Month: August 2024

Links for the Weekend (2024-08-30)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Your Pain Has an End Date

Vaneetha Risner writes about how much difference it makes, when suffering, to know that the pain will not last forever.

Yet even when our suffering feels endless, God knows exactly how long it will really last. It has an end date, an exact day and time predetermined by God. My pain will not last forever; it is not random or indeterminate. God has fixed all the details of this trial and will give me everything I need to endure it.

Following Jesus in the Desert of Mental Illness

Samuel James reviews a book in which the author writes about his experience being a Christian with mental illness.

John Andrew Bryant’s A Quiet Mind to Suffer With is the first book I’ve ever read that tries to answer that question from the inside. Bryant’s experience with OCD, hospitalization, and a lifetime of horribly intrusive thoughts is harrowing enough. What sets his particular work apart is the way he invites the reader into these experience with prose that tries to simulate, if any prose could, the turmoil of mental disorder. But then Bryant does something remarkable. He narrates his own discovery of how the gospel anchors him in the midst of (though it does not protect from) mental illness. The insights that follow are all the more powerful because they are so dearly bought.

A Suit for Grandfather

Our poem of the week: A Suit for Grandfather. This is a moving poem about the speaker’s tobacco-farming father.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2024-08-23)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

3 Reasons Heaven Doesn’t Affect Us as Much as It Should

Cameron Cole has lost a child, so these thoughts about heaven are the fruit of going through the fire.

Heightened heavenly mindedness has given me greater contentment, provided strength to persevere in suffering, and inspired me to focus on mission and evangelism. The pain of my son’s death isn’t something I would’ve chosen, and I won’t completely outrun it in this fallen world. But the heavenward shift the Lord brought has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.

How (and How Not) to Talk with Your Kids about Sexuality

It is increasingly important for parents to talk with their children about sex. But the thought of such a conversation can cause anxiety. Here is some wise counsel.

As we think about parenting in this cultural moment, few issues are more urgent and fraught to talk about with your children than sexuality and sex. This is urgent because if you do not talk about it first, the culture certainly will; it is fraught because as our culture changes in how it understands sexuality, it has unhelpfully elevated it to a status that sexuality was never meant to hold, biblically speaking.

How One Family Navigated Smartphones and Social Media in the Teen Years

Here’s another article about parenting, though like the best articles, it has much to offer even to those who aren’t parents. Without insisting on specifics, this family reports the decisions they made and their recommendations regarding technology.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called The Golden Calf Reveals the Goal of the Exodus. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

The Golden Calf Reveals the Goal of the Exodus

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

While the Passover and the Red Sea crossing are the main events of Exodus, the goal of the exodus is even more profound. The tabernacle shows us that God’s goal in the exodus to dwell with his people.

This week I have more evidence.

Not the First Sin

The golden calf incident is found in Exodus 32. But this was not the first Israelite sin Moses recorded.

  • Before crossing the Red Sea, God’s people questioned his faithfulness (Ex 14:10–14). The Egyptians were closing in, and the Israelites were afraid. They thought death was near and wished Moses hadn’t bothered with their plight at all. Moses told the people not to fear, to stand firm, and to wait for the Lord to fight for them.
  • Shortly after Moses’s song of praise, the people complained about a lack of drinkable water (Ex 15:22–24). Moses cried to God, and the Lord provided a log to throw into the water which turned the water sweet.
  • The Israelites grumbled with hunger (Ex 16:1–8). They wished to die as slaves in Egypt with full bellies than as free men in the desert without food. In response, God provided quail and manna.
  • After explicit instructions regarding the collection of the manna, some went out to gather on the seventh day (Ex 16:27–30). The Lord emphasized the purpose of the Sabbath (v.29), but, instead of punishing the law breakers, he provided rest for the people (v.30).
  • The people complained again about lacking water (Ex 17:1–7). Moses knew the people were testing the Lord. He feared they would stone him, and he cried out to God. The Lord provided water for the people from the rock.

God’s Response to Sin

Taking all of these accounts of sin together, we don’t see any strong response from God. Both Moses and God call out sin when it happens, but there are no deaths, sicknesses, or visible consequences from these sins.

The golden calf is a different matter. In reaction to this sin (Ex 32:1–6), God planned to wipe out the people and start over with Moses (Ex 32:7–10). Moses broke the tablets of the law (Ex 32:19), destroyed the idol and made the people consume it (Ex 32:20), and commanded the Levites to kill about a thousand of the Israelites (Ex 32:28). God also sent a plague on the people (Ex 32:35) and planned not to go with them into the promised land (Ex 33:3).

