Come Down, Lord!

In April of 1993 my grandmother was reflecting on her cancer operation from a year before. She noted that all reports were good, and then she wrote, “I don’t know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day… but I know who holds tomorrow. And I know He holds my hand.” * The next month she passed away. Her death was unexpected and took all of us by surprise. But it wasn’t a surprise to God. This had been the plan all along. And when His work in her was complete and her race finished, He—who had always had her firmly by the hand—gently ushered her into glory. And there she finally grasped what she had previously believed: that death is gain (Philippians 1:21). Faith gave way to sight, and she found herself then—as now—more alive than ever. Over the last few days I’ve been thinking about the words of that old hymn. None of us knows about tomorrow. But we do know Who holds it. We know what He is like. We know He is good and wise and kind. More than that, we know He is love . We know what...

  The other night I was asked by someone—whom I will call Martha—if I really believe that God works all things for good. I said I did. To which she responded, “But I don’t understand how your condition can be for good.” Martha’s not alone. It isn’t just my specific condition. There are a host of possibilities that can seem, at first glance, utterly pointless. Far from doing good, they seem to work for evil. And yet the Bible says, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). It isn’t “many” things, or even “most” things. It’s all things. For the called—for those who love God—all things work together for good. That is God’s promise. For some, this presents a serious philosophical problem. They don’t understand how to reconcile God’s working all things for good with human freedom and even demonic activity. To which I answer, “But with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). I do n...

  It hasn’t been long since I last wrote, but I am using a transport chair more and find myself able to do less. I don’t know if this is just a bad flare that will pass or something more. What’s difficult about this condition is that we don’t know much about the prognosis. Every flare has the potential to permanently alter my baseline, which already is a long way from what it was six months ago. Even so, I have been listening to worship music and reflecting on how blessed I am to have cause to sing. As the old hymn puts it: Some through the waters, some through the flood, Some through the fire, but all through the blood; Some through great sorrow, But God gives a song In the night season and all the day long. Our circumstances may differ, but God gives a song in the midst of it all. And what is our song? It is praise, thanks, and love to our Redeemer! He is the constant. And what a constant! None so lovely. None so good. He alone is Wonderful . What thrills my heart most is this: ...

A while back I wrote about some recent medical issues. At the time I was very positive. I believe that was entirely owing to God’s grace. He drew near and seemed to shed His love abroad in my heart. Though I had times of anxiety, my overwhelming experience was joy. But in recent months it’s been more difficult. In November I learned that I likely have a rare metabolic myopathy. If so, there is no cure. What makes it particularly challenging is that because my condition is so rare, we still don’t know where this is going. When I last wrote I had what I thought were significant limitations. But in the months that have followed I have experienced a fairly significant decline. When I am not in a flare I can still walk short distances. Often I use a cane and sometimes a walker.  And then two nights ago I needed a transport chair to get to the washroom. Even when I am not in a flare, going around the block or shopping are out of the question. For longer trips like those I need a wheel...

  The following is taken from the first in a series of sermons on the Song of Solomon.   -- “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” I want to begin by clearing up a misunderstanding that has ruined the Song of Solomon for many—a misunderstanding that has done great disservice to the Church and proved profoundly dishonouring to the One who is so gloriously pictured in this book. The Scriptures teach us that there is a greater than Solomon (Matthew 12:42), and it is this greater Solomon, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is represented by the person of Solomon in this song. Please do not mistake this for a mere love song between King Solomon and one of his many lovers. I am with Robert Hawker when he says, “I venture to believe that there is not a line in it which hath the smallest reference to Solomon king of Israel…” The timing of the book makes it impossible that this should be about him and Pharaoh’s daughter, as some have supposed (1 Kings 3:1), but the text itself...

  Over the last several months, as I have followed the news, I have become increasingly dismayed by the Trump administration and have begun to wonder when the evangelical Church will say “enough.” I began this blog out of a burden for revival, but my first post , and many of the posts that followed, were about COVID and the lockdowns. I was concerned then about what looked like tyrannical overreach on the part of our own government, but I was particularly concerned with what I saw as the failure of so many churches to act on first principles. We had been saying one thing for years, but when put to the test, we did something else entirely. I acted as I did in 2020 and 2021 because I believed, as I do now, that “God defines public worship to include the physical gathering of His people (Leviticus 23:3; Psalm 89:7; Hebrews 10:25);” “that we are explicitly forbidden from rendering to Caesar what is God’s (Mark 12:17);” “that we must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29);” and “that Chri...