Indescribable Gift

I love the story of the woman in Mark 5 who had a hemorrhage of blood. She had gone to many physicians of her day and spent all of the money she had but the problem had only grown worse. In her desperation she turned to Jesus. She only touched His cloak (vs. 27), but this was enough to instantly heal her.

It seems, from reading the text, that Jesus did not purposefully heal the woman. Think about that! What the human experts of her day could not do no matter how hard they tried, Jesus did without even trying.

It is doubtful that Jesus was born in the month of December, much less on December 25th. In a sense then, the association of his birth with this season is unintentional on his part, much like his healing of this woman’s issue of blood was unintentional.

And yet, just as he brought healing to this desperate woman in Mark 5, so too he brings love and peace and goodwill to this season.

Because we associate this time of year with his birth, this is a time when family ties are strengthened and when gifts of love are given — an imitation of the presents brought by the magi given so long ago.

But the ultimate gift associated with the birth of Christ was not the gold, nor the myrrh, nor the frankincense. It was the child Himself.

I like the way the Amplified Version renders 2 Corinthians 9.15: “Now thanks be to God for His Gift, [precious] beyond telling — His indescribable, inexpressible, free Gift!”

Sixty-Four Thousand Words

On Wednesday I wrapped up the rough draft of my dissertation, the working title of which is “Quick On His Feet, And Even Quicker In His Brain”: Lightning Joe Collins at War. Collins served as the commander of the 25th Infantry Division in Guadalcanal, before shifting to the European Theater and heading up VII Corps. He was the commander at Utah Beach, captured Cherbourg, and later busted the Allies out of Normandy.

Dr. Sutherland, my advisor at the University of Arkansas, has informed me that major revisions will not be needed. There are a few revisions I want to make, but hopefully it won’t be very long before I am ready to defend.

For what it’s worth, the rough draft was 64,004 words long, and 311,230 characters (not counting spaces).

As of November 7
Written: 196 pages; 10 chapters
To Go: 0 pages; 0 chapters

Unmet Goals

It was about the spring of 2004 that I began research for my dissertation. But work progressed very slowly, so slowly in fact that by the first of July I had only about 63 pages written. But suddenly I was spurred on and, however, and in the subsequent four months I have almost tripled that total.

Back in early August, after about five weeks of my suddenly frenetic pace, it occurred to me that I had a chance to finish the rough draft by Halloween. That was my goal.

Today is Halloween, and frankly, I have failed to meet that goal. My rough draft manuscript stands at 180 pages (with roughly 20 to go); eight of the ten chapters are written.

In spite of not meeting my goal, I am anything but depressed. Giddy would be a better description. I should be able to wrap up the rough draft by Thanksgiving. If you would have suggested to me that this was possible back at the beginning of July, I would have thought it was too good to be true.

There is something to be said for almost meeting lofty goals.

As of October 31
Written: 180 pages; 8 chapters
To Go: 20 pages; 2 chapters

Dissertation-o-Meter

Obviously I have not been blogging for the past few months. During this time I have (finally!) been making progress on writing my dissertation, a biographical study of the World War II career of Lightning Joe Collins, who commanded the 25th Division at Guadalcanal before commanding the VII Corps in Europe.

Though I realize this is a bit irrational, I am not real comfortable blogging while I am trying to wrap up my dissertation manuscript, as if my writing output is a zero-sum gain and blogging will delay completion of the dissertation.

My goal now is to complete the rough draft by Christmas. (Perhaps then I will blog again.) After the rough draft is finished, I will have to make some revisions, of course, but hopefully I will be able to walk and receive my diploma in May.

As of October 14
Written: 157 pages; 7 chapters
To Go: 43 pages; 3 chapters

As of September 25
Written: 144 pages; 7 chapters
To Go: 56 pages; 3 chapters

As of September 10
Written: 140 pages; 6 chapters
To Go: 60 pages; 4 chapters

As of August 21
Written: 124 pages; 5 chapters
To Go: 76 pages; 5 chapters

As of August 5
Written: 103 pages; 4 chapters
To Go: 97 pages; 6 chapters

As of July 20
Written: 82 pages; 4 chapters
To Go: 118 pages; 6 chapters

Superhuman Speed

One of my former students at the University of Arkansas, Tyson Gay, is currently the fastest man in the world in 2007. He recently ran the 100-meter dash in 9.84 seconds into a headwind.

Not only is this the fastest time in the 100-meter dash by anyone in the world this year, it ranks as the second-fastest time ever run into a headwind. The fastest time ever run into a headwind was by Maurice Green in 2001 when he ran a 9.82 into a headwind of 0.45 mph. Tyson ran his into a wind of 1.12 mph.

