Rappin’ With Rick

Deciding what to write about is by far the most difficult part of writing to you each week. I want it to be personal in nature, and even entitled it “Rappin’ with Rick” when rapping meant something other than what it means today.

I’m always on the lookout for something to write about, and to my family’s chagrin it’s often them. Other times it’s simply something that’s caught my interest, something I’ve come across in study, or just something I’ve been thinking about.

I’m not usually impressed with celebrity conversion accounts, but I found one while reading a gun magazine last week that I thought you might enjoy. The article was about a special rifle that Steve McQueen carried in the movie Tom Horn. A sidebar in the article had this to say about Steve.

“McQueen was a difficult man. He was married three times and had two children. He was notorious for demanding strange things in bulk like jeans and electric razors in his movie contracts. It was later discovered that he was donating this stuff to the reform school where he had lived as a teen.

McQueen was a competitive racer of both cars and motorcycles as well as an experience pilot. In his prime he ran five miles a day seven days a week, worked out for two hours daily, and was an accomplished martial artist. He was, however, also a heavy smoker and regular drug abuser.

After a lifetime spent pursuing hedonistic pleasures McQueen found himself empty and quite literally dying. In his final months, McQueen became an evangelical Christian. He was active in his local church and met with the famed evangelist Billy Graham while keeping in touch with his friend, and fellow actor, preacher Mel Novak.

In the high-octane life of Steve McQueen, the King of Cool, we see a tough yet talented man who had simultaneously both everything and nothing. Despite a life wasted in sin and excess McQueen nonetheless finally met Jesus and found peace, purpose, and redemption. His story serves as a timeless cautionary tale.”

God Bless, Rick

If you haven’t read Casey’s meditation on “Hitting the Mark”, I’d encourage you to stop here, and read it before continuing.

As Casey noted, we’ve been looking at the priesthood of Jesus in our study of Hebrews on Wednesday nights. And after making it clear that Jesus’ priesthood is far superior than what went before it, the author focuses on the sacrifices offered by both, and clearly states that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

He then goes on to say, “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me; in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast taken no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God.”’”

As I was preparing for our study, it struck me how amazing that statement really was. The author was quoting from Psalm 40, and has Jesus, stating through the words of David, that God had prepared for Him a body that would do what the bodies of bulls and goats could never do.

My excitement turned into confusion, however, when I actually read the Psalm. Rather than say “a body Thou hast prepared for Me”, it reads, “My ears Thou hast opened.” Why the change? Did the writer of Hebrews misquote the Psalm to make a point? Surely not.

I quickly checked various translations to see if there was one that read as quoted in Hebrews, but found none. Then I spotted a footnote in the NIV that said, “Hebrew; Septuagint but a body you have prepared for me”. That was an answer that simply raised another question.

The writer of Hebrews obviously quoted from the Greek translation of the Old Testament. But why did seventy Jewish scholars, working nearly 400 years before Christ, change David’s words about having his ears opened to the truth that God didn’t want animal sacrifices, into a prophecy about a sacrificial Messiah they were not looking for? A Messiah who would give His body for the forgiveness of sins.

The only answer I can come up with is that once again we find evidence that the Holy Spirit worked behind the scenes to make sure we could understand why Christ did what He did for us.

God Bless, Rick

Last month we had a response to our website that expressed a sincere hope that we would rot in hell. What prompted that hateful and condemnatory comment was that we support Kent Paris and his Nehemiah Ministries.

As you no doubt know, Kent is a former homosexual who repented of his sinful behavior when He accepted Christ as Lord of his life. He then dedicated himself to helping others with similar struggles find victory over enslavement to sin.

His desire to effectively minister to those with gender confusion issues led him to pursue the education needed to do so, and He eventually received a MA in Christian Counseling Ministry from LCU, and established Nehemiah Ministries. He chose not to become licensed with the state of Illinois because he foresaw possible government interference in what a biblically based Christian counselor would be allowed to say.

When I informed Kent of the note we had received, I told him that in light of the number of states that have banned conversion or reparative therapy, and the charge that it often leads to suicide because it promises change that it cannot deliver, it might be helpful for him to share a statement on how his counseling differs from the goals and techniques used in such therapy.

