an oxgoad, eh?

We are all home again, my wife and I and our younger four in Victoria, and our oldest and his bride in their new home in Greenville. We entered a whirlwhind of activity for two weeks leading up to the big event, then a week of winding down – they on their honeymoon and we visiting family. I expect they were more relaxed than we. Now we have been home for a week… busy as ever, but with some time to think about what happened in Greenville. I thought I would share some of my meditating with you.

~~~

While at the rehearsal dinner, a thought came to me concerning the nature of Christian marriage. I thought it so important that I reworked the message for the wedding in order to incorporate it. I have been thinking about it a good deal since. Here is the thought as I jotted it down on my PDA while enjoying the dinner: “God joins a man & woman together – the preacher’s pronouncement witnesses the work of the Holy Spirit.”

The thought behind this involves one of the more difficult passages of the New Testament to interpret.

Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

and

Matthew 18:18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

I won’t go into the exegesis of these passages here, but the idea as I understand it is this: The church and its servants are given authority by God to act as witnesses of things God does in heaven. We see evidence of God’s work and pronounce that it is so, giving our witness to it.

A marriage, perhaps especially a Christian marriage, is one of these kinds of events.

In the wedding ceremony, a couple pledges a set of vows to one another before the Lord. After the vows are said, the preacher pronounces the couple man and wife. What is it that makes that pronouncement true? Is it the fact that the preacher has vested in him authority by the Church and the state to make such pronouncements? Does the statement of the preacher make the two people married? Or is it the fact that the couple recited the vows to one another? Do the promises themselves make the couple one? What is actually happening in a marriage ceremony?

The vows are important as said to one another, but they are much more important in that they are said before God. A marriage ceremony is an oath taking ceremony. The man and the woman pledge their oaths before God and in the presence of witnesses. The witnesses, especially the preacher, but really the whole marriage party and the members of the congregation all gather to hear the pledging of these oaths in the presence of God. The pronouncement of the preacher is a recognition on earth of something that is being sealed in heaven.

As the couple makes their vows, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in heaven take note of the troth that is pledged. They hear the vows and a supernatural response is made – two people become one flesh by the work of God. The preacher’s pronouncement is a ‘by faith’ witness that the supernatural act has taken place. The wedding party and the congregation acknowledge the same and receive the couple as man and wife. We humans do this by faith – one moment the two are two engaged individuals, the next moment they are man and wife. God did that. We witnessed it.

Perhaps the most important factor in making the violation of marriage vows such an offense is this supernatural thing that God has done. When you act contrary to these oaths, you are acting contrary to a one flesh relationship God created. You violate God’s creative act, repeating in your small world the sin of Adam, violating God’s original creation.

The implications of these thoughts are pretty far reaching. We don’t need to go that far afield to be violating the troth that is pledged in marriage. If, as Jesus taught us, adultery can be committed in the mind, so too can errant thoughts violate the one-flesh bond between man and woman supernaturally created by God.

May God keep us faithful.

For Jesus’ sake.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

It just doesn’t get any worse: “Popular culture — and American Idol is nothing if not popular –is like that. It is a commodity: base, venal and without a soul. Carefully contrived by Hollywood (or some related industry) to be hawked to the largest number of consumers, popular culture is all about maximizing profits, not expanding refinement. It does not aspire to be art.”

This comment comes from Warren Kinsella, a Liberal lawyer from ‘back east’, a well known political figure here in Canada. He is sort of the Liberal ‘Karl Rove’, at least that’s my perception of his former political involvement. There are certainly many areas where Kinsella and I will disagree, but I read him regularly. He writes well and knows a good bit concerning politics and culture. This comment was particularly striking to me.

The National Post page where this quote came from will only be available for a short time, so if you want to read more, you probably should make a copy for yourself.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

You have been waiting with bated breath for this one, I am sure. Here it is, the “Jonathan Edwards is my homeboy” t-shirt, exclusively licensed by Yale’s works of Jonathan Edwards site…

Maybe this is old news to you, but it struck me as funny tonight as I followed a link in an e-mail from the J Edwards site.

If you are not aware of this site, it is an ambitious and worthy project that plans to put all of Jonathan Edwards works online indexed to the Scripture, etc. The site is worth checking out from time to time.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

For all my many fans (!!!) I thought I would share with you a picture of the great gang of young people involved in our recent event in Greenville.

The whole event was a real blessing and a privilege to be a part of.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Last Sunday I was in Dacula, GA, at Grace Baptist Church. Pastor Dave Wood is on the left, an old acquaintance from Greenville days long past. Next is Andy Efting, an on-line friend I have looked forward to meeting in person.

Next to Andy is my soon to be daughter-in-law and next to her (and somewhat obscured by my younger son) is my oldest son, the one who will be married tomorrow. [I am doing the ceremony!]

My son and soon to be d-in-l serve in this church as student trainees and general gophers. When Duncan graduated from BJU last year, I asked him to find a church where he could serve and learn and ‘get out of Greenville’. That is not to say that I have anything against the good churches in Greenville, but I want them to get out of the ‘orbit’ and in a more normal church environment for the purposes of preparation for future ministry. The church in Dacula fills the bill.

The rest of the picture are my other kids and me. My wife was unable to make it to the service because of family needs in Tennessee, but made it down to G’ville the next day…

I am in kinko’s printing out the last of my tweaks on the wedding ceremony… just 13 hours from now (it is 1 am!! Am I nuts or what?) [Don’t answer that…]

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Since the Canuckleheads lost Game 1 of the second series, I think it would be a good idea to get back to my ‘one-liner’ sermon summaries. Here is the month of March:

03/04/07 10:00a 11:00a
The Living Hope Under Fire (1 Pt 3.8-4.19)