Tyson took my Western Civ II class in the spring of 2005. I gave the class the assignment of reading the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, in order to illustrate the Romantic time period. One of the interesting aspects of the novel is the way that Shelley actually portrays her monster, in contrast to the way the monster is perceived in popular culture. In our class discussion we talked about the monster’s characteristics. Tyson raised his hand; the thing which stuck out in his mind, naturally enough, was how fast the monster was:

“As I said this, I suddenly beheld the figure of a man, at some distance, advancing towards me with superhuman speed. He bounded over the crevices in the ice, among which I had walked with caution; …” (Frankenstein, Chapter 10)

Tyson Gay knows a thing or two about speed himself.

If Christians Were Like Christ

Ronald Sider, in his 2004 book The Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience, writes that “evangelical” Christians are about as likely as the population at large to view porn, have sex outside of marriage, exhibit racism, get divorced, and abuse their wives. Sadly, Jesus can still say, as he did in the days of old, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.” (Mark 7.6)

The word Christian carries the name Christ embedded in it. Peter said that Christ “suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2.21) How might things be different today, if Christians behaved more like Christ, and less like themselves?

What if Christians actually led lives of moral purity? Peter says in 1 Peter 2.22 that Jesus “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.” What if there were no more public scandals involving famous evangelists?

What if Christians, instead of dealing in gossip and obscenity, actually let their “speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt”? (Colossians 4.6) If gracious words fell from our lips, as they did from Christ’s, would not the world also speak well of us, and wonder? (Luke 4.22)

What if Christians actually placed no faith in earthly things? Jesus once told a rich young ruler to sell all that he had and to give to the poor. We try to rationalize away this scripture, forgetting that Christ himself was homeless and owned only the clothes on his back. What if we cared little for material possessions?

What if Christians actually turned the other cheek? This is another commandment we like to soften. But Peter says of Jesus that, “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats.” (1 Peter 2.23)

What if Christians had the same burning sense of urgency that their Lord possessed? “We must work the works of him who sent Me as long as it is day;” Jesus once said; “night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9.4)

What if Christians actually went about doing good? What if they spent the night in prayer? What if they actually told the truth, no matter the personal consequences? What if they were so familiar with scripture they could recall passages to help them fight daily battles? What if they reached out to the desperate?

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike Christ.” But what if Christians really were like Christ?

When Freemen Shall Stand

Sixty three years ago today, some of the finest young men that the democracies of Britain, Canada and the United States have ever produced were hurled against Adolf Hitler’s vaunted Atlantic Wall on the northern coast of France.

They did so at awful cost. On Omaha Beach (one of five landing sites) Americans lost 2,000 casualties that sixth day of June, in 1944. Casualties in the opening wave at Omaha Beach were especially appalling.

Many of the Americans killed that day and on days to come are buried in the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach. (The French government has turned the cemetery grounds into sovereign American territory, proof that the French are not as ungrateful as we sometimes suppose.)

A bronze statue representing the “Spirit of American Youth” stands guard over the 9,387 dead Americans, whose graves face westward to the country they left to defend but would never see again. In the unfamiliar fourth verse of the Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key speaks of occasions “when freemen shall stand between their loved home and the war's desolation.” That is what happened that deadly morning.

But it was not just for their own loved homes that these men of D-Day spilled their blood. Europe had fallen into "the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister … by the lights of perverted science," to borrow words from Churchill. That the Nazis had brought about a new Dark Age is undeniable; it is estimated that they murdered as many as 6 million Jews and as many as 5 million non-Jews. Such evil had to be stopped.

One of the most dramatic moments of the invasion came at Ponte du Hoc, when members of the 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled cliffs a hundred feet high to seek and destroy powerful German artillery pieces. Forty years later, President Ronald Reagan commemorated the event with a speech in which he said:

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there. These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender’s poem. You are men who in your “lives fought for life ... and left the vivid air signed with your honor.”

It is now 23 years since Reagan spoke those words and 63 years since the boys of Pointe du Hoc and their thousands of comrades stormed ashore and delivered a continent. We are left with the reminder that overcoming evil will always require the blood of good men.

Memorial Day

It is Memorial Day. We have much to remember, and much for which to be grateful. We live in a land of unsurpassed liberties and unparalleled riches. These have come at a heavy price — a price we did not have to pay. We enjoy good lives today because of what our our soldiers and sailors, airmen and Marines were willing to endure. Montgomery Gentry sings a song about a returning Vietnam veteran who asks:

Didn’t I burn? Didn’t I bleed enough for you? I faced your fears, felt pain so you won’t have to.

