As I type this into my laptop, Robyn, Sander, and I are in route to Phoenix, Arizona, flying high above the Oklahoma and Texas plains below. Our final destination is Wasilla, Alaska, where I will be preaching this Sunday.
What follows are some passing thoughts and one funny Maggie story:
A striking verse.
Every so often when I read the Scriptures, a certain verse will make, quite unexpectedly, a particularly strong impression on me. This happened the other morning when Proverbs 21:21 jumped out at me: “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.” The part that grabbed me was the pairing of “righteousness” with “kindness”. Here is, perhaps, a recognition on the part of Solomon that one of these qualities may abound in one person, but less commonly are they found side by side. A person may be very “righteous”: punctiliously keeping rules, successfully avoiding gross sin, and generally being concerned about holy and pious living. Yet this same person may have no compassion at all towards others, especially those whose moral track record is not as impressive as their own. On the other hand, a kind person, one who is warm, considerate and sensitive to the needs and struggles of others, can often be too tolerant of the sin in others (and maybe of his own, too). Righteousness without kindness leads to Pharisaism. Kindness without righteousness leads to powerless sentimentality. The godly person pursues both, because God himself is both kind towards men, and uncompromising in his holiness (Romans 11:22). And Jesus perfectly embodied both. He welcomed the humble sinner, even as conformed to God’s law and called others to do the same.
Tables turned.
The path towards ordination, at least in Reformed church circles, seems at times to be a never-ceasing series of examinations. Once you pass all the necessary seminary classes with their endless tests, then you must pass the presbytery’s exams. First there is the step of licensure, which includes a whole battery of exams. Then there is ordination with all its required tests (which are very aptly referred to as “trials”). Having survived all this (by the grace of God and with the help of caffeine), the exams (for the most part, at least) are over. So it was a nice change at our last presbytery meeting to be in the role of the examiner rather than the examinee. I was asked to give the theological exam to a man seeking ordination. He did well, and it felt good to not be the one sweating bullets for a change.
Shackleton fever.
I wrote a while ago about Ernest Shackleton and the amazing story of his team’s survival in the Antarctic. For this trip, I just had to check out another Shackleton book and read it, too. This one is a newer book and comes with plenty of pictures from the journey. I suppose it’s a bit strange to read about the Antarctic when I’m heading north towards the other end of the planet. But I’ve been bitten by the Shackleton bug and am dying to read more.
A polite child.
Our daughter Maggie can be charmingly polite at times. Earlier today she shut our minivan’s sliding door on her finger. As she cried out in pain, I frantically opened the door as quickly as I could. I had to keep from laughing when the first thing she said, through the tears, was “Thanks.” It wasn’t really necessary. Dislodging my children’s stuck digits from car doors is the least I can do as a father!
Sometimes a story or book will so completely engross you that it is impossible not to dwell on it for days afterward. I can't remember ever reading a book that had so drawn me into the story and then left me there long after I finished it, as much as this book did. "Endurance - Shackleton's Incredible Voyage," by Alfred Lansing, had been recommended to me by a couple of different people. So, as we were about to take a week's vacation between Christmas and New Year's, I figured I'd pick it up at the library for some leisure reading.
"Endurance" is about the 1914 British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that attempted the first-ever overland crossing of the Antarctic continent, from one end to the other. It was an almost impossible undertaking from the beginning; it wasn't until forty-three years, and much technological advance, later, that a team of explorers was able to accomplish the feat.
Merely reaching the South Pole was not enough, since that feat had been accomplished in 1912 by the Norweigian Roald Amundsen. Ernest Shackleton, the Irish-born leader of the Trans-Antartic Expedition, wanted to accomplish a new first that would restore wounded British honor after having been beaten by the Norweigians to the Pole. So, he hatched and organized the almost insane plan to cross the continent from west to east.
Of course, Shackleton also knew very well that fame and fortune would be his should he succeed. These motives were not absent, as Lansing informs us. However, whatever may have driven Shackleton to undertake such an adventure, the reader cannot help but have tremendous admiration for the man's incredible courage and leadership by the end of the book. The real story is not the motives behind the expedition, but how the men survived it when everything went wrong.
The expedition never even made it to the Antarctic continent before their ship, the Endurance, got trapped in the polar ice pack in which it was eventually crushed and downed into the sea below. What follows is an almost unbelievable account of the survival of the 28 men left marooned in the middle of the Weddell Sea, with absolutely no contact with the outside world. After drifting northwards on the ice floes for five months, the party eventually made it to Elephant island after a tortuous seven-day journey in the three life boats they had saved from the Endurance.
