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That smell

2/28/2017

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Well, it’s that time of year again. I’ll never forget my first February in Kentucky; then last February I noticed the same thing, and now this year. Let’s just say some things never change. What am I talking about you ask? The early spring invasion of SKUNKS!

In their efforts to cross the road these poor animals get hit by passing cars and inevitably leave a smell that, as the old southern expression goes, would knock a buzzard off a gut wagon. I actually have a skunk living in my backyard. When I take the trash out at night I’m always fearful that she’s going to be standing by the garbage can cocked and loaded.

The potency of skunk stench travels a great distance. When I ride over their carcasses on the highway the odor oozes into my car and remains for several miles. The power of a skunk’s particular smell has the capacity to linger in your nostrils for an uncanny amount of time.

My friend, Eddie, once had a pet skunk named, “Pierre” (although it was a girl). He tells me that Pierre was one of the best pets he ever owned. He found her when she was 6-8 weeks old and had the scent glands removed. Pierre was housebroken and trained to walk on a leash. He kept her for two years before getting married. However, his wife-to-be put great pressure on him to find Pierre a new home. Pierre spent the rest of her days entertaining children at elementary schools as part of a traveling zoo.

If you’ve ever viewed a skunk up close (preferably in pictures), you’ll likely agree that they’re adorable little animals. I’ve pondered recently why God would create something that appears so sweet yet give it a scent that will scar you for life. A few days ago that familiar smell seeped into my car once again; as the odor lingered God reminded me of a few things.

Scripture speaks a lot about “smells” and “aromas.” When dealing with unfaithful people God says, “These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away” (Isaiah 65:5, NLT). The Bible suggests a similar idea in 2 Peter chapter two when the Apostle writes about Believers who turn back to sin as “A dog that returns to his own vomit, and a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

All of us are wonderfully made in the likeness of a loving Creator. Every one of us is a much-loved child of the most caring Father in the entire universe. Yet many of us are like the prodigal son before he realizes his need to return home: We smell like a pigsty. We are beautiful in God’s eyes, yet all of us have the capacity to stink. When we willfully choose to live in sin we produce an aroma that reeks in the nostrils of God.

For many the smelly aroma comes from our efforts of self-preservation. We’ve learned to function in ongoing protection mode. Like a skunk, we let off an odor when we try to defend ourselves against what we perceive as a threat. Something presses in on our lives and we lash out, lie, cheat, attack another person, think we deserve something we actually don’t, justify our bad behaviors and habits, and the list goes on. In these moments we produce a scent that not only distances us from the Father, it also separates us from the people we love.

My friends, sin is a serious problem. When it goes unchecked it has the capacity to derail our lives in a way that leaves us dead on the inside. Without God, the aroma of death lingers. We’ve all been affected, which means we’ve all smelled like a dead skunk in God’s nostrils at one time or another.

Like Isaiah, our very best efforts are like filthy rags compared to the righteousness of God. In other words, we don’t deserve the goodness and mercy of God because of our stench. We often live in denial of the fact that we have the potential to smell like a skunk carcass lying on the side of the road. Denying the potential to smell like sin means one likely think more highly of themselves than they should. This is a dangerous way to live.

At the end of the day we all smell like road kill without Jesus. Paul says in 2 Cor. 2:14-16, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life…”

Wow! In Christ, we are called to manifest His sweet fragrance everywhere we go. That means the Kingdom of God is touching down everywhere we stand. Now, when I smell a dead skunk I think about the fact that I’m dead to myself, yet alive in Christ. Without Jesus we stink in the nostrils of God, but IN HIM we’re a sweet savor unto the Lord. Let people smell the fragrance of Christ being manifested through your life everyday.


(Sources: Eddie Estep)

This post was written by Rev Powell.  You can find his blog here:  
brianlpowell.com



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Marks of the Loss of First Love

2/27/2017

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In Revelation 2d chapter 4th verse, Christ said to a certain church, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

The reader will notice that Christ doesn't say that you have lost your first love, but He says you have left your first love. I used to think that it meant that we had lost the first love that came into our hearts when we were converted.

But I don't think that is what He means at all. I think He means to teach here that this church had let their beautiful building, maybe their pipe organ, and hardwood pews, and Brussells carpets, and their well organized choir, their splendid official board, and all the machinery of the church have the first place in their affections, and Jesus had to take the second place.

Therefore, they had left their first love, and this proves to me that Jesus must have the first place or He will not be satisfied, and no thinking man would expect Him to be. Now, for a little while, let's you and I study together some of the marks of the loss of first love.

