Ahhhh...Romans!

I’m gearing up for Romans!

So far, I’ve amassed 16 commentaries and 8 sets of study notes for Romans. Some of these include works by Swindoll, Sproul, Stott, MacArthur, McGee, Moo, Carroll, Luther, Constable, and E.F. Harrison, to name a few. Tony (Providence Jeff. City campus pastor) and BP have got a few more that I will be able to share as well!  Online commentaries are a great resource, too. There I will likely tap into works by divines like Calvin, Wesley, Charles Hodge, and Schaff among others. Even early church guys like Chrysostom, Thomas Aquinas, and Augustine have commentaries on Romans that are available online! Awesome.

Sketch of Luther translating the
NT into German in Wartburg Castle

I’m also dusting off my Greek resources and tools. My desk is a heap! A big, beautiful heap. I just want to be kidnapped and confined in Wartburg Castle (that’s a Luther reference) with my Bibles & books so that I can marinate alone in all the truth! Yikes!...I’m shaking my head trying to wake up from the preacher-nerd trance. This is the kind of studying that I love most.

The actual desk where Luther worked.

Ahhhh... Romans. I’ve been scared and intimidated, but since going public that we’re going to do it, I’m becoming more and more excited. While I was in seminary John MacArthur came to speak and was asked during a Q&A about preaching through Romans. He quipped that a pastor should not attempt such a feat until he is at least 45 years old! It occurred to me last year when I was sensing God’s pleasure regarding us doing Romans that...that’s my age. Coincidence?

Wartburg Castle today
(and yes, that's where Wartburg,
Tennessee got its name)

Seriously, here’s the danger that many pastors fail to avoid: getting too caught up in delicious theological detail. Romans is to expositors what the Great Smokies are to botanists: a rich garden of interesting discoveries waiting to be found. I’ve been surveying how other pastors have led their congregations through Paul’s great letter. Most of them focused on doctrine and quoted lots of old theologians (see my list of commentators above!) and bored their people to death! What a shame!!! In the words of Young Life founder Jim Rayburn, “It is a sin to bore kids with the Gospel.” I would say it is also sinful to bore adults with the Gospel. And that’s what Romans is essentially about: The Good News—why we need it, how we get it, who makes it happen, and what happens to the lives of those who find it. Is it practical? Oh yes...yes it is.

And it offers our church many great opportunities to invite friends. Something that makes Providence different is our dogged commitment to creating an environment where new folks will feel at home. We do this in order to remove barriers so that people can hear the Good News. We’re going to work extra to make sure this is the case during Romans. Providence folks: build relationships and bring your friends. We’ll do our job. You do yours!

And God will do his.

Final Journey Post!

Whew.

It was awesome. And it was (for me anyway) really, really challenging. In fact, I feel like I’ve graduated or something. Many months before 2012 began (23 in fact) I heard of a church in another state that went through the whole Bible in a year together. I was so impressed and thought, “That would be so good for us!” But my next thought was, “But I’m not sure I can preach through the Bible in a year.” Frankly, I was flat out scared. It would be an epic challenge. I know...people don’t want to hear pastors talk about how hard it is to preach; so I’ll keep my whining to a minimum. But I’m telling you, about September, I was feeling as close to burnout as I’ve ever felt (as evidenced by the lack of posts since then!). I love to study God’s Word. Love it. I love to share its riches and wisdom and truth with others. This Journey was so different, however. The 30,000-foot perspective was a great discipline for me as a reader and a teacher for many reasons:

• It forced me to focus on the big themes: who God is and how he works, his plan and his providence.
• It helped me see and communicate how well the Old and New Testaments fit together.
• It solidified in me certain doctrinal beliefs I’ve held:
• God’s sovereignty in all matters.
• The reason for pain and evil, and the necessity of our own suffering.
• The wonder of God’s grace, and our unworthiness of it.
• The meaning and supremacy of the atonement of Christ.
• The exceeding goodness of the Good News.
• The way all things will end, and how to better interpret apocalyptic passages.
• The uniqueness and wonder and mystery and inerrancy of God’s Word.

The discipline of reading (and for me, studying) large swaths of the Bible each week was hugely beneficial.

• It kept my thoughts on God and his thoughts. I’m amazed by him and love him more.
• It served as a constant positive “pressure” to be disciplined.
• It gave so many great opportunities to have spiritual conversations with my family and others.

But I’ve got to say, I’m so glad it’s over.

