The Never-Ending Transmission

The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.  Deuteronomy 8:1-4

Well...it finally happened.  What I knew was coming but had hoped to avoid.  Last week I had to take the van in to have the transmission replaced...or so I thought.  As it turns out this is a really incredible story.
When we bought this van about 5 years ago we knew this type of van had a history of the transmission going out so it's not like we were unprepared; but then are you ever really financially prepared to replace a transmission? Tanya and I had been debating about whether to replace it or just get a new van.  Either decision was more than likely more than we could afford.
The van had been giving us signs for the last few weeks that its days were numbered.  It would back out of the driveway just fine and then when you shifted to drive you would just sit there, sometimes for as long as a minute waiting for the transmission to engage.  Finally, Tanya drove it to work a few weeks ago and couldn't get it to stay engaged long enough to come home, so the kids and I had to go get her.  By the time we got there, I drove it around the lot a couple of times and it was working fine.  It had this tendency that it would work after it warmed up (Tanya had been driving it around the parking lot while waiting for us).  Nevertheless, it was time to make the call.  I called the transmission shop and my dad and made an appointment for that Thursday.  As it turned out we had an opportunity to take it on Tuesday afternoon so we decided to do it then.  I had to drive 35 miles an hour all the way there.  The transmission would no longer shift into the higher gears.  That was just the beginning of the good news!  That's right, that's what I said.  That's good news.  Here is the rest of the good news:
-When I say good news that means that we had an opportunity to take it there ourselves (no towing charges) and Tanya wasn't stranded anywhere.  It was no longer driveable so it had to go into the shop anyway, yet we had just enough to get it there.
-The transmission didn't need to be replaced.  It needed a part replace which only cost $350.  This was much better than the $900 they had told me on the phone.
-We took it on Tuesday even though they weren't scheduled to look at it until Thursday.  I picked it up on Thursday.  Two days early!  Who has ever heard of that!
-As I went to pay for the services I was asking the service man questions about the van, expressing my relief that it hadn't had to be replaced and he told me a couple of other things.  He said they had stopped the transmission leak.  I had forgotten all about that!  I had noticed that the van was leaking transmission fluid on my garage floor for a long time now.  I quickly asked if that had caused the problem.  He said not but that it was a symptom of what they had fixed.  No more transmission fluid on my garage floor!
-He also said they reset a warning light that was related to the transmission.  This is the biggest news of all.  When Tanya drove the van home the engine light was off.  It had been on for several years now. When it first came on I had it checked and they said it was something to do with emissions and it wasn't important.

So to sum up here's what really happened, several years ago our engine warning light came on and it may or may not have been related to the transmission.  My van had been leaking transmission fluid which was itself insignificant.  For years, even though we knew of it's issues, the history, the warning light and the transmission fluid, this van had been driving us to places both near and far for years!  It broke down at a time when it was most convenient.  We had another family in the church's van to borrow.  We had the time to take it.  It didn't have to be towed in.  Tanya and I were rejoicing in all these blessings of God related to this vehicle!
I was reminded of the above verses in Deuteronomy 8, when God provided for the people of Israel and they didn't even know it.  God asks them to "remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you".  Then in verse four, He says, "Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years."
God not only does it with shoes, He does it with van's also!

Song for A New Year

I heard this song this morning and fell in love with the lyrics.  It's by Josh Garrels and called "Farther Along".  I thought it would be a great thing to hear at the beginning of a New Year

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We'll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves 'em both
We're all cast-aways in need of rope
Hangin' on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I've seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin' that line back home

So much more to life than we've been told
It's full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
Wash away all the things you've done
Forgiveness alright

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We'll understand this, all by and by

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin' for my soul
And I've got no place left go
'Cause I got changed by what I've been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin' on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I'm free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I'll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levees and my bluffs
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
'Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the Son of God is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we're the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon 

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
So, cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We'll understand this, all by and by

Necessity of the Deity of Christ

While preparing a Christmas message, I began to ask myself again why was it necessary that the Christ child be divine for the purpose of salvation?  I discovered this rather lengthy but significant paragraph by someone named Ligon Duncan.  (See the entire page at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resources/apologetics/deity_of_christ.htm)

The Significance of Christ's Deity

    The Westminster Larger Catechism asks in Question 38: "Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God?" It wisely and biblically answers: "It was requisite that the Mediator should be God, that He might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death; give worth and efficacy to His sufferings, obedience, and intercession; and so satisfy God's justice, procure His favour, purchase a peculiar people, give His Spirit to them; conquer all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation."  Herein we may detect at least eight theological reasons for the indispensability of the deity of our Lord.  (1) Christ's divinity was necessary to bear the force of the atonement.  The weight of the wrath of God, for the sins of the world, is so great that no mere mortal could have borne it.  It was Christ's lot to drink that cup to its bitter dregs.  Only a divine Savior could have survived it.  (2) Christ's divinity was necessary to imbue His mediatorial labors with limitless value.   An almost infinite satisfaction was due God in view of the sins of humanity.  No finite being could pay such a price and thus answer the full requirements of strict covenantal justice.  (3) Christ's divinity was necessary to quit God's punitive wrath.  The covenant of works required perfect and personal obedience, upon penalty of death.  The consequent defection of Adam and Eve from their covenantal obligation plunged the whole race into an age-long rebellion against God.  Only the Father's costly sacrifice of His beloved only begotten Son was adequate fulfill the just sentence due us all from the Almighty.  (4) Christ's divinity was necessary to secure the Father's favor.  Not because God had to be forced or coaxed to love his people.  Not at all.  Indeed, the atonement did not "make" God love us, but rather is the expression of his love and indispensable condition of his covenantal favor towards us.  Nevertheless, once God set His love on us to redeem us, an infinite penalty and positive righteousness was required to secure His eternal benediction.   Such an accomplishment required the divine Savior.  (5) Christ's divinity was necessary to redeem a people for Himself.  The divine Christ literally purchased His people.   Christ earned our salvation.  We are saved by works: His works!  Only a divine Savior could have paid the costly purchase price for redeeming us from our bondage to sin and death.  (6) Christ's divinity was necessary for the pouring out of the Spirit on His people.  It was essential that our salvation be both accomplished and applied.   Christ told His disciples that it was necessary that He ascend to the right hand of the Father in order to send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).  Only the eternal God-man holds the right to send the Spirit where He will, that His salvation might be applied to all His people.  (7) Christ's divinity was necessary for the conquest of all His people's enemies. Our Lord, the Captain of our Salvation, not only made satisfaction for the condemning power of sin, but also decisively destroyed the might of Satan, the world and death.  This destructive work of redemption required the infinite capacities of the divine Captain of the Hosts of the Lord.  (8) Christ's divinity was necessary to accomplish our everlasting salvation.   Our eternal blessedness essentially consists in the enjoyment of our Savior.   He is not only the author of our redemption, He is the matter of it.  He is not merely the means of our salvation, He is the goal of it.  In glory we are not only made happy by Him, but in Him.  Only a divine Savior could serve as the great fountain of blessedness for all redeemed humanity.