First, when Jesus hasn't got the first place, we get into religious bondage, and our religious work has the first place in our affections, and we get under bondage in serving the church instead of the Lord.

Second, when Jesus hasn't got the first place, we have no religious Joy, and we become dry, and juiceless and toothless and powerless and dead, though we may be very active in church activities.

Third, when Jesus hasn't got the first place, we become critical, and it is so easy then to criticize everybody in the world, for if Christ is not on the throne, we will get on the throne, and then we are ready to criticize everybody that doesn't measure up to our ideal.

Fourth, when Christ hasn't the first place, there is a lack of secret prayer, and a prayerless life is a helpless life. And not only helpless but powerless. And we must prevail with the Lord in secret prayer or we will not prevail at all. And there is nothing more dangerous to the life than to neglect secret prayer.

Fifth, when Jesus hasn't first place in our affections, we have no love for precious immortal souls, though we are busy in church work, and very active looking after the temple. It is not the love of souls that causes us to attend church, but it is more for the love of our own work and our institution, which is right within itself if it only bore the proper relations to Christ.

Sixth, when Christ hasn't first place in our affections, we lose interest in the study of our Bibles, and the Bible becomes a dead letter to us, and many hours we spend with the daily papers that would have been spent with our Bibles if Jesus had the first place.

Seventh, when Jesus hasn't first place in our affections, we find it very easy to stay away from prayer-meetings, and to give the hours to worldly pleasures, and in looking after the affairs of this life. And we often make excuses for not going to the house of the Lord, when really the only excuse is that Jesus has lost His first place in our affections, and other things have the first place, and Jesus has the second place.

Eighth, when Jesus hasn't the first place in our affections, we will lose interest in the doctrine and experience of entire sanctification, and we look on it as a kind of a luxury that we can accept or reject according to our own will or wish, and we become blind to the fact that sanctification is not a mere dessert that can be taken or let alone, after your meals, but it is the dinner itself. And if you neglect it, the knickknack will be of no profit in the world to you. For a laboring man needs a dinner, and not a nickel's worth of ice cream.

Ninth, when Christ hasn't the first place in our affections, we will be more or less under the dominion of the man-fearing spirit, and we will become cowardly, and we will be afraid to stand for the truth for fear of popular opinion, and we will be afraid to meet the frowns and the criticisms of the world and a backslidden church around and about us. And because of these things, when we are called on to pray, we will beg to be excused. And when we are called on to testify, we will get up in an embarrassed manner and notify the speaker that we never speak in public, when at the same time on worldly matters we can talk two ways at once. All of this is because Jesus has lost the first place in our affections.

Tenth, when Jesus has lost the first place in our heart, there will be a lack of watchfulness on our part, and we are at least liable to become too familiar with this old world. And we and the world will become so familiar that the world will rob us of what gold we have, and leave us nothing but a little brass.

Eleventh, when Jesus has lost the first place in our affections, we become stingy and tight-fisted with our money that we ought to give the Lord, and we rob God of His tenth and then rob Him of His offerings. Then we make ourselves believe that we have given all we are able to give.

Twelfth, when Jesus has lost the first place in our hearts, there will be a craving for worldly pleasures, and worldly amusements. It will be easy to hang around the shows and circuses, and theaters, and frolics. All because Christ hasn't the first place. 

Thirteenth, when Christ has lost the first place in our affections, we have no insight into the Word of God, and the Book becomes sealed, and its treasures are hidden, and if we try to quote Scripture, we will become bunglers of the Word and not teachers of the Word.


Robinson, Reuben A. (Bud) (2015-03-31). Bees in clover.  Chapter 15:  The Marks of the loss of First Love. The Collected Works of 'Uncle Bud' Robinson (Kindle Locations 2746-2759). Jawbone Digital. Kindle Edition. 

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Sunday Meditation

2/26/2017

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God's Testimony in His Providences

But God has a testimony also or witness for himself in his providences; in other words, in all events which take place, especially when considered in their moral aspects and relations. The history of nations and individuals furnishes a series of facts, from which, if we could get it from no other source, may be deduced the general proposition, that all actions, which are not merely instinctive, have a moral character; and are attended with a moral retribution. We do not say, that the adjustment of reward and punishment to the moral merit and demerit of actions is entirely perfect in the present life; but it is so much so, as to leave no doubt of a moral government and a moral governor. It is true, that the vicious sometimes succeed in life, becoming rich and honored, while the virtuous suffer in poverty and contempt; but it does not follow from this, that the vicious are happy, or that the virtuous are miserable. The virtuous have an inward consolation, which more than compensates for outward adversities; and the vicious, with scarcely an exception, have inward sorrows, which are none the less deep and real for being concealed under the garb of outward prosperity. The history of man, therefore, including the history of nations as well as of individuals, utters its declarations loudly and impressively, in favor of God and of his government.