The will of God for the Christian under pressure is the same as the will of God for the Christian without pressure: ‘well doing’ [1 Pt 4.19].

03/04/07 11:30a 12:15p
The Living Hope in the Care of Elders (1 Pt 5)

The care of the flock by faithful elders ensures its endurance under attack.

03/04/07 1:15p 2:15p
Peter’s Last Will and Testament (2 Pt 1-3)

The major theme of this epistle is spiritual growth. The soul’s answer to error is spiritual growth.

03/07/07 7:00p 8:00p
The Need of the Hour (2 Tim 1-3)

Christians have a responsibility to commit to memory the truths of the Word of God for the purpose of perpetuating the Christian faith in others.

03/11/07 10:00a 11:00a
Paul’s Last Will and Testament (2 Tim 4)

Paul’s will for Timothy? Dedication, commitment, endurance.

03/11/07 11:30a 12:15p
The Captain of Your Salvation (Heb 1-2)

Jesus Christ is the highest being in the universe, you must listen to him.

03/11/07 1:15p 2:15p
There Remaineth Yet a Rest (Heb 3-4)

There is a risk of real loss to those who go back on Christ – they exchange the superior for the inferior, they risk the real loss of God’s blessing.

03/15/07 7:00p 8:00p
Our Great High Priest (Heb 5-7)

The work of God in elevating the Son to the role of eternal High Priest is perfectly fitted to the needs of faltering saints.

03/18/07 10:00a 11:00a
The Superior Sacrifice (Heb 8-10)

Major thesis of Hebrews: Everything is better about Christ – don’t go back
· A better revelation (1-2)
· A better rest (3-4)
· A better priest (5-7)
Now we are going to concern ourselves with the better ministry of the priest.

03/18/07 11:30a 12:15p
Life of Faith (Heb 11-13)

From Warren Weirsbe: “True Bible faith is confident obedience to God’s Word in spite of circumstances and consequences.” [Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. “An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire ‘BE’ series”–Jkt. (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.]

03/18/07 1:15p 2:15p
Earnestly Contend for the Faith (Jude)

The fundamentalist manifesto: earnestly contend. [very sparse notes]

03/21/07 7:00p 8:00p
Behold the Lamb of God – 1 (Jn 1-2)

Jesus introduced to the world, Behold the Lamb of God.

03/25/07 10:00a 11:00a
For God So Loved the World (Jn 3-4)

The God who loved the world loves you.

03/25/07 11:30a 12:15p
The Christ of Controversy (Jn 5-7)

When a man has a controversy with Jesus Christ, the man must yield.

03/25/07 1:15p 2:15p
I am the Light of the World (Jn 8-9)

The light of the world makes blind eyes see.

03/28/07 7:00p 8:00p
The Good Shepherd (Jn 10-11)

The words of Christ are life to those who live; they are death to those who die.

I am mainly doing this to make the notes avaiable and give a complete record of our work in this series. Sometime in the summer we hope to have a dvd with all the notes, all the study guides, and all the audio.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

It is the rite of spring in Canada. Our news and public interest is dominated by one thing – hockey. Hockey defines a large aspect of Canadian culture. There are, of course, many other nations who play hockey, but I don’t know that any other nation is so dominated by hockey culturally.

Well, this year, Hockey Night in Canada has a feature on-line where you can pick a set of players (two forward lines, three defenseman, and a goalie) and gain ‘points’ as ‘your’ players shoot, score, win, and lose points when they take penalties or lose a game. The position of goaltender is huge. Wide point swings come by a win or a loss.

I played this game for the two segments in the regular season and failed abysmally. After the first round of the playoffs, I am sitting pretty… somewhere between 700th and 800th out of over 20,000 players. My playoff strategy has been to pick players primarily from one of two teams, especially the goalie I think will win one of the matchups. I was fortunate in having the Vancouver Canucks [known around our house as the Canuckleheads or Can-yuchhs] win their series. They nearly lost after going ahead 3-1 in games, having to win at home in the seventh game to move on.

The other side of my ticket, besides several Canuckleheads came from Tampa Bay and Nashville, both eliminated in the first round. The players I used were big point producers (Lecavallier and St. Louis, etc), but their teams didn’t advance. I had to replace all of these players and went mostly with Ottawa Senators. I am sticking with the Canucks for this round as well, but I am on thin ice with my picks. The two teams I am mainly supporting are receiving indifferent support from the experts, especially Vancouver. No one is picking Vancouver to win, and the opinion on Ottawa is evenly divided, I think.

I picked Vancouver because over the course of the season we get the most exposure to them and because they [and their goalie, Roberto Luongo] have had such an impressive run since Christmas. In that stretch, I think the Canucks lost only 5 or 6 games outright. Their opponent for this round, the Anaheim Ducks, have two towers on defense, and had an impressive start, but seemed to fade through the stretch. I am hoping that my gamble on the Canucks pays off, otherwise I am toast in the HNIC game.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Needless to say, I am hopelessly behind in giving you summaries of my preaching. I see that I have not updated you since back in February… lots of water under the bridge to be sure!

Well, two momentous things [to me] happened this week. First, I finished my duplex renovation. I now am trying to sell it, have had a few nibbles, but no bites yet. The project took twice as long as I expected, but only cost half again as much as I projected… and the market continues to rise, so I think I am ok!

The second momentous event was finishing the Study Guides for our Thru the NT series. That happened last night (well, really, early this morning). I have seven more sermons to preach in the series and then we are done. What an incredible journey!

The study guides are printed on 506 pages, comprise 306,897 words [by MS Word count], or 1,486,986 characters, not counting spaces. That worked out to an average of 16.3 pages per week, about 9900 words per week, and almost 48,000 characters per week. Is it any wonder that my fingers are sore? Not to mention carpal tunnel!!!

I propose to give you some one sentence sermon summaries to catch myself up. I am not sure when that will all happen, I will work on it some this week perhaps. Next week I head down to SC to officiate in the wedding of my number one son [Hi Dunky] and his lovely Meg. I will have computer with me, but…

During these last few months, some of my messages have been rather sparse note wise. One extremely pressure filled week, I was up until 5 am on Sunday morning, and only got one page for a message on 1 Tim 6. It was one of those ‘bare bones’ outlines, but the work on the study guides was a big help (and I did manage a couple of hours of sleep!) so the preaching of even my poorer outlines seemed to be fruitful inspite of the pressure.

Tonight I finished my mesages at 10:40 pm on Saturday night. That’s pretty early for me! So I decided to give you this little update and hope to be more active in the coming days.

BTW, if anyone would like to get a job up here and help us in the work, I have a lovely duplex you could buy…