This sin deserves and receives a swift and stiff response from God. How does this tell us about God’s purpose in the exodus?

Other Accounts

The narrative in Exodus 32 is not the only biblical commentary on the golden calf.

  • Psalm 106:19–23 — The psalmist writes that the people exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things, wondrous works, and awesome deeds for them.
  • Nehemiah 9:16–22 — The people committed “great blasphemies” by looking to a golden calf as God. Nehemiah emphasizes God’s mercy in staying with the people, providing them with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (his presence!).
  • Deuteronomy 9:6–21 — We are reminded that the mountain was burning with fire (v.15) and we are told that God was ready to destroy Aaron for his role in the incident. Moses had to plead with God specifically for Aaron’s life (v.20).

As God was instructing Moses how to build the tabernacle, the place where God would dwell with his people, at that very same time the people abandoned Moses and forgot about God. They attributed the saving work of YHWH to a metal cow.

God reacted so fiercely to this sin because his people were acting like they didn’t know him at all. The golden calf—this is who brought you out of the land of Egypt? This is who brought the plagues on Pharoah? Who made a dry path through the Red Sea? Who closed up the waters and drowned the pursuing enemies? Who provided victory over the Amalekites? Who provided quail and manna? Who provided water from the rock? Who thundered from the mountain and caused it to smoke?

God’s reaction was proportional. He brought them out of Egypt so that he might dwell with them. They rejected him—forgetting him and trading in his glory. So God was prepared to reject them too.

Application

God’s people deserved his wrath. They forgot him, and he could have forgotten them. But that’s not how YHWH works.

As a result of Moses’s intercession, God stayed his hand. He didn’t start over with Moses. He didn’t turn his back.

On this side of the cross, we understand God’s faithfulness and presence more deeply. Because God poured out wrath on Jesus, we are spared. Because Jesus was forsaken by all—even his Father—we are not abandoned. For the children of God, this promise is sure: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb 13:5).

The implications are profound. God goes with us—he remains with us—even when we sin. A morning of sin does not mean an afternoon without God. He loves, he persists, he remains faithful despite our unfaithfulness.

We all need this truth, especially when facing persistent sins. So, Christian, digest this good news. And encourage a brother or sister in Christ with the reminder of God’s faithful presence. It is not some happy side effect of his saving love; his abiding presence is the very goal of his salvation.

Post credit | Photo credit

Links for the Weekend (2024-08-16)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

The Healing Power of Confessing Sins to One Another

Lydia Kinne explains why confessing our sins to each other is such a good practice.

Our pride gets in the way of confessing seeds of sin in our hearts. We’re upstanding church members, Bible study leaders, and parents. How could we possibly have given in to that thought or secret habit? So we nod and smile in small group prayer times, asking for more patience and wisdom while skirting around the things we don’t want to admit.

Every Good Parent Will Have Regrets: Advice to My 30-Year-Old Self

Dave Harvey writes some parenting advice to his younger self and it is full of good reminders.

I didn’t realize that a child’s “seeming” lack of progress was the place where parents truly encounter God. We pray, “God, fix them!” Then God whispers back, “Yes, Dave, they’re on my list. But first let’s talk about you.” Parenting didn’t exhibit my strengths; it exposed my limitations. It revealed the dozens of places where I trusted in myself and my leadership rather than in God. Ultimately, it laid me low and revealed my self-trust. But that weakness drove me to Jesus where, in my desperation, I was able to see he had plans for my kids and power for me (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Memento Vivere

Our poem of the week: Memento Vivere, by Christina Baker. It’s a poem about her thinking after an encounter with a rose bush.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2024-08-09)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Maybe We Make Meditation Too Difficult

Tim Challies wonders if we don’t often meditate on the Scriptures because we have over-complicated it.

What is meditation? Meditation is pondering the words of the Bible with the goal of better understanding and sharper application. Ideally, meditation leads us to understand the words we have read and to know how God may call us to work them out in our lives. It is one of the ways that we output wisdom after inputting knowledge.

What Does It Mean to Die with Dignity?

I have found Kathryn Butler’s writing about faith and medicine/health care so helpful this year. In this article she writes about end-of-life care and what it means to “die with dignity.”

