A chip off the old stump

Night time for my little theologian.

My wife: "Aimee, what should we thank God for?"

Aimee: "Books!"

My little theologian

Aimee: you are always welcome to use Daddy's books. Hope you're still interested in them when you turn 16!

This Momentary Marriage

This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence by John Piper


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What drives this book from beginning to end is the truth that marriage is a model of Christ’s relationship to the Church. According to Piper (p.42), this truth has the effect of (1) elevating the value of marriage; (2) providing a foundation of grace for our marriages; and (3) defining roles within marriage. By making this truth the backbone of his book, Piper has had the same three-fold effect on me.

Early in the book Piper shows that marriage is the doing of God and the display of God (21 – 26). It is a covenant that reflects the covenant God makes with his people. For that reason, “marriage is not mainly about being or staying in love” but about “portraying something true about Jesus Christ and the way he relates to his people” (26).

Rather than rehearsing all the ground this book covers, I will focus instead on its unique contributions for books of this type (unique for me, at least).

On nakedness and clothing

Commenting on Genesis 2.25 (“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed”), Piper points out that the reason they experienced nakedness without shame was not that they had perfect bodies, but because they knew perfect covenant love (pp. 32-36). They were shame-free not because they had flawless bodies (which they likely did have), but because they loved each other with a love that covered over a multitude of flaws. The reason they tried to clothe themselves in Genesis 3 was not because their bodies had suddenly become ugly, but because their sin had broken their covenant with God, and thus upset the foundation for their own covenant love to each other. Now Adam was to Eve one who could not be trusted—he had tried to displace God, after all. And they both knew within themselves that they were no longer what they ought to be. Their self-clothing was an effort to cover their vulnerability to each other and cover the huge gap between what they were and they ought to be.

God graciously provides clothing for them, and this carries a negative and a positive message.

Negatively, God’s action of clothing them affirms that there is a huge chasm between what they are and what they should be. In this sense human clothing functions not to conceal our shame but to confess it. Thus “public nudity is not a return to innocence” but a further loss of it. “And for those who rebel in the other direction and make clothes themselves a means of power and prestige and attention-getting, God’s answer is not a return to nudity but a return to simplicity” (p.37).

Positively, God’s clothing Adam and Eve in animal skins points forward to a time when God would provide a sacrifice that would bridge the gap between man and God and deal with that sin that plunged us into shame (pp. 37-38).

On singleness

The two chapters on singleness are the best in the book. It seems to me that so many sermons and conversations (amongst Christians) about marriage portray the single life as an inferior walk through life. The fact that Piper includes two chapters on singleness alone speaks volumes to those of us in the church who are married. In chapter 9 Piper’s central aim “is that God promises those who remain single in Christ blessings that are better than the blessings of marriage and children, and he calls you to display, by the Christ-exalting devotion of your singleness, the truths about Christ and his kingdom that shine more clearly through singleness than through marriage and child-rearing” (p.106). Drawing heavily from Barry Danylak’s A Biblical Theology of Singleness, Piper persuasively accomplishes this aim.

Chapter 10 is more about how married and single people ought to relate in the church. Piper longs “to see Christ magnified through married people folding single people into their lives and single people folding married people into their lives for the sake of Christ and the gospel” (p.117). Married couples are counseled to plan their hospitality to include singles, and vice versa. As odd as it might be for singles to include couples, “would [this:] not be a mark of unusual maturity and stability? Would it not be a mark of God’s grace in your life?” (p.123). At this point I couldn’t help thinking of one of my heroes, Robert Chapman, who, though a single, showed hospitality to countless people.

On having children

Not only will those who can’t marry (or choose not to) find themselves included in this book, but so will married couples who cannot (or choose not to) have children. Piper’s emphasis is struck by the first half of the chapter title: “Marriage is Meant For Making Children…Disciples of Jesus”. Marriage’s primary meaning is to display Christ’s covenant with the church. Marriage’s secondary meaning is actually a means of accomplishing its first meaning: to make children yes, but more importantly, to make children disciples of Christ.

