God’s Messy Workshop
By Bill Marsh | August 17, 2008
“The church is not a theological classroom. It is a conversion, confession, repentance, reconciliation, forgiveness, and sanctification center, where flawed people place their trust in Christ, gather to know and love him better, and learn to love others as he has designed. The church is messy and inefficient, but it is God’s wonderful mess — the place where he radically transforms hearts and lives.”
Paul Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands (P & R Publishing, 2002), 116.
HT: David Reimer
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Icarus Falls
By Bill Marsh | August 11, 2008
Resisting the urge for schadenfreude, I won’t say much about John Edwards, except to commend John Hood’s Carolina Journal piece. Hood is generally astute and accurate about NC politics. He nails this one. An excerpt:
Did you watch Edwards’ Friday night appearance on “Nightline”? My guess is that, programmed against the Olympics, it nevertheless drew some pretty big numbers. Viewers saw a glib advocate with a fool for a client. They saw a vain man mouth apologetic words but still attack others for “telling lies,” with feigned passion. They saw a weasel compare his dalliance with a campaign aide two years ago to John McCain’s admitted sins two decades ago – then said he wouldn’t make the comparison. They saw a hypocrite admit to narcissism, narcissistically.
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What Preachers Do All Week
By Bill Marsh | July 29, 2008
Sometimes my children ask in good faith, “Dad, what exactly do you do all week?” Howard Hendricks answers:
It is not too difficult to be biblical if you don’t care about being relevant; it is not too difficult to be relevant if you don’t care about being biblical. But if you want to be both biblical and relevant, it is a very difficult task indeed.
–from “Introduction,” John M. Walton, The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis (Zondervan, 2001), 19.
I don’ think I often hit the right balance of which Dr. Hendricks speaks, but I’m ready for them next they ask.
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Zipper Jihad (Not!)
By Bill Marsh | July 14, 2008
Phil Johnson has some good thoughts on the West’s inability to accurately define the War on Terror. A snippet:
As a matter of fact, the conflict that dominates world news today has everything to do with religion. The aggressors have all been fanatical adherents to one religion in particular.
Here’s a clue: It’s not the Amish.
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The One Who Arms with Armor
By Bill Marsh | July 14, 2008
In our gathered worship on the Lord’s Day, we typically read an Old Testament lesson if I’m preaching from the New Testament and vice-versa. Yesterday, since I was preaching from Ephesians 6:13-18 on the full armor of God, I chose Psalm 56 as the morning lesson. David expresses his confidence that God hears him and that God will contend for him over his (and His) enemies. Unknown to me until this morning when I read it, Psalm 56:9 is the July 13 evening selection for Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening. Oh how we need to press Psalm 56 into our fickle, shallow hearts that are so quick to believe we’ve been abandoned. Writing on verse 9, “This I know, that God is for me”:
It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, “God is for me.” He was “for us” before the worlds were made; he was “for us”, or he would not have given his well beloved son; he was “for us” when he smote the Only Begotten, and laid the full weight of his wrath upon him—he was “for us”, though he was against him; he was “for us”, when we were ruined in the fall—he loved us notwithstanding all; he was “for us”, when we were rebels against him, and with a high hand were bidding him defiance; he was “for us”, or he would not have brought us humbly to seek his face. He has been “for us” in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within—how could we have remained unharmed to this hour if he had not been “for us?” He is “for us”, with all the infinity of his being; with all the omnipotence of his love; with all the infallibility of his wisdom; arrayed in all his divine attributes, he is “for us”, —eternally and immutably “for us”; “for us” when yon blue skies shall be rolled up like a worn out vesture; “for us” throughout eternity. And because he is “for us”, the voice of prayer will always ensure his help. “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies be turned back.” This is no uncertain hope, but a well grounded assurance—”this I know.” I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come, and that mine enemies shall be defeated, “for God is for me.” O believer, how happy art thou with the King of kings on thy side! How safe with such a Protector! How sure thy cause pleaded by such an Advocate! If God be for thee, who can be against thee?
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The Senator and Me
By Bill Marsh | July 7, 2008
At Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh tomorrow morning, mourners will gather to worship God and celebrate the life of former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. 25 years ago this week, my parents dropped me off at a boarding house in Washington, D.C. so that I could work in his office there for the rest of the summer. At some point in the service, the presiding minister will note that they have gathered to remember the life of Jesse Alexander Helms. To most North Carolinians, he will be remembered as “Jesse.” To a few thousand fortunate enough to have worked in his government or campaign offices over 30 years of public life, though, he will always be “The Senator.”
