Are You a Student or a Proof-Reader?

 Is the Bible infallible and inerrant or is it fallible and at times errant?

I recently read a piece arguing that the Bible was fallible just as Jesus in His humanity was  fallible.  That got a reaction out of me and very likely will get a reaction out of you.  

So called "conservative" Christians and so called "progressive" Christians debate on a great many things and this is one of them.  When it comes to the labels "Progressive" and "Conservative", whether it be in theology, morality, politics or whatever the word following the label may be, it is important to think about what is being conserved or toward what are we progressing.  There are a great many things I want to progress toward and a great many things I am glad those before me progressed toward.  There are a great many things I want to conserve and a great many things I am glad were conserved for me.

When it comes to the issue of Biblical inerrancy what is being conserved?  When it comes to the notion of a fallible Bible what is one progressing toward?

Let me start by saying that some in the "conservative" wing of this debate can at times miss the ball.  In the name of conservatism there are some, mostly not a thoughtful bunch, that would ignore that sentences are in paragraphs, paragraphs are in sections, sections are in books with a genre and a point trying to be made, and the book is in the cannon of Scripture.  Some in this camp will say, "It says what it says" without bothering to actually discover what is being said.  It may be uneducated or simply lazy reading.

That said, the conservative approach to this, the one that says that in the original language and manuscripts the Bible is without fault and is the very Words of God as penned by a human author inspired by the Holy Spirit, is worth conserving.

The question that sticks with me is this: Am I a student or a proof-reader when I come to my Bible?

When one reads the Bible are they over the Word or under the Word? Do I come to the Bible to seek and understand what it says and what it means or do I come to decide whether or not I think it to be right?  

This is no new concept.  Martin Luther in the Large Catechism said, "I and my neighbor and, in short, all people may err or deceive.  But God's Word cannot err."  This is no new concept.  500 years ago Luther and all the reformers stood on this as fact and it has been conserved to this day.

If we leave Biblical inerrancy and infallibility toward what are we progressing?

Well, if all come to the Bible to decide what in it we find to be true and what in it we find to be false then we come to the Bible as a god and not a disciple (which means learner).  If we come to our Bible in this way then we get what the book of Judges (21:25b) said caused great darkness, "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 

But you say that this is an overreaction.  Everyone won't do what is right in their own eyes.  And here lies much of the issue: You would have everyone do what it right in your eyes.  You would be a god or at least have your tribe be the gods.

I encourage you to think this through.  I encourage you to take the Bible for what it is and what it claims to be (2 Timothy 3:16): inerrant and infallible.  Resist the urge to eat the forbidden fruit and claim to be like God knowing good from evil and instead to take the bread mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4 and be sustained by it and to put yourself under it today. 

Good Fathering Hurts

 I was a father of little kids before I became the instant father of a teen.  My wife and I had not really even considered what it might look like to parent a teen because we had many years before our naturally born children would be teens and in our plans fostering a teen wasn't something we were going to do.

Well, God changed our plans on an August day and I instantly became the father of a 14 year-old.

I made a lot of mistakes.  A lot.  One of the biggest mistake we made was the mistake of trying to parent him like we parented our little kids.  We had rules and we fought to enforce them.  We banged our heads against the wall trying to make him do what we knew was best for him.  

Well, it didn't work well.

He would leave our home after five months and we had time to reflect on what we did.  Long story short, he came back to live with us about a year later and we once again became parents of a teenager.  I was once again the father of someone who needed to become a man in short order.  We had to change our strategy.

Our first strategy was to make a list of rules and have him sign a contract to follow it in order to live with us like he had requested.  We sat with him and explained the fairly simple expectations we had for him.  We wanted him to choose like a man.  We wanted him to be a participant in the process.  

We were sure this strategy would work well.  

Well, it didn't.  

He broke the rules he promised to follow.  For example, he stayed up later than the covenant that he signed said he would.  It was so late that we couldn't enforce it without exhausting ourselves and becoming ineffective in our work as parents and employees.  We were frustrated that simple and even liberal rules weren't being followed as he promised to do if he wanted to live with us.

We needed a different strategy and we decided upon natural consequences. 

Stay up too late: Be tired at work and school.  Show up late for school: Fail.  Not come down for supper: Be hungry.

We decided that to parent a boy into a man we would let him get hurt.  We would, in effect, let him find out that the stove will burn.  We let the natural order of the universe as designed by God do the work of punishing for us.