Even this would make a great survival story. But it only gets more incredible - as the title of the book aptly describes it. From Elephant island, Shackleton and five others made a desparate, near-suicidal, 800 mile journey across the notoriously tempestuous Drake Passage to South Georgia island, the nearest outpost of civilization. Seventeen days later, and almost miraculously, they arrive safely to the island. From there Shackleton and two others had to cross over the island to reach the whaling station nearly 30 miles away. They were the first ever to do so, simply because it was thought such a journey was humanly impossible due to the extreme conditions of weather and terraine.
Lansing's account is just riveting, and the intensity of the story increases with each page. It is a testimony to the human will to survive despite even the most impossible circumstances. Of course, that they did survive is also a testimony to the provision and providence of God. It would be hard to imagine any one those men not acknowledging the good hand of the Lord upon them to deliver them out of such desperate straits. I read the book wanting to know more about the spiritual life of the men, what was going on in their hearts and minds as they endured such an ordeal. The diaries they wrote give some insight, but I wonder how God may have used the experience in their lives to draw them to seek the greater salvation in Christ. Evidently they did have some kind of hymn sings and worship services. However, very little is said about prayer for deliverance. It's hard to imagine that that wasn't also a big part of their lives, despite the fact they were tough, self-reliant men.
Whatever the story may be of the spiritual life and growth of the men, this story of their survival is worth reading and reflecting upon. As strange as it sounds, it makes one actually want to go to the Weddell sea, see the icebergs and glaciers and seals and penguins, feel the ice-cold hurricane-force gales, be overwhelmed by the vast expanse of white and ice, experience the utter remoteness of the place, and wonder, "How did they do it?"
It's a little long, but for those interested, here is my pastor's report for Grace Presbyterian's annual congregational meeting this Sunday:
Pastor's Report
Pastor Scott Johnson
Grace Presbyterian Church
Norman, Oklahoma
January 2007
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58)
In downtown Oklahoma City, next to the Bricktown Canal, there is a statue of a man who is pushing a large boulder up a hill. The man’s name is Sisyphus, and according to Greek mythology, he was forced to spend his eternity pushing the rock up to the top of a mountain. As soon as it reached the top, the boulder would roll right back down to the bottom and poor Sisyphus would have to start all over again. And this was to go on forever. What an awful but perfect illustration of what it means to work in vain! Sisyphus’ hard work was ultimately futile and meaningless, and it was this pointless labor that was his curse.
How completely different is it for the Christian! The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that their work for the sake of Jesus Christ is most assuredly not in vain. Paul had just spent an entire chapter discussing the glory of the resurrection of Christ and the subsequent hope of the Christian’s victory over death and the grave. In light of these truths, Paul reasons, no work in the Lord can ever be in vain. Christ is risen, He is building His Kingdom, and He is working through His Church by His Word and Spirit. Labor in the Lord, then, is never in vain. It will bear fruit, sooner or later.
This is a promise we must hold onto as we labor for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom at Grace Presbyterian Church. Growth is slow and visible fruit is not as abundant as we would like. Discouragement follows, and then the temptation to wonder, “Is it all in vain?” The answer, of course, is no, our labor has not been in vain. Christ’s Kingdom has been advanced, but in ways that may be hidden now and only revealed later at the coming again of Jesus.
I hope these thoughts are an encouragement to you as I reflect with you on the year 2006 at Grace Presbyterian Church. As you know, there have been discouragements – visitors have not always returned, people have moved away, and the finances of the church have suffered. We must remember that, at the end of the day, this promise still stands: my word…shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Inasmuch as we, by the grace of God, have been faithful to minister God’s Word to one another and to others, that Word will accomplish God’s purposes.
With these thoughts in mind, here is a recap of the year 2006 at Grace Presbyterian:
At the heart of who we are as God’s people, and all that we do as Christ’s disciples, is worship. By the grace of God, we met each Lord’s Day for public and corporate worship. Much of my preaching was from the book of Genesis. During the summer months, I preached a series of sermons on the parables of Jesus. On Sunday evenings, we were fed in a variety of ways, including two series of messages on videotape, one on Reformed Theology and one on biblical child rearing, and two series of messages that I delivered, one on “The Basics of the Gospel,” and another based on the book, “Learning to Love Like Jesus.”
We were blessed to have guest preachers from time to time, including OPC missionaries Rev. Murray and Tsuruko Uomoto, who shared with us the advance of the gospel in Japan. Also, on four Sunday evenings throughout the year, we joined with other area believers for a joint hymn sing. Grace hosted these hymn sings twice, once in January and once in December.
