Bathwater

edited for typos and other things that annoy my wife. 12/31

Gwen says, "But I still love to wash in your old bathwater." I know it's the girl version of Offspring's Self Esteem, but I don't care. I'm just going to rip it out of context and make it fit what I want to say. I don't even feel bad about it, really. It isn't Scripture; it's not even Zeppelin.

"But I still love to wash in your old bathwater." Some would probably say something to the effect of, "Eeww, that's gross".

But not me. I think, "Would my wife be happy in my bathwater?" Understand that I don't mean bathwater as in "the liquid just below the ring in the tub." I mean it more like, "Have I been so washed in the word of God that my wife is becoming more holy and blameless by steeping in my presence?"

Doesn't Eph 5:25-28 say to love my wife as Christ loved the church? Is she not my primary ministry? Am I a help to her sanctification? Ultimately, does being closer to me draw her closer to Christ? I surely hope so. I surely believe that as I grow, as Christ washes me, she may one day ask to wash in my old bathwater.

iPod Update

It has been two weeks since I was podjacked, I have given up hope and have moved on with my life. Only occasionally hoping to find the man only to drag him behind my truck over broken glass mixed with salt (kosher of course). But I'm not bitter, really, I've moved on.

Prayer Request

To the 8 or so people who visit here I have a prayer request. Not an ordinary prayer request, but rather a imprecatory prayer request, for the man that stole my iPod. It was stolen from my work truck, by a customer (I sell tools for a living). Hopefully the guy will hear "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" and be distraught enough to return my iPod. But just in case can we all call fire down upon his head? Thanks.

Vicarious Suffering

A while back, I blogged on the joys I have discovered in the blessing of others. This weekend, the flipside of Rom 12:15 was brought to life, weeping with those that weep. Immense is the difference between driving by a serious car wreck and driving by and recognizing your close friends' car in a serious wreck. In the first incident, you may see people already helping and decide to keep moving, nothing to see here. But the second, you most assuredly stop, if you actually call them friend behind their back.

I pulled over for my friends this weekend and wept with them. Got angry at the other driver with them and covered them with prayer. There wasn't any room to ride in the ambulance, but I will be there to minister to wounds as best I can. I will also be keeping my hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock when I drive, with my eyes on the road. This wreck wasn't an accident, it may have been avoided, if everyone had been paying attention.

Help for the Putter

For those of you looking to improve your skill in reading those undulating greens quickly.

Mortify

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. (Nu 33:55)

Sometimes when I read scripture, I see things in a new way. I'm sure I'm not the first guy in 2000 years to see this passage in this light, but this time reading though Numbers I received the proverbial smack up side the head.

For the first time, I saw my own walk. Where, after crossing the Jordan, I have failed to drive out the inhabitants. I can see many areas of my life where I have tried to peacefully co-exist with the old man. Oh, the strife that has ensued.

I can't count how many times I have launched into battle on my own, and gone down in humiliating defeat. Nor can I count how many times I have had to deal with the consequences of those failures. I have a feeling I will need constant reminders, just as Israel did, that my God needs to go before me, that in Him alone is victory.

The First McDaris House Rule

My wife and I are about to celebrate our eighth anniversary later this month. As I often do I reflect back on the first anniversary present I gave her, I printed it out on special paper and framed it. Thought I'd share it with the rest of the world.

This household is and shall be continually set apart and holy unto the only true living God, by whom and through whom is our salvation and righteousness. Blessed is the Lord forever.
Amen.

There is only one God, The true God is triune in nature; consisting of three personages; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each are completely and perfectly God, lacking nothing. Each equally God in essence and eternal in nature. In this we see the perfect relationship.

Therefore, God is a relational being, and seeks relationships with His people. Outside of the Godhead, the relationship between God and man is the preeminent relationship among all of creation. Made possible through Christ alone, by faith alone.

Second in the order of relationships is the marriage relationship. Ordained by God, given as a gift to man, holy and pure, to be cherished for a lifetime.

Marriage was not only given as a gift, but also as a picture of God in His relationships. It is a picture of God the Father in relation to God the Son , Christ Jesus. It is a picture of God and His relation with the nation of Israel. It is also a picture of Christ in relation to the Church. Furthermore, it is a picture of Christ in relation to regenerate man.

