One Dad Changes Everything

How much power does one man of God have?! My heart broke.As I gathered in the news of Charleston on Wednesday night, my heart broke at the slaughter of people who came for sanctuary and a time of holy rest in the grace of God. These people of faith were murdered because of hate. My heart broke.I received a Sunday morning email from our VerseoftheDay.com translator in Pakistan. He told about the women and children killed and dismembered by suicide bombers. These women and children had been sharing a Sunday dinner-on-the-grounds while their husbands prayed inside. My heart broke for all whose lives were murdered, bodies damaged, and families wounded because of hate. My heart broke.I have watched while the press has remained largely silent about the methodical rape, selling of young kidnapped girls on the slave markets, beheadings, and crucifixions of fellow Christians at the hands of those who hate. My prayers and support have been offered for the families, churches, cities, and countries as they have endured such barbaric hate. In my own small way, I have come to understand a little of the deep emotion of God as he watched the world that was once “very good” (Genesis 1:26-31) become filled with evil: GOD saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil-evil, evil, evil from morning to night. GOD was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart (Genesis 6:5-6 MSG). What do I tell my son about raising his boys in such a world? What do I tell my grandsons about what it means to be God’s man in such a world? How do I help you understand that our efforts at sharing grace, our desires to tear down walls of racial bigotry, and our prayers to end racial and religious hatred are not in vain? Where are we supposed to turn as darkness descends, and all we can think to do is to adopt the plaintive cry of our Savior and say, “O God our God why have you forsaken us?” (Mark 15:33-34). The plan in our series entitled, “Saved at Sea,” was for us to study the story of Noah this week. Weeks ago, Noah seemed to be the perfect fit for Father’s Day. Now Noah seems even more powerfully tuned to our need of the hour. We need today’s men of God to be the men the Father has called us to be! We need to be like Noah, who “was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9). While we know that Noah wasn’t a perfect man because of what we read later in the story (Genesis 9:20), he was God’s man. He was God’s man in a time when there weren’t any others — except perhaps for his sons (Genesis 8:1). In reading the Bible story of Noah (Genesis chapters 5-9), we can divide the story into four parts. We have already taken a peek at the first two parts, Breaking God’s Heart (Genesis 6:5-6; Genesis 6:11-12) and Being God’s Man (Genesis 6:8-9; Genesis 8:1). The world broke God’s heart with its evil. Violence erupted and multiplied in the lives of people made for so much more. Noah had distinguished himself from the wickedness of the world because of his righteous life. Stage three of the story is the account of Noah’s obedience as he focuses on Building the Boat of God. He built the ark based on the specifications God had given him. A theme that runs through this stage of the story is that Noah did all that the LORD commanded him to do (Genesis 6:22; Genesis 7:5; Genesis 7:9; Genesis 7:16). The final stage of the story focuses on Bringing God’s Future to the destroyed world. This involved those God saved on the ark: Noah, his family, and the animals. Noah had not brought every animal on the face of the earth into the ark, but the key type or exemplar pair of each animal — “according to its kind” (Genesis 6:19-20; Genesis 7:2-7; Genesis 7:14). God also had Noah bring his sons and their wives along with his own wife into the ark (Genesis 7:7; Genesis 7:13). The LORD then shut Noah in the ark with his family and the animals. God had chosen this group of people and animals to re-begin life on earth. The ark protected Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark from both the flood and the wickedness and violence on the face of the earth (Genesis 7:17-23). God then brought Noah, his family, and the animals out of the ark. The LORD entered into a covenant with Noah and his family (Genesis 6:8), the animals that had been spared, and the earth itself promising never to destroy the world with a flood again (Genesis 8:18-22; Genesis 9:8-17). Then God gave Noah’s family and the animals the charge to bring life in its beauty and diversity back to the earth (Genesis 9:1; Genesis 9:7). As we look at this powerful and bewildering story of God’s work through one dad, we should take some lessons with us for men and dads in our day. This example is especially important for us when our day seems so filled with evil and violence. So let’s grab three important principles from the story of Noah. God can take one man, one faithful dad, and use him to help his family stand against the strong tide of an immoral and violent culture. God notices that man, that dad, and remembers what he does to share his faith, bless his world, and live a holy life (Genesis 6:8-9; Hebrews 6:10). God uses that man, that dad, to bring new life and fresh hope! God can take such a dad and use his efforts and his life to save his family in every way they can be saved — morally and spiritually — because