— The Life of Faith (1852) Part 1, Chapter 4 
by Thomas Cogswell Upham.  His blog is managed by Craig L Adams and can be found here:   
http://thomascupham.blogspot.com

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Befriending our inner enemies

2/25/2017

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​How do we befriend our inner enemies lust and anger? By listening to what they are saying. They say, "I have some unfulfilled needs" and "Who really loves me?" Instead of pushing our lust and anger away as unwelcome guests, we can recognize that our anxious, driven hearts need some healing. Our restlessness calls us to look for the true inner rest where lust and anger can be converted into a deeper way of loving.

There is a lot of unruly energy in lust and anger! When that energy can be directed toward loving well, we can transform not only ourselves but even those who might otherwise become the victims of our anger and lust. This takes patience, but it is possible.

For further reflection...

"He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light."
Job 12: 22


This devotional was written by Henri Nouwen.   
You can find his website here:  henrinouwen.org ​​​


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How rich is God?

2/24/2017

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16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ- Ephesians 3:16-18
 

How rich is God? It is somewhat of a silly question isn’t it? When we think of richness we think of fat wallets, financial advisors and storage facilities full of “stuff”. So, the question still remains. How rich is God? Or, maybe I should ask…How much “stuff” does God have? It seems like a foreign thought to have because we never think of God sitting on his throne in Heaven, and right next to Him, a security guard whose purpose is to protect His collection of gold and diamonds. Yet, at the same time, we know God has more than we do. The fact is, God has everything. Every square inch of the universe is His. Sometimes we forget that the same God who created everything can meet our needs. He personally know us by names and cares about our needs. As humans, we frequently fall short of our supply of anything we can think of; both spiritual and physical. For some reason, we tend to think that God can only use what we already have in limited supply. When we pray for things we do not possess, or manufacture, God provides (in His timing) from His own resources. We become so frustrated when a lost familiy member is not listening to truth, or a bill is coming due we cannot afford, but God can make miracles happen. 
 
Do you believe it? You should, because it happens every day. Trust Him today and anticipate His amazing provision. Believing in this truth will make your heart a more habitable space for God's love and power. Then, when you experience His power, you more quickly testify to others; thus passing on the blessing. You become more rooted and established and ready to be an ambassador for God's kingdom (the richest kingdom around). 

Prayer for today: God, I know you know my heart and what I need. I ask that you show me a miracle today in the area that I am the most burdened about. I need you more than an answer. Thank you for being my deliverer and my provider. Amen.

This post was written by Rev DeCrastos.  You can find his blog here:  
ministrysauce.com

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Love God with all your mind

2/23/2017

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J.P. Moreland is concerned for the evangelical community. He feels that it is currently being held captive by a thoroughly modern understanding of Christianity which has diminished our ability to positively affect change in our culture. In other words, we are no longer salty, and cannot (do not) function as the salt of the earth. What does Jesus say about salt that has lost its flavor? It is good for nothing and must be thrown out (actually, Jesus, in his ever mild manner, says to throw it out and trample it underfoot).

Just what is it that makes us the salt of the earth? Moreland makes a convincing argument that our intellectual capabilities are a large part of that saltiness. The modern understanding of Christianity that has made us flavorless? A strong and deeply held conviction that Christianity is supposed to be anti-intellectual (supra-rational). Thus, Moreland examines how pervasive anti-intellectualism was in Christianity during the twentieth century, and he argues that we need to recover true Christian intellect and rationality to once again become salt in this world.

Moreland asks several very important questions regarding the relationship of intellect (mind) and faith. Those questions include: Why should the mind matter in Christianity? How can one develop a mature Christian mind? What does a mature Christian mind look like? How can we guarantee a future for the Christian mind? The answers are, obviously, well-thought out and well-reasoned. They are also informative, and the overall effect is a practical, rational book which teaches us to re-elevate reason to its proper status in the Christian life. After all, Jesus did summarize the law by telling us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind.

This revised edition includes expanded appendices and three new chapters that outline how to argue for the reality of God and the historicity of Jesus' life teachings, death, and resurrection.