We corresponded at length on the matter, and, in response to our request, the latest issue of his newsletter featured an article entitled “Clarification on Reparative Therapy in Relation to our Mission.” In the article he very clearly states, “I was never trained in ‘Reparative Therapy’, have never practiced it, nor held myself out to be a ‘Reparative Therapist’.” He further notes, “The ultimate goal is NOT ‘heterosexuality’ but repentance from any sin, surrender out of love for Jesus, yielding wholly to Him to follow Him as a disciple.”

His article not only addresses the current controversy over gender related counseling, it also offers insight into the causes of such confusion. I have copies available for those who might desire one.

God Bless, Rick

When I said I’d be reading poolside in Florida, the friends we were visiting had to laugh. They know I’m not much of a poolside-sitter. But I did force myself to sit in the sun long enough to read a few pages from the Chronicles of Narnia, just because I said I would.

That’s not to say I didn’t finish The Magician’s Nephew, because I did. Since we drove back from Tennessee on Sunday after Josie’s birthday so we could be at Grace’s senior night basketball game, I had time to visit Narnia on a plane to Florida and back. And, I now know why the wardrobe was able to serve as a portal to Narnia for Lucy, Peter, Susan, and Edmund, because the sixth book in the series is actually a prequel, telling how Narnia came to be.

Somehow over the years book number seven disappeared from our bookshelf, but I did find it in our church library, and I’m now reading The Last Battle. I can’t recommend the series highly enough. For adults, even more than for children!

While Marilyn and our friends were sunning themselves poolside, I walked the beach. I do like the sounds of the surf, the birds that waddle along the shoreline and dive into the water, and the seashells. Who isn’t fascinated by the variety of shells that litter the seashore?

I guess I shouldn’t say they “litter” the seashore. They decorate it!

As I walked along, admiring the variety and beauty of the shells, I couldn’t help but think of the fifth day of creation, when God brought forth life on the earth. After saying, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures,” He saw that it was good. And when He said it was “good” I think He was saying more than it was simply adequate. I think He was admiring His handiwork. He was going far beyond what was needed to sustain us; He was preparing a place of beauty for those who would be made in His image to enjoy.

Indeed, the beauty of creation points to the beauty of our Creator, and His appreciation for that which is beautiful. So even if you’re too antsy to sit for hours in the sun, do take to time to smell the roses, and admire the beauty that surrounds us.

God Bless, Rick

I began reading the Chronicles of Narnia nearly forty years ago, and I hate to admit it, but I haven’t finished them…yet. I bought the set when the kids were little, and still remember them sitting on my lap as we made it through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I knew they were classics, written by C. S. Lewis for children, but reading them was like trying to watch something on BBC. You know it’s good, but you have to struggle a bit to make sure you’re getting it all. We gave up after barely making it into the second book, and the boxed set languished on a shelf until a month or so ago.

It was a feature article entitled “The Breath of the Lion” in Touchstone that drew me back to Narnia. The author was responding to the charge that Lewis didn’t include the Holy Spirit in his stories. God was there as the Emperor-over-the-Sea, and Jesus is presented as the great Lion Aslan, but where is the Holy Spirit?

The author begins by noting that while the Holy Spirit’s presence and enormous power is evident throughout the Bible, he speaks only five times and remains in the background. He then makes it very clear that the Holy Spirit is alive and well in Narnia.

“He strengthens, he gives courage, he brings new life, he protects, and he motivates toward right performance. In his breath, he imparts the essence of himself to his followers, placing within them the only power that can enable them to become more like him.” While drawing his article to a close he notes, “Thus, a fantasy story shows us the truth. Narnia reveals to us the kind of God we have— not only who is transcendent and powerful, but one who is also intimate and personal.”

Reading such led me back to the wardrobe, and then to a railway station, a picture in the bedroom, and an unlocked door. I’m not sure how I’m going to get to Narnia next, but I’m planning to get there while sitting poolside in Florida.

I’ll see you in two weeks when Marilyn and I return from a trip to Tennessee, Florida… and Narnia.

God Bless, Rick