These are the principles on which this house rule is based.

The First McDaris House Rule is; that my wife will be honored in all ways at all times by everyone residing in or visiting this household.

This will be done because; a) She was created in the image of God. b) Her name is written in the Book of Life, redeemed by the blood of Christ. c) As my wife she is my glory, just as Christ is the glory of God. d) As my wife she is a picture of the Church, the bride of Christ.
In the matter regarding to what extent she shall be honored, all circumstances shall fall into one of two categories.

Category one, all circumstances involving correction and/or discipline.
In all these circumstances my wife will be treated with be treated with honor due a child of the one true living God.

Category two, all other circumstances. In all other circumstances she shall be treated as though we might see her through God's eyes, as though she were already perfected through the process of sanctification. If there is any doubt,then the guideline shall be, my wife shall receive as much honor as humanly possible with out worshiping her.

I shall jealously defend my wife's honor within the boundaries of righteousness, always seeking the glory of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, I hereby acknowledge that when I fail to honor my wife, I am accountable to God and the body of Christ, especially those that were witness to our marriage covenant with God.

I, Brian C. McDaris, by the authority granted to me by the eternal, holy and sovereign God of the universe, as head of this household, declare that this is a binding document.

May the Lord be blessed and glorified in this house.

Longing for Heaven

For most of my teen years I had a death wish. Having heard the promises of heaven, and thinking myself saved, death seemed to be better than the normal teen angst. I confess that knowing I am saved has not eradicated this longing for death. It has, however, dramatically changed my motivation. Let me illustrate with a parable. Heaven is like an In-N-Out Burger and life is like everything else leading up to an In-N-Out Burger. The In-N-Out experience, like the Christian life, starts in the parking lot, with the fragrance that permeates the air, drawing me closer, creating a desire for what is good and right. Then I cross the lot to the doors of the kingdom of fresh ground beef, grilled to perfection. Entering I realize the fragrance outside was merely a shadow of what was to come. The smell of Double Doubles grilling, permeate the air. This, yes, this is my life in the Kingdom. My life in Christ as currently realized. Many are the joys here, the wife and kids, a job and friends. And most of all, thick with the presence of Christ. The friendly face in the red apron has taken my order, the bill paid, is certain that this joy is mine. As soon as my number is up.

Creating Followers

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about for quite sometime. Why does it seem that the Christian community is on the trailing edge of creativity? Or, to put it another way, why is the church taking its cues from popular culture?

It seems that in the desire to be all things to all people, we have stepped back to see what the world will do, then try to emulate the mainstream pop culture in an effort to be relevant. The flaw, in my opinion, is that it belies who we are as christians, who we are in Christ and most importantly, that Christ is in us. Is it not the God of and the Creator of the universe that has taken up residence within us? The Spirit of God who is able to create something from nothing is supposed to be our driving force, is it not? Then, if we agree this is true, why would we wait and see what trends the world will follow, and then follow the world? Shouldn’t following Christ, or if you prefer, being led by the Spirit, lead us to the cutting edge of creativity?

I, for one, thank it should. Especially in the engagement of the culture, whether through the arts, or evangelism or what ever we do, we should be the most creative subculture within our society. I pray you are challenged, as I have been, to lean wholly on the Lord and not on our own understanding when seeking to reach into the mission field that surrounds us.

Long Over-due Post

Yeah, I know its been a while. But, I have a life away from the computer. So there.

I am surprised that none of my four readers noted the strawman in Dan's argument. That is to say, substituting what he percieves to be "pure and without error" for what God precieves as "pure and without error". Then again, Nadab and Abihu of Num 3:4 had a simalar error.

High Tension Wires and Common Grace

A couple of days ago, Dan Edelen of Cerulean Sanctum got me thinking with this post. In it he deals with the doctrine of Imago Dei in relation to the doctrine of total depravity, and his inability to reconcile the two satisfactorily.

In his post he list four possible solutions along with reasons why they can't be right. I believe his number three comes closest to how I see things.

#3 Total Depravity is total; however, the Imago Dei remains but is tainted in such a way that nothing pure comes from any of it.