This post is taken from Christian Books:  
http://www.christianbook.com/role-reason-life-soul-revised-updated/j-p-moreland/9781617479007/pd/479007?event=AFF&p=1153476&

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The Normal Christian Life

2/22/2017

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The Normal Christian Life is Watchman Nee’s take on the book of Romans, just as Sit, Walk, Stand was his journey through Ephesians. Nee uses these pages to remind his readers that everything depends on our resting in Christ’s completed work. On that basis he calls Christians to live holy and upright lives, not in their own strength, but in the Spirit. And he calls his fellow believers to realize that God is not content to simply undo the results of the fall. There is much more in view.

He does a wonderful job of bringing home theological truth, though I found a few pieces of his thought process difficult to swallow. I must admit I found the last third far better than the first two. But as a whole it is rich in material you will want to go over more than once, and full of imagery that brings the subject to life.

While Sit, Walk, Stand was full of moving personal stories and interactions, The Normal Christian Life stands out for its use of analogies. Simply, they are brilliant and succinct.

Not only am I in Christ, but Christ is in me. And just as, physically, a man cannot live and work in water but only in air, so, spiritually, Christ dwells and manifests himself not in terms of “flesh” but of “spirit.” Therefore, if I live “after the flesh,” I find that what is mine in Christ is, so to say, held in suspense in me. Though in fact I am in Christ, yet if I live in the flesh – that is, in my own strength and under my own direction – then in experience I find to my dismay that it is what is in Adam that manifests in me. If I would know in experience all that is in Christ, then i must learn to live in the Spirit. (p.176)

In this way he presents the difference between what we experience and what is objective reality, and shows that if we are to live as disciples, we can only expect to do so by breathing in the right medium. Or his grappling with the nature of the two “laws”, of sin and death and of life:

If we will let ourselves live in the new law, we shall be less conscious of the old. It is still there, but it is no longer governing and we are no longer in its grip. That is why the Lord says in Matthew 6: “Behold the birds…Consider the lilies.” If we could ask the birds whether they were not afraid of the law of gravity, how would they reply? They would say, “We never heard the name of Newton. We know nothing about this law. We fly because it is the law of our life to fly.” Not only is there in them a life with the power of flight, but that life has a law which enables these living creatures, to overcome the law of gravity. Yet gravity remains. (p.192)

His dealing with the nature of the church and its relation to the creation of Eve out of Adam’s side is beautiful (p.213). As well, his treatment of the normal source of our strength (pp. 230-231) will make you rightly question every spiritual gift inventory you have ever taken, encouraging you to drink from the well of the Spirit.

I did find his treatment of our sinful nature lacking (p.35), as it calls into question how we should take the humanity of Christ (though I don’t think that was his intention). I also think he takes 2 Corinthians 4:11 out of context to prove a point on p.228. And as I already suggested, I found the early parts of the book more tedious than the latter due to his incessant reminders that everything is the work of Christ; nothing is to our credit. I got the point early, and was ready for some balance before he was ready to provide it.

The best way I can think to end this review is with a story involving a biscuit, from near the end of the book:

I was sitting one day at supper with a young brother to whom the Lord had been speaking on this very question of our natural energy. He said to me, “It is a blessed thing when you know the Lord has met you and touched you in that fundamental way, and that disabling touch has been received.” There was a plate of biscuits between us on the table, and I picked one up and broke it in half as though to eat it. Then, fitting the two pieces together again carefully, I said, “It looks all right, but it is never quite the same again, is it? When once your back is broken, you will yield ever after to the slightest touch from God.” (p.265)

This book review was written by George.  


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Reaching out to God in lament

2/21/2017

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Soon after September 11, 2001, Michael Card received a note from a friend who observed that the American church had no songs to sing in response to the horrific attacks. The friend challenged Card, saying, “You need to write laments, to equip ‘lament teams’ ” (p. 7). In A Sacred Sorrow Card has offered his response—a clear call for believers to embrace suffering and to offer lament as an act of worship. He invites believers to “recover the lost language of lament.”

Twenty-three short chapters discuss Job, David, Jeremiah, and Jesus as examples of lamenters. After four introductory chapters, Card spends four or five chapters on each of these four persons and then draws conclusions in chapter 23. Six appendixes follow, including a section on “Journaling/Writing Your Own Lament” and a short bibliography of related works the author has found meaningful. 