While this may sound like lazy parenting let me tell you that it was hard.  It was hard to lead a horse to water only to watch him leave thirsty.  It wasn't easy to watch failure happen.  It hurts your heart to watch foolishness harm your child.

Psalm 81 tells us that God uses this same strategy with His children and that He feels this pain, too.

"Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward Him,
and their fate would last forever.
But He would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." Psalm 81:8-16

Israel had made a covenant with God.  They had done it enthusiastically.  They had promised to follow God's righteous and wise ways and they were well aware of the consequences.  

When they strayed from their promises God warned and warned and warned until He left them to natural consequences.  

The people of Israel experienced pain and suffering.  A lot more pain and suffering than getting an F or being tired at work.  This hurt their Heavenly Father.  See all the times in the above verses that He exhales His grief.  "O Israel" "Oh, that my people would listen to me".  

God is a good father.  He hates when we hurt, especially when we hurt from stupidity and foolishness.  He would have us be blessed, but He will leave us to natural consequences even though it pains His heart.

God is our good, good father, but He isn't in the business of raising forever toddlers.  He wants us to experience blessing but He's raising us into maturity.  He wants us to mature into righteous men and women and He will let natural consequences help us become that.

Our son I wrote about earlier has grown into a great young man.  It hurt my heart, but I am glad that natural consequences played a role in maturing him.  

God's statutes are for our good and for our blessing.  Follow them.  Don't be stubborn.  But when you are and discomfort arises please remember that even that is love and that God's heart is pained and longing for you to repent today.

Not Just There but VERY There

 Are you going through something right now?  

Maybe it's political stress.  Perhaps a health crisis. Economic stress weighing you down and causing you worry?  Or, what may be even worse, your children are going through something hard that you can't fix.  

What is stealing your sleep?  What is robbing your joy?  What's gobbling up your headspace?  What is it that is threatening you?

Is the earth underneath you shaking?  Do you feel like your life is on the edge of a cliff in a mudslide?  Do you feel like you're in a wave pool or sea and timing every wave wrong so that whenever you need a breath you get dowsed instead?

If your world is all as it should be, then good for you.  You can stop reading or you can save this for a future need, but this post is for those who are in a bind.  This, based on Psalm 46, is for those of us who need help.

Look at Psalm 46 and be encouraged:

"God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1

I love this verse.  I have been reading through the psalms this year and 19 days ago I read this and it has stuck with me and I am glad for this.

Do you need help?  God is your help!

God is our refuge.  He is the tank we can be safe in as we go through the battles of life.  He is the brick house, not a house of straw or sticks.  He is our strength.  When I am weak, He is strong.

And my favorite part: God is a very present help in trouble.

When you are going through the junk of life and need help He isn't just there He is VERY there.  Are you in trouble and need help?  God is not just with you, He is very with you.  He's not just with you; He is there to help.  Help isn't on the way; help is very there!

The ESV is what I quoted above.  The NASB says God is a, "very ready help." The NIV says He is an, "ever present help."  Put these together and this is God: He is very there, very ready and, in fact, He was always there even before you shouted for help.

Why do I harp on God being VERY present?  Too often I pray to God like I talk to an imaginary friend.  I must take this verse to heart and believe it to be true and act accordingly.  God isn't an idea, He is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  He actually, honestly, truthfully and very much is with me and you in our trouble.

So, what do we do in light of this truth?  

"Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling." Psalm 46:2-3

God is our tank in the battle, so we roll forward unafraid. God is our strength, so we don't act as though impotent but we act in light of the omnipotent power source we possess.  God is very much with us in the trouble, so we just ain't afraid.  

When we understand verse 1 we can live verse 2.  This isn't just poetry.  This isn't just a song.  This is really, truly who our God is.  He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Go back to that thing that you said was bothering you, was tormenting you, was threatening you, was snatching your sleep.  It. Is. Real.  But so, and even more so, is your God and Savior.  Meditate on that truth.  

Let's turn now to the end and let it be our benediction and prayer:

"'Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!'
The LORD of host is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress." Psalm 46:10-11

The sons of Korah, the writers of this song, leave us with two reminders and so will I. 

1) The God of angel armies is with us.

2) The God who loves cheating scoundrels like Jacob is our protection.

And the final word of the psalm is Selah.  Selah is a Hebrew musical term that likely means rest or pause.  So, selah.  Know this beautiful truth, meditate on it and then rest in it. Rest.  Lean into this wonderful truth about your very there God and relax today.

