Seventeen82

 It was national signing day for college football recruits. Finally Jimbo Fisher could talk about all the blue-chip talent he had just brought in. Talent like Florida State hadn’t seen since the twilight of Bowden’s heyday. You could finally feel it again. It felt like this group of players would bring another championship to Tallahassee. But on that day, speaking as he did annually on the evening of national signing day at the antique car museum in Florida’s capital city, a platitude that Jimbo said stuck with me more than his praise of the 5-star quarterback he’d just signed. A quarterback who would lead this group to a national championship. In describing a linebacker, who most recruiting analysts said was waffling in his college decision, Jimbo said he knew the player would sign with Florida State because sometimes, “your actions are speaking so loud, I can’t even hear what you’re saying.” The player had said he was open to other schools, his actions had clearly indicated to Ji...

“I wish I’d prayed more.”   Those were the concluding words to a recent interview with a prominent pastor. The reporter had asked him if he wished he would have done anything differently in his ministry. This is a man who has many accolades in the world of Christian Ministry and an influential church. Some may disagree with his methodology or theology at times, but most of us would expect that the Lord will welcome him to glory one day with a “Well done, good and faithful servant.” For all that this pastor has accomplished, he doesn't wish he’d  done  more, but that he’d  prayed  more.    His words stuck with me these past few weeks. I can always use improvements in my prayer life. Some seasons I need more  focus . In others I need more  frequency . At other times I may look toward  fruitfulness  or  faithfulness :   “Did I really pray about this issue from all angles?” There can also be a lingering guilt about how much or...

  Do  you  believe in God? This post isn ’ t about evidence for the existence of God — not an apologetic seeking to convince unbelievers of God ’ s existence — they know. This blog is for you: average Sunday-going, Bible-believing Christian. Do you believe  in God? This post isn ’ t about evidence for but demonstration of belief.    “ Of course I believe in God!  I ’ m in church every time the doors are open, and serve wherever I ’ m asked ” , might be your reply, Thank you for that. I hope the Lord blesses you in that service, but that ’ s not what I ’ m asking.   “ I ’ ve read through the Bible multiple times, ”  and maybe you ’ re able to quote obscure tidbits from it, and you know it well. That will absolutely serve you and is good to know.   “ I know our standards and have read through them and multiple systematic theologies. ”  Or,  “ I ’ m a moderator on a very popular Facebook group where our entire purpose is to discus...

  My kids make fun of me a good bit for my musical tastes, partly because that’s their job to poke at the old man for being out of touch and all that, but when it comes to one particular song the mocking turns to foot tapping and smiles. They get all surprised I like a song they like. It makes them question their own approval of it. While I am generally of the opinion that Nashville committed murder on music row in the late 90’s, if not earlier, there is one song, that I am sure y’all know, and it’s a tune which James William McManus will mock me mercifully about once I mention it here in a second. Yet there is a lyric in it that speaks to me, which all good music should do at some level. There is something special, likely designed by the Lord about the nature of composition which provokes certain emotions and ideas through the witness of men and women getting together strumming guitars and pounding on drums and manipulating fiddle strings that does something to the human spirit. W...

I have been enjoying reading through Terry Johnson's book The Parables of Jesus . The subtitle of his book illustrates his overall theme when it comes to Jesus' parables: Entering, Growing, Loving, and Finishing in God's Kingdom. In chapter 11 of the book, Dr. Johnson explains one of the lesser-known of Jesus' parables, the Parable of the Growing Seed, which only appears in Mark 4:26-29: And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” In this parable, Jesus explains how growth takes place in the Kingdom of God. It is decidedly different than what we typically see in what has become known as the Church Growth Movement. This movement beg...

  One of the first Shorter Catechism questions to lodge in my mind (after #1, which all good Reformed Presbyterians know!) was #35, “What is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” I am sure for many of us who read this blog, this one is familiar to you as well - it has been helpful in your own spiritual growth and in counseling others in their spiritual growth as well. It reminds us that sanctification is a life-long process of God that may be painful at times, but, in the end, is all worth it, because we are being renewed after our created image.  In my own Christian life, I have been surprised by some aspects of God’s sanctification. It’s not always the “how” - I have found that primarily happens through the means of grace. It’s been more in the “what” … that as I die to certain sins, God introduces me to an a...

  Despite the many Google results for Zig Ziglar, I’m guessing the origin of the phrase “repetition is the mother of learning” goes back quite a bit earlier. Even if it’s not a phrase you’ve used recently, its meaning is readily apparent. None of us would ha ve learned the alphabet or multiplication tables without repetition. Memorizing Bible verses demands repeating them over and over. Many of our daily physical activities required repetition during the learning process in order to develop muscle memory. And  muscle toning and building are also  processes  that use repetition in order to produce results. My husband and I occasionally (jokingly) mimic a fitness instructor who explained an exercise and then excitedly exclaimed “And repeat, and repeat, and repeat!” ​ In literature, repetition is used for emphasis, to highlight the importance of something the author wishes to convey. Paul draws attention to his use of repetition in Philippians 4, “Rejoice in the Lord al...