~~~~

A few summaries, to catch up February:

02/14/07 7:00p 8:00p
Humility and How to Attain It (Phil 1-2)

Humility is a state of mind produced by a commitment to self-sacrificial giving.

02/18/07 10:00a 11:00a
Press toward the mark (Phil 3-4)

Christian maturity comes by adopting a Christian mind.

02/18/07 11:30a 12:15p
The Preeminence of Christ (Col 1-3)

The preeminence of Christ demands complete devotion from the saints.

02/18/07 1:15p 2:15p
Transformed Relationships (Phile)

Salvation means everything changes, including relationships.

02/21/07 7:00p 8:00p
Priorities of Ministry (1 Tim 1-2)

The first priority for preserving the ministry in the face of false teaching is the prayers of holy people.

02/25/07 10:00a 11:00a
Christian Leadership (1 Ti 3, Tit 1)

The predominant issue concerning Christian leadership is character — everything else about Christian leadership only brings character into sharper focus.

02/25/07 11:30a 12:15p
Regulating Life (1 Ti 4-5, Tit 2-3)

By way of reminder to men well-trained for men who follow as new trainees – this is how Christian life should be regulated, by sober spirits and earnest effort.

02/25/07 1:15p 2:15p
Be Aware and Beware (1 Ti 6)

Preacher, guard your own heart.

02/28/07 7:00p 8:00p
Called to Holiness (1 Pt 1.1-3.7)

The call to holiness is based on the doctrine of the living hope.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

My youngest son the other day had an assignment in school. He had to write a poem. He handed it in with something like, ‘Well, I did it.’

Here is the result, I thought it was pretty good, but I am biased of course:

Seeking the Saviour

Men seek their gods with all their heart
As blind lead blind they all depart
On pilgrimage and journey long,
They join the sighing, searching throng.

Toward the ground some fixed their gaze.
“The earth’s grass is worth my praise!”
Like vultures watch with hungry eyes,
They stood there to philosophize.

Beside the road some took their place
And mocked the others with sneering face,
“Look not in weeds and dirt for peace,
In our own selves we find release.”

And on they plod with patient toil,
In search of God in self or soil.
If they but knew how small the cost
To look upon the true Lord’s cross!