Not Much of a Shopper

I'm not really much of a shopper.  Well, my wife would say that I am nothing like a shopper.  In fact, it drains me physically, mentally, and emotionally.  I hate it.
Last night, I was out with the kids looking for something to do so I thought we should go to a department store and I would do some Christmas scouting.  Note that I said "scouting", not shopping.  This is what I call just getting an idea of what you might want to buy when Christmas does come.  This way you don't have to do any shopping.  This way you can go Christmas hunting--you know, you already know what you want so you go and get it.

Needless to say, it seems that it's been a long time since I've been in any store where you can buy anything besides food.  I couldn't believe all the cool stuff that I suddenly had to have.  Everything I saw was bigger, better, brighter, cooler, faster, newer, updated, slicker, smoother, tougher, longer-lasting, fresher, larger, quicker, shinier, and I just had to have it.

I know that these stores spend millions of dollars researching how to make all these products attractive and make them appeal to me to spend my money on them, I can't believe it worked.  There was part of me that wanted to buy that stuff without really thinking about whether or not I needed it.  The thing that really stopped me was that I knew I didn't have the money for all that stuff; but I can also see why people can get so deep into debt on their credit cards.  My advice to them:  STAY OUT OF THE STORE!  You don't really need any of that stuff but it sure looks good, sitting there on the shelf with the huge features and the small price tag. 

I am again reminded of what Jesus says in Luke, "man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions".  That is something that I am incredibly grateful for.

Faith in Men

I'm not sure what I'm learning, but what I'm seeing is troubling.  In the last few weeks, I have had two men whom I would consider friends, men who have filled my pulpit, fall from their ministries.  I must say it has been very disturbing for me.  I considered them both to be better men, better pastors, better husbands and fathers than I.  I have often said, "That will never happen to me", when I see these things on tv; but now, these are men I know and respected and they have fallen.  I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it.  I have found in the past that how I feel about it usually depends on their attitude towards their sin.  If they are willing to step down from ministry and repent then I usually can forgive.  But if they deny and go on as if nothing has happened, how I feel about them is much different.

Is this how God feels about our sin?  As long as we repent and confess, He is willing to forgive?  I believe it is.  How many sins are there in my life that I am denying and hiding and pretending don't exist?
1 John 1:8-10-If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5-And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, ⁴and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Tozer on solitude

I wanted to use this space today to share some thoughts I read this morning from A.W. Tozer on prayer from an article called "Let's Cultivate Simplicity and Solitude".
Retire from the world each day to some private spot, even if it be only the bedroom. Stay in the secret place till the surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart and a sense of God's presence envelops you. Deliberately tune out the unpleasant sounds and come out of your closet determined not to hear them. Listen for the inward Voice till you learn to recognize it. Stop trying to compete with others. Give yourself to God and then be what and who you are without regard to what others think. Reduce your interests to a few. Don't try to know what will be of no service to you. Avoid the digest type of mind--short bits of unrelated facts, cute stories and bright sayings. Learn to pray inwardly every moment. After a while you can do this even while you work. Practice candor, childlike honesty, humility. Pray for a single eye. Read less, but read more of what is important to your inner life. Never let your mind remain scattered for very long. Call home your roving thoughts. Gaze on Christ with the eyes of your soul. Practice spiritual concentration.

Thoughts on 30 Days of Prayer

Our church is now 10 days in to our "30 Days of Prayer" and I thought I should share some of my observations regarding my prayer life from that time.  The first thing I have noticed is that without deliberate intention my patterns will not change just by thinking or hoping they will.  (This is probably true of any habit.)  But I have also noticed an increased intent and expectation of prayer times.  Instead of something I "have" to do they become something that I "get" to do.  Instead of the rote recitation of a list it has become a time of fellowship, silence and sitting still long enough to hear what God might have to say. 

Last Sunday, in my Sunday school class, we discussed the miracles that God may be doing everyday that we don't notice.  Yesterday, Tanya and the kids went to Indianapolis and she called me about two hours after leaving and said that someone had hit her at an intersection and that the other driver didn't stop.  As it turns out, the reason that he didn't stop is because he didn't hit her.  Tanya is certain that she felt the car being "pushed" by something.  As she describes it, there was no way that he didn't hit her.  We finally decided that God had performed a miracle and "pushed" her car out of the way of the other car.
1 Chronicles 16:11-12

Seek the Lord and his strength;

seek his presence continually!

 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,

his miracles and the judgments he uttered.