Forth, and Fear No Darkness!

King Theoden's speech outside Minas Tirith in the Return of the King provides inspiring application to the Christ-follower's mortal journey on this good earth.  After giving final commands to three of his officers, King Theoden makes a declaration which stirs my heart every day as a Christ-follower, "Forth, and Fear No Darkness!"

In Ralph C. Wood's book The Gospel According to Tolkien there is a similar declaration Christ-followers can be strengthened and inspired by in the chapter "The Counter-Action to Evil".

"Most often the hobbits laugh because they possess the freeing capacity to stand outside themselves, to behold themselves at a critical distance, and thus not take themselves too seriously.  This freedom comes most notably to Sam in the tower of Cirith Ungol, where he thinks Frodo lies dead.  Despite his despair, Sam finds himself putting his own unaccountably hopeful words to one of the 'old childish tunes out of the Shire':

In western lands beneath the Sun

the flowers may rise in Spring,

the trees may bud, the waters run,

the merry finches sing.

Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night

and swaying beeches bear

the Elven-stars as jewels white

amid their branching hair.

This enduringly joyful, even comic sense of life arises from the Company's conviction that their errand constitutes a small action within a gigantic cosmic drama.  Though the machinations of evil often cause them searing doubt, they believe that the victory of good is ultimately assured, even if they may themselves fail and soon be forgotten...Tolkien may have had such moments in mind when he said that, at its best, fantasy serves as a 'far-off gleam or echo of evangelium in the real world' - a distant reverberation of the Gospel." (Wood p. 106-107)

As Christ-followers, I pray we make a daily, intentional & joyful habit of to recall our only Hope.  I challenge each of us to speak out loud (for our benefit AND for the benefit of the entire world) the following every day: "Jesus accomplished the Victory on the Cross, He gives us Joy in the Empty Tomb and He is the True HOPE of the Resurrection we look forward to, Alleluia!"

We live in a world of darkness, a world full of fear and when we're honest about it - we have no hope, ability or strength to overcome this darkness and fear on our own.  Why would we ever consider beginning the day with anything outside of the One Source of Hope?  Despite our failings and sinfulness - we are FORGIVEN!  Despite the despair of our impending mortality - we will be RESURRECTED!

Regardless of all the fallen world, the Enemy and our own sinful flesh do to assault us - the Victory has already been won by Jesus Christ!  Our present circumstances will not remain forever!  So if things are going well we thank the LORD and remember that earthly blessings will come and go - but even brief moments of joy in this life pale in comparison to the Joy that will NEVER end in the Resurrection.  When things are going terrible, we thank the LORD for being with us and remember that earthly hardships will come and go - but joy will remain forever in the Resurrection.

May these Words of Life stir our hearts to action and strengthen our daily journey with our Creator & Savior God: Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.  On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as LORD, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Now we go "Forth, and Fear No Darkness" by speaking the Gospel out loud to assure the fearful and strengthen the hopeless, both ourselves and others, with the Powerful Name above all other names, Jesus Christ, who IS the Resurrection and the Life, Alleluia and Amen!

This Is What It's All About

It's been far too long, welcome back!  I invite you to begin our evening walk together with a passage of Holy Scripture.

"And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor.  This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." - Ecclesiastes 4:4

You know...I read this chapter of Ecclesiastes so often, nod my head and instantly think about "all those other people" who are chasing after the wind.  But this time, our Saving God's Holy Spirit pierces my heart with a convicting question - "Ben, what are YOU chasing after instead of Your King who died AND rose from the dead for your sake?"

Presently, the wind I'm chasing after is this: January I "live for" vacation in February, in February I "live for" March Madness, in March & April I "live for" the start of Baseball Season, in May & June I "live for" a summer breather from teaching Confirmation (which I'm honestly missing right now!), in July & August "I live for" the start of football season & a certain video game - HOLD UP Ben...are you serious?  A video game?  How trivial can you be?  You know what, I completely agree with you.  How can I, a Christ-follower, be so self-centered and so silly to chase after the wind.

How about you?  What are you chasing after like a dog chasing its tail or Reverend Dolby chasing after his "flavor of the month" piece of entertainment?  Could it be the perfect sun tan, the upcoming live concert, your next pay day or what other trivial thing are you chasing instead of our Saving God?

Do we REALLY value this "stuff" more than the One who gives us Hope Everlasting in place of the eternal punishment we bring upon ourselves in our sinfulness?  If not...WHY do we all give our time, our lives and all that we are into all these things as if they offered hope in the face of our sinfulness and our eventual earthly death?

"There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother.  There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.  'For who am I toiling,' he asked, 'and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?'  This too is meaningless - a miserable business!

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:8-12

So, as we're walking, I hope we agree that we all chase after the "wind", we all have chased after things that do not matter in the ultimate purpose of life.  The ultimate purpose of life is summed up and witnessed to in the following comments on Revelation 19:1-10, "It is also the witness which tells about Jesus' victory for the human race, that is, the Gospel message about His birth and ministry and life and death and resurrection." (Brighton p. 502)


Living in the Eucatastrophe - THIS is what it's all about in our life on earth.  What we're chasing after every day, that is NOT what life on earth is all about.

While I find myself chasing after "things" instead of joyfully declaring Jesus' victory for the human race; I am just as guilty of chasing the past, regretting the past and experiencing nostalgia instead of thankfully living in the present God has blessed me with!  I chase after regretting and grieving the past.

A perfect example, I miss my siblings and I will always wish I lived closer to them.  As a pastor, it is pretty much guaranteed that I will NEVER live close to them again (although five hours isn't too shabby, thank You Jesus!).  Isn't it interesting how we can be so blinded by that which we do not have that we treat God's eternal victory for our sake with contempt & foolishly take it for granted (as well as the earthly foretaste of the Resurrection He provides through the presence of other Christ-followers in our lives RIGHT NOW)?

