never be said that “He did not answer” them. Our pastor visited us recently and read Psalm 139 [show] O LORD, you have searched me and known me! [2]You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. [3]You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. [4]Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. [5]You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. [6]Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. [7]Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? [8]If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! [9]If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [10]even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. [11]If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," [12]even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. [13]For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. [14]I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. [15]My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. [16]Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. [17]How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! [18]If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. [19]Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! [20]They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain! [21]Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? [22]I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. [23]Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! [24]And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
, which had been a great comfort to us during the complications. Through tears, he reminded us that this child was not “taken too soon”, but lived out his full life in the plan of God. We were much comforted by the following verses especially:

15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

As we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, the infant King, we are truly sorrowful, and yet abundantly joyful. “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away – blessed be the name of the Lord!”

This past Sunday was the 2nd Sunday of Advent, the ‘Sunday of Judgment’. Our pastor put together some suggestions for how to celebrate Advent in family worship, which I’ve found very edifying. The suggested readings for the ‘Sunday of Judgement’ were Isaiah 11:1-5 [show] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. [2]And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. [3]And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, [4]but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. [5]Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
with John 1:1-14 [show] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2]He was in the beginning with God. [3]All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4]In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5]The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [6]There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7]He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. [8]He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. [9]The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. [10]He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. [11]He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. [12]But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, [13]who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. [14]And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)
, and Revelation 20:11-21 [show] [11]Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. [12]And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [13]And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. [14]Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15]And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (ESV)
:8. What stuck out to me most was Revelation 21:3 [show] [3]And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (ESV)
:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

The first thing that jumped out was that the “dwelling place of God is with man” – immediately I thought of that theme throughout all of Scripture, beginning in the Garden of Eden. Then the next verse about God being our God, and we being his people – also a recurring covenantal theme running back through Moses to Abraham and back to the protoevangelion (the ‘seed promise’ of the gospel), when God’s first gracious act was to “put enmity between” the enemy and his son, Adam (that happens by Adam becoming ‘his people’ again, and not the enemy’s). And yet, the context of all this Edenic ambiance is judgment. I almost felt guilty for focusing on a ‘side dish’ of the text – but then I remembered that the only way Eden could be restored is by Christ fulfilling what Adam failed to do, namely, purge the temple. This passage is about the final purging of the cosmic temple – the climax of history when Christ consummates what he inaugurated at Calvary – the cleansing of God’s cosmic ‘garden-temple’. That only happens through judgement – judgement that remains for any and all who are not in Christ, for Christ has already borne the full weight of God’s wrath for all those who are His – the wrath of God has been satisfied.

And yet, judgement remains. Living now, between the ‘first judgement’ (of the Church, in Christ) and the ‘second judgement’ (of the enemies of God), I’m reminded of the very first Scripture Christ read when he began his ministry, after his temptation in the wilderness:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21 [show] [16]And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. [17]And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, [18]"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, [19]to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." [20]And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. [21]And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (ESV)
)

In reading this passage, he put a period where there was a comma (so to speak) in the text: the passage from Isaiah continues, “…and the day of vengeance of our God…” The day of judgement as come “already” and the day of judgement has “not yet” come. As I wonder at the first Advent of Christ I am thankful that it means  ”God and sinners [are] reconciled.” And it points me forward to the second Advent of Christ, terrible as it will be, when the final judgement will cleanse the cosmic temple, and “God’s dwelling place will be with men” and “we will be his people, and He shall be our God.” It will be “a great and terrible day of the Lord,” but “even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!”

This post by Kevin DeYoung is well worth the read: The Gospel Old and New – thoughts welcome.

UPDATE: The post above was apparently provoked by A Letter to Non-Believers* by Shane Claibourne, published in Esquire.

*For whatever it’s worth, there is no such thing as a “non-believer”. There are only believers and unbelievers. “Non-believer” implies some kind of neutrality on the question of the true God’s existence, whereas Romans 1:18-23 [show] [18]For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19]For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20]For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21]For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22]Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23]and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (ESV)
teaches us that all men know God – but suppress that knowledge in unrighteousness (by denying it). The existence and attributes of God are clearly revealed to all “so that they are without excuse” (Gr., anapologētos – i.e., “without an argument”). There are no sidelines in this game – everyone plays, and you’re either for Him or against Him (Matthew 12:30 [show] [30]Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (ESV)
, Luke 9:50 [show] [50]But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you." (ESV)
).

The whole gospel of Karl Marx can be summed up in a single sentence: Hate the man who is better off than you are. Never under any circumstances admit that his success may be due to his own efforts, to the productive contribution he has made to the whole community. Always attribute his success to the exploitation, the cheating, the more or less open robbery of others.

Never under any circumstances admit that your own failure may be owing to your own weaknesses, or that the failure of anyone else may be due to his own defects — his laziness, incompetence, improvidence, or stupidity. Never believe in the honesty or disinterestedness of anyone who disagrees with you.

This basic hatred is the heart of Marxism. This is its animating force. You can throw away the dialectical materialism, the Hegelian framework, the technical jargon, the “scientific” analysis, and millions of pretentious words, and you still have the core: the implacable hatred and envy that are the raison d’être for all the rest.

Here also is the root of political correctness – the “Critical Theory” of the Frankfurt School.

(HT: Mises Ec0nomics Blog)

Our son Ethan doesn’t always enjoy his car seat. By trial and error, we’ve discovered a few hymns that seem to calm him down almost immediately. The problem is that we don’t always remember the right lyrics (we often improvise, which certainly gets us laughing, but then he starts crying again!). So, I’ve decided to start assembling a smartphone-friendly list of hymns and their lyrics, which we can then bookmark on our phones and get to quickly in time of need. It’s available here, and you’re welcome to it. Point your phone’s browser to the index, capture a bookmark, and you’re good to go for hymns on the road!

I have 10 – let me know via comment or email if you’d like one.