His critique of this position is as follows,

#3 is problematic because one could argue that there are things that Man creates that are perfect or at least profoundly good that would argue against taint. For instance, in what way is Handel's Messiah "imperfect" as a piece of music? Or Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata? One could say that in order to be perfect, those works would have to appeal to all men at all times in all places. But is that the true test of perfection? Yes, the instruments used to play those works may not be in perfect tune, but the idea of those works as they existed in the minds of those composers would mitigate that issue.

The other problem about #3 is asking the other side of the perfection issue: In what way are those works tainted by sin? Yes, their creators are tainted by sin. There's no reason to believe that Beethoven was ever a born-again Christian, so this muddies the water further, since the Moonlight Sonata is sublimely beautiful. There is evidence that Beethoven wrote that piece in mourning for an unrequited love affair with a married woman, so his motives for writing it are questionable. But the greater question of the purity of the work as a work unto itself remains.

The gist of the argument is (and correct me if I'm wrong)thus we as fallen man are totally depraved, dead in sin. Not mostly dead, but all dead. Specifically spiritually dead. Furthermore,
since Imago Dei is contained within the immaterial part of man rather than the material part. Hence, death to spirit means death to the image of God.

I don't agree with the premise, let me try to illustrate while maintaining the metaphor. Here in the suburbs, we have quite the population of opossums. They don't know when to cross the street. I usually see a couple a month that have lost arguments with passing cars. It is not a pretty sight, but it still looks like an opossum. Sure the little guy's not as tall, and seems to have spread himself a little thin, but he's still recognizable.

So, I would say, yes, we are totally depraved. That is nothing in us is untouched by the fall, all aspects of creation have been perverted as a consequence of that event. Even twisted in death the indelible marks of our Creator show through. I suggest that this is part of the common grace given all mankind. To the glory of God.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

Stating the Obvious

Ok, I have lost count of how many times the people grumbled, contended or otherwise whined about the conditions in the wilderness, while reminiscing about the good ol' days in Egypt. Not that I'm going to start the stone throwing. Are we not all men off like flesh? I know that I have, on occasion, looked back fondly on my good ol' days, forgetting what a wicked task-master sin was. Forgetting for a moment how gracious and kind my new task-master is to me.

I notice that their complaint comes from being in the wilderness. A situation brought on by their own unbelief, namely the fear of men and their own perceptions of their chances of success. How many times have I found myself in the midst of the consequence of my own actions?

This time after their offering of whine, God sends "fiery serpents" among the people, and some died. It seems that tragedy sometimes helps us see the sin in our lives and motivates us to repentance. As always, God is faithful and provides a way of salvation.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

Second Question, Second Answer?

Continuing with the second question of my Hero To Zero post. I wondered, Why does Moses state "shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Does the "we" include God? Or just Aaron and himself? The short answer is, the "we" does not include God. I say this because of God's response to the situation. God states to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel" As we see in Numbers 20:24, that Aaron was being gathered to his people" because he "rebelled" against the command of God. In, Numbers 27:14, we read of Moses being Gathered to his people for the same reason. I think this makes a strong case that when we deviate from the revealed will of God, we are acting in "unbelief" and there by not treating God as holy in the sight of His people. So, how did these two great leaders stray from the course, disqualifying themselves from entering the promised land? It seems to me that they neglected to credit the power of God to this miracle. How often are we, leaders included, tempted to recognize our part in the working out of God's plan as the indispensable part? Thereby creating dependence on ourselves and our God given talents, rather then God and His sovereign hand. Think about your preaching, your evangelism, your apologetics, are you also tempted, I surely am.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

First Question, First Answer?