PLEASE do not misunderstand me, there are many legitimate reasons to grieve when one lives far from family or especially grieving the terrible separation brought upon us by broken families, broken relationships and even separation because of death.

But instead of being consumed by the selfish pursuit of joys in this life (is it really enjoyable if it does not last forever?) or weighed down in hopelessness of grief, separation and sorrow (is it really hopeless since Jesus has accomplished the promise of resurrected life apart from sorrow and death - read Revelation chapter 21 if you're not quite sure!)...I joyfully invite you to be fed and experience the TRUTH with your own ears:

"Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But now my kingdom is from another place.'  'You are a king, then!' said Pilate.  Jesus answered, 'You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'" - John 18:36-37

Now that we know what Jesus is testifying to, I hope we're listening carefully...I hope we all understand a little bit better why we hope and what living in the Eucatastrophe is all about.

The Fellowship we share with all believers in all places, times and circumstances is this: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD." - Romans 8:38-39

This is our Fellowship...Jesus' victory for the human race - God's free gift to us, Alleluia!  How Great is Our God!!





Go celebrate Christ's victory for YOU with your church family this week and every week.  Go celebrate Christ's victory for YOUR FAMILY in your living room with your family by opening the Bible every morning & every evening together.


This is why we hope, this is the Eucatastrophe we're living in.  This Fellowship is what it's all about. This Fellowship of the Resurrection...OUR RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD, in Jesus' Name, Alleluia and Amen!

Great video on our Hope in Eternity by Rev. Fisk

An Introduction

Greetings!

My name is Ben and I'm excited to undertake this walk in Hope with you.  This walk will consist of reading/wrestling with/inwardly digesting the Word of God, excursions into Middle Earth, reflections about my family and other exciting topics I can't even imagine at this point.  I am stoked for the opportunities which will arise for me to learn from you.  I rejoice in the anticipation bonds of fellowship we will form in this dialogue of Why We Hope: Living in the Eucatastrophe.

 As you get to know me, you will see a Christ-follower who is learning how to love all other human beings and all of Creation more like my King, Jesus Christ, on a daily basis.  My purpose is not to persuade nor is my purpose to make noise and draw attention to myself (insert Yoda voice "boring & vain would that make me")...my purpose is to share, declare and proclaim Why We Hope.

With that in mind, I welcome constructive criticism of what I post/blog/share here.  But any dialogue that deteriorates into venomous, nasty speech will not be tolerated nor will I acknowledge it with an answer other than "moving on."  I'm all about learning from others and I want to learn from you.  That's what dialogue is all about!  After all, look how Jesus of Nazareth interacts with Nicodemus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John. What a great model of dialogue, of listening and speaking Jesus gives to all people.  It's also a great practical application piece of God's Word in James 1:19 - you've heard it before "quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry," that Jesus provides us in the actions of His life.


So here's to our journey together!


Sincerely, Ben

The Supreme Folly

I welcome you to walk on this journey of Hope with me.  I'd like for us to begin with something I've thought about every day since at least kindergarten.  By the grace of God alone, there is not a day I fail to consider (i.e. think long and hard) my mortality.  Every day, the reality that my biological, earth-bound body will cease to function from the tragedy of my Sinfulness combined with a tragedy of living in a fallen, sinful world stops me in my busy ways and ask sobering questions about life goals and life's ultimate purpose.  A reading of Genesis chapter 3, the Seventh Chapter of Paul's letter to the Roman Christians and the First Epistle of John Chapter 1, verses 5 through 10 speak God's Truth about this hard reality of life and sin.

Before my first post becomes too much of a "wall of text" I'll get right to the point.  The biggest mistake, "The Supreme Folly" is to fail to consider our mortality every day and Why We Hope while staring death in the face every moment of every day.

My parents gave me the greatest gifts parents can give to their child.  They gave me life, they raised me to know God's great Love for me and all people in His Salvific Plan victoriously accomplished in the Promise, Life, Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ...and they taught me how to read.  Consider these words from a book I am reading. 

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
- Frodo Baggins

In an earlier version of his song, Bilbo had used the word "eager" rather than "weary," but age and experience have shown him that life drains even as it fulfills.  Yet Bilbo's exhaustion in no way diminishes his conviction that everyone has an "errand" - a mission and purpose - and that everyone undertakes a journey every day of one's life.  We are all bound on the same Road toward death - indeed, beyond death.  We are immersed in the river of time - the "ever rolling stream" which, in Isaac Watt's splendid rendering of the Ninetieth Psalm, "bears all its sons away."  To deny the constant nearness of death is, for Tolkien, the supreme folly. 
 
(excerpt from Ralph C. Wood's The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle Earth pages 45-46)

It is understandable that we would want to avoid taking time to consider mortality or to talk about death.  Death is awful, death is heart-breaking, death shares a bitterness that will never subside in this life and to be frank, death sucks.  But the greatest mistake, the Supreme Folly is to act as if we know our own mortality will not be realized in the foreseeable future, ignore the sobering questions concerning life and worst of all, despise the One who is our Hope.  When we seek to ignore the hard things in life, we cheapen and despise the euphoric joy given to us freely by our Saving God.

 

Will you take this first step with me and consider the constant nearness of death to all of us?  When we take this first step together, we will find ourselves on the Road that goes ever on and on...yes, even through death and beyond our mortality to a joy that man's speech can not hope to describe or accurately capture.

Come along with me and see Why We Hope, living in the Eucatastrophe.