Can You Pursue Humility?

 I don't think anyone has an easy time being humble. Certainly some have this virtue and necessary quality come easier, but I would doubt it comes easy to anyone.

That said, I think about my struggle for humility and feel stuck.  

One of the desires in my soul is to be known and to be known for the right things.  My reputation is something I protect and I don't think that it's wrong. Proverbs 22:1a says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches..."  

Plus, as a radio broadcaster my position is public.  Sometimes the job is called "Radio Personality".  My job is to be heard and known.  I somehow have to humbly think everyone should listen to me and then work to make that happen.

Can you see my plight?  I want humility and at the same time my soul wants to be known as humble.  Is that desire even humble? Can you relate even if your job isn't to hope more people tune in to listen to you today than yesterday?

What a confusing thing.  I guess what I'm trying to wonder is: Can one aspire to humility and, if so, how?

"Humility is so shy.  If you begin talking about it, it leaves." -Tim Keller

Humility is a mysterious thing to pursue.  This is especially true when it feels that humility runs further away when you focus on her.  And if she isn't running she begins to feel less like you and more foreign to all you are.  And can you even know she's been attained if you do indeed catch her?

"... smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, 'By jove! I'm being humble', and almost immediately pride... pride at his own humility... will appear.  If he awakens to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt... and so on, through as many stages as you please." -C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters chapter 14.

The cycle exists in my life.  The moment I see humility in my life she magically is replaced by her ugly and unwanted houseguest of an opposite, Pride.  

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" Romans 7:24

Perhaps, pastor Rick Warren was right when he synthesized Lewis' Screwtape Letter on humility into a favorite sentence of mine: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less."  Perhaps, thinking about humility is good but thinking of my humility is wrong.  Maybe the way to pursue humility is to only pursue it in the person of Christ. 

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a servant..." Philippians 2:3-7a

See, this humility is only mine In Christ Jesus.  Looking for it on its own is a chasing after the wind.  And even though I see and know this truth getting and displaying humility is still a struggle.  

Perhaps my strategy of should be less one of chasing humility and more of evicting Pride so her more beautiful opposite, Humility, can shine in that strange, unassuming beauty that is hers and hers alone.

"And He said to them, 'This kind (of demon) cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." Mark 9:29

I in the fourteen years of writing in this blog have tried to end with some sort of a charge toward you, the reader, to do today.  Though I'm betting your desire for humility and struggle for her feels a lot like mine, I won't end with a charge but a request for a favor.  Pray for me to have humility and pray that God will be gentle in helping me evict pride today.

2024's 5 Star Books

 My resolution for 2024 was to read more books.  Outside of the books I read with my kids (Roald Dahl classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Narnia series, Harry Potter series were awesome to read with them), I read 25 non-fiction books and 1 slightly-fiction book.

I don't know what reading resolution I will give myself in 2025 or whether I will repeat this one, but I did really enjoy my 2024 in books.  Some of the books were quick reads, some were slow chewing, some were absolutely wonderful and a couple were hardly worth my time.

I didn't do a book report on each by any means but I did do a rudimentary rating system.  Any book that is a 5 Star is a tome worth recommending.  Below are my 5 Star books and links to find them and my extremely brief note on each.

The Screwtape Letters -Everyone should read this

The Holiness of God - Great read to realign your affections to God's holiness

The Heart of Christ -Tough read, but soaked in lovely truths

The Anxious Generation -A must read for parents and educators

A Praying Life -Makes me want to pray

Leadership is an Art -I wish every boss would read it as it portrays an organization of worth

100 Portraits of Christ -Tremendous devotional book

Gay Girl, Good God -Great memoir of God's goodness

Life Together -A read for all who would gather and all who would lead

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction -It made me love the Psalms of Assent

Every Good Endeavor -Would be a wonderful book for a work discussion

The books above are my 5 Star.  These are the best-of-the-best and my favorites of the year.  If you're interested in the others and are looking for a book recommendation, let me know.  It's been a fun year of reading.  

I wish you a Happy New Year and perhaps a great day of reading today.

Christmas Letter 2024

 Merry Christmas from the Rays!

We hope this letter finds you well and ready to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.  2024 has been another year of watching our family grow and change.  

Matt is still working at KWAY radio and has now for over 15 years.  He continues to host the morning show and call live sporting events.  This Fall he returned to volunteering in youth ministry at the church after a year away from it.