Daily Prayer for July 14

At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel. I will make rain fall on the earth, and the earth will produce grain and grapes and olives. I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper. I will show love to those who were called “Unloved,” and to those who were called “Not-My-People” I will say, “You are my people,” and they will answer, “You are our God.” Hosea 2:21–23, TEV Lord our God, kindle true light in our hearts and minds, that we may recognize what we are and become free of everything false and dishonest. Let this light of righteousness, this judgment, go through all nations, that people no longer use empty words when they talk of “mercy” and “truth.” Grant that your mercy and your truth find the right soil and bear fruit. May they find soil prepared by you, for you judge us and make right what is wrong in our earthly life. We thank you that however painful many of our experiences are, we may still say, “Through how much need has not our merciful God spread out his wings to protect us!” Amen.   Recent articles on Plough Visions Under the Serviceberry Tree William Thomas Okie Robin Wall Kimmerer envisions a new economy in her book The Serviceberry. Read now Learning to Love Food Sarah Reardon While recovering from an eating disorder, I found a new appreciation for good food – and my own body – in the pages of scripture. Read now The Christian’s Secret Strength Thomas Guthrie Samson’s great strength lay in his hair. Where does ours lie? Read now Healing at Annoor Heather M. Surls A hospital in Mafraq, Jordan, cares for patients with tuberculosis. Read now The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 12

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20, NIV Almighty God, keep watch over us and lead us fully into the life of Jesus Christ. Let your Son Jesus Christ become truly living within us so that we may be full of joy because we belong to the realm of heaven and may live every day with faith in him. We thank you for all you have let us experience. We thank you with all our hearts that in your great compassion you have showered so much good on us who are not yet perfect in faith. Keep our hearts in the light, we pray. Keep us patient and dedicated, for then more and more can be done among us poor children of earth, to the glory of your name. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough The Christian’s Secret Strength Thomas Guthrie Samson’s great strength lay in his hair. Where does ours lie? Read now Healing at Annoor Heather M. Surls A hospital in Mafraq, Jordan, cares for patients with tuberculosis. Read now The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now