In his companion book, A Sacred Sorrow Experience Guide, Card offers a ten-week plan with five days of reflection in each week. They mirror the arrangement of the book in that week one is introductory, then two weeks are spent on each of the four biblical characters, giving short background comments with suggested biblical readings, and then concluding with a week of reflections. The background comments are largely based on or excerpted from the main book. Each day has two or three reflective questions. Day five of each week invites readers to write their own laments. His method is to ask readers to “reflect on” certain thoughts or images “as you compose your own lament.” The focus is on the individual lament rather than corporate lament.

Card limits his focus to the four biblical characters to encourage recovering the lost language of lament. That is, he does not share his own story, he does not address the attacks of 9/11, nor does he specifically address other life pains. Likewise the Experience Guide is very general in application, trusting readers to make connections to the biblical stories and compose their own laments while reflecting on them. He does not explain the structure of lament psalms, and so he does not develop that structure as a template for modern use.

Card sees lament as a journey toward an outcome. He asserts Job’s “pain and deep sense of abandonment by God” was actually a “false perception” (p. 59). Job, Card says, prepares believers for the journey through the Book of Psalms. That journey progresses from Psalm 1, “a hymn to Torah obedience,” through laments for which “Torah obedience provides no answer” (p. 42). The journey ends in the final praise hymns of the Psalter, that is, in praise for God’s loyal love.

Card says the Writings, the third section of the Hebrew Bible, were put together during a time of existential change in Israel in which “God was preparing his people for a deeper understanding of himself and his hesed” (p. 41). In his conclusions Card states his belief that in the New Jerusalem lament will be “over forever,” for believers will “leave [their] laments and forget once and for all the vocabulary of their pain and the syntax of their sorrows. Lament will become the faithful companion with whom we part ways when the journey comes to an end” (p. 142). Card asserts that as a journey “lament is one of the most direct paths to the true praise we know we have lost” (p. 21).

The most important contribution of Card’s work is its function as a call to view prayers of lament as legitimate. On the one hand it is a common biblical model, and on the other hand without lament life’s wounds “continue to fester. The longer they are denied the more gangrenous they become” (p. 77). Card is not the first to make a call to the church to revive the use of lament, but it is a welcome call and challenge to avoid denying life’s pains and to speak honestly about them in one’s pursuit of God. 


This book review was written by Brian L. Webster and David Beach

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Bruchko:  Teenage missionary

2/20/2017

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Bruce Olson’s autobiography Bruchko contains much more than his life story. Olson’s work with the primitive Motilone Indian tribe of South America brings up missiological questions of utmost importance.

– What does the Gospel look like in a culture that is radically different from ours?
– What traditions and customs can a culture preserve while maintaining a Christian identity?
– How much do missionaries need to be immersed in a culture before they can effectively share the gospel? 

 Bruchko tells the story of Bruce Olson’s difficult journey to the dangerous Motilone Indian tribe of South America, his assimilation into Motilone culture, and his role in the entire tribe’s conversion to Christianity. The book begins with Olson’s conversion experience. Raised in a legalistic Lutheran church with parents who were cold and indifferent to the Gospel, Olson embarked on a quest for genuine Christianity. He studied Greek and Hebrew and began reading the Bible in the original languages. Olson feared the judgment of God and was eventually driven to his knees in repentance and faith. His Lutheran church offered no support for Olson’s newfound personal faith, so he began to attend an interdenominational church.

Touched by missionary reports, Olson felt God’s call to minister to Indians in South America. When he was nineteen, Olson embarked on the journey that would change his life forever. He headed to South America with little more than the clothes on his back. Olson’s first contact with local missionaries was disheartening. The missionaries looked at Olson as an outsider and refused to include him in mission work because he had come without sponsorship. Instead of doing mission work from the beginning, Olson attended a university in Venezuela and began learning about the South American Indian tribes.

Months later, Olson set off into the jungle looking for the Motilone Indian tribe. He first came across the Yuko Indians. After spending a year with the Yukos, he ventured deeper into the jungle to find the Motilones. His initial encounter with the Motilones was frightening. He was pierced by an Indian arrow and later almost executed by the Motilone chief. Olson endured dysentery, hepatitis, and a chronic problem with parasites during his first few months in the jungle. However, none of these trials convinced him to turn back. Instead, they emboldened him to continue his work and to take joy in this time of “suffering” for the Lord’s work.

Upon his return to the Motilones, Olson received the name “Bruchko.” He began to accompany the men on their fishing and hunting expeditions. He slowly adjusted to the Motilone diet, and he began to pick up on the tribe’s tonal language. Still, he faced periods of discouragement as he did not know how to share the Gospel within this foreign and difficult context.

