July 18 - 20, 2010

7-18-10 Sunday, 7:08 am Baxter Woods, near Aurora, Ky.

I have made the coffee over the fire and am comfortably sitting in the camp chair outside the cabin. Sleeping was interesting in the heat last night, but I think I got a good night’s rest. This morning I will clean up and head west to worship with Dennis Bowling in the small church he pastors. Audrey sounded very good last night as we shared about the events of our respective days.

Rom 4:13 -5:5

Paul continues to make the point about Abraham’s faith. Vss 16-17 essentially say that God’s promise (to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants) was not based on his obedience but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. It is given as a free gift and we are certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s.

This has great application for the church in this 21st century. Cultivating faith is so critical in this age of doing, and of course, “faith without works is dead (James)”. So this is a great living tension, faith and works. I continue to desire to work on developing a vision of the fruitful, mature Christian life. Bishop Schnase’s recent book, and the work of Steve Rankin are helpful. I will turn now to reading some of Rankin’s work, as he has emailed it to me.

His first chapter is titled “Searching for a Grown Up Faith”. Its 15 pages introduce the concept and lay out the direction of the book. He begins with a metaphor from his teenage years of training horses with his father. As I am camping near 31 horses, I am especially moved by this metaphor. I am also eager to read the rest of his book and to respond by email with my impressions.

For now (8:02) I will fix breakfast and then get ready to ride my motorcycle to church. Thank you Lord for the beauty, serenity, isolation and peace of these woods.

7-19-10 Monday, 8:15 am Baxter Pines, Kentucky, 71 degrees, clear.

My coffee is perculating in the new camp coffee pot, and the weather is beautiful. I slept in, experiencing my typical “hard to get out of the sleeping bag” phenomena that is life-long. I am up and about, the birds are singing, and I am looking forward to this day in the woods, cutting trees, treating the logs on the cabin, etc.

Rom 5:6-21
As Adam has sinned and brought guilt on humanity, so Christ’s death provides grace available for all humanity. This truth is simple, and profound. It gets right to the underlying problem of humans – sin, traces it origin and provides a solution. Sin continues to be a huge problem. Guide me Lord as I lead the faith community in the process of transformation and the war on sin.

Next, I will read another chapter of Rankin’s work on spiritual maturity. On page 13 of his second chapter entitled “The Goal – Maturity” he says “The New Testament upholds maturity as the goal of the Christian life. It is not a passing thought. Since it is firmly rooted in the scripture, it requires our best, most responsive attentiveness. The following texts reveal the attitudes and actions exemplary of spiritual maturity and they show clearly that the standard of measure is Jesus himself.”
He then proceeds to list the New testament references to maturity, or perfection. I will read more later. I truly appreciate this work of Steve, even as I see ways it could be improved. Guide me Lord as I work to put in writing the thoughts you have been pressing up me since the mid 1980s.

7-20-10 Tuesday, 8:55 am Baxter Pines, Kentucky, 76 degrees, clear, humid, light breeze, variable directions.
Well, I head home today. I am to be on the road by noon. Hopefully I can pack in an hour, and spend a couple of hours cutting firewood, and logs to take home for my “log cabin compost pile”, maybe a couple of hickory sticks to make into walking sticks, and perhaps even a pine log or two to prep for the cabin. This is relatively ambitious for the final morning here. I have a little flexibility in my departure time, and I am usually overly optimistic about what I can accomplish in a given period.

Romans 6
This is a great and profound chapter. It begins with the smart aleck question “shall we sin more so that grace can abound?” It develops quickly the thought of dieing to sin through baptism, and thus being freed from the bondage of sin, able to choose to serve God with every part of our body. Having spent Thursday morning at the Lincoln museum, remembering American slavery, and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclaimation, this chapter takes on tangible metaphor.

Psalm 16
David is relishing God’s constant presence, even in the night. He notes what a pleasant place God has given him, a good inheritance. As I am here alone, on the piece of property that my father purchased and then gave me as an inheritance, I am grateful for these wooded acres in this peaceful setting.

Reading from Steve Rankin on Christian Maturity:
He does an excellent job listing the new testament scriptures that describe the mature, or telios person. I have read through his description of Acts. My spirit is stirred with a desire to aggressively pursue this work of describing, demonstrating and teaching Christian maturity. Guard me Lord from anything that would short-circuit my desire to be a fully-mature follower of You, the Way, the Truth and the Life.