The Creator Brings Grace

Can you drown out all the noise and simply listen for the Creator’s voice in the Bible’s first chapter?   We were in a boat along the west coast of Florida. Big thunderstorms had blown up all around our horizon. So my fishing buddy fired up his Coast Guard frequency on the radio to try to see the best way for us to return safely to the boat launch. What he got back on the radio was a muddied voice in the middle of a ton of background noise. Little by little he turned up the squelch button until the voice on the other end was clearly heard. There are few chapters of the Bible that match the beauty and transformation content of the first chapter of our Bibles (Genesis 1:1-31). Unfortunately, when most people think about this incredibly important message they only hear the arguments and controversies surrounding creation, evolution, and the truth of Scripture. So I am going to ask you to turn up the squelch button in your brain. Tune out all the arguments, litmus tests, and debates. Then take a few minutes to calmly read this important chapter through slowly. (Click this link to read Genesis 1:1-31). Before reading, ask the Holy Spirit to help you tune out the noise so that the voice of your Creator can be clearly heard. Embedded in this wonderful message is God’s truth about who we are and the nature of the universe in which we live. Keep the squelch button turned up and drown out the noise. The Spirit can help you hear God’s voice telling you how precious you are and how he longs to do his new creation work in you. Before time and anything we know from our world, God existed. In the mysterious pre-primal nothing of formlessness, emptiness, and darkness, our God was (Genesis 1:1). Before there was matter and energy there was nothing… just the fearful nothingness and God. God as Creator, Son (John 1:1-3), and Spirit hovering over the vast void. The Spirit waiting to create out of nothing in response to the Creator’s word of grace (Genesis 1:1-2). We know that something doesn’t come from nothing… unless you are God. We intuitively realize that before there can be a big bang, there must be a Big Banger, who brings into being energy, light, matter, design, and purpose. So with a word, God speaks. His word overcomes the fearful nothingness of pre-primal and primordial existence. Into nothingness, God speaks diversity. God calls into existence variety out of the inane void of nothing. God’s gift is a dazzling variety of everything. Diversity carries a fingerprint of God’s design. Variety is God’s favorite color. If you don’t believe it, then look at a lifetime of sunsets. The Creator defeated the monster of nothingness with variety and diversity filling a multitude of terrains, spaces, expanses, and seas. Jesus told us that only God alone is completely good (Luke 18:19). So we shouldn’t be surprised. Goodness is the divine thread that runs through the tapestry of unspoiled creation. God overcomes the indistinct formlessness of pre-creation with the goodness of his creative work. Out of formlessness, our Creator makes beauty. As the creative Master does his work, we find an oft-repeated phrase that goes very much like this: God saw that it was good! Then, when his creative work needed its weekend’s rest, God saw all that he had made and it was very good! The ancients feared the chaos monster. This fear sounds very superstitious and crazy to us until… Then we are confronted with this monster in a severe drought, a raging fire, a rampaging thunderstorm with hail and lightning, a class 5 tornado, a storm surge of a hurricane, a slow rumbling vibration of a major earthquake, a mountain-moving explosion of a massive volcanic eruption, or an uncontrollable advance of a tsunami. These events bring chaos. They re-awaken us to our fear of chaos. They alert us to our terror at the hideous monster that lies behind such disasters. God defeated this pre-creation chaos by creating order and by creating with order, symmetry, and purpose. (See the chart in the image below.) As we meet the Bible’s God of creation — our Creator as Father, Son, and Spirit — we are reminded of God’s eternal desire to connect life with relationships. So out of the impersonal emptiness of pre-creation, God brings relationship to life on earth. We are made to reflect the divine relationship in our Creator. God did not make us to be alone. We are, after all, made in his likeness. We are made for life with him and with others. The Creator’s intentionally repeated commands to love him with all we are and to love our neighbors remind us of God’s relational imprint in us. This imprint testifies to both our need for others and our Creator’s desire to bring us into relationship. For all who struggle with loneliness and the emptiness of not connecting to others, God beckons you back to him first. Without him, we have a God-shaped hole that no other person or thing can fill. Anything or anyone else is merely weak imitation, a counterfeit become addiction that can never fill that hole in our soul. By drawing close to our God, we find ourselves in the company of others. We find life together. We were made for relationship, so God defeated the impersonal emptiness to bring relationship to life. Yet all of this variety, order, beauty, and relationship can become predictable. God’s gracious gifts can devolve into meaningless monotony. This boring sameness squeezes out life as we lose any sense of purpose to our Creator’s gifts. We were created with purpose and for a mission. Over time that mission changes. It shifts as the Creator keeps calling us to go on the mission for his fresh creative purposes. While God’s mission for us may morph over time, underneath these changes is an undergirding truth. We are

Daily Prayer for July 11

So let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, with hearts that have been purified from a guilty conscience and with bodies washed with clean water. Hebrews 10:22, TEV Lord our God, grant us true unity with your Son Jesus Christ, so that his power can be revealed in us and we may find new life in which we can truly serve you. Protect us from all error. Be among us with your Spirit to make us people who are genuine. Let your will be carried out more and more in this age. Let your will again intervene so that a new creation may come, a new heaven and a new earth, as we have been promised. May your name be great among us, may your kingdom come and everything in heaven and on earth be done according to your will. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough Healing at Annoor Heather M. Surls A hospital in Mafraq, Jordan, cares for patients with tuberculosis. Read now The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 10

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6–7, NIV Lord our God, strengthen in us all that comes from you and is eternal, all that is good and right and genuine. Let this shape our outward life and help us triumph over need and death. Help us to wait quietly, even when we don’t know the answers to our questions, because we are certain that the outcome will be good and life-giving, to the glory of your Spirit and your name. We entrust ourselves to your hands. Stay with us, that we may receive your calling for our lives. Stay with us, so that in all our work and activity we may be aware of your guiding Spirit at work in our hearts. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough The Return of the Family Doctor Brewer Eberly The direct primary care model aims to put relationships over profit. Read now Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now Desire, Use, Repeat James Mumford An addict looks for a way out. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 9