• I’ll have much more time. My study time was ridiculous during 2012. Probably 35 hours a week on average (I know, but I’m not as smart as others). It just took that much time to read and digest the passages, then outline them and determine main themes & applications, then see what scholars/commentaries say (to make sure I wasn’t off base), and then reduce the content to manageable size and make it understandable. I’ve gained 12 lbs. this year because I virtually stopped running (it’s the first thing to go when I get short on time) and I’m grossly out-of-shape. I’m going to be much more pleasant to my kids on the weekends and will get back to enjoying some things I didn’t do much of (fishing, hunting, hiking, going to ballgames, working in the garden, working on our cars, house, etc.). The staff at church will see me more. My small group will get their leader back. I’ll be a better pastor. I’ll be a better son, friend, husband, dad, and neighbor. (Man, I’m a whiner!)
• You’ll get out of church on time. Believe me, nobody was more stressed than me about going 50 (or sometimes more!) minutes. On many weeks I would be up Saturday night until 2:00am trying to cut content, and then be hoarse from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday from talking too long. It was exhausting, and I hated myself for going too long. I would promise the staff that I would be shorter...only to make myself a liar.
• I’m looking forward to putting away the telescope and getting out the microscope.
  Bite-sizes are so much more enjoyable, and perhaps more beneficial. We’ll get back to this “proper portion” size the first week of February when we start Romans. And there’s not a better time for Romans—after grasping the whole Bible! I can't wait!

So many people have said that God used the Journey to deepen them in 2012. I’m thankful. I definitely think we did right by attempting this crazy thing! But I’m glad it’s over. Now I pray that God will move all of us forward as we become more conformed to his image.

Thanks, Lord, for how you’ve worked. Please grow us more. Please grow me more. 

The Home Stretch

A long time ago in high school I ran track. As a sprinter, I loved the 100 and 200 (it was 220 yards back then). But occasionally, my coach asked me to run the 1/4 mile (i.e., the 440 yard dash—a couple of steps longer than the 400 meters in today's track meets).

My track team from 1985. I'm a junior. Third from the left on the bottom row.

It was brutal! One lap around the track at full speed. I can remember what it was like to turn the final corner and see the finish line. Back then they would stretch "the tape" across the finish line and the winner got the privilege of "breaking the tape." So there it was, the tape just glimmered there at the end of the home stretch. My legs would be burning, my lungs hurting, and every muscle in my body strained forward for that tape. Interestingly, it is in the last 100 yards (or, um...meters) that the race is usually won or lost. That’s where you find out two things: who has the best training and who has the most determination. No matter how much I was hurting or how far I was behind, the thought of quitting was out of the question! “What, after I have come so far? Are you crazy?” I rarely finished first, but the satisfaction of knowing I had given it my all was worth more than a blue ribbon or medal.

In case you're wondering, that's not me--it's the
very humble Usain Bolt breaking the tape.

The Journey 2012 is now in the home stretch. I can see the tape. We have one more month. I try not to whine, but this has been the most difficult year of teaching for me in my life! Just the reading alone has been tough. If you struggle to read the average 23-or-so chapters each week, I get to read them multiple times and then read what the various commentaries say! Don't get me wrong, I've loved it. But those of you at Providence know how hard it is for me to speak concisely. Imagine trying to do that while teaching entire books (vis. 1 and 2 Corinthians as we’re doing this week! Impossible! It took us over 2 years to cover these books before!).

I’m chuckling as I notice I haven’t written a blog post since September! It’s just been too busy. The Journey has been great—perhaps the best thing we’ve ever done together as a church! The last month’s material (most of the New Testament!) is the focus of 80% of the sermons of most evangelical preachers and churches! And we’re going to cover it in 5 Sundays!? Insane.

Hang in there. If you've given up, just read the book of 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians is on the plan for next week. We can see the tape at the finish. Let’s all be able to say in 31 days, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2Tim. 4:7). It has been awesome. But I can’t wait to celebrate once things are finished!

Farewell Eccentric Ezekiel

Several months ago I saw Ezekiel coming on the horizon. The book seemed foreboding. I read it and didn’t understand it at first (not that I completely understand it now!). Frankly, I dreaded having to teach from it. I put off choosing “working titles” to share with other staff who were also working on Journey related stuff because I just couldn’t get settled. As the time grew closer, I became consumed with the “weird and wonderful” book (as one of my Ezekiel commentaries call it). Now, I’m kinda sad to see it go.

I love to immerse myself in what I'm studying. Ezekiel has been fun in this regard. From beginning to end there are opportunities for this. I’d love to share a couple of examples so that you know what I mean:

In the early part of Ezekiel (chapter four) God told him to live exclusively on a peculiar kind of bread. Did you know that you can actually get it in the grocery store? I bought some “Ezekiel 4:9 Bread” and have been eating it for a couple of weeks. I’d never heard of it before receiving an email from a person doing the Journey 2012 along with us online. She said that the bread (made from the ingredients found in Ezek. 4:9) is a "Bible food that is among the most perfect foods ever devised for human beings because the recipe was made by God." "In fact" a website she quoted says, "the bread recipe that God gave to Ezekeil (sic.) is a survival bread." This bread is called “holy” and is supposed to be a perfect food, since Ezekiel "lived on that Holy bread for over a year"! I found the bread in the frozen food section at Ingles in Karns! On the package it describes itself using words like “miracle” and “staff of life.” How did I not know about this?!

Of course, I immediately had questions like, “Did they cook it over dung?” and “Wasn’t it supposed to be a meager bread to illustrate the suffering of besieged Jerusalem?” But that’s just me nitpicking. I actually liked the bread (as long as it was smothered with butter and honey)! And Darla really liked it! I can’t say I’ve noticed any laudatory affects from eating it, miraculous or otherwise.