Why did Moses disobey? It seems to me, that every time the Israelites set up camp, they figure they should be in the promised land. This has been going on for a number of years, and quite frankly, I think Moses is fed up with it. I find it notable that God wasn't burning with wrath, ready to smite the people before Moses intercedes. God is silent until Moses and Aaron fall before Him. Then, before these men of God can speak, God gives them instructions on how He will use them to bless the people. I can't count the times I've wanted to have explicit instructions from God. I realize, even with clear guidance, how easy it is to trip over my own sin nature. I believe the words spoken by Moses, "Listen now, you rebels" shows his heart, that he thought the sons of Israel needed a verbal b-slap. I think this shows how easily we can insert our own will in to God's plan, which in turn leads us into further sin. Thankfully, even as we might fail, God is good, and He continues to provide.

tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

Hero to Zero in Eight Chapters

A couple of weeks ago I was reading in Numbers. Chapter 20 to be specific, the Water of Meribah. This is the episode in which the people are once again whining about not having anything to drink, and reminiscing about how good they had it in Egypt. As you may recall, Moses was told to speak to the rock. Instead, he struck it twice. I find it interesting that Moses’ disobedience did not thwart the will of God, the water flowed and the people drank from the abundant blessing of God. Things went differently for Moses the humble and his bro Aaron. "Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." Why did Moses disobey? Why does he state “shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" Does the “we” include God? Or just Aaron and himself? I’m still thinking on these, so I will take this up again soon.


tags Journal Devotional Bible Theology Doctrine Christian

At the end...

Time for a mild rant, I'm tired of hearing the phrase "at the end of the day". Every one and their brother is using it, someone put a fork in it because it's done. I figure when the dust settles we will realize that al the pundits where just trying to sound like visionaries, with a overly market tested catch phrase. To me, it just sounds like a bunch of "talking point" writers have become lazy, and once the cards have been dealt and the hand played they will be shown for the frauds that they are. So hopefully soon, we will hear the final buzzer and some more creative ways of expressing themselves. Cue the fat lady please....

I'm NAKED!!!

"I'm NAKED!!!!" My girls, cry out as they get ready for their shower. The joy of being naked and unashamed. That joy was lost to me some time ago. I don't remember when exactly when it happened, but I know I'm as prone as anybody to try to cover myself. Cover myself with all kinds of things. To shift the blame, to spin the perception of others towards me. The hope that others would only see what I show them.
I have seen Christ working in my life, the changing of my heart, the renewing of my mind. I asked God to show me where I needed to be humbled, my pride broken. Even though I was warned that it might lead to humiliation. As the t-shirt reads, "pain is just weakness leaving your body" I think it might also be true that humiliation is just pride leaving your spirit. As I have been humbled I find that it was pride that reveled my shame. When I thought I deserved to be seen as greater than I am, and was seen as I truly am, I was humiliated. In my pride I esteemed myself to highly. There for I strive to be naked to myself and others, I am uneducated, I am unpopular, I am naked. And my yes will be yes, and my no, no. Even to myself.


tags Journal Devotional Christian

Vicarious Blessings

This post has been a long time in coming. Maybe I'm a little behind the curve, but for the, oh, lets say ,last six months I get real joy out of my friends blessings. Now mind you, I don't mean blessings between me and my friends. But rather the blessings I have nothing o do with, the promotion at work, tickets to the big game or show, the new love. Now of course, the closer I am to the person receiving the blessing the the more I rejoice. It is amazing how little I think about myself regarding these things, I think I will be just as happy with vicarious blessings as I am with my own.


tags Journal Devotional

Anointed ones

So, like I said before, I'm reading though Numbers. There is so much in this book it's going to take a while to read it all. I feel compelled to stop reading and just stew in what I've read. Case in point, Numbers 16 A bunch of people decide that they should be peers to Moses and Aaron, they were wrong and God caused the earth to swallow them, like aSandworm from Dune. After spending a couple of days in awe. I begin to think of Daniel, I know it sounds odd, but this is my blog. I wonder if that episode (Moses not Dune) popped into Daniel's head in 1 Sam 26:8-11. It seems like a good reason to respect authority.

The most humble man I know

It has been a long time I know. I have been reading as opposed to studying. I'm reading Numbers, Mere Christianity, and Biblical Eldership. The last two have been rather sporadic as of late. But I came across something in Numbers that I just can't shake, in 12:3 it reads, (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) It just amazes me, that at a time in my life when I seem to be hyper-sensitive to pride in my own life, I am presented with Moses as an example of humility. I've been reflecting a lot on the life of Moses, and even though it wasn't my first thought, I have a strong feeling it was the time spent with God, face to face. I'm sure that would do it. It seems the more time I spend with God, the more humble I become. Maybe soon I'll get a "Most Humble Man I Know" t-shirt.