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:14–17a, NIV Lord our God, you are our Father, and we human beings know that our innermost hearts belong to you. Hold us firmly through your Spirit, we pray, so that we do not live on the level of our lower natures but remain true to the calling you have given us, the high calling to what is eternal. May all our experiences work in us for good, bringing us the joyful certainty that you rule us with your Spirit, that you further the good everywhere in the world and make more and more people sensitive to what is good, right, and perfect. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough Daring to Follow the Call E. Stanley Jones, Barbara Brown Taylor, Teresa of Ávila, Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jr., Eberhard Arnold, Meister Eckhart, Leonardo Boff, C. S. Lewis, Hermas, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer Insights on the Sermon on the Mount from a wealth of traditions. Read now What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now Desire, Use, Repeat James Mumford An addict looks for a way out. Read now A Disabled Savior Devan Stahl The wounds of a resurrected God help us live with ours. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 8

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17–18, NIV Lord our God, our Father in heaven and on earth, we are thankful that you have a people to whom you say, “You are mine.” Grant that we too may belong to this people. Strengthen us in the faith that we belong to you, so that we can come to know your rule and your justice. Protect us on all the paths we follow during our time on earth. The times are evil, but come what may, every single one of us has in his heart the certainty, “We are yours.” You have long watched over us and kept us safe. Again and again we affirm, “We are yours, Lord our God, through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Amen.   Recent articles on Plough What My First Psychiatric Patient Taught Me Abraham M. Nussbaum Sharon could hardly leave the house. She showed me the wonder and limits of therapy. Read now An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now Desire, Use, Repeat James Mumford An addict looks for a way out. Read now A Disabled Savior Devan Stahl The wounds of a resurrected God help us live with ours. Read now What Families with Autistic Children Know Sam Tomlin For parents of neurodiverse children, church and school can be another hurdle. Read now

Daily Prayer for July 7

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23, NIV Lord our God, we thank you for all you have done for us, for all you are doing for us, for deliverance from need and death. We thank you for all the signs you give us that you hear our prayer when, without wavering or weakening, we set our hopes on you. We thank you that we can be without fear of sin and death, for you stand by us in everything. In spite of our imperfections you show us your goodness again and again. May the light in our hearts never be extinguished, the light that enables us to look into heaven and earth and see the good that is on its way to us today. May joy remain with us, and may we have the strength to be a community that follows the paths of life which bring praise and honor to you. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough An Animated Film That Asks Questions Casey Kleczek Gints Zilbalodis’s film Flow is a work of art my young family could wrestle with as well as enjoy. Read now Desire, Use, Repeat James Mumford An addict looks for a way out. Read now A Disabled Savior Devan Stahl The wounds of a resurrected God help us live with ours. Read now What Families with Autistic Children Know Sam Tomlin For parents of neurodiverse children, church and school can be another hurdle. Read now Abraham’s Warring Children Kelsey Osgood After October 7, can a Muslim-Christian-Jewish center in Abu Dhabi make any difference? Read now

Daily Prayer for July 5

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Romans 8:22–24a, NIV Lord our God, we thank you for the great calling you have given us. We thank you that in all the evils of today’s world you give us the hope and faith that you are leading us to a goal that is good, and you make us free. You make your children free so that throughout humankind a new spirit may come, a new life and a new power to serve you in time and eternity. Praise to your name that we can always have hope; nothing can discourage us, but everything must work together for good in accordance with your great purpose. Grant that your compassion may come to all the world, to all peoples, whom you have looked upon with mercy in sending Jesus Christ as Savior. Amen.   Recent articles on Plough A Disabled Savior Devan Stahl The wounds of a resurrected God help us live with ours. Read now What Families with Autistic Children Know Sam Tomlin For parents of neurodiverse children, church and school can be another hurdle. Read now Abraham’s Warring Children Kelsey Osgood After October 7, can a Muslim-Christian-Jewish center in Abu Dhabi make any difference? Read now Merelots: Armenia’s Day of the Dead Narine Abgaryan “What use do the departed have for liturgy?” an Armenian mother reflects on a visit to the grave of her stepson, in this short story. Read now The Exploitation of Immigrant Care Workers Hazel Thompson Hidden in plain sight, foreign health aides in UK care homes face exploitation. Read now