I had met Senator Helms earlier in that summer while working for his re-election campaign. He was in his early 60s at that time and was my political hero. As I got to know him, mostly through the campaign, my admiration turned into warm personal regard. He could be gracious and prickly, principled and stubborn, thoughtful and thoughtless — all rolled into one. I loved the man. When I returned to Chapel Hill that fall, the Daily Tar Heel printed a particularly nasty op-ed piece about him. I responded with an 1,000 or so word rejoinder, which they published. A few weeks earlier, I had written the Senator a note, thanking him for the summer experience in Washington. A few days after my op-ed piece appeared in the Daily Tar Heel, I received a nice thank-you note acknowledging the summer internship; across the bottom of the letter, the Senator had hand-written a couple of sentences thanking me for my DTH piece. It was, and remains, one of my prized possessions.
The next year (1984), I was back working for the campaign, driving Mrs. Helms around the state through the fall. A few years before Morgan Freeman was “Driving Miss Daisy”, I was driving Miss Dot. She was delightful and we enjoyed those months together, typically leaving Raleigh on Tuesday morning and returning late Thursday night. Through that season, I got to know Sen. and Mrs. Helms well. They were great folks and I came to enjoy them very much.
Lessons learned from Senator Helms:
1. A few convictions, strongly-held, should guide everything else. Words the Senator said in 1959 never fail to stir me: “Compromise, hell! That’s what has happened to us all down the line - and that’s the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time?” You can argue for preferences and feel OK, he famously counseled, but compromise your principles and you’ll never get over it.
2. Getting things done requires different approaches at different times. Senator Helms brought the United States Senate to a standstill at times. I still recall the Christmas 1982 Gas Tax debate and Alan Simpson’s asinine response to Senator Helms’ courage. On the other hand, I recall standing outside a phone booth at the Raleigh Civic Center as Senator Helms talked to someone back in DC about negotiations over a farm bill. He knew when to filibuster, but also when to horse-trade.
3. Personal kindness to one’s opponents, indeed to everyone, is everything. Jimmy Broughton has told the story in recent days of the Senator’s concern over observing in a Capitol garage the near-flat tire on the car of liberal Illinois Democrat Senator Paul Simon. It rings so true. I recall standing in a hallway of the Dirsken Building outside the reception area of SD-402 as two elderly constituents of Sen. Chuck Percy’s shuffled to a public elevator. Senator Helms walked by them and asked if they were going down. When they responded affirmatively, he said to them, “Come with me.” Walking around the corner, he ushered them onto a “Senators Only” elevator. It’s just the kind of guy he was. Strong convictions require strong honor.
4. Dignity without pretense is important as you rise higher in the world. He was old-school, but he was not pretentious or pompous. He struck a wonderful balance of senatorial dignity and personal warmth. Watching him with children was particularly fun.
5. Lest I be accused of hagiography, greatness was also tinged with blindness. The great free-market conservative was also a staunch defender of agriculture price supports. The defender of Christian culture was also insensitive to racial appearances. His inconsistencies were not as studied as most peoples’. Lord, make us humble.
It is a testament to his humility that he retired to the same house on Caswell Street in Raleigh after 30 years in Washington. Most politicians stay in DC; it’s such a natural habitat. Senator Helms was different, though. After his 2003 retirement, I dropped him a note of appreciation. A few days later, he called my office and left a message. I called him back and we chatted. I mentioned that I wanted my three children to meet him one day and he encouraged me to bring them by the house the next time we were in Raleigh. A month later, we stopped by on a gorgeous fall afternoon. Another of my most-prized possessions is a photo (which sits in my office today) of Will and Ben standing on either side of the Senator’s recliner and Anna Scott seated on his lap. He was a great man. I hope my children grow up to be like him.
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Noticed in a store yesterday
By Bill Marsh | June 3, 2008
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Called to Be a Cool Kid?
By Bill Marsh | May 29, 2008
“To me, the church should not aim to be ‘real’ as an end. The church is there to proclaim truth. Trying to be hip and cool and real does a disservice to the church. We’re not called to be successful. We’re called to be obedient, even if they don’t come…. If somebody doesn’t find you objectionable, I wonder if you’re preaching the full counsel of God.” -James Gilmore, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want (Harvard Business School Press, 2007)
HT: Out of Ur
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Traditionless oligarchies
By Bill Marsh | May 28, 2008
Piper writes today of Chesterton on the occasion of his 134th birthday. This gem from Orthodoxy caught my eye:
“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about.”Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Never Caught His Name
By Bill Marsh | May 28, 2008
I never knew his name until he died yesterday.Earl Hagen wrote and performed the first song to which I knew every note — the theme to “The Andy Griffith Show.” He died at 88 on Tuesday.
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