The other way I immersed myself in Ezekiel is to set myself to study the over-the-top description of the future temple that God revealed at the end of the book. After reading it over the first time, I wondered, “Why is there so much written about this?” It just seemed so, well, unnecessary (perhaps even boring). I didn’t go there on a Sunday morning because I simply didn’t have time to scratch the itch when there were so many other major themes that demanded attention but it is very interesting! I especially enjoyed reading a book entitled, Messiah's Coming Temple: Ezekiel's Prophetic Vision of the Future Temple, by John W. Schmitt and J. Carl Laney. Excellent!

On his website, Schmitt writes:

Almost six chapters in the book of Ezekiel are devoted to an explicit description of the Temple. His eyes must have flooded with tears of joy as he saw before him the beloved altar of sacrifice and the beautiful Temple building with its two golden pillars before the Holy Place and Holy of Holies. However, most amazing to him: some historically essential elements of temple worship were missing.
In addition, the structure itself was different; the walls were much lower; the inner and outer courts were strikingly different. The most astonishing change, however, was...to the furnishings.
There was no Candlestick, no Table of Shewbread, no Golden Altar, no Veil, and no Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat. In their place was a wooden table before a door into the Holy of Holies. This table of wood is very surprising. It is evident that the information surprised Ezekiel, for he twice mentions it in his writings. He must have also wondered a great deal about the meaning of these missing items since he was a priest and trained to be knowledgeable on all aspects of the Temple and its worship.
It is particularly noteworthy that the items Ezekiel left out all reflect the presence of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world” – the Candlestick. Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life” – the Table of Shewbread. Jesus said, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me” – the Golden Altar. Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” – the Mercy Seat. The Bible tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, the Veil was torn from top to bottom – providing all people access to God.

Wow! Pretty cool, huh? In the book there is much more, from the history of the Temple Mount and the current squabbles over it between Jews and Muslims to what the authors believe the Bible teaches about the role of Ezekiel’s temple in the end times.

You know, Ezekiel ended up really surprising me. I only wish we had more time to really dig in! But, alas, here comes Joel and Daniel...!

The Tyre Quagmire

When I was in college I took a class entitled "The Old Testament Prophets." The professor (an ordained minister and super-nice guy) took it on himself to make sure we students were aware that the Bible was, in his opinion, "unreliable." He used Ezekiel 26 as his primary example. He read verses 3-14:

Artist's rendition of Alexander the Great's siege against Tyre

  "Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
"For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.
They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more. I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, for I am the LORD; I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD."

This, he said, was a clear example of biblical fallibility since history shows that Nebuchadnezzar was unsuccessful in his attempt to conquer Tyre, an island city 1/2 mile from the shore in the Mediterranean. He even quoted some other passages from Ezekiel where he said Ezekiel "backed-off" his earlier prophecies about Tyre when he saw they had not been fulfilled.

I left class that day feeling discouraged. He had argued persuasively. I was asking myself, "Do I need to reevaluate my understanding of the Bible? Is it really true? Or are there some parts that are imaginative, speculative, or worse, deceptive? How can I believe any of it if any part is flawed?" I was reeling. After all, if parts of Ezekiel are untrustworthy, how can I know John 3:16 is true?

I got in my truck after class to grab lunch and drive to Knoxville where I worked. My radio was tuned to a religious station and I caught the beginning of Thru the Bible Radio with J. Vernon McGee (something I occasionally listened to). He "just happened" to be talking about Ezekiel 26 that day! I couldn't believe it! On that show he pointed out details in the text that my professor had (conveniently?) overlooked. He also told about Alexander the Great, who with his Greek army (one of the "many nations" who God would "bring up against" Tyre) also besieged Tyre. They quite literally used the ruins of Old Tyre, the part of Tyre that was on the mainland—actually scraping the soil—and threw the rubble into the Mediterranean to make a causeway—a land bridge—to the island city so that Alexander could conquer it! I was amazed, elated, and mad. Before my next class I did some research. I checked the facts for myself and found that McGee was right. Several non-Christian sources confirmed the historical account of Tyre's demise. And I read Ezekiel's account with my own eyes (along with some help from my Ryrie Study Bible notes) and saw the amazing accuracy of the prophecy—down to the details! Far from being an example of inaccuracy, this was an amazing testimony to the Bible's dependability—and a reminder: God means what he says. A quick trip to the campus library uncovered much more about the "many nations" that were brought up against Tyre. Interestingly, ancient Tyre remains ruins to this day. It has never been rebuilt. Ezekiel's prophecy could hardly have been more literally fulfilled.

I went back to class loaded for bear. After his lecture I engaged the professor, sharing with the class what I had learned of Ezekiel 26 and the rest of the story of Tyre's history. Funny, he didn't want to talk about it. He quickly cut off any discussion and dismissed the class! Although I felt victorious, it was also frustrating! Why would a Christian religion professor and minister seek to undermine the veracity of the Bible in the minds of college students? Why not celebrate the accuracy of the Word? It's still a mystery to me.

Here is an article about the supposed "difficulty" regarding Ezekiel 26. Read it and see what you think!