Not all veterans returned. Many gave what President Lincoln once referred to as the “last full measure of devotion.” A few days ago Paul Greenberg penned these eloquent words about our honored dead:
They are beyond it all now, the dead. They are beyond all the words, even beyond the slow, mournful sound of taps. They are beyond the muck and blood, too, thank God. Beyond the pain and death, the blood and pus, the anguish spoken and unspoken, the horror and, perhaps worse, the horror anticipated. They are beyond it all now, they who went down to the sea in ships and found themselves in peril on the sea. They are beyond the acrid smoke and heart-stopping fear, the calm courage and wild rage, the sweetness of life, the sorrow and pity of its loss. They have passed all that. They have passed.

Kohima, in northeast India, was the site of an important British victory against the Japanese during World War II. Many soldiers from the British Commonwealth, including large numbers of Indian troops, gave their lives in the fighting. Now there is a cemetery at Kohima, situated on a hillside and ringed by pine trees. In the cemetery there is a monument which contains the following inscription:

When you go home tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today.

How inadequate are the words "thank you." But what else is there to say?

Consequences

A couple of years ago I was driving my jeep (her name is Gracie) around on some back roads near my parents’ house. It was a beautiful day, I had the top down and was frankly driving faster than I should have been. I was driving on a gravel road and when I attempted to make a left-hand turn instead of turning I skidded pretty hard into a ditch.

Thankfully I was not hurt, though the same could not be same for Gracie. The most immediate problem was that rocks had been lodged between my tire and rim, giving me a flat tire. I had to put on my spare and take the tire in to get it repaired.

A problem of a more long-term time, however, occurred underneath the jeep. I bent a stabilizing arm which was connected to the front passenger-side wheel assembly.

I drove the jeep like this for the past couple of years, until finally the stabilizing arm broke loose several days ago. This necessitated a trip to the mechanic’s shop, and left me with a bill for $315.91.

That was $315.91 that would not have had to be spent on my jeep had I not been driving like an idiot. That amount of money would have purchased:

• 319 songs on iTunes

• 53 upper pavilion tickets at Turner Field for Braves Games

• 39 evening adult tickets at the Pinnacle Hills 12 Theater

• 37 meals at Panera Bread Company

• 23 adult tickets to the D-Day National WWII Museum in New Orleans

• 1 round trip airline ticket from Tulsa to Denver (with $41 to spare)

• all but $15 of a new 80-gig video iPod

Actions have consequences. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (Galatians 6.7)

Replacements for Jesus

In the novel Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor, there is a street preacher named Hazel Motes who preaches the “Church Without Christ” and speaks of the need for a “new jesus”:

“What you need is something to take the place of Jesus, something that would speak plain. The Church Without Christ don’t have a Jesus but it needs one! It needs a new jesus! It needs one that’s all man, without blood to waste, and it needs one that don’t look like any other man so you’ll look at him. Give me such a jesus, you people. Give me such a new jesus and you’ll see how far the Church Without Christ can go!” (p. 80)

A follower of Hazel’s named Enoch takes it upon himself to bring a “new jesus” to Hazel. The new messiah? A shrunken, 3-foot-long embalmed corpse, of a “dried yellow color.” (p. 56) Needless to say, the Church Without Christ did not go far.

Oh, but don't we like to try and find replacements for Christ? Don’t we place our trust in stock portfolios and IRAs? Don't we give our time to reality television, or shaving a couple of strokes off our golf games? Don't we seek happiness in buying more knick-knacks and baubles for our already cluttered houses?

And some of the things we try to replace Christ with are even worse, things such as drunkenness and carousing, porn and illicit sex—the very sorts of things which Paul warns in Galatians 6.21 will keep a person from inheriting the kingdom of God.

Whether a thing is wicked in its own right (porn) or merely neutral (shopping), when we turn to it in place of Christ, it becomes just as ugly and dead as the shrunken corpse which Enoch brought to Hazel. God said, of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son… hear ye him.” (Matt. 17.5)

“Go and tell John...”

In Matthew 11.2-3, we read these words: “Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

John the Baptist has been put in jail by Herod. The depraved Herod had stolen his brother’s wife and married her, and John—being a man of God—naturally condemned this wickedness. And so he found himself in prison.