For adult Sunday School, I led a study of the doctrine of the church, focusing on how we can be faithful as members of Christ’s body to minister to one another. And coinciding with the release of the movie, “The Da Vinci Code,” I taught a short series of classes on the errors of the book by the same name. Elder John Mantooth then began a study of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, using G.I. Williamson’s commentary as a guide. John also, with Robin, shared with us about their short-term missionary trip to Nigeria with Rafiki.
The children were taught Sunday School by Marilyn Doerfel and Faithann Basore. They have used the materials provided by Great Commission Publications. I appreciate very much their faithfulness in instructing our covenant youth Sunday by Sunday.
Again in 2006, we helped organize the Oklahoma City Conference on Reformed Theology, which took place in October. Our speaker, Dr. Michael Horton of Westminster Seminary in CA, happens to be the uncle of one of our members, Faithanne Basore. His messages were excellent and brought back again and again to the cross of Christ.
The people of Grace continued to meet during the week for regular times of fellowship and prayer. The Wednesday night prayer meeting met at our home. The women met regularly to study the Scriptures together and encourage one another. For a time, they were also meeting for more informal times of fellowship. The men met once a month for a prayer breakfast at the church. Also, the church had two social gatherings during the summer: an ice-cream social and a trip to an OKC Redhawks baseball game.
Some of our people also participated in the presbytery gatherings of the Young People’s Camp in July, and the Fall Retreat in October.
In 2006, we engaged in various methods of outreach to the larger community. I “pounded the pavement” a couple of times this summer, distributing about 250 door hangers to different Norman neighborhoods. Approximately 1,500 letters of introduction were sent to those who had recently moved to (or within) Norman. Also, I and a friend of the church, Bill Shaw, manned a table at a new-student fair on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. We were able to hand out about 300 bookmarks with church information, in addition to many good booklets on Reformed theology and Christian living. We also advertised in the OU newspaper. And this summer, in conjunction with Knox OPC in Oklahoma City, and with our presbytery’s Home Missions Committee, we began a regular radio advertisement on a local Christian radio station. It airs following R.C. Sproul’s program, “Renewing Your Mind.” Finally, I wrote two or three devotional articles printed in the Norman Transcript.
Grace continued to help sponsor Eric Pyle as a Wycliffe Missionary. Eric works at the Dallas campus developing software for use by Wycliffe missionaries on the field.
Some highlights from the year include John Mantooth’s ordination as a ruling elder in April, elder Dave Guild’s (bilingual!) wedding to Mai Nguyen in May, and the privilege of being the temporary church home for Dutch exchange student Anne-Marije Staat, who spent the semester in Norman studying at OU. Some challenges we faced included many hospital admissions for various reasons, and several men who found themselves looking for employment in 2006.
Last year was busy for me personally. In addition to my regular activities as a pastor, such as sermon and lesson preparation, visiting members and friends of the church, calling on visitors, etc., I met once a week with one to three men to discuss John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. This has been a very rewarding experience for me, and I’ve very much enjoyed the fellowship and learning it has afforded. I also continued to serve as the chairman of the presbytery’s Diaconal Committee. For the first time, I served as a commissioner to the General Assembly of the OPC in June.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of my wife, our family hosted many different people last year for meals. We also have enjoyed having singles and others come to our home for dinner on Wednesday nights before the prayer meeting.
Though this is largely a record of what we have “done”, we acknowledge that any faithfulness or service on our part at Grace Presbyterian is a solely due to the gracious work of the Spirit of Christ in us, who works out His purposes in and through us according to His good pleasure. May all that takes place in the life of Grace be to the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ!
In Christ,
Scott Johnson
If you let me know you are reading this blog, or even just ask me if I have a blog, you might just become the subjects of effusive praise and commendation in one of my blog entries, like Zach and Katrina Meadows in this blog. Since this blog is read regularly by at least 2 or 3 people, including myself and my wife, we are talking serious positive exposure here. You could become the next cyber-stars.
I should probably qualify this a bit. Granted, the Meadows' are certainly worthy of highest praise. Zach, a professional handyman, once told me how to fix my bathtub that was stopped up without charging me a cent (pour bleach down the drain). Besides that, they and their children both endured one year's worth of my intern sermons at Bethel OPC. They even sat in the front row! Indeed, the path to glory is one of suffering.
But it is mainly their food that I am praising. They had us over for dinner on New Year's Eve after the evening service, and, man, was the chow good! Two kinds of soup, bread, and dessert galore. The Cernys, another great Bethel family, provided the imported beer and cookie tray. All in all, a wonderful feast to cap off 2006.
Thanks, Meadows'! Now just sit back and enjoy your cyber-fame. Who wants to be next?