Rebecca Stark is the author of The Good Portion: Godthe second title in The Good Portion series.

The Good Portion: God explores what Scripture teaches about God in hopes that readers will see his perfection, worth, magnificence, and beauty as they study his triune nature, infinite attributes, and wondrous works. 

                     

Tuesday
May012007

Appetizers All Around

This month’s recipe roundup will be held at Hiraeth.  Kim says,

… in May we’re calling for easy, delicious (and possibly impressive) appetizers. (The best appetizers are easy, delicious, AND impressive, right?)

Here are a few of the details, but you should read the whole spiel:

  • Date of Appetizer Round Up:  Wednesday, May 16
  • Deadline for entries:  For inclusion in the first draft of the round up, have your recipe in to Kim before 8AM CDT May 16.  However, entries are accepted throughout the day until the final draft at 8PM CDT May 16.
  • Recipe eligibility:  Any recipe that fits the appetizer category is eligible—old post, new post, someone else’s post.  Even unbloggers can enter!
  • How you can help:  First, spread the word of the round up to the readers of your blog, and then make sure to contribute a recipe when the time comes.  And finally, you might consider offering to host a future recipe round up.
Isn’t this fun?
Sunday
Apr292007

The Ironies of the Cross from D. A. Carson

Do you have some boring spring cleaning or yard work to do? Download a good sermon, like The Ironies of the Cross from D. A. Carson, and listen while you work. Don’t worry that you can’t take notes, because I’ve already done that for you and posted them right here. And don’t think that you can skip the sermon because you’ve read my notes. The sermon has so much more, not the least of which is Don Carson’s dramatic reading of the scripture.


 
The text of this sermon is Matthew 27: 27-50.

The use of irony in narrative is a way of telling us what’s important in a story. In this account, Matthew gives us four ironies in the story of the cross.

The Four Ironies of the Cross

  1. The man who is mocked as king is king. (verses 27-31)

    • The ironic statement in scripture:
      And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

    • How this statement is ironic: Those mocking think it’s false, but Matthew and his readers know that Jesus really is king, but a different sort of king with a different sort of kingdom. See Matthew 20:20ff, which includes this statement from Jesus:
      You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Apr292007

Sunday's Hymn: William Cowper

wmcowper.jpgLast Sunday I posted a little bit of the story of William Cowper’s conversion as background for his hymn There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood. I’d like to be able to tell you that his conversion immediately solved all his problems, but it wasn’t so. Cowper continued to suffer bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and his conversion didn’t keep him from attempting suicide again, either. He’d come from a family with mental illness in it’s history, but beyond that, he’d been a sensitive child who had suffered greatly in his younger years. Little William’s mother died when he was six, and his father almost immediately shipped him off to boarding school, where he was, by his own account, treated cruelly. 

The assurance of his own salvation that he had at his conversion, when he saw “my pardon sealed in His blood,” did not continue without interruption. For long periods he would become convinced that ultimately he would be what he called a “castaway”; that is, in the end, Christ would say to him, “I never knew you.” These were the compulsive thoughts, I think, of a sick mind. After all, he truly believed that all those who trusted in Christ were surely saved, and that he, indeed, trusted in Christ. Yet he couldn’t rid himself of the idea that he was the one and only exception to the rule, the only person who ever lived who would trust in Christ and still be rejected.

There’s no big happy ending to his story either. His very last words, in response to an offer of refreshment from the woman caring for him, were “What can it signify?” To say the least, it makes his story a puzzle for us.  His life is not a tale of triumph over adversity.

I knew someone who thought it was a mistake for the church to continue singing Cowper’s hymns, since, as they explained, he’d rejected Christ. I don’t think there’s really any evidence that he rejected Christ, just that he didn’t find the long term peace in Christ that we’ve come to expect from conversion. But what do we make of his hopelessness in the end? There are no easy answers to the questions raised for us by Cowper’s life .

I don’t know about you, but in a strange way, I find Cowper’s story full of hope. Here is a miserable man from whom we have received wonderful poetry and some of our most uplifting hymns. The products of his tormented mind bring hope and peace to mine. John Piper says the fact that so many people find encouragement in Cowper’s story should teach us that when we want to encourage others, we “must not limit ourselves to success stories.”1

In the end, Cowper’s life is proof of the truth of one of his own hymns.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way 

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

The clouds of  Cowper’s hopelessness are big with blessings for us, and someday the puzzle of his life will be made plain when God interprets it for us.

1 The Hidden Smile of God, John Piper, page 116.


Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today: Have you posted a hymn this Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I’ll add your post to the list.