A Sabbath Afternoon

And a busy one at that. I stayed home from Enid because I had quite a few things I've wanted to get done. The first was an e-mail to a professor at a seminary that a friend of mine is looking at attending. He had already responded to some of my questions and I wanted to ask some more and thank him for his time. He also had suggested getting in touch with another professor so I also did that, asking him varied questions on dispensationalism. Then I e-mailed Bruce the link to the seminary (I had spoken with him about this over lunch this afternoon) and lastly sent a very long e-mail to Silas trying to explain somewhat summarily, the points where I would caution him. The seminary teaches a "progressive dispensationalism" which I didn't know what it was, so I spent a bit of time researching that as well.

I have been desperately wanting to read some of my own books this week as well but time has been scarce. I've only read a couple of chapters in Henry, for example and I've dropped behind in other studies I'm doing with various people. So I'd like to do some reading this evening. So I finally decided that I should stay home from Enid and I may have to do that this next semester if I'm to prepare lessons for the next week.

Things I have left to do:
*write up some lessons for the Pilgrim's Progress Sunday School class I'm teaching this fall (I know I'm not going to have much time this semester so I'd like to get a head start).
*Finish the revisions of the Cowboy's Progress Script and finalize something that could be used by other churches.
*Post this on the CY blog as Sarah asked me to
*Write-up for Lights on Stillwater flier

The last one Dan, Bruce, and myself had been talking about over lunch. They were talking of a way to get the word out to new students who were looking for a solid church, or even to students who /didn't/ know they were looking for a solid church. I made the suggestion that something which would have attracted me is names or pictures of familiar people (Sproul, Spurgeon, Edwards, Pink, Luther, Calvin, MacArthur, Piper, Chandler) and then thought that since the question I receive the most is "What does the "reformed" mean in your name?" that it would be good to have a flier that has
"Stillwater Reformed Presbyterian Church"
"What does 'reformed' mean?"
And then go on with a brief explanation of our Scriptural beliefs and perhaps a list of names of those who might be considered reformed, like Chandler or Piper, or Spurgeon, since it's surprising (and encouraging) how many people recognize and like those pastors, yet they've never heard the term "reformed" and think it's some new and improved, fancy offshoot of the main Presbyterian church. So I was unofficially assigned that task, as well as a few articles on topics to go on the website for those interested in more information. Jon and Jonathan can help me with those since they know more what people might be interested in finding out more on (i.e. predestination, inerrancy, etc.)

Busy week. By the way, Jonathan Mounts isn't sitting behind me right now, but Mount Jonathan is, ie.e a huge pile of Jonathan's belongings that are dangerously obscuring the desk. I had to do that to get it out of the kitchen and living room. I couldn't even get to the sofa, let alone pull my bed out! :)

Hopefully this will all be cleaned up by the end of next week.

Hopefully. :)

Okay, so now for some quotes and thoughts:

I've been reading some sermons by Spurgeon at the assisted living center. I'm not really sure how the reception is. Jimmy never says anything and the two other ladies, well, one is very attentive but I have a feeling it's more politeness, but I truly hope she is listening! The other kind of nods off after a while, then sometimes says something "spiritual" that doesn't really relate to the topic. For example, today the sermon was about the Syrophoenecian (if the spelling is correct) woman that Jesus told it was not proper to give the children's bread to the dogs. The point Spurgeon kept hammering was the woman had such great faith in Christ that nothing he could say (calling her a dog, telling her essentially that he wasn't sent to her etc) could shake her faith, she still believed in him like Job who said that even though God slay him, yet would he trust in Him. Well, after the sermon, Willie says "Reminds me of 'Oh ye of little faith.'" but maybe she was thinking of something else. It's been almost a full year now that I've been doing this, I really hope that there is some benefit. It's been a great encouragement to me to read this sermon myself, to realize that even though I might not see the fruit, to not give up and to be more like the canaannite woman in the account and have faith that God does listen to prayers and does work indeed.

He brought up some very neat imagery of her bringing in this "little dogs eating the crumbs from the children's table" and how full it was of symbolism. In the East the dogs were something grown men would not tolerate, yet the children (who didn't know any better) would play with the pups in the streets and they would be tolerated near the table for the children's sake. He said that even though the children (like Christ's disciples) would be mean sometimes and "pinch and pull" (they told her to go away) yet that doesn't discourage her, she even calls herself a little dog, but one who would eat whatever scraps the children didn't eat, and the point was that even the "crumbs" were enough, she had faith to realize that Christ's "crumbs" were more bountiful than any king's table.

I can't do justice to the sermon, but it was very good, and an encouragement to me. I needed someone there to discuss it afterward, since no one joined me today except the three residents mentioned.

Another interesting thought, is that Jesus says that he was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And something Spurgeon brought up that was very interesting (that I'd not thought of) was this: That it was a reference to spiritual Israel and the doctrine of election. That Christ was meaning that he was indeed sent to her as one of the "true Israel" even though she would have understood it to have meant ethnic Israel. Now that's a neat thought! He didn't dwell on that long, but took it more as a double-meaning.

This month we are looking at Psalm 48 as our Psalm of the month and there are some neat things I'd like to share from Spurgeon's comments there as well.

First, as Dave very clearly pointed out, this can be very spiritually applied to the church as the New Jerusalem, or to the heaven which is basically the church in her glorified state dwelling with God forever. Now, one of the persons Spurgeon quoted, J.L. Porter, said the following, which I liked very much:

"When I stood that morning on the brow of Olivet, and looked down on the city crowning those battlemented heights, encircled by those deep and dark ravines, I involuntarily exclaimed, "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great Kind." And as I gazed, the red rays of the rising sun shed a halo round the top of the castle of David; then they tipped with gold each tapering minaret, and gilded each dome of mosque and church, and at length, bathed in one flood of ruddy light the terraced roofs of the city, and the grass and foliage, the cupolas, pavements, and colossal walls of the Haram. No human being could be disappointed who first saw Jerusalem from Olivet."

And yet, even with all of this glory and splendour (David speaks very lovingly of this city), the real fulfillment is in the Church, and the New Jerusalem is the one which our heart also longs for.

Spurgeon also points out that the men of the earth also see the Church and are troubled and dismayed and haste away. Yet all that flee from the New Jerusalem, flee to punishment and they do so of their own choice. Yet Zion is such a joy to Christians!

He talks about the ships of Tarshish being broken and had three interesting explanations.
First, that as easily as God breaks vessels of wood, he also overturns the most powerful adversaries.
Second, that though the strength of some nations is in their ships, yet they will be broken and our strength is in God and does not fall.
Third, Though God is our defence, he takes vengeance upon our inventions and those things we trust in, our earthly ambitions so that we may look to Him. He says "Speculative heresies, pretending to bring us wealth from afar, are constantly assailing the church, but the breath of the Lord soon drives them to destruction. The church too often relies on the wisdom of men, and these human helps are soon shipwrecked; yet the church itself is safe beneath the care of her God and King."

Of course, one near to my heart is this telling of it to the following generations. He says that those who owe such a debt to the past generations can only attempt to repay it by instructing the future ones.

Lastly, under the daughters of Jerusalem being glad because of God's judgments, he points on that it's not just God's ruling or decisions, but His actual punishments of the wicked. He says
"Justice which to our poor optics now seems severe, will then be perceived to be perfectly consistent with God's name of love, and to be one of the brightest jewels of his crown."

And that is all for this evening.