Christine stays at home with the kids and also works about a night a week at the walk in clinic as a nurse.  She is glad to be able to have the ability to be home with the kids in their early years.  She's also enjoyed being involved in Bible Study Fellowship.  This Fall she experienced a life change as she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  She's learning how to manage this new reality in her life.

Jamari has lived all of 2024 in Georgia.  He will turn 20 on Christmas Eve!  He says this year has been a great time of mental and spiritual growth.  He also has been working on a book that he hopes to have released soon.

Joshua is 7 and is in 2nd grade.  He's really excelling in reading and enjoys spending lots of time playing with his best friend who lives on our block.  Joshua has become a Harry Potter expert after finishing the series.  He also is very involved in a number of REC sports and activities and loves being a member of his Trail Life troop.

Anna is 5 and is in kindergarten and is our artist.  She's often creating some sort of picture or project.  Anna is so excited to be learning to read and had such pride when she was able to read an entire Dick and Jane book by herself.  She also enjoys doing activities like gymnastics and soccer.

Gideon is 3 and is in preschool.  His grandpa has called him Mr. Wiggles since he was in utero and the nickname is appropriate as he's always up to something.  He's our most strong-willed child but also the most sweet to his little sister.  Gideon loves music and is captivated by everything from music on a phone to The Nutcracker live.

Faith is 16 months.  She is growing like a weed and wants badly to keep up with her older siblings.  She is walking everywhere.  She absolutely loves baby dolls and necklaces.  Faith is picking up some words and it won't be long until she's talking.  No one, outside of Christine, spends much time not talking.

This Christmas we put our hope in and take our joy from Emmanuel: God is with us.  Jesus is with us in our joys, in our growth, in our changes and in our pains.  Knowing that our faithful God is with us gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.  We look back at 2024 and see all the good God has done in and for us and we look forward to 2025 with excited confidence because Jesus is our Emmanuel.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Rays. 

A Tribute to My First Pastor

You won't find a clip of one of his sermons on a YouTube short.  You never heard him on the radio.  You can't purchase a book he's written.  Yet, for about 40 years at four different churches he was a lead pastor, or as they call them in small churches... pastor.

Whether it was in an old country church building, former Lutheran church building, building with a gym attached, community center, school, library or park pavilion he preached a few thousand sermons on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings.

This pastor is the one I learned the Truth of God under.  He is the one who baptized me.  He was the one that I watched deliver the Word, visit the stragglers, pray with the hurting, get blamed for the lows and give credit to others for the highs.  

This pastor is my Dad.

After about 40 years serving as a pastor and more than half of that time as a bi-vocational pastor, he retired.  Dad retired not to find leisure but because he believes it the right time for someone else to lead Faith Christian Fellowship, his home for more than half his professional ministry.  He retired for the benefit of the church.  As he said on Facebook, "I am retiring from being the pastor of a church but I am not retired from living for Jesus!"

I was trying to think of how to best summarize what Dad did best as pastor.  There are better organizers than my dad.  There are better speakers than him.  There are better leaders than my dad.  Not that Dad did those things poorly, but that won't be his legacy, in my mind.  

In my mind, Dr. Jack W. Ray's pastoral legacy is that he loved the church.

If you went to Faith Christian Fellowship, Enon Baptist, 9th Street Baptist or Fairview Baptist you were loved by my dad.  Dad cared deeply about the people of those congregations while he was pastor there and after he left those local churches.  Dad enjoyed the people and cared for the people, even if they left the church unhappily.

He loves church.  I can't recall more than a couple times that we ever missed going to Sunday Service.  If we were on the road for vacation we went to a church in that town.  Dad had to go to church and it wasn't legalism.  He never thought of attending church as work.  Attending church was a privilege and necessity.  His tank needed gas.  He worshipped and fellowshipped with his brothers and sisters-in-Christ with joy and he passed that joy on to me.  And when there was at times disunity in his local church it crushed him.  

You won't find his preaching on TV, you can't purchase his Sunday School materials, you won't listen to his podcasts... but if you were in one of his churches you were deeply loved.  We Americans have many indicators for success that you won't find in the Bible.  Steadfast love and faithfulness are the chief markers of success.  Keeping "a close watch on your life and doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:16) is a much greater emphasis than Sunday attendance or internet reach.

"Well done, good and faithful servant." Matthew 25:23

The race isn't over and the cross can't be put down yet (Hebrews 12:1; Matthew 16:24) but I hope my dad and the millions of small church pastors around the globe like him know their worth to the kingdom today.