The turning point of the book comes from Olson’s befriending of a young Motilone warrior – Bobarishora (“Bobby” for short). As Bobby became a leader of the tribe, Olson’s influence expanded and his opportunities for service were multiplied. One such instance took place when an epidemic of pink eye hit the tribe. Olson obtained antibiotic cream for the Indians, only to find out that the witch doctor refused the outside help. In an ingenious attempt to win over the witch doctor, Olson purposefully contracted pink eye and allowed the witch doctor to treat him with his own antibiotic cream. From that time on, the witch doctor began to use Western medicines and the tribe took steps to better sanitation.

Olson’s opportunity to share the gospel came shortly after the experience with the witch doctor. In the jungle, he came upon several Motilone Indians who were digging a hole in an attempt to find God. Olson began to teach them about the incarnation and Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross. In order to drive home the biblical teaching about God becoming man, Olson told the Motilone fable about a man who became an ant. Bobby was the first Motilone to convert to Christianity, but it took several months before the rest of the tribe would make their decision. Bobby, as the tribe’s leader, sang the Gospel story as a chant, and his testimony influenced the other Motilones to put their trust in Christ.

From the moment of the tribe’s conversion, Olson speeds up his account and skips over years with very little detail. Bobby married and had children. Olson met and dated a girl named Gloria, who decided to work with the Motilones. Tragically, she was killed in an automobile accident shortly before they were to be married. Olson was also involved in international organizations as an advocate for the Motilones and their traditions. Olson’s discipleship of the Motilone tribe continued through his efforts to translate the Gospel of Mark and then the New Testament. Olson records his difficulties in translating the Bible into a tonal language and oral culture.

The final chapters take on a solemn note, as encroaching civilization begins to threaten the Motilone way of life. The book ends with the tragic death of Bobby at the hands of outlaws. An epilogue provides additional information on Olson’s work with the Motilones and the tribe’s preservation of its ancient traditions.



This book review was written by Trevin Wax.

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Sunday meditation

2/19/2017

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How Do We Know We are Filled With the Holy Spirit?

How shall a person know, since the modes of the Spirit's interior action are so various, when he experiences the full or completed presence and operations of this Divine Agent? A proper answer, so far as it goes, would perhaps be, that this can be known only by the results of such divine presence and agency. These results, in their entire length and breadth, we will not attempt to analyze at the present time. But will only go so far now as to say, that one of the most decisive marks of the presence of the Holy Ghost in its fullness, is a resigned and peaceful state of the spirit originating in perfect faith in God. In the precise state of mind to which we now have reference, there seems to be an entire subsidence or withdrawal of that natural excitability which is so troublesome to the christian; and instead of the eager and unsettled activity of nature, the substitution of a pure and deeply interior rest of the soul, such as was seen in our Savior, and resembling, on the small scale of man's limited spirituality, the sublime and  passionless  tranquility of God.

Undoubtedly there are other important marks, characteristic of the inward fullness of the divine power. But this, if it be rightly understood, may be regarded as the highest result of the divine operation upon the human mind. It is not, therefore, merely the christian, whose mental exercises are characterized by traits, that are calculated to excite outward observation that is filled with the Holy Ghost, to the exclusion of others. Still more frequently is this fullness experienced in the hearts of those who sit in solitary places, unknown to the world; who live in the secrecy of their spirits with God alone; and of whom the multitude around them, ignorant of the interior Power which dwells in their souls, know only this, that they perform the religious and temporal duties of life with fidelity and gratitude, and endure its trials and sorrows with silence and submission. We would not have it understood, however, as these remarks might seem to imply, that persons in this calmly peaceful and triumphant state of mind, are destitute of feeling. Far from it. They have feeling; but it is regulated feeling. Perfect in degree, but symmetrical in all its relations; and therefore resulting in that angelic aspect of religious experience, which has been indicated. And the explanation is this. Every emotion is so perfectly adapted to its appropriate object; every desire and affection is kept so perfectly in its position; every volition moves so surely and strongly towards the goal of perfect rectitude; all worldly tendencies and attachments, all hopes and fears, all joys and sorrows are so completely merged in the overruling principle of supreme love to God, a principle which makes all of God and nothing of the creature, that the result is, and of necessity must be, inward quietude;

"The peaceful calm within the breast,
"The dearest pledge of glorious rest."


— edited from The Interior or Hidden Life (2nd Edition, 1844) Part 3, Chapter 1 by Thomas Cogswell Upham.  His blog is managed by Craig L Adams and can be found here:   
http://thomascupham.blogspot.com

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