Gods and Generals

Gods and Generals

Gods and Generals is an historical novel by Jeff Shaara about the first few years of the Civil War. One particular passage in the book is quite compelling. Some time after the Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) where General Thomas Jackson is given the name “Stonewall Jackson” one of his aides is asking him how he could remain so serene during the battle. Jackson’s reply was he faith taught him to know he was as safe lying in bed as when he was doing his duty – he entrusted his life into the Hands of God. As a military officer Jackson’s life verse was:
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,
we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,
not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1)

Throughout the book one is impressed with the deep faith of men like Generals Lee & Jackson of Virginia as well as Joshua Chamberlain of Maine.

How is it that with people of such faith they were drawn to resolve their difference through war? Remember the magnitude of the Civil War war. In our present war we learn of a few casualties on a daily basis:
In three days at Gettysburg there were twenty-three thousand casualties;
In two days at Shiloh, a battle that proved nothing, there were twenty-three thousand casualties;
In ONE DAY at Antietam there were twenty-four thousand casualties.
In just three battles over six days more than seventy thousand casualties.

I do realize that looking back at circumstances is all together different than living in our present circumstance. Even so, I am convinced that our only hope to not repeat the mistakes of the past is living the life in Christ.

It seems to me that the faith of the Generals was centered on the sovereignty of God. I agree that God is sovereign over all. However, the Apostle Paul says that it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bend and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, to the glory of the Father. Paul said that “. . . in him (Christ) we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

I believe that a passion to live the Life in Christ will lead us to rightly order our lives to live to know Christ; to come to Him to celebrate His glory (not just to make our life better;) to trust His provision; to expect to become like Jesus; and to always affirm Thy will be done.

Selah,
Alex

The Simplicity of the Gospel of Grace

When I was attending a preaching conference earlier this year United Methodist Bishop Will Willimon was remembering a conversation he had while he was Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. He said he had been lamenting that despite all that he had tried, he could not increase student attendance at Chapel Services. One of his colleagues told him, “Will, you have to remember that Duke is an exclusive private university and the kids that come here are very smart – that’s why they don’t go to chapel.”

Bishop Willimon said he started to feel the sting of that comment until his friend continued, “They are smart enough to know that if they started to attend Chapel Services they would need to change they way they were living.”

I recalled Bishop Willimon’s comments this week as I thought about the simplicity of the Gospel of Grace. The essence of the new life in Christ the Apostle Paul continually affirms is quite simple. Dr. Larry Crabb in his book, The Pressure’s Off, summarized it by setting forth the foundational principals of life in Christ:

Core Passion: I live to know Christ
Core Experience: I come to Him to celebrate His glory
Core Strategy: I will trust His provision
Core Hope: I expect to become like Jesus
Core Attitude: Thy will be done

Admittedly, putting those principals into daily living is difficult because they are clearly counter cultural. There is much to ‘un-learn’ to make room for the new way of living. But, as G. K. Chesterton noted, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."
There’s the rub. For so many people it is not that they do not believe the Gospel message; it is that they do not want to believe it. They don’t need Bonhoeffer to tell them about cheap grace and the cost of discipleship. Intuitively, they know they would have to change the way they are living and they are not ready to do that.

Hopefully, prayerfully, there will be a remnant living the Life in Christ when they have ears to hear.

Selah,

Alex

For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

If you have used a personal computer for awhile you have experienced the dreaded ‘slow down.’ The pc seems to take longer, sometimes much longer, to process or retrieve information – it just isn’t operating as efficiently as it was designed to operate. People are like that too. No, I don’t mean we slow down as we age – I mean we realize we are not operating as efficiently or as effectively as we are able.

With computers there are many reasons why they slow down, not the least of which is the pc becomes infected with a computer virus that causes the operating system to lose efficiency. The human operating system can also be compromised with a virus – the disease we call sin. Remember, sin isn’t something on a list of stuff we are not supposed to do – sin is anything that interferes with loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength,

Sometimes computers slow down gradually and we become accustom to their reduced effectiveness. Then something happens and we realize something is wrong and we can take the necessary steps to fix the problem.

Sometimes we become accustomed to our own sins that prevent us from fully being the people of God. But God, who is rich in mercy, is working to help us realize something is wrong in our life. Then we can remember Jesus gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed God.

Maybe there is something God wants you to see in your life. Don’t be afraid to ask God to show you – remember He is rich in mercy.

Selah,

Alex