With this way of putting it, Piper emphasizes that a Christian couple’s mandate isn’t so much to fill the earth with more bodies, but to bring more people into Christ’s kingdom. For most Christian couples that will mean giving birth to children and leading them to Christ. But for many other couples it may mean fostering children, adopting children, or having a fun backyard Bible program for the neighborhood children. The last example is also an example of what singles can do to make children into disciples of Christ.

Further, with this way of putting it, Piper provides a deep motivation test for those couples who simply do not want to have children. Why does a couple not want to have children? Is it that children would threaten the fruitfulness of their unique mission to make disciples of Christ? Or, is it that children would complicate their pursuit of comfort, ease, and freedom?

Prying at a couple’s motivation in this way is far better than automatically writing off a couple as selfish simply because they choose not to have children, and exalting a couple as godly because they do.

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Sam Williams is seeing his Saviour

A great man of God has fallen flown today. I don't have all the details precisely, but sometime this morning Sam Williams, a precious elderly brother in our assembly, went to savour the Lord Jesus.

I say he was a great man because for the last decade or so (again, I don't have the exact dates) he has waited patiently on his wife, serving her, rubbing her feet, and generally doting on a woman who felt the frustrations of poor health and being shut in.

His serving his wife makes him great because Jesus says that makes him great. My personal reading tonight was in Matthew 20. Here are the words more pertinent to the subject of greatness than any other words ever spoken:

But Jesus called the disciples and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them. That’s not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people. (Matthew 20.25-28, ISV).

Austin news and an Inkling

We're very excited about having a dear friend with us the next couple days, Stephen Vance from Toronto. He'll be speaking in Austin this Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 pm, DV. If you're interested do come.

On Thursday we'll be taking Stephen up to Melfort, Saskatchewan for the annual Taylorside Youth Conference. Pray that the Lord will bless his Word to us young people.

In light of these events I undertook a major cleaning of the study tonight. What a blessing that I have Helen to prod me a little in things like this! I'm afraid that much more than my office would be in disarray without Helen. My whole life would be a mess without her.

I didn't need any prodding to read a little C.S. Lewis last night, though. The Weight of Glory, Learning in War-Time, and Transposition all proved to be exhilarating reads which could not be interrupted until finished. I don't have time now, but I know that in the future each of these addresses will reward thoughtful assimilation. After reading them I couldn't believe how long a time I had allowed to lapse since last reading Lewis. I can remember hanging on for dear life in Mere Christianity when I was in first-year college. It was good I hung on, too, because in second year a debate came up before class in which morality was deemed to be relative, and thus irrelevant. I tried, however feebly, to defend the Christian worldview. And shortly thereafter I lent Mere Christianity to the chief espouser of the relativistic view. A day or two later he handed the book back with a simple "Thank you". Lewis had persuasively defended the obvious, and the proud young man who days earlier had had so many words of "wisdom" to share, was reduced to two small words of humble admission. And my inward response was a "thank-you" too, directed heaven-ward, for giving the Church men with minds like Lewis had, so that the faith of an impressionable young man could be strengthened, and not squashed, in the anvil of secular scrutiny.

Passing the buck

I haven't had much time for blogging these days. Our lives have not been busier it seems, what with basement renovations, prenatal classes and preparations for Baby, preparing messages, trying to learn Greek, and some other studies thrown in. But I've been enjoying my friends' blogs immensely, so just in case you're not checking up on theirs, here are links to Brandon's and Steve's lastest posts on Philippians. You'll enjoy them.

Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them

Just came across this article: Does the Bible permit birth control? I was reminded of the time when, much to the ongoing amusement of certain friends of mine, I volunteered a response to this question at Taylorside Youth Conference! I link to the above article in a sense of self-vindication. Read it and know that yours truly truly stood up for the truth. Youth conference: the place where convictions are born.