What does it mean to die with dignity? Abstractly, we all long for a dignified death, during which family surround us and we suffer minimal pain and anxiety. In reality, however, the dying process is often unsettling, even when we try to prepare ourselves for its messy realities. Perhaps most importantly, however, conflating the phrase “death with dignity” and assisted dying confuses the conversation.

counterpressure

Our poem of the week: counterpressure, by Carreen Raynor. It’s largely about kindness.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called The 3-Step Path to Biblical Hope. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

The 3-Step Path to Biblical Hope

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

This past spring, a missionary spoke to our church. He lamented that the people among whom he was living were largely without hope.

This missionary used the word “hope” as we use it in casual conversation. His neighbors had nothing to look forward to, no expectation of good in their future.

When people are missing this sort of hope, they are certainly lacking biblical hope. Even among Christians, biblical hope is not immediate or easy. I’m aiming in this article to lay out three stages to hope.

Stage 1: Hear the Gospel

Biblical hope is only available to Christians. So, the first step to hope must be connected to conversion.

Paul issues a familiar call for the broad preaching of the good news of Jesus.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Rom 10:14-15)

Even more concisely, Paul writes two verses later: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17).

When we sense people are without hope, what they need most is not job training, drug counseling, affordable housing, friendship, or reliable transportation. (Though our churches should care about all of these things!) Their greatest need is Christ and his gospel.

Stage 2: Believe the Gospel

It is not enough to merely hear the gospel, of course. “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened” (Heb 4:2).

Not all who have faith have hope, but true hope cannot exist without faith. So, the second stage is for faith to take root, for a person to believe the gospel and trust in Christ.

Here is how the Westminster Confession of Faith describes faith.

Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification. (WCF, Chapter XI.II)
But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace. (WCF, Chapter XIV.II)

We may be able to provide a short description of faith, but that does not make it automatic. Faith is the gift of God (Eph 2:8).

Stage 3: Eagerly Anticipate the Future

You may have met people who believe the gospel but do not act like it is truly good news. They rest on Christ for forgiveness, adoption, and salvation, but they may seem resigned to their future rather than delighted for it.

Notice the way Paul moves from hearing to believing to hope in Ephesians 1.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:11–14)

Paul links hope to the sealing with the Spirit (verse 13) and our anticipation of inheritance (verse 14). This all comes after hearing “the word of truth” and “believ[ing] in him” (verse 13).

In a longer passage in the epistle to the Romans, Paul holds up Abraham as an example of faith. In fact, Paul uses Abraham to explain what faith is (Rom 4:16–25). Then Paul relates faith to hope.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom 5:1-2)

Note that Paul writes about rejoicing in hope, which conveys the eagerness of hope.

We can also learn about hope from Paul’s benediction at the end of Romans.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Rom 15:13)

Hope involves “joy and peace in believing.” Also, like faith, hope is a work of the Spirit.

Conclusion

There are three stages to get to hope, but they are not items on a to-do list—they are matters of prayer. For ourselves and those around us, we need God to work if we are to “abound in hope.”

Hope is not a static condition but a gift of God in which we can grow. I plan to address that topic in upcoming articles.

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Links for the Weekend (2024-08-02)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

‘Never Look Your Age’ — Shiny Lies We Often Buy

Stacy Reaoch has an important message for women and girls. Our culture has one message about aging, but the Bible has another.

Next time you look in the mirror and notice the ways your body has changed, try looking in a different way. Those stretch marks and loose skin around your abdomen — maybe they’re a reminder of the gift of children. Perhaps those dark circles under your eyes show the late nights you’ve spent counseling a troubled friend or anxious teen. That furrowed brow reveals the trials you’ve worked through, figuring out how to be a diligent friend or family member or worker. Those crow’s feet and laugh lines are sweet reminders of time spent delighting with others.

When God Doesn’t Give His Beloved Sleep

Tim Challies struggles to sleep, and he writes about trying to submit to God in this difficult area of life.

Though I’m really good at falling asleep, I’m extremely poor at staying asleep. And, as I’m sure you’d agree, the staying is every bit as important as the falling! When night comes and bedtime draws near, I always face it with a mix of eagerness and dread—eagerness to get some rest but dread of waking up before I get enough rest. More often than not, I sleep for a time, then wake up in the wee hours—too tired to feel rested but too rested to fall back asleep. I often begin a new day discouraged, with my mind hazy and my brain sluggish. It’s a battle that has gone on for decades and one that is getting no better as I age. In fact, it could actually be getting worse.

What to say to Dave about regular Bible reading

If someone at church (perhaps named Dave) asked you for advice on reading the Bible regularly, what would you say? Here is Ian Carmichael’s answer.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.