It must be especially hard on John being cooped up in jail. He has spent his ministry out of doors, breathing in God’s good air and feeling the warmth of His sunshine. Now he is confined between four walls.

He has had a remarkable career; he has done magnificent things for God; he has prepared the path for Jesus himself; but John’s career, and his life, are almost over. And now he does something which is startling, something which almost disappoints us.

He sends messengers to Jesus to ask if Jesus is really the Messiah after all.

Some find this troubling. Why would John doubt now? Some even think that John wasn’t really doubting himself, but was simply asking on behalf of his own disciples, so they will start following Jesus. Others think John knew that Jesus was the Messiah but was impatient for him to reveal Himself and establish His kingdom.

But probably the best explanation is the most obvious. In the dark of night, in the narrowness of his cell, as he fears for his life, in a small dark corner of his mind, John begins to have doubts. He had gambled everything on Christ. Had he gambled his life for nothing?

There is no indication that Jesus was offended or troubled by John’s question. Though Christ was never shy about pointing out lacking faith when he encountered it, He does not accuse John of a lack of faith. Rather, Jesus soon launches into a discourse praising John, referring to him as something “more than a prophet” and declaring “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.” (vss 9, 11) Jesus did not hand out compliments lightly; His admiration for John was real.

The answer which Jesus gave to John’s question is particularly moving. When John’s emissaries asked if Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus replied:

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (11.4-6)

This was a coded message, containing snatches of Old Testament prophecy, from the book of Isaiah (chapter 35 and 61). This was the job description of the promised Messiah. John would have understood exactly what Jesus meant.

Jesus was affirming that He was indeed the Messiah. So John had chosen right. His gamble had paid off. He had risked his soul on Jesus and, though he was about to lose his life, he was about to gain everything. John’s career, his life, had not been in vain.

And so we are reminded of the trustworthiness of Christ. We too can build our lives upon Him—stake our souls upon Him. Thus Paul, not long before his own appointment with the executioner, could say:

“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1.12/KJV)

Stake everything on Jesus. Peter assures us that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4.12)

Used Book Store

Several months ago I went through a self-righteous anti-materialistic phase, the main feature of which was getting rid of about a third of my books. Most of the books I don’t miss. But one of the books I divested myself of was Clark Emery’s The World of Dylan Thomas, given to me by my kid sister on my 23rd birthday, when she was a precocious 17. I discovered that I missed the book, not so much for its scholarly merit, but because of its sentimental value.

Yesterday I went to the used book store on Dickson Street where I had sold the book, and there it was, with my name still written inside. The price was $7.50, and I bought it back. I don’t know how much credit I was given for the book when I sold it to the store, but I’m sure that I suffered a net loss of three or four dollars.

Would that all mistakes were undone so cheaply.

Sorry and Shabby

Today Arkansas fired Stan Heath.

Heath took over a depleted and broken Arkansas Razorback basketball program five seasons ago. During his first season (2003) the Hogs went 9-19, then improved their win total each of the next three years: 12-16, 18-12, and 22-10.

This past season, after having to replace a veteran corps of four guards (with 13 years of Razorback experience between them) with four new guards (with 0 years of Razorback experience between them), Heath’s team slipped slightly to 21-14, but still had the best performance in the SEC Tournament of any Razorback five since 2000.

Clearly there has been improvement. Clearly the improvement has come slowly, and I guess it was too slow for too many fans.

I too have had my own doubts as to whether Heath was the man to get the Razorbacks back to the level of national preeminence they enjoyed in the early 1990s (six Sweet 16s, three Final Fours, two championship game appearances, once championship between 1990 and 1996).

While I too was ready to throw Heath under the bus earlier in the season (during a stretch in which the Hogs lost nine of thirteen conference games) I changed my mind late in the season. This was partly because of a five-game winning streak the Hogs went on.

But it also had much to do with the incredible class and graciousness which Heath displayed. Just before his team went on its five-game winning streak—back when there were reports that Heath was as good as fired if he did not make the NCAA tournament—Heath was asked about his job security at a press conference.

“The sun is shining,” he said that day, according to the Associated Press. “It’s a bright and beautiful day. I’ve always been a positive person and had a lot of faith in God. That’s where my strength comes from. I want to coach basketball and have our guys play the right way.”

I became convinced (and remain so) that it would be unfair to fire the über-classy Heath while retaining the disreputable Houston Nutt as the football coach. I argued, here and here, ineffectually, to that effect. It is not just a matter of class; Heath also has a significantly better winning percentage (.629) during the past three years than does Nutt (.528).

If there were any lingering doubts as to Heath’s graciousness, they should be dispelled by checking out the interview he gave today following his firing. Apparently he had been led to believe that he would be retained as the coach, only to learn to the contrary today. Even still, he uttered no bitter words.

Who could have blamed him if he had? He has assembled a team which looks to be (assuming important players don’t begin defecting) the most talented squad Arkansas has had since its 1996 Sweet 16 team. But he will not be allowed to coach it.

The events of today have once again proven the old adage that life is not fair. That is a truth I accept intellectually, but never can quite bring myself to accept emotionally. I hope I never do.

I want to believe in a world where “patience in well-doing” is rewarded, while “self-seeking” will get you nowhere. I am told there is such a world, only it is not here. It will come soon enough.

In the meantime, we must endure sorry and shabby events, such as what transpired today. Nice guys finish last, they say. Stan Heath was the nicest guy of all.

An Inconvenient Verse

Former vice-president Al Gore has on numerous occasions (here, here and here) referred to his “faith tradition” as he tries to persuade Americans about impending catastrophic climate change.

Someone probably ought to tell Mr. Gore that his “faith tradition” actually teaches:

While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.
(Genesis 8.22)

In short, you can believe Al Gore and the doomsday environmentalists ... or you can believe the Bible. You really can’t do both.

God Knows Their Names

In the 26th chapter of Numbers, God told Moses to take a census of the people. So Moses did, and the passage is filled with many unusual names, such as: Hanoch (vs. 5), Nemuel (vs. 9), Zerah (vs. 13), Ozni (vs. 16), Jashub (vs. 24), Helek (vs. 30), Zelophehad (vs. 33), Hoglah (vs. 33), Shephuapham (vs. 39), and Ishvi (vs. 44).

It is hard for us to read lists like this in the Bible, and yet there are several such lists. Maybe sometimes we wonder why God would bother to include these lists of names in His Bible. Maybe sometimes we wish we weren’t supposed to read them. But such lists remind us of a very important point: God knows their names!

When the Space Shuttle Columbia exploded a few years ago, President Bush gave a speech in which he quoted Isaiah 40.26: "lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power, and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

Then the President said, “The same creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today.”

How amazing to think that even though there are billions of people on this planet, God still knows each of us by name. In fact, Jesus says that God even knows the number of hairs on our heads.

This reminds us of how much God is concerned about us. Even though He is vast and mighty, even though we are tiny and so many, God still loves each of us.

And He knows our names.

(Photo source: AP)

TR, on leaving the Dark House

It is hard not to like Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States. As a boy he was sickly, but he compensated for this by living a very active life — and advocated that others live a strenuous life as well. Becoming President did not mean that he ceased his athletic exertions.

In fact now, now he was in a position to make others participate in his athletic hobbies. Roosevelt seemed to especially enjoy torturing French ambassador Jules Jusserand. One day, Jusserand came to the White House to play tennis with Roosevelt. They played two sets of tennis, and then Teddy suggested they go jogging. They jogged around the White House lawn for while, and then they had a workout with a medicine ball. When they were through with their medicine ball workout, Roosevelt asked his guest what he would like to do next. The exhausted diplomat sighed, “If it’s just the same with you, Mr. President, I’d like to lie down and die.”

Roosevelt, like Lincoln before him, was an indulgent father while President. One day a friend came to visit him in the White House and while the two of them were speaking Alice, the President’s daughter, kept coming into the office and disrupting them. The friend finally asked if there wasn’t something that TR could do to control Alice. TR replied, “I can do one of two things. I can be President of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.”

While he may have been a man of action, Roosevelt was by no means shallow. In fact, he had a keen insight into the nature of man. Once, in a letter to the poet Edwin A. Robinson, TR wrote:

There is not one among us in whom a devil does not dwell; at some time, on some point, that devil masters each of us; he who has never failed has not been tempted; but the man who does in the end conquer, who does painfully retrace the steps of his slipping, why he shows that he has been tried in the fire and not found wanting. It is not having been in the Dark House, but having left it, that counts…

This is good theology. All of us have a past to be ashamed of. Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6.9-12)

Some of the Corinthian Christians had been caught up in these very sins. But the glorious message of the New Testament is that we do not have to stay in the Dark House of sin. We don’t have to remain sexually immoral, or idolatrous, or drunkards. Jesus came that we might be washed, sanctified and justified. Jesus came to break us out of the Dark House.

(Sources: Paul Boller, Presidential Anecdotes, 194-195, 206; John Morton Blum, The Republican Roosevelt, p. 161; English Standard Version of the Bible.)