Speaking of income tax deductions...

...we are, as many of you know, expecting our first one (baby) in June. I know of at least one person who caught on to the stork comment posted while we were in Ukraine that foreshadowed this news. Well, here are the pictures.

A child was born

Join us in welcoming niece # 2 into the world. Isn't she a sweetheart?

Whatever you do, don't call her birth a miracle. C.S. Lewis wouldn't like that very much.

Thanksgiving Day

A lot of the bloggers I read are in the States, and so these days I'm reading lots about Thanksgiving Day. Is Thanksgiving Day an apologetic for God? Doug Wilson thinks so in a post I really enjoyed.

Well, I just sent a link of Mr. Wilson's post to a sister in our assembly because she had shared a warm anecdote with me of a touching interchange that took place during our last prayer meeting--when every one's eyes were supposed to be shut. I closed the email saying "I smell a blog post coming." Then, moments after sending it, my wife came in and placed a juicy cluster of grapes, wrapped in a napkin, on my desk. "A gift for you," she said. My heart overflowed with gratitude to God for those grapes. And then I read the word written on the napkin: "Thanks".

"You ask me how I know He lives." He lives because of grapes.

[Note from the picture the thing my wife is thankful for: that she could find room on my desk to place some grapes!]

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

We just had a blast. Literally.

Being married to a Brit makes you do crazy things like having bonfires on November the 5th. But in England that's just what you do on Bonfire Night, a.k.a. Guy Fawkes Night. Guy Fawkes was involved with the famous Gunpowder Plot on this very night back in 1605. Every year the Brits commemorate the fizzling out of this attempted treason against King James 1.

So we decided to have some folks over with British connexions (is that how they spell it in Britain?) for the Canadian (read "colder") version of it. Helen's family came with a big box of fireworks and sparklers, and everyone brought food, lawn chairs, and lots of warm clothing. Helen made some delicious toffee apples, sausage rolls, and baked potatoes with sausages embedded in them.

While sitting around the fire with family, both natural and spiritual, I couldn't help but reflect on what joy it was to be alive in God's family, and to know Him from whom all blessings flow. I didn't deserve one ounce of the fun we had tonight. It was yet another blessing purchased dearly by One who hung for my treason long ago.

Top: Mom with a sparkler. Bottom: Toffee apples. The tray has pictures of Devon area on it.

Back Home, Safe and Sound

Helen and I just got back from 4 days spent in Calgary. I was there for an airport conference for work. We had lots of fun and rest—just what we need before another busy stretch. Anyways, that's all for tonight. I hope to post more tomorrow.

Goodnight.

Baptism in Pine Creek

I forgot to post on this earlier, but August 5th was a special day for us because two young sisters of ours were baptized! The baptism took place in the creek where it crosses Highway 34. Want to know what else made it special? One of the "sisters" was my sister—by birth. And, Paul Thiessen, who normally serves the Lord in Mexico, was with us to give a message on baptism to all of us on either bank.

I definitely think indoor baptistries should be reserved for January!

Entering the Blogosphere...

My first post, but first of how many? God only knows. If He should grant me a long and happy existence in the Blogoshere, this is what you should expect to see in future visits to my blog:

(1) The beauty, glory, and supremacy of Jesus Christ.
(2) Encouragement to read and study the Bible.
(3) A plug or two for learning to read the New Testament in Greek!
(4) Glimpses of what a local church should look like, and encouragement to join/remain in/re-shape one.
(5) Updates on life with Helen: how we're doing, what we're reading, where we're going, and who we're hanging out with.

I begin with a prayer.

Lord Jesus, I dedicate this virtual space to You.
You have so taken over my life that I can't even blog without You. Make this a place where everyone who stops by is loved and respected. Make this a place where Your people are encouraged, and where those who are not Yours are caused to give You second thought. I ask that You would save me from using this space to promote myself instead of You. Preserve me from causing others to stumble.
Give